Week Seventy Five in Ecuador - April 27, 2015 - Doing Just Great and Enjoying It All

Hi Family,

 

Anyways,  I'm glad everyone is doing well. This week has been interesting! We have found a few more people that are really great. One of them is named V. He is 85 years old and he is hilarious, he always said hi to us when we passed down his street and finally this last week we contacted him and invited him to go to church. Well he went this last Sunday and he is preparing for a baptism. But the best part is that everyday when we pass by his house to teach him, we strengthened his testimony just a little bit more. The first day we explained the gospel of Jesus Christ and he accepted his baptism date but also had a lot of excuses why he shouldn't go through with it. The next day he was worried about what his wife would think but at the end said he would just follow God and then the last lesson we had with him, we taught the restoration of the gospel and at the end of the lesson he just said,  "I accept your message to be true!" It was awesome! He is so great and I am so excited for his baptism.

 

Other than that my week has been great! We celebrated a few of the members birthdays as you saw in the pictures and we helped two people get baptized for the other elders. The two kids have a dad who is a member but he is in-active and his kids have gone to church a bunch but he didn't want them to get baptized. So on Thursday night I went with my companion and we had a super spiritual lesson about the importance of baptism. You could see the Spirit touching the heart of this and he then accepted to let his children get baptized. I was stoked!  

So anyways I had a great week. Thank you for the skype account and of course I have not forgotten I am way excited and I will make sure that I can see you guys this time!!

 

Love to you all,

 

Elder Lignell                                         Lots of Birthday Celebrations!

                                                A Sweet Family That Feeds Me A lot!

                                            Enjoying My Own Cooking!!!

                                             Just Clowning Around with My Companion :)

                                    Making Appointments With Investigators.

                   My Companion is Great...We Work Hard, But Have  A Lot of Fun!!

                                    More Birthday Celebrations With Ward Members

 

 

Oh and mom I feel so terrible. I forgot to wish you happy birthday.... for real I feel bad, but I guess I'll wish you happy birthday now! I love you so much... you are the greatest mom in the whole world. For real and you have helped me so much throughout my life, I definitely would not be who I am today if it wasnt for you. Love ya

 

Elder Lignell

Week Seventy Four in Ecuador - April 20, 2015 - Learned How To Cook Empanadas :)

Hi Family,

 

Well fortunately I made it through another week in the mission hahaha :) actually this week has been great we worked sooo hard, and it was a ton of fun!!! We found some really cool people!! The zone has completely turned around and we have been starting to have a lot of success. I'm definitely excited cause that means that we'll start to baptize again soon! :)  

Anyways that's great about Jake Mortimer and that he had a wonderful experience as a missionary. I agree with him it is the best descion you can make in your life.  

I'm glad that everyone is doing well! I can't believe its spring, time is flying by... 

And mom I'm doing fine,  it is a lot of stress right now and I have a ton of responsibilities but God is helping me and I'm figuring it out little by little. I feel great and I'm excited to keep working.  

This week we had a few of our investigators come to church and one of them we had to go into his room and shake his bed and throw pillows at him and finely he got up, (he didn't mind :)) but it was great because after church ended he said he was glad that he went and that we had bothered him enough so that he would go. hahaha 

Other than that on Sunday after church I cooked empanadas at the matute families house (the lady who wrote you) and my companion made juice... it was fun and now I know how to make empanadas!! I'll have to cook you guys some when I get back! 

Now on the spiritual side, this week I have been noticing a lot that for me in my personal life God has acted in a lot of little tiny ways. They aren't things that are so noticable at every moment but when I look a little bit deeper I find all of the wonderful blessings that God gives me daily. In my patriarchal blessing it says "through diligent prayer I will see that God answers me and is in my life in the small aspects" and this week I really have been noticing it. A lot of times as humans we look for big answers big facts and big events to establish our beliefs and knowledge. I feel like our ability to find God, relates directly with our ability to see the little miracles in our lives, and search for him in every aspect of our lives. Because he's always there :)

 Love you all, 

Elder Lignell

Week Seventy Three in Ecuador - April 13, 2015 - Crazy Rains In Ecuador!

