December 29 - Happy New Year!!!

Good Morning, everyone! How was Christmas??

I certainly had a wonderful, jam-packed week! I can't wait to tell you all about it!

I went on exchanges to the Longfellow Park Wards on Tuesday. The singles' wards. That's an entirely different world, let me tell you! I was with Sister Moss. We had a neat day. Back-to-back appointments are the best, because at the end of the day, when you report to the Lord about what you did with His time, you feel good. :) We taught Bobby, Robert, Leo, Suat, Neliza and Bailey! Leo is this awesome, Russian man who walked into the singles' ward. He reminds me of a dark-haired Steve Martin. We mostly answered his great questions and tried to keep the topic gospel-centered as we passed him off to the Elders. :) I've taught Neliza before. She's been investigating for a long time. Sister Moss and I were bold with her. I love testifying!

Christmas Eve was really unique and a lot of fun! :) Sister Celeste Andrade invited us over for lunch. That was a little scary, because. . . well, she's an older woman that has good intentions, we're sure, but she doesn't take her medication, and she's very unstable. She yells at people a lot. Especially when they try to do nice things for her. But it was Christmas Eve and she had invited us over, so we braved the pouring rain (on Christmas Eve--can you believe it??) and went over there with smiles on our faces! It took her about 20 minutes to answer the door, and another 45 minutes or so to make our food, but she only yelled at us three times! :) And we learned a lot. She showed us some neat things, and she had me play her guitar. Once upon a time she was a very bright individual. I can't wait to meet her like that someday. Point being, I think we brightened up her Christmas a bit, and that's all that matters!

We had dinner with Bishop Cahoon and his family, and acted out the Nativity scene with them. That was fun! When we got home we were super tired, and we crashed an hour early to prep for Christmas!

Christmas was wonderful! We had clear skies and sweet gifts from home and a full day of celebrating the Savior to look forward to! The senior couples in our Zone made us a Christmas brunch, and we had a white elephant gift exchange. :) Then, of course, we were able to Skype! Yaaaaaaay!!!!!!!!!!! I love my family! Lots and lots! Being a missionary certainly makes you appreciate your friends and family more.

Saturday was the greatest. Farah got baptized. Sister Standerfer and I were busy filling the font for a few hours beforehand. That was an adventure. The hot water stopped working, so we were slowly filling the font with freezing water and stressing out. . . We ended up filling six big pots with water and boiling it, then dumping the contents into the font to speed up the process and take the edge off the chill! It was crazy! There's always opposition before a baptism.

Heavenly Father always pulls through, and Farah was baptized! Not only was it flawless, but she was so moved by the Spirit. I remember giving her a hug right after she changed into white, and she cried quietly, thanking me for being her sister and expressing her joy at this beautiful, wonderful day. I just want to promise everyone that there is nothing more joyful than being an instrument in the hands of the Lord to bring His children closer to Him.

We had a touching tender mercy last night. The Pettits are really amazing. We're so blessed to know them and have them in our ward.

I'm grateful for all of you and for the wonderful year 2014 has been. Thanks for helping to shape me into who I am today! I love you!

Love,
Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary

December 22 - Have a holly, jolly, Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope that this week has been positively wonderful and FESTIVE! I hope you've each had some spiritual moments as you've taken time to remember what Christmas is all about. :) I'm truly humbled to know that my Savior--our Savior--was born in a stable, in a manger, and came into the world to do whatever it took to save each of us.

We had a wonderful week here in Belmont, Mass! Our teaching pool is building, our faith is strengthening, and our experiences are indescribable! There's so much to cover, so I think I'll be more brief and try to hit all the topics!

The famous Clayton Christensen, author of The Power of Everyday Missionaries and 1st councilor in my mission presidency, had us over on Monday night with Ajit! Ajit is the Indian potential we rake leaves for. He's awesome! And he's so in awe of President Christensen. All three of us were really humbled to be in his home for a lesson. It was a neat experience! The Christensens are a brilliant, wonderful family. I'm so blessed to have them in my ward!

Farah! Oh my goodness! So much has happened with her! She's our investigator from Iran. It's a crazy story. She grew up Muslim, had a vision of Christ, and became Christian. She fled her country, leaving behind her children to come here to America and escape the consequences of her actions. She doesn't know English very well, so she speaks Farsi. She feels as though she has been brought by God to our church, and she has faith to move mountains! This woman is amazing. She set her own baptismal date for the 27th. But there's a couple of problems. First of all, we have no idea how much of the lessons she truly understands. We have a translator who has a tendency to filter. Also, we have to make sure she's cleared to be baptized by our mission presidency, due to her unusual circumstances. AND there's a crazy, overly dramatic problem about it between the two wards (1st and 2nd) because they both want her baptized into their ward. Of course there's a clear boundary line, but she's moving and fellowshippers (friends) are more concentrated in one ward and there's this silly rivalry. . . Huh. This is the work of salvation. We all have the same goal. Let's just work together, shall we?

So anyway, that's been fun. And intense. And hectic. :) :) :)

We did service at Beech Street (the old folks' place) during their Christmas lunch. Holy moly! Lots and lots of people! And we wore Santa hats and frantically served all of these sweet old people for a couple hours. Thankfully we had help from the local high school. They made me feel old. . .

Suzanne and Jess made me this marvelous belated birthday dinner! Breakfast for dinner, my favorite! Jess makes the best Eggs Benedict!

FRIDAY was the BEST day of them all!!!!! We had our Christmas Conference! Sister Standerfer and I had been in charge of decorating, because everyone came up to our chapel. It was GORGEOUS! Gold tablecloths, red pointsettas, tea lights. . . I'll have to just show you the pictures. We were proud of us. :) Half of our mission was assigned to Friday. We started off the day by going to the temple right above our chapel. Absolutely beautiful. And amazing! After that and a break for lunch, we headed in for the Conference itself!

I wish I could explain how amazing it was! The Packards spoke and inspired us again! President Christensen got up and talked for nearly an hour, and he touched our hearts, too! Then amazingly talented missionaries performed song after song for us. The program was phenomenal. Sister Hyoung, world-renowned pianist, played for us. We had a soprano sax and an organist and some violins and flutes and a few killer voices. The spirit was so strong.

After, we had the BEST dinner, and every zone played the video of their Christmas skit. It's a tradition. ;) It was SO funny! Ours was epic; I'll have to send it home at some point. :D They put together a video with our pictures in it, and we all got key chains and packages from home. . .! It was so amazing. Best Christmas ever. And somehow the unity and the closeness with Christ made all the difference.

For me, the best part was getting to reconnect with a bunch of people I have come to love! The Tanners were there (the senior couple from Central Falls) and we got to catch up. Sister Chadwick and Sister Slater were there, along with Elder Garrido and Elder Fish. . . ! These missionaries have inspired me and helped shape my entire mission experience. It was so good to see them again.

Quick jump to Sunday--probably the most hectic day I've had in Belmont. You try handling two overlapping wards, two ward councils, 8 stob-bys, two investigators to see, and two dinners. That is all.

This is getting long, so I'll just end by telling you that this was a wonderful week, and I'm looking forward to a wonderful Christmas! I love you all. Don't forget why all of this matters. The gospel has blessed my life in countless ways--I wouldn't be anywhere near what I am today without it.

Love,
Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary

December 15 - Hump Week - Birthday Week!!!

Hello everyone!!!!!!!!

I managed to cut out most of my time by prioritizing other emails, so I'm short on time. I'll tell you some fun stuff in the short time I have, though!

He is the Gift is going wild! I'm so happy that this amazing video is being widespread! What better way to share what Christmas is about? If you haven't seen it, look it up! He is the Gift! It is so beautiful and powerful!

MY HALF-WAY DAY WAS FRIDAY! But. . . unfortunately. . . I got the flu. I'm better now, but I was out of commission for a couple of days. I dragged myself out of bed long enough to make it to Zone Meeting. That was fun, despite the fact I felt awful. Our Zone Leaders are hilarious. They made it entertaining and spiritual and motivating! :) :) We went back and I slept the rest of the day. And most of the next day. Don't worry, members care about us. Both nights someone brought over soup and bread. <3

Sunday was so hectic! Not only was it my birthday and I was recovering from the flu, but we had back-to-back appointments all day long!!!!!!!! Which is how it should be. But when it's Sunday and you're over two wards that overlap and you're teaching multiple classes. . . you tend to get a little frazzled. :) We had correlation after church, then ran to the Vergilios and straight over to the Boaz's. . . and then we had this crazy appointement with an investigator that is really just hard to explain. She speaks Pharisee and needed a translator, and our member was highly interactive, so it was an unusual lesson! We'll see where it goes.

Members were so sweet. A couple of them gave me presents and I was sent a ton a birthday texts from other missionaries! :) :) :)

Thanks for all the birthday wishes and for all the love! You're the greatest! :) :) :) And I'm old! Hahahaha!

Love,
Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary

December 8 - 'Tis the Season!

Goooooooooooood morning!

It has been quite the festive, eventful week! I can't wait to tell you all about it. :)

You know how I told you about Belmont's extravagance? Well, these people are lovely and quite wealthy. They tend to make an event hard to forget. :) On the last night I spent with Sister Fernando, we went to the wreath-making activity. Turns out it's the biggest event of the year. Can you believe that? Wreath-making. It was a combined event for both wards, the building was decked to the nines with garland and lights and the nativity and huge wooden cutouts with lights behind them to look like silhouettes and trays and trays of delicious food. . . Also, the gym floor was completely covered in brown paper, and there must have been about 40 tables lined in there, with ribbons galore and most of all, pine branches.

So, I didn't realize this before, but wreath-making isn't decorating a wreath with a bow and pine-cones. No, it's taking a metal circle and a honking tree and cutting and binding until you have your own fat, jolly wreath. Georgia Sundahl and I made a beautiful one!!!! And poked ourselves a million times, but you know, it was worth it. :) The best part? There were about 50 non-members there! Talk about prime time for sharing the gospel!

