Hello Family,

Well things are going pretty good for me here on the other side of the world. OK, so on Tuesday we were doing some finding time and we doored into this man who had really strong beliefs that their God was in the nature and that there wasn't a life after this. Anyways, we talked to him for a couple minutes and I could tell it wasn't going anywhere. I bore my testimony that God is our Father in Heaven and that there really was a life after this one. He disagreed with me obviously but then I had him promise that after this life when he sees me that he will come and talk to me and that I would teach him. He laughed and agreed to do so. I thought it was a funny experience.

On Wednesday we did a chalk display of the Plan of Salvation and that was pretty fun. I was talking with as many people as I could. I stopped these two couples and one of the guys just put up his hand and then I heard the wife say, in English, "he's speaking German" then I was like "hey wait, I speak english too and I asked them where they were from and they said Washington. I said you have got to be kidding so am I. They didnt believe me at the moment so they asked me where at and then I said Tri-Cities and then they were like, "Oh cool. We are from Spokane." Pretty sweet. I don't remember their names or anything but still pretty cool.

So I got to put my farming skills to work a little this week. No, I didnt get to work on a farm or drive tractor but this guy was trying to fix his car lock and he needed to take the whole handle out he had the inside door panel off. So we stopped and Elder Brown tried to help him. I just stood there and watched. After about 10-15 minutes of them both trying to figure it out they gave up. Then I asked the man if I could try. I knew I could get it out. Anyways, he was like try if you want but you aint gonna get it out. So I took my backpack off and reached my hand inside the door and in less than a minute I handed the handle and lock over to him. I loved it because I pulled my hand out and I had grease all over my arm. Reminded me of the farm.

Yesterday we were doing doors in a Hochhäuse (big apartment building) We went to the first door and I could smell something rancid. The door opened and this man was standing there without a shirt on, as most times that is the case. All of a sudden it felt like someone had slapped me in the face with a gag stick. I wanted to puke. The smell was absolutely terrible. I have never smelt something so bad in my life. I was so stinking close to turning around and walking outside. Luckily, he didn't have us come in but I was seriously sick for 15 minutes or so. The cool thing about it though was he was an albino! Crazy! I have never seen an albino person before. Pretty crazy.

I want to end this letter with a very awesome experience I had this week. All of our investigators are really being pretty weak with keeping their commitments and letting us set up appointments. It was Saturday that we had a day totally devoted to Finding Time. After having a week of mostly finding time I was not really too excited to do even more. That morning in my personal prayers I asked my Heavenly Father for help and that someone we talked to would be ready in some way and want to hear the gospel. Every door we knocked on and every person we talked to I pictured them in my mind being being ready and wanting to hear the message of the restoration. Throughout the whole day I was praying. We had no success until about six o'clock, when we were doing doors we had this lady come up to us and asked us if we could come talk with her and her friend. She spoke English. We said of course and I was thinking in my head, "You have got to be kidding me". We started teaching the man in German and the the lady began to ask me questions in English. Elder Brown continued teaching the man while I spoke with the lady. I began to teach her the message of the Restoration. I got emotional and it was because of the Spirit. I knew at this point she could feel the spirit. I asked her what her feelings were and she explained to me, all day she had felt tense and nervous but she said because of you sharing this "I feel at peace". I testified to her that it wasn't me but it was the spirit of God. She began to tear up and cry. The spirit was so strong. That experience alone strenghtened my testimony. I know that because I was doing the best I could and was totally relying on the Lord that day that my prayers were answered. It was an amazing experience for me. They were ready to hear the message.

I am reading the conference talks and I love to read what the Prophet and his apostles say. I know that it is from God and that it is amazing. The gospel keeps us free. In Elder Christofferson's talk he said, "Obedience gives us greater control over our lives, greater capacity to come and go, to work and create". That is so true. As we are obedient to the commandments which have been given to us it makes us free and there is nothing that can hold us back.

Thanks for your love and support and I look forward to getting the deodorant. I am on my last stick.

"No Regrets"

Elder Merrill