July 7 - Independence Week!

Dearest Family and Friends,

This week was. . . let's say slow. Yeah. Well, first of all, Sister Platt and I were sick off and on the entire week, so we kept having to bail on things for recovery's sake. And then about 80% of our appointments (carefully studied and planned for) were cancelled. Or people just weren't home when they said they'd be. One of the two. Needless to say, we didn't do too much teaching. :P Pretty bummed about that after such a week of miracles last week. Still, there were some awesome happenings!

For instance, we fulfilled Sister Platt's dream of having a BREAKFAST appointment at a member's home. :) They're awesome, and he is a professional chef, so it was QUITE delicious! They are preparing themselves to go to the temple for the first time ever!

At District meeting I received a box of things I left behind in my old area. . . Haha, that was pretty great. Especially since some letters came in for me there, too. A final call-out to make sure everyone is writing to my Rhode Island address! I'd hate to wait about a month to read a letter! And thanks for those. They're SO great.

We went to a funeral for an old man in our ward no one knew. :( It was sad. There had to have been 15-20 people total. And I had to give the opening prayer. What do you say in a prayer at a funeral for someone you know nothing about? It was a strange experience. And sad. I don't like funerals.

BUT! The next day was great. INDEPENDENCE DAY! Which happened to be the day of our Zone Meeting! So our Zone Leaders decked everything out in red, white, and blue and fed us a BBQ. Super fun!!! And then our meeting was super inspirational. We're aiming high! Setting goals and doing a mission-wide fast for investigators with baptismal dates! Can't wait! Guess what??? The first time I really see it rain in Rhode Island was the 4th of July. Of course. It DUMPED. I actually quite enjoyed it! Driving through rivers was a little scary, though. We had permission to celebrate that day, so the whole zone got together at our church that night and played games! Apples to Apples, Cranium. . . it was so fun. :) The next night we got to see the fireworks that had been postponed. The Providence fireworks were fantastic!!! There was a live orchestra and it was over the lake! Haha, I'm sure Carrie Underwood and the Stadium of Fire knocked it out of the park, though.

Sunday was pretty powerful. That was good. Hope you all know you're an inspiration to me and in my prayers! And this week is going to be a LOT more successful. We're feeling better and have set some great goals!

LOVE,

Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary

June 30 - A week of MIRACLES --- from the smallest, poorest state in the US!

Well hi there again!!!!

P-days are the best. But we don't have enough time for everything we want to do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, are you ready to hear about the amazing miracles of this week??? Because they're. . . amazing. Ahem! So. . . we more than doubled our teaching pool. And it wasn't exactly small to begin with. Yeah. 10 new investigators!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In one week. That's CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So we went from 7 investigators to 17. Absolutely nuts. And really really REALLY cool to watch the process. :) :) :) :) I'm a little overwhelmed. . . Heavenly Father is entrusting us with a lot of his children. But what a blessing!!!!!!!

6 of these new investigators come from the same home! Maria is the head of the house, and she has a combination of children, grandchildren and a niece or something like that to make up the other 5. All of them are kids. :) :) :) Super cute! Jose, Arianna, Kiara, Rosa, and Nathan. The girls wanted to record me praying so they could keep it! Hahaha! We taught them the first part of the Restoration, and we can't wait to go back and teach them the rest!

Dwight is another investigator from some obscure island in the Caribbean. I think he's my favorite. :D He's a big black guy with long braided black hair. He's dating a woman in our ward named Melissa. And Melissa's DAUGHTER Mikaela is already one of our investigators. So we were teaching Mikaela (she's 9) a cute way to remember all the 10 commandments, and he meandered in and sat down to join us! Suh-weet! And then he started asking questions. All SORTS of them! We were trying to keep on top of them and remember all the answers and I just had a thought, "You know, this isn't what he's really asking. He needs to know about modern-day revelation." So I opened my mouth and explained a little about the Book of Mormon, then about having a living prophet on the Earth today. You should have SEEN his expression when he heard that news! He pulled out a notebook and scribbled down Thomas S. Monson's name! :) :) :) He said it made sense, but he was still burning with questions! So Sister Platt offered to come back just for him to answer those questions, and he snatched the opportunity. He didn't want to interrupt Mikaela's lesson, but the rest of the time he sat there writing down questions. I LOVE IT! I can't wait!

