Puppies, Cook Outz, & Farragut Living

Today at 11:29 AM

Hey Hey!!


So this week was pretty fun! We spent a lot of time in the "ghetto" part of our area. There are a few trailers but mostly just nice country homes. We went tracting and I got a farmer's tan line sun burn :( And we didn't really have any success... But hey it was fun meeting all the random people in the hills! We decided to go a former investigator's home what was up in that area--they got baptized but didn't come to church the following day to get confirmed. Interesting right? Well we met them! The cox family! They had the CUTEST puppies! Their dog had 12 of them but they had given the majority of them away. The cutest one is a black runt and they call him Lil' Bit. We have an appointment with them and their family for Tuesday. It's going to be great! Also there's tonz of tickz up by their house so that will be great dodging those.

We had a cookout and roasted weenies.. yes weenies, with a bunch of families in the ward. Some non members showed up towards the end and it ended up being missionary-productive. It was a really good time!

The ward had an Easter egg hunt on Saturday and our investigator Tonya came with her grandkids. They had a great time and so did we.

Farragut is a fun and classy place.

You homiez R gr8. Keep in touch. Don't change. HAGS

LOVE Y'ALL

 

 

I am Sister Animal

Apr 7 at 11:23 AM

Heyyyyyyyyyyo.

So it's me the missionary. I'm still here in Farragut, Tennessee for those of you who have forgotten.

This week was pretty eventful! On Monday we had FHE with Tonya and her grandkids at the Lee's home! The kids were super hyper so we taught a brief lesson on faith, invited Tonya to come to conference, and enjoyed some delicious poppy seed lemon cake.

My first day in Farragut we had taught this lady, Denise, the restoration. It was super rocky. Denise had the missionaries over a few times over before I had gotten there and they had talked about what they do as missionaries and feelings the spirit and stuff. This week we went back and brought the restoration dvd and a member and it went really well! We talked about having real intent and finding truth! It was a great lesson and the member did an awesome job testifying!

We brought a young girl out with us this week because she was having a hard time. We got there and our appointment told us straight up she didn't want us to be Mormon so we left and went to get frozen yogurt and talk about a cool conference talk. There we met Cortney, the frozen yogurt guy! He's awesome and he was super excited to learn what we have to share! We told him to meet us at a park down the street and we taught him the restoration! It was awesome and the spirit was so strong! He is seriously so ready and willing to find truth!

Conference was so awesome! We got to watch a session at President Irion's house (we took a selfie for kicks and giggles. I love that man. Also my hair isn't that short it was just going crazy don't freak out) and that is where I got some seriously kicks in the pants from Elder Holland. His talks always make me want to be better I loved it.

 For all of the other sessions we chilled at the church, my butt was numb from sitting in the pews that long (too much info? sorry). None of the investigators came to the sessions that we had planned them to come for, we were bummed until the last session! TONYA, CORTNEY, and STEPHEN (gas station guy that we the assistants to the president were supposed to take from us but haven't really done anything about him but he is in love with my comp so it's awk) ALL CAME! Isn't that awesome? They got to hear from the prophets themselves and feel the spirit that their words can powerfully convey! Cortney was super pumped about the session and Tonya enjoyed herself. Stephen said he didn't really learn anything (debbie downer) but hey 2/3 not bad right?

I love being in Farragut because we find humility in the most unlikely places. People are ready to take full advantage of what God has to offer them! I hope everyone enjoyed conference!

Oh yes, I almost forgot. I've also been given the nickname "Sister Animal" by the Morrison family because I taught some young boys how to play chubby champions. For those of you in the dark that's when you get pillows and ram each other. One time I rammed Ethan (he's like 7) and he flew backwards and ran into their huge dog and did the worm in the air. It was hilarious and he thought it was awesome. I love them.

Sister Andrea Kate Merrell

 

 

PS we thought this was pretty place to take a pic and as we were walking up some people across the street yelled at us that it was a bad idea. Then we realized there was the terrifying goose nesting on it's eggs. It was glaring at us and was definitely ready to attack!

I'm Farragut Classy!!!

A picture of me with my new comp and my old district leader Elder Big Baby Brown.

 

Hello EVERYONE!

