What a short week with so much that happened! On Tuesday we had another training with President Riggins. They talked and reviewed the things that we had learned with Elder Uceda (the Area 70 that came) which was good cause it jsut hit home even more! That day was mostly consunmed in the Church. Afterwards we went home and made some hamburgers American stlye well as American as they get! They were so good. I dont know why, it took so long to make them, its just time that I eat better food. 

On Wednesday we had our day on contacting which went very well! We didnt just knock doors all day but focused on finding new people. We talked with a lot of familes in the street, went to less active members houses and asked referalls from all those we visited. We had two refferals that day and  found about 2 other families that we will be teaching this week! 

On Thursday we had more of an atypical day as I call them. Teaching Preaching and doing the things missionaries do! :) 

On Friday we had lunch way far away,which is normal for Fridays but its got to be 8 miles away. Its about 5 miles in bus and then another two walking and then two walking back out. And lately the sun has been burning into my bones more then usual so its qutie the walk :) Thankful for the sacrifice of the pioneers! 

Saturday we had ward counsel and correlacion meeting which went well. We are all really trying to work together and help the ward as a whole but that can be a long slow process at times! 

Sunday was an amazing day. We had a couple at Church that are working on getting baptized but they have to do a couple things first. But later in the night we were to sing at an anugaracion of a giant Christmas tree in the center park here in Milagro. We sang in front about 2500-3000 people! It was nuts! Such a hit and brought in the true meaning of Christmas! 

I hope that you all have a good Christmas and can prepare to remember the true meaning :) 

Love Elder Strang

What a week! Results have finally come.. well in a way :) We worked really hard last week and had some really good results. We found a couple families and invited them to be baptized, and they accepted! After, we invited them to church and said that they would go. We have been working with other familes as well, which all said they were going to come to church yesterday. It was all going great, till yesterday. No one came! What a test of faith and patientce! I was quite frustrated well into lunch when I met a familly member of the family where we ate lunch. We got talking and he told me that if Im preaching the Gospel and keeping the rules, then Im completeing with my job as a missionary. Brought a lot of peace to my trouble mind thinking about the people that werent able to come and why they werent able to come. 

 

I remember after how my mission pres has told us that we need to find joy in all that we do, as long as we are keeping the rules. And thinking about all that we do, we should find joy in that, or why would we do it? I know that there are things that we dont have much of a choice of not doing, but why not find joy in them as well? Ive been trying to apply it in my life and ifnd that I am so much more relaxed and unstressed in my life. I even find time to look at the sunsets and smell the roses :) 

 

Well on the lighter side of the week. I ate cow stomach soup, again. Look up MONDONGO, thats what it is. I ate like I was taken pills, with a chunk in my mouth washed down with Coca Cola, not my favorite for sure! We helped a new convert put a fence in her year, fighting off ants the size of your knuckle and using tools not adaqute for the job, made a fun and interesting morning :) We have been playing more soccer doing more service and finding joy in all that we do :) 

 

I hope you can all find joy in your lives this week in all that you do :) 

 

Love 

Elder Strang

Guayaquil over the river

The internet café live today

We have no idea its 90 deg

Ties to match girls out fit ? What's going on?

Oct. 20 2014

Well the week of progress has come! The last week we finally had some progress come along! We are trying to focus on helping less active members come back to church and helping the ward help those who are iniactive come back to church, because as we know it does help to baptise people then 2 months later they dont want to go to church. So we have been looking at the lists and there are 450 members that are coming to church so our work is defineately cut out for us! On Sunday we had 8 of less avtice members at church, so a little progress is very welcome! 

The week went by super fast and I just dont understand the concept of time? I thought it was tuesday until my companion told me that it was friday.... As far as my compnion we are still getting along quite well. For those who arent getting along with their companions.. a little secret... change yourself before looking to change them, something that we all learn! 

Speaking of less actives, we were teaching a younger girl that was baptized about a year a go and she had stopped going to church. Turns out she had been left after being baptized and no one helped her or visited her. So when she had qeuestions about things of the church, she didnt nkow where to go. A friend showed up from a different church and ansered her questions with the things from what she knew... needless to say there was some other members from the other church that showed up and well after talking, apostasy is very apparent there. Poor girl has roped into lies after being left.... Kinda sad. We all have the need to be fed the word, the true word. When members are baptized or are less avtice they can be fed many things, many of the which are not true. I have thought here in the mission that visitnng those who are less active may be more laborsome than helping someone that wants to investigate the church for the first time, but its not like that at all. With a simple inviatiion they will respond with postive answers. i am going to attach a talk that I found that I invite you all to read. It talks about how we as members can help the less active, although it is from the 1980s it still applies to our day! 

https://www.lds.org/ensign/1980/10/strengthening-the-less-active?lang=eng&query=strengthening+the+less+active

Copy and paste! I wish you all a great week and would love to hear your expirences with "Strengthening the less active" :) I love you all!

Elder Strang

Oct.13 2014

What a week! I have had so many things change in what I believe and how the Lord truly does bless us. Yesterday we had a lesson with a returned missionary who had come home, married and didnt get sealed and is now in active.. choices matter. I was sitting there looking at him yesterday while he talked and looking into his eyes I felt that I had been sent there for a reason, that Our Heavenly Father had sent ME there. I felt his pain and the saddness that he had felt for so many years outside of the church, and a strong desire to help him and his family. It wasnt just the fact the I wanted to Complete a goal, but rather that I needed to help him and all others here complete the goal of a temple marriage. That was a game changer for me. 

