Baptism and Cool People

The biggest news of this week is a cool kid named Jorge got baptized! He's 26 and has a strong testimony of the church! He wants to go on a mission! He will be such a good missionary. He reminds me a little bit of a hippie because he just feels everything. He says things like, "I watched the house of Hermana Blanca (the members that gave us his reference) and it just has a good feeling coming from it."  He's really sensible to the Holy Ghost. He says things like, "people sometimes tell me things about the mormons, but when you guys talk to me and when I'm at the church and when I was at the temple (once he visited the grounds of the Costa Rica Temple) I just feel good."  He has a really good heart, I know he'll be a good missionary. Once I asked him (we were teaching about the Sabbath) how he would feel if things were opposite, God just gave us one day for ourselves and 6 for him to emphasize that 1 day for God is easy.  He said it would be just fine with him, he would give them all to God as God gave him everything.... 

Other cool people:

Yesica and Oscar

 They're a really cool couple that've gone to church once, but couldn't go this week because her 1 month old baby has had a cold and a fever all week this week. We gave him a blessing so I'm praying he gets better soon. He's a member, but she's not, but is so sweet. She's just a little nervous about getting baptized  because she was already baptized once. 

Alejandro and Carla

They are the people we rent from. They sell jeans from the states and also coffee. He says he's Jew and she's traditional Catholic (never attends but was baptized as a baby). They've gone to church 2 times but they always come and go when they want. One time they just came for the first hour, another time for the 2nd. Maybe next time we'll convince for all three. They're really smart and he knows English. She has a heart of gold and is always doing service for us. Funny story-- we visited them one day this week, the day after he went to an activity and we were just kind of chatting to them because at the time they were eating breakfast. During the conversation, Carla said you need to congratulate Alejandro because he says he wants to be Mormon. He proceeds to get mad at her saying that she couldn't say things for him that she needs to talk for herself. So she says ok then, I want to be Mormon too (=. 

Also, Congratulations Nathan and Allie!

Hermana Merrill

Good News

SO news this week, good news.

Remember Ernesto (husband of Hna Claudia), Hector, and Melanie (daughter of Grisel) from Esteli? They all got baptized! 

In my area, our retention (recent converts) was a lot better this week. Also, Yesica and Oscar came to church this week! That was a miracle. They're a really cool family, he got baptized when he was 8, went to church 3 times and then stopped going. He's the son of a really cool member in our branch. They've been saying the'll go to church for 2 weeks now, but excuses have always come up. All this week they've been fighting, and she's been living at her mom's house. We fasted this week to have the power of God help them and the rest of our investigators, and I know God softened their hearts. We taught them about forgiveness and committed them both to church. When we passed by their houses on Sunday they were both ready for church. She at her mom's house and he at their house. They left Church together (= . 

So we do this cool activity with the recent converts on Sundays. It´s a contest. We've made houses out of paper and every 2 weeks we give them a 2 week calender. There's pictures of things they have to do every day. Mondays- Family Home evening T-Sat- read scriptures and pray as a family Sunday- church. Then we put stickers on the pictures if they did each activity. They have to do them as a family or it doesn't count. The family who fills it out the best gets a cake (we're getting poor (= but for a good cause). This week 2 of the families filled it out completely. That also means that EVERYONE in their family was at church. WOO! This week we made title's of liberty for each family and everyone put a family motto on them. 

Love you all so much!

Hermana Merrill

Family Religious Practices Chart

Title of Liberty - Family Motto

Hope

A really cool girl in the zone baptized for the first time in her mission! it was a really cool baptism. She has 6ish months in her mission. We had been working with her and her companion. It was a good experience. 

I learned something about hope this week. Hope is like the never-fail word. You can hope in things that aren't necessarily true. For example-- I hope the ice cream man will come down the street. But you can't usually say I have faith that the ice cream man will come down the street. 

To misplace your faith is something that can hurt, because if that ice cream truck doesn't come down the street, you've just put all your faith into that and now you're crushed. God says to not put your trust in the arm of the flesh. That's why you hope. For example : I hope an investigator will be in church, and I have faith that God will touch his heart and give him the desire to go (especially when we pray for that). 

On the other side, if we pray and ask God for a specific blessing and feel like it will come to pass we can have faith in that, it´s just usually we don't get confirmations to things like that if we're affecting someone else's agency. 

You can hope and hope and hope as much as you want. When you don't have the strength to have faith you can hope. The righteous can hope for a better day (Ether 12:4). So even when nothing goes right, you can hope it will get better, and God promises you it will. That was this week for me.

Hermana Merrill

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! 

Christ is the Vine

One time there was a story shared in conference about a plant that was growing so well and so tall but then the gardener cut it down. The gardener looked at that plant all little and hurt and thought it looked so sad. It seemed to be saying to him,  "Why did you cut me down?" I was growing so well. And the gardener says it is because he had something else in mind for that beautiful plant. When the plant grew back it grew back strong and with lots of fruit, much better than it was in the beginning. 

In Juan 15 it talks about how Christ is the vine and we are the branches. If we aren´t growing with the vine we are not of him. Sometimes we grow without the vine, we are growing faster then the strength of the vine and not producing fruit. So, God lovingly cuts us down so that we grow with the vine. As long as we are obedient, when he cuts us down we will grow back stronger, with the Strength of Christ. Sometimes I feel like God needs to cut me back a lot. 

