Sis. Ettinger and Cumbaya

Dear Family and Friends!!

Things are going great here in Cumbaya and wow, its almost October! Mom, that means its your birthday soon. Don’t worry, my companion and I already decided that we’d buy ice cream that day to celebrate for you. Really, it’s the least I can do :) I’ve had a GREAT week with my new companion, Hermana Ettinger. Wow, we’ve had a lot of fun and worked, worked worked. Her motto is "work hard play hard" (yes mom, I’ve heard that from you before:)) So we try and do just that! A little more about her... she’s from Washington and has been out for 9 months. She reminds me a lot of Abby and Jessica Freeman, super fun and outgoing and friendly and sweet. Her Spanish is great so that gives me hope! Although my Spanish has improved so much this week and I feel like I received so much help from the Lord. It’s not perfect, or close, but people can understand me and I can usually teach any part of the lesson that I want... so that’s happy news :) I am learning a lot from my companion about loving and serving the people here. One day we even started helping two ladies wash all their laundry and ended up teaching them a lesson because they were grateful for the help and interested in what we were teaching. Service works!! I’ve been showing her around the sector, she’s been showing me everything else. Good team work and I’m loving it. We even went running a few mornings this morning and man, I loved that!!!

We had another baptism this week. It was a girl named Jennifer, who I was able to contact one of my first few weeks here, so that was SO cool to see that change and happiness in her. You always hear of those people who are just "prepared", and she is definitely one of those. Her faith is SOO strong and every time we have a lesson, she is so interested, so excited and so ready to hear all about the church. It has been a little difficult because her mom and the rest of her family are Catholic "and Catholic they will be the rest of their lives", but she was so ready and such a great example to me.

We also had an interesting experience at church on Sunday. We were in the middle of fast and testimony meeting and heard a loud bang and lots of yelling right outside of the chapel. I had no idea what was going on, but like half the people in the chapel started running outside... I literally thought the world was ending or something! The bishop got up and was trying to calm everyone down and we just went on with sacrament meeting (although it was very noisy and people coming in and out) We found out later that apparently there was a robbery and a few guys robbed computers out of two different cars in the parking lot. Very different than I have ever experienced in the US. The joys of church here in Ecuador. Its different, but I love it .)

We were also able to watch Women’s conference on Saturday, IN english and I absolutely LOVED it! I had written down a few questions before it started, and every single one was answered. These people are truly inspired and man, it was definitely a highlight of my week! So excited to have eight more hours of that this week!!! I think Elder Uchtdorf’s talk was my favorite and I love that he said "Your forever is made up of NOWS". My companion and I were talking a lot this week about how it is so important that we can learn to love life, no matter where were at. I am for sure going to read that talk again and again, but his message of seeing the good in life really hit me. So so true. It’s our choice to see our blessings and be grateful for even the small things we have :)

Well all... Hope you have a fantabulous week and enjoy conference. Its true that General Conference is more like Christmas when you’re on a mission. Can't wait! Thanks for your love and support!!

Hermana Yorgason

End of My First Transfer!

Familia!!!

Thank you, thank you for the letters and pictures. Looks like things are going great! Dallas and KC.. ah, love your apartment! Tanner and Lexi! Looks like you guys are doing great also! Ah, so crazy for me to think that you’re getting married, but so excited for you guys. Luke. Wow, Luke and Mirae, you guys looked AMAZING for the dance! How was it? Chad, ah it makes me so happy that you’re loving football and Mckay too. Mckay, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I thought about you a lot on Saturday. Wow, can’t believe you’re 14!! And Sydney, let me know how tryouts are! I love seeing pictures of you in your plays. Can only imagine how great you are up there on stage :) So so glad that you guys had a great week!

We love finding ice cream on P-days!

I also had a great week here in Ecuador! Lots of fun moments with Hermana Mortera, lots of walking and hard work, very tired, but also many lessons where I could feel the Spirit so strongly. Something that I know, is that this is the work of the Lord. I felt that many times this week and am grateful to know that it was never easy for Him, but oh so worth it. This week I really came to love my sector and the people here! I’m probably just biased, but I feel like I started out in a top notch place, and I’m glad to know that I’ll be here at least six more weeks. Our sector is great because there’s a little downtown city area, stores, a place to buy hamburgers and ice cream!!!, but we also have campo... fields, dirt floors, roaming animals. We’re also really lucky here in this sector because the work seems to be really good. I guess I don’t have much to compare it to, but we always have more people to teach than we can get to, and the majority of the people are so willing to have us come to their house to share our message. I even feel bad sometimes BECAUSE we have so many people and we can’t visit them all. I know that is definitely a blessing! The hard part isn’t finding people to teach, but helping them make commitments (especially coming to church), and helping them realize why they need this gospel in their lives. But we have four people with a baptismal date and we’re working hard to help them feel the Spirit in our lessons, at church, and on their own.

