Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Breanna wearing a "Jody Dress" which she swore she would never do :) Never say Never!

"Ana got baptized Sunday, June 27th at 7 pm. It was one of the BEST baptisms in the world. She had to get dunked twice, and Sister Martin and I were standing there with a towel for her. As she came out, we gave her a huge hug,....yes it was very wet, and Ana stood there and cried. We helped her out, and we sat in the dressing room with her while she was still wet. She was so happy she couldn't move. She was crying and smiling and praising Jesus. We didn't know if she was going into shock or if she was going to faint from joy like in the Book of Mormon. But then we saw humble Ana get off the little bench and kneel on that dressing room hard tile floor. As sisters we kneeled down beside her, still wet, and Ana gave the best prayer I have ever heard. I don't know if I have ever felt the spirit stronger in my life. I wish I could capture that moment in a picture, and I have prayed that I will never forget that feeling. As she gripped Sister Martin and my hand, she looked us in the eye and said, 'Thank you, Thank you for not giving up. I had no idea h ow amazing this would feel. You are my angels.'

How humbling it was. God has blessed me so much. Why do I, selfish little Meldrum get to participate giving God's children a key to their salvation. To be able to see that, I wish I could describe it. I can only think of, 'How great will be their joy...' I have never felt joy quite like that. Pure Christlike love for someone else. A little glimpse into the Celestial Kingdom I think.

We saw Ana yesterday and she looked REALLY good! Can't stop smiling and telling everyone that she needs to go to church with her! :) I love it! I am so short of words to describe it. She has several daughters and never got to raise them and told us that we are her daughters...I said yes Ana we are! I want you to come to my wedding! And she cried! She said that she never got to go to her own daughters and this would be a iracle for her. So yes, put it on the list!"

Hey Y'all!

We have been blessed hand over foot. We have seen 4 baptisims this weekend!!! They were all amazing and lots of fun. One girl is already at girls camp, the couple wants to know how long they have to wait until they can do baptisms in the temple, and the boy that was baptized is nervous to pass the sacrament because he might trip and fall. I didn't realize how many young boys are scared of that. I can honestly say that that thought never even crossed my mind.

Amongst the joy, Satan has been working harder to get us down. I have been emotional lately, like a teenage girl. I lost my planner, and I love my planners cause they are a super cool record of my mission, and I love the covers I made for this transfer..... and then I lost it. I still can't find it, and I am trying not to think about it because it makes me angry. Oh well, get off my back Satan.

We went hiking last P-day. I have decided that I love hiking. I now realize that I did quite a bit of it when I was at college. There was one summer in our ward in Regency when we went every weekend. It makes me want to go camping. The sister's sleepover is coming up and I want to see if we can sleep on President's deck outside instead of inside. That would be awesome!

We are working hard. There is a large hispanic population here, and a really yummy mexican bakery right around the corner. Oh, my!!! I have learned the days in spanish because every day there is a different sale on their baked goods. 4 conchas for 75 cents!! (But only on "martes") Jueves has different goodies!

Time is up, but things are good, love you bunches!

Sister Meldrum

In another previous letter.....

FAMILY!!

Hello there everyone... one and all, small and whiney, short and fat, bald and tall, happy and grumpy, sneazy, sleepy, etc....

So, I pretty much LOVE MY LIFE! Seriously! Life as a missonary in Ogden is the BEST! One of my FAVORTIE parts of my mission is meeting people I know that I would have never meet otherwise, talking about things that I would have never brought up in other situations, and laughing along side all different shapes and sizes of the children of God. We were street contacting people a few days ago and we ran into Budah, and Floosie! Yes, in the FLESH! Are you wondering who these two people are? You mean you have not hear of them??? They are "Jesus rappers". Budah is a big black guy and Floosie is a white guy who was raised mormon. Well, we get talking to these two, and they are like "Yall work for Jesus? We sing for Jesus!" and proceeded to freestyle for us. then they burned us a CD of their latest, "One True King" (AKA- Jesus). Its pretty good. Nothing like I have ever heard... Its amazing. Needless to say that we are trying to keep the listening to a minimum on the mission, but our zone leader and district leader LOVED it and asked for copies... so I guess its all good right? :)

Dad, don't you fret about the homless... Smiley has the right motives. He KNOWS its true... the sad thing is, He walked away from his baptism. It's something he has been looking forward to for such a long time and then when the time came he just didnt know how to take that step... he got scared. We have been looking for him, but its hard to find a homeless man on the streets. I have learned so much from Smiley. He is one of my favorites. He has been through alot and relies on the Lord a lot.

