December 16th, 2013

Dear All,

  It has been a roller coaster of a week but through God's love shown through my companion and others, I ended my week leveled out and happy.  I was stressed about driving, being in charge of the area, not being able to do 'this' or not being able to do 'that'. Thursday and Friday were the rough days. I got a blessing on Friday after DTM and talked and cried and talked and cried to Sister Christiansen. I am grateful to her. She lovingly threatened to call the Sister Training Leaders if I didn't get better. I know she loves me, just as Christ loves me. I also went through "the Adjusting to Missionary Life" and determined that in order to manage the stress I felt I was going to: 1. Pray fervently, alone and with my companion 2. Sing 3. Recognize God's hand 4. Make sure I exercise every morning that is appropriate and 5.Befriend my companion. I focused on these 5 simple things and they helped immensely!

Sister Christiansen is from Los Angeles area California. She is 20, been out for 9 months, loves horses, and has two of her own, and likes the smell of pines/Christmas tree like me :D

  Our weekly planning was a bit crazy because we have done it a bit differently from one another and we didn't find quite a balance between both of our ideas. I am one to nod my head at suggestions but wonder if what I have done should still be implemented. Every third Sunday we meet with the Stake President or one of his counselors and yesterday 1st Counselor Ipson told me to not forget what I have done because it has been doing well. I have concluded that the best way to sift through what I have to offer, and what Sister Christiansen has to offer, is to bring up my thoughts and to ask the why behind her thoughts so I understand. It seems at time she was annoyed by my lack of understanding but I tried to humbly give her the benefit of the doubt. After all, I told myself, she is in a new area, new companion and such and may feel a stressed as well. She told me though the other day that she doesn't mean to sound that way and I believe her. She is awesome! We are both morphing to each other so we can be unified. Sister Christiansen has gone through a lot and I am grateful that we are companions. She has taught me things that I needed to learn from the very second we were companions.

  One other thing that helped this week was a prompting from the Spirit when listening to a talk at church yesterday. It was about hope. I realized I had lost hope for a bit, but through God, was gaining it back. I wrote down my hopes and recommitted myself to focus. 

Sister Christiansen is going to help me recognize the Spirit better by this route this week: After every lesson she will tell me when she felt the Spirit when I was talking and I will tell her when I felt the Spirit when she was talking. It has worked well so far!

We also have had a lot of laughs like when we  rushed out to the hall because my Ipad glitched up and started playing a hymn in the middle of sacrament and wouldn't stop! :) 

I am grateful for the hope that we have through Christ. I am grateful that I am happy and ready to be better and work better this week. I could go on forever, I know my Redeemer lives,

Sister Sarah Meldrom

December 9th, 2013

Dear All,
It has been a wonderful week. Busy, sad at times, but Sister Hedley didn't let me mope :) The wisest thing she said to me is that my mother won't always be there to celebrate my birthday and take me out to lunch as she has almost always did. It was that tough love that caused me to cry a bit more then move on. It was hard and I think I need to pray from now until Christmas that I can handle Christmas a little better. But I agree with what my mother said before I left, "This is the best way for you to leave the house for the first time. God will support you when you are sad, and He has through other people. I like to be busy in this work, it causes me to focus outward a lot better :)

My Birthday was good. I went to the temple and did a session(service) and then the Vernal Sisters and Sister Hedley surprised me to ice cream. We had dinner at a members home and she made chicken enchiladas and we had chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting and MOOSE TRACKS! No one liked the moose tracks besides me so I have nearly a whole quart to myself :P They also gave me a missionary journal and a 2 dollar bill :P I got my b-day packages from my family and from my Aunt Michelle. I loved them! I also got a b-day package from my Aunt Rachel back in November and realized it was for my b-day after I opened it :P  Plenty of chocolate and cupcakes(Michelle :D) STAMPS, cards, b-day party stuff, subway gift card to just name a few things :) Thank you for making it wonderful all of you!  

We had several last new member discussions this week. No one wants to see us go but they know we have other people to help. I am grateful I have been able to see and feel their newly developed testimony and it has strengthened mine.

I am working on praying with more gratitude. But more specifically. I have my planner from the MTC that I have decided to write the needs of others as I hear them so that I do not forget what they need my help with. One new investigator this week told us she made a promise at the request of her dying husband that she would remain in the Church of Christ and keep their grown children in it as well. She was very emotional when she told us. She wants to obey his wishes out of respect and love. We encouraged her to ponder and pray and God will lead her in the right direction because He knows her. I wrote this down so I could remember her in my prayers. She also has had trouble with her eyes and I have grown in appreciation that we have the Book of Mormon on CD so even .." the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness." Isaiah 29:18 We plan on giving her the CD our next meeting.

