24 May 2010
Happy Birthday Dad! I did remember without mom´s letter that it was your birthday because it is the same day as Elder Zundel´s birthday. I don´t know if I have any presents I can send you but I hope that you had a great birthday.Thank you mom for that letter it isa really great one I am going to print it off to be able to read it again during the week. Things here are going pretty well. This week we had interviews with the President, and mine went great. He has put a lot of trust and expectations in me and I hope I will be able to accomplish all the Lord has in store for me. Today I studied in 1 Thessalonians 2, it talks about how converts are the joy and glory of a missionary. I hope that someday that you will be able to meet these people that have changed my life and the people that I have been permitted to help in their search for eternal life. I love this work and I love all of you. Sorry for how short the letter is.
Until next week,
Élder Vomocil
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
The Fleas Have Come
May 17, 2010
Oh my gosh. First thing I have to say is Otavalo is full of fleas. It is bad. I had never had a flea bite before I came to Otavalo now I probably get like 30 a day. Yes the faces mean something. Well it is more like a funny picture not a deeper meaning, so you definitely used the first one the right way.
I am very jealous about the temple. I really loved being able to go once a week in the MTC and now I don´t get to go for a couple years.
I am so jealous of your chipotle pork. Spicy food doesn´t exist here. They have their spice called aji but it is really weak and basically just tastes like cilantro. Besides that I am get used to walking, I thought I had gotten used to it but Otavalo is a new level. In Quito it was only stairs but now it is just distance we have investigators that live hours away from our house and there are no buses near them. The work is going really well in our sector. When Elder Nash came for his conference he did a special fireside in Otavalo and asked them why they didn´t have 5 stakes in Otavalo, so the members at least for a little while have been on fire about helping us, to try and get a temple here as well.
I think I had to most humbling experience of my mission this last week. We were walking along in a sector called La Calera and Elder Morris wanted to go visit his most recent convert, Luis Alberto Quinchiwango. So we headed back to their house and what I saw was a shock even for the poor people that I have seen before. His mom and dad were outside. They are in their 70s and were sleeping on a pile of clothes that they use as their bed. They are completely deaf and only talk in Quichua. We went into the house. Luis Alberto has a very strange skin disease that is all over is face, his wife was born blind. He works as a construction worker doing odd jobs for people when they need it. The situation they are in right now is really sad. His wife is pregnant and is due to give birth any day. The problem is he can not work because he has to take care of her and they have to buy all the things to prepare for a baby. This Sunday they both came to church dressed in their finest clothes and payed tithing. It was some humbling to see the sacrifices and challenges that lie ahead of them but they are still pressing forward with faith.
I have already had a couple of amazing experiences as a zone leader helping out some Elders in our zone. I am so exited for the things that we will be seeing in our mission. I know that we are on the point to explode as a mission. The mission environment has changed and we are ready to see miracles here.
I am wanting to buy Sarah a naku, the traditional dress of the indigenous here in Otavalo. They basically have any colors for the flowers and hems on the clothes, in total it would be about 100 dollars for the outfit. They are really cool and it is appropriate to wear to church. It is like a white blouse with flowers a double dress a white silk one underneath and a black wool on top, a colorful belt, a shawl thing, a gold necklace, and these sandal things. Tell me what you think and I can get looking for some sweet patterns.
I am doing great here and I love you so much.
I have leveled off in weight so don´t worry about that.
I love you all so much. Talk to you next week.
Élder Vomocil
PS If you have any pictures of Otavalo, dad, you should send them for email I want to see how different everything is.
Oh my gosh. First thing I have to say is Otavalo is full of fleas. It is bad. I had never had a flea bite before I came to Otavalo now I probably get like 30 a day. Yes the faces mean something. Well it is more like a funny picture not a deeper meaning, so you definitely used the first one the right way.
I am very jealous about the temple. I really loved being able to go once a week in the MTC and now I don´t get to go for a couple years.
