New Area - Lots to do!

Hey there everyone!

I'm a little short on time today, there's lots to do right now...

Last Tuesday before District meeting they informed me that I'm the new district leader, so now I'm worrying about three other sectors apart from my own, the good thing is that I've been the companion of a few district leaders so I know what to do and have a pretty good idea of how I want to do it.

In the mission I've discovered that I'm OLD.  I feel like basically anyone who is over 30 and lies about their age.  I tell everyone that I have 18 months in the mission to avoid people calling me Trunky.  I AM NOT TRUNKY btw, I refuse to be a crappy missionary in the end of my mission. besides, there's WAY too much to do to be a crappy missionary.  There simply isn't time to be lazy around here.  Lazy is for p-days, and p-day is only 10 am to 6 pm on Monday.

My sector here in Babahoyo is a small little ward called 18 de Mayo.  The wonderful thing is that ALL THE STREETS ARE PAVED!  Which means I don't have to worry about dirty shoes and dust like I did in Duran.  Yay!  We have some good people that we're working with too, I look forward to the future to see what happens.  President Riggins however did tell me that he put me here to fix some things, so I'll be banging things out with a hammer in my time here as well.  Feels good that President Riggins trusts me like that.  :)  I personally think I lack a whole lot to be a "good missionary," but I'm doing my best.

I think I said everything I can think of about Elder Rojas in my last email... but if there's something that you want to know ask away.  Here's a terrible selfie of us in front of the Temple in Guayaquil:

I've been bogged down with a cold for a couple of weeks now, and I managed to eat something on Saturday that made me sick all day long and throw up in the night.  But I'm doing what I can to pull out of that now. there's a vapor rub made by the Chinos here called Metol Chino, it's basically my best friend right now.

That's about it.  As always, I'll write next week.  I need to get to work now.

Love you all!

Cameron

Regresando a Los Ríos

Hola!

Last night we got a call that we were kind of expecting, I got transferred today.  After spending five and a half months in Duran in the beautiful Arbolito, I boarded a bus (I still hate buses) and got sent back to La Provincia de Los Ríos.  I'm in the City of Babahoyo, I've only been here a few hours so I cant really say too much about how it is here.  From what I've learned as an outsider is that Babahoyo is that capital of Los Ríos and that when the rain comes it gets pounded.  We will see about the rumor of the rain when El Niño gets here.  It looks like I'll be here for Christmas, so I'm going to start making friends as fast as possible.

My new companion is Elder Rojas.  Again, I've only been here for a few hours so I cant say really say too much about him either.  However, we did talk an the bus ride:
Hes from La Paz Bolivia, he has three months in the mission meaning that he just got done with his training, I'm his second companion and his first experience with Transfers.  He break dances from what I've heard.  We are going to have a lot of getting to know you time as we will be together constantly for the next couple months.

I have a habit of staying long periods of time in my sectors: I was in Buena Fe for about 7 months, Guayaquil for about 6 months, and Duran for five and a half months. Looking at the numbers and seeing that I only lack 5 months in the mission, Babahoyo very well be my deathbed.  However, lots can happen in 5 months.  We will see what happens. :)

As far as health goes, all is well.  Apart from the fact I have a nagging phlegm in my chest that makes me cough.  That's just a result of the seasons changing.  -or at least that's what they tell me.  The season changes aren't that extreme in Ecuador, its always hot and  wherever and whenever.  The difference is that it gets a little cloudier and more humid in late October/early November.  In January-March it rains a crap load and continues being devilishly hot.  I guess I could say I'm used to it, but Ill be missing the cold for another while more.  ♪♫ I'm dreaming of a White Christmas... ♫♪

All is well here. from what Elder Rojas tells me we have lots of good families and tons of work to do. Cant wait. :) I'll write you all next week and let you all know a little more about the new sector.

Tell me all about Thanksgiving!

I love you all. :)

-Cameron

(This week Ill be ponderizing D&C 123:12)

Feliz Navidad

Hey there everyone!

We've broken out the Christmas music and depending what happens in transfers next week we'll setting up a decorations too. Ecuador started getting ready for Christmas in October because since they don't have Halloween or Thanksgiving there isn't really any other commercialized holiday for them to get ready for, so, Christmas starts in November around here.

