Life As A Walker

Hey Mother!

The work this week was a bit tough again.  Nobody wants to take the time to come to church.  Except for the few investigators we have that are progressing well (Ines, Grace and the wife in a family called the Familia Guano Luisa, i cant remember her first name).  They are the ones that are coming.  Grace is getting baptised this saturday.  So we are pretty excited for that.  Ines is still working on getting married.  Im not really sure when she'll actually get that done.  I hope soon.  Hermana Guano Luisa is progressing well too but says she wants to wait just a bit longer to be baptised.  Hermano Guano Luisa says he wants to be baptised but hasnt come to church yet.  He says he wants to though, just after he gets out of working on sundays.

  

(in response to a question I asked him...) 

Ecuadorian driving is different from the States.  First of all, most of them are terrible drivers.  They like speeding and getting as close to you as possible when walking on the side of the road.  I think they rather hit a pedestrian than drive over a small bump in the road.  So i think i might have developed a bit of road rage as a pedestrian.  Also they dont have really any clue about the rules of the road.  This is the order of right a ways,  1 busses, 2 large trucks, 3 all other cars, 4 motorcycles, 5 bumps in the road, 6 pedestrians in the streets, 7 dogs.  Life as a walker can be pretty frightening.  There is no laws here about the kinds of lights you can have on your car.  Alot of cars have flashing blue and red lights all over there cars, along with other colors too.  Alot of people make there brake lights flash rapidly and annoyingly when braking.  There are many people who think making and old, ugly car look cool is achieved by putting as many accesories on the outside and inside of the car as possible.  Also by making it as loud as possible.  So i dont find very many cars here to be attractive. 

Well something real quick about the Hermana Guano Luisa.  First she is pretty old.  Her dad, who died quite awhile ago, is a very direct and close decendent of the Incas and hardly spoke any spanish.  And the Incas are direct decendents of the Lamanites.  So it's pretty cool to be teaching someone who is a direct decendent of the Lamanites.  She definitely looks like it too.  It's pretty sweet.  She has also told us a few of the stories that her dad told her.  Things that happened during his life.  They're pretty awesome.  I'm not exactly sure how true they are though.  They have to do with: enchanted lakes that eat people, aliens, and magic bulls.  They sure are interesting though.  

Also this week we had interviews with our wonderful mission president.  They were pretty cool.  

Also this sunday we will recieve our changes.  I feel like this change just started.  But we are already in the last week of it.  Time is going by pretty super fast!

Well that's pretty much it for now!

Love, Elder Eastman

Oh i forgot.

No i have not gotten any mail 

(We've sent mail over the last month, but it takes awhile to reach him.  If you are reading this, consider mailing Josh a nice little note.  International stamps are just a dollar.)

Hey Dad!

I'm doing pretty good!  The weather here is alright.  It has been raining alot.  I think this time of the year it always rains the most.  And it's been pretty cold especially at night.  But yes i am normaly warm and dry.  I have been a bit sick lately though.  My throught is just filled with a bunch of mucus and hurts a bit, my nose is runny with alot of sneezing and there is a bit of pressure in my sinuses.  But it's not super bad.  

We normaly teach the Word of Wisdom after the Restoration, Plan of Salvation, and Gosple of Jesus Christ.  After those three lessons we start with the commandments.  And W of W is often the first commandment we teach.  Alot of people have trouble with coffe or tea.  But there are also alot of people here who drink.  But i think coffe and tea are the biggest.  When they understand well what the commandment is and why we have it they normally commit pretty well to not drinking those things.  

Love you too!

Elder Eastman

"...Never An Easy Experience"

Hello Mother!

 

Thanks a bunch for the letter and box!  Thanks for telling me about Christian!  Thanks for thinking I'm handsome!  I get my haircut at some random hair cutting place.  A hair cut always costs $2 here.  I havnt put on sunscreen a single time on my mission so far.  Maybe i'll start.   

Yes, we got to teach Grace this week.  She came to church again this sunday.  So she's progressing pretty well.  We realized that we have stake conference this next sunday so we dicided to delay the baptism untill the next week which is the 2nd.  Because you cant get comfirmed during a stake conference.  That'd be pretty cool if you all (Kim's Mia Maid class) wrote a letter.  But dont forget to translate it into spanish.  

So other than Grace and Ines coming to church this sunday no body else came to church.  I dont really know why it is so hard sometimes for investigators to come to church.  I feel like we explain things really well.  They just have a really hard time doing what they almost always say they will do.  It's frustrating sometimes.  I sometimes wish it was easier.  But like Elder Holland said, "salvation was never an easy experience".  So i just have to keep being patient and keep working hard.  I know there has to be someone out there that is really searching for something that will help them in their dificult times.  I just really really want to find these people.  I know we will if we keep working hard and relying on the Spirit.  

Well thats pretty much it for now!  I hope everyone has a good week!

 

Elder Eastman

 

ps.  If you know of anyone that i know that has recently recieved their mission call and when people that i know from the old ward get them could you tell me where they are going?  I would like to know.  Thanks!

