December 30, 2013

Before I post her email from today, I'll report that the family was all together (with google hangout) when Jenni called.  She looked great!  She was her happy self.  She and her companion sang us "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas"  They changed some of the words to make it more missionary appropriate :)  "...the mistletoe, hung where you can see.  Nobody waits for me, but that's the way it ought to be." They added some fun harmony in there too.  It was fun to hear them sing together since music has been a big part of Jenni's mission so far. She sounded happy to be a missionary and we're so grateful for modern technology that not only lets us hear her voice, but see her lovely face!

Now, for her email:

Dear Family!

Christmas is gone already, I can't even believe it.  Not much to catch you up on, because we got to talk on Wednesday!  We had a great Christmas day with the family of my Branch Mission Leader.  It was so fun watching their little kids get so excited.  I can't believe that December is come and gone! It is definitely crazy!

The day after Christmas, we went to visit Sapphire, but she was just leaving town so we rescheduled. She is the girl that has a baptismal date. Walking back to the car, Sister Bunderson heard someone playing a keyboard, so we investigated! Cause she loves piano. A few backyards away, 2 men were out jammin Gospel with a little keyboard.  We joined them :)  Not only was it very fun, but we got to teach and invite them to church.  

On Saturday, we went out to a Branch activity on the very border of our area.  We drove through miles and miles of dirt roads. Finally we drove up to their house; a huge, beautiful white southern palace! We learned a new phrase 'as southern as possible' ASAP.  When we are on a road marked 60 mph and the car in front of us is going 15, we call that ASAP. 

We've been having nightly snowball WARS. Sister Bunderson's cousin sent us some yarn balls that we use as snowballs. Our apartment is huge and built like a perfect snowball fight arena, especially in the dark. Ya'll know that I can't see in the dark and so Sister Bunderson whuped my trash! It was very fun! I can't just blame the dark... I am just bad at snowball fights.

So something that was interesting that we tried for food was eggs and rice. For breakfast, they eat fried eggs BARELY COOKED, put on rice and stirred together.  We were fed that a while back, and I'm pretty sure the eggs were rotten, so it was death.  They will also do this with grits.  I think it wouldn't be too bad, but I'd have to make it myself, I'm losing my trust with Southerner's ability to fully cook an egg.

They also mix rice with anything that needs to be stretched.  We had lasagna with rice.  Some lasagna, lots of rice, all stirred up.  It's not bad.

It was so fun to talk to all of you this week!!! I'm glad that we could get the whole family together! It made me so happy! :) I love you all and hope that you all had a great Christmas and have a happy new year!! 

Love

Sister Merrill

December 23, 2013

Hi family!! 

I cannot believe that it is already Christmas!!! It doesn't feel like it at all... BUT I am so excited to talk to ya'll!! So I don't have much to say but I do want a favor from each of you. Think about all that you are doing and be ready to tell me about it. I want to hear mostly about you guys instead of me talking all the time. haha. I will have a surprise for you though! Don't worry... it is nothing scary or something like dying my hair. It'll just be something fun. :) You'll just have to wait and see.

Well, everything is great here in Madison, FL. We are being fed really well by the branch. I promise that I have probably gained some weight, it's so bad! But we are very appreciative. Last night we went to a member's for dinner and I was having a laughing fit.... it was so bad but it was also hilarious. The family was laughing too and so it wasn't just me, luckily. Anyways, this week we had a half mission conference. It was good. We did a little program where there were songs and little narrations in between. Sister Bunderson played a beautiful song on the piano. It was Silent Night with Clair Delune mixed. She did awesome! She is so good on the piano. We sang Mary's Lullaby as well. It went pretty good. After the program we introduced all of the districts that were there and our district used the poem Twas the Night Before Christmas. Dave I thought of you reciting it while we were making it up :) The funny lines that we put in there were... 

"Elder Nelson was fighting for all to see,

MMA, UFC, HIJKLMNOP.....

