Welcome Home Elder Merrill!

Welcome Home!

Thursday, June 2nd

SLC International Airport

Elder Merrill and Elder Rushton

Before we knew it...

Well, here goes nothin. Last week was incredible. We were able to baptize Raiza (and marry her), Jean Carlos, Pedro and Bryan. A great way to go out. The Zone did great, the mission hit our monthly goal. It was a lot of fun.

Pedro and Raiza

Jean Carlos

I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to represent the Lord's church here in Nicaragua for the past two years. There have been so many experiences that have helped me but hopefully at the same time have helped others. I am grateful for the Restoration of the Gospel and all the blessings that have been included with it. And I am of course grateful for my Savior and what he did for me. Representing Him for two years was not easy, but it was definitely worth it. I could go on for days writing about my experiences and testimony but it can wait for now :)

Happy Birthday yesterday Mom and on Wednesday Annie! Grateful for these two who have supported me in this journey. 

I have grown to love this country and love these people. It is so bittersweet to have to say goodbye to them, but I know that they will keep moving forward and that some day there will be a temple here. Nicaragua is now part of me and I love it with all of my heart.

I love you all so much! Have a great week, and we will see you on Thursday!

For the last time,

Elder Merrill

Hasta la ultima gota.

This last week was a fun one! Sorry about Moroni, I hope he is doing better!

So the first couple days of this week were spent trying to prepare Reinaldo, our dope investigator for his baptism! On Tuesday he passed his baptism interview and everything seemed ok but we were still a little unsure, so this guy needed a lot of prayers! Oh yeah, Elder Hall and I had a cool experience a couple weeks ago! It was Saturday the 14th at about 7:30 and we were walking down the street and some guy started calling out for us. We thought he was drunk so we tried to ignore him at first but as he insisted we decided to give it a shot and listen to him. He told us that he is a member, and that him and his son had just moved from Masaya! His son had been receiving the lessons from some Elders there, and his Dad told us that he wanted us to teach him and baptize him! He didn't go to church on the 15th, but we prepared him all week for yesterday and put him on date for the 28th of May, this Saturday. He went to church yesterday in a white shirt and tie, which is not normal. He is ready for this Saturday, the kid is super cool! His name is Pedro and he is 13. What a miracle!

Thursday we had Mission Leadership Council for the last time. It was a cool experience seeing all the mission friends again and talking about the mission. Our Zone continues to do well, so that is good. Wasn't anything special but it was a good time, got some good pictures too! hahaha

 

Last consejo-Love these guys!

Thursday afternoon I got a random phone call saying that my final interview with President Russell was on Friday at 5pm, which was kind of a surprise! I thought it was going to be a little later on. So Friday we had Zone Conference, and Elder Hanson and I talked a little about Patience and how to better Commit and Verify. It was fun. Then came my final interview with President. That was kinda weird. It was a lot of fun! We talked for about an hour and 45 minutes about life and work plans and school and marriage and all that good stuff. I am real grateful for that guy, he has helped me a lot. He gave some great advice! Which is pretty important advice coming from a multi-gazillionaire hahaha. What most stuck with me was the fact that if we keep a good relationship with our Father in Heaven, he will always bless and help us. Of that I am sure.

Saturday we worked hard committing people to church and getting Reinaldo ready for Sunday morning!

Reinaldo

Sunday was Reinaldo's baptism, he was super pumped! It was a good experience. His brother Rigoberto came and he is gonna get baptized this Saturday! All in all we are looking to baptize Rigoberto, Lesner, Jean Carlos, Edwin, Bryan and Pedro this week. It would be an awesome way to go out but we need the Lord's help, so please help us with some prayers! Elder Hanson and I then spent basically all of Sunday doing baptism interviews. We are hoping to have a big week this week to end the month. We then saw one of my really good friends from the mission, Elder Martinez! He was an AP for about a year and was back visiting. He is really funny, love that guy! Hopefully I can get a picture with him on Sunday cause he will be at Altagracia this Sunday.

That is about it. I hope you all have a great week! Happy birthday to Annie, can't believe you are already 15 and about to go into High School! And Happy Birthday on Sunday to my amazing mother. She has supported me throughout this entire journey, and I am super grateful for that! Love you Mom! Your birthday gift?? I will see you in 10 days :)

Love you all!

Elder Merrill

Happy Birthday!

This last week was awesome! Here is a little rundown and a couple of the things that I learned.

