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.