If You Want to Hear God Laugh Tell Him YOUR Plans

Apparently, I need to blog more because as I sit here writing the task seems daunting. I have a lot I want to share, but this quote basically sums up my thoughts lately.

My life has definitely not gone as I have planned... and yes, that's ok! I'm learning to trust in the journey even if I don't always understand it. So, recap of my life the past month- I have been job hunting, and spending quality time in Cedar City. I haven't spent that much time here in years. It has been good having the day-to-day routine with the fam. I will admit that I've been finding joy in harassing little Brycey. Haha it's good for him though! He's not used to having siblings at home to bug him. Towards the end of April I received a call for a job interview in Idaho. They wanted to meet the day after Easter. So, Mom, Bryce, and I loaded up the car and headed North. We went to Carey and then on over to Boise. I'm very grateful we were able to go to Carey beforehand. I was able to see my cousin John and his wife Shelly and their new baby Aiden. John was serving in the Army and had previously been stationed in Korea, and then when they had came back to the states I was already in Michigan. So, it had been a few years since I had seen them. And as most of you know John passed away unexpectedly yesterday morning. It was a tender mercy that I was able to see him recently before he died. He was a proud little dad, and you could just see how happy he was. Definitely a good last memory... In Boise I was able to see a lot of family I hadn't seen since being home. We had a glow in the dark Easter egg hunt for the kids- which was a lot of fun. It was nice being about to catch up. Oh, and I met my new aunt Margo. She's a sweetheart, and I'm happy she's part of the family.The next morning we traveled over to Emmett for my interview. As we came into the valley I had a very strong prompting that this is where I needed to be. It reminded me a lot of my little Cache Valley. I wanted this job so much that I was beyond nervous for the interview. However, I clicked really well with the interviewer, and I could just picture myself working there. Within the hour I had received a call offering me the position. Ha and life has been crazy ever since! My job requires a lot of traveling, and where I will be over 600 miles from home we decided I needed a new car. I bought a 2007 Pontiac Grand Prix. To say that I love my car would be an understatement. I seriously get so excited to drive- which is good :) I might not be saying that after the long drive to Idaho. Haha! I was originally supposed to start yesterday, but life is funny! The morning I was supposed to leave I came down with a terrible case of the flu. It wrecked all of my plans. I had planned to attended Orie's graduation from Utah State. I had planned to see my family. I had planned to spend time with best friends that I don't get to see nearly enough. I had plans to say a proper goodbye to my precious Logan. I also had plans to go to a job interview with DCFS. They had positions open in Logan, Brigham City, Ogden, Clearfield, and Bountiful. All fantastic places that would be so much closer to home! And the flu messed with all of my plans. At first I was pretty upset and felt picked on. Everyone was having fun, and I could barely hold my head up. Now days later (and a lot of perspective) I can see that my plans weren't God's plans. Life doesn't always go how we expect or think it should. But that's the beauty of it! We never know what it has in store for us. I never pictured moving to Idaho. I hadn't even heard of Emmett until I applied for this job. But I also never planned on serving a mission, and that was the greatest thing for me. Today, I am grateful for God's plan. I am grateful for eternal families. I am grateful that I know without a doubt that He needs me in Emmett....and I'm so very excited for this new adventure!

            
                 John, Shelly, and Aiden on Easter
                        
            My cute family at Orie's graduation.

      
                Grace- My new best friend

     
                          My new home

Take the Rain With the Sunshine

This past week I have been traveling around the state of Utah. I had a job interview in Logan on Thursday, and so I decided to pay a visit to Salt Lake and Provo as well. Though, I was hoping my job interview would work out- sadly it did not. During the interview I had the distinct impression that I was not what they were looking for and vice-versa. I was a little sad about it for awhile, but I'm grateful that it gave me the opportunity to glimpse what my life would be like if I moved to one of the previously mention places. Lately, I have been very indecisive, and I can't quite seem to picture my life. Ha you can image how extremely frustrating it has been for me. I'm usually the head-strong, I know what I want, type. Why suddenly can I not make a decision to save my life? I thought my trip would basically decide for me. Turns out it did not. Haha however, what I did find was that wherever I go, I will find happiness. There were several moments through out my trip that I felt pure happiness. They were simple yet profound. It was in the smile and laughter of cute little Joshua as we played. It was eating at Texas Roadhouse with Jen and Orie. It was going to a dance party with Marz & Katie and feeling extremely awkward-yet enjoying myself nonetheless. It was seeing mission friends, and getting to know them as regular people. But most importantly it was in the Celestial room, in the Logan temple that I found the quiet assurance that everything would work out. That it didn't matter that I have no idea what my future holds- and that's alright. I realized I need to enjoy these moments, and stop worrying about the future. Things will work out when the Lord needs them to. It is His times table not mine. While in Provo I attended a Singles Ward for the first time since being home. Yeah, I felt FUNNY through out the meetings, but Relief Society was exactly what I needed. The Relief Society President showed this video by Hillary Weeks:

In this song I love the line "I used to pray He'd take it all away, but instead it became a beautiful heartbreak." I think we can all relate to this. "Yes, the road has bumps and detours and even some hazards. But don't focus on them. Look for the happiness your Father in Heaven has prepared for you in every step of your journey. Happiness is the destination, but it's also the path" (President Uchtdorf). In this video it shows clips of Stephanie Nielson's story. Her Mormon Message "My New Life" helped me get through the hard times on my mission. Anytime I was having a rough day I would watch it, and be reminded of how truly wonderful life is. We are so blessed! I attached her video as well. Enjoy!

Let Your Heart Be Your Compass When You're Lost

Friends,

I'm back!!! Contrary to what my blogs shows, this past year and a half have been crazy busy! Sometimes it's hard to believe that it's all over. Now, I just have memories to look back on and reminisce about. It is definitely bittersweet. I am so grateful that the Lord gave me the opportunity to serve Him and His children full time. It was an experience unlike any other. So, if you have the chance to serve a mission I would say GO! It's funny how when you lose yourself for others you truly find yourself. I had a strong testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ before my mission, but it's nothing like the conviction that I have now. Hands down best experience of my life! Not gonna lie- when I first got home I had the hardest time sleeping. I would wake up in the night, forget where I was, and then it would hit me and I would get really sad. Thankfully, that phase is over! The first two weeks of being home I was pretty busy with seeing everyone and catching up. I have missed my friends and family dearly, and it has been fun seeing them again...This past week I have been more focused on the reality of things, and trying to find a job. Being a grown up is not as fun as it sounds. Haha! No, I'm excited for this new adventure though. I have been applying for jobs through out Utah and Idaho. Hopefully, I will land one soon. Only time will tell. It's exciting because I don't have anything tying me down. I can basically go anywhere. It's thrilling and terrifying all at the same time! This is the only time in my life that I haven't had it all planned out. Before it was always school, school, school, and then it was mission. Now it's, now what? Masters? Career? Both? Utah? Idaho? The possibilities are endless. Obviously, I still don't know what my plans are yet. Hence the title of this post is "Let Your Heart Be Your Compass When You're Lost" from Lady Antebellum's song "Compass". Best. Song. Ever. I have missed my country music. I will admit I felt like a major sinner when I first started listening to "worldly" music again. It's still a challenge at times, but I have my select few songs that I listen to on repeat. Yep, RMs are weirdos. And I'm definitely alright with that. We were in Vegas last week walking the strip and Jen was like "Cover Bryce's eyes" to which I replied, "Cover his eyes? More like cover my eyes!" It was an adventure for sure. The best part of Vegas was cheering on our boys at the Utah State game. I've missed watching my Aggies play. I never thought I could love a school as much as USU, but surprisingly U of M is now a close second. I loved serving on their campus. Michigan will always hold a special place in my heart. Most days I wish I could just combine my two worlds. That would be ideal. However, to every thing there is a season...

 

        Saying goodbye to Michelle- my favorite little Asian

The Gerbers- I miss them so!

                      The AIRPORT with Dad & Bryce

The Dynamic Duo reunited- love this girl

Happy Birthday Sister Mecham!

Jody is now serving in Southfield Michigan

Her new address is:

26580 Berg Rd. #1411

Southfield, MI 48033 

Sister Mecham in Ann Arbor

Hi Family my new address is 2220 Glencoe Hills #12 Ann Arbor, MI 48108 and if you could send me a letter asap so I can get a library card and I won't have to pay $2 dollars every time I email that would be fantastic! My whole area is just the U of M campus. I will be contacting and teaching college kids all day. I'm extremely nervous but mostly excited. And odds are I will be here until at least June. This transfer is only 5 weeks and I will be training here next transfer. Kinda crazy! My new companion is Sister Evans and she's from Australia.She's great! I'm hoping her accent will rub off on me :) And bonus I get to drive!!! Love you all!

Love Sister Mecham

Letter from Sister Mecham

Hi Family,

Can you believe I hit my 6 month mark on Friday? I will be home this time next year. It's kind of hard to believe. It's week 6 and I'm pretty sure I'm getting transferred. We just found out that we are getting 13 sisters in between the next two transfers! We are getting 3 next week and 10 the following transfer. And we only have 11 sisters out. So, that means that next transfer every sister will train including me. SCARY! And some of them will train 2 at the same time. Sister Bishop only has 2 transfers left- so that means that she is going to be training at least 1 next week. So crazy! Everyone is really excited though!

