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Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Merry Christmas!




Well I have decided to write a letter to my family and friends this Christmas.  I hope that all of you enjoy a few of my words.  I would like to take a minute and let you know what I have learned in my time here in Ecuador.  I feel like I just left two weeks ago but here I am in the second year.  The experiences that I have gained and the things that I have learned are beyond my understanding.  I never knew how much I did not know.   (I´m sorry if my spelling is horrible... Spanish is a lot different.)

Well as I ponder about the experiences that I have had the first thing thing that comes to my mind is how I have come to know that God is my loving Heavenly Father.  I remember the first time I really felt Gods love in my life.  It was my second year in High School and I had been working all year to gain that state championship title.  Really i had dedicated my whole life to it since i was little.  But during that second year I put everything on the line.  When the final moments came I did not reach my goal and I was angry.  Everything I had ever worked for during my whole life had seemed to vanish.  I had trusted God.  I obeyed his commandments and I even asked for his help.  But he failed me.  At least that is how I felt.  But the next morning walking into Seminary a little depressed I read the last words that were in my notebook.  As I read what was written there the spirit testified to me that God does love me and he is looking out for me.  The words written were The things that seem like a big deal to us now will not seem like such a big deal later on in life.  Still to this day I do not remember writing that down but it is there.  Another time I have felt Gods love in my life is here on the mission.  I remember walking into the MTC the first day and wondering how I was going to learn to be a missionary if I could not understand spanish!!! Luckly I had a companion who was just as lost as I was.  But then came the day when we got to Ecuador and the people talked in a whole different language then what I had been trying to learn in the MTC.  Those first few weeks I think I will ever forget.  I felt tired lonely, abandonded, mad, and frustrated.  Why was spanish so hard for me?  I felt as if i was in a wrestling match an my oponent had both legs in and was stalling his way out of the first period.  While the other new missionaries would seem to pick it up with ease I was struggling...  It was in this time of confusion and frustration that I turned to the Lord in pray.  I remember praying and praying and then praying some more.  I did everything posible to learn spanish and even though it was not an easy experienceI was able to learn a little more and feel a little more of the love that Heavenly Father has for me.

  28 And it came to pass that the God of heaven looked upon the residue of the people, and he wept; and Enoch bore record of it,saying: How is it that the heavens weep, and shed forth their tears as the rain upon the mountains?
 29 And Enoch said unto the Lord: How is it that thou canst weep, seeing thou art holy, and from all eternity to all eternity?
 32 The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them theirknowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency; 33 And unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are with out affection, and they hate their own blood;

40 Wherefore, for this shall the heavens weep, yea, and all the workmanship of mine hands.


41 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Enoch, and told Enoch all the doings of the children of men; wherefore Enoch knew, and looked upon their wickedness, and their misery, and wept and stretched forth his arms, and his heart swelled wide aseternity; and his bowels yearned; and all eternity shook.


The Lord loves me and you. He weeps with us when we weep.  He watches over all of us.  He wants us to have success and to be happy.  I hope whoever reads this kows that God loves them.  If you dont, pray and asked him.  Come unto him and he will come unto you.

The second thing that i would like to share with you that I have learned in my time here is the purpose of life.  I never really understood why I was here what i was doing or where I was going.  I always had goals that helped me progress and build character but they were focused on sports and school and other temporal things.  I never saw the big picture.  As I have learned about the Gospel, I have realized how important this life is.  How we are here to be happy.  How important this time is so we ca prepare ourselves to stand before the Lord to be judged of our acts and the desires of our hearts.  I have learned that if we really put into act the principles of the Gospel when we are presented before the Lord we will see him as he is and we will be like unto him.  We will have been changed.  From what we are now to what the Lord would have us become.  I have thought a lot about who I am now and who I want to become.  I have also thought a lot about how I am going to become that person.  I have never been so humbled by how little i am before God and how much I have to improve in my own life to become the person that I want to be and what the lord wants me to be.  I know that only through Christ we will become changed.  We all can have the hope to become like him.  It is my biggest desire to become the person that the lord wants me to become.  To be changed.  There is only one way.  One doctrine.  And it is through Christ. 

