Hey Mom and Dad,
Wow sounds like´s it´s been another great week at home. Ah good times thanksgiving weekend and some great football games. Here I had spaghetti and rice with chicken, lol (we had members still cook for us and one person brought us the meals so we still ate:). I actually forgot it was Thanksgiving until halfway through the day then was like whoa, it´s Thanksgiving! Then I told my comp about it. He was puzzled as to why it´s so centered on turkeys, I told him I have no idea, lol. But yeah when Elder Salazar came over again he realized it was Thanksgiving too and turned to me and was like “hey! Happy Thanksgiving!” then we hugged as the 2 gringos in a foreign country both missing out on traditional holidays, lol. But that’s good it sounds like it was nice having all the family over. Sounds like the turkey bowl was good, lol And that’s kool you saw Walker, is he playing for OSU still? Next time you should ask him for a list of sectors where he was, I remember him telling me about some before the mission but I didn´t know at all, now that I´m here it´d be neat to know. It was funny last week I finally got some batteries to listen to that tape you sent me Dad and as I was listening all of a sudden I heard a voice bearing their testimony in Spanish and I was like “who is this? They´ve got good Spanish.” Then he introduced himself as Walker and I recognized it, lol
But anyways, well things here haven´t really been too exciting, lol. I´m afraid I have no news or anything, other then the fact that we had zone conference this week, that was sweet. Last Monday when I went to Guayaquil after the doctor's appointment I asked hna Gamboa if I could still come to Conference and she said “Venga, no más.” Lol “come no more.” So yeah it was neat the President put a focus on developing Christlike attributes. It was kool to hear. And a good spiritually uplifting experience as always.
Other then that, I have finally finished Jesus the Christ and about every other item of study possible. After memorizing everything in the maestro and being in the memorizing mode I was tempted to just get out my Patriarchal Blessing and memorize that, lol, that could come in handy any time I´m feeling down. But nah I figured there are always other scriptures that would be useful to memorize that I can use with the investigators. The only bad thing about being in the house is that every day from about 4 till about 6 is that the power would go out. Apparently all of Ecuador has been having power outages because the rivers have been low and that´s their source of power. But it´s pretty neat how they´ve made a schedule of cutting the power in certain sectors at certain times of the day. But yeah, just rough because the fans are the only things we have to cool us off. Hopefully it rains soon so the rivers will rise.
And thanks Mom yeah I´m sure I´ll get the Thanksgiving package this week. The thing I´m starting to notice about pouch is that it can be very unpredictable. Like sometime´s packages and letters will come in 2-3 weeks, and other times 4-5 weeks. So who knows. I´m pretty sure I have yet to completely lose a package. And thanks haha i´m excited to get the Christmas packages! And haha your going to put 75$ in my account? Ah thanks I don´t know what I would want that costs that much, almost everything is way cheap here. I still have like $40 from what I had in my wallet entering the MTC. But thanks I suppose I could look for something. This week I actually decided to buy a 8GB pindrive to store all of my photos. I think that should be pretty secure and an easy way to keep them for 2 years. Plus I think I´ll save all the emails I get and any other things on there. That should be good :).
Alright well I don´t have any other news so I´ll get going. Thanks again for your letters! I don´t know why but this computer won´t read my card reader. Ugh, I really feel bad since it´s been so long since I sent photos. I promise I´ll try to find a computer that´ll send them next week!
Love you! Have a great week!
Love,
Elder David Frome
PS- I also sent a package today with just a couple keychains, I figured that´d be a good way to test to see how it works. They said it should arrive in 8-15 days, I was impressed. You´ll have to tell me when you get it :)
Note from Mom - David forgot to tell us how his leg is doing!! I am just going to assume it is better. Hopefully he can get out and work this week. :)
not-so-exciting-week stuck in the house :) 11/23/09
Hey Mom and Dad,
I´m really doing great, lol. I honestly felt the whole week like I could just walk out the door at any minute to teach, but the doctor said I should stay and rest and can´t bend my knee so I didn´t. I think it would´ve been better actually if my leg or foot actually hurt, because then I´d feel more like its true that I should rest, lol. But since in reality the only thing holding me back was a minor infection and some stitches. But ah well, as is life. But ok, before I forget, firstly, yes a couple weeks ago it was pretty well evident from the outside that it was an infection. I think they said it was an acido- i´m not sure what that is in English nor Spanish, lol. But basically an infection right under the skin. So yeah, it was all red and swollen. But now it looks perfectly fine, just a small healing cut and a little red. As for the cause, i´m really still not sure. The doctor that lives next to us said it could´ve been a dog bite or a mosquito bite. I´ve been doing pretty well at