Dear Family,
This week went by really fast. We had a pretty successful week. We finally got people to go to church!!! We had a new couple that we found this week and the dad of the Peralta family at church :) The new family is way good. When we taught them the dad basically was saying that he`s been looking for the true church for a long time and that he`s willing to do what it takes to find it. He has all the desires in the world so we are just going to have to help him to do the little things to feel the Spirit. They´ve already gone to church so they´re progressing!!!
This week was my companion´s birthday. We ate a ton of food :) On Friday the mamita gave us a cake after we ate and we sang Happy Birthday, in English. It was kind of weird because they knew the words and sang it pretty well :) The funny part is that it wasn´t his actual birthday. His birthday was on Saturday. On Saturday we had our last appointment with the Branch President so they could give us pizza and another cake to eat :) After that appointment we went back home and our dueño (our renter), who lives right in front of us and are members, got taco stuff and had me cook it for my comps b-day as well :) It was pretty fun for both of us. But the birthday fun didn`t end on Saturday. When we went to visit some investigators on Sunday they had a cake ready for him. We ate cake and dinner with them too. We didn´t even know about it :) It was a fun weekend :)
Well, this week we have Zone Leader Council again. I can`t believe time is going by so fast!! Tomorrow we´ll be going to Quito again. Elder Estrada only has 6 weeks left now so he´s pretty trunky now. We´re still working but I´ve got to push a little bit sometimes. I´m pretty excited for this month though. General Conference is this week and we`re working hard in the zone now.
Well I love you all so much. Thanks for everything that you do.
Love,
Élder Hakes
Monday, March 28, 2011
March 14, 2011
Dear Family,
Well, this week went by a lot faster than I thought it would. It was an up and down week for us. The Lasso Family didn`t get baptized because they had to go visit their grandpa for his birthday. It was kind of a last minute thing where she told us Friday night so we`re kind of sad about that. We invited a ton of people to church this week too but no one went. It was a rough week :)
Yesterday we had a really good experience though!!! We went and visited a person that we had contacted on Saturday and she and her family was home so we visited them. We had a really good visit and they have a lot of desires for their lives. They accepted a baptismal date for April 2 :) They will have to get married but they want to do it so it shouldn`t be too hard :)
Well on Tuesday I got pretty wet a couple of times. Luckily they didn`t throw ink this time, just water. Everyone here was throwing water at everyone. It was pretty crazy!!! It`s an interesting holiday that they celebrate here :)
Well I`m not sure what else to write about. I bought a hamburger that had bacon on it this week. It wasn`t as good as I thought it would be :) We are working hard on getting people to go to church. It has been a challenge for us in our sector and in the zone. The people here in Riobamba love to eat potatos. It`s too much for me sometimes :) I think I`ve eaten potatos everyday since I`ve been here :) I tried 2 other crazy things this week. The first thing is something called tripa mishka or intestines. It didn`t taste too bad but it took FOREVER to chew :) The second thing I tried was something called Ceviche de chochos. It`s kind of like a soup that is made with onion, tomato, cilantro, pig skin and a bean type thing called chocho. I don`t like pig skin very much. It doesn`t have any taste but it`s just nasty :)
Well I love you all so much. Thank you for your love and your support. I`m so grateful for each of you in my life.
Love,
Èlder Hakes
Well, this week went by a lot faster than I thought it would. It was an up and down week for us. The Lasso Family didn`t get baptized because they had to go visit their grandpa for his birthday. It was kind of a last minute thing where she told us Friday night so we`re kind of sad about that. We invited a ton of people to church this week too but no one went. It was a rough week :)
Yesterday we had a really good experience though!!! We went and visited a person that we had contacted on Saturday and she and her family was home so we visited them. We had a really good visit and they have a lot of desires for their lives. They accepted a baptismal date for April 2 :) They will have to get married but they want to do it so it shouldn`t be too hard :)
Well on Tuesday I got pretty wet a couple of times. Luckily they didn`t throw ink this time, just water. Everyone here was throwing water at everyone. It was pretty crazy!!! It`s an interesting holiday that they celebrate here :)
Well I`m not sure what else to write about. I bought a hamburger that had bacon on it this week. It wasn`t as good as I thought it would be :) We are working hard on getting people to go to church. It has been a challenge for us in our sector and in the zone. The people here in Riobamba love to eat potatos. It`s too much for me sometimes :) I think I`ve eaten potatos everyday since I`ve been here :) I tried 2 other crazy things this week. The first thing is something called tripa mishka or intestines. It didn`t taste too bad but it took FOREVER to chew :) The second thing I tried was something called Ceviche de chochos. It`s kind of like a soup that is made with onion, tomato, cilantro, pig skin and a bean type thing called chocho. I don`t like pig skin very much. It doesn`t have any taste but it`s just nasty :)
Well I love you all so much. Thank you for your love and your support. I`m so grateful for each of you in my life.
