Week Thirty Seven in Ecuador - August 4, 2014 - I Love This Work! I Love The Gospel, I Love The Scriptures and I Love You Guys

Hey family! 

Alright well first off thank you so very much for sending out the package. Hopefully it will get here soon. I'm glad everyone is doing well. That's awesome. I am doing good out here but there have been some changes! So my old companion, Elder Garcia, had transfers so he left and now I I have a new companion named Elder Carmona. He was born in the Dominican Republic but he moved to the United States when he was 6 years old so he speaks perfect English! Haha...You don't know how nice it has been to be able to speak a little bit of English! Well anyways he is cool and he actually lives by Rose Park in Salt Lake City! He has 10 months out here in the mission, so just a little bit more time than I do. 

So I have been teaching him the area and the investigators and everything about Malvinas this last week. And it's going well! We have kept up the number of people that are investigating the Church. We brought 7 to church and 6 again had baptism dates this past Saturday and we had one baptism and for this next Saturday and then we have three more :) 

So I'm feeling pretty good about the work that we our doing and especially that the investigators that we have are progressing and want to keep coming to church!

Ok, so the baptism that we just had was a 12 year old kid named Investigator G. Sometimes a 12 year old kid has a hard time when it comes to going to church and staying strong after the baptism and after we leave, but with this kid,  I'm nt too worried. He is the greatest kid!!  Every time we pass by his house he gets the biggest smile on his face and literally jumps to the door. Then on Saturday for his baptism right before the service started, we went to go take some pictures and I look over at him and he was all teary eyed, and I had no idea what to think.... I couldn't tell if he was scared or didn't want to be baptized or just really excited... nobody really knew why he was crying. Well anyways we tried to comfort him and he sorta calmed down then we had the service. I had the oppertunity to baptize him and right after he came out of the water we asked him how he felt and he said, "El agua era rico" which means something like the water was delicious. hahaha I was so happy I had the chance to baptize him!! He's a wonderful kid and we're hoping to be able to help his mom and his other brother recieve the same ordinances later on :)

Well I am doing well and Malvinas is great! I can't wait until this next Saturday too and the next and the next :)

Well I love this work, I love the gospel, I love the scriptures, and I love you guys. I think about you all the time but not in a sad way because I only get one shot at these two years and I promise I'm trying to give it my all each day.

 

Well love you all

Elder Lignell          Investigator G. on his baptism day!! He is a great kid!!!

 

Week Thirty Six in Ecuador - July 28, 2014 - Very Busy Times!!!

Hey Family!

So this week was awesome cause we had a baptism!!! It was sweet her name is Investigator E. and she is 15 and she was an old investigator. She has had a super hard life so it has been cool to see what amazing miracles the gospel can do for people who are in trouble and need help. I had the opportunity to baptize her and it was great. I'm feeling really good being here in Malvinas and being able to teach the people here!

This last Sunday was awesome because we had 8 investigators in church and 6 of them are getting ready for their baptisms. So this week has been super productive and we have been working extremely hard. But I love it when I work hard!! I feel better so I just want to keep going and going. Haha also something I have been learning these last few days is that when you teach people you have to make it fun and be able to enjoy the circumstances that you are in. For instance just inviting everyone in the world to go to church and be baptized. The last week we have been putting goals on how many péople we can invite to be baptized and it's great cause we just talk to everybody in the streets and invite them all to follow Christ like what our objective is. And I've been loving it! We have talked to the funniest weirdest people but also we've found a ton of péople who are really ready to recieve the Gospel and they have accepted our invitations, I have trully been gaining a strong testimony that God really does just put people in front of me to teach..... I just have to talk to them and be able to listen to the spirit to do so.  

I have loved this last week....also I can't remember if I told you guys but the other two elders left our house so now I am with Elder Adamson and Elder Cordova who are both from the U.S. And it has been fun the last week to be able to goof around with them. Because we are crazy in the house but we arte working really hard so it's sweet.

This last Friday was the like Independence Day for Guayaquil so there were a ton of parties and it was pretty crazy here in Malvinas. We were constantly watching out for drunk people, but luckily nothing bad happened. Only scary part is  I saw at least 10 different people get robbed that night (I'm totally serious), but God protects his missionaries so nothing happened with us :)

 

Oh and I love you all....tell Grandpa he is the greatest and I love him to death.

Well hope all is well....until next week Elder Lignell

 P.S.

The picture is of our zone building a house for a service project this week. 

A bunch of returned missionaries that served here like 20 years ago came back to do service here and they asked for our helped so we helped them out on Thursday and it was awesome!!! I got to use normal clothes outside for the first time in like 9 months hahahaha

 

Love,

Elder Lignell

                              Investigator E. on Her Baptism Day

                      Service Project with Returned Missionaries....Way Fun!!

 

Week Thirty Five in Ecuador - July 21, 2014 - Learning How To Handle Stress

Hey family! Ya so I am doing well right now only that I am super stressed but I will talk about that a little bit later. 

Okay first off, I have not recieved my package yet :( hopefully soon.

Second, I am glad all is well with you guys!  

That's cool that you and Dad looked up Malvinas....it really is super poor and pretty sketchy but oh well I havent gotten robbed here yet :)

Ok now about this week. So this week went well but it was pretty "loco" So first off the baptism date that we had programed for this week went to another part of Ecuador for a vacation. He told us that he would be back before his baptism and that he was super excited about his baptism... however he has yet to make it back from his trip and now it is getting close to two weeks that he has been gone and we haven't heard anything from him, so maybe he just left for good and won't come back. I guess we'll see what goes down this next week.

 Then the two other missionaries that we were living with, the zone leaders, on Friday they both left the area. They worked in the same ward as us in Malvinas, so when they left, they left us with their whole program of people that they were visiting and that were being prepared to be baptized. Therefore now we have the whole wards' investigators just for us... I should have two baptisms this week two the next week two the next week and then the following has three more. And so right about now it is pretty stressful to try to manage everybody together, it's literally like I gained double responsibility. Also we have two new zone leaders now and they are both gringos... one is from Washington and the other is from Utah and they are both sweet. They work crazy hard and it's been fun getting to know them. 

