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We worked super hard and we were rewarded at the end with four baptisms.

4/27/2015

Hola familia! This week was awesome!! We worked super hard and we were rewarded at the end with four baptisms. Fausto Raul Tixi Patajano, Evelyn Katherine Frutos Cevallos, Carmen Margarita Briones Espinales, and Piedad Del Carmen Macias Briones were baptized this last Saturday and it was awesome! The service was awesome, but the water was extremely cold because the heater didn't turn on. That's the way we make sure our converts are realy converted here in Ecuador! It was awesome! They asked us Elders to sing a special hymn after, and well, I finally learned why they always made us practice the songs before the actual day when we sang as youth in church. They asked us to sing in English. Well without any practice and singing a song I'd never sung before, it was a rough night for the gringo okapella group. . . It was more of a humourous act to get the minds of the converts off how cold the water was. It did work well though! Also the Flia Chinchuña have baptismal dates for the 9th of May, so I'm hoping that one comes to pass because changes are the week after. I love that family so much, and they are so close. The kids already got baptized, so we are just waiting on the dad. He seems like he is finally ready though. The sad note to the week is that one of our best investigators told us she couldn't keep listening to us and so we lost one there. It was rough because she did everyting we asked but her family was putting a lot of pressure on her, and she told us that she just couldn't do it anymore. That was sad. This week I was able to play basketball for the first time in forever. It was awesome. That was pretty fun. This week was just a really regular week apart from the baptisms. That is about all that happened. There is a scripture in John 7:24, that says, Judge not according to appearnance, but judge righteous judgement." I love this scripture. There is an important lesson to be learned that many times we forget. Many people need us but we don't act because of their physical appearance. I know that we can become more like Christ if we can help out those in need and overcome this challenge. I love al you guys! Talk to ya next week!

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The weather here hates missionaries

4/20/2015

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Hola everyone! This week was a good one! We had a lot of success, and we are feeling good about life. We also went bowling and it was a blast. I came in first with a 103. It was rough day, but I stuck it out in the end with a strike! It was a clutch moment and I came through. This week was great because we worked hard with our investigators and they went to church finally! Also Fausto Tixi, Katy Frutos, Carmen and Piedad Briones are all set to go for baptism this Saturday, so we are super excited for this. They passed the interviews without any problem and we are beyond excited for this Saturday. We have been blessed immensely with these four investigators. These four investigators literally have not failed to complete even one commitment. They are the investigators that all the missionaries are dreaming of haha. They were so awesome and I'm so excited for this Saturday. This week it rained like crazy. The weather hear hates missionaries too. I wore my raincoat all day Tuesday until like 7:30 and it didn't rain. I left it in the house becasue I didn't think it would rain. Well not 5 minutes after we left, it just flat poured on us. I was so stinckin mad. I wore that big jacket the whole time for nothing, and when I left it, the rain just about killed me. It's been like that the whole week. I'm hoping for better weather this week. Wow I cant believe I completed 10 months this week. The time just doesn't slow down. I can't believe I'm already so close to saying I'm halfway done. All my friends are going home and I'm just getting older in the mission. It's crazy how fast it goes by. Well I want you guys to hear about a contact we had two days ago. We contacted Jesus Maria and Angel in the street on Friday and instead of letting us present ourselves and what we do, Jesus began to tell us how seahorse's can reproduce by themselves and explained to us how it is possible. Needless to say that was the wierdest contact I have had on my whole mission. But if anyone would like to know more about the seahorse and how it reproduces by itself. I'm your guy! Well just to end I read a cool scripture today in Doctrine and Covenants 78:19 And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more. I loved that scripture, it inspired me to accept even the hard times and be grateful for everything so that I can learn and gain even more from these experiences. The mission has been hard, but it will be worth it in the end if I can really learn to do this well. I love you guys, I'lll talk to you next week.

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I love this work and I love this mission.

