GUAYAQUIL is HOT!!!! Beyond hotter than any other place I have ever been in my life! Happy New Year!

Hermanas Flinders, Nazer, Whitmore, Murri, Nelson, Me and Alvarado :) All of the greatest girls from the Choir :)

Best companionship award goes to...... US :) Seriously so cute!

Huancavilca!!! WOOOO!

The mastermind of our presentations hahahaha Elder Martinez.... But seriously. This Elder is a genius. One of the most intelligent people that I have ever met when it comes to music..... We could not have done this without him.

Hermana Flinders and Hermana Alvarado :) Two of my best friends in the choir :)

Hermana Whitmore Hermana Nazer and Hermana Nelson. Man I seriously love all of these girls so much. There is not a single person in this choir that I don`t love with all of my heart!

Singing the song " No Hubo un Heroe mas Grande" another good one :)

Singing The song "Ningun Otro Nombre" you all should look it up soo good :)

Elder Wendt y Elder Gaete :) So precious haha

The assistants to the President. Seriously two of the greatest guys I have ever met in my life. Both have been by zone leaders at one point in my mission and it has been an honor to be traveling with them this week in the choir. And most of all to see them help lead our mission with the president. Elder Barrios from Paraguay and Elder Kindred from San Diego California.

Dec. 15

SO this is going to be the shortest letter of my mission. I am so sorry. But I sent A million photos....... But This week was amazing and I had some of the most spiritual experiences of my entire mission and I am so grateful for the opportunity that I was given to visit all of the locations of the mission and I was actually able to see a lot of my converts and it was bitter sweet. It was extremely difficult to say goodbye to some of them. I did a lot of crying but it was amazing to see that one year ago when I met these people they knew nothing of the love of the Lord and now they have completely changed it was such a great opportunity. I was so blessed to see Cuenca and Macahla and Santa Rosa. I just love seeing the changed of those whose lives I have been able to touch. it has been such a great opportunity.

Anyway. This week the choir tour ends and then I get a sector and I will let you know about Skype and everything. As of right now I know nothing. soooooo Love you tons. And I will see you all soon through Skype :) love you

Hermana Pack

Hermana Torres! I love her so much! She is our President`s wife. She is so great!

These are two girls that served with Aunt Sarah!!! They both were in Guayaquil when I was singing and they were super excited to see me!

Santa Rosa!!! I cried being able to go back here so many great memories!

Being reunited with Thalia! Man I just love that girl so much!

Thalia and Ambar!  I was so so so happy to see these girls in Santa Rosa!

On the road again........ seriously so many busses......

Loja decorated the church for us it was adorable! Such an amazing spirit here!

LOJA!!! Such a powerful performance!

CUENCA! I had never cried so much in my mission hahahaha!

Seriously almost the half of my mission was in Machala and It was so hard to leave this place I cried so hard. Giving Hermana Mann a good hug while leaving was real rough..... I love Machala with all of my heart. I just love the mission so much hahaha.

Santa Rosa!! My heart truly does belong here!! :)

After our first performace in Cisne!

Our second performance, in Pradera :)

The performance in Centenario!

Performance in Puerto Nuevo!

Dec. 22

Hola!

So This week was great!! I am in Guayaquil!!! Yay!! I am officially in a sector that is called Los Esteros and it is a great sector. I am so grateful to be here. My companion is Hermana Peralta. I have been blessed to have the opportunity to train again! I seriously love training. But Hermana Peralta is amazing. Seriously this girl knows so much. She is from Mexico. From Guadalajara. She has been a member he whole life and she knows a ton. But I am so grateful to be with her. She is so dang cute! Right now we are the only sisters in our zone and it is super super weird. I have never been in a zone with so many Elders... There are 20 Elders in our zone. But it is kinda cool at the same time because I have realized the importance of the Hermanas in the missions. And especially as being an Hermana Leader because I know that if the Hermana´s have a lot of success the Elders have a lot of motivation and the whole zone gets really excited. I feel good about this new zone. 

