Week 1 in Fayettville: Fayettville

Hey, Everyone! This week was good! It was full of meetings though. We were only able to find 3 people this week. But. we are working on getting that up!

So, as district leaders, we have to give instructions (basically a lesson on how to improve out missionary work) every week at district meeting. We did it on obedience this past week. It went pretty well. We shot Nerf guns and stuff because we were trying to make it more fun! 

We are still trying to get a feel for the area, so next week we will have some good experiences to share. I hope you all have a good week!

Love, Elder Merritt

PS Enjoy this week's pictures!

 Transfers

New companion, Elder Wright

Week 12 in Wilmington 2: Going to Fayette-nam

Hey, Everyone! So, we got our transfer new this weekend. i will be moving to Fayetteville 1st. I am also going to be a co-district leader while I am there! Hopefully, I don't mess that up!  

We were able to meet with Marshall this week. He's super cool as always. We just talked with him and answered his questions. He also came to church! He loved it, and said he is looking forward to coming back.

We also met with Tim and Marie this week. The lesson went pretty well. We talked with them about coming to church this week, but they cancelled again. Hopefully, they start coming soon!

We stopped by Angel's on Friday. She was super happy to see us! She said her week had been busy and that's why she hadn't gotten back to us yet. She said she would try to be a t church, but she wasn't there on Sunday. 

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but Michael Jordan grew up in Wilmington. He went to Laney High School, and he would come play basketball at our church! The court we play on, was also played on by the great Air Jordan! We found the home he grew up in. Our ward mission leader told us where he used to live, so we made a trip to go see it. 

Elder Cummings has been sick the past couple days, so on Sunday i was left to teach Gospel Principles all by myself. Only 2 people showed up for class and that made it hard to keep a conversation going. BUt, I heard something this week during one of the Sacrament talks. They guy who gave the talk said, "When we lessen our commitment to Christ, the adversary gains more control over us." He was talking about keeping the Sabbath Day holy, but as i sat there and thought about it, I realized it applies to so much more than that. We need to make sure that we always keep our commitment to Christ in everything we do. When we do that, we wear the Armor of God, and that is what protects us from the adversary.

Ihoep you all had a great week! I'll talk to you next week from Fayetteville! 

Love, Elder Merritt

PS I need to thank the Allen's in Wilmington for always feeding me!

Week 11 in Wilmington 2: Mother's Day

This is going to be short and sweet. Yesterday was Mother's Day, so I got to video call home. It was cool to see the family again! This was my last call home! It was a slow week missionary work wise. We found 3 people to teach. This is the last week of the transfer. I will be done training Elder Cummings and will probably be transferred to a new area. I will let you all know next week. 

I hope everyone had a great week! Talk to all next week!

Love, Elder Merritt

PS Pictures!

I saw an alligator. I named him Frank.

 I visited Greenfield Lake

A field trip with Bro Allen

I met Sister Thorton. She is friends with my uncle. Small world!

Week 10 in Wilmington2: Another Trio...

Hey, Everyone!

This week was pretty good! We found 9 people this week!! We did have something interesting happen to our companionship...We are in a trio! We got Elder Robinson added to the group on Friday. His companion went home, so he is now with us.

I had a pretty interesting experience while we were at the gas station one day. Elder Cummings was out putting gas in the car, and there was this guy putting gas in his motorcycle in front of us. He had this long, white beard flowing from underneath his helmet, his clothes were tattered and torn. He turned and saw me. He then tapped his chest in the same spot where I have my name tag. He started walking toward the car, and motioned for me to roll down my window. Instead, I opened my door and kept it between him and me in case he tried something. He asked if I was a Mormon. I told him that I was. He then asked if I knew about the vision Nephi has about the great and spacious building. I said that I did. He told me that it wasn't a building in the vision. He said that it was in fact a UFO. I almost laughed, but just smiled and asked, "Oh, really?" He replied, "Yes! And you think a boat brought them from Jerusalem to the Americas? No! They were abducted, and brought over in a UFO!" I honestly had no response and just kept smiling, and nodding my head. He then talked a lot about the Free Masons, Joseph Smith, and the records that are in hidden in the Salt Lake Temple vault (which doesn't exist).During this whole thing Elder Cummings is outside the car, and hasn't heard a single word this guy is saying! The last thing this guy told me was that the Free Mason temple in DC, the head Mason told him that he was one of the 7000 talked about in the Book of Romans. He showed me a ring he was wearing to prove it. After that, he just walked away. Needless to say, it was a pretty interesting conversation.

One lady we found this week was pretty cool. Her name is Angel. We tracted ti to her and she came out on her porch and talked to us for like 20-30 minutes! She was super interested. She also wants to get her kids involved in church. We told her about the youth nights on Wednesdays. She was super pumped about getting her son there. We are going back to see her tomorrow, so hopefully that goes well! 

Next Sunday is Mother's Day! That will be last call home! It's crazy to think that I only have 6 months left! It sure has flown by fast! Well, that's it for the week! I hope you all have a great one!!

Love, 

Elder Merritt

PS pics of us eating dinner at the Allen's. They take care of us in North Carolina!!