Half Way Point...Just A Normal Day

Hi Dad!  Im doing really good.  We dont really have a name for it here.  It's just the one year mark.  It was a just a normal day for me.  I didnt do anything special.  The time has definitely gone by super fast.  It's crazy that it's already half way over.  I do feel good about my work so far, but I would definitely want this next year to be even better.  

Yay! Good job for practicing more spanish.  I do feel pretty comfortable with spanish now.  But there's still alot of progress I can make.  Yeah I think I do remember a few segments of dreams that have been in spanish.  

I love you too!

Elder Eastman

Hello Mother!  Yay thanks for the envelope!  I havnt had them (his suits) dry cleaned yet.  But maybe I will soon.  My cleaning habits are pretty good.  Our house is normaly pretty clean.  I could probably get better at washing the dishes right after I use them.  Sometimes they stay in the sink for a little while.

The Familia Durán is doing better in their relationship.  But we havnt been able to visit them this week becuase they havnt been home or answering their phone.  They didnt come to church this week either.  It's been a while since they have come to church.  Hopefully theyll start progressing again.  We have been really trying to figure out what we could do to help them progress more.  It hasnt been a very easy process working with them.  But we are going to keep trying.  

We have also been working with a single mom named Anna Belen.  She was a reference from a less active lady who is coming back to church.  Unfortunatly she hasnt come to church yet after two weeks or working with her.  

Right now we are really trying to get more investigators.  On Sunday we got quite a few good references.  So hopefully this next week I'll be able to tell you guys about some new investigators.  

I think one of the best parts of being a missionary this week was just being able to study the scriptures every morning.  Like I have said, I've been focusing on the Book of Mormon lately.  I have really been enjoying reading it.  Right now i'm reading about the wars with Captain Moroni between the Nephites and the Lamanites.  It's been really great reading them and applying those things in our lives.  Like with what Moroni does to protect his people from his enemies.  

My spanish is progressing pretty well.  It's kind of hard though to keep progressing.  Sometimes I just feel alright with what I already have and I dont want to study very much more.  But I know it can progress alot more.  So i'm going to keep working on it.  

Lately I have been trying to help the people we teach really understand the things we teach.  So I have also been studying that in Preach my Gospel lately.  It's really important that the people actually understand the message.  Sometimes we just want to spill all of our knowledge onto them all at once.  But we really just need to take it easy and help them more with the basic things of the gospel, like what they need to do and why.  Then when they understand those things they are more likely to progress more.  

Yep I did get that super cool sound card.  I think I did get some cards from Grandparents too.  

Well thats just about it for now!  Have a great week everyone!

Elder Eastman

We went bowling today as a district!

The End Goal In Mind (and not just to the top of Chimborazo)

Hey Dad!  I'm doing really good!  Sorry I wasnt able to write you guys very much last week!  This is what happened.  For a zone activity we went to a volcano called Chimborazo.  It's more down south from Ambato.  We left Ambato around 10:00 am.  So we took a bus down there, went to Chimborazo and it was all super cool.  Then we got back to the main road were all the buses pass around 1 pm, and we just expected to stop a bus going to Ambato and take that.  But none of the buses were stopping.  Eventually a bus that was going in the opposite direction to a city called Guaranda stopped for us.  So we just got on that.  Guaranda is the furthest city to the south of our mission.  Then when we got to the terminal in Guaranda we just took a bus from there to Ambato.  Then when we finally got back to Ambato it was already 7:00.  So our time to write had already passed.  When I wrote that little message we were in Guaranda waiting for the bus.  So that's what happened last week.   

That's super cool that you and you brothers got second place in that gold tournament!  Haha I really like that outfit of Luke.  Oh and a few days ago I got that letter from you guys with those drawings from your primary kids.  I really liked it.  There were some pretty awesome drawings in there! 

These pics our from our adventures at Chimborazo

It was really windy and really really cold here.  I think the top of Chimborazo is the furthest point from surface of the earth to the center of the earth in the world.  Im not exactly sure but someone told me that.  

Well that's just about it!  I love you too Dad!

Elder Eastman

Hey Mom!  Haha well I'll try and write a bit more this week.  I'm really sorry I wasnt able to write much last week.  I explained to Dad why I wasnt able to.  It's kind of a long story.  No I cant see the ash from Cotopaxi.  It's been a bit cloudy lately and living in the city in a flat sector makes it so I cant really see the mountains very well.  But yes Cotopaxi is kind of exploding now.  Well it erruped a bit last week and that made everyone in Latacunga (a city close to Cotopaxi also in my zone) go crazy.  The missionaries are still there though.  But after that small erruption it calmed back down.  Which could mean that nothing more will happen or that it will explode again very violently.  If that happens Latacunga and a part of Quito called Los Chillos will pretty much get completly destroyed.  So that's pretty exciting!

