Monday, December 12, 2016

WEEK 64: HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM ISLA SAN CRISTOBAL, GALAPAGOS


Flying into the new area!


10-31-16 Letter

I HAD CHANGES!! They called me Friday night and told me I was going to go serve in the Galapagos and I got here today at 12:30pm. I am so stoked to be here. So in the Galapagos the church is on two islands. Santa Cruz y San Cristobal. In Santa Cruz the church has a branch and there are 4 Elders and 2 sister missionaries, and its bigger for tourists, and the island is a little bigger as well. Here in San Cristobal its only us 2. Elder Davila and I. The WHOLE ISLAND is our sector. And it isnt even a branch..its just a little group!! He told me theres anywhere from like 30-40 people that go to church on Sundays. The island theres a little part where the airport is and people live and then the rest is the national park. We didnt have much time today but next Monday we are going to go check out the wildlife and the giant turtles and takes tons of pictures for you guys. 

So my flight left at 11:50 today and here in the islands its an hour behind normal Ecuador time..and they flew me out in first class! I think they bought the flight tickets last minute and its all there was so I ate a super good lunch in the plane and relaxed. The plane was literally full of gringo tourists. A bunch of old people it was pretty funny hearing them talk english and the way they all dressed reminded me of Dad hahaha. On the beaches here the water is super blue and clear it reminded me of that beach on Saint Marteens when we went on that cruise. I am super excited to be here!! Its the only sector in the whole mission where we get to baptise people IN THE OCEAN. So I am super motivated to get working when P day ends to find and teach those people! So the government permits people who arent residents to stay on the island for 2 or 3 months...and then they have to return to Ecuador. So hopefully Ill get to stay out here for the whole time.  

In other news Hugo and Xiomara are doing great! It was hard to have changes because theyre both so close to being baptised but keep praying for them please!! I know the Elders there will do great work with them.

No. I havent been in a zone or a district with Elder Barba or Elder Bolen..and sorry it might be kind of hard to get the soccer jerseys now but remind me in a couple of months. 

Doctrine and Covenants 133:8

8 Send forth the elders of my church unto the nations which are afar off; unto the islands of the sea; send forth unto foreign lands; call upon all nations, first upon the Gentiles, and then upon the Jews.
 But great are the promises of the Lord unto them who  are upon the isles of the sea; wherefore as it says isles,there must needs be more than this, and they are inhabited also by our brethren.


I love you guys!!! Pray that we can find many people to teach here on this island of the sea!!

WEEK 63: ECUADOR


Zone


Isabela baptism
10-24-16 Letter

So this last week we had another baptism here in Batallon. I honestly love this ward we have so much help here from the member and the leaders of the ward. I think I know why everyone in the mission always talks about this area and that its so blessed...We have been working with a less active family these last few weeks. Its the Rivas Carpio family and the mom and her oldest kid were less actives..and they have a daughter who had not been baptised because they fell away inactive for a time. So this last week we were able to reactivate them and Isabela, the daughter, was baptised! And now the mom has a calling in Relief Society, and Jordan, the son, is going to seminary! Honestly the best way to work here in Ecuador is with part member families and reactivating and baptising at the same time. It has helped my companions and I have success here in Ecuador. I love being able to help the Ecuatorianos find the join the true church. Now that they are going to be building another temple here in Ecuador everyone is anxious to help us in the work. 

This last week we also had Mission Leadership Council and its interesting to see that there are so many new leaders in the mission, and there are a bunch of new missionaries arriving to serve here. At the end of this transfer in 3 weeks 27 or so missionaries are going to get here. In the leadership council we talked a lot about 2 talks. From Elder Bednar, how to be a missionary according to Preach my Gospel, and from Elder Oaks, our message to the missionaries, taken from the worldwide broadcast to the missionaries this last January. President and Hna. Moreno are putting a big emphasis in this two talks and how we are going to use them and study them all our time here. We also changed District Meetings, which are now Fridays, and Weekly Planning, which takes place Tuesdays now. As well as this meeting Wednesday, Friday we had our MultiZone Conference with President Moreno so almost 2 days this week we didnt get to work in our sector at all. But it was great he taught us about the Doctrine of Christ in 2 Nefi 31 and I enjoyed it a bunch..was able to see Elder Bolen and Elder Barba from my district in the CCM. Elder Bolen is a ZL here in Guayaquil and Elder Barba is Presidents Secretary! So Ive got another hook up there in the mission office hahaha.  