I am also impressed with Elder Uctdorf's talk at conference. The Story about the "can food mormons", I tend to see that in Ogden. We have had several "Ogden" trainings that talk about welfare. And weather a persons motives are Celestial or not, the Brethren have instructed us that if someone wants to get baptized and are living the commandments in order to make these promises with God, to do so. Some bishops that I have worked with question our motives... if we are only out here to "get numbers" (luckily not here in Ogden, the know welfare inside and out, and what is approriate) but in the situations there have been questions if baptism is a right step for a person, esp where recent converts become less active almost immediatly after their baptism. but stop and think about this, BAPTISM IS RIGHT FOR EVERYONE! EVERYWHERE!!! The covenant of Baptism is so important, that the Brethren have told us to proceed; and the with the watchful eye of the church the chance they these children might be "found again" are higher. God watches out for his children, and blesses them continually for making that step. Life is a road- and we ALL need to take that first step.

Other good news! We are getting TWO new sisters! We have not gotten sisters for about 6 months!!!! One spanish sister (I mean she is white- but is speaking espanol) and an english sister. HOLLA! Sister Martin and I will be staying in O-town though. Pres. already told us even though we have 1/3 of the transfer left.

Ok, I am really signing off now...

I love you! have a GREAT AND AMAZING week!

Aloha Family!

I feel bad for complaining about my toe- It made me a little tense and stressed yes- but it is feeling much better. thanks for putting it up on the blog.. :) That will be fun to look through one day. Its going to be a nice little journal.

PS- what do you mean mom milking it for all its worth to wear sandals?? You know me a little too well.... :) I am starting to wear shoes again, for as long as I can before they hurt.

But really, how is it that you know EXACTLY what I need to hear each week??? Its like little spirit rebuking. I feel like the more I am on my mission, the more I realize how much more I have to learn, to change, and really apply the gospel principles to my life. There never is a destination point when you can say "I got it!" huh?

I realize I never really tell you much about the work, and that I just pop out names when they get baptized. Those are the elect ones, I need to talk about the work more I think. There are a lot of blessings we see. A lot of things to do. This week- our district leader challenged our district to get 100 unplanned contacts as a district in a day. That means 25 per companionship. Well our normal goal is 10- so 25 seemed like alot... and we were LITERALLY running around the town- stopping EVERYONE we see to talk about Jesus. And we made our goal!!! total was 102!! It was really exciting. It cheered up our spirits, and really brought in the spirit of missionary work. That is what I want everyday! As a result of the hard work, we set up a few new investigator lessons, and found a handful of potentials. :)

Love, Sister Meldrum

It's Tuesday!

It SNOWED!!!! in APRIL!!! I think I am going into shock. The funny thing is, I am wearing sandals!!! The one time I get to wear sandals, and it snows.

I didn't preface this very well. Let me start over.

My big toe was hurting... so I had Sister Sutter and her mom who happens to be a nurse look at it. Her opinion was that I had an ingrown toenail. Yeah, that is fun. So it was off to Odgen with another sister from the mission who thought she also had an ingrown toenail. Little did we know we would be going in for "wisdom teeth EXTRACTIONS on our feet!!! I had two ingrowns and now my foot wont stop bleeding. :(

The doctor said not to wear dress shoes. I looked at him for a while, and I must have given him a weird look because all I could do was think to myself, "What am I supposed to do now? wear tennis shoes????"

I called a member in the ward and she is lending me her "Sunday sandals". Here I am in borrowed shoes in the snow with a toe that wont stop bleeding!!!! BUT, I have a smiling face. Part of me feels that I am completely useless. I feel that the work is going on without me. I only have a short time left on this mission and I cannot afford to wast time sitting on my rump! send me to Ogden! Most of the people there don't have limbs! I will fit in just fine!

The area is slow, so pray, pray, pray for peoples hearts to be softened and things to pick up. I am getting restless.... I am praying for charity with the area. Is it bad to pray for finacial unrest to humble the saints???

There have been little miracles all along the way though. That is incredible to me. Random contacts that we made, member invited, or finding a new investigator. I know they are miracles and not me doing anything, but trusting in the Lord. It is a testimony to me of the power of prayer and power in the scriptures. When you don't want to do anything, and are so tired and want to give in, you can find strength in the message that we carry, and in the name that is our our tags. How grateful and i that this is not my work, but that we get the chance to participate and to help "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."

Thanks for praying for me... thanks for all you do! I really feel it's strength and know it has helped sustain and support me through hard times.

I love you guys!

Love,

Sister Meldrum

Family,

I had the opportunity to have Easter dinner with the Dave and Colleen Hunsaker. (my sister Tiffiny's in-laws) It was odd to see pictures of Tiff and Dave and kids on their wall. It would be fun if they were in my immediate area, but they are actually 2 areas away. Colleen said that she would take us to the temple on Tuesday. I told her that if she ever wanted to be a missionary that she could come out with us everyday!!! :)

I heard about Steve's man cave for General Conference. I laughed at the visual of him and Anastasia and Ereland. I wish I could still play the conference bingo games I remember playing as a kid. We made some for the kids we are teaching, hoping that their parents would let them watch conference.

