On the left-Omar's baptism-Ellen and Hermana Foster
Below-The office elders-Guerrero, Coba, Garcia, Thayne, Sandberg and Mendez
Monday, August 30, 2010
Be Still My Soul, The Lord is On My Side
Hola!!
Questions first!!! 1. How was Zone Conference? You didn't mention it. Zone Conference was really different from what President Johns did but I´ll get used to it.
2. Did you have to give a presentation? I didn´t have to give a presentation. Elder Garcia did tell me that they miss me a lot in the office-awwww. I miss them too.
3. You mentioned in a previous e-mail that Sister Montalti told you a little more about why you are in Cuenca. Do you want to share? Hermana Montalti pretty much just told me that I was going to be her eyes and ears in Cuenca and Loja and that all the missionaries from there would call me.
4. One of the moms asked about laundry. Do you usually hand wash everything or use a laundromat? We hand wash our garments but there´s a member who lives next door that does our clothes (she´s not endowed and less active so she can´t do our garments.)
5. Will you get to go to the temple while you are in Cuenca? We don´t get to go to the temple in Cuenca because it´s 4 hours away :(.
6. Did you get Grandma C's package yet? I doubt anyone will steal it. It won't do them any good! I haven´t gotten Grandma C´s package yet because last week there was no mail for the emergency changes. Yes, we were very mad.
7. Did you like your birthday presents? I hope the sizes were okay. I loaded all the CD's you requested onto the MP3 I sent. I LOVED my birthday presents!!! The MP3 was a life saver because Hermana Wise got transferred and she was the only other one with music. I´m so glad you were able to find all the music I asked for. The shirt is a little big but the dress is perfect, just that sometimes it´s too cold to wear it. But it´s very pretty.
8. Do you get the Ensign or Liahona? If not, do you want me to send our old issues? Do you have time to read them? Or, I could just send the conference issues so you can reread the talks. Let me know. We got the liahona when I was in the office but I haven´t gotten one since then-I dunno what´s going on with that, I´ll have to ask.
9. Are there any treats or items from the US you'd like us to send you? Anything you are craving? Treats from the US-well since you asked, I´m dying for peanut butter m&ms and reeses cups, plus peanut butter and nutella, it´s sooooo expensive here I can´t even believe it. Plus if you can get salsa from Cebollas and send it to me that would be amazing, although that might be kind of a stretch, I realize. I always need more nylons, they break like crazy on me. I dunno, just anything else you want to throw in there. Whew. Lots of questions!!!
Okay, so this week was INCREDIBLE!!!! I have never ever been able to see the Lord´s hand so clearly in my life, directing us where we need to be and what we need to do. So Monday we were feeling a little depressed/freaked out because Hermana Wise had left and we didn´t know anything, but we decided that if this was some kind of test to see how we would handle being left in Cuenca by ourselves, bueno, we were gonna pass it with flying colors. But of course we all know that when we decide that we´re gonna keep going despite everything, Satan starts making plans to get in the way, which is exactly what he did. Tuesday morning I woke up with awful diarrhea and stomach pain, I couldn´t even get out of bed. But we had to go to district meeting, so off we went, and then we went on a treasure hunt for the family that was supposed to feed us that day. Well, we ended up getting horribly lost and walking for an hour and a half, which wouldn´t have been so bad except I´d had diarrhea all morning and eaten pretty much nothing, so I was about ready to pass out. We stopped to ask for directions and the guy was like, oh that´s like forever away, but don´t worry, I´ll take you in my car!!! We ended up contacting him and we´re going to teach him and his wife today. So then he dropped us off in the streets where we needed to be but we still couldn´t find this lady. Then we hear hermanas!! Come in here!!! Umm . . . . we don´t know you!!! But then he was like, hey I´m Hermano Barros, (a family in our ward) come and meet my cousin, he wants to have the lessons!!! His cousin turned out to be super awesome, and then HNO Barros took us exactly where we needed to go, except the hermana had already left, so we ended up eating in a restaurant and then HNA Castillo was like we are going home and you are going to rest!!! I didn´t even argue with her, I felt so awful that I was dying to just lie down for awhile. We went back out that night and taught two recent convert and less active families, and as we were leaving our last appt. we were waiting for the bus and saw two guys coming down the street. I thought, I don´t really like the way these two guys look, just and HNA Castillo said, why do I have a bad feeling about these two guys?? So we started looking for an escape but there was nowhere to go. Just as these two guys got to us, the bus pulled up!!! WOW.
And that was just Tuesday. Almost every day that week the Lord helped us, through the members, through the Spirit, through small and simple things. We went back and taught HNO Jose, HNO Barros´ cousin, and it turns out that he´s golden. He said that he has the same question that Joseph Smith had, and he was so excited to read the BOM and pray and we were excited too!! We put a baptism date on Gothy´s parents, who are going back to Peru in October to get married, and on Leonel, who we didn´t see at church the next day but we found out later that he had come, just that he woke up late and came for the last hour. They´re all really excited. Jorge´s friend Javier is progressing really well too, just that we need to get him to church, but Jorge is helping us out a lot. Basically the Lord has really been looking out for us this week. There´s no doubt in my mind that Heavenly Father is listening to my prayers and is answering them. There´s no doubt in my mind that He loves me and that I am important to Him. There's a song on the MP3 that you sent me called I Am His Daughter that´s been an incredible help to me. It talks all about how the opinions of the world and other people aren´t important, because I am a daughter of Heavenly Father who loves me and helps me see that I have a lot to offer. I listen to it a lot, especially this week, and next week I´ll post the words so that everyone can read them. It´s awesome.
We had kind of a funny experience yesterday-well HNA Castillo doesn´t think it´s funny but bueno. We were walking to go catch the bus to pick up people for church and HNA Castillo was like look a dog!!! So we were both looking at it and all of a sudden I hear a THUD. I turned around and HNA Castillo was on the ground!! She had tripped and fallen and scratched her knees up really badly. That part´s not funny, just that she fell because she was looking at the dog. But she´s hurting bad and has to walk a lot slower now, pobrecita. But now we´re a little bit more careful now. But we´re doing good. Little by little we´re learning the sector and everything is falling into place. The members are helping us a lot and we are finding incredible people. The Lord has us in His hands. There´s no doubt in my mind!!!
Siga adelante siempre!!!! Les amo y extraño mucho!!!
Hermana Chamberlain
Questions first!!! 1. How was Zone Conference? You didn't mention it. Zone Conference was really different from what President Johns did but I´ll get used to it.
2. Did you have to give a presentation? I didn´t have to give a presentation. Elder Garcia did tell me that they miss me a lot in the office-awwww. I miss them too.
3. You mentioned in a previous e-mail that Sister Montalti told you a little more about why you are in Cuenca. Do you want to share? Hermana Montalti pretty much just told me that I was going to be her eyes and ears in Cuenca and Loja and that all the missionaries from there would call me.
