28 May 2012 Another New Companion-A European!

¡Hola familia! Wow, what a good week this was for us here in the sector! I've mentioned this many times in the past, and once again, that with success come changes! Yep, Elder Castillo was transferred this morning in one of those "emergency transfers". He's actually in another sector not too far from where we are, so I might be able to cross paths with him sometime soon. Take note of this one, my 16th companion is Elder Burger, it sounds like an English name, but he is actually from Nuremberg, Germany! He has just about 5 months on the mission. I've definitely had my fair share of foreign companions, but I think this one takes the cake. I never thought while here in South America I'd have a European companion, but now I do! The list of stories I have just keeps on growing! This is certainly one of them. Luckily Elder Burger speaks pretty decent Spanish, that's due to the fact that his family is actually living in Paraguay, but he left from Germany. I know, sounds a little strange, but interesting nonetheless.

Interestingly enough, I actually felt a little of this "cold" the people talk about here in Guayaquil the last few nights. It's what we'd call cool, but it's nice change from feeling the heat all day and night! In terms of the mission work, all is going well, managed to find an interested investigator thanks to a member of the ward. It's a really good thing when the members bring their non-member friends to Church, it's one big step in them learning about the Gospel, and we like it because it means we have an investigator with one of two required attendances before they can get baptized. So this week we'll be doing a lot of the same, finding those and keeping those we can and have prepared to be baptized in the coming weeks. Who knows, maybe I'll learn a little bit of German too!

Well, apart from crazy transfers to an early edition of October Fest (ha ha!) all is well here in Guayaquil! And June starts this week! That means 17 months on the mission! The time just keeps winding down faster and faster. We're always reminded to keep track of how much time we have left, and I am about 224 days from ending, it sure is going to go by quickly.

Take care, love you all! Tell everyone I say ¡HOLA!

--
Elder Garrett Cederquist
Misión Ecuador Guayaquil Sur



Elder Castillo and Garrett



21 May 2012

¡Hola familia! Another week down on the mission, wow it sure was a busy one as well! Oh yeah, before I start, I did see Chelsea win the Champions League! I kind of freaked out watching the penalties, I won't lie. So I was pretty happy the rest of the day!

This week, as I mentioned, was pretty busy, meaning it was a good one! We have some more investigators to teach, who have family who are members of the Church, so that makes things easier for us in terms of teaching, because the investigators have someone to help them along as they learn more of the Gospel. We're also taking good care of our converts, who are doing great! It has been such a blessing to be able to find "the Lord's elect" while serving here in the mission. It's an awesome feeling to find those who are ready to accept the Gospel in their lives. I've seen many people who have made sometimes drastic changes in their lives to live according to the Commandments and Gospel. Not only for those who aren't members of the church, but also those who are perhaps less active. We visited a less active sister and her family this past week. She had been having some family problems and was giving up hope in that things would turn around. We then offered a prayer with her, asking Heavenly Father to help her overcome the challenges she had, just a really simple, heartfelt prayer. We also left the commitment for her to pray with her family in the night. Two days later, we visited the same family, and the difference in the sister's face was incredible. She had quite a big smile on her face, and mentioned to us how good she felt, that it had been a while since she had felt so good. Elder Castillo and I were taken back a bit by the response, and it built my testimony of prayer even more, that God really does listen and is ALWAYS willing to help, as long as we ask Him sincerely. Wow, I sure hope to have many more experiences like that in the seven and a half months I have left here in the mission!

Every day seems like it's the same thing over and over again, but there is always something new that I learn, albeit something really small and perhaps not important. I'm trying my best to keep my journal updated with these experiences, I recently started my second journal at the beginning of this month, so I'll be good to go for the remainder of the mission! But is May really starting to come to an end? I thought it just started! That's how it is when things are busy! Here in Guayaquil it's still trying to rain every now and then, a surprise rain shower almost left us out to soak, but we got inside pretty quick!

Congrats Ky on graduating this Wednesday! Wow, it's been two years since I graduated, I can't believe that! I want to see some photos! No worries, I'll try and get some more photos this week for you all as well!

Tell everyone I say hi!

Love you all, take care!

 

--
Elder Garrett Cederquist
Misión Ecuador Guayaquil Sur

14 May 2012

 Hey family, long time no talk to!

Well, this week's entry will be rather short, as I talked to you all yesterday! Yes, we did have the two confirmations yesterday as I mentioned, so that makes the lucky number 21 in confirmations for me! Attached are some pictures of the baptism and some others I've been able to snap in the last couple of days of the amusement park that is, well, was by our house. It's being taken down as I write this, so everything should be normal by tonight! Ah, the picture with the car and the singing kid I talked about is also there, the kid is kind of hard to see as the car is blocking him out. Elder Castillo was making fun of the kid, saying he was crazy, But the pictures I have there are pretty interesting, so I hope you enjoy them!

