New Sector

Hi family!!!

Saludos de Calderon! Let me just say, my sector right now is sooo different than one week ago. There are some pluses though... for example, I am finally eating somewhat American food again. I had two green salads this week. That was a record.. sure made me very happy! But.. I’m getting ahead of myself. I’ll start from the beginning.

Happiness equals food!

So, like I said last week, my new sector is called Calderon and it is in Quito. In the city. Being here for a week, I’ve realized that it’s a lot like my first sector in Cumbaya. It’s more city-ish, there is food in every corner, and the members here are GREAT! The streets aren’t dirt paths. I actually haven’t seen one cow or one pig yet while being here, so I guess that’s a big difference also.

Our sector here is big.. not as big as San Pablo, but we rarely ride buses here, so it makes it feel enormooouus! It’s also a lot hotter here. The first day I got a sun burn and realized that I need to pull out the sun screen again. Most of the people that live here and that we teach live in little apartment complexes and the roads are roads... with cinderblock walls on both sides usually everywhere we go. It’s sure a different view than green hills, farms, and little houses. There is also A LOT of smoke and exhaust from the cars here. I feel like I’m always breathing in black puffs of... whatever it is that comes out of all the cars that pass us.

Last week we got here, went to our apartment, unpacked, got to know each other a bit, and Tuesday was a first day of work. My companions' names are Hermana Silva and Hermana Morales. Hermana Silva is from Bolivia and has about three months left. She is so much fun. SUPER skinny and eats a ton.. way more than me. But she has such a love for the people and her personality is so outgoing and fun. Hermana Morales is from Chicklayo, Peru and has only been out for a few months. She also is fun, loves to eat ice cream, and is good at teaching directly and clearly. It is soo much different being in a Trio. I do like it. There’s always something to talk about, and it’s more of a party at night (as we write in our journals and read our scriptures:)) But... having three people does also make it a challenge. Its completely different trying to teach with three people, finding time to all shower and get ready in the morning also is a bit tricky. But we get along well. It’s been good for me because both of my companions have a stronger personality, so it’s good to see how we can all work together. They also both have strong testimonies and teach relying on the Spirit. I have already learned a lot from them. 

Hermana Silva, Hermana Morales, and ME!

Here in our ward there are 9 missionaries! I came from being the only companionship to LOTS more, but it makes it fun. This ward apparently is one of the best in the mission. It’s hard to find investigators, but once they’re members, they’re strong and so willing to help out and serve.

But like I said.... it is hard to find investigators. This week has definitely been slower missionary work wise. We’re starting out with barely any investigators and the people are definitely less open than I’ve been used to. This week was full of contacting, teaching a few investigators, praying for more, and visiting lots of recent converts. I know that the Lord is wanting to test my patience and faith so that he can help us see miracles... because I know he will. It’s just up to us and our hard work and faith in His help. This week we have some plans to try and find new investigators so that we can help them progress.

I got little sleep this week and LOTS of time in buses in the morning. We’ve been going to the apartments of the other hermanas to make sure all the houses are up and running without any problems and some of them are 2 hours away... so that makes for lots of study/nap time on the bus. I’ve loved to get to know so many sisters this week!!

We continue to hear lots and lots about the earthquake that happened here one week ago. It seems that in every lesson, something at least comes up about the news, the earthquake, or all the people who are still suffering or lost. It is honestly the saddest thing to hear about all of the damage and to hear about people who have lost family or friends. Apparently there are still smaller earthquakes going on, and actually we’ve felt one or two really small ones in the last week. There are so many places that are gathering supplies to send to the coast... almost every street has a place where they are packaging food, water, and medicine to send in trucks. They’re not sure if there’s going to be another big earthquake, but we’re just all hoping and praying that everything calms down and the affected cities can receive as much help as possible. Its sure a crazy experience to be here, in this country, while something so drastic is going on. I know the Lord will protect us.

