Week 13: My FIRST BAPTISM! 3.25 Miles

The rain has begun. That pretty much describes Ecuador for the week! The "first" rain came on Saturday night, and lemme tell ya, when it rains, it POURS. It's blisteringly hot out here, and as two guys walking around in white shirts, ties, and slacks, at first the rain came as a welcome surprise. But there's something they don't tell you about the rain. When the skies clear, the beating sun evaporates the water from the streets, cooking us in a thick layer of unimaginably hot, wet air. AHH. It definitely hurts!

Christmas was... interesting. First of all, here they don't really celebrate Christmas, but Christmas Eve is a BIG DEAL. People go absolutely crazy! Fireworks, fires, music, dancing... it's insane. What's better- we were locked in our house! I guess it can get pretty dangerous with all the "celebratory" behavior, especially combined with fireworks. Elder Avila and I stayed inside playing ping pong and bean-boozled! Not gonna lie, that was really fun!

Something really cool here is for New Year's, they have these paper statues that are super sick, and at midnight they light them on fire! They're called "año viejos," or "old year"s. Below is a picture with two small ones, but some are ENORMOUS! Like bigger than most buildings!

Saturday morning was my first Baptism! It was really amazing. Not to mention someone brought cake! But it was a really beautiful meeting, and I had the opportunity to baptize her.

I miss y'all! But don't worry, Elder Jones is thriving in Ecuador!

Love you all!

Elder Jones

Photos: Some of the Elders from my district, the baptism(!), Me with two little año viejos.

Week 12: HO HO HOw Is It Already Christmas? 3 MILES IN

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

How great is the Christmas season?? That is... when I can remember! The crazy heat is really messing with my sense of time... It feels like Summer all the time! I don't know Celsius, but people keep saying it's like 39 and 40 degrees.. All I know is that walking around in a shirt and tie all day in 39 Celsius is not very fun.

UPDATE: 39 Celsius is roughly 100 fahrenheit. UGH!

So this week was prettyyyy hard. Almost every person we had planned to visit either wasn't there, told us that they were busy, or straight up slammed the door in our face. Yeah. Not super encouraging. BUT! It's the work of the Lord! Despite the hardships and frustrations, me and My companion Élder Ávila are constantly joking, singing, and smiling.

Out here in the mission field, there is NEVER a dull moment.

Just the other day, we were standing in the church building, and my companion stood next to me talking to one person as I spoke with another. Then, a woman from the ward walked up to me with two full glasses of cola, which she threw into my hands. Seconds later, another woman with two heaping plates of cake carefully balanced them atop the cups of pop. AND THEN ANOTHER woman walked up with a bag of pork rinds and poured- LITERALLY POURED- a hefty pile atop the cake. BUT WAIT! There's more! Another woman walked up with a tray filled with this really good gingerbread-type candy, and opened my bag, and proceeded to fill it to the brim with the candy. Yeah. That was a lot of food for my companion and I, so you can probably imagine my surprise as I turned to see my companion WITH BOTH HIS HANDS FULL AS WELL. Guys, it will be a miracle if I make it to the next transfer on the same belt loop.

The heat is scorching. Sometimes I think I can see the water evaporate from my body, as I begin to shrivel up like a dry sponge. Usually, if I start to "see" that, it's a sign that I need more water. Yesterday, we had the brilliant idea to go through the entire day in our suits. "Today the weather isn't that bad," we said. Boy were we wrong. I was literally dripping by noon!

In general, I'm hecking loving every second of my time here. I love the opportunity I have every day to teach the gospel to people that I don't know, but love just the same. I am teaching this really cool older lady, I'll call her Maria. Maria is a really cool example to me because of her faith and willingness to live the commandments of God. Every time we teach her a commandment, we ask her if she will keep that commandment. Her response is always, "OF COURSE! It's a COMMANDMENT!"

Another man we are teaching is super super smart. And really cool! He's 20 years old, and you can tell he's a cool kid. But that doesn't stop him from wanting to learn the word of God! Every time we meet with him, he asks us to give him something long to read in the Book of Mormon, and we tell him he can read as much as he likes!!! What a guy!!!

As usual, I have THOUSANDS of stories from this week alone, but I can only tell so many here! So little time... what a shame. I miss you all so much! Every email I get from any one of you makes me smile.

