Working Hard but Nothing's Working

These past two weeks have been difficult and unsuccessful, at least as far as the idea of numbers go. Numbers here are apparently a big deal. This is known to be one of the biggest baptizing areas in the world supposedly, so the fact that there has only been one baptism since my arrival, isn't exactly inspiring. Nevertheless, Hermana Crompton and I are working hard every day to find the people who are ready to hear the gospel.

For me, in all honesty, the numbers are useless if the people aren't fully converted or don't fully understand the things we are teaching. I would rather have only one baptism my whole mission and know that the person was truly converted, than have 89 where the people eventually become inactive.

Apparently this is the trend here, so our mission president has asked us to work hard with the less active members in our areas to help bring them back. I like doing this because they are generally more receptive to the things we are teaching.

Anyway, we have two young investigators right now named Litsy and Nayele. They are sisters and they both have so much faith. We have been teaching them for about 2 weeks, maybe 3, and both of them have so many questions but also a lot of answers. Their mother gave them permission initially to be baptized, but right now she is pretty reluctant about the follow through. We have to change their baptismal date though because they couldn't attend church this week and they need to attend at least twice before baptism. I have hope though that their faith will carry them through and that God will soften the heart of their mother so that she will let them go through with it.

Also, there is a less active member named Alexandra who I swear is a kindred spirit to me in every way. She is so sweet every time we visit her and this last week, she offered to feed us lunch during the week. Afterwards, she said she want's to feed us every Tuesday because she loves when we visit. She has been to church twice already and I think she is well on her way to fully returning and being a strong member. Her husband isn't a member and he isn't really open to us teaching him yet, but he listens when she talks about what she is reading in the book of Mormon and he drives her to church on Sundays on the back of her motorcycle. They are sweet and I have high hopes for their future.

Although I still think my body is never going to adjust to the food or the heat here, I truly love the city of Vinces. They have a cute little area near the river that is called "Paris Chiquito." They have a mini Eiffel Tower and a bridge that looks like a toy version of the Golden Gate Bridge. We walk across this bridge almost every day to teach and in the mornings, my companion and I run along the river. It is beautiful and sometimes I feel like I am living in a Disney movie! Call me crazy, but that is the only thing I can think of to describe it.

Anyway, I will try to take pictures this next week. My camera has been buried in a drawer for a while so I should probably dig it out. Hopefully next week will be a little bit more interesting.

Ta ta for now!

Week One in Ecuador

Hello all! I don't have a great amount of time, but I figure I should update you a little bit on what has been happening here.

As I said previously, I am living in a place called Vinces. The people are wonderful and life here is just a whole different element for me. I will try to describ things a ltitle better next time, but for now, I have attached some pictures.

I experienced my first baptism as a missionary this week though! A sweet old man who my companion was teaching before I got here was baptized on Saturday and Confirmed on Sunday. His name is Venicio and he is such a sweet old man. He is very excited to have the gospel in his life and he is full of love and gratitude for God in his life.

The food and the bugs and the dirt here do not get along well with my body. I have felt sick since day one and it keeps getting worse, but I am trying to work hard to overcome it and adjust. So far, no luck, but I guess that what hope is for right?

Anyway, more to come later.

ECUADOR! VIVA LA VINCES!

I made it safely to Ecuador! I can't believe how beautiful and unique this place is. When we flew in, I could see the Guayaquil temple out my plane window and it made me so excited to get to work.

My Mission President, Presidente Amaya and his wife and his two assistants were there to pick us up at the airport. They are all very nice although I find it difficult to communicate with them because of the language barrier. 

We spent the first night in the cuty of Guayaquil, meeting out companions and learning the rules and regulations of this mission.

The next day, my companion, Hermana Crompton, and I took a two hour bus ride through the jungle/ countryside to the city of Vinces!

It is beautiful here and the people so far are simply amazing. It is crazy the number of people who are members in this town. There are more than I expected.

Also, my P-day is now Monday, so if you want to write me, try to do it Sunday night or Monday morning.

I am out of time, but I just wanted to give a short update. Love to all!!

Hermana Eyre

The last CCM Hoorah!

Well, here it is, my last day at the CCM! I can't believe it is here. The feeling of excitement and sadness is a little surreal. My companion left me at 3am this morning and I was so sad to see her go. She is just one of those people who I know is a lifelong friend and we have already made made plans for getting together after we return in 17 months.

I have loved and hated my time here at the CCM, but most of all I am just thankful for all I have learned and super excited to have the opportunity to apply it in the field. 

I have included some pictures of my last night here with my zone! I hope you enjoy and the next time I write, it will be from Ecuador! 

Much Love to all!!

 

I AM THE MASTER COMMANDER

So, if you haven't seen the youtube video called "Ghost in the Stall" by Olan Rogers, I suggest you go watch it. I haven't seen it myself, but my companion quotes it to me daily and I feel as if I have watched the whole thing. It sounds like it is hilarious and I hope that all of you will watch it, even if it is only so I can live vicariously through you.

