The Only Good Cat is a Dead Cat!

Week 28 Valencia

Have you gotten your packages yet? I sent them on September 15th, so it has been 27 days.

I got the packages. Thankyou so much! They were great!!! Elder Machuca ate just about all of my jerky, so I think he liked it.

If so, how are the insoles working?

The insoles are amazing! I am using the work insoles, not the walking ones that you sent me. The walking ones made my feet really hot all day long, but the work ones have little air vents in them that keep my feet much cooler and a lot happier, too.

Is there anything you need or want in your next package?

Well let’s hope that the boys get some deer so they can send me some more deer jerky. Tell Clain to be careful with the duck that he grinds up for jerky. I found a BB in the jerky.

Did you ever get the post cards we sent?

Yep, I got a ton of post cards from lots of people. They were all from Island Park and Yellowstone.

Have you mailed my photo CDs yet?

No, I haven´t sorry. I need to call the pouch guy and ask him how I can do it.

Are you going to resend the package for Clain and Skyler?

I don´t think so. I think I will just bring the things home with me and give them the things when I get back.

How much of General Conference did you get to see this time?

I got to see all five sessions. That was really awesome!

What was your favorite talk? Why?

I liked in the Priesthood session I can´t remember who it was but they gave a talk to the sons and to the dads about how they can have better relationships.

Elder M. Russell Ballard's Talk
"Fathers and Sons: A Remarkable Relationship"

You said that the San Martin girls attended conference with you. Which session? Did any of your other investigators attend?

They came in the Sunday morning session. Yep, we had seven investigators that attended the conference, the five San Martin girls and a couple that are friends of Isabel.

About how many people were at each session? One of the other missionaries said that the Sunday morning session was well attended, but the other sessions had very few people. Was it the same in your area?

In the Sunday morning session there was a lot, like four or five hundred and in the rest it depended, but twenty to forty people, but in the priesthood session there was about 100 people there.

Where did you have to go to watch the conference?

We had to go to the stake center in Quevedo.

How is Mosche doing?

I haven´t been able to find him lately he started another job so he is just about never home.

What is happening with Esther and her two daughters?

We haven´t been visiting them recently. She doesn´t want to come to church anymore, so there isn´t anything else that we can do.

Have you heard from Shirley since she left for school?

Yep, she had two weeks of vacation, so she came back to Valencia. So we visited a few times this last week with her. She was in a six week course that was like my Connections class or something like that so they could get used to the university and now she is actually starting to study. But she said that now she has more time on the weekends. Before she would study in the university until five in the evening on Saturdays and now she gets done at one on Fridays, so she said that she is going to be coming back to Valencia just about every weekend, so we should be able to visit with her more often now, but let’s see what happens.

Tell us about Dexy?s friends that you are teaching.

There is Valeria. She has a baptism date for the 31st, but she hasn´t come to church for a couple of weeks, so let’s see what happens. She studies with Dexy. They are seniors in high school right now which is kind of funny because Dexy and I are the same age to the day. And she is a senior still, but ya things happen. She got sick when she was younger and had to drop out of school because of it, but now she is finishing up. There is also Mariana. She is 21. She isn´t studying, just helping out at home and working a little here and there when she can. She hasn´t come to church again either, so we need to visit the both of them, but last week we couldn´t go visit them because of the conference and other things that happened.

What is happening with Dexy’s siblings?

We are trying to get her to introduce us to them, but she still doesn’t want to, so we aren´t pushing things right now.

Do you have any new investigators?

We have found a lot of new investigators with Elder Machuca. We have been knocking a lot of doors so that he knows how to do it. We have also been working with some new inactive families that we have found and we found three girls. They are cousins and the three are granddaughters of a less active woman. So we have been visiting and one of the three came to church Sunday and the young men are doing a good job of being their friends. All of the young men that are fifteen to nineteen are their friends now, because the three are 16 and 17 years old and they are pretty, so we don´t have to worry about them not having friends in the church. Three young men went Sunday morning to pick them up and walked with the one that came to church, so that was pretty cool.

Tell us more about your companion. What is his full name? What does he like to do? Did he attend college before the mission? Is he funny like your other companions from Lima?

I will have to do some investigating to find out his whole name. I have seen it, but I forgot and he won´t tell me right now. He liked to dance and do the whole skatebord and BMX biking stuff, things I really don´t like to do all that much. He likes cats, you know how I feel about cats and when I told him that I don´t like cats he like got all offended, so we will have to work on that, but I still think that the only good cat is a dead cat. He didn´t attend college, but he wants to study Civil Engineering. He is pretty funny, but it bugs me sometimes, like when we are in the bus and the radio is playing, he likes to dance in his seat to the music and that bugs me, but I try to have patience. I haven´t said anything to him yet, but ya, it bugs me.

