Elder Eastman in Ecuador: 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!