WEEK 35: HAY QUE BAUTIZAR POR LA VIDA

Hey guys! You got the Christmas package back, thats great!! The title means that You have to baptize like your life depends on it. Its one of our quotes of the mission haha.

Everything is going great out here in Guayaquil. I dont know if I told you guys last week but our mission president got called as a 70 this last general conference! So he was in Salt Lake, and got set apart by Elder Ronald A. Rasband! So cool. So when he finishes his mission here in 2 months or so he is going to start his new calling as a General Authority.. He said he got called for 5 years and is super excited to keep serving the Lord in this new calling. When he was in Salt Lake he got to go to a special training with the whole Quorum of the 12 and the First Presidency! We also had the opportunity to have a mini training with Pres. Torres in our reunion saturday which was really cool! He talked to us about being diligent.

So this last week Elder Rodriguez had transfers. He left Guayaquil and is now serving in Santa Rosa South! Its an area of Ecuador where the church is really new. Its just a branch and its been open for maybe 2 or 3 years! So my new companion is Elder Jenkins...and you guys probably wont believe it but hes from AUBURN CA! He went to Placer High School and we had to come all the way to Ecuador to meet each other. Its really cool because we have a ton of mutual friends and he shares my love for Adalbertos. 

Anyways this week we worked really hard trying to catch up and lift up our program and we sure did. Elder Jenkins has 22 months in the mission so its nice being with a super experienced Elder. I definitely have learned a lot from him in this last week. Also, we have been working trying to get a baptism for this week and we are going to have one! Her name is Victoria. So if you guys could pray for her so she can be baptised this week that would be great. For PDAY today we went to the mall with the APs and got Carls Jr, wow it was so good.

To answer your questions, with new converts, we usually reteach them all the lessons and keep passing by to help them out for around a month or so. Unless they stop going to church or are having problems its usually around a month. We have a lot of converts so sometimes its hard to always visit them and try finding new people to teach! But thankfully thats something the Ward Mission Leader helps us out with. I feel like the people here in South America are so much more receptive to the gospel. I mean they are living where the Book of Mormon took place so I dont find it too hard to believe. I feel so grateful to be here working in the Lords vineyards. 

Thats all the time Ive got Ill send a bunch of pictures next week I promise!

Elder Solari

WEEK 34: GENERAL CONFERENCE 186

When President Monson announced the new Temple that is going to be built in Quito, Ecuador the WHOLE Chapel erupting shouting for joy and saying wow. The people here are so excited to be getting another Temple here in Ecuador! The missionary work here is growing so rapidly it was only a matter of time.

Wow this General Conference was great! And I was able to understand all of it in Spanish which is better than the last conference! My 2 favorite conference talks were Elder Gary E. Stevenson from the 12 and Elder Gerrit W. Gong from the presidency of the 70. Two powerful talks. One about the Priesthood keys, why they are so important and crucial, and where we find them being used in the church. I loved this talk when he shared about missionary work. I also enjoyed Elder Gongs talk about Jesus Christ, and how we need to always remember his hand in all the great things that happen in our life. Because its really a lot of what we do as missionaries. We help people to understand the role Jesus Christ can have in their life. And how we can be blessed and have miracles pass in our lives daily.

Speaking of miracles, we had one this last week. So about a month ago we made a committment to have one baptism this weekend of General Conference. As a missionary we make a lot of committments with the Lord, like how many baptisms were going to have in a given month, how many investigators we are going to have in church, things like that. So our baptism for this week we baptised last week (Joel). So we started this week with a couple baptism dates for later this month and nobody for this week. So we started this last week praying like crazy. And Monday we received a reference from the Offices of the Church. We went and visited him right away and he accepted to be baptised yesterday! His name is Victor Cruz and we taught him everything in 4 days. He is studying medicine in College here and is 19 years old. He had gone to church in different wards with some friends in his University. It was an amazing experience. Because when we were talking to him Monday he told us he wanted to get baptised before we even brought it up. And then we told him he could get baptised Conference Sunday and his face lit up and he said ´´´Si, quiero hacerlo¨¨ (Yes I want to do it). It has been such a marvelous week. I know that the Lord blesses us as we trust in him completely. Like we can read in Alma, he gives us according to our desires. But we have to do our part and he will help us reach our goals. He is blessing us every single day!

