WEEK 11: SPLITS WITH ZONE LEADER

Hey fam and friends!

The work has been progressing well. This last week was definitely busy and we got a lot of stuff done. Tonight we have a noche de hogar (family home evening) with one of the strongest families in our ward. They are inviting 3 other families who are not members and we are going to teach and show one of the shorter videos about the restoration! This is going to be a big night for us! 

I am not sure if I told you guys a week or so ago but I had interchanges for a day with one of our zone leaders in our zone. And he sure worked me hard. I learned so much and was so sore the next day because their sector is quite a bit larger than ours. I like going on changes with other Elders because I have the opportunity to learn to teach and contact in a different way. We got so much accomplished. I put this into practice when I got back with Elder Tomlinson and it has helped us out a lot as far as working efficiently. 

So we do have 2 investigators with baptism dates for the 14th of November right now. They are an older husband and wife. They are in their early 60. Their names are Gaston and Rosio. Gaston is a politician for the city of Guayaquil. Not quite sure to what extent but he works in a big office building. He is the coolest guy we have met. He has been keeping committments and always asks a lot of questions during our lessons. His first sunday in Elders Quorum with us he was contributing so much because he has read and studied the Bible and he is a really intelligent guy. And his wife is not there as much but she is getting ready for the same date. Funny thing, because one of their daughters lives below them with her husband and their 3 kids. We are hoping to be able to get this family all baptised at the same time. Wouldnt that be so great_ (my question mark button doesnt work) We have not had a lot of time to teach them this last week because their daughter had a Qinsinetta(sp) they have been preparing for. But this week we are going to go back at it full force!

The food is growing on me. And by that I mean the soup. Because the main plate is always a bunch of rice. One of the hermanos in our ward makes the best sopa de queso! In english its cheese soup, I pray you guys could have figured that one out on your own haha. But its a cheesy broth with noodles, potatoes and chunks of cheese...its my favorite! 

So I guess any day now we are supposed to be getting the el nino rain storms here. Ive heard stories of Elders walking and proselyting in the flooded streets with water well up past the knees. So we are going to see how bad it gets

Picture from another family home evening with the Portilla Family(whos house we are going over to tonight) on the right. They are one of the families that have us over for lunch and Rico served his mission in Columbia some 10 years ago or so. They are a great family and he is always so willing to go on visits with us so it is great.

Glad all is well for the fam! I love you guys keep having FHE and remember to read the scriptures every night and pray together! All is well out here

Love 

Elder Solari

WEEK 10: 3 NEPHI 5:13

Multi-zone training meeting

Hey family and friends!

This last week was great. We focused a lot on finding new people since most of our progressing investigators have been baptised. We have this phrase in the mission, its called 'Working with the tractor.' And it has to do with getting references from members, who are the tractor. Because we can reap and reap all day with our sickles, but the ward always has good references and we can teach so many more people and families this way. Anyways this last week we did just that. We probably got a good 30 references or so. We have not gotten in contact with them all yet but we are working on that still. As a result we have a lot of new investigators to keep us busy! We already have 2 of these references committed to be baptized next month! Our mission has some strict rules in order to be able to baptize an investigator: 

1. They have to have attended church atleast 3 times for the full 3 hours

2. They have to be keeping committments

3. They HAVE to read the Book of Mormon for 15 minutes everday for atleast 2 weeks straight in order to be baptized. Now this is the hardest one. An investigator can be at their baptism, and if they did not read the Book of Mormon the day before they cannot be baptised. We dont just want members, we want strong members who are going to stay active and keep the commandments. And this is exactly how we can help ensure that. Our role in missionary work with recent converts does not end until they enter the temple and receive the temple ordinances.

Our mission has a motto. Every district meeting, zone meeting and multizone conference we recite it, all in unison. It is found in 3 Nefi 5:13:

'He aqui, soy discipulo de Jesucristo, el Hijo do Dios. He sido llamado por el para declarar su palabra entre los de su pueblo, a fin de que alcancen la vida eterna'

Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word(gospel) among his people that they might have everlasting life.

