A Record of Elder Eastman's Missionary Service in the Quito Ecuador Mission

A Record of Elder Eastman's Missionary Service in the Quito Ecuador Mission

Monday, November 24, 2014

Contacting

Hey dad,
Things have been going pretty good! Elder Bryce is definitely a good missionary.  But we are definitely learning together.  The work has been a bit tough in Guamani.  I guess the last companion of Elder Bryce didnt really like contacting so they just taught the same people over and over again without really accomplishing much so we dont have very many investigators.  We just got a new one though a few days ago though.  Her name is Hermana Teresa and she is super great.  She came to church on her own yesterday which is a really good sign.  Also we have been contacting a ton.  Yesterday we got 27 contacts which is the most we have both ever done in one day.  And the total for last week was i think some where in the 70s.  So we are really trying to find new people.  We have found a few people who accepted a visit from us but havnt been able to visit them yet.  I think there is a few appointments coming up this week.
Thats good you have been going home teaching.  And yea we have alot of appoitments fall all the time.  Its kinda crazy to think that literally all im doing now is pretty much just home teaching.  I used to not like it very much but now it feels good to be teaching a lesson and a bit upsetting when appointments fall.  Little kids are super tough to teach with.  A ton of the lessons we teach have little kids how are super loud in them.  
I love you too!
Elder Eastman

Hello Family!

Well i have some bad news... A few days a go we were on a bus that had about 1,000 people on it and when we were trying to get off my wonderful umbrella fell out of the outside pocket on my backpack that it was in.  Either that or someone stole it.  But either way it made me quite sad.  That umbrella was fantastic.  So now i am umbrellaless in a place that rains like none other.  So i guess i need to find one here.  But the ones here arent nearly as good as the one i had.  

So other than that things here have been going great!  Elder Bryce is wonderful and we work well together.  Right now we really lack investigators so we have been doing a TON of contacting.  Which is actually pretty good because now contacting is alot easier for me and we have been able to find a few families who accepted a visit from us.  Hopefully some of these families turn into good investigators.  
Contacting here in Guamanì is definitely a bit different than it was in Villa Flora.  I think there are more dogs in the streets than there are people.  And since we are trying to focus on families we pretty much have to contact every family we see.  
And speaking of the dogs here i have a great dislike for all of the dogs here.  Becuase alot of the time they arent very nice and bark a ton at us.  And sometimes try to eat us.  And in those cases we quickly try to find a good rock and then through it as hard as we possibly can at them.  It is mostly Elder Bryce that has been doing the throwing so i havnt really gotten a good chance to nail a dog yet.  But im sure i will get my chance soon.  Alot of the dogs here have battle wounds too.  Like legs that dont work, eyes missing, chunks of flesh ripped out, things like this.  So some dogs are definitely not very nice.  
We recently got a new investigator named Hermana Teresa.  Shes really good.  We have had one lesson with her so far about the Plan of Salvation (becuase her husband died a little while ago).  That lesson went decently well.  Well the first part was good but the last bit of it wasnt.  That would be becuase of the member that we had with us.  Well ill just say that sometimes you cant really expect or control what the members decide to share.  Some times they just go off on what ever principle of the gosple that they know how to talk about.  In this case it was the whole message of the Restoration like Joseph Smith, translating the Book of Mormon, the life of Christ, Apostacy, things like this, right in the middle of a Plan of Salvation lesson.  Members are wonderful it can just be kind of difficult to stay focused when they sometimes like to show off their knowledge.  But she still came to church the next day all by her self so that is fantastic!

So earlier today we went to this super sweet market place thing with an overwhelming amount of cool ecuadorian things.  So i bought some super awesome stuff for you guys at home.  I forgot about Chelsea but maybe ill go back some time and get her something too.  And then maybe you could then send it to her where ever she is.  So yeah i got some great stuff and then sent it today too.  Hopefully you guys like it.  I wrote on a little peice of paper saying what everything is and who it is supposed to be for.  Sending it cost $16.  Hopefully it makes it and doesnt take a super duper long time to get to you.  For my self i got a super cool change holder thing that is leather and has an awesome horse on it. 

I think my testimony has grown alot mostly just by sharing it so much.  It has become more special to me and more meaningful.  A testimony is one of the most powerful tools you can use and one that can bring in the spirit the best.  And the spirit is what does the converting of people so that puts a great importance on testimonies.  I think one specific thing with my testimony that has grown is that we are all children of Heavenly Father and that He loves all of us very much.  This might be the thing that we share the most to people and i have really started to look at everyone here not as just random people but as brothers and sisters and children of God.  Thinking this makes talking to people alot easier and alot more meaningful.  It gives a greater purpose to what we are trying to do here and helps me enjoy being a missionary even more.  

Well that is all for now!  Have a good week everyone!

Elder Eastman


New house!  this is the main room where all the studying and planning goes down.  Guess which desk is mine.  Correct! The super clean one!


