Rainy season?

FAMILIAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First of all, RABBIT RABBIT!! Second of all, happy birthday, Smash Dog! Third of all, can you believe it´s July already?? Yesterday, I completed 5 months on the mission. So nuts! Time sure is flying already and I´m sure you´ve all felt that now that Christian is done with school for the year. Have so much fun at High Adventure this week, Christian! This Thursday, the 4th of July, we´re going to have an Independence Day barbecue with the Hansens! I´m so excited!!! Hermana Hansen also mentioned "apple pie" and I freaked out a little bit. Not sure if it will turn out as well as yours, Mom, but I´m still excited!

Fun fact from the week: I found out that a kid from my third grade class with Mrs. Earl served his mission here in Ecuador Guayaquil Sur! Small world. Fun question for the week: Mom and Dad, how was your anniversary? Fun story from a few weeks ago: One day, the four of us Hermanas and the two Hansens were walking down the street in a line and Hna Hansen said, "This reminds me of an old movie with Yule Brenner--you probably haven´t seen it--but he says, ´We are, the Magnificent Seven!´" Of course I´ve seen The Magnificent Seven! My dad is John Ayer! Then we bonded over old movies and TV shows. Also, Elder Hansen told us that when his wife and he were dating, they went to a dam once...then he made some dam jokes. And I laughed at them. Sorry, Mom, my dad is John Ayer!

Things have been going well here in the good ol´ Santa Rosa. My companion and I have been working hard to find new people to teach, and we found 5 solid people with whom we put baptismal dates. I´m really excited to keep working in this area, and for the opportunity we have to be here. Yesterday, we went to the house of one investigator to bring her to church, but she wasn´t home in the morning. So then we returned in the afternoon to try and get her to come to the branch that meets at 3 and when she was in her house, she was covered in a blanket on her bed because she had been throwing up that morning. I was a little frustrated because she needs to come to church in order to get baptized, and it didn´t look very promising that she would come. But out of an act of faith, I asked her, "But are you sure you can´t come to church with us just for half an hour." She said, "Yeah, I can. Let me get changed really quick." And she got changed and she came with us to all of Sacrament Meeting. Every day, Heavenly Father gives us opportunities to test our faith. We have had bigger tests than this one, but I know that it´s important to always do as much as we can, and then the Lord will do the rest.

In the CCM we watched a devotional from Elder Holland and one thing he said was, "Be a little persistant!" I´ve been trying to be more persistant. When people can see the joy this Gospel can bring to their lives, they will have more desire to accept the changes they need to make. When desire mixes with the Spirit, you can´t help but gain a testimony. And with that testimony and faith, we have the ability to make lasting changes in our lives that will bring us closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I know this Gospel is true. I know that Christ lives and loves us. :)

The missions have officially split and I´m here in Guayaquil Sur. Our new president is Máximo Torres. Also, the Galapagos Islands stayed in the South mission, so maybe someday they´ll allow Sisters to go there! We´ll see!

Hermana Ayer

P.S. Right now, we´re in the rainy season in Ecuador. Basically that means it´s cloudy some days and we get a misty rain about twice a week. I love it.

P.P.S. Dad, thanks so much for your long email and ps´s. I loved them. Mom, I got kind of emotional when you mentioned how you went to the tide pools with your sisters. Can we go there when I get back and take more pictures like the ones when Will and I were little? Thanks. :)

P.P.P.S. Here´s a picture of the house we live in! It´s kind of awesome. We only live in the bottom part.

This is the house where Sarah lives......