Merry Christmas!

Hola Familia!!

First off, I love talking to you guys. Love love love. I had a huge smile on my face all day on Friday. That was without a doubt the best Christmas present I could ever ask for. Man, why are you guys so cool? It sure makes being away a bit harder. But... at least we got to talk. It really really sure made me happy :)

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! To be honest, Christmas isn’t a very big thing down here. It’s sad because most of the people we asked said they weren’t going to do anything for Christmas... just a normal day. (Makes me grateful for fun family traditions). But.. it was still a good day, and I definitely got to focus more on WHY we have Christmas and the amazing gift of Christ’s birth and atonement.

Homemade Christmas in Ecuador

My companion was really excited for Christmas because she wanted to learn how we do Christmas in the United States. She said that she always sees cool Christmas in movies, but other than that, she hasn’t really celebrated much either. So a few days before, we went and bought colored paper... made a tree, stockings, and bought candy for each other. I even found M&Ms and Skittles so I got something American! Whoot. (So mom, don’t worry. I did get something for Christmas and when the package gets here it will be an even bigger plus :))

This week we also had a baptism to end our month of White Christmas. A kid named David who has had a super hard life. Grew up without parents and has lived all over the place. At the end of the baptism, he bore a really strong testimony, and I could just see in him how much the gospel has changed his life. Really, really inspiring.

Baptism!

We were also super blessed this week to find a really awesome family of four.. That’s the number of people we’ve decided to pray for in this sector, and we had a lesson with a family that has so much potential. The grandma of this family is a member and both the mom and dad said that they want to find more to life and more peace in their day to day living. We had a lesson with a great couple in our ward and we’re really excited to go back to visit them. I know Heavenly Father answers prayers!

A few random things that I’ve realized from the past few weeks...

-Our ward mission leader here is exactly like the Polynesian guy from 50 first dates that has a glass eye. He has a twin!

-People here are trying to catch onto the whole fry sauce thing because at every meal there is a bottle of ketchup and a bottle of mayonnaise. Maybe one day they’ll realize that putting them together is much easier :) But it sure makes me happy because fry sauce is my favorite!

-Now instead of only not having water at night, we randomly don’t have water in the morning and during the day. That can make things interesting...

-My companion got sick yesterday, so we had to go home early so she could rest. I read the book Our Search for Happiness, and loved reading more about what we as a church believe. I also realized that it was the first time I’ve finished a book all the way through in quite a while. That was exciting :)

-Things here in Otavalo are really tempting to buy. We went to this open air market today and I could have spent all the money I brought with me. I guess it’s especially hard because when people see an American walking through they automatically assume you have a lot of money and offer you everything in their stand. But I was strong and only ended up buying one bag :)

HEAVENLY banana split!  I have found my new favorite ice cream place!

Oreo Ice Cream with Oreos!  I gave myself the BEST present for Christmas! :)

But on a more important note, like I said earlier, I hope everyone had a great great Christmas. I found a quote this week in the Christmas Liahona that said "Christmas isn’t one day or one season. But it’s a condition of your heart and of the mind". Although we have one day designated to Celebrate Christmas, I know without a doubt that it’s a message we need every single day of our lives. That Christ lives. That he was born, died, and lives again so that we have hope for a better future. So that we know that in times of heartache, sadness, homesickness, happiness, and success, there is someone who knows exactly how we feel. I have held onto that knowledge a lot on my mission and that’s why I am here. To share that joy with people who don’t know that they are loved and understood.

Thank you thank you for all of your examples and support. Love you and hope you never forget how important each one of us is to the Lord.

Talk to you soon!!!

Hermana Yorgason

It's Christmas Time!

Feliz Navidad Familia and Amigos!!

My favorite week of the whole year is here and what makes it 10x better is that I GET TO SKYPE MY FAMILY!!! Oh man you guys, I am super excited for Friday. Can’t wait to talk to you, and hear your voices. I already know 45 minutes is going to FLY. But get your questions ready and man, really just can’t wait. 

Well.. on the note of exciting things... completed my first week in my new sector. And it was a great week! At times it was long, and very tiring... because new people, new area, and lots to learn. I literally felt dead every night when we got to our house, completely exhausted, but I’ve just decided that that’s mission life for ya. It makes the eight hours of sleep heavenly. (The sound of the alarm isn’t so heavenly. You guys know how me and mornings are:)) But yes, all in all, great first 7 days.

So.. to explain a little bit about my new sector. I’m in Otavalo (which is the area in the mission that everyone wants to be). This place is how I imagined Ecuador. Like I said in my last letter... its a lot less city than my last sector. There are lots of dirt roads, pigs, people with long skirts, blouses, hats, carrying kids, animals or food on their backs with some kind of big scarf. It’s a super cool culture :)

The bishop's wife and me.  This is what most of the women here wear...and I love it!!
I promise I don't usually look so tall.  Don't know why I do here...

