Eating Flys?!

It has been such a great week. "Discouragment weakens faith"

 The last week of the transfer to find people to be baptized this transfer. I started off the week very discouraged. For some things that have happened here in the Branch and the in the time I have been here I felt like I really had not done much, nothing was progressing. I can to the conclusion on Friday that these last 3 weeks of the transfer could either be the best or I could make them the longest and be a debbie downer. So Friday morning happened read my scriptures and decided that the Lord put me here for this amount of time so I better make the BEST of it and put my trust in him. We met as a district here in Puyo and set some goals of things we are going to to do differently and went out to work. New actions, always bring new results. So a smile on my face and prayer in my heart, we went to go find some new people in there houses that we had contacted the day before. I had the strongest feeling that we should go to this old investigators house Elena even though I knew she was on the coast. We show up she is there and her 2 daughters were there. They had just gotten back from the trip and come to f ind out her daughter had read all the folletos that we had left..forgot how to  say that word in english... So long story short they came to church on sunday and are progressing like a river in the rain. 

What more?! So I ate some delish bugs this week, they really tasted like buttered popcorn. I really am not sure what they are called in english but they look a bit like flys or maybe yellow jackets. Not sure! You just burn them untill they are black and add some salt and bam tasty snack! Well some native people here from the jungle gave them to us. I really have learned to love the things from here.

Oh and the womens conference, we did not watch it thanks to jungle saturday night we did not have satalite signal! oops!

Well that is about it from me this week. Cheers to week 10 of the training of Hermana Macias. I hope everyone has a great week. say your prayers and be grateful.

Love always

Hermana Merrill:)

Hermana Castillo

---

Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2015 17:56:56 -0500
Subject: Hi :)
From: natalie.castillo@myldsmail.net
To: bobandemily@hotmail.com

Brother and Sister Merrill,

This is Hermana Castillo, your daughter's first companion. I just want you to know how amazing she is. I truly love her. Her progress has been incredible. I had the chance to do divisions with her a couple weeks back and I was blown away. Her Spanish, her teaching skills and her happiness just amaze me all together.

Your daughter is very gifted and I know she will continue to bless the lives of all those around her for the rest of her life. I know it is a big sacrifice to not have her home and I know she loves you guys with all of her heart, but thank you for letting her come out and change the lives of all the people in Ecuador, as well as mine. She will be one of my very best friends for life. She is like a sister to me.

I hope all is well with your cute family! Hope you have a wonderful week!

Hermana Castillo

Life on the Equator

Well to start off this email, I would like to testify that Ecuador Home Remedies are real. If your stomach hurts from eating some meat of a cow that was mooing that morning, drink some Coke and it really makes you feel better. How? Not sure, Spirte here does not work, just Coke. That would explain a little about my tummy these days.

This week went by so fast. We had a Zone Conference on Wednesday, and after that if felt like the week was already over. Most of the Conference was of the theme that the church seems to be focusing on, The importance of the Sabbath Day. I finished and started the Book of Mormon again, and thought a lot about my purpose here. 

Something Hermana Macias and I have been focusing on this week is this quote, "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like WORK." I love this quote. The Mission is WORK, there is nothing light or soft about the word work. Many may think that Working for 18 months 24 hours a day would be hard, walking in the heat of living on the equator, or the rain storms of the amazon rain forrest. I am so thankful for the many Saturday afternoons I was left to pull weeds in the backyard, and the bathrooms my mom made me clean, it taught me how to work. There is nothing more fullfilling than getting in my bed at night and knowing that I have done everything I can to serve the Lord. 

Today we had a bit of an adventure. We planned to go find a tree house of 11 floors but come to find out we show up and it had been destroyed. YAY So then we decided quickly to go into some caves, and swing around the jungle. Deffidently what dad would call a "Saturday O' Fun" on a monday. Saturday we had a branch activity full of some good skits. But to bring it home with the missionaries skit, of course we had a "Dear John" skit planned. I will include pics

I hope everyone has a great week.

Say your prayers and do whats right.

Love always,

Hermana Merrill

Sweating is my life

It has been nothing but hott this week, I never thought I'd sweat so much untill I arrived here. Or this past week arrived. Puyo is holding out strong. This week has been a hard one but really went by fast. 

We are starting to teach just about everyone that has a store by our house, we had a family night with them all. We are teaching Elena who is a lady that is blonde with blue eyes, surprisingly not what you see around here, she is awesome and will be baptized at the end of the month.

