Getting to know Los Rieles

Hola mi querida familia!!!!

I hope every body is still doing great this week. I feel great and happy! I was just thinking, as I was writing to President Gamboa, that the happiness that I feel as a missionary is unlike any other happiness I've felt in my life. It is a happiness that comes from serving the Lord 24/7, I think. It is such a unique opportunity to be a missionary. I've also been thinking a little bit this week about time. Time is just FLYING by! Saturday was my 18-month 'CLICK' day! I've got the last 1/4 of my mission ahead of me and I want to take advantage of every minute of it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY TO CARLIE!!!!!!!! I hope you have an awesome day! And I hope you get to kick back and relax a little bit :) I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!

THANKS FOR THE PACKAGE THAT I GOT THIS WEEK!! This package was a little bit bigger than the normal packages ;) Ties, pics, sharpie pen, letters, peppermint bark, microwave fudgy chocolate chip cookie, pistachios (I never thought I would be so happy to see those lol), Jelly Bellys, Ferrero Rocher chocolates, protein bars, Cadbury chocolates, HLJ rings, Church News, Cetaphil, and...NEW WHITE SHIRTS!!! They almost look like they are glowing next to my old shirts!! lol Now, everybody is going to think that I'm a greenie ;) THANKS so much for the package! I always LOVE everything you send :D

This week, my companion had to do a baptism interview for the other Elders that live with us. While we were waiting at the Church for the investigator to arrive (cause things are almost never on time here lol) my companion started playing with frogs. There is a little canal that goes right in front of the Church and you have to cross a bridge to get in to the Church..and TONS of frogs come out of that canal. They are about the size of the palm of my hand, and it is just about impossible to kill them lol. My companion found a shoelace in the church, and tied it around one of the frog's legs, and was spinning that frog all over the place. And then when he would sit the poor, dizzy frog on the ground, it couldn't even jump straight. It was HILARIOUS. The frog would jump and almost do a flip, or jump and land on its back, etc. It was so funny. And THAT is how the missionaries keep themselves entertained bahaha. People need to get to meetings on time so we don't have to do stuff like that lol.

I met a gringo this week. His name is Jay. He's from New Orleans (say it with the Southern accent). He's been living here for 18 years, and guess how much Spanish he knows? NOTHING haha! He says that all of the people that he talks to speak enough English that he's never bothered to learn Spanish. He has a gold mine and he says that Ecuador is just FULL of gold. He told me a little bit about how easy it is to earn A LOT of money in the gold business here and about how cheap life is in Ecuador. He says he has a huge house, with AC, and carpet! (Nobody has carpet here lol) and that it only costed him $60,000. The way he talks about Ecuador almost makes me want to stay here...almost lol. Anyways, I was talking to him and he asked me where he could find a Bible in English here...and I was thinking where he could possibly find that here...and then I thought of a better idea. I told him that I had a Book of Mormon in English, and that it is similar to the Bible, but it was written in the Americas. Well, he seemed really interested and the next day I gave it to him and he read almost all the rest of the day. He said he never knew that Mormons were different than J-dubs, so I had to explain to him that there is a BIG difference (mainly that our church is true and theirs isn't lol). The only problem is that he doesn't live in my sector..he's just been here supervising some people that are building a house. But, I got his address and phone number and I am almost sure that he will be baptized shortly. He's awesome...and it was nice to speak in English a bit ;) But he reminded me of SOO much food from the States that I haven't eaten in forever, and that he eats every day cause he has a maid that cleans, washes clothes, cooks, etc. And he's taught her how to make everything from the States. He said he's gonna try and bring us Lasagna this week....I hope he does! ;D

So, like it says in the 'subject' we've been getting to know our sector this week. We've met a lot of members who have given us some referrals. We've found a couple families that seem really interested. And it looks like the members got excited after that activity last week, because with some members we didn't even have to ASK for referrals. They just came up and started listing off people they want us to visit :) So, I feel like we're gonna have lots of success in this sector. I just hope they leave me here long enough to see all that success! haha

Well there's the news for this week ;) I hope every one of you has a great week. I hope you all know how much I appreciate every thing you do! I love you all TONS!!!!!!!! Read the scriptures every day, say your prayers, HLJ/CTR, smile, and share the Gospel with your friends and neighbors! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love, Elder Beck