Anyway this week went well. It was a little funny because I told my companion the other day that I would feel comfortable right now to have a ton of people preparing to be baptized. So I think God heard me and thought it would be funny to just dump a ton of people in my lap to be baptized. haha But don't think I am complaining I am extremely happy about all of it. It's fun to be busy out here and always have a bunch of stuff to do. I've been learning a ton on how to control my stress and how to keep investigators interested in what we are teaching. To be completely honest I never realized before my mission how tricky it is to teach the Gospel and have success. You have to really find out who the people are that you are teaching and you have to know them inside and out. You have to be able to make them laugh and relate everything from the Gospel to their lives, and if you don't they get uninterested and don't feel like the Gospel is personal for them. So you always have to be on your toes when you are teaching and all of your energy has to be put into them... haha being a missionary is exhausting mentally and physically. I am always tired out here but it's a good tired and I'm sure I'll have time to sleep when I get back.

Anyways, love you all so much. I keep you in my prayers every night.

Love,

 

Elder Lignell

Week Thirty Four in Ecuador - July 14, 2014 - First Baptism in My New Territory

Hi Everyone:

Well, I had my first baptism here this last Saturday and it was awesome!

Everything is good with my new companion, Elder Garcia. We have been working hard and are going to keep working hard. We have another possible baptism for this next Saturday! Hopefully all goes well! I'll need you all to pray for him a bunch his name is Investigator A., he is 16 and he is like six feet tall and black. He is great and I hope so bad to be able to baptize him this next Saturday!

That's sweet about Jake... I am so glad he had a great time at EFY that is so awesome. I hope he was outgoing and able to make a ton of new friends! 

Anyways this week has been good. It has been a little hard because we don't have very many people to work with right now... so our biggest trial as of right now is to be able to find others who are interested in listening to us and want to progress. Our sector is well..... interesting..... it honestly is extremely dangerous. However, Mom don't worry about me, I am fine and I feel safe here. However the other day we did have a guy rob a girl under our house with a giant machete and we heard screaming and saw the whole thing go down. But luckily no one got hurt and our other neighbor chased the robber down with a giant 4 by 4 hahaha. Other than that the week has been calm and I've noticed if you just don't show fear nobody does anything to you here :) 

Then this Saturday we had the baptism!!! It was awesome!!! or as you would say here cheverisimo! haha but it was funny because we had everything set up for him to be baptized at 6:00 at night however when we passed by his house he wasn't ready so he told us that he would meet us at the church in five minutes so we left and were waiting for him. Then after waiting for a while we see him fly by passing us on a motorcycle with a girl on the back driving away from the church... haha so obviously I was thinking all kinds of things at that moment; that he didn't want to go through with it, that the girl had invited him to do something else or whatever else that could happen. haha so we ran back to his house to ask what had happened and the mom just told us that he left and she didn't know where... so I was way stressed out at that point, haha but then just as I was about to leave his house he came back and explained to us how he had to take his sister to a friend's house and that's why he left. Thern we walked over to the church together and he got baptized so it all worked out :)

And ya that was my week, (semana), I learned a lot about patience and not stressing out. I love this work and I am excited for the next week, but please keep me in your prayers :)

 

I'm attaching a picture of my Zone Leader carrying me....he is from Peru and he is a Giant! He dressed up like a ninja or something and started play fighting all of us (yes, we all turn a little bit weird here :)) and he lifted me up and my companion grabbed a picture!  His name is Elder Serpa and the other Zone Leader is Elder Westover and he is from Utah.  They make me laugh all the time.

 

 

       Elder Serpa Playing Like a Ninja (yes, we all act a little nerdy out here!)

 

 

                                Our First Baptisms in Our New Territory

 

Well I love you all so much hope this week goes well for you all!

 

Elder Lignell

Week Thirty Three in Ecuador - July 7, 2014 - My Testimony

Hey family:

 I am so glad that mom had a great time at girls camp that is awesome!

So yes, I have a new companion and he is great.... well he's a little slow and hasn't learned too much in his six months out here. However, that's okay I just have a little bit more work to do and I have to do all the talking with the investigators but it is helping me learn a ton so I love it :) 

The switch to the new house was all good, although my new house is super small haha but oh well will figure everything all out.

Okay and now about my week.  Well to be honest not too much happened this week. 

We had a little mishap with our ward mission leader when he offered to wash our clothes for us and then expected us to pay him and I was like "oh okay how much do you want" and he says 65 dollars for three bags of clothing.... and obviously we don't have that kind of money so I had to tell him that we couldn't pay him that much that the most we could give was 10 bucks.....he was NOT very happy about that :) 

Then for the rest of the week I was just getting adjusted to being senior companion. We have met two new people that are great that have accepted baptism dates and I am so excited to keep working with them! 

I would like to bare a little testimony to wrap things up:

Okay so the last little bit of my time out here I have learned a lot about myself. About how hard I can push myself and about the effort that I want to put into my work as a missionary. I have discovered that the only way to be happy out here is when you are working as hard as you can. I have realized that God truly does put people that are prepared to be taught right in your path. He wants every single one of us in this life to be happy. He knows me better than I know myslef and he knows just how hard I can push myself. I want to be able to say that I reached my potential as a disciple of Christ out here and that I was able to find those in need of the gospel and that I was able to change their lives. 

I love this work and I love the time that I have here. I hope that every single one of you all can find the same joy that I have found here. I hope that you all can know without a doubt that Jesus Christ is your Savior and that he loves you. I hope that our family can be together forever. Because I have truly relized here how much family means. I have seen so many broken families here and I am so grateful for mine that I have in Utah. I love you all so very much and I will talk to you soon next Monday :)

 

Love,

 Elder Lignell

Week Thirty Two in Ecuador - June 30, 2014 - A New Companion :)

Hey guys :) Well I'm doing great down here however there have been a few pretty big changes. So first off I am no longer junior companion. I have been switched to senior companion and my new companion's name is Elder Garcia. He also happens to be from Mexico, but he only has 6 months out here in his mission. So it has been sweet to have the opportunity to be senior companion and do everything the way that I would like to however it is also a ton more stress. 

