Hey mum,
Wow it’s certainly been a great
month to live in Utah! Conferences, temple dedications, fall is coming
on, I love this time of year, in fact its probably my favorite time of
year. Dads a great spiritual example, he does so much good and I know he
has been an great leader for many people, in and out of our ward. When he
dealt with the young men, they all loved him. I can remember speaking
with a few of them and they always smiled and expressed love for Dad. I
never questioned why, I only felt blessed to have more time with him than they
all had. You both have always been great to spend time with us, which
made all the difference growing up. Although there were many times that I
chose to spend time with friends rather that with Dad playing tennis, or with
you doing something else I always love being with you both. The time I
spent with you or dad was always infinitely more valuable and enjoyable than
time spent with others. I remember faintly a book you had read about
expression of love. There were five, or so, ways to show it. Time,
gift, touch, words of praise, and other stuff I don't remember. I've
thought of that, and recognized I like all of it but Time seems to be the most
valuable to me by far. Neither you nor Dad were ever hesitant to spend
time with me, and always seemed to put us kids first in everything. Never
think that these moments went unnoticed. They carried me through life and
they've carried me through my mission.
Thanks for
everything Mom, I'm sorry I don't have the time nor resources to
share all the stories I might have. Here's one. Yesterday, we have
about 45 minutes left in the night, and we were walking about in the dark (as
it gets dark at about 6pm this time of year) and not wanting to waste time
we decided to think of a way to make our finding efforts more effective.
Elder Pease prayed that we would find someone to speak with that we could have
a great effect on. We followed the direction he received to walk down a
certain road, and saw one man walking our way. We approached him, he was
agnostic and called us too young to know anything and that we were unlearned
and inexperienced. We spoke about God and shared our beliefs, which he
questioned. It seemed his attitude was
to challenge everything we said and to prove us wrong even though he had no
evidence, nor reason for his own beliefs, which were inconsistent anyway.
In a spark of genius, Elder Pease said to the man, "I dare you to read the
Book of Mormon, I dare you." The man seemed taken aback, and seeing the
tables had changed slightly, I said to him, "If you can read this book
with a sincere and open mind, and put it down afterwards regarding it useless
slander, I will owe it to you that you have proved us wrong." He agreed
to take the book and read it. It was a great time and a great way to
finish the night.
Also, a couple weeks ago, to assist
in building our faith, I insisted in weekly planning that we should pray for a
Headquarter Referral, which is when someone is referred to us through the
Mormon.org website. We prayed a few times for this to happen, and
not more than two days later, HQ called us with a referral.
I will probably buy boots today, I
think its wisdom. I love you mom, I miss you and am very excited to be
reunited with all of you in just a few months. Have a great week, thanks
for being great!
Elder Merrill
p.s. this is me right now.
To his Dad:
Thanks for your love and confidence
Dad, as I near the end of my allotted term of service, I think a lot about the
future and look forward to all the things life will throw at me. Whatever
happens, I plan to serve the Lord and lead a good life. I have gained a
testimony and knowledge from God. He would never give me these things
without plans to use them for good, and without the intent of granting even
greater things to me if I live a good life which He knows I can and
will. That's that, I look forward to seeing you all again.
I love you Dad, thanks again for
everything,
Elder Merrill
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