Dear Family,
This week was a pretty awesome week. I had a pretty cool experience on Sunday that I won't be forgetting. I figure I'll just take it out of my journal because it's already written:
"During the second hour of church I took care of the lesson (Gospel Principles). I decided to show the movie 'Finding Faith in Christ'. I hadn't seen it on the mission and was pretty excited to watch it. I wanted to begin the class with a scripture but I couldn't find it so I decided to just start the movie. I was able to find the scripture I wanted and then a couple others. I was able to focus on the movie and it was the part when Christ performs all the miracles. The spirit was extremely strong. The movie ended and I had about 15 minutes to share 2 Nephi 31:12,21; John 3:16; Matthew 4:19. I first bore testimony about how much God loves us to of given his Son as an example to all of the world. Then I ended with bearing testimony that Christ is the way and that he is a perfect example. It's hard to describe how it was but it was very quiet and the Spirit testified of the truth. My tongue was loosened and I taught by the power of the spirit. Pretty amazing lesson. .... After the Sacrament meeting was done, Martin Bader and I got dressed in white. I felt kind of different. I felt weird because I've never dressed in all white besides in the temple. We went and got picture's then had the baptismal service. Brother Holland-Letz gave a great talk about the Remission of sins. We then went to the baptismal font. I led him into the water. It was pretty chilly. The water unfortunately came to my waist. I did the baptism and then when I put him under the water I had to push him down because he wasn't totally underneath. We got it done Right the first time though. I remember when he came up he had a hard time breathing because the water was so cold. I just smiled and patted him on the back. I stood there and looked at Martin and just soaked it all in. He looked joyful. As I was changing I was thinking about how great of an opportunity it was to be the one to help him make this huge step in following Christ. He was totally ready and prepared. From that first appointment when he accepted the baptismal commitment to now, I knew the Lord had prepared him for this. I feel so good and had a smile on my face the whole day. I wasn't nervous but very excited that I had this opportunity."
That was the sweet experience. The Lord knows when and how to bless us. It's a great experience being here serving the Lord. I know that he love us and that he understands each and everyone of us. He knows our struggles, strengths and what we love. I love the gospel and am so thankful for the opportunity that I have to be here. I hope everyone can understand how much I love this calling and how much it means to me.
Sounds like the regular old Merrill home. I get a kick out of how the kids want texting and how mom wants a i-phone. Texting is a pretty sweet help too. I think it's a very helpful tool. I like it. I think I would like it when I get back. naja... Well sounds like the farm is getting ready for a good year. I miss cleaning up old metal like that. I wish I could do that every once and a while.
Well I love you all. We gotta go and do some einkaufen. Have fun. Keep skiing it up. Thanks for the addresses of Dext and Austin. For everyone else that writes to me, Thankyou. I appreciate it TONSSSSSS. Letters mean a lot to missionaries. So do you have a wii now or what? You talked about playing wii. Crazy!. (It was borrowed)
Love you all.
"No Regrets"
Love,
Elder Merrill
