New Investigators, Working Hard with Companion, Pizza, and Immune to Rabies Now

10/17/2016

Well this last week went a lot better for us. We found a lot more new investigators in the form of a big family we found. There is a family of four that lives in one part that is super interested in the message and their sister was present and she also liked it. She lives in another part but we have to see with her husband. We found them Saturday and they weren't able to go to church. We have already taught them a bit and they seem really interested. We just need to get them to go to church and get them progressing. The only unfortunate part is that the dad wants to go to the states November 1st to get work to provide for his family. The thing is they probably would have a baptismal date for the twelfth of November (we haven't put the baptismal date) so we will probably have to teach the mother with the children with members once he leaves. Still he is super interested and they also are really interested and they understand a lot. The story they have was great as we passed by knocking their door and he had been praying to God to find a way to change his life because of things in his life. Then we found them in the street and that is when he realized it was time to talk to us. So they seem really great. We have been trying to help investigators to go to church just none that we planned for went. still one did go and we are hoping to help them out. There are other investigators that we will find this week and one that has been progressing well.

I am doing well with my companion and I am trying to make sure that he works hard and that we work well together and so we are doing a lot of work together. I have enjoyed it and I have learned a lot. Today we did go to Pizza Hut for an all you can eat deal. The only unfortunate part for me was the pizza had mushrooms and I don't really like mushrooms. I just took them off and ate the slices. I ate 14 and they are a pretty big size. Plus pizza costs a bit. It was 7 dollars for that deal so that was fun.

I got my last vaccination today so I am officially immune to rabies (yeah) and so less problems to worry about. I will send the pictures so don't worry I think my companion had a few pictures and I will try to get those as well.

Love you all,

Elder Throop

Here are the pictures from last week's trip to the waterfalls.

pictures along the trail to the falls

Selfie on the trail

small waterfall

selfie at the small waterfall

big waterfall

Zone

Tyler and his companion Elder Adams

Tyler wearing the hat a new family gave to his companion, Elder Adams because it was his birthday

Elder Adams with a cake face from his birthday cake

Activity, but No Pictures, Rain, Rain, Rain, Success with Investigators, Helping Companion Stay Focused and Diligent

10/10/2016

Well  this last week we did have an activity. I left my camera in the house and while we were eating lunch it came raining hard so I was unable to get it back as the lunch took awhile. We got back late from the activity and so that wasn't so much fun as it delayed us a lot. We went as a zone to visit some waterfalls and we took a lot of photos. I just left the camera as I didn't think it would rain so fast. The rain is really cold here as well and the winds come in super quick making it even colder.

This last week we have gotten a lot of rain. One day it was so bad that the street got flooded and looked like a river. It just is not so much fun when it rains. Still we had fun today and in the activity we didn't get that much rain. So that was the main part of what we did today. This next week should be great hopefully.

We did have some good things in this week as we have been finding more new investigators and we have enjoyed that part. We had one person going to church and he has a baptismal date for the 29th which is the first Saturday in the next change. So we were happy about that although unfortunately we will have to drop some investigators as they are attending another church and are more interested in that church. So the sector seems to be going well and the ward seems pretty strong here.

We will be visiting the bishop and they seem very great. So that is pretty great. We have received many referrals just there wasn't much of a program here when I arrived. I guess the missionaries just didn't take advantage of the members beforehand or they just had trouble finding. I don't know but we are starting to see success.

I am trying to continue to help my companion stay diligent and focused. Considering that he has two weeks left I presume that could be hard for him. Still he seems to be progressing and the things they wanted to have him do he is improving and now it is ensuring that we really do work hard every day and that we don't satisfy ourselves with mediocre work or not doing everything that we could do. I believe  we can keep working hard and that we can have success. I believe we will do well. He is a funny person and I feel some of his past companions have been frustrated when he was less diligent or obedient and didn't want to help him. I am helping him know and I have learned many great things.

Have fun,
Elder Throop

Referrals from Ward are Great, Conference, Working with New Companion

10/3/2016

Yeah these changes were indeed interesting. It has been an interesting week trying to learn the sector and meet the people here. Unfortunately we don't have many investigators here (today we will drop a family leaving one family to work with who I have never met) so that is unfortunate.

Fortunately the ward seems very strong as we received a bunch of referrals from members this week. We visited quite a few members as we have no investigators to visit really. We tried finding news but I also am learning the sector but a lot of those appointments fell which was not fun. Our goal next week is contact more and also take out appointments with members with the referrals that they gave us to find new people. We do have great hopes with that part.

