One more week of August...

I got my packages!!!!!  But only from you guys and one from David.  I haven{t gotten Grandma{s yet so hopefully i{ll get it soon.  Did she put pictures of Jesus on it?  I LOVED everything about my package!!!!!  Thank you so so so so so much!!!!!!!!  I{ve already eaten a lot of the treats and worn both of my shirts and showed a bunch of people the pictures.  So so happy to get packages!!

yayyyy packages!!!!

Oh i ate cuy!!!!!!  And for those who dont speak spanish, that is GUINEA PIG.  Those things you find at the pet store.  Yeah I ate one.  Don{t worry, I{ll include pictures.  And when you eat cuy you eat the whooooole thing.  Skin, meat, insides, and all.  And I took a video of me eating the foot.  The whole foot.  Toenails, hair, bones.  Hahahaha it acutally wasnt that bad.  Just a lil hard.  But the skin wasnt very good at all.  Oh you just chew and chew and chew and chew and it doesnt go away.  After a while it made me feel sick.  And then that night I woke up with the WORST stomach ache so I went to the bathroom and I went the worst diarreah ever.  Oh it was bad.  But I ate guinea pig.  So it{s all good.  And then the next day we ate a soup that consisted of sardines and peanut butter.  Worst combo ever.  Way to ruin the best food ever.  But yeah I{m still living so its all good.  I guess I could ask for less food but then later I{m starving.  So I just eat the huge lunch and then eat a lil suhum suhum at night.

cuy!!!!

ate the whole thing!!!

The Ojeda boys are the cutest ever!!!  The mom was baptized in the catholic church and she doesnt want to be baptized again.  And the dad I think wants to but is super influenced by his wife.  But I know they{re going to be sealed as a family someday!  I love them so so much!!

In our sector there are 4 hermanas in one ward.  In other wards there are either 2 or 4 missionaries in each.  And in Cuenca there is just one stake with like 7 wards.

We still havent found a new apartment and I{m going crazy.  Heating up water every morning to shower and washing the dishes with cold water is getting pretty old.  It makes me super grateful for hot running water.

Mari sent me pictures of Katie{s wedding.... HOLY GORGEOUS.  I wish so bad I could have been there!!  She looked soooo happy!!  And that{s crazy about Dani!!  Tell them congrats for me.

So cute Dallin is in high school!  Hahahah in the picture he looks thrilled.  Definitely never had Mrs. Waters.  Don{t even know who she is.

Oh tell Ellen Limkaichong I got her letter!  She is so sweet!

Well this week has been suuuuuper rough.  I feel like we{ve worked and worked and tried every way possible to find new investigators and nothing is working.  But I think the Lord is just trying my faith and I need to just keep working, even when it{s hard.  The adversary is trying to impede the work of the Lord by making us feel inadequate and discouraged but we can{t let that get to us.  Today is changes and I was hoping for a change but nope.  Everything is the same.  So we{re just going to have to figure out what we need to change so we can have success here.

Umm well I think that{s all.  Thanks so much for everything!  I am seriously so so grateful for my family.  I have seen so many super sad family situations here and I have realized how blessed I am to have been born in such an incredible family with the knowledge of the gopsel.

The church is true!!

Hermana Bytheway

A week late

Sorry I missed a week!

08/19/2013

The Ojeda boys were baptized on Saturday!  It was the happiest thing ever!!  They are so cute!!  They all bore their testimonies and it was so sweet to hear how they felt.  Especially Jean Pierre who is the oldest.  He is 16 and kind of a punk and never really says much in the lessons so it was so cute to hear him say that he really wanted to be a better person.  And the other two, Bryan and Jairo, are just adorable.  They{re always so excited to have us come over. Oh and the dad bore his testimony too!  he was saying how he wants to be bapitzed soon too!  The problem is that they sell fruit on sundays so they can never come to church but this week theyve made some changes so they can come this week.  I love that family so much and I want more than anything for them to be sealed as a family!  The mom is super stubborn though and says she doesnt want to be baptized again but I think she{ll soften up when she comes to church.  And the daughter, Genesis wants to be baptized so badly too but she{s only 6. Haha they are just the cutest ever.  Oh but it was so funny!  Before their baptism, we brought the baptismal clothes to their house for them to try on.  so they go into the next room and we hear them laughing like little girls.  They thought the clothes looked like karate clothes so they started fighting each other.  Haha and then they come out with belts across their heads...  Hahaha but what can you expect from teenage boys?  Gotta love em.

I still havnet gotten my packages yet.  I{m hoping tomorrow I{ll get them.

Haha the dog that bit me was pretty big.  But I wasnt afraid.  I didnt really realize what had happened until after I walked away.

Holy cow, Dallin is getting tall.  How tall is he now??  That{s so crazy he{s starting high school already.

