Week 15: When the Going Gets Tough

The tough get going!!!

Transfer calls came on Saturday and it turns out... I am staying. Sister Bird will be moving on to Olympia and my two roommates, Sister Beck and Sister Pen will be transferring away from me as well. Leaving just... me. I don't pretend to know or even have a slight fraction of a clue as to why I am staying in Lincoln.

It has been drilled into my head constantly since I got here, "Lincoln is the toughest Sisters' area in the mission." Well, to be in a tough place without completely breaking one must be tough, or "steadfast and immovable" as the scriptures put it. Welcome to the next six weeks of my life! Sister Webb (my new companion) and I will be fighting the uphill battle of the century, But who is to say that's impossible? The Lord Has some sort of plan worked out in His head, and I just can't see it!

I hope you all had a wonderful conference and paid particular attention to Elder Oaks and Elder Andersen! (AKA Just share the gospel people!)

I love you all,

Sister Megan Monson

Selfie

Crazy sisters

Pre Conference photo

The Bakers

Elders and Sisters

Week 14: Tight Like Unto a Dish

When I was in High School my family would read the Book of Mormon together before everyone left for school and work. One morning before Brayden and I headed off to school we were reading in the book of Ether, Chapter 2 verse 17

     "And they were built after a manner that they were exceedingly tight, even that they would hold water like unto a dish; and the bottom thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the sides thereof were tight like unto a dish; and the ends thereof were peaked; and the top thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the length thereof was the length of a tree; and the door thereof, when it was shut,was tight like unto a dish."

     The phrase "tight like unto a dish" is in there four times, and appears a few times throughout the rest of the chapter as well. Brayden and I thought it was so funny and we joked about someday giving talks on being "tight like unto a dish." Well guess what one of the Talks in Sacrament meeting was about??? Being "tight like unto a dish." Of course this naturally piqued my interest, why on earth would you be talking about being tight like a dish? Brother Gold taught that it is as if God was saying "You're going to be in the water, and I am going to be directing you, and you need to be protected from the water." How true that is! We are all building our own boats, our testimonies, to withstand the crushing waters of the world. And if they are not unbreakable, the waters will start dripping in.

a dog name "Friend" followed us for 2 hours

     Being sent out on a mission is definitely like Heavenly Father taking the boat you have so carefully made and dropping it into the tumultuous waters of the world. Getting dropped into Tacoma has shaken me around, thrown me for a loop and made me a little seasick to be honest. But thank goodness for my Testimony of a living Christ, of the divine Plan of my Heavenly Father, and of the truthfulness of the Everlasting gospel. I know this is true. No matter how many Bible Bashers I meet, no matter how many people tell me I am wrong, no matter how many doors get absolutely slammed in my face, It will still be true. There is nothing that can take that truth from me, and no one who should even dare try. I know the gospel has been restored in its fullness to the earth. I know that not everyone in Tacoma will know this as firmly as I do when I leave, but it will not be because I haven't tried to tell them. my testimony is "tight like unto a dish," and it's going to stay that way.

All my love to you,

Sister Megan Monson

Birthday party for Sister Pen

Week 13:The Break In

The other day Sister Bird and I realized that we have like three closets full of odds and ends that were completely useless. So we rolled up our sleeves during our precious little free time and got to work cleaning everything out. Unfortunately we had just started making a big mess when it got time to leave for proselyting. Walking in to the mess strewn all over the apartment made it look as though there had been a minor break in. Looking at it, we got an idea. Our roommie companionship didn't know we had been cleaning, and our apartment had been orderly when they had left. So the only natural thing to do was to make the entire apartment look as if it had been looted. We knocked over chairs opened cabinets and flipped the entire apartment. Then we hid in our closet, and waited. What seemed like an excellent idea soon became very hot as we for the other sisters to get home...

Ten minutes....

Fifteen...

Thirty minutes....

Forty minutes and they finally opened the door. "what happened?" we hear as we snicker quietly... The first stop they made was the closet, Sister Pen with broom in hand. "Watch my back!" she tells Sister Beck as she flings open the closet door to find us laughing quietly. Soon we were all laughing hysterically. We had forgotten one thing, "We knew you were here because we parked right behind you!" they told us laughing. Welcome to the free time of missionaries.

     Besides that not a whole ton happened this past week. We knocked on more doors, talked to more people, and spoke and sang at Cambodian Baptism! So cool to see the gospel in different cultures, even in Washington!

