Elder Merrill is soooooo close to being home! Woohoo!!!

Feb. 17, 2012 ~ So the excitement over Elder Ethan Merrill’s soon to be arrival home is growing!  We are happy to get his letter today, it may even be his last one! But we hope that he can send one more next week. Here is what he has to say:

“Maybe one more letter” ~ who knows? I don’t know what will happen until we leave Buenos Aires at 9:30pm but I have figured that it could be something like this:

Monday, the 24^th, is still a P-day for us.  So we have our studies until 10am and then we get to wander around Bahia Blanca until 6pm.  It’s like a normal P-day, we just do want we want to (or need do) until the end.  I honestly don’t know if we will get to write one more letter than or not.  If I get the chance I will, but this is all just a guess.  At 6pm, we have a Family Home Evening thing with President Parreno. Then Tuesday, I have no idea what will happen, but at the end of that day we leave Bueno Aires. Then I get home!

I’m not going to lie, it’s kind of freaking me out that I only have about 6 days left – but it’s weird too.  It hasn’t quite hit me yet. It was like that when I got to the MTC.  I don’t think that it quite hit me that I was on the mission until the 3^rd day or something like that.  But I’m doing fine for now, good and focused.

I’m super excited that my box arrived as well.  I was worried that it was going to arrive either, but here it is! And I’ve enjoyed the Doritos and Twix a lot. Also the Star Wars gummies.  I suppose everybody is on a Star Wars craze with the prospect of Star Wars 7 coming out at the end of the year or something like that.

So it’s Rodeo week huh?  That’s nice that you and Stuart get to go and visit the temple.  I can’t wait to go again; apart from all the spiritual blessings that come from the temple, I want to see this new video they put out.  Then it’ll be even more fun and cool when the Tucson Temple opens up.

Hmm…hot huh? Well, I don’t know if that’ll bother me or not, but heat is something I’m used to by now.  Whatever happens, I think that I’ll be fine.  Wow, hearing all about the changes that happened to my room and Jessica’s old room is nuts!  The house will be recognizable still right? Just kidding. I think I’ll like the new changes.  If we can clean and organize and re-arrange things every once in a while, it keeps the mind fresh and we can try out new ways to walk about the house.  Should be fun!

I wrote down the flight information in the case that they don’t give me it or if my tickets aren’t clear…but I really think that they are just holding them until I get to the mission office.  I’ll print it out, it’ll be good to have an extra copy.  Atlanta is one of the biggest airports in the states, right?  I think I passed through there, but there wasn’t much time so I didn’t see a lot of it.  I’d like to explore it a little but don’t worry, I’ll make the flight and everything.  I don’t know why but I like the feeling of airports. I’ll call collect too so we can talk!

Well, I don’t know just how excited you guys are but I’m CRAZY excited to see you all again! I know it’s only a short time more, but I’ll do my best to be focused and then it will be the time when I get home.  I love you lots and I hope that you guys have a great week! Have fun at the temple and I’ll see you all SOOOOOOON!!!!!

LOVE YOU LOTS!!!!

-Elder Ethan Merrill

PS. I’M SUPER EXCITED TO SEE YOU ALL AGAIN!!! SEE YOU SOON!!!!!

-Elder Ethan Merrill

The Christmas box arrived!!! Just in the nick of time!

Feb. 10, 2014 ~ Happy Happy Monday to us as we get another letter from Elder Ethan Merrill. I find myself getting so happy at the thought of seeing him again soon that I am both immensely excited and teary-eyed with happiness. It has been a blessing to know that he is serving faithfully and will be back home soon! I am also VERY RELIEVED that the Christmas box I mailed him in November finally got to him! I was quite sure at this point that he would come home without having ever received it, so I’m glad he got it. Not sure why the Argentinian postal service had to hold it for 2 ½ months, sheesh! But I am very glad he got it finally!

Heya Mom! (One more letter!) (Hopefully two, not sure when he will return to the mission home but I hope he will still be able to send us a Monday letter that final week) I´m doing good this week.  Well, we´ve just been going around doing what we usually do. Nothing really new, but we´ve found this family that we´re teaching.  They belong to a church that believes the Sabbath must be on Saturday. They think that the whole world believes in a lie and us in particular because the only day we have ´´worship´´ is on Sunday. Well, I won´t go into the details, but needless to say, we have some long chats with them. (one of the unexpected blessings serving a mission can bring is 1) an exposure to other cultures/beliefs and learning how to accept and respect others even if they believe differently and 2) a deeper understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ and a testimony of the truths that have been restored – such as the knowledge that while we may have formal meetings on Sunday, we truly worship every day when we try to live our lives as the Savior would have us do.)

