A Letter from Vancouver: Monday, February 25, 2013

Subject: Transfers??

Hello my dear family!!! Well this last Saturday was transfer calls...... and well... I'm leaving good old Vancouver and heading over to Richland in the Tri-Cities. I will be finishing training a sister over there. Her trainer right now has finished her mission and is heading home. I'm terrified and excited all at the same time!! I know the Lord calls us where he needs us. I'm going to miss this place like crazy. I have loved the people and the weather and BEAUTIFUL scenery! But I hear Richland is just as great. In different ways but just as great!

So we got a lot of really cool news this week! I'm sure you all have heard that Vancouver is going to be it's own mission!! Gosh when I found that out.. I might have cried. haha I cried because I was excited and because the Lord his TRULY hastening his work. The work in Vancouver is great but it's not totally booming. That means that the Lord knows there are people in this area that are waiting and waiting to just receive the truth. What this means for us missionaries in the mission is that our mission will be cut in half. They don't have any specific boundaries for us yet but the new mission won't be in effect until the end of June/ beginning of July. It is so cool!!!! I can't wait. So just because I am going over to Richland doesn't mean that I now am in the Kennewick Mission. I could be transferred back over here or I could stay there. The possibilities are endless!! So exciting!!

As for the work this week, we had another slow week. People canceling on us and not being available to meet. We did have something really neat happen on Saturday though. We had just met with our ward mission leader and remember that there were some people that we had forgotten to plan to go see. We had an appointment right after our meeting with a recent convert. I thought about calling and changing times or whatever we needed to do so that we could go and see these families. We thought about it and decided that we should keep our appointment with Judy and just leave a little bit earlier so we could do both. Well we got to Judy's house and she didn't answer. We took that as a sign that the Lord really did want us out visiting these families. We went to the first family. The Ostermillers. Turns out they are never home on the weekends and were just about ready to leave. We were able to share a message with them and get to know them better. Uhh hello! Haha if that is not the Lords hand than I don't know what is. haha The next family was pretty similar  They weren't as interested as the Ostermillers but the husband who is not a member is not home very often and only has 2 days a week off from driving truck..Friday's and Saturday's. The Lord is mindful of his children. I don't know what that did for either of those families but I know that spirit was there and I know that either way, It was a reminder to them that God loves them. Gosh how I love this work!! It is incredible!! I know the church is true. I know our Father lives. Love you all!! Have a great week!!!

Sister Mecham :)

I know that Sister Mecham would LOVE to hear from all of you!!

Washington Kennewick Mission

8202 West Quinault Ave

Suite D

Kennewick, WA

99336-1017

A Letter from Vancouver: Monday, February 19, 2013

Subject: My dear family!

Hello there my dear family! We didn't email yesterday because of the holiday. We actually went down to the Dalles and had an epic game of nerf gun wars! It was so fun!! Needless to say, Sis. Neumayer and I are pretty sore today. haha This week has been a great one. The work is going great and our investigators are really progressing! We were able to go in exchanges this last week. There are 2 sets of Sisters in our Zone. The other sisters are in Goldendale which is about 40 mins outside the Dalles. Sister Neumayer went down to the Dalles and I stayed here in good old Vancouver. We had some really awesome experiences!! I'm telling you, the way to find is through members and through former investigators! I LOVE the area book!! There is wisdom in using the area book. We had been getting a little frustrated because we weren't find anyone... We just weren't looking in the right places. So while Sis. Neumayer was in Goldendale, Sis. Ellingson and I went and contacted a bunch of former investigators. We didn't find anyone that night but the really cool thing happened the next day after we had exchanged back. Sis. Neumayer and I went to go and visit a potential investigator who didn't answer the door, we realized that a former investigator lived on that same street. We had contacted them before but it was later at night and the Mom just wasn't really interested then. We decided to try again.. Well we knock on the door and this darling teenage girl answers and we tell her who we are and asked if we could take just 5 minutes of her time and share with her what we believe. She said we could and right there on her doorstep we taught her a simple version of the Restoration. It was so awesome! She answered questions, she shared little things that she thought were interesting. We asked her if she would like to learn more and she said yes! The Lord really is preparing people to receive the gospel. I knew that we were prompted to go to their home that day and talk to Doreen. We set up a return appointment for when she comes back from vacation. I'm so excited to teach her!!

 

Michael is doing great! He came to the second hour of church on Sunday which is a huge deal for him!! He is keeping commitments and progressing faster than I expected. The Lord really teaches us a lot. We think we understand something and we've got a handle on it. Our idea's may be good but there are not always in line with what our Heavenly Father has planned for us and for our investigators. It has been a really good experience for me to be able to teach Michael and the rest of the Bush family. I love them dearly! Transfer calls are this weekend and I could very well be transfered somewhere else. But good times are ahead!

 

Well my dear family, I love you all. I'm grateful for the things that the Lord is teaching me while I am out here on my mission. I know that this church is true and it is lead by a Prophet of God. Love you all!!

 

Love, Sister Mecham

A Letter from Vancouver: Monday, February 11, 2013

Subject: Well hey there!

