9th Email: 9th Week in Salem

This has been a pretty good week! It has had its ups and downs, but what week doesn't? There are a lot of good things going on here in Salem.

 

On Tuesday, we taught V--, who we've been teaching for a few weeks. She's the one who lives with her daughter (who is a member), and her grandson gave her a Book of Mormon in January. She's been progressing really well! We taught her the Plan of Salvation, and we invited her to be baptized. She said, "Well I was already baptized when I was younger..." My first thought was oh no, she doesn't think she needs to be baptized... this could get tricky... But then she said, "Can I be baptized again?" It was so cute! We told her of course, yes, and we testified that it's what God wants her to do and that it will be done by God's authority and all that jazz. So yeah, she's on date for the end of November, and guess what else? She came to church yesterday!! Bah! We actually had 3 investigators at church yesterday, which was so exciting because we haven't had any for several weeks. R-- still hasn't come, but we'll be working on him this week.

 

On Friday, we were getting a little discouraged because we didn't have a lot of referrals to work with, we hadn't found any new investigators for the week (our goal was to find three), and we felt like we were just hitting a wall. But we prayed, went out with faith, and then found a new investigator on Friday and two more on Saturday! It was awesome. I know God hears our prayers and is more interested in our work and our success than anyone else. And it makes sense that He is! These are His children we're dealing with, and He wants them to be happy and to come unto Him.

 

I know missionary work is hard and trying, but I just want everyone to know that it's fun too! There's always room for fun. Always. Sister Tuckett, Habibpour, and I have fun every day and I love it. And it's the simple things that make it fun. So have fun!

 

Anyway, I don't have that much to say this week, but it's been good! I can't believe October's almost over. Halloween's on Thursday? Wha?? Didn't October just start a few days ago?? Man, time's a flyin'! Happy Halloween everyone! You better all have the wildest costumes. As for me, I'm trying to decide what I should dress up as. What do you think about me dressing up as a missionary? Would that be too mainstream?

 

Love, Sister Myers

 

Oh, ya know, just out tracting in the beautiful trees of

Virginia with my two lovely companions...

 

Have you ever heard of Apple Butter?

It's fantastic. So good.

And here I am, stirring 50 gallons of it!

8th Email: 8th Week in Salem

Hello! How is everyone? Good? Good. Life's great!

 

Seriously, I've just been thinking a lot lately about how great life is. My testimony of God's plan for us has been strengthened a lot, and I'm so grateful for it! I love that we often call it the "plan of mercy." It really is! God is so merciful, and the fact that he is brings ease to my mind. I know that I can trust him, and that as long as I am striving to follow him, things will all work out in the end. All we have to do is endure our lives well. And he will be there with us, helping us every step of the way! More proof of his great mercy! Anyway. The future is bright, and nothing in the world can dim my hope in Christ.

 

This week has been good. We keep seeing the Lord's hand in the work, and it's awesome! On Saturday, we had an appointment to visit with a part-member family. The appointment fell through, which totally caught us off guard, and so we had a moment where we were at a loss of what to do for the next hour and a half (I know, I know, we should always have a back-up plan...). Anyway, we started talking about what we could do.  We'd already used a lot of our miles that day, so we wanted to stick close. We could go to the library and do an hour of mormon.org time...we could visit members that live close to us.... Then we had a better idea. First of all, rewind. A few weeks ago, Sister Tuckett and I sat down with the map and we decided to pick several streets that we would keep in mind for tracting in the future. So we each picked a few, and then, we prayed and asked Heavenly Father to prepare the hearts of the people on those streets for when we would meet them. Fast forward. We decided to pick two streets to go tract, and we hopped in the car and went on our way. We got to the first street, and as we looked down it we thought, great. This isn't even a real street. We couldn't see anything but a gravel road with trees on either side. But we thought, why not. Let's check it out. So we parked the car at the end and started walking down the road, and we finally got to the end, where there was only one house! Just our luck...we picked a road with only one house! Anyway, we knocked on the door, and you guessed it...out came our new investigator. We talked to him for a little bit, and he was pretty interested, and we couldn't set up an appointment because he wasn't sure about his work schedule, but he gave us his number so we could call him. Anyway, it wasn't anything super spectacular, but I know, without a doubt that God was involved. I don't know how he does what he does...maybe we were inspired to chose the road we chose because the guy we met was already ready, or maybe the Lord started preparing him after we chose it...I don't know! I just know he's here and I love it.

