Oops I Did It Again

So I'm sorry but I'm super short on time again. Luckily I don't have very much to report on because this past week there was a district leader conference in Quito, zone meetings and divisions, and to top it off a zone conference with president. It was awesome though. I got to see a lot of old companions and I learned a lot. Now for more craziness, we just did a zone activity so I'm in ambato now i have to go back to quito in like 30 minutes because tomorrow at 8 i have to renew my visa. Im getting pretty old! Im super drained though from a billion buses I've taken and I'm 100% drained on my apoyo haha. Its okay apoyo comes soon 

Well something I've learned that I've really been lacking on is my planning. I have always known its important but anyone that knows me knows im a little tooo laid back and it hasn't really changed a whole lot. Im in the process of changing that though. as a mission they placed goals that we should be accomplishing every week. Like the key indicators. Man am i pumped to get working and to reach those goals. Now you guys in brazil and missions like that may not think 6 lessons a day is a lot. But when you get 3 lessons and like 10 contacts in a day everyone is congratulating you on that day. The assistants got us pumped testifying that if we really do eficaz planning at night, we can accomplish that. I will put it too the test and return and report. anyways like i said, I'm super short on time ill try to get a letter off to everyone of you that wrote me! Love you all! Have a great week and talk to you later! 

me and Quilotoa

 A less active family and me are about to rescue a dog 

 I'm smiling super weird cuz I just got out of a 8-5 in the tarde meeting. Im tired

 old los chillos crew 

 me and my mijim elder espinosa lo maximo! 

 I had to stay in a random closed sector house in ambato for the zone conference and it was an old hermana house and I found out i fit in them jeans haha 

 fun zone activity playing olmypic games. I was on team Ecuador and we lost. Not too proud of myself 

White Latinos

So me and my companion started a band this week. Its called "White Latinos". We have a few hits. So he plays the uke and I just sing into his MP3 player that has a microphone.  Our album is I hate veci because i swear I'm like super close to just flipping out on her she drives me insane! The ZLs are fighting for us to change houses so that's whats keeping me calm. haha anyways, maybe I'll let you guys in on some of our songs in the future! 

So I just got back from Quilotoa! Its wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy beautiful! I don't have as much writing time as I normally get because the bus was super slow. so 1 if my letter to you is short, don't hate me ill make it up next week. 2 if i don't get pictures out due to time, look up Quilotoa on google and you'll be amazed. FOR SURE have to go back with those peeps that wanna come with me! 

So this week was a little rough as far as work goes due to my companion getting sick. We would leave for a lesson and he would be like dude, we need to go home NOW!  it was pretty funny especially since he had to go poop in a cup haha! Hes on a lot of pills now so hes getting better.  We worked with Alex a couple times this week! Hes doing great and last night we were in a noche de hogar with a new investigator and Alex bares his testimony I swear I was super close to crying. It was so powerful and I know that David, the new investigator, felt it! I love working here! I'm getting pretty tired of walking up and down these same streets and stuff, but when you have lessons like those and investigators like him its just awesome and makes all the other hard times worth it!

Sorry this letter is a shorty. Ill write you a longer one next week. This week ill only be working in my sector half day tomorrow, then saturday and sunday. I have conference in Quito so i have to leave a day early and then another zone conference then divisions so its a little crazy but I'm excited! There will be a lot to be learned this week! I love you all! Thanks for the emails. Talk to you all next week! 

I'm so gonna take my future wife here and pull the "she thought Quilotoa was beautiful but I thought she was more beautiful" card on her.  BOOM! children fed! 

Libre Como el Viento

Another awesome bumper sticker I saw haha 

This was a little difficult but that's okay I've been warned that the mission isn't the easiest thing in the world. Anyways I've had a lot of heart breaking experiences this week that literally i just cant take bc they make me so upset. 

1. This experience happened about 30 minutes ago. I went up asked the guard to a bank if i could pay the light bill here and he said yes so i waited in line for about 45 minutes only for the guy to awkwardly look at the paper i handed him and say what is this and me explain it to him and he goes yeah we don't do this. I wanted to hit that guard in the face. not cool. 

2. This next experience is actually one that really made me upset. We taught this new investigator and she listened and all that. Then at the very end of the lesson when we were getting ready to invite her to baptism my comp said something about the book of Mormon and she went LOCA! COMPLENTAMENTE LOCA! She was like i cant believe in another book. Okay why not. Bc the bible is all there is. No, Christ said there are more of His sheep in another part of the world this is them. NO i dont believe you. Thats okay you can go pray about it. No i wont i like my church. Have you received an answer that your church is true? no. Will you pray about our message then? no. Will you pray about your church then? no. Okay hermana whats gonna happen if you don't pray about your church or ours and what we are teaching you is true and you didn't even want to pray about it? Idk but i just don't believe in that book and I don't wanna pray about it. That is basically how the last 20 minutes of the lesson went. It literally broke my heart to see such a sweet person go so cold hearted and not even want to pray about what we were teaching. I can only imagine how Heavenly Father feels when His own children reject Him and His son. Its really quiet frustrating and sad. 

