Navidad

This week has really just been pretty slow and easy. My companion is having problems with her knee and we have been going to physical therapy about 2 hours in the train everyday. Mean while I have waited I have read half of the Book of Mormon and every conference talk from this past conference.

Chirstmas was great, here the people celebrate the most on the night of the 24th. We went to the Hortado Families house, they have 2 sons on a mission so we kept them company! We made a turkey and some other goodies. It really was a great Chirstmas, there is no better place to be for Christmas than the mission. It has really taught me that I am here to Serve and not be Served. Christ did not come to the earth to be served he came and blessed the poor the sinner the blind and fed the hungry.  Of course on Christmas eve we got to open the Pjs my mom sent me and talked to the family. I am so happy that I got to be here this Christmas, Christmas on the mission is the BEST.

This week will be back to working hoping that my companion does better. New years eve here we are band to our houses! Should be nice. The good thing is there are delivery food stops! 

That is about it for me this week, just finishing the best thing I have ever done in my life. 

I Invite you guys to read the conference talk, ¨The Miracle of the Atonement¨ C.Scott Grow, It really is a amazing talk and great to ponder.

Love you all!

xoxo

Hermana Merrill:)

Merry Christmas

Dinner at the presidents, singing in a stake activity, a p-day at McDonald's, and a bathroom selfie at church.

Why do we serve?

HOLA my lovely gente. It has been a great week here in the hills of Quito. Tarqui has been treating us well. This week we had ward conference. Ward conference here is got to a whole new level, we had activites every single night leading up to Sunday. It really helped our ward spend time together and be more unified.Our teaching pool right now consists of only Columbians, my accent might start to change. We found some HUGE miracles this week. After a good hour of contacting some Colombians contacted us and told us they wanted to be baptized in the street. the lord blesses the dilligent. 

I read a talk from Dallin H Oaks this week that really impacted me, it is called Why do we Serve? Most of the time we focus on the "How" do we serve but to apply the "how" we need a why. Why do we serve others? Just to look good infront of leaders, to gain a reward? Or do we serve out of Love and in Hope to have an eternal reward. "Therefore, O ye that emark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all you heart, might mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day." DyC 4:2 It is not enough to serve  with all of our might and strength. In order to stand blameless before God at the last day, needs to serve him with all our HEART and mind. Such service is unselfish and us motivated only by charity the pure love of Chirst. 

This week we have our Chirtmas dinner at the presidents house and a hosptial visit for my companions knee. I love this work there is no better place to be during this Chirstmas season.OH and a Pday update, today we went to the downtown where the president of Ecuador lives, and comes out to say hi Mondays, that was pretty awesome, I guess it could be called the White house of Quito?! sweet. and some good ole KFC in Ecuador after.

Con Amor

Hermana Merrill:)

Mountains to climb

Thank you for still emailing, we have almost made it through 17 months friends. Christmas is in the air here in the streets of Quito. Well actually this week was a little tough because it was Quito´s independance day. Just a great excuse for everyone to drink, dance and for not one to be in their houses. But it also made for some good food posioning and lightening storm. Needless too say my body is starting to shut down of tiredness, if that even makes sense. 

This week I have really tried not to be more but to become. The two words are completely different, if we want to become something we need to have a willing heart, desire to believe and to trust in the Lord. The gospel really is here to help us become something, become more like our savior and become better each day. Presidet Eyring Said, "Hard as things seem today, they will be better in the next day if you choose to serve the Lord this day with your WHOLE heart." I really have been serving my savior with my whole heart, I could go on and on about the crazy things that happen to me here the crazy stories of drunk people of being robbed but really in the end they are just stories and what I will take home in 5 week is what I have become. I love this gospel and love the time that I have a have left to serve the humble people of Quito. 

Love you all, say your prayers and just be better.

Hermana Merrill:)

The BBQ we had today with the Zone 

Hermana Arcaya

BALLET SCHOOL sweatshirt!

