"THE MISSION FIELD!"

Hey everyone!!!!

Guess what???? I'm here!!!! Wahoo!

Oh my goodness. I love it. :) :) :) I'll say what I can!

Our flight left at 6:30 AM, which means we left the MTC at 2:30 AM. YIKES. We stayed up all night packing, so I didn't get a wink of sleep until the plane, and I didn't get a solid sleep until the following night. We had TWO planes and a day full of crazy travelling! And then we landed in a FREEZING COLD BOSTON!

We stayed one night at the Mission President's home, which was so fun! They are a wonderful family. And the next night, after a day full of training (and a random tracting assignment, AHH!) we were assigned our companions and areas!!!!!! Sister Chadwick and I split up for the first time. She headed off to Rhode Island, and I was assigned to. . . the WESTON FIRST ZONE!!!!! Which is just WEST of Boston!!!!

My companion/trainer is Sister Slater, and she is a DOLL! Oh my goodness, I love her so much. I am so blessed to be put with her! She is from Spanish Fork, has been out 9 months, has shoulder-length, dark, wavy hair and an awesome personality. (For those of you who want to FB stalk her, it's Heather Slater. :D ) No seriously. She makes me feel so valued, and she's so much fun! We talk and talk and talk! She has an AMAZING TESTIMONY. I just happily follow her amazing lead! We work really hard together, teaching a few different people, doing service at a Food Pantry, and PLANNING. Lots of planning and goals. President Packard has a big thing for getting the Elders and Sisters to work together, because we're "big kids" and can be responsible. So we're working closely with Elder Fish and Elder Terry. I like them, too. So it's been fantastic. :) :) The ward is sweet and supportive and everything!

Massachusetts was really cold for the first two days, then it REALLY warmed up, and now. . . well. . . it's been raining for about 2 days. Kinda. It's more like one of those mist machines from 7 peaks is constantly hissing over your head. I can't wait for Spring. I hear it's breathtaking.

One AMAZING STORY: My very first lesson was with a tall, black guy from Uganda! He's about 23 and SO hard to understand. His name is Jackson. We taught the Restoration. It was a really cool experience, since he already loves Christ and was so open to what we had to say. He just LISTENED. Ans so at the end, I did what we had planned, and extended a baptismal invitation. :O Yeah. . . he said YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my goodness!!!!! My very first lesson, I committed someone to be baptized, and we even set a date!!!!!!!! AHHHHH!!!!

I know it doesn't always work like that, but it was a really awesome start. Now everyone knows me for that. . . but it's not like I did anything amazing. He was just so ready for the gospel. Anyone could have invited him to be baptized!!!!

One depressing story: We had a media referral, and at about 8 last night, in the spitting rain, we headed over with high hopes of his interest. Um. . . first VIOLENT rejection I've seen. He stared at us when he opened the door, then started FREAKING OUT! "You're from the LDS religion, aren't you?? NO. I'm am not even REMOTELY interested, nor will I EVER be! I have no idea how you got my name! Get out of here!" And sweet Sister Slater says, "Have a nice night!" as he SLAMS the door. Yikes. We think a friend put his information down on Mormon.org as a practical joke. Apparently it happens.

But overall it's been an amazing experience! I'm so happy to be out here! The food pantry is sooo humbling. I watched people go collect food from the shelves, fighting back tears because they were reduced to such actions. Most are single mothers. My heart went out to them. But we have a wonderful opportunity to share what we have with them--they're more willing to listen than most.

Massachusetts Boston Mission is the best!!!!!!! Thanks for your support, everyone! I love you sooooooo much. Your support means the world!

Love,

Sister Merkley

P.S. THIS IS MY ADDRESS!!!! Send letters directly here, so I can get them at my apartment instead of going through the mission office. :)

Sister Talia Merkley
16 Kings Way #202C
Waltham, MA 01527