Ashley Mecham <ashley.mecham@myldsmail.net>	5:01 PM (5 hours ago)
to me, adnama.larsen

1) Me and roommates, Sister Diamond is a fruit.
2) Sister Ram's first blizzard.
3) Sister Taliaivao and I made up a really awesome game for personal exercise. This is an action shot of her smacking me with a pillow.

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Ashley Mecham <ashley.mecham@myldsmail.net>	4:57 PM (5 hours ago)
to me, adnama.larsen

Pictures: (There will be a few emails with only pictures)

1) Sister Ram and me.
2) My roommates and me. (Sister Taliaivao, Sister Diamond, me, Sister Ram)
3) Sister Diamond and I have the same pajamas and sandals. It's great.

for the family and the blog:

Okay, kids. If you haven't written a letter to Sister Ram yet, get to it! Just use dear elder. It's super easy. She got two this week and they were the first letters she's gotten from anyone. She literally cried with joy!! It was the sweetest. So keep 'em coming. This letter is going to be shorter because I am totally almost out of time. Pasensiya!!! But to be fair, you didn't write me this week either... ;) love you!!

Speaking of Sister Ram, she got sick this week. BOOO SICKNESS. It started Tuesday night and come Wednesday morning she would not get out of bed until about 1:00 in the afternoon. I went insane. But she started feeling good enough to go to class that evening, so that was good. I hate missing class so much. We went to the clinic on Thursday and they told us to go to the BYU health clinic AGAIN. Two times I've left this place for the clinic. It's so weird, they have televisions and things. Anyway, turns out she had the flu, but the doctor told her that it was, like, the smallest case of the flu. But he prescribed... yep... you guessed it. An hour nap every day and NO EXERCISE for the next three days. NOOOOOO. My worst nightmare. That means we've been skipping gym so she can take her nap. Bad news for Sister Mecham. Gym is what keeps me sane after sitting in a tiny desk for hours at a time. But my Father in Heaven has really blessed me with patience this week (which is the most prayed for attribute next to "master at tagalog" coming from me.)

Anyway, last Monday my teacher, Brother Langer, asked me to play an investigator for a workshop that his boss wanted to have. It was a seriously awesome and spiritual experience. The boss and I both ended up in tears. Remind me to tell you that story when I get home :) haha. It's a good one.

Also, family, this is me asking for the second time. Pleaaaaase send me tights. If you wait too long, it'll be time for me to head out to the 'ppines.

So we're teaching three investigators right now (played by teachers.) It's seriously so hard. I feel like such a nub every time I open my mouth! I always say, "Ano......ehh....pasensiya." Which means, "What.....ehh....sorry." And then I try again to say something else. Such is life.

SO I've hit my halfway mark! Three more weeks until I'm outta here! Which means we get a new district leader and I totally called who it would be. Elder Nielsen, which I know doesn't mean anything to you, deserves it more than anyone. He is a tiny, little cowboy fella from Arizona and he has the biggest heart of anyone! Good stuff. And not I don't have to worry about elders opening my mail and reading it to the class.

Well, time is just about up. I sent some pictures this time, so enjoy those! I love you all so much and I am so grateful for everything you've done to get me here. I feel so blessed every day for you people. SO thanks.

ALAM KO PO NA TOTOO AND SIMBAHAN NI JESUCRISTO!!!

Sincerely,

Sister Mecham

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KUMUSTA PAMILYA!!

I have one million things to write and if I don't get it all down, be expecting a letter from me. My P-Day is Tuesday, by the way.

FIRST OFF:

DEAR FAMILY AND FRIENDS,
please please please please please SEND ONE MILLION DEAR ELDERS TO MY COMPANION. Same mission as me, Sister Lily Stephanie Ram. She doesn't get any letters from her family or anyone and she is so sad about it. Just write her a quick hello, an inspirational thought or story, a scripture, ANYTHING. But please do it. Write to her instead of me if you only have time for one letter. Please. Thank you.

