Week 9 - Cotacachi - New Church, New Converts, No pics

Hola mi familia y amigos!

The weeks seem to be going faster and faster. Today is my two month aniversary of being out in the mission field! But who's keeping track?

We have a brand new church here in Cotacachi! Almost. We were able to have our baptism in it last Saturday, but it isn't open quite yet. The dedication is the sixth of October, open house and cultural presentation on the seventh, and assist on the eighth. Just in time for my birthday and it is a great gift to recieve!

We had the baptism of our familia Rienoso! It was solo the parents that were baptized. Elder Alvarado had the privilege to do so. It so awesome and the Spirit was so strong. We also had a lot of the members show up which was absolutely awesome! 

If anyone knows anything about me is how much I like to watch sports. Here in Cotacachi, they have very different sports. The one that is really big during this month is Trompo. If anyone gets the chance to look it up, it is very interesting. I also realized that this is the place for me. The entire country is dedicated to music. They have two huge festivals, one in June and one in this month. They also have a lot of statues, drawings, and ads for different music stuff. A lot of the people here, also, either are, were, or have family that was a musician. I love it!

I had an interesting thought this week as the spouse of one of our investigators told us to never come back. The mission isn't just teaching people. The mission is pulling, lifting, and dragging people into a little bit of the light to hopefully have them see the light in it's plentitud. It is a battle against the darkness and against Satan. The hard part is that Satan has been around these people longer than we have. He has more experience than we, as missionaries, do. He is also very powerful and influenceful. But, as missionaries, we have the truth. We have the Spirit. And most importantly, we have the help of God. Missionary work is a lot different in this perspective. And it's not only something we deal with as missionaries, it is also personal. Stay in the light. Don't stray from the light. If you can, and I plead that you do, help others into the light as well. The time is soon at hand when Christ will come again. We need to do all we can as knowers of the truth to help our fellow brothers and sisters.

Sorry for no pictures, The computer snatched them all...again. I'll figure something out with that. Love you all and hope you have a great week!

--Elder Ogden--

Here is one picture my awesome companion sent me!​

Conferencia de las Zonas del Campo hoy!

Week 8 - Cotacachi - Contacting in English

¡Hola todas personas!

This week seems to have gone by very fast. I'm on my third week which is halfway through what would be my first trasfer. However, President Murphy likes keeping trainers with trainees for two transfers so I'll be here in Cotacachi for at least three months. 

We have two investigators that have a baptismal date. The first actually passed their entrevista (baptismal interview) this last Saturday and their baptism is the 23rd of this week! Even though I haven't been with them through the whole process, they have been such an awesome family to be with. It has been absolutely amazing to see how much faith they have and the knowledge that this is the true Gospel. For right now it will only be the husband and wife. Their daughter had taekwondo lessons so couldn't be at all the lessons. But, she will have the opportunity to be baptized by her father which is even better. Elder Alvarado was chosen to baptize the parents. The second (or I guess third) baptismal date we have if for Sami Tamayo. She is a cute, sweet, nine year old girl. She is very shy and sometimes doesn't pay attention, but she is excited and learning quickly.

My legs are continuing to get worked out with how much walking we do. I feel like I am also getting heavier because of how much food the Mamitas give us. I absolutely love our Mamitas! The food is always good, but usually the same: rice, beans, pork/chicken/beef. 

I had such a spiritually uplifting experience this week. We went to go and teach Familia Muenella. Let me give you some background about them. The people we teach is the mother, son, and daughter. They all want to be baptized but the father won't let them. So we just teach them lessons and pray so when the time does come, they'll be ready. They attend church, read el Libro de Mormòn, and pray; all the things they need to be baptized. This lesson however went different. It started out with us seeing the son walking to go to an activity. He said he would only be a little bit so we continued on and went to see the mother and daughter. When we got there, the daughter was in tears. Apparently, the father had down graded and made feel bad the daughter, Eveline. I remembered her saying that she enjoyed music so I asked if she had a favorite song, and, of course, it was probably in Spanish because I didn't know it. So we asked if it would be alright if we sang himos. She said that it would be. We sang "How Firm a Foundation" and another hymn that a can't remember the name in English. We were able to get a smile and a couple laughs out of her. I think that may have helped but I am unsure. We then taught about faith. During my time here, I have wondered if I actually love the people or if I'm just here just to serve a mission. As I was testifying to them and expressing how much they mean to us, I could feel not only my love for them, but also the love of their Heavenly Father working through me. It was a very high Spirit moment, one I don't think I'll forget.

