Hello!  This week was rather swell indeed! We had many fun stories this time, no new spiritual experiences since my Book of Mormon revelation,   but first!  To answer questions from your letters!  (Which, by the way, thanks to all who wrote!)   Ben is getting married next week!  And Zander`s getting baptized! CRAZY TIMES! We`re also going to have a baptism this weekend,  AT LAST!   Sister  P,  she is ready, and will have made powerful covenants by the end of next week!  We`re quite excited.       And yes, transfers have passed, (2 weeks ago, I wrote about it...)    And we have not changed! Yes!      And I did make the Pasta Sauce.  Apparently I don`t quite have the same magical motherly touch that can transform any raw ingredient into a delicious wonder, but I shall keep working at it!   (and yes, all that random stuff you found on the porch was from Erik`s Mom, neat!)      Oh, and as for Spanish, I definitely am not fluent yet.  When it comes to gospel principles, yes, but for everything else....   lets just say that I`m sufficient at the moment.  :)

So!  This week was quite well, although we definitely had a low on people with a baptismal date.  It just seems as if our investigators are getting lost in sub-space.  (for example, we haven`t been able to find Mr Fas or Humberto because of dreaded work!)   We only had 1 investigator attend this Sunday, only one!  ACK!   But, as for fun stuff, we were leaving our Mamitas house on Thursday, and walked half a block only to encounter a gigantic parade.  Kids dressed in indegenous attire, fireworks shooting off, candy being thrown into the sidewalks.  After standing in awe for about 10, wondering if it was a holiday or not, we decided we needed to run and grab our cameras (luckily our house was 2 blocks away).  It was a sweet surprise.

And then, Saturday we had a lesson with the family Caisawano, and lo and behold:  it was their daughter`s birthday!  We brought her some ice cream with a card, had dinner, had delicious Ecuadorian cake, and then a small lesson afterwards about families.   It was a jolly time.   

We also had an open house at our Stake Center in Chilloguillo.  Our zone (Chilloguillo) and my old zone (Atahualpa) joined forces to turn our church into a master  knowlegde center for investigators of all kinds.  Of course, the members were teaching inside and all the missionaries were spreading outside, bringing all in the street into the Steak Center.  Elder Hernandez and I contacted 40 people in the space of an hour or so, and only 5 attended, but that`s pretty fruitful from my point of view, especially if there are also about 9 other companionship roaming about.    It was essentially good.  

Anyways, right now we have 4 people with a baptismal date, Sister Caisawano and a new family, la familia Peña.  We hope that we may also be able to give a new date to those that missed church and us essentially.  We`re excited!  

Alas, I shall write you all soon!  Stay mighty!

-Elder Sanders.

Hm... and as for a spiritual thought....      You should re-read The Family: A proclamation to the world.     It is just oozing with doctrine and family organization, and how we can build more strength in our individual families.    While teaching the family Cai, we were teaching this principle and about our priorities.  Then, while we were discussing this, the grandpa said something to the extend of we should put God first, and then worry about our families later.  A mini argument ensued, and then I said something to the extent of, ¨we don`t need to do that.  When we are keeping the commandments, and blessing our family, we really are serving God.  Essentially we don`t need to put one over the other because they are the same priority.¨   And the arguing ceased.    It`s true!  The strongest happiness we can attain in our families is when they are build upon the principles of the Gospel.        Read the Proclamation together, and if there are others that haven`t read it before, go online, find it and read it!  It has power!

OH! And as for the Christmas package, I heard that for any package normally it takes this long.  So, I shall probably be receiving it in the next week or so.  It`s not lost, just floating in Ecuadorian mail-space.  

PICTURES!

 Pictures of the parade!

 Our happy Italian pasta.

 A picture requested by my companion.