Now, on to the letter.

So this last week was crazy, man. Our investigator Daniel Cook accepted our baptismal invitation which was AWESOME. And yes, that means I learned how to ask him to be baptized. But then we found out that Daniel Cook is actually Brother Long and he will now be our other teacher. Awkward. He seriously saw us at our very worst so we were all so nervous for our first lesson from him last night. But then, it turns out he is hilarious and so nice so we're good. He's actually from Alpine. His brother is Jason Long who went to Lone Peak and passed away a few years ago.

So we got a new investigator named Toni. He is played by our other teacher, Brother Langer. Brother Langer is a convert and used to be Catholic. So that means that Toni is Catholic and that's serious business because he knows his stuff. Sister Ram and I were so nervous to teach him. But listen, I memorized so many things and was more prepared for that lesson than any lesson I ever taught to Daniel Cook. So we get to the door and he lets us in but tells us that he only has a few minutes. So that's fine, we'll only share a quick message, we say. So we sit down and ask him about himself and everything is going well and then we say, "May we start with a prayer" and BAM. He says, "No, I'm sorry I don't have time I have to go. Just tell me your message really quick." So I look at Sister Ram, "Is this a joke? Are we ever supposed to teach without praying first? Should we pray even though he said no??" So that totally threw us off and Sister Ram goes completely silent. So it's all me and I try to get out as much as I can about how much God loves him and wants him to be happy. Then he interrupts me and says, "I have to go. Right now. I'm going to be late." "Can we close with a prayer?" "Nope." Alright, see ya. Ingat po. That was it. It lasted like five minutes and we totally failed. So we get back to class and Sister Ram bursts into tears and is so upset. Brother Langer felt so bad. She's fine now. BUT SEND HER A LETTER.

Speaking of Sister Ram. My goal to improve our relationship this week was to get her to work out/play a sport with me at gym time. And guess what, I DID IT. We totally did a hardcore workout. She loves the eliptical (sp?) so it looks like that's what we'll be doing the remainder of the time. I'll probably sneak off to volley ball a few times, though. But it totally is helping our relationship. I love the Sister.

So I want to give a big THANK YOU to Bishop Wheadon for calling me to be the Gospel Doctrine Teacher. I'll tell you why. My DL asked me to teach the District Meeting on Sunday and it went REALLY WELL. And our Branch President, President Anderson and his wife were there which was nervous-making. But it went really well. That's it.

Linda K. Burton spoke in relief society here on Sunday which was AWESOME. And I got to talk with her for a few minutes after. She is amazing.

Stories:

1. One evening we were getting ready for bed when the smoke alarm goes off in our building. Of course half the sisters were in the show and the other half were not dressed appropriately but the fire marshal came in anyway and shewed us into 1M. We had to spend the precious hour that we need to get ready to bed doing nothing - waiting. BUT me and my roommates starting singing, "The Spirit of God like a fire is burning...." which was appropriate, hilarious, and led to more hymns. So that was fun. Turns out some sisters burnt popcorn and there was black smoke everywhere from it. All was well.

2. While Brother Long was Daniel Cook, he would always do the hand-shoulder-head thing when we prayed (sorry, I don't know what it's actually called. Hopefully that was not disrespectful...) So we asked him about it while we were all kneeling in a circle about to say our bedtime prayer. With Brother Long at the head of the circle, he does the hand-shoulder-head thing again right as one of the head teachers walks by. He comes in and yells, 'WHAT IS HE TEACHING YOU.' It was hilarious, but maybe one of those you-had-to-be-there moments. Which is probably all my stories, so bear with me.

3. Sister Taliaivao, by roommate, is from Australia. Which means she doesn't really understand how heavy 1 lb is. She LOVES pizza hot pockets, "pizza pockets". One day she comes up to me and says, "Sister Mecham, there is a 12 lb pizza pocket in the vending machine!!!!!" I tried to explain to her that that was not possible at all. I told her that that was the size of a very large infant. She later found out that it actually said 1/2 lb. So that was funny. But then in class, Brother Long says, "I currently hold the record for the biggest baby born in Oregan (?).... 12 LBS" We never stopped laughing after that.

