Another Awesome Email Chat with Elder Merrill

It's another incredible chance to chat with Elder Merrill as he is at a computer writing letters. It is such a joy to have these moments; to feel like we are talking together despite the great distances.

Mom:  Hi son! Your letter just popped up, I'm so happy!!! I will go read your letter now but first I wanted to say hi, I'm here and I hope you are having a good afternoon.  Love ya! Mom

Elder Merrill:  Cool, I'm gonna write dad and Andrew Stockton and then you again. love you! -me

Mom: Sounds good son! You take your time, I'll be here.  :)  wow, from what you say, I'm glad it is just cloudy and not rainy! Season-wise, you are about half-way through fall and we are half-way through spring.  Yeah, it is definitely getting hot. I used to just turn the AC on for about 2 hours, from like 5-7pm. Now I have to start turning it on around 1pm because it is too warm.  We haven't had rain for quite a while too, we usually don't during the spring.  The little g round squirrels are out in droves right now though. They are so funny to me. And I'm glad you are still taking pictures regularly! :) Love you! Mom

Elder Merrill: Well cool. I'm all finished here, I have a half hour more or less to talk, so if you run out of things to talk about, don't worry. LOL

Mom:  Nope, I'm good! I'm your mom, I can chat forever!!! LOL. Stuart in fact is always teasing me when I'm going to Sis. Bahr's because she and I can chat for hours!  I'll be like "Hey, I'm going to Sis. Bahr's" and Stuart will say "Ok, we will see you on Thursday" and I'm like "HEY! It's only Monday! We aren't that bad!" But we are, lol.  We are babysitting Jessica's cat Roo and so Sparky is on the warpath! She still doesn't like any other animal.  Roo is sooooooo sweet! He loves to play and is crazy soft and silky.  He does this thing where he runs (and I mean runs!) up to you and flops on your feet like all of his bones have totally disintegrated and he can no longer move! So you have to pet him.  Well, he is downstairs and I'm up here now with Sparky at the computer and she feels like she has conquered her world by meowing very forcefully at Roo and so now she is purring up a storm because she is the Ultimate Queen once again. So silly. LOVE ya! Mom

Elder Merrill:  LOL, the stories about the cats are funny.  I wonder what made Jess & Brad decide on the name Roo. I wonder if they got it from Winnie the Pooh? That's the only reason I can think of.  I see a lot of cats and dogs here.  I usually get one of two responses from them. Dogs: 1. they will back at me and follow me around with this threat-like look in their eye or 2. I pet them and they sit there happily.  Cats:  They'll sit there and let me pet them, then they run away.  Animals sure are weird sometimes.  I just got the picture of Kyle's graduation announcement!

Mom:  Yeah, animals are odd at times.  I don't remember why they named their cat Roo, I'll have to ask them.  So what did you have for lunch today?  In your first area, you talked about getting pizzas, are they different from the ones here in America?  In turkey, they were more like cheese and sliced tomatoes on flatbread.  They had these mini-sized ones with very spicy beef that you and dad used to eat constantly!!! Love You! Mom

Elder Merrill:  For lunch, funnily enough, I had hamburgers today.  The pizza in Turkey that you described sounds weird and I don't think I'd like it now.  I think it's funny that I like hamburgers now.  I remember back at home, I didn't like them much.  I just took a bite and thought, "huh, this hamburger is pretty good." I bought them and ate them again today, lol.

Mom:  That is great, that you like the hamburgers!  Our tastes often change as we continue to get older. I hated tomatoes until we moved to Turkey and then one day (because they eat tomatoes with everything!) I tried one and loved it! Stuart came back from his mission eating salads (instead of just carrot or cucumber sticks) and I was just chatting with dad about what you would eat after your mission that you didn't before. Funny! I'm  glad you enjoyed it.  Oh yeah, I better remind Kyle to look for the picture collage when he is at Project Grad then. Good advice! LOVE ya! Mom

Elder Merrill:  That's funny - I still don't like tomatoes but they eat that a lot here.  Mayonnaise too. Heh, I wonder what'll be different about my tastes too.  I don't know, some things are slightly different here, but are similar still to something in the states, so I know waht I'm putting in my mouth most of the time.  I'll miss a lot of the foods here...I have to go now, I'm sorry I can't wait for a reply but know that I love you and the family! I miss you lots and I can't wait to call home to talk to you all!! See ya! Have a good week!  

Elder Ethan Merrill

Sharing the Week's News with Elder Merrill

April 29, 2013

Wow, it seems like April was just starting and now it's at the end and we are heading into May. Elder Merrill writes another great letter about how he is doing and reminiscing about his graduation night as we talk about his brother Kyle's upcoming graduation. Love you lots Elder Merrill :) 

Whoo! How are you guys doing? I haven´t had much to do this week, just the normal routine. Feels like a long Sunday huh? Some days it feels like I´m working forever, and others, it feels like I´ve been working for only 1 hour. The mission overall goes super fast though. Speaking of super fast, the 14th of May is when I hit 14 months and marks when I left the MTC a year ago. I remember being so excited and happy to get to go to work in the field. But that´s all that´ll be important. This is the last week of the transfer and I don´t know if I´ll stay or go, but I´ll be fine with either.

