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