Getting Used to Ecuador!

Dear My Wonderful Family!

District Activity

Thank you again, so so much for your letters and pictures.  Mom, the longer the better.  I love hearing every detail about your lives!  I don’t have as much time to write today because we had a District Activity far away, but I’m going to type as fast as I can so I can reply to a few people as well. Wow, school has started for all you guys! Aww, that’s such exciting news :) I know you probably aren’t totally thrilled, but good luck to you all! It’s crazy how fast summers seem to fly by! It also sound like you guys are so so busy! Good luck Tanner with school this week and good luck to Dallas and KC with the wedding coming up! 

Home Sweet Home

Another week down here in Ecuador! I feel like I got a little more used to things these last 7 days. The schedule, the town, the people. Just like you guys, we are so so busy and we’re working nonstop. Something I’ve had to get used to is the schedule here. We wake up at 6:30, start studying at 8 and it goes until 12, leave the house soon after that.  Somedays we have a lunch appointment at 12 or one, and then we work, talk to people and have lessons after that until 9 o’clock until we have to be back in our apartment. Since lunch is the big meal here, we eat at lunch, but we don’t get time for dinner. So we can either stop at a shop quickly or eat a snack when we get home. Ha ha it’s quite the opposite than it was in the CCM. But people are so nice here are many times they offer us bread or crackers or a drink during their lesson. When we get home at night, we plan (which has been taking us quite awhile), get done around 10, get ready for bed, and start our companion prayer at 10:20 so we can be in bed at 10:30.  Woosh!  It’s a whirlwind. Something I’ve really come to learn though, is the WORK is the cure to homesickness and discouragement. Work. And even though I am absolutely exhausted at the end of each day, I know that WORK is what I was called to do. When I have time to think and rest (or get ready for the day), like the mornings, that’s when homesickness really has time to creep in. My companion and I are really trying hard to be working constantly and I’ve seen that that helps so much. There were a few days this week where we had 6 lessons, and wow, am I learning a lot from her.

This is Ecuador!

The language… is coming along. I really felt your prayers this week and am so grateful for the diligence that this is forcing out of me. This week I was able to help teach with parts of the lessons instead of just bear my testimony at the end. During lessons I really feel the Spirit helping me know what I should say, and as my companion says, it’s a process, but it’s coming. During one of our lessons this week the girl we were teaching asked me to say the prayer and since she’s trying to learn English, she wanted me to say it in English. Have not done that in a long time!! And it was hard. I’m forgetting how to pray in English!!!  Haha I had to think hard when I was starting a new sentence because I’m in such a habit of saying everything in Spanish. It was pretty funny, but I guess that’s good news? :)

This week we are going to have our first baptism on Saturday and I am so excited for that.  It’s a girl we’ve been teaching who is 13 years old and is so happy and excited. It’s amazing to see the peace that comes into people’s lives when they learn about this gospel, and I am so excited for her. After the baptism we are having a party at the church for the 50th anniversary of the church here in Ecuador. Food, talking, games, and hopefully it will be a great way to get to know new people and find investigators.

This week on Thursday we also get to go to Quito to hear a general authority speak to our whole mission, and guess what that means??? I THINK I’ll get to see Jenika, and oh is that SUCH a tender mercy for me. I am so so looking forward to seeing her. Seeing a piece of home. And I’m also so excited to hear the words from a general authority. Meetings like this always are such an encouragement to keep working hard.

The ward that we’re in had the opportunity to do a temple trip this week (Sadly we didn’t get to go with them:( ) They do this every few months and its an 8 hour bus ride each way. It amazes me every time I realize how lucky we are in Logan Utah to have a temple 10 minutes away from our house. Some of our recent converts went and came back with a literal glow around them. It made me realize once again how lucky we are to have the power of the temple in our lives. Every time I think of it, I realize that that is just one more way that Heavenly Father shows his love for us. We have a place of absolute peace in this crazy world, and wow, is that SUCH a blessing. 

Sister Training Leaders

Thank you thank you for your prayers. They are going both ways. I love you guys. Its so so hard to be away. So hard, but I know that this is exactly where I need to be to grow, and help other people have a happy family like we have been blessed with.

Have a great week!!

Hermana Yorgason