I got transferred!!!!

Goodbye! Hermana Camacho!!





Oh, ya know, just looking like the average testigo de Jehova hahahaha!!
With my umbrella for the sun hahaha!

 

 

 

 

Hola Everyone,

So guess what.....???

I got transferred. hahaha!

But I am in the same city just in another zone....

Go figure. I think Cuenca is gonna be my mission practically haha. I am now in Totoracocha Cuenca, Ecuador. There aren`t any farms in this new area and it is a whole lot smaller than Alamos. I really am happy to be in Cuenca, though. I love it here!

 

 

 

My companion's name is Hermana Argueta (Said like are-get-uh) I love her to death. She is so great, seriously. I think we are gonna be best friends. 



Hermana Argueta. She is just so great!



It was an emergency transfer because the other Hermana who was companions with Hermana Argueta before had some spinal problems and got sent to the hospital in Guayaquil. I literally got called at 11:30 at night to be transferred. Haha, it was a good time. But I am super happy to be here. Totoracocha is a branch but it is a rather large branch. There apparently are a ton of inactive members. So we are trying to do what we can with them. My companion has a huge testimony of working with the less active because her family was inactive but the missionaries helped reactivate her and now she is on a mission. Wow! crazy how this gospel work functions.

Anway, I am doing well. I love working here. This past week has been crazy. We both are really new to this sector and we don`t know anything so it has been a good opportunity to find new people. In our Branch, we also have the zone leaders.

 

So we plan to have plenty of baptisms this month :) Full power in branch Totoracocha. hahaha!! My companion has only two more weeks in the mission than me. So we really work well. We feed off of each other and it is amazing! I think we both have a great opportunity to teach one another. We have taught so many lessons. Our biggest thing is getting people to commit. Definitely the most difficult thing. But we have been really blessed and even in my short time here I have seen miracles.

I love serving. and I hope you all are doing well.I am glad to hear that you are feeding the missionaries because they need it ;)

Love you,

 

Emily

 

 

 

I am sorry!!

My investigator Lourdes Zhizhpon and my district leader Elder Lozano and his companion Elder Kuta. Such funny guys.

 

This is gonna be super short and I am super super super sorry, but I didn´t get transferred. I am still here with Hermana Camacho. She leaves for her home the fourth of March and she is super sad. So Basically I am gonna be here for when she gets to end her mission. I am sad for her.

We had 5 investigators in church this last week which really isn´t great but also isn´t terrible. Anyway, I love you all and I am still in Cuenca loving it. I hit 6 months this next week. Which is crazy one third of the way done. WOW. But I wish you all a great week and I hope you all are doing well.

Love ya.

Emily

Hope you all love my tan line.

 

 

So I may have gotten a little burned.... Yikes.

 I would love to give a huge huge huge shout out to the Tietjen Family and that I love them so much! I am so grateful for your package! I wear the necklace every day! It is so beautiful. I opened the package up after a zone meeting and the Elders nearly attacked me for the tie hahaha. But I am saving it for one of my recent converts who is now preparing to serve a mission and doesn´t own a single white shirt or tie. In fact it is rather amazing how many people here don´t have white shirts or ties for church. This past Sunday we got really nervous to see if we would have enough priesthood holders in white shirts to pass the sacrament. So we will have to see :) But thank you all so much! Best Valentine's day gift ever! It had everything I could ever need. Thank you! Thank you!

Soooo I am still waiting for the elders to call to tell us about transfers. Believe me it is killing me. I want to know so bad. Ugh. So as of right now I am still in Cuenca with Hermana Camacho. But that could literally change in one hour. So we will just have to wait and see.
Dad thanks for the advice I will study what I can. But honestly those people who fight with us just want to fight and don´t want anything else. So they are not worth my time. Oh as for the question about if people here get married more than in the states. NO. I believe it to be the same and it is really sad. The other thing is no person wants to hear from some 19 year old gringa that they should get married because I have no experience in marriage. So there is that haha. But we do have plans for a marriage this week if I am still here! So keep them in your prayers. Katia and her boyfriend Misael. They have one son and are from Peru!






So..... I may have gotten a little burned.... Yikes. Yeah it still is a little sore. Haha!












Wow!This is the baptism of Fabricio Flores.
I never thought I would see the day, but he did it. He made the best decision of his life. After 6 months of being taught by the missionaries. Holy cow. He was my very first visit of all of my mission, and has completely changed his life. I know that this gospel can change lives. Seeing him get baptized was one of the most precious moments for me. It is amazing to see people overcome addictions and problems in their lives to live the gospel of Christ. I know with all of my heart that this is the true and everlasting gospel, and that our Savior lives and he sacrificed his life for me. Every day I feel my faith grow in this gospel and I am so grateful to be a part of this wonderful work. And another really cool thing was that the mission president came to the baptism..... Wow. Such an eventful week. Fabricio literally came up to me and asked if he could be baptized this Saturday because now he feels ready. I almost cried on the spot haha. SO many nights and afternoons in his shop and in his house. I just couldn´t believe it. So much of my time has been spent with this family. I cried so hard in his baptism. He is a completely different person than who I knew when I first got here to Cuenca. But never once did I doubt that he would be baptized. He is beyond ready. His life changed drastically. For the better I promise :)

