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