Chapter 64 - Light the World

12/5/2016

Manta Zone

I hope everyone is doing well! So I don't know if you have heard about the new Christmas video the church put out but it's called Light the World. It's really good and I encourage all of you to go watch it if you haven't yet or share it with friends and family if you've already seen it! There's also a paper that has 25 ways, 25 days. Every day in December there are things we can do to bring the spirit of Christmas, and more than anthing, the spirit of Christ, into our lives this month. It's really good, download it and print it off! We are doing it as missionaries and it's awesome!

So this week was really good. We extended 4 baptismal dates this week which was amazing and the people accepted and there are even more people that are prepared, this place seriously blows me away. I love it here, the people are amazing and have so much love...tierra prometida, en serio (promised land, seriously). We have worked a lot with the members this week as well and gone on splits and we are seeing the fruits. People also went to church that don't have baptismal dates and very soon we will be extending dates for them because they are so good. So good. Just so you're informed, the people who have baptismal dates (for the 24th of December by the way...can you say best Christmas gift ever? Eternal Salvation, yeah) anyway, their names are Yandry, Leli, Marjorie, and Daniel. and some other really great people you can pray for that went to church are Rocio, Ramon, and Michelle. Pray for them, they are such good people and they just need the gospel!

Sometimes we think life is hard but really we are the ones who make our own problems sometimes. Sometimes we just complicate life and create our own problems but really just need to take a step back, breath, look at things with reasoning, be humble, and it will all turn out okay. There is a phrase that Presidente Dennis would say that is Si no hay pruebas, no hay progreso (If there are no trials, there is no progress) and I truly believe that. We don't go anywhere if we haven't had to work for it.

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week. Remember that God loves each one of you and He wants to hear your prayers. Remember that He answers through the scriptures, read them. Remember Him. Love you all.

Missionary Pictionary?

Lunch at Zone Conference

Chapter 63 - The Power of the Fast

11/28/2016
Hey Everyone!

So hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. They obviously don't celebrate that here, but it did cross my mind. I am so thankful for so many things and I don't have time to write them all! Well I just wanted to share an experience that we had this week. This week was so good. We are in a trio and so we did a lot of splits this week...yeah, divide and conquer. Anyway, this week we had a small problem..the family that got baptized last week, the Yagual Figeroa Family, well the mom needed to sign the paper that you need to sign when you get baptized, for herself and her kids and you're supposed to sign it right after the baptismal interview but there was confusion I guess and she didn't sign it. Anyway, so she got baptized (it wasn't till afterwards that we noticed that it wasn't signed) and we had to go get it signed and she was like so cold and was like I don't know why you need my signature and she did not want to sign the paper....ok huge problem... and the thing is is that her husband isn't a member and he was the one that was like, why do they need all this information and signatures (they have had bad experiences in the past with signing papers and stuff so that was not helping us) and anyway long story short, she did not want the paper but the elders form the office were calling us like crazy because they needed it fast and we were like, oh no, what do we do, she does not want to sign this paper. So what did we do? We fasted. and Wow. We fasted that she would open her heart and her husband's as well and also we fasted that the members would help us. Well, all I have to say is ask and ye shall receive because right after we started our fast, we went to the church and we found an hermana and she said she would go talk to her. She went and I don't know what she said, because we didn't go, but she signed the paper...it was like wow, immediate answer. We also saw a lot of other blessings and miracles afterwards and I am so thankful for this experience because it strengthend my testimony about fasting. I always knew why we fasted and why it's important and I knew God would help us and answer our prayers but it has never been so evident in my whole life. I am so grateful to be serving a mission and I'm grateful that the Lord strengthens our testimonies! Anyway I want to testify that fasting really does work. It is like an extra plea to God and if we do it with a sincere heart, He will answer us. It is a sacrifice but it is worth it. I love you all and hope you have the best week!

Chapter 62 - Adjusting to Jaramijo

11/21/2016

We literally live on the beach!