I hope that all of us can come to know this Christmas That God loves us, and why we are here.  Those two things have helped me in my life and they will help all of us on this journey that we are all on.  To end my letter I want to give an invitation to everyone that reads this.  Think of someone else this Christmas.  Someone who might be a little lost or confused in this life.  Maybe someone who does not have what you have. Have we realized the wonderful meaning of christmas? Do we understand what it cost our heavenly Father to give us his son so that we could return to him? 

I think as I read the story of Abraham’s sacrifice of his son Isaac that our Father is trying to tell us what it cost him to give his Son as a gift to the world. You remember the story of how Abraham’s son came after long years of waiting and was looked upon by his worthy sire, Abraham, as more precious than all his other possessions; yet, in the midst of his rejoicing, Abraham was told to take this only son and offer him as a sacrifice to the Lord. He responded. Can you feel what was in the heart of Abraham on that occasion? You love your son just as Abraham did; perhaps not quite so much, because of the peculiar circumstances, but what do you think was in his heart when he started away from Mother Sarah, and they bade her goodbye? What do you think was in his heart when he saw Isaac bidding farewell to his mother to take that three days’ journey to the appointed place where the sacrifice was to be made? I imagine it was about all Father Abraham could do to keep from showing his great grief and sorrow at that parting, but he and his son trudged along three days toward the appointed place, Isaac carrying the fagots that were to consume the sacrifice. The two travelers rested, finally, at the mountainside, and the men who had accompanied them were told to remain while Abraham and his son started up the hill.

The boy then said to his father: “Why, Father, we have the fagots; we have the fire to burn the sacrifice; but where is the sacrifice?”

It must have pierced the heart of Father Abraham to hear the trusting and confiding son say: “You have forgotten the sacrifice.” Looking at the youth, his son of promise, the poor father could only say: “The Lord will provide.”

They ascended the mountain, gathered the stones together, and placed the fagots upon them. Then Isaac was bound, hand and foot, kneeling upon the altar. I presume Abraham, like a true father, must have given his son his farewell kiss, his blessing, his love, and his soul must have been drawn out in that hour of agony toward his son who was to die by the hand of his own father. Every step proceeded until the cold steel was drawn, and the hand raised that was to strike the blow to let out the life’s blood when the angel of the Lord said: “It is enough.”

Our Father in Heaven went through all that and more, for in his case the hand was not stayed. He loved his Son, Jesus Christ, better than Abraham ever loved Isaac, for our Father had with him his Son, our Redeemer, in the eternal worlds, faithful and true for ages, standing in a place of trust and honor, and the Father loved him dearly, and yet he allowed this well-beloved Son to descend from his place of glory and honor, where millions did him homage, down to the earth, a condescension that is not within the power of man to conceive. He came to receive the insult, the abuse, and the crown of thorns. God heard the cry of his Son in that moment of great grief and agony, in the garden when, it is said, the pores of his body opened and drops of blood stood upon him, and he cried out: “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me.”

I ask you, what father and mother could stand by and listen to the cry of their children in distress, in this world, and not render aid and assistance? I have heard of mothers throwing themselves into raging streams when they could not swim a stroke to save their drowning children, rushing into burning buildings, to rescue those whom they loved.

We cannot stand by and listen to those cries without its touching our hearts. The Lord has not given us the power to save our own. He has given us faith, and we submit to the inevitable, but he had the power to save, and he loved his Son, and he could have saved him. He might have rescued him from the insult of the crowds. He might have rescued him when the crown of thorns was placed upon his head. He might have rescued him when the Son, hanging between the two thieves, was mocked with, “Save thyself, and come down from the cross. He saved others; himself he cannot save.” He listened to all this. He saw that Son condemned; he saw him drag the cross through the streets of Jerusalem and faint under its load. He saw that Son finally upon Calvary; he saw his body stretched out upon the wooden cross; he saw the cruel nails driven through hands and feet, and the blows that broke the skin, tore the flesh, and let out the life’s blood of his Son. He looked upon that.

