Wow, it has been another week! The time just goes by so quickly! I can hardly believe it! We are almost through with January! I am starting to get a little worried....In seven months...I will be home....Scary.
Well, this week has been a super busy one! We spent about two days working in our sector, and the rest of the time we were balancing other missionaries, having interviews with President, and doing divisiones with guarnanda, a part of the zone two hours away from the city of riobamba. I am sure i will forget to write some stuff, but i am gonna try to remember it all!
Well, to start the week off, President and his wife made a trip down to riobamba to have interviews with the zone. It was a great day, and we learned a lot from what President told us. Because there are so many companionships in the zone, he told me and my comp that we didnt need personal interviews, and that he would just talk with us as a companionship. We were in the interview for about 5 minutes, in comparison to the 20 minute interviews he did with all the other missionaries, but it was great to hear what he told us. As of this point in time, the district Riobamba, consisting of 5 branches, has the numbers to become a stake. But, the members lack understanding, and dont support the local priesthood leaders that well. So President gave me and my companion the special assignment to go around to every branch capacitating about the importance of supporting the church leaders and being true members. He told us that if we can get the district energized, we can make a stake. President just has to say the word, and the stake will start to be organized. but, we are wanting the members to act more like members first. So President told us that he had called us to be here together in this time to complete with this goal. To make a stake! Wow! Talk about a lot of pressure! But, we are starting off well. We had a meeting with the District President, who had also talked to President about his plans, and we set some goals for the zone and also the branches. I also gave a talk this sunday about the importance of love within our branch, and how we are a family and how we should treat each other like family, and it seems to be helping more the branch. We are super excited!!
This thursday we also went out to Guaranda to do splits. There is a district out there with two branches, so we stayed for 24 hours with the missionaries. I worked in the north branch with two sets of elders, and my comp worked in the south branch with the other two. It was a great day! I really enjoyed being out there, and we got a lot of work done, and the elders now trust in us and are working hard! The trip over there is two hours in bus, and we go through some beautiful scenery! It looked about like we were going through burns, desert-like. But, the only difference was that we saw tons of wild llamas! Seriously!! It was SO cool! We probably saw about 300 of them. We also passed by the mountain chimborazo. It is HUGE! You will have to look it up on the internet, because, once again, i didnt take pictures...i just dont like to look like a tourist. And i dont want my camera stolen...
I stayed the night in the house of a companionship of elders, and we had to get back to our sector early, so I gt up at 5 to get showered and ready to go. I looked around for the shower for a bit, and i couldnt find it, so i finally asked the elders where it was, and they pointed outside! The shower was in a little outhouse right beside the house...talk about freezing cold at 5 in the morning!!! But, it was a great split, and we had a great time.
After that, we got to our sector and got to work the whole day friday and saturday. We are working hard in our sector, and we are having tons of fun! I love it here in riobamba! The people are great! Every saturday they do huge parades where traditional dance groups dance. I got a few pictures, and it was way cool to see the costumes and the way they dance! I loved it!
The zone this week got a ton better! My companion and I gave a great "energizer talk", and everyone had a great week! Everyone is starting to finally work! We are happt to finally see some life out of the missionaries. They had been so tired for so long, but, now we are starting to warm back up. The month of february should be an excellent month! We are hoping for a complete turn-around here!=)
Well family, I am happy, I am working hard, and I am loving the mission! My comp is great, the work is great, and i love the lord! At times I think I should be tired...and at times I am super tired. But, the Lord really is giving me so much strength. It is such a miracle to see his hand in my life. He has changed me. And I am proud to be one of his servents.
Have an excellent week!=) I love you all so much!
Elder Nielson
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