Helping one of our recent converts carry beans to her house.  This area is a lot like Guatemala!

One of my favorite parts of this week was verification that we had with President and Sister Richardson. It was for all of the missionaries who came with my group, to see where we’re at. They took us up on a hill in Quito where we could see all of the city and told us the story of when the church was brought to Ecuador. Every time I am with them I really feel the Spirit so strongly and so grateful to be in this mission "mejor del mundo". We even have a mission song that we sing at every meeting and ha, I absolutely love it! This is a weird comparison, but it reminds me a lot of when we sing the school song at Sky View. I feel so much unity. With all of the missionaries in this mission.

At this verification, President gave us all the talk, "The Fourth Missionary" and boy, I think I have an all time favorite talk. It honestly changed my view of missionary work and not only what our purpose is here, but in life. That our purpose really is to become like Christ. A part that I REALLY loved from the talk...

"Every challenge you face, every hard thing you confront, every bad thing that happens to you, every unfairness, every conflict, every sadness, tragedy, every disappointment and heartache, every temptation and every opposition happens for one purpose only to give you opportunity to respond by applying in your life the teachings of Jesus. As you do so you are changed to become more like Him."

Wow. Wow wow, I love that, and it was so so good for me to hear. For me, I think for a lot of us, it’s really easy to look at our trials and hardships and just wish they were over. But I had to stop and ask myself.. Since I am going to have trials, do I just want to endure, or do I want to grow and use this as a chance to become more like Christ?  It’s something I’ve really tried to think about this week. Every time I am so tired at night, every time my companion turns to me in the lesson and waits until I can say something in Spanish, every time I’m hungry, or miss free time, I try and think of this quote, and really, my week has been good. Good because through the hard and through the fantastic, I know that I’m given these things to grow.

My two moms, Sis. Ettinger and Sis. Mortera

Well... the big news of the week I guess. This was the end of six weeks so I’m done with my first transfer. Woot woot.! Hermana Mortera and I were sure that she’d be staying because we’re in the middle of our training, but we got a call last night....  she’s leaving to another sector and I’m staying. We did NOT expect that! That means that now, I’m the one who knows the area, the people, the appointments and I get to teach all of that to my new companion. This morning we all met at the bus station to get our new companions... Its sad to see Hermana Mortera go, but I can already tell my new companion is going to be fantastic! Her name is Hermana Ettinger from Washington. I got a gringo!!! Ah that’s going to be such a fun change. We still are going to make a goal to speak mostly Spanish, but I’m excited to be with her, at least for six weeks!

Family and any friends that read this... I am honestly so so grateful for you. Thank you for your support and thank you for encouraging me to work hard and give it all I’ve got. I love you all!!

Hermana Yorgason

Well, I got to eat cuy (guinea pig) this week.  These were in the back of our investigator's house....

...and later that day we were eating them with rice and potatoes :(  That made me sad.  But it was actually tasty, I guess.

Baptisms!

Dear Family!!!

Wow.  It was a HUGE week for you guys. Thank you times a million for sending so many pictures and telling me all about the wedding. The yard looked BEAUTIFUL and Dallas and KC... wow, completely stunning. As I expected :)  I tried not to let it distract me, but you guys were definitely in my mind on Saturday.  I’m so so happy for you! And then the other big news, CONGRATULATIONS Tanner and Lexi!  Man, I’m pretty sure everyone just waited until right when I was gone to propose and get married.  I really really REALLY don’t like missing these things, but I'm so happy for all of you, and know that I'm in Ecuador for a reason. Keep me updated on everything!

MY luncheon on Saturday! (While you had yours!)

....and MY treats and celebration for the wedding!

This week seemed to go by faster than the rest, and it started out on a GREAT note on Tuesday. We had intercambios (I don't even know what its called in English) which means that we switched companions for 24 hours. I was lucky enough to stay in my own sector and be with Hermana Potter, one of the sister training leaders in our zone. My sector was her old sector, so we both were familiar with the area, the people, and had some really great conversations about what we can learn and experience on a mission. I learned a lot from her about teaching simply and just loving the people. She also helped me brush up on a lot of spanish grammer rules, since usually I’m just learning on my own. It was fun to be able to talk in english with her for a day and learn. I think the only other english I heard this week was a guy walking down the street at night and when he saw us said, "Mormons? Go back to Utah." Haha. That was a suprise to hear that in english.