I do miss thanksgiving, there are lots of great things that come with it, but we're also pretty happy about Christmas, although it's hot, humid, and the missionaries don't have family close by... The truth is that Christmas is one of the most tricky days of the year. :P BUT that's ok because we're doing something even better out here; missionary work!

Not too shabby either, we got to baptise our golden investigators this last weekend. :D

Isabel and Krystal have been investigating the Church for about a month and a half.  We got along well in the first visit where they proclaimed "I feel a lot better talking to you guys than the Jehovah's Witnesses!" They read the first 14 chapters of the book of Mormon without us even telling them to.  Right now they're almost finished with 2 Nephi

The members bug us about them because of that little bundle of joy in the red shirt.  That's Jahir, my best friend.  I have to be very clear that he's my friend and not my son because the members ask sometimes. 

We actually aren't sure how he came out like that... He's Isabel's son and he's 100% latino, but he looks like a gringo.  We contacted her because she was standing in front of her house with him waiting for the water truck to pass by, the blonde hair caught out attention.  Go figure...

Isabel has a son and Krystal has a mother and a sister who are will probably be the next to be baptised, I however probably won't be here due to the fact I probably have transfers next week.  I've said that before though...  the problem is that I'm terrible at predicting transfers. As the good book says: "Believe in God..."  "...believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend." -Mosiah 4:9

Things around here having been going pretty good, we're working hard and staying low on stress for the most part. I hope all is well back home!  don't be too busy! 

hay que desfrutar la vida también. :)

Love, Cameron 

Día de Muertos

Hey there everyone!

Here in Ecuador we don't really have Halloween because the El Presidente del República said that its a North American holiday and that here in Ecuador it distracts from the national day of the coat of arms (Día del Escudo) Therefore, Halloween here isn't that fun, however, there were still Halloween parties and masks in the stores, and the neighbor kids (knowing that I'm north American) knocked on our door asking for candy.  I was ready for them.

Things around here have been alright.  We are going to have two baptisms this Saturday of two people who came to be really good friends of ours.  We are very excited for it. :)

It's also Día de Muertos here, which translated (day of the dead) sounds like a horror movie title, but it's basically a three day long Memorial Day.  In honor of it all we went to the zoo.  :D Things around here have been going really good, we are moving forward in this work one step at a time and getting things done.  Which is good because I hate not getting things done these days.

It's a...thing.

Selfie?

If ever I end up being lazy after the mission someone has to make me eat my words, because I hate being unproductive these days.

I hope all is well back home.  Write me and tell me about your Halloween!  Did you do anything fun? From what dad was saying, it sounds like everyone did something different.

I love you all and I will see you later!

Cameron

Service Projects and Burritos

Hey there!

This last weekend the Zone got together with the Stake and the City and we did a big service project in the Sun.  We pulled weeds, cleaned up trash, and swept the sidewalk in one of the main roads in the south part of Duran.

It was good fun, but it the end, we all got badly sunburnt.  I´d send a picture of my snow white chest and my latino arms and head, but I figured missionaries shouldn´t be taking shirtless selfies, besides, I have an Ecuadorian rice belly the no one really wants to see.  When I was with Elder Gutierrez he always made a point to remind me that I´m fat.  When I wake up in the morning he often tells me ¨ESTAS GORDO!¨ as if it were my fault.  just you wait, when I get back to 4200 feet above sea level I´ll be shaking it all off.

...Tal Vez...

During the time I´m here I´m not really worrying about the rice belly thing, I do exercise every morning and walk, like, 20 miles every day.  I eat the lunches because I´m required to (that and I really really like the food here, I eat just about anything and everything) and I make myself fancy breakfasts because I love me.

Ever since I got here I´ve really been missing the huge breakfast burritos that me and dad would always buy.   Here in Ecuador Burritos, Tacos, enchiladas and all the stuff doesn´t really exist.  Those foods are traditional in Central America.  last week while I was buying food I thought to myself ¨Why don´t I just make a huge breakfast burrito?¨

and so I did...

I love me!

The truth is that everything here is going great.  My health is good and we´re working hard.  As always we´re expecting great things in the future.  The next transfers are in three weeks.  We had interviews with President Riggins last week and he made it sound like I´ll probably have a transfer this time.  Transfers are always bittersweet.  I´m going to enjoy the time I have left here in Duran. :)

Selfie of me and the best Bishop ever!

I hope all is well back home!  I hope you all stay away from getting colds and that dad will start to feel better too!