I was looking at my emails and it looks like Sister Hedley is being transferred :( Like I said in my last email, she has been a good friend and trainer. I am a bit anxious about what I do now but I have faith that Christ will not give me anything I can't handle with Him.

Happy Transfers! May God bless and keep you, 
Sister Meldrom

December 1st, 2013

Dear All,

It has been a good week despite the slow down from the Holidays and almost everyone to busy to meet with us. 

I am having a bit of a struggle overcoming the natural man of thinking of myself these past couple of days. I try not to think about myself and focus on the people we are teaching but I leave almost every lesson lately feeling like I didn't do very well and I mentally beat myself up. Perhaps I should just ignore such feelings because I am trying to be well prepared and to follow the Spirit but I always wonder if I have done enough to prepare or am I good enough to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost. All of that is just thinking of myself but how do I make sure I am doing all I can. I worry about this constantly. 'Have I done my part?' 'What can I do better?' I know Jesus Christ will help me figure it out but for now I am on a roller coaster of trying to fight against feeling of being unprepared and to stop thinking of myself. Is the cure to this fluctuation of feelings just losing myself? Probably. I just make it so much more complicated then it needs to be.

 Every day there are miracles.One of the attributes of Christ in Preach My Gospel is, 'I have enough faith in Christ to accomplish anything He wants me to do- even miracles if necessary.'  I have added this to my list of Christlike attributes to work on. It seems a bit bold to me to expect miracles but even when I don't expect miracles they still happen. Every person we teach is a miracle, every member is a miracle and the ability to do the work that we all do to contribute to the Lord's kingdom is a miracle. How amazing that we have God's help behind our work. We could never do it without Him.

 

Transfers are next week - ALREADY! I am excited but also sad because there is only a 20% possibility Sister Hedley and I will remain together. Sister Hedley has been a wonderful trainer and friend to me. I will be sad to part with her one of these days. God knows exactly who we need, when we need them and what they will teach us. Sister Hedley has got me off to a great start as a missionary, been patient, counseled and love me. With the Lord as both of our guides we have learned to work together and got along well. I am forever grateful for her and to God for allowing me to work right beside her.

We helped with a charity on Wednesday, "Trees for Charity", where you decorate a Christmas tree according to a theme and for a certain cause of the decorators choice. The Sister we helped did a Cowboy Christmas theme and did it for a girl with mental disabilities. So today they auction off the trees and give the money and sometimes the buyer give the tree to the family/cause.

We ended up with 5 Thanksgiving appointments! Needless to say we ate light at each place and still ended up stuffed. Sister Hedley isn't a pie fan so I think she had a lot less dessert then me. :P I couldn't resist the apple, cherry and pumpkin pie. 

Happy December,

Sister Meldrom

November 24th, 2013

Dear All,

This week has flown by and it causes me to wonder if I have done all I could. I feel myself falling more naturally into missionary work and I am not so anxious before every lesson. I hope though that I am not relying on myself but on God. I know it would be a sad use of the Lord's time, that He has given me, if I have to be continually humbled. I haven't found my balance in this yet. It causes me to second guess all my thoughts and actions because I am so worried about just relying on the arm of flesh. The greatest struggle I have every day is with myself. "Am I doing all I can be doing?" "Why don't I understand this better?" "Am I doing well enough?" But I believe God is slowly coaching me on something that you probably see. I am thinking too much of myself. 

So this leads me to the other thing I have pondered on this week. I believe God gives us experiences as missionaries, and even before, so that we can relate and help those we teach. I hope I am getting this right, 'that by helping others I am helping myself to learn'. I am going through Chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel and I do set goals (which could always use improvement) but agonizing over it doesn't help. I am working on using the Vision, Goal, Plan, Implement and Evaluate system more into my goals so I not only have the 'What I am doing' but 'Why I am doing it'. I really like how in Zone Conference I was reminded that the Why I am here is the people, and that the keys of missionary work are with the Stake and Wards and the church members. Also that our authority as missionaries is in the teaching. I don't know why I like this so much but it has filled me with a sense of direction and hope in myself and an increase of recognizing the Spirit. Small and simple means.

We had the privilege of two of our investigators getting baptized and we have received three new investigators this week. Members have told my companion and I 'good work', but this really is much like in marriage, a three way partnership. God, members and missionaries. Whenever someone is baptized most people just see the missionaries as the primary source of the event but really all children of God that come back to God have to have the relationship with all three. I have no cause to be EVER ungrateful because God blesses me so abundantly. All glory goes to God.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Sister Meldrom

November 17th, 2013

Hello All,

  This past week we have had the privilege to be at the forefront of a excommunicated member coming back. Excommunication is where the members records are removed from the church till they are ready to come back. It is a state of mercy because then they aren't held to the promises that come with being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It all started with a referral from a church member and a lesson with some ward members who ended up being this man and his wife's friends. The first appointment they were "yeah we want to come back" with a slight hesitation but the second appointment was a spiritual and amazing change. They know they want to return. They are ready. They know it will be a difficult road but they are ready. How glorious is our God! They came to church yesterday and he is setting a time to meet with the Stake president. 

