Megan's Letter 11/28/16

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!!(:

This week was really busy for us.

Monday night we went and saw some lights with our friends Laura and Ashley! They are the best. They are pretty set in their ways but I think they'll be ready for the restored gospel some day. (:

 

Tuesday and Wednesday we had Zone Trainings in both of our zones! We trained on attitude. A little quote that has helped me throughout my mission is:

"When you serve out of fear, you'll have relief.

When you serve out of duty, you'll have peace.

When you serve out of love, you'll have joy."

Motives are everything! It's not only important what we do but how we do it.

I went on an exchange with Sister Hintze on Tuesday for her birthday! I love her SO much. We went and got some ice cream at Bridge Street with Laura and Ashley. (:

WE WENT TO FLORENCE ON SATURDAY. By far the highlight of my week. A kid we taught named Noah was baptized and invited all the missionaries who ever taught him. I got to see Charlotte too. That was really special. She made me a quilt (':

I found out Saturday night that I'm going to be leaving Madison and heading to Millbrook, AL! I'm so sad to go and I definitely wasn't expecting it. Good news is Sister Hintze is actually taking my place here! I know I can trust her and Sister Lewis with the people we are teaching.

Well my new address will be:

5860 Main Street apt 308

Millbrook, AL 36054

I love y'all! I can't believe I'll hit my year mark this Friday. I'm so grateful for my time here so far and the time I have left. The church is true! Have a good week. (:

 

-Sister Merrill

Megan's Letter 11/21/16

This week was great!

I got to go on another exchange with Sister Sheffield! I'm not complaining, she's the best. (:

We went and saw Diana with a member. She is doing awesome! She expressed to us her desire to share the gospel with her daughter who lives in the area. Her daughter is interested and wants to learn more, but she works a crazy schedule as a cosmetologist and can't ever make it to our appointments with Diana. We gave her some pamphlets and a Book of Mormon she can give to her daughter. Hopefully we can meet with them together sometime soon!

We also went on exchanges with the Athens Sisters! There's a Recent Convert in Athens that we've come to be pretty close with over time! His name is Eric and he is probably one of the strongest people I've ever met. I don't know how to put the trials he has been through (and some he is still facing) into words. He is so Steadfast in the gospel and recognizes God has been preparing him to find it his whole life!

Zekayla's long awaited baptism was on Saturday! There was a great turn out and I've never seen her happier. Afterwards when she was drying off we noticed she was crying! I don't think she understood why. We explained to her that what she was feeling was the Holy Ghost, and she didn't need to be afraid. She got a huge grin on her face and told us that sometimes her sister cries when she feels the spirit too. The whole day was a huge tender mercy.

Last night we had the privilege to meet the sweetest lady named Ailene. Her husband is a less active member because he is a flight attendant, but she sometimes attends church in another ward with her in-laws. Her father-in-law called us and told us to go see her! She is from the Philippines and could not be any nicer. Her husband was able to explain the Priesthood to her during the lesson and she said she would love to have us back! He would really like to be sealed to her in the temple, so that is the overall goal of course!

This morning we visited Rhusshon and Ivy! To our surprise they had read both the pamphlet, and the chapter in the Book of Mormon we had asked them to read! That rarely ever happens. We taught them the Plan of Salvation and committed them to be baptized if they come to know that the Book of Mormon is true, and that God's authority is in this church! 

I don't have anything else really to report back on this week! I am extremely grateful for the people here and for the love I'm able to feel for them because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I also would like my family to know how grateful I am for them and their support. I love and miss y'all every day! I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!(:

 

D&C 78:19

 

"And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more."

 

Mosiah 2:20

"I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another—"

 

Alma 34:38

 

"That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you."

-Sister Merrill

 

 

Megan's Letter 11/14/16

Hey y'all! Another busy week in Alabama!

It all started with MLC on Tuesday. My favorite part was when President Sainsbury said: 

 

"If it was true yesterday, and it was true last week, and last month, and last year, it's still true today!" 

 

We must always retain a remembrance of our testimony and the things we KNOW the spirit has testified to us. No amount of historical facts or policy changes or doubts can change what you have felt and known to be true in your life by the power of the Holy Ghost.

 

Alma 5:26 says:

 

" And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?"

