January 17, 2011

Dear Mom,

This week was pretty good. We were really busy with appointments which is good. It is so much easier working with another Zone Leader rather than a Golden. I loved working with all three of my Goldens but it just takes it out of you. On Thursday we were running to catch buses and running to appointments because they were all planned so close to each other. It's way fun. We had to sprint a quarter mile to catch a bus that drove past us and I realized how bad I am. It will be nice to work out again. We met with Lesesca this week. She speaks German and Spanish. We took a member, Alberto, who also speaks spanish and it was really good. She didn't come to church but hopefully sometime she'll be able to make it. We are also meeting with a guy named Basak. He is from Vietnam and speaks English. He doesn't know anything about God or Jesus Christ and so it's been fun being able to teach him from nothing. He likes coming to church and meeting with us. He reminds me of Brother Phong. Speaking of which I talked to him a couple weeks ago and he seemed to be doing OK. We talked on the phone for 10 minutes or so and he was thankful that I called. He goes teaching with the missionaries which is good for him. I haven't been able to get ahold of Sister Pickelein but I will definitely do it before I leave.

So to answer your questions about my foot. It hurts pretty bad when I run and walking it doesn't hurt too much. The callous has been there since I left on my mission but has only gotten bigger. It just puts on a lot of pressure on the side of my big toe and on the tip of my second toe. I'll survive. It's not a huge annoyance but not very pleasant.

We are going on a split today with Paderborn. I'm going with Elder Gardner which I'm excited for. He is one of my favorite companions. He knows why he is out here and has a super strong testimony. I loved being able to serve with him. Yesterday at church we had two people to church but Basak had to leave before Sacrament meeting. We have a pretty good week planned out and we are excited to work together in our area more this week. Last week we had the meeting in Frankfurt and then two splits. It's pretty fun to work with other missionaries especially when they have good attitudes and want to get better.

I love serving here in Dortmund because I've been able to get a lot of stuff going up here. I have had some good companions here that have helped me get the area to what it is now. It still can have more lessons taught during the week but we are getting there. Before I leave I want to have a solid unforgettable week. I'm going to tell all of our investigators one week that I'm leaving and that I want them to all come to church with me before I leave. It's crazy how fast time flies. Things are going well and I'm super pumped for this new year. To be honest with you I haven't really set goals for myself because I don't know what I should set goals for. Maybe after my exit interview with President I'll have a little bit better of an Idea of what I should set for myself.

I hope Grandpa is doing well. I am super excited to see him again and I am excited to talk with him. Hopefully he'll be excited and be able to talk with me. I'm guessing that he will want to hear all about my mission.

Well love you all so much. Thanks for the love and support you are giving me. I am so thankful for my family. I couldn't have asked for a better one. I love my mission so much. I am loving talking with all the people and teaching all of them. We have it good. I just hope that we can get a baptismal date set this week with Evalene. Keep us in your prayers.

"No Regrets"

Love
Elder Merrill

January 12, 2011

Dear Mom, Dad, Family,

So first off Mom, I don't know what you really want to teach or to who you want to teach it to but I thought of 1 Nephi 17:36 and how God created the world for us. He wanted us as his spirit children to come to Earth and receive a body like he has. I also thought of Romans 8:16-17 we are all heirs of the Kingdom of god. Also Jeremiah 1:5 each and everyone of us has a personal relationship with God and he knew us all before we came to earth. The last is Moses 1:39 this is his work and his glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Those are a couple scriptures that I could use but it would all depend on who I was teaching or talking with.

On Monday we had a zone leader meeting which is always great. The missionaries there all have way strong testimonies and love serving the Lord. I feel privileged to be able to work with them. We discussed the new year and the things that we want to achieve. We are going to focus on the next six months rather than the whole year because it's way better to have short term goals and measure our success more often than to wait until the end and possibly miss our goal by a long shot. This last year we did pretty decent. We didn't get close to meeting our goal but there was some things that came in between that kind of knocked us off track. We ended up having 156 baptisms for the year which is the first time in over a decade that baptisms have increased from the year before. in 2009 we only had 96 baptism so that was a really good improvement I thought. We are going to set a goal of 100 for the first 6 months which ought to be really awesome. 2/3 of our mission has been out on their mission less than 6 months so we are really young. They all have a lot to learn but they all seem to be doing really good. I need to better myself in increasing my skills and help others by increasing their skills. We had an appointment with a lady yesterday named Lesesca. She is from Cuba and very nice. We committed her to being baptized if she were to find out that the church is true. She agreed to it but the hard thing is going to get her to church. She works way late on Saturday nights and so she doesn't want to come to church. I hope that she will be able to come.

