February 15, 2015

Kamusta Everybody!

 This past week for Elder Nikau and I has been really good. We were first able to have a fun service project on Monday cutting down banana trees at a member’s house. (We did however also manage to break 3 of the tools in the process) the best part of that service project was it was at the house of a less active family. While we were shopping for vegetables Monday morning we stopped by the stand of a less active member to buy vegetables from them. The father was there and asked if we were coming from his house. A little confused I asked him why and we found out that his daughter and wife were clearing out their backyard and he had assumed we were helping. We ran home, changed and then met him at their house and cut down all the trees. Since then he’s invited us to dinner twice and his wife came to church yesterday. It was a faith building experience that even on P-Day we were guided to help someone.

Other than that the best part of our work has been teaching Leo and April. We have been teaching them over the past several weeks and it has been great to see them feel the joy of the gospel in their lives. Yesterday they came to church for the 2^nd time and when we visited with them that night most of the lesson was them telling us about all the blessings they had seen that day after they came to church.

I hope everyone had a great Valentine’s Day and also had a chance to share the love Heavenly father has for us.

 Ingat

  Elder Merrill

Meetings

Kamusta Everybody! 

 This past week has been really good.  We were able to attend a lot meetings and it was great to have the privilege to be able to listen to Elder Arden, the Area President as well as President Beck, the general Young Men’s president. 

 Most of the meeting was a question and answer time. One piece of advice that President Beck gave to us was to keep a really good journal. He suggested that we put one lesson we’ve learned each day as well as the happiest moment of the day. He talked about how the lessons he wrote down in his journal helped him get his kids excited to serve and also gave him great perspective on how he grew throughout his mission. 

 One of the highlights of the week was that one of our investigators, Leo and his wife April, came to church! Leo works for a private resort and usually is on the side of the road trying to get customers. On our way to church we saw him outside and figured that they weren't coming, but then they showed up just in time for sacrament meeting!

 One of the funny parts this week happened while we were teaching a new investigator how to use the Book of Mormon cross references. I opened up to a random page and showed him a verse... unfortunately I realized that the verse I had him read was 1 Nephi chapter 4:18 where it says.. “therefore I did obey the voice of the Spirit, and took Laban by the hair of the head, and I smote off his head with his own sword."  Not the best first verse for an investigator to read. I just said we would explain that story next time...

 I hope everyone has a good week! 

 Ingat

  Elder Merrill

How much is that doggy in the window?

Kamusta Everybody!

 These past few weeks have been great and also really busy!  I apologize for not sending an email last week.  I was trying to register for school and it took a bit of time last week.

 We’ve had a lot of great things happen in our area! We had stake conference this past weekend and the talks were really good. One of my favorites was by the Stake President. He explained how when we follow the commandments one of the greatest blessings we often receive is spiritual light.  He described what he meant by using the Saviors teachings.  For example, when we obeying the law of tithing He will “open the windows of heaven”, or in Isaiah when it talks about fasting and describes how “our light shall come forth out of darkness”.

 We also have had some success with the less actives in the ward. It has really strengthened my testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon and how even using a really simple verse can help others see how important daily scripture study is. One of the scripture verses that I learned about this week from the Spirit was in 1 Nephi "and my father dwelt in a tent". We were visiting a less active sister and when we complemented her on her nice home she said “no, it’s just really small". We were trying to think of an appropriate message and that scripture came into my mind.  I realized that here on earth we kind of dwell in a tent, or like the sister said in a small house.  Lehi came from a rich home to eventually wander in the wilderness and dwell in a tent.  We came from a rich home in our pre earth life but we all need to wander in the wilderness and dwell in tents (so to speak) to be able to make it to the promised land, or the Celestial kingdom.  As long as we have faith and use the Liahona we have promised blessings ahead of us. 

 This week we also got to visit one of the less actives who are caretakers of a private pool. There is a lot of resorts in our area and most of the area is over a hot springs. We put our hand in the pool and it was really hot! They said that before people can swim they have to leave the water there for 3 days to cool down. What I don’t understand is why our shower in the apartment is still cold...

 I hope everyone has a great week!

 Ingat

  Elder Merrill

"How much is that doggy in the window?" dogs in the Philippines are usually substitutes for a door bell. When you get close to the house they bark. This one even has his own area on the 2nd story! 

Goals

Kamusta Everybody!

 The past few weeks here have gone really well! We have gotten adjusted to our area and have been building a pretty good teaching pool. We have been focusing on the less active priesthood holders. It’s been a little bit difficult because there is a big group of them that are all friends, and they are all waiting for the others to come back to church before they do.

