Week Sixty Two in Ecuador - January 26, 2015 - So Hot, But Pushing Forward and Had Another Baptism!

Hey family!

Well this week has been great! We worked extremely hard. And it's definitely not easy right now in Machala because it is the hottest time of the whole year! You don't even know how tempting it is to sit down in the shade or hang out with all the members when the sun just melts everything, but the mission wasn't suppossed to be easy and we're given it all we got and we were extremly blessed in the fact that this Saturday we had a baptism!!! Hurray!!! It was sweet.

 

But I'll tell you more about it in a sec. So anyways it's hot and everyday we are in a place that is called the COCO haha go look it up on the internet...it's like a small little piece of Africa in the middle of Machala and pretty much everyone who lives there is  black... and they love to dance :) They have giant speakers that they set outside of their houses and blast bachata merengue, regaton and salsa choki and I love it, because the people aren't wealthy and they hardly have anything but they are happy and love life and dance like crazy ALL THE TIME.  

Our baptism that we had is named A and he also lives in the Coco and he's a great kid. The funny thing is, is that all of his friends and family aren't the greatest people they can be pretty scary looking... haha and wow it was a miracle that we were able to find A. He's a great kid and he loves the Gospel I was so amazed that he stayed strong and got baptized even when his whole family made fun of him and when they don't respect the morals of a worthy LDS member. It truly was a blessing to find him, teach him and see the way his face would light up as we taught him about the truths of the Gospel. As I talked about before with our other investigator, K. I feel like him finding the Gospel has been an escape for them both.... a way to feel at peace when a lot of the parts of his home life don't have that peace or calmness.  

I love this Gospel and the time that I have been able to have here in Machala. I have learned so much here in the short 2 months that I've had. I've learned that honestly your success as a missionary does not come through numbers. That our ability to have success in our missions really is just the ability to give it all we have and not rest. If we constantly work and strive to improve, God will make us feel successful, happy and at peace. It's the greatest feeling in the world to know that God is happy with us and to know that we are fulfilling his will when he answers our prayers.

So anyways, I'm happy and hope all is well at home.

 

Love, Elder Lignell            The Baptism of A.  He was so strong to follow through!

 

 

 

Week Sixty One in Ecuador - January 19, 2015 - Press Forward With Faith

Dear Family,

Thank you so much for mailing out the package. It sounds perfect. You guys are the absolute best!

And to answer your question Mom, yes I have given a blessing recently. In fact we give blessings weekly and to be completely honest sometimes I feel like my blessings are really being guided by the Spirit and then other times I feel like it's just a lot more of my own thoughts. I'm not sure if it's my fault in not listing to the spirit or if God is just trusting me in that moment to use my own thoughts and intuition.

Now about this week. It was wonderful! We have been working extremely hard everyday and it has been fun to see the small fruits of our efforts. And I was thinking, this time right now really is the best time in my mission for me to just give it absolutely everything that I have. Because why not...I understand the language, I have a good companion and a wonderful ward to serve in right now. Everything is just set up for us to have success here and this week we are going to go all out to get everyone in Machala baptized haha :)

It's been scaring me lately how short of time I have left... I felt a giant wave of anxiety to be able to complete all that I want in this two years and I have found some amazing scriptures that God has given us. For instance D&C 64:32-35  talks about not worrying because God works at his own pace, and councils us to never cease to do good but only to press forward with faith. And it's so true and it's not just a principle in the mission, it is a principle that we all have to learn for every aspect of our lives. To just not worry and know that if we continue in obedience and with patience, God will always pull through.

I love this gospel and I am excited to keep working. Sorry I didn't really have any cool investigator stories this week but I promise I will soon!

Oh and guess what? There is a new missionary that just got here to Ecuador and his name is Bowen Smith haha he is from our stake and he went to Brighton. He played basketball on the high school team and he coached Jacob at a bascketball camp one time!!! I don't have my camera right now but I will send you all a picture with me and him next week!

Well love you all!

Elder Lignell

Week Sixty in Ecuador - January 12, 2015 - Very Hot in Machala!!

Dear Family,


That is so awesome that Jake has been starting for the sophomores! I'm stoked to be able to see him play when I get back so he'll have to not get cut for his junior year ;) haha.


Thank you mom for the package. I'm excited and honestly I could use a tube of tooth paste and also if you can, the scripture stickers that go in the book of mormon :) and nothing else... I don't think I need the insoles so don't worry about it :)
 

That's awesome about Dad asking the question, and to be honest I have thought that before, about how come God had to wait so long to restore his Gospel to this earth. But like you said Mom, everything just had to fall right into place at the right time. A lot of it also could have to do with the actual plates of the Book of Mormon being hidden in New York in the Hill Cumorah. Joseph Smith was literally chosen to be born there in that town that had so much religious pressure in a country that had the liberty to start religions and have new ideas and obviously being close to the plates in actuality, all played a part in the restoration of the gospel. scriptures of Joseph Smith (acts 3:20,21) Apostosy Amos 9:12  4Nephi 1:27

Alright so now about my week. Well it has been great! This last week we worked really hard and it is so hot right now in Machala I get burned even when I put layers of sunscreen on... there is no way to avoid it! haha but I feel good and I'm getting along with my companion. He's a weird little Peruvian kid and he hangs his mooth open all the time and it looks like he just has no idea what's going on hahah but I've found the way to get along with him and help him out little by little. :) And as a missionary I've discovered that getting along with your companion is sooooo crucial to be happy and having success. And sometimes it can be a struggle, but when you figure it out everything just goes smoother. You can feel the Spirit, you find more people to teach, the members like you more, and all in all it makes you more happy. So I'm so grateful that my comp and I are getting along and this last week has been a blast...we found a ton of people!