Sounds like you are all busy. How is school going for everyone? It's good to hear that it was a good Ward Conference. I always enjoy Ward Conference because we have some really great leaders in our stake. The Stake Presidency all speak really well and follow the spirit well. That's one thing that I really admire about all of them. I'm glad that Dad did a good job on his talk. Sounds like all the kids are doing well. Was Korbin not originally on the Sophomore team? How come he can't play with the freshman? Wasn't he at the beginning?

The weather is warmer here. All of the snow is finally gone which is a blessing. It's absolutely no fun as a missionary. It's still pretty cold and rainy but it's good. There is a lot of young missionaries in our zone which we are working with so we are doing quite of few splits this transfer. I hope that the missionaries will increase their skills faster and become better missionaries. We've stressed obedience and dedication a lot the last 8 months and I think it will start to pay off. The Frankfurt Mission is very obedient and dedicated and after the merge it was tough for the new missionaries and so there was a lot of rebellion and disobedience but I think that it is finally starting to go away. President Ninow is amazing. Every time he speaks it is something to feel you with the spirit. I love being able to work with him more and be in meetings with him. I am grateful for the blessing it has been to have a fantastic mission president and a great mission. I love it so much and I know that the Lord called me to this mission to not only have me help other's lives but for others to help my life.

Thank you for all you do and for you writing me every week. I love being able to read emails from you. it lifts my spirit and I'm grateful for all you've done for me.

"No Regrets"

Love
Elder Merrill

p.s. The pictures of my foot is how it is when resting. Hopefully you can kind of see. another thing is that on the big toe, I don't know if it's a callus or what but it really hurts if pressure is put of it.

January 4, 2011

Dear Mom/Dad/Kids,

Sorry that we couldn't end our conversation but it's alright. There is a lot of things that have changed it sounds like. I'm curious to see how it all is at home now. So what do you have to do Dad at this Farm Bureau thing at the TRAC? Sounds like you are all really busy. Yesterday we had a zone conference. We were supposed to have a mission tour with Elder Paya (Area Seventy) but he got sick the night before and he couldn't come. It was way good though. I played a musical number, "Nearer My God To Thee", on the piano which turned out really good. I'll have to play it for you. It is a really easy arrangement but sounds really good. I tweaked it a little bit to make it longer and it is better too. President Ninow talked about our potentials in life and in the eternities. It was an amazing talk. I really enjoyed it a lot and learned a lot from it. He talked about how the Celestial kingdom is our goal but have we really decided that that is what we want to achieve. The first law of Heaven is obedience and in order to live in the Celestial kingdom we must be willing to abide by the rules/commandments that the Lord has given us. It was great. Doesn't really seem that it is my last zone conference that I'll have. I just feel like I have six months left. I kind of wish it was that way as well. I didn't tell you this but Last interviews I had with President I asked him if I could extend. He said that it's a great wish to have but he said I should plan to go home when scheduled. I was kind of sad but it's alright because it has to end sometime.

This last week was really stressful with transfers. Elders didn't really know what to do. People didn't organize it correctly so I was on the phone a lot that day trying to make sure that people got where they were supposed to. We also were able to do service this last week which was sweet. We helped a less active and her daughter was there who I have also tried to meet with. It was pretty good. I am excited for this week and the coming. We have a bunch of stuff scheduled so hopefully it will turn out well.

So Elder McClellan is doing well. It's interesting because we are both really old on the mission but neither of us feel like it. This is his first transfer as a zone leader and so I'm supposed to train him to do that. We are doing good though. We haven't seen each other for a super long time so we are trying to catch up on each other's missions. We are having a lot of fun though. I can't believe we are already in the second week of the transfer. Time is flying by way too fast. It's great to be here in Dortmund. The ward is great and all the members have really grown to respect me and we have some pretty good relationships. I'm super thankful for the spirit in my life and in the work. It would be really difficult without it there. I'm also really thankful for the healing power of the Atonement. We all need it so much. Every night saying my prayers I am so thankful for it because there are a bunch of things that I need to make better. It's a wonderful thing, the gospel is. I am super thankful for all the examples of true believers and those that have led me to do good. I love you all and hope that you all have a good week. Keep me posted on all the things that happened during the week.