I've been transferred to FARRAGUT, TENNESSEE WHERE THE STREETS ARE PAVED WITH GOLD. But seriously this is the classiest place in the mission. Everyone is a multimillionaire and they all shop at j crew so I totally fit in. Guess who my companion is! SISTER HAMILTON. My friend from the MTC!! Yayayayayayayayayyayayayayaya WE B HAVIN FUN.

So since I live in Beverly Hills, Tennessee, It's super hard to find people so we have to be almost completely dependent on the members. AHHHHHHHHHH. So they invite people to their homes and we have family home evening and stuff. So it's tight. We spend a lot of time with members so we can talk to them about the people we want us to teach.

My last few days in Oak Ridge were kind of hard because I didn't want to say goodbye! Maxine was really sad to see me go and so was Catherine (she cried when she found out about me getting transferred). BUT WE'RE ALL OKAY BECAUSE WE'RE MORMON FRIENDS FOR ETERNITY. Maxine we will just have to baptize by proxy if you know what I mean... I am seriously so in love with Oak Ridge and I am so blessed to have been able to serve there for 6 whole months! But I had to leave sometime, so I left. Farragut is going to be what I make of it. So obviously it's going to be awesome! I already have some fun friends in the young women. Also Brother Pesci in our ward (the funniest man on earth) knows Uncle Rob. So basically it's like I'm in Utah because the people here know my family and the ward is jammed packed full of humanz.

I really miss seeing roadkill every where. Roadkill=home. But we have seen some roadkill here and that has made me super happy.

 

 

There are some beautiful churches here in Farragut, so here is a pic of me by a classy catholic church in the rain.

 

 

I gotta go though! LOVE YOU GUYZZZ

Ba donka doink!

Today at 10:03 AM

HI Y'ALL!!
So this week was pretty great!

We had a fun adventure with a huge dog the size of a horse! We were trying to get past the dog and the huge gate to get to this person's house to meet them because they are on the ward roster and we didn't know who they are. So we got some dog treats and were going to make a break for it but the dog was too scary so we just fed him the treats and left. But hey the neighbor that was outside watching us is a new investigator!

Dylan and Adrian got BAPTIZED! IT was awesome. Adrian went first and he locked his knees so he went backwards like a plank. Then he GENTLY bonked his head on the wall (Ba donka doink!) and then went underwater first try! Yeehaw! Dylan went next and was advised to bend his knees. So that went a little bit more smoothly. It was great!

I also found out that I am getting transferred! The conference call was on Saturday, and that's when they list who is getting transferred, is becoming a district leader, zone leader, sister training leader, training, blah blah blah. Anyways I know I'm leaving but I don't know where I'm going! It's going to be sad leaving Oak Ridge but hey it had to end at some point right??

I saw President Irion at stake conference and I asked him where I'm going and he just laughed at me. This waiting game is TORTURE!!! Hahahaha oh well I love my life.

I forgot my camera so I will attach some cute baptism pics next week!

Love you guyz thx 4 da luv!

Easy Cheese, Pie and Cancelled Appointments are no Coincidence!

Today at 9:36 AM

Hi guyz,

This week has been a lil' bit on the crazy side.

First off, at district meeting on Thursday I was minding my own business and spraying easy cheese all over Sister Schwab's hand. Then I urged and inspired her to shake hands with Elder Williams. He decided it was my fault due to my role as motivator... so he wiped easy cheese on my face. I'm okay, we're all okay.

Well then last night Sister Gotchy was sneaking pie out of the fridge and Maxine walked in and scared her so she dropped the entire pie on the floor. Maxine was laughing so hard she nearly wet herself. I took this opportunity to smash pie in Gotchy's face. Muahahahahaha. She then chased me around for a second and we quickly realized it was time for bed. So there we went obviously, because we're Preach My Gospel Missionaries. The end.

Okay so I actually do missionary work on this mission too. Kewl stuff happens all the time. The other night we out riding out bikes to our appointments and all of them had forgotten we were coming and weren't home or didn't answer the door. FANCY THAT!? So we decide to stop at the assisted living center to see Diana since we were nearby. Diana's friend April had felt the overwhelming urge to go visit Diana. She showed up mid lesson and we all read Alma 32 together. April had some serious questions of the soul and we were able to answer a few of them. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she left knowing why she had felt super inspired to go see Diana. Holy cow right?... She doesn't live in our area though and wouldn't give us her address because she's baptist. Dang, at least she has a Book of Mormon!

