My good friend, La Virgen del Rosario

Hello my mother.  Well it was good to talk you all and see that you look good.  Thanks for the college help.  It makes me feel good that I know where I`m going at least.  I didn`t want to be like the dog barking to just get  out of the yard then when I`m finally out I just sit by the fence.  Plans give direction.

I think I forgot to say Happy Mother`s Day yesterday....so....HAPPY MOTHER`S DAY!!  haha I`m sorry it`s like the video turns on and then my mind goes blank.  It`s like...well hello!  And nothing else.  So sorry for not saying that yesterday.  My bad.

Um but other than that I called the nurse last night and she told me that it`s possible that I have a parasite, so I was thinking just tell me to take a pill and I`ll do it but nooooo I have to go poop in a cup.  Dang it!!!  She told me not a lot, just about two spoonfulls and I asked her how the heck am I gonna measure that.  You want me to go in the bathroom with a spoon and a bowl or what?  I was joking with her of course but I need to do it.  And it was awkward going to the pharmacy and asking for the container.  It seemed so hectic and everybody was talking at the same time then the lady by the counter asked me what I needed so I said "Un frasco de orina!"  For some reason it seemed like everybody stopped and just stared.  

"A what?"

*Brett sweating and looking nervous* "uh a aa frasco de orina?"

"Ah ya okay.  25 cents." 

I look around and the young mother with the baby is staring at me with a face that says, "Gringos. Psht.  If I had a parasite I would have killed by myself."

Then I asked if they knew a good lab or clinic I could go to and then everybody had an opinion.  "Thank you Tena!  I`m glad you`re all concerned about my the welfare of my bowels!"  But they suggested that I go to a lab called Virgen del Rosario, a very catholic name that`s surprisingly run by Jehovah's Witnesses..... there`s a whole bunch of contradictions there.

But anyway I`m alright.  No results yet.  I haven`t tried poopin in the cup yet so we`ll see how it goes.... I`m scared.  Sigh.  But I`m drinking some Gatorade anyway.  I took out some money today, I`ve been barely getting by because I haven`t wanted to spend money that`s not mine but with your permission I`m gonna make use of it.  No use letting it rot in the bank when I need it.  So thank you for that.  I`ll use it wisely.

Anyway nothing new.  I`m doin alright.  Thanks for everything you`re doing for me, thanks for the prayers, I`m gonna be working and finishing strong.  It`ll all work out. We`re gonna work our parasite ridden hides off this week and we`ll see some results I`m sure.  We`re also gonna have interviews with President Ghent as a zone in Ambato on Friday so it should be a good week.  

I`ll see ya guys later!  I love you all, have a great week!  Adios!

The Best of Times, The Worst of Times‏

Alirghty, hello how are you?  So first things first, I think I should be calling on skype on Sunday at 3 in the afternoon here in Ecuador so around 1 your time.  Or maybe a little later so you can eat.  Don`t worry about it.  so let`s say 1:20 haha.

If ya wanna call me call.... .  It`s the church phone.  That`ll work.

Yeah UVU or UofU whatever is better I`ll go.  I don`t know much about either!

So Cameron is going to live in Papa`s house?  Plaza de Sol.... dang, what will papa do there?  That`s rough.

Um okay so this week was a good one and a bad one.  It was like.... well I guess I`ll tell you.

So President Ghent called on Monday night asking me about my companion, how he was doing and what not.  I said he`s good, but what exactly was he asking for?  Spiritually?  Physically?  So he got to the point and said that the nurses had told him that Elder Briñez`s knee was hurting him.  I said yes and that it would swell sometimes and it hurt him.  So he told me that he had spoken with the area doctor and they decided that it was better that Elder Briñez return to Cali, Colombia and do therapy sessions until he could get better.  (He had surgery in December for a torn ACL....it wasn`t getting better.)  So I said, "Dang. But okay." He then informed me that I would be receiving another companion.     He said he was sorry that this would have to happen but that he loved me and yeah things would work out.  So I said, thanks for the opportunity and passed the phone to my companion so President could talk to him.  Elder Briñez objected, he didn`t want to go home, afterward he was sad, we had to talk there for awhile, he was frustrated and scared about what everyone would say once he got back.  They would think it was an excuse not to go on the mission.  We talked and I tried to help him but he asked me, "And what if I don`t come back?" 

"I guess it`s what the Lord wants."

"But I had faith I would be healed!  And it didn`t happen.  Maybe I don`t have faith."

"Faith in God doesn`t mean, having faith that He`ll give us what we want, but give us what`s best.  It`s trust in Him.  Everything happens for a reason."

But we left the next morning and we talked and laughed but then said goodbye in the terminal with tears in our eyes and then he left to Quito.  He`s a good guy, and I`m gonna miss him. 

So then I met up with my new companion, Elder Riveros from Paraguay, with five months in the mission.  He`s really happy, likes to joke, and I met him in the zona activity to Baños.  He knows Elder Recalde, the elder that I trained also from Ecaudor.  So we started talking and I`ve found a few things about him.  He`s the only member of the church in his family of 10, he was less active for four years but active for two and now he`s here on the mission.  He has good intentions but nobody`s really taken the time to help him I feel.  So he`s good and he`s adopted me as his trainer haha.  I asked for mountains to climb so can`t complain when they come!

We also had the baptism of Anibal  this weekend, awesome!!  By a beautiful river and we had member support and it turned out really nice.  Church attendance also went up.  so I feel good.  I`m happy.  Just a little sick.  I ate something terrible!!  Destroyed my stomach.  I`ll send photos next week.

But anyway I hope ya have a great week. I`ll talk to you all on Sunday!  I love you guys, take care!

When In Rome‏

Hey mom how´s it goin?  Your little adventure sounded like a whole lot of fun.  Nothing teaches better than experience.  And good for Joselyn.  Hope she has a good mission.

Well right now I dont have a lot of time to write, again, because we had another zone activity.  I told myself no, no we´re not gonna go but then they said we were going to a monkey park.  How could I resist?  So I spent today chillin with my monkey cousins lovin life and basking in the jungle heat.  The bad part was that I lent my camera to our missionary leader, Einer.  He´s crazy.  But I did it and he used up almost all of the battery and so the camera died and I didn't have enough battery to take good pictures of my monkey friends.  So.... the next time.  And this was in Puyo so we had to travel two hours and then come back.  We also ate.  I ate a food typical of here, it´s called Mayto.  It´s fish (called talapia) that´s cooked in corn leaves.  And that´s it!  You eat it all.  And then they give you a pound of yuka and an Ecaudorian salad to go with it (which consists of onion and tomato. nothing else).  Luckily the store next door asked if I wanted a smoothie (YES!) so I  got an avocado smoothie.  Now at first I didn´t like avocados  but then I started buying them because it reminded me of dad eating them.  Then I became a man and started to love those dang things.  So in smoothie form, with a little of sugar and milk.  It´s delicious.  So try it!  You´ll like it.  

Um other than that we postponed the baptism of Anibal for this weekend because we felt like it was the best thing to do.  Like grandpa told me, you should always follow an impression no matter how hard the decision is.  I think it´ll work out better that way.

Well thanks for everything mom.  I´ll be writing you next week and I´ll send you  a photo of mayto.  So we can cook it at home haha.  I love you, thanks for the help, have a great week.  Tell the family I said hi.  Adios!