How did your District Meeting go this past week?

It went good. We talked about the numbers as a district and how we could improve them and then I gave every companionship a copy of their numbers and how they are doing compared to the Standard of Excellence that the mission has. And then we talked about what goals we could put so that we could reach the standard like we should.

How was your Zone Meeting?

Zone Conference was really great. We did a lot of activities and I learned a lot of new things that I need to apply in my teaching now.

Do you handle the mail that comes to the missionaries in your district now? How does that work?

All of the missionaries in my district give me their mail and I make sure that the mail isn´t going to any women inside of the mission, unless they have permission from President. And then I give it to Elder Bejar, the Zone Leader and he packs it up in a box and sends it to Guayaquil. What they do here is they go to the bus terminal and say that they want to send the package to Guayaquil. So they weigh it and pay for it and send it to Guayaquil. In Guayaquil, the pouch guy goes to the terminal and he has to go to the offices of the different lines that the different places send the pouch through and he picks up all of the pouch and takes it to the office. And there he sorts it and sends it where it needs to go, and then he puts our stuff in a box and sends it back the same way it came to us with the stuff that we have asked for.

Did your new glasses fit okay? Did you have to have them adjusted? Is there any place there where they sell glasses that can adjust them?

They fit pretty good I adjusted them a little bit so that they fit better but they fit ok.

Do very many people in Ecuador wear glasses?

There are a lot here that wear glasses. They buy the pre-made ones to read that come in the increments, the ones that you can find in the gas stations, you know.

Are sunglasses a big thing down there?

Yep, but we can´t wear them as missionaries.

Tell us something funny that has happened to you lately.

(no answer)

We would love to hear some of your spiritual experiences. Share some please.

(no answer)

Hi Curtis. It is good to hear from you. Thanks for the answers to my questions. How come you always leave those last two questions blank? We want to hear more of your experiences, funny, spiritual, weird, etc.

I am glad the insoles are working. Do you need more of them for the other pairs of shoes? I couldn't decide which ones would work better for you, so I got two different kinds.

I will tell Clain about the BB. I am sure he included it on purpose so you could have a wonderful reminder of home! Ha! Ha! :)

I am glad that Elder Machuca liked the jerky and I am glad you have learned to share and be nice. It is great training for when you will get married. Your wife will want to share everything with you, even your favorite snacks.

Please make sure you tell your future wife that you do not like to dance! Don't let her be disappointed like I was. I thought your dad sort of liked to dance because we had fun at a couple of dances before we got married. I found out after we were married that he does not like to dance or to hold hands. Be fair and let your future wife know up front that it bugs you. Ha! Ha! :)

I am happy that you are controlling your feelings and not saying anything about the things that bug you. That is also good practice for the future. There are many times when it is better to just keep your thoughts and feelings to yourself rather than risk offending someone. However, you can agree to disagree with your companion about the cats. He can have his opinion and you can have yours and it shouldn't matter since neither of you should be having anything to do with cats while you are on your missions. I guess maybe a few members might have cats in their homes, but you shouldn't be spending your time with the cats, just the people.

I am glad you liked General Conference and that you got to attend all of it this time. It is neat that you had investigators attend with you. I have attached that talk by Elder Ballard on Fathers and Sons. I can send you all of the talks again if you want. Did you use the ones from the last conference?

Did you like the printed ones I did or the Ensign or Liahona best?

Are you able to study them at all or use them in your lessons?

I am glad things are going well with your investigators, or at least some of them. We will continue to pray for them and for you. You need to pray lots, also, for the specific help you need to get them to commit and to feel the spirit. I know the Lord will help you with the work if you put your faith in him and trust that he will do his part if you do your part.

It sounds like you are working hard and being an effective missionary. Set high goals and then stretch yourself to reach them. I would love to see you have a bunch of baptisms during this change. We will keep praying that this will happen for you. Commit them to baptism early and then work hard to make sure they are ready.

We love you so much and we are so very proud of you. I know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are pleased with you. That is a great place to be and a great feeling to know that you are doing what the Lord would have you do. You should have a very peaceful heart as you do their work here on earth knowing that you are worthy and actively engaged in the work.

Love,
Mom

Dexy's Baptism

Week 21 Valencia Emails with Mom

Dear Curtis,

I am so excited to hear about Dexy’s baptism. Please tell us all about it. Who attended? Did her family and friends all come?

No she didn´t want her family to come to the baptism and we haven´t yet had a chance to meet her family but we are going to try and set up an appointment this week.

You said you were teaching some of her siblings, how are they progressing?

