December 28, 2009
Hey Fam!
Wow I can’t believe that Christmas is over and that we already talked. The phone call felt like it was five minutes long and I feel kind of bad because I felt like I talked the entire time. When I got off the phone I realized that I had done all the talking and didn’t really listen to you guys or see how are things with you all. I’m sorry about that and I wish I had more questions for you. In 5 months I promise to have some more questions. You all sounded so great and I really enjoyed that phone call. I can’t wait for the next one. So Lili said we talking in Spanish? lol ya or more like tried. Lol I really don’t think she understood me very well, just like most people here. I know that I have a lot to work on to be where I want and to feel comfortable with speaking. Hey so I have a question, when I was talking did I sound different? Because when I called whit she said that my voice was higher and that I sounded more feminine! I really hope that is not the case, she also said that I had a little bit of and accent which I’m fine with. lol oh and mom thanks again for the presents and everything they are amazing. I like the shirts so much that I am afraid to wear them. And thanks for the food and candy, it’s way good and everyone is enjoying it. My favorite is definitely the calendar and the peanut butter. hey mom this is a web page thing that president and his wife made for the missionaries and the families.
http://misionecuadorguayaquilsur.blogspot.com
I forgot to tell you about it in my last letter so I’m telling you now. I think that it has pictures and you guys can see all the zones and all the missionaries in our mission. Well what can I tell you guys about that you don’t already know??? Ok so we had a intercombio again for one day on sat. Elder Saban, one of the other elders in our apartment was my comp. we went out and taught a lot of lessons. My favorite thing about having changes for one day is that I have the opportunity to talk a lot more with the members and the investigators. Because to tell you the truth my comp talks so much and lots of the time I kind of sit back in the background listening. This is one of the things that Elder Johnson had troubles with also. He said that it was hard for him because he felt like he didn’t have a relationship with any of the people they were teaching because he couldn’t talk very well and my comp and his comp at the time talks a lot. He is a nice guy, he just talks a lot. But ya I really like having changes because I get the opportunity to talk so much more and teach so much more. But ya when me and Elder Saban were walking back to the apartment we walked by a shop that had air soft guns .lol really it was his idea and not mine to buy them, actually he made me by one. Really there was nothing I could do, so we both ended up getting one. Now we have air soft guns. Lol so to tell you the truth things are getting so much better. I’m starting to like the mission more and more every day!! Lol I think understanding the language and being able to teach more is I big part of that also. Oh something else that was cool is yesterday for the first time I taught the Restoration. For me that is a big accomplishment because I remember my first few weeks and I could even tell where we were in the lesson. ok before I forget or run out of time I want to tell you about Carmon Cortel. I told you a lot about her on the phone but we have the bap date set up for this weekend and I’m pretty sure it’s going to workout. She is doing everything that we have asked her to and she seems to be excited for the bapt. She went to church yesterday, which is great and all we need to do now is teach or a few more commandments. But she is doing so much butter. Really it’s amazing how you can see the change in ones persons life when they follow through with there commitments. When they do things like reading in the scriptures, praying every day, going to church and obeying the commandment you can see such a change in their continence. They are so much happier, they receive so many more blessing in there lives. I got to admit one of the best things to see for a missionary or for me, is when we go to an investigator’s house and they have the Book of Mormon open with a marker right next to it or when they have questions written in the back about what they read. This is when the missionary is most happy and definitely when the investigator is most happy. The other day we passed by Rafael Barre´s house to see how he was doing and to share a quick message. When we got there we looked through the window and he was asleep with the Book of Mormon on his lap. We always like to see that. Lol Anyway things are going great for me. The language is still hard and I still have a really hard time understanding everything, but with time and practice I know it will come. Anyway my time is about up and I’ve got to go but I want you to all know that I miss you tons and I love you tambian. I hope all is well with you guys and that you enjoy the rest of Christmas break. Love you all and miss you all!
Con Amor,
ELDER KEABLES!
Monday, December 28, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
...I took it off and found a fat cockroach or actually even better a flat cockroach...
December 21, 2009
Fam!
Hey! Four more days! Can you believe that? First of all, mom I want to say thanks so much for getting flowers for Lili, I was kind of worried about what to do, but it sound like everything turned out well. Ok so on Friday at 5pm here I’m going to call you guys from a member’s house!!! You said that there is a 3 hour difference, so I think you guys should be expecting a call around 2pm. Yahhh!! I am soo looking forward to that. Or that is my plan; it might change and you could get a phone call a bit earlier. Oh and mom yes I got the package that you sent with the presents for the other elders and thank you much! Ok, so I’ll start off by telling you about the most important stuff that happening this week. First off we had a baptism yesterday yahhh it was my second one! I know that I didn’t tell you guys about that and really I’s because I didn’t know that we were going to have it. Her name is Lilia Castillo. The reason I didn’t know that we would be able to baptize her is because everyone else in the family are members or she married into a family of members. Her husband is a member, also he is the one that baptized her. When we first taught them we asked why she did want to get bap. And she said it’s because she wanted to wait for her husband to be able to. This was my first few week in Ecuador. Well we tried a few more times but they insisted on waiting. Well Monday of this week we found out that the husband could perform the bap. So we taught her all the lessons this last week and she was baptized. It was really I cool experience because they have this thing called noche blanco and it’s when all the missionaries in all the stakes have their baptism the same day. So 5 people got baptized last night and about half the stake was there to watch and support those who were bap. It was really I cool experience to be a part of. One of the ladies that got bapt was 93 years old and her name is America! Lol and her fathers name was Spiritu Santo or Holy Ghost. Anyway so that is what happened this week. Right now we have 3 other with a baptism date set up. Jose Madina, Carmon Cortes and Anehla Mosketa, we are working hard to get them all prepare for the 2 of enero or January lol. I not to sure what’s going to happen with them. I can give you the rest of the information in 4 days ha! It’s hard to explain the situation through this letter because I would be writing forever and I don’t have forever, but I wish I did. Ok so my scripture reading is going pretty good. By the time I talk to you guys I’ll be finished with 3 Nephi. I can now read the libro de mormon and understand a lot more, I still don’t understand everything, but it’s coming. I have had a lot more changes with other missionaries that I haven’t really told you about because I don’t have time, but some of the other missionaries said that I am doing better than they were when they had the same time. I don’t know to believe them or not. Lol because it is so hard. I understand a lot more but there is still soooo much that I need to learn. Sometime people will ask me questions or say something to me and I just sit there like WHAT? I probably look really stupid because I don’t know if it’s a question, or a statement and whether or not a should laugh be sad shake my head and say si or should I be mad, did they make fun of me? Lol really I feel like I never know what’s going on, but normally I just shake my head and say si, . lol no its not that bad but really close, I am able to follow every conversation now and know what they are talking about. Sometimes I even try talking in some..lol. what else can I tell you guys about…. Oh so this morning when I was leaving the house I put on my shoe and walked to the bathroom and back when I notice that there was something in it. I took it off and found a fat cockroach or actually even better a flat cockroach because I had stepped on it. It was pretty sick because it was all in my shoe and all over my sock. I hate the bugs!! Que mas oh this last week and a half my companion has had fungus on the bottom of his foot. That’s sick to because it looks like dead skin and all white and red. Actually it looks like mould on the bottom of his foot. Lol but it’s getting better. Oh I had a change again with the leader of or zone. I went to another sector for a day and night. It’s crazy I think I told you guys about this place but it’s called the izel and it used to be the third most dangerous place in the world. I couldn’t even wear the ring Jordan gave me because I didn’t want my finger to get cut off. Lol or the ring to get stolen. It was my second time going to that sector I think I told you guys about it the first time. It’s where all the houses are made out of wood or bamboo. It’s pretty crazy we drove around on this motorcycle thing to get around and once again they drive crazy here and I almost died like 10 times. Lol but ya it’s always fun to go to another sector and meet other people. I really like it because it’s a chance to talk with other people and practice my Spanish. Oh I gave another talk in church again. The bishop told us about it about 5 hours before church. I had about 10 minutes to plan it out while I was putting on my shirt and shining my shoes. Lol oh ya we wear our suits every Sunday here in Ecuador and for most of the meeting in church. Dad mom I got the last letter with the Butte College information and thank you so much. O it was nice to see the pic of the guys and see how things are going with Butte. I think the next letters I send, there will be one for Anthony Carter, so if you could find away to get that to him it would be nice. One thing that I miss sooo much is basketball! I mean I have played 2 times since being here but it’s not the same. I miss the screaming crowd and fans. I miss being on a team and all the guys working toward one goal! The champ! I miss finishing a game and walking out of the locker room and having family and friends to greet you. No matter if you win or lose they are always there for support. I miss the trips and the bus rides. Oh I really miss basketball and I can promise you that I will want to play after the mission, but for now I’m going to have to wait. But don’t worry dad I still workout every other day. It’s funny because being on a mission kind of reminds me of being on a team.. Me, my comp, the other missionaries, Jesus and the Lord are all on one team. We also have goals and things we want to accomplish. The only way we can have success is through trust and faith in one another and working together to accomplish the same thing… to accomplish our goal. To help bring the people in Ecuador and all over the world the fullness of the gospel. Help people find faith in Christ and act on the faith. I can tell you right now that this is the hardest game or hardest thing I have ever done. but I know that it well be one of the most important things I’ll ever do. I know it sounds weird to call it a game but every game has a goal and I just like thinking of it that way. lol I’m weird. So mom what’s going on with Jake? Did he take off? You are going to have to tell me about that when we talk. And does his first phone call get to be like 10 days after leaving if so that would suck! Lol I think I would rather wait a few months if I was him. It’s crazy that he is already talking off. And in about 8 more months it well be Cody Storm’s turn. It’s really weird to think about it but we are all growing up. lol Dad I can officially say that I need to shave every day now! Lol also I’m on my second bar of soap and almost finished with my first tube of toothpaste! Third deodorant stick number 3 and my aftershave is lasting pretty good. I think I’ll be able to use that for most of the mission, but don’t worry if I start a new one I’ll keep you posted. Lol man time is really flying by. Oh dad we had our first rain this last week and it was just about enough to get the ground wet then it stopped. Like one hour later I was like a million degrees and I thought I was going to die. No joke every day I sweat to the point were you could run you hand from my elbow to my wrist and your hand would be drenched. Constantly sweat runs down your face into eyes. Well my time is just about up but I just want you all to know that I miss you all soooooo very much and that you are always in my prayers. I hope all is well and I can’t wait to talk to you all on Christmas in 4 days at 2pm for you guys. I believe! I hope!! Anyway love you all and miss you!!!
Con Amor, Elder Keables
Fam!
Hey! Four more days! Can you believe that? First of all, mom I want to say thanks so much for getting flowers for Lili, I was kind of worried about what to do, but it sound like everything turned out well. Ok so on Friday at 5pm here I’m going to call you guys from a member’s house!!! You said that there is a 3 hour difference, so I think you guys should be expecting a call around 2pm. Yahhh!! I am soo looking forward to that. Or that is my plan; it might change and you could get a phone call a bit earlier. Oh and mom yes I got the package that you sent with the presents for the other elders and thank you much! Ok, so I’ll start off by telling you about the most important stuff that happening this week. First off we had a baptism yesterday yahhh it was my second one! I know that I didn’t tell you guys about that and really I’s because I didn’t know that we were going to have it. Her name is Lilia Castillo. The reason I didn’t know that we would be able to baptize her is because everyone else in the family are members or she married into a family of members. Her husband is a member, also he is the one that baptized her. When we first taught them we asked why she did want to get bap. And she said it’s because she wanted to wait for her husband to be able to. This was my first few week in Ecuador. Well we tried a few more times but they insisted on waiting. Well Monday of this week we found out that the husband could perform the bap. So we taught her all the lessons this last week and she was baptized. It was really I cool experience because they have this thing called noche blanco and it’s when all the missionaries in all the stakes have their baptism the same day. So 5 people got baptized last night and about half the stake was there to watch and support those who were bap. It was really I cool experience to be a part of. One of the ladies that got bapt was 93 years old and her name is America! Lol and her fathers name was Spiritu Santo or Holy Ghost. Anyway so that is what happened this week. Right now we have 3 other with a baptism date set up. Jose Madina, Carmon Cortes and Anehla Mosketa, we are working hard to get them all prepare for the 2 of enero or January lol. I not to sure what’s going to happen with them. I can give you the rest of the information in 4 days ha! It’s hard to explain the situation through this letter because I would be writing forever and I don’t have forever, but I wish I did. Ok so my scripture reading is going pretty good. By the time I talk to you guys I’ll be finished with 3 Nephi. I can now read the libro de mormon and understand a lot more, I still don’t understand everything, but it’s coming. I have had a lot more changes with other missionaries that I haven’t really told you about because I don’t have time, but some of the other missionaries said that I am doing better than they were when they had the same time. I don’t know to believe them or not. Lol because it is so hard. I understand a lot more but there is still soooo much that I need to learn. Sometime people will ask me questions or say something to me and I just sit there like WHAT? I probably look really stupid because I don’t know if it’s a question, or a statement and whether or not a should laugh be sad shake my head and say si or should I be mad, did they make fun of me? Lol really I feel like I never know what’s going on, but normally I just shake my head and say si, . lol no its not that bad but really close, I am able to follow every conversation now and know what they are talking about. Sometimes I even try talking in some..lol. what else can I tell you guys about…. Oh so this morning when I was leaving the house I put on my shoe and walked to the bathroom and back when I notice that there was something in it. I took it off and found a fat cockroach or actually even better a flat cockroach because I had stepped on it. It was pretty sick because it was all in my shoe and all over my sock. I hate the bugs!! Que mas oh this last week and a half my companion has had fungus on the bottom of his foot. That’s sick to because it looks like dead skin and all white and red. Actually it looks like mould on the bottom of his foot. Lol but it’s getting better. Oh I had a change again with the leader of or zone. I went to another sector for a day and night. It’s crazy I think I told you guys about this place but it’s called the izel and it used to be the third most dangerous place in the world. I couldn’t even wear the ring Jordan gave me because I didn’t want my finger to get cut off. Lol or the ring to get stolen. It was my second time going to that sector I think I told you guys about it the first time. It’s where all the houses are made out of wood or bamboo. It’s pretty crazy we drove around on this motorcycle thing to get around and once again they drive crazy here and I almost died like 10 times. Lol but ya it’s always fun to go to another sector and meet other people. I really like it because it’s a chance to talk with other people and practice my Spanish. Oh I gave another talk in church again. The bishop told us about it about 5 hours before church. I had about 10 minutes to plan it out while I was putting on my shirt and shining my shoes. Lol oh ya we wear our suits every Sunday here in Ecuador and for most of the meeting in church. Dad mom I got the last letter with the Butte College information and thank you so much. O it was nice to see the pic of the guys and see how things are going with Butte. I think the next letters I send, there will be one for Anthony Carter, so if you could find away to get that to him it would be nice. One thing that I miss sooo much is basketball! I mean I have played 2 times since being here but it’s not the same. I miss the screaming crowd and fans. I miss being on a team and all the guys working toward one goal! The champ! I miss finishing a game and walking out of the locker room and having family and friends to greet you. No matter if you win or lose they are always there for support. I miss the trips and the bus rides. Oh I really miss basketball and I can promise you that I will want to play after the mission, but for now I’m going to have to wait. But don’t worry dad I still workout every other day. It’s funny because being on a mission kind of reminds me of being on a team.. Me, my comp, the other missionaries, Jesus and the Lord are all on one team. We also have goals and things we want to accomplish. The only way we can have success is through trust and faith in one another and working together to accomplish the same thing… to accomplish our goal. To help bring the people in Ecuador and all over the world the fullness of the gospel. Help people find faith in Christ and act on the faith. I can tell you right now that this is the hardest game or hardest thing I have ever done. but I know that it well be one of the most important things I’ll ever do. I know it sounds weird to call it a game but every game has a goal and I just like thinking of it that way. lol I’m weird. So mom what’s going on with Jake? Did he take off? You are going to have to tell me about that when we talk. And does his first phone call get to be like 10 days after leaving if so that would suck! Lol I think I would rather wait a few months if I was him. It’s crazy that he is already talking off. And in about 8 more months it well be Cody Storm’s turn. It’s really weird to think about it but we are all growing up. lol Dad I can officially say that I need to shave every day now! Lol also I’m on my second bar of soap and almost finished with my first tube of toothpaste! Third deodorant stick number 3 and my aftershave is lasting pretty good. I think I’ll be able to use that for most of the mission, but don’t worry if I start a new one I’ll keep you posted. Lol man time is really flying by. Oh dad we had our first rain this last week and it was just about enough to get the ground wet then it stopped. Like one hour later I was like a million degrees and I thought I was going to die. No joke every day I sweat to the point were you could run you hand from my elbow to my wrist and your hand would be drenched. Constantly sweat runs down your face into eyes. Well my time is just about up but I just want you all to know that I miss you all soooooo very much and that you are always in my prayers. I hope all is well and I can’t wait to talk to you all on Christmas in 4 days at 2pm for you guys. I believe! I hope!! Anyway love you all and miss you!!!
Con Amor, Elder Keables
Monday, December 14, 2009
When we eat at a member’s houses its rice and soup...
December 14, 2009
Hey family.
Hey family- how are you all? It was good to hear from you in the email. Ok- so I don’t have too much time to write today because we didn’t leave the house for a long time this morning. I spent the morning writing a letter for you all and one for Lili. I am going to send the letter to you and to Lili today. And I put my disc of pics in there too, so you can be expecting that. Ok to answer some of your questions I do have enough money from the church, actually I have more than enough. I still have 60 dollars from the plane flight over here. Actually because I have more than enough money I think I am going to make a goal to save 500 dollars over the 2 years and that money can go to someone who doesn’t have enough money to pay like I did. So dad when I eat breakfast every morning it's eggs and bread. And when we eat at a member’s houses its rice and soup. They eat rice and soup for every meal every day. I wish I had more time to write you but I have to make the CD so I can send it today. I promise my next letter will be a lot longer. ok so I just got you other message and the baptism didn’t go through but i gave more information in the letter i wrote.
