Week 86 - March 27, 2017

From: Jordan Mark Merrill <merrill.j@myldsmail.net>
Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2017 9:22 PM
To: Lauri Merrill
Subject:

Hello Sorsogon City! :) Well I’m now in my 5th area and I have a little less than 4 months to go.  My current comp goes home in 5 weeks which means I’ll get another comp after that and most likely I’ll be staying here until I’m done. My new comp, Elder Mahipos, is a hard worker and we have a lot of good stories and things to relate to because were both pretty old in the mission. His last comp before me just went home and in a way, I guess I could say, that the work here last transfer was a liiiitle slow... But I’m not going to let that happen to me. I know President has trust in me to help this area out. So far, all I’ve seen in this area is the great potential it has to reactivate long lost members, and baptize plenty of ready people. It’s a great place and my second city to be assigned in. My first city was Masbate but this one is a little different. Unlike Masbate, this city has sections of rice fields so I’m excited about that, and also my area has the main peer for Sorsogon City so I have the ocean yet again. I’ve actually been really lucky to have the ocean in most of my areas. There are a lot that aren’t as lucky as me. The one big downside I’m going to complain about is… I’m so far from the Mayon Volcano that I can’t see it. :( BUT we have another very active Bulusan volcano. It actually erupted this last year. It doesn’t have the beauty of the Mayon but it’s got the cone shape so I guess I’ll survive! What else can I brag about?... Oh the members here are great. We’ve been fed almost every day I’ve been here and some of the strong members have less active family members so I’m trying to earn their trust right away so I can hopefully see some good results before I leave. We'll see though over time. As with my new apartment, nothing too much to say about that but I’m super blessed cause just across the street from our house is an orphanage and every evening kids come out and play and so far I’ve made more than enough little buddies. Their super cool and cute. :) One last thing, in our mission we have a total of 2 McDonalds. One in Tabaco zone and one in Legazpi zone. When I got here the current 3rd McDonalds is going to be finished this month. What are the odds right?! I feel like I have a lot to say about my new area but I’ll just bore you.  So as time goes on here, I’ll visit the other sites and have more experiences to tell about. As for now I’ll leave it there. :) Sorry if it’s a little lacking on the spiritual side, maybe I’ll just remind ya'll to read the Book of Mormon and say your prayers ha-ha:) Love ya! 

**Elder Merrill**

Only in the Philippines can dogs learn to swim while sleeping… :)