A (last) Letter from Kennewick: Monday, April 21, 2014

Subject: Because of Him

Hello there my dear sweet family! This last week has been a great week full of lost of GREAT things! So first I will explain the pictures. 

#1. Me with the Roberts. I was granted permission this last week that I could go and have lunch with the Roberts before I left. It was so great!! We had lunch, talked a lot and took some pictures and cried a little. haha I love them more than life it's self and I am so grateful for the chance that I've had to know them and have them in my life. Such a blessing to me. 

 

#2. Us with Ron and Rachel! We had an amazing couple of lessons with them this week. We watched the "Because of Him" video. ( if you haven't seen it.. watch it! Your life will change forever! http://mormon.org/BecauseofHim)  We talked all about what is possible through our Savior and what is possible for them through the Savior. It was so wonderful! They had a tough we this last week with different things coming up and they were really searching for peace. Rachel said she just wanted to be happy so she picked up the Book of Mormon, went to the index and searched happiness and then went to the scriptures that it listed. She said she felt peace and happiness after she did that and felt like it gave her the strength she needed to comfort the challenges that she would face that day. She said that when it all came down it she said that it helped her to respond in a more Christlike way. 

It was such a testimony builder for me! In Preach my Gospel it says that as we gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon, we will have the confidence and conviction that our investigators will be able to receive a witness that the Book of Mormon is true by the Holy Ghost. In that moment that truth became real to me. Ron gave the closer prayer in that lesson and it was amazing!! He ended the prayer and we asked him how he felt and he just cried.. He said he felt sad from all that was going but we got to bare testimony on the reality of a loving Heavenly Father and that he hears and answers our prayers. They came to church yesterday and loved it! It was so amazing!!

#3. Taken a little ride in Pam's super beautiful Lexus. This is Pam and her beautiful car! Pam was a miracle this week. One of our members came and picked us up for dinner because they live clear out at the end of our area. We get in the car and she tells us that she invited a friend for dinner but her friend hasn't called back and she doesn't know if she is coming or not. We told her that it was totally fine and thanked her for inviting! That is where it all starts. We get to her home, sit down for dinner and her friend Pam calls and says she is on her way. Pam gets there and we start chatting with her and it leads to us teaching her the first lesson all about the Apostasy and Joseph Smith. It was so wonderful! We shared the same video, " Because of Him" and she loved it!! We talked for 2 HOURS!! She just wants to serve the Lord and come closer to him. It was so amazing!! She then offered to give us a ride back to our car where we sat and talked for another HOUR!! At the end of our long chat she said, " I will do ANYTHING to come closer the Lord." She said that she feels so alone and needs comfort and peace. We got to bare testimony of the Book of Mormon and promise her blessings. It was amazing!! One of the coolest moments of my mission. We left her with Mosiah 18 to read.. 

We saw so many miracles this week as we met with our investigators! It was so wonderful! I am really sad to leave but something that the Lord has been trying to teach him is that His will is always good and if full of security and hope and we trust in the Lord. I have grown so much from the things that I have learned here on the mission and it has changed me forever. I have loved being a set apart servant of the Lord and the feeling of the Spirit that comes with it and the closeness that I have felt and the testimony that I gained. I know my Savior lives and that he loves us. I know that He is always there. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that through it we gain the knowledge and the strength to follow THEE Doctrine of Christ. I know that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. I know that through him they restored the fulness of the Gospel on the earth today.

I love you all. Enjoy you day and I will see you all tomorrow!

Love Sister Mecham

A (second to last) Letter from Kennewick: Monday, April 14, 2014

Subject: He is Risen

Hello my dear family! 

 

I love this time of year!! The meaning behind it and the feeling that comes with it. Just like there is a spirit about Christmas, there is a spirit about this time of year as we remember the Crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Chirst. It simply one of my favorite things.

