6/22/2015

Friends and Family;

Just passing on the joy Meagan has found in missionary work!  Can't you just feel her excitement and love of the people she is serving  and serving with and her love of the gospel.

1.Bro Byrne(member), Joseph, me, and sister Duersch

2. Sis D, Joseph and I

3. E. Bishop, sis Jackson and I at the baptism

So how was your week? My week was FABULOUS!! One of the best weeks ever on my mission!

What was the most wonderful thing that happened? Joseph Rendon was baptized this last WEEK!!! Wahooo!! We were able to get permission from President Walkenhorst for Joseph to be baptized and he was! It was a miracle and it was amazing! He was so happy and so excited :} we asked him how he felt after the baptism and in his words he said, “I feel peaceful, happy, joyous, and at home.” It was the sweetest thing ever!!!

Could you share some experiences with tender mercies from the Lord? Joseph being baptized! And Summer Wysong is getting baptized on Thursday, June 25^th and Paula Phipps is getting baptized on Friday, June 26^th. Noble is full of miracles and tender mercies!! It is amazing!!

This is Baptism week for Joseph and Summer, right?  Are summer’s parents still doing ok?  Joseph was baptized this week and summer and Paula are getting baptized this week :}

Does Bro Jackson go to church with his wonderful wife & kids?  Sometimes. But they haven’t come in a while because they are taking care of Bro Jackson’s 3 other kids and they aren’t allowed to go to church with sis Jackson… so sad :{

This week I wanted to share........ that Joseph got baptized!! It was the best day :} I want to feel like that all the time now :} 

This week I laughed out loud when..... We got our transfer doctrine (info about who is getting transferred and who is staying) yesterday and we found out that sis Duersch and I are staying together in Noble, and that our elders are staying the same as well haha!!! That means that we have all been together for 3 transfers now :} craziness!!

This week my joy was full when..... We had a fabulous lesson with Paula and she shared how she came to know that she needed to be baptized. Sis Duersch and I went on splits yesterday after church because we had 2 lessons and we couldn’t both be in one and not the other. So sis Duersch went with a member to a lesson with Summer Wysong and I went with Pam, a less active, to talk with Paula. As we were talking I asked her how she came to know that baptism was right. Her answer was so amazing! She said, “I prayed last night like I promised you sisters and elder bishop I would, about if I should be baptized on Saturday, June 27^th or not. And I didn’t get an answer, so I went to bed. I woke up at 5am with this peaceful feeling. I prayed again to make sure that I was feeling the right things and sure enough, when I thought about being baptized into this church, I felt peace and joy. So I knew that I had waited long enough for this answer.” She was just so sweet and she apologized for being so stubborn and making us wait 9 months before she realized the importance of baptism. I told her that she didn’t waste our time at all and that we loved coming over and watching her grow one step at a time :} there have just been so many miracles down here in Noble and I am so glad I am staying for another 6 weeks :}

I saw a change in....Every one of our investigators.... when....... they have taken the next steps in progressing towards baptism :} it is just the coolest thing! It is moments like this when you realize how amazing a mission is :]

Did you teach at zone meeting recently and what about? We haven’t taught anything recently but we will in a few weeks :}

I have 3 new shirts to send to "add a little variety to you wardrobe"  so how long will you be in Noble for sure...or when is the next transfer date? I will be in Noble until Aug 6^th :} at least that is the next transfer haha

Thank you sooooooo much for all your prayers. They have been answered and I am truly grateful for you. Thank you for making my mission the best 18 months for my life!! I love you!!

6/8/2015

What is your favorite thing about Oklahoma? The food ;} jokes haha it is definitely the people here ;} especially the members and our investigators. They are all just so nice and sweet and really care about us. They feed us almost as often as the members do haha ;]

What is your favorite thing about your companions? She is very open with communicating. She also loves what she is doing (being here on her mission) and is such a good teacher!

what would she say is her favorite thing about you? She loves how much I care about those I serve around. And how much I serve others, even when I am tired.

Have you had some interesting exchanges this transfer or have they all been pretty straightforward? Well, I went on exchanges with a sister who goes home in 8 weeks and has lost motivation and focus. She is constantly talking about home and is making everyone around her homesick. So I went in and rebuked her for doing such things! But in a nice way. It was just really awkward cuz she did it around me to and it was really hard to stay focused. So we helped her realize that she needs to change to help out the people she is serving around.

What brought you Joy this week?  We set a baptismal date with Joseph yesterday for June 21^st, as well as with a new investigator named Summer Wysong for June 25^th. She is 8 years old but her parents are not members. Sis Duersch and I are soooooo excited!!

What made you smile? P-day!!!