           But apart from that, things are pretty chill. It´s not too hot, and I´m just coasting along until the 28th. That is pretty crazy to think about. That in just 2 short weeks, we´ll be seeing each other again! But I won´t get trunky. I´ll just do what I can to focus on the work and all that. But I still can´t wait to see everyone and do everything again. Heh heh. I´m glad that you got my travel papers and all that! I still don´t know any information, they´re probably going to give me it when I get to the office in Bahía Blanca. or just give me the necessary plane tickets. LOL. We´ll talk in the airport, so I´ll let you know where I am and when I should get to my next destination, so we can keep track of all that.  

            Wow, I knew about the Bryce going to Canada. That´s pretty cool. I may have to wait awhile until I see them again, but perhaps I´ll write them or something. It´s weird but cool to think about: most of the people I know going on missions and all that. Hey speaking of missions, that Christmas box that you sent to me arrived!! Thank you so much for the Doritos and Twix as usual, I also enjoyed the star wars gummies, cookies, lifesavers and the star trek shirt. I was pretty content to get those. But there you have it. I´m stoked that those got to me in time. 

         Sorry about your flu thing, I hope it´s not serious, but you can work and all so it sounds more like an annoyance than an impediment. (Stops you from working.) I´ve had a couple of problems here because of allergies. Nothing big, just the usual. A stuffy nose and sneezing a lot. But it doesn´t affect me much. 

          That´s cool about what you´re teaching your students and all. I always enjoy hearing what´s going on back home and all that.  When you told me that you were teaching your students the song, ´´ The Star Spangled Banner´´ that made me think about the time that I did it too. I don´t remember it too well, but I do remember that I was super scared at the time. Public speaking scares me, public performing is even more so. Thanks for all the compliments though. I do like volunteering, but I´m not sure why.  I guess it´s one of those personality things....

         Hmmm, hot weather? Well, that´s fine for now, with 2 weeks left, I´m really not too fussed about the weather. There´s a light at the end of the tunnel and everything now. I´m interested to see how things are when I get home. Here, it´s not as hot as it was, but it´s still hot. Back home, I wonder if it´ll feel super cold. Well, I won´t mind much I think, I´ll just be happy to see everyone again. Poor dad, I skimmed his letter before reading yours, and he told me that things were kind of chilly down there. I´ll see how things go when I get back. Anyway, I hope that things go well for you all, see you all next week! Love you lots! Bye!

                          -Elder Ethan Merrill

February! The last month of his mission! Way to go Elder Merrill!!!

February 3, 2014 ~ This is the month!!! The final month of Elder Merrill’s mission!  I can hardly believe it is finally here! Funny how it seems to take forever to arrive but then when it does, it didn’t seem so long all the time (just sometimes!).  He sounds good, more relaxed now that he isn’t penniless in a new city, whew! As always, it’s such a blessing to hear from him! We sure love you Elder Merrill J

Heya Mom! how ya doing?  I´m good here. Really good! I won´t be too trunky but I come home in 25 days!! I don´t know if I want people knowing when I get home or not.....I kind of want it to be a surprise. I want to scare the pants off of James when I get home, but I don´t know. If nobody knows when I get home, then I have to go and tell everyone, design a party, stuff like that. I´m still not sure what I want to do......(I will have to write him in his letter for next week that EVERYBODY knows when he is coming home! Many of them have been counting down with us and I already have a welcome home party planned, so yeah…..lol)

           But that´s enough of being trunky I suppose. Hmmm, this direction that I gave you, I hope it was right. I´ve never even heard of the streets Higgins or Lespade.(we were trying to look up his address on Google Earth…apparently we were not close, lol)  Well, at least you have the right city. I think that I´m close to the city´s center, but I´m not sure. Things are going good here for me. We have a lot of people to teach and it´s not nearly as hot as it was the first week that I was here. I´m just doing what I can and teaching everyone and all that. If I let trunky thoughts flood my brain, I´m doomed. But it´s not that bad really. It doesn´t even feel like I´m going home really. It just feels like another transfer. I guess it´ll hit me when I´m boarding the plane or something like that. LOL. 

