Last Email From Suriname

This is the last email we received from Emily way back in March 23. I got busy and forgot to add it to the blog. She arrived home three days later after an all-nighter in the Miami airport.

Big news guys: I am coming home and will be released upon my return because I've served for 17 months. I'm not exactly sure when I will get to the US because we haven't found any flights. We have been in quarantine since last Wednesday (hence my becoming suddenly active on Facebook since it's one of the only ways we can do missionary work now).

  It's been a really emotional week. My heart feels broken, but I know that feeling will fade with time. What won't fade is my love for Suriname and Bonaire: the people I have met and come to love, the culture, the missionaries, my mission president and wife, all of it. I am beyond grateful to have had the opportunity to serve the Lord in theTrinidad Port of Spain mission. My gratitude has often brought me to tears these past couple months and weeks as I look back on all the times I have felt the love and presence of my Savior Jesus Christ. He has been with me every step of the way. I know He lives without a shadow of a doubt and I will serve Him for as long as I stay on this Earth. I have learned a lot of things and my testimony of my Savior Jesus Christ has deepened more than I could ever have imagined through my mission experience. I have learned that God has a great plan that we will never understand but that is perfect in every way. He knew where I needed to be and with whom I needed to be. I know that His hand is in His work. Even though a lot of missionaries around the world will be returning to their homelands, nothing can or will stop the gathering of Israel. I have been praying to know what to do to continue this gathering where I will be going. I know that each one of you can also pray to know how you can further God's work. He has a plan, so let's get on the same page. Now is the time to show our Heavenly Father our faith in Him. We came to Earth with a choice. It is in the hardest of times that our ability to choose matters the most. We must choose Him. I choose Him

I love you guys! See you soon

Zuster Mergenthaler

I shared her homecoming pictures already which were pretty much me with my phone camera. She was glad because who wants a forever-picture of no sleep and no shower for 36 hours. But here are a few snapshots of her settling into life at home:

Setting up her phone:

Working out with Sean. 

Playing Capture the Flag on Mt. Lemmon:

It’s good to have her back. She’s struggling finding a job, but so many people are. In her free time she has been sewing, reading good books, deciding on a major for school (looks like chemistry as pre-med undergrad, then on to medical school to be psychiatrist), taking Khan Academy courses in Calculus and Chemistry to refresh her skills, and hanging out with the fam.