Week 62

Mis Queridos-

I know I´m a day late but this week our Preparation day was moved until Tuesday because this week is Carnaval. I was here last year for Carnaval but it is about a million times worse in the Coast. It´s basically 4 days of people throwing water, flour, eggs, and other things at people. The kids have no mercy. I can imagine that as a normal person it´s actually a fun holiday, however, as a missionary it means trying to avoid getting soaked for the entire day long...sometimes with fishy water. Ewwwwwwwww.

This week was pretty great, we always have some setbacks but that is life. President Sloan has asked us to step-up with our contacting efforts and I´ve really been trying to work on that. It´s not something that I particularly enjoy doing because after a couple of scary experiences one loses her nerve (think creepy old guys asking me to marry them). This week though I really tried to go out and get to know people. Sunday we found a whole trove of new investigators who really look promising. Many of which are families. I´m so excited to work with them all. I remember knocking a few doors and having people hide. I said a quick prayer, something like this: "Heavenly Father, thou knowest that I´m just no good at this...please help us find somebody." Needless to say that my prayers were answered and I´m very, very grateful.

I was also feeling that I wasn´t making a great difference here in Ecuador and that my efforts to teach the gospel were only benefitting me. Nobody seemed to be progressing. I had to teach The Holy Ghost in Gospel Principles this week and I really tried to stress that the Godhead was one in proposito but were 3 separate persons. Yesterday a less active member told me that she was able to teach some of her neighbors of a different faith what she had learned and that they understood and seemed interested. It made me feel so much better that I was able to help somebody.

Rosy Parraga is also getting baptized. She was always an investigator that we kept on the back burner but now has a baptismal date for March. My companion and I realized that she didn´t really know anything about the gospel and so we had started everything over again. She has changed so much and I´m grateful that yet again I get to see how 5 simple lessons change peoples lifes. The gospel really does work miracles.

So that was my week in a nutshell, I´m very happy inspite of passing a few days without being dry...what with Carnaval and the rain. Torrential downpours, I love rain so much!!!

Hermana Whitney Tanner