Hermana Potter and I had a funny experience as we were waiting for a bus to go to one of our appointments. We were at the bus stop and had been waiting for almost 45 min for a bus to come. Here, you never know because sometimes the bus schedule is a little wacky. Well, we were very late for our appointment by now and thought maybe it was worth it to spend the extra money and just ride in a taxi. She didn’t want to make the decision, so suggested that we pray and then figure it out after that. I said the prayer, super quick, no more than 15 seconds, and when we were done and looked up, guess what had passed? hahaha ya we missed the bus. We joked that the bus was probably going to crash or something, but we ended up taking a taxi. Ha oh the joys of not having a car :)

This week Hermana Mortera and I met someone who is so so impressive. His name is Gido, and he was a referal from someone in our ward. He’s in a wheelchair because of a swimming accident 10 years ago, so he cant walk and can barely move his hands. He lives by himself, his family doesn’t talk to him, he said "they aren’t friends". It sounds like his family just doesn’t want to help, and he said he doesnt really have any amigos. I honestly dont know how he eats, gets dressed, gets into his bed or anything else, but he is so happy. He told us that everyday he wakes up and is so grateful to be living. To earn money, he sits outside of his house and sells chocolate bars (on a street with very few people), and when we visited him, he had only sold one that day. It has been such a humbling experience to see his circumstances and how happy he is although he literally has almost nothing. This week we taught him two lessons, and they went well, but he’s told us a few times that he believes in God, and likes all religions. We’re going to keep visiting him, but I just so hope the spirit can touch his heart because I know there are soo many blessings waiting for him in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Saturday we also had 7 baptisms in our ward. A family of four, and 3 boys from the orphanage here. It was so cool to see so many people be able to take this step and hear their testimonies of the gospel afterward. Hermana Mortera and I gave talks at the baptism and my testimony of missionary work (both full time missionaries and member missionaries) was really strengthened. So while you guys were at the wedding, we had a celebration of our own, and it was a really special night.

Our baptism of a family of 4

I’m continuing to learn from the scriptures during study time. Personal study in the morning has become one of my favorite times of the day. I am reading the scriptures in spanish, and marking and really trying to understand them, and right now I am also studying the PMG lessons in english so I can get them in my head. I feel like personal study gives me the fuel I need for the day and then as soon as my head hits the pillow at night, I am OUT. A scripture that we used a lot this week was Mosiah 18:9 which tells us what our baptismal coventent is. I dont always keep that in my mind, so its been cool to review that and really remember what I coventented when I was baptized.

I hope you guys have a great week. I love you and think about you and am so grateful for your support. Talk to you in a week!

Hermana Yorgason

Praising God for our Trials and Weaknesses.

Dear Family and Friends!!!

Thank you everyone for writing me! I love hearing updates on your lives! Just so you all know, I can print off my letters and read them, so feel free to write as much as you want... Don’t even feel bad at all :) Family, Sounds like you guys have so many great things going on. Busy busy time of life! Good luck this week with the wedding, preparing, cleaning, cooking and everything that comes with that. I cannot believe that is this week!! Wow, send me lots of pictures and Dallas and KC, I wish you the best of luck!! Sydney, it sounds like your plays went so well and Chad and Mckay, way to go on football! That is definitely one thing I miss here, but it makes me so happy to hear you guys are loving it!

This week was a great one! We had our first capacitacion, zone conference, with President Richardson and his wife, we also had our regular district meeting, lots of lessons, an activity at the church, more lessons, good food, and lots of studying and learning.

Zone Conference

I love loved being with President and Sister Richardson. Just being around them.  They really carry and spirit and are so so inspired. A big part of this conference was about self reliance and being prepared. Apparently there’s a volcano here (that is pretty close to my area) that is going to erupt within one to six weeks. I don’t really know what that means for us, but I’m really not scared because I know I will be protected and we have a plan to keep us safe. But I am pretty interested in what is going to happen. I’ve always wanted to see a volcano, so maybe this will be my chance! :) We also talked about easy, cheap and healthy foods week can make, we have emergency backpacks, learned about water, etc.  At the end we talked about how important prayer is in conversion, both for us and our investigators. My testimony was really strengthened that we really won’t completely know the truth unless we pray, believing we’ll receive an answer. I’ve had the chance to pray more here on my mission than I ever have in my life and I love that I get to teach people that there is ALWAYS someone we can talk to. ALWAYS.