Alright guys well I'm here, and this week has had quite a few things
happen. But first off I'm really glad that you all had a wonderful
time in Mexico and I'm sorry I was not able to accompany you to help
speak Spanish haha :) That's crazy about the returned missionary! It
shows that you've gotta really make an effort to stay active after
your mission as well, because if you're not careful you might end up
like him.

First off  I have a new companion from Colombia his name is Elder Murillo. But the
crazy thing is that it is his first time being zone leader so I am
now senior zone leader and I'm training him as a zone leader. So now
all the pressure of the zone is on my shoulders! However this week
we worked super hard and it was a ton of fun. I am really excited for
the chance that I have to be companions with him.

Also this week we had a baptism!!! It was super unexpected because this kid never wanted to get baptized he has been going to church for the last 2 years and he knows all of the missionaries that have been  here, so it was a miracle that we were able to help him make the decision at the last minute! It was just perfect, however this week I also got way sick on Thursday and had a fever of almost 103 degrees but the weird thing was, that the fever was the only real symptom that
I had. I felt normal, but I was just burning up so for part of the week the mission president made me stay in bed all day... but don't worry now I'm feeling a lot better.

So anyways it was a weird crazy week, I have a ton of pressure right now but I feel like I'm handling it somewhat well. I like my new companion a lot, and it is a ton of fun training him, and wow God
trully does bless us for being diligent. :)

Hope you all are doing great!

Love,

Elder Lignell

                  And You Thought The Rain During Conference Was Bad There!

                      Our recent convert....we all got soaking wet with the crazy rains!

               The kids in my ward who love to come with me on my visits.

                                             A kid who I think looks like Mitch Hess :)

                                               A ward member

Our recent baptism!

Week Seventy Two in Ecuador - April 1, 2015 - A Sister Reaching Out To You From Ecuador About Elder Lignell

Well that is awesome that you got the email from Hermana Matute... haha she is great. And I have a good story this week about them that I'll tell you in just a sec.

So first off, I'm sooo jealous about everyone going to Puerto Vallarta. Hope you all have a blast, you'll have to send me a bunch of pictures.

Alright so now about my week.

It was actually pretty crazy this week because in all of Ecuador it is raining, but raining a lot. It's like mini floods that pass by. So anyways on Thursday we were teaching an investigator with the son of the lady that wrote you. (named moroni) and we hear rain outside. Well we finished the lesson and went to leave and to be honest, you could hardly see in front of you the rain was so thick. So together with Moroni we ran back to his house to get out of the rain, and getting to their house we noticce that their whole family is in a panic running in and out of their house with buckets full of water. What had happened is that behind their house they have a smal little patio but it doesn't have a drain pipe; it's just cement and their rain gutter. So the back of their house broke because of all the water so their back patio was completely filled with water and it was starting to get into the house. 

So like any missionary would we jumped right in to start taking buckets out of water attempting to save their house from the rainstorm. To be honest we worked for about an hour and a half taking buckets out filled with water until we finally had the brilliant idea to pray. We then kneeled down in about three inches of water in their house and said a small simple prayer asking for the rain to stop if that was God's will. During the prayer I felt the strong impression that the rain would stop but only if I kept working and didn't give up. So for about 30 min. more being completely exhausted, we kept taking out buckets and guess what. The prayer got answered. The rain stopped, the house didn't have any true damage and my testimony grew just a little bit stronger. :) It was amazing to see the power of prayer and just how much God truly listens to us. After all was said and done I had a thought come into my mind of Ether 3:1. It talks about how much the Brother of Jared had to do to get his prayer answered. And shows us that if we ask with faith and we are diligent in working for that prayer to be answered, God will fulfill our wishes. 

Other than that the week was great; the conference was awesome, they talked a lot about marrige... maybe it's a sign that I'll get married soon.... hahaha... no I'm definitely still a little kid. ;)

Love you all to death,

Elder Lignell







Hi  my dear  friend Elizabeth.  I am from Guayaquil- Ecuador.  I am a member  of  the Church  26  years ago. I have 6  children. My  older son   was a  missioanry  in our  country Mission QUITO ECUADOR   2009-2011, My second  son is  a  missionary.  He is  serving in Mission Chihuahua  Chihuahua México.    He  has 18 months in his  mission.  my  3th son   will serve in his  mission in 2   1/2  months  .  My other son is 5 and my daughter is 13.  MY HUSBAND  IS A  FIREMAN.