The next day was transfer meeting. It's strange. Now Sister Platt, Sister Fernando, and Sister Standerfer are all in my zone. That's three companions. I'm really making my way through everyone. Haha. Transfer meeting was amazing, of course!!!! I cried so hard. For the first time ever, I had a companion go home. Two of them. Sister Hoellein and Sister Godoy. :'( Sister Hobbs went home, too, and a number of other sisters I've come to love. Their testimonies were touching. Then of course, President Packard stood and spoke. WOW. He told the story of the month of miracles from his point of view. There was hardly a dry eye by the time he was done. We all have a bigger sense of the Lord's vision for this mission. We're going to do great things here, because of Him. This is HIS work.

After I took millions of photos and ran around saying goodbye, I finally found my new companion! Sister Standerfer! She's amazing! I can't even tell you how amazing she is! She's from Snowflake, Arizona. She's happy and has a Disney Princess voice and she's so much fun. I am so blessed to be serving with someone so wonderful, especially for the holiday season! We're already the best of friends, and we've set a bunch of goals that we're determined to achieve!

Friday night we had an amazing experience attending the Messiah. Except here they do it differently. The soloists and orchestra practice for months, and everyone else just shows up! If you show up, you grab the music and you just sing. The people here in the Cambridge stake know how to sing. It was so much fun and so powerful and wonderful!!!!

SATURDAY, back to the extravagance, was 2 Christmas parties. I think they always celebrate here. We're constantly preparing for the next huge event. There was a party in the first ward and a party in the second. There was this big Nativity set, everyone dressed up like they were from Christ's time, and the Primary acted out the Christmas Story for us. :) :) It was so fun, and we were able to set goals and get to know the members better!

One last thing to tell you about. I hope you all got the chance to watch the Christmas devotional last night, because it was superb! We had the opportunity to see it at a member's home. The Boaz's are so fun! They have two little boys that just melt your heart. One of them, Ean, dragged most of his bedding out to the couch and spent the first 20 minutes constructing the perfect, most comfortable place to sit. Once he was finally situated, he hopped right back up and ran back to his room to grab more blankets. He promptly threw them on top of us, along with a good amount of squashy pillows so we could become comfortable, too. And then he made a final trip to his room to grab Sister Standerfer and I each a stuffed animal so we wouldn't be too lonely. It was the cutest thing! Children are so tender-hearted!

Alright, I'll stop telling you all the details! :) Thanks for everything. I love being a missionary! It's the best calling in the world!

Oooh, I have pivotal week this week. NINE MONTH MARK. Half-way, hump day! And my birthday! Should be fun! Shout out to STEPHEN, who is opening his MISSION CALL this week, too!!!!!!!!

Have a wonderful week!

Love,
Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary

December 1 - We cannot say the smallest part which we feel.

Hello everyone! Big news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

November is officially over, and we have had a month full of miracles. I told you at the beginning of the month about our high goal of 70 baptisms in the month of November. I told you about how 59 was our all-time record, and how we wanted to do everything in our power to ensure these people would follow-through with their wonderful decision to be baptized and come closer to Christ. I even told you about the sacrifices we were making and the plans we had to do our part before letting the Lord take over. We worked hard. . . prayed hard. . . and miracles happened.

I am overjoyed to tell you the results of the month. Last night, all of us missionaries called in to one big conference phone call. Through a series of miracles, we reached a number that we only dreamed we would reach. We hit 100.

100!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's a hundred people in New England who know the church is true and have taken a step towards their own salvation. 100 people. I cannot say the smallest part which I feel. :) :) :) :) :)

President Packard sent out an email to all of us about it. I thought I'd share a clip of his inspired words.

“ 'Has the day of miracles ceased? Or have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men? Or has he withheld the power of the Holy Ghost from them? Or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man upon the face thereof to be saved? Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought…' (Moroni 7: 35-37). If the month of November proved anything, it is that God keeps His promises, that He is a God of miracles, and that the missionaries in the MBM have great faith! Now that we have seen 100 baptisms in a single month, where do we go from here? Elder Holland has already provided his input. After receiving our report last night, he immediately responded as follows: “Tell the mission I could not be more proud of them. Tell them to keep opening their mouths, talking to everybody, keeping this kind of depth in their teaching pool and 70 will be the new base line every month. What was never done before will now be standard; it will be where the new goals start, not where they end.” We are going to set new goals in our next mission leadership conference, but Elder Holland believes that this is just the beginning. We feel the same way."

Sister Fernando and I were able to witness one of these amazing baptisms yesterday. <3 Anna is an amazing 20-year-old. She truly inspires me. She referred herself on Mormon.org, met with the Elders in Arlington, became our friend, and stood up at her own baptism to tell everyone that she knows the church is true. She told everyone she had to get her answer through prayer and Book of Mormon study, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet--an inspired man of God who brought back Jesus Christ's church. She sang "I Stand All Amazed" after her testimony. It was beautiful.

Also, I have other big news. . . TRANSFERS. We were supposed to get Transfer texts on Friday, but President Packard officially was running faster than he had strength, and he told us we'd get them when he was finished. So we were waiting in agony until late Saturday night. And then the texts came flooding in. That's right--my curse still stands. I STILL AM GETTING A NEW COMPANION EVERY TRANSFER. Ahhhhh!!!!!!!!! Sister Fernando is being transferred to the singles wards in the zone! I will be showing around Belmont to a sweet, cute Sister who just finished her training in Amherst. Oh my goodness!!!!!!!

Oh yeah, and Thanksgiving happened!!!!!!!!! It was wonderful! And crazy! I swore I'd never eat again. . . We had 2 Thanksgiving dinners the night before Thanksgiving, then a Thanksgiving breakfast and 2 MORE Thanksgiving dinners. We were practically rolled home. It was gross. But besides stuffing ourselves to the point of nausea so we would appease the sweet members who fed us, we were able to spend some quality time with amazing people and really take the time to vocalize what means the most to us. :) I hope your Thanksgivings were amazing, too. :)

And now it's CHRISTMAS TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Enjoy the season! Cut out snowflakes and hang tinsel and sing songs and spread the love of Christ!!!!!! Also, go look up the new church video He Is The Gift. It's amazing!!!!!!!

Happy Holidays!!!!!!!!

Love,
Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary

November 15 - WHY NOT 100????

Miracles in abundance here in the Massachusetts Boston Mission!

Just for starters, today we will have the 64th baptism in the month of November. DID YOU READ THAT? 64th!!!!!!!!!!!!! We have officially broken our all-time record, and we're only 6 short of our goal for the month!!!!!!! I mean, what goal? We shouldn't limit the Lord, right? We still have 45 more people committed to be baptized this weekend. Why not 100???

We had a neat lesson with Stephanie this week! She is progressing at a steady rate! I'm so excited for her! We don't have nearly as many lessons here with investigators as I did in good old Central Falls, so I appreciate the spiritual highlight these lessons bring all the more! Sister Fernando and I really felt the spirit as we testified of the Plan of Salvation and the joy and clarity and direction the gospel will bring to her family. :) She really believes what we're teaching her. She said she had a dream confirming the truths of what we've spoken, and she recognizes the spirit! HOW AMAZING? Of course we extended baptism. :) She's preparing to be baptized January 4th, only because she's about to have her baby and she's going to need some recovery time. :) :) :)

We were lucky enough to have the chance to do Family History work with Susan at the Family History Center! Can I just say -- she deserves the best Recent Convert of the Month Award. She is so excited to get to the temple! She is fascinated by her Family History! We finally had to drag her from the computer screen when it was time to go. She's already gotten this searching thing down. :) :)

Juan was baptized!!!!!! He was taught by sisters in our Zone, and we knew him personally, so we attended. It was so beautiful. I can't even express how beautiful it was! He is a young man who really gets it, who was able to use the Atonement to transform his life, who bore his testimony to his football team at his baptism, and who now wants to serve a mission. Need I say more? I was moved to tears.

Sunday was. . . extravagant. Hahahaha. That's how Belmont rolls!!!!! Both Belmont 1st Ward and Belmont 2nd ward had their Primary Programs. The Primary Program was turned into this HUGE missionary opportunity they planned and prepared for. Especially the 1st ward. LEt me tell you. . . there were HUGE signs for parking and a changed schedule and an overflow room and violins and specialized programs and lots of food for the reception afterward and the Portable Visitors Center AND about 30 non-members. Beat that.

We also had the unique opportunity to go to All Saints church for an inter-faith program for Thanksgiving. How neat??? I sang in the choir, our first councilor was there to represent us, there was a Reverend, a priest, and others. In fact, we became very good friends with the Reverend post-program. I like him. :) I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from testifying though, because we're not allowed to openly proselyte on other church grounds. Pity.

I'm emailing you today because yesterday we had our interviews with President! He's simply the greatest man ever. He's going to be a general authority after the mission, mark my words. Daniel Packard. Write it down. He was able to speak right to my needs and to bring clarity and extra hope to me! :) I love him. Also, he gave me a glimpse of what's coming. Look out, world! Transfer texts are coming this Friday! And I have a curse that has been completely consistent. :) Oooh, and we got to be Sister Packard's personal chauffeurs yesterday, because she was stranded at Firestone. We had a nice long drive to go get her, and she took us to Olive Garden! We were definitely spoiled. I hope I can be like her one day. She stands side-by-side with her husband as a spiritual giant. Sister Fernando and I practically had interviews with both the mission president AND his wife. :)

Speaking of amazing men, we had Family Home Evening at the Haights home again! With another investigator. Kind of. We call them eternigators. He's been coming to church for 10 years. He's Haitian, and we think he doesn't really understand Priesthood Authority, so Sister Fernando and I planned out a stellar lesson on the Restoration. It was the perfect setting. A powerful family's home, every member of the family present with a powerful testimony, a well-prepared lesson. . . It was perfect. Sister Fernando and I have never taught with such unison or power. The Holy Ghost was definitely in that home, teaching and testifying with us of authority and Joseph Smith. Tears were shed, testimonies were shared. It was neat. I'll never forget it. And our eternigator felt the spirit, but he doesn't want to take steps forward. I thought I'd be devastated after all of that effort and power, and I'm certainly disappointed, but I'm at peace. I know I was bold, I taught with authority given to me by Heavenly Father, and I gave it my all. It's up to him and his agency now.

Thanks for reading my update! I love you all, as you know. :) :) :) :) Sorry this email jumped around a lot, I was pretty distracted! Please continue to pray for these people! I'll let you know our final numbers next week. The work is hastening. Keep in touch, and have a marvelous Thanksgiving, because Heavenly Father has truly given us EVERYTHING!!!!!!!

