October 7-27

7 de Octubre

Today marks a day my sister  was born, when I changed from the family baby to an older brother. My baby sister came into this world and took the spot of being the baby. Mary Jean- I can put on one hand the times I have told you that I love you, and for that I am sorry. Mary Jean Merritt has had a few nicknames over the years, booger, egg, drama queen, etc...the list goes on. But she has always rolled with the punches, and found the good in every single one of them. As well as with her friends, always looking for the good in each and all of them. Here on my mission I have grown in understanding and in testimony of the plan of salvation. The center of purpose and reason of what we are and what we do. As Elder Uchtdorf said we left a life of comfort, and ease to come to an earth with an uncertain promise if we will return. But what for? For a reward bigger than we can imagine. I know I chose to come to this world for the promised blessings of returning to my heavenly father to be with him, my family, and right there with you Mary and your future family. That the exaltation is in families. I have watched you pick fights bigger than Goliath, and paint yourself into a few corners. Though I watch in amusement at times, I’m always there for you if it becomes too much. I’m always there for you. I hope 17 treats you well and that you look for ways to challenge yourself in every aspect, keep your head up in the hard and remember that as MERRITTS we do not quit. There will always be difficulties that are the constant, the independent variable (i think that’s what it is called) is our reaction. Remember to always be patient, and to endure things that bother you, to not be quick to anger and learn to love the habits of others that just might bother you. I love you Mary, and hope you are always looking to love people who don’t have the joy- gospel in their lives. Look for those who are lonely, sit with them, share your testimony, and share that special light you have. My mission president once said -- No effort is wasted if it’s in the right direction. We will AWAYS be rewarded for our efforts. 

Siempre los esfursos son recompensados= Happy Birthday, Te Amo, Te Quiero!

8 de Octubre

So today we had an intercombio and I was in my area with Elder Allred. he is a gringo from Pasin Utah, also my leader of the zone. It was so much fun today, we talked about football, the district and zone, talked about movies and music. It was really fun, he asked me what was the hardest rule to be obedient to, after we talked about all of those topics I told him staying focused... he laughed so hard. He did tell me that president is really proud of all the work I do, and that he talks and thinks really high of me. We  played with my laser pointer and now we are going to bed, I love you good night

9 de Octubre

I told my pench that it was my one year mark so she made me and Elder Allred cake and Jell-O for breakfast. It was soooo good! Then she made cake in all the other meals for the whole day. We ended the interchange and came back to first of May, not a lot happened but we did have some great visits with family Rojas. We watched the

Book of Mormon and they made us cupcakes, candies, and spoiled us because I told them it was my birthday (in the mission)  then we went and had another great visit with Maik and his family. So today was a very successful day. I love you good night

10'12 de Octubre

Well it has been a crazy and very full week. I have had about 4 intercombios with my district and it has been crazy. Right now I’m on one with Elder Diaz from Venezuela. It was a good day, he is new and not very coachable.. but he does have a big desire to serve, he is always on the move and had a conversation going all day. I wish him the best in his mission. Now on a higher note I also had an intercombio with Elder Allred again and he is amazing! We had a baptism interview and it was soooo long. She had a lot of things to tell me i guess. Also within the week we visited Dayro and we told him to bring us his Book of Mormon, He said no and that he does not like to read it. We sat down with him and told him he is a sinner and he will go to hell if he does not read the Book of Mormon. Hell will be a place where he will have to sit down and read the Book of Mormon for all eternity. We called him to repentance and gave him mashka because we felt bad for calling a 9 year old a sinner. Mashka is flower with sugar in it that the kids from the jungle love. We started reading the introduction with Dayro and every sentence we would stop him and ask him what he learned. He said he did not remember, so we told him he will read that sentence until he learns something and we have all day to do so. He quickly responded OH HEY, I REMEMBER! And it was like that for every sentence.... but he is growing a lot. I love you good night

13 de Octubre

Today was church and it went really well, we had 11 investigators come to church. This is the most i have had in all of my mission. We have the cutest group of girls that we teach, they are 9, 10, 11, 12, and 12. They all live close by each other and we teach them like it’s a little book club. They are so adorable watching them coordinate when we can come back and plan and schedule. We then went and had meetings all day today, where we are teaching our ward missionaries, and teaching the ward about our investigators. It was kind of a mess but yeah we have new ideas in how we can help them. I love you good night!

14 de Octubre

Today was a good day. We went to Modelo which is like farmers market, but it is massive and we looked for material to make ties. We found some amazing fabrics and gave them to our pench because she knows how to make ties. We spent many hours in this hot, crowded, pushy area to find these pieces of fabric. We go back to the room and changed clothes to go play soccer. We played long and hard and afterwards went out to eat. We had a fun time with the kid of Neil Garcia, he’s 3 and loved my magic tricks. Later we went and talked  with our families, which was great, the boys are killing it in football! Soccer I’m sure it needs some work... we did not have much lessons today, just two family home evenings which were fun! Our missionary night got canceled because the other ward is having a missionary night. This seems a little weird because the elder over there is also going home next Monday, but I’m sure it has nothing to do with that... ha-ha! And if it does, I’m glad he is having a celebration. I love you good night

16 de Octubre

Today was a long but good day, we went to the offices and had interviews with president. He is really happy with me, he said I have drive, focus, and determination. Then he reminded me that I lack the language. He compared it to a 4x4 he said I’m keeping up with the leaders in the mission, but I’m only using my back tires. Whereas the others are using all 4, he said if I want to engage the front tires it only comes down to the Spanish. He said that's a great problem to have because 95 percent of missionaries lack a motor, but I have that! He said I have good Spanish it just sounds like Tarzan at times. we laughed! Afterwards, I promised to only speak Spanish until the end of my mission.... I love you good night.

