first talk in spanish with only 5 minutes of prep.

k hi!!!! ahhhh i miss you all!!! how is everyone?????

this week has been really weird and crazy. last tuesday at like 9 at night they called us and said we were gonna have an emergency transfer. and hermana aldas left us!!!!!! noooooo i was so sad i love her like crazy!!!! but we got a new companion hermana conforme...the weird part is that she hasnt even been to the mtc yet. she is from ecuador and is going to brazil, but missing a paper, so she is just with us for 1 or 2 more days. shes pretty funny. loves anime, you know the regular. haha. and she isnt used to the altitude so we literally have to stop every like 3 min so she can breathe, and hermana fischbuch and i just straight up laugh.

gosh this area is a little bit tough. people say that our mission baptizes in the coast but here in quito is hard.  we have all these investigators that start to progress, but then none show up to church. its sooo freaking frustrating!!!!!!!! my spanish is getting better though. yesterday hermano luis came up to me and said i needed to give a 15 min talk in sacrament 5 min before sacrament started. ummm yeah you know my thoughts. ohhhhhhh shoooooot. i started laughing and said uhhh en espanol?? and he was like si se puede! oh freak so anyones somehow i pulled it off and gave a 10 min talk about el libro de mormon en espanol. after i felt pretty good because our mamita and her family were like you speak better then this other sister in our mission that has 6 months here. so yeah i felt better.

gosh this week though has been tough. before i left ryan talked to me about how satan can work on us. and holy crap i dont think ive ever felt satans power more in my life, which freaks me out cause im on a mission. but i dunno just like thoughts like i should go home and why am i here?? and finally i talked to hermana fischbuch about it because i just needed to tell someone, and she was like satan does that because he knows there is people here that only you can reach. this has really hit me hard. because i know there are people here that are ready for the gospel, but we just need to find them!!!!!!!!! i have been feeling better too!! so no one fret!!!

the best part of the week was for sure when we were trying to find this families house that we had contacted. we had been looking for like 15 min and finally asked these nice people. and they were so helpful and even ran down the biggest hill and back up to get there cell phone, cause we cant carry phones here cause its dangerous. but then it was getting dark and so the police like pull up in there care and are asking us whats going on??? and we are like uhh were just trying to find this house. and the police is like oh ill call them. so then the police are like on the phone with our investigators and pretty much we have the whole city looking for them. and then the police were like this area is dangerous so we will drive you. (mom dont freak out i feal way safe haha) but we were like uhhhh sorry we cant get in other peoples cars...and they were like uhhh do you know who we are??? we are the police!!! bahahhaa we were dying!!!!

anyways hopefully we have a great week this week. we´ve been working with the members a lot more to try and get them to do there visits and stuff cause sometimes we feel like we have to do EVERYTHING. but the bishop is so sick here i love him and his fam so much.

oh also hna fischbuchs bday was this week but she was sick so we had to stay in for the day...but at night the bishop had us over and smashed her face in cake. yup it rocked.

what else?? oh today we played tenis and it was awesome. and i taught hna fischbuch a our coug hip hop dance and yes took video. its pretty dang priceless.

but really i am learning a ton here. i love the quote about true doctrine understood changes behavior. this is so real. because people will choose the right if they understand the doctrine. and this is our job to teach them. also i have been thinking so much about happiness. sometimes its so hard here. just walking and knocking doors and all that. but then i realize what truly makes me happy?? its not what we do...but who we are. life can be tough. maybe you dont wanna go to work, but how amazing is it that you have a job?? maybe we feel like we have burdens, but how amazing is it that we are given burdens so that we can learn pure joy?? gosh its good stuff.

this gospel is so true. and i love you all so so so so so so so so so much you dont even know!!!!!!!!!

keep doing all that you are doing. and know im here workin hard, prayin hard, and playin hard.

god speed.

love always 
karl

an update in photos

Sending Love From Santa Ana...

supppppp errybody!!!