A cool experience from this week is that I was able to visibly see that God answers our prayers. The week before I had asked him in prayer if we could be able to sit down and teach all of our investigators because in the weeks before we hardly were given the opportunity to teach our investigators. It was frustrating and then right after asking that, every single day our investigators weren't busy and gave us the time to sit down, start with a prayer and really be able to feel the Spirit. I was so thankful and blessed to be able to see in front of my eyes, God answering my prayers.

I know He watches out for us and I know He listens to us. I am so excited to keep pushing forward in this year and finish it all out strong :)

Love you all,

Elder Lignell

Week Fifty Nine in Ecuador - January 5, 2015 - Happy New Year !!

Hey Family :) 

Well I did actually have a nice week, and yes Machala does celebrate New Years. In fact it celebrates New Years a lot haha however, this New Years for me was extremely boring. I went to bed at 10:30 and woke up around 11:50 because of all the fire works and music. I thought about going up the stairs with my companion to see all of the lights from the roof, hopwever I was too tired haha so I watched the countdown on my bed on the little nokia phone that we have...pretty exciting :)

And to be honest, New Years this year actually made me a little bit more homesick than Christmas which is really weird... but everyone was with family and going on trips and listening to music and not in their house, so us working New Year's day was just pathetic to be honest. We didn't find anyone... and no one was out in the streets either... :( but now I'm glad because it's over.

Thank you for the scriptures that is so nice of you :) and with the shirts you can get the ones from Mr. Mac. They are neck size 16 and the brand is called ENRO and slim fit and thank you so much... I'm way excited for the ties and the scriptures!

Now about my week. Well as you all know it was New Years this week and in Ecuador they celebrate New Years for a lot more than just one night. They start the new year off with a party and just keep going and going and going. The parties started on the 31st around 7 at night and at 6 we were in the house by ourselves because of the danger of being in the streets, however New Years Day we left the house around 11 in the morning and it was a lot more dangerous then because the parties from the night before hadn't finished yet. They were still going strong and everyone was drunk. I couldn't even count how many drunk guys asked us for money that day or said bad words in English or invited us to drink and "start the new year off right" hahaha. But we made it through the day safely and back to the house to rest in peace. Then all in all the week was great.  We worked hard and found a ton of new people that are willing to progress and learn more about the Church. 

An interesting experience this week was that we have an investigator named Alexander and he is a little black kid who is 15 years old and his family and friends and pretty much everyone that lives around him is a bad influence. However he likes to listen to us and you can tell he truly understands when we teach him. 

The cool experience that we had was that we went to teach him on New Years Eeve and there was a giant party at his house, so I, not knowing what to do, invited him top sit outside with us on chairs to be able to teach him. We started with a prayer and read part of the Book of Mormon and I honestly don't know how it was possible with all the music inside, but I felt the Spirit enter into our lesson, you could see it in his eyes as he was reading he felt something... and later that week, he told me that he felt something. But it really amazed me how strong the Spirit can be. Obviously the Spirit won't always be detected when the environment isn't right, but God needed Alexander to feel that and maybe it even helped him to make some better decision that night. All I know is that God helps his children... He touches their lives and if we invite his spirit to come, it will come :)

Love you all to death!

Write back!

Elder Lignell

Week Fifty Eight in Ecuador - December 29, 2014 - Feliz Navidad!!!

Hey family, I just hopped on the computer and wow it was so great to be able to talk to you all on Christmas and yes I was sorta disappointed at first that I was not able to see you all for the whole time, but oh well at least I could talk and be able to listen clearly :)

 

What you shared is very true mom, there are a ton of disappointments in life and we really have to learn how to let things just roll off our shoulders and be able to move on... it's not always easy but it can be done and I definitely have been learning a lot about that subject here in my mission because almost all of our love here is put into other people and as we all know people don't always pull through... sometimes they lie or forget or find something they think is better, and as missionaris we have to always be remembering that people do have agency and the liberty to choose and we have to be able to stay happy when things just don't go our way! 

Anyways, I am sorry that you all are sick... that's too bad. I however, have pretty much gotten over all of my cold and feel fine now :) 

Tell Grandma and Grandpa and Kathy and Iylene and Steve thank you fo the money... it is greatly appreciated. 

Now about my week well it was Christmas here... it didn't feel like Christmas. It was extremely hot and they definitely dont celebrate Christmas here like they do in the US. It's not very family oriented. Everyone just goes to big parties to drink and Christmas Day they go to the beach for more parties haha sorta different...  

However I had a very Merry Christmas because this last Saturday the 27th we were able to have a baptism!!! Yaaay haha her name is D and she is so awesome! She has a crazy strong testimony of the church and had been attending for almost 6 months now. We helped her overcome a few problems that she had and she finally decided to be baptized! I was so happy to be able to be a part of that and she truly is going to be such a wonderful member of the church :) 

 Other than that we have been doing well I have loved teaching the investigators that we have. Mainly we have been focusing on two families that are great! I hope so badly that they will continue to progress and if so we will really start baptizing  lot here in Machala!!! :) 

I have been really learning a lot about the Spirit lately, and understanding a ton about what its function is and how to really be able to listen to and follow all of its promptings. The Spirit is truly amazing and it is so wonderful that God has given us that extra help we need to always be able to choose the right :) 

I got my Christmas package and that you sent and I loved it so much! Thanks!

