June 24, 2013

Ok I dont even know where to start.  First things first - I AM IN ECUADOR!!!! This officially marks country number TEN for me (k im cheating a little bit because im counting USA and Sweden... just let me have this one please).

So turns out Im way more hardcore than any of you ever thought. Please allow me to describe my living situation for you all:

1. no hot water.  cold showers errday.

2. i have a yet to be determined number of mosquito bites

3. i ate tuna fish for lunch my first day here.  TUNA.  FISH.  and some other food that i have yet to be able to place a name to

4. i have to brush my teeth with the filtered water from mywater bottle (ps this water bottle is GOLDEN.  i love it)

5. toilet paper doesnt go in the toilet here.  It goes in the trash can.

6. Apparently I ate something that belongs INSIDE a chicken yesterday and didnt even realize it.

I guess President Graham was right when he said i would be a different person after the mission.

Well so far I LOVE IT.  My companion is Hermana Salgado from Honduras and she only has six weeks left in the mission.  Im still not sure what that means for me because im supposed to be trained for 12 weeks. But she is great!  She really knows her stuff but is really good about letting me talk in lessons.  At first I was super nervous and quiet but now Im much more willing to talk and open up.

When we first got here, I was so EXHAUSTED for getting two hours of sleep the night before. And what happens when I get exhausted?  Level of exhaustion is directly correlated with my level of emotionalness.  So we were sitting in the mini hotel thing by the temple where we were spending our first night and i picked up an English ensign which in and of itself is a miracle and I was flipping through and whose picture should i find other than my dear sister and sonny!!!  i almost lost it right then and there but i managed to pull myself together.  i kept the ensign justifying it with the fact that it contains a family picture.  tender mercies!!

my first night in our house with my companion i cried a little bit because i realized that somehow i left all my pictures at the ccm.  BUT its okay because thankfully i had taken out a few of my favorites to leave in my scriptures AND i have that journal that kailie made me before leaving  (thanks kales!!!).  We live in a house that is right next door to a family in the ward, the Navarros. They own the house.  THeya re sooooo great!  they have two little girls and the 11 year old already says she wants to be a missionary one day.  Theya re the best family ever! 

My birthday was GREAT.   I forgot it was my birthday until mycompanion gave me a giant hug and said happy birthday.  She was so sweet she made a card for me and proceeded to tell EVERYONE we came in contact with that it was my birthday.  that nlight we were finishing up a lesson and the zone leaders called and told us to come to the church to get the ficha for Felipe who got baptized on Friday.  so we got there and they ahd a little table set up with two cakes for me and sang me happy birthday!  THen they told me they ahve an ecuadorian tradition that i had to kiss the cake.  SO i was trying to figure out why and I leaned in to kiss the cake and my companion just slammed my face into it. How i did not see that coming is still beyond me. Haha it was fun though but the pictures are on elder jacobsens camera since i didnt have mine.  And THEN that night the navarros came over and brought me a pint of ice cream.  It was so nice, i felt so loved by all these people i just barely even met!! Thanks to all of you for all your birthday wishes, made my day!

Yesterday we watched this leadership training broadcast from SLC all about missionarywork. It was SOOOO good.  Remember how i wasnt emotional in the CCM?  im way more emotional here haha.  I cried like three times.  But i absolutely loved it.  Although for any of you who might have watched it i am here to tell you that is NOT what missionaries look like.  All those sister missionaries were all dolled up and cute and i was just sitting there with my dusty shoes, sweaty face, and frizzy hair thinking there is no way. 

Well thats about it.  My mission president is SUPER strict and not quite as loving as i had hoped.  There are a few rules that i strongly disagree with.  BUT whatever.  HOnestly, being a missionary makes it all worth it. I just realized i havent even talkeda bout the missionary work at all yet haha.  We had a baptism on friday for Felipe.  He is an interesting fellow haha but it was exciting.  WE have another one this weekend for two girls, ages 9 and 11.  Their mom is a member but not very active i dont think.  And their dad isnt a member but he sat in for one of our lessons for the first time and actually seemed really interested.  The only issue is that he works out of town and is gone for weeks at a time.  But im praying for a miracle because they are the CUTEST family and i would love to see them all go to the temple.  We met a girl who is 19 years old with a three year old daughter and one on the way and she said she doesnt love herself.  We told her about how she is a daughter of God and is important to HIm.  Im hoping she keeps ourappointment we have with her tomorrow because this Gospel could help her SO much.  Ahh i wish i could tell youa bout everyone we meet and talk to but it wouldtake forever.  Sometimes I get a little homesick or annoyed or sad or whatever but when we are talking to people and teaching them, all of that goes away.  I didnt think it was possible but i already love them so much!!!  Oh and dont worry, we made friends with a member in a different ward who owns a panaderia right around the corner from our house.  Shes officially my favorite.

K well i love you all PLEASE keep writing me, it means more than you know!!!  Pray for the people here, pray for FAMILIES who are ready to change their lifestyles to accept this gospel in their lives.  And please pray that the food will continue to taste decent and not make me sick :)

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!

Love,
Hermana Chil