dodging the bad dogs here so I´m thinking it must´ve been a mosquito. I guess I should use more repellent, but I honestly hadn´t really noticed the mostquitos here yet, so I was surprised. I don´t think it´s related to my toe just because it´s on two different legs (yeah, just my luck, two legs that are out for the count, lol). And yes today I did go back to Guayaquil to get the stitches out and get it checked out again (that´s why my email is again late tonight, sorry!). and ugh, I´m afraid I have bad news again. The doctor said that it´s all looking like it´s healing good, but still lacks a little bit until all the inflammation is gone and is well healed, thus, I have to stay in the house FOR ANOTHER WEEK!! Sad day. I was so ready to work today. But ah well I guess it´s true that it´s really not quite all the way healed. He took the stitches out but said that if I try to walk and bend my knee it could open the cut again. So yeah, another week of pure studying and memorizing scriptures. Not that I don´t like studying, just that oh man it gets old quick, lol. But ah well, maybe i´ll be able to finish reading Jesus the Christ (that book is AMAZING btw:) and definitely finish “El Maestro.” And by the way yeah the maestro is the program with like 140ish scriptures to memorize (the majority are the scripture masterys from seminary) and another 80 scripture references where you just have to know where the scriptures are by topic, as well as knowing the Living Christ and the Family: A Proclamation to the World. Also you have to read all of Preach my Gospel, doing 2 personal activities and 2 in companionship for each chapter and make a lesson plan for each lesson. It´s really pretty neat. I guess they´ve added that you have to know each commitment by heart for each lesson that Preach My Gospel has, but that´s easy because with Elder Sanchez we already memorized them all. So yeah, it´s organized into miles, with about 25 scriptures in each mile. You first have to recite the scriptures to your comp and he´ll check you off. Then after each mile you have to have your zone leader quiz you and he´ll check off each mile. Then once you´ve finished you have a written test as well as an oral exam with the assistants to make sure you know every scripture and reference, and you also have to teach, and they´ll watch to see how we use the teaching skills like explaining a scripture, effective questions, listening etc. yeah, pretty intense, lol but definitely worth it. It´s amazing I find as I´m teaching any principle or they ask a question, often I can just think of a key scripture that answers it and instead of taking the time to open the scriptures, help the investigator find it, then read and apply it, I can just fluidly share it. (of course often it´s better to have the investigators see and read the scripture, but also at times taking the time can be a distraction). So yeah, I´ve finished all the memorization but I think I might need to just make a few more lessons plans but that should be easy, lol. oh and hey at church or the next time you see Sis. Dunmire-Beer you´ll have to tell her for me that I´ve finally been able to memorize the impossible Joseph Smith history scripture master- I´m a few years late, but hopefully the fact that I memorized it in another language makes up for it :P lol.
Uh oh, the clerk just told us that in 5 minutes they´re closing the internet café- and I was supposed to have another half hour! Ah well, good thing nothing exciting happened this week so I didn´t have much to say :P Thanks for your emails! I haven´t gotten the thanksgiving package but all is well, maybe I´ll try to make something special for thanksgiving, lol. I hope you have a great week and an especially great thanksgiving! Eat an extra plate and piece of pie for me! :P
Love,
Elder David Frome
PS- With all the extra time I was finally able to put your banana bread recipe to use :) I took some pictures but looks like I don´t have time now to upload them, sorry! I´ll send them next week!
I´m really doing great, lol. I honestly felt the whole week like I could just walk out the door at any minute to teach, but the doctor said I should stay and rest and can´t bend my knee so I didn´t. I think it would´ve been better actually if my leg or foot actually hurt, because then I´d feel more like its true that I should rest, lol. But since in reality the only thing holding me back was a minor infection and some stitches. But ah well, as is life. But ok, before I forget, firstly, yes a couple weeks ago it was pretty well evident from the outside that it was an infection. I think they said it was an acido- i´m not sure what that is in English nor Spanish, lol. But basically an infection right under the skin. So yeah, it was all red and swollen. But now it looks perfectly fine, just a small healing cut and a little red. As for the cause, i´m really still not sure. The doctor that lives next to us said it could´ve been a dog bite or a mosquito bite. I´ve been doing pretty well at dodging the bad dogs here so I´m thinking it must´ve been a mosquito. I guess I should use more repellent, but I honestly hadn´t really noticed the mostquitos here yet, so I was surprised. I don´t think it´s related to my toe just because it´s on two different legs (yeah, just my luck, two legs that are out for the count, lol). And yes today I did go back to Guayaquil to get the stitches out and get it checked out again (that´s why my email is again late tonight, sorry!). and