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