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, February 23, 2015

Ruby's Miracle

Hello!

Thanks for the quotes!  I like them!  

Well there is a great section in Preach My Gosple called How to Start Teaching (or something like that).  I think it might be a bit more focused on teaching missionary lessons but im sure there is some good stuff in there that could help you mom!
I'm not sure what my favorite spanish hymn is right now.  I dont have my hymn book with me right now so i cant look for one.  So i'll find one this week and tell you next week.  

Well i think the most significant influence of the Spirit was more with my companion.  So we got into this lesson with this new family that we found.  The family consists of the mom named Ruby and 4 or 5 other kids.  Ruby is divorsed so there's no dad.  We were just talking and she told us that she believes that God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost are all just one person.  And that the Holy Ghost is just the power and strength of Gods spirit.  So we explaned how it is.  And then my comp asked the question, when you feel this Spirit of God, how do you feel?  And then she told us this really cool/amazing story.
So in the year 2000 she was pregnant and about ready to give birth.  After going to the hospital a few times because of contractions and feeling the baby alot, around 10 or 11 in the morning one day she stopped feeling the baby.  So she was a bit worried.  She went the the hospital again and some time that night the doctors told her that the baby had died and has been dead since that morning.  Then she started crying alot and also praying alot.  She said that she asked God to some how let this baby live and some other things that i cant really remember.  But she said she prayed harder than she had ever done before.  Then after a little while of that the doctors came back to her and told her that they dont know how this is possible because they have never seen this bofore but her baby started living again.  But now the kid is living just fine with a normal life.  His name is Gustavo.  He's a really good kid too with alot of really good questions.  
So that was really cool to hear that story.  I think this family will do really well.  

Well that's pretty much it!  Have a good life everyone! 

Elder Eastman

Hello Dad!

Things are going great!  Thanks for that analogy that Elder Bendar gave!  Thats a really cool analogy. I like it alot!  I also like the one that compares our testimonies with a giant red wood tree.  Elder Christiansen gave a talk about it this last priestood session.  He says that even the giant red wood trees had to start out as little tiny seeds, but after time and alot of nurishment it can grow into something amazing.  
My spanish is doing pretty good!  Im not quite at the point of being able to say anything i want, but i can defintely say alot more than when i first started.  And if i dont know how to say something exactly like how i want to i can normaly come up with some other way to say it.  And understanding things is also alot easier now than it was when i first got here.  But still not perfect because there is alot of word that i need to learn.  
Well that sounds like a really good movie!  I think XC definitely taught me alot of very usefull things that can help me alot on the mission and probably in the rest of the things i'll do im my life.  
Love you too!

Elder Eastman

Just another picture from my house.  This is in the morning with some kinda cool clouds and two volcanoes on each side.  The one on the right is Cotopaxi and the one on the left is named Anti Sana, this one has its top half blown off.  


Monday, February 16, 2015

Patience Brings Good Things

Hello!
The mission has been going pretty good this week!  A few weeks ago the brother of my president, Craig C. Christensen (a member of the presidency of the seventy) came and spoke to us.  It was a really cool experience.  He also gave a really good talk during priestood sesson of last conference.  We dont really get so see the president very often.  Only really in big meetings or if we go to the offices and he is there.  But lately we have been getting alot of counsel from him on obedience because i guess there is quite a few missionaries who arent super obedient. 
Elder Calder is super great!  He is a really good missionary and super obedient.  I especially like how he is always making sure that we are using our time wisely and doint the things that we need to be doing the most.  
We are definitely encouraged to always be looking for opportunities to serve.  A few days ago we help this less active family dig a really really deep hole on their property so that they can put in a septic tank thing.  Ill send a couple pics of that.  
A couple days ago, after a long day of a lot of fallen appointments, me and my comp were just standing in the street trying to think of what we should do and after a few minutes of that this lady with short, pink hair came up to us and asked us what we were doing.  So we just told her that we were thinking of where we should go and that we are missionaries.  Then she was like oh well my husband is home right now and i just have to do something really quick and then ill be there too and if you guys want to can come over.  So we were like yeah that would be great, we'll come over in about 30 minutes!  So a bit later we came over, they were actually there, they fed us some stuff and we taught lesson 1.  The lesson went super well and they accepted everying including baptism!  I think they could do really good.  They werent able to come to church yesterday because of a vacation thing but they said they would come next week.  Their names are Edwin and Maria.  So it's cool how if you are patient and always doing the things you should be doing Heavenly Father will always bless you with good things. 
Well thats pretty much it for now!  
Elder Eastman




(His hair looks like it did when we lived in Guam!  It has lightened up a lot in the four and 1/2 months he has been in Ecuador.)

