Merrell Mission: 08-11-2019 - Zone Conferences in South Carolina

Another week has flown by! We left for South Carolina after church on Sunday, so we could be in our hotel room on Monday for two Medical Health Conferences scheduled that day. Our MHC's are on-line video conferences and include the mission president and his wife, the mission nurse, the area mental health advisor, counselors from LDS family services, and Elder Merrell and me. They usually last around an hour to an hour and a half.

These conferences are new to the church's missionary program as of January, and are a great help to the mission president as he makes difficult decisions. I do admire all these good men and women who love and care for our missionaries, especially our mission presidents and their wives.

This week we attended four zone conferences. We enjoyed getting to know President and Sister Innes from Sandy, Utah. They are great people.

Conway, South Carolina Zone Conference
(back row) President and Sister Innes, Elder & Sister Merrell, Sister Smith
(amazing talented single sister who taught at BYUI and was the creator of the Carinessa garment.)
and Sister and Elder (I have forgotten their names) Member Leadership Support Missionaries

Each mission president has unique traditions woven into their zone conferences. During all the South Carolina Zone Conferences, President Innes had a slide show prepared with photos of all the people in their mission who became members of the church since the last time they met. After the slide show, he turned the time over to the missionaries to share "mission miracles." These good missionaries shared sweet stories of how they were led, guided, inspired, etc. to help, find, teach, share, etc. the gospel with others. The Lord is truly in the details of our lives!

Columbia, SC Zone Conference with Elder & Sister Jensen and Sister and Elder Merrell
(Elder & Sister Jensen work in the mission office and trained at the MTC
with Marlene Shirley, Rod's office nurse.

Greenville, South Carolina Zone Conference;
Elder and Sister Balstaedt (mission nurse)
and Elder and Sister Merrell
If the missionaries have health questions, they are to call Sister Balstaedt first.
If she needs help, she calls Elder Merrell.

We were able to attend the Columbia, SC Temple. We love being in the temple! There is always a feeling of love and peace there.

Columbia South Carolina Temple, Elder and Sister Merrell

We also spent some time at Myrtle Beach.

Birthday lunch for Elder Merrell

Elder and Sister Merrell

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

I wanted to dip my toe in the Atlantic Ocean

We also explored Charleston, South Carolina. We took a buggy ride & tour and learned that many of the homes are over 300 years old and have been restored to their original appearance.