Anyway I am really excited to see you all this week! I really do love you all tons! I cannot believe how quick time has flown by. It kind of gives me anxiety.... Like a ton of anxiety. But this last week we had a baptism of Edith Vasquez and it was such a good baptism. She was soooo excited. She really had a great conversion. It was such a privilege to be in her baptism. She is from Columbia. And it was a good day. I am super excited to work in this ward. The members are super smart. I love it already and I have only been here less than a week.

Today we had to buy a new house and move out and it has been a disaster but it will all end soon enough and I am super excited to just get the stress done with..... But let me just tell you that GUAYAQUIL is HOT!!!! Beyond hotter than any other place I have ever been in my life. SO SO SO SO SO hot. I am dying. But it is good for me I think... But I look nasty daily.... Yuck.

With Hermana Peralta my new companion when we received our Christmas gift of getting to go to the temple :)

People from Machala were in the temple as well. It was such a blessing to see them! I got to see Lucia and Sami!!!!

This last week the president gave everyone the privilege to go to the temple and it was amazing. I felt so so so blessed and I received so much revelation. Wow it was amazing. I just felt the love of our Savior. Man it is so amazing. He loves us all so much. It is so true that the temple is the house of the Lord. It truly is the house of our dear Savior and beloved Father in Heaven. I am so grateful for this wonderful knowledge.

Anyway I love you all and wish you the best Christmas. I am so blessed to be on the mission and to have two Christmas´s here in Ecuador. In this beautiful country. I just love it so much. Anyway see you soon ;)

Lots of love,

Hermana Pack

I seriously love Ecuador. Enough said.

Dec. 29

Hola!!!

Well I would just like to start off by saying how grateful I was to see you all and that it was such a great experience to talk to you guys. I just love your support. Thank you so much!! I love you guys tons!

I hope you guys had a great Christmas I sure did.

We got our nails done!!! :)

We were blessed and we go to go to the other sisters house in Centenario which is another part of Guayaquil and guess who was there :) Hermana Murri and Hermana Hidalgo YAY! Second Navidad with Hermana Murri ESSSO hahaha it was great! We made tacos mexicanos!!!! I was super excited!

Today I wasn´t given a ton of time to write sorry again my time was cut. As usual. I am really sorry. I think that is kind of the life I have been living the last couple weeks but today I was blessed to go to the house of the president to sing for a news reporter and the report is going to be sent out to all of Ecuador. It is going to be really really cool. I am really excited!!! 

I know that next week I will have short time to write as well because it is a meeting of leaders. But I want you to know that we had a baptism of a little boy and I gave him one of the ties that you sent me mom. And what is really cool is that we were able to reactivate is family and his mom cried when we gave him the tie. It was a really great baptism. But next week I´ll send you the pictures. 

Love you all tons.

Hermana Pack

Happy New Year as well!!!

I officially finished one entire year in ECUADOR!!!! :) all of 2014

It was the most challenging transfer of my entire mission.

Hey!                                                                                                       Nov. 24, 2014

Well this week was AMAZING! I cannot even begin to explain all of the miracles I was able to see this week. I am about to cry just writing today. 

Yesterday I had transfers in the middle of sacrament meeting. It was the worst feeling in the world. I had 16 people in church. I really felt like we were exploding Boyacá. It was the most challenging transfer of my entire mission. I did not want to be transferred. This next week we had planned the baptism of Jose and well to be honest not being there kills me. 

But something I learned this morning in my studies is that the Lord has a reason for everything and there is a reason why I was to be transferred. I have been chosen to be in a choir for Christmas for the mission. It is a select group of missionaries who will be touring the mission and singing for Christmas time and we are getting to sing Christmas music. I have been also chosen to sing some chosen solos. I wasn´t very excited at first but after talking to the president today I have gotten a lot more excited. Really I know this is a really great opportunity. I have been chosen to share my talent with others to help them bring them unto Christ. But wow this transfer was really hard.

