Faith Brings Miracles!

Solo tengo una palabra.... Miracles!!!

This week was something else!  Well, we have had an investigator here in this area named Ambar. She's 18 years old and has been an investigator for the last 5 years. Funny thing is that she has a sister serving out in the mission! Well, we haven't really been working with her a lot lately, just because she hasn't really been spiritually progressing a lot. I remember one day we were teaching her and I got the random impression or thought that she would be baptized. This was like 4 weeks ago when I thought that.  Anyway, we just haven't really been working with her too much, but on Monday I decided to go see her with my companion and the Branch President and some members!  It was so awesome!  She agreed that night to get baptized on Friday!  We were so pumped!  Right after the lesson we called President Moreno (our Mission President) to call the Mission President in Bolivia so that her sister who is serving there could maybe watch it or something!  

Anyway, President Moreno hooked it up and called her sister in the mission in Bolivia and then BAM, we went to visit with her on Tuesday night totally pumped to tell her that her sister knows that she is going to get baptized and that the whole ward is happy and ready for her, but the first thing she tells us is that she changed her mind.  Yeah, I was so shocked.  My first thought was that it is going to be hard for her sister serving a mission in Bolivia to find out, but we didn't tell President Moreno to call her because we still felt so much faith.  We felt so sad when she told us!  So we left her home on Tuesday night and went over to the church, and at the church there were a lot of young women having their activity so we told them to go see Ambar and visit with her about being baptized.  They were great and went straight there, and yup, Ambar told them the same thing - she wasn't getting baptized. 

Now fast forward to Thursday night. (The goal for her baptism was Friday night and her sister in Bolivia still thought that her sister was going to finally get baptized). So Thursday night, she had us come over for another lesson and we took a lot of members there to teach and testify with us!  We had, I think, 13 members in the lesson!  The first thing that Ambar told us is that her sister in Bolivia had called her and told her how happy she was that she was finally getting baptized and just all that good stuff.  The cool thing is that we didn't know that her sister was going to call her on Thursday!  It was a miracle!  The next thing Ambar asked us was, "So, who wants to baptize me tomorrow!!!"  It was so awesome!  So much faith for this miracle!  We all thought she was going to quit and was not going to get baptized and then she got baptized!  Out of nowhere, her sister felt inspired and called her and she even got to skype her sister in Bolivia during the baptism!  It was so awesome!  And we found a super cool family to teach this week! 

So yeah, this week was an awesome week!  We moved houses and it is a lot better!  

Doing swell!  The work here is awesome!  I hope this place can become a stake while I'm here! 

Please read in the Doctrine and Covenants 107:99-100 (The importance of doing your church callings ;))

Con Amor 

Elder Hulk

Shout out to Drew Jensen mi ñaño!  2 años!!!!

District Meeting

Ambar Baptism

Ambar Baptism

Skyping with her sister!

NEW SHOES!!!

Cool Banner from Stake Activity

Stake Activity

Getting a shave from a member!

Shave!

Santa Rosa

Wowzers! 

So this week was super fast!  Well, I just wrote like 5 days ago because of the holiday here! 

This past week was awesome!  Well, first off we had some great BAUTISMOS!  It was so awesome!  Fabian that we legit just met who has been going to church for over a month without telling us got baptized! haha  We taught him everything during our lessons and then his best friend that is a member got to baptize him and confirme him a member!  It was so awesome! 

Also Cindy got baptized!  She's the sister-in-law to the Branch President!  Her husband got to baptize her!  That was also super special and awesome.  We also had Andrey get baptized!  He's the guy from Italy!  He is so awesome!  He also got baptized by his friend who is a member!  

The MEMBERS here are awesome!  So this was a great weekend full of great feelings and emotions! The branch here does something super awesome!  Every Sunday, all of the young men go out on bikes and preach and visit their less active member friends, and also yesterday we had all of the ward missionaries come out and preach with us!  We had 13 ward missionaries with us!!  It was so awesome!  Some great things are happening here in Santa Rosa!

A missionary that served here is also back visiting from the US this week.  I lived with him like a year ago when I started the mission - Elder Burton (Chris). He's back and he got permission from President to come chill with us the whole night one night and tell us stories!  It was so awesome and definitely well-needed!  Love that guy!  We also had our Zone Conference this past week and President talked a lot about life and our missions.  Great meeting!