I heard something in our district meeting that I loved and wanted to share with you guys. An elder in our district was sharing a spiritual thought about Joseph Smith that we also all have our own "grove of trees" in our lives. We may have not SEEN God and Jesus Christ, but we all have experiences that have strengthened our testimonies, times where we have received revelation or guidance from the Lord, and times where we have just known that all of this is so true. But.. the problem is that many times we forget these experiences or let the world cloud them out. My "grove of trees" is very different than my companion’s or from my mom’s or my best friend’s, but it’s filled with experiences that the Lord has given me. Spiritual experiences. This elder said... Joseph Smith with never forget his experience in the grove of trees, so why would we forget ours? I know that the Lord gives us each special experiences to help us KNOW that this church is true... so it’s our responsibility to treasure those, remember those and really use our personal "grove of trees" to help us through the doubts and difficult times of life. I loved that. 

Thank you all for you love and support. And letters! I love them all! I am so grateful to know that I have such great people helping me out. Have a super week!!!

Hermana Yorgason

Earthquake

Hello all my friends and family!!!!

It has been quite the week and I have sooo much I want to write so we’ll see how fast I can get it all written.

So, first of all... the first thing I’ve been reading in everyone’s letters. The Earthquake. Yes, there was definitely an earthquake here! The good news is I and all of the other missionaries are completely fine. The bad news… I've heard that there are quite a few deaths and many many injuries. It’s crazy how fast life can change, but I’m sure there are many people praying for the people of Ecuador. So thank you for that :) 

Saturday was sure a cool experience.. one that I won’t forget for a long time. At about 6:45 we were in a lesson with some of our recent converts.. talking, laughing, just getting started. All of the sudden I felt a little dizzy and figured it was something just from walking all day. But very soon I realized it was NOT that because everyone in the room started getting nervous and I heard lots of people outside screaming that there was an earthquake. The thing I remember most vividly was looking up and seeing their TV (flat screen TV) shaking back and forth, almost falling off the table. It’s honestly all kind of a blur, but we all went outside to find a spot far from the houses. People were kind of freaking out in the streets.. I think mostly because none of us knew how long it was going to last and how strong it was going to be. I’ve never been in an earthquake before, so I honestly didn’t know what was gonna to happen, but I think I was more intrigued than anything. It was a feeling I’ve always wanted to feel :) I think it lasted for about a minute or so.. pretty long! Where I was, was very far from the center of the earthquake, but it was still pretty strong. I heard that it was 6 something (on the scale) in Otavalo where we were. For us there wasn’t much damage.. I saw one or two telephone poles tipped or knocked over, but it was more of just a big startle... for everyone. That’s all people have been talking about and there have been big trucks going around collecting food for the people who live on the coast where it was much much stronger. I just pray hard for them. I can’t imagine losing family members in something so sudden.

But... the Lord protected us. For me... It wasn’t scary. During the whole thing, I just felt calm and the rest of the night we pretty much carried on like normal. 

Waiting for the taxi... on my way out!

The other news of the week is that we had changes. And I knew the time had to come one day, but I’m leaving Otavalo and going back to Quito. (I was hoping so badly for the coast.. but that didn’t happen:)) Honestly, being in San Pablo has changed my mission. I think it has also changed my life. In the 4 and a half months that I was there, I was able to see so many miracles and blessings from the Lord. I felt like almost every single day we saw a big answer to our prayers. The people there... man, they sure have a special place in my heart, especially our recent converts. I have seen so many people change their lives around and find true happiness from accepting the gospel. It was such a blessing to live there. But, how missionary work goes, changes come and serving in different areas with different people is inevitable. I’m going to an area called Calderon (near my first area), I’m going to be in a trio, and I’ve been called to serve as a Sister Training Leader. I’m super excited to serve in a different area, in a different way, and learn from all the sisters around me.

About a few of the people we’ve been teaching and some of the miracles we saw this week...

One of my FAVORITE families

We’ve been teaching a family (Family Pachito) for about a month now. The mom just got baptized last week and the dad and little son have a baptismal date for next week. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a big change in someone in all of my mission. I remember the first lesson that we taught, the mom had been crying because they were going to separate.. her husband wanted to move somewhere else. I remember sitting there just listening to her talk and cry and explain to us how she felt completely hopeless and empty. A few lessons later we found the dad at home too, so we invited him to join us... and reluctantly he did. As we returned little by little I could tell that what we were saying was getting to his heart. He started answering our questions, he moved back into his house, he loves his kids.. he’s always playing and laughing with them when we visit them, he is getting baptized this next week, and they are preparing to get sealed in a year when they can enter the temple. It has sure been cool to see the difference after a month of listening and being taught by the Spirit.