So it looks like this next month we are going to have a visit from Elder Godoy who is the Area President of the missions here in Ecuador, Peru and Colombia. He will be here November 17th for Mission Leadership Council, and the 18th to visit all of the missionaries here in Guayaquil Sur. Its honestly going to be a great opportunity to be trained by a 70!

Yeah so here is a day in the life of a missionary here in Ecuador Guayaquil South Mission. So at 6.30 we wake up and do exercises for a half hour. Sometimes we go out and run, sometimes we go shoot hoops in the park or we lift weight because we have some dumbbells in the house. At 7 we shower, get ready for the day and eat breakfast. In the morning its usually hot bread we buy in a bakery close to our house and yogurt. At 8am we start personal study..ewhere we read the Book of Mormon for 30 minutes and and other half hour we study for our investigators and what we are going to teach in our lessons that day. At 9am we have companionship study and talked about what we learned for our investigators and do practices of what we are going to teach them. At 10am we have language study for an hour. Usually I study spanish for an hour but because I live in a house with 3 latinos I teach and help them with English, and we read the Book of Mormon in English together. At 11am we get everything ready, backpack, polished shoes, the million dollar hair part, and we leave to work. Sometimes we have appointments in the morning but if not we will go and contact, or find members that can go on visits with us later that day, or the two things. At 1pm we usually lunch and we eat a ton of rice, with some kind of hot soup and tuna or chicken or beef. Its pretty plain the food and we eat almost the same thing every day but I love it. Then from 2-9 we go teach the investigators we have with the members. Nicolas is a young men who is preparing for the mission who accompanies us a couple days a week, also Jhon and Erik go on visits with us usually, theyre also preparing for the mission. We usually have appointments, and if we dont, we will go contact referrals that we have or go teach some less actives and recent converts. Almost every day we find new people to teach whether its someone we talk to in the street or a referral from a member. So we are always weeding through the people that are truly interested and those that arent. And if we are lucky someone will invite us to have dinner with them! (rare) But usually there isnt time to eat so we just keep working until 9pm. At 9 we are back in the house and we plan for the day until 9.30. And from 9.30 until 10.30 when we go to bed we usually call some companionships in the zone and verify how theyre doing and who theyre teaching and we do everything in our power to help them and their investigators. And then we go to bed, wake up and repeat!😀

Right now we are teaching 2 people that are super solid to be baptised this coming month. Xiomara Rodrigues, cousin of a member, and Hugo Macias who works with our stake President. Theyre both progressing and coming to church and the activities so it is only a matter of time! The most important thing is that they are both reading the Book of Mormon so their conversion will come pretty quickly! If you guys could pray for them that would be great!!


Another cool thing this last week. So Ecuador like 20 or so years ago had their own currency called sucres. I was able to get a couple of the bills from some members last week theyre super cool Ill see if I can get a picture. 

WEEK 62: HE WAS BAPTIZED!!


Jonathan baptism


Baptism with Elder Paim
10-17-16 Letter

Hey everyone! I have some super great news! After being here in Batallon for almost 3 and a half months and teaching Jonathan for that whole time....He was baptised this last Saturday! I cant describe how I felt that night being able to see someone we have taught for long enter into the water to be baptised! The service was great we filled the baptism room because he already knows so many of the members of the ward. And yes almost all of the YSA went and they sang a special musical number. He asked for Elder Paim to baptise him so the APs came to the service as well. I know hes going to stay strong in the church and his MOM came to the baptism. And it opened the doors and now we are teaching her as well her name is Blanca. This last week not a whole lot happened...just getting ready for the baptism and knocking doors and finding a bunch of new people to teach. 

I honestly feel like the more time I have in the mission...the less time I have to write you guys haha we are keeping super busy right now. We have just been working a lot. We have been working a bunch with references and contacting in the street. Well I love you guys a bunch take care! Ill put a few pictures from the baptism. 