Also, yesterday I found out that my companion was leaving!  So my companion Elder Barnett left and now Elder Boyack is with me again here.  We were legit just with each other 6 weeks ago.  Should be another fun time! 

Well all is well with me!

Les Quiero!

Elder Hoole

Where's my ring?  haha  YSA (Young Single Adult Activity)

YSA Activity

at the YSA Activity

Andrey's baptism!

There was a LOT of rain last week.

So excited for EASY MAC!!!

3 Generations!  Me, a missionary I trained, and a missionary he trained!

Goats on a walk

Carnaval!

(P-Day was on Wednesday this week due to Carnaval!)

A long weeeek.

Well, we have been in the house for the last 4 days because there was a really big holiday here in Ecuador called Carnaval!  Really it's just a 4 day water fight here in the country, so yeah it was a little sketchy for us to leave our apartment and get hit by water haha! 

However, we did have some really cool events take place this last week!  Well on Sunday, we were just chilling in church and the Branch President asked us if we were teaching this kid who he pointed out to us and we told him no because we legit just thought he was a less active member or already a baptized member.  So we went up to him on Sunday during church and yes, it turned out that he isn't a member and that he's been coming to church every week since around Christmas!  We felt so dumb!  So yeah, we set a date with him and if all goes right tonight we should teach him all the rest of the lessons and he should be baptized this Friday night hahah!  Yeah that's so awesome! Basically, if everything all works out we should have 3 baptisms this week and that would be so dope! 

The work here is picking up and all is well! This upcoming week is transfers and I think my companion is leaving probably, so that should be interesting to see who comes to live with me, but who knows!?

Shout out to my boy Drew Jensen and Jax Kaufusi!  Give them some love from me in Utah!  They are HOME!!!! ESO!!

Gracias por todo!
Elder Hoole

Lol funny thing...a member here gave us a movie to watch during our week in our apartment. She told us it changed her life, so we watched it and it was so good!  It's called Gifted Hands.  It really inspired me to pick up a book and read!  haha all is well! 

In honor of Elder Jensen returning home, we ate at an Argentine steak house!

Ecu-Argentina!  It's kind of like Argentina, but in Ecuador!

A little bit of Ecuador for you all

PIÑAS!!!

PIÑAS!!! (Pineapple)

Well, this past week we spent 2 days working with the Elders in an area called Piñas! Man, that place is low key HARD!  It's a city just placed on the side of a mountain and you're walking straight up a mountain the whole time you're there and it is a SUPER Catholic area. On the mountains up above, there was a huge cross and a huge statue of Mary looking down!  And it was so crazy!  The people were super nice but not down to hear from us. I was down to leave after the first hour there, haha, but man it was so cold!  So yes,it was probably the best sleep I have had in the mission! Felt just like home!! :)

This past week was also super dope!  We have a new investigator that is from Italy!  He is awesome!  Se llama Andreas! He's been here for like 3 months and knows better Spanish than me haha!  Yes that was super sad to me, but he has a date to get baptized on the 17th!  Also, today we had another wedding! (I think God is low key preparing me for marriage with all the weddings I've had here) haha!  Ella se llama Cindy!  Her Brother-in-Law is the Branch President and she will be getting baptized the 17th as well! 

The work here is going awesome and time is really flying!  It feels like we never have enough time to teach!  We are working a ton with the members and we have some really cool investigators that are really progressing!  Last night we had to cross some tube over a river(see pictures) and usually I can do it just fine, but man the water was so high and the tube was wet so my companion crossed it first and then I tried and I couldn't even make it 3 feet before I had to sit down on the tube and scoot my way across, and the best part was that we were with a member and we were all dying haha!  But yes, it was scary and they just laughed at me hahaha! 

All is well! :)  This week is 'Party Week' in Ecuador so we are probably going to be stuck in our house for a while.  I might not even be emailing until the middle of next week. 

Elder Hoole

***read Alma 29 this week!  I finished the Book of Mormon again and I am now reading in the Doctrine and Covenants.  

Peruvian food

Pinas

Banana tree

Haircut time

Pic of the pipe!

Slippery too!!!  The pipe!!!