On Tuesday Elder Hanson and I went to work with a pair of Sisters, Sister Hawkins and Sister Ramos. Our goal was to get to know their progressing investigators and help find some new people. To be honest, we didn't have a lot of success. A lot of the citas fell and we didn't find anyone strikingly cool. Yet somehow they took 9 investigators to church on Sunday! I think it is interesting the many ways that the Lord blesses us. Sure we taught the Sisters some good things and helped them know what they had to improve on, but more than anything I believe that the Lord blessed both us and them just because we made the attempt to help them. Isn't that cool? We screw things up in so many ways but just with an attempt to try and bless someone's life, the Lord helps us how. How grateful I am for that, hahahah. So that was cool to see how they had a good day yesterday and have a good amount of progressing!

Wednesday Elder Hanson and I went all around the world trying to help a potential baptism from another area get her Birth Certificate out so she could get married.... but to no avail. We went basically up to Jinotepe! We went to a place called the Crucero, the highest elevated point in Nicaragua. It felt sooooo good. Then we got Subway because we were close. I love Subway. That place is so good. Just the 3rd time in my mission! We didn't get back into our area until about 5 and the rest of the day was normal.

On Friday we had a good District Meeting and then Elder Hanson and I again left the area to visit a lot of the possibilities for the month. There is a lot of pressure right now in the mission to get our goals, so we are working hard to lock down these people! And I love meeting so many new people who are trying to follow Christ for so many different reasons! For the most part it was a success. Elder Hall and Elder Martell had a good day in our area.

Saturday we baptized Carlos! We reactived his family and he was 9 so it was an easy baptism, but it was cool to see his parents go back to church. His dad even showed up on Sunday with a suit!

Baptism of Carlos!

We spent a lot of time out of the area this week, but the Lord blessed us for our efforts. Elder Hall and I took 11 investigators to church and Elder Hanson and Elder Martell took 8. 19 in total in the area! It was awesome. We are looking to baptize Reinaldo this week. He is about 60 with lots of desires to follow Christ! Pray for him. We also have Lesner, Jean Carlos, Edwin, Bryan and possibly Pedro progressing for the 28th, but they need the Lord's help. Please pray for them!

Oh and Sunday was my birthday! Turning 20 was kinda weird. It was a fun day. My companions and some Sister missionaries from here did a surprise cake after church. It was great. Then of course they did the Nica tradition throwing eggs on me! That wasn't too fun. Even though I hated it I am grateful for my loving companions and the blessing they have been to me. 

Happy Birthday Elder Merrill

A Nicaraguan Tradition!

After that Elder Hanson and I went to do some baptism interviews then went and ate dinner at some of my favorite member's house! It is Yadira, Hazel and Hermano Miguel. They are really cool and I love them. That was about it!

Awesome Family

Hermano Miguel

One other quick thing, something I was reminded of and learned yesterday. We have a huge goal for the month, and it is something that I really want to get before I go home. Which obviously makes me really nervous. I have been trying to find a adequate way to receive this very much needed help from the Lord. Because if there is something I have learned from my mission it's that I can't do this by myself. So last night as I was talking with one of our DLs, he mentioned that he and his companion were going to be fasting for a certain investigator that needed help. I have gained a HUGE testimony of fasting in my mission, but to be honest that was something that hadn't occurred to me recently as something that we could do. But it hit me, that is one of the best ways to show the Lord that we need his help! Funny how the Spirit works sometimes right? This time it was through a District Leader reminding me of something that could help. I am grateful for the promptings and hope that we can all try to follow those little whisperings!

Love you all. This week is my last Leadership Council. Should be fun!

Elder Merrill

Sammy the dog, Elder Sam Hall & Elder Sam Merrill!

Mother's Day Skype

Sorry don't have a lot to write because we talked about it yesterday! Happy Mother's Day Mom! You are incredible and I hope to continually show my gratitude for you through my actions! It was a great week and I hope that this week is great as well! We worked hard, had good interviews with President Russell, and had a good day in church! 

Today I was walking into the Mission Office and I saw three talllllll white people. It was Isaac Parkinson, his sister and his Dad. As old Elder Parkinson saw my name, he said, "here I have a package for you." Hahaha it was the package from Mom and the letter from Lindsey. Thanks so much! The brownies were great :) his Dad immediately said, "you are Reed's grandson right?" And then asked about Dad and Wendy! They are from Logan and said they know you guys well. We took a pic and he said he was going to send it to Ross, so hopefully you guys can get it and send it to me! That is about it for the week.