  There was also, at church, a couple we have been trying to get a hold of but we haven't had any success. They want to come back too, so we shall visit them. The Lord is blessing this ward, that these less active members live in. He knows it is time for these sheep to come back and the members are helping them. Soon there will be two baptisms in this ward. God is blessing this ward because they are working diligently to find, retain and reactivate.

  As part of the 12 Week training, my responsibility and privilege this week was to "invite to baptism". We had two wonderful women that we taught for the first time this week. After our lessons, I had the privilege to invite them to baptism. Both sisters are going to pray and ponder about baptism. I could see that, if they were willing, God had prepared them to accept the gospel at this time. 

  We also had an appointment with an investigator we haven't seen in a while because of her work schedule. I was able to invite her to baptism as well. She is going to pray about it. I am grateful that God knew I would need these experiences this week. 

  One of my favorite things that I have experienced is feeling the Spirit as people share their stories. God has prepared all whom we run into to accept our help, whether it is to enter the waters of baptism or to continue on their journey toward Christ. What a blessing it is to be at the front of the Lord's holy army. What a serious responsibility. I pray every day I can be better then yesterday. I pray every day that I may have His Spirit. I know I am nothing and I am left to the natural man without Christ. The success I have is not my own, but my Redeemers.

I am humbled that God loves me so much. When I cry unto Him, He hears me. He pours His blessings upon me and I marvel. I wish I was stronger so I could show Him, by being excellent, how appreciative I am. Yet, I fear,I lose faith, and I become intimidated. The solution isn't to focus on myself but to focus on Him and to remember my favorite Book of Mormon scripture Ether 12:27, our weaknesses can become strengths if we are humble and have faith in Jesus Christ. I know we can be instruments in God's hands BECAUSE of our weaknesses. God knows exactly who can benefit from your unique experiences. I have been told over and over again since starting my mission: 'Be yourself'. God doesn't need the learned and perfect preacher, but He needs the humble and sincere teacher and doer of His words. By small and simple means are great things brought to pass.

God bless and keep you, 

Sister Meldrom

November 11th, 2013

Dear All,

Every week I see an out pouring of blessings. I wonder how I can be so blessed. I hope to always remain humble so I can be close to the Savior and receive His help because I need it.

One of the blessing this week was accidentally going to the wrong house for a 'go see this person' referral. We ended up finding this dear less active sister and her non member husband. I know God led us to them because they are open to us coming and sharing the gospel with them. The husband is angry with God for allowing his son to die some years ago and asks difficult questions but we see the kind child of God and we want to help.

We had the privilege to go to the Adult and General Session of Stake Conference and it was all SO GOOD. Among the many things that inspired me, I loved the emphasis on simplicity. Our Stake President told the conversion story of a old gentleman that simply began with a plate of cookies from a neighbor and a teenage young man taking out his trash every week. The neighbors then invited him to a Ward BBQ and it progressed from there. How wonderful that God has need of all of us, that we may learn and be blessed and our brothers with us. I liked how one speaker in the Adult Session emphasized that it is a lot less intimating for a Primary teacher to invite and visit a 'lost sheep' then the bishop, Stake President and sometimes even the missionaries.I plan on improving my messages to encourage and help members in their efforts.

One more thing I really enjoyed was what the Stake President said in the Adult and General Session, "Every missionary is called at a specific time, to a specific geographical location, for a specific purpose. Every member is likewise called at a specific time, to a specific place for a specific purpose.' God knows where, when and how He needs us, we just need to ask in faith and act. We are where we are to help those around us. As a song says, "I hear it said that people come into our lives for a reason, bringing something we must learn and in turn we can teach them something in return." Think simple and loving and you won't go astray.

We had the privilege to attend the ordination of one of our recent converts and one of our reactivated Brothers receive the Melchizedek Priesthood on Sunday. Both were emotional and you could see the hope they realized. They have the sacred opportunity to bless others lives, just as Christ did.I know that the Priesthood is Gods power given to man for the benefit and blessing of His children. 

They are one more step closer to the temple.

I feel filled as I finish this email to you. I see God supporting and helping me. So,through Him, I can support and help others. The members are a blessing. The investigators, recent converts and less active are huge blessings. My companion has become one of my best friends. I appreciate your prayers and encouragement. I plan on showing my thanks through my work and focus, as I should now and always on God's children.

"Because God is God of Heaven and Earth, how can I keep from singing?" 

God bless and keep you,

Sister Meldrom

Vernal Temple

Sister Hedley and Sister Meldrom in front of the Vernal, Utah Temple