This week was jam packed full of meetings. On Friday we had Zone conference, and on Saturday and Sunday we had Stake Conference with Elder Thompson of the Seventy! I also went on an exchange with Sister Smith! We got to go to a fun Veteran's day celebration and an official light up of Bridge Street Mall for Christmas. (:

 

We had a pretty interesting but cool experience yesterday while I was on splits with a Young Woman named Emily! So this is a confusing story, but I'll try my best to explain haha. 

 

Last transfer I went on an exchange with Sister Glance in the area next to ours! We went contacting at the mall, and one of the kiosk workers stopped us and tried to get us to buy a flat iron. Sister Glance amazed me when she agreed to buy a $100 flat iron if the lady would meet with the missionaries in her home! As chance would have it, this lady (Ivy) lives in our area. So we took her info and contacted her several times to try and set a time to meet. The meetings fell through 3 times and eventually we stopped contacting her. Okay that's the first half of the story.

 

THEN this last week we received an online Bible referral for a guy named Rhusshon. We delivered the Bible and introduced him to the Book of Mormon. He told us we could come back and see him and his girlfriend.

 

SO yesterday Emily and I decided to drop by and see Rhusshon, and you'll never guess who his girlfriend is!?!?! YEP Ivy the kiosk girl. They have a little baby girl together. They both invited us in and Rhusson was so confused as to how we know his girlfriend haha.

 

This just shows me that the Lord is in the details of our lives and especially in the details of missionary work! I'll let you know how our second lesson goes with them on Tuesday!

 

Last of all I want to express my gratitude for all the support I've gotten here! I have amazing friends and family, and I've made amazing friends and family here. I love this gospel, I know it's real! The fullness of it's blessings are only available through The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during our time on earth. Have a blessed week everyone. (:

-Sister Merrill

Megan's Letter 11/7/16

Hey y'all! This week was CRAZY but also really good.

I went on an exchange with Sister Davidson! We had this really cool finding approach by accident where everyone asked us if we were sisters and we replied: "Sisters in Christ!"

 

We saw Diana twice this week! We taught her the law of chastity and she committed to re-marry her ex husband who she now lives with. Then we taught her the Word of Wisdom and she accepted wholeheartedly! She is on track to be baptized next month. (:
 

We also saw Kylie this week and she is making some major improvements! She has been keeping her commitment to read the Book of Mormon and is going to tell her dad so she can get baptized! We are hoping to set a date with her this week! Please keep her in your prayers, it's not a very simple decision for her to make.
 

Zekayla is going to be baptized either this Saturday or the next. (:

 

Last and craziest part of the week was that we planned and carried out a WEDDING in ONE DAY. We got a call from the Zone Leaders on Thursday night that they needed help planning a wedding for Friday and a baptism for Saturday. It was absolutely insane and we were running around crazy the whole time! We taught Ed all 6 lessons on Friday morning and spent the rest of the day getting ready for the wedding. Saturday morning was Ed's baptism!(: It ended up being so worth it, and we grew to love them more than I thought was possible in just one day of knowing them.

​(makeshift bridesmaids)

 

I just want to share a scripture with y'all that I think is pretty relevant to our lives. It's Proverbs 5:28 and it says:

 

"The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish."

 

It reminded me of a talk Elder Dale G. Renlund gave at the April 2016 General Conference. He said:

 

"The concept—'the greater the distance between the giver and the receiver, the more the receiver develops a sense of entitlement'—also has profound spiritual applications. Our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, are the ultimate Givers. The more we distance ourselves from Them, the more entitled we feel. We begin to think that we deserve grace and are owed blessings. We are more prone to look around, identify inequities, and feel aggrieved—even offended—by the unfairness we perceive. While the unfairness can range from trivial to gut-wrenching, when we are distant from God, even small inequities loom large. We feel that God has an obligation to fix things—and fix them right now!"

 

I have a testimony that the closer we are to our Heavenly Father, the more we will be able to appreciate our many blessings! It is easy to feel cheated or that life is unfair when we aren't making the efforts to have a relationship with God and Christ. I know that we can build this relationship through daily prayer and scripture study. I promise if you make the efforts Christ will make up the difference.

 

I hope y'all have an amazing week. (:

-Sister Merrill