week 45

Hello one and all!  How has your week been?  Good from what I`ve heard, it sounds as if you guys are having a jolly time!

Well!  I bet the first thing everyone wants to hear are the hard facts of my new companion!   Well, his name is Elder Meriles, a stalwart Elder From San Francisco, California, whose parents are both from Bolivia!  So he came into the mission already speaking Spanish and English, and we are very excited to begin working here.  This last week was also rather exciting, Elder Bardzinski left Monday morning, and I bunked with other Elders Until Tuesday, when I left for Quito Tuesday night.  The next day, all the trainers met together, and we had a big training meeting for the trainers and their new companions.  There were about 20 people coming into Ecuador, and Elder Meriles and I bonded well!   We left, and got home Wednesday night.  

Well, other than that, the other big news I have is.... WE HAD 2 MORE BAPTISMS!  WOOT! John and Nelly are now confirmed members of the Church of Christ, and the baptismal service went well.    (Actually, we weren`t very prepared, had problems with heating the water, we had to wait an hour and half for their mom to leave work to attend the service, and we were late writing out their baptismal forms, but it all worked out in the end!)  So, we shall continue to work with them, and hope to begin teaching the rest of their family too!  Actually, we were talking to the Mom`s sister (who isn`t a member), and she agreed to listen to us!  So we shall be teaching her tomorrow!

So, now I`m a little busier as a district leader, I get to have a cell phone, give a training message every Zone meeting on Thursdays, and I can also interview people for baptism!  I`m pretty excited, and I get to look out for my District like a bishop looks out for the members of the church, only in this case, my `ward` only consists of 4 people. :)   So I`ll keep you updated as I continue working.

AND congrats to Madison for conquering the Elementary School!  And I tip my hat to Ashylne and her mighty lacrosse award!  Well done indeed!  Tell Meikayla I miss wrestling in the car with her and good luck to Chantel as she treks out into the new world.   ¡Y tambien serìa fantastico si pueden dar mi amor a Grandma y Grandpa!  

SO! I`ve gotta make like a baker and haul buns, see ya!

-Elder Sanders

PS- Yes, I would like a donut recipe!  And could you also send me the recipes for Brazilian Lemonade and BonBons?  Thanks!

PSS-  I love you all SO much!