Searching for Investigators

Photo from the baptisms Elder Goode and Elder Alvarez had on March 13th in Babahoyo.


Hi Curtis. Thanks for the photo. It is awesome. Tell me the names of the guys in the photo please. Is this your baptism from last week?

Okay, I can see from the date on the photo, that it was on March 20th, so it must be your baptism from last week. That means the guy without the tie must be your convert, Linyker. I know the second from the left is Elder Alvarez, your companion who went home last week, so who is the other guy. Which one baptized Linyker? Why are you the only one smiling?

Hey, so guess what? We had a really hard week. We don´t have many people to visit right now so we are trying to find new people that we can teach. So I am really tired. We broke out the ward directory and tried to find all of the members that we could, so that they could give us references. So I walked all over our sector sometimes up to forty blocks an hour. We have been walking a ton.

Something good that is happening is that we have been having activities as a stake. We are doing an invasion. We are going to invite all of the people that we can, to come to the church to watch “The Testaments” so that we can get references. So that should help, but we are trying to do all that we can to find people that we can by ourselves, too, so that we can have success here. We got really lucky when I got here with Elder Alvarez, but now the people don´t want to listen.

Well it sounds like you have a really good plan to create some success. It seems like a lot of the missionaries have found people to teach by talking to the members, especially the part member families. There are probably siblings or younger kids who have not been baptized yet, unless Elder Walke found them all when he was there. He baptized a lot of younger kids while he was in Babahoyo. I think he really went through the Primaries and tried to locate all the kids who were coming, but had not been baptized yet.

Have you tried lots of prayer and faith with your plan? Fast Sunday is coming up again. Maybe you could have a fast for the extra help that you need.

Thanks for the pictures. They are wonderful. I am assuming that the family is the sister of Linyker, her husband and daughter. Is that right? What are their names? Is this at their apartment? When was the photo taken?

Shrimp and Fish Elder Goode ate in Portoviejo back in February. They purchased them in Manta one p-day.

In the picture, there is Antonio on the left. He baptized Linyker and then Elder Alvarez and then Linyker and then me.

What is Antonio's last name and how does he fit in? Is he a friend, brother, or ward member?

I don´t remember his last name but he is a ward member. He was baptized in February and we wanted him to have the experience of baptizing someone to keep him excited about the gospel and we made the arrangements to have him do it. Really it was cool to see him do it.

That is neat. They look like they are about the same age. When I talked to Chris Jenkins yesterday, she said that in Clayton's mission, the missionaries don't get to do the baptisms. They are required to have a ward member perform the baptism because it helps the new convert to form ties with ward members and keeps them active for longer. It sounds like a good plan because if the only ties the convert has are to the missionaries they will easily get discouraged after the missionaries move on to another area, but if they have ties to a ward member, they are more likely to keep coming and progressing. It also makes ties the other way, so that the member feels responsible for the new convert and will try to protect the member and help them to grow in the gospel. Chris said that they try to get 50 people out to each baptism so the convert will feel a strong tie to the ward. Hopefully both boys will progress in the gospel and the Priesthood and go on missions.

The picture of the family with me and Elder Garcia is the Nuñez family from Portoviejo.

The picture with all of the people are: in the blue is Wendy and in the gray Sandy, that we baptized the week before and in the yellow their cousin. In the pink, is their friend. She is a member of six years and she gave the reference to the missionaries and she is now a ward missionary that is teaching Linyker and Sandy and Wendy the lessons again. And then there is Linyker and Antonio, again.

Wow. That is awesome! It is neat to see the members getting involved with teaching the new converts. Hopefully Linyker, Antonio and the friend will all have a desire to go on missions and teach the gospel to others. Your influence could spread exponentially to places you cannot even imagine. Your influence will continue to be felt for generations and generations of time.

Who are all the pretty girls in the photo? Are they members yet? If not, you better get busy and teach them all. Does Linyker have a girlfriend?

Linyker doesn´t have a girlfriend, but I told you in the other email who were all of the girls in the picture.

Okay. They look awfully close, but I guess the people of Ecuador are more inclined to touch than we are in the USA. Hopefully they are good friends by now. It is really neat that she is teaching Linyker. What a neat experience for them all. Do these kids have more friends that you can teach? It would be great if they could become involved with teaching the gospel to their friends. It would help them prepare for missions.

We are trying to get more references so that we can teach their friends. We have asked, but we haven´t gotten references yet.