The only bad thing about having the two baptisms is that were really low, almost out of investigators, so this week we have to find a lot of new people to teach to keep our heads above water! So that's the goal for this week!

Not much else to write, but you all know how everything is going!

More next week!

I love you all!

--
Elder Garrett Cederquist
Misión Ecuador Guayaquil Sur



The Music Car



7 May 2012

Hoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooola familia! Wow, sounds like it was a great week back home! Thanks for the photos! The backyard looks great! It won't be so hard to mow the grass!

So this week wasn't the greatest, but yesterday sure made up for it! We went to church only having one investigator committed to go, but when we arrived, our bishop informed us that another investigator, who had been listening to the missionaries in the north of Guayaquil with his girlfriend who is a member, was going to attend our ward, and the best part is, he has a baptismal date already set for this Saturday! Our goal was to have one baptism this week, but now we'll have two!  I'd call that a nice blessing! We went around our sector this week getting to know more members of the ward, "gaining their confidence" as Elder Castillo likes to say. He says he really likes this sector, so we're off on a good foot in this transfer! I'm not sure how much my Spanish accent is coming along, but Argentinians talk with a different, Italian-like accent, and that accent is starting to come up a little with me! I'm sure you'll be able to pick up a little bit of the accent this Sunday, and speaking of which, we don't know anything as of yet. I'm thinking this week we will know (at least I hope to know this week, that'd be good!). I'm hoping to use Skype! It will likely be like Christmas, where I called the day before to let you all know. So be patient, I'll let you know one way or another!

I think I mention this almost every week, but time sure flies! I did some calculations, and I am now in my 71st week as a missionary. 104 weeks is equal to 2 years! 33 weeks to go! It will go fast! In July, I'll start receiving things about a return date and all that good news! But for now, I'll keep working away, that's what makes the time pass by so quick! I'll also get some photos for you next week too! I'm sure to have a few good ones!  Not too much to report on, slow week in all honesty. Next Monday will be a good report!

I love you all, can't wait to talk to you on Sunday! 

--
Elder Garrett Cederquist 
Misión Ecuador Guayaquil Sur

30 April 2012 No Transfer Just Another Companion- #18

¡Hola querida familia! Wow, yet another week has gone by super fast! And
Dad says he's waiting for news on a transfer or a new companion, well, I do
have news on that front! I have another companion! Elder Doyle was
transferred today, so I'm still here in Amazonas 2. Click the Companion
Counter one more time! My 15th companion (in Ecuador, #18 overall) is Elder Castillo, from San Luis,
Argentina. He has a mere three months on the mission, so he's what I could
call really new, seeing as I now have 1 year and 4 months on the mission.
I'm super excited to have a companion from Argentina, a first for me. Elder
Castillo's first sector was in Machala, so there is a lot we can relate to,
as I served in Machala in what seems forever ago. We're really looking
forward to May, it will be a superb month! Yesterday we had the
satellite-transmitted stake conference. It was really good! We heard from
Elder Marcus B. Nash, of the Seventy, Elder D. Todd Christofferson, and
Elder Richard G. Scott, both of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and
Sister Mary N. Cook, 1st Counselor in the Young Women's General Presidency.
All the Elders spoke in Spanish, while Sister Cook had a translator. It was
really neat because for General Conference, translators are used, but
yesterday we were able to hear the actual voices of the General
Authorities, as the trasmission was specifically for Ecuador. The Church is
growing A LOT here, especially in Guayaquil, it's really well-received, for
that reason, many people get baptized on a monthly basis. The Guayaquil
South mission is one of the highest baptizing missions in the world, so for
me it really is an honor and privilege to be serving here and to be taking
part in the "most important work".

This week here in Ecuador we saw a little bit of rain towards the end of
the week, but for the most part the rainy season is done, and the "cold
season" is coming, although here on the Ecuadorian coast, cold means 70ºF
or so, so not what I or you would consider cold. That's what I call
comfortable! That is good missionary weather! My companion says that in his
city in Argentina they are all getting ready for the cold as well, but he
lives more in the mountains, the western side of Argentina, so that's the
type of cold I'd be familliar with.

This week will be great, the time just keeps flying by! Seems like April
just started, and now it's over! No photos this week, but I'll try and snap
some for next week! Hopefully I get some photos from you as well!

I love you all! Write you next week!