 Love,

Elder Lignell                                In front of the Guayaquil Temple

 

Week Fifty Seven in Ecuador - December 22, 2014 - A Trip to the Guayaquil Temple - Beautiful Temple!!

Hey so I just hopped on the computer and hey this week I get to see you guys!!!! I'm stoked! It's going to be so great I feel like I haven't seen you all in forever like almost 8 months... wow so much has changed!! And no don't worry they all love me here in Machal.. we have a bunch of families that have offered us their house to be able to skype so I'm not worried at all :)  

Yes I am getting a lot more familiar with the area. I haven't gotten lost or robbed again :) And I'm feeling fine for Christmas. I try not to let things get to my head and just focus on my time here :) Also I'm way excited to spend time with the families here I get along with them really well. 

Oh and wow you had the missionaries over for dinner... tell me more about them! Were they cool where were they from? Did you ask them how the work is in Utah? haha tell me more details that kinda stuff interests me. :) 

And no!! don't have Jake have his wisdom teeth out, he wont be able to talk to me on Christmas!!! :( 

 Oh and yes I got all of the cards from you guys thank you so much I loved them! That was so nice of Aunt D.D. to put that all together! And also, I got the box from Grandpa and Kathy. You need to tell Grandpa that I loved his ties and I have been wearing them for him :) 

Ok so now about this week. Well it went pretty well the coolest pat was that we were able to go to the temple and do a session in Guayaquil!!! It was so cool wow. It was my first time being able to go to the temple here in Ecuador and for not being able to go for 14 months I felt like I really appreciated the opportunity. It was so beautiful inside and I had a way cool experience. I had an overwhelming feeling in the celestial room after praying, that I would be able to stay close to the Gospel my entire life.  

The temple was awesome and it helped me stay excited to work this week and we are doing okay if everything goes well we will have a baptism this Saturday which will be a perfect Christmas gift!! 

And now lastly I will Skype Christmas day around 2 in the afternoon will that be okay? 

 Love,  Eder Lignell
                                             The Guayaquil Temple in Ecuador

                                            In the Lobby of the Guayaquil Temple

                                      Me and Elder Myers

 

Week Fifty Six in Ecuador - December 15, 2014 - An Insane week!

 Dear Family,

Well thanks so much for writing me! This week has been absolutely insane. So wow that first little quote that you put at the begining of the letter was literally meant for me because this week I have been trying my best to be completely obedient but the blessing haven't really been showing up. haha

So I'll explain. Almost the whole week we hadn't found anyone to teach and then on Saturday we went to go visit all of the people that we had ready to go to church. One of our baptism dates fell through because he left to Quito that day... then a family that we were teaching told us that they didn't want anything to do with us... then to top that off we were looking desperately for a members house in an area that wasn't that safe... and me not knowing exactly how the area is because I have 3 weeks here and my companion only has two.  Well we go searching and I took a wrong turn down a path where there was no exit and unfortanely someone was watching us so as we turned around to leave and a black guy comes up at the entrance of the path and pulls a pistol out of his shirt and points it at me and yells, "give me everyhting you have."  That was the weird part, to have a gun pointed at you But I was actually pretty calm and somehow I smooth talked him into believing that I only had my money pouch and my watch when in reality I had a cell phone in my pocket and another ten bucks and my CAMERA IN MY BACKPACK... wow I was so lucky that he didn't just take the whole backpack. So ya that was crazy and I was a little shaken up afterwards but I'm all fine now, but the worst part of all is that that same day I had a baptism and that's why I had my camera, but the baptism fell through... the kid went and drank alcohol with his brother the night of his baptism and it fell through and his cousin who is member, was so sad! I hope so badly that we ca get him to be baptized this week but we'll see. I haven't talked to him so far...

 

SO anyways this week well to be honest has pretty much sucked. However, it's taught me a lot. Success as a missionary doesn't come through numbers, it comes through your diligence, your love for the people and the spirit that works through you. We did everything for him to get baptized and the rest will be up to God and the push that J puts to actually get baptized.

 

Well I am super excited for Christmas and to be abe to talk to  you guys! I can't believe that it's another Christmas... wow time flies! 

Well sorry for the not too happy email but don't worry, I am excited to keep working and we'll start baptizing soon!

 

Elder Lignell

Week Fifty Five in Ecuador - December 8, 2014 - District Leader and a New Companion :)

Well it's another Monday haha and another week down here in Ecuador. :)

First off, Gracias por el paquete :) jaja que tal si yo solo les escribo en español hoy día okay? no mentira no voy a escribir en español tranquilo :) okay so thank you so much for the package haha you guys are so awesome! Hope you didnt spend too much money on it... it sounds really expensive. you dont have to spend so much on me... :) 

But don't even worry about it mom, when I get it I will be happy :) 

Alright now about being district leader... I sorta enjoy it but ya at the same time it can be a little bit stressful, but I'm happy and I just wanna keep working. So this week has been sorta crazy though. This last Tuesday my companion had changes... the one from the U.S. And I sorta knew it was too good to be true when we got put as companions because we just got along too well... we both wanted to work and we worked well together. And the mission just isn't ever that easy. So unfortunately he left and got sent to Galapagos. and I recieved a new companion from Peru who has 3 months in the mission. He is just figuring everything out about the mission but he's a nice kid. Howevr, I was extremely sad to see Elder Hammond go. I'm pretty sure he would have been my best companion so far. 