Love,
Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary

November 17 - 39 down. . . 101 to go!!!!!!

Hello, from the overcast, blustering city of Belmont, Massachusetts!

Today specifically. It's pretty cold. And rainy. It might turn to snow soon. I should probably buy boots. . .

First thing is first: update on the mission goal!!!! That's the most important. I already gave it away in the subject line, but here it is!!!!!!! On Sunday, we had a total of 19 baptisms. Sunday ALONE! That put us up to 39 baptisms! And. . . that's right. . . we still have 101 dates set for the rest of the month of November. 101. That's a TON. For some reason everyone wants to be baptized at the end of the month. . . Well, it makes for a more exciting ride to see how we do! I'll keep you posted. Keep praying!!!! Thank you. Prayers are really creating miracles on this end!!!!

I'm going to fill you in on random details of my fantastic week. First of all, Susan had us over for dinner! Recently married, baptized, and confirmed Susan. :) She's a professional chef. Needless to say, it was mouthwatering. AND her husband joined us! I think he is solid. He's warming up to the gospel more and more. He'll be sealed to his wife for eternity someday--he just doesn't know it yet. :) :) :)

Oh! Cassidy is going to LOVE this news. . . :D We were put in charge of activity days, and we were thinking of what we could do that would be fun and Thanksgiving-ish. . . so I remembered the brilliant invention that Cassidy and I did once upon a time: BOWS MADE FROM POPSICLE STICKS. With Q-tip arrows! It was awesome! We told the story of the Pilgrims and dressed as Indians, then they got together to make their own! Slapped together with some gratitude spirituality, it made for an awesome lesson for 8-11 year old girls! See attached picture. :) :)

Also, we had three lessons bailed on by investigators. :( No bueno. But we did have a neat experience! See, you know how my companion is from Sri Lanka? Well we got a referral for a woman who isn't really in our area, but who is close and is also from Sri Lanka. She heard of Sister Fernando and wanted to meet her! Um, no problem!!!! We met up with her at Harvard Square! Her name is Nrosha. Really. She's young, beautiful, and spiritual. She poured out her life story to us. She loves God and what he has done for her, and she knows she needs to reconnect with him. She's so excited to meet with us more! She speaks English well, but it was fun for Sister Fernando and her to exchange some words in Sinhala. :) We gave her a Book of Mormon in Sinhala, too. Only Sister Fernando would have a copy. Their letters look like swirlies.

Alright, what I really want to tell you about it Saturday. I got a call from the Central Falls Sisters on Friday, who told me that the Piesienskis were getting their endowments and sealed the next day. WHAT?!?!?!?!?? I had promised her I would attend! I called her, made some last-minute plans and calls, and WHOOSH! I was all set to go see a miraculous event! One of the perks of having the temple in your area. ;) Sister Platt and I went on exchanges to see this family we love so much. We were so blessed. Our companions happily took on the rest of our appointments.

So. . . it was amazing. The Spirit is so strong at the temple. Sister Piescienski and her husband have been baptized for just over a year, and she is the YW's President in CF. She has been looking forward to this day for a long time, and I have rarely seen such solid converts. They were absolutely glowing all the way through. And then we got to join them in the sealing room, where they were sealed together for eternity, and then her daughter Jamie was sealed to them. <3 <3 <3 <3 I loved it so much! It kept me floating for a long time! Bishop Wild was there, and Sister Lima was there with her companion! (BTW, Sister Lima was Emergency Transferred out of Central Falls. Crazy.) I'm definitely attaching some of those pictures, too!

After that amazing, glorious reunion, Sister Platt and I ran around to a couple of different appointments. We handed the car over to our companions because they had managed to get themselves an hour late to an appointment, then we took the bus around town! It was fun! Until it got dark and cold and we had to try to find houses. Even so, it was a unique experience for me. :) We had dinner with someone in my ward. She's a single mom with a rambunctious, smart, rebellious 9-year-old. Oh boy, he's a handful. And way too cute. Like a Dennis the Menace. :) We all went to a Buffet. That was nice of her.

OH! Tender Mercy! Our heater hasn't been working. We're trying to get it fixed, but in the meantime we mentioned it offhand to a member. . . who immediately sent out an email to the ward asking for any spare heaters. Within 20 minutes of us getting home, another member showed up at our house with 2 space heaters for us!!!! We were pretty darn grateful. There's only so many blankets one can use. :)

That was my week! Thanks for reading and being a part of my adventure!!!!! Also, shout-out to Ashleigh--she's turning 21 this week!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3 <3 <3 <3

Love you all,
Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary

November 9 - #callnoah . . . Cuz there's going to be a FLOOD!!!

Well hi there, everyone!!!!!!!!!!

We receive constant updates about how we're doing with the monthly goal from our Zone Leaders and from President Packard. And yes, we use hashtags. :D #callnoah is one of the popular ones, hence the subject title.

Speaking of updates on our goal, do you want to hear about it???? We have. . . well. . . last I heard, we have 12 baptisms done this month, but yesterday was Sunday, so I'm sure there's more now. And we have 127 baptisms still set for the rest of the month. Can you believe it???? It's amazing! We have set even MORE dates! These next two weekends are really going to be big ones! We're working so hard over here, and it's definitely going to happen. We're going to go over our goal. I can't wait!

We had a big part in the success this week, too! Last Monday night, Sister Fernando and I had the opportunity to go to President Haight's home to teach an investigator named Wilmur for Family Home Evening. President Haight is the second councilor in the mission presidency, and he is such an incredible man. He's of the same mold as President Packard. He has mastered charity to the point that when he just looks at you, you can feel the pure love that Christ, and he, has for you. I've talked about him before. He's the one that gave CC the most incredible blessing I've ever heard after her baptismal interview. That whole family is amazing.

Wilmur, who we were able to teach, isn't really in our area. He's in the Revere Spanish ward, but President Haight found him and he's commonly fellow-shipped in his home, so we have permission to teach him now and then, joined with the Revere Spanish Sisters). He's young and awesome. He has been investigating for a few months, but he was always hesitant about the subject of baptism. He wanted to feel ready. Sister Fernando and I had been praying for ways we could contribute more to this monthly goal, and we decided he needed to be extended another baptismal date. . . for November. After this incredible lesson on the gospel of Jesus Christ, after reading 2 Nephi 31 with him and the Spirit being so incredibly strong, President Haight explained the blessings of baptism and invited him to be baptized November 22nd. Without hesitation, and with tears in his eyes, he said yes. It was so beautiful! We're teaching him the last couple lessons (with the Revere Spanish Sisters) and doing everything in our power to help him be ready for this wonderful day! We're so excited! And now he knows that the adversary is going to do everything in his power to stop this baptism from happening, and he's braced against whatever opposition comes his way. I'm so happy!!!!!!!!!!

In other amazing news, Susan got baptized! Wahoo! She was married on Tuesday, baptized on Friday, and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and received the Holy Ghost on Sunday! She did it! And we're so proud of her. She has a wonderful spirit. She was so nervous, but I've rarely seen anyone as ready as she was for this amazing step. So many of the missionaries in our zone showed up too, to bring THEIR investigators with baptismal dates, and other missionaries that taught her came, and the Portable visitor's Center Sisters came, and her family came. . . it was just a hit. It was also one of the more elaborate baptisms I've ever seen. For instance, have you ever seen a wedding cake at a baptism?? But that's just Belmont. :)

Hahaha, Sister Fernando and I do service at this Indian home. An older brother and sister live there. They're so sweet and funny and have the cutest Indian accent! We were raking their leaves this week and crammed as many as we could into the trash can, but it required some extra pressure, so Sister Fernando sat in it. Picture attached. It was very funny. :) Also, Sister Fernando is obsessed with doughnuts. She dragged me to a doughnut shop and ended up buying one of every kind they had. It was crazy!

I had the most amazing blessing of my life this week. Except for my Patriarchal Blessing, of course. But it was so incredible. Powerful, special, eye-opening, and full of hope. President Haight gave one to both Sister Fernando and I, and we truly understood that the Lord was speaking directly to us. It was an amazing experience.

Also, Muzzie sent my birthday and Christmas presents early, which is so great and completely like her. :D I thought I'd enclose the picture!

Thanks for everything!!!! I love you all so so so so so so so so so so so much!

Love,
Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary

November 3 - Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven!

Good morning, everyone! And what a beautiful November morning it is!

It's been an incredible week. So incredible. I hope I can explain it well enough to portray the kind of empowerment we felt from the Lord.

On Thursday, we had a visit from Elder Larry R. Lawrence. This man, if you're interested: https://www.lds.org/church/leader/larry-r-lawrence?lang=eng We had been preparing to see him for a long time, and we were so excited for what this wonderful man and his wife had to say!


Sister Lawrence spoke to us first. I want to grow up to be like her! She is amazing! She taught us some good, solid doctrine about the literal gathering of Israel, fore-ordination, and being the elect that I had never fully understood before. She brought the Spirit and opened our eyes to a number of beautiful truths!


After that was the most significant part of our week. Let me explain: 110 people in our mission have committed to be baptized in the month of November. That's unheard of. It's amazing! But the thing is, a large number of our dates that are usually set are not retained, because the adversary is working hard against us in this work. President and Sister Packard stood up together, along with all of the missionaries in leadership positions. They had all counseled together, with Elder and Sister Lawrence, and discussed what we could do to really retain the baptismal dates that we set. They told us that together, after much prayer and seeking for revelation, they decided to set a goal to retain at least 70 dates in the month of November. The highest we have ever gotten in one month is 59.

Our mission has never been a mission of numbers because it's really the people that matter, and numbers have the potential to distract from that. But every single one of us felt the Spirit in that room as they told us of this goal. The number represents 70 very real people with hopes and dreams and fears that could open the gate to their personal salvation this month. So altogether, we made a commitment that we would do whatever it took to make it happen. Every single missionary is making a personal sacrifice--committing themselves more than they have ever committed before, in an effort to bring the blessings of heaven into this goal. We all also committed to pray for this goal in every single one of our prayers, personal and public, until December 1st. We're praying for every single one of these people by name many times, and we're fasting as a mission.