    Have a great week! 

            All my love,

             Sister Monson

Seahawk sisters

Seattle Seahawks shirts

ginormous spider

storm rolling in

forest

Week 12: Improve the Shining Moments

     I have literally never heard the song that this letter is titled after, but the lyrics are nice! This week has been a little bit discouraging to be frank. We knocked into an atheist the other day that lectured us for a solid 15 minutes on why God is not real, and then we knocked into a Pentecostal who bashed us for a solid 45 minutes on why we need to start speaking in tongues to be saved (yeah that is really not true!). Bad things happen; unfortunately it is a part of life and a huge part of missionary work.

    But good things happen all the time too! Like just yesterday we knocked into a guy named Bill who owns a candy business that sells band-aid shaped chocolates, and he gave us a huge bag of chocolates because they were broken! Seriously, so nice!

     Highlight of the week is an amazing Latina woman named Letty. Letty is Roman Catholic (for now :)) and she has been talking with sister missionaries for a really, really long time. She has not progressed ever, in fact she hadn't even really gotten through the entire first lesson ever before. Generally if an investigator isn't progressing the missionaries don't keep going over, but Letty is an exception. We went over to chat and stay for 30 minutes or less, we wanted to get the first lesson in and see if she would keep a commitment. We wound up being there for 2 hours, Elder Holland once said that something everyone says will eventually lead back to the gospel, so just listen. That is so true!!! Letty has started questioning her beliefs since her church got a new pastor, and she was so devastated. Eventually I asked her, "Letty, do you even know what makes our church different from other Christian churches?" She thought for a second and replied, "No, I don't think I've ever known..." It was the perfect opening to speak about the Restoration of the Gospel. It has taken many sets of sisters, but Letty is finally ready to hear the Gospel! We talked about the Book of Mormon and helped her get the gospel Library App so she can listen to it in Spanish. We talked about Temples and how families can be together forever, Letty cried and told us that she had always wanted four children. She said that it must have been God's will that she only had 2 because Sister Bird and I have become like the completion of her family. 

     God works in mysterious ways sometimes, I can't say that I always understand it, but I know that everything happens for a reason. 

     Have a wonderful week!

      All my love,

        Sister Megan Monson

Week 11: Be BOLD, or italic, never regular

pencil case

   That is a joke that any good English major would appreciate. I saw it on a pencil case in the Museum of Glass this week, and I found it inspirational. Be Bold, or Italic, never regular.

    There is nothing normal about missionary work, no average 19 year-old in their right mind would choose to get up at 6:30 every single day, run a mile, study for two hours and then spend the rest of their day in the service of others. Not to mention choosing to wear your Sunday best every single day. The very existence of missionaries screams "crazy!" Every day missionaries go out and serve, they go out and teach and they use all their might to be as bold as possible.

    Being bold is never easy, I was taught my whole life not to talk to strangers, and now what do I do all day? Talk to strangers. But I couldn't be happier! I get to invite every person I talk to to come closer to my best friend, Jesus Christ! How amazing is that?

    This week something amazing happened. When I first got here, one of the First assignments Bishop gave us was to start meeting with this less active woman named Kelli. Kelli had a series of unfortunate events happen recently and was living in a shelter, worked insane hours that prevented her from going to church, and her relationship with her fiance was suffering. The first time we met with Kelli we invited her to start paying her tithing, because we know that tithing really does help. Although she had her reservations, she agreed and started paying the very next day. After that, the miracles started happening. Kelli and her fiance made up and he started investigating the church with some missionaries in a neighboring ward, her job allowed her to take enough to to go partake of the sacrament, Kelli was able to leave the shelter behind and she and her fiance were married. The biggest miracle was that we were able to see her new husband be baptized on Saturday. God is a God of miracles. We said good-bye to Kelli for likely the last time after the baptism, and as we all embraced, we cried, and Kelli just said "thank you." I cannot say that I did anything, But the Lord did everything.

    God is so good, my friends! I'm reminded of something the Savior said in Mark 10:27,"with men it is impossible, but not with God: For with God, all things are possible."

   Happy Labor Day!

    All my love!

     Sister Megan Monson

Sister Monson

harbor

sisters at the museum

glass ceiling

glass fruit bowl

glass creature

glass blowing

Stadium Ward Building

Glass pig

Glass museum ceiling