We also had a cool experience this week in one of our contacts. We saw two ladies sitting on a bench and decided to talk to them. After getting to know them and talking for a while, we found out that they were sisters and both going through some really hard trials (one of them being living far away from each other and feeling alone). Hermana Sanchez and I could definitely relate to that. As we bore our testimonies on eternal families, I don’t think there was one of us that didn’t have tears in our eyes. This subject being so close to our hearts also, I think Hermana Sanchez and I maybe benefited more from the words we said than they did. We set an appointment, returned and taught lesson one, and now she is preparing to be baptized on the 7th of May. It was so cool to hear her say that she’s been praying for someone or something to help her find more peace in her life.

And, if you guys remember the Family Casco that got baptized a few weeks ago.. our miracle family, after a few lessons of inviting and trying to get to know their son, a few weeks ago he finally agreed to join us in our lessons and has attended church twice. Yay. They’re gonna be a complete family of all members!!

Birthday party for Julissa (from the familia Casco)

Cake face :)

This week Hermana Sanchez and I figured out how to make a cake in the microwave and man... I don’t know if that was a good or bad thing. Many nights that was our dinner (at 9:00). Haha it was sure tasty though. We’ve gotten pretty creative :)

I didn’t realize how popular church themed Password would be. We’ve played it this week in a few more family nights and the members LOVE it. Haha it is so funny to see how people try and explain things :)

It was a cold day...and we didn't have our jackets, so our conversos
made sure to supply us with everything we needed :)

Well, I just want to end by saying how much I love you all! I heard a quote this week in our district meeting that I loved. "Be a golden investigator for the Lord". Seeing how happy I am when our investigators progress and change, I can’t imagine how happy it makes the Lord to see us follow him and obey his commandments. Something I want to remember.

Love you all!!

Hermana Yorgason

Mom, You wanted a picture of the cows.... :)

Remember...

Familia!!!!!! And all my amigos!!

Man I just love getting letters from you guys. Sounds like it was another BUSY busy week with dances, working and lots of Ultimate. I hope you cheer extra loud for me. That’s definitely one thing that I miss. But mom, it did make me super happy when you reminded me that I’ll be there for at least one of Tanner’s seasons :)

It was another good week here. It’s kind of bitter sweet because this next week is transfers so who knows where I’ll be or who I’ll be with. I Love this ward, so I’d be HAPPY to stay.. but I guess we’ll see. This week we were talking with a lot of members in our ward and they told us we HAVE to come back to visit... so Hermana Sanchez and I want to plan a trip to come back when the temple gets dedicated. 

Zone Conference

Speaking of... sorry that I didn’t say anything about that last week in my big letter. I wrote so much about the temple announcement in personal letters to different people that I didn’t realize I didn’t mention it as the HIGHLIGHT OF MY WEEK. Man we were sooo excited. It’s pretty much all the ward members have been talking about for a week, they feel so blessed. It will be a BIG change from living 8 hours away from the closest temple. I can already see a big change as they talk about preparing for the temple and things they need to improve. Especially because they are wanting temple workers and people who are prepared.  That announcement is going to be such a big blessing for the people of Quito. The people I’ve come to love :) It sure was a happy, fantastic surprise! 

Three Baptisms!!

The highlight of THIS week was the baptism that we had on Saturday. This was definitely a continuation of the month of miracles and it was a great day!! Like always.. the ward is so supportive and there are always lots of people at the baptisms. Three people got baptized and man, they are super special to me. The first two... a mom and her daughter. This is the family that we found from contacting. We had knocked on a door and the family wasn’t home. So... we prayed and decided to contact the 5 doors surrounding the first one, and one of those doors was Fatima and Diana. In the very first lesson that we had with her she told us that she would listen but never wanted to get baptized. It was so special to see them about 4 weeks later in white and so so happy. They are definitely some that I will miss! The other one that got baptized is the mom of a family that we have been teaching. We have seen SUCH a change in her and as she bore her testimony, she said it was one of the happiest days of her life. I have sure seen time and time again in this sector how the Lord has blessed us and led us to those who are ready for the gospel.

