12-22-2019 - ZL and STL Training Meetings

Elder Merrell and I enjoyed spending time with a few of our zone leaders and sister training leaders this week. We attended their weekly planning meetings and really got a feel for the love these missionaries have for those they are teaching. We also saw and felt the spirit working as they shared thoughts and ideas on what to teach, what invitations to extend, etc. 

The spirit was there again as they began discovering and connecting to their ancestors on their family trees. One missionary learned that his great-grandpa was a professional wrestler and another learned that her 5th great-grandpa was the King of Tonga and through him Christianity was accepted on the island and later the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was accepted. The article stated that 40% of Tongans were members of the Church.  She did not know that she was literally a princess :)

All in all we trained five sets of Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders this week and traveled to College Park, Villa Rica, Conyers, and Carrollton. It was a busy week and our hearts were filled with the spirit. We are so glad to be serving and having these joyful experiences.

Sister Training Leaders
Sisters Merrell, Cockrell, and Ruiz

Sister Training Leaders
Elder & Sister Merrell and Sisters Cockrell and Ruiz

 Zone Leaders & Sister Training Leaders
Elder Donaldson, Sister Kaiili (our newly-found princess) and Sister Winder,
Sister and Elder Merrell and Elder Gibbons

We are so grateful to our Savior for His willingness to come to earth,
to live amongst us and show us the way.
We know He lives and loves us!
We know He leads and guides us!
We know that through Him, we can have eternal life!
Merry Christmas from the Merrells!

12-15-2019 - Rod's Letter and Addendum

Dear Friends and Family,

I just noticed this morning that I haven’t sent anything for a while.  When we decided in October that we wouldn’t travel in November or December. I was concerned that we wouldn’t have much to do.  Wow, I was wrong.  We have been very busy, but we are loving what we are doing. 

We continue to serve at the Midwest Food Bank on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings every other week.  We have made some good friends there and, we hope, also friends of the church.  They all know who we are and they refer to us as Elder and Sister Merrell.  We keep looking for missionary opportunities and every once in a while we have a chance to share something about our church and the gospel.  When the new Nativity video was released by the church we purchased some inexpensive flash drives on Amazon and loaded the video onto them.  Then we attached a Nativity pass along card to each flash drive and gave 10 of them to our friends at the food bank.  We hope that they will watch the Nativity video and feel the same sense of wonder, awe, and gratitude that we felt when we first saw it. 

Our Mission President has discovered that Carol has Family History experience and expertise.  (Actually- I told him)  He has asked Carol and I to train the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders in our mission on how they can use family history as a missionary tool.  There are six zones and twelve sets of leaders.  We meet with each companionship for an hour in their weekly planning meeting (something else the President asked us to do) and then we spend an hour on family history.  Prior to our visit we research the family trees of the missionaries that we will be seeing that day.  When we meet with them we first teach them how to help a new member or investigator get started with a new account.  Then, to help the missionaries get familiar with Family Search, we have each of them open up their account and  we help them find some ancestors who need ordinances.  It has been really fun to meet with all of these good young elders and sisters.  When possible we also take them to lunch and that has been fun too.

Our son Trent and his family came down from their home in Virginia and spent several days with us over Thanksgiving weekend.  It was a little crowded in this two bedroom apartment but it was great.  We had a nice dinner on Thursday and then played games that afternoon and evening.  On Friday we visited the Aquarium in Atlanta and then returned here for more games and leftovers.  After going to see Frozen 2 on Saturday morning Trent and his family returned home.  It was a real treat for us.

Last week our mission held zone conference at the Atlanta Temple.  Half the mission attended on Tuesday with the other half attending on Wednesday.  The temple opened early for the missionaries and the 8:00, 8:30, and 9:00 sessions were filled with missionaries.  After the sessions the missionaries we able to participate in sealings and initiatory work.  There is a large stake center next to the temple and we had a nice Christmas dinner there after which they watched “It’s a Wonderful Life”.  We were surprised to learn that many of the missionaries had never seen a movie that we have watched almost every Christmas for years.  They were amazed that they could enjoy a black and white movie from the 40’s but they did.  We enjoyed seeing missionaries we have been able to work with and who have been transferred to other parts of the mission and we also were able to visit with the senior couples who are assigned to wards and branches throughout the mission.  They are wonderful people.

