Working Two Sectors

July 6th

This week we were super busy. also we now have one of the biggest zones in the mission with 25 missionaries. We also were blessed to have 16 people attend church this week, we were also able to do a bunch of divisions with members to help cover our sector.

we were able to have a lesson with the familia Mendoza and their nephew and his family the Andrade family who are going to get baptized this weekend. sister Mendoza was having some doubts and we explained endure to the end really well to her and then she was talk about wanting to listen to other churches, then sister Andrade pulled out a really humbling scripture which is in 1 nephi 14, which talks about how every other church that isn’t the one true church is the church of the devil. So it was pretty awesome to see a investigator pull that out on another investigator haha. We felt like we really helped sister Mendoza that night.

Something funny that happened this week we were teaching this little old lady and we were trying to explain what the book of Mormon is we tried to have her read one verse and well I guess she thought it was pretty interesting because she went on to read 2 chapters out loud to us and it didn’t matter how many times we said "until there" or "okay". in the end we didn’t get to much of a lesson in, but we came out of the lesson knowing that she will definitely read so that was good.

But we also found a super good chicken place that’s a huge piece of fried chicken breast and mountain of fries for 1.50 so. I was also able to eat chicken feet again and I only gagged twice this time it was pretty cool. The thing I love about Ecuador though is we always get fresh juice like tree tomato or good passion fruit or naranjilla its awesome. We also have a family that recently went to the states and they have ranch it was super awesome to have a salad with some good ole ranch sauce 

Here is me and my comp repping our new welcome pope Francisco shirts in our house and in middle earth. also are the jungle people look in the jungle. a real shrunken head the middle earth monument. me with a otavalanian hat on that is so hard that the natives used them as a second use as weapons. also this is our church

love you all -Elder Keyes

I went back to Vergil!!!

This week was a really good week we found 2 really great families, we had 9 investigators in church and I was able to go back to my first ward to see that one of my converts is going to go to the temple in a few weeks.

This week we had zone conference and I was able to see Elder Call so that was really cool. We were trained on how to work with the members better.  The meeting was in the chapel I was at when I started my mission so I was able to see some of the members there which was really cool.

But anyway the two families we found were old investigators from like July of last year and we decided to run by there to see if they would listen.  The Dominguez family was there with their aunt and it was really cool how eager they were to learn more. The aunt invited us again and she brought her family. Her husband said to us "I have listened to a lot of different churches and this was the first one to sound and appear like the church I have always heard and read about in the bible." so it was super cool to hear that, we have so many prepared people and families here.

Sunday I was able to go to Vergil and attend the meetings there while my companions were in meetings with the stake president and the other zone leaders. But it was weird it felt like I had never left in a way everyone still remembered my name and called on me in the classes more the missionaries who were actually assigned there. I saw one of my favorite families the Gallardos and their little boy Pepe was super pumped to see me they told me when I left they bought him an inflatable tiger and Pepe named the tiger Keyes haha.

Also changes came again, they mixed my sector with another and both my comps left and I and another Elder from the other sector are now with a district leader so I’m still in trios!!

Love Elder Keyes

Austin & Ryan at Zone Conference

Austin & Dinner

Big Ol' Fire

May 25th

This week started off pretty slow, but some interesting things happened too.  But first I have recovered from Chikungunya and now Elder Colfack has it.  It’s kind of funny its supposedly transmitted through mosquitos but Elder Colfack uses his mosquito net, takes anti mosquito pills and wears bug spray and still got the sickness so I guess all of that stuff doesn’t even matter to the beast mosquitos they have here!

Anyway one crazy and sad thing that happened was Nelsons house got burned down.  We were in the middle of a lesson and then we just seen a huge black pillar of smoke coming from the direction of where Nelson lives.  After the lesson we ran over there and it was raining ash, luckily he wasn’t inside.  The fireman were not sure if someone started it or if was faulty wiring (he wired it himself by taping wires he found on the street together) so it’s a toss-up which one it was.  But this experience has helped him come back to Church and apply the principles we have been teaching him more in his life.  Please pray for him this is the second time in a year that this has happened to him.

My MTC Comp Elder Olsen was transferred to my District

On a little bit lighter note, we had divisions with Elder Scanlan and Elder Gonzalez, I went with Elder Gonzalez.  He is way cool, it was kind of funny we started talking about music and found out that we like the same rock groups.  He is way cool and was actually in a band before he came out on his mission.  We found some really good contacts and found a new smoothie shop that was awesome.  It makes a really good smoothie with fruit you have never heard of like the Guanabauna.

Kind of slow week, love you all!!

-Elder Keyes  

Garcia Family

 June 1st

This week we had a meeting everyday but Saturday.  President was here for interviews so we had two days of training with him and they were really good!  The new AP’s we have did a really good job putting training together that really helped improve our training.  One in particular was about using the scriptures and relying on them more than yourself.

