The Mergenthaler Family

March 27, 2023 Hey, what's going on y'all!! It's transfer week, and I have transfer news!! Drum roll, please... I am staying again! For me, this is so weird because I will have been with Elder Sellers for three transfers. So you know what that means--more interesting stories to come!!  Okay, on to the week! Monday, we cooked with our district for p-day and played card games, which was so fun. After p-day ended, we did paperwork and listened to scriptures. On Tuesday, we had a chill morning because we had Consejo de zona (zone conference). At zone conference, I felt like a prideful freak because me and my comp were talking a lot about how much success our area has had and how it's been soo cool to see, but then we heard the other companionships' stories, and we realized we haven't really had all that much success. A final sting came when the zone leaders asked us for tips, but, I mean, maybe our ideas helped others. After zone conference, we got lunch, contac...

 Our blog is a good place to keep a record of missionary emails, and I finally caught up, so maybe you want to know how the rest of our family is doing? I bet you miss my posts. Or not. Things are a little nutty at our house right now. They have been for a while. I'm still not sure how to write about it on our family blog, so I'll throw some pictures here, and maybe some words will come out. I went on a cruise from New Orleans to Mexico in January with Karitza and Amanda.  It wasn't as sunny and warm as I wanted, but it was good. When I returned, I served as a juror on a two-day criminal trial. The case was intense and, I found out, associated with a high-stakes civil case. After the cruise and jury duty, I dove back into teaching seminary and keeping up with all the things. (Well, trying to keep up, which means I dropped the ball on a lot of stuff, said no to lots of things, and cried sometimes). We celebrated Sean's 13th and Makayla's 21st birthdays. We had a fire...

March 20, 2023 Hey, how's it going, guys!?! It's Elder Mergenthaler, back again with a weekly update!  I thought this week was going to be like the last few where we go out to talk to people, but don't find many people, but, boy, was I wrong. Monday and Tuesday are pretty typical, but Wednesday I decide to write our name and number on like 30 cards to give out. We go out and talk to people in the morning. No one listens, so we come back, have an amazing lunch, and finish our studies. After that we start walking out to our points when I get this urge to visit one of our friends named Lucas. We change our plans and book it over there. It turns out he's not there, so we knock the next door of one of our other friends, and they're not there either, so my companion and I are like, "What now?" My comp suggests the forest. As we're walking, I say we should pray to know exactly where to go. (BTW, praying works everywhere, hahaha. I do it legit in streets wit...

March 13, 2023 Hey, what's up, you guys? It's finally P-day!! I made it!!    This week was kind of rough. On Monday, we didn't get out that much solo because it was p-day, but also because no one's out in the night, sooo ya. On to Tuesday. Tuesday, I had my interview with my mission president, so that took a lot of the day. He really helped me see the  possibilities  with this area and all the good that's come out of what we have done so far, so that was really good and cool!! After that meeting, we went and did Facebook!! Man, do I hate Facebooking. If any of you go on missions, you'll know what I mean, haha. After that, we went home and made some banger salad stuff and forced that down because my companion and I both don't like veggies. I mean, we like them all right, but when we're eating the same veggies over and over again because we live in Argentina and we actually miss American veggies. So Wednesday, I was kind of getting down on  myself  just be...

March 6, 2023 What is up, people of the United States? I'm back again with another email from Argentina  🇦🇷 !!    This week was kind of wild and went by super fast. On Monday after preparation day, we start divisions where we break off in different partnerships. On our way back to our district leader's pension, his comp turns to him and is like, "Yo, you got the keys?" and my district leader goes, "No!" So me and the district leader head back to the other church to look for the keys. They weren't in the first place we checked, so we waited to get into the computer place to check there. No keys. We're in kind of hurry because we have to get to a dinner in my area, so we go back and look in one more spot, and BAM, keys!!! We ended up getting the keys, so that was all  ok, but we had to cancel the dinner.  😪       On Tuesday, I get up and do my normal routine--push-ups and sit-ups while I wait for my comp to take a shower. (BTW I haven't lost...

February 27, 2023 Hey what is up my beautiful people!! Y'all are probably chilling in snow with hot chocolate which seems nice right now just because it's like the devil's oven down here! Once you step out of your apartment, it's like you've stepped out of the shower because it's so humid and gross, but we do the Lord's work anyway.    So, do you want to know about the title of this email? In the beginning of the week, it was so hard to find people because literally everyone was at the beach. We were walking along the street with our vianda (aka bag lunch) from that day regretting that we didn't bring water with us when this taxi dude pulls up. The dude is like, "Get in!" We're like, "OK, why not? It's hot as Satan's house outside, and this guy has an air-conditioned car." The guy asks, "Where are you headed?" We tell him our address, and he takes us there. We get ready to pay and the guy goes "Naw, Man. It...

February 20, 2023 Hey, y'all! This  week was like a roller  coaster. On  Tuesday, my comp and I had kind of a down day. We didn't feel like we did our best, so we took a step back and made a better plan. On Wednesday, we talked about goals for our companionship and gave each other blessings. It's so cool to use my priesthood. I  100% recommend using your priesthood when you can!!    On Thursday not a lot happened. Well actually, a lot happened, but I wouldn't really call it progress. Soo, we go out in the morning and do as much as we can. Right, well, during our studies it starts to rain so we can't go out cause no Argentine likes the rain, haha, so no one's out. So then we do video calls and talk to some people, and then we hop on a call with this dude who I already have weird feelings about, but I'm like, "Ehh, what the heck? I'm a missionary. Why not?" Right, well, the call is all normal all the way to the end when this Man turns from a real...

February 13, 2023 Hey, what's up, You guys in the states!?! This week, my companion and I felt a little lazy, but at the same time, we also worked our butts off. I don't know--it's a weird mix!    Transfers have ended, so that means everyone changes, but guess what!?! FOR THE FIRST TIME, I DON'T!! My comp and I stay the same, so that's really exciting because we just get to keep pushing the work in this area forward! Also, we had a BAPTISM this week. It was a really powerful experience for me because it's evidence that we can keep the work moving forward. If a Jehovah's Witness can get baptized, anyone can!!    The title of this email is because I have been reflecting on this last transfer (6 weeks). At the start, I felt lonely and unsuccessful. We didn't know the language that well. The area is hard because it's the beach, and we can't even really go to the beach. We didn't know how to contact people or who to talk to. And then my companion ...

February 6, 2023 Hey what is up, my people? Elder Mergenthaler is back with news from Argentina!! Monday, we really just had a really chillaxed p-day and then went out to do some work. I wasn't super motivated to go out, so I told my companion, "Let's give Facebook work a try, and do some language study with it." Right, so I start talking to this guy who is a Dinsey fanatic, which is right up my alley. We talk about the church too, of course and make an appointment to talk another time. We made a delicious dinner and knocked out for the night. Tuesday, we made a bunch of calls and knocked out. Nothing special. Wednesday was really cool cause in the morning, we got to go and serve these people in our ward by helping them clean their duck pen, which is right behind our little apartment. It was super fun and we also got some eggs out. After that, we had an awesome meeting with elder Renlund over Zoom to our whole mission. He answered some of our questions. The meetin...