14 Months - Whoot, Whoot

Hello! 

This last week was full of traveling. 15 hours of BUS. I got to Tumbes on Monday then on Wednesday we had to go to Piura for a leadership meeting and came back on Thursday. It made me a little bit cansada (tired) but I am doing great and love my new area. I kind of feel like I am in a different mission. There are no big Tottus stores to buy food, just little tiendas all over the street and a market to buy fruit. It is a lot more humid here and I feel so sticky all day longgg. The good news is I am close to the beach! My comp and I walk around with our black umbrella because the sun is intense. Kind of like a Jehovahs Witness but I'm cool with it. My first day here it rained way hard and we didn't have ponchos so we cut up some garbage bags and walked the streets like men in black. 

Today we got $4.00 pedicures. I haven't had one in 14 months! And they were the value of $4.00 too. Not the kind of USA service, but I got my toes painted. Haha the lady put a big yellow flower on each toe! By the way I hit my 14 MONTH MARK YESTERDAY. I cannot believe it.....ahhhhH!

My companion is Hermana Macias she is 21 and is from Aguacalientes Mexico. She is probably the craziest comp I have every had but I love her! We laugh all day and preach like mad women! 

We have been on the search for new investigatores because to be frank we got none! HABLAR CON TODOS. We were looking one day for a recent convert when we found a young mom with her baby sitting on the side of the street. I decided to talk to this woman. Well she talked to us like we were obviously bugging her. I judged her quickly and thought, yeah this is a waste of time. I don't know why or how but we asked her if we could share a short message with her about Jesus Christ and she lit up and let us in her house. We got talking and teaching fast. At the end of the lesson, we all kneeled on the cement floor and Hermana Soledad (our investigator) offered a sincere prayer. I felt the spirit strong. After the lesson the member we were with looked at us and said "Wow I haven't felt the spirit like that in SO LONG." We all looked at each other and said yeah this investigator is going somewhere. We returned to her house yesterday and explained all of the Restoration. Now she just needs a testimony and an answer to her prayer. Please pray for Soledad that she will accept our message. 

We had stake conference yesterday and the temple presidents of Ecuador came. They spoke and inspired us all. The President said "We must come to the temple spiritually prepared in all things (mind, thought, actions etc). If we simply walk in the temple without even thinking about what we are doing we will leave the same that we came." "When we come to the temple spiritually prepared we leave even stronger and mightier, and that is when miracles come into our lives." I thought about how many times I have gone into the temple like it was another shopping mall. I know I need to prepare myself better each time I go to the temple. I want to ask you all today HOW DO YOU ENTER THE TEMPLE? Are your thoughts, actions, and words centered in Christ? If not repent and be worthy of the temple blessings. 

I am running out of my internet time. Love you all, be good!!!!!! 

Hermana Stringham