February 3, 2014

Hey Family!

How are you all this week? I am doing pretty good! Things were pretty slow this week and there was nothing too exciting going on but another week has come and gone. That is crazy to me. So this week it got pretty cold here! All of Madison shut down because it was "hazardous weather". It was pretty funny because even though it was a little rainy and super cold, there still wasn't ice and it wasn't anything compared to Utah or where there is snow! Luckily it is back to warm weather again though. That is good!

Well I am low on time today but I what to ask three things:

1. Are you searching your scriptures diligently everyday?

2. If not, what are your excuses for not reading them?

3. Are these excuses good enough for the Lord?

It is so important that we are reading our scriptures everyday! I wish that I had done better before my mission. It is such a sacred time that we have to be able to have the Lord talk to us. It is a time that we can become closer to our Heavenly Father. Scripture study and prayer. These two things will give you so much peace and happiness that nothing worldly can give you. How are your study and prayer habits? Think about that. 

Sorry I am out of time but know that I love you all!!! I keep each one of you in my prayers! Thanks for being a great family. You make life easier :) Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Merrill

January 27, 2014

Hello Family!

How is everything and everyone? We had a pretty good week this week. We taught quite a few lessons and had some interesting experiences. 

The first neat thing that happened this week was actually on Monday. We had this referral that we needed to contact that was a less-active. So we decided that we should go contact her since we had the miles and we had an open day. Well her house is about 15 miles away and so we drive forever to get to her house and as we pull up there are these two pitbulls that are barking like crazy. We stayed in the car for a while and decided that we needed to get out and be brave little girls! So we do and luckily the dogs had calmed down a bit. We were nervous that they were going to start attacking us though but they didn't! We made it to the door and knocked. The girl that answered is probably 19 or 20 and was definitely not the girl that we were looking for. So we asked her if Sister Poyer lived there and I guess she had moved so we ended up talking to the 19 yr old, Hannah, and she was very interested in learning more about the church! It was very exciting. We set up a return appointment and went and taught her on Saturday. The lesson was so good. The spirit was strong and she really enjoyed it! We gave her a Book of Mormon to read and are going back on Thursday to have another lesson. We were able to bring Alana to the lesson with us. Alana is a member of the branch. She is a convert and so her testimony was perfect for Hannah. It was just a neat lesson. Who would've thought that we would get a new investigator by trying to contact a less-active referral. It was neat! Things like that are highlights from the mission :)

We went tracting for the first time on my mission! We found this random street that seemed really cool and so we took an afternoon and knocked doors. Mostly no one answered except for 2 people. One of them wanted to learn more and accepted a Book of Mormon. The other said he knew a little about the Book of Mormon and just wasn't interested. He was good with his church. Sometimes people are like that down here in the South. Here is a funny story about a lesson we taught this week. We were teaching a 9 and 11 yr old and we were talking about the story of Ammon. Well at the end of the lesson we asked the boys "What did you learn about God?" The 11 yr old said, "Oh I know, i know! That boy Almoy used his powers to do the goats in the pen." Then the 9 yr old says, "Nuh uh! Ammon used God's power to slay the guys arms off." Oh man.... I'm glad that at least the 9 yr old was paying attention! Sometimes that is how lessons go as well.

We had Stake Conference this weekend and it was regional. It was very neat. One of my favorite talks was from Sister Carol F. McConkie. She talked about God's commandments. Why we have them and what they do for us when we keep the commandments. She read through the hymn of Keep The Commandments. It is so plain and simply stated... "Keep the commandments, in this there is safety, in this there is peace. He will send blessing." That isn't all of it but it is right there. If we keep the commandments, God will bless us and keep us safe. He gave them to us so that we will have the guidance that we need and the safety and peace that comes from following the commandments. She then talked about 3 things that keeping the commandments do for us. They are: 1. Helps us to know the truth. 2. Blesses us with happiness 3.Unites us with God and prepares us to return to Heavenly Father. I love the last one. What better way to live our lives then with being united with God and being prepared to live with Heavenly Father again. If we do not keep the commandments in this life then we won't even feel comfortable living with God again. I am grateful that God gave us commandments so that we can have guidance and be protected and find peace. They are there to help us. And if we love God, we'll keep his commandments. (John 14:15)

Well I have no time left but I love you all!! Hope you're week is great! Read your scriptures and say your prayers! You is the best way to have the spirit with you. 

