Quick Take

NEW YEARS

I thought I would be in worse condition, in terms of homesickness, after calling you, but I didn´t really have any problems with it. I was just happy to be able to talk with all of you and hear
what´s going on in your lives because you basically know what is going on in mine. I am jealous of your computer I can´t wait to test it out. Computers here are nicer than I thought they would be but they aren´t iMacs.
Looking back on this week as a whole it has been the saddest week of my mission. I didn´t get to study at all, the missionaries I mentioned went home, our baptism fell through and won´t be happening any time soon, and I ate all of my Sour Patch Kids in one sitting, but I am still happy. I still have my goal in mind. My goal is that at the end of my mission I will be able to go to the temple, I will be able to ask our Father in Heaven if my sacrifice was worthy and accepted. When I think of this goal it is easy for me to stay happy, it is easy to remember who I am working for, and it is easy to make the right decisions.
This week we practically taught no one, and I was feeling bad because our numbers were really low. Then last night I had a lesson that changed all my thoughts on numbers-- for I hope the rest of my mission. Last night we taught a man that has suffered more in the 30 years of his life than I can ever suffer. He has seen and done things I could never imagine. He is tortured by his past everyday of his life. After the testimony of Elder Miranda, he asked if I could share something. Alma 22:18 came to my mind. I read it with him and bore testimony unlike any other time in my life. We cling to our sins, we hold tight to things we think are important when really they are all that is in the way of what is of true importance. I spoke of the redemption of our Savior with words I know were not mine. I promised a new life for this man, a life free from the memories of his past, promised blessings I know will happen through his faithfulness. I felt more love for that person at that moment than perhaps any other person at any other moment of my life. I knew at that moment I really was filled with the true love of Christ. I was there only to serve him.  I realized that big numbers only matter because they are made of 1´s. Each person is so valuable. Each time I have the opportunity to help another, it should lead to a memory of a time I felt the Spirit. After my mission no one will ever ask how many lessons I taught, no one will ever know what leadership positions I held, it won´t matter to anyone how eloquent my speech was. What will matter, and what I want to remember, are the people I helped, the testimony I gained, and the obedience I showed to the Lord.
I am not quite sure what else to talk about. This week on New Year´s we can´t leave our house. Supposedly they have these huge paper statues all over the city and around 12 they start burning them and everything that is flammable. I am so glad that you had a Merry Christmas. It isn´t really what matters but you should tell me what everyone got for Christmas. I hope that you will have a happy New Year´s.
If you can find the email or address of Dan that would be great. I actually have not handwritten a  card since I got here so I am going to try and fix that because there are some people that I need to write.
I hope that Sister Vomocil had a Merry Christmas too, I found out after, that it is allowed to call her on the mission but I won´t have another opportunity while she is on the mission.
Thank you so much for your prayers and all the support. I hope that I can be a missionary that you are proud to have known and I am working hard for all of you.

Love,
Élder Vomocil

CHRISTMAS TIME

Christmas Time 2




First off again about food. Yes I take a vitamin everyday and I only eat that much because I am full for the rest of the day. I will try and mix up my breakfast schedule to be more healthy but I don’t really think that I can eat more. Parasites are a big problem here so I will keep my eye out for any changes in my health. If you want to send shoe inserts that would be good. My feet don’t hurt yet but I am sure with two years of walking they will.

Thanks for sending me all the letters of people especially Grandpa, every time we talk about family I always think of him. I have never heard that story before. I never really thought about our financial situation when I was younger because when you are young it seems like you have a lot of everything. Not going to lie, I will miss caroling because, not to be mean but, no one here can carry a tune. About the call I guess I am just going to call whenever, my question was for when you wanted me to call but it doesn’t really matter. It is going to be really cheap; calls to the US are like 4 cents a minute.

In other news we are now in a trio. Our new Elder is Elder _____ . He loves to talk and is very converted to the gospel. Out of his whole family he is the only member and he has been a member for 4 years. He is brand new in the mission so Elder Miranda has been giving me plenty of opportunities to help train him. I am sure that nothing happens by chance and that with this opportunity means that I will probably be training soon. President Montoya (the First Counselor and acting president) loves, along with President Sloan, to put newer missionaries as trainers. This week has been amazing, more amazing than I could imagine. Each week I think I know what’s going on. I think I know basically how things work and then something happens that changes my mission and changes my life. In numerous blessings and other occasions we always hear that there are specific people waiting for you, or in this case me, in your mission that there are children of our Heavenly Father that need your testimony to open their heart to the gospel. I think I believed that before but after this week I know my testimony of the truth of that statement was nothing. About three weeks ago I went on splits with my old District Leader, Elder Periera, from Costa Rica. He showed me the house of an old investigator (this was his first area). About a week later when our appointment had failed we said a prayer that we could do what the Lord wanted with that time. The reference came to mind, we went to go visit and she flat out rejected hearing the missionaries again. So we were walking to visit a member when Elder Miranda stopped to talk with a family. After about 5 minutes of talking another woman showed up, the cousin of that family, Maria. She invited us to her house the next day so that we could help with some service. The next day, after helping, we found out that many family members had died recently so we taught a little about the Plan of Salvation and left the pamphlet. We didn’t really think much about the family until the next Sunday. They showed up for 30 minutes of Church. We visited Maria again and felt that we should teach the Restoration instead. We taught it with Elder Samayoa, our new Zone Leader, and it went really well. That week she attended our baptism and church. And I will finish this letter in about 30 minutes. We have to drop Elder Miranda off at the terminal he is going to Quito for a training of District Leaders.

Love Elder Vomocil

Christmas Time 2 Part 2


Well some sad news. After we dropped off Elder Miranda at the terminal Elder _____ said he had to talk with me. He told me that he needed to speak with the president about something. I won’t talk about it but more than likely he will be going home. Repentance is a hard thing but you always feel more love and joy after true repentance. The hardest thing is he is the only member in his family. He wanted so badly the blessings he knows a mission would bring for his family.

Picking up where I left off in my letter. After church she invited us to teach again. We felt it was time to share with her about the First Vision. After an explanation about the Great Apostasy I began to teach. I was explaining about Joseph Smith when she stopped me mid-sentence. Maria is a person of many dreams most she feels are just that dreams but some she says she knows are different. She told us that she had a dream, that Elder Miranda and I were teaching her, and that in the dream I said the exact words that I had just said, after she heard that in the dream she was jumping up and down for joy because she knew that she had found the truth. I was shocked. Many times I have felt that I need to be teaching more with the Spirit because I feel that my words are guided. What a testimony of what the Lord can do. But what she said next was even more surprising. She said that from the first time she met us she had felt that she had know us for 6 years. 6 years because, 6 years earlier she had had a dream, a dream in which I, specifically me, met her and became friends with her. She knows it was me because she doesn’t know any North Americans. There are people who are waiting specifically for the special testimony that each missionary has. That thought and this experience have changed everything. I can’t allow myself to become discouraged; I can’t allow myself to ever teach without the Spirit. I keep thinking of all the chain of events that had to happen for me to find and teach Maria. I know that Maria has found the truth.

This weekend we will be baptizing Evan. He is the father of the family in the picture I sent. He went through more trials than I could ever imagine, and he came close to falling but with the Lord all things can change.

This gospel is so real. I have had too many experiences to ever deny the reality of our Supreme Creator.

I can’t wait to talk with you on Christmas I will probably call around 11 Florida time for however long I can. I love you so much and hope you can feel the spirit of Christmas. I hope I will be more organized to write more next week but until then all my love.