You must have found a faster computer with a USB port today. Thanks!!!

Why is the water so green? The font is gray. Where is the green coming from? Is that what all of your water looks like? Yuck! I am grateful for purified water. I hope you are, too!

The green water comes from the water tank in the church. It is dirty and they need to clean it. So until they clean it, our baptisms will be in green water.

Sounds like a service project for some missionaries and new converts to the gospel.
Ask them to help you clean the water tank and have them bring some of their friends to help you. Maybe you can accomplish both tasks at the same time. Come up with some other service projects that they can help with and bring friends to. Go sing at the hospital or just visit. Make something or fix something. Think creatively and get as many involved as you can. Serve food and more will come. Advertise that you are serving food and you will get even more.

Well, we could, but they actually pay a guy to clean the church, so they said they could call him and tell him that the water tank is dirty. So he will do it, because he gets paid to do it.

Well, come up with another service activity to generate interest from the kids. Maybe you could clean the church or clean up the outside of the church or do a neighborhood cleanup project. Do service, then play soccer and have refreshments. Put up lots of fliers around the neighborhood to get people's interest.

I am sure that if we advertised food we could get all of Babahoyo to come to the activities, but the thing is, we don´t have a huge budget and this gringo is all out of money. So we are going to have to see what type of budget we are working with, but it won´t be very big at all.

I will see what we can do to plan some activities and get them into action. They sound good, but it will take some planning to make them work good, too.

Okay. Well you will have to work with the resources you have. I bet you could come up with some creative way to get food there. A cookie baking contest for the young women? A pie baking activity for the Relief Society? Work with your ward activities committee. Somebody has the resources to help you.

I checked your account last night and you are indeed almost out of money again. Alas, so am I. I will try to get you some more on payday, but probably only $100 this month. Sorry.

Isn't planning one of the things that missionaries do best? Maybe your Zone could work together to come up with a community service day. Maybe you could get some help from the community leaders to fund the project. Spring is a great time to beautify the world. Approach the wards, the stake and the community. Dream big! Plan big! You can make it happen and the results will bless all of you.

I love you so very much and I am so very proud of all you are doing. Did you write to Clain? Please do. He can hardly wait to find out what you think of his call. He has talked about it all week long.

Love always and forever,
Mom

Well, I gotta go. Tell Clain congratulations on his mission call for me and tell him to check his email, too. I love you all lots.

Bye,

Elder Goode

I love you son. You are an amazing example to me!!! BE GOODE this week and every week!

Mission Call Arrives

Mission Call Arrives!!!

Elder Clain Goode has been called to serve in the Oregon Eugene Mission.
He leaves on June 23rd.
We are so very excited for him!!!

We Love You, Clain!!!

New Companion & Converts

Photos from the Zone Leader Conference held on March 12, 2010 in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Elder Curtis Goode is on the back row, as always, just left of the center window.

Week 3 Babahoyo

Did you have your baptism?
Yes, we had another baptism on Saturday. Linyker Arturo Cabezas Peñafiel

Do you have any more baptisms lined up?
We have a couple baptisms, but they aren´t as set as the last four that we had.

How did your Zone do last week on baptisms?
We had five baptisms as a zone this last weekend. That means that we have had eight baptisms as a zone this month so far.

How are the couples you are teaching coming along?
We are having a few problems with the couples. They just aren´t keeping the commitments that we are giving them. It is hard. We want to help them, but our advice isn´t any good if they don´t do anything with what we tell them.

Tell us more about each of the people you have baptized these past two weeks. What are their names and stories?

Wendy and Sandy Alvarez, they are two girls. Wendy is seventeen, I think and Sandy, thirteen. They have an aunt that is a member and we are trying to work with the mom and dad. The dad doesn´t want anything to do with the church and the mom wants to get baptized, but they aren´t married so they have to get married and the dad doesn´t want to get married either.

Jessenia Parraga, her kids are members, but she couldn´t get baptized because she was living with the father of her kids and they weren´t married and he had another family, too, so she told him if he wanted to be with her he would marry her and leave the other family. And he said no, so she told him to get lost and get out of the house and he left. He still visits his kids, but she doesn´t want anything to do with him.

