April 18, 2011

Me in a very small house
Dear Family,
This was a crazy week. We had a lot of service projects with the people in our branch. This week we helped fix a car with a mechanic in our ward (he´s less active) and he went to church this week with his family. He´s also preparing to receive the Melchizedek priesthood next month!!!!! It was pretty fun helping him too. On Saturday we went to one of our member´s garden. We helped her pull tons of weeds :) I can´t believe how many there were. Another member that was there was surprised that I could just keep going and going with the tool I was using (it was like a hoe but it was bigger and it´s used like a pick axe). For him the hoe/pick axe is half his size, but for me it´s just another tool :) It was pretty funny :) The member that we helped are less-actives as well and they also went to church this week :)

A very small lady. She´s the mechanic´s aunt or something :)



Us pulling weeds


Saturday was a really special day. In the zone we had 9 baptisms and we had them all in the same building. My companion and I know basically all of them because we interviewed 8 of the 9. One of them asked me to baptize them too! We actually had to convince one family (of 5) to come. The morning of the baptism the parents had gotten into a fight (only the mom got baptized, the missionaries never taught the dad) and it effected the whole family. The mom yelled at one of her daughters and all of the kids that got baptized got mad. When we arrived at their house to pick them up they didn´t come out, only the mom and one of the kids. We went in and talked to all of them and we finally were able to help them. We talked about how the convenant is with God and not with anyone else. They came and it was an amazing baptismal service. There were like 30-40 members present from the 2 branches. There were so many people in white!!!!! It was an amazing night :)

Pictures of the baptisms Fam. Herrera Orozco and Fam. Tenelema and Karen Jimenez




Today we had a fun activity :) We went to Ecuador´s highest volcano, Chimborazo. We went up to the 2nd refuge which is at 5000 meters or 16,400 feet!!! There was still a lot more to climb but we didn´t have time nor the energy to do it :) According to a sign there, the top of Chimborazo is the highest distance from the center of the earth. I´m not sure if that´s true but that is a cool fact :)





Well family, I love you all so much. Thank you for your support and thank you for your words of comfort and strength. It helps me so much to keep working and serving the Lord. Keep strong to the Gospel and remember our Savior this Easter season. To receive the blessings of the Atonement we have to follow Christ in all things :)



Love,
Élder Hakes

April 11, 2011

Pictures:
a cuy (hamster) foot that I found in my desk this week

Me cleaning an underground water tank


Dear Family,
This week was so crazy. We were in so many exchanges with our missionaries. I was in Guaranda (2 hrs. from Riobamba. We have 4 missionaries from our zone there) for a day and a half trying to help an investigator there but we never got a hold of her. It was a good exchange though. On Friday we went with some other missionaries here in Riobamba for another day. It all went really well though. We feel that we were able to help them a lot.
On Friday I had a good experience with Elder Stange (from California) while we were in exchanges. Basically the whole day it was raining and really, really cold. We were knocking on doors because no one was home yet. We weren´t havingmuch success though. We found some people that they just kind of listened and were only half-way interested. Finally it was getting later so more people were getting home from work. We went to an investigators house but they weren´t home yet. It was a little bit frustratig for us but we decided to talk with the lady that lives in front of our investigators house. We started talking and she didn´t seem that interested until I asked her "Why is your barber shop named Antoni?" She told me that it´s named after her son who died 4 years ago. We started talking to her about the plan of salvation with her and about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (she also told us that she was divorced from her husband 4 years ago too). She changed. She became very interested and we taught her a lesson. She accepted a baptismal date and said that she was going to go to church (unfortunately she didn´t because she was visiting relatives). It was a really amazing experience for us. We were so grateful to get out of the rain and to help her and her children feel the Spirit.
Well, my companionn only has 29 days left. He´s a little bit trunky, well let´s be honest, he´s really trunky :) He´s pretty excited to see his family again. His sisters are inactive and he wants to help them to get back on track. He also misses the food a lot :) He says that it´s more flavorful in Colombia :)
Well I´m so grateful for all of you. Thank you for your love and support. I know I say it every week but it´s true. I have had so many great people around me during my whole life and it is such a blessing for me :) I love you all.




Love,
Élder Hakes

April 4, 2011

Eating more cake


Elder Stange cutting my hair today (I cut his hair too)

Dear Family,
Wasn´t conference great this year!!!!! I loved every session. So many of the talks were for me and were the exact words that I needed to hear. It was such a great experience :) Priesthood Session was the best. I think every speaker said something that I needed to hear. The spoke so boldly and directly and I loved it!!!! This tie I payed special attantion to President Monson. I watched everything that he did. His expressions, what he said, how he said it, when he said it, etc. I know that he´s not perfect but I know that he is the prophet. He says what needs to be said. He tells us what we need and he doesn´t go around in circles when he tells us. I know that he´s a prophet :)
Well, this week we had ZL Council again!!! It was just as spiritual as General Conference. There were so many things said that I needed to hear. It motivated me to get to work and to focus more on this great work :) I received a lot of revelation for me and for my companionship and for the zone. I love the Spirit!!!!!
So this week we ate another cake :) We didn´t know about it either ha ha :) There´s a recent convert that turned 18 on Thursday and they barely made the cake last night. After a visit with her Mom and sister (investigators) we ate cake :) It was pretty sweet.
I love you all so much. Thank you for your examples. I´m so grateful that we have a living prophrt today and 12 apostles that lead and guide us. It is such a blessing to listen to them and to do as they say. I love each and every one of you!!!





Love,
Élder Hakes

PS --- Riobamba, weather wise, is very similar to Quito. It´s at about the same height and about the same temperature. Here is a lot smaller than Quito though. It´s very rural. There are a lot of natives and a lot of little towns right outside of the city. There aren´t any rivers that I know of. The road coming here to Riobamba from Quito is called Volcano Alley. I can see 2 volcanos and Ecuador´s biggest mountain (Chimborazo) from where I´m at :) The temperature always changes drastically here. This morning we played basketball and soccer and it was really hot. THere was a ton of sun but right now it´s cold and rainy :) It´s kind of annoying that it changes so much but it´s really nice weather here :) I would say that it´s always between 50-75º all the time.



Pictures: