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