Yeah the water situation is kind of ridiculous.  We have to look for apartments which is kind of dumb.  But yeah we{ll see what happens with that.

I miss you too Mommy!!!  So so much!  You are my best friend and I{m so grateful for you in my life!  But yeah, in less than a year I{ll be back home and we{ll go shopping together :)

That{s crazy about Madsen coming home already.  No, i havent written him or Matt or Peter in a long time.  There{s not enough time when I only get 30 minutes. It goes way too fast.

I love hearing about all the updates!!  Tell everyone congrats with their weddings!

Thanks so much for all your love and support!  I am so grateful for all of you!

I want you all to know that I know that this church is true and I know that Christ is my Savior.  The Gospel is so simple yet so beautiful and we are all so blessed to have it in our lives.

Love you!!

Hermana Bytheway

More pictures

happy birthday to me!  i actually didn{t end up eating what i was holding.  

it was nasty.

we didnt{ have lunch one day so we made a feast.  i made the plantains and the pasta.  they were pretty darn good if i do say so myself.  and i set the table!  mommy arent you proud of me!  i thought of you when i was setting it.

at our ward activity we had a minute to get as many noodles on the stick holding it in our mouths. i won.

Gabriela's baptism

so happy!!

Re: How is Cuenca?

08/12/13

Okay, the picture of you and the baby made me cry.  I{m crying right now.  Mommy I miss you so so much!  I miss talking to you every day!  And heaven knows I am dying not knowing that baby!!!  Anyway.  But keep the pictures coming!  It{s good to cry sometimes.  Oh and your hair is super cute!!  Is it lighter?

My birthday was just another day working here in good ole Ecuador.  Haha we bought a piece of chocolate cake from a panaderia... it wasnt{ the greatest thing i{ve ever eaten.  Haha cake here is just not good.  It{s jsut how it is.  And then we bought little ball things (in the picture) and that was just nasty.  But one of our mamitas is going to make us a cake on Wednesday so we{ll see how that turns out.  Oh and last week I splurged and bought a jar of Nutella to celebrate.  It{s like 5 bucks here!  But i justified it saying it was my birthday present to myself.  I haven{t gotten the boxes yet but I{m SUUUUPER excited for them!!!  Can{t wait!  Thanks so so much for sending them!  And thanks so much to the other grandparents for the money!

Gabriela finally got married and baptized!  She was so so happy!  And now she{s super excited us to come with us to teach so that{s happy too!  We keep telling her we{re going to see her in a year when her and her husband get sealed in the temple.  I would be so so so happy to see that!!  The Andrades don{t want to come to church.  Well they say they do but they always have excuses.  And the 3 Ojeda sons are going to be baptized this Saturday so that{s happy!!

Yesterday I got bit by a dog.  It took out a big chunk of my leg.  Pretty gross.  He probably has all sorts of diseases.  Just kiddding. But really a dog did bite me yesterday.  Well, it was more of a gnaw.  We were just walking down the street and I felt something on my thigh and I look down and there was a dog biting me!  I didn{t even see it!  Rude huh.  I didnt do anything to him and he just thinks he can bite me.

So we dont have hot water in the house.  Thankfully we do have water!!  But the heater is broken and the owner isnt going to fix it because they said that type of heater is going to be outdated soon anyway.  And by soon, that means like a year or two.  So we{re in the process of looking for a new house.  The water and the climate are way too cold here to not have hot water.  So we have to heat up water on the stove every morning if we want a hot shower.  It{s fun.

That{s crazy about Dallins band camp.  Why are they doing it like boot camp?  That{s crazy he{s starting high school!  Tell him not to be nervous.

Sorry about your sprained thumb but your story made me laugh.  hhahahahahahaha it made me think of your story about how you were trapped in the bottom of the pool in the snow.  hahahahahahahahah but that{s stupid about all the differing opinions of the doctors.  hope it gets better soon!

I did hear about the temple movie change!  How is it?  Too bad I won{t be able to see it for a year.  I MISS THE TEMPLE SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Take advantage of being able to go whenever you want!!

Okay well I{m out of time.  Thanks so much for all your love and support!  I love you!!

Hermana Bytheway

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WEEK! :)

08/05/2013

Hahahahah thanks for the happy birthday song.  I definitely just sang the grandma bye part in my head so no worries.