Talk to you all next week!

-Cameron

Ponderize God´s love for us

Hello!

Last Tuesday I got pouch!  A letter from grandpa and something very unexpected.  THE PACKAGE CAME!  I was very very happy that day, but I couldn´t really tell you guys until today... because p-day is on Monday.  The new shoes have saved my life, they are very comfortable and they don´t hurt my feet like new shoes normally do and the blisters and my feet might finally start healing, though, I think I´m going to get a pedicure when I get back.  I´m not too sure if pedicures help for not, but the words pedi and cure together sound like a good thing.  xP

I got the new camera and the Frisby, I´d send pictures (because I did take pictures) but my adaptor chino that I got for $2 isn´t working, I´ll probably have to buy something I little better for next week. :P

I was ponderizing Moses 7:28,27,32,33
It´s sort of long and mixed, but president Riggins showed this to us a few weeks ago and I wanted to ponderize it.

¨28 And it came to pass that the God of heaven looked upon the residue of the people, and he wept; and Enoch bore record of it, saying: How is it that the heavens weep, and shed forth their tears as the rain upon the mountains?

 29 And Enoch said unto the Lord: How is it that thou canst weep, seeing thou art holy, and from all eternity to all eternity?

32 The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency;

 33 And unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood;¨

This scripture shows us a little bit of an extent of God´s love for us.  He weeps-God in the highest, with all glory and all power, weeps when we fail, when we sin, when we don´t repent.  He has given us everything and is sad when we don´t follow his commandments and love one another.  Don´t you ever think that God doesn´t care, he does.  He cares about every single one of us.

I´m kind of short on time today, sorry about that.  I hope all is well back home! All is well here.

Talk to you all next week!

Cameron

Stake Conference

Hey there!

Dad tells me that you´re all ponderizing.  I started last week with 2 Nephi 2:27 which is all about agency.  I have one in the book of Abraham this week, but I don´t remember the reference, it was something that President Riggins showed us the other week and I wanted to study it a little more.  I´ll let you know about it next week.

This week was the Stake Conference here in La Estaca Duran Norte.  They changed out the stake presidency which was cool because an Area Authority came.

Elder Christopher Waddell of the Area Seventy came to interview the new stake president and to speak in the sessions.  He´s the first counselor del área Sudamérica Noroeste, he´s been living in Lima Peru for four years for his calling, but he told us that this was his last Stake Conference in the Area because he is going to be put into the Presiding Bishopric -I´m not too sure if that´s a secret or not -but he told us, so... no es culpa!

He talked to us about the sabbath day.  He said that the twelve apostles and the first presidency all prayed in the temple before awhile back and asked the lord what the church needed to do to progress.  All of them received the impression that if the church would progress, we need to observe the sabbath day. It was pretty interesting to think about.  Are we observing the sabbath day as we should?
The answer is personal for every one of us.

With the stake conference and things we had a pretty cool week, I didn´t get changed out on the last transfer cycle so I´ll be hanging out here in Duran for the next month or so.

...Yeah, I´m pretty sure that´s all I have to say.  I hope all is well back home!  Enjoy fall break, I´ll be here... in the heat and humidity. (I miss seasons)

-Love, Cameron

Conference and Tacos!

Hey there!

So, conference was awesome!  This was the first time I saw the sessions in English since Ive been here in Ecuador.  We got a television and put it in a classroom where all the North American missionaries watched while everyone else watched in the chapel.  I saw all but the Sunday morning session in English, the Sunday session I watched in the chapel because we had a ton of investigators who came to see that session and we were there to sit with them and answer questions.
We are really exited because all of our investigators who have baptismal dates were in the session.  We have some great families who love the Gospel and are progressing quickly.  We are really exited for them.  :D

I loved conference!  I'm planing to ponderize a scripture every week from now on.  I'm always ready and studying the scriptures, but I think it sounds like a good idea to focus on one scripture, especially every week.

I also plan on asking God ¨What lack I yet?¨ frequently to help with my personal progression.
I also loved the talk by Robert D. Hales giving the youthfully people a whole pile of elderly advice.
All the talks were awesome!  I cant wait to go back and read them.

