I LOVE INDIANA!

I LOVE INDIANA! It is so green and so beautiful here. The humidity is killer haha but it is ok. I think the heat of Arizona and the humidity of Hawaii have prepared me to live here. So actually I dont mind it. I feel like I am always wet... and when sister Hunt and I work out its like we went swimming because we are just drenched!!! Ok, so a little bit about Sister Hunt. Um she is AMAZING.

She played for the BYU women's team for a year before coming on her mission. She loves to work out and eat healthy. We wake up at 5:50 every morning and get a really good workout in….

 We seriously are so much alike. We get along really well, and she is teaching me to be a good missionary. We are in an area called White River, its outside Indianapolis. Right now I am sitting in the  Indianapolis Library. Its pretty sweet. I think that my transition has been really easy because we found some SOLID investigators like... the day I got here. I have been SO excited to tell you about them. We have 6 progressing investigators, 3 of which have baptism dates!…Its to crazy how God has prepared their hearts. They are so humble and so hungry for something more in their lives. 

…  What I love most about being a missionary is the people. They are so fun, and so..... weird hahaha. Seriously, I think about entire ward is converts. So its totally not like Utah church at all. No perfect looking families or homes or lives. Everyone knows that everyone else has rough edges, and its totally ok. Its such a huge testimony to me that Jesus Christ loves everyone, and that the gospel is for everyone. Our Ward mission leader is kick-butt. He lives in a tiny home with like... 7 kids, but yet, he is so spiritual and works so hard to help us. Thats how most of the members here are. They are pretty good about feeding the missionaries too…

Please send letters…

… I want you to know that I am ok. I am happy. Some days are hard, and some days are amazing. But that is normal life anyway!

The MTC Conquered and off to INDIANA TODAY!

WOW. 9 days till the first P-day. How rude. hahaha We decided that it is the way of weeding out the weak ones! My companion is Sister Carpenter. I love her so much. We get along really well. She is from southern Idaho….

...I dont really cry here. Only a few times. But I am not homesick. Yes, I miss you and wish you could be here with me, but I KNOW I am not supposed to be there right now. The mission saved me. I was not being even remotely close to the woman I needed and Heavenly Father needs me to be. I was regressing rather than progressing. The first 4 days were SO hard. I had several several thoughts of.... oh gosh, I just want to go home. 

They cram so much information into your brains because the stay is so much shorter. I am so grateful not to be learning a language on top of learning how to teach. Plus I cannot imagine staying here for more than 12 days.... haha I may die.

The day after I got here I was called as a Zone Sister Training Leader. Yikes. Yesterday we received 16 more people to our zone, so Sister Carpenter and I are in charge of 8 sister. They are all really awesome. 

My district is SO So great. I am definitely the oldest, but I dont mind. All of the elders are 18. I keep thinking of shane and how wonderful this mission is going to be for him….

Elder Quintin L Cook came and spoke to us on tuesday night, it was SO Good. He testified of christ, said that he knew his voice. I thought that was really cool.

Sister Carpenter and I are teaching a woman named Sydney and a woman name Heather. We seek revelation for them daily and receive it daily. We are able to testify and help them , through the spirit, come unto christ. 

We had decided to invite Heather to be baptized, and while Heather was saying her first prayer, I said a quick prayer in my heart telling God that I was going to invite Heather to be..... and then I could NOT remember what I was thinking about. It was a stupor of thought!!! crazy! my first one ever! I went back to my classroom and was so excited…

The mission is so humbling already. I am continuously reminded of just how prideful I am, and how I CANNOT do this work without God and the spirit. I started memorizing scriptures. Its fun. And helps with the lessons. 

One thing that I realized this week is that EVERY spontaneous adventure I've gone on, and every hard thing I have done, has pointed me here and prepared me for this moment. Each time I have gone somewhere alone, like Cumorah or Virginia or BYU, has pushed me closer to the Book of Mormon. I KNOW that book  is true. I feel the spirit emanating from it. I feel light when I read it, and when I testify of its truth….

..I love you all so much. I want you to know I am obeying with exactness. I do not write letters or look at pictures. Only on PDAY. I obey the mission rules. Somewhere in the PMG it says that exact obedience will help us change the desires of our hearts. I also know that exact obedience brings the spirit of revelation into my heart….

The mission is hard, but I keep saying COOLEY"S ARE NOT QUITTERS. Thank you for raising me with the determination and attitude to get the job done right. To Go FOREVER.

Week 1: The adventure begins!

June 4, 2014
Well, the adventure begins! Sister Cooley arrived at the MTC and most likely broke the curbside record for goodbye! She is off and running strong! She is in God's hands now… and she was His long before she was ours. She will be an instrument in the hands of God in Indiana and I know they will love her and she will find Joy serving on her mission!
We had a beautiful experience last night with her being set apart as a missionary! There was such a sweet spirit of peace in our home and Megan felt comforted as the spirit witnessed to her that she was ready and this was what she was to do, anxiety fled and her heart was strengthened. Goodbyes are never easy but she was brave. ( Mom, Sarah and Coleman not so much)

A few of the notes from the counsel and advice given by President Webb before the actual setting apart as a missionary

Don’t be too hard on yourself. Just be steady and faithful. It’s not a sprint. Just be Megan and you will be marvelous.

You are leaving a legacy- it will be a good one or a bad one? What will be your legacy? What kind of agent of change will you be?  No matter what, you will leave a legacy.  Make it a good one.

Be like what Alma said to his son Shiblon (Alma 38)… be steady and faithful! Quoted President James E. Faust saying, “Steadiness and toil will serve you better than brilliance.”

Scripture for the week: Alma 29: 9

I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy.








First email from Sister Cooley:
Hey Family. We just have a few minutes to write and tell you that we are okay. This is an amazing place, the spirit is so strong here everywhere you go. Today we had practice lessons with some really hard investigators. I realized how hard this is going to be. Most of the time I couldnt think of what to say. I am excited to learn to the become an effective teacher, because honestly right now.... I have NO idea what I am doing. 

I love you all so much. Thank you so much for supporting me in this. Today has been tough, but I KNOW that I am supposed to be here. I am happy to be here and know that heavenly father loves me and is looking out for me.