Canada Week 41: God is a God of perfect love

Hello my beautiful friends and family!  I hope everyone had a splendid week!  My companion and I had another roller coaster ride of a week, but nonetheless, GOD IS SO GOOD AND MIRACLES UPON MIRACLES ABOUND! 

The week started quite slow.  Everything we had planned on Tuesday ended up falling through and rescheduled for Wednesday.  Then Wednesday EVERYTHING got cancelled again and it was pouring rain!  In the moment it just kind of sucked.  We tried to do some finding at the store and that didn't go so great.  I then had the thought to do  some Facebook finding.  I had joined a Facebook Bible study group a while back and decided to go to the page and post a scripture or question to interact there in some way.  I got on the page and saw that some guy had posted about a negative experience he and his wife had with a deceiving pastor.  He asked how they could know prophecy is from God and how to know if they are speaking on behalf of God, or in other words, a prophet!  I knew I needed to tell him that we have a prophet of God on Earth today!  I made a group chat with him and my companion and sent him some scripture verses.  As a result we are NOW TEACHING THE COOLEST, SWEETEST FAMILY from South Africa!  We met with them over video chat and a couple days later they asked if we could teach them a lesson.  WHAT A MIRACLE!  As I now look back at the hard beginning of the week, it has allowed for me to think about how good people can experience hard things in life.  Sometime the greatest miracles and blessings will come from our hard times in life.  I am so grateful for the many miracles that followed those two hard days! 

I've thought a lot this past week about lessons I have learned, about expanding my knowledge of the gospel, and strengthening my testimony.  I know that I tend to think about things way too much.  I think as humans we often think too much.  But when it comes to the gospel, we need to remember that the gospel is very simple.  A friend once told me that while the gospel is simple, it isn't shallow.  This is so true!  The gospel is simple and the basic foundational truths are simple, but that doesn't mean it isn't deep.  There is always something to study and deepen our understanding of.  We could spend our entire lives studying and deepening our knowledge of the gospel, but we always need to  remember the simple truths and principles.  My favorite simple truths about this gospel are that God is our loving Heavenly Father and that Jesus Christ is our Savior.  It can be hard as mortals to fully comprehend God's power and Christ's atoning sacrifice for each of us, but we don't need to understand everything.  If we did, we wouldn't need to be here on Earth and God's entire plan would have been for nothing.  We are here learning how to trust Him.  We are learning how to strengthen and exercise faith in Him.  We can continually learn more and more about Him, but we must try to never forget to trust and have faith in His power.  It's hard to come up with a logical answer to complete faith and that's OKAY!  This is actually something that has always kind of frustrated me.  I could never come up with a logical explanation as to how God was listening to my prayers while there could be two billion other people praying to Him at the same time.  Simply put, He loves us and He is always listening to us....somehow.  I can't give you a logical reason to how He does this, but because I trust Him and have faith in Him I can bear testimony that HE IS LISTENING!  I have witnessed this in my own life - in my own experiences.  Sometimes it doesn't happen until I've looked back on my life and various experiences I have had, but I have seen His hand in my life and He has listened to and answered my prayers.   

I mentioned that one of my favorite simple truths is that God is our loving Heavenly Father.  HE IS!  HE HAS A PERFECT LOVE FOR US!  I personally feel we can't fully comprehend how much love He actually does have for us.  Yesterday during home church we were discussing with a family about God's love.  We talked about how God could still love Nehor even though he burned innocent people.  It is because He is a just and merciful God.  The atonement is infinite!  While we maybe can't comprehend or understand how He could still love someone who has done such horrible things, we don't need too.  It isn't our place to judge.  It is our job to just love as God loves and trust in His perfect plan.  He knows ours thoughts and our choices even before we do.  I can't tell you how He does, but I testify that He is all powerful and all loving. 

This week my companion and I were asked 2 questions.  I want to share the questions and my answers with you.   

1- Why did I drop everything back home to go on a mission? 