Mom will be especially proud to hear that today me and Elder Salazar deep cleaned our house just because we wanted to.  We used bleach and disinfectant on every inch of the house.  all this was in celebration of our first p-day with water in the house.  The guy finished our cistern on Friday after having been working on it for almost two months, not we have water in the house at all times.  Its a heavenly thing.

other news in that after conference on Saturday we made tacos.  They were fantastic.  I'll be sending photos.

Love you all!  Talk to you next week.

-Cameron

P.S.  Yes, I did see mom many different times.

TACOS!

These are some people that I know.  The first is the first counselor in the bishopric who is basically an icon and the second is my best friend Jahir.

Replaced by girls and El Niño viene!

Hello!

Last week a seventy came to talk to our mission.  Elder Calderon from Quito Ecuador.  He's a really cool guy!  We learned a lot about diligence and obedience from him.  We had to go to Guayaquil to see him and I was reminded how much I flat out hate buses.  I HATE BUSES!

At the conference I met up with Hermana Romero -a sister missionary who's currently in my old sector in Guayaquil.  She told me how things are in my beloved Barrio Albonor and told me that one of my old investigators was about to get baptised.  That made me super happy!  I found that people I influenced are getting baptized even though I didn't get to finish the work. Things like that make a guy's day.

Buena Fe also has sister missionaries working there now.  It seems that every time I leave a sector they replace me with girls.  I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.  I don't think that will happen in Duran though.  We're serving in Arbolito, which is a part of Duran that Taxi drivers wont take you to because they're scared of it.  The members there say that they didn't know that sister missionaries even exist, I think that President doesn't send them there as a protective precaution, but, anything could happen.

Everyone here has been saying "El niño viene!" "ya viene el niño!"

"El niño"  Translates to be "the child" which is apparently a weather thing where it rains REALLY hard in rain season.  I just haven't been able to figure out why they call it El niño...  It sounds like a horror film if you ask me.

"The child is coming! the child is coming!     ...The child is here"

...I played Limbo back in my day.  GREAT GAME! 

I'm not 100% sure what to expect in the next few months, but everyone says I should buy boots while I can and get ready for lots and lots of rain. ...and maybe a Chucky style horror film in real life... HAPPY OCTOBER!

Yeah, I have to get out of the Cyber now.  I hope everything is all well back home, I love you all!


-Cameron

P.S.  Who's ready for general conference?

A little bit of Random

Hey there!

This week has been pretty nice.  I have a bunch of random photos to help make up for the lack of photos last week:

We went to the zoo a couple weeks ago, but the zoo is closed on Mondays, which is nice because P-Day is only on Mondays...  We didn't see many animals, but we did see monkeys and this guy.

Luckly, the in beautiful little sector of Arbolito where we work (minor sarcasm intended) has a little tree by the river where we discovered a that ton of iguanas hang out.  This is just one but the tree was full of them.  Natural nature won over the zoo in this case.

We had the baptism of Adonis Vera last week, his family attended the service which is a big leap for them.  He's been coming to church and playing soccer with us on Thursdays for awhile now.  We've been teaching him little by little and we finally reached his baptism day!

Since this day he's been going to semanary and mutual on his own.  We're also getting to the point where we don't have to get up early to knock on his door on Sundays.  I have good hopes for this chico.

The picture didn't turn out too good because the flash died on my old black camera -BUT I'm sure the new one will come soon... he he.   .....We'll keep praying about the package.

I used a little home money to get my shoes fixed again.  I found a maestro zapatero (master shoemaker) to change my soles the right way.  The guy I paid to do it last time put $2 soles on my shoes and charged me $15 a pair.  He basically robbed me and did a terrible repare job.

My shoes are MUCH better now and my feet are slowly healing from the damage that the soles that the Zapatero Borracho (Drunk shoemaker) put on my feet.

As seen above, the bad shoe soles made my right shoe fill up with dirt and rocks.

...-I'm sure the package will get here soon.  :D

I thought dad would get a kick out of this one.  This is normal here, they build 20 story buildings using bamboo. In this picture they're restoring an old hotel using bamboo scaffolding.  I remember back when I was working in Alta Paints a guy came in boasting that he's been on jobs all around the world and that he's seen places where they use bamboo scaffolding.

Back then I told him that's crazy stuff, but now I just say "meh, that's normal."

"Its-a me, Mario!"

We ALMOST have water in our house.  We're getting there... I'll probably get to take one nice shower before I get changed to another sector.

