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Monday, September 28, 2015

A-Looooooooja!

(said like Aloha if you didn´t get the joke)

Well Hola from Loja, Ecuador which is the southern end in the mountains-ish! It´s absolutely goregous here and I pretty much lucked out since most of the places here are hot and humid all the time! And at least for the first little while I get to train in the nice, slower talking people of Loja! 

Well let´s start with the temporal stuff and finish with the best spiritual things! So Once I arrived here in Loja, our whole group was met by our Presidente and his secretaries (is that how you spell that, every day my Spanish gets better and my English gets worse) and off we went for a training for the rest of the day! And one of the first things they said (then repeated a thousand times because it´s true) ¡Bien venidos al mejor misión en el Mundo!  And yep, this is the best mission in the world! (I´m not trying to offend anyone, your mission area was for you and this one is for me) This mission is bold. First Lección of the mission was "Your missionary work does not end in the baptismal waters, it ends at the Temple" So we even added to our objective: "... and endure to the end. Through the ordenanzas de salvación" Our Presidente is bold, his rules are strict and to a point because that is what will help us as missionaries. And for this mission we don´t invite people to be baptized by saying "Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ", nope takes to long, it´s "Will you be baptized the 24th of October" Bold. I love it! I know that Presidente Torres is called of God.
Now to Loja! We really on walk and take buses and taxis to get around here so after training we went straight to the Busport (because it is just as big as an airport) and took a 9 hour Bus ride from Guayquil  to Loja. And we got to our apartment at 4 in the morning! What a day! Started at 2 and ended at 4 the next morning, how I had energy was a milagro! Now real quick, our apartment in US standards is pretty shabby but it is proabably the nicest apartments on the block because our toliet has enough pressure to take the toliet paper with it! (Honestly a blessing!)

Okay spiritual time! As I have been learning spanish and the gospel, and going out everyday to strength this small branch in Loja through teaching less active members and investigators, through trying to understand the conversations going on around me and saying something when I hear what people are saying, I have been brought to ponder what really is my whole "might, mind, and strength" and how I actually give all of it. Blessed mission gave me a talk called the Fourth Missionary (I advise all to read it especially if you are serving a mission) It tells exactly how to give your all and that´s what I want to try to do every single day. I want to be able to say to my Father that every day I gave everything I could that day. And that is what turly makes a mission and especially a lifetime, or even a moment in our lives, the best it can be. A quote from C.S Lewis: The Lord says to us, "Give me all. I don´t want so much of your time, so much of your talents and money, and so much of your work: I want You... Give me yourself and in exchange I will give you Myself, My will, shall become your will. My heart shall become your heart." 

Powerful, maravilloso. Give your all my friends and family and you will recieve much more in return.

This is my testimony
Now I would love for you to share your´s with me :)

Elder Alder

Oh btw, that´s a guinea pig

Welcome to Loja!



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