WEEK 42: SOY GUAYACO

5-30-16 letter

Well this last week was super great. I am still here in barrio Amazonas and I am loving every minute of it. We have been working really hard to get to know a bunch of the less actives and inactive members of the ward. We have a huge list so a lot of the week we were searching for their houses and visiting a lot of members so that we can keep finding more people to teach. Our sector is pretty small too. Its like 10 blocks by 8 blocks. 

So almost all of the people here have talked to the missionaries at least once. We are trying to strengthen the ward and have more activities. There are like 80 people going to church every week and over 300 members in the wards list. And if we have more activities, the members will bring their friends and we will have more people to teach! So this week we are going to start having English classes Saturday at 3pm.

So the other 2 Gringos in the zone are both from Utah. St. George and South Jordan. 

And no we still do not have a bishop in the ward. They have been without one for sometime...and its hard not having one. Because is the bishop works, the whole ward works and does their visits. But since we dont have a bishop, nobody is working so were trying to motivate the ward. 

So I dont have a whole lot to write or any pictures because were here in Guayaquil...But I am doing great out here in Ecuador. 

So in my personal study I finished John in the New Testament. It was honestly so cool studying Christ´s mortal ministry. Being able to study the 4 gospels and really compare them and learn so much more about His life and what He did for us. I want to invite you guys to do the same and study our Saviours life. I know that Christ lives and that He loves every single one of us. And that we, too, can overcome all trials in this life. I love you guys!

Elder Solari

WEEK 41: GUAYAQUIL

5-23-16 letter

Well not a whole lot happened this week. 

Yes we are getting ready for when Elder Rasband comes. Last week we all had to print out a talk he had given and we have to read it and study it before he comes. Its called ´´The divine calling of a missionary´´ Its super good you guys should pick it up and read it. I think Im just going to ask him some questions about his experience on the mission and the things he learned. I love hearing stories from other returned missionaries because in every part of the world the mission experience is different. Do you guys maybe have a questions or two you want me to ask him? I think we are going to be there with over 300 missionaries so I am not sure how its going to go haha.

The teaching pool here in Guayaquil is awesome. We are teaching a couple families right now and some couples and then some individual people. We pass the whole day teaching and visiting investigators so we do not have to knock a whole lot of doors. The ward is cool. We havent had a bishop in this ward for almost 6 months so they are looking desperately for someone to call. So right now its just the 2 counselors working. Yeah you guys can pray for them that they can keep progressing that would be awesome. The Garcia family, The Avellanos, Julio Roncillo, Carlos Mendoza, Lucia Sanchez, Freddy Gomez, Ryam Tomala, Maria Vistero, Ubaldo Montoya and Alejandro Ramirez. We could use all the prayers possible so they can keep coming to church and that their desires can grow!

So I love the sector here. In our house live 6 Elders in total. So my companion Elder Egoavil(Who lied about having changes last week hahaha) and I, Our Zone Leaders Elder Williams and Elder Bleazard and the Elders from Maricaibo, Elder Prado and Elder Chota. So there are 3 gringos and 3 Peruanos in our house. Its pretty fun living with a bunch of other Elders because all the other houses have only been with my companion. So P day we all play Uno and we go and eat togethers its super tight. So this last week was my companions birthday so we ate a bunch this week. Theres a picture with his cake and then one with a member that went on visits with us on his birthday. 

So this week a bunch of missionaries are ending their missions so this coming week 14 missionaries should be getting into Guayaquil. Everybody in the house is convinced I am going to be training one of the new missionaries in this sector so we will see how it goes. Its because our sector is a little bit safer than the rest so Ill get you guys know what happens. Another thing that happened this week is that we got a new AP...which is actually a huge deal in the mission. Because the other 2 had been there for over 9 months and end their missions the end of this month. The new AP is Elder Smith, who was my Zone Leader for those 3 months In The Pradera stake. 

I just wanted to share my testimony about mission work. I know this is the most important work here in the world and that Im here in the right place. In the middle of earthquakes and signs of these last days. Its why everyday we have to give it our all here in Ecuador because the Lords coming is soon! I hope that we can all be prepared in every moment for when he comes...I love you guys! Stay strong!}

Elder Solari

WEEK 40: BACK IN GUAYAQUIL & LOVING IT!

