Torino

 Earlier this month, Drew did have a magnificent experience, he was able to find, teach and then baptize 2 people. Absolutely the highlight so far

Well, this week nothing special has really happened.  Its kind a getting really old really fast. To answer Dads question, we aren't teaching anyone anything. Every now and then we will teach the Joseph Smith lesson or a lesson on prayer, but other than that...no return appts, and that's even if we get in!  We are hoping that we our luck will change within these next weeks.  I know it will.  I'm just not patient.

We did get 2 new investagators this week. Yesterday actually.  But when we were reporting it to the ward council last night, they were very excited that we found two new families to teach.

Here is a pic he sent looking over Torino:

Bed bugs are gone!!

Just a brief note from him this time:

Family,
Ya, they're gone.(bed bugs) ...

Thanks a ton for the bag pipe cd!  Perfect!!!!  I love it!  Its so nice to have a change in music!!! So tired of Motab...and piano music...

We have dropped a lot of our investagators.  They just were not progressing and just wasting time.  So we went down to 3 and we have done a lot of finding work to find some really strong elect people.  And this past week we have found 3 or so families!  So, we will be teaching them tonight.  Hope they go well!  

Love you guys!  Hope the BoM challenge is going great.  Should be around the middle of Alma right now.

Sleep tight! Don't let the bed bugs bite!

Well, transfers are here...My new comp will be Anz. Mangum. He just got released from being Assistant to the President. So I will be killing him this transfer.(this means this is his companion's last area and then going home) Man, that means I will be here in Torino for at least 2 more transfers! (3 months) I'm happy cuz this ward here is suffering REALLY BAD!!!!!!!

They've had several BAD experiences with the missionaries in the past. So its a pain trying to see them for appointments, and its nuclear rocket science trying to get a lesson in the presence of a member...and when we do bring our investigators to church, they don't talk to them, don't greet them...its a joke. And trying to get everything turned around has been VERY hard. Slowly but surely the members are growing their trust in us...But its been difficult with Anz Richardson going home, HE IS SOOOOOO TRUNKY!!!!!(this means he is anxious to go home) We have been working fine, but holy cow... these last 2 weeks have been the toughest to stay focused!

Our finding work is slowly going down, he doesn't really care about anything anymore. And I can't do it by myself. I have been doing my best by trying to not talk about home, trying to keep him pumped about the work....non existent...and unfortunately...I kinda got drug down also this past week. We have not nearly been as focused as we should have been. So, I'm very excited for this new comp to kinda "kick me in the butt" and help me remember that I still have stuff to do!

Good news about the ward though, we had a meeting with one of the counselors a few weeks ago and told him what is going on. Cuz the ward doesn't think we are working hard enough. (All 4 of us including the 2 sisters) and we told him what we are doing. And how this ward needs to get it together.
So, last night we were in the Ward Counsel meeting and Bishop laid it straight to everyone that they need to do ALL they can to help us. And how this ward is slipping because of THEM and not US. THEY DON'T EVEN DO HOME TEACHING!!!!!!!! Bishop wasn't too happy to hear that NOT EVEN ONE PERSON has been out home teaching. So that is getting fixed. And slowly we are finally feeling we are being welcomed in here and hopefully we can start working together... <(How pathetic is this?!?!?!)

Well, I bet you are wondering why I have that phrase on the subject line...well it has taken a whole new meaning for us...we got bed bugs...I HATE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was always wondering why I was getting bit so much on my arms and my hands....I kept thinking they were mosquito bites. But then i looked at my sheets and I saw little blood spots on my bed. I thought....OH NO!!!!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!!! Freak! We've got bed bugs!!! So we had to go through this HUGE process of cleaning our room, throwing our mattresses away...trying to call an exterminator. Trying to find a spray we could use temporarily until he could get here...so if we weren't in appointments, we were in our apartment cleaning and gutting it!
The exterminator finally came yesterday and sprayed our room. So, we can't touch it for awhile, so we are living in our study room for now... Life totally sucks right now...But, at least I know that they are being killed as we speak...

About that guy, we cant get a hold of him. I've prayed about him a lot! Cuz there was a reason why this all happened! Then I got my answer. "Be still and know that I am God" the Lord is preparing him right now. I prob will not teach him, but its because of our encounter that got the gears turning. The Lord is working on him right now. I have no doubt that when he sees the missionaries again, he will be ready.