 

We had a good week here in the area. We had a lot of appointments fall through but so far for this week we it is looking like we will be back up to reaching our member present lessons and our OYM goal. The members here are doing great. We got a new ward mission leader in the Rancho Reata ward yesterday, Brother Ransom. I think He is really going to help the members and he already has a great idea about how to make it simple and easy for the members to participate in missionary work.

 

We were able to have a lesson with Bre this week and she came to a fireside last night and felt the spirit really strongly! It was a great! Cheryl is not doing as well as we would like but we have an appointment set up this week to ask her where she is at with everything and where she stands.

 

I've been studying enduring to the end in a round-about way. I've been reading the story of Moses and the children of Israel. We have to teach about the passover this coming Sunday in Gospel Doctrine and it is just so amazing the things that I have learned in my short study of it. My testimony of the way that the Lord works on our livees, of Prophets called to be the mouth piece for God and of enduring to the end has grown so much!! I love the example of Moses. When Moses was commanded by the Lord to go and tell Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go, he told the Lord of his fears. He didn't trust in what the Lord told him of how he shouldn't worry but despite that, the Lord still made it possible for him to accomplish the work that the Lord had commanded him by sending his brother Aaron with him. Moses led the children of Israel out of bondage and even after they left Eygpt, they still face trials and not once did Moses turn away from them or the Lord but he kept going. There are so many examples of this kind of conversion in the scriptures but this week this example became one of my new favorites.  

 

I've been thinking about the meaning of enduring to the end and other ways that we can define it and the verse in Alma 26:27 came to mind. "... and bear with PATIENCE thin AFFLICTIONS and I will give unto success." When we endure to the end it means that we are "bearing with patience our afflictions" and the Lord gladly says "...ye shall have eternal life". It just really stood out to me how the Lord invites us to do that and then he promises us something in return. I love it so much!! It motivates me to be better and listen and want to do what is right. It makes me see that His plan truly is perfect and flawless.

 

This Gospel just means so much to me and how important it is for us to live it and live it constantly. It helps me to understand the importance of helping those that we teach to live it constantly too as my testimony grows. For the past little while, each time we talk with someone I just want them to really hear and feel that what I am sharing with them is true. I've always felt that way but I have been feeling it more urgently these past weeks. I just know how much it blesses me. I want it to bless other people.

 

 I love you all! Have such a great week!!

 

2 Nephi 26:24-25

A Letter from Kennewick: Monday, April 07, 2014

Subject: "The pleasant part of discipleship is sharing!" Elder Holland

Hello my dear family!

 

Didn't you just LOVE conference?!? That quote by Elder Holland was one of my favorites. We have to share the Gospel! That is the fun part! I was in heaven!! It was so great! As I got ready for conference this weekend I was trying to think about what my question would be going into conference and what I want to learn more about. As Hna. Robison and I talked about it on Saturday night, we each had different things that we were looking for and had questions about. But the most beautiful thing about it all is that we each received answered and not just once but many times. And even occasionally from the same talk! The Lord is in the details of our lives and sees the very need and desire of our hearts and because he loves us, he will answer them as we humbly seek his improvement and his guidance.

 

This week has been a great week!! With spring break here in Kennewick it has kinda cramped our style but that is okay! We have this week to get back in with lots of our investigators and some really great commitments that we are leaving with them. It makes a world of difference with wonderful fellowshipppers that work with you investigators when you are not there. I am so grateful for that this week! When we walk out the door the fellowshipppers still work to keep the fire going.

 

We had a short little visit with Cheryl this week and she said that she has been feeling really grumpy lately and just on edge and she realized that it was because she has cancelled our appointments the last little while. We talked about how she needs to keep reading her scriptures and saying her prayers that it will help her when we are not with her. We sang a hymn with her at the end of the lesson and it just added such a peaceful feeling. She needs that peace so bad!!

