2/3/2014

Dad's Chinese New Year themed email reminded me of my Chinese New Year's Day. We actually started off the day with a service project for one of the sisters' recent converts. We dug out a garden for them and planted some kamote. I am not really sure if it has another name in English or not. That is what we call it here. It is kind of like a potato. Wikipedia tells me it is the same as a sweet potato, but I disagree. Basta, we ended up spending most of the day there, because the sister who we did the service for kept cooking us more and more food. (Which was really good, I might add. We had one chicken and papaya thing, then jackfruit, and finally pansit.) We also got to chew sugarcane and drink buko juice, and eat sili peppers (that's hot stuff). One of the people who we did the service for said to me, "Bikolano ka na!" when she saw me in pain from the pepper I ate. It really was hot. That means, 'you're Bikolano now', by the way. After that, we had to hurry home and then back to Naga to withdraw. The really cool thing was that while we were in Naga, they were shooting off a bunch of fireworks for New Year's. It was really cool.

I also got to go on exchanges with Elder Snyder this week. It was really cool to work with him again. He is a really hard worker and loves the work.

I think I will tell a little story of one of our investigator couples. I'm not 100% sure how exactly we got in contact with them, but I think they just came to church one week or something like that. Pretty cool, right? The husband is 85 years old, and the wife is of similar age too, so they are super old, but still really active and have lots of questions for us. I think they have come to church about every week I've been here, so they are ready to be baptized in that regard, but they still go to church at the Iglesia ni Cristo... We don't think they really have any intention of leaving their old church right now either. I think that the Spirit will soften their hearts eventually, especially because they are so willing to come to church and to hear our message. 

Maybe I will give you a little background on the Iglesia ni Cristo now too. I'm not exactly sure what they believe, but I know that it was started by a man who used to be a member of our church. The story goes that he graduated from BYU and then he wanted to be made prophet, which of course didn't happen. He then proceeded to create his own church with some of the beliefs of our church and some other beliefs. Their churches are all over the place. They are definitely great and spacious buildings. 

On a happier note, I wanted to talk about another one of the connections I made while I was reading the Book of Mormon this time around. It is from Ether. There is a part where Moroni talks about how no one was allowed to translate the Jaredite plates until his time (or something like that), and so I had to wonder why that was. I think the reason is that it was a great blessing for Moroni to be able to be the one who translated the plates. I think this because of the similarities between his story and that of Ether. They were both hiding from their own wicked, warring people, and hiding in places like the cavity of a rock, etc. I think it must have been neat for Moroni to read the story of someone in such a similar predicament to his.

I love this work, and I know that it is our Heavenly Father's work here on the earth. Mahal ko yung trabaho ko dito sa Pilipinas, at alam ko na ito ang trabaho ng Diyos dito sa Mundo. Alam ko na mahal Niya tayo, at na sa pamamamagitan ni Jesus Christ at Kanyang Pagbabayad-sala, puwede tayong makabalik sa piling ng Diyos pagkatapos ng buhay na ito. Sobrang nagpapasalamat ako para doon.

I love you guys!

Elder Benjamin Merrill

1/27/2014

Everything  has been pretty normal this week. We made some really good chicken adobo. We also went to the beach as a district too. The beach was really pretty here, there were millions of seashells there. I think the girls would have really liked that, plus, we were like the only people there, so that was cool. We spend most of our time playing a really fun card game called pasuwedos (I really don't know how to spell that one), but it is really fun. We also played a game that was basically Old Maid. Here they call it Unggoy-Unggoy (Which means Monkey-Monkey), because instead of the loser being called an old maid, they are called a monkey.

I also finished my reading of the Book of Mormon this week. It was really neat to read the whole thing though in such a short time. I think it is wonderful that we get so much time to study the scriptures here in the mission field. It really strengthened my testimony, and I made so many connections that I hadn't made before.  I plan to read through the whole Bible next and then the Doctrine and Covenants.

I hope you are ready for me to come back a chef. (I already know how to cook rice.)

Love you all!
Elder Benjamin Merrill

1/20/2014

I was just informed that we are going to have to leave for a dinner appointment in like ten minutes or so, so I am really sorry that this email is going to have to be so short. We do use the same book as you guys do for Elders Quorum and Relief Society. I am super excited for you guys and the temple open house. I think it will be a really neat experience for the girls.

 I think I will tell you about the rats in our house. We actually caught like three of them in the last two and a half days. One was almost as big as both of my fists put together. We burn them with our alcohol that we use for cleaning our hands. 

The work is going really well in this area too, and I love my district. The activity up at the falls was amazing. I had the opportunity to baptize someone for the first time too, which was really neat. I really felt like almost out of time, like away from the whole concept of it. I am so thankful for the opportunity to serve the people here. I hope everyone at home is doing well. I miss you guys tons and I love you so much. I apologize again for the short letter.