I am so jealous of your chipotle pork. Spicy food doesn´t exist here. They have their spice called aji but it is really weak and basically just tastes like cilantro. Besides that I am get used to walking, I thought I had gotten used to it but Otavalo is a new level. In Quito it was only stairs but now it is just distance we have investigators that live hours away from our house and there are no buses near them. The work is going really well in our sector. When Elder Nash came for his conference he did a special fireside in Otavalo and asked them why they didn´t have 5 stakes in Otavalo, so the members at least for a little while have been on fire about helping us, to try and get a temple here as well.
I think I had to most humbling experience of my mission this last week. We were walking along in a sector called La Calera and Elder Morris wanted to go visit his most recent convert, Luis Alberto Quinchiwango. So we headed back to their house and what I saw was a shock even for the poor people that I have seen before. His mom and dad were outside. They are in their 70s and were sleeping on a pile of clothes that they use as their bed. They are completely deaf and only talk in Quichua. We went into the house. Luis Alberto has a very strange skin disease that is all over is face, his wife was born blind. He works as a construction worker doing odd jobs for people when they need it. The situation they are in right now is really sad. His wife is pregnant and is due to give birth any day. The problem is he can not work because he has to take care of her and they have to buy all the things to prepare for a baby. This Sunday they both came to church dressed in their finest clothes and payed tithing. It was some humbling to see the sacrifices and challenges that lie ahead of them but they are still pressing forward with faith.
I have already had a couple of amazing experiences as a zone leader helping out some Elders in our zone. I am so exited for the things that we will be seeing in our mission. I know that we are on the point to explode as a mission. The mission environment has changed and we are ready to see miracles here.
I am wanting to buy Sarah a naku, the traditional dress of the indigenous here in Otavalo. They basically have any colors for the flowers and hems on the clothes, in total it would be about 100 dollars for the outfit. They are really cool and it is appropriate to wear to church. It is like a white blouse with flowers a double dress a white silk one underneath and a black wool on top, a colorful belt, a shawl thing, a gold necklace, and these sandal things. Tell me what you think and I can get looking for some sweet patterns.
I am doing great here and I love you so much.
I have leveled off in weight so don´t worry about that.
I love you all so much. Talk to you next week.
Élder Vomocil
PS If you have any pictures of Otavalo, dad, you should send them for email I want to see how different everything is.
Mother's Day
Just wanted to say again Happy Mother´s Day. It was great being able to talk to you and no I don´t think it distracted me too much. The family seems like it is doing good. Did Nathan graduate or something? You guys basically know all that is going on in missionary life right now. I forgot to bring my camera cable so no pictures this week but I have a couple good ones of Otavalo. The Poncho Plaza is so awesome , you would love it mom. I am not really sure what else to say. I am going to be working hard this week our zone has a lot of challenges but I know I can help them overcome them. I will talk to you next week. Love Élder Vomocil
Monday, May 17, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Ugh! May 3, 2010
Well, I have got some sad news. I have left my son behind in Vargas. This morning at 7 the Zone Leaders called me to tell me that I had a change and I had to be ready and at the terminal in 2 hours. They told me that I would be headed to Otavalo...as a Zone Leader. I know. It was like that feeling I got when President called me as a District Leader, except worse. My new companion is Elder Morris, my first gringo. He is from Idaho and has 19 months in the mission.
I am really excited to try out the work here because it is so different than any other part of the country. We are in an indigenous only sector. If we find any Latins we have to pass the reference off to the sisters in our district. That means that in part I should start learning Quichua and that we always have to have members that speak the both languages wherever we go.
I don´t really know all my responsibilities as a Zone Leader yet but we have an all day meeting with President this Friday so I am sure I will find out. Another great part of the news is that Elder Zundel (a friend that I knew when I lived in Utah) is in my district and Elder Hirschi, my MTC companion, is in my Zone.
This week we had a conference with Elder Nash, the Area President. The first thing he had us do was form a line to shake his hand. When it was my turn to meet him, he put his hands on my shoulders and stared into eyes and asked me if I was an obedient missionary and if I was working hard. I said yes.
