Week 31 Ecuador

What a goodbye.. Elder Melzer is off to another sector and I`m training in my sector, Apolo. Happy to be here. I tell you what, I don`t get nervous for lessons, talks in church, singing or district meetings, but you want to put a new missionary in my hands? I was nervous, just for a minute ;)

All is well. I`m hoping to keep the good vibes rolling all the while practicing my patience in this process of training.  

Take care

4/27/15 voice message
Buenos Dias friends and family. We have another lovely Monday morning, another week behind us, and a new companion Elder Morga. Ya, I said it...a new companion. Elder Mezler and I thought we made it through another combio this past Monday as the day came to an end and we still hadn’t received a call, but I guess they changed up combios a little bit in the mission. I got a call late Monday night that I would be traveling with Elder Mezler to Guayaquil Tuesday, where I left him, returned here with another trainer, to my sector to work for the day, then we went back for the night, and slept in the temple. I had another excellent experience, the opportunity to go through the temple on Wednesday morning, and go to the president’s house for a meeting where we also received our new companions. I am training I guess you could say. My companion like I said is Elder Morga from Honduras. He served 14 months in Peru before he got kicked out because of Visa issues, then he waited 9 months at his house, and now he’s back here in the mission in Ecuador. I’m going to show him the ropes, teach him a few things. We’re going to go through the 12 week training program again, so we’ll have 3 months together minimum. Should be a great opportunity to review things, and set some long term goals for the bario, sorry the ward Apolo here. 
On another fantastic side note, I have completed 20 family names in the temple. Going through this past week, some of the new guys, and my buddies that I came here to the mission with helped me out with those names. The president, he did one too. He was super excited. He was glad that I was doing that work. I can’t describe the feeling, I’m so happy knowing those names are getting done, it’s fun to do it. The promise that we received from the apostles, the prophets...when we do our own genealogical work in the temples it will be that much greater of an experience, we’ll have that much more power, that much greater of blessings. I had a few questions as I went to the temple this time, I was thinking a lot, and I ended up asking President Riggins as I had the opportunity later on that day during lunch. He was willing to respond and I learned a ton, but probably not things that I’m just going to through out over a voice recording to all of the world, but I’m learning a lot. It’s really cool.
We got home really late Wednesday night. Thursday morning we headed out to the district meeting. I feel that it went well as I taught, or rather conveyed the teachings of President from the day before concerning the true God, as we know there only is one.  He is very confused in the thoughts and teachings of many churches today. 
  Unfortunately two of my Elders were in Guayaquil for skin infections. That’s disgusting. I never want to go stay in their house ever again now, but we’ll carry on. That following day was also the birthday of Elder Morga. He told me a little late, all I had was a little sucker ring pop left over from my own birthday that I gave him. We had a little celebration. He racked up 22 years...he’s an old fart. 
I did another baptismal interview this week. It was with a young man. He is only 13 years old, but at the same time I enjoy the added perspective that those interviews bring. He will now join his mom and sister as a member in the church. 
P.S. again, I’m eating Frosted Flakes that Elder Mezler left. I’m pretty sure they’re two times as sugary here in Ecuador, which would explain the sugar and alcohol which leads to all the diabetic and diabolic people. The majority honestly I feel in this country. 
As a district I feel the work is going really well. I think the missionaries in ? are going to have some upcoming baptisms as well as the zone leaders. For my own sector I don’t know how much I can say. It’s struggling right now, but at least we’re having success in other areas. I’m killing it in rescuing, finding all the less actives and bringing them back. It really is hard work right there, but talking with men of our stake, I have a pretty good idea of a plan to strengthen this ward that I’m going to throw out to the consejo?
 Anyways, enough about that. You all probably want to know a little bit more about Elder Morga. I would too, honestly. I don’t have much to tell ya. He’s wearing a teal blue shirt right now for pday, and some jeans. He’s...I honestly don’t know what to tell ya. I’ll have to feel you in as experiences come along. Alright, that’s going to wrap up another week, and we’re looking forward for a better. I love you all. Take care. 

Week 30 Ecuador

It has been a week of testing concerning all things that have to do with the work. I had to ask someone for coordinates in case I had by chance been dropped into some part of Europe! The search for quality converts is a laborious and patient process, though all the while so simple; I know if people will search the scriptures and pray they will receive the vital and promised testimony by the Holy Ghost. Well, a testimony tester, a gut-check you could say; back to the planning board.

Concerning all things that don`t exactly fall under a key indicator of the work of salvation, Excellent!

