Crazy Old Man

¡hola!

So I have a funny story for you. Well its pretty obvious as we are walking down the streets here in Guaranda that we are two gringas, we are both tall and we are both white and I am blonde. So yesterday we were contacting, and we just started contacting this one lady in front of her house. But, like 2 seconds after we started talking to her, this old man started talking to us, he asked where we were from so we politely answered him and then that started a conversation up with him. He started out by telling us how beautiful we were (keep in mind that this is like a 65 year old guy) and then he asked if we have the Holy Mass in our church, when we responded no he was shocked. We said that we are a different church so we don´t have mass. Then he started asking if we had the bible and we said yes that we always have the bible with us. Then he asked if we could have a bible. We said that we didn´t have any bibles to hand out to people. He then started saying how I could give him mine, but then I said that it had my name on it and that he wouldn´t want it. He then said, well I would like to have something to remember your name so I don´t mind. But, I then tried to return to the lady that we had been contacting, but she then said she had to go inside and said goodbye to us. Then this old man was trying to convert us to the catholic church. He said "I have a proposition for you guys, just join the catholic church, it´s really pretty." A good argument, but I think that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints has a prettier ring to it :) He then insisted on keeping talking to us, no matter how many times we tried to leave and stop talking to him. Then he invited us to join his church again, and then started talking about how we need to pray for him so that he might come to our church next week. And then he kept telling us how gorgeous we were and that we are missing out not going to the catholic church. It was a very interesting conversation and the old man here just love us gringas :)

We have a progressing investigator here now in Guaranda! Marly is doing awesome and came to church yesterday! She is reading the Book of Mormon and really feels that this church is the true church! She has a ton of faith and has really been prepared to hear our message! Hopefully we can keep helping her to progress and to understand the importance of baptism and what it means :) She was telling us again yesterday that she feels like we are her answer to change and to follow God more. She just puts a bright light in our week. Also this week we found a family and started teaching them and they seem really interested and really want to know the truth! One problem is that they weren´t able to go to church, because he had a soccer game. That is a big problem here in Ecuador, because people love soccer, and a lot of the time the games are on saturday. Hopefuly we can help them to understand the importance of this gospel and help them to have a desire to keep the sabbath day holy, and hopefully he can find a new team and start playing on saturdays. 

Here every thursday we have a district and zone meeting. But our meetings are in Riobamba and Riobamba is a 2 hour bus ride away. So every thursday we have to leave by 7:30 to catch the 8 bus to Riobamba to be there by 10 and then we usually leave Riobamba by 2 and get back to Guaranda by 4, so we usually lose a lot of our thursday. But I have learned to love the bus ride and use it to catch up on my book of mormon reading and to sleep :) A cool thing though is we go up pretty high to cross mountains and when we are high up we are passing through clouds so all you can see is white outside of the bus windows. You can´t see anything more than 5 feet away. It is pretty spooky, but cool :) I love it here in Ecuador, it is so pretty!!! 

Today for our pday we hiked up to a indian statue that they have here in Guaranda, I think it might represent the natives that started Guaranda or something. But, it has a really pretty view of Guaranda as well and it was a fun little hike. It was good to get out a do something. 

I love you all and I hope you have a fantastic week! 

Me and the indian statue

Me and Hna Varney

Totto we are not in Quito anymore

¡hola!

Well.. first things first I am not in Quito anymore!! I finally left!! haha My mission is half of quito and the outskirts of south of quito. There are 4 zones in quito and 4 zones out of quito. I have spent the first 9 months of my mission in Quito and there isn´t a lot of difference between my 2 sectors. But today was changes and now I am the farthest from Quito in our mission. I am now in Guaranda!! I am here with Hermana Varney who has one transfer less than me and is from Wyoming! She seems really great and I am excited to be working with her!

An interesting experience happened today. So for transfers, if you are in Quito you go to Quitumbe. And you wait for people who are going to the same place as you to travel together. As  I was waiting the other Hermana wasn´t showing up. And I was going to go to Riobamba, that is close to Guaranda first and then meet my companion there and then travel to Guaranda. But, as we were waiting my hermana leader and a zone leader were thinking that it probably would just be better if I just go straight to Guaranda and they will tell my companion to meet me there. Well, they put me on a bus by myself and I went to Guaranda. It was a 5 hour bus ride and I felt weird being alone so I wasn´t really able to sleep or focus on reading or anything. Then I got here to Guaranda, not knowing where I was or what I was doing. The bus dropped us off in what seemed like a random parking lot. And so I got off in the pouring rain and struggling to take all my luggage to a canopy thing that was close by. There was a couple of people hiding from the rain there and they were all laughing at me as I was struggling. It probably was funny to see a lost gringa struggling with her bags.. haha Then I asked someone if they knew where a pay phone was and they told me that it was inside the terminal. And I realized that they had dropped us off in the parking lot of the terminal. So I went there and there was no one waiting for me... so I went and called the asistents to ask where my companion was. And they were like "You´re all alone??? Ya don´t worry Hermana we will send them to you right now." I then sat down and waited. Then after about 20 minutes came running over 2 elders and they were like "Hermana, hi we are going to take you to the wife of the district president here to wait with her while you wait for your companion who is in Riobamba still" So then I ended up traveling in taxi with these elders to find this hermana and when I got there after about 5 minutes my companion showed up. I have no idea if this made any sense, but I am just really happy to be with my companion and to not be alone anymore :) hahaha it was quite a funny experience!

Yesterday was a sad day saying goodbye to people! 5 months in one area you get pretty attached to some people! The hardest goodbye was my converts the Flia Medina! They are so amazing and they were really sad to see us go, because both me and my companion left and two new hermanas are coming in. But, they knew that my birthday is this week, so they had bought me a cake and sang me happy birthday and it made me feel so loved!!! They are so amazing!! We had finished our lesson and Enny ran to the kitchen and then the next thing I knew they turned off the lights and brang out a cake with candles and started singing happy birthday in spanish and then in english!! It was so sweet of them!!! They seriously are my family here in Ecuador and it was hard to say goodbye, but I know that they are going to stay strong and be able to go to the temple in december! I have photos, but I left my camera in the house so next week I will send it!

With my birthday coming up I have been thinking about what has happened since my last birthday and who I have become and now who I wish to become this next year. I cannot believe that I am going to be 20 years old, but I am so happy to be spending my birthday on the mission serving the Lord. This will be a birthday I will never forget and I am excited to keep growing and learning on my mission to become an even better person and more like God wants in this next year. I just have to put my trust in God and then He will lead me and mold me to His will.

I love you all and I hope you have an absolutey amazing week and thank you all for the birthday wishes!!!

Mucho Amor,

Hermana Cordon