Julia,
Julia happy birthday, how old are you now 12 or 13 I can’t remember lol jk. Julia, I hope that you have the best birthday and you get all the things that you wanted. What did you get for your bday? Julia I miss you and I wish I could be there to see you open you presents. I promise that I will be there for not the next but the one after! lol Happy Birthday!
Hey family.
Hey family- how are you all? It was good to hear from you in the email. Ok- so I don’t have too much time to write today because we didn’t leave the house for a long time this morning. I spent the morning writing a letter for you all and one for Lili. I am going to send the letter to you and to Lili today. And I put my disc of pics in there too, so you can be expecting that. Ok to answer some of your questions I do have enough money from the church, actually I have more than enough. I still have 60 dollars from the plane flight over here. Actually because I have more than enough money I think I am going to make a goal to save 500 dollars over the 2 years and that money can go to someone who doesn’t have enough money to pay like I did. So dad when I eat breakfast every morning it's eggs and bread. And when we eat at a member’s houses its rice and soup. They eat rice and soup for every meal every day. I wish I had more time to write you but I have to make the CD so I can send it today. I promise my next letter will be a lot longer. ok so I just got you other message and the baptism didn’t go through but i gave more information in the letter i wrote.
Julia,
Julia happy birthday, how old are you now 12 or 13 I can’t remember lol jk. Julia, I hope that you have the best birthday and you get all the things that you wanted. What did you get for your bday? Julia I miss you and I wish I could be there to see you open you presents. I promise that I will be there for not the next but the one after! lol Happy Birthday!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Actually, there are two kinds of language here in Ecuador...
December 7, 2009
Hey Family!
Hey how are you all? Another week has passed by! I can’t believe in less than three weeks I’ll be able to talk to you guys. I am way excited about that! Ok so I have a lot to say. First, I have a confession to make!!! My comp is not as nice as I made him sound or helpful. I didn’t want to write you guys and tell you all the things that were bothering me or the things I was struggling with. Mostly because I didn’t want mom or any of you to get worried. But I’ll be honest now, because things are a lot better. Really the first month or month and a half I wanted to go home. Actually, the first week wasn’t so bad, but the rest were really hard. But things are getting a lot better now that I can understand the language better. But really my first month or so I wanted to go home so bad. Really I don’t know how I didn’t. Lol I know it’s bad, but it was hard. I don’t have to say much about my comp to explain the type of person he is. All you need to know is that his favorite movies are Lord of the Rings, Star wars, and Harry Potter. The music he likes is the music of these movies. So at sometimes in the apartment I feel like we are about to get attacked by goblins, and the other I feel like we are fighting to save the galaxy, and another I feel like I’m flying with unicorns on clouds. Lol Let's just say I dislike the music a lot! I’ll just say he is very unique in his own little way. But really I don’t think he is as bad as Elder ______, because some days we get along great, but not a lot. It’s funny because Elder Johnson is one of the missionaries in our district who had my comp for a trainer. When I met Elder Johnson for the first time at the beginning of my second change, he gave me a big hug and said how are you doing? I looked at him and was like, “Wait does he now how I feel? Did he have the same problems as I do?” That was two weeks ago and I found out that he did feel the same way. I was able to talk to him again today at the church. We played basketball at the church today with one of our investigators, Jose Madina, and it was way fun. But ya so I talked to him, and he really is like the nicest coolest guy in the world. He has two more transfers than I and he can talk in Spanish so well. Oh and he is one inch taller than me, I think. But ya we talked today and he was able to give me some tips. He said he had the same problems with Elder Salcedo. He said there had been times that he would lock himself in a room and just start crying, and I’ll admit that I have done that. But mom I want you to know that I am fine and everyone else. Things are way better! I put this at the front so if you wanted to not put it on the page it would be easy. Lol Anyway I want to tell you about José Madina. Ok so once again, we didn’t have the baptism, because we need to work some things out with the bishop and the mission president and also with the zone leaders. They all had different opinions on what to do with him, because he didn’t go to church every time we wanted to have the baptism, but the last two weeks he has gone. Yesterday he went to church and the Christmas devotional. Today we played basketball with him at the church with 4 other missionaries. But he is soo ready for the bp. Really he is way excited for it, and so am I. I love going to his house to teach him because he always is so excited to see us and tell us what he has read. When I call you guys in a few weeks remind me to tell you more about him because its hard to explain in a letter, when you have so much to say and so little time. Carmon Cortes is doing great we have her bp set up for the 20th I think or 21st. We still have to teach her a lot before her bp. Ok so I’ll tell you a little bit about the language. It’s hard!!! Actually there are two kinds of language here in Ecuador and one I know really well, and the other his really hard. First, is gospel related language, when we are teacing lessons and I’m in church I can understand almost everything that is going on. In church yesterday I was able to understand practically everything. The other language is more difficult. This is everything outside of gospel related subjects. I’m getting to the point were I can almost always follow these conversations. I know what they are talking about, but I don’t know everything. I miss a lot and it’s very annoying. The worst is trying to talk in this language. Talking is so much harder than listening. Really I can’t talk, it’s so hard to conjugate every single verb, and know the vocab and do all these things at the same time. I thought when I first got here that I would just pick all that stuff up. I found this not to be true. I didn’t study much my first month because I thought that this would all come. But it still hasn’t and I’m still struggling. I think everyone one else that I talk to learns more English in the conversation than I do Spanish. There is this guy that works in this little teinda or store by my house. When I first got here I don’t think he knew any English, but instead of my learning how to get stuff in Spanish he just learned to works in English. He is always asking me how to say this and how to say that. Lol anyway so everyone says in about 2 or 3 months more I will start thinking and talking in Spanish. They say u understand first and then you learn how to talk. All I need is to wait or have patience. Ok so I though of what I wanted to say. So what else can I tell you about??? This week was kind of normal for me, not too much happened, it went by way fast. Oh I almost have used one more bar of soap. Lol and my shoes look like someone have actually worn them a few times. Lol only thing if need now is to know Spanish. Oh I still don’t know about the phone call, but I’ll know all the information by next week. The one thing that I do know is that we have 1 hour to talk and I don’t think any more. It’s so weird because people have their Christmas trees out and their decorations, but its still way hot. Like way hot. I have a feeling that this Christmas is going to be way different. Oh hey so I listened to the CD that was Jordan’s favorite, and now I know why. It’s amazing! Really it motivated me so much. Actually, I have almost listened to it twice. Tell Jordan thanks because I love it, and it’s a lot of help. Well we gotta run now, but I hope all is going great back at home. Mom, Dad hermanos yo extrano usteds mucho! I am doing great here in Ecuador, and this time I’m serious, love you all!
Con Amor, Elder Keables
Hey again! I have a little more time, so I just wanted to share my testimony with you guys. I want you all to know that I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-days Saints is true. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that he restored the gospel of Jesus Christ through the power of God and that he translated the book of mormon throught the power of god. I know that when we read the Book of Mormon and the Bible, we grow closer to our Heavenly Father, and we can feel his love and his hand in our lives. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet of God. I know that Jesus Christ is our older brother who loves and cares for us. I know that he is our redeemer and through him we can be freed from sin. Through him we can return to live with our Heavenly Father and our families for eternity. I know that Jesus has felt or pains or sorrows and he knows or weaknesses he knows our struggles. I know that he has walked a mile in our shoes because he loves us, because he wants us to have the opportunity to live with him and our Lord and our Father again. I know these things to be true with to do mi corazon, with all my heart. I have felt the hands of my older brother and my father more times than I can count in these past few months. I know that prayer works and that it’s an opportunity we have to put our faith and our trust in our Lord. I know that through our prayers we can receive help and guidance in our lives. Through prayer we can learn of our Heavenly Father. I know that God answers our prayers when they are sincere and true and from the heart. I know that this is the work of the Lord, because he has magnified my words to have an effect in ways know I could not have done by myself. I know that he is watching and protecting every one of the missionaries and their families, and that he knows and loves me and you personally. I know that everything I am, and everything that I ever hope to be is because of the Lord. I know that all the blessing I have in my life are gifts from the Lord. I’m so grateful for the gospel in my life. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to serve a mission for the Lord and share the happiness and joy and blessing that the gospel brings in my life with the people here in Ecuador. I am so grateful for my friends and my amazing family. I am so grateful for all these blessing that the Lord has given me in my life. I love you all, and miss you all.
Love, Elder Keables
Hey Family!
Hey how are you all? Another week has passed by! I can’t believe in less than three weeks I’ll be able to talk to you guys. I am way excited about that! Ok so I have a lot to say. First, I have a confession to make!!! My comp is not as nice as I made him sound or helpful. I didn’t want to write you guys and tell you all the things that were bothering me or the things I was struggling with. Mostly because I didn’t want mom or any of you to get worried. But I’ll be honest now, because things are a lot better. Really the first month or month and a half I wanted to go home. Actually, the first week wasn’t so bad, but the rest were really hard. But things are getting a lot better now that I can understand the language better. But really my first month or so I wanted to go home so bad. Really I don’t know how I didn’t. Lol I know it’s bad, but it was hard. I don’t have to say much about my comp to explain the type of person he is. All you need to know is that his favorite movies are Lord of the Rings, Star wars, and Harry Potter. The music he likes is the music of these movies. So at sometimes in the apartment I feel like we are about to get attacked by goblins, and the other I feel like we are fighting to save the galaxy, and another I feel like I’m flying with unicorns on clouds. Lol Let's just say I dislike the music a lot! I’ll just say he is very unique in his own little way. But really I don’t think he is as bad as Elder ______, because some days we get along great, but not a lot. It’s funny because Elder Johnson is one of the missionaries in our district who had my comp for a trainer. When I met Elder Johnson for the first time at the beginning of my second change, he gave me a big hug and said how are you doing? I looked at him and was like, “Wait does he now how I feel? Did he have the same problems as I do?” That was two weeks ago and I found out that he did feel the same way. I was able to talk to him again today at the church. We played basketball at the church today with one of our investigators, Jose Madina, and it was way fun. But ya so I talked to him, and he really is like the nicest coolest guy in the world. He has two more transfers than I and he can talk in Spanish so well. Oh and he is one inch taller than me, I think. But ya we talked today and he was able to give me some tips. He said he had the same problems with Elder Salcedo. He said there had been times that he would lock himself in a room and just start crying, and I’ll admit that I have done that. But mom I want you to know that I am fine and everyone else. Things are way better! I put this at the front so if you wanted to not put it on the page it would be easy. Lol Anyway I want to tell you about José Madina. Ok so once again, we didn’t have the baptism, because we need to work some things out with the bishop and the mission president and also with the zone leaders. They all had different opinions on what to do with him, because he didn’t go to church every time we wanted to have the baptism, but the last two weeks he has gone. Yesterday he went to church and the Christmas devotional. Today we played basketball with him at the church with 4 other missionaries. But he is soo ready for the bp. Really he is way excited for it, and so am I. I love going to his house to teach him because he always is so excited to see us and tell us what he has read. When I call you guys in a few weeks remind me to tell you more about him because its hard to explain in a letter, when you have so much to say and so little time. Carmon Cortes is doing great we have her bp set up for the 20th I think or 21st. We still have to teach her a lot before her bp. Ok so I’ll tell you a little bit about the language. It’s hard!!! Actually there are two kinds of language here in Ecuador and one I know really well, and the other his really hard. First, is gospel related language, when we are teacing lessons and I’m in church I can understand almost everything that is going on. In church yesterday I was able to understand practically everything. The other language is more difficult. This is everything outside of gospel related subjects. I’m getting to the point were I can almost always follow these conversations. I know what they are talking about, but I don’t know everything. I miss a lot and it’s very annoying. The worst is trying to talk in this language. Talking is so much harder than listening. Really I can’t talk, it’s so hard to conjugate every single verb, and know the vocab and do all these things at the same time. I thought when I first got here that I would just pick all that stuff up. I found this not to be true. I didn’t study much my first month because I thought that this would all come. But it still hasn’t and I’m still struggling. I think everyone one else that I talk to learns more English in the conversation than I do Spanish. There is this guy that works in this little teinda or store by my house. When I first got here I don’t think he knew any English, but instead of my learning how to get stuff in Spanish he just learned to works in English. He is always asking me how to say this and how to say that. Lol anyway so everyone says in about 2 or 3 months more I will start thinking and talking in Spanish. They say u understand first and then you learn how to talk. All I need is to wait or have patience. Ok so I though of what I wanted to say. So what else can I tell you about??? This week was kind of normal for me, not too much happened, it went by way fast. Oh I almost have used one more bar of soap. Lol and my shoes look like someone have actually worn them a few times. Lol only thing if need now is to know Spanish. Oh I still don’t know about the phone call, but I’ll know all the information by next week. The one thing that I do know is that we have 1 hour to talk and I don’t think any more. It’s so weird because people have their Christmas trees out and their decorations, but its still way hot. Like way hot. I have a feeling that this Christmas is going to be way different. Oh hey so I listened to the CD that was Jordan’s favorite, and now I know why. It’s amazing! Really it motivated me so much. Actually, I have almost listened to it twice. Tell Jordan thanks because I love it, and it’s a lot of help. Well we gotta run now, but I hope all is going great back at home. Mom, Dad hermanos yo extrano usteds mucho! I am doing great here in Ecuador, and this time I’m serious, love you all!
Con Amor, Elder Keables
Hey again! I have a little more time, so I just wanted to share my testimony with you guys. I want you all to know that I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-days Saints is true. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that he restored the gospel of Jesus Christ through the power of God and that he translated the book of mormon throught the power of god. I know that when we read the Book of Mormon and the Bible, we grow closer to our Heavenly Father, and we can feel his love and his hand in our lives. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet of God. I know that Jesus Christ is our older brother who loves and cares for us. I know that he is our redeemer and through him we can be freed from sin. Through him we can return to live with our Heavenly Father and our families for eternity. I know that Jesus has felt or pains or sorrows and he knows or weaknesses he knows our struggles. I know that he has walked a mile in our shoes because he loves us, because he wants us to have the opportunity to live with him and our Lord and our Father again. I know these things to be true with to do mi corazon, with all my heart. I have felt the hands of my older brother and my father more times than I can count in these past few months. I know that prayer works and that it’s an opportunity we have to put our faith and our trust in our Lord. I know that through our prayers we can receive help and guidance in our lives. Through prayer we can learn of our Heavenly Father. I know that God answers our prayers when they are sincere and true and from the heart. I know that this is the work of the Lord, because he has magnified my words to have an effect in ways know I could not have done by myself. I know that he is watching and protecting every one of the missionaries and their families, and that he knows and loves me and you personally. I know that everything I am, and everything that I ever hope to be is because of the Lord. I know that all the blessing I have in my life are gifts from the Lord. I’m so grateful for the gospel in my life. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to serve a mission for the Lord and share the happiness and joy and blessing that the gospel brings in my life with the people here in Ecuador. I am so grateful for my friends and my amazing family. I am so grateful for all these blessing that the Lord has given me in my life. I love you all, and miss you all.
Love, Elder Keables
Monday, November 30, 2009
Right now it just feels like a really long summer...
November 30, 2009
Family! Friends!
Hey family! How are you? I got a letter from you this last Tuesday and it sounds like you guys are doing great! Thanks for the pics and the letters. I don’t remember if I told you this, but thanks for the CD’s. I love them! Thanks for everything. Hey mom so guess what? I met Elder Holiday today! Anyway, so to answer some of your questions. So my new roommate is a gringo, or is white and speaks English. But he has over 17 months in the mission. Even though he speaks English we never talk in English with each other. For I think two reasons- first, I need to learn Spanish, and second, he says his English is not too good now. Which I don’t blame him because I found out that it’s so hard to say a prayer in English now, because everything I do is in Spanish, even my personal prayers. It’s probably the worst Spanish ever, but I still try .lol. I wrote you guys a letter today and sent it out. In the letter is a letter for Cody S, Taylor W, and Justin Michado. I also sent out a letter for Lili. Hey, I have a question, when does Jake Storm enter the MTC? I know you already told me, but I forgot… ok Thanksgiving, actually they don’t celebrate it here and also no Halloween. It's weird because I don’t even know when they are and if they passed here in Ecuador. Right now it just feels like a really long summer. I think my whole mission is going to feel that way. It is getting so hot here it is crazy. Really almost the entire day we sweat. The only nice time of the day is in the evenings. The evenings are always so nice. Actually, the air here is always really nice and cool, it’s just the sun that kills you. Oh, so I had an intercombio for one day this week with the new roommate. So me and Elder Gale went to my district. And the thing about Elder Gale is, he is way quiet and doesn’t hardly talk. He is way nice, just really shy. But so when we went to the member’s houses and our investigators, pretty much I had to do all the talking beforehand. Which was way hard, because really my Spanish is so bad. Lol I tried to carry on conversations but it was so difficult. So with my lack of Spanish and Elder Gale’s lack of wanting to talk, it was kind of awkward. Lol but overall, I think it was pretty good because I had the opportunity to talk a lot. Normally my comp does most of the talking, and I sit in the back trying to follow the conversation. Lol ok, so dad asked my in the last letter if I was doing things to stay in shape. So dad just wanted to tell you that I am still doing pushups, sit-ups, and bicep workouts every other day. We don’t have a lot of time to run or anything like that, but I think I walk like 100 miles a day, so my legs are feeling pretty strong. Also I think that I am eating the healthiest I have in my whole life. Lol no really every morning for 2 months now I have 2 or 3 eggs and like five little loaves of bread. For lunch we have rice and some kind of meat. Also, I think I have had every kind of homemade juice you could ever have. Really they have so many different kinds of juices and they make them with so many different kinds of fruit. We eat bananas and mangos all the time! I cannot tell you how many bananas I have eaten since being here. Probably 3 a day, and so many other fruits. As much as I love the food, it never adds up to mom’s cooking. Oh how I miss your cooking, Mom. Hey so a few nights ago I had another cockroach crawl on my face in the middle of the night. Lol I hate bugs. Lol Ryan thanks for the letter that you sent me, I really enjoyed it and don’t worry about your handwriting because its ten times better than mine. O and I love the name Rencer! Melissa tambien thanks for the letter. It is so good to hear from you and hear how things are going in your life. Mom I laughed so hard when you told me about Ryan saying we have had some good times in the Jetta, and I totally remember wanting to drive down the street with his feet hanging out the window. Ryan we will do it when I get back, I promise. lol Ok so I told you about the baptism that we had set up for this last sat. Well once again José never showed up to church, so we couldn’t have it. Yesterday we had church again and we told José that he had to go to church this time or we couldn’t have the baptism. So we showed up to church and he wasn’t there. All through Sacrament Meeting he never showed up. Me and my comp were feeling really discouraged because this would have been the third time we couldn’t have the baptism, but in the second hour of church he showed up. We watched a movie with him and another investigator. For the third hour we had a lesson with him about the Family Proclamation. I think I have not felt the Spirit more in any other lesson. I forgot to tell you that José is in his late 20’s and has two kids. After the lesson, all three of us were in tears. With tears rolling down his face José said he knows without a doubt that the things we have taught him are true. He said that he always feel so happy when he is with us, and when he does the things we ask him to do. I wish I could tell you all the things that he said, because it was really an amazing testimony. I wrote it in my journal. I’ll have to share it with you sometime. But Jose is doing really well now. We are going to have to baptism this Sat. I think I get to perform it too, so I am way excited. It’s amazing to see the difference in José from the time we first met with him to right now. I can’t wait for the baptism. Oh, and we have another baptism set up for the 12 of December. Her name is Carmon Cortes, and she is 18 I think. We have two weeks for the baptism and we still have to teach so much, almost all the lessons. So I’ll tell you more about José and Carmon next week. Anyway I gotta go now, I hope that this letter makes since, I think my English is getting worse as my Spanish is slowly getting better. I hope all is well with you guys. I love you all so very much and miss you all so very much!!! Oh and mom I’ll find out about the phone call. Wow I cant believe I get to talk to you guys in 25 days! Yahhh!!!! Love you all!
