Mother's Day Skype video call

It is one of the best days in a missionary's life: one of the two authorized days for calling home and talking to family and friends! Normally the missionary will call home on Mother's Day but Elder Ethan Merrill was able to get permission to call one week later since his dad would be back home then as well. I can't tell you how GREAT Elder Merrill looked and sounded! When we saw that beautiful grin and heard his voice and that joyful laugh again, I must admit, I got a little teary! I think this is one of those times when I realize that the pain of the absence of a family member will make the reunion that much more joyful. We miss our son/brother/friend but we are so happy for this opportunity he has to share the gospel and to have this experience and I know that the time will be over before we know it and he will be back home and it will be as the blink of an eye.

Elder Merrill got to talk with us for about 4 hours on Skype, which was amazing! He told some good stories about being in Argentina, the people, the food, the traveling and such. He told some stories about crazy P-days and we asked him to speak Spanish and WOW! He was really good with that!  We all talked with him as a group and then did individual sessions with him and then finished up as a group again. (The group was Mom & Dad, brothers Stuart & Kyle, sister Jessica and friends James and Jared).  Who would have thought 4 hours could fly by so fast! No one really wanted to say goodbye but how grateful we are for the technology that allowed us to see him in person and to have such a great time talking with him. Only 8 more months until our Christmas call!!!! We love you so much Elder Merrill. May God bless you and the work you do!

            I hope that everything is going well over there! I know we just talked yesterday, but it feels like it´s been a while....it´s super weird! I was super stoked to be able to talk to you all though! James and Jared, what crazy guys, tell them thanks for coming to say hi, it was really awesome of them to show up. I´m not gonna lie, talking to you guys made me think of home a lot, and it´s making me think about home still! Having a P-day right after that was not a good idea. All during the day I couldn´t help but think about home and talking about you guys because there was nothing to do! Well, at least I´m able to work now and keep my mind occupied. Not that thinking of you guys is a bad thing, but too much of a good thing, y´know? 

          I can´t wait to come home and do all the stuff I have planned. It really is crazy to think about, but I only have 9 months left like I said. No more double digits! But, that´s still a long time off I guess. It´s like I said: if I enjoy the mission and I get busy with the work, the time will go fast. 

          Thanks for always writing supportive things to me! Like I always say, letters keep me going, and when you tell me what a good job I do, it gives me a lot of confidence. I know that things are sometimes slow and sometimes fast, but if I can have fun and amazing experiences on the mission, it makes me want to be here. I hope that you guys are having a great time at home too! 

          I´m already enjoying the new area I´m in and I get along well with the other elders here, my companion too. I hope that things go well for you guys too if any new things come along. Tell Kyle that I hope he enjoys graduating and life afterwards. I remember thinking as I got home “what now?” or like, what do I do now? what´s the next step? and for me, it was the mission.

            Well, stay cool and everything back home. I hope that you all have an awesome week ahead of you and just know that I´m praying for you and doing all that I can to be a great missionary! I love you lots! Bye!        

          

                                  -Elder Ethan Merrill

 

Having a fun Instant Messaging conversation with Elder Merrill

May 13, 2013 ~ It is another fabulous Monday as we get our next letter from Elder Merrill and I have another chance to chat with him on email. It is a treasure to be able to ask him questions as they pop into my mind and find out some fun little details about his time on his mission.

Mom: Hey son!  Your letter just popped up, woohoo!!! I wanted to let you know I was here, I'll go read it now and then chat with you when you have time. Sure love you lots!! :) Love Mom

Elder Merrill: Sweet, when you´re all done reading my letter, just reply back to this and I´ll talk to you more in-depth. love you!

Mom:  Hey there you awesome man!! I'm glad you arrived safe and sound at your new area! Do you doze on the bus then since it travels at night? Oh wait, you said the buses were on strike, so is the strike done or did you travel a different way?

So Elder Barrie is your new companion.  Where is he from? Are you taller than most of the elders you have worked with or about average? Yeah, when I looked on the map, you are smack dab by the ocean. Definitely take lots of pictures of your new area, your new apartment, your companions, etc.

I will tell everyone of your calling time so that they can be here if possible. We are super SUPER excited about talking to you!  Love you so much son! Love Mom

Elder Merrill:  I´m sorry if that took a little longer to respond, I was browsing on lds.org and I got sidetracked!

  Elder Barrie is from Las Vegas, I´m taller yeah, a lot of the latinos are shorter than me, I look like a giant to them. I´ll work hard on taking pictures of the ocean and my apartment and other things in general. I´m so excited to be able to call you too! I hope that you have a short week so it´ll seem like no time at all before I call!

Mom: lol, no problem, I know what that is like. There is some really great stuff on lds.org. In fact, I was showing a great little video clip from there to the primary kids a few weeks ago.

Wow, you and Elder Barrie are practically neighbors, considering Vegas is only about 7 hours away from Tucson. That's funny in a cool way. I bet you look like a giant to the locals! You look like a giant to me!!!!! lol

Oh this week will fly by, I know it! I have my last week of tutoring math for the 5th graders Wed. and Thursday. Then Saturday I pick Dad up from the airport. Sunday will be here so fast! WOOHOOO!  How did the Skype call work for the other elders? Will you call from someone's home or from a church office?

Love you much!!! Love Mom

Elder Merrill:  Yeah, I like browsing that website the most if I have spare time. Elder Barrie is close isn´t he? I really am taller than the average person here.  I hope that dad has a relaxing vacation from his work for a little while, and I am super excited to talk to him and you all face to face! Skype worked really well for the other elders and I bet it´ll work well for us too!  I can´t wait until Sunday!  I´m super sorry but I´m out of time, I can´t wait for a reply....But I´ll see you Sunday okay? I sure love you guys and I hope you have a fun week! Bye now! I love you!

                   -Elder Ethan Merrill