Linyker Arturo Cabezas Peñafiel, he is the brother of a recent convert. She told us the first day we were here in the sector that she was going to bring her brother to church, so she did and we set a date to visit him and we went and taught the first lesson and left him with the commitment to pray. When we visited him again we asked if he had prayed and he said si that he knew it was true and that he wanted to share what he now knew with everybody (That is cool). So we told him that he could he could become like us and be a missionary, but he needed to be baptized first. So we committed him to be baptized for the 27th, but his sister said that on the 27th they were going to be going to the temple. And then the sister asked if Linyker could go to the temple, too, and we thought about it for a minute and decided that it is possible that if he was baptized on the 20th he could go to the temple on the 27th. So we put the date and then we started to see how hard it was going to be. We had taught the first lesson and we had a week to teach the rest of the lessons so that he could get baptized. So what we did is sent a pair of ward missionaries to visit and teach the Plan of Salvation and then we left the sister in charge to teach him the law of chastity, word of wisdom, tithing and the Sabbath day. We then visited him and went over all of the lessons again and taught lesson three and a few other commandments and then asked him the baptism interview questions and set the time for his interview and that was all we taught him. He passed the interview without a problem. Now he is baptized and confirmed and he should be getting the priesthood this week some time so that he can go to the temple on Saturday. He was so ready! I am so glad that we found him when we did!

Tell us about the people you are teaching now.

We are teaching a few other people but we don´t have a whole lot right now who are progressing.

Are you getting along well with your companion?

Well about the whole companion thing, guess what? I have a new companion. His name is Elder de Leon from Guatemala. Elder Alvarez got his last change in the mission. He is going to Bolivia. He finished the mission. I don´t know why, but he had to go today, so I took him to Guayaquil and got my new companion and now we are back in Babahoyo now doing our pday.

Send us a photo or two if you can of you, your companion and your zone.

I will have to see what I can do about the photo as for the one with my companion. It is a little late now.

So is it raining a ton and getting your feet wet all the time?

It rains, but at night so it isn´t too bad right now. I will see what I can do about finding shoes ok. I looked my shoes over and I have a pair that are still in really good condition. I thought they were a lot worse than they really are. I forgot why I put them away and didn´t like to use them but now using them I remembered. They squeak when I walk, but besides that they are really good shoes so I will see how long these will last and if I need to buy, I will let you know.

Are you wearing the other two pair of shoes at all?

I still have all three pairs of shoes and I wear the ones that I fixed in the conferences and stuff like that but not much the thing is even though they are patched up the water still enters when I am stepping in water so that makes it kinda hard.

Have the patches worn through on the pair you had fixed?

No, but yes.

Are your feet having problems with cracking and bleeding?

No, my feet are really good. I am not having any problems right now with cracking and bleeding.

What advice can you give dad for his talk? What blessings have you received for serving a mission?

I would talk a lot about the example that I am setting for Clain and Braxton and how your example of going on the mission helped me to want to go and serve. I know that the example that I have set has helped a lot of the youth in the ward to go or to help them go on their missions. Just look at how many missionaries there are right now in the ward that have left after I left on my mission.

What advice would you give me about getting Clain ready to go?

Well a lot will depend where he goes and what sort of stuff he will need in his area. You know him, right? Send him with about ten bottles of the anti-diarrhea stuff, ok? Mission food kills you, especially foreign mission food!

Have you received your St. Patrick’s Day package yet?

No, I haven´t gotten it yet, but maybe this week.

Did they take a photo at the Zone Leaders’ Conference?

Yes, see the letter from Sister Gamboa.

Are you healthy and happy?

Yes, very happy and very healthy.

I love you so very much and I am very proud of you and all you are doing. Keep working hard and always be obedient so you will be blessed and protected from harm and sickness.
Love always and forever,
Mom

Three Baptisms plus one More!!!

Have you gotten the Valentines packages yet?

Yes, I got the valentines packages the Wednesday before I got transferred.

Have you given many blessings? Tell us about some of them, please.

I have given a few. The last ones that I gave were, one for my companion, Elder Alvarez. He has just about the same problem that dad had a while back. His knee is pretty beat up and he needs to have surgery, but he wants to wait until after the mission and since this is his last change that will be ok. So he was hurting and asked if we could give him a blessing. I sealed the anointing and gave the blessing. After, another Elder that lives in the house with us, wanted a blessing and he asked me to give the blessing. He was having chills and he had a fever, so I gave the blessing and after two hours he was feeling better. Blessings work.

Did you have your three baptisms?

