The New Area is GREAT!!

Dear Family,

The new area is sweet. The district is sweeter. My companion is the Sweetest! His German is Amazing. He has only been out 9 months and he already speaks better than missionaries going home. I feel so blessed. I have already learned so much from him. As long as I keep working hard and studying diligently my German will really improve this cycle. His name is Elder Jeff Moffat. He is from Lakeside, AZ. He is really quiet but sometimes he is way funny. I love him. I'm so excited to serve with him.

We have an investigator who had a baptismal date but we will have to push it back because he hasn't come to church at all. Hopefully it will all work out still. We have another investigator who is not progressing so we will probably drop him this week. This area is a lot like Langen just a lot more people and a lot richer people. The head quarters of Bayer (the medicine) is here in Leverkussen so there are some big businessmen here. There is a really good soccer team here so I will probably get a jersey. There aren't hardly as many Turks here as there was in my other areas. I feel so blessed to serve here.

We had a Young Single Adult (JAE) Activity to try and activate some JAE's. We roasted marshmallows next to the river and had s'mores. It was fun. The marshmallows aren't like Americas. They are weird and don't taste as good. Being here in Germany makes me love the States more and more. It's really quite amazing how evil this part of the world is but it only strengthens my testimony of the gospel because it truly brings me a lot of joy.

I have been reading "Our Heritage" and it's great to learn about the history of the church. I Love the scriptures so much. It's such a blessing in our lives to have them.

Yesterday we were doing doors and we knocked into this lady and her kids. She didn't speak German but she told me to wait just a moment. She called up her husband on the cell phone and told me to talk. I talked to the guy on the phone, who I assume was her husband, and I testified of families and how they can live together forever. Unfortunately, he said no but it was a sweet experience to contact someone on the phone.

Well nothing much else happened this week but I am excited for next week. Hopefully I'll get some letters but I aint counting on them. It sounds like you guys had a pretty crazy week. That is so sweet that Jace got to go to the temple with his dad and all his family. That's so great. I'm really proud of him and excited for the blessings that will come his way for being a servant of the Lord. So Brittany's husband, who is this guy I didn't even know she was getting married. Anyone else getting married? Anyone my age? Kaleb Whitby said it right, detail. I love hearing the little stuff. You do a really great job at writing Mom and want to thank you for it. It's really an uplifter for the week. Especially since I only get your email for the week. Hopefully some others will write me. (I think this is a hint.) Oh well, I'm just rambling on right now because I dont have much to say. Today we are going to play basketball with the zone leaders and their investigator which should be fun. Thanks for everything. Love you.

"No Regrets"

Elder Merrill