Week 17

Zona Norte!

Hey Everybody-

Ecuafact: There is no such thing as a screen for windows,it´s also very unusual to see banisters on the stairs. Children be darned


Well we´ve been to Tulcán twice this week. I hope we won´t be going again for a while! The bus ride really is pretty nauseating. We went for district meeting and today for a Waterfall. Yes, another one. Very pretty though, Ecuador is nothing if not picturesque.

We have an investigator named Carlos Espinoza, his wife, Estefania is a member. He´s only a couple of years older than me. He has a ton of potential. He´s probably my biggest hope right now. I found out that he married Estefania even though she already had a little girl. Virtually unheard of down here in Ecuador, of course, Mika is pretty loveable. He pays for her schooling (about 200 hundred dollars a month)and everything. He´s by far my favorite and I have a lot of respect for all that he has done. He always has a lot of questions for us which is always great.

I don´t have much time to write today! I hope this finds everybody well! I Love You Guys!

Week 16

Hey Everybody-

Ecuafact: All of the Spanish Speaking countries recently voted to eliminate the letters ch, ll (ayay), ñ (nyay), rr from the alphabet. It passed but Ecuador was the only country who voted no to the change.

Ibarra is still my favorite, I know I only have two sectors but I can´t help it! Right now we are teaching Daniela, she´s 17 and knows the Book of Mormon is true. I think we are going to try to set a baptizmal date this week. It might be tricky though when she was 14 she was baptized, with her family, into an Evangelical church. Right now she is living with her Uncle who is a member and also our Mission Leader. The Branch President also lives in the same complex so we are hoping that she will recieve a lot of support from them. She is a really great person though, she always follows through will our committments and prays to know.

We also have Raúl, he actually brough a friend of his to church yesterday! He was a little worried about the Law of Chastity, we taught him that this week, but agreed to live it. Raúl works on buses selling things and is from Colombia. He also took my companion and I to try Colombian food after our appointment. We had Papas Relleno, they were really good. They are potatoes stuffed with an egg and some meat. You eat them with ketchup and mayo.

It really is so great to see how excited they are about the gospel. Sometimes it is easy to forget how important this Gospel is. Especially if you have been a member for your entire life like I have. Everytime somebody gets excited about the gospel I feel like I get to experience things for the first time. It makes me appreciate the Gospel so much more when I realize how long some people have had to live without it. It brings families together and I know it´s true!

I was having a bad day last week and I prayed for help, because everything is harder when you have a bad attitude. While my companion was making some calls I saw David, he´s a little down syndrome boy who lives accross from the church walk by with his father. His brother is a member of the church and I desperately wanted to meet little David. When they made their way back I stopped them and got to talk to David! To my surprise he took hold of my hand. He reminded me so much of my Jared back at home. For the rest of the day I was so grateful to be here and for little David.

Yesterday in church I had another stretching experience. Much to my surprise my name was called as the second speaker. I quickly pulled together some scriptures and made my way to the stand when my turn came. I gave what I´m sure was a very choppy and incoherent talk. It really wasn´t so bad though. I asked the members to show some faith and share the Gospel with their friends and to give us references, because as missionaries we need the help of the members. I of course cried, but I know the Lord definitely helped me!

Chao,

Whitney

Week 15

Hey Everybody-

Ecuafact: Ecuador´s President (Rafael Correa) makes 3,000 dollars a month for his salary!

Still love Ibarra! Don´t you worry! It´s beautiful and friendly! Although I seem to be the solo means of keeping all of Ecuador´s mosquito population alive...I´ve a new bite daily! It´s crazy!

I´m trying to learn our sector really well because when my companion goes home at the end of the change I´m going to teach the sector! I haven´t had to do that so far, but my new companion is going to depend on me! Scary, especially because the streets have really long names like ours is Guillermina Garcia Ortiz. Yeah...not an easy feat and I only have three weeks left. Wish me luck. President Sloan told me to Be ready for callings and assignments that come my way. Both cryptic and frightening.

This week our Zone Leaders needed some help with a wedding so I agreed to sing in what I thought would be a choir. I was oh so wrong. Turns our I had a surprise solo of I Need Thee Every Hour. Most nerve racking thing I´ve ever done. Turns out I was supposed to be singing with another girl but in true latin fashion, she didn´t show! I don´t think anything will scare me when I get home. Rabid dogs, that´s nothing. Heights, nada! The mission seems to be boosting my confidence, not that it needed it.

We are still working with Cielo and Raul and they really are ready! They come to church and have answers to their questions! They just keep saying that they need more time, that seems to be the old stand-by! How do we get people over it? Any advice RM´s? We also have Daniela she is definitely ready to be baptized too but she is only 17 and we are waiting for the permission of her parents, who are devout Evangelicals. Crossing our fingers and holding our breath!

Hna. Whitney Tanner

My Ibarra Apartment!

These are some pictures of my apartment! In case you were wondering!

Week 14

Proof that I am in fact in South America! Isn´t it great?



This is the view from my roof! Isn´t amazing?

Zona Norte- smallest in the whole mission (Elder Glass, Elder Lazalde, Elder Seguro, Elder McGary, Hermana Escobar, Elder Stieber, Hermana Sloan, Elder Hernandez, President Sloan, and Me!
My companion and I (I´m a bit taller...and wider).


Hey Everybody-

I hope this finds you well!

Ecua-Fact: They have french fries everywhere! They cover them in this sauce that vaguely resembles fry sauce. If you get them to go, they come in a bag and they give you a spear to eat them with!

I´m doing really well! I forget to tell everybody about my transfer to Ibarra from Quito! It was pretty eventful (for me anyway). So Sorensen dropped me off at the terminal and I bought my ticket. I found my way to the bus and then my 3 hour bus ride (which has to only take about an hour in car) began. My Spanish not being great I had a little script written out so I could ask the bus monkey to tell me where to get off ( I didn´t want to end up in Colombia). Finally he told me we were at the Ibarra terminal and I got off! So I waited for Hermana Escobar to come and pick me up. Nothing. After about 45 minutes I finally got up the courage to ask somebody where the terminal was. I found out it was about 2 miles East! I quickly grabbed a taxi and went to the Terminal. When I got there I couldn´t see anybody. I was starting to panic a little now! They haved armed guards everywhere, and I asked one of them where the phones where so I could call the offices. He let me use his and then all of the sudden some Missionaries walked out. My companion with our Zone Leaders! I can´t even explain the relief. Changes are stressful!

We had Zone Conference this week, it was great as usual. President Sloan invites the members to attend. We set a record with 140 members in attendance. Most of them were from the Otavalo zone (combined Zone conferences). It was amazing to see. We also had district meeting like we do every week. What made it different was when we decided to do it in Tulcán. It´s two hours away and on the Colombia border, we have two Elders up there and our District Leader decided we should make the 4 hour bus trip at least once. It was beautiful, I can´t believe I didn´t have my camera! We´re going again though before the change is through! I have never been so carsick in my whole life. Passenger bus through the Andes mountains is now a pleasant ride!

We have some really great investigators right now. Cielo especially, she always comes to church which is great and she knows the Book of Mormon is true. She doesn´t feel quite ready for baptism yet but were hoping she will be soon. We also have Raul, he is from Colombia. He needs a bit of pushing but he also comes to church every week. We need some new investigators so I think we will be contacting this week! Scary! Wish me luck, I´ve never done it before!

We hiked the Waterfall above today for our P-day activity! It wasn´t too bad, and my ankle wasn´t a hinderance at all! I have a great zone/district!

Love and miss you all!

Hna. Whitney Tanner