4. One of the moms asked about laundry. Do you usually hand wash everything or use a laundromat? We hand wash our garments but there´s a member who lives next door that does our clothes (she´s not endowed and less active so she can´t do our garments.)
5. Will you get to go to the temple while you are in Cuenca? We don´t get to go to the temple in Cuenca because it´s 4 hours away :(.
6. Did you get Grandma C's package yet? I doubt anyone will steal it. It won't do them any good! I haven´t gotten Grandma C´s package yet because last week there was no mail for the emergency changes. Yes, we were very mad.
7. Did you like your birthday presents? I hope the sizes were okay. I loaded all the CD's you requested onto the MP3 I sent. I LOVED my birthday presents!!! The MP3 was a life saver because Hermana Wise got transferred and she was the only other one with music. I´m so glad you were able to find all the music I asked for. The shirt is a little big but the dress is perfect, just that sometimes it´s too cold to wear it. But it´s very pretty.
8. Do you get the Ensign or Liahona? If not, do you want me to send our old issues? Do you have time to read them? Or, I could just send the conference issues so you can reread the talks. Let me know. We got the liahona when I was in the office but I haven´t gotten one since then-I dunno what´s going on with that, I´ll have to ask.
9. Are there any treats or items from the US you'd like us to send you? Anything you are craving? Treats from the US-well since you asked, I´m dying for peanut butter m&ms and reeses cups, plus peanut butter and nutella, it´s sooooo expensive here I can´t even believe it. Plus if you can get salsa from Cebollas and send it to me that would be amazing, although that might be kind of a stretch, I realize. I always need more nylons, they break like crazy on me. I dunno, just anything else you want to throw in there. Whew. Lots of questions!!!
Okay, so this week was INCREDIBLE!!!! I have never ever been able to see the Lord´s hand so clearly in my life, directing us where we need to be and what we need to do. So Monday we were feeling a little depressed/freaked out because Hermana Wise had left and we didn´t know anything, but we decided that if this was some kind of test to see how we would handle being left in Cuenca by ourselves, bueno, we were gonna pass it with flying colors. But of course we all know that when we decide that we´re gonna keep going despite everything, Satan starts making plans to get in the way, which is exactly what he did. Tuesday morning I woke up with awful diarrhea and stomach pain, I couldn´t even get out of bed. But we had to go to district meeting, so off we went, and then we went on a treasure hunt for the family that was supposed to feed us that day. Well, we ended up getting horribly lost and walking for an hour and a half, which wouldn´t have been so bad except I´d had diarrhea all morning and eaten pretty much nothing, so I was about ready to pass out. We stopped to ask for directions and the guy was like, oh that´s like forever away, but don´t worry, I´ll take you in my car!!! We ended up contacting him and we´re going to teach him and his wife today. So then he dropped us off in the streets where we needed to be but we still couldn´t find this lady. Then we hear hermanas!! Come in here!!! Umm . . . . we don´t know you!!! But then he was like, hey I´m Hermano Barros, (a family in our ward) come and meet my cousin, he wants to have the lessons!!! His cousin turned out to be super awesome, and then HNO Barros took us exactly where we needed to go, except the hermana had already left, so we ended up eating in a restaurant and then HNA Castillo was like we are going home and you are going to rest!!! I didn´t even argue with her, I felt so awful that I was dying to just lie down for awhile. We went back out that night and taught two recent convert and less active families, and as we were leaving our last appt. we were waiting for the bus and saw two guys coming down the street. I thought, I don´t really like the way these two guys look, just and HNA Castillo said, why do I have a bad feeling about these two guys?? So we started looking for an escape but there was nowhere to go. Just as these two guys got to us, the bus pulled up!!! WOW.
And that was just Tuesday. Almost every day that week the Lord helped us, through the members, through the Spirit, through small and simple things. We went back and taught HNO Jose, HNO Barros´ cousin, and it turns out that he´s golden. He said that he has the same question that Joseph Smith had, and he was so excited to read the BOM and pray and we were excited too!! We put a baptism date on Gothy´s parents, who are going back to Peru in October to get married, and on Leonel, who we didn´t see at church the next day but we found out later that he had come, just that he woke up late and came for the last hour. They´re all really excited. Jorge´s friend Javier is progressing really well too, just that we need to get him to church, but Jorge is helping us out a lot. Basically the Lord has really been looking out for us this week. There´s no doubt in my mind that Heavenly Father is listening to my prayers and is answering them. There´s no doubt in my mind that He loves me and that I am important to Him. There's a song on the MP3 that you sent me called I Am His Daughter that´s been an incredible help to me. It talks all about how the opinions of the world and other people aren´t important, because I am a daughter of Heavenly Father who loves me and helps me see that I have a lot to offer. I listen to it a lot, especially this week, and next week I´ll post the words so that everyone can read them. It´s awesome.
We had kind of a funny experience yesterday-well HNA Castillo doesn´t think it´s funny but bueno. We were walking to go catch the bus to pick up people for church and HNA Castillo was like look a dog!!! So we were both looking at it and all of a sudden I hear a THUD. I turned around and HNA Castillo was on the ground!! She had tripped and fallen and scratched her knees up really badly. That part´s not funny, just that she fell because she was looking at the dog. But she´s hurting bad and has to walk a lot slower now, pobrecita. But now we´re a little bit more careful now. But we´re doing good. Little by little we´re learning the sector and everything is falling into place. The members are helping us a lot and we are finding incredible people. The Lord has us in His hands. There´s no doubt in my mind!!!
Siga adelante siempre!!!! Les amo y extraño mucho!!!
Hermana Chamberlain
Monday, August 23, 2010
My District From My Office Days
Hermanas Chamberlain, Castillo, Foster and Laime and Elders Coba, Garcia, Thayne, Guerrero, Sandberg and Mendez.
More Surprises!
Hooola!!!
Well. We had another BIG surprise last night. I was saying my nightly prayers and the phone rang. After a few seconds Hermana Wise got up and went to answer it. Suddenly I couldn´t concentrate on my prayer anymore, because let´s face it, a middle of the night phone call is almost never something good. Then I heard a "WHAT??? Where am I going?? What time do I have to be there??" Oh nooooo. This can´t be happening!!! But it was-Hermana Wise was being emergently transferred!!!!!! She had to be at the terminal on a bus to Guayaquil at 6 the next morning. By the time she got off the phone it was almost 11. I´m sure you can all imagine what followed, and if you can´t I´ll sum it up for you-lots of tears, lot´s of throwing things randomly into luggage, lots of freaking out on the part of Hermanas Castillo and Chamberlain because WE´VE ONLY BEEN HERE FOR TWO WEEKS!!!!! Even in a smaller sector that would be tough but Alamos is HUGE!!!!!! Hermana Castillo started to cry and I started to feel nauseous-and needless to say, no one slept very well. This morning off she went with our zone leader Elder Griswold, who is now the new assistant (Elder Coba´s leaving early on Tuesday so that he can go back to school.) We have no idea what the emergency was but all we know is that we have no idea where anything is or what we´re doing really. BUT-we know that we can figure it out. The members have already stepped up to help us a lot and we have a general idea of where we´re going tonight at least. I told Hermana Castillo that we just had to take it day by day because if we tried to think more ahead we´d just start freaking out again. So we´re going to be fine. But prayers would be appreciated-because we pretty much have no idea what´s going on!!!
