Playing In The Mud

This week has been nothing short of an adventure. It all started with Tuesday, we were out knocking doors and decided to move to a different street part way through. We pulled over to a grassy area and parked... Whoops. We thought we were in the clear because it hadn't rained in a couple hours, but we were unfortunately very, very mistaken. We tried to get out, switching between drive and reverse, wheels spinning sinking us deeper and deeper into the mud. Finally we took the keys out of the ignition and did what we should have done very first. We prayed, pleading for help harder than ever. We had no idea what to do, and we begged Heavenly Father for a way to get out, however that may be. The first impression was to call the vehicle coordinator, Elder Colvin. We told him about our situation and he suggested calling members of our ward who had trucks and asking them to come pull us out. Just after he suggested that the call died and we were out of cell service.

Just imagine me, in my rain boots, wandering around this neighborhood in the woods with my arm up in the air trying desperately to find some amount of cell service to make a call to get out of the mud. It was just as ridiculous as it sounds.

Soon enough though, an old lady pulled up and asked if we needed help, we told her we were stuck in the mud and has no way of getting out. She thought for a second and told us that she would send someone shortly. So we waited... still trying desperately to make calls. Within 10 minutes a man pulled up in a truck and hooked our car to his truck. He gave me simple instructions to put the car in neutral and attempt to guide the car as he pulled it out.

What a RIDE! He pulled and pulled and dragged me out of the ditch. I was flying around like a rag doll but finally our car splattered and wheels coated with mud, we were free!

I have no idea who those people were, but I am forever in their debt, I couldn't even call a tow truck! God answers prayers, I know that. He will never leave us hanging for too long. I know He loves us.

As for news of this week, I got two phone calls from President Blatter this week: The first one came on transfer call day. Which is always scary, you never know what will happen when he calls! He told us that we will be staying together in Shelton for another transfer. So I'll be in Shelton for 6 months and by the time I leave everyone will know me REALLY well. 

The second call came as we were knocking doors on Sunday night, which worried me even more, had he changed our call? But not so! President was calling to let me know something that happened in my family yesterday. Apparently my daddy was called as Stake President, so that was exciting! You literally never know what will change at home, but at least we know it will all work out in the end!

All my love,

Sister Megan Monson

The Lord is My Light

A little bit of sunshine

Yesterday an incredible thing happened! For five months I have been knocking on doors in the dark, from 5-7. Knocking doors isn't so bad in the light, but when the sun starts setting, the people start going to bed, even if it is only 5 PM.

All through my knocking sessions I would change the words to "Lead Kindly Light" to fit my situation.

Lead, kindly Light, amid th'encircling gloom;
Lead thou me on!
It's always dark, and I'm so far from home;
Lead thou me on!
Keep thou my boots; I do not ask to see (but maybe a little!)
The distant streets--one door enough for me.

Five months of having to wear a reflector belt and carry a flashlight to see past the end of my nose, I have been waiting for the sun to stop setting before seven for so long!

And yesterday was daylight savings, a day that I typically dread, but this year it was a day I was counting down to. The day that Light stayed all of 5-7s! And what a glorious thing it is to be able to see without the aid of flashlights for the entirety of our knocking!

I love the song, "The Lord is my Light"

1. The Lord is my light; then why should I fear?
By day and by night his presence is near.
He is my salvation from sorrow and sin;
This blessed assurance the Spirit doth bring.
(Chorus)
The Lord is my light;
He is my joy and my song.
By day and by night he leads,
He leads me along.
2. The Lord is my light; tho clouds may arise,
Faith, stronger than sight, looks up thru the skies
Where Jesus forever in glory doth reign.
Then how can I ever in darkness remain?
3. The Lord is my light; the Lord is my strength.
I know in his might I'll conquer at length.
My weakness in mercy he covers with pow'r,
And, walking by faith, I am blest ev'ry hour.
4. The Lord is my light, my all and in all.
There is in his sight no darkness at all.
He is my Redeemer, my Savior, and King.
With Saints and with angels his praises I'll sing.

Why did I choose to knock on doors in the pitch black every day of my life? Why did I choose to go visit strangers even when I knew that they would yell at me?

Because I LOVE my Savior, and I know that those people who did not want me on their doorstep need Him. There are not words to describe the love I have for the people behind those doors.

I am so grateful that we will finally be knocking on people's doors at a time when people don't mind as much!