Our daughter Chelsie and her family will travel from their home in Yorktown, Virginia the day after Christmas and spend a couple of days with us.  We are really looking forward to having them here.

As always hope this letter finds you happy and healthy.  

You can see some of our pictures on Carol’s blog.

 Merry Christmas,

Elder and Sister, Mom and Dad, Grandpa and Grandma, Rod and Carol Merrell

Addendum:

I just looked at Carol’s blog and it reminded me that I left out an important thing that happened to us last month.  We found Christian’s birth mother in Romania.  Most of you already know that 25 years ago we adopted Christian from a Romanian orphanage when he was 5 years old.  Christian has always wondered about his birth parents.  Carol searched for them while she was in Romania years ago and could not find them.  When Christian was left at the orphanage his mother left a letter giving her permission for him to be adopted.  He was the fifth of five children and at that time in Romania everyone was starving and suffering.  We have learned that his father was an abusive alcoholic and his mother could not feed another child.  So she made what must have been a very difficult decision and placed Christian in an orphanage where he could be cared for.

The miracle is that several weeks after we arrived here in Fayetteville, Georgia we were at church and after Relief Society Carol saw a woman in the hall and felt like she should talk to her.  After all we are missionaries and should reach out to everyone.  It turns out that the woman, named Anna, was born in Romania.  She offered to do any translation we might need but at the time we didn’t think we needed her help. Just before our mission we helped Christian obtain a DNA kit from Ancestry and soon after meeting Anna we obtained the results.  We didn’t really expect much but there were a number of relatives in Romania listed on the results.  We asked Anna to help us send letters to these contacts to find out if any of them knew about Christian’s birth family.  She came to our apartment but advised us not to reach out to those contacts yet.  She said that everyone wants an American relative and Christian would soon have many people claiming to be related to him.  As she looked over the information we still have from Christian’s adoption she noticed that the city where Christian’s mother was last known to live is only a short distance from where Anna’s sister lives.  Long story short—Anna’s sister and her husband made inquiries and discovered a woman who claimed to know Christian’s mother.  They obtained more information and then went to the city where Christian’s mother lived and knocked on her door.  They took her a letter and picture from Christian.  She was very happy to learn that he was alive and doing well.  If you look on Carol’s blog you will see a picture of Christian’s mom looking at his picture.  She asked when he could come to visit.  We haven’t got that far yet but we know where she is and we know how to contact her.  We will just have to see what the future brings. 

But imagine, of all the places we could be sent we came to Georgia, to a ward where a woman from Romania lives.  And this woman has a sister who was willing to look for Christian’s mother.  And now she has been found.  Now we know another reason why we came to Georgia.

We will keep you posted.

Love,

Rod and Carol

12-15-2019 - ZC's and Photos of Christian's Mom

We started out the week helping the Peachtree Ward begin the setup for their annual Festival of the Nativities. For the past eleven years this ward opens their doors for all to come and see Christmas Nativities from around the world. It is not a one-night event. People are invited to come Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

As you can see the missionaries were asked to set up Christmas trees and hang lights. I had the job of dead-heading the poinsettias and making them look beautiful. I had to smile. I never thought I would be using my gardening skills while on my mission:)

Elder Merrell and I went over tonight and were impressed by the number and variety of nativities. We also listened to various groups in the community sing while we walked through the displays. It was wonderful! Our Fayetteville Stake Choir was asked to sing, so Rod and I had another opportunity to sing those beautiful Christmas songs one more time.

Getting ready for the Festival of the Nativities
Sister Osterhout, Elder Todd, Sister Toole, Elder Dicus, and Elder ?

