September 4, 2010

Dear Family,
Well this week was absolutely nuts for me. I have to get used to being the President´s new assistant. I´m really surprised that he gave me this assignment so early iin my mission. I think I´m the "youngest" (in mission time) assistant that he´s called. I only have 10 months in Ecuador. I´m really excited to learn though. On Tuesday we went to the airport to pick up the new missionaries. It was pretty sweet to be able to see them and get to know them. All the North Americans get to go to the Peru MTC after 3 weeks in Provo so they come here speaking a lot better than what I did when I got here. They all pretty much understand and can speak a little bit.
Oh yeah, on Monday night we ate dinner in the president´s house. It was the "Last Supper" for all the missionaries that went home this week. We ate fajitas. I´m trying to control myself a little bit with the food because a lot of American food makes me sick now. It´s kind of the opposite of what you´d think, ha ha. This week was really weird. Every morning we have to go to the offices to fill out reports and make things for President Sloan. I didn´t even go into my sector for the first time until Thursday. We don´t have hardly anyone that´s progressing because we´re hardly here. It´s really weird. I don´t like it that much. I´m sick of sitting around on my butt all day long.
On Wednesday we had the training for the new missionaries. It went really well. I think my companion thought that I would be really nervous but I wasn´t hardly at all. President really liked it too. That training was the first time that I felt like I was a reall missionary as an assistant. My companion says that I just have to get used to it but I don´t want too. I want to keep that desire in my heart. It´s what keeps me moving.
Well I don´t know what else to say. We haven´t been doing real missionary work very much so I don´t have any cool experiences. I have one that wasn´t so cool. We were contacting this one street and no one let us in. It wasn´t that they just said, "No thank you, we´re not interested". They just shut the door or just said no before we even said one word. I know that in other parts of the world that that´s normal but here in Ecuador there are only a few like that. It looks like they all live on the same street too :) It was kind of funny for us actually. I´m not sure why.
I haven´t really gotten to know my companion very well yet. When we´re in the offices we´re on computers and when we´re in the house he´s talking more with the secretaries (all 4 of us live in the same house). It´s been kind of weird. I just feel kind of awkward when I´m with him. I just need to talk with him more I guess.
Well I love you guys all so much. Thank you for all that you do for me :)




Love,
Élder Hakes


P.S.
Next week I´m going to go to Otavalo on Thursday. That is where the closest decendents to Father Lehi in the whole world live, acording to President Spencer W. Kimball. Ask Nancy about them. I´m really excited to go. Also, on Saturday, in 7 days, I´ll be in a small city in the middle of the Amazon Jungle. It´s called Coca. When Pres. Sloan opened that sector about a year ago there were only about 30-40 people in the branch. Now there are 70-80 people. I´m really excited to go. Right next to this city is a river called the Napo River. It´s one of the main rivers that leads into the Amazon River. I can´t wait to go!!!!

Because I´m going to Coca next week I don´t know when I´m going to write you. It might be on Friday or it might be on Sunday or Monday. I don´t really know. Love you all. Congrats to Brent. I got an adreniline rush just reading his letter love you guys :)