Feb 25: The Book of Mormon is True!

This week was a lot better. My legs are finally starting to get used to walking 10 miles a day. It's rained every single day this week, and man it's cold here. We have been really struggling to find people here. We came into this area with nothing, and spend around 4 hours tracting every day but haven't seen the success that we would like. Only gotta keep working.

This week I finished the Book of Mormon again, my second time on the mission. I, of course, took the promise of Moroni to see if it's really true or not and if my time here is even worthwhile. A couple days later I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with another elder in my district, Elder Sherman. He is still pretty new with around 9 months, we spent the day in his area contacting and teaching some lessons. While we were contacting I noticed my Spanish was really sounding good, like I was able to speak very fast on certain things and word out my sentences. We taught a lesson that night to a recent convert about the importance of temple work and attending temples. That is when I really saw the Gift of Tongues in action. I swear man, it was great. As we were in the middle of the lesson, I just felt so happy and so comfortable with myself and I knew it was the answer to my prayer. I am so grateful for the  Book of Mormon, and the promise we all have to know if it really is true. 

That's pretty much it. Today we visited the Virgin Mary statue and the Huge Catholic Church which are 2 of Ecuador's biggest landmarks. The church is true. My Dad is now a second counselor in the bishopric hahahaha.

Have a great week,

Elder Rich

Virgin of El Panecillo in the background. 

We hiked up today and saw all the views.
The Virgin of Quito is the highest statue in Ecuador.

Few pictures of Basílica del Voto Nacional - a Roman Catholic church we went and toured.

It was so pretty!

It's rained here almost every day since I got here.

Feb 18: Already sick

This week was a very difficult change for me. We flew out Monday night, and after a long day of flying, we landed in Quito about 11:30. After going through customs, I went around a corner and I saw my good pal Parker Fillmore at the airport. He's an AP so he knew I was coming, but I had no idea so it was a surprise. It was a great reunion, we talked the whole bus ride to Quito. 

Quito is great, it is a very beautiful place. It's pretty chilly here, it rains a lot and I need to put on a sweater when the sun goes down. There are a lot of people here and they are very friendly. My new companion's name is Elder Mora, who is from Lima, Peru and he has been out around 15 months. I have been very tired this week, We cover a pretty big area so to go between appointments we might have to walk 2 miles between houses. I have been so used to riding in a car and not walking 10 miles every day, but life is great, I miss Ajo so much, but I am getting used to it here. I also have been a little sick this week.

We are in South Quito in a city called Turubamba. We are whitewashing this area, so that's my third one in a row. There are 4 missionaries who cover our area, the zone leaders and me and my companion. 3 of us are new so the Bishop asked us to come and share where we are from and a brief testimony. I went up and I probably talked for a couple of minutes. Everyone was so shocked and really impressed with how well I speak. It's crazy how much Spanish I have picked up on in one week. I don't have a lot of time to write each week. More to come next week. 

 Lots of love,

Elder Rich

My good friend Elder Filmore.

My companion, Elder Mora. He is from Lima, Puru.
He has been practicing his English his whole mission and actually speaks really well.

Mission President Barlow and Sister Barlow

City of Turubamba

Feb 12: I made it

Hello. I am here finally. it is very pretty here, and the weather is very nice. I saw Pork yesterday and talked to him for a while. He is an AP.  We are hanging out today exploring downtown Quito. We get assigned comps tomorrow. That's' about it. I hope you enjoy your cruise. 
Love you,
Ian

Feb 11: Flying to Ecuador!

I don't have any time to write this week but we visited the consulate in Pheonix on Friday and I got my Visa! So I will be flying to Ecuador this morning, Monday the 11th at 10 am. I can't believe it all happened so quick and unexpected, but it's happening. I am so grateful for my time to serve the people of Ajo and South Phoenix. I am so blessed to have strengthened my testimony in these 12 weeks. Talk to you in Quito!

Love you all!

Elder Rich

Visa Approved 

Finally caught a pigeon

Frankie, our investigator in prison

Anotha cactus pic

Yup!

Last pic with ward mission leader, Malin Lewis - easily one of the best people I know.

I ran into my good friend Rett Hansen at the devotional with
President Nelson at the State Farm Stadium.
He is serving in the Arizona, Gilbert mission.

Feb 4: Still no Visa

Well, turns out they changed the visa outline so I had to completely fill out a new one and send it back to the Consulate. As of right now, I'm completely uncertain with what’s going on. We only have a week and a half left in the transfer so time is ticking. I'm guessing I'll have to stay another transfer but time will tell. It is crazy to think I've had my call for almost 10 months but still haven't made it to Ecuador. 

We are consistently teaching 5 people now in Ajo. This week we started teaching a fellow at the Jail here. So far we have taught him all of the Restoration, and a few other things. It is weird to teach lessons through a window over a phone but you gotta accept it. We also got Jon on date for the 16th of February. He's doing great, we spend a lot of time with him. We found a guy at Pizza Hut  (our only restaurant in town) that has seen missionaries before and really thinks our church is the way to go. He's pretty dope. The work is moving on. 

We had to translate Spanish to a couple of people during sacrament meeting. I didn't help out much but was fun to be able to be a part of it. We had a very spiritual testimony meeting. Both people we were translating for got up and bore their testimonies. One of them is a branch president in a small town in Mexico and was so pleased to see members here in Ajo and to feel so welcomed. He thought it was a ghost town. 

I'm also pleased to hear Tom Brady has 6 rings now. What a delightful sight. Anyway, I appreciate all you guys. If there is anything that I can do please email me. 

Love 

Elder Rich

Jon Jon

HIs hotel

Fed some javelinas