But anyways I've just got to keep pushing foward and work hard. This week went well for us and we have some great investigators that we are working with. And to only have a week here and not know the area beforehand I feel like I'm doing pretty well in not getting lost haha. 

So this last Saturday we had a baptism and her name is K and wow does she have a tough life!! She lives in a place here called the Coco where pretty much all of the houses are made out of bamboo and it is super bad living conditions. In her house they sell alcohol and her step dad and mom stay up all night every night just drinking and there is always a giant party at their house. I feel like she really just likes the church because she can escape... it's like a sanctuary in the chapel compared to her living conditions. I was so happy that we got the chance to teach her and I was honered to get to baptize her as well :) 

I love this area! Machala is wonderful oh and I don't think I told you before Elder Myers is here in the zone and I get to see him almost everyday!! It's sooo awesome and it keeps me animated to always have a friend here :) 

And anyways this Saturday we have another baptism and his name is J. and he is super awesome. He loves to learn about the Gospel and he has a giant desire to change his life. He has a slight problem with drinking... so we have been working with him to let it go and to move on. I would love if you all could pray for him this week that he can get baptized and be excited to do it! 

Well I don't have too much else to say but I'm excited to keep working and hopefully YOu'll have a wonderful week :) 

Love Elder Lignell

Week Fifty Four in Ecuador - December 1, 2014 - A Lot Of Changes :)

Hey guys,

Well I have a ton to tell you this week.

I've had a lot of changes and I am now out of Guayaquil wooooow!!! I am in Machala, the city of the bananas... the banana capitol of the world haha and I absolutely love it. I have been called to be the district leader here and my new companion's name is Elder Hammond and he is from the United States from Rexburg, Idaho and he is awesome and I love him to death. He has 5 months in the mission and he is super animated all the time... he hardly ever frowns. It's great.

We are in a sector that is called los esteros and it is one of the best areas in all of the mission. The whole ward is super good about missionary work and they help us out a ton. This is one of the areas that baptizes the most in all the of the world... So it's absolutely perfect. I am so excited to be here and I love my companion. However, it's a big responsibility to be here too. We'll have to keep working hard and reach the potential of this area :) 

Although I am super happy here, it was hard to leave Esclusas...I loved that area and I made some amazing friends. I'll miss my crazy Colombian companion Elder Cardona but oh well, I had to leave at some time. 

Now about the week. So we worked extremely hard this week. And I got super burned haha (sorry mom) I got way burned caused apparently the sun is more potent here in Machala and also a big part of our area (named the Coco) doesn't have cement and it is just dirt and when you are there it honestly feels and looks like you are walking in Africa. About 90 percent of those that live in the Coco are black and almost all of the houses are made out of bamboo. It is awesome, sometimes dangerous but really sweet. We explored all of the area and we are seeing a lit bit of our efforts, and hopefully we will have one baptism the coming Saturday :) yeah!!!

And something funny this week that happened was that we were walking in the Coco and a little tiny dog started barking at us and it got really mad and got close to my leg so I kicked at it and it backed up but kept barking like crazy. So then we were about 70 or 80 feet away from it and I picked up a rock and just sorta winged it backwards at the dog and I drilled it in the butt hahahaha . felt way bad afterwards and I was so amazied that I hit it. It was hillarious, my companion was dying from laughter.

And today we bought a 10 dollar Christmas tree and set it up in the house :) it's sweet it has lights and everything.

So anyways I love it here in Machala and I'm so glad I have you guys in my life. I am grateful for everything that you've done for me in my life :) I hope you all have a wonderful week! 

Love, Elder Lignell

Week Fifty Three In Ecuador - November 24, 2014 - The Best Birthday Ever!

Hey guys I just got on. Well this week was awesome! Ity honestly was exactly what I asked for.

 

 So Saturday was my birthday and I wasn't sure if anybody was going to do anything for me but I was happily suprised and the family of our baptism this week threw me a party. They made a ton of food and a giant cake and got together with the ward and suprised me on Saturday.- It was so awesome I was so happy! Also my convert made me a small wooden bow and painted it for me as a present :)

However, despite all of the wonderful suprises my biggest wish was to be able to have baptisms on my B-day and my wish was granted and we had 3 baptisms on Saturday!! And wow, they are so wonderful!! So first of is K., she is 16 and she is a single mom and her sister is a member of the church. She accepted to be baptized and her sister helped her along to make it all happen.

Then next is V. and he is 68 years old and he loves religion however he can't read or write. But he loves listening and learning about the gospel. Everyday after teaching him he would thank us for coming and being able to enlighten his mind. After he was baptized he bore his testimony how he knew this is the true church and he was so happy to be here. He said he felt like he was born again in his baptism.

Last is F., she is 25 and she is one of my strongest converts! Her family are members but when they got baptized she was with a boyfriend that didn't like the church and so she chose not to be baptized. But now she is separated from him and was so happy to start going to church. Her family was the ones that threw me the party and she said the prayer on the food, in her prayer she said she was thankful for me in not giving up on her she said she feld stronger in the church and after her baptism she bore her testimony that she knows the church is true and how grateful she is to have it in her life! :) 

So honestly it was one of my best birthdays that I have ever had.

 Thanks for all you guys do and all of your birthday wishes!

 Elder Lignell

 

 

 

 

Week Fifty Two in Ecuador - November 17, 2014 - I Just Love The People Of Ecuador!