 

ahhh life is good in quito. man i don´t even know where to start so much.  okay first things that i forgot to tell you all.  The week before i left the ccm elder christofferson came!!! how sweet. yup just met an apostle no big deal.  man he was incredible. i can´t remember if i told you guys that or not?? but his message was so powerful because it was so simple. Like it was nothing i hadn´t heard but it was just powerful.  He told a story about how when he was called as an apsotle he felt inadequate and was standing with the others in the temple.  and pres packer was looking at him funny...and finally he said is something wrong pres packer?? and he said I AM SO HAPPY YOU ARE HERE. I have thought abuot this a lot here because my emotions are so up and down.  I love the mission, i LOVE MY COMPS oh my gosh they are gems, but its hard when you cant speak and you are just trying to show people you love them.  But then i have realized that it is kinda a blessing i can´t speak fluent. because the things i can say are simple, yet hopefully powerful.  the gospel is simple, and i know that i am supposed to be here. yes it might be hard sometimes, but el valor de almas es grande en el vista de dios. eh???

anyways life really is good!! im loving it. man everyday i get home EXHAUSTED. mostly from the freaking hills in this place hahaha its like a hike 24-7. In the mornings we run sometimes in this gorgeous park...but there is the biggest hill at the beginning. i seriously die...plus quito is something like 12000 ft high so there is literally no air. but its awesome.  

the best part of this week was probably saturday...we had this huge activity with the young men and young women in the ward. we went on divisions with them and taught. i was freaking out because i was like the trainer for 3 girls and i have been here 2 weeks. but hermana mino came with me, she served in columbia i think and she is a killer missionary. it was great for me though because it made me speak. i´m acutally not that afraid to speak so thats good. and the people help me out so much!!! it is the best.  anyways the activity was awesome and we got pizza after...so ya like best day ever. 

oh and weird the elders had this activity fri night for members and investigators called noche de cine. so we thought they were gonna show like a church movie but they showed the blind side...i guess they got permission but it was weird to watch an actual movie...not complaining though. i ate popcorn and made up what they were saying in english cause it was all in spanish. nothing like sandra bullock with a latina accent. it rocked. 

hmmmm what else?? OH WE HAVE A BAPTISM THIS SATURDAY. with the cutest girl ever stephanie. she rocks she is 9. her mom wants to be baptized bad too but theres all this messy stuff with her dads divorce and so were trying to work on that. we also have an investigator angel who has a date...but didnt come to church. gosh thats the hardest part everyone is like pumped ya ill be there and then doesnt show. and we found this family that i think things might happen with but the girl had a baby this week so were trying to get some baby blankets and go teach!!!!!!!!!! anyways the work is great. my area is super catholic...uh that is understatement...but still a lot of people are receptive. im getting pro at teaching the restoration haha. john was right when he said that teaching that is so powerful...how it is layed out in preach my gospel is seriously perfect. 

oh some great stories....okay so my first day here it was POURING RAIN with my luggage ya it was nuts. but since then hasn´t rained which is good i guess!!! oh also i bore my testimony about how i was so thankful to be here in PERU. and yes i am in ecuador...so that made for some good laughs...also the other night we were getting copies for ward council and the guy asked my comp if she was prego...we DIED LITERALLY DIED. 

oh my comps. they are steller. man i wish i could be with them for 2 years. seriously the best. hna fischbuch and me are for sure gonna chill hard at byu after the mish...oh also mom and dad you know the family that we went to prague with...tristan?? and leslie?? yea that is hna fischbuchs aunt which is way cool. 

thats pretty much all for this week!!!! 

but know I LOVE MY FAM AND FRIENDS SO MUCH AND PRAY FOR YOU ALL CADA DIA. i´ve been loving the scripture in ether 12:6...blessings come after the trial of your faith. thats real and i love it. 

i love this work. i love these people. and i´m so grateful to be here. miss you and love you!!!

keep workin hard, prayin hard, and playin hard, and listening to beyonce. what a diva. 

kar