Anyway, Gothy and Katty were baptized this past Saturday!!! It was really awesome, I had to give a talk and I accidentally said that Heavenly Father is flying for you instead of watching out for you, but Hermana Castillo said she didn´t even notice, so bueno. Gothy´s mom said at the end that her daughter was setting the example for all the viejitos (old people). She´s hilarious. And she´s totally getting baptized too. Pray that she and Jose Miguel find a way to get married earlier than October!!!
We´re working with some really great people. Leonel is a friend of a recent convert Miller. We´re going to put a date on him soon because he comes to church and the activities all by himself and he´s reading and basically he´s just really awesome and prepared. Plus we´re teaching Javier who´s a reference of Jorge Monge, one of the members. He came to a family home evening at Jorge´s house where we taught the Plan of Salvation and he had some really good questions. We were supposed to teach him tonight but we weren´t sure if he remembered and plus we couldn´t remember how to get to Jorge´s house (you can laugh, it is kind of funny). So we called Jorge to beg for his help, and he called us back and said that Javier was still very interested and he´d be waiting by the bridge by our house to take us over to his place and teach him. SWEET!!! I love people that help other people!!!!
Now for the questions. Yes I did feel the earthquake!!! They say that it was really deep under the earth which is why it was really more of a tremor than a quake, but I was standing at the stove making hot chocolate (there´s no microwave) and all of a sudden I felt the floor shaking and I thought that maybe one of my companions just had a really heavy step, but then I noticed that the powerlines outside were also moving and I was like uhhhh . . . . hermanaaaas????? Then I heard Hermana Castillo yell, AHHH!!! HERMANA WISE!!! She´d never experienced an earthquake before. It was all fine, nothing got broken or hurt, but it was still a little unsettling!!! About La Churona-I´m actually not sure what that is and the 20th of August passed without us hearing anything about it!! The only reason I know what it is is because I read HNA Glanzer´s blog and she talked about it. You´ll probably get more info from her, Loja is HUGELY Catholic. In the terminal they´ve got a glass box with the Virgin Mary in it, it´s a little bit frightening. In Cuenca there are 6 wards and one branch, and there are 16 missionaries. It´s a pretty small zone, but the ward limits are huge, they go on forever. I did get the second box from you mom, with the pop rocks (and I have the BEST video of it too, I´ll try to upload it) but I haven´t gotten them from Grandma yet. Maybe tomorrow??
Well, can´t think of anything else to say. I watched the birthday video and LOVED it!!! It made me very happy to see my whole family, even the cats!!! Don´t worry, we celebrated here too, Hermana Afrania bought me a cake and everything. Hopefully my cable works and I can upload some pictures!!!
MUCHO AMOR
Hermana Chamberlain
Well. We had another BIG surprise last night. I was saying my nightly prayers and the phone rang. After a few seconds Hermana Wise got up and went to answer it. Suddenly I couldn´t concentrate on my prayer anymore, because let´s face it, a middle of the night phone call is almost never something good. Then I heard a "WHAT??? Where am I going?? What time do I have to be there??" Oh nooooo. This can´t be happening!!! But it was-Hermana Wise was being emergently transferred!!!!!! She had to be at the terminal on a bus to Guayaquil at 6 the next morning. By the time she got off the phone it was almost 11. I´m sure you can all imagine what followed, and if you can´t I´ll sum it up for you-lots of tears, lot´s of throwing things randomly into luggage, lots of freaking out on the part of Hermanas Castillo and Chamberlain because WE´VE ONLY BEEN HERE FOR TWO WEEKS!!!!! Even in a smaller sector that would be tough but Alamos is HUGE!!!!!! Hermana Castillo started to cry and I started to feel nauseous-and needless to say, no one slept very well. This morning off she went with our zone leader Elder Griswold, who is now the new assistant (Elder Coba´s leaving early on Tuesday so that he can go back to school.) We have no idea what the emergency was but all we know is that we have no idea where anything is or what we´re doing really. BUT-we know that we can figure it out. The members have already stepped up to help us a lot and we have a general idea of where we´re going tonight at least. I told Hermana Castillo that we just had to take it day by day because if we tried to think more ahead we´d just start freaking out again. So we´re going to be fine. But prayers would be appreciated-because we pretty much have no idea what´s going on!!!
Anyway, Gothy and Katty were baptized this past Saturday!!! It was really awesome, I had to give a talk and I accidentally said that Heavenly Father is flying for you instead of watching out for you, but Hermana Castillo said she didn´t even notice, so bueno. Gothy´s mom said at the end that her daughter was setting the example for all the viejitos (old people). She´s hilarious. And she´s totally getting baptized too. Pray that she and Jose Miguel find a way to get married earlier than October!!!
We´re working with some really great people. Leonel is a friend of a recent convert Miller. We´re going to put a date on him soon because he comes to church and the activities all by himself and he´s reading and basically he´s just really awesome and prepared. Plus we´re teaching Javier who´s a reference of Jorge Monge, one of the members. He came to a family home evening at Jorge´s house where we taught the Plan of Salvation and he had some really good questions. We were supposed to teach him tonight but we weren´t sure if he remembered and plus we couldn´t remember how to get to Jorge´s house (you can laugh, it is kind of funny). So we called Jorge to beg for his help, and he called us back and said that Javier was still very interested and he´d be waiting by the bridge by our house to take us over to his place and teach him. SWEET!!! I love people that help other people!!!!
Now for the questions. Yes I did feel the earthquake!!! They say that it was really deep under the earth which is why it was really more of a tremor than a quake, but I was standing at the stove making hot chocolate (there´s no microwave) and all of a sudden I felt the floor shaking and I thought that maybe one of my companions just had a really heavy step, but then I noticed that the powerlines outside were also moving and I was like uhhhh . . . . hermanaaaas????? Then I heard Hermana Castillo yell, AHHH!!! HERMANA WISE!!! She´d never experienced an earthquake before. It was all fine, nothing got broken or hurt, but it was still a little unsettling!!! About La Churona-I´m actually not sure what that is and the 20th of August passed without us hearing anything about it!! The only reason I know what it is is because I read HNA Glanzer´s blog and she talked about it. You´ll probably get more info from her, Loja is HUGELY Catholic. In the terminal they´ve got a glass box with the Virgin Mary in it, it´s a little bit frightening. In Cuenca there are 6 wards and one branch, and there are 16 missionaries. It´s a pretty small zone, but the ward limits are huge, they go on forever. I did get the second box from you mom, with the pop rocks (and I have the BEST video of it too, I´ll try to upload it) but I haven´t gotten them from Grandma yet. Maybe tomorrow??