No, hermana torres (presidents wife) doesnt have an accent at all.  she has 3 kids here but one is leaving on a mission this month and then she has 3 kids at home.  haha i dont know why shes just funny and it reminds me of you.

yeah how stupid is it that they don't want to wear p-day clothes on pday.  its because they{re all trynig to be righteous and follow what it says in the white handbook.  but they dont wear skirts everyday!  its whatever.  email time is the same still at 30 minutes.

i forgot to take pictures of the apartment but i will this week.  ohhhh my lanta though.  we didnt have running water for a week!!!!!!  we had to go outside and fill up buckets to take showers and to flush the toilet and wash the dishes.  it was ridiculous.  it first went out because a pipe broke and then they turned it off because the elders who were here before us didnt pay the water bill and didnt tell us how to pay it.  so we figured out how to pay it and called a million different people and finally got it back.  it was soooooo happy!!!!  running water is the best thing in this world!  I hope you all take a moment and just appreciate warm, running water.

umm well the thing is that no one uses a card here.  it{s all cash.  so it would be easier if i had a pin number and could take out money from the atm.  maybe call the bank and ask them?  i dont need it right now but for future reference.

that sounds so fun about all the camping!!  i miss camping!!  and tell keltsey congrats and happy birthday!  and tanner oberle happy birthday!  and congrats to parker!  thats so awesome!

ohhhhh i sure hope litte Brenden loves me!!!!  I love himmmmm soo muchhhhhh!!!!!!!  He is sooooo danggg cuuuteee!!!!!!  Let me know how the blessing goes!  I wish I could be there!!

Hahahah tha{s so cute about what Ella said in church.  It{s so true though!  The Lord answers our prayers in His own way and in His own timing and our purpose in this life is to learn how to develop that trust in HIm and HIs timing.

Gabriella is finally getting married this week!!!!!!!!!!  She is so dang ready, it{s ridiculous.  We{re also working with two families, the Ojedas and the Andrades.  They are the cutest and I just love them so much!  I absolutely love teaching families and testifying of the sealing power of the temples.  The church is so happy and so true!

Thanks so much to everyone for all the birthday wishes!  We}ll see what we{ll do to celebrate.  My companion is turing 20 on friday so maybe we{ll make us a cake or something.

The church is true!

Hermana Bytheway

July is winding down...

07/29/2013

Well hullooooo....

Sounds like everything at home is just super fun!  I love hearing about all the fun details of everyone.  How scary about Cameron though!!  How is he doing?  He{s not injured at all?

Thanks so much for sending the package!  I was thinking about the peanut butter cookies yesterday and I{m suuuuuper excited to get them!!!!  I{ll let you know as soon as I get it.  Hopefully everything makes it.

Yeah it{s been pretty cold.  And pretty hot.  The weather changes like crazy, so I did get sick this week.  But it wasn{t too bad.  I{m pretty much back to normal now.  And i hvae enough blankets.  I just sleep in my $1 walmart sweats!  hahaha I{m so glad we bouught those! I have the flea collar in my bed so I don{t think I have fleas.  Yeah, the scars on my legs are from itching my mosquito bites.... I know I shouldn{t itch but it was too hard not to.

I{ve used some of the cash that I brought but i{m not sure how to take out money from my travel card.  Do i have a pin number?  I don{t need any right this second but for the future.

Yeah, I live with one other American and two latinas.  And our zone is almost have Americans.  It{s super nice to be able to speak English once in a while.

We had another training with President Torres this week.  He is so awesome!  He has so much love for us and for la obra misional.  I honestly don{t remember how to say that in english....  Haha but I did have an interview with him and he said its not a problem at all that i have to leave a transfer early.  So it{s all good.  But oh my goodness mommy, his wife totally reminds me of you!  She is hilarious!  His whole family is the cutest and I{m so grateful theyr{e here!  Oh but they asked all the zone leaders if they wanted to change the rule so we can wear pday clothes and they all said no!!!  How stupid!!!!!!!  So that hasnt{ changed.  The only thing that has changed is that we can eat pig now.  I{m not sure if i want to though.  Oh and pizza.  That{s all for now though.

Hahaha I{m not sure why you{re asking about picking me up when it{s not for another year...  Right now I{m thinking no?  I{m not sure what there is to see.  And I dont{ kwno if the mission president would let us?  And I think it{s going to be crazy anyway trying to get everything ready for school.  But I dunno.  I guess if you really want to then sure.
 
Oh so the water went away.  Apparently some tube broke so we didn{t ahve water all day Satruday.  But luckily our ward mission leader loves us and we got to shower at his house.  Best shower since March 13th.  thier house is so clean!  And it was consistently hot water!  Ohhh i felt so clean!  But then the water came back.  And then it left again.  So curretnly we don{t have water in our house.  It{s great.  So I am also very grateful for the wipes and hand sanitizer we bought at walmart too.  Who knew walmart would be such a blessing.  Maybe you shouldn{t hate it so much mommy.... hahahaha

Did dallin get his permit yet?  So weird imagining him driving.

Tell Tanner congrats!  That{s super exciting!  Tell him to look for Matt!

Mmmkay well that{s about all for now.  I want you all to know that Heavenly Father loves us so so much!  Never forget that.  And the church is true.

Hermana Bytheway :)