10 days hasta Thanksgiving!!!!!

Hey everyone :) how is everything going??? gwapo kag gwapa gihapon??? Tani ;) haha joke lang love you guys :) umm so this week has been a little of a blur mainly cause my companion was still sick with the flu... sayang but he is doing much better now :) so kind of not much work was done this week other than finding some more people from new areas we have been too.. But we did have a super amazing Sunday!!!! maybe your question is how?? or why was it amazing??

Sunday: so from this Sunday we had a very very special visit from Quentin L Cook from the Quorum of the Twelve!!!! he came and visited our mission and talked with us and let me just say that it is so amazing and such an amazing feeling to be in the presence of an Apostle. The Holy Ghost is just so strong, but continuing... ( i hope that is spelled right...) sorry English isn't my best friend lately especially now i am learning Tagalog as well as Ilonggo... but anyways ummm ya so Elder Cooks wife is super adorable haha he was telling us how she isn't a big fan of doing the things they do or going to the places they go but she is more happy when he lets her have the missionaries sing for her. soooo obviously we sang but honestly it was super cool to do because after singing and during you could just feel the power of the Holy Ghost throughout the whole Sacrament room and it was amazing.. But once the time came that Elder Cook spake to us, he spake to us about a lot of things actually and about how we can use PMG better and to go about extending commitments to our investigators which was really amazing because right now my area is progressing but not as much as it could be and from after this talk i got way excited to get back into our area and to be able to apply the things we learned. um maybe next week i will actually remember to bring my notes with me when i email... :) but one thing that we were told to try and that i think would be super awesome for you guys to try as well was Sister Cook was telling us about the Christlike attributes and to take them and to Relate hymns to the attributes and to copy them because you can connect multiple hymns to each attribute and you can study the words of the hymns and find more hymns that connect to the attributes but she said that is what she had done and it helps her to feel more lifted up and she can just think of hymns right of the back because of it and if she is feeling stressed or something she can think of something and have an instant hymn for her to sing but something interesting i thought :) but something awesome also was to hear the Testimony of Elder Cook and to hear some of the things that he had told us and his blessing that he left with us before they left and from the Blessing he left with us really made me feel so happy and reassured sa akon to be able to know that even though there might be somethings going on at home or we feel like we do more things at home that it isn't true. That not only us as missionaries will be blessed for being out here Serving the Lord but so will everyone that we love. whether it be our families, friends, close people, future families they will be blessed and receive blessing from the choice we have made and that is something that is promised to happen throughout our lives here on earth and just knowing that gives you and gave me so much more confidence in pushing even harder here in my mission to do all i can to help people gain Salvation and to be with their families forever and to have the chance to return to our Father in Heaven. because 2 years sounded like a very long time when i first left but 1 year is almost gone and i feel like i still have so much to do here and not enough time but i do know that these things indi sila basta basta pero importante gid sila kay ang Kaluwasan indi sia isa ka gamay nga butang pero its huge kag tanan mga tawo gadeserve sila mabatian parte so plano sang dios para sa aton kag may chance agud magupdanay sa ila mga panimalay sa pihak nga kabuhi kag balan ko nga ang aton amay sa langit gabulig sia sa aton adlaw adlaw kag kon magact kita sa mga sabat nga ginbaton naton matunan kita mas parte sa ano kinahanglan naton maghimo kag magabot damo mga bugay sa aton kag biscan kon kisa budlay sang mga kabuhi naton kaya naton gihapon pagpadayon hasta sa katapusan especially kon may ara support halin sa aton mga pamilya kag mga friends naton pero ginainvite ako sa inyo liwat sa inyo challenge nga ginhatagan ta kamo sang nagligad kay may ara kamo mga 10 days left hasta thanksgiving :) kag palangga ko kamo kag dumduma pirme sino ka :) kag ari diri ang aton amay sa langit pirme :) kag nahidlaw ako sa inyo... Halong kamo pirme ha? 

Keep Smiling :)

Pagpalangga,

Elder Merrill

Enjoy the pictures :) we went to some falls in my area today for pday :) and from our trip to Iloilo yesterday to see Elder Cook :) ​

Transfers!

Hey everyone so i just wanna send out a quick email to you all to let you know i am still alive :) thankfully haha i am still getting over a cold/tonsillitis again... so not a whole lot of work got done this week but i am grateful that i was still able to make it to the Baptism!!!!! haha

So i will be transferred tomorrow to Tibeao, Antique... get to learn new languages and meet new people... should be fun :) looking forward to it even though i am sad to be leaving Miag-ao because i have learned so much here and gotten to know the people so well and have worked so hard here to help things going i am able to see the results of it and luckily i am actually able to attend and witness the Wedding of my family :) but sadly not the Baptism but i am glad i was still able to play a part in there life. The nanay actually told me earlier but she told me " thank you for helping us, i don't think if it were for you we would have ever gotten married or baptized in this Church and the day you guys met us is when i stopped doing everything and i am glad that you were a big part of my life to help me get here." I almost started to just bawl honestly... but they are someone that just show me how amazing and important this Gospel is especially for families and how it can help them. I am so thankful for being a missionary and to have been assigned here and to help families come together. 

So that is kind of the highlight of this week and all next Monday i will send some more pictures and a bigger email about my new area and companion and how everything goes :) I hope that you all have had a wonderful week and a wonderful day today at Church and are all being safe.  I miss you guys and i love you all so much.  Always remember how important your family is and that through the Gospel of Jesus Christ we can be with them throughout all of Eternity.

Kabalo ako nga paagi sa pagbayad-sala ni JesuCristo mangin matinluan kita kag bisan ano matabo diri sa kalibutan indi sia madugay sa mga kabuhi naton kag paagi sa ebanghelyo ni jesucristo mangin malipay kita pirme kag kabalo ako nga palangga kita sang Dios kag malipay gid sia para sa mga pagpili naton diri sa kalibutan kag nga nagaserve kita sa iya kag gatuman sang mga kasuguan nya kag balan ko nga paagi sa ebanghelyo ni JesuCristo pwede kita mangin masclose so mga pamilya naton kag nga imporatante gid sila sa aton kag kinahanglan naton maghimo bisan ano agud magbulig sa ila bisan ano ang mga pagtilaw nila o mga budlay sila ang pamilya naton bali maghatag kita sang best naton para sa tanan mga butang gahimo kita kag balan ko nga matuod ang simbahan ni jesucrist sang mga santos sa ulihi mga adlaw kag ang Dios gahatag sia damo mga bugay sa aton kag sa mga mahal naton. kag gapamatuod ko buhi pa si JesuCristo kag pwede kita maghimo sang mga miracles diri sa kalibutan paagi sa aton pagtuo kag ara pirme ang Dios sa aton kag gabantay sia sa aton kag palangga gid ko kamo kag nahidlaw gid ako sa inyo pero lapit na lang nga makita-ay kita liwat :) Dumduma pirme sino ka. kag ini tanan ginabiling ko sa ngalan ni JesuCristo, Amen.

Keep Smiling :)

Pagpalangga,

Elder Merrill

January 16th 2017

So these are our two recent converts from this Saturday :) and we will have more in the weeks coming :) 

this little girl is so freaking adorable. 

the nanay in the orange is the famous Nanay Esther

Our wall of fame we made for our recent converts (more to be added)

hahaha My sweet lovely sister from her mission in here in the Philippines ;) look at those rice cheeks!!!!😘😉

Which person are you???? A twizzlers fan or Red Vines????