Things here have been good, the normal actually.  The stake presidency is getting changed out here in the Duran North Stake, which means a general authority is going to come.  They say that its going to be Elder Waddell.  We also just recently got a message from the zone leaders saying that we need to have our houses clean and our Area books updated because it's possible that he's going to inspect our houses. =O

Now I have to go home and hide all the oreos...

Everything here has been good.  I hope back home things are good too.  I'll be praying for Grandpa and looking for mom in General Conference when it comes.

I love you all!  Keep moving forward.

Cameron

Agua, una cosa que no importamos hasta no tenemos *-_-

Hello there,

I have a bunch of pictures to show, but I can´t get the computers here to read my SD card.  I think you I´ll have to wait til´ next week.

Speaking of pictures, I took my old SD card to a guy who knows how to recover data.  He got about 80% of the pictures from the entire mission back for me.  My devastation has just about been resolved. Besides the fact I was robbed by that dis-honest sonsofhjsefnvgek$%&%&/hth56hj-

<continuación no encontrado>

*Ehm* I´ll go get an ice cream after writing.

This week has been a LITTLE bit stressful. The Church here in Duran isn´t an exception to the water problem.  We had a baptism last Saturday and filling the font took every ounce of brainstorming/phone calling/head-skiing that I had in me.  Me and my companion were there trying to find a solution for more than three hours.  In the end, we found a secret door in the roof which lead to a secret room with a secret switch that activated to secret pump that´s connected to a secret tank of water that only the bishop knows about.  He told us about it but he said he didn´t know how to turn the secret pump on.  That was something I had to figure out with my super secret ninja spy skills.  Long story short, we had a baptism last Saturday.  Know one knew how much sweat and blood was put into making the service possible.  All in a missionary´s day´s work.

(It´s very possible that none of that made sense)

I´ve already written the mission president telling him that Duran will probably make my hair turn gray.  He simple replied and said ¨Elder Howell, I think you would look very dignified with gray hair.¨

I forgot that president Riggins looks like this:

Bueno...

The truth is that I´m doing great out here.  The work is good and me and my companion get along well. What more could I ask for? *Egh*water*egh*

Really though, things here are all good. :)  Hope things are going good back home.  I´ll try to send baptism pictures next week.  I think that problem is my adapter.

I love you all!

Cameron

All is Well

Hola,

So, I´ve been living here in Duran for 3ish months now.  I´ve been in the mission for 17 months now and we´re riding along well.  However, I do have my low moments from time to time...

...the good thing is that I´ve got friends in low places.

(above is a joke...)

When I got here we only had water in our house in the morning and at night.  This is still true, but luckly ur landlord threw down a few bucks and is building a cistern in front of our house that will fill up with water in the morning and at night and we´ll have water everyday without fail.  Yay for not having to use a cup and bucket to take a shower!  :D

I was thinking about something that Bishop Green wrote me this week.  He was talking about Calvin´s mission and how every mission is different.  How true is that!

Here in Ecuador the are very few people who don´t believe in God, most of the population here is catholic and the rest are either Evangelists, Jehovah's Witness, or Mormons.

Calvin taught mostly buddists, I would have no idea what to do if I found a buddist.  Me and Elder Sanchez had a big brain fart when we found Jews in Guayaquil, we aren´t used to teaching people who don´t already believe in Christ to be honest... Work here is hot a humid, but wonderful.

I´m feeling well, so all is well. I´ll probably be changing sectors in October.  Elder Salazar is will be finishing his 3 month training then and he will probably trane a new missionary from there.  That´s how things are.

All is well here.  I´m checking out to check in to an evening in Arbolito Duran -where the dust is dry and the air is full of weed.  I love it!



Love you all!  Hope everything is going well back home.


-Cameron

Ice Cream keeps the world happy

Hey there!

I'm just checking in this week, I cant think of too much to say...  I guess my mind is a little bit more blank this week ;P Things around here are going normal. The other two Elders that were working in the same ward as us just got changed out and now we're the only missionaries working here.  We have a whole lot more ground to cover and a whole lot more people to visit.  We keep ourselves stress free by buying twenty five cent icecream bars called pollitos.

 I use Pollitos to explain the dollar to people who don't understand american currency.
They ask me "What's the valor of a dollar?"
I say "Four Pollitos"
They ask "what's the vallor of a quarter?"
I say "One Pollito"
they ask "is twenty dollars a lot of money?"
"Dude, we're talking like, eighty Pollitos."
They usually get it from there.