I am now in a new area but I am still in Guayaquil. The area is called Malvinas. And it is great however the area is pretty dangerous. It is by far the poorest area that I have been in so far and there are a ton of problems with drugs... So it is a little sketchy. You have to be really carefull where you go in the area in night or else you'll get robbed. But don't worry mom I am being careful. 

Other than that the church that we meet at is super small however the ward is awesome and they stick about 150 members in the building every sunday and if you guys could see how small the building is you would be impressed. 

Also we have two baptism dates set up for the 12th of July and I am stoked for them to go through. They are two kids that are 16 they are best friends and they are awesome! They have loved going to church and I'm excited to continue to help them prepare to get baptized. 

So ya I am doing great out here. I was way sad to leave Maracaibo.... that ward was the best and I was so sad to leave Elder Sanchez. We worked harder than anyone out there. And we were just starting to see all the miracles from our efforts as I left... :( But I learned so much from Elder Sanchez and I am so grateful for the time that I had with him. )

Also I am exctited to work here as senior companion. I mean now I have the chance to just work and teach and show everyone the type of missionary I am going to be for my mission. So there is a lot of pressure but it's okay I am excited to push forward and keep working. :)

I love you all so very much. That's sick that Jake won is game and I am glad you get to do girls camp again mom.

Well unfortunately I didn't get the package yet... hopefully next week.

 But other than that all is well

 I'm excited to work and work and work with my new comp. 

 Love, Elder Lignell

                               My New Companion, Elder Garcia, is 2nd from the right.

                                                 Me and Elder Myers (A good friend)

 

Week Thirty One In Ecuador - June 23, 2014 - Extremely Hot :)

Alright guys what's up? Hope all is well in Utah. Hope you are enjoying your summer, and feel lucky every time you step in the house and have airconditioning. This week has been extremely hot in Ecuador... it has been in the 100's the whole week and the other day inside our house, it hit 94 degrees. But oh well, I feel like I'm some what used to sleeping without covers and soaking my head in water before and after studying..haha :) 

Anyways I am glad Jake is tearing it up in bball, and that's sweet he's playing with John. I didn't have the chance to play ball with him very much but, he's a good kid and plays very well. And his sister is nice.... I had chemistry with her. 

Other than that, this week went well. We worked extremely hard as usual.  Elder Sanchez and I  don't take breaks! We have been giving every last bit of our energy into this work. And it's great when you put all you have into something because afterwards you always have a feeling of satisfaction. The only downfall sometimes is when you don't see the results that you would really like. And that has been our challenge lately. We are looking for new people and inviting everyopne we see to accept challenges and to come to church with us. However, very few are accepting. But that doesn't matter. I feel good with the work that we are doing and I feel like we are trying our hardest to fulfill our pupose as missionaries. Also, I have learned so much about the atonement recently. And in doing so it helps you to see the need that every one of us has to share the gospel with others. Because Jesus paid for us but not just you and me he paid for every single person we see in the streets on the TV... everywhere. And to not have His sacrifice be in vain, we have to open our mouths and help others to understand the importance of Him. I love Him. And I love how everyday out here I have a little bit more of a desire to serve and to help others come unto Christ.

 And finally, this Saturday we have the baptism of Investigator E.. He's a stud and I can't wait to baptize him. 

 We asked him the other day how excited he was to be baptized and he said "I'm good, I have made a decision and nobody can change it." Then we asked, "So if your son or a friend says to you, don't be baptized, what will you say" and he said, "I will tell them that I am committed to be baptized, it is my decision, and nobody can change that, also I don't even drink coffee or tea or smoke or drink or do drugs so of course I will be baptized!" hahaha (we had taught him how if he breaks the word of wisdom he can't be baptized.)

 He is so great. He has progressed a ton and I can't wait for him to recieve the ordinance of baptism and receive the Holy Ghost.

 Love you guys all so much!

Oh and haven't got my package yet... .(

 Love, Elder Lignell 

Week Thirty In Ecuador - June 16, 2014 - The Spirit is so Strong!

Hey family :)

 Hope everyone is doing great! I had a nice week this week. 

 First off I just read the email from Kaleb and  I didn't even think about the fact that I graduated over a year ago. It seems so unreal I can't even belive how many things have happened in the last 12 months. Haha my life has completely changed, it isnt anything like what it was before. But, it's not a bad thing because I trully am helping people have more happiness and light in their lives and what greater gift could you possibly give someone? I can't think of one right now. So I feel good about where I am at right now.  

Next the World Cup started this week and it is crazy down here everyone watches the games, like literally everyone! So, finding people to teach during the games has been interesting!  Also finding people sober is difficult too because everybody drinks nonstop during the games! However God has helped us find a few so we've been blessed for working and not hanging around to just watch the games.

Anyway now about the week. We've had a few little miracles happen that have made me really appreciate this work. Okay so first is that we met a new investigator E. who is about 75 five years old and he is awesome. He lives at home by him self because his wife passed away about 2 years ago and you can tell that he misses her. He has a son and a daughter that live close to him but they don't visit him a ton. Anyway, when we go over to visit him all he wants to do is talk... about everything. He tells how much his phone costs, how many dogs he had, the buses that he takes to go to the park, who won the world cup games, and just about anything else. But, he is great and he is progressing wonderfully and going to church the last two weeks has helped him find friends in the church so that he has more people to talk to. So he loves it and has accepted to be baptized the 5th of July :) At first we thought that he just liked to talk and that he wasn't really paying attention to us so for the last couple days we've been quizing him and he remembers everything we have taught him and is reading and praying everyday. So we are so blessed to have him. He truly is chosen to receive the Gospel at this time :)

Next our baptism for Investigator A. from last week is so sweet. He just recieved the Aaronic Priesthood on Sunday and is going to go to the temple this next week! I am so excited that he is such a strong convert.