Our super awesome and now super clean kitchen and fridge!


Our room.  My bed is on the right.


More of our room.  I have all of those closets.  My companion uses the ones in the other room.


A close up on my super clean and organized desk.  I like having an organized desk.  
"A clean desk is a happy desk.  A happy desk is a happy missionary.  A happy missionary is an effective missionary."
                                                             - Elder Eastman



Sorry i dont have any pics of my new comp.  Ill try and take one this week.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Adios Villa Flora! Hola Guamani!

Hello Family!
I got a backpack becuase my mission president allows them and yes the shoulder bad really hurt my shoulder after carrying it for a while. 
Thanks for that picture of NXN!  Thats super awsome that it snowed that much recently!  I kinda miss that race and XC. 
Well thats a bit of a bummer about the package!  Its alright though!  I really want to get some cool Ecuadorian stuff to send back to you guys.  So ill try and find some stuff so i can send it soon. 
I dont really have a way to listen to music.  But i have been ok just listening to other elders music.  Alot of elders have little speakers with music on a flash drive or something like that.  No we didnt get to teach Libertad this week.  I think she might not have been in town of something like that.  And the Familia Oña (bread family) werent really progressing well.  I think their desire just wasnt there yet.  So we kind of stopped teaching them.  But hopefully in the future they decide to progress and get baptised.  Unfortunately me and Elder Peters didnt get any baptisms this change.  But we definitley worked hard and tried our best. 
So this Sunday we got the news on if we would be transfered or not.  Me and Elder Peters thought for sure that we would be staying together in Villa Flora to finish my training.  But nope!  I got moved down to a place called Guamani which is still part of Quito but in the very south part of Quito.  And Elder Peters got made the zone leader of the zone that i am now in! So that was a bit sad but itll still be good!  I definitely miss Villa Flora!  That was a super great place with an super great ward.  The experiences i had there were really awsome.  But i know that i will have good experiences here in Guamani too!  We got this news pretty late last night.  So i had to stay up pretty late packing everything.  So i didnt get to bed until around 11:30 and then i didnt fall asleep untill around 1.  So Im pretty tired today.  My new companions name is Elder Bryce.  He just finished his training.  And is now training me.  So thatll be interesting!  But so far he seems like a good missionary.  His spanish is pretty decent.  But definitely has alot more to learn like me.  He is from Pheonix.  Right now i dont have any pictures of him.  Guamani is an ok place so far.  Im sure ill really grow to love it just like i did with Villa Flora.  Becuase at first in Villa Flora i wasnt really sure how i felt about it either.  This place is so much more quite than Villa Flora.  There isnt tons of big buses that always spit out a bunch of smoke, there is alot less people out in the streets, and there is alot more undeveloped land.  So we will see how it goes here!  I think itll be a good change with some good success. 
Elder Eastman

Here is a cool pic of the Panacillo and a cool volcano here called Cotopaxi.  Its to the very left and covered in snow.


This is me and my now old district and part of the Familia Jimenez who are recent converts.


This is me and an hermano named Brian Moreta and his family.  He went with us to a couple of lessons and is a really good member. 


Monday, November 10, 2014

The Ecuado Q.U.I.T.O Mission

Hello Family!

So this is something that I learned the first day i was here but I just kept forgeting to tell you about it.  And this has been taught by President Christensen multiple times since then.  And this is how I know that im pretty much in the best mission ever.  So these are some of the atributes that the best and most effective kind of missionaries have.  

Q = Querer (want)

U = Unidad (unity)

I = Inspiración (inspiration)

T = Trabajo (work)

O = Obediencia (obedience) 

And i have learned that obedience is the most important one because without obedience we "quit" being great missionaries.  

So thats just some cool thing about the name of my mission that i thought I would share with you guys.  

This week was a pretty good week.  Nothing to crazy happend though.  We started teaching a new investigator this week who was a reference from of the Hermanas that makes us lunch sometimes.  Her name is Libertad.  She is really active in her other church though.  And her church teaches alot of good truths like sharing the gospel with others, baptism by emersion and stuff like that.  So that could be kinda tough to get her to come to our church.  And the way she became interested in this church is that her friend (this Hermana that gives us lunch) told her that we do baptisms for the dead.  So guess what our first lesson with her was about.  Yep baptisms for the dead.  Kind of a not normal first lesson but she really liked it and we set up a time to teach her again.  So thats good!  

We also had Stake Conference this last saturday and sunday.  I couldnt really understand a good amount of what people talked about so i didnt get a whole lot out of it.  But it was still good.  President Christensen and his wife spoke in both sessions.  So that was good to here them.  Quick fun fact that i learned recently about the President is that a while ago he worked for the church and at one time he was in charge of all the tithing for the whole church and got to work with the Prophet and First Presidency alot while he did that.  So thats pretty cool!

