Service is awesome!

Hey guys!  This week was pretty exciting.  We were challenged by our 
zone leaders to do a bunch of service so that is what we did - lots and 
lots of service.  It was great!

Tuesday we had a district meeting about service. Then Elder Gonzales
and I went on an exchange.  We went down to serve in his area.  We 
didn't have a car so things were a little rough.  We were able to visit a 
few people and have really good conversations with them.  I’m going to 
be really sad when he returns home to Chile in 2 weeks. We have really
become good friends.  He might attend BYU for school so that would be 
awesome.  Our exchange lasted until Wednesday

Thursday for service we went to a park and picked up a bunch of trash.
It was pretty fun and we got to talk to a lot of people which was good. 
We even met a few Hispanics but they ended up living an hour out of 
town.  That night we rode the bus up above our apartment and visited 
a less active member.  It was his birthday so we went to the dollar store 
and bought him a birthday card, balloon, and big glass mug.  He was 
super happy because not a lot of people had visited him.  It made us so
happy to see him happy.  Service is awesome!

Friday and Saturday we had some bus adventures.  Friday we rode the 
bus downtown and walked around the park hoping a lot of people would 
be there for Spring Break.  We were wrong.  We ended up getting lunch 
and then headed back home.  We tried a few more people but no one 
seemed to be home.  It was just one of those days.  Saturday we rode 
the bus all the way down to the church.  This requires us to go downtown 
for a transfer at the bus station.  We finally made it down south and had 
lunch at a members house.  After lunch we cleaned his whole house for 
service. He offered to give us a ride back to the church.  When we were 
at the church we realized we were going to miss our bus.  We hurried and 
set out for the bus stop but on our way there we saw the member on the 
side of the road.  His car had broken down.  We pulled over on our bikes 
to help him.  We ended up biking a mile down the road to buy a part that 
he needed.  We actually did this twice because we we got the wrong part 
the first time. By the time we did all that we had missed the bus but then 
we realized the next bus would be coming in about ten minutes.  Blessed 
by our service!  We decided to go back down town to the park again and 
try to find people since we were still there.  There were a lot more people 
there this time to talk to so that was fun.  

Sunday was the best day of the week. We went to Jonesboro to sing in a
missionary musical program!  It was really awesome to go back and see 
all of the members I used to serve while I was a missionary there.  It was 
crazy to see how many members had moved out but it was great to see 
the ones I did.  I saw Freddy!  I took a picture with him.  It was wonderful 
to sing with a group of missionaries again.  Singing always strengthens my 
testimony.  It is crazy how much my heart is touched when I listen to sacred 
music.  I know that when we listen to sacred music we will always feel the 
spirit very strong.  I know I do.    

President Hansen always says the 3 things that invite the spirit are: 
1. doctrine  2. testimony 3. sacred music.   

Love Elder Merrill 

Elder Anderson and Elder Merrill

Arkansas State Capitol Building

Missionary Program in Jonesboro, AR

Dolla Dolla bills y’all

Hey guys!  This week was another good one but not too much happened. 
I was on exchanges almost the whole week.  Tuesday and Wednesday I 
served in Benton.  We worked so hard but really weren’t able to talk to a 
lot of people.  We then exchanged back on Wednesday and I immediately 
went on another exchange with Elder Padilla.  We served in my area so 
that was nice.  I had the honor of taking him on his first bus ride in America 
which he thought it was crazy.  We also worked hard but everyone we tried 
to visit wasn't home so that was rough but we made the best of it.  It was 
really fun to serve with him again.  Then Elder Anderson and I were back 
together Thursday night.  

Friday we were able to go and provide service all day for one of our top 
investigator family.  We helped them set up for the quinceañera of their 
daughter for five hours.  It was exhausting but so worth it to serve this
family.  The most exciting part of the week was that were were cleared 
by our zone leaders to attend the quinceañera.  It was so awesome!  We 
went while they were having a church service and set up a couple more 
decorations. The party was awesome and it really centered around God.  
It was really cool to be able to understand all the Spanish at the party and 
get to know the people at our table.  There was a college student sitting at 
our table who has a couple Mormon friends.  We were able to answer a few 
of her questions.  The party provided a good opportunity for us to get some 
good exposure and introduce the ourselves as missionaries to many people.  

Sunday we had a really long correlation meeting and planned an activity for
tonight.  P-day today has been sweet.  We went to the Capitol building for a 
district activity.  I was able to hold a half a million dollars in my hands!  It was 
amazing.  We also took some really cool pictures but they are on my camera 
so I will send them next week.  

Thanks for all the support you always give me.  Being a missionary has been
one of the hardest and most rewarding things I have ever done in my life.  I 
have definitely learned a lot about trials while out here on my mission.  I have 
come to the conclusion that there is know better way to learn something that 
to learn it while in the service of my God and his children.  I love you all!  

Love Elder Merrill 

Elder Merrill in the Arkansas State Capitol Building

holding a half a million dolla dolla bills y'all!

Elder Padilla and Elder Merrill

Quinceañera fun!

Elder Merrill and Elder Anderson

A mustard seed of faith

Hey guys!  This week was pretty good.  We recently bought bus 
passes so it has been a new fun adventure riding the bus around.  
We just throw our bikes onto the front and ride to places that are 
farther out in our area that would usually take a long time to get to 
on a bike.  It has been nice. 

Last Thursday we had Zone Conference.  It was really awesome.  
President Hansen gave an amazing lesson on having faith.  He 
used himself as the example by telling us the story of how he had 
to get a hearing aid while being a Mission President.  He said that 
he felt the need to seek a blessing from one of the members of the 
seventy while attending a training meeting.   In the blessing he said 
that he was promised that his hearing would be fully restored.  He 
told us that it has not happened yet. He thought for a little while that 
he didn't have sufficient faith.  He then proceeded to teach us how 
we only need to have a mustard seed of faith.  He said that he has 
not lost his faith in God and that we need to realize that blessings do 
not always come immediately.  He testified of enduring our trials by 
clinging to doctrinal hope and to the knowledge that there is always 
light at the end of the tunnel.  His message really had an impact on 
me and gave me a new perspective.  President Hansen is great.  My 
life has definitely been blessed to have had two awesome mission 
presidents.  I have learned a ton from each of them.   

It rained again this week.  That always makes missionary life a little 
more challenging.  Hoping it doesn't rain too much this coming week.  
I'm excited for a few things this week.  We have exchanges with the 
Zone Leaders on Tuesday and then with our district on Wednesday.   
So we will be serving people all over the place. 

I can’t believe my sister is turning 18 this week.  Ahhhh that makes 
me realize how old I am! I can’t imagine how you guys feel - haha.  
I hope everyone has a great week. Love ya! 

Love Elder Merrill 

How is y'all?

I'm still doing great in Little Rock, Arkansas!  

Always an adventure in the South!

Elder Padilla fell asleep in the car so we decided to scare him - haha. 

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