--
Elder Garrett Cederquist
Misión Ecuador Guayaquil Sur

23 April 2012 Pictures of Stitches

Hello family! No worries, I'm still alive and doing good. I'm feeling very good, excited to get back working more this week. As a result of the sickness, we didn't work too much this past week, as the order from the nurses was to take it easy and not overdo it. I'll be able to work more this week, so I'm excited to be able and go out to finish off this quick month of April. This weekend here in all of Ecuador there is a satellite transmission for every stake, so basically Stake Conference for the entire country. I don't know too much else about it, other than a General Authority will be presiding over the conference, which will be beamed from Church Headquarters in Salt Lake City. So we had a lot of plans to have baptisms this month, but with my sickness, things kind of went the other way. It's true that life can make really good plans look rather silly in a short amount of time. But we're looking forward to May, which, if all goes well, will be a fantastic month here in the mission. I also heard today from Elder Herrera, my companion in Puerto Nuevo. He said five people we had been teaching when I was transferred were baptized a couple of weeks ago, all in the same night! I was excited to hear that! Five in one night, wow, my record stands at three, that was when I was in Machala, in the La Aurora Ward, and that's almost been a year ago. How the time flies!

Well, in all honesty, there's not too much to report on this week, other than, yes, I'm doing fine, and that this week will be very productive. I do have attached a couple of pictures of the stitches, from last Tuesday, to today. The scar is healing up pretty quick, and it's not that noticeable. It has made for a good conversation starter with the members and investigators though. I got a bunch of sympathy points from everyone last week too, so that's a little bit of a motivator!

Okey dokey family, that's it from Ecuador this week, I'll have more next week, I promise it won't be as boring of a report!

I love you all, take care!




--
Elder Garrett Cederquist
Misión Ecuador Guayaquil Sur

10 Stitches

Resulting Scar

10 Stitches! 17 April 2012

Hey family, I apologize for not writing yesterday, but it has been a really
crazy week, but before I start recounting all what happened, just know that
all is well with me!

After writing last Monday, I didn't feel too good, so I called the nurses
of the mission to tell them what was up and that they'd have an answer for
me Tuesday morning. Well, Tuesday rolled around, I still didn't feel too
hot, so the nurses had an appointment set up for me in the afternoon at a
small clinic nearby. Well, after three hours of being in the clinic, they
told me I had a case of Dengue Fever, which somewhat scared me, but didn't
make any sense whatsoever because I hadn't been bit by a mosquito in a
really long time. But they also told me I had a little case of Bronchitis
as well, something which made more sense seeing as I was coughing, having a
little trouble breathing. After leaving the clinic, we went to a nearby
Pharmacy called Sana Sana, where I could pick up what I needed. Here is
where  things get interesting.... Due to the clinic appointment and a
district meeting in the morning, we hadn't been able to eat anything "good
-sized" to knock out our hunger. As we entered Sana Sana, I started to feel
a little light-headed, but didn't think much of it until I started to feel
even more light-headed as I was buying the medicines I needed, and before I
knew it, unfortunately, I had passed out, right there in the pharmacy.  Even
worse about this incident is that as I was going down, my head hit the
counter, leaving a nice gash right above my right eyebrow.

So after 15-20 minutes of putting my puzzle pieces back in order, we went
back to the clinic in which we had just left, but this time, I needed
stitches. Many of the people that I had  saw there after leaving the first
time, I saw again, and they all gave me a "Hey, you were just here" kind of
look. Well, they were right, I had just left, and made a quick return. The
second stop at the clinic ended up with me getting 10 stitches to close
this "star-shaped" gash. Afterwords, the nurses and the secretaries of the
mission came to see me, rather shocked at hearing what had happened to me
in a such a short time. They then told me that President and Sister
Montalti wanted me to go be hospitalized in the Hospital Alcivar,  one of
the best hospitals here in Guayaquil to check out the problem with my
lungs, and to recover a little from the stitches. So from Tuesday night to
late last night, I was in the hospital, having tests done to see what was
the problem and at the same time being treated for  this problem. The
diagnosis was a case of Pneumonia in my left lung, which I believe was the
cause of all those pneumonia episodes many years back. The doctors told me
that in this sector I'm working, it's likely for an illness like that to
arise. There is a lot of garbage because of markets, a lot of dust, and
when the weather goes from sunny to rainy, certain illnesses can arise, and
that's what has happened in this case. But as I stated in the beginning,
I'm alright, I feel much better than I did this time a week ago. I was on a
lot of breathing treatments, just as I was as a kid, so nothing was too
different, just perhaps trying to recount my medical history in Spanish
was the only difference. Luckily the doctor I had is a member of the
Church, and he took good care of me while I was there. I was able to watch
a little TV as well, so I got caught up  on some things.... :)  I do have
some medications I'm taking now, being out of the hospital, so I should be
all set to go. The question of if I'll get transferred to another sector
remains unknown, however it wouldn't surprise me if I were to be
transferred to avoid another case like this again.

As I mentioned, I'm doing fine, although the stitches look a little
different. I had some of them removed today so the cut can heal up quicker.
Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me to get any photos, but I do
have some I took this morning, but I'll have to send them next week.

So that's about it for this week's report, I promise that next  week's
report will be much more tranquil, and I'll be sure to take care of myself!

I love you all! Talk to you next week!

PS: I AM FINE!!!!!  :)

--
Elder Garrett Cederquist
Misión Ecuador Guayaquil Sur