Ironically enough I haven't met the bishop well enough nor the ward mission leader due to conference. We also didn't have correlation, so this last week I was trying to learn the sector and get to know my companion. He seems like a good person. I do have to help him with some things in obedience but I believe I do have a solution as it seems small and he recognizes the problem and my attitude is more how can I help you? So there should be no problems. I just have to make sure not to mention home as otherwise that could be a great distraction to me and him and keep him focused. He does seem animated to work so it is just making sure we stay strong even if we don't have any baptisms this change (due to the lack of program.)

I did indeed have the opportunity to hear conference in english which was awesome. Elder Holland talked about home teaching (I thought he was going to hammer us pretty hard.) He explained a lot about the need to home teach and not be lazy with home teaching. It was a great talk. Then a 70 talked a bit about being a light to others. President Monson did talk after President Uchtdorf and Eyring but he seemed really unwell but gave a quick talk about the word of wisdom. We did enjoy the conference and I especially enjoyed it in spanish. It is greatly different.  In spanish believe in Christ could be Creo en Cristo and if you give a command like believe Christ it would be Crea Cristo (which wouldn`t be really pleasant to the ears. It is better to say creo or crea en cristo) which means you need the pronoun in that situation.

I haven't had an opportunity to meet the ward yet but I will this week. The goal more than anything is work hard with members and animate people and find new investigators. There are a lot of things I have learned (like taking an informe) and also the importance to keep staying faithful in the work. I also have tried to work on my accent as my companion was born with a double rr but his grammar is well poor. Still there are things to learn. I have enjoyed it and I intend to work hard and show a good example. I hope you have a great week.


Elder Throop

5th Area, Emergency Changed (Again), Special Assignment by MP, Training to be a District Leader?, Helping "Dying" Companion

9/26/2016

Well I am doing well enough. In our sector in Vargas,we got some work done and we were able to find some people that were rather open. They seemed interested and I won't know too much more. The family that we were working with weren't able to go to church which stunk. We don't know why and hopefully the missionaries there are able to find out what happened.

We had divisions with the zone leaders on Saturday and I went with one to my sector and it went pretty well. The only real goal that I was able to get due to circumstances afterwards. We did well and the goal is to work hard on patience and love and having faith with people. We separted Sunday night and I was headed back to my sector with my companion. Then we got the call from the zone leaders. I got emergency changed! It was such a huge shock as we are starting week 3 right now.

I got sent to a part called Los Chillos which is a valley next to Quito. I am in a sector called Vista Hermosa. Even weirder about these changes is that President gave me a special assignment here. Basically I am to learn how to be a district leader in this sector and to also work hard with my companion so that he can finish his mission well. My companion ends in four weeks (his last change will be with me). His name is Elder Adams and he also comes from Arizona from Gilbert.

The goal they have for me is that we can work hard every night and that we can go above and beyond to give it his all at the end of his last change. That is my assignment with him. He also received instructions to help give me capacitation (Training) as apparently there is a possibility that I will be assigned as district leader soon. They say it is not certain but that is apparently their goal with these whole changes. That I can learn as much as possible.

I don't know everything it will involve nor how it all works. I don't know all the details but I do understand that these changes had this specific purpose. I got a few photos and I will try to get some more later. That is what happened with these emergency changes but I still will be expecting changes at the normal time in four weeks. That was really the craziness of my week.

My district leader was rather surprised when I told him I was leaving.  He said "No" and I said, "Si" he said "Noooo!" and I said "Yup". He was a little upset but well that is what happened.

So it will be interesting as I have never seen this sort of thing done. Normally when someone receives an assignment there is no real training they just give it to you. I am not in that current assignment right now. My current assignment right now is to help my companion and learn as much as I can from him and to help him work until the end. That is the plan right now. When the assistant called he explained but it was a little confusing how he explained it. That and bad reception.

I hope you do well.

Love,
Elder Throop


Mom's Note

Here's a map of the mission and the Los Chillos Stake and the Vista Hermosa Ward

Companion has a Different Accent, Potential Baptism, Dog Bite and Rabies Shot

9/19/2016

Well this first week went pretty fast for us. I am still learning a bit about my new companion. Our internet connection was a little slow which is unfortunate. Still I got into the mail. As I mentioned my new companion is from Honduras. His accent is a lot different from a South American accent. Not like huge but there are differences. Colombians and Venezuelans are different from Ecuadorians as well as Argentines and Uruguayans.

We did have a good week with the investigators. They are super animated for baptism and to hear the general conference. Even with everything that has happened she says well the people might not be perfect but the church is correct. When we asked about a baptism date she jokingly asked 'Well is the water cold?' We said hopefully not. So we are working for the 8th with her. They weren't able to go last week due to a commitment they had to help a family member in the morning. Still they are super animated and progressing well.