Love,
Èlder Hakes
March 21, 2011
a rabbit head and Sunday dinner (we didn`t eat the head) :)
A Mtn. View Toro and a Westwood Warrior (E` Wright is in my zone)
Dear Family,
This week went by so fast again :) I can`t believe it!!! This week went really well for us. We found some new people and we got a hold of some people that we`ve been looking for, for a long time. We have a new family of 5 that we`re teaching!!!! It`s the Peralta Family. They`re doing really well. On Thursday they went to the Ward Family Night that we have every week. They seemed to have a good time. We were in charge of the game so we gave everyone a straw and divided them up into teams. Each team had to move parts of a puzzle (made with regular paper) from one table to another. When they moved all the pieces they had to put the puzzle together and do what it said. Each team had to make a human pyramid. It was pretty fun!!! The Peralta family couldn`t make it to church on Sunday because they had to visit their sick grandma that lives far away from here. We have an appointment with them tonight to teach them and see how they`re doing. On wednesday we are going to have a family night at the Peralta family`s house with the branch council. We`re excited about that too!!!!
I really like our branch here. They`re working hard and they are helping us out a lot. Our branch basically is one family. The Yumisaca family. There are like 4-5 kids that are all married and all have kids. It`s pretty crazy. The family is really supportive though and they`ve helped us out a lot.
Last Tuesday we had our specialized training. It was kind of weird to listen more and talk less. I`m so used to teaching the whole time, but it was nice. I learned a lot and it helped me out :) It was nice to see President again after not seeing him in so long :) Hermana Sloan was excited to see me again. I think she liked talking in English more in the car ha ha :)
Well I love you guys so much!!!! Thank you for all of your love and support. I`m so blessed to have you in my life. Be faithful to the covenants that you have made.
Love,
Èlder Hakes
Pictures:
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
March 7,2011
Looking a bit like a UCLA Bruin
The newest suit
A kid that reminds me of Brent..... a LOT
Dear Family!!!!!!!
This week was amazing!!!!! I`m so happy to be back in the field again :) :) We had so many spiritual experiences this week. On Thursday I went to a place called Guaranda. It`s 2 hours from where we`re at right now, but it`s part of our zone. We went to their district meeting and afterwards we went in divisions with the 2 companionships there. It was a fun trip. On the way there we had to pass by Chimborazo, the biggest volcano in Ecuador (it`s inactive though). I got some sweet pictures that I attached here in the e-mail ;)
On Friday we had a really awesome experience with a part-member family here. The mom and the daughter aren`t baptized and the dad is a recent convert. The mom hadn`t accepted a baptismal date because she is having some opposition with her family. We had an amazing lesson with her. We helped her see that there is an opposition in all things and that it`s part of the process. She had a change in her during the lesson and she and her daughter accepted a baptismal date for this weekend (March 12)!!!!!