What filled you heart with laughter? We have this zone leader named Elder Ott, and he sends us #ElderOttFactOfTheDay such as: elder Ott won a gold metal… he was so excited he decided to get it bronzed; Elder Ott decided to conquer his fear of riding a horse, he got so scared the manager of Wal-Mart had to pull the plug and help him off. There are so many others but they just catch you off guard everyday haha :}

6/1/2015

Oh i am sick of all of my clothes now ;} so sending some new stuff would be FABULOUS! :} I just need some kind of change so that i can look in my closet and go "OH something new to wear" cuz i have been wearing the same clothes for a year now ;p haha

Sad that Mads isn't feeling up to par :{ but hopefully the Chiropractor will help out a little bit haha

Plans for today are to go shopping for food ;] then play sports, practice a musical # for Zone Conference this coming thursday, and then eat dinner at a restaurant called the O'Connells Irish Pub and Diner haha :} sis Duersch picked it do to the fact that it says the word 'Irish' and 'Pub' in it haha.... so we will see how that goes ... going with the elders and a ward member.

OH and Mads did not send me a pic of her quilt but she said that she finished it and that she also has 3 jobs right now.... what the freak!

So i forgot where the email was again... so here are the answers to your questions  haha

So what have you learned so far in your mission that you either didn't know before or didn't understand? I didn’t fully understand what the Atonement of Christ was or how it could really help me. Before I came out on my mission, I thought the Atonement was just for hard core sinners, not for 9.5pt sins like mine. But being out here, I have come to know that the Atonement helps us in ALL aspects of life, not just to forgive us and wash our sins away, but to become perfect like Christ. It gives us the strength we need everyday to stand up for what we believe, to help us just get through the day even. I am so grateful for that knowledge and I wish I could have understood that before I came out here, so I would have felt closer to my Savior from the start ;]

What is your biggest challenge? My biggest challenge is not understanding why people make empty promises. We have asked so many people to follow Jesus Christ and be baptized, but they all commit and then fall through and it never happens.

do you need coloring books for the tornado shelters while waiting out the storm? Always haha :}

where did you find the joy this week?  and share the story behind it, k? I found joy in talking to this family (the durens). They are the sweetest family and I love them to death! They are the best! We had a lesson with them about the Doctrine of Christ and how important it is to live those principles (Faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the holy ghost and enduring to the end). It was just an amazing experience! Then brother Dennis Duren (the dad) made sis duersch and I rings to remember them by ;} it was so sweet!!! I just love going over there! Plus Stephanie Norris was over there as well(she is their daughter) and we talked with her as well :} it was just so fun!

do they have Zaxby's restaurants in OK?  They are putting them in around here and I heard they are from the south. I have never heard of that restaurant here… I wonder if it will get here soon ;}

Sorry for the short email, I was just told we needed to be somewhere in like 5 mins so… awkward.

But I love you and miss you!! Keep on Keeping on :}

Love Meagan

May 26th, 2015

1. a less active's backyard during a thunderstorm (pam) ;}

 2. me and sis duersch! 

I can't remember if i sent y'all some pics from tornado clean up.. so here are some ;} 

3. us sisters pushing out a truck that got stuck in the mud ;

4. part of the clean up

5. Me & sis D

6. what it looked like out in Bridge Creek Oklahoma

7.  me acting silly in front of the pile of branches

How is the weather?  we have heard about a lot of rain and flooding and I'm just checking to see that you are safe! I am safe ;} the weather has been crazy and cold but if you stay inside, you are safe haha :}  ya... it was finally sunny today... for about 2 hrs....it is supposed to rain for the next 8 days... so hopefully the roads can handle it haha  

have you had to help with a lot of cleanup?  rain or tornado?  and at least curly hair works in the rain, right! awe thanks mama ;} and we have helped a lot with clean ups with mostly tornadoes but most of the roads in Noble are out so it is really hard to go and visit people when there are no roads to drive on haha

so how was your week? This week was pretty crazy! Sis duersch and I had meetings Monday night, most of Tuesday, and all of Wednesday… so we didn’t get to do a lot of missionary work until Thursday haha but other than that it was fabulous! Thank you mama for the hug that sister Jackson gave me:} it was much needed 

After the last transfer are the sisters in your zone getting along better?  were there any changes there? Most of the sisters in our zone were changed, so no real drama yet. And we would like to keep it that way haha

Do you still meet with the Borchers’ family or has that moved on to home and visiting teachers and ward mission leaders? We still meet with them every Monday and Thursday night ;} we are trying to get them some visiting and home teachers but we will continue to visit them because we have to teach/review all of the missionary lessons again

Who are you working with now that needs our prayers?  We are still working with Paula and Joseph, and also Stephanie and her mama Rosetta Duren, but we have some new investigators as well: Caitlin Duren, Chad Jackson (sis jackson’s hubby) and Chads oldest son Dylan ;} we taught all of them the restoration this past Sunday and they all loved it! Especially Dylan and Caitlin :] it was so good!!

