Sep 22, 2014

Hey Mom,

I am being transferred to Dundee, Scotland, to serve in the Liff(Dundee 2nd) Ward as senior companion to Elder Pease.  I will let you know if I need to buy anything new because it sounds like I will be on foot for the winter, again.  I will be in Dundee on that date, let them know if they want to come around to email me their number and perhaps if I have it at that point I can email them my number. 

Mmm pumpkin waffles.......

Thanks for everything Mom, I will let you know the address as soon as I get it.  The package address will be the mission home unless there is anything changed since I was there. I'm excited to go back to Scotland of course, however I will miss this city.  Limerick is the easiest unit to serve in, the members are missionary minded, they help out, they feed you, there is almost a small branch mindset here which allows you to get to know everyone.  It makes a huge difference, and I've loved it here. I will miss it, I talked a bit about the move in Dads email if you want to know a bit more. 

Well, I love you Mom, thanks for everything.  Thanks for the prayers, I will do my best to say farewell to everyone.  Its funny, the last week or so people in the branch have found out I was likely to leave, and we have had 2 meal appointments pretty much every day since a week and a half ago.  I feel good about what I did here, I know I left it better than I found it, made friends, I am content and feel I have done my purpose here.  Although I feel I've done some good, I haven't been able to help everyone. 

You have a great week mom, I'm thinking about you and I miss you.  Take care,

Elder Merrill

 

golf simulator Limerick Ireland

Sep 14, 2014

 Dad,

Good old Uncle Jim is a great way to start off this email.  He's a great man; I've always looked up to him because of his presence and because of his military service.  Plus now I know of the considerable sacrifices he has made to serve God and my respect for him has grown several fold.  I love and aspire to be like him.  President Miles' talk sounds like it was needed and I agree with his notion and the topic in regards to missionaries being prepared for missionary service. He's a good man and I've gained more respect for men like him since the beginning of my own service. 

Now I like the sound of President Hobson's talk.  Who is he by the way I can't remember the name?  What’s his calling? I love the community that he was describing; I would attribute many of the problems that the Irish culture has to the fact that community and culture have been destroyed! It’s a sad thing when a man who has lived in his neighborhood for a decade doesn't know his neighbors, or even their names or professions.  This happens every day and it reminds me of the good places I grew up in. 

Multi-Stake conference, wow I don't remember ever going to one of the those.  Sounds like it was fantastic though, you had two members of the Quorum of the Twelve, that is something else.   I'll bet that was a really great time. I have come to love conferences of all sort while I've been on my mission, they are great opportunities to hear from experienced people who have prepared quality talks and are certainly led by the spirit. Great stuff. I'm getting excited for general conference. 

Ready, Aim, Shoot, yeah perhaps John hasn't shot as many guns as the rest of us haha no that does sound like an analogy that I would understand very well.  But hey, sometimes you don't have time to aim.  In those cases, you must have trained yourself to the point where muscle memory dictates accurate and effective movements that can save your life.  This may be related to developing good gospel habits, memorizing scriptures and building up skills and spiritual gifts.  I would say it’s safe to say most of the time that we are called to utilize our gospel knowledge unexpectedly.  I would say the same about the priesthood, thus the statement, sanctify yourselves.  I would add to the same, we must arm ourselves with the gospel knowledge and spiritual confidence adequate for all the unforeseen trials we hope to overcome.  If I desire to be prepared and able to climb out of every metaphorical pit I fall into, I mustn’t depend on the testimony or knowledge of others.  Nor should I say to myself, if any emergency situation arises, I will go to where the tools are, and bring them, and fix the problem.  We must arm ourselves with the tools of salvation at all times.  I like the way it’s put in the scriptures, put on all the armour of God, and I would add to it, and never leave home without it! 

 

Oh yeah dad rough job, you'll get through it! HA you chump, I'm so glad to hear your getting out and golfing and relaxing, I pray that you will have opportunities to relax and enjoy your life, I know how busy you are and how stressful work can be.  It’s great to hear of the success in the ol business. It’s an amazing and proud thing for our family, this business you've created out of nothing.  I seriously admire you for this dad and I've always felt the foundation of my inspiration to be independent and entrepreneurial came from you.  Thanks for the skills you helped me to develop early on; I use them every single day. The praise I receive for my abilities and skills I vicariously receive on your behalf, for without your fatherhood I would not have achieved so many things.  Thank you, can't wait to do some golf when I return, I'm afraid I will not be very good but the mechanics are still there so we will see.  We can have fun with it either way.

