Off To the Races

So Batman says to Spiderman, Hey wheres Uncle Ben? Spiderman responds, At the movies with your parents.......

Who won there? My vote is Batman everytime.

This week was a lot of running around!  On Tuesday me and Elder Arrieta had to be with our District Leader and run back and forth between the two sectors all day long.  I think that day we took maybe 10 taxis! And on top of that we ate two lunches and were able to help someone pass their baptismal interview! Yeah! He was for another sector, but still another person in the Kingdom of God right?

So a little more on Elder Arrieta.  He is from Lima Peru, so for sure I have yet another Peruvian comp :).  He has about 5 months here in the mission and loves to work work work.  I am his third comp so far.  He was struggling a bit due to the heat this week, but its ironic becuase it was suprisingly cold this week haha.  We get along pretty well and he is even willing to go running in the mornings! He got super sore the first day though haha.

We are working a lot with less active members and recent converts.  We had to do three divisions this week to be able to teach them all, and we were able to have 8/9 recent converts come to church, and 11 less actives!  But that meant that we were a little low on the investigators, but that will be our focus for this week dont worry!  The Espinoza family is progressing nicely for the 24th of October.  Pray for them becuase they are seeing a few dificulties right now and we cant visit them too often becuase of their work schedule. 

So, we are tired. We make up for it by eating encebollado everyday for breakfast :) Its just that good.  I will make it for all when I get home for sure!  I love this Gospel.  I know that Christ is my Savior and I am forever grateful for the Atonement.  Take some time and really think about all the things that Christ suffered for you.  Then do an introspection and think how we can really show thanks for that great sacrifice.  

Have a great week!  Conference will be great!  I say that the Apostles will be Callister, Rasband, and idk who else.

Ciao,
Elder Lomeli

A Kitten we named Chaulafán (fried rice in Ecuador)

Round 2....Fight!

Well here we are again. Yeah, but this time we´re seniors! And we´re gonna rule the school! -Rizzo (Grease)

This is totally nuts how fast this change passed by.  But time flys when youre having fun, and even faster when you are having fun in the service of the Lord for sure.  

So, this week was changes.  I will be staying here in Propicia.  My new companion that I dont know yet is Elder Arrieta who I think is from Peru of all places.  Only time will tell....or he will tell me when I ask.  He has got his work cut out for him because our sector is pretty big, and coming from Otavalo, the heat will kill him.

This last week was really cool.  There are lots of members in our ward that need visits and we had lots of really spiritual charlas sharing Alma 36.  Here Alma talks about accepting the will of the Lord in all things when the women and children were murdered.  This story gives us strength to know why bad things happen to the good people in our lives.  And the more trials we have, it just means that the Lord needs us to be even MORE strong than we were before.  If you havent read that chapter in a while, read it and answer this question: "Why doest God allow suffering to occur even though He loves us?"

Cristian is now a priest and wants us to help him prepare to bless the sacrament this Sunday!  He is so powerful and wants to progress in the Gospel.  He will hopefully have a calling soon and be able to baptize his son! Yeah baby!

Other than that this week was full of loud music, dancing in the street and one night a neighbor was watching the movie White Chicks but it was in english with spanish subtitles I suppose.  I was replaying the movie in my mind and laughing.  Good times.  No I didnt watch it dont worry :)

I love this Gospel and the joy it brings.  I am super happy to have this opportunity to be a missiomary and help others.  I know the family can be together forver.

Have a great week! Get pumped for Conference!

Elder Lomeli

Ya Mismo

Pues, no se que decirles de verdad. Howdy!

What a week!  We finished super exhausted physically.  We were able to have the baptism of Cristian!  It was super cool becuase his brother was able to perform the ordinance.  We even had Cristian wear a shirt and tie so he looked super sharp :)  It was a joyful day and lots of the members of his family were able to attend.  The Spirit was definitey there.