Well, you all should be around Jacob 5 or 6ish...For me I'm right in the middle of Jacob 5. (And we all know how much we all love Jacob 5)

I love you guys and I will speak to you all next week!
DREW


Anziano Merrill

Book of Mormon Challenge to all

So, the work is booming. We have gotten 7 new investigators. ALL are from Nigeria. And we have 2 with a baptismal date already. For Oct 31st. One is just rock solid. The other one...well, I don't think he quite gets it. I think he is just trying to please us... but, we'll see. I'm trying to make him realize that baptism is a COVENANT WITH GOD. Not just something you do because you read a few things and you might agree with it.

We also have another couple that just be entering the waters within 2-3 weeks. They are AWESOME!!!! He quit drinking immediately and he and his wife have already seen the blessings from it. So, its just a game of tag now, cuz he works a lot this week and its tough to see them. But they come to church every Sunday. Apparently, they already had a few run-ins with the family about our church. Long story short, the Husband said, "Look, you have your family, I have mine. Go away and don't worry about us and what we want to believe!" So we were WAY pumped that they are already defending our church. They are so awesome!

Ok....So.....I have a challenge for you all....You all know that I'm reading the Book of Mormon in Italian every transfer. (Every 6 weeks) I have seen the blessings from this and I would like to share them with you. I challenge EVERYONE to read the Book of Mormon in 6 weeks. (42 days) We will start this Monday. Its easy, for you guys its only 13 pages a day. 5 in the morning 5 during your lunch break 3 before you go to bed. (Or whatever you want to do...)

I know you all might think "well, that's easy for you to do cuz your a missionary you've got time!" In all reality...I don''t! I'm out a lot later than most of you, and I get up a lot earlier than most of you and in the mornings I'm studying for my investigators and members. Then for lunch, I got language study. In the evening I've got to plan and get ready for the next day, and I will tell you there really is NO time for relaxing! Plus, the Book of Mormon in Italian is 630 pages rather than the English version is only 530 pages(477 in French, partly because they cut out all the "it came to pass'es) . So you have less to read than I do! I have to read 15 pages a day to make this goal. So if I can do it, you can do it!

Its really an amazing experience. Please do it. And I promise you will see blessings! (Conner...do it!)

Again, we will start THIS Monday! Sept 28.

Anziano Merrill

Letter dated 9 Sept 09, Torino

Well, I'm having a blast with my new comp! He is really funny. He's so girl crazy too! Haha...I tease him sooo much... We are getting along just great! Trying to keep the fire in him is a little hard though...but eh...I would imagine that it would be difficult your last transfer, so I can't blame him!

So, being in Torino....wow...Ya I already knew about it being the satanist capital of the world. (Ran into a few already last night...interesting folks...they just happened to "shrivel away" when I walked near them) haha...

Well with new city means I'm learning more words! For example...we talked to this guy on a bench and after I talked to my comp saying...."So, I understood the jist of things...but there were quite a few words I didn't really know..." He looked at me with a smile and said "Don't worry, you have all of your mission to figure out what those words mean..." haha so now Ive gone from learning gospel vocab, to Sailor's vocab! Go me! ;) (that is the blessing of a new language, all the curse words are completely unknown. It is wonderful to "not hear them when spoken")

So, as far as a cool story goes, we have had this African couple for awhile now, and she told us she needs help with her faith...the husband is pretty chill with things, he just wants to learn. So they have had a Book of Mormon for awhile now and they have started to read it (finally), and the wife came to us the next appt. and said she just felt this overwhelming joy in her and she couldn't understand why, cuz she couldn't sleep for anything the night before. She said she started reading early that morning and has been in a "joyful" mood every since. So we explained to her what that was and what it meant. I asked them to fast with us last Sunday. So they came to church and hopefully they received an answer (I'm sure they did) we have an appt. with them Thursday.
So, more to follow...

Ok, I love you guys so much!!! Thanks for your support!
DREW

First....I AM SOOOOOOO SORRRYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!! I sent you guys an email!!!! I don't understand why it didn't go through!?!?! So, YES I did get transferred...TORINO! One of the 3 places in the world that has a "Portal to Hell" (I feel right at home...) ;)(Look this up on the internet, it has to do with the 45th parallel and devil worship. I guess that Torino has a long history of the occult, not to mention Nostradamus lived there for a period of time)
I'm very excited to be here!!!!! It has soooooo much history! It has the Shroud of Torrene. Which is believed to be the blanket that covered Christ in the tomb...But I don't really believe it cuz...ya...just don't....besides its been caught on fire 3 times...haha I think that's Gods way of saying...Ugh...THAT'S NOT IT!!!