Thanks for the letter mom I loved it :) That's so sweet about Jake...tell him congratz for me! Oh and ya I dont want to think about turning twenty I feel super old... but also I am pretty excited because we have 3 baptism dates set up for that Saturday!! I couldnt be more happy about that. 

And you're completely right. I have the perfect family and I couldn't ask for anything more. And about what you thought that time in sacrament meeting is wow exactly what I feel like the theme of my mission should be. In my patriatical blessing it says that the success of my mission will be directly related in my ability to forget about myself and put all of my thoughts into the lives of others. The gospel is about so much more than just ourselves. but the wonderful promise that God makes us in Lucas 17:33 is that if we forget about ourselves and focus in God and helping others we will find who we truly are. We will be better people and we will deserve our spot as sons and daughters of God. So thanks for sharing that because I completely agree. 

Ok so now about my week. This week was great we taught well and we worked hard and I felt the Spirit in a ton of our lessons. I absolutely am falling in love with the people here in Ecuador haha they feel like my family although I never want to live here and Dad, Mom and Jake you guys are better so don't worry. But for real, I feel so much love for the people here and this week we were so blessed with those people we found and the success we had with them. Not to brag or be prideful but on Sunday we brought the most people to church that we ever have... 15!!!! And this Saturday 3 baptisms!!! Wow. Well we are working hard and living up our time here, I love my comp and ya all is well I will let you know how the baptisms end up this Saturday :)

 

Love you all to death and write me back ;)

Elder Lignell

 

P.S.  My pictures this week look like all we did was play all week but I promise, we really worked our butts off :)

 

 

 

Week Fifty One in Ecuador - November 10, 2014 - Little by Little

Dear Family,

Hey, so I just hopped on the computer, and so first off I got your two packages and I also got the package from D.D. and thank you both so very much... the packages were perfect. I loved them to death and they gave me a nice boost this week. 

 

Now about the homesickness... no I'm fine don't worry about it... I still love it here :) haha

 

What else, well now to answer Grandpa; the people here, well for the most part have their own businesses that they make but they are small businesses. For instance where I'm at right now is a little internet cafe with five computers and we pay 50 cents an hour to use the internet.  Another example is a little store that sells food and drinks or a little car wash business in front of someone's house or taxi or bus driver. Those are the main jobs that they have here and unfortunately they don't pay very much and those who work for companies get payed monthly about 300 to 400 dollars.

 

Alright so now about my week. Well this week was sweet, we had some awesome lessons with our investigators and we have a ton of people that are just about to be baptized... haha but that's the annoying part, they all amost can be baptized, it's just that every single one has something that they are missing to take that last step. For instance if everyhting just fell right into place we would have 7 baptisms just this Saturday. So we are working crazy hard so that all of that can work out! We have a whole family that wants to be baptized and I would love if you could pray for them this week that their father will soften his heart and be able to feel the Spirit.  Also, if you could pray for the "S" family that the husband and wife can get back together and stay strong in the Gospel. 

 

This week I have been studying a lot about the atonement. So you guys should read in 3 Nephi 27 Alma 7 and 1 Nephi 19:9. They are sweet and honestly everything we have in this life is thanks to the sacrifice of Christ. The only reason we can be happy is because he paid for all that makes us sad allowing us to change to triumph over weaknesses and someday become like him.

 

I love this Gospel I know sometimes it is hard to live it, but if we aren't willing to suffer a little bit of what Christ felt we will never truly understand how important his sacrifice was for all of us :)

 

Love you all to death,

 

Elder Lignell

Week Fifty in Ecuador - November 3, 2014 - Great New Companion

Hey guys.... whats up? :) 

Well I'm glad everyone is doing well and that's funny about the house and how you're all living in the living room with all the furniture in one room. And to be completely hones, you guys shouldn't complain... the way you have the living room set up right now is actually what an extremely wealthy Ecuadorian would have as their whole house. They put everything together... the sofas, beds and kitchen with the tv...in one room, so feel lucky that its only for a couple of weeks and not forever hahaha. That's great about Jake going for his first drivers ed road ride.... it made me laugh that his instructor fell asleep while he was driving... it must have meant that he trusted Jake a lot. ;) 

And that's sweet about your scripture study class last Saturday. It is true you do need to mark the scriptures it helps you learn them so much bettter!! And yes send me the scripture marking pens and I would love some cool colored pencils as well. Some that you think would be good for marking as well :) Oh and so like post-it tabs the ones that are different colors and small enough just to put a tab to mark a scripture. 

And well this week went well. I get along really well with my companion and he is a great missionary. I beleieve that with him I have had some of my most spiritual lessons so far out here on the mission. Which is awesome... I never really knew what it felt like before coming here to have the whole room filled with the Spirit and to just be able to see everyones faces light up and be able to recognize those feelings. I love the way the Spirit can change peoples hearts and desires. It gives us light and a new love and makes us feel happy wanted, special, and excited to press forward. 

I have learned here that to have the Spirit, it is essential in missionary work and essential in our everyday lives, if we want to have the guidance of Christ. And the key to having it is being worthy and asking God, and searching for it in our times of need. God is willing to help us in all that we do, and if we put forth our part he is obligated to do his. 

Well anyways those are some of the thoughts that have been going through my head in this last week. And I have been trying my hardest to look for the guidance of the Spirit in all that I do. 

So sorry I don't really have too much to share about this week. It was pretty normal but I am excited to keep pushing forward. Oh and the baptisms will be coming soon in a few more weeks and we'll have a bunch :)

Anyways,  I love you all to death and hope you have a wonderful week!

