Eden is getting transfered !

Greetings to all!

  Ok, before I can do anything I must say: Today is changes!  That means I am leaving Elder Redd, and heading to a new sector with a new comp.  (Luckily, his name is Elder Gomez, a friend from the Provo MTC who got to leave the Peru CCM Early because he could already speak spanish, neat eh?)  So right now, I`m enjoying my last few hours with my ´Dad´ Elder Redd, and it is quite sad!  And to make it even more crunchy, the family Castillos is getting baptized this Saturday, and they would`ve been my first baptism!  But no!  ¡Cambiar!     But it`s ok, I`m not down because it is the way it must be done! 

So, we shall be opening a NEW sector, and I am totally stoked.    Next, thanks for your pics and letters Mom, Dad, Ashlyne, Chantel, Meikayla, Madison & cousins!  They were oh so sweet,  (and I have some great photos to attach too!)         And you guys asked if I`ve eaten anything weird... well. First, I`ve had a drink called Polaca that looks and tastes just like watery cake batter and is totally DELICIOUS!  Next, elder Redd and I have mastered making Monte Cristo Sandwiches, which is simply a ham, egg, and cheese sandwich dunked in pancake batter, deep fried in oil with syrup and powdered sugar.  (Yes Eric, they are good!)   And lastly, at a members house I received a plate of rice, potatoes, and tons of chunks that looked liked animal cartilage.  After pretty much muscling down the meal, I later learned that those chewy mysterious chunks were in reality (Ashlyne cover your ears) just slabs of sliced pig skin, cooked to a gross chewy perfection.  *shudder*

 

Ok, our ward is doing well, our investigators are sort of going well. The Castillos are right on track, but the Vallesteros have slipped a little and we haven´t seen them for a week, but we are teaching them again and it looks like they are getting on track again, but Elder Redd will have to hurry because they are moving on Nov 5th!  Our other 2 families are getting tough to get in contact with, but we just found a new one that is completely ready to receive the gospel.  They were a member reference, and they were actually getting exciting when we pulled out the Book of Mormon on our first visit.  So, the weather is swell, we do our laundry at a `Lavanderia`  (or laundromat)  and Thank you thank you thank you for your family`s conversion story.  I will definately share it!

 Elder Sanders

 

Next week I`ll send pics of my new sector and comp!  Ciao! Lo siento que no tengo mucho tiempo para escribir mas en español, pero tratarè el proximo semana!

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!