15 Months??!!

Hola mi querida familia!!

How's everybody doing this week? It seems like everybody is always doing fine, but I just keep asking :) I'm still doing great too...what else is new? haha

First, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TREVOR TOMORROW!!!!! I hope you have an amazing day! I love you!!!

Second, I can't believe how the time flies by when you are serving a mission. It is insane. This week I passed my 15-month 'CLICK!' That means that there are only 9 months left (or one pregnancy ;) lol). A pregnancy goes by really fast right?? haha (I think I already know the answer to that question..and I think 9 months as a missionary will go by A LOT faster. And I'm pretty sure that these 9 months aren't going to end in almost unbearable pain).

Third, THANKS A TON for the package I got this week! Jelly Bellys, Peanut butter, sour patch kids, deodorant, toothbrush head, church news (with a pic of the Guayaquil temple on the cover!), friends' wedding announcements, Alexa's school pic (I LOVE IT!), and Mom and Dad's Hawaii pics (no, I'm not jealous at all! lol). Thanks for the package! Keep em coming ;) haha

Fourth, this week we did a couple of service projects :) On Friday, we helped a family move to their new house that was REALLY far away from their old house (but not really, it is next door to the old house lol). And after that they gave us lunch. And guess what was in the soup??? Yep, a chicken foot! lol But I handled it a little more gracefully this time (AKA I didn't gag out loud this time lol). But I still didn't eat the chicken foot ;) And on Saturday we did an unplanned service project. We passed by a members house and there were some members outside helping him build a new fence. So he let us borrow his tshirts and we helped build the fence. In our dress shoes and slacks....it was pretty awesome :) haha Gotta love doing service!

Fifth, HAPPY HALLOWEEN to every body on Sunday! Eat lots of candy for me :)

Sixth, that's all the news for this week! I love you so much, family! Thanks for your letters, love, prayers, pictures, support, etc. I need it all! I love you all TONS!!!

Love, Elder Beck

P.S. Seventh, Here are some pics. First the pic of the Pink bathroom....it doesn't look nearly as pink as it really is in this pic. Second, a beatiful sunset it Guayaquil :) Third, my bedroom. I love the windows cause it's not hot at all at night....it is really windy in our apartment lol. ENJOY the PICS!!! I LOVE YOU

Cookies and circus and Llamas, OH MY!!!

Hola mi querida familia!!!

How's everybody doing this week? My first week in my new sector has been great. There are so many people in this sector. A big change from Salinas because that sector was big and most of the houses are empty (cause people only come to those houses for vacations a couple times a year). But in these 2 sectors, there are tons of houses packed in close together and all of the houses are full of families that need the message that we are sharing. I think that we are going to have a lot of success in this sector. At least that's what we are hoping and praying for :)

One thing that I would like you to send me (and the members would like you to send it to me too) is the recipe for No-Bake cookies :) From what the members have told me, there was a 'gringo' here before that made no-bake cookies but he never gave the recipe to the members lol. And they are craving those cookies...and now I am too :) So if you could email me that recipe so I can have it next week, that would be great :)

And the mission asked us for a picture of our house, taken from the front, in the street. So if you could email me a pic of the house for next week, that would be great too :) They say it is in case of emergencies...

Hey, Zack... HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe that you are going to be 9 years old! You are so big! Can you believe a year has already passed since you were baptized?! I love you!!!!!!

Hey Mom, guess what???? I saw llamas this week!!!!!!! bahaha There is a circus that is visiting this part of Guayaquil, and apparently llamas play a big part in the circus here, because there are like 5 or 6 llamas. But not a single elephant or tiger. Just llamas, an ostrich, a mini-pony, and chickens. I think I know the reason that this circus only costs $1........LOL They still haven't caught up with Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey haha.

You know what being in charge of 2 wards means?? Attending 2 wards on Sundays. FIVE HOURS OF CHURCH!! lol One starts at 8am and the other at 10am. The good part is that we only have to go to Elders' Quorum once ;) lol jk (sort of). It actually wasn't that bad..it went by pretty quickly. And you always have to look at things on the positive side...we take the Sacrament twice, which will be very helpful on Fast Sundays! hahaha

Well, that's the news for this week, fam. Next week I'll send pics of the house, cause I forgot my camera today. I know you are all dying to see the pink bathroom :) It's about the size of an airplane bathroom, but they somehow managed to fit a shower in, too lol. I love you all SOOO much! I'm thankful for all of your support...I couldn't do it without you.

I LOVE YOU!
Love, Elder Beck

PICS...

Elder Baquerizo and I in Ballenita...a couple blocks away from the sister missionaries' house.

Dinner one of the nights that we were locked in the house. Those yellow things are called patacones. They are made with plantain (I think that's what it's called in english? It looks like a giant banana but it has a different flavor) I love patacones....and chifles. They're almost the same thing. Fried plantain.

The zone...from shortest to tallest :) Yes, there is an Elder that is even SHORTER than the sister missionaries lol.

And of course, I had to take a pic of myself :)

Love ya fam!!!

Love, Elder Beck

CAMBIOS...

Hola mi querida familia!!!

How's everybody doing this week? I am doing great :) Well, this week in Salinas was another very normal week. We received a few referrals from people in other parts of Ecuador, so we were trying to contact them. And we had no success with that. We did contact them...but nobody wanted to listen :P Actually 1 of them did want to listen, but she lives in another sector now. Just our luck! lol But it's all good. We just have need to find people IN our sector that want these blessings :)

Or at least that's what I would have to do if I was still in Salinas....lol Last night, right after we reported our weekly numbers to the office, they told us the changes in the zone. I was expecting alot of changes, because for the last few changes almost nobody was changed. But, the change I wasn't expecting was the one for me. But that's how it's been for every one of the changes I've had....unexpected lol.