Preparing for the Festival of the Nativities
Elders Dicus, Phipps, Merrell, and Bailey

Zone Conferences were held this week. The Atlanta temple presidency was so kind to accommodate our mission by adding three extra morning sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday. The missionaries especially loved it. They seldom have the opportunity to attend the temple. We also were treated to a Christmas Dinner with all the trimmings.

Georgia Atlanta Mission ZC Temple Day and Christmas Dinner
Elder & Sister Miles, Elder Reid, Sister & Elder Hammonds,
Sister & Elder Merrell, and Sister & Elder Potts

Elder & Sister Read, Elder & Sister Hammonds,
Elder & Sister Kone, Elder & Sister Merrell

President & Sister Clayton, Sister Hyland, Sister & Elder Kone

President Clayton assigned Elder Merrell and me to do some extra missionary training on Weekly Planning Meetings and Family History. We are to train the Zone Leaders and Sister Trainers, so they in turn will train the districts they are responsible for.

Our goal is to help ZL's and ST's to be comfortable in helping the people they teach open a FamilySearch account and know a little about navigating the program. We also encourage them to set up a meeting with the Ward Family History Consultant and the person they are teaching. If we are successful, blessings will be poured out on the people in our missions.

Training with Elder Merrell, Sisters Scott, Lake and Merrell

Sister Scott and Sister Lake sent this photo today letting us know
that they taught the temple and family history lesson :)

Lunch after training meeting
Sister Burrows, Faasavalu, Smith, Merrell, and Elder Merrell

We ended our week enjoying the Celtic Woman Christmas Concert and a nice dinner with the Senior Missionaries.

Our biggest and best news is that we have received photos of Christian's mom and learned more about her. Christian is her youngest child. Christian's father has passed away. We were also told that the hardest time to live in Romania was during the late 1980's when Christian was born. Food was scarce. Families with two children could barely make it. Ana wondered how a family of four children could survive. We are sure that is why Christian was put in an orphanage. His mom couldn't feed him. Ana herself remembers being hungry and her family was middle-class.

Christian's mom was happy to learn about him. She wanted to know when he could come to visit her. She said that if he would let her know ahead of time, she would try to gather his siblings for the visit. Three of them, two brothers and one sister, will be coming from Spain.

This is Elena Sava Iordache, Christian's mother.
She is looking at Christian's picture for the first time.
We were told that she couldn't take her eyes off his picture
 even when they continued to ask questions.

This is Christian's brother, Toader Sava and his son.
The picture was taken Christmas 2018.
  Toader is closest to Christian's age and lives in Romania.

Elena Sava Iordache, Ana's sister who helped to find her,
and Elena's second husband, Mr. Iordache.
Ana's sister reports that they are kind, good people.

Elena and Ana's sister

12-8-2019 - Christmas Socials & Christian's Mom

We spent this busy week doing good. 

We gave copies of the new Nativity video on flash drives to the good friends we have made at the Food Bank. We pray they will watch it and feel the spirit of Christmas. We spent time serving with them at load-out and also enjoyed socializing with them at the Food Bank Christmas dinner.

Our ward had a Christmas Brunch Saturday morning. Chris came with us to enjoy breakfast and games. Again many of the ward members introduced themselves and welcomed him. Chris went to the Georgia/LSU football game and stayed in Atlanta for the night. We were disappointed that he wasn't able to come to church with us this morning. He is planning to go to the Christmas Devotional with the First Presidency tonight. Our Stake Choir will be singing in a program just before the devotional. Rod will be one of the narrators. People always notice his deep voice and talent for speaking.

Christian's mom did open her door to Ana's sister. We have learned that Christian's father has passed away. His Mother, Elena, has remarried to a man with the surname Iordache. She let Ana's sister make copies of her ID card and birth certificate and the information matches ours exactly. She is Christian's mother! 