Love you all tons!!

Elder Benjamin Merrill

Do You Want to Eat Fire?

I am now in.... Calabanga, about a 20 minute ride from Naga City, right on the bay! My new comp's name is Elder Nebeker from American Fork Utah. We are continuing to live the dream out here in "The Best Mission in All the Land" (daw)

The subject line is a direct quote from our bishop. This was my second time meeting him, because we actually had a dinner appointment with him my first day here. We were walking up to his brother's house to confirm on another dinner appointment, and Bishop was working in the yard. He looks at me and says, "Do you want to eat fire?" (in English of course.) Turns out he was taking care of some hot peppers. Our bishop is quite a character. By the fact that I am using the word bishop, you may have guessed that I am in a ward now. We are actually part of the Naga Stake, so that is pretty cool. The ward, however doesn't really seem that much bigger than the branch in Libmanan. The church here is really nice too though. It is two stories tall, and has a nice big chapel. All of the chapels here have windows on both sides, which seems really different to me, but it is also really nice, because it gives us a lot of natural light.

Everything seems to be going really well in Calabanga. I have been a little under the weather this week, but I didn't let it get in the way of the work. Elder Nebeker and I actually just had a really neat experience last night. We were walking along the road to go home after getting "punted" from a good number of lessons and we both noticed two people standing on the side of the road. We both had the feeling to talk to them, even though we really didn't want to. We talked to them and set up a return appointment to teach them, and they actually seem pretty interested. The cool part happened  after we were done talking to that family. One of our investigators came by in his car and offered us a ride. It turns out he had a relative in the car who has never been taught by the missionaries, but who will be staying with them for a while. We decided to have them take us to their house instead of ours, and we shared the message of the restoration with all of them. I really felt the Spirit, and our new investigator even prayed while we were there. It is really wonderful to be a part of little miracles like these out in the mission field.

We are just doing really well here in Calabanga. I'm living the life.

Here is one of my favorite scriptures from what I read this week (Helaman 5:10-12):

"10 And remember also the words which Amulek spake unto Zeezrom, in the city of Ammonihah; for he said unto him that the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins.

 11 And he hath power given unto him from the Father to redeem them from their sins because of repentance; therefore he hath sent his angels to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls.

 12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

I actually really like the part in verse 10 where it says that Christ will come to save us from our sins and not in our sins. The story of Zeezrom has always been one of my favorites.

I would also like to say thanks to the ward for the mail at Christmas. Sorry this is a little late, but I really appreciated it. It was so neat to hear from everyone back home. 

I love you guys tons!

Elder Benjamin Merrill

12/29/2013

I think I will tell you about a family here.   The dad  had a stroke (I'm not sure how long ago) and lost feeling in and the ability to control the left side of his body. Because of his stroke, his wife now has to support the family by working in the palayan (rice field) every day so they can have food to eat each day.  On top of this, their oldest son (They have 3  sons and two daughters, yata) is on a mission. They have such amazing faith, and the daughters come to church almost every week, but the parents can't come because of working and the stroke. It is really hard to see them in such a sad situation. We had the privilege of bringing a letter to them a few weeks back from their son who is on a mission. It was really neat to see how happy it made them. I can tell that they really love each other a lot in their family. We also visited them last night. For my last message with them, I shared 1 Nephi 3:7 and they shared with us the experience of getting their son on a mission. They said that everything just started to work out just fine as soon as they started trying to figure out how they were going to support their missionary. I know that the Lord provides a way for us to follow all of his commandments, and that he gives us commandments for our protection and happiness. 

I will tell one more story I think, the story of one of our newer investigators. He is actually the roommate of one of  our less active members. He is about 20 years old, I think. He really didn't seem very interested in what we had to share at first, but we had a really neat lesson with him one day that really changed things around. He told us that he came from a broken family and isn't really proud of  all of the things that he has done in his life.  And we shared the story of the conversion of Alma the Younger. When we talked about the Atonement, I felt the spirit so strong.  It is so amazing to see people's hearts softened by the spirit and  testify of the truth to them. The next lesson, he offered to say the opening prayer. (It totally caught us off guard.) He is doing awesome, so I hope that Elder Acidera and his new companion can help him to continue to progress.

I've also been just tearing through the Book of Mormon these past few weeks. I've gotten through the first 50 chapters of Alma this week.  I really love the Book of Mormon, and I can't even put it down sometimes. There are so many different topics and so many different kinds of stories in it. I have gained such a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon as I have studied it over the past few weeks. I know it is true, and I know that it contains the word of God, and that we really can become closer to Christ  by reading it and abiding by the precepts in it.