Donna was a hand-off from the sisters in Scituate. I like her. She's older with red, spiky hair. She's interested in learning for educational purposes, but is digging in her heels for anything else. We'll see if the Spirit will touch her heart.

Melissa was definitely inspired. (Different Melissa.) We started talking to her on the street. She's soooo sweet. She has been in a church ONCE and doesn't know anything about God and really wants to now. She's curious but shy about it. We testified that God knows and loves her and set up an appointment to come back. She couldn't stop smiling. :) :) I'm getting better at talking to random people.

We had dinner with a member who was ex-communicated. She's classy and really wanting to get her life back on track, and she has a daughter that is 9 as well. She wants to get baptized. So we're on it. :) :) :) She and I are buddies. I taught her how to play Cat's Cradle and I think I might have gotten her a liiiiiitle obsessed. :D

Someone who has been investigating for over a year got baptized yesterday! Her name is Lilian! her husband was able to baptize her, and it was the sweetest thing to witness. I totally teared up. So happy for them! :) Oh, I also spoke in Sacrament meeting. And cried like, the whole time. Awesome. :P
I'm aaaaalways tired! But it's a satisfying kind of tired, so it's okay. I hit the pillow exhausted every night and completely out of steam. There are lots of things between all these miracles that are hard, like homesickness or rejections. Still, Heavenly Father is continually outweighing the bad with the good. It's been neat. :)

The Elders we work with are great, as are the Senior missionaries. They keep me laughing! Sister Platt is super cool! We laugh a lot, too. Mostly about how OPPOSITE we are. But instead of clashing, we balance. :D

Don't forget my new address in Rhode Island! Miss you all!!! Thanks for the updates!

<3,

Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary

June 23 - "Testimonies and Transfers and Trials and Triumphs!"

Hey there everyone!!!!!!!!

Crazy week doesn't even cover it. Not in the slightest. And you know what? You'd think I'd be better at goodbyes at this point. Nope. Still hate them. SOOO much.

But let me start with the BEST news!!!!! The day before I was transferred (Tuesday), we had my final appointment with Kevin and Katie. We decided to reteach the Restoration for Katie's benefit, and to hit home our testimonies. We had this great object lesson with a tower of cups building Christ's true church, then pulling out the Priesthood and it all tumbling, then rebuilding it again with Joseph Smith. . . it was pretty great. :D It was very clear. And amazing. The three of us were able to teach with the Spirit and testify of the truthfulness of the gospel. KATIE got emotional! And then. . . the best part. . . with the Spirit to back us up, we extended a baptismal date, for BOTH of them. And they accepted. AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! It was amazing! The BEST way to end my lessons with them. Kevin is working toward August 3rd, and Katie is working toward August 17th! Pray for them! And I really hope I get permission to come witness it! They were filled with the Spirit and are soooo on track. :)

The next day was transfers. :( :( :( It was so hard to say goodbye. But let me tell you, I've never experienced anything like this transfer meeting. Talk about powerhouse. It's open to whomever wants to come, and so Kevin and Katie both came and sat by us! Both President Packard and his wife spoke, there were amazing musical numbers, then all of the missionaries returning home stood up and bore their testimonies. 22 of them. WOW. They kept it brief, but they did their best to capture in those moments exactly what their mission has meant to them. A lot of them directly addressed the investigators. It was AMAZING. I just sat there and cried. And I KNOW Kevin and Katie felt it, too. Afterwards, President had us (the missionaries) stand, and he left a blessing with us. The Lord is in this mission. It's an amazing thing to know that.

