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)

VAMOS!

Hey mom!! I am glad you got rid of that tree!! Sounds a little dangerous! Did Jacob like his birthday? So it sounds really cold there and here it is not cold at all.  Actually it is the hottest time of the year.  From now until about March I guess it rains a lot and is super hot.  People don't like it because it is so hot... I'm not sure what I would pick the super hot or the cold but it really is not too hot here.  I guess there are other parts of Ecuador like the jungle that are a lot hotter! My package was only a little over weight so i guess it only cost 5 dollars and they are sending it here to Esmeraldas.  

Elder Aliaga is very chill! He is an awesome guy really! Haha he makes me laugh! He is just so chill and goes with the flow! I don't think we could have an argument if I wanted one! He is really young though.  Only eighteen years old and he has only been a member of the church for about a year and a half now so he is not only young in age and maturity but also young in the church! Haha this makes the teaching interesting! He has actually only been in Ecuador for 6 more weeks than me! And our lessons are not quite the same as they were with old Elder Bautista! I guess I never really realized how good of a teacher Elder Bautista was! Elder Aliaga is good, he is just young and inexperienced as well as me haha but I cant really go through a whole lesson in full detail because my spanish is not that good yet and my companion forgets to really asks questions some times and so a veces our lessons are super short! haha so we have a lot of extra time but we are going to be working on our teaching skills and I hope it gets better!  

Elder Aliaga:

Our week went well! We taught a lot of lessons we even found two new investigators and we have one kid who is really progressing--well and I think we will be able to baptize him in a couple weeks! Elder Aliaga is super good with helping me with my spanish and I asked him if he would correct me whenever I make mistakes and he has been doing that so that is awesome! Haha he is a little shy and timid at times but something that might surprise you is I kinda don't have any fear when I go and talk to people! I know my spanish is not good at all and I cant understand completely everything but I just don't really think about it! The other day we were contacting and we knocked on a door and the lady was busy so we set an appointment for the next day! haha well they next day came and as we came up to the house there was this big black man with his shirt off in the door way and it was a little intimidating! So we were walking and I noticed Elder Aliaga was just going to walk right passed and I asked him what he was doing and he was like they look a little busy! So I just looked at him for a second then said vamos! And I went up to the man and was like hola como esta? haha he didnt even say anything but come in! haha so we came in and we taught these ladies and got two new investigators! And then later during the week the same exact thing happened and I had to tell Elder Aliaga vamos! And we ended up teaching someone new! So he is a little shy, but I think I will help him with that.  I always just think to myself to Just Do It! Really what is the worst that could happen! Most of the people in this world are pretty nice!  

This is Elder Gebs. He is from Evanston:

I get to see Elder Bautista about every Monday and every Thursday when we have district meeting! So that is cool we are good friends! I kinda miss him and the teaching was a lot better but Elder Aliaga and I are getting along great and I think both Elder Aliaga and I are going to learn a lot! They kinda threw the two of us out here with each other without a lot of experience, but I know it will be for the best.  Elder Baustista didn't really try to learn any English but Elder Aliaga wants to learn so we read things in english and spanish for that.  He doesn't know like anything so it is good! 

It makes me so glad to hear that your guys are reading the BOM I know that you will get huge blessings from that! Really when the family has the gospel and lives it they are so much happier and they have so much more power to withstand temptation and it is just awesome! Kinda crazy how awesome the gospel is! One scripture I like that is a good example of the effects of the gospel is 4 Nephi 1:15-18! 

Tell every one that I love them! I do not have very many emails this week so get on them for that!! I want to hear from you guys!!! 

I love you mom! Miss ya! :)

Elder Guild

A Memorable Christmas

Hey mom! Sounds like you are doing well! Let me know how Jacob's birthday goes! What did he think of my letter?  I cant believe he is already 10! I feel like it was not that long ago when you were pregnant with him! It was way nice to talk to you guys! I called you back after to talk without everyone but know one answered! So I called Tori's and Jake answered and I talked to him for like 20 minutes.  Anyways I wasn't able to get my package yet.  I guess we have our mail come on the 8th and I know I have at least one package in there so maybe I will get it then. Yeah it is tough and frustrating at times! Sometimes I don't think I will ever learn the language but everyday I get a little better and before I know it I am sure I will be able to talk like a pro! 