Well, can´t think of anything else to say. I watched the birthday video and LOVED it!!! It made me very happy to see my whole family, even the cats!!! Don´t worry, we celebrated here too, Hermana Afrania bought me a cake and everything. Hopefully my cable works and I can upload some pictures!!!
MUCHO AMOR
Hermana Chamberlain
Monday, August 16, 2010
Me Gusta Cuenca!
Hooolaaaa!!!!
First of all, I´m a huge jerk because I forgot to tell Kelly FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS!!!! You´re 12 now, wow!!! Hope it was awesome and sorry I´m so late!!!!
So I survived my first week in Cuenca with no warm clothes!!!! It was pretty tough, actually-everyone here says that it´s a lot colder than normal right now, and all I´ve got is a NorthFace fleece and a jacket that Hermana LeCates left here. I don´t actually really like this jacket, but I also don´t like being cold, so bueno. BUT-I LOVE CUENCA!!!!
It is very different here from Guayaquil, as I´ve mentioned before. We´re in the middle of the mountains and it´s cold, plus the accents are different and the people are a little bit more reserved than the people on the coast. They don´t open right up and tell you their life´s story within 20 minutes of having met you. But the difference is that when they say they´ll do something, they do it. If they say they´ll read the Book of Mormon, they read it. If they say they´ll come to church, they come (and they even come on time!!!). I love that about the people here. It might be a little bit more difficult to find people (although we did find 12 new investigators this week-woooow) but when we do find them, they´re a lot more prepared to receive the gospel. Our sector is HUUUUUUGE-we have to take the bus to a lot of our appointments and sometimes we´re on the bus for awhile-like a half hour. But it´s cool. We´re working with a lot of great people. We have two baptisms this Saturday, Gothy and Katty. Gothy is a 16 year old girl from Peru. Her parents are going to get baptized too but they have to go back to Peru and get married first and they can´t until October. But Gothy is VERY intelligent-pilas, as we say here in Ecuador. The first time we taught her HNA Wise and HNA Barker had left her a pamphlet about the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we came we asked her what she learned. She proceeded to teach us the entire lesson based on what she read in the pamphlet. When she stopped talking we just looked at each other and said, Amen!!! She´s pretty much brilliant. Katty is from Machala and is studying at the university here in Cuenca and living with her member family. She´s super great too-and they´re both really excited for their baptisms. We´re working with another jovencita too, Maria Jose, but she´s from Quito and is going back next week, so we´re just teaching her as much as we can and then we´ll give the reference to the missionaries in her ward. But she´s totally going to get baptized too-she reads and comes to church so bueno.
I realized something the other day-that I am incredibly happy to be here in Cuenca. The only thing that I don´t like is that at night it´s so cold that I can´t sleep sometimes, but we let HNA Montalti know and she´s having the office send some more blankets. Sometimes I miss my old district, bc they were awesome, and I miss my converts sometimes too, but I know that the Lord needs me here. When I imagined my mission in Ecuador, it looked almost exactly like Cuenca. I´ve seen houses made out of mud, walked down dirt roads, climbed a few mountains, and seen a LOT of people in traditional dress-cholas cuencanas. It´s super cool-I´m very lucky to be here preaching the gospel to these people here. It´s like a birthday present from Heavenly Father. At first I felt really bad because I knew that Hermana Barker was going to need a lot of help in the office learning everything, and I felt like I should be there helping her instead of here. It was really frustrating for a few days, but then as time went by Hermana Barker let me know that it wasn´t too bad in the office and Hermana Montalti called and let me know a little more about what I needed to be doing here. I had to send the cell phone back to Guayaquil but they´re sending me a new one that should be here this week-or maybe tomorrow bc that´s when zone conference is. That was kind of ridiculous too because when I left Guayaquil I tried to give the phone to the assistants THREE TIMES and they were like no keep it!!! But whatevs. I bought a pair of gloves today and I´m in search for a scarf and a few sweaters. I wanted to buy a peacoat but they´re hugely expensive, like 60 dollars, so that´s probably not going to happen for awhile. It´s kind of fun to be in cold weather again-it feels like the Christmas season. This will be the first birthday I´ve ever had in cold weather!!!! Weird huh??
So that´s what´s happening with me!!! I´m super bien. Maybe I´ll get to go to Loja with president this week and present in zone conference. HNA Barker said that she had to do that in the Guayaquil conferences but that she doesn´t get to come here because I´m here. Uhhhh . . . . lo siento. But I´m kind of expecting someone to tell me 5 minutes before ZC starts that I have to give a presentation, so I´m going to prepare tonight. Hope all is well on the home front. Just a thought-the only people who´ve written me letters lately are my mom and Hermana Haggard who´s coming in November. Hi Hermana Haggard!!! I wrote you a letter last week but then I got changed and it´s lost in my luggage somewhere. Can you send me your info again?? When/if I find it I´ll send it to you. Or I´ll just write you another one. The rest of my friends . . . . . HOLAAAAA. ESTOY AQUI ESPERANDO SUS CARTAS!!!!
MUCHO AMOR
Hermana Chamberlain
PS: Mom-can you send me my Purdue sweatpants too?? And long sleeved tshirts?? Gracias!!!
First of all, I´m a huge jerk because I forgot to tell Kelly FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS!!!! You´re 12 now, wow!!! Hope it was awesome and sorry I´m so late!!!!
So I survived my first week in Cuenca with no warm clothes!!!! It was pretty tough, actually-everyone here says that it´s a lot colder than normal right now, and all I´ve got is a NorthFace fleece and a jacket that Hermana LeCates left here. I don´t actually really like this jacket, but I also don´t like being cold, so bueno. BUT-I LOVE CUENCA!!!!