My area is HUGE. I left a ward that had 6 missionaries, to now only my companion and I. I don’t think I’ve seen all of my sector yet, but I know it takes more than 30 or 40 minutes to ride the bus to other side. It makes it somewhat hard to plan and organize our time, but at the same time it’s great because we definitely won’t run out of people to teach :)

It is sooo pretty here. It reminds me a bit of Guatemala.. green mountains, trees and fields. Our area also surrounds a huge lake which you can see from almost anywhere. The mountains are beautiful (sorry Utah, you’ve been beat). Which.. also means lots of walking and good leg workouts during the day :) I haven’t gotten a really good picture yet of all of the great views, but I’ll try this week.

It is also very unsanitary here. Haha, I’ve decided that if I can live here, my immune system will be able to take on anything. (Don’t worry, I’m trying to be careful and use my hand sanitizer often :)) But for example... we were in a lesson a few days ago. The mom of the family was on her porch with us cutting meat and there were flies everywhere. Literally. I had to try really hard to ignore them and not swat them off every part of me. And.. I had to try really hard not to think about everything (all of the germs) that were being spread... everywhere. The next day we went to a family’s house for our lunch. They brought out the food (rice, potatoes and chicken:)) and when I went to eat the chicken.. or whatever it was (haha probably not chicken), I saw that there were tiny hairs all over it. Inside and out. So.... my companion and I got really good at throwing pieces of meat to the dogs right as no one was looking. People here feed you lots and get offended if you do eat it all, so you either throw it, hide it, or just scarf it down. But we are blessed that every day we get at least one meal with the members. I’m learning to eat what I’m served… and not think about all the carbs that are going into my body :)

Something else here is that everyone has long hair. The girls and the boys. Sometimes I have to be really careful, especially with the little kids so I don’t mix them up. So far so good.

The community the we're in goes to sleep really early. At about 8, the streets are empty and everyone is inside.

I’ve also found once again that just because you’re on the equator doesn’t mean it’s going to be hot. It’s freezing here!! During the night I sleep with tons of blankets, sweats and a sweatshirt and we always are bundled up during study time in the morning. I actually would rather be cold than super hot though, so I don’t mind it too much.

I went to the ward for the first time yesterday and got welcomed by being asked to give a talk in sacrament meeting. First talk in Spanish... without a microphone (don’t know exactly what happened), but I felt like I had to yell for everyone to be able to hear. I got to speak on missionary work.. obviously I have lots to share about that.. But it wasn’t bad. I was really blessed to be able to talk and say pretty much what I was needing to say in Spanish. I have a super strong testimony that the Lord really steps in to help when we need it and when we seek for the Spirit.

We’ve seen lots of potential in our area this week. When I got here, the area book was almost none existent and there was lots of confusion with the investigators, but we’re excited to visit who we can find and really help this ward out. We saw miracles every single day. So many people are stepping in to help and most importantly, the Lord is helping us find the people we need to in this sector.

I really can’t wait for this week. Skype, Christmas lights, sharing the story of Christ, and studying about His life. Obviously, not being with family during Christmas is different.. A little sad. But honestly, I have been so blessed to be able to see past the gifts, the ice cream, the snow, and realize how important the Savior is. Sometimes in the business of life, I think its easy to forget why we even have Christmas. I am so grateful for the knowledge that we have a Savior. Someone who knows us, loves us, and died for us so that we can improve and return to our Father in Heaven one day. I am so happy to be in His work. Reading about His life makes me realizes that our sacrifices here are so small compared to what He did, but we can show our love for Him by helping and serving those around us.

I hope you all have a fantastic week filled with fun, family, and the light of Christ. Thank you for your example.

Love you all and can’t wait to talk to you on Friday!!

Hermana Yorgason

Transfers!!

Hola Familia!!!

I don’t have loooaadds of time today, but I’ll try and write as much as I can... And you can all at least know I’m alive. And happy.

So yes, transfers came. Whether we wanted them to or not. They’re always a little sad, but a lot exciting... just to see what’s going to happen and all. My companion is staying and I... am getting transferred to Otavalo. A small city called San Pablo.

I don’t know much so far, but this is what I DO know. My companion’s name is Hermana Choque, from Bolivia. She’s been here about a year and just opened up this sector the last transfer.

Otavalo... is completely different from where I’ve been. It’s like leaving Salt Lake City to go to Preston, Idaho (relatively speaking). 

The people that live there wear these cool outfits (blouse/Skirt/shoes/necklaces) that cost a fortune but are super cool and indigenous looking.

Some apostle (somewhere, sometime) said that the people in this part of Ecuador are the people most closely related to indigenous people in the Book of Mormon that there are. YES. I’m going to teach the Laminates!