So my Christmas was pretty good! We have a rule that we have to be in our house after 5 because it is a little dangerous! So we studied in the morning until 12 then went to lunch! Had lunch then we went and taught a lesson to a inactive family.  After that we went to get our clothes from one of our momittas.  On our way there we passed one of our mommittas and she asked us what we were doing for our Christmas and we told her that we had to be in our house and she started to cry!! haha she just loves us and felt bad for us! When we got back to our house Elder Bautista did what he loves the most and went to sleep so i just studied.  Got in some comfy clothes and my plan was to just study until bed time, but then we got a phone call at about 8 and this lady on her death bed needed a blessing. A member came and picked us up and we went to go give her a blessing.  When we got there she was in super bad shape! She did not really seem like she was going to make it through the night! All of the family was gathered around and when we walked in I could feel the sadness that they had and the hope they had in us! 

Well we went and gave her a blessing and and on the way back I was thinking to myself about the life after this life and all of that stuff and really death is just another part of Gods plan for us and it should almost be a happy time! We get to move on and become one step closer to living with our Heavenly Father. I was also thinking about how really, we are the exact same people after death. We will still have the same thoughts wants and desires! I like to compare it to how I felt during wrestling and how I always thought that if I could just be a state champ that some how I would be a different person and I would feel different and be different but when I won I didn't feel any different! But yet I was still a different person than the person I was when I started wrestling.  really I changed during the process. through all my matches and practices wins and loses is what made me the wrestler I was. And really it is the same with life! We have this time on earth to prepare ourselves to live with God and we cant expect to all the sudden be different or feel different after death or later.  We have to act now and be prepared now because we will be the same person with the same thoughts wants and desires!! So that was my Christmas! One that i will never forget. And btw the lady died the next day. Really I think she was in a lot of pain and I think it was for the best.  I know she is not experiencing that anymore.  

Well I have a new companion!! His name is Elder Aliaga! He is from Peru! He is 18 and he knows NO english! He is super cool and humble and I am excited to work with him! I think this is a good chance for me to really grow and I am excited! Elder Bautista is now the new zone leader and he was excited for that! I will let you know more about my new companion next week when I know more about him! He thinks it is crazy that I have ate buffalo and I eat the meat that I hunt! haha 

One other thing I wanted to write this week is that I love you mom!!! You are so awesome and I want you to know that I miss you too! I miss being able to call you and talking sometimes when I am bored and have nothing else to do! Im not sure what I would have done without you in my life! I honestly don't think that I would be here if it were not for you! Keep being awesome! You are like the coolest lady I know! And that is the truth! I love you mom! Cant wait to talk to you on mothers day! (We will have to talk without everyone else on that day)

Love Elder Guild

I am so blessed

I'm not sure how great this photo is but it was on the bus to quito.  and it is like this the whole 7 hour but ride! so at least we have a great view!

Thanks for the call mom! Next time I hope the video works.  Well I miss you guys but like I said in Dads email do not feel bad! I will be home before you know it! Be happy because really we only have reason to be happy! Really I just feel so blessed and my whole body just feels like overwhelmed with joy because I have been blessed with such a great family! I have the gospel in my life and I know Heavenly Father loves me! What more could I ask for! The funny thing is that even though I have been given so much even more than I deserve the Lord continues to bless me and I know that the mission is a blessing and that I am in the debt on my Heavenly Father and continue to grow more and more in the debt of him.  Remember that the only way to receive the mercy of the Lord is to  repent and use his atonement! Helamen 5:11 and D&C 18:10-13 love you guys! If you're not happy just stop and take a second to think about what is on your mind and it will probably be thinking about something of yourself.  If you are always thinking of others your lives will be happier! Love you!