ugh, I´m afraid I have bad news again. The doctor said that it´s all looking like it´s healing good, but still lacks a little bit until all the inflammation is gone and is well healed, thus, I have to stay in the house FOR ANOTHER WEEK!! Sad day. I was so ready to work today. But ah well I guess it´s true that it´s really not quite all the way healed. He took the stitches out but said that if I try to walk and bend my knee it could open the cut again. So yeah, another week of pure studying and memorizing scriptures. Not that I don´t like studying, just that oh man it gets old quick, lol. But ah well, maybe i´ll be able to finish reading Jesus the Christ (that book is AMAZING btw:) and definitely finish “El Maestro.” And by the way yeah the maestro is the program with like 140ish scriptures to memorize (the majority are the scripture masterys from seminary) and another 80 scripture references where you just have to know where the scriptures are by topic, as well as knowing the Living Christ and the Family: A Proclamation to the World. Also you have to read all of Preach my Gospel, doing 2 personal activities and 2 in companionship for each chapter and make a lesson plan for each lesson. It´s really pretty neat. I guess they´ve added that you have to know each commitment by heart for each lesson that Preach My Gospel has, but that´s easy because with Elder Sanchez we already memorized them all. So yeah, it´s organized into miles, with about 25 scriptures in each mile. You first have to recite the scriptures to your comp and he´ll check you off. Then after each mile you have to have your zone leader quiz you and he´ll check off each mile. Then once you´ve finished you have a written test as well as an oral exam with the assistants to make sure you know every scripture and reference, and you also have to teach, and they´ll watch to see how we use the teaching skills like explaining a scripture, effective questions, listening etc. yeah, pretty intense, lol but definitely worth it. It´s amazing I find as I´m teaching any principle or they ask a question, often I can just think of a key scripture that answers it and instead of taking the time to open the scriptures, help the investigator find it, then read and apply it, I can just fluidly share it. (of course often it´s better to have the investigators see and read the scripture, but also at times taking the time can be a distraction). So yeah, I´ve finished all the memorization but I think I might need to just make a few more lessons plans but that should be easy, lol. oh and hey at church or the next time you see Sis. Dunmire-Beer you´ll have to tell her for me that I´ve finally been able to memorize the impossible Joseph Smith history scripture master- I´m a few years late, but hopefully the fact that I memorized it in another language makes up for it :P lol.
Uh oh, the clerk just told us that in 5 minutes they´re closing the internet café- and I was supposed to have another half hour! Ah well, good thing nothing exciting happened this week so I didn´t have much to say :P Thanks for your emails! I haven´t gotten the thanksgiving package but all is well, maybe I´ll try to make something special for thanksgiving, lol. I hope you have a great week and an especially great thanksgiving! Eat an extra plate and piece of pie for me! :P
Love,
Elder David Frome
PS- With all the extra time I was finally able to put your banana bread recipe to use :) I took some pictures but looks like I don´t have time now to upload them, sorry! I´ll send them next week!
Another Crazy Week!! (11/16/09)
Hey Mom and Dad,
The highlight this week was definitely the baptism we had on Saturday. It was awesome. It was a baptism of five kids- the grandkids of hermana Norma who is in our ward. It was really neat because she was inactive but recently has been coming back as well as her daughter and thus wanted the kids to be baptized in the church. It was especially neat because 3 of the kids (Maoly, Alexander, and Kerly) were in our ward, but the other 2 (Karla and Fernando) were from Chopitea ward, so we got to plan it with Elders Beck and Aucapucclla who live with us in the house. Also it worked out great because the kids picked who they wanted to baptize them and all four of us were picked so we all got to dress in white. We got some great pictures (sorry I forgot to bring my camera again, I´ll have to send the pictures next week) with everyone before. It was interesting planning the baptism this time because I realized that out of the four missionaries in our house, I have the most time in the mission thus the most experience. So as we were planning it and assigning speakers, finding clothes, etc. the other elders would look to me when they weren´t sure. Lol not that it was a big deal just kind of a shock to realize that I don´t have a senior companion to look to, but now the responsibility is mostly on me, so if things go bad I take the blame, lol. Of course we all planned a little bit and it turned out great. Just fun to see how fast your perspective changes in the mission. But that night was definitely crazy. We planned to start at 7, but ended up starting around 7:50 because the mom (daughter of Norma) was way late coming with her kids. Then when they all arrived it was crazy trying the direct all the kids who were laughing and playing to get dressed and take pictures. They were like a herd of animals. I definitely have more respect for elementary school teachers who do that for a living, lol.