4. So this is how I made the elders in my district going to my mission become obedient through a small falsehood. Brother Long told us that in Manila, only the VERY obedient missionaries get to go to the island and leave the city because the mission president can't be there very often to check on them. So the manila elders start talking about how they will be so obedient when then get to the field. Then I told them that the talk to your MTC Branch President to see how obedient you were in the MTC. Which might be true.... needless to say, there is so much obedience going on here from the elders now.

That's all there is time for. Thank you everyone SO SO MUCH for all the letters and love I've gotten. I feel so blessed to have you all in my life.

The Church is true and I love spending all my time learning about it. Missions are MABUTI.
 (Also, sorry that my grammar and punctuation is sub-par. I have so little time to write these)

Ashley's mailing address

Sister Ashley Nicole Mecham
MTC Mailbox # 153
PHI-MAN 0225
2005N. 900E.
Provo, Utah 84604-1793

first e-mail 1-22-13

Kumusta Pamilya ko!!!!!!

 

How is everyone?? I am doing so well here in the MTC! I survived my first week!! I'm going to try to tell you most of the things that happened this last week. Handa? Go.

 

When I got here my host was Sister DeGroot - a friend from Lone Peak who is going to Canada! She is seriously an angel. She carried my two huge suitcases up to the top floor of the residence by herself and would not let me help her at all. She is the best missionary. Then we had class. My guro is Brother Langer and he is the best. He only speaks Tagalog to us, which was terrifying the first day but now I understand basically everything he is saying. I love class so much.

 

My companion is Sister Ram. She is from Fiji. She is very short. I'm going to try to upload a picture, but who knows if that will work. I am working so hard to develop patience because we have completely different personalities. She never wants to work and she has no HUSTLE!!! But I'm working on it. My roommates are Sister Diamond from Ogden and Sister Taliaivao from Australia and they are hilarious. We get along really well.  Sister Tali has strange words for everything and she tried Cheetos for the first time the other day. Popsicles are ice blocks. Flip flops are jandals. Hoodies are jumpers. It's great.

 

Let me tell you about Elders. Elders are these people who are 18 or 19 or maybe older but act like they are two years old. They cannot focus on anything for more than thirty minutes. Let me give you an example. One day we were doing personal study in the classroom and we were on a role. We were all completely silent, studying our own things. They, out of nowhere, one of the Elders from another district opens the door and tosses in a miniature sock monkey. DIIIBBBBBBSSSS, all the elders yell and leap out of their desks toward the monkey. Then they talked about wrestling and the superbowl and there was no chance of getting back on the subject. Yes, so those are elders. Also, I got a few letters on Friday and because they were from boys the elders go CRAZY and one of them rips one of the letters open. So there's that. Two years old.

 

I've been seeing a ton of people I know: Sister Ostler, Kendra Knudsen (not yet sister), Evan Braithwaite's mom who works here, two friends from school who work here and MORE.

 

Okay, one more story about Sister Ram. So one day we're sitting in class and everyone is silent. Then she says, out of nowhere, to everyone, "Do you ever just wake up in the morning and think to yourself, 'What the H*** are you doing here????'" There was no chance for me. I died laughing. She is unlike anyone I've ever known.

 

So we taught our first investigator on our second full day. His name is Daniel Cook and he obviously only speaks Tagalog. The first two times we taught him we were able to brings notes with us. However. last night we had to teach him in Tagalog with no notes. AND WE DID PRETTY WELL. Let me tell you about it. There's no chance we could have done it without the power of the Holy Ghost. So we were teaching him about having faith in Jesus Christ (pananampalataya = faith) and that went really well. Then I was going to ask him a question about having faith in Jesus Christ but I couldn't remember how to say a vital word. So instead, I asked him if he knows that the Book of Mormon is true. "Opo" he says. Which means yes. So I'm obviously really stoked. Then I ask him if he knows that this church is true and he says, "Opo." STOKED, mostly because I was not even planning on asking him either of those questions because we had only taught him three times. So then, obviously, I want to ask him if he wants to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized. But guess who didn't study the word, "baptized" because she wasn't planning on extending that commitment?? It's me. So I look to my companion. Nothing. So I basically just say MABUTI which means good and ask him if I can say a prayer and then SEE YA Daniel Cook. I really dropped the ball on that one.

