2nd Week!

Hello from Ecuador!

 

The second week here has been much better, since I´m getting the hang of things!  The only obstacle I really have is the language.  I´ve talked to other missionaries and they say it´s a bit tougher for the missionaries from the states who have latino companions.  They couldn´t care less whether you have time to study spanish or not - they already know it.  Hopefully that all works out.  I can usually understand the main idea of what everybody is saying though.  

 

Things have been going well and we have several progressing investigators, two with baptismal dates.  Usually things go pretty well.  We have two kids who want to be baptized but their father won´t let them because he doesn`t like the idea of tithing.  The only other challenge was with a man named Luis who is sincerely searching for the truth and wants the Gospel in his life.  Things were going pretty well until his mother came and wanted to talk with us too.  It was just fine until she pulled out her "New World Translation."  Now he´s confused.  We weren´t terribly thrilled about that.  He´s still inviting us back though, which is good.  The other investigators are doing very well, keeping all their commitments, and wanting to change their lives.  They really make the day better.  The members are all really nice.  I bore my testimony yesterday, which is pretty unnerving in Spanish!  I also did a blessing in spanish, which wasn´t as bad since there wasn´t a really big crowd!

 

I´m still adjusting, but things are going well. If I can get rid of the rain and the fleas, things will be fabulous!  Take care everybody!

 

Love, Spencer 

Hi Spencer, 

So I'm going to type some questions and then you can reply and add the answers to them...deal?

So what is your apartment like?  Is it just you and Elder Fuentes, or are there others who live there..if so how many and where are they from?

 

It´s just me and Elder Fuentes.  It´s a good apartment, we have a kitchen at least.  We eat at our desks.  Our only two difficulties at the moment is that our water heater is broken and I´m trying to get rid of the fleas in my bed.  ("Black Walnut" does not work, by the way).  Hopefully I can get that taken care of.

You said you had a baptismal challenge...who was it to and did they accept?

 

We actually have two now.  Their names are Nicol Jara (10) and Andres Roman (18).  They both accepted. 

Do you have a mamacita?

 

No.  We do everything ourselves.  We usually eat lunch with a member.  My comp is not big on breakfast or dinner, for that matter, so I bought a big bag of oatmeal and have been eating that for breakfast and usually dinner as well.  I found a place near our house that sells eggs and other things, so my meals should improve somewhat.

Are you taking your black walnut and your vitamins every day?

 

Vitamins, yes.  Black walnut, yes.  Although I am no longer a believer in black walnut. 

Well, black walnut is actually to kill parasites, but my friend said that her son had fleas that would bury themselves in his legs and that when he took the black walnut they came out of his body...ick!!!  So did dad send you stuff to use on fleas??

Yeah, I´m going to have a permethrin party in the very near future.

Sister ***** made it sound like Ecuador is really dangerous, but I can't imagine it would be since you obviously have sister missionaries there too...I'm sure some parts are, what is your take on that?

They keep the sisters in Quito or nearby.  I´ve only heard of one or two people getting robbed.  The worst I´ve seen is a couple of drunk guys passed out in the gutter.  I´m probably in greater danger of getting hit by a bus! 

So, I mentioned that Scott is coming on the 11th or so...I've asked around and I think you should probably get permission from your mission president to have him call you or take you to dinner or whatever.  Maybe when you call for mother's day you can give me that info...or you can e-mail me so I can let Scott know.

I´ll ask.  I´m not sure how that would work out, since mondays are the only day we have even a tiny bit of time.