I'm alive and well :)

I am not yet dead. There's just less hair on my head  

I am not yet dead. I'll soon have to go to bed haha

Hey today was a crazy day and with President's permission we had to travel to Guayaquil and back for some appointments and office things that you can only do there. Long story short I don't have time to write much today but just so you know I'm all good and super happy with Elder Galvan and the wonderful zone that we have here working hard :) we passed our goal by 5 this month and we're well set for next month woohoo! Also President said he already did the endorsement so you should be good to sign me up for classes.

Hahaha yes yes I already knew that Connor's mom was famous lol, for me the most impressive is that his dad was a mission president! But yeah, for many reasons they really are an incredible family and its a privilege to have Connor as a friend. Thanks for all the updates on the Utah trip :) You are wonderful. 

I sure love you all, and next week I'll have lots of cool pictures and stories to share! 

Your son,

Elder Remington

Elder Remington's Mother: For those of you who grew up in Utah, Jacoby's friend that he will be rooming with at BYU has a famous mom....at least she's known in Utah.  You may have watched her on channel 2 news as a KUTV anchor woman for 30 years.  Her name is Michelle King, and her son Connor is Jacoby's great friend.  Anyway I thought it was kind of cool to be talking on the phone with Michelle King as we set up housing for our sons to live together at BYU in the fall.

The Power of One

Family and Friends, 

Over the past few weeks I have had several exeriences that have really blown me away and showed me how much a difference one can make. I am thoroughly convinced that all of us have a much bigger influence and impact on the world than we will ever be able to truly comprehend. We need to be sure that everyday we are giving our all and being the best we can because we never know how much good we can do and how much of a positive influence we can have. 

The other day Elder Galvan told me that his companion had given a great training session on how to have a successful zone and he wanted to share it with me for our zone... he pulled out the 8 Attributes of a Successful Zone (his companion had been a district leader in one of my zones). I laughed and said yeah sounds like a good idea. Another day we were in a district meeting and an Elder started sharing the importance of giving daily follow up and shared the brushing teeth example and said that when he heard that it totally changed his perspective and helped him out big time and that we should all use it. A sister missionary from my zone a while back has a phrase that I said (that I didn't even remember) written on the front of her daily planner as her mission motto to motivate her everyday. Various of my old district leaders or Elders or Sisters that were in my zones have told me how much they used various tips or strategies that they learned with us and how much its helped them. Converts, members from old areas, and various other people and circumstances will help one's name live on forever. And there are so many things like that in which I would've never known. The other day I asked an Elder who was one of his best converts and what was it like to teach him and when he was baptized. And he told me that his best convert was someone that they found through a referral by Elder Magill when he did an interchange.. I said wow sweet (that gives me hope that some of the referals and things I did in interchanges also lead to baptisms) did you tell Elder Magill about that convert?!? He said no. Elder Magill has no idea. There are so many things that we do and ripple effects that we can have and not even realize it. I'll never forget the first assistants that were here when I first arrived on the mission Elder McGinn and Elder Hancock. There are things they did and things that taught me that I'll never forget and that I used as a assistant that helped me a lot and they have no idea. The best part is that Elder McGinn had already been out on the mission for about 23 months when I got here and he was about to finish but he still kept going strong and giving it all until the end. Can you imagine if he had been trunky and not taught me those things I would've missed out on a great learning experience that has helped me for all my mission. Its so important to go hard and finish strong until the end because you never know how much you can influence someone and how much of an impact you can have and then they will bring many souls to Christ thanks to what they learned from you. 

Elder Randall shared a powerful phrase with me. He said, "You have two years to serve a mission and you have the rest of your life to think about it." That's why you need to serve the best you can and give it all. This work is true and its glorious. D&C 128:21-22 Let us go on in so great a cause! 

Love,

Elder Remington

Baptisms and Happy Times

[Editor's Note: The other photos mentioned are forthcoming].

