THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS KENYA NAIROBI MISSION Opposite African Wildlife Foundation, Ngong Road P.O. Box 46162 – 00100, Nairobi, Kenya +254 737 400 893 2012995@ldschurch.org 27 October 2016 Dear Family of Christian David Merz, We have welcomed Elder Merz, who has arrived safely in the Kenya Nairobi Mission. He is a choice young man and eager to be an excellent missionary. I was pleased to note the preparation, worthiness and commitment of your son to be obedient and to serve the Lord honourably. This is the first generation of church membership for the people in this mission in the huge and diverse continent of Africa, and I know that as he serves the people, he will learn to love them and they will love him. His testimony is strong, and I am honoured to have him serve in our mission. Elder Merz is laboring in Sosiani in the District of Eldoret, Kenya, with an excellent companion, Elder Mwanziu. Sister Msane and I will see him at least every four to six weeks at Zone and other Conferences, and I will have regular interviews with him. Excellent doctors and medical care are available here if health problems occur. We pledge to take good care of your son. This is a great mission and we know he will be successful. Mail to your missionary should be addressed to: (Your Missionary’s Name) Kenya Nairobi Mission, P. O. Box 46162-00100, Nairobi, Kenya I will encourage him to write home every week on Preparation Day, which is Monday, but mail is slow, so be patient. The Missionary Department has authorized e-mail to the family once a week if it is available to you. We are grateful for this added blessing. Telephone contacts and personal visits to missionaries by friends and relatives are inappropriate and contrary to long-standing Church policy. Full-time missionaries have made commitments to devote their full time and attention to proclaiming the Gospel, and any such contacts detract from their effectiveness. However, we do urge you to write to him weekly, either by e-mail or by postal mail. Thank you for teaching, nurturing and sending forth this fine young man, anxious to serve the Lord and to honor his family and other loved ones. May the Lord bless you with peace and assurance that all is in His hands. Sincerely, President Ephraim Msane Kenya Nairobi Mission

THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS KENYA NAIROBI MISSION Opposite African Wildlife Foundation, Ngong Road P.O. Box 46162 – 00100, Nairobi, Kenya +254 737 400 893 2012995@ldschurch.org 27 October 2016 Dear Family of Christian David Merz, We have welcomed Elder Merz, who has arrived safely in the Kenya Nairobi Mission. He is a choice young man and eager to be an excellent missionary. I was pleased to note the preparation, worthiness and commitment of your son to be obedient and to serve the Lord honourably. This is the first generation of church membership for the people in this mission in the huge and diverse continent of Africa, and I know that as he serves the people, he will learn to love them and they will love him. His testimony is strong, and I am honoured to have him serve in our mission. Elder Merz is laboring in Sosiani in the District of Eldoret, Kenya, with an excellent companion, Elder Mwanziu. Sister Msane and I will see him at least every four to six weeks at Zone and other Conferences, and I will have regular interviews with him. Excellent doctors and medical care are available here if health problems occur. We pledge to take good care of your son. This is a great mission and we know he will be successful. Mail to your missionary should be addressed to: (Your Missionary’s Name) Kenya Nairobi Mission, P. O. Box 46162-00100, Nairobi, Kenya I will encourage him to write home every week on Preparation Day, which is Monday, but mail is slow, so be patient. The Missionary Department has authorized e-mail to the family once a week if it is available to you. We are grateful for this added blessing. Telephone contacts and personal visits to missionaries by friends and relatives are inappropriate and contrary to long-standing Church policy. Full-time missionaries have made commitments to devote their full time and attention to proclaiming the Gospel, and any such contacts detract from their effectiveness. However, we do urge you to write to him weekly, either by e-mail or by postal mail. Thank you for teaching, nurturing and sending forth this fine young man, anxious to serve the Lord and to honor his family and other loved ones. May the Lord bless you with peace and assurance that all is in His hands. Sincerely, President Ephraim Msane Kenya Nairobi Mission

Hello Brother & Sister Merz, We were excited to greet and meet your son! He arrived in Nairobi on October 25 with 10 other new missionaries. President & Sister Msane had a training meeting for the new arrivals yesterday and today they are off to their new areas. Your son looked great and it was fun to get to know him. He will be a wonderful missionary. Attached is a letter from President Msane, a picture with Pres & Sis Msane, and a picture of a him by the lovely Carl Bloch painting of the Savior on the Mount of Beatitudes that hangs in the Mission Home. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to send me an email or phone me at the number below. We promise to take good care of all of our missionaries! Nice to learn of Elder Merz’s German background. (I asked him about his name). My grandmother spoke only German until she was 6 years old. Her parents came from German-speaking Switzerland. My grandfather’s parents were from Germany. So we have a bit in common. Sister Torrie