After the tearful goodbyes, I headed off to Rhode Island with my new companion, Sister Platt! She's cool. :) Very mellow. Nothing like my crazy last companions. This will be a very different experience. Somehow, with all of her mellow-ness, she keeps us constantly busy. Which is great. :)

Central Falls is GHETTO. SUPER ghetto. Dingy, crammed, dirty, and downright sketchy in lots of areas. Very different from Weston. But I'm already getting used to it. :) You should see the church building! I'll have to send you a picture. It's on a crammed street and looks just like another little office building. No steeple, so grass, no nothing. Just a gravel patch for a parking lot. The inside is better. I think it's kinda cute on the inside. Teeny little chapel with a couple teeny classrooms. The basement has a teeny kitchen and a font. :) So that's good.

People here are either AWESOME or crazy. Like, legitimately crazy. I've never met so many crazy people in my life. Sister Platt thinks it's funny that I have no idea how to react to these people. I think I'll gain a whole new set of skills! :) :) But the awesome people are beyond awesome. For instance, a stalwart convert we had dinner with bought me a CAKE that said 'Welcome Sister Merkley!' HOW CUTE!!!!!!! And the Elders and Senior Couple we work with are great! We're working with about 5 investigators. :) One of them is named Crystal. She's my favorite. She's a nurse, 22, sassy, and just bumped up her baptismal date to be July 20th! Wahoo!!!! There's such diversity in this ward, too. It was super awkward when I didn't know what Cape Verdean was. :D So many people here are from Cape Verde.

Anyway, life is good! Lots to learn. Lots to do! Keep me posted on life. Mail is the biggest blessing! You all tend to say exactly what I need to hear, when I need to hear it! I love all of you, and you're in my prayers!

Lots of love!
Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary

June - 16 "Mind = Blown. Unexpected, crazy news with T-texts!!!"

Dearest darlingest friends and family,

I have a love/hate relationship with the past week. So much of it was SO good!!!! And then. . . Ahhhhhh!!!!!!!!

Okay. . . I guess I'll start with the big news. We got T-texts on Friday. TRANSFER NEWS. Everyone was guessing who would leave, and we were all pretty convinced Sister Slater was history. But guess what? Yup. It's ME. I'm LEAVING!!!! I've only been here 2 transfers, and if you're talking Weston 2nd Ward, only ONE! I am leaving everything I've known on the mission. First transfer. And guess what ELSE! I'm changing STATES. I'm going to Central Falls, Rhode Island. Wow. From what I've heard, basically I'm going from one of the richest areas in the mission to one of the poorest. Poverty-stricken area. BUT President told me that the ward I'm going to is preparing 8 people for baptism and has baptized 40 people in the last year. That's amazing.

I really don't know how I feel about this. First I was stunned. Then I was pretty disappointed. Then I was excited. Now I'm torn. A bit of both. The Lord knows best what I need and who needs me. So I'll gladly go. But Kevin is on FIRE and I would have loved to stick around to see the whole process to his baptism. And I feel like I JUST figured out everything I needed to to REALLY help make things happen in these wards! Man! I know, should have figured it out ages ago. It's a long process. One I get to start over very soon with a new companion. :) Her name is Sister Platt, and I hear she's so sweet. Can't wait to make another best friend!

As for actual events of the week, the Weston 2nd Elders connected us with their top investigators, Rafael and Tatiana. I love them! They are going through a rough time, but they're both so funny and sincere. She's from Brazil--he's from the Dominican Republic. Tatiana taught us how to make plantains, and we had a great scripture study with them!!!

Kevin had us and the Weston First Elders over to help him cut his Japanese Cherry Tree. And bushes in the back. In the RAIN!!!!!! It was soooooo fun! (Pictures coming!) And we can sooo sense how ready he is to be baptized. He talks about it and is so spiritually in tune. He'll be such an example to his family when he takes that step. And we've really connected with his daughter Katie! We are now officially teaching her as well.

Saturday morning we got to go to the temple to support a recent convert in her baptism trip. She's so funny! That was pretty fun. And we were so busy we had to go on a 3-way split!!!! Temple, Blood drive, and the ward BBQ! It was crazy!!!!!

The weather has been positively glorious. I not too hot or cold, some fun showers but plenty of sunshine.

I've started saying goodbye to people. Breaks my heart. :( But I'm heading out on another chapter of this book!!!!! I'll tell you all about it next week!

