My companion and the other elders have been enjoying the goodies from my birthday box. Elder Vasconcelos fell in love with french toast and Mrs. Butterworths syrup when I made it for him one morning haha
Our work week was a little slow, but at least we were able to take out one day to try and visit all of the 9 uncontacted media references we recieved in the last month. They were all super far away (like the furthest would be more than 6 hours walking round trip from our house and back), so it was such a blessing to have the help of a member to drive us around all day! It really is better to work with the members!
Since we had Leadership Council on Friday morning, we went to sleep in the office Elder's house the night before. We got a ride, cutting the 2 hour bus-train-metro journey to just 30 minutes by car. It was sweet. With the extra time, I went with 2 of the Secretaries to a sweet member's house (she's a cute old lady), where we were able to play the board game War (similar to Risk) and drink a delicious hot milk-caramel-cinnamon-coconut drink. Elder Hughes and Elder David also came to spend the night, so it was a grand ol' reunion there at the office. We played War again before bed (don't worry, we stopped at 10:30!) and it was just hilarious. Best Elder Hughes quote from the week: "Fun fact, bananas in Africa actually come from Asia...... no wait..... it's not the bananas, its the people!" But you had to be there to appreciate the fulness.
I loved the Leadership Council because the APs and Sister APs gave a training on the power of the Book of Mormon in conversion. I thought a lot about how I often fail to help the people we teach to use the sacred scripture to help them resolve their problems, and how I often fail to take advantage of that power myself. It was wonderful to be able to recommit to myself that I will make my study from the Book of Mormon much more meaningful, and I want to invite you all to do so as well! (to those unfamiliar, look at this link to learn a little more www.mormon.org/beliefs/book-of-mormon )
Yesterday it was wonderful to talk with Mom and Dad on Skype for Mother's Day! It was just a little awkward when I called and they said "hello" and I started talking Portuguese without thinking about it to them and they sat there with blank looks on their faces...... Mom asked me what those strange noises were coming from my mouth...... It was too difficult to keep a portuguese word from slipping in here or there, but I think it deu para conversar (oops, there it went again). I'm tellin you people, it's rough sometimes to forget your native tounge.
Have a wonderful week, and I love you all a ton!
Elder Merrill
 |
| REAL brownies and ice cream! (Betty Crocker mix) Elders Vasconcelos, Nascimento, and Freire all wanted to be American after trying it |
 |
| Sometimes lunch appointments make you do strange things |
 |
| I love my mom! Thought of her at our ward activity on Saturday |
 |
| Jean is leaving this week to serve his mission in Salta, Argetina. He is going to be an awesome missionary and I'll miss his help here in Jardim Odete! Also, thank you Grandma Merrill for this awesome tie! :) |
No comments:
Post a Comment