I`m Thor. You`re sore? Well it hurtth.‏

Hey Mom how`s it goin?  I`m doin alright, just tired.  Naw don`t worry, you had time.  I just print my emails in the morning and saw that you didn`t write me so I thought something went down.  You`re lucky Ididn`t log in to your email and see if you had entered in.  Tisk tisk :)

Well moderation doesn`t apply here in the mission...well at least for these next two months it doesn`t.  And it`s okay, it`s a test of faith.  I trust that President Ghent receives revelation for the mission and if that`s what he asks me to do, I`ll put my faith to the test and see what happens.  And so far, the results are in his favor!

Familia Abad was baptized this Saturday and this Sunday at 10:00 in the morning Familia Cuatin will be baptized.  The Lord`s really blessed us with these two families.  And what`s even crazier, I was talking to the grandma of Famila Abad and I just asked her, "Do you know anybody we could teach around here?"  She said yes, Maria, who lives down here a little further down.  So we went down and knocked on the door of the house that we thought was Maria`s.  Some man opened the door and asked us what we needed, we asked if Maria lived here, he said no, then I said, "Well might as well present ourselves so you don`t wonder who the two strangers are standing in your door in the rain."  We said we were missionaries and such and he said, "Come in!"  

We met his wife and children and then taught the Restoration and he said, "I`ve always wondered why there was so many churches.  I was so confused which was the right one!"  Well know you know how to find out buddy.  They`ve been doing great, attended church and now have a baptismal date for March.  ANOTHER FAMILY!!!  I hadn`t baptized a real family in my whole mission until last November.  And now the Lord has helped us find three in a month. That`s not coincidence and I know the Lord has great things planned for these families and that He`s willing to bless us if we put forth our part.  So I feel like I`m already seeing miracles!

This Sunday I had a talk, they assigned me the Restoration and Missionary Work.  I was going to be the last speaker.  The thing was that the lady who spoke ahead of me talked....and talked....and talked..... I was about to scream out in impatience !  Then she ended and we sang the middle hymn.  I got up there with all my scriptures and Preach My Gospel and the bishopric told me, "Five minutes.  Your testimony."  So I just told them how we`ve been able to help two families be baptized from only two referrels.  Imagine what we could do with more!!  And that was about it.  haha Whenever I prepare my talk all week I end up never giving it.  Now I know.

I sent you guys a letter today.  It has a lot of other letters including ..some from last July.... so if you could please help give those out.  But thanks for all you`re doing mom, you`re doing great with the young women, you`re changing lives!  Thanks for your support.  I love you guys!

Choa.

Everybody`s Gone Surfing‏

Hey my dear mother!!  It`s good to be alive.  It`s good to hear from ya.

Saturday we had a small earthquake!  It was a new experience.  We were in a meeting then all of a sudden I felt my stomach goin all back and forth.  I thought, "What did I eat this morning?"  Then I felt all dizzy and drugged.  It reminded me of the Villaflora!  But then someone asked, "what was that?"  Then it came back and then I saw the picture on the wall banging against the wall.  It was pretty sweet.  I stood up to see how I felt while standing up, I imagined surfing, but it went away before I could do anything.  And that was it.  Nothing drastic or dangerous or scary, just a first time experience.  It supposedly started in Colombia and Venezuela and Panama felt it too.  Cool stuff.

So Valentines day eh?  You hardly notice here!  It`s all about Carnaval, Carnaval, and Carnaval.  It`s when everyone has water fights and throws eggs and flour all over the place. But this year that haven´t really because it`s been raining all week.  Hard.  So I bought that stinkin sunscreen for nothing!!  

A family, Familia Abad, is going to be baptized this Saturday at 10 am.  I´m super excited.  It´s an actual real family that could be sealed in a year.  So it`s awesome.  They´re doing great.  I gave Nixon, the husband, a blessing to leave smoking and drinking and he hasn`t done either for about 20 days now.  Keep it up!!

We have another family, Familia Cuatin, progressing well for the 23.  They`re awesome.  The husband went and told his friends that he couldn´t play soccer anymore on Sundays.  For Ecuador, that`s huge!!  Wooooo baby.

Um other than that I really can´t think of anything else that`s happened this week.  I just can´t listen to music for 2 months or have activities.  They´re called righteous sacrifices.  Because we want to see miracles these next two months we`re going hardcore to receive blessings.  So mom, if you could help me out with missionary thoughts or faith motivating experiences.  I have to help the zone stay diligent and excited and I have to set the example with all of this.  So if you could share a spiritual thought in your letters each week it`d be great. Kinda like you did this week!  Good stuff.

Well keep on working my mother!  You´re doing great!  Tell me what I should do with my life.  What should I study?  Are you okay with me going to study in BYU?  Should I go back to work in the potato field when I get back?  

AH!  Spiritual things!!  Yeah, anyway, I gotta go.  But thanks for everything mom.  I love you!  Take care and tell everyone I said hi.

In Need of Helping Hands

Hey mom, what`s new?  I used the card and it worked!  I used it to buy sunscreen and vitamin C.  Good stuff!

 

Hey we have a guy from the Mexican colonies here in my zone.  Elder Romney.  Lives close by the temple there.  Cool stuff!

 

Yeah good job Ty.  Tell him to cheer up charlie and send Brett a smile.

 

Beyonce`s 40 right??  What the heck is she still doing runnin around half naked?  Well I guess if those weird guys from the hot springs do it I shouldn´t be talking about age. 

 

Alrighty so my new sector is pretty cool.  I`ve mostly been on divisions though, in the other sectors trying to help them get more excited.  I don`t think it worked.  But I got to know them at least! 

