We have the actual LOA in hand!

They did manage to give Eric the LOA!!! Thank God. When he went they said it could be a long time or they might not be able to find it at all. When he made it clear he wasn't leaving until he had the LOA in hand they magically produced it in five minutes. Now we will sign it, fill out some travel papers, and file our visas. This will go back out to Fed Ex (oh God) tomorrow. Wish us luck! I'm hoping we don't have to go through any more mail retrieval!