        That´s a neat story about the family who found out about the gospel while on vacation. Who knew that they would get back from their trip changed for always? I´m sorry about Elder Wynn. That´s gotta be rough. I remember one of the elders in South Carolina who had a grandpa who was dying. He got to talk with him on the phone for a little while. Well, I always pray that you guys are safe in my prayers. I miss you all too, but I know that we´ll see each other soon!

          Hot huh? Well, it´s getting a little bit colder here, but not a lot. We´ve been having a strange pattern with the weather here. It gets cloudy in the morning, clears up by about 3, and then gets cloudy again at around 7. Never rains though. It sucks walking in the muddy streets, so I´m glad if it’s just cloudy and no rain.

              I remember that picture collage! I almost missed it, then I saw a group of students looking at a bunch of pictures on the wall and then I realized, ¨Hey! I´m there on the wall!¨ I bet Kyle will like the LDS prom, I didn´t go, but I´m fine with that. The school prom was a bit more fun I think because I knew everybody. No worries, I´m taking a bunch of photos, and I try to make it distinct. I try to think to take a picture of something that is only found here in Argentina.

               The ward meeting here is interesting. We have the same schedule, sacrament and then the classes, we even have the same size building perhaps. (But this is one of the few that’s really big.) The only difference is the amount of people we have. If you can imagine sacrament meeting with only 20 people. That´s how ours is here. Yeah we sing in Spanish. I don´t have any of the songs memorized like I do in English, but I can understand the words now. Yeah, the missionaries always have to help out with something, from the sacrament to teaching classes.

            That´s about all for now really. I hope that you guys are all doing well and that things are nice and relaxing this week! I still need permission to call home the 19th instead of the 12th, but I think I´ll get it. I´ll call President Parreño by phone if I need to. I´ll let you know what happens with that. I love you all a lot and miss you all! See ya around!

                       -Elder Ethan Merrill 

Email Chat with our Awesome Son

April 22, 2013

I was able to have an email chat with Elder Merrill as he had his computer time to write letters. It is a blessing to have technology that allows these opportunities to communicate with him. We miss him so much and these moments are definitely treasured!

Mom: Hey Elder Merrill, I sure love you! What a joy to hear from you today! I hope your P-Day has been going well and thanks for writing another totally awesome letter! You are the best letter writer, that is for sure!Also, can I tell you how sincerely proud of you I am. You are doing such a great job as a missionary and you always seem to be trying to have the best attitude and keeping your eye on making each day a new, fresh start for getting out and getting work done. You are truly impressive to me!

Yep, quilt is done, yeah! Ok, I'll go re-read your letter again to think of more good comments and I'll chat with you some more. Answer other letters as you need to, I'll be here! LOVE YA!

Love Mom

Elder Merrill: Love you too! I´ll send you a letter at the end, but I only have this last one to write, so we actually have a bunch of time to chat today. Love you!

Mom: Hey son. Cool, I love when we get to chat! I was just talking to Jess (she is going to come over later to do laundry) and she says to tell you hi. :)

Yeah, the bombing thing was crazy. These 2 brothers from Chechnya (near Russia) had been living in the states for something like 8 years and the older one turned a bit fanatical and they set off 2 backpack bombs near the end of the race during the Boston Marathon. 3 people were killed and almost 200 were badly injured, it was all very sad. The FBI and other agencies combed through hours of video footage and put out pictures and after a couple of days, found them. The older brother was killed and the younger one wounded. It was all pretty crazy. But what a great job the law officers did in finding them so quickly and solving this.

What else is going on? Kyle has school prom this weekend and then the LDS prom next weekend, so he is looking forward to that. I am working on his picture collage, to get put up on the walls for Project Grad. He is ECSTATIC because the theme is Star Wars, lol.

So your shoes are holding out pretty good huh? I'm glad for that! And glad your dental work seems to be going well. LOVE YOU LOTS still :) Mom

Elder Merrill: Heya, I´m good. Tell Jess I say hi and that I miss her. Brad too.

        That bombing thing is pretty crazy! Well, with a bomb, it´s lucky that there were so few deaths, but over 200 badly injured? That´s pretty nuts. I wonder how people get that far gone. I don´t understand how in their mind hurting and killing solves things. But if they´re psychopaths, there really is no understanding they´re minds.

        I hope that Kyle enjoys his grad night, mine was a blast, but I had this funny feeling afterward, it was kinda like, ¨what now?¨ well, like I say, make a plan and just take it one step at a time.
    

        My shoes are doing pretty good actually. I think it’s possible that both will still be able to be used after the mission. But they probably won´t look pretty. But the point is, I can still wear them. I´m gonna go see the dentist in a week for the final part. 

Mom: I will tell them you said hi :)  I think Kyle will enjoy grad night a lot. It can be a bit of a weird moment, realizing that high school is over and adulthood is beginning. Having a goal or purpose sure helps. Yeah, he is slowly putting out job applications and then is planning on starting at Pima in August. He isn't sure when he wants to put in his missionary papers yet, but if I had to guess I would say not until next year.  Whenever he chooses, we will support him fully.