Last night we had another amazing experience. We were teaching a family that has been listening and attending church for a long time. It`s another part-member family where 2 of the daughters are recent converts. We were working on putting a date with the mom because she is the one that goes to church every week (the dad is an alcoholic but was present in the lesson and not drunk). My companion started off being very direct with her because he has been teaching her for so long. In my opinion he was being to direct, it was a little bit offensive. When I started talking I just asked her some questions and she just said that she wants to be sure of her desicion when she makes it. Later on I asked why she kept going to church and she said that she feels good there and that her week goes better when she goes to church. I asked her if she felt safe and secure and church. She told me yes. I asked her how she knew that and she sat quietly for a minute and the Spirit entered in the room very very strongly. She didn`t answer but I knew what she was thinking so I asked her if she would be prepared to be baptized on March 19. She said yes and that she would keep praying to know and keep reading to feel more sure about her desicion. As we were about to say the prayer, the dad asked, "What would I have to do to be baptized?" It surprised all of us when he said that. We told him that he`d have to go to church and that he`d have to stop drinking. He said that he would talk with his wife and that he would have an answer for us today (we have an appointment with them tonight). The Spirit was so strong that he had a change within him and he felt the need to be baptized. It was an amazing experience!!!!! I love teaching by the Spirit :) :) :)
Well, today and tomorrow are are holidays for Ecuador. It`s called Carnaval. They all started since last week just for the fun of it. Basically everyone drinks a lot and everyone is throwing water, flour, eggs, ink, something that looks like colored shaving cream, etc. They keep getting me because I`m white and tall and I guess I`m a good target for them. They`ve only thrown water except for one time they threw purple ink at me (picture attached) so it hasn`t been too bad. I actually caught a water balloon and threw back at the people that threw it at me once. That`s right when they hit me with an ink filled balloon :)
I love you all so much. I`m so grateful for your letters and for your support during this time. I love serving the Lord. I am closer to Him now than I ever was before and I love it!!!
Love,
Èlder Hakes
The newest suit
A kid that reminds me of Brent..... a LOT
Dear Family!!!!!!!
This week was amazing!!!!! I`m so happy to be back in the field again :) :) We had so many spiritual experiences this week. On Thursday I went to a place called Guaranda. It`s 2 hours from where we`re at right now, but it`s part of our zone. We went to their district meeting and afterwards we went in divisions with the 2 companionships there. It was a fun trip. On the way there we had to pass by Chimborazo, the biggest volcano in Ecuador (it`s inactive though). I got some sweet pictures that I attached here in the e-mail ;)
On Friday we had a really awesome experience with a part-member family here. The mom and the daughter aren`t baptized and the dad is a recent convert. The mom hadn`t accepted a baptismal date because she is having some opposition with her family. We had an amazing lesson with her. We helped her see that there is an opposition in all things and that it`s part of the process. She had a change in her during the lesson and she and her daughter accepted a baptismal date for this weekend (March 12)!!!!!
Last night we had another amazing experience. We were teaching a family that has been listening and attending church for a long time. It`s another part-member family where 2 of the daughters are recent converts. We were working on putting a date with the mom because she is the one that goes to church every week (the dad is an alcoholic but was present in the lesson and not drunk). My companion started off being very direct with her because he has been teaching her for so long. In my opinion he was being to direct, it was a little bit offensive. When I started talking I just asked her some questions and she just said that she wants to be sure of her desicion when she makes it. Later on I asked why she kept going to church and she said that she feels good there and that her week goes better when she goes to church. I asked her if she felt safe and secure and church. She told me yes. I asked her how she knew that and she sat quietly for a minute and the Spirit entered in the room very very strongly. She didn`t answer but I knew what she was thinking so I asked her if she would be prepared to be baptized on March 19. She said yes and that she would keep praying to know and keep reading to feel more sure about her desicion. As we were about to say the prayer, the dad asked, "What would I have to do to be baptized?" It surprised all of us when he said that. We told him that he`d have to go to church and that he`d have to stop drinking. He said that he would talk with his wife and that he would have an answer for us today (we have an appointment with them tonight). The Spirit was so strong that he had a change within him and he felt the need to be baptized. It was an amazing experience!!!!! I love teaching by the Spirit :) :) :)
Well, today and tomorrow are are holidays for Ecuador. It`s called Carnaval. They all started since last week just for the fun of it. Basically everyone drinks a lot and everyone is throwing water, flour, eggs, ink, something that looks like colored shaving cream, etc. They keep getting me because I`m white and tall and I guess I`m a good target for them. They`ve only thrown water except for one time they threw purple ink at me (picture attached) so it hasn`t been too bad. I actually caught a water balloon and threw back at the people that threw it at me once. That`s right when they hit me with an ink filled balloon :)
I love you all so much. I`m so grateful for your letters and for your support during this time. I love serving the Lord. I am closer to Him now than I ever was before and I love it!!!
Love,
Èlder Hakes
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