Last Monday we had a Family Night with a less active family in our ward. We shared a spiritual thought and then Hermana Sanchez and I showed them how to play... Password/Charades. We made little cards with lots of church words and the kids LOVED it. When we finished they wanted to do it all again. It was a fun night and got them excited to come to church.

This week we had a meeting with President and the assistants and learned more about the plan of salvation and how we can teach it with clarity. I think this plan is one of my favorite things to teach because I love the perspective that it gives us in life. If we could only remember our goal always… that's the hard part. But it sure is a plan of so much happiness.

Wednesday's challenge....We couldn't let go of the Book of Mormon

This week was the celebration of the restoration. Everyday we had a different challenge. My favorite was Wednesday where we couldn’t let go of the Book of Mormon from the time we left our apartment to the time we got home. A lot people saw the book, were interested, and it was always a super easy way to start up a conversation :)

Family Night with very random "treats"!

Yesterday we also had another Family Night in Angla with lots of people from the ward. Like I’ve kind of explained before, the "treats" that they have here are sure different than what I’m used to. They all bring something random (rice, potatoes, corn, noodles), get out a big sheet, dump all the food on the sheet and carry it around scooping food for everyone (usually into plastic bags because they don’t have much else). The funny part is the last night before we went, both Hermana Sanchez and I were saying how excited we were for the food. Haha something has sure changed. I think THIS is when you finally know that you’ve gotten used to living in Otavalo.

This week in my study of the Book of Mormon there were quite a few things that stood out to me. I loved something that I read in Helaman 11 about the Nephites and their problems, trials and wickedness. It says that in year 81 they remembered the Lord and had humility. And in year 82 they were back to wickedness and didn’t think about the Savior and what He did. One year! I started realizing that this is so true and accurate, also for us. Sometimes its even shorter. Why did they become so wicked? (Or why do we at times become prideful and lazy?) Because they forgot about the Lord. It says in the next few verses that all of this happened because they began to forget about the Lord and his signs and his miracles. I came to realize that I think one of the keys... is REMEMBERING. Remembering our blessings and the miracles that we’ve seen leads us to humility. I love in Alma 5:6 when Alma asks "Have you sufficiently retained in remembrance his mercy and long suffering?" I had to ask myself, am I really thinking about and remembering all the great things that the Lord has done for me? It has a lot to do with one of my favorite talks from conference that said as we learn and study, we remember. As we remember, we feel more dependence. And as we feel dependence, we are more humble. In James 4 it says that... with humility, the Lord will lift us. I think ALL of us would love to be "lifted by the Lord". I came to realize that the reason I study, write in my journal, and ponder is so that I can REMEMBER how many blessings the Lord has given me. 

I hope you all have a great week and remember how great of a blessing it is to be a part of the gospel.

Talk to you in 7 days!!!

Hermana Yorgason

General Conference

Hi family and friends!!!!

Looks like this week was quite the good one. (Especially for you kids at home) No school, sleeping in, movies, family, sports. Luke and Chad... I can understand completely the numb mouth, not being able to eat... or sleep.. or talk. I’m glad you guys got through it. And just think.. wisdom teeth is only a one time deal. So congrats to you guys :)

It was also a great week here. Mostly because we got to watch general conference and man… there's just something about watching it as a missionary. It’s like one of the best weekends of the year. Maybe THE best. 

Watching Conference is the BEST!

Well first of all... we finished our month of miracles. I have a big feeling that those miracles will carry over to April.. and to May, and so on. We have a bunch of people with a lot a potential and three people that are preparing to be baptized this week. One of the biggest miracles on the last day of March... I found my camera!!! Ah that was quite the exciting day. Someone in my zone had been at their mamita (a house where we eat lunch), and the mom mentioned that someone lost their camera. Apparently I left it at the church, she had grabbed it, and just so happened to pull it out when missionaries from our zone were over there. Quite the miracle if you ask me. So… I'll try and send extra pictures today to make up for it. 