What was the most wonderful thing that happened this week?  Teaching the restoration :} I love teaching and I love watching the light bulb go off in someone’s eyes as the spirit touches them and

do you every have to fix dinner at home or are you always fed by members? Sometimes we fix dinner at home but usually members feed us. And like this week church was canceled do to flooding and the Red Cross was using our building for there base so people who were out of their home because of flooding had a place to go ;} so our dinner calendar didn’t get passed around. So, I was put in charge of asking members of the ward if they would feed us. Our ward is so nice and helpful that the 1^st 7 people I asked were ready and willing to feed us :} they are awesome here!

What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Um… either cereal or bagel with cream cheese :}

do you ever get to ride your bike in this area? We can if we want to or need to, but sis duersch doesn’t really like to so we don’t. But if we were running low on miles then yes we would bike more ;}

it sounds like your spirits are still high!  keep it up and we will, of course, keep praying for you and your whole mission!  be safe  awe thanks mama ;} you really are the BEST! gotta go!

5/18/2015

1. us and the Borchers after the baptism

2. us and Hayden :}

3. us and Hayden again :]

What was the most difficult thing this week? Probably planning Hayden Hoops baptism. It was so stressful mostly cuz sis duersch and I had never really planned a baptism that went through before so it was a new experience for the both of us :]

What was the most amazing thing this week? HAYDEN HOOPS BAPTISM!!

What was the funniest moment? Hayden’s baptism. So we printed out the program on Tuesday and the baptism was Thursday. So after we did the program, people started to tell us that they weren't going to make it or they couldn't lead the music, play the piano or other parts of the program… but we didn't have time to fix the program so we left it the way it was haha. Then we got there 2 hours early to fill the font while sis duersch practiced playing the piano just in case she needed to step in.  About an hour later (around 6:15) we (us and our elders) realized that the font was at the same level it was about 1 hour previous! So sis duersch and I start to panic! Then Elder Johnson (our new district leader) put the water on full blast and just let it run. It started filling up faster, but the water was cold.  So while that was filling up, the borchers/hoops family showed up to get ready at 6:30ish. So Lynne(the dad who was performing the baptism) went to get the jumpsuits out of the closet… about 3 mins later he comes back with only one. “do you know if they have an XXL somewhere around here sisters?” Lynne asked. Sis duersch and I just looked at each other and both were like “ah FREAK no!” so we run over to where the jump suits are and sure enough, they are all WAY too small. So we start calling around trying to find who has it and apparently 2 days previous, there was a baptism and the guy used the XXL and didn't wash it… so Lynne was out a suit. So with about 10 mins before the baptism was supposed to start, Lynne walks over to Elder Burt and says “Brother, you are gonna baptize my son. Now get in there and change.” So elder Burt goes in and changes as fast as humanly possible and then the baptism starts. But we (sis duersch and i) felt so bad that Lynne couldn't do the baptism so we asked if he would want to be a witness instead and he agreed to that. Then they went so fast through the program that when it got to me and sis duersch and out talk on “baptism” sis duersch had to run and get some of our props while I stalled for time. Then we gave our talk and quickly ran to the back to make sure that there was enough water for Hayden to be baptized in. then when elder Burt was dunking Hayden, Haydens head was going straight for the wall so elder burt moved him just enough that he missed. OH man it was so close!  Then we had a talk on the Holy Ghost given by a member (sis Ault) and then the confirmation by Bro Byrne. After that we had the bishop give a few words and when I say a few it was like 20 mins…. Then we had Cookies (that sis duersch and I made last minute that morning) and then we took pics ;}… OH man during the whole thing it was not funny, but looking back, it was freakin’ hilarious! Haha ;]

When was the Spirit felt the strongest?  Was definitely while Hayden was getting confirmed. It was just amazing how the spirit was so strong and you could tell that Hayden felt it which is all a missionary could ever ask for.

Have you had a chance to talk in church?  or bear your testimony? Nope I have not. At least not here haha I did in Lawton, but that was 3 ½ months ago.

Your favorite teaching moment was when.... When we taught Rosetta Duren the Restoration (She is Stephanie’s mama). She was so overwhelmed. Unfortunately she is just as stubborn as Stephanie so it will take some time for her to be converted and to gain a testimony, but the spirit is working on her :}

What happened this week that made to so excited to share it with your Mama that you almost couldn't wait til Monday? HAYDENS BAPTISM!! It was such an amazing experience ;}

UPDATE: So Meagan is staying in Noble, OK for this next transfer.  I love it because when I asked her about all the tornadoes in the area she said they get the call and go to the shelter, but Noble has lots of hills around so the tornadoes tend to disperse in her area.  Yay!  The Lord watches over and protects and answers prayers of nervous Mamas.  