Glad you liked the voice recording, I hijacked Elder Henries family time but I am happy you heard it and liked it.  If you'd like, feel free to send me one and I will use it.  It’s totally up to you, but I'm down for whatever. Elder Henrie and I get along just great, we laugh and work hard and I just look up to the guy.  

All is well,

Love you father, take good care.  
Your son,
Elder Merrill

 

 

Sep 8, 2014

Hey Dad,

First of all, Viviane made us those pumpkin cookies!  They were pretty darn good, they weren't mama's cookies, but for what she was working with they were nice.  Second, she was indeed baptized, and it was a wonderful baptism.  Elder Henrie confirmed her yesterday at church, which was his first time doing so.  She was beaming and blended right into the branch.  She is amazing, since receiving her witness about 2 weeks ago till now; she has given us over 10 of her friends name and addresses to teach.  Conversion is magnificent; a cool part was sustaining her as a new member of the church.  Everyone raised their right hand and she looked around and grinned and I knew she felt surrounded by family.

Moves call is two weeks away, on the 21st I think.

My companion, Elder Henrie, and I are getting on very well.  We seem to connect on more aspects of both gospel and non-gospel topics that any of my previous companions.  He's a country living truck loving gun shooting Canadian, and plus, he lives not 15 miles over the Montana border in Canada, barely even Canadian.  But we get along very well; we teach well together and laugh all the time.  A very compatible companion, certainly easy to love.

I'll tell you what dad it seems that every week I walk into church and for some reason I am giving an unexpected lesson that I have no plans for.  It happened a few times early in my service here, and I suppose those lessons went well enough that I'm now the go to for quick substitutions for gospel principles.  Which is okay, I have the ability to pull a lesson or talk out of my sleeve, and if I have such talents I shouldn't shirk in using them.  As a matter of fact I pray constantly for opportunities to use my gifts, to magnify them.  Probably a gift that you helped me to develop, your confidence, conversationalist and ability to teach simply for understanding.  Any praise I receive for my abilities is a reflection of how well you've taught me, along with the blessings that God has entrusted me with.  I understand well my responsibility to use them for good, and to develop more.

Well, we had a great week here in Limerick, although a good portion of our week took place outside of the zone entirely.  On Tuesday, we gave a Zone Meeting Training on Conversion. The training went very well; we received some good praise from the Senior couples regarding it.  One Senior Elder in particular I’ve grown very fond of.  Elder Hale from Salt Lake.  He and his wife serve in the Cork Branch here in the Zone; he is a good and well educated man and a talented story teller, which many interesting stories to tell I might add.  He and I get on well, and he has told me that he may be able to hook me up with a cheap deal on a lifetime membership at the Front Sight Nevada shooting range.   Gold mine.

 

Later Tuesday evening, we drove up to Dublin to spend the night with the Dublin ZLs.  4am the next morning, we all got up and caught a plane to Edinburgh, where we had a great Mission Leadership Council Meeting, discussed goals and such, what the mission needs, area and mission welfare and other administrative topics. Very good to be in Scotland again.  After the meeting, around 4pm, we blitzed the APs area.  I was on exchange with Elder Clement, my good friend from Austin, TX.  We did lots of finding and met some good people, however the theme of the day seemed to be atheism, and so our teaching pattern seemed to repeat itself with every street contact we had.  Good time.  We flew home Thursday night, stayed the night in Dublin again, and were back home 11 am Friday morning, and got to work right way. 

Highlight of the week was Viviane's baptism, which was fantastic.  She was so happy and prepared, it was an unforgettable experience.  Really reminded me of my purpose here, and made me feel some needed fulfillment and success which was quite motivating.   Great week, I love being out here and can't believe I've only 6 months or so left.  I may get grey hairs in Limerick, I feel like some days I'm a lawyer, others a police officer, others a teacher, others like I'm running a business, but always a missionary.  Thanks for everything Dad, how's the old truck by the way?  Is Syd driving? Mom still driving that piece of junk?

I love you Dad, take good care, let us go on is our great cause.
Your son,
Elder Merrill

 

ps found this deer rug! its in our flat now.

Sep 1, 2014

Mom,

I thank you again for the package you sent last week, I've enjoyed the peanuts you've sent I haven't had anything like that my whole mission!  …… is indeed progressing spiritually, last week we had a good visit with her at her home, and she felt ready for baptism so we set a date with her.  This weekend, saturday the 6th at 5pm, she will be baptized.  Great news, we are super excited and I especially will consider this week one of the more memorable weeks of my mission.  Also, the sisters in our branch have two investigators with baptismal dates for the following week, and another team in the zone has had similar success.  It appears that by the end of the next fortnight, there should be four baptisms in Limerick zone, which is astounding.  Its great to be a part of the work here, its historic and every time we baptize, we get one convert closer to becoming a stake, and that would be a big deal. Great time to be serving a mission!

