My Dear Family,

Mom! I was so sad to hear about your poor foot! I'm sure that must be so painful for you! And right before your birthday. What awful luck! I will be sure to pray for you even more in these next few weeks. 

But I'm also glad that everyone was able to have some really good family bonding time at the national parks! There are so many beautiful things that we are so lucky to have in this world! I'm glad that everyone was able to enjoy themselves. Just stay safe! 

The rainy season has really extended this year! As I'm writing we're experiencing a real down poor! There are still some that are saying that it's still the year of the Nino, and that we'll have even more rains in May, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Everyone is so excited about the temple that was announced in Quito! We actually watched the Sunday sessions in Spanish to be able to sit with our investigators. We didn't even hear where the other three temples were announced because the whole chapel went into an uproar of excited comments. I can't imagine what the reaction was like in Quito. The neighbors probably thought that someone had scored a goal ;) It does make a lot of sense to me though that they are going to build a temple out their. Every weekend there are about two or three buses that come in from a small town called Ortavalo - you have to look it up! Ortavalo is the town where the native Ecuadorians live. Their first language is called Quitchua, and it's similar to Mayan. They are some of the most faithful members, and the temple in Quito will reduce their travel to the temple from 12 hours to 2 hours. 

Elder Rydalch is feeling a little sad because he's going home on May 1st. But he's very excited to start playing basketball for the University of Utah. Every day for our morning exercises we go out to the park right in front of our house and we play basketball for a half hour. I even got a shot block on Elder Rydalch once! I was very excited and made sure to write it down in my journal, because that was for sure a once in a lifetime moment haha =)

I also wanted to tell you all, thank you so much for your package! It got here on Wednesday and I was so happy. I loved all of the letters that you sent! I especially enjoyed Joseph's fun map and world puzzle, Jacob's hand print chicken, Isaac's positive attitude, Dad's jokes and Mom's love. Also I really really liked the tie that you sent, and I decided that I would wear it when the apostle comes to visit our mission in June. 

I'm so happy that everyone has been able to enjoy their spring break so far, and I hope that everyone will be able to enjoy school on Monday as well. haha =)

Mom get better soon! I hope you have an incredible birthday this week because you are an incredible Mother! I love you all!

Elder Hales =)