My Own Garden

11/16/14 

Well...

I was so excited to finally plant a tree in San Clemente that I wanted to start my own garden.  It’s one week down and the 3 plants that I planted still aren’t completely dead--just 1. You could call me a green thumb.

We don’t have a bank in our area so for the first time in 3 weeks we were able to go and buy food for ourselves.  It was like Christmas where you get to choose the gifts.

We went back to Ezeiza because we have reunions there every Tuesday and we had lunch with a convert Noel y Silvana so that was pretty sweet.

The downside is that we were traveling so much that I felt like Daffy in Looney Toons How I Spent My Summer Vacation where he needs some water and when he opens his mouth, sand spills out. 

Because we didn’t have any money it means that I was going on round 2 and a half of my dirty clothes cycle cause I couldn’t wash anything except with water.  So finally I got clean clothes. Yay:) I felt like a million bucks.  That or a pair of undies fresh out of the washer.

I saw both of mi hijitos Elder Racchumi and Elder Monteza at the same time:)  

We went traveling again this week to Adrogue—like a 5 hour travel so that we could go see the Apostol Nelson.  Man it was so sweet.  They talked a lot about how if we read the Book of Mormon everyday with a question that God will answer us.  And that is exactly what I have been doing.

We slept in the pension of the Assistentes. They had coco puffs and could you say that I was coocookier that that coco puffs bird that jumps off the walls when he sees his favorite cereal? Yes, yes, I was.

We planned a Family Home Evening for a month with the ward and this week we had it.  It was a BLAST.  There were 5 people there.  2 parents and 3 kids.  Thanks ward.

We had the primary program which is always just an explosion of confusion and chaos but very very cute at the same time.

We taught a man this week and he got so bored in our lesson that while we were talking he picked up his guitar and started playing. I knew that I was boring but THAT BORING?  

  

Well you live and learn.  That’s what the life is about.  I love you all.

Love,

Elder Merkley

Home Sweet Home in Monte

11/9/14 

So... this week was a wierdy.

On Monday and Tuesday and Miercoles we had some sweet lessons and family home evenings that we are trying to start like an old lawn mower.  

A lot of the time we were outside trying to contact but the good thing is that I’m getting a good tan, right?

Last Monday we had to change our P-Day to Thursday with the zone.  So this Thursday we went to my old area Ezeiza!!!!!!

It was so weird seeing the people that I knew from the ward there again.  We ended up playing some soccer for like 4 hours and then eating lunch and then playing a little bit more soccer and a buddy from the coast, Elder Carlson, and I tried making some rhymes.

After that we ran to the house of Noel and Silvana--(think back 7 months ago.) And we talked to them for a little and they invited us to have breakfast with them the next day.

We went to the pension of the Elders of Spegazzini and had a sleepover there.  They called in some pizza and we talked and looked at pictures:)

The next day we had some breakfast with Noel and Silvana and then we went to interviews with President. And then we went back to have lunch with the family Espindola from Ezeiza. 

My companion needed to go look for some money in the bank cause we don’t have one in our area so we went looking and then we ended up missing a train so we had to stay in Ezeiza for that day. And then the next day we would have had to return so we just stayed and worked in my old area.  Home sweet home.

We stayed there for 3 more days and visited some of the families that I was teaching back in the good old days.

Finally we got back to Monte and put our stuff down and relaxed.  Home sweet home.

Love-Elder Merkley

New Area--Full of Farms

11/2/14 

This week we went to the Presidente of the Rama’s house, Pesidente Camacho.

He had a guitar and played some sweet music for us called Zamba.  Look it up. It is great.  I’m gonna learn it when I get home.  

Somebody told me that they are a professional guitar player and when he started playing I kinda felt like I was watching Boom goes the Dynamite.  I got such bad goose bumps that I had to leave the room.

Our area is full of farms and we went and saw little piggies and I’m going to try to go to milk a cow next week.

This week 2 groups of teenage girls tried talking to us.  I felt so uncomfortable because all I could manage to stutter out was "...uh....uh...." I realized that my life is a lot easier without having to try to talk to girls. 

It rained a whole butt load this week. We left and had some good water.  Its good thing though cause nobody washes our clothes here and we have only had 20 dollars for 2 weeks of food and the necessaries.  Washing clothes isn’t that necessary, right?  Who needs to wash your clothes when nature will do it for you?