I was able to go to conference!!! It was through miracle tickets we were able to attend the Sunday morning session. It was weird to cross the mission boundary and leave!!! YIKES!!! But we had permission. Next time I have the chance to go it will be my last General Conference before coming home, so I will be able to go with the mission. I will have been able to go to the conference center for each conference while on my mission. HOLLA!!! I love serving in Utah! Sunday morning was such a powerful session. There seemed to be so much testimony of our Savior. It brought a peach and comfort that I was particularly craving. There was so much I needed to hear and I am glad most of our investigators had the chance to listen to it.

Previously, we had been blessed with a lot of baptisms, but now we are in the finding stage.

On a side note, two of the investigators we are teaching decided to buy 50 chickens!!! We are helping them out, and finding others to help them with the up and coming hard work. We also helped a family move. I hate to admit it, but I am thankful for the work I had to do as a kid. It is helpful to know what to do, and just get in a do it without having to wait for someone to come and tell me what to do next.

We are staying really busy and teaching about 20 lessons a week. I continue to miss USU even though the family wards are good.

Things are going well. I love being a missionary! Love ya!

Sister Meldrum

It is SO much warmer outside of Logan!

Hello Family!

Easter? You mean there is a holiday coming up?!?! I lose track of those anymore these days. It is weird being in Syracuse. Families are everywhere! Huge houses! with Yards! and Children! and Old People! I am not at USU anymore!

I am still adjusting, and Syracuse is good, but USU campus was a totally different type of missionary work. I have no IDEA how to be effective now.

So the first day here we had a baptism. It is always fun to see those getting baptized and even though I didn't know the girl getting baptized this time, I am excited to keep teaching her and her mom. I have missed that part of teaching. Teaching families is after all what the gospel is all about.

There is a lot of work to do here. It is hard for me to see it sometimes because of all the baptisms, but we are in the "finding time". It is harder to get out unplanned contacts here too because there are not as many people on the streets as there are on a college campus. We really have to go out of our way to talk to people on the street. But with summer coming up there should be more people outside.

This new library has time limits, so my time is cut short, but I love you all, and I know that God is personally mindful of all of us. I started the Book of Mormon over again and there is such a power in that book. Please, Please never let your testimony of the Book of Mormon become static! In our complacency we will lose the value of the truth that we have! If you have not prayed about it recently, and asked God if it is true then do it! We continue to learn and grow as we do it again and again!

The Oven is on Fire Downstairs!

The day has come when I have to pack up and leave USU. It is absolutely heart breaking. I feel as if there is still so much that I can do here. I am leaving for Syracuse. President Olsen would like to make transfers a "non-event" and wants to keep people in their areas for up to 6 months.

I have been so blessed with wonderful areas so far on my mission that I am a little hesitant about Syracuse. Woods Cross is "Ghetto Fabulous" and USU has kept me on my toes with students everywhere. Syracuse, I anticipate is much slower paced with families in large wards and houses. With the students transferring in from the globe, I will miss the diversity, and the feeling that I am a teaching at the United Nations.

It has been interesting to see how things have changed on my mission. I have realized that I can be pretty ignorant. I thought a one point that I would be done "learning" after 6 months in the field, and could then just "teach" working in a missionary groove, but as I have prayed, and as I have talked to people about this new area I realize that more trials are yet to come. I wonder if I have experienced my hardest moments on my mission or if they are yet to come. These learning experiences are never over.

It is exhausting and pointless to trust only in yourself. We need the Lord. We cannot get though life without Him. How do we get this strength? Easy! He give it to us in blessings as we keep the commandments and follow His words as closely as we can. If life is tough, then it is time to buckle down even more. It is important to kick it up in gear and give more energy to being a disciple of Christ. Have more "mighty" prayers with God (Enos 1:4)! We can only receive blessings based on our ability to keep the commandments...(D&C 130:20-21). Diligence is working hard, giving it your all even when you are tired and all you can think of is going home to take a bubble bath. It is often only as we push that final extra mile, when we do as so many prophets have suggested to "forget about yourself and loose yourself in the work" that we see the blessings of heaven unfold before us.

I have been taught and learned these things before, but only at surface level. Now the Lord is teaching me at a deeper level. A level that will drastically effect my life, perspective and testimony.

Isaiah 64:8 ~"Thou art our father, we are the clay, and thou our potter, and we all are the work of thy hand."

I am in a time of molding and I just have to be malleable enough to allow him to work his magic. It is sometimes hard to be malleable. I am working at it though.....still in this "learning experience".

I am truly enjoying this experience, not just enduring it. I love my mission. I love the growth as difficult as it might be at times. Everyone should serve a mission! It changes lives!