Isaac Parkinson

Paul Parkinson

Keep working hard, studying the Scriptures, and let's has some fun! Love you all!

Elder Merrill

why is this sideways?

Mother's Day 2016

Great week!

We are flying into May! April went by super fast. We are hoping to have a great month of May here in the Zone and in the mission! Some quick highlights....

We will just go straight to Thursday because Monday-Wednesday were normal work days without anything special that had happened. Well I guess Elder Hanson and I had the opportunity to go work for 2 hours with a companionship that had been struggling to find new investigators. So we went and contacted for 2 hours straight, and we were able to find a couple positive people! I got to work with Elder Roundy, which was fun.

So Thursday we had Mission Training Council. Wow it was fun! Getting to see all the friends and talk about how the mission is doing was fun. President Russell talked about how grateful he is for our service and how much he loves us, and then pumped us up to have a great month of May! He is winding down and this is his last full month in the mission, so we want to send him out with something special. Sister Russell talked about 8 ways to become a better missionary, and the APs talked about how to better commit both contacts and investigators. It was fun. President did say that we are going to have another Consejo before the Changes so it wasn't my last one! Then Elder Hanson and I went to prepare Zone Conference.

Zone Conference was fun. We basically just transmitted the things that we were told in Consejo then tried to animate our missionaries so that May can be even better than April. Mission Work is like a train that keeps running, and it will not stop running. At some point we get on and at one point we get off. But the train will keep running. What we determine is at what velocity and power the train will go. I think that is something important that we can all think of in our lives. That comes from President Eyring by the way.

We baptized Marling on Saturday! She has a really strong testimony so it was really fun to see her get baptized even with all the problems she has had in her family. She is gonna be a dope convert! 

 

Marling

One of my favorite scriptures from the mission and it will be especially important this month is D&C 123:12-17. It is better in Spanish actually but I think it can be applied in all aspects of life. But especially here and now. Love you all! Talk to you on Sunday!

Elder Merrill

D&C 123:12-17

 12 For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it—

 13 Therefore, that we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly manifest from heaven—

 14 These should then be attended to with great earnestness.

 15 Let no man count them as small things; for there is much which lieth in futurity, pertaining to the saints, which depends upon these things.

 16 You know, brethren, that a very large ship is benefited very much by a very small helm in the time of a storm, by being kept workways with the wind and the waves.

 17 Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.

New comp...

So I forgot to tell you last week was changes! But Elder Heileson had changes... which meant I was getting a new ZL comp. The one to kill me! We got to Change Meeting at about 7:30 and we were all speculating about who the new ZL comps would be. Elder Hanson had changes so there was a slight possibility that he either would come here with me or go to Sandino with Cope. We are the bestest of friends so we were both hoping that he would come to our Zone! Then literally the best case scenario happened... Heileson went to Sandino with Copeland and Elder Hanson IS MY COMPANION AGAIN! We went crazy in the Zone Meeting hahahahah. For those that don't remember, Hanson and I were companions in Juigalpa, and we wanted to be together one more time! So Hanson, Copeland, Heileson and I are all best friends and Hanson is killing me and Heileson is killing Copeland. We are pumped!

We immediately got to work! Not a lot really happened this week, but it was fun because we worked really hard! Elder Hall and I get along really well. We have the same name and our Dads both have the same name. Cool right? He is an incredible singer! Like super good. It is fun to listen to him! Actually we did have a cool experience. So Elder Hall's grandma was planning on getting baptized this last Saturday. The AP's told me that President Russell was going to let him Skype with his family for the service but that it was going to be a surprise for him. So on Saturday we worked like normal until I got the "call" from one of the APs telling me that we had interviews at the Mission Office at 6. I told him and freaking out, acting like I had no idea what was going on. He was super scared. We rushed up to the Office and the APs were there. They had him log into his Skype and there was his family. It was cool. He was super happy! The only problem was that Elder Hall's dad mixed up the time, so we didn't actually get to see the service. He just got to talk to his family.

We had two more baptisms on Saturday! Their names were Fransisco and Manuel. Didn't teach them a whole lot but they are cool! It was fun. We finished with 37 in the Zone for the month. These are some great missionaries! Also all of our converts are progressing well. We are happy for that!

 

Fransisco and Manuel

That is about it for the week. We should have Mission Council this week, which would be my last one. That is weird. 

Love you all so much. Love you Grandma Merrill! (6 years passed away)

 

Elder Merrill

Go Aggies!

