Southern Food and Blessings

Hey everyone!  This week has been pretty awesome!  I have been

enjoying the southern food experience.  It started off with an authentic

southern barbecue place which was amazing and very fattening.  Then

next on the list was catfish.  We went out with some members and got

some fried catfish, which was probably even more fattening but even

more delicious.  Along with that I tried fried okra which was pretty good. 

Every vegetable here is either fried or covered in butter -- it's awesome! 

We also went to Zaxbys which is a Southern food chain.  And to top it

all off, we went and got chicken and waffles. I know it sounds weird,

but it was dang good.  It is simply that, four chicken strips on a waffle

and covered in syrup - you just eat it all together and it is soooo good. 

So the food this week has been amazing and I might have gained nine

pounds but hey, life is great!

On the more spiritual side of things we met a girl named Annie.  She came

up to us and asked if we were Mormon and we said yes.  She told us that her

best friend growing up was Mormon.  We were like - that's awesome!  Then

she said, "well aren't your gonna teach me something?"  So we jumped into

teaching her about the restoration.  We got to the first vision and the spirit hit

us all pretty dang hard. She read the first vision and by the end of it she was in

tears.  She looked and us and all she could say was thank you.  We invited her

to be baptized and she said yes!  It was so amazing to see the spirit hit someone

that hard.  Hopefully she continues to feel the spirit and get baptized on the 26th. 

This week we also have had the awesome opportunity to go and give a few

priesthood blessings.  It is so amazing to be able to give someone a blessing

who you barely even know and be able to bless them with exactly what they

need.  That lesson I talked about in my weekly letter was really amazing. To

see the spirit really come over someone is an amazing thing.  And for me to

feel that same spirit testify that what is happening is true and right is even

more amazing.  Being out here is super awesome and is definitely what I

need to be doing right now.  Out here sharing this true gospel! 

I hope everyone has a fantastic week!

Love Elder Merrill. 

So grateful for members that feed the missionaries!