Yes, we had three baptisms this week. That was pretty cool.

Did your zone have all eight baptisms?

No, we ended up having three baptisms as a zone.

What are some of the new things you do as a Zone Leader?

I am now in charge of a zone instead of a district. I have to make sure that everything goes good here as a zone and take care of any problems that there are here. I am the eyes and ears of President now, here in Babahoyo.

What is the best part about being a Zone Leader?

It really isn´t much different than being a district leader, just that I have more responsibility. I guess it would be that I got to eat McDonald’s when I went to Guayaquil last Friday for the Zone Leader Conference.

When do you get to go to a Zone Leader Conference?

I went last Friday and I learned a lot. We talked about the stuff that President and Sister Gamboa want us to make sure that all of the missionaries know about.

When is your next Zone Conference?

The Zone Conference will be later in the change, I think the fifth week of the change.

Tell us more about your companion.

He is from Bolivia. He is going to finish the mission this change, so I will for the first time kill a missionary. He has spent just about all of his mission in Guayaquil.

He was in Quevedo for a few changes and now this is his third change in Babahoyo.

Tell us about the sector you are working in. What part of Babahoyo is your sector in?

I have the entrance to Babahoyo and I have part of the road toward Guayaquil. I have to a city that is called Jujan (who han).

I can’t see a lot on Google Earth because it sits underneath the big white cloud, the same one that blocked out Balzar and Valencia. But I can see it on the map and there are a few photos of the city that come up. Are you in the city part or out on the outskirts of the city?

I live somewhat in the center of the city and my sector is part of the city, but not the center just houses and then I have all of the outside parts, too, till Jujan.

Is it cooler there than Portoviejo?

No, it is way, way hot here. I am sweating like crazy here.

Are you in a ward or branch?

I am in a ward. The ward is called Barrio Lindo, ( Barrio also means ward).

Do you meet with the stake leaders now?

Yep, we had a meeting with the Stake President and all of the Bishops last week.

Do you have more investigators you are working with? Tell us about them.

We have lots of investigators that we are working with. We received the reference of an investigator when we first got here and he came to church the first Sunday and yesterday, too. He wants to get baptized. So he is going to get baptized this Saturday, so it will be like two weeks to the day that we found him until he gets baptized. He is the brother of a recent convert and his aunt and some cousins are members of the church. We have about five couples that we are working with and preparing them to get married and then get baptized, so sometimes when we are teaching, I feel more like a marriage counselor than a missionary.

How many missionaries are in your Zone?

We have a very small zone. We are 12 missionaries here in Babahoyo.

Do you live with four missionaries or just two?

Here there are three houses and in the three houses live four missionaries, so three times four is twelve, so it works out pretty good, right?

You said you were in Barrio Lindo. I searched for that and it shows it way down near Guayaquil. Is that correct?

NO!

I thought you would be closer to the City of Babahoyo. I also searched for Barrio Olmedo and it was close to where Barrio Lindo was on the map. Does the Babahoyo Zone cover a really big area?

No, we are in Babahoyo and we do cover some big area but my sector is here in Babahoyo.

The translation for Barrio Lindo says it means Pretty Neighborhood. Is it a pretty place?

Not really, but the people are awesome.

The translation for Barrio Olmedo is Neighborhood with Elm Grove. Is that because there are Elm trees there?

I haven´t seen many trees here, so I don´t know about that translation.

Are you back to eating all chicken again?

Yes.

Is there anything you need?

If you feel up to it, I could use a new pair of shoes. I found out that if you have holes in the soles of your shoes that means that water can enter and get your feet wet. Who would have thought? If you want to send shoes, the pair that we bought in Logan, but the ones that we only bought one pair of, the Rockports, that are waterproof.

Are you happy and healthy?

Yeah, I am doing ok. I miss my fish and seafood diet, but I will live.

Hi Curtis,

Thanks for the answers. Tell us more about the people you baptized on Saturday. What are their names and a little about each of them.

Tell us more about your investigators. What are their names? Do they have kids? What do they do for a living? What are they like? How are your lessons going with them?

Being a marriage counselor might be a nice career for you in the future. There certainly is a lot of need for it right now with divorce rates as high as they are. Hopefully you are learning lots of things about marriage that will help you avoid all of the problems in your own marriage someday.

