Claudia
Alright! Before everyone gets really curious and excited about the title, I`d like to say it`s been a mighty-swell week!
First off, to reply to this week`s emails: WOW! that
Elder Wells (I guess he is now known as Greg) was able to visit my
family in Utah! How neat for you all!
And also, Mom`s story
about the relief society power team was great, I absolutely love it when
the church never fails to bring forth it`s true potential! How
great... and also a shout out to Ethan! 12 and full of Priesthood
power! Congrats! And lastly, thanks for the family history charts! I
will definitely use them well and with security. AND!!! I got your
package! Thanks for the letters, the mattress cover, and even the
peachie-O`s!
Ok, Hmmm! Where to begin? So much happened this
week, both fun stuff and spiritual experiences alike! Ok, I think I`ll
go one day at a time in a very business like fashion. 
Tuesday: Ok, with my companion we`ve had much
improvement! But, as we know, before good things come, trials must
proceed it. So Tuesday night we pretty much we`re trying to resolve
things, and it all ended in an argument, me hurt and upset, and my
companion rather flustered and angry, so I left and tried to seek some
personal relief. So, at my desk, I remembered the last time I was in
this situation what really helped me was my patriarchal blessing. So, I
dug it out, and began to read, and in no more than the first paragraph I
read:
(I feel it being right to share)
` And, Eden, it should also be a great comfort that you too, like Nephi of old, have been born of goodly parents, who have loved you and have taught you the gospel of Jesus Christ while still in your youth, `
And in that moment, the spirit flooded in and I found myself sobbing! How blessed I had been! So, for my parents (and so that everyone can know it), THANKS MOM AND DAD!!! For loving me, for raising me in righteousness, and for always supporting me no matter what, and I`ll carry that knowledge with me wherever I go and whatever situation I`m stuck in. I do love you all too!
(I feel it being right to share)
` And, Eden, it should also be a great comfort that you too, like Nephi of old, have been born of goodly parents, who have loved you and have taught you the gospel of Jesus Christ while still in your youth, `
And in that moment, the spirit flooded in and I found myself sobbing! How blessed I had been! So, for my parents (and so that everyone can know it), THANKS MOM AND DAD!!! For loving me, for raising me in righteousness, and for always supporting me no matter what, and I`ll carry that knowledge with me wherever I go and whatever situation I`m stuck in. I do love you all too!
Wednesday: Divisions! The zone leaders came to our
sector, we had a meeting, and I took a visit to Coca for some well
needed divisions.
Thursday: I returned to my
sector, to find that back in Lago Agrio my companion and Elder Housley
had found 3 new families! WOW! We were able to teach them later in the
week, and 1 of them has a baptismal date for this next month! HOORAY!
Friday: Hm. What happened Friday? We taught, fought, and had a great day!
Saturday:
General Conference! The weekend which is literally like Christmas for
missionaries across the world! So, when I woke up and felt like puking,
I knew there was trouble! 
Yes,
I got super sick! I managed to get myself to go to the church and
attend the sessions, but I fear that for the majority of it I was pretty
much out of it in the chairs. But thank goodness now we can download
talks online to listen at home!
But, as we were out eating lunch, my companion with a
plate of rice and me with soup, a man at another table called out to us
saying `Elders!` He came and sat with us, and began to talk to us
about many many things.
He said he knew the missionaries very well, and wasn`t a member.
He said that he had traveled in a lot of parts of Ecuador (and the
world actually) and was just stopping by in Lago Agrio. The odd thing
was, that he seemed to know everything about the church, about prophets,
when they lived, about mission rules and even old mission presidents
and missionaries, and he wasn`t a member! I just thought it was too bad
he had all this worldly knowledge and was never baptized, because it
seemed very apparent he knew The Church was true, and he spoke a lot
about other religions in the world, and how many religions existed, and
so on and so forth. (He really did seem to know everything, and even
informed us that we had better get going so that we wouldn`t be late for
the 2nd session of General conference!)
Later, we left, and my companion started to say that
the things that the guy in the restaurant said (I think his name was
Fernando or something) it really, REALLY impacted him. My companion
said that everything he was saying was directed at him, and seemed to
even know his needs and current situation, and happened to give him
advice and counsel, all without knowing him at all. I was a little
confused, I thought he was just a wise yet blatant guy, but as my
companion explained how it seemed he knew all those things and happened
to be there, my companion asked me, `Do you think he was one of the
three nephites?` (for those of you who have no idea what I mean by
this, ready 3Nephi 29 in the Book of Mormon!) And from what he said,
it actually made sense. He really could of been. I mean, he spoke about
how he was from Guayaquil and worked with chemicals in a factory and
was married before and other things, but, it seemed to be more a
spiritual experience for my companion. But, true, I will say he was
sent by God to help our little struggling companionship, but whether he
was just a very knowledgeable man or a Nephite apostle, I cannot say
nor am I too worried about it, because I don`t think it would be right
for us to know for sure if he really was!
Sunday:
I was healed! Yes, I could watch general conference without
expedience, (although it was in Spanish, and a little tricky to decipher
at times) but still very very good! And we`re going to have a baptism
this next Friday! :)
As for some of my favorites:
-Elder Nelson`s talk about if you want to know something, ask a missionary. It helps me have more confidence in what I do!
-Elder
Holland`s mighty talk! Actually, I loved it because he gave one VERY
SIMILAR in an MTC devotional, which I watched during a training meeting
in Quito, and both times he carried truth and passion to my soul! (it`s
only too bad that in Spanish, you can see him getting really
passionate, and the passionate voice just doesn`t translate in Spanish!)
-And lastly, I thought the talk about Bee activity and how it
connects to us, the world and the gospel was very informative and
interesting, not quite high on my spiritual ranking, but I had many many
notes from it,
-Ah, yeah. So that
was my week! Many good things and wondrous stories. I hope you enjoyed
them all! Until next week my lads, I`m off! Thanks for the photos and
for you letters! I miss you! Have a wonderful week, and congrats on
the harvest!
-Elder Eden Sanders
