Staying in Cuenca!

Dear Family,

How is every one?  The new house doesn’t look any smaller or less Xanadu than the last one.

Well, today was transfers and it looks like I’ll be staying in Cuenca.  Everyone is staying here in our house except for Elder Warner.  He’s going to Monay.  We had a trip down to Machala to have a meeting with Presidente Montalti.  I guess the mission got pretty lazy this past month.  We all dropped in numbers.  I am rather proud of myself because this week we did really good working with members.  Elder Castro and I beat our record for number of lessons with a member present in a week for this area and we even were gone two whole days.  

We’ve been trying to help this family who knows the Book of Mormon is true but doesn’t want to pray to God about it.  We got the members excited about the family and they have all been trying to help, but I am afraid the family doesn’t want to progress.  The dad said that he really likes everything we have taught him from the Book of Mormon and even wants to go teach his friends using the Book of Mormon but said that he made the decision long ago to never join another church.  I think he’s talked with and investigated a lot of churches.  He said all the churches lead to Christ.  Apparently prophetic revelation, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and a remission of sins is not all that important to him.  I told him if he wants to walk away with the Book of Mormon but not join the church, its basically the same thing as stealing a bunch of cable channels from his neighbor.  I am not sure how he took it.

One of the big things I took home from the Machala conference is we need to always have a prayer in our heart.  Everything we do should be in a spirit of prayer.  If we do that, it will be a lot easier to stay focused on what is really important and we can know what we need to do.  We are still teaching the girl from Machala that I told you about last week.  There are two sets of senior missionaries here in Cuenca called the LaMarcas. They have been teaching English classes and our investigator has been going there with her friend, Yuliana.  The LaMarcas called and asked if they can come and teach her with us.  They are really good.  They still need me to translate, but they add a level of maturity to the lessons that Elder Castro and I are not quite capable of.

Hopefully, tomorrow I’ll get to learn what you’ve been up to.  How long did it take you to find the house?

Love,

Elder Ludlam

Where is New Jersey anyway?

Hello Family,

About the shoes.  I used the money from the New Year's package to buy some cowboy shoes from my companion but they have thick soles and now the nurses want me to buy some new shoes because they my be hurting my feet a little.  They have stopped calling to bug me about it now, though.  I don't know what I'm going to do.

Well, I guess we'll be moving out of Washington.  I tried showing my companion were I'll be living on a map and I realized I don't actually know where New Jersey is.  It is west of Long Island, right? 

Brian Leon's Baptism next to his mother, Melva

What state is that?

Well, we are approaching the end of another transfer.  I just realized how little time I have left.  I am too scared to even write it.  Got to aprovechar (take advantage of) every last minute.

We found a young lady yesterday from Machala.  She is friends with a girl in our ward, Yuliana.  Yuliana is a super member-missionary and carries her scriptures around with her everywhere she goes in her backpack.  When her friend saw her Book of Mormon, she started asking questions.  They had a nice long talk about the Book of Mormon, and "compared it to the Bible."  We told her about the Restoration and she is pretty excited about it and accepted a baptismal date.  We'll just have to see what her parents say.  They still live in Machala.

Well, my companion is medio gruñón (a little grumpy) right now and is bugging me to leave.  We are waiting for the money to come in from the mission and it looks like it won't get here for another week.  I hope Ava has a wonderful Birthday this week.

Love you all; talk to you soon.

Love Mr. Uve

Be a Little More "Valiente"