I love you all.  I hope that things are well.  Like it says in Alma suffer with patience.  All of us have problems and trials but God will help us overcome them.

Love,

Elder Merkley

Leaving San Clemente

10/20/14 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE AND SCOTTY AND DANNYBOY KIMBALL AND CAPN MORGAN!!!

Well... 

On P day we went on a car ride again for 3 hours and a bit more.  We played some soccer and whatnot.  Then we went home

We then went to all of the people that we had planned for the next 2 days and nobody was home.  I love vacations when I’m not a missionary. 

We went to the house of an investigador and we gave a pretty good lesson with her and we asked her to pray and while she was praying she started saying all of these words that I had no clue what they meant, like so different I felt like she was talking a different language.

After when we were at the pension Elder Racchumi and I were talking and I asked him "Hey...uh... did you understand the prayer at all...?" and he just told me "nope..."

 I’m happy I’m not the only one.

We went to the family Garcia with Carlos and Noelia. We watched a movie and ate some cake.

I realized that the next week was Transfers so we started saying bye to everyone and when I wasn’t crying I was thinking "Man when the heck did I get so cold?"  

We said good bye to the families and the members who we were teaching, to pictures with the dogs and I even have one with a kid standing on my hand and grinding it into a pink mist on the ground.  

Later we went to a friend named Victor. He reminds me a lot of Grandpa Doug and was a sailor his whole life so we just went around traveling with his wife and son.... (Hmm.... food for thought, right?)  Anyways I told him and when I was talking to him water started coming out of my face like water comes from a spring. It was so dang sad to leave after knowing him for 6 months.  I cried another time with Hermana Susana and Roberto.

Being in San Clemente for the last 6 months was such a great time.  It was a time for me to get to know so many people in a little town.  We would say hi to half the town by name. It was so great to know the people and serve them. It made me so bummed to leave but it’s what the big man wants.

We went to the house of an investigador who was in a war and saw some crazy stuff and now has some PTSD.  Since hearing what has happened with him it makes me never want to hear about war again.  I was thinking about the scripture Matthew 22:37-39.  The world would be a better place if we loved one another more than we loved money.  If we could do that we wouldn’t have the sadness that comes with fighting.  I’m trying to get better at controlling my mouth and my mind.  It’s our thoughts that lead to actions.  I invite you all to look for the good things in every single person and not focus on the bad parts.  It will help your day improve.  I have noticed that.

Love you and have a great week,

Elder Merkley

SWAT Team

10/14/14

Hey there ere1 well my computer is slower than a sloth without legs sooo.... we are gonna be seeing how much I can get written.

This week:

We went on a road trip and on this road trip we saw an Elder Hanson sleeping so we stuck a pen in his mouth and I laughed until I cried.  And then I found 10 dollars.

We got home from a lesson later at night and my companion and I were so freakin tired but when we got there we saw that the lights were all turned on... which is weird cause we always turn off all of the lights.  We thought that maybe somebody entered through the back (cause our back door doesn’t lock...)

 So we went around the building and saw some walls that we had to scale to get to our porch.  So like 2 cats trying to climb a tree without claws we tried climbing that wall.  Finally we had to lift one another over the wall and after 20 minutes of struggling we got there.  

We entered the door and swept the house like a SWAT team kicking the doors and searching from top to bottom.

Luckily that robber was so scared of us that he forgot to take anything...  Or did he?

After checking everything all of the money, cameras, wallets, everything was all in place.  So we thought that really nobody came in..  But the next morning I started looking for my towel.  I looked, and looked, and looked.  I searched the house like a colonoscopy searches... your body and stuff.

And no matter where the heck I searched I couldn’t find my towel. So then I got a little freaked out and was thinking like "what if somebody really did enter and stole my towel... WHO WOULD DO SUCH A THING?"

So I took my shower, air dried a little bit and then later, when I went to make my bed I felt that my sleeping bag was a lot heavier that it should have been.  I felt around and saw that that stinkin robber took my sleeping bag and put it in the bottom of my sleeping bag... silly robber.

Anyways this week a member inactive said something to me that made my whole week.  She told us that we were the first people to go look for her after she went inactive and that we were so persistent that she felt that we love her.  God uses us sometimes in ways that we don’t understand to help those around us.  There will always be somebody that we can help in our day.  I invite you all to look for somebody to help.  Like always it just makes me feel happier.

I love you all and I hope everything is well.

Love,

Elder Merkley