Something I’ve really had to get used to while being on a mission is talking. To EVERYONE. In the street, on the bus, in the store. It’s been so interesting to see the different reactions of people.. some who are so kind, receptive and offer you whatever they have, and others who try and act like you aren’t there. We were at a bus stop waiting for our bus one day this week and a family walked by so we decided to start talking to them and walk along side them. It wasn’t far into the conversation that we could really tell they were not too interested. But my companion kept talking and walking, so... I did the same thing. We tried asking them where they lived, who they lived with, and if we could share more about our message sometime. My companion asked if they had a cell phone so we could contact them later and she told us, nope, none of us have cell phones. As she was telling us this, I looked down and clearly, her cell phone was right there inside her pant pocket. Hahaha. We had a good laugh about that. I guess some people aren’t quite ready to hear our message. 

I also had quite the experience riding the bus last week. It was actually Monday right after I got done emailing you guys. I think I’ve explained the buses here. There are lots of them and lots of people who want to ride them. But since school just started, there are even more people and there are times when they are literally PACKED. By biggest concern is that I make sure I always know where Hermana Mortera is because getting lost here would be bad news. Anyway, we were heading out to one of our areas and the bus that we needed to take was full. Completely full. We both stepped onto the bus (I was thinking somehow people would squish in more and we’d be able to actually get IN the bus) But, apparently not. The bus started to go, the doors were open, and I was on the last step, literally holding on for dear life. Hahaha I was laughing so hard (and partly scared to death), because if I were to let go, I don’t think it would be a pretty sight. But we made it to our area alive with smiles on our faces. 

One of our great investigators

This morning I had a GREAT experience! Sister Richardson called me during personal study to see how I was doing. She likes to talk to the new missionaries and share a few thoughts because she knows that the first little while is just hard. Like I said, she is so inspired and has a way of just making life seem good. Mom, she honestly reminds me a lot of you. We ended up talking for about 45 minutes about life, the mission and she shared some really cool scriptures with me. She first had me read 2 Samuel 22:2-4 which talks about the Lord, how he literally is our rock and that we need to praise him. She went on to tell me about something called the Praise Principle. She said that when we go through hard times something that will ALWAYS help us to feel better is to praise the Lord. That seems kind of backwards. We would usually think that Praising during Hard times wouldn’t be the answer, but as we read many many more scriptures, I realized that right here is literally the answer to every problem in our lives. We read in 2 Nephi 4 about Nephi. Nephi, a prophet who was so so great, had a time where he felt discouraged, depressed and really down on himself. A PROPHET. At the end of that chapter Nephi says that he knows the Lord is there and will give him strength. As I read the verses in between, I realized that these feelings changed when Nephi praised the Lord. We talked about how tricky Satan is. Satan knows us so well and wants us to think everything opposite that the Lord teaches us. He WANTs us to be discouraged. The hard thing is that Satan knows our weakness so he knows HOW to get us discouraged and down. We then read Ether 12:27 about weaknesses. That the Lord gives us weaknesses. He gives us these weaknesses because he loves us, he wants to help us to be humble and he wants us to reach our full potential. Satan... makes us think that weaknesses are a bad thing, but I learned from that verse that the Lord GIVES us weaknesses. The Lord likes weaknesses, he uses weak things. And we are STRONGER when we see our weaknesses. Hermana Richardson tied this back in to the praise principle. If we need weakness to grow stronger, shouldn’t we praise the Lord for our weaknesses? At first, this does not make sense, but the more we talked, the more I realized what we can do. What I need to do. Satan has a great way of making weaknesses look like a bad thing, but Hermana Richardson promised me that as we thank the Lord for our weaknesses, for our hard times, he WILL be there and we will realize that we need him and that he really does want the best for us. This conversation literally changed the way I think about trials and weaknesses. And I think I won’t look at things quite the same, maybe the rest of my life. I am so so grateful for the comfort of the scriptures and what we can learn from them. Our weaknesses, and insecurities, our hard times and trials are gifts from God. And although they are not fun, we will be happier when we praise God for these things. Wow. I really really learned a lot this morning!

Sorry that this was so long. Haha they always seem to be long, but I just wanted to share something that helped me with the rest of you guys. Hopefully you can learn something too. Thank you thank you for your love and support. I love you guys and feel so so blessed to be surrounded by such great people. Have a fantastic week!

Love, Hermana Yorgason

This is one of the members.  I was sick and she gave me her scarf and some herbal tea. :)