The Missionary Family

Hey dad.  Yep everything is good here.  Im still trying to get used to the new sector and learn all the streets and stuff like that.  This sector is really similar to my last sector.  Still mostly dirt roads and small houses.  I think this sector is a bit more dangerous than my last sector.  But so far nothing bad has happened.  I still kinda miss my last sector.  But I'm sure that I'll get used to being here soon.  When I moved to La Concordia from Ambato I really missed Ambato.  But then after a little while I got used to La Concordia.  

Yeah I think I have seen a few baby blessings.  I think they're pretty much the same.  

Thanks a bunch for applying to USU for me!! Was it easy to do it? I think I would like to go to USU.  I would be closer to home and be with Luc and Christian.  So I think it would be super awesome to go there.  

I love you too dad!

Elder Eastman

Hey mom!  

So this week was a pretty good week here in Santo Domingo.  Elder Diaz de Oropeza is a good companion and we are getting along really well.  I agree his name is a bit long.  Yep that's our apartment.  We have our desks and beds in other rooms.  The house is pretty big so there is a lot of extra space with nothing to put in them.  There is absolutely no storage space in this house.  I still have pretty much all of my stuff in my suitcases.  Hopefully we can get some more stuff to put our clothes into.  

Thanks a bunch for applying to USU for me!  I have been wanting to go to USU lately but I will definitely pray and fast about it.  

Here in this ward there is a program going on called the missionary family.  Every week a new family is asigned to be the missionary family.  And in that week they have to work just like us missionaries work.  Such as contacting people, going to lessons with us, visiting less active people and stuff like that.  It works really well becuase it helps them feel like they really are called to be missionaries.  I think this is a super good idea that they have put into practice here.  

Well my time is up now so I gotta go!

I love you all!

Elder Eastman

Santo Domingo

Hello father of mine.  

I'm doing really good.  We had changes today and now I am in the city of Santo Domingo.  Which is still in the same zone that I was in before.  I'm with Elder Diaz de Oropeza.  He was also in the same zone as me before.  So it kinda feels wierd to be companions with someone that I already knew before and in the same zone as before.  But it's all good and I'm super excited to start working here with him.  I'll also really miss La Concordia and the people there.  I really grew to love that place and the people there.  Elder Diaz de Oropeza is from Bolivia and is a super cool guy.  

That's cool that you got to go to that fireside.  I always love learning and talking about the Atonement.  Literally everything else in the world depends on the Atonement.  Whenever we dont know exactly what to say as missionaries, we can always at least talk about Jesus Christ and all the things that He did for us.  I know that Jesus Christ is real too.  I have been able to feel my love for Him and the Father grow during this time that I have been here in Ecuador.  

I love you dad!

Elder Eastman

Hello Mom!

So yep, we had changes today and now I am in the city of Santo Domingo.  Which is still in the same zone that I was in before.  I'm with the Elder Diaz de Oropeza.  He was also in the same zone as me before.  So it kinda feels wierd to be companions with someone that I already knew before and in the same zone as before.  But it's all good and I'm super excited to start working here with him.  I'll also really miss La Concordia and the people there.  I really grew to love that place and the people there.  Elder Diaz de Oropeza is from Bolivia and is a super cool guy.

Carlos Pancana got baptised on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday.  The baptism (done by elder Hall) was a nice, spiritual experience.  Carlos gave a really good testimony at the end and was all smiles.  The Lord really does prepare the way to carry out all of his plans.  

I have been kind of wanting to apply to Utah State to see if I could go there.  So I was wanting to ask you if you could help me out with that.  Cause I'm pretty sure that I cant do all of it here on the mission.  Well I'm not really sure what the process would be.  But I do want to apply to that school.  

Well I love you all so much and I'm very happy that you are all striving to keep the commandments and serve the Lord in your callings.  