I am constantly amazed at how much the English culture has an infulence in other places. The T-Shirts here are mostly only in English, I hear American pop songs all the time, and there are many Eglish tourists here or many English people living here. I contacted three different people this week in English. One was a couple that thought we were lost. Another was locked out of her house and needed a phone. I offered ours but she couldn't remember the number so we were of no use. The third was actually a returned missionary, but didn't like organized churches. She did as God teaches (except for obviously attend church) and had Jesus in her heart. 

This is my lesson to all of you. It was a lesson taught by Elder Bednar. In order for us to have spiritual experiences and not eventually fall away, we need to be converted to the Lord, not just have faith. Those of you that have returned from a mission and are still in the church, don't forget the experineces you had and keep growing that faith. If you don't, faith is a seed, it always needs nourishing and when it isn't nurished, it dies. For all that are preparing to go on a mission or aren't in the church, I would ask you to pray to God, ask if the Book of Mormon is true, remember the spiritual experiences you have had, and always remember God loves you and would literally anything to have you counted as on in his fold.

I love you all! Thank you for the many emails! I will try to respond to as many as I can.

--Elder Ogden--

The first two pictures are for those of you wondering what I eat. The first was given to us from the other American missionary that is here. The second was: hamburger, fries, Coca-cola, probably the most American thing I have ever eaten.  The third is my new sweater that I got.

THIS WAS THE NEED FOR THE NEW SWEATER:  I ended up getting robbed. Of the twenty dollars I had I had 70 taken. Of the 840 pasos I had I had 200 taken. This was during my time at the MTC. During my flight, someone went through all my luggage and I am now missing a part of my electric razor (which I can still use the other two heads of the razor thankfully), my two sweaters, all my T-Shirts, my jeans, shorts, and sweats. So it has been interesting. I bought a sweater and sweats to use. I'm not really sure what I need. My shoes are doing just fine. We haven't had rain at all while we have been here.

This is the route of music. For some reason they knew I was coming 

The second is the scene we saw up on a mountain.

The third is my district right before we did paintball today.

Letter from President and Sister Murphy

Elder Ogden with President and Sister Murphey

September 2017

Dear Ogden Family,

We wanted to let you know how happy we are to have your son in our mission.  They arrived just a few short days ago and after a short training we were able to assign him to a marvelous trainer and they are now off to a new sector.  We know that wonderful things await them as they serve the Lord here in the Ecuador Quito North mission.

Our mission theme comes from 3 Nephi 5:13, “Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of Him to declare His word among His people, that they might have everlasting life.”  As requested by President Russell M. Nelson, we discuss at each meeting what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ and also the process of becoming consecrated in His work.  This will be a great life changing process while your missionary is here in the mission, and then will continue throughout the rest of his/her life…becoming completely dedicated and committed to discipleship of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

In this mission, we follow the principles and instructions found in Missionary Handbook and Preach My Gospel. From the Missionary Handbook, we read about the commitment your missionary has made for the time he is a full-time missionary:

“In harmony with the inspired pattern described in the fifth article of faith, you have been called by a prophet of God and set apart to represent the Lord Jesus Christ and His Church. You have been called to ´invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end´ (Preach My Gospel, p. 1). How great is your calling!

“Strive to fulfill what the President of the Church expects of you, as expressed in your call letter: ´You have been recommended as one worthy to represent the Lord as a minister of the restored gospel. You will be an official representative of the Church. As such, you will be expected to maintain the highest standards of conduct and appearance by keeping the commandments, living mission rules, and following the counsel of your mission president. You will also be expected to devote all your time and attention to serving the Lord, leaving behind all other personal affairs. As you do these things, the Lord will bless you and you will become an effective advocate and messenger of the truth.´

“When you accepted your call, you promised to live by these standards. You are accountable to the Lord and to the leaders of the Church for how well you honor this promise. Always keep in mind the importance of your calling. Strive constantly to magnify it. As you obey with a willing heart, you will show the Lord your love for Him, earn the trust and confidence of members and nonmembers, and qualify for the companionship of the Holy Ghost.”

