First week in Ecuador!!!

Elder Reynolds and his companion, Elder Jacobs!
Check out his tie that Bishop Nygren gave him to wear on his first day in Ecuador!!

Man I am loving it out here!!! I am so happy to be out of the CCM haha. It is so much different here! The culture, the people, and my purpose is finally real to me!! I am pretty psyched that I finally get to preach the gospel or at least try haha. My Spanish is NO BUENO! That’s about all I know... jk. But it was nice to be able to go to the Mexico MTC because at least there I wasn’t taught by a bunch of gringos... Nothing against the Provo MTC but yeah the Mexico one is better!

Man where to start is hard!! So I got here in Ecuador at about 11 am and from there I had to go do visa stuff and then met with President Christensen at his house. The whole day was so hard to stay awake... The plane ride was alright. Of course I didn’t sleep because I know best... Pfff that was the worst idea I have ever had.. Every chance I got to fall asleep without President Christensen seeing me I took haha. I didn’t want to come across as I didn’t care... I just really, really needed sleep!! So then on Wednesday we got our companions! Elder Jacobs is my new companion. He is pretty cool! He is from North Carolina and speaks really good Spanish but also really good English thank goodness!! I’ve learned that in the CCM they really do only teach you how to communicate ONLY if you are talking about the gospel. The first day we went out I had no idea what was going on. Like literally I just sat there during lessons and pretended like I was understanding by smiling and nodding my head.. It was so hard!!! Especially when Elder Jacobs would nudge me and that was my cue and all I would do was bear my testimony. It wasn’t bad but I so wish I could say more stuff!! It is so true about learning a language…the best way is to just immerse yourself in it. Now I can understand a whole heck of a lot more!! I still can’t talk as fast as I want or say what I want to say but I can understand somewhat of what everyone is saying. The first day we got there we had one lesson and it was pretty freaky. But yeah I only bore my testimony so it was good. The only way to grow is to get out of our comfort zone. I am out of my comfort zone 24-7 here and that is so good for me! Elder Jacobs does a great job at putting me out of my comfort zone.

It's so funny that everyone mistakes me for being Latino. They ask if my parents are Latinos and I say that my mom is Navajo and they are so fascinated by it haha. They don't know the term Navajo so it is just Indians to them!

It gets pretty cold here where I am at in Quito. I am in the poor part of the city. Our apartment is not that great. I miss American showers and toilets. The toilets are so small here!! When I think of American toilets, I think of Elf when he said "have you seen these toilets they are ginormous!" We also have rules in our apartment...so you can't run 2 faucets at one time like take a shower and run the sink water or else the power goes out. This happened to us and it sucks!! Now the kitchen power is no mas. So now we have to plug our little stove looking thing in the living room area. There is no light in my shower so I have to use that headlamp for light when I take a shower! I feel so spoiled in America now!! And there is no hot water so if you want hot water, you have to let it trickle out slowly almost like in drops and that way it at least stays a little warm but it takes like 10 minutes to shower. Of course, you can't drink the water.

The hardest part of a mission is contacting!! That is where we just knock on doors or go down the street talking to people. Because I put myself in their position and if I was them I would definitely not want to listen. But the culture here is so much different for the better! Well kind of... haha. So we were contacting and a normal greeting is buenos noches..(good evening) So that’s usually all I said and I would stick out my hand to shake theirs and they would be like what the heck... so my comp told me you have to say more to them so that they actually stop! haha It is so freaky. Because they won’t stop unless you get right in front of them and start talking to them. Kind of like forcing them to talk!! Ugh that is not my favorite part but esta bien.(ok or fine).

The first week has flown by for me! It is so fun being out of the CCM! I can’t stress that enough haha. So funny stories of the week! So my toilet doesn’t work and turns out its because it’s been clogged for I am pretty sure decades. lol So we got a plunger and of course one of our investigators is there at the store and so for like 15 minutes we were walking around trying to avoid them because I don’t want to explain why I have a plunger. haha So what also sucked was that the tienda (store) was about 20 minutes away from our casa. So here I am walking down Ecuador with a plunger. A gringo with a plunger.. Yeah.. So I Just kind of put my head down and walked that 20 minutes while my comp was trying to figure out a way to pretend like he wasn’t with me haha!!!! Another story!! So we are in church and before my comp told me to just listen. And I was like listen for what.... So he was like you will know what I am talking about when you hear it. So I was like okay.. And no joke right in the middle of sacrament meeting you just hear a duck!! quack quack quack quack! hahahaha So I guess this guy brings a duck to church every Sunday and just sits with it!! hahaha  The bishop just cracks up and what is bad is the stake president was there this Sunday and he was like what the heck is going on.... lol I couldn’t believe it. I guess the guy had a puppy before and then it died so he got a duck.. hahahaah I don’t know why that is so funny but it is to me.

It is so cool to be out here serving Gods children. It is hard sometimes to get up at 6:30am.. But my comp said it doesn’t matter what you want.. it only matters what the Lord wants. How true is that!! I am solely out here to serve the Lord for 2 years. It doesn’t matter if I feel bad or I am too tired.. It’s not what I want! I am still learning that lesson but how true that is.

The people in Ecuador are so giving and so friendly. The families we go to visit seem like they have nothing but they are so happy and receptive. It is the best. This is definitely going to be the best 2 years. I hope to be able to learn Spanish quickly so that I can help as many people as I can. It was a cool experience for me because we were contacting one night and we knocked on this door and no one answered so we went to the next door and knocked on it and simultaneously both of the people answered their doors! So I was trying to share our short message in Spanish and the lady was sooo nice and I got an appointment!! My first solo appointment!! haha I know the Lord touched her heart because she kinda yelled when she came out but when I started talking I could tell she had compassion and probably a lot of sympathy for me. The Lord is always going to help us when we do His will. Till next week!! Hasta Luego!! (See you later)

Love you all!

Elder Reynolds

Oh if you ever send me a package, it has to be under 4 pounds.