The reason I bring this up, is because this week, I felt like "THE MASTER COMMANDER;" which is a line from the video. Here is why:

On Monday of this last week, Hermana Miller and I went in for a lesson with our not-so-favorite "investigator." Our investigators here are really just our teachers acting as other people, so sometimes they purposely make it difficult for us. One of our teachers, Hermano Matias, has recently been playing the role of and investigator named Jorge. Jorge never remembers the things we teach him and we have taught him almost everything twice. Going into our lesson on Monday, I was feeling pretty discouraged because he hasn't been progressing at all. However, it turned out to be our best lesson yet. I don't know why or how, but the spirit in that room was beyond strong! For the first time in all of my time here, I understood every single word that was spoken in the room. I couldn't tel you the words five seconds after leaving the room, but in that room while we were teaching about the importance of repentance and partaking of the sacrament each week, I literally understood every single word of Spanish. It was a true miracle! Especially because Hermano Matias speaks really really fast when he acts as investigators. It was possibly the best part of the whole week. We walked out after the lesson and both of us looked at each other, lunged forward with one knee, threw double fists in the air and exclaimed, "I am the Master Commander!" It just fit the moment.

Other than that, this week has mostly been my companion and me running around talking about how much we are going to miss each other but how we are really excited to get to the field. Many songs have been re-composed by the two of us with different lyrics about our high and low points as we prepare to leave.

Oh, also, for those "Mean Girls" fans out there, our zone has instituted an "on Wednesdays, we wear pink rule" here at the CCM. The pictorial evidence is included below for your viewing pleasure.

Anyway, I will be leaving this coming Tuesday morning for Ecuador so the next post I make will not be from Mexico, but rather from the great land of the equator!

Until then, Hasta luego!

Hermana Eyre

A Dedication and Contradictions

This week was amazing, difficult, exciting, and boring all together! Surprise and welcome to the CCM where everything is a contradiction yet we all seem to love it and hate it anyway! 

I was lucky enough this last Sunday to be part of a historical moment in both the History of Mexico and the history of the Church. Elder Oaks came down here to beautiful Mexico City to officially dedicate the CCM. The entire campus was buzzing for 2 weeks straight in preparation for his arrival. All of the building exteriors were repainted. The lines on the pavement were redone. Almost every inch of the place was cleaned from top to bottom. And, by some miracle, the average food improved to quite good food for about a week. The whole 90 acre campus was transformed from an old oasis to a shiny new center of education. I swear even the look of some of the missionaries seemed to improve. It was fascinating to watch how giddy everyone was about the arrival of just one person.

In reality, we had 5 people come in honor of the dedication but most of them were from the area 70. Nevertheless, it was a pretty exciting event and for the most part, everything went off without a hitch. The devotional by Elder Oaks was truly awesome, plus it was nice to have a devotional in English for once instead of Spanish. He spoke to us about the importance of missionary work and how we are part of a truly blessed generation that is hastening the work of God. It was really a very good devotional, however, the best part of the whole week happened about an hour before the devotional was supposed to start.

Both my companion and one of the other girls in our district had to go over to the devotional early to practice for the choir. So we went on splits and Hermana Te'o and I became temporary companions. We were just wandering around the campus talking to some of the Elders in our zone while we waited for the devotional to start. It was sunny and delightful so we didn't think much of where we were walking. After a few minutes of walking, Te'o and I decided to pop into one of the classroom buildings to use the bathroom because we knew the bathrooms in the auditorium building were probably full of all the missionaries waiting to get in and find good seats for the devotional. So once we were done using the bathroom, we opened the door to go back outside and there was a giant mass of old people blocking the way on the sidewalk. As we stepped out, one of the old women turned to us and exclaimed "Oh Hermanas! How beautiful you look!"

She came over and gave each of us hugs and kisses on the cheeks. She then turned to one of the ladies behind her and asked the woman if she would take a picture with us. Te'o and I just smiled and went along with it because we had no idea who it was. But then another old lady came up behind us and asked if she could take a picture with us too. We said yes so she put her arms around us to pose. The woman taking the picture said, "Smile sister's, you too Sister Oaks!"

The camera flashed and five seconds later Elder Oaks walked out of the building we had just been in. He came and said hi to us and asked if we wanted a picture with him but Sister Oaks said, "Oh no, this is a Ladies' picture moment."

It was hilarious and all the old people laughed and then Sister Oaks said goodbye to us and they continued on with the tour they were taking of the campus. It was such a cool, quick unusual, yet perfect moment. Te'o was walking on clouds afterwards because she has never met an apostle before. It was pretty cute how ecstatic she was, but then again, that is probably how I was the first time I met an apostle too, I just don't remember. We found out later too that the first woman who got a picture with us was the wife of one of the area 70 representative, although I don't remember their names.

The contradictions started the next day though. During class on Monday morning, the power for the whole campus went out about 15 times, and then on Tuesday morning, the water in several of the casas-including mine- somehow stopped working. It seems contrary to expectation for so many things to go wrongs the day after something as important as the CCM is dedicated, but maybe God was trying to teach a lesson that even with blessings, not everything can be perfect. I am not sure what it all meant, but it certainly was a week to remember.

With only about a week and a half left here, I am feeling more than ever that I am ready to get out of here and get to Ecuador. Then again, I also still feel like I know next to no Spanish and that leaving the comforts of the CCM is going to be more of a shock than I expect. Like I said, this is a time full of contradictions. But I am excited and scared, ready and not even close to ready, and more than ever I am dreading the 13 hour long plane ride I will have to endure.

Here's to hoping the slope will be a steady downhill from here on out, at least until a new type of bump comes along.

Much love to all and I'll update you again in a week!

Love,

Hermana Eyre