Mitad Del Mundo

WOWEE WOWOW!  Why thank you Alfalfa :)

Heyo errybody!!!!!!!

Gosh I am so flipping excited right now you dont even know.  This week was tremendously better than the last one by far.  We wake up on Tuesday and the ZLs came over and said that we had transfers.  But they were just for one week.  Elder Ramponi from Argentina, was going to be working with me for the week.  This has never been heard of in the mission, so we all thought it was kinda weird.  But what President wants, President gets right?

So Elde Ramponi and I made a goal to return home absolutely exhausted every single day.  We were going to EARN our pillows everynight, and if we felt like we didnt, we had to sleep without a pillow.   Lets just say now, that my pillow and I have never been closer.  She may come with me to my next sector.  

To make ourselves work harder, we contacted every moving thing we saw.  We were able to meet with many amazing families and three of them are starting to progess!!!!  One family asked for our help to help them move, then we visited them the next day.  They are golden investigators, understand everything, and are really willing to learn. I will keep you updated.  We ran out of pamphlets and pass along cards as well so we will need a lot more to keep this up in the sector.

On Saturday, we were able to do some divisions with some members.  I took some investigators to ba baptism while Elder Ramponi stayed in the sector.  A return sister missionary gave a very powerful testimony and the spirit was really strong.  She even pointed out to the investigators and members present that what they were feeling was the Spirit.  THree of the four investigators that came to the baptism, also came to church the following day! Hope we wil be able to see them progress. 

So today for Pday we went to the Middle of the World monument in Quito.  I was able to walk on the equator and balance an egg on a nail!  There are lots of other fun things for us to do there, but we didnt have time.  We will go back soon to visit all the cool sites and activities.  We also were able to get to know Quito better, and holy nuts its big!

A bit of funny business for ya.  We went to pick up the clothes of Elder Ramponi from a laundromat that a member owns.  I dont know anyone over there....NO ONE:  So an old guy came walking buy while we were waiting and we contacted him.  He said that mormons are a bunch of liars and hypocrites.  We tried to explain a principle, and out of nowhere, Elder Ramponi says: " No, you are a liar".  I totally flipped out thinking that we just totally botched it.  Then they all started to laugh and it  turns out that the old man was the stake patriarch...... I fell for the classic greeny prank.  

Well, I hope this week will be a good one for all of us.  Remember that the scriptures and prayer are the most important things we can do to feel the Spirit in our lives.  Do the right, for rights sake, like Shiblon in the Book of Mormon.  Dont do it for the recognition of men.  I know this Church is true and I love being a missionary!  Talk to ya soon!

Besitos :)

Me and Elder Yañez in the middle of the world

Mission Tradition

Got the egg to balance!!!

Soaked

Hello!  Message incoming and will explode if not read in 5 minutes........ :)

Well everyone, this week has been a great week here in Quito but, like every week, has a few hiccups.  By the title, you can guess that it has been raining everyday this week.  The people here say that the weather is crazy becuase its sunny and 5 minutes later its pouring rain.  I just smile pretty and think : " Poor thing...YOU DONT KNOW CRAZY WEATHER...... YOURE NOT FROM UTAH!!!!!".  But weve had wet shoes all week but its been great.

We seem to have some bad luck on our side though.  We have a lot of appoinments fall and the backup plans as well.  But, that just means that we get to practice social skills (flirting skills according to the Latinos) and contact people.  We find some people everyday that show a little bit of interest, so we will be going to their houses in the next few days to share the Gospel.  Elder Yañez made a point that if I can talk to people in the street in another language, I can talk to a girl when I get home.  Someone make that doctrine please becuase I might need it.  :)

We had one day though this week that was just terrible.  It was Thursday, and we had EVERY SINGLE appointment fall.  It was raining and that didnt help our contacting efforts in the slightest.  Not even the people in the street wanted to talk to us and it was the same for knocking doors.  NOTHING.  Even when we went to see members they couldnt attend us.  But Elder Yañez told me that on days like that is when we need to excercise more faith and put in more effort.  The Lord will bless us for our efforts as much as He wil for the results.  Too true.