Elder Lignell

Week Forty Nine in Ecuador - October 27, 2014 - Lots of Pictures For You This Week

Hey Family,

Jacob looked good for MORP.... hope he had an awesome time! And of course a good night kiss... haha just kidding he's too young :)

About being stressed out. Ya know what... truthfully yes I do stress out a lot and I feel like it is one of my weeknesses recently in the last few months I have been trying really hard not to stress out and to just stay calm and let things pass as they do. However I definitely don't always succeed. 

But this week was awesome!! And guess what all of your prayers for the man that you don't know worked! He got baptized! So I'll tell you the story. 

So all week I had been praying my heart out that Investigator R. could be baptized and that he would have the strength to be able to overcome his addictions and recieve a remision of his sins. Every single day we passed by his house to check up on him and see how he was doing and on Thursday, two days before his baptism he told us a story about how he had bought a cigarette and was going to give up on trying to quit smoking. However as he lit up the cigarette, the butt end fell off right as he lit it up and he was so frustrated, he threw the cigarette away and didn't smoke! He took that as a sign that God wanted him to go through with his baptism and he pushed through and Saturday at 7:00 he was able to be baptized! After his baptism he told us that he felt clean and that he felt like he was a new person. You don't even know how happy it made me to be able to see him take that step in his life. He obviously still has a long way to go to continue putting away this vice in his life but wow, God truly does answer our prayers and he trully does fight against the devil to help us to succeed. I was so very grateful and it strengthened my testimony a ton on the power of prayer. 

 Other than that I am great. My companion is a stud! He's hillarious. And we cook food all the time in our house. We make egg and hot dog sandwiches, colombian bread and this week we're gonna do french toast. Haha we also the other night played soccer in our house and not to brag but I beat a Colombian, Peruvian and a Chilean... hahaha 

So this week was awesome we are working hard and I love the area that I am in right now! 

 I love you all to death!

 Elder Lignell

                                               Investigator R.'s Baptism

                                                   Investigator R's Baptism

                                             Investigator L's Baptism - she is 76

                           Investigator D's Baptism - She is 74, loves to read
                                            is so sweet and loves to go to church.

                                                         Group Picture :)

                                          Me with a fake rattail :) Look Close :)

                                              Eating Crab......Yum!!

                Crazy Dangerous Houses Built Above The River Out of Wood

                     Me and My New Companion....We Are Cooking Up a Storm!

 

 

Week Forty Eight in Ecuador - October 20, 2014 - 75 Year Old....So Ready to Hear The Gospel

Hey guys,

Well another week down and my week was interesting. It wasn't the best week of all time but definitely not the worst either. 

So first off we had a baptism!!!! Hey her name is Investigator D. and she is 75 years old and it was honestly the biggest miracle to be able to find her. I'll tell you a little about how it all happened. So one day as we were walking my companion points out a lady sitting in front of her house and he says, "one day we have to go pass by her because she would always say hi to me and my last companion." Then the next day as we were passing by again I thought, hey why not.... so we passed by and talked to her. In the first contact we invited her to go to church be baptized and gave her a Book of Mormon... and she accepted everything without a doubt. Then the next day we passed by to talk to her and she had read the first 10 chapters out of the Book of Mormon! And was still excited for her baptism. Well to make a long story short she went to church her three times and recently was baptized this last Saturday then on Sunday for her confirmation she came to church an hour early by herself and was patiently waiting for the meeting to start. She honestly is just a testimony that there truly are people just chosen and ready to be baptized and accept the Church. Wow... it was an amazing experience being able to get to know her.

And now this next upcoming week we can possibly have another baptism as well and his name is Investigator R. and he is 40 years old. He is super super excited to get baptized but his challenge is that he has been smoking and drinking coffee since he was a little kid. So he'll have to give it up for good. I would love it if all of you could help pray for this investigator to get baptized this week... it would mean a lot! :) 

And last, I now have a new companion. His name is Elder Cardona and he is from Bogota Colombia! I just barely got back from the bus station dropping off Elder Muñoz. So ya I'm excited to work with my new companion! 

Other than that I am doing well and I'm happy. I hope everything is going well for you guys! Well I love you all to death.  I'm so sorry, but this computer will not let me send pictures.  Hopefully I'll be able to send them next week.

Elder Lignell

Week Forty Seven In Ecuador - October 13, 2014 - Crazy Power Outage, But Neat Experience

Dear Family and Friends,

 This week has been good;  we worked super hard and we saw a ton of the fruits of our efforts :)

We started out the week sorta slow and we didn't find very many knew people or get any progress done but then we just started getting blessed with more and more people that accepted the challenges and are now moving along!

 

And to top it all off we had a baptism this week! The investigator that had her date set for conference weekend and she got back from her trip and was able to get baptized!! Her name is Investigator L. and she is 74 and I had the wonderful opportunity to baptize her :) I'll send pictures next week as this computer won't let me attach them.

 

Then yesterday after church we had an interesting experience...so we were walking down the streets at about 7:30 p.m. at night and we see a giant flash light up the whole sky! Then all the lights go out in the whole part of the Guasmo Sur so everything goes black! And here it is extremely dangerous to be out in the streets during a power outage because all the robbers take advantage of that time to rob. (also we were in the most dangerous part of our sector.) SO we immediately looked for the closest members house and jumped inside The family is Family R. and they were nice enough to let us hang out there, but the best part of all was that while we were there we sang hymns with them, I honestly felt the spirit so strong and I strengthened my testimony a bunch in being able to appreciate the little things, like being able to sit with a small family in their house and sing hymns with them during a power outage and I could feel the presence of the Holy Ghost. You could see everybody's faces just beaming in the candle light... it was sweet! Then the lights came back and we were able to leave safely.