In the case of our Father, the knife was not stayed, but it fell, and the life’s blood of his Beloved Son went out. His Father looked on with great grief and agony over his Beloved Son, until there seems to have come a moment when even our Savior cried out in despair: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

In that hour I think I can see our dear Father behind the veil looking upon these dying struggles until even he could not endure it any longer; and, like the mother who bids farewell to her dying child, has to be taken out of the room, so as not to look upon the last struggles, so he bowed his head, and hid in some part of his universe, his great heart almost breaking for the love that he had for his Son. Oh, in that moment when he might have saved his Son, I thank him and praise him that he did not fail us, for he had not only the love of his Son in mind, but he also had love for us. I rejoice that he did not interfere, and that his love for us made it possible for him to endure to look upon the sufferings of his Son and give him finally to us, our Savior and our Redeemer. Without him, without his sacrifice, we would have remained, and we would never have come glorified into his presence. And so this is what it cost, in part, for our Father in Heaven to give the gift of his Son unto men.

How do I appreciate the gift?

I hope all of us might reach out our hands and share this message with the world.  When we give our life to the Lord and when we make sacrifices for him we can show unto him that we appreciate his Son and the gift that we all celebrate during Christmas.  I know that Christ lives.
Have a merry Christmas!





Love you guys,

Elder Guild

Sunday, December 14, 2014

We get to watch a movie!!!

Transformers 4?


Jacob,
They do celebrate Christmas here but it is not near as big.  They don't do gifts or any of that.  The celebration for the new year is a lot bigger.  Christmas is more of just a normal day.

Hey mom,

Sounds like everything is going just fine back in the valley. 
I am doing good this week.  We have a lot of work to do in the ward and in the zone.  Today we are going to Quito to have a meeting with all the leaders to talk about how the mission is doing.  It should go well.  Elder Gebs and I are excited because we get to choose a movie to watch on the bus.  President gives us permission to buy movies for the buses because sometimes they play bad movies.  We are thinking of Transformers 4!! Haha but we will have to see.  The sector that I am in is really big.  I am still trying to learn where I am at and everything but.  We pretty much have half of otavalo because all the Latinos have their own ward and there are only two Latino wards that speak Spanish here.  My companions parents live in Evanston.  He told me that they lived in Trevor's ward but they moved and now they live in the other stake.  But still in Evanston.  He said that he knew Annie also.  Everything is good here.  Tell everyone hi for me! 
Love ya,

Elder Guild

Monday, December 1, 2014

My Companion is from Wyoming!!!!!

Hey mom! Just wanted to remind you that I am going to get on later today to write.  I have a new companion and he is from Wyoming!! His name is Elder Gebs and he is from Evanston!! He used to live in the ward that Trevor and Sian would go to but he said his parents moved! Love ya

Elder Guild

Hey mom
Well it sounds like things for the most part are going well.  Except for Ammon's shoulder.  I really hope that is turns out alright. It is pretty funny to be with someone from Wyoming but at the same time it is pretty cool.  I am excited for this change.  we are in a word with only Latinos and that will be really nice.  Mainly because we all talk the same language!! And so the teaching will be a little bit easier.  I have not seen any of the sector really but from what Elder Gebs tells me it is a mountain so that will be fun!! Also there are some weights that some elders have made out of cement so that is pretty cool too!! I finally bought some new pants today and I think I am going to buy a few more pair next week too because the ones that I have are getting pretty scary looking.  
I am glad that you had a good Thanksgiving.  I forgot all about it until a sister told me!! They don’t really do anything for it here.   love you
Elder Guild



Monday, November 24, 2014

Cool Experience!

Hey mom 
My companion were running around all day today doing things for the zone so I do not have that much time to write... I am doing good! Everything is good here in Iluman.  We had some pretty spiritual experiences this week.  

First we have had an investigator coming to church for about two months now and we finally got to teach him this week and we had a lesson with him in the church.  It was super awesome!! When we shared the first vision the spirit was super strong and he told us that he has never felt anything like it!! He could not explain how he felt!! IT was awesome and now he has a baptismal date for the 24!! 

Then we had some new investigators and during our first lesson I had the feeling to tell them that people might tell them stuff that are not true about the church but they just need to read the book of Mormon and pray about it and trust in God.  Well the next time we went there he came and met us at the door and told us he did not want anything to do with us and would not explain to us why... he told us that he would not read the book and would not pray.  So that was kind of hard but I really feel like the Lord is guiding us in our work. 