Wow that's crazy that Emma is going into High School tomorrow!  It feels like school just ended like a few weeks ago.  

Well I've got some bummer news.  A little over a week ago my retainer on my bottom teeth broke.  Well it just broke off on one side.  I havn't had time to go and fix it yet.  And today the other side broke off too.  So it's not in my mouth any more.  Hopefully I'll get some time soon to put it back it.  It should only cost about $20.  That's it for the bummer news.  

So last week Elder Waddell from the Seventy came to talk to us.  It was a pretty amazing experience.  The Spirit was strong and I learned alot.  One of the favorite things that I learned was when he was talking a bit about the Priesthood.  He said that the greatest and most important purpose of the Priesthood is to create eternal families.  Which is really true when you think about it.  All the things that we do in this church using the Priesthood helps us to get to the Temple.  Like baptism, recieving the Holy Ghost, taking the Sacrament, giving and receiving blessings, and actually sealing a family is all done to help us along the path to the Temple and create an eternal family.  He also talked about getting converts not just baptisms, becuase baptism without later going to the Temple is pretty much worth nothing.  Baptism shouldnt be the final goal for us or for an investigator, it should be going to the Temple to make and eternal family.  So I really liked that.  It's helping me work more with the end goal in mind, which is what we should always be doing as missionaries.  

Thanks a bunch mom for those lyrics!  I really really like it.  

So I have been kind of wanting lately that grey Calvin Klein sweater that I have at home because I've been looking for a grey sweater here but I havnt found a good one.  So I was wondering if you could include that in the envelope if it isnt too big of a hassel.  

Well that's it for now!  I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Elder Eastman

Too Busy On P-Day

Hey mom!  So we're kinda really short on time today for writing.  But we might have a bit time in a little while to write some more.  So hopefully we will.  But if we dont then I'm sorry I couldnt write much and I'll write next week.  But I'm doing really good and everything. 

Elder Eastman

Spiritual Impressions and Some Fish Soup

Hey Mom!  I'm doing really good!  Life in Ambato has been great!  I love the weather here and being in the city is nice.  Keep woking hard with that new calling of yours!  I always love reading Alma 26:12.  It's a good scripture to remember when we are doing hard things.  

This week my testimony grew the most about spiritual impressions, praying and fasting.  So last friday night our last cita around 8:30 fell.  We didnt really know what to do.  So we were kinda just walking down the road.  Then i felt like we should go the the Flia. Durán (Toapanta) and the thought that they might be having relationship problems also came into my head.  I didnt really pay much attention to it for a little while.  But then I got a second, and even stronger impression where the words, "Get to the Flia. Durán" came into my head.  So that made me think a bit more about going there.  We can only visit this family on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays.  So going there on a Friday isn't something we would normaly do.  I then asked the question, do we need to go there? in a little prayer in my head.  Then I felt good about it so I was set on going there.  The image came into my head of Luis (the dad) praying for us to come over.  We got there and Luis answered the door.  He came out crying and told us to come in.  So we came in and he told us that his wife had just left him and went to go live with her parents.  He told us that he had been hoping that someone would come over to help him, and that right after that we knocked on the door.  He said how his family means everything to him and that he wants more than anything for his wife and kids to come back.  So we then tried to help him the best that we could.  The next few days were filled with prayers to help him and his wife and that they might get back together.  Also on Saturday and Sunday I fasted for those same things (it was a planned fast as a zone to help with our goal but i decided to include them in it as well).  On Sunday Luis came to church but Gabriela (the wife) didnt.  Then we visited him again that afternoon.  To our astonishment Gabriela was also there with him in their house.  That made us super super happy and Luis seemed about 1,000x happier than what he was before.  During the lesson they both shared with us their desires to get better and fix the relationship issues they are having.  This was a wonderful experience this week and I definitly learned alot from it.  

Oh darn that is a big bummer that the package (for Chelsea) hasnt gotten there.  Hopefully it'll get there eventualy.  Maybe I'll just send something again. 

I do like that pillow case alot.  The socks were a bit big but I'm sure i could just dry them in a dryer and theyll shrink a bit.  

Well I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Elder Eastman

Picture:  This is called Encebollado.  It's a fish soup that we had for lunch today at a members house.  It's pretty good.

