May 5th 2014

Transfers have come. Elder Rincon left, and my new companion is n his way here in a bus and should be here by 4. so right now i am with the zone leader following their normal daily routine. Time with Elder Rincon was great, but sadly came to an end. Hes a good friend and will be missed. 

This past week I learned a lot about enduring, enduring and enduring. There really is no way to describe it but other than the scriptures 3 Nephi 21:16 says: And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved. We have struggled a bit to find and teach this past week. I look at it 2 ways. Number 1, you can have your feet hurt from walking around all day or number 2 you can have your butt checks hurt from teaching all day. We just need more people to teach! We have been looking so hopefully that this week we will be able to find some more. Long suffering and enduring to the end are attributes of Christ that we all need to learn. The stresses and daily challenges that we go through are small tests of how we endure. Remember that how big or how small of thing you are going through Christ has been there before. 

This past week we also had a zone conference with the Mission President. There was 4 Zones there. President talked about 3 things in specific, the law of Chasity, 2 daily followups, and 3 about families. It cool to see how he takes the situations that are in the mission and applies them to the mission and then how he applies them to us. There was about 60 missionaries there and president would assign talks to give, 5 minutes each but you wouldn't know if you were going to get called on or not, super crazy! I didn't get called on for a talk but i did for a practice round, which went really well! 

Love the mission, love the people, love the Lord and love you all! Thanks for the support! 

Elder Strang

We remember this happy young kid thats now half a world away.

April 14th 2014

Hey derrr folks in Whootah! Hows da weather? Still got snow or has the bipolar started yet? Still nice and toasty here!

Finished out last week with... 2 more baps! The land of milk and honey is here in Quevedo! Super sweet and i love it! We are taeching the whole famliy and the sons were the first to be abptized and so we are working with the mom and the older sister but the dad took off with another women, so teaching them has been very fulfiling beacuse you can see the hole that they had been filled with the word of God. 

The rain had completetely stopped, nothing but hot but this past week it has started again with power! They had been doing constuction on the floor above our house and something fell and put a hole in roof so wverytime it rains we have cascade of water enter and flood the floor. That seemed to be the last straw so President told us to look for a new house and we found a brand new one so im hoping that we will be able to move into that! 

We got some flyers yesterday at Church to pass out to everyone this week: Its an invtation to stake conference next week, and guess whos coming? RICHARD G SCOTT! Wahoo! This week, of all places, he will be here in the stake that im in! So we get to go listen to him and meet him! Super stoked for that! 

I wanted to share something that I have reflected deeply on this past week,and that is faith. I truly beleive that faith is all. Faith is Christ brings the small things as well as the bigs things in life. Faith along with confidence hand in hand bring the true desires of our hearts, brings the miracles of life and helps realize and reach what we can truly become. Alma 34:21 says And now as I said concerning faith—^afaith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye ^bhope for things which are ^cnot seen, which are true.    Theres so many things each day that we dont have knowledge of, but with a little seed of faith, we can become something great.

I love you all and wish you the best this week and this Easter Sunday.May we all remember the most important this day, Christ Our Savior. 

Elder Strang

Donde esta el tiempo? Se va rápido no? 

This past week had a lot of things go down...  First off we are all fine here with the Volcano whitch I just found out today that it went off! Earthquakes and things like that are normal so dont worry! 

We completed our goal and set a record of 50 baptisms in the mission last month so again Presidnt Amaya came and ate KFC with us which was way good. That morning before we had the Lunch President, The assiants and the Zone Leaders did inspections in all the houses in the Zone.. I was reading during study time and president then the assiants and then the Zone leaders pass by the window, at first i thought i was sleeping haha but then they came in and searched everything! Well, feels good to say that i don't have anything as a problem and that I was doing what Im supposed to do :) 

Afterwards we had a conference with the Zone and they have now just changed the rules of the mission. We are only allowed to baptise familis and the those over the age of 13. There has been too many kids gettting baptisms of kids then they dont have support so then they become inactrive. So the new rules are supposed to help but means that we have to work all the harder! :) 

Things are well, we are on track to have to 23 baptisms this week, so excited for that! I have too say that I didnt enjoy confernece as a misisonary because the whole time we were running around watching finding people to bring. We were late for some and then I had to help with investigadores kids, so it wasnt as good as sitting at home on the couch but from what I was able to llisten too I was amazing! :) 

What I really took out of it was, that we need to be that same in every moment of everyday. Devleop your faith then help those around you develop the faith. What an amazing Gospel we have. I love you all and hope you all have a good week! 

Love Elder Strang

The 8 th Month

mark has just passed, and too tell you the truth I am passed the ¨not feeling like you're in the mission¨ part or the ¨think about home a lot part¨. I'm here, and I love it. 

Its sad to think that so much time has gone by, at the same time there is a undeniable excitement that comes with the unknown future. This past week I tried imaging houses or cars and stuff from the US, but all I could think of is the Ecuador. Nothing else. I love it here. Its an amazing country with some many amazing people. It has its problems just like everyone else, but I see more positives than problems, and can say that it will be sad when I have to leave. 

There is a lot of changes coming in the mission. New President is supposed to be here in July. A huge group goes home in May, and the arrival of another group of newbies comes. 