 This past week we had our zone Training meeting and there was also the area broadcast. Both meetings were really focused on goals. In our zone training meeting we talked about the desires of our hearts. Desires are what we prioritize, and are manifest in our choices and actions. I think we often have lots of wishes but sometimes don't act to make them happen. In the area broadcast there was a really good quote I liked about making sure that our goals are focused on the plan of salvation, it motivated me to try and make more of my goals and desires centered on the gospel this year. Sometimes spiritual goals are hard to measure, but they yield the most lasting results.

It has been fun re-experiencing with Elder Nikau all of the unique things here int he Philippines; trying new foods, learning the language and one of the highlights of the past week, getting chased by a very large crazy lady asking for money. 

 Hopefully everyone is doing really well!

  Ingat 

Elder Merrill

Calamba 1st

Kamusta Everybody

 This past week has gone really well! I was transferred to Calamba Laguna and my new trainee is Elder Nikau from Australia. We have spent a lot of the week getting to know the area and meeting the members.  Wednesday for New Years we had to be in the Apartment by 7. We woke up at around 11:30 and sat outside to watch all of the fireworks. Our apartment is really close to the city plaza so we were really close to the big fireworks show.  Everyone also had really loud horns that they blew at midnight. 

 We have been doing a lot of tracking and were really blessed to find the Mozo family, one of the first people we tried to talk with. Brother Mozo was outside and we stopped to ask for directions. We talked with him a little about the church and then he invited us to come back. We got to teach him and his wife on Saturday and it went really well. His wife is very familiar with the bible and said how she really wants their family to be able to attend church and be united. We're excited to be able to teach them again tomorrow. 

 The ward here is somewhat small, about 70 members came to church yesterday. And there are a lot of less active priesthood holders. I'm excited over the next while to be able to try and help build up the ward here. The Bishop is really excited about the work and gave us a list of members to find and visit. 

 I hope everyone has a great first week of 2015!

 Ingat

   Elder Merrill 

Home away from home

Magandang Hapon sa inyo lahat!

 This past week has been great. There has been so much going on but it’s been really fun and there have been lots of unique ways to be able to share the gospel. Today is my last day here in Tanuaun. This next transfer I will be training and reopening another area again. It will be sad to leave but I couldn’t have thought of a better way to spend my last week.

 On Thursday for Christmas we were able to visit several members and a few investigators. My favorite part of the day was how everyone was really happy. People gave gifts but you could feel that that wasn't the most important thing..even for the little kids. Everyone was focused on the Savior and their families. Even with the gifts that were exchanged it was easy to see that they were given with the person in mind and lots of thought had been put-into it. 

 Then Saturday was Fiesta. It was hard to teach because everyone was either cooking or eating, but we were able to find some potential investigators while visiting a few members. It reminded me of a quote by  Elder Christopherson in Preach my Gospel about how we should always have our nets in the water, or in other words, we should be looking for opportunities to share the gospel. Even the busiest day can be productive if you look for opportunities to accomplish your purpose. 

 Yesterday, several of the members prepared a really nice birthday dinner for me. I am officially no longer a teenager!!  It was really kind of them to prepare something and it made me feel like I was in my home away from home. 

I hope everyone has a great new year!

  Ingat

     Elder Merrill

Merry Christmas

Maligayang Pasko sa inyo lahat!

 This past week has been great as we have been preparing for Christmas. While there may not be snow or very many Christmas lights here there is still a lot of excitement. For me the best part has been teaching members how they can help others feel the Saviors love this Christmas. 

 On Saturday we had the ward Christmas party. It was luau themed and went really well. We helped decorate the chapel to look Hawaiian and the other members helped cook and made presentations and the Relief Society and Primary did dance numbers. The Primary was very funny, I was impressed by how good they were. 

 Sunday night we had the Baptism of Raell. The final member of the Gallinero family to be baptized. It was an amazing baptism and the spirit was really strong. President Mangum, as well as the other couple missionaries, were able to attend. Raell bore a great testimony and it was wonderful to see his father baptize him. That was the best Christmas gift this year. 

 I hope everyone has a great Christmas day and can find ways to bless others as well

 Ingat

 Elder Merrill

Typhoon Ruby

Kamusta Tropa!

Sorry it has been several weeks since I last emailed. A few weeks ago there wasn't enough time and last week our email time got cut short due to the typhoon.  As missionaries and members we were well prepared, the fear was for those who weren't. The suspense of waiting for the storm was unnerving, I think suspense is certainly the worst kind of fear.  The storm passed through on Monday and we were blessed that it wasn't strong, just heavy rain and some wind. 