I am laughing at the part where you say your shoes might not look pretty. That's ok, as long as they continue to support your feet! 

The weather is good. We had some cool temperatures last week which I really liked. It is still nice in the mornings but I think it is supposed to be 90 for most of this week, hot afternoons that is for sure! No rain though.

How was grocery shopping today? What are you making for dinner tonight?? Do you guys take turns making dinner or do you make your own stuff each night?

Love Mom

Elder Merrill: Good good. I hope that they´re doing all good. I really enjoyed grad night, so I know Kyle´ll have fun with that. I didn´t know that he wanted to do college, That´ll be interesting. My younger brother will have had more schooling then me. LOL. I hope he has success finding a job.

       Yeah, my shoes aren´t torn up, but yhey´re a little worn now. One with a hole in the side, but I patched that up with some glue. I don´t mind the heat. The problem is that you can always put on more clothes as a missionary, but you can only take so many off. Walking around in a shirt and tie in summer can be murder. But it’s not so bad. I did do grocery shopping today, and I have lunch but I really don´t have dinner. I know that sounds super weird, but we have kind of a big lunch. I usually make my own stuff, and like I say, I make lunch nothing more. Hey, my time is almost up, I´m gonna stay so you can E-mail me and then I´m gonna reply and go.

Mom: You have a super week son and know that we love you so very very much! Stay safe and healthy and keep on pressing on with the work!!!! You are wonderful son and we keep you in our hearts and prayers all the time. LOVE YA!!!!!!

Elder Merrill:I sure love you mom! I hope that you have an awesome week too and let everyone know that I´m thinking of them! I´m praying for you guys everyday and I hope that you all have success in everything you do! love you lots and see you next week!

Mom: See ya next week son! xoxo Love Mom :)

 

April is flying by!

April 22, 2013

It's time for another fantastic letter from our fantastic missionary!  We are glad to hear that he is doing well and trying to work hard. Keep up the great work Elder Merrill :) 

How are you doing? I´m good. April really is going by super fast! This is the 2nd to last week, and next week is the last one of the transfer. On May 14th, I´ll complete 14 months and that´s the date when I left the MTC, that´s crazy! The thing that gets me is that when I hit 16 months, every month mark in the mission from then on is some sort of milestone until 20 months, and then it´ll practically be over! But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, I´m still at 13 months right now. That´s still a lot though, huh?

          What a crazy cat we have, I miss her a lot sometimes. Cats aren´t common, but I see a few every couple of days or so. I saw one this morning when I was on the roof of our house funny enough, it was on the ground and it just looked up at me and meowed a couple of times, then I went inside to eat something. We´ve had a relaxing P-day, but every single one is just so fast, and every week it seems shorter and shorter. Well, I´m told that´s a sign of getting older on the mission.

            My week was kinda slow truth be told. Like I said, we don´t have many people to talk to, and it seems like nobody wants to talk to us, but DON´T WORRY, I´m in high spirits and I´m always ready to try to find people the next day if we don´t meet any on one day. I hope that we still have people to talk to at the end of this transfer because if I go, I´m not leaving behind anyone for the next elders to talk to!!! If I stay, well, that could be a long transfer ahead of me....but like I say, don´t worry.

                    I haven´t finished yet, but the dentist told me that we´ll be finished the 29th, so one more week. Yeah, inactive folks here are hard to talk to; a lot of them do exactly what dad described, look at us and hide. And we know they´re there. I think exactly like dad said, and I want them to come talk to us, but it’s so much easier for them to hide and say nothing. Well, we´ll have to answer for the things we do, but one thing that helps me keep things in perspective is that I´ll have to answer for some of the mistakes that I´ve made too, so I prefer to worry about myself really, and not focus on the mistakes of others. Thanks, I really do try to keep content and calm, even if things are going bad, and funny enough, that helps. Panicking just makes things worse.

         I didn´t hear anything about this bomb thing that you´re talking about. What happened? Was anyone hurt? The younger brother was really only 19? That really sucks that he´s in prison for life then. I am thankful for the gospel because it really can help change our lives for the better if we let it. I have seen life with and without the gospel, and the answer is clear, life with this blessing is so important to have.

          The quilt is all done then? That´s awesome! I bet Kyle will like that. I got the pictures that you sent! He looks slightly different, but really he´s the same too. I can´t wait to see you all again in person!
       I said last time that Saturday the 18th doesn´t exist, that´s because I was looking at the month of April. Sorry. I´m gonna see if I can call home on the 19th, that way I´ll be able to see you and dad and the family together. If worse comes to worse and I can´t get permission, I´ll just call on the 12th like everyone else then. I´ll let you know. 
         I know that the time can seem long at time, but the time goes fast if I focus on the work and if you guys focus on the day to day things in your lives. I can´t believe that it´s almost May, then it´ll be June and that´s half of the year gone by! Then it´ll be the other half gone by and then I´ll be home! But, like I say, one day at a time. I´m doing good here, and I´ll be waiting for that package!  I sure love you guys and I´ll be doing my best to work hard! See you all around!
 

               -Elder Ethan Merrill