Transferred. AGAIN. But for the last time!

Jan. 13, 2014 ~ Well, we must admit we were surprised when we got Elder Merrill’s email and found out he was transferred again, since he hadn’t been in Mar Del Plata for that long.  But hey, it’s another area to explore and see and experience.  We looked it up on the map and yep, I can see why it was an 11 hour bus ride! He has moved away from the coast and has moved inland about 350 miles.  It is exciting to know that this is his last transfer until he comes home. Keep up the good work Elder!!!! WOOHOO!

Hey there mom!  How are you doing? I’m good. Well, as you may have guessed, I got transferred again.  I was only in Mar Del Plata for 6 weeks!  I don’t think the amount of areas I’ve been to is normal for a missionary, but I’m fine with it. It just means that I’ll have something new to do for these last 6 weeks.  Can you believe that? Only 6 more weeks! They’re going to fly by so fast! The place that I’m in now is called Santa Rosa.  Its climate is a lot like Arizona.  It’s just a bit greener and it’s not quite so hot.  The mission is divided into 5 areas here so the city is a big one, but our area of work is small.  I have a new companion; his name is Elder Rojas.  He’s got about 10 months or so left on his mission.  I can’t wait to work in this place, it seems like a good place to be.  I had to take a bus ride which lasted 11 hours to here though.  It was kind of a long trip!

My week was good.  All the things that we’ve had to do have kept my mind focused on the work, so I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to be in areas that are filled with work to do.  I want to thank you for always sending me words of encouragement and strength, they really do help me to continue on and do what is right.

People here have been telling me about the weather in the states right now.  They make it out to believe that it’s like “the day after tomorrow” weather.  That everything is freezing over and people are dying in the streets, but I don’t think that’s true…is it?  The weather here is a little hot, but nothing unbearable.  I haven’t had much problems with the heat, but the people here always comment that I look super red.  I guess my face doesn’t tan that easily.  I don’t know what it’s really like here in Santa Rosa yet. I’ve only been here for about 4 hours.  I don’t know if we’re in for some really hot weather or not, but we’ll find out soon enough.  That’s funny about the kids being crazy later in the week. (I was telling my students were too tired after winter break to be crazy on that first Monday back to school but they sure were back to normal later in the week!)

That’s funny about so many missionaries being in the same place for dinner.  I’ve actually been in a lot of situations like that in Mar Del Plata.  There were 6 missionaries in the ward so sometimes the families invited all six of us to come over for lunch.  It was pretty fun! We all get to talk and have fun as a big group.  I’ll need to play this Farkle game when I get back.

Things are calm here for now.  I think we’re going to focus on cleaning our apartment today.  I think that things will be fine here and I’m excited and everything to work in anew area.  I bet things will go well here.  I hope that you all are doing well back home.  It won’t be long until I see you all again! I’m super excited but I promise to do all that I can to help everyone follow Christ and his church!

Hmm, there is one thing that you could do for me.  If you could send some money through Western Union, no more than $100.  I won’t need more than that.  But I’d like to have some back up cash in case anything goes wrong.  If you could also send me the address of one that’s close to me, if it exists, that would be great.  Remember: I’m in Santa Rosa now.

I’m going to do all that I can to have an awesome week and I’ll let you know what happens.  The Christmas box still hasn’t arrived, but I bet it arrives next week, like the 21^st or something.  I only know if it has arrived every Tuesday, but hey, I’ll keep you posted.  I’m going to head out now, but I want you to know that I’m thinking about you guys always and I hope that you’re all good and safe! See you next week, love you lots and I’ll see you REALLY SOON!! Bye bye!

