8/15/2016
Well this last week went well with a few things. We found a lot of new people so we can actually get a smoother program going. We have what is called a weekly process here were you find teach and baptize. The start is study then find then teach then baptize. The whole point is you have people at different stages progressing to baptism and that you can always be having baptisms. That is the point. Unfortunately it can be really hard as either you could spend a lot of time finding or a lot of time teaching and trying to baptize. But we have found a lot of great people and a surprising amount of people who are married or want to get married. That is great for us as it can be really hard to get people married here so I hope we can put a big focus on helping those people out.
No one went to church which was sad. We have to see what we can do to get people in church. That normally is not a problem but has happened a lot more with us, So we are working on improving the sector and ward. Ward council still is struggling in some aspects. We had a capacitation (training) from President Christensen to all the bishops and ward mission leaders. He talked a lot about the need to work together and also things that they needed to start doing. The stake president also talked a lot and he explained greatly over the need to work hard.
I am doing well with my companion. It still can be frustrating at times but I am well aware that this also can happen a lot training someone. It is just because a new missionary can sometimes be robotic in lessons and also think they are well aware of everything. I sometimes find it a little hard as I explain something to try and help him and he says well I know preach my gospel or he says oh you know nothing or shut up. He is indeed very forceful on those points. I just try to be patient and show him the great example. I have noted changes and I believe my patience will pay off in the end. I do feel there are things that could still come up. I guess after having so many different companions I have gotten kind of used to different attitudes and so now I can help him a lot better. Still I know this is a sacred responsibility of God and that I will try to do my best to help him. I feel he will probably get someone with experience in the mission after his training. Then perhaps after learning some more who knows but I feel it might take a little time for him but I don´t worry as he should be a great missionary. Still I feel sometimes he views me as immature and really young. It is true I am young. But I have changed in this brief time as I have focused on Jesus Christ. It really can change you and mature you and then being assigned to lead can change you even more.
I hope everyone can stay safe. That sounds awesome for Caleb. I hope you can hear about his mission. It is true that the Book of Mormon is awesome. You also get a favorite apostle during your mission as well and you study a ton their talks (ie Elder Holland) sometimes you also have a favorite apostle who allready died. I know a few examples there as well (Elder Mcconkie, President Packer etc) I hope you have a great week.
Elder Throop
Monday, August 15, 2016
Monday, August 8, 2016
Thrown in the Deep End, Trainer now, Getting lots of Training to Train better, Ward is struggling in new area
8/8/2016
Well with the emergency changes things did indeed change around as it was the last week of the change and so I wasn't really expecting it.
I am farther to the north a bit and more to the east than anything.We have to take a lot of buses here as our sector starts on the mountain so I am in a really hilly sector. The training is going very interesting to say the least as a few things have changed since I was trained. They have put a lot of emphasis on studying every day and making up studies. With Elder Goodfellow we didn't always have the time to make up studies.
Last Wednesday I received some training for trainers (ironic isn't it). They explained a lot about being a leader and how sacred the assignment is as we can change the culture of the mission for better or for worse so we better be an example. My mission president saw me and with wide eyes he said well it seems you got thrown in the deep end of the pool to see if you could swim. And now we are throwing a life preserver to help you out.
As I got changed on a wednesday the week before and I had to train Elder Choque in the twelve week program not really knowing all what was needed to train someone. Then a week later exactly they taught me more what I need to do. President Christensen placed a lot of emphasis on obedience. The assistants placed emphasis on setting the example. One assistant said he has never trained so he doesn't know how it feels exactly but he understands kind of the anxiety we can feel. There were two other people finishing the training of someone but they only had really two days of training. So a little of a direct experience training.
It has been hard sometimes when he doesn't want to listen. I try to be extremely loving and patient as he is still new. Since he is a latino he also likes trying to correct on the little things on rules and spanish. So I just sigh, smile, and keep working. But I think things should go great. I never thought I would train, but here I am.
This ward is still struggling from what I can see. In my last sector I heard they have at least three people with a baptismal date for this month. Here we have no one. There is one who could have baptismal date but he needs to go to church and he has health problems. Other than him the program is a little dead. So I feel we might have a hard time getting a baptism this change. Just sometimes I feel like I'm a fix it guy to fix sectors get the program going and then I don't get all the fruits. But still I am happy as those people are still going to get baptised.
