Mi Familia!
Can you believe we were just talking on the phone just a few days ago? I am thankful that we had the opportunity to talk for a bit. And thank you for making sure Grandma and Grandpa and Gayle were there. This made me especially happy to hear them. haha I am glad that you thought my Spanish sounded good. I definitely need to work on my accent....I am still gringo through and through. Paciencia. Paciencia....
Interesting that you were supposed to have the missionaries for dinner last night and they didn't come.... We went to our dinner appt but no one was there! So we had dinner with Grandma instead! Meaning, we went back to our apartment and made the minestrone soup Grandma sent for Christmas. Hermana Rosas, Montenegro, and Barker all say THANK YOU GRANDMA! Hna Rosas said in her cute English, ¨It´s delicious!¨ Thank you Grandma for helping us keep the Sabbath Day holy and for feeding us. YUM YUM.
Tonight, we are planning on having FHE with Gio, one of our investigators and hopefully ward members. We are planning to talk about how goal setting is an act of faith and through Christ is how we reach our goals. (Ether 12:27).
I have found a few beautiful things about this city:
1. Cute little YELLOW birds
2. The fruit vendors--really, neatly stacked fruit is bright, colorful, and beautiful
3. The people!!!! I am not sure I have ever been kissed so many times a day in my entire life. I am grateful mom and dad that after family
prayer we kiss each other on the cheek. I had no idea this was actually preparation for my mission.
4. Actually, that may be all for this week
We went out into the streets for a few hours--during the appointed time we could-- on Christmas afternoon and we met two delightful families. I will tell you about one-- In one apartment lived a lady who is 93 years old with her three kids who are in 60-70 years old. It was an interesting experience. We are not exactly sure how to go about this because none of them can see well enough to read The Book of Mormon, they cannot walk the distance to church, and we are not sure how well they hear. And so, this is an interesting challenge. But I was thankful for the love I felt from them on Christmas. The mother, who was 93 just held my hand for a long time. We shared Matt 11-- come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give thee rest. A beautiful passage. And then we invited them to be baptized! One of them said yes, the others said they have been baptized before in the Catholic church, so we will see what happens when we visit them again.
Baptism is a huge focus in our mission. In the first lesson, we usually invite the person to be baptized in just 2 or 3 weeks from that date. We are finding those who are ready to hear this message. We do not have time to waste, and so we do our best to testify that this is the truth and that they can know it is the truth as well through prayer. And those who want to know it is true, will act. They will keep commitments and eventually, will know it is true. It is simple! Se bautizara? SI!
I am definitely being strengthened in this work. Especially Christmas night and afternoon, I was surprised at how peaceful I felt. It was just a quiet feeling of contentment with the choice to serve a mission and with being here in Ecuador. I was thankful for this reassurance. I am finding joy in this work. I hope the rest of your Christmas was a blast!
Hermana Garlock
Can you believe we were just talking on the phone just a few days ago? I am thankful that we had the opportunity to talk for a bit. And thank you for making sure Grandma and Grandpa and Gayle were there. This made me especially happy to hear them. haha I am glad that you thought my Spanish sounded good. I definitely need to work on my accent....I am still gringo through and through. Paciencia. Paciencia....
Interesting that you were supposed to have the missionaries for dinner last night and they didn't come.... We went to our dinner appt but no one was there! So we had dinner with Grandma instead! Meaning, we went back to our apartment and made the minestrone soup Grandma sent for Christmas. Hermana Rosas, Montenegro, and Barker all say THANK YOU GRANDMA! Hna Rosas said in her cute English, ¨It´s delicious!¨ Thank you Grandma for helping us keep the Sabbath Day holy and for feeding us. YUM YUM.
Tonight, we are planning on having FHE with Gio, one of our investigators and hopefully ward members. We are planning to talk about how goal setting is an act of faith and through Christ is how we reach our goals. (Ether 12:27).
I have found a few beautiful things about this city:
1. Cute little YELLOW birds
2. The fruit vendors--really, neatly stacked fruit is bright, colorful, and beautiful
3. The people!!!! I am not sure I have ever been kissed so many times a day in my entire life. I am grateful mom and dad that after family
prayer we kiss each other on the cheek. I had no idea this was actually preparation for my mission.
4. Actually, that may be all for this week
We went out into the streets for a few hours--during the appointed time we could-- on Christmas afternoon and we met two delightful families. I will tell you about one-- In one apartment lived a lady who is 93 years old with her three kids who are in 60-70 years old. It was an interesting experience. We are not exactly sure how to go about this because none of them can see well enough to read The Book of Mormon, they cannot walk the distance to church, and we are not sure how well they hear. And so, this is an interesting challenge. But I was thankful for the love I felt from them on Christmas. The mother, who was 93 just held my hand for a long time. We shared Matt 11-- come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give thee rest. A beautiful passage. And then we invited them to be baptized! One of them said yes, the others said they have been baptized before in the Catholic church, so we will see what happens when we visit them again.
Baptism is a huge focus in our mission. In the first lesson, we usually invite the person to be baptized in just 2 or 3 weeks from that date. We are finding those who are ready to hear this message. We do not have time to waste, and so we do our best to testify that this is the truth and that they can know it is the truth as well through prayer. And those who want to know it is true, will act. They will keep commitments and eventually, will know it is true. It is simple! Se bautizara? SI!
I am definitely being strengthened in this work. Especially Christmas night and afternoon, I was surprised at how peaceful I felt. It was just a quiet feeling of contentment with the choice to serve a mission and with being here in Ecuador. I was thankful for this reassurance. I am finding joy in this work. I hope the rest of your Christmas was a blast!
Hermana Garlock
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