And now lastly, well as you know I have completed a year as a missionary!!! I honestly can't believe it and to think about the progress I have had as a person in this last year is absolutely unreal!  To be completely honest, it has been the best year of my life.  I have seen so many blessings and miracles that I had never even thought were possible. I've seen people completely change their lives and truly find I can hardly believe it... I am so grateful to be out here and to be able to be a missionary and be part of this work.  I'm so grateful for all the love and support from every single one of my family and friends.  I love this work and I am really appreciative that I have one year more to be able to give all my time as a missionary and hopefully continue to grow and progress as a disciple of Christ. I know this church is true and I know God loves us and I know he takes a part in all of our lives. I know that he is calling us at all times we just have to be the ones to reach out our hands and grasp his.  I wish you all the best and pray for you every single night.

 Love you all to death!!!

Love, Elder Lignell

Week Forty Six in Ecuador - October 6, 2014 - Almost My Year Anniversary :)

Hey guys so I just got on the computer and I had a great week. 

So as you know, this last week was conference weekend and the rule that we have in this missions is that if you don't bring investigators to conference you can't go to watch the session. But amazingly I was able to bring investigators to every session! :) And I had a pretty cool experience.... so this whole last week I was praying about conference and that we would be able to find someoneto bring to the sessions so that I would be able to watch them. Anyway so right before presithood session starts our investigator that we had left so we were sad! We then went to a member's house and told them about that so the mom somehow understanding what we needed went to the other room and told her non-member son to go to the conference with us... and he did!!! It was awesome and I thought that the priesthood session was one of the best ones I've ever seen haha maybe just because I actually paid attention haha but really it was good!! 

 I'm also now senior companion!!!!  I'm very glad at this new situation. 

Ok and now about my week.... so we worked super hard this week and we invited the whole Guasmo Sur to go to conference haha!! I swear as a missionary the conference weekends are the most stressful things of all time!! The stake center where the conference was being broadcasted is 30 minutes by bus from our sector and we had to gather everyone up to get them in the bus and then take them there and when there is only two hours in between every session it is super hard to find everyone and get them in a bus thirty minutes before the session, five times in a row haha so I'm exhausted...... but it was worth it!

 

We brought in 10 different people and some of them went to more than one session :) We have two baptism dates that are awesome and are progressing very well and the conference was so good!!!  I loved that they talked a lot about our desire to stay on the path of God and be able to follow his doctrine. Honestly, I felt the Spirit so strong in this conference and I know that the Prophet and his Apostles and all of the 70's are called of God and chosen to instruct us in this life :)

 And I'm stoked to start working again this week.  I love this gospel and I love being a missionary, so I have to make the best of this next year that I have ;)  I love you all!

 

Elder Lignell

Week Forty Five in Ecuador - Monday, September 29, 2014 - People Are Ready To Hear The Gospel

Hey family how's it going? 

Well this week has went well :) 

Ok so first off that is fine with the pant's... they sound perfect and I did have an idea about the package... I was wondering if you could send me one of those big Ecuador flags from Zurchers and I can have my companions sign it and stuff. I thought that might be cool.  

And wow Mom, that is pretty crazy about the lecture you heard concerning African women... it's amazing how different cultures in the world can be. For instance here, it is perfectly acceptable to hit and beat your kids and wife as well the teachers here have the right to beat the kids for talking out of place. 

 Alright so now about my week. well actually not too much happened this week, although I did hear some gun shots outside of the house last night and I saw the man run past our house with the gun haha but that's pretty normal here in the Guasmo Sur of Guayaquil! 

And I just wanted to tell a small story. Okay so last Friday we were doing something the we call "Divisions" where with the members of the church you can split up from your companion and do visits and that way cover more area in less time. So anyway we were doing that and I was with a 20 year old member who was baptized about 4 months ago. We had this small little girl come up to us and tell us that she wants to go to church but that we need to go "pass by her house" So I was like well ya alright, let's go to your house but she just said, "I can't go, I have to go to the store" so she pointed to her house and then left. So we then went to her house and knocked on the door and her sister came out and so we started talking to her.  Well, one thing led to another and I invited her to go to church and she accepted. Then I felt like I should invite her to be baptized as well and she also accepted that!  We told her we would pass by Sunday to get her to take her to church and she said okay.  Then on Sunday when we got to her house, she was all ready to go and left with us to church :)

The point of this story is that as missionaries, there truly are people just ready to hear us we just have to reach our hands out and find them or in other words invite all to come unto Christ. 

 Well I'm way excited to go to Confrence this next weekend and I hope you'll all be going as well. Or at least watching at home :) 

 And Mom I am studying in the Bible in the Book of Mark and in the Book of Mormon I am in the last chapters of Alma :) 

 

So just to close, I wanted to send a picture of the family that gave me the watch and feeds us like every day!  They are so awesome :) and I love you all to death and I'm enjoying myself out here.

 

It really is the best two years.... the hardest hottest sometimes most disappointing best two years of your life!  haha I honestly wouldn't trade it for anything and in spite of all the crazy hard stuff that happens here I'm happier than ever but obviously I do miss you guys so don't worry, I haven't forgotten :) well love you.... all until next week.

