Week Nineteen - "You know you're in Ecuador when . . . "

Hola Familia!

You know you´re in Ecuador when the snails are as big as your fist!

Sorry this email is a bit of a long one but it has been a such a great
first week here in Santo Domingo! Yes I have seen some huge snails and
a few cockroaches but besides that everything is normal here on the
coast! I think I've lost the rice weight from Ambato just from one
week of sweating here in Santo Domingo. But the real challenge will be
working off the Santo Domingo rice. The food is REALLY good here. And
they feed you a lot more. But the members are pretty good about giving
us smaller portions. Running is helping a lot though. The first
morning we went running here I felt like I could run a marathon! The
elevation change was super weird for me. I didn't really notice it
when I went running in Ambato, I just thought I was pretty out of
shape. But when I got here I realized that my lungs were just being
suffocated up there in the mountains.

The people are super nice here. Members are great. I am in a ward
again which is awesome. We live in the house below the Bishop and his
family and his wife cooks our lunch everyday so its really easy to get
in contact with him and get the work we need to done with the ward. We
have three ladies that cook food for us. Thankfully its not all at the
same time but they´re all great. Funny Ecuadorian ladies.

My companion is AMAZING! I love her so much! After only a week we are
already great friends! Hermana Moran is from Orange County,
California. She was studying at BYU-I before the mission but
transferred to BYU Provo which is so exciting! She has three months
more than I do. She goes home in December. We´re having a blast here
in Santo Domingo. Life is great. Despite the ants and cockroaches we
make it through with a smile on our faces and a funny story to keep us
laughing even in the pouring rain.

Speaking of rain. It rains a lot here. Everyday. We run in the rain.
We teach lessons in the rain (not a joke). Everything is in the rain.
But it´s great because it´s never cold so we love it when it rains.
And because of the humidity my shoes aren´t drying out very quickly
but it´s okay we always find a way to make things work.

I am so excited for the lesson we have tonight! We contacted this lady
who was doing her laundry outside of her house and when we walked up
so many people left the house. They just kept coming! I think it was
because they saw gringas coming and wanted to see if we could speak
Spanish or not. Haha. But we set up an appointment for tonight and
then last night we were walking in the street when one of the people
from that same house contacted us to remind us of the visit! Haha
usually its the other way around. But I have a great feeling about
this family. My companion and I are so excited!

The work here is very different, and I am learning so much everyday.
Contacting is a lot more effective here than it was in Ambato so I´m
getting used to contacting a lot more again. We also work with A LOT
of less-actives. There are SO many here. That´s why it´s so important
to have baptisms of people who are truly truly converted. So many
people in South America just get baptized because they like having the
missionaries over. It´s part of the culture that we´re working hard to
change.

 ¨The first convert on the mission is yourself¨ is so true! If we as
missionaries don´t become converted on the mission it doesn't matter
how many baptisms we have. You experience a lot during the mission and
it´s hard not to experience this conversion automatically but if you
aren´t open and willing to change it won´t take an affect on you. I
believe its the same before and after the mission as well. If we
aren´t open to apply the Atonement of Jesus Christ in our daily lives
He will still be there for us, we just won´t get to enjoy the
blessings He is reaching out to give us. The only thing we have to do
is open up our hearts to Him and do our part to reach out and take
hold of what He has waiting for us. The Atonement and Gospel of Jesus
Christ is such a blessing!

I feel so very lucky to be a missionary. It is so very hard at times,
well, most of the time. But when I am reminded, whether it be by my
companion, leaders, or the Book of Mormon, we are here as missionaries
to help the people come unto Christ, in all parts of their conversion,
not just through baptism. Maybe we go to teach a family the first
lesson, and we are only able to teach about prayer because they have
never learned how to pray before, and maybe we aren´t going to be able
to see this family progress in three weeks because they need more time
to truly be converted. But if we think about what we were just able to
do it´s absolutely beautiful. We were able to teach someone how to
talk with God, their Heavenly Father. It´s like helping a child learn
to speak. How happy would that parent be to hear their child speak
with them for the first time after years and years of silence! Imagine
how happy our Heavenly Father is when one of His children speaks with
Him for the first time! No effort is wasted in the work of the Lord
and no prayer goes unheard. I am always so deeply humbled when I am
able to recognize answers from prayers because I am just one of
billions and billions of Heavenly Father´s children. It´s amazing to
think He has time for us all but it´s true, He does. He is listening.
He wants you to know that He is there.

I am so excited for this next week I have in Santo Domingo. I have
absolutely fallen in love with this city. It is so beautiful and so
green. It is definitely a privilege to be a missionary in Ecuador and
breathe the fresh air and walk drenched through the rain. I love this
work and I love being a missionary!

I hope you are all doing well and I hope you all have a wonderful
week! God loves you so very much! Don´t forget to pray and speak with
Him! He is your loving Heavenly Father!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana B

P.S. My companion and I are meditizando...I don´t remember how to say
that in English...Mosiah 18:26