Long Trips And Large Statues

Hey everyone! 

I promise to write a bit more this week!  Just a bit...

So this week we challenged two more people to baptism!  Well, we actually do that in every single visit, but we had two that accepted dates!  Their names are Ximena Gavilanez and Narcissa Caspi.  We are getting them ready for the 11th and the 18th.  We also found an older couple who are inactive evangelicals!  They´re actually really receptive, and I was really surprised.  Turns out their daughter suffers from depression and they are looking for a bit more peace in their lives.  Good thing that we have just the right solution for them!  They´re even coming to church this next week!

We had our zone conference and our district conference this weekend!  So we spent 3 days in Riobamba.  Actually, we travelled back to Guaranda on Friday night, and went back Saturday for the district conference.  A lot of wonderful talks, and a lot of motivation.  Our district is actually pretty big!  We all got interviewed by President Sloan, though that was kind of sad because they will probably be our last interviews ever.  He´s going back home in June, and we have to be ready to receive our new mission president.  

Right now we just got back from Santa Fe, where there is a big statue of Christ.  It was quite the hike getting up there, but I still enjoyed it.  Now we have to get our hair cut because we´re going to Quito this Thursday!  Walter F. Gonzalez from the presidency of the seventy is going to talk to us.  We´re all excited and a bit disappointed at the same time.  Excited because one of the seventy is going to talk to us!  A bit disappointed because we thought that Elder Scott was going to come.  But still, it will be a great experience.

Well, I hope everyone has a great week, and that all the activities go well.  Is it summer already?  Well enjoy it!  I can hardly tell the difference because we really don´t have seasons here!

Love,

Elder Wallace

How About Some Fotos?!

Brief explanations...

1) We have an investigator who is a sculptor. I´m checking out some of his latest work.
2) Guinea pigs!!! Freshly... harvested...
3) The giant ear of corn. Some kind of monument. It helps me know when I need to get off the bus.
4) Our zone at Chimborazo, at the base.
5) The few of us who dared travel up to the second refuge.
6) Making burgers as a district to celebrate good friday. Ironic, I know.
7) The Arévalo family.
8) Baptism of Karina.
9) Salinas, where they sell delicious cheese and chocolate! (You have to be careful and make sure the chocolate isn´t alcoholic!)
10) Baptism of Flor Arévalo. Big turn out, lots of family support!
11) Me with Elder Cruz. He´s from Guayaquil, but from the suburbs instead of the inner city part. Great companion! He´ll complete a month in the mission this week!

And Back To Quito!

Dear family and friends,

First of all, I want to wish a HAPPY MOTHERS´ DAY to everybody to whom the wish applies! I hope that it went great!

I apologize in advance... this email will be very brief. I guess my family can tell about how I´ve been doing!

We got the transfers this morning. Elder Sotomayor is being tranferred to Quito. I´m staying in Guaranda, but I´m getting another greenie, so I have to go to Quito as well. We´ll see how that goes. So I guess I´ll have to postpone sending photos another week. Sorry! Elder Robinson and Elder Arriaga are staying in Guaranda as well, so there aren´t too many changes. I will be thrilled to send some photos, just not this week! Hope everything goes wonderfully for all of you, and that my siblings will email me (hint!). I enjoyed the phone call! Talk to you all next week!

Love,

Elder Wallace

A Fabulous Week!

Dear family and friends,

It´s been a great week!  We actually had a miracle happen!  Karina, one of our investigators, was having some trouble and didn´t want to be baptized.  But guess what!  This last Saturday, we went and visited her and helped her out.  She got baptized that same night!  We also had some great experiences with our mission leader, who helped us get to know his three neighbors, who are now getting ready for baptism!

So bin Laden is dead, is he?  I told my companion that, but he wouldn´t believe me.  Then it came up on the TV in the internet cafe that we´re in right now!  Good to hear.  So how is life going for everyone?  I hope that everyone has recovered from being sick and that all the soccer games go well.  Also I hope the Spanish-speaking missionaries don´t feel too bad about discovering that Marlene is a member!  Sometimes the referrals don´t get checked too well!  The mission offices here sent me a referral that they said was really good.  Luckily I knew that it was our Relief Society President that they were giving me.  That would have been embarrasing!