Miss you all! I love the news you give me! Michelle, whom most of you know, and one of my DEAREST friends, is now married. I can't even wrap my mind around it. She looked stunning. And my cousin just had a BABY! Lots of my friends just turned 20, too. Weird that life happens without me at home.

Love you! Keep in touch!

~Sister Merkley

MBM Missionary

June 9 - "Quickest of quick updates."

Hey everyone!!!! How's it going in the rest of the world?

I really have no time. . . again! So I'll keep it brief-er than usual. ;) Let's see. . .

We did lots of painting this week for service! And laying out brown paper and lots of painting. . . That was fun. Our teaching pool is fairly empty. We're trying to find more people to share the gospel with, but it's a long process to start from scratch. Haven't heard from Jackson since the bad news. Golden is in China. Kevin is still on fire! But we're employing a lot of finding tactics now. . .

Brother Clites, the Weston 2nd Ward Mission Leader, is AMAZING! He's so inspired, and we've been practicing inviting and teaching with him. He gets us so excited to do the Lord's work. You can feel the energy flooding from him. AND he's brilliant. Just graduated from Harvard and you can TELL.

We had lots of rain and meetings. Sunday was even MORE hectic than usual. We're building trust where we can with the members so we can work more closely with them. I met an author who is sooooo super funny and amazing!!!! She and her husband are going to the temple soon to do baptisms for the first time as well!!! Can't wait!!!!!

Oh, and President gave an amazing training at Zone Conference. Seeking personal revelation. It was very spiritual, and I know he's inspired. That's about it.

More details next week! Sorry so short and not as exciting this time!!!

Love,
Sister Merkley
MBM Misisonary


P.S. If any of you ever travel to Boston, GO TO THE MUSEUM OF SCIENCE. A-MA-ZING. I'm pretty sure I have the best P-days out of ALL of my friends! I'll send pictures. . . sometime. . . :D

Just 2 - "Another week of ups and downs."

Hey family and friends!!!!!!!!

Well, life is a roller coaster here in the Weston Wards of Massachusetts. :) That's for sure. I don't have a ton of time, so I'll just outline some of the craziest things!

Let's start with the bad news, shall we? Jackson. :( No baptism again. And this time, we tried contacting him all week before we cancelled it the day before. That was hard. He finally texted us yesterday morning. . . Turns out his mom was NOT supportive. AT ALL. In fact she "rejected" the invite he gave her and forbade the baptism. Which, you know, is kind of crazy because he's 22 and has only known his mom for a year. He moved to America from Uganda at age 21 and in with the mother he had never met, who threw a lot of rules at him he's not happy with. But he has to obey because he has nowhere else to go. . . :( It's a hard situation. So if you could keep him in your prayers, that would be amazing. We don't really know what to do at this point. . . contact is minimal, too. We don't want to make things worse for him.

On a positive side. . . Sarah!!! I love this girl! She's 13 and part of a less-active Haitian family we're working with. SO SPUNKY. We're good friends. :D But this girl has never taken a dance class in her life and hasn't been given very many opportunities to shine. We were granted permission to attend the Middle School talent show she made it into to support her. OH. MY. GOODNESS. I have NOT seen that much talent in a 13-year-old, particularly in one without any training. She blew everyone out of the water!!!!!!! Completely. It should have been on TV or something. Talk about fighting for your dreams and showing the world what you're capable of. She danced like a PRO. Sister Slater started crying. It was amazing. :) :) :) Use the talents God has given you!

Kevin (Brother LaBarge, as we now like to call him) is doing great! Seriously! He came to church again on Sunday and Bishop White was FINALLY able to talk to him! Score! AND he paid fast offerings. Yeah, he asked US how to pay them. He's always so ahead of us. So excited for him! Now we just gotta get his daughter to girl's camp! :D

Another miraculous event - the Martinez family. WOW. Joe Martinez was baptized 3 days after I entered the MTC. His process inspired his less-active wife, and they were able to go to the temple to do baptisms for the first time EVER this weekend! And we were lucky enough to be there. I was able to bear my testimony of family history and temple work with them, and help him prepare the names of his grandparents and great-grandparents for his first step ever into the House of the Lord. They both so GET it. He said he felt it as soon as he walked into the temple. She was nearly in tears the entire time. And I was even allowed to do baptisms with my companions! So beautiful! I love the temple!!!