Ask and ye shall receive: we`ve been looking for service opportunities to build relationships here, be seen by the people and gain trust: Bingo! We got busy with machette`s, moving furniture, preparing cocoa and more. Meanwhile the thunderstorms have been equally abundant - I like sleeping with the rain though, it usually quiets down all the partiers and their music too. Mom & Dad- remember why we didn`t go to the sandunes on all the popular holiday weekends? all the partiers and music right? whew, I will have no problem after the regulars here in Ecuador. The only time the city rests is from 2-5 o´clock in the afternoon when I want to go teach them all. 

with that.. we got invited to go to the farm for a day, then later to the Peninsula aka. sandy beaches for a day.. with all the success we`d been having: tempting. Nevertheless, carry on :)

Our hot-water wires caught on fire in my morning shower. Exciting. We got to play electrition and repair it with some electric tape and such. Fingers crossed. 

I´ve been given the opportunity the past months to teach Gospel Principles and love it. Teaching and studying the basics is the greatest testimony builder I could ask for. I also got to participate in the sacrament program: youth speaker, youth speaker, and me; Eh-em... we pulled out 25 minutes studying the Parable of the Talents and making some excellent applications, it was fun!

Best service? A less active famly`s bamboo house fell down as the foundation sank in wet soil. WE helped them carry broken down beds, filthy furniture, and what little they posessed into what had been reconstructed that day. Under their guide we worked in shirts & ties, unthanked as passed the day, but I have no concerns over that. Though I sadly ask.. where was the ward?

The President allowed us to travel to the temple with our ward this week, so grateful we have the temple accessable in our mission. After supervising some baptismal work we headed upstairs for a session and 4 of my personal family names were completed. A fantastic experience seeing them completed after nearly a year of work since I found an interest in geneological work. It has been a great testimony builder for me with all accompanying experiences and blessings.

My attention was continually drawn to the Father: His Love, power, majesty.. as well as to the families which began with Adam and Eve and continue flourishing under the Covenant, or rather obedience to, God has mercifully made with us. No greater joy or peace.

Elder Wilson

Family Home Evening

Iguanas on the river.

Chariot of Apolo;)
 I asked this dude if I could hop up and take a pic. He was cool; he hauls bamboo around on this for work? ha, Ok.

Making cocoa.

Pull up contest. I won, but I won't share how many I got...

Taking advantage of the teeter-totter waiting for a lesson.

Went for a hike! No crocodiles...oh well, we tried. Fun to get away from everything for a minute.

Twinners for the temple.

Temple trip with the ward.

Kids make kites here and fly them, sweat:) I should learn how...

Elder Galvan

Week 29 Ecuador

Hola! or Aloha..?

There has been a lot of sunshine and rainbows this week here in (fall-time) Ecuador. In many ways it has played out in the work as well. I`ve been falling back on a few promises made by inspired leaders and am starting to see a lot of blessings (new investigators) as result of our efforts to serve and focus on members. Here in the sector Apolo, I`ve had a lot of opportunities to work with less active members and they all come with their own individual challenges. Sometimes all they need is an invitation once again and a little encouragement and sometimes we need to help them overcome barriers we so often build up in our own paths. Rescuing a family of 3 this week brought me a lot of joy seeing them excited about creating friendships and being apart of the great gospel we have! Others also brought with them, Friends? It was incredible to see members showing interest in missionary work this week as they brought 3 new investigators to meet us in church yesterday and offered to let us visit them in their homes. Members are crucial! I`m starting to see the blessings of service and creating trust with members where you serve.

I was complemented this week by another Elder for the love and sincerity I show members, woohoo! I must me learning something after all. It was good to hear I am beginning to show some Christ-like attributes or that I`ve at least developed a talent for the whole ¨fake it ´till you make it¨ scheme. 

I love working with the people in bettering their lives with something they don`t have, that which is more precious than all. I am gaining a greater understanding and love for the scriptures and prayer which have wonderful blessings attached according to our faithful efforts. Remember, the Gospel isn`t just the way by which we return to our Father in Heaven, it`s also the greatest way to have success and happiness in this life!

Ecuador is keeping it interesting with huge nasty garbage piles that you can put literally anything on, along with the various animals who thrive off of the struff. Yuck.

Photos: We killed a pen off this week (you know that`s cool, because everyone loses them or something before they`re ever complete) aaaand we`re ready to sail off into this next week!

Sending my best. Love,

Elder Wilson

Egg tree. haha

Trash pile, random horses that walk around, stray dogs, & Elder Mezler.

Heavy machinery in Ecuador!

Yes! I killed a pen this week - entirely gone - hard work.

Service builds trust. Trust and lots of love.