So, I wrote an experience to you guys in my last email, but you never got it...so...

3 weeks ago, we had a power lesson with Claudio. A power lesson is when you have a lesson no longer than 15min and you have the person pray for revelation to know where to send the missionaries to find a new person.

So we did that, Claudio prayed for about 5min and we waited for about 20min...in complete silence... he then told us to go to Viale Degli Angeli (the way of the Angels) (And that place really isn't the best place for finding, its actually quite hard there) But we went there in faith right after the lesson and found a couple that havn't talked to the Missionaries in 30 years and loved them, and found another guy that wanted to know more about our church and wanted something to read, We gave him a Liahona with Christ on the front (it was a special edition) and he just loved it! So we got his number and told us to call him in a week.

I got transferred before we could call him again, so I don't know the outcome. I do know that Sabrina will be baptized the very end of Sept! I'm very excited for her! I also get to see Claudio and everyone from Cuneo in Oct for General Conference!! So I'm way excited for that!

I'm so thankful for the gift of tongues...Just when I think I really cant speak at all...I get a boast out of nowhere! Last night in missionary correlation, I met the Ward Missinary leader for the first time and he asked where I was from and I told him, he asked how long Ive been out, I told him 6 months for the mission, 4 months in Italia. His eyes got soooooo big, he didn't believe me, he told me I speak WAY TOO well for a missionary that has been out for only 4 months.

Another cool experience, on Sunday, I met these two American Guys on business here and was attending our ward for that Sunday and they didn't know Italian at all. So I told them I would be happy to translate for them. That was the weirdest thing ever! I have never translated a sacrament meeting for anyone before... it was so brain frying! Haha but it was pretty cool at the same time. They were very grateful for me. It was a very good experience.

Wow...I can't spell anymore...its getting harder and harder...the Italian is kinda taking over... so excuse me for my spelling errors...(you are not kidding, it took me 10 minutes to correct his spelling)

Questions to answer(questions we asked him):

1who is your comp? - Anziono Paul Richardson

2.where is he from? - He's a foreigner! Haha kinda.. From Canada... Toronto

3.how is he- Kinda like Eric Marshall... he's a good missionary, we are doing very well together, one prob though...he likes to talk a lot during the lessons...

4.how long has he been out? I'm killing him, aka. this is his last transfer!

5 .branch or ward? Ward

6.how big is it? I don't really know, a lot of people are still on vacation now, but, I'm guessing about 150 people...

7.how many in the teaching pool?

About 10

9.Any close to baptism?

We have 3 baptism dates here, Due for Oct 3rd

10.Did it hurt to leave Cuneo?
Ya it does...I miss Claudio A LOT! I got 2 emails from him! Haha Man I love that guy...other than that...NO! Because...
A. Food is SOOOOOO much CHEAPER here! Example...Bacon at Cuneo $4 Here.....$1 B. More people talk talk to! Not to mention bus work! I love doing it!!

11.how do you travel, bike, foot, public trans?

It's a 100% bus city

12.How was your last comp?

Anz. Conklin was a very good missionary. We had a lot of fun together! I learned a lot more about the language from him than my trainer. I really enjoyed serving with him. And haha...I'm actually in his last city! He served here before he got called to Cuneo! So he gave a lot of tips about the members etc...

13.did you think he would be transferred, not you?(Drew was the junior guy there as far as time goes)

We honestly thought that we would be together for another transfer! Then we found out I was going and he is Training! He was very excited to train!

14.Are you writing in your journal, if not, do it!!

Trust me...I'm writing in my journal....

15.are you gathering e-mail addresses of your friends you meet? If not get them.

I already have been....

Rome temple...I have heard the problem is two things....
1st The Pope can enter into ANY building he wants to in Italia, but obviously he cant enter into our temple once its Dedicated. Problem.

2nd Same thing with the Carabineri (The National Police)

Ok....I'm pretty sure I got carpal tunnel now...I hope this email makes you happy, I'm really sorry that you guys didn't get my last email...I don't understand why....Cuz you guys are the first people I write every week...(That is what every parent wants to hear!!!)

I love you and Thank you for everything!!!

DREW

Anziano Merrill

Transfers!!

Well, no letter from him so we figured he or his comp had been transferred.