 Your son is in my  ward.   He is our  Zone Leader  here. He is a excellent  missionary!!!!!.   I  MEAN I SENT AN INVITATION  TO  YOUR SON JACOB  IN FACEBOOK.  WELL  SISTER  

I  LOVE  TO YOUR SON A  LOT !!!!!  

NICE TO MEET  YOU  SISTER

WITH LOVE

BELLA

SORRY    POR  MI INGLES  :)

                                                  Looking official in our suits!

                                                What a group :)

                                    Hey....we are growing boys !!!! We eat a lot!!

Week Seventy One in Ecuador - March 30, 2015 - Another Wonderful Week in Paradise :)

Well guys, it's been another wonderful week in paradise :) haha

I'm doing very well and I'm glad all is well at home too. I'm glad Jacob had the chance to go to prom, I hope he danced his butt off.

Well this week has been super cool. First off we had a baptism!!! His name is A. and he is so cool. His wife has been a member for a long time and he recently decided to get baptized. It was so cool to be able to help him make that decsion and to hear from his mouth that his next goal is that they can get married in the temple in a year!!!! It's awesome and it's proof that God really does want families to be together forever, because he makes it possible for all to have a chance to recieve a conversion. Even though it all doesn't happen at once sometimes. Meaning that some family members take long to become converted but if the family is faithful and obedient God will always keep them together forever. :) 

Today we had a training meeting with all of the zone leaders in the mission and we learned about taking upon ourselves the name of Christ and that although we do do it in baptism it's not just a one time thing, that in reality every single day we have to take upon opurselves the name of Christ. in our actions and every Sunday in the sacrament. Moroni 4:3

We learned a bunch of stuff but a few cool facts were that we as a mission every month have the highest amount of baptisms and reactivations and in the month of March, we doubled the amount of people that we had baptized in February... haha pretty crazy.

But anyways, I am doing super well, I'm happy and ready to keep pushing along.

This computer won't let me send pictures, so I'll have to send them next week.

Love you all lots,

Elder Lignell

Week Seventy in Ecuador - March 23, 2015 - Good Success!

Hey family :) well this week has been interesting. We've had some good success finding new people and having lessons with our investigators.

And wow that's amazing that Zach is already home I can't believe it. I hope he had such a wonderful mission. You'll have to give him a hello for me.  

And wow give Jake a giant thumbs up for prom, you'll have to send a bunch of pictures! 

Anyways this week we had some interesting stuff happen. So first off we had a super cool family home evening in the house of a less active. We brought one of our investigators who really wants to find out that this is the true church and she hasn't felt like she's received her answer yet. So anyways we all got there and we sang a hymn and opened with a prayer and in my mind I had no idea what message I could share... everything was just blank, but oddly enough that's what needed to happen, because not having an idea of what theme I could share, I just told everyone to start presenting themselves to get to know each other.  Then from one second to the next all the members were presenting themselves and began to share their testimonies to our investigator and the whole room was filled to the brim with the Spirit. It was so amazing, we actually ended up not sharing any message and the whole meeting just turned into a spiritly guided conversation with our investigator and it was amzing to see how it all folded out and started with me having no idea what to share!  

Now about another investigator, his name is A.and his wife is a member and all their kids are members. He has accepted to be baptized this Saturday that's coming up and I am so excited for him. He loves the gospel now, and he wants to get sealed in the temple (he has been attending marrige management classes at the church). And truly it is just a blessing for me to be able to know him and to of helped him take the step to be baptized :) It was sort of amzing how everything has just worked out with him. He never got the chance to be baptized before because he always had commitments on Sundays but we helped him to get to church and showed him what a blessing it would be for him to take the step of a baptism and woooohhhoooo he's gonna do it Saturday!!! haha I'm pretty excited, I'll send you guys lots of photos :)

And lastly today was interesting because we just barlely escaped from our house! In the morning the door broke when another renter was trying to get in (we share the same door for about 4 families.) So anyways the door was locked but there was no way to open it.... right up until like an hour ago we escaped using the key and holdiong the lock thinggy magiger by hand an miraculously opended the door. It felt so nice to get outside hahaha 

Well anyways I'm doing well. We have 10 baptisms as a zone this week so we have to work like crazy to make sure that every single one gets baptized :) so wish me luck and pray lots for me.

