MONTH 8 !!! 34 weeks !!!

Greetings one and all!  This is your pal, Elder Sanders.

So, before I get into the meat of the letter, congrats to the Plowman`s family on thier new member!  And also my family, and all others! (just because I love ya`all!)   And THAT^S why I could never find my package in the mail. 
(Well, you should resend the T-shirt and Legos, but perhaps for the candy you could just send a small box, those are usually pretty affordable, and be sure to put pictures of Jesus and the Virgen on the box, it`s the security label of south America!)


OK!  Now to explain the title of my letter...

    So, this past week with Elder Housley was great.  In fact, it was stupendous!  Not necessarily because we had a lot of success, (the only success we had was overcoming our sicknesses!), but because of how good friends we`ve become.  It`s crazy how much we have in common!  From hobbies, to quoting songs and movies, and even a love of Legos!  Yes, it was quite nice.  And also, the mission of Quito, Ecuador has been going through quite the metamorphosis!  We had changes 2 weeks ago, and then random changes started to happen the next week, and A LOT of people were being interviewed by the President of the mission. After a week, 7 people in our zone changed!  And many people from other zones, with many district leaders and zone leaders being changed to junior companion and other new people taking their places. 

 But, Elder Housley and I were glad, for we both knew that we were being righteous. We believed all the changes evolving around us would not touch us.  And so here we were, Sunday night visiting all our investigators with a baptismal date as a zone, when the dreaded news came.   Elder Sanders was being sent away to Ambato!  NO!!!        

  But, that also means that Elder Housley and I, the duo of destiny, were to be separated!  And it had only been 2 weeks!  It was like a cannonball to my soul!  So, today was full of distain and despair as I left my beloved sector to Ambato, an area outside of Quito next to an apparently active volcano.  ( Just to joke with Mom :)  )  

BUT! My new companion is named Elder Carcini, a missionary from Southern Mexico, and we shall definitely have some great adventures in this new area! 

  So, I do feel a little sad about the change (and grumpy about the Christmas package :)  (Oh Edens Christmas package came back to our house this week :(  ),

 but it is the mission!  So we shall continue working and all the missionaries here will be righteous once again! 
Because 2 weeks ago President Ghent announced something called the miracle of March, which is the promise that every missionary will baptize this month.  Whether it be one convert of seven, that`s the plan that`s going to happen.  I assume that all these changes and problems are happening because the adversary does not want this to happen.  Yes, there is a lot of opposition, and I think it may be because the mission really is going to be reaping in a lot of new baptisms soon, so I hope all goes well.

Well, that`s just about I have to say for now, and wish you all a very jolly evening!

-Elder Sanders

PS:  All the photos today are my last memories of Guamani:  our house, a rustic shed in our yard, and ´El Pan Quemado´, a famous bakery by our house.  (and for those of you that don`t speak spanish, El Pan Quemado translates into `The Burnt Bread´ ) :)

week 31 eden is sick :(

¡Buenas Tardes mis queridos hermanos y hermanas! ¿Come le van?  M-Hm. ¿No hableis español? Ok.

Good Afternoon my beloved Brothers and Sisters! How is it going?  

   Well, this week was rather interesting.  For good news, Pedro was Baptized!  WOOT!  He was so happy!  We were a little disorganized with the program, but we had a great baptismal service in the end.    I was able to do the ordinance, and a lot of his family showed up, along with a group of members.  Yes, only 7 of about 70 members we invited made it, but we were very glad those who made it came.  That was our grand highlight of the week.   (Our ward is so good!  I´ll have to send pictures later because we forgot our cameras in the flurry of getting ready and had to borrow the camera of another Elder.  He still hasn´t sent the pictures yet...  )

  But!  Now to explain the title of my letter.  Elder Housley and I are great.  The best of buds, and we were getting very excited our first day together because we had so much in common.  Then, come Wednesday, disaster struck!  Not of the dangers of the world, but a battle within!  Elder Sanders was stricken with a powerful illness!  What ranged from a sore throat, to a fever, to an upset stomach creamed him for the day!     So I was completely out of commission for that day, and then as I started to slowly recover, my companion was struck with disease also!  So here we were, waking up for 3 days in a row with clogged sinuses, runny noses, and sore throats, struggling to get to lessons or do anything. It was rather dramatic, and rather was a downer. So, all in all, the missionary work this week was rather slow.  It was also probably the worst way to bond in our first week together, but at least we bonded. 

