Hola!
Familia! Yo siento que yo no he escrito ustedes en mucho tiempo!
I am just going to apologize right now, I dont have much time at all. I am really sorry, but my companion didnt want to plan last night for p-day because its p-day. and as a result, we havent studied today, our email time is being cut short and I have no idea how to write president. So I still have to do that and we have an appointment here in about an hour. FRUSTRATING! Ill talk about that in a sec!
First off, congrats danny on receiving 100percent on your test. Julianne, im super excited about your new car, wish i could see it.. Mom and Dad, hope you are excited for Hawaii! you deserve it. Owen, Happy BIRFDAY! Sarah happy birthday! Grandma millet happy birthday! Happy halloween! Josh, keep tearing it up and I hope you sack hyped-up homeboy 5 times on Friday. Wyatt, dont you fall down those stairs! Lauren and Brian I love you, email me. Y marie and cason, igualmente. Linds and trav, Im excited for your baby! Jeff, hope you're enjoying sports center :).
Alot has happened in the last couple weeks! cant believe im actually here. Its flown!
Let me just say that after the short time i had in Quito, Its awesome! Very cool city, perfect climate, and lots of cool stuff to see. President and his wife are great! They remind me of someone from back home but I cant quite put my finger on it. They had ton of food for us when we got there and was very nice. We had a great chat. He is a really easy going guy and very open. But, you can also tell, that he expects a lot, as he should. I felt like I was at home for the few hours we were there. It was mainly just to interview, get briefed a little bit and relax from the travel. It was great.
That night we went and slept with some elders in the area. It was cool to talk to them, get there opinions on how everything goes down and what is expected, what to do, things like that. I was great. The next morning, we woke up, got briefed on everything, received our cards, health info, mission rules, and learned about all the different areas in the mission. After that, we received our companions and areas! Im in esmeraldas, San Rafael, with Elder Cuenca. Our area is nuts! I feel like im in Africa and the other elders told me that this is the craziest area of the mission. I dont know if its true because i havent been anywhere else. Ask Michelle. But anyway, i really like it and we have been working hard. We have already found 4 new families to teach, but only one of them came to church. A bunch of baptismal commitments and people that came to church. We´ll see how this next weeks goes with them and if they come to church next week. Its seriously so fun. Its hard work, it hot and humid, but a good thing is that i can understand just about anything that anyone says. The hombre's spanish seriously helped with how much they cut words off and stuff like that becasue everyone here does that too. Its pretty rare to find people that speak really clearly but its good that i can understand those that dont! Now, speaking is a different story. I can get my idea across and basically say whatever I want, but its pretty bad. My accent is decent but my grammar is terrible. I'll leave it at that.
My comp is great! We work hard, we are obedient. He is a great trainer! Im learning a lot!
The mission got real really fast! I am really loving it and for the 5 days ive been here i've learned alot. Quick story. Last night we had a ward coucil meeting in which the focus was missionary work. The bishop was looking for ways for the ward to be better and ways that they can help us get more work. We came up with some great ideas and hopefully we can start using them tomorrow. But, the bishop, a stud by the way, was concerned with the ward. He said that nobody is doing hometeaching or visiting teaching, that the primary is really disorganized and that the young mens and young womens programs were struggling. He touched on this briefly and then moved on. I think just to make us aware. Anyway, the meeting ended and we left. About half way between our apartment and the chapel, my companion realized he forgot his bag so we turned back. The bishop was the only one there. We went in and found him just sobbing. It was very sad and you can tell that he carrying a great burden. Im crying just thinking about it. He tried to cover it up but it was obvious. We told him that we are here to work and that if he needs anything, that he can tell us and that we will get it done. We are really going to try and help the ward and get more members attending, and get people to magnify their callings. Its frustrating because coming from such a great ward, I know of the blessings that those people are missing. Luckiliy they have a great bishop who is doing his best. Obviously there are the strong in the ward who do most everything. But, still, this will likely be our focus in the coming weeks. If you have any suggestions, please let us know.
I love you all! This work is real! Im loving it and learning a lot. The spirit is strong and giudes us and touches the hearts of the prepared. I know that Christ lives.
Thanks family! I love you.
JAGE
No comments:
Post a Comment