Happy Thanksgiving!

I woke up on Tuesday morning with no voice and the first signs of illness. Teaching in another language is hard enough, and then trying to do so with no voice is a challenge of its own class. I should have stuck with those interpretive dance classes pre-mission. I wandered around for a few days with a pounding headache and a pocket full of tissues. The best part about it was all the silly remedies people told me to do to get better: wrap a scarf around my neck tightly, drink lots of hot water, and lots of other weirder things I cant think of right now. I am pleased to report that I am almost 100% better now.

 Thanksgiving was on Thursday. I celebrated by taking a four hour bus ride to Guayaquil with my companion and Hnas Glanzer and Haggard. We had to go get our censo cards to be legal in this country. We ate turkey sandwiches and talked about things we are grateful for. Mostly I was grateful for the mountains. The bus ride winds through the incredible Andes mountains and it is absolutely breathtaking. A fairytale, really. I aspire to be a mountain woman when I grow up.

 I missed Thanksgiving festivities I would have enjoyed at home - stuffing my face with turkey, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. Oh. Freak. Pumpkin pie. I miss that delightful thing. I missed the annual painting ornaments. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Cooking, playing with family, eating tasty food, and loving. I hope you all enjoyed your weekend of Thanksgiving festivities. I missed it, but I am so thrilled to be here. I cannot imagine being anywhere else.

 We spent Thursday and Friday morning in Guayaquil. We visited Hna Castillos converts in the sector she spent 6 months in. Guayaquil was her favorite sector, so I wasglad she was able to spend some time with people she has come to know and love. For me...I missed Cuenca. I missed the cleanliness, the weather (freak! Guayaquil was so hot! I died.), the people, and the feeling of security here. I realized that for me Cuenca is home now. God has a purpose for placing me here right now and there is no other place on this planet I should be. Whenever I get transferred elsewhere I will make that home and love that too, but for now it is Cuenca. Home sweet home.

The system for the censo card I need was down, so we have to go back to Guayaquil again soon. This week probably. Big fat bummer. I am not stoked about taking the trip again, but at least maybe I will finish knitting my scarf. Yes folks, wearing frumpy missionary clothes daily is turning me into a knitting grandma.

 Now for investigator stories. We have found lots of rad people to teach. Anita is a 22 year old mother of 2 darling children with a smile that lights up the room. She is enchanting. We have taught her one lesson and we are going to put a baptismal date this week. I really really really really hope she accepts. She has such faith and a huge desire to follow Christ. I hope I can help her see how much she needs the gospel.

Rosa. Amazing woman. She gave me a cross stitch of a carrot and artichoke. She has a thousand questions about prophets and the Book of Mormon and why we have trials in our lives. She is super pilas (smart). We tried putting a date, but she said shes not ready. We will try again this week.

Javier. He didnt get baptized last week because he wasnt ready. But now he broke up with his girlfriend and he is changing his life by leaps and bounds. He will be baptized in the next couple weeks. I am stoked for him. I love watching people change. It is one of the most rewarding aspects of the mission.

On Friday we were out visiting a recent convert in the centro sector of Cuenca (like downtown). We knocked on her door and were just standing there waiting, when all of a sudden this woman ran at us out of nowhere shouted, "are you of God?!" We explained that we were missionaries. She led us to the entrance of her house and told us to pray for her. I offered the prayer. As I started, she began repeating everything I said after me. I had to keep praying louder and louder so I could concentrate on what I was saying because it was so distracting to have her echoing me. By the end I was practically shouting...and laughing. Okay, I didnt actually laugh out loud but I was dying on the inside. It was...quite a unique experience. We have an appointment with her this week. I hope she gets baptized.

Sunday we had to stay inside the entire day because it was the census. They go door to door and ask a thousand questions to every household. The entire country of Ecuador shuts down for the day, so we had to hang out in our super classy house (ha) all day. I will be honest...I loved it. It was such a good chance to recharge and gear up for another week in the lucha. We spent the day studying, playing bananagrams, jamming to Christmas music, writing, and cooking. Ahhhh...cooking. How I missed it. We made crepes and chicken and mashed potatoes and carrots and cookies and pie. It was an all-day feast. Pure bliss.

 In my thousand hours of studying on Sunday I was reading in Ether and was so impressed by so many stories of the Jaredites. Ether 6. Blows my mind. The Jaredites encountered horrible storms on their trip to the promised land. But they prepared themselves like crazy to face it. They got on the boat, and left the rest to the Lord. Elder Wirthlin once said, the simple secret is this: put your trust in the Lord, do your best, then leave the rest to Him. That's exactly what they did. And yet the journey wasn't easy. The boat was submerged and they faced insane winds and storms. But I love when it says that the wind never did case to blow towards the promised land. The purpose of the storms was to steer them to where they needed to go. The Lord does the same for us. He allows us to face trials and challenges in our lives so that we can be refined and eventually end up in the promised land (eternal life) and reach our full potential as individuals. We're given opportunities to strech ourselves and develop our talents. Don't ever fear the storms in life. View them as a chance to get a few miles closer to your home in heaven. Without the Lord and without the storms, we would be forever lost in this giant ocean of the world. Sounds pretty miserable, yeah? I hope I can be like the Jaredites and never cease to praise the Lord, even in times of trial.

 Today we went to Azogas as a zone. Oh. My. Gosh. Best thing of my life. Azogas is a city right next to Cuenca and is part of our zone. Its a quaint mountain city. We went to this place called Maria de Las Nubes. Its this gigantic statue of the virgin Mary at the top of this huge mountain. Did you know they moved Mt. Timp to Ecuador? I swear that is how long the hike was to the top. Straight up. My legs are a little bit jello-y, but I couldnt be happier. Hiking was the best thing of my life. And the view at the top? Incredible. Words cant express how amazing it was. I think everyone got tired of me exclaiming how beautiful it was. If you ever come to Ecuador...put Azogas on your list. You wont be disappointed. Unless you hate hiking.

Here are a couple pictures of my super rad zone here in Cuenca that we took today. I wish I could download more today. This computer doesnt have a slot for an SD card. Bleh. But just know that some way rad pictures are on their way in the next few weeks.

Hope everyone has the best week of their life thus far. Be good. Read your scriptures. Pray. Love people. Build snowmen. Drink hot chocolate.