But anyways other than that all is good. Sorry I´m sending this email late this week. We actually have had kind of a crazy p-day. Now don´t worry when I say it was because we spent most of the day in Guayaquil because I had an appointment with a doctor there and went with hna. Gamboa, lol. Like I said I think you´d really like hna Gamboa, she´s definitely like the mom of all the elders how she takes care of us. The littlest thing she gets worried and makes sure they get cared of. So yeah the thing was actually a couple of weeks ago I notice my knee started to get a little sensitive so it hurt to kneel down (which, when you’re a missionary, is something that can get tiring really fast, lol). And after a week it started to look inflamed and puffy and red. That and my ingrown toenail I told you about looked like it might´ve still been a little infected as well, lol (but no worries, the biggest problem was probably the fact that it didn´t really hurt very much, because if it did hurt I would´ve stopped:). So Hna Gamboa gave me some antibacterial pills to take for my toe and it looked like they were working for whatever was infecting my knee as well. Several days ago my knee really starting getting better and today it looked like all was well, just maybe a little lump. But Hna Gamboa had already set an appointment in the clinic to look at me knee so we went just to see. When I got there the doctor said that it looked like there was some kind of bacterial infection right under the skin and said it´d be best to clean it out, lol. Yeah, kind of scary the idea but it wasn´t too bad. He also said he´d just take of my ingrown nail while I was there to get it taken care of. So what he ended up doing was cut a tiny incision on my knee and “cleaned it out.” Lol, don´t worry it didn´t hurt he did a good job of using anesthetics. The only thing was once he was done he put 2 stitches, which means that now I can´t bend my knee for –get this- 8 days! Yeah they told me I need to rest on my bed without leaving for 8 days!!! After that we went back to the office, got all the medicine then President and Hermana Gamboa drove us to terminal and we took the bus back. I got to use crutches for the first time in my life so that´s kind of fun. But yeah now I´m just frustrated because I have to stay inside for 8 days when this morning I could´ve sworn all was well, lol. but ah well, like I said I think you´d really like Hermana Gamboa. She said it´s much more important that I get the rest and get better before I go out to work. So no use arguing :P. so yeah that was a new experience. It was kind of fun because the Doctor was apparently studying English so we were having fun talking in English. His English wasn´t the best but he would ask me things like “can. . . you feel. . . this? This. . . hurt? Now your toe, is, sleep. We´ll wait 5 minutes more.” Lol things like that. It´s fun being a gringo in a Spanish country because you find lots of people like that who try to talk to you in English, some are better than others, lol.
But ok, like I said, no worries, I´m doing great now just on bed rest for a week now. I´m pretty sure I´m going to finish my maestro quick now that I have so much time. Funny thing is I was actually working hard on it all week memorizing, in fact I just finished memorizing Joseph Smith History a few days ago and the Living Christ this morning (it´s amazing how things like that that seemed impossible to memorize in high school is now possible when you´re dedicated to do it), all I have left is to memorize the Family, a Proclamation for the World :) Alright well i´d better get going, times nearly up. Again thanks for everything, I love you! I hope you and everyone have a great week!
Love,
Elder David Frome
PS- ha signing my name reminds me of one thing- when me and Hna. Gamboa got to the doctors office she asked what my name was, i was at first puzzled why she would ask me and why she didn´t know and was about to say elder Frome but then she was like, no, your nombre, it took me a second to think then realized, oh my first name, then it took me another second to think of David. lol, i´m so used to saying Elder Frome, and even when our investigators want to know my first name i´m used to keeping it a secret and telling them Elder Frome (it´s kind of fun, it´s like a game the investigators always want to know our first name and we always try to keep it a secret as long as possible, promising that when we leave we´ll tell them:)
The highlight this week was definitely the baptism we had on Saturday. It was awesome. It was a baptism of five kids- the grandkids of hermana Norma who is in our ward. It was really neat because she was inactive but recently has been coming back as well as her daughter and thus wanted the kids to be baptized in the church. It was especially neat because 3 of the kids (Maoly, Alexander, and Kerly) were in our ward, but the other 2 (Karla and Fernando) were from Chopitea ward, so we got to plan it with Elders Beck and Aucapucclla who live with us in the house. Also it worked out great because the kids picked who they wanted to baptize them and all four of us were picked so we all got to dress in white. We got some great pictures (sorry I forgot to bring my camera again, I´ll have to send the pictures next week) with everyone before. It was interesting planning the baptism this time because I realized that out of the four missionaries in our house, I have the most time in the mission thus the most experience. So as we were planning it and assigning speakers, finding clothes, etc. the other elders would look to me when they weren´t sure. Lol not that it was a big deal just kind of a shock to realize that I don´t have a senior companion to look to, but now the responsibility is mostly on me, so if things go bad I take the blame, lol. Of course we all planned a little bit and it turned out great. Just fun to see how fast your perspective changes in the mission. But that night was definitely crazy. We planned to start at 7, but ended up starting around 7:50 because the mom (daughter of Norma) was way late coming with her kids. Then when they all arrived it was crazy trying the direct all the kids who were laughing and playing to get dressed and take pictures. They were like a herd of animals. I definitely have more respect for elementary school teachers who do that for a living, lol.
