EDEN IN ECUADOR: thousands of emotions: 1.12.15

HI EVERYONE!!

Thank you for all the letters and packages i have received in this last month from ward members, family members, and friends. I LOVE YOU ALL!!

This week has been wonderful and hard and stressful and happy and i think i have maybe experienced every single emotion there is. So here we go.

It started on Monday. We went to the house of the Flia Rosero. This is a family of 5 and 4 of them are converts. We have been visiting them since my first week in Los Chillos. Galo (the father) recently stopped going to church because of some things that happened in his life. We have been working a lot with him, but also with his son Christian. Christian is 19 years old and the first time we talked with him about the gospel he told us that he didnt believe in God. Well over these last 3 months we have visited this family and done everything we can to help them stay strong in the church. As we have visited them, we have noticed that Christian always answers questions and participates.We have watched his interest, faith and desire growing. So last Monday we decided to teach him the Restoration. As we were teaching i felt really strongly that we should have a mini testimony meeting with this family. As every single one of them testified of how they knew the church was true i felt the spirit so strongly. I told them that they were a wonderful, strong family. And then i turned to Christian and i told him that every single one of his family members recieved an answer, but in different ways. I started to tell him that he would receive an answer as well when he stopped me and said. "but i already received my answer." In that moment my heart was FILLED WITH JOY! He told us that earlier that day he was playing on the computer, and all of the sudden it shut off. He told us that before he knew it he had picked up the Book of Mormon and started reading it. And he knows that it is true. When we visited him later this week, he told us that he had a desire to take the Book of Mormon to school with him and he didnt know why. He told us that since he started reading he hasnt had a desire to make wrong choices. This was a testimony to me. That GOD changes the hearts of people. And that he loves me enough to let me see how HE works in the lives of others. AND THAT THE BOOK OF MORMON IS TRUE!!

Something funny now. Well two funny things. First in mini zone conference I had to get up on a table and teach the first lesson with all the other missionaries yelling super rude things at me.... it was an exercise to help us overcome our fears, but i pretty much just laughed the whole time....

THEN. Ok i was pretty mad about this one. We were talking with Maria and Enrique. And Enrique LOVES to bother me. So i wasnt looking at them and all of the sudden Enrique started freaking out and pointing to my backpack. So of course i scream and throw my backpack across the room (thinking that there was a giant spider or something) and everyone BURST OUT LAUGHING! He had thrown a fake rat on my backpack to scare me and i hadnt seen it. When i turned around to sit back down he had put it on my chair and i screamed again. And they laughed, again. i was not too happy about it, but i got over it and now it is super funny.

What was hard about this week. The Familia Savando was super excited about their baptism and everything. But then Kevin talked with his cousin and she told him some things that changed his mind. Now he doesnt want to get baptized and his family doesnt want to get baptized without him. I was pretty sad after he told us that. But i havent lost faith. Because i have seem God work miracles in the hearts of people and i know that he will work in Kevin.

Sometimes this work is so so hard. Sometimes i feel so frusterated, but when i think about how much i love these people here.... every single moment (good and bad) is absolutely worth it. I love my life!!

Today we went to the Baslica again. I think Quito is the most beautiful place on earth. The country of Ecuador literally has everything. Volcanos, jungle, mountains, the beach (which sadly i will never know)... And Quito has a European feel which I love! I really just love this country. And i love my life. Hermana Bahr and i are having so much fun together in this transfer and it is going by too fast!!