We aren´t teaching any of her family yet.

What about her parents?

We aren´t teaching yet this week we are going to try and set up an appointment.

Are they willing to listen? Are you teaching her friends and their families?

Right now we are teaching the family of one of her friends but the problem is they don´t want to come to church because it is a ways away.

You said you were going to baptize her, did you?

Yes

Who did the confirmation?

The bishop

Was she confirmed in church on Sunday?

Yes

How is Isabel doing?

Isabel is doing good she is excited for her baptism this Saturday so things are going really good.

Did she attend church?

Yep she did!

Is she ready to be baptized this week?

Yep! She will have her interview this Wednesday and then Saturday she will be baptized.

Do you have any other investigators who are ready to be baptized?

Right now we don´t, but we are working on it we have a family of five that we are getting ready for baptism, but they are a few weeks out right now.

How is Esther doing?

Esther is doing good she hasn´t been coming to church so we are working on that so that she will come and then when she has been coming to church for three or four weeks she can be baptized without problems so we are just waiting and exorting her to come to church.

Shirley is the one that is going to go to school in Guayaquil and she went last week and she is there right now.

When does she leave to go to Guayaquil for school?

Last week.

What is she going to study there?

She is going to be studying computers and design I think or something like that.

You said you would send us a photo of her.

I took a picture last Sunday, but the problem is I left the camera in the house so I can't send you a picture right now.

How is Mosche doing?

He is doing good he is back with his wife or his girlfriend so we have to help them get married but I don’t know if they want to get married so we will see what happens.

Is he still listening to you on Saturdays and Sundays?

Ya, he still is, but his wife won´t let him come to church. So it is hard for him to progress, so we will see what happens.

You said you have an inactive family that gave you a reference. Are you still teaching them? Tell us more about them, please.

Yep they are the Arias family, a family that consists of the mom and four daughters that are eight or older and three kids one girl and two boys that are younger than eight. They are progressing the mom wants to be baptized so we are working on it. We still need to teach them a lot more before they can be baptized so that is where we are right now.

Tell us more about your companion. What city in Guatemala is he from?

He is from Guatemala city or the capital.

How many are in his family?

There is his mom and dad and then he has his older brother and an older sister and then him and he is the baby in the family.

How long has he been a member?

He has been a member all of his life.

Where did he serve prior to coming to you?

He was in Babahyo for six months and then he came here like I did.

This is Elder Dan Mitton with Elder Mauricio R Hernandez.
Elder Mitton was his trainer in Babahoyo.

Who were his other companions? There was a Mauricio R Hernandez who was companions with Dan Mitton in Babahoyo. I wrote down that Dan was his trainer. Is he your new companion? I am attaching a photo. Is this him? Send us a photo of him if you can.

Yes, he is my companion now. He was with an Elder Mittton, Elder Donoso and an Elder Rodriguez and now with me.

Please take a look at the other photo and my guesses about who each missionary is. Correct it and send it back please.

Please send photos soon. It has been a very long time since you sent us any. We only have a couple of photos since you have been in Valencia. We want to see the people and the places you visit and your apartment and your companions. Please.

Have you received any more packages, letters or cards?

Tell us about the people you are teaching.

I love you so much.
Love always and forever,
Mom

It sounds like you have been very busy. Congratulations on the baptism. I am glad it worked out. Next week, pictures, for sure! Promise me!

What special experiences have you had this week?

I am actually planning on bringing my camera to the cyber and leaving it there and having them put all of the pictures that I have on my cards on a dvd so that I can send it to you, so I think I will drop my camera off a little later today and pick it up tomorrow with the dvd all ready to go. But next week I will have all of the photos in one disk to send you some, ok?

Okay. It has been a very long time since you sent us any. We want to see all the places and people. Thanks.

Are you getting along well with your new companion? What does he like to do? I sent a photo of a missionary I think is him. Is it?

Yes that is him. He likes the computer and stuff like that. I gotta ask him more. He doesn´t like to talk very much, so I don´t know much yet.

You are together all week long. I know you are supposed to focus on the work, but you could ask him a little bit about himself. :)

What spiritual experiences have you had this week? Anything funny?

2009_07_13 Week 15 Valencia Mom

Hey! How is it going? Hey, it sounds like you had a lot of fun on the trip. You know the Mesa Falls that you went to and the Warm River? When I went with Skyler and his family, we went past Mesa Falls and we stopped at Warm River and fished. I didn´t catch anything, but Skyler did, but he said that there was hardly no fish there when we were there. Do you know why the fish liked the dog food best? They are planter fish and the planter fish when they are in the fish hatchery eat a special fish food that looks a lot like dog food, so they are used to eating big brown balls of food, so dog food would be one of their favorites to eat.

