No Skirt Necessary! - Sept. 14, 2014

Kamusta kayo!

 This past week has gone by pretty fast. We have been really trying to get to know the members better and talk to as many people as we can.  We have noticed a lot more of the Spirit in our work if we are willing to talk to everyone that we see. One of the things that Elder Bowen said to us last week was "if you are not Face to Face with someone, you are unemployed."

 We had a great experience this week with one of our progressing investigators, Grace. She has been coming to church for a while but for the past several weeks she hasn't been willing to commit to be baptized. She is working for one of the members in the ward and lives in their house. She is worried about not having much support from her mom, and also wants to be sure she wants to become a members for the right reasons. We have been focusing on the Book of Mormon and in the last lesson we told her to read Enos and pray about if she should be baptized. Last night when she started the lesson she seems really quiet and when we asked her what was wrong she said that she was worried because she doesn't yet have a skirt to wear to church for when she gets baptized! We told her that the skirt isn't the most important part, and that we were just happy for her because she wants to be baptized. 

 I hope everyone has a great week!

   Elder Merrill

Sept. 7, 2014

Kamusta Kayo diyan

 This past week has been great for me and Elder Molesworth. We now have a good idea where everyone that we are teaching lives. The best part about this past week was the mission tour that we had on Tuesday. Elder Bowen came and spoke to us.  He talked about how we need to raise our expectations.  He began by explaining the purpose and power of covenants and then talked about how through our obedience we can achieve miracles.  Since Tuesday we have really been trying to invite everyone that we see to learn about the restored gospel and we’ve seen a lot of little miracles because of it. I have come to realize that when Heavenly Father can trust you to talk to those he will put it your path, you will find more people ready to listen.  

 I know that in each of our own lives as we increase our faith we will have more power to overcome our weakness and we will bless the lives of others.

Have a great week!

 Ingat

  Elder Merrill

Tanuauan - Aug. 31, 2014

Magandang Tanghali sa inyo lahat,

  This past week so much has happened! I was transferred on Thursday to Tanuauan with my new Companion Elder Molesworth who just got here from the MTC. 

 It was sad to say goodbye to all of the people in Lemery, after having been there for 6 months many of the people there had become my friends and i have learned a lot of things from all of them.  

 Since Thursday we have been trying to find our way around the city here. The past Elders were pulled out so we have been reopening the area. We’ve had a few of the members show us where people live and we have been trying to get to know who our investigators are. We have both felt really blessed and guided by the spirit to know where to go and to remember all the places we have been in past 3 days.  This past week we are excited to be able to start meeting all of the members and know what to teach. 

 I hope  everyone is doing great,

  Ingat

  Elder Merrill 

Sister Fe - Aug. 17, 2014

Kamusta Everybody!

 This past week has been great! Especially the past few days with sister Fe’s wedding and baptism. 

 Saturday was the Day of Fiesta here in Lemery and it was also Sister Fe's wedding. They wanted a small ceremony and it was mostly the Family Members who attend the service. The Branch President from Balayan from Lemery solemnized the marriage. He gave a really good talk about how their marriage is really just the first step to baptism then eventually being sealed in the temple. After the wedding they had a small lunch and then everyone went to the Fiesta. 

 For Fiesta, a lot of people prepare big parties and lots of vendors set up shops in the market. One thing that I noticed and found funny was the competition between neighbors. Whoever had the most food and had more people come to their house was the most popular. Even though our neighbors had huge parties and lots of people attended I noticed that everyone at the wedding 

earlier that day was much happier, even though there wasn't a big reception.

 The Baptism on Sunday also went really well. Sister Fe's sister and niece both gave really good talks and shared about how they have been motivated by Fe's great example. Her reading in the book of Mormon has really changed her life and she is trying to help her husband also be willing to get baptized. I feel really blessed to have been able to teach her and see the amazing changes that the Gospel has made in her life. When she bore her testimony at the end she said how she knows that the Book of Mormon is true and how this is Christ’s church, when she said that I really felt the Spirit and power of her words. 

 I know that this is really Gods work. I have really learned a lot from all of the people here in Lemery. I will be transferred next week, which is going to be really sad but I know that there are other great things ahead. 

  Kita Kits

    Elder Merrill

Aug. 10, 2014

Kamusta Everybody!

This past week has been really busy. On Tuesday I went on exchanges with Elder Filipe, one of the new missionaries in our zone. His has only been out for 3 weeks but I was really impressed by how good he is at teaching. All of the things that he learned in the MTC he applied really well. I realized that it is always important to stick to the basics and to follow Preach my Gospel exactly.

Friday we had mission leader conference. President Mangum is starting to get a good idea of where the mission is at and gave us a lot of good ideas on how to help the missionaries improve. We talked a lot about how to build our faith in the Savior and then how to measure our effectiveness working with the members. One of the things that really impressed me was how closely Faith is tied to Obedience. The following day I went on exchanges with Elder Pererra and that was what we studied and talked about during the day. Both of us really tired to apply doing our very best and we both saw that we had a great day and really felt the Spirit. We talked about how when we rely on the Savior instead of ourselves we can accomplish great things.

 This week I am really excited for Sister Fe’s Baptism and wedding. Next week I will tell you all about it!

 Ingat

  Elder Merrill 

Hastening the Work - Aug. 3, 2014

Kamusta Everybody!

 The work has been really good this past week!  We’ve really started to hasten the work here in Lemery by working better with the members. Our Branch President has been doing a great job of getting the members excited about doing missionary work. 

 One of the recent converts here, Lance, has been having trouble getting to church because it is far away and he has no money to pay for a tricycle. He had missed church for a few Sundays and the young men took notice. One of them gave Lance a bike and the Branch President gave him an old cell phone so he can know about activities and what time seminary is. Yesterday Lance came to church and bore a really powerful testimony! One thing I have really learned here is that it is almost impossible to be successful in missionary work without the excited and enthusiastic participation of the members.

 This past week I have also learned a lot from the talk “Only and Elder”, by Bruce R.  McConkie. The church and missionary work is really a family effort. If we all work together we can accomplish anything. Especially bringing back the less actives. I have also really liked looking at the talks on http://scriptures.byu.edu/. 

 That’s about all for this week.

 Have a great week!

 Ingat

   Elder Merrill

For our Zone P-Day today we took some antique photos is a house build in the Spanish era here.

Fiesta Wedding - July 27, 2014

Kamusta Everybody,

 This past week has been really good. Most everything has been repaired after the storm and life is back to normal. 

 We have been really focusing this past week on trying to visit the recent converts that we have and make them feel like they are really part of the ward. There was just called a new Relief Society President and she has been really great about going and visiting all the recently baptized sisters. 

 One of the highlights of this past week has been teaching Sister Fe. she was referred by her sister and has been really progressing. The only problem that she has is that her and her boyfriend aren't yet married. He is willing to get married but was hesitant because the culture here is that when you get married you have to have a really big celebration, and they can’t afford much. She talked to him this past week and explained why it is so important they get married and they decided to get married on the 16th. It worked perfectly because that is also the day of Fiesta here. The plan is that instead of having to prepare their own big party they will just have everyone attend the wedding service then go eat at the Fiesta. Sister Fe has been really excited and on Tuesday we went and helped them get their marriage license and other paper work done. 

 Other than that not much exciting is happening here. I hope everyone has a great week!

 Ingat

   Elder Merrill