3. This kid my home boy, my home skillet, home slice home digity, Alex Vargas is the freaking man! He is only 16 years old and this kid is just awesome! Over the past month or so we have been teaching him I've developed such a love for the kid! (not gay love) He is so awesome! Like any one would if they did everything we invited them to do after each lesson, he has received an answer and knows what we are teaching him to be true. He literally is the coolest! The only sad part is that his parents wont let him get baptized. They believe hes not old enough to make that decision. Ive begged Alex to let us talk to his parents and his parents say they have nothing to talk to us about. That we can continue to teach him, he can come to church, he just cant get baptized because hes "not mature enough yet". Man Alex just started crying in the lesson when he told us all this and was like I know its true they just don't believe me that i know. He then said "once I turn 18 I'm going to get baptized" Mom, dad, i promised him i would go to his baptism in 2 years. Please let me haha. But he also goes to all the missionary prep classes that our church has. The kid is a stud! Love that kid! 

The cool experience of the week was yesterday. We went to go give a blessing to a less active that has been sick. I told my comp to do it because he never has and it was awesome. Hes 82 years old and hes been sick with pneumonia. He hasn't walked in a month! My comp blessed him with the ability to go to church next week and to reactivate himself. After the blessing my comp goes, "i said in the blessing that you would have the strength to be able to go to church again. How about you walk around the room." He was super hesitant and so i booted in and said "hermano do you have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?" He said yes. So i said "you cant have even a slight doubt that you cant walk around this room. Have faith in him and we will do it with you." He was so scared so we said it to him again about not having doubt. Then we helped him up and watched him walk around the room. First time in a month he has left his bed and walked. That was honestly such a spiritual experience to us all. He came back to his bed and sat down and just had this glow in his eyes. There is a reason the first principle in the gospel is the faith. Without the faith, there is nothing.Such a powerful moment. Makes all those other heart breaking experiences i mentioned above so worth it in the mission to have experiences like this. 

Thanks for all the letters y'all have sent me! They are awesome as is you. Love you all! Talk to you all next week! 

My new glasses!

These fun toy motor cars that my comp and me had a race in around the mall. As you can see in picture 2 I won. He ate my dust

"If life was easy, it wouldn't be hard"

So this week was awesome! Im not gonna lie, the mornings were a little bit rough, but i went hard on the workouts to get my mind off things and let me tell you what. I is gonna be ripped!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its been a great learning experience and I'll tell you why. 

So I had the opportunity to read my patriarchal blessing this week and some things really hit me hard. I wont share them but its had such a positive impact on me. Its given me a lot of comfort and helped me more fully attempt to grasp the idea that God has in store for me. Ive been reading "leales a la fe" and its been helping me a lot too. Talks also are getting me pumped up to work! If you are ever down and you don't like it, listen to a bombin talk by either Elder McConkie or President Brown and they will make you feel like a champ and you is happy. Also dustin told me one time that I shouldn't be sad because sad spelled backwards is das, and DAS not good. Believe it or not, its helped. I would say the thing that hit me the hardest was the song "have I done any good" by Alex Boye. I was listening to it and it just hit me super hard!

Have I done any good in the world today?

Have I helped anyone in need?

Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad?

If not, I have failed indeed.

Has anyone's burden been lighter today

Because I was willing to share?

Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way?

When they needed my help was I there?

The reason I love it so much is because I bring a message of happiness as a missionary. The last line "when they needed my help was i there?" Hit me super hard! Its like I can be sad or I can do my job and my calling and help others be happy. I need to be there for others and I need to help them out and the Lord will bless me after the mission. Grasping this concept has made me cheer up so much. I am really grateful for everything that has happened in my life. I know the Lord has put me through trials bc He knows I can handle them. I love my mission! 

Thanks so much for all the letters and prayers and consejo! Its made me feel very loved and im happy now. I would honestly say this is one of the happiest times I've been on my mission. Give everything to Him. Don't fight anything and you will be blessed with happiness! This church is true and you all stay golden! 

Remember me? No you don't! Cuz I'm gonna mess you up

Well yeah this week has been a pretty crazy and a rough one that's for sure. Yeah to start out, we got emergency changes and I stayed in the sector and elder espinosa left. i was kinda bummed bc i was really ready to leave, But my companion is awesome! He jut came back on the mission about a week ago and so hes got about 5 months in the mission. He's really an awesome guy and im going to learn A LOT from him this change! His name is Elder Gonzalez from Texas. People think hes latino but i don't see it haha 

Well with a pretty big trial that just hit me, I was forced to reflect more on my purpose in the mission. I remember about 2 months ago I fasted and prayed super hard to receive comfort in the plan of God. Yeah, it's going to be hard, but bc of that time I have my trust in Him and He knows WAYYYYY better than I do. Ill be great! Thanks for all of the Support!

So this week we only got to visit Alex one time. Hes doing great now! Hes been praying and reading and so he went and talked to his parents and said "I've been thinking and praying and i want you guys to know i might changereligions" after a  few questions he said he feels good doing what we invite him to and he wants to know a little more about his answer first. He still hasn't come to church but this week he will! I have faith! Hes awesome

So next we got Kevin Baca. That malcreado is funny but he's starting to frustrate me. He's not doing anything and won't come to church. We taught him about as spiritual of a lesson as you can when you are teaching in the street and my companion went HARD! He testified and said " We know that if you come to church tomorrow, you will have your answer" So powerful even if the spanish was off. It was amazing to be present. Unfortunately, he was scared of an answer and didn't come. We will see what happens with him!

Well yeah, sorry this letter is kinda short. I hope you all are doing great and having a fantastic time! Thanks for all the prayers they are much appreciated. Time to get even more lost in this great cause! "despues todo lo que se ha dicho, el mayor y más importante deber es predicar el Evangelio" I love you all! Talk to you later!