Love,
Elder Keables
Family! Friends!
Hey family! How are you? I got a letter from you this last Tuesday and it sounds like you guys are doing great! Thanks for the pics and the letters. I don’t remember if I told you this, but thanks for the CD’s. I love them! Thanks for everything. Hey mom so guess what? I met Elder Holiday today! Anyway, so to answer some of your questions. So my new roommate is a gringo, or is white and speaks English. But he has over 17 months in the mission. Even though he speaks English we never talk in English with each other. For I think two reasons- first, I need to learn Spanish, and second, he says his English is not too good now. Which I don’t blame him because I found out that it’s so hard to say a prayer in English now, because everything I do is in Spanish, even my personal prayers. It’s probably the worst Spanish ever, but I still try .lol. I wrote you guys a letter today and sent it out. In the letter is a letter for Cody S, Taylor W, and Justin Michado. I also sent out a letter for Lili. Hey, I have a question, when does Jake Storm enter the MTC? I know you already told me, but I forgot… ok Thanksgiving, actually they don’t celebrate it here and also no Halloween. It's weird because I don’t even know when they are and if they passed here in Ecuador. Right now it just feels like a really long summer. I think my whole mission is going to feel that way. It is getting so hot here it is crazy. Really almost the entire day we sweat. The only nice time of the day is in the evenings. The evenings are always so nice. Actually, the air here is always really nice and cool, it’s just the sun that kills you. Oh, so I had an intercombio for one day this week with the new roommate. So me and Elder Gale went to my district. And the thing about Elder Gale is, he is way quiet and doesn’t hardly talk. He is way nice, just really shy. But so when we went to the member’s houses and our investigators, pretty much I had to do all the talking beforehand. Which was way hard, because really my Spanish is so bad. Lol I tried to carry on conversations but it was so difficult. So with my lack of Spanish and Elder Gale’s lack of wanting to talk, it was kind of awkward. Lol but overall, I think it was pretty good because I had the opportunity to talk a lot. Normally my comp does most of the talking, and I sit in the back trying to follow the conversation. Lol ok, so dad asked my in the last letter if I was doing things to stay in shape. So dad just wanted to tell you that I am still doing pushups, sit-ups, and bicep workouts every other day. We don’t have a lot of time to run or anything like that, but I think I walk like 100 miles a day, so my legs are feeling pretty strong. Also I think that I am eating the healthiest I have in my whole life. Lol no really every morning for 2 months now I have 2 or 3 eggs and like five little loaves of bread. For lunch we have rice and some kind of meat. Also, I think I have had every kind of homemade juice you could ever have. Really they have so many different kinds of juices and they make them with so many different kinds of fruit. We eat bananas and mangos all the time! I cannot tell you how many bananas I have eaten since being here. Probably 3 a day, and so many other fruits. As much as I love the food, it never adds up to mom’s cooking. Oh how I miss your cooking, Mom. Hey so a few nights ago I had another cockroach crawl on my face in the middle of the night. Lol I hate bugs. Lol Ryan thanks for the letter that you sent me, I really enjoyed it and don’t worry about your handwriting because its ten times better than mine. O and I love the name Rencer! Melissa tambien thanks for the letter. It is so good to hear from you and hear how things are going in your life. Mom I laughed so hard when you told me about Ryan saying we have had some good times in the Jetta, and I totally remember wanting to drive down the street with his feet hanging out the window. Ryan we will do it when I get back, I promise. lol Ok so I told you about the baptism that we had set up for this last sat. Well once again José never showed up to church, so we couldn’t have it. Yesterday we had church again and we told José that he had to go to church this time or we couldn’t have the baptism. So we showed up to church and he wasn’t there. All through Sacrament Meeting he never showed up. Me and my comp were feeling really discouraged because this would have been the third time we couldn’t have the baptism, but in the second hour of church he showed up. We watched a movie with him and another investigator. For the third hour we had a lesson with him about the Family Proclamation. I think I have not felt the Spirit more in any other lesson. I forgot to tell you that José is in his late 20’s and has two kids. After the lesson, all three of us were in tears. With tears rolling down his face José said he knows without a doubt that the things we have taught him are true. He said that he always feel so happy when he is with us, and when he does the things we ask him to do. I wish I could tell you all the things that he said, because it was really an amazing testimony. I wrote it in my journal. I’ll have to share it with you sometime. But Jose is doing really well now. We are going to have to baptism this Sat. I think I get to perform it too, so I am way excited. It’s amazing to see the difference in José from the time we first met with him to right now. I can’t wait for the baptism. Oh, and we have another baptism set up for the 12 of December. Her name is Carmon Cortes, and she is 18 I think. We have two weeks for the baptism and we still have to teach so much, almost all the lessons. So I’ll tell you more about José and Carmon next week. Anyway I gotta go now, I hope that this letter makes since, I think my English is getting worse as my Spanish is slowly getting better. I hope all is well with you guys. I love you all so very much and miss you all so very much!!! Oh and mom I’ll find out about the phone call. Wow I cant believe I get to talk to you guys in 25 days! Yahhh!!!! Love you all!
Love,
Elder Keables
Monday, November 23, 2009
A fun picture for Spencer from the Machete (did I spell that right?) Boys
The signs they are holding say, "WE MISS YOU CHRIS BROWN"
For those of you who don't know, Spencer's nickname at Hamilton High was "Chris Brown". I think he slipped in the shower after a basketball practice while trying to do some fancy dance moves. After that, he was "Chris Brown". Anyway, Miquel, David, Omar, Allan, Michael, Oscar, and Benjie (I'm missing one name) are some of his favorite people on earth! He will LOVE this picture!!
I have to say that the baptism made up for every single hard thing that I have gone through...
November 23, 2009
Hey family or mom! lol
Ok this is probably going to be the shortest message you will ever get from me. Because of the rain here in Ecuador, or the lack of, we don’t have electricity in the nights after 6 o clock. No rain, no light- that’s how it’s been this last week. It’s been hard to teach because we aren’t allowed to be out when there are no lights, because it’s not safe. But ya I just wanted to tell you that I’m safe. We had a baptism this last Sat 22nd. I’m going to send this and then try and write a longer one. If the lights turn off then this is all I can send this week. I love you all and miss you all very much. Oh and one of my roommates got transferred today.
Con Amor,
Elder Keables
Hey Family again.
Lol I hope I can send this-
OK- so yes we had a baptism this week for Rafael Barre. It was on Sat at 8pm. It went great! I took a video and some pics and I will send those to you later. I have to say that the baptism made up for every single hard thing that I have gone through in the mission. It makes up for the homesickness , spending 24/7 with a companion, falling down the stairs, lol, all the rejections, pretty much it was the most amazing experience ever! It’s so cool to be a part of something that will change this Rafael’s life and his family’s for this life and for eternity. At the baptism, I felt the Spirit so strongly, and I think everyone else did, too. I think that Rafael’s wife will accept baptism in a matter of time. The baptism was quick, me and another member of the ward gave quick messages, we sang a few hymns, and my comp performed the baptism. We watched the Restoration movie, which was nice because a lot of his family was there and they aren’t members. Anyway, I really gotta send this. It’s six o’clock and the lights are supposed to go out right now. We have another baptism this week on Sat, I hope. I’m still in the same sector and have the same comp, but we have a new roommate. Oh and I gave a 10 minute talk in church yesterday. Lol I don’t think they understood I thing I said. Anyway, I miss you all and love you all.
Very much.
Elder Keables
Hey Family,
OK, so I was writing and the lights went out and I lost my third letter to you guys. Me and my comp walked out of the place and looked across the street and saw that they have lights . We than realized that they never lose lighting, and that we could of just walked across the street and not worried about the time. Anyway so I got your letters on Tues with the CD’s in it. Mom thank you so much, I love the music. Ryan and Melissa thanks for the letters, I loved them. Ryan your handwriting is really good, don’t worry about it. Yours is probably better than mine. Anyway I gotta go, but thank you for the letters I loved them. I am doing great. It’s the beginning of the second change today. I had my first baptism on Sat, so things couldn’t be better. I promise next week’s letter will be longer. I love you all and miss you for the third time lol, but really I couldn’t say it enough. Love you all!
Con Amor,
Elder Keables
Hey family or mom! lol
Ok this is probably going to be the shortest message you will ever get from me. Because of the rain here in Ecuador, or the lack of, we don’t have electricity in the nights after 6 o clock. No rain, no light- that’s how it’s been this last week. It’s been hard to teach because we aren’t allowed to be out when there are no lights, because it’s not safe. But ya I just wanted to tell you that I’m safe. We had a baptism this last Sat 22nd. I’m going to send this and then try and write a longer one. If the lights turn off then this is all I can send this week. I love you all and miss you all very much. Oh and one of my roommates got transferred today.
Con Amor,
Elder Keables
Hey Family again.
Lol I hope I can send this-
OK- so yes we had a baptism this week for Rafael Barre. It was on Sat at 8pm. It went great! I took a video and some pics and I will send those to you later. I have to say that the baptism made up for every single hard thing that I have gone through in the mission. It makes up for the homesickness , spending 24/7 with a companion, falling down the stairs, lol, all the rejections, pretty much it was the most amazing experience ever! It’s so cool to be a part of something that will change this Rafael’s life and his family’s for this life and for eternity. At the baptism, I felt the Spirit so strongly, and I think everyone else did, too. I think that Rafael’s wife will accept baptism in a matter of time. The baptism was quick, me and another member of the ward gave quick messages, we sang a few hymns, and my comp performed the baptism. We watched the Restoration movie, which was nice because a lot of his family was there and they aren’t members. Anyway, I really gotta send this. It’s six o’clock and the lights are supposed to go out right now. We have another baptism this week on Sat, I hope. I’m still in the same sector and have the same comp, but we have a new roommate. Oh and I gave a 10 minute talk in church yesterday. Lol I don’t think they understood I thing I said. Anyway, I miss you all and love you all.
Very much.
Elder Keables
Hey Family,
OK, so I was writing and the lights went out and I lost my third letter to you guys. Me and my comp walked out of the place and looked across the street and saw that they have lights . We than realized that they never lose lighting, and that we could of just walked across the street and not worried about the time. Anyway so I got your letters on Tues with the CD’s in it. Mom thank you so much, I love the music. Ryan and Melissa thanks for the letters, I loved them. Ryan your handwriting is really good, don’t worry about it. Yours is probably better than mine. Anyway I gotta go, but thank you for the letters I loved them. I am doing great. It’s the beginning of the second change today. I had my first baptism on Sat, so things couldn’t be better. I promise next week’s letter will be longer. I love you all and miss you for the third time lol, but really I couldn’t say it enough. Love you all!
Con Amor,
Elder Keables
Monday, November 16, 2009
It’s so cool to see the change in the people’s lives as they follow through with their commitments with us and with the Lord...
November 16, 2009
Hola Family!
Hey family- how are you all? It sounds like you are all doing great from the email. I am really looking forward to reading Julia and Janae’s blessings. Anyway so I had a really interesting week. Lol First I’ll tell you about the good things, such as our investigators and their progress! First, Jose Madina. Jose is doing great, ok so after church last Sunday he has been doing a lot better. We visited him on Tues, I think it was, and asked him how is reading was going. He told us that he read everything that we asked. He showed us his scriptures, and they were marked all over the place. He pulled out this marker that he bought that had 10 different colors. He marked all of his favorite scriptures, and that was more than half. It was cool because he was so excited. Really he had this big smile on his face as he read all the scriptures that he really likes. He sister who is already a member was sitting there just so happy. We visited him a few more times this week and he has been reading and he loves it. His baptism is still on the 28th. Then there is Rafeal Barre, and he is also doing great. I forgot to tell you this, but he has a daughter that is a member. Actually, she is on a mission. So she is a member, but she is the only one in the family, but after this Sat. her dad we be baptized. On Sunday he will receive the Holy Ghost and be the second in his family. We are still working on the mom. Like I said, she is really Catholic, but I think it is just a matter of time. Rafeal is so excited also for his baptism, he wrote his daughter and told her and she couldn’t be any happier. He is so excited, it is awesome. I am also excited, am not going to lie about it. It’s so cool to see the change in the people’s lives as they follow through with their commitments with us and with the Lord. They are always so happy and full of joy. So really it was a good week. Ok, so I gotta tell you about a few funny or cool things that happened to me this week. So the other day I woke up with a fat headache. I felt weak and I didn’t feel like going out. We took my temperature and I was fine to go out. So I took some pain reliever and we started out. The first place we went was this guy’s house who we have been trying to talk to forever. He is never home though and when he is he is always drunk. Anyway so he wasn’t home this time, so we turned to leave. The thing about his house is that he has stairs that are way steep. Like, the steepest ones I have ever seen. Anyway I started down the stairs and I got about halfway down when my foot slipped and I fell the rest of the way down. I fell like 10 steps and I did it with a lot of finesse, if you know what I mean. I made it look like I was snowboarding. Well lucky for me there was a fat metal door half open and half shut that stopped me. I slammed my head my arm and my knee into it. I had a fat bump on my head for like 5 days, I think it is finally gone. We went to a member’s house and they bandaged me up, but it was a good day. I had twice the headache that I did when I started the day and I felt like I was going to die. But I’m good now and I feel fine. When I get done with the mission I will either have a very hard head or be half retarded. Honestly, I have hit my head like 30 times in the buses. They are always packed and I run to get in there and I would say every other time I slam my head into the bar that runs along the top. It’s normally for people to hold on to, but for me its something to watch out for. Ok so I have another funny story. Ok so the other day me and my comp bought a lot of bread. We left it out over night on the table. When I got up in the morning I was so hungry so I went to eat the bread. I reached into the bag grabbed a little loaf and started eating. I took one bite when I felt something crawling on my hand. I looked down and there was like 20 little bug like things all over the bread and inside too. At first I was like ok that’s sick I just at like probably 10 in one bite. So I spit it out and threw the bread in the garbage. Then I realized that we didn’t have anymore food. So lol I picked up a new loaf with less bugs, picked them off and started eating. Lol after I had eaten I realized how sick that was, but it’s funny because you kind of get used to it. Lol there has been a lot of times that we see little bugs in our drinks or in our food and normally you just push them to the side. Then you say another blessing in your mind for the food to give you strength. Lol ok one more cool story. So I think it was two days ago all four of us woke up to like 5 or 6 gun shots in a row, right below our apartment. We heard people yelling outside and a car drive off. We never did find out what happened and it was kind of scary. But the scariest part for me was after the shots when I was trying to go back to sleep I was lying in my bed. I was lying there when I felt something crawl up my arm. I swiped at it and sat up in bed. I started looking for whatever it was when I felt it crawl up my neck and across my face. I practically knocked myself out trying to hit it off my face. I hate bugs, so I freaked out. I stood up and started shaking out my sheets. I found out that it was a cockroach about the size of my thumb. I tried smashing it, but it was way dark and they are way fast. It’s funny because you know after you have something like that happen to you in bed, every little itch or movement, you freak out. It was hard to fall asleep after that, but I think I eventually did. But ya those are the three things that I wanted to write to you about, that I thought were kind of different. Oh, so I had another comp exchange for one day and night. My comp for the time period was actually was one of the Zone Leaders. At first I was way scared because I thought it was a test and because he knows like 2 words in English. But I was able to actually communicate pretty well and I found out that he was way cool. It was funny because I was talking to him, asking what kind of music he liked and he pretty much liked all the stuff I did. Back at his apartment he had the soundtrack for Tarzan, and I forgot how good the music is. Hint hint- mom! Lol we were rockin out to Disney music. It was pretty funny. But ya some Disney music would by nice. But ya, so his sector was the same one that my companion got robbed in. It’s called the Izal or something like that. It was amazing, every single person practically that lived in the part of the town was black. They all live in huts made out of this bamboo stuff. Dad you know those metal sheets we would make forts out of? Those were the roofs over eveyone’s house there. A lot of them had no floors, just dirt. It was pretty amazing. If I ever go back or if I get called to a sector like that, I’ll buy a disposable camera and get some pics. It was really crazy, I wish you guys could see it. I still haven’t received the music- maybe tomorrow. I am really looking forward to that- thank you mom. Oh mom I found a place where I can burn my pics on to a CD for really cheap. Actually one of our investigators who works in a store said he could to it, so I’m thinking maybe this week or the next. Anyway I should probably rap this up. Mom I sent Lili another letter today, so if you could let her know that would be great. Anyway I am doing great here. I miss you guys all very much, like very much. I do have my first change this Sunday which is crazy. You are right time does go by quick. Lol Mom, Dad and everyone else, I love you more than ever and miss you even more. I’m looking forward to talking to you in a little over a month. LOVE YOU ALL!