Well things are going good here. We didn´t have our baptism because Isabel didn´t want to have her interview, so we will have to wait for another day to baptise her in I think two weeks. We had an interchange to do the interview, so I went to Buena Fe with a new elder that had two weeks here in Ecuador. He is from Argentina. His name is Elder Jimines and his companion Elder Vargas was here in Valencia with Elder Castañeda to do the interview. It was cool. I got to spend the night in Buena Fe with Elder Lopez from Peru and Elder Frye from California. I also bought a tie while I was there. It is a tie of Ecuador. It has the colors of the flag and the symbol. It is really cool. I was thinking there is a member in Buena Fe that is a taylor and I can have him make me a custom suit for 90 dollars, but what do you think?? Everything is going good here. I love you all lots. I hope I hear from you soon.

Hi Curtis,

It is good to hear from you. I am sorry about your baptism. I hope it will go through next time. What seemed to be the problem with having the interview?

Some of the fish in Warm River were really big. It looked like they had been there a long time. There was a guy fishing up higher on the river, but the place we stopped to look at the fish was posted, "No Fishing." The guy would throw a handful of dog food in and the fish would jump all over the place to get it. The bread they sort of sucked under, so you didn't get to see the fish as much. We didn't go to Big Springs. Grandpa Parkinson says there are not too many big fish left up there.

Did you stop to see the falls at Upper Mesa Falls? I thought it was a very beautiful place.

That is cool that you got to go on an interchange and work with a brand new greenie. I have seen photos of Elder Frye. He was in Babahoyo when a bunch of the Elders were there together. Elder Vargas has been out a while. He trained Elder Fuentamavida and an Elder Martinez. He is Elder Tyler Walke's Grandfather. But that seems kind of strange because I believe Elder Fuentamavida has gone home now, so I would have thought that Elder Vargas would have gone home before him. Maybe there were two of them and I have gotten things mixed up. Oh well.

I guess it would be okay for you to have a suit made for you by the member who is a taylor. I think several of the missionaries have done that while they have been there. I know Elder Ogden talked about his suit in some of his letters. The tie sounds really neat. I saw a photo of another elder somewhere who was wearing one like that. I was hoping you would find one along the way somewhere.

Love Always,
Mom

Hey! How are things going? I´ll see what I can do about getting a suit made. I´ll probably have to go next Monday if I want to get one made. This week, we are going to have interviews and Zone Conference. Do you have questions today for me?

I haven't written any up yet. Just tell us what you have been doing and how things are going. What is happening with each of those investigators you talked about last week?

We have been pretty busy here. I am teaching a Jew. He is from Jerusalem living here in Ecuador. He wants to get baptised. The thing that is really cool is I am teaching him in English. His name is Moshe. (That means Moses in Hebrew.) He says that he has been praying like we do to God in the name of Jesus Christ, but the problem that he is having is that his family says that if he joins the church he will be dead to them. But the real problem is that he has a daughter that is one year old. He isn´t married and he hasn´t lived with the mom, but she isn´t a Jew. But she lives the Law of Moses and she says that if he joins our church that he can´t visit his daughter and that is what is the hardest for him. The mom says that it could be dangerous for the daughter if he visits her and teaches her about Jesus Christ. Yeah, it is really hard, but he wants to progress. He wants to learn and that is what is really cool. Shirley still doesn´t have a baptism date and we still don´t have permission. Esther still isn´t baptized. We are having some problems with the Bishop there. He doesn´t want us to baptise her because of the problems that she is passing through. The Cuello family is still progressing and doing well. We are hoping for two weeks from now. Isabel didn´t want to do the interview, so they didn´t do it. That is who we have been visiting the most and helping them to be baptized.

It sounds like you are working hard. It would be a really hard thing to make a choice between the church and your family. In the end, though, you can't have your family in the next life if you don't choose the church first in this life. Is there any chance that Moshe can reconcile things with the mother of his daughter and get married? They they could all join the church and become an eternal family. It is neat that you get to teach him in English. Do you remember how to speak it anymore?

Shirley is a tough one. I hope you read the letter from Alma Clark and the "Lock Your Heart" Talk by President Spencer W. Kimball. He was a wonderful prophet. He was the prophet when I first gained my testimony. I remember him as being such a loving man. Do you think Shirley has a testimony of the church or just a love for you?

Esther will struggle for a long time with young children and no husband. It seems odd that the bishop would not want her to become part of the ward where she can get some help and assistance. Maybe their resources are already tight with the economy being like it is. Maybe he knows more of her background than what you have told me, so there may be other things that are influencing his decision. I guess we should always trust our leaders to know best and hope that they are living in a way to be inspired by the Lord to do what is best for each person.

