Guayaquil to Miami to Phoenix to Salt Lake City
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Monday, November 4, 2019
Semanas at a time
This week has gone great. It rains HARD every day and we get soaked every day, but to be honest I love it when it rains because people are more willing to talk to us haha. We are searching and finding. Sometimes we have to walk long distances and have a lot of awkward experiences, but the Lord blesses us when we put in our best effort. Sometimes He gives us tender-mercies and we don´t have to do anything at all. Last week, we were traveling in the bus and I sat next to an elderly man. I had to Book of Mormon in my hand and he asked if he could see it. In 10 minutes he read the entire first chapter of 1 Nephi...out loud. haha He liked it and began to talk to me about how God worked a miracle in his life with his health. I took down his number and we will be visiting him this week. I love moments like that. Last night, we had another cool experience. My companion and I were talking about how we just wanted to find a nice family that really was sincere about their desires to learn more about God. I looked behind me and saw a family with two young children. I looked at my companion and said, I think this is our answer. We turned around to talk to them and it turns out that the mom used to listen to the Elders when she was a young girl. Mission work is BACAN.
Angie is progressing great and will be baptized tomorrow. We were able to spend some of our preparation day with her today and she is very excited!
I love the mission, and I´m sad to see it come to an end. I have learned and changed sooo much. Ecuador will always have a special place in my heart forever and ever. I will miss my panas here so much. I´m so blessed to have been given the opportunity to serve here. I´ve learned that through focusing on other people, I´ve been able to overcome my weaknesses and become a better person. This scripture has never been so true.
39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
Here´s some photos from this week. That´s guinea pig folks.
Angie is progressing great and will be baptized tomorrow. We were able to spend some of our preparation day with her today and she is very excited!
I love the mission, and I´m sad to see it come to an end. I have learned and changed sooo much. Ecuador will always have a special place in my heart forever and ever. I will miss my panas here so much. I´m so blessed to have been given the opportunity to serve here. I´ve learned that through focusing on other people, I´ve been able to overcome my weaknesses and become a better person. This scripture has never been so true.
39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
I know that God lives. He is our father and He loves us. He sent His son Jesus Christ to die for us so that we may be saved from our sins and weaknesses and return to live with Him again. As we learn to use the Atonement through repentance, we truly can receive peace and joy in a world full of trials and difficulties. As we exercise faith and obedience to God's commandments, God blesses us. He might not take away our trials, but he will give us the strength to overcome them. I know this is true, and have felt deep happiness from knowing and experiencing this truth.
Here´s some photos from this week. That´s guinea pig folks.
Monday, October 28, 2019
Tribes
Hola Amigos!
This week was great!
We visited a 94 year old widow this past week. She is one of the first members to get baptized here in Azogues. She is super funny and sarcastic. She told us,¨People need to leave their problems and sadness at home and lock their doors so they don`t escape!! She is my best friend.
This past week we only almost died two times from dogs atttacking us. My heart almost can`t take it anymore. They are getting angrier I think, because now when I throw rocks they don`t run but turn locos and start running at us. I think it`s the adversary trying to keep us from contacting on the outskirts of the town where the people are more receptive.
This morning we were able to do a mini service project leeeeeeeejjisimooos. A lady taught us how to plant beans and corn. They were tilling the ground using oxen and it made me think about how long it`s been since I`ve gone to the temple. Ya mismo!
This week was great!
We visited a 94 year old widow this past week. She is one of the first members to get baptized here in Azogues. She is super funny and sarcastic. She told us,¨People need to leave their problems and sadness at home and lock their doors so they don`t escape!! She is my best friend.
This past week we only almost died two times from dogs atttacking us. My heart almost can`t take it anymore. They are getting angrier I think, because now when I throw rocks they don`t run but turn locos and start running at us. I think it`s the adversary trying to keep us from contacting on the outskirts of the town where the people are more receptive.
This morning we were able to do a mini service project leeeeeeeejjisimooos. A lady taught us how to plant beans and corn. They were tilling the ground using oxen and it made me think about how long it`s been since I`ve gone to the temple. Ya mismo!
Monday, October 21, 2019
Mystery Food
Hey amigos!
This week went great. Everyday I´m trying to write in my journal all the small miracles that I see. If we look close, we can see God´s hand in every detail. This is especially true in missionary work. Everyday God blesses us with tender mercies. There is a reason for every good and bad thing that happens. God is perfect and His timing is perfect.
Yesterday we had all our people with baptismal dates go to church and then some. The family that I was talking about last week was one of them. The mom was participating like crazy, she is not shy at all and that´s why I love her. I´ve really gotten close to her and her family. Her daughter draws me about a hundred pictures every time we go to visit them, my wall is absolutely covered.
I love the mission and the work. I´m sad to see time passing by so quickly.
Here´s some pictures. The one with the plate of food is me eating something that i´ll tell you guys what it is after the mish. I took my comp to Turi in Cuenca today too.
This week went great. Everyday I´m trying to write in my journal all the small miracles that I see. If we look close, we can see God´s hand in every detail. This is especially true in missionary work. Everyday God blesses us with tender mercies. There is a reason for every good and bad thing that happens. God is perfect and His timing is perfect.
Yesterday we had all our people with baptismal dates go to church and then some. The family that I was talking about last week was one of them. The mom was participating like crazy, she is not shy at all and that´s why I love her. I´ve really gotten close to her and her family. Her daughter draws me about a hundred pictures every time we go to visit them, my wall is absolutely covered.
I love the mission and the work. I´m sad to see time passing by so quickly.
Here´s some pictures. The one with the plate of food is me eating something that i´ll tell you guys what it is after the mish. I took my comp to Turi in Cuenca today too.