4/13/15 voice recording
Good evening everyone. We are wrapping up this fast, and powerful week on a Saturday night, and crossing our fingers for tomorrow. We’ll start off first with our investigators. I guess our best news of the week is that Morcello Gordio, a large man,   who’s awesome, and we’re going to baptize this next 18th of April. He passed his interview this week, and we’re really excited for him. He’s been through a lot, and really has a desire to change. He has a really good heart; he’s always happy, but he has to work like a dog. Speaking of animals though, he has an pig named Peppe who thinks it is a dog. It even lives IN the house. I’m serious, it just walks around. One day I walked into the house to teach him, and it was laying on a mattress on the floor in one of the rooms. I was just like, “It’s not my house, it’s not my house...it’s fine”. It’s cool though. It will snort, and fight with you with it’s face. It thinks it has tusks, but it doesn’t do anything. 
We also rescued the Eungon? family. A mom and her two children that we’ve been teaching and working with for a while. I’ve really seen her heart change a lot, and soften towards a lot of people in church. She has a big desire to come back, and she’s really interested in family history work. I’ve had a little bit of an opportunity, but I’m excited to set up an account with her, and help her know that program, and get working in that. 
I guess I could say that I’ve been really good at serving others this week, but it’s not so much paying off in my own area as that’s about the best news I have for you. Which is good, but it’s been a struggle week. I’ve definitely racked up a lot of miles on my odometer, and I could certainly go for a foot massage if anybody’s down. 
I did have some good experiences in intercombios though. In one of them with a guy I’ve come to love a lot, my zone leader Elder Galvan. He will be returning this next week to Buenos Aires Argentina. He’s gone about two years and a month in the mission. Well, that’s what he’ll end with ya. He spent nearly 15 months of his mission as a zone leader. He says that he is preparing me to take his place. Mmm, I don’t know...someday? He truly is a neat guy. He gave me his scripture case for his triplet as a gift. For a lot of reasons he’s been a big changing figure in my mission, leaving me with an honorable example, and I hope I can emulate that for all the people I’m called to serve as a leader. He told me in our last intercombio that he can feel my love for the people and I’m a great example of charity. That’s a first, so I must be applying some counsel there. Truly, I love the happy feeling of serving others and giving them something that they don’t have, or otherwise uplifting them in some way. 
I also went out with the original team 1, aka Elder Carlisle this week. We brought Jesus to the people of Apolo. He came over to my sector. He’s really become a great teacher in the mission, and it’s fun to go out with him. He’s had far less success out here than he truly deserves. We’re all sent really to experience our own missions. God prepares us in different ways. He struggles a little bit with being a team player. He wants to go off and do his thing, and me as his leader, I’m trying to coordinate things with him, help him out how I can. I’m sure it won’t be too long before he’s called as a leader, or to train a new missionary. I think that will give him a lot of direction, and a new meaning in the mission as I know it has done for me. 
I’m enjoying myself though. I’m truly worn out, but I’ve noticed even more this week I’m gaining the trust and help of the members here in Apolo. It’s hard to believe it has been nearly 2 months that I’ve been here. Despite what rumor has, I would like to stay. I also had I guess you could call a dumb moment this week. Both Elder Galvan and Carlisle came out here this week to work in my sector with me. In the morning I wanted to do something nice for them. I made some omelettes, and I’ll say this a little quiet, cause I don’t want Elder Mezler to hear and get angry again, but I cleaned the elder’s shoes up and polished them. We have a few rags sitting around, and I accidentally grabbed his pillowcase (without even noticing), and wiped of their dirty shoes with it...oops! If that doesn’t get cleaned out this next washing round, I’m going to have to get him a new one. My bad, not my brightest moment. He’s a very forgiving man though. He’s been a trooper this week. He’s kind of got the croup, got a little bit of a fever, but he hasn’t really slowed down on me. I’m really, really glad to have him as a companion. 
This afternoon we went out and visited two less active ladies, and shoot...by the end of the lesson they were both in tears. I don’t know, I must have brought some spirit today;) One of them was really grateful that we were there. We really want to help her get back to church. She’s in a rough situation with finding work. The other one was a little bit different. She has every reason to come back, but doesn’t necessarily want to. She’s not ready right now, and that’s a hard thing for me to understand. It might have been a test for me, but I remembered something that was said in conference that ya, we will encounter people like that, and all we can do is leave them with our love. Let them know that they’re always welcome, and I did my best to do that, and I know that she felt that. She had a little bit of tears welled up, and she gave us some Powerades and sent us on our way. That was a good experience.

With that I’m going to close for the night. Go hit the shower and wash off all the garbage, sweat, smoke, that I’ve encountered throughout the day...dampened and mildewed by the drizzly rain. So, that’s a good image to leave you with;) God bless. That’s what everyone tells us here every day, so I’ll pass it along.