            Sorry about your cough, I know it can be difficult to work when you´re not feeling 100%. It´s good that Kyle’s feeling better. I think that´s interesting that you´re having slightly cooler days. I would´ve thought it´d be going up slightly, now that you´re in February. That´s always a fun experience what with the quilt and all. I hope that I get to try that out one time before it gets too warm. Heh. It´s good that things are about the same back home. You still have that quilt you made for me right? That was really nice of you to make one for all of us. I want to use it when I get back I think.

             I didn´t know that Bryce was going to be in the MTC so soon! Wow....well that´s good for him. I can´t believe that Charlie got to be his welcome host, how cool is that! That story that Heather told? It´s true. Every word of it. Dogs are everywhere. Streets, airport terminals, hospitals, you name it, dogs are probably there. I suppose that Heather’s mission will be ending soon... but I can´t remember when. (Hermana Heather McRae is a friend of ours who is also currently serving a mission in Argentina – in the northwest area so far away from Elder Merrill. She drew us a picture of her area that had her little apartment and a little bakery and then a ton of X’s all over the picture – the X’s represented dogs. I knew Elder Merrill would laugh and understand since he has been telling us about the hordes of dogs all over the place his entire mission.)

               Yeah I still have those emergency funds. I doubt I´ll run into any problems, but you never know. But I´ve got plenty of cash on hand, American and Argentinian. So if anything happens, I´m not too worried. Thanks for all the complements! I try to be wise with money and all that, and I´ve only been in a kind of crisis once, and that was because they couldn´t send me the money fast enough. I´m doing just fine here. 

              I´m glad you enjoy being a teacher. That´s funny about the Grandparent’s day becoming Grandperson’s day. It was the Grandparents that visited? Or was it the whole family? If it was the whole family I can see it being somewhat crowded. Whatever the case, it was still fun I suppose. (At my school, for Grandperson’s day, family members came to class and my class played a jeopardy game based on things we had learned so far and then the kids and families all got to eat lunch together, so it was a fun day for all).

                Well, I don´t know if anything we did is worth telling. It´s just the same thing. We walk and talk and we do what we can to help everyone we see. There are some crazy things that happen every once in a while, but aside from that, there´s just nothing new really. Things are winding down to a close here. Everything exciting that could happen has basically already happened. Our area is part city, part sandy desert. There are parts that we go that are not-so-fancy and there´s a lot of sand and nothing in those parts, but on the whole, the houses that we visit are kind of well-kept. On the whole, it´s an area that I enjoy. Kind of big too, we don´t run out of areas to visit during the day. I hope that the pictures that I take will serve as good images as to how my areas look. Well, we´ll see them all soon enough I suppose. 

               That´s about all for this week I guess. I hope that you all have an awesome week back home and just know that I´m thinking about you guys and I´ll see you guys REALLY soon! I can´t wait! But I´m going to do my best to focus for right now. Have a good week! Love you lots! See ya around! Bye!

                               -Elder Ethan Merrill  

Saying goodbye to January and Hello to February 2014

Well, we are getting down to what will be Elder Ethan Merrill’s final month in his mission! At home, we are setting up his room, which means buying him a bed and emptying it of all the things we stored in there while the house was getting fixed from the flooding. I find myself so insanely happy and anxious for this last month to end. I remember when his older brother Stuart was on his mission and the last 2 weeks were so painfully torturous! It is a good thing I am teaching this year as that does keep me super busy.  But I am so ready to see my son again! J

Heya Mom!  I’m trying not to be too trunky as well. (I had said, for the first time his whole mission, a countdown – that we would be seeing him in 30 days and that I couldn’t help getting a little teary, for joy, at the thought!)  It’s fairly easy, we have a lot to do here.  Our area is nice and big, we have lots of people to contact.  I still can’t believe that I’m here at the end of the mission!  It hasn’t exactly hit me that in 30 days I’ll be seeing you all again, but I figure it’ll hit me when I have like 2 weeks left or something like that.  Heh, that’s pretty crazy when I think about it!

I can’t tell you how grateful I am that I was able to receive the money you sent me and that you were online right when I needed your help!  It’s nothing short of a miracle.  I can’t tell you how depressed I was feeling because I didn’t have any food and I didn’t know when I would get some either, so I didn’t have any glimmer of hope inside.  I was kind of discouraged.  I am truly grateful that all that was sorted out as you put it “fairly easily.”

That stinks about having that cough going on back home.  It’s pretty annoying that your voice doesn’t work either I bet.  I had that once in the MTC, but after that, I never really had any voice-altering symptoms.  I’ve been sick one or two times, but for the majority of the mission I’ve been in high health.  LOL, I’d hate to come back just to get allergies when I come home.  (One of the trees that triggers his allergies is in high bloom currently L ) We’ll see what happens.