Monday, February 9, 2015

Another Gringo Companion

Hello!
I am doing pretty great!  And yep i am staying here in Guamani!  But now i am with Elder Calder!  He is a super nice guy.  And a wonderful missionary.  He has one more change in the mission than me just like Elder Bryce.  He is from Bountiful Utah.  I dont know why i keep getting gringos as companions but oh well, i like gringo companions!  Ill just have to hold off for a while for the incredible spanish learning that you get from having a latino companion.  
Well not much has happened this past week.  Pretty much every single person is gone right now in our sector.  So the lessons and contacts have been pretty low.  Its pretty much because right now the holiday Carnaval is going on.   So i think alot of people are just on vacation.  Carnaval lasts for about a month too.  Its pretty much just a holiday where people like getting each other wet and throw eggs at them and flower and spray foam stuff at people.  So i pretty much  dont like it.  I havnt recieved these things yet but im sure i will eventualy.  
No we didnt get to teach those three again this past week.  They havnt been home.  But their names are, Cecilia, Ginder (weird name, this is the boy who got his answer), and some other name that i cant remember.  And this past sunday they didnt come to church for some reason.  Also everyother investigator that we have didnt come.  But hopefully things start getting better whith me and Elder Calder.  I think we will start having some good success again.  
Well i think my testimony has grown recently in that just why we as missionaries are here doing what we do.  We are spreading the good news of the gospel and when i think of our message that we have as good news my desire to share it with others increases.  And then when people reject these things it just makes me a bit sad because all theyre doing is loosing out on wonderful blessings that could come into their lives.  Like just recently we got to teach a family that we had contacted a while ago.  At the start of the lesson the father said that he has the bible but he doesnt read it very often and doesnt really apply much of it in his life.  And the lesson went great up until we got to the Book of Mormon.  He strait up just said he wasnt going to read it because he already has the Bible and he wont accept anything that isnt the Bible.  So we tried to help him out with that by saying that the Book of Mormon is like the Bible and that you can compare the two and see that they teach about the same kind of priniples.  But no matter what we did he just wouldnt accept any part of the Book of Mormon.  He wouldnt even read just a single random verse when i asked him to read one right then.  So I just bore my testimony and then we left.  So yea its just sad when people choose not to receive blessings in their lives.
Well i dont think i really need anything else right now.  We can buy stuff that is like Top Ramen here.  And its pretty good so i dont need more top ramen.  I'll tell you if i think of something i need.  Oh and i got the pens recently!  thanks a bunch for them!  I really like those kinds of pens.  And the chex mix and other things where wonderful too.  
Thats pretty much it for now!  Sorry i forgot my camera at the house so i dont have any pics.
Elder Eastman



Hello Father!
Im still doing great!  That's pretty cool about that work stuff!  I'm sure that'll be fun.  And also very cool about that mexican place.  I wish they had mexican food here.  But they pretty much dont.  They do have horchatas here though.  I have had a few.  But i dont think they were very good ones because i didnt really like them very much.  I would definitely like to go to that place when i get back.  
Have you guys gone skiing yet this winter? If so how was it? 
Love you too!

Elder Eastman

Monday, February 2, 2015

Groundhog Day...Or Just a Dog on the Ground

Well happy Groundhog day everyone!  I'm doing pretty good! I have recovered from my sickness! Our changes are next sunday.  I'm pretty much gessing that i will stay here though.  Because our President says that we arent going to change around very much any more.  Like about every 6 months we will change places.  Just so we can really get to know our sectors well.  
Thats super exciting about the subbing, mother!  I hope you get the job! Happy almost birthday Father! How old are you going to be? 
So for some reason they dont accept other international stamps here.  Because I put that stamp you gave me on the letter i just sent you and they decided to put two other stamps on the letter covering up the one i put on.  So i have no clue why they dont like those spamps.  Maybe they just like ripping off gringos and making them still pay the $2.50 for their stamps.  I dont know.  
So the low for this week was the soup i ate yesterday.  That's now the worst thing ive ever had in my life.  The soup consisted of, intestin, liver (i think), and gizerds.  It also had these weird bean or corn stuff that were gross, and potatoes.  It was soooo terrible!!  
The high of this week was this family of 3 that we found on saturday.  They're super awesome!  I cant remember their names though.  We taught lesson 1 and they accepted it very well.  And one of the teenagers there said near the end of the lesson that he has been praying recently and that we just gave him an answer to his prayers and he knows these things that we are saying are true.  So that felt pretty super awesome!  Unfortunately he wasnt able to come to church this sunday but the other two people did make it to church.  I think they could all do very well!

I took a picture of this dog because i think it is a very interesting looking dog.  I think it has a skin condition because it has so much skin.  And its face looks swollen.  And i just really like this picture for some reason.
Well thats pretty much it for now!
Elder Eastman




Hello Father!
Thanks for the letter! I'm excited to read it.  Thats a good idea to fast from both food and electronics and the super bowl.  Even some missionaries here were worried about it.  Sometimes its just really hard to get away from the worldly things.  Well i hope you get better from your sickness! 
Well things here are doing good!  We are definitely getting better and having more success.  This last week we made the goal to get 20 lessons because lessons have been pretty hard to get lately.  So we tried our best and we actually hit 20 lessons!  So that felt really good.  Im pretty sure that is the most lessons i have had so far in my mission.  
I love you too!
Elder Eastman