La Co´ta Diga!

Hey people of other parts of the world!

Well now I have time to actually write something haha.  Ill kinda give a small recap of Agato.  We finished the change with a 12 year old girl named Mishel with a baptismal date.  If all goes well, she should be baptized this coming Saturday!!! Cant be more excited! Wish I could be there for it.  We also had a surprise Bday party for our good friend Luis.  We had to break some rules to go buy the cake, but we used the excuse "WWJD" :)  It was a great party and he didnt even know it was coming!

Now I am here in Esmeraldas.  I had to leave Otavalo at 8:00 am and I traveled by bus here to the coast. Arrived about 5:30 and got reminded almost 100% of what it was like in the jungle.  HOT AND HUMID.  I shower twice a day to not feel so sticky all the time.  We live about 30 minutes away from the beach and we can go on Pdays when activites are allowed so I hope that is soon!  The people here also speak faster and without the letter "s".  The word costa is pronounced cota :)  And the majority of the people here are black so I stick out VERY nicely.

We are currently working with a child whose mom was recently rescued.  His name is Hans and is 10.  He has ADD but learns very will with the pictures and things like that.  He should have his baptismal interview this next Sunday!  We are also working with Cristian who has been an investigator for a few months.  He comes to church every week, but because of work he doesnt have all the lessons necessary to be baptized yet.  He should have a date very soon!

So the new comp is Elder Apaza.  He is from Peru, but says he is from Arequipa.  If you dont know about South America, Arequipa is a provice in Peru and the people from Arequipa want to break off from Peru and make their own country....Kinda like Texas and the U.S.  He is a really funny guy and we laugh a lot.  He is a great teacher as well, and is very good at loving the people and making them feel comfortable.  He is one to tickle a funny bone :)

I am super excited to work in this new sector.  There is a lot of work to do but that is why we were called.  Just remember that if there is something weird and you dont feel good, dont call the Ghostbusters nor the Elders..call the man upstairs (Alma 37:37).  This has been on my mind all week and it is something that none of us should forget.  He is the only source of true comfort.  He will help us through His words in the Book of Mormon and the other scritpures.  I love this Gospel and know its true!!! 

Have a great week! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DYLAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our 100 year old less active Nicholas in Agato

With my bestest goodest friend Luis

The new guy Elder Apaza

EZZY

Hello family and friends,

Hey well I dont have much time, but I was changed.  I am now in the COAST!!!!!  In the sector of Propicia.  My comp is Elder Apaza so I now have another Latino so that is great!  I am feeling good and will write more next week!

Love you all!

Elder Lomeli

Our Ways are Not Gods Ways

Hello family and friends!

Well, this week had its ups and downs as usual.  To start off, we were working very hard with Jorge to get him prepared for his baptism.  We were informed Friday night that he had decided to not get baptized.  He feels that it was causing a conflict between him and his wife so it was better to remain in his old religion (Catholic).  We were initially upset by his answer but not too much.  We felt a witness from the Spirit that we had done all in our power possible and to not worry.  We are confident that he WILL get baptized, but further down the road.  Preach My Gospel teaches us a lot of things but not how to change someones agency.  Its all good though :)

As a result of that, we really feel like we were blessed this week with TWO more people that now have a baptismal date.  Their names are Mishel (11 years old) and David (12 years old).  They are both members of families where not all are members, and have support of both their families for now.  They both have a baptismal date for the 22 of August.  We are VERY excited!  We know that the Lord blesses us for our efforts, and if necessary with different people that are prepared.

This week I was able to go on divisions with the zone leaders.  I was able to go down off the mountain into the actual city of Otavalo with Elder Henriquez from Colombia.  He is a great singer and one heck of a motivational speaker.  We were heading to lunch and the mamita fell (they had all fallen in Agato this week as well...), so we just went to a Chifa :)  Then we spent the whole day pretty much walking, walking, bus, and more walking.  Even goes to show that the leaders in our lives have down times as well.  We got to his house with a bag of hambugers and had a good nights rest.  The weird thing though is that their shower is literally just a hole in the wall where hot water magically comes out.  

As it states in the book of Isaiah, our ways are not Gods ways.  We need to be patient and faithful in our trials.  We need to do all in our power and leave the rest up to God.  I know that God hears and answers prayers and not always in the ways we want.  I know that this Church is true and that we are part of it.  I love the Book of Mormon and the amazing message it contains. I also really liked something that Elder Henriquez said.  He said that all we need to do is be obedient and diligent,and wait for the Lord to bless us.

Elder Kimball is a little sick these last two days, so yet again I am playing the nurse for him.  Funny how I make him do things and the nurse is surprised when we have tried everything she suggests :)  Thanks for being a nurse mom and giving me free enrollment and the Lomeli Medical School haha :)  He has been a little tired and grumpy, but that in turn makes him more funny.  Today I got a hole in my sock, and he replied "DUH! THATS WHERE YOU PUT YOUR FOOT!"  It was hilarious.