Love you all,

Elder Lignell 

Week Sixty Nine in Ecuador - March 16, 2015 - Super Busy :)

Hey family,

 

Well this week was pretty average actually... :( unfortunately in our sector right now we aren't finding a lot of new people, well that's not completely true... we are finding people but for the most part they have been a lot of people that have some big problems holding them back from progressing. Which has made me see just how important it is to have the Spirit while youre teaching, and listening.  Missionaries have to be able to see the people that really can change and have the desire to change and those who don't.

 

For example, we found a nice couple who are just starting out together. They both are about 26 years old and have a ton of questions about the gospel, however they are not legally married. They have a strong belief in God and have a decent understanding of the Bible. It was super interesting to be able to teach them and see their small doubts and worries about the church get resolved. We explained about repentance and the steps that someone needs to fulfil to trully repent and it was great because the husband explained to us one of his prior sins and how he had never felt completely forgiven for it and understood then that he had not passed through all the steps of repentance. He then promised us that he would do his best to repent. :) He came to church this Sunday and liked it a lot! Hopefully we can continue working with them and get them married! All of your prayers are welcome.  

Other than that, we've just been super busy. I had to give an hour lesson to the zone on Saturday about faith, and I felt like it went really well:) I talked about Alma 33:28-31  and Mosiah 24:16-20... I think those are the verses.... but that was cool.  

Oh and mom can you please send me a recipe to do organge chicken or barbeque chicken please!  We want to make some for some of our investigators to show them what food in America tastes like.

Love you all,

 

Elder Lignell

Week Sixty Eight in Ecuador - March 9, 2015 - Still in Guayaquil And Enjoying It :)

Hey guys I'm back again :)

So you all know, I'm still here in Guayaquil which I now feel like has become my home for the mission considering that I have about 80% of my time here in the city serving. And it's about the same as always; hot, super busy, lots of traffic, robbing's and crazy stuff that you see all the time. For instance, this week I saw a riot in the street where some people burned giant tires blocking all of the traffic. In the bus today the man sitting next to me decide to take out some weed and make a joint hahaha and many more experiences. 

I'm glad everyone is doing well it makes me so happy to hear that all is well at home and that you're all healthy. I'm sorry that you were missing me mom... :( I know I'm pretty loveable it must be really hard not having me there ;) hahahaha (sorry I'm so humble) 

Kudos to Jake for getting accepted to prom :)

Anyways now about this week. It was a great week... we worked super hard and found some great people! And at the end of the week we were blessed to have a stake conference here in the Cisne Stake. And Elder Godoy came from the quorum of the seventies. And wow it was amazing to be able to hear him and learn from him. So first off the stake conference had 3 sessions and the first was Saturday at night and we got there and unexpectingly found one of our investigators inside. Her name is Ana and she is 22. We recently found her last week and started teaching her. And she is super interested. She is reading the Book of Mormon and praying every day asking if the church is true. And she made her way to the session on Saturday to learn more even though we hadn't invited her to that session.


After the session, Elder Godoy asked her if she was a member and she responded that she wasn't and he explained to her the need of one to get baptized and how important it is for her to keep asking God for the answer. Then on Sunday after the general session, he talked to her again but this time with me and my companion too. He then congratulated me for teaching her and told me that he would love to see the photos of her baptism! It was sweet!! I got a photo with Elder Godoy and talked to him for a bit too. He loves basketball and next week he will be in Utah at the Jazz game. However he actually is a Laker fan... haha, but it was sweet to meet him and listen to what he had to say.

He shared some really cool things in the conference like Romans 13:10 which talks about how love is referred to as "fulfilling" something so therefore love has to be shown with actions. Words don't count. So if we love God we have to keep his commandments; if we love our neighbor we have to serve him, etc.

So anyways this week was great!  I'm happy and excited to keep working!

I love you all to death,

Elder Lignell

Week Sixty Seven in Ecuador - March 2, 2014 - Lots of Pictures This Time :)

Well guys it has been another week here in Ecuador and wow it was an interesting one.  

First off, that's too bad about Brighton! That would have been amazing to have them win the State Championships. But I guess Jake will just have to pull it off when he's a senior! haha. 