But anyways other than that all is good. Sorry I´m sending this email late this week. We actually have had kind of a crazy p-day. Now don´t worry when I say it was because we spent most of the day in Guayaquil because I had an appointment with a doctor there and went with hna. Gamboa, lol. Like I said I think you´d really like hna Gamboa, she´s definitely like the mom of all the elders how she takes care of us. The littlest thing she gets worried and makes sure they get cared of. So yeah the thing was actually a couple of weeks ago I notice my knee started to get a little sensitive so it hurt to kneel down (which, when you’re a missionary, is something that can get tiring really fast, lol). And after a week it started to look inflamed and puffy and red. That and my ingrown toenail I told you about looked like it might´ve still been a little infected as well, lol (but no worries, the biggest problem was probably the fact that it didn´t really hurt very much, because if it did hurt I would´ve stopped:). So Hna Gamboa gave me some antibacterial pills to take for my toe and it looked like they were working for whatever was infecting my knee as well. Several days ago my knee really starting getting better and today it looked like all was well, just maybe a little lump. But Hna Gamboa had already set an appointment in the clinic to look at me knee so we went just to see. When I got there the doctor said that it looked like there was some kind of bacterial infection right under the skin and said it´d be best to clean it out, lol. Yeah, kind of scary the idea but it wasn´t too bad. He also said he´d just take of my ingrown nail while I was there to get it taken care of. So what he ended up doing was cut a tiny incision on my knee and “cleaned it out.” Lol, don´t worry it didn´t hurt he did a good job of using anesthetics. The only thing was once he was done he put 2 stitches, which means that now I can´t bend my knee for –get this- 8 days! Yeah they told me I need to rest on my bed without leaving for 8 days!!! After that we went back to the office, got all the medicine then President and Hermana Gamboa drove us to terminal and we took the bus back. I got to use crutches for the first time in my life so that´s kind of fun. But yeah now I´m just frustrated because I have to stay inside for 8 days when this morning I could´ve sworn all was well, lol. but ah well, like I said I think you´d really like Hermana Gamboa. She said it´s much more important that I get the rest and get better before I go out to work. So no use arguing :P. so yeah that was a new experience. It was kind of fun because the Doctor was apparently studying English so we were having fun talking in English. His English wasn´t the best but he would ask me things like “can. . . you feel. . . this? This. . . hurt? Now your toe, is, sleep. We´ll wait 5 minutes more.” Lol things like that. It´s fun being a gringo in a Spanish country because you find lots of people like that who try to talk to you in English, some are better than others, lol.
But ok, like I said, no worries, I´m doing great now just on bed rest for a week now. I´m pretty sure I´m going to finish my maestro quick now that I have so much time. Funny thing is I was actually working hard on it all week memorizing, in fact I just finished memorizing Joseph Smith History a few days ago and the Living Christ this morning (it´s amazing how things like that that seemed impossible to memorize in high school is now possible when you´re dedicated to do it), all I have left is to memorize the Family, a Proclamation for the World :) Alright well i´d better get going, times nearly up. Again thanks for everything, I love you! I hope you and everyone have a great week!
Love,
Elder David Frome
PS- ha signing my name reminds me of one thing- when me and Hna. Gamboa got to the doctors office she asked what my name was, i was at first puzzled why she would ask me and why she didn´t know and was about to say elder Frome but then she was like, no, your nombre, it took me a second to think then realized, oh my first name, then it took me another second to think of David. lol, i´m so used to saying Elder Frome, and even when our investigators want to know my first name i´m used to keeping it a secret and telling them Elder Frome (it´s kind of fun, it´s like a game the investigators always want to know our first name and we always try to keep it a secret as long as possible, promising that when we leave we´ll tell them:)
Crazy/Awsome week!!!
Hey Mom and Dad,
Curtis and Jenny are expecting twins?! Haha that’s awesome. Yeah I´ll bet that´ll be exciting for them. That’s great. Sounds like things are going great with Melissa and Sean. Sounds like the Primary program went great for them. I´ll bet that was stressful but probably well worth it to see it go over well. As missionaries seeing parents with young kids we can kind of understand, lol. It can be so amazing teaching kids because they accept the gospel so easily, it just brings to mind the teachings of Christ how we should become as little children. But of course at the same time they can be quite untame and stressful, such as the scripture in Corinthians, when I was a child I did childish kids, but when I grew up I put away childish things- or something like that, lol. And that’s funny how Ryan said he dressed up as Superman all week. That’s awesome I wish I could´ve seen him. That’s great how he´s taking advantage of times to have fun like that. I´m glad sounds like all is going well for him at BYU.