-Elder Ethan Merrill

Oops! But nothing too serious so no worries :)

Jan 6, 2014 ~ We got an unexpected note from Elder Merrill earlier in the week explaining a bit of a glitch.  When he was using his debit card to get some money out, the card got lost. Yikes! Luckily he was able to let us know right away so I was able to cancel the card to protect his account.   I did let him know in a later letter (that he hadn't gotten yet by the time he wrote this letter) that no money was missing and that we can wire him money as he needs it. I'm glad this happened at the end of his mission and not earlier! Based on the fact that he still hasn't gotten his Christmas box, I would hate for him to have to be dependent on the Argentine post office for something as important as a new debit card!  
WHEW!

That´s a relief about my card.  Hmmmm, just one or 2 questions then,

 1) is there money still in my account?

  2) even if I find the card, I won´t be able to use it, right?

        I´m most worried about if anybody took out any money, so I don´t know if there´s a way to find out or no. well, at least this is all taken care of. That makes me relieved. I´m going to go to center today to see if I can find the place and then to see what I need to do over there. 

            I have been here for a while haven´t I? This week are transfers, so we will indeed know if this is my last area or not. They drive on the right side of the road here but the traffic here is crazy sometimes! The Argentines are really good at using the brakes. LOL. 

           I´m sorry again about the card. Like I say, is there a way to check how much money is on my account? You can just tell me if there is still money there, I just hope that they weren’t able to take anything. I hope no one took anything, but they couldn´t do anything with it if they took it. I think.

            I hope that class goes well for you this week! Tell Kyle that I wish him the best with college as well. Sounds like everything is going well at the house then! Kyle still being creative, Stuart keeping to himself, and the both of them playing Frisbee with everyone. The weather is pretty nice here as well. This last week we´ve had a pretty calm week. The weather has been not to hot nor too cold. But, this week it seems to be heating up a bit again. I don´t know hot it´ll turn out, but there you have it. I never really know. Heh. I´ll be sure to write jess a note.

              Hmmm, still no box for me yet, but I still have a lot of hope that it´ll arrive tomorrow or in a week. It didn´t have much in it right? And if there´s no peanut butter or beef jerky, it should be fine.

             That´s about it for me as well. Life is going by smoothly, doing what I can, and we´re having a lot of success with everything that we do. I like it, it keeps me busy and not trunky. Can you believe that I´m going home in 6 weeks? That´s insane! I just filled out a paper that they sent me about information going home. I wouldn´t be surprised if the mission sends you some information about that. We´ll see how it all goes. Well just know that I love you lots and that I´ll see you later! Bye! Love you!

                                               -Elder Ethan Merrill

Saying goodbye to 2013 and ready to welcome in 2014

December 30, 2013 ~ Well last week's Skype call from Elder Ethan Merrill was so wonderful and fantastic!!!  He looked awesome and he sounded great!!!! I have missed that grin so much! He did show us his shoes which currently look as if every stray dog in Argentina has had a chance to chew them for a bit, but he is determined to keep using them until the end! So crazy!  John got to join in so we had a 3 way call and that was pretty cool.  Jessica and Brad, Stuart, Kyle and Mom were all here in AZ so it was a great event!  Dearest son, we are so pleased with your efforts to work hard as a missionary and to serve Heavenly Father with faith and dedication! All too soon the phone call had to end, but we have our weekly letters to keep us going! Here is his latest:

What a blur! It feels like so long and so short ago!  Talking with you guys it really felt like it lasted only 5 minutes! I was so excited to talk with you all I couldn´t remember all the things that I wanted to say or ask, I swear my brain shut down from the excitement. I was super nervous, I wanted to call at 11:00, and I was waiting and I couldn´t sit still. (We were just as excited here at home too!!! Mom must have let out a monstrously loud cheer when Skype started ringing that a call was coming in!)

I promise to always give it [my mission] my all and stay focused on the task at hand.  I´d heard about this new temple video that they put in the temple. I wonder if they´ll have it here in Buenos Aires? I don´t know if I´ll get to visit the temple here or not but it would be a fun experience. We do get a lot of blessings from the temple don´t we? People need to understand that the things found in this religion are necessary for our salvation; the authority to do these things, baptism, sealed forever, all that are blessings from heaven, given to man if they seek it. 

           I´m super excited for the New Year. It´s weird, I have trouble remembering that it´s 2013, I´m still stuck where I left off in 2012. So if something was made in 2009, I think ´´oh, that was 3 years ago.´´ instead of 4. LOL.  There´ll be A LOT of fireworks for the New Year here. So much that we probably won´t be able to sleep again. But that´s fine. It´ll still be fun. I´ll let you know the moment that the box arrives!

           I´ll write Charlie a little note or something like that. I´m interested to know his thoughts about serving a mission and all that. That´s good that it´s such nice weather back home. Here, we´re having record heat. They say that it hasn´t been this hot in 43 years. What a blast that I get to be here during this special time. LOL. Don´t worry, it´s nothing that I can´t handle.

           I hope that you guys have an awesome new year! I´m good here and I can´t wait to see you all again! I´ll write you all again next year! I´m just doing what I can here and I´ll be seeing you all soon enough! Bye!

                              -Elder Merrill 

2 More Days Until We get to Talk with Elder Merrill

December 23, 2013 ~ WOOHOO!!! Just like Elder Merrill, we are getting so excited about his upcoming phone call home on Christmas Day. Even better, he will be able to do a video call with Skype, so we can see him too!  What a great blessing this use of technology will be to our family and our faithful missionary!! Hurry Up Christmas!

It’s almost Christmas! I can hardly wait!  It´ll be pretty fun to talk to you all again. I hope that everyone has a fun time getting prepared and everything. I´ll give you the what´s-what on how I´ll talk to you. 

           I´m going to try to call at about 11:00 your time, 3:00 my time. There´s a 4 hour difference between Arizona and Argentina. I´ll be calling Christmas day, so we´ll get to have a nice chat in 2 DAYS!!! It feels like just a short time ago that I called home for Mother’s Day. Now here I am again. Calling for Christmas and then heading home in 2 months. 

           Yeah, the Christmas conference was fun. The funny thing was, there was something wrong with the food and some of the elders got sick. We think it was the warm mayonnaise. I was fine though.  Sorry, the box hasn´t arrived yet, but we got a letter saying that the people in the mail room here in Argentina are holding some packages because there´re some things they don´t allow into the country; like beef jerky and peanut butter. We´ll see what happens.

            I bet the Tubac fieldtrip thing was fun. I like the fact that all the kids wanted to sit in the corner with the dunce cap. I may have done the same. LOL. I wonder if the thought crossed their mind of having to do that every day. One time would be fun, but everyday living under those conditions would be kind of tiresome. 

             Sparky could have cancer? I hope she lives long enough until I get back. No doubt you´ve thought of this, but maybe it´s depression about another different cat in the house? Who knows? Well, at least we´ll have Hobbes still for sure when I get back. 

              It´s HOT here. I´m more used to it now, but it is crazy hot here some days. I get to go home in the end of summer, so I get to suffer all summer long and then go home when the heat starts to go away. But don´t worry, I´m laughing as I´m writing this, so I have a good attitude about it. 

            We´re going to travel around center (or downtown I think it´d be. It´s the center of the city) today. I´m going to look for gifts and what not, but for a tourist city, there´s not much to get. Just clothes basically. But there´s usually one or two items of interest. We´ll see what happens.

              Hey, sorry this is short, but we´ll have lots of time to talk this Wednesday for Christmas!! I can´t wait to see you all again and share some time together! Like I say, I´m going to try to call at about 11:00 your time, 3:00 my time. I don´t think there should be any problems, but you never know when unforeseen circumstances could get in the way. But I think we´ll be fine. I love you all and I´ll see you guys in 2 days’ time! I´m so excited! Love you lots! Bye!

