"Zebra Life"

Hello everyone, I hope you all had an amazing time watching General Conference!!! I LOVED it so much and I was actually kind of sad that it was my last conference as a missionary! It is so crazy how fast the time flys by!  

I am officially an English missionary so that is weird! It has been a pretty big change, but it gives me comfort to know that this is exactly where God needs me right now. They call me a Zebra missionary because I am both a Spanish and English missionary. It has been really nice to still use my Spanish with people when we knock doors and run into people on the street. I have taught a few lessons in Spanish and gave the Spanish missionaries some new investigators!

So back to conference! I want to share with you a few of my favorite quotes/thoughts that I had during conference! I want to talk about what President Uchtdorf shared in the General Women’s Meeting. He talked about 3 sisters one was Sad, the other Mad, and the last Glad, sometimes we find ourselves in each of these 3 sisters. We need to always remember who we are and strive to be the 3rd sister who was Glad. The 3rd sister loved singing and some people thought it was annoying, but she kept singing. "The song of true discipleship may sound off key to others, but to God it is the song of redeeming love."

- President Uchtdorf

I also enjoyed the talk by Elder Jeffery R. Holland about not beating up on ourselves and know that we don't have to reach perfection in this life. I think that a lot of times as people we beat up on ourselves and we set a very high expectation, but we need to realize that we just need to try to be like our Savior and that perfection is pending here in mortality.

There are about 500 other things that I could share about conference, but those were some of my favorites!!! I strongly encourage all of you to go and listen to conference if you were not able to have the opportunity!

I am so GLAD that I have this time to be a missionary in this awesome mission and now I get to see it from both sides, English and Spanish. Our first night in the area we met with the Bishop and it was like drinking out of a fire hose!! He had spreadsheets and graphs... they do not have any of that in Spanish work... or any ward that I know of, he means business so I am excited to see what happens in the next 5 weeks I have in this ward!

I love you guys and I hope you have a great week!

-Hermana Hadley (Yes I am still going by Hermana <3 )

TRANSFER DAY

Sister Aleman, Hermana Hadley, and the Dowells. 

I have served with Elder and Sister Dowells in the same District for 7 months now. <3

Sister Aleman and Hermana Hadley

The English/Spanish Companions!

The Neighborhood Library

We put a Book of Mormon in a Neighborhood Library :)

Hermana Starke and I saying goodbye to Raul! He is getting baptized this next week!!!

Hermana Starke and I had covered our door with our adventures!

 It was sad to take it down :(  . Hermana Starke and I have been together for 3 transfers and I am really going to miss her and consider her one of my best friends. <3

Mom Note: This was the last Adventure Monday with the Vasquez family! They have been such a blessing to Hermana Hadley and Hermana Starke.  I know they will look back at this time on their missions with such love and gratefulness because Hermana Vasquez has been their second Mother! 

We did not expect when McKay left on her mission that we would be blessed to get to know such wonderful people. We will also miss the Vasquez and Starke Families, but know we will always stay connected through this wonderful Gospel! <3

Below is a Facebook Post from Hermana Vasquez and a collage of pictures that she put together of their great times together. 

Nathalie from the YSA put this together stating, "Definitly going to miss them". 

She has been such a sweet friend to McKay!

This was a Friday Night we will never forget! This is 15 of the San Fernando YSA members that drove all night so they could attend General Conference in person. I don't think they slept the whole time they were in Utah. It was amazing to receive hugs and be told that the hugs were from Hermana Hadley. We realize what a rare and blessed opportunity this was for our family!  These amazing people have become her family! <3 

The highlight was that Erick went through the Salt Lake Temple on Friday afternoon for the first time! I had fun in the bakery of Costco trying to figure out what Congratulations 

was in Spanish ;)!

They are such an inspiration to our family as we got to know them more personally and it was an honor to have them in our home! 

Our family has been so blessed by having a missionary!