This is one of the most exciting things that have happened to me on my mission! I've never felt more consecrated or had as much desire for a righteous goal! And I know--I know--we can do it. In fact, I don't want to limit the Lord to 70. That's the minimum we are aiming for, and we're ready to do whatever it takes! The entire mission is on fire, doing everything they can to live the higher law, be exactly obedient, and love the work!

I'm telling you all of this not only because I want you to know what's so important to me at this time, but to solicit your faith and prayers in behalf of these amazing investigators here in New England. We can't do this alone! We need the members here, we need you! We're not waiting on the Lord--He's waiting on us!

All of this was confirmed to us as Elder Lawrence stood up and testified. He was there when the goal was set, and he knows we can do it. He told us of a time he was in Russia as a mission president, and the mission set a goal to DOUBLE the number of baptisms from the previous year. They, too, sacrificed, prayed, fasted, and worked harder than ever to bring the blessings of the Lord into their mission. And they succeeded.

If you can't tell, we're excited. :) :) :) :) :) Thanks for reading all of that. This is going to happen!

And guess what? SUSAN is one of those amazing investigators getting baptized this month. I love her! I actually passed her off to Belmont from Weston six months ago! How crazy is that? She absolutely loves the gospel, and she's ready to make this covenant with Christ. In fact she's getting married TOMORROW in order to be ready for her baptism on FRIDAY! Please please keep her in your prayers!

That's the most important news. :) Oh yeah, there was Halloween, too. So we had a fantastic lunch with our zone, and Sister Fernando and I were in charge of the Fear Factor! We had them eat slugs and octopus and such. Don't worry, all fake. All edible. But pretty convincing. :) Sister Fernando is a natural. Then we had to be in early.

We also had Stake Conference and a marvelous fireside by Beauty Redefined-- twins with an awesome message for the world! You should look them up!

One last thing before I check out. Sister Lawrence so loves our goal that she wrote a song to the tune of I Stand All Amazed for us. :) :) :) It's basically the best.

I pray for the goal that the Lord has revealed to me.
I know in my heart that it will be reality.
I’ll work and I’ll show that I’m ready to sacrifice,
For blessings will come if I’m willing to pay the price.

Chorus:
It will be heavenly
When we reach seventy
Oh what a memory!
It will be heavenly—heavenly to me.

Thanks again for EVERYTHING! I love you all so much! Miracles are happening here in the MBM!

Love,
Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary

October 27 - The BELMONT life!

Hey there, friends and family!!!!!!! :)

It's been quite the whirlwind of a week, that's for sure! Amazing and super sad at the same time.

First of all, I hate goodbyes. You all know that. :( :( :'( It made me so sad to leave Central Falls. I took a million and a half pictures and gave a million and a half hugs. But Central Falls needs Sister Belchior, and I am needed here in Belmont. So with many tears and hours of packing, I finally headed to transfer meeting in Weston.

Which was beautiful and every bit as heartbreaking. President blew our minds, once again, with the Spirit and his insights. My new companion happened to sit right in front of me. Oh man, how do I explain her? She's AWESOME. And totally mischievous. Hahaha. She's originally from Sri Lanka, but when she was eight she moved to NYC! So she's a real New Yorker. :) :) She has dark skin, dark hair, and wears green colored contacts. She's GORGEOUS and pranks people all the time. :D Like, I can't take her seriously EVER, because I've only fallen for her jokes a thousand times. :) We quickly became friends. She just finished her training, so she's pretty new, but she's confident and a great missionary.

Anyway, back to Transfer Meeting. . . I said my last goodbyes, piled my stuff in the car, and we drove to our. . . house??? Yeah, we have a house! Just the bottom floor, but STILL. New experience!

Speaking of new experiences, Belmont is POLAR OPPOSITE of Central Falls. It's a lot like Weston, unsurprisingly. All blonde, blue-eyed Americans. We're over 2 wards that are jam-packed with awesome, active members. And we're only teaching 3 people. Which is okay. Lots of member work. Lots of service. We'll build our Teaching Pool. I'm having flash-backs to the beginning of my mission.

We had 2 Halloween Parties! One for each ward. They're AWESOME about bringing non-members, too! Hopefully I can start remembering all these new names! The church building is beautiful and big, and the parties were. . . elaborate to say the least. Booths and stations and crazy decorations and Fear Factor. . . yeah. . . I can't explain it and do it justice.

We were super sick all weekend though. I still am. I keep getting sick! But this was the worst. Felt like I couldn't breathe, and like I was swallowing a knife. I'm on the uphill again, though!

I'll tell you more next week! But I have a new address that I'm pretty sure I'll be sticking with for quite awhile!!!!! :) :) :)

NEW ADDRESS:
50 Fairview Ave.
Belmont, MA 02478

I love sharing the gospel so much! I'm so blessed to be out here! Love you all, thanks again for the support and the news!

Love,
Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary

October 20 - It's another transfer!!!! Here comes the news!!!!!!

Hey there!!!!!!!!

Are you ready for it????? Part of me wants to keep you in suspense, but I suspect if I write about other things you'll just scan ahead anyway. . .

Okay. Yes. President Packard has decided to keep my running streak of a new companion every transfer. I'm leaving. I'm going to BELMONT.

Belmont. BEL.MONT. As in the temple. As in my church is literally a 2 minute walk down from the temple. And I'm going back to my last ZONE. OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was not expecting it. Not really. I knew it was a possibility, but I thought I'd stay to finish Sister Lima's training. Nope. We went on exchanges the day of T-texts (Transfer-texts). I was with Sister Hyoung, who serves in Providence, and Sister Hobbs took my place in Central Falls to be with Sister Lima. Sister Hyoung rooms with the Spanish sisters in Providence, so guess what? I was with Sister Godoy, too! Texts came in later that night instead of the usual 1:00, so we were all together. AND FREAKING OUT. So that was fun! But crazy. When I got the news I was totally in shock, and then super super sad. :( I'm fine. I just LOVE the people here in Central Falls. They've become close friends and family to me. I dreaded saying goodbye.

In fact I still am dreading it. I'm about half-way through the goodbyes, and they've been awful. But when the Lord calls, we go, and I really wouldn't have it any other way. I think I've figured something out. As soon as you're getting comfortable, something drastic happens. Heavenly Father doesn't really want you in your comfort zone on a mission. And that's not why I came out here, anyway.

In other news, we got proposed to yesterday. That was. . . awkward. . . Hahahaha! Oh, man. We were teaching a Hatian family that we get to see on occasion, and they invited a friend over to the house. He was also Haitian. A little older than us. So using sweet Ashley, the 10-year-old we're teaching, and the only one fluent in both English and Haitian Creole, he told us he's always admired Mormon women and asked if either of us would consider marrying him. ?!?!?!?!?!?! And THEN my companion BAILED on the conversation and started talking to a kid, leaving me to struggle with an awkward response. . . !!! Oh man! I said something about how we don't date as missionaries, and how when we were finished we were going far away to return home. . . I couldn't believe how serious he was. And then we escaped to the car and died!!!!!

We got a new investigator named Denise! She's crazy awesome! Emphasis on the crazy. :D She talks a million miles a minute and asks a bajillion questions we can never manage to answer before she asks a bajillion more. :D It's kinda fun! I love her. :)

JOEY WAS BAPTIZED!!!!!!! He's so cool! Shyanne's boyfriend!!!!!!! I played I Am a Child of God on the guitar again, which I found out I was doing last second. And we got to teach Sharing Time in Primary. :) Alexandra (whom I LOVE) tackled me when I walked to the front and announced to the rest of the Primary that I was leaving. So about 10 kids came running up to me to give me hugs in the middle of class, and I drowned for awhile in arms and cuteness. :) :) I love them.

I'm going to miss it here sooooo much!!!! :( :( But I'll send pictures and tell you all about Belmont next Monday!!!!! Keep Sister Lima in your prayers -- transfer 2 and she's showing the area to a new companion!

I love you all so much!

Love,
Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary

October 14 - Life in the MBM (Massachusetts Boston Mission)!

Hello everyone!!!!!

It has been an unusual week, to say the least! Jam-packed with the craziest, most amazing meetings and events. Needless to say, our numbers went WAY down. Numbers don't reflect business level though! Lemme tell ya about it. . .

TUESDAY: We moved. Hadn't really even started the process, but we spent the day with three sets of Elders and our Senior couple, moving ALL OF THE STUFF out of the old apartment, across/down the street, and into the new one. Not to mention cleaning the old one until it shone, then unpacking and organizing all night long. We are sooooo grateful for all the help. We would never have been able to do all of that in one day by ourselves. And BTW, we're spoiled rotten. Our apartment is the same size, but they shrank the living room and gave us an extra bathroom and a study room. 2 bathrooms. 2 sisters. That's soooooooo crazy. I know plenty of situations with 4 sisters to a bathroom. And since the moving Elders came down, we even had new mattresses and dressers in the deal! Think we have it good? I do too.

WEDNESDAY we woke up early and drove all the way up to Belmont for what we call "Return and Report". :D It's when the trainers/new missionaries come back and learn more of what they need to learn. We got to spend the day with President! Which is a miracle in and of itself. Everyone just loves President with all of their heart. He is truly the single most inspiring, powerful man I have ever met. He taught and trained us, as did his wife, then we all walked up the hill to attend a session at the BEAUTIFUL Boston temple. Need I say more? It was a full and enriching experience!

And the next day was no less so! THURSDAY we had Zone Conference -- which is multiple zones meeting up with President and the other leaders for an amazing, all-day experience of training and testimony. Sister Packard, President Packard, President Haight, and the Assistants covered so much amazing ground. Words cannot express how powerful and riveting it was. I took so many notes--practically filled up half of my notebook--and I know exactly what I need to do to be a better person and a more successful missionary! I have so many goals and aspirations and I just want to do everything the Lord wants me to do! I want to have a family like President's some day. I want to be able to change lives the way he changes lives.

Oh, and President also showed us "Meet the Mormons". So that was fun! :) Totally cried on the "missionary mom" part.

FRIDAY we jammed as much into our schedule as humanely possible. . . and only made it to about half of our plans. But hey!

