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