Missed Me, Missed Me, Now You Gotta... Pray for Me!

Family and Friends,

I'm back! My apologies for not having written you all in some time but here I am once again writing to you all to catch you up on all the great events that have happened here in Ecuador. Before I do that I would first off like to say thank you to everyone who wrote me such kind, happy, and some super funny cards for my birthday! I love you all and I'm grateful for your friendship, support, and love. The package with all the cards and gifts arrived a month and a half early so I had to practice the heavenly virtue of patience but it was well worth it and I loved being able to finally open it up. Thank you!! 

The first picture is of a crab party we had on p-day with a family of converts that are super fun and happy. They made a ton of delicious crab and other great food and we had a blast eating, chatting, and hanging out together nothing like good people and good food.

Crab Party

The second group of pictures are at the Mora family's house eating lunch and having a little birthday cake for the three birthday boys and girls (Sister Mora, Brother Mora, and yours truly). We all have our birthdays on the same weekend and they sang to us all and we had a good time with them they are hilarious and super fun. You might remember them from other pictures I sent about a year ago in Albonor. They used to be in Albonor ward and we got to be great friends but then they moved in January to this ward. It was great to see them again when I first got to this ward and hang out with them. They crack me up.

Third group of pictures, we went to the wonderful zone of Quevedo Sur to celebrate with them for passing their goal. President gave a great training session/seminar (not sure what the word in English would be haha) for all the missionaries about the Work of Salvation and how to really work together with the members and everyone learned a lot. We had a good time eating and chatting with them there's a lot of great missionaries there with lots of contagious enthusiasm. We hope to see more and more completed goals and lots and lots of baptisms in Quevedo Sur.

Lastly, the great Elder Muñoz finished his mission this week and this picture was taken at the dinner with President right before he left. A great companion, great friend, and great missionary that will truly be missed. I wish him the best and I'm sure we'll be lifelong friends. 

I have learned many wonderful lessons from my Mission President. Some of the most important lessons he has taught me have been that I need to always act and  use my agency and reasoning powers to make wise decisions and never hesitate or wait for others to validate me or confirm that its ok to do something. I should trust in the Lord and show confidence in all that I do. Also, he has helped me learn the need to adapt and adjust to each situation in order to have the best result. Before being assistant to President Amaya, I felt uncomfortable with silence in the middle of a conversation, car ride, or meal. To me, silence for more than 7 seconds was an awkward torture and I constantly felt the need to talk about whatever came to mind or somehow bring up some random, even already repeated or unimportant subject just to keep the conversation going and avoid silence at all costs. President Amaya and Elder Magill, however, are not like that. They both feel perfectly comfortable with silence in a conversation, car ride, or meal and understand that it is normal and natural. To them, there is nothing awkward about keeping silent when you don't have anything important, meaningful, relevant, or interesting to say and the constant attempt to force a conversation along by any means is unnecessary and uncomfortable. As you can imagine, these two different ways of thinking about conversations, car rides, and meals often lead to.... well lets say a great learning experience for me! The first few weeks of my time in the office were often filled with me saying things that had already been said or that were unimportant and then President just staring at me and smiling... I was so confused at first! I didn't get it and it frustrated me and it kept happening over and over and over again hahaha that's not to say that we didn't all work well together, have lots of great conversations, and have lots of success because we did do all those things. It just means that many times I bothered them because I would talk so much and I then would feel uncomfortable and confused because they often wouldn't respond. Fortunately, I have a great companion who gave me lots of good advice and feedback and helped me realize slowly but surely how I could improve and a few weeks ago I finally ¨got it.¨ I still have a lot to learn and improve with it but now we have had several weeks of conversations, car rides, and meals without any uncomfortable moments. Yes there is silence at times and yes its okay. I now understand that it is naive and foolish to think that we ¨have¨ to always talk and talk and talk. What I started to do a few weeks ago and still do is I have my scriptures, liahona, and PMG with me in the car and whenever there is something important, relevant, or interesting to be said or being said I actively listen and participate. Then if several minutes pass by without anything important, relevant, or interesting to be said or being said then I calmly pull out something to read and enjoy reading and learning until someone starts speaking or something important comes to mind and then I speak. It makes for a much more enjoyable and productive car trip. Also Elder Magill has taught me to listen more and talk less in meals and conversations I've been doing it and it makes a big difference.

Now President Amaya trusts much more in us and has given us several compliments and let us do things that other assistants have never done before. For example, he liked are seminar on working with members so much that he asked for an encore and we got to teach it again with the group of new missionaries. I felt really great teaching solid principles with my companion Elder Magill. Life is good.

I know this work is true and it is so satisfying to be actively involved in it and see it grow. 

Love,

Elder Remington

Happy Days

Dear Family and Friends,

These are happy times for your buddy Elder Remington. My companion Elder Muñoz and I are doing great together. We are very different from each other and at first we clashed opinions and butted heads a bit but now we have really got a good rhythm going in how we are working together feeding off each other learning from each other. He has strengths that are my weaknesses and he has weaknesses that are my strengths thus we have now mutually helped each other to strengthen are weaknesses and complement the attributes of the other in a great way to be a dynamic duo haha yeah!! Its fun. We have progressed big time and now we laugh together and really are working hard having great results for the zone here in Quevedo Sur! We are well placed to win the dinner with President Amaya and reach new heights that surpass the great Elder Vielma and Elder Linares when they were here :) Its an honor and a challenge to be working in the same zone where those two legends accomplished so much. Here in the mission you really see that the members and converts remember the great missionaries who have touched their lives... I hope to be having an impact in the lives of these precious people and that I can make a difference for good. 

