Week 22 - Cotacachi - Feliz Navidad y un prospero nuevo año

¡Hola mis querido familiares y amigos! 

Espero que todo fue bueno ayer durante navidad y que ustedes tenían un oportunidad de estudiar un poquito mas de la Vida de Jesucristo. 

This week hasn't been the greatest week, but we are continually trying to make our weeks better. 

We had a baptism this last Friday and it was so amazing. It was a mother and her child (Mercedes and Malki). We were waiting to have the people we needed to show up when Hermana Mercedes showed up without her son. When we asked he what happened, she told us that she thought that he was right behind her and that she lost her. So, as missionaries, we went out to look for him. They live close by the church so we knew it wouldn't be that bad. We ran looking for him and found him shortly after. It was a new and interesting experience. 

We also had a ward christmas party which was very cool. There was an hour of the spiritual things and another hour of a talent show. I will attach some pictures and videos of the different talents that were shown. There was one family that performed music on their own instruments and it made me think of what I had done before my mission and what I will hopefully do after my mission. 

I hope all goes well this upcoming week and that the new year will be a safe one. Make goals and plans to become better. I know my list will be long.

¡Les amo!

--Elder Ogden--

This was a baptism of the ward, but the kid wanted me to baptize him

Just funny

The actual baptism

My three Books of Mormon

We spent Christmas Day playing fútbol (soccer) with the Young Men in our ward and spent the rest of the day sleeping and studying. It was a good, nice P-Day/Christmas Day. I loved getting to read of the birth of Christ in the Bible and the prophesies of Christ in the Book of Mormon. We really are lucky to have these two witnesses of our Savior Jesus Christ. I love you and hope this week goes well and that New Year's Eve/Day go well. 

Week 21 - Cotacachi - Fandoms, Dinners, and Return of the CCM

¡Hola mi bonita familiares y amigos!

This week has started to get hot. Like really hot. Still waiting for a White Christmas! I don't have quite as funny things as what happened this week before, but some things happened that a lot of you that know me, well or only a little, will think, of course that happened to him.

This first is music. We had a Christmas Dinner with our president, his wife, our zone, and the zone in Ipiales. They always give a talent show of sorts and so our zone participated. We gave a play and a song. The play was really well thought out. It is a small story of a missionary who decides to read the Bible. The only problem is, he reads really weird stories that are in the Bible (a bald prophet sending beasts to kill young adults, David and Goliath (that turned out being us turning it into a WWE fight) and the splitting of the baby). Very weird. He eventually turns to the story of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I liked the idea a lot and feel it went well. Could have been better but we had little time to prepare. With little time comes a little stress.

I also talked about us singing a song. It took me back to the days of The Kool Peaps (our "band" in high school) when I needed to learn songs on the piano and fast. This week was no exception. I accompanied our zone in "Born is the Light of the World". What was easy before is that I had time to practice. As a missionary, I don't. I got the sheet music this last Monday, had Tuesday to practice, and performed Wednesday. I pulled it off. I believe that the gift of tongues applies in music as well. I didn't care if I played perfect, just well enough to invite the Spirit. It felt good to have that stress however. It was like an old feeling came back into my life for a brief moment. 

During the Dinner/Zone Conference I also saw my papa, Elder Alvarado. We quickly talked but didn't see each other much during that time. I was able to sneak a picture before we left.

The other story I have is in relation to my fandoms, Batman and StarWars. If I remember correctly, the new movie came out this last weekend. I'm afraid to check my mail from all of you. During the Christmas Dinner, we also had a white elephant exchange. I was fortunate enough to get a package that was only wrapped in tape, and lots of it. Lucky me. However what was inside was a lot of candy that no person should eat all at once, and a Batman doll. It was the perfect gift. However, I needed to honor my fandom of StarWars as well. So I bought a four dollar mini lightsaber. The lightsaber itself wasn't four dollars but the cereal it came in was. I didn't need the cereal; I just wanted the lightsaber.

I went back to the CCM days this last Saturday as our stake had a mini-CCM. We took future missionaries to our sector and taught and contacted with them. It was actually a lot of fun just getting to talk to them and relive the experiences before I came out to the mission field. I also realized just how far I have come in my knowledge. I had to explain a lot of things that are really basic, but that are taught in the CCM and during your first 12-weeks in the field. I really have come a long way, knowledge and language wise. 

We have a baptism this week of a mother and her son! We, and they, are very excited for this new and amazing experience! I will send pictures this next Tuesday. Speaking of, for those of you that are not in my immediate family, or will not be joining us for this Skype home, I will be writting the 26th of December. So, no need to worry, I'm still alive, hopefully.

Love you all and Merry Christmas!!!!

--Elder Ogden--

Mi Papí!!!!

My XXL Hamburger

The New Hair (not normal yet, but I'm waiting)

Thank you so much!

