Sector Forestal

By the end of my mission I am going to be very creative with titles for my emails.  But for now, I´m not creative.  I am sorry.

This week, Elder Poma and I have investigators investigating and preparing for baptism in the month of December.  

Today as a zone, we had an activity and played soccer and ate pizza.  In my zone there are 14 elders.  

We were with one investigator, and I was teaching. and she stopped me and told the rest of family to come listen to the word of the Lord, I Had to hold myself from laughing because of what she said, "sorry, but they need to hear the word of the Lord, and if they dont it wont be good".  Granted it was in spanish.  but it was funny in the moment.

This week we will have a meeting with President Richardson, the mission President, and his wife.
  

The verse I ponderized this week, is in the 10th chapter of Moroni, I dont remember the verse exactly, but it talks about gifts and how every thing good is from God, and every good gift is from God and we should remember this always. 

These were the pictures we received today. 

 A funny picture (his title)

 A drink he likes

A selfie

Well

Well, I didn't know what to title this email.  

This week was a very normal week in the life of a missionary.  My companion and I taught and shared messages of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We found some new investigators that have a lot of potential this week.  A couple of these investigators are a family, and we had our first lesson with them yesterday and we spent the entire time answering questions and clarifying doubts. It was a really good opportunity to practice my listening in Spanish.

I love sharing the experience of Joseph Smith and the First Vision!  I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and the prophet that restored the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Earth.  I feel the Holy Ghost testifying to me that it is true.

We have a mamita, a member who feeds us lunch.  They don't really eat dinner, and with big lunches we don't need much food at night.  The day we don't have a mamita, we usually cook something.  

In Esmeraldas there are, I would say about 100 members every week that come to church.

It is hot, for comparison the heat is like Alabama...in August not to bad, but we are in the sun a lot.  I know that here on the coast it would not change much, the temperature, even in the summer.

In Esmeraldas there is a refinery, a lot of people work there.  

We do a lot of door to door contacting.  It is fine, I had gone with Elders Smith and Winward once, back in Alabama .  It is good, a lot of the people we contact here, we can share a message with them. Here on the coast they are a little more open and Ecuadorians are a faith believing people.

A few weeks ago we had a soup and there was a chicken foot in the soup, a cooked chicken foot.

This week I have been ponderizing the scripture, 1 Nephi 8:30.  This scripture is in Lehi´s Dream.  It is describing how we should be in our lives:  Holding firm to the rod of iron, the word of God.

Baptisms

Week of November 3-9, 2015

This week was the first working with my new companion, Elder Poma. He is from Lima Peru. And only has a couple changes left in the mission.

This week we decided to visit a family that had been attending the church here for over two years investigating the church.  Elder Espinoza and I had been working with them a little and the entire ward is there friend.  When we visited the family, they told us they were getting married Friday. So, Thursday they were interviewed for their baptisms. Friday married! And Saturday the five of them were baptized!! They Have a fourth kid but she is only 7 so the father can baptize her!!!  And yesterday the father received the priesthood!!!   

This week, we focused our work on them because they are a family that is now baptized!!!!

This week the verse I ponderized is 2 Nephi 9:52.  This verse, to me really is simply, to remember God and give thanks.  I know it is simple, but I wanted to use this scripture this week.

 The family they taught and baptized.

 Elder Poma and Elder Draper

First Transfer...Check

We heard from Elder Draper today. Can you believe he has been out for twelve weeks already? 

Today I received my second companion!  I finished my first change last night after sending my trainer to Quito.  My new companion is Elder Poma.  In the picture he is the really short one.  The others are Elders Gerber and Etcheverito.

 

 Elders Dyal, Lomeli, Arrieta, Espinoza, Cabezas, and Draper

This is my district dropping off or leader (my companion) Elder Espinoza.  He is on his way home.

They don’t celebrate Halloween and the time doesn’t change here.  I am entering winter...most of the mission is in the northern hemisphere. 

*Last week we posted about traveling the twelve hours to Quito for a meeting with the Presidente. Well now I have pictures from the Panecillo, the hill that President Kimball dedicated for missionary work in Ecuador.  It was so awesome, Sunday afternoon I got a notification that Hermana Richardson had posted on their Facebook page, and there were pictures.  Yea, plus he sent some more with his email today.

The group of Missionaries that he arrived with.

Hermana Richardson, Elder Draper and Presidente Richardson

 

The view from Panecillo.