Then finally on Sunday I felt the Spirit so strong!!! First in the sacrament meeting the Bishop asked me to give a talk about five minutes before the meeting started so I just had to wing it, But I don't know I just had the ability to do it. I talked about faith and listening to the Spirit and to not have fear in pushing threw hard times because there is light at the end of every trial. I felt like I did very well and a lot of people afterwards said they enjoyed what I had to say. Then later that day we had some amazing lessons with some families who are less active. We talked about the atonement and the things that God asks us to do in this life. I honestly strengthened my testimony a bunch on the atonement and I can't explain how, all I know is that bearing testimony of the things you know are true helps you to strengthen your own testimony because it lets you see and hear the things that your heart wants to express.

So that was my week. It was a good one :) And I am excited for the next one and the next and the next! haha

Well I didnt get you package yet... :( hopefully soon

 

Love you all,

 

Elder Lignell

Investigator A.  He has such a strong testimony!

 

Week Twenty Nine In Ecuador - Monday, June 9, 2014 - Guayaquil Baptized More People Last Month Than Any Other City In the World! I Also Got Robbed Again, But This Time, It Wasn't So Funny

Hey Family:

Okay so this week was great! We had a lot of interesting stuff go on.

First off the week started out normal. We were searching for a lot more people to teach because we didn't have very many and we were working extremely hard. Everyday my feet would just kill at night because we were walking everywhere. But anyway, Wednesday morning we woke up, did all of our studies and stuff then we went out to work. And I swear it was 115 degrees outside but we didn't care because it's like 105 everyday anyways. So, we were searching for houses of the members that we didn't know and we didn't meet anyone new. And we were getting sort of down on our selves. My companion said, "Hey let's go to one more house before lunch to see if we can meet someone." So as we're walking for the last house I was praying super hard that we could find the member and then as we turned a corner a kid about our age yells "elders" so we turned around and were about to keep going when he yells "Oh so I guess you guys don't stop for anyone." So ya we felt like we had to go say hi to him. And then right as we got to him he says "give me everything you have"....... yup we got robbed. After him another kid showed up. They stole our phone and both our watches :( and so ya that stunk pretty bad but I got over it fast... he didn't do anything to us so don't worry.   

So that was hard and at first, I felt like we didn't really get the blessing that we deserved for all the work that we did. But wait that's not all...

So on Saturday we had our baptism!!!! And he is so great!!  However we didn't have the chance to be in his baptism because we had a training meeting that was suppossed to be with Elder Oaks and two members of the seventies... however only one of the seventies showed up.. Elder Oaks and the other one couldn't make their flights. however the training meeting was with the three Guayaquil missions sooooo I got to see Braydon Hanks!! And I gave him a giant hug!!! I was so happy and the training meeting was sweet. And guess what?? The city of Guayaquil baptized more people for the month than any other city in the entire world! Pretty cool huh?

Ok so that was great I was so happy to see Braydon and I learned a bunch at the training meeting! 

Then on Sunday we met two new wonderful people who accepted to be baptized the 5th of July!

And I'll quickly talk about one of them. 

Okay so everytime we went to talk to Investigator A. our friend who just got baptized Saturday we always encountered this lady that works at his house and she always looked super unhappy that we were there and would grumbly go look for Investigator A. when we would ask for him. But then the other day a member of the church was talking to her and asked her to listen to the missionaries. So we went over to their house not expecting her to be very open but then as we started sharing the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ you could see the Spirit working inside her. She started to smile as we were talking to her and we asked her how she felt. She said she felt calm and happy! She explained to us that she knows that Jesus is her savior and that she wants to learn more about him. She said she wants to go to church with us and is excited to have us over again. Then as I explained to her what baptism is and why it is necessary and you could see that she was interested so I just went for it. And asked her "will you be baptized the 5th of July" and she said she would love to! I then bore my testimony and you could really see that she felt something different. I had never seen her smile before the way that she did in the lesson and it made me think about how the Spirit and the Gospel make things like that happen. The Gospel brings more happiness to us than anything else in this world can. The Spirit testifying is one of the most joyful feelings I have felt and I love that we can help others to feel it too.

All in all this week was good! It doesn't matter that we got robbed because we recieved so many blessings at the end of this week and I am so greatful for them! I love this gospel and I love sharing it. I love you all and I wish you the best in your summer :)

Oh and about your seasons questions for Guayaquil. No. They have one season.... it's called hot!! Sometimes they tell you that March and June are cold but it is a lie :) It has been hotter this month than ever before. But oh well.... it's only two years :) 

 Love you all,

Elder Austin Lignell

                                           Our recent baptism :) :) :)

 

Week Twenty Eight in Ecuador - Monday, June 2, 2014 - I Was Robbed....But It Was Kinda Funny :)

Hey Guys!

 Okay so this week was good!

I'm super happy that Jake got great grades in school that really is awesomeand I'm glad you are doing well too.

And I have not recieved the package yet.... hopefully this week or the next but I will let you know when I do get it.

Okay so this week went well however. Not perfect. We didn't have our baptism this week... he fell through. So that is two baptisms in a row that have fallen through for me the day of their baptisms... So I was super sad about that because he is a great kid and we don't really know what happened with everything. He just disappeared the day of his baptism. His family said he left with his uncle around ten in the morning and didn't come back for that whole day and all of Sunday too. So we'll see what happened to him later on today.

But ya that was sad and other than that..... I got robbed for my first time out here.... but don't worry it was funny.

So we were at a members house and we were about to leave and he said here take these two empanadas with you to eat while you're walking so we took them and started walk down the street eating them. And then some homeless guy came walking down the street and he stuck his hand out to shake my hand and the thing here in Ecuador is that if you don't shake someone's hand when they stick their hand out, it is extremely offensive, so I had to stick my hand out to receive him, so I did and right as I grabbed his hand, he reaches over and steals my empanada and then sprints away down the street! hahaha... I was so shocked I had no idea what even happened haha so ya that was my first time getting robbed here! 