We know that this promise is true, and that your missionary will be blessed greatly if he/she magnifies his calling.

We have a fairly large geographic mission, with areas stretching from the west coast of Ecuador, to the northern border with Colombia, east to the jungle and the border of Perú, and centered in the magnificent city of Quito.  We have been told that President Gordon B. Hinckley counted Quito as one of his three favorite cities in the entire world!

We plan zone conferences every transfer period (six weeks), and President Murphy will also interview every missionary during that period.  Each missionary is also responsible for writing President Murphy every week and reporting to him on the challenges and successes in their area and in their personal lives.  Monday will be your missionary’s preparation day so we encourage you to write your missionary an uplifting, encouraging email before this day to ensure that they receive an email from home each week.  Please do not arrange for a time on p-day to “chat” with our missionaries by sending emails back and forth during their hour of computer time. This is not consistent with the principle of “dedicating devote all your time and attention to serving the Lord, leaving behind all other personal affairs.”

If you choose to send packages to your missionary, you should be aware that when a package is sent through the US Postal Service, your missionary may be charged anywhere from $1 to $10 per package, based on the size and content, to retrieve the package from customs.  When a different private service is used (DHL, FedEx, etc.), there can be much higher fees, including one recently for $55 for a small package.  

We are so grateful for the opportunity to serve with these wonderful young people as we strive to preach His gospel in this amazing part of the world.  It is a grand privilege and a tremendous blessing. 

Con mucho amor,

Presidente Blake y Hermana Dana Murphy

Week 7 - Cotacachi

Flag of Ecuador

Hola para Ecuador!!!

Hello everyone!

I am currently in Cotacatchi. I have loved the short time that I have spent here. I have learned a lot about the language and the culture.

My new companion is Elder Alvarado. He is from Peru (and Ecuador just played Peru for fùtbol and Peru won...). He has a brother that is already on a mission. He is 23 and has been such a great trainer.

We basically walk all day when we aren't having a quick bus ride or encontrado (Encontrar=look for/encounter. It is similar to contacting for those that served a mission. My companion likes encontrar better as do I). It's a lot of up and down mountains. We already have 17 nuevo investigadores (I don't know English anymore). And Elder Alvarado was great before I got here and we already have a family with a baptismal date.

The people and families here are fantastic! They are very humble and focus their efforts on family. The people I have encontré already have taught me a lot about the kind of father I want to be after the mission. 

Most of the time we only teach lesson uno because we don't have many active investigators. It gives me good practice! 

Spanish I getting so much better. Following the Spirit is as well. One spiritual experience we had was this last Sunday. This father approached us and wanted us to go and give his family blessings and bless his house. They have suffered a lot in life already. The mother is blind and the father has problems with his eyes as well. They have two kids and all they want are blessings and are faithful to recieve them. I could feel God's love for them so strongly.

Now my quick lesson. Learn to feel and recognize the Spirit! We all have the light of Christ and those of us baptized have the Spirit "to always be with us". My family and friends, strive to find that Spirit wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

I love you all. I will be in this area for three possibly six months. Good thing we have the best house in the mission!

--Elder Ogden--

Note from Shane:  Stanley's memory card got erased while trying to transfer pictures.  He tried to send some pictures that one of his teachers from the Mexico City MTC (CCM) had sent him, but they did not come through to us.  We did some additional research to learn about Cotacachi.  It is a city with a population of roughly 9,000 people.  It lies in a valley between 2 volcanos (they appear to be dormant).  There is 1 ward in the city and if you do a google search for images of Cotacachi you will see some beautiful scenery and lots of hills.  There is a lake outside of the city called Guinea Pig Lake.  It is really beautiful.  We hope to get some pictures next week as well as more information on the city and people.  

Week 6 - Quito

I have made it to Ecuador!! It has already been very cool. I haven´t left the church building we went to but the drive here was very cool to see. Everyone I have met is already pretty awesome. The picture I am sending is us just outside of the airport.

So far I am doing great! I think the next time I will email you is Monday.

Love you!

Shane: I'm adding a few more pictures that President Murphy posted on Facebook tonight.