5-16-16 letter

Well guys I was only in Cuenca for about a month. So this last week President Torres came for his last training before he finishes his mission! And it was a great day being able to hear from him and learn a lot. So this last Friday night I got transfered again! I am back in Guayaquil, and it may be hot but I am loving it here! I am in the Centenario Stake, the Amazonas ward. So as of right now I have served in 3 of the 5 Guayaquil South stakes. It is literally right across the river from where I was born in Las Acacias. I am honestly so happy and grateful to be back here again. I just love the people here in Guayaquil, theyre so open and love talking to just about anyone. So its great for sharing the gospél. Its like the opposite of the people in Cuenca haha. And I already know how to work in Guayaquil so we are getting work done!

Being a district leader is pretty cool. In Cuenca there were 3 other companionships in my district. 2 Elders and 4 Hermana. So Really it just means that during district meetings every week I share about how the district can get better in teaching, finding and inviting people. So we always do a lot of practices. I am also like the middle man between the missionaries in my district and the Zone Leaders. So if they need anything theyll call me and then I can informe the Zone Leaders or we can take care of it. So what is happening in the mission soon is that a bunch of people are ending their missions. In the next 2 months over 50 missionaries are ending their mission...and I dont think we will be receiving enough to keep all of the sectors open. So the APs and President are getting a bunch of the Elders ready to be Zone Leaders and Trainers.

So here in Guayaquil my companion is Elder Eogavil, he is also from Perusalen (Thats how they call it in this mission) There are more missionaries here from Peru than from any other country. He has a little bit over a year in the mission. But the APs just called us RIGHT NOW and now he has changes. So I will be getting another companion later tonight. Which means I do not have a lot of time to write because he has to go back. The transfers are super weird because President Torres has only like a month left! And I only have 3 days in this sector and I do not remember where anyone lives. We are just going to have to rely on the Lord a bunch this next coming week hahaha.

So the training with President Torres was awesome because it was only with about 30 of us. So we were able to ask a bunch of questions. So he talked about one of the goals of the mission, and that goal is that we become disciples of Jesus Christ. He talked about the difference in being a member and being a disciple. That a member keeps the Sabbath day holu by going to church, but that a disciple keeps the sabbath day holy for 24 hours. And that a member pays their tithing, but a disciple pays their tithing and a generous fast offering. He made a bunch of comparisons that were super eye opening for us. He is already set apart as a 70 and has already had chances to leave the mission on church business in Peru.

I know that this gospel is true. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that we need to read it, meditate on it and study it every single day! It is something I am going to be reading for the rest of my life...because everytime I read it I learn something new and grow. And I know you guys can too. It is the most correct book of every book that has ever been written and if you guys do not have a testimony of the Book of Mormon I personally invite every single one of you to pick up a copy and read it! I know you guys can come to know its true.

Love you guys!

Elder Solari

WEEK 39: NEW COMPANION AND MOTHER'S DAY!

5-9-16 letter

Hey fam! It was great being able to see and talk to all of you yesterday. I hope you all had a great Mothers Day! Mine was awesome. So my companion had transfers, now he is in Santa Rosa. Now I am with another Peruano, Elder Guevara. He is from Trujillo Peru. He just reached a year in his mission this last Friday so he only has a little more time than me here in Ecuador. Hes a great missionary and we get along super well and work hard. We have a similar sense of humor hahaha. So I dont know if you guys remember my second companion, Elder Diaz, but they are from the same group. It was cool, when he skyped I got to talk to his family for a little bit. I love seeing pictures from the wedding! Nate is now married!

So this P day we wentup to Azogues again but with our new companions. These are the elderes in our district. We went up to one of the high points in Cuenca where they have one of these HUGE statues of ¨The Virgin of the Clouds´ Im pretty sure its a catholic thing. But it was super cool. The climb was pretty rough but the view was way worth it. Im sure you could look it up on Google to see how high it really is because im not sure. But we could see Cojitamba where we went last week and we were a lot higher today. So that was our P day adventure this week. 

So transfers this last week were crazy. I was in Azogues helping one of the missionaries in the district and had brought stuff to stay the night. So we get called by my companion at like 7pm and we had to go back because they would both have changes. So we hurry back as fast as we can, my companion gets all packed and we had to be at the bus terminal at 4am. So we go and we are put in a trio, Elder Milne, Elder Tomlinson(my dad in the mission) and I. So we finally get back to the house at like 5.30 and then the elder there calls us and tells us he still had the cellphone so we had to go back and get it. It was super funny because we got like 30 minutes of sleep that night. Heres the funny story of the week... So when we were coming back from the terminal at like 5am we were talking with the taxi driver about the gospel. So being super tired the first thing I said to him was ´´Como esta su hermana´´ And I meant to say ´´Como esta su manana.´´ So I asked him how his sister was doing...It was so funny we all started cracking up super hard.