Then the week in all was good. We met some new people and had some good lessons. I am really trying to teach better out here and be more direct in the things that I say because it is easy as a missionary to tell someone that they sorta shouldn't really drink coffee than it is to directly tell someone that they CANNOT do what they are doing. And I find myself searching for ways to say things super nicely to people when in reality our responsibility is to just tell people things the way that they are and to be direct. Obviously, you have to talk with love but also direct so others know what is the commandment and what they can't do. 

Other than that I feel good out here I am learning a lot and just pushing forward. 

 Also we do have a baptism this Saturday and he really is great! I know he will be baptized, and he will honestly be my strongest convert that I have so far! So I am super excited!!  

Well the week went well I am exctited for the baptism this Saturday :)

 Please pray for investigators!

Love you all so much!!!!

 

Elder Austin Lignell

 

Week Twenty Seven In Ecuador - Monday, May 26, 2014 - Loving The Work I Am Doing!

Hey Family :)

Well I made it another week out here. And my week was good, it was pretty normal all in all but it was good, and once again we worked super hard! And it's interesting here because we aren't having very much success, but I am working harder than I ever have out here. We are doing everything that we should to be; being obedient, focusing hard on listening to the Spirit and I have been studying in the mornings better than ever before.  I'm really looking for everything in the scriptures that relates to my life and that relates to others. I have been trying to talk more in our lessons and be more out going and more socialable with the members. And I want to really help the people here to learn about the gospel and for the members to always remember why they're here in this church.  I have the faith that I'll be blessed for being obedient. Hopefully I'll be able to recieve the promise in Ether 12:6!!!!

But I am happy and we do have two baptisms for the next two weeks!!!!

So ya we are having success haha I just want more... :)

So this next week we have the baptism of Investigator F. and he is 15 years od and he is the grandson of Investigator J.  He is wonderful! He has been progressing very well and I feel like I need to baptize someone from this family haha (Investigator J. fell through with his baptism date again and was sick in the hospital for about a week... so we have kinda given up on trying to baptize him, maybe someday some other elders will baptize him but for right now I'm fine with just baptizing his grandson) Franklin is great! He went to the mutual for the church on Saturday and helped the Priest Quorum clean the church too!!! I am super excited for his baptism!

And then the week that follows, we have a baptism of another kid who is named Investigator A. He is 18 years old and honestly is one of the strongest investigators that I have had so far! His testimony is gigantic and he honestly was someone just waiting to recieve the gospel!! He will be baptized the 7th of June! Also he said a prayer in Elders Quorum and I promise you it was just as good as what the Bishop would say! He has recieved every lesson perfectly and has no other problems to work through to be baptized.  It's so great and I can't wait for his baptism and I hope so badly that after he decides to serve a mission!!!! That would be the coolest thing ever!!

So those are the two people that we are really working with right now and they keep me going out here everyday. I can't wait to actually baptize again because I don't know if you've noticed but I've gone almost two months without a baptism and I would love some more :)

But, I am doing great and I love the Gospel! I love helping people out here come unto Christ. I love teaching others how to really be happy and to be able to testify to them that I am happy because of the Gospel. I know this church is true and everyday I enjoy sharing it more and more. 

 Love you all,

Elder Lignell


                                 Me and Elder Sanchez in matching World Cup Ecuador Soccer Jerseys!
                                    

 

Week Twenty Six in Ecuador - Monday, May 19, 2014 - Work, Work, Work :)

Hi Everyone,

So this week was really great!! It was probably one of the hardest weeks that I have had for working hard, because with my new companion we work so hard! He doesn't like to waste time at all so we just work and work and work and I actually really like it.

 

So during this week we walked everywhere and searched for a bunch of new people and we hardly met anyone at all and it was super tough but we just kept pushing along and didn't let anything get us down. We have two baptism dates. One is for the 7th of June and he is Investigator A and he is 18 and he is so great! We have had some super awesome lessons with him and he wants to be baptized and says that he knows the church is true! The other one is Investigator F. and he is 14. His grandpa is  the other baptism date that we never could baptize cause he lacked a little bit of testimony but his grandson is great and we have been helping him come to church. He has been three times now and says that he knows that he wants to be baptized! So hurray!!!!

 Then this last Sunday (yesterday) was by far the best day of the week! So we were fasting as a zone and it was well really hard because it was 102 degrees Saturday and we couldn't drink anything but ya I survived through church and made it to lunch :) Then after we went to a less active member's house and their family was over for lunch. We talked to them for awhile after they finished eating and they had a ton of questions for us.  And, I have no idea how, but I answered pretty much all of their questions smoothly and I felt like they understood me clearly. Then we started to share the lesson on the restoration and I explained almost all of it more clearly than I have ever shared it before! I felt the Spirit helping me choose the words as I was saying them and I wasn't even thinking how to say it all!!!... it just all came out in what I felt was perfect Spanish!

 

 We gave the girl who had the most questions a Book of Mormon and invited her to read. But, she said no because  she said she had recieved her answer in her other religion and that she didn't need more answers..... but then I felt inspired to share my testimony and when I finished she told me that she could tell that I knew it was true she said,  "when you talk you have a light that shines from you and you can tell that you want to share that knowlege with others." She then said that she would read the book but that she still didn't want to pray. After that we closed up the lesson and left. Now I have no idea what will happen with her or if she really will read it but all I know is that she felt the same Spirit that I was feeling and that she has El Libro De Mormon and maybe we planted a seed and maybe one day something more will come of it.... but as of now we completed our pupose of inviting her and helping her to feel the Spirit and for that I loved that lesson so very much and I was so happy for the way that it turned out. :)

Also, I got your letters and the one from Aunt D.D.  And, I'm excited for my package....everything you have listed sounds perfect....thank you very much for putting it all together.

This week was great!

 

Talk to you guys soon....Love you all!

Elder Lignell

                                          Yes, I know we are weird but you sorta have to be weird to be a missionary :)

 

Week Twenty Five in Ecuador - Monday, May 12, 2014 - A New Companion...Working Hard and Loving It!