17 de Octubre

Today was a good day, we had district council and it went really well, we read in chapter 1 of Preach My Gospel of how we can be missionaries of success. We looked at what we accomplished as of numbers and was really impressed with what we are doing here in J.L.O. Afterwards we had an Intercombio with Elder Bourne from California LAX BABY! He went to a Spanish speaking high school so he is fluent in Spanish and only had to go to the 3 week program in the MTC. He is also really smart, he memorized all 5 lessons in 5 weeks and has a ton of scriptures for each principle. But this old dog had a few tricks I was able to share with him. I love you, good night

18 de Octubre

This Monday is transfer and changes in the mission and it has gotten me surprisingly stressed out. Because if I have changes I need to pack all my crap up and move it to a new area, and if I don’t, then it is looking like they want me to be zone leader. There has been nothing official but that will also be stressful. So I’m just trying to stay focused in work and help people come unto Christ. We didn’t have a lot of visits today, but tomorrow will be better. I love you good night

19 de Octubre

A good day in the books, all of the members went to the temple so we did not have anyone that could accompany us in visits. That was a little rough, because if there is not a member we can't go into their homes.  I think my Spanish has gotten better this week, and I’m learning lesson 4! Woo-hoo!! We had an amazing family night with some members, it was really nice! We always watch the Book of Mormon videos and afterwards they invite us to food! WOO-HOO! Ha-ha!! So there were a lot of good things today. Also today was the birthday of Lord Miracles, it’s a painting that they worship here in Peru. A guy asked me if we believed in Senor De Los Milagros. I told him I have no idea who that is, I only know of God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost… and he wanted to argue more but I’m not about that life. I love you good night.

20 de Octubre

Well today was a weird day, we had a great attendance at church again and I loved it! Maic and Alejandro had fun and learned some stuff. Afterwards we came back to the room to study, good thing I was being obedient because president called me. I thought I was in trouble, we had a short interview on the phone and afterwards he told me that I would be the new zone leader here in Primero De Mayo. We had an amazing family home evening tonight and had soooo much food. My companion said goodbye to the members and it was good. We are getting suitcases ready, I love you good night.

21 de Octubre

Well today was an excellent day, we went and did an emergency service project and afterwards me and Elder Allred put together a pancake cook'out! When you are in Peru you gotta have a pancake cook'out. Then we went and we cleaned the room and wrote to our families, which they are the best! We headed down to the offices at the end of the day.

22 de Octubre

Today was a fun day, we went down to the offices to pick up supplies and while we were there me and Elder Gonzales went on an adventure to look for a USB  We also got to make the new plaques for the new missionaries. It took forever, but we got back to our area had lunch and had a good day of proselytizing. We couldn’t find Maic so I was freaking out a little bit. It was a really good day overall and I was happy we had the opportunity to help out the other elders. I love you good night

24 de Octubre

Today was a fun day, we went to the other district for district council and it was all right.. It had great lessons and I learned a lot, but it was really unorganized. I think it was the first district council Elder Moran has done, for that it was overall really good. We had some really good lessons including some with sister Michel who is working on growing her testimony, and also with Maic y Jhair are two that are going to get baptized this Saturday, we have been working a lot with them and they have shown a lot of growth and are really happy to complete the commandments of God. I love you good night

23 de Octubre

Today was a stressful day. We have 5 people who are preparing to get baptized this Saturday but they do not have all the knowledge that they need. We keep passing by them but they are not home or they can’t talk at that moment so I don't know if they are going to be prepared for this Saturday. We did end up finding one of them and so we got the opportunity to go and teach him a little bit of what he was missing. Each and every one of them are putting forth great effort and are changing their life styles a lot so I just need to be a little more patient. I love you good night

26 de Octubre

Today was a busy day with one of the most fun baptisms I’ve had in all of my mission! Maic and Jhair got baptized and they are two goofballs like me and my friends back home. So today we taught one lesson which was amazing and then we went and cleaned the baptism font. Afterwards we went and studied and planned for the plan of zone. Then after that we went to the baptism and they got baptized. It was a truly amazing day and very fruitful! I love you good night

27 de Octubre

Today was another good day, we did not have a ton of investigators at church but Maic got confirmed. My companion and I also gave talks and it went really well! I talked about what is a testimony and how we can grow ours. Also about how I got mine! Everyone said they loved it! Not too shabby for planning it in 30 minutes! Jhair did not get confirmed but if he did our zone would have had 18 baptisms this month, I’m really proud of them! I love you good night

I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH! Each and every one of you guys back home that are praying and writing me, thank you for all of your love and support! I honestly can't say enough how much I love you and how you have helped me grow and become who I am today!