It is very different here from Guayaquil, as I´ve mentioned before. We´re in the middle of the mountains and it´s cold, plus the accents are different and the people are a little bit more reserved than the people on the coast. They don´t open right up and tell you their life´s story within 20 minutes of having met you. But the difference is that when they say they´ll do something, they do it. If they say they´ll read the Book of Mormon, they read it. If they say they´ll come to church, they come (and they even come on time!!!). I love that about the people here. It might be a little bit more difficult to find people (although we did find 12 new investigators this week-woooow) but when we do find them, they´re a lot more prepared to receive the gospel. Our sector is HUUUUUUGE-we have to take the bus to a lot of our appointments and sometimes we´re on the bus for awhile-like a half hour. But it´s cool. We´re working with a lot of great people. We have two baptisms this Saturday, Gothy and Katty. Gothy is a 16 year old girl from Peru. Her parents are going to get baptized too but they have to go back to Peru and get married first and they can´t until October. But Gothy is VERY intelligent-pilas, as we say here in Ecuador. The first time we taught her HNA Wise and HNA Barker had left her a pamphlet about the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we came we asked her what she learned. She proceeded to teach us the entire lesson based on what she read in the pamphlet. When she stopped talking we just looked at each other and said, Amen!!! She´s pretty much brilliant. Katty is from Machala and is studying at the university here in Cuenca and living with her member family. She´s super great too-and they´re both really excited for their baptisms. We´re working with another jovencita too, Maria Jose, but she´s from Quito and is going back next week, so we´re just teaching her as much as we can and then we´ll give the reference to the missionaries in her ward. But she´s totally going to get baptized too-she reads and comes to church so bueno.
I realized something the other day-that I am incredibly happy to be here in Cuenca. The only thing that I don´t like is that at night it´s so cold that I can´t sleep sometimes, but we let HNA Montalti know and she´s having the office send some more blankets. Sometimes I miss my old district, bc they were awesome, and I miss my converts sometimes too, but I know that the Lord needs me here. When I imagined my mission in Ecuador, it looked almost exactly like Cuenca. I´ve seen houses made out of mud, walked down dirt roads, climbed a few mountains, and seen a LOT of people in traditional dress-cholas cuencanas. It´s super cool-I´m very lucky to be here preaching the gospel to these people here. It´s like a birthday present from Heavenly Father. At first I felt really bad because I knew that Hermana Barker was going to need a lot of help in the office learning everything, and I felt like I should be there helping her instead of here. It was really frustrating for a few days, but then as time went by Hermana Barker let me know that it wasn´t too bad in the office and Hermana Montalti called and let me know a little more about what I needed to be doing here. I had to send the cell phone back to Guayaquil but they´re sending me a new one that should be here this week-or maybe tomorrow bc that´s when zone conference is. That was kind of ridiculous too because when I left Guayaquil I tried to give the phone to the assistants THREE TIMES and they were like no keep it!!! But whatevs. I bought a pair of gloves today and I´m in search for a scarf and a few sweaters. I wanted to buy a peacoat but they´re hugely expensive, like 60 dollars, so that´s probably not going to happen for awhile. It´s kind of fun to be in cold weather again-it feels like the Christmas season. This will be the first birthday I´ve ever had in cold weather!!!! Weird huh??
So that´s what´s happening with me!!! I´m super bien. Maybe I´ll get to go to Loja with president this week and present in zone conference. HNA Barker said that she had to do that in the Guayaquil conferences but that she doesn´t get to come here because I´m here. Uhhhh . . . . lo siento. But I´m kind of expecting someone to tell me 5 minutes before ZC starts that I have to give a presentation, so I´m going to prepare tonight. Hope all is well on the home front. Just a thought-the only people who´ve written me letters lately are my mom and Hermana Haggard who´s coming in November. Hi Hermana Haggard!!! I wrote you a letter last week but then I got changed and it´s lost in my luggage somewhere. Can you send me your info again?? When/if I find it I´ll send it to you. Or I´ll just write you another one. The rest of my friends . . . . . HOLAAAAA. ESTOY AQUI ESPERANDO SUS CARTAS!!!!
MUCHO AMOR
Hermana Chamberlain
PS: Mom-can you send me my Purdue sweatpants too?? And long sleeved tshirts?? Gracias!!!
Monday, August 9, 2010
The Joke's On Me. I'm in Cuenca!
SOPRESA!!!!!
Soooooo . . . . . you´re all not gonna believe what happened this change. I´ll tell you right now. I´m not in barrio Bolivar anymore. In fact . . . . . I´m not even in Guayaquil. I´m in . . . . . CUENCA.
President wanted to have a nurse outside of Guayaquil to take all the calls from Cuenca and Loja, and then the office nurse would take care of everyone in Guayaquil, Milagro and Machala. So last night we were sitting around waiting for cambios and they never came, so we went to bed. Then we got a call this morning saying that Hermana Castillo and I BOTH had cambios. I was thinking that they were going to make me come just to tell me that I´m moving to the other half of the ward and I was getting really ticked off, so Hermana Foster called the assistants to ask them if it was really necessary that I pack all my stuff. When she hung up the phone she looked completely shocked and said, you´re leaving Guayaquil. Uhhh . . . . . WHAT??? So we figured we´d be in Milagro bc it´s pretty close and it´s safe, but then as we were in the taxi driving to the terminal, Hermana Wise called. She said, uhhhh do you know whats going on??? Umm no, no we don´t!!! Then she said you and Hermana Castillo are coming to Cuenca to be in a trio with me!!!! We got to the terminal and it was true. Elder Garcia told me that I would keep being the nurse but only for the people in Cuenca and Loja and that Hermana Barker would go to the office to do all that. She´s going to be in Bolivar with Hermana Montenegro.
We really have no idea what´s going on and I have no idea why I´m here because almost NO ONE in Cuenca and Loja get sick. Don´t get me wrong, I¨m thrilled about being here because Cuenca is awesome, but very confused. The only thing I can think of is that the Lord wants me here for some specific purpose. Pray for me and for Hermana Barker also because she doesn´t know anything. P day is on monday now for me and I´m pretty much a normal missionary now. Love you all!
Hermana Chamberlain
Soooooo . . . . . you´re all not gonna believe what happened this change. I´ll tell you right now. I´m not in barrio Bolivar anymore. In fact . . . . . I´m not even in Guayaquil. I´m in . . . . . CUENCA.
President wanted to have a nurse outside of Guayaquil to take all the calls from Cuenca and Loja, and then the office nurse would take care of everyone in Guayaquil, Milagro and Machala. So last night we were sitting around waiting for cambios and they never came, so we went to bed. Then we got a call this morning saying that Hermana Castillo and I BOTH had cambios. I was thinking that they were going to make me come just to tell me that I´m moving to the other half of the ward and I was getting really ticked off, so Hermana Foster called the assistants to ask them if it was really necessary that I pack all my stuff. When she hung up the phone she looked completely shocked and said, you´re leaving Guayaquil. Uhhh . . . . . WHAT??? So we figured we´d be in Milagro bc it´s pretty close and it´s safe, but then as we were in the taxi driving to the terminal, Hermana Wise called. She said, uhhhh do you know whats going on??? Umm no, no we don´t!!! Then she said you and Hermana Castillo are coming to Cuenca to be in a trio with me!!!! We got to the terminal and it was true. Elder Garcia told me that I would keep being the nurse but only for the people in Cuenca and Loja and that Hermana Barker would go to the office to do all that. She´s going to be in Bolivar with Hermana Montenegro.