5/4/2015

1. Sister Duersch and i with crazy noses

2. Sister Duersch and i taking #selfies ;}

3. Sister Duersch pretending to kiss a frog she found

so tell me sweetheart, when are transfers? I'm sending a package and don't want you to miss it :)  Transfers are May 13^th ;]

How did your week go? We had to go on 3 exchanges this week. 1 was actually scheduled and the other two were emergency exchanges. So sister duersch and I have seen like 2 ½ days of each other. It is crazy!! Plus it was really hard to plan for the day when you then would be in a different area and your comp was gonna do everything you had planned for. It was just really weird.

Are you usually the one who goes on the exchange and your comp stays for the exchange or do  you swap that around too? usually we swap back and forth on who will stay and who will go. but lately i have been the one staying and sis duersch has left... so next transfer it will probably swap haha

did you have to teach at a zone meeting? Not until next transfer, and even then it is up to the Zone Leaders whether they want us to train or not :}

how are the sisters in your zone doing?  is there love there?  They have been getting along a little better, but there is still some tension and it is messing with everybody’s moods. So a lot of us are easily upset over little things now and I am scared that soon, it will get worse. But for now we are managing it the best we can.

What are your greatest strengths now as a missionary?  Have you gained new ones? My greatest strength right now is the ability to understand others. To understand their side of the discussion and then figure out and teach to their needs. That is something that I have learned while on my mission cuz I definitely didn't have that back home ;] haha

What is the hardest part of being a missionary or an STL? Hmm.. that is hard. It depends on the day I think. But probably staying positive when everything goes kaput. (I don’t think that word is spelled right but the auto correct didn't say it was wrong haha) also it is hard some times to keep calm and stay strong while someone is bashing on what you believe.

What is the best part? The best part would have to be watching someone around you (even you) change because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Atonement.

What have you learned so far that will help you the rest of your life and can you teach me too? I have learned that you cant just have a testimony of the gospel but you need to be converted to the gospel. There are so many people out here who know that the book of Mormon is true, but they aren't willing to change or to come closer to Jesus Christ through the covenant of baptism. So as a go through the rest of my mission and then the rest of my life, I want to be continually converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ ;}

is it weird that this will be my last phone call home? the next one will be me getting off the airplane haha

i gotta go mama, but i love you and will see you on Sunday :]

4/27/2015

How are things going with the sisters in your area?  is there love yet? or a least a healthy like? So, this week has been really weird. We had a sister go home do to a medical emergency so we got a new sister this last week :} Love isn’t flowing yet, but there is liking :] which is a start haha

When were you the happiest and why? We met a former investigator this week (her name is Eliana Britton) and she is such a cutie! She shared an amazing experience with us about how she has been praying to find guidance in her life and didn’t know where to turn and then…. We knocked on her door ;} it was amazing!!!

When did you feel the strength of the Lord guiding you?  see above answer, hehe

What is your favorite lesson to teach?  and do you have a favorite scripture that you like to share when you first meet people?  My favorite lesson to teach is the Plan of Salvation ;] and I love way to many scriptures to choose just one :} hehe I honestly can’t think of a scripture I share often other than Gal 5:22-23 which talks about the spirit and how we know that the spirit is talking to us ;}

How was the Frisbee golf game last p-day?  did you kick? It was amazing!! And yes, we kicked butt :} brother Hoffman is a Pro Disc Golfer and we were on the same team.. and he doesn't like to loose so we went all out haha

How are you and Sis D doing with the stress of STL assignment?  are you both STL?  I ask because when you are on an exchange, so is she right? Yes we are both STLs ;} stress is still there and it is getting to sis duersch a lot faster than it is getting to me. But when my comp is stressed out of her mind, she tends to take it out on either the Elders or Me. And it has been me recently. I am trying to be patient but sometimes I just want to lock her in a room and let her settle down. :] its great fun down here in Noble Oklahoma

 How does that work with the miles on your car?  do you walk or haul you bike to each area? We budget out our miles and I am a crazy budgeter cuz I would rather have extra miles at the end of the month to blow going and seeing people WAY out there in our area or helping sisters than be scrounging around for miles. So right now we have like 300 miles for the next 4 days and sis duersch is mad cuz we have so many miles. I don’t get it but what ev’s.

Any way, I love y’all and appreciate all the prayers that are being sent my way. Thank you for everything!!

Love Sis B :} hehe that’s me!