The weather on Friday was really nice and it didn't seem like there was a typhoon at all. That day we actually had a few really great lessons about the second coming. If we are prepared we have nothing to fear but we feel anxious for those who aren't well prepared, even though they know it’s coming. We also talked about how we need to strengthen our spiritual foundation, just as we need to strengthen the foundation of the roof for the storm. You can never be too prepared.

Other than that we have been having a great time teaching about the Savior as we prepare for Christmas. Our mission president challenged us to read the Four Gospels. I finished last week, and  as I have come to better understand His love for me I feel anxious to help others feel the same. I think it is no coincidence that after the four gospels there is the book of Acts. Just like the apostles, as we come to know the Savior we should act and share the gospel with others. 

 I hope everyone is doing well!

 Ingat

 Elder Merrill

Happy Thanksgiving

Kamusta Tropa Ko!

 Ang init dine sa Batangas eh. This past week has been really good! My old companion Elder Moleworth was transferred and I got a new companion, Elder Poblete.  Elder Poblete is from Cebu but he speaks fluent English and is very Americanized. Cebu daw (he said) has a lot of foreigners. He is the first companion I’ve had who also loves jelly beans so I think we are are going to get along great!

 This week we had stake conference and theme was “Strengthening Families”. I really liked the story that one of the speakers shared, she told a story of an anthropologist in Africa who wanted to observe how little children there played so he set up a game. He bought a bunch of candy and put it in a basket at the base of a tree and told the children that they were to form a circle around the tree and stand 100 meters away.  Then when he said “go, they could run to the tree and the first one there would win all of the candy. However, when he said “go”, instead of running the children held hands and walked to the tree together, so there was no winner or loser, and they could all share the candy. She said how when we are that unified in our family, and there is no competition, we will truly be happy. 

 I hope everyone has a great week and a Happy Thanksgiving!

 Ingat 

Elder Merrill

Opportunities to Teach

Kamusta Everybody!

This past few week has gone really well! We’ve been seeing a lot of success and surprise blessings. I am realizing how important it is to recognize every opportunity to teach.  Recently, we’ve been able to share a few messages with members and less actives. One of the best lessons was with a Sister Mae.  She has two sisters, one is a very active member and the other is not yet a member.  However Sister Mae and her dad are members but less active.  We had previously been focusing on the sister who isn’t a member but this past week, that sister wasn’t home so we shared the message with Sister Mae instead. She was really receptive and said how she had been waiting for a push to get active again. It made me realize how there are usually people around us that need a little help but sometimes we don't realize it. 

 On Saturday, our recent convert, Grace, had her 21st birthday.  Her family lives really far away and so she was feeling sad when she told us she didn’t have any plans for her birthday. In the Philippines, a girl’s 21st birthday is usually a big occasion. We set up an appointment on Saturday, to teach her, and so she thought we had forgotten it was her birthday, but we’d actually planned a surprise party with the other SA in the ward. When we got to the house my companion and I went in, like we were going to teach, and then the SA’s knocked on the door. Grace was so surprised she even cried! She said she was really happy she had a family here in the church and it was the best birthday she’s had. 

 I hope everyone has a great week! Here is something one of the members, Sister Anne, said that I really liked: 

“Other churches change for you, but here we have to change for the church and for God"

 Ingat

   Elder Merrill

Nov. 3, 2014

Kamusta  Everybody,

 This past week has been great! We had several uplifting meetings. The first was on Tuesday when Elder Robbins, on of the presidents of the 70, came and spoke to us. He talked about the companionship doctrines of agency, responsibility and control. He had us help him make a list of excuses that people make, for example blame, self justification, self pity, rationalization etc.. He then explained how when we use any of these excuses to try and avoid 100% responsibility that we give up control over our lives. He used the example of Laman and Lemuel in the Book of Mormon. They repeatedly used these excuses and eventually Satan had complete control of their lives. Essentially when we refuse to make excuses and accept full responsibility for our lives we will be in complete control of ourselves. 

  On Sunday night we were also able to watch a broadcast given by Elder Oaks. He was in Manila and addressed all of the Philippines. His talk was really good. It was interesting because he quoted heavily from a talk he gave 10 years ago when he was the area president of the Philippines. And all of the things he said back then are still very applicable today. For example daily scripture study, paying tithing and giving up cultural practices that aren't in harmony with the gospel. It made me realize that God won’t give us much new revelation until we do things what he has already said. 

I hope everyone has a great week!

 Ingat

   Elder Merrill

Frozen - Oct. 26, 2014

Kamusta Everybody,

This past week has flown by! We had zone interviews last week and our P-Day was changed from Monday to Tuesday. On Wednesday we had a really good district meeting where one of the sisters gave a talk and said "that we should never drop members". 