I also can judge this place from what Hermana Sanchez told me after we found out where we were going... "All I gotta say is you’re not going to get hit by cars... You’re going to get hit by pigs and cows."

So... I’m a bit nervous, but really excited. Saying goodbye to some of the members and recent converts was sad yesterday. Its crazy how close you can get to people in a short amount of time. But here we go.. It will be an adventure.

Saying goodbye :(

We had some pretty cool experiences this week. One in particular. Our president gave us a challenge to find and teach FAMILIES. He told us to pray as a companionship, pick and number, and pray to find a family of that number. Hermana Sanchez and I were way excited about this. We both felt good about 5. It was so cool throughout the week because we talked to so many people who ended up having 5 people in their family. And I KNOW that’s not a coincidence. Its so cool to see how Heavenly Father puts people in our path and is looking out for all of his children. Even though I won’t be their to teach them.. I’m excited for that. I know that the gospel blesses FAMILIES so much!

A quote that I loved from the talk "How to be A Consecrated Missionary". "Whatever the world throws at you, throw back a smile because you know you have the gospel of Jesus Christ." Throughout these 5 and 1/2 months, I’ve had some tough moments. A mission is just hard sometimes. But I’ve seen that nothing is too difficult if you have the gospel of Jesus Christ. I’ve seen this in myself, and I’ve seen this in other people. I really have had times of complete happiness, where I can throw a smile out there, because I know that I have been blessed with this knowledge. 

Packing and Christmas hats!

Thank you to everyone who writes and supports me. I love you all and have a great week!!!

Love Hermana Yorgason

December

Hi Family!!!

Happy December! Ah this is my very favorite time of the year. Thank you for your letters, support and love this week.. as always. So very grateful to hear that you guys are doing well and that Heavenly Father is truly looking out for you. I pray for you everyday and I am so so grateful to know that life is going on, and you guys are happy.

This week... was probably the fastest week so far of my mission. It flew! And we had a few extra devotionals, meetings, (and a party:)), so that could be part of the reason. We also had a baptism this week which was so so good! I’ll talk about that in a little bit..

One of the highlights of this week — our zone conference/Christmas party. For Christmas, President and Sister Richardson invite each zone to their house for a dinner, talking and some games. They have to get through lots of zones, so they start early, and lucky us, we got to go on the 3rd of December so we’ll be in the Christmas spirit the whole month :) Man, I love every single time that get to be around my mission president and his wife. They have such a special spirit about them, and make me want to be more like that. Hermana Richardson is one of the sweetest people I have ever met in my entire life, and has a love for every single one of us. She makes us ALL feel like we’re the most important.. Not quite sure how :)

So before going to their house we had a short zone conference in the stake center. We talked about what it means to be a consecrated missionary and also watched the Christmas clip from the church. Loved it!! The whole month of December we’re passing out cards with this website on it, and I’ve loved getting to talk to people about Christ and the true meaning of Christmas. 

Anyway, after this, we walked to President Richardson’s house and wow, so beautiful. Like I said in my letter last week, there’s just something about being in a home with a great family that is so special. We had great food!! (Thanks to Hermana Richardson. Moms seem to know how to make EVERYTHING taste good!) It was so fun to see some of my great friends there (including Hermana Nielson and Hermana Pingree). We had dinner, sang Christmas songs, Hna Richardson made us all an ornament, took pictures, and did a white elephant gift exchange. Ha that was a blast. The night before, my companion and I didn’t have time to buy anything because we were in a lesson, so right before we ran to a gas station and bought lots of candy bars (American ones!!!). Haha I actually just wanted my own gift so bad, but I got some medicine and a band-aid from the mission nurse, so I’m probably better off anyway :) We also played Christmas songs with color coded bells (kind of like our chimes at home!!) I don’t think it sounded quite as good as it does at home, but nonetheless... super fun :) It was weird because we were gone from our sector all day! But we enjoyed it. 

The other highlight of my week. Our baptism on Saturday. Ok.. meet Guido (see picture below). I know I’ve talked about him in a few of my other letters, but he is my favorite, and it was a special day on Saturday to see him be baptized. We actually found him all the way back when I was with Hermana Mortera, so we’ve been teaching him for quite awhile. I have seen such a big change over these last few months. Guido is in a wheelchair (from a swimming accident about 10 years ago), he lives alone, sells chocolate bars to earn money, and is one of the happiest people I know. His life is difficult. So so very difficult, but he has such faith that the Lord will bless him if he does what is right. He is one of my very favorite people to visit. He plays us music on his little flute that he made, we always end up buying a chocolate bar, and every time he wants me to help him practice his English. 

Our recent converts.  They are the funniest people I know. :)

Saturday. I couldn’t have asked for it to go better. Even though we don’t have a phone right now, and there were SO many things to coordinate, (including HOW to do the actual baptism) so many people stepped up to help and the spirit was really strong. I’m happy for him. Happy because I can see how much the gospel has affected his life and how much he LOVES the Book of Mormon! He is definitely an inspiration to a lot of people here in our ward!!