I shared this on Facebook a while back about my "why."  My simple answer is because of my love for my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ, and for the love I have felt from them.  I continue to serve everyday for this reason.  I will serve Him everyday for the rest of my life for this reason.  Serving Him is a beautiful way for me to give back to my Heavenly Father a penny of the priceless fortune that He has given to me. 

2- What is one of the greatest lessons I have learned or hope to learn on my mission? 

I thought about this and came to the conclusion that one of the greatest lessons I am learning is how to align my will with God's will. I need to let Him truly direct my sails as I ride the waves of life.  I am also learning how to truly listen to and discern the spirit in my life.  I am also learning just how incredible the atonement is. 

I want to bear my simple testimony that I know God lives and loves us with an immeasurable abundance of love!  I know He has perfect plan and that everything happens for a reason!  I know that God is a God of miracles!  I am so grateful for the experiences, opportunities I have had and for the miracles I get to see everyday! 

I love and miss you all!  Have a wonderful week! 

Love, Sister Merrill 

A baby pig!

Canada Week 40: Adventures full of God's love

Hello everyone!  Another week has come and gone - time is so crazy!  This week was full of fun and adventure!  We had some really good lessons, adventurous walks, and went into the city for exchanges and zone conference.  We were also able to serve a few of our members.  Service has always had a BIG part of my heart.  I have loved the countless opportunities and ways I have been able to serve while on my mission! 

Some of our adventures this week included holding baby kittens, playing with big dogs, and weeding gardens.  We even had the crazy opportunity to try a food dish from the Philippines called balut - it was interesting.  We ran into one of our members while we were getting gas and watched a gorgeous storm and admired a beautiful sunset! 

My companion and I got to go on exchanges with our STL's on Thursday which was wonderful.  We stayed the night and then attended Zone Conference the next morning.  It was supposed to be a district conference, but due to recent restriction lifts we got to meet as a zone.  It was really great to see other missionaries!  On exchanges I GOT TO SERVE WITH MY BEST FRIEND - my cute MTC companion Sister Smith.  It was so fun to work along side each other again and catch up.  God is truly in the details of everyday!  That has been ever so evident in my life, especially on the mission.  I am so grateful for His hand in my life and for the people He has placed on my path along the way.  I am so grateful for the countless blessings He continues to provide.

Zone conference was so great and full of some much needed training.  It was all about adjusting back to doing missionary work outside again and having natural and normal interactions with people we meet at the store, on a walk or really anywhere we find them.  It was so good - I love normal and natural!  The biggest message President conveyed was just about having 'positive interactions' and 'planting seeds.'  I felt an amazing spirit there.  God is just so good and in every detail - all we need to do is look! 

We also had some really awesome lessons this week.  One that really touched me was our lesson with Danny.  We discussed the importance of conversion.  It is one thing to come to know and believe things, but to truly be converted to Christ we need to show it in our actions and in the way we live our lives.  I shared a quote with him from Elder Bednar that says, "Knowing that the gospel is true is the essence of a testimony.  Consistently being true to the gospel is the essence of conversion."  Living our lives as Christ would is a slow, continual process - it doesn't just happen over night.  We need to hold on and be patient and persistent in our pursuit to true conversion.

There is a song that I have absolutely loved lately called, "I am His Daughter," by Russ Dixon. The chorus says, "There's so much more to me, He helps me see that I have so much to offer, I am His daughter. He loves me the way I am, He's my strength when I stand, He is my king and my Father, I am His daughter."  I have loved listening to this song and hearing that God sees so much in me - He sees so much in all of us.  We are His children.  His love for us is immeasurable.  The line, "He's my strength when I stand," has particularly made an impression on me.  I would not be where I am today without the strength I have received from both my Father in Heaven and my Savior, Jesus Christ.  I have had so many ups and downs in my life.  My mission has been a wild ride - a wild roller coaster ride!  But I have learned that I would much rather be riding a roller coaster than a "merry go round" or "ferris wheel" in life.  I talked about this with my Mission President in my interview with him this week.  While the downs are hard, we will always make it through with God's help and His strength. 