So I live on a street called Brown.  I live on the second floor, but there isn’t a first floor.  There’s just a garage.  I’ll show you all the pictures when I get home, but it’s just that basically.  We live on a house that is elevated.  It may be hot this week, but I don’t think it’ll be as hot as when I first got here.  I’ll be fine as long as I drink plenty of water, and lots of people give us water.  My companion, as you guessed, is from Chile.  He’s fun and a good teacher, but he talks A LOT! I don’t have much to do when we’re teaching because he wants to teach everything. J  But that’s alright, he’s still got 10 months left so more practice will be good for him. 

Whew, I feel lucky! I’m glad that this e-mail site saves the drafts that we write up automatically! The computer just restarted out of nowhere, so I had to wait a little bit for it to boot up again.  Anyway, to end, the branch I’m in is kind of small, but we have two branches that meet in the same building, so it’s somewhat packed on Sundays.

Hey, I’m going to head out now, but I want to thank you for always writing me and giving me support and info on life and all that!  I REALLY can’t wait to see you all again! I’m going to focus until the end but just know that I’m always thinking about you guys and hoping that you have a great week!  Love you lots! Bye!!

-Elder Ethan Merrill

A nervous week but all ends well

This week’s letter is a testimony to the way Heavenly Father helps us and blesses us.  Some people may read this story and think, whatever, it’s no big deal. But I know, and Elder Merrill knows, that we are given challenges as a way to grow and even more importantly as a way to exercise faith and see miracles, no matter how big or small, as a result of that faith.  I am grateful for the opportunities our Heavenly Father gives us to see his helping hand.

Hot. Hot. HOT.  It’s way too hot here.  (checking Santa Rosa’s weather we learn it’s a balmy 106*….yep, that’s hot!)  Wow, I didn’t realize how much traveling I did.  Like always, I usually sleep on the bus ride.  Santa Rosa is a pretty big city, they divided it up into 5 parts.  3 and 5 are in one zone and 1, 2, and 4 is another I suppose.  We’re in the capital huh? (yeah, Dad and Mom love to google Elder Merrill’s areas and see what we can learn about where he is – and yep, Santa Rosa is the capital of the La Pampas province and is just a little south of the center of Argentina.)  I suppose I knew that but it never really hit me…well, I know now.  Ok, like you said, it is WAY TOO HOT here!  I can’t sleep at night and the refrigerator doesn’t work properly during the day.  We live on the 2^nd floor and all the hot air rises so it’s a pain during the day and it doesn’t cool off much during the night.  I don’t mean to complain, but I have some problems and it’s kind of miserable here at the moment for me.

The big problem that I have right now that’s affecting me is this:  I had to use all that was left of my money to travel here and the mission will give me the money back.  But, what usually takes 2 days has already been a week.  I don’t have any money which means I don’t have any food.  I’m starving right now and my companion doesn’t have any money either.  I don’t mean to complain or worry you, I’m just in a bad fix.  The mission said the money would arrive today and it hasn’t so that made me feel frustrated and kind of hopeless.  But like I said, don’t worry about it.  It’ll probably arrive tomorrow. But I kind of need some money today as I didn’t have groceries yesterday and I don’t have any today.  I could call the zone leaders for some money but I want to go with plan B and get some money from Western Union.

(about 2 weeks ago, Elder Merrill’s debit card was lost.  So we came up with a plan of using Western Union to send him some cash to use for the rest of his mission.  I hunted up locations there in Santa Rosa and in my email to him this week, sent him those locations with maps and directions as I knew Dad and I wanted to make sure he had some cash.  Now I’m even gladder I did this!).

I don’t know if the money will arrive tomorrow or maybe it might take 2-3 days.  I can only communicate with you on Monday but I’m going to try and write to you tomorrow to see your answer to this.  What happens now, I don’t know.  Will you do me a favor?  Can you try and send the money today or something and then write me? Tell me the details about how to get it.  I’ll come to a computer tomorrow and check to see if you have sent me a letter.  I’m sorry this letter is short, but I feel super ‘down’ at the moment.

(In the wonderful way Heavenly Father blesses us for faith and obedience – I actually had this day off of work – it’s a Monday holiday and so I was home to chat live with Elder Merrill and so could work immediately on this problem for him!)