I love this quote from President Thomas S. Monson during Priesthood Session:

“Remember who you are and what God expects you to become. You are a child of promise. You are a man of might. You are a son of God.”

I know that this quote applies to all of us. In all instances we need to remember who we are and who God wants us to become. It will help us make the best decisiones possible so that we can return to live with him and our families forever. 

Love

Elder Solari

WEEK 33: PASCUA (EASTER)

Yes we heard about the Belgium Airport incident from some of the members here. I know the Lord protected those 4 missionaries because of all the prayers that are being said by the families back home. That's cool to hear about your trip to Portland! Dad sent me some cool pictures .

Anyways this week was great. We have been working hard inviting everyone we see to General Conference this coming week! Because if we dont have investigators there with us we wont be able to watch! But dont worry, we are going to have a ton! It should be a great experience because now that I can understand Spanish I will be able to understand Conferencia General this coming week. It really is one of the highlights here in the mission field. I love hearing the Prophet and the Apostles speak, especially because they always teach principles that help us out with the missionary work. 

This last week we had a baptism! His name is Joel Quinones and we have been preparing him for some time. We also found out he has an Uncle that part of the stake presidency so that was cool. We had a great baptismal service with a lot of support from the members. He has a lot of energy and has warmed up well with the other youth in the ward. So the hand off to the ward was perfect and we are going to continue teaching him as long as we can. Because as of right now I have about 2 and a half months in this sector, and my companion does too. We think one of us is going to have transfers this week so were going to see what happens.

I dont know if I ever told you guys but our mission has a Hymn. President Torres wrote it with 3 other missionaries maybe 2 years ago. Ill try to send a picture of it so you can play it and hear how it goes. Its called We are Disciples of Christ.

This last week Ive been pondering a lot on the life of Christ. How He lived a life of strict obedience to His Father. It made me think a lot about the mission. We, too, live a life of strict obedience and are blessed greatly for it. Sure we cant play spórts, leave the house in street clothes, or watch television or any of that...But we are blessed here in the Lords work. We are helping everyone come unto Christ through faith in Christ and His Atonement, repentance, Baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. I feel to blessed to be here in the best mission in the whole world. I love a scripture in the Bible that says something along the lines of: He that leaves family, home and the world behind for my cause will receive 100 times more and inherit eternal life. I feel like I am being redeemed for serving the Lord here in Ecuador. And I know that all of you guys too can serve the Lord through your callings in the church, giving references to the missionaries, and going on visits with them. I promise it will bring such great joy in your lives!

President Boyd K. Packer:

The gospel teaches us that relief from torment and guilt can be earned through repentance. Save for those who defect to perdition after having known a fullness, there is no habit, no addiction, no rebellion, no transgression, no offense exempted from the promise of complete forgiveness. October General Conference, 1995.

Lots of Love

Elder Solari

WEEK 32: I GOT THE PACKAGE!!

Well this last week was cool. Yesterday was Holy Sunday and since almost everyone here is Catholic they celebrated with big parties. Its a festival to honor the Saviors triumphant entry in Jerusalem so they all walked around all day with these palm leafs and flowers. I feel grateful to be in a place where everyone believes strongly in God and Jesus Christ. Especially since Easter is coming around and Pascual. So right now its Summer in Ecuador which means never ending rain in the nights and really hot and sunny during the day. The weather here is a little weird. I am still in area 25 de Julio, Staca Pradera.