Elder, Hermana Lamarca, Pereyda, Liberato, Ludlam, Marquez, Retuerto, Ñacato, Brock, Presidente, Neilson, Jimenez, Silva, Alvarado, Moss, Leonardson, Castro Dear family, How are you all?  Looks like a lot of snow fun.  My companion says he feels sorry for you being frozen. Melva Guanga and Fma Flores We had an interesting week.  We found a sister who has been going to church for a while with her sister but has never gotten baptized.  She is excited about finally being a member of the church. We are teaching a lot of great people, but they have many problems.  The guy I told you about that has had the Book of Mormon for 20 years told us he knows that the Book of Mormon is divinely inspired and that Joseph Smith would have to have been a prophet to write it.  But he is "unsure" that God restored His church through him.  It was a bizarre lesson.  Whenever we tried to get him to think it through, he would say he couldn’t because he was too confused.  I am not sure what we are going to do.   We are teaching another family, too.  The mom and kids all like what we teach a lot, but the dad is more reserved and doesn’t want to accept what we teach right away.  We finally got him to read the Book of Mormon and to understand why the restoration is a big deal, but when we asked him to ask God about it, he said he is willing to pray with us but wants to wait until later to ask God because now he knows this question is a big deal so he needs to be prepared.  I guess this means he already has an idea about what the answer will be.  It was a good lesson.  He is one of those people you don’t have to try too hard to listen because he does most of the talking.  Just kidding.  That’s not how it works. We also found a new family.  They are really good, too.  When we got to know them, they just let us into their house and we shared our message with them.  They all picked it up really well.  They were all going to come to church but disappeared the morning of. Feely I am trying to be a little more “valiente” in the lessons.  In the new PMG (Preach My Gospel), Part 2 Booklet, it talks a lot about inviting people to baptism and the other important commitments in the first lesson so the people know what our purpose really is in teaching them.  I guess it is easier to do that when you live on the coast and anyone will listen to you or when you're teaching old people, but it is a little easier to just try to talk pretty so that people will like what you teach more (especially when you find complete families in Cuenca).   It kind of feels good to know you have a big program with all these people, even if you are not helping them to progress.  But the people need to hear what we need to tell them. Even if they don’t accept, we are doing what we are called to do and the Lord will be pleased.  It was with His help, after all, that we are able to find people like that in the first place.  I guess the same thing goes with doing daily contact with the people. In order for the people to keep their commitments, sometimes we need to remind them every day. Sometimes I am worried they will get irritated, but they need to keep their commitments.  Anyways, this is my batalla contra la cobardía. I guess if they don’t accept, all that work is not really lost even sometimes it feels that way in the moment. Well family, I am hoping to hear from you soon.  Ojalá que haya correo mañana.  (Hopefully there will be mail tomorrow)  Elder Castro quiere otro paquete lleno de caramelos (Elder Castro wants another package full of carmels/ candies).  (Favorites: Reese's Pieces, dark chocolate KitKat)  Do we have the final word on NJ? Love, Nan

FedEx Made it Up the Mountain!

Querido Familia,

How are you all?  El paquete Fedex ha llegado! (he just got his Fedex pkg that was sent at the end of November)  I love the Mesías (Messiah) CDs even though they got here a little late.  I had the Betalehemu on another CD you had sent me so I was able to play it Christmas morning.

We found a really good investigator this week.  His name is Jorge.  About 20 years ago, he had a few lessons with sister missionaries.  They eventually went home and he stopped investigating the church, but still takes out the Book of Mormon every once in a while.  He said that he thinks it contains some "inarguable truths" and says he feels peace while reading from it.  We helped him sort out all these perceptions and he told us he thought Joseph Smith was a prophet and got excited to come to church.  The only problem is that about a year ago a pastor from another church helped him turn his life around and he is not quite ready to reject the baptism he had with them.

Our mission leader, Pedro Juela

He came to church which is really exciting.  I was a little worried because in the last year he has learned of the Bible and our Gospel Doctrine teacher was not that prepared and I think he wasn’t too impressed.  At the end of the lesson, one of the recent converts asked some questions he had been struggling with lately and the teacher was able talk about that for a while. Jorge also gave his opinion, and the teacher was able to bear his testimony about how he knew the church was true.  I don’t think I explained that very well, but that opportunity to have a close up look at how a Latter-Say Saint thinks and feels was better then any slick, well-done lesson full of doctrinal complexity for our investigator.  It is like what Elder Perry (I think) said in his talk.  We should not try and dress up our beliefs to make them seem more than they really are.  The true fruits of the gospel will always show themselves.

Well, my companion and I have been going contact-locos (crazy).  We decided that is the best way to fight off disanimos (discouragement).  Jorge was our harvest for this week. We hope to find some more good people this week.

Anyway, I just got a little reminder about how we need to control what goes up on our blogs.  No full names, addresses, occupations, or problems the investigator is going through in their personal life or in order to be baptized.  There is a letter they sent out about this about 8 months ago and I just got another one so I think someone in the office might be sending me a subtle hint?

Love you all a ton,

Nanners

Elder Marquez les dice hola.

Let's Get It Started!

Elder/ Hermana LaMarca, Elder Brock, Me, Marquez, Liberato, Pereyra, Castro
Jimenez, Moss, Linares, Silva, Ñacato
Retuerto, Alvarado, Leonardson, Cruz, Neilson

Dear Family,

It was so wonderful to hear you all last night.  My companions told me I must have broken a phone record (three hours) but at least I got in all of my ñañas.

