Feliz Natal!

Família-

Our shower broke AGAIN but we fixed it again, so maybe it'll behave for Christmas...

We got all of our lights up on our tree!  We also bought Santa hats. We're proud of how festive we are. 

Also, enjoy our dumb Christmas video we made for all of you (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XogSK6WTsO0&feature=youtu.be to watch the video he and his companion made).

Some bus drivers think they're in the Formula One, and don't like to slow down for anything.... this makes it super fun when you're in the back (more leverage) and they go over speed bumps... There was one bump where Elder Ambriz said I bounced over a foot into the air before slamming back down into my seat.... good times.

So we found a bunch of new people to teach this week. There was one super awesome lady who loved the Restoration and everything, but on Saturday when we returned, her husband came to the door to return the Livro de Mórmon, telling us they already had a church. We were able to get in and teach a really cool lesson about how we werent asking anything more than to ask God if it were true, but even after a powerful lesson, he used his agency to say, again, "nope." There was also a good lesson on the steet that got wrecked by an Evangelical who entered the circle and started asking question after question, all just meant to cause contention and make us mad or "fight back" (which is ironic because he was talking about Jesus, and Jesus said that contention is of the devil) So those things are always sad.

Yesterday we taught our favorite investigator (is it bad to have a favorite?), John Lennon. We got to the apartment complex and waited for someone to walk by to let us in the gate (the intercom to his apt is broken, and he does'nt have a phone) But it just opened all of a sudden, and we were like "weird" and walked in. We talked for awhile, then began to teach the 10 Commandments. Halfway through the lesson, he asked, "What's the way that you guys determine what you're going to teach me?" and we talked about how we beforehand pray and then plan who we visit and what we'll teach, and as we were thinking, the 10 commandments popped into our heads, so that's what we were teaching. He then told us about how last week, almost every day in a different location, he saw the 10 commandments.... on the way to work, in conversations with his girlfriend... more frequently than coincidence. And today, he was cleaning the apartment and just felt the impulse to push the button that opens the gate to the apartment complex, for no reason other than that.... you can't see or hear from the window, but he just was like, "I'm gonna open it." Who walks in? Us, not having seen him since last Sunday, and what do we teach him? The 10 Commandments. I'll say that's a miracle. As we talked, I didn't know exactly what he needed to hear, but I felt the Spirit there and felt as we walked home that we said exactly the things God was saying to him. I love being a missionary.

I love you all! 

Feliz Natal!

Elder Merrill

We play soccer every other P-day with some young men from the ward and their friends... it's awesome! But last week we burned soooooo badly (and yes mom, I even used sunscreen) because the sun is super strong here.... For a few days, it was pathetic as we cried when we put our ties on because our necks were killing us... next time, we'll use LOTS of sunscreen haha

One of our investigator has 8 dogs.... and her "yard" is puny

The clouds here are awesome every day

When you buy an umbrella for less than one dollar, it doesn't last very long... Yesterday Elder Ambriz was strugglin as piece by piece his umbrella dissolved into the falling rain

Oh yeah, I resoled my shoes with the rubber they use in airplane tires... it was $5. Aw yeah.

Mom and Dad, I got your Christmas present and Elder Ambriz and I are enjoying our Mac and Cheese! Mmmmmm..... Thank you!

Feliz Natal a todos! Sempre lembrem que é uma epoca para estar juntos com aqueles que nós amamos para comemorar o nascimento de nosso Salvador. Eu amo todos vocês!