 

We are still having a hard time getting our investigators to church. It's so tricky when people have legitimate reasons why they can't come! But that's going to be our focus this week. Getting them to church. Our investigators are progressing in other ways though, and it's great. The other day, we were doing our weekly planning, and we were making a "know, feel, do" for our investigator, R--. A "know, feel, do" is simply when we think about and discuss what our investigator needs to know, feel, and do, and then we tailor our lesson to that. R-- has been doing great. He reads the Book of Mormon all the time, and he really likes it, and he accepts everything we teach him. We decided that we want him to know that the Book of Mormon is true. We think he already knows it in his heart, but we want him to come out and tell us. We decided we want him to feel inspired to act. He has the understanding, and now he needs to just get up and go. We've talked about baptism, and we know (and he knows) that that's his next step. And then the "do" for him was to act. Come to church. Commit to be baptized. Anyway, we were planning on seeing R-- that day, but I don't think it was even an hour after we made his "know, feel, do" that he called us. He told us that he'd been reading 2 Nephi 31 (talks all about the doctrine of Christ--faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end), and he knows he needs to change. he told us he knows the Book of Mormon is true, and that this is the path he needs to take. He has some concerns though--he knows it's going to be hard. So he's hesitant. But we got so excited! God was in our planning session and he knew what we wanted for R--! It was seriously so cool! We haven't seen R-- since then, but I can't wait to see him this week. He's getting there. He knows the Book of Mormon is true, and he knows he needs to act. Ah. Such a miracle!

 

Anyways, I love you all! Go be missionaries and take the gospel to all the world in whatever way you can! Remember, many are lost only because they don't know where to find the truth. Let's show them where it's at!

 

Love, Sister Myers

7th Email: 7th Week in Salem

Dear Everyone,

 

This week's been great. There's lots to do and not much time to do it in, all the time, it seems! But we are having a blast every day. So our new companion's name is Sister Habibpour (hobby-pour) and she's from California. She's fresh out of the MTC, and she's actually waiting on her visa! So that's exciting! She's getting ready to go to the Campinas Brazil Mission. And she's great! It's fun to have the opportunity to train her, and I feel like I'm learning from her at the same time! Even though she doesn't have much experience, she's bold and confident when it comes to talking to new people. She's a great example!

 

Let's see, what exciting things happened this week...

 

Well, I was on exchanges with Sister Nisse (who's been out as long as I have) and we had a little adventure. I won't go into much detail...but let's just say it's hard to go anywhere when the car keys are locked in the trunk.... Thank goodness for miracles! haha good times...

 

We've got some good things going on in the Salem area. New investigators...progressing investigators...and lots of help from the ward! Our ward is seriously the best, and they are all so enthusiastic and willing to help us with our work. There are still some disappointments, but I've found that there's always something bright around the corner. For example, when we were teaching S-- and C-- (two of our investigators with baptismal dates), they were talking about how stressed they feel and how they don't feel ready to be baptized, and so we decided to just drop their dates. We could tell that the dates were causing a lot of pressure, and it was hindering their progression. So it's good for them, but it's kind of hard, because of course, we don't want to drop baptism dates. But, guess what was around the corner? So we taught S-- and C-- on Friday, and then on Sunday, we taught a man named F--, and a girl named C--, and set them both on date! What a tender mercy from the Lord! I know that the Lord is with us, and he wants us to succeed.

 

Anyways, a little about F--: He's an older guy who's married to a member, and he's never really been interested in religion. She's never pressured him about it, and until recently, he's just not really cared. In the last year or so, though, his heart has gradually been opening. He had a stroke a while ago, and it's left him pretty disabled. He's bound to a wheelchair, and is not sure when (or if) he'll be able to walk again. While he was in a physical rehab center, his roommate was a member of the church, and some missionaries would come visit him every now and then. Then one day, F-- said to them, "hey, when are you going to give me a spiritual message?" And it just kind of grew from there. We've gone and taught him three times, and each time, he's talked about baptism. The first time, it was kind of in joking...he said (refering to the fact that he's in a wheelchair), "how are gonna get me in the fishtank??" But then later, he expressed his desire to be baptized. He's never really had a strong belief in God, but he's been praying, and we know he's been feeling the spirit. Anyways, we're really excited for him. And for his wife as well. She is so happy every time we come.

