Week #14

Hola once again!

 And once again, I only have 1/2 my email time!  (After studying, doing our district activity, buying food, pulling out money for the week, and bus fare, time really gets sucked out on P-Days, ya know?)   BUT once again, life is going swimmingly.

 I`m doing well, (I just got a little altitude sickness, but I shall write why because it was awesome!)  And yes, congrats to Meghan, Rick and Cash!  I`m am way stoked for you guys!  (As for preparation tips, just read Preach my Gospel thoroughly beforehand, it will help a ton!)     

And before I forget, for the Christmas package there isn`t anything I need (we packed Really Well), but I think it would be great if it included Peachie-O`s (because they have every candy down here except that), a story-tournament T-shirt from our laser tag tourney at Trafalga, since I left before they were created (and if you can`t get one, a Spider man one would probably be way cooler), and by tradition: Legos are a must!!!  

 

As for us, we have 4 families with a baptismal date, the V's , the Castillos, the Morales, & Hermano Sardiñas.  Out of all of them, the Castillos are going really strong, and Hmo. (Brother) V just informed us he has hefty problems with the Word of Wisdom ACK! (non-church members, ask a member because it`s a great commandment that involves health & harmful substances and takes time to explain!) 
 So his date may need to be bumped back until he can overcome and repent of it.  Plus, Elder Redd has this nifty small white-board that I`ve been using during lessons for very simple visual demonstrations of commandments and Doctrine. So yes, I`m using my talents to bring others unto Christ!  It`s truly a blessing!  Plus, I got to give my first ever blessing in Spanish to someone who was sick, and i`d say it went swell. 

 

AND!  Mom, could you send me the story of your family`s conversion story? I don`t quite remember all the details and would LOVE to be able to share parts of it with our investigators as they learn more about coming to the Church.  It would be fantastic! 

 

And today, we got to a big ski-lift attached to an Ecuadorian version of Trafalga, and on top of the mountain we got to see ALL of Quito valley. There are so many houses it is unbelievable crazy to think of all the people who still haven`t had a chance to hear the gospel.  I`ll attach pics, and I love you all!  

 

-Elder Sanders

 

PS- As for letters from here, I`d say it takes about a month. 

PSS- OH! And you can still do DearElders!  They send them to mission office, so I get them like every other week, but send thèm anyways!
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If you would like to write Eden got to www.dearelder.com
click on select mission , go down to Ecuador Quito-free
then click on write a letter
Fill in the blanks with your name and address
write elder eden sanders on the bottom right corner
and go down and write the letter.
And send....

Its free and Eden obviously :( by what he writes every week would like some letters. You don't need to write a lot just a note so he knows we haven't forgotten him and we love him.
Thanks to all my friends and family that support Eden and are there to share this adventure with him
Love you all
A mom that misses him terribly
Claudia 

Week #13

Hola Hola Hola!

 Tis` I, Elder Sanders reporting in for the week!    Once again, thanks for your jubilicious letters, they are oh so tasty!  (figuratively) (And I got your letter Jaimie, I shall write swiftly! I hope...) And I also just found out that you guys can still do DearElders!  The only problem is they are delayed, and I can only pick them up when I or someone else goes to the offices, but still please send them anyways! no matter when they get here, they are always appreciated.  Next: I got the package of letters from Woods Cross!  I haven`t had a chance to read them all yet, or my other e-mails from Dad and Chantel, but I shall read and answer them very soon!  (And I may have to send out letters to Dave & Jessica by E-mail, post offices down here are sort of rare, or just far away. )    OH! And the plaque looks awesome and yes, I did draw a picture of Christ in Adam`s classroom.

OK!  Next I`m just gonna tell you guys all about the fun stuff that`s been going on.   First, in the priesthood session of conference, W. Christopher Waddell, I got to meet him at the Peru CCM!  HA HA!   Next, sometimes in Ecuador the water and power sometimes turn off for an hour or so unexpectedly, and when we found our electricity was out, and not turning back on, we had to investigate.  It turns out that the last missionaries that were in our house didn`t pay the power bill, and lo and behold our electricity was cut!  Not only did we have no lights, but our fridge was out and our hot water too!  (yes, showers here are run by an electrical device attached to the shower head).  So for 3 days it sort of... sucked.  (yep, I know how you feel E.Leishman!)  But now all is well and warm.