In my world, the national treasury isn't full of gold, it's full of Pollitos. Ice cream keeps the world happy.

Things here are going good.  It's not easy but it's all worth it.  Thanks for all the support coming from back home.  I love you guys!


-Cameron

We took this picture an hour ago.  It's proof that I'm still alive and well. ;)

Virtue Rant!

Hey there everyone!

Being a missionary isn´t all candy and sugar... it actually isn´t candy and sugar at all unless we go buy ice cream or something. :P President Riggins always tells me that the hardest kind of business is people business, working with people is SUPER hard, even for people people.

I´ve declared that the world would be a better place if people kept their promises and had the desire to help one another. After walking away from a house of a lady who basically messed up a big old plan of ours because she didn´t do what she said she was going to do I told my companion ¨When I get married, I don´t want a girl who´s drop dead gorgeous, that is, if she isn´t considerate, loving, and smart at the same time.¨

I then found myself declaring ¨I WANT A VIRTUOUS WOMAN!¨

I remember reading about Aristoltle difining virtue as:

¨a disposition to behave in the right manner and as a mean between extremes of deficiency and excess, which are vices.¨

-or, as my simple mind translates to be: Virtue is when someone acts as they should.  Stop me if I´m wrong, I could be.  I don´t understand Aristoltle all that well, the man blows my mind with his words...

The question comes with the idea that virtue means that we should act as we should: How should we act?

In 3 Nefi 12:48 it we read:
¨Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect.¨ (see also mattew 5:48)

and in 3 nefi 27:27
¨...Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am.¨

Therefore, how are we to be virtuous?  We need to be like christ.  How can we be like christ?  Study the scriptures and try to develope his atributes in ourselves:

Faith, Hope, Love, Charity, Knowledge, Patience, Humility, Diligence, Obediece, ect.  (See Preach My Gosple chapter 6)

In Preach my Gosple it explains that virtue is not only our actions, it´s our thoughts.  God knows who we are inside and outside, and we will be accountable in the last days for who we are, not just what we do.

I remember the book To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee.  In that book the question was if Aticus Finch was the same in his own house as he was in the courthouse.  I think that we ought to ask ourselfs the same:  are we the same in our own house as we are in public?
or better yet: are we the same in our minds as our friends think we are.

Virtue is importaint.  For me, what matters is who you are, not what you do.

I could keep going, but I think I should stop there.  I´m out of computer time anyways.

Working with people takes its toll, but for the most part I´m alright, I haven´t gone crazy yet.  I did hit a depression point last week when my pen drive got stolen out of the cyber.
I lost all my pictures  ...again. I´m uploading what I have to Dropbox right now, as I should have been doing all along.  I´m sure there´s a lesson to be learned about procrastination and repentance in all this.  (see Alma 34:33 repent ye!)

You guys are saving the pictures I´m sending home, right?  I hope so because... that´s all I´ve got right now.

I´m doing good now though, we had to go over some icecream theorpy but I´m glad to say I´m back on top. :)

Things here are great. Thanks for all the support.

Love you all!


-Cameron

-The Elders of The Residence of San Gabriel playing Uno

Baptism!

Hey there!

Normally around here, plans don´t work out.  There are LOT of reasons for that, one is the better will of God, and the other is the agency of people. It usually turns out that people don´t give too much of a crap about what YOUR plans are, but what´s important is to do your part so that in the end you don´t feel bad.  ...the secret is to not worry about the things you can´t control and not get frustrated.
My companion has noticed that I get frustrated what plans don´t work out, it´s something that I´m trying to do better.  I think I can say that I´ve learned a TON more patience than when I stated out, and I´m still learning it day by day.

This week something incredible happened.  OUR PLANS ACTUALLY WORKED OUT!
Us and the other Elders living with us planed a baptismal date for one of our investigators and one of theirs -and it worked!

My little son got to have his first convert baptism in the mission.  We baptised Elian, un chico de 15 años.  He lives with his grandma who has been less active for a long time.  We reactivated her and he´s been attending church with her and playing soccer with us every Wednesday night.  He agreed to a baptismal date for the 8th of August and that´s just what we did.

