Climbing Cerro Plateado

Elders climbing up Cerro Plateado

This is where the aliens landed!

Today we hiked up this hill.  It is special because it has a big cross on it.

Top of Cerro Plateado





Christmas is Coming!

Hello Family,

How are you all doing?  I just got a bunch of letters from as far back as November 7.  Some were regular mail, but some were dearelders, too.  Would you mind writing the date at the end?  Sometimes dearelder does it automatically and sometimes it does not.

Opening a granadilla,
a type of passion fruit

Well, someone asked me to talk about all the different foods I have eaten.  So far I have tried fish eyes, chicken feet, cow stomach lining, cow tongue, cow cow, cuy, chifles (fried banana chips), patacones (fried bananas that have been smashed and fried again), and a bunch of fruits starting with guaya- (guayas, guayana, guayabana, etc.)  Here in the sierra, they eat a lot of canguil (popcorn).  They use it in their soups a lot.  I also had a tangerine so huge it would put most grapefruits to shame.  The member that gave it to us said most people are scared of the giant tangerines because they are so ugly, but they are actually really good.

View from above the Agüello's house

This past Sunday, we had to help the family that was feeding us make dinner.  They have five sisters and one brother.  It reminded me a little bit of making Sunday dinner back home.  Not to be "tronqui", I just wanted to let you all know you did not have to worry any more because I have found Andean replacements for each and every one of you.  (I am guessing I will be hearing from you about this comment on Saturday!)

Speaking of which, I am told that I am supposed to call you a few days before Christmas to give you the number and time to call here so you can me.  Calls from the states are a lot cheaper than calls to the states.  I am not really sure why, this is just what the other elders have told me to tell you, so you can expect a five minute surprise call in the next few days.

I look forward to talking to you all on Saturday,

Love, Elder Grant

Caroling in the Park

Hello Ludlams,

We had Zone Conference this week.  It took up a lot of time, but we still got some good work done.  

Hernan's Baptism with Pres. Reiban, his wife, and son Sebastian

This week many of our investigators gained their testimonies. Hernan works in a bank, so he showed Elder Salvioli and I how he checks dollar bills to see if the are genuine.  He gave us a bunch of pamphlets on the security features of US currency so we could go home to verify all our money.  Hernan decided that he wants to join the church.  We asked him if he knew that Joseph Smith was called as a prophet and that the church he organized was the same church that existed in the time of Christ.  At first, he had to think about it and was not really sure.  He started saying what he thought about what he had read from the Book of Mormon and how it had changed the way he looked at the world.  He said that he felt something different when he studied it and then he just said, "Yes, I know that Book of Mormon is true and Joseph Smith was a prophet of God."  Then his wife, who was a member before, but never really had a testimony, said that now she, too, knew that these things were true.  

Parque Calderon is where we went caroling

We went caroling in a park as a zone activity.  We had about two or three missionaries taking turns, passing out pamphlets and explaining who we are as missionaries and what we teach while everyone else sang.  It was pretty cool to see benches full of people reading about the restoration of the Gospel as we sang "The Spirit of God" snuck in between "Silent Night" and "Hark the Herald Angels Sing."  We got some good references from the activity.

This week was Stake Conference.  We had an Area Authority come to speak. President Montalti also spoke.  During the Zone Conference, he told us that we had better give all our investigators a baptismal date before Stake Conference or he would give them one for us.

Well, I hope to hear from you all soon,

Love, Ñaño Nan (your Ecuadorian brother) 

Che Set Everything Straight!

Hola Familia,

I am sorry about the letter last week.  We did not have much time to write after we got back from our little bout with idolatry.  Today I just got back from the office.  I had to travel to Guayaquil to do some paperwork to stay here legally.  I got to see all the office elders again and meet the new assistant to the president, Elder Maguire.  How did you all like the First Presidency devotional?  We arrived in Guayaquil to just here the end of President Eyring’s talk and President Monson’s closing remarks.

These past two weeks we found a few new families to teach.  Hernan Cumbe is probably the fastest progressing investigator.  He came to church this weekend and had a good experience.  His wife is a less active member who came to church with him this Sunday.  They both had a really good time and she started to remember the blessings that come from being an active member. They both are struggling to gain their own testimony.  They both have said they appreciate what they feel when we teach and what they feel in church, but still need the spiritual confirmation of the truth of the Church.  Since this was fast and testimony meeting, I think it really helped them to hear the members bearing their testimony. 