Before I go, I wanted to mention one more quick connection that I made about the Book of Mormon this week. It is probably pretty obvious to everyone else, but I thought it was pretty neat.  I was thinking about how there are two people named Moroni in the Book of Mormon (Captain Moroni and Moroni, son of Mormon), and I was wondering how they ended up with the same name. I then read the verse where Mormon talks about how if everyone were as righteous as Captain Moroni, Satan would have no power over us. It was at this point that I remembered whose son Moroni is. Of course Mormon is going  to name his kid after Captain Moroni, because he wants his son to be just as righteous as him. Maybe that was really obvious and I am just slow, but I thought it was pretty neat.

I just wanted to say one more thing about the skype session. I have been thinking a lot about the question, "Are you happy?" especially because I got the same question from President Reeder in my last interview. I have realized that I always end up thinking about myself a lot when I am asked that question. And I tend to focus on the hard things, but when I think of all the people that I have met and taught here, I immediately know that I am happy after all. It really isn't about me. It is about all of the wonderful people that I get to help while I am here. I am always happy when I am thinking about others.

I love you guys tons, and I miss you a lot, but I am loving it here in the Phillippines as well.

Elder Benjamin Merrill

Another Great Week

Sounds like everything is going really well back home. Sounds like it has been pretty cold there lately. I can't imagine temperatures below 70 degrees anymore... I am probably going to get cold easier than mom when I get back. 

The answer about Christmas lights is yes. There are actually a lot of Christmas lights out and about. There is even a huge Christmas- tree -shaped formation of lights near the big Catholic chapel here. I don't know anything about a lot of other Christmas traditions, but I will let you know if I experience any.

It has been a pretty good week, and we are super close to having a baptism on the 21st of December. The name of the family is the B family. We will just be baptizing two of the daughters  who are 11 and  12.  We found them through a somewhat less active member, who is like their grand-uncle or something like that. He is really great, he is even endowed and has a super strong testimony of the church.  They actually live in the same house, so we always get a member present when we teach them. They have had some trouble getting to church in the past because they live kind of far from the church, and they don't have a lot of money for their pamasahe (I can't think of an English word for that...), but they will be ready for baptism if they come to church this week, and I would be really surprised if they didn't come this week.

One more story for this week. I got to meet another normal American. He served here in Libmanan in 1983ish. He doesn't know any Tagalog. He came here and visited a lot of the people he taught while he was here, and got a few of our less actives to come to sacrament meeting. He is actually really good friends with Sister C, and his son is serving in the mission where Elder Acidera is from (Laoag). Elder Acidera has actually met his son. Isn't it such a small world sometimes? Another crazy part of this story is that as we walked to Sister C's house, where we were going to meet this guy for the first time, Elder Acidera was telling me how he needs a vial for consecrated oil. It just so happened that this guy had brought some extra oil vials for us. Isn't that amazing?

I thought of something else. I have actually had the opportunity to give a lot of blessings for the sick while I've been here. It is really neat to be able to serve people in this way. I have seen so many people benefit from the power of the priesthood here. It makes me want to always be worthy to be able to help others with the priesthood. 

I love you guys! 

Elder Benjamin Merrill

12/2/2013

My Tagalog is coming along pretty well.   I've actually learned a decent amount of Bikolano too.

We got three investigators at church this week! It was so wonderful that they were all able to be there. It is sometimes hard for Edmond to go to church, because he often has to ride the skates by himself. Sometimes his older sister is able to go with him though. The other two just don't have money sometimes, I guess. We feel pretty confident though that we will be able to have a baptism on the 21st of December.

So, I think it is time for the Thanksgiving story. We didn't get a single key indicator on Thanksgiving. We just got punted over and over again. We did hand out a few pamphlets, but none of our planned appointments were there/available when we tried... I was probably the most tired I have been in my entire life that day. We decided to visit Sister C before we went home though, and we talked to her for a little while, but we couldn't really teach her because wala kaming kasama na lalaki. We needed another male member with us. We decided that we should go get some bulastog ( hard-boiled chicken egg dipped in orange-tinted batter and fried in hot oil), because it is super delicious. As we started to eat our food, this old lady with pigtails came up and started speaking crazy English to us. I accidentally left without paying for my bulastog because I wanted to get away from her. I did pay for it the next day though. My companion thinks it is so funny every time I say, "I stole an egg."

My cold is almost gone now, which is nice. It certainly decided to hang around for a long time. 

It is the wet season right now, which means it is a little cooler. (It still seems pretty hot to me for the most part. I am a little worried about how hot the rest of the year is going to be :P) 

That is about all I have for this week. We did buy some ice cream at 7-11 yesterday. Pretty interesting flavors... Mango and Cashews, and Ube keso (keso means cheese) pretty good, but I don't really like the cheese one that much... Ube is that purple flavor, I think it is like yam or something.

I love you tons and miss you too!

Elder Ben Merrill

Thanksgiving Day Sprite