October 13, 2009

Hello Dad, Mom, and kids,

Things are going pretty well here in Germany. Well, to answer your questions. I believe my long underwear should be in my green ski bag. Umm, another question. What is happening to all the stuff in my closet? There was some things that I believe I put on the top shelf that hopefully I will be able to find. I don't think I'll need my long underwear before Christmas so don't worry about sending anything before. I also thought maple flavoring would be nice so that I can make syrup because it's not a common item and when it is there it's expensive. They don't have vanilla flavoring either so if i would need that to make the syrup. Also, I would like some recipes like German pancakes, chicken Alfredo, a recipe for syrup and other easy stuff if possible. I don't want you to send me anything big or expensive for Christmas. I would rather have you save the trouble and money and save it for when I get home :)

This past week has been pretty nice. We were able to find one new investigator. She is pretty old and very very nice. She is too nice, actually. Hopefully she will come to church and progress in the gospel. We were able to go to a part member families home on Sunday for Cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate. It was way good. That's something that I'm really going to miss. Rolf Peters was able to come to church this week. He really enjoyed it. It's going to be hard to keep teaching him though because he smokes like a chimney. He is a way friendly guy and wants to help us out with the language. We ran into an old investigator yesterday. She is 19 and speaks English. I was talking with her for a while and she lived in Moses lake for 2 months in 2005. She stayed with some members but she didn't remember their name. It was way sweet. Apparently, she knows that the church is true but is just having a hard time wanting to "change". She lives all of the commandments and everything but I don't know whats holding her back. Hopefully we can meet with her again and help her realize the blessing that it is to accept the gospel.

The other day we were doing doors and we talked with this guy, he was maybe 23-24. We taught him at his door for like 15 minutes. It was way sweet. He seemed really interested and said that we could meet again. I'm hoping that I'll be able to stay in this area for a while because it has loads of potential.

I am loving the mission so much! I can't believe it's already been 8 months. Something funny... The area Presidency has told us that we are not allowed to shake hand's anymore because of the swine flu. I don't know how bad it is or anything but hopefully it's not for too long.
Tomorrow we have Zone Conference and I'm pretty excited. Time is flying by this cycle. It's crazy how it works on the mission. It really seems like I've been in Germany for a couple weeks. I am starting now to understand other people's conversations that they are having with each other. It's funny being able to listen to people when they think that I can't understand.
Elder Gruber is a little sick so hopefully I don't get anything.

Tell the kids Happy birthday for me. I hope everything is well at home now.
I got a letter from the Laurels in the ward. It was nice. I thought it was really funny that Kiersten and Kelsey wrote the least amount. Hopefully, I'll get letters from them soon.

Love you all and I want to just say that this Church is true. I see people that don't have it and they are just not happy. It's amazing the joy that the gospel brings into our lives. Love you all and I can't wait to hear from you again.

"No Regrets"

Love
Elder Merrill

p.s. What are some things that might be cool for little Christmas presents from Germany?