I’m also so happy because I got to see his baptism before transfers. Yes, that’s how missionary work goes... some teach, others baptize.. its like a big group effort. And I love that. But this baptism was extra special to me. So I was very grateful to be here for it. Yep, transfers are this Sunday night and I’ve been here in this area for awhile so most likely I’ll move somewhere else :( But I guess we’ll see. I’d be happpppyy to stay but, getting to know another part of Ecuador sounds great also. We’ll see.

I learned lots in our zone conference. Lots and lots. I recommend EVERY missionary to read that talk. It really changed my perspective of what Heavenly Father wants of us, and how I can improve to be totally dedicated and focused on my mission. Here are a few of the highlights.... One quote that I loved from the talk said… "One day we need to not only read the stories in the Book of Mormon, but live them." It talked about consecrating ourselves, not only on our mission, but all of our lives, and doing what the Lord wants from us. A good indicator of our conversion is when our will is the same as the Lord’s will. Then we need to LIVE the story of Nephi, Enos, Moroni and look for what the Lord wants from us. I really loved that thought. Especially when I think of Mosiah 3:19 that talks about the natural man being an enemy to God. And it’s pretty easy to follow the natural man. But what we are here to do, is overcome those desires and look for what the Lord wants from us. Definitely something we can always be working on.

We also got to watch a small part of the Christmas devotional last night. I didn’t hear much, but I did feel the spirit and realize once again... how important the birth and life of Christ is. 

So so grateful for this gospel and the things I’m learning. Love you all lots.

Hermana Yorgason

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hi Family!!

Happy happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as it looks like you did in all the pictures! I can always count on you guys to have a blast, invent new games, and have fun doing whatever it may be :) My idea is that we can start planning a big thanksgiving party for two years down the road. Everyone in for that? Sweet.

My Thanksgiving, obviously, was a little different than most other years, but we had a great time and I DEFINITELY realized what I’m grateful for. There’s just something about being in a third world country that helps you see how blessed you are really fast. Here they call it Dia de accion de gracias... and again obviously, they don’t celebrate it here. I was actually not expecting to do anything that day. Most of the missionaries in our zone didn’t do anything, just a normal day of work. But... were lucky enough to be in a ward with two American families and they invited all six of us from the ward over for a big Thanksgiving dinner. HAPPY HAPPY DAY! I think our dinner was about identical to what we always have at home.. Potatoes, turkey, salads, fruit, rolls, stuffing, pie, pie and a ton more pie. I don’t think I’ve been so stuffed on my mission, but oh it was so worth it. (Mom, we ate this chocolate, peanut butter, Oreo pie, and I think one of the moms is going to send it to you. Make sure you save the recipe because I want to make it with you when I get back!) Anyway, it was such a fun night (I’ll attach some pictures). We talked about families, the gospel, how much we love Ecuador, but how different things are than our homes, and we all went around and talked about the things were grateful for. It honestly reminded me a lot of being with our family.. happiness, talking, and food. 

Thanksgiving with an American family

You guys, I am so grateful for so many things. Being here in Ecuador for the last 4 months has made me thankful. So so thankful. I know that sometimes being home, living the day to day life, it’s easy to get comfortable with what we have. That happened to me. I’d like to think that growing up, through high school and during college I was grateful, but I don’t think I’ll ever quite look at life the same. We are SO Blessed.

Obviously if nothing else, I have come to realize how completely grateful I am to have the family that I do. Family.. thank you. For your example, support, love. I’ve seen so many people with no family here, and boy, have I been given some of the best.

I’m also grateful for email... (surprise surprise:))

I’m so grateful for beds!

I’m grateful for the opportunity to have perspective. That we know why were here in this life and that every trial we have is for our growth

Grateful for ice cream :)

Grateful for the companion that I have

I’m grateful to have a clean house

I’m also so grateful to know that we have opportunities where we live. Opportunities to learn, meet great people, have and raise a family in a good environment

I’m grateful for hot showers

I am especially grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ. For the opportunity to repent and improve after every mistake we make. I am so so grateful to know that our goal is to become like Christ and one day see Him and our Heavenly Father.

And I’m so so grateful to have the opportunity that I have to be here in Ecuador sharing the gospel. It has made ME so happy, seeing other people so happy. Not only this, but I’m grateful that we can share the gospel for the rest of our lives. By our words and by our examples.

Of course... this is only part of the list I made in my journal, but wow, we have lots to be grateful for. During companionship study this week, my companion made a comment that I really liked. She said... yes, we have so much to be grateful for, but even if we had nothing, I want to be the kind of person who finds gratitude and happiness from keeping the commandments of God. We DO have so many things, but I know that the happiest we will ever be is when we are doing right... when we can feel confidence that we’re trying to follow the Lord. I really liked that thought.

