Hey friends and family! I hope everyone is well. Well another wild week has come and gone. I found out this morning that I will be staying for yet another transfer here in Drayton Valley. Transfer #6. 9 months. Half my mission. God has a plan. I am still serving with Sister Hill and we will continue to be the STL's for our zone. Honestly I have mixed emotions about it, but I am grateful for the chance to be surrounded by all the wonderful people here for a little bit longer.
This past week we were able to take part in some unique and wild service projects with members. One day we helped some members round up all their cows and get them through the shoot to get preg checked. Later in the week we helped some different members brand their cows and give them vaccines. I tried branding one and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I also was the vaccine girl with one of the members and it was actually so much fun! For Halloween we dressed up as Elders for our supper, and then stopped by another member's home for a bit. It was really fun!
We were blessed again to have some really good member lessons, and lessons with other friends we are teaching. It is so amazing to bear testimony and teach about Jesus Christ. I know I've said this before, but I just feel so much love for the people around me when I teach them. In a couple lessons we were able to bring up baptism which was so awesome! A couple of our people are working really hard, and the spark is starting to ignite within them. Our mission has a goal for every companionship to baptize by the end of November. We are really trying our best to help our people progress and always appreciate your prayers. I feel your prayers here and they are greatly appreciated!
Here are a few thoughts from my studies that stuck out to me this week. The first is from a scripture I came across in 2 Nephi 32:9 - it reads:
"But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul."
I really needed this simple reminder about prayer this week. Prayer is so important and so powerful! All we have to do it involve God in EVERYTHING, and in the end, He will make sure we are blessed no matter what! I was super touched by this. We are so blessed to have such a loving, merciful God who wants us to talk to Him through prayer.
I have also been thinking a lot about trust this week - trusting in God. I am going to fully trust in God's plan for me spending another transfer here in Drayton. I am going to trust Him to help the missionaries in the CEM with our mission goal. Honestly, I am trusting Him with everything in my life. Trust is something I have often found myself pondering about. Not gonna lie - serving a mission has been one of the hardest things I have ever done, and there have been some tough things I have had to get through. I can also say with full confidence that as I have trusted God, He has always given me the strength I have needed to keep going. Trust is giving God my all, and giving God my heart. Trust is being WILLING to give up everything for Him, even though some days this may merely be the willingness of it and not the action. We continually learn each day to give up what God needs us to so we can be the best we can be for Him and for others. One of my favorite quotes is by Elder Neal A. Maxwell. "Faith in God includes faith in His timing." Have you ever found yourself impatient with God's time table? Too often this is me, but I am learning that if I have faith and trust in God, everything ALWAYS works out for the best. It may not always work out how I thought it would, but it works out.
Stay strong everyone. Have faith and trust is God. I know you can. I can't imagine what life is like back home with everything going on from my little corner of Canada, but please know that each of you are in my prayers and in my thoughts. I love and miss you all!
Love, Sister Merrill
Happy Halloween!
Cows
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