Brandon's Ecuadorian Tales

Well this will probably be a short letter because we have to travel to quito today and we need to get going to make it on time. It was a good week. We have 2 wards in our sector; Cotacachi and carabuela. They are kinda far apart and its hard to work in both wards so for a really long time the missionaries have just been working in cotacachi because that’s where we live and the ward is stronger there. But last week we decided to go see what carabuela was like and if there was any potential so we went to church last week and this week we spent some more time over there. It turns out that there is potential in cotacachi. We found 4 people that go to church every week that aren`t members. 2 of them are kids of an active family that are 9 and 11 that were never baptized when they were 8…. So its basically like 2 free baptisms… although it might not be that easy because he has a ridiculous fear of water…. We`ll see what we can do. Another one is the 9-year-old son of a family that was inactive for 8 years but is now coming back to church. And the last one is the bishops sister in law that has been coming to church for a long time and says that she wants to get baptized. So basically it was like a gold mine for baptisms!
We have an investigator named Lisbeth that comes to church every week, goes to young woman’s activities during the week and is basically a “dry member”. She is everything a member is except for being baptized. The only reason that she doesn`t get baptized is because her dad is CRAZY!!!!!!!!!! He yells at us every time he sees us and hates us and the church. But this week in church she said that she wants to get baptized before the ward goes to the temple next week so that she can go too and do baptisms for the dead. She said that she’s just gonna talk with her mom and get permission from her and do it without telling her dad. That’s what her brother did like 5 months ago and everything turned out good so she says that she wants to do the same. Hopefully it all works out and we baptized her next week.
This week we had 13 investigators at church. There were actually 14 but we didn`t know one of them and didn`t get a chance to meet her and set up an appointment because she left so quick so we didn`t count here. The Sundays when 13 people show up are the Sundays when I feel very grateful to be serving in Latin America. Hopefully all of those people can get baptized. It looks like we have a lot of potential this month.
This week we will be in Quito until Thursday for meetings so its gonna be a busy week trying to get caught up with all our investigators when we get back. But it will be fun to go to Quito. It always is. I always get to see all my friends from other zones and eat in presidents house and play kickball and whatnot.
I`m looking forward to talking to you all on mothers day!!!!!!
Is there anything specific that you guys what me to bring back from Ecuador. I`m gonna make a list now so that I have time to get it all. If you want any movies they cost a buck here so just let me know if you want me to bring back any. Jason the sells scarfs for any of the big soccer teams like Barcelona or real Madrid or whatever team that is pretty popular. Do you want any? They also have pretty scarfs for girls, beanies, llama jackets, jewelry, purses, bags… and a lot of other stuff. Maybe you can look on the internet and find more options. Just look for stuff that they sell in Otavalo, Ecuador. Anyway, if you just give me some ideas or make a list or something I can start buying when I find good prices. Its all pretty cheap and I owe everyone 2 birthday presents and 2 Christmas presents so what do you want?
Anyway that’s all I have for this week. I love you all!

Love,
Brandon