This week we also had an acivity put on by us missionaries.  We played baseball and grilled hot dogs and ate cracker jacks (closest thing to it).  The members and investigators had tons of fun and we were able to get quite a few potential investigators out of it!  I of course smashed a homerun :)

Thats all for this week, and I hope all have a great one!  Changes are coming up this next week so we will see if I stay here in Agato or not!

Elder Lomeli

Me carving our "bat" ( was just a huge stick)

My buddy Jaime and his sick tie :)

¡Ese Hombre Se Mojará!

Well Im a little more dry now, but not too much.

This week has been a pretty busy week.  We were able to work a lot in the streets trying to contact people to teach.  We even met a lady that blatantly lied to us and we called her on it. She said she didnt know how to read, but I asked her to read the title on the pamphlet.  Either a miracle happened or she thought we were stupid. She then accepted the pamphlet and a possible visit this coming week.  She thought she was smart, but I wasnt born yesterday....just two days ago.  Gotta do what ya gotta do to get an investigator right?

To quote John Wayne and Elder Barnes (last comp) : "Life´s hard....its even harder when youre stupid".  That just ran through my mind all week and made me laugh :)

We have some real progress with Jorge!  We have been passing by his house to finish all the lessons with him so he could have his interview.  It was scheduled for 2:00 in the afternoon and he wasnt home.  We TOTALLY flipped out.  We had to tell the DL to not come and we would let him know what happens.  I was calling him all afternoon, but Jorge´s cell was turned off.  We were sitting there frustrated, then Elder Kimball said he had a "revelation".  He said that he hadnt called Jorge yet so he was gonna give it a try.  Whats the first thing I hear?  "HERMANO JORGE, COMO ESTÁ?!?!?".  Of course he answered for him hahaha.  We hurried and called the DL to come at 6:00 that same day for the interview.  We pretty much lead him by the hand to make sure he got there, but he passed and we will have a baptism this next Saturday!  We are too excited!

That is pretty much the week we had.  Lots of rejects, being chased by dogs (that will never change), and our mamitas falling almost everyday.  We are still happy and trugging along.  We will find a new person here real soo, I can feel it!  I know that the Lord is preparing people everywhere in the world to accept the gospel, it just up to us to find them.  I know that the Book of Mormon is true. 

I hope the family had a good weekend in Lyman!  Hope I will make it for next year! Have a great week!

Elder Lomeli

P.S. Picture: Native cow death trap

I'm All Wet...

Ahhhhhh! A Clock! -Ed

Wow I cant belive its time to write again.  Passes so fast.  The mission just grows up so fast.  This week has been WET!  It has rained almost everyday and continues to rain up until right now.  Its crazy, but at least there is no dust now!

So first off with Jorge! This guy gave us a scare this week!  We have passed by his house almost everyday to make sure that he is reading and fulfilling with his commitments.  We did a tour of the chapel on Friday and and for sure felt the Spirit! He knelt in the sacrament room and said he really felt a tranquility and that the Church was good.  We pass by to visit him the next day and he said that he was gonna follow the Catholic Church instead, but wanted to keep the Book of Mormon.  Good thing that we had Wauki there with us to help him want to keep progressing.  After calming him down, he came to church the next day, and was invited to a family night with the Patriarch and Bishop Castañeda that same night.  He says he feels really welcome in the ward and wants to continue!  He has his interview planned for this Saturday! Pray hard for him!

I was also asked to give a talk on Sunday.  The bishop gave me the go ahead to really give it to the ward cuz they arent very converted.  I talked about the theme that we have as a mission and how they can apply that into being missionaries everyday.  The theme is "Lead by Example, Serve by Love, Fulfill with Obedience, We Will Return with Honor" it makes more sense in spanish BTW.  They said they liked it and I hope that they and those of you at home can try to be missionaries in ANY moment and in ANY place.  It will give you a real sense of the love of God in your life.

We just got back from a zone activity where we played dodgeball with both toilet paper and with water baloons.  Needless to say I took four people on by myself and won for my team.  And the Sister Leaders think that its fun to poke fun at Elder Lomeli, so they dumped TWO buckets of water all over me.  They are lucky that I can only shake their hands haha.  One of them kinda reminds me of Janessa Broadbent in almost all aspects except for the fact that she speaks spanish.  They got a HUGE prank coming at them, and dont worry, their scriptures will remain unharmed :)

I love being a missionary and everything there is about it.  Its sad that it goes so fast, but so worth it.  I know that this Chruch is the true Church, and that it is directed by God himself.

I hope the family has fun in Lyman.  Shoot a rabbit for me and dunk Cameron 100 times for me.  Oh and I hope the SF Giants keep on their winstreak :)

Have a great week!  READ THAT BOOK OF MORMON!!!!!!!

Elder Lomeli

Mouse Hunt

Que tal mis queridos amigos y familiares!?!?!?!?!

Well, this week we are particularly happy for many a reason.  We were able to keep working in this great work for our Lord and keep finding new people to teach.  And, things are going really well with me and Elder Kimball.  He talks a lot about BYU and sports so we can keep a conversation going pretty well.  We also quote lots of Greg Wrubell BYU sports announcements, so that keeps things lively!!