Élder Vomocil

FIRST CAMBIO

December 14, 2009

I have survived my first cambio (change that happens every 6 weeks when the new missionaries arrive.) Every six weeks someone will change but not everyone, normally the mission president changes whomever he wants, whenever he wants. News on President Sloan, he is no longer President Sloan. He is going to be recovering in his house until February we think; right now his first counselor is running the mission.
For Christmas I might buy some new pants but in Riobamba we only wear suits on Sunday so I don’t think I really need one right now and if my pattern of weight loss continues in a couple months it wouldn’t fit anyway. For Christmas we spend it in our house. We can go out for one hour to eat with a member then we have to return to our house. It is the same with New Years but I get to call. I am supposed to determine an hour that is best for you, normally I think before 4 o’clock Florida time. There are a ton of Christmas trees here but they are all fake. Pine trees don’t exist here. There is also Papa Noel the Spanish version of Santa Claus, commercial activity isn’t as bad as the states but it is pretty big here too.
About food, we both receive our own money and buy our food separately for me it hasn’t been to weird. Remember the Nesquik cereal that was discontinued? Yeah, not here, and it makes the milk not taste so funny so that is all the food I buy. They give us $91 every 2 weeks for everything. After the second arrival of money I had $40 extra dollars so I sent it to the mission home like we are supposed to.

Elder Miranda was made leader of our district which basically means for me that I have 2 more meetings to go to and I now have splits with the zone leaders once a week.

This week of work has been amazing. First was our first baptism. Andy Manzano, a 17 year old was baptized, and it was the last Saturday before changes, which is a rare thing to have a baptism your first change. The service was incredible. I got to give a short speech on the decision that he was making and the change that would occur if he accepted the fullness of the gospel in his life. I never could have imagined my joy for someone else seeing him enter the waters of baptism.
This week both of our zone leaders changed. They both had a lot of time in the mission and President Sloan wants the most help he can get in Riobamba. He sent another pair of missionaries here. This is important because I went on divisiones with Elder Samayoa, the new Zone Leader. I learn so much with him. I felt for the first time in a lesson, in the parts where I taught, my mind was completely blank. I didn’t have to think about talking Spanish, I just talked and they understood and the Spirit helped me know what questions to ask and what points to emphasize.

I think these are of Allow (that is not how you spell it but that is how you pronounce it) and of Evan. His story is a sad one but at the same time one of hope. His family was found by the sister missionaries about a year ago. His wife accepted and was baptized about 7 months ago with one of their sons. Evan has a testimony, he feels the Spirit each time we teach with him and he has seen about 6 pairs of missionaries come and go but still he can’t accept to be baptized because of his problem with alcohol. It literally has control of his life. He has tried to stop, he has tried to join professional help groups, he has been taught methods to stop, he has been taught all the blessings that will come, and still alcohol has him. His family is depressed they feel there is nothing they can do to help him and he fights with his wife a lot. It is so sad to see something that brings no lasting peace, joy, or fulfillment utterly destroy the life of Evan. The hope we have for him is that he has been consistently reading and attending church. With time I hope that his will power, with the help of the gospel, can overcome this problem. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. This scripture makes me think of the life he can have, he just needs to change.

Ok well I hope that you figure out what I just did because I am confused. I think I put the scripture and description in the main letter so I will pick up the main letter from here.

Also this week we found Lourdes again. She was the lady that stopped us in the street and asked about what we represent. She was gone for three weeks but she is back and I don’t think I have ever seen a conversion to the Book of Mormon as strong as hers. She said that she was praying the day she found us, praying that a knowledge she knew she needed would come to her through some means. After praying about the Book of Mormon she said she knows that we are the answer to that prayer. All things in the Book of Mormon just seem to make sense to her. She said she had always felt that God would talk to all of his children including the ones here in the Americas. All we need to do is teach her about the Sabbath day and the opposition that will come and she will be ready to be a member.

The other awesome experience was with a reference family. Santiago and Diane had their 7-month-old son Aaron die about three weeks ago. I am not sure if I mentioned it but I gave two blessings of comfort, one in Spanish and one in English. After we gave the blessings they gave us a reference to a family that was very special to them. We found out they lived really close so we went and taught them. They were interested in what we taught and the help I could offer in English to their kids so the accepted to let us come back the next day. We left a Book of Mormon during the second visit and made plans to come back during the weekend. When we came back the feeling was a bit different. We weren’t sure what had happened. When the family had gathered, they told us they didn’t want us to come back to teach about religion. We could come over any day in regular clothes to do regular things but no religion. We asked what had happened. They said that they had read in the Book of Mormon. They said that they respected us but didn’t want to continue. After some more questions we found the real reason. They had read together, they had felt something powerful, something that told them to follow this book but they are afraid. The have a very comfortable life and don’t want to change. The mother asked us, "What is your purpose here, my house is sacred. All the other missionaries you can imagine have visited our door and we have never accepted them. But when we saw you we felt we needed to let you in. What are you doing in my house?" As a response to this question I poured out my heart to this family. I told them we are representatives of Christ. “We are here because we love you. We are here because if we truly believe that we have the truth, and without a doubt I know we do, we want the best for the rest of our family. We are here because we want to give you the opportunity to marry in the temple to become like God is.” The mother asked if she had to be a member to have these blessings. They gave us another chance, we have a meeting with them tomorrow our supposed last meeting about religion.

Ecuador is amazing. The people here are amazing. I know that I have been so blessed in learning the language. Many other missionaries have told me that I talk as if I have been here for more than a year. The Spirit that I have felt and the opportunity I have had everyday to study ways to better myself and help others has already been life changing.

A few requests before I have to go. If you can send some candy that would be awesome, Reese´s specifically. A letter takes about 4 days from when you send it for the missionaries to get it and then I normally get it the next Thursday. The letter you sent on the 3rd I got on the 12th.
Thank President Smith, Sister Jurgatis, Erin and Nathan for their letters.

I love you all and hope that you have a Merry Christmas.

Until next week.

Élder Vomocil.

P.S. I knew there had to be a way to change that jutter, can’t wait to see how it looks.

I figure that eventually I will have to stop numbering the weeks so it might as well be this week

Time here is very similar to the MTC but faster. I wake up very early, too early, then study for while, have some amazing experiences, eat my one meal, more experiences, blink, then do it over again. Time seems to just blend and to go and seems to be going faster than I would like at the moment. I don’t want to miss any experience.

About fruit-- we had a lesson with a family we contacted in the street, and they gave each us of this huge bowl of fruit salad. It had papaya, kiwi, cantaloupe, and banana. Dang was that amazing! Kiwis here are so good. I had never really eaten papaya before. It is delicious and the cantaloupe was probably the best I have ever had. Still the banana was normal but I will keep searching. Most of the bananas here are from the coast so they come here green and not ripened from the tree.

You can send music if you want. I am not sure that I will really get into the Christmas spirit the same as it was at home. Right now it is 70 degrees, it will be 70 degrees probably for every single day for the rest of my time in Riobamba. I don’t know, there is just something in my mind that says that there needs to be snow and cold for it to be Christmas.
About Alma 5, there is some awesome stuff in there, verse 17, can you imagine that situation before God with all of your guilt? This chapter tries to put the fear of God and the fear of sin into us. I also love the statement, “Come unto me blessed, for behold, your works have been works of righteousness”. It reminds me of the movie The Testaments, at the very end when the Savior has come and the blind father is overjoyed that his children get to see him but he has faith enough to not need to see him. Then the Savior walks over to him, He calls him by name, He heals him of all affliction then gives a look of absolute love, absolute understanding.

At times I think I have too much of an eternal perspective, at times this life seems too easy. God has given us these commandments, some might call sacrifices, I would call opportunities for blessings. He knows that if we follow them we will be happy. Things are easy to sacrifice when we look at what we really want. Things are easy to believe when we go to the source of all belief. At times this life seems to have a fault of reality like we are just waiting here doing things that we are supposed until we get to where we are really supposed to be. That is my goal, to have the Savior call me by name. “Mark, come unto me thy works have been works of righteousness.” Then He will give me a hug and I will know that understands me completely and loves me completely. I still don’t think that I have completely reached that goal of being spiritually born of God, of having His image in my countenance, having experienced that mighty change of heart, but I am working at it. I feel like Nephi, “I sorrow for the sins that do so easily beset me.”

