This Hallowed Ground

Ok, first sorry that I haven't set any pictures home, my camera connector thing has a virus and deleted all my pictures, so guess I will have to take more.

I had some mani *peanuts* and ended up having  an allergic reaction this week and I ended up like taking my epipen, fun stuff.

We had cambios (transfers) today and I am in Calderon for six more weeks still with Elder Morgan, but he is a good companion so that is fine. He is district leader now.

This week we had verificaciones with the President and he took all of us new missionaries to this really special place that was actually outside of our mission in the Quito Mission, but we had special permission to go there. It was the place where Ecuador was dedicated by an apostle.  I forgot which one, but I have it written down somewhere, but it was really special and cool to be there. It was at this huge statue that overlooks the whole city. I will never forget that experience.

Silvia got baptised this week which was awesome. she is the best. Her and her son have come such a long way. We also have been focusing on getting our investigators to progress more and we have had some good success with two baptisms planned on my birthday.

I am loving my mission. Thanks for all your prayers and support.

Chao,

Elder Roberts

CARNIVAL

This week was super long and hard, but we pushed through and had some good moments. 

We always have lunch with the Stake President on Thursday and I love their family. They are great. What was super awesome this week was that they played Les Mis music during lunch. YES! After only listening to mormon tabernacle choir the past month and a half, it was nice to hear some of my favorite music in the world. 

Our super awesome investigator Silvia (Andy´s mom) killed it this week. We moved her baptisimal date up for this Saturday and she is so ready. She has so much faith. To not work on Sundays here requires soo much faith, and she has committed everything to the gospel. She is a great example. Some missionaries from another church keep on passing by her business and they tell her that the mormons don't believe in Jesus and don't use the bible and she told us she told them that the mormons always use the bible and every page of the book of mormon has references to the bible. She is awesome. We found out that she barely doesn't live in our ward boundaries, so we have to get a hold of the mission president and ask him if we can still baptize her or if the other missionaries have to. I hope we can and continue to teach them cuz they are straight up awesome. 

The new family we taught last week is awesome, but they aren´t married, so that will take a lot of time to work through. I didn´t realize they weren´t married and we were teaching a lesson and I kind of spaced out because their accents are thick and I had a hard time understanding what was going on and we were teaching the family and my companion turned to me, so I started talking about like oh yeah the family is really important and a lot of people don't think marriage is important and they can just live together and then their faces went red and I was like oh crap.....probably one of the most awkward experiences of my life, but sometimes as missionaries we have to be bold.

This week is carnival, so everyone is out in the streets chucking eggs and flour at each other, so we have to stay inside today and tomorrow except for planned visits.

Chao, Elder Roberts

Fe en Febrero

On Tuesday we had divisions and I was with Elder Plant and he is awesome. We were in Seballa and there are a ton of hills there and my leg has been sore, but it is all good. don't worry mom. I think the Lord blessed me with the gift of tongues that day because Elder Plant and I don't speak Spanish, but I was able to understand pretty much everything and communicate ok.

We made Empenadas with one of my favorite families, familia Florres and they were so delicious. the Ecuadorians know how to cook. 

This week we had interviews with the President and I love my mission President he is awesome and I know the Lord blesses us with leaders to help us out. I am grateful for my Grandparents who were Mission presidents, I have so much more respect for them after being on a mission because it seems like the most demanding calling possible.

We had a goal as a district to get a new family to come to church this week and the last door we knocked on Saturday night turned into us teaching the restoration and then we invited them to baptism and they accepted and then church. We showed up early to their house to help them get to church and they even gave us a ride. It was so weird being in a car, I am so used to being in jam packed buses, it was nice being in  a car.

Last night we taught this Jehovah witness. Alot of the people here dont know much about the bible, they believe it but don't read it, but this guy knew the bible and it was really cool because my companion is a genius so it was like pretty much he would tell us to turn to a scripture and then my companion without even opening the bible would quote the scriptures and I think he was impressed that a couple of young gringos know the scriptures.

On another note, we were teaching this old lady and I was trying so hard to understand what she was saying, but like halfway through I realized that she kept on switching from Spanish to Kichua or Quechua or however it is spelled. My companion knows some Kichua and he taught her in kichua. I am picking a little bit up, but I am hoping to learn more, I am just trying to focus on speaking Spanish now. I hope everyone is doing well. 

Chao,

Elder Roberts

We walked past this and I thought it was funny

HAY FUL SOL

No pictures this time. We played futbol as a zone and it went a lot later than anticipated so we didn't go back to the apartment to grab the camera, but I have some good pictures for next week.

Our apartment has these roosters that live on the roof, and they are fighting roosters, they are bred to fight each other til the death and people gamble on which one will win. They wake us up every morning at 6. There are thousands of dogs on the streets. Before the mission I always wanted to have a pet dogs, but now I dislike dogs except for Nisha and Coco. haha. IT HAS BEEN SO HOT THIS WEEK. The sun is so strong here, I have my tan back and it is awesome.

Food  The food here is so delicious. We get fed so much. We have a ton of members and investigators who own bakery's and food tiendas and they give us so much free stuff. We probably drink like 6 cans of pop every day. The best is the fruit though. Ecuador has all of these unique fruits and they are so delicious.

We had such an amazing week doing the Lords work. We went to the border of our sector in Oyacoto which I believe is close to the aeropuerto. We were contacting there, it was soo hot and dusty and we followed this old lady driving this goat herd with some llamas down the road and there was this house with these people and Elder Morgan and I were like lets go contact them. So we walked over and said we were missionaries looking to share a message. They gave us food, we sat down, and stated our purpose and started teaching the restoration. At the end of the lesson the dad said months ago he was looking for religious enlightenment and received an impression that someone would come knocking on their door and to follow them. He said he knew we were supposed to be there. It was a really cool experience. We got so many new investigators and avocado trees and there will be some old indigenous men and women working the field and we will say we have a message about Jesus Christ to share and next thing we know we are teaching the Joseph Smith story and they are reading  out of the scriptures. 5 new people accepted our challenge to be baptized.

The sad thing is we dropped a ton of investigators this week. It is sad to drop them, but our time is very limited and when they dont want to make commitments and progress there is nothing we can do. Even though we have to give up on them temporarily as missionaries, I know Jesus Christ never gives up on anyone. He is always there to turn too. It doesnt matter what our situation is, he has his arm extended and will carry us. He loves all of his children and I am glad that a young clueless boy like me can be here in this sacred land with the sacred calling of missionary to let people know that there is always someone they can turn to. 

Chao, Elder Roberts