Canada Week 50: "One whole year as God's little missionary!"

Hello hello my beautiful, wonderful family and friends!  I hope everyone is well!   

My week was another up and down roller coaster ride.  The beginning of the week was super good and then it slowly got slower with a few ups in between.  All is well though because we need opposition in all things.  How can we appreciate the good things if we don't have challenges that allow for us to think and truly trust God?  Also, this week I hit one year as a missionary!  1 WHOLE YEAR!  That is 365 days, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes and 31,536,000 seconds wearing Jesus Christ's name upon my chest!  What an incredible thing!  I could sit here and write about all of the amazing things that have happened, and tell you what a wonderful experience this has been, but that would only be half true.  Serving a mission has truly been the biggest growing experience thus far in my lfe - it has also been the hardest year of my life.  That is saying quite a bit because I went through a rough patch soon before I came on this wild adventure.  This has also been the best year of my lfe.  I have truly grown to know that Heavenly Father IS my loving Father in Heaven, and that I was created in His image.  I have truly come to know who my Savior is for me on a deeper, more meaningful level and will cherish this forever!   I KNOW Jesus Christ IS my Savior and Redeemer.  I KNOW He DID suffer and die for me, and for each and every person on this earth.  He IS my exemplar.  I KNOW our prayers are HEARD and they are answered.  I also know we have to do our part and put forth effort on our end to receive those answers, and to see the help we are given. 

This week, we had the opportunity to attend Zone Conference.  It was just the spiritual upliftment and nourishment my little soul needed.  It was centered around conversion to Jesus Christ and the importance of that in our lives.  We also learned about the idea of seeking, trusting and doing.  We need to truly trust God in ALL things, and acknowledge Him in all ways, and be willing to act in accordance.  It was really good!  It was also wonderful to see our wonderful President Cowley and his wife and all of the other missionaries in our zone.  After the conference my companion and I were able to stop by and visit with a family I was close with when I served in the city of Edmonton.  It was a such a wonderful day.  

Our week seemed to get progressively slower after Zone Conference.  Most of our people we are teaching and members have been out of town before school starts, but we were still able to find some things to do.  We were blessed to help with the community food drive for back-to-school.  It was amazing to interact with so many people and witness first hand the wonderful, genuine kindness of others!  I absolutly LOVED it!  We also had some fun supper appointments and a couple good lessons.  We were also able to read the Book of Mormon with a couple people.  It never ceases to amaze me the different insights people have on certain verses and stories in the scriptures.  I love to hear their testimonies and to see the power in other lives from the Book of Mormon.  It is incredible! 

This last thought flows perfectly into what I wanted to share from my personal studies this week!  As a mission we have been doing what we call, "Book of Mormon Power Half an Hour."  It has been so wonderful!  Every day for 30 minutes we feast upon the words in the Book of Mormon.  I have developed a deeper love for the Book of Mormon from doing this in just the past couple weeks.  The words in this book were truly written with our day and the people of today in mind.  The words are God are speaking to us today and morph into lessons we need to learn and answers we need from God.  I know that the Book of Mormon will never get boring to read because it is constantly becoming what we need in our everyday lives.  While the words are the same, the meaning changes according to our questions, desires, and concerns.  How incredible is that?  I love this!  This past week as I read, I especially have loved the phrase Jesus says on multiple occasions, "Come Unto Me."  One of my favorite songs we sang in the mission choir this past year was called, "Come To Me."  Similar phrase - same meaning.  Jesus Christ ALWAYS has His arms open to each of us.  His love is beyond words, beyond comprehension, beyond understanding, yet can be felt so deeply.  I urge everyone to truly build a relationship with their Savior.  He knows you, just as your Father in Heaven knows you! 

I love and miss everyone!  I hope this week is amazing, and if not, I hope that you can find the strength from your Savior to smile anyway! :)

Love, Sister Merrill 

ONE YEAR as Sister Merrill!

Zone Conference!

Canada Week 49: "God's NOT done with you!"

Hello friends and family!  I hope everyone is well and found reasons to smile this week.  Here is a little run down of my week and some thoughts I have had the last little while.  

We were able to have some really fun lessons with a few of our people this week and we were able to teach seminary again!  We also had lunch with some friends we met on a walk last week.  We decided to go on a walk and finish some of our studies at the park in hopes to find people, and we ended up meeting these two super sweet ladies.  It is so amazing to see how God places people on our path at just the right moment.  We were also blessed to teach another lesson.  We helped him think for himself about the importance of making commitments and following God.  We expressed the blessings that we have seen and encouraged him to look for the blessings that are meant for him.  We taught him if he chooses to follow Jesus Christ and follows His example in all things that he will learn to see the blessings for himself.  It was really good!  We were also able to visit and teach a lesson to the cute Bryanton family.  We helped them understand priesthood authority and how we have seen it bless our lives.  It is so cool to testify of Gods love through the importance of different steps in the gospel! 

My favorite thing to do is love people.  I LOVE PEOPLE!  I love each opportunity to love them and testify of God's love for them.  I love helping them feel His love for them!  I also absolutely LOVE feeling the love God has for His children through me.  These feelings have spurred some of my studies and thoughts this week.

