Hey fam!!
Thanks mom for the letter this week. I got the pics this week of the camping trip and also the trip to Virginia. The pics definitely made me home sick lol but I got over that really quickly. lol it’s so weird to see pics of you all because really I can see the difference in all of you or almost all of you. Some of you guys really are starting to look older and is crazy. Taylor’s haircut was pretty sick, I have to say and Cody is starting to look like a missionary with the short hair. lol man even they look really different. lol but thanks so much for the letter. Also, thanks for the little note about Chris Benton. Really it still seems hard to believe for me that he has passed away because I’m not there. To me everyone is gone and I have to wait another year to see them, but it’s weird to think that he has passed away. I don’t know if you noticed, I am almost sure that you didn’t, but Chris passed away on the 3rd of August and that’s the same day that Craig passed away one year earlier. I don’t know why, but I find that so crazy. I think it will hit me more when I get back home and realize that they are no longer in the group of friends that I will see. It’s true what you said. It sometimes takes times like this to realize how important the Gospel really is in our lives. It gives us a sense of calmness and a sense of peace in times of struggle. It gives us hope for better times and a better life.
Hey mom you don’t have to worry about the letters. I did get like 3 or 4 letters in the mail last week, so I’m good for the next month. lol ok so mom I am sending a picture that I took this week and I want to see if you could send it to lili. lol it was so funny like 3 months ago me and Elder Perez were walking down the streets in our sector and Elder Perez told me to look and read what it said on the wall. It said, “lili te amo” or “lili i love you!” lol when I saw it I was determined to take a pic of it before leaving this sector. Like three days ago we were going to lunch to a member’s house who lives by the wall with the writing. So I brought my camera, even though it’s super dangerous in that part of the sector. When we got there we had to take the pic super smoothly so that no one would see. My comp hid the camera behind his tie and I went to the wall bent over and tied my shoe when I got up I threw up a pose and we took the pic. After that, we took off before anyone would realize we had a camera. I didn’t die or get robbed so it was a success.- lol it all went good except for the fact that I didn’t see the other writing on the wall until after we had to the pic and gone home (We photo-shopped it out :-). lol its kind of inappropriate but it’s still a sick pic. lol that one of the things that I did in this week. Hey mom I am going to send this right now and try to write another letter after I write the president. But if there is no time I want you all to know that I love you all and miss you all. I know I say it every week but it’s just so dang true. Love you all!!
I’m back!! lol ok so I just wanted to write a little bit more while I had some time. ok so I just watched the video again of Cody opening up his mission call because I still find it hard to believe. lol it’s so crazy that he is coming here. I was thinking about that this week and how crazy it really is. Hey so if Cody wants to start getting use to the climate here I have a really good idea. What he can do is every day go to In Motion Fitness and sit in the steam room or sauna I think is called. lol if he does that maybe by the time he gets here he wont die of the heat. lol actually it’s crazy because almost one year ago from now I got here in Ecuador and I feel like it’s not nearly as hot as it was when I got here. I think I am finally getting used to the heat here. lol I think I am getting use to a lot of things here. Really I can’t explain how ghetto it really is. Sometimes it is so sad. The other day we were leaving the mall after having bought our food for the week. As we were leaving, there were so many people, really soooo many poeple. We took a taxi that brought us to the house. At one very busy intersection I saw a kid about 9 or 10 years old sitting with his back against a pillar. He had something in his hands that I think he was selling. But he was sitting there with his hands buried in his chest, with his head bent down. When he looked up I saw that there were tears rolling down his face. He looked like he was lost, but I am sure he was there because he had to sell what he had to make a living. As we sat there he wiped the tears from his face, but they just kept coming and he just kept wiping. I really felt so bad and I realized how blessed I really am. How blessed we all really are. It killed me inside to see him cry and I wanted to get out of the car and give him the bag of groceries that I had. It really is so sad the situation of some of the people here. That’s only one of a few that I have seen and I could tell you about a million more. Kids that have 7 years and are running up and down in the streets through the cars during school hours selling lottery tickets, kids sleeping in the streets or in corners. High schoolers who jump on the bus with a boom box on their shoulders and start rapping to a beat, just to make a dollar. One kid rapped about leaving his parents to live in the streets and others rap about a God above. Really it takes experiences like this or to live in a country like this to realize how lucky I am or we are. How lucky I am to have two loving parents who have taught me to be the best I can and to make the best decisions, a house to live in and food to eat, brothers and sisters to share with, and the Gospel which gives us so much hope. I have all the blessing I could ever ask for and sometimes I still manage to complain when something doesn’t go my way. This time in mission has taught me so much. How to appreciate what I have in this life and to not complain about what I don’t have or what happens in this life. I can’t imagine after seeing so many people with so many problems and so many challenges and imagine how Jesus Christ must have felt when he suffered for all of our sins and all of our pains. What a blessing it is to have an older brother who was willing to suffer so much for us so that we could find happiness in this life and for the eternities. He has made it possible that all of us can feel clean from our sins and our mistakes and feel a sense of peace and love in this life. It truly is a blessing for us who have the knowledge and have testimonies that we should help other find the same and know the same. It’s in our hands and no one else’s. That’s why missionary work is so important. It really is. Anyway I think I am talking way too much and that you all think I am crazy. lol The mission is a crazy thing. I love it very much. Well if think I should be finishing up because we are still going out and do some cool stuff. Today is p-day and we have to take advantage of it. Anyway I love you all and miss you all. Say hi to all my friends and everyone back in Chico. Love you all!!!
Con amor!!!! Elder Keables
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