I hope you all had a great week! This week was really good. It was kind of crazy, how transfers usually are but it was good. I'm getting to know my sector a little more and things are going well. It's kinda hard to be in a trio sometimes because like the revelation comes in like three ways sometimes haha but it's all good. We are getting the hang of it. Anyway, a little more about Jaramijo. It's a small branch, which is something really new for me but it's good. Also, we literally live on the beach...like so close. And it's soooo beautiful. FYI it's also been kind of cold these days. (yes, I will die when I get back to Utah if I think it's cold in Ecaudor...haha but really...I sleep with socks on....) Also it's such a small fishermans town. Let me prove it. So this week we contacted this guy and we asked him how long he'd been married for and he told us and then we asked what the secret was, ya know to having a long lasting mairrage..and ususally the people tell us love or patience or understanding or something but no....you know what he tells us... el pescado...the fish..haha the fish is the secret to mairrage..haha so funny. Also, I've never heard the parable of Jesus making his disciples into fishermen of men used so many times...haha it's so good. Also, the fish thing is going okay. I am surviving. Thanks for the prayers. 

Baptism of the Yagual Figeroa Family

Also we had a baptism this week of 4 people! It was so amazing. The family Yagual Figeroa. A mom and her 3 kids. It was so great. This sector is a sector of miracles...but we definitely need to work. I was just sitting in sacrament meeting yesterday and it just hit me that I feel like I've seen these people before...like they all loook so familiar. I feel at home here, I'm not sure why. but I am ready to work! Hope you have a great week!

The Trio Hermana Reyes, Me, Hermana Tantavilca

Chapter 61 - Transfers and Trios

11/14/2016

So as you can all see from the subject line, I had transfers...and I'm in a trio. I got transfered to Jaramijo which is in Manabi. It's this little fishing town and wow this is going to be quite an experience. Hermana Roylance's stomach doesn't like fish too much so there will be many prayers said at meal times...haha but really I'm so excited to be here. I am with Hermana Reyes who is from Mexico. She is also a mission nurse so we are here holding down the fort as the nurses in Manabi. I'm also with Hermana Tantavilca who is from Peru. They are both so sweet and I am so excited to start working with them! We are in a branch here, it's not a ward, but I know we will be able to help this branch grow and basically become a ward...we're going out looking for some good priesthood holders! Families! We are looking for families!

Anyways, I had like mixed feelings. I kind of felt these transfers coming but it was still a surprize to come here. It was sad leaving the Florida because Boris is getting baptized this week and I really wanted to be there but I know he is in good hands. Hermana Hawkes is there with him and I know she will help him a lot. Also it was sad to leave hermana Flor. She is so good and has progressed so much. At the beginning, we went to teach her son who is less active and she wouldn't even come out to the living room to listen. When she finally did come out after a few times of going, she sat there with her eyes closed. And, well, it all went up from there. She is so good and I know she will get baptized with the help of the missionaries there. Everyone in her family (kids, siblings, and mom) are members except her. One day her sister invited her to start reading the Book of Mormon and I can just say that that is what made the difference. She starting reading the Book of Mormon and it opened her heart. While we were reading with her the other day she was like wow, when we were reading that I just felt so good and I just knew it was true. Ah, she is so goood! I know the Book of Mormon is true and it works miracles in the lives of everyone who reads it with an open heart! If you've stopped reading the Book of Mormon, or have never read it, I challenge you to do so now. You will not regret it. Let the blessings begin. Seriously.

Another fun fact, this week on Saturday we were able to go to the temple with one of our converts Hermana Rocio. She isn't married but lives with her sister and mom and anyway she went to get her endowments and it was so great. How great of an experience it is to be in the temple with one of your converts (and when I say convert, I mean like I wasn't there for her baptism but I was there shortly after, like a year ago when I started out in that sector so she basically counts as my convert too) Anyway, it was so special and an experience I will never forget!

I hope you all have a great week! Love you!

Love,

Hermana Roylance

P.S. On wednesday we got to be part of a service project and it was so awesome. I don't know if you've heard about The Love Project but they came and guess where most of them are from...BOUNTIFUL. Yes. I felt at hom. No I did not know any of them., but it was so good. They collect food and clothes all year and then come here to Ecuador and give it away. It was way cool because we were there helping and for them it was like hey this is fun and awesome and I feel really good because I am serving but for me it was like hey, you're giving these clothes to my less active, who I know doesn't have anything and who really needs this...and it just meant so much more. It was such a neat experience! Anyway, it was really cool!