We finally moved all of the desks and stuff like our dressers out of our old apartment into our new place so it doesn’t feel like we are living in a hotel anymore because we have a place to put our clothes.  We gave a Nelson a few of the really old desks that were in our old apartment and he was able to sell them for some supplies to help rebuild his house.  I lucked out when we had Divisions because Elder Olsen had to help Nelson carry these huge wood planks up to his property so he could start rebuilding his house.  Elder Olsen said it was the hardest service projects of his mission.  So I was able to dodge that bullet. Ha Ha   The division was way cool we had a super good lunch, some good ol fried fish with rice and beans.  The member where we ate was excited to show us this new electric massager the he had just bought.  It worked by shocking you with these suction cup things you put on the area you want to massage.  Elder Jeffery put one on each wrist arm and then grabbed each others wrists to see how high we could go.  We got to 8 out of 15 and then it started to feel like a taser  so ya we stopped.

We have an investigator with a Baptismal date!!  Fernando is this really nice guy who has a strong desire to become a member of the church, so pray that he keeps progressing and growing his testimony.  We also rescued  (helped reactivate) a member who used to be in the Bishopric and then who fell into inactivity.   It is great to see him back at church and he is now our Mission Leader.

Love Elder Keyes

We finally have someone progressing towards Baptism

This week was pretty great, we finally have someone progressing towards baptism, I went on divisions with Elder Colfack and I bought a toy.

Tuesday Elder Colfack and I went on divisions and it was a super fun day.  It was cool, we taught really well together and a family gave us a huge lunch because they thought his companion who was going home was coming.  Then that night we bought a pizza and I ended up getting Chickungunya which is like this mosquito sickness and I had a super high fever, aches and pains.  So ya, that was cool, but Elder Colfacks neighbor is a Doctor so he just hooked me up with some meds I needed and by the end of the next day I felt fine.

On Thursday we taught the Cifuentes, they are a less active family and some of them are a little silly haha.  Edwardo, for example is one of the Brothers that is active and is trying to help his family.  But this visit he was a little offended from the ward activity this past Saturday.  It was put on by the young women and they did this modeling show or something like that.  Anyway he thought it was very inappropriate, we tried to calm him down and just to talk to the Bishop about it.  That just seemed to get him more fired up until he just stood up and demonstrated the right way to model.  He said this is the right way and walked slowly and properly and then he said this is how they were doing it and started to shake and twist his big chubby body. Me my companion and his whole family almost died laughing at him when he did that, but he was completely serious.  He is an awesome guy!

Friday we had divisions with Elder Jeffery and Elder Gonzales.  I worked in my sector with Elder Gonzales (my Grandpa) he is the one who trained my trainer.  I really enjoyed going on divisions with him.  While we out we found this huge family and taught them.  They kept asking me to speak in English and the teenage girls kept taking snapchats of us while we were teaching the restoration to them.  It was pretty cool to teach a big group (9) but it was hard to keep everyone’s attention.  Later that night we found a really good new investigator whose name is Julio.  He started out just kind of listening in on the lesson we were having until we asked him to read.  When he started to read he kept talking about how great it makes him feel to read this book and how different the message is from everyone else.  It was a huge testimony builder to me that there really are people who are searching for the one “different” church.  He should be getting baptized on the 6^th of June.

Saturday I bought a Taka-Taka which is just like this super annoying toy that everyone has right now.

Sunday I spoke in church and we found another really prepared investigator Fernando.  He has been looking for a good church for a while, but all the churches he has found explain the Holy Ghost as being a fire that burns and makes you jump around and scream and cry hysterically.  He then said I don’t feel like that every time I have felt close to God, I have felt peace.  We asked him how he felt when he had his first child and he said a powerful feeling of love and peace, we said that is exactly how the spirit feels.  He agreed and really wants to hear from us again and also accepted a date.

Well that’s all for the week, love you all!! --  Elder Keyes

Austin & Byron

Austin & Andre

Austin & Edwardo

May 4th & 11th

May 4                    Golden Family

This last week we didn't have any meetings so we worked like crazy!  Tuesday I went on divisions with one of the Zone Leaders Elder Daute who is from Honduras.  He only has two changes left, so he is super experienced.  His call was to Peru originally but he was reassigned here to Quito because of Visa problems.  I learned a ton in that short time I spent with him, his teaching style is super different.  With him we helped one of our investigators realize the answer to her prayers and she felt the spirit super strong.  We taught about the plan of salvation and that was the lesson she really needed at the time.  She said this is the first time that a plan a plan that God has for her has made sense.

 Austin & Elder Anderton