 Then we were teaching a less active member and she told us that she had a dream the night before we contacted her where her husband who died told her she was on the wrong road and that she needed to get on the right one.. Then me and my companion contacted her in the street!! So that was pretty cool!! Really I know that I am here in the lords work!! 


Elder Guild


Monday, November 17, 2014

Testimonies are so important!

Hey mom!!

I am doing good.  Things are all good here.  Me and my companion are doing well.  He does not talk that much which is a little weird for me but it is all good.  We are having a little bit of a hard time right now.  We do not have anyone progressing but we keep on working.  Mostly our ward is tough.  We have dedicated ourselves to visiting the ward members and trying to help all of them come to the conversion.  They are really weak here.  A lot of them were baptized the day after they met the missionaries and so they don’t really have much of a testimony.  

I hope everything is going well with school!  Just remember to keep a little time to study the scriptures! The lord will help you for your sacrifice.  Tell shalee that I hope she gets them off as soon as possible! and I hope everything is okay with ammon so that he can wrestle!  

That sounds like a great goal!! I will be checking in on that and I would love to hear experiences and things that you learn also!! I love the Book of Mormon.  My companion that I am with right now is probably on of the most converted people that I have been with and he has taught me a lot about the conversion.  Really one thing that he has brought to my attention is our testimonies.  I would strongly suggest reading the introduction and studying it out.  It will teach you how to get a testimony of the book of Mormon.  Then how we really become converted is when we are faithful to the testimony that we have.  In the testimony of the 3 witnesses it talks about the blessings that come from being faithful to your testimony also.  Here are some scriptures that I like also that you could study about the conversion.  Alma 5:14 & 26  Mosiah 5:2  Mosiah 27:25-26  

Well That is cool that you got to see Devin.  If you see him again tell him hi!! I am kind of nervous for when I come back because I really want to be a different person! I want to be changed!! That is in the end the point of the Gospel right?  Anyways love you mom!! Have a great week!! 

Elder Guild


Monday, November 3, 2014

Keeping Busy!

Hey mom!
I am doing good! Me and my companion are always at meetings or in the other sectors helping out the other missionaries  and it really has an effect on our sector.  Monday we had p-day.  Tuesday we had a meeting with the president from 1-7... Wednesday we had a ward counsel and then a meeting with the stake president.  Thursday went with sister in the zone.  Friday all the missionaries went in one sector to contact. Saturday we had a leaders meeting then we had to sent a ton of files in by email that took 2 hours.  Then Sunday we went with the other sisters in our zone... Then today we have to go to Quito and will not be coming back until Tuesday or Wednesday... But we do have one person with a date and the whole family came to church that we are working with!! So things are good we just don’t get to spend a lot of time working in our sector.
Remember how precious a testimony is.  If we never share it will not grow and can even be lost!! If you keep on sharing it will get easier!! ;) 
Elder Guild
I don’t get a lot of time to write today because we have to go Quito...


Hey JAcob
I am here being a missionary!! We go and talk to EVERYONE!!! They do not celebrate Halloween here but they have the day of the dead which was yesterday and they make bread in the shape of a person and make this super good purple drink with fruit in it!! IT is called colada morada!! Super good!  Just be an example for the kids in your class! You know what is good and what is not good! SO do the good things!! Sounds like you had a good time with the delgados!! Keep up being awesome and make sure you read your scriptures everyday and pray!! Love ya

Elder Guild


Monday, October 27, 2014

My Awesome Companion

hey mom thanks for the email

I am doing good with my new companion.  He is super great.  He really has got his teaching down.  I have never been with someone who teaches so well.  Sometimes I feel like I should just not even talk during the lessons!  But I am learning a lot and am grateful for the chance to learn a little bit more how to be a better teacher.  He is super cool and from Mexico.  He actually lives by cancoon!! So that is pretty cool.  Ya the president has given me a few stinky companions and one of them became one of my best companions but someone has to be with them.  I was able to learn a lot from it so I think it is okay. :)  I’m just glad I was not with my other companion longer because I am afraid I would have lost my patience with him.  I feel a hundred times better now though.