Week 28 Ecuador

Rubber boots are awesome...service apparel.

Friday morning making a traditional Easter dish: (soup) Fanesca. I got really good at husking and cutting corn:) Believe it our not, there's technique to it!

4/6/15 voice recording 1

Hello, hello friends and family. I’m wishing you all the best. Hey, if my voice sounds a little weak, it’s because I’ve got a little bit of a head cold and I’m losing my voice, but don’t preoccupy yourselves over that. We’ve been teaching some excellent lessons this week, and I’ve lost my voice for a good cause. I’m not quite sure what the translation is in English, but there’s a new video that the church created for this Easter weekend that we downloaded. We also have little cards to pass out, and we’ve been sharing this message a ton with people. It’s called Gracious...Because He Lives. I really encourage all of you to watch it. It’s an excellent message talking about our Savior, the atonement, and his resurrection. The idea that he is here among us now. So, we’ve been showing this video, it’s only like 2 1/2 minutes, and sharing messages with people after. I’ve been especially fond of Matthew 18 this week. It talks about the purpose of why Christ came here. That truly not a single lamb should be lost if we will all just listen and follow his wonderful message. This has all lead in to some wonderful messages about prophets as well. The importance that we have for them, why we need them. That’s really been the focus of this week preparing for this conference that I’m super excited to listen to tomorrow. 

Other things this week, I’ll start on a sad note, but don’t be worried about this. An older gentleman was robbed in our sector this past week, and during the assault he got shot by a younger drug addict. That was really sad. They had a funeral. As we passed by, everybody wanted to talk to us because they know we’re missionaries. He wasn’t a member. 

Leaving that for a little bit of a lighter note. A man’s house flooded with 3 feet of water. Now that it’s drained out, we’re doing the only logical thing in filling the entire house with dirt to raise the floor level, and then they’re going to re-cement it. I’m a little bit sore, and my companion Elder Mezler is really sore from shoveling and running wheel barrows in and out of this house. It’s your typical Ecuador service. I wish someone would introduce a sump pump down here instead of these crazy ideas they get, but whatever. If ARS flood and fire control is looking to expand the company, I know where to make a good business. It really was a great service opportunity. 

I hope you all played some wonderful tricks on April fools. It passed away here without a single joke or thought concerning the matter. It was past 10:00, and we were headed for bed by the time either of us remembered it. So, that’s a bummer, I really blew it there. Two gringos, we could really have had some fun with each other...have to get it next year. 

Concerning the Combosa family, our converts. We had a chance to go hang out with them a little bit this week. In the past we had gotten this really good chocolate cake. It was store bought, and I could never honestly make it. We took it to a lesson with them. So there’s two elders with chocolate cake, and all these eyes, so we gave it to them. They thought it was delicious, and I took credit...it was really bad. So now they think I’m a professional chef! So when we went over Thursday for her daughters birthday, they wanted me to make a cake. I was like shoot, but we did it super fast and we pulled it off. We went back at 9:00; I was visiting with the bishop, and we swung by after and we ate the cake. It worked out good, so I’m glad I was able to pull of my false reputation. 

Going out with the bishop was good. We visited some of the people I’m teaching. He wanted to get to know them. He’s a super quiet guy, so I ended up teaching solo, but it wasn’t a big deal. On the other hand, while I was teaching those awesome lessons, my companion as always had another neat experience. A six foot black man with a pistol and Raybans tells him that they have to change his life. He was drunk, and it was his birthday party like blocks away. Sweet right? Good new investigator. We haven’t contacted him again yet, but maybe we’ll run by him. 

This week for Easter, everyone in all of Ecuador made this traditional soup called fanesca. More or less it’s just super salty fish, and every known vegetable and grain possible. Um, it was very salty, and earthy tasting. I’m glad it’s a once a year thing, and luckily we didn’t have any accidents concerning all the fiber that went into our bodies. We’re good there. A couple days this week, I definitely felt it was Christmas again as far as no one is home, or everyone is home and don’t want to talk, but that’s how it is. 

 Anyway, there’s a little run down of this week. I hope you’re all looking forward to conference as I am, and that you’ll all be able to watch or catch up with all the sessions. Garrett, dad don’t forget to watch the priesthood session. I’m sure it will be fantastic. I have a really big feeling that there’s going to be a focus on the family this conference. So, I’m sure I will be thinking of you all a lot, but it will also be a good inspiration, and opportunity to learn new things about the importance of the family that I can share with people here. So, fasting is really fun, as we started today. We’re looking forward to chopping up some peppers and onions, sausage...making a big old omelette. Sounds pretty delicious right now. Anyways, love you all. Enjoy conference, be safe. Chow