SATURDAY the Portable Visitor's Center came again. IT IS SO AMAZING! I keep trying to explain it, but I'm not doing it justice. Basically President Packard is ridiculously inspired. These displays and these videos capture exactly what we're trying to tell the entire world. It's as high quality of anything you've seen on Temple Square, and we (our mission) did it. Just goes to show that we have no limitations with the Lord. The Brethren are keeping a close eye on this and are so excited! One day this will be world-wide, folks. Because someone followed a prompting of the Spirit.

Sunday was great! Then YESTERDAY was also amazing, because it was Columbus day. (Hence me emailing today.) Recent Convert Temple Trip Day. And our turn to go to the temple as a Zone. So we spent half the day at the temple: an endowment session, then the baptistry for CC, Lovely, and Shyanne! They all made it!!!! I'm so happy!!!!! It was such a sweet experience. I even got to see so many people from Weston serving in the temple and catch up with them.

So. . . life is great. The gospel is true. Heavenly Father is so aware of us. And this week I find out if I'm getting transferred. :( I wanna stay!!! I love it! But more than anything, I want to do what the Lord wants me to do, so I'm excited. :) ;) :)

I love you all! Miss you! Thanks again for all of your support!

Love,
Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary


P.S. I DO have a new address. . . but I'm going to hold off telling you until I find out if I'm moving for transfers. :) Thanks!!!! <3

October 6 - What a life!

Dearest family/friends!!!!!!

Wow! Wasn't that such an amazing General Conference???? I'm so happy. :) That's exactly what all of us needed!

We had this one day simply stuffed full of miracles. I think I mentioned Tammy and Sam--the Brazillian member referral? Well, we met with Tammy. She is AMAZING. So prepared for the gospel. Her whole family is just READY to hear and accept it! We taught her the Restoration, and there as rarely been a lesson where I have felt the Spirit so strong! :) I was crying as I testified of the impact the Book of Mormon has had in my life, and when I looked up, she was crying too. She told us of how she had been searching for something like this for so long. And brave Sister Lima extended a baptismal date to her our first lesson. :) She accepted!!!! It was so wonderful! I can't wait to teach the rest of them!

The Spanish Elders gave us a media referral to hit up in Woonsocket, so we went there. Personally, I'm not a big fan of media referrals. I've had some nasty experiences. But we go because if there's a slight chance they're genuine, it's worth the risk! :) We knocked on the door and found this sweet young woman who had just gone through a crazy surgery. Gave her the Bible she requested, slapped a Book of Mormon in her hands too, testified for good measure! :) She's great. She really wants us to come back so we can teach her more about Christ. Yes!!!! And then we went out with Danielle! I love her. She came with us to find a less-active member. Turns out this less-active, who really wasn't too interested in us coming by, lives with her cousin and her cousin's daughter, who ARE interested in us coming by and hearing our message! Through a series of events that could only have been directed by our Heavenly Father, we were able to go in and testify of living prophets and General Conference! So that was pretty neat.

We had a ton of appointments scheduled for the rest of the week. Most of them fell through last second. Again. So we did a lot of stop-bys! :) :)

General Conference was crazy! Carla came with us to the church to watch it on Saturday, and of COURSE things didn't get set up in time and we had technological issues, so we ended up watching Session One on an iPad. Five of us crowded around this little thing. Lol! But the Spirit was there, and we're sooo blessed to have access to it at all. That's what's important. I loved Conference soooooooo much. It inspires me to do better. Let it re-play through your house this week or something! Because I would if I could!

Can't wait for Carla's baptism! She's a star!

Gonna have to end it there. I'm sure I'm forgetting something important, but we're out of time! I love you all!

Oh, and we're moving across the street tomorrow. We haven't really started packing. It's going to be a loooooooooong day! As for the address to write me. . . um. . . I don't think anyone is moving into our new place, so we should have access to that mailbox awhile longer. You can write to the mission office, too, though! I'll let you know next week what the new numbers are. But it's still going to be Crossing Dr. in Cumberland. :)

Thanks! I love you!

Love,
Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary

September 29 - Tender mercies and miracles!

Dearest everyone!

Wow! So much can happen in a week!!!!!!! It's been crazy and amazing and full of miracles! Let me start with Monday!

It was pretty much the best. After we emailed, we headed out to a great game of Ultimate Frisbee with the Zone and an investigator. And we had s'mores after. That was the point of the whole thing, because Sister Lima had NEVER had a s'more! Brazilians. . . ;) But the best part of the night was when we were back to our regular proselyting activities and met up with Shyanne to teach her the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity.

Background on Shyanne -- she's a cute 18-year-old that met the missionaries while hanging out at a friend's house. That friend is one of our awesome young women, and her mom is the Young Womens' president. :) The Elders stopped by, and BINGO! New investigator. Moral of the story--never try to predict whether someone will accept the gospel. Jamie had no idea her friend would be interested. :) Shyanne has been taking the lessons for awhile, but the Elders thought it would be good for us to take on this lesson. With pleasure, Elders! :D So we got all prepared and had a powerful lesson in the home of a member. She is awesome! No problem for her. . . she understood the commandments and committed to them because she knew it was right. Score! She had a baptismal date set for mid-October, but I just had a feeling that she should be baptized and confirmed before General Conference. Which, looking back, is kinda crazy. We wait until sacrament meeting to be confirmed, and they're usually baptized on a Sunday, so I was really pushing it. But it felt right. So I just started talking about the option. . . and we set her baptismal date for last Friday!!!!!! Just four days later!!!!! Wha--????????

It was pretty much awesome. The Elders were a little nervous, but they taught her the next lesson, she got her interview, and BOOM, she was ready! Everything just kinda fell into place. And Friday was a wonderful day! She had a good turn-out, the programs were printed, the talk was beautiful, we sang her favorite hymns, and another person chose to follow the example of our Savior and come into the fold of God. :) :) :) :) :)

You just got the best part of the week. <3 The rest isn't as crazy amazing, but it was still grand.

Oh! Here's another miracle for you! So we had had a full day of dropped appointments, stop-bys, and member visits. We were on our way home from a less-active, and Sister Lima was cold and had been talking about hot chocolate, so I made a quick side-stop and swerved into one of the MANY Dunkin' Donuts lining the street. When we walked inside, the guy behind the counter stared at us and said, "No way. . . are you Latter-day Saints???" Wha--?? Um, YES! He is a cool black guy in his 20s named Brandon. He said he's been attending the ward in Newport with his Uncle, who was a member. He even had a couple discussions with the missionaries there! Then he moved here to North Providence and has been looking for us ever since! AMAZING! The hand of the Lord is in everything--even in our quick stops for hot chocolate! It just goes to show how aware he is of the details! I'll be sure to tell you the rest of his story when it happens!

Carla is super amazing. She's so ready for baptism! Sister Lima and I had a powerful heart to heart with her! She is destined to be a wonderful tool in the hands of the Lord. She was so worried about setting another baptismal date because of the opposition that slammed her the last 2 times she did. But we promised her blessings and strength and asked her to bring that question to the Women's Broadcast on Saturday. Which she did. I LOVE CONFERENCE. Of COURSE it answered her prayers. We just found out today that her baptismal date is set for October 19. WAHOO!!!!!!! She's just the greatest!!! So happy for her!

The Broadcast was just the greatest, wasn't it? My hand hurt, I took so many notes! Those speakers really touched my heart, answered my prayers, and said what I needed to hear. Like Heavenly Father was speaking to me directly. Which, He kinda was. :) Can't wait for General Conference! Buckle up, everyone! Internalize and personalize what these inspired servants of God have to say!

Aaaaand we have a new investigator named Maria. Kudos to Member power. Jackie testified of how this gospel has changed her life. Maria is so sincere and wants to come to know God more--for her and for her kids. :)

I got sick again. Still am, in fact. Don't worry, I'm not running myself into the ground. I'm following good council and taking time to recover. :P Being sick as a missionary is the worst. . .

Sister Gaboriault is awesome. . . took us out visiting people for half the night last night. :)

One last miracle, then I'll let you go! One of our members, a single mother named Amanda, gave us a referral. So we happily stopped by the home. SWEETEST FAMILY EVER! They were so warm and welcoming! Very receptive to our message about the gospel. The best part was that they're from Brazil, and they positively lit up when Sister Lima started speaking Portuguese! We have a return appointment and high hopes for this wonderful family!

I love you all! Thanks for the news, support, and prayers! Enjoy Conference! Change the world!

Love,
Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

P.S. The Frandsens (amazing Ward Mission Leader and family) had their baby girl. Guess what they named her. Talia. That's right. My name. Same pronunciation and spelling. They really liked it! So stinking cool!!!!!!!!

September 22 - Rough week for numbers. . . but Autumn is coming!

Helllooooooooooooo to the most wonderful family and friends of all time!

Autumn is creeping up on us. . . in beautiful bursts of red that are spotting all of the trees here in Rhode Island. :) I LOVE AUTUMN. I can't wait to see the REAL thing here. Sister Lima can't wait either. She's never seen anything but summer!

Our week was. . . interesting, to say the least. I started it out with getting sick. :P No fun at all. But the Elders (and the Spanish Elders) came and gave me a blessing. I love Priesthood power. :) I was totally able to work the next day.

Which. . . was a rough day. Jackie (Jocelyn's mom) came out with us for half the day, and since we hadn't been able to schedule very many appointments, we did a million stop-bys. That day we had a brutal slammed door, 3 investigators dropped, and one of the worst lessons ever with another 3 investigators, who we might be dropping as well. . . It was a sad. Poor Jackie. Missionary work certainly has its ups and downs.

But we went to Irene's house to help her with her garden, and that was fun!!!! :) :)

A different day this week we went up to Woonsocket and had a few stellar lessons. So happy about that. We're finally meeting with Angelica more often. I know there's gonna be a break-through soon. :) And we went to see Danielle Buhannen, the less-active who is coming back to church. Power-house lesson. She has an amazing goal to make it back to the temple, and she is willing to take the HUGE steps that are going to get her there. I'm so proud of her.

Carla is amazing. I'm pretty sure she's going to be baptized this month. We had a good lesson with her, then the Elders had an amazing lesson with her where they extended a baptismal date twice and gave her a blessing. She's praying about when she should be baptized. She already has a powerful testimony.

We walked around the Projects for a few hours because we have so many potential investigators there! Sister Lima was freezing. . . I got a sunburn. Haha. I'm so white!

