Monday, April 26, 2010

Pictures




The zone last change

Last weeks baptism-Roberto

This weeks baptism-Maura. And the daughter in law that gave us the reference. Maura looks happy, right??? lol I love old people :)

9 months?!

HOLA MI QUERIDA FAMILIA!

How are things going in the Northern Hemisphere? That reminds me that some members from the branch here went to 'the middle of the world' on the Equator and they said that supposedly you can balance an egg on a needle there. And they said that there were a bunch of gringos there trying it lol. They didn't tell us if the gringos were successful in their efforts or not. When we all come back to Ecuador we'll have to go there and try it :) haha

Everything is going great here in Vinces. It's hot....I want you all to come here just so you can really understand what I mean when I say it's hot. It's a hot that doesn't exist in Arizona haha. And I want you to come here so you can really understand what I'm talking about when I mention volcanoes of rice! lol This week we ate lunch with Luis and Maribel...and it seems that someone must have told them that the missionaries LOVE rice cause I had never seen SO much rice on one plate in my life lol. It was a large dinner plate FULL of rice and a tiny bit of 'salad' (beats, tomatoes, potatoes, and onions....surprisingly it's pretty good). But I think that was the 'full-est' that I have EVER been in my life. If I would have coughed, I think I would have spewed rice lol.

As you can see from the subject of this email....I passed my 9 MONTH mark in the mission!!!!!! I seriously cannot believe how fast time flies. 9 months is fast...why do women always say that time goes so slow when they are pregnant???? lol JK I imagine that 9 months in the mission is slightly different than 9 months of pregnancy.....but I guess I'll never really know? bahaha

This week we had a BAPTISM! The mother in law of the recent convert that opened the door and said my mother in law wants to get baptized, got baptized :) She is almost 90 years old and I was afraid to baptize her lol. The members were joking around before the baptism saying 'Careful not to drown her' and saying 'Don't you have to do work for the dead in the Temple??' hahahaha. But everything went well and she is still alive lol. People here are funny.

Well, that's it for this week. I hope everything continues going well at home :) I LOVE YOU ALL SOOO MUCH! People here always say "Ser Mormón es ser feliz" which translates to "To be Mormon is to be happy." I love it cause it is so true! Keep a smile on your face and always be positive :D

Love ya!
Elder Beck

Monday, April 19, 2010

Change #6

Hola mi querida familia!

How's everybody doin this week?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMORROW BRENT!!!!!!! Hope you have an amazing day :) Love ya!

Everything here in Vinces is still going great. And yes I am still in Vinces...and my comp is still Elder Contreras! Woo hoo!!! Finally more than one change with one companion! haha This past week was slightly crazy. Well....mostly just the first half of the week.

It all started last monday night. We knew that it was the last week of the change and that we could be being changed any time, because Pres. Gamboa doesn't do changes on the last day of the change anymore. I was hoping to stay in Vinces with Elder Contreras. At about 10pm, I got a call from one of the APs and first off I thought "Great, where are they sending me now." But....they didn't send me to another sector. The AP asked me how I was doing, I said fine. He then proceeded to tell me that they had a special assignment for me, I said ok. Next he said that I am going to be DISTRICT LEADER and asked me how I felt. For about 10 seconds all I could say was "uuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" and then I could only think to say "good." lol He laughed and said that Pres. Gamboa has a lot of confidence in me and that he knows that I will do well. So I thought to myself that if Pres. Gamboa feels that way then it must be ok. So....now I'm a 'DL.' Alexa, you can stop asking me now when I am going to be DL lol ;)

Next, on Tuesday we had our District Meeting like always and I, now being district leader, had to give the lesson. That was scarzy (scary and crazy combined lol). But it went well and the elders participated a lot (thankfully haha). After that the ZL (whose sector is Ventanas, 1 1/2 hours away from Vinces) came with my comp and I to Vinces to do a baptism interview for Roberto Lara that night. Everything went well with the ZL here, the interview went well (Roberto got there late, but that's pretty much to be expected lol). And in the night, after planning and everything we were just talking and we got another phone call. This time is was for the ZL saying that he was going to be changed and that he had to be in Guayaquil the next day and 8am. So he had to call his comp in Ventanas and tell him to pack his bags for him lol.

On Wednesday we woke up at about 4am and went to Ventanas so that the ZL could go to Guayaquil with his comp. When we go to Ventanas, my comp and I went back to sleep for about 2 1/2 more hours lol. And at about noon, my comp and I went with another Elder to Catarama (about 30 mins from Ventanas) so that I could do a baptism interview. I was way nervous for that...and super exhausted....but everything went well and the guy passed the interview :) After that, we ate in Catarama and then my comp and I went back to Vinces, leaving the other Elder with other Elders from Ventanas. We got to Vinces at about 5:15 and went straight to the Church because Roberto's baptism was at 7pm and we had to fill the font (which takes about 2 hours to fill). We got it all filled up and everything ready on time :) Except that nobody got there on time....lol. But Roberto Lara got baptized and everything went great.

So, that's the big news of the past week. I was SOO tired after Wednesday lol. And I think that is why I got a little sick. NOthing to worry about though, just a common cold :) I drank a ton of orange juice and water and I am better now :) I made it almost 9 months without getting sick at all...it was bound to happen some time haha.

