Week 14 Ecuador

Hi Everyone! :)

We are caught in the middle of Christmas and the upcoming new year which brings a lot of excitement here as well as at home. I hope Christmas was amazing for everyone and you´re all looking forward to NewYears as much as Ecuador is! Unfortunately, it is a bit of a hinderance as far as the work goes with people traveling. Dad, to answer a previous question, people do travel here as well i´m discovering. With that said.. not too much to report as far as investigators and things go. Lots of lessons with members, hanging out, service projects, etc. 

So reflecting on Christmas.. you know that age when you start giving more than receiving? well.. I thought the mission might bring about that change. Nope, still not there. I got some awesome presents back at home from friends and family and even members of the ward reached out inviting us over and bringing bags of food. Sweet! Bags of food are every missionaries dream, right? Bummer is I don´t know how or have the equiptment to cook any of this food :( what happened to maceroni and cheese? So I had the great idea of taking all this food and giving it to our less-fortunate families and investigators in the area and they were very grateful. It was an awesome opportunity! Nothing like those gifts that get turned into ...re-gifts!?

I had the chance to talk with my family this past week on Christmas - Best Christmas gift of all! Anyways, later that night I was pondering on all we talked about; simple stuff, the majority of which was about the work i´m doing. However, it was enjoyable for us all and even enlightening for me. That night I was wrapping up the day with my prayers and a question my dad had asked his sunday school kids came to mind; essentially, ¨Who do we pray to?¨ Though it can be a bit of a tricky question we all know the clear answer is our Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ. This simple truth sunk a little deeper for some reason and has since left a bit of a change in my prayers - one that i´ve been looking for the past couple of weeks in my goals to pray more sincerely. 

[D&C 103:36] Äll victory and glory is brought to pass unto you through your diligence, faithfulness, and prayers of faith.¨   I love this scripture. It teaches us that it all really starts with our prayers. In a very real sense God is our Heavenly Father who loves us so much. Just like talking to my parents on Christmas day, we are all invited to talk openly and honestly with him daily, expressing gratitude and love; for which He will respond with feelings of comfort and peace. He will warn, strengthen, forgive, teach and otherwise assist us thorugh His Holy Spirit as we seek Him in prayer. 

Christ taught us in [John 17:3] that ¨..this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.¨ 

The greatest gift, even eternal life, is obtained by learning to recognize his influence through the Holy Ghost in our lives.

I´m looking forward to the events of this new year and for the full year of 2015 I have to spend with the people of Ecuador in the service of the Lord. That´s pretty cool to say; exciting, brings a smile to your face right? There is a special year ahead. Let us all start it off right by focusing on the power of prayer.

Gotta run. Much love and a Happy New Year for you all! 

I have a feeling you'll be getting a lot of different views of the temple over the next couple years;)

Christmas service cleaning a stake center...you didn't know people were literally so small here did ya?

The whole mission got together Tuesday night. I found some friends from the MTC.

This guy is a stud. We have a lot in common. He only has 6 months left though. I'll get a 1 in 250 chance of being his companion next :o

Spent the evening dancing with these fun people. I failed to get a group picture, but a lot of people showed up. Latino's sure know/like to dance! I am now "learned" in Merengue, Salsa, Reggaeton, Mongoeioashoe something...haha, lots of fun

Amazing cooks as well. I got my Christmas turkey :)

The Quintanilla family invited us over for a Christmas Eve gift exchange. My resulting shirt was small, but Juanes likes it:)

Dear Friends and Family of the Eden 1st Ward,

I`m grateful for this opportunity to share a piece of my testimony with each one of you. I can`t begin without expressing my thanks to you all; many names and faces quickly come to mind of those who have been a part of helping me to arrive where I am today. We all know our ward is excellent, my appreciation of such has increased greatly since being in Ecuador. The examples of each one of you serve as a vision and sense of hope that I share with the amazing people here.

Concerning Bishop Shaum`s question, ¨How has my testimony grown since being on my mission¨ I would respond: My testimony grows daily in my morning studies and is strengthened as I testify of Gospel truths. I would say I`m growing in about every way you would expect a missionary to, through this special opportunity to live and focus entirely on the Gospel; to have ¨an eye single to the glory of God¨ in scriptural terms.

More specifically my testimony of the Restoration has increased. Surely I always believed that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that the Book of Mormon is true, the Priesthood authority I hold is a real power from God, and other blessings brought back in these Latter Days - But it`s a new kind of ¨surety¨ (for lack of better words) that comes by testifying and experiencing these things on the daily.

(John 5:30) ¨Give me yourself and in exchange I will give you myself. My will, shall be your will. My heart, shall become your heart.¨ ..As a missionary I have an unrivaled opportunity to experience this promise given by the Lord. With this I would recall the infamous proclamation of President David O Mckay 55 years ago, ¨Every member - A missionary.¨ All members, as Disciples of Christ, are offered this same promise echoed in D&C 88, ¨Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you.¨ While the mission holds many unique experiences I testify that I do nothing save study and teach the same basic doctrines available to every one of us. We may all, if we so choose, Draw nearer unto Him by living those ¨primary answers.¨ Any progress made in these past 5 months on my behalf has come by praying more sincerely, studying with greater purpose, and listening to the Spirit. The deepest questions of the soul and the grandest miracles wrought are by understanding the basic principles of Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and our journey in enduring to the end.

I believe the greatest feeling is to receive a spiritual prompting, to act on it, and later learn it was of great benefit on behalf of another person.