Nothing brings the spirit more powerful that reciting this with all the other missionaries. We had a multi zone training with our mission president this last week and the 5 zones in the Guayaquil South Area were there. Some 70 or so missionaries. We had a great time. We focused a lot on the Atonement, and how when our knowledge of the Atonements grows, so will our desire to share the gospel. We also talked about how exact obedience brings miracles. We had a great lunch and then worked on our technicas and practiced teaching and contacting other missionaries while the President was holding interviews. Elder Barba and Bolen were not there so I think theyre probably serving in Cuenca or some other area more southern. 

So the family I told you about in my letter last week has been feeling like we are pressuring them too much, they dont want to keep committments. We have still been teaching them but have slowed it down a lot. We are still trying to get them to come to church but they have not yet. 

Ill try to take more pictures next week! Oh and send me pictures of our family! People always ask me for pictures of my family but I dont have any. Keep working hard you guys I love you!

WEEK 9: GUAYAQUIL INDEPENDENCE WEEK!

Hey fam and friends!

We had two baptisms this last week! The work has been progressing well and I got to be a witness for both of the baptisms! One of the members we go on splits with, Moroni, baptised Lorena because she lives with them. She was able to stay off coffee and was baptised! Our other baptism was with an old investigator who just needed permission from her parents because she was not 18 and she finally got it! She has been going to church for years with people in the ward. 

Sandra Lorena is the mom of the family with 2 recent converts. The one who would not let us in the house but now finally did. So guess what? She likes listening to us and sometimes cooks mediana, or dinner for us! And this last week we taught her whole family the first lesson, the Restoration! So we have 4 new investigators and are praying they will feel the love the Lord has for them. The spirit was so strong during the lesson. Nothing helps to bring the spirit stronger than the First Vision and you could see it working in their hearts and eyes. We ended up giving them 2 copies of the Book of Mormon and committed them to read and pray about Joseph Smith, or as they call him here, Jose Smith! We are going to stop by them again tomorrow and see how they felt and hopefully teach them more about the Book of Mormon and the plan of salvation!

So other than this family we have been teaching, We have been out contacting and tracting and trying to find new people to teach. It has been a little hard because people set up appointments with us and are excited about it but then they either tell us the wrong phone number/address or are not there when we come by! So just last night, we had an impression to speak to these two guys who were talking outside of their house...turns out one of them is a less active member, and the other is not and we have an appointment to go teach him and his family this week! We feel good about this one because the less active member is going to accompany us when we go teach them! The best references we receive are from members. After this house, we ran into the old bishops kid and got more references from him that we are going to talk to this week also! We are getting answers to our prayers and fasting. 

Oooohhh my first fast Sunday in Ecuador. I am not going to lie, it was tough. We started after lunch at 2pm and went until 2pm on Sunday. That whole day after lunch we tracted and I usually drink a ton of water but I didnt because of the fast! We were both so tired and drained but worked so hard...then Sunday, last night, we have all these new people to teach and share the gospel with! Just like the Sons of Mosiah in the BoM, if we pray and fast mightily we will be blessed and be able to teach with power and authority like they did. 

As far as my daily schedule goes it is usually the same

6.30 wakeup and exercise

7.00 breakfast and getting ready for the day

8.00 personal study

9.00 companion study

11.00 language study

12.00 almuerzo

1.00 Visits, appointments, tracting

9.00 back to the house to plan

9.30 get ready for bed

10.30 sleep

So from 1-9pm we are doing everything. Teaching lessons, finding new investigators, going on splits, holding baptism interviews, visiting new converts and less actives, everything! We just plan what we are going to do the night before every night. Planning sessions we try to do quickly because we are always so tired.

Then Tuesday mornings we have district meetings from 9.30-11.30am and Saturday we have Zone Meetings from 9.30-11.30. Ward Council is usually Wednesday night at 7.30...but does not start until 8 because the Ecuadorian people are not known for being punctual hahaha. 

