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