I got an e-mail from Claudio (He doesn't know English, I don't know Italian but he speaks French, so we correspond in French) saying they (Claudio and Andrew) were sad because Drew was leaving, but Claudio did not say where. Will update as soon as I know where he is. I guess its like "Where's Waldo??" just sub in Anziano Merrill.

Vacations in Cuneo

Well, Anziano Merrill has been very short on all of his letters this month because of vacations during the month of August. Not his vacation, but many, many of the Italians are on vacation. Nearly all the businesses shut down for the month. If it is like France, the essential ones trade out weeks while the other goes on vacation. The internet cafe where he normally goes to read and write his e-mail has been shut down, but thankfully he has made friends with a bakery and they let them in briefly to do their business quickly. (He's a man after my own heart, making friends with bakers!! good man. Now he should work on getting some recipes!!)

He said they have around 12-15 people they are actively discussing the LDS church with, and 3 have baptismal dates in the near future.

Pasta Master

Well, we were informed last week that Drew has become the "Pasta Master". He bought a pasta maker that really makes the pasta nice and flat and perfectly shaped. His letter was pretty short last week, and we haven't heard anything form him this week. We are hoping that he gets a chance to at least drop a note to us in the next few days, even though his P-day has past.

Transfer day is here! Staying in Cuneo, but with a new companion

I have added a few more pics to the slide show. Still waiting for new ones to arrive, hopefully soon. Here are a few excerpts from his letter:

Well, for this transfer I am staying here, but I finally got rid of my trainer. I was getting so tired of him. He wouldn't let me do anything. My trainer was cool.... But our unity wasn't the best. I even told him how I felt and a few times I told him "the way it was"... I was always nice to him, and took everything with a smile and said ok, but ughh....I tried to do everything with a smile and say "Ok"{they had gotten along just fine, but after 3 months together, a change was welcome}

I was really close to the other two, my District leader and his comp. So I survived only cuz of them. We got the call yesterday by Pres himself about the transfer cuz we were closing a coppia (companionship) Mine was being shut down. He also called and told Anz. Wigan that we was called as District leader in Forli, on the other side of the mission.

I found out I was staying and my new comp was going to be Anz. Conklin!!!! I was sooooooooooooooooooooooooo happy!!! Anz. conklin and I are pretty close as it is! I got along with him the best. It's what I wished for! But I thought it wouldn't be possible.{I have asked if Anz. Conklin was the DL (district leader, the person in charge of the city for the Elders)} I'm sooooo happy! Cuz I know my Italian will improve even more. He obeys the rules! (I'm not a rule nazi, I understand that we can't always be 100% obedient,...) Its also awesome, cuz we have the city to ourselves, and a huge appt. So we are going to move the beds all into one room, and the desks in the other so we can have more room. Just all around...the work is going to be better!!!!!!!


So, I have fallen in love with making homemade pasta... Mariò taught me how to do it. So i can say that i was trained in the ways of a real Italian how to make real pasta. Wahoo! It tastes amazing, and its sooooo much cheaper! (Pasta is already cheap, its about $1 for a kilo. Enough to feed 4 missionaries for a meal)
So, I need to know how much i have in my account so i can see if I can buy a pasta machine. So far I have done everything by hand. Rolling and cutting. And I need to get the pasta thinner. The thinner, the better it tastes!!! I can't wait to come home and teach you all how to make REAL AUTHENTIC ITALIAN PASTA! Its the recipe that Mario's mom did when he was a young. And Mario is about 70 years old, so we can say that this is pretty much the original way how to make pasta. He taught me a lot of tricks that have been "lost" in the ways of making pasta. Its pretty awesome. He also gave us a Ragu recipe AUTHENTIC as well. I will send home the recipe next week when I have more time.

A good pasta machine is going to cost me about 50 euro,{about $70 US. I think he needs to shop around, I found one on the internet, made in Italy for about $50.} but its going to be well used, cuz I want to master pasta on my mission.