So we had two baptisms this week and that was awesome! Baptisms are always so spiritual and we were able to have a good service.  We are now just working on the parents.  They need papers to get married but on one of the papers a name is spelled wrong so they are having troubles and also they are always working and do not have time or the money to go to Quito to get everything fixed up.  But they are doing well and I feel like they will be baptized here soon! love you mom

Elder Guild





Monday, October 20, 2014

New Companion

Hey mom,  
I am doing good.  I have a new companion named Elder Uc.  He is a good guy.  He is from Mexico and I feel like we are going to have a good change.  He seems like he is super great. 
Our sector is actually doing pretty good.  We are planning on having 2 baptisms this Saturday so that will be super awesome.  Their names are Kevin and Stalin.  I think I sent pictures my first week here of them at the church.  They are awesome and they are really excited to get the priesthood and pass the sacrament!  

It makes me laugh with what happened.  And it actually reminds me that this week we were walking and these people were killing one of their pigs so we stayed to watch and it was pretty interesting.  They all took it down and put it on its side then they got a knife and stabbed it in the chest.  I think they were going for the heart but they obviously did not get it because it did not die for a long time and we ended up leaving because it was taking so long. 
Love you all!

Elder Guild





This lady is 98 years old and still works every day!






Monday, October 13, 2014

Another great week!

Hey mom,

I am doing good this week.  we had a really good week and had 6 people come to church this week.  Investigators that is.  One family of 5! The kids are probably going to get baptized the 25 of this month.  so that is really awesome! We just have to help the parents get married and hopefully they will get baptized also!! Pray for them! They are the Familia tulcan dias!  We also had a family of less actives come to church and had 7 less actives in total come! The family is super awesome though!  The mom’s husband died 6 months ago and she is living with her 5 children.  But they are all so great!! I love going and visiting them! Love them! The people here are really great people but they have fiestas every single week!! That is a little bit tiring!  

My companion and I are doing fine.  I do not get along with him like I have with a lot of my other companions but he is a super good missionary and he really knows what he is doing.  I feel good here.  I am happy with the work that we were able to do and with the zone! They are all working really hard! 

This last month president gave us a challenge that we were to read the book of Mormon in 90 days and it is going really well! I love reading the book of Mormon! I really do not have time for everything that I want to do though.  I want to study other books but the book of Mormon is just so great and I never want o put it down.  I am going to finish well before the 90 days.  This morning I was reading in Helaman 4 and found a scripture that I really like.  In verse 25 it is talking about how the Nephites became puffed up in their pride and forgot the lord.  and how they became weak like the Lamanites.  Just a friendly reminder to Cleave unto the lord and remember him in all of your actions! He will help you with whatever you need! Especially with the Young women’s! :)  Love you mom!

Elder Guild


Monday, October 6, 2014

Monday, September 29, 2014

Another Miracle

Hey mom
Sounds like things are going pretty well at home! It is kind of crazy to hear that my friends are coming home already.  I will be home before you know it though! The time is going by super fast!! I don’t think that I have gotten her emails.  Every time she writes me I always write her back.  how are you liking subbing and working? It sounds like it is not to bad.  I’m glad that you guys are having fun with the board games!! Something that I never enjoyed in my childhood!! :)
Well this week in the Zone we had a miracle!! We had the last meeting of the month this Thursday and we have not had any baptisms in the zone this month!! And that has never happened in a zone before!! Usually in means that the missionaries are not obedient or not diligent or they are just lacking in love for the people and we talked about it and decided that that was not it but before the zone leader that I replaced was really not doing a good job.  The missionaries did not even want to come to the meetings!! And all of the missionaries were just not very excited to work! And they have been working hard and have been obedient but we were super sad to see that we did not have even one baptism!! So we all got down right there and asked to have a miracle and we started a fast!! Well that day two missionaries had someone who wanted to be baptized Saturday!! so on Friday we had an interview with him and then on Saturday he had his baptism and my companion and I went to go see it and he did not come!!! So we waited 2 hours but he never showed up to the baptism!! So we left a little sad thinking what we were going to tell president when he asked us why we were not able to have a baptism... but then Sunday they called and he wanted to be baptized but the Bishop does not get a long with him so he did not want to have the baptism!! But Finally they baptized him and he was confirmed and we really did have a miracle!! There were times when we got a little down but it was awesome!! 
Love you mom!! I hope you are still reading the book of Mormon everyday!!

