Wonderful, Hot, Week

Internet Cafe 5'x5' Elder Montgomery, Stewart, Garcia, Hannay

80 Weeks in Angola                                                                                                                 Feb. 24, 2014

Ola minha familia!!!!!! 

This week was wonderful and awesome and amazing and all the other good things you can imagine. Besides hot. This was the hottest week of my mission by far!!!! 

So me and Elder Garcia are doing work. We have 8 or 9 baptismal dates, and one of them is this Saturday!!! His name is Luis. He is a married father of two and just a champ. He is the one who found the elders while he went looking for toothpaste. he is awesome 

Me and elder Garcia are loving our area. We’re having a lot of success and literally turning it into a new area. We have a goal of 6 baptisms before I leave and are way above that in our planning stages so far. It’s gonna be awesome. 

I have been able to focus on the work and studying so much this week it is amazing. When I put aside distractions like the heat, hard living conditions and all that, I have really gained some awesome study habits and I’m loving the learning.

Sorry this letter is way short, but my time is almost up because my computer is broken and scrolls up and down on its own, so I can’t even read your emails, or know if I’m typing right . I love Angola, so much. I mean that seriously not sarcastically. This country is truly my home, and I am so excited that I still have time left here to work with elder Garcia. This next transfer is gonna be the best of my mission. I love being a missionary. Hope this letter finds you all happy healthy and serving the lord. 

Quote from a prophet this week, I think David O. McKay "The Kingdom of God or Nothing. " that’s my motto, I give the people here the opportunity to have the kingdom of god, or I’m doing nothing. That’s the way I felt when I read it. Love you all! Have a good week. 

com amor,   Elder Montgomery

**Hey mom this is from Sister Merrill, and whoever wants to send packages( like for my birthday )  if you could just forward it to them. But I don’t need anything so tell anyone who would send stuff save the money and give me the cash when I get home! haha joking of course. 

February 23, 2014

Dear Parents, Relatives, friends, ward members and anyone else!! 

We have a bit of a problem here with the receiving of mail and of packages. I am asking for your help in this area. We have two methods of receiving letters and packages from home. First let me begin by explaining the problem and then I hope I can offer some solutions pertaining to each method. 

PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS FOR LETTERS AND SMALL PACKAGES

We recently had an incident with a new postal worker who demanded a receipt for the contents of a small package. Inside the package the sender had emptied a bag of candy. The Elders were accused of trying to hide the contents with the candy. They were accused of lying and being thieves. 

May I suggest that if you have anything of value, please include the receipt. Also please leave any candy in the bag. This will prevent any distrust. 

Please remember that any small package does have a cost to retrieve it. Sometimes a small fee of $1 to $3. Only two missionaries have the responsibility and authorization to retrieve any small package. They sometimes are tight for money when it comes time to pay for each package. Please put a small not in your package reminding your Elder to pay back the fee for his package. A dollar isn’t much until it is multiplied by 40 and every week!!!!!

PROBLEMS AND PROCESS IN RECEIVING LARGER PACKAGES

--When a package is sent that weighs more than 2 pounds it goes to a central Post Office.

--Only a few people are authorized to receive any packages that are there because they are addressed to the church (as they should be). 

--This office is in a downtown area that is congested and difficult to get to. The wait to receive the packages has been up to 6 hours—without counting the 2-3 hour trip to get to the Post Office. 

--Each package is opened and inspected for contents in our presence. Then a duty or custom fee is imposed. We recently received one package that cost more than $50 to retrieve. The missionary that receives the package must pay the fees back to the mission out of his personal funds. We are also charged a fee for the length of time they sit at the Post Office before retrieval. The retrieval fees can be quite ridiculous. Unfortunately, it is sometimes impossible to find someone who has an 8 hour day to retrieve a package. 

SOME SOLUTIONS THAT WE WOULD SUGGEST

--Any package weighing less than 2 lbs must be mailed as a letter NOT AS A PACKAGE. Example: My daughter sent some things that we needed. The US Post Office convinced her to send it in a flat rate box. The box did not weigh more than 2 lbs. However, because it was in a box, it was considered a package and the USPO labeled it as such. It cost her $27 to mail it and was going to cost me $25 to retrieve it!!!!!!!!! Solution –The problem was not the flat rate box. The problem was that the USPO labeled it as a package. If you use a flat rate box, please send it “registered” and there will be no problems. It will come to the regular mail system.

--We have had the best success with the regular padded envelopes. These come with no problem and you can send several. Please follow the suggestions above for small packages.

--If for some reason you need to send a package weighing more than 2 lbs, please label it as follows. 

Igreja de Jesus Cristo dos S.U.D.

Caixa Postal 18404

Luanda, Angola Telefone 926617677

Please do not put the Elder’s name in the address box. 

Include the telephone #. If we add the telephone # they will call us as soon as the package arrives and this will save us some extra fees. You may put the name in the return address and also inside the package if you wish. Every package must be opened in our presence so there is no fear of things being taken out.

OTHER OPTIONS

We receive DHL and Fed Ex at our home and at the office. I do not know their restrictions or the cost. 

OUR DEEPEST LOVE FOR YOUR SONS

May we remind you that we love your sons dearly and we would do anything we can to help them have a good experience on their mission. We love them and worry about them as we do our own children. We pray for their safety and success daily. 

As a mother I know how it feels to want to send your loved ones a token of love from home. We are not asking that you quit sending packages and gifts to your sons. We are only asking you to follow these instructions. Please be sure that your “receiver” is aware that he must pay for the imposed fees on a timely basis. 

We are in a third world country with all the challenges of mail delivery. We love the Angolan people and their efforts to do better. It is our hope that we follow the laws of this land and appreciate their efforts. 

Thank you for your help in this matter. Please remind others who may want to send a package of love. Sometimes the Elders are just as happy with emails from friends and ward members. 

Thank you again for all your love and support, 

President and Sister Merrill