Esmeraldas Week 12

Dear Family and Friends,

Glad to hear everything is still going well at home!  As for the package thanks for sending another! And I'll have enough sunscreen to make it until you can send some more. And I'm sure I can find some more somewhere. Maybe not here in Esmeraldas, but in Quito if I ever get there or other cities.

Well anyways, things are going alright here. We've actually had a pretty tough time these last few weeks. Our investigators haven't been coming to church, and because of that, they aren't able to get baptized either. It's been a few weeks since we've had a baptism, which makes me feel a little bad because President has said that it is possible to have a baptism every week. I'm not sure what I need to do better to help my investigators really become converted and have desires to come to church and get baptized. But I'm going to keep working hard and I know that the Lord will help us and that we will have success. We're just having a bit of a hard time right now.

As for other things. I guess I have a few funny stories from this week. The first is that I gave a naked kid ice cream the other day. A lot of the time there are just naked kids walking around the streets here and he asked for my icecream and I didn't want it so I gave it to him haha. And I also saw two naked kids fighting over a bar of soap as well. That's not something I'd expect to see at home haha.

Well those might not be quite as funny as I thought they were going to be. And those are the only funny stories I have haha. But also I just want to say thanks to Uncle Stu and Aunt Anna. The one ugly, brown tie they gave me, is now like my favorite tie here on the mission. At times I want to try to keep some of my other ties a little nice, so this is my "proselyting" tie and I wear it more than any of my other ties. So it really came in handy!

Also thanks a lot to every one who has sent me letters. I got letters from Stacy, David and Kenneth, and Amanda this weeks and thanks soo much for all the letters. It's great to hear how everyone is doing back at home and I promise I am going to write back as soon as I can. I've even written a few letters already, I just don't know where the place is to send them from in Esmeraldas, so I've just been holding on to them. But I'll try and send them as soon as I can! And Amanda, your article was awesome! That's soo cool that you got published in the school paper! And with a picture too!! Saweeeett!!! Keep it up! Who knows, some day you could be writing for a nationwide newspaper or be writting books. Keep up the good work!

And thanks soo much for the letters from David and Kenneth! I'm going to try and write them back as soon as I can. It was soo cute to get Kenneth´s drawing. And way to score a goal David! I miss you too! :)

So that's about it for this week. Even though it's been a tough few weeks, I know the Lord is looking out for us and that he has prepared people here to listen to us. We just have to find them. Hopefully I can write home about a better week next week. And with pictures too! Love you all soo much and thanks soo much for the prayers!

Love,
Elder Joshua Lee