We have a great family right now that we have been teaching for some time. Their names are Danilo and Corina Valdivieso and they are awesome. Honestly we have come to love them so much and we've become incredible friends with them. They have an amazing conversion the gospel of Jesus Christ. They pray daily as a family, they study the Book of Mormon daily, they go to church with their 5 little kids by themselves without any of us needing to remind them or go walk with them, and they even volunteered to give us lunch every week and they love spending time with us on P-days too or whenever they can. I never noticed it before but apparently when I'm thinking or listening intently to someone I put my tongue to the side of my mouth as if I was sucking on a jawbreaker or something haha and Danilo and I have a ton of confidence between us and so he always gives me a hard time like hey stop sucking on that jawbreaker its bad for you teeth or hey did you bring some more to share with us too. Or the other day in Sunday school he had hurt his back and was walking really stiff and when he needed to turn around to look at something behind him he couldn't just move his head but had to move his whole body like a big robot so I started calling him Mr. Robot and now almost everyone in the ward calls him Mr. Robot as a nickname or love and kindness ahaha we love giving each other a hard time and I know that we will always be lifelong friends :) They have a baptismal date for 13th of July because they have to get married first and we are working on doing an activity to raise the money for them to get married cause its way expensive here in Ecuador. They truly are a joy to teach and we love them a ton. 

Also the other day I had the privilege to work with Elder Ayala for a few hours in Albonor :) We had just finished a leadership conference in Guayaquil and we had to stay the night for a meeting the next day in the office so I said hey while I'm stuck here waiting I might as well make good use of my time so I can go help out Elder Ayala in Albonor cause he doesn't have a companion right now and they gave me permission to do it (another blessing of obedience and baptizing lots of people is that President and the assistants trust you more so they let you do things that most can't do :) Be obedient it pays off!!). Anyway it was wonderful experience in which we were able to get a ton of referrals, new investigators, and lots of baptismal dates :) It was great working with my buddy Elder Ayala again and seeing some of our converts for a brief moment while we asked them for referrals. We saw Sophie and Leslie Gomez who are super active and super excited about the church. Leslie is secretary for Relief Society and just got her Patriarchal Blessing and Sohpie is in Beehives and loves it. We saw Roberto and his sons Junior and Jordy :) They were all so excited to see me from the street that they ran and gave me a big hug (a very manly hug I might add) and it was so good to see that they are going to church every Sunday, praying, going to Seminary, and they miss me a lot but they know we still be able to keep in touch. They've already written me a few letters and I've written back (I know its a miracle) likewise with all my other converts in Albonor especially. Junior is stoked to go on a mission now! And of course we saw Johnathon, Maria, Jose, and Luis :) They are doing so great and they're preparing to go to the temple next year and Johnathon already finished the Book of Mormon like three months ago and is reading the Bible too :) He is a stud and he just had an interview with the Stake President about a new calling!! Now that I am in Quevedo Sur again I also have been able to do some interchanges in Empalme and see Jose Gorosabel who gave me a huge hug and has been very active always bearing his testimony. The Borrero family has my picture that I sent them on their wall and they were thrilled to see me. Jorge and Maxi likewise were super happy to see me and surprised by how well I speak Spanish now haha they also had my pictures that I sent them there and said they loved getting them :) It was a wonderful experience for me and taught me something very valuable... never underestimate the worth of our efforts and service to others... NEVER! Satan is very cunning and he uses whatever he can to make us feel like our efforts weren't good enough and to try and discourage us. For months I had basically written off my time in Empalme because I figured that the people didn't really grow to love me that much cause they couldn't understand me and that the majority were probably already inactive and I doubt they really remember me. But that was not the case at all the majority are active and were thrilled to see me :) This experience reminded me of the story Elder Wadell told about a missionary from Spain in a conference talk in 2011 The Opportunity of a Lifetime. Read it because its amazing and will help a lot. 

Remember that every single one of us is valuable and are efforts are important :) Be grateful and be happy!

Much love,

Elder Remington 

Great Baptisms :)

Family and Friends,

Two weeks ago on conference weekend we had a great baptism for Michele Galaraga. We had the baptismal service right after the second session on Saturday in the Stake Center so the majority of the zone was all there together. It was a great service and right as Michele left the water she had a huge smile on her face and was radiating. The following Sunday she shared her testimony and said that when she was baptized she had the most incredible feeling of warmth and happiness and that she had never felt anything like that in her life before. :) My companion and I sitting there were both stoked to hear that, and I leaned over and told him that she must've had a super powerful missionary baptize her... haha honestly its one of the best feelings in the world to see someone that you've taught and worked with for so long get up and bear their testimony. :) It reminded me a lot of how great I felt in Albonor when Roberto shared his testimony shortly after his baptism and wow... there are few other feelings like it trust me. :)

This last Saturday we had another very special baptism of Jorge Luis Briones (he's the guy on the right thats so happy he can't open his eyes right haha). He is the boyfriend of Joanna (girl in the blue standing in front of him) who is a great member that comes from a family of powerful people who are all way involved in missionary work. :) They are always giving us lots of referrals and helping out with visiting investigators and being their friends. :) Very valuable for missionaries indeed. Anyway, I remember that Jorge Luis started listening to us all the way back in February my very first week here in Portoviejo and then for about a month and a half he stopped listening to us... then out of nowhere he showed up and said he had been reading the Book of Mormon, knew that it was true, and he wanted to get baptized... we didn't argue with him! He's a great guy and it was great to see how happy he and Joanna looked together yesterday in church. Lots of faith-filled prayers by Joanna were finally answered this weekend and I have no doubt that they will go to the temple next week and be an eternal family. :)

I recently shared some advice with my mom about how to get youth involved in church activities... it was written very quickly and is very goofy but I think it'll be of great help to leaders trying to involve the youth more. Obviously it isn't relevant to the majority of readers here but for those of you who are interested and could benefit from such advice you can send my mom an email requesting it and she'll be sure to send it to you. :) I hope it helps!