Elder Jimenez and Elder Ludlam

Well, I guess you know most of what’s going on.  I forgot to tell you about our Ward Christmas party.  It was pretty wild.  Las Américas had the best performance.  They did a choir and sang some songs in Quechua as they did a choreographed Nativity scene with angel, shepherds, and a few cholas cuencanas.  I thought things were getting a little out of control when Monay did a Mannheim Steamroller’s Joy to the World number until another ward did a dance number to the Black Eyed Peas' Lets Get it Started.  I am not sure how it tied in with Christmas, but… oh well.  They only thing they didn’t realize is that they were not dancing to the original song but rather a parody, Lets Get Retarded in Here.  They thought they were so cool.  A little lesson in one of the many reasons pirated music is a bad idea.  It gave the gringos present a good laugh, though.

Elder Marquez likes Barcelona, too

Thanks again for the call.  Transfers will be coming up soon.  I don’t know if they will do them this week or after New Years.  I feel better and more excited now that we had our little chat. 

Elder Marquez is getting a kick out of what I am writing.

Well, I’ll send you some pictures and hopefully some videos.  Thanks for the Christmas Pictures.

Elder Ludlam

A Good Week in Cuenca

Dear Family,

Are the Evans the family that is from Cuenca?  If you could send a brand shiny new pair of army-strong missionary shoes, that would be a wonderful Christmas for Nan.  The camera hasn’t shown up either.  I was also thinking of something else I would like for Christmas.  In one of your last letters you wrote about how dad was recording violins.  I would like a Ludlam violin/Ava piano concerto to listen to on all my new music equipo (equipment).

We had a good week in Cuenca.  We found quite a few new people.  We met a new couple, Ciro and Nelida.  We went over to lunch in the house of  the Familia Cando on Tuesday .  They had invited over Ciro and Nelida, their friends, because they were having marriage problems.  They want a divorce, but we read to them in the Book of Mormon about the Doctrine of Christ and what we need to be save our souls (and their marriage).  Ciro had some problems about becoming like a child and not guarding rencor (holding grudges) and got kind of upset and left, saying that there was no alternative to divorce. 

Making Tacos with Elder Castro (2nd from left)

We kept talking with the wife afterwards and she told us that she had this feeling that there would be no happiness in getting a divorce.  She said earlier that week they had an appointment with the lawyer to finalize their divorce.  She said she knelt down to pray and plead that she would not have to go through with it.  When she got to the appointment, someone had forgotten the necessary paperwork which bought them some more time.  We haven’t been able to go to deep into the message of the restoration, but I think they felt the spirit testify really strong when we read the Book of Mormon.  The hermana agreed to meet with us tomorrow again and asked us to call the husband to try and get him to listen to us again.  When we called, he said that he had a conversation with his wife and they would both be looking forward to the visit tomorrow.  They are both ministers of their local congregation, but so far have been really open to listen to us.

We also had another reference named Nancy.  So far we’ve only been able to teach her once, but she came to church this week.  She is sympathetic with the JW’s but this week we did the Final Judgement in Gospel Principles (class at church on Sunday), so it was a really good opportunity to compare ancient and modern revelation side by side.  We’ll have to see how well she took it this week.  W also found a few young men in a part-member family called Sucuzhañai.  Javier, the son of 20 years, also came to church.  (Church attendance is twice as exciting in Cuenca).

Cristo Rey

I am afraid I won’t be able to do a pre-llamada (usually he calls us first to give us a phone number) this year.  You have to call here.  We are going to be encarcelados (imprisoned) again this year although this time it will be for even longer.  We have to be in the house after lunch on Friday and have to stay there until Monday.  We only get to leave for Sacrament meeting.  The number of the house is 011-593-87591154.  "011-593-" is the international code and 087591154 is the house number.  You have to get rid of the "0" at the beginning, though.  Looking forward to talking to you.  I don’t know if you want to send some questions ahead of time for speed and efficiency with our 45 min limit.

Well, love you a ton,

Mister Elder Ludlam

Training in Machala

Dear Family,

Who is that penultimate handsome devil ?  
Elders Linares, Marquez, Leonardson, Moss, Jimenez, Nacato, Silva, Lamslud, Liberato

How are you all this week?  I spent the last few days in Machala.  We had a training session with President Montalti.  He talked a lot about expressions of love for our investigator.  He said "not only do the investigators need to feel the spirit in the lessons, they need to feel the missionaries love for them."  I think it is something I can work on.

