January 26, 2010

Hey Mom,

I'm sorry to hear about your back. That's a tough deal. So you can't get a fake disc like your neck? I will remember to keep it in my prayers to pray for your health. I'm pretty sure that the Lord is sending blessings to the family.

This week Martin did get confirmed. A member confirmed him and it was a pretty sweet experience. He is 36 years old and German. He is not married and doesn't have a job anymore. He was a teacher but I think they layed him off. There are a lot of people without jobs here. The government pays them though. That's Socialism for you. He has a mother who he lives with. As far as we know she doesn't have any interest. A ton of German families live together. In some houses there are 4 generations. It's normal here to live with your parents but it's still weird to me.

Transfers are tomorrow but Elder McGowan and I are staying together here in Solingen. We will have to be moving apartments sometime this transfer but we aren't sure quite when yet. I am glad that I get to stay another 6 weeks. We will see how long I stay for. I really like the area and ward.

So apologize to the kids that I haven't written them back. I've been pretty busy during p-day's getting everything taken care of and writing everyone back. I will try to get letters off to the kids today.

So I hope all is well and wish you all the best this week. I am working hard trying to find the elect. It's a great blessing for me just being able to serve a mission. I am learning about how important it is to live the gospel and how much the gospel actually means to us. I'm glad that your are trying to help out the missionary work. I'm glad that the missionaries are having success in the ward. It helps the missionaries like the ward a lot more. The only tip that I would give is try to have the missionaries over for a family night or something like that with a non-member family. That is my dream as a missionary. Hasn't happened yet but I'm working towards it.

OK wish you the best this week. Love you all. Thank you for giving my blog address out. I hope that I'll be able to get some letters. The Peterson's wrote me and that was nice. Tell everyone that I love them and tell all friends that I would love to hear from them again.

"No Regrets"

Love
Elder Merrill

January 19, 2010

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

January 12, 2010

Hello Family,

OK so I got the last two letters from Korbin and Kory this last week. I have got to say that Korbin's was probably the best. I read the cover and I thought to myself, "oh wow, that's way nice of him to send me a letter saying that I'm like the best brother in the world." I tried opening and then I realized it was glued shut. I checked the back and then I saw it. I got a good laugh out of it. That was way nice of all of the kids to send me Birthday cards.

This last week was pretty sweet for getting mail. I got a letter or a package everyday. I got a package from the grandparents which was way nice. They are so nice and I love them all. I got some other letters from Kaitlan and some others but I can't remember all of them right now.

So it's pretty tough doing missionary work right now. Not because of us but because of the German's. "It's too cold". That's what they say. It's not even that cold--only about 20 degrees. We still have snow which apparently is crazy for Solingen. It's been a pretty cool winter. I'm super thankful that all of the Holiday's are over. Now people don't have as many excuses. We found some pretty sweet potential investigators this week so that's pretty cool. Sister Pickelein says that she can't get baptized until her eye's are all healed from her surgery. We are praying for her. She is such a sweet old lady. We'll have a pretty sweet week this next week.

I don't have a whole lot to say this week other than I'm super glad that I'm here. There are some sweet times that we have on the mission. Elder McGowan and I are having fun together. It seems like we've been together for five weeks but at the same time it seems like we've been together longer. He's a good missionary. I'm loving the work. Testimony is growing strong. Love you all.

"No Regrets"

Love
Elder Merrill

p.s. I would recommend that you read Jesus the Christ. Pretty amazing book. Love it. I'm in chapter 17 at the moment and I've learned so much.

January 5, 2010

20th B-day

HAPPY NEW YEAR, Wow 2010. Crazy! I can't believe its been 11 months. This morning I got a letter from the Primary. That was a really good Idea. I liked seeing all the pictures of the kids. I don't even recognize some of them. They've all grown a ton. Steven and Laurie's kids especially. It's gonna be weird in another year to see what they all look like. I got a letter from Dillon Yesterday. That made my day. That was way nice to hear from him. He wrote me about his mission and how it was tough to see immediate results. He's a great cousin. I love that family. I also got a letter from Becca Adamson. That always brings a good laugh. She sounds like she's doing good and having fun in college. I got our Christmas letter. That was nice to see pictures of everyone. I still haven't seen pictures of Katie's pierced ears or how tall Korbin is compared to Dad.