We really have no idea what´s going on and I have no idea why I´m here because almost NO ONE in Cuenca and Loja get sick. Don´t get me wrong, I¨m thrilled about being here because Cuenca is awesome, but very confused. The only thing I can think of is that the Lord wants me here for some specific purpose. Pray for me and for Hermana Barker also because she doesn´t know anything. P day is on monday now for me and I´m pretty much a normal missionary now. Love you all!
Hermana Chamberlain
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Goodbye Hermana Foster
Hola!!!!
This week has been kind of surreal. It´s Hermana Foster´s last week so everyone´s been saying goodbye to her and making a big deal and stuff, plus she´s kind of freaking out too. But it was good, we had some good experiences and some little miracles from Heavenly Father, but we´re going to need more!!!
So this Monday I got a chance to work with Hermana Wise. She had come to Guayaquil from Cuenca to renew her censo, and she stayed with us that night. Hermana LeCates came up too because she went home on Tuesday morning, so she and Hermana Foster went to visit converts and Hermana Wise and I went to visit investigators. It was . . . . super awesome!!! I had been feeling really nervous, because I´ve never taught a sector to anyone, never been the person who decides where we´re going and what we´re doing, but Hermana Wise didn´t know anything really, so it was all me. But it was excellent!!! I figured out that I can teach a sector, start lessons, teach them, act on inspiration . . . . when Hermana Barker comes, I´m ready and raring to go!!! Heavenly Father really helped me out that night and I know that he will keep helping me all throughout my mission as long as I trust in him!!!
So the bishop said that he wants Camila and Yvonne to be baptized with someone in their family so that they´ll go to church every Sunday (even though HNA Jacklin already brings them, but bueno) but their mom lives in Duran and their sister is medio flojo (meaning she flakes on us a lot), Well guess what?? We went back to their house one day this week and their mom has moved back here to Guayaquil!! She´s listening to us now and she´s okay with the girls getting baptized, she just wants to make sure that they´re ready first. But it´s so good that she´s listening to us too, and it was really a miracle straight from Heavenly Father that she came back!!! Unfortunately Maria Soledad is going to have to wait a little longer because one of her parents doesn´t want her to get baptized. We´re not sure who it is because one day she says that her dad said no and the next she says he didn´t say anything about it and so yeah. We´re working on it. But that was kind of sad, she started crying in a lesson because she wants to get baptized so bad. But we´re going to help her.
A lot of people have been wondering why I don´t talk about the medical part of my mission very much. It´s because I don´t really want to. I´d rather talk about the people I´m working with because that´s where I get the most happiness. With the new president and all the people calling us and having to do a lot more stuff, that part is really stressful and I really am a lot more happy when I´m out in the sector teaching people. So that´s what I talk about in the emails. Plus what we do in the office isn´t very interesting, just taking calls and calling doctors and charting and stuff. I dunno, what do you guys want to know about it?? I will say this though, that the elders in our office are really weird . . . . they´re awesome but they´re so weird!!!! There´s a door in the office that separates the main desk and our office from their part, but every day I hear laughing, singing, fighting, scuffling, and every once in a while they come in to refill their mate cup (mate is an herb that they drink in Argentina and it´s super gross, but the office elders all drink it like crazy.) I love them all but wow . . . . que radisimo!!!
Something else cool-HNA Wise and I went to visit Catalina on Monday and she told us that she´s been reading the Book of Mormon and she´s in 1 Nephi 13!!! Wow!!! We were so excited when we heard that. She is SO close to being baptized and HNA Wise said that HNA Barker would help out a lot with her. I hope so because I can just see her in the temple now!!!
Well sorry this is short-we´re on a tight schedule today because it´s Hermana Foster´s last P day and there´s a lot she wants to do. Plus this internet cafe is really expensive. But I love you all and sorry about the pictures but I forgot my cable!!! Love you all!!
Hermana Chamberlain
This week has been kind of surreal. It´s Hermana Foster´s last week so everyone´s been saying goodbye to her and making a big deal and stuff, plus she´s kind of freaking out too. But it was good, we had some good experiences and some little miracles from Heavenly Father, but we´re going to need more!!!
So this Monday I got a chance to work with Hermana Wise. She had come to Guayaquil from Cuenca to renew her censo, and she stayed with us that night. Hermana LeCates came up too because she went home on Tuesday morning, so she and Hermana Foster went to visit converts and Hermana Wise and I went to visit investigators. It was . . . . super awesome!!! I had been feeling really nervous, because I´ve never taught a sector to anyone, never been the person who decides where we´re going and what we´re doing, but Hermana Wise didn´t know anything really, so it was all me. But it was excellent!!! I figured out that I can teach a sector, start lessons, teach them, act on inspiration . . . . when Hermana Barker comes, I´m ready and raring to go!!! Heavenly Father really helped me out that night and I know that he will keep helping me all throughout my mission as long as I trust in him!!!
So the bishop said that he wants Camila and Yvonne to be baptized with someone in their family so that they´ll go to church every Sunday (even though HNA Jacklin already brings them, but bueno) but their mom lives in Duran and their sister is medio flojo (meaning she flakes on us a lot), Well guess what?? We went back to their house one day this week and their mom has moved back here to Guayaquil!! She´s listening to us now and she´s okay with the girls getting baptized, she just wants to make sure that they´re ready first. But it´s so good that she´s listening to us too, and it was really a miracle straight from Heavenly Father that she came back!!! Unfortunately Maria Soledad is going to have to wait a little longer because one of her parents doesn´t want her to get baptized. We´re not sure who it is because one day she says that her dad said no and the next she says he didn´t say anything about it and so yeah. We´re working on it. But that was kind of sad, she started crying in a lesson because she wants to get baptized so bad. But we´re going to help her.
A lot of people have been wondering why I don´t talk about the medical part of my mission very much. It´s because I don´t really want to. I´d rather talk about the people I´m working with because that´s where I get the most happiness. With the new president and all the people calling us and having to do a lot more stuff, that part is really stressful and I really am a lot more happy when I´m out in the sector teaching people. So that´s what I talk about in the emails. Plus what we do in the office isn´t very interesting, just taking calls and calling doctors and charting and stuff. I dunno, what do you guys want to know about it?? I will say this though, that the elders in our office are really weird . . . . they´re awesome but they´re so weird!!!! There´s a door in the office that separates the main desk and our office from their part, but every day I hear laughing, singing, fighting, scuffling, and every once in a while they come in to refill their mate cup (mate is an herb that they drink in Argentina and it´s super gross, but the office elders all drink it like crazy.) I love them all but wow . . . . que radisimo!!!
Something else cool-HNA Wise and I went to visit Catalina on Monday and she told us that she´s been reading the Book of Mormon and she´s in 1 Nephi 13!!! Wow!!! We were so excited when we heard that. She is SO close to being baptized and HNA Wise said that HNA Barker would help out a lot with her. I hope so because I can just see her in the temple now!!!