I hope you do well. Love you lots,
Elder Throop
Well with the emergency changes things did indeed change around as it was the last week of the change and so I wasn't really expecting it.
I am farther to the north a bit and more to the east than anything.We have to take a lot of buses here as our sector starts on the mountain so I am in a really hilly sector. The training is going very interesting to say the least as a few things have changed since I was trained. They have put a lot of emphasis on studying every day and making up studies. With Elder Goodfellow we didn't always have the time to make up studies.
Last Wednesday I received some training for trainers (ironic isn't it). They explained a lot about being a leader and how sacred the assignment is as we can change the culture of the mission for better or for worse so we better be an example. My mission president saw me and with wide eyes he said well it seems you got thrown in the deep end of the pool to see if you could swim. And now we are throwing a life preserver to help you out.
As I got changed on a wednesday the week before and I had to train Elder Choque in the twelve week program not really knowing all what was needed to train someone. Then a week later exactly they taught me more what I need to do. President Christensen placed a lot of emphasis on obedience. The assistants placed emphasis on setting the example. One assistant said he has never trained so he doesn't know how it feels exactly but he understands kind of the anxiety we can feel. There were two other people finishing the training of someone but they only had really two days of training. So a little of a direct experience training.
It has been hard sometimes when he doesn't want to listen. I try to be extremely loving and patient as he is still new. Since he is a latino he also likes trying to correct on the little things on rules and spanish. So I just sigh, smile, and keep working. But I think things should go great. I never thought I would train, but here I am.
This ward is still struggling from what I can see. In my last sector I heard they have at least three people with a baptismal date for this month. Here we have no one. There is one who could have baptismal date but he needs to go to church and he has health problems. Other than him the program is a little dead. So I feel we might have a hard time getting a baptism this change. Just sometimes I feel like I'm a fix it guy to fix sectors get the program going and then I don't get all the fruits. But still I am happy as those people are still going to get baptised.
I hope you do well. Love you lots,
Elder Throop
Monday, August 1, 2016
Emergency Transfers, Fourth Area, Another Baptism
8/1/2016
Well changes came but a little earlier than I expected. It was tuesday around lunch time and we had just finished eating and we were about to head to teach a recent convert. Then the zone leaders called us. They asked us how we were and what we were planning. Then they said you have a change to your schedule. I said huh? Then he said the words you have emergency changed. So I got emergency changed right before the normal changes that was a big surprise for me. I don't know who went home but a few people got moved around.
I am now in a ward called Vargas. I still am in the stake La Colon so I am in the same stake but a different sector. I got emergency changed to finish the training of an elder. I arrived just at the end of his first change in training. So I was a little shocked. So I am now training in Vargas. It is a lot of fun and I do have to learn a lot of new things. I am surprised how inadequate I feel. This Wednesday I will receive some training to help me capacitate (train) my new companion. I have done well so far with the twelve week program. So when normal changes nothing happened to us. So I now am in my fourth area. Crazy things.
I didn't know that Andrew was returning already. man that is crazy. i knew Katy was coming up. When does Jarom return I know he is soon.
Also Mikaela and Kinebritt must be close to their last 6 months if they aren't already in that period of time. That makes me feel weird. The person that returned from his home to the mission wasn't the knee problem. I don't know what happened to this elder but he is already here. That was pretty happy for us.
We are doing well. We had a baptism here in this ward last saturday. A Venezuelan. The first baptism of my trainee in his mission. I will send you those photos. I hope you all do well and you enjoy school. It seems like yesterday when they started their summer vacations.
Love you all,
Elder Throop
Well changes came but a little earlier than I expected. It was tuesday around lunch time and we had just finished eating and we were about to head to teach a recent convert. Then the zone leaders called us. They asked us how we were and what we were planning. Then they said you have a change to your schedule. I said huh? Then he said the words you have emergency changed. So I got emergency changed right before the normal changes that was a big surprise for me. I don't know who went home but a few people got moved around.
