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

God really prepares the people here for his missionaries......

Hermana Lourdes, Hermana Graciela, and my companion Hermana Camacho

 

 

 

View of the Mountains of Cuenca

 

 

Hello all!

Dad I would like to tell you that I would gladly have watched the football game with you on Sunday. Hopefully it turned out well. That was one of my favorite things to do on Sundays with you! But Sundays here are crazy. Literally nuts. The hardest hours of the entire part of my mission every week are the two hours before Church every Sunday. We are soo stressed and frazzled trying to pick up all of our investigators for church. SO stressful.

But yes thank you all so much for the peanut butter and Nutella. Mom you are right a lot of the candy was melted but the best part is for some reason everything tastes like a little taste of mint. My companion asked if all Americans liked mint with everything hahaha. Yeah but don´t worry it all is delicious!

 

BEN AND DANIELLE. You guys looked like rock stars in Vitality! I wish I could have seen you. I am sure you killed it. Neil and Mike it sure was good to see the pictures of your faces! I miss you guys tons and I hope all is good. I cannot believe I have been out that long. It makes me sad. I don´t want it to go by quickly! My companion has been out 15 months and she doesn´t want it to end either. She is so close to the end. Wahhhh! But one of the elders in my zone told me he thinks this is my last three weeks in Cuenca because I have been here so long. I hope he is wrong. It really is paradise here. I don´t want to leave.

I just would like to share one really great story here. I don´t know if you guys remember one of my recent converts here named Xavier Mora, but he is amazing as ever. He is so strong. And yesterday we taught an investigator in his home for family night. This investigator is golden. Really gold. Honestly. His name is Wilson Acuña and he is from Peru and is 23 years old and will eventually be able to serve a mission. He is so great. Anyway we watched the testaments for family night and afterwards Wilson bore his testimony about the Book of Mormon and I just grinned from ear to ear. He has such a firm belief of the Book of Mormon. I love it. God really prepares the people here for his missionaries. Wilson was a hidden gem and I know there are many more people prepared for us to teach about our loving Savior. Wilson is getting baptized this Saturday and I just can´t wait. I know that when we truly have faith in our savior he provides all for us. SO true. Gosh I wish I could write more but time is short.

Just remember all is good and I love my time here. I don´t want to be anywhere else.

Con muchisimas amor,

Hermana Pack

"With these three things it is impossible to become inactive. :)"

Hola,

I watched the videos of show choir and all I want to do is fly to see it just for 15 minutes Haha! I miss it and you guys looked great!! And sounded good. I am sure you are amazing because you already have placed first. I will be thinking of you guys for Linn Mar. Mom and Dad have fun with that trip. Linn Mar was one of my favorites. Man I wish I could be there.

My new companion, Hermana Camacho has 15 months in the mission, so no she is most definitely training me. haha. She is from Bogota Colombia. Which apparently is super super cold. But she has been in Guyaquil for the last 5 months and she is freezing here. Like dying. I told her it is just preparing her for when she goes home in 3 months. She has two older sisters and only one is a member and her mom is a member as well. She has been a member since she was 11. She is much younger than Hermana Espíritu. She is 22 and Hermana Espíritu was 28. So quite the difference. She talks super fast but usually I can keep up. :) 

The other day we watched the news while we were eating lunch in a restaurant and it was about the United States or in Spanish Estados Unidos and it was a whole article about how people, who were living there, that are from Ecuador are returning because it is so cold. Apparently the entire United States is freezing. Don´t worry I am just here in Paradise. Haha! But really it is great here.

Something that has been really great to see in the Ward is how much we can strengthen the people who are already members. Last night we had a meeting with our ward mission leader and the missionaries of the Ward and three out of the four ward missionaries when I got here on my mission were inactive and with a couple lessons now are super active and bringing the church forward. It is great. I just wanted to cry last night. They all are such great people. I am so excited with what this new year is looking like. God really does have a plan for everyone. It is just great to see how it all plays out.

Anyway I love you all tons and I am super sorry that I am not able to write more. But I hope you all have a great week! And remember to read your scriptures, say your prayers, and attend Church. With these three things it is impossible to become inactive. :)

Love you,

Emily
PS- Guess what I got!! Your Christmas box!!

"La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Días"



A tradition of New Years eve is to make a doll of yourself in your clothes and set it on fire at midnight. hahaha this is Luis Zhizhpon and his Moñeco. It is exactly like him!! LOVE IT!



They´re masks for their moñecos!



Hola!!

I am so grateful to have the opportunity to write a full hour.

Me and Teresa and Alejandro Cajamaca!

Life sure it good here. Having a new companion has been extremely stressful..... Especially because she doesn´t know the area at all. But, it definitely has been a learning experience.


Everyone at the baptism of Cesar Ramón!! 

Mom, sorry but we are writing in a new location and because of this I wasn´t able to view the videos of Vitality.... But Danielle and Ben I am sure you were amazing! I wish I could see you. I love you both tons and I am so glad that the Pack family is still a part of the good ole show choir tradition. Man I love show choir!
Neil your hamsters are adorable!!!! I Love love love their names. hahahahaha hopefully Coal the cat doesn't eat them before I get home. hahahaha
Mom, sorry I never got the package you sent after Thanksgiving. But a lot of other people still haven't gotten theirs.... SO I still have hope and faith. But I am stoked to get the other package that you just sent. Missionary life is so good here. I love Cuenca.

They have corn in Cuenca :)

Outside the house of Hermana Mejia! 

I think this part of the world is perfect. Seriously though.

 

Mom, to answer your question as to what weird things I am eating.... Not really anything too abnormal. I mean the other day I ate fish head soup and learned how to make it, so that is exciting. And totally delicious haha. But other than that just a whole heck of a lot of rice!

 

 

 

This week with my new companion has been so successful and so good. I think the switch up was really good. It has also been super super stressful. Before I would only have Hermana Espíritu talk on the phone and do practically everything, but this week all of the phone talking was me and all of the planning was me because I know the people and she doesn't yet. I also had a baptism this last week of César Ramón and believe me the amount of stress I felt was overwhelming. I planned on sleeping today because of the lack of sleep and the amount stress I had last week. But it all went well and he is now a member of "La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Días"

The way that we came in contact with him was that we were teaching a girl in the farmers market and César came up to us and asked if we were vending bibles and we told him that we weren't but that we did have a message for him and the next visit gave him a Book of Mormon and he accepted a date for baptism. Yeah such a great convert! Such an amazing guy. 

Lastly, there is something that I would love to share with all of you. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ blesses families. I know that when a family receives the teachings of Christ in their lives they receive blessings that they couldn´t even imagine. I know that when a person receives Christ in their life and exercises their faith in him through repentance and forgiveness for their sins through baptism they are a light for all of those they know.
I know that God blesses those who endure to the end through obedience to ALL of the commandments of Christ. God gives us commandments to complete. I am so grateful for this knowledge and I am grateful for our Father in Heaven we are so blessed to be on this earth. I know without a single doubt in my heart that God blesses those who complete his words and commandments. I know this all to be so true and I can see it testified here in Ecuador every day.

I love you all so much and appreciate your prayers. My Spanish has gotten significantly better and I can´t wait for you all to hear it one day. 

LOVE YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING.

Hermana Pack