A really cool experience

Hola!  This week was really awesome!  Great things happened including 
a baptism!  Tuesday and Wednesday I was able to return to Jonesboro for 
an exchange.  It was pretty cool to drive around the old streets and see a 
few of the members.  We had dinner with a family I got to know pretty well 
so that was really fun.  

Thursday we went and did service for Habitat for Humanity again.  They 
usually have us fix their books and move them around.  They let me have 
this sweet super old cowboy tie so that was cool.  After the service we went 
and had dinner with the Sister Missionaries at Brother Trayler's house.  He 
is so hilarious.  He is 88 years old, has never been married and lives alone.  
He has a bunch of really cool stuff in his house because he has lived in 80 
different countries around the world - so needless to say he also has a lot of
really cool stories to share.  Dinner with him is always an adventure. 

Friday was fun!  We received a Bible referral for a contact in the next town 
over so we set up an appointment and went there Friday.  When we met the
guy and talked to him we found out he was already a member.  He had been
baptized in Kentucky and had recently moved here.  When he left Kentucky 
he asked to have his records moved but he didn't know if the actually did so 
he wanted us to check.  He seems nice and really wants to start coming back 
to church.  After our visit with him we went to visit some people in the hospital.  
This really isn't my favorite thing - there is just something that sets me on edge 
when I'm around a bunch of sick people.  I told Elder Pickering the only place 
I felt comfortable in hospitals was in an Orthopedic office - haha.  We had our 
branch talent show that night which was pretty fun.  I played Hallelujah on the 
piano and Elder Pickering, Sister Gubler, and I sang it.  It was pretty awesome!  
I didn't get a video of it though so we will have to record it sometime so I can 
send it to you.  

Saturday was by far the best day of the week!  Every Saturday morning we go 
and help out at the Methodist Community Breakfast which is held at their church.  
They had asked us to give the devotional so we found a cool little story to share 
called "pushing against the rock."  They don't like us to talk about the Book of 
Mormon too much.  Elder Pickering read the story and I gave the message.  At 
the end of the story everybody was clapping and yelling "amen!"  It was really 
awesome.  I continued by sharing a scripture and ended with my testimony as 
people continued to yell "amen" every once in awhile.  The best part is that
whoever gives the devotional says the prayer.  So at the end I took off my hat,
looked out at everybody and said, "now, let us pray."  Everybody bowed their
heads and I said what felt like one of the coolest prayers of my life.  It's not that 
I worded stuff differently, but there was just something about everyone coming 
together from different backgrounds and praying together.  I felt like a Southern 
preacher - it was kind of amazing!  After the prayer we had some of the workers 
come up to us and say they had never seen everybody get so into the devotional. 
It was a really cool experience.  

Then Saturday night we had a baptism!   It was so awesome!  Elder Pickering 
had been working with the guy for a while and I have gotten to know him since 
I have been here.  It was just really awesome to see him get baptized!  He is a 
father and was the only non- member in their family so that just made it even 
more special.  

Sunday we went back to Little Rock to sing in the musical tribute.  It was truly 
a great night!  David, a member from Monticello that I got to know, came to see 
us.  He is moving to Oklahoma so that will probably be the last time I see him.  
It was good to talk to him once again though.  The tribute really brings people
together and always brings the spirit!  Well I guess that's all I have for this week. 
I love you guys!

Love Elder Merrill 

Elder Merrill & Clint Eastwood

Elder Pickering and Elder Merrill

The Blessing of Baptism!  

Batesville, Arkansas District

I KNOW I am where I need to be!

Hey guys!  This week was great!  On Tuesday we had a really awesome 

lesson with an older couple we are teaching.  They always have a lot of 

questions for us which is awesome.  We are really hoping to get them to 

church soon.  Wednesday we had a wonderful district meeting.  After that 

I went up to Mountain View for exchanges.  It’s a little town about an hour 

Northwest of Batesville.   Apparently it's the folk music capitol of the world.  

They have people come and play there every weekend.  It was a cool place 

to see.  We weren’t really able to teach anybody but that was ok.  I returned 

to Batesville just in time for dinner with Brother Trayler.  He invited us over 

again and we were excited because he is such an interesting person.  

Friday we did service for an investigator of ours.  We went and helped him 

haul scrap metal.  It was actually really nice to do some manual labor like 

that for a while.  Saturday morning we went and helped out at the community 

breakfast at the Methodist church.  After that we went back and hauled more 

scrap metal for the rest of the day.  It was a blast but a lot of work.  The guy 

we were helping is the one we are hoping will get baptized soon - as soon as 

he stops chewing tobacco.  

