Week 27 - Cotacachi - Interesting Celebration of Six Months

I have hit the mark of six months, and boy have they been crazy. I thought back mainly on the experiences I have had that I will not necessarily have after my mission. One of those experiences was this last Thursday. We ran into two different missionaries that practically told us that we were wrong and that we don't know what we are talking about. It was interesting to see how hard they were trying to convert us. I probably won't have that experience after my mission!

Another was just yesterday. We were in a community that is the end of our sector. Pretty far. We had a sweet lesson and were able to set up a baptismal date. She is the girlfriend of one of the members in our ward. They both walked with us to the bus stop to wait for a bus to Cotacachi. We waited and talked for about an hour. We figured that there might not be a bus that'll come, so we started weighing our options. Option one is that we buy a taxi to Cotacachi ($5). We really did not want to do that because we didn't have that money. The other was to wait. We went with the third option. The truck taxis always return to their station, which isn't that expensive. We started looking for one of these. We found the first one, but the problem is that we had to sit in the bed of the truck. We didn't have another intelligent option. As I sat in the bed of a truck, looking at the road roll behind us, I started thinking of all the experiences I've had that I'll never have again after my mission and the reason for this email. I will start making a list in a notebook, of the good and bad. 

One of these missionaries was a woman from the States. So, if anyone is keeping track, I have three lessons in English and 20 contacts I've talked to in English. Can't say I was expecting that six months ago.

Love you all and hope this week you can live your convictions and defend your faith!

--Elder Ogden--