"This is your ultima vez"

Well I have made it to this point in the mission. Today is the first day of the last transfer. The last time I have to nourish my vineyard. The last 6 weeks to work as dilligently as I can. To build my conversion, and to love the people here in Ecuador, I really will only be a missionary once. There will never ever be the opportunity again. Now is the time, the last time.

"And the Lord of the vineyard said unto them: Go to,and labor in the vineyard, with your might. For behold,this is the last time that I shall nourish my vineyard; for the end is nigh at hand, and the season speedily cometh;and if ye labor 

with your might with me ye shall have joyin the fruit which I shall lay up unto

 myself against thetime which will soon come." Jacob 5:71

I am with a new companion, Hermana Arcya she is 22 from Peru and has I think a year on the mission. I will be here in Tarqui for chirstmas and to finish the mission. I am super pumped we have tons of actividads planned for the ward this month, to help unite the members and remember the birth of Christ. 

This past week we had the most intereesting service of my mission, first we went in the woods looking for wood and then built a roof, WHAT? Welcome to a 3rd world country. We saw a nice gang fight in a bus stop that ended with the police exploding gas everywhere and almost dying of a gas attack. Being in the bus with a theif, listening to the spirit to not get off the bus if he did, we didnt get off and got of on the next stop. Came back and there he was being arrested. The Lord watched over his childeren, I really am arm in arm with my Savior each  and every day each and every minute. 

Say your prayers and remember who you are.

Hermana Merrill

https://www.mormon.org/christmas

Zone Chillogillo

Cotopaxi in the backround

Building houses on a saturday morning

The beautiful new chapel that we have

Child playing with my "yellow" hair

Venesuelan trying to teach me to make arepas! 

Week 65

I think something I have learned is that the mission was never going to be easy, but it really is worth it. I have felt the love of my Savior so much this week. I know that the gospel is centered around families, and that one day families can be together forever. it is only through families that we will be able to live with our father again.

This week we started teaching anwesome family, the dad Cristian and lives with his two kids, we contacted them on the street. Well the real story is we talked to his kids and a bunch of kids on the street and the kids brought us to his dad. So we went tom visit them and bammm his girlfriend was there and come to find out she is an inavtive member! Well that was that, talk about amazing and they all came to church on sunday. 

Other than that this week was just dandy, tons of rain, a fun service and we went today with the zone to a place called MR JOY, it is like a chucky cheese for adults, pretty sweet,  and i ripped my pants along with like 5 elders it was great.  I SAW HERMANA DIAZ AGAIN! Made my day!

I just want to leave this email with this, scripture: Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully doall things that lie in our power; and then may we standstill, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation ofGod, and for his arm to be revealed. D&C 123:17.

As we do all things cheerfully and dilligently I know we are blessed. There is a bigger a better plan, he is with us through the thick and the thin, he loves us.

Just be good this week, serve someone and do what is right.

Love always

Hermana Merrill:)

Week 67

Things are getting a little bit real, the flight plans are here and I will be home on January 12th.

On a different note, this week went by faster than ever. We ran around teaching in the pouring rain. I never have felt like my shoes feel like wet bread so much in my life. The roads turn into mini rivers and the hills seem even coler when it rains. I really have gained a strong testimony of fuzzy socks, especially the 4 pairs Grandma sent me for Chirstmas last year. If you have not heard, the church has been in Ecudaor for 50 years. On Saturday we had a Marethon for the stake on saturday. 

This week I have set some new goals for these last 7 weeks here on the mission. One of them is to read the Book of Mormon over again cover to cover. As Elder Anderson said, "When was the last time you read the Book of Mormon cover to cover? Read it again it will increase your Faith." Setting goals is the best thing we can do to help us progress and become better. If we never set goals we will never get anywhere. So set some goals, write them down and more than anything complete them. 

The work here is great, we are working with the memebers this week and are teaching a new investigator named Alberto. He knows perfect english and is Columbian. We are working with another great family of from the Coast I will be sure to send tons of Pics. This week our zone had the invterviews with the President. Something he mentioned to me is how much I have progressed here, how much I have grown. I have never never felt so tired in my life, but so ready to keep working, to keep growing, to keep walking and to keep contacting each day. 

