It's SO HOT here

Hey mom, its me your son. I really miss you guys. Serious its really hard being away. I thought it would be easier than it is but it is so hard. Pero.

 

My companion here is Elder White. He is awesome and he is actually white. He is somewhat of a ginger. He has been here for a year and a half. Even with my few days herein Ecuador I am tanner than him. He is very obedient and has a strong knowledge and testimony of the gospel. We really mix well. Pero He speaks Spanish all the time and I never understand him. That is the hardest part here.

 

Our casa is nice and nasty. There is mold on the wall in the bathroom and they never cleaned the spare fridge so that thing is just nastiness. We found a mouse this morning. Not happy about that. But Its nice, just dirty. The showers are freezing and its just like you said, a shower head attached to a pipe with wires attached to that. Its funny. I have a whole room for a closet which is nice, way better than the CCM. I actually like our casa other than the dirtiness. 

 

Everything is concrete here. People here don't have the nicest houses yet have smart phones and Ipads and nice TVs with huge stereo system. Its is muy weird. Trash is everywhere here which sucks but you get use to it. People here use what they have to the best of their ability because its all they have. pero in Mexico people had nice things and treat it like crap.

 

It is freaking HOT here. So hot. I don't need that big blanket and I don't need any of my jackets or sweaters. (You mean those sweaters we just spent two weeks and $60 to send to you?  Oh those sweaters, I see.) I have so much extra stuff than what I need. It is so hot, I sweat so much here. Serious it is so hot.  (He's not in Boise Idaho anymore.)
 

I am doing good. I broke down yesterday because I can't speak Spanish. I have such a powerful testimony but I feel like it has been bottled up since day one in the CCM. I am just trying to work hard. It distracts me from how much I miss you. I am serious. I miss you. Its so hard. I have never been this far and this long away from home. I have had a few anxiety attacks. But I work hard to forget. Or to just remember why I am here. ya know. I am good though.
 

I have already seen the power of prayer and faith work in our work. For example the first experience was when we were planning our day.  We didn't know what to do at a certain time of the day.  I said we should look for a service opportunity for that time. Elder White reminded me of the odds that there would be an opportunity at that specific time. Yes it was slim but I told him I had faith that there would be an opportunity for us to serve someone. I prayed about it and when it came to that time we immediately found a member who was shoveling dirt in his backyard. My companion looked at me and said "Elder I admire you. You have strong faith." That boosted my spirit and it felt nice to do manual labor. I may not be able to teach in Spanish but I can work physically hard.

The second experience dealt with a lady who we had tried to contact since I got here.  She had already said yes to baptism the week before, but we could not meet with her. We tried to meet with her and teach her but she was never home. I had a feeling that if we went to talk to her that this time she will be there so we can set up an appointment with her. We prayed about it.   The next day we went at the time that we planned on visiting her and found her and set up an appointment to teach her next week.

The third experience was right before lunch yesterday.  Elder White looked at me and asked me where we should go and I thought for a second and said we should visit the mechanic. He is an awesome guy. So we went there and he had a referral for us. So he drove us there and we talked to his friend. Then another friend came in and so we taught the first lesson to both of them. Both of them were super interested and the spirit was so strong. We set up a follow up to teach them about the priesthood and the libro de Mormon. It was awesome. It boosted my spirits to feel the spirit so strong. While Elder White recited the first vision, I remembered something I read from a book before I left.  The author says that he imagines that Satan trembles with fear when a missionary prepares to teach the first vision let alone actually teaches it. It was so true. The spirit took over and it didn't matter how loud everything was we were communicating through the spirit. It was awesome.

That's awesome about the guys getting there Eagles.  It is just so awesome how strong our youth group is. Here the wards are so different. Pero

Good luck in tax season I will be praying for you. You will be amazing and it will be easy. Today I started to count a lot of my blessings and its just amazing.

Well mom I don't super love it here but I love what the gospel can do here. I Love this gospel with all my heart and soul. I miss you mom

I love you

Your son

Elder Luke