Hola Family!

It sounds like you all had a great week! I`m glad Jacob was able to enjoy EFY. That`s so crazy that Emily`s going to the first BYU football game! Actually it seems more crazy to me that BYU football is starting again. You`ll have to keep me super updated. =) Also Emily, ¡Te felicito por tomar un curso de Español! Remember if you have any questions I`d be more than happy to try to help (but I also know that there are plenty of RMs that know Spanish at BYU =)

Here in Babahoyo there have been little changes every week, and before I know it everything is different. In the zone the only missionary that is still here from when I got here is my companion, Elder Alucema. In our ward we work with a pair of sister missionaries as well, and there have been 7 different sister missionaries in the time that Elder Alucema and I have been together. It`s so crazy how time flies! 

The biggest news in all of Ecuador is that the pope is coming to visit the 8th of July. You would not believe how many poeple in the street have asked us what our church is going to do for the arrival of the pope. We just smile and tell them that we are not affiliated in any way with his visit. My companion has been telling all the members the same joke about how every deacon in the world has more power in the preisthood than all the popes put together. But in a few weeks all the Catholics in Ecuador are going to gather together in Guayaquil to hear him speak.

We were cleaning our house this last Wednesday, and we found a 21 page list of less active members in the ward. There are more than 250 names of people that live in our sector. We`ve had a ton of success finding these people with their old friends in the ward, and that`s been really fulfilling to see them change their lives. We`re working with one man named Hector Peña, who was baptized almost 25 years ago, and it has been so touching to see him be able to leave behind alcoholism and come back to the church. He`s still a little fragile, but the whole ward has been supporting him and he doesn`t feel so alone anymore.

I hope you all enjoy your next week! I`ll be thinking about the family this weekend during the MS 100, and I`ll have to repent and go with everyone when I get home. I hope you are safe in your various outdoor adventures these next couple of days!

Lots of love for everyone, =)

Elder Hales.

Catholic church in Babahoyo

¡Hola Mi querida Familia! =)

Wow! It sounds like everyone is jumping right into summer. Which is good, it`s nice to have things to do. I`m glad that Dad, Jacob, Isaac, and Joseph could have a fun time at the father and sons' campout. It`s so great that they are having experiences in helping others. 

Also Mom I`m much more impressed with all the work you`ve been doing with your family history. We`ve been trying very hard to help people find names to take to the temple, but almost no one knows the birthdates of their own parents, so we go little by little. haha =) 

This week has been super jam packed with the great stake conferance that we had. Elder Calderón, an area president, came and spoke to us to commemorate the ten year anniversary of Babahoyo as a stake. It was so powerful to hear him speak and he had lots of good advice for us. He talked to us a lot about learning our duty. He read D&C 43:8 and said this is the reason we have conferences. To learn what we need to DO. He said that about 7 or 8 times. He also talked to us a lot about how we need to study the manuals of the church and know what we need to do before we try to do it. 

Our stake Relief Society president talked about understanding the gospel and our duty. She shared a stroy about a sister who dreamed that her husband had bought her a nice diamond necklace and then shared the dream with her husband and asked him, ´´What do you think that could possibly mean?´´ He responded "tonight you`ll see," and came home with a large box. The wife got really excited, opened the box, and inside found a book called ``A guide to dream interpreting``. I think that is a great example of how we need to understand the gospel before we can do our duty. 

Before the conference the asistants to the president were in town and needed a place to sleep, so they stayed in our house Wednesday. The new assistant is Elder Shephard, my old Zone leader from Vinces, so that was really fun to see him again. We went to play basketball in the morning and I scored one basket on Elder Rydalch. (He is the 6´6´´ basketball player that`s going to start for the U next year.) I know it was just a one time deal, but I felt pretty acomplished. ;)

That was my week! I hope that you all keep safe and happy and enjoy your summer! I`ll be thinking about you all!

Lots of Love,

Elder Hales =)

Dear Family,

Well I´m glad that everyone has settled back into their regular lives, (Except my brothers who just ended school. By the way I think that´s a great idea about getting things done before 11 AM. It is such a true principle that when we do the things we need to do first, and then later the things we want to do, we have so much more time in the day.) I had almost forgotten that it was summer in the states haha =) 

The rainstorm sounded really powerful! Here the rains are coming to a end until next January, which hopefully also means that the heat will also go down a little. 