"Buckle up!" -Bolerjack

Today I start my final change as a full-time missionary. Rounding 3rd base. Last week was maybe one of the best weeks of my entire mission! 

I'll just get straight to the point. Remember how I said to pray for Alberto, Cristian, Leslie and Alondra? Yeah, here is why. This is a family of 4 that Elder Hall and I found my first day in this area. How did we find this family? By asking a contact if she knew of anybody else that we could teach. She told us that her dad had been visiting the church a few years ago and could maybe use the help. So we went! Alberto is Cristian's dad, and Leslie and Alondra and Cristians's kids. Cristian is a female and Leslie is a boy hahahah. But since the very first day they committed to going to church and went every week, without us having to take them! We knew from the beginning that it was gonna be a family of GOLD. From the first time they visited, Cristian was saying, "this is our church, and we are never gonna leave it." She has always commented on how she can feel the true Spirit in our church way more than in any of the other 45331231131 churches that are here in Nicaragua. However, they have had some desafios! They always went to church and planned on continuing to go, but didn't feel like it was time to get baptized, and Alberto was a Coffee addict. As I have seen so many times though, the Spirit worked through them and they were able to overcome their problems. Alberto MIRACULOUSLY stopped drinking coffee and they committed to being baptized on the 16th of April.

Alberto, Cristian, Leslie and Alondra

 

With family friend, Marcos

 We also had another golden investigators named Jose Luis. He is about 60, and we found him through just normal contacting. He decided that he was going to experiment our church, and from the first time in church he loved it. He had had some serious alcohol problems in the past and felt that he needed to completely clean himself from them. His fecha was for the 23rd of April, but we felt like he was ready after going to church 3 straight weeks. Alberto is actually a good friend of his, so it was working out perfectly. We invited him to be baptized on the 16th, and he said, "the earlier, the better!"

Jose Luis

 So on Saturday we had 5 baptisms! It was so fun, but it was very spiritual. All 5 were super pumped and super ready, knowing that they were making an incredible decision, the best of their lives. Alberto, Cristian, Leslie and Alondra had all changed to their baptism clothes, and they went into a separate room and said a family prayer, holding hands. It was awesome. They are a super funny family. If they were American you would for sure think they are from New York. Have a strong accent, are really blunt, awesome people! The service was awesome, and they all showed up early for their confirmation. It was great.

 

5!

I have been really trying to focus on the Spirit recently, and I was able to see how the Spirit worked through these 5 amazing people and helped them understand the Restoration and the concept of Baptism. They quit doing things, but started doing even more. The Spirit is extremely important. We were at the church on Saturday night helping out with some Sister's baptism and some youth were in a back room listening to some music. It was a song that I often listened to before the mission. It isn't really a bad song, but I could feel it take away from the Spirit, and I didn't like that. It was just weird. I know the Spirit on the mission is different, so I am trying to take advantage of it while I can. Let's find ways to search for the Spirit.

We had 14 baptisms in our Ward last Saturday, which means 14 confirmations on Sunday.... it was long but an awesome experience. I didn't confirm any of them, but was in the circle and it was humbling to see all those people that I have worked with make this great decision. I am grateful to have been able to get to know them! We also had a massive week in the Zone, that was a miracle. I love the Spirit!

Silly Jazz... always breaking our hearts.

Love you all!

Elder Merrill

Pizza!

This week was a good one! The power was out for the majority of the day so this is gonna be short. We are low on time! 

We worked hard this week! 

I will just get straight to Saturday because I honestly can't remember anything else from the week. Saturday was Elder Hall's birthday, so we had a lot of fun. Why did we have a lot of fun? Because of the baptism! We baptized Alicia. She is the daughter of a recent convert. We had worked with her for a little while but she hadn't been able to get her 3rd church attendance, so she hadn't been able to be baptized! However, she went to Conference, we animated her big time and she got baptized. It was fun. She is super awesome, and her little daughter Lelani is one of the funniest girls ever! She was so pumped about her baptism that her mom invited us for lunch on Sunday!

Baptism of Alicia

From then on we just worked on committing people to church, and had a good day yesterday. I bought Pizza Hut for lunch to celebrate his birthday and Elder Hall bought Papa John's at night. So good. He got a BBQ Chicken Pizza, and I felt like I was eating something that I hadn't eaten in decades.

A little tradition here in Nicaragua is that at all birthdays, eggs are thrown on the heads of the people! Elder Hall thought we were gonna do it in the morning, so he was surprised when we smacked him with eggs during the picture! Hahaah it was funny.