We also learned that Christian's two brothers and sister live in Spain. The youngest brother closet to Christian's age lives in Romania. The information came to us in a short text. Ana hopes to talk with her sister this week to learn more details.

We experienced some heart-ache this week. Elder Inskeep, our District Leader, had to go home for health reasons. I've learned that people can mask the challenges and emotions in their lives, and we just don't know how much others are hurting and how much they need our help. It is so important to be in tune and to follow promptings whether the promptings make sense to us or not.

12-1-2019 - Many things to be thankful for

We have been so very blessed. We are blessed to be in the Lord's service in Georgia! We love the Lord, and we love our association with the people here. We are blessed to have you, our wonderful family members and friends in our lives. You strengthen us by your love and examples. Thank you for being you!

Another sweet blessing is that Christian's mother has been found. Christian has wanted to find her for years and through a series of small miracles and the willingness of kind-hearted people, her whereabouts are now known. This week, the people helping us will try to make contact with her. We are praying that she will be willing to open her door and heart.

We were able to read the Book of Mormon with Chris again this week. He continues to want to learn more. He also went to church with us today. Several people talked about the temple in their testimonies, so we showed Chris the Rome Temple Open House video tour with Elder Bednar and Elder Rasband. His heart was touched by the spirit. What a beautiful experience for all of us.

This week Trent and his family spent the Thanksgiving Holiday with us. What a joy to have the noise and energy of children and teenagers in our otherwise quiet apartment. We love them!

Atlanta Aquarium
Back Row: Sister Merrell, Trent, Gabe, Erin, and Ben
Front Row: Adeleine, and Brock

Lunch at the Atlanta Braves All Star Sports Bar and Grill
Back: Elder Merrell, Gabe, Erin, Trent, Ben
Front: Adeleine and Brock

 

11-23-2019 - Transfers and Elder Renlund

This week we had to say goodbye to Sister Hart and Elder Sillito. They have completed their missions. Sister Hart will be going to Utah State, so hopefully we will be able to see her again. Elder Sillito lives in Canada and will be going to UVSC.  I hope the best for them as they transition back into the world. I am certain they will continue to make this world a better place.

Elder Crook left our district and was transferred to a town in the southern part Georgia. I will miss him. I especially love how hard working he is and how he never complains even when he had a terrible case of poison ivy! Elder Crook came straight out of high school from Star Valley, Wyoming in June, and was quite timid at first. When he left our district, he was a stronger confident missionary!  It is so wonderful to watch these elders and sisters grow. 

District Council Meeting the day before transfers
Sister Nebeker, Elder Inskeep, Sisters Hart, Hyland, Clarke,
Elder Merrell, Sisters Toole, Osterhout,
Elders Crook, Sillito, Todd (the new AP), and Bailey

Back Row: Elder & Sister Merrell
2nd Row: Elders Inskeep, Bailey, Sillito, Sister Nebeker, Hart, Hyland, Toole
Front Row: Elder Crook, Sisters Clarke and Osterhout

Elder Crook was replaced by Elder Dicus from Las Vegas, another good missionary. Elder Dicus and Elder Inskeep taught Chris Cummings in our home this week.  The lesson was on the Restoration. Chris continues to accept everything he is being taught. The spirit was there and was strong during the lesson. It is such a sweet feeling. Chris announced that he bought Sunday clothes and is planning to go to church with us! I'm so happy! 

Rod and I read the Book of Mormon with Chris again this week and showed him the first Book of Mormon video. Watching him read and learn about the story of Nephi and Lehi for the first time gives me a renewed sense of wonder for all the miracles and tender mercies of the Lord in our behalf. I love the Book of Mormon!!  It is true!

