Elder Max Merritt

In the beauty of the lilies, Christ was born across the sea With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me As he died to make men holy, let us live to make men free As God is marching on. Glory and hallelujah.  10 de Feb Well today I reached 16 months, and to celebrate we went to Modelo, which is basically a big farmers market. We cut our hair and bought watches, and printed off a big photo of my companion, my pench, and I. We then went to write to our families and I had a nice long chat with them about my future... not to get trunky or anything but I really need to evaluate what will be my future! We had two noche de hogares or family home evenings and they went really well. We play hot potato because it’s like the only game they know here... but it's still fun! We taught this guy and he was telling us that he had gone to a bunch of bible study classes and stuff, and he also had this 400-dollar bible on his table which was massive. Next to that bible was a ...

3 de Feb Today was an amazing day! The whole morning, I was BEAT! I had to clean and get ready to give a presentation to the zone, and I was not feeling it... we went to the zone plan and my companion literally lead it all, and at the end I gave my 2 cents. We went out for ice cream and that was really nice! came back to the room to play cards [uno] and I went and took a nap while all the others were playing. I felt like Toby McGuire in the spiderman after he got bit by the spider and went home to sleep. Well, after my super nap we went to call the family, and today I had an amazing conversation with my dad. He helped me a ton to charge up my batteries and put me back in line. He helped me see the work I’m doing here and to refocus on what was important. he used an analogy from one of my wrestling matches. He mentioned one of my hardest matches but because I was not a very good wrestler every match was one of the hardest matches, but in the end, we had the same match in mind. Hones...

27 y 28 de enero Well yesterday we had a good game of soccer, and afterwards I got really sick and I felt soooo bad. We went teaching but I could hardly stay up because my joints hurt, my head ached, and my eyes hurt as well. I came back to the room and went right to sleep. Today I woke up and again I did not feel well. I got permission to sleep until 11. After I slept, I felt a little better, so we went to the offices and district council. We got home and I went back to feeling sick. My companion started to annoy me because he just said stuff like it's all in your head, you just have to distract my thoughts, proselytizing will take the pain away, and things like that. Well our bishop came up to our room and he felt my head and said I was burning up, he took my temp and it was 40 C. I don't know how much that is in Fahrenheit but I know it’s hot! they gave me a shot and I have been in bed all day sleeping. After the shot and the temp my companion had evidence that I wasn...

20 de enero Today was a day... we went and played soccer then went to Modelo, which is like the Costco here but in the states, it would be a farmer’s market. We went there to print off photos and to buy shoes. Well none of the shoes were my size so I watched my companion buy shoes for like an hour. The shoes here are SOO EXPENSIVE! Like 500 sloes! I have never seen the opportunity to use so much money in one spot! But then again 500 soles is like 120 dollars.... but still. They had Ferrari shoes that looked so cool! Well we came back to the room, one sunburnt and the other poor. I did buy a Peru soccer jersey so I’m happy about that! We went to call the family and my nerves were so fried. FIRST, thank you mom for your patience and the positive outlook you had the whole time! You are a saint and I love you! I love you all so much and I’m really working on being more humble in every aspect. I love you good night! 21 de enero Today was a really good day, we did not have ma...

I now have 16 months in the mission. I have learned many things, both temporal and spiritual. The biggest and best thing I have learned is how to comprehend the plan of salvation. In his plan, we can see where we come from, what we are doing here on earth, and what will be our reward after this life. Our time in the premortal life was an exciting time, where we had this plan presented to us, and we used our agency to come to this earth. Leaving God's presence was hard, we had the comforts and riches to last us an eternity. But we chose to follow this plan because we knew the rewards and blessings after his life were worth the struggle.  Now we are here on the earth, some struggling more than others. We have temptations of every size, drugs, sex, lying, greed, and the list goes on. We are here on earth not to see how successful we can because but to see how dedicated we are to fulfill the commandments. GOD DOESN'T WANT TO SEE OUR SUCCESSES; HE ONLY WANTS TO SEE OUR SACRIFICES. ...

This next few weeks I'm working on my focus as a missionary, so mom dad I won't be calling, and friends I won't be writing every week! I love you all!

I love you all! 6 de enero Well today we had plan de zone, and it went really well! Me and my companion had a good ping pong going and set some really good goals! Later we went out for ice cream and played PHASE 10 and UNO with a few of the elders here. We then wrote to our families, that was really nice! We did not have many lessons, but we passed by a family that we had been visiting and something funny happened. This man walked by the window and started teasing the dad in front of everyone because he did not have a shirt on. He said shut up in little words. The man then started to ask if we could share a message of God with him, as he did the son, who has 4 years, said VAYENCE DE MI CASA! In English that is GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! Then slammed the window in his face! I tried not to laugh! That's about all folks! I love you good night 7 de enero Well today was soooo good! We started an inter change and I’m with Elder Burnham from Arizona. He is 6 foot 5 so no one tried t...