                         -Elder Ethan Merrill

Elder Merrill has some fun for the Mission Christmas Conference - Double email edition

Dec. 9, 2013 ~ As I was updating the blog, I realized that I left this letter out – and since I have no idea how to insert it chronologically in between letters already posted, I’m just going to insert it here with this post.  So enjoy 2 weeks’ worth of letters from Elder Merrill. J

Almost Merry Christmas! Yep, it’s getting to that point.  Sorry the translation you put for the title of your email doesn’t make sense.  It translates to:  “I believe you sent us to your time.”  I don’t get what you wanted to say.  (lol, I meant to say I believe you sent us your rain.)  But that’s alright, you can tell me what you wanted to say next week or whatever.  I wanted to see Andrew when he got back, but it’s ok, in a couple of months I’ll be seeing him.  If he really is tall, that’s ok, I think I might be too.  My new companion, Elder Hutchings is really tall too.  So, if Andrew is taller than me, I’ll be used to it!

Hmm, my new area is really big.  For the first time in my mission, I’m serving in a ward, not a branch.  Like you said, my current apartment is much better than my last “new” apartment.  I hope that they are doing good back there. (I hope so too! A working toilet, power, a fridge and a stove WOULD be nice!)

If you look up Mar Del Plata on the internet, I’m certain that you’ll find a lot of things.  Much more that you would for my last areas.  I want to get a couple of last gifts because this is a pretty touristy type of area.  I’ll send an address if I can, but I’m in a strange little place.  I’ll take as many pictures as I can, but it’s hard to ask to borrow a camera.  But I’ll do what I can so don’t worry.

I wonder what Dad will do if he isn’t going to work in North Carolina. He’s a hard worker and I think if they are wondering who to keep and who to let go, he’ll be on the list of those to keep!

Good luck with your lesson.  I know that you’ll do a good job.  People always say that you’re a good teacher, it comes with all the practice you’ve had I guess.  I feel like I’m a lot better now as a teacher, after having taught who-knows-how-many lessons.  I think that it’s also helped me to be a more fluent talker.  If anything, the mission helps improve your social skills.  Hey, I gotta go now, but I’ll be calling with Skype for Christmas.  I’ll let you know the details like when I’m calling and if it is going to be on Skype, but I think we’ll be able to do it again for Christmas.  Anyway, for now, I’ll see ya later and I hope that you have an awesome week! Love you lots! See ya next week! Bye!

-Elder Ethan Merrill

December 16, 2013 ~ Only a few more days left until Christmas and the much awaited phone call home from Elder Merrill. We are so excited about that! But, to keep us in good spirits and cheer, we have another great letter from him for this week:

It’s good that you like to feed the missionaries.  I know that I enjoy it when members give me food.  I´m good. The crazy weather has now shifted to not so crazy weather. Now it´s hot all the time! I don´t mind too much though, having gone through similar times of heat has helped me to get used to it. I like it too because during the summer, there´s vacations and all that, so people are usually in the house. 

             Mar Del Plata is definitely a tourist hot spot, but more for argentines than for people from the states. It´s a nice place, there´s no doubt about it that there´s a lot of people from all around that come here. Mar Del Plata IS huge. 

            This week we had a Christmas conference with the mission president. He came and we went out and sung carols in a plaza. Then we went to an old folk´s retirement home and sung there. Then, 3 other elders and myself were chosen to go to one of the churches here to sing, because the Church was donating wheelchairs to the people who needed them. They were doing that in all parts of South America. Afterward, the people had the chance to go and learn a bit more about the Church and its teachings. It was good fun. Then we went to go have lunch and a little message from president.

            I got the card that you guys sent me! Thanks for wishing me a Merry Christmas! Tell everyone that I miss them a lot and that I want to thank them for writing me and wishing me luck and success! You guys are seriously the best and I can´t wait to talk to you all for Skype!

          I don´t know EXACTLY the details for when I´ll be calling, I just know that I´ll be calling on Christmas day using Skype and that we´ll talk then. I´ll write next week letting you know what time I´ll be calling. 

            Tell Andrew that I´m sorry that I missed his coming home talk, but that I hope to see him at mine. I´ll have to be sure to include 2 or 3 stories in my coming home talk then. I can´t wait to see everyone when I get back too!

