Feeling and Recognizing the Spirit!

Elder Reynolds and Elder Marquez

Ambato, Ecuador

Hello everyone!!!

This week has been SO exhausting! There is so much work to do here in Ambato! It is so much different than Quito. Obviously the missionary work is still the same but here there is a lot of focus on the less actives. I guess there is something like 300 people on the registro (registry) for how many members there are...but our tiny little ward consisted of 29 people at the start of church!! Isn't that crazy?! So there is sooo much work to be done! And there are only 2 missionaries..Elder Marquez and I in the ward. So we are so busy from 10:30 am to 9:00 pm every single day. The members here are so nice though. Less actives or active members everyone treats the missionaries like Kings! haha Don't worry I wont let it get to my head. haha...as I just talked about humility in my last letter.

We have investigators but as I said above that we have a ton of menos activos (less actives). Sometimes it is hard to balance out who gets priority but it is so nice because we always have something to do! I really love serving here. Ambato is a lot more like America I feel like. ha It is still Ecuador haha but this is a nicer part of the mission. Elder Marquez and I are getting along great!! He is such a hard worker and we have a lot of the same interests. Both of us like sports and working out. My Spanish is getting so much better because I am trying to literally fail. ha That sounds weird but I feel like every time I talk I always use the wrong conjugation or pronunciation... But he is super patient with me.

I also like this sector of the mission because of the climate and the layout of the land. There aren't as many hills so I am super happy about that! ha The climate is always cold in the mornings and then a little hot in the afternoons then back to cold in the nights. It is a little frustrating because you can never guess what is going to happen in the day! It may look like it is going to rain but then it all the sudden clears up! Crazy, crazy Ecuador...

The people we teach are just amazing. They are so acceptive and they love learning about Jesus Christ. That is kind of our "in" when we contact people here... We say we talk about Jesus Christ and if they want to learn more about Him.. who can say no to that?! ha We had the opportunity to give blessings to people who were really sick and man the Priesthood is real. The priesthood keys of old have been restored and can be found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The people here in Ecuador have so much faith in the Priesthood. It really helps me because my Spanish is obviously far from perfect, but through their faith and the spirit I am able to get across as to what Heavenly Father wants to say to them. I have felt the spirit so strongly this week in our lessons. I finally feel I am making progress in learning to recognize the spirit. I have always had a hard time with that but after studying a lot about it I have learned that if it is a good thought or impression...it doesn't matter if it's your thought or an impression! Just do it! ha NIKE!! Nike knows.

It was also really cool this week because we got to teach a person that knows a lot about the Bible. And as we were teaching the first lesson and about the end of our lesson we got into a big discussion about a whole lot of things... Tangent after tangent.. ha But then we finally said how about this, you ask God tonight and then when we come back we will see and talk about what happened. It was really awesome because we have been encouraged to make promises in the name of Jesus Christ. So we said, "As representatives of Jesus Christ, we promise you that if you ask Heavenly Father for an answer, He will give it to you." Elder Marquez and I talked a little bit afterwards about how we both were feeling and we were both so excited!  So we have an appointment with him this week and we are so excited to see Heavenly Father back us up. It just made us realize also the worthiness and the highness of our calling as missionaries.. That we are literal representatives of Him... I keep saying that throughout my letters in my mission but it just still amazes me that Heavenly Father and the Prophets and Apostles would put that much trust in 18-25 year olds... But we always have the promise that He provides a way. This gospel is true. I know it with all my heart. Through our faith and humility, He can work miracles through us. I love you all!!!

Elder Reynolds