Another wonderful event this week was a Women's Conference with Elder Renlund (the apostle) and his wife, Sister Renlund, along with Elder & Sister Stanfill. Our ward was invited to attend the meeting where Elder Renlund spoke in person. His message was to press forward. He told an embarrassing story of how he and his wife and daughter were on vacation together on an island. They joined a group to kayak to an island a short distance away. Elder Renlund got in his kayak and all was well as he began moving across the water. He stopped and looked back to see how his wife and daughter were doing, thinking he would wait for them. In the process of doing so, a large wave (about 6" tall :)) hit against his kayak and turned the boat over with him inside. He floundered and struggled and finally got himself upright, feeling totally exhausted only to be hit by another even larger wave (about 7" tall).  He was knocked over again. This time the guide came to his rescue and steadied the kayak while Elder Renlund righted himself and began moving forward again. When Elder Renlund finally made it to the island, he described himself as an "exhausted beached whale." The guide found him and instead of chiding him, he simply said, "Remember to keep moving. It brings stability to your kayak."  Elder Renlund likened this lesson to the scripture "press forward" and asked us to continually press forward keeping our covenants, prayer, scripture study, etc.). These things bring spiritual stability in our lives.

So many, many beautiful things were said. There was a question and answer session where we were given a number to text any question anonymously.  It was wonderful to hear answers of hope and encouragement to women who are struggling, etc.  Elder Renlund ended his remarks with the words of  "How Firm a Foundation."  He told us the words in the 3rd and 4th verses were the Savior's, and they were the words He (the Savior's) wanted us to hear this night.

3. Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed,

For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.

I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,

Upheld by my righteous, upheld by my righteous,

Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

4. When through the deep waters I call thee to go,

The rivers of sorrow shall not thee o’erflow,

For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,

And sanctify to thee, and sanctify to thee,

And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

Elder Renlund also wanted us to sing the 7th verse during the closing song.

7. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose

I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes;

That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,

I’ll never, no never, I’ll never, no never,

I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!

Elder Merrell and I received an assignment from President Clayton. He would like us to do some training with the Zone Leaders on how to use Family History in finding, teaching, and retaining people.  He also wants us to help train on "back-up planning" for the times when Plan A falls through. We are excited to work with more missionaries and share.

Christmas Lights at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens
Front: Elder Kone and Sister Michaels
Back: Elder & Sister Merrell, Sister Kone, Sister Clayton, Sister & Elder Reid

Christmas Lights at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens
Sister Kone and Sister Merrell

Atlanta Skyline from the Botanical Gardens

11-16-2019 - Another great week

We continue to work with our neighbor Chris. We are reading the Book of Mormon with him. So far we have only read the Introduction and the first 2 chapters of 1 Nephi, but he seemed to enjoy it. He said that he was a visual learner, so we sent the first Book of Mormon video the Church released this year covering those two chapters. Modern technology is so very helpful!

He did cancel his lesson with the elders this week. He had an unexpected visit from family members from California who have been staying with him in his one-bedroom apartment. He reports that it is making him crazy. I still have a good feeling about everything! Please keep him in your prayers.

The rest of our week was busy and filled with things that bring happiness! 

We had another opportunity to help cleanup more grave sites in the servant section of the cemetery at the Antioch Baptist Church. All the missionaries from our district were there as well as Sister Clayton and some of our senior missionaries. Cute little girl scouts brought 100 white crosses they had made to mark the graves that we uncovered. Donna Hann, a Family Research Historian who has been heading this project for three years, was so happy with the work that was accomplished today. A photographer was there taking pictures for a Fayetteville newspaper and for "Hero" Magazine. 

Here is a link to the Latter-day Saits Around the World: Country Newsroom Websites, December 30, 2019. 
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/latter-day-saints-and-baptists-clean-graves-of-slaves

Donna Hann and Sister & Elder Michael (our new Area Mental Health Advisor)

Sister Clayton (our Mission President's wife) and Sister Toole

Sister Kone (our mission nurse)

Sister Hart

Elder Inskeep and Elder Crook

Elder Merrell

Elder Inskeep, Sister Nebeker, Elder Reese, Sister Hart, Elder Crook,
Sisters Toole and Osterhout, and Elder Bailey

Elder Inskeep, Sister & Elder Merrell, and Elder Crook
These are the Elders teaching Chris

Elders Reese, Bailey, Crook, Inskeep, Sisters Osterhout, Hart, Toole, Merrell,
Elder Merrell, Sister Nebeker, Elder & Sister Kone, and Sister Clayton

Elder and Sister Merrell

Today's accomplishment!
It is estimated that 1/3 of the graves have now been uncovered.