 

Love,

Elder Lignell                             
                                             Our Recent Baptisms

                                              Acting a Little Silly at Home :)

                      The Family That Replaced My Watch and Feeds Us :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week Forty Four In Ecuador - September 22, 2014 - I Love Ecuador !!

Dear Family:

 

 Mom, that made me laugh about your research meeting in Las Vegas because here in Guayaquil they play cards in the street and they play for money but guess what game they play? They play Gin Rummy !!!! hahaha It's great but all the old people sit out there and play oh and also they do bingos here like the game bingo and all the house moms go to them because the prizes are like giant bags of rice or tuna fich cans and of course metal fans because it's always hot here. But they sell the bingo cards for five dollars a piece and there are always like fifty women playing so I'm pretty sure they make bank setting up bingo matches. 

Okay now about my week.... it was great we are working hard here and this Sunday we were super blessed and brought 14 investigators to church!!! It was awesome!! We have two people that are getting prepared for a baptism and they are awesome... one of them is named Investigator L. and she is almost 80 years old and can hardly walk but we have been helping her to come to church and she loves it and is way excited for her baptism :) 

We found this way cool family where there is this 16 year old kid named Investigator J. that we met him  just passing by his house and we started talking to him from behind his gate and immediately he just invited us to sit down and talk without us even saying anything! So we talked to him and invited him and his family to church and they came on Sunday! Then on Sunday night we wacthed a movie about Joseph Smith in their house and we explained about the restoration. After it finished I explained why I liked the movie and why it was so important to know if Joseph Smith is a prophet and as I was explaining, I realized that my Spanish was just flowing out more smooth and better than I had ever talked before!  It suprised me and the Spirit hit me like a block in the chest. After explaining everything my companion and I asked them to be baptized and they accepted and also accepted to pray to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet :)

 Okay and now two wonderful things about the people here in  Ecuador... they are super generous and are always looking out for each other... so as you know I had my watch stolen about three months ago. Well I haven't had time to go look for another one and I felt sorta bad because the other day I went to a member's house and they had bought me a new watch... and they refused to let me pay for it... then a kid from this ward was leaving on his mission and as a suprise gave me a soccer jersey! I was way shocked. It was so nice.... I love Ecuador!!

 Okay and last something funny is that Elder Quintero my companion I had in Loja, was also here in this same area where I am now and the funny thing is that I had given Elder Quintero one of my ties and he had borrowed another one... haha he then gave away both of those ties to members here in this ward so Sunday when I went to church I saw both of my ties being worn by members and the best part was that Elder Quintero had written my name on the back of the ties to remember where he had gotten them from haha so they both had my name written on the back but obviously I just let the members keep them... they are in better hands now anyway :)

Well this week went well and I hope all is well at home :)  (Pictures to follow next week :))

 

Love,

 

Elder Lignell

Week Forty Three In Ecuador - September 15, 2014 - The Spirit Was Able to Touch Her Heart

Hey family!!!!

So another week down, and ya I am just hanging out here in the Esclusas in the area of Guayaquil that is called El Guasmo Sur which turns out to be another one of the most dangerous parts of Ecuador...... look up on the internet "Guasmo Sur" in Guayaquil and put in "the mosquito" and see what turns up. "The mosquito" is this super poor part of our area where it is crazy dangerous haha but don't worry I'm being safe.

Alright so tell Jake I'm proud of him for giving his talk in sacrament meeting :) And tell him to have a blast at Homecoming!

Okay, so my new companion is cool. I mean I like him... he's sort of quiet but I know the changes are inspired from God so I'll just have to learn whatever I can from him and enjoy the time that I have here.

And in answer to your question, no I have never gone through the temple here, I would love to but we don't have any time that we can actually go unless the president invites us....well I'll at least go once before I leave.

Okay and now about my week.... so we actually had a baptism this last week and it was sweet! Her name is Investigator N. and she is a sweet little black girl that was worried to go to her baptism because her mom had left and she wasn't able to be with her for the baptism and it was actually a cool little spiritually experience that we had before her baptism.  Now, I don't want to share this to make it seem like I'm the best missionary in the world but it was something that I said to her that moved her.

We were at her house and she didn't want to go to her baptism because of her mom not being there and my companion was talking to her and there were two other missionaries with us and they all talked to her and told her tht she should just come to her baptism and they were telling her  how everyone was there waiting for her at the church and then out of nowhere I got the impression to say  "look those people are waiting for you, but you aren't going to be baptized for them. God wants you to be baptized and he is the one waiting for you. I know you feel nervous now but I promise you God will take those nerves away from you and the second you go under water, all of those emotions will be changed to peace and joy." Then after I said this to her she nodded her head and walked in her room. Then about two minutes later, she came out with her clothes and left with us to go to the church.   Now, I know that nothing I said changed her mind all. All I know is that something prompted me to say that and then that Spirit was able to touch her heart. Her baptism was beautiful! I felt the spirit so strong that night and I was glad I was able to share that moment in her life.

Other than that I am woriking a lot on my obedience. I want to be the most obedient missionary possible. I want to be able to feel the Spirit every single day and really know that the people I am teaching can feel that Spirit. I love a scripture that talks about obedience that is in Mosaih 2:41 that shows how joy comes from the being obedient and then in 2 Nephi 2: 25 says that our purpose in life is to have joy.  So joy comes from obedience and the purpose of life is to have joy, so if we are not obedient we won't be happy and we won't be able to fulfill our purpose as human beings..... it's as simple as that!

Well, love you all so very much and I  hope you have a little time to write me back :)

Elder Lignell