3rd General Conference

Playing with a turtle!

This last week was yet again, awesome but extremely fast! Like I said last week, Elder Copeland and I went through our second conference together.... so crazy how fast those six months have gone. Which scares me a little to know how fast the next six are gonna go, but not thinking about that hahah. So let's see what we did this last week!

On Tuesday I spent the whole day working with my companion Elder Velasquez, and we worked really hard! We spent the whole day contacting new people, and it was pretty successful. This Elder Velasquez is super funny and fun to work with. Elder Copeland went and worked with some sisters, and he did well!

Wednesday was a normal day of work, lots of fun.

Thursday I went down to Rivas to work in my old area with Elder Scheffler and his companion. We worked super hard and I helped them a lil in their area, because they were struggling. We had a lot of fun. It was also fun to work in my old area! I wasn't a huge fan of that area, but it was good to go back and relive some of the memories. Oh by the way, this last week, my first son Elder Castro hit a year in the mission? Crazy right? And my second son, Elder Arevalo, already has 9 months. And I have been in this same zone for his entire mission! Mucho tiempo jajaja. But anyways it was fun to work in my old area! 

Friday I went to District meeting down in Rivas. Did some ¨animating¨, because we have a great opportunity to have a great month in October! In this Zone we have a lot of pressure and put really high goals. Because sometimes you gotta ¨expect perfection to get something similar.¨ Then I went back up to Jinotepe! There was a lot of new apartment stuff going on that I had to work with, which is yet another miracle from the Lord that we see all the time, something as simple as Him helping us find a new house for missionaries in an important time. Then we went out to work to prepare everyone for Conference.

Saturday was awesome! We had a ton of success! We brought a lot of investigators to conference, which is the most important thing. And the things I learned were awesome. Let's see. Elder Lawrence, how he talked about Progress. I feel like Dad was up there talking, that is one of his strengths. We need to find a way to progress every day, even if it is just a little bit. Elder Holland was kinda tough to listen too. It brought such a deep love and gratitude for my mother and all she has done for me. My number 1 fan. I love you Mom! We brought 13 investigators on Saturday, and finished with 18 in total! And a few of them loved it so much that they came back by themselves on Sunday (that is unheard of here.) Priesthood was great, partially because we didn't need to bring investigators hahaha. But I loved Elder Anderson's talk about Faith. Give Brother Joseph a break! Hahahah that definitely applies here. Have I ever told you how much we get yelled at and made fun of here? It's about every 5 minutes that we hear something about coffee and Joseph Smith. It is crazy. Really builds up someone's patience ahahaha. But yeah Priesthood was awesome! Sunday was great too. There were a bunch of people that showed up to the church to watch it, thank goodness. I really loved President Monson's talk, except for the fact that I basically didn't get to hear it because Copeland and I were tending a crying child of one of our investigators. At least she got to listen to the Prophet! I did get to see the end though (Copeland and I were in another room watching it in English), and when I saw him really struggle, it made me really sad. I love that guy with all of my heart, and I just want to see him one more time in person. Who knows if it will happen though. Listening to President Nelson was so cool. Ever since he came here, I have fallen in love with that guy. He has such an awesome spirit, and I have met him! I also loved Elder Christopherson´s talk about the importance of a church! It is very important, and people here don't understand that!

So all in all it was a great week. I am so grateful to be able to testify every single day that Jesus Christ has restored his Church through Prophets and Apostles. This Church is what will help guide us to Salvation. So let´s do our job! Pray this week for Andy and Fernanda, our two baptisms this week. And pray for Perla, Ana, Alfredo and Francis. They are super cool people that need prayers! Love you all so much!

Elder Merrill

Drinking a little Coke like Fred and George (?)

Super Poor!