I am glad your Cuello Family are progressing. I hope that all will work out for you in two weeks. Do you know why Isabel did not want to do the interview? Was she just scared? It might be easier for her if her daughters join at the same time as she does. How is the marriage coming along?

I know it must be frustrating to think you are going to have a baptism and then have it not work out. That has happened to you quite a few times now. Hang in there and keep trying. It will work out eventually.

Are you healthy and happy?

Why did the Zambrano family want to stop listening to your message?

Did Esther's boyfriend leave her because she started listening to the missionaries or did something else happen to drive him away?

Did you get the contact solution? How much? How much did it cost you?

I got a little. It cost a dollar and a half, but it is like 60 ml so it won´t last long, but I´ll keep looking. But if you want to send me a bottle of Aquify that would be fine. Esthers boyfriend is a member of the church. He was baptised when he was nine or ten and then became inactive. He is now 25 or 26. He left because he got another girl pregnant, so he went to live with her. And the Zambrano family stopped listening because the dad said that he was a member of another church and that he couldn´t listen to us anymore, so ya.

I will get some shipped off to you. I might send you several bottles. I will just have to see how it fits in the packages. If I have to use a box rather than the envelopes, I might as well send 4 pounds worth since it will cost the same no matter what the weight. If it will fit in an envelope I will just send one or two for now.

They used to make pills that you could dissolve in purified water that would clean the contacts. I wonder if they still make them. They would be easier to send. I will check.

That is too bad about Esther's boyfriend. It is sad that Satan gets hold of good people and makes them do stupid things. It sounds like one of the local preachers got hold of the father in the Zambrano family and fed him some anti-Mormon information.

I will keep praying for you to be successful. Keep working hard and being obedient so the Lord can inspire you and work through you. I love you so much and I am so very proud of you.

While saving your emails I noticed that your letter to President Gamboa was sent from you to you instead of to him. You might want to resend that letter again.

Ya, I knew that it was sent to me. I forgot my planner so I didn´t have our numbers for the week so I sent the email to me and we went and ate lunch and then came back and I brought my planner so that I could finish the email and send it to president. So I just sent it again.

Okay. That makes lots of sense. What else do you do on your P-days?

We usually go shopping but that is pretty easy when there is a market that sets up every Monday in front of our house, so we buy what we need in the market and then we do internet and we sleep and clean the house and that is about it.

Okay. How much extra sleep do you get on Pdays?

How are you coming on your Maestro? Have you gotten it passed off yet?

You mentioned that you have a Zone Conference. Is that this week? Where?

It depends on the week I usually get an hour extra of sleep. The Maestro is coming along and Zone Conference and interviews are this week. Thursday is interviews and Friday is Zone Conference.

Try to get a good photo of your Zone this time and send it to us. It is always nice to know what missionaries you are working with. Tell the APs to send the photo by email this time. LOL.

Maybe your Mission President can do something to help you with your Bishop to get these investigators baptized. Talk to him about that in your interview if it is appropriate.

Have a really great week and work extra hard to make up the time you will be missing for the Zone Conference. Take photos if you can at the Zone Conference. When are you going to send me some more photos? I want to see your happy, smiling face. Please?

2009_07_06 Week 14 Valencia Mom

I got a new debit card for you in the mail. When does the one you have expire?

I will probably mail the card to you in the regular mail in an envelope. I will try to send it next week. Then I will email you the phone number to call to activate it. You can either activate it from our home phone or there is a different number to call from International locations. It is probably best not to activate it till after you receive it.

Love,
Mom

The debit card that I have expires in August of 2010, so don´t send me the other one, ok? Things are going good here. Sorry for last week. I could enter my email, but I couldn’t send anything to anyone. I didn´t send a letter to the President, either. There were a few that had this problem with their myldsmail accounts last week, so I´m sorry. How is the drive to Island Park? Tell grandma and grandpa hi for me. Email me back and let’s talk, ok?

Hi buddy. We have only made it as far as Lewiston. We got all ready then Grandma said Kavin was only ten minutes away so we waited for him and that took another 25 before he arrived and by the time they went to the restroom and we left Smithfield it was 10:20. Oh well.

Hey, how is it going? Things are good here in Ecuador. We are planning a baptism for this Saturday. It should go through ok. We aren´t planning on having any setbacks with this one. It sounds like you are going to have a fun week in Island Park this week. Make sure you visit all of the fun places and tell everybody hi for me and thank you for the birthday letters. They were great. Send me an email, so we can talk.

You are welcome. How many packages did you get? I just sent you four more for your Hump day with one set of garments in each package.

