Somewhere.....Out there.....beneath the pale moonlight......

Our awesome Elder Merrill has been out in the field for a week now! We were (ok, MOM was) on pins and needles to finally hear from him and see how life as a missionary out of the MTC is going. So it was pretty exciting to get his email:

Heya everybody!

    How are you all doing? I'm fine here. Things are good. I have alot of things that I could tell you about my first week here but I can't. In order to email you guys I need a library card that allows me an hour, but I don't have a library card yet. I'm in the process of getting one that should allow me an hour long time, but I only have 15 minutes as of now. I just want to say that I love you all and things are going great here. My Spanish is coming along fine and I'm in good health. The place I'm staying at is good and I have a great companion. Things are starting out a little fast and a little slow. The funny thing is, you have slow days, but fast weeks. Anyway, I hope this reaches you guys and that you all are doing good back in Arizona.  I know that a mission may seem like a long time, but I think it'll be over before I know it. I gotta go now! Love you all!

                                                                                                                   -Elder Ethan Merrill 

So as you can see, Elder Merrill is in good spirits and seems to be adjusting to his new adventure fairly well.  But, with the short time on the computer, we didn't get any information on those pesky little details like "Hey Elder Merrill, where exactly in South Carolina are you????"  

 

Mom's guessing game for this week.....which part of South Carolina is Elder Merrill in??? It's a mystery still but he is obviously doing well so mom will relax and add a library card to her personal prayer list :) What a joy this young man is to us!!!!

Temporary Change in Travel plans

Today was a highlight for the Merrill family because Elder Merrill got to call us from the airport, HOORAY!!!!

Well, let's backtrack a bit and give an update. Elder Merrill had also given us a 5 minute call (oh yes, it was exactly 5 minutes, lol) on Thursday to let us know that his visa to go to Argentina had not arrived and so he is going to serve temporarily in the Columbia, South Carolina mission while he waits for it.   

So today is his actual travel day and so he got to call us on his way out. He rang us from the Atlanta airport as he had some time to wait for his final flight.  

"Thanks for the alarm clock you sent me mom. It came in very handy this morning when I had to wake up at 3:15 to get ready to leave for the airport!  It's a good thing I've had to get up at 6:30 for the past 2 months so it wasn't too bad waking up that early."

We talked about how fast the training time at the MTC had gone by and how interesting this temporary assignment to the southeast will be.

"On the flight to Atlanta, we couldn't watch movies or shows of course, but we could watch the map of the flight and see where South Carolina is. It was a 3 hour flight to Atlanta and then we have a 1 hour flight up to Columbia."

We asked about the other missionaries in his district:

"Well, all 8 of us are getting temporarily assigned because none of our visas came in.  5 of us are going to South Carolina, 1 is going to Wisconsin, 1 is going to Colorado and 1 is going to Mississippi.  I feel sorry for the guy going to Colorado because he has never flown before and ends up getting the shortest flight out of all of us!"

I said it would be cool if the missionary going to Wisconsin ran into Elder Pinter, who is a friend of ours from our time in England and is serving his mission up there.  

"That reminds me mom, one of my instructors, a guy named Steven Hopper, served with Stuart in Maryland. He saw my name and after we talked he realized that he served with my brother!"

What a small world, too funny! I reminded Elder Merrill to send us his contact information as soon as possible and he said he would.  It was so unbelievably good to hear his voice! He is happy and well and excited about getting out into the mission field! 

Heading into the last week at the MTC...

Hooray, another letter has arrived from Elder Merrill.  He sounds like he is in good spirits and that things are plugging right along! He is curious as to what everyone is doing here back at home:

How are Jess and Brad doing? Settling in I hope? It's weird to think of them as living somewhere else, but Jess was never really around the house in the first place, so I guess it's really not much of a change. I hope life is going well over there, I heard about Kyle's room getting a little wrecked, fortunately,  there won't be a shortage of sleeping places around the house. I wonder how Stuart rearranged my room? No doubt it has more tech stuff in it now, and I hope that he's got plenty of room in it.

He also had a bit of unwelcome news for Mom:

 I have a spot of bad news... They don't let you call home on Mothers Day  I've underlined this so you clearly understand that I won't be calling home on May 12th. The MTC wanted to make sure that we told you so they wouldn't be getting a bunch of calls. lol.

