JULY 26TH, 2010

Well not much has happened this week just work. We had to go to Ibarra which is about 3 hours away and on the way back up here there were no more seats so we had to stand for three hours I have never felt so sick, I have no idea how I didn´t throw up.
We didn´t have any baptisms this week. We put them off til next Saturday because we wanted to prepare this family a little more, but next Saturday for sure. So the little boy from this family likes to come with us to lessons, so we have this 14 year old kid, who is tiny, who just goes with us to lessons, almost all of the day. His mom told us that he wants to go on a mission and help people like we do so that was pretty awesome. I am going to Quito tomorrow to see the foot doctor one last time and I will talk to President Sloan then about the whole teeth thing.

So man time is flying, it´s weird people that had a year to go when I got here are going home this cambio and the next cambio. It´s kinda scary. You kinda wish that the time would slow down but it doesn´t, it speeds up with more time.

So how´s everyone doing? It´s so weird that it´s summer right now. I don´t even think of it being almost August cause it feels like December here.
So on Saturday we had to basically plow a field with this family that we are baptizing and man it was hard work we just used shovels and picks. They are starting a potato garden. Then we went and helped one of our members teach english at a school. I am sure glad we know english it is so hard for them to learn, so hard.

So I hate our shower I don´t know if I have told you guys but it´s freezing cold absolutely freezing. I wake up and work out, then I absolutely dread getting in the shower. It´s like torture. Seriously, once like every 2 weeks we have warm water and when we do, we take like hour long showers. It dosn´t help that it never gets warmer than 60 degrees here and in the morning it´s about 40 and it´s a wet cold, so it just hurts your body. I can´t feel my toes half of the time here, seriously, I am just used to it. I should feel lucky though we have investigators that have to shower outside with buckets of water and walk to the outhouse to use the bathroom. The sad part is, I am in one of the richer parts of Ecuador. Here we eat potatoes, always, always, always. I hate potatoes now with everything in me and the sad thing is that I am barely half way done with the time that I have here.

The other day we ate Cuye. It´s hampster but like giant ones and ever since I have gotten to Ecuador I have heard of them, but never have at them until the Otavalon family, that we baptized, gave us some. It was pretty good. It´s very similar to chicken, just harder and in the shape of a giant rat.

What else have I ate thats weird, oh yeah, I ate a cow hoof with soup it was about as nasty as it sounds. I am so sick of juice too. The juice in Santo Domingo was good, but here it´s nasty and thats all that anyone gives us is juice. This stuff called aguita is like some herbal tea from here and with bread, always, about 5 times a day. Thats about it for food thats about all I have eaten for the past 2 months and McDonalds once. Man, I took McDonalds for granted in Springerville. This place is cool though. Every night the streets are completely crowded with people from Colombia and Ecuador. They just like party and you can hardly walk through the city on Friday nights. And then every morning, we wake up to the same song that the trash guys play so people will know that they are coming, so we hardly ever set our alarms, we just wait for the garbage guy to wake us up. I know that when I leave this place that I will miss that sound though for sure.

So Tanner is about to start football pretty soon. Is he gonna play any varsity? Man I miss football so much it was the best time of my life. It´s so wierd Kellin will be home in just a little while man. How´s willie doing? Is Chase working a lot? How´s dad doing with all of those tests that he has to do? I bet he´s so sick of them. Rylee, whats that kid up to? I bet no good since he has no school. Who watches him? Does Tanner work? Get me caught up..... freak1 I know nothing! Where are they going to have school at? This email is kind of everywhere but things are just coming to my mind.... Is Willie moving back? Whats he going to do for work? Has Chase been dating anyone?
I still haven´t gotten any of the packages you have sent but when I go to Quito I will try to get them, how many have you sent since the one with the ties and Mtn. Dew?
So we have basically 2 days straight of meetings and since I have to go to see the doctor President Sloan gave me permision to go and listen. This man is seriously the smartest man alive, he´s so awesome. But 2 days of meetings could get old, but it´s life right?

So mom how have you been? How´s work going? How´s everything? How´s grandpa? How was Rylee´s baptism?

Well I definitely post more pictures this next Monday because we will have the baptism and I will hopefully will have my new camera.

Anyways I better get going but tell everyone that I love them and that I always think about them, especially grandpa. And tell him that I will be writing him a letter asap. Tell Brad, what the heck? for not writing me, Willie, Chase, Tanner, Rylee, and Dad they all are slacking.

I better get going but I will write you guys more on the next Monday for sure.

Love you all.

con amor,

Elder Hamblin