I'm glad everyone is doing well :)  

And yes it is stressful to be zone leader but I truly am enjopying it and just trying to give it my all while I have this opportunity.  

So anyways about this week. It was actually a really tough one. I felt somewhat inspired after telling you to pray for me because I really needed those extra prayers this week. It was sorta odd but after last Monday every single person we were teaching just decided to not want to keep going to church or prepare for a baptism. Completely random and all at the same moment. And we got left with nobody to teach. And just so you know, being a missionary and being in the street all day having to teach people is hard when you don't have anyone. So we talked to everyone in the street, taught the members and looked everywhere to find new people and for the first three days we found no one... not a single interested person. And honestly, I was getting pretty discouraged, however I prayed non- stop... probably like 30-40 prayers a day just begging for help...but I learned something this week. God a lot of the time doesn't just give us what we want or when we feel sad he doesn't automatically make us be happy. He tests us. He wants to see how far we can go... he wants to see us struggle a little bit and put our own effort in, instead of just using him as a fallback. He did the same thing with his son; he didn't give him things easily when Jesus asked for the "cup to be taken from him" God didn't do it! Because it wasn't his will. Sometimes God has a bigger picture, and we don't see all of it. So what we have to do is be patient, trust him, and try to do all we can by ourselves. Then, through his love, and his grace we will be made strong. We will recieve blessings and we will fulfil the wishes that he has. Like it explains in Ether 12:6, sometimes we recieve our testimony after the trials and failure and struggle, we just need to have faith :) 

So anyways last week was hard, we didn't have too much success but God blessed me and he is helping me everyday. The missionaries we have here are changing, they are working hard and theyre finding new people. So it's wonderful to see that our efforts never are in vain. And to see that just maybe I am helping the missionaries here to be better, and that hope just makes me wanna keep going :) 

So in conclusion I'm doing great, I love where I am and I love working here. I'm excited to keep pushing forward and helping all the people that I can here. 

 Love,

Elder Lignell           We are holding up 2 fingers because it took our Investigator

                                 2 years before she made the decision to be baptized :)

                                   Picture of Me and Elder Carmona.

                                         Picture of our Zone at a recent zone meeting.

                                           Our Investigator's Baptism Day :)

                                                      Me and My Companion :)

 

 

Week Sixty Six in Ecuador - February 23, 2015 - One Specific Story

Hey family.

 

Anyways so ya carnival is over and we got back to normal and were able to work the rest of the week. It was fun to be here in Guayaquil this year for those festivals because they celebrate a lot more. They all had pools outside of their houses and it's hilarious!! They'd have a little tiny street just filled with 7 or 8 plastic pools like the one at our house with a ton of music and everyone swimming :)

 

My stomach problems have gone away and I feel fine now so don't worry. And mom I'm zone leader now so I can rest if I need to if I'm not feeling well :) and I dont have to worry too much about others taking advantage of me now :) one of the perks of having this calling. But at the same time it is extremely stressful sometimes;  we are constantly getting calls and having more stuff to do, and everyone looks to me for answers and help in their areas. Also the mission president dropped in on one of our meetings this last Saturday to motivate the zone which is intimidating being the one to teach the other missionaries and have the president sit in listening as well. But I felt like I did a good job so no worries :)

 

That's sweet about the basketball games. Never knew that the Brighton girls basketball team would be good...

 

And wow I can't believe Nathan is back!!! That is insane. I wonder if he baptized people...? Russia sounds like it would be super super hard. 

 

 It is tough to be around people that take away from the Spirit and that's why the prophet tells us to pick good friends and to stand in holy places. However, something that I have learned on the mission is that sometimes you do have to have the courage to stand up and say something, and that you have to be the one to invite the Spirit, change the subject and sometimes reprimand others for what they do wrong. Being a zone leader has been a little tough in that I have never been good at telling others what they can't do. I don't like being rude or mean but sometimes with people they don't realize what they're doing is wrong until you show them. And the Spirit can softly guide us in the way to change their train of thought. 3 Nephi 12:14-16

 

Now about my week. It was pretty sweet. We worked hard and we have been finding some really interesting poeple to teach. However I would like to share one specific story. Alright so on Saturday we got a call from one of our missionaries saying that they had found one of their investigators who was pleading them to get baptized that day. So we went over to his house and I did the baptismal interview to see if he was ready to get baptized and in talking to him he shared with me an amazing story of how he wasn't a good person before. He had a ton of problems with drugs, jail time, and his girlfriend. He was in a really bad place about 6 months ago and one of his friends was a member of the church and started talking to him about God and that God could help him.