Family Night making cookies

So.. back to the beginning of the week, we had a great family night on Monday with Familia Cheme. We wanted to do something fun, and different than the norm. So mom... thanks to you and the cookie mix you sent, we had a lesson about reading, praying and attending church, and when we combine these three things, our testimonies are so much stronger, better, "more delicious" and complete. (Using the egg, butter, and mix as these three things). Afterward, we baked the cookies, and decorated them with the cookies and frosting you also sent. So so fun, and the kids were loving it. They were sad that we only had one package of cookies to share :) But thank you mom!!

Saturday we had a really cool lesson with one of our ward missionaries. (Have I mentioned that we have some really strong, awesome recent converts?) We went with a girl named Tatianna, who was only baptized a year ago, and she’s working on her papers to leave on a mission. Man, her testimony is so strong. She comes from practically nothing, and she’s the only member in her family. She bore her testimony that night on how she knows without a doubt that the church is what will bring us happiness. She’s had a lot of people in her work make fun of her and has lost some good friends because she joined the church. She talked about the opposition from satan, that not everyone is going to agree with us, but its because it is true. She told me later that even though her family aren’t members right now, she knows that they will join one day. She is such an example of faith. Wow.

Thank you thank you for your letters and love. I am so grateful for you guys! 

Love Hermana Yorgason

Thank You, Thank You

Hi Family and Friends!!

Looky here, its another Monday! This week I received letters from so many people that I love, so thank you thank you to everyone who wrote me (or who has written me in the past). I love hearing about everything going on at home, what you’re all learning, etc, etc. I’ll try and reply to as many as I can, but just know that I love and appreciate you all!!

Lots of great things this week! I’ll try and mention all the highlights...

First of all, for P-day we got together as a zone and played soccer, watched Meet the Mormons, and ate hot dogs and cake. Such a fun day to relax a bit, talk about life, the missionary work, and man, I have some great friends in my zone! An hermana (who is also serving in my ward) is from Morgan, Utah, and we just clicked. I really am meeting people here that I think will be my friends for life. Also as you can imagine with a group of missionaries watching Meet the Mormons, I don’t think there was a dry eye in the room at the end as we watched the story of the missionary and his mom. (To anyone who hasn’t seen that movie, watch it! It’s so so good). But I was reminded once again at how blessed we are to have the gospel in our lives and be able to share that with others.

I had a few lessons this week where I got to help people with English. Earlier in the week we met a man and his wife in a cafe that we were eating at. He saw that I spoke English and asked if I could help him sometime with his homework for his university class. And of course, I was super excited about that. One.. because I love being able to help people translate and learn English. And two... because its also a great way to get into their house and start talking about the gospel. :) We had a lesson with them, and they had lots of questions.. seem to be pretty Catholic, but we left them with a pamphlet and they want us to come back this week, so we’ll see how that goes. I’m always grateful for all the little ways that Heavenly Father puts people in our path. 

The Toapanta family.  Lots of cute kids!

Not exactly sure why, but this week was attack of the Ants. Wednesday night we got home from the day, went to the sink to fill our water bottles, and wow... Ants EVERYWHERE. It was quite the surprise and we didn’t know exactly where to start. So... my companion ran into the other room to look for some sort of spray, and I grabbed our laundry brush to start killing them. I leaned up against the counter to reach all the way to the wall (and I guess didn’t think that through too well) because when I stepped back, there were ants crawling all over my shirt and arms. That wasn’t the best feeling in the world. But... haha actually kind of funny as I tried to shake all of them off. We learned that tick spray apparently works for ants also, and that its not a good idea to leave all your newly washed dishes on the counter. But no worries, We wake up each morning, spray more, kill more, and I think we now finally have it under control.

Right now we’re teaching a family who have so much potential. Their name is the Familia Cheme and have a baptismal date for the 19th of December. They’re in a really hard situation because they’re having a hard time being able to get married, which of course is one of the requirements for baptism. The mom comes to church every single week with her three little boys and has one of the strongest testimonies I have ever heard. We visited her this week and she told us how much this church has changed her life. That she has never felt so much peace and been so happy. She just opened a restaurant in her house to try and earn extra money, but considering that there’s a restaurant or cafe on every single street, it makes it really hard to earn any money. But.. she has so much faith and knows the Lord will bless her. I’m learning lots from this family!

We also have been working a lot with Guido and he finally has another baptismal date! (He’s the one that I’ve talked about before who is in a wheelchair and lives solo) But... he has so much faith and optimism. One of the challenges we have with him is helping him find transportation every Sunday to get to the church and back. His wheelchair doesn’t fold up, and most people here don’t have cars, so that makes it a bit tricky. It has been amazing to watch the ward step up and help out with whatever they can. Almost every week we have been able to find someone who is willing, and right now the bishopric is putting together a schedule of people who can switch off being in charge of his transportation. On Sundays at church, so many people have introduced themselves, taken time to talk to him, make jokes with him, wheel him around to his next class, and I am honestly amazed at the kindness I’ve seen. Compared to when he’s at his house with literally no one, its so cool to see how happy he is surrounded by church members.