All my love, 

Sister Megan Monson

red velvet cupcake

absolutely delicious

rain and wet but still smiles

gloomy morning

art

clear sky and moon

RAIN

signs of spring

MORE RAIN

Molly the Mormon

This week a miracle happened. Six weeks ago, I met Molly. Molly didn't know for sure if God was real, she had questions but didn't really expect her answers to come from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I remember at our first meeting she told me that she didn't understand why we have to obey a lot of the "rules." She told me, "I don't understand why it is wrong, but maybe... If I understood it... I'd want to live it."

As we taught her the lessons Molly genuinely changed. By the end of our third lesson with her she was extending commitments to herself. We sat down to teach a commandment and she told us that after she had read The Book of Mormon she couldn't go back to the things she had been doing. So we basically handed her a pamphlet and said "teach yourself!" :)

As missionaries we are taught to "say nothing but repentance unto this generation." (D&C 6:9) And in teaching Molly, we focused on repentance, and it worked!

Molly was baptized this past Saturday, and what an incredible experience it was to see someone who I have come to love so dearly enter in to the covenant of baptism to truly be cleansed of all her past mistakes.

The Atonement is so real. Jesus Christ suffered and died for us that we can repent and truly be cleansed of our sins. I read in 1 Nephi 21:16 today "Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands." Christ truly took our sins, every single one of them and paid the price we will never be able to pay. The atoning sacrifice of our precious Savior is what can truly keep us going. I know that He Lives. He is my older brother and my best friend. Jesus Christ suffered for all the transgressions we have made. I know it.

I know that the only way to Christ is by making and keeping our covenants! I am so eternally grateful that the Lord put Molly in my path and me in hers. I love this work and I love the gospel!

All my Love,

Sister Megan Monson

new rain boots!

Sister Ireland, Molly, Sister Monson, Sister Rust

They had to describe their companion like a car... Sis Rust is like a red mini of course Sister Monson is a yellow bug :)

cute missionaries

ya think??

The Return of Mr. Jingles

Three weeks ago as Sister Ireland was packing up to leave I saw, out of the corner of my eye, something run across the carpet. I thought I was just seeing things until Sister Ireland saw it too. A mouse. A disgusting little rodent. He came in from the cold and decided to take up residence somewhere in our house. He got into our food and our trash, he left his trace everywhere and we could not tell where in the world he was.

Our Ward Mission Leader named our new roommate "Mr. Jingles" and set out traps in hopes to catch it red handed.

And then we waited...

Fast forward three weeks and there has been no trace of Mr Jingles... Until the cantaloupe...

Mice like cantaloupe. Fun fact. A member gave us a couple of them and neither of us really wanted them... not to be ungrateful but they were on the mushy side anyways. So they sat on our kitchen floor waiting for us to throw away. Of course Mr. Jingles decided that would be a really great snack. We came home to cantaloupe juice everywhere, and traces of Mr. Jingles.

We thought we were in the clear, but no such.

Somehow this applies to the gospel. Like, don't think you're in the clear until you've actually caught the mouse. Or get a cat to protect your home from the powers of Satan's mice... I don't know.

I love you all, Have a great week!

Sister Megan Monson

Faith to Find

Valentines cookie from home

This week we knocked a lot of doors. Many of the doors we knocked on I have knocked on once or twice already, so it was a pretty big trial of my faith. Despite the faith and devotion we showed, no one wanted to talk to us. So we kept knocking and kept talking to people.

As much as it weighed on me, I've had weeks where no one has wanted to listen to me before, but Sister Rust hasn't. I could see throughout the week how much it weighed on her. It broke my heart every time she would try to share the gospel with people and they would not even give her a second glance.

Preach My Gospel teaches, "Some may not accept your message even when they have received a spiritual witness that it is true. You will be saddened because you love them and desire their salvation. You should not, however, become discouraged; discouragement will weaken your faith. If you lower your expectations, your effectiveness will decrease, your desire will weaken, and you will have greater difficulty following the Spirit." Now isn't that a sad picture. It is so easy to get discouraged when door after door after door is slammed in your face. 

But Preach My Gospel also says "When you have done your very best, you may still experience disappointments, but you will not be disappointed in yourself. You can feel certain that the Lord is pleased when you feel the Spirit working through you."