  Also, We GOT TO MAKE PIZZAS!  Both on Thursday (only E.Redd and I) and today, with the entire district (and we also were able to watch Tangled in Spanish too, with apple-crisp! double treats!!)  Mayhem and happiness!  Thank you so much mom for that delicious pizza recipe, it was a `taste of home`!   (Puns...)  Oh yeah, I thought I could forever escape allergies and road construction halfway across the world, right? Ha Ha...  WRONG.    My eyes are itchy and the road is all torn up by our house... I guess that`s just the way it is!

 So, right now we have 2 progressing families that have a baptism for the 22 of October, (the closest ones we have so far), la familia Castillo y la familia Vallasteros.  Both awesome, We have other investigators, and are visiting ward members, and it`s pretty good.  We are always busy with appointments (citas) and contacting, so all is running smoothly.   

And as for a spiritual thought, `while I`ve been studying and watching people accept and reject us, I`ve taken a lot of thought into people`s desires. Our salvation, our life, our choices are all based on our initial desires.  If we want to live righteously and be saved or reject and fall short of glory, it`s based on what we want.  (we have the choice to choose) also, in the Scriptures it says we will be judged on our actions and desires.  So, if we follow a commandment, but don`t want to do it at all, (such as paying tithing grudgingly) then we`re not following the commandment 100%.  And same with prayer, if you have faith and sincere desire to know, then you will be blessed with an answer.  Neat, huh? Just something I`ve been noticing more and more often.

Ok, to close I would just like to say...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

yep, I was going to send a card or something, but the post office deal is quite tedious. So I think I`ll have to take a pic and send it to you.  (Alas, I have no time now to send it now but I shall next letter!) 

And also for pics, I`m attaching some of us making pizzas, and a few of my conference 

PS- the orange juice down here is to die for! 

Week #12

Hola a todas familas y amigos!  Today is P-Day, and it is spiffin!  This week has been quite busy, with many meetings and new families.  Before I get into the meat of my e-mail (because once again I am low on time! ACK!)  I`m going to just answer all the questions everyone asked me:  I`m glad you`re car is up to date Chantel, and I will definately pray for your health!  I am good, I got to hear conference in English in our own little room, and Had pages of notes and tons of sketches!  I`ll have to send them next week, because alas I do not have time to photo them now, but next week!  And no, we did not have time to make pizza, but we will this Thursday during the training meeting at the Church! 

The families we`re teaching could be going better, right now we have 2 families and 1 investigator.  So far, our 2 families are slowly accepting and progressing, but need to pray about our message more.  Janet was doing really well, she attended church with us and we`ve had about 3 meetings, but now she`s avoiding us and she still hasn´t read or prayed about our message (The book of Mormon, and if this church is true)  we`re trying!  As for money, we all have our own credit cards and every Monday we pull out $20 or $30 dollars for the week. I haven`t used my `personal card yet` , but if I need cash help, I will most certantly tell you!  

The weather is nice, very cloudy and cool during the day.  EXCEPT WHEN IT RAINS.  Cascading fountains soaring freely into our souls!  (and actually, I kind of like it.  It`s very adventurous) 

The food is, well, Ecuadorian.  So good, and I guess technically we have 5 or so mamitas beacause we visit a family every week for lunch.  And they are Grand.  :-D        

My average day; awake at 6:30 am , excerise (mostly...) for a bit, shower and eat and be ready to study at 8. Then 4 hours of personal and companionship study!  Then off to our investigators and contacting! We eat at 1, and usually work until 9 or 9.30.     As for listening to the spirit, I think I need to do better, and I definately need to practice my spanish more!    And no, The mangoes are not in season yet, so I`ll have to buy some later.  *sniffle*    But good luck Dad at your project at work, and to Mom and the family!      

  Thanks madison for your letter, I`ll have to find a way to send your earrings to you. Somehow, the post office is only in the large city areas and sending a single pound is like 30 Dollars.  EEK!   

Good luck with your Lego video and Drama class, ask if you need any tips!    

 

CIAO!!!

 

-Elder Sanders

 

PS- ERIK! I got your letter, let the international add-on begin!  (plus, did you receive the one I sent you?)