The next interesting thing that happened this week happened today.  That is that we got to go to the Basilica as a district today.  The Basilica is the super cool and massive Catholic cathedral in the center of Quito.  We got to walk around inside and even got to go up the big spires.  Its a super cool building and really pretty.  Altough the things they have in there are quite different from the things we teach in our church.  But it was pretty interesting to see these things.  I took a bunch of pictures so ill send some of those.

Oh also at the begining of this week me and the other new missionaries got to go up the Panecillo which is the cool statue at the top of the big hill in the center of quito.  So i actually got to do alot of cool things this week!  I met my mtc companion Elder Fuller too.  So that was fun to be able to talk to him and see how he was doing.   

And i think that is pretty much all for this week!  

Elder Eastman

P.S. Family,  Yes i got your letter mom and the one from the grandparents.  I think it was the begining of this week that i got your letter mom.  Also thanks for it.  I hung that picture of me up on the wall by my desk.  

Also I will definitely keep Alex in my prayers.  Thats gotta be super tough.  

Oh and i bought a back pack recently


Hello Father!

Im doing pretty good! Always trying to do my best and get better at teaching and with spanish.  Most of the people here are always helpful and encouraging with me learning spanish.  But one thing that i really dont like is when people ask why im in a bad mood or angry.  They think this because i dont really say a whole lot when we arent teaching a lesson.  And im quiet during this time because my non religious conversational skills in spanish are pretty terrible.  And Im never really in a bad mood or angry but when they ask this it kind of puts me in a bad mood.  So i try and just brush it off and forget about it and keep trying to teach good lessons.  
Being in a good mood always makes missionary work so much better and find that i teach better when im in a good mood.  So i always try and pray to be in a good mood during the day.  

That is good that youre going to try and have more Christmas spirit this year!  Also i like what you said about the Atonement and our freedom.  The Atonement is definitely one of the most important things that we are teaching about.  

I love you too!

Elder Eastman











Monday, November 3, 2014

Finally! Cow Stomach...Then Upset Stomach

Hello Family!

Ya pretty sure we dont have any time changes here.  Also something else about being on the equator is a little while ago i noticed that the shape of the moon when its not a full moon is horizontal.  Im pretty sure its not like that in the states.  So thats kinda cool i guess.  

We send our emails from one of the millions of internet cafe things there are here.  The Familia Oña couldnt come to church again this week but they said they will try for next week.  So hopefully that will be able to happen.  And none of our other investigators were able to make it to church yesterday either.  So that was a bit of a bummer.  Juan Carlos and another less active we have been teaching named Barbara have been coming to church lately.  So thats good!  

Yes ive been using those rain jackets.  My shoes are holding up good.  I dont think i have to put more of that stuff on right now but i probably should soon.  

Well i could always use more ties!  And some good american food would be nice.  Like maybe some top ramen, milk duds, other good stuff like that.  I cant really think of anything else.  

Well some things that have happend here this past week.  On tuesday i got the wonderful opportunity to eat some cow stomach!  Which is the second worst thing ive ever eaten.  Then the next day i got to eat some liver!  This was actually quite good.  And i didnt know it was liver untill i was told what it was half way through eating it.  Then after fasting yesterday i got pretty sick with what we think is some type of food poisoning.  From about 3ish to about 10 at night i threw up 5 times and had diarrhea twice.  Definitely not very fun.  Today i feel better though.  Except i have to be on an all liquid diet today so i dont have very much energy and im quite hungery.  Other than the cow stomach and the sickness this week has been great!  

So i took some more pictures this week so ill try and send them.  

Hello Father!

Things here are pretty good!  This fast sunday was pretty tough for me.  The hunger and tiredness was super hard and then after i got to eat a little food i got pretty sick.  First i ate a pack of ritz crackers and a piece of bread.  Then i started feeling really bad and couldnt eat dinner.  Then i had diarrhea.  Then when i got home i threw up.  So i had to stay home and rest.  That was only supposed to be for an hour but after about an hour i threw up again.  In total i threw up 5 times.  So i ended up staying in bed the whole rest of the day.  We called the missionary nurses and they said they think i got some type of food poisoning from the food i ate before i started fasting.  And since i was fasting the effects didnt come until later when i had some food in me.  Luckily today i feel quite alot better.  Except i have to be on an all liquid diet for today so i dont really have any energy.  

A picture of Quito

 Our zone got to play some fútbol here today.  

This me and Elder Cháves who is from Guayaquil.

Me and my companion Elder Peters

 Me and a guagua.  Which is pronounced wahwah.  Guaguas (bread children) are this traditional pastry they have here for this holiday that i don't know the name of.  We buy them pretty much every day because they are fantastic.  Except now the holiday is over so they're not making them now.  (I found out from his friend in the Quito North Mission that the holiday is called Día de Difuntos)

 Me making guaguas at the Oñas paneria


This is where we teach our lessons with this family.