About the devotional, we saw about 3 minutes of Elder Uchtdorf’s talk, then the song, and about 3 minutes of Elder Eyring’s talk, before the signal went out but it is online. If I have time I will go watch the prophet’s talk. We have lots of people that are progressing, people that have been seeing the missionaries for over a year are finally starting to really make changes, really come unto Christ.
I get to call you on Christmas I am not exactly sure how it works but I am pretty sure that you don’t have to send me anything for it to work.
I hope that Nate is doing better in the last DearElder I got it sounded more than serious.
Once again sorry for the shortness of the letter, these last two weeks we have had problems with timing. The pictures I sent I think are of me at the only McDonalds in Ecuador, me in Pungala, a small city outside of Riobamba, me with the bread I made, and me in the beautiful Ecuadorian countryside, I have a lot better pictures of the sites without people but you always said you want people in the pictures.
Until next week, all of my love.

Élder Vomocil

The Real Month Mark

So basically right after I sent last week’s letter I realized that I had only been here for 3 weeks but I have now completed a month in Ecuador.

I have learned a lot this week and it has been amazing. First some sad news Élder ______ from our district is leaving our zone. He has 20 months in the mission and was starting to get lazy so they put him with a new companion to try and motivate him.

Yesterday I learned two big lessons. The day started off really hard and I was angry without knowing why. I then realized I had been fasting for the last 24 hours but I learned that I need to have a positive disposition no matter what state I am in. It will make the work a lot more successful and a lot more enjoyable. I also learned yesterday that it is really easy to break rules and a lot harder to stand up against your entire district when they are all wanting you to break rules with them. It was nothing big, but every rule is important. Breaking one rule consciously sends the signal to Satan that there is space for failure that you will allow him into your life.

This week I had my first Zone Conference. It was a lot different, I am told, than the ones that will happen in the future because President Sloan is very sick and couldn’t attend. He has pneumonia, and liquid in his lungs, and an infection in his lungs, and they had to cut out 40% of one of his lungs. Friday-- which was supposed to be interviews, was a training meeting given by the assistants Elder Quires and Ducuara. After the meeting, which was about Sharpening our Axe, we went on divisiones with the assistants. I went with Elder Ducuara. What an example, he follows almost every suggestion and lesson out of Preach My Gospel and is a powerful missionary. I love the opportunity to teach with other missionaries in order to get a different teaching perspective and learn ways to better myself. On Saturday we had the doctrine class and more training, again given by the assistants and the zone leaders. We talked about lots of ways to better ourselves and they left us with a bunch of advice and commitments.

In the normal workings of the mission this week has been good. We having been teaching a family in which the husband has committed some serious stuff and we have been teaching him about the Atonement. He doesn’t believe that the sacrifice of Jesus can take away what he has been dealing with for his whole life. I have been studying this topic for most of the week trying to increase my testimony of the Atonement in order to try and help him understand and use the opportunity we have. I, for some reason, have always known that the Atonement was the reason we could repent, it provided the way to return to our Heavenly Father but I had never appreciated another reason for the suffering that Christ went through. He felt every pain we will every have. He knows perfectly all things that we will experience because He went through them. He knows perfectly how to support and succor us in every moment of our lives. We just need to being striving to follow Him and invite Him to heal us.

Another thing I have discovered that I love to do is find promised blessings in the scriptures. So many scriptures contain blessings that we will receive when we follow certain laws. I love finding new blessings that I am able to recognize and know I will receive if I follow that law. God is obligated to bless us when we obey.

I am having an amazing time here and time is moving pretty fast. I know that things will only get faster when I can speak without worrying. Sorry I didn’t have too much time today. My letter to the president gave me a lot of trouble. I am glad that Erin got to visit and that Thanksgiving was awesome. To tell the truth, I didn’t crave turkey on Thanksgiving but I did want a Bacon Cheeseburger.

Love
Élder Vomocil

The Month Mark

actually 3 weeks but they say time flies when you are having fun!

Well first off the bad news. We had this awesome district activity today with lots of amazing food made by Elder Montufar and the Hermanas.(Sister Missionaries) Then we played football and soccer. For me and Elder Olaveson (He and Elder Montufar are Zone Leaders) it was Thanksgiving. We don’t get to do anything special Thursday but it is district meeting so afterwards I am going to the only American restaurant in
Riobamba-- KFC!

But the sad news is I had to charge my camera, and we couldn’t go back to the house to grab it, so no pictures today.

Other news-- Time to play the how much weight has Élder Vomocil lost or gained since the beginning of his mission guessing game. I started off at the MTC at 214, after rice and walking most of the day, I am now at ...193. Yeah, I am pretty sure that I am going to get destroyed when I go to the coast. Elder Olaveson , who used to be about that same size when he came, said he bottomed out at 150.

Good news, I was not upset when you didn’t write me mom, you don’t have to be so sad about it. I love letters but also understand life is happening, so you can forget to write your son, but don’t forget to read your scriptures. :D

This week I have been noticing all the different culture aspects. For me there wasn’t too much of a culture shock. People here are very poor but at the same time it is a fairly developed country and they have a lot of the same things we do. The people that are very poor are the Indians, they wear these super bright colored clothes. The women always wear dresses and the men always wear dress pant things and then they always have their ponchos on. To top it off they have these funny hats that are too small to fit around their head so it just sit on the top. They have fresh everything here, since it is like spring all year round they have all the crops they grow in season most of the year. The worst aspect, besides hitting my head on every ceiling, is buses. Oh my, I never knew how dirty a bus could be! I had some divine help on most of our bus trips around the city in order to keep my food in. Besides that people here think that everyone in the US is gigantic when they are basically the same size here as there.
I just got the DearElder letters. I am not really sure how long ago they were written, but thank you for sending them.

This week, in respect to the real reason I am here, has been fantastic. We had an incredible experience with our golden family, Luis and Ana. After having a couple lessons Luis wanted us to go with him to talk to his cousin and the parents of his wife. We found the rest of his family but he didn’t show up. We had a good lesson with them and right when we were leaving Luis rounded the corner. He said he had work and then had looked for us but was glad he found us. We went to this kitchen type thing behind the store of his parents with his wife and their 9 month old baby. He had been afraid to pray. He felt like he had not studied enough to merit an answer from God, but we had left him again with the commitment to pray. In that that dirty kitchen I heard Luis bear his testimony of the Book of Mormon and this work. He said he hadn’t been able to sleep in days. He had been reading each day in the parts we left him, and the night before he felt he needed to ask. He knelt ,with his entire family, and first asked forgiveness that he could be worthy to communicate with our Heavenly Father then asked if it was true.
He experienced something unlike ever before, an instant feeling of peace, a burning sensation that he had never felt in his life let alone through a prayer. He knows how beautiful a statement he has found the truth. He couldn’t wait to learn more, he asked if we had tithing because he wanted to help the church. I know that Luis will be baptized. I know that his family will have the opportunity to live together forever in a place of happiness we can’t dream of.
Another awesome moment this week was with Margo. Margo is the director basically, of a group of 40 Catholics that don’t really like their church but want to worship somehow. Each week they gather together and sing and pray. We found their family and had taught two lessons to the rest of her family. About 8 people had the beginnings of a testimony but looked to her for reassurance. She told us that she couldn’t change, that too much of her life was based on her religion. The following day we had a lesson with just Margo, she told us the same thing, that she had too much fear of change to question her religion. I am not quite sure what I said and I think it was in Spanish but all I know was that I opened my mouth. I opened my mouth and bore testimony to her. A testimony that didn’t really have to be heard or comprehended to be understood. I am not sure if I have ever had an experience quite like that. She knew where we stood and she felt the truthfulness of what we said, the choice is now hers to decide to remain in darkness, or to make a choice that will not only change her forever but the whole congregation she directs.

I had to give a talk in sacrament meeting. Since we have four Elders in the same ward we each had about 5 minutes to give a message. I gave my talk on hope. In Jacob 2:19 we read that once we have hope in Christ we shall obtain riches, if we seek them, and we will seek them for the intent to do good. Then in D&C 38:39 we read we will obtain riches, we will be richer than any other nation because we have the riches of eternity. I know we have found the treasure of eternity and now is my time to share this boundless wealth.