Elder Eastman

A Pastor Should Never Get Lost

Hey dad.  I'm doing really good.  Carnaval didnt last very long here.  It was pretty much for just those two days that we had to stay in our house.  But after that nothing was really going on.  Last year in Quito it was alot worse.  

Wow that's really crazy how fast the ward is growing.  It doesnt grow nearly as fast here.  That's probably just because this is Ecuador and you guys are in Utah.  

Today was just a normal P-day.  We washed our clothes, cleaned a bit of the house and now our p-day is almost over.  Time has been going by so fast.  This transfer is already over next week.  

Keep going strong in the calling the Lord has given you!  Christ-like love is a pretty tough thing to develop, but we can do it if we ask for His help.

I love you too!

Elder Eastman

Hey mom.  I'm doing great today.  The conference we had with Elder Holland was fantastic.  The bus ride to Quito was pretty normal and long.  We had the conference in a stake center in the downtown part of Quito.  It was just our mission that was there.  We stayed over night in the house of the asistants.  It was first really cool to be able to see all the missionaries in the mission including my old companions that are still here and other missionary friends that I've made in other places I've been.  Elder Holland talked about why were are here doing what we are doing.  He said that this work is more important than anything else in the universe.  He also talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon in the conversion of investigators and new members.  Then he talked about us missionaries staying active in the Church after the mission and always progressing forward for the rest of our lives.  He said that every once in a while a sheep will be lost, but that a pastor should never ever get lost.  It really was incredible to listen to Elder Holland.  We all got to shake his hand too.  He even decided to get down from the pulpit and walk around us while he was talking.  So I got super close to him.  The Spirit was really strong and I learned so much.  

Yep I got the package.  Thanks a bunch for the journal and socks and candy!

Marcos is still progressing well.  He came to church again on Sunday.  He always asks alot of questions.  I can tell that he wants to learn and understand.  We recently taught him the Word of Wisdom.  He has an adiccion to coffee but is willing to stop.  I really like teaching him becuase it's like having a conversation and teaching at the same time.  He asks good questions and makes good comments.  And at the end he understands things better.  

We are still teaching Carlos Panchana.  It's planned that he'll be getting baptised this saturday.
We are teaching a few other people but there arent very many of them who are progressing right now.  

Well that's it for now.  Time is about all up for this p-day.  I love you mom and others!

Elder Eastman

Angel Moroni Flying High

Hey dad, Im doing super good.  So these past two days here have been the holiday called Carnaval.  This year our mission president told us that we have to stay in our houses all day (monday and tuesday) unless we have a confirmed appointment with someone.  Also, all the internet places here were closed, which is why we werent able to write on monday.  Our president told us that we could write today.  

No way! That's cool that it was your birthday on thursday!  I can never remember the birthday dates of anyone.  So I'm sorry that I didnt know.  But happy birthday! 47 isnt that old, just a little.  

I really like that talk as well.  There are so many people here who either think they dont need any church or that all churches that teach from the Bible are equaly good.  But God has established a path of covenants to make that can only be made in a church.  There really isnt any other church that offers all the convenants that are necesary for our exaltation, only the Church of Jesus Christ. 

I love you too! 

Elder Eastman

Hello mom.  We are finaly able to email today.  Monday and yesterday were the big days of the holiday called Carnaval.  Pretty much all the stores were closed and there wasn't a single internet place that was open.  So that's why I havent emailed you guys yet.  Our mission president told us we could email today.  This year we even had to stay in our houses all day monday and tuesday unless we had a set appointment to go to.  So we didnt really get to do much for these past two days.  Alot of kids here make kites that fly super high when there is wind.  So these past two days we made a kite just like the ones kids make and we tried to fly it from the top of our house.  But we didnt have much success with getting it up high.  It was pretty fun to make it though.  I drew the Angel Moroni on it.  

Fe de Febrero is going really well.  I have been enjoying reading the Book of Mormon again.  Right now I am a little more than half way through 2 Nephi.  I have also been enjoying studying the Christ-like atributes.  We always need to keep trying to become more and more like Jesus Chirst.  