Highlights of the week:

-Monday night we went on exchanges. I went with Sister Hoopes to Hill street. And Mom to answer your question- I LOVED Ann Arbor! If our speculations are correct I think that will be my next area. Contacting on U of M campus was probably one of the scariest things, but I thrived on it. I really feel like I can do a lot of good there. As everyone knows I love the college scene and I felt like I was back in my element. We taught quite a few students and I was really able to relate to them. It's amazing to me how the Lord works because there was one lesson in particular that I knew I needed to be there for. I won't go in to details but we'll just say my educational background and insight was definitely helpful. This girl was really able to open up to me and Sister Hoopes. And Sister Hoopes had gone through a similar situation and was really able to bear testimony that we truly can get through anything through the atonement of Jesus Christ. It was such an incredible lesson. So yes I love Ann Arbor!

-Wednesday was extremely hectic. We ran from one appointment to another. Sister Bishop and I were beyond exhausted by the end of the day.Which I am so grateful for, I love days like that. We had district meeting, taught David, Sheree, Dave, and Vanessa. And we were supposed to teach Jarrett as well but we ran out of time. Teaching is the best part of being a missionary. I truly love seeing how the Gospel of Jesus Christ can bless others as they start to accept it. Dave doesn't have a belief in God and it made me reflect on my life and see how completely different my life would be if I didn't know I have a loving Heavenly Father who is there for me always. It's pretty hard to imagine. But that's exactly why we are here- to give hope to a world that so desperately needs the gospel.
-Thursday, Friday, and Saturday flew by in a blur. We met with Ed & Bobbie Saturday night and Bobbie was having a really rough night. She barely knew who we were. It was so hard to see her like that. I love them both so much! And Ed admitted to us that he watches the BYU channel all of the time. He DVRs everything on there. I was so happy! If we can't get them to church because of Bobbie's health problems at least he can watch it.

-And finally yesterday- we had Ward Conference so all of the stake leaders were there. I love President Medley. He has the driest sense of humor but it's so great! Everyone just laughs the whole time. And Bishop Ostraff talked about the sacrament and making it more meaningful in our lives. That was kind of a call to repentance for me. Sometimes, I'm more concerned about whether or not our investigators are having a spiritual experience at church; that I tend to forget about making sure I do as well. Because I need church just as much as the next person.

Yeah, that pretty much sums up my week! Today we are just going to get things done here in Northville. My zipper broke on my skirt so Sister Sessions is going to fix it for me. And then Sister Rollins is cutting our hair today. My hair is getting out of control, my bangs have a mind of their own so that will be nice. Well family, I love you all so much! Have a great week and Valentines Day! See you when I see you!

Love, Sister Mecham

2/4/2013

 

Highlights of my week:

While tracting we found a man named Pat. He was great! We stood on the doorstep and taught him for an hour in the pouring rain. And he kept not wanting us to leave because he had more questions but we had an appointment. So, I think we will try and see him again this week.

Nate & Vanessa made us dinner and we taught them about the importance of the Book of Mormon. As a mission we are reading the whole thing by Easter, so we committed them to do it with us. They agreed and seem to be excited about it. This will be a first time for Nate (seeing as he's not a member) and Vanessa has never made it past 2 Nephi. Yesterday at church they blessed their daughter Isla. Their home teacher blessed her but then they let Nate hold her up and show everyone. I think it was a neat experience for him. Nate & Vanessa both were all smiles yesterday. We wrote down the blessing for them and they were really appreciative. I love them so much!

We also met with the Harveys this week. They just moved here from Logan and have been our fellowshipper for Matt & Sarah. We asked them to continue to keep track of them and they told us that they talk almost every day. And I guess Matt really opened up to Brother Harvey about his family being against meeting with us. So sad! I truly believe it will all work out in time though. Speaking of families being against meeting with the missionaries :) We are starting to teach Dave this week! We just re-activated his dad, Ernie. And now we want to baptize Dave. I guess when Dave was 13 he met with the missionaries and on the day of his baptism his mom revoked permission. And then she proceeded to make him read anti every day for quite a while. But now he's 20 and living with Ernie. So yeah we're excited to start teaching him.

English class FINALLY starts tomorrow! We're so excited! It has been a long process but it's all starting to work out now. It's all the ward could talk about yesterday. We've had so many members offer assistance. And they're making cookies for it every week until the end of April. I love the Northville ward! They're so supportive of missionary work. Sadly, I won't be there for the first class because President has decided to do exchanges for all of the sisters tonight. But that's alright. I'm going to Ann Arbor and I will be on U of M campus contacting tomorrow. I think it will be good for me. I get so nervous talking to people on the street. Put them behind a door and I'm set though :) I definitely think I'll learn a lot, and I'm excited to help out at the institute tomorrow.

Love, Sister Mecham