A bunch of people came to church yesterday, which was wonderful! Carla, Angelica, Danielle, Shyanne. . . :) :) :) YAY! We're teaching Shyanne about the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity tonight. Double whammy. Pray for us!

Gotta go, time is short and we have awesome plans. Sorry it's short! But I love you all! Don't forget me!

XOXOXOX

Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary

P.S. Can't wait for General Conference!

September 15 - Sister Lima! Only the greatest greenie EVER!

Helloooooooo everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow! I wish wish wish I hadn't forgotten my camera cord, cuz I want to show you pictures of this beautiful, amazing Sister I'm working with! Seriously, I think I'm the luckiest trainer ever. Sister Lima is straight from the MTC, fresh from Brazil! She was called on a PORTUGESE speaking mission. Ahem. So in all technicality, I shouldn't be her trainer, and she shouldn't be able to speak a lick of English. She didn't go to the MTC for English or anything. But she started learning a couple months before the mission, on her own, just in case. I'm pretty sure Heavenly Father was preparing me for a language barrier with Sister Godoy, because Sister Lima is still in the process of learning English.

BUT if you could all hear her you'd be SO impressed with how much she already knows! She's learning rapidly and eager to be a wonderful missionary. I absolutely love her. :) :) :) I was so excited when we went to transfer meeting. Usually we get our greenies in a meeting before transfer meeting, but the newbies were late, so DURING transfer meeting, in front of all the missionaries/members piled into my old chapel, President called for each of the new missionaries to stand and meet their trainer. :) :) So I came running down from the very back of the chapel to give her a big hug! It was so awesome!!!!!!!!!

Oh, I also saw Kevin and Katie!!!!! Sister Hoellein was transferred, so all of their original missionaries are gone now. :( But it was wonderful to see them! Kevin had typed out his testimony and gave it to me. It's seriously one of the neatest things ever. Makes all of this work so beyond worth it.

I have to tell you just a little more about Sister Lima. She is all smiles. Seriously. Nothing could ever depress her. Everything I told her about the area or about our plans or the apartment or the Elders we work with or. . . ANYTHING, she responded, "Oh, that's awesome! I'm the luckiest missionary EVER!" In her cute Brazilian accent. It's basically the best. <3

And her FIRST day, we got (get this) 6 new investigators! It was amazing!!!! Her very first appointment was with a high potential investigator. As soon as we read a verse from the Book of Mormon with her, she started crying. She said, "I knew that you were going to read something about that." It's so amazing, how the Spirit can touch people. <3 Elizabeth is 20 and a single mom. :( Her friend in the single's ward called us up to have her meet with us. I'm so glad he did. She has the cutest baby boy and came to church this Sunday. It was so great!

That night, we got the other 5 investigators. Cool story: Brother Frandsen, our ward mission leader, invited his co-worker to bear his testimony in our ward for Fast and Testimony meeting. His co-worker (Roque) is not of our faith, but had an incredible story he wanted to share to the world. His mother was dying of cancer, and finally the doctors called him and told him his mom had 2 hours to live. He rushed to the hospital, knelt by her bed, and poured out his heart to God, begging him to spare his mom. He said he knewGod was listening. He felt Heavenly Father strengthening is mother as he knelt there. It is now 3 weeks later, and she's doing great, on her way to recovery. It was an amazing story for him, and he didn't know how to tell it to everyone. That's why Brother Frandsen invited him to speak! And he DID! And I asked if he wanted to learn more, and he readily accepted, so on Sister Lima's first day, we met with him, his girlfriend, and his 3 daughters at the Frandsen's home. It was an amazing lesson! They all committed to start reading the Book of Mormon! They're so excited to learn more.

We taught Tiffany again. With her fiancée Lovelle. They are so neat! I am really excited for their progress! They came to church on Sunday and brought 4 kids between them! We're so excited to bring this family to the truth!!!

One more thing! Lovely was baptized Sunday. Elder Garrido baptized her, Sister Lima and I did a musical number, and she bore her testimony. It was beautiful! What an amazing miracle. We're so proud of her and that entire household. <3

I love it here. I love all of the people. The members, the investigators, the less-actives. The missionaries I work with and my dear companion. She's truly a rockstar. She makes me laugh and is pretty much the sweetest sister I've ever met. Thank you all for your prayers in behalf of me and the people I'm working with.

I love you all so much! My niece is two! Jocelyn is in the MTC!

Everyone--read your scriptures 20 minutes longer than usual the next time you do! It's truly a conduit to heaven.

Love,
Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

September 8- CAUTION: Transfer news enclosed. . .

Well, hi there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First off, I'd like to inform everyone that I am hitting my 6-month-mark this Friday. That's right. 6 months. I can barely believe it! 1/3 of the way through my mission! That's a huge chunk, and it went by so fast! In about a year, I'll be coming home. Wow. . .

Secondly, YES. I have more crazy big news. I was definitely expecting something coming, but only because of the interview I had with President. Still, I didn't guess what was happening. President Packard called us Thursday night, the night before transfer texts, and extended a calling to both of us. TRAINERS. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my goodness, we're both training!!!!!!! I'm TRAINING! 6 months in, and I'm going to show a greenie how we do missionary work in the MBM! And I'm staying right here, in good old Central Falls, while Sister Godoy leaves and re-opens Providence for Spanish sisters. What the--! And that's not all. This greenie is BRAZILIAN. Both of the Elders are staying in our ward, so that means I'm going to be outnumbered 3-1 as the only American, the only missionary who has English as their first language. HA! Maybe I'll have to learn Portuguese. . . But I'm excited. This ward definitely could use a Portuguese-speaking sister. There's no better place for someone to start off their mission!

Let's see. . . I'll go through some other news! We locked ourselves out of our apartment. Twice, in fact. In one week. That takes skill.

Ooh, we taught Seminary early Thursday morning. That was fun. Tough crowd, and I am so grateful that Seminary was part of my school day.

Sister Godoy had another root canal appointment, so we took the long drive up to Connecticut and back. :) Road trip! I was so sick of the car!


We had Zone meeting on Friday! Greatest Zone Meeting ever! Our leaders are awesome and the spirit was really strong. I learned a lot and re-committed to be the best missionary I can! I fall short in so many ways, but I'm gonna keep trying. That's all I can do.

As far as investigators go, 4 more this week! That leaves us with. . . 22 investigators! I think . . . It's ridiculous, how prepared people are out here. We had some incredible experiences teaching the Restoration this week. One was with Tiffany, Crystal's sister. She was very focused and intent on everything we had to say. She really wants God to be a part of her children's lives, and she has so many unanswered questions. We taught and testified to the best of our ability, gave her a Book of Mormon, and left. She started reading from the beginning that night. YESSSS!!!! So cool! Amy was another neat experience! She's Angelique's mom. We're teaching Angelique, and we invited her mom to come sit with us. She's a tattoo artist, very young, and really cool. She has so been prepared for this as well. She totally GOT priesthood authority. Nailed it. She's reading the Introduction to the Book of Mormon and she said she's really interested in coming to church!

Also, an investigator from Franklin moved into our ward. She's 19 and stinking cute! Cape Verdian. Her name is Carla. I can't wait for her--she already has a testimony and plans on being baptized.

I better get off pretty soon, because we have to go say goodbye to Jocelyn. :( Crazy that she's heading out on her mission. I'm so proud of her. And she's never coming back to Rhode Island. Wow. This is a big big big step in her life! Please keep her in your prayers!

I love you all so much! Thanks for everything you do for me!!!! Pray for my new companion, flying in from the MTC tomorrow!

Love,
Sister Merkley

MBM Missionary



P.S. It's my niece's birthday tomorrow, my mom's birthday on the 13th, and Lovely is getting baptized Sunday! WAHOO!!!

September 2 - A Baptism and Blessings!

Family and friends!

:) :) I got the chance to email you today! But last week already seems so far away. . . I'll tell you about the weekend, because that was the most amazing part anyway.

So on Friday we reported in District Meeting, as usual, but then the Providence sisters reminded us that we were having follow-up exchanges. That day. Of course we had forgotten. So we had to run home so Sister Godoy could grab her overnight things, and she headed off to Providence with Sister Hobbs and I got to stay in Central Falls with the lovely Sister Hyoung! She's so great. And famous. She placed fourth in the entire nation for piano playing. WOW!!!! It's amazing to hear her play! Not to mention she's sweet, spunky, and motivated. I enjoyed being her companion for a day! We ran around to all our appointments and even went on splits again.

The next day was Saturday. Crystal's baptism. We were so worried about her, because we knew how hard opposition hits her. But we got ready anyway, getting the refreshments, practicing the musical number, calling all of the guests, getting the baptismal suits, etc. :) The Portable Visitor's Center Sisters came and set up two of their displays: The Restoration and Jesus Christ. The visual/spiritual effect was amazing. Almost everyone Crystal wanted to come showed up (everyone was so delighted she was finally getting baptized) and then the guest of honor herself. :) :) She had a really rough day, of course. But she made it, and it was the best baptismal service I've ever been to. Jocelyn gave the talk, then she and I sang a duet to Beautiful Savior while I played the guitar. (So scary, but it was so great.) But the best part was that Crystal's boyfriend came to the service, then in walked her sister, her sister's fiancee, and all of their kids. I can't even tell you how cool it was. They were glued to the whole thing! The ordinance, the videos from the PVC while Crystal was changing, everything! The Spirit was so strong, and they told us that they want us to teach them. WHAT?!?! It was so cool! We can't wait! It was a wonderful night!

Elder Lopes got his departing packet. We are all sad. :(


Also we combined our teaching pool. That means we are ALL teaching ALL of our investigators. AHH! Well, besides the Portuguese speakers. But still. Crazy.

Elder Koontz is an awesome Elder in our district. He has quite the inspiring story. I just thought I'd share the fantastic news that his mom was just baptized, and he was able to Skype in to see it. Wow. Miracles!

Yesterday was fantastic too! I'll send you pictures next week, but we had an amazing time at the temple. I was able to see nearly everyone from Weston, which was so wonderful. I love the temple. We're so blessed to be able to visit the Lord's house so often. We had a lot of fun afterwards, too. (Even though we locked ourselves out of the apartment. Jeez.) We played games with the senior couple and the Elders. I think we have become a lot more unified lately. I love all the missionaries around me. The Elders are nothing short of inspiring.