Hola Emma!  Muchas gracias por esta carta!  Tu español es muy bien!  ¿Escribiste todo este de memoria o con un poco de ayuda?  Bueno, sigas aprendiendo mucho en la escuela!  Cuando regreso a la casa todos nosotros vamos a poder hablar español.  Solo nuestro mamá tiene que aprender un poco y no necesitamos hablar en ingles más.  Eso sería chévere.  ¡Espero que tengas un muy buen día!  Te amo mucho!

 

Elder Eastman

Hey Dad!

 

Im doing super good!  That's good about the lawn!  And i enjoyed hearing about your race!  Im sorry the time wasnt exactly what you were looking for.  But that's good that you learned something really important from it.  I know you'll be able to get the time in your next races.  Thanks a bunch for that nice picture of your foot!  That's definitely a nasty blister.  

Yep my companion is super awesome and funny.  He only has 3.5 months left but he still works really hard.  

Thanks a bunch for all the support and prayers!  Love you!

 

Elder Eastman

Grace

Hey!

Thanks for sending me the package!  Yep im talking about the one that rolls up into the pocket.  The bigger one is great.  Just a bit too big to put into my backpack.  That's pretty sweet about that $200!  Also super cool about your work and that new friend of Emma.  

Well this sunday was definitely better than the last sundays.  We had been praying alot that we would have a few investigators come to church.  And this sunday we had two.  We were really happy about that.  One of them was a really nice blessing too.  So this one member guy came up to us after church and said that he has this friend that has come to church three times and wants to get baptised.  She was there at church so we went and talked to her.  She told us that yes she wants to get baptised, so we asked her if she would like to get baptised on the 25 of this month and she said yes.  So we were like sweet!!!! Miracle!!  So now we just have to teach her the lessons and she'll be all ready.  Her name is Grace and she is 14.  Some of her brothers are already members.  So we were pretty greatfull for that blessing!

Here is something else that happened this week that is a bit on the sad side.   We were teaching this family, just the parent,  a bit more about the Book of Mormon and focusing on baptism.  The wife said that she had read and prayed about the Book of Mormon but that she didnt understand anything that she read.  She then said that she got the answer that it wasnt true and that we should only have the Bible and nothing else.  She said she prayed with real intent but then at the end of the lesson she said the prayer and the way she prayed was really really not sincere.  It was just full of fancy phrases, and stuff that you could just tell wasnt from the heart.  Just stuff to try and impress someone with your words.  And it was about 10 minutes long.  So we knew that she really didnt pray about the Book of Mormon with real intent.  She just doubted the whole time that it was true and didnt want it to be true.  That is why she didnt understand it and really didnt get any answer from God.  So we arent going to go back there.  Hopefully some day she will decide to try again with real desires.  And that's that.

Yep i have written in my journal every day so far!  That's super awesome about the Temple!  From here it's about an 8 hour bus ride and about $40 to get to the nearest temple.   

The view from my house, my new favorite dog (it's super ugly but also somehow cute), my district. 

Elder Eastman

Hey dad! 

Im super good!   

My spanish is pretty good.  I have alot more to learn but it is definitely improving.  I like having a latino companion.  It's alot easier to learn new things with one.  I have realized recently that now it is easier to memorize new words.  I remember what words mean easier when i hear them and then after i hear them a couple times it becomes a word that i can remember and use on my own. Understanding spansih is alot easier than speaking it. So that is why it is like that.  

I love you too!

Elder Eastman

Super Duper Awesome

Hello everyone!

Im doing good!  This week was a bit tough.  We werent able to find as much people this week.  And none of our investigators came to conference.  Next week will be better though.  Ines has been pretty good.  She does want to get married i think.  And yes, for the people here it is pretty expensive to get married.  I think in total it costs 86 dollars here.  Sometimes more though.  And that's normaly hard for people to pay.  

Conference was super duper awesome.  Im glad that i speak english because listening to the speakers own voice is so much better than listening to someone else translating.  I got to listen to it in english for most of the sessions.  Im going to download alot of the talks and listen to them more in our house.  

Disposals dont exist in Ecuador.  I wish they did.  Neither do dishwashers.  

Yes i think i would like some of those space saver bags.  That would be nice.  Also do i have a rain jacket at home.  I think i had a black one.  But the rain jacket that i got at mr. macs is terrible.  It's not waterproof.  So i was just wondering if i still have a good one at home.  And if i do i was wondering if you could send it to me.  There are good ones here that i could buy its just that theyre a bit expensive.  Like $100 or more.

Well that's it for now.  I had pictures but this computer that im using is terrible and has old softwear that's dumb so i cant send them.  I will send them next week because they are great pictures.  

Elder Eastman

Hola mi papi! Estoy muy bien! Gracias por las cartas que me han enviado!  Me gusta mucho cuando recibo cartas!

Well i dont have a whole lot of time so this might be a bit short.  But i really loved conference too!  The first two sessions were in spanish because they didnt let us watch it in english for some reason.  But then the rest of the sessions were in english because a member brought his computer for us to watch it in english.  Conference is so much better when it's in english.  It's just so much easier to understand and pull things out of the talks.  Also it's nice to hear their actual voices.  One of my favorite talks was the one by Dieter F. Uchtdorf during the Priesthood session.  His talks are always so good.  He has been talking alot about examining your own life and self reflexion kind of stuff.  There was alot of other great talks too but i think that was one of my favorites.

Well i love you too!

Elder Eastman