11-10-2019 - The Best Week Yet!

We invited Chris over for dinner this week.

I need to tell you a little about Chris. He lived in Peachtree City in the apartment next door to the Jacobsens, Senior missionaries who were released last Monday. The Jacobsen's had befriended Chris, but they had not talked about religion.

Just a few weeks before the Jacobsen's moved, Chris decided he needed to move, which brought him to our apartment building. (I'm sure it was the hand of the Lord. Out of all the apartments in the area, he happened to choose our apartment complex and was given an apartment in our same building.) Jacobsen's arranged for the missionaries to help Chris move and let us know he was coming. We talked to Chris a few times and then invited him to dinner.  He accepted the invitation!

During dinner we learned that Chris was raised by his grandmother and attended their family's church. He hadn't been to church for a while and knew he was missing that in his life. He and his grandmother are still very close. She has been encouraging him to find a church to go to, so we invited him to come to church with us.  He accepted.  The conversation went on as we told him what to expect at church. He was very interested and accepting of everything we said, so we told him more.  We told him about Joseph Smith and how to know for himself if what we were saying was true. We told him about that good warm feeling the spirit brings into your heart.  He told us that he did have a good feeling inside. He told us he wanted to learn more and accepted the invitation to be taught by our missionaries. In the end, we were able to share our testimonies and Chris left with a copy of the Book of Mormon. 

Sunday came. Our ward members are so missionary-minded. Many, many came and shook his hand and introduced themselves and welcomed him. I was a little concerned about the possible content of the talks, but every talk seemed to be prepared just for him! He went to priesthood meeting with Rod. After church, we asked him what he thought about church.  He told us he really like it and wanted to come back next week! On the drive home he told us some of the things he wanted to say in priesthood meeting, but was a little afraid to. What he wanted to say would have been great. He might have more courage to speak next week.

Sunday night Elder Inskeep and Elder Cook taught the plan of salvation. Chris was very accepting of everything. Chris' uncle passed away this week, so the lesson was very timely. We have plans to begin reading the Book of Mormon with Chris Tuesday and the missionaries will teach the next lesson Thursday. We are so thrilled to share the gospel with Chris!

I drove Sister Hart and Nebeker to the baptism of Madeline Moorman in Atlanta. Yes, her name is pronounced "Mormon." :)

Her story: Over a year ago Sister Hart and Sister Ka'ili found Madeline Moorman and began teaching her the gospel. She gained a strong testimony and wanted to be baptized, but her mother said, "No, you were baptized a catholic when you were a baby, and you don't need to be baptized again."

Madeline complied with her mother's wishes, but continued attending the Young Single Adult Ward in Atlanta. A short time ago Madeline approached her mother again. This time she told her mother that she was going to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints. Her mother didn't try to stop her this time. She was baptized Sunday and there was a large number of Young Single Adults there to support and love her.

Sister Ka'ili, Madeline, and Sister Hart

Sisters Gray, Hart, Ka'ili, Madeline, Sisters Burton, Rice, and Nebeker

We filled the rest of our week with service. We spent three mornings at the Midwest Food Bank helping with load-out. We gathered trash along a county road during our Fayetteville Community clean-up morning. As you can see, it was unusually cold when we started. We even had frost on our windshield.

Fayetteville Community Clean-up Morning
with Sisters Merrell, Hart, Nebeker, and Elder Merrell
We picked up trash along an assigned roadway.

I also taught Sister Hart and Sister Nebeker how to make rolls on their P-Day. Sister Hart will complete her mission in two weeks. I will miss her so much! She plans to attend Utah State, so we hope to keep in touch when we get home.