On Saturday we had a really awkward lesson.  We were teaching a less active member from Otavalo.  I thought I had seen it all being there for 3 months but those months didnt prepare me for what happend.  She started breast feeding which is normal and doesnt affect us.  But, the child who was like 3 pulled down her shirt so that both of the (I cant say that word as a missionary) were hanging out.  And the worst part was that she didnt fix it! And the lesson lasted another 10 minutes.  We had to do our best to avert our eyes and the lesson ended up really well.

On Sunday I was chosen to give a talk.  I gave it on the idea that all members are missionaries, but it was given to me 15 minutes before the meeting so I couldnt prepare anything better.  I think all the members were amazed that I could speak Spanish, rather than listen.  I had three people ask me what I talked about becuase they couldnt remember.  Maybe my spanish needs work still but I felt good about the talk.  I just dont even get nervous anymore and that makes things easier.

Well, this week was fast and typical.  I am getting along really well with Elder Yañez.  I almost feel like we are really good friends in addition to mission companions.  He isnt to anxious to go home and just wants to keep working hard.  He has taught me mostly by his example instead of words and I thing that works better.  In Jacob 2 and 3 it talks about how we need to be good example to others or else we will have the sin upon our heads because we werent a good enought example.  Example is everything.  Our mission these contains the phrase "Lideramos por Ejemple" or we Lead by Example.  So true.

I am so glad to be a missinary and I cannot wait for the experinces that lie ahead.  Read the scriptures daily and pray as often as you can.  The Lord will let us feel his presence more fully if we do that and I testify to that promise.  I feel better doing it.  This Church is true and I love this Gospel!

Besitos,
Elder Lomeli :)

I dont have photos this week, but Ive got a great scripture that I found!!
2 Nephi 22:2 :)

Welcome to Quito

Hello friends and family!

Peekaboo!  Im back again!  These weeks keep on flying by. I have no idea where the time goes!  Things are pretty good here in Quito.  There are lots of people, cars, dogs, houses, and dog poop.  But, there are always people to talk to and invite to partake of the Gospel.  We have been trying to contact the families that we seen in the street, and its had some success!  Way easier to share the Gospel with families.  And a big difference here is that it hasnt rained a bit!  Really a tender mercy.

Our house here is bigger than my last, but just like it was in the jungle, the neighbors BLAST their music from 7 am to 11 pm.  Its all good though.  As a zone, we meet up at the stake center every other day and play soccer.  So much soccer and so little baseball makes me crazy, but I get a little better everytime.  And the other Elders in the zone affectionately call me Elder "Lamoni", we all get a good laugh out of it.

I am really enjoying my companion Elder Yañez.  He is a really hard worker and doesnt like to sit around and do nothing.  He has a really good attitude for the mission even though he is going home in 5 weeks.  When I first saw him I thought that he was Gavin Olsen :)  He even acts like Gavin a bit so it brought back some good memories and made it easier to get to know him!  We get along well and work like horses. 

As far as investigators, we have a familiy of three women, Maria(50), Maria(24), and Lupe(19).  Maria and Lupe are the daughters of Maria and they have a projected baptismal date for the 2nd of May!  They all had children out of wedlock so we are working really hard with them.  They even came to church yesterday and said they wanna go back!  Then after church they invited us to their house for coffee :)  Still got a ways to go, but we see a lot of potential with them.  We are also working with Roger.  He is 71 and was baptized 40 years ago, but there is no record so he will have to be baptized again.  He just has to marry his girlfriend and he is golden!

I already love working with the ward here.  There are members that actually want to work with us and fulfill their assignments that they recieve.  The ward runs smoothly, and our ward mission leader is way legit!  He does his job really well so that we can focus of ours!  A recent convert loves the missionaries so much, that she invited us over to her house to help her kill her chickens!  Soo cool!

