Amor

FAMILIA!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rabbit rabbit, Happy April Fools` Day, Happy Easter yesterday, and I think there was one more holiday in there, but I guess it`s not that important............................................................................
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APRIL FOOLS!            ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS, PAPÁ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The big, ol` 52.  This is so wonderful and I thought about you all day on Saturday!  I hope you know that.  :)  I sent something in the mail last week, but I have no idea how long mail takes to get from here to there, so we`ll see.  Please know that I have been thinking about you a lot and wish you the best in todo.  As a little birthday gift, here are some things I did to celebrate your cumpleaños:

1.  I found out a guy in the ward here named Diego is going to Fresno on his mission!  He was originally assigned to somewhere in Mexico, but couldn`t get his Visa, so he got reassigned to the second best mission in the world.  (Ecuador Guayaquil Sur is the first best, obviously.)  I told him what I could remember of your mission, but told him that the best person ever served there (you)!

2.  We had a BAPTISM!!!!!!!  Our investigator and dear friend Marcos was baptized.  He is so wonderful!  He is 63 years old and such a character.  But let me tell you, like the Joseph Smith movie says, When there`s the greatest good, there`s also the greatest opposition.  The week before his baptism, his dueño told him he had to move out of his house in 2 weeks.  Also, his son-in-law came over to stay and they don`t get along super great, and his leg has been hurting him.  And then, the night of his entrevista bautismal, it was raining more than ever, and the elders never showed up to give the interview.  It was a little crazy all at once, but Marcos is an inspiration to me, because he recognizes that all his blessings truly come from God and he has been blessed with so much.  He`s great.  Right before his baptism, though, we get to the church and the font was completely empty because our ward mission leader forgot to fill it.  Yeah, that just added one more thing to the list, but we successfully joined another baptism at another church building close by and all went as planned.  He really is such a good friend, and I`ve learned a lot from him.  The gospel is so simple in his eyes.  He has a ¿Por què no? attitude that I love!  The Gospel doesn`t have to be difficult.  We just need to love God and if we have that love, everything else is easy.

This week has been a little hard, too, because we had 4 baptismal dates fall through.  We have been teaching two different families, but they did not want to attend church.  This is so hard because church is so important.  This is where we learn from others and can partake the Sacrament which is the most important thing about church!  When we partake of the Santa Cena, we are remembering Jesus Christ and His atonement for each one of us, which is the one thing that makes it possible to receive forgiveness and have happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come.  It is so easy to take a few hours out of our day to remember Him.  I have really come to love these families, too, which is why it was so hard to see them make this decision.  I`m trying to be more loving and patient with others and their agency.

Also, I`ve come to see that when people have questions, the answer is the Book of Mormon.  Last night, we began teaching this family, and I saw a transformation from the beginning to the end when I testified of the Book of Mormon.  If the Book of Mormon is true, so is everything else...and the Book of Mormon is true!!

I`m so excited for Conference this weekend, and we are doing our best to invite everyone and get the word out.  Our ward goal is to have everyone bring at least one person to the Conference.  I hope it works and people bring their friend to listen to the voice of the prophet!

Dad, to answer your questions, the food is great!  We have 6 people who cook for us the same days every week, and usually we eat soup, rice, a side dish (ish), and meat.  I know that is really vague, but it's really good.  And of course Christian did great in the play.  I wish I could have been there to see it!  Also, how are the Sisters??  If you have a Sister Bickel, she`s my friend!

There is one road where all these kids play every day and they are the cutest ever!  Every day they are outside with their cometas (kites) and if someone gets it to go high, they all yell, Sì tuvo exito!  It`s the cutest!  I just wish I could play with them.  There`s a drunk guy that lives on that street, though, too, and yesterday he was laying on the ground and yelled, ¡Càsense todos conmigo!  It was hilarious.

The church is true and I love having the opportunity to share this Gospel with the people of Ecuador.  The people here are so humble and so loving.  Jesus Christ is our Savior, and He loves us so incredibly much.  I love being able to be a representative of Him.

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!  And I already wrote Parker, but congrats on the mission call!  Love you!


Hermana Ayer

P.S. Don`t worry, on St. Patrick`s Day, I wore green. ;)