That was Saturday. We also went trackting (spelled right?) for awhile on Saturday. . . that doesn't happen very often. And I got fried. :D Big sunburn. But it was an adventure. Some slammed doors, plenty of funny looks and awkward conversation starters. So worth it when we found Joe and Beverly, then later on Oscar. :D Tell you more about them if anything comes of it.

Gotta get going! Love and miss you all. Sometimes things get hard, but I've been blessed to be able to hit the reset button every time I get up in the morning. :) I appreciate hearing from you. It makes my day!

Sincerely,
Your Favorite Missionary ;)
Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary

"ELDER HOLLAND"

Dear friends and family!

You won't BELIEVE the experience I had this week.

Elder Holland visited our mission. He came to my church building and stood in front of ALL of the MBM Missionaries. About 300 of us. And I was on the third row, front and center. And he talked to us for TWO HOURS FLAT. We all got to shake his hand, and locking eyes with an apostle like that, as a full-time missionary of the Lord, is something I can't even describe.

Elder Hallstrom of the 70, and SISTER Holland, were there and spoke with us too. And they were amazing, but there's nothing like the FLOOD that came from Elder Holland. We had been DYING for this experience, and none of us were disappointed. Pulpit pounder. The Spirit was tangible. And I will never look at my Mission President and Wife the same way again. He paid them a compliment that is really hard to beat. Man, I wish I could give you all a TASTE of it. I'll type some highlights that he said!

"There are few things that get to me. But one thing I cannot deal with is a return missionary who goes inactive. I absolutely go topieces. Don't you EVER deny the power and majesty of this mission. While we're looking for the sheep, please tell me we don't have to worry about the shepherds. We have to count on you. This is forever. You can't look back. Be true and faithful the rest of your life. Don't ever, ever walk away."

"You are God's investigators. Everything you want for YOUR investigators, God wants for you."

"God is easy to please and hard to satisfy--and so are we."

"Don't you wonder, 'If this is the truth, why is it so hard for people to get it?? Why isn't the biggest problem pneumonia from being wet all the time in the baptismal fonts?' I believe that it's hard because Salvation is not a cheap experience. There is nothing convenient or trivial about the Atonement. The road to Salvation always goes through Gethsemane."

It was amazing. Can you tell? That's not verbatim, but I did my best to note-take and stare at the same time. :) He got agitated and left the pulpit for the whiteboard for awhile. :D It was fantastic. Scripture study with elder Holland. . . what???? He left a blessing upon our mission, and we all sang The Spirit of God. FIRE. We were all crying. It was AMAZING. I can't even express it.

SO many other things happened this week, but obviously that's the most important. :) We had an exchange Saturday. . . Sister Lee is hilarious, and we awkwardly personal contacted some people. Lol. And Jackson's baptism was supposed to happen yesterday. . . but he bailed on the multiple rides we set up. . . and so ensued the most stressful Sunday on the mission so far. That's saying something. Don't worry--he ended up getting stuck out in Burlington without a way here and was QUITE distraught about it. Which was a relief. No real testimony shaker. But he was too embarrassed to call us, so we were panicking and confused until last minute, when he finally called us, we called it off and rescheduled. Satan really doesn't want him to get baptized. But it will happen soon! Hopefully THIS Sunday!

Investigators are doing well! Kevin came to church again and wants to get baptized! But he wants to prove to himself he really is in 100%, so he's waiting a little longer. Rocking awesome. We taught a family who was recently converted about baptisms for the dead, and it was a very powerful experience! They're taking their own names in and going for the first time this Saturday! We might go, and I can't wait!

Lots of planning and splits and craziness. I'm keeping busy. Times can be hard, but I knew that before I came out. :)

Keep in touch!!!!

<3,
Sister Merkley