This weekend it has been raining ALL night and then during the day all of the clouds disappear and the sun appears. I think you all will have to come to Ecuador to experience the sun here....it is different than I have ever felt in my life. It is ridiculously hot and sweaty lol. Gotta love Ecuador :)

Well, that's all the news for this week! I love you all SOOOOO much! You are all amazing and great. Share the Gospel with your friends :)

Love you tons!
Love, Elder Beck

Monday, April 12, 2010

-tures




INSANE sunset. Luckily I had my camera that day.

Luis and Maribel at the baptism.

Lunch in the shell of a fruit called 'mate' with FRESHLY killed chicken :) haha BTW, that lunch was eaten whiled sitting in a hamock hanging under a sugar cane house in the middle of a field of banana trees :)

Pic-




Father, Grandfather, and Son (Me, E Rod, and E Contreras)

After the Wedding of Luis and Maribel with the Hermanas Castro. They are neighbors of Luis and Maribel and members that have helped us a lot with Luis and Maribel :)

What happened to my comp?! Haha jk. One of the Castro Family's baby horses :)

Super P-day

Hola mi querida familia!

How is everybody doing? Great, I hope :)

As you can see from the subject of the email, today is Super P-day. Which means that the house is clean!!! (Well...clean is relative lol. Let's just say that it is cleaner than normal :) ) We spent 2 hours cleaning today instead of 1, now we're in cyber, and I think we're going to eat ecua-pizza (pizza from Ecuador) after this. And then we are going to cut our hairs, and do our grocery shopping, and then I think we'll nap :) That's a P-day in the life of a missionary haha.

This week has been a great week. It started off with the Vinces River overflowing!!! It has been raining a lot up-river which made the river here overflow. I'm glad we live on the 4th floor, because there were TONS of houses that were full of water for 2 or 3 days :) The last time the river overflowed like that was 20 years ago. Luckily our sector is farther away from the river so we weren't swimming from lesson to lesson lol :)

Last week I mentioned that Luis and Maribel could possibly be getting married. Welllllllllll.............................THEY DID IT!!!!!!!!! They got married on Thursday, had the baptism interview on Friday, got baptized on Saturday, and were confirmed on Sunday! It was all so great :) And it all started out with Maribel saying that she would never get married....much less get baptized! It is amazing how the Gospel changes the hearts of people when they allow it to. And Luis used to have a drinking problem and Maribel would always pray that something or someone could help him. And this week she told us that she has realized the we (Elder Morataya, Elder Contreras, and I) were the answer to all of those prayers :) I love hearing all of the experiences as the people allow the Spirit to enter into their lives! The mission is the best!

Well, sorry the letter is short this week. But that's the week. Not alot happened, but the stuff that did happen was pretty exciting. We'll see if there is more to write next week :) I love all of you SOOOOO much! I'm thankful to have such an amazing family and for everything you all do for me!

Love you all!!!!
Elder Beck

Monday, April 5, 2010

APRIL!

Hola mi querida familia!

How's everybody doing this week? I hope everybody enjoyed conference! I know I did :) I didn't get to watch any sessions in English, but thankfully I understood a LOT more than I did last October! haha But I'm pretty sure they don't translate everything...cause one of the apostles was talking and he kept smiling really big and laughing...but he didn't say anything funny in the Spanish version?? It was a little weird lol.

I can't believe it's April already! Were there any funny April Fools jokes? I remember last year on Johnjay and Rich (on the radio) there were cat 'meow-ing' noises ALL day. It was hilarious. People called in and said that they were going crazy looking for cats under the seats in their cars. lol That holiday doesn't exist in Ecuador :P

Happy Birthday to EMMA on Friday! I love you Emma and I can't believe you are going to be 6 years old! Have a great birthday :)

On Friday we went to Quevedo for interviews with President Gamboa. He asked me how much time I had in the mission and I had forgotten and had to count on my fingers really fast. He laughed...and I felt a little dumb (thanks President lol). E Rod was there too. He was transferred to Quevedo and is still Zone Leader. He got to meet his grandson (my son)...and I got to meet my brother (the other Elder that E Rod trained) lol. So we had a little family reunion haha :) Tomorrow we have zone conference in Babahoyo and I think that they are going to be there for that too, so we are going to take a family picture lol.

Random things from conference...The guy that plays the organ in the MTC is in MoTab. The guy that directed the Priesthood choir on Saturday night directed the MTC choir every so often. The girl that plays the piano that accompanies the MTC choir is in the other choir that sang on Saturday. And almost EVERY person who went to conference asked me if President and Sister Beck are Uncle and Aunt. I told some people yes, because I got tired of explaining that Beck is a kind of common name in the US lol. And last, but not least, one of my house-comps brought animal crackers to the sessions of conference, took his shoes off during the sessions and put his feet up on the bench, and ate animal crackers lol!! A good example to the investigators :) hahaha

I got a package last week!!!! Thanks mom and dad for the letters, New Era, Church News, Reese's Pieces, fruit leather, and the healthy granola bars (I was a little skeptical about those..but they were tasty :) ) haha. Thanks a ton!

Today Elder Contreras and I made a quick trip to Guayaquil to get the indentification for E Contreras. So now he is legal here in Ecuador :) haha And in the bus terminal we ate McDonalds.....and Pizza Hut. You have to take advantage of the opportunities to eat at places like that when you are in Vinces cause there are no good restaurants in Vinces lol. And that is why I am writing later than usual..cause we had to go to Guayaquil. And when we got back to Vinces, the power was out :)

Well, that's it for this week! I love you all SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much! You are the most amazing family in the world :) Hope you all had a Happy Easter and Conference weekend ;)

Love ya!
Elder Beck