I don’t have time to be homesick, I don’t have time to be disobedient, all I have time to do is sacrifice everything, then I will be free to do anything.

I hope that you are all doing great. It sounds like the family will have a fun Thanksgiving. I love you all so much, seeing families torn apart by whatever thing makes me love the home I had the privilege to be raised in.

Always read your scriptures, it is the commitment that we leave with most members and investigators and I leave it with you.

Until next week.
Élder Vomocil

Week 2 Ecuador

Week 2

Sad face I didn’t get any mail from my family this week.

Well I remembered that I forgot to tell you what we eat. First off every meal starts off with soup, normally pretty good stuff. Except, side note, the members are the ones that feed us so we have to eat everything. Once my soup was literally swimming with bugs. I couldn’t taste them, but it was hard to eat. That’s all I will say about that. After soup they give us the largest plate of rice you can imagine. With the rice is some kind of meat and potatoes. We get fed really well and I normally only eat once a day because lunch is huge. The only really strange food I have had here is tripa or some other name as well. Basically it is meat stuffed intestines. Everyone here calls it Indian Gum because you chew it forever. I took like one piece and that was enough for me. The fruit they have here is amazing. Bananas taste almost exactly the same sadly, but they have so many different types of fruit I have never even heard of. They are all really good. I haven’t tried cuy (guinea pig) yet but the population here is divided, half ,it is their favorite food, the other half hate it.

I am sending two pictures. One is with Elder Miranda in front of our ward .The other is the view at the Panecillo. The tall Elder is Elder Duacuara from Bolivia he is an Assistant.

They have so many parks here with huge fountains and crazy stuff going on all the time. It was a holiday week all last week and the parks always had stuff going on. I am so far the only white person I have seen in Riobamba and everyone notices. Everyone that thinks they know how to speak English always wants to talk with me. And more than a few times we have had girls following us giggling.

Well this was my first full week of work and it is very tiring, but I have already had some of the most memorable experiences of my life.
We have our first progressing investigators, which means we have had at least 2 lessons and they are keeping the commitments.
One is Lourdes, she stopped us on the street and wanted to talk. We gave her a Book of Mormon. We went back the next day and she said she prayed and knows it is true. What a life-changing book. We are promising people that they will find the answers to the questions of their heart and soul in the Book of Mormon and that promise comes true.

The other progressing investigator is Luis and his family. We found them as we were walking back from a park and they wanted to listen. They say that whenever we teach it is so clear and easy to understand. We told them that it is not what we are saying, but the Spirit that bears an unmistakable testimony to them. Luis said he has been looking for this. He knows that with the gospel in his life his children won’t have to fail like he failed. With this gospel we can hope with assurance for a better world.

Another classic missionary story, we were walking down the street when Elder Miranda turned and knocked on a door, this is incredible because we only knock on doors when we think it is the house of a member or an appointment. A lady answered and Elder Miranda asked her what trial she was having in her life. He told her we felt we should knock on this door. She told us that her sister had just been diagnosed with a disease that they did not know how to deal with and that they didn’t know how long she has left to live. We taught about the Book of Mormon. We taught about the Atonement of Christ. At the end she said the prayer. She thanked Heavenly Father for sending the missionaries at a time when she knew she needed us.

One day while walking to an appointment we contacted a man named Cristobal. He said we could come by the next day. When we got there only his sister and cousin were there. Jennifer, the sister, is the only child out of five that live in that house that reads the Bible. Her children have been getting into trouble and felt that something wasn’t complete with the her church. She said the closing prayer and expressed gratitude for sending two disciples of Christ that she knows will change her life.

I cannot imagine what it must be like on the other side of missionary work. You live your whole life thinking a certain way, but at the same time feel something is not complete. You are watching TV one day when two jovenes (youngens, everyone here calls us that) come to your door promising you answers and peace. You tell them your life story and in one meeting your whole way of thinking has changed, you know there is something out there. Some space you have been waiting to fill your whole life. This work we are doing shouldn’t work people shouldn’t change like this. It is because we have the fullness of the gospel, it is because there is nothing stronger than a Spirit-to-Spirit experience in this world. It is because this message is true and God is with us.

The best experience of the week; Hermana Perez is a powerhouse missionary and is most likely the best missionary in the field, male or female. She had a baptism this week of a family of 5. All the missionaries in Riobamba were invited to come. Normally for baptisms they have members baptize, to form a bond and friendship, but the ward in Primevera didn’t have enough worthy males, so the other missionaries chose me to do some of the baptisms. I didn’t bring clothes, so Elder Olaveson let me borrow his size 34 pants that didn’t cover my ankles, his shirt with a size 15 collar, and his size 8 sandals. (My shoe size: 15) Stepping in the coldest water imaginable, in the goofiest clothes, I didn’t feel nervous. I performed my first and second baptism ever in Spanish in Ecuador. What an experience to see Gabriela Fernanda Urquizo Urquizo and Monica Jaquelyn Urquizo Urquizo decide to follow the example of the Savior and be baptized in His church. I was able to help someone open the gate to the celestial kingdom a gift that is without comparison. It was incredible; there are not really words that can capture the power of the priesthood. Afterwards the family all bore their testimonies and thanked all the missionaries. I have been so blessed and I know that this mission is not about me. All blessings that I receive are a bonus to the real purpose, which is help the people of Ecuador realize their divine potential.

This is a work of love and I am loving it.

I will try and get some pictures of the baptism and my clothes. I didn’t get to bring my camera but there are lots of pictures. Next time if you want me to change anything im my letters just let me know. I basically just try and remember the great things that are happening.
Also whenever the first time you send something you should send pictures of the family and friends and such everyone here is always asking for pictures.
I love you all, I hope that my experiences can help you in whatever way you need.
Don’t forget to write next week, but if you do I still love you and will still keep telling the adventure of Ecuador.

Élder Vomocil

PICTURES!

I posted some pictures from the MTC on Facebook.

First Week in Ecuador

Nov 9, 2009

First off this keyboard is kind of strange so if I have some weird typos you know why.

Also before I forget, important things about mail. Supposedly it costs a fortune to send anything over 4 pounds. Don’t ever use expedited mail, like FedEx, the mail people here see that as important and take forever to mail it. Lastly, something about a green sticker. You always need it, people will say you don’t but you do.

Thank you so much for the birthday wishes, 20 feels so old. About the pictures, yeah I couldn’t think of a way to name all the people so I’ll just have to do that when I get back.

Well, when we got to Ecuador at 11 the Assistants and President Sloan and his wife were waiting there. First thing I thought was, “wow he is short”. Then I saw him in comparison to everyone around him and in comparison to me and I am just a giant down here.

We stayed the first night in one of the apartments of the missionaries in Quito, Elder Nole and Cumez. It was horrible ,20 people in the smallest space with a bucket to shower with. We found out later they take all the missionaries there in order to appreciate their apartments and ours is super nice. The only weird thing is in the shower there is only one knob and a heater. I had no idea how it worked so the first day I touched it, ouch. The second shower my head hit it, also, ouch. I just have to duck under it like most things here.

Our first day we spent with President Sloan, I had my first interview with him. I love him, I love the vision that he has instilled in us, and I know that he will be an amazing mentor. He also gave us Papa John’s which tastes nothing similar but it was good. That is also something I have found out here, they have a
lot of the "same" food here but it tastes so different because they leave out all the good stuff like sugar and fat.

After that we went to the Panecillo and read the dedicatory prayer for the country of Ecuador. It was an incredible experience. The panecillo is this plaza type thing with a huuuge statue of Mary and overlooks all of Quito, you can see the whole city, all the volcanoes around, and it is so beautiful. That night we went on splits with the zone leaders and the office elders. I went with Elder Herbas from Bolivia. It was an exciting experience, almost all the people here are very open about religion and all of them wanted us to come over and teach more.
The next day we had 6 hour training meeting that was in English then in Spanish. At the end we found out who our companion is and where we are serving! First off my companion’s name is Elder Miranda. He is from Gauyaquil and he is the tallest person I have met in Ecuador he is barely taller than me. He has been out in the field 3 months and is a great worker. During my interview with President Sloan he said he sensed some power in me that would help my companion. I was scared at first but we are doing awesome. I am currently serving in Riobamba, it is supposedly the coldest place in Ecuador so everyone calls it Friobamba, but I don’t think it has gone below 60 here. We opened a brand new sector of the city. The zone leaders told me that it is very strange that I got paired with someone so new and even stranger that we opened a new sector. I guess President Sloan has great confidence in us.