Sunday we drove to Memphis and we are still here!  It has been amazing!  It 

was about a 2 1/2 hour drive to get here from Batesville.  The missionary tribute 

fireside last night was great.  I was able to connect with some old friends here - 

it was so good to see them all again.  For P-day today we have just been hanging 

out with Elder Toomer and others at the church playing basketball.  It has been a 

blast.  I also contacted Randy - the guy I became good friends with while serving 

here - we are going to go to lunch with him this afternoon and then head back to 

Batesville.  Man I really miss this place!  I kind of got sad today because I am not 

serving here - but I KNOW I am where I need to be!  I know I am serving where 

my Heavenly Father needs me to be.  

Love Elder Merrill

Elder Giles, Elder Merrill, Elder Short & Elder Toomer

at the Memphis Missionary Tribute Fireside

 - Companions -

Elder Merrill and Elder Pickering

Exciting things are happening here!

Hey guys!  It was an exciting week in my new area. Elder Pickering is 
super awesome - it's going to be a fun transfer.  Batesville is about the 
size of Monticello but a lot older.  I think it was the first official city in 
Arkansas.  I met a lot of the branch on Sunday.  Most of the members 
are over the age of 65 so there should be some pretty fun times ahead.  

Tuesday was transfer day so not much happened.  Wednesday we went 
and visited a few members so I could start to get to know the area. I met 
one of our top investigators on Saturday who is going to get baptized as 
soon as he quits chewing so that is awesome.  We also have another 
investigator who is ready for baptism and should be in a couple weeks.  
Exciting things are happening here!  

Thursday we went and did service at Habitat for Humanity that was fun. 
Then we went to the southern part of our area and visited a few of our 
investigators.  To be honest it is really nice to have a lot of people to teach. 
Blessings of an English area.  Then that night we had dinner with Brother 
Trayler.  That man is the most interesting man I have ever met. A book 
needs to be written about his life.  It was awesome.  

Friday we had our weekly planning.  It took awhile because Elder Pickering 
taught me all about all of our current investigators and less active members 
we will be working with. 

Saturday we had a couple awesome lessons. We went to visit a less active 
member with another member and got him to come to church Sunday.  Yay!
That evening we had a lesson the the guy who has to give up chewing. We 
were just brutally honest with him and I think it may have worked. He is really 
tight with the missionaries so he totally understood. I really hope he can do it!  
I know he can do it with the help of the Savior.  We all can do anything with 
the help of our Savior.  

Sunday I got up and introduced myself to everyone in sacrament meeting. 
I still talk really fast in front of people and speaking Spanish has not helped 
with this at all.  But I tried to speak slowly.  After church we headed to the 
musical tribute in Conway.  The meeting was great because I was able to 
see a few member friends from Monticello again. 

Today was our district P-day.  We just played games at the church all day. 
I will try to send a district photo next week since I don’t have one yet.  My
new district consists of Elder Pickering and I, Elder Patterson and Elder 
Bleazard, Sister Gray, and Sister Gubler. Crazy thing is I totally hung out 
with Sister Gubler one night before my mission. She is really good friends 
with Nathan Duncan and we played night games together. It blew our minds 
when we made all the connections.  Such a small wonderful world!  Thanks
for all of your love, prayers and support.  I love you guys! 

Love Elder Merrill

Elder Pickering and Elder Merrill enjoying dinner with the Wahlquist family

- Elder Dawson - Elder Merrill - Elder Anderson - 

-Reunion of the Little Rock Squad at Conway- 

We all lived in the same apartment complex in Little Rock and became 

close friends since we all stayed together for the 3 transfers I was there.  

Spanish Missionary Musical Number

Missionary Musical Tribute in Conway

The (sad) day Elder Gonzales returned home

I'm headed to Batesville!

Hey guys!  Guess what?!  I’m headed to Batesville!  It’s an English Branch 
with Spanish missionaries serving in it right now. My companion will be Elder 
Pickering - It should be good.  I was thinking about it and my trainer ended his 
mission there - I thought that was funny.  Batesville is right next to Jonesboro 
so I should get to do exchanges there.  I'm excited to serve with Elder Pickering 
again.  We were in the same district in Memphis.  Elder Anderson is headed to 
Searcy - right next door -  so I should still see him from time to time.  Transfers 
are always exciting but packing is the worst.  It’s nice we get to do it on P-day 
now instead of Sunday night.  It's crazy to think I'm headed to my last area. I'm 
pretty sure I will stay there for my last 2 transfers.  President Hansen told me he 
wants me to train a Greenie in Batesville for my last transfer.  That will definitely 
keep me focused until the end of my mission.  Today we have been really busy
running errands and getting all of our packing done.   