Remember that wickedness never was happiness. All of us have little sins that we like and don't want to let go; gossiping, cheating in school, inappropriate music, bad TV shows, and many other things that we know we shouldn't do but we ignore that little voice in our head, convince ourselves that its fine, and do it anyway. Such actions will always bring consequences of pain and regret while the action of repenting and changing will bring peace of mind and happiness. As Nike says.. just do it :) and you'll be happy you did. There is no feeling like the feeling of a clean conscience trust me. :)

Love,

Elder Remington

Exciting News! :)

Family and Friends,

Today I received some great news from my good buddy Elder Ayala. He sent me this great picture of Johnathon and his wife Maria Fernanda just before her baptism :) woohooo!!! I was way stoked to see that picture and I'm even more stoked to know that now they can go to the temple to be sealed forever as an eternal family :) Luckily for me I'll still be in Ecuador a year from now so I'll probably get to go see them be sealed in the temple... that would be AWESOME :) Johnathon is a way great guy and its so cool to see the great progress he's made and especially the 180 degree change his wife has made. Trust me when we first met her she was no where near close to being baptized. It was so bad that she wouldn't even say hi to us when we saw her, she got mad at her husband for letting us in, told him that we were bad people and worshipped Joseph Smith and a bunch of other lies, and was very upset with him when he got baptized.... and look at her now :) The Sunday before I left Albonor she went to church with her husband and liked it a lot :) She looked way different she was smiling and there was a light about her. She said she read the Book of Mormon and prayed about it and felt that it was true :) I knew that I wasn't going to see it but I knew that she was going to be baptized and I told Elder Ayala he was going to have to send me the picture and tell me all about it :) He said it was a great experience and that they're doing very well and miss me. They sure are a great family and I'm way happy for them :)

We've had lots of sweet experiences this week that have really strengthened my testimony that it is absolutely vital to always involve the members in missionary work and gain their trust. A simple method that I have always used and now we're having everybody in the zone use is sharing a brief message with the families after they serve us meals. A basic example is reading 1 Nephi 8:11 together and then asking him how tasting this fruit of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ has blessed their lives. They then share several ways that the church has really changed their life and how grateful they are for all the ways it has helped their family and how different their life is now. Then we say wow that's awesome we can see that this has really blessed your life just like it did for Lehi now lets read and see what Lehi does after tasting this great fruit of joy like you guys have... 1 Nephi 8:12 so what does Lehi want to do after tasting this fruit?... share it with others! Exactly very good would you like to see your friends benefit from this fruit and receive blessings just like you have received these blessings? Yes of course. Perfect! :) Of all the people that you know (your relatives, neighbors, friends from school, friends from work, in-laws, friends of friends, enemies, haha anyone!) who is a family that we can visit and share this message with them? ..... I have never seen a family that doesn't give a referral when we ask in that way :) Its way way way more effective than just getting up to leave and saying last minute, ¨Hey do you have any referrals for us?" That's way inefficient and you miss out on a great opportunity. When you share a message at the end and then ask for a referral you hit like 5 birds with one stone because you're inspiring confidence in the members, showing them that you know how to teach and invite the Spirit, you're practicing your teaching skills and getting better, you're strengthening the conversion of the members, and you're going to get a lot of great referrals all at the same time. The other day in a interchange that we did with some Elders in the zone we shared a message at the end and it turned out that there was a kid living there who had gone to church several times and wanted to get baptized so when we asked them who we can teach they were just like oh yeah teach him he wants to get baptized :) Haha yeah no problem! Just think if we hadn't done that we would've missed a great opportunity! Trust me wherever you are in your mission use this tactic regularly and it will bring you great success :)

Love you all very much,

Elder Remington

New Zone, New Companion, New Opportunities :)

