Hey, Everyone! So this will be a quick one! Hurricane Florence is on it's way here, so we a re prepping' for it! I do have an interesting story for the week that some of you might laugh at:
We were out tracting- I swear that's where all the ridiculous stories come from! We ran into a True Israelite. Now, for those of you that don't know what that is, they believe Jesus was black and that the Jews were black as well. I have a lot of answers for people who try to argue us on things, but I honestly have no answers for the True Israelites. The only thing I tell them is that I don't care what color Jesus was. The only thing that matters to me is that He sacrificed himself for all of us. Well, this guy wasn't having any of that! We kind of went back and forth for about 10ish minutes. When we finally managed to get a way to leave, he told us that since the whites had enslaved the blacks that it would soon be reversed. He said that soon he will be whipping us and beating us alongside our families. I actually laughed when he said it, which made him a little upset. But he was too flustered to say anything. As we were leaving, the only thing he said was, "I hope you go the gym so you can handle the whipping I'll give you!"
I hope you all had a good week! I'll talk to you next week...if the hurricane doesn't kill me!!
Love,
Elder Merritt
PS Here are some letters my parents received as the mission has worked endlessly to make sure all missionaries are in safe places to weather the storm:
9-11-2018
Good morning.
Hurricane Florence continues its march toward
the Carolinas. It is now a strong, level 4 hurricane and appears headed
directly to the greater Wilmington, NC area, expecting to hit land late
Thursday evening or early Friday.
The final path and strength of
the storm could change, but we are taking all necessary precautions to
keep every missionary safe. This morning we initiated the evacuation of
all missionaries from the Wilmington Zone and are relocating them
to
areas farther inland to stay in Safe Houses where faithful members of
the Church will act as their host in homes appropriate to receive
missionaries for possibly a few days. This is happening well ahead of
the storm to ensure the missionaries do not get trapped in gridlock on
the coast as the storm gets closer. (We are monitoring their travel as I
write, and most of them are at or near the final destination.) The
missionaries spent all day yesterday preparing for this departure:
securing their apartments and gathering all needed supplies, including
their 72 Hour Kits and the extra water we supplied them with at last
zone conference meetings.
Tomorrow we will be relocating several companionships that live farther
inland but in places particularly vulnerable to high flooding
(Lumberton, Pembroke and Laurinburg) to member Safe Houses well outside
of their immediate ward or branch area.
Given that it appears
the storm will affect virtually every part of the mission with very high
winds and extreme rainfall, we are also now directing all other
missionaries to go the designated Safe House in their ward/branch by
tomorrow night (Wednesday), as opposed to staying in their apartments.
Please know that I am meeting regularly with local Church leaders and
the mission office staff and constantly monitoring the storm’s
development. Fortunately, this area has a lot of experience with these
situations and thus knows how to prepare for, and get through, these
storms and their accompanying effects quite well. Every companionship
has been thoroughly trained on the best practices gleaned from all of
this local experience, as well as all of our communications and
evacuation protocols.
The missionaries are calm and safe and
obediently following directions. They are surrounded by the love,
concern, and wisdom of all of the wonderful members of the Church in
this area.
Thank you so much for your prayers. I will
continue to keep you informed over these next few days with this daily
email, and through Facebook.
Faithfully,
President Holland
9-12-2018
Dear Parents,
I wanted to inform you of another major move we are making today. This is more of a hopeful signal than a cause for alarm.
We are now moving all missionaries in the central Fayetteville area
(including those missionaries who had previously been evacuated from
Wilmington to places around Fayetteville) and locating them in member
Safe Houses in the greater Raleigh area.
As we have been
watching this storm carefully and constantly, it appears increasingly
likely that this storm will pull more to the south than originally
thought. The upshot of this is that areas around the center of
Fayetteville are likely to still face many of the strong inland effects
of the storm. However, the areas around the center of Raleigh now
appear set for much less wind and far, far less rain than predicted
earlier. (Despite being farther inland from Fayetteville, Raleigh was
originally predicted to receive the most amount of rain when it looked
like the storm was coming straight up the middle of the state and would
collide with a storm over the Appalachia’s.)
This storm path
could move on us yet again. But, given that our best estimates tell us
that destinations north and west of central Fayetteville are now likely
to be quite a bit calmer than the southeastern half the state, and that
we still have a day before the storm hits, we are moving all
missionaries into the safest, calmest areas possible. This operation is
underway as I write. It will be complete by tonight--a solid 24 hours
before Florence is set to hit the coast. Local members with large and
safe homes in the Raleigh, Raleigh South, and Apex stakes have
immediately and enthusiastically stepped forward to receive these
missionaries for as long as needed.
In short, if the current
projections prove roughly accurate (and predictions do typically become
more accurate the closer we get to landfall), this move will ensure that
every missionary should be safely housed outside of the storm’s worst
inland effects.
Faithfully,
President Holland
North Carolina Raleigh Mission
9-13-2018
Dear Parents,
As of 11:00 am (EST) this morning, every
companionship in the North Carolina Raleigh Mission is settled into
their Safe Houses, all of which are located in geographies and on
elevations well equipped to avoid flooding and damage from severe wind.
The operation yesterday to move most of three zones north to
Raleigh in less than five hours was a work of gospel charity and
miracles in action. Your missionaries were so dutiful and cheerful in
following instructions that were not always convenient. Church leaders
and members moved instantly and warmly to step forward to take them into
their homes. The Mission Office staff worked tirelessly and creatively
to assist with this unexpected, urgent and fairly sweeping task. I
wish the whole world could witness what I did. Like me, they could not
help but be inspired by such a capable, caring and faithful community.
Hurricane Florence has been downgraded to a level 2 storm,
and there is even more convergence in the computer models showing that
while the storm will likely hit land in North Carolina, its path will
move down into South Carolina. Keep in mind that a category 2 hurricane
is still a very serious storm and the path could still change directions
from the current predictions, but these are very good signs for this
mission. (We do wince and pray for our counterparts in South Carolina.)
At this point, I should stress that part of the challenge here
is not just surviving the storm but dealing with its aftermath. While I
now have a high degree of confidence that all of the missionaries will
be spared the brunt of this storm and its worst effects, we do not know
exactly what we will be facing after it is over. This starts with the
issue of electrical power. Please do not be alarmed if you do not hear
from me or this mission immediately after the storm has passed. The
chances of widespread power outages are high. Now, rest assured:
between the mission and the wards/stakes, we have dual systems in place
to take a physical accounting of all missionaries if needs be. But,
even if we collect information that way, we cannot guarantee that we
will be able to communicate it back to you in the most timely fashion if
power is out or communications systems are otherwise compromised. Just
know, getting a post storm report to you will be a top priority.
We will also have to wait and see how power operates all over the
state, where flooding occurs, and how destructive the storm is to roads,
to determine how long missionaries will need to stay in their Safe
Houses. The biggest question of all might be, how long will it take to
put missionaries back in the Wilmington area given what is likely very
significant damage to the coast? Just know, we will ensure that every
relocated missionary will live comfortably and securely as we sort
through the full effects of this storm for the whole state, and thus the
mission. As always, we will keep you informed.
Again, I bear my
witness to you that the Lord is watching over this mission and these
missionaries. Despite the commotion of the world, we are prepared, and
the miracles are already appearing.
Faithfully,
President Holland
North Carolina Raleigh Mission