That quote really jumped out at me and made me realize how there are a lot of less actives in our area who we haven't been giving enough effort to help.  So in trying to apply that thought, we focused this week on one of the young men in the ward who has not been active.  His siblings and his mom are all active but his Dad passed away several years ago. After visiting him a few times he told us about how he is embarrassed to go to church because of the other guys on his basketball team and how there is one member at church he doesn't want to talk to.  We helped him remember the importance of the sacrament and he committed to come to church.  Sunday morning we went and picked him up and as we were walking to church with him all of the teenage boys were laughing at him and saying rude things. The young man just ignored them and kept walking. I was really amazed by how he didn't get upset but just did what he knew was right.  It also gave me insight on how it isn't always easy to what the Lord wants us too.

We had a funny thing happen this week when we were trying to teach one of the Filipino Elders how to use the toaster.  One morning he looked really confused and asked why, when he pressed the frozen button, the bread was still hot. We explained how it doesn't freeze the bread… it just goes longer if the bread is frozen  :)

I hope everyone has a great week!

 Ingat

 Elder Merrill

I’ve attached some picture of the Taal Volcano we went to last week, a funny “English” sign and my district.  

Taal Volcano Oct. 20

Kamusta Everybody,

   Sorry that I didn’t get chance to email last week and that I am writing a day later than usual.  We went on a hike on our last P-day to Taal Volcano and by the time we got back there wasn’t much time to write e-mails. It is still an active volcano so we could see smoke coming out of the cracks in the ground as we hiked up.  Then this week we had zone interviews so I didn’t get to e-mail on my usual day.  Time goes by fast and seems so short! But we’ve had a great couple of weeks. 

 First off conference was great! I really liked the Talks by President Uchtdorf as well as Elder Robbins. We are also excited because Elder Robbins will be coming to our mission next week! 

  In our work this past week I have really learned a lot about faith and blessings.  We have been trying to help our investigators recognize the blessings they have received through acting on faith. We have also been trying to help them understand that as soon as they make the decision to be baptized they need to have the faith to stay true to their commitment and then the choices become easier.

  I hope everyone is doing well and has a great week!

 Ingat

 Elder Merrill

Oct. 5, 2014

Magandang Araw sa inyo lahat!

  This past week has been good..time seems to be moving fast, but we have been enjoying every moment.

 We had a great district meeting on Wednesday. Sister Cox, who finished her mission this last week, gave a really good workshop about the Book of Mormon. She testified about how it has changed her life and the lives of the people she has met on her mission. I really liked the approach that one of the sisters used for street contacting that she talked about. She says that she just asks people if they know what Mormon’s means and then tells them about the Book of Mormon.

 Then on Friday we had the Baptism of Roleine. Her family had been baptized back in August but she felt that she wasn't ready to be baptized because she liked how exciting the Born Again Church seemed. We focused on the Book of Mormon with her and after reading in 3 Nephi she was really excited to get baptized. After her Baptism she bore a great testimony about the Book of Mormon and how it has changed her life. With the past two baptisms that we have had I have really seen how little we, as missionaries,  actually do to help people change…all we really do is help them see the importance of the Book of Mormon so that they can feel the Holy Ghost and begin their conversion.

 Last night I was invited to give a lesson at a youth fireside. I brought a suitcase with things in it that you need to be able to serve a mission, Journal, Scriptures, Clothes, PMG etc.. and then we talked about things that we can’t pack in a suitcase that we need, such as a testimony and experiences living the gospel.  We also read from the talk Becoming a Missionary.

 Hopefully everyone had a great week, I am excited to watch Conference this weekend! 

 Ingat 

Elder Merrill

Sept. 29, 2014

Magandang hapon!

 This past week has been very busy but a lot of great things have happened. The two main events were the primary activity and the baptism we had. On Friday we were in charge of the lesson/activity for the Primary. The theme was D&C 18:10 and they wanted us the help the 8-11 year olds be missionaries now. We decided to have the activity follow the schedule of a regular missionary day. We made little future missionary name tags to start and then had them memorize D&C 18:10. then for a "teaching opportunity" we had them write their testimony on a piece of paper to give to a friend. We also had a finding activity where we used a hidden picture page. The hidden picture page part was my favorite because the 2nd councilor in the bishopric also attended and he was frustrated that his little girl found all the items before he did! 

 The baptism we had also went really well. Our convert, Grace, bore a great testimony. She is really shy and was very nervous to get up in front and speak but she just talked about how she knows the Book of Mormon is true and that she knew she needed to be baptized. 

 I hope everyone is having a great week! Here is one of my favorite quotes "The gospel will comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable" Bruce R McConkie

  Ingat

    Elder Merrill

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