Then today we went to the Quicentro mall near the mission offices that are like 30 minutes away.  Holy Hannah Montana that mall is huge.  Makes University Mall look like a flippin playground...no joke.  It was amazing.  Then we took a nice walk and got lost in Quito :)

Well if you cant tell, the life here in Quito is more hectice and always on the go.  I already love working here, but I still miss the jungle obviously.  But no matter where we serve, the work is the same, the church is the same, and the result is the same.  I feel so blessed to be here helping more people come unto Christ.  Thank you all for your support and prayers.  Have a great week!

Elder Yañez next to a massive ravine in our backyard

 Me and the ravine

New missionary pad

Halfway Done Conference-wise!

Hey everybody! Hows it goin?!?!?!?!

This week has been a really great one if you ask me.  To start things off, I would like to tell you about Tupak.  So Tuesday, was the 31st of March, and we still hadnt seen our miracle yet.  We go to see Tupak at 7:30 at night (last hours of the month), and he gives us the good news that he has permission to be baptized again!  This was a total shock to Elder Luque and me, but we were so grateful to our Lord to let us see this miracle.  Tupak then set his own date for the 11th of April, and his dad even signed the baptismal form, so its a straight shot from here!  His dad said that maybe the baptism would be able to help Tupak focus more in school and change his overall attitude.  He couldnt be more right!!!!

Elder Luque was having some pretty big migranes all week, so we were at kind of a stand still with too much work.  We had a great zone conference on Thursday, where we said goodbye to 4 missionaries that are going home this week.  It was a great moment of testimonies, photos, memories, and who can forget the most important part.....FOOD!  Twas yummy :)

  Then later that day, a member invited us to their house to eat franesca (12 grain soup with a million other ingredients) becuase is was Holy Friday for the catholic church.  It was alright, but was strange at the same time.  Dont know if I´d eat it again though.

Now for Conference!  It started out rough, and not just because we didnt have conference cinammon rolls.  Because we ate franesca the night before, I threw up right as we were walking out of our apartment (first time in YEARS).  I felt better after that, so we went to the stake center to watch conference.  The internet wasnt working so we were only able to watch the first session in spanish.  Halfway through the third session I made a bee-line for the bathroom and hurled again, so I missed the rest of the session.  In between sessions, we went to a pharmacy in Otavalo to buy me some pills.  Right after we bought the pills, I hurled AGAIN in the trash can in the street.  Restaruant owners got made at me :)

We were able to watch the Saturday afternoon and Priesthood sessions in english.  To make it even better, the room was just filled with gringo missionaries :)  The Priesthood session there were 6 of us in there, and we all really enjoyed Elder Ballard and President Monson´s talks. Made me want to strive to be a better missionary and person in general.  The sessions on Sunday were watched in english too, but the internet was laggy, so we missed up until the intermediate hymn in the morning.  This whole conference was a first for a few things and it was really inspiring to me.  Lots of talks about marriage and family, and that is what I love to teach as a missionary: ETERNAL FAMILIES.

Later on Sunday, we recieved the changes in the mission.  I am now serving in Quito, in the neighborhood of Calderón, in the sector of Carapungo.  My new companion´s name is Elder Yuñez and he is from Peru ( 4th straight Peruvian companion).  This is his last change so I will be "killing" another missionary :).  I am excited for our adventures here in Quito and even more excited for the food situation to improve! haha

Sorry this was a long one, but it was an eventful week! I encourage us all to read, re-read, and APPLY the things that we learned in General Conference.  To remember D&C 1:38, the words that all the General Authorites spake were the words of the Lord that we need right now in our day.  

I love you all, have a great week!

Elder Lomeli

 The Gringo elders watching Priesthood

Missionaries of Zona Imbabura

Me and Elde Luque dressed as natives