Syd's doing an internship at the firehouse eh?  What will she be doing exactly?  That's interesting, sounds fun.

So the time for the trip sounds good.  I can find something temporary to do to make some money and stay busy.  15-17 days in late June/early July will be great.  Glad to hear that ……. got a hold of you, she really is a nice lady and reminds me of you in a lot of things she does.  I'll be excited to see how well she imitate your cookies/pie, certainly couldn't be as good as yours but I'm sure it will be a good reminder of home.  We shall see, I'll let you know.  I've only been a part of the process for ……., she has put forth so much effort and had so much faith, I'm sure if we told her part of the deal was moving to Utah she would pack her bags and go.  She will make a fantastic member missionary, just this week she gave us nine referrals!  We have contacted five so far and three have books of mormon, we also have return appointments with two of them.  Not only this, but she has given the sisters a referral and also the Elders in Galway, and offered to Joint Teach the referrals with the missionaries.  She is an amazing person, Im just glad I was the one to be here to find her and work with her.  Lifelong friend there.

Anyway, thanks mom, I love you! have a great week,
~Elder Merrill

August 29, 2014

Mom,

First of all, the package did come.  Thanks so much, a lot of its contents were needed.   Thanks for all the muchies and peanut butter, that stuff is gold.  Also the letter was nice, of course, there's nothing like a package to make a missionaries day. 

Lots of crazy things going on here in Limerick, we are very busy and there is always some unexpected task to focus on.  …….. and ……… are doing wonderfully.  Working hard, yesterday was Zone Development so we played soccer and rugby (touch) and a few other sports all day which was a blast, with the whole zone of course.   Before we walked to the field, it was raining hard and I prayed that we might have warm weather and dry enough to play.  Well as soon as we started walking to the field, the sun came through the clouds so fiercely that we had to get one of the Sr. Couples to buy us all water!  It was so humid and hot, we were sweating and getting burnt and, just roasting.  Great time though I scored a few goals. 

In regards to be prepared and being consumed with being prepared….

There is no harm in analyzing world affairs, being informed and involved and preparing for potential disasters to come.  However, when our analyzing become a hindrance to our peace and feelings of preparedness, or in other words when our analyzing and data intake turn into unnecessary predictions and create feelings in our hearts opposite of faith, a line has been crossed from beneficial to potentially destructive.  Faith, though infinitely strong, is as fragile as we allow it to be.  Your comments to Evan were great, I'm blessed and happy to have a wise father.   God has things under control to the degree that we can count on Him.  Do whatever necessary, consider Captain Moroni's preparations and fortifications, all necessary.  Moroni had a perfect understanding, and knew well his enemy both spiritually and physically.  But I think we can tell the difference between Moroni and Teancum, who, although a good and honorable man, let his feelings and anger get the best of him, and was killed because of his haste and irrational operative behavior.  At first, Teancum worked with tactic, slow and steady, knowing his purpose and not letting irrational fear disturb his faith in the cause he was fighting for, and he killed Amalikiah successfully.  However the second time around, he was angry, and moved too fast and didn't consider the big picture, getting himself killed. Remember Alma 48:17.

I love this work, and I know my service as a missionary is building up God's kingdom here on earth, and God has given me a sure witness that He lives, and that his prophet Joseph Smith was called to restore the gospel to an Earth and a people hungry for truth and freedom.  This truth and freedom belongs to all men, those who want it will receive.  The work goes on.

I love you Mom, thanks for the great update, its all fantastic news.  You are a champion saving people!  Dang!  I didn't get dads email so I'm sitting here like, WHAT?  Crazy, I suppose God uses us all in unexpected ways.  Who knows how many lives you have really saved being such a great example of righteousness.  All the young women love Sister Merrill.  I do to, keep saving lives, you are a great mother,

Love you.
Elder Merrill

August 18, 2014

Family,

Last week was certainly interesting, and I have been busier than ever.  In many ways this is a good thing, I like being busy and under a bit of stress.  I'm happy to do all the work and planning and take all the phone calls I do, because I feel very involved and fulfilled in assisting the Lord in his purposes at the end of the day. 

