So I wanted to say I talked to another friend of mine and I think I have solved the issue.

He suggested I go into mailings, select recipients, use existing list.
So I did this, and I chose my path and it allowed me to merge.
However to solve this issue entirely I opened it up, pathed it with access and save as. I think the issue has to do with the change from .doc to .docx.

My one question still remaining is does anyone know how the move from access 2002 to 2007 would be?