Well sorry this is short-we´re on a tight schedule today because it´s Hermana Foster´s last P day and there´s a lot she wants to do. Plus this internet cafe is really expensive. But I love you all and sorry about the pictures but I forgot my cable!!! Love you all!!
Hermana Chamberlain
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Back From The Gira
Hoooolaaaaaa!!!!!
We have returned from our gira and it was AMAZING!!! We went to Machala first, which is just like Guayaquil except smaller and less dangerous. We were only there for two hours because it´s really close to Guayaquil, like 3 hours away, so we didn´t need very much time to see all the hospitals and stuff. Plus there wasn´t a whole lot else to see besides banana trees and rice fields so bueno, we left for Loja, which is about 6 hours away from Machala. We were driving along in the bus and all of a sudden BOOM!!!!! Big green beautiful mountains EVERYWHERE!!!!! I had my face glued to the window pretty much the whole time and I took a lot of sweet pictures, which I will upload next week I PROMISE. I wanted to do it today but we didn´t end up going back to the house before we came here so I don´t have my camera. But seriously, next week I will get them to you all.
So then we arrived in Loja and it is just the cutest little city ever. It reminded me of Canandaigua a little because it´s small and tranquila and there´s a lot of little shops and restaurants everywhere, although it doesn´t have a lake. But it is very pretty, you have to drive through a castle to get into the city and I felt like a princess (yeah, feel free to make fun of me here). It´s like a little fairytale town, there´s a park that we went to that has little castles in the playground and you can go up into them and slide down and there´s llamas walking around and it´s just super cool. We stayed with Hermana Glanzer and Hermana Velasquez in their new house that´s incredibly amazing, and the next day we ate lunch with them and Hermana Montenegro and Hermana Montezuma. It was super fun and soooo good to see them all again. Don´t worry, we did do some work-we went around and found all the hospitals and looked at them and everything. But it was just such a cute little town, so peaceful and I didn´t feel scared to walk around with the cell out or with my bag or anything. Although something kind of weird did happen-we were walking down the street and this guy was walking toward us from the opposite direction and when I saw him I felt something kind of weird but I didn´t know why. Well as he passed me, he reached out and made a grabbing motion with his hand!!! I had borrowed one of Hermana Castillo´s little bags and it was hanging across my body on the right side, but I grabbed it and pulled it out of his reach. Hermana Foster saw the whole thing and was like, what was that all about?? I was like, I don´t know, he either was trying to rob me or grab something else!!! Random . . . . . but I would be the only person that almost gets robbed in Loja of all places!!!
So then we got on the bus from Loja to Cuenca and the drive was even more beautiful. We saw even greener mountains and lots of little towns in the middle of nowhere and a bunch of indigenous people in traditional dress and it was just way cool, except the combination of being on a bus with the high altitude with not drinking enough water took its toll and by the time we arrived in Cuenca I was feeling extremely ill, with a bad headache and nausea and stomach pain. This continued pretty much all night until we got to the hermanas´ house and Hermana Barker gave me some tylenol with benadryl in it and I felt a lot better. The next day I felt good again and could fully appreciate that Cuenca is the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life and I could totally live there forever. I´m not kidding, it is gorgeous there. Mom and Dad, when you come, I would love to take you guys there even if I never end up proselyting there. It´s freezing cold but SO gorgeous, and green!!! And it´s tranquila too, we didn´t even almost get robbed there, no one shouted random english words or offensive things at us, and everyone spoke more slowly and with a really cool accent. We ate lunch with a family of Hermana Foster´s converts, the Familia Cajamarca. She had told me all about them and I was so excited to meet them. We actually went to see them the night before and they invited us to lunch the next day. So they made us the best food ever and then Hermana Cajamarca brought out a gift for Hermana Foster. I was like no big deal, but then they brought out a bag full of pastries and set it in front of me and said, we got this for you hermana!!!! WHAT??? I was really touched-they´d known me for less then 24 hours but they gave me pastries to take home with me!!! I officially love this family now and I really hope that after my time in the office I get sent to this ward so that I can visit them all the time.
So then we had to come back to Guayaquil after 3 days of being in the mountains, so we went to the terminal to find a bus. This guy came up to us and was like, come on, we´re leaving to Guayaquil right now!!! We were a little skeptical but the next bus didn´t leave for another hour so we went. Well we got on and HNA Foster was like, I don´t like this, they weren´t patting anyone down when they got on, there could be anyone on this bus (and we had all our stuff with us). So I said do you want to get off?? She said let´s just put our stuff down below, so we did and then we went to the very back of the bus and sat down. We still both felt weird but then the bus left the terminal so we were stuck. Well somewhere in the middle of the mountains, the bus pulls over, stops and ALL the lights go out. Uhhhh . . . . . what?? Then the driver and a few other people got off and were looking under the bus to figure out what was wrong. We were like . . . . great. We should have just gotten off and waited!!! Then we heard a hammering sound and got even more worried, but they all got back on and started the bus and off we went again. But then this bus started rocking back and forth like crazy and we started hearing this weird sound and HNA Foster was like I think we have a flat tire!!! We went up to tell the driver but he brushed it off and said it was normal for the bus to be like that. Uhhh . . . . how is that normal??? We thought we were going to roll for sure, which is scary when you´re driving through the mountains and there´s nothing but valley on either side!!! But we made it safely back to Guayaquil at about 11:30ish, went home and passed out. The gira was super fun but super exhausting too!!
So then the next day we were stuck in the office for way longer then we wanted to be and I was getting really worried because I had just realized that we´d been out of the sector for 3 days and I wanted to get back in there and visit everyone with baptismal dates and all that. So we got out and we visited them all and it turns out that they´re all fantastic. Yvonne and Camila didn´t go to church last week because an aunt from the States came randomly and they couldn´t go, but they went to an activity while we were gone and they´re coming to church tomorrow. We found this girl last week that came to Yuri´s baptism, Maria Soledad. She just came with the Familia Haz and said she wants to get baptized and we were like, uhh, okay!!! We´re working with the parents to get permission with all of them but I have a lot of faith that it´s gonna work out. Plus we had this super cool activity last night at the church, it was a festival of typical songs and dances from Ecuador and it was WAY cool. Hermana Laime has it all on video and I´m gonna get it from her and try to send it, but all the girls came and all of our converts showed up too!!! It was the best night ever. So the Lord has really blessed us even though we´ve been out of the sector for 3 days. PLUS, we´ve been teaching this guy Omar, who technically doesn´t live in our sector but is always there because his friend Ninoska is there and she´s a member. We´ve sent the reference a bunch of times but for one reason or the other they couldn´t find him, so we taught him a lot of the lessons. Well we found out yesterdayd that he´s being baptized TOMORROW!!!!! And president said we could go!!! So we´re having a baptism and we didn´t even plan for it or really do anything!!! It´s a miracle, de verdad!!!