I love you and i will read Lehi's testimony again. (I'm in Jacob 5 right now) I read 15 pages a day. So, for you... about 13 a day.{The Italian Book of Mormon has more pages because of the translation}
DREW
Anziano Merrill

A Trip to Bologna and a hike

Here are a few excerpts from Drew's latest letter:

Well, i just got back from Bologna yesterday. We were there for about a day and a half to get my comps Permeso di soguorno. (A card saying you have the right to live here for....however long) Its a very pretty city. Full of culture! 4th largest Duomo is there. 1st is in the Philipins 2nd Milano 3rd Rome 4th Bologna. I bought a pretty fancy green tie there. Couldn't resist! I wouldn't mind getting called to that city. (Bologna is about 180 miles to the east for where Drew is currently serving. Above is a photo I found on the web)

We went on our hike this week. That was a blast! I had a ton of fun! I got some awesome pics! The butterflies here are pretty cool looking. I also got an EPIC pic of a lizard on a rock with plants in the background. Pretty cool. (No I didn't get a chance to catch it, I did however catch one and the little bugger bit me! Stupidà cosà!(stupid thing) I also got a pic of a Italian Slug that was about 8 inches long. I took a picture...Anyway we did this hike in the Mountains of Limonè. About 15 kilo to the French boarder. It was awesome. On the way up we all were eating WILD STRAWBERRIES! They were so good! They grew everywhere and were all along the trail. So once we hit the summit, we found a nice huge meadow and hung out there for a few hours. I got the chance to wrestle and fool around with The Cicciò brothers, they also taught me how to do a side flip. So that was pretty cool. (I believe he is refering to Limone Piemonte. Google earth shows it is just south of Cuneo about 12 miles. I'll post the pics as soon as we get them)

Teaching is going ok... i guess...we had to drop the ones with babtism dates,(they had committed 2 people to be baptized in the coming weeks), one we think he never told his wife about this and once she found out, she forced him to block us. The other one wouldn't do anything!!!!!!! We leave her commitments and she wouldn't do anything!
We are going to invite Sabrina (Claudio's friend) to babtism this week or next week. She wants to be a member, but we want her to have a spirtual experience first. She's been converted socialy, but not spirtualy yet. And the spiritual one is the most important.

17 Jun 09

Greetings from Cuneo, Italy.

To the left is Drew (right) Claudio (center) Elder Wigant(left). This was taken at Claudio's baptism.

In the last post ( I know, it has been a while) Drew discovered gelato. Before I go on, just a bit of history about Drew. When our family gets ice cream, by the time I have passed out the cones to everyone and finally gotten mine, I can hear the cone being bitten into by Drew. For whatever reason, he has ALWAYS eaten it fast. Now, he has taken that habit to Italy and scolded by the Italians for eating his gelato WAY too fast. He says that is something he will work on.

Currently he has 3-4 people that are being taught and have committed to baptism. The branch is growing slowly and is on the brink of becoming a ward. They need more men to fill in leadership positions in the area so everything can function as it should.

I asked him if he had seen everything he wanted to see in Cuneo, he said he had seen the city 30 times over. It is a small town, but very beautiful. Google earth offers a great way to explore it without being there like Drew.

Some of you may know that Drew is an avid Airsoft player (guns that fire small plastic BB's).
He was at a dinner appointment when he spotted an airsoft gun, when he asked whose gun it was, a young man at the table spoke up and said it was his. Drew was in heaven. He can now say he has had his first Airsoft conversation in Italian.

Just a bit of trivia, he said he weighed himself and he came in at 76 Kilos, which is about 167.2 lbs. we will see how the gelato, pizza and pasta affect him over the next 2 years.

We received a package in the mail containing a DVD full of pictures. I have posted some for you to see. I will try to rotate through some of them every few weeks.

20 May 2009

Well, we got our paragraph from Drew today.

He has fallen in love with Gelato. It can be compared loosely with ice cream. He found a Gelatoria that had chocolate gelato that had the consistency of chilled chocolate cake batter. That is the good news.

The bad news is he felt ill at a member's house. He had two dinner appointments. The first one was fine, but when he arrived at the 2nd, he began to feel ill, so he sat out on the patio to get some fresh air. The members were very kind and concerned and nearly insisted that he go the hospital. Both he and his comp. had a hard time convincing them that the hospital was NOT necessary. He explained that the Italians go to the hospital for just about everything.

This is his 1 month in country anniversary. The language is coming along great. He seems to understand about 70% of what is said. Surely the gift of tongues is alive and well.

No pictures yet, but soon we hope.

Mothers Day Phone Call home

How wonderful is it to get a call from Italy.

Drew is having the time of his life. We found out he is in an apartment with 3 other missionaries. the food is incredible, the people are wonderful, friendly (although not too interested in hearing about the LDS church). He has already had a few tough days where it was raining and miserable and wanted just to go back to the apartment, but still had more tracting to do.

