A Baptism!

Hey Fam!!

I hope you all had fun in California! I'm definitely planning a trip to the beach like for pretty soon after I get back. I miss the beach now. But I'm glad it sounds like everyone is doing well (except for maybe jake who lost his phone).

I'm doing well here in Ecuador. We had a baptism this weekend which was sweet! His name is Solomon. He's a like 14 year old kid but he's way tight. And he got baptized which was awesome! Here's a pic I'm sending with.

Umm so that broadcast they gave from the Marriot Center at BYU about missionary work was awesome! It really was amazing. They talked a lot about stuff that I feel like we need in every ward. It really helped me want to work even harder and be an even more boss missionary. And hopefullly it helped out a lot of members too. We've been struggling here a little bit with the references and so hopefully they have a lot of desires to start working now. Also, we got a new bishopric, a new elders quorum presidency, a new relief society presidency and just about everything else this Sunday. so now we'll be working with a lot of new leaders, but we're excited to start working with them. they're gonna be excited to start working in their callings and help us out as missionaries so we're gonna get them working! and hopefully that means we'll start helping out more in the ward.

Also, they might be adding two more missionaries to our ward. I won't know for sure until sometime this week, but for now I have to decide where I want to divide the sector and try and find more mamitas so the other missionaries have places to eat and all that good stuff. we'll see what happens. and if they give us two more missionaries we'll all be living in the same house so that might be kinda cool. hopefully some new cool elders come.

So my companion also goes home this week. Or dies as we say in missionary terms. He finishes his two years here next monday so i'll definitely be getting a new companion. I just have to keep him working one more week. It might be a little tough because he just talks about home and all that stuff, but I'll keep him working.

So there's not a lot else going on. The other pic is when my companion and I made lunch because our mamita wasn'`t at home. we made rice and spaghetti. and it was good! but yeah that's all I've got going on. any questions? I'm still doing well and absolutely loving Ecuador!! Love you all soo much!!

Elder Joshy LEEEEEEE

Pictures

 Service

 Guinea Pig

Prepped for Cooking

  Cooked and Ready

Fixing Dinner for a Family

Guinea Pig for Dinner and Missionary "Rest" Time

Hey Fam!

Thanks for the email mom! It sounds like the family is doing really well! And I love the pictures hahaha. They made me laugh. And I'm glad you had a great birthday mom! I'll be there for the next one! So enjoy it without me while you can haha. And a happy Father's Day to dad! They do celebrate Father's day here in Ecuador. And mothers day and kids day and all sorts of stuff like that.

So I finally found a computer that lets me upload pictures! whoo!! So hopefully I am going to send a bunch. Here are a couple from some services we did this week. We almost did a service like everyday this week. I'm dead tired from all of it. We helped finish building a concrete wall and dug out a big old part of a hill and lots of stuff like that. but its fun. It's how we ¨rest¨ as missionaries. Not much rest but its our missionary rest haha.

I also ate Cuy or Guinea Pig for the second time this week. It was a lot better the second time. I told my companion about the first time I ate Cuy and he told me that I ate an intestine that the family had missed and was still in my Cuy and probably filled with excrement and all that gross stuff. I'm just glad he told me that like a month after I had already eaten it. I'll send another picture of the Cuy.

So my new big fear as a missionary is something I've never thought about or really feared in my life. It's called male pattern baldness. And it really frightens me. Every time I look in the mirror it looks like my hairline is higher up. It's not too bad, but it does scare me quite a bit. It probably doesn't help that dad's hair is lacking a little. Don 't tell him that hahaha. 

Well that's about it for this week. I got the package you sent mom! Thanks sooo much!! Sadly the shampoo exploded and kinda ruined the pictures and the letters, but I'm going to try and clean them up. Love you sooo much and thanks for everything!