I am now in a ward called Vargas. I still am in the stake La Colon so I am in the same stake but a different sector. I got emergency changed to finish the training of an elder. I arrived just at the end of his first change in training. So I was a little shocked. So I am now training in Vargas. It is a lot of fun and I do have to learn a lot of new things. I am surprised how inadequate I feel. This Wednesday I will receive some training to help me capacitate (train) my new companion. I have done well so far with the twelve week program. So when normal changes nothing happened to us. So I now am in my fourth area. Crazy things.
I didn't know that Andrew was returning already. man that is crazy. i knew Katy was coming up. When does Jarom return I know he is soon.
Also Mikaela and Kinebritt must be close to their last 6 months if they aren't already in that period of time. That makes me feel weird. The person that returned from his home to the mission wasn't the knee problem. I don't know what happened to this elder but he is already here. That was pretty happy for us.
We are doing well. We had a baptism here in this ward last saturday. A Venezuelan. The first baptism of my trainee in his mission. I will send you those photos. I hope you all do well and you enjoy school. It seems like yesterday when they started their summer vacations.
Love you all,
Elder Throop
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| Elder Choque, Tyler's new trainee |
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| Family of new baptised members |
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| Baptism photos |
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| View from the new apartment |
Monday, July 25, 2016
Renewing Visa, One-Year in country, Housing Visits by Mission President
7/25/2016
Well the photos got in fine so there was no worry. More then anything for us is the problem of sending photos due to slow internet.
We actually had a better week in terms of finding new people that actually want to progress. Unfortunately we have to drop some investigators due to lack of attendance. That is a little of a hard blow as I liked them a lot but still they need to solution some problems and when they do that they can progress in the future. That is the hope. I was happy we could find new investigators as that has been a slight struggle. Some were more open than others.
I can understand that trips like that can be stressful. Summer vacation must be ending soon right? For me it goes by really quick as everything is measured by changes and quite honestly once you past the one year mark time does indeed seem to go remarkably faster which isn't always fun as you enjoy it but you know that the time is running out bit by bit.
This last week we had an interesting week as we renewed my visa. Seeing everyone from my group was fun and we talked a lot. I remember when my trainer had that happen. Really weird for me. So now I got my visa renewed and I got to see some of the people. Unfortunately a few were missing. One has returned though which was great news for us.
We also had interviews in our houses with President Christensen. That was extremely interesting. They checked our houses and inspected our houses to make sure it was clean. Since we moved recently it was still a little of a mess. Today we cleaned the parts of our house that was dirty so it is a lot nicer. Today was the last monday of the change so it was more cleaning and getting items we needed. I printed out photos for some people as I might get changed as I have been here three changes. President says he still hadn't it planned it perfectly. But we will see this sunday.
We won't have another baptism this change which is unfortunate but we will still be working. I have enjoyed it this change and I am doing well with my companion.
Love you lots
Elder Throop
Well the photos got in fine so there was no worry. More then anything for us is the problem of sending photos due to slow internet.
We actually had a better week in terms of finding new people that actually want to progress. Unfortunately we have to drop some investigators due to lack of attendance. That is a little of a hard blow as I liked them a lot but still they need to solution some problems and when they do that they can progress in the future. That is the hope. I was happy we could find new investigators as that has been a slight struggle. Some were more open than others.
I can understand that trips like that can be stressful. Summer vacation must be ending soon right? For me it goes by really quick as everything is measured by changes and quite honestly once you past the one year mark time does indeed seem to go remarkably faster which isn't always fun as you enjoy it but you know that the time is running out bit by bit.
This last week we had an interesting week as we renewed my visa. Seeing everyone from my group was fun and we talked a lot. I remember when my trainer had that happen. Really weird for me. So now I got my visa renewed and I got to see some of the people. Unfortunately a few were missing. One has returned though which was great news for us.
We also had interviews in our houses with President Christensen. That was extremely interesting. They checked our houses and inspected our houses to make sure it was clean. Since we moved recently it was still a little of a mess. Today we cleaned the parts of our house that was dirty so it is a lot nicer. Today was the last monday of the change so it was more cleaning and getting items we needed. I printed out photos for some people as I might get changed as I have been here three changes. President says he still hadn't it planned it perfectly. But we will see this sunday.