                                               

Okay so first off I'm so glad I got the opportunity to talk to you guys, it honestly was absolutely perfect in every way I was so glad that it all worked out!!! I really am so grateful for every single one of you and miss you all a ton but I know that I am in the place that I need to be right now and I know that the day when I do get to come home, it will be priceless to know that I served my time and that I gave my part for God.

My new companion is Elder Sanchez. He is from Mexico and the city San Luis Potosi. He's been out here for 14 months. And honestly he is great! I have really enjoyed my time with him and he has already taught me a ton. I am really excited to keep working with him because we have been working really hard and I feel like with him, we are really fulfilling our purposes as missionaries :) so it's wonderful and hopefully I get to spend a bunch of time with him! 

 

Oh and so if there is space in the package you send me,  he wants you to send tobasco sauce but if there isn't room don't worry about it. :)

I'm glad that you liked my testimony :)

I tried to really be sincere and explain some of the things that I've felt out here because it's not all easy and wonderful here all the time. I mean there are a ton of really hard parts but in the end all of those crazy hard parts really do help to strengthen your testimony and you learn how to really trust in God :)

Well anyways, I guess I will tell you about my week now. Okay so first off we have been working super hard! With Elder Sanchez we don't waste any time which is great because we are always busy but at the same time we are forced to find new people or else nothing will work out. But I have faith that we are doing what we are suppossed to and that we will be blessed for working hard and I have already seen a few of those blessings already!!

First we met this great kid, Investigator  A. and he is 18 and he went to church last Sunday and accepted to be baptized the 7th of June and he is wonderful! We taught him about the plan of salvation right before church and then that next day in church pretty much all of the lessons and topics related to the plan of salvation so I am so grateful that we taught him about it before so that he had a background knowledge.  And I know that the spirit testified that to us before and it was an amazing experience to take notice of that during church!

And also we have Investigator J. who is going to be baptized this next Saturday but we aren't sure how strong his testimony is and we want to watch him this week... So we don't know if we will really go through with the baptism or if we'll sorta just hold it off because it is diffuclt for him to show us that he actually has a testimony... so we'lll see... maybe I'll have a baptism this week and maybe not :)  

Other than that I am doing good it was absolutely wonderful to talk to you all yesterday :)

I'm excited to get my package and I was thinking last night how cool it is that Jacob learned the ukulele... I would love to learn the Uke so Bad!!!!!

Other than that I would love if you guys could pray for Investigator J. so that he can be baptized this week.

 Also for Elder Sanchez (my new companion) and his family.... that all can be well with them :)

 Love,

Elder Lignell

                                                      My New Companion - Elder Sanchez

 

Guayaquil, Ecuador

                                                                 Guayaquil, Ecuador

 

Week Twenty Four in Ecuador - Monday, May 5, 2014 - Crazy Week!

Ok hey guys I'm on the computer and this week has been interesting... but I'll talk about it later.

Our "P-Days" we pretty much just get up like normal... we study for two and a half hours then we clean the house, go drop off our laundry, buy food, eat lunch and then write our families and after that it usually is like 4 and so we sleep until 6 then we go to work... so ya they are pretty boring, but I've adjusted :) 

AND I DID GET THE PACKAGE FROM D.D. :))))) Tell her that I loved it so much!!! It was great and I have loved eating it!!

Tell Dad super happy birthday from me and tell him sorry that I didn't draw him a flower picking machine. But let him know that if he would like a gift I can draw something and send it haha :) 

But ya tell him I love him and he's the greatest Dad ever!!

That's sweet about jake's game tell him he's a baller and to keep it up. Oh and that we'll have to play when I get back to see who's better!!!

Oh and the question from Dad...I just get my hair cut wherever. The last week I got it cut from a member for 2 bucks but next time I want to go to a hair cutting place where everyone is a crazy big tattooed guy that cut your hair!

Ok now about my week:

 So the first part of the week was honestly one of the worst weeks I've had out here. And pretty much all of it was just because my companion is struggling with enthusiasm because he doesn't believe that he can have success here. So it has been crazy hard and I've been trying to help him keep a good attitude.

And on Saturday, I was feeling worse then ever, but then something happened. The husband of one of the members came running up to us and he was at the point of crying... he explained to us that his wife was in the hospital and in a really critical state.

Ok, so first I'm going to explain a little bit about this family. They are extremely poor.... like they sometimes don't have food to eat. All they have in their house is a bed, a toilet, a tv and a fan. Nothing else and there are 6 of them....the mom, dad, three daughters and a son. The mom is pregnant with another child and has been having a ton of problems with the baby and it may not live. 

 

The husband has hard a super tough life and lived a very hard life before. He robbed a bunch of people and stabbed them when he robbed them. He also was addicted to drugs but has recently overcome the addiction. He has been listening to our messages because he isn't a member.  

So on Saturday he came running up to us and told us that his wife was in the hospital and that the baby was really bad and that most likely either she or the baby will die. 

He needed money to buy pills and I helped him buy the pills that he needed and payed for a taxi. I used 20 bucks for that out of my own money and it felt really nice. It changed my whole mood about everything.

Then yesterday we went to visit him and he told us that everytime we come to his house he feels something amazing. He said he knows that we have been called of God and that were called to help him. He told me that he believes that God sends angels to the earth to help others and said that he believes that we are those angels :) 

Those two days changed my whole perspective about being out here and I am so happy I had those experiences. I love being out here and I love that I can help so many people in their lives.

 

I love you all!

Elder Lignell

Week Twenty Three in Ecuador - Monday, April 30, 2014 - Happy Almost Mother's Day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ecuador Guayaquil South Mission

 

Week Twenty Two In Ecuador - Monday, April 21, 2014 - Semana Santa Celebration

 

First off I am glad you guys had a great time in St. George for spring break it sounded like a blast!  