Making rolls with Sisters Nebeker and Hart.

I just love these sisters!

  

11-03-2019 - Rod's Letter, "A Great October"

Dear Family and Friends,

It is finally starting to cool down here in Georgia.  A couple of weeks ago it was still in the mid-90’s but this morning there was a freeze warning.  When we arrived here in May we were told that it was unusually hot for that time of year.  Then in September and October once again we were told that it was unusually hot for the time of year.  Now we are being told that it usually isn’t this cold this early in the fall.  So the only time we have been exposed to “normal” was in the middle of the summer.  Nevertheless, we love it here and we are trying to enjoy every day no matter what the weather.

We had a wonderful October.  The highlight of the month was our trip to Savannah to the Mission Leadership Seminar.  All of the 15 mission presidents and their wives in the Southeast Area meet together twice a year for several days of training.  Area Medical Advisors are invited to the fall meeting and so we went.  It was great to see all of the Mission Presidents/wives who we have been working with and who we love.  The first day of training was done by the Area Presidency: Elder Martino, Elder Stanfill, Elder Montoya and Elder Tai. That afternoon we went on a tour of the city and then had dinner on a riverboat as it cruised up and down the Savannah River.  The following day we were taught by Elder David A. Bednar all day.  It was really quite amazing to be there.  We expected that much, if not most, of the training would be about the nuts and bolts of running a mission and would not really apply to us.  There was actually very little of that.  Most of the training was on discipleship and doctrine.  On Saturday morning Elder Bednar taught us again and then the seminar was concluded with a testimony meeting. 

Elder Bednar spoke of the recent adjustments made in church procedures and programs.  He told us that we should not view any of the recent adjustments in terms of ourselves or an American church.  This is a world wide church and the adjustments have been made with a world wide focus.  He said that by 2035 1 in 4 persons in the world ages 15-30 will live in Africa.  The church is aware and focusing much effort in Africa. 

Speaking of ministering Elder Bednar taught that ministering is helping a person receive the next ordinance that they need, including the ordinance of the sacrament.  He said that if our efforts are not focused on ordinances and covenants it is not ministering.  We need to find ways to help those we minister to take “the next step” on the covenant path.  We need to extend invitations to act.  He reminded us of the story when Peter healed the lame man at the temple gate and then assisted him in taking his first steps. 

Friday afternoon Elder Bednar focused on teaching missionaries spiritual self-reliance.  He said that we must turn them to God.  He said that our ultimate objective is to turn people to the Lord, to heaven.  He said that if we think we personally have all the answers we may make the mistake of giving them to people.  We then make them dependent upon us instead of heaven.  He taught that if a person is feasting on the words of Christ they will be OK and that mission presidents should help missionaries learn to love the Book of Mormon. 

Here are several more statements from Elder Bednar from my notes:

“You don’t receive the Holy Ghost because hands are laid on your head.  The laying on of hands is an injunction to seek, or receive, the Holy Ghost and thus retain a remission of your sins.  If you always have the Spirit you are retaining a remission of your sins.”

“When people try to put reasons to revelation they are always wrong.  Even those who receive the revelation don’t always know the reasons.”

“Repentance is more than changing behavior.  Unless it involves turning to Christ it is not repentance.”

It was an incredible couple of days that we will always remember.

This last week we returned to Nashville for zone conferences.  The mission president has changed since our last visit and we were able to spend a couple of nights in the mission home with President and Sister Weaver.  They were great.  We attended zone conference on Monday and Tuesday and then we had Wednesday off because it is P-day in the Nashville Mission.  Tuesday night we went to the Grand Ole Opry.  We had a lot of fun.  Each night at the Opry they have a program that lasts exactly two hours.  There were seven musical acts the night we were there and one comedian.  As they introduced each of the musical acts they listed all of their accomplishments, their #1 hits etc--and we had never heard of any of them.  The rest of the audience was impressed and excited but we were listening to strangers.  But it was really fun and we enjoyed ourselves.