So the multi-zone training is actually tomorrow. So hopefully I will get to see either of them tomorrow! I am excited to be able to have a meeting with and talk to our mission president again. He has such a strong spirit and the first capacitacion(training) I had my first day was great

I will start asking around for somewhere to take my clothes to make them smaller! I probably wont need it for a little bit longer...but once the neck gets too saggy Ill have to take them in. Here are a few pictures of the baptism we had this week! I will try to send more pictures next week.

Thank you so much for everything Mom! I love you! Tell the Fam I love them too!

WEEK 8: CONFERENCE AND COMPS 20TH

Elder Tomlinson 20th Birthday!

Hey family and friends! Hope you all had a good conference week! I was able to watch conference in Spanish at the stake center here in The Acacias. It was definitely a different experience trying to take it all in with the Spanish that I know now. I did my best to keep up with it. So what I am waiting for now is for the Conference Issue of the Ensign so I can see if what I jotted down during conference made any sense or not! It was definitely kind of hard to see President Monson in the state he is in. He has been through a lot lately. Even during the Priesthood session you could see him struggling. He has been such an important figure in my life so it was hard to watch that. Weve been praying for him extra lately.

Funny thing about the people of Ecuador...they are kinda lazy and just sit around all day. Conference was at the stake center and during saturday morning and afternoon, there were maybe 35 people each time. Then Sunday morning we went and the chapel and overflow was full! We even went around and told everyone Saturday morning and they all said they werent going to go because they wanted to sleep. It is definitely a lot different out here than in the states! 

Anyways... my week was a good one out here in the Acacias! Our baptism this last week fell through. She drank coffee for the first time in 3 years one night for no reason! We know Satan is working very hard to push back and stop our baptism dates. So we have been stopping by everyday to remind her because she is going to get baptized this weekend. A lot of our investigators are not quite 18 yet so we have been trying to go around and get permission from their parents. We just got permission from another sister and she is going to be baptized this next week too! 

So how lunch works out here, Every week we eat with a different family. It is usually a bigger family with youth, who is usually a very strong family in the church here. This last week we had almuerzo with the Portilla family. They are the ones we got Gabriela and Nicole as a reference from who were in the pictures I sent home last week! They have a boy who is 12 and a daughter who is 3. They are such a funny family. The mom is Columbian and the Dad is Peruvian. They always make great food and a lot of it. 

Cool story from this last week. So we teach Gabriela and Nicole(our recent converts) outside their house because their mom is very Catholic and will not let us in the house. So we found out from Hna. Portilla that the mom always sits upstairs with the windows open and listens to all of our lessons with them...And she likes what she is hearing. So this last Wednesday when we were teaching them, There was a little rival school fight right on their street! Kids aged 12-17. They were launching big chunks of the pavement and rocks at eachother! So we were sitting outside right in the line of fire..and the girls had already run in. We were just kind of watching and the MOM came out and grabbed us and let her in the house for the first time! It was pretty monumental even with the circumstances. So we got to talk to her for a few minutes and she is really nice. She invited us back that night for dinner and cake because it was Elder Tomlinsons birthday! We can see the Lord working in her and just need to figure out when the time is to ask and try to start teaching her and seeing what her expectations are. The Lord works in mysterious ways but the harder we work, the more blessings we get and see in our investigators!

Other than that we have been busy contacting and talking to people in the street trying to find and get new investigators. It gets pretty hot and the days are long but I sleep well every night and am rewarded the harder I work. We are getting ready for the rainy season in the next month or so. It supposedly rains nonstop and in the streets the water gets up to mid calf so that is going to be a new experience too. 

Sorry i did not take many photos this week! These were from my comps camera that we took on his birthday! This one is with a member who is leaving on his mission to Colombia in 2 months! He comes and goes on visits with us most days

We are having a multi zone training with the mission president this week on wednesday so that is going to be fun as well! Hopefully I will run into Elder Barba or Bolen from my district at the CCM!

Glad all is well!  I love you Mom!