 

C-- is 16 or 17 years old, and I guess she's been taught almost all of the lessons a few times. Yesterday we went to visit her because we'd never met her, and we just wanted to see exactly where she's at. She said she feels good about everything she's learned, and she wants to be baptized. When I asked her why she had that desire, she said that it's because she just feels good when she's at church, and she knows she's supposed to be there. So we set a date for her, and we'll be spending the next few lessons making sure she's learned what she needs to learn and that she's ready, which I think she is. It's so great how the Lord prepares people. I know that he is in this work, without a doubt.

 

I hope all is well, wherever you are! This gospel is so true and I love it!

 

Love, Sister Myers

6th Email: 6th Week in Salem

So this last week was kind of crazy! But it was great! On Tuesday Sister Tuckett went to MLC (Mission Leadership Conference) up in Charleston, West Virginia. She drove up with another Sister Training Leader, whose companion stayed with me in Salem. And the funnest part is they took the car! So Sister Isobe (who has only been out one transfer more than me) and I were stranded in Salem with nothing but the shoes on our feet and our burning desire to share the gospel! Haha! Oh and they took the GPS as well. Perfect. So we got to use the good ol' map! What an ancient artifact! Sister Tuckett and I made a list the night before of some people Sister Isobe and I would go visit, but that morning, I realized I didn't have some of the addresses for those people. So I was texting Sister Tuckett with a few questions, but then her meeting started and she said, "Sorry, can't text anymore. Good luck!" So that day was just a grand adventure. But it was fun! I actually enjoyed walking...getting some fresh air...

Transfers are this week, and on Thursday, we found out that Sister Tuckett and I are both staying in Salem (I have another 6 weeks of training and she has 6 weeks until she goes home!) but...we're getting a third companion! Yup! One of the new missionaries coming out will be joining us, and so I guess how it's going to work is Sister Tuckett will finish training me, and at the same time, we will both be training the new Sister. So, according to missionary lingo, the new missionary will be both my daughter and my sister....does that make sense? And then after Sister Tuckett leaves I will finish training the new sister. Sounds like an adventure! I'm super excited. I've heard trios are really fun.

Oh, on Wednesday we exchanged with the sisters from Vinton, and I was with Sister Wines. And guess what! She was totally in my ward during the Fall Semester at BYU-I! But neither of us recognized each other! We were even in the same relief society. She lived below me and two doors down in the dorms. Crazy small world.

Umm...did anyone else LOVE Conference? So good! I can't wait to read all the addresses again! Oh, and here's a fun story. So we invited R--, our investigator to watch Conference, and so Sunday morning we called him to see if he watched any of it, and he did. Then we asked him what he thought, and he said, "Well they all had good things to say, and the one guy..the head guy," "the prophet??" "Yeah, he just spoke with a lot of power. I mean he just told everbody how it is. He wasn't asking, he was telling!" I'm sure you can imagine us on the other end of the line, freaking out. Yeah! He's a prophet! He's the best! Thank you, President Monson, for speaking with power and touching our investigator! Anyway. We're super excited for R--. He's still having a hard time getting to church because he has to take care of his mom, and he's not sure about baptism yet, but he progresses more and more every time we teach him.

I'm not sure what else I want to say...this past week has kind of just been a blur! But it's been great. I'm learning a lot. And as I'm coming unto the Lord, he is definitely showing me my weaknesses. but it's good! Because he'll make weak things become strong!

One of my favorite scriptures right now is Ether 12:4. "Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God." I love the imagery the word anchor provides. If you think about a ship's anchor, it is what keeps the ship in it's right place during a storm. The waves can crash and crash, but as long as the ship is anchored down, when the storm settles the ship will still be in the same place. When trials and tribulation crash on our lives, which they undoubtedly will, we can "with surety hope for a better world." Because of our faith, which leads us to act and follow Christ, we can get through any hardship and feel confident when the storm settles that we are still on the right path and headed in the right direction, whether the storm settles tomorrow, next year, or after this life on earth is over.

Lots of love from the hills of Virginia! Keep doing what you're doing and being who you're being because I love you all! Anchor yourselves to Christ! He is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

Love, Sister Myers

Virginia's Beautiful Sunsets Paint the Sky

Pictures!! :)

Map signed by all the missionaries that have previously 

lived in my apartment.

Cute little chickies!