4/13/2015

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Hola everyone! What's up? How is everyone. I just got done playing Uno with our district so I'm pretty happy. This week was a great week for us. In fact, I don't know if I have had a week quite like what we had. All of our investigators recieved answers or felt good about these things and they all accepted baptismal dates. We have 13 in total that accepted and that are excited to progress and to learn more. We couldn't be happier right now! I honestly could not believe the week we had. Everyone just wanted to accept baptism so we are going to be doing everything we can in the coming weeks to help each and every one progress. This week we did not have even one second to rest. We also found two more less actives that are progressing, so we are super happy about that. This week we had a training with the president, and it was super good. I love the trainings. We had a lot of success this week but one family we had been working with stopped listening to us. We got to their house and they just said thanks for everything but leave because we are done. That would probably be the worst part of the week. Other than that it was really good. My companion and I are getting along really well, and we are working super hard. On a more spritual note, Matt gave me a painting some years ago of missionaries that are going up a hill that never ends and there is scripture that says. "Be patient in thy afflictions, for thou shalt have many, but endure them, for, lo, I am with thee even unto the end of thy days." This has proved true throughout my whole life and once again it has been proved true. Its been a hard three months here in Pisuli, but the success is starting to come and I can really say I was never alone. I've been able to grow and become a better missionary throughout this time and I love this scripture. The painting sits on on my table, so I have seen it everyday in my mission, and it's helped me out a lot. I really do know these things are true and that Christ lives and loves us and only wants what is best for us. I hope everyone can continue reading the B of M and attending church because these are things too important to put off. I love this work and I love this mission. I love you guys and I look forward to talking to you next week.

Package from Home!! Happy Days

Zone training with President Richardson

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General Conference..... Coolest Thing Ever!!

4/6/2015

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Hey everyone! What's going on? Well this week was changes and I'm still in Pisuli with the same companion. I'm going to finish his training. The good thing is this month should be a good successful month. We are hoping for a ton of success and a lot of hard work. This last change was hard and the coming change won't be easy either but I know I'm being taught an important lesson by God that I've passed through many times with Dad. When things are hard, you don't just pull out and quit. You see it through and finish it well. So that is what I'm going to do. General Conference motivated me a lot and the changes were good so I'm feeling good about this next change. This week we had a ton of meetings. So we were not able to do a whole lot. The coolest thing we were able to do was General Conference. It was the coolest thing ever. I was hangin out in the Gringo room as usual but I loved the talks. I love the talk by Elder Pearsons, I think that was his name, about how a saint isn't someone who is perfect; a saint is someone who keeps trying always. I loved that. His talk was super awesome. The second day we were heading to conference and we got on the bus and this guy right behind us didn't look good. He looked like he was havin a little bit of a hangover. Well we kept going and I kept looking over my shoulder and well, he proceeded to cover the floor with throw up. I saw it coming so I shot out of there as quick as I could with my companion right behind me. He didn't get me, but he got the shoes of my companion and needless to say, my companion was not very happy. It was a scare but we narrowly avoided it. The bus stunk really bad though. I was also talking to another elder and he was telling me about a qoute he heard somewhere that i really liked. "God will not bless us with what we can obtain on our own." That quote impacted me quite a bit when I heard it. I thought about it for awhile and it is true. There have been many times where I just wanted the blessing and didn't want to pay the price, or that I felt like I've done enough when I can give more. I'll tel you what. In the mission, in the case of converts or personal lessons learned, I had to earn everyone of them. I had to give 100% before I got the miracle I needed. I loved that quote. I also like the talk by Russel M Nelson about the Sabbath Day, I'll tell you what. In first nephi 16:2 it says the guilty take the truth to be hard. I took that one on the chin becuase not a Sunday went by before the mission without watching a football or baseball game. Looks like that just ended. It was a great talk though. With Easter I ate this thing called fanezka. It is a soup with 12 different fibers. That's all it is nothing but fiber. I handled it well but some elders spent a fair amount of time in the bathroom haha. It gets your system moving quick haha. It was a good solid week though. Im happy with everything. Hope the Redsox are getting it done. Not that I'm worried about that. I love you guys. Thanks for the letters and the prayers. Talk to you next week.!