Hey! How´s it going? Ecuador is so strange you guys. Don´t get me wrong, I love it! But it´s bizaro!
Like I said before, my comp is amazing! Her name is Hermana Irala. She`s gogeous, from Argentina, and has so much patience it´s unreal. She`s been out for 4 months and is already training. I feel bad for her... because she´s stuck with me. She doesn´t know any english. And because she´s my trainer, she has to study the language now everyday for an hr. Not that we ever talk in english... but whatever. haha The day I got here, she gave me a card telling me she was excited to work with me... and she made me a little american flag... just incase I get home sick. It´s truly the little things. I love her so much! Even though we still don´t talk all that often. She´s way funny.
The first 2 days I was here we had 1 investigador and a bunch of inactive members to teach. But then they switched up our zones and gave all our people away. Sadly, the other zone had no one. So we had to start from scratch. A difficult feat because it´s really harrd to talk to people here. They´re super friendly and love to talk. But when you talk about anything gospel related, they switch the topic like no one´s buisness. It´s insaino!
We now have 3 investigadors. All in the same family. 2 girls our age and their Father. They´re flipping hilarious! They wanted nothing to do with us until they found out that I´m from america (like that wasn´t obvious? haha) Then they asked me to speak English because they´ve never spoken with an American before. And they loved it! They make fun of my spanish.... but it´s all good. After we became friends, they started to listen to what we had to say. And they love it! They have soooooo many questions! They were my very first 2 book of mormons placed! And they also commited to a baptismal date on the second visit. And to attend church on the first visit. They´re my favorite investigadors! (are we aloud to have favs? No sey. lol)
We have a few others that we talk about the gospel with and they accept the pamphlets, but never agree to have us teach an actual lesson. All the inactive members that we´ve met with this week were finallñy at church yesterday! Yay! So exciting! The people here a way cool!
Let´s see.... Teaching isn´t that hard.... the majority of the time. It´s understanding what they´re saying that´s so difficult. At the CCM I learned everything I needed to know about how to teach the gospel. It turns out that I don´t actually know any spanish words that are used on a daily basis. haha It´s so hard! And when they do say words that I know, I don´t catch them because they all talk sooo quickly! And they have this weird accent where they like to leave letters out. ugh! It´s way different from Mexican Spanish.
So in my casa there are 4 of us. Me, Hermana Irala (from Argentina), Hermana Garcia (from Mexico), and Hermana Jeronimo (from guatamala). Garcia is like 1/2 a foot taller than me. Irala is like a few inches shorter than me. And Jeronimo is like a foot shorter than me. She´s so cute! I´ll have to take pictures for you guys! They´re all so sweet and try to talk to me. haha Garcia is always asking me to sing in English for her. Jeronimo likes it when I cook. So she always asks me to make her something. (weird, I know.) And Irala loves it when I try to tell jokes in spanish.
I was so quiet when I first got here because I couldn´t say anything not pertaining to the gospel. So everyone just thought I was timid and afraid of people... so I´ve been told. But one day I was trying to explain something in spanish and just started laughing. And they were like! Wow! You´re so loud and fun! haha And the other day, I was just talking about random funny stuff and Irala turned to me and was like... You´re so extroverted. haha They have no idea. I´m beyond quiet here. I swear that the whole first week I was in danger of loosing my voice from a lack of use.
So obviously, people here aren´t used to seeing white girls. Because half the time people are staring at me like.. I´m yours. And they other half stare at me like... why are you breathing the same air as me. People here are very expressionate. haha! When I first got here I swore that Brian Regan´s joke about a short in the horn of his buddy´s car was a real thing. Becuase all you hear, all day long are car horns. The traffic here is insaine. Not as bad as Mexico... but here they´re more spread out and drive a whole lot faster. We took a corner yesterday at 60 mph. I flipped out. (We were in a members car)
Also, the buses here are THE scariest things I have ever seen! My second day here we took the bus to our district meeting. Shayla, I swear, everyone here is dauntless. lol The buses don´t stop. You run to get on them and hope you don´t die trying to get off at your stop. So scary! Also, at one of our members houses, their stair case crumpled down. So they have this really flimsy warped metal spiral staircase to get to their appartment on the 4th floor. The steps would bend with every step. And they´re like 1/2 inch long. Just long enough to get your toes on. And you have to climb this in the dark.... because they don´t have any lights. lol
The food here is super bland. And there´s a lot of it! They serve soup before every meal (I have no idea why, because 1 it has no taste, and 2 it´s sooooo hot here!) and thy don´t eat dinner here. They snack for breakfast eat like 3 meals worth at lunch and nothing at dinner. They all laugh at me as I try to finish 1 of my plates.
That´s all I have time for you guys! I´ll ty to fill you in more next time! I love you all so much! I know that this work is so worth it! Even though it´s really difficult. I know that our Saviour lives. I know that Heavenly Father is watching over all of you. I know he wants us to succeed and be happy. Please pray to him often. He wants to hear from you.