Then arose Elder Perkins upon his fine steed,

and roped those poor reindeer with gusto and speed." 

It was fun! Then we did a stocking exchange with everyone there. It was a fun little Christmas get together! 

Well I better go but I'm excited to talk to everyone on Christmas!!!! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

Love,

Sister Jenni Merrill

Ps... I'll send some pictures of our little Christmas tree and decorations next week :) I can't figure out this computer this week haha.

December 16, 2013

My dear family,

Hello!! Sorry this week is going to be short.... but This week has been pretty good. I don't remember half of what happened though. haha Sometimes that is what happens on a mission. All the weeks blur together. Well on Tuesday we had our last district meeting with our district and we went to Tallahassee for that. Afterwards we stayed to do a recording of a song that Sister Bunderson made for a mission video that they are putting together. She is way good!! So we pretty much were busy all day. On Wednesday the had a little Branch primary party that they had at the church. It was fun to be involved with the little party they had. On Thursday we had a RS dinner where we started eating at one of the members house for salad and then we went to another member's in a limo to eat lasagna. Afterward we went to the church for cheesecake and a white elephant gift exchange. It was very fun!! And we got Debbie to come which was a huge step for her. She is a less-active and her husband is taking the lessons. We are going there tonight for a little bday party for Sister Bunderson. Then Friday and Saturday we went around Madison with the new elders to show them around and show them different people that we are working with. I really don't have time so I'll just send a few pictures home! I sure love you guys!! Sorry this is all over the place and doesn't make sense :) I'm excited for Christmas!!

This is the branch Presidents daughter and Debbie with Sister Bunderson and I! :) At the RS dinner

This is the limo that we got to drive in!! It was fun :)

Well, I know that this gospel is the only true gospel! I love it with all my heart and am grateful to be able to share it with everyone! I love serving the Lord. It gives me so much joy! 

I love you all!

Love,

Sister Jenni Merrill

December 9, 2013

Dear Family,

My first transfer is pretty much up! I can't believe that time has gone by so fast! I feel like I have learned a lot and have grown so much in the last 6 weeks. I will be staying here in Madison, FL! I am excited! I love my companion and the area. :) The Elders in the area are being transferred out though so we will be having two new elders in Madison. I am excited! The last Elders weren't putting their all into the work and it got a little frustrating sometimes because we would have to pick up on their slack sometimes. We are excited for the new change!

Well I hear that it is very cold in all of the areas ya'll live in!! It feels so nice here. :) I am very grateful! I love not having to turn on the heater in our apartment. It's great. I don't think that Florida knows that it is December already! So how are ya'll doing?

I am doing great! I have had some neat experiences this week that I'd like to share. The first is that the Lord answers prays. We have been struggling to get members to come with us to our lessons and so we have been praying really hard for us to be able to start making that happen. Well on Tuesday we had a member in the branch take us out to dinner. Her name is Kim and she is a solid woman. She rides her bike from her house to the church every Sunday which takes about 45 -60 minutes! She is great. Well she met us in Madison (which again is about an hour to drive to from where she lives) to feed us. We offered to drive her home since we were going that way to see one of our investigators, Tammy. We asked, thinking that she would say no, if she would be willing to just make a stop with us and teach her. Kim was so willing and came with us. It ended up that they got along really well and became friends. So not only did the Lord provide us with a member to come to the lesson with us but he provided a member present lesson that had a purpose to it. It was such a neat experience to see that the Lord is watching out for us and hearing our prayers. He wants us to be successful. The lesson with Tammy was great! Especially because we had a member there to bear testimony as well. The second experience was last night. We had planned to go visit the Carters, a less-active couple. When we got to their house they weren't home and so we walked slowly to our car and just waited awhile for some weird reason and then as we decided to drive away very slowly they drove up! So we stopped and went into their house and started talking. Well then their friend, Darlene, showed up. They introduced us to her and we started talking about the church and she said that her son was starting to look into the Mormon church. (He is in a correctional facility) She said that he had been trying to get her to look into it for a while but that she was never really interested but that now she would like to learn more and see what we believe. We gave her a Book of Mormon and we got her phone number. Right as we were talking with her, her son called and so we got to talk to him for a bit and he brought up the Christmas Devotional that was going to be on and so Sister Carter turned the TV to the BYU channel. It was still only about 645 and so we watched a devotional that was on right then. It was Elder Holland and he was talking about Alma 32:21. It was a miracle because her son had just told her to look up that scripture and said that Elder Holland gave a talk on it on time. Little miracles like that happened at that house last night. Darlene had to leave before the devotional but we are going to call her this week and meet up with her.