We also found a new couple who own an electronics store, Cristian and Cristina Guaman.  They are one of those mythical Ecuadorian couples who are actually married and not just living together.  Anyway, they are really interested in the message and have turned away quite a few customers so they could pay attention and listen to us when we are teaching them.  Diana got married this week, but is beginning to have doubts about joining the church.  She is not sure she wants to give up all the things in her life that she would have to forgo to join the church. This week we are going to focus on helping our investigators realize all the blessings that come from living faithfully as a member and encouraging them to gain a testimony of their own.

Monay chapel under construction

We have had some problems explaining the first vision, the Book of Mormon, and its significance to us today.  A lot of people have said to us, “If you say that “San José” really had a vision where he was told not to join any church, I believe you.”  Some religious traditions die hard. President Montalti has counseled us to try and give each investigator a baptismal date in our first visit.  Sometimes the people don’t like it, but it has really helped us to know where we need to help them grow in faith.

It is really surprising how many people recognize us as messengers of the Lord here.  When we can get them to understand our real purpose and the significance of what we teach, they gain a desire to find out what direction the Lord wants them to take.  It is always touching at the end of a lesson when we ask them to pray and they sincerely ask for guidance from Heaven.

As preparation for the new Preach My Gospel, our zone leaders have asked us to work on using more questions and really having dynamic discussions with our investigators.  I like using questions to help investigators to realize important principles, but sometimes it really backfires.  It really is a skill to follow the guidance of the Spirit to control the flow of a discussion so that an investigator can contribute the eternal truths that they have learned in preparation to hear the gospel without basing the entire lesson in their beliefs.  So far we have been told a few interesting points of view:

"Hasta la victoria siempre"
Che wears the logo of Quiteño
soccer team La Liga

* There are secret Mormon symbols in the dollar bill and that the founding fathers were all Mormons.  No, sorry, those are the Masons.

* 400 years ago, it took months to travel across the Atlantic.  Now we can do it in a few hours.  So, logically, in the next 2000 years, we will be able to fly in a spaceship to get to heaven.  How is that for a 21^st century Tower of Babel?

* Christ first came to Earth to atone for all our sins, but something happened and it didn’t work so there is still sin in the world.  Christ then came back to Earth as Che Guevarra (Argentine Marxist revolutionary) to set everything straight.

Well, good bye for now family.  Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving up in Canby with all the sweet potatoes.  We get to eat a lot of camote (sweet potatoes) down here, too.

Love you all.

Just a quickie!

Dear Familia,

I'm sorry, but I don't have much time to write.  Just send pictures.  I got the package last week.  The latino companions all liked the carne seco (jerky).  It got us through being locked up in the house all day Sunday for the census.  I was glad to get everyone's letters.  Thanks!

This was a good week.  We did not do as much contacting this week because we have a good base of investigators to work with now.  We just learned that there is going to be a new Preach My Gospel coming out and they are going to use Ecuador Guayaquil Sur as "cuy" (guinea pigs) to test it out.  I am pretty excited.  They are truly going to take President Hinkley's commitment to double the number of baptisms seriously.

Next week is zone conference and then we are going to have a missionary leadership conference.  This means the conference is for everyone except junior companions, so they are sending us to work out in Loja for the week.

Well, my three weeks in the Cuenca area are about up, so I guess I'll be moving on.  Just kidding!

Sorry I didn't have much time this week.  I'll write more next week...

Love,

Elder Grant

Great Tidings of Great Joy

Dear Family,

Great Tidings of Great Joy: The Peru package made it through after all.  Thank you for all your letters.  Even if they were all a little old, I was still glad to hear from you all.  I liked the Ecuadorean Hollow Kitty.

Well, Cuenca is quite different than the coast.  The people here all live faster lives and work all day, every day, which makes it hard to ever find people for a follow-up appointment or to work with the members.  This has been our biggest problem this week.  Elder Salvioli has been great to work with.  He keeps pushing us to try and fit as many appointments in as possible and is really good about setting goals and thinking of new ideas to improve how we work as a companionship and then following through with them.  We did a lot of contacting this week.  Up until now, I had not done too much contacting.  The only times would be when an appointment would fall through.  Right before I got here, Elder Salvioli and his companion cleaned out their list of investigators who were not progressing, so this week we rebuilt our program.  We have a lot of prospective future investigators that we have appointments with this week, so hopefully we will be able to focus on teaching people more than finding them.