We won't have another baptism this change which is unfortunate but we will still be working. I have enjoyed it this change and I am doing well with my companion.
Love you lots
Elder Throop
Monday, July 18, 2016
High (high, high) Hike, New Families, Helping People Progress
7/18/2016
Well today we did have an activity where we went as a district to teleferico which is a tram that goes up super high and there is an opportunity to hike. We went actually pretty far and there were some really rough trail parts. We went past the cave where most people stop and we had to climb over some rocks to keep following the trail. The air kept getting thinner and it got windier and harder to hike. We finally made it to this very sandy part and I legit had to do some mountain climbers to not fall and to keep going up. The surface was extremely slippery and I had to practically crawl up some parts. We finally got to a peak where there were a bunch of clouds passing through. There was a crater behind us but we couldn't see it clearly. At that point we were really ready to go back. So that was today.
This last week went rather well for us. we found two new families of people in this last week. Both were references surprisingly. The first the parents aren't married which was a disappointment so we couldn't put a baptismal date on them. The other was an interesting situation. They are members of this one church that has a lot of beliefs similar to ours. They seem to want to warn people about the second coming and they also put a huge emphasis on teaching Hebrews. I am not even sure if there is one Jew in Ecuador though. They were a little big on that part saying a lot of strange things and saying that there would be no way the Jews would believe Joseph Smith. They also didn't seem to believe that Elijah already came to the earth the very day that the jews are waiting for him every year. They have a belief that the jews are waiting for a prophet born in 1940 because of some comet. It was a little strange. I told them well we have a living prophet. That kind of shocked them and they said ohhh maybe he can preach to the jews as well. There leader seems to be some glorified pastor. Still this made things a little complicated teaching.
We do have to drop an investigator unfortunately. His name is Pedro and well he hasn't gone to church so we will put our trust in God and drop him. We have been dropping some people recently to try and get a good program going. We might have one more baptism but it is a little uncertain as Reynaldo needs to work some things out still and we are running out of time with this change. Hopefully we can also help him. The zone leaders seem to be pushing hard on that as they wanted to put the goal of at least one baptism in this month with the vision of four baptisms. It can be really hard as many people use their free will to chose not to do the things they need to do and well that really isn't our fault. We are doing all we can to help people to progress and we are teaching and testifying and putting in the effort. We just might not see all the fruits of our work.
I will try to get you some photos.
Elder Throop
Well today we did have an activity where we went as a district to teleferico which is a tram that goes up super high and there is an opportunity to hike. We went actually pretty far and there were some really rough trail parts. We went past the cave where most people stop and we had to climb over some rocks to keep following the trail. The air kept getting thinner and it got windier and harder to hike. We finally made it to this very sandy part and I legit had to do some mountain climbers to not fall and to keep going up. The surface was extremely slippery and I had to practically crawl up some parts. We finally got to a peak where there were a bunch of clouds passing through. There was a crater behind us but we couldn't see it clearly. At that point we were really ready to go back. So that was today.
This last week went rather well for us. we found two new families of people in this last week. Both were references surprisingly. The first the parents aren't married which was a disappointment so we couldn't put a baptismal date on them. The other was an interesting situation. They are members of this one church that has a lot of beliefs similar to ours. They seem to want to warn people about the second coming and they also put a huge emphasis on teaching Hebrews. I am not even sure if there is one Jew in Ecuador though. They were a little big on that part saying a lot of strange things and saying that there would be no way the Jews would believe Joseph Smith. They also didn't seem to believe that Elijah already came to the earth the very day that the jews are waiting for him every year. They have a belief that the jews are waiting for a prophet born in 1940 because of some comet. It was a little strange. I told them well we have a living prophet. That kind of shocked them and they said ohhh maybe he can preach to the jews as well. There leader seems to be some glorified pastor. Still this made things a little complicated teaching.