So, last night I packed up all of my 'stuff' and was asleep at about midnight. And then we had to wake up at 4am to be in Guayaquil at 8am. So, you might be able to imagine how tired I am lol. Ecuador needs another 'political unrest' so I can have a couple days to play 'sleep catch-up' haha jk. Anyways, my new sector is in Guayaquil. The zone is called Pascuales and we are in charge of 2 wards---Unión Cívica and Alegría. My companion is Elder Barrientos from Chile. He was my zone leader when I was in Vinces, and now we are zone leader comps :) This should be a good change...he is a very calm person....and he REALLY wants to learn English haha. We live in a house with 2 other elders..one is a Latino from LA and one from Otavalo, Ecuador (the one from Otavalo has a pony-tail ;) lol). Our bathroom is very, very, VERY pink :) hahaha I'll take pics and send them in the future.

It is REALLY hot and sunny here in Guayaquil. I definitely did not miss that part when I was in Salinas. And I think I might actually miss some of the seafood! lol There is something they make here that's called Encebollado..and it's really good. And Ceviche with shrimp is tasty too. And we can't eat either of those things here in Guayaquil, but it's all good. I'll just try and enjoy the chicken and rice and soup here in Guayaquil :) lol I'm guessing that I'll be here for Christmas and New Year like last year, too. Good times :)

Well, that's the news for the week, fam. I love you all SOOOO much! Thanks for being such an AMAZING family! Thanks for the prayers, support, love, letters, etc. I really appreciate all of it. I LOVE YOU!!!!!

Love, Elder Beck

LOCKED IN

Hola mi querida familia!!!!

How's everybody doing this week? This has been a good week, here in Salinas.

On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we continued with 'normal' days. Just preach and teach and work, like missionaries do (that's a song right? lol) But on Thursday we had a little change. Due to the 'political unrest' here in Ecuador this weekend, we had to stay in our house all day Thursday and Friday. On Thursday we hung up hammocks in the porch and read....A LOT. (And maybe slept a bit too ;) ) And then when we got bored of reading, we would eat something. And then we would read some more. And then eat some more..etc. One Elder said that we were reading the scriptures, and then we pondered what we had read while we slept, and then in the night we received revelation because we couldn't fall asleep lol. And that's basically what happened. On thursday night, Elder Baquerizo and I played mini-Clue. It was one of the prizes he got in his box of cereal. It was a pretty exciting game...especially since I won! lol And that's pretty much all we did. The members brought lunch and dinner to our house, thankfully :)

On Saturday we were REALLY excited because we got to break out of the house and go to General Conference! And General Conference was AMAZING!!! Firstly, because I saw almost all of it in English! haha We had to watch the sunday-morning session in spanish, cause that's the session that all of the members come to and they didn't all fit in the chapel, so they came to the overflow room where we were watching it in English :P But it was still great! A few favorites were Elder Holland's jokes about Girls Camp without shampoo, showers, or mascara. And the green Jell-O, Quilts, and Funeral potatoes. That's what mormons are known for! In the states at least, cause here they don't do those things lol. And I want to say THANKS to Mom and Dad for all of the sacrifices you have made, and continue making, for me :) Next, Elder Uchtdorf's talk where he started talking about tree-rings and then asked what that had to do with flying airplanes. That was hilarious. I liked when he lost his voice too. Not just cause of the little joke he made, but it helps us remember that, even though he is a counselor to the Prophet, he's still just a guy. He loses his voice just like normal people :) I liked his message too about slowing down a little and seeing the things that really matter. Simplify our lives. And that in family relationships, love is spelled T-I-M-E. So true. And stuff like that just doesn't translate to another language, so I was happy to be watching it in English :) Elder Gong's talk in the afternoon was really funny. "Blackberries read in church make green Bishops blue" hahah. And the letters from the Elders that tasted his wife's bread. Classic! In the Priesthood session, when Patrick Kearon spoke, I had a really hard time not thinking about Harry Potter (because of his accent lol). I loved Pres. Uchtdorf's talk about pride. It turns of Priesthood power. I loved what Pres. Monson said about obedience. It is easier to obey 100% of the time, instead of ober 98% of the time. SOO true!!! (He was. Talking like Ryan. Scheckler and that. Was really. Distracting LOL) And in the Sunday afternoon session, Elder Lawrence's talk for parents of teens. That was a very clear and straightforward talk and I liked it. I like that he mentioned the importance of family dinner. Sorry, Alexa, that you will never be able to have a sleepover again....lol. And I like that he said Counciling requires courage. All in all it was a really great General Conference. And it went by WAY too fast! I'm already excited for the Conf. in April! :)

I thought of something I would like in the next package. Some more pics..I think I already asked for more Hawaii pics. I want some pics of me with my group of friends from church too. Like some fun pics of us when we went to GC, seminary graduation, and other pics with friends. I know there are some good ones on my Facebook, so you can get some from there... :) Thanks a ton!!!

Well, that's the news for this week! I love you all SOOOO much! I'm so glad I have such an amazing family that loves and supports me in the things I do. Thanks for that :) I LOVE YOU!!!!

Love, Elder Beck