The other exciting thing was that we got to start listening to EFY music again! April 1st we woke up and ran straight to the ipod. We’ve gotten to listen to the Tabernacle Choir for 2 months, and to be honest I love that also, but it was a nice change to hear music with somewhat of a beat again. My companion was just excited that she could listen to David Archuleta :) I think Glorious has played like 20 times in our apartment :)

Wednesday we had a interesting thing happen. As we were inside our house doing our weekly planning, it started to rain and storm outside. Really hard. It went on for about an hour... but we were just happy we were inside at this time. (Mom, you would have loved it. It was probably the biggest storm I’ve ever seen) But as we were talking and planning, all of the sudden there was a HUGE bang/light and all of the power went out. We found out later that day that a lightning bolt hit the telephone pole right in front of our house and we and about 5 of the houses around us didn’t have power for a few days. That was sure exciting to live like we were camping. One top of that, these last few days we haven’t had water. Its an interesting way to live :)

We had a small and cool experience this week with prayer. It was about 7 o’clock, a few people we had visited weren’t home and we were trying the figure out who to visit. We were thinking one of the new families that we had just met. They lived close and it just made sense. Well we decided to pray and as we were done, Hermana Sanchez just felt like we didn’t need to visit the family that day and for me, the name of one of our Less Actives came into my mind (who we haven’t visited a lot and who also just happen to live right across the street from this family.) So we figured we’d go to the less actives house to see if she was there and share a short message. As we got there, we heard someone call our name... it was the bishop and his two counselors standing by the side of the road, near where we were... just standing there. Apparently they were wanting to visit this new family but were lost and didn’t know which house it was.. so they just waited... for something to come along. I guess that something was us. We showed them where the house was and they were able to talk with and visit this new family we had found. It was so interesting how both the answer of Hermana Sanchez and I helped us so that we didn’t interrupt their lesson, but were able to help them find where this family lives. It’s cool to see how the Lord works sometimes. 

Zone Activity

Live BUGS!!

Today we had such a fun zone activity. It was like fear factor and the Ecuadorian style Academies (that dad did in Eagle) all in one. We were all in our districts, had challenges, and then had consequences. The first challenge was putting as many marshmallows in your mouth at once... and our district won. Someone got 25 in there.. of the big ones. It was intense :) And the consequence... eating bugs. Yes, live, crawling around, real bugs. I was very surprised because everyone did it! It was sure entertaining to watch. Afterward Hermana Ettinger and I ate one also... just because. Because we wanted to be able to say we did it.  But... the second consequence was a lot worst. One of the elders had this paste/fruit juice from the coast that was... probably one of the grossest things I have ever tasted. Literally. I’m very surprised no one threw up from that one. There were also mints with soda and lots of non-cooked hotdogs. They went easy on those ones, but it was sure an exciting day. Ended it with a huge game of capture the flag :)

Competitions and Consequences! 

North American missionaries

Like I said... General Conference was super great!!! All of us from North America were able to watch it in a room in the church in English. It was fun to be able to talk, laugh, but just completely focus on the words of the prophets and not have any distractions. Sunday in between sessions obviously we couldn’t all leave and buy lunch, so Hermana Ettinger and I made lunch for the whole zone. Chicken Salad Sandwiches... and let me tell you, it was quite the blessing to have some good American food again :)

There were so many talks that I loved. Elder Uchtdorf, Elder Holland, and I loved the talk that said when we are further from the giver, we feel more entitled. I think one of the big themes that stood out to me was that as I learn about Christ, I will just be happier. I’ll be happier because I’ll realize what he’s done for me and all the good that is ahead of me. But as always... the biggest part is applying and changing. I loved the quote in Women’s conference that said... "Your faith and religion will never save you in the Celestial Kingdom unless you LIVE the things that you are learning." 

I love you all. I love hearing from you and knowing that you are doing well. Hope you have a fantastic week!!!

Hermana Yorgason

BYU ATTIRE.  We sport it all the way here in Ecuador!