The language is coming along well. He says he is able to understand about 3/4 of what is said, speaking is a different story, but his accent is forming nicely. He spoke to us in Italian while we were on the phone. This Wednesday, we hope to have a few pictures of the town or whatever he decides to send us.

Now we understand a bit more about his first baptism. The person, Claudio, is from Cuneo. In the MTC, his instructor gave him a profile of Claudio. He(the instructor) had known him in Cuneo. Claudio had been taught for several months, but just could not commit to baptism. another person played the role of Claudio in the MTC for Drew to practice teaching. When he got to Cuneo, his companion said they had an appointment with a "Claudio". The gears started turning for Drew. After much conversation, it was discovered that Drew was right, this was "the" Claudio he had gotten to "know" in the MTC. After the baptism, pictures were taken and will be sent back to his instructor to let him know that he was baptized.

Drew could not be any happier where he is. He loves the people, the town and the work. this made it easier for him to handle the very bad news of the passing of his cousin Brady only a few days before. We were blessed to be able to tell him over the phone instead of via e-mail. It was a hard blow to take, but he is doing OK. He looked up to Brady because he was older and was experiencing life a few years ahead of Drew.

He has been fed by some of the people there, it was incredible. 5 courses: an appetizer, a pasta course, a meat course, an ice cream course and a dessert course. He started at about 165 lbs, we will see what the final weight is when he comes home!!

Arrived in MIlan at last

Well, Drew is a citizen of Italy now. He arrived on the 22nd. He left @ 1107 on 21 April, went to Chicago, then to Germany on Lufthansa. Arrived in Germany about 7 AM the 22nd. He then boarded another flight, and 1.5 hours later he was in Milan.

The Assistants to the Mission President met his group at the airport and took them back to the mission office. they then went on a small excursion to see some of the sights in Milan and to pass out Books of Mormon on their first day. Later that night, after dinner, he had an interview with the mission president and found out who his companion would be and what city he would serve in first. They are 8 hours ahead of us. Kris got a phone call from the Mission President's wife informing us he had arrived safely and told us what was going on.

He will serve with Elder Wigant in the city of Cuneo. Do a maps.google.com search and you will see that it is about 45 miles south of Torino where the Olympics were held. He is about 16 miles from the French boarder. He will certainly use his 4 years of French there. Not too far away is Monaco, Nice and the French riviera. Yes, I'm already planning our trip over there.

He will have e-mail there, but will only have 1 hour on the computer, so time will be short. His preparation days are on Wednesdays. That is the day he cleans, does laundry and plays tourist for a few hours, then it's back to being a missionary.

Hopefully he will start sending pictures back so I can get them up on the site, until then you can do a search and find beautiful buildings and places where he will be.

Well, here we are so close to his leaving the MTC. This week we got an SD card with pictures and a 25 minute video on it. It was wonderful. He is very anxious to leave, but is still using every minute to his advantage. He is able to read the Book of Mormon in Italian, and understand much of it.

He had two, very challenging experiences while answering inbound phone calls from people investigating the church. He spent about 30 minutes with a man, whom he later found out does this very often, who calls to try to discourage missionaries. He (the caller) started out very well mannered, but as Drew answered each one of his difficult questions, he (the caller) became frustrated and began to ask questions at a rate at which Drew could not respond. In other words, Drew has a strong testimony and the knowledge to accompany it, and the caller thought he could sway a young 19 year old, but could not. This conversation did nothing but further solidify Drew's commitment and testimony. The second experience was on line chatting with those who are asking questions. As luck would have it, it was the same person, the same outcome.

As you can see, there is no shortage of goodies for him and his fellow missionaries. We thank you for your generosity and kindness you have shown by sending him many goodies. He mentioned how he was not sure he would enjoy the MTC. I did my best to convince him, but he was reluctant. He admitted that the MTC has gone by so very quickly, and he has really enjoyed it, although there is no doubt, he is anxious to get to Milan.

We, as parents, have finally begun to get paid for all the late night talks, and trying times while he was a teenager and "knew everything". He has told us he loved us and missed us, and that we actually knew what we were doing when we were raising him. Hang in there parents!! It really does come!!!