We were in the church earlier that day and a sister came up to us and asked for a blessing becasue she was having some trouble with her health. After the blessing I asked her if there was anything else that we could do for her, she asked us if we could talk about what had been going on in life. Return missionary that had married outside of the temple, made some mistakes and now has two daughters that are in college she is a single mother working trying to support both of them. Choices matter. She has now had a bllod vessel turn sideways and is twisting in her ear, which could kill her. The stress had been getting to her and she was struggling to live daily life. 

We all have trials in life but it truly matters the choices we make. We are here to prepare ourselves to compare with Our Heavenly Father, the progress that we have made here on Earth. I stress the importance of planning an well placement with goals, because the desions that we make dont on affect this life but also the next. I hope that you all have a great week and know that I love you all!

Elder Strang

Oct 6th 2014

So sorry that it has been so long to get an update done We've been super busy the past two weeks... so to give you a bit of an idea of whats been going on, I have been transferred about two weeks ago! Im in a new sector called New Miracle 1 ha and well its great! :) Its pretty much a 3rd world country, the roads are all dirt roads, the house are super tiny made of bamboo. Theres not much of anything. Here in Milagro they grow a ton of coffee and theres a huge coffee plant that produces the coffee. Also there are a bunch of plantation of banana, pineapple. They produce a bunch of stuff here! 

Im with Elder Rivas from Guatemala, he super humble and a nice kid. His parents aren't members and hes is the first missionary in his family, cool to see him out here with the situation that is going on at home. We get along really well, and just like the last companion spend most of the day laughing and smiling. The work here is a little different. The sector is quite poor so the people tend to drowned there sorrows in the bottle when ever they get paid. We have been doing a ton of contacting and have found some really great people, and its easy and wonderful to see those who have been prepared. We are excited to help those who are prepared here. 

Last week we went to an island in Guayaquil, which was way fun. There was a buch of plants and animals. At the end the have a crocodile reserve so it was real fun to see and hang out there! I think that I am more than at the point where it will be sad to come home... I love this people and this country. 

This past week we have been working with a bunch of families to get them to church, we have taught them and they have said over and over again that they want to changed and they want to come to church. So yesterday we go and to get them and the dad is drunk..  How mad was I? I was lit! I come to this foreigner country, leave my family that I love so dearly, leave a girl that I love and would give my life for, leave best friends, studies, language that I understood and the list goes on and on. For what? To come for this? Try to help people receive something that they themselves don't even want? I Think that I care about them sometimes more than they themselves do. But then it hit me real hard. How hard it is for Our Heavenly Father and Our Savior. He dies for us, and people don't want that? I cant even imagine. So when I thought about it, what im doing doesn't even compare to what they felt and what they feel. Its a honor to be here and be a missionary in these times. My heart hurts for those that don't want to open up there hearts and understand the wonderful plan that Our Heavenly Father has for us. 

But on the other side, there are many who are being prepared and want to hear about this message we just have to find them! Something that I loved about conference was the focus that was put on member and missionary work. The Lord has commanded us to all work together, so always remember that there are opportunities for us to participate and to share the Gospel. How thankful I am to be a member of this church and share the Gospel! 

Miss you all and love you all!  

Elder Strang 

What a great week! Things are going great with my companion, with investigatores... Lifes great! We have people that we are teaching that are progressing with poeple that we are bringing back to church! Well we had 7 investigadores at church on Sunday which is a lot better than what we have been having, so we are very pleased with that and everything is getting better! We got a referral the past week of a older couple that wanted to listen to the lesson so we went. They started out by saying they were Evangelics and that they had their Church and all the stuff that we always hear.. but after treching them and some help from a member they will be getting married and baptized in these coming weeks... the sister that gave us the referral said that they had been visited many times in the past missionaries and never wanted anything to do with us.. just goes to show that God has his time in all things.. 

We ate lobster from the Galapagos Islands yesterday which was flown in fresh the day before! It was great. Also bought a Alpaca Poncho like you see on Discovery Channel haha super sweet! :) We went to Malecon (look it up) today and it was overcast so it was a great day! Ate lunch on the riverside. bought a poncho all in good company! 

Learned something very powerful this past week.. I would alwyas here people saying that their prayers had been answered and that they had some expirence.. but i never realized that mine were being answered. I now have been thinking how powerful prayer really is.. Our Heavenly Father knows way better than we do and can do anythnig acording to our faith. In a world so crazy with so many things can we really afford to not have specfic personal prayers? NO! We need God in our lives and need his help and cousel with all things! Like it says in Alma 37, talk with the Lord in all your actions. I truly belive that we are so in debt to our Heavenly Father but with that debt he is still wiling to bless us immensly. Whether times be good or times be bad, hes always there and always wiling to help us. Also I know with 100000000000000000% on my soul that the Book Of Mormon is the Word Of God. I had so a testifying expirence after asking specfiec things.. and wow what a beautiful. How blessed we are to have it in our lives. 

I want you all to know that I love you and hope that you can ask and pray specficaly in every moment. The Church is true, book is blue and Moroni is alwyas on the ball! 

Elder Strang