So to explain the title.  We get home from a long day of walking and I go to make something to eat.  I noticed lots of little black things on the top of our microwave and I knew we had a problem.  I said that I think we have a mouse.  We moved the table that had the microwave on it and out scampered the little theif.  He was TEENY!!! Could have fit three of them in my hand.  We chased him all around the house with a broom and an electric fly swatter that I have.  We blocked off rooms, moved furniture, and made a real ruckus.  Long story short, he was able to escape.  We are on high alert now even though we are two of the biggest human beings in the town fighting against the smallest mouse I have ever seen.  We sleep with the fly swatter in between our beds now.

This week we have an investigator progressing!  Its not Luz Maria, but she is doing a lot better healtwise.  Thank you for your prayers for her.  But the new person is named Jorge.  He is a 62 year old guy we found contacting.  He accepted a date for August 1st.  He loves to learn, learn, and learn more.  The only problem is his wife.  She kicked us out during a visit and thought we were conspriring against her with her husband or something.  On Sunday, we went to invite him to church, and his wife who is CRAZY, TOTALLY changed!  She pretty much asked for us to ask her permission to visit.  Then, out of no where, she came to church too!  And they said they both loved it!  They will progress nicely.  God really does answer prayers!

We also found a really good family this week that is willing, but will require some patience.  The Familia Males.  The husband is confined to his bed with reallly bad leg pains.  We taught them the first lesson and sawed and chopped their firewood for them.  That really gained their confidence, but they didnt show up to church. We will figure out why soon.  They cant read, and the husband is really closed, but we have faith that the wife will be able to progress.

I hope all is going well for everyone reading this.  Thank you for all your prayers and support.  I know that this church is true, and that Jesus is the Christ.  Hope you all have a great week!

Those of you who know the movie MOUSE HUNT, yeah.....that was us.....

Elder Lomeli

No Mamita? No problem...we can cook

Duck Dynasty pants while mine were being sewn

Cuicocha (guinea pig lake) below the volcano Cotacachi

Sacrifices at Cuicocha :)

More sacrifices at Cuicocha :)

Double Gringo Cheeseburger

Herro! 

Finally got my new compaion this week!  Elder Kimball is from San Antonio Texas, has a little more than a year in the mission, and loves the Spurs (kill me now).  He came from my old sector in the orient and arrived here in Otavalo on Tuesday morning.  The normal highway is under construction, so he had to go through TWO other missions to get back to our mission haha.  He is my second gringo comp and we both just wanna work hard and go to McDonalds.

This week was extraordinary though. I hadnt been able to get to know the sector too well in the last change, but we decided to work our butts off.  We contacted a ton and found a ton of new investigators to teach.  It felt really good, and we have goals and plans to work even harder this coming week.  We, even though we hardly know each other, are able to teach really well.  I have a good feeling that we will turn this sector around.

On Saturday, we have to contact two hours a day.  In Agato, there are maybe 15 people in the whole city on Saturdays because everyone goes to Otavalo.  But, the very first person we contacted ended up being an investigator with a baptismal date!  His name is Jorge, is about 60, and he accepted everything we taught him.  He accepted the baptismal date right off the bat and was really excited to come to chruch.  Sadly, he wasnt able to come to church becuase he had to watch the house and make sure nobody robbed it.  We will keep working hard with him though.  

About hermana Luz Maria, she was feeling too sick to come to church this week.  That being said, she still has lots of great desires to come to church this next week and progress.  It will just be a little struggle with her husband because he drinks a lot and doesnt want to take her to church ever.  Please pray for her to get better and to want to keep progressing in the Gospel.  

This week though, I felt something that I hadnt felt before.  We were teaching a lesson to a teenage guy and we were about to share the First Vision.  We were teaching and it was my turn to share the experience of Joseph Smith.  I felt that the kid wasnt feeling the Spirit too strong, so I invited him to look at nothing but the picture and pay attention to his feelings as he listened.  I tried to speak slowly and with feeling and something came over me.  I felt really calm and warm inside and I knew that it was the Spirit testifying to me that Jospeh really did see God the Father and Jesus Christ.  It felt so good that I wanted to recite even slower to keep that feeling.  Really powerful moment.  The young man then accepted the baptimal invitation!  But, he came to us the next day and said that he is going to work in Guayquil for summer but will come back in September.  We may not be able to see him be baptized, but we for sure planted a seed in him.

I know that this church is true and that everyting in it is true.  I also know that CTR clothing is a really good place to buy missionary clothes because I have almost a year and my shoes are just now starting to wear down (yes I wear the same pair everyday and I aint ashamed of it!).  I would like to invite everyone to study and pray about the First Vision.  Its truely amazing.  

This week, I feel really good to take the advice of Napoleon´s grandma and make myself a dang quesadillllla.  I ate one like erryday and twas divine!  Have a great week!

A house divided: Spurs vs Lakers/Giants

Cleanin like an Ecuadorian: water and broom

Found Elder Colfack!!!!  #LPOD