  So!  That was our adventurous story for the week.  Thanks for your letters, and it sounds like you guys are having a fabulous time in the snow at home.  And congrats to Devin McCandless!  You were baptized the same day as our investigator here in Ecuador!   And I hope Grandma is feeling better, we´ll be sure to pray for her down here.   And by the 13th of March, I´ll have 8 months in the mission!  Tis´ odd.  Time in the mission is like building a snow man.  You start with a little snow ball, and it feels slow and tedious at the start, but as time tarries on, it grows larger and larger, and the momentum expounds in a full sprint as your giant snowball flies down a steep hill!     That´s how it is.    I really hope everyone is doing well up there, it sounds like school, work, and other activities are going really well.  

  And!  As to close with a spiritual thought, take up your Book of Mormon and find 2 Nephi 4, and then read the 2nd half.  It´s about verse 20ish and on.  It´s nicknamed ´The Psalm of Nephi´ Because it´s just him pouring out his soul about the Lord.  It´s really easy to over miss, but it´s full of great perspective.  We all see Nephi as this strong and super righteous leader, but here in this chapter is him pouring out how distraught he feels at his  weaknesses!  It is definitely a full-throttle wake up call to anyone who reads it and takes it to heart.  You guys will love it!

Well, that is all for the moment, and I´m sorry I don´t have many pictures because I was out of it for most of the week, and still awaiting the baptismal photos, but I shall write again! (The pictures are of this crazy cool fruit here, my companion, and a picture I just drew. Random, but good)   

Just remember LOMA:  Leer, orar, mandamientos, y asistencia.  But to translate it´s:   Read, Pray, Commandments, and Attend, as in Read your scriptures, pray daily, keep the commandments, and attend church!  Do it, and you shall prosper in the land!

-Elder Sanders

Eden week 30

¡Buenas Tardes Hermanos y Hermanas! ¿Como le van?  Espera... Uds no hablen español, ¿No?  No pensaba.

Alrighty then!  This week was well,  Thanks to those who wrote... and to those letters recieved. (To John Plowman, Mikayla Boren, and Elder Leishman, I shall write you soon, and EXTREME THANKS to you all!)      

BUt first... ¡FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS MEIKAYLA! Birthday pic attached!

Ok, I can`t say I have any huge events or experiences to share.  Although it sounds as if my Book of Mormon testimony letter is going to hover over Utah for the next month or so. :)  But on a serious note, I had no idea that a testimony could impact, or even touch so many people.  I`m very grateful that I was able to share, and that people were able to listen.  

As of right now, we have 1 person with a baptismal date, Pedro C, the husband of Ade, our baptism that we had 2 or so weeks ago. He`s preparing to be baptized for the 3rd of March.  In fact, on Saturday we had 12 people planned to be baptized for the 3rd of March, but as you can guess,  TRAPDOOR OF SATAN! All the baptismal dates fell! All but Pedro.  So we have high hopes for him, him and Adelaida really have progressed from when we first found them, on the brink of divorce.  And now?  With a spiritual boost of the Gospel and power of God`s plan for Families, they are striving!   We just need to get the rest of their family to get ready too!  They are letting to much of the world get in the way of their progression, such as school, work, and in one instance, drinking.  But!  We will bring them all to the truth!

What else?  Ah yes... there is a sweet little holiday down here called Carnaval.  But alas, it is not a holiday of warm dinners nor parades, do you wish to know?

The traditions include nothing but randomly plastering everyone in sight with buckets of water, silly string, water balloons, and this foamy canned stuff!!!   WHAT A GREAT HOLIDAY!!! And it`s for 3 days straight!   The only downside is that missionaries can`t play, and we must be constantly on our guard so that we don`t get soaked on the way to a lesson.  So far, we`ve been liquid free (it`s not too intense in Guamani, but in Ottavalo, there are no rules!),  but we shall keep our umbrellas handy!

And as for other notes:  You guys are in LAVA HOT SPRINGS?  Without, *sniffle*  without me?  NO!!!  Well, have fun at the purple moon, and I shall be there in spirit!    

AND!  I also have a talk that you guys need to read, it`s in this month`s Ensign,  titled something to the extend of Tender Mercies of the Lord.  IT IS SO GOOD.

Oh, and next week are CHANGES!  *GASP!*  Will I stay? Will I go?  I do not know.  But it will be great either way!

Thanks for all, and I shall surely write again!

-Elder Sanders

PS: PHOTOS!

1- Meikayla`s B-DAY PIC, I hope it`s accurate!

2- My new speaker system!  Thanks to the Plowman`s for your Christmas gift!  They are great!

3-  Three Languages, one truth.  (great movie title...)

PSS:  And alas, my hopes are exhausted.  There is no Christmas Package!  It will come... eventually... but we shall see.

           And as for Birthday stuff, I would really Like to just buy it here, but I fear they do not sell Prisma Markers down here.  Hm.  I shall write next week!

ADIOS A TODOS!