I am grateful you were able to perform these priesthood blessings and that the elders felt comfortable in asking you to give them. I hope you wrote about the experiences in your journal. I know without any doubt that Priesthood Blessings work. They may not always heal, but they always provide comfort.

Are you walking a lot in your new area?

Are the members helping you a lot with the work?

I am glad you got your packages. Are all of your shoes worn through the bottom? I will see what I can do about another pair of Rockports.

Which other elders live with you in your apartment.

How come the other five baptisms fell through?

What food did you eat at McDonalds? Did they have French Fries or beans and rice?

Tell us more about your companion, besides the fact you get to kill him. Guns? Is that all you think of? Ha! Ha! How many in his family? Has he been a member all his life? Girlfriend? Plans for after the mission? Is he funny? Happy? He isn't smiling in any of the photos I have of him. Take a photo of him smiling and email it to us.

When are you going to send me some more photos? I want to see more of your happy smiling face!

The other missionaries that live in the house with me besides my companion are Elder Amaya and his kid, Elder Merchan. Elder Amaya is from Colombia and Elder Merchan is from Ecuador. He is not the Elder Merchan that I lived with in Portoviejo. I don’t know for sure why the baptisms fell through, but they did.
I ate a Big Mac with fries and a little apple pie thingy for desert with orange soda to drink.

Elder Alvarez has I think, four years as a member. He has a girlfriend waiting for him. He is from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, the southern part of Bolivia. I would send you more pictures, but this computer doesn’t have a USB drive that I can get to. I am sorry.

Okay on the photos today, but find a better computer next week. And, please send me a disk of photos like you promised.

Are the hamburgers as good as in the states?

The hamburger was good, not quite like in the states, but still good.

I am glad you enjoyed it and got to eat a few French Fries, too.

Are there any other missionaries that have been in your previous zones that are serving with you in Babahoyo? I didn't have photos of any of the elders you mentioned last week, except for Elder Alvarez. I probably do have some of them in photos, but don't know the names to go with the faces in earlier photos. If you can, take a fun Zone Photo and send it home by email. Tell us who everyone is.

Did they take photos at the Zone Leader Conference?

Did you get to see Elder Bartolomei there? Where is he serving now?

Are any of the other missionaries from your MTC District serving as Zone Leaders?

I did see Elder Bartolomei in the Consejo. He is in Zona Orquidias with Elder Carlos and Elder Machuca. Elder Felt is a Zone Leader and Elder Williams is in the office. Elder Fewkes is in the mission Charlotte North Carolina and Elder Smith, I don’t know where he is. Elder Adamsom and Elder Walke weren’t in my district, but they are Zone Leaders, too. I haven’t served with any of these elders before, so I am getting to know new elders here.

That is great that you got to see so many of the elders you came out with. Do you know Elder Thomas Hall? He came out with you also, but I never hear anything about him. What is Elder Frye doing? He started his mission the same day you did, but got to Ecuador earlier because he must have already known some Spanish.

Did you take photos of you with your original MTC district? I sure hope so. You need to take advantage of opportunities like that. If you did not, please do it next time.

Yeah, I know Elder Hall. I forgot about him. He trained last change and I am pretty sure that he got changed this change, so I don´t know where he is. Elder Frye is a District Leader in Duran Sur. I forgot to take pics, but there will be a next time, don´t worry.

Okay, just remember to take advantage of those moments because you can't ever go back and do them again. Someday you will look back and think, "Wow, I am grateful to have that photo of all of us together."

Have a really great week, son. Keep working hard and being great. I know the Lord will bless you and be with you. I love you so very much.

Love,
Mom

The Lord will Bless You!

Dear Curtis,

How are things going in Ecuador? Have you had any more earthquakes or aftershocks? I was able to get us put in for the Pronghorn hunt you and me as a group and you, Braxton and me for the Deer hunt. The Deer hunt is only going to be a 6 day hunt this year. So we will have to make up for that in duck hunts. Sam Bartholomew left on his mission on February 17th. He went to Tulsa Oklahoma Spanish speaking. I don’t know if mom had told you this or not. Let us know what has happened with transfers. I am sure mom has told you that Clain met with President Bennett yesterday and he sent his papers in last night, so we should here on the 17th if not the 24th where he will be going. Did mom tell you to make a guess where Clain will be going and when he will be leaving? Make a guess today! You could be the winner!

Saturday we went Pheasant hunting, Braxton, Clain ,Kavin and me. It was west of Bothwell. We had a good time. Clain wanted to go before it ended. Let us know what is going on. I Love You.