Oh yeah so my birthday, was that 6 hour meeting, a 4 hour bus ride and "Chinese" food for dinner, which was really just rice and other food from here with soy sauce in a cup on the side, but I was so excited to get to my area that it was an awesome day. With this being a new sector, we have nothing. We knew no members, had no investigators, no area book, and no food. So the first day of work, Thursday, we just got down to business. We contacted everyone, we were supposed to have weekly planning but couldn’t because we had no one to talk about. At the end of the day we had about 9 people with set times to teach and I felt pretty good.

Friday, a day to remember, that was the day missionary work got real. It finally sunk in that I am in Ecuador, that these are real people with real problems and I have to sacrifice everything and work as hard as I can to help them. The person that helped me see that was Fabiola. She was carrying some bags so we asked to help her. She said ok and then we went to her house to get to know her. Her brother had died 15 days ago, her father died last year, her mother was on her deathbed, and her son was rebelling against her. In a matter of 20 minutes I felt so much desperation from her and so much love for her. We shared the Plan of Salvation, never before I have seen information that I took so for granted change someone’s outlook so much. I don’t know if she will get baptized or not but I know that we brought her hope, we brought her something the world can never produce. I understand more and more how precious what I am doing really is. We have had more experiences like this.

We were lost so we went into a corner and said a prayer that we could find someone that the Lord wanted us to find. We looked around and went to go ask a lady for directions. Her name is Pilar, her husband drinks and she said for a long time she had been looking for something. She had been running out of faith in something more. We were going to an appointment; we found it was a fake address. We asked a man if the address existed. His name is Luis, he is recently married with a young girl. He said he felt he should talk with us. We went to the house of a lady we had contacted, she wasn’t there. Her brother answered the door. His name is Mario he has three kids and felt that he had problems in his marriage. Last night we had to ask where a cabina (phonebooth) was to call our District Leader to report our numbers, the lady asked us what book we were carrying. We told her about the Book of Mormon and she said she had seen it before, she went into the back and came back with a copy. Her brother who lives in the US had given it to her 4 years earlier, hoping she would read it. She said she never had but wanted to talk with us. I helped answer someone’s prayer who for 4 years had been asking our Heavenly Father to help his family accept the gospel. I don’t know what is going to happen with all these people, problems arise, Satan gets in the way of our happiness, but I know these are all miracles in their own way. A miracle is the natural outcome of the application of eternal principles. When you are obedient you obligate the Lord to help you. I love what I am doing, I love the people here. They are quiet, humble, patient, and very dedicated to what they think is right.

Time is short we had to look forever for a internet place, part of the city doesn’t get power or water during parts of the day because there is a shortage. My p day will always be Monday unless I serve on the coast then I think it is Saturday. Spanish is coming along great.

I love you all so much, I hope that you are all doing great.

Oh Brooke if you read this I met a sister from a ward that said you were her favorite and that she went out with you a lot. I will try and mail the letter she wrote for you but mail here is weird it is going to take me some time to figure everything out. All the missionaries here and President Sloan go crazy when I say my dad served here 40 years ago, my companion especially thanks you Boydo, because of pioneers like you his family found the gospel. Once again I love you all and I get mail once a week so I will write back it will just take a longer time.

Élder Vomocil

PACKAGES??

Address Update!

If you wanted to send a package to Elder Vomocil it should:

Not weigh more than 4.4 lbs.
Have a GREEN sticker--even if the postal worker tries to tell you to use a white one.
Be sent to

Elder Mark Vomocil
Mision Ecuador Quito
Casilla 17-03-078
640 Robles y Amazonas
Quito, Eucador

I Made It!

November 3, 2009

I got to Quito last night at 10. All the assistants were there with President Sloan to meet us. We went to the Panecillo today and saw the whole city.

I am so excited to serve and I love you all.

Elder Vomocil

LEAVING ON MONDAY

Oct 30
Mark Vomocil

Hello there. This week is going so fast just like the others here. Just to clear up everything about travel. I leave on November 2nd and have to get up at 3am to get to our flight that leaves at 6. Then I have a 2-hour layover from 9:30 to 11:30 in Dallas, then another 3-hour layover in Miami from 3 to 6, all local times. I arrive in Quito at 10 pm local time. They aren't going to charge me for any of my bags if they are all under the weight limit so that is great news.

I got all of my presents, the Cube Clock, the book, and the party in a box. Thank you so much. They are awesome. I hate to try and bad talk any form of thoughtfulness, but my birthday is on the 4th :D. It will be such a great birthday I am sure, spending it in Quito.

We got to talk to a native named, Hermano Shulca, he is from Ambato and told us about everything, the super nice apartments, the maid, the weather, the food, the people, everything. It got me so pumped and even more grateful for just how awesome of a place I got called to. Supposedly President Sloan is major rule crazy, because they called him to replace someone halfway through their time or something, because of all the missionaries that were getting sent home because of obedience issues.

This week has been one of the best overall. I have been making all the effort I can to make sure each day I can make accountability before myself and the Lord, that I didn't waste any of His time. It is such an amazing feeling to serve with no expectation of reward. When you put everything you have into a work that you know is not guaranteed to yield any immediate rewards the satisfaction comes from yourself and from the Lord. Knowing that He is pleased with me and knowing that He accepts my sacrifice of time and effort makes it all worth it.

Our Tuesday devotional was another blessing. We got amazingly close seats and then Elder L. Tom Perry showed up with his wife. The Spirit that an apostle brings is unlike any other. One of the most significant events of the night though was before he even started speaking. When I read under his name, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. At the moment the seriousness of that calling hit me. We believe in prophets and apostles. We have the same organization that existed in the church when Christ was on the earth. The speaking of the apostles now has the same weight as the recordings of the apostles in the scriptures. It was another testament to me that this work is true, this message is true. After devotional we had our testimony meeting like we do every week and it was our best yet. We got to have our Branch President, President Lloyd speak. He is one of the most humble men I have ever seen. And he just gets it, he knows this is the truth, he knows the preciousness of what we are bringing and he shares with us at every opportunity he gets.

With everyday I know more and more of how serious what we do really is. This is not fake. This is real. This is not some story we make up to make ourselves feel better. This is all real. The blessings that come are unimaginable. Pride is such a widespread thing it is hard to even fathom it. Not only is pride the source of our sin but it is the force that stops our repentance. On every turn the natural man pops up with our pride to make us do the wrong thing. So the ultimate counter attack is humility. A trait that is completely foreign to the natural man, humility is a gift of the spirit. Humility comes from knowing that our decisions, and our will, are always worse than God's. It is a hard way to live. Knowing that you must give up thinking you are right and constantly seek out the thoughts and decisions that God gives you. A scripture I found in Isaiah just put a metaphor to how pathetic pride really is. Isaiah 10:15, I don’t have my scriptures but it is like, Will the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? God is everything and does everything for us. And when we finally recognize and give thanks for all the things He does, He gives us even more things, we are always continually more indebted. The knowledge that He still loves us perfectly is so humbling.

Before my mission it was always, you will have 2 years to develop this skill or 2 years to do that. But a thought I had yesterday really shook me up; I don't have 2 years anymore. I have 22 months to do this work, this isn’t preparation anymore this is performance. And there is no excuse I have to not be prepared with the gospel.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who bringeth good tidings unto them, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings unto them of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion: Thy God reigneth! (Isaiah 52:7, 3 Nephi 20:40)
Yeah I know I quoted it wrong, you can fix it for me mom. But back to the point, we have published peace, and I am bringing it to a people among the mountains. A people that the Lord, through an apostle, has called me to because he knows they need me. I am helping fulfill all things that the Lord has said. The Lord has prepared me for this.