Family and Friends,

My apologies for not writing you all in a while. Lots of changes have happened. Last week I was transferred to zone Portoviejo, Manabi with my new companion Elder Carrillo from Inca, Peru. It was hard to leave Albonor and Elder Ayala because I really grew to love that ward and made lots of lifelong friends but I feel happy with the work I did there. In Preach My Gospel we learn that a missionary should always leave an area stronger than how he found it and I can honestly say that I did just that. We had a great baptism my last weekend there for a young girl named Sophia Ubilla. She is way smart and way excited about life, she has a great light about her :) We found her by reviewing the list of members and look for part-member families :) Great way to find new investigators! Her mom was inactive for over ten years but when we found her she said she had been praying for guidance and help in how to raise her daughter because she's just starting to face the challenges of being a teenager. She told us when we got there that we were an answer to her prayers :) Let me tell you that there is no better feeling than knowing that you are doing exactly what the Lord needs you to do and that you are an instrument in His hands serving His children. Working with part-member families is legit because you're hitting two birds with one stone; you activate the less active members and you baptize the investigators :) And thats just what we did! They're a great family and it was hard saying goodbye to them...likewise it was hard saying goodbye to Roberto, Johnathon, Ricardo, and many many other converts and great members that I came to love there :) Haha I wrote like 15 letters the night of transfers for my companion to give to all of them. The great thing about technology is that now through Facebook I'll be able to communicate with them still after the mission... and yes for all you friends from BYU that are shocked to hear this... after the mission I am going to use facebook... its awful because I've seen so many people waste their life away on that thing but its a necessary evil to communicate with my loved ones from Ecuador haha. Another picture here is of Marcelo, Luis, and Jose three young bucks that we baptized that are all going to be great future missionaries :) They read the Book of Mormon together, play soccer together, and they love to go out and teach with us :) They're awesome! Some other great events in Albonor are that Roberto's wife Miriam and Johnathon's wife Maria are now going to church with their families and they're preparing to be baptized :) Yayyy!! I told Elder Ayala he has to send me the pictures of their baptisms because I love those guys to death and I'm stoked that now they'll get to be eternal families :) I know that I will visit them again someday with my family they're amazing :)

Oh also when I went to the bus terminal for transfers I got to see my good buddy Elder Lopez just before he left for the airport to go back to Guatemala! We got to chat a bit before he left and catch up it was great I sure love that guy he was my best companion! Super happy and way hard working all the time! I now have another great companion Elder Carrillo he is by far the most obedient companion I have ever had and he loves to work hard :) So we get along great! He and I both have the 5 keys to be a successful missionary and thus the Lord has blessed us tremendously :) For me there are 5 keys to being successful and happy as a missionary and the way I remember them is that you need to be a wise OWL from CAlifornia haha OWL CA:

Obedient- obedience brings peace of mind and assures that you have the Spirit with you to help guide you in every aspect of the mission, plus an obedient missionary inspires confidence and has a light about him that disobedient missionaries lack, people can tell the difference trust me

Work hard- there's nothing like coming home from a long day of just working hard :) You feel great inside and know that you're contributing to improving the lives and salvation of others :) President Benson sums it all up with this great quote ¨One of the greatest secrets of missionary work is work! If a missionary works, he will get the Spirit; if he gets the Spirit, he will teach by the Spirit; and if he teaches by the Spirit, he will touch the hearts of the people and he will be happy. There will be no homesickness, no worrying about families, for [he will have] all [his] time and talents and interest … centered on the work of the ministry. Work, work, work—there is no satisfactory substitute, especially in missionary work¨

Love the people- you really have to develop charity the pure love of Christ to be a Christ like missionary. Don't do things for yourself seeking the glory or credit of being a leader or baptizing lots of people. Do things because you love the people and you desire their salvation. Do it because you love God and you love his Children and really want them to be happy :) When genuine love is your motivation then the investigators, members, and other missionaries will realize that your intentions are pure and sincere and they trust and love you.

Communicate- you have to be able to express yourself and communicate how you feel with everyone especially your companion. One of the biggest reasons for contention is a lack of communication. Likewise healthy and frequent communication keeps good trust and unity between you and your companion.

Attitude- in everything you do you have to be positive. It doesn't matter if you baptized a thousand people or had a thousand doors slammed in your face just stay positive and don't complain and you'll be happy and the Lord will bless you :) 1 Nephi 3:6 and others will want to be around you and will naturally follow you :)

Obviously there are lots of other keys to success but in my experience these are the essentials :) If you master these 5 things then you're golden. Here are some more pictures of the three baptisms we had this weekend in Portoviejo :) The first one is of Gema with her friend Carlos who baptized her and the second is of Paola and Danali with their friend Jose who baptized them :) They're all great! There was a great spirit in all of their baptisms! The Lord is really blessing us and trusting us with lots of His precious children to help them make covenants with him its a very exciting time in my mission! I'm way happy! Also here are some pictures of my good friends Elder Magill and Elder Vielma from the Leadership Conference we had last Friday. Elder Magill and I are buds from back in BYU and we still hope that one day will be companions. Elder Vielma was my zone leader and now he's assistant with Elder Linares :) Those two are legit and I feel way blessed to have had such stellar zone leaders that taught me so much back in El Empalme. We're applying lots of their same strategies here in Portoviejo and its bringing great results!

Love you all and wish you the best! Be happy and serve others because then you'll be even more happy!

Elder Remington

Lots of Baptisms and Good Times

Family and Friends,

Hope you enjoy all the pictures. Last P-day we went to Malecon 2000 and had a great time and took lots of sweet pictures :) It was fun getting to see a lot more of the city of Guayaquil. P-day is much more fun when you live with four missionaries and you all get to hang out together.