Hey, you are going to get there a little later than two if you were just leaving at ten thirty, but ya. So how is everything?

It will be good now. Dad was stressed this morning because we were a few minutes later than he wanted to be, but no biggie. When we got to Logan the CNG pumps were not working so we are already running on regular gas. We are going to check in Pocatello. We found a CNG station online. We are just not sure if it is a public station or not. Clain drove the Civic up for Michelle. We planned on leaving it in Smithfield, but had to leave it in Logan at Michelle's apartment in Logan or she would not have had enough CNG to get back to LW's.

Okay on the debit card. I was hoping that was the case. The only problem would be if you end up staying longer for some reason. I will call the bank and talk to them about what to do about this debit card.

Congratulations on the baptism. Tell me about the people getting baptized.

Her name is Isabel Coello. She is 40 years old. She really wants to get baptized. Yesterday we went on splits and Elder Castañeda took her coffee away and she is really excited to get baptised this Saturday. We are also teaching her kids, a daughter that is 14 and another daughter that is 19 with her boyfriend, so we are working on helping them to get married and the other daughter just needs to come to church one more time and she can be baptised.

That is cool. Is this one of the families you told us about earlier? How are those families and the two ladies you were teaching doing?

Who did you go on splits with?

I went with one member and Elder Castañeda with another, so that we could cover more ground.

Great. It is awesome when you can double your time and contacts by doing splits with members. Are the members helping you find a lot of people?

That’s good. I have been busy here in Valencia. I am not District Leader and I am still with Elder Castañeda so everything is good. We are working hard.

That is awesome. You will be district leader soon enough. Is Elder Castaneda wanting to work harder now?

Yeah, we are working very hard and it is paying off.

Some are doing good and others no. The Zambrano family, they don´t want to receive us anymore so they aren’t progressing and Esther is still progressing, but slowly. It is hard. Her boyfriend of 8 years left her with two little girls, one five years old and the other two years old. Last Tuesday, we went and visited her and helped her plant a garden of onions, tomatoes and peppers (they use these three in just about all of the food here), so I took along my new machete to test it out and see how it works. It works great! Just so you know, I´m gonna have to bring a few home to use.

And the other one is Shirley. She is 17 and she is in love with me. I talked to her yesterday and tried to convince her to be baptized, but she said that her mom won’t let her, but that she could be baptised when she turns 18 in November. But I told her I won’t be here in Valencia in November and she said that she won´t be here either, that she is going to Guayaquil to study in the University and that if I was in Guayaquil that she would visit me there and be baptised there. So I asked her what happens if I go to Manta and she said that she would go to Manta, so What do I do???? She is in love with Me!! What do you think?????

Sorry. I lost signal for a while. I got signal back on Clain's phone and now on mine. I don't know what you do about Shirley being in love with you. Do you love her or could you ever love her romantically? If not, don't lead her on. She needs to join the church because she has a testimony. Not because she loves you.

This family sounds wonderful. I will pray that the marriage will work out for you and the other baptisms. Do they all live together in one home?

Yes, they all live in the same house, so it is really easy to visit them and the thing that is really nice is that there is a sister from the church that lives in front of them, so before we visit them, we visit her and she sends us with her daughter to teach them. And then when we get done, we go back to her house and she always has something cooked for us to eat, usually rice and chicken or patacones or something, but there is always something. She loves to cook for us. She calls us to ask us when we are going to come, so she can cook for us. Here in Valencia, the members help us out a lot, some in different maneras, but everything helps.

That is awesome. Good members can make such a difference to the work. Clayton is having lots of success right now because the members are really doing their part to find investigators.

Keep working with Esther. Try to get the Relief Society involved with her. If she makes some friends among the members she will want to progress and feel the love and support of having that sisterhood to draw upon. Does she work?

I knew you would end up with some machetes. I just hope they let you bring them home in your suitcases. Your package has still not arrived. What day did you send it? What were the contents?

I sent a couple of ecuabags that I bought, one for Clain and two for Skyler and Stephanie and a few more sucres and my glasses. One day I was on a split with Elder Janampa and it was raining really hard and I couldn´t see anything in the rain, so I took off my glasses and put them in my shirt pocket. And we were walking and we had to pass for a place that I had to duck really low to pass and my glasses fell out of my pocket and I accidently stepped on them and scratched the lenses all up, so I sent them to you so that you could replace the lenses and send them back to me. I also sent you some candy. It is my favorite from here so far. The flavor is milk and honey. It is really good. I really hope that nothing has happened to the package. I bought the ecuabags in the Mana one day. There was a few from Otavalo that were selling their things and I bought them there. Now the family of Elder Castañeda sent me two more ecuabags from Otavalo, so now I have three, the one in the photo that you have seen and two more.