Monday, October 14, 2019
Teaching and Tranquilo
Hola amigos!!
This week has been a weird one again!! We were not allowed to leave for a couple days due to the strike. But yesterday, the president lowered the gas prices again, so everything is tranquilo again. We will finally be able to work normally again, it´s time to get to work!!
We are teaching a family currently. The mom and the daughter are progressing well. The daughter (who is 10 years old), told us that she prayed to know if the Book of Mormon was true. She said she saw a light all around her that reached up to her neck. I wish we could all have the faith of a child! We would see miracles like that everyday. That´s why God invites us to be more like children. Not in the childish sense, but be more submissive, kind, and loving...as described in the Book of Mormon:
19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a jchild, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
I love the Gospel and I love this work!
This week has been a weird one again!! We were not allowed to leave for a couple days due to the strike. But yesterday, the president lowered the gas prices again, so everything is tranquilo again. We will finally be able to work normally again, it´s time to get to work!!
We are teaching a family currently. The mom and the daughter are progressing well. The daughter (who is 10 years old), told us that she prayed to know if the Book of Mormon was true. She said she saw a light all around her that reached up to her neck. I wish we could all have the faith of a child! We would see miracles like that everyday. That´s why God invites us to be more like children. Not in the childish sense, but be more submissive, kind, and loving...as described in the Book of Mormon:
19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a jchild, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
I love the Gospel and I love this work!
Monday, October 7, 2019
Ecuador Strike
This week went great, but was weird. The people of Ecuador are in a strike because the gasoline prices went up. The gente went bazerk and started burning stuff. Consequently, we`ve been trapped in the house for a few days. Saturday, we had to watch conference in a cyber, because the police was watching people that were meeting in large groups, so we couldn`t meet with the members in the church building. But i think the guy running the cyber (and the little kids playing calll of duty) enjoyed us blasting the tabernacle choir music.
The work is going well, Azogues is a little more difficult because the people are very traditional, but there are still people waiting to hear the Restored Gospel. We had a little bit of time yesterday before we had to go inside, so we knocked on a door and the guy came out shouting, ¨You guys are Latter-day saints, but I`m an ALL-THE-LIFE SAINT!¨ Okay, man, take it easy, Sometimes I would like to respond to people like that in the way of my grandpa, saying ¨coolete hombre¨
I hope you all got a chance to watch conference. I think my favorite talk was by Terence M. Vinson. He said that if we put our hardest into something, it will be more enjoyable. We won`t always have success, but we will always have joy. That`s true in every aspect of life, not just the Gospel. Various leaders also repeated the scripture found in Alma 41 that says, ¨wickedness never was happiness¨¨ The world is full of distractions, things that try to offer us a false sense of happiness. True happiness, or every lasting joy, can only be found in the Gospel.
I invite you all to review your favorite conference talks. I went to conference with about a page full of questions. I found my answer to every single question that I had. We should always have a question in our mind before we listen to leaders of the church, attend sacrament meeting, or before our daily scripture study. If we go in prepared, we will be more spiritually sensitive and receive more inspiration.
Chao for now
The work is going well, Azogues is a little more difficult because the people are very traditional, but there are still people waiting to hear the Restored Gospel. We had a little bit of time yesterday before we had to go inside, so we knocked on a door and the guy came out shouting, ¨You guys are Latter-day saints, but I`m an ALL-THE-LIFE SAINT!¨ Okay, man, take it easy, Sometimes I would like to respond to people like that in the way of my grandpa, saying ¨coolete hombre¨
I hope you all got a chance to watch conference. I think my favorite talk was by Terence M. Vinson. He said that if we put our hardest into something, it will be more enjoyable. We won`t always have success, but we will always have joy. That`s true in every aspect of life, not just the Gospel. Various leaders also repeated the scripture found in Alma 41 that says, ¨wickedness never was happiness¨¨ The world is full of distractions, things that try to offer us a false sense of happiness. True happiness, or every lasting joy, can only be found in the Gospel.
I invite you all to review your favorite conference talks. I went to conference with about a page full of questions. I found my answer to every single question that I had. We should always have a question in our mind before we listen to leaders of the church, attend sacrament meeting, or before our daily scripture study. If we go in prepared, we will be more spiritually sensitive and receive more inspiration.
Chao for now
Monday, September 9, 2019
♫ The Obra del Señor
Quick Update.
We are currently teaching a family. They are AMAZING. They read The Book of Mormon and pray together everyday. In one of our lasts lessons, they told us that they received an answer and know that the Book of Mormon is true. They are so special and you can feel the spirit as you walk into the home. The children have baptism dates, the with the parents we have to wait a little longer because they are not married. but yaaaaa mismo
We are teaching some people from Venezuela as well. It´s a house with 15 cousins, uncles, aunt, and grandparents jaja They are the best. It was one of the lady´s birthday when we were teaching them and I felt kind of bad and I did not want to take up much of their time. But as we were leaving, they shouted Where are you guys going?? and a second later we forced into their birthday party. We met them like a week ago but now we are panas We ate a lot of cake with yuca and queso that day.
Yesterday we were able to teach a girl named Angie. She asked the most perfect questions I have ever heard in my entire mission. Her mom died recently, and that experience made her draw closer to God. She had questions about where her mom was and if she was okay. She even asked, Is there a way that I can save my entire family? Woah, uuuuhh yeah actually there is. She will be baptized in October. She said she would like to serve a mission as well. PILAS.
I love the Gospel and I love being a missionary here in Ecuador. I know God lives and loves each and every one of us. His plan is perfect and His timing is perfect. Though He may not always take away our trials, He will be there with us in every single moment.
1 Corinthians 4
16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
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