 

Oh and the people work here!!  Geez, I had a service project everyday of the week almost.  Tuesday I helped roll a big trunk out of the drive way of a lady.  I thought, alright let`s do this boys!!  We`re men!!  Then I bent down, pushed, and split my pants in half...

I did the deacon shuffle the rest of the night.

Thursday I gathered potatoes and put them in sacks.  I had to sort the good ones from the rotten ones.  Gooood times.

Wednesday I pruned a tree with a machete and a saw while precariously perched upon a partial ladder on a pine tree.

Friday we sanded walls, unscrewed cabinets, and painted the newly sanded walls green. On the way out I accidentally scraped my pants against the paint bucket....

Saturday I helped make the foundation of a new house by mixing cement (WATER!!  ROCK!!  CONCRETE!!! SAND!!  MORE WATER!!!) and having the men carry it in the wheelbarrows.  Unfortunately I`ve had a tan line from always wearing my collared shirt everyday, so the whiter part of my neck got burnt to a crisp.  I didn`t look to the left or to the right or nod my head much on Sunday.  But it`s all good now! 

 

So I liked this week.  It was nice to be outside working and helping people.  There`s a good satisfaccion about helping people out.  And on top of that we found two families, they both have baptismal date, one attended church, the other really wants to read the Book of Mormon and pray, and the Lord is blessing us.  I`m super grateful and hope that we can have more success this week.  I just don`t like talking about success because I think that God will punish me for being prideful or something.  So PLEASE pray for me!   This can be a great month!

 

Well that`s all for this week.  Thanks for the package by the way!!  I was grubbin on those Reese`s Pieces.  And the pictures are great as well.  I love you guys!  See ya next week.  Choa.

 

Los Buenos Locos

Hey mom what`s new?  Dad`s got a new clinic!!  Sweet.  Looks good.  The Catholic priest on the other hand.... well he needs medical care too I guess. So that`s pretty good.  Rock on.  

Ah missing child sickness.  I`m sorry.  I guess Skype might help??  Or just tell the other two that you need a new distraction, such as grandchildren.  That`d be good uh?

Well okay I`ve been changed.  I`m in my new sector Salvador Celi, in the zone Los Chillos.  I used to be in the heart of Quito before but now I`m in the adjoining valley. So it`s still part of Quito but it`s more like the suburbs and such.  It`s a smaller zone (14 missionaries) and I`m not a hotel anymore so I won`t have be stressed about every time there`s a zone leader`s council or a trainer`s meeting.  Whew.  So my own house, and my own zone.  So I`m pretty happy.  My new companion is Elder Dos Santos, he`s Brazilian and has one change less that I do.  So it`s good.  I don`t know a lot of the sector or the zone yet but it`ll be interesting.  I know the majority of the missionaries in my zone already because I was there in the thick of everything (who was coming to the mission, who was going, who was having interviews, who was training..) and I met a lot of the missionaries there.  So it`ll be good.  I have things to learn here.  What the Luz taught me was to trust my feelings, not be afraid to sit down and talk with a missionary who`s having problems, and serve the companion.  It also taught me that I need to improve my studies and get back in gear.  Avoid my comfort zone.

Hey thanks for the help with the card by the way.

Well this week was good I guess.  We just went around contacting a lot and visiting members and trying to help some of our investigators progress.  That`s been the problem.  Finding new people and helping them progress.  But one cool thing did happen this week.

We didn`t have any appointments and it was 7 at night.  What do we do?  So we decided to go and ask the Elder`s quorum president where his inactive councilor lived.  His wife, who just barely gave birth, was sitting there in the house and she told us where we could find them.  I called the inactive family and the wife answered.  She tried to put up some excuses saying how they were busy and her husband wasn`t in the house and she was sick and gonna go to the hospital tomorrow, I told her we only wanted to pass by and give her a blessing of health before she went to the hospital.  She paused....then said how about 8:30?  We said "But what about your husband?"  She said, "He`s right here.  We`ll be there at 8:30."  

So we went and she told us how she was gonna get a hip transplant and how she was really nervous and her husband has lost the faith and he`s depressed.  So I shared DyC 112, somethin that says that if we`re humble, God will take us by the hand and give us answers.  He was gonna be there, holding her hand, through the surgery.  Elder Barrios ( a missionary who was with me) shared Alma 7 :11-12 about how Christ can strengthen her in times of sickness and pain.  Then we invited her husband to give her the blessing. He didn`t want to at first but with some persistence he did it.  It was good.  She was at peace and got operated the next day.

The members that got robbed?  Do you remember when I talked about them?  Well we never got to teach them but we left flowers for them at least and tried to help the best we could.

But yesterday, we went and visited the inactive family again, but with members, and shared a message with them.  When we were leaving the sister who got robbed said "You`re an angel.  You`re always there to help the sick." 

Maybe that`s not my calling right now, to go help all the sick people in the ward.  But I just thought about all the stories of Thomas S. Monson and he was able to help the sick by following the spirit.  And that`s the truth.  We can soften the hearts of the inactives and the wayward members by focusing on their needs.  We can help the sick if we take a moment to pause and think about what`s happened to them.  I know you must be super busy with all your work, school, and church callings but try to think about someone during the day and I truly believe the Lord will guide you to help that person in some way.  And you don`t even realize your potential to help someone, the difference you make for that one person.  

I found that interesting this week.  And it`s part of the process of becoming a Bueno Loco.  

I love you mom, I love you dad, hope you have a great week.  Pray to help someone everyday and you`ll see miracles!  Choa.