While I (mom) clearly understand the impossible logistics of 3 pay phones and an average of 2500 missionaries, it was still a huge disappointment. On the upside though, he gets to call from the airport when he leaves the MTC, but it will be a bit sadder this Mother's Day.

Finally Elder Merrill made a request this week:

  Hey, I don't know if you can do this or not, but if you can, listen closely:

1.can you send me a pillow? the ones here are horrible, I won't have one in Argentina, and it'll be nice to have something from home. 

2. send one of the pillows I normally used. not the tempurpedic pillow or whatever, but a normal pillow with a normal pillow case.

3. have fun in china! 

So I have got  him a new pillow and a pillowcase. I have had several people sign or draw on the pillow case, so I think he will enjoy it. Now I have to dash out and mail it immediately, in case he heads out this week.  His visa for Argentina still has not come in yet (almost 3 months now since all the paperwork was turned in for that....) so there is a possibility that he may go to a stateside mission temporarily. Next week should be full of all kinds of exciting news as to what he will be doing next! Stay tuned!

 

Time is moving right along...

Elder Merrill wrote and let us know his P-days have changed. That means that he checks his mail on Wednesdays now instead of Thursday. Theoretically he should have about 2 more weeks at the MTC, but doesn't know what will happen then as his visa still isn't in. He is in good spirits and is doing well:

Life is fun here, during my stay, I've listened to 4 apostles speak, that's 33% of the quorum of the 12! That's pretty fun. We get to go play out on the field now, they have games like soccer, kickball, volleyball, it's really fun. Hmm, it's cloudy outside at the moment, there's really not much heat out, so that's good. When I get to Argentina, then I'll have something more to write about. I really can't believe how fast this has gone by. I really hope that my mission doesn't go by too fast, or I could miss it as it goes by. Again, my p-day is on Wednesday, so if you're gonna write me, do it before next Tuesday, so I'll get it. I love you all, tell everyone I'm doing fine.

Here is Elder Merrill, working on his "blending in with the locals" look. We thought it was pretty funny!

Week 5 completed, on to week 6

It's P-day for Elder Merrill which means WOOHOO! we get a letter from him today! His digital camera got dropped, oh no!!! Luckily, he is still in the states so a replacement one is one the way. He says:

"I'll make it a point to tell people to put the wrist strap on before any pictures are taken." 

which is probably a smart idea!

We asked Elder Merrill how the food at the MTC was and what he liked the most. He said:

"I really enjoy the food here at the MTC. I would have to say that every friday is pizza night, so that is my favorite meal. Breakfast any day is also the best. I've gained 10 pounds while here, but I really think that it's all muscle. The gym that they have here is really effective too."

I'm sure all the treats we've been sending him from home, since we really can't mail him stuff once he goes to Argentina, are contributing to the, um, weight gain! Well, he will have lots and lots of opportunities to walk it off once he arrives at his mission.

Elder Merrill added:

"I hope that Argentina isn't as bad for me as they say it is, because the teachers here say that they LOVE to feed you while you're over there. I'm going to have to practice a bit of moderation while I'm over there. And remember to work out too."

When asked about the weather, Elder Merrill said it has been "cloudy, cloudy, cloudy" which he wishes would stop so they can go play out on the field and get some fresh air and outdoor time. He says he wants to learn more about soccer (or football as he will have to learn to call it) since it is pretty much the #1 sport in South America. But, as you can see from the picture, he and his companion have found a way to get in some exercise anyway.

Elder Merrill's commitment to his calling is remarkable. One thing he wanted to do was attend the wedding of his sister Jessica. However his report date at the MTC was about 15 days before the wedding. We wished he could have been there as well, in fact we created a cardboard cut out so that he could be in some of the photos! We Love You Elder Merrill!
(You Can see him right next to the Bride)

Elder Merrill is enjoying his time at the MTC in Provo and is learning new skills quickly he says:

"It's always great to see letters in my inbox, I always look forward to p-days. I have a list of things that I think in the week that I want to tell you, but I always forget to bring it with me so I forget what I want to say! life has been good this past week, I am still in a pretty normal routine, but I did meet with the consul this week and they talked to all of us on what to expect when we reach Argentina."

Before he knows it, he will be headed off to his adventure in Argentina!