Despite not seeing any measure of success throughout the week we still finished out the week feeling like we had done our best, we truly had given our all. We showed up to church and miraculously had two investigators come to church! One was our sweet investigator, Molly! We had an incredible lesson with her this week on the Plan of Salvation. It answered so many of the questions she has had all her life!

We also got new couches this week! Which was super exciting! I haven't had a couch in my house in almost 5 weeks! So it's been nice to have somewhere to sit!

All my love,

Sister Megan Monson

Bedroom in our tiny house

Office in our tiny house

horses and little shetlon pony

Sis Rusts Valentines Cookie

Tiny house upstairs

Tiny house office

New sofa/new carpet

such a lovely front room now

The week of NEW

Usually when you stay in an area your life stays about the same, but mine definitely did not! This week I got a new car, (a carolla! Yay!) new carpets (finally!) and, most importantly, a new companion!

Sister Rust is from the blessed land of South Jordan, Utah! Unfortunately she went to Herriman High School, a pity to be sure. She is incredible and I am just so lucky to get to train her!

This week has been a constant flow of adventures since I picked Sister Rust up on Tuesday.

On Thursday we got the cops called on us! Yay... actually totally not yay. We were rushing to be on time to our 5-7 knocking session and parked in the first place that we could find to be on time. Of course we accidentally parked in front of someone's vacation home, no big. Until that same vacation home got broken into. And who would break into a house but the Sister Missionaries? So we had to hang around for a good forty minutes waiting for them to clear us to go. The man who called the cops described us as "two girls, with those church name tags, probably 25-30 years old." Yep, apparently the combination of dark and rainy adds ten years to my age. The police came, hands on holsters and flashlights in hand. Within seconds of talking to us the officer relaxed and noted, "I really don't think you would be out robbing houses under the pretense of talking about Christ." So he let us go.

Then Friday was a little miracle! I finally got to go to the temple with Steve! We were supposed to go weeks ago, but after many of Satan's distractions, we finally got to go do baptisms with Steve and his wife Patty. It was amazing! Such a wonderful experience to go with them for Steve's first time!

So it has been a good week, a crazy one, but a good one.

All my love, 

Sister Megan Monson

This looks just like what Sister Monson would do to
welcome a new companion

Temple with Sis. Philippi and Patty

Temple with Steve

Sister Bird, the trainer, Sister Monson the new trainer and Sis Rust

 

Sister Rust and Sister Monson

Sister Rust and Sister Monson

It's a GIRL!

On Friday night I couldn't sleep, my mind was racing a million miles a minute thinking of all the possibilities transfer calls could bring. Sister Ireland and I had decided that it was basically for sure that we would be staying together for another transfer. But my mind wouldn't stop. If anyone would leave it would be me, I'd been in the area for longer, but where could I go? My mind kept going. When it was time to get out of bed, I was exhausted my brain could not take another minute. So during personal study Sister Ireland sent me to bed, I was useless without my brain.

About half an hour in I woke up to the sound of the phone ringing. Sister Ireland ran upstairs and mouthed to me, "President." My heart stopped. You only get a call from President Blatter if one of you will be going to a leadership position. My first reaction was that Sister Ireland would become a Sister Training Leader and I would stay and get another new companion. The first words out of President's mouth were, "I'm really sorry, Sister Ireland, that you only got to stay one transfer in Shelton. But you'll be going to Southworth!" My brain was confused for a moment, Why had President called us if Sister Ireland wasn't going to be an STL? "That leaves Sister Monson in Shelton," President continued, "and you'll be training!" Shock is literally not even an accurate enough word to describe my reaction. I was basically petrified.

I am so sad that I only got Sister Ireland for 6 weeks, but she truly has changed my life and my mission, and I will miss her terribly. But I am excited, nervous, terrified, happy, and really just freaking out to train a new missionary. This will be a grand adventure! I don't even know her name yet!

All my love,

Sister Megan Monson

PS: When you are trained, your trainer is your "Mom," and the Trainee is a "baby." hence the terminology!

PSS: Sister Monson has decided NOT to count weeks so I guess I won't be adding what week it is on her blog either. But I may still be counting fast Sundays and there are 10 more :) I think!

SNOW!!

SNOW BALLS!

Sister Monson made the little snowman

thumbs up for this gorgeous missionary

such cute sister missionaries, love the hats

Sister Monson made the cute headband!