9-year-old Dayra Baptized!

hey mom!!

Tell Ammon great job! I am excited! Chuso that makes me smile! el tiene muchisimo potential llegar a ser awesombroso!

 l will write more later

Oh and I love you mom! Haha my companion told me he wanted to just see who wrote him for 5 minutes and it has been about fifteen and he continues to write! I will write more later!

Hey mom! 

How are you doing? How is your class going? Are you loving the kids? Are you making a difference in their lives? I hope you do everything you can to help them out and help everyone that the Lord puts in your path to help.  :)

Well we had a pretty good week! We had a baptism this week! And i am sorry that I don't have any photos because my card got filled and I sent it home in a letter today.  So you will be getting that! I really hope it gets home because it has a ton of photos and stuff on it that I would be super sad to lose! We baptized a 9 year old girl named Dayra! She is one of the smartest nine year olds I have ever met! She is super awesome! It was a little sad because she had her grandpa baptize her and well the water was super super cold so she got in the font and she was cold!!! Well it would not have been a big deal if her grandpa could get the words right! I am not exaggerating when I say he probably tried about 20 times before he got it right! It got to the point where she was not wanting him to try another time because she was so cold! But we talked him through it word by word until he got it right and it was all good!  A little intense but we got it done! 

Elder Vera is a good missionary.  We did not have a great week of work this week but we are definitely going to have a better week this week! He makes me laugh sometimes just by some of the things that he does... Haha for example we had some chicken the other day and he had the leg and well instead of eating it with his fingers he used his fork and knife to cut off all the meat! I wanted to lean over and whisper in his ear that we are in Ecuador and it is okay if he touches his food! haha 

I am glad to hear that the family is doing good! I hope Katie does well! I will pray for her! And for Grandma! Keep me updated on things! Let everyone know that I love them and that I am doing great! 

Elder Guild

New Changes!

Hey mom!

Well I did get changed this last week! My new companion is named Elder Vera! He is from Chili! He is pretty cool! He is really good with people! Just his personality and all. He is really smart too and can teach super well! I am going to be able to learn a lot from him so I am excited for that. I am in Calderon! It is in Northern Quito! I love it here because the climate is nice and cool! No more hot and sweaty esmeraldas! Although I did like the ocean...  It is pretty awesome here the people are super super nice and they give us a lot of food! I don't know what I am going to do! Things are good! The time is flying by! I have been on my mission for almost 6 months! Crazy! I love it though! 

Sounds like every one is doing pretty good! That is awesome! I hope Ammon kicks butt at state! Im sure he will.  I am excited for him! Shalee always makes me smile! She is awesome! And yes you need to get on the blog! I am excited to see it when I get back home! 

Hmm well last week when I was in Quito, Elder Aliaga and I stopped by an investigators house to invite him to church.  It was late and we knocked on the door and nothing for a few seconds then after a while we heard someone sobbing on the other side of the door! We had no idea what to do! After a few seconds I knocked on the door again and our investigator Alex answered and he was a mess! Crying like a baby! Well i sat him down and tried to talk to him.... it did not take long to find out he was drinking before.  He started talking to me in english and well I tried to help him the best that I could! He told me that his wife is always leaving him and he feels so lonely all the time and that is why he drinks to try and get rid of the loneliness.  I'm not sure if it was true or if it was just the alcohol talking but anyways I gave him some good advice and i'm not sure how much he really took in in his state but I really feel like I have been a tool in the Lord's hands.  It makes me sad that I had to leave the next day.  I don't know if I will ever know what will happen with him or any of the other people in regocijo! Kinda sad! I am super glad to get to meet some new people though! 

Love you guys! 

Elder Guild
         
                                                                  Our apartment

Outside our apartment

look who i saw today! haha crazy to see someone all the way here is Ecuador that i know

Awesome Alex!!!

Hey mom!

It sounds like everyone is doing pretty good! Haha thanks for giving me the heads up on grandmas birthday! 

So my week was a pretty good one! It is kinda scary how fast the time flies by! We have changes next week! It does not feel like it has been six weeks already! I have been here in Regocijo for three changes though so I am guessing that I will be moved to a different sectors which is kinda bitter sweet! I love the people here and I have come to know the place super well and the people and I just love it here.  But then again I want to get out and see a little more of Ecuador! Maybe learn some of the other languages here! My spanish is getting pretty good! It is not perfect for sure but I have had some people tell me that my spanish is very good so that was nice! If I don't get moved this next change I will be serving here in Regocijo for almost 6 months!! That is a long time for one area!