The first two commandments are to love God and to love our neighbor.  Love is the greatest commandment.  Love is what sparks our desire to do everything else.  It is what makes us WANT to follow Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.  The love we have for God is shown as we keep all of His commandments and strive our best to follow the teachings of the gospel.  How are we supposed to willingly do something if we don't love the one who asks us to do it?  What would be the point of doing it?  Would it be because you know you're supposed to or because you know it is the right thing to do?  Sometimes this is a great place to start.  I have come to find that it is much easier to do something if you love, or learn to love, the one who asked. ,God has asked us to follow Him and His Son Jesus Christ.  As I have grown and strengthened my relationship with my Heavenly Father, I have found that my desire to follow Him is so much deeper and stronger!  It really has been the coolest thing! 

The last thing I was to share involves a song I have come to love called, "God's Not Done With You," by Tauren Wells.  The chorus states: 

 

"God's not done with you, even with your broken heart and your wounds and your scars.....even when you're lost and it's hard and you're falling apart.....It's not over, it's only begun so don't hide, don't run, cuz God's not done with you."  

These words have been running through my mind all week and they mean more and more to me every day.  They take on new meaning with each day and each experience. God is NEVER done with us - nor will He ever be!  We are literally His children and He loves us with an incomprehensible love!  We don't have the ability to comprehend just how much He actually loves us.  Sometimes this is hard because I know I sometimes wish I could comprehend WAYYYY more than I do.  It just takes a lot of faith and that is a huge reason why we are currently enjoying the adventure we all call life right now.  There are a lot of bumps, we get bruised, and we get scars just like the scars Christ has on His body.  These scars are a reminder of the sacrifice He made for us out of pure love, and our scars can remind us that someone suffered for us and feels our same pains.  We are not alone, even when we feel alone.  I can testify that God loves YOU!  HE knows YOU!  He IS listening and He IS reaching out! 

I love and miss you all!  I hope you have a splendid week!  Always remember to smile! :)

Love, Sister Merrill 

Tie-Dye Fun!

Canada Week 48: I love God's creations!

Hello my beautiful, wonderful family and friends!  I hope everyone reading this is doing well and staying safe and healthy!  This week was full of adventure-filled FUN!  We were blessed to do so many amazing things.  Last Tuesday I finally got to go to Jasper National Park.  It was soooooo beautiful!  While I was there I couldn't help but feel so full of joy and gratitude for all of God's beautiful creations!  It was so fun to explore some of the park and make memories.  Holy moly - I didn't realize how much I missed the mountains until I was in them again.  Another blessing this week was teaching seminary in SOUTH AFRICA!  My heart has such a soft spot for that place now because of the miracle Mohapi family.  We have the opportunity to teach seminary every week and I am so grateful for it.  We also got to serve by helping clean a member's cabin and hang out with them and their cute kiddos!  

At the end of the week we had the opportunity to go to Red Deer on EXCHANGES.  It was great to be with the wonderful sisters there - especially Sister Crawford.  She is one of my best friends who was a member of the YSA ward I served in when I first got to Canada.  She is currently a Visa waiting missionary here in the CEM.  It was such a blessing to serve with her and her cute companion.  A highlight was playing Family Feud gospel edition live on their Facebook page    

On top of these fun opportunities we had some awesome lessons.  We were able to meet again with my favorite Bryanton kids.  I love testifying of God's love!  It is my most favorite thing as a missionary!  We also taught another lesson to our friend who is really shy.  He has politely declined saying the prayer every time, except this week!  He said the closing prayer of our lesson and it was absolutely wonderful!  I am so beyond grateful for the experiences and opportunities I have had and continue to have here as a missionary.  God is amazing and provides so many wonderful tender mercies along our way.  

I want to share some insights from my studies this week that stood out to me.  One study in particular was on prayer.  Prayer is something I have studied my whole mission. One thing I read this week was exactly what i needed to be reminded of.  It is found in 3 Nephi 13:8, ".....your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him." God literally knows what we need - All the time!  This is also much easier heard than applied like most things in life.  I continually strive everyday to understand as I pray.  I pray for help in understanding - and day by day, little by little, it becomes clearer in my mind.  I can testify that we just need to hold on and trust God!  Another study that touched my heart this week was on "light."  One definition of light that I found and absolutely loved said, "to come to rest, settle."  I applied this to what Christ has done for me in my times of need.  When I have been overwhelmed, anxious, scared, or stressed I have thought of His sacrifice for me, and when I do I have been able to find rest EVERY TIME!  Christ has the ability to help us because He knows what we are going through to perfection.  He knows us to the point of perfection that enables Him to help us handle each situation EXACTLY how we need to.  He will provide rest.  I also studied many wonderful scriptures about light and a talk by Richard G. Scott called, "The Power of Scripture."  He stated, "Scriptures are like packets of light that illuminate our minds and give place to guidance and inspiration from on high."  I love this!  The scriptures truly can provide enlightenment in such a way that nothing else can!  It may take time to learn, but we need to trust the process and be grateful for those moments when answers come and understanding clicks!   We also need to be grateful for each opportunity we are given to study, ponder and pray. 

I testify that God loves all of us perfectly and individually.  You are a perfect beloved daughter or son of God with infinite worth and potential!  Satan works hard on all of us, but we need to stick together and learn to defeat him!  God is always on our side and has the power to help us accomplish anything! 

I love and miss you all!  Remember to smile! :)

Love, Sister Merrill 

JASPER NATIONAL PARK!

Sweet Heather!

Souvenir shirts from Jasper

Sister Merrill & Sister Petelo

Feed my Goats!

SERVICE!

Sister Merrill & Sister Crawford

Exchanges!

Elder Burton & Sister Merrill

"Bertie Boy"

Family Feud Gospel Edition