We do have to drop an investigator unfortunately. His name is Pedro and well he hasn't gone to church so we will put our trust in God and drop him. We have been dropping some people recently to try and get a good program going. We might have one more baptism but it is a little uncertain as Reynaldo needs to work some things out still and we are running out of time with this change. Hopefully we can also help him. The zone leaders seem to be pushing hard on that as they wanted to put the goal of at least one baptism in this month with the vision of four baptisms. It can be really hard as many people use their free will to chose not to do the things they need to do and well that really isn't our fault. We are doing all we can to help people to progress and we are teaching and testifying and putting in the effort. We just might not see all the fruits of our work.
I will try to get you some photos.
Elder Throop
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| The Tram up the mountain |
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| View back down |
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| Sites along the way up |
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| Selfie on the tram |
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| View of the Mountain they hiked to |
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| Selfie on the hike |
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| Starting to get colder! |
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| Going through clouds near the top |
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| Starting to leave the clouds behind |
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| Can you tell they're suuuuuper cold?! |
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| Pic of the rocks of the mountain |
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| Tag pic |
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| We made it! |
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| Tyler |
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| Elder Hernandez (Tyler's comp), Elder Zoller (District Leader), Elder Lambson (Zoller's comp), Tyler |
Monday, July 11, 2016
Positive Results with Investigator, More Earthquakes, Ward Irmprovement
7/11/2016
Well that sounds like some fun with your trip. I did forget about the road trip.
Last week we didn't have such great success with having lessons however we did see a miracle as we have been working with a pretty hard investigator and we had a dropping lesson ready to give him if he didn't go to church. We went there with our ward mission leader and he went to the ward baptism the next day with all his family (wife included who recently moved in. That was a surprise to see her there) and he enjoyed it. He then went to the self reliance class that night and loved it. Next day they themselves were already preparing. We did show up a little late as they were getting ready but I feel it was ok in this situation to help them progress and get ready for baptism. We still have to work hard but we have great hopes.
There is another investigator who is having a few marriage problems and his wife seems to be causing some of those problems. Still hopefully we can resolve that so he can get baptized. I hope that will calm her down. So we have seen some good results.
We might as well have some sort of catholic problem here though as a lot of people say no I have my church or all churches get you to God or I am catholic. So we can share but they are a little hard hearted. Still we can sometimes get a good contact but we are struggling. The economic crisis might have some effect but I feel they need a little bit more.
Last night there were two earthquakes, replicas to say. My companion was a little worried but I was like ehhhh whatever. Nothing bad happened. I wonder where it came from and if it will affect the mission in any manner or Ecuador. Hopefully people are a little more willing to listen and repent. Today I went to El Panecillo with Elder Hernandez as he has never gone. The cool part is it is in our sector. The not cool part is that there's a bunch of catholics here for the panecillo.
We are seeing more improvement in the ward. They finally started using a form that you are supposed to use for recent converts and less actives. Unfortunately they changed the time to the morning and we have to go as it is a rule from the area. I know a passage from Preach My Gospel that I want to use to try to get investigators as we always are getting investigators in the morning. Still we are doing well and I feel we could see someone else baptized before this change is over.
Love you all,
Elder Throop
Well that sounds like some fun with your trip. I did forget about the road trip.
Last week we didn't have such great success with having lessons however we did see a miracle as we have been working with a pretty hard investigator and we had a dropping lesson ready to give him if he didn't go to church. We went there with our ward mission leader and he went to the ward baptism the next day with all his family (wife included who recently moved in. That was a surprise to see her there) and he enjoyed it. He then went to the self reliance class that night and loved it. Next day they themselves were already preparing. We did show up a little late as they were getting ready but I feel it was ok in this situation to help them progress and get ready for baptism. We still have to work hard but we have great hopes.
There is another investigator who is having a few marriage problems and his wife seems to be causing some of those problems. Still hopefully we can resolve that so he can get baptized. I hope that will calm her down. So we have seen some good results.
We might as well have some sort of catholic problem here though as a lot of people say no I have my church or all churches get you to God or I am catholic. So we can share but they are a little hard hearted. Still we can sometimes get a good contact but we are struggling. The economic crisis might have some effect but I feel they need a little bit more.