Left to right: Elder Salazar (my companion from Guatemala,) Elder Howell (Me,) Elian (our baptism,) Elsa (The other Elder´s baptism,) Elder Wilson (Eden-Utah,) Elder Vargas (Bolivia)

Left to right: Me,  Elian´s niece who we call Caramelo,  Hermana Mercedes (Elian´s Grandma,) Elder Salazar, Elian.

This ward hasn´t seen a baptism in about 5 months, so the bishop is content with the work we´ve been doing.  We´ve also been spending the last few months working with the members and helping lots of less active members reactivate. We´re doing good work and the Kingdom of God is being built stone by stone.

Everything here is going good, thanks for everything you guys do back home to help us out here!

Take care!

Love, Cameron

How to be a Millionaire in Ecuador!

Hey there everyone,

This last Sunday my companion got to see that I get kinda grumpy when I´m tired, hungry, and uncomfortable at the same time. I don´t try to be grumpy when I fast, but the circumstances are just so freaking crappy.  meh..  I do my best though, fasting is important.  And being tired and walking in a hell inspired sunshine is unavoidable.

Those are the worse things though.

In general I´ve been doing alright, I've been cooking myself a breakfast I like to call:
"Elder Howell, I Love You" Which consists of huevos, tocino, tostada con queso, con jugo de naranja. :)

Yum.

It don´t look like much, but bacon here isn´t cheep and the only people who buy it are people who want to start the day by loving themselves.

(it been awhile since I´ve wrote about my breakfasts.)

Elder Salazar and I have been working our butts off doing the good work.  If all goes well, we should have a baptismal service this Saturday.  We´re crossing our fingers and folding our arms.

-And also trying to keep things on the light side. The light side is good, it helps us stay energetic, optimistic, and ready to work in the sun and dust.

I had a thought this week about how to be a millionare in Ecuador.  I had a couple ideas:

One is to open a pancake house in Guayaquil.

People here don't know what french toast or waffles are.  Maple syrup sits on the bottom shelves in the supermarket because no one knows how to use it.  Pancakes exist, but no one makes the from scratch.  Bacon is underused...  I could keep going on and on.

What these people need is a good American pancake house.  and I really think that if one opened it would be a big hit. 

My other idea is to build a ductape factory.  These people have the redneck mentality, but they don't use ductape.  HOW IS IT THAT THEY LIVE WITHOUT DUCTAPE???

I'm pretty sure it exists here, but it needs to exist in large quantities and be sold in the street corners, not just in the deepest corner of the hardware store.  I think the man who REALLY brings ductape to Ecuador will made big time bucks. Another missionary told me the only reason it isn't here is because the people would probably build houses out of it.  He's probably right; I've see houses made out of roofing, cement road dividers, and rocks.

Today we went walking out to La Isla Santi it was cool but it was mostly just a boardwalk with a bunch of trees and swamp, I would have had more fun if I had a camera with a zoom lens.  The camera I currently have doesn't have a zoom ability anymore, the motor for the lens is dead and I have to help in with my fingers every time I turn it one and off.  Meh.

I took a couple pictures while we were on the island.









Yes that's a real crocodile.  Yes, there was a fence between us and them.

That's basically everything.  we're headed off to work now.  I hope everything is going well back at home.  I talk to you all next week!


Love, Cameron.

Mi ejercito de niños >:) jeje

Hi!

This week has been an action packed week of teaching and walking, as usual.
We´ve been doing some really good work here, mostly rescuing less active members, but work just the same.

Most of the members who are less active here are only less active because no one visits them.  Making home-teaching and visiting teaching appointments is one of the things that we´re trying to get this ward to do because it´s REALLY important and not all of them are really doing it.

This last week we did an activity for the ward.  Sack races and apple eating contests with no hands and stuff.  It was fun, but there were a few kids there that weren't having fun and were getting in the way.  When I say a few I mean three.  I decided to start playing Simon says with them to keep them out of the way. It was a huge success and they were very very good at it.

It was a huge success because my obedient army of three kids turned into an army of ten or more.

And they did EVERYTHING I told them to do. MWAHAHAHA!

Apart from all that things have been pretty good.  Training has been nice because I have a nice humble son who takes all my advice and does what he should.

And... yeah! Everything´s good.  I´ll send a few more pictures and write you all next week. :)

Love, Cameron




Dan Jones: The only thing I lack is people who want to listen to me.

New Companion

Hey there!

