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 2nd 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
No comments:
Post a Comment