Love,

Elder JoshyLEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mother's Day Skype

Service and Hot Showers

Dear Family and Friends,

This week not a lot happened. We did a service this week that was the service of the services. My whole body hurts right now and it was like 2 days ago. But it was fun too. We had to move like 500 cinder blocks to the 2nd and 3rd floors of a house. that was crazy. We made a line and just chucked cinder blocks to each other. It made it go quickly, but we were all dying at the end. We were sweating and our arms were dead and all that. but it was still fun. If this computer lets me I'll send some pictures. 

I don't really have anything else exciting to say. Let's see. A normal day in my life is get up at 6:30 and do some exercises. Exercises are usually push ups and lifting jugs full of water as weights. Then I shower and shave and eat breakfast and all that good stuff. The shower in our house now is awesome. I love hot showers even more now after having to shower in cold water for 6 weeks. that was terrible. Then I study the scriptures and Preach My Gospel for and hour and afterward my companion and I study together. Then we hit the streets. We contact or go to appointments and teach the people. Something that does kind of stink here is a lot of the time the appointments fall through. We get to someone's house and they aren't there. Then we have to find someone else to visit or contact over there. It happens a lot. 

Right now my companion and I have to find some more people to teach. It's been a little tough. The people we've contacted here don't really want anything from us. And we've struggled in getting referrals from the members. But we're gonna keep working and find more people. The time really has flown by here. I feel like yesterday I just got here to this sector. It honestly scares me. I look back and I can't see how the time went by soo fast. I want it to go slower. The mission is awesome and I'm not ready to go home yet (even though I do miss all of you haha). And it's scary to think that in 4 days I'll have already been out for a year. Yikes. Time flies by,.

Well mom...... Happy Birthday!!!! I'm like never going to be able to forget your birthday now because I got to the mission the same day as your birthday. haha. I hope you have an amazing birthday. Tell dad to do something nice for you. You really are the bestest mom ever. Did you ever get that letter I sent you? i hope it got there. I love you sooooo much mom!! Thanks for everything! And the next time I write I'll have been in the mission for a year! Whoo!!! Love you!!!

Love,

Elder Joshy LEEE!!!!

Pictures

Baptisms

Chinese Food in Quito

Making Cookies

Mexican Food and Oatmeal

Hey Fam!!

Well I'm glad to hear that you all are doing well.

I've had some cooler experiences this week too. The first one is that we're teaching this guy who's name is Marcelo. He's way tight. He's like a 60 year old dude who's a Roman Catholic, but he's way cool. He's the brother of a member who lives in California in the states and they came to visit and gave us the reference. His sister and her husband (who's from Mexico) came to visit for a little bit and so we've been teaching her brother and its an awesome family. What I miss more than anything here is Mexican food and the guy from Mexico made us Mexican food. But I realized that I'm more of a fan of Americanized Mexican food because the food he gave us was cow tongue tacos. So I finally got to try cow tongue. And it wasn't too bad. Not as great as everyone told me it was but I did enjoy it. So yeah that was fun.

Oh and I got bit by a dog again this week. But it didn't do anything to me so I'm okay.

And there are a ton of freaking sister missionaries now. It's like crazy. Almost more sisters show up than elders. and there's a sister in our zone who is 19 years old. that's weird. I'm like older than a sister missionary... wow... hahah but its way tight too. Rachel told me she was starting her papers to go on a mission. that's soooo awesome!!! whoo!!! maybe she'll learn Spanish too.

Umm yeah to like finish, I'm changing more how I eat. I got tired of eating bread and eggs every morning so now I'm buying more stuff. I'm starting to make oatmeal in the mornings and i absolutely love it now. i don't know why i didn't eat it before the mission.  oatmeal is good.

Oh and I'm sending some more pictures. a couple are of the baptism we had last week and the one we had this weekend too!! whoo!!! but now we have to find more people because just about everyone has gotten baptized. and some other cool pics too.

I love you all sooo much and talk to you next week!!!

Love,

Elder LEE!!!