I got a ¨Gone Camping¨ note in my inbox.  I guess I here for a good camping trip next week. Someone go tip the boy's tent over for me. :D

This last week had been pretty eventful for me.  On Tuesday night the trainers and new missionaries went to the temple to sleep in the hotel there so the we could get up early in the morning and do a session together.

I knew that I missed hot showers, but I didn't realize how much I missed them until I showered in the temple hotel.  That hotel is one of the only buildings that I know of that has hot water in the pipes. My legs almost gave out in the sweet relief of the hot water.  The most relaxing thing ever.  Beats showering with a bucket and a cup any day.  ...freaking Duran water  -_-

ANYWAYS, on Wednesday after the temple we all went to President Riggins' house for breakfast and to be instructed together.  There I was paired up with Elder Salazar, my new son!

I'm training now, with is pretty easy because Elder Salazar is pretty smart and already has a desire to share the gospel;.  I'm just showing him the technical things, his testimony is already amazing.

Elder Salazar is from The City of Guatemala, Guatemala.  If you don't know where Guatemala is you'll be able to find it right where you thought Mexico is.  Turns out that not all central America is Mexico.  Guatemala, Honduras, and lots of other countries are down there on the bottom.
His grandparents are converts.  He says that he's the seventh missionary of his family line.

After the last changes in the mission we're living with Elder Vargas, from Bolivia; Elder Wilson, From Eden Utah as well. Elder Wilson calls Elder Salazar "Russell" because he kinda looks like Russell from the movie UP and he's got a similar personality: He'll often poke his head into the kitchen with a smile and whisper "buenas días!" and then go iron his shirt.

Working has been a whole lot of fun with the optimism and energy of a new missionary as my companion.  And I think that because of that same optimism we're going to have a whole lot of success here together. Whether it's a challenge or something good he always has the same reaction.  His catch phrase is "¡que bendición!" or "What a blessing!"

We're going to have some fun here.  I'd send a picture but I don't have any.  My SD card broke so I can't take anymore.  What a blessing...

I get some sent next week and I'll also stop being lazy about uploading to dropbox.

I'll talk to you all next week!  Let my know how the camping trip was!


Love, Cameron

The Pope, Wedding, Party, Ward activity, Rock concert.

Hola,

So last Monday was a big pain in the butt because the Pope came to visit.

PEOPLE HERE WENT NUTS.  He went to my old zone in Guayaquil in Parque Semanas and then went to Quito the next day.  From there he went to Bolivia.  As missionaries we were assigned to stay in our sector from the p-day.  From what I saw on the TVs, el papa Francisco is a really cool guy.
It´s not a bad thing to be a part of another church.  However, the authority to be saved only exists in the Church of Jesus Christ, and that authority only cames through exact obedience to his organization and commandments and by the laying on of hands by someone who has been called of God to have the same priesthood authority.

Last week was the last week of Elder Gutierrez, he´s in Guayaquil getting ready to leave as I write. Last week we sent him off with a bang.

Wedding, party, ward activity, rock concert.

On Friday we had a wedding! (The Howell Family may or may not have used $20 of my reserve to help them out with that.  THANKS :D)

We helped Melisa and Adrian Huacon get married en el civil.  They´re both members, we helped them reactivate and live the law of chastity.  They´re a happy family of three and we foresee them being very very active in the church from now on.  They´re already incredibly faithful to the Lord.



...I always forget that I´ve huge until I see pictures of me with other people...

After the Wedding we helped the ward plan a big wedding reception which turned into a party that we couldn´t see through to the end (curfew is 9:30pm.)

The following Saturday we threw on a ward mission activity planned by us, the missionaries.  It was a talent show and it was EXTREMELY successful.  People later came to over and said it was the best ward activity they have ever attended. And the attendance was incredible.  It was a mix activity between two wards, but the bishop said it had better attendance than the stake activities.

The Talents included cultural dances, skits, singing, etc...

We ended the night with a rock band that asked to come and play.





And the night was forever remembered.

And that´s all.  ¡Voy a entrenar!

I don´t have a new companion yet.  Turns out that I have to wait a little while for my new companion because he isn´t in Ecuador yet. I´ll update you all next week.  I´ll probably have a whole lot more to say by then.  I already have a more to say but my time is short.  I´ll write you all next week!  let me know if you have questions.

Love you all!

-Cameron