Monday, March 5, 2018

I could in no way deny Christ

Hey guys!  I think I officially feel like a real adult now - 20 sounds way 
older than 19 - it's a little weird.  Guess what I bought with some of my 
birthday money?!  Some spankin' nice Clark dress shoes for $25 bucks!  
They were normally $135 but the store is closing and I got a sweet deal!  
I figured I could use some good shoes when I come home because mine 
are pretty beat up.  I’m pretty proud of myself.

We had a great week here in Little Rock.  Tuesday we were blessed to 
be part of an awesome service project at the Mosaic Church in our area.  
They have a food pantry every Tuesday to help the homeless people.  It 
was so great to go and help them out.  I even got to use my Spanish a 
little bit so that was awesome.  They even sent us home with a bunch of 
left over food so that was really nice. 

On Wednesday our district went and served at the biggest food bank in 
Central Arkansas.  It was a very cool experience.  We boxed up cans of 
corn for about 4 hours.  It was a really fun experience.  Then that evening 
we were invited by an English ward in the area to be part of a missionary  
panel discussion with their youth.  We first played some get-to-know-you 
games and then the youth were able to ask us questions about missions.  
The panel consisted of 2 young women who were about to submit their 
mission papers, 4 missionaries, and 4 returned missionaries.  I think the 
youth were able to hear many perspectives about missions.  They also 
asked some really awesome questions.  It was really fun to be a part of.

Thursday we went with the English Elders to downtown Little Rock.  We 
had lunch and walked around and talked to a bunch of people.  We ended 
up finding some members so that was cool.  However, we did not find many 
Hispanics so we probably we won’t go back there to work again.  Overall it
was a good day and really fun to see everything.  We also took some pretty
cool pictures around town.  Little Rock itself is really pretty small but it's a 
cool city.  It has grown on me.  Memphis is probably double the size of Little 
Rock.  Jonesboro is smaller and a lot like Logan.  I've really enjoyed all the 
areas I have served. 

Friday we had to get the tires on the the care changed and it took forever.  
There was a guitar store across the street so we went there and I played 
around for a little bit while we waited.  We also went to the only Cold Stone 
ice cream shop in our entire mission.  It was delicious and brought back a 
lot of good memories.  

On Saturday we worked.  We went to go and buy a bus pass but the place 
was closed.  We will probably go again this week to get one because the 
mission will reimburse us for the pass.  Then we can take the bus to places 
that are too far to bike and this will help save miles on the car.  

Thanks for all the birthday surprises.  They were awesome!  I finally received 
the watch - it’s so sweet!  It weighs like nothing - the box said that most of it is 
made from bamboo so that’s pretty cool.  It was definitely a great last birthday 
on the mission but I'm looking forward to the next on at home. :)

This week we have Zone Conference that I am looking forward to.  They are 
always awesome.  On a more spiritual note I have almost finished reading the 
Book of Mormon again.  I am going to try and read it one more time out here 
on my mission before I return home in four months. I am always so touched by 
Moroni’s testimony about not denying the Christ.  I have definitely come to the 
same knowledge Moroni had - I could in no way deny Christ and this amazing 
gospel.  I love this gospel so much and have learned so much as a missionary.  
The best thing is the more I learn about the gospel - the more I desire to follow!   
I love you guys!  Have a great week! 

Love Elder Merrill 
Elder Merrill in Little Rock, Arkansas




Serving at the Arkansas Food Bank

Elder Padilla, Elder Anderson, Elder Merrill, Elder Gonzales 
Hermana Orr and Hermana Quigley serving with a smile!

Elder Anderson and Elder Merrill
eating at Chicken and Waffles


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