But as another heads up I think for the next month by letters are gonna be a little short sorry.... just  because my time is gonna be cut short. Sorry. I love you all dearly and please keep me updated. I love you all tons and right now my companion is Hermana Alvarado and I am in Guayaquil and I am getting a really great opportunity to sing every day! 

I love you all tons!

Hermana Pack

                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                               Dec. 1, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

I am so grateful for all of your letters!! Thank you so much!

Being in this choir of the mission has been the most amazing thing in the world. I have had some really amazing experiences. I have been chosen to sing a huuuuuuuge solo. I am singing the song "His Hands" by Kenneth Cope. It is GORGEOUS. But all of it is obviously is in Spanish hahaha. But really it has been amazing to have the opportunity to develop my talents. I am so grateful for this chance. This last week we were able to go to the house of the president and sing for the president and for his family and for the president of the North Mission. We have been so so so so so blessed. Because seriously it is over 80 pages of really hard music to learn in one week. Tomorrow we perform. We will get to know all of the mission. It is sooooo cool. 

I am also blessed to be with Hermana Alvarado. She is from my group from el CCM. I love this girl so so so so much. But seriously this week has been crazy nuts but she knows how to make me laugh hahaha. I love her to death. But man I sure have been blessed. These people are great. SO MUCH TALENT. What is great our mission president had no idea that any of us knew anything about music before he asked us to be in this group. We just had to do it. It has been amazing to see how quickly we have been able to learn. 

We have a flute player, two piano players, and a violin player with 3 elders and 6 hermanas singing. It is great. I am singing Alto hahaha it is a good time :) 

Mom I am sure you are glad to hear that I am actually getting to use my talents :)

Thanksgiving at the house of the President :)

Hermana Nazer, Hermana Alvarado, Hermana Murri and I for Thansgiving with the Mission President!

I wish I could have been with you for Thanksgiving but I was able to eat with our president and it was a great and HUGE meal. Gigantic. So much food. But man I love our president. It was quite the privilege. 

Anyway I love you all with all my hearts. I wish you all the best and I hope all is well. Miss you tons!

Hermana Pack

This Hermana was the companion of my aunt Sarah in her mission when they both served in Ambato. She now lives in Guayaquil and we were able to take a picture together!! It was a really great opportunity!!!

Eating lunch in the car.... our crazy lives in the choir.....

Birthday of Elder Martinez, our amazing director of the program.... and flute player.

 

 

Hola!!!                      Dec. 8, 2014

Well I would just like to start off by saying how much I love you all and how proud I am that you all are performing and keeping up your talents :)

Mom and Dad I would like to thank you for all of your money and time and devotion for helping me learn music. I am so beyond grateful. I love to sing. I love it with all of my heart. and this week has completely changed my perspective of music.
This last week we had a performance every night in a different stake center here in Guayaquil and it was so spiritually uplifting and amazing. I am so grateful for this opportunity. We were also blessed with the opportunity to go to an orphanage and sing for children who had disabilities and it was the first time I had cried while singing in a really long time. We sang the song "I am Child of God" and it was amazing. I truly felt the Lord's love around them and around us and we were singing. There were tears streaming down our cheeks as we were singing and it was just so powerful and it was so amazing.

I know that it was beyond inspired for us to be in this choir. I know that the Lord always has a plan. I am so grateful to be here in this mission. The music really can change lives.

I love how much I can feel the presence of the Lord in my life. I love how in every moment I can feel him touching the people I know and the people we teach. He has such a huge impact on our lives. He is real and he loves every one of us. I challenge ever one of you to watch this video this week it is so powerful :)

www.christmas.mormon.org

I love you all a ton. and I wish the best week ever!

Love,

Hermana Pack

Aunt Juliet!!! I got your package!!!! Thank you soooooo much!!! I loved it so much!! Thank you for the peanut butter :) My absolute favorite hahahah ;) But most of all thank you for the letters!

We were able to see some really amazing miracles this week!

Hola all!!!                                                                                                      Nov. 10

We had an amazing week!!!

