Email from Sister McKie received June 25, 2012:



Hello Y'all!

  So in case you missed it last week, I have been transferred again. I spent much of Sunday and Monday saying goodbye to members and investigators in Dallas 4th, then on Tuesday I headed off to my new area of Rowlett. I am actually really enjoying Rowlett so far. My new companion is Sister Elena Pierce and she claims Orem, UT as her hometown.  Rowlett is a town about 30 minutes from my previous area in Dallas. I actually cover all of Rowlett, part of Garland, a tiny portion of Wiley, and the majority of my area is actually a lake named Lake Hubbard (maybe we'll get to baptize some fish while I am here). The only thing that I dislike so far about Rowlett is the giant bugs. I have seen so many giant spiders and my legs are peppered with mosquito bites.  They say that everyting is bigger here in Texas, and that is definitely true of the bugs.  It is really gross, but we deal with it and move on to knock on another house.  
   The area we cover is over the the Rowlett 1st and Rowlett 2nd wards.  I live in the nothern portion of Rowlett in a member's home. They are the Heuers (hoy-yer) and their home is a mansion! We don't see them too often because they are always out serving other people and taking care of their family, but the are super nice and have great personalities.  
   Sister Pierce is also great! We have had so much fun being companions this last week, which is awesome because both of us were worried about being companions with each other. She has glasses and curly brown hair. She is very bold and go-get-em in the way she acts. She loves the people that she serves around, and she has already been doing some great work here in Rowlett. Sadly, she goes home in 8 weeks (a transfer and a half) so once again I won't get to be her companion for too long. I already love being with her so much. We are always laughing and laughing. We're "fixin' to bust a gut" as Sister Pierce puts it.  I also love teaching with her.  We already have a great unity in our companionship, which is awesome because then we can work on becoming even better missionaries and moving on to greater and bigger oportunities with the help of the spirit.
   We have a baptism coming up this Saturday. Their nicknames are Van and Khek. They are a couple from Laos and have a cute little 2-yr-old boy named Anouxay.  I taught them yesterday and they both have very strong testimonies.  They love the church and especially the ward that they go to.  The were originally Buddist and spoke very little English when the missionaries found them. Much has changed because they spirit has taught them and it has changed their lives.  It is very amazing to see this end result because I have heard so much about their journey (Sister Squarcia taught them before she was my companion in D4). They have progressed and truly want to do as Christ would do.
   The work is going great here in Rowlett.  We also have another couple of baptismal dates in our area. I am excited to keep working with these people and also to find new people to teach. More exciting news is my investigator "T" Asoau back in D4 actually went to church yesterday for the first time since the missionaries started teaching him back in February. Pretty amazing miracle since when I first met him he had to crawl around the house on his knees because of problems with his feet. T still has those problems, but he has decided that he needs to do what he can on his own if he truly wants to be baptized. So amazing to see how much he grew and progressed. This all comes from the gospel and the spirit changing people and increasing their desire to become more like the Savior. Nothing else could do it! 
   One funny experiece this week... our waterbottles get really hot from sitting out in the sun here in TX. We try to bring extra water with us to keep us from being dehydrated, but the water just ends up boiling in our car.  I hate drinking the hot water because it doesn't feel like it hydrates you at all. So I came up with a crazy plan. The other day I brought some hot chocolate packets with me in the car. By the afternoon, the water was hot and so I mixed in a hot chocolate packet. It worked... the water was hot enough for hot chocolate so it mixed in well. I drank it and it actually tasted pretty good. Sister Pierce was so disgusted and yet amazed at what I was doing. She still thinks that I am crazy and that my idea is very, very strange.. but it works. Indeed it is kinda weird and I may never ever do it again, but I definitely had fun trying to make hot chocolate out of my boiling water that I left in the car.
   Hopefully there will be many more fun experiences to come here in Rowlett. The work is progressing nicely, but there is still a lot more people to share the gospel with. We have lots of people to find and baptize. The first thing Sister Pierce said to me at transfers was "Sister, we are going to translate all of Rowlett." We are deifintely going to try and have some great fun doing so.
 I love y'all. Don't forget to always read the Book of Mormon daily, pray daily, and attend church. It will bless your life and make your burdens become light.  The gospel is true! Missionary work is the greatest!

Love Always- Sister Peck

PS- today is my 5 month anniversary since I entered the MTC. Pretty crazy! I can't believe how fast the time is going by. So much work that I have left to do!