With Love,
Elder Keables
To Taylor,
Taylor what’s up? So my mom told me that you are turning in your Eagle papers! That is way cool, congratulations! So it’s your birthday tomorrow- the big 18! I just want to write a quick letter to say Happy Birthday. That’s crazy man- Less that one year and you are going to have a mission call! Hey so I started writing a letter for you today and I’ll probably send it out next week or the one after, so you can be expecting that. Taylor, Happy Birthday again. I miss you, and I love you man! N.H. lol
Con Amor, Elder Keables
Hola Family!
Hey family- how are you all? It sounds like you are all doing great from the email. I am really looking forward to reading Julia and Janae’s blessings. Anyway so I had a really interesting week. Lol First I’ll tell you about the good things, such as our investigators and their progress! First, Jose Madina. Jose is doing great, ok so after church last Sunday he has been doing a lot better. We visited him on Tues, I think it was, and asked him how is reading was going. He told us that he read everything that we asked. He showed us his scriptures, and they were marked all over the place. He pulled out this marker that he bought that had 10 different colors. He marked all of his favorite scriptures, and that was more than half. It was cool because he was so excited. Really he had this big smile on his face as he read all the scriptures that he really likes. He sister who is already a member was sitting there just so happy. We visited him a few more times this week and he has been reading and he loves it. His baptism is still on the 28th. Then there is Rafeal Barre, and he is also doing great. I forgot to tell you this, but he has a daughter that is a member. Actually, she is on a mission. So she is a member, but she is the only one in the family, but after this Sat. her dad we be baptized. On Sunday he will receive the Holy Ghost and be the second in his family. We are still working on the mom. Like I said, she is really Catholic, but I think it is just a matter of time. Rafeal is so excited also for his baptism, he wrote his daughter and told her and she couldn’t be any happier. He is so excited, it is awesome. I am also excited, am not going to lie about it. It’s so cool to see the change in the people’s lives as they follow through with their commitments with us and with the Lord. They are always so happy and full of joy. So really it was a good week. Ok, so I gotta tell you about a few funny or cool things that happened to me this week. So the other day I woke up with a fat headache. I felt weak and I didn’t feel like going out. We took my temperature and I was fine to go out. So I took some pain reliever and we started out. The first place we went was this guy’s house who we have been trying to talk to forever. He is never home though and when he is he is always drunk. Anyway so he wasn’t home this time, so we turned to leave. The thing about his house is that he has stairs that are way steep. Like, the steepest ones I have ever seen. Anyway I started down the stairs and I got about halfway down when my foot slipped and I fell the rest of the way down. I fell like 10 steps and I did it with a lot of finesse, if you know what I mean. I made it look like I was snowboarding. Well lucky for me there was a fat metal door half open and half shut that stopped me. I slammed my head my arm and my knee into it. I had a fat bump on my head for like 5 days, I think it is finally gone. We went to a member’s house and they bandaged me up, but it was a good day. I had twice the headache that I did when I started the day and I felt like I was going to die. But I’m good now and I feel fine. When I get done with the mission I will either have a very hard head or be half retarded. Honestly, I have hit my head like 30 times in the buses. They are always packed and I run to get in there and I would say every other time I slam my head into the bar that runs along the top. It’s normally for people to hold on to, but for me its something to watch out for. Ok so I have another funny story. Ok so the other day me and my comp bought a lot of bread. We left it out over night on the table. When I got up in the morning I was so hungry so I went to eat the bread. I reached into the bag grabbed a little loaf and started eating. I took one bite when I felt something crawling on my hand. I looked down and there was like 20 little bug like things all over the bread and inside too. At first I was like ok that’s sick I just at like probably 10 in one bite. So I spit it out and threw the bread in the garbage. Then I realized that we didn’t have anymore food. So lol I picked up a new loaf with less bugs, picked them off and started eating. Lol after I had eaten I realized how sick that was, but it’s funny because you kind of get used to it. Lol there has been a lot of times that we see little bugs in our drinks or in our food and normally you just push them to the side. Then you say another blessing in your mind for the food to give you strength. Lol ok one more cool story. So I think it was two days ago all four of us woke up to like 5 or 6 gun shots in a row, right below our apartment. We heard people yelling outside and a car drive off. We never did find out what happened and it was kind of scary. But the scariest part for me was after the shots when I was trying to go back to sleep I was lying in my bed. I was lying there when I felt something crawl up my arm. I swiped at it and sat up in bed. I started looking for whatever it was when I felt it crawl up my neck and across my face. I practically knocked myself out trying to hit it off my face. I hate bugs, so I freaked out. I stood up and started shaking out my sheets. I found out that it was a cockroach about the size of my thumb. I tried smashing it, but it was way dark and they are way fast. It’s funny because you know after you have something like that happen to you in bed, every little itch or movement, you freak out. It was hard to fall asleep after that, but I think I eventually did. But ya those are the three things that I wanted to write to you about, that I thought were kind of different. Oh, so I had another comp exchange for one day and night. My comp for the time period was actually was one of the Zone Leaders. At first I was way scared because I thought it was a test and because he knows like 2 words in English. But I was able to actually communicate pretty well and I found out that he was way cool. It was funny because I was talking to him, asking what kind of music he liked and he pretty much liked all the stuff I did. Back at his apartment he had the soundtrack for Tarzan, and I forgot how good the music is. Hint hint- mom! Lol we were rockin out to Disney music. It was pretty funny. But ya some Disney music would by nice. But ya, so his sector was the same one that my companion got robbed in. It’s called the Izal or something like that. It was amazing, every single person practically that lived in the part of the town was black. They all live in huts made out of this bamboo stuff. Dad you know those metal sheets we would make forts out of? Those were the roofs over eveyone’s house there. A lot of them had no floors, just dirt. It was pretty amazing. If I ever go back or if I get called to a sector like that, I’ll buy a disposable camera and get some pics. It was really crazy, I wish you guys could see it. I still haven’t received the music- maybe tomorrow. I am really looking forward to that- thank you mom. Oh mom I found a place where I can burn my pics on to a CD for really cheap. Actually one of our investigators who works in a store said he could to it, so I’m thinking maybe this week or the next. Anyway I should probably rap this up. Mom I sent Lili another letter today, so if you could let her know that would be great. Anyway I am doing great here. I miss you guys all very much, like very much. I do have my first change this Sunday which is crazy. You are right time does go by quick. Lol Mom, Dad and everyone else, I love you more than ever and miss you even more. I’m looking forward to talking to you in a little over a month. LOVE YOU ALL!
With Love,
Elder Keables
To Taylor,
Taylor what’s up? So my mom told me that you are turning in your Eagle papers! That is way cool, congratulations! So it’s your birthday tomorrow- the big 18! I just want to write a quick letter to say Happy Birthday. That’s crazy man- Less that one year and you are going to have a mission call! Hey so I started writing a letter for you today and I’ll probably send it out next week or the one after, so you can be expecting that. Taylor, Happy Birthday again. I miss you, and I love you man! N.H. lol
Con Amor, Elder Keables
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Elder Keables’ Missionary Training Center Survey
1. What was your favorite thing about the MTC?
My favorite thing, by far, was the teachers and the people that I met. The teachers were so cool and all of the Elders in my district. Hermano Bradley, Hermano Young, and Hermana Penaflora.
2. What was your least favorite thing?
My least favorite thing was always being inside; always being behind desks was horrible. After two months, I looked like a ghost! Oh! Another one of my favorite things was going outside for P.E. Sand volleyball was amazing!
3. Name someone you met in the MTC that you will never forget and why-
Hermano Bradley! He was the best teacher in the world. He had so much patience when we had interviews. I felt like I could tell him anything. He was way understanding, and always put in the extra time with us. His testimony and love for the church was so inspiring for me.
4. Write your three most spiritual experiences from the MTC.
~ I told you about the time Hermana Penaflora took us to that picture and read my favorite scriptures and sang my favorite song. Well, that was one of the most spiritual experiences that I had.
~ Second experience actually happened a few days after getting there. We as a district had the opportunity to teach a person who was having some hard times. This is what I wrote in my journal 2 hours after, on 8-19-09, “For the first time I saw us teach by the Spirit. It wasn’t just going through the doctrine; it was more than that. Every single person felt the Spirit and I know that. It’s the hardest thing to describe. All I know is what I heard is true. I felt peace inside and I felt joy. I know God gives us trials so that we can exercise faith in God and overcome these trials. So we can gain a stronger testimony and eventually return to live with him someday.” That was part of my journal. I don’t have room for all. Mom, I think you would be happy to hear I have over 80 pages.
~ I have no room [on the paper], but I would say it would be going to the temple. I learned so much, and I wrote some of it in my journal.
5. Who was the favorite Elder you met in the MTC?
ELDER HICKS! He was way cool. After the mish he is coming to Chico, so you will meet him. lol Coming to see me.
6. What was the most difficult thing you had to deal with?
Having patience was one of the hardest things. Not with just my companion, but with everyone. It’s hard to share a room with four guys. Also, the other four guys from our district always wanted to be in our room. The hardest thing was having no time by yourself, no privacy.
7. What was your favorite part of each day?
MAIL!! I loved getting mail. No joke- we would check the box like ten times a day. It’s funny; I thought it was hard when I didn’t get mail for one day. Here in Ecuador I haven’t had any for two weeks.
8. What was your favorite part of each week?
Temple was what I looked forward to all week. The feeling of peace that I got every time I went made me love the temple. It’s like every worry, every doubt I had went away while I was in there. I think it was everyone’s favorite part of the week.
9. Name something about yourself that has changed, strengthened, or improved because of your experience at the MTC-
Being able to express myself about how I feel. For the first few weeks I didn’t really tell my companion what was bothering me, but after getting some tips from President Shumway, I was able to work things out. After that, I kind of just expressed the way I was feeling, but in a nice way; a way which helped things out.
10. Who were your favorite devotional speakers? Can you remember something that one of them said that impacted you?
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Ok- here are some of the things he said, and if you know Elder Holland, then you know these are his words, “You go out there and embrace your mission. You go out there and get everything out of it. Do not come home with regrets. Wherever you are going, just go out there and love the people. We have been your age and you haven’t been ours. I pray you’re the kind of missionaries my grandchildren think that you are. Don’t go home and get a tattoo and grow a beard; don’t be an idiot! In 24 months you’re going to sob, wishing you could serve the Lord all your life."
My favorite thing, by far, was the teachers and the people that I met. The teachers were so cool and all of the Elders in my district. Hermano Bradley, Hermano Young, and Hermana Penaflora.
2. What was your least favorite thing?
My least favorite thing was always being inside; always being behind desks was horrible. After two months, I looked like a ghost! Oh! Another one of my favorite things was going outside for P.E. Sand volleyball was amazing!
3. Name someone you met in the MTC that you will never forget and why-
Hermano Bradley! He was the best teacher in the world. He had so much patience when we had interviews. I felt like I could tell him anything. He was way understanding, and always put in the extra time with us. His testimony and love for the church was so inspiring for me.
4. Write your three most spiritual experiences from the MTC.
~ I told you about the time Hermana Penaflora took us to that picture and read my favorite scriptures and sang my favorite song. Well, that was one of the most spiritual experiences that I had.
~ Second experience actually happened a few days after getting there. We as a district had the opportunity to teach a person who was having some hard times. This is what I wrote in my journal 2 hours after, on 8-19-09, “For the first time I saw us teach by the Spirit. It wasn’t just going through the doctrine; it was more than that. Every single person felt the Spirit and I know that. It’s the hardest thing to describe. All I know is what I heard is true. I felt peace inside and I felt joy. I know God gives us trials so that we can exercise faith in God and overcome these trials. So we can gain a stronger testimony and eventually return to live with him someday.” That was part of my journal. I don’t have room for all. Mom, I think you would be happy to hear I have over 80 pages.
~ I have no room [on the paper], but I would say it would be going to the temple. I learned so much, and I wrote some of it in my journal.
5. Who was the favorite Elder you met in the MTC?
ELDER HICKS! He was way cool. After the mish he is coming to Chico, so you will meet him. lol Coming to see me.
6. What was the most difficult thing you had to deal with?
Having patience was one of the hardest things. Not with just my companion, but with everyone. It’s hard to share a room with four guys. Also, the other four guys from our district always wanted to be in our room. The hardest thing was having no time by yourself, no privacy.
7. What was your favorite part of each day?
MAIL!! I loved getting mail. No joke- we would check the box like ten times a day. It’s funny; I thought it was hard when I didn’t get mail for one day. Here in Ecuador I haven’t had any for two weeks.
8. What was your favorite part of each week?
Temple was what I looked forward to all week. The feeling of peace that I got every time I went made me love the temple. It’s like every worry, every doubt I had went away while I was in there. I think it was everyone’s favorite part of the week.
9. Name something about yourself that has changed, strengthened, or improved because of your experience at the MTC-
Being able to express myself about how I feel. For the first few weeks I didn’t really tell my companion what was bothering me, but after getting some tips from President Shumway, I was able to work things out. After that, I kind of just expressed the way I was feeling, but in a nice way; a way which helped things out.
10. Who were your favorite devotional speakers? Can you remember something that one of them said that impacted you?
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Ok- here are some of the things he said, and if you know Elder Holland, then you know these are his words, “You go out there and embrace your mission. You go out there and get everything out of it. Do not come home with regrets. Wherever you are going, just go out there and love the people. We have been your age and you haven’t been ours. I pray you’re the kind of missionaries my grandchildren think that you are. Don’t go home and get a tattoo and grow a beard; don’t be an idiot! In 24 months you’re going to sob, wishing you could serve the Lord all your life."
Monday, November 9, 2009
Step by step, day by day, I can understand things a lot more...
November 9, 2009
Hey family!
Hey everyone, I now have officially one month in Ecuador! That is so weird, this last month went by so fast, it’s crazy! No joke- it feels like I got here last week. Ok, so I have some cool stuff to tell you guys about, but first I will answer your questions. Ok, yes I am probably one of the tallest people in the mission. Actually, since I have been here I don’t believe that I have seen anyone taller than me. I definitely get a lot of people looking at me. Some of the first Spanish words that I learned while being here are “alto” and how many “cuantos meters tenie”? Which is tall and how tall are you? But ya, I hear that a lot. Ok, second yes i have pics with my comp and all my roommates. I took my first video yesterday of the top of our house at night, it’s got a pretty cool view. Anyway, so I do have a good amount of pics, and I’ll try to send those some time soon. Ok, I’ll tell you how my week went. First, best thing of all, both of our investigators went to church yesterday, so that means that they are both able to get baptized. We have Rafeal Barre’s baptism on the 21st of this month and Jose Madina on the 28th. So this change we have one baptism, and me or my companion could get transferred to a new a new sector. Our transfer date is on the 22nd, so we will see. Can you believe that I have been here for almost one transfer? Ok, so I gotta tell you about my first meeting with the president. So first, actually I met with Sister Johns and she tested me on this month’s scripture masteries. I memorized one and not the other. I also knew the “our purpose” in Spanish and I told her that. But ya, it went pretty good. She is a way nice lady and completely boosted my confidence about learning Spanish, so did President Johns. Anyway, so then I met with President Johns and he is amazing- nice and relaxed. We talked for awhile and he was just asking how things are going and how I like things. Oh, I forgot to tell you that when we got here the first day we were asked to read the Book of Mormon in three months, and we are supposed to read it in Spanish. Anyway he asked me how that was going, and I told him that I was two days behind. At the time I was in Mosiah 2, I think. When I told him that, he was so excited. Like honestly, he was WAY EXCITED, he didn’t believe me. I showed him my scriptures, which were marked in four different colors because we were asked to mark all the referencias about 1 Christ, 2 his attributes, 3 doctrines, 4 words of Christ. It is crazy how many things we mark in the book, it looks so colorful. It’s really cool, actually. Anyway when I showed him, he was way excited. He told me that I was the furthest along in my reading than any other North Americano or gringo. He told me that I was further than some of the Spanish speaking elders, and that some of the elder that have 2 months aren’t even this far. He also told me how much that was going to help my Spanish. And it’s crazy because when I first started reading I couldn’t understand even one thing. Now, I can understand more, but still not too much. Also, I can read a lot faster. So the interview went pretty good. Lol Anyway I had to brag about that because I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty proud of myself. Lol anyway so I gotta tell you about p-days, they are pretty nice. Today we got the go to the temple and clean the grounds, which was pretty cool. We also went to this mall which is way rich. Everything was so expensive. Last week I don’t know if I told you about this, but we went to a haunted house thing for Halloween. Actually, they really don’t celebrate Halloween here. I only saw like 10 people dressed up and there were like to decorations. But ya, we were in the middle of this scary house thing, like it’s a show and you walk through it. Anyway, so we were walking through it and this one girl dressed up as a dead person got up and started screaming trying to scare us, and as soon as she saw it was the elders, she was like, “oh elders I’m so sorry pardon, and she was way embarrassed. It was pretty funny. I’m pretty sure she was a member. But ya, we do a lot of cool things on p-days. Today we went to this all-you-can-eat buffet thing, and I am so stuffed right now and we ate like 5 hours ago. Really it was way good. I had squid for the first time and a lot of shrimp. I think I also eat some lamb. Oh it was so nice! Ok, so we were eating lunch when a few more missionaries came into the restaurant. One of the missionaries was this new sister missionary who has one week in the mission. It was so cool my comp asked her a question in Spanish, and she just looked so lost. But the cool thing was I knew exactly what he said and I was able to tell her in English. Most the time that is me, but for the first time I was the one who understood the question, and oh did it feel nice. I am doing better, but it’s still way hard. But step by step, day by day, I can understand things a lot more. Anywho, that’s enough about me. I really want to know how things are going back at home. That’s cool that you were able to go see Jordan. I bet he loved that. Did you guys watch a game? Well I hope that I get a letter from you guys tomorrow. We get mail every Tuesday, I think. Oh mom, I got your letter that you sent they day after I left the MTC this last Tuesday, so it took about three weeks. But I think that they should take a little bit shorter now that I’m in the mission because I think it was at the MTC for a while. I also got that one from Sis Storm and it was way funny. Actually, I got 2 letters from her. Anyway I gotta go because I still need to write the president and also answer that question of Mari’s. I just want you all to know that I love you all very much and miss to soooooooooo much. I hope all is well and I look forward to hearing and writing you again. Love you!