I had to give a talk in Sacrament meeting yesterday. It wasn't anything great, mainly because I wrote a 15 minute talk and realized they told me to only speak for 5 minutes when I was up on the stand. It ended up being pretty choppy. Oh well. We're all okay.

Well I'm going to get my hair cut today, so I'll probably buzz my head. Email me back if you object. LOVE Y'ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2 Blessed 2 B Stressed! 2 Blessed 2 B Depressed!

Humanz, Hello.

It is me. And I am myself.
This week has had many interesting highlights, such as:
-Elder Brown made me eat a rotten cheese flavored jelly bean and I gagged and nearly died

-I stared at an ant farm that was declining in population for a really long time to help me learn how to talk to people about coping with death
-We joined a blue grass band at a member's house and sang weird Tennessee songs, I don't even remember what my instrument was called but it was like a weirdly tuned guitar.
-We found the grave of Mr. Hendrix in some person's yard (the street leading to our house is called Hendrix Drive)
Super great right?
Well my beloved grumpy funny crazy weird cool district leader actually asked me to give the training at district meeting this week, so I kindly said I would. I trained on Bearing Testimony Frequently in Chapter 11 of Preach My Gospel. My goal was to help give some people in our district some self-confidence. I really liked this fragment of scripture:

"and the weakness of their words will I make strong in their faith" -2 Nephi 3:21

When we have strong faith, the spirit can help the things that we say speak to the people that we are teaching. This is why missionary work even is effective because we don't understand everything these people are going through; but, the Lord does! My training went well and I'm glad I got to do it because it was fun to prepare.

The baptism is creeping up on us, and we are getting more and more excited! So are Adrian and Dylan! We practiced the baptismal interview questions last night and they are ready! Lot's of people think rushing baptism is the most important thing to do in missionary work. It's true that there is a sense of urgency to enter in the gate BUT lasting conversion takes time.
Anyways, that's all I got for now.... in the words of Ronnie... the black man with white hair and a purple sweater who we met at the library:
Rock 'em Sock em' Shake 'em Bake 'em Slammin' Jammin' OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER SERVICE DAY!!! 2 BLESSED 2 B STRESSED!!!! 2 BLESSED 2 B DEPRESSED!!!

Love,

Me

Old Humanz Rule

ALOHA!! It's 90 degrees and we're all wearing shorts and flip flops... And I'm also lying.

It's raining, and I'm wearing leopard rain-boots. Oh crap I just looked out the window and it's snowing.

This week was a very difficult and miraculous week #transferofmiracles I went on an exchange with Sister Hatch and Sister Schwab. It was so amazing and fun. We talked a lot about everything going on and it was super awesome. We also ate dinner with Billy and Kandace and yes they do think Nascar is a sport which is a serious tragedy if you ask me. But we still think they're cool.

Yesterday was testimony meeting and my favorite little old man Brother Blaylock got up and basically announced to the ward that I will probably be transferred at the next transfer (March 26). That's definitely an educated speculation if you ask me! But anyways he said, "Sister Merrell will always be OUR Sister Merrell because we got to pick her up on her very first day." That really made me feel loved and may have brought on a tear or two. Then the spirit dragged me up there and I bore my testimony too. Everyone in the ward has been saying bye to me since then and it's super weird. Longest drawn out goodbye ever! And if I don't get transferred it's going to be even more weird hahaha. We'll see.

We finally got to see our friend Bill because we caught him at a time where he is awake! He sleeps all day so we've found that 8 o'clock is prime time for him! He is so sweet genuine. He really misses his wife who passed away about a year or so ago. He told us that he can't read so we tell him stories from the Book of Mormon and discuss it with him. He gave us cherry powerade last time we were there. I love him so much. I never thought I'd be able to love old people after working at a rest home when I was 14 (the old people called me "little boy" and I was forever scarred). But look at me now! I LOVE OLD HUMANZ!

I'm doing the training at district meeting this week because my DL asked me to, so I'll let you know how that goes!

Okay one more thing. When you respond to a handwritten letter with an email it's like texting someone after they've called you. Just letting everyone know it's a social faux pas.

LOVE YOU HUMANZZZZZZZ!!

Love,


Sister Andrea Kate Merrell 21983473948572189743891723 numberz r fun.