We are having trouble getting people to church, particularly with Rosa, the single sister I told you about last week.  She wants to go but something always comes up and suddenly taking the sacrament becomes not so important.  Elder Christofferson has an article about always remembering Christ and the Sacrament that I want to use.  He talks about how part of the sacramental covenant is making sure that Christ always takes a priority in our lives along with scripture study, prayer and Sunday worship.  Elder Marquez, my district leader, also helped come up with a plan to bring members along to every visit to help her have a stronger commitment to not leave town at the last minute.

The ward here is still really new so all the members don’t all know each other.  We had a big activity last week where we all went out and looked for the people on the ward lists that we weren’t really sure who they were.  We participated as well because it was a good way to get to know the area.

Last night we had a pretty interesting lesson.  We learned there is a Haitian community living in our ward.  Some of them are already members, but there are still many of them who have not talked with the missionaries.  Since the earthquake took out all the universities in Haiti, they all are here in Ecuador to study.  They told us the reason they chose Ecuador is because it is the only country where they could show up in the airport and ask for a visa.  Spanish is not their first language, so there is a little communication problem, but we are able to make ourselves understood.  We are still getting to know everyone, but last night we talked with Franky.  He is currently going to a lot of different churches and is looking for the truth.  I am excited to be able to talk to them again.

Hope to hear from you soon.  My stack of 7 Dear Elders from November/December should be getting here any day now. 

I am looking forward to putting in practice what I learned in Machala.  Lots of efficiency things.

Well, love you all!  Call number 3 is coming up!

Love Elder Ludlam 

Pasando con los Paisanitos (Hanging with the Country Folk)

Dear family,

Elder Marquez, Ludlam, Castro, Retuerto

I hope you all had a wonderful Día de Accion de Gracias (Thanksgiving Day).  I spent mine in Cuenca!  This transfer came as a shock.  I am in a ward they just recently created a few months ago called Las Americas.  Great News: Monay is now a ward!  My new companion's name is Elder Castro from Trujillo, Perú.  He has only been here about a week longer than I have, so we are still trying to figure out where all the members are. 

We have a few people we are working with.  We are working with the son of a member named Javier.  He used to be close to accepting the church, but his catholic wife doesn’t like that he is listening to us.  We are going to try and see what we can do for him.  We are also working with Rosa, the mother of two young daughters.  She was going to come to church this week but then left town, so we still need to figure out what happened to her.

So far, I have felt I am a much better missionary than I was the last time I was here in Cuenca.  Things are much more peaceful up here in Cuenca.

Well, I am looking forward to another Navidad Andina (Andean Christmas).  It has been great to see all these old faces again.  Make sure you give the Calamardita (little Squid, our cat) a good squeeze for me.

Love,

Elder “Douglas”

Well, this change came as a shock.  When I first learned about it, I was kind of sad I was going to be leaving Elder Johnson.  I guess this has happened a few times.  When you learn about a change, all those silly, petty differences no longer feel important at all and you kind of feel you lost an opportunity to be a better friend.  Then I slapped myself awake and said, "What am I talking about?  I'm free!"  I guess the last few weeks I did a lot to try and have a really good relationship with Elder Johnson.  I guess he reminded me of Elder Sanchez a lot.

When I first realized that that was where the relationship was going, I made a promise to myself that I would do whatever it took to make sure we could leave each other as friends.  I decided I'd find 20 things I liked about Elder Johnson, things that he did really well and that I could learn from him.  He was really good about jumping over the little barriers that people make when you first try to get to know them.  He also was aware of the investigators and remember the different people we talked to.  I geared myself up to try and watch and learn everything I could from him right when they changed us.  I guess I will have to try and follow his example here in Cuenca.  Those skills will be very useful considering people here in the Sierra are known for being very closed.

So far I have felt that I have been a much better missionary than I was the last time I was here in Cuenca.  I also found the great value of humor in a relationship.  One time when Elder Johnson was angry, he called up the district leader.  The DL asked us if it was possible to make each other laugh.  I thought it was really good advice.  I put in practice what you wrote me earlier, Mom, about forcing yourself to talk and it really helped a lot. If you are at least talking, then you have to work to be angry.  But sometimes, you need to make good feelings, too.

I made it another goal to try and make him have a really good laugh every day.  Having him beat me in chess provided many opportunities to put him in a good mood.  I am not really sure what went wrong.  I keep thinking it has something to do with passive aggressiveness.  I am still not exactly sure what that is, Dad, but I think that is what you used to talk to me about.  I think sometimes he would try to get a reaction out of me on different things and I would just say, "uh-huh" or a distracted, "Oh, wow."  I think that is what drove him up a wall.  I guess that was a much more painful way of learning what you had been trying to teach years ago.