Love, Elder Keables
Hey family!
Hey everyone, I now have officially one month in Ecuador! That is so weird, this last month went by so fast, it’s crazy! No joke- it feels like I got here last week. Ok, so I have some cool stuff to tell you guys about, but first I will answer your questions. Ok, yes I am probably one of the tallest people in the mission. Actually, since I have been here I don’t believe that I have seen anyone taller than me. I definitely get a lot of people looking at me. Some of the first Spanish words that I learned while being here are “alto” and how many “cuantos meters tenie”? Which is tall and how tall are you? But ya, I hear that a lot. Ok, second yes i have pics with my comp and all my roommates. I took my first video yesterday of the top of our house at night, it’s got a pretty cool view. Anyway, so I do have a good amount of pics, and I’ll try to send those some time soon. Ok, I’ll tell you how my week went. First, best thing of all, both of our investigators went to church yesterday, so that means that they are both able to get baptized. We have Rafeal Barre’s baptism on the 21st of this month and Jose Madina on the 28th. So this change we have one baptism, and me or my companion could get transferred to a new a new sector. Our transfer date is on the 22nd, so we will see. Can you believe that I have been here for almost one transfer? Ok, so I gotta tell you about my first meeting with the president. So first, actually I met with Sister Johns and she tested me on this month’s scripture masteries. I memorized one and not the other. I also knew the “our purpose” in Spanish and I told her that. But ya, it went pretty good. She is a way nice lady and completely boosted my confidence about learning Spanish, so did President Johns. Anyway, so then I met with President Johns and he is amazing- nice and relaxed. We talked for awhile and he was just asking how things are going and how I like things. Oh, I forgot to tell you that when we got here the first day we were asked to read the Book of Mormon in three months, and we are supposed to read it in Spanish. Anyway he asked me how that was going, and I told him that I was two days behind. At the time I was in Mosiah 2, I think. When I told him that, he was so excited. Like honestly, he was WAY EXCITED, he didn’t believe me. I showed him my scriptures, which were marked in four different colors because we were asked to mark all the referencias about 1 Christ, 2 his attributes, 3 doctrines, 4 words of Christ. It is crazy how many things we mark in the book, it looks so colorful. It’s really cool, actually. Anyway when I showed him, he was way excited. He told me that I was the furthest along in my reading than any other North Americano or gringo. He told me that I was further than some of the Spanish speaking elders, and that some of the elder that have 2 months aren’t even this far. He also told me how much that was going to help my Spanish. And it’s crazy because when I first started reading I couldn’t understand even one thing. Now, I can understand more, but still not too much. Also, I can read a lot faster. So the interview went pretty good. Lol Anyway I had to brag about that because I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty proud of myself. Lol anyway so I gotta tell you about p-days, they are pretty nice. Today we got the go to the temple and clean the grounds, which was pretty cool. We also went to this mall which is way rich. Everything was so expensive. Last week I don’t know if I told you about this, but we went to a haunted house thing for Halloween. Actually, they really don’t celebrate Halloween here. I only saw like 10 people dressed up and there were like to decorations. But ya, we were in the middle of this scary house thing, like it’s a show and you walk through it. Anyway, so we were walking through it and this one girl dressed up as a dead person got up and started screaming trying to scare us, and as soon as she saw it was the elders, she was like, “oh elders I’m so sorry pardon, and she was way embarrassed. It was pretty funny. I’m pretty sure she was a member. But ya, we do a lot of cool things on p-days. Today we went to this all-you-can-eat buffet thing, and I am so stuffed right now and we ate like 5 hours ago. Really it was way good. I had squid for the first time and a lot of shrimp. I think I also eat some lamb. Oh it was so nice! Ok, so we were eating lunch when a few more missionaries came into the restaurant. One of the missionaries was this new sister missionary who has one week in the mission. It was so cool my comp asked her a question in Spanish, and she just looked so lost. But the cool thing was I knew exactly what he said and I was able to tell her in English. Most the time that is me, but for the first time I was the one who understood the question, and oh did it feel nice. I am doing better, but it’s still way hard. But step by step, day by day, I can understand things a lot more. Anywho, that’s enough about me. I really want to know how things are going back at home. That’s cool that you were able to go see Jordan. I bet he loved that. Did you guys watch a game? Well I hope that I get a letter from you guys tomorrow. We get mail every Tuesday, I think. Oh mom, I got your letter that you sent they day after I left the MTC this last Tuesday, so it took about three weeks. But I think that they should take a little bit shorter now that I’m in the mission because I think it was at the MTC for a while. I also got that one from Sis Storm and it was way funny. Actually, I got 2 letters from her. Anyway I gotta go because I still need to write the president and also answer that question of Mari’s. I just want you all to know that I love you all very much and miss to soooooooooo much. I hope all is well and I look forward to hearing and writing you again. Love you!
Love, Elder Keables
Monday, November 2, 2009
" Thou Shalt Not Steal" :-)
November 2, 2009
Hey family how are you? Wow that was a lot of questions! Lol- ok first I did receive a letter from you guys in the mail last Tuesday. It was good to hear from you all and find out how things are going. Mom I talked to one of the English speaking guys about the picture thing, and they said there’s a lot of ways you can do it. They do have a place were I can put pictures on the CD’s, so I’ll definitely do that. I gotta say it's hard taking pictures though, because you’ve got be careful. If someone around you sees that you have a nice camera, that it not good. When we pull 20 dollars out of the bank for food and stuff we have to be really careful and make sure that we don’t draw attention to ourselves. So you just slip it into your pocket and walk off. We aren’t supposed to bring our cameras around with us because they will probably get jacked. I have gotten some pics though from the house and today we had p-day, so I got a lot of cool pics. Ok, so I’ll tell you about some of our investigators. I think I told you about Jose Madina and how we had a baptism date for him. Well, he didn’t come to church again, so we had to cancel that date. I’m really not too sure right now what’s going to happen with him. So I’ll tell you about Rafael Barre and his wife. Ok, so they are an older couple and super nice people, they really are awesome. Rafael works as a taxi driver, and I don’t think his wife works. This week we committed him to being baptized on the 21 of Nov. He said yes and his wife said no. It’s funny because his wife is Catholic and every time we have ask her to be baptized she always says, “No, I am Catholic.” But in the lessons she always sits there listening, and is always so involved. Every time we stop by she gets really excited, actually they both do. They always give us food and drinks, which makes it so nice. Lol I’m gonna get fat, no joke! Anyway, but ya I know that she has felt the Spirit in the lessons. I think is just a matter of time. I know that Rafael will be baptized and he seems pretty excited about it. We have a few others that we are teaching right know. We have asked three more people to be baptized, but they aren’t too sure about it. We had three investigators come to church with us on Sunday, so that was cool. Anyway, I’ll tell you how my first Zone Conference went. All the missionaries are way nice. I didn’t really know what was going on because it was in all Spanish. Me and three other missionaries had to share our testimonies in front of everyone, which was flippin scary. Mostly because it was in Spanish and everyone there spoke Spanish perfectly, except me. No joke, everyone else either has been out long enough to know Spanish or it’s their native language. Me, I am just lost always. Lol. No, it was great. They said by the next conference I’ll be able to understand most of everything. Anyway I’ll try to answer some of those questions now, oh and thanks mom so much sending the CD’s. I can’t wait to get them. Ok, my roommates are cool, and very nice. I think it’s going to take longer for us to be friends because it’s so hard to talk to one another. But things are going good. I’m starting to get to know them better day by day. The other day I took some of their cookies and ate them because I thought they were mine. I found out that they weren’t after I had ate all of them. I said sorry, and told him that I would buy another pack, which I did. Lol but it was funny the next day after I took them he bought another pack. When I got back to the casa I saw them sitting on the fridge. The funny thing was, in plain English it said, “thou shalt not steal”. I started laughing when I saw that. The other day Elder Santa Maria and Elder Sadan bought me a book that had 300 common use verbs in Spanish. The book is so helpful, so I was really thankful to them for doing that. Hey dad thanks for the sports updates- I love hearing about that stuff. Ok, so yes we have running water, we just can't drink it. The toilets work great except for the fact that you can’t flush the paper. I think I told you guys about that. How we put the paper in the can right next to the toilet. Well, I found one thing good about that. You never run out of toilet paper. If your roll is out there is a lot more right next to you. Just make sure you get the clean side. Lol no I’m jokin. Ok the homes of members are all different. I found out this last week that we actually have the richer part of town. I had my first companion exchange this week. I stayed in our sector and my companion went to another. My companion for the one night and day was an English speaker, so it was actually kind of nice. He told me about his sector and how it used to be the 3rd most dangerous place in the world. I have been there a few times because my comp is the district leader, so we have a meeting twice a week there. It's way ghetto, no cement road, just all dirt. When I met with my comp the next day, he and the other comp had been robbed earlier that day. I think everyone that I have talked to had been robbed once or twice since being here, and it’s always by gun. Nothing like that has happened to me yet. I have had a lot of people flip me off though. And the other day we were sitting in a member’s house when this guy came up to the window yelling a lot of stuff in English and Spanish. Hi was angry, and I thought he was going to kill someone. He ended up leaving, and it was all good. Anywho the member’s houses are nice or sometimes they are ghetto, it just depends. Like one of the member’s houses we were in the other day had maggots crawling on the ground. I was sitting there trying to understand what we were talking about when I looked down and saw that the floor was moving. There were a lot to little worms all over the place, it was kind of sick. Then we go into another member’s house and they have really nice stuff. Nice furniture and tile flours. So idk- every member’s house is different. I’ll get some videos of our house and of the outside and send them to you soon. Right now we don’t have any rain, but It’s still way humid. They say the rainy season comes in the next few weeks, and that’s when it gets really hot and humid. It’s supposed to be the worst part of the year. It’s crazy how much sun there is here. I already have a fat farmer’s tan, which I’m pretty proud of. lol but ya, its only rained once, and it was just a sprinkle. We do sleep on regular beds and they seem pretty comfortable. I don’t know because it seems like I have only spent 10 minutes on them. As soon as my head hits the pillow I’m out, and as soon as I am out, the alarm clock starts peepin. Oh ok, so I almost forgot to tell you this, I have gone through one whole bar of soap. Yup and my shoes actually look like someone has worn them. I think every day I look at the bottom of my shoes just waiting for the day when I’m not the new guy, and I don’t have new stuff and ACTUALLY KNOW THE LANGUAGE. Ok well I think that we have to go now. I’m so sorry that I wasn’t able to answer all of your questions. I have this little girl sitting next to me and she is staring me down and it's starting to freak me out. It’s funny, all the little kids here do that when I’m walking down the street. The older people too sometimes. A lot of the time when people see me and they know that I speak English, so they will say the only thing they know. Which most of the time is, “Hello mi friend , you want to buy?” But ya it’s pretty funny. I sent a letter home today and also to Lili. It was my first one because last week we didn’t have time. Mom if you could, would you let Lili know that I have sent her that letter. I feel bad because this was my first letter to her since being here. Also, I don’t know how often I’ll be able to send letters to Lili. It probably won’t be every week. The letters will be longer because I think I’ll write one every week and just add them up until I get to go to the post office. So if you could let her know that I sent a long one, and that I’ll be sending more and they should be long also. I am sorry if this letter doesn’t make so much sense. I always have so much to say and never enough time to say it. I’ll write you guys a big long regular letter and it should be better I promise. Mom in your last letter you asked if I could send letter to Taylor and also to Cody. I was wondering if maybe, because it cost so much, I could send all the letters to you in one envelope and you could send them or give them to my friends back at home. I sent 3 letters today and they cost 6 bucks. I don’t know how often I’ll be going to the post office, so I think I’ll write you guys, then I’ll write my friends over the week and put them all in one letter and send them. It’s so hard to send letters here because the closest post office is like 20 minutes away, which is way out of our sector. Anyway, I gotta run. I love you all and miss you all very much.
Con Amor,
Elder Keables
Hey family how are you? Wow that was a lot of questions! Lol- ok first I did receive a letter from you guys in the mail last Tuesday. It was good to hear from you all and find out how things are going. Mom I talked to one of the English speaking guys about the picture thing, and they said there’s a lot of ways you can do it. They do have a place were I can put pictures on the CD’s, so I’ll definitely do that. I gotta say it's hard taking pictures though, because you’ve got be careful. If someone around you sees that you have a nice camera, that it not good. When we pull 20 dollars out of the bank for food and stuff we have to be really careful and make sure that we don’t draw attention to ourselves. So you just slip it into your pocket and walk off. We aren’t supposed to bring our cameras around with us because they will probably get jacked. I have gotten some pics though from the house and today we had p-day, so I got a lot of cool pics. Ok, so I’ll tell you about some of our investigators. I think I told you about Jose Madina and how we had a baptism date for him. Well, he didn’t come to church again, so we had to cancel that date. I’m really not too sure right now what’s going to happen with him. So I’ll tell you about Rafael Barre and his wife. Ok, so they are an older couple and super nice people, they really are awesome. Rafael works as a taxi driver, and I don’t think his wife works. This week we committed him to being baptized on the 21 of Nov. He said yes and his wife said no. It’s funny because his wife is Catholic and every time we have ask her to be baptized she always says, “No, I am Catholic.” But in the lessons she always sits there listening, and is always so involved. Every time we stop by she gets really excited, actually they both do. They always give us food and drinks, which makes it so nice. Lol I’m gonna get fat, no joke! Anyway, but ya I know that she has felt the Spirit in the lessons. I think is just a matter of time. I know that Rafael will be baptized and he seems pretty excited about it. We have a few others that we are teaching right know. We have asked three more people to be baptized, but they aren’t too sure about it. We had three investigators come to church with us on Sunday, so that was cool. Anyway, I’ll tell you how my first Zone Conference went. All the missionaries are way nice. I didn’t really know what was going on because it was in all Spanish. Me and three other missionaries had to share our testimonies in front of everyone, which was flippin scary. Mostly because it was in Spanish and everyone there spoke Spanish perfectly, except me. No joke, everyone else either has been out long enough to know Spanish or it’s their native language. Me, I am just lost always. Lol. No, it was great. They said by the next conference I’ll be able to understand most of everything. Anyway I’ll try to answer some of those questions now, oh and thanks mom so much sending the CD’s. I can’t wait to get them. Ok, my roommates are cool, and very nice. I think it’s going to take longer for us to be friends because it’s so hard to talk to one another. But things are going good. I’m starting to get to know them better day by day. The other day I took some of their cookies and ate them because I thought they were mine. I found out that they weren’t after I had ate all of them. I said sorry, and told him that I would buy another pack, which I did. Lol but it was funny the next day after I took them he bought another pack. When I got back to the casa I saw them sitting on the fridge. The funny thing was, in plain English it said, “thou shalt not steal”. I started laughing when I saw that. The other day Elder Santa Maria and Elder Sadan bought me a book that had 300 common use verbs in Spanish. The book is so helpful, so I was really thankful to them for doing that. Hey dad thanks for the sports updates- I love hearing about that stuff. Ok, so yes we have running water, we just can't drink it. The toilets work great except for the fact that you can’t flush the paper. I think I told you guys about that. How we put the paper in the can right next to the toilet. Well, I found one thing good about that. You never run out of toilet paper. If your roll is out there is a lot more right next to you. Just make sure you get the clean side. Lol no I’m jokin. Ok the homes of members are all different. I found out this last week that we actually have the richer part of town. I had my first companion exchange this week. I stayed in our sector and my companion went to another. My companion for the one night and day was an English speaker, so it was actually kind of nice. He told me about his sector and how it used to be the 3rd most dangerous place in the world. I have been there a few times because my comp is the district leader, so we have a meeting twice a week there. It's way ghetto, no cement road, just all dirt. When I met with my comp the next day, he and the other comp had been robbed earlier that day. I think everyone that I have talked to had been robbed once or twice since being here, and it’s always by gun. Nothing like that has happened to me yet. I have had a lot of people flip me off though. And the other day we were sitting in a member’s house when this guy came up to the window yelling a lot of stuff in English and Spanish. Hi was angry, and I thought he was going to kill someone. He ended up leaving, and it was all good. Anywho the member’s houses are nice or sometimes they are ghetto, it just depends. Like one of the member’s houses we were in the other day had maggots crawling on the ground. I was sitting there trying to understand what we were talking about when I looked down and saw that the floor was moving. There were a lot to little worms all over the place, it was kind of sick. Then we go into another member’s house and they have really nice stuff. Nice furniture and tile flours. So idk- every member’s house is different. I’ll get some videos of our house and of the outside and send them to you soon. Right now we don’t have any rain, but It’s still way humid. They say the rainy season comes in the next few weeks, and that’s when it gets really hot and humid. It’s supposed to be the worst part of the year. It’s crazy how much sun there is here. I already have a fat farmer’s tan, which I’m pretty proud of. lol but ya, its only rained once, and it was just a sprinkle. We do sleep on regular beds and they seem pretty comfortable. I don’t know because it seems like I have only spent 10 minutes on them. As soon as my head hits the pillow I’m out, and as soon as I am out, the alarm clock starts peepin. Oh ok, so I almost forgot to tell you this, I have gone through one whole bar of soap. Yup and my shoes actually look like someone has worn them. I think every day I look at the bottom of my shoes just waiting for the day when I’m not the new guy, and I don’t have new stuff and ACTUALLY KNOW THE LANGUAGE. Ok well I think that we have to go now. I’m so sorry that I wasn’t able to answer all of your questions. I have this little girl sitting next to me and she is staring me down and it's starting to freak me out. It’s funny, all the little kids here do that when I’m walking down the street. The older people too sometimes. A lot of the time when people see me and they know that I speak English, so they will say the only thing they know. Which most of the time is, “Hello mi friend , you want to buy?” But ya it’s pretty funny. I sent a letter home today and also to Lili. It was my first one because last week we didn’t have time. Mom if you could, would you let Lili know that I have sent her that letter. I feel bad because this was my first letter to her since being here. Also, I don’t know how often I’ll be able to send letters to Lili. It probably won’t be every week. The letters will be longer because I think I’ll write one every week and just add them up until I get to go to the post office. So if you could let her know that I sent a long one, and that I’ll be sending more and they should be long also. I am sorry if this letter doesn’t make so much sense. I always have so much to say and never enough time to say it. I’ll write you guys a big long regular letter and it should be better I promise. Mom in your last letter you asked if I could send letter to Taylor and also to Cody. I was wondering if maybe, because it cost so much, I could send all the letters to you in one envelope and you could send them or give them to my friends back at home. I sent 3 letters today and they cost 6 bucks. I don’t know how often I’ll be going to the post office, so I think I’ll write you guys, then I’ll write my friends over the week and put them all in one letter and send them. It’s so hard to send letters here because the closest post office is like 20 minutes away, which is way out of our sector. Anyway, I gotta run. I love you all and miss you all very much.