             Where is Tubac? I assume it´s in Arizona, but I´ve never heard of it before. Let me know how it goes and all that. 

                Hey, I hope that you have an awesome week! I´m always thinking and praying about you guys too! I can´t wait to talk to you guys face to face and all that! I hope that everyone is doing fine and that the Christmas season treats you all well! I haven´t gotten a Christmas package yet, but there´s still time, I don´t expect it to arrive until later on this month. Anyway, I hope that you all are good and just know that I most certainly am!   See you all later! Love you lots! Bye!

  -Elder Ethan Merrill

Transferred to a new area - more adventures for Elder Merrill

Dec. 2, 2013 ~ Well, after reading the first paragraph, I'm really glad that Elder Merrill has been moved to another area! And glad it seems like a more livable/capable apartment! lol

How ya doing?  I´m good here. A lot has happened really. When it got to the end of the transfer, we began to pack up because we were staying in the house of a member, but her daughter came to move into the house we were in, so we had to go.  We found an apartment, and it was really nice.  Big and spacy, and it was in a part of the city that was pretty safe. But it didn´t have a fridge or a washing machine, and there was no power and the stove didn´t work. Then the toilet got clogged by another Elder and we got an infestation of ants. 

  Then transfer calls came in the next day. and I got transferred. AGAIN. Right now, I´m serving in a REALLY big city called Mar Del Plata. That means sea of silver. I´m right on the coastline, just like in Necochea. The apartment that we live in now is really nice, but a little messy. I´m taking the place of an Elder who just died, or finished his mission. I think he must´ve been a hoarder or something because you wouldn´t imagine the junk that this Elder left behind. Basically the whole apartment is a mess.  But it´s a big apartment, so it´s not too bad. My new companion is called Elder Hutchings. He´s from Las Vegas, Nevada. Apparently, he´s passed through Phoenix to go see basketball games and stuff like that. That´s pretty cool I thought.

             I missed having Thanksgiving with you guys....but don´t worry, we´ll be seeing each other soon enough. I think that´s funny about Jess sleeping in a bit too late.  (She was ‘supposed’ to come help prepare the stuffing and turkey but as mentioned earlier, she slept in too late to help)  I can see that with her. I hope that you still enjoyed it even though it was a small thanksgiving. 

           And now to answer some of your questions.  Christmas for us is a conference with half of the missionaries. One half goes to the city of Bahía Blanca and the other half goes to the city where I am now, Mar Del Plata. I don´t remember when, but it´ll be in two weeks or something like that I think. And then I get to call home when it´s Christmas! I can´t wait to see you all again! It feels like it was just yesterday that I called home for mother´s day.

             Thanks for sending me a package! I´ll let you know ASAP when it arrives. If it doesn´t arrive in time for Christmas, it will not long after. Christmas here is kind of weird because it´s hot outside. I don´t what it´s like for the argentines, but I lose a bit of the Christmas spirit walking around in the heat. It´s just not the same. Scratch that, it´s completely the opposite! But they still celebrate with trees and stuff like that. There´s just no reference to snow.

              Wow, Andrew comes home in 4 days, that´s pretty crazy. Say hello to him for me, and tell him that I´ll be there not long after. Speaking of missionaries, tell Ryan that I´ll be kind of bummed that he won´t be there either, but I´ll write him all the same. Send me Charlie’s E-mail for the mission and I´ll send him a letter.  The weather here has been hot but also REALLY weird. Hot, then rainy, then windy and cold, and all in the same day! I can´t tell you how weird it is to experience such calm and then inclement weather all in the same day.

              Hey I hope that you have a great week as well. You won´t be getting many more letters from me. Only 11 more! I get a little trunky if I think on it too much, so I´ll avoid the subject. I love you all and I want to thank you for all the support that you send my way! See you all later! Love you! Bye!

                                                                                -Elder Ethan Merrill