10-3-2016

Mom i just got your letter when we checked the mail! thank you thank you so much!!! i love it! you always write thebest cards i love getting your letters! thanks so much. it made my day.

conference weekend was good, we watched it at some members and then we ran into a problem adn the member wasnt home and then we couldnt find a member so we watched it at this place with free wifi. it was a little stressful but i realized that sometimes i look on the negative instead of the positive so instead of being irritated i thought okay what are 3 happys of this situation, 1. we are watching conference 2. even though there are like no palces here one of the places have free wifi 3. we have ipads so it makes this possible. that is something i ahve been trying to be better at is being more positive and training my mind to think positively first then thinking of the negatives and getting discouraged so quickly.

our church building is far away, like 30 minutes hahah its rough ahha we usually ride with members to chruch because it takes too many miles and you only have a speciific amount.

WHOOO GO MOM Keep up the exercise!!

CAN YOU BELIEVE I HAVE BEEN OUT FOR 8 months?? its so so so crazy. i cant even believe it. time has FLOWN BY. its good though i love it i have never been mroe happy and more grateful to be representing the savior. i love it here and even though this area is pretty different its still way good

we cover hidden valley and middletown. the problem with hiddenvalley is its a gated community and so no proselyting is alloud so that makes missioanry work kinda difficult. also in this area there isnt ANY lamp posts or any lights, when it gets dark, it gets pitch black and we have flashlights because the only thing you can see are the moon and the stars and some houses keep their lights on but you would be surprised that a lot of people dont keep their lights on. there are so many deer here and the deer cant be killed in hidden valley and they know that so there are SSOOO Many. yesterday, we saw a huge buck with 6 things off its antler. it was nuts.

things i need. lets see. what would be helpful, is i need some more sombra gel or something, since i have come to middletown, i have been pretty stressed and its not good. my neck and headaches have been bad but i have working through them so they arent like super super bad but i am running out of that sombra gel cause i am using it pretty reguarly. what i could really use is a white shade shirt. that would be so great. because some of my clothes need that bad and so i havent been able to wear them.

if you want to send cafe mex i can always use that haha

im trying to think of anything else i really need. i think thats mostly it, maybe some cool cards to write on, but i can also just buy them so dont fret if you dont have room for them or dont feel liek buying them

i think thats mostly it i cant think of anything else that i need. im doing good. thanks mom i love you so much.

thanks for all thelvoe, i feel so grateufl you are my mom

love you love you love you

xoxo

god be with you till we meet again

LOVE YOU

sister mckaylee thurgood

hello hello hello

This week I wrote all those who wrote me this week individually ( so wow this was your week to write me people hahaha just kidding but also not ahha) so I dont have a ton of time so my group email is going to be smaller than before but it will be good haha

Today I have been on my mission for 8 months! i cant even believe how fast time has flown by. It has been the best and I have never been so happy but it has also been some of the hardest times of my life. But it has all been worth it. The mission is the best thing I have ever done and it has changed my life. I am so grateful to my savior. I know He Lives. I know that this is His work. My heart is full of gratitude that the atonement is powerful enough to cover us all. That no matter what we've done or what we've been through, the savior's grace makes it possible for us to come back to him. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had for the last 8 months, to wear his name everyday. I will never get tired of putting my name tag on. it is my favorite part of the day. To me it has so much significance. It means so much.

8 best things of this week:

1. We found 4 new investigators in one week. that doesnt seem like a lot but that is so huge and for this area. oh my goodness so awesome. we are so excited and hopefully they can progress! the gospel is awesome!

2. It was sister randalls 1 year mark and we didnt have cake or time to bake a cake haha so i microwaved microwavable burritos and put a 1 year candle in it and had a party. ahha every day is a grand day ahha too funny

3. we were at this less actives house and we were helping her out. she asked me to boil some sugar water. and before you know it I CAUGHT THE WHOLE STOVE TOP ON FIRE hahahahha its funny now but oh my goodness it wasnt funny then ahhah she came in and got the fire out but i thought oh no oh no. she was laughing and she goes sister thurgood how did you manage to do that you were stirring sugar and water hahahah i have no clue people i have no clue

4. I got to spend the day in Willits with Sister Julander during exchanges and that was so fun! Willits is beautiful and we got to drive through these redwoods and wow pretty pretty i could live in the redwoods. we worked hard and had an awesome exchange

5. Due to some unexpected events, I got to go to Ukiah so that Sister Julander could talk to president. everythings all good no worries. but anytime i get to see president wright is the best day ever and wow i love president so much

6. General conference weekend. so so so so awesome. i was so grateful to be watching it. every time they mentioned missionaries it would make my eyes water. I felt that every time they said missionaries, it was gods way of reassuring me that he was aware of me and although it isnt always easy he loves me and he is there for me. He is there. i know that to be true

7. we had an awesome lesson with one of our new investigators. the spirit was really strong. everytime i teach the restoration and i talk about joseph smith i feel the spiirt so strong. its a testimony to me that Joseph smith is a true prophet and he restored the gospel of jesus christ back onto the earth.

8. The best part about this week is everyday. hahah but really though, everyday is the best day. it is fun and me and sister randall are becoming better friends and even when times arent that fun and its hard its so worth it. this week was the best because being a missionary is the best.

i love my savior. I am so grateful for parents and siblings and friends and leaders that have led me here. i have never been happier. i love you guys so much.