Con Amor,
Elder Keables
Monday, October 26, 2009
"I'm doing great, and I've learned so much this past week!"
October 26, 2009
Hey family!
Hey how are you? It’s killing me not being able to get a letter from you guys yet. We still haven’t received our letters, but I think we get them tomorrow during our zone meeting. But ya, it’s been two weeks since that last letter I received from you, or from anyone. Ok, so first things first- I filled out that MTC survey and I am going to send it out today, along with a letter for Lili. I found out that it cost 2 dollars to send out one letter, so those two letters will cost me 4, but that’s ok. I’ll probably just be emailing you guys and not sending too many real letters. This is the fist letter that I have sent from here to Lili, and I feel kind of bad, so could you let her know about it. I’m only allowed to email family, so that kin ofa sucks, but rules are rules. Anywho, I have a few requests. I was wondering if you could send me some church music for the harmonica, and also some CDs for my CD player? Maybe some Josh Groban, and some good music like that. If you could send me that it would be great. Anyway, so I’ll tell you about my week. First I told you about the baptism right. Well it was supposed to be this week, but we changed it to next because José Madina didn’t come to church. So we are going to teach him about keeping the Sabbath day, which I believe we are teaching tonight. We also asked an older couple to be baptized, or the Barre family. They are way nice people. They said they would, but next month because they don’t feel ready, but we think they are. The people here are so amazingly nice. We get to teach so many people and they always let us into their houses. They are hardly ever mean. The members are so awesome, we visit them all the time. It was funny I forgot to tell you this, so we have family home evening every miercoles, with like all the members. It’s normally at someone’s house and everyone that goes to church goes to it. So there are like maybe 30 people who show up, give or take. But my second day in Ecuador we had this family home evening. Normally, they have a quick lesson and we play games and have some refreshments. We were playing this game where one person acts like a cat and gets on the hands and knees and makes noises. I really don’t know how to play it because it was in Spanish and I had no idea what was going on, but somehow I ended up being the cat and crawling on around. They were all saying things in Spanish and I was lost, but it was fun. Last family home evening was way fun too. It’s funny because somehow I always get picked on to do something while I’m there. They talked me into singing Armies of Helaman in English to them. They said I did a good job, but I think they were just being nice. They also tried to get me to sing the Mulan song from the movie. “Who is that girl I see?”, but I never did. Lol but really, the members are all so nice. I love the family home evenings. Ok what else can I tell you? My companion is cool, he is a really nice guy. My roommates are way nice. Elder Santa Maria and Elder Sadan. They really are so nice. The other day I was cleaning my clothes, and I didn’t have time to finish because it was companion study. So I left them there and was going to finish it later, but they washed the rest of my stuff for me and hung it up. O so guess what? We don’t have people who was our clothes. Nope, we have to wash them by hand, and it takes forever! No joke it takes me like 2 hours to do all my clothes. Actually, I haven’t washed all my clothes yet because it takes too long. Ya we do it outside it buckets. It’s so much fun! Oh I think you guys will like this. Ok so when we go to the bathroom in America we wipe and we flush the paper. Not in Ecuador, here you wipe lol and you put it into the trash right next to you. We take that trash out every week. Lol today was my turn to clean the bathroom and it was sick. But it’s better now. Lol. But really, it’s not as ghetto as I thought it would be. It is ghetto, but not too bad. We live on the third story of the building, so they have big buildings here. They also have mc-ds (I think he means McDonalds) here. I went the other day and got an ice cream. But where I live it’s really ghetto. They do have nice malls and stuff and other places in the town. I’ll definitely get a video of where we live pretty soon. I’ll try figuring out how to send it in a few weeks. Ok so the language is hard, but this last week has been a lot better. In the lessons I actually understand more then 50%. But when they are just talking about other things, most they time I am lost. But its coming, just coming really slow it seems. Ok so I almost forgot to tell you about this. Ok so I guess New Years is crazy here. It’s two months away and people are already getting ready. On the side of the streets they are building huge persons and statues of random stuff. It’s all made out of wood and paper. They look tike giant piñatas. Some of them are like 15 feet tall and 20 long. I guess on New Years they fill them to the top with fireworks! No joke I have been here for 2 weeks and I have seen like so many huge firework shows. I saw a church light some off two days ago. Lol they have concerts in the streets for some of their churches. Lol it’s awesome. But yah, if will definitely get the New Years thing on tape and send it home. I hear it is so crazy. There is so much stuff here that I want to tell you guys, but so very little time. But anyway, just thought I would tell you about that. I’m doing great, and I have learned so much this last week. I am having a great time, and it’s crazy how much faster the time is going by here compared to in the MTC. Anyway, I gotta go family, but I am looking forward to hearing from you guys. I hope its tomorrow, because I really need a letter. But I love you all very much, and I miss you all. I hope all is well and things are going great.
Love,
Elder Keables
Hey family!
Hey how are you? It’s killing me not being able to get a letter from you guys yet. We still haven’t received our letters, but I think we get them tomorrow during our zone meeting. But ya, it’s been two weeks since that last letter I received from you, or from anyone. Ok, so first things first- I filled out that MTC survey and I am going to send it out today, along with a letter for Lili. I found out that it cost 2 dollars to send out one letter, so those two letters will cost me 4, but that’s ok. I’ll probably just be emailing you guys and not sending too many real letters. This is the fist letter that I have sent from here to Lili, and I feel kind of bad, so could you let her know about it. I’m only allowed to email family, so that kin ofa sucks, but rules are rules. Anywho, I have a few requests. I was wondering if you could send me some church music for the harmonica, and also some CDs for my CD player? Maybe some Josh Groban, and some good music like that. If you could send me that it would be great. Anyway, so I’ll tell you about my week. First I told you about the baptism right. Well it was supposed to be this week, but we changed it to next because José Madina didn’t come to church. So we are going to teach him about keeping the Sabbath day, which I believe we are teaching tonight. We also asked an older couple to be baptized, or the Barre family. They are way nice people. They said they would, but next month because they don’t feel ready, but we think they are. The people here are so amazingly nice. We get to teach so many people and they always let us into their houses. They are hardly ever mean. The members are so awesome, we visit them all the time. It was funny I forgot to tell you this, so we have family home evening every miercoles, with like all the members. It’s normally at someone’s house and everyone that goes to church goes to it. So there are like maybe 30 people who show up, give or take. But my second day in Ecuador we had this family home evening. Normally, they have a quick lesson and we play games and have some refreshments. We were playing this game where one person acts like a cat and gets on the hands and knees and makes noises. I really don’t know how to play it because it was in Spanish and I had no idea what was going on, but somehow I ended up being the cat and crawling on around. They were all saying things in Spanish and I was lost, but it was fun. Last family home evening was way fun too. It’s funny because somehow I always get picked on to do something while I’m there. They talked me into singing Armies of Helaman in English to them. They said I did a good job, but I think they were just being nice. They also tried to get me to sing the Mulan song from the movie. “Who is that girl I see?”, but I never did. Lol but really, the members are all so nice. I love the family home evenings. Ok what else can I tell you? My companion is cool, he is a really nice guy. My roommates are way nice. Elder Santa Maria and Elder Sadan. They really are so nice. The other day I was cleaning my clothes, and I didn’t have time to finish because it was companion study. So I left them there and was going to finish it later, but they washed the rest of my stuff for me and hung it up. O so guess what? We don’t have people who was our clothes. Nope, we have to wash them by hand, and it takes forever! No joke it takes me like 2 hours to do all my clothes. Actually, I haven’t washed all my clothes yet because it takes too long. Ya we do it outside it buckets. It’s so much fun! Oh I think you guys will like this. Ok so when we go to the bathroom in America we wipe and we flush the paper. Not in Ecuador, here you wipe lol and you put it into the trash right next to you. We take that trash out every week. Lol today was my turn to clean the bathroom and it was sick. But it’s better now. Lol. But really, it’s not as ghetto as I thought it would be. It is ghetto, but not too bad. We live on the third story of the building, so they have big buildings here. They also have mc-ds (I think he means McDonalds) here. I went the other day and got an ice cream. But where I live it’s really ghetto. They do have nice malls and stuff and other places in the town. I’ll definitely get a video of where we live pretty soon. I’ll try figuring out how to send it in a few weeks. Ok so the language is hard, but this last week has been a lot better. In the lessons I actually understand more then 50%. But when they are just talking about other things, most they time I am lost. But its coming, just coming really slow it seems. Ok so I almost forgot to tell you about this. Ok so I guess New Years is crazy here. It’s two months away and people are already getting ready. On the side of the streets they are building huge persons and statues of random stuff. It’s all made out of wood and paper. They look tike giant piñatas. Some of them are like 15 feet tall and 20 long. I guess on New Years they fill them to the top with fireworks! No joke I have been here for 2 weeks and I have seen like so many huge firework shows. I saw a church light some off two days ago. Lol they have concerts in the streets for some of their churches. Lol it’s awesome. But yah, if will definitely get the New Years thing on tape and send it home. I hear it is so crazy. There is so much stuff here that I want to tell you guys, but so very little time. But anyway, just thought I would tell you about that. I’m doing great, and I have learned so much this last week. I am having a great time, and it’s crazy how much faster the time is going by here compared to in the MTC. Anyway, I gotta go family, but I am looking forward to hearing from you guys. I hope its tomorrow, because I really need a letter. But I love you all very much, and I miss you all. I hope all is well and things are going great.
Love,
Elder Keables
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
News From Ecuador!
October 20, 2009
Fam!
Hola family how are you all¿ sorry if the question mark is upside down, I have no idea how to fix it. So guess what- I am still alive! can you believe that¿ lol ok so I have so much to tell you all. I forgot my thing of notes that I wanted to write to you guys about so I’ll have to try and remember. It seems like every time I write you I always forget something really important, and I always remember right when I’m done writing. First thing I wanted to tell you guys last week is that I found out about the mailing packages thing. Ok, so you can send packages and they get here pretty easy, but they need to be under five pounds. That’s really important because if they are over that then they cost way too much to get out. I also heard that the mail is pretty good, so no worries. Just make sure any package is under 5 pounds. Ok, so what could I tell you about Ecuador? Lol- not much. No,I’ll start off by telling you about my apartment. Ok so when we get up in the morning in Ecuador its actually kind of cold. I even sleep with a sheet over me sometimes. But the last few days have been kind of cloudy. So, we get up at 6:30 every morning and we all take shower. lol it’s my favorite. Lol there is no hot water and the shower is like a spicket coming out of the wall. No joke, it’s freezing and it’s one stream of water. I take the shortest showers ever! I wish we could just take showers at night, but we have no time. So we go to bed all sweaty, which is sooo nice. Lol ok then there is the kitchen, oh I cant wait to send you pics. They have these little bugs/ nats. I’m really not too sure what they are, but they are sick. They always get in my food. Yesterday I was studying and this fat beadle crawled up my leg. It was like half the size of my thumb, and it scared me so bad. We all sleep in one room with our beds all over the place. Today we get to clean it, which I’m looking forward to. Ok next is the food. We actually eat pretty good here. I have probably eaten like 20 pounds of rice since being in Ecuador. The pan is way good and way cheap. That’s bread. Lol for 50 cents you can buy like 8 little loaves of bread. Yesterday we went out to eat and paid 2 dollars for both me and my comp’s lunch. Though you gotta watch out if you have a lot of money. The other day I pulled 20 bucks out of a bank thing, and my comp told me to hide it quickly, it's not safe to be carrying around 20 bucks with you here. We have soup and rice with everything. Also, eggs are really cheap so we normally have those for breakfast. I really think I would have gained weight this week if it wasn’t for the five thousand miles we walked. No joke, we walked like 5 miles the other day to get some crutches for a member. The members are way nice here and they will do anything for the missionaries. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, we are holding my first baptism on the 24th, I think. Lol yup we have our first one in this area and my first ever! His name is José Madina. He is African American, and he is way cool. The Spanish is sooo hard! No joke, I still just sit there during the lesson and smile. When it’s my turn I just bear my testimony and look back at my comp for help or like, take it home. It is way hard not being able to say what I want to say when I want to. Really there has been so many times where I just want to tell the people how important this message is, or this gospel is to me and why they need it in their lives. I want to explain scriptures, but I can’t. It’s really hard, I feel like I’m never going to learn. But some of the Gringos or English speakers tell me just give it a month or two. It’s hard, but I really have no choice but to keep on studying, praying and practicing! I do feel like I have learned a lot just this last week, it just seem like it doesn’t show to anyone when I speak, not even myself. But anyway, It’s really cool here and really different. EVERYONE here plays soccer for football. No joke, they have a field painted on every street I turn down. In the evening they put up little goals and play. Pretty much on every block they have a pick-up game of about 20 people. It’s pretty crazy. The people drive crazy here. I think I already told you that, but really I couldn’t say it enough, they drive like mad men. But anyway, I gotta go now. I have a few more letters to write. I love you all very much, and I miss you all. If I have time I’ll write a letter for the mail and send it to you. If not I’ll talk to you next week. Love you all.
Con Amor,
Elder Keables.
Fam!
Hola family how are you all¿ sorry if the question mark is upside down, I have no idea how to fix it. So guess what- I am still alive! can you believe that¿ lol ok so I have so much to tell you all. I forgot my thing of notes that I wanted to write to you guys about so I’ll have to try and remember. It seems like every time I write you I always forget something really important, and I always remember right when I’m done writing. First thing I wanted to tell you guys last week is that I found out about the mailing packages thing. Ok, so you can send packages and they get here pretty easy, but they need to be under five pounds. That’s really important because if they are over that then they cost way too much to get out. I also heard that the mail is pretty good, so no worries. Just make sure any package is under 5 pounds. Ok, so what could I tell you about Ecuador? Lol- not much. No,I’ll start off by telling you about my apartment. Ok so when we get up in the morning in Ecuador its actually kind of cold. I even sleep with a sheet over me sometimes. But the last few days have been kind of cloudy. So, we get up at 6:30 every morning and we all take shower. lol it’s my favorite. Lol there is no hot water and the shower is like a spicket coming out of the wall. No joke, it’s freezing and it’s one stream of water. I take the shortest showers ever! I wish we could just take showers at night, but we have no time. So we go to bed all sweaty, which is sooo nice. Lol ok then there is the kitchen, oh I cant wait to send you pics. They have these little bugs/ nats. I’m really not too sure what they are, but they are sick. They always get in my food. Yesterday I was studying and this fat beadle crawled up my leg. It was like half the size of my thumb, and it scared me so bad. We all sleep in one room with our beds all over the place. Today we get to clean it, which I’m looking forward to. Ok next is the food. We actually eat pretty good here. I have probably eaten like 20 pounds of rice since being in Ecuador. The pan is way good and way cheap. That’s bread. Lol for 50 cents you can buy like 8 little loaves of bread. Yesterday we went out to eat and paid 2 dollars for both me and my comp’s lunch. Though you gotta watch out if you have a lot of money. The other day I pulled 20 bucks out of a bank thing, and my comp told me to hide it quickly, it's not safe to be carrying around 20 bucks with you here. We have soup and rice with everything. Also, eggs are really cheap so we normally have those for breakfast. I really think I would have gained weight this week if it wasn’t for the five thousand miles we walked. No joke, we walked like 5 miles the other day to get some crutches for a member. The members are way nice here and they will do anything for the missionaries. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, we are holding my first baptism on the 24th, I think. Lol yup we have our first one in this area and my first ever! His name is José Madina. He is African American, and he is way cool. The Spanish is sooo hard! No joke, I still just sit there during the lesson and smile. When it’s my turn I just bear my testimony and look back at my comp for help or like, take it home. It is way hard not being able to say what I want to say when I want to. Really there has been so many times where I just want to tell the people how important this message is, or this gospel is to me and why they need it in their lives. I want to explain scriptures, but I can’t. It’s really hard, I feel like I’m never going to learn. But some of the Gringos or English speakers tell me just give it a month or two. It’s hard, but I really have no choice but to keep on studying, praying and practicing! I do feel like I have learned a lot just this last week, it just seem like it doesn’t show to anyone when I speak, not even myself. But anyway, It’s really cool here and really different. EVERYONE here plays soccer for football. No joke, they have a field painted on every street I turn down. In the evening they put up little goals and play. Pretty much on every block they have a pick-up game of about 20 people. It’s pretty crazy. The people drive crazy here. I think I already told you that, but really I couldn’t say it enough, they drive like mad men. But anyway, I gotta go now. I have a few more letters to write. I love you all very much, and I miss you all. If I have time I’ll write a letter for the mail and send it to you. If not I’ll talk to you next week. Love you all.