Okay. I do hope they arrive sometime. Are you wearing your contacts all the time now? How is that working? If the package hasn't arrived when we get home from this trip, I will go and order another pair of glasses for you and get them sent to you. What day did you send the package?

I think it was the 27th of May that I sent them. Right now I am wearing my contacts all of the time and it is going good. The air here in Valencia is a lot cleaner than the air in Balzar was. I just need to find some more solution, but don´t worry. I have some friends that own a pharmacy and they are going to find me some. I need to go ask them today if they have found some because I asked them last week to find some and they said it would take two or three days to find, but I keep forgetting to ask them. I am pretty sure that they have some now, so don´t worry.

That is good. I will still work on the glasses in case you end up in another place with dirty air. I am glad you are able to get solution. You might want to get several bottles if you can while you have friends with access to it.

Right now Esther is not working, but she can´t work because then she would have to pay someone to watch her girls and there goes all of the money that she would earn for the day or most of it anyways. She worked really hard when she was younger and she has a good amount of money saved in the bank and she has been living on that and her family is helping her out, too. We aren’t giving up on her yet. We are still trying. As for Shirley, I don´t know what to do. I don´t know if I could be in love with her or not, but I don´t have time to find out. I have other things that I have to do that are more important.

Good. I am glad you have your priorities in order. Make sure she has your contact info when you leave the area and she can keep in touch when you finish your mission. Have you tried to convince her mom to let her get baptized now?

Yeah, we have and we are going to try again Friday to see what happens.

Okay we will pray that the Lord will soften her heart. Maybe you could fast and pray for that to happen, too. Can you get Shirley and her mom to attend your baptism on Saturday so they can feel the spirit?

Ok. Thanks we are going to fast today, because we forgot to yesterday, but that is what we are going to fast for.

Awesome. The Lord will help you if you exercise enough faith.

Yeah I will see what I can get and let you know next week.

Okay. I can send some if you can't get it. Any luck on finding those people that returned missionary asked about?

What I did is sent them a letter through the pouch. I put that they are in the other stake and sent it. The missionaries in the other stake will know a little bit more and when they deliver the letter the letter has the email address of the return missionary, so I hope they get it. If not, I´ll start asking in the Zone Conference.

Sounds good. I will let the guy know. Thanks.

Still there? I love you. It has been good to chat with you today. I miss that a lot, just the chance to talk to you.

2009_06_22 Week 12 Valencia Mom

Dear Curtis,

I hope you have had a really great week. Were you able to baptize Shirley and Esther? Please tell us about the baptisms.

We didn’t have the baptisms because we couldn’t get Shirley’s mom to sign the form so that she could be baptized. But we are going to try really hard to get the permission this week so that we can baptise her this week.

Did the family Cuella attend church this week? Are they progressing towards baptism?

The familia Cuello, they really aren’t progressing. It is kinda sad, but I think we are going to have to stop visiting them because they aren’t progressing, but we are going to see what happens this week.

Are you teaching anyone else that is progressing well?

We received the reference for the familia Zambrano. The mom is a member, but the father and the six girls aren’t members. There are three girls that are old enough to be baptized, so we have four baptism dates with this family now for July 11th. They really want to learn and to bebaptized, so I think that this family is going to get baptized. I really hope so.

How is Oscar doing? In the photo there is a woman next to Elder Castañeda. Is that Oscar’s mom?

Yes

I think you said she is a member.

Yes

Is she active now?

Yes, but sometimes she doesn’t come to church, because she sells vegetables for a living in the marcet and she sells Sundays, too. But she has hired another lady to sell for her on Sundays,but sometimes the lady doesn’t show up so she has to stay to sell instead.

How is Elder Castañeda doing? Are you helping him to want to work harder?

Yeah, we are working a lot harder now than when we first started. Part of it is that we had Zone Conference and that really motivated us to work harder.

Did you teach any really great lessons this week? Tell us about your teaching.

I taught the first lesson that Clain received to the Zambrano family and they could really understand that they need to pray to find out if the church is true or not.

Did Hermana Gamboa come and inspect your apartment? Some of the other missionaries mentioned it in their emails.

Yeah she came and she inspected. Our apartment is really pretty clean. I wasn’t a custodian for a year for nothing!

Were you able to pass the written test for the Maestro?

I didn’t take the test. I still need to do more activities in “Preach My Gospel” before I can take the test.

How did your interview with President Gamboa go?

It was good.

How long are the interviews?

They are ten minutes or shorter. They aren’t long at all.

Does he teach you anything while you are meeting together?

No. We just talk about what has been happening in the sector, if I have any questions, how our investigators are doing.