We stayed and watched the devotional which was so good! I loved it. I felt the spirit very strongly. Thomas S. Monson is a prophet. I know that he is. I know that Christ was born and that he lived and died for us. I love my Savior and am grateful for his example. I love teaching people about Christ and being able to bring them closer to him. I have the best job right now, serving the Lord!

I hope you all have a great week! I have to go but I love you all!

Love,

Sister Jenni Merrill

December 2, 2013

Hey family!

It's December! And sometimes here in Madison, it sure doesn't feel like it. Some days it is freezing outside and other days it is the perfect weather and there is just a nice breeze outside. I love the weather here. How was every one's thanksgiving?! From what Mom and Dad told me it sounds like you guys had a ton of fun! I thought about you guys a lot and imagined what you guys would be doing. I heard you didn't really get to play football or ping-pong very much though because of Wilford and Ben.... I'm sure you still had a lot of fun though! 

Well this week was very busy but in a good, productive way and I loved it! It rained quite a bit this week and was super cold for a few days. On Tuesday we had a zone training meeting in Tallahassee, which is an hour away, and so we drove out there for that. That took up all of our morning and afterward we had to do our studies. So remember how I told you that we were going to teach Tiffany? Well we taught her on Tuesday night! It was so good. The spirit was very strong. We prepared and prayed a lot for this lesson and we felt really good about how it went. Because it was the first time that we were teaching her we did a lot of getting to know her and what she expecting out of us teaching her and what she wanted to learn. She has had a pretty rough life and she was raised baptist but she knows that that is not what is right so her and her husband are looking into different churches to see which one is right. We taught her the Restoration and we thought it helped her alot with her questions and concerns about religion. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she committed to reading part of it. At the end of the lesson we got her to offer the closing prayer. It was very powerful and very touching. I had the best feeling. I love teaching this gospel to people! It is so fun to see it change others lives. 

The rest of the week we did a lot of visiting people like usual and then on Friday we did an exchange with the sister trainers in our zone. So I stayed in Madison while Sister Bunderson went to Tallahassee. I learned a lot from doing the trade-off. I'm excited to put some of the things that I learned to use and see if it effects my work here in Madison. So I forgot that this week was Thanksgiving!! It was very different being away from home but it was still good. We ate a lot of different types of food though. We had this carrot soufflé, homemade Mac n' cheese, no rolls or bread, hardly any pies, twice baked potatoes, etc. We ate at a members home and they had family over that were in-active. So that was good. Then we just went and visited some more less-active and people who needed the visits. Sister Bunderson made some cheesecake and pecan pie so we brought a cheesecake to one of the members houses. By the way... the say pecan like this: p can. It is very different from back home in Mesa. I just laugh. 

So this weekend we had the opportunity to sing in a musical number in the Tallahassee stake christmas program but we played on the organ instead. It was very fun! We went there on Saturday to practice and then performed on Sunday. So we did a lot of traveling. It was fun though. I know a little more about playing the organ which is neat. During the program I was sitting next to this guy that was from the stake there. He kept looking at me and then would took his phone out and was doing something on it. Well after one of the songs he leans over and asked me where I was from. I said Arizona. He said, "Mesa?" Well he asked if I knew Wilford and I said that he was my brother! Come to find out that he was in Wilford's district in the MTC and then worked with him in the MTC just barely! So he had been texting Wilford during the meeting. It was fun to see someone that knew my family! I love when that happens! It is a small world! Mom said that she saw the picture so I hope you all got to see it! 