In our district we had four baptisms this week. In Albonor, our great friend Roberto baptized Ricardo. I was so happy there because its awesome to see the wonderful example and friend Roberto has been to Ricardo and how much he's helped him out :) They're both great people and I know that they'll continue strong in the church together with Johnathan. The three are all great friends :) Woohoo we have powerful converts! The Lord has really blessed us :) Also we have a powerful district. Sister Martinez and Sister Salgado are incredible. They're so happy, positive, and truly great examples of charity they really have the pure love of Christ for everyone; as companions, for their investigators, for the other missionaries, and members everyone! I got to interview Yahen, Adriana, and Rocio Loor for their baptism. They are an incredible family and way converted to the gospel. They read the Book of Mormon together everyday and shared very strong testimonies after being baptized. After getting to know them all from doing the baptismal interviews they wanted me to baptize them so Elder Ayala and I had the privilege of being there and feeling of their sweet spirit :) It was a great experience! Our district is awesome! We're already going to pass our goal and help out the zone in passing the goal :)

This week I've been thinking a lot about how trials make us stronger and help us grow. Some of the most miserable experiences and challenging circumstances in my life have lead to the most growth and spiritual progress. A simple example that comes to mind is when I was twelve and my parents made me go on the National Boy Scout Jamboree. The was a great opportunity that the majority of kids should be stoked to go on but I was scared out of my mind. It was a 20 day trip in which we went to New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and other parts of the Eastern states that I can't remember but it was a very extensive and long trip. At this stage in my life I have to confess... I was a big huge mama's boy!! Sad but true. I didn't like being away from home for even one night at a friend's house and thus a 20 day trip on the other side of the country was utterly terrifying for me. I'm sad to admit but for months before the trip I complained, cried, and begged and begged my parents to please not make me go. Haha I remember trying everything I could haha talking about how I had my agency and they couldn't do this to me and what would Jesus do hahaha. I tried all sorts of ridiculous things to not have to go on the Jamboree. For months and months I was miserable and dreading having to go on the trip and even though I finally accepted it and agreed to go it was still very hard for me and I remember when I had to say goodbye I was fighting back tears and there was a huge lump in my throat as I hugged my mom goodbye (haha and I still remember that Sister Burnham was taking a picture of me as I was hugging my mom crying like a little girl and I was like no no I don't want there to be evidence of this! hahaha) Anyway, even though I had made such a big deal out of the Jamboree and had dreaded going for so long, I finally went and... I had a blast!! For the first couple days I was homesick but after that I just had fun and was so busy having a good time that I didn't have time to miss my family and be sad. And ever since that experience I have never ever had a problem with being homesick, I learned how to be self reliant, and learned that I can do hard things. How grateful I am to my parents for not allowing my crying and whining to persuade them to let me quit on the Jamboree. I'm sure it was very hard for them (especially my mom) to see me so miserable and so scared of leaving home but they stuck to their decision because they knew it was for my good. I imagine what my life would've been like had I backed out on going on the Jamboree... very scary because that would've taught me that if I just cry and whine that I can escape problems. That would've reinforced my fear and dread of leaving home and who knows perhaps I would've been too scared to leave home to go on a mission and would've missed out on the experience of a lifetime. That might sound extreme and silly to some but out here in the mission I have heard many stories and personally seen with my own eyes many sad situations. There's a guy in our ward who was way active in the church and had a great testimony but he was a mama's boy and was so scared of leaving home that he didn't go on a mission and he got tired of people telling him to go on a mission so he left the church and his life is way different from how it could've been. There's lots of missionaries who quit and go home after a few months because they can't hack it and as our mission president said that if you learn to accomplish goals here in the mission you will reach your goals the rest of your life but if you learn to be a quitter here in the mission you will be a quitter the rest of your life... sad but true! That's why I'm so glad that the Lord blessed me with the trial of the Jamboree so that I could overcome my personal weakness of homesickness.

That might sound strange to many of you that I'm grateful for trials but I really am. I've realized that trials are what make us grow and help us become perfected through Christ's Atonement. Some people quit when they have trial and others overcome and thrive when they have a trial thus trials make or break us. We decide. I love the example in the Book of Mormon in Alma 1:25 of being steadfast and immovable trusting patiently in the Lord :) That is how we must face trials if we are to overcome them and learn from them. Turn to the Lord and not turn away from Him. Trust in Him and not lose faith in Him. I hope that we all have courage and faith and endure our trials with patience so that we can overcome them and learn from them and become better.

I love you all and thank you all for your love and support :)

Elder Remington

Fun Week

Family and Friends,

Here in Guayaquil everyone makes these big cardboard doll things called ¨monigotes¨ and then exactly at midnight they burn them or throw explosives at them with a million fireworks going off in the sky at the same time. Pretty awesome right!! Haha would've loved to see it all but as missionaries we were asleep in bed at that time but its okay cause obedience brings blessings and it was still cool because the day before we got to see a bunch of way legit monigotes and took some fun pictures. We had a unique way of getting lots of referrals that day. While we were taking pictures with the big monigotes of Iron Man and Captain America some girls there asked if they could take some pictures with us. Haha. We didn't want to be rude and say no but at the same time we can't touch their back in the picture or anything like that so it was a little awkward but to break the tension and have an excuse to not put my arm around I just did the muscle pose like Iron Man and everybody cracked up. Haha then we talked with them a bit about the church and they gave us their address and number to go teach them haha I somewhat doubt that they were really interested in the gospel but hey you never know at least its a start. As a tall white guy in Ecuador you stick out and funny stuff like that happens and often its pretty awkward. For example one time this old lady kept hitting on me and talking about how gorgeous my blue eyes were and I was trying to get the heck out of there but my companion kept teaching her and thought she was interested in the gospel because she asked us for a pamphlet. When my companion gave it to her she asked if we could write our names down so she'd remember us so then my companion started to write down our names but she stopped him and was like no no I want HIM to write his name for me. Crazy old ladies from Ecuador they can't get enough of the blue eyes but yeah at least my companions get a good laugh out of it. I've now learned how to discern between people that really are interested in learning about Jesus Christ and people that just want to talk with a white guy and see his blue eyes or try to speak English with him ¨Hey you my friend!¨ Good stuff.