Love them all so much. His uncle Xavier was baptized before if you remember. Seriously this guy is the best. So many great times! But now we just have to get the rest of his family to commit :)

 

 This is the extremely delicious cake that the other sisters bought for the baptism! SO good :)

 

Lastly, I cannot believe I am one third of the way done! That makes me want to cry. I don´t want this time to pass by so quickly. Ahh! I feel like I still have so much to do and learn.
Mom, to answer your question about my hair. I feel like it is the shortest of my entire life. I got like 5 or 6 inches cut off. It is cut like the 90s Mary Kate and Ashley..... So needless to say, I need more time to actually appreciate it haha.
Anway, that really is a summary of my week. Love you all so much!
Love,
Em

I got my hair cut for 4 dollars today....

 So right now we are waiting for our Cuy (guinea pig) to cook haha and we are writing in an Internet shop right now for only thirty minutes, but here is a good photo of us cooking our Cuy hahahahaha. Too good.

 But yeah today we have plans to do all the things we can! So we are writing kind of early. But also I wanted to say that I am getting my hair cut today as well :) I think I am going to be sent to the coast in the next week so I am gonna prepare myself by cutting my hair haha. Apparently this is the hottest time of the year for the coast. But Cuenca is as beautiful as ever. I have been super cold lately because of the rain but eh. Life goes on. 

I would like you to all know I got my hair cut for 4 dollars today.... Yeah never in my life has it ever been that cheap hahaha but vive Ecuador! hahahaha.

I would like to share a quick story.

Saturday was officially the hardest day of my mission. We haven´t been very successful lately and it has been really hard on our spirits. I am not sure what we need to do to change but it has been rough. But Saturday was really hard. We went out to find new investigators because we had a little down time and we found a woman who was working in a little shop. We then started off talking with her about the word of wisdom. So that was going well and then this woman showed up and was going on and on about how our bible was incorrect and just basically bible bashed and freaked out on us about the Book of Mormon. Anyway, so that happened and we went on. Then we ran into an inactive member as of 10 years and she went on and on and on about the virgin Mary. And how us Mormons don´t believe in Mary and this and that and basically we both wanted to cry afterwards because at one point she had a testimony and now doesn't want to live her covenants anymore. It was so so so so sad. Anyway we taught the plan of salvation and went on to teach a girl and her two children about the Sabbath. This was in an apartment and out comes this woman ( I swear the words she spoke were of the devil) And she went on and on and on about how the book of Mormon is of a cult and that we don´t follow the words of Christ and aren´t Christians. And eventually told us to leave and to never come back. She then left and we turned to the woman we were teaching and burst into tears. We felt so hurt and I really felt eternal sadness for her. Anyway we bore our testimonies and left. But I want to say to all of you that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and it is the one thing that really is different than any other religion and if you want to know if it is true you need to read it, and pray and ask God for yourselves. Because God speaks to us through the Holy Ghost. I know the Book of Mormon to be another testament of Jesus Christ and not of anyone else. This week was hard but I know that through all of this this Church IS true. No other religion has this book and we are so so so so  blessed to have a knowledge of it. 

I want to share this all with you in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

I love you all and I hope you are having a great week!

Love you tons!

Em

 

 

 

 

The best zone in the entire world. :)

 

Hermana Afrania Arica. Literally our mother. I have no idea what we would do without her. There have been so so so many times we have called her for advice or help. She will always have a huge spot in my heart!

 

 

 

 

For the month of February we have a goal of 55 baptisms in our zone.......

Baptism day for Wilson Acuna!

Hola everyone!

So this week has been so crazy. Wilson Acuña was baptized and is super excited to serve a mission himself. He is 23 years old and will be able to serve a mission in one year. He is such a great guy. He changed his life so quickly and really wanted to be a disciple of Christ. I just love seeing changes like that. He really has such a good spirit. His baptism was great. I know that if he lives the gospel and reads the scriptures always and prays always and always attends church his life will be for the better. This we can all apply in our lives haha.

Dad I am extremely proud of you for helping out the missionaries with your car. You have NO idea how much that really helps. We only have one sister in the ward who is willing to drive us around on Sundays. Her name is Maria Crespo and she is our angel every Sunday. Dad I know you will receive blessings for your service. As for the new member in the ward. Be his friend. He needs the help. Sister Millis wrote me about his conversion story and he sounds like a really great guy. I would love to meet him!

As for everything else I am doing great. I love Cuenca transfers are in two weeks. I am torn with wanting a switch up because I have been here so long and between wanting to be here forever haha. I just love the members here and I love every one of my converts so much. And I have gotten new Zone leaders and they are amazing. Really great guys. My zone really is looking like it is headed in the right direction. Hopefully we can keep it up. For the month of February we have a goal of 55 baptisms in our zone. I know that if we put our confidence in God we can totally complete this!
Anyway I wish you all the best and hope for an amazing week. I pray for you always.

Hermana Pack