Week 72 - Quito - Bien rápido la semana

This week went by so crazy fast. We had a lot of activities and I'll try to get the just of it. 

Christmas went by really smoothy (and with a video call to the family!) We also had some good members that gave us dinners and i'm sure my companion and I gained some weight this week...

We had the priviledge to be with the asistants to our mission president and learn from them. What is funny is the two asistants are from my group (those that came with me to the mission field. That was super fun and we had a great time together. 

We got to have another car wash and wash 7 taxis and a police car which was super cool! This also was the last time we will attend for three hours! We super happy that we can now have a home based church supported program. As for us as missionaries, that gives us an hour of personal study time now on sundays! I'm pretty excited.

Well, the viudas are coming and we should probably get going. Love you all! Have a fantastic New Year!

Week 71 - Quito - Christmas Chatting

We got to talk with Stanley on Christmas Eve - it was wonderful to hear his voice and laughter.  He shared his memorization of the Living Christ with us, first in English and then in Spanish.  He said it is easier for him to memorize if he first memorizes something in English.  His testimony was sweet, his story of cockroaches popping in the microwave and ants in his electric razor was disgusting; but he is still working hard as a Zone Leader as he has done 9 baptismal interviews and loves that his companion can help him.  We spoke briefly about getting him ready for Utah State as he will be home in July, but he is still focused on his mission and accomplishing the Lord's work.  Love him!

Week 70 - Quito - Conferencias y Confirmaciones

We had two awesome conferences this week! The first we had was with President Murphy for our Christmas conference. It was so great as I was able to see my two trainees there as well! We had some great fun and got to sing the "worldly" christmas songs (i.e. Jingle Bells and Santa Claus is coming to Town). Of course, Elder Ellington (my second trainee) accompanied us on ukelele. It was super fun trying to remember those songs. We also had a christmas devotional with our stake, once again with President Murphy. It went really well! My companion and I sang with our ward and I got to play "Peace in Christ" on the piano as accompaniment for the missionaries. It was so powerful as we took time to remember the reason why we celebrate Christmas.

We also were super happy for the confirmation we had in the ward this last Sunday! Alexandra Carranza had kind of a rough start. She had received the missionaries about a year ago and even passed her interview for her baptism. However, one thing led to another and she decided to not get baptized at that time. Then my companion got here a while later and saw many teaching records just tossed on the ground. One of those teaching records was hers. When I finally came, we went to visit her. She was still having a slow start. We knew everything that had happened before and we decided to be very direct with her to see if she really wanted to be baptized. The day we wanted to set up a date is when the Elders from the coast came to join us. So I wasn't without my companion but we had a great companionship study and off we went. We came and decided to share Mosiah 18: 8-10 that discusses the covenant we make at baptism and what is stopping her from being baptized. As she began reading, she began crying. We asked her if she would get baptized the 15th of December and she said, "Yeah. Let's do this." Both my companion and I felt that the Spirit truly guided that lesson. And how greatful we are for that because now she is confirmed and is preparing to enter the temple and be sealed with her kids that are already members of the church.  

As you can see, it was a super busy week. But we had a super fun week and very spiritual. I hope you can have a great week as you #LightYourFamily! I know I will but it'll be just a week after :). Love you all!

Week 69 - Quito - ¡Iluminando a Todos!

So this week was changes and...we both are staying! I'm pretty happy about that. My companion is such a fun guy to be with. However, we had to wait and send missionaries all day today. I did get to see a lot of friends I have made during the mission and my two trainees!!! It was a very happy time

We had two chances to give service this week. One was a plan we had to #LightTheWorld. We, as a zone, went to one of the bus terminals where a lot of people pass by and sang carols and talked with people. It was so much fun! I felt so great afterward, as did every other missionary. It was an awesome activity that we could do to share the light of Christ. The other was for #LightYourCommunity. This one was unexpected. We went to pass by one of our recent converts in the ward when the former bishop greets us at the door. He told us we couldn't share at that moment because they were going to fill up bags of candy for an old folks home. We offered our help and they were willing to accept. That was also a lot of fun. We just put a bunch of candy in bags, and, as you can tell from the picture, I also received some candy (but not a bag!).

We also had the opportunity to ask some questions of some of the rules within the church that we didn't have answers to. The member we talked to went so deep into doctrine. I was honestly so amazed and awestruck. I wanted to learn more, but I realized, I can't. We as missionaries have a very specific library from which we can read. I realized at that moment that it is just better to focus on my own conversion and testimony, so that it'll be strong to front the things ahead. I hope all of you con focus on that too, fortifying yourself. 

I love you all and hope you have a snowy week! 

 

A nativity with Thing One in the manger xD

Talking in the terminal with everyone!

My little meditating hole in the wall