Have an amazing week and a very Merry Christmas :)

Your favorite Elder in Ecuador,

Elder Jones

Photos: Caroling with the other Elderes, drinking juice

Week 11: More Like Weak 11... 2.75 Miles

¡Amigos mios!

All is well  in Ecuador! The language is coming in spurts... And I am definitely learning patience. The other day, I wanted to scream cause I could not for the LIFE of me figure out how to explain the most SIMPLE thing.... But on the flip side, there are days when I can explain things better in spanish than in english! How crazy.

Now time for a story! I have tons but I'm always too tired to remember any ... here's one!

My companion and I were walking down the street, and we heard a shout from across the road. We turned and saw one of the sisters in our ward waving her arms at us, and before we knew it, we were attacked. Mom!! don't freak out! I swear I'm ok. Actually, it was a dog. But it was ENORMOUS. I swear it was a bear. AND it had me by it's two front legs! it was the weirdest thing. I was shouting at it in multiple languages... To be honest I'm not sure if dogs speak English or Spanish... I even tried using what little Russian i know, but to no avail! My companion was taking swings at it with his 1930's umbrella, not to mention laughing like a maniac. Eventually, I ran. FAST. Like I'm pretty sure it was the fastest I'd ever run in my life. WELL, long story short: I'm ok! But I will never visit that house again...

I miss you all! I would love to hear from all of you :)

With love,

Elder Jones

Pictures: Me and my comp at a Christmas activity, TAG PICTURE!!!, and the view from my window

Week 10: I Just Want Some SLEEP 2.5 miles

My friends!

As always, it has been great to hear from you, keep the  emails coming! I will try to respond to them relatively quickly, but know that I love you all.

So this week has been LONG. And I mean LOOOONG. The past four days we've woken up before 6 AM! Yea, not fun. But, I am having fun! This week was the much anticipated Christmas activity. Now, here in Guayaquil, the rainy season starts around December and ends around April, but we haven't seen much rain yet ... Any rain yet! WELL- HADN'T seen any rain yet. That's right! The night of our OUTDOORS concert (with electronic keyboards, microphones and speakers) IT RAINED. So there we were, a bunch of us elders and ward members, standing in the soaking rain. Some teens playing soccer started laughing and yelling, "Haha! It's raining on the Mormon's party!" as they pointed at us. So, we gathered in a circle, and offered a prayer. What a sight! A bunch of rain-soaked Latter-Day Saints standing in a circle in the park in the middle of a rain storm!          

The laughing and shouting came to an abrupt halt as the clouds parted, and the sky cleared. We had the concert!! It was an absolute success, and I was having a blast behind my keyboards. Guys- the MINUTE we ended, the rain returned. 

Sometimes our Father in Heaven doesn't just answer prayers like that, but I am really glad He did then!

Have a great week my dear friends!

Elder Jones

Week 9: STORY TIME!!! 2.25 miles

HEYO!

Guys... I finally have a story. And pictures to go with it!!!

Soooo recently I have noticed a little (big) blister next to my toenail.. Not fun. So we were at this member's house, and she asked us if we had any problems with our feet, so I told her that I thought I had an ingrown toenail. She grabbed me by my arm and took me into this room with a long table and a bunch of drills, and she told me to lay down on the table. I did so, and she quickly took off my shoes and socks, and when I heard her small gasp, I knew I was in for it. She quickly got to work. Guys. That was one of the most painful experiences of my life. Literally, the Hermana was so surprised that I didn't cry, but I about did! Anyway, check out the pictures for what I DID do...

This week was fun! Not a ton happened... But I did have to come up with chords for like four songs on the spot... Yikes. I think that the people in the ward think I'm some sort of a prodigy. I'm not. But, every opportunity I get to play piano is amazing.

This week had a lot of ups and downs, but I experienced some really cool stuff. Three times this week, I was kind of struggling, and so I said a little prayer. The first time, we immediately saw a bunch of people from our ward who ran up to us and said hey and were really excited to see us. The second time, a local lady grabbed my shoulder and said, in english, "Happy Thanksgiving!" The third time, I bumped into this lady who spoke to me in perfect english. So basically, I can promise that Heavenly Father answers prayers!

Sorry this was so short... Again... But I love hearing from each of you!!!

Love you all!

Elder Jones