 

Our lessons with Bre are we cancelled this week because of scheduling conflicts but she did come to the De Santi's and watch General Conference with us on Sunday Afternoon. We really wanted her to hear the Prophet speak. She loved and said that it was really interesting. When President Packer talked about how he gained his own witness that the Gospel was true, I looked over at her and she just seemed to be thinking really deep. I loved how he talked about the role of the Holy Ghost in that and how it is something that no one could ever take away from him. I was really hope that Bre would catch onto that and make it personal to her. We are trying to leave her with commitments that will bring that to her more frequently and help her in creating that belief.

 

Ron and Rachel also watched conference with us. We went to their fellowshippers house, the Schlotfeldts, for the Sunday morning session. It was just so great! They were both so attentive! As they listened and watched, you could just see it on their faces that the spirit was working with them. Especially with Rachel. She is really truly searching. We have an appointment to go and take them around the temple on Friday morning with Bishop Frasso and his wife. We are so excited!! 

 

My testimony this week has been strengthened so much. With being able to attend the temple and our leadership conference all being centered on the Atonement and conference to top it off. At the end of the night last night I just felt so exhausted! So many spiritual experiences and so much to learn from them. My testimony of the Savior and his atonement has been on my mind since the begin of last week and I don't think it is a coincidence of the things that I have learned this week to prepare me for conference and how each of them built on one another.

 

Well my dear family, I love you so very much! Keep pressing forward. I know my Savior lives and that he loves us. Love you all!!

 

D&C 33: 7-10

A Letter from Kennewick: April 02, 2014

Hello my dear family!!! My goodness this week has been great! Sorry I didn't email on Monday. Our P-day was switched to today so that we could attend the Temple this morning! Can't complain at all! It was great!

 

Hna. Robison and I are truly having too much fun!! We are just two little peas in a pod and we get along super great!! I just lover her dearly! She is from Lehi so it will be easy to get together after the mission.

 

This week we have had some super experiences and lessons. Things here in the area are going well. We love these members and we are so excited to see the progression that will be made as we work with them more. I feel like I was so distracted by how I was going to do the work here in the area that I forgot about the tools that the Lord has given me to help our investigators and find people to teach. My love for members and their willingness to work with us has grown so much this week and I just could not be more grateful. When we missionaries say we can't do the work without the members, we REALLY mean it. We can't. The members make all the difference.

 

We had some great lessons this week with Cheryl and Bre and Sterling and Ron & Rachel! They are all going really great. We have somethings to work on with Cheryl and Bre with helping them to commit to come to church on a regular basis. They say yes and then they back out last minute. We have lessons with them in next couple of days so it will be great to get down the root of things. We are also working on getting our members to invite our investigators over for conference this weekend.

 

Rachel  came on Saturday night to the Women's Conference and it was AMAZING!! The feeling of sitting there with an investigator just brought tears to my eyes. I love these people and their desire to learn and grow and work through the struggles and questions that they have just to find truth. Each of them are so remarkable to me! At the end of the conference, all of us (Sister Schlotfeldt, Rachel, Hna. Robison and me) all gathered in this little circle and we talked about the importance and the value of each on of our Father in Heavens children and how we matter as daughter of God. The spirit was so strong and we all teared up. I love bearing testimony to of that each day!! It is something that has affected my life so much and I love sharing it with other people.

 

We got to attend the Temple today and it was wonderful! I was reminded of a principle that we learn in the scriptures in Genesis where it gives an account of the creation; the principle of return and report. As I thought about my temple experience I understood just a little bit more the importance of it and how it helps us to be accountable. It also gave me more clarity on the fact of where we need to be seeking approval. We don't seek it from outside sources, we seek it from our Father in Heaven. It can give us the ultimate approval. I learned so much from the Temple today. It was amazing!!! I also learned more about the importance of a Savior. I just really can't express my love and the feelings I had as I listen to what was being said in the Temple today! Our savior is our only way. I don't know a lot of things but what I do is that we do have a Savior and that he is our Redeemer and advocate with the Father. It is a simple truth that our Father in Heaven pleads with us to understand.

 

Well my dear family, I love you all so very much!! Have such a great week.

Love Sister Mecham

 

1 Nephi 21: 14-16

Plus pictures!!