Well, I think that we will be talking quite a bit this following Sunday, so I really don´t need to say much more!  I will be getting on Skype sometime in the afternoon.  I believe you are all an hour behind me, so we´ll be sure to take that into account!  Take care everyone!

Love,

Elder Wallace

Cuy, Communism, and Easter Traditions

Buenas Tardes!

I don´t have much time right now, so my letter will be brief! I´m writing from the bus terminal in Quito!

So what am I doing in the bus terminal in Quito? I had to get some little card of mine renewed so that I stay legal for one more year! We went to Quito, then had to come all the way back to the terminal. The streets were really blocked up because of the COMMUNIST PROTESTS!!! Turns out that the president here wants to make the country communist. It did kind of freak me out seeing all of the read flags with the little sickle and hammer on them. I´d prefer all that to stay in the cold-war-era movies! But anyway, I just hope nothing happens that will get me booted out of the country! We´ll see.

Now we are heading back to peaceful little Guaranda. Easter went well, I tried Fanesca twice. It´s pretty good. I also got to eat some more guinea pig, and was kind enough to take a video of it. So I will send that as soon as possible. Everyone was a lot more calm during the week. Lots of traditions as well. Huge groups of people parading their statues down the street, lots of people wanting to repent, and NO MEAT! Lots of fish though. LOTS of fish! I didn´t mind that at all. It was quite tasty.

Our priority now is to prepare the Naranjo family for their baptism this weekend! They are a great young couple who really needed our help! I´ll give more news on that later!

Well I´m out! See you later, and I will write next week!

Love,

Elder Wallace

Chimborazo!

Hey everybody!

First of all, I want to say happy birthday dad!  Well, three days ago, but still.  I hope it went well!

We climbed Chimborazo today!  It was pretty cool, since I haven´t seen snow in such a long time!  You should have seen the missionaries who have almost never seen snow in their entire lives!  The place we went to was 16,000 feet up, which is super tiring because there´s no air!  It was also really hot because the sun is so strong up there!  Kind of a weird combination.

What else...?  President Sloan visited our branch this weekend!  I think for the first time.  He gave a super powerful lesson on faith, which helped a couple that we´re teaching to make the decision to be baptized.  I was really grateful for that because when we first started teaching them they were on the brink of divorce.  We will keep working with them.  I liked President Sloan´s thoughts on faith - when members go inactive, it´s not because they got offended or because something is keeping them from going.  It is because they lack sufficient faith in the Savior and His promises.  Always something to think about.

We also found a really great family of about 14 people!  The only catch is that they live half an hour away!  We still went there Sunday morning to take them to church, and about a third of them came.  That made me really tired, but it was still great that they came!  They invited us to come over for ¨Good Friday¨, but that´s when I have a meeting two hours away... I´m still pretty interested to see what some of the Easter traditions are here.  I hear that everybody wants to be reconciled with God during that week, so maybe we´ll have an easier time getting people to listen!  We´ll see!

Love,

Elder Wallace

Go Away Rain!

Buenas Tardes!

It´s rained so much this week! We also have been working hard with a lot of investigators who have endless challenges! I would send photos, but my camera has died. I´d better charge it, eh?

This week was quite the battle. We are facing a lot of challenges, and the weather hasn´t exactly been too favorable with us. I did an interview with an investigator of the other missionaries. Yikes. That´s actually the first time I´ve had to call President Sloan about an interview. He says that he´s not sure if he´ll even interview the investigator at all, and if he does he says he´ll probably have to write to the First Presidency to get a baptism authorized. It sure wore me out! But President Sloan says that it´s good for me and will help me learn more. I realize more and more just how messed up the world is today, which makes it so important to live the gospel. It´s the only thing that can really protect us from everything that´s out there.

My scripture study this morning helped me out a lot. I read in Doctrine and Covenants 84:80. I learned that if I keep working hard like I should, the Lord will take care of me and nothing bad will happen to me. Good to receive some comfort! I also thank you all for the letters! I appreciate each one. Take care!

Love,

Elder Wallace