So one night he prayed to God asking for someone to invite him to the true church and later that week two brothers from our church invited him that Sunday but he ended up saying no to them. Ironically he said he would go when he felt the desire to go from his heart. Later that day he realized that he had recieved the answer to his prayer and rejected it. The following Sunday he went to church alone and after two months of investigating suddenly that Saturday, felt the impression that he needed to be baptized. And that's when he went and searched out the missionaries. He changed his life! He loves the church and I had never seen someone that just lit up with light talking about the church. He was so excited to erase his past and start over. I was honered to be able to get to know him and see him recieve that joyful ordinance of a baptism :)

 

Haha then the funny thing, right after leaving the interview we are walking and a police guy pulls up and a guy on the corner sees him and immediately speeds away on his motorcycle and they both go out in a high speed chase. Then as another policeman pulls up to the same place another 12 guys all just scatter in different directions... hahaha if the policeman hadn't came up I wouldn't have even realized that I was completely surrounded by criminals! But I'm fine... no worries!

 

Love you guys!

 

Elder Lignell

Week Sixty Five in Ecuador - February 16, 2015 - Helping a Sweet Lady Take the Last Step For Baptism.

Hi Everyone,

Unfortunately I only have 30 min. to write today because right now in Ecuador it is a giant festival called Carnival where everybody puts pools outside in front of their houses and get each other wet. So sadly the missionaries aren't allowed to participate and we have to be inside the house today before 12 o'clock. But I'll try to fit in all that happened this week in the time I have :)

First off congrats to Jake for asking a girl to prom :) hope he has a blast, and tell him to be safe :) 

Anyways this week has been super interesting.

First off, I got extremely sick about 4 days ago... but not with a cold ...I had another stomach virus. So they had me take something that is called "la bomba" which means "the bomb" and it just cleans pretty much everything out of your stomach... and wow does it work! To say the least I haven't made it very far from the bathroom the last few days. But now I'm feeling a little bit better.

This week we had a baptism!!! Hurray! Her name is I. and she is awesome. She has been investigating the church for almost 2 years now but never wanted to get baptized and I was lucky enough to help her take that last step and be there for her baptism. She has an amazingly strong testimony and goes to church without fail! Her little daughter is also a member and now we are helping the rest of her family to try to follow their example!

Other than that not too much has happened. We're working super hard and trying to help the other missionaries in the zone to work and bring people to church. It's a ton of work, super stressful and really tiring but God gives me strength. I honestly feel him helping me when I have nothing more to give...it's amazing to see those changes. Look up these scriptures, they've helped me a ton. Moses 6:31-32 and Moses 7:13.

I love you all so much and I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Love,

Elder Lignell 

Week Sixty Four in Ecuador - Feburary 9, 2015 - Grateful for the Chickens Underneath Our Apartment :)

Hey Family! 

Well I'm glad to hear that everyone is well :) and wow, you guys talked about free agency way over there in Utah (haha) we also talked about free agency in our priesthood session all the way over here on the other hemisphere...pretty cool huh? The church is all on the same page!

I'm so glad that Jake is doing well on his team. That makes me so happy. I honestly will love to go watch him at the games when I get back! 

And I hope you said hello to Courtney Long for me, and if not you'll have to tell him I say hi!

And my new territory actually isnt that bad, I expected it to be a lot more scary, but really you just have to be careful about what streets you take and not ever have the cellphone out and pretty much nobody bothers you. And I'm pretty much used to the heat by now... I feel like when I get back to Utah I'll die from the cold. So maybe I'll just rent an apartment and stay here  in the Isla Trinitaria hahaha :)

