The Mergenthaler Family

Hey guys! This week was amazing. I'm gonna try my best to explain. Some stuff... --met President Alonso from the quorum of the 70. It was just us 4 Bonaire sisters and our mission president. From the moment he walked into the room, I knew he was really special. I could feel that he knew Jesus Christ well and personally. He didn't plan to stay very long, but was prompted to talk to us about Christ. It touched my heart when he looked right into my eyes and said, "Christ is kind" and then smiled. Wow, I needed to hear that! Sometimes we aren't kind to ourselves, but that's not like Christ. He loves us no matter what and is happy when we do our best.  --Pablo passed his baptismal interview! WOOOOOT. He's getting baptized this Saturday. Man, those Bonaire beach waters are glistenin! --Had a movie night with the branch and 10 of our investigators were there!!! It was awesome. I didn't know what to do with myself I was so happy. I think I kinda overwhelmed a ...

This week was amazeballs. Learned so much. Some stuff..... --had dinner with Br. Statie, Vaquero, and Pablo. We played pool with Br. Statie as my coach and Vaquero as Zr. Tulaga's coach. Vaquero got so into it and it was hilarious. Also, we called Pablo later to see how he was doing and apparently he stayed there hanging out with them  until 11:30  and they taught him the Word of Wisdom. Can I get a wooooot for the Bonaire members?  --taught 7 new people who are all awesome including a dutch guy who kind of roasted what we believed but then had a softened heart. My favorite thing he said was when I asked him how he knew there was a God and he goes, "Zou je geloof ma als ik zie ik heb hem gevoelt?" which means would you believe me if I said I've felt him? and then he went on to talk about the Holy Ghost and how it's a warm feeling in his heart and it was SOOO COOL. His name is Michael. He takes his dominican friend Chelo to English class every week to help him even...

I have collected these tidbits over the past year or so—funny things the kids have said or done.  As I was driving the kids somewhere, I overheard Brooklyn and Sean talking about their future parenting plans. Brooklyn wants to name her kids Duke and Dante. Sean wants boys named Peter and James. Makayla was talking about being excited to be married and decorate her house. Brooklyn interrupted with, “Um, you have to date somebody first.” Gavin “squeaked” in his pants. Gavin and Brooklyn were playing bad guys. Gavin wore the red Power Ranger uniform and called himself  Fire Man. Brooklyn’s uniform was black and blue and she called herself  Water Ma’am.  Every time Gavin hears somebody say the name Peter, he exclaims Peter walked on water! Gavin said, "Look at the clouds mom!" I looked and said, “Yea, they’re really pretty.” He said, “No, they are not pretty. They are funny!” And I said “Yep, funny clouds.” (I wasn’t really listening). In frus...

July 15, 2019 AWESOME WEEK. GUESS WHAT. RONNY GOT BAPTIZED. some other stuff.... --Ronny got baptized  on Saturday morning very early before he has to take all his pills. He was so sweet. His pants almost came off in the water, so he was really embarrassed, but all the members gave him so much love. He cried bearing his testimony and gave us the biggest smile after getting the Holy Ghost on Monday. I love that man! --Pablo and Aquiles came to church and became friends. It was hilarious to watch them interact. I love both of them more than life itself. Pablo goes, "I love this place! I'm coming back every single week." They both want to be baptized  August 3rd  so yayayay! --Omar told me he planned to come back to church next week. I was dead shocked. I couldn't stop smiling, even though he kept telling me, "Sister, get a hold of yourself. You look way too happy." Man, I can't wait for  next Sunday . Omar is gonna help the branch so much. --Sent Zr. Wools...

Family trips can be a little crazy sometimes. Getting groceries was nuts with eight people crammed in tiny isles all wanting different things. And then we did self checkout! We turn heads at the airport, too. On our last trip, somebody asked, "Are all those kids yours?" I replied, "These and more." (We didn't have Emily with us). Even though we draw attention (and the comments and looks are not always kind), these kids are good travelers. Gavin is very attentive to safety protocol.  They're also good at keeping track of each other. I was on my own with the kids on the flight to Denver, so I assigned each of the older kids a traveling partner. They were cute about packing entertainment and snacks for their partners and keeping track of them in busy areas.  Their partnerships worked so well that we continued them on the way home The river float was fun--if a little uneventful. I was determined to find activities that could accommodate a wide ag...

Hiking with kids is hard. If they're not complaining, they're distracted by every little rock, puddle, creek, flower, or photo op (and  I'm not just talking about the little kids).  Maybe I'm not hiking the right way. I tend to be a "destination girl."  I don't mind admiring the beauty and creatures along the way, but I definitely don't want to spend hours meandering. In spite of the complaining and meandering, we managed to go on a few hikes with the kids.  The weather was perfect--except on Sunday when we narrowly avoided a thunderstorm.  Thanks to our slow-moving group, we weren't very far into the hike before we turned around. We saw the marmot on that rock multiple times on subsequent days.  He/she had a home right by the trail. We left the older kids home with the younger kids when we hiked with Reyes and Courtney to Hidden Falls.  It was a nice, easy hike, but we left late enough in the day that I was fighting a headache most of...