As for food this week... I found my new favorite plant. Called Cedron (I actually don’t even know if it exists in America) but it smells like mint and lemon. People use it to make a drink here... boil the cedron, add sugar, and ah, I had that many times this week. Also yesterday, we had steak, potatoes, and a chocolate fountain with apples, strawberries and bananas. Yes, in Ecuador. Ah, I literally was in heaven. That was a great meal :)

Because December is almost here, our mission president has set the goal for everyone of us to make it a "white Christmas". We’re trying extra hard and setting an extra amount of goals to help as many people as we can enter the waters of baptism this next month. It’s been cool to work on this as a mission and really focus on the true meaning of this time of year. We’ve been super blessed in this area and have quite a few people who are working towards baptism. I just have a feeling that I’m going to get transferred before most of them actually get baptized. But... that’s really ok, because seeing the change in them along the way is the best part. So... while you guys have lots of snow, were trying hard to see lots of white as well. 

My ponderize scripture for this week is 3 Nephi 13:31-33. "31. Therefore, take no thought, saying, what shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32. For your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."

This is definitely something I’m working on.. but I have such a strong testimony that if we try our best to be obedient, serve and love others, the Lord will strengthen us. If we are truly putting God first in our lives, everything will be good. And if its bad, it will be FOR our good.

Thank you all for your support and love! Talk to you in a week!!

Hermana Yorgason

Wedding Week!

Hola Hola!!!

Man, sounds like such a great week. And such a great day on Saturday. Tanner and Lexi... I’m so happy for you guys. It still is all a little weird and surreal that you’re actually married, but everything looked beautiful!!! My companion and I were sure thinking about you throughout the day. We even wore your colors to celebrate, wrote you a sign and carried it with us throughout the day. (Sorry that’s all we could do:)) but thoughts were coming your way from Ecuador! All I can ask now is Luke, please don’t get married. I think I should be safe now, but we’ll see what more surprises come my way :)

This week was another good one. Being on a mission really does make me appreciate other missionaries I know, and especially the missionaries we read about in the scriptures. We had a few funny moments this week where we tried to contact someone, asked how they were, what their name was, and we just got a... why are you talking to me look and something like "I don’t want to tell you that" or "why do you want to know". First of all, it makes me realize what I DON’T want to do, and that I always want to be pleasant to people, even if I don’t know them. It also made me realize how lucky we are when we DO find people who are accepting and talk to us. I find so much strength reading about Ammon and Amulek and Aaron in the scriptures and see that they "continued in their afflictions with faith". I am sure that their mission was 10 times harder than mine (especially considering the fact that some of them were thrown in jail and not given food). I love reading about their faith.

Every Wednesday here in our ward we have a "Noche de Hogar" (family night) in the church with people from the ward. In many of the past weeks its been kind of unorganized. Not very many people come... people forget they’re in charge, or tell us when we get their that we’re in charge of a lesson, games and food. (We’ve gotten good at thinking of things fast). Little by little we’ve gotten more people to come and this last Wednesday turned out so good. The young womens’ leaders gave a little thought about agency, a few scriptures, had some great empanadas and played do you love your neighbor. Everyone that was there loved it and more than anything, it really helped strengthen the relationships of people in the ward. We also had a few investigators come and they told us later that they want to come every week. Wahoo. Like I said last week.. so grateful for great and responsible ward members.

The daughters of one of our old investigators :)

This week we got to teach a lesson in English!! One of our recent converts is learning English in school and wanted to practice with us. My companion is learning English too, so that morning in study I helped her think of a few sentences to say, we found a few scriptures, and it actually went really well! To be honest, it was a bit hard to teach about faith and repentance in English. That doesn’t mean that my Spanish is perfect either.... it just means now I don’t know WHAT language I speak. Haha, we had fun with it though.

Again this week, lots of lessons, and LOTS of walking. We have a few more people with baptismal dates and some that really have potential. A few of the people we have been teaching have shared with us how much more peace they can feel now that they are reading the scriptures and praying, and once again, it is so amazing to see how the Gospel of Jesus Christ can change our lives. Sometimes I wish I could just push all these spiritual experiences into their hearts, so they could feel and understand. But this week we’ve worked a lot with looking for the needs of the people we are teaching so they can really have a testimony for themselves, not just rely on the missionaries.

We learned how to make fried bananas this week. Called Maduro. I actually didn’t like them in the CCM.. but ah now I love them. I’ll have to make you guys an Ecuadorian meal when I get back. Chicken, rice, a fried egg, avocado and a fried banana. Yum huh? Haha, I’ve learned to love it. 