Mom, I´m glad that everyone enjoyed the fireside! It sounds like it was very succesfull, and Dad, I imagine that it´s both fun and stressful to have some one job shadow you. The only thing I can relate that to is training a new missionary, and I´ve heard that it has it´s ups and downs and is a little stressful at times. But luckily your nurse practioner has an incredible doctor as her guide. =)

Saturday we got to go to the temple! We went with a family of 4 that recently re-activated, and one new convert. They got to go because they had been working on their family histories, and it was such a special experience to be with them in the baptistry. The new convert (Brenda) did the work for her mother who died 2 years ago, and one member got to do the work for her daughter who had passed away a few years ago. There´s a little bit of confusion about the work for the dead here, because they keep trying to print names of their deceased relatives who were members of the church when they were alive. That took a little bit of explaining but it all worked out in the end and everyone was happy. =)

This week is also stake conference! Our ward is really excited and we have a goal that 165 members will come to the conference. Last Sunday 132 members were in Sacrament meeting, so I know that if we work really hard this week inviting everyone that we can get there! It would be the record attendence in ward history if I´m not mistaken. The ward has become so excited about missionary work and the work is so much more joyful in an animated ward.

I wish you all the best of luck this week and I love you a lot!

Elder Hales =)

at the temple

fun on P-Day

My Dearest Family!

Sorry but we´ve had real computer problems today and for like 45 minutes we could only read, but not write our emails, so sorry in advance for being short. :p

First I´m happy that Mom and Dad got home safely. Mom, you should send me a copy of your talk. And Dad, let me just tell you that I hope that all the things I learn here as a missionary will help me to become a father like you. You are so incredible!

I was really sad to hear about Jacob´s classmate. I remember that the news about Megan Grunswald really hit me hard, and I just knew her from fourth and fifth grade. I´m glad for Jacob´s choice to turn to the gospel for comfort.

I hope Issac is getting ready to have a great summer! I think it would be really awesome, Isaac, if you put some goals of things you want to do during this time. 1 goal for the gospel, 1 goal for something physical like running or biking with Dad, and one goal to help you with your great talents you have. (like piano or art :) ) You have so much great potential, Isaac!

Joseph I´m glad you made your soccer team! I was praying that everything would be good for you. =) You are such a super star! When I get home I´m not sure that I´ll still be able to beat you. ;)

As for me, we had a pretty good week but kind of slow. My companion was sick for two days so that was hard for doing the work, but there was a lot of good things that we could do. One of the highlights was a Primary activity where they played traditional children´s games from Ecuador. They have this really interesting top that they play with that runs with strings, and they also have the wooden spike and ball that Jacob liked playing with before I left. (Kendama or something like that haha) This week we´re looking forward to our stake conference. That will be really great! I think our mission president is going to speak.

I love all of you so much! 

Elder Hales =)

Jonathan with prize winning pigs in his area

May 25th

My Dear Family,

Wow! It sounds like you are doing a lot of hard work vacationing! 15,000-to 23,000 a day is no joke! I`m glad that you`re enjoying yourselves. =) 

To answer your question Mom, yes there is a huge catholic church here in Babahoyo, and in Vinces as well. When we went to church on Sunday we had to go past the Catholic members and it was funny to see all the people that went to church with their Barcelona or Emelec Soccer Jerseys hoping that going to church would help their team win. It`s a very different type of worship haha. =)

We learned a lot of great things about family history work this Wednesday. The whole mission came together for a presentation from the family history leaders for the church for Latin America. It was incredible to hear the stories of how the work for the dead has changed the lives of so many members. We`ve planned a temple trip with the new converts in our ward and a couple of families that just re-activated for the 6th of June. They`re all really excited to do the work!

We also were so happy this Sunday. For the first time since I`ve been here in Babahoyo we saw the chapel just packed. When we first got here the regular attendence was 115 more or less, and yesterday 151 people had the chance to go to church. It was such a sight! I was sitting up front on the piano like always, and I was so happy to see the people who had decided to make the effort to come to church. 

This next week we`re going to work hard in finding people as a zone. I`ll let you know if we have any crazy stories. Some people have incredibly interesting lives to say the least. haha =)

I hope that you all stay safe! Enjoy your stay in London this week Mom and Dad! 

Lots of Love,

Elder Hales =) 

May 19th  

Hello to my Great Family!

I´m glad that you were able to get in one more busy week, Mom and Dad, before you go on your fun trip! I´ll be praying for you that you can fly safe on Wednesday. 

I´m so happy that you´ll get this time for yourselves. =)

Congratulations on your run, Dad! I´ll make you a promise that when I get back I´ll do a half marathon with you. That just seems like such a great bonding experience, and I´ll probably need to get back into shape after two years of solid rice consumption. =)

Also the Payson temple just sounds so gorgeous. You´ll have to tell Nana and Grandpa to be on the look out for Elder Brady during the school breaks because he lives about five minutes from the temple.  

I´m so proud of our family and their love for temples. It seems like everyweek I get the chance to hear about a great experiance you´ve all had with the house of the Lord. It is such a great blessing to have in our lives. The missionaries in Quito don´t get to go once in all of their missions, and I know that we get to go more often than most missionaries.