My new companion is good, we like a lot of the same things and we both have an abstract sense of humor.  On top of this we both love the work and work hard and obediently, all is well there.  He's from Alberta, Canada and owns guns and trucks and is all into hunting and such.  We have 3 missionaries in the Zone who are ill in one way or another.   We have dealing with this and things seem to be escalating in a lot of ways. All good friends, so were keeping an eye on all of them, closely. 
………. is doing very well, however this week was as well interesting for her.  During the week we had a great lesson and spent some time with her, as she studied later during the weekend she texted us, saying "I am so happy! The book is true! I feel so good!"  It was an awesome experience for me.  She went on to confirm her witness by acting on the testimony she had gained, as the next few texts that she sent us contained the names and addresses of a few of her friends, people she wanted us to share the gospel with. 

A few of the things were working on now is planning for Zone Training Meeting tomorrow, then next Monday is Zone development, which is like a sport and games day for the zone.  Also this month they are flying us up to Edinburgh instead of having us drive to Belfast for our MLC, which is great!  Throughout all this we have exchanges and of course our own proselyting responsibilities.  I'm enjoying the work and loving my mission.  Looking forward to sharing stories and being with you again, have a great week!

I love you,
Elder Merrill

August 11, 2104

As far as obedience goes, I couldn't have said it better myself.  Obedience is the key element.  God has shown us all the way to live lives full of success and joy and has simply set forth which decisions to make with clarity and boldness, laying also before us the consequences and promised blessings of decision making.  And on top of that he has given us records of dozens of experiences where others have made decisions, good or bad, and related simply the consequences that fell upon them.  It is so simply laid out for us in these latter days.  Lest we forget and trod into paths forbidden. Father Lehi explained this phenomenon perfectly and understood in his old age the concept of agency and consequence, which are inseparable from one another.  

We had a dinner/lesson night with our branch president and his family, the …………., this week.  We are very close with them and they are all fantastic saints.  We had an amazing dinner; our investigator came along as well.  Sister …….. Had some cousins over, and they spent the whole time sitting with and befriending our investigator.  The second the cousin met our investigator until the second she left, she was teaching and testifying the gospel.  This was throughout dinner.  Afterwards we had a great lesson.  Our investigator got a spiritual whitewash and made some great friends, it was a great night. 

Yesterday all four of us Limerick Elders, that is Elder White and I, and Elder Sewell and Elder Johnson, drove up to Dublin.  This morning we all got up early with the DUB ZLs and played some basketball, me and Elder Stoker won. Then it was time for Elder White and Sewell to get on a bus to head to Edinburgh, as they are going home.  After they left we drove back, and spent about 4 hours planning transfers for all the missionaries going out or coming into the Zone, it takes a long time and gets a bit stressful at times, especially trying to keep them all in companionships, sometimes however you can't do anything and someone ends up alone.

I too am so grateful for our family and where we live.  It’s an amazing place.  Elder Johnson, who I am with for a couple days until Elder Henrie arrives from Glasgow, is from Provo.    We reflect often on Utah and the many things we love about it, it’s a great place.  I love you, thanks for emailing so diligently, I really do love to hear from you even if nothing is really going on.  Take good care and enjoy America, I miss her!  

Love you,

Elder Merrill

 

Jul 28, 2014

Hello Family,

I was in Cork this week, and for one reason or another there were tons of Spaniards on vacation there.  We had several opportunities to GQ (street contact) them and spoke to a few of them.  On a couple occasions I was able to speak Spanish with them, and even talk a little about the church and what we do as missionaries, I was able to express myself well and can honestly say I spoke the best Spanish I ever have. It was good; I also speak quite a bit of Spanish with our Brazilian investigator, who speaks Spanish, Portuguese and English. She is so solid, she invited us over for breakfast last week and fed us this huge Irish breakfast with fruit and pancakes and the whole lot, we love her. 

It is highly unlikely that I will be transferring this moves, as Elder White is going home so I will get a new companion when he goes.  Life is good here; the zone is doing fantastic in many aspects of the work.  We have lots of work; the zone has baptized 4 people this month, which is great as well.

Last Thursday I flew to Edinburgh for a 24 hour exchange with the Assistants.  We had a great day, did some tracting, taught a couple lessons and even had a dinner appointment.  It was cool being back in Scotland for a couple hours, and travelling alone was fun as well.   It was very warm, the hottest day of my mission easy.  I flew back the next day, feeling tired and fulfilled.  Missionary work is the best. 

I love you, thanks for everything you do.  16 months down. Crazy, every day is only a few minutes to me now. 