Once again thanks for the birthday wishes, I am going to turn 20. I feel so old. The teenage years, looking back, went pretty fast and pretty easy for me.

I love you so much.

Elder Vomocil

s' up?

 

LAST WEEK-MTC

Today in the mail we got our travel plans. Yup, I have one week left in the MTC, and I am excited to get out there doing the real work, but I feel like I still have so much more to learn. We leave at 3 a.m. and get there at 10 p.m.
Sounds like you had a fun time on your vacation mom, and it is OK that you talked about all the food. I found the Malt O Meal brand of Honey Bunches of Oats and that is how I have been surviving. Thanks for all the news that you give me. I love basically anything you want to tell me about. I literally have no outside contact so anything you say is news to me.

If I had to describe this week in a word it would be humility. Lesson after lesson that we have taught here has been a serving up of humility. Whether it be my progress on the language or lacking the Spirit or just failing to complete my purpose. I know that these experiences will help me and our devotional this week seemed to be a warning of the events to come. The theme was planning. He gave the scenario of a man in a boat in the middle of an ocean. Which direction does he beginning rowing, how long is he going to row before all motivation leaves him and he just sits there waiting for some miracle or for death? Now imagine off in the distance he sees an island, he knows where to go, he knows each stroke he takes gets him closer to safety and rest.

We need to have a vision as missionaries, a vision that is based on our purpose. Goals for what we want to be like when we get home. Goals for what we want to accomplish this week and today. Without these goals we give up, we stop progressing, and we fail. So to continue studying this topic I read in Preach My Gospel, it says goals are an act of faith. By setting a realistic goal with the Spirit there to help you know what will stretch you and what you should aim for, you are telling the Lord, what you expect of yourself. You are letting him know what you are going to work on and then after you have given your all to achieve that goal God gives you the rest. He will make up for your lacking and He will bless you in time of need. Goals turn the desires of our hearts into words, they make our hopes actions. Goals could not have been less important before I got here and now I focus on them everyday. But we will have failure, if we always succeeded, if every prayer we offered was answered like we wanted their would be no faith. In fact there would be no misery, sickness, or failure, our period of testing would not be a test. So the devotional speaker gave us his definition of success, success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm. I don't know what the situation will be like in Ecuador but I do know that I can decide and act now to always know that God leads this work and nothing can stop His cause.

Last night was a crazy one. After one of our humbling lessons that we had with another zone, Elder Messer, our zone leader, came back and was frustrated because of what had happened. He said that this would be completely different in the field because the person would be real. Hermano Del Toro, who I have found handles every situation with more Spirit then I can imagine, didn't like the attitude that he had. He asked him why couldn't that lesson be real? Why can't you invite other missionaries to come unto Christ? People need help, this world is such a tough place. Everyone around us needs what we have to share, you never know when what you say could have such an impact on the life of another. Sometimes not even because of what you said but because you brought the Spirit. Sometimes all people need is to bring the Spirit so it can testify of what that person needs to hear. It has happened to me here, I have had truths that I needed taught to me because I was in a place where the Spirit was testifying not because of the exact words of what someone was saying but because I listened with an open heart. Some people might think we are throwing our lives away here or that we are losing something but we are saving souls and that is more important than anything. I truly know that this gospel lifts us, that it helps us, that it SAVES us.
Today I had my first experience in the temple with sealings. I was there for a family to have their deceased father sealed to his family. Truly the power of the priesthood and the power of the Spirit is made manifest in the ordinances of the church. I could feel the binding power of what occurred in that room. I know that these things are necessary and such a blessing. Parents and children have the opportunity to live forever with each other, God will honor what we did there today forever. It is such a powerful place.

Another thing that I have been working on so hard to improve is my prayers. God has given us the opportunity to talk with Him. God, the greatest of all, listens to the desires of my heart. How blessed we are to have that, and we should never treat it lightly, we should never feel like it is a burden to pray. It is a chance to talk to God.

Well I love you all so much. I think of you all the time. I hope that this service I am giving to my brothers and sisters in Ecuador blesses my brothers and sisters back home.

Have a great week.

I love you.
Elder Vomocil

2 WEEKS TO GO

October 16, 2009


Hey everyone, this has been a crazy week.
First off thank you so much for the letters and the packages. I wasn't sure at first what you had sent me, but I think that the Under Armor will be very useful. Some things I really need, that book that you have been asking if I wanted, you should send that. And I lost my pencil bag thing the first week I was here so I have been surviving off of one pen, then I lost it. So if you could send some pencils pens and highlighters that would be awesome.

We got two new districts in as many weeks and they are all awesome. I got to host on Wednesday which is where I take them to all the places around the MTC and help them on their first day. It was so funny to think how clueless I was and how much I have grown.

The Spanish has been coming along great. After having a really difficult time with the Spanish in one of lessons I knew I had to study harder in order to be able to be ready to get right into the work when I get to Ecuador.

Oh, I get to call in the airport so if you want to send a phonecard you can. Or, I can buy them here just let me know if you are going to send one.

I have really found out this week if you think that you can do it by yourself the Lord will let you, and you will fail. I have come to rely so much more on the Spirit than I thought possible. It is funny whenever I go into a lesson thinking that I am prepared enough or even over prepared ,those are the times when I never use the lesson plans, instead the Spirit leads to what I should be teaching. Seems that the Lord favors the prepared.

Every couple of days I get to go to the hospital with Elder Hirschi because of his knee.
When I was in the lobby waiting for his appointment to be over, a man sat down next to me and asked me what I was reading in. I told him that I was reading in D&C 121. I was reading it because in the devotional earlier the speaker had talked about it and I was not very familiar with it. He told me that his name was Joseph Smith, also that his brother's name is Hyrum and his best friend's name is Brigham Young, nope not lying, (Joseph is the Prophet who restored the gospel, Hyrum is his brother who died with him, and Brigham Young was the prophet following Joseph’s death) and that that section meant more to him than anything else in the scriptures. He said every morning he wakes up and reads that section in order to be able to get through the day. He was a drug addict, smoked, and drank. In his youth he was ripped from his family and put into foster care. He had been a less-active member until one year his wife and he decided to move to a small town to change their lives. They promised each other that they would go to the temple and to get married. One year later his wife had gone through the temple to receive her endowments and was doing great. Six months after that she died. Instead of losing all hope Joseph tried harder to fulfill his promise. He is now off the drugs, doesn't drink, stopped drinking coffee, and is almost off smoking. His faith was unshaken, his promise is his driving force for everything. He has completely abandoned his whole lifestyle because of a promise to someone that is no longer even alive.
I was so happy for him but I didn’t get to talk with him after he told his story. He had to go to the appointment. His dedication through his trials made me see just how blessed I am. I know that this gospel changes lives. I know that through the Atonement of Christ all that is wrong or unfair about life can be made right. That is such an impossible promise yet through Christ it is possible and available to everyone. Why missionaries call this the best two years is easy to see, as I draw close to God he draws closer to me.
It is hard to keep going, every time I sit down I feel I need to collapse and I am only beginning.
One of the most important things I also learned this week is about repentance. Many times the hardest part of repentance is forgiving yourself. We feel we need to have that guilt in order to remember not to sin. What we really need to do is let it go, let the sacrifice of Jesus Christ help you in the fullest way possible. Lasting happiness only comes through this. The Lord forgets what we have done wrong. Although we will still have the memories ,we need to let go of the guilt and hurt that comes from mistakes.
It is hard to share what joy I have from being out here, it is hard to tell you how much I know that the Savior loves us individually. I have never felt such a crazy mix of emotions as I have here. I have never felt before that every choice I make either prepares me to fulfill my purpose or is a waste of time. I know what I am doing is the right thing, I will have trials but as it reads in the scripture that now has so much more meaning,
“Peace be unto thy soul, thine afflictions shall be but a small moment.” And the reward is greater than I can
imagine.
I love you all so much.

