Ding! Watching the light go on!

Farewell to Elder Carillo, front farthest right

Hello Fam Fam

Elder Sanchez and Elder Palacios fix their knot

We just taught a new family, la familia Quesada.  We kind of got shanghai-ed into helping them move.  They just moved into our area the week of general conference.  After morning session of conference last week, our district leader approached us and said, "Hey, we have a reference for you of a really great family in your area", which I guess is Huancayano for "Do you have three hours to help us move one of our investigators?"  They are two young parents who have been most interested in having the spirit in their home as the raise their children and are long time friends of some members from the area they just moved from.  They want to know what their friends did to raise such well-centered children.

Bienvenidos to Cajas National Park

We also had another really good lesson this week with a family named Flores.  They have a big family who all like to listen to us but it is really their 17-year old son, Cristian, that is the most interested and has been the most diligent completing the reading we leave him.  This particular week we had left Alma 32.  The focus of our lesson was to realize why the restoration was so important and encourage them to seek a testimony of the Book of Mormon.  As we were explaining the personal commitment necessary to receiving an answer to pray, Cristian said, "This is kind of like my reading you gave me, you elders have come here and planted a seed, but if I want to know if it good seed, I need to nourish it by praying, studying, and going to church."  Ding.  I love watching the little light go on in the investigators eyes when they make the little different connections.  Yes, Cristian, that is exactly what you have to do.

Anyway, today we just had a fun zone activity.  We went to a lake called Cajas about an hour out of Cuenca.  Most people go there to fish.  We have wanted to go up there for a few months, but the office just now gave us the permission to go as a whole zone.  There is an abuelito in one of the families we eat lunch with who has wanted to go for a while.  He thinks Elder Badger promised to go with him during our week-long interchange.  Every time we come over for lunch, he asks us when the elder from Azogues is going to come again.  "I got the car and the poles all ready to go whenever you are ready."

Our bus had to stop on the way back to town
 to wait for a llama crossing

We are hoping for some mail tomorrow.  We have a new zone leader coming in, but we don’t know who it is yet.  Our other zone leader just left today for Guayaquil to go pick him up.  The plan is for him to pick up our mail off the desk of the comisionario so we don’t have to wait for him to send it to us.  Hope to hear about how your conference went. 

Zona Cuenca

Until next week,

Mister Elder