Speaking of family history work, this Wednesday we´re going to Guayaquil to hear a family history message from Salt Lake! They´re sending two representatives so that should be really good. I heard that when the new converts are involved in their family history work and take names to the temple, their retention rate goes up by almost 40 percent in our area. That astounds me! There are so many blessings promised to us if we go to the temple.

Also this last Sunday we had a satalite broadcast from Peru (the area presidency) about ward council. It´s incredible how much the area wants our ward councils to be efficent and organized. That´s a large part of what we do as missionaries now is working with our wards to help them reach out to the members of their quorums. It´s been interesting seeing all the changes in missionary work during my time here. Just a year and a half ago President Monson added rescuing less active members as a responsibility of the missionaries.

I hope you all have a fantastic week and I love all that you do! Stay safe in Europe, Mom and Dad! Emil,y good luck in your classes! I know you´ll do great this semester! Joseph, good luck in your soccer tryouts. I know you play so hard. Isaac I heard you did a great job on your talk! I´m so proud of you. I know you´ll be a great missionary! Jacob, be careful with knives ;)

All my love,

Elder Hales =)

My Dear Family,

It was so fantastic to see you all yesterday, and I was so happy to see that everyone was so happy and smiling. Jacob, Isaac and Joseph have all grown so much and I just loved talking to each of you. I hope you know Mom that I was thinking about you all day and all the wonderful small things that you always do that too often go without thanks. Thank you for being my superhero! =)

As for a mosquito net, they sell them here, but it is unbearably hot inside. They don`t bite us often, almost never in the house. If we keep the windows closed then we`re okay but thank you for thinking about us. If you would like however, the mother of the house we were at might enjoy a Betty Crocker cake mix. I made the last cake at her house for a family that got married and she was so amazed at how easy it was to make. I think she would enjoy one. 

I wish you a lot of luck in your race on Saturday, Dad! (Reid is running in the Ogden half marathon.) Families are so important and we`re so grateful for all you do. 

This week for us was really nice. The rainy season has become the light sprinkle season, and it`s such a relief because the heat has also been cooling down. It`s so nice to be walking and feel an occasional breeze. This has been a real testimony of how God listens to even our silent prayers. =)

We`ve been working with a less active family, and the 4 wives have all started coming to church again. They are the Family Calderon. Now they are even bringing their husbands to church with them which is awesome because they are not members, (Yet ;) ) We`ve had a lot of success with helping less active families here in Babahoyo which has really brought me great joy. 

I hope that you can all keep doing well, and that you`re enjoying the last few weeks of the school year. Emily if you want feel free to ask whatever Spanish question you have, and if I don`t understand I`ll ask my companion. ;) Mom and Dad good luck in your talk preparation and in your race! I`ll be praying for you this next Wednesday. Joseph, good luck in your soccer tryouts! You are such a champion and when I get back I hope I can still beat you ;) Jacob, good luck with your AP test! Isaac, keep up the clarinet! I promise that it will bless your life in so many ways. (Plus it`s really fun :) )

I love you all!

Elder Hales =)

My Dear Family,

I´ll say this first so I don´t forget. We have church at the same time you guys do, (10-1 here) and then ward mission coordination, and ward council until the night. So the first chance Sunday that I´ll have to talk is at 7 pm. (6 pm there.) I hope that´s not a bad time! If not we could also do it at 8 PM at the latest, or we could leave ward council early and talk at 6 PM. Whatever is best for you guys. =)

It sounds like everyone is so busy! Emily in clases, Jacob with his AP tests, (and tightrope walking, that´s cool =) ) and Dad getting ready for his race.   I´m sure that Isaac and Joseph are helping keep the house very calm and quiet. ;) 

Sometimes we feel that all our hard work goes unnoticed but know that I am very proud to have such a hard working family.  I´m super proud of Dad and Jacob. They sound like a real hometeaching machine! Here the home teachers just have one family, but make multiple visits during the month. I think it would be really cool if you guys in your home teaching preparation, (or maybe in your PPI) talked about some of the tips in PMG chapter 10. It will really help you give your message in a powerful way. (And I´m sure Emily would be more than happy to help you if you asked her. =) ) 

We´ve been doing really well here as well. Like last week we had been working really hard with less active members, but this week they presented us to their family members who aren´t members. It was so great to see that they are starting to remember the joy that the gospel brings, and have desires to share it with those they love. 

This week there was also a 5.8 earthquake on Tuesday. It was all anyone talked about for about three days, and it was funny to hear the different reactions from everyone. Some people told us how they felt so afraid, and then my companion from Chile told them that this type of tremor happens every other month in Chile. It was really small. We just felt the beds shaking a little, but we do live on the third story, so maybe it was worse closer to the ground.

I´m super excited to see everyone this Sunday! I hope that you all have nice weeks, and don´t get too overwhelmed. Remember that it´s almost summer! 

I love you all and wish you the best,

Elder Hales =)