Another cool thing that happened this week, I just got called to be a district leader TODAY. So Ill let you guys know how that is next week. 

PE Christ is the only Mediator between us and Heavenly Father! We can only be saved by Jesus Christ and nobody else. I know that he lives and that he loves us and wants us to be happy! I love you guys!

Elder Solari

WEEK 38: CUENCA Y AZOGUES:

5-2-16 letter

P-day in Cuenca

So this last week we did not work a whole lot like I would have liked but we did get some things done. So what happened is that my companion got super sick several months ago and now he has a problem walking. So we were stuck in the house for 2 days and he could not leave and work. I took advantage of the time though, studying so much in the New Testament and Doctrine and Covenants. Another thing that happened this week, some sister missionaries arrived in Cuenca Thursday because one of them was super sick. So when they got to the hospital we had to bring them food and help them out a bunch. Our leaders here in Cuenca always tell us that the Elderes priority is the Sister missionaries...and I learned that as well this last week. But dont worry the Sister is fine now and my companion is feeling better too. He only has like 3 weeks until he finished his mission. So I am just trying to help him a ton so he can finish his mission strong. 

So today for P day we went to Azogues. Its like right outside of Cuenca, and the other Elderes in our district serve there. We went and hiked some cool mountains and took some cool pictures. The place was called Cojitamba. It was like an old indian site where they lived a long time ago. We were up over 10,000ft!

Marcos is doing great, his baptism is scheduled for this weekend. This Sunday was super special because I guess he told the Bishop he wanted to join the church...and later the bishop shared this with us. Its such a great thing to hear because he has been investigating the church for some time. But that really sealed the deal and we know now that he is ready for sure. 

I wanted to share one of my favorite quotes with you guys today: 

´´Una religion que no requiere el sacrificio de todas las cosas nunca tiene el poder suficiente para producir la fe necesaria a fin de llegar a la vida y a la salvacion´´

Im not sure but who but I think its Joseph Smith. For those of you that dont speak Spanish: A religion that does not require sacrifice of all things will never have power sufficient to produce the faith necessary to reach eternal life and salvation.´´ Something like that.

I dont have a bunch of time today to write sorry guys!

Love you!

Elder Solari

WEEK 37: CUY IN CUENCA!

 Guinea Pig

 4-25-16 letter

This last week was great! We had a multi zone training here in Cuenca and Elder Jugo Montoya from the 70 came to talk to us and teach us and take questions! It was an awesome experience. He is one of the counselors here in the Area 70 and it was a powerful devotional. This was last Friday. He had a bunch of really cool life experiences he shared with us. We also found out that JUNE 11 and 12 Elder Rasband from the 12 is going to come talk to the 3 missions here in Guayaquil! We are going to have one of the Apostles come and talk to us. So he also talked about how we need to prepare ourselves spiritually for when he comes, and write down questions that we can ask him. We also took a photo with him with our zone. The Cuenca zone is the biggest in the mission with 24 missionaries. Half Elderes and the other half hermanas! Its weird being in a  zone with hermanas because my other 2 zones in Guayaquil were only Elderes

To answer your questions, it is kind of a resort town. So our sector has the downtown touristy part and a bunch of nice neighborhoods where its not so toury. It definitely feels a lot more like the United States. We work a lot more with references here because contacting and tracting doesnt work so well. The weird thing about Cuenca is that there are a lot of atheists and people that just dont believe in God or Jesus Christ. We try to help them too but a lot of them have closed their hearts. As of right now we are preparing one guy for baptism. His name Marcos. If you guys could pray for him so he keeps his committments and keeps coming to church that would be great. He is 38 years old and he had family problems so he came to live here in Cuenca. He is a cool guy and we are preparing him for this next weekend.

So of course being in Cuenca we asked our mamita to make us CUY one night for dinner. And I took a lot of good pictures for you guys. Before, after and later. And yes I really did eat that. It was pretty good, the only thing is that the skin is pretty tough. My companion ate all of it, eyes, brain, everything. Thats why at the end his looks like a fossil hahaha. The food here is honestly amazing. And there are always members that want to feed us. There are a ton of super cheap pizza places too. 