We were able to see some really amazing miracles this week! It was so cool to see the hand of the Lord in our work this week! To start off the week the mission president came to Machala and he had the 4 zones of Machala and Santa Rosa come and we had a huge conference. It was kinda crazy. But it was super super inspiring. But what was great was it really inspired all of us.  I am really grateful to be here with my companion because she really is fantastic. We were able to find some great families this week.

Cristmas lights what.....? Yeah we are getting excited ! We found christmas lights in the house and a chirstmas tree and tree bulbs hahahahaha we both know we`ll probs get transfered before christmas but it is a nice setting to  the house hahaha and our pants from Ecuador and our jerseys hahaha YES !! ECUADOR!!!

This past Sunday we were able to bring a family to church who was a reference for us from members in the ward. Boyaca is such an amazing ward. Seriously. Such an amazing ward. I am so blessed to be here. I am cherishing every moment I have to be here. Ya mismo vamos a tener mucho bautismos aqui. jajajajajaja This last Sunday we had 10 people in Church. It was a miracle. It was all through the hands of the Lord. Honestly we could not have done it without him. We needed his help. It is impossible to do his work here without him.

We were able to meet such great people this week. Seriously it has been such a good week and I am looking forward to another great week. My companion has so much faith. She only has a few weeks in the mission but she has taught me so much and I love it. I feel like she teaches me more than I teach her. I love it. Being in the mission has taught me so many great and wonderful principles. I love being here. I have also learned the importance of the leaders here.  I hadn`t ever realized the importance of ward council but wow. It really has such an influence. Dad I know that you had to make a sacrifice for the missionaries this Sunday, but you will be blessed your your sacrifice. I promise  you that. I truly feel that there is a spot saved in heaven for those who help us Sunday mornings with investigators and maybe just maybe because you were helping the elders in our ward dad for your service I was being blessed herein Ecuador.
So really thanks Dad :) Love ya! hahaha 

But really this work is not just for the missionaries and I am so proud of you guys for helping the elders out! You guys rock! thanks hahaha!

Love you all tons!

Hermana Pack

The birthday cake had pineapple and almonds on it because the elder is allergic to almonds and pineapple hahahaha it was too great!

                                                                                                                                     Nov. 17

Hello Everyone!

Well I just would like you all to know I love you very much and that this has been a very good week for me! Thank you for all of your prayers and love! :)

I GOT YOUR PACKAGES!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!

Well this week has been absolutely amazing! We have been able to see some really great changes here in Boyaca. I know that you wanted me to tell you if I was able to see a change here in Boyaca and I really have. I love it here. I don`t think I could possibly love a sector more. Because this sector is a truly chosen sector. We were able to have a member working with us at every single moment during this past week. We were able to have over 30 lessons with members in fact there were times when we were over booked with members. It was amazing. We have built up such an amazing relationship with some of the members. It has amazed me. I have seen such a HUGE change in the last two months. This last Sunday we were blessed to have many many investigators in church and many less actives that we have been working with as well. We almost had over 200 people in church on Sunday it was amazing. In fact they didn`t fill enough cups for the sacrament and they had to re-bless more cups for the sacrament. Never in my life have I seen that done before. The bishop was grinning from ear to ear. It was marvelous! haha.  It was just a great week. Friday my companion and I fasted so that we would be able to bring these people to church and that the people would accept baptismal dates. And we were again blessed with tons of blessings. It was a great improvement from last week.

Birthday dinner for Elder Bichsel so good !!! Man I love the family Matamoros!!!!

