Jun 2, 2014

To his little brother:

Hey buddy,

If I could give you one piece of advice prior to your mission, it would be this;
it is NEVER to early to develop a relationship with your Father in Heaven. 

It does something to you when you can look at life and know that there is a purpose to all of this, that your life has a purpose and a meaning, and that every difficult thing or time you face has a specific and particular meaning. 

Think about it bro,

Anyway I love you, have a great week.  Thanks for being a stellar kid, your a stud. God will watch out and take care of you when you do what you know is right. 

Elder Merrill

 

Family,

Belfast was great, I believe on Wednesday night we drove the 200 km up to Dublin which took 3 hours, then the next morning at 6 or so we drove the rest of the way up to Belfast which took 3 hours sat in a meeting from 10 to 3, then drove the remaining 6 hours through Dublin back to Limerick.  Talk about from the bottom of a rock to top and back down in a day. All in all the last 2 weeks I've driven 2000km, around 1200 miles. I like driving so its okay. 

The meeting consisted of instruction, and setting goals for the mission. Over the last week, Elder White and I compiled goals set by the DLs in the Zone, and felt very impressed to make goals that would be more achievable that they had been previously.  We felt like more achievable goals would more likely increase moral, increase effectiveness and help the missionaries overall, which is the purpose of goals. Excited to see what June brings, which is the month the goals were set for obviously. I also had an exchange this last week, which went very well, I was in Waterford, Uncle Jims old stompin grounds. yesterday also, we had zone development and all the teams came into Limerick for a day of play and games. Which was fun, we do it every transfer. 

I'm loving being Zone Leader for the opportunities it has given me so far to learn from others.  So grateful to be here in Ireland, loving my mission. My testimony of the Savior's mission grows daily, I pray for each member of our family and others by name each night and also for the faith to continue forward on the straight and narrow. This is the true church of Jesus Christ, I need no other truth, because all other truth flows from the source of truth which is God. And all truth applies to truth we learn while in Gods service. The atonement is real, I try to learn more of it every day. The words of the sacrament prayer mean so much more to me now than they ever have, and I have come to understand their true meaning and importance. 

I love you guys, and I miss you and think of you often.  Thank you for everything. Oh also, this last week, on Tuesday, we were teaching an investigator named …… in the church at the same time as a fireside was going on in the building. Right in the middle of the lesson, Elder Kieron of the first quorum of the seventy and sister reeves(president of the relief society, the one of the television all the time) walked by the door of our room.  I was like, "whoa I know those guys".  Then Elder Kieron came into the room and taught with us for a few minutes, it was a great experience to speak with this man for a time.  He had a great effect on our investigator.. 

So you have some new facebook friends, good to hear.  The people of Perth are great, I love them so much. Thanks for adding them, many of them are really close to me and it was a blessing to play any role in their lives while I was there. I felt successful there because I felt loved, and the love was reflected back into the work. I learned so much, and Perth will always have a special place in my heart. 

Service is really what its all about, if we think about it, all service is a reiteration of the great act of Service, the Atonement of Christ, which serves all of Gods children as far as they are willing to let it serve them. The atonement is a supreme and supernal principle and I love to talk about it, I love what it does for me and how the more I understand it the harder I work to better myself every day. I love our Savior, and I love you all. Thanks for everything, and for letting me know regarding our friends in Perth. Have a great week, keep being amazing, see you in 9 months. 

your son

Elder Tanner Merrill