November 28th, 20111

So, it's the last week of November, wow, so fast! This week, Elder Rodriguez was sent home for an operation on his knee. 

He came into the mission the same day as I did. Kind of a bummer, but we had a going away party for him and I bought a delicious cake for the four of us in our district to share. 

After he left, we ate all his food (: 

We had a baptism on Saturday of Maria Fernanda.

Her family got baptized a few weeks ago, and she was supposed to as well, but her boyfriend talked her out of it the day of. Well, now her boyfriend is in jail, so she realized a few things since then.The water was sooo cold, and we had to go to the chapel at 4 in the morning to fill the font for the baptism by 8:00. 

Today, we went bowling, which was so different, there was no one there! We had the whole place to ourselves. I played on my own lane for 2.5 hours straight. There were ping pong tables, billards, volley ball court and the bowling lanes. Only $3.50 for 3 hours of all of it! 

The companion of elder Rodriguez, Elder Diaz, is leaving for home the 6th of december, so we ransacked their house and now we have a blender, toaster and panini grill! We are going to eat so well now! 

There is a rock climbing gym that I found in my zone! I'm going to try and see if we can go there next monday.

Love you all,

Elder Blackwelder

Making fried plantain:

license plates

a clock that I made from this really goofy clock disguised as a whiskey bottle

We had a big hail storm:

Snow on the mountains above my house:

 twin bananos:

 

November 21st, 2011

To Candice:

Wow, thanks so much for the lyrics! Made me so happy, and sad at the same time. Remember the trip to Arches National Park? You totally were the mom that trip, and just mobbed it in Ivy's car! Hahaha :D How lucky that you get to be in California. I actually forgot about Thanksgiving because they don't celebrate it here (obviously). Nor do they have pumpkins. They just have Fiestas to celebrate the holidays, or everyone leaves Quito to go to the coast. There are some members in the ward who used to live in Utah for 5 years or so, so we'll stop by tonight to see if they made anything festive. There are a lot of fireworks at night, and that is something they do from November 2nd to January 1st. Also, everyone has their fake christmas tree up already. The 6th of November is the usual day, then they take it down the 6th of January. And they set up these huge scenes with toys and dolls around the bottom of the tree with Jesus in the manger and wisemen and such and tons of animals...

My companion, i'm sure, thinks i do a lt of wierd things, but other than the way I dress on P-days, I think i'm pretty normal here. Just tall. Well, thanks for the email, I love love love you. Thats cool that you write to Briana. I am learning to write with my left hand, but I just think about briana. Sometimes, though, when I write in my journal, I feel like I am writing to her.

Love Ian.

Whatever bob dylan or neil young song, if you could, for next week?

November 15th, 2011

To Candice and Tess:

I hope you 2 sisters are doing well. I am doing well. We went to a place Calle dvalle de los Chillos yesterday to play soccer against another zone. We beat them and got to keep the ball. The best part is that I learned that this is the place (Calle dvalle de los Chillos) where all the gringos live. Kinda country, kinda city, tons of sweet custom houses because there aren't the same laws and regulations as in the US for building houses. I was thinking it would be sweet to make a skatepark in my future backyard, because all they use here is cement, so it would be relatively inexpensive. 

I was talking with my companion about talking to you guys at Christmas, and he said we are allowed to use skype! Yahoo! I wish we could skype with Briana - that would be awesome. I always wonder what she is doing. I bet she's having such a good time. Well, love you lots, hope you are being good sisters to Thomas and good mother and aunt to Elliott.

Love

Ian

November 7, 2011

To Mom:

Hey, wow, Kelsey is getting married! Incredible! I'm so excited for her. I was about to give her the email of my companion so she could practice her Spanish and he could write someone, his fam doesn't write much. So, thank you for extra fast offering money. I felt that it was kinda my obligation to pay, but i haven't had a ton to spend. Imagine what $20 could do for a family here...it's incredible. The family we baptized last week, the Yupa family, the mom sells things, food mostly, onthe streets. One week she said she only sold 2.50...from then on I always buy 2 packs of sugared peanuts...I think I already told you this story...sorry (: 

So today was incredible, I found the Eecuador I've dreamed of. This picture says it all (above). We rode this tram, the telefèriqo, to the top of a mountain, then we hiked the rest of the way to the volcano Rucu Pichincha. It was so wet. We kinda expected the sun to burn off the fog, but it turned from fog, to mist, to rain...so fun though. Grass everywhere. I was in HEAVEN. 

I think this internet cafe is going to close, so I'll have to write quick. Thanks for your testimony, it's really tough here to teach people how to gain a real testimony. Everyone already has beliefs in Jesus Christ, and it is so hard for them to change what they believe. Luckily, there are other things that the church offers, like a support system, classes on self sufficiency and such to help people understand that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. But there is still the almost impossible task of getting people to go to church. So incredibly hard. We can call 30 mins before and they confirm they're coming, but then don't show up and instead ended up hours away at their great aunt's house! Holy smokes!