Elder Guild


Monday, September 22, 2014

More Pictures!!!!!





Bad Week :(

Hey mom!
How are you? sounds like things are going well.  I love hearing from you! :)  I am doing good.  We had a horrible week!! We had to go to Quito this week because my companion’s teeth were hurting him so we went Tuesday and they took some x-rays and he had to get his wisdom teeth pulled! so we had to stay the night and they took out his teeth the next day. Then he was super super drugged so we just came back and we did not work for the next three days! In all the meetings I had to conduct them because he couldn’t talk! But we were able to get out a little on Saturday and do some work.  So we got a little done.  It was the first time in my mission that I have not gone out to work! It was not a good feeling.  Then on Sunday some things happened and I made him mad and he would not talk to me all day! But he came to apologize and we are all good now.  But it has been a rough week.  When I got to this zone they were super down and had nothing but we are working really hard to animate them and to have success soon! maybe in this change we wont see success but the next changed I am sure we are going to have a lot! 
Today we went to this lake as a Zone and it was really cool! Super high in the mountains and it was really pretty.  Haha only that when we got there it was raining super hard and everyone got super soaked and it was pretty cold so that was the only down side to it.  But over all it was a good experience.  We did dress like the natives again and I would think about buying my own but the poncho things are like 300 dollars!! Super expensive so I think I will pass.  The gowns that the women wear are actually kind of cool.  
Wow thinking about home and my life after stress me out.  I would like you to look into Utah state for me and see how that is! I would like to go there but Whatever is the best option.  I was in the offices the other day when we went to Quito and I was looking at the papers and on the papers it has it says that I am going to go home on the 13 of October... But we will see what happens I am not sure because that would me almost 26 months.  But thank you for looking into that and let me know what you find out. Love you Mom! You’re the best
Elder Guild

Well this week I have been studying the book of Mormon a lot and I came across a scripture that I love! IT is in alma Chapter 5 verses 6-9.  Wow my souls fills with joy as I read those verses.  I love how he talks first about the things that the Lord has already done for them and their parents. It is very important that we also remember the blessings that the lord has done for us! Think about your like and the life of your ancestors and the great and marvelous things that the Lord has done for them and you! Isn’t it great? Think about your own conversion and how you know that the church is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet.  How do you know? How did the Lord help you know? What blessings have came through that knowledge?  Many people are sleeping and perhaps we are sleeping and we do not recognize the things that the Lord has done for us.  But If we can wake up we can be filled with this redeeming love that makes our souls sing! Now think about all the blessings that you have had that the Lord God has bestowed upon you and the salvation that will come if you endure to the end.  Is it not great? IS the joy not great? Now who in your life also would benefit from these blessings? I hope that you guys are always looking for the chance to help other people out on this journey that we are all on here in the earth.  The blessings that will come are far greater than you can ever imagine.  Think about it and then pray! Then go out and act on your prayer! :) Love you guys! 
Elder Guild




Monday, September 15, 2014

Hey mom!

I am doing really good! Thanks for the email! The language is good! I do not understand anything that they speak but just about everyone here speaks Spanish so it is not bad.  Just when we are in church I have no idea what is going on!! But I have a book to learn the language so I want to try and learn it.  All the people here are like native and they all have long hair! IT is kind of cool sometimes I wonder how close it is to how it was on the Navajo reservation.  I don’t know I could be here for a while.  Usually the Zone Leaders do not get changed around as much so we will see. The food here is pretty sad... They give us rice and potatoes!! And that is it!! So if I do spend the rest of my mission here I am going to miss food a ton!!!  