So this week has been a great week! Something that I learned... We as a Zone have a goal to get 500 lessons by the end of the month. 500 lessons with members present or other lessons with investigators. Something that we can get caught up in here is less active or recent convert lessons and those could easily fill our day fast. Something that they really are focusing on is us making sure we are seeing our investigators and filling them as much as we can. These people are the elect. We need to be focusing on that. I was little worried and wanted to make sure that we could do our part of this. Each companionship needs to get 5 other lessons during the week. Now that doesn't seem like much and for some areas that's a piece of cake but for us.. it has been challenging. So with last Sunday being fast Sunday  one of the things that I fasted for was to be able to meet our goal of 5 other lessons... My dear friends and family, I want to bear testimony that the Lord hears our prayers!! He hears them and is aware of the strength we need to be able to get through anything. By Friday we already had 4 other lessons and would later meet our goal on Sunday. I am so grateful for the Lord. Although this may seem small, the Lord knows what is important to us and is willing to bless us as we strive to do our VERY best. He knows and loves us.

 

Not only did we get 5 other lessons and accomplish our goal but we were able to get some member referrals and gain some more trust in one of our wards. From missionaries that had served here long ago members had lost some trust and didn't know think that they could trust us with their friends.. That is somethings that is a big deal to me. Having other people trust me and want to give us referrals. The Lord has blessed us this week as we have tried to think of new ways to help the members and new ways to involve them in missionary work.

 

Michael is doing great! This week he told us that all of this sounds appealing and that he has the desire to pray... UHHH! I think I might have started to cry. We shared with him Alma 32:27.. "Experiment on my words and your will receive a desire... " He really seemed to respond to that! It is so cool to see people change and myself change in that way. Gosh I love this Gospel!!! Well my dear family and friends. I love you. I know that this church is true. I know that as we stick to what our Heavenly Father has taught us and work hard, He will bless us more that we can even comprehend.  

 

Love, Sister Mecham

A Letter from Vancouver: Monday, February 04, 2013

Subject: Say what?!

Hello my dear family! So this week is week has been another slow week. We had some awesome things planned and lots of things to get done but as we all know, people have their agency. Darn that agency!! We make appointments and then people totally forget or they cancel and then... We tract :) haha it is all good though! Frustrating at times but it's good. We were low on miles and trying to safe up for a drive that we had to make out ot Washouagal which is about 15 miles away. So therefore, we had to walk everywhere which we weren't used to but it was actually really nice! It made me appreciate the luxury of having a car :) The appointment in Washougal cancelled... We tried really hard to laugh when that happened as we looked at our blisters and swollen feet :) hahhaha it all worked out in the end.

 

This week was like I said really slow but we did have some really great experiences! I keep forgetting to tell you all about Judy and her patriarchal blessing. Oh my goodness!!! How I love her!!  Judy is my girl. haha She is the kindest, sweetest person in the world. And just down right funny. Judy has a hard time understanding things and putting together things about the Gospel but she loves it so she tries really hard. She shared with us her patriarchal blessing and wanted us to tell her what everything means... Sis. Neumayer and I read through it with her and asked her questions about what she thought.. Helping her learn and not us telling her. After all, that's not how it's suppose to go anyway. As we were reading through her blessing, the sweetest feeling was there. If there was anything that I learned from that experience is that God knows us. I just felt this insane power that he knew Judy better than I will ever know Judy and that he loves her. Sis. Neumayer and I bore testimony of his love for her and how we can't interpret that for her. She needs to read it over and over. It was beautiful! I loved every minute of it! We had a lesson with Michael yesterday and Sis. Neumayer pointed out something that I didn't even think about. Michael always has these super deep deep questions about the Gospel and just life in general. We in the past would answer those questions to the best of our ability. What we were missing in those moments though, was the simplicity of the Gospel. He needs to build that foundation and not worry about the deep stuff yet! Gosh! I knew that we needed to get back to the simple stuff but I think I was just lost in how to do it. This is why the Lord sends us two by two. We need companions. We are working with Michael in that core foundation. We will see how this goes. The Lord loves him and will help him. Shada is really keeping her commitments.. we still work with her and pray that her heart is open to an answer from the Lord.

 

A quick something funny that happened last week while Sis. Neumayer and I were tracting.. We knocked on this ladies house and she answers the door. We state who were are and our purpose. She then tells us she isn't interested. We tell her thank you for your time and say our goodbye's. Just as she is about to shut the door she opens in back open and says "I believe in womens rights and your church just doesn't support that. Thank you, goodbye." Sis. Neumayer and I just looked at eachother and start to kinda laugh.. As we walk away thats when I really got what she had said to us. That's when I got mad and said something about how she was a mean person and whatever else... Here comes the lesson... As we walked away there on the sidewalk was dog poop. Who doesn't see it? Me. I step right into it. Moral of the story!! We are all God's children. We shoud head to the counsel in Mosiah 4:30. Watching my thoughts and my words.... hahah

 

Well my dear family. I love you!!! The church is true!!

 

Love, Sister Mecham