Well I am going to put some pictures on another email but I love you all! Have a great week!! And happy December! :)

Love, 

Sister Jenni Merrill

The day I went into the MTC

This one is on the day of exchange and so it's Sister Harris and I and then a less-active member in the branch. Her name is Sister Ponce. She is the 89 year old. She is hilarious. The two kids are her grandkids:

This one is of Sister Bunderson and me after the concert last night:

November 25, 2013

Dear Family,

Can you believe that it's almost thanksgiving?! I sure can't! It'll be so weird to not be home for the holidays. I'm trying not to get home sick but I love Madison and the people here so I'll be okay but just know it is not the same here as it is there back home.

Well this week was better than last week! We still didn't get very many appointments but when we started this 40 day fast where we fasted for a day and thought of some things that we could stop doing or give up that would allow the spirit to be with us more. Then for 40 days we're going to continue to work on being perfect at not doing those things. We got the idea from an apostle who gave a talk on purification and had a story about that. I'm not quite sure who it was by though... It has already worked some miracles! We were in the library one day this week, the day we were fasting, waiting for someone to show up to an appointment and they didn't come but it ended up that another guy came by and he ended up wanting to know more about mormons and I gave him a Book of Mormon. It was my first one that I gave out. It was the best feeling EVER! It was cool to see how when we started focusing more on doing the Lord's work and putting aside our thoughts and feelings the Lord provided us with something to do. When we are obedient, the Lord blesses us! I loved being reminded of that and seeing it happen in my own life. This man's name is Richard. He set up an appointment with us the following day! We were excited but then he ended up not showing up. It was a little disappointing but we were able to get other things done and we looked for other ways that the Lord needed us. Also that same day, the Branch President's wife gave us a person that wanted us to come meet with her. We are going to teach her tomorrow. Her name is Tiffany and we are hoping that this goes well and she will start taking all of the lessons. 

This weekend we helped a member in the branch set up for her son's wedding reception. Her daughter in law, Terri, is a baptist. She helped us set up as well and it was good making friends with her so that hopefully we'll be able to get out to her house and eventually get her interested in the church. We'll see about that one though. It is hard to change some people's minds about going to a different church. Something funny is that for one of the platters that they put food on was a microwave plate! Ha ha! I was dying laughing. She said that it was very redneck but that it was the only thing she had left to use as a platter! :) I love Madison! It's so fun here. The people really are great! Then after church yesterday we had a thanksgiving lunch gathering. It was a fun little get together. There were a few non-members and some less actives that came and so it was nice to see them come. I mostly went around and talked with people. 

So on Sunday Sister Bunderson and I spoke and did some musical numbers in sacrament meeting. It was fun! Usually I get so nervous and can't do that kind of a thing but we sang and I even did a solo. I really enjoyed doing it and everyone said that they loved it! I'm sure there were more things that happened this week but I don't have much more time to remember and put them down. We do go visit a lot of less actives and it's fun to see their spirits be uplifted as we chat with them. We ate at a few of the members home's this week and that was good. I love the members in this branch! We are just trying to get them to go out on visits with us now. That seems to be the hardest part. We keep praying hard for it.

I hope that you all have a great week and Thanksgiving!! Have fun wherever you will be!! :) I love you all! Thanks for being such a great family! I love this gospel and am so grateful for it in my life. I'm grateful for the change I have to serve in Florida and share the gospel with them. I am so grateful for my Savior. He lives. I love him. Yesterday I talked about how we need to be more thankful to the Lord for everything thing that we have and for all the blessings that we receive. A lot of the time we just ask, ask, and ask things from the Lord. Maybe start to pray to Heavenly Father for more of the blessings that you notice and thank Heavenly Father for them. Again, I love you guys!