Now for the missionary work: What a miraculous week. We have been really trying to work hard in finding new investigators and getting them to church. We had a former investigator, Martin Bader, show up two Sunday's ago. We set up an appointment for Wednesday and met with him at the church with a member. We didn't really know what we should teach him but we figured that we would start off asking him why he decided to come back to church. He explained to us that he had read the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price all the way through. He said that he had prayed about them and whether Joseph Smith was a Prophet called by God. He said that he "knew" that it was all true. The spirit was so strong in that moment. I felt a very strong impression to commit him to baptism right then and there. He answered saying, "I don't have anything against it". He will be getting baptized on the 17th of January. The most amazing part of the story was that we had planned to go by on him that week but we found out that he had moved and his number had also changed so there was no way that we would have been able to get in contact with him. The Lord blesses us for our efforts and he is preparing those that want to accept the gospel. Martin was prepared by God and he is ready to take upon himself the name of Christ. What a blessing from the Lord. Not only for us but for Martin. I always tell Elder McGowan that he's my lucky charm because we've had some pretty sweet experiences since he's been here. I love our companionship. He's quieter but we have fun together. We have already been together 3 weeks. It's crazy how fast the time flies.

The weather here is a lot colder. It's about 20 degrees all the time and we have snow again. Most of the sidewalks are all cleaned off but there is about 6 inches. We are supposed to get more this weekend so we'll see how it all goes down. It's better when it snows because it's warmer but it's a pain to walk in it.

Well I love you all. Thank you for your love and support. It's been a great experience so far and I'm looking forward to what is coming in the future. Love you all and wish you all the best.

"No Regrets"

Love

Elder Merrill

December 29, 2009

Hey Family,

Well I don't have too much to say since we just talked on Saturday. Daniel didn't come to church again so we have canceled his baptismal date until he can figure out how to get to church. He is a great guy and wants to do good but unfortunately his word isn't worth squat. It gets really frustrating but that's part of the struggles that we have on a mission. So it was really great to hear everyone's voices again. Korbin has changed a lot. It's amazing. It's going to be even weirder in another year. Well, sounds like all the kids are doing good. Mom I just got to tell you that you are probably the best mom that I could ask for. I love you all.

So sorry but I don't know what to write about. Mom you can keep the shoes 'till the summer. That's OK. Does that mean that we don't have to send the old one's back or what? That's sweet that you will be the cook for girl's camp. Don't stress yourself out. I forgot to ask you, how is your neck doing? Are you able to go skiing and everything? I hope it's doing good.
I will be sure to write both Al and Sharon and The Merrill's. I got to write a couple letters today. I hope I will be able to get a couple more. I got Uncle Ben's Christmas card yesterday. It was pretty funny. I'm pretty sure that his mice electric trap didn't work because they could feel the electricity. I also got a letter from Jim Middleton. It was a nice little letter. I've had some pretty good examples in my life. I'm grateful that they all set me on the straight and narrow.

Well Love you all and wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR. 2010 crazy. Wow! Thanks again for everything.

"No Regrets"

Love
Elder Merrill

p.s. If you get to talk to any of my friends from BYU let them know that I would love to hear from them. And addresses from Austin and Dexter if you could. Thanks

December 23, 2009

Hello Family,

I'm really glad that you all liked your Christmas presents. It's a good thing that Christmas only comes once a year. The Weinachtskrippe (nativity set) was my favorite. I wanted to make sure you got one. We were in Düsseldorf a couple weeks ago and I saw a guy from Israel with his Christmas stand. All of the stuff he had was made out of olive wood. He had a couple that were better but they were unbelievably expensive. All of the stuff he had was from Jerusalem. The one you have was my favorite. The boys' ties are all European. I'm glad they all liked them. The Girls' scarves were my favorites and I thought they would look pretty classy with them. I'm glad that you had a good early Christmas.

I got a little package from The Bruce Merrill Family. They are way too nice. I wasn't expecting to get anything from anyone else. They had some Rice-Krispies in it, candy, and LETTERS. Way cool.

So yesterday we had zone conference and I got a letter from Seth. It was about 10 lines long but it was way cool to hear from him. It's crazy that it has almost been a year. I got a letter from Mary Whithers also.

So my new companion is sweet. I love him. He is pretty relaxed and way easy to along with. He and his family are converts to the church. He was baptized when he was 10. It's a pretty cool story to listen to. He remembers the missionaries and everything and it is just a motivation to find a family. He is the oldest of 4. He played lacrosse, hockey, and football in middle school. It's way good. He is a good missionary and has good desires. He gets really nervous when we teach or do finding time but he does it. He gives good testimony and helps me teach. I'm really loving it. I'm way stoked. Tonight we are going to go carolling with some of the ward. We got about a foot of snow in a day and a half. It was way sweet. Sadly it is all going away. It's warming back up.