On Wednesday (remember it was P-day) we went to Broadway in the middle of Nashville and listened to more music.  On Broadway there are five blocks of bars, restaurants and honky-tonks on both sides of the street and each venue has live music going on.  You just walk in, take a seat, and listen as long as you want to.  Waitresses will come to your table and ask if you need anything but there was no cover charge and you aren’t required to order anything.  We had a burger in one place and fried pickles in another and about a half gallon of  diet coke but we listened to music for several hours.  It was a rainy day so we waited for the rain to let up a little bit and then we would go to the next bar.  The only place we didn’t like was a bar where they were playing a Beatles song and so I thought it would be great.  Once we sat down and ordered the fried pickles they started playing AC/DC and some other hard LOUD heavy metal stuff.  Carol had to wad up her napkin and make ear plugs.  We got out of there as soon as we could pay the bill.  Otherwise it was a fun day.   See Carols blog for some pictures of our time in Nashville.

On Thursday we attended zone conference in Hopkinsville, KY and left at about 3:30 to drive home.  We got home about 10:30. 

We won’t be travelling again until January.  With the holidays coming all of the mission presidents are planning special zone conferences and we don’t want to get in the way so we are going to hunker down for a couple of months. 

We love you all and miss you.  We would love to hear from you. 

Elder and Sister, Mom and Dad, Grandpa and Grandma, Rod and Carol Merrell  

11-03-2019 - Zones Conferences in Tennessee Nashville Mission

We had a wonderful time with President and Sister Weaver.  They were so sweet to invite us to stay in the mission home. Sister Weaver grew up in upper New York and was the first in her family to join the church. Her two sisters joined later. Her mother is still not a member, but Sister Weaver can see that her heart is softening.  

President Weaver was the CEO of Clyde Corporation. Sunroc is a subsidiary of that company. (We are familiar with Sunroc because most of our building supplies and materials for our new home came from that company.) The president of Clyde Corporation is retiring and it was planned that President Weaver would take his place. When the call to become a mission president came, he walked away from that opportunity and chose to serve the Lord.  Another man has been named to take that position. It is easy to see and feel the love they have for their missionaries and the Lord.  They are beautiful examples of living consecrated lives.

President & Sister Weaver and Sister and Elder Merrell

Zone Conferences were Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. On Wednesday (P-Day) Elder Merrell and I decided to see Nashville.  We attended the Grand Ole Opry and saw musicians we are unfamiliar with, singing #1 songs we've never heard before. We loved it! I believe I'm now a country music fan!

Elder and Sister Merrell at the Grand Ole Opry

Inside the Opry.  It is a casual affair.

John Conlee

Jimmie Allen

We also walked through the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and were absolutely amazed.  It is a world all its own.

Sister and Elder Merrell inside the Gaylord Opryland Hotel
with a waterfall behind us

The hotel fits inside a giant terrarium where people can eat in restaurants,
shop, drift along this man-made river in boats and never leave the hotel.

We also walked along Nashville's famous Broadway Street.  Every bar & grill had live entertainment, so we went into quite a few places, ordered a soft drink, and listened to some amazing musicians trying to make it in the music world.

Broadway Street, Nashville, Tennessee

The red boot in the center is advertising Robert's Bar and Grill
where lots of famous country singers got their start.

Inside Robert's Bar and Grill

All the musicians seem to enjoy what they do.  

This one even posed for the picture!

Notice the bass is an old rusted gas tank.
Shane Chisholm even added a little percussion with his unusual instrument.
They were so very talented!

We ended the week at a dinner party in the Mission Home with all the Senior Missionaries. Elder and Sister Jacobsen will be leaving Monday. We will miss them.

(Back Row) Vancours, Elder Meadows, Pots, Miles, Reids, President Clayton, Merrells, Kones (Front Row) Sister Meadows, Michael's, Jacobsen's. Sister Clayton, and Hammonds