Keep strong.
Love Elder Vomocil

CONFERENCE WEEK

October 9, 2009

Oh man this week has been so long, so many things have happened. First off the swine flu has returned with a vengeance. Our next door neighbor got it first. Then someone else in our zone, then my companion got sick and I was freaking out but it turns out his is only the normal flu, yea! This week has also seen the first couple of "arguments" in our companionship, they were really dumb, but it just shows that things aren't always perfect ,but if I am always striving to be a disciple of Christ the situation gets solved easily.

So first I should talk about conference. Oh man I don't even know where to begin. Conference was life changing. Never before have I even realized the importance of apostles. I was so eager to listen to those who have been called by God to lead His church. I mean I always have loved the apostles but truly their divine calling was made known to me during this conference. The time went so fast, who knew 10 hours could feel so short. Elder Scott's talk was so powerful. The Spirit has been one of the biggest concerns since I have arrived here and before conference we had to write 5 questions that we were to look for answers for in the talks that were given. Every last detail of Elder Scott's talk answered one of my questions so perfectly. I know that they had him talk first because he can call our people unto repentance. He tackled one of the biggest issues of today and he did it with so much love and power it was hard to not take deep heeding to his words. The overall topic of this conference I thought was love. Many talks were given directly about it and all of them had somehow linked back to it. Elder Holland's talk was incredible, I have never felt more secure in my knowledge of the Book of Mormon just after having finished reading it and then to have him testify with pure conviction. I have listened to it so many times. I love his testimony and I love the Book of Mormon . I loved Elder Hale's talk it was similar to Elder Holland's 20 minutes of his testimony to the world. Elder Eyring's talk was so important to me, I love all of his talks. I have had to try so hard to remember all the things that I want to change in my life. I am so glad that I could have so plainly and so easily accessed all the advice that I will need for the next 6 months. http://lds.org/conference/sessions/display/0,5239,23-1-1117,00.html

The large group meeting from this week was so incredible also. Every Tuesday we meet with 2 other zones and they teach us about some aspect of missionary work. This week was on the Spirit and recognizing revelation. I feel like everything I learn here is so new and something that I get to apply, then I realize if only I had been excited like this from the beginning how far ahead of my current self I could be. I never want to waste one second, I can't afford to.

The Referral Center has once again been an amazing part of my week. This week I talked with so many people that just felt like that they needed that something extra in their life. Each of us has a place in our heart that we want to be filled with the Spirit even if we don't know what that is. If we don't fill it with the Spirit the world will gladly fill it for us, things that will leave us hollow ,things that don't satisfy any fraction of the happiness we can have.

I was able to participate in my first ordinance of Melchizedek priesthood today. I helped give a blessing to Elder Hirschi, truly the power of God is made manifest through the exercising of the priesthood. As soon as I placed my hands on his head all doubt left, all human insecurities were replaced with the pure knowledge that through my faith and through his we have the power of God, and I all did was the anointing. What an incredible statement, what an incredible opportunity. I, a nobody, through my faithfulness have the ability to do all that is expedient to the Lord. Never before has this meant so much to me, I have never appreciated all that we have, the importance of why this is not just any other Christian church.


I have been studying charity lately. I know that as soon as I think that I can do this on my own the Lord will let me. And I will fail. Charity is the only thing that can not fail in a world where all things must fail. Charity is the strength that cures hate it is the source of our motivation. Without charity I can not teach this. I haven't ever felt more worthy before the Lord in my life, but I have also never felt so weak. I see in all things ways I can improve, but I love learning I love being here. It is hard to tell you in words my conviction to this message. I know that this is true, I know that the Lord does not need our love to continue on, but oh how much we need His.

Thank you so much for all the letters. I love getting news and I loved getting letters from Sarah this week. I am writing back Erin and Brooke today as well.
Tell Nate his letters are fantastic!

I love you all so much. Elder Vomocil

 

This is Elder Vomocil's companionship.
Elder Caresia on the left, Elder Hirschi on the right.

The Month Mark-- 2 October , 2009

Man what a week it has been. I am half way done with my stay at the MTC but I don’t know if I have learned half of what I wanted to by the end of the MTC. I always want to learn more.
Well this week was Fast Sunday which means that we had mission conference. The first one was hard because I was so hungry but this one was fantastic. Every topic that I had been thinking about or working with got covered.
First speaker was Gordon Brown, he talked about sin. We must be willing to give up all of our sins to know God. Sin will effect every single day of your life. Only repentance can bring joy and relief but somehow those decisions you made will remind you of what a painful experience it was.
Pamela Craig talked about humility. If we are not stripped of pride then we are not prepared to meet God. God will have a humble people whether through choice or through force. I need to choose to be humble then do whatever it takes to make people hear my lesson. This is the most important path anyone could ever walk. This is eternal life.
President Craig then talked about the Book of Mormon, the most effective tool to fulfill my purpose as a missionary. It is either completely true or an absolute fraud. I know that all testimonies must be linked back to this book because it contains the answer to every single question. This week I got to talk to Hamad on RC for an hour about prophets, the Holy Ghost, and knowledge. After a while he asked me why I kept trying to get him read and pray about this book. I told him with no doubt in my heart or mind that every single piece of knowledge that is important in this life that I have came from that book. Every single happy thing can be linked to that book. It is the best way I know how to share all my answers , by reading the Book of Mormon. Back to the talk, he said we are asking investigators to do something completely unfamiliar to them. To change everything that they know and do over their testimony. They have to know it is right and what to expect. Assumptions of truth are insufficient.
This hit me so hard. Since getting here I have often asked myself if my parents weren’t members would I have ever found this truth? SO, today in the temple I asked Heavenly Father, I asked him if I hadn’t been raised a Mormon would I know it would be true? I got a witness, I know this is true. This is my life, my work and my salvation. I needed this so much. Now that I have my reassurance I need to help others to do the same.  
Miriam Clegg then talked about family history and how membership retention more than doubles if converts get involved in the work. But the most amazing thing she shared was the journal of her ancestor from 1704. He was wondering about the truth, about the afterlife, he said his father had a dream that the truth wasn’t here yet but someday his family would find it. And that he would be waiting, “For I shall live to meet you again.” It was incredible, the story, this man who had no chance to hear the gospel but knew that it was true.
President Clegg talked about Repentance. The other half, the happy half. So many people know the truth then fall away because of pride. Almost anything can be linked to pride. But when we finally humble ourselves we must do as in Acts 9:6; “What wouldst thou have me do?” You have to give it all. The second half of repentance is living a good life, following Christ, and calling others to the good cause.
Finally President Smith talked about self mastery. It was a great talk but more one of admonishment. It made me realize that every problem, everything unfair about life, can be made right through the Atonement.
The devotional that night was also incredible Robert Swenson talked about rules, how they don’t hold us back, but focus us, and direct us, and make us more free. I have knowledge that investigators want to know. Everything up until now has been about me, this is no longer about me at all.
Then Tuesday rolled around and the devotional was fantastic. Sister Naudauld talked about, this is hard, this is a mountain that we have to climb, but when we climb we are closer to God than ever before. God loves me too much, and loves the people too much, to let me fail so I better not let Him down.
Elder Nadauld opened his talk with, “When I think of missionaries I think of you as heroes.” I always thought that praise would be to God but I realize just how much these people will love me if I serve them with everything I have, because I love them so much and I can’t wait to meet them. Losing myself in the work means that I am unable to even think about anything but my purpose. He told us to read Alma 32. So for personally study that is what I focused on and it was incredible. Alma tells us to experiment on his words, that if we have no more than a desire to believe that we can get the knowledge God wants us to have. In the TE, which is like the most amazing place, I had a lesson with Brother Schiede about questions. How questions are not just to get in the way, or make sure they (people) are awake, but are to have them testify. By asking the right questions you let them give a testimony they didn’t even know they had.  
I know that this work is true. I know that this will be a thing I look back on everyday of my life. I know I need this opportunity to come closer to Christ. Because Christ is our one light in darkness. Christ is all we have to cling onto. Christ gives us hope, gives life meaning. This is more important than I could have ever dreamed and I never want to lose this fire shut up in my bones.
I love you all so much .I want you all to be successful with everything you do.