To me, it seems like the people that we actually teach here are a lot more prepared to hear the gospel.  Either they don’t want anything to do with us or they are genuinely interested in what we have to say.  When we teach them the message of the Restoration and they hold in their hands the Book of Mormon, you can see in their eyes that this is what they have been looking for in their life.  In the coast, just about everyone would let you into their house to teach, but would never really listen to what you were saying.  The problem in Cuenca is that everyone here is die-hard Catholics.  They will accept Joseph Smith as a prophet of God, but insist they will still die Catholic.  So far we are teaching:

• Cristian, a young man who has been questioning if there is a God and if there really is a way to find happiness in this life.  Unfortunately, he will be out of town this week, so it will be a while before we can teach him again.
• Pedro, a chauffeur who has studied with many different religions, but has not found anyone who he felt really had the power to teach the true word of God.  He is willing to believe in the Restoration of the Gospel, but has told us that he is not going to just believe us simply on our word, but is going to pray for an answer from God (something that Elder Salvioli and I were more than agreeable to).  He asked us if there was a prayer service of ours he could attend to try and learn more about us.  “Well, as a matter of fact...”  Whoever said that extending commitments was tough? 
• Diana, one of Elder Salvioli`s old investigators who is dating an inactive member.



Cuy or Guinea Pig

• The family Hidalgo, who are ready to be baptized, but are still working on getting a visa so they can get their marriage license.  They are really excited about the church and keep asking for more doctrinal books to read.

These are the people we have had the best lessons with.  There was one other man, Sergio, who mistook us for his pastors.  We taught him the first lesson and he was receptive to the message, but I think his real pastors found out and now he doesn’t want to listen.  Hopefully he will still read the Book of Mormon to find out for himself.

The birthday girl, Hna Cedillo, cooking cuy

This week will be difficult because this is the week Ecuador is having their national census, which means that all the churches are going to be closed down.  We can’t leave our house all day Sunday.  We won’t be able to progress with any of our investigators until next week.  This week we are going to work on finding ways to confirm our appointments and to make sure our time working with members is well spent.  We had a few days where all our appointments we had planned with a member fell through and we had to just do contacting with the members. 

Right now, Monay is just a branch, so I don’t have the luxury of having a little fleet of ward missionaries at my disposal like in Machala.  Mostly we have worked with the Branch Presidency, who sacrifices a lot to be able to help us, but they still can only do so much.  They are building a chapel for Monay which should be ready in a few months.  They are hoping they can become a ward soon.

View from her parents' cabin

After I write to you, I will get to try my first Cuy.  A family in the branch wants to watch us cook our own cuy.  Cuy is only popular up here in the Sierra.  Now I can check this off of my Must-Do Ecuadorian checklist.  I still need to get mugged and to have banana related digestion problems.

Well, until next week, lots of love from your Andean brother.

Transfer to Cuenca

Hello Family,

Elder Salvioli

I’m on the move again!  I just got reassigned to Cuenca.  I am working in the Molay sector, which is where Elder Gonzalez started his mission.  My new companion is another Argentinean, Elder Salvioli. Cuenca is quite different than either Guayaquil or Machala.  It is cooler, has lots of hills, and has no stray animals in the streets.  I am excited to start working here.  They are splitting Machala into two sectors and Elder Gonzalez is going to be the new Zone Leader. 

Cuenca, Azuay, Ecuador

(Cuenca, the 3rd largest Ecuadorean city, is up in the Andean highlands, 8300 feet above sea level.  The four rivers that make up the original Spanish name of this city are part of the Amazon river watershed.  Check out the new weather gadget...quite a change in temps!)

This week was a little slower.  I got to spend some time with Elder Snow, the new elder.  He speaks Spanish really well and we hit it off.  We have a lot of the same interests in music and school.  He is going to the Y, so we will have to meet up there again. 

Sign says "Don't leave trash here"

I had an experience with the converting power of the Book of Mormon.  Elder Gonzalez and I were going to a second appointment with an investigator, but we learned that he had been evicted so we decided to just teach the new family living there.  We did not teach much, just said what we do as missionaries and left them a Book of Mormon and told them to read it and pray to know if it was true.  When we came back, we asked the father if he had read and prayed.  He said he had.  We asked how he had felt during his prayer.  He said he felt the same way as when he first met us and then again after we came back.  He said he thought that this feeling is what was missing in his life and he wanted to become a member of our church.  Then I got transferred. 

If only we could get all our investigators to read and pray.  On my first day with President Montalti, he told me that people here don’t like to read and that challenging people to read would be one of the biggest struggles with investigators.  

Zone Activity at a Mexican Restaurant Back:Elders Velasco, Salvioli, Caal, Diaz, Ferrero, Jenkins, Ruiz, Ludlam; Front: Elder Kjar, Hnas Haggard, Glanzer, Elders Robinson, Johnson, Hnas Deninson, Castillo, Elder Badger

Well, I am excited to be working in this new sector.  It will be a different kind of experience.  I still will get to drink mate every night, though, so not too much will have changed.  Look forward to talking to you all soon.  Love, Elder Ludlam