Chapter 60 - A G E N C Y

11/7/2016

So I have some news....Boris, that I talked about last week, wasn't baptized. What happened is that...he drank again this weekend. Ah, it was so sad...and we didn't know until literally Saturday in the morning. It was really hard to hear because one starts thinking well if I had only taught this better or prayed more or called him more to check up on him then maybe this would not have happened. But then we have to remember that people have their agency. It's hard because you're like, but he received blessings or strength and we prayed and we were always there for him, how could this happen? But people have A G E N C Y. And sometimes that's hard to deal with and understand sometimes but I know God has a plan for Boris. He has truly progressed a lot and we aren't giving up on him. We were talking to his mom, who is a member, and she was telling us that lots of missionaries have passed by him but none of them were able to get to where we have. That made me feel really good, like I really do have a purpose here. It just reminded me of how there really are people here for us, people that the Lord is preparing specifically for us. They need our characters and our way of beings and they need to hear the gospel from us! Of this I am sure!

Another random thought. All you youth out there...GO TO SEMINARY AND INSTITUTE! I was talking with our convert Dana the other day, she's 14 and she was talking about how she's in seminary and she loves it because she is learning so much. And then her mom was like, man, I wish I would have had the opportunity to go to seminary when I was younger but I didn't. and I wanted to like offer her some class or something but there's nothing...just like going to church...and then it just hit me...the importance of going to seminary and institute when you're young so that when you're older and have your own family, you will be able to lead and guide then according to the principles of the gospel. Anyway, that was my little shoutout for seminary and institute! Love you all!

 

Florida Zone - October 2016 - Elder Montoya visit

 

Chapter 59 - Representatives of Jesus Christ

 10/31/2016
First of all, Happy Halloween to all! They don't really celebrate Halloween here, like a little bit they do, but not that much. Like safe to say they pretty much don't. haha but it's all good.

So we had the conference this week with Elder Hugo Montoya and it WAS AMAZING. Wow. I think it was one of the best conferences I've ever been to on my whole mission. SOO GOOD. He talked about a lot of things but what really hit me was about how we are truly representatives of Jesus Christ and we have the power and authority to do this work. We can make promises to these people and have faith in these promises because God will justify our words and if we see that He isn't completing these promises, we can pray to our Heavenly Father so that He can "justify the words of His servant." It was so powerful. We are literally servants of Jesus Christ, here to act how He would act and to say what He would say. And I am trying to humble myself and aquire the attributes that He would have me aquire. It's not easy but I know that He can help us with all things and more than anything, can make our weaknesses into strengths.

I also wanted to say that Boris is getting baptized next week! He is sooo good! Ah, he used the atonement in his life and I can really see the change that he has made in thes past few weeks and it's incredible. It's incredible to see the light of Christ come into someone's eyes. It's an experience you don't easily forget.
P.S. it was also Boris' birthday this week and we took him a cake!

Chapter 58 - When it just hits you...

10/24/2016

So today I just want to share something that hit me this week in our weekly planning session. So the assistants came and gave us a little training and they talked about how it's really important to work with members but we need to put in our own iniciative too. We have been really focused on working with our ward members but we can't forget to go out and contact too....It that moment it all kind of hit me. Like we know that references from the members are super awesome and we always try to get references because they usually end up being really good and awesome and prepared people but these people alone will not fill up our teaching pool. We have to find a balance because if we contact too much, we don't get to our lessons but if we only go see the members and they don't give us references? What are we supposed to do then? The example came to me of you know when you're playing mario kart and there are those little boxes  that have the surprizes in them that like help you go faster and win and stuff? Well that's like working with the members-that's like getting the mystery boxes with really great prizes in them but when you're playing, if you get a ton of those prizes and never use them, or don't even use your own iniciative to get going, the prizes don't help you at all...did that make sense? Like we need to work and contact so that as we go along, we can receive these prize references from the Lord and we will truly start advancing. Anyway, that was something that came to my mind this week.

Also we have an investigator named Boris, he's super great but he has some challenges that we are helping him get over. He had some word of wisdom issues but a few weeks ago we had made a plan with him to help him quit drinking and last week, everything went well but this weekend we called him...and guess what...he had drank...our hearts sunk...there went his baptismal date for the 29th of October...but I know God has a plan for everyone. I could really see the change in him this week as we went literally every day. He's making progres but he needs more help. So, please pray for him! He's a good guy who just needs some prayers! Muchas Gracias!