Today was interviews with President, but I'll have to tell you about that next week! Stay tuned, because we get our transfer texts this Friday! I'm gonna have more big news! Who knows, maybe I'll keep my streak of a new companion EVERY transfer. . .

Lots of love! Stay strong in the gospel! Enjoy the blessings that come from sharing it!

~Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary

September 1 - More time next week!!!!

Hey there everyone!!!

So we went to the temple this morning, and it was basically the best P-day ever! But that means I have no more time to do anything, let alone send off the full report of this amazing last week. I'll see if I can get permission to write you all tomorrow, and if not, I'll give you a report next week! I love you all!

But I do have to tell you that Crystal got baptized. And it was amazing. And now we're basically going to start teaching her whole family. :) :) :) :) MIRACLES HAPPEN!!!!!

Don't forget the most important things in life!

Love,
Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary

August 25 - This week's work and glory!

Hola from the tiny, rundown, overpopulated and simply wonderful town of Central Falls!

How's everyone doing? The clips and pieces of your lives I get to hear about and experience vicariously are so refreshing. Thanks for all the updates and love and support. I couldn't be doing any of this without you!

I'm really starting to fall in love with this area. So much. The longer I'm here, the more I come to understand how everyone has a story. And if you truly understand that story you can't help but love that person. I'm so blessed to be able to be a part of these incredible people's stories, however briefly or however small my role. :)

Let's see if I can briefly cover this entire last week. Wow, it feels like it has been an eternity. It's a little ridiculous how much can happen in a week.

We had a combined YM/YW activity this Tuesday with the parents involved so they could come to understand more about the youth program! It was fun, because we were in charge of the games. ;) Sister Godoy taught a super funny game. We also had our first tiff. It was a good thing, because we were able to talk it out, and now we're even closer and we know more about each other. :) She's so sweet. It's a little difficult to always have to focus to understand what your companion is saying, but I know how much more difficult it is for her. I'm really impressed with how good her English is. And she asks these fantastic questions I have no idea how to answer about why we say certain things and when specific words are used.

Wednesday was awesome. We had splits ALL DAY LONG! Jocelyn was free and her mom, Jacqueline, had an urge to come out with us! So we tackled all the appointments we had, and while Sister Godoy and one of these amazing members were at an appointment, I would be tracting/personal contacting/doing stop-bys with the other member, or vice versa. It made us bold, and miracles happened! I can't even tell you how awesome it was. We planted so many seeds and were filled with energy and on fire! Sister Godoy and Jacqueline knocked on a door and found Romana, a girl who was delighted to learn and soaked in the entire first lesson. I found two guys I had a lengthy discussion about the gospel with that are interested. We were able to get back in touch with a former investigator and help her remember her previous testimony. She is now investigating again. Not to mention the appointments we had already set. They were so great, too.

We were so impressed by the miracles of the day that the next day we decided to do splits again, but this time we took Jocelyn and Tori, and we took them to Woonsocket. (It's pronounced One-SOCK-et. I know. Weird.) Woonsocket is entirely inactive. But we had a successful day nonetheless! Especially since Tori (who is about to go on her mission to Peru) had her first shot at tracting. She got a feel for it. These girls are going to make wonderful sisters.

On Friday we had district meeting, and Sister Godoy and I were asked to do the training. Righty-ho. We were so tired. It worked out just fine, though. :) We talked about how to get our investigators involved with service, and how to help them share their testimony with others.

Skipping over some other stuff. . . Okay, here's a really cool event. Exchanges. My first-ever exchanges where I leave my own area! AHHHH!!!! Sister Hobbs was my companion for the day, and I got to be in Providence for 24 hours. I loved it. It was so cool! Sister Hobbs is a beautiful, classy ballroom dancer with an awesome testimony. We talked ballroom for most of the free time. It was great. She understands!!! The appointments that day were so. . . unique. The first one was frustrating. We both left really wound-up. This old man was so critical, crabby, and defensive. You'd think he came from a movie. I had to bite my tongue multiple times. We said a prayer to unwind. :) Goodness, sometimes it's really hard to know what Jesus would do.

The second appointment was such a neat learning experience. Yehui is their investigator from China. He never had the concept of God while growing up. Crazy. We met him at a member's home, and after lunch had a wonderful, deep discussion with him. He asks all the right questions. We could answer him, but the concept was so hard for him to grasp. My heart just went out for him. And his prayer was so genuine as he asked for Heavenly Father to testify to him that He's there and that peace exists in this world.

Last appointment! We went to a part-member family's home. It was chaos, but so much fun! There had to have been 15 people there, and we all met outside while we were waiting for the dad to finish smoking the perfect turkey. He's legit. He cuts the different kinds of woods in advance so he can smoke the turkey with the perfect blend of applewood/cherrywood or whatever. And there were three dogs, a cat, a duck, and a turtle in or around the house. SO CRAZY!

Anyway, I've written so much and there's so much else I want to do, so I'm going to sign off! Hope I didn't bore you! Have a wonderful week. Thanks for everything. Don't forget I'm praying for you, and how true and perfect this gospel is.

Love always,

Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary

P.S. We found a deaf girl who is interested. Now I REALLY have to practice my sign language.

August 18 - PVC, Temple trips, Jeopardy, baptismal dates and more!

Hello world!

It's a bright summer's day, and I have a week full of adventures to tell you all about! SO MANY THINGS HAPPENED! Pretty much all amazing things, too. :) It's great being on a mission for Jesus Christ. I highly recommend it.

First of all, that Portable Visitor's Center I've been telling you all about came to OUR WARD! Little Central Falls! And so we had a busy busy day preparing for it. :) We deep-cleaned the entire building (which is easier than it sounds, since it's so small) and set up all 8 displays around the church. It was so great to see Sister Bell and Sister Hurst again! They have done an amazing job with the PVC. We knew that Sister Hurst was going to be in the spotlight since so many members couldn't wait to see their old missionary, so they asked me to help out giving the tours and stationed the others at the beginning or end of the tour. Some of them were out street contacting, running up to cars stopped at the red light to get them to come in and everything. It was a lot of fun! Super cool to do it at our place, too, because it's such a high-traffic area. We're RIGHT on a busy street.

It was a pretty successful night! I was super nervous to be giving the tours and teaching so much about what we believe so quickly, but I did just fine. :) The videos helped out a lot. The tour groups weren't big, either, so I could really personalize it and connect with these people. One lady who wanted a tour was homeless, and when I took her to the Relief Society room and testified about being daughters of God and the unity and family the church brings, she started to cry because the Spirit was so strong. It was so neat. She is definitely going to become an investigator very soon. The Portable Visitor's Center is so inspired! Next time, we're really going to focus on the members bringing friends!

After that exhausting, eventful day, we woke up bright and early for. . . THE TEMPLE! Because Miss JOCELYN that you have all heard so much about went all the way through to get her endowments. :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) It was a very special day. So many missionaries came to witness it, because she's somehow knows everyone. ;) I don't know anyone who was as prepared for the temple as she was. I am so proud of her--I've really made another life-long friend.

We were tired when we got home from the temple, but missionaries are always tired, so we work on! It was such a blessing that we kept on running that day, because we had the opportunity to extend a baptismal date to six different people. That's right. Six. Four of them accepted!!!! It was so cool! Three of them were from the group of five girls we met and started teaching last week! The fourth is Lovely. She came to the Portable Visitor's Center and told US she wanted to be baptized. Say wha--????? I already knew it, though. :) She's going far. She's going on a mission and getting married in the temple, I just KNOW it! You would all love her. She's the best.

Wednesday Sister Godoy and I took a road trip. :P My poor, poor companion. We had to travel back to her old area for some crazy dental work. That literally took out most of our day. It was close to a 4-hour round trip. Thank goodness for medical miles, or we'd easily be done for the month.

Let's see. . . we played Jeopardy with Crystal to test her on her scripture study! She's awesome!!!!!! Wahoo! I have a strong feeling that I'm here to see her get baptized. She knows it's true. She's on fire. And she's going to take this step of faith. :) Also, my mom is amazing. She sent me a quad to give to her. Crystal was so so touched that someone would care about her that much to send her her own set of scriptures.

Quick shout out to Sister Shea. She's an amazing member who has had some of the most difficult physical trials I have ever heard of. She's a cancer survivor among other things. And because her health is so poor and she just recovered from the shingles, she lost her job. She's a strong woman who has taught me a lot. If you can keep her in your prayers I would so appreciate it.

That's all I'll say for now! I could keep typing, but this is long, and I promised myself I'd finally send home some pictures!!!

Love you all! The gospel is true. Remember who you are and what you stand for!

XOXOXOXOXOX

~Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary

August 11 - ". . . Embustera. . . Liar . . !"

Hola everyone!!!

It has been a fun week, to say the least!!! A fun week with beautiful, bright, sunny days!

There's a lot to say, but I'll start with a crazy story about a drunk woman. . . which will explain the subject line. . . Sister Godoy and I were out looking for a young women who hasn't been seen in awhile, when we saw THE most drunk person I have ever seen across the street. She was falling into the fence and muttering to herself. My companion is so compassionate, so of course we went to her to see if we could at least help her get home. We were worried she'd fall into the street. She thought we were angels. :) But when we realized her home was too far away to walk to easily, we borrowed her phone to find someone who knew her to pick her up. I got on the phone with someone from the assisted home where she lived, and I said, "I'm with Naudia, and she is extremely drunk and we're worried for her safety out on the streets. . ." Naudia, at this point, had fallen to the ground and was lying in the grass. She overheard me, and was promptly FURIOUS that I had called her drunk. She protested, "Embustera! . . . Liar!" (Embustera is liar in Spanish.) And she went off on a rant, half in English and half in Spanish about how we were NOT angels and how she needed God instead of us. . . She was quite put out. It wasn't funny in the least until after the experience. Needless to say, as soon as the assisted living center had sent an ambulance to pick her up and we knew she'd be okay, we were out of there. What a way to start off the week. :)

GOOD NEWS!!!!! We found FIVE new investigators!!!!! They are the greatest teenage girls--neighborhood friends that were super interested in what we had to say! We taught them a little bit, set up a return appointment. and came back and taught them the whole Restoration. Can't wait to teach them about the Plan of Salvation. They had so many questions about life that we can answer. :) It was a really neat experience! They are soooo sweet!!!!! Their names are Lilibeth, Teneri, Amjanet, Jelissa, and Pamela. Fun names, right? ;)

We had Zone Meeting this week! Jocelyn came with us! She is soooooo prepared for her mission. Her light and her testimony and her story are such an inspiration to me. Goodness, I thought I was DONE saying goodbye to friends leaving on their missions! My zone is awesome. We're making our very own "title of liberty" and putting it on t-shirts for P-days. :) Gotta love it!

