November 17, 2014

Family,

Things are going pretty well here in Basud. We had one of our less- active members, get really excited about missionary work. He realized that he could be using his time to work with the missionaries. He has given us three referrals now and wants to work with us all the time. We are really excited to have him helping with the work in Basud, but he still hasn't come to church since I've been here. That part is kind of tricky. We were really sure that he was going to come this week, but he just didn't show up. I think that he will become more active as we get our meeting place changed to somewhere closer to centro.

We are currently in the process of finding a place for the Basud saints to meet that is closer to the centro of Basud. We have found one place that looks pretty good. (also in a Barangay Hall. ) We still need to make a trip over there with Bishop one of these days so he can approve it. I am super excited for the new meeting place though, because the current one is pretty far from a lot of our members and investigators. I think a lot more people will want to come to church when the meeting house is closer to them. 

We got a lot of referrals this week, and one of them was the family that includes two of our new investigators. One of the members in our area introduced us to a member that she knows. She is probably almost 70 years old and listens to just about any missionaries who come to her house. She doesn't really remember much about the church actually, but we are really excited to teach her grandchildren. They both know a lot about the bible, but are really polite and really open to what we have to share. They are really good kids. I am really impressed with them and excited to see what comes of us teaching them. I have high hopes there. 

We are also teaching a 10- year- old  who is from a part member family.  He is set to get baptized on November 29 :) He is doing great and always goes to church with his younger sister who is 5 or 6, and his grandmother. (His father is not a member and his mother is less active and lives in a different house than him). We are really excited for him.

I think that's all for this week, thank you for all your support and all your prayers.

I know that Heavenly Father loves us and sometimes he gives us trials in order to make us stronger.

http://www.mormonchannel.org/mormon-channel-daily/213?v=1839005837001

Love you guys tons!

Elder Benjamin Merrill

Ben staying dry under a banana leaf

 Elder Bolambao in front of the building they have church in

 Elder Bolambao under a banana leaf to stay dry

Guava

Basud Week 2, November 2, 2014

Family,

This week was another good week in Basud. The sacrament meeting situation here is definitely different from anything else I've ever experienced. This week, we had a church attendance of 21 Including Elder Bolambao and me, but not including Bishop (from Daet 2nd Ward), who comes to preside at the Basud sacrament service. We had one recent convert family, one active family and then like 2 other half active families come to church. It was a nice meeting, but Bishop, the ward mission leader, and me and my comp were the only people who bore testimony. I am interested to see how things go when we have assigned talks. 

The finding is going pretty well. We actually just recently had a fiesta here in Basud and I just attract all of the drunk guys who know a little bit of English. Fortunately we were able to use this fact to find some new investigators. We found one guy (nicknamed power ranger) and his family this way.We had a really hard time finding his house using his real name. We had to go back to the place where we found him and ask for him again. We ended up going around asking people if they knew power ranger. It was super funny. 

We were able to find another interesting investigator through a less-active member here as well. He is recovering from a motorcycle accident or something of that sort and is in a wheel chair. His wife also passed away. He is a super nice guy who is really catholic, but he is also super willing to hear what we have to say and open to listen to new ideas. 

I really believe that the Lord is placing people to teach in our path. 

I love you guys tons!


Here are a few pictures from Goa.