Love,

Sister Jenni Merrill

Nov 18, 2013

Hello!!

Well this week has been pretty good. It was pretty slow and not very many people wanted to meet with us or just weren't home. I decided I need to be better on my emails and write more detail and more of want is happening and so I'll try my best. Here it goes!

For this week on Tuesday after I emailed we just went home and did all of our studies which include personal study, companion study, and 12 week (for the first 12 weeks the trainer does this with the person they are training). Usually we do those in the mornings but on Tuesdays we have district meeting and we do our studies later in the day. On wednesday we did studies until 10 and then we went to Lake Park to do our singing and scripture reading to the rest home/old people. I love going there! It is fun and I love watching the old people sing with us or just smile at us. Afterward we weren't able to catch one of our investigators and so we went to a less active who is around 80 I believe. She just loves our visits because no one comes over to visit and she just talks to us about everything. Sometimes it is a little harder to get out of her house but it's nice to go make people feel like they are loved. Her name is Gussie Mae and she has a son that is handicapped and so she gets lonely with just him a lot. Then we called some people that we were told to contact but they both ended up not wanting to see us. One of them was a returned missionary but she married an anti-mormon and has fallen away. We then made fliers for a fireside we are having and then had dinner, did 12 week, and then did our nightly routine. (that includes daily planning, getting ready for bed, journal, and SLEEP!) Thursday we went to another rest home. Then that day is when we do weekly planning and so we did that which takes about 2 hours. Afterward we tried to visit about 4 people and all of them fell through and we couldn't reach anybody. That night we had a correlation meeting with the branch mission leader and the Elders in our area. Friday was my favorite day! It was my birthday!!! I can't believe that I am 20 years old!! I really don't feel like I am not a teenager anymore... it is crazy! Well we did our normal studies and then I opened a few packages that I got! I enjoyed everything that I got. I then went and checked the mail and had a full mail box. :) I just felt loved and it was nice. For lunch I got pizza and we went to Christina's (the recent convert) and ate with her and made her feel loved. It's cool to serve on your birthday! Because usually you focus on yourself but when you put others in front of you it makes you ten times happier! It was a great feeling! I love serving people! After we ate at her house, more appointments fell through which was a little discouraging but I tried to stay positive. After we tried to reach people Sister Bunderson made a cake for me. My favorite sherbet cake that Mom makes!! She is the best! Then we took it to an investigators house and talked to them and taught them and shared cake with them. Again, it is so much better to serve others and make others happy than to think about yourself! Saturday was filled with seeing this less active that is almost 90 and she just talks and talks as well! But it is fun to go and visit her and make her feel like she has someone and is loved. She has been coming back to church which is great! Especially because she is very old and has a little bit of a hard time moving. Other than that we didn't do much because appointments were falling through and we can't knock doors or tract because it isn't safe. So we did some musical things that we have to prepare for. Which BY THE WAY... I am learning how to play the organ! And will be playing with Sister Bunderson while a choir sings for some multi zone conference. And next Sunday Sister Bunderson and I are going to be doing some music for sacrament meeting. Sunday we went to church and Christina had brought a cake she made for my birthday! She is so sweet and kind and thoughtful. Although she has some problems in her life and she calls about all of them, I love her and think that she has come a long way and is progressing which is good! It makes me happy. We taught YWs because no one was there to teach it. There are only 2 YWs though and it is weird. But the lesson went well. Then we had meetings and studying and then tried to visit more people but they didn't want to see us or didn't answer their doors. We then spent some time at the branch presidents house and that was refreshing and nice to have people to talk with and try to figure out how to get members to go with us on visits and different problems in the branch. He kind of reminds me of Dad. I love it!! They are a great family! They did almost everything for the branch and have about half of the callings in the branch as well!