Con Amor,
Elder Keables.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Elder Keables is in Ecuador!!
October 14, 2009
Hey family,
Ok, I am so mad right now because I just wrote a huge long letter, and the whole thing shut down on me. Anyway I’m here I made it! I AM SO LOST! LOL. Ok, there is so much to tell you, and I don’t know where to start or when to tell you because I already lost all my time writing you once before. So President Johns and his wife are awesome, so cool. They picked us up at the airport. We stayed actually on the temple grounds, which was way cool. The temple is so beautiful! We got there way late at night, like around 12:30. We ate and went to bed. The next day we had the opportunity to do a session in the temple, which was interesting. Lol The whole thing was in Spanish. Lol I was so lost! I thought it was hard before. Anyway, after that we all went to the president’s house to have dinner. There were like 8 English speaking elders and 8 Spanish speaking. Dinner was way good, too. After that, we went to our orientation. That was pretty much the longest thing of my life. But I learned a lot, even though it was in total Spanish. Finally, when that was over, we all got to meet our companions. My companion’s name is Elder Salcado and he is from Guatemala. He speaks like no English. After meeting my companion, we all got our stuff and went to our apartments all over Ecuador. We took a cab to our place, which was crazy. No joke I almost died like 20 times. This place is so ghetto. Lol they have no lines on the roads. So we got to our apartment right? When we get there, I’m like, ok I’m going to unpack. Lol Wrong! My comp is like, let’s plan for tomorrow. But he said it in Spanish, and it took me like 10 minutes to understand what he was trying to say. It pretty much took the rest of the night to plan out our day because it’s so hard to talk to each other. Anyway, so while we are planning the other companionship got there, and they are all from Guatemala, and they speak less English then my comp. So I’m pretty much so lost on what’s going on in my life. Anyway I’ll tell you about my comp, he is way cool, from what I know of him. It’s hard to get to know one another when you can’t even say ten words, but really he is so nice and so helpful. He made me dinner last night and breakfast this morning. I told him I wanted to help, but he said I need to work on my Spanish. He is like, “I want to help you. Let me serve you.” Lol he really is so humble and really wants to help me. My roommates are the same way. They pretty much made my bed for me last night. I still haven’t unpacked all the way because there is no time. We have 3 or 4 lessons we have to teach today and I have to teach some of it. I’m way scared. I so want to send you guys some pics of this place. Really, it’s so ghetto. We have no windows in our apartment. Ok we do, but there are random holes in the wall where I can stick my head through. It’s pretty cool. Also, when I was studying this morning I had to blow the bugs of my books. They are everywhere. I don’t know what they are, but I know that I slept with them. Anyway, I think it time to go. I will write you again on Monday, that’s our p-day. I am doing great. I love you all, and miss you all.
Con Amor,
Elder Keables
Hey family,
Ok, I am so mad right now because I just wrote a huge long letter, and the whole thing shut down on me. Anyway I’m here I made it! I AM SO LOST! LOL. Ok, there is so much to tell you, and I don’t know where to start or when to tell you because I already lost all my time writing you once before. So President Johns and his wife are awesome, so cool. They picked us up at the airport. We stayed actually on the temple grounds, which was way cool. The temple is so beautiful! We got there way late at night, like around 12:30. We ate and went to bed. The next day we had the opportunity to do a session in the temple, which was interesting. Lol The whole thing was in Spanish. Lol I was so lost! I thought it was hard before. Anyway, after that we all went to the president’s house to have dinner. There were like 8 English speaking elders and 8 Spanish speaking. Dinner was way good, too. After that, we went to our orientation. That was pretty much the longest thing of my life. But I learned a lot, even though it was in total Spanish. Finally, when that was over, we all got to meet our companions. My companion’s name is Elder Salcado and he is from Guatemala. He speaks like no English. After meeting my companion, we all got our stuff and went to our apartments all over Ecuador. We took a cab to our place, which was crazy. No joke I almost died like 20 times. This place is so ghetto. Lol they have no lines on the roads. So we got to our apartment right? When we get there, I’m like, ok I’m going to unpack. Lol Wrong! My comp is like, let’s plan for tomorrow. But he said it in Spanish, and it took me like 10 minutes to understand what he was trying to say. It pretty much took the rest of the night to plan out our day because it’s so hard to talk to each other. Anyway, so while we are planning the other companionship got there, and they are all from Guatemala, and they speak less English then my comp. So I’m pretty much so lost on what’s going on in my life. Anyway I’ll tell you about my comp, he is way cool, from what I know of him. It’s hard to get to know one another when you can’t even say ten words, but really he is so nice and so helpful. He made me dinner last night and breakfast this morning. I told him I wanted to help, but he said I need to work on my Spanish. He is like, “I want to help you. Let me serve you.” Lol he really is so humble and really wants to help me. My roommates are the same way. They pretty much made my bed for me last night. I still haven’t unpacked all the way because there is no time. We have 3 or 4 lessons we have to teach today and I have to teach some of it. I’m way scared. I so want to send you guys some pics of this place. Really, it’s so ghetto. We have no windows in our apartment. Ok we do, but there are random holes in the wall where I can stick my head through. It’s pretty cool. Also, when I was studying this morning I had to blow the bugs of my books. They are everywhere. I don’t know what they are, but I know that I slept with them. Anyway, I think it time to go. I will write you again on Monday, that’s our p-day. I am doing great. I love you all, and miss you all.
Con Amor,
Elder Keables
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Last Letter from the MTC, October 9, 2009
October 9, 09
Hey family!
TWO MORE DAYS! ok I’m gonna be honest about this, I’m getting way scared! Did I tell you that I don’t know any Spanish? LOL. Just jokin, but that’s kind of what it feel like, though. Anyway, I got the cinnamon rolls that you made for me mom, and everyone liked them. There were just the right amount for everyone, even both my teachers got one, so thank you so much, and to everyone who helped you make them. Mom I wasn't able to copy the flight plans, so I’m going to try to give you the information and don’t worry I have time this time. So it’s American Airlines, the first flight to from Salt Lake is flight 1456, the second is 1246 and the third is 933. I leave Salt Lake at 8:30 and get to ok Dallas at 12:10. Then I leave Dallas at 2:10-6:00. Then I leave Miami at 6:50 and get to Ecuador at 10. I hope that was helpful to you. Can you believe it only 2 days away? That’s crazy. Anyway mom I also got my money out today, so thank you so much for doing that for me. I always say mom because I know you’re the one who takes care of that stuff. LOL Thank you so much mom and dad for everything you do, I just want to say that I love you guys so much, and I am so grateful for everything that you have taught me. It’s crazy, I never knew how lucky I was until I was gone. I have the best family and the best parents in the world! Thanks so much for teaching me how to be a hard worker. Dad’s probably laughing, but really thanks! I do appreciate you guys so much, and I love you all. Oh, and I want to say thank you to all my friends too, because I owe a lot to you all! You all are amazing! Mom I got your survey that you want me to fill out on the plane, but I don’t know if I’m going to have time. I already decided that I was going to convert everyone I sit by. LOL, or try. No I’ll fill it out, and send it home, I promise. Ok, so I have a pretty cool story to tell you. So the other night I was trying to go to bed because it was way late. One of my roommates, Elder Hicks was snoring so loud it was crazy. I could not go to bed, so I picked up something off the ground and chucked it at him. It didn't even phase him. I mean he sounded like my pig when we were trying to put him in the dog kennel. It was so annoying! Anyway this whole time I was trying to say my nightly prayer. Finally, I decided to ask the Lord. LOL I know- funny, right? Well I remember just asking if he could help me get a good night’s rest. Now, just 2 seconds after I asked, he just completely stopped snoring. It was amazing! Most people would call that a coincidence, but I know it wasn't. It’s so cool to me how the Lord is willing to help me in even the small things. Ok- one more story. This was really the coolest thing that happened to me. A few days ago, I was writing my testimony in Spanish. I was writing about Craig and the whole experience that happened before coming on my mission, and how I know I will see him again. When I was in the middle of it, one of the guys told me that he wanted me to listen to a song. The song is called So Long Goodbye, by Ten Years. It’s kind of hard to explain what the song says, so you guys should listen to it. It’s a really good song, and I couldn't help but start to cry as I listened to it. I don’t know why, but I’m a big baby just like dad. LOL But it was really amazing to me that he showed that song to me while I was writing about Craig. I know some people would say that’s a coincidence, but I know that it wasn't. It just goes to show you that God loves us and wants to help us in anyway he can. I know with all my heart that I will see Craig again, and I can’t wait. Anyway, I just wanted to share those two experiences with you. Over this last week my testimony has grown so much, especially after conference WOW! Elder Holland’s talk was sooooo good.
Ryan,
hey Ryan thanks for the dear elder, its always good to hear from my main man! Just wanted to say thanks, tombien, I want to say thanks for the car, I like that a lot. I’ll take it everywhere. Did you like the ring I gave you? Well, I love you, and I’ll talk to you later.
Melissa,
Hola Melissa! Thanks for the letter, that was pretty awesome and I loved it. ok you asked if I was the tallest? I am definitely not the tallest. There are some giants here. LOL but I’m still the best at basketball. JK No, there are way good basketball players here. Everyone is way jealous, sobre, of the Winnie the Pooh sheets. They all lay on my bed; it’s kind of annoying sometimes. LOL Oh, I miss my own room, you’re lucky! My favorite things about the MTC are the friends that I have made and my teachers. Everyone is way cool here. Food is ok I’m getting way tired of it though. I can’t wait for Ecuador, I’ll just tell you that. But I just want you to know that I love you and miss you. write me again, if you want.
Julia,
What up Julia! How are you? How is school going? How many boyfriends do you have? JK. Tell me what’s going on in your life. Anywho, I love you and I’ll talk to you later, and I miss you.
Janae,
Janae how are you doing? What’s been going on in your life? How is Justin doing? LOL JK- hey do you think you could give me his address? I don’t believe I have it. Anyway Janae I just wanted to say hi and see how you’re doing. I love you and miss you!
Family I gotta go now, I think I have been talking too much, sorry. Oh, mom don’t worry about writing me on dear elder thinking I’ll get it tomorrow because we don’t get dear elders on Sat, so today’s are my last ones in the MTC. Crazy! Anyway I love you all and miss you way a lot! I’ll write you in Ecuador! Love you!
Hey family!
TWO MORE DAYS! ok I’m gonna be honest about this, I’m getting way scared! Did I tell you that I don’t know any Spanish? LOL. Just jokin, but that’s kind of what it feel like, though. Anyway, I got the cinnamon rolls that you made for me mom, and everyone liked them. There were just the right amount for everyone, even both my teachers got one, so thank you so much, and to everyone who helped you make them. Mom I wasn't able to copy the flight plans, so I’m going to try to give you the information and don’t worry I have time this time. So it’s American Airlines, the first flight to from Salt Lake is flight 1456, the second is 1246 and the third is 933. I leave Salt Lake at 8:30 and get to ok Dallas at 12:10. Then I leave Dallas at 2:10-6:00. Then I leave Miami at 6:50 and get to Ecuador at 10. I hope that was helpful to you. Can you believe it only 2 days away? That’s crazy. Anyway mom I also got my money out today, so thank you so much for doing that for me. I always say mom because I know you’re the one who takes care of that stuff. LOL Thank you so much mom and dad for everything you do, I just want to say that I love you guys so much, and I am so grateful for everything that you have taught me. It’s crazy, I never knew how lucky I was until I was gone. I have the best family and the best parents in the world! Thanks so much for teaching me how to be a hard worker. Dad’s probably laughing, but really thanks! I do appreciate you guys so much, and I love you all. Oh, and I want to say thank you to all my friends too, because I owe a lot to you all! You all are amazing! Mom I got your survey that you want me to fill out on the plane, but I don’t know if I’m going to have time. I already decided that I was going to convert everyone I sit by. LOL, or try. No I’ll fill it out, and send it home, I promise. Ok, so I have a pretty cool story to tell you. So the other night I was trying to go to bed because it was way late. One of my roommates, Elder Hicks was snoring so loud it was crazy. I could not go to bed, so I picked up something off the ground and chucked it at him. It didn't even phase him. I mean he sounded like my pig when we were trying to put him in the dog kennel. It was so annoying! Anyway this whole time I was trying to say my nightly prayer. Finally, I decided to ask the Lord. LOL I know- funny, right? Well I remember just asking if he could help me get a good night’s rest. Now, just 2 seconds after I asked, he just completely stopped snoring. It was amazing! Most people would call that a coincidence, but I know it wasn't. It’s so cool to me how the Lord is willing to help me in even the small things. Ok- one more story. This was really the coolest thing that happened to me. A few days ago, I was writing my testimony in Spanish. I was writing about Craig and the whole experience that happened before coming on my mission, and how I know I will see him again. When I was in the middle of it, one of the guys told me that he wanted me to listen to a song. The song is called So Long Goodbye, by Ten Years. It’s kind of hard to explain what the song says, so you guys should listen to it. It’s a really good song, and I couldn't help but start to cry as I listened to it. I don’t know why, but I’m a big baby just like dad. LOL But it was really amazing to me that he showed that song to me while I was writing about Craig. I know some people would say that’s a coincidence, but I know that it wasn't. It just goes to show you that God loves us and wants to help us in anyway he can. I know with all my heart that I will see Craig again, and I can’t wait. Anyway, I just wanted to share those two experiences with you. Over this last week my testimony has grown so much, especially after conference WOW! Elder Holland’s talk was sooooo good.
Ryan,
hey Ryan thanks for the dear elder, its always good to hear from my main man! Just wanted to say thanks, tombien, I want to say thanks for the car, I like that a lot. I’ll take it everywhere. Did you like the ring I gave you? Well, I love you, and I’ll talk to you later.
Melissa,
Hola Melissa! Thanks for the letter, that was pretty awesome and I loved it. ok you asked if I was the tallest? I am definitely not the tallest. There are some giants here. LOL but I’m still the best at basketball. JK No, there are way good basketball players here. Everyone is way jealous, sobre, of the Winnie the Pooh sheets. They all lay on my bed; it’s kind of annoying sometimes. LOL Oh, I miss my own room, you’re lucky! My favorite things about the MTC are the friends that I have made and my teachers. Everyone is way cool here. Food is ok I’m getting way tired of it though. I can’t wait for Ecuador, I’ll just tell you that. But I just want you to know that I love you and miss you. write me again, if you want.
Julia,
What up Julia! How are you? How is school going? How many boyfriends do you have? JK. Tell me what’s going on in your life. Anywho, I love you and I’ll talk to you later, and I miss you.
Janae,
Janae how are you doing? What’s been going on in your life? How is Justin doing? LOL JK- hey do you think you could give me his address? I don’t believe I have it. Anyway Janae I just wanted to say hi and see how you’re doing. I love you and miss you!
Family I gotta go now, I think I have been talking too much, sorry. Oh, mom don’t worry about writing me on dear elder thinking I’ll get it tomorrow because we don’t get dear elders on Sat, so today’s are my last ones in the MTC. Crazy! Anyway I love you all and miss you way a lot! I’ll write you in Ecuador! Love you!
Letter Home- October 2, 2009
October 2, 2009
Hola mi Familia,
Hola, como estus! That’s about all the Spanish I know. LOL Ok, I just got done sending an email to you, but I only have 30 minutes, and the way I type, it’s never enough. I also wanted to send these Hacemos lo justo rings, which means Choose the Right in Spanish. I thought that Ryan, Melissa, Julia, and Janae would like them. Dad and Mom if you want one, I can get for you guys, too. LOL Sorry they are kind of cheesy! I can’t wait to talk to you all in about 1 week. I have a lot to tell you about. I can never write enough to you. I am writing in my journal a lot though, don’t worry mom. It’s turning into a book. So I heard about Ecuador from a teacher and from some people who lived in Ecuador. I guess the food is amazing, especially the fruit! They said I’m going to get fat. I don’t know if I want to get fat, but I wouldn’t mind getting bigger. I also heard that for the rainy part of the year, we will wear those big rubber boots. He was telling us all about it, and it sounds so crazy. People live in those houses that are like chicken huts. Also, they build them like five feet off the ground because of all the flooding. Anyway, I’m excited! I am sorry if sometimes I don’t answer all the questions you have, it’s just really hard to remember all of them. Mom and Dad, I just want to thank you for being the best parents ever! You guys are amazing! I don’t know if I say it enough, but I love you. Everyone else, I love you all very much. I even love you Julia! I know, that’s crazy! LOL Ok, so I was at a devotional on Tuesday, and the speaker gave an awesome talk. I remember him saying,
“Here is what we are teaching, A. Joseph Smith saw God the Father and his Son, and the gospel has been restored, or B. Joseph Smith was a fraud and our entire church is a lie. If it’s A, then we have the most important message in the world. We have something that could change or save many people’s lives. It it’s A, then the true gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored. I know that it’s A with all my heart, and I want you to know that. I wish that every single person in the world would listen to your message. I know that if they did and they prayed about it, they could all know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and he did see both God the Father and his Son.”
I might not have known that before I came here, or I might have, but I know now. It seems like every day that I have struggled with something in the MTC, God has always put someone or something in my life to help me. He has answered so many of my prayers since I’ve been in the MTC. I owe everything that I have to Him. I love this gospel, and I can’t wait to share it with the people in Ecuador. I KNOW the church is true. I probably sound too much like a missionary! LOL It was a good talk, and I just wanted to share it with you all. If you have any questions about my flight plans, dear elder me. I’m starting to get nervous; I’m not going to lie. Anyway, I’ve got to go. I love you all very much! Can’t wait to talk to you all. Asta luego!