I´m excited to get the Thanksgiving package. I think there are some turkeys here, but doesn´t sound like it´s eaten much at all, lol. It´s fun to tell the people about our thanksgiving “Día de Gracias” that we have, just one day to eat as much as we can :P
But anyways, this has definitely been one crazy awesome week. Firstly, as I told you the first part of the week I was with Elder Arellano, an Ortabaleño (which is a city or town in the sierra about an hour away from Quito) and he is definitely a powerful missionary. And it´s amazing to see the Ortabaleño elders because they can open doors that other elders just can´t. Like I told you he recognized one family as from the sierra and because he was also from the sierra he was able to relate and open there heart enough to share our message. He´s the zone leader here in Babahoyo and only has two changes left. It´s funny he´s actually spent over half of his mission here in Babahoyo. He was here for 5 months when he started, was transferred, then got transferred back and has been here for another 6 months. It´s interesting to see how transfers work, but he´s definitely needed here in Babahoyo. But yeah like I said he´s an awesome missionary, I learned so much from him after just being his companion for a few days. Monday and Tuesday was way crazy because we had both his teaching appointments from his sector and my teaching appointments in my sector so we were running up and down the town all day, lol. It was great seeing him teach because he knows the scriptures so well. He can teach clearly and powerfully and has a strong testimony. He´s just one of those Elders that sets the example of what a missionary should be. Hopefully, I´ll be able to know and teach like him by the end of my mission. Then, funny thing was Tuesday night before we were to get our new companions he told me that he especially enjoyed these few days having this companionship! Lol he´s definitely humble as well. So yeah he told me that he´s excited for this change and hopes to have a lot of success as a zone leader and I believe him, we´ll definitely have a lot of success.
Well then on Wednesday we went to Guayaquil to pick up our “kids” at the temple! Yeah we didn´t enter but just picked them up in the hotel next door. It was neat. Elder Sanchez was there (he´s gonna train again :), it was the first time seeing him since we were companions. He´s definitely still Elder Sanchez, lol, funny and good spirited. They had a brief meeting with us trainers before getting our companions just to kind of give us some guidelines and advice on training so that was good. Then it was interesting the way they had us get our new companions. They had all the trainers in a semi-circle around the door and as the new elders came out one by one and they had them find their new trainers (apparently they were given our names before coming out). It was crazy one latino came out and looked all around the circle until he came to me then was like, “hey!” lol we hugged and we got a picture. So yeah, my new companion is Elder Cevallos from Quito. I´m training a latino! Lol it´s fun he´s a great guy. He´s actually 24 years old and was only baptized a year and a half ago. He´s the only member in his family and guess how he was introduced to the church- yep, his girlfriend ;) but it´s good she encouraged him to serve and she´s now waiting patiently :P lol. He´s not afraid to talk or teach so things are going well. I forgot to bring my camera to Guayaquil and I was going to send you the pictures that he took but the batteries in his camera went dead!
Alright, well I´d better get going, thanks for everything and your letters! Hope you have a great week! Love you all!
Love,
Elder David Frome
Curtis and Jenny are expecting twins?! Haha that’s awesome. Yeah I´ll bet that´ll be exciting for them. That’s great. Sounds like things are going great with Melissa and Sean. Sounds like the Primary program went great for them. I´ll bet that was stressful but probably well worth it to see it go over well. As missionaries seeing parents with young kids we can kind of understand, lol. It can be so amazing teaching kids because they accept the gospel so easily, it just brings to mind the teachings of Christ how we should become as little children. But of course at the same time they can be quite untame and stressful, such as the scripture in Corinthians, when I was a child I did childish kids, but when I grew up I put away childish things- or something like that, lol. And that’s funny how Ryan said he dressed up as Superman all week. That’s awesome I wish I could´ve seen him. That’s great how he´s taking advantage of times to have fun like that. I´m glad sounds like all is going well for him at BYU.
I´m excited to get the Thanksgiving package. I think there are some turkeys here, but doesn´t sound like it´s eaten much at all, lol. It´s fun to tell the people about our thanksgiving “Día de Gracias” that we have, just one day to eat as much as we can :P
But anyways, this has definitely been one crazy awesome week. Firstly, as I told you the first part of the week I was with Elder Arellano, an Ortabaleño (which is a city or town in the sierra about an hour away from Quito) and he is definitely a powerful missionary. And it´s amazing to see the Ortabaleño elders because they can open doors that other elders just can´t. Like I told you he recognized one family as from the sierra and because he was also from the sierra he was able to relate and open there heart enough to share our message. He´s the zone leader here in Babahoyo and only has two changes left. It´s funny he´s actually spent over half of his mission here in Babahoyo. He was here for 5 months when he started, was transferred, then got transferred back and has been here for another 6 months. It´s interesting to see how transfers work, but he´s definitely needed here in Babahoyo. But yeah like I said he´s an awesome missionary, I learned so much from him after just being his companion for a few days. Monday and Tuesday was way crazy because we had both his teaching appointments from his sector and my teaching appointments in my sector so we were running up and down the town all day, lol. It was great seeing him teach because he knows the scriptures so well. He can teach clearly and powerfully and has a strong testimony. He´s just one of those Elders that sets the example of what a missionary should be. Hopefully, I´ll be able to know and teach like him by the end of my mission. Then, funny thing was Tuesday night before we were to get our new companions he told me that he especially enjoyed these few days having this companionship! Lol he´s definitely humble as well. So yeah he told me that he´s excited for this change and hopes to have a lot of success as a zone leader and I believe him, we´ll definitely have a lot of success.