Encebollado (Spanish: cooked with onions) is a fish stew from Ecuador, regarded as a national dish. It is served with boiled cassava and pickled red onion rings. A dressing of onion is prepared with fresh tomato and spices such as pepper or coriander leaves. It is commonly prepared with albacore, but also tuna, billfish, or bonito. It may be served with ripe avocado.

This dish, is usually served with banana chips, plantains, popcorn, or bread as side dishes; it is sold by peddlers either as breakfast, a mid-morning snack, or for lunch. It may be garnished with lime juice and chili sauce.

Hey my Father!  I'm doing super great!  That's good that you're running more now!  I would like to get back in shape like i was during XC and Track.  But there really just isnt much time to be able to do it.  I think I'll start running again when I get back though.  I set up a little mini gym in my house here.  It consists of a bench with a bar with water jugs on the ends for benching, another wooden stick (from a broom) with a bit less weight on each end for curling, and a couple of other water jugs for doing things that would normaly be done with one of those heavy ball things (a medicine ball?).  I also do some various ab workout stuff.  It's a pretty sweet system but it's not really enough to really be in shape.  And the time in the morning isnt really enough.  

That is a really good story in the Bible.  I'll definitely study it this week.  Right now I'm in Alma 28 or somewhere around there.  I just finished reading about the Anti-Nephi-Lehites and the sons of Mosiah.  I really like the stories about the Sons of Mosiah.  Especially how they at first had alot of hardships and not a whole lot of success, but when they kept trying they ended up having tons of success.  There was alot of things that I found that I can apply in my life as a missionary, also there's alot of things that everyone can apply to their own lives.  The stories about Alma, Alma and Amulek, and the Sons of Mosiah have alot of examples of how to be good missionaries.  So I really like those things that I've been studying.  

I love you too!

Elder Eastman

"Just Follow It and Do It Quickly"

Hey Mom!  Dont worry about last week.  It's no big deal.  Thanks for those points from Elder Ballards talk (on living a balanced life because that is what I, Kim, studied this week)!  I really like them.  

Wow that's crazy that Jeremy (from Top Gear) got fired!  But that's good that theyre making a new show.  

Teaching this week with new investigators was pretty good!  We were blessed this week with a few new investigators that could progress.  The best news for this week is about a family that we recently found named the Familia Toapanta.  This family consists of a husband named Luis, the wife named Gabriela, and two young children, a boy and a girl.  Luis and Gabriela have been having a few relationship problems, but they have told us of the desires that they have to get better.  This sunday they came to church for the first time.  They said they really liked it.  It always makes me happy to have investigators in church.  It's even more special when it's their first time though.  After church we visited them with a recent convert family named the Familia Arcos.  The dad from that family is also our ward mission leader.  We talked about the importance of the family and also about Temples.  The lesson went really well and the F. Toapanta is excited to be able to recieve the blessing that come from the Temples.  So the F. Toapanta is a super wonderful family.  I'm really glad that we found them.  

God has blessed me recently by helping me stay more diligent.  Also by helping my companion be diligent (which then helps me more to be even more diligent).  

Well I gotta go now!  I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Elder Eastman

Hello Father!  I'm doing really good.  No we dont normaly get time for naps.  Exept on p-day if we have some extra time.  But there normally isnt any extra time.  I would definitely love to have a bit of nap time every day right after lunch.  Because during that time i'm super tired and feel like i dont have any energy.  But nope we have to get to work.  Yeah there are a few senior couple missionaries.  But they're all in the offices in Quito.  So we dont get much contact with them.  

Oh wow that's crazy about the Boy Scouts.  Why would they do something like that?  That's a bit sad too that Boy Scouts might not be in the Church any more.  

I dont really know exactly what they do here but I'm pretty sure they're doing Duty to God.  

I talked about that idea (going on home teaching visits with members) with my companion but we are still working on getting it going.  

Lately I've been really focusing my studies in the Book of Mormon.  I'm trying to read the whole Book of Mormon all the way through in Spanish now.  Right now I'm in Alma 13.  I've been really enjoying just getting to know the people and stories better.  I especially liked the part ( in Alma 8) when Alma the younger left the city of Ammonihah (i dont know how to spell it in english) after being rejected, but then an angel comes to him and tells him to go back to the city.  Then it says that Alma speedely retured to the city.  He then finds Amulek (his future preaching companion).  I like how Alma didnt hesitate to go back.  Or complain about going back to the city that just rejected him.  He just did what the angel told him to do and did it quickly.  So I think that's what we need to do when we get Spiritual impressions.  Just follow it and do it quickly.  It can be hard sometimes but it'll be worth it.  Just like how Alma found Amulek becuase he decided to follow the command he got.  So that's a bit about what I've been studying.  

I love you too!

Elder Eastman