"No Regrets"

Love
Elder Merrill

December 27, 2010

Dear Mom, Dad, and Family,

Sounds like you all had a good week. I'm interested to hear about this new game you found. Sounds like you all had a pretty good Christmas. Who knows, you may never have another Christmas with just us kids. Crazy huh. Don't count on it being my fault. :) So this week was pretty enjoyable but the end of the week was really slow. The 24, 25, and 26 are all considered days of Christmas so it's way slow. I had an awesome Birthday. I woke up, studied, and then Elder Gunnell made the cake for me. We left that morning early to deliver presents to the zone. We were gone for a couple hours because it snowed a bunch and so buses didn't drive. We came back and I saw that there was a newly wrapped present in Elder Gunnell's paper and two in my paper. I asked Elder Trujillo what they were and he didn't answer. They all pitched in and got me 3 birthday presents. I was so surprised. They got me a BVB Flag, BVB soccer ball, and BVB Beanie and Scarf. BVB is Dortmund's professional Soccer Team who is currently number 1 and just slaughtering everyone. Pretty cool. I was so thankful. That night we drove out to a members with the Youngs car and had dinner with her and her two sons. We had Fondue which was pretty fun. Christmas we ate at another members and went to the Youngs so Elder Trujillo could call home. I had a good talk with the Youngs and also gave them a snow globe with a picture of the district in it. Yesterday we only had one hour of church and then we went to a member family that lived way far away. It was fun. They have two cute little kids and we played games with them.

Transfer calls came this morning. I'm staying and getting Elder McClellan, which I am so pumped for. I have always wanted to serve with him. All the others are leaving which is sad. Elder Gunnell is going to be the new Assistant. He's pretty nervous but he'll do a really good job. It was so good to learn from all of them. I loved it.

I don't want to write too much more Because Elder Trujillo is ready to go and we are talking tonight. Love you tons.

"No Regrets"

Love
Elder Merrill

December 20, 2010

Dear Mom,

Sounds like a crazy week you had. So what does Taya's Husband look like? Super crazy. I can't believe that Kortneigh is getting married tomorrow! Oh man. I want to see a picture of her in her wedding dress, since I can't be there. So how is Korbin doing? I got the Family Christmas card this week and there is no way that Korbin is that tall. I'm gonna have to put a woopin on him. We have had a big snow storm come through this last week which dumped a bunch on us. We have probably got 10 inches all together. We had a snow ball fight on Thursday night at the church and I suffered because of it. My whole body was super sore. I didn't know that I could be that sore. It is finally gone so I can laugh again without having my body hurt. Another funny story. Yesterday we showed up to the Church early and shoveled sidewalks then the bishop gave me salt to salt the sidewalks. After I was done I went inside to wash my hands. I walked into the bathroom with my head down and when I looked up I saw Sister Westermann giving me a weird look. I turned around super fast while yelling, "O Mensch, O Mensch, O Mensch". It was pretty funny. Luckily nobody was adjusting their clothing.

So I hope that you've gotten my Package by now. I hope you like it and that it's what you wanted. I picked that one because I thought it fit our family pretty good. So I talked with President today, he said it would be OK if I were to call on the 27th. I'm going to be calling on the 27th so hopefully that works out well for you.

We were able to meet with Laura and Lesesca (her Mom). The appointment turned out really good and we set up a return appointment as well. They are super nice and I hope that they will show more interest. Nobody came to church this week which was a bummer. We had a couple people tell us that they were coming but ended up not coming. It could of been because of the weather. I hope that we can have some more success this Holiday season. It's I tough time of year but also the best time of year. We are able to see so many miracles during this time of year but for some reason it's tough to find new people. We had a pretty good finding week last week as a zone so hopefully that will carry over to this week a little bit.

Well I don't have much to say so I hope you have a great Christmas and have fun in Idaho. It would be great if I were to be able to see some pictures. Tell me about this week and then we'll talk to you soon. Thanks for all you do. Thanks for not sending me a bunch of stuff for Christmas/birthday. I didn't want anything so what I got was awesome. Thanks for all you do. I love you so much and I pray that you all are doing well and healthy. Thanks for being great parents and teaching us to live righteously. I am so thankful that Righteousness brings blessings and that it makes us progress so much. I am so thankful that I've chose to be obedient in my life and especially on my mission because I know that it has helped me change so much. I see other missionaries and how they choose not to be obedient and how it's kept them from being effective missionaries. They have so much potential but because they choose not to be obedient it's kept them from blessings.

"No Regrets"

Love you,

Elder Merrill

December 13, 2010

Dear Family,

It warmed up a bit and so the snow is gone now. It's kind of nice because I was sick of walking around in it. So I think I'll let you know. My left foot has been bugging me pretty badly. I don't know if you remember at all but I had a bunion starting and the mission has just helped it along. My big toe crosses over my second toe which puts some good pressure on it and my tendon to my big toe is tighter than you can believe. You can feel it and it doesn't feel good. So I just wanted to let you know that it might be something I need to take care of this summer and have surgery. No big deal though, I'm still walking just fine just with a little pain :).

So this week was pretty fun. We had a Christmas party on Saturday so they wanted us missionaries to sing a song. We ended up singing "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas". We found it on one of our Christmas CD's that we have and it was done acapella. We couldn't do it by ourselves so we had the CD player right behind us playing. It was pretty funny. We got a video of it so I won't forget it. It made everyone laugh and they loved it. I think it was good that they saw that we can be funny as well. I think a lot of members think that we have to be serious all the time and not have fun.