I´m saying all this because as I was thinking and reading the scriptures today I was looking back at my life before the mission. I realize that there was a lot of pride in me and I think there still is (God isn´t done yet, this kid´s got a long way to go to be perfect!!! (=  ) Things I did or things that were important, just aren´t important anymore. When you have pride you can´t have faith because you have faith in your own self. I know that as soon as I can truly let go of myself, my pride and lean on the strength of the Lord, miracles will happen. Paul talks about this in Acts, I was reading that this morning.

This past week I feel like my whole body just wants to cry! I don´t know if it is Matagalpa or what, but... I feel old! (= 

Thanks for all you do for me family. I couldn´t do this without you guys!

Hermana Merrill

With lots and lots of LOVE

Mission is a Privilege

So this week I loved something that was said at the meeting with Elder Soares. The mission is a privilege, not a sacrifice. It is so true. I love saying that I am a representative of Christ. How many people in the world get to say those words? The best part of that is coming to believe it. Looking into someone´s eyes and saying those words with all the certainty in your heart. Maybe nobody can know what it´s like saying those words, until you get the opportunity, but it is really cool. The spirit testifies of that to the hearts that are listening when we declare that. The most powerful way to bring the spirit is to call people to repentance without fear. Its not mean or scary, it is showing people, inviting people to be happier. Wickedness never was happiness. Even reading those words I know they are true because I can feel the spirit testifying them to me. 

Another cool thing about being a missionary is coming to be able to discern what the spirit feels like and when it is and isn't there. Thank you parents for always inviting the spirit to be in our house, through the cleanliness, the words we spoke, the way we were encouraged to act and to be.

I got to do divisions with Hermana Raymond this week (she's the training leader for all the training leaders). I learned so much. She's so full of faith that girl. It was fun talking about who we are now and how we've changed since the beginning of the mission. 

Today we hiked up a mountain with the girls form Matagalpa and took pictures from a lookout, it was fun

LOVE YOU ALL,

Hermana Merrill

Merrill & Morales in Matagalpa amongst Mountains and Miracles

Lets start off with 7 M's. I´m (Hermana Merrill) in Matagalpa, a place with mountains and miracles my companion´s name is Hermana Morales and there´s a really cool family that´s hopefully going to get baptized this Saturday named Marlon and Margelia. We have 39 recent converts!

Last week when I was still in Esteli, I had a really crazy week. I hardly didn´t get to work in my area. Monday was P-day, so I just worked at night.  Tuesday we had our weekly district meeting in the morning and then an hour after lunch, I got a phone call from my zone leader informing me that I needed to leave immediately for Managua. I was invited to an extra p-day that the president was taking all the leaders on and then a leaders meeting the next day. (All the leaders had sacrificed their P-day on Monday) I had to pack SO fast because it was New Years Eve, and as such we didn´t know when the last bus would leave for Managua. I dropped off my companion in Ciudad Dario and picked up another Hermana, that was invited and we headed for Managua. 

Wednesday we visited a volcano! It was really cool. AND I got to work the night in my old area in Managua, Bello Horizante. I got to see a few members and recent converts. It was a really cool day.

Hermana Merrill & Raymond

Hermana Gonzalez

Add caption

Then on Thursday We had a meeting until the afternoon and then we headed back to Ciudad Dario and Esteli. 

Bottom Line - I had Friday and Saturday to work in my area, but the volcano was really cool! 

My companion is so awesome. She really knows how to bring the spirit into lessons. It´s fun teaching with someone experienced! It's going to be a good transfer.  It´s really beautiful here we live in the mountains. Literally inside of them (=

Marlon (above) has problems with smoking but we're using a 7-day to baptism, 24 hour commitment technique, that I read about in a missionary book. He's going to conquer this addiction. It´s really powerful this lesson and plan. They're sooo cool. 

  

I really feel blessed.

Hermana Merrill

FYI from Tonya: I looked up Matagalpa on Wiki and this is what it said: 

"Nicaragua's sixth largest city and one of its most commercially active outside of Managua. Matagalpa is the second most important city in Nicaragua and is known as the "Pearl of the North" and "Land of Eternal Spring."  Looks like she is in a beautiful place once again.

Leaving Esteli

So, I'm leaving Esteli. Thanks family for cursing me with your prediction...

Highlights of Esteli:

The climate

The Mountains

The People I love so much, especially:

Claudia. She is so awesome now in the church. She comes quite a bit with her kids and Grisel.  [Not a very short note about her husband--We are going to start teaching him! He and Claudia are separated right now due to his alcoholism, but this last stupor of alcohol was really bad and and he realized he needs some help in his life. I can't remember if I told you guys about him, but we talked to him on that same corner we talked to Max. We had some really spiritual conversations with a very drunk Mauricio. (He remembered them later so it's alright). He even accepted to be baptized and come to church (although with the baptism date we've got to re-establish that in a non-drunk state, but he definitely is committed to Church this next Sunday). His only fear is going to church with Claudia there as well, although it would be a step to winning her back like he wants.]

Grisel, we've been through a lot with her and one day hopefully not in the too far future she'll get baptized when they get their relationship problems fixed. (I didn't know I signed up to be a relationship counselor) Note: She says her husband wasn't cheating on her, just lied to her because she doesn't like him to visit his mom's family for some reason.

Nazerely, a recent convert that just had a baby girl.

Anyways there are a ton more but time's running short.

I'm going to Matagalpa and I´m going to be a sister training leader again.