Mi querida familia,

Para ayudar al Padre, quizás tendré que escribir un poco mas en español :)

Wow this week has been incredible jam packed with so many crazy things that have been going on! 

First, sorry about not writing yesterday. I know that you all must have been a little worried about how we were doing.

Sunday at 7 in the morning my companion, Elder Alucema, started having a little bit of pain on the left side of his stomach, and at 7:10 we were calling the nurses because he could no longer stand because of the pain. We called the nurses of the mission and they told us to go to the hospital, and that they were going to call in advance to assure coverage. It was a really serious pain and the first thing they did was put him on an IV with some pain medication. Any guesses what he had? It was a kidney stone! I couldn´t believe it. So we were in the hospital for all of Sunday and all of Monday. We left the hospital at 10:30 this morning. 

It was a real tesitmony of the love of the members all around the world that they were so aware of our needs in the clinic. We had different families that would bring us breakfast, lunch and dinner, and Monday night, the bishop and his family came and had family home evening in our little hospital room. There wasn´t nearly enough room to sit, but It was such an incredible moment that we could share with this family that really worried about our well being. Being part of the gospel really is a faith that unites us all around the world, and I know that the Lord is looking out for us in every moment.

This Tuesday and Wednesday we also went to the temple in Guayaquil as a mission. (Really there were so many things going on this week.) We had a great time in the early morning session and I got to play the temple organ for prelude before the session! I thought how my mom would be so happy if she could see me. =)  Then the training session with Presidente Riggions are always so powerful. He talked to us a lot about the efficiency of our mission. We talked about how of all the people we talk to in the street, 1 out of every 7 agree to a lesson in their house, and of those, another 1 out of 10 get baptized, and of those one out of 7 are still active after two years. So to baptize 1 active member of the church, we need to talk with about 490 people, or improve our efficency as missionaries. It was a really powerful lesson about working with the spirit, and not simply trying to find by brute force.

It sounds like you all had busy weeks as well! I was so happy to see that everyone had fun at the MS 100! And also it looked like some very fun family bonding at the scout campout as well. Isaac, I´m so proud that you are a senior patrol leader! I know you can be a powerful example of doing a good turn daily. Jacob is so giant! I can´t believe how tall he has gotten! hopefully I can still beat him in basketball when I get back. ;) Joseph, I wish you a lot of luck this week with soccer and swimming! You are so strong!  I hope that Emily is enjoying her new semester. Podemos practicar nuestro español con ella también. ;) And I hope that my loving parents are also enjoying the summer. Good luck with your last week with your nursing assistant, Dad! And Mom, good luck with your organ practice!

All my love,

Elder Hales =)