I Have Been Transfered

Well, I have been transfered. I am not going to tell you where yet... When I get there I'll send a foto (:

 

 This is a view out of the bus window

 on the way to my new sector.

I am in the JUNGLE (: and I am so happy to leave the sierra. I just wanted to get out of Quito and try something new. I am zone leader in the Oriente South Zone, sector/city Tena. It is a branch, not a ward, and I am the secretary in charge of the tithing. Baptisms are done in a river. There is not a chapel, just a house turned fancy! 

 

 

 



I am an Ecuadorian

Well, I have been doing a lot better this week writing in my journal, I think I wrote 6 of the nights. With my other goals, well, those have been tough to get on top of. It's fun being a missionary, but it can get so frustrating sometimes and lately I have been thinking about what other people think of me as I walk by. Not in like a superficial or lack of self confidence sort of way, but just what do they think I do? Why do they think I am here? I have met a lot of other "missionaries" here in Ecuador from other organizations, but I see them as people who are here for very different purposes than I am; things like college application, getting to know a rad country, ease of obtaining certain drugs, or other things like that. I hope that people can see me and not think that I am here for any of those reasons. I hope they see me as someone who really wants to help them. Honestly, I just wish they saw me as an Ecuadorian, as weird as it may sound. I was going through the notes that Bridgette took from my setting apart and saw that it mentioned me feeling a strong bond with the Ecuadorian people, as if they were kin. That has definitely come true for me. I like their weird food, I like their weird music, I like their language, I especially like their land, and I just like them. They all have such interesting lives and live at a different pace than we do. It is comfortable for me now. I imagine most missionaries have feelings like these at some point, but I just wish I could stay here longer (: haha it is weird, and I love the both lives, but like I said, it is just so comfortable for me here now. Well, have a good week. 

Love Elder Blackwelder

Here are some pictures from the service we had this week...

Quimbolitos

Quimbolitos are a steamed cake made from cornmeal, eggs, butter, cheese, sugar, and raisins. Ian learned how to make them with a sister in his ward. He loves them so much - they are the only moist cake he has found so far. He took photos of the process so we could learn how to make them. The recipe he used is coming soon, but, in the mean time, I found a video showing how to make them. I haven't tried it yet, but they look delicious!

-Tess

18 Months! Jan 14th, 2013

"It is all going by so quickly! The theme song for this week in my head is by The Eagles, ..."I've been runnin' down the road tryin' a loosen my load....". Juliana's baptism really was excellent and some members helped us out with refreshments. Juliana had invited her mom and cousin who are not members and they definitely felt the spirit. On Sunday, the Bishop and my companion and I went to the house of my earlier convert, Luis Cornejo, the one with the intestine problem, to give him the Melchizedek priesthood.Unfortunately, his health is worsening.

Elder Fowkes, an elder who lives in our house, and I went to the offices today to check on a few things. On the way, I bought a nice hammock I want to hang in our apartment. The best thing that happened today is that I ran into some members, the Perez Family, from my last sector, and got caught up on news! They have a son on a  mission in Tijuana, Mexico and their other son is leaving soon for a mission to Rosario, Argentina. I asked them about the less active members and converts from their area, and it sounds like everyone is doing great!  Javier Correa is getting ready to go on a mission, and his parents - even his dad - are going to church! Also, one of the less active families we got back to church are going to the temple in 15 days to be sealed as a family. Their oldest son is going on a mission to Peru :)

I am sooo happy about all the good news :)

Love Elder Blackwelder

Photos from Juliana's baptism and the refreshments afterward:

Baptism & Quesadillas

Well, Happy New Year. It has been a good week, we have worked hard and had a few new folks at church. We are going to have a family home evening with them and another member family tonight. The investigators are the Quelal family and the members are the Córdova family. There is a member from our ward who leaves tomorrow to go to the MTC in Peru, then he will probably serve for a bit here in Quito until he can get his visa to go to Mexico. He is serving in the north of Mexico City.

 

HEY! I found the coordinates for the finca (farm) I want! I was on the church website looking for a map to print off of my sector and thought, "why don't I look for that farm..." and I found it (: now I just need to find a way to contact the lady who owns it, Sister Escobar. Here are the coordinates for the entrance: -.291012 lat, -78.678509 long, and then you walk down a big hill to get to the flattened spot with the house on it -.290159 lat and -78.680832 long. Then down a little farther is the volcanic rock perfect for setting up a few ropes on -.292858 Lat, -78.684580 Long. We'll see. .

 

Elder Christensen and I are very different people, but we get along. He is pretty antsy whenever we are running just a tiny behind, and sadly, it has never, nor will ever bother me very much...so there is a little bit of clash there. He has been teaching me a little bit about computer systems and those kinds of things. 

This Saturday we are finally going to have Juliana's baptism! at 10:00 am, you're all invited. She had an interview with President Ghent, and while she was in the office talking with him, we were eating Quesadillas that Sister Ghent made (with beans and cheese and salsa and guacamole) and all of a sudden, Sebastian, her 2 year old, tapped my leg, and I look down to see that he had just peed...all down his leg and onto President's rug. I was very disappointed, but sister Ghent was really understanding and we got it all cleaned up. Oh, and Sister Ghent says thanks for the caramels you made, she had made some caramel apples and we ate those with the 'dillas. 

I will send my goals later in the afternoon, I forgot to bring them from the house, along with some pictures. On Wednesday we have interviews with President Ghent and he wants us to print out our goals for the year and we are going to review them with him in the interview.

 

Have a good week. 

Love,

Elder Blackwelder

Happy New Year 2013

Finally we got to do an activity. We went up the teleferico (aerial tramway)  to the volcán pichincha. We did it in my first zone like more than a year ago. It was so refreshing for me to get out and see the natural world.

Quito is very different in their celebrations of the new year. Everyone makes a doll out of real clothes filled with newspaper and they call it "the old year" and at midnight they kick it and beat it up and burn it. It's to get rid of all the bad that happened to them during the year. There are guys that dress as the "widows" of the "old year" and stop the cars in the street and dance skankily on the hood of the car and won't let them keep driving until they give them money. I got a funny picture of 2 of those guys.

Not a whole lot to say, just that the 2 baptisms we had planned were flops. The little girl Alison told us she was 9, which would count as a baptism for the mission, but she actually was only 8, so we did the baptism anyway, but it didn't count for us. The other baptism, Juliana, her little boy had an asthma attack in the morning and they were in the hospital all day, so, that'll be next week.

Well, Happy New Year! I wanted to tell you my goals for the new year, but I am going to be working on those tonight.

Love you all,
Elder Blackwelder