Making Maduro with one of the members.  (Fried bananas!)

I was so lucky this week and received TWO packages. Shoutout to mom and grandma! Thank you guys so much!! There were lots of jealous people around me because packages on the mission are like gold. I was sure happy to eat some American candy again! Grandma (and all the girl cousins)… Thank you thank you for all the bags and toys for kids here in Ecuador. I’ve already given some to kids that we’re teaching and have seen many smiles :) It really is so humbling to see some of the families here, and you guys are really helping to make a difference. Love and miss you all!!

This week I read a lot in the war chapters in the Book of Mormon. It made me think a lot about preparation. If only we could all prepare ourselves like Moroni prepared his armies.. I think we’d be set :) Obviously we aren’t in a war right now with weapons and armor, but I think our "battles" are may be just as hard, because they’re disguised and against the adversary. I know without a doubt that our test in our day is to PREPARE ourselves for these wars by reading the scriptures and praying. Again, so grateful that there is ALWAYS something that we can apply to our day from the scriptures. 

Love love love you guys! Thank you to everyone who writes me. Have a fantastic week!!

Hermana Yorgason

Third Transfer, Week 1

Hello Family and Friends!!!!

Another week here in Cumbaya! I’ve decided that time on the mission is such a weird thing! Days feel like weeks, weeks feel both like days and months, and months feel like days. Its very strange... But its crazy that its already November! Definitely does not seem like that! Probably because its not snowing here and Thanksgiving isn’t a thing. But either way... Happy November to you all. Happy Anniversary Tyler and Breiyon, and... good luck EVERYONE this weekend with the wedding!! Wow - wow. I’ve decided that this time around is going to be a lot easier than the last one and I’m just excited to hear all about it next Monday! Take lots of pictures!

This week had some high highs and a few of learning and patience. The moments of learning and patience... We’ve found that one of the biggest problems here is trying to find people home. Like I’ve said before, we have PLENTY of people to teach. Many many investigators that could progress. But we set appointments, walk to their houses and maybe more than half the time they aren’t there. At times I felt myself get frustrated, but my companion and I decided two things 1. We’re just getting more exercise. Whoopee. and 2. The Lord sees every sacrifice and will help us if we continue to be diligent. Something that I’ve learned these past few weeks is that the numbers are not the most important things. We’re really gonna work this week to plan, call, and then just give it all we’ve got.

All the Hermanas in our district.

My new companion got to the bus station late on Monday night, and then we rode another bus for a few hours to our sector. So... we’ve been together for a week, and I really like her. A ton. Her name is Hermana Sanchez, from Guatemala, like I said last week, and 20 years old. She’s kind of shy, but super funny, and so so loving. It’s actually been really good for me because I’ve had to kind of step it up to introduce to her everyone, help her get to know the sector. She is one of the best teachers that I have been with.. teaches so clearly and her testimony is super powerful. Wow, I’m already learning lots. And good news... She likes ice cream too, so I think we were meant to be companions.

POURING RAIN! You can't really tell, but man, it was strong!  We were soaked!!

Again, lots of rain this week. We actually have a mission song, and part of it explains it very well. "Caminamos en calor or lluvia...." One second there is hot sun, and the next second we feel like were in a shower. No joke. We had to cross the street after a meeting and I felt like a pioneer in the Sweetwater. We sure get DRENCHED. But I love it. It makes it fun and... it means more people offer us bread and hot chocolate, so that’s a plus.

This week we worked a lot with one of the ward missionaries in our ward. His name is Esteban, and man, he is such a strong kid. He was only baptized five months ago, but is more active than most of the members. He’s always at our missionary meetings, is always willing to come teach lessons with us and has such a strong testimony! I think many times its more powerful than us, because its easy for people to see missionaries as "not real", but he is from here, living a normal life like everyone else. Being a missionary, I’ve gotten to see a lot of "behind the scenes” things that people do in their callings and it has really made me want to go the extra mile. Members are soo helpful and being in a helpful ward like this is so nice! I’ll attach of picture of Hna Sanchez, Esteban, and I one night while we were walking to an appointment :)

Esteban, me and Hermana Sanchez

This week we also had interviews with President and trainings with the APs and Hermana Richardson. Ah, I always love meeting like this because it gives me an extra boost in our day to day work. Hermana Richardson gave a lesson on the Brother of Jared, their barges, and their faith. Every time she talks, I am just amazed at what I learn. And I learned, once again, that we are given our situations as opportunities to develop faith in the Lord. The the way we can show our faith is praise Him and give Him thanks, EVEN in the middle of our trials.

Don’t have much time left, but that you EVERYONE for your support and love!!! Have a super week!!!

Hermana Yorgason

Hermana Hull and Halloween

Dearest FAMILIA!!!!