Happy Birthday Elder Hall!

Yesterday, Elder Heileson and I did 11 baptism interviews. It was crazy! We are hoping to have a good week this week. Pray for la Zona Universitaria!

Sorry, but time is short today. Hope you all had a great week! Let's always focus on the good in people. Try to make someone's day better every day! Love you all!

Love,

Elder Merrill

Go Jazz.

Conference!

4 up, 4 down! Que crazy. It was another fun week. The weeks are going faster and faster every week! I can't believe we are already in April. Let me give you a little update on the week and some of the things I learned. Feel free to not read it, because I know I am bad at this. Congrats to Noah on his mission call (West Virginia)! That is awesome man!

Tuesday we had another Mission Leadership Conference with all of the Zone Leaders (this is done every month). Maybe my second to last one! This mission didn't have a very good month in March, so President got after us pretty good. It helped. The Zone Leaders that are baptizing did get it a little easier, but the important thing is seeing the things we can improve rather than pushing away the correction. That is something really important that I have learned on my mission. If someone tries to correct you, especially a leader, they may not be exactly right in what they are saying. But they are saying what they are saying because they have seen something that implies that we need to be corrected! And they more times than not want to help us! So instead of being stubborn, why don't we just take a humble approach and try to improve?! That has helped me a ton. Other than that Consejo was great, always good to see a lot of friends! 

On Thursday Elder Heileson and I went to do divisions with a struggling companionship. It is a DL, so he needs even more to put an example. They had really been struggling, had only brought 1 investigator to church the week before, and the DL was losing a lot of faith. So Elder Heileson and I went on up there. We talked a lot about Faith during Comp Study, and then went out to work. Yeah we worked hard and maybe taught them some things, but what helped more than anything was just trying to improve their faith and patience. This weekend, they took 13 investigators to church. It was really fun to see. I am happy for him because their faith was strengthened, and that is what made the difference. 

Friday we had Zone Meeting. It was fun! Can't really remember what we talked about, hahahah.

Conference! It was spiritual, fun and good. I guess, hahahah. We had a successful weekend. Most importantly, quite a few people were able to hear the voices (translated into Spanish) of the Prophets and hear the inspired messages! We didn't really watch on Saturday, mostly just Priesthood. We saw everything on Sunday. All in Spanish, which is a bummer. Lots of talks helped me, felt the Spirit, all that good stuff. Elder Holland's talk was pretty dang cool. And I got a lot of personal revelation at the Priesthood session about how to become a better leader. I am grateful for President Monson. I love him so much. Conference here in the mission is awesome, but boy am I excited for October to watch it at home. 

Other than that, it was a good week! We are continuing to work hard, no matter what the circumstance. Pray for Jaimy, Alicia, Alberto, Cristian, Leslie, Alondra, Jose Luis and Claudio. It would help a lot :) happy birthday Liz!

Love,

Elder Merrill

Grande Eres Tu! (How Great Thou Art!)

This week was awesome. Went by really quickly and there isn't a lot to say so I will get to the point but it was a lot of fun!

On Wednesday we had another Multi Zone, probably my last one. It was really good. Sister Russell talked quite a bit about Repentance and the importance of giving it everything we've got with the time we have on the mission. It was really impactful. President talked again about being consecrated, motivating us to be the best we can be! After that we had lunch, then did Workshops. Elder Heileson and I had to teach a Workshop again. We talked about Using the Scriptures to better teach Repentance. The church now has the big focus on Repentance, and with the Scriptures, we can better apply the process in our lives! Let us repent every day. I promise that it brings joy. One thing President Russell said to one of my companions one day was this, "Pray every night until you feel peaceful. If you don't feel peaceful, keep repenting." So very true. So anyway, the Workshop! Like three and a half hours straight of teaching. It is tiring but lots of fun. After we played #NicManSur shrades then finished up. It was fun!

Elders Merrill, Heileson and Hanson at Multi Zone

On Thursday I got to work with some Elders that have been struggling. It was fun. They improved, so I guess I did my job.

