The last couple of days in San Cristobal were
interesting....because Sunday I shared my testimony in the ward like we always
do when we have changes. And then Monday-Thursday everyone was telling me it
was going to be difficult to get a flight back to Guayaquil in this time. And
then Thursday in the morning they call me and tell me that Friday I was going
to leave. So my last two days all I ate was lobster because it was going to be
the last time to eat it here in the mission. Literally all of the members
offered us Lobster because in the next couple of weeks they arent going to be
able to fish it anymore.
Yeah so Friday was my flight to Guayaquil. I got in
Guayaquil at about 3:30, and then we went to the bus terminal and I got on a
bus with another missionary at 5pm, and we got to Machala at 9:30pm. I
travelled almost all day and was tired of sitting down for so much time it made
my back a little sore. So my new companion is Elder Salvatierra and he is from
Bolivia and we are the ZLs here in Machala. So it is one big stake with 10
wards and 1 branch, but 2 zones. Our ward is called Machala Central and its a
good sized ward. So far we have had a bunch of help from the members with
references and them bringing friends to church so that has been nice. I do feel
kind of weird being in a ward again and not having to worry if one of the
people assigned to give a talk shows up or not hahaha. So Machala is actually a
lot nicer than Guayaquil, and its not as dangerous. A lot of people here work
in shrimp farms or fishing, but there are also a lot of factories and
businesses. And everywhere you look there are banana plants, the whole 4 hour
bus ride all I saw out the window was bananas. So Friday I didnt get to work
here in the sector at all..and Saturday either. The 31st and 1st they had us in
our houses at 7pm.
So Saturday was cool though. Theres a sector in the mission
called Huaquillas, which is one of the best sectors in the mission that isnt
Galapagos. So Saturday I got to go with one of the Elders in our zone to
Huaquillas because he just had transfers and was going back to baptise one of
his investigators. It is right on the border with Peru and the church is super
new there as well, it has 4 years and is already a super huge branch. Literally
EVERY ELDER wants to serve there so I was super pumped to be able to spend a
day and work a little bit. So if I dont get to serve there later I wont be
upset because Ive already been there haha. So we ended up getting back to our
houses at 9pm because its another 2 hour bus ride. The 31st we didnt sleep a
wink because outside everyone was blowing up their new yearsa character. Here
they make like a cardboard cut out of their favorite super hero or cartoon
character and they fill them with fireworks and blow them up in front of their
houses at 12am. Its a super cool tradition I want to bring back to the united
states. They also make a mannequin¿ of someone they know and they also blow it
up as well. The person they pick to blow up means this next year they are going
to have good luck, its like theyre throwing away all the bad and starting their
new year clean hahaha but they put so much detail in them and paint them so
they look like their family member or friend or whoever it is.
So Machala is almost as hot as Guayaquil..and it has been
raining a lot so this week ill take a bunch of pictures to send you guys.
These last couple of days I have been reading conference
talks from this last General conference. For the spiritual thought I want to
invite you guys to read President Utchdorfs talks in the first session of
conference. He talks a lot about how we need to appreciate what we have, not
take anything for granted and the Plan of Salvation. Anyways thats all the time
I have I love you guys! Happy New Year and dont forget to put your goals for this
year!!
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