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

Megan's Letter 10/31/16

Hey I hope y'all are having a great Halloween so far! We did most of our celebrating on Saturday at Trunk or Treat!(: It was especially fun because Lindsey came to visit, and Kylie came with us as well!

On Wednesday we saw Diana! It was a really cool experience because when we got to her house, she wasn't home! Then we were driving down the street and we saw her member friend doing yard work, so we got out to help. About 15 minutes later Diana and her husband pulled up and invited us over! We were able to read Alma 32 with her, and get her back on track to prepare to be baptized. She and her two grand kids showed up to Trunk or Treat as well!

 

On Thursday I went on an exchange with Sister Alyssa Willardson in Guntersville, AL. It was super fun to talk because she is from Sandy, UT and went to Jordan High School! We know a few of the same people. She is such a sweetheart. She is always positive and keeps her focus on the Savior! We went and watched the sunrise over the Tennessee River for morning exercises (':

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We had a great lesson with Zekayla last night in a member's home! It was good because her mom came so we were finally able to set a baptismal date for either the 1st or 2nd Saturday in November! What a huge blessing. (: Her mom had us all put rhinestones on our foreheads. Not sure why.😂

 

 

Earlier last week I was reading in Alma 29! Verses 1-3 say:

 

"1 O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!

 2 Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth.

 3 But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me."

 

 

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It's amazing how we gain this desire to share the gospel as we gain a testimony of it! It's what we have been calling "the Tree of Life effect". Just as Lehi desired to share the fruit of the Tree of Life with his family, we too can have a desire to take the gospel to others as we partake of it's blessings.

I hope y'all have a great week and a Happy Halloween!(:

-Sister Megan Merrill

Megan's Letter 10/24/16

We carved pumpkins last week 😄 And it's finally cooling down outside!! We were in the high 80's earlier in the week and then we dropped way down to the low 60's. Fall has FINALLY made it's way to Alabama! Which also means tornado season is on it's way... Pray for us!!!

​

 

 

I had an exchange with Sister Ward this week! She is amazing. We went store contacting and accidentally bought dresses, and then got some ice cream for lunch.😂 But seriously this girl is an amazing teacher and she cares so deeply about every person she comes in contact with! I always forget she has only been out just over 2 transfers.

 

This week I got sick so we were in a lot! It's always annoying getting sick on the mission because there is absolutely nothing to do. You can't turn on netflix, you just sit there. Luckily we had the Testaments to watch hahaha. And the essentials (Dr Pepper and chap stick).

​

We still haven't heard much from Diana this week but we have a set appointment with her on Wednesday! Hopefully we can figure out what's going on with her. Zekayla did not show up for the Primary Program yesterday, but when we saw her practicing last week her part was: " I am excited to get baptized because I know I will be making a promise to Heavenly Father." She is so sweet.

Sorry for the short email but this week was pretty slow! We did have our first District Meeting of the transfer so that's always fun. (: 

 

There's this quote that was left on my bathroom wall by Sister Patten when she served here. It says: "Small improvements daily will outshine the labors of Hercules". I have found that to be so true on my mission! As I focus on becoming a little better each day, I look back and realize how far I've come from the person I was. I'm so grateful for the amount of change that has happened in me through my Savior!

 

This coming week will be super busy for us with 2 exchanges and the ward "Trunk or Treat" party this Saturday! I love Halloween (((: Hope that y'all have a great week!

-Sister Merrill

Megan's Letter 10/17/16

I got another Florence visitor this week! I love Katelyn so much! She would go out with Sister Patten and I every single week. In her own words: "I basically trained you."

 

So here's a couple pics of me and my second trainer.😂

I got to go on exchanges with Sister Sheffield again this week! I still adore her. It's crazy because she has grown so much and become such a strong missionary since I last went on exchanges with her a few months back! Also we are both still addicted to Dr Pepper and we call each other when we can't remember lyrics to Mayday Parade songs. It's a pretty good friendship.❤

 

I also had the chance to get to know Sister Glance better this week on an exchange! A little late because she is heading home this week. )': She is such a great example to me of a diligent missionary who spent her entire time here loving the people like the Savior would. We had a lesson with this cute Christian couple who claim they aren't interested in reading from the Book of Mormon. We ended up reading in Luke 22 about the Atonement, and comparing it to Alma 7! It was cool to see their hearts soften. (:

 

This week we had a lesson with Kylie at her Grandma's house! We had the Weatherly Sisters come with since Sister Hintze can relate to some of the trials Kylie has been through. We also helped her paint her room this week. We love her so much!

 

We went out to dinner with our two cute young women friends on Saturday. We love them so much!

 

We have some sad news. Diana was suppose to get baptized this Saturday, but has been dodging our texts, calls, and appointments. She hasn't been to church the last two weeks. We are so so sad. Please keep her in your prayers and pray we can know how to help her!

 

We got to teach the Preach My Gospel class for the youth last night. It was bitter sweet because an Elder in our ward just lost his dad yesterday morning, and our lesson was on the Plan of Salvation. I'm so grateful for the knowledge we have that we can be with our families for eternity.

 

In the most recent General Conference, President Uchtdorf said:

 "That is why we are here on this beautiful planet earth—because God offered us the opportunity, and we chose to accept it. Our mortal life, however, is only temporary and will end with the death of our physical body. But the essence of who you and I are will not be destroyed. Our spirits will continue living and await the Resurrection—a free gift to all by our loving Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. At the Resurrection, our spirits and bodies will be reunited, free from pain and physical imperfections."

 

I love the great Plan of Happiness that God has given us, and I love sharing that good news with the people here in Alabama. I love y'all so much and I hope you have a great week!

​

-Sister Merrill

Megan's Letter 10/10/16

This week I went to Athens, AL on exchange with Sister Cushing! We had a blast. I even held a member's baby goat, and we went hammocking on the apartment deck. (:

Elder Dyches from the quorum of the Seventy came and visited our mission! We had a special MLC where he trained on agency, and how we can be better agents. The next day we had a Zone Conference with half the mission!

LINDSEY CAME TO VISIT ME. I cannot begin to tell y'all how much this girl means to me. (: Regan also came later that night! It's so nice to be close to home (Florence).

Right now we have the privilege to be teaching Zekayla! She is 9 years old and her mom is completely inactive, but her 18 year old brother and her get picked up by members for church every week. They have really hard living conditions. It's humbling to be able to work with her. She is so smart too! She read the first vision without even stumbling yesterday. Most of our adult investigators struggle with that one!

When Sister Dyches spoke on Thursday she read something that really stuck out to me! The definition of repentance from the Bible dictionary states: 

"The Greek word of which this is the translation denotes a change of mind, a fresh view about God, about oneself, and about the world. Since we are born into conditions of mortality, repentance comes to mean a turning of the heart and will to God, and a renunciation of sin to which we are naturally inclined.... Repentance is not optional for salvation; it is a commandment of God."

I am so grateful for the opportunity to repent given to us by our loving Savior. Some of my favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon are Alma 7:11-12.

" 11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

 12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities."

I know the Savior suffered for each and every one of our sins so that we may be cleansed and return to live with Him! I am grateful for the knowledge that He also suffered for our infirmities so that we may be comforted. I feel so lucky to be able to wear Christ's name on my chest each day as I serve Him here. 

I hope y'all have a great week!

-Sister Merrill