Sister Nelson in Ecuador: The Best Days of My Life!

Hi Family!!

Sad news. Changes are today and Hna. Umaña is leaving me. I am so sad! We became best friends in these past 6 weeks! They always say that you are going to have one companion that is more special than all the others and I found her! She always tells me she found her other half! haha We had so many good times together and memories that I will never forget. I am so grateful to be in the mission and to have these unforgettable experiences. It really is a once in a life-time opportunity! (And I`m gonna share it with you! haha Love ya K!) These past 6 weeks have changed my life forever and I'm trying not to cry right now thinking about how much I loved it! haha I love being a missionary!!! The mission isn't all about how many baptisms you have, it's the people you meet, the realtionships you form, the lives you change, the memories you make, the lessons you learn and the personal conversion that you gain. We didn't have any baptisms together but I have been so blessed to have had this time with my zone and my companions. My heart is full of joy and that is all that matters!

Well Hna. Umaña is leaving and now Hna. Butterfield and I are on our own! We have a lot of work to continue! The Cadenas family couldn't come to church yesterday because she had something done at the dentist the day before and was still bleeding and the baby was up all night sick... But they invited us over for lunch after church! They are the best! They still don't have a baptism date but we are praying and praying! Keep them in your prayers too please!

Yolanda hasn't been home all week and we haven't been able to get a hold of her either. I hope we can get in touch and keep her progressing! She is an awesome lady and has a lot of potential but she needs a lot of support to get their! We are going to have to do something to get the ward excited about missionary work! Our zone leaders spoke in our sacrament meeting yesterday andi t was awesome! They spoke about the gospel and the importance of sharing it! I felt like a proud mom watching her little boys up there! haha I love that the zone becomes like your family! I love them all like brothers! haha

Saturday was crazy! We started the morning doing a service project! A family in our ward have been investigating for over a year now, our zone leader, Elder Albino was teaching them in Santo Domingo and now they live here in our area! But the wife has to get divorced to get married to her husband she is with now and it's a huge process but I think she is finally going to be able to get divorced! Anyway they moved so we helped them load everything in the truck and unpack! Then the elders who share our ward had a baptism of a little girl who didn't get baptized with her family because she was scared of the water. They called and said she didn't want to get baptized! So we all went in our p-day clothes and we talked to her and calmed her down and got her to the chapel. She got in the water, he said the prayer and she went down but didn't get covered all the way so he had to do it again and she started crying and didn't want to. So we went to talk to her again to walk her through it and nothing was working. So our other zone leader, Elder Sanchez, got a picture of Christ with little kids and showed it to her and was talking to her and got her to calm down. Then her mom who was also in the water with her said a prayer with her, picked her up like a baby and dunked her! We were all praying so hard and it was so exciting!! haha Then afterwards there were other baptisms in another chapel so we went there, President and his wife came and it was amazing! A lady who used to be a nun got baptized!! Woo! She is so cute and always gives us all yogurt! haha

Well family I love you all! Thank your for all that you do for me! I love this gospel and love being a missionary!!!! Have an amazing week!!!!

xoxoxoxoxxXo

Love forever and always,

Hermana Nelson