I hope that everyone has a great week, love you all and thank you for your prayers and support. This is the best decison I have ever made and will ever make.

xo

Hermana Merrill:)

I¨ll never no never forsake

Let´s start with the Ecuador update this week, we beat Paraguay 2-1, and Coptopaxi has yet to erupt! The grand city of quito is still kickin, we had a service project saturday, I will include a picture of us on the roof of the house we fixed up. I also started my BOM again on friday and I am in the middle of 2 Nephi, I have a goal set to finish it again before I go home.

Well remember the awesome family from last week? Yeah they left today to move to Spain. WHAT? We left them with a book of mormon and desire in their hearts to be baptized. Talk about opositon. Other than that the work here is different than the jungle, the people accually live in cement houses and we walk the hills daily, our area has just stairs, we LOVE climbing them.

A quote that really made me reflect this week, and just today my aunt sent me the same quote I have been thinking about all week Glinda from the Wizard of Oz says, "You´ve always had the power my Dear, you just had to Learn it for yourself." This is exactly what I have learned this transfer here in Tarqui, and here on the mission. I really have learned to do it all for myself, through other people. First I have learned to live in the craziness of Ecuador a different country and learned to love the companions I have, learned to love the people, but the most important thing I have learned is to be converted unto the Lord. To leave my personal life behind and serve the lord on a mission. To really truely be obedient for myself.

Love you all

Hermana Merrill:)

¡Que Bestia!

In Ether 15:34 it says, "Now the last words which are written by Ether are these: Whether the Lord will that I be translated, or that I suffer the will of the Lord in the flesh, it mattereth not, if it so be that I am ."

Another week just flew by. Somehow I made it through, I think the shorter the time gets the more real it seems that I will be able to contact or teach or have the same calling ever again in my life. Something we have been working on as a zone, in companionship and personally is to practice ponderize scriptures. It has helped me to stay focused and feel the spirit throughout the day. I invite each person to do this throughout you week, to remember what really matters her on this earth. 

This week I have  thaught  my compaion some great english words, she now responds to me in the night with yes and not si! Special thanks to some David Archuleta hymns we almost have done the whole song "The Spirit of God". Progress!! She is really tons of fun, we had cake and pizza for her at a members house last monday night, for her birthday.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween, here it is the day of the dead, so everyone is at the cemetery, drinkning Colada Morada and guaguas de pan. google it. 

Have a great week, the best is yet to be.

Hermana Merrill:)

My area..THE HILL

Hermana guevaras bday

Encebollado..the best fish soup in town, but really it is amazing

where we live...

Quito ama la vida

Ohhh yeah the first week back to QUITO! My area is one big hill, well all of Quito is 2 big hills and climbing stairs is how we work around here. The better  of the investigators always seem to live further and further up the stairs. I love the area, there are TONS of prepared people. I have already seen miracles in this Area. A family that I found and knew in Ambato, lived in Quito, this week I was thinking about them and remembered they told me they lived near the Ataualpa Mall and bam, where do we live, in front of the Mall. We called them and are going to visit them tonight. I am super happy to be here. This week we had two service activites, a baby shower and a fireside for 50 years of the church in Ecuador. 

This I have been pondering General Conference. The prophet really did not speak much but pondering the short words that he said, we as members of the church need to Keep the Comandments. Being here on this earth, is a gift, an oportunity to progress and to become like christ. All our father asks is that we love him and keep is comandments. I can not stress the importance of this, I have seen families, homes and marrigaes destroyed just from breaking one small comandment. If there is a commandment that we are not completely, now is the time, today is the day to repent and become better. Weither it be getting to church earlier to take the sacrament, being more honest or simply love our neighbor as ourself. We need to keep the commandments. 

The good news is I have a great view of cotopaxi the volcano from my roof, it continues to pop every day, but the great news is if it explodes completely I will have a great view! Well I hope everyone has a great week. Say your prayers.

With Love

Hermana Merrill:)