WEEK 7: Achievement Unlocked- Ecuador!

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 Buenos Dias! 

A lot happened this week so this might turn out to be a long email lol. 
Conference! conference was super good last week and if any of you haven't I would highly recommend going back and listening to some of the talks. They're all super good!
October 5th
I finally left for Ecuador. This was a super sad day because I left almost all of my friends from the MTC. If any of you elders are reading this, I love y'all and I wish you the best of luck in your missions 🫡. 
Me, Elder Bullock, and Elder Hall left the MTC at 2:30 in the morning with 12 other elders. We flew from Utah to Texas, to Miami, and then finally Ecuador. 
We showed up to the airport and waiting for us was the Mission President and his wife along with the APs. As soon as we left the plane and saw Ecuador for the first time, I fell in love with this place. I know this is where I am supposed to be. We got to the mission home around 11:30 and they brought us burgers and then we went to bed around 1. They let us sleep in until 9 the next morning which was a big W. 
Friday morning we went to a church building in Guayaquil where we had interviews with the mission president and then found out who our trainers are. My trainer's name is Elder Anderson. He is also from Meridian Idaho and we found out we went to the same high school but didn't know it. Kind of funny. We are in an area called Esperanza and it is on the peninsula, so we are a couple miles away from the ocean. It is a 2 and a half hour bus ride to get here from Guayaquil but I love it here. 
We have spent the last couple days meeting ward members and introducing ourselves to the people that the last missionaries in our area were teaching. I'm going to be honest, I have no idea what anyone here is saying. The Spanish they speak is super fast and even when I ask them to slow down, it's still pretty fast. My Spanish is getting a lot better though! I have been practicing sharing scriptures and talking with the ward members.
My companion and I are also giants to everyone here. Ecuadorians are super short. I'm talking 4 and a half feet tall, short. Another thing I have gotten a lot is the people telling me that I have blue eyes. Everyone here has brown eyes so when they look at me (especially the kids) they complement my blue eyes. 
Church was super cool too! My companion gave a talk and I was supposed to share a testimony but they cut me out at the last minute. Big W. Our ward is huge! We asked the secretary to print out a list of members and there are 950 members in our ward. Only about 100 of them show up though which is crazy.
The people here are also super nice! we always say buenas to everyone and they say it back. We are in an apartment with 2 other elders, Elder Cash, and Elder Foutz. They are both super cool. The house we are in is outside of our actual area, so we have to taxi over to where we teach people. There are taxis everywhere here, its kind of insane. each taxi ride we try to ride for a dollar but sometimes we have to pay 1.25. super cheap. 
Spiritual thought:
I have been so excited to come out on the mission but I'm going to be honest, I woke up on day 1 and was feeling terrible. I was thinking, Am I really going to be here for 2 years? and just reconsidering what I was doing here. While reading the scriptures in personal study, I read this verse. While reading this I want you all to replace the word, "Helaman" with your first name. 
Alma 36:3
"And now, O my son Helaman, behold thou art in thy youth, and therefore, i beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in god shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day"
I know for a fact that God is with us always. If we come unto him during our trials and tribulations, He can lift us up and we can be made stronger through him. He has a plan for each and every one of us. 
Again, sorry for the long email but a lot happened this week, I love you all so much!
-Elder Johnson




















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