Well that might not make sense but it was my week! Not very successful but we have recommitted for this week and are looking forward to seeing some changes! I love being a missionary even when it gets tough! I had to tell my president what I am grateful and so I wanted to just copy and paste because thanksgiving is coming up soon.

I am thankful for a lot of things and most people are. Some of the things that I hold dear to my heart and am probably more grateful for them than other things in my life would include; my family, the gospel, my Savior, and the opportunity to serve a mission. I love my family! They have been such a support to me and have helped me grow and learn in ways I wouldn't have been able to without them. I don't think I would be in the place that I am today without them or without their love and support. The gospel has also been one of the things that I hold dear to my heart because I believe that I would be a lost person feeling like a wasted person if I didn't know that I had the truthfulness of the gospel in my life. I am so grateful that I can feel like I belong and feel like I have a purpose on this Earth because of the gospel. I think I am most grateful for my Savior! I couldn't be with God again if Christ hadn't suffered for my sins and made it possible to return back to Heavenly Father. I know that in my life I have felt him close by me in times of trial when I felt like no one else is there. I have been able to feel that he can relate and knows what I am going through. I am extremely grateful for him and that knowledge I have of him. The last thing I'll say that I am grateful for is that I am able to be here on a mission serving the Lord. I didn't think that I'd have this opportunity. It has really been a blessing in my life to really put others before myself and to learn and grow from that. I am grateful for the ups and downs of a mission.

Well I am doing good. I promise that next week there will be pictures cause I know I have been slacking with that! I love ya'll!! Thanks for all the letters and packages that were sent! I appreciate the love I feel from you!!

Love,

Sister Jenni Merrill

Nov 12, 2013

Hello Family!!!

All is well in Madison! I went out to Crestview Florida this past weekend for that production that my companion played the piano for. It was Joseph Smith the Prophet that Rob does. It was way cool!! I loved it! I got to sing in the choir which was fun. We were there from saturday until monday morning. It was very short but so awesome. I guess that half of the people that were there were investigators or less active. So cool!! The spirit was super strong. At one of the churches that we went to on Sunday they asked if I'd say the closing prayer. It is the first prayer I've given in a sacrament meeting or in a big meeting. I was nervous! Even though I shouldn't have been. Something else that happened this week is that one of our recent converts had two dogs that died and so we had to help bury them and have little funerals for them. There are sooooo many dogs and cats around here. And I don't love animals and so I just have to act like I don't see them.

Something that I want to share is a miracle that has happened with my companion and me. She was pretty sick this past week and we didn't get out very much but we pray a lot of times during the day together and we would always pray to be able to reach some of our goals and to be able to have the Lord's help. Even though she was sick and we were out of town for a few days we still gave missionary work our all for the week and the Lord blessed us that we were able to reach some of our goals and have a successful week! The Lord really does answer prays and is watching out for his children!

I don't have much time so sorry this is so short and all over the place but I just want you all to know that I love you! You are such a wonderful family!! I look up to all of you!! Thanks for all the support and emails! I enjoy reading them! Sorry if I don't write back all the time! Know that I pray and think about you all often! Love you! Have a great week!!

Love,

Sister Jenni Merrill

PS. thank you for all the birthday wishes!! I feel very loved! :)