This week we taught several lessons which was good but we also had a bunch of things fall out. It kind of gets frustrating when people just drop your appointment and think that it doesn't matter. It would make life a lot easier if they were to just tell us no. Laura, the nine year old little girl and her Mom weren't able to come to the Christmas party because she had to work. Her mom is really nice to me on the phone and I'm hoping that we can start to teach them both. Laura came to church with a less active member twice and loved it. We did have this lady show up the first hour of Church (Priesthood RS) and then we spent the next hour teaching her with the High Councilor from a different ward. She was pretty emotionally unstable and she has made some pretty poor decisions in her life that hasn't helped her out too much. She stayed for Sacrament meeting and I think it was really good for her. She was able to calm down and to think about Christ rather than her problems that she was going through. She wouldn't give me any of her information but she said that she would come again to church before Christmas. We are mostly back to the finding point in the work. We need a bigger teaching pool because we can't teach a ton. Things are going well though. Elder Trujillo is doing well. His Interview with President really helped him I think. He struggles a lot with the language but so did I. I still learn something new all the time. I can talk fluently and understand everything but there is still certain grammar principles that are super hard to understand that I work on as well as vocabulary. I'm working on verbs and trying to get my vocabulary solid.

I still haven't talked with President about whether I can call on the 27th and I will do that this week. My guess is that it won't be a big problem. I got your package this week. Thanks for not sending useless stuff. I am super thankful for all the treats that you packed in instead, so are my companions. My favorite pretzel stick is the Reese's chunks. It was a little piece of heaven.

Here is what I studied about this morning. It's great to know that the Atonement is there for us. It must be there in order for us to reach the full potential. We sang the song "More Holiness Give Me" this morning and there is the line 'more tears for His sorrows, more pain at His grief' I was thinking about how powerful the Atonement is and if we were to totally understand the pain, sorrow, and grief that we wouldn't want to displease him and would have absolute no desire to sin. I don't have a desire to sin but sometimes I forget my potential and mess up. How great is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I am so very thankful for the opportunity I have to serve the Lord and to be apart of this his Marvelous Work and a Wonder.

Well I hope you have a good week. Any new Pictures? I would love to see some. Sounds like kids have grown up quite a bit. Thanks for your love and support. It's great to be a missionary.

"No Regrets"

Love
Elder Merrill

p.s. Did you get my packages yet?

December 6 2009

Dear Mom, Dad, and Family,

So it's only been 3 days since I wrote you last so there isn't too much to say. Yesterday we didn't have anyone to church. It wasn't a very good week for us numbers wise. We have a couple people that we are working hard with and it will be tough to get them baptized by the end of the year. There is a 9-year old little girl that loves coming to church and wants to keep coming so we are going to try and talk with her mom to see if we can teach her and have a family take them in so she can get baptized. We went to Essen last week and it was Freezing! I didn't warm up the rest of the night. I sent off your package (Mom) and then another small package with the kids and Dad's presents in them. I hope you like them all. Thanks for the money you threw in the bank account. It helped pay for some of the costs, stupid exchange rates. Mom your package should be there pretty soon because I had to send it Luftpost. Be careful opening it and make sure you open it right side up. I also forgot to put to little pamphlet type papers in the box before I sealed it so I put them between the Box and the reinforcement. The Pink package chocolate is my favorite. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas this year because it might be the last Christmas that you get something from Germany.

When does Kortneigh get married again? I had better be receiving an invitation. Is Korbin playing on the A-Squad? Don't worry about sending another package, I'll consider this one my Christmas Birthday Package. If you really want to get me something wait 'til I get home because I'm probably going to need all new clothes, church clothes included. I ripped out a crotch the other day. I was just going to kneel down too. My suits are pretty shot. One suit on the inside of the coat it's all ripped up because of my backpack. My other suit is super thin and doesn't look too hot. I am fine though until I get home. I don't want to spend any more money before I go home.

We have some stuff planned to work with the members, caroling, less active visits, etc. We are going to have a Ward Christmas party this Saturday and we have to sing at it. We will be singing Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer, upon request. I'm looking forward to this Christmas. I'll talk with President to see if I can call on 27th. Thank you for making up a resumé for me. I would like to see a copy of it just for fun if it wouldn't be of too much trouble. Thanks for all you do. It really is a blessing to have you all there as support. I love you so much and am thankful for this time I've had so for to serve the Lord and to understand more what it means to Love my family, the Gospels, and those around me. Thanks for being great parents too. We were talking about it last night about how our parents raised us. You've raised us well. Thank you so much. "No Regrets"

Love,
Elder Merrill