His talk was amazing. He taught us about the nature of the Savior. He said something that really helped me think about the trust and hope we have always had in our Savior and why we can find such comfort in Him now. Imagine that we are in the premortal life. God is presenting His plan, which is not really an option, it is the only way to complete with what God wants for us. He tells us that we are going to mess up and that we can not fulfill the plan unless there is a Savior then asks who can He send. The Savior stands up and says, "Here I am. Send me." We literally rejoice because it was Him. We were all hoping in that moment that He would stand up and tell us that He would go because we knew that with Him we cannot fail. That is how the Savior is. Full of compassion, full of love, perfectly discerning, and full of mercy. The Savior is willing to do for us what we celebrated when He presented it to us. We just have to pay the price.
After the conference Elder Nash came down to talk with me and told me he had a lot of confidence in me and that he wanted me to know that I am needed in this mission and that he expects great things of me. I expect great things of myself. I have never felt so motivated in my life to ever do anything. For the first time in life I feel like I have a purpose. Life before was always just do whatever was next. I graduated from Junior High now it is time for High School, time for college, and then it was like time for the mission. Sadly enough at one time I did think like that about the mission. I feel horrible to have ever wasted time. It feels like my eyes have been opened to something wonderful I always had that I never knew. Enough with the mushy stuff.
Before I forget I am going to try and work out how the mother´s day call will work. We are going to talk to President about the possibility to use Skype so today you should set up an account to know how to use it. I don't know if I ever told you to tell Sister Jurgatis that, yes I have gotten her two letters, if not you should do that.
I am glad that you got to have an experience with the missionaries. You should help them. It really is so important that there are members present at all the lessons that are possible.
I love you all. I hope that you have a great week.
I will send you more updates on the state of Otavalo I am sure I will love it here.
Élder Vomocil
editor's note: in missionary lingo they call the person that you train your son, you are the dad, etc.
I am really excited to try out the work here because it is so different than any other part of the country. We are in an indigenous only sector. If we find any Latins we have to pass the reference off to the sisters in our district. That means that in part I should start learning Quichua and that we always have to have members that speak the both languages wherever we go.
I don´t really know all my responsibilities as a Zone Leader yet but we have an all day meeting with President this Friday so I am sure I will find out. Another great part of the news is that Elder Zundel (a friend that I knew when I lived in Utah) is in my district and Elder Hirschi, my MTC companion, is in my Zone.
This week we had a conference with Elder Nash, the Area President. The first thing he had us do was form a line to shake his hand. When it was my turn to meet him, he put his hands on my shoulders and stared into eyes and asked me if I was an obedient missionary and if I was working hard. I said yes.
His talk was amazing. He taught us about the nature of the Savior. He said something that really helped me think about the trust and hope we have always had in our Savior and why we can find such comfort in Him now. Imagine that we are in the premortal life. God is presenting His plan, which is not really an option, it is the only way to complete with what God wants for us. He tells us that we are going to mess up and that we can not fulfill the plan unless there is a Savior then asks who can He send. The Savior stands up and says, "Here I am. Send me." We literally rejoice because it was Him. We were all hoping in that moment that He would stand up and tell us that He would go because we knew that with Him we cannot fail. That is how the Savior is. Full of compassion, full of love, perfectly discerning, and full of mercy. The Savior is willing to do for us what we celebrated when He presented it to us. We just have to pay the price.
After the conference Elder Nash came down to talk with me and told me he had a lot of confidence in me and that he wanted me to know that I am needed in this mission and that he expects great things of me. I expect great things of myself. I have never felt so motivated in my life to ever do anything. For the first time in life I feel like I have a purpose. Life before was always just do whatever was next. I graduated from Junior High now it is time for High School, time for college, and then it was like time for the mission. Sadly enough at one time I did think like that about the mission. I feel horrible to have ever wasted time. It feels like my eyes have been opened to something wonderful I always had that I never knew. Enough with the mushy stuff.
Before I forget I am going to try and work out how the mother´s day call will work. We are going to talk to President about the possibility to use Skype so today you should set up an account to know how to use it. I don't know if I ever told you to tell Sister Jurgatis that, yes I have gotten her two letters, if not you should do that.
I am glad that you got to have an experience with the missionaries. You should help them. It really is so important that there are members present at all the lessons that are possible.
I love you all. I hope that you have a great week.
I will send you more updates on the state of Otavalo I am sure I will love it here.
Élder Vomocil
editor's note: in missionary lingo they call the person that you train your son, you are the dad, etc.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)