Nov 4, 2013

Dear Family,

Hello!!! How are ya'll doing?! (That is how almost everybody speaks in Florida) Well at least where I am at. I am in Madison Florida. It is a little place. My companion is Sister Bunderson. She is super fun and nice and friendly! We are having a great time serving together! She is a great trainer and just loves serving a mission. I am serving in a branch and there are only about 60 people that go to church. The branch area covers about 4 little towns. It was very different then going to Vineyard ward on Sunday. I had to be the chorister in sacrament meeting, teach the gospel principles class for sundayschool, and then play the piano for Relief Society. I am being put right to work. It is fun. The people are very nice in this area. I felt very welcome yesterday and loved going to church. One of the recent converts that was baptized last saturday was there on Sunday with her 2 kids but my companion and I had to go down and sit by them to try and keep the kids quiet and get her to stay in the chapel. She was late for church though and so she missed the sacrament. She lives about 20 minutes away from the church and needs a ride and so it's tricky for someone to go get her and bring her to church. This recent convert has been a little needy and we spend a lot of time listening to her, going over to her place to comfort her, etc. She's very nice and has good intentions we just need to get the branch more involved with her and work with her. I have visited a lot of less actives and many of them are older women or couples. I still haven't been able to meet any of the investigators. None of them came to church yesterday which was sad but we will work harder this week. And everytime this past week we tried to go visit them they weren't home. Not going to lie, it has felt like the last 4 days have gone by SOOO slow! But they have been good days and I am loving serving the people here and the Lord. So every morning we get up at 630 and exercise til 7. The exercises vary on what day it is. Monday, Wednesday, Friday we run and then the other days we stretch, do push-ups, do ab workouts, etc. Nothing too exciting. Then we get ready from 7-8. From 8-10 we do personal and then companionship study. It is hard to stay awake sometimes!! Well at least during personal study. I need to be better at that. haha. At 10 we go out and visit people or try and see our investigators, eat lunch for an hour, walk around the lake to try and find people to talk to, etc. Really it kind of all depends on the day and if our plans get changed by Christina (who is the recent convert) or any other people that call us. It has been pretty good so far and I've loved being here. On Wednesdays we go to a rest home and sing to them, play the piano, and share a little message. That was WAY out of my comfort zone but somehow the Lord blessed me to not be nervous and to just sing how I would by myself. I was grateful. My companion said she was nervous that I would be tone deaf or something but she said I was great and that she was relieved to know that I could sing and play the piano. I arrived here in Madison on Wednesday and that was the first thing I did as a missionary in Madison. It was interesting. 

Well I feel like I am just rambling on and on so I hope that everything makes sense! Just so everyone knows..... I LOVE love love getting emails and letters!! Haha! It just makes me so happy! I know I don't have enough time to always write back but I love reading what everyone is up to! :) I can't think of anything really to tell you...

Wait! Something exciting is that I get to travel outside of my area this weekend and spend the weekend in Crestview!! My companion is very musical and she put on a production of Rob Gardener's Joseph Smith the Prophet in her last area and the mission president gave her permission to put on another performance this weekend! So we will travel there this saturday (it's about 6 hours away) and then the performance issunday night and we'll travel home on monday. Super exciting! I'll be able to sing in the choir and participate! It'll be fun:) But that means that I probably won't write home til either monday night or tuesday morning. Just to let you all know.

Well I sure love you guys!! I am loving serving the Lord and know it is what I am supposed to be doing right now. It has been so good for me. I know the church is true and that the Lord blesses those that follow him and keep his commandments! He wants us to be happy and I know that when we are doing the things in life that please God, we'll be happy!! I have totally seen it on my mission. I hope you all have a great week! Talk to you next week! I love you!

Love, 

Sister Jenni Merrill

She made it to Florida

Jenni left the MTC yesterday and made it to Florida.  She got to call her parents from the airport and again once she arrived and had an assignment.  Her first area is Madison, FL.

This is what her mom says after googling it:

 It is a town of almost 3000 on the very east of her mission, about 50 miles east of Tallahassee.  It is the county seat of Madison County  and “was designated as one of the "Best Little Towns in Florida" by VISIT FLORIDA”,  whatever that is.

I've put her updated address on the sidebar of the blog :) Everyone loves letters!

Oct 23, 2013

Her first email came yesterday!

Hello Family!