Love,

Sister Merrill

January 20, 2014

Dear Family,

 

This week has been a really good week. You know how I said I'd write a lot this week... well I don't have anytime because it is a holiday and we are using a member's computer and we don't want to take up all of their time. So here goes for the highlights of this week.

 

This week I did an exchange with the sister trainers and I learned a lot about teaching with the spirit. We were able to visit 3 people that day and teach them. We had planned lessons for all of them but when we went to go see them the spirit told us to go in a different direction. It is so neat to be able to recognize the spirit talking to me and directing me in my teaching. We were able to comfort one of the ladies that we taught named Peggy. She had found out that her mom wasn't able to come because she wasn't able to get her visa and she hasn't seen her in 7 years. We shared multiple scriptures of comfort with her. We helped her know that the Lord is always with us in our trails and we helped her understand that even if we don't understand why things happen to us we need to trust in the Lord and know that he will help us through those things. Some of the scriptures that we shared were John 14:18,27, Alma 36:3, Ether 12:26, and D&C 58:2-4. It is neat to see how scriptures can comfort us in our times of trials.

 

At the end of this week we had a mini MTC in the branch I am in. In the morning we had a few classes to learn more about missionary work and how we can do it. Then we had lunch. After lunch we got split into companionships with the youth and had people we needed to go visit. Once we were done with our visits we met back at the church for dinner and a testimony meeting. It was a good experience to see the youth sharing testimony and going out to do missionary work. It was also cool to be able and use the power of the spirit and share whatever came to my mind.

 

Well I am excited to stay in Madison!! I love this area and I love serving with Sister Bunderson. IT will be such a fun transfer. There are a lot of people that we have to teach and to bring closer to Christ. I love what I am doing and love always striving to be better. I love you guys and hope you all of a great week!

 

Love,

Sister Merrill

January 13, 2014

Hello Family!

This week was a little bit unusal but it was still good. I don't have much time today because I spent some time emailing others... I know that is bad because family comes first! I try to be better about that! :) 

The main parts of this week were that first I went out of my mission twice..... don't worry! I was given permisison. :) The first was that this part member family wanted to take us to Walmart in ValDosta which is not very far from Madison but it's not in the mission. The President said that that was fine. It was really good because we had the opportunity to really bond with this couple and we were able to talk a lot about the gospel and get in some neat teaching opportunities. We are hoping that they will be more willing to come to church and for the husband to want to get baptized. The desire is what is keeping him from baptism. He just doesn't completely want it yet. It is always sad! The husband is a nonmember and the wife is a less-active.

 The second thing that we went out of the mission for was to go to our branch president's mom's funeral. He wanted us to sing "O My Father" at it. We were able to go and we were able to ride with Debbie and Darryl (the couple that took us to ValDosta). The service was really neat and the spirit was very strong there. Aren't we lucky to know about God's plan for us?! That our lives don't just end here on earth. That is something that I am so grateful for! Our Heavenly Father has an amazing plan for us. We will get to be with our family for eternity! It'll be such a happy and fun reunion! My testimony was really strengthened that day at the funeral. On the way home it was a great opportunity for Sister Bunderson and I to talk about the plan of salvation with Debbie and Darryl and to talk about eternal marriage. Debbie had said to us that the funeral service made her really think about her life and how things might play out in the next little while. She is thinking more about making church a bigger priority in her life. How great would that be for her and her husband! 

I had a lot that I was going to say this week but I just don't have time. Stay tuned for my next week's letter and I will have a lot more to say about this past week and the upcoming week. I learned a lot this past week and had some neat teaching experiences that I'll share.

Sorry that I am out of time! I sure love you all!! Thanks for the support, love, and prayers! Can you believe that next week is transfers?! It is crazy... We'll see what hapens!

I love you guys!

Love,

Sister Merrill

January 6, 2014

Hello family!

First off, I was going to send some pictures this week but... my cord got left in apartment, whoops! I promise that next week there will be some. How are all of you? Did ya'll make your new year's resolutions? :) I hope so! I sure made mine. I'm excited for Nicholas and Alex! Marriage is an exciting thing! 

