February 17, 2014

Hey Dad,

Sounds like you’ve had a great week. That topic seems to be a popular one these days, I wonder if the members listening will ever do anything about it or if they will come under condemnation some day for remaining idle. Even way over here the topic of member missionary work is the hot topic. I gave a talk yesterday. I was given the responsibility Saturday night at 9pm, which is not unusual, and began preparing a lesson on missionary work. About ten minutes into planning, I had a great stupor of thought and could not think of any way to continue. I took this immediately as a prompting that I wasn’t on the right subject, so I "re prayed" to pick a topic. This time, instead of praying to know what to talk about, I prayed to understand the needs and concerns of the people in the Branch.  Immediately the thought came into my head to completely change the topic and write a talk on Family and the Book of Mormon. So I did.

My talk covered a few of the ways that Satan is trying to destroy our agency, the importance of the family, and the many negative influences the world has on our family, and how the Book of Mormon is the tool given us by God to provide protection against these attacks. It was interesting.

I don’t feel like I’ve lost the form to ski.  You taught me well enough, it shouldn’t take me too long to get back into it. I think about skiing and hiking daily, am not sure why but it creeps in quite often. I just miss being outdoors, and can’t wait to hit the mountain again. Soon enough.

Thanks for the email Dad, have a great week at work. Don’t forget to wear a helmet when you’re in the back country with Evan.

Elder Merrill

Hey mom,

Thanks for that great story.  I needed it a wee bit.  I miss you, I miss you all a lot, but I don’t miss allergies.... I’ll probably get hit with them when spring comes around, it rains so much here that pollen has a hard time sticking around.  I’m doing well physically.  I’m healthy; some complimented me on my teeth yesterday, which was really nice. 

We met a less active member last week and she is super nice. Since a week and a half ago, she has fed us three times, gifted us well over £20 worth of food, and had us over another time for a lesson. She is easily the nicest lady I’ve met here, she is the best. She smokes and hasn’t been to church for ages, but is a really really nice and good person, and is a single mother of two kids. We’re getting to know her really well.  If we ran out of money I’m pretty sure she would feed us for every meal as long as she needed too.  She definitely needs and deserves the Gospel in her life again, so were going to work on it. I’m pretty sure she’s only like 29, also her brother is less active, and we see him often as well, who knows what could happen.

Alright Mother, have a great week, I love you very much, and I hope everything is going perfectly for our family back home.

 

Elder Merrill