Gangnam style missionaries

Elder Remington still loves to play "Risk"

Oh and I don't know how it is in the states but here in Ecuador everybody LOVES that Korean guy that sings the weird gabenwackenstein dooo doo doo dooo haha I don't know what the heck he's saying but the people here go crazy for that song and even as missionaries we here it all the time in the street and in the bus. Haha I don't get why its so popular but shoot it's nuts, here and our friends Allison and Amelia that recently were baptized had the little moñigote of him so we took a picture good times. Also for New Years day President Amaya knew that everyone would be either asleep or drunk so he said that we didn't have to go teach until 5:00 so we went and played Settlers of Catan and Risk with some good friends the Lopez family :) It was way fun and brought back memories of the old days. And Friday it absolutely POURED rain like cats and dogs. I have never seen rain fall so hard so we had to hurry and run to the apartment and then took a picture cause we were drenched but I don't think you can really tell oh well.

Elder Remington and his companion: both drenched.

Anyway, the work is going great :) I'm very happy with Elder Ayala and I'm enjoying the best two years of my life.

Love you all,

Elder Remington

Christmas Fun

Family and Friends,

Elders acting out the Nativity Christmas Eve

We had a great Christmas here in Ecuador :) I loved talking with the family and getting to meet Mook through Skype and Christmas Eve was a hoot! We live in a house with four missionaries and I told them all that my family and I always act out the nativity scene on Christmas Eve and they were all like yeah lets do it! Haha. So we didn't have much to work with but we all dressed up as wise men or shepherds, Mary, and Joseph and had a good time being goof balls. Then we sang Christmas songs together and played ninja attack. It's a lot more crazy but fun living with four missionaries. Haha the other night after planning before going to bed we played a hilarious game called ¨Gallinita Ciega¨ (Blind Little Chicken) which is basically like tag but the guy who is it has to wear a blindfold and try to tag someone when they can't see. Normally the game would be nearly impossible but we've got a small house so it works pretty well and the best part is that while the blindfolded chicken tries tagging someone the other three guys get to hit him with pillows and try dodging him as he stumbles toward you. Hahaha! It's hilarious and a great time!

Oh by the way before I forget I wanted to thank Elder Fischer for sharing this...

¨Last Thursday, our mission had a really great Christmas party. They trained us on working with members and not using the same ten members to go out with you to lessons. Sister Neider put a paper cup under a cookie sheet and had an Elder stand on it. It was crushed. That represented an investigator by their self. Then she did it again with three cups, the extra two cups represented missionaries standing with the Investigator. Still crushed. Then she added a bunch more cups, representing fellowship from each of the auxiliaries, random ward members and ward neighbors, the bishop, etc. With about 20 paper cups, the Elder (who weighed about 250) didn't crush the cups when he stood on the cookie sheet that was on top of them. There wasn't just one or two fellowshippers, there were a bunch.¨ 

I used that object lesson the other day in a district meeting and it worked great :) and its so true that as a missionary you need to really branch out and think out of the box using multiple members to fellowship the investigators. I can testify that it is essential to having real growth in the church because it was one of the key factors that Roberto is such a strong convert. But when you're wanting to share principles like that with your district it is much much better to do it in a fun and interactive way like the example described above so that your missionaries enjoy your lesson, learn from it, and remember it because it was unique. I remember when I was trying to write my election speech while running for a leadership position in high school and thinking man what the heck am I gonna do that won't be cliche and boring like blah blah I'm a good student blah blah I love Modesto high blah blah please vote for me blah blah blah blah zzzzzzzz... boring! As I was trying to think of other ideas I came up with the idea to do a rap that would be more interesting and it turned out great :) Likewise many times there are district meetings that are blah blah blah boring so I've been trying to do my best to always make them exciting, unique, interesting, fun, and spiritual. One time I gave a lesson on why it's so important to put a baptismal date in the first lesson and used the analogy of trying to run a race without having a finish line and I had Elder Ayala run around the class feeling like the race was pointless because he didn't know when it would finish but then I told him that he was going to do a race and that here would be the finish line and I ran with him motivating him, telling him that we're here to help him, singing the Rocky song and then when he finished giving him a big high five and all that jazz. Haha Everyone got a good kick out of it and the lesson stuck. I doubt that we´re going to forget that district meeting and know since then we've been applying that principle very well as a district :) In fact we passed our district goal and helped the zone pass the goal for the first time in months :) Woohoo!! Another time I gave a lesson on confidence and humility and applied it to having healthy companionships and setting commitments with the investigators confidently :) It was something unique that really helped because often times the district leader focuses all on helping them teach better but really there are some companionships that are having some serious problems that aren't allowing them to feel the spirit and that aren't allowing them to teach well at all. These are just a few examples of some unique district meetings feel free to use them if any of you out there reading this are future or current missionaries :) Also I wanted to ask that if any of you reading this have any good creative ideas for an interactive district meeting (something unique like the cup thing or the race thing) then will you please send your ideas to my mom so she can forward them to me :) I'd love to hear some good ideas that you all have that I can use :) Thank you!

