WEEK 23: FIRST TRANSFERS

OLD APARTMENT - LAS ACACIAS

NEW APARTMENT

RAIN!

Hey guys I got transferred this last week! For the first time and Ive already been out for more than 5 months! Tuesday at 9:30pm we got the call and I had to pack all my stuff in less than 30 minutes to catch a taxi to my new area! I am in ward 25th of July in the Pradera stake.(Sure if you put 25 de Julio, Guayaquil, Ecuador in Google maps it would show up, its a pretty huge highway) It is one of the other big zones here in Guayaquil. Its pretty funny, the church where we attend is only maybe 20 minutes wallking from Las Acacias. This sector we are in now is HUGE. I have 6 days here now, and my companion, Elder Rodriguez, has been in the sector for almost 2 weeks. The first few days were hard finding our way around but we are finally starting to get it down. Elder Rodriguez was with me in the other zone for almost two months so I already know him really well. We have been working hard and have already seen miracles here in this last week. 

When I got here, I heard there was a Brother Rivera who had a baptism date but it fell. He already had his interview with our leaders and the records were ready to go. But for some reason it fell, and neither of us knew why. So we went to visit this Brother Rivera this week Wednesday. Turns out he is a 77 year old man who has been investigating the church for some time now. We talked with him some more and he has a real desire to be baptised, and that he feels the church is true, but doesnt know for a fact yet. So this past week we have been working a lot with him. Turns out the prior missionaries had been pressing him big time to be baptized quickly. And it caused him to totally close to the missionaries for 2 weeks or so until we visited him, two totally new missionaries to the area, how about that? And he loves to go to church with his wife, but cant walk very well so we coordinated with members to bring them.We made sure that he would come to church with a question in his heart so he could receive an answer. And the whole three hours he told us, Ill tell you Tuesday If I am going to be baptized for my birthday in two months or not. And after church he was so excited he told us he wants to be baptised this Sunday! In 6 days! From the first day or two here telling us he wanted to wait months to telling us this Sunday is so amazing! I know it was because of the Spirit he felt during the church. It really is one of the only places on the earth where we can feel the Spirit so greatly. So we are preparing him for this week!

We always have success with references from members around here. You guys all need to give references to the missionaries in your wards! We have 7 or 8 other people we are preparing to be baptized that were references from some new converts. It is the best way to share the gospel with your friends, have them come over and then have the missionaries show up ´¨unexpectedly¨¨  Here we go to church at 3pm, and its been fun here as well with the rain. The house it a lot cooler too, and we have a balcony! Im going to try to send some pictures of it. The ward is about the same size, we have maybe 110 or so people that assist every Sunday. But the cool thing is they get here on time and dont arrive late like Acacias haha. 

General Conference is coming up, and we have been challenged to read the Book of Mormon before conference this April. We had to restart from where we were and finish before then. As of right now I am in 2 Nefi 16 in spanish! Its only maybe 8 or 9 pages a day and all you guys are going to be reading it in a language you fully understand. But really, I want to extend this same challenge to all of you guys. It doesnt matter where you are in the book of mormon, restart and read it from the beginning. You will learn so many new things you didnt understand before. Because the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion, and the most correct book of any in the history of the world. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and my testimony grows everytime I read it. And yours can too!

Love you Mom!

Elder Solari