Love you

Elder Merrill

To his little Brother about a hard choice he made this week:

Life is full of tough choices, and quite often we are faced with the decision between the right choice and a choice that we really want to pick.  We show God what matters to us most by how we make these decisions.  Choosing the right shows discipline, patience and strength, and builds the same.  Choosing the wrong always shows weakness, immaturity and lack of self-mastery.  Making the right choice is rarely the easy decision and always takes faith.  There is a reward in heaven for every sacrifice we make on Earth.  I'm proud of your good decisions and impressed with your self-discipline, you made the right choice.  

Good luck and enjoy yourself; I love you, take care of your sister,

Your bro,
Elder Merrill

July 21, 2014

 

Hey Dad,

It was another great week  indeed.  Walks are nice, you certainly wouldn’t want to be walking around Limerick after 10pm ha-ha but we did go on one in the afternoon yesterday with an investigator who is progressing nicely.  The walk was on a beautiful golf course called Doromond Castle I think, it was nice and we got a lot closer to  ………..   She and I spoke lots and lots of Spanish and I’m pretty sure my Spanish is as good as it has ever been, we spoke quite fluently about all sorts of things. 

………  and his family came to church again, he is doing good and still preparing for his baptismal date on august 2nd.

This week, on Friday, we had an All-Ireland Multi zone conference and Elder Dyches from the Quorum of the Seventy came and spoke to us.  He and his wife gave us all some great instruction and I had some time to speak with them both for a while afterwards before they flew off to Germany.  Have any of our Merrill’s served missions in the New York area?  Sister Dyches was wondering. Very spiritual and uplifting conference. 

I hope your staycation goes well and that you have lots of safe fun. The HG is an incomprehensibly important blessing and gift.  Certainly one of Gods greatest gifts, as it tells us in the Gospel Principle manual.  He always speaks, so we have to listen all the time.  Because as Brother Williams story shows, it can come any ANY time at all, and especially when were not ready for it. And because we never know when the HG will prompt us, we have to be worthy and in the right atmosphere to receive impressions all the time.  That’s why were counselled to always live worthy and keep our body free of influences of any kind that can pollute our spirit.  

 

Loved to see all the pictures of you at the beach, you all look healthy and it was good to see you away from work and relaxing a little bit.  Rest is an important part of work, as is recovery.  I love you Dad, stay strong and safe and I will see you in no time. 

Elder Merrill

 

 

 

July 14, 2014

Hey Dad,

Wow we certainly had a great week.  As an area and as a Zone, Limerick saw much success and witnessed miracles.  We set considerable goals every week for our areas, DLs set District goals, and then we set the Zone Goals.  We have done very well on all of our goals and even blew away a few.  This week we had 4 with a baptismal date, 6 at church, and 5 less actives at church, 6 new investigators, and 5 progressing.  And the zone has baptized for the past two weeks, which is great. Here is a story I sent to mom, Miracle time:

Last Monday Pday we had a couple of hours left in the day and weren't sure what to do, we decided that playing ping pong at the church would be decent and went to the chapel.  About 45 minutes after we arrived there, we were lounging around and two men walked into the chapel and began speaking with us.  Their names were …….. and ………, from the Czech Rep and Slovakia, and immigrants to Ireland.  ………. was a Less active member, who hadn't been for years, ……., his friend, expressed a desire to join the church.  They live in Ennis, 45 minutes away.  …… told me they had been discussing the Bible and got on the subject of the Book of Mormon and the Church, at which point ……. filled ……… in on what he remembered about the church.  ……… immediately felt like visiting the church and asked …….to take him into Limerick, …….. told him it would be closed but ……… insisted and they ended up at the church talking with us.  We set an appointment for Friday and went to visit them.  We were greeted by 14 Czech/Slovaks who listened intently to our message, accepted the book of Mormon, and agreed for a baptismal date for August 2nd.  Many were already members, Less Active, but four will be baptized and possibly more later on.  They came to church and loved it, met many good people and expressed again their desire to be members.  Including them and others we found this week, we have gained 6 new investigators.  And 6 are progressing.

I do love when people ask questions; it’s my favorite teaching environment.  I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that when questions are posed, I can always pause for a moment, think, and feel perfect guidance when I open my mouth.  It really is an amazing feeling, and it never ceases to amaze me that as I answer according to the spirit, I can watch the persons face become content and their heart soften.  They recognize the answer as truth and that shows me I’ve said the right thing.  Great experiences, great teaching moments.