The other day we were teaching the Word of Wisdom and I was thinking about the commandments that we have and how many people have an incorrect perspective of the commandments. Many people see the commandments (namely the Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity) as annoying rules that restrict you and limit your freedom: ¨Wow your church doesn't let you drink¨ or ¨That stinks that you can't have sex before you're married.¨ Many people, even we as members sometimes, are guilty of having these false perceptions. With a worldly perspective you will see the commandments as exactly that; limitations that don't let you have fun. But when you really understand the doctrine and realize that God created us, thus he knows exactly what we need and what we need to avoid to achieve the maximum happiness, health, and success in this life and the next. The truth is that the commandments (especially the Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity) protect and bless our lives and amplify our freedom and true happiness. For those who falsely believe that the Word of Wisdom restricts your freedom, how much freedom does a drug addict have? How much freedom does an alcoholic have? How much freedom does someone who was paralyzed from drinking and driving have? Or those who say that the Law of Chastity limits your fun, how much fun does someone with Aids have? How much freedom and self respect does someone addicted to pornography have? How much freedom does a 15 year old single mom have in high school? All these questions should help us realize the truth that the commandments are blessings. With an eternal perspective you will see the commandments as safeguards and blessings from a loving Heavenly Father to help his children have joy in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come.

When we change our perspective and really understand the doctrine of Christ our attitude and behavior changes :) Let's all remember that commandments are blessings and we receive more blessings when we obey the commandments :)

Love you all lots :) Happy New Year!

Elder Remington

Merry Christmas :)

Family and Friends,

Jose, Elder Ayala, Johnathan, Luis, Elder Remington

We had a very special baptism this weekend :) Here we are in the picture (in order from left to right) Jose Andres, Elder Ayala, Johnathan, Luis Angel, and the funny lookin tall guy there. The spirit was so strong when Jonathan shared his simple but powerful testimony after the baptism. He said he felt great joy inside, that he knew God had now forgiven him for all his sins, and that he will stay strong in this church for the rest of his life :) I am very thankful that my Heavenly Father blessed me to be there and be able to baptize and support my three great friends; Johnathan, Luis Angel, and Jose Andres. Last weekend was the weekend of transfers where it is very possible that you'll be called to serve in another area. I had already been in this area Albonor for three transfers and usually President Amaya moves you after 2-3 transfers... therefore last Sunday night I was very nervous and thought for sure that I was going to get transferred so I said good-byes to everyone but everyone (especially Roberto and Johnathan's family) said no we don't want you to leave don't worry we're going to pray that you stay. Haha. I tried to explain that it doesn't work like that and that the Lord knows best where we need to go and that this is all part of the mission life but they said no no just have faith Elder you've gotta stay here haha. Especially Jonathan he was joking around and said Sunday night, ¨Hey man are you kidding me you can't leave me we gotta finish this race together you're going be the one to baptize me we're going to finish what we started.¨ This made me laugh but honestly it made me even more nervous cause I was thinking shoot man if they're all having faith and praying that I don't leave but then I get called to leave anyways I don't want them to lose faith or be sad... oh man I hope I stay here just one more transfer... and sure enough our prayers were answered and I stayed :) I was completely willing to do what the Lord wanted me to do and submit to His will but I'm very glad that what the Lord wanted corresponded with what I wanted :)

I sure love this area its great! I've really made a lot of good friends here with nearly all the members and luckily we have really gained the trust of the members. I remember before leaving on the mission my uncle Matt Hawkins gave me some great advice that a key to having success is being able to inspire confidence in the members. It's very true! I have seen some missionaries who have a light about them, their smile just says ¨You can trust me¨, they are confident in themselves but not prideful, they look people in the eye, they say hi to everyone, they are happy, they're someone people want to be around, and people naturally follow them. At the beginning of my mission I set the goal to always and to have an attitude of ¨how can I serve¨ and fortunately it has worked well. The little things really do make a big difference. The way you give reports in ward council, the way you welcome everyone in the chapel on Sunday, and the way you are friendly and respectful when the members serve you food, and more than anything else how many converts you have all help gain the confidence of the members. Hard work, obedience, and sincere love for the people luckily have brought us lots of success and the members recognize that. After the baptism various members said wow congratulations Elders, good job, or wow you two are doing good work here. We just smile say thanks and say that its not us its the Lord we're just the instruments in his hands. When we said that one of the Bishop's counselors said, ¨Well I sure hope the Lord keeps using you two as His instruments in our ward¨ likewise tons of members in these past few weeks have invited us over for dinner on Christmas and Christmas eve also many have given us various gifts and said ¨Here you go you two have earned it¨ :) It's good to know that the ward is pleased with our labors but more importantly its good to know that the Lord is pleased with our labors and I really have felt that a lot recently and honestly I think that its one of the best feelings in the world. To me personally, the knowledge that the Lord is pleased with what you are doing is true happiness. So let's all be obedient and make good choices so that we can all be truly happy :)

Merry Christmas to all :) Enjoy being together with family and remember that we will have a better CHRISTmas if we focus our thoughts on Christ.

I'm happy to be a representative of Jesus the Christ in this happy time of celebrating His birth :)

Love,

Elder Remington

Scripture Study = Solid Conversion

Family and Friends,

This morning I got to open a package full of sweet Christmas cards from lots of family members and friends :) Thank you to everyone who wrote me the Christmas cards and to all who have sent me cards or written me through DearElder.com :) I truly do enjoy reading them and hearing how everyone is doing and what you're all up to :) They always put a smile on my face. Please forgive me for being super busy (you never have enough time to do everything you want as a missionary) and being awful at writing back but I'm trying.