Family and Friends,

We had a lovely baptism this weekend with 5 investigators from our sector and 2 from San Camilo 1. The first picture is of Alexandra and her daughter Daniela. When we first got transferred here the missionaries that had been here before told us about her and gave us a general description of where she lived and wished us the best of luck in finding her saying that she was a great person and super interested but... they hadn't updated the area book and hadn't made a teaching record for her so it was very difficult to find her and for the first week we searched and searched and searched but we couldn't find her. On Saturday we spent a good long while looking for her and asking people nearby where she lived and finally we found her. Hallelujah!! It was awesome when we found her because, after so many times of asking for an Alexandra Cortes and not having any luck, she opened her door with a big smile and when we asked her name she said ¨Alexandra Cortes¨ Wooohooo!! We taught her and put a baptismal date in that same day and she accepted and progressed very well the whole time. She reads the Book of Mormon like crazy and she absolutely loves it. She's already finishing off 2 Nephi and she says every time she reads she feels like she gets taken away from all her worries and feels great peace inside. Her testimony is super strong and she's already sharing the gospel with her family and friends. One of her nieces will soon be baptized and when she shares her testimony it really invites the Spirit because she talks about how her heart was full of anger and sadness because of a lot of trials she had gone through but that ever since we started teaching her and she's been praying, reading, and going to church that everything has changed and her heart is full of happiness and gratitude. I'm sure this sounds cliche and exaggerated but literally that is exactly what she says and you can feel the truthfulness of her words and you can see a light in her eyes. She is awesome and is already making lots of friends in the ward and will be a great member missionary and leader in the church. 

The second picture is of Carlos Romero and the third is with his wife Cristina Romero and his brother Ricardo Romero. Ricardo Romero is the first counselor in the bishopric and is a very happy and positive man. We shared a message with his family after lunch and motivated them to introduce us to one of their friends to share the gospel with and he mentioned his brother and sister-in-law Carlos and Cristina. He said they had already listened to tons of missionaries before for years and that they always would listen for a bit, go to some church activities, but then stop listening and never wanted to get baptized at all. We encouraged him to introduce us anyway and set a date to do so. We went to their house on the same day that just so happened to be the birthday of Carlos and they received us very well, we taught the Restoration, and put a baptismal date and they accepted. They are super smart and they read and mark up and think about the pamphlets and the chapters in the Book of Mormon like crazy its awesome! They learn super well and prayed and know that the Book of Mormon is true and that the church is true. They are such good students that sometimes we show up and they've already read everything and they basically just teach themselves sharing everything that they learned and then we focus on some key points, share a scripture, testify, and commit them to live those principles. They are a joy to teach and its a privilege to know them. 

Carlos shared with us the other day an awesome experience he had a few weeks ago. He said that on the morning of his birthday he was feeling like he was missing something in his life and that he needed to do something different and have some change because he was turning 33 and he felt something was missing. He said that for the first time in years he knelt down in private and prayed out loud asking God to help him know what he needed to do differently and show him the way and he would follow... that same day later in the afternoon guess who showed up at his door? His brother with the missionaries. He said that the answer from God was very clear to him and that when we taught him it just motivate him even more and so he was baptized. It was great to see his brother baptize him and we're excited to see Carlos baptize his wife next week! 

Cristina has a baptismal date for next Saturday and is still a little indecisive but we have faith that she will do it! She knows it true she just has to be brave and do it!

The fourth picture is of Maria Monserrate. She had all the lessons taught and everything ready to be baptized when we got here a month ago but then she got discouraged by some of her friends from other churches and we hadn't seen anything of her since then all the sudden this week out of nowhere she decided she wanted to get baptized so we reviewed what she had learned, had her interview, and she was baptized! 

The fifth and sixth picture are of Maela Espinosa and her family. She had always gone to church and was nine years old and still not baptized because all the men in her family were less active. We were fortunate enough to be eating lunch with them and find out about her situation and were very happy to help. She is a great kid and super smart and now her family is going to church again its great! 

I am out of time but I love you all very much and hope you have a great week!

Elder Remington 

Busy and Happy

Dear Family and Friends,

A few weeks ago President Amaya told me, "Elder Remington, you can't even imagine just how many people in Quevedo are there waiting to receive the gospel from you... and there is little time." Those words of President Amaya, as always, were inspired and are coming true. The Lord really has been pouring out His blessings upon us this week with over 10 investigadores with a baptismal date, attending church, and progressing and many many more investigadores and referrals  coming along our way. We are so grateful and happy and they are such chosen and receptive people and families in which the parents are married (hard to find here in Ecuador) it's awesome! We're going to start doing a lot of splits with members in order to give a daily follow-up to all of them. We really have to use our time wisely these days! It is such a blessing to be here! 

This week I had the chance to interview a man named Pedro who has made huge changes in his life and was just baptized it was great! The first time I interviewed him  he still had some issues he had to work out so we postponed the baptism, put some goals with him, assigned him various scriptures to study and apply, and we scheduled another interview to see how he had progressed. The second time I interviewed him he had a completely new light about him and you could see in his  eyes that he had changed and was ready. He said he was excited to be baptized and born again with a new start. The gospel is true and its wonderful to see the blessings that it brings to so many people. 

Decide to have a good day and it will be a good day. 

Love,

Elder Remington