There are a ton of cool places to go in Cuenca, one of the things that isnt very cool is that all of the Musuems are closed on Mondays!! How lame is that... the only day we can go, they arent even open, but we did find a cool abandoned rail yard in our sector so that was cool. And yes there are a lot of white people here who dont speak Spanish. It was funny we were walking in the street and this white guy said ´´sup´´ and me only knowing how to talk in Spanish said ´´que tal.´ Its weird being here because sometimes we talk english and I fumble over the words so bad.

As far as the quake I havent heard anything more about it. The epicenter was in the Quito North mission I think. Everyone in our mission was fine so I havent heard any cool stories. All we have heard is that 11 members lost their lives. Im sure you can find their names inlds.org so you can pray for them and their families.

One of the things that Elder Montoya shared is that we need to be specific in our prayers. He shared a story when he went to visit a stake conference and asked the Stake president to  pray specifically for over 100 missionaries that were serving from the stake. He said they spent over 25 minutes praying but that it was how it should always be. I know that its true, because if we ask specifically he will bless us specifically. It shows our humility and pacience as well, several Christ like attributes we all need to work on. DYC 112.10 One of my favorite sciptures, read it! I love you guys!

Love you mom!

Elder Solari

WEEK 36: TRANSFERS & EARTHQUAKE!!

 Elder Solari & Elder Jenkins

 A family night

 Bus ride to Cuenca

View of Cuenca

Yes everyone there was a big earthquake here in Ecuador. I didnt have a chance to experience much of it because Friday morning I had transfers...you guys wont be able to believe where I am. Im in CUENCA. It was a pretty scenic bus ride and is about 4 hours east of Guayaquil. Its so beautiful here, I am in barrio Tomebamba and the weather is so great. In Guayaquil I was just getting used to getting home every night with a super sweaty t shirt and here in Cuenca we barely sweat! The weather is perfect, and its not even humid here. You guys should pull up the weather for the two places and compare them. Here in Cuenca it rains almost everyday, but its like an ice cold rain that makes it super cold. There are also a lot of old retired people that live here, and a fair amount of gringos. Our area has the downtown more touristy part of Cuenca...so this next P day when we have time we are going to go and look around and take a bunch of cool photos. There are a ton of musuems, it kind of has a Park City vibe here, just minus the snow. So about the Earthquake....we were here visiting a sis. in the ward and it was probably 7:15pm when we could feel an aftershock. We were in a 2nd story and it was pretty cool, not brutal shaking or anything. But the sister was freaking out the whole 2 minutes we could feel it. So Cuenca wasnt really affected much but in Guayaquil a couple of bridges collapsed and like 300 people were killed. The church has already sent a ton of aid to help these people rebuild and help the refugees.

So the people here in Cuenca are a little more hard hearted from what Ive heard and seen so far. Theyre a lot more catholic so contacting is not very efficient here. The best is references from members. The sectors here are also HUGE compared to Guayaquil so we spend a lot more time walking. So my new companion here is Elder Vega, he is from Cuzco Peru and has like 23 months in the mission. He is from the same group as my other companion, Elder Jenkins. He is a HUGE 49ers and Giants fan so automatically became close friends.Im kinda bummed we were only companions for like a week and a half because hes such a powerful missionary and we got along so well...but I know im supposed to be here in Cuenca with Elder Vega. Also, the food here is so much better than in Guayaquil. Here they always give us vegetables and avocado and more meat...when in Guayaquil it was like a big pile of white rice and some beans haha.

So this last Sunday we had this cool Multi Stake conference via satelite. So it was all the member of the church in Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. More than 39 stakes and 27 branches! It was braodcast from SLC and we heard from Obispo Davies, Elder Oaks, Elder Hales, Sister McConkie and Elder Hugo Montoya from our Area Presidency! I think its a new thing the church is trying out and it was super powerful! The best part was Elder Oaks gave part of his talk in Spanish even though he doesnt know a lot of Spanish. It reminded me a lot of my first Sunday in the field when I had to give a talk haha. They talked alot about keeping the sabbath day holy, serving missions, paying a full tithing and rescuing less actives! A lot of the things that the church is struggling with here in South America. 

So I am sure her baptism went well because she was super excited and prepared. Ill attach a photo of the Noche de Hogar the week before I had transfers. Also a picture with Elder Jenkins and some pictures from the bus ride to Cuenca. We passed just a bunch of farm lands and banana plantations. Anyways thats all the time I have! I am going to take a ton of pictures here!}

Love you mom!

Elder Solari