Love, 

The Ecuador Quito Norte Misión 

Everyone sends their thanks and well wishes to our family and all those that donated. Attached are pictures of what that money was used for. My companion also thanks you for the packages he recieved and the card, which I had to translate for him xD. Thanks, all of you, for the cards and the yummy food. I know you wrote it was needs and wants you sent, but I think about all of it was wants. I haven't opened any of the wrapped gifts. I have to wait till Christmas day too. If everything could be ready to chat this week, that will make things go smoother this upcoming Sunday/Monday.  We will figure stuff out on our end as well. Love you all and have a Merry Christmas!

Week 20 - Cotacachi - Working, But Laughing

¡Hola mis amado amigos y familiares!

This week has been interesting, funny, and work. Just about the normal that a missionary can expect.

My companion hit his one year mark this week. We had a lot of new investigators, so I hope that was a good gift to him! We also had cake, but that's not important. Things have started getting so much better with my companion. I found that if you just talk with someone that you are having a hard time getting a long with, things get better faster. It sounds really simple and it is. Just having a normal conversation and getting the other to talk helped a lot. We were able to have better lessons this week because of it. We also have started to be more direct with people. We have found we are able to find if people are really interested or not.

I was also talking with one of our recent converts, José Reinoso, and he told me that someone that was in Spain recognized me in a photo of his daughters baptism. He looked for the name and said, Hunter Ballam (sorry if I spelled that wrong). It was awesome. Turns out, he baptized a member in the spouses family and had a connection in that way. José even had a picture of Hunter on his mission with this member. It was really cool to see.

We had a few experiences that were comical, but I will tell of two that stood out. One is when we were out contacting. Some houses have an intercom as a doorbell, so they don't have to leave the house. We had just rang one when a person answered. As we explained that we just wanted to present ourselves and share a message about Christmas, the person responed "Nobody's home". Yes, we were talking to a spirit. My companion and I just looked at each other and I had said we wanted to talk to her. She then told us she couldn't get up at this moment. To explain more about this intercom system, there is a conventional phone that is connected to this intercom. A person has to get up and answer it in order to talk to someone. After leaving and before knocking on the next door, I had to take a moment and just let out the laugh I had been holding in. It was very interesting.

The second, was even more interesting. We were walking to a community when we saw a lone cow. My companion before, Elder Alvarado, had been able to talk to cows, so I decided to try. I called, or mooed, twice when the cow turned and looked at us. I mooed again and the cow started to move, towards us! We quickly, very quickly, started walking in the other direction. The cow, however, was not going to give up and started following us. Now, I want you to picture this. Two men, a gringo and latino in white shirts and ties, are walking very quickly and looking back with a cow following right behind. I'm sure it was quite the sight to see. The cow started mooing back at us, I think to tell us to stop. I turned and looked at my companion and said, "I don't know what I said, but I think she liked it."

I hope all of you are doing great and can find comedy in the small things. Love you all!

--Elder Ogden--

One Year! for my companion

Mini Temple Square. I'll get a better picture this week.

Week 19 - Cotacachi - Week One as a Normal Missionary

I am no longer a "greenie" and it has been a stressful first week. With our referance activity, we are supposed to give numbers, and my companion before didn't tell me what those numbers are. So, you could say it has been a fun week.

I've also gotten to know my new companion a little bit more. He is from Ipiales, Columbia (which is in our mission...not sure how that happened). He hasn't stayed long in a lot of sectors, so it'll be interesting how long he stays in this area. I have had my times of impatience with him, as I have realized is a fault of mine. Really, it is just new ideas and new ways of doing things. We are both learning and growing as he comes to a close of his first year in the mission field.

I hope all of you have been able to start your 25 Days of Service! The very first day, Elder Parades and I had a service opportunity with an investigator we were worried was going to move to a new area. We ended up helping her move tires. I don't have a picture of how big the tires were, but they were big. It was enjoyable and we were able to verify that an investigator is staying in our area. It was complete inspiration to call her. I felt that I should, so I did and that is how she told us about this help she needed and that she was moving just down the street from our house. It is cool to look back on and see how I was guided through the Holy Ghost.

I had an interesting thought today. I was reading the books of Omni and Jarom (two of the smallest books in the Book of Mormon) and had the thought of how to look at the Book of Mormon in a new perspective. I thought, since the Book of Mormon is a story, what if it was a parable of sorts? A parable similar to parables Jesus used during his ministry on the earth. As I read these two books in that perspective, it opened up a new world of ideas. If you get the chance, read a chapter, a book, or the entire Book of Mormon in the aspect of a parable that relates to, and is, our lives.

I hope everyone is enjoying snow, whatever that is, and the #IlumnaElMundo campaign!

Love you all!

--Elder Ogden--

This is right after our service activity. You can kind of see how dirty we are.

I had to squat fairly low to get that shot as well.