September 15, 2009

Hello Family,

This last week has been pretty sweet. Last pday we went and I bought a coat for the winter. It looks pretty nice I think but it cost quite a bit. We looked through a bunch of stores and they were all expensive or they weren't very thick. I found a coat that I liked in a store called Kaufhof. It's kind of like a JC Pennies or something like that. It cost me 140 Euro. Something that I had to get though. The weather is getting colder and colder so I'll start to use it here in the coming weeks.

Transfers calls are this Saturday. I think that we will probably stay together but there is also a really good chance that Elder Moffat could train. There are only 3 German Goldens coming in this transfer so he could very well train one of them. It will be interesting to see what happens.
I got a letter from Sandy Beus last night. She wrote me a really nice letter. She said that Dad seems to be leading the ward with love, that, mom, you are very loving and a wonderful mother, that the girls are beautiful, Korbin is a man (since when), and Kory is just Kory. It was a really nice letter. I wrote her back this morning before emails and I'll send that off today.

This last week we taught this guy who is a pole vaulter. He is moving to South Africa pretty soon but he was way cool. We just looked him up and apparently he was 6th in the world in 2001. Pretty crazy. He was a way cool guy. He let us in and we taught him. He said that he will try to visit our church before he leaves but if not for sure when he gets back.

This last week has been pretty sweet. On Friday morning we had an appointment with a newly found investigator, Petros. It was our second time meeting with him. We went to his place but unfortunately he wasn't there. We called him but no answer. It was sad. That day we were eating lunch and we had an impression to call him up again. I called him and he answered. We asked where he was and he said that he was in the hall. We asked if we could come by in a half hour. He agreed. We quit lunch early and left immediately. We were waiting for a bus to come that would take us there. This bus showed up that we had never taken before or never even seen. Elder Moffat asked the bus driver if he was going to where we needed to go. He was going to the exact place. We got on the bus and it stopped only twice before our stop when the other buses stop 7-8 times. We were able to make it to his house in exactly a half hour. We taught him a short lesson and set up a return appointment. It was was sweet. The miracle to that story was that later we found out that the bus we took only came once a day and that it only made a couple stops. It was a cool experience for both of us to see the hand of the Lord in our work. As we were striving to listen to the Spirit the Lord blessed us.

That's crazy we got a new patriarch. Is Patriarch Andelin still doing it? Are the Darts in our ward now or what? Sounds Like Chiawana is pretty big. How does Kelsey like it? It's crazy how people are getting married. Is Emily Davidson already married?

It's crazy, here in Germany all the old people ride bikes. Like 80 yr. old people ride bikes like nothing. They can ride a bike better than they can walk. So Korbin is taking my room over huh. That's cool. Hopefully I'll still have a couple of clothes left when I get home. Speaking of clothes. the picture you sent me of dad with all the bishops, he was wearing both my pants and my shirt. (Kyle is wrong, Todd was wearing his own pants.) I couldn't see the shoes he was wearing but it wouldn't of surprised me. I laughed about it. Feel free to use my clothes. Sister Dietrich is a very sweet old grandma. I love her. Well thanks for all the love and support.

Dad thanks for the email. I opened it up and I read "sorry I haven't written to you a whole lot. Love dad" and then that was it. I was like you have got to be kidding. I scrolled down and then I saw that you had written an email. Thanks for that. I'm sure it was a way scary experience. I don't know what I would have done. How long do you figure you were under the water? I'm glad everything turned out OK.

Thanks for your love, support, and updates on the farm. You should get the county to move the power lines to the edge of the field then it would be a lot easier for circles. Sometimes I see tractors and I get a little home sick for working on the farm. I love it. I'm doing great though.
I am forgetting myself and doing what I can to serve those around me. It's a miracle to watch myself change into a man and not focus on me rather focusing on serving others. You have been a good example to me with serving others. I remember so many times were you took me to serve someone and then all the times that you served me when you didn't have to.
I am grateful for my family and the examples you are to me. Thank you all and I love you.

"No Regrets"

Love,
Elder Merrill