This past week we went to a part of our sector that we have never gone to before. Its a good 20 minute walk and it is amazing! I walked through a banana plantation, wild flowers, and straight jungle for 20 minutes, after we ran into an older later lady who had been inactive for the past number of years. She invited us to talk with here in her yard. Pretty sweet little farm shes got going on! They built all of their house outta bamboo and they have chickens, corn patch, banana trees, pigs, and 3 dogs that want to bite my face off. Nice people, we went and helped them cook the food for the pigs one day, supper legit. A ton of platano, Verde, and chicken guts. Throw it all in a pot with some water over a giant wood fire. And you got soup, for da pigs. :)

We just finished the month of March, as you probably know haha but we did it... We broke the records for baptisms in a single month. The old record was 46, and now... 50! It was crazy down to the wire last minute but we did it. We also completed 28 rescues which is bringing inactive members back to church. Feels good to be a part of history in the Gran Zona De Quevedo Sur 2. 

I want to testify of studying and the importance there of. Picked up Chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel this past week, The Christlike Attributes. How great was our Savior and Redeemer? He was prefect, spotless, gave all he was and had for us. Amazing, and all we have to do is follow his plan. The primary song says it all, ¨Im trying to be like Jesus, following in his ways...¨ As simply sweet as that song is, it explains everything so well. We are trying to become like Jesus, and follow in his ways. He gave everything and a plan. Follow it, us it, become it. 

Elder Strang 

7.5 Months

Alright, so for those of you who dont know the whole change of the food I was eating and the fact that everyone here serves you so much sugary food caused 2 little cavities, so I went to the dentist! Sùper Sketchy! I mean the chair was good and the fact we were in the street was a little weird... No but really though, we werent in the streets but dental care is not the best. Went to what I was told is the ¨best¨ dentist in town. Walk in sit down and wait.. and wait.. for a good half hour. After he calls me in, tells me to sit in the chair and the starts looking. Finds 2 cavities and then starts drilling.. with out a mask.. googles... one guy.. one office.. One freaked out missionary. All is well, drilled, filled and hopping they hold! 40$ for two haha so didnt feel to bad about that.

Besides the dentist, this week had a lot of ups and downs. The saying, there is oppistion is all things has a lot more truth to it then not. (2Nephi 2:11)  We face a lot of oppistion every day. From having doors shut in our faces, not having people to teach, investigadores not reading or keeping comitments. To the smallest of things, when we need transportation, there NEVER is anything. No bus, no taxi, and when we dont need one you´d there seems to be 2 for every persons. I truly believe as the work of the Lord hastens, so does the oppistion. We are working our butts off, following up with everything we should be doing but there always seems to be something that gets in the way. But just as in all things, truth will prevail! We brought 2 more souls this past Saturday into the fold of our Heavenly Father! Was so sweet to baptize them. Sad story is that the dad has 2 families, this one and another and hes not married to either woman, so the mom of the 2 boys that lives with them would be baptized in a heart beat and wants to so badly, but she aint married so she cant :( 

As memebers we have responsibilies. Help the missionaries, I cannot tell you how frustrating it is when the ward doesnt want to do anything. We baptize and then the members are supposed to visit those who were reciently baptized. If they arent visited or dont have a friend in the Ward, they will inavtivate within a few weeks. Where i am at there are so manny people inavtive, why? Beacuse they dont have anyone to befriend them. Help them! They arent just a baptimal statistic, they are our brtohers and sisters, children of God and the deserve to be loved! 

Remeber that there will always be oppistion in all things but if we are doinig our part, and we are firm in the correct path, we cant take those situations and learn from them. The atonement of Jesus Christ is infinite and covers us all. Everything is and is only possible through the atonement of Christ. Use it, but dont abuse it. I 

I love you all and hope that you all have a good week, 

Con Mucho Amor 

Elder Strang

Update February 24th 2014

What a great week! Things are going really well and the time doesnt seem to stop for anything!

This past week has been such a good week. We have been teaching these 2 brothers and a sister for the past 2 weeks and this past saturday? They got cleasded with the water! :) We are goning to finish this month with 4 baptism which means we complete our goal. The Zone had a goal of 35 this month and competed.... 40! Its been a long time since a zone has done that. The zone has a goal of 37 for March and we are on track to complete 50, which would break the reord in the mission! :) Loving th work and people! Its alot differentin this Sector, But i love it. The people are so humble and are willing to listen to our message. Love it love it love it! :) 

Learned a lot this week about personal progres and faith. A lot of times we need to stop and ask ourselves where we are at in our lives. Where we want to be? Theres always something that we can imoprove. That self reflection is something that Im learning now. Where am i? Where do i want to be? How do i get there? Ask yourselfs these questions than make a plan to reach what you want! Its possible and with enough faith in Christ and his atonement.. Anyhting is possible.Give it a try!

Thank you all for the support and know that I love you and love hearing from you! :)

Elder Strang

Kolby Update ZZZZ Ater Transfer

Sorry that I wasn't able to write last week... The Change finally came! I got transfered and Am now 4 hours away in a tiny little town called Quevedo.

I went from the huge bustling city to a town of a good size but it also has really small parts. Im in a town called Nueva Jerusalen. We live in the city, super nice house, but work in the... JUNGLE! Its so sweet! All the roads are dirt and tree houses are all made of wood or bamboo! Rivers and our sector borders bananna plants and after tht is all jungle. Its crazy! The ward is a lot smaller, I went from 250 in Condor to about 70 here. Little bit different. The chapel is smaller then most peoples houses in the US and theres only fans, no A/C. The people are a lot more humble becasue they dont hae much so the success rate here is huge. We had a baptism last saturday and have about 6 lined up for the 22. My Comp is from columbia and is quuite different than anyone ie had before, well see how things go! 

Sorry i dont have much time this week but ill write more next week! Thank you all for your suppport! Love you all!

Elder Strang