so i´m here in machala. the coast. i am dying. first of all because of the heat and the humidity. not used to that. i have to get used to sweating and being dirty and smelly all the time. and the people are soooo different than cuencanos. so ive had to adjust to that too. but it´s good. the members here are super awesome. i guess 2 years ago there was just a couple branches and now there are like 10 wards and a branch. so the work is awesome and the members are always willing to help out. weve had double the lessons with members that we would have in cuenca. so thats good. and my companion is the cutest. she is from guatemala and is 20. shes only been here for 6 weeks so im finishing her training. of course. ive only had 1 transfer of my mission that i wasnt training. but it´s good. and oh my heck i absolutely love hermana mosley, the other hermana we live with. shes from mesa and is half black. total diva. we get a lil cray cray in the house together but we keep it real, no worries.
in cuenca i would forget that i was in ecuador.... here, no. not even for one second. for example. the other day we were walking down the dirt road and we see something burning. get closer to it.... it´s a dog. yeah. a huge dog just burning on the side of the road. then yesterday we see the cat thats in the picture. at least that one had a proper burial and wasnt cremated. and the same day we come home to a new pet crawling on our wall. yayyyy!!!!! love it here!!
thank you so much for sending me all the talks from the funeral and the program and everything!!! reading that has helped me a lot. hahaha i loved hearing all of the fun memories of grandma bye. she really was an incredible lady and has left an amazing heritage. i´m so grateful for her example!
i still havent seen any Christmas packages. but im thinking tomorrow is the day. i have faith.
dont worry, we always travel in groups of missionaries. and its normal to travel at 3 in the morining. its fine.
so i´m having to get used to the people here . theyre a lot more flaky so one day they´ll be super excited to go to church and be baptized and the next day they´ll be like ohhhh we´ll see if i can.... gaaaah it makes me crazy. but we are teaching this one hermana´s brother who is paralyzed. so he can hardly move the right side of his body and he cant talk. he can only say ya. but he understands almost everything and is super excited to get baptized! its been super different trying to change the way i teach and only ask yes or no questions but he is sweet.
and then these 2 jovenes came to church yesterday. straight up punks. but i think theyve had some hard family lives so we´re going to do everything we can to help them.
oh and we were supposed to have a baptism satruday. que bestia . we went over there in the morning to make sure everything was good and she was fine and then when we went back in the afternoon to get her for her baptism she wasnt there and her phone was turned off. we waited in the rain for like 2 hours and she never showed up. the next day we went to go talk to her and she was like whats the point of me getting baptized if i´m just going to keep sinning. i was like well youre going to be sinning worse by not getting baptized because you now have the knowledge that you need to be baptized. but she didnt care and was like i´m too busyyyy..... baaaaahhh!!! we had spent hours with her this week with the elders and it was like okay. we have done everything possible with you. so chau. i sound really bratty talking about her but i promise i was really loving and christlike with her so dont worry. i just feel frustrated after the fact..
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH my heck do not even get me started on the mosquitoes here. i have AT LEAST 80 bites. at least. my feet and ankles are COVERED. and my thighs. have no idea how that happened but im itchin. like a crazy person.
and. got my ingrown toenails taken out. que bestia. i´ll tell you more details when i get home. basically it hurt. and they still hurt. mas nada.
hahahahaha mommy you are hilarious. ¨katelyn is coming home this year!!!!¨
but it sounds like everyone is busy and happy. i wish i could see you in primary.
okay well i think that´s all i have to say for now. thank you so much for all of your letters! know i love you all and i´m so grateful for all your love and support! let me know if there is anything i can do for you.
con muuuucho amor,
hermana bytheway
