Come, Come Ye Saints

Another week down! And another month, as I have now hit 13. 

This week we got to baptize Kevin! He was an investigator in this area in December... but because of problems with the family and with the missionaries, he didn't get baptized. But we contacted him about a month ago, and he told us that he was ready to restart with the missionaries and get baptized! I don't know how we are getting blessed so well right now. This is the first time this year that this area has had multiple baptisms in one month. 

 

Baptism of Kevin

Even with our imperfections the Lord is finding a way to bless us hahahah! And this week we have Carmen that is just about ready! This is actually a pretty cool story. We have been teaching her boyfriend Umberto for about 2 months now. We have been teaching her, but really haven't been putting a whole lot of focus on her, because her boyfriend has had a problem smoking. She has been preparing for the 18th of July, but not with a lot of our help! But last week we started talking to her seriously, and she has been preparing herself! She says she is ready to get baptized, and that she wants to do it to keep the commandment and to give the example to her boyfriend. For those of you that don't know Nicaragua (all of you), that is an absolute miracle. That is faith! 

Also, as I said, we baptized Angel the week before the last. And guess what happened? This week..... He went to church again! Yes... that is not very common for one to go to church the week after their baptism, maybe we don't teach the whole "Endure to the End" principle very well hahahah. But that really wasn't the surprising thing... He already has the Aaronic Priesthood and passed the Sacrament! Honestly sitting there watching him do that was one of the best moments of my mission... that is our joy! To see him grow, and the faith that he has is truly inspiring. He is a special spirit. I wish you could all get to know him. But... he supposedly doesn't get along very well with his family so he didn't give us his full name when he got baptized.... so we have to re-do that this week! Wednesday :) 

 

Baptism of Angel

So... Trek this week. I remember like 4 years ago (holy crap) when I went on Trek! It is honestly one of the greatest experiences in the entire world. Hard but worth it! My parents, President and Sister Stuart were the best! One of my favorite Hymns is Come, Come Ye Saints... which is a pretty good description of the Pioneers back in the days! Why should we mourn, or think our lot is hard? We gotta enjoy the experience, because trials help us grow! Never forget that. Hard work and trials are not punishments. They are the price of admission for the opportunity to reach sustained excellence. So, as the good ole Randy Cox would always say.... Enjoy the journey! Love you all! Go Jazz!

Elder Merrill

Forgot one part hahahah... this week is a multi zone conference and Elder Naisbitt and I have to teach something so we will see what happens... hahahah but this week was awesome! It went by really fast, but there were some great experiences!

From the editor:  He mentions trek because we are going on trek this week. And his Pa, President Stuart, is now our stake president!!