Well then on Wednesday we went to Guayaquil to pick up our “kids” at the temple! Yeah we didn´t enter but just picked them up in the hotel next door. It was neat. Elder Sanchez was there (he´s gonna train again :), it was the first time seeing him since we were companions. He´s definitely still Elder Sanchez, lol, funny and good spirited. They had a brief meeting with us trainers before getting our companions just to kind of give us some guidelines and advice on training so that was good. Then it was interesting the way they had us get our new companions. They had all the trainers in a semi-circle around the door and as the new elders came out one by one and they had them find their new trainers (apparently they were given our names before coming out). It was crazy one latino came out and looked all around the circle until he came to me then was like, “hey!” lol we hugged and we got a picture. So yeah, my new companion is Elder Cevallos from Quito. I´m training a latino! Lol it´s fun he´s a great guy. He´s actually 24 years old and was only baptized a year and a half ago. He´s the only member in his family and guess how he was introduced to the church- yep, his girlfriend ;) but it´s good she encouraged him to serve and she´s now waiting patiently :P lol. He´s not afraid to talk or teach so things are going well. I forgot to bring my camera to Guayaquil and I was going to send you the pictures that he took but the batteries in his camera went dead!
Alright, well I´d better get going, thanks for everything and your letters! Hope you have a great week! Love you all!
Love,
Elder David Frome
!CAMBIOS! Beginning of Change 6!
Hey Mom and Dad,
So I´m not gonna lie. I almost can´t believe how fast this last change flew by. Seems like just yesterday I found out Elder Ethridge was going to be my companion and I made it to Babahoyo. We had a great change together and found a lot of new investigators so that´s what counts. And so yes, as you guessed, last night was the last night of the change, so that meant we all had to be in the house by 8 and wait for calls from the assistants to tell us who´s staying and who´s going. It´s always a little nerve racking the night of changes and it seemed like last night was especially crazy. We were waiting until finally the phone rang, and when Elder Rodriguez went to look at it he saw and said that it was from President! That´s more than usual, lol. But he first talked to Elder Rodriguez and found out that he was being transferred and going to become a zone leader. Then President wanted to talk to Elder Ethridge and told him that he was going to become a zone leader too! Yeah, it was crazy, lol. Elder Ethridge only has 2 changes as district leader and Elder Rodriguez has never even been a district leader so it was a surprise. But they´re both great missionaries so I know they´ll do great. But it was funny when they asked where they´re going President Gamboa just told them not to worry, just go to terminal the next day, lol. So after that they started packing but then the phone rang again, this time one of the assistants, Elder Aguirre (which was crazy but awesome to find out as well. Apparently he replaced Elder Gittins. He was a district leader in Libertad when I was there and I always remember being amazed at how great a missionary he was when we had interchanges), and he wanted to talk to me. He told me that this change they´d like me to train and asked me if I felt ready, lol. I finally told him that I do. It was nerve racking but way exciting. Thus for now I´m not sure who my companion is going to be. Elder Arellano, the zone leader here (who is an awesome missionary and actually an ortovalleño, which is from the sierra- like that family I told you about is also training so for these few days I´ll be companions with him. Which is going to be awesome because he is a powerful missionary who knows the scriptures very well, I´m excited because I know I´ll learn a lot. Then on Wednesday we´ll go to pick up our “kids” (as they call it in mission language, lol, when you train you´re the “dad” of your “kid”). And I heard that this time that the new missionaries may go through the temple and we may have the opportunity to go through with them!! So I´m hoping that we´ll be able to : ).
Other than that this last week was fairly good. It´s fun because apparently November 2 here is “day of the Dead.” Which sounds like something like our Halloween but it really isn´t much like it. It is kind of a celebration of the dead and just a day to visit gravesites and remember those who have passed on. It´s pretty neat. And it sounds like most people celebrate it starting on October 31 until November 2. It has been kool to learn more about the culture in those aspects. Only down side is the fact that it´s holidays we again had a Sunday with few numbers of people attending. But ah well as is life I suppose. Another fun part of this time of the year is a traditional drink called “Colada Morada,” which is like, purple colada, lol. It´s a drink made of black corn grinded to a powder so it looks purple, and they make it with water or milk and add just a ton of different fruits like pinapple, peach, apple, grape, plum, or anything. Apparently it originates from the sierra (which seems to be the place where most Ecuadorian customs come from in fact, lol). The family of serranos that I told you about made it for us in our last lesson. We had it with “humitos,” which is another thing made from corn and cooked in the corn husk. It reminded me of corn bread. So yeah definitely fun : )
As for investigators it seems like we have a lot of fairly new investigators that are progressing nicely. The family from the Sierra may be whom I´m most excited about. Each lesson that we´ve had with them I can tell that they´re opening up more and more. The first two lessons we had in there store downstairs after they closed it. But then this last lesson they invited us upstairs and gave us that colada morada. They just seem to be soaking in everything we tell them and even told us that they know we´re representatives of the Lord here to help them gain that eternal happiness. It´s funny when you find a family like that it just makes all your focus and energy and hopes go into helping them come and understand.