Isaura! She is an investigator that we have had. She has always had a little desire to be baptized but her family is really against the church. Elder Hall and I made the goal to invite her to a baptism service and from there invite her to be baptized right then and there on the spot. Then what did we do? WE PRAYED! And we prayed really hard. We got to her house Saturday morning and one of her relatives actually came out of the house with a machete and threatened us, saying, "Get out of here, we don't want you here. We are Christians." See the irony there? Hahaha but he didn't do anything. She was ready to go to the Baptism! We got there super early and invited her to be baptized. She accepted :) we called the DL, he interviewed her, and she got baptized! It was awesome and crazy! The scary part for us was going to be the confirmation, so what did we do? WE PRAYED EVEN MORE! So... we show up Sunday morning. No problems. We took her to church and she got confirmed. Absolute miracle. The title of this letter is Grande Eres Tu. That means How Great Thou Art. And it is so true. I am so thankful for the blessings of the Lord. They come in so many ways. 

Baptism of Isaura

And maybe the biggest blessing from my mission is the news I just heard. Congrats :)

I love you all so much. Happy Easter! I am thankful for my Savior like always. Excited for Conference. Learn something! And keep praying for the Jazz.

Love,

Elder Merrill

Wow. Que Calor. (that heat!)

What a fast week! I kinda don't really like how fast these weeks are going by now. Early in the mission it is great, but now it is kinda scary! So, I spent my first full week back in Managua, and got to remember a little bit about this place. Now let's remember, I have been in Nicaragua for about 20 months, with all this heat. You would think that one would get used to it. You are wrong. This week was the hottest I have been in my entire life. Times 10. Every stinkin day during the day it is hot in this country, but here in Managua at night is when it is bad. This last week I woke up sweating and fell asleep sweating. Copeland sent me a text Saturday night at about 11 that was well said.... "the fan is breathing fire on me right now." We are in the hottest time of the year, so this week should be just as bad, if not worse. However, we just wipe the sweat off and keep working, because that is how it's supposed to be!

I'm gonna keep this relatively short because not a lot happened, just worked really hard! Let's see... On Friday Elder Heileson and I went to try and help a couple possible baptisms that were falling, which usually don't end up being saved. Her biggest doubt, which we finally were able to pick out, was that she didn't think she needed to be baptized again. We talked to her for awhile, used the scriptures, and by the end she decided that she wanted to do it and get baptized the next day! It was a miracle, the Spirit was definitely there. All we did was use the knowledge that we had, asked direct questions, and the spirit helped her know that she needed to get baptized. She and her son were baptized and confirmed this last weekend.

We baptized Matthew McConaughey! Ok not exactly, but we baptized the latin replica of him. Mom, you will be really happy! (I have no idea why he said that!) Hahahaha his name is Marcos, and he is awesome! We had to convince his wife Ana to get married, because she did not want to! We wanted her to get baptized as well, but not gonna happen right now. She doesn't really want to and can't stop drinking coffee! But Marcos was ready! He is awesome! Smart, willing, and loves the church! Saturday was their wedding and his baptism. Even though the Lawyer showed up an hour late, it was a good moment and they enjoyed it. He got confirmed too! While we were waiting for the lawyer, there was a massive party going on in the church. It was some sort of celebration for the Relief Society, but turned into a bacanal. If the Nicas know one thing, it is how to party. They gave us food! We also had two more baptisms in the area, Yamil and Jennifer, but I hardly got to know them. I will get pics when I can!

Marcos and Ana

Marcos' Baptism

That is about it. Great week. Go Jazz. Pray for them. Love you all!

Elder Merrill

Elder Merrill and Elder Hall

P day fun with some members

Have faith and trust in the Lord!

Note:  We went to St. George last weekend for my niece's farewell.  She will be serving in Nauvoo!  She spends 6 months in Nauvoo, then is sent to another mission in the states for 6 months, then finishes her mission in Nauvoo again for 6 months! We love you Sharwan!

Dad on his tippy toes. Hahaha nice picture in St. George! Oh how I love that place! Good luck Wanny! That is a weird mission but super awesome how you get to do that! This week was quite eventful but at the end really not that eventful. I have very little time left in the mission, so my letters will all be focused on getting to the point and bearing my testimony. 