We have had trouble finding people and this week was a little rough as we invited some people to a baptismal date and they weren't ready for date. Hopefully we can help them overcome their fears. Today I had to go to the hospital real quick to get a rabie vaccine. A little while back a dog bit me drawing blood (which is just the worse that could happen to you with a wild dog) and then it went off.  And we haven't found it since. That means as a precaution I had to get the vaccine. The vaccine is super tiny and comes in a few doses which is nice. I always heard it was a stomach shot. So much for my love of animals.

We do get conferences and we get all Liahonas in all months. Since spanish is used by more than a million members they give a priority to spanish. We also got the version of the scriptures that had the modifications that the english scriptures got awhile back. They changed translation on a few words and corrected minor errors. Everyone when we got that (it was a little while ago) commented what is this? They changed the scriptures. But it was fine and now we give those copies out.

We have had some success with less actives and the ward does seem animated to help. They said they know the ward is hard and so they have to work to help us out. The ward mission leader is doing well enough . The slight problem is he still doesn't want to be ward mission leader. I guess he is really discouraged about some things so really doesn't like that part. We will see with him. We are seeing some progress despite all the difficulties and we are hoping for a baptism on the 8th.

Thats crazy they are making a new stake that doesn't happen all the time. Is there an apostle coming? That sounds fun with everyone coming in from the mission. I hope they have great experiences. Well that is everything from this week. I am alive and well and I keep working,

Love,

Elder Throop

Good week, New Companion-Trio For a Day, Potential New Family

9/12/2016

Well this last week went great. We had divisions recently and I was talking with one of the zone leaders asking for a little help. He gave me some great advice and also placed a few goals on improving. I tried applying it but it didn't work out perfectly. Still I tried my best.

To mention changes, Elder Choque got transferred out. He went to Turubamba. I am with someone from Honduras. His name is Elder Zelaya. He has like 8-9 months in the mission if I am doing the math correctly. The changes were pretty tranquil. We are in a trio for today as an Elder in our district is training and so he doesn't get his trainee until Wednesday. So I am still in the same part but with a  new companion. We had to write early because someone had a medical cita and we also have to drop off some stuff.

I worked hard with Elder Choque trying to help him out. He seemed a little nervous as someone mentioned his next companion is a little inicuo (unrighteous) so he did seem nervous. We did get people in church with one family. They are a part member family and they are married. The husband has been a less active for a while and the wife is not  member. They enjoyed it but apparently one of the counselors to the bishop offended the sister a while back pretty bad. I do hope we can get them to go to church and reconcile. I explained forgiveness very clearly to help her be able to understand the importance of letting go. She seemed a little calm. The hope is that we can help some more people out and that we can get a baptism by October.

That is everything.

Elder Throop

Love you lots.

Elder Zelaya, new companion

Hardest week yet, Some Small Success, Zone Conference

9/5/2016

Well that sounds like a lot of fun. I am glad that you could enjoy your weekend. Our last week was quite honestly one of the hardest weeks we have had. I do not know if we suffer for disobedience or if it is God testing us. Still we did have success in small ways as we found a family from Venezuela that are looking for a religion. They were really open and they do seem to want to progress. They were open and hopefully next week they go to church.

No one went to church again which wasn't really fun as we have been trying super hard with some families and we are working on working a lot with members to get members to go to church. We have been striving with that but we still encounter a lot of opposition. I have placed goals for us to work on having shorter and more efficient lessons as sometimes we can have trouble staying a tad longer then we should in an appointment. That is one of the goals we have.

I still am trying to love my companion and help him out. I still feel there is some things that lack with respect etc. Still I will have to be patient and loving. The changes come this coming Sunday so we will see what happens with us. I am not entirely sure but I do feel that Elder Choque will go to a new sector. I am not completely certain. I believe we have divisions with the zone leaders next week.

We had a zone conference with our mission president last week and he talked a lot about obedience and also the need to be diligent and firm. We had some great capacitations (training). This week is the last week in this change and well it is possible to see some changes ere. I am not certain but I feel it could happen. The ward is improving gradually. The ward mission leader had a 180 from his old attitude as he didn't want to work with us and now he is extremely eager to work with us. That is extremely good for us as I was extremely worried as he seemed to be on a path that would not have helped us. Now he seems very eager to help us. I do feel happy as I wanted the ward mission leader to work and now he is helping so hopefully we can see some progress in the ward.

Still it has been really hard in this sector and it has been hard to get people to progress or for that matter to find the people. Most contacts we have to do are door contacts which are not super efficient as people reject us all the time. We had one day where we went down one part of a street and we had 10 contacts but with no one that wanted to listen. But the unfortunate part is that there aren't many people in the streets. So we do have to encounter a lot of opposition. Still we continue with hope and the hope is that next change we can see fruits of our labors here.

I hope you had a great time and continue enjoying yourselves.

Elder Throop