Life as a missionary is pretty cool. I dont know how to describe it but everyone you pass in the street, member or not, knows who you are. They know we are Mormons. And that we are here to preach about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Everyday we talk with countless people, knock a lot of doors and contact a lot of references to find the people that are prepared for us because our time is short. No estamos aqui para sembrar o cultivar, solo para cosechar. Were not here as missionaries to plant the seeds, we are re here to harvest the people that are already ready to make covenants with our Heavenly Father through baptism and the saving ordinances of the temple. 

A lot of the time in between contacting and tracting we are always singing hymns or planning lessons we are going to teach our investigators. We strive to consecrate every single moment in this glorious work. So that we can be instruments in the hands of the Lord like Ammon and the sons of Mosiah. Its funny because in the missionary handbook it says we should ´´walk quickly and with determination.´´ Sometimes the people think were the CIA and other times they say something funny because we are always walking really fast.

We are teaching some other families right now, and have a baptism for this Saturday. Weve lost some people and weve gained a lot of new people. We get rejected by people everyday but this is a part of missionary life! And we never let it get to us because we will not be held accountable for them. God blesses us everyday in this work!  

ALMA 37:36

´´Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord, yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.´´

One of my favorite scriptures. As missionaries we strive everyday for this. I need a favor from every one of you. If you could really pray everyday for all the missionaries serving in the world. That we can be protected from danger and illness. That we can find the people the Lord has prepared for us. And that we can be instruments in the Lords hands in bringing others to salvation. It would mean a lot to me.

Love

Elder Solari

Yes I got the package! I love all of it, the candy, socks, and the ties! My companion loved his tie as well. And the members and our investigators love the little photo booklet of my life growing up. Most of them dont believe these photos are of me haha. 

WEEK 31: ECUADOR GUAYAQUIL

 Braden baptism

 Nicol baptism

'The Zone'

This week was great! A lot of really cool things happened so Im going to make sure to write about all of it!

So we had 2 baptisms this week! It was an awesome experience to be able to get the whole ward together. A lot of the people we have been baptizing are part member families. When only one or two people of the family are members. We work with them a lot because we usually have success. So this week we had two! The first is Nicol, she was the only member in her family who was not a member and it was just because she didnt want to go to church. The other was a miracle. His name is Braden and his Mom is inactive, but his older brother and grandma are super active members. So we have been trying to get permission from his parents to baptize him for some time now because they wanted to see a change in him before. This past week we had a super powerful lesson with his parents and they gave permission so he could be baptized! He is 10 years old. And now we are teaching his Dad so were going to see if we can get him to come to church as well!

So in our mission there are around 200 missionaries or so. And this last week on Friday I had the opportunity to go on splits with one of our APs. An AP is a position where 2 Elders serve as Assistants to President Torres. Other than Training conferences and interviews, theyre basically the only Elders that get to talk with the President everyday.  And in our mission there are only 2. So I got to spend a good part of the day with the AP doing baptismal interviews and working in our Zone. It was a pretty cool experience because they usually are the best of the best in all aspects of missionary work. 

Also this last Saturday I finished the Book of Mormon in Spanish! I read it in just a little over 2 months and a week. I completed the challenge from our Mission President so thats pretty cool. Now im starting a study of the New Testament so Ill keep you guys updated on that.

UPDATE: I have not gotten the package yet but I called the mission office and it is there so I should have it tomorrow in our meeting. 

Love you guys!

Elder Solari

WEEK 30: 7 MONTHS almost

P-Day food!

Rain up to the knees!

Missionary Desk

Hey fam! I have not received the package yet, but our Zone Leaders have meetings every PDAY in the office so I should get it in the meeting we have tomorrow morning, but Ill let you guys know next week if it finally got here or not! And yes I did get the package from grandma with caramels and fudge, it was so amazing! And I also got some cool letters from one of the Primary classes in our ward some time ago too. Thats weird that the letter got returned, did he pay enough postage? But something weird in the letter? Im not sure but I have been able to receive a few letters from friends.