What did the Assistants to the President teach you at the Zone Conference?

That we need to invite everyone to be baptized. It was really cool.

Did they take photos of the Zone? Can you send me a photo of your zone?

No, because the Assistants haven’t sent me the one that they took, but when I have it I will send it.

We still have not received your package. I hope it comes this week. I thought for sure it would come last week while Clain was at EFY, and it would be addressed to him so we would have to wait a whole week till he got home, but it didn’t come at all. I mailed three more packages to you on June 8th. They are for your birthday. I imagine they will arrive early, but I would rather you had them early than late. Is there anything you need or want in the next package?

Can you send me three more pair of garments? They are the Drilux and they are large talls in the shirt and the boxer oh and send the ones that have the high neck, not the low neck like dads.

Transfers will be next week again, but I imagine you will probably stay where you are for a while. Did the mission president say anything to make you think otherwise?

I don’t think that I will go anywhere this change, but the Zone Leader, Elder Verastagui keeps saying that he thinks that I am going to be District Leader, so I don’t know what will happen.

Hi Curtis,

Are the garment bottoms Drilux, too? What size are the bottoms? Don't they usually come in a number waist size? I thought you could order them through the mission. It is no problem to send them, though.

I am glad you had a good week, but sad about your baptisms not working out. What happened with Esther?

The bottoms are Drilux, too. They are size 36-38 or large and they need to be tall too. I am pretty sure that the Drilux only comes in boxer bottoms, but double check, because I don’t like the briefs. We can order them through the mission or we could until the President of Ecuador closed the country to imports from Colombia, so the garments aren’t coming into Ecuador. So we can’t order what isn’t here.

Esther went to Guayaquil because her daughter was sick with dengue and was in really bad shape. So we couldn’t baptise her, but we will keep trying to arrange for her baptism.

It is exciting that you might become a District Leader. You will be a great one, I am sure. We are very proud of you. You have had a lot of leadership opportunities, so I know you will be ready for the challenge.

We will keep praying for your investigators by name and hope that it will make a difference. Have you tried fasting for help with your investigators? Sometimes that helps. Lots of prayer and a little fasting will go a long way to helping them progress. We will try to help you from this end. You are always in our prayers. Hard work also goes a long ways, so work till you are dead dog tired at the end of each day. And be completely obedient. When you are following every rule exactly, the Lord will bless you for your faithfulness.

I love you so much. I have to go now and drive to Cache Valley to tend Taylor. I should have left an hour ago. Oh well. I just finally got the chart sent to the printer. It will be awesome. I know Grandma and Grandpa are going to love it. It is not perfect, but it is a labor of love and they will appreciate that.

Have a really great week. I love you so very much and I am so very proud of you and the work you are doing. Take care.

Love always and forever,
Mom

2009_06_15 Week 11 Valencia Mom

Baptism of Oscar Ante Rodrigo Guanotuña on May 23, 2009

Elder Goode, Oscar, Elder Castañeda, and Oscar's Mom

Elder Frye in the back, Elder Castañeda in the front

Well, tell us all about your week. Are your investigators coming along good? Are they going to be ready to be baptized on Saturday? Please tell us more about each one of them. What are their names so we can pray for them?

I have a few that we are teaching. There is Shirley. She is 17 and she is ready to be baptised this Saturday. We are teaching a single mom. She has two kids. Her name is Esther. We are planning on baptising her this Saturday, but we lost contact with her a little bit so we are trying to contact her so that we can plan for her baptism. So we will see what happens. We are teaching another family, the family Cuello or neck in English. There is the mom, her daughter and husband, another daughter and the neighbor girl that we are teaching. They had a baptism date for this Saturday, but they didn’t come to church this Sunday so we can’t baptise them, so we are going to visit them tomorrow and put another baptism date for a later date like the first or second Saturday in July.

How are things coming along with your companion?

Things are coming good. We had Zone Conference this week and now we are being more obedient and trying to follow the rules, so it is going really good.

Did you have any investigators to church today? Do you teach them in a Gospel Essentials class?

We had investigators in the church, but we didn’t teach them because this Sunday was the Sunday to vote, so we only had the Sacrament Meeting.

How did Zone Conference go?

Zone conference was really good. We learned that we need to commit all people to be baptised as soon as possible when we meet them. So now we need to put it into practice so we can see how well it works. I think that it will work really good because the more people that we are inviting to be baptized, the more people that will accept and the more people that will be baptised.

You said you were going to send some videos.

I haven’t sent them yet, but I’ll work on it. Ok?

Are your packages all arriving okay?

Yeah my packages are getting here fine. They haven’t been opened at all lately, so that is a good thing and everything gets here just fine.