I had changes! Tuesday we went around saying goodbye to the people of Juigalpa. That was actually really, really hard. When I got called to Juigalpa, I was a little bit upset. No one has good things to say about that place. It is a difficult area, far away from Managua, lots of hills, rocks and dirt, the people aren't very educated or receptive, and there is nothing to do. None of the things really mattered to me other than the difficult area part. I had just been in two very difficult areas, so I wasn't expecting Juigalpa. But I learned a lot there. And I might have learned the most important lesson of my mission. I stopped trying to do it all by myself. I had been doing it for 18 months. I would work really hard and expect the blessings. My prayers would be along the lines of, "I will do this so that I can have this blessing." But the blessings would rarely come. And it was frustrating. However, about mid-December I changed something. Instead of saying prayers like that, my form of prayers turned into, "Lord, I have done my part. But I need thy help, because I can't do it by myself. I put it into thy hands." And then the focus of my prayers were for Him to help us bring people to church and baptize the people we were teaching. My prayers became begs and pleas instead of just orders from a drive-thru. And immediately, everything changed. Last change was one of the most successful changes that that area had ever had. I have been working really hard the whole mission, but the faith was never to the level it needed to be. That has changed. 

I also grew to love the people of Juigalpa. We had to say goodbye to a lot of great, humble people there that will be in my heart for the rest of my life. I will dearly miss them. I haven't been a very sentimental missionary, but these wonderful friends of mine in Juigalpa helped me on a very important process, and I love them for that. I will never forget them! And I can't wait to see them again soon!

Changes. I am now in Altagracia, Zona Universitaria. Or in other words, smack dead center of Managua and the mission. Our Zone contains the mission office, McDonald's is in my area, lots of that good stuff. I was in this Zone when I was in Monserrat back in the day! Actually, the western border of my area is right across the street from Monserrat. Unfortunately the two areas are not in the same Zone anymore so I won't be able to visit, but I have already had multiple people ask me about my teeth incident! Hahahaah just so you know, if we were to translate the word Altagracia directly to English, it would say High Grace. Which is so true. This is one of the most blessed areas in the entire mission! It is ridiculous. Everyone is positive. I feel like I am in Bluefields again! On Sunday we took 10 investigators to church, and they are all progressing with a baptism date! We also had a baptism last week! Here name is Siomara. She is a family to complete, about 70 years old, and really cool! I obviously didn't know her very well but she is awesome! We have been working really hard. My ZL companion is Elder Heileson from Syracuse, but will be living in Riverton after the mission. He is awesome, I have known him for quite a while! Love him! My companion is Elder Sam Hall from Texas. He is super cool too!

Siomara's baptism

Elder Hall, Siomara and Elder Merrill

Oh one more thing... the chapel here is about the nicest there is in Nicaragua... which means it has a basketball court inside. With real hoops. It doesn't quite have wood, but close enough! We played today! It was unreal, first time on a real hoop since the MTC. I need to work on my dribbling, but the shot isn't looking too bad :)

 

Basketball!

 

Love you all so much! Have a great week. Have faith and trust in the Lord!

Elder Merrill

Lame but Awesome!

This last week was pretty lame. Because of the change in MTC for local missionaries, this transfer was a 7 week transfer, instead of the normal 6 weeks. So this last week was kinda boring. Also, yesterday there was a Central American wide Stake Conference broadcast with Elder Anderson! So, there were not any baptisms either. A really lame week! Elder Kleiner and I took advantage to be able to work with some companionships and find some new people.

Tuesday was really hot, but Elder Jimenez and I worked hard nonetheless. And we found a super awesome family! Their names are Karla and Marvin. We had contacted Karla a few days earlier, but decided to go back when we could talk to her companion too. She had mentioned to us that Marvin worked all week and would always drink on the weekends. Something very common here. But only drinking on the weekends is something that can easily be changed! Our visit with them was awesome. He was a lot more open than we thought he would be, actually really positive! Karla said that she wants to congregate herself in a church, but knows she has to get married in order to do it. She is golden, and him as well! We put a fecha with them, visited them with a family from the Branch on Thursday, and went there again on Saturday. We had talked about how prayer would help Marvin to not drink. Showed up at 7 on Saturday night, and he was still there, hadn´t left! What a miracle. They were so committed to church that they even invited us for breakfast on Sunday! They went to the Conference! The only problem is that Karla has to get a divorce from her separated husband in order to get married. Which is a stinker. But they are awesome!

On Wednesday, Elder Kleiner and I went out to Santo Tomas to work with some Elders. It was a fun day! We didn´t find a lot of people, but we worked hard, and I hope the Elders were able to see that!

Rolando was interviewed by President Russell a couple Sundays ago, and President is coming back on the 20th to re-interview him! Looks like he may be getting baptized at the end of this month if all goes well. But whether he does or doesn´t, this guy is so converted! He has already read the Book of Mormon once, goes to church every week, and teaches the lessons to family members and friends! Every Thursday night we go on visits with the members of the Branch, and last Thursday he went with us! I went out with the Ward Mission Leader and him. It was super awesome! I love that man.

