I am so so so excited! :) The snow is melting, we have big plans, we have great ideas, and the Lord has a work for us to do!
We were able to sit down and have a great talk with President this week! :) That was the best. I think President Packard is the busiest man I've ever met. But he found the time to sit down with us and and map out all of our joint ideas and plans and priorities for the Portable Visitors' Center. It was exactly what we needed. I know have a full-to-bursting to-do list that I can't wait to tackle! We're dreaming big here! I'll report on what we're doing with our office time when we really get going in these next few weeks. We ran around like crazy this week though, so we really haven't had time to get started.
Tuesday was crazy! This is transfer week, and not only do we live close to the Packards, but we drive a Spaceship, so they needed our help. :) Thirteen new missionaries came flying in from the MTCs! Five of them were sisters. We were the lucky ones who got to cook their meals, welcome them into the mission, and then take them home with us for their first night in the MBM. It was so much fun! Five sisters in our tiny little apartment! Haha. We were supposed to have enough air mattresses, but two of them ended up having holes in them, so one sister took the couch and another took my bed. There wasn't much room, so. . . I took the closet. Hahaha! It was really neat to be in the mission home for the chaos of transfers. I love new missionaries. They are so humble and so excited and so nervous and full of energy! It makes everyone else so excited for the work of salvation, too! :)
Wednesday night was the big transfer meeting. We set up all of our displays for those who came with investigators or less-actives, and then we got to hear the testimonies of those missionaries going home. We lost thirty missionaries this transfer. Thirty. :( Breaks my heart. But not really. They're on to the next, beautiful phase of their life. It's bittersweet. Some more of my good mission friends went home. Sister Hyoung, Sister Neilson, Elder Fish, Elder Spencer the Vails. . . Strange sitting in transfer meeting without anticipating a new companion. . .
We had another adventurous weekend! First, we went back down to Providence for another church tour. It was less scary this time. The streets are still piled high with snow, but more along the sidewalks than anything else. We had a bunch of help setting up, everyone was so excited, and then I had the opportunity to hit the streets and do some personal contacting again!!! That is so fun!!!!! Especially in a busy city like Providence. Sister Batschi (amazing Sister recently transferred into Providence) is a stellar personal contact-er! :D She broke me out of my comfort zone really fast, and we talked to everyone, inviting them in for a tour of the building and refreshments. :) We met so many different people. Sweet old ladies, young rebels, lost teenagers, a deaf man I was able to sign to, a man at a soup kitchen, posh people who were "all-set", busy people who we think would really have been interested, and more! I love talking to people. Even getting rejected. It's when I feel the most like a missionary, taking advantage of every opportunity to share the gospel. :)
So that was fun! We spent the night with Sister Batschi and Sister Malolo Vaai. They live in an old factory. :D So fun. Then the next morning we took the drive back to Cape Cod!
Being on the Cape is the best. It's beautiful and touristy. The Cape Cod branch is so awesome. We set up all of our displays and prepped for the tour--and so many members came to help! So many! Usually getting the ward/leader support is the hardest part, and we rely on the missionaries to make the tours run. Which is not ideal at all. So it was amazing when everyone came, everyone was willing to help, and everyone was excited to share the gospel. The unfortunate part was that no one came. :D Haha, okay, it shouldn't be funny, but we were so ready for visitors, and no one showed up! There was even a recently returned missionary who knocked on a couple of doors for us. Sister Couto and I didn't want to leave Cape Cod with the Branch disappointed and feeling like they failed, so we came up with an idea. We asked the branch president if we could stay, leave the displays up through church on Sunday, and do a training/presentation about the Portable Visitors' Center to the branch to get them excited and to discuss how we could make the event more successful next time. He happily agreed--in fact, he handed over Branch Council to us for training. How neat is that??
It was an amazing day at church! This branch is brimming with potential! We presented toe PVC to Branch Council and discussed with them great ways to get lots of visitors for future events. They had so many ideas and were so excited! In fact, they pulled up our calendar and are going to book us a ton soon! We spent an hour just sitting down with the Primary President, and she is on fire with ideas! (One of the projects President wants us to work on is doing PVC events specifically for kids--fun videos and activities and stations and songs and such!) We're so excited to work with her! And then finally, the Relief Society President used our Restoration display to teach her entire Relief Society lesson, focusing on ways we can share the gospel. So I think it was a tender mercy that no one showed up the first time. It really motivated them, and now we have incredible things ahead of us!
Last thing to talk about: We had another Restoration fireside to attend! President Packard spoke again, this time in the Boston West stake, our home ward! Oh man. I wish everyone in the world had the opportunity to hear that. It's amazing. We had about 150 people show up, many of them visitors. They browsed all of the displays we set up and loved the program! Dallyn Bayles, who is in the Weston 2nd Ward and is a famous Broadway singer, was supposed to do the music, but ended up having to cancel. President found the greatest replacements. Elder Stones, a good friend of ours and one of President's assistants, sang Make Me Whole from the Lamb of God, and President Packard sang Savior, Redeemer of My Soul with his daughter Natalie. It was amazing. They are sooooooo talented!
Wow, I wrote a lot this week! Sorry if I bored you with all of the details! Just know that I love this great work, and I'm excited to pour more of my heart and energy into it! My prayers are with you! I love you all!
Love,
Sister Merkley
MBM PVC Missionary
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