This week my companion and dress up like the native people and went to church! IT was pretty fun! The members really liked it and I think we might do it every week to gain the confidence of all the members.  My companion is pretty awesome! He was in Peru for most of his mission but he had problems with his visa so he had to come here.  But he really knows how to work! So I am learning a lot from him! He is super cool.  Nothing too special happened this week.  We have three little investigators progressing and they are super awesome and now we are just working with the parents!! SO pray for them! :) 

Love you mom!}

Elder Guild




La Zona Imbabura este!!


I was super sad to leave this family :

Monday, September 8, 2014

Changes!

Hey mom
Well I had changes and now I am with Elder Chub! He is from Guatemala and he is super super cool!  He has 20 months in the mission so he is pretty old as far as elders go but I am excited to be working with him! He seems like a great elder!  I am here in Otavalo!!!! Well close I am in Imbabura and it is really pretty here! it is cool because there are two volcanoes on each side of the city so that is sweet! Also the house that I live in is the biggest house in the mission!!! It is owned by a doctor who is a member and wow! Super awesome! We even have couches!!! But things are all good here I am excited to get to work in this new sector! 
Love you guys,
Elder Guild


Monday, September 1, 2014

Slow...New Pics

Nothing has really happened here... WE are having kind of a hard time getting people to progress but we keep on working hard! We will get them there! Hmm I don’t have a lot to say this week... Love ya
Elder Guild


me di cuenta que todavia no te envie fotos de mi compaƱero!!



All the elders make fun of me because I guess this little case I made for my book of Mormon looks like a little girl made it but I DONT CARE! :)




Monday, August 25, 2014

Hymns and Talks

Hey mom!

Well this week went okay.... Sunday morning the bishop called me and said that his wife’s sister had past away... and he wanted us missionaries to sing some songs at the funeral later that day.  So after church we went to his house and his wife was a little down and he ended up asking us to talk at the funeral! So we went to the funeral service and it was packed with about 150 people!! So we sang some hymns and then me elder pack, elder Spencer, and elder White all gave a thought.  It was actually pretty spiritual! I shared Ether 12:4 and how we all have hope in this life because we have a loving heavenly father who made a plan for all of us! After we got done the people asked if we could sing another hymn!! So that was a pretty cool experience! The spirit was so strong! I just feel bad for all the people who had lost their loved one... I feel like we were able to help them though!! 

Well that was the main thing that happened this week.  We have been busy and well we are waiting for the fruits! patiently waiting!  I am sorry if al my words are spelled wrong! Spanish really is a lot easier!! Tell everyone that I love them! :) Love you mom!

Elder Guild 


Monday, August 18, 2014

Uno and Earthquakes

Hey Mom!

Well I got this huge package today and it was a little embarrassing! I am just glad that not a lot of people saw!! haha no thank you very much! We are going to have fun with Uno!!! I will have to teach you guys how we play as missionaries when I get back! right now the work is a little tough! but we keep working hard and it will pick up! love you!


Elder Guild

btw have you heard about the earthquakes we have been having down here?

Hmm well there have only been two deaths but now they are just like normal! More exciting than scary! one time we were out in the street and all the windows on the building started to shake like crazy and then the gound started moving! kinda cool! :) but don't worry they have not been big at all just little ones!

haha and we could feel the ground moving! I think they said that one was a 4.9! but there was one on tuesday that was 5.3 i think that was pretty cool! we were helping a lady move and to say the least we were out side really fast!


Monday, August 11, 2014

Half Way Point!

Hey mom!

We are doing good! I am a little disappointed with my district today... No one called me last night and so I had to run around to all of their houses in the morning to get the numbers!  We spent all morning doing that because the Zone leaders need them before 10 in the morning!  But it has all been good! My companion really has the gift of tongues! He is learning Spanish super fast!! Lately we have been teaching the members a lot about the atonement! We read with them Alma 7 and then we watch “Because of Him” and it is always really spiritual! Then we always ask if there is anyone that they know that we can share our message with! It works pretty well! We received 12 references last week, which is way more than I have every received in one-week! We are kind of having a hard week! We did not have anyone attend church but we were able to get 10 new investigators and we were able to have 90 contacts so that was good! Now we just need to get them to church!! 

Well love you guys! keep up being awesome! 


Elder Guild

oh and by the way in exactly one year i will be on the plane coming home!! haha the time flies by fast no?