I celebrated my 1 year mark in style.  A $1 salchipapa and burning a tie to the hymn God be with you till we meet again.  Was sad to burn the tie, but we added a little bit of cleaning alcohol (no, no beer or anything, nice try though) and we had our own version of Stadium of Fire :)

So you all know that I was chubby before the mission.  No one told me, but the people here told me up front.  My comp is the same way so we have been running erryday.  We have even got to the point where a few young men and investigators are coming too.  I have lots weight not according to the eyes of man, but to the size of my pants.

We had a funny expericence this week during a lesson.  Since we cant enter a house without an adult male, we teach outside in the sun.  We were just at the part of the First vision then..... PLOP.  A dove did a number on Elder Apaza, and that numbre was TWO! Hahahahaha we had to go home so he could shower becuase it was all over his shirt and backpack.

Other than that, this week was pretty normal.  Eating rice for every meal, BUT, I was trained from an early age to eat it (Thanks Dad :)).  We walk in the heat, people whistle at us, and the people ONLY listen to Bruno Mars.  Mustve heard the same 5 songs 30+ times this week haha.  Oh and I just got done getting my haircut at the most gross, hairy, and loud place becuase it was the cheapest because we are chiros (broke).  If you love to dance, just come to Esmeraldas becuase every single person has a huge speaker outside with the music up all the way.  Pretty sick parties here every Sunday night in the streets :)

I love the missionary work.  I love this church.  I know that is true and that God answers our prayers.  He loves us and gives us trials to help us grow.

Have a good week ¿DIGA?

Elder Lomeli

Me and Elder Apaza at the beach

Cristian at his baptism!

Milestone

Hey. Hey yo. Hey yo whats up wit dat funky piano. Gimme a track.....Yeah.

I was born in the church, jus like mah daddy was y`all......You all know the rest.

This week I have hit a big moment in the mission. I never thought I would get here.  There were times of joy and times of sorrow and frustration.  But now that I`m here, I will keep chugging along.  Yes, you guessed it, I am findally shaving everyday!  Yay lets throw a party!  Oh and I may or may not be completing a year this week, but whose counting :)

This week has been a good one fo sho.  We are working with Cristian and he passed his baptismal interview and will be baptized this Saturday!  We are super pumped and are planning the service so that tons of people can come to support him!  We also have a the family Espinoza who has a baptismal date for the 24th of October.  There names are Irene and Nayla.  Its a mother-daughter ho-down and they want to be baptized on the bday of the mom, Irene.  Nayla is 10.  They are all going to be super POWERFUL converts.

We were also super pumped to have 9 investigators and 12 less active members come back to church!  One investigator, Jose, asked me if the people that were there for the first time could bear their testimony.  I responded yes and he jumped right up and sat on the stand and waited his turn.  I look at Elder Apaza and we were full of butterflies and prayers that he would do good.  He is a big black guy and wore aviator glasses all during church, so he looked pretty thuggish but with style.  Then Jose gets to the pulpit and gives a pretty decent testimony!  He finishes  and says "AMEN TO JESUS!", and walked off with a fist in the air. It was too funny! hahahahahaha

I was also able to go on divisions with Elder Separovic for a day in my sector.  He is from Chile but his last name is from Croatia.  We had three lunches and two were BBQ. YUM!

Im out of time but Im glad all is well and BYU beat Nebraska.  Utah fans be ashamed forever more.

Have a great week!

Elder Lomeli

Discern, Dont Decide

Buenas tardes mis amigos y familiares,

Well, this week was strange but it passed by very quickly.  With all the interviews and meetings that we had to catch up on this week flew.  We have been on the go and havent caught up with our sleep so Elder Apaza and I both have a cold :(

Lets start with the good news!  Hans got baptized!  We werent able to announce the baptism on Sunday, so we were running around all week trying to invite people to the baptism.  Not many people showed up but it was a great experience.  The baptism was supposed to start at 3:30 but to Ecuadorians that means 4:15.  Hans was also the LAST person to show up for his own baptism haha.  When I asked him how he felt after the baptism, he replied: "Well Elder, when a person gets baptized......they feel good."  It was funny.  The next day in the confirmation, they announced that we were gonna confirm him.  We look around and Hans is NOWHERE to be found!  We both jumped up and starting looking around the chapel like maniacs.  We found him quick though and it all turned out well.  And just so happens that an Area Seventy was there to see the whole thing.

