Week 25

Ecua-fact: Most of the men grow out one finger nail, usually the pinky. I can only imagine why. (Shudder)

For those of you who didn´t here I was yet again transferred! I´m the one transfer missionary! It was a really strange Change, I am still with Hermana Mérida from Latacunga but we are one hour south opening the Recreo sector of Ambato. Opening is hard work but we have a really great ward and they help us out a lot. It´s been fairly easy to find our investigators, including the one who lives at the top of the mountain. Literally, mountain. The pictures of my sector were taken from his house... Crazy.

We should have a baptism this weekend though. Hno. José Vasquez. He just needs to get married this Wednesday. I don´t know why nobody here is married. I know that a lot of the people of the world don´t get married anymore, but not all of them.

My new sector is absolutely huge, we not only have a massive chunk of Ambato but quite a few cities outside. El Pisque, Cuchibamba, ect. We spend a lot of time in buses and walking. With all the rice though the walking is a good thing.

It´s nice to be in a ward that is so helpful and gives us references, it´s a really big difference from Latacunga. Although I still miss my investigators there. The good news is that Maria Llango (pictured below) will be getting married this week so she will also be able to be baptized. As aforementioned, my companion and I already have permission to go back for her baptism. She is probably one of my favorite investigators, I don´t think I´ve ever met anybody so kind in all of Ecuador. She is really thoughful and attends church every week even though we aren´t there to make sure she does.

And now...the bad news. I fell, yet again, it´s not as serious this time but still included a trip to the E.R. in a third world country. I´m unable to work for 8 days, which is not good, we are super busy and our sector is huge and full of mountains! They should really work on the roads here. Don´t worry about me though, I´ll be fine in no time!

Your favorite Missionary,

Hna. Whitney Tanner

Ambato-Recreo.


My sector.


This is my new sector...It´s absolutely enormous.





Waterfall count: 4 Pialon del Diablo

Chao Latacunga

I feel like I say goodbye a whole lot...



These are the twins, Paco and Estefania, with their mother Maria Luz.




This is Maria and Ana Llango (Yango), Maria is in pink. My companion and I have permission to come back for her baptism in a couple of weeks!

Week 23

Hey Everybody-


Ecuafact- I can buy 3 pineapples for a dollar!

Zone Conference was this past week and this is the picture of my zone!

This is Jhon Carlo, no not spelled wrong, The Lord seems to know that I need a little brother with Downs in every sector! I´m pretty lucky! We are teaching his mother Jeaneth. She´s not super interested but we´re working on it! She and her husband own some Cabina´s (they are like payphones, but not!).

This is Santiago, he´s too young to be an investigator but we are teaching his older brother and sister Paco and Estefanía! I wrote about them last week. They are still doing well, but didn´t come to church this week so we´re a bit worried. They still accept our committments though! They haven´t been drinking or smoking either, which is especially good because they are only 15! I haven´t been able to get pictures of everybody yet, but soon.

One of our members has a pet monkey, purchased for the amount of 20 dollars, named Skipper!

We are teaching a really great family right now, Valerie, Lorenzo, and they have a little boy Esteven. They are Catholic but don´t really believe in anything the Catholic church teaches, very unusual, especially infant baptism or worshipping Saints(idols- Hey Tim!) So they are really receptive and always have a whole lot of questions about the church. Now if we could just get them to come to church. They are a bit confused sometimes so we take it slow!

Mother´s day is the greatest isn´t it? I got to talk to my family! Take it from me, you never know what you´ve got ´till it´s gone! Ask any missionary! Sorry I´m so brief today, I don´t know what to talk about since I already talked to my family yesterday!

Latacunga

My apartment (for those who care) and Latacunga! It´s really nice, but still lacks a lot of the things we Statesman are used to.

Week 22

Hey Everybody-

Ecua-fact: It usually costs 10 cents to go to the bathroom in a public place. When the toilet paper is free, it´s a pretty happy experience. They are some of the shadiest bathrooms I´ve ever seen.

Things are going really well with Paco (M. thought you would appreciate that name) and Estefania. They have already been to church twice now, which is the minimum requirement for a Baptism, they even came and stayed for all three hours. Which is more than the majority of our members come for. Their mother Maria Luz is so glad that they´ve stopped drinking and smoking that she wants us to come by every day at about 8:00pm. A bit hard, but it´s always nice to go somewhere we are wanted. Sometimes even rare! They really are doing great. Paco is always asking questions and Estefania has decided to wait for Matthew to come home from his mission ( I told her she would have to be a member first). The gospel really does do wonders for the family. Everyday I become more and more convinced that I´m the luckiest person in the world to have been born into the Gospel. I can´t believe how blessed I am, I really had no idea!

Ana is doing okay, but she didn´t come to church this week! We are still working with her husband, but he hasn´t been able to quit drinking and smoking yet! I´m hoping he will soon because you never know how long your going to be in an area, and I´d like to see him get baptized!

We had a ward activity this week, probably one of the most stressful things ever. We watched the Joseph Smith movie. Which isn´t available to you spoiled people in the United States, but in Ecuador pirated copies are legal...interesting no? More members came then attended Sacrament meeting. We have an activity planned for every week in May and are hoping it will motivate the ward.

We had Zone Conference this past week which meant traveling to Ambato 4 times, 8 dollars wasted in buses, smelly, people crammed buses. It´s always worth it though, President Sloan really is a great man and I always come away with so much afterwards. He told me I will be changed again, so I don´t have much time in Latacunga left! He said I´ll be heading to Otavalo or Ibarra again! He has been known to change his mind though! Let you know in a couple of weeks.

Hna. Whitney Tanner