Something I have learned on the mission is that things are never hard they just are never easy. My companion is doing great, she loves the work and is more than ready to be the best missionary she should be. Something I have learned here is that this is the GREATEST work I can ever accomplish. I know that this is the greatest work that I be doing right now in my life, to cry repentance unto the pueblo of puyo, to serve them with my entire heart might mind and strength. I will leave you with this quote this week, "To believe that weaknesses in your character are unchangeable is to reject the central truth of the plan of salvation." We need to believe in ourselves daily and believe that our father in heaven that he can help us in our daily faults. I know that with those two beliefs combined it will give us the faith that we need to carry on. 

"She will always remember Rojo and the Confidence he gave her"

Love you all.

Hermana Merrill:)

Puyo for life

Transfers today and Yep I am still here in PUYO! Love it here and clearly my work is not completed here. The Shwar people will really be in my heart forever after this. This week was one for the water and heat, So hot and so much rain, and amazing tilapia but what is new? We finally had an entire week in our sector it was amazing! Saturday is what he were starting to call a DAY SUCK, when no one is home that says they were going to be, everyone is drunk on the street, and it pours rain all day. We went out with a girl in the branch out to the furthest part of our area in the middle of the jungle to find that not a single person was home. I knew that a member lived around there not was not sure where, so we crosed a couple rivers and found them. Shared a message with them outside on some logs and come to find out there neighbor Geseña who has two little kids came over and we got to teach her as well. I know the Lord is here with us and knows that his work is progressing in this pueblito. I have been studying this week ont the difference of a testiomony and a conversion to the gospel. Elder Bednar wrote a talk "Converted unto the Lord" that is fantastic. Here on the mission I have learned really what it is to be converted unto the Lord and not just have a testimony of him. I know that the Lord needs his children to be converted unto him. A conversion takes time, it takes our entire life and most importantly it takes our hearts. Here on the mission I can feel that my converison is growing a little each day, putting a drop of oil in my lamp each day to be prepared to see the son of god, just as the five wise virgins. Elder said, "Conversion unto the Lord requires both persistence and patience." 

Hermana Macias has made it through her first transfer! We are pumped to be together again this change she is awesome and her spanish is getting really good. Some drunk man today almost gave her a heart attack today frist time was not the first time I have ran from a drunk man on the streets. Doesnt help that my blonde hair is easy to spot. But I am going strong and will not dye it dark.  

That is about it for this week.

I love this gospel and love each everyone of you. Thank you for your emails, prayers and support. Say your prayers.

Hermana Merrill:)

"God Bless this pueblito"

Another week, another adventure. 

This weeks adventure started out with divisons. Fun day I went to Ambato again, just another 5 hours on the bus. But rewarding. Got to see and hear about some converts, the Toalombos and Maricella and see that they have all progressing and just got back from the temple as well. Best feeling in the world. Well I got back here on Wednesday and we worked all week. Some new people we are teaching are our neighbors. One Lady lucy that sells food, the other that sells laundry detergant and the other sells meat and beer. Anything we buy, well except the beer.... The lord really has blessed us here in Puyo. This week Kevin from the family Rodriguez got baptized, the last of the kids. Cynthia his sister even gave the talk at the baptism. I willinclude a pic of them. they really are my little family here in Puyo. 

Other than that the work is coming along smoothly here in the jungle. There is no other place better than in the mission field to feel the Love of the Savior, to love the people we teach and meet as he would love them, to do his will and to spread the gosspel to all ends of the earth.

My Companion teases me that I have lowered my standards about what is normal, like the fact that we had HUGE cockroaches in our house climbing out of drangs, HUGE ants crawling on our scriptures while studying and that Iove eating litterally every part of the chicken. But hey come what may and love it, we have had water all week...count your many blessings.

Here is a awesome quote I found this week.....Heber J Grant said....

 I feel sorry for the man or the woman who has never experienced the sweet joy which comes to the missionary who proclaims the gospel of Jesus Christ, who brings honest souls to a knowledge of the truth, and who hears the expressions of gratitude and thanksgiving that come from the hearts of those who have been brought by his labor to a comprehension of life eternal. So also do I feel sorry for those who have never experienced the sweet joy resulting from reaching out their hands and helping those who were needy. Assuredly there is more blessing comes to us from giving than in accumulating; there is no question of this in my mind. There is also more blessing comes to us in going forth to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, and laboring for the salvation of the souls of men, than can possibly come to us by merely having a knowledge of the truth of our religion, and then remaining at home to mingle and labor in the ordinary affairs of life, and accumulate the wealth of this world that perishes with the using. One great trouble is that we ofttimes lose sight of what is the most valuable labor for us to perform, the labor that will be most pleasing in the sight of our Heavenly Father.

Well that is about it from me here in Ecuador.

Love you all, say your prayers and be thankful.

Hermana Merrill:)