Well we have on investigator who is a really great guy! His name is Alex and he is supèr smart and he even knows English a little! Well we have been teaching him since I first got here on my mission, so for a super long time! Well he is super super awesome and we finally this last week got him to really pray about the Book of Mormon to see if it was true for himself, and he told us that he received an answer and that the Holy Ghost testified to him that it was true! Wow when he told us that I felt like I had just won the state championship match another time! We have been working with him for so long! And he is finally starting to really gain a testimony simply because he acted! It just really makes me realize the importance of not only believing and having faith but also acting! Alex always believed our words and he always believed the Book of Mormon was true but for him to actually gain a testimony of the things he needs to act! Therefore what can you guys learn from this? If you really want something you need more than to just believe! You need to act! Show your faith and anything is possible! I promise you that! :) 

Elder Aliaga and I have been working on a lot of things recently.  Being obedient with exactness.  Teaching better and with the spirit.  And having love for the people here! Well the lord really did bless us this week! We had four investigators come to church this week and they all have such great potential! I really believe that the Lord had seen our efforts and has blessed us because of our hard work! I just feel super great right now! Its kinda funny because I woke up this morning with a horrible head ache and a fever and so this morning was not fun at all, and then my companion needed a new backpack, so I forced myself out of the apartment and then we had a lesson with a non-active member today during our p-day because he is leaving for work for a few days so we can't teach him.  Well all morning I have felt horrible and we actually planned a super awesome lesson for him because he has problems with alcohol and well I really believe that he is going to try and not drink from now on! So we just got done with that lesson and I am here and I have realized just how much the Lord has blessed me! Although I feel like crap I can still feel the spirit! Haha and I am happy! :) I just hope you always remember to live your life in a way that even when you have bad days you can look to your Heavenly Father and know that He loves you and you have the spirit to be with you to comfort you in times of need! I love you guys!

Elder Guild

Well I don't have a lot of new photos this week but we did buy this watermelon and it was super super super super good! I hope you are jealous Tori! ;)

We got a baptism!

Hey mom!! How are you? How is the family?? You have not written me yet so I don't know?? How is school and everything?! Let me know what is going on!! Have you had any spiritual experiences lately??

Well my week was pretty good! We were able to baptize Jean Floyd and he is super awesome! He is 12 years old his Grandma owns this bar and there are always parties there, but she always gives us this super good drink! :)

I am really grateful that we could find him and he is a prime example of someone who has been prepared to receive the gospel! His family supports him and all but they do not really help him.  They don't want to listen to us and they are all caught up in the things of this world but Jean Floyd is awesome and I am really amazed with the faith that he has! He was 30 minutes late for his confirmation yesterday and we were a little nervous but I figure it is just because his mom took a while to get ready!

As for other things that have happened not a lot! Just the same old same old! We have been working really hard and we have found new people to teach it is just hard to find people who are willing to keep the compromisos and progress! But yeah things are good! My spanish is actually getting half way good! I can say pretty much anything I want or at least find a way to say it and so that is a good feeling! I just need to remember to have patience! Haha I have so much to learn it is not even funny but I am excited to learn everything! I feel like I am not going to have enough time in these two years to learn as much as I want! I guess we will see when I am done huh?

Well i don't have a lot more but I love you! Tell the family I love them!

Elder Guild

this is our zone! at the lighthouse

I wish these photos would have turned out better, but I love these kids!

Photos

These were taken like the 2nd or 3rd week into the mission

Thanks for Christmas!

Mom I am not going to lie to you, your emails really are super great to me! Thank you for always emailing me and keeping me updated on everything! So my shoelaces broke so if you could send me another pair in my birthday package that would be great!! :) I actually have not been using my sunscreen or mosquito spray a lot.  There are not a lot of mosquitos here and well for the sun I just forget usually... I will wear it good for like a week and then I will forget for about... a month or so!!! haha but thank you! Sounds like the family is doing good for the most part!! 

Thank you for the Christmas!!!!

Haha I wont lie I did make myself sick! It was a lot of chocolate but I wont lie I loved loved it! And so did my companion.  I have fat weeks and skinny weeks... to say the least this was a fat week... haha our mommita last Sunday said I need to eat more because I was looking a little skinny and this week she told me that I looked like i have gained a little weight!! haha thanks for everything though! yeah I will definitely send some pictures next week!

A Test of Patience

Hey mom!! 

Wow! Sounds like you are doing awesome! Haha I am so glad that you guys are putting in an effort to be a little better! Really makes me feel so great! Thank you for the update on everything!

What time is it?

I love you mom! How was your week? How is your business going? I am excited to come home and you can teach me all about how to do it! You will probably be a pro by then right? As for as my packages go, I still don't have them! But the president is coming this week and I am sure I will get at least one of them then! Our week was good! We worked soo hard! We had numbers that I never had before! Elder Aliaga is a little shy sometimes and I think he is suppose to be the senior companion but he doesn't know the area very well and so I have kinda been taking lead and well I try to work super hard and do everything right.  It worked out really well.  We had 11 new investigators and 50 contacts but it is still way below the goals for the missions and sometimes i feel like the goals are out of reach which makes me a little frustrated because I feel like I won't every be able to reach it no matter how hard I work! But I guess we just need to have a little more faith work a little harder and we will get there! We had a better week this week so that is good.  On sunday I got a little down because we worked and worked and then no one showed up to sacrament!! It was like a punch to the gut! Sometimes it just makes me mad! Just need some patience! :) mas que toto we are keeping our spirits up.  Sometimes it is tough and frustrating but i am doing good! I feel like i have been in this same sector forever and if I don't get changed this next cambiar then i will be in the same sector for 6 months! I wouldn't mind going to Quito where it is a little colder! It is so hot sometimes but yeah I can handle it!

Love you mom tell the family that I love that and I am so glad that you guys are working a little better as far as spiritually goes!

Elder Guild

just some fun at a noche de hogar! (family home evening)