I dont have a lot of time but I will tell you that I am in the city of Guayaquil. The other areas in my mission that I will probably be transferred to are Santa Rosa, Cuenca, Loja, and Machala. Loja and Cuenca are in the Sierras! We are missionaries over the Centanario ward. There are 16 missionaries in the zone, and there 13 zones in the Guayaquil South Mission. In our zone we have 25 baptisms on average a month, it depends on every zone...but it is about 250 to 300 each month.
The food is really good but super duper fattening. Lunch is the biggest meal here, and usually a meal comes with a big bowl of soup, meat, and lots and lots of rice. There are also bakeries EVERYWHERE! I am a little worried about gaining weight, a lot of sisters here do...one sister gained 30 pounds! I sincerely hope that I wont gain that much weight.
This past weeks, our faith has been really tested. We have to have members assist us on our visits, it is MUY IMPORTANTE because the members here are not always reliable. The youth are absolutely amazing, the majority of the ward is youth, and a lot of them just come to church on their own. I really do enjoy getting to know them, they are super PILAS! Anyway, the language is coming a lot easier, however, it is still hard to understand the needs of investigators because of the language barrier. and it is also difficult because most of our lessons are taught out in the streets. People dont have very much here and so they don't often like to invite people into their homes.
I feel as though finding people is like picking out of big bag of marbles at random, I have know idea where to go or who to talk to. I often times just have to listen to Hermana Ayer and follow the spirit, that is seriously the hardest thing to do, but we have been obedient and we have been working our tails off!
We fasted from saturday afternoon to sunday afternoon, and let me tell you that was really difficult, but worth it! Saturday afternoon we taught a menos activo named Jose-Luis who served his mission in Quito, but hadn't returned to church in over 15 years. His wife is a catholic, and he has two children named Francisco (13 years old) and Guermo (17 years old) and they have never been to church. we taught them about the importance of the Sacrament and going to church, we also gave Guermo and Francisco the book of mormon to read and pray about. I bore my testimony of going to church, that even though the language is hard for me, I still feel the spirit, I still am at the peace, because the church is the same everywhere you go! Then we asked Francisco to be baptized on the 22nd of March, and he agreed, he just has to get permission from his mom.
we specifically fasted for 5 people to attend church, 3 new baptismal dates, and more investigators available and acountable to assist us in our visits. The next day, we witnessed a miracle! The next day, Francisco and Jose-Luis attended church, and a women named Fanny and her son attended (who are also menos activos). That seriously made me so happy that they came to church. and then, the bigger miracle happened. We sat next to a girl named Giovanna, it was her first time attending church, and she asked my companion if she could be baptized as soon as possible! We so far have planned her baptism, but she hasn't had her interview. But if she is worthy, she will be baptized on the 15th of March!
I learned this week that even if you do not know where you going, and you do not know who to talk to, the lord will bring you there. and sometimes the Lord will make you look and look, until your faith has been tried, until you know exactly where to find that person or the person will find you! Everything always works out! It is beautiful and this did not happen by chance! This was the work of the Lord!
Until Next Week
Hermana Arnold
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