This week was just silly because it's a big holiday week. It's Halloween until the end of the week everyone goes to the coast or to their relatives. Quito was practically empty. We had to improvise to use our time.  

I love you, have a good week.
Elder Blackwelder

To Tess:

The cooking is great for the most part. I make a really good soup from rapiditos (like top ramen) with a bunch of other things added in like potatoes, tomatoes, kale, onions..whatever they are selling at the store really. 

I just watched the video of Elliott! So cute. Thank you so much I look forward to the Christmas extravaganza! We have a little DVD player in the house, so something like that (a burned DVD of me, Adam, Elliott) would be excellent. Elliott looks like he is really trying and concentrating on his movements with his hands and body. Trying to sit up and such. There is a baby girl here, who is a year and 7 months but she can't say a thing! nor walk! Kinda far behind I thought, but I'm not totally sure. Thom was wearing underwear at 2, from what I remember. What a champ! Elliott is going to be a great kid, because he has a great mother and father.

I had a dream about my kids the other night. We lived here in Ecuador! 

I went on a hike today that made it certain that I will have a home here someday. The most amazing grasses and flowers as we hiked in the mist up to volcano Rucu Pichincha. I beat my altitude record! We were at 13, 900! I was amazed! I could breathe normally, it was so cool. We met some gringo folks on the trail and I was talking with them forever. They are from san diego and are here hiking 4 different voncanoes and using this as their prep hike. The mountains here are so different - so new from the volcanic activity. AND SO STEEP! Some amazing cliffs. Someday you shall see. I hope you have a good week

Love elder Blackwelder

October 31st, 2011

To Mom:

"We had 6 baptisms on Saturday! We had planned 7, but one girl didn't feel ready and said No at the last minute...at the baptism. It was a family of 5 and 2 others. Maria Fernanda is from the Yupa family. All her family is so great. Moíses, 10, is really sweet and a great artist. He drew me a picture of Ammón after I taught the story to him and gave him my poster of Ammon. The mom sells food and things, snack stuff, in the streets, but is going to take classes from the church- they offer just about everything here. Everytime I am at their house, I try to buy some of their snacks. Last week the mom only sold $2.50 worth of stuff and was stressing about things, but said she feels much better after her baptism. I've bought about $2 worth in the last few days to support them and also because I love her candied peanuts! They remind me of baseball games, for some reason. 

I attached some pictures and I hope they work.

I am also going to send recordings to Candice. 

TELL THOM TO WRITE ME. 

I'm glad you liked the recordings from last time...no i havent changed in some aspects....hahah.

Everything is good here. A new month; came so quick. We have some more investigators that we are really struggling to get to church so that they can get baptized. They have the desire, but they are also just going along with things in a way.

love you,

Elder Blackwelder"

To Candice:

"Haha! I'm glad you are counting down the months to our Christmas phone call! Glad you liked the recordings. I'm sending some more from my activities from today (Soccer, walk to internet cafe). Mom said the same thing, that I sound like dad and take a long time to tell stories....well these recording are no different :)

That doesnt sound like a bad idea, going to Utah State. It would be better than BYU for something like Natural Resources. I miss Utah a lot, surprisingly. 

Oh, it was so funny, we had a stake talent show for the young men and women. Then at the end, Brother Moya who was in charge of the technology aspect of it all (he's the one with the mac computers and stuff I told you about before) played some music, but it was the most random collection of renditions of English songs. Things like Simon and Garfunkel, Hotel California, Queen,... classics. So funny. 

I bought 2 liters of that polaca cake batter drink today - so good. And humitas two days ago, bombin'. 

Oh, so in the photos I sent mom, there is a picture of me pointing at someone, that is President Correa, the president of Ecuador!

He came out and spoke to the folks today in the Plaza Grande and had all his guards and such doin' all sorts of goofy looking marches, but I think they were supposed to be really serious. I was laughing pretty hard, but no one else was...oops.

Do you have any more simple questions like the ones last week? Those were easy to respond to. 

So scary about Giovanny when he got drugged, huh? 

I hope you have a good week with work and everything, and in your relationships. But don't pick a boyfriend just by what he wears or looks like! 

Love,

your brother"

Mission Photos

Ian's Mission has a blog here. 

 Photos of arriving missionaries. Can you find Ian?

October 17th, 2011

"Quito is the bomb. I love the picture of me and Elder Peterson on the soccer field with the blue sky, green grass, mountains, and two white dudes. I think all is well for me with Bri right now. I feel like it will be so cool for you guys to visit her - I'm jealous. But I really feel like she is with me a lot, so I can't complain. 
Elliott is so cute. Love him. I think about him a lot actually.
Love, Elder Blackwelder"