On Friday we had interviews with our mission president.  I always like talking to President Christensen.  On Saturday and Sunday we had stake conference.  Our investigator that we recently found named Marcos Mera came on Sunday.  He was the first person that we found when we started teaching the Book of Mormon first.  It seemed like Marcos had a nice experience in the church.  I think he could progress really well.  

Well that's it for now!  I love you mom and dad and sisters and others!

Elder Eastman

Carnaval

We didn't get an email from Elder Eastman today.  We worried that maybe he or his companion was sick.  But I got the email that Elder Larsen's mom sends out.  In it, Elder Larsen, who serves in the Quito North Mission, said that it was hard for him to find a computer to email from because most businesses are closed due to Carnaval.  I remember Josh mentioning this last year.  Missionaries are asked to stay at home for about three days unless they have a very firm appointment.  People are out in the streets partying, drinking, and having water fights.  So, we are guessing that Josh and his comp couldn't find anywhere to email from or they just had to hang at home all day.  Big bummer. 

Fe de Febrero y Milagro de Marzo

Hey dad, I'm doing super good.  Yep I am pretty warm here.  My shirt gets soaking wet from sweat sometimes when we are walking outside in the sun.  When I'm sitting down in someones house I can feel big drops of sweat running down my chest.  But I'm pretty much used to all that now.  It's just normal.  Have you guys gone skiing at all this winter? If you do go soon you should go to Sundance because my companion's dad is the manager of that place.  

Haha that's a good question.  I dont know why a parent would bring toys to church for their kids.  When I'm a parent of small children I wont let my kids have those things in church.  They'll be the most reverent kids in the ward.  

This sunday, for the fifth sunday of the month we were all together the third hour and we watch some videos of some general authorities talking about reverence in the church meetings.  It was a really good thing to do but I was also getting a bit annoyed with the people right behind us that were talking the whole time.  It seems like irreverence is an issue everywhere that is difficult to fix.  The church will continue to be the true church no matter what the members do though.  We just have to remember that the church is like a hospital, a place for sick people, and we all have our kind of sickness.  

Well I love you too!  I hope everything is going well for you too!

Elder Eastman

Hey mom!

So this week was a pretty normal but really good week.  Our zone leaders recently challenged us to start teaching the Book of Mormon to new investigators before teaching anything else.  I was first sceptical about it but Elder Hall and I put it into practice and it has worked pretty well.  The Book of Mormon really is the key to our conversion and the keystone of this church.  If the people can undertand the importance of the Book of Mormon right off the bat it'll help them to gain a testimony even quicker.  

The months of february and march in our mission we are doing something that's called "Fe de Febrero" and "Milagro de Marzo" (faith of february and miracle of march).  During these months there are a few things that our president has asked us to focus on.  We have to read the book of mormon and mark every time the word "remember" comes up, we have to focus on studying a Christ-like atribute and work on developing that atribute, get rid of any disobidience, we will be doing a fast on a specific day as a mission, and study and grow our testimonies on the Atonment of Jesus Christ.  I'm pretty excited for these next two months.  They will help me grow my testimony on the Book of Mormon and on the Atonement, and I know that I will be able to see some miracles occur here in the work of the Lord.  

Well that's about all the news that I have for this week.  I'm sorry I still dont have any new pictures.  I havent taken any for a while.  I'll get on that though for next week.  

I love you too mom! and family!

Elder Eastman

Here is a cool scripture that I recently found.  I hope it's the same in english as it is in spanish.  2 Nephi 12:16 (the cool thing is in the footnote 16a).  Just ask yourselves, how could Joseph Smith make up the Book of Mormon and put this verse in the book if he was just a poor farm boy with little education?  The fact is that he really couldnt have been able to do that by him self. It would only be possible through the power of God.