Megan's Letter 12/28/2015

Hey guys!!

     Hope everyone had a good Christmas. Mine was way good cause of you! Thank you for the packages. It was so good to talk to you even though it's been like three weeks haha. This week has been pretty good! We went tracting on Saturday and found two pretty solid people who wanted to come to church! We were so excited. We went with a member to pick them up but the first guy was asleep.. and the other lady was awake but didn't answer the door. So that was kind of a bummer but I know I'll need to get used to that happening! Today we had a zone activity in Florence. We played a lot of games and it was fun! We had a really cool devotional after about inviting people to baptism every time you hand out a BOM. It's safe to say I need to learn to be more brave when it comes to those things (: But I'm excited to try it!

    SO for all of you reading this that I didn't have the chance to tell. I ALMOST DIED IN A TORNADO. Okay, not really. But it was pretty scary! We were headed to a meal appointment at a members when we were told to do the tornado drill! (get in the bath tub with your bike helmets on and put the mattress over your heads.) But we figured the members house was safer since they had a basement, so we went there. A little while after that the tornado sirens outside started to go off! THEN President Hanks gave us a personal call telling us we needed to get in the basement now because the tornado was headed directly towards Florence! It was pretty funny cause the whole family was packed in the bathroom in the basement with us. Me and Sister Patten were crammed up against the toilet! I sent a few pics. Turns out the tornado passed right over us and we were fine! It did touch down in Corinth though which is where I had been earlier that day on an exchange. I think three kids died there so that was way sad. I was pretty nervous the entire time but I guess it made for an interesting first week in the field!

     Oh one funny thing that happened this week was with a former investigator named Tina. She had previously agreed to be baptized but then her family convinced her that the Word of Wisdom was crazy. She is 60 but she is super unhealthy and has a paralyzed vocal cord so she looks and acts like shes 80! We got a call from her the other night at 2:45 am!!! She was trying to leave us a voicemail telling us she was back in the hospital and wants us to visit but it woke us up. It was pretty funny though because I was so tired that I told her we were already awake. We went and visited her yesterday but her sister (who we've never met) was there. the first thing she told us was that she's Methodist! A couple minutes later she left. We started talking to Tina when the nurse came in with her food! There was also a glass of ice tea but since she doesn't want to be baptized we didn't say anything. Before we know it her sister marches back in the room, picks up the tea, and puts it right in front of Tina. Then she said: "Tina honey you eat everything on this plate. You drink all this sweet tea, it is holy and blessed by the Lord." Then she walked back out. So that was pretty awkward hahahaha.

     Well anyway it was a pretty crazy week and I can't wait for things to calm down so we can be more focused on tracting and teaching! I love it here and I couldn't be happier (: LOVE Y'ALL! Have a good week!

Megan's Letter 12/21/2015

MERRY CHRISTMAS Y'ALL

Okay I'm still getting used to y'all, but I figured it's easier to just accept it now.

I am IN LOVE with Florence, Alabama. It's crazy how big this mission is and how far apart we are from other areas! I'm supposed to do exchanges tomorrow with an STL in Corinth which is an hour and a half away! It should be interesting. Can't say I'm super excited to sleep in another sisters bed though hahaha.

 I thought the first week was supposed to be hard!? Guess I just got super lucky with the best companion and the best area. My comps name is Sister Maddie Patten. She only has two transfers left!! She is from Springville, Utah. I love her so much! We get along so well and I'm learning so much from her! Sadly she was sick on Friday and some of Saturday so we spent a lot of time in the apartment and never went tracting until yesterday! We are in a car basically all the time unless the Elders need to borrow it. Knocking doors was scary at first but I'm already learning to be more comfortable being uncomfortable if that makes sense haha. 

This is such an incredible time of year to be spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ! We get to share the Christmas video ( A Savior is Born) with basically everyone we meet! It's perfect because everyone here is just super open about talking about Jesus haha! So we tell them we have a Christmas message about Christ and they usually love it! We got three new investigators yestrerday! So much can happen in an hour of knocking doors. 

Okay so I have a weird story to tell! When we were tracting yesterday we had an... interesting.. experience. This lady let us in and she was pretty Old and super ghetto southern. She had black hair with white grown out roots! She invited us in and introduced us to her daughter and her daughters partner haha. We shared the video and she responded really well! We thought it was going great. All of the sudden she started telling us about how she has been like basically possessed by the spirit when praying and possessed by 37 demons. Then she talked to us about how she was a stripper and how she calls her nipple her third eye.... We all basically had the same feeling to get out of there ASAP so we did! So yeah that's Alabama! HAH. Just kidding there are also a lot of normal nice people. Southern Hospitality is the greatest. Also we met the CUTEST couple last night that we are obsessed with. They do the worship service (church music) at a church called The Arc here. They are the most hipster couple I've ever met hahaha we adore them. They don't have much potential since the husbands Dad is the pastor but they want to be friends with us which is cute.(:

I'm excited for Christmas and to talk to you guys! I'll try to get that all figured out ASAP and let you know. We may have to call later in the day since our appointment is at the Bishops for dinner that day. Well I love you all and I hope you have the best Christmas! Don't forget who it's about (: Go watch the video I mentioned earlier if you haven't seen it yet! MERRY CHRISTMAS I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!
PS I saw  Chase Evenson a ton my last few days in the MTC! He's the best.

Megan's Letter- 12/10/2015

FAITH overcomes FEAR

This week as been a little overwhelming to say the least. I started off my first day with a lot of fears! Fear I wouldn't like my companion. Fear I would hate it here. Fear I couldn't be a good missionary. Fear of waking up at 6:30!!!! But as the week has gone on I have learned SO much! My companion is the best I could ask for. We get along so well and we also are good at teaching together. I have made so many friends here and weirdly enough I actually like the MTC. EVERYONE IS SO NICE! You cant walk anywhere without people saying hi or complimenting you! Class time is long but I've found that is where I learn the most as long as I'm paying attention! We get to work with some "investigators" ( actors) and it's crazy how real those experiences are! The Lord really does know what he's doing when he trains his missionaries! I want you all to know how much my testimony has grown even in such a small amount of time. I love this gospel more than ever! I leave the MTC at 3:30am Tuesday morning to head to the airport! My companion and a few Elders in my zone are headed to Birmingham too! My flight isn't until around 7am ish though. We have one layover in atlanta! Fam stay by your phones cause I can't wait to talk to you! I love you all so much and you're all in my prayers! Thank you to everyone who has sent me letters and packages you don't know how helpful it has been! I would make this longer but they give us no time. LOVE YOU GUYS!

FRIENDS: I didn't do an email sign up thing so I don't have your emails! Send me a quick email if you want me to have yours.

FAREWELL TALK

Hi guys! I'm giving my farewell talk tomorrow at 9 am!
13006 Boulter Street Draper, UT.
Afterwards there will be food at my dads house! 1519 Nashi Lane. Hope to see you there!
My MTC address is
Sister Megan Layne Merrill

DEC15 AL-BIRM

2005 N 900 E Unit 149

Provo UT 84602