Mom:  Hey son. Go to this place to get the cash from us.  We will send you $200 and you can let me know if you need more.  I LOVE YOU! This is a difficult challenge and I’m sorry about it! We will get you taken care of as soon as possible.  What kind of ID do you have with you? I want to make sure I put the same name on the money transfer.  Love Mom

Elder Merrill:  I have an ID here for Argentina. It’s my full name.

Mom:  Ok, the money transfer will be instantaneous as it’s an electronic transfer.  I can send it from Fry’s which is right up the street.  If you think you can hang out at the computer for another 20 minutes, I can come back and let  you know if it’s done or not. Then you and your companion can go hunt the location down. Love Mom

Elder Merrill:  hmm, the longer I wait here, the more money I use up.  Would it be alright if I just come back in like 40 minutes after we’re done?  Do you have anywhere you need to go this morning, like school? Apart from that, it sounds like a plan!

Mom:  that sounds fine.  Let me go to the store and do that and then you check back in with me in 30-40 min.  Ok, I’ll talk to you soon! (no, I don’t have work today so I have plenty of time to help you!)  LOVE YA! Mom

Elder Merrill:  Alright. I’m going to head to that location in about 40 minutes to see if it’s there or not.  I’ve seen a form for Western Union.  It says that I need a code to take out the money I think.  Do you know anything about that? – me

Mom -  Ah, I see what you mean by code.  It’s the tracking number.  So I will need to give that to you before you go pick up the money.  Can you do that, do you have any money to get back on the computer station?  Also, will the amount I’m sending be enough? Love Mom

Elder Merrill – Yes, that will be more than enough, don’t worry.  Ok, this tracking number.  Go to the store and then write me what it is.  I’ll come back here in roughly 45 minutes or so.  I’ll grab the code and then head on over.  If I have the money, I’ll write you, if not, we’ll see what happens.  You’re going to Fry’s now right? – me

Mom:  Sounds like a good plan. Yep, I’m going right now and I’ll chat with you again soon, when I give you the tracking number.  Talk to you soon son! I love you! J Mom.  Bye for now.

Elder Merrill:  Alright, I’ll come back in about 45 minutes.  Drive safe and don’t worry.  I can’t tell you what comfort and peace I have that you were actually here of all mornings when I needed you the most! I’m gonna go now but I’ll be back. See you soon. Love you lots! Bye! Elder Ethan Merrill

30 minutes later

Mom:  Hello son! Here is the number you need.  You can take that to any of the Western Union places and if you give them that number they can look up the transfer and give you the money.  Make sure you have your ID with you.  I don’t know if they will charge you a fee to pick it up, hopefully not.  I’m sorry you have had a stressful week about this. I’m very glad that I was able to be online with you today!! Heavenly Father blessed us with technology that is for sure!  Good luck! If you can, try and let me know if you were able to get the money ok. If you can’t, don’t worry about it.  LOVE YOU SON!!! You are a great man doing great things! Love you so much! Mom

Elder Merrill – OOHHH Thank you so much! I’m going to run over to Western Union to see if they have it or not.  If not, don’t worry, we can always try a little later.  Like I say, I’m in a hard spot right now, but it isn’t often that I find myself in situations like this. Almost never really.  I don’t think that I’ll have to get another transfer from you again.  I’m going to head over now.  I don’t know at this moment, but sometimes the stores close at about 1:30 here.  I hope that it’s still open when I go.  If not, I’ll have to try later on, but before P-day ends (6pm here, 2pm your time.)  I’ll let you know if I have the money or not.  See you around! I love you lots! Thank you so much for your help and willingness to help me out! Me

Mom:  Good luck! Love ya!

Elder Merrill:  Thanks a lot! Love you too. Tell Dad the same! I’ll write you as soon as I can to let you know if I have the money or not. Me

Several hours later

Elder Merrill:  And the verdict is:   Hey ya Mom! I have the money!  Thank you soooo much for being able to help me with this! Don’t worry, I’ve got more than enough money to last me to the end.  I’m not a crazy spender either so I won’t be running out.  So thanks again! I was actually super depressed/worried because I didn’t have any money or food, but now I’m all good.  It took such a long time to get back to you because the bank closes at 1 and doesn’t open again until 4:30.  Argentina is kind of crazy like that.  But the transaction was smooth and I have enough money to survive until the end of the world if I wanted, lol.  I hope that you’re all good back home and I’ll be writing you next week to tell you about this area.  Love you LOTS! Thanks again! See you next week!!   -Elder Ethan Merrill