Alright well I´m out of time now so I´d better get going. Thanks for everything! I hope you have another great week! I´m glad you had a great time seeing Mellissa and Sean!
Love,
Elder Frome
PS- and yeah no worries my toe is doing fine, just a little swollen from walking so much but Ibuprofen seems to do the trick. If it starts to look worse the doctor lives next door : )
PPS- btw I got your package of cocoa and peanut butter! Lol we thought that was a clever way to send it in the packages like that! But thanks Elder Rodriguez and Ethridge were sad to be transferred because they wanted to have more of those cookies!
So I´m not gonna lie. I almost can´t believe how fast this last change flew by. Seems like just yesterday I found out Elder Ethridge was going to be my companion and I made it to Babahoyo. We had a great change together and found a lot of new investigators so that´s what counts. And so yes, as you guessed, last night was the last night of the change, so that meant we all had to be in the house by 8 and wait for calls from the assistants to tell us who´s staying and who´s going. It´s always a little nerve racking the night of changes and it seemed like last night was especially crazy. We were waiting until finally the phone rang, and when Elder Rodriguez went to look at it he saw and said that it was from President! That´s more than usual, lol. But he first talked to Elder Rodriguez and found out that he was being transferred and going to become a zone leader. Then President wanted to talk to Elder Ethridge and told him that he was going to become a zone leader too! Yeah, it was crazy, lol. Elder Ethridge only has 2 changes as district leader and Elder Rodriguez has never even been a district leader so it was a surprise. But they´re both great missionaries so I know they´ll do great. But it was funny when they asked where they´re going President Gamboa just told them not to worry, just go to terminal the next day, lol. So after that they started packing but then the phone rang again, this time one of the assistants, Elder Aguirre (which was crazy but awesome to find out as well. Apparently he replaced Elder Gittins. He was a district leader in Libertad when I was there and I always remember being amazed at how great a missionary he was when we had interchanges), and he wanted to talk to me. He told me that this change they´d like me to train and asked me if I felt ready, lol. I finally told him that I do. It was nerve racking but way exciting. Thus for now I´m not sure who my companion is going to be. Elder Arellano, the zone leader here (who is an awesome missionary and actually an ortovalleño, which is from the sierra- like that family I told you about is also training so for these few days I´ll be companions with him. Which is going to be awesome because he is a powerful missionary who knows the scriptures very well, I´m excited because I know I´ll learn a lot. Then on Wednesday we´ll go to pick up our “kids” (as they call it in mission language, lol, when you train you´re the “dad” of your “kid”). And I heard that this time that the new missionaries may go through the temple and we may have the opportunity to go through with them!! So I´m hoping that we´ll be able to : ).
Other than that this last week was fairly good. It´s fun because apparently November 2 here is “day of the Dead.” Which sounds like something like our Halloween but it really isn´t much like it. It is kind of a celebration of the dead and just a day to visit gravesites and remember those who have passed on. It´s pretty neat. And it sounds like most people celebrate it starting on October 31 until November 2. It has been kool to learn more about the culture in those aspects. Only down side is the fact that it´s holidays we again had a Sunday with few numbers of people attending. But ah well as is life I suppose. Another fun part of this time of the year is a traditional drink called “Colada Morada,” which is like, purple colada, lol. It´s a drink made of black corn grinded to a powder so it looks purple, and they make it with water or milk and add just a ton of different fruits like pinapple, peach, apple, grape, plum, or anything. Apparently it originates from the sierra (which seems to be the place where most Ecuadorian customs come from in fact, lol). The family of serranos that I told you about made it for us in our last lesson. We had it with “humitos,” which is another thing made from corn and cooked in the corn husk. It reminded me of corn bread. So yeah definitely fun : )
As for investigators it seems like we have a lot of fairly new investigators that are progressing nicely. The family from the Sierra may be whom I´m most excited about. Each lesson that we´ve had with them I can tell that they´re opening up more and more. The first two lessons we had in there store downstairs after they closed it. But then this last lesson they invited us upstairs and gave us that colada morada. They just seem to be soaking in everything we tell them and even told us that they know we´re representatives of the Lord here to help them gain that eternal happiness. It´s funny when you find a family like that it just makes all your focus and energy and hopes go into helping them come and understand.
Alright well I´m out of time now so I´d better get going. Thanks for everything! I hope you have another great week! I´m glad you had a great time seeing Mellissa and Sean!
Love,
Elder Frome
PS- and yeah no worries my toe is doing fine, just a little swollen from walking so much but Ibuprofen seems to do the trick. If it starts to look worse the doctor lives next door : )
PPS- btw I got your package of cocoa and peanut butter! Lol we thought that was a clever way to send it in the packages like that! But thanks Elder Rodriguez and Ethridge were sad to be transferred because they wanted to have more of those cookies!
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