Love,
Elder Keables
Hola mi Familia,
Hola, como estus! That’s about all the Spanish I know. LOL Ok, I just got done sending an email to you, but I only have 30 minutes, and the way I type, it’s never enough. I also wanted to send these Hacemos lo justo rings, which means Choose the Right in Spanish. I thought that Ryan, Melissa, Julia, and Janae would like them. Dad and Mom if you want one, I can get for you guys, too. LOL Sorry they are kind of cheesy! I can’t wait to talk to you all in about 1 week. I have a lot to tell you about. I can never write enough to you. I am writing in my journal a lot though, don’t worry mom. It’s turning into a book. So I heard about Ecuador from a teacher and from some people who lived in Ecuador. I guess the food is amazing, especially the fruit! They said I’m going to get fat. I don’t know if I want to get fat, but I wouldn’t mind getting bigger. I also heard that for the rainy part of the year, we will wear those big rubber boots. He was telling us all about it, and it sounds so crazy. People live in those houses that are like chicken huts. Also, they build them like five feet off the ground because of all the flooding. Anyway, I’m excited! I am sorry if sometimes I don’t answer all the questions you have, it’s just really hard to remember all of them. Mom and Dad, I just want to thank you for being the best parents ever! You guys are amazing! I don’t know if I say it enough, but I love you. Everyone else, I love you all very much. I even love you Julia! I know, that’s crazy! LOL Ok, so I was at a devotional on Tuesday, and the speaker gave an awesome talk. I remember him saying,
“Here is what we are teaching, A. Joseph Smith saw God the Father and his Son, and the gospel has been restored, or B. Joseph Smith was a fraud and our entire church is a lie. If it’s A, then we have the most important message in the world. We have something that could change or save many people’s lives. It it’s A, then the true gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored. I know that it’s A with all my heart, and I want you to know that. I wish that every single person in the world would listen to your message. I know that if they did and they prayed about it, they could all know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and he did see both God the Father and his Son.”
I might not have known that before I came here, or I might have, but I know now. It seems like every day that I have struggled with something in the MTC, God has always put someone or something in my life to help me. He has answered so many of my prayers since I’ve been in the MTC. I owe everything that I have to Him. I love this gospel, and I can’t wait to share it with the people in Ecuador. I KNOW the church is true. I probably sound too much like a missionary! LOL It was a good talk, and I just wanted to share it with you all. If you have any questions about my flight plans, dear elder me. I’m starting to get nervous; I’m not going to lie. Anyway, I’ve got to go. I love you all very much! Can’t wait to talk to you all. Asta luego!
Love,
Elder Keables
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
October 2, 2009
Hey Fam!
Hey everyone! How are you all? So guess what? I got my flight plans today! Yup! I got them in the mail about 2 hours ago. ok so on the 12th, I leave from Salt Lake at 8:30, and get to Fort Worth, Texas at 12:10. Then, we have a layover for 2 hours, and then I leave Texas at 2:10 and get to MIAMI, FLORIDA baby! at 6:00. At 6:50 we leave there and get to Ecuador at 10:00. Those are the plans and I am stoked! It’s going to be way cool, and it’s only about 1 week away! Anyway, just thought you would all like to hear about that. Next week is your last dear elder. Mom, I have got all your dear elders, so don’t worry, if it’s too long the rest comes on another paper. lol So no worries. I did get the letter from you that had tanners letter. The language is going well, it’s a lot of work though. We are teaching the second lesson now and it’s going pretty good. I’m still going to be so lost in Ecuador, though. It’s amazing how cool and helpful the teachers are here, too. They are honestly the nicest people in the world. We have the coolest teacher his name is Hermono Bradley, and he is a straight up g. lol ok, so I’m guessing that you put these emails on my blog page, so I wanted to say hi to everyone. So for all those people are reading this, I just want to say thanks for everything. Machete guys- how are all you? How is machete doing? I miss you all. N...H..... lol Also, I just want to say hi to everyone else and let you know that I’m doing great. Hey mom I was wondering how much money I can take out because they want us to have 100 dollars for flying, I think. But I’ll wait for you to tell me before I take any money out. I’m kinda broke at this point because I spent it all on supplies. I probably don’t need 100, maybe less. Ok, so one of the teachers here was telling us about Ecuador, and it sounds pretty crazy. I’ll have to write another letter and send it in the mail about that. Tell dad thanks so much for the sports updates. I am so glad Brad is doing so well. I have been praying everyday for the Lohse family. I gotta go now, so I just want you to all know that I love you so much. You’re all the best. Mom and Dad, you the best parents in the world!
Hey everyone! How are you all? So guess what? I got my flight plans today! Yup! I got them in the mail about 2 hours ago. ok so on the 12th, I leave from Salt Lake at 8:30, and get to Fort Worth, Texas at 12:10. Then, we have a layover for 2 hours, and then I leave Texas at 2:10 and get to MIAMI, FLORIDA baby! at 6:00. At 6:50 we leave there and get to Ecuador at 10:00. Those are the plans and I am stoked! It’s going to be way cool, and it’s only about 1 week away! Anyway, just thought you would all like to hear about that. Next week is your last dear elder. Mom, I have got all your dear elders, so don’t worry, if it’s too long the rest comes on another paper. lol So no worries. I did get the letter from you that had tanners letter. The language is going well, it’s a lot of work though. We are teaching the second lesson now and it’s going pretty good. I’m still going to be so lost in Ecuador, though. It’s amazing how cool and helpful the teachers are here, too. They are honestly the nicest people in the world. We have the coolest teacher his name is Hermono Bradley, and he is a straight up g. lol ok, so I’m guessing that you put these emails on my blog page, so I wanted to say hi to everyone. So for all those people are reading this, I just want to say thanks for everything. Machete guys- how are all you? How is machete doing? I miss you all. N...H..... lol Also, I just want to say hi to everyone else and let you know that I’m doing great. Hey mom I was wondering how much money I can take out because they want us to have 100 dollars for flying, I think. But I’ll wait for you to tell me before I take any money out. I’m kinda broke at this point because I spent it all on supplies. I probably don’t need 100, maybe less. Ok, so one of the teachers here was telling us about Ecuador, and it sounds pretty crazy. I’ll have to write another letter and send it in the mail about that. Tell dad thanks so much for the sports updates. I am so glad Brad is doing so well. I have been praying everyday for the Lohse family. I gotta go now, so I just want you to all know that I love you so much. You’re all the best. Mom and Dad, you the best parents in the world!
Friday, September 25, 2009
September 25, 2009
September 25, 2009
Hola family!
Hey everyone? How are you? Mom, did Ryan get his letter that I sent him? Did you guys get last weeks email? I’ll probably get a letter from you later today. I got the shoes today they are pretty sick! Thank you so much. I’ll probably have to buy a brown belt in Ecuador to go with them. Anywho, I’m doing good, only 2 and half more weeks until I leave. I can’t wait! I have heard more about Ecuador and most people I have talked to said that I will definitely get jumped at least one time on the mish. lol I cant wait to write home about something crazy like that. It’s going to be hahit! We have been teaching in Spanish for 1 week now, and it’s still so hard! I am learning so much more though. It seems that everything we have learned since being here is all coming together. It’s kind of nice! We will be starting on teaching the second lesson next week, so we will see how that goes. There are so many elders here that are so cool and I’m still having a good time. We went to the temple again today and I did sealings. It was amazing. I learned so much. The guy was so nice that was doing the sealing. Hey do you know if Whitney got my email that I sent her? How is everyone doing back at home? How is Tyler? I haven't heard from him? Well I gotta go now. I love you all, and I miss you! I look forward to hearing from you. Only two weeks and I get to call!
Love,
Elder Keables
Hola family!
Hey everyone? How are you? Mom, did Ryan get his letter that I sent him? Did you guys get last weeks email? I’ll probably get a letter from you later today. I got the shoes today they are pretty sick! Thank you so much. I’ll probably have to buy a brown belt in Ecuador to go with them. Anywho, I’m doing good, only 2 and half more weeks until I leave. I can’t wait! I have heard more about Ecuador and most people I have talked to said that I will definitely get jumped at least one time on the mish. lol I cant wait to write home about something crazy like that. It’s going to be hahit! We have been teaching in Spanish for 1 week now, and it’s still so hard! I am learning so much more though. It seems that everything we have learned since being here is all coming together. It’s kind of nice! We will be starting on teaching the second lesson next week, so we will see how that goes. There are so many elders here that are so cool and I’m still having a good time. We went to the temple again today and I did sealings. It was amazing. I learned so much. The guy was so nice that was doing the sealing. Hey do you know if Whitney got my email that I sent her? How is everyone doing back at home? How is Tyler? I haven't heard from him? Well I gotta go now. I love you all, and I miss you! I look forward to hearing from you. Only two weeks and I get to call!
Love,
Elder Keables
Friday, September 18, 2009
September 18, 2009
September 18, 2009
Hey fam!
Hey everyone! Ok am looking forward to that dear elder. The only friends who have dear eldered me are Cody and Taylor. I did receive a letter from big worm, though, which was pretty cool. So how are things back at home? You probably told me that in you dear elder, but just wondering. Ok, so where to start? I made a list so I can remember all the things I want to tell you. First off, we had a devotional the other day and Jeffrey R Holland and his wife gave talks. They were amazing! You could really feel the Spirit so strongly. Elder Holland talked about the importance of mission. It really got me motivated, but it was a great devotional. So I think I told you about this in my last letter, how we can call people and answer any questions that they might have. We normally offer them BOM or a Bible. Sometimes they call for those videos, like Finding Faith in Christ. Well I have had a few cool experiences on that. This one lady called the wrong number, and I talked to her for a while and was able to send her a both a BOM and a Bible, so that was pretty cool. I also talked to this one guy who wanted me to send him a Book of Mormon, and I talked to him for like a half an hour. Eventually I sent the missionaries to his house and gave him the address to the closest church. Anyways, Spanish is going pretty well. We have to teach all our lessons in Spanish now. I also have tried going all day speaking Spanish, but I only made it to lunch, but I’m working on it. I heard some cool stories about Ecuador. One of the kids in my zone’s brother went to the same mission as me. He said there are a lot of gangs in Ecuador and they all love the missionaries. One time one of the missionaries got his ring stolen and he told this guy who was the leader of a gang. A few weeks later he got a package in the mail with the ring and the finger! Lol! pretty cool! They also heard gun shots a lot. So I saw Ben Cryer the other day. I tried talking to him, but he had to go. I’ll let you know how he is next time I see him. I gotta say, I miss everyone very much. My district is really cool, though. One of my roommates is really a nice guy. We already have plans for after the mish. He is going to Ecuador, too. But everything is going pretty good. So how is Lili doing? I haven't received anything from her for 2 weeks. Have you guys talked to her? I think she is really busy getting ready for school. Well I gotta go. Tell everyone I said hi, and I’m doing great. If you see any of my friends from school tell them I said hi. Tell Julia and Ryan thanks for writing me. I love you all and look forward to hearing from you soon. Thanks for everything!
~Elder Keables
Hey fam!
Hey everyone! Ok am looking forward to that dear elder. The only friends who have dear eldered me are Cody and Taylor. I did receive a letter from big worm, though, which was pretty cool. So how are things back at home? You probably told me that in you dear elder, but just wondering. Ok, so where to start? I made a list so I can remember all the things I want to tell you. First off, we had a devotional the other day and Jeffrey R Holland and his wife gave talks. They were amazing! You could really feel the Spirit so strongly. Elder Holland talked about the importance of mission. It really got me motivated, but it was a great devotional. So I think I told you about this in my last letter, how we can call people and answer any questions that they might have. We normally offer them BOM or a Bible. Sometimes they call for those videos, like Finding Faith in Christ. Well I have had a few cool experiences on that. This one lady called the wrong number, and I talked to her for a while and was able to send her a both a BOM and a Bible, so that was pretty cool. I also talked to this one guy who wanted me to send him a Book of Mormon, and I talked to him for like a half an hour. Eventually I sent the missionaries to his house and gave him the address to the closest church. Anyways, Spanish is going pretty well. We have to teach all our lessons in Spanish now. I also have tried going all day speaking Spanish, but I only made it to lunch, but I’m working on it. I heard some cool stories about Ecuador. One of the kids in my zone’s brother went to the same mission as me. He said there are a lot of gangs in Ecuador and they all love the missionaries. One time one of the missionaries got his ring stolen and he told this guy who was the leader of a gang. A few weeks later he got a package in the mail with the ring and the finger! Lol! pretty cool! They also heard gun shots a lot. So I saw Ben Cryer the other day. I tried talking to him, but he had to go. I’ll let you know how he is next time I see him. I gotta say, I miss everyone very much. My district is really cool, though. One of my roommates is really a nice guy. We already have plans for after the mish. He is going to Ecuador, too. But everything is going pretty good. So how is Lili doing? I haven't received anything from her for 2 weeks. Have you guys talked to her? I think she is really busy getting ready for school. Well I gotta go. Tell everyone I said hi, and I’m doing great. If you see any of my friends from school tell them I said hi. Tell Julia and Ryan thanks for writing me. I love you all and look forward to hearing from you soon. Thanks for everything!
~Elder Keables
Monday, September 14, 2009
A letter, plus two pictures from Spenc today...
September 12, 2009
Hola mi familia!
Hey everyone! So guess what? I have been on my mish for one month already. Can you believe that? So you guys all went camping or you stayed at the cabin? Those pix were pretty amazing. The water looks so good to swim in! We definitely need to do that when I get back. I was looking at the photo album and thinking of all the things I want to do when I get back. And I am already coming up with a big list! Anyway, so guess what? I talked to John Beasley’s hermana. She is speaking Spanish, also. I talked to some guy who is from Paradise. He was in my group for the temple dedication, so that was pretty cool. Mom, remember when you were telling me about those three brothers that are all going to Chile? Well, I have seen all of them and one is even in my zone, which is pretty cool. I talked to him for a little bit and he is a really nice guy. Hey, Dad you know how I don’t like making phone calls very much? Well, here at the MTC there is a place called the RC where we answer phone calls all day and answer any questions that people might have. And to tell you the truth, I love doing that! There are a few people who are in bad moods, but for the most part they are all pretty cool. It’s the best feeling to be able to help people out and answer any questions or concerns they might have. I think it’s probably my favorite thing to do here. It’s the closest real experience that you can have while in the MTC to missionary work. I have to admit though; I am getting pretty tired of this place. I wish I just knew Spanish and could leave for Ecuador tomorrow. But I don’t, so I guess I’ll just have to wait. I really can’t wait, though. I have heard so may cool experiences and stories that some of our teachers have had, and they get me so pumped. We were at a fireside last Sunday when one of the speakers shared a really cool experience. The speaker was an older guy talking about his mission. He was talking about an older guy that he was able to help his family be sealed in the temple. Four generations later the speaker was still in touch with the family. Actually, the great- great-grandson was sitting in the very front row. He was a missionary, just like the rest of us. It was really cool to see the bond that develops between missionaries and the families. They have such an amazing gratitude and love for each other, and the friendships last forever. I really hope that I can be the same kind of missionary that my teachers and speakers were.
So mom, you should teach everyone to use dear elder because I love hearing from you all. I love getting letters! It’s what I look forward to every day. But thanks again for everything. I love you all. I miss you all very much. I hope everything is going great back at home.
Love you ALL,
Elder Keables
P.S. Dad, thanks for the sports updates. Keep them coming!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Today's Email Message, Short but Sweet!
September 11, 2009
Hey family!
I got your Dear Elder message today. Thank you very much! It’s nice to hear how everyone is doing. Tell dad I’ll try to send him some MTC Mountain Dews. lol So I already wrote a letter for home, so I’ll send it today. I’ll send you a few more pics. Hey, when you answer back to my emails could you just dear elder me because they only give me a half an hour to read and send the emails. So I don’t really know what to say to you all because I already wrote you a letter. Right after this I’m going to email Whit. Anyway can you believe it’s already been one month? That’s crazy to me! It feels so long, but it also feels so short. I have not heard anything about my travel plans. Normally you get those like two weeks before you leave. Yes I have been able to go to the temple. I have already done 4 sessions. I actually went today. We go every Fri, first thing in the morning. It’s really a beautiful temple, especially inside! I always look forward to p-days because we get to go the temple and write home! I don’t know if I told you this but we have some like big Tongan guys here, and they always come to our room. They are pretty much the biggest missionaries ever! They walk around with big things of peanut butter. They are always eating, and they are extremely nice people, too. They will give you anything they have. If you say you like their shoes or shirt, they take it off and give it to you. lol It’s pretty entertaining around here. Well, I need to go now, so I’ll talk to you later. Tell everyone that I love them and miss them.
Love,
Elder Keables
Hey family!
I got your Dear Elder message today. Thank you very much! It’s nice to hear how everyone is doing. Tell dad I’ll try to send him some MTC Mountain Dews. lol So I already wrote a letter for home, so I’ll send it today. I’ll send you a few more pics. Hey, when you answer back to my emails could you just dear elder me because they only give me a half an hour to read and send the emails. So I don’t really know what to say to you all because I already wrote you a letter. Right after this I’m going to email Whit. Anyway can you believe it’s already been one month? That’s crazy to me! It feels so long, but it also feels so short. I have not heard anything about my travel plans. Normally you get those like two weeks before you leave. Yes I have been able to go to the temple. I have already done 4 sessions. I actually went today. We go every Fri, first thing in the morning. It’s really a beautiful temple, especially inside! I always look forward to p-days because we get to go the temple and write home! I don’t know if I told you this but we have some like big Tongan guys here, and they always come to our room. They are pretty much the biggest missionaries ever! They walk around with big things of peanut butter. They are always eating, and they are extremely nice people, too. They will give you anything they have. If you say you like their shoes or shirt, they take it off and give it to you. lol It’s pretty entertaining around here. Well, I need to go now, so I’ll talk to you later. Tell everyone that I love them and miss them.
Love,
Elder Keables
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