Alright first I'll tell you the funny experiences that happened this week. (Even if to you they aren't funny :D) I went to go get in the shower one morning after Sister Bunderson had already been in there and I went to turn on the light and it wouldn't work... The power in the bathroom had gone out. So, I had to shower in the dark! Well, it wasn't completely dark because I got a lamp we had and plugged it in the room next to the bathroom and luckily the chord was long enough to reach into the bathroom. We have been using that lamp for the past few days so hopefully we will be able to get a hold of the manager who has the key to unlock where we can turn back on the power. So for the second story... we went to bed one night and the next morning we got up as usual and starting our routine. As time passed, it got colder and colder in our house! We went to check what the heater was at and we had it set at about 78 but it was 65 in our house! We were freezing. We turned off the heater and decided to see if by night it would work again. We left for the day and were out working. When we got home, much to our dismay, the heater was still broken! SO, we decided to turn the oven to 500. We got our mattresses and took them into the kitchen and put them by the oven and we slept all night in the kitchen, with the oven on. It was a fun memory! It was a rough night cause it was a little cold and ovens make a lot of noise! But luckily by the middle of the next day.... our heater started working again!!! Woohoo!! I was so happy! Ya'll know that I am a whimp when it comes to being cold! haha. To make things worse.. it has been cold here in Florida and so that was why it was so cold in our apartment. I am grateful that I at least had a roof over my head and a oven to keep me warm through the night! haha and that the heater started working again! :)

Some of my goals for this upcoming year are to be diligent in what I do, to be more obedient (even to the small things), and to have more effective personal study. I want to have a greater knowledge then I already have about the gospel. With diligence I want to be able to look back at the areas that I serve in and the people that I teach and I want to be able to say to myself that I tried my best. I know that we can't be perfect and that there is always room for improvement but I want to be able to say that I worked my hardest and didn't totally slack off. With obedience I have learned that there are blessings that the Lord has in store for us that he'll give to us when we are obedient. We have to show the Lord, by our obedience, that we want to be better children of him. Then there is my scripture study. I have noticed on my mission that when I actually put all my effort and thought into studying from the word of God and being focused on what I'm reading that I gain a stronger testimony of certain principles of the gospel, I learn more that I didn't know before. I have loved getting closer to God by studying the scriptures! I want to be even more efficient in my studies and show God that I want to learn and gain more knowledge so that I can help his children come unto Christ. I'm looking forward to a new start and trying to better myself! I hope that all of you set some goals and work towards them. When we are trying to improve ourselves, Heavenly Father will bless us because we are trying to align our will with his.

Well, this week was pretty slow because of the holidays and New Year's but we still were able to see some people and get in a lesson or two. One thing that I gained a stronger testimony of this week and that we taught to a couple of people was the secret to happiness. If you are not happy with where you are in life, whether it be with who your friends are, your school work, the way you treat others, or how things are playing out in your lives you can look at two things. That is your scripture reading and your prayers. How are you doing in those things? If you could be more prayerful or be reading and studying more often than we can see that that is why we aren't happy. I have noticed that since I have come on my mission that those two things have increased. I have been better than I ever was at those two things and I can say that I am happier than I have ever been. Of course I still could use A LOT of improvement and I am not even close to perfect but because I am praying more often and I am studying out the scriptures everyday, I am happier! I enjoy life more and I have a better spirit about me because of it. I hope that all of you will try to work on those two things, even though I'm sure you are all doing great at those two things, but look at the difference in your happiness. Like I said earlier, we taught a few people this this past week because we wanted them to see for themselves the importance of reading and praying in their lives. We wanted them to know that we could meet with them all day and they still wouldn't be happy. They need to act on what they have been taught and show the Lord that they want that happiness in their lives and that they want to change. Although it was a slow week, I was glad for the lessons that I learned and for the people that we were able to teach. 

Well my time is up but I just wanted to share with you all what I have been teaching people and what I have been learning. There was other things this week that I wish I could talk more about but I'm out of time. One of those is Charity. I have been studying that this week and it has been really neat. I suggest to study it if you can. Let me know what you learn :) I'd love to hear! I hope all is well with my family! I love you all so much!! Thank you so much for your prayers and support! Ya'll are the best!

Love,

Sister Merrill

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.