The girl we were teaching, Charlotte, we havent been able to find her. She was here staying with her Grandma who is really Catholic and wasnt happy that we were teaching her granddaughter. So I think she sent her away to live with her parents again so we could not continue teaching her. But I know she will be able to find the church and the missionaries whereever she is. But we have found a lot of cool new people to teach this week as well. Not sure if you guys remember Angel, one of our converts about a month ago. But recently his stepbrother arrived to live with him and were preparing him to be baptized the end of this month! His name is Adonis and he is progressing well, and he went to church this last week! 

We have a bunch of investigators at church yesterday and several of them left Progressing! Progressing Investigators in our mission means they have a baptismal date set and are going to church every week. Because of this we were able to go to the Mall for an hour today! We found Carls Jr..and It was the first American Burger I have had in a long time. Its a lot different than the usual rice we eat! I also bought a soccer jersey! Here in Guayaquil, there are two main teams that play, Barcelona and Emelec, and they are the hugest rivalry. Anyways I finally chose my team and bought a Barcelona jersey! I forgot to take a picture but Ill get one sent this next week. And I was finally able to find a 4-pointed pen! (Its a pretty big deal here in our mission)

The work is definitely progressing quickly out here. Recently we got some new plans to help speed up the work from the Area 70. Once it gets implemented the work is really going to explode. There are 10 missionaries in our zone, and this weekend we are going to have 8 baptisms! And we are going to have another Noche Blanco and hold one big baptismal service!

We also have had some gnarly rain this week. It was almost up to my knees and it was honestly a blast working in the rain. And it was a lot cooler. People were looking at us like we were crazy it was a great experience.

The contact lenses are doing great. I have maybe 4 months left before I am going to need some new ones. With the heat and sweating, I almost never use the glasses because it would be more difficult.

I finished 3rd Nephi this week and I really would reccommend reading it. The first time I read the Book of Mormon it was in 3 Nephi 11 when I really felt the spirit and found out the Book of Mormon is true. 3 Nephi 11:10. Reading it is the only way you guys will be able to find out if its true or not! Read it, meditate on it and pray about it and by the power of the Holy Ghost you will. Thats all the time I have but I love you guys Ill talk to you next week!

Love you Mom!

ELDER SOLARI

WEEK 29: LEAP DAY!

We had to take a survey so I dont have a whole lot of time to write but Ill do my best!

This week was good. We worked super hard and met most of our weekly goals and committments we set so were happy. This week we really found out how huge our area really is, and we have been working a lot in the rain. And have found a few people that the Lord has prepared for us.

A cool experience this week. So last Sunday, 8 days ago, we were in a meeting after church at like 7pm, and these 2 random people enter the church and are looking around trying to find out what the building is and what we do. So we talk to them and they are way interested in the church and hearing more! So one of them lives here in our sector, and the other lives in another stake. So this last Tuesday we spent almost 2 hours searching for this address and we finally found it! And Hna Charlotte accepted the invitation to be baptized. So we have been working with her this week and she is prepared! She has some cousins that are some members in another stake and has always wanted to be baptized but her parents wouldnt let her. But now she is 18 years old so she can get baptized! We are so grateful that the Lord always prepares people for us and answers our prayers so we can harvest the fields.

This last week I have been studying Jacob 5 a little bit and I love how it talks about how the Lords Servant, the Prophet, went and called more helpers to work in the field and harvest (missionaries). And that this really is the last time the Lord is going to harvest in the vineyard. I am so grateful every single day to be involved in the most marvelous work. I love this quote from Joseph Smith ¨´After all that has been said, the most important is preach the gospel¨¨ Its something like that and I read it every single day. Read Jacob 5:70-72 it talks about Missionary Work, something everyone can help in. I love you guys! Go on visits with the missionaries serving in your ward!

Love

ELDER SOLARI