Love you guys!
-Hermana Dodge
Like I said before, my comp is amazing! Her name is Hermana Irala. She`s gogeous, from Argentina, and has so much patience it´s unreal. She`s been out for 4 months and is already training. I feel bad for her... because she´s stuck with me. She doesn´t know any english. And because she´s my trainer, she has to study the language now everyday for an hr. Not that we ever talk in english... but whatever. haha The day I got here, she gave me a card telling me she was excited to work with me... and she made me a little american flag... just incase I get home sick. It´s truly the little things. I love her so much! Even though we still don´t talk all that often. She´s way funny.
The first 2 days I was here we had 1 investigador and a bunch of inactive members to teach. But then they switched up our zones and gave all our people away. Sadly, the other zone had no one. So we had to start from scratch. A difficult feat because it´s really harrd to talk to people here. They´re super friendly and love to talk. But when you talk about anything gospel related, they switch the topic like no one´s buisness. It´s insaino!
We now have 3 investigadors. All in the same family. 2 girls our age and their Father. They´re flipping hilarious! They wanted nothing to do with us until they found out that I´m from america (like that wasn´t obvious? haha) Then they asked me to speak English because they´ve never spoken with an American before. And they loved it! They make fun of my spanish.... but it´s all good. After we became friends, they started to listen to what we had to say. And they love it! They have soooooo many questions! They were my very first 2 book of mormons placed! And they also commited to a baptismal date on the second visit. And to attend church on the first visit. They´re my favorite investigadors! (are we aloud to have favs? No sey. lol)
We have a few others that we talk about the gospel with and they accept the pamphlets, but never agree to have us teach an actual lesson. All the inactive members that we´ve met with this week were finallñy at church yesterday! Yay! So exciting! The people here a way cool!
Let´s see.... Teaching isn´t that hard.... the majority of the time. It´s understanding what they´re saying that´s so difficult. At the CCM I learned everything I needed to know about how to teach the gospel. It turns out that I don´t actually know any spanish words that are used on a daily basis. haha It´s so hard! And when they do say words that I know, I don´t catch them because they all talk sooo quickly! And they have this weird accent where they like to leave letters out. ugh! It´s way different from Mexican Spanish.
So in my casa there are 4 of us. Me, Hermana Irala (from Argentina), Hermana Garcia (from Mexico), and Hermana Jeronimo (from guatamala). Garcia is like 1/2 a foot taller than me. Irala is like a few inches shorter than me. And Jeronimo is like a foot shorter than me. She´s so cute! I´ll have to take pictures for you guys! They´re all so sweet and try to talk to me. haha Garcia is always asking me to sing in English for her. Jeronimo likes it when I cook. So she always asks me to make her something. (weird, I know.) And Irala loves it when I try to tell jokes in spanish.
I was so quiet when I first got here because I couldn´t say anything not pertaining to the gospel. So everyone just thought I was timid and afraid of people... so I´ve been told. But one day I was trying to explain something in spanish and just started laughing. And they were like! Wow! You´re so loud and fun! haha And the other day, I was just talking about random funny stuff and Irala turned to me and was like... You´re so extroverted. haha They have no idea. I´m beyond quiet here. I swear that the whole first week I was in danger of loosing my voice from a lack of use.
So obviously, people here aren´t used to seeing white girls. Because half the time people are staring at me like.. I´m yours. And they other half stare at me like... why are you breathing the same air as me. People here are very expressionate. haha! When I first got here I swore that Brian Regan´s joke about a short in the horn of his buddy´s car was a real thing. Becuase all you hear, all day long are car horns. The traffic here is insaine. Not as bad as Mexico... but here they´re more spread out and drive a whole lot faster. We took a corner yesterday at 60 mph. I flipped out. (We were in a members car)
Also, the buses here are THE scariest things I have ever seen! My second day here we took the bus to our district meeting. Shayla, I swear, everyone here is dauntless. lol The buses don´t stop. You run to get on them and hope you don´t die trying to get off at your stop. So scary! Also, at one of our members houses, their stair case crumpled down. So they have this really flimsy warped metal spiral staircase to get to their appartment on the 4th floor. The steps would bend with every step. And they´re like 1/2 inch long. Just long enough to get your toes on. And you have to climb this in the dark.... because they don´t have any lights. lol
The food here is super bland. And there´s a lot of it! They serve soup before every meal (I have no idea why, because 1 it has no taste, and 2 it´s sooooo hot here!) and thy don´t eat dinner here. They snack for breakfast eat like 3 meals worth at lunch and nothing at dinner. They all laugh at me as I try to finish 1 of my plates.
That´s all I have time for you guys! I´ll ty to fill you in more next time! I love you all so much! I know that this work is so worth it! Even though it´s really difficult. I know that our Saviour lives. I know that Heavenly Father is watching over all of you. I know he wants us to succeed and be happy. Please pray to him often. He wants to hear from you.
Love you guys!
-Hermana Dodge