June 23, 2014
Oh hey hey hey family!!!!
I hope everyone had fun at camps and all the other fun stuff going on at
home this week! Summer is already flying by right?!
To start, a quick correction from my email last week. False alarm - the other area in our ward didn’t
close. Elder Camargo is still here with a new companion – Elder Torrez. So right now it is Elder Camargo and Elder
Torrez and Hermana Toledo and me. We all
get along so well. The other 3
missionaries, all being Latinos, love using little phrases of English they have
learned on me, although usually they don’t pertain to the situation!! We
are the fab-5, helping grow Barrio Olmedo like never before!
Next, a fun fact about Ecuador
- we can’t flush the toilet paper down the toilet. (It actually took me a few days after I
arrived in Ecuador before I realized this.)
Instead of flushing, we just put the used toilet paper in a little
(usually overflowing) trash can that is provided next to the toilet. The
reason for not flushing the toilet paper is not entirely clear to me. I have seen a billboard depicting a sad
banana tree with pieces of toilet paper along with a catchy phrase that says something
about how it damages the trees?
Anyway, after a couple of
months, I am now finally in the habit of putting my toilet paper in the little garbage
can and not the toilet. (By the way, it is
extremely hard to change such a basic habit that you have been doing your
entire life.) But at least we have toilet
paper here in Ecuador. I think you will
remember that Hermana Toledo started her mission in Venezuela. While she was there, they usually didn’t even
have toilet paper because of the war going on. So I am just counting my
blessings that we have toilet paper! :)
Speaking of toilet paper - a related
funny story from this week. We were out
working one day and my companion really needed to go to the bathroom. We went to the nearest member’s house and
asked to use theirs, however they were out of toilet paper. So we ran to
the nearest mini tienda [store] and back to the house. When Herman Toledo
entered the small bathroom and attempted to close the door, the whole door AND
the door frame fell to the ground! Both
of us were laughing, and trying to lift the door back up so she could finally
go to the bathroom. In the end, I ended
up holding the door frame and the door in place so she could finally go to the
bathroom. This little adventure helped
us appreciate a functioning bathroom door.
:)
Now onto the GREAT NEWS...YURI was baptized!!!!
 |
| Yuri before her baptism |
Her full
name is Yuri Pamela Mora Ube. She was so excited to be baptized and her
WHOLE family came as well. (After years
of being inactive in the church, they all came on Sunday too.) Yuri is
going to be a great example to her friends and family to always attend church
and say family prayer! One day she will be a mother and her testimony
will help her future children. Heavenly Father has big plans for this
little lady! Now we are working on getting their family sealed in the
temple, and hopefully I will be able to attend that ceremony later on in my
mission!
Well this week we contacted a referral
from Julissa (who is Katy’s sister – the Katy who was baptized a couple of
weeks ago). Julissa’s friend’s name is Derian,
and he is 18 years old. Derian has a billion and 2 questions about the
church, which is wonderful because as Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of
12 Apostles said, "Ask the missionaries! They can help
you!" We love studying for our meetings with Derian and answering
his questions. We enjoy seeing our own
testimonies grow as we go! Derian’s baptismal date is set for the 5th of
July, but he was very clear with us that he will only get baptized if he receives
an answer to all of his questions. We are praying he will open his heart
and exercise faith so he will come to know that Jesus Christ is our Savior
and Redeemer.
The final grand story I have
for you all this week goes back to the first few weeks of my mission. So we live a good 20-30 min away (walking) from
our assigned sector [proselyting area].
Every morning on the familiar walk to our area we pass a house with two
flower pots outside the door. There have
been 2 distinct times I remember seeing an older man sitting outside the house in
a red plastic chair reading a book and I’ve had the thought, "Hey, he
likes to read - give him a Book of Mormon!” After having the thought I would always
rationalize it away with something like, "No, you don’t know enough Spanish!”
or “You just want to share the gospel with everyone because you are a missionary. Plus, we have lunch or a visit right now and can’t
be late!"
Well, on this past Monday night
we passed the house with the two flower pots and there was the old man in his
red plastic chair reading the newspaper. I thought, "Hey, look he is
reading again...he really does love to read...Give him a Book of
Mormon." My companion had a similar feeling so we both looked at each
other and approached the man who loves to read!
At the same time, Hermana Toledo took a phone call, and I was left to
contact this man. So I introduced myself
and stated that I observed that he likes to read and we have a great book for
him that he will just love! Carlos Paceco invited us into his home and
accepted another visit for the next day!
24 hours later we again entered
Carlos’ home and he apologized for not telling us earlier but he was baptized
about 40 years ago and has been inactive for about 20 years. His wife
died 4 years ago as a faithful, active member of the church, but they were
never sealed in the temple to each other or to their 11 children because at the
time, there wasn’t a temple in Guayaquil and they didn’t have enough money to
travel to the temple in Lima, Peru.
But we were an answer to his
prayer as we reminded him of the great plan of happiness and that Heavenly
Father loves him. Heavenly Father knows his children! The Spirit told
me to stop and give him a Book of Mormon but I did not listen and quickly
rationalized away the prompting. We were just beaming when we found out
he was already a member - all he needed was a loving and helping hand to bring
him back to the gospel of Jesus Christ. As we told Carlos, it does not
matter how long you have been inactive, you are a member of His church!
Elder Robert C. Gay of the
Quorum of the 70 recounted a similar experience of failing to initially heed
the prompting from the Holy Ghost in a General Conference talk in 2012. He said, "…As I went home that evening,
I realized two great truths. First, I knew as never before that God is mindful
of each of us and will never forsake us; and second, I knew that we must always
hearken to the voice of the Spirit within us and go “straightway” wherever it
takes us, regardless of our fears or any inconvenience.”
Elder Gay goes on to say, “One
day the disciples asked the Savior who was the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven. He told them to be converted, humble, and submissive as little
children. He then said, “The Son of man is come to save that which [is]
lost.” With that one sentence, He
defined our mission (my mission). We are
to go to the rescue—to the lost, the last, and the least. It is not enough to
avoid evil; we must “suffer his cross” and “be anxiously engaged,” helping
others to conversion. With compassion and love we embrace the prodigal, answer
the cries of orphans in hysteria, the pleas of those in darkness and despair, and
the distress calls of family in need.”
As I have served the people of
Ecuador I have always received the confirmation that God forsakes no one.
I myself as a missionary and all those who are members of this great church, may
we always go straight way without fears or any inconvenience and rescue the
one! The lost, the last, and the least. God is aware of each of
us. God is aware of Carlos Paceco and placed him in our path so he can
become, Carlos Paceco in the red plastic chair, reading the Book of
Mormon! My testimony is that Heavenly Father is aware of us all, and
anyone can come to know of his love through service and can begin to take on
the countenance of God. Oh I just love being a missionary! The
church is true my friends! I love you all and think the world of you! Can you believe that this week I will have completed
4 months of my mission?! Crazy.
Oh I forgot to tell you ECUADOR WON!!!!! 2-1!!!! (Against
Honduras I believe) There were hundreds of people in the street with
their Ecuador shirts and flags, riding in cars or their motorcycles (of course)
blowing horns, singing, and setting off fireworks!!!! It was a crazy night! But YAY for
Ecuador, hopefully they can win the next one too! Also I heard that USA
won their first game, wahoo!!
Well family I love and adore each of you!
Con mucho
amor,
Hermana
Bartholomew
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