I wanted to tell you all about a great investigator we have that is going to be baptized with his two nephews this Saturday. His name is Johnathon and he is a wonderful man and great friend. I remember the first day we met him we had been knocking on doors for a couple of hours because all of our appointments cancelled on us or weren't there (for those of you unfamiliar with missionary work door to door contacting for multiple hours on a hot day in Ecuador is usually not that fun, its better when you have appointments and are teaching people indoors) and almost everyone we had talked to was busy or weren't interested at all. I was feeling a little down but then we were walking down a street and my companion and I both felt that we needed to stop and visit a house on the corner. We quickly responded to that prompting and visited the house and Johnathon answered and happily received us. Usually we talk for a few minutes in the doorway and schedule a time that we can come by another day to teach them but Johnathon invited us to sit down and teach him in that very same day. He had a lot of great questions, was very interested, and was very receptive to the message we shared. We gave him a Book of Mormon and since that first visit he has read the Book of Mormon everyday without fail. Every time we visit him he shares with us what he read and what parts stood out to him that he liked or asks us some questions about what he read :) He told us that all of his life he has been looking for something to quench this thirst he had and has gone to various churches but in all of the churches he still felt empty inside. But now he says that when he reads the Book of Mormon and goes to church with us he finally feels that his spiritual thirst has been satisfied and he feels that he's finally found what he's been looking for... let me tell you those are the types of comments that you live for as a missionary :) We love that guy so much and we're way grateful that we've had the privilege to find and teach him and be his friend :)

I've been realizing lately that the key to having a firm testimony and unbreakable conversion to Christ is having daily scripture study. In 2 Nephi 31:20 we learn that we must feast upon the word of Christ in order to endure to the end. When I was a kid up until high school I would read my scriptures from time to time but it was never a regular daily habit and I would never really feast upon the word of Christ. I’d usually just kind of nibble a bit or snack on the word of Christ. I’d open up my scriptures and read a chapter or two but I wouldn’t really get into it and often my thoughts would wander and I’d be thinking about what I was going to do tomorrow or about basketball or something else not really immersing myself in the words of the Prophets. Then in high school when seminary started and especially when I went to BYU for a year, I really started the daily practice of feasting upon the words of Christ. I read everyday without fail for at least 30 minutes, I always started and ended with a prayer to invite the Spirit, I would take notes and write down spiritual impressions that came to mind, and I would truly apply the things I was learning. When you do that hearts change, miracles happen, and strong conversions to Christ occur. I’ve seen that my strongest investigators, strongest converts, and strongest companions that are truly truly converted to Christ they always have the daily habit of studying and applying the scriptures. I invite all of you to study the scriptures every single day without fail and apply what you learn. You will find peace of mind, solutions to life’s daily problems, and a growing desire to choose the right.

I love you all very much and hope you're all healthy and happy :) Enjoy life

Elder Remington

Christmas Conference :) Good Times

Family and Friends,

This week we had a Christmas Conference with President Amaya and 3 other zones at the Guayaquil temple :) I love going to the temple and as missionaries we only get to go during Christmas time so it was a very special day. I always feel such a quiet peace inside at the temple and its a great place to ponder and receive personal revelation of some things you can change and improve on. I felt there that I really need to focus on improving my Spanish even more so that I can better communicate and relate to the people and that I the Lord needs me to be an example for other missionaries. I've been studying Spanish much more diligently and trying to always be a good leader in obedience and having a positive attitude among the other missionaries because people observe you more than you think and a positive influence can make a big difference in the lives of others.

Elder Linares and Elder Remington

I would know that because one of my best Zone Leaders, Elder Linares, really made a big impact on me with his example of diligence and strong leadership. He was my first Zone Leader and whenever we did a split for the day and I was working with him he really impressed me with how hard he worked and we got along great cause we were both walking super fast, analyzing how we could've improved in the lesson, talking about what we did well, and just working super hard. He's the type of person that inspires confidence in others and makes you want to follow him because you respect him. He is now the Assistant to the President and he was there at the conference the first picture is with him. He taught me that we should motivate and inspire people and help them want to do better instead of trying to intimidate them or lecture them. He's a great friend and I continue to learn a lot from him anytime I see him at leadership conferences. Also he knows how to work hard and have fun. He, Elder Lopez, and I were always joking and having a good time together and we still joke about a lot of the good times we had in Empalme back in the day.

Elder Remington and Elder Magill

The other picture is with my good buddy Elder Magill. He and I were good buddies in BYU and had a lot of the same classes and would study and hang out together a lot. Then when we both got our mission calls and found out we were going to the same place at the same time we became even better friends and always joked about being companions together one day. I could tell just from talking with him for a bit at the conference that he is doing great and working hard. You truly can see in the eyes and countenance of someone what type of person they are and the light of Christ and his enthusiasm for the work were very evident in his eyes. It was great chatting with him and it was cool that when we said goodbye we both said at the same time ¨keep working hard¨ haha great minds think alike.

The last picture is of Roberto and his two sons Jordy and Junior :) Great family and definitely my strongest converts that I've baptized in my mission. I love these guys. Roberto gave an excellent talk a while back and lots of missionaries who meet him are way shocked to hear that he's a convert of only three months because he has such a great knowledge of the gospel and seems like his been in the church for years. Junior loves going to seminary and Jordy loves primary and singing hymns :) They're both going to be great missionaries and I look forward to hearing about their missions and writing to them. I know