The 'Blessing'

Hey y'all.

This week has been an interesting one.

First off, about a month ago we met this 27 year old girl named Katherine. She is heavily involved in the Methodist ministry on campus and LOVES Jesus Christ. Well, a couple weeks ago she invited us over for dinner with her and her ministry friends, of course we are expecting a big bible bash as we go inside, but we were pleasantly surprised when they just wanted to learn more about our church. Last week she called us up again and said that she wanted to "bless" us because she knows how draining it is being a missionary and she wants to give us a recharge. It sounded interesting (plus it gave us another chance to teach) so we accepted the invitation. We went over with a bunch of her friends, they prayed over us and they begun. Two twenty minute sessions. One for sister Foster & one for me. They basically just close their eyes and tell us what they're seeing and then they interpret it in a way that could maybe/possibly/ try to apply to our lives. They had a scribe writing it all down for us so don't worry, I have it all on paper! Basically it's like the Methodist version of a patriarchal blessing. It was a cool experience. And of course we were able to teach them and they want to come to church YAY!

We had a mission wide sisters conference this week which was definitely the highlight. There are 62 sisters in our mission and I love them all <3 We had a bunch of trainings given by the sister training leaders and Sister Bennion on our divine nature, and "straightening our crown." The BEST thing was our role plays though. ...I never thought I'd say that. Sister Kong and Barben showed us how exciting it is extending invitations, promising blessing, and following up.

"Sister Barben, will you come to Sisters P-Day with us as we hike Kennesaw Mountain at 12?"

"... Ummm I don't know. I have so much to do. Wash the car, clean the apartment, grocery shop, and email my family. I don't know if I'll have time."

"I can promise you that once you make it to the top of the mountain, you will be refreshed by that cool air and the view will be amazing."

"Well.. Umm.. I'll definitely try. I'll try to make it."

"Okay....OH! I forgot to tell you! Elder Holland.."

"Yeah??"

"Elder Holland. You're favorite Elder Holland is going to be there!!!!"

"WHAT?!"

"He'll be there at noon at kennesaw mountain! So will you come?!"

"YES YES YES."

"OH AND ANOTHER THING. HE IS GOING TO BE HANDING OUT ENVELOPES WITH OUR FUTURE HUSBANDS PICTURE INSIDE!!"

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"

"Yes!! SOOO.. Will. You. Come. On. Monday. At 12?!"

"YES! I'll be there!!"

We were laughing so hard all of us. We were crying and laughing and laughing and crying. Envelopes with our husbands pictures in them became our inside joke, But it was so wonderful. President Bennion gave us all roses at the end and we all had a good time and learned a lot.

Ever since Sister Foster has been here she's had this really bad cough. Everyone just thought it was allergies. We called the mission nurse a bunch of times and she would just tell us to get some cough drops and Claritin. Well the cough had just been getting worse so we just decided we would go into urgent care. Turns out she has had Bronchitis this whole time! Poor thing. She's a trooper though. Her cough won't stop her from working her hardest.

Anyway, we have had some solid lessons this week with some great new people! We have been biking lots thanks to a deal we have with an investigator... We will bike 10 miles a day if he'll read the Book of Mormon 10 minutes a day. So far we have kept our end of the promise..we'll see if he has kept his this week. That's about all that's new here.

Love y'all!

Love, Sister Merritt