One of my favorite scriptures is found in 2 Nephi 22:2, "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation."  So good!  I know if we place our complete trust in Him, there is no need to fear things in life.  We need to turn to Him and allow Him into our life because He is our salvation - He is our strength! 

I want to bear my testimony of some things from my studies this week. I loved re-reading Joy D. Jones talk from the last General Conference called "An Especially Noble Calling."  From this I learned and loved two things:  1 - 'The Lord LOVES effort', and 2 - 'Heeding personal revelation leads to personal progression.'  I have seen snippets of this in my life.  I can testify that the Lord truly does love effort.  We also need to heed personal revelation to help with our progression and conversion.  We need to LISTEN then ACT.  It takes effort to do both, and God takes note of what we offer.  We just have to do our best and He takes care of the rest, especially if it is done with good intention and desire.  I love this work with my whole heart.  I love my Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ and am eager to continue on my own path of conversion each day!  I also know that God loves each and you with an infinite love!  Just keep hanging on to the hope only He can give! 

Love and miss you all -

Love, Sister Merrill 

Video of Sister Merrill eating Balut - Enjoy!

Baby kittens!

Sister Merrill & Sister Smith together again!

Another amazing Canadian sky :)

Canada Week 39: Conversion is continuous

It was another good week here in Canada!  The work was a bit slower, but God still didn't cease to be good!  I know that I will continue to see the goodness of God over and over again on my mission because I already have.  No matter how hard it gets, or how slow things feel, I know there is a reason for it all.  There is a quote I found and have come to love on my mission that says, "The gospel has been given to heal our pain, not prevent it."  I can't remember who said it, but I love it.  We have the gospel to give us hope, and with it we can overcome anything! 

Even though not a whole lot happened this week, we tried our very best to work hard each day finding people.  We walked and tried to talk to people we came in contact with.  Most, except maybe 3 people, turned us away.  They just weren't interested or straight up ignored us.  It's okay though because God counts our efforts no matter how small or insignificant they are.  It doesn't make it any less hard, but it does provide us with a hope and peace knowing that we are in God's hands.  I know the more we trust in Him, the more we will recognize when people are ready.  We also tried to set up some appointments for the week, but people were rather unresponsive.  We were able to have some fun supper appointments with some ward members so that was good.  I am so grateful for the members here for taking care of us and serving us.  On Thursday we went into Edmonton for an in-person district council meeting.  We met at a park and sat six feet apart on the grass.  It was kind of strange, but worth it to see other missionaries.  Something I have really enjoyed here is helping members with their gardens.  I have loved serving them by working with them to get their gardens planted and ready.  Friday morning we helped some members plant their huge garden plot.  There were six of us planting and there was still more to do when we had to leave after a couple of hours.  It was crazy but so fun!  This week my companion and I made a bunch of banana bread and took it to members and neighbors.  It was so amazing to serve them in such a simple way and to see how much they loved and appreciated it!

Despite the slow week, we were still able to teach a few lessons.  Then Sunday was filled with miracles upon miracles.  We had a bible study with a guy from Australia who commented on one of my Facebook posts.  It was very interesting - can't say I have ever done a legit bible study with someone before.  He had a lot of good scriptures to share with us so that was cool.  We even got to talk a little about the Book of Mormon.  We are going to meet with him again and share more verses in the Book of Mormon.  We were also able to help another woman we are teaching from Kenya figure out how to find missionaries in her area.  Yesterday God was just so good and even helped us set up Sunday lessons.  We were invited to a sacrament service with the same family as last week and they had their two non-member grandkids there again.  We had a very special fast and testimony meeting and the spirit was so strong!  I am so grateful we are able to worship and partake of the sacrament in home during these crazy Covid-19 times until church resumes.  We also had another lesson with Raj.  We shared Alma the Younger's experience with him.  He felt that he related a lot to the story which was really neat.  The member we have fellow-shipping with him shared his conversion story and that truly brought an amazing spirit to the lesson.  The spirit present during that lesson was stronger than it has ever been before.  It was awesome!  Unfortunately we had to drop a person that we have been teaching this week.  He expressed his perspective and thoughts to us and said he just wasn't interested to know more or to find out for himself.  We still had a good visit with him.  I am truly grateful for the variety of opportunities and experiences that God provides for me daily. 

