Hola!This week was wonderful! I was with Hermana Barker, the mission nurse, for a couple days while Hna Rosas went to a different sector for divisions. The bonus of this was that Hna Barker´s responsibilities includes an orientation for the new missionaries. I was able to meet the 3 new North American Hermanas who are super great! We also went to the temple!!!!! AHHH I love the temple. It was really special for me to go and be spiritually rejuvenated and to feel so much peace being here in Ecuador. The first transfer had its ups and downs in the adjustment period, but now I feel like I am loving so many things about being a missionary and being in Ecuador.
A few thoughts on what it is like to live in Guayaquil---
1. There are little stores and panderias--kind of like a bakery-- every few streets, Also, there are people in the streets pushing carts with fruits like coconut, guava, mangos of all types, grapes, apples, watermelon, etc. Hermana Rosas and I joke that if she asks how much something costs, they will tell her half the price that they will tell me. But I do my best to bargain down....The method I currently use is to do math quickly in my head and make a deal before they realize that I actually got the better deal.
2. We just take our garbage down to the corner and leave it there. We don´t have to stomp on any bins or wait for trash day. What a miracle.
3. During the week in this sector, we usually walk places, but when we go to the real store to buy things, or to the mission office we take a bus, taxi, or monorail. A 20 minute ride in a taxi may cost $2 and by bus its only 25 cents!
4. In Sacrament Meeting at church, the electricity went out including the microphone. As far as I could pick up, none of the speakers said a word about it. The meeting just went on as though it was completely normal. LOVE IT. Eventually it came back on for the 3rd hour of church.
Hermana Rosas asked me this week, "Have you written your parents and told them that you can speak Spanish? This made me laugh. So I decided I better write you on my Spanish update. Hna Rosas is convinced I understand everything---I definitely know better than this. Maybe I'm just good at faking that I understand. But I did realize this week that my Spanish has improved since I first got here! It is sometimes a little scary when I am talking and the words in Spanish are just coming because I wonder, What in the world did I just say? I have really been blessed with the gift of tongues on my mission. I have a long long way to go and at times people still don´t understand me. It was a joy to hear a child whisper to her sister, "Why is she speaking Spanish? Isn't she from the US?" because this meant that she understood what I said! If people don´t understand me, they usually think I am speaking English... It´s really funny because they will say, Oh wait one minute, my daughter speaks English.¨ Sometimes their English is harder for me to understand than Spanish, so I usually prefer just sticking to the Spanish....
Narciso was baptized on Saturday!!!!!!!!!!! We met him outside of his house back at the end of December. He sits on the corner in his wheelchair and makes friends with everyone. The missionaries have talked to him before, but he was not quite ready to hear the gospel. Now the time was right! The baptism service was really special. There were just a few people there due to LOCO rain. I realized how much courage it must have taken Narciso to be baptized. He lost his leg in an accident just about one year ago. His willingness to overcome his difficulties to be baptized, come to church, and change his life is inspiring!!!! We have loved teaching Narciso. He loves it when we sing, and just says que linda, que linda! Which is like how beautiful. It is fun to share the gospel when I love the people we are teaching.
A few thoughts on what it is like to live in Guayaquil---
1. There are little stores and panderias--kind of like a bakery-- every few streets, Also, there are people in the streets pushing carts with fruits like coconut, guava, mangos of all types, grapes, apples, watermelon, etc. Hermana Rosas and I joke that if she asks how much something costs, they will tell her half the price that they will tell me. But I do my best to bargain down....The method I currently use is to do math quickly in my head and make a deal before they realize that I actually got the better deal.
2. We just take our garbage down to the corner and leave it there. We don´t have to stomp on any bins or wait for trash day. What a miracle.
3. During the week in this sector, we usually walk places, but when we go to the real store to buy things, or to the mission office we take a bus, taxi, or monorail. A 20 minute ride in a taxi may cost $2 and by bus its only 25 cents!
4. In Sacrament Meeting at church, the electricity went out including the microphone. As far as I could pick up, none of the speakers said a word about it. The meeting just went on as though it was completely normal. LOVE IT. Eventually it came back on for the 3rd hour of church.
Hermana Rosas asked me this week, "Have you written your parents and told them that you can speak Spanish? This made me laugh. So I decided I better write you on my Spanish update. Hna Rosas is convinced I understand everything---I definitely know better than this. Maybe I'm just good at faking that I understand. But I did realize this week that my Spanish has improved since I first got here! It is sometimes a little scary when I am talking and the words in Spanish are just coming because I wonder, What in the world did I just say? I have really been blessed with the gift of tongues on my mission. I have a long long way to go and at times people still don´t understand me. It was a joy to hear a child whisper to her sister, "Why is she speaking Spanish? Isn't she from the US?" because this meant that she understood what I said! If people don´t understand me, they usually think I am speaking English... It´s really funny because they will say, Oh wait one minute, my daughter speaks English.¨ Sometimes their English is harder for me to understand than Spanish, so I usually prefer just sticking to the Spanish....
Narciso was baptized on Saturday!!!!!!!!!!! We met him outside of his house back at the end of December. He sits on the corner in his wheelchair and makes friends with everyone. The missionaries have talked to him before, but he was not quite ready to hear the gospel. Now the time was right! The baptism service was really special. There were just a few people there due to LOCO rain. I realized how much courage it must have taken Narciso to be baptized. He lost his leg in an accident just about one year ago. His willingness to overcome his difficulties to be baptized, come to church, and change his life is inspiring!!!! We have loved teaching Narciso. He loves it when we sing, and just says que linda, que linda! Which is like how beautiful. It is fun to share the gospel when I love the people we are teaching.
Love,
Hermana Garlock
Sister Garlock - This is Josh Garner. (We used to live in your ward, and Roger and Veronique White bought our house) Anyway, I served my mission in your exact mission. I have loved reading about your experiences on your blog. Reading your description of things brings back some poignant memories. The people are beautiful and wonderful, and you are doing a great job! How fun that you get to be close to the office for a while. Hearing you describe the vendors . . .I can still hear the watermelon vendor outside my window . ."Sandia, Sandia, Sandia" in a very nasally tone. Keep up the good work. I can testify that my life was forever changed by my experiences and the good people there.
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