I want to share a quick story this past week we were walking down the street rather quickly because we were overbooked for a lesson and we were trying to make to the lesson on time and we were trying to walk to it on time without having to take a taxi. When a little elderly lady asked us what the name of the street was and then we found out she was blind. So we called our appointment to tell them we were going to be late and we helped her to her house and then she came to church on Sunday and accepted a date of baptism. It was a miracle! This week was jam packed of miracles.
I know that this is not through our efforts. I know that this is all because we put our confidence in the Lord. He provided us the means of making this happen. We have people who really want to change their lives and the members are excited to help us. It has been great to be a part of this process. I am so thankful to be here. I truly love Machala and I would love to be here for the Stake conference that is coming up.
I am so grateful for the opportunity I have been given to be here in el Oro and for the time I have been given to be a missionary. I also am extremely grateful for my companion and for all of the great things I am learning from her. She is amazing. She is going to make an amazing leader one day. She already knows so much.

Anyway I love you all tons!

Until next week!
Hermana Pack

Hermana Campbell!!! I was so happy to see her!!!! It was during a capacitacion with the president this week!

I know that the family can be eternal.

 

Hola,

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! We carved Oranges instead of Pumpkins hahaha

 

Waba Fruit

I absolutely loved loved loved all of the pictures!! Seriously photos are my favorite things!!!! Mom I also love empenadas you have to learn to make them! They are totally different in Ecuador and a whole heck of a lot easier than in other countries!! 

So sorry to keep it short but this week we had a meeting with the president as leaders and I can only write for a bit! And I literally have the AP´s over my shoulders hahaha.

Mom I want to assure you that my head has gotten a TON better! I have been super super strict with my diet and I have gotten a lot healthier! I am doing much better! Thank you for your prayers! I still have headaches but I am doing better.

Zona El Oro!!! WOOOHOOO! This Zone really is the Best!

Birthday Cake for Hermana Apaza :)

Niños...... We share a ward with these guys here in Boyaca. Elder Alvey and Elder Bichsel both from Utah.

I had transfers again!! My companion is Hermana Hash!!!! I love this girl!!! I am training again!! :) She is from Utah from the Logan area!! She is so great! ;)

So dedicated and hard working! I love her to death! I am so grateful to be with her! I am still in Boyaca in Machala! I seriously love Machala with all of my heart there are so many great people here.

Man I just love so many people here in Ecuador. Every day I wake up with fear that I might not have the opportunity to return to this wonderful country... It breaks my heart.. So many amazing people.

Our lunch today. Grandpa would be proud of me I descaled it and gutted it and then fried it and then we ate it for lunch today and it was delicious! :) Yummm The things you learn in Ecuador :) 

But hey this week we found a great family a mom and her three children they are so great. I just love teaching them. This last week they came to church and it was amazing I am just so blessed to have the opportunity to teach them the gospel and share this happiness with them. hahahaha

Well, I would love to tell you all how much I love you and how happy I am that we have the opportunity to live together forever. This week I have done a lot of thinking about how the family can be together forever and how blessed we are to be sealed in the temple of the Lord. But how that if we don`t keep the covenant we have made with him we can`t be sealed with him forever. How terrible that would be. I want to be with you guys forever. Especially with my brothers and sister. You guys mean the world to me. This week we were given the chance to meet three kids whose parents are members and the kids are not baptized but their parents are inactive in the church and they are ages 15, 14, and 11 years old. They came to church with us this last week and they loved the church and our goal is to activate the family.

I know that the family can be eternal.  How amazing is that. We are so blessed. WOW! We are so lucky. But this can only happen if we go to the temple and are worthy to enter the temple. So we always have to be worthy to have a temple recommend.

Family, aunts, uncles, cousins, sisters, brothers, there is no excuse to not be worthy to enter the temple...... We must be worthy at all times. So I challenge all of you to look into your own lives to see what you can do be worthy to have a temple recommend and enter the temple. So that our family can be eternal. Because there is no other blessing greater in this world. I bear testimony of this. I know this to be true.

I love you all.

Hermana Pack

HEAVEN!

Happy Birthday Elder Alvey..... YES we had our mission leader make hamburgers..... best birthday lunch for an elder if I do say so myself hahahaha it was soooo goooood :)

We came home and found a cockroach in my shoe...... awesome... and nasty.....

Our house in Boyaca

Rice rice and more rice hahahaha

Fruit Market :)

Meat Market. Look at all those EGGS!