I will close with a thought I had in the Temple recently while pondering on our Savior Jesus Christ and the significance of Christmas; It truly is wonderful that a God and creator of the universe willingly came to earth to set a perfect example for us, to descend below all as our ultimate sacrifice, then overcome the world that He might know how to perfectly succor each one of us in returning to Him. I testify that we can draw nearer unto him by doing the little things and the Holy Spirit will lead each of us home. Families are ordained of God; I love teaching families and the love for my own, though thousands of miles away, is greater than ever. I know that is through the Blessings of our loving Heavenly Father - He will unite us all and help us find true joy and peace. Because of Him we can be united for eternity. -Concluyo estas cosas en el nombre de Jesucristo, Amen.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Love,

Elder Wilson

Week 13 Ecuador

12-21-14
We`re heading out early in the morning for Guayaquil to spend Monday and Tuesday with the President. Temple, service, Christmas dinner, who knows what else... I`m excited though, always to get out and about in new areas!

Elder Juanes

My morning fix;) protein shake

Some lucky kids are getting CTR rings this Christmas, thanks to Rachel.

Awesome, they love it!

Exploring...

Bad idea, got some bad allergy results after.

Alejandra and Zully

Night of talents...

Traditional Ecuadorian Dance!

Reminded me a little of Brian's music band back at home. They were good! :)

I made it to the ocean! (port)

Guayaquil

Christmas in Guayaquil

The city...

Pretty stuff...

Lighthouse

Do the pics do justice? Idk I haven't even looked at them...just snapping away!

This place is sweet! I want to retire and die here probably...maybe not.

 Crazy day-lots yet to do.

Week 12 Ecuador

Graduation has come and gone for my mission training! I am a free agent, awaiting the draft today. Though... nothing new to report as far as that goes. Did I get forgotten? Either way, things are going great. A mom and daughter from another area were baptized this past saturday (while I didn`t participate in the baptism I take partial credit in their progress as I was the first missionary to contact this family and later had an opportunity to teach them again). It was fun to see that they Made It! and how happy they were; that`s what it`s all about. Another big moment for me this week, a man i`ve been working with for more than 2 months to reactivate, finally agreed to a long post-poned interview with the Bishop. He has a long way to go, but we`re making progress, uniting families!

It`s a little wierd when you sit down after a full week, feeling that you never stopped going, and aren`t quite sure what you have to share. It`s really the little things.. I tried focusing on a missionary principle this week called ¨Teach people, Not lessons.¨ Pretty straight-forward, though a little more difficult to put into practice. Understanding a person and applying doctine that will help them personally is only possible through listening, caring, and most of all the Spirit.

The Mendosa family has been on our `rescue` list for a long time, though they showed little progress, and we thus made little effort on their behalf. Three weeks ago, however, we got them to church and they haven`t missed since. They have a date to get married after the new year and the mother (who has been very distant from us) will be baptized with her son on the 3rd of January. The father and other sons are preparing to receive the priesthood. This is hard to express, long story short, they`re progressing a lot and we`re super excited!

So what changed?  I truly believe they changed because I decided to listen to them and to the spirit instead of throwing a bunch of gospel at them and promising it would bless their lives if they lived it. We are friends, first and foremost. I taught the most simple lesson of my life with them (doctinal speaking) and it turned out to be one of the most powerful. Lesson of the week, listen to the spirit. Lots of hope for this awesome family and thanks for the prayers at home that are helping make it possible!

(D&C 11:12) ¨Put your trust in that spirit which leadeth...¨

Other awesome experience: Elcerita, my wayward convert, has returned to the church with a big attitude change. I came across an old note from an MTC devotional, ¨Don`t ever give up on your investigators.¨ I was with another missionary one day, in the area where she lived, and felt that I should go visit her (despite the fact that she was ready to kill me two weeks ago and I was told not to teach her anymore). Can`t argue with the spirit right? Well, she was home and let us in. The initial tension and hard feelings quickly dispersed and after talking and sharing scriptures everyone was edified by the sprit. I don`t know what finally changed her in that moment, what finally... clicked, but she is a new person. And has finally overcome smoking! yay.

What more.. I got to sing a solo at a stake talent show (I know that my Redeemer lives) in English. Thanks to the election of my companion. Though I`m no Josh Groban, everyone loved it. I`m thrilled to get to sing again for our ward Christmas party this saturday; hah, be careful which talents you share ;)

I`ll leave you with that, and wish you all the best in our Twelve Day Christmas countdown! Keep Smiling :)

Elder Wilson

Me chillin' in the house being funny;)

Juanes likes to make the chickens fight, so I was saving them.

Dad, your cactus has a lot of potential...and a long way to go!

Some investigators insisted that I accept this cool Ecuador bag as a gift. I gladly accepted.

Mom and daughter from another area that were baptized this Saturday!

Stake Christmas Activity

Juanes is a baby-lover

Latinos for some reason really like Chinese people, so I came out mimicking one morning and we all had a good laugh :p

One Elder in our zone had a transfer today, no one else. Someone had to travel with him to an area, so I volunteered.
I like seeing places! 

Long story short, we went to Santo Domingo (not in our mission area) to pick up two new Elders who were transferring to our area. They are cool guys who I traveled home with. When we arrived, they weren't ready. Shoot, I'm not waining around for you to pack your bags...so we went exploring!

Santo Domingo is between Quevedo and Quito. It's cooler, more jungly, and yes...I found mountains!! I took a bus, then a taxi, then a walk into the lower mountain area, and took some pictures. Fun adventure, long day!

Can I transfer to the Quito, South Mission yet? Jk, think positive, we have the temple! :) Neat area though...