Love,

Dad

Hey, so things are going really good. Clain sent me an email and told me that he had sent in his papers for the mission and to guess where he is going. I know that I am going to win with my answer! That is cool that you guys went and shot some pheasants. I hope that Clain enjoyed the hunt. Well I gotta go send some more emails. Mom wants a really long email and I have lots to write right now, so I love you lots.

Bye.

Elder Goode

Hey that’s great you are a Zone Leader and you got transferred. Mom sent me your email. She keeps me informed. Keep working hard and the Lord will bless you in all you do. I love you!

Love,

Dad

Miss you lots Curt!

I really miss you lots Curt. I am doing well in school. I can't wait to see you again. I hope that you get Clain's email and answer it. He is really looking forward to your answer. I hope that the work is progressing and that you are working hard and trying your best. Remember that how hard you work is between you and the Lord and you will know if you are working to the fullest of your ability and he will know. I enjoyed this last weekend. We went pheasant hunting with Kavin. I have been playing indoor soccer with some kids that live in our neighborhood. I hope that you're doing well.

Love,

Braxton

Hey Buddy! I sent Clain an email so don´t worry. He will have my answer, ok? I hope that you are working your hardest in school and keeping on top of your grades, ok? Keep an eye on my dog, ok? I want her in good shape for this fall, so you better take her out and let her get some exercise so that she isn´t a ball of fat for the next duck hunt, ok? I love you lots!

Be Goode!

Elder Goode

Best Mission in the Universe

Curtis,

Where do you think I'm going to go on my mission? There will be a prize if you guess closest to where I go. How is it in Ecuador? We went pheasant hunting on Saturday with Kavin and we got 9 birds. Cocoa and Nitro had fun. They were tired when we got home. We went near Thiokol and Bothwell. I will be getting my call in about a week.

Love,

Clain

Hey Clain, how are things going? That is cool that you got to go hunting and got some birds. I think that you are going to go to the best mission in the universe, Ecuador Guayaquil North. I am glad that you are willing to serve the Lord and keep his commandments and go on a mission.

I love you lots.

Elder Goode

Curtis,

Give me the country and the date I will leave when you guess before the 17th of this month.

Love,

Clain

The date I think you will leave is on the third Wednesday in July, whatever date that is. (July 21st).

Zone Leader in Babahoyo Zone

Week 1 Babahoyo

Hi Mom! So guess what? I am not in Portoviejo anymore! I am in a place where there are lots of mosquitoes and lots of water and bamboo houses on stilts over water and bridges of bamboo. That’s right! I got transferred to Babahoyo! And guess what else? I am not District Leader anymore. I am now Zone Leader here in Babahoyo!

My new companion is Elder Alvarez. You know him from Quevedo. This is his last change. So guess what? I get to kill an Elder for the first time in my mission! I am in Barrio Lindo. We are opening a sector together. Elder Alvarez was in Barrio Olmedo, but they called him to be a Zone Leader, too, so we are new Zone Leaders in a new sector and it is kinda hard.

So this is what happened. They called Elder Sanchez to be the new Assistant and Elder Janampa (brother to the Elder Janampa that was my District Leader) had more time in the sector, so he left, too. So I came to be the new Zone Leader and replace those two. So we don’t know the sector very well and the people. We are trying to find them to keep teaching them. But you know what is really cool? I have three baptisms planned for this Saturday and as a Zone, we have eight planned. So we have lots of work to this week to get all of the investigators interviewed and ready for baptism.

Well I am going to send this letter off and wait for your response to my new change. I love you lots!

Elder Goode

Curtis,

That is awesome news!!! And a huge responsibility and trust put in you by the Mission President. I know you will do great! You are a leader! You will set a great example for the elders who are looking to you for guidance and encouragement. Be the kind of Zone Leader you have liked and respected. Learn from the examples of all the Zone Leaders you have had and combine all the best parts of each, but be yourself, too. The Lord placed you there for a purpose.

Congratulations!!!

Write more please!!!

Did you have any baptisms before you left Portoviejo?

Love,

A very proud mom

I didn’t have any baptisms before I left, but I left lots to do for Elder Garcia. His new companion is Elder Perez, that was in Bahia. They changed him to my old sector and Elder Garcia became Senior Comp now. Elder Parkinson also got a new companion and Elder Avila went somewhere else. I don’t know where. I am really excited to work here in Babahoyo. It is really neat from what I have seen! I am excited! Really I am!