Crystal is really progressing. I have HIGH hopes for her new baptismal date! Keep praying for her! She's been reading the Book of Mormon every single night! And she's been receiving personal revelation from it. What a miracle. :) WE LOVE HER. She's even going to be helping out with the Portable Visitor's Center coming to our ward tomorrow!!!!!!

Let's see. . . what else? We taught Gospel Doctrine class. And I might be teaching a deaf investigator.

Out of time! Gotta go! 

Love,
Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary

August 4 - La semana con mas Español en mi vida!

Favoritest Family and Friends!!!!!

I have survived the first few days as a leader in Central Falls (CF). It's been crazy, stressful and super fun! My new companion from Argentina is right here, and she is going to introduce her self! Here she goes...

Hola! How is it going over there? I am having a blast with Sister Merkley. I am from Argentina. I like Coca-Cola. I have a stuffed Pig in my bed! I miss the Spanish program, but I am learning a lot from the gringos. I love rice and meat, and i can say that my mission is the best thing that has ever happened in my life! Today i have been out for 14 months in my mission, and here in America I can't find shoes, because apparently you guys have big feet! But I am glad to get to say hi! And now I say bye! (All of this was said in her thick Spanish accent. Lol.)

I am also with Jocelyn, and she is going to say hi as well...

Hi everyone on the other side! (Not dead people just in case you're wondering.) so we are currently at Dress Barn and I am to small for these clothes, so i am supporting Sister Godoy and adding to the clothes being too small. haha! I have 0 days on the mission, but will report to the MTC on September 10. I will be flying to utah the 9th and staying at Sister Merkley's Moms' house! Shout out to Sister Trifiletti! I Love You! A day like today a year ago... I was baptized. yeahhhh party! So we are celebrating today and we look sooo cute all matching with polka dot shirts and black skirts. it feels like the 3 musketeers! Let's see. I love cookies and to sing and dance and that's why me and Lia get along soo freaking well! I Love her!!! Well let me pass you to Lia. if i stay I'll talk to much haha but one last thing: I came from Puerto Rico. So I also talk Spanish so me and Sister Godoy talk Spanish and Lia is like wha??? Haha so me and Sister Godoy will teach her Spanish and Latin-ize her. Buahaha Love you all Adios!

Haha, can you see why I love them? I'm well taken care of here by my girls. Transfer meeting was crazy. I'm getting so sick of goodbyes. :( Sister Platt is off in Cambridge! And it's been pretty hectic trying to remember everything and run the area. Sister Godoy is a stellar missionary though, so she's made the transition a little easier.

CC is officially a member of the church! And we're working with lots of others. The tricky part is meeting with them.

I actually ran out of time already, plus I'm not sure what else to tell you... But at least you got to hear from two of my favorite people! The gospel is true! Share it with everyone!!!

Love always,
Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary

P.S. I'm surrounded by forigners! Everyone I work with is from out of the country, and they all jabber in different languages!!! Ahh!!!

July 28 - The only constant is change!

Well hi there!!!!

Just another week in the crazy life of an MBM Missionary! And yes, it's that time again. I have transfer news. I feel like I shouldn't have news. Things should just stay the same for once. But no. Elder Starley is going home, which I already knew. He knew the most about our area and the people. But I thought I'd have Sister Platt longer. . . NOPE! Sister Platt is being transferred up to Cambridge. AHHHHHH!!!!! That means that I will be leading the area. An area I've only been in for 6 weeks. Oh my goodness!!! That's scary! I don't feel like I know enough! And I have to drive. I hate New England driving. WAY worse than Utah; I don't know WHAT Utah drivers complain about.

This ALSO means I'll have a new companion, of course. Which is nuts. She'll be my 6th companion. I've only been on my mission for 4 1/2 months! Two trios will do that to you. My new companion is from Argentina and has never served in an English ward before!!! This should be an adventure. :) I can't wait! I'm also suuuuuper nervous. I don't feel quite ready. At least I'm not training. Sister Godoy has been out way longer than me. Just not here. :)

But I'll tell you some of the other happenings! First of all, Crystal! I love her. :) The poor girl wanted to come straight back and be baptized as soon as she left. But you know what? We made a game plan to help her feel confident and prepared by the time she gets baptized. She's been investigating for nearly 3 years. It's about time she takes the step she knows is right, and it's gonna happen! But first we're going to help her testimony grow even MORE, so she has no qualms or hesitations. And she'll be baptized before I leave this area!

We took Jocelyn, the awesome girl going on a mission, to a park and just read the Book of Mormon with her for a LONG time. And we talked and talked about amazing doctrine. She so gets it! I'm so happy for her and I admire her enthusiasm for the gospel!

I told the story of the Pre-Mortal existence to Maria's kids. Lol. It was so hard! 5 of them under 10! And they had so many questions! Which is great, but they could be random. :) I really love them though. We need to get their mom more involved so they can come to church. They have big hearts and wonderful desires to be close to God.

Alright, I had 2 AMAZING experiences with the spirit this week. Well, others did, and I was just lucky enough to be a witness. :) The first one was CC. She had the baptismal date for yesterday, and she needed an interview with someone in the mission presidency, so President Haight drove down to little Central Falls. :) For a background on CC, she has an auto-immune disease called Sarcoidosis. The top half of her lungs have completely shut down, she has a raspy voice, and the doctors said it's a miracle she's even breathing. This disease has also caused her bones to be brittle so they break far too easily, and she has sores on her body. :( She's black, 31, and bone thin. She has 3 kids. After her interview with President Haight, she asked him for a blessing. We were so privileged to be able to sit in on it. Short of my Patriarchal Blessing, I've never heard a blessing like that in my life. In the name of Jesus Christ, he commanded her body to be healed. She was promised that within the year, she would return to full health. He told her that Heavenly Father had a mission and plan for her that would require a strong, healthy body, and that she would get it. It was amazing. And that was only a sliver of it. There were many other incredible things she was promised, and the Spirit was so strong in the room. Some of them were deeply personal. But I know that CC will be honored for the work that she will complete in this life, and that her ancestors and posterity will be blessed forever because of her decision to be baptized. And she was baptized on Sunday. The very same day, we started teaching her teenage daughter, Lovely.

The following morning, for the first time ever, CC's Aunt was able to go to the temple to be baptized. She had been in the Church for four years. And Saturday morning she took her mother and her sister's names to the temple and was baptized in their behalf in the house of the Lord. I can't even explain how strong the Spirit was. It was another mission-wide recent convert trip, and all of these people had pivotal, life-changing experiences. We are so blessed to have temples so close and the knowledge that we have!


There's always more things I could tell you, but this email is long enough! I love you all! Thanks for your testimonies, support and example. You keep me going every day, even when times are tough. Well, you and the Lord. ;)

Pray for this area!

Love,
Sister Merkley

MBM Missionary

July 21 - Another week, another adventure!

Hey there, all!!!!

Lots to tell you, as usual. :) Ready to hear lots more crazy stuff?

Let's start with my favorite!!!! Kevin LaBarge got baptized!!!! Wahoo! I am so grateful for the permission I got to go see it. And for the member who drove me over 2 hours round trip to get there. And for him and his testimony. :) :) It was on Thursday night, and it was so cool to see everything again! The building, the members, my old companions, everything! I just loved it so much. Apparently Kevin got scared and tried to cancel his baptism TWICE that day. The adversary hits hard. :P But he told me afterward that he went to pray about it and just knew he wouldn't ever come back to church if he didn't get baptized. And he wondered why he was so scared. He has a great testimony. So he came, to everyone's relief! :) :) It made me so happy to see him there. He'll make an amazing addition to the ward. he even cheered when he came up out of the water!

Zone Conference was the beginning of this week, and let me tell you, there was a spiritual outpouring. It was amazing! Poor President Packard gets little to no sleep every night and just had surgery on his meniscus, but he still was able to blow all of us away. Pretty sure everyone cried. :) The trainings were great, and he gave us such great motivation and resolve to be better!

We had the greatest lesson on the Restoration with an islander named Dwight. He's awesome. :D And the member we brought was so nervous. He's a convert, and he just looks like he'd always be so confident, but we had him shaking in his shoes when he came with us to teach! But he brought a different kind of spirit, and his simple testimony was so genuine. Dwight was glued to everything he said. It made everything so real. :)

Toward the end of the week ALL of our appointments were falling through. People here are flaky. They cancel. Or forget. Which is lame, when you've scheduled your day around them. But one night, when we were bitterly doing stop-bys of less-actives and Do Not Contacts (I think Sister Platt has a death wish. . . she's determined to visit all the DNCs) we got a call from a stellar member who randomly wanted to invite us over for burgers! So that was fun. :) Her husband is a recent convert and was able to pass the sacrament for the first time this Sunday!

Crystal. . . yeah, she's a story. She was so ready, then Satan threw everything he had at her. As in, when she invited her family to the baptism, they said, "Why are you joining a church that used to reject black people?" Oh, the misconceptions. :( And she hadn't heard anything about blacks/the priesthood, and she's black so she felt like she'd be betraying her people. So we all got together the night before her "baptism" and talked about it. The same member that drove me to Kevin's baptism came with us and was amazing. (Sister Frandsen). We talked about what happened and not knowing all the answers and faith and the adversary. It was a neat discussion, and we left with high hopes, but the next day she came to ward conference late, and she told us she wasn't ready to be baptized yet. She still wants to meet with us and she says she knows Joseph Smith was a prophet and she WANTS to be baptized. She just needs more time. Which is alright. The Elders had two investigators baptized Sunday. Super cool. :)

That's about all I have time for! But I love you all, as you very well know! There's nothing more important than sharing the gospel with everyone! I am so blessed to have this calling!!!!!

<3,
Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary