Pictures!

Merry Christmas!

There is some shocking news, ... I am the senior companion in a new companionship! Don't know how I feel about that. It is humbling to say the least. We will work hard the next 6 weeks. I am praying a lot, pray for me too!

We baptized a guy and I have to say it was the best one yet! It has really changed my mission to see how people are blessed when they get baptized for themselves. I know that they will go on to bless others. It is amazing!

Christmas is the best time to go out and talk about Christ. Christ is after all the center of Christmas! I have been thinking about how we can make Christ the center of our lives this holiday season.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Happy Thanksgiving! And now Happy December!

I am EXHAUSTED! We got back from a sister activity last night. It was a riot and a half! We got to stay up as late as we wanted and sleep in! HOLLA! But unfortunatly my body is getting used to waking up at 6:30 AM! Sick, so so so sick! I went to bed at 3:30 excited to sleep in but my phone alarm when off at 6:30 and I woke up. My body wouldn't go back to sleep. I felt like crying. It might just be the saddest moment of my life. So at 6:42 frustrated as I can be, I climbed out of bed and over several bunk beds to the door. It was cool though that there was only one other sister up, and the mission president and his wife. We got to talking and I just felt so blessed to have such a caring and humble servant to watch out for us the next few years.

I was able to keep up tradition and make gingerbread houses at the sister activity. It was hard to maintain the detail that I normally do based on a few factors:

#1 Limited Supplies! How am I supposed to build a gingerbread masterpiece without ANY sugar cubes. Don't people know about structure here?

#2 Time! We only had 30 minutes!

#3 Nothing is as good as mom's "cement" frosting. It just isn't the same.

This year's theme was Book of Mormon Stories. I roughly depicted 3rd Nephi 11. I covered a cinnamon bear to look more "Jesus like!" Tradition lives on!

Something I realized this week was how hard it can be when you hear someone reject the blessings of the gospel. It struck me hard to realize that this gospel is something NEEDED in life. It isn't just nice to have, or even that you will be a better person for having it, but really, this is the bridge that leads us back to eternal life. The greatest blessings we can have all come from God. The greatest joy we can have is following the Savior Jesus Christ and taking him as our guide back to the Celestial Kingdom. We are so blessed to have the restored gospel in our lives. I have found the urgency behind missionary work as we teack people about baptism. I hope it catches fire! People NEED this! I am so thankful for the prophet Joseph Smith who restored the power to baptize in the name of Jesus Christ to the earth. I am so thankful for a loving Father in Heaven who wants to help us in anyway possible to see us with Him again!

I love you all so much! Miss you!

Love,

Sister Meldrum

Happy Thanksgiving!

"I am just so grateful...which I guess is completely appropriate since it is Thanksgiving week. I forget about that sometimes, we work so much that holidays don't seem to make that big of a difference. But really, I am so grateful for the blessings in my life.

I am so grateful for the blessings of the gospel in my life. It is strange to see the gospel really take an "active role" in my life. I mean REALLY ACTIVE! But never have I felt such strength and happiness from knowing about my Savior.

So last Zone Conference, President Olson challenged us as an ENTIRE MISSION to re-read the Book of Mormon in 2 transfers. He gave us all blue copies of the Book of Mormon that we pass out, and a red pencil. He said to only highlight the names, words, actions, or things relating to Jesus Christ. He really wants us to build our testimony that the Book Of Mormon is a TESTAMENT OF JESUS CHRIST! I am staying consistant on my reading and it is a miracle the answers to my questions I find, and how much the Book of Mormon talks of Christ!

I really and truly LOVE my mission. The experiences, the growth, and the Spirit, and Service...it's all so worth it! It is hard, really hard sometimes, but it reminds me of Ether 12:6. It is those hard times that lets us grow and develop. If it wasn't hard, I don't think I would love it so much!

Happy Thanksgiving!
Love,
Sister Meldrum

It's Cold Outside!!!!

"Logan is FREEZING!!! It has snowed about 50% of the days I have been here! We don't have a car and we have to take the bus. It reminds me of King Henry days taking the bus, but now I am in a skirt with a tag instead of a backpack and a laptop.

Well, Logan is difficult for a number of reasons...sister whitewashed our area the transfer before I got here...and there were NO investigators. We have had to build from the bottom up. It is hard to adjust, too, because we were doing so good in Woods Cross. I feel like I am not doing a good job because we are slower than the rest. My companion says that there have been a lot of miracles happen since I got here. People they have been trying to set up appointments with, that have said no, are now saying yes! That is good!

President has set specific goals for this area, too. He has big plans for the USU campus. Goals that we cannot obtain without the Lords help. I think the key to a college campus is being yourself...being real. We are real people with real problems, and God REALLY does love us and He give us REAL answers. I find that when I am not myself while teaching, I am unhappy, so, yes, I am mastering entertaining and edifying lessons...at least I hope so. Life as a missionary without laughter would be suicide. I have to laugh daily!

Life is good -- God truly loves us and I am learning a lot. I get along good with my companion. We are speaking 4 times on Sunday ... that should be a riot!"

Sister Spam!

"This Sunday we spoke in 3 wards! My favorite talk was in our Welfare Branch. We were assigned the topics of Eternal Marriage and Family History. Since Sister Tracy is going home in 3 days, she took Eternal Marriage so I had Family History.

Um, yeah, never have done family history in my life! But I thought of this AMAZING analogy -- Family History is like can of SPAM! you don't know what is in it, and you want to know where it came from! And just like in the state of Hawaii, I think that if you tried it out, you would love it! Can I just say that I LOVE SPEAKING IN CHURCH! The congregation was laughing it up and so many people came up to tell me what was really in the ingredients list...let's just say, Oh Boy! One Brother wanted to call me Sister Spam..."

The field is white.... literally. It's snowing in Utah!

I love the blessings from the Word of Wisdom. As a missionary and teaching it all the time (almost literally) I have studied it more than ever and have gained a stronger testimony of it. I have learned that just because we serve a mission or get married in the temple, it does not mean we are set for life. We must choose daily to follow the Savior. Satan never lets up on us. If we put our trust in the Lord and take ACTION to follow Him, we can beat Satan.

I love You All!

Sister Meldrum

"I am doing well. I would even say Great! Although it is starting to get a little cold, we are doing well. I love being a missionary. The Lord supports us so much. That is one thing I am becoming more and more mindful about.

We have been doing some good old style tracking. On one day we parked our car and started walking. We decided to cross this really busy street and so we ran across (J-walking style) and this car started honking at us. It turns out it was a ward missionary in one of our stakes...(yes- we cover STAKES) She offered us a ride. Even though we had no particular house we were going to, we jumped in and felt impressed to go to a potential investigator's house. Amazingly, we found them home and they want to start taking the missionary lessons! HOLLA!

We have a baptism every weekend until the end of the transfer. My trainer will be going home after this. That makes me really sad because we have a RIOT preaching together. I mean really. WE work hard, but have a blast doing it! Seriously -- I thought missionary work was boring- until I got on my mission. Now I think otherwise.

I love you all lots and lots. Be good, and remember, WHEN YOU ALMOST KEEP A COMMANDMENT, YOU ALMOST GET A BLESSING!

Love,
Sister Meldrum

Katelin and Breanna saw each other at General Conference. Neither of them knew the other would be there. What a nice surprise!

Sister Meldrum with other Sister Missionaries at General Conference!

Breanna's MTC District. All of these missionaries have been called to the Ogden Mission no matter where they are pointing to on the map :)

Sister Meldrum and her MTC Companion, Sister Sutter.

Having Fun baking bread!

Quick update and hello!

I am finding that if I don't write everything down that I want to share in my letters, when I sit down to the computer just like magic I forget everything. But curiously, just as I stand up to leave, I remember it all. Just the way my mind works I suppose, so I have become a fan of lists. I really like my missionary planner. It keeps my life in organized, and just like mom always quoted Gordon B. Hinckley, "A messy room leads to messy lives and we are not a messy church!" Our Father in Heaven likes order, so we should too!

I am also learning that missions can be emotional roller coasters. I haven't had a bad day, but we definitely work hard. There are harder days when it is difficult to see some of the people we are teaching stall, and stop progressing. But then there are those lessons and moments that the spirit blesses us with the spirit and gives us such joy! It has been incredible to feel the love that our Father has for His children. I feel blessed to be in a situation where I am a representative of Jesus Christ, and in part share and feel of His love for us.

Sister Meldrum

Leaving the MTC!

So I am getting ready to get on the bus to leave the MTC! Can you believe it has been 3 weeks already? I sure can't. We leave in about an hour...

Sister Meldrum = Nervous!

Yikes! I mean this whole time we have been teaching "investigators". But they are really members, who although do an emmy performance of acting, are still are sweet members that do not hate us, kick us, bite us, or any other form of harm. Tonight though I will be speaking to real people! I mean.... REAL! I am not saying members are not physically real people, .... but I think you get my drift.

There is a feeling of excitment though. I am happy to be here. The experience I have had in the MTC is incredible. Our district has been wonderful and my companion, Sister Sutter is amazing. She was a wonderful companion to have! I look up to her a lot in her example of patience and quiet dignity.

The spirit of the MTC is powerful and strong. Unlike what I have experienced this far in my life. It reminds me of the temple. It is like living in a church house and getting AWESOME sunday school lessons 24/7. The Lords hand is here at the MTC, training and teaching his missionaries to recognize the spirit, build faith, and proclaim his message!

I had to say goodbye to mi Hermana Erin Jones today at breakfast. It was sad... I cried a little bit... and then my Elders made fun of me. Silly Boys. I bet they cried themselves to sleep last night. :)

Tonight will be exciting. I am anxious to see what we do, excited to meet President Olson, find out who my trainer is, find out where I will be serving, etc!

I still cannot believe I am on a mission! Really? I mean Really??? But every morning I wake up still at the MTC, and I put that name tag on. Yes! I am a missionary!

One thing that has really hit me here in the MTC is the power and authority of my call. I have felt the significance of being called by a Prophet of God. The Lord is entrusting me with his message to facilliate teaching it to his children. I am only 21 and yet I am entrusted with this great work and responsibility! I feel very much like Ether 12:27 where it says, "Weak things will be made strong." I know that as long as I am doing my best and working hard the Lord will help us in His work.

I am an official representative for the church... for the Lord! I am here to declare His word! On my name tag it is cool to see Sister Meldrum written on the top line, but my name is not near as important as the name written below that.

I have also learned that it is not enough to go on a mission, but we must let the mission go through us. We do not BECOME a missionary when we get set apart. We become a missionary by our thoughts, actions and deeds. We should strive daily to live the example of Christ, that through our actions others might want to become more like him, want to know of him, and follow him. There is light in his message and joy that lies in store beyond what we can imagine. Its pretty much amazing!

Well, have fun, almost time to go! I love you and miss you!!

Dont forget your name! Remember who you are! Don't forget to buckle up! :)

Love,

Sister Meldrum

Welcome to the MTC!

Hello again from the MTC!!

So this is my last P-day in the MTC! Its crazy how fast time goes by. This time next week I will be on a bus... hehe- that still makes me laugh. A BUS to Ogden! I don't know if I will get a chance to e-mail next week, but I will write letters while we are driving for sure! So just look out for that!

Anyways, I love my roommates I am with the "always crack me up [companions]"! We have been having a riot here in the MTC. I mean a spiritual riot! And mom you are very right, I have learned so much already. It is amazing the answers the scriptures hold for us. I love going to the referral center too. It's where everyone calls in with questions about the church and we missionaries with our cute little phone head sets get to do our best to answer them. There have been many great experiences already. Missionary work is AMAZING! I talked to a girl from Georgia named Gloria. We talked for a long time. She shared how she has seen God's hand in her life. It was wonderful to testify that God knows who she is as a daughter! She wanted to learn more so we sent the missionaries to her house!

Then there was Phil. He was great too. He is from New Jersey. We were talking via chat. At first I was weary because he started off asking, "Do you 'Mormons' believe in alien life forms?" I was like... what the???? But we ended up having a great converstaion for an hour or so. I got to teach him a lot about the plan of salvation. He was very interested in that. It was also great how scriptures would pop into my head as we were talking. God really blessed me with rememberance, even from things I learned in freshman seminary Book of Mormon classes at BYU etc.... It was great. It makes me really excited to head to Ogden.

In the TRC (Teaching Reasource Center), volunteers from the community come in and act like investigators. Sister Sutter and I had a great lesson there about the importance of baptism. Wow, did we learn a lot! I learned a lot from the investigator too. He was a convert himself about 15 years ago. He was so genuine and real. There definitely is a difference between missionary lessons and DISCUSSIONS! I really like the discussions. It is real. We are real people looking for real answers! I never thought at the age of 21 I could help far older people, and help them discover who they really are!

It's sad about people saying we got it all wrong. I know in the field there are going to be hard days and lots of opposition, especially in Utah where everyone has at least heard of the church. They either love it or hate it. We have a great MTC teacher named Brother Kearns who served his mission in SLC south. He has told us some of his experiences, but he has really tailored his lessons to "Utah missions" because he says they really are a unique experience. The things that will occur in our mission will be unlike many others. Pros and Cons both, but it will be wonderful. To those people who say we have it all wrong, we must treat them with kindness and the love of God, but don't let them get to you. The power of God is real, but so is the power of Satan.

We had Elder Holland come to the MTC last week. It was amazing! He talked a lot about how his mission changed his life. How we may be scared or frightened, but the Lord wants us to succeed. This is His work. His hand is in it and we need not to be afraid. He told us to take advantage of EVERY opportunity and learn all we can! This sunday devotional was from an old mission president of the Houston Texas Mission!! YEAH! They were great! They were really enthusiastic about mission work so it pumped us all up. I love sitting in a room with 2000 other set apart missionaries... many of which are ordained as an Elder. That is powerful! Especially when we sing.

Speaking of singing, Sister Sutter and I sing in the chior. That is an amazing experience! I love it! We sang "This is The Christ" for Jeffery R. Holland. Talk about amazing!

Go Team Odgen!!!

Hello Family!!!

Can I just say that I already miss you so much! The MTC is crazy though! It keeps you really busy so that is good. It reminds me a lot of EFY. Every second planned out and no time for yourself. I am perfecting getting ready in 30 minutes, and believe it or not, I am not the slow one getting ready.

My companions name is Sis. Sutter. She is from Pennsylvania. We get along really well. Our roommates are a riot too! It is hard to go to sleep at night when we are planning a new hit musical "The mission". Watch for in it about 18 months! It will be great! ...anyways....

There are five of us in the room- two are going to Thailand (sister Webb and sister Meyers) and one is going to Cambodia (sister Harlan). Sister Sutter and I are going to Ogden. So it is a weird little mix- but life is good. I still feel great about Ogden and wouldn’t want to go anywhere else. It is definitely a call for me.

I get to see my old roommate Sister Erin Jones all the time! She lives a few doors down from me. I love seeing her here especially after all the preparation and studying we did as we got ready for missions. How cool it is that now we are here together too! She has been here for four weeks and will leave in 5. hehe... I only have two left!

I am doing fine physically- besides the fact that MTC food gives you gas. But from what I hear, you get use to that. hehe. At first, it was hard to fall asleep at night. 10:30 is so early!!! I am getting use to that too. Especially after waking up at 6:30 in the morning! And now they have just hired on a girl to do workout classes in the morning at 6 just for the sisters. So my comp and I go to those so we don’t have to go to gym with the elders later in the day- we can use that time to nap. Its great- but the downside is we get up even earlier!

Our district has 7 elders in it. We are all going to Ogden. And there is another district with four more elders that are going to Ogden that came in the same day as us. How cool is that!?!?! Go team OGDEN!!!

I have really felt how exciting missionary work is! I am loving it so far. It is hard though. It makes you stretch outside your comfort bubble- but that is ok- after EFY that was pretty much shot anyways. I think I am adjusting to mission life easier that I had expected- and better than some others that came in the same time as us.

I am the senior companion in my companionship- but I don’t do much. There are not too many responsibilities in the MTC and we are a companionship so we work as a team on everything. So it is such a great blessing that Sister Sutter and I work so well together. Some of the other companionships in our district have had a hard time.

There are two elders also from TX- small world. They are fun. Elder Christensen from Waco and Elder Hughes from San Antonio. So yeah- we have a Texas club- even though I am not from there... kinda.

I am learning a lot from everyone here though- (even the elders- although they are 19 and sometimes you can definitely tell!) You can even tell a difference between those that went to school before their missions and those that didn’t. We are blessed with a good district though. We are all starting to get a hold of how things run. But we don’t have much time here. It is so important to use every moment wisely. That way in two weeks when we head off we are prepared.

I had a cool experience in the Referral center- but I am out of time- so I got to hurry. The short of it- Gloria from GA is great! I will have to write you later and tell you more about that!

The clock is ticking so- I wanted to let you know that I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! I pray for you daily and hope for the best! Love each other and don’t forget... Jesus Loves you!

Love,
Sister Meldrum

Pictures

Houston Farewells...

Provo Family Farewells...

Entering the MTC...

It took two Elders to carry her luggage :)