Until next week.

Love Elder Vomocil.

Week 3 September 25,2009

Another week has already flown by in the MTC. Time here is so different. You wake up, you work all day long, you collapse and blink, then do it all over again.
Thank you so much for the letter that you sent and the talks. I have been praying everyday for love. Love for my companions, for the people, and for the Lord.
Sounds like things are going well there. I hope you keep up the great work in everything. My teacher always asks about you since he knows you are a seminary teacher.
On to this week's activities;
The RC, I spend every second that I can in there. It, by far, has been the most rewarding experience here. In one day I was able to send out 5 pairs of missionaries to people that needed to hear more. I feel so humbled each time I talk with someone and always have to have a prayer in my heart so that the Spirit will be able to teach through me. They played a story from the RC for us to show how we can change people's lives. It is this clip of a man from the Caribbean and he doesn’t want to talk about the church at all. Then the girl on the phone testifies to him and tells him about the First Vision and Restoration. He pauses, and then asks how long the church has existed for. After she responded, “200 years”, he said, “if it has been around for that long why has it taken you so long to find my family?” I know that what I am doing is taking the gospel to those who have no other place to look, to those who have been prepared to hear what I have to say and have no other way to find it. This week I sent about 10 pairs of missionaries. I get so excited for the people each time they are willing to learn more.
Every day here I realize in all aspects how I could come closer to Christ. I plead for a greater testimony and try to put all reliance on His strength and then I found a scripture that was so awesome I can't believe that I had never read it before. It is D&C 6:22:
If you desire a further witness, cast your mind upon that night that you cried unto me in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things.
What a powerful message exactly when I needed it. Reflecting on that first time I ever knew remembering how it feels when you know the Spirit it there and testifying. I love the book of Mormon because of the promise; I love the simplicity and beauty of that promise. You read it and pray with real intent, a sincere heart, and faith and the great questions of the soul are answered. Every person on this earth has that opportunity to have that knowledge that I have. Every person has the opportunity to never again question their worth, or question their purpose. With something so precious I can't believe I let any time get away from me in preparing to share this message.
The devotionals here are always great they are always so specific and uplifting. We always go early when no one is there to prepare our minds and hearts to be open to what will be said.
This week teaching really started to heat up. We taught a lesson at least twice a day and had to lead district meeting with a lesson about Joseph Smith. Teaching success is always based on our willingness and our preparedness. All the lessons, where before hand we have focused on what we want the student to know, feel, and do, are always so uplifting, and it is surprising to hear the words that are coming out of my mouth.
This week our focus has been on lesson 2, The Plan of Salvation, because we are teaching it in the TRC. I had always just viewed the Atonement as the greatest act of love for mankind and used it as a general event that applies to everyone. But this week I realized just how specific the Atonement is. We are teaching people that any problem, no matter what, can be solved through the Atonement. That it is the most specific help you can ever receive, all problems that are brought before the Savior can be resolved.
We find out who the new zone leaders are on Sunday and the branch president basically told us that it would be from our district. Spanish has been coming along great, I feel most of it has come back to my memory and love speaking with the other elders. Sorry that I type so slowly. I have been practicing (typing) on this language program we have so that I can try and type faster.
I love you all so much. Family, just know that I pray for each one of you by name every single day. I love you more than I have ever been able to say I am hoping to return to all of you with honor. I want to go to the celestial kingdom and I need you all there with me to make it true happiness. Have a great week; keep writing it is the best. Love Elder Mark Vomocil

Week 2

Wow things are moving so fast here it is hard to imagine that this week is over. First to answer questions, I just got your package, right before email time, so thank you for that. The watch looks great. I get mail on Saturday until 2 then I have to wait until Monday. Um, can’t think of anything else I need besides socks, I lost one and now I only have 3 exercise socks.
Now, I’ll share all the amazing things that happened this week. First the RC (Referral Center). I love being there. It is like doing real missionary work. You get to put to use all your knowledge and testimony to help others. So on Tuesday I got a man to commit to going to church and gave him the address. I am calling him back tomorrow and will update you on how that goes. I also had an hour and half talk with Susan, about true repentance and about The Atonement. She is having the missionaries over and promised to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. I also sent missionaries to 4 other families that were ready to learn. I have just been really having the Spirit. It is a great time when we go to the (RC).

Also on Tuesday we had devotional. Thomas S Monson spoke at BYU so we all thought we would hop on over but instead we got to hear from Jeffrey R Holland. We were in the third row. What an amazing speaker. What an amazing testimony. What an amazing man. Out of the countless wise teachings, the one that stuck out to me the most is to stop thinking that after I get back from my mission that things go back to normal or that somehow this isn’t real life. Some things never change, the truth of the gospel, my love for the people and for my Savior, this is as close to real life as anything gets. Up until now my life has been so easy and so blessed and everything seemed to not have a real consequence or real value. I now know this is the most important thing I could ever do. I have two years to be apostolic. I have two years to work as hard as I can to become what God wants me to be for the rest of my life. Man's extremity is God's opportunity and I don’t want to miss a single second of this. He ended by saying his whole life he had borne witness of Christ and now he stood before us as a witness of Christ. Don't see the difference? I almost missed it too. To stand as a witness, is to not have faith, he doesn’t have to have faith because I know in my heart that he has seen Christ. He has total knowledge. Man, such an incredible experience.

The TRC here is such an awesome place. If you don't know what that is, it is where we go each week in order to teach a lesson and then get evaluated by our teachers. This week we taught Brother Kerr, a volunteer, but never the less, the spirit is so amazing there. It seems I have the most special place (in my heart) for the story of Joseph Smith from the first lesson. I always try to bear testimony of why I know it is true and each time what I say is different and each time it surprises me on how much I really do believe this.

Sunday this week was a great improvement from last week, mostly because the food was decent, but also because of priesthood and fireside. Our branch president, President Lloyd, taught that we must fear not, but always have faith. It was such an amazing lesson, as it says in Alma 29, “I know what God commandeth me and I glory in.” I love Pres Lloyd's spirit he is an amazing man. The fireside speaker was President Heaton, a director here, and he talked about the “perhaps principle.” The principle is that there is no guarantee that we will have a baptism that there is no guarantee that even when an investigator has received a witness of the truth of the Gospel that they will act on it, and that our hearts should break from them. We should be sad because we love them. We must accept two seemingly mutually exclusive ideas-- that we must work hard every second of everyday and then expect nothing. Success is given as a gift to unsuspecting hard workers. This week, as an example of how to teach lesson 2, Hermano Del Toro taught Elder Messer and me as if we were ourselves. The wisdom and love he brings each time is astounding. He reassured in me that my reasons for coming out here are the right ones, my love of the Lord and of the people. I should quake whenever I think that even one soul might be lost.

Mom you said that sometimes you are scared to share the gospel and I was always too. Somewhere in Alma 26 (#Alma 26: 23-26) the sons of Mosiah are mocked for wanting to teach the Lamanites because of how wicked they are. Sadly, sometimes I used this as an excuse to not share. I thought my friends would not want to hear because they like what they are doing. But then I read in Alma, some chapter I don’t have my scriptures with me, that Ammon was so excited for what happened to the Lamanites*. Aaron warned him not to boast. To which he replied, I know of my weakness, I know that without my God I am nothing. And if this be boasting I will boast, for my God has all knowledge, all wisdom, and all power. This has really motivated me to just open my mouth and have the Spirit speak through me. I know how weak I am but I know God loves me and I am doing his work. I know this experience will be a hard one and something that brother Holland asked is, “why is a mission so hard when are doing the right thing, why is it so tough?” It is because salvation was never a cheap experience. Bringing eternal life will never come without challenges.

Thank you so much for letters I am trying to write everyone back. You don’t realize how much you miss talking to your family til you can’t. I love everyone back at home. I am trying my hardest for each one of you. I love you all so much and God be with til we meet again. Be good. Do good.

Elder Vomocil