First Transfer

Familia!!!!

Cómo están todos??  Thank you for the emails and love and laughs and todo.  You are all wonderful and I miss you!  Christian, where have you been??  I need to hear from you!  How´s school?  How´s tennis?  How´s everything?  Mom, to answer the rest of your questions from last week, (1) my body has more or less adjusted to the heat here.  I still sweat like a banshee, but I´m used to it now.  I also am less tired in the middle of the day, which is a blessing and a half.  I still have some days where I accidentally close my eyes for who knows how long during a pre-lunch visit, but that´s about once a week now.  (2) In my mission, the rule is still that only family can email me and I still only get 30 minutes.  Who knows if it will change with the mission president, but for now things are still the same-old.  (3) No picture with the Mission President when I arrived.  There were a few groups of missionaries who arrived at different times that same day and things were kind of nuts.  Plus, I looked pretty frightening, so it´s a blessing in disguise.  I´m glad to hear McKay made it safely to Hungary!  How cool for him!  (4) Scary about the explosions at the Boston Marathon.  I hope none of you wer down there in that great state of Massachusetts during that time.  It´s weird having people ask me about current events in the world and not knowing what´s going on.  But I´m getting used to being out of the worldly loop.  It´s pretty nice, actually.  Also, I´m not really sure what time of year it is, because I think there´s only winter and summer, but yeah, that doesn´t matter.

I am so excited that the whole family will be home when I call for Mother´s Day!!!  What day does Parker fly home?  And will William be driving?  That is going to be so great.  I can´t wait to attempt to talk to you all in English and hear how you all are doing--especially Christian with his new voice. ;)

This weekend we had another baptism!  For Ricardo Pinela.  He is neighbors/cousins to Victor y Kevin who were recently baptized.  Ricardo is so great and will hopefully be teaching with us sometime this week!  His grandfather was a member of the church, and always tried to get his family to join the church as well, but never did.  Now his grandson is following in his footsteps, and we´re working on figuring out the desafíos of the other members of his family so we can help them enjoy the blessings of the Gospel, as well.  This Saturday will be the baptism of another member of the Pinela family--Michael.  Younger brother of Victor and Kevin.  And then the next weekend, two more of their siblings are getting baptized!  This family is so wonderful and definitely prepared for the gospel--they just learn and accept compromisos at different rates.

Also, I´m pretty sure I´m getting transferred today.  We were talking with an hermana and she heard that I´m getting moved to Guayaquil.  I´ll find out exactly where tonight, but my new companion is going to be Hermana Pérez.  She is currently in another ward here in Milagro, which means that we will both be new to this area.  I´m really sad to be leaving Hermana Olson (yes, Sandy).  She is so wonderful and has taught me a lot--how to share the Gospel simply, how to love the people, how to serve others, how to be obedient with exactness, etc.  She has one more transfer left in the mission, and I know she´s going to give it her all till the end.  I´m really going to miss all the people here in Bellavista también.  This ward has been so welcoming and loving, and the members are always will and able to help with the obra misional.  Christian, a 15-year-old comes and teaches with us at least once a week.  You should try and help out the missionaries more often, too, if you can.  It´s a little harder there, I understand, because here we walk everywhere.  But that would be great preparation for your mission, and a big help to the missionaries in the ward.

I love being a missionary!  It has been such a blessing in my life.  The promises I received in my setting apart are becoming evident as I enjoy more and more days in the field.  It´s definitely not easy.  Everyone who told me that is right.  But it´s been so wonderful.  Obviously I´ve only been out for about 3 months, but these 3 months have been wonderful.  I know the church is true, and everyone who doesn´t have this testimony for themselves, please find it soon!  It will bless you in every aspect of your life.

I love you all and am praying for your well-being, and that you can feel my love all the way from the equator.



Hermana Ayer

P.S.  CONGRATULATIONS TO ASHLEY ON THE ENGAGEMENT!!!  Also, Camille, thanks for sending me letters :)

P.P.S. Yes, I did get Olivia´s DearElder, and thanks for the picture!  I hope all is well for you!