Week 6 in Wilmington: I'm Going To Be A Daddy!

Hey, everyone! So, tomorrow is transfers, and we have received our transfer news! I am transferring to the Wilmington 1st Ward. But, I'm going to be training a new missionary! That's where the title to the email comes from. When you train a new missionary, they are your boy/girl depending is you are an elder, or a sister. Anyways, I am super excited to train a new missionary! Hopefully, I do a good job and he doesn't end up hating me!

We really didn't have anything happen this week. We had a zone conference about using Facebook as a missionary tool. I am now back on Facebook!

We weren't able to find anyone this week, but hoping that changes next week. One of my companions, Elder Stockton, is going home on Wednesday. He has finished his mission and is excited to be going home. 

Stockton, Merritt, Moeller

Nothing else to really report. But, I promise I will have things to read in my email next week! Talk to you then!

Love, Elder Merritt

Week 5 in Wilmington: A Busy Week

This week was good! We found 2 people this week! Hopefully, they'll progress. 

We went to the beach last week for our district activity. I got soaked from falling into the water. We are only allowed to go up to our knees in the water. While we were out there, another Elder and I started wrestling. We both just ended up falling in, we were drenched! We played some ultimate football on the beach. It was just a super fun Pday!

We then went on exchange Monday night through Wednesday morning with the Hampstead elders. And, another exchange Wednesday through Thursday with the Zone leaders. I was in the Zone leaders area with Elder Baird. We went to check on a referral, and when we showed up, they were actually there! They let us in and we answered a ton of questions. Most of which were just misconceptions about Mormons. They also gave us cake! Afterward, we had a lesson with one of their investigators, Fred. He's super cool and is getting baptized in a week, or two.

We have a zone conference coming up about using Facebook in missionary work. In order to go to that zone conference, we need to have transferred our paper area book into our digital one. We have been devoting a lot of time to that because our area book is still full! We still have 100-150 records to do, the conference is tomorrow. Hopefully, we can pound those out tonight!

Saturday we went to Ogden (Ogden, NC not Ogden, UT). We found an apartment complex and started tracting there. That's where we found out 2 new people. We are without a car since it's bike week, so we are trying to find members who will drive us back there to teach them. 

Sunday was a normal Sunday. We went to church and worked.

Monday, we went into Wrightsville and tracted there. No success. But, it was really nice! It's by the ocean in our area, so lots of nice beach houses! 

Working hard in Wrightsville

Well, that was my week! We get transfer news this week, since transfers are next week. I'll let you know next week!!

Love, Elder Merritt

Week 4 in Willmington: Playing on The Same Court As MJ

So, this email is coming late, but I have a good reason! We have been at the beach all day for a district activity. It was a ton of fun! This week has been better than our last few. We actually found someone this week! His name is Michael. He is a chef and super cool! We've only met him once, so, hopefully, he'll progress. 

Last Monday, we had a zone activity at the stake center. Michael Jordan went to high school in our area. He would come and play basketball at our stake center! So, I can say that I've played basketball on the same court as Michael Jordan! We p;played a bunch of different games. I won one of them. It's called Zombie Ball. I was pretty happy that I won!

We tracted a lot on the other days. We did have something pretty fun happen too. Elder Moeller went to knock on the door, as he did, it opened. A guy put a piece of paper up on the door. It read, "I don't talk to strangers." Then, he shut the door. It was pretty interesting.

We went to the beach with the Spanish speaking elders and took a picture for a Valentine's Day card. 

Happy Valentine's Day 2018!

Sorry this is so short! I hope you all have a great week!!

Love, Elder Merritt

Week 3 in Willmington: Something Interesting Happened This Week!

Hey, Everyone!

Well, so this week we had an interesting addition to our area. We are now a TRIO! We got Elder Stockton! He goes home this month, so I get to "kill off" another missionary! This week wasn't too exciting. The work here in Wilmington is really slow. We didn't find anyone this week either. We are right next to UNCW,(University of North Carolina Wilmington)so there are a lot of YSA.  We try to tract where there aren't any. We aren't over the YSA, that results to us running into a lot of families and older people. And, none of them want us to come back. We are trying to find people in other ways. 

In some good news, my football team just won their first super bowl! I wasn't able to watch it, but I'm still pretty happy! This is the picture I was sent:

Well, I guess since this week was slow I can give you a spiritual message. So, this is something that Elder Rawlins showed me when we were at the beginning of my mission. In 1 Nephi 7, Laman and Lemuel bind Nephi with cords.  Verse 17 is Nephi's prayer. It reads:

17. But it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord, saying: O Lord according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from my bretheren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound.  

So, he asks the Lord to help him according to his faith. But he uses the word "burst." I think of explosions, or something crazy. Then, in verse 18his prayer is answered:

18. And it came to pass when I had said these words, behold, the bands were loosed of my hands and feet, and I stood before my brethren, and I spake unto them again.

Well, Nephi was able to get out of the cords, bit the word it uses is "loosed."Now, loosed sounds a lot different than burst. It's still like Nephi had to work to free himself from the cords. It shows that the Lord still helps us, but it may not be in the way we are thinking. It reminds me of Moroni 7:33.

33. And Christ hath said:If ye will have faith in me, ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me. 

So, if we have faith in Christ, we will be able to do anything. It may not come in the way we want, but if we have faith, we will be able to overcome any trial in our life that we are facing. 

Well, sorry that this is a slow email. We are trying to get some stuff done, so we have stories! 

Se you all next week!!

Love Elder Merritt