So this week started off great and we were working crazy hard and we got a bunch of stuff done and it was really nice to be having success and new investagators and to feel good about the way that we were working. However as the week went on it seemed like we just slowly had less and less success and our investigators sorta just dissappeared and were lost. Which is something you learn really fast on a mission. That somehow some people can just disappear..... like they'll be in their house all day everyday and then one day you'll never find them again..... maybe they just leave or maybe they just get really good at hidding from the missionaries :) but all in all the week went pretty well. 

 

Ok, so this week was the famous "Semana Santa" which is the traditon of the catholics to celebrate Easter but they celebrate it the whole week. So one thing they do is make this soup that has every sort of bean in it like kidney bean, lima beans and all the other ones that I dont know the names of. And it usually has fish too which is scary because they don't take all the spines out so you have to eat it very carefully. Well anyways everybody makes that soup and they eat it pretty much all week! So I ate it all week too and it wasnt my favorite but oh well it was an interesting experience. Also on Friday before Easter they all march in the streets representing the time when Christ marched with his cross. I have a picture I will send it to you guys.

Then something funny was that we were with our baptism date at his house and he was watching a movie about Christ that was on so we sat down and were talking to him and watching a little too and it was obviously a Catholic version of the movie cause at the part of the baptism of Christ, it shows Jesus go to John the Baptist to get baptized and he just kneels down in the shallow part of the water and John sprinkles a little water on his head to baptize him... haha so our baptism date was eating a little soup while this was happening and his wife was watching and she says "hey look how Jesus was baptized!" and my companion goes "oh no just keep eating your soup don't worry about it" haha I laughed so hard afterwards.

 However, the sad thing is that our investigator yet again didn't go through with his baptism and we are thinking about letting him go because he keeps saying yes yes yes and then the day of his baptism he comes up with something that he has to do... so ya I'm a little sad about that :( 

But other than that all is well and I had a great week!

 

                The march in the streets to represent Christ when he carried his cross

 

 

Love, Elder Lignell

 

Week Twenty One In Ecuador - Monday, April 14, 2014 - Finally Have Mastered Spanish :)

Hi Mom :) and Family!

I am doing well! 

Ok so first off yes Kathy's present was great!! I've loved it and the eggs are good too....I have been eating them and they taste the same as the real things! :)

I haven't received any of your letters yet or anything from D.D. recently :( 

Thank you for the five little tips I really enjoyed them!

And okay now about this week........

So first off, we didn't have the baptism of Investigator J this week either... :( he has been having a bunch of problems; The first week was because he got a stomach virus and was in the hospital and then this last weekend he had to travel to another city because a family member passed away. So we are still hoping that he can be baptized this upcoming Saturday but we will see how everything goes. 

Other than that I just wanted to share a few funny things about out here. First, I was thinking about how part of the word of wisdom talks about how we can't have tea and the funny thing is that we literally drink hot drinks almost every day down here because we have to boil our water! haha 

And it is so terrible when it is 100 degrees outside and we are drinking a hot drink too... haha but it makes me laugh.

Also this week I had the interesting experience of eating a cow elbow or some sort of cow joint and what it is, is just a bone that is surrounded in like 2 inches of pure fat... nothing else and you just eat the fat off and the people here enjoy it... It was probably one of my least favorite treats here so far haha. Other than that, we've been having sort of a hard time here in our sector in finding new people. We just pass by the same people everyday out here and it is too bad cause we just slowly keep losing more and more people.

But I have faith that we can find new people to teach and I have been studying in Preach My Gospel everyday to find out how to do stuff better out here :) that book really is amazing! Have Jake start reading it if he has time :)

Also I don't want to brag but I feel fluent in Spanish now!  I still miss a few words here and there but I can pretty much understand everything when I am reading in the Book of Mormon and when people talk. I can also say just about anything that I want to! I never thought this day would come when I first got here 6 months ago, but I really feel very comfortable with this language!

Love,

Elder Lignell
                                       Another 6-Month Missionary Like Me :)

 

Having a Little Fun At Conference

 

 

Week Twenty In Ecuador - Monday, April 7, 2014 - Yes, we had to evacuate for the Tsunami.

Hey guys :)

 

So first yes, we did have to evacuate for the tsunami!! But I will talk more about that in a sec.

 

And yes, conference was great. I enjoyed it a lot and yes it was all in Spanish :)

 

I'm glad everyone is doing well and yes I got the package from Kathy with the eggs and candy and stuff and I love it! Thank her so much for me!

 

And yes,we take our laundry to a Laundromat right now that a member owns and it is great. She folds it all up nice for us after too :)

 

Okay now about the week!!

 

So first it was pretty crazy because last Monday we had an announcement in the mission that we all had to put together 72 hour kits with food and clothes so of course, with everyone being missionaries we were all freaked out about revelation and stuff.  But then Tuesday night at like 10:00 p.m. we got a call saying we had to get our 72 hour kits ready and all the missionaries in Guayaquil had to go to houses that were three stories up or higher! So, since we live on the third flour we didn't have to leave but we had ten missionaries come to here to sleep. And guess what!? One of them was Elder Myers!....my friend from the MTC. He came and slept over and I was so happy because we just got to talk and I relate to him a bunch so it was awesome! I just got to sit and talk to him and we ended up talking until like 3:30 in the morning and like usual woke up at 6:30 so I only got 3 hours of sleep that night... haha but it was worth it. And the tsunami obviously didnt hit :) so everyone is fine but the President of the mission definitely did have a crazy revelation because he told us to put together those kits before the earthquake in Chili.... 

 

Ok now about confrence! its was great we brought 9 investigators in all to confrence and I enjoyed it a lot. There is actually an odd rule in this mission that if you dont bring investigators to the session you cant watch it... but luckily we got at least one person to each session and I was able to watch it all. Although I didnt understand all of it cause it was in spanish I was able to pick up all the simple messages and I enjoyed just listening to the choir haha

 

Then yesterday we had the two baptisms that I told you about last week... and they actually both fell through. The wife had a hard time with the Word of Wisdom and then yesterday we couldn't find the husband anywhere..... he honestly just disappeared so that was pretty tough... I was super disappointed and my companion had a hard time and he is still kinda having a hard time. 