Anyways now about my week. It has actually been a really great week. Wow lots of work, but fun at the same time. We literally were running all over Guayaquil helping out the other missionaries and also trying to find new people to teach in our area. And it was a blast. I asked God a lot this week in my prayers to help me to be a good enough missionary to be able to help others get motivated and to strongly feel the spirit. After asking in my prayers, on Tuesday night I had a wonderful expierience in that we were out working in our area and we found an elderly man sitting outside his house and we began to talk to him and get to know him better. My companion then felt impressed to start teaching lesson 1 of the restoration of the gospel and began to explain to the elderly man the beginining principals. Then as he closed, I jumped in explaining how the church was first established by Christ when he was here on the earth. I literally felt the Spirit just jump into the lesson and it slowly began to guide me in how I explained the lesson. I was so amazed speaking to him and hearing words that really weren't even mine. They all just fell out of my mouth perfectly... it was almost scary to hear myself talking and as I continue explaining the lesson, the investigator stops me and says. "It makes sense right, that God made his church." Then he asked, "So if the church fell away, where is it today?" I then finished the lesson explaining of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon replying to his question. At the very end of the lesson after we had invited him to read and to pray, He says "I've trully enjoyed the message that youve explained to me, it all made sense and I felt that it was true, I'll be happy to read the book." It just gave me the biggest smile to hear him, feel the Spirit so strong, and actually see God work though me right in front of my eyes. God answered my small prayer in an amazing way, and that is why I just love being a missionary!

Other than that I'm trying my best to be the best misionary that I can, and to always look on the bright side! 

Something funny this week is that below our appartment there is a place where they raise chickens... so the apartment a lot of the time smells like a chicken coop... which is not my favorite! However, I also realized that there are no ants in our apartment and in every other apartment I have had, there has been a ton of ants. I might be wrong but I believe that the ants don't come to the apartment because it smells bad from the chickens hahaha and it made me remember one of mom's favorite book about the girls in the concentration camp that are grateful for the fleas... because the guards don't come in to beat them.... hahaha... it's almost the same thing :) but for real we always have to be grateful no matter what. Mosiah 4:11-12

I'm getting along great with my companion, he's a great kid :)

All in all I'm happy, I'm working hard and giving it my all. If everything works out we will have a baptism this week so wish us luck and all your prayers are welcome!!

Love,

 Elder Lignell

Week Sixty Three in Ecuador - February 2, 2015 - A Transfer and Called to be Zone Leader

Hey family! 

Well that is great that you were fasting this week mom :) I also fasted this week and it definitely was not easy either... 

Well in reality this whole week has just been crazy. A lot has happened! Alright so first off I worked the whole week in Machala until Saturday in the afternoon. We were in the Coco teaching one of our investigators and making sure that they were going to attend church this Sunday. Well during the lesson I got a phone call so I answered it and it was the zone leaders telling me that I had transfers and that I had to be in Guayaquil as fast as possible. So getting off the phone I told the investigator that I was sorry but that I had to leave to Guayaquil and the investigator says, "oh don't worry at all leave , it's fine, I'll see you both tomorrow in church" hahaha I then had to explain to her that I wasn't coming back... :( so anyways after that I ran home, stuck all of my stuff wherever it could go and left to Guayaquil, and I arrived at about 12 o'clock at night. Now the best part, well I found out what my new sector is it's called "La Isla Trinitaria" it's probably the most dangerous part of all of Ecuador (haha it even has a movie named after it) But the weird thing is that I was also called to be Zone Leader and my companion is Elder Flores from Peru. He has already been my companion before. But ya pretty darn crazy.

Then today we had a leadership council, where all of the zone leaders from the whole mission go to Guayaquil to learn who to be better leaders and what we can do in the mission to be able to reach our goals and be the best missionaries that we can be.

And honestly it was amazing, I felt the Spirit so very strong. And we learned so much. The president talked a lot about not hardening our hearts and that we at all times, have to be open to the Spirit to get new ideas and that we have to continue forwards always. That the challenges that the Lord gives us is not an excuse to complain or to harden you heart. 

We talked about the desire that we have to have to achive our goals and give the Lord what he deserves. 

I truly know with all my heart that President Torres is the mission president that I need. I know he has been called of God and wow he is such a wonderful person. I'm so thankful for all that he's done for me :)

SO anyways I'm doing well. I'm excited to keep working. I obviously have a lot more responsibility so I have to always set a good example. I know it will be hard, but with God on my side I know that I can do it!

Oh and I got my package thank you guys so much!!!! I loved everything that you sent me!

However you paid way too much for all that stuff... I feel way bad... :( 

Love,

Elder Lignell

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