This last week Elder Texierra (area presidency) asked all the missionaries to set appointments with new members and say a prayer with them and before hand to ask them for people that we could pray for. We had an appointment last night with a family that is less-active as well as one of the sons being a newly baptized convert. We taught a good spiritual thought about the birth of Christ and how much God loved us to send his Son. At the end I asked if I could say a closing prayer and I asked them who we could pray for during this Christmas time. They gave me three different names, two of them being non-members. I said a prayer and it was really a blessing. The lord loosened my tongue and the spirit filled the room. I blessed each one of the individuals that they would have help in their weaknesses. After the prayer was over they wished a good evening and they thanked us for being worthy missionaries and sharing the gospel. They said that the next appointment we have with them that they would invite these two individuals to hear the message of the Restoration and what we believe as a church. Overall it was a sweet experience.

The Lord is blessing us missionaries and the mission is changing way fast. I will give you a little number information that will be able to let you know how different the mission is to stateside and how it's changing for the better and making more progress. So usually per month we have between 12-14 baptisms. December in the past has been the worst month as far as numbers. As of last week the mission already had 13 baptisms and 11 or so are scheduled to go through before the end of this month. Pretty sweet. The Lord is in the work. As we as missionaries strive to make ourselves better teachers, finders, and examples of the Gospel the Lord gives us the opportunity to use our skills and help those we come in contact with.

I plan on calling on the 25th (Germany has two Christmas's) at around 8:00 p.m. my time which means 11:00 your time. I wish you all the best and hope you have a wonderful Christmas and that you have a ton of fun at the cabin.

"No Regrets"

Love,
Elder Merrill

Dec. 15, 2009

Dear Mom, Dad, and Family,

Thank you for the two emails. It really makes me happy to get mail/emails. I got your package yesterday. Thank you so much. It was pretty darn expensive to ship. You treat me too good. I hope that you get my package this week. OK, so with transfers. Elder Gruber is leaving and I'm getting an Elder named Elder McGowin. I know that he is 6 weeks older (mission wise) than me. I'll fill you in more next week. Oh and next week we are having zone conference and I think we might have it on Tuesday. That means that we will have p-day either on Monday or Wednesday. Don't know right now but I think we'll have it on Monday.

So for this week's success. We had a ward Christmas Party and there were several non-members there. It was pretty cool. No referral's from it or anything but the members brought some people which is a huge step, especially in Germany. We also had the opportunity to go by on a man that I had given a Book of Mormon to several weeks ago when I was on a split with our zone leader. He had a big smile when he saw me. It was way cool. So as we first talked to him he didn't want anything to do with us. We bore testimony to him and the Spirit worked on him a little bit. He loosened up a bit and took the Book of Mormon. We couldn't set up a return appointment but he said that we could come by again. We have been trying for 2 weeks to get in contact with him but he has never been home. We set up an appointment for Wednesday night with him and I'm super excited for it.

The bad news for the week is that Daniel has fallen back into the habit of smoking. He didn't come to church and he won't answer his phone. He just sends us text messages. I hate it. I'm afraid that we are going to have to move or even cancel his date. It's really tough for me because I have worked my tail end off trying to help him come closer to Heavenly Father but I don't think he understands or even wants it. I have tried to have daily contact with him but it hasn't been working. We will be going over there to figure it all out this week.

I have been really trying to develop my prayers and exercise my faith but it's hard to stay focused when stuff like this happens. I'm loving being a missionary though. I haven't been homesick at all lately which is a blessing. This could be a huge difficulty but luckily it hasn't been tough for me. I've been speaking only German for 3 weeks straight now. It's pretty fun. It helps me to learn more new words and to really get the grammar down. The grammar is probably the toughest part for missionaries but I've been complimented several times on how well I speak. Tender mercies of the Lord. I Can't believe how fast time flies when I stay focused and obedient.

It just got cold this week. It's finally down to freezing temperatures all the time now. Last week it was raining and in the high 40's so it's a bit of a change. The cold weather makes us really want to focus on perfecting our door contacting so that we can get in rather than stay outside.

Well that's sweet that the Steele girl is going on a mission. How are all the kids doing? School probably gets out this week. I bet they're way excited. I can't believe how fast things change. Is Kory in 3rd or 4th grade? Hope I can get some letters for Christmas from the kids.
I sent out some Christmas postcard things to some family and friends. You should probably get yours today or tomorrow if you haven't gotten it already.

Love you all so much. Celebrate this sweet time of year together and make memories.

"No Regrets"

Love
Elder Merrill