I want to share a few things from my studies this week.  I studied in Come Follow Me yesterday and I LOVED it!  The lesson was Alma 5-7 and it was all about conversion, being spiritually reborn, and changing our hearts.  One thing that particularly impressed me was that conversion to Christ is in ongoing process.  It is continuous.  It is a daily effort on our part to choose Christ everyday!  It is loving Him enough to allow Him to change us.  Sometimes this change can be painful, it can be hard, but it is worth it!  I loved the section in Alma 5:14-33.  It lists "introspective questions," we can ask ourselves.  M.Russell Ballard said, "I need to regularly take time to ask myself, 'how am I doing?'  It's kind of like having a personal, private interview with yourself...As a guide for me during this private, personal interview, I like to read and ponder the introspective words found in the fifth chapter of Alma."  I found this to be very profound and have thought a lot about it.  I love that Alma provided us with a set of questions to we can ask ourselves today.  As we ponder our answers it will help us see where we are along our own path of conversion to Christ. 

Another thing I loved from my studies this week was from a talk my cousin invited me to read and study called, "Plow in Hope," by Neal A. Maxwell from April 2001.  There is a section where he talks about recognizing God's plan and that we need to develop a mindset of letting "God's will be done."  He says, "often we say 'thy will be done' but we need to learn to say, 'thy TIMING be done.' " It is one thing to trust in God's will, but another to remember God has his own timetable.  We need to trust in His timing.  This related to another thought my mom shared with me a while back that I loved and remembered this week.  It says, "You may be ready for what God has for you, but somebody else who is going to be involved is not ready yet.  God must do a work in another person or in another situation before your prayers can be answered.  All the pieces must come together for it to be Heavenly Father's perfect time.  All the pieces must come together for it to be right in His time frame."  It is all up to God and His timing.  Maybe we are ready, or feel ready for something we have been praying for, but somebody or something that is involved isn't ready yet.  "Faith in God includes faith in God's timing." -Neal A. Maxwell.  

I just want to end with my testimony that I know we are given trials and hard things to give us experience.  Whether we are supposed to learn something from it now, or in the future, or in the next life, we won't always know, but we can rest in the assurance that it is for our good.  Just like Joseph Smith's experiences and as he was in Carthage Jail - he was reminded by God that "all of these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good."  (D&C 122:7)

I love and miss you all!  I hope everyone has a wonderful week full of love and happiness, even if it is hard.  Remember God knows all!

Love, Sister Merrill 

Canadian treat!

Serving by baking and sharing

District Council  -  "Sistrict"

Canada Week 38: Miracles are real!

Hello my friends and family!  I hope everyone had a splendid week full of adventure and laughter!  My week was all over the place, but it was good!  There are always so many miracles among the sorrows and hardships.

Last Monday night we went to our bishop's family cabin in Buck Lake for dinner.  It was so fun and so beautiful!  It reminded me of my family cabin at Bear Lake back home.  While we were there the kids were coming up with plans to get rid of the giant swarms of mosquitoes that were there.  Fun memories!  After dinner we shared a message with them about the atonement using an object lesson.  We had the kids draw a picture of themselves with a pen.  We then had them scribble all over it and then erase the scribbles teaching them that Christ's atonement helps each of us to become spotless so we can live with God again someday!  They loved it!

Tuesday evening we ate supper with a less active member and his non-member kids who are just the sweetest!  We had a hot-dog roast ("smokies") with them at their farm.  We also brought some other members with us.  It had been raining all day and we were worried that we would have to cancel but God is a God of miracles and it stopped raining long enough for us to eat supper and share a message with them!  That same night we had another lesson with DANNY.  He is the best!  We have been working really hard with him and helping him overcome some weaknesses in his life so he can take the next step and be baptized.  Our lessons with him have been going really well and we are hoping and praying for good things.  It is seriously one of the most amazing things to testify of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made for each and every one of us so we can repent and come unto Him.  The atonement is real and can work miracles in people's lives!  The rest of the week we were again blessed with member visits and more lessons that were so good!