I love you Dad, thanks for being a worthy role model and a hero.  I love testifying of the Savior and the book of Mormon, but of course everything Gospel related testifies of the Savior.  That’s really what the gospel is, and what the scriptures are.  Everything we do is to remind, teach, direct or otherwise console us in the direction of Jesus Christ and who He is and what He does.  The sacramental prayer isn't just for the time that the sacrament is being passed; to be forgot when the class bell rings.  Instead, that prayer should carry on in our hearts throughout the week.  Our covenants aren't just for Sundays either.  I love the Gospel and the doctrine and everything about the church. Can't get enough. 

Loving my mission, things are hard but obviously the work is fruitful and time is flying by.  I lie down to bed every night thinking, holy smokes I swear I just got out of this thing.  Crazy.

I love you Dad, thanks for everything. 

Elder Merrill

PS allergies gone.

 

July 7, 2014

Jul 7, 2014

 

 

Mom,

Im doing great and loving the Limerick Branch, and the people here.  ……… is in the Canary Islands all last week and gets back tomorrow, so unfortunately we haven't seen her in over a week! But she is solid as can be and loving the Book of Mormon, we just need her to experience sacrament meeting, to feel the spirit in the church and to meet some of the great members in this Branch.  She has a testimony and has received a few spiritual witnesses of the truth.

 

For the fourth of July, we had a BBQ at a members home(the wife is American) and we threw around a football, they even had a baseball and gloves.  I could still throw the baseball but I was definitely rusty, remember the old days when we used to throw the ball around in the back yard?  Those times were alright.

Interesting you talk about Grandpa, I was actually thinking about Grandpa Jim last night!  I was filling out a My Family - Family History Booklet - and contemplate the few yet vivid memories I have of him.  My earliest memory, is looking at Grandpa Jim while we were playing that little frog game where the frog would spin around and you would flick the little flies into its mouth.  Great memories, he was a good man and I'm very sure he instilled many of the healthy mannerisms that I have today.  You and dad raised we very well on top of that, I have often thought to myself, "If I can raise my own kids the way Mom and Dad raised me, they will turn out alright".  Lets be straight, I will need pointers along the way, but I can recollect a few principles of parenting from you and Dad.  One thing was, you guys always spent time with me, it always amazed me and still amazes how much time, money and energy you both sacrificed for me.  You may not know how aware I was of all the sacrifice because I may not have said anything, but I can think back and recall how I felt the many many times you or Dad did anything for me.  Whether it was 5 dollars for a movie ticket, a ride to a friends house, a small word of advice, or a vacation to Alaska.  All these things made a huge impact on my life and whenever I was faced with decisions between right and wrong, my relationship with you two was the first thing that influenced that decision.  It always pulled me to the right way. Thanks for that.

I love you Mom, thanks for your endless service.  Surely there is reward in heaven for every single sacrifice you have made and do still make for us, tenfold. Your a great mom, couldn't be happier.

Elder Merrill

 

 

 

Pday Photos with Brother Kelly

Gap of Dunloe

Elders Kerry, White, Thomas, and Merrill

Kilarney Range

The Villages behind us are Waterville and Kerry

PDAY Cliffs of Kerry and Beach of Sneem

Cliffs of Kerry

Beach of Sneem
 

June 30, 2014

Hey Family,
First of all JIF peanut butter in a package would be great, thanks.  Second, moves call follows as such.  I have been reassigned to go to Paris, France.  Just kidding, I’m staying in Limerick with Elder White for the last six weeks in his mission and I feel good about it.

I’ll be sending some photos soon from last P-day in Kerry, in about an hour we have a lesson with ……. at the church, where we are emailing, then it’s off to Dublin to help with moves and all. We do lots of driving.

To answer Dads thoughts on the Book of Mormon.  The Book of Mormon certainly does change lives, it has mine.  I've learned more about the modern day dangers that exist now from that book than I ever did from the hours and hours I spent watching and studying history and the political spectrum.  It testifies of Christ and reveals his enemies, which are many.  I do love the Book of Mormon and mine has become my most valuable worldly possession, and really my only worldly possession of much worth.

I'm happy and doing well, it’s just really busy work and dealing with a lot, but way too consumed in the work to worry or think about much else. Being ZL keeps you busy, and focused, which I like.  I love you and miss you of course.  Hey, I actually speak quite a lot of Spanish out here which is weird, but yeah it turns out its beneficial to know other languages. Glad to be educated. Keep up the great work back home, see you soon Mum.

Love your son,
Elder Merrill