#letter8

This week was a bit loco at our house because we had all the girls that were ending their mission stay with us and then all the new girls that were just arriving to Ecuador stay at our house until they found out their companions on Thursday! With 10 girls and two bathrooms, it was madness trying to get ready in the morning. It also made us really excited to clean the house today!!!

Newbies

That´s me. My group arrived this week. It was really fun to meet everyone! They were all at the Columbia CCM together. Majority of them are Latinos from South America. In a group of 20, there are only 5 of us from America. We had meetings on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. It made it kind of a long week, but it was fun to learn more about what we would be doing out in the field. They also served pizza and it was american pizza so it was yummy! My favorite part of the meetings were on Thursday when they announced the new companionships. They had all the newbies sit on one side of the room and then the trainers sit on the other side of the room. They would call up the trainers and then have people comment on what their strengths were as a person and missionary. Then, they would call the newbie up and they would hug! It was cute!! I obviously already knew who my companion would be, but I am really glad I got to experience it. One of the Elders was like twice the size of the other Elder so when he went up to hug him he just picked him up. I wish I got it on video.

Mission Home

My companions kept telling me that the mission home was this blue house in the poor part of our area. They were joking. I cannot believe that I actually believed them. I kept telling everyone that I knew where it was and what it looked like because my companions told me then we showed up to it for dinner and yaa....it was like a "is this real life moment"? It was a beautiful apartment that overlooked Quito. I did not bring my camera, but I will next time!! There were tables set up with candles and china! It was really nice! We had dinner first. Hermana Richardson cooked for us rice and chicken. Then, we had the best chocolate cake I think I have ever had. Oh and guess what, I LOVE ICE CREAM here! Haha for those who do not remember, I hated ice cream before I got down here. It is different here than in the states though. It is really soft and fluffly here. It is muy muy bueno! After dinner, we watched a slideshow of all the areas in the mission and they made up a song for our mission! Ecuador is really beautiful and has soo much culture here! We also had a chance to listen to everyones testimony! It was really awesome to hear everyone bear their testimony. All of the Latinos are converts to the church so we also were able to hear their stories of joining the church and how it has changed their lives. I think it was the only night that I have ever stayed up past 1030 on my mission!!!

My first BAPTISM (date)

We were in our area last week and we went to go visit a members house, but they were not home. Then, a little boy kept following us and so we asked him where he lived. He showed us where and then we asked if his mom was home. He went to go get her and we talked to her for a few minutes. She was really interestd in the gospel and she wanted to hear more so we set up another date to talk to her. Then, on Saturday we went to go teach her and she invited us in. It was so cute we sat in the grass and her three little kids sat there with us. I gave the kids a pamphlet to read a long. They were so good during the entire lesson and so interested in learning! The oldest daughter reminded me a lot of how Marti probably was when the missionaries were teaching her, grandma, and grandpa. The oldest daughter is 12 and she loves learning about the church. I gave her a Book of Mormon so she could have her own. When she was giving it back to me and I said it was for her, she was shocked. She was sooo happy. The first thing she did was write her name in and then she laid down and started reading it. They came to church with us on Sunday and the kids loved Primary. The mom loved the classes. She said she felt so much peace and comfort. She also said that she felt something different. We went visit her on Sunday after church and asked how she felt it was. She said that her daughter came home and said she liked this church more than any of the other ones. I have really fallen in love with them. They are really good people and do not have a lot. They have a lot of challenges as we all do. I know the gospel will bring so much happiness their lives and seeing them see it affect and change their lives already has been really special for me to see. in Their baptism date is on 3-21. It would be the mom and two of the kids are older than 8.

Side note

...On the bus, these two kids wanted me to teach them  how to speak English. One of them asked how to say "how far is your house". He said it in Spanish and then I told them what it would be in English. Guess what he said...WOOO...That is mucho palabras. Aka...that is a lot of words. The kids are so cute here! They always make me smile. That was the second time they wanted me to teach English.

Patience

"Patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our feats. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something...even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring, it is enduring well. "--President Dieter F. Uchdorf

I have a love/hate relationship with this attribute and quality. I have really learned the importance of it though while being out in the mission for example with learning Spanish and so many other things. I thought I was a pretty patient person before I got here too, but that is what I love about patience...we can always be more patient. I love the quote above because we are not supposed to just endure our trials, but endure them well. That means with a good attitude. That means that even through difficult times we need to do our best and make a difference. That means never quiting even when it seems like there will never be a sunny day. I have seen hard days and good days on my mission. I know that good days always outweigh the bad. There have been times when I just want to go back to the United States, but then I remember how much this experience has given me. It truly is an opportunity to be here. I know that life was not meant to be easy. It was meant to be uphill and require us to apply Christlike attributes. We can only reach our potential by going through those difficult times. Attitude is everything as well as faith. God knows our potential and he knows what we need to reach it. My prayer is that we will all have a little more faith on the hard days and "endure them WELL". I promise that if we do that we will be so grateful we did and we will learn more and grow more than we ever thought possible.

I love being a missionary. I love the opportunity to be a representive of Jesus Christ. I love serving the people here and seeing how I can help them even if it just a simple smile or hand shake. I also have seen how much they can teach me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Mom, Kendra, and Phil!!! Wish I could have been there to celebrate! I hope you guys had a wonderful day!!!

I love you guys and miss you tons!!! Have a wonderful week and stay safe!!!

Love always,

I am being constantly blown away at the scriptures, but this week’s readings in particular were amazing. 3 Nephi 7-11 though really this week I could not stop reading just at that. I don’t know what it is about reading the Book of Mormon in the temple, but it is really hard to stop when I’ve started. So in these verses, what Samuel the Lamanite prophesied came to pass, and Christ comes to the americas. There are so many good things in these chapters, its hard to narrow down what to talk about. It’s really powerful to read the specific prophecies of Samuel and then later see that yes, Zarahemla did burn, etc. What the prophets say is true. It makes me think about recent and current prophets and makes me want to study their words more in depth but to also pay closer attention to what the prophets in the scriptures say about our day and what we need to do to prepare to the future.

We spent a lot of time today talking about 3 Nephi 11, where Christ appears and interacts with the people. My favorite verses were verse 7, where Heavenly Father introduces Christ as His Beloved Son again, and verse 15, where the people go and individually interacted with Christ. How incredible that is, to interact individually with Christ. What kind of experience would that be? Just imagine it, what would Christ do and say to you? He knows more than we know ourselves, really. He knows what we need, whether it be a hug or words of encouragement, etc. To hear his voice say your name with such an astounding amount of love would be indescribable wonderful. I don’t know that I’d be able to say anything. I imagine that I would probably be too full of emotions to have any words left.

The scriptures are just incredible. I want to share everything in the scripture with everyone because the gospel is incredible. I guess that’s what my mission will be for. :)

You make me so happy.

We sort of talked a bit about our future today. It was nice. To have and raise a child with you, or even adopt, would be such a pleasure. The ultimate task, and having you to share that experience with just makes me feel good. You said you'd be there for me and take care of me the whole way. I've never felt so secured, even from our current standing. I want a life with you. I want to build our home and family together and just grow old with you. You're so much more than my lover. You're my best and closest friend and we just belong. At this point, I don't even care if we don't get married. I just know I need you by my side, always. 

Kung nagpapamiss ka... Grabe! Sobrang effective. :( </3