As far as some things Id like for christmas are tie clips...Like a bunch of cool ones with temples,..like the Portland Temple and whatever other ones you can find, and in different colors. Thats tough to hear about the Giants but next year we can get it! 

WEEK 61: + PICTURES


Jonathan with trio of missionaries


Apartment missionaries
10-10-16 Letter

Well this last week we have been working in a trio so it has been pretty fun! Its reminded me a little bit of our experience in the MTC in the trio with Elder Barba and Elder Sheppard..but we really have been exploding finding a bunch of new people to teach. The mission keeps changing. A couple of weeks ago we had zone meetings every Saturday but now we are going to have them once a month and theyre going to be Zone Training Meetings. So its kinda nice for us because we dont have to plan meetings every weekend but I kinda miss it getting the whole zone together every weekend. But we do still have normal district meetings every Tuesday so thats going fine. Another change that is going on is Friday Elder Erickson is flying home. We always got along so well hes such a funny guy. So Ill be here working with Elder Terrones in our sector..he has 19 months in the mission so this might be his last sector. 

We have Jonathans baptism scheduled for this Saturday! Its finally here and he is super excited for his baptism it is honestly going to be great. I have been teaching him here for over 3 months and I feel so blessed to be here for his baptism. We have been working hard to get everything ready for him and for this Saturday. We are going to have all the YSA there to support him in his baptism.


Dont worry Ill keep praying for the Giants. EVEN YEAR MAGIC. And Ive been trying to write Hannah but she hasnt written me since August so thats one thing haha. I love you guys dont forget to do your Family Home Evening. Until next week!

WEEK 60: CONFERENCIA GENERAL 186

10-3-16 Letter

I feel spiritually uplifted after being able to watch and listen to 10 hours of conference this last weekend! We didnt even leave the stake center during the day...only at night to go back and sleep and wake up and get out there again! So before with Pte. Torres we could only go to conference if we had investigators...but with Pte. Moreno it was a rule that we had to go to all of the sessions si o si!!! (mission slang) I enjoyed just about every minute of it. But one of the things most relevant to the church here in Ecuador was Jeffrey R. Hollands talk in the priesthood session about home teachers. Here we call that talk a ´´machete´´ or that he basically told everyone what they were doing wrong and how they can fix it which was a much needed talk. Its honestly one of the things different our church does...visiting every member home at least once a month to be able to help the families and so that they can have support from the ward family and everything they need. We are definitely going to be referring to this talk a lot here in our mission and in our ward. Another talk I really enjoyed was that of Elder Rasband about faith and K Brett Nattress about the Book of Mormon and families. 

This last week we also had a baptism!! Fabricio Andrade is another child of God that made the decision to be baptised and thats how it went! It was a great service...we did it after the afternoon session Saturday and a ton of members went to support and help him. The ward where we baptized him hasnt had missionaries for a little while but tomorrow they will have missionaries there because today arrived 18 new missionaries to the mision! So as of right now I am in a trio because Elder Erickson goes home next week...so my new companion is Elder Terrones! He is from Peru, and has like 20 months in the mission and has already been to The Galapagos Islands!


Yes Jonathan committed to being baptised this weekend if he receives his answer he has been praying for so keep him in your prayers please! I know he will be able to get his answer if you guys can help! Sorry I havent been able to send that many pictures Ill try to get some sent next week! Love you guys!

WEEK 59: MILAGROS

9-26-16 Letter

Well this last week was full of miracles here in our sector! So general conference is coming up this week and its the best time of the year to bring investigators to church and have them feel the spirit listening to the Prophet and the Twelve. So this last week we have focused on finding new people to bring to conference and prepare to be baptised!! So we were able to find a few...

This last week we got a reference from a RM in our ward...and it turns out its his girlfriend and they want to get married and she wants to get married in the temple so when we got to his house she was basically asking us when she could get baptised. Her name is Jennifer and if everything goes well she is going to get baptised this weekend! She came to church yesterday and met the bishop and the members and loved it. We had a super powerful experience this last week teaching her. The first lesson we taught is the restoration and we felt the spirit super powerfully. She told us that a couple of years ago she prayed and had that same exact experience and feeling as when we were teaching her and talking about The Book of Mormon. I love being able to teach and testify about the Book of Mormon because it is the keystone of our church and religion. Its also the key to a real conversion.