Last night there were two earthquakes, replicas to say. My companion was a little worried but I was like ehhhh whatever. Nothing bad happened. I wonder where it came from and if it will affect the mission in any manner or Ecuador. Hopefully people are a little more willing to listen and repent. Today I went to El Panecillo with Elder Hernandez as he has never gone. The cool part is it is in our sector. The not cool part is that there's a bunch of catholics here for the panecillo.
We are seeing more improvement in the ward. They finally started using a form that you are supposed to use for recent converts and less actives. Unfortunately they changed the time to the morning and we have to go as it is a rule from the area. I know a passage from Preach My Gospel that I want to use to try to get investigators as we always are getting investigators in the morning. Still we are doing well and I feel we could see someone else baptized before this change is over.
Love you all,
Elder Throop
Happy 4th of July, Some Hopes, Some Drops for investigators, Comittments
7/4/20016
Well I know with it being Independence day you guys might have been a little busy. Well I did enjoy my day and this week was a little hard. Last week we worked hard to have members present in our appointments and we worked hard to get people to church. I apologize for bad spelling but this keyboard does not seem to want to respond to my typing at all. We did have only one person go to church and she isn't married and her husband does not seem to interested which is sad. We do have hopes as there is one investigator who is what we call a dry member or an investigator that takes a lot of time investigating going to church and reading the scriptures etc. We talked to him the past day about his work and the aid he hasn't bought religous items which was holding him back quite a bit. But now that we know that we talked to him about a specific date. He said he would prefer the end of July or this month he has to go to Guayaquil and then we will talk about a specific date. So we still have some hopes.
We unfortunately might have to drop an investigator. It is obvious that he is lying to us as he went with his family for an all day trip on Sunday when he said he had a futbol tournament. So we know that he isn't that interested and it probably isn't his time. We will have to do that this Tuesday most likely. We have had no luck finding new investigators. We have contacted quite a few people and even have contacted a few referrals and zip still next week we have appointments set up with some people that should be new as we have to tidy up our program a little. We don´t have to drop so many people.
Our activity today was we went to the church to play volleyball and futbol. The zone leaders talked to us a bit about being committed to our commitments and that if something someone does annoy us then we should not do the same thing. They used the example of not getting to a place on time. That happens a lot to missionaries due to the Ecuadorian time standards.
I had a little conversation with Presidente Christensen but nothing to worry about. Just a few worries and questions I had. I hope you all had a great week and a great Fourth Of July. Happy Independence Day. ´Merica! Send me photos of the fireworks, please, as we don´t have fireworks here.
Elder Throop
Well I know with it being Independence day you guys might have been a little busy. Well I did enjoy my day and this week was a little hard. Last week we worked hard to have members present in our appointments and we worked hard to get people to church. I apologize for bad spelling but this keyboard does not seem to want to respond to my typing at all. We did have only one person go to church and she isn't married and her husband does not seem to interested which is sad. We do have hopes as there is one investigator who is what we call a dry member or an investigator that takes a lot of time investigating going to church and reading the scriptures etc. We talked to him the past day about his work and the aid he hasn't bought religous items which was holding him back quite a bit. But now that we know that we talked to him about a specific date. He said he would prefer the end of July or this month he has to go to Guayaquil and then we will talk about a specific date. So we still have some hopes.
We unfortunately might have to drop an investigator. It is obvious that he is lying to us as he went with his family for an all day trip on Sunday when he said he had a futbol tournament. So we know that he isn't that interested and it probably isn't his time. We will have to do that this Tuesday most likely. We have had no luck finding new investigators. We have contacted quite a few people and even have contacted a few referrals and zip still next week we have appointments set up with some people that should be new as we have to tidy up our program a little. We don´t have to drop so many people.
Our activity today was we went to the church to play volleyball and futbol. The zone leaders talked to us a bit about being committed to our commitments and that if something someone does annoy us then we should not do the same thing. They used the example of not getting to a place on time. That happens a lot to missionaries due to the Ecuadorian time standards.
I had a little conversation with Presidente Christensen but nothing to worry about. Just a few worries and questions I had. I hope you all had a great week and a great Fourth Of July. Happy Independence Day. ´Merica! Send me photos of the fireworks, please, as we don´t have fireworks here.
Elder Throop
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