We had the wonderful opportunity to teach seminary again!  We prepared and shared a message about joy.  Life has been challenging with this whole #rona business and the students have had to deal with various struggles so we thought a lesson on how to have and find joy would be good.  We had each of them each read a scripture that talked about  joy and then share the lesson they learned from the verse.  One of my favorites we had them read is found in Mosiah 2:41,  "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken."  A few students expressed that joy is found not only in their own success, but also in the success of others and in our Savior, Jesus Christ.  One of my favorite quotes we shared is from President Nelson, "The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives."  This is so true!  My companion shared a formula for how to feel true joy - The J stands for Jesus Christ, the O stands for Others, and the Y stands for Yourself.  We need to focus on Christ first, then those around us, and then on ourselves.  As we serve and love as Christ did, we will attain a selfless charitable character.  The kids all seemed to enjoy the lesson so that was good!

Sunday was a day FULL of miracles!  We have been trying to set up a Sunday service with people we are teaching and with members.  We have been struggling to get in contact with some of them because they won't answer calls and messages.  There were heavy rains that day and we were put on a severe thunderstorm watch so we just started praying and God is so GOOD!  Our prayers were answered and we were blessed with the opportunity to attend a sacrament service with a member and some of his extended family.  We had been there the previous night for supper and we had played games with 2 little kids that were there.  These 2 kids aren't members and were so excited to join us for sacrament on Sunday because they heard we were coming!  How sweet is that?!  The member expressed his gratitude for us and the examples we were for these kids.  He told us the week before they didn't want anything to do with sacrament, but today they wanted to join and they even said the prayers and sang the songs with us.  It was so amazing!  We don't know the effect this experience will have on them in the future, but I am so grateful we got to be a part of this day with them.  We were also able to have two other Sunday services with people we are teaching and more members who were there to fellowship.  It really was an amazing day!

This week I studied about what my purpose is here as a missionary as I strive to bring others closer to Christ, and as I come closer to Christ myself.  One thing that really stuck out to me was that people are looking for peace in their life.  I am so blessed to be a part of this work and share a message with others that does this very thing - a message that will bring peach into their lives.  My studies were also again focused on Jesus Christ and His atonement.  We could spend our whole lives studying the atonement and still not know everything or fully understand it.  The good thing is we don't need a perfect knowledge of it to know of its power and goodness in our lives.  I read Elder Uchtdorf's address "Behold the Man." It is so good!  It is all about how the greatest day in history was the day Christ knelt in intense prayer offering himself as a ransom for our sins and how He bled from EVERY PORE!  I can't even begin to comprehend the pain and agony He experienced because I am human and I know I would die if I bled from even a few pores for very long.  I also know that if we use the atonement in our lives and repent daily we don't have to worry about ever suffering great anguish and pain.  One of the most beautiful things to me is that Christ did everything out of a pure PERFECT LOVE for ALL of us.  He would not have done what He did if He didn't love us.  This is such an incredible thing to me!

I am beyond grateful for what my Savior has done for me.  I thank Him everyday as I continue to repent daily and feel of His redeeming love.  I feel His love as I study His sacrifice and reflect on the blessings I have because of Him.  I know I won't ever be able to find all the right words to express how grateful I am and for how much I love my Savior.  I am so grateful that He continues to reach out to me even when I don't reach up, even as I wallow in my hardships and sorrows.  He is simply ALWAYS there.  He will always be there for each of us and we will forever be able to feel His perfect love!

I hope everyone has an amazing week and that you are able to reflect on what your Savior has done for you, and for what He continues to do for you as He gives you daily strength and breath to take on every moment of every day.

I love and miss you all!
Love, Sister Merrill :))

Sister Merrill & her ukulele & Sister Poore

CANADA IS BEAUTIFUL!

I'll always be in love with the sky!

Before

After

Miracles are real!