Well, gotta go. Time´s up!!! Love you all and be good and read your scriptures every day and pray all the time and ALWAYS keep the commandments!!!!
We have returned from our gira and it was AMAZING!!! We went to Machala first, which is just like Guayaquil except smaller and less dangerous. We were only there for two hours because it´s really close to Guayaquil, like 3 hours away, so we didn´t need very much time to see all the hospitals and stuff. Plus there wasn´t a whole lot else to see besides banana trees and rice fields so bueno, we left for Loja, which is about 6 hours away from Machala. We were driving along in the bus and all of a sudden BOOM!!!!! Big green beautiful mountains EVERYWHERE!!!!! I had my face glued to the window pretty much the whole time and I took a lot of sweet pictures, which I will upload next week I PROMISE. I wanted to do it today but we didn´t end up going back to the house before we came here so I don´t have my camera. But seriously, next week I will get them to you all.
So then we arrived in Loja and it is just the cutest little city ever. It reminded me of Canandaigua a little because it´s small and tranquila and there´s a lot of little shops and restaurants everywhere, although it doesn´t have a lake. But it is very pretty, you have to drive through a castle to get into the city and I felt like a princess (yeah, feel free to make fun of me here). It´s like a little fairytale town, there´s a park that we went to that has little castles in the playground and you can go up into them and slide down and there´s llamas walking around and it´s just super cool. We stayed with Hermana Glanzer and Hermana Velasquez in their new house that´s incredibly amazing, and the next day we ate lunch with them and Hermana Montenegro and Hermana Montezuma. It was super fun and soooo good to see them all again. Don´t worry, we did do some work-we went around and found all the hospitals and looked at them and everything. But it was just such a cute little town, so peaceful and I didn´t feel scared to walk around with the cell out or with my bag or anything. Although something kind of weird did happen-we were walking down the street and this guy was walking toward us from the opposite direction and when I saw him I felt something kind of weird but I didn´t know why. Well as he passed me, he reached out and made a grabbing motion with his hand!!! I had borrowed one of Hermana Castillo´s little bags and it was hanging across my body on the right side, but I grabbed it and pulled it out of his reach. Hermana Foster saw the whole thing and was like, what was that all about?? I was like, I don´t know, he either was trying to rob me or grab something else!!! Random . . . . . but I would be the only person that almost gets robbed in Loja of all places!!!
So then we got on the bus from Loja to Cuenca and the drive was even more beautiful. We saw even greener mountains and lots of little towns in the middle of nowhere and a bunch of indigenous people in traditional dress and it was just way cool, except the combination of being on a bus with the high altitude with not drinking enough water took its toll and by the time we arrived in Cuenca I was feeling extremely ill, with a bad headache and nausea and stomach pain. This continued pretty much all night until we got to the hermanas´ house and Hermana Barker gave me some tylenol with benadryl in it and I felt a lot better. The next day I felt good again and could fully appreciate that Cuenca is the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life and I could totally live there forever. I´m not kidding, it is gorgeous there. Mom and Dad, when you come, I would love to take you guys there even if I never end up proselyting there. It´s freezing cold but SO gorgeous, and green!!! And it´s tranquila too, we didn´t even almost get robbed there, no one shouted random english words or offensive things at us, and everyone spoke more slowly and with a really cool accent. We ate lunch with a family of Hermana Foster´s converts, the Familia Cajamarca. She had told me all about them and I was so excited to meet them. We actually went to see them the night before and they invited us to lunch the next day. So they made us the best food ever and then Hermana Cajamarca brought out a gift for Hermana Foster. I was like no big deal, but then they brought out a bag full of pastries and set it in front of me and said, we got this for you hermana!!!! WHAT??? I was really touched-they´d known me for less then 24 hours but they gave me pastries to take home with me!!! I officially love this family now and I really hope that after my time in the office I get sent to this ward so that I can visit them all the time.
So then we had to come back to Guayaquil after 3 days of being in the mountains, so we went to the terminal to find a bus. This guy came up to us and was like, come on, we´re leaving to Guayaquil right now!!! We were a little skeptical but the next bus didn´t leave for another hour so we went. Well we got on and HNA Foster was like, I don´t like this, they weren´t patting anyone down when they got on, there could be anyone on this bus (and we had all our stuff with us). So I said do you want to get off?? She said let´s just put our stuff down below, so we did and then we went to the very back of the bus and sat down. We still both felt weird but then the bus left the terminal so we were stuck. Well somewhere in the middle of the mountains, the bus pulls over, stops and ALL the lights go out. Uhhhh . . . . . what?? Then the driver and a few other people got off and were looking under the bus to figure out what was wrong. We were like . . . . great. We should have just gotten off and waited!!! Then we heard a hammering sound and got even more worried, but they all got back on and started the bus and off we went again. But then this bus started rocking back and forth like crazy and we started hearing this weird sound and HNA Foster was like I think we have a flat tire!!! We went up to tell the driver but he brushed it off and said it was normal for the bus to be like that. Uhhh . . . . how is that normal??? We thought we were going to roll for sure, which is scary when you´re driving through the mountains and there´s nothing but valley on either side!!! But we made it safely back to Guayaquil at about 11:30ish, went home and passed out. The gira was super fun but super exhausting too!!
So then the next day we were stuck in the office for way longer then we wanted to be and I was getting really worried because I had just realized that we´d been out of the sector for 3 days and I wanted to get back in there and visit everyone with baptismal dates and all that. So we got out and we visited them all and it turns out that they´re all fantastic. Yvonne and Camila didn´t go to church last week because an aunt from the States came randomly and they couldn´t go, but they went to an activity while we were gone and they´re coming to church tomorrow. We found this girl last week that came to Yuri´s baptism, Maria Soledad. She just came with the Familia Haz and said she wants to get baptized and we were like, uhh, okay!!! We´re working with the parents to get permission with all of them but I have a lot of faith that it´s gonna work out. Plus we had this super cool activity last night at the church, it was a festival of typical songs and dances from Ecuador and it was WAY cool. Hermana Laime has it all on video and I´m gonna get it from her and try to send it, but all the girls came and all of our converts showed up too!!! It was the best night ever. So the Lord has really blessed us even though we´ve been out of the sector for 3 days. PLUS, we´ve been teaching this guy Omar, who technically doesn´t live in our sector but is always there because his friend Ninoska is there and she´s a member. We´ve sent the reference a bunch of times but for one reason or the other they couldn´t find him, so we taught him a lot of the lessons. Well we found out yesterdayd that he´s being baptized TOMORROW!!!!! And president said we could go!!! So we´re having a baptism and we didn´t even plan for it or really do anything!!! It´s a miracle, de verdad!!!
Well, gotta go. Time´s up!!! Love you all and be good and read your scriptures every day and pray all the time and ALWAYS keep the commandments!!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)