April Fools Day
He did a really great prank on his companion. For those who are old enough to remember MASH. He did the same thing as BJ did to Hawkeye. Hawkeye did not believe he could be "had", so the whole camp pulled together and pretended to be "had" by BJ's practical jokes. Drew did the same thing. His companion did not believe he can be fooled, so Drew spoke with 4 of his fellow missionaries and asked them to pretend to have had a practical joke pulled on them by Drew, but to make sure they reported to Drew while his companion was listening. By the end of the day, Elder Bevan was paranoid. He was incredibly jumpy, and thought something would happen any minute. At the end of the day, Elder Bevan said that the jokes would end at 10:30, bedtime, but Drew said no, April fools ends at 12:01. Elder Bevan stayed awake just watching Drew sleep until 12:01. The next day, the plot was revealed. Elder Bevan said he knew what was going on the whole time, and would still not admit he had been "had" by Drew.

MTC 1 month so far

Well, not too much to add. He is having a blast. The language is, as you might expect, difficult, but he is doing well. Kris has sent him about 40 names to do in the temple, and he and his district have been able to do them all. He is doing a double mission, 1 for the living and 1 for the dead.

This is his companion, Elder Beven. I think you can tell which one is the comic.

We are anxious to get him to Italy and working hard. There is not too much to write about in the MTC. The routine is fixed and not too much deviating from it. The whole day is learning the language, interrupted by a meal here and there.

1st Letter dated 24 Feb 09

Well, at long last we have a letter from Drew, or rather Anziano Merrill.

I have long told him that leadership never takes a day off. He is learning this first hand, he was called a district leader for 13 other missionaries in his district. The basic organization is a companionship (2 missionaries), a district (several companionships), a branch (several districts).

He is doing well. As of Friday, he was able to pray in Italian and nearly has his testimony in Italian. His companion is, as he puts it, OK. He said he has a lot to learn from him. He said he(his companion) is able to recite scriptures at will.

His schedule is rigorous:
0630 wake up
0700 breakfast
0730-1130 class
1130-1215 Lunch
1215-1630 Class
1630-1715 Dinner
1715 -2100 Class
2100-2130 planning
2130-2230 personal time

there is a gym period some where in there, but he did not list a specific time.Of course, he had a long list(it seemed nearly as long as his letter) of items he would love to get.
Gold Fish
Air Heads
Smarties
Lemon Heads
Funnions (honest folks, I tried to show him what "good" food is)
anything home made
Gum, green or blue
chicken in a biscuit crackers

These are CERTAINLY not required. He has plenty to eat there. But if you choose, I know he will love it.

He is having fun and growing tremendously already, and so are we. even after reading the letter, I was anxious for more, but we will wait another week.

At left is the night, 17 Feb, he was set apart. Drew asked Carlin to be his companion until he got to the MTC.

Well, the dust has settled and Drew is in the MTC. we got him there 18 Feb at 12:30.

We had no idea how tough it would be to let him go. Our family is soooo tight. It was very hard on Carlin and Kris. Conner did well, but you could see it in his face. On the bright side, Conner will take the lead in our home. He is very capable and will now be able to shine very brightly. I felt like Abraham offering up Isaac to the Lord. It is the right thing to do, but a very hard thing to do. I contemplated several times to lock him in his bedroom and keep him there for a while longer, but figured he would escape and go anyway. He was VERY anxious to get there.

Carlin and Kris are nearly back to normal now. It did take a couple days, very hard ones, but the Lord did take good care of us.

No letters yet, but I'm sure they will come soon. we found out he will be able to send e-mail while in the MTC. He will have only 30 min to write, then the screen goes blank. He will have to hurry. Snail mail is always available. Here is his address:

Elder Andrew A. Merrill
MTC Mailbox #162
ITA-MIL 0421
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo Ut. 84604-1793

A nice service we found is Dear Elder.com you can write him free. Just follow the directions and he will have it by noon that day or the following day if written after noon.

2 Feb 09

Our latest addition to the family is Milan, a Min Pin. aptly named after Drew's mission.

Drew has gone to the temple and been back several times since. He has nearly all of his required items he will need for his mission, according to the letter in his mission packet. Time is going fast, and he is VERY ready to get going.

The sacrament meeting will be 15 Feb at 9 am. at the Rosecrest chapel, 5424 W ROSECREST RD HERRIMAN , UT.

Kris, Conner and Carlin will speak on service, I, on magnifying our callings and Drew on prayer.

Everyone is welcome to stop by after the meetings, around 1100 that morning, to say hi.

The beginning

Just starting and getting this up in time for Drew's mission.

Stay tuned for more updates.
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