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