We are also working with Cristian.  He changed his baptismal date for the 12th instead of the 19th of September.  He just needs to finish the lessons and he is golden!  He even has the goal to baptize his son who is 9!  To keep the relationship with him and us good, we go running with him every other morning.  We thought it was gonna be easy, but after day two, we could barely walk.  We only ran like 4 miles and it killed us.  Dont even ask how much it hurt to kneel to pray.

We were also privileged to have that Seventy come. Elder Calderón is an Eucadorian native, but is in one of the lower Quorums of the Seventy.  He got up in his sacrament talk and there was a group of women talking in the back.  He stopped his talk and totally chewed them out for talking!  IT WAS SO FUNNY!  Only a Seventy would do that. 

Elder Calerdón also talked a lot about being self reliant and the importance of families.  He said that being self reliant frees us to be able to serve in a better way.  We cannot enter the kingdom of God without being self reliant.  He also counseled us to live to satisfy our NEEDS, and not our pointless desires.  One last thing he said was that there are no "gifts" in this church.  Every blessing is EARNED is some way or another.  That last quote is what impacted me the most.  Let us try to do everything in our power to recognize that our blessings are always earned by our righteousness.

My companion and I are doing well.  We are with a cold and sore from running but we are happy.  We laugh tons.  He has helped me a lot to not judge people too quickly.  He says that we need to discern their needs and not assume them.  There is sometimes a legit reason as to why a person doest fulfill with an invitation we extend.  So,.....DONT JUDGE QUICKLY!

I love this Gospel and I hope that we can all appreciate it tons everyday! Have a great week!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON SUNDAY MOM!  I LOVE YOU AND ALL YOU DO!

Elder Lomeli

Hans´s Baptism

Hans and his mom

¡El Verde Señor!

¡Que mas?

Well, this week has been kind of a crazy one!  It is still pretty humid here, but luckily our house always has water.  But for like two days this week we had no power.  No fans, no fridge, no clocks, and coincidentally the water doesnt get drawn up to our apartnment (3rd floor) when there is no power.  Kinda hard to sleep and study like that but just a perk of the nametag :)  I almost like this weather than the cold of Otavalo.  To top that off EVERY morning people walk up and down the streets selling bleach, verde (plantains), brooms, and fish.  THEY SHOUT AND WAKE US UP!  But how they say things just makes me laugh. :)

We have been working hard this week with lots of investigators! Hans (10 years old) passed his interview and will be baptized this Saturday! We are too pumped! Hopefully it wont fall on Friday again jk.  We are also working with Jorge.  He is the husband of a recent convert who really only wants to be baptized for his wife.  We are helping him with his testimony. Cristian is the brother of a member and is very open to the church and asked US if he could be baptized.  Adrian is also the brother of a recent convert family and he just has trouble coming to church.  He loves to learn though!  Cristian, Jorge, and Adrian all have a baptismal date for the 19th of September.  Please pray for them!

We were also able to have our interviews with President Richardson this week.  That is why I am writing today and not yesterday.  But what I loved what what Sis. Richardson told us about weaknesses.  She said that God gives us weaknesses to be more humble.  By confronting and conquering them we show that we need Christ more in our lives.  She also said that we need to give THANKS for our weaknesses.  By doing so we show thanks that the Lord has given us difficulties to make us stronger and more like Him.  Really powerful woman.  Y´all should talk to her someday.  They live in Sandy.

Well, thats about it for this week.  Elder Apaza has turned me into his personal trainer and he has lost about 10 pounds since Ive been with him.  He is just super funny.  Knows a lot of little funny phrases in English that make me crack up.

I know that this is the true Church of God.  I love the Stick of Joseph. READ IT!

Go kill it this week aight?

Elder Lomeli

One of Elder Apaza´s favorite phrases in English haha

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