So a week from today i will be flying to Kenya! How crazy is that!? It feels like i left not to long ago! The days drag on and on and on. But at the end of the week they all like mesh together and im like what? Its already Saturday or Sunday? haha ive loved the MTC here its so great! Its actually the smallest in the world too! One thing thats very very important that i learned is how crutial it is to LISTEN. Listening is not the same as hearing. But when you listen you are heeding and understanding what someone is saying. Trying to connect with them and there experiences. Thats something ive learned when teaching investagators (People who we are teaching). This last week i also got to go to the temple and it was super cool! I have pictures but cant send them yet! It was really cool though to get to drive around and go see what Joburg is like! While at the temple some guy who is like in the area presidency of africa said that there are 15 total missions in South and West Africa and only about 1500 missionaries! Just think about the size of all of that land and how few people that is so it made me feel extra special haha! Brazil alone has more missions than like all of Africa! Last Sunday we watched 17 miracles and it was really different watching it here with all the missionaries! It touched my heart and i even cried a little (haha i'm a baby). But to my Trek family i toally forgot the guys name is Levi Savage and that was out trek family name! Couensidence or not it was cool and i thought about all of you! On Saturday we kinda got our first African rainstorm too! It was like an hour long raining hard with a bunch of thunder and lighting i loved it!!! We also changed districts and companions and my new one is Elder Harrott of course! Haha that would happen! Me and him already have to many memories and think of each other as brothers! After the mission he wants to come to Utah and he said for me to come to England and we'll like give each other a tour! My new district has me, Elder Harrott, Elder Mbuli, Elder Cooper (the son that uncl John works with!), Elder Goss, Elder Lupeni, and Elder Stevens! Thanks everyone for the emails! I didnt get long to write this week either and next week i might not even get to email so it might be like 2 weeks until you hear from me again! The reason why is becuase we leave the MTC at 5:30 in the morning to fly out and then we get to Kenya on Tuesday and im not sure if we'll get to email there! Love you all and thanks for the support and love! I love to hear from family and friends so email me! Funny moment of the week: On Sunday we watched a devotional and I was telling Elder Harrott about the pretty girls in Utah and this pretty girl prayed and i looked at him and raised my eyesbrows twice and was like seeee! Then while she was praying me and Elder Harrott fist bumped and the President was sitting right behind us and was "Elders!!" in an old man grumpy voice and me and him were laughing about it so hard after! Love, Elder Merz

So ive been here a week and have already learned a lot! I was super hard the first couple of days because the jet lag was real. We have 16 hour days and when youre bodys all messed up its hard. Anyways the story from last tuesday is like this. We got picked up and we got out badges at the airport which was really cool. I felt official haha. Then we got in cars and it was about a 45 minute drive to the MTC. We had such a fun time in the car that i was in it was awesome. First off they drive on the right side. We went out of the airport but we took a wrong turn and went back in and then there was one of those spiked things in the ground with a gate above it to enter but our driver didnt have his card or any cash so we just caused a huge traffic jam! Then we finally got though and went the right way and back onto the freeway. A huge semi truck came by us and slowed down and started honking and then flipped us off and we were all dying laughing! Hahahaha then we were were just cruising and BOOM a brand new Lamborghini Huracan and Bentley Continental GT go FLYING past us at my guess would be well over 120! It made me feel good and i was like freaking out because it was so cool haha. The food here is quite good and its random but the tomatoes here are suuuuuper good! They taste even better then homemade ones! But the tomatoe sauce still tastes the same. That African click language that you guys think of is called Xhosa and has a click in the name its really cool and one of the Elders here has been teaching me! He knows 9 languages! I feel great about knowing 1 hahaha. Anyways here at the MTC there are 34 of us total and we see the MTC President and his Wife everyday! Ive gotten to know everyone here and I absoutley love my district! My companion is Elder Brown from Arizona who is also going to Kenya he is seriously like a brother. We even look alike and people thought we were brothers! There is Elder Lupeni, LeFevere, Fraga, Carlson, Stevens, and Harrott. Elder Harrott is like my best friend. Hes from Manchester England and has the accent i pretend i have all the time! Hes our district leader and hes going to Kenya as well so hopefully me and him get to be companions! Oh and Elder Lupeni is from Tonga (Friendly Island.....with a tongan accent) Hes so funny and makes us all laugh. A few nights ago they let us go to sleep early at like 9:30 and we were all up in best and cracking jokes that went continually until about 11:15. The next day we all got in trouble because his apartment touches his and he was just making fun of us and slamming us in a nice and funny way he wasent really that mad but wanted us to sleep. So ive already got in trouble from the MTC President in the first week hahaha ill check that off the list. Theres so much to say but I only got about 20 minutes to type this and read a few emails so im sorry to those who i havent responded to yet. Friends keep emailing me! I love the spirit here and i love the gospel. I am so lucky to be able to serve here in Africa with my brothers and sisters. (There are 2 sisters here at the MTC too). The spirit is super strong and i love hearing the testamonies of these other Elders. The days are long and rough but we get an hour of outside sports each day and then we all work hard in class. The internet kinda sucks at the MTC so no pictures, you will have to wait until i leave :/ thank you all for the love and support and i hope things are going great for all of you! I love learning and i am willing and able to serve his children in Kenya. We also only get to go to the Temple once while were here but thats okay its a blessing to even be able to go once! To the people in Utah that can go, i invite you to go to the temple since there are so many! I invite all of you when you are having troubles, sorrows, hardships, questions, or are feeling happy in life pray and go to the scriptures and youll find answers! Love you all <3 Elder Merz

Me and 21 other Elders made it here to the MTC. It is currently 9:10 pm. I guess the flight from Atlanta to South Africa is the longest flight that Delta does! Were here and I have a great story for next tuesday which is when our P Day is. Love you all, i miss home,but im so happy to be here and excited to learn! Love you all and you'll here from me on Tuesday! :)