Interesting Week

Another interesting week has come and passed. I wrote last week that my companion is super good at singing, well this week he has basically been "touring" Ecuador singing all over the place with this choir that our mission made. So while he has been doing that I have been in a trio with my other zone leader and his brand new companion. Ha-ha its kinda funny having the two of who are being trained trying to teach together. Lets just say we aren’t the most fluent companionship in the world right now. (My zone leader knows a lot of Spanish but his accent is worse than mine haha)

So one thing that has made this week so interesting is that I have been told by 3 different little kids that their older sister likes me... So first off that is super awkward alone, but one of my companions loves to bring it up every time he sees one of them. It is seriously the most uncomfortable I have ever felt in my life!! 

 

I had a baptism this Saturday in the coolest place in this world!! Our tiny branch had this really cool activity where they went up in the mountains to go swimming in the river/pools there, play eco volley (Ecuadorian volleyball which the net is like 9 ft. so people cant spike) and to eat tons of food and just have a good time. Well this area they went to is way out of any sectors boundary but we got special permission to go and have this bautismo there! The river alone was absolutely incredible! But the mountains were so stunning! I was literally in the wilderness surrounded by jungle, Mountains, rivers and fields of Mariqua (passion fruit) which was cool cuz we found tons of them and they make the best juice I have ever tasted in my life!

Hope everyone had a good thanksgiving and is enjoying the holidays!

Craziest and best week of my life!!!

Sorry for not writing a letter last week but I didn’t really have a p day. I had to travel to Guayaquil for a couple of conferences. So this month I have been to Guayaquil 5 times and soon to be 6, which is really irregular because most people go there once every other month or once a month at most. So I have been really lucky to be able to go to all these big events! 

My trainer finished his mission last week and I had to get my new companion. Elder Humble who is from Oregon, but lives in Utah right now. He is super tall, loves basketball, super good at singing, and super super spiritual. This guy is very animated and always excited! Best comp I could ask for!!! He has been in this special choir that the mission made with all the best singers to go around and sing in these huge public places so that’s been crazy fun!! Especially when they buy us Carls Jr or some other rare American restaurant here!

Also we had Elder Godoy from the quorum of the 70 come down and gave us a fireside. And I literally mean fire!!  Like he didn’t directly roast us, but he told us very directly that we have been decreasing greatly in out success lately which bad because this mission used to be one of the most successful in the world. We all left feeling very determined to work super hard which we have.

During this time I literally got to live at the temple for 3 days!!! Literally the church has a hotel within the temple grounds that we all stayed at and we got to eat inside the temple and do a session alsoª!! That was super amazing because the Ecuador temple is absolutely amazing!

I have 2 baptism dates set for December 3rd, which is super exciting and another as soon as the president can interview him! So the coolest thing in my life right now is that we have an investigator that really wants to get baptized but can not because she is not married, but she isn’t married because she cant afford it, my companion and I decided that we will help her pay for it and she is going to get married on the 2nd and be baptized the next day!!!

Super exited for December and could use all the prayers you can offer for the missionaries!

les quierro!!

November 14

I will have a weird rotation of companions for the next week until I can have my real companion. I already know him because he has been living in the same house as me and he’s my zone leader. I really really like this guy. His name is Alex Humble and went to BYU for a year before his mission. He speaks Spanish better than any other gringo I have meet and is super animated, always happy and smiling. He is super humble and a giant, literally and spiritually!

(Zack far left, his new companion is the tall guy in the back)

The house doesn’t have an address but it does have a name if that helps

Cdla naranjal calle Eugenio espejo

Today was pretty rushed but we played volleyball, withdrew money from the bank, ate hamburgers, washed cloths, went to the Tia which is like a mini Wal-Mart but is huge compared to anything else here, and am writing now.

 

Le amo tanto y perdon for mis favores, estoy muy feliz que usted esta sentindo el Espiritu podorso!

Quidase mucho!

Welcome to Ecuador!

Naranjal

So today and the last 3 days has been this huge party in the sector that I’m in. Naranjal. Which has been super fun to walk through but supper hard to have a successful week. 

This is the last week of my companions mission so I may be changing sectors already or receiving a new trainer.... not sure how I feel about that because Elder Hudson has been super fun and helpful to me lately!

I would like to invite all of you to think of one person you know that could use the gospel right now and give this name to a missionary in your are! It is such a blessing to receive references from the members here and I could use some good karma.

Totally forgot to tell you that we all quote Brian Regan here all the time. I have 4 gringo elders con mi y ellos encantan esta comico! We always fight over calling the hump seat haha. No one wants shotgun, we all fight over the middle seat!

This week has been very humbling and I have been learning that I really am nothing without God. Charity has been such a blessing here on the mission and I am so grateful for what I have received from the members here. Testimony is growing stronger every day!