It was a good last week of the transfer.  Tuesday we did an awesome service 
project.  We went and helped out at a food bank kind of in the ghetto. They give 
out food to the homeless every Tuesday.  I really enjoyed talking to the people 
and handing out a bunch of food.  They were so grateful for the food and I was 
grateful for the service opportunity.  We then taught our English class that night 
which went really well.    

Wednesday Elder Whitesides and I went on splits for the day.  His companion 
and Elder Anderson went to a meeting.  We had a fun day together.  He loves 
baseball like me so we basically relived all our glory days while we were out 
serving.  Him and his companion -  Elder Dawson - have lived right next to us 
for the last three transfers so we have gotten pretty close with them.  He's from 
St. George so hopefully we can get together and hang out after we get home.  

Thursday I got to go on an exchange with Elder Gonzalez.  It was awesome!  
It’s hard to believe that he is headed home this week.  It will be so sad to see 
him go.  I am so glad I was able to serve around him for his last two transfers.  
We held his "funeral" this week.

Saturday was a really busy day.  We went and helped a member of the mission 
presidency with some service at his storage unit.  Then we went to an activity 
the branch put on.  We went and played a bunch of games with all the primary 
kids. It was fun.  We also had our interviews with President Hansen that day. 
My interview went really well.  To be honest it has taken some getting used to 
how President Hansen runs the mission.  He is a great guy with a great big 
testimony and he has really taught me a lot.  

Sunday we went and sang in another musical tribute in Jacksonville.  It was fun 
to see everyone again.  I’m so excited that I get the opportunity to to sing in the 
next five performances.  I was pretty lucky to get chosen to sing in all of them. 
On the 22nd we will be singing in Memphis.  I am so excited that I will get to see 
some of the members there again!

Lately I have been reading in the Doctrine and Covenants.  I started when I had 
138 days left so I could read a section everyday and finish it when I go home. 
There is some awesome stuff in there!  Today I read section 52 which talks about 
"sending the elders forth two by two to preach the gospel."  It is definitely a huge 
blessing in my life to be here in the ALRM sharing the gospel with the companions 
I have had.  I have been able to witness the spirit touch people's lives as we as 
missionaries testify of the message we share.  I sure love this work and this gospel!  
I also love you guys!  Have a great week! 

Love Elder Merrill

Amazing General Conference!

Hola!  Wasn't General Conference amazing?  I really enjoyed it.  We watched 
every session at the church with all the other missionaries and church members.  
It is always nice to listen and learn from our church leaders.  I really think all the 
changes that were made with the priesthood and ministering will be good.  I'm 
not exactly sure how it will work but I know that it will all work out.  Modern day 
revelation is real.  I really loved how one of the main focuses of conference was 
receiving personal revelation.  This is something that I know I have gotten better 
at on my mission and know it is definitely something I will work on my whole life.  
I think my biggest take away from this conference was that the Lord speaks to us 
today.  He definitely guides this church and wants what is best for each one of us.  
I know the changes we received will help us build each other up as well as His 
kingdom.  What an amazing time to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ 
Latter-Day Saints!

Besides conference this week was good.  Tuesday we had our district meeting.  
After the meeting Elder Padilla and I went on exchanges.  It went really well. He 
is trying to learn his area so I made him do everything.  We ended up having a 
really good day and finding some new people to teach.  

Friday was a cool/weird day.  We went to go pick up Elder Anderson's suit from 
the cleaners and then we went to the mall to visit a past investigator who works 
at a Chinese place there. While we were there we ended up talking to a Hispanic 
janitor and he asked us to meet with him after his shift.  So we hung around the 
area for 3 hours until he got off work.  We had an awesome lesson in the mall and 
he invited us to come back this week and teach him. So hopefully that works out. 

Today has been busy.  Lots of shopping and playing soccer.  It is Elder Gonzales’ 
last P-day so he wanted to hang out before he goes home.  We are really going to 
miss him.  I am going on an exchange with him this week so I am pretty excited.  
Thanks for the Easter package.  It was awesome - especially the gushers!  I have
not had those in forever.  I love you guys. 

Love Elder Merrill

                                 We taught our English class at the library this week