 

So I was feeling kinda down too... but then this morning in my personal study I was reading about the Sons of Mosiah and I wanted to quickly share the story with you. Okay so first the Sons of Mosiah were terrible people "the vilest of sinners" but they were given the chance to repent and they took the chance and through that they had a wonderful knowledge of the atonement of Christ. Then they had the desire to share the gospel with others. (Mosiah 28:3) They went out to preach and brought 1000 souls unto repentence. (Alma 26:22) But it wasn't all easy for them and in (Alma 26:27) it says that at one point they wanted to go back but the Lord spoke peace unto them and told them to endure their afflictions and they would have success. Then in (Alma 26:30) it says that they did suffer all manner of afflictions to do the will of the Lord and to help others to find the light that they had. And finally in (Alma 26:31) it says that they did have success and that they suffered those afflictions but pushed forward and endured and they were blessed with 1000's of converts!! And I love that story and I know that I can do the same and I realize that I have to endure a bunch of sadness and afflictions out here but it isn't all in vain and I will be blessed if I endure my trials well and always remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for me :)

Tell Dad and Jake and Grandpa and Kathy and DD and Bob and Grandma and everyone that I love them :) haha chao

Love,

Elder Lignell

 

 

Week Nineteen In Ecuador - Monday, March 31, 2014 - Happy Birthday Mom

hey guys :) haha I'm so glad that you liked my present!! :) I thought it was a pretty creative idea. I remembered how much you loved the "Flower Picking Machine" I drew you when I was 5 years old, so I thought it would be fun to draw you an updated version for your birthday.  And you definitely deserve it mom, you've helped me so much and that was my small way of saying thanks for everything! Also, I wish you a very happy birthday today! Hope all goes well and I am glad you had a nice birthday dinner and got to see the new movie.

 

Thank Debra and Kathy so much for all of the packages and letters,  haha I'm excited to get them and ya, draw me a picture in your next letter haha:)

 

I am sorta adjusted to the heat. I mean it still is terribly hot but I don't feel like I'm dying from it anymore. But I do shower every day when I get home and I drink so much water, but I don't worry about the heat anymore. I just accept that it's always hot and do what I need to to survive haha like I don't sleep with any blankets at night and with a fan blowing straight at me because the nights are like in the 80's.

 

The food here is sorta different and there isn't too much. What I have noticed here is that the people are just more poor... they live in houses that are just like one maybe two rooms and it is all cement and they just section the different areas out like rooms, bathroom and kitchen with drapes. So usually a lunch is like a giant plate of rice and a piece of chicken so that's about what I have every day for lunch. In Loja there was more variety.

 

 We have two baptism dates for next week for conference and they are great! Their names are Investigator J and M. J is 69 and M is 60 and I love them so much.  J has traveled all around the world! He has been to France, Italy, Florida in the U.S and all of Ecuador. He talks to everyone in the neighborhood and everyone knows him!  He is super funnny and for some reason I think he thinks I'm like his best friend! He constantly is asking me questions about my family and what I did before my mission, and he is always inviting us to eat food which it great! We have taught him a bunch and he is super receptive. He wants to be baptized and I am so glad that we can give him and his wife that opportunity! 

 

I have honestely changed a bunch out here and I am starting to really notice it! For instance I really have joy for the investigators when they make the choice to be baptized and it really is the only way that you can be really happy out here; working hard and then being able to see the fruits of your efforts. It is still extremely hard out here and everyday I force myself to get up and study and to work but then to be able to see the spirit change peoples lives and touch their hearts makes it all worth it. 

 

I love you all so very much and guess what? Next week I will have 6 months out here... I can't believe it!

 

Love ya,

Elder Lignell


Updated Flower Picking Machine (Drawn by Austin at Age 19)



Original Flower Picking Machine on the Left (Drawn by Austin at Age 5)

Week Eighteen in Ecuador - Monday, March 24, 2014 - Another Baptism :)

Hey Family :)

I'm so glad you got my letter!! :)

And you'll probably get the next one soon for your b-day mom.

Well another week down and I'm starting to get used to Guayaquil . Like it has been crazy hard to always have so much heat here but I think I am getting used to it by now. However, I have been struggling a bunch here being tired all the time... It's weird and I don't know if it's the heat or what but I am just always tired and I can't really snap myself out of it. Also the missionary work here is just different which definitely isn't a bad thing, cause in Loja it was so hard to get people to come to church and here it is a ton easier. I love it because we can get so many more baptisms from the people who actually commit and come to church with us! :) However the people here love to talk to you! All you have to say is one word and the investigator or member will talk for 30 minutes which is just a little different because I find myself falling asleep while they are talking to me... haha and I just have never really been the type of person who just likes to sit and talk and talk so it's been a little different getting used to that.

I'm trying to take more responsibility so that I can just do everything and I like Elder Flores and we teach pretty well together, I just have a little bit more of getting used to his personality and I guess just doing what he tells me because I'm still the junior companion.

Okay but anyways, guess what?.... I had another baptism this last Saturday!

His name is Investigator J. and he is 56 and he is great! I had the opportunity to teach him for  a  week and a half and he had already gone to church a few times before and he accepted a baptism date for last Saturday so that was great! :)

And so now I have six haha well Heavenly Father has six :)

And now I would like to talk about a family;  Sister E and Brother A. They are a couple that lives together and they have been going to church for over a year now and they are working towards getting married and they are absolutely awesome and maybe I could get to baptize them!  I will send you a picture of them. They are so hilarious and they have kinda taken over as my new family for this ward and I wish you guys could meet them!

Also, you asked what was the hardest thing I've had to eat that someone has cooked me and that would be hands down....sardine soup....I could barely choke it down.  Although, I have to say that I really like chicken feet soup :)

Well anyway, I'm doing pretty well the only thing was like the motivation to work here because I am always tired but I love you all to death and I am so glad that everyone is doing well!

Love, Elder Lignell
This picture is from a park close by our house and there are iguanas that live in the trees.



Investigator J on his baptism day.

Sister E and Brother A.