So another is a reference from  Hno. Najera that always goes on visits with us. So he has a niece that lives with them that we thought was a member but turns out she isnt...so this next week she is going to be baptised too because she had already been going to church for over a month before they even told us! Her name is Karla and she already has a ton of friends in church and when we invited her to be baptised she said ´´YES I have been waiting for you guys to ask me!´´ And she is going to be baptised for general conference as well. She is super excited and the ward is super excited to be able to have more members and converts in the church!

We are also going to have another baptism in La Isla Trinitaria because right now the sector is closed and there are not Elders. But my companion served there so we have been working there a little bit just to finish up the program they had. His name is Fabricio and his story is super cool. So his brother got in a super bad car wreck and he promised God that if his brother got better(and he did) that he would find Him and go to church...and thats when we found him! He is super stoked for his baptism and he gets along super well with the members...He is super convert and cant wait for his baptism!!

Also Jonathan is super super close and fasted this last weekend to see if he should be baptised for conference...and we have an appointment with him tomorrow so pray for him please!!

And tomorrow we have Mission Leadership council so that should be exciting.

Romanos 1.16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

 I just wanted to share with you guys a scripture that I have been thinking about a lot this week.. I have learned so much about sharing the gospel on my mission...I have grown so much. And I can honestly say that I feel this same way...we all should. I have learned not to fear sharing the gospel with anyone because its our responsibility as followers of Christ. The worst thing that can happen is that they will say no and then we can share this gospel with the next one! I challenge you guys to share the gospel with someone new this week! I love you guys a ton!

(I left my camera in the house this week)

      Elder Solari

WEEK 58: THE MISH

9-19-26 Letter

Well this last week was super good! We just focused on finding new people and doing splits to help the other Elders in the zone. It has been a pretty successful week and Elder Erickson and I work really well together! Hes from Ogden, Utah and Ill be with him for the next 3 weeks until he goes back. Its been super fun to be with another gringo for the first time in a long time. 

Our ward here is great. Its the strongest wards Ive been in, I think its the biggest in our mission. Most have had like 80-100 people going every Sunday but this last week we almost broke 200 people in church..and the chapel is relatively small so there isnt much room to put more people so I dont know how we are going to be able to do it! But we work a ton with the members. This last week in Ward council we got 6 references from members and they are taking us this week to introduce us to their friends, families and neighbors. 

As far as Andersons family, they were not able to come to church this last week because they work in events and had gotten home at 8:30am after working all night long. But dont worry they are still super excited to come to church and prepare for their baptisms for this next month!

I feel like the mission and the Elders here in the mission have changed a lot. I feel like some of the Elders here in our zone dont want to be here..they are just trying to stick it out until the end of the mission and it makes me sad. As a zone leader I have really been able to know all of the elders here and have been able to see their desires and their drive and what they want to accomplish. And we are trying to do everything we can to help them so they can keep going strong but sometimes its hard..but I know the Lord blesses us as we try to motivate and inspire the other Elders here in the zone.

Well I dont have a bunch of time but I wanted to share a couple of verses with you guys. Alma 29.1-4

 O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mineheart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump ofGod, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people! Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voiceof thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, thatthey should repent and come unto our God, that theremight not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth. But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for Iought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me.I ought not to harrow up in my desires the firm decreeof a just God, for I know that he granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or untolife; yea, I know that he allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills, whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction.

This is one of my favorite parts in the Book of Mormon and I know what it says is true. I am so grateful to be here in the mission and fulfilling my dream..and being in the mission has really made me understand this scripture more. God does give us according to our desires. We all have our agency, and part of our mission here on earth is to use it wisely to make right decisions. And with our agency we have to do good to serve all others in every way possible. We have to take advantage of every moment we have so that the Lord can bless us and help us grow and change. I love you guys a ton!

      Elder Solari