Sounds like another great week for all of you. I can’t believe its already November. Whaattt?? Ah, but this is the best time of the year. Thank you for keeping me updated on football, Halloween, wedding, and everything in between. Man, I miss you guys a lot. But I’m also extremely happy to be in Ecuador. Speaking of holidays, its a huge holiday here, Day of the Dead. So right outside of this cafe there is music playing, people all over the streets, food, and a billion people selling everything Ecuadorian you could want. I love it! We just walked around a little market for about an hour and wow, is there a lot I want to buy. For now we settled on a big huge pizza and pop for five of us to share. Heaven!

One of the members here carves temples in blocks of wood and sells them.
Super Cool!

Hanging out with Hermana Hull!!  Love this girl!

Well, first of all, guess who I am sitting next to right now?? Hermana Hull. Ah, it has been such a fun day with her. Since it was transfers (and yes Hermana Ettinger and I had changes. I’ll tell you about that in a sec) tons of missionaries met at the train station this morning. Hermana Hull is getting ready to train (and staying with the Hermana Leaders for a few days) and I’m still waiting for my companion who is traveling from a long ways away, so five of us are spending P-day together until all of our companions get here. Man, it is so fun to see someone from Hyde Park, Utah. I never would have imagined that us two would be walking down the streets of Ecuador, but here we are!! She is doing so so good and really is an inspiration to me... to love my mission with all that I’ve got, because I only have 18 months of this. Our sectors are actually only about an hour away from each other, but since we’re not in the same zone, we don’t see each other much. But man has it been fun today. So happy to have such a great friend and example.

So the next news... Cambios. They came (sadly). Hermana Ettinger is leaving to be an Hermana Leader and I’m staying and receiving Hermana Sanchez. I haven’t met her yet, but I’ve heard she’s a super great missionary, from Guatemala, and has been serving on the coast. Yes. I’m sad. But also, I’m super ready to see what these next six weeks hold. I was honestly preparing to leave Cumbaya, so this will be fun to have to step up to the plate and show my new companion around the area. It’s a weird thought that I’m officially a trained missionary (we have 12 weeks of training) and now I’m ready to hit the ground running. To be honest, sometimes I still feel completely new, but I have learned that the Lord will NEVER leave us to fail. He has helped me ever step of the way.

Halloween breakfast, made by Hermana Ettinger.
She's the best!

Also... Happy Halloween to everyone!! Halloween this year was definitely different for me. Almost nonexistent, but thanks to a great companion, I got a great breakfast to get into the spirit (I’ll attach a picture). That day we had lessons all throughout the day and a baptism for the other sisters at night. We also bought a tub of ice cream to eat, but it was fast Sunday. So... instead we ate it together last night as we were waiting for the call about transfers. It’s kind of sad to say that we ate it all, and then I still wanted more... and had more room in my stomach. Ha this rice is getting to me. But man, was it delicious. We ate, talked, laughed, and I think it was one of the most fun nights of my mission. Sure gonna miss that girl!

Ice cream fixes anything.....

This week we also had exchanges with the Hermana Leaders and I got to leave my sector for a day. It was so fun to see what another area of Quito is like and I learned so much about how to teach, how to love the people, and how to stay away from stray dogs that look like they’re going to attack you. (Yes we have that problem here. Dogs EVERYWHERE) We had a lesson with two brothers who have baptismal dates and are really changing their lives for the gospel. They both had a rougher around the edges look, but as we talked and bore our testimonies on the power of the gospel, I could see how much of a desire they both have to follow Christ. After the lesson I also got to teach them both English because they both want to learn, and I actually felt smart again for a few moments! Haha. But I sure did leave that exchange with a realization that this gospel is for EVERYONE, doesn’t matter what their background is.

Hermana Ettinger and I also got to teach a training in our district meeting this week about diligence. And wow, am I learning ALL about this on the mission! I’m learning that even if we don’t see results right away, our attitude and our hard work is what makes all the difference. Especially in missionary work, there are times in the heat, or rain (or dust), that you really have to ask yourself if you’re really making THAT much of a difference. But oh yes, I have seen how hard work pays off and the Lord can see every sacrifice that we make. 

We also had a ton of good talks about perspective. We came to the agreement that I think one of the keys of life is the keep perspective on what is most important. Since being here, I have seen poverty and some extremely hard situations! Lots. But my mind has also been opened to the bigger picture and plan that our Heavenly Father has for us. Something I am really going to work on this week, is keeping perspective on what is REALLY IMPORTANT. I’m confident that if I could keep perspective during any trial that I had, those times would be a lot easier to bear. I have loved sharing the knowledge that we all have a Heavenly Father who loves us and puts us in our exact situation to grow. Remember that YOU are LOVED.

One of our conversos recientes. 

Thank you, thank you for all your support. Keep me updated and remember that I love you all!!!!

Hermana Yorgason