house hunters?!

So you are wondering how house hunters come into a sister missionaries life sooo my week was going all so great, we are still teaching the familia Arias they are good as ever everything exploded, literally on Thursday night......

So it was Thursday night about 9:30 we were on our street like about 4 houses down from our house, we got off the bus because we were at our weekly meeting with our ward mission leader and all the elders, we are the last bus stop we got off and starting walking super-fast cause it was foggy and a yellow taxi passed stopped in front of us about 100 feet and 2 men jumped out separated and starting walking towards us, I knew in this moment something was weird I told my comp to put the phone in her shirt and bam about 5 seconds after they came at me,they told us to give them everything, they took off my jacket and grabbed the keys out threw my jacket back and ran with ALL of our stuff scriptures money, my comps cameras and the keys, they jumped back in the taxi and zoooomed off.........we ran home only like a block and thank goodness we live with a member she was able to let us in we called the zone leaders they were at our house in about 3 minutes they called the president and he was there in about a half hour with his wife,

BUT NOT TO WORRY I AM SAFE AND SOUND!!!! Just a little scared of every man that passes me on the street but, no big deal!

So yep now we are commuting back and forth to our area each day from the city  and we are playing house hunters to find a house for ourselves, that part is kinda fun, they should put us on house hunters international missionary version... I literally have gone in a million apartments the past few days haha!

This week has been one for the books, scary but looking back, the Lord protects his servants, we are all safe and really they just took our things, things that can be replaced. A little scaring, more like a lot scary but thank goodness my mom sent me down here with some Advil pm. So now I can sleep a little at night.

I miss and love each of you, I hope this week we can all remember what really matters and always trust that our Father in Heaven knows the greater and bigger plan for us! 

con amor

Hermana Merrill:)

this is the only pic I have of this crazy week, we went to a market today for pday

Miracles are real.

Miracles are real.

 Let me explain, this week we went to the family Arias´s house on Thursday  it was a rainy rainy afternoon, only Paula was there waiting for us as usual. The family Arias Paula and Vladamire are a young couple she´s my age and he´s 21 they are SO ready to be baptized but they are not married. They would have had the money next month to be married and get baptized but somehow we were praying that there would be a way for the money to come before the transfer was over. So let me continue about Thursday afternoon, Paula told us that the night before they found exactly 80 dollars ( the exact amount needed to be married in Ecuador)  on their dresser behind there speakers. After we had left there house the night before. They asked their parents and his brother and no one knows how it got there or where it came from. Today they went to pay for the marriage and will be able to be baptized the 7th of February. This truly was a miracle from our father in heaven, not sure how or who or when but miracles exist. This couple and us have been praying with faith and acting in faith that somehow they would be able to come up with the money. This experience strengthened my testimony more than anything, which has ever happened in my life. We have a father in heaven that cares and loves each of us; he knows the needs of his children. Matt19:26, with god all things are possible.

Well that was the highlight of my week; the rest of the week was cold wet and of course filled with rice every afternoon about 2pm. But when it comes down to it the good moments always make up for the cold wet nights. I love it here. Other than that today we played eco volley all day, some Ecuador volleyball in this beautiful park, and had divisions this week with the Hermana leaders. 

Couple funny things that are happening down here, women are thinking it’s cute to cut their hair in mullets?! Why?!  Also I found myself yesterday with a skirt, shirt and jacket from lands’ end all in one outfit, FUMPY SISTER MISSIONARY moment ew. 

Well that’s about it for this week, thank you for all your prayers each day. I love each and every one of you, and think of you guys often. Have a great week, remember faith can move mountains, just act on it.

Para Siempre Dios Este con vos

con amor

Hermana Merrill:)

Pictures: At our mommitas house for lunch on Wednesdays, some special lunch for no reason, love her.

The familia arias at the baptism of the elders on Saturday..woot whoo!

Rice

Well another  week  has passed in the good ole country of ECUADOR!!! 

I have read that Christ like attributes are  patience every morning.......that explains that.

Our zone and the north zone this week had a conference and interviews with the President ,my favorite thing that was spoken of  was our Zone Leader spoke about how the prophets in the scriptures were successful?! They baptized thousands and defeated army's of thousands but how? They were diligent, obedient and always faithful. Time we be exactly that way..... All went well and swell with interviews and the rest of the conference, all is good out here in the middle of cows and rice. This new sector is full of people to be taught, we do not have enough time on our hands.

As for our investigators the family Arias is on the way to the agua!! THEY ARE THE BEST people I have taught in Ecuador, they are about to get married and be baptized. I have seen there lives start to take a 180 flip`, the changes they have made are miraculous .Here are some pics of the baptism on Saturday of Maria-Jose and Paul! 

That's about all that's happened here this week, I'm living just eating rice and tons and tons of fruit, sometimes that ends bad in the bathroom...well too much info.  Today we went to QUITO and went back to the Basillica with our district and ate burgers at an american place where they speak English..its the small things that matter.

D&C 122:7 

love you all and hope everyone has a great week...i love hearing from each of you, it makes my week! The church is true the book is blue, time to keep doing the things we know to be right, time to press forward and endure.

xoxoxo 

Hermana Merrill:)

2015

HELLO people that speak English.

Well here is good news update of what is happening here in in my new area. I figured out where I am, we live on the top of a HUGE hill, our area is all hills basically just stair cases, with cows and tons of pigs everywhere and all dirt roads. AND IT IS FREEEEZING we are about 2k feet higher than Conocoto. Much different than Conocoto, it reminds me a lot of Mexico City. New Year’s happened; we were not allowed to do anything that day but leave the house to eat at members’ homes. New Year’s here consists of EVERYONE being drunk, all the men dress up like hooker women and run around the streets, and people burn everything in the street from that year that they do not want to remember. It’s basically just a bunch of chaos!!!!! Also the biggest women singer artist in Ecuador died yesterday and everyone is depressed about it.  I know you were wondering if  they eat rice in this area and YES we eat just as much ! Being in a trio is much different, at times it is fun and feels like we have a sleepover every night and at times it’s hard.

ON a more spiritual note, and positive note, the work in this area is GOLD. We do not have enough time for the amount of people we need to teach. We found families this week that are truly prepared by the Lord. The Family Arias is a family of 3 they are young and could not be any better. They pray with intent, read with pure intent and want to complete the commandment of baptism. They are amazing and will get baptized.  I have been focusing a lot on my relationship with my Father in Heaven. Prayer is the communication we have here with the Lord. He wants to hear our thoughts, our pleadings of our heart. He truly hears every word.  What he wants me to do here, truly I am only here for him and not for myself, here to do his will to do his work. WE walked up 286 stairs on Friday to find that our investigator was not even home. Half dome anyone?! But, come to find out we were contacting up on the top of the world and found a member that got baptized 23 years ago up in the north of Ecuador and had no idea where the church was here and has been inactive for 15 years. This really is a reason for everything we do, if we wouldn’t have hiked up the mountain that day we would have never found Hermana Katy on the street, a lost soul. 

Something funny....We live in the middle of a hill with tons and tons of dogs more than my other area, one night we were walking home and a good 4 dogs started running towards us barking basically about to eat my face off so Hermana Pace and I threw our cookies at them along with our cell phone and it split in half,  maybe it was funnier in person or the mission is turning me into an old boring hag not quite sure .

Well that’s about it for Asisencia Social this week. Thank you for your prayers, I need them this transfer, I love each and every one of you

Para Siempre Dios Este con Vos

Love always,

Hermana Merrill:)

my area on top of the hill.... and new years eve