Friday we had Zone Meeting. Talked about faith. Taught about teaching Repentance, so that we can baptize converts. It was fun! That afternoon I spent with Elder Salmeron. It was great to work with and learn from him.

Sunday as I said was the Stake Conference thingy with Elder Anderson by broadcast. It was great to hear from one of my favorite Apostles! We had a good day in church.

That is about it! This week are changes. We will see what happens. I love Juigalpa, I really do. I would be honored to have another change here with these people, especially this Branch! I have really come to love it. Can´t wait to let you guys know, and to enjoy these last 2 transfers in the mission! 

Love you all!

Elder Merrill

Mission Leadership Conference with Elder and Hermana Ochoa

El Deseo (The Desire)

Wow, what an incredible week! A week with very little sleep, hahaha but it went well! Congrats to the girls Basketball team on the State Title. Looks like Kennedy had a pretty good year! 

This week we had our mission tour with Elder Ochoa from the Area Presidency! It was on Wednesday, so Tuesday we just had a normal work day, and it was pretty successful! But let´s get to the important stuff.

So I was informed late Tuesday night that I was going to be conducting, so that was a lovely surprise. It wasn´t very difficult, but still not really what I wanted. Hahahaha it was fun. We got there real early, at about 7:00, which meant leaving the house at 4. At 8:45, Elder Ochoa and his wife, and President and Sister Russell showed up. They took pictures with each Zone, then we got to meet him! There is something special about being in the presence of a General Authority. Bishop Davies, President Nelson, Elder Snow, Elder Christensen, Elder Duncan and now Elder Ochoa. We have been extremely blessed! The second he walked into the room, you could feel his Spirit and his humility. I don´t know how they do it, but they are definitely some powerful men and women. We then began the meeting!

Conducting, as far as I know I did fine. Elder Ochoa and his wife talked, then Sister Russell shared a powerful message about faith. Afterwards, President Russell spoke about how the mission is going and shared a message. During this part I didn´t really have time to take notes because I was up on the stand, but they gave some good messages! Then Elder Ochoa began to talk again, giving us instruction. I absolutely love the way he spoke. He spoke with so much humility and yet with so much power, to the point where we could feel the Spirit and be motivated to be better. Throughout the day, he mentioned 7 points of things we could do better to have more success and become better missionaries. 

1. Become one with Christ

2. Be one with our Companions

3. Be one with the Ward

4. Be more Focused

5. Accept all the Responsibility

6. Teach Repentance

7. Love the People

Elder Ochoa´s focus was that we stop wasting time with people that aren´t going to progress and instead spend our time searching for the ¨escogidos.¨ We have so many numbers to complete, that sometimes we get caught up teaching people that we shouldn´t be teaching in order to complete the numbers. Elder Ochoa is very down with the Standards of Excellence, but wants us to get better in the way that we work with them. He motivated us to find the people that God has prepared. I wish I had brought my notes here to write, because I have forgotten some of the detailed notes. But anyways, he talked a lot about that, answered some questions, and bore a strong testimony. Oh and we got to each lunch with him too! That was as scared as I have ever been eating lunch, hahahaha. I didn´t spill though so we are good :)

Elder and Hermana Ochoa

But that wasn´t it! We also had a Leadership Council Meeting, presided by Elder Ochoa! Now, that is where the nerves get going, because it is a lot more personal. President Russell lead it, and for about 2 hours we just talked about ways to help the mission and about what we learned in the Multi Zone. It was awesome! All the Zone Leaders were participating, giving inspired ideas to get this thing rolling even more. But the best parts were the things that Elder Ochoa mentioned. So much humility, yet so much power. He had talked about giving more in the Multi Zone, but at Consejo he modified it. Instead of us giving more, he promised that the Lord will give us more. He said that it is hard for President to ask more than he is already asking, so instead of giving more, we should give better. My favorite quote. ¨The Lord doesn´t just want you to baptize, but he also wants you to learn how to become great leaders and Disciples of Christ.¨ While always reminding us that everything we do should be focused on Baptizing and Retaining :) it was awesome! He also helped us to know that everything we do as leaders should be with the plan to inspire. INSPIRE. I hope we can all inspire others while at the same time inspiring ourselves!

That is about it from the week. I love the Gospel, and I want to finish strong. Make the most of this time that I have left. I love you all so much. Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Merrill

Elder Merrill and Elder Jimenez

Service