Wow, I can't believe that it has only been a week since I left home! It feels like it has been months! Before I get into things I just have to say to excuse if my grammar is bad or my writing is not so good. I am just trying to write as much as I can in so little time! haha

Well, I love the MTC! It has been a long and semi-hard week but has been so wonderful and amazing all at the same time. My companion's name is Sister Call. She is so awesome! We get along great. We are not really that similar and we don't have very many of the same interests but we work great together and we still laugh and have a good time together. She loves writing and reading and photography. Which I think is awesome and I wish I could be good at those things. She has just one brother and one sister. She is very quiet but just so sweet and has such a fun personality. It doesn't show very often but when it comes out, I love it.

Alright, as for my district, there is just one other sister companionship and then there are two elder companionships. We have so much fun together!! I love my district. We also get a lot done and have such a strong spirit in our classroom. At mealtimes we just laugh and laugh. I have to say that they think that I'm not shy at all. Which is super funny cause I used to think that I was so shy but I guess I just have kind of come out of my shell. And I have to say that they think that my laugh is hilarious and the things I say and do are funny so I usually start the laughter. Which is sometimes bad because I can't stop my laughter sometimes. I'll send some pictures of them next time I write. I have to say that it is so hard not to be good friends with the Elders because it is just easier to talk to guys for me so I have to be careful haha.

Anyways, there is so much I want to say but it is hard to remember everything and try to make sense of it. So here it goes. I have a Progressing Investigator (P.I.) and his name is Eric. He is one of our teachers but he plays as the investigator. Some of our appointments go so well and I feel like we are connecting and we're on the same page and then we have another one and it doesn't go bad but it just feels like we didn't really accomplish much. Then Sister Call and I have TRC and I don't really remember what that stands for but it's another investigator and her name is Chae and she is super friendly and fun and really interested in the gospel. We have only met with her once so we have just kind of gotten to know her and talked to her about God and the restoration. She really wants her life to be as "together" as her sister-in-laws and is wondering how she can have that. She is living with her boyfriend though.... so I don't know exactly how I could bring that up but I know that they Lord will help us and bless us if we are striving to live the way that he wants us to.

Alright so as for everything else, I got to bed at 10:30 and get up at 6:30 (can you believe that I actually do it???? hahaha) Then usually I just get ready and have to be at class by 7. We then have personal study time til about 830 and then I go to breakfast. After breakfast we sometimes have gym time or personal exercise time and then at 1030 we have classroom instruction until 130 when it's lunch and then from 215 until 515 we have some more classroom instruction time. Then zone teaching until 630 when it's dinner. After dinner we have different things. Some times we have devotionals or just more study time or we have TRC where we teach our investigator. During classroom instruction we just learn about one of the fundamentals of teaching and how we are to plan with our companions and then do personal study and then companionship study and then teach. Then we do a lot of role playing. I thought that it would be super hard (which it still is hard sometimes) but I find that if I really trust that I can have the spirit with me and I really focus on the investigators as I am studying I find that it is way easier to teach. This gospel is so awesome!! I know that it is true and that it does bless lives!! I am so grateful that I decided to serve. I feel like I have grown as a person already and it has only been a week. It probably has been the longest week of my life but I sure have loved every minute of it. The good and the bad times! I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon and that I have a testimony of it. It is so true and if we read it everyday we will be filled with the Spirit. I love this gospel and am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to spread it to others around me. I love you all and hope that your week is great!! I sure think about and pray for you all!! I have the best family, hands down!!! Thanks all who deareldered me!! I loved getting some handwritten letters! And thanks to those who emailed me as well :) I love just hearing from everyone! And sorry if I don't write to you personally! I will sometimes for sure! Again, I love you! Thanks for everything!

Love,

Sister Merrill

Address

While Jenni is at the MTC, you can send her notes 3 ways:

By mail:

Sister Jenni Merrill

OCT29 FL-TAL

2007 N 900 E Unit 71

Provo, UT 84602

By email: jenni.merrill@myldsmail.net 

Or by dearelder.com: You type up a message, they print it out, and put it in her mailbox.  Snazzy, right?

She will be at the MTC until the 29th.