 

So want to hear how Heavenly Father answers prayers??? Because Sister Ram is an international missionary, she gets to call her family the first week she gets here. The first time we went to try to call them they didn't answer. So we went again. FOUR TIMES IN ONE DAY. Who has time for that?? Not me. But I was outwardly patient. So the next day she wants to go back and call again. I was so stressed that we would have to go back every few hours to try to call her family FOR THE REST OF THE SIX WEEKS HERE. So I prayed that they would answer so I could be efficient with the Lord's time and BAM. They did. The power of prayer, people. That's it.

 

So we get gym time here with is what gets me through the day. Seriously. I play volleyball with Sister Heiner from my zone and all the Samoan and Fijian elders who are so hardcore - spiking the volleyball everywhere. So right now I have one million bruises covering my arms from that. I look abused. But I LOVE it. Sister Ram does not play sports so she stands on the side and watches. I tried to explain to here that she needs exercise to be healthy but nope. She just laughs at me. Dad, remember when you said my sense of humor would help me on my mission?? It is. I just have to laugh at everything.

 

Listen, tell everyone to use dearelder.com to write me letters because I want to hear from them and it's free! Also because I currently have gotten the most letters and I want to keep up my record ;). But seriously, I love hearing from everyone.

 

Okay so the little numbers on the side of the screen just turned red so I'm afraid that if I keep writing something terrible will happen. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH, PAMILYA KO. Let me know how everyone is doing!!

 

ALSO MOM PLEASE CAN YOU SEND ME A PAIR OF BLACK OR GRAY OR BOTH TIGHTS??? We went to the temple this morning and it was FREEEEEEEZZZINNGNGGGGGGG i'm gonig to die without tights. LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Ingat po

 

Sincerely,

 

Sister Mecham

Ashley's first letter home-Sat,1-19-13

written 16 Jan 2013
Dear Pamilya,
I don't have a P-day till next week, so I wanted to write you a quick letter to let you know that I am doing GREAT!  I love the MTC so much. Everyone is so nice & welcoming! My friend Sister DeGroot (I told you about her, she's going to Canada) was my host which was such a blessing! She is such an ANGEL! She would not let me carry my bags up to my room which is on the top floor! No elevators for her, even! She is the best missionary. My companion is Sister Ram &she is from Fiji & she is SMALL!! I tower over her. I have to constantly check myself because her short little legs do not move quickly at all & if I don't watch it I'll leave her in the dust. She also has to go to the bathroom  ALL THE TIME.  I'm too impatient for that. But patience is what I will learn on my mission. I promise. But don't worry about me! The food is not good so far. And the beds have mysterious stains. But I really LOVE IT.Also, the language is great. Dad, Rosetta Stone actually helped a lot. Especially with pronunciation. The elders sound so silly when they try to say anything. But my teacher only speaks Tagalog. And I can actually understand a lot of what he says. I feel so cool! Oh, I also saw Sister Ostler today! She looks so great, so tell her parents all is well!! I seriously love you guys so much & am so grateful for all you've done to get me here! Be safe & write me, please:)
      with love, Sister Mecham

Dear Family and Friends

I report to the Provo MTC TOMORROW and this is how I'm feeling right now. I have such a blessed life and I am so grateful for it. Thanks to everyone who came to my farewell to support me! My dear mother will be posting my emails on this page, but give her a break if it takes a little while / she forgets and never posts anything ;). See you next June!