My goodness! This sure has been a crazy week! We had transfers today, but I´m not going anywhere. Sort of have mixed feelings about it. I have really come to love the ward here, but I´m also feeling like I´m ready for a change. We´ll have to see.
This week we focused on getting more help from the members. Reason #1 - Esmeraldas is a pretty tough place to live the gospel, and the investigators will nearly always inactivate if they don´t have support from others. Reason #2 - All of the non-members (as well as some members) were drinking all during the week! Makes it a bit challenging to teach anything at all. We came through in the end. We are now getting members to come with us during the week, at least one every single day. I´m expecting some drastic differences from what we´ve had in the past!
So shall I describe a New Year´s celebration in Esmeraldas? Allow me to explain:
First of all, the streets are LOUD!!! The people here like to point their speakers outside their houses for some reason, so there´s always music blasting. However, it´s even louder during the celebrations because people take the trouble to set up those giant speakers that you usually only see at concerts and things like that.
Second, you see a lot of Años Viejos, or life-sized effigies that the people make here. It´s actually quite an event. During the days before the year ends, you can see everybody´s little creations because they put them outside for everyone to see. Once the clock strikes midnight, they burn them all! It´s quite the commotion, woke me up at midnight when it happened.
Last of all, the people don´t call it quits at midnight like we tend to do. The drinking, dancing, and loud music lasts all the way into the next day. Although the afternoon on New Year´s Day was rather quiet. Mostly because everybody was either passed out in their houses, or in the hospital recovering from injuries sustained while burning años viejos.
So there you have it. Quite the event. I´ve never seen anything like it. Hopefully all of your celebrations were just as spirited, but maybe not so dangerous (or sinful!). More stories from Esmeraldas soon to follow! Take care everyone!
Love,
Elder Wallace
P.S. I brought my camera cable. Ready for some photos?
1 comments:
Did he end up sending pictures? I love how descriptive he was in telling about their new year's celebration. Elder Thomas just mentioned that the people set off fireworks at the park across the street from his apartment. Maybe things aren't quite so crazy in Otavalo as they are in Esmeraldas!
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