Your new companion is Elder Paul Alvarez? Where is he from? I have on my list that he served in the office in September 2009 as the Secretary of Materials. Tell us more about him.

What other missionaries are in your Zone?

Is your apartment nice? Hot water? Clean? Insects and Rodents?

Yes, he is he is from Bolivia. Yep, he served in the office. There is Elder Baum from Quevedo too. Elder Dayton, he is new, a gringo. Elder Mamani, Elder Casas, Elder Amayo, and I can’t remember the rest, but Elder Amayo and Elder Mamani and Elder Baum are going to train this change, so I will have three new elders in my zone.

The house is in good shape, two bathrooms, two bedrooms, the kitchen and a room to study in, so it is pretty nice. The house doesn’t have hot water, but I am used to showering with cold water now. It is so darn hot outside anyways, who wants to shower with hot water. There aren’t any bug problems or rodent problems either. Things are good in the house. I have another toilet to fix, too, but that won’t be hard, just another flush handle.

Do you share the apartment with another missionary companionship or just Elder Alvarez?

I am glad you are able to deal with the cold water and not complain. I am glad the apartment is nice. Keep on fixing those toilets. Leave Ecuador a better place than you found it. Should I make tags and send, "This toilet repaired by Elder Goode on (date). Happy Flushing!!!" You could really leave your mark on the mission that way. Ha Ha!

Where in Bolivia is Elder Alvarez from? Tell us about his family, what he likes to do, girlfriend, plans for post-mission.

Is your new email account working okay? I didn't change it to Spanish, but you could in the Options menu at the top. I think it is on the General Tab.

Did you move today or sometime last week?

They called me Thursday night and I left Friday morning, so I have been in Babahoyo since Friday at about two in the afternoon. President Gamboa called me to tell me that I was going to be Zone Leader here in Babahoyo, so I knew where I was going to be going in the changes, so that was pretty cool. I also knew who Elder Alvarez was, so I knew who to expect and what he was like. The third companion of Elder Alvarez was Elder Alcocer. What a coincidence and when Elder Alcocer left the sector with Elder Alvarez, he came to Balzar with me.

Hey, I gotta go! I love you lots and I hope you have a good week!

Love,

Elder Goode

You, too. Be extra GOODE this week!

Love,

Your proud mother

P.S. You know I am always proud of you! This just feels like a very special day for you! Congratulations!!!

Portoviejo Earthquake

Week 18 Portoviejo, March 1, 2010

Hey! So guess what? Yesterday morning, at about five forty-five, we had an earthquake here in Portoviejo. It wasn´t very big, but living on the fourth floor of a building, it did shake pretty good! We got up pretty fast and were getting ready to go down all of the stairs and get out of the building when the earthquake stopped. So I was in the first earthquake of my life.

Hey! Have you put money in my account this month? I am broke and I am going to have to do some interchanges this week, so I need some money. If you haven´t put any money in there, could you, so that I can get it out tomorrow so that I can do the interviews and interchanges that I need to? I am going to send this off and then write President and then we can talk in a bit. I love you lots!

Elder Goode

Hi Curtis,

Sorry, I was in a meeting, so I didn't get this till just now. I will transfer some money to your account today. Scary about the earthquake! Did it do much damage?

I searched on the web and it says the earthquake was 10 miles ESE of Portoviejo, near the coast. It was a 5.3 magnitude earthquake.

Love you lots.

Mom

The earthquake didn´t do any damage here in Portoviejo. It was a little one. The only thing that happened to our house is a plastic bottle of soy sauce fell onto the floor, so nothing happened. Things are going good here. We have a few new investigators, so we have lots of high hopes for the next change. I am going to act like I am going to stay here in Portoviejo and like there aren´t even changes until they tell me I am going. I hope all is going well and I love you all! I don´t have much time left.

Can you play with my email account and figure out what is up? It won´t let me upgrade my account. Try to upgrade it for me. I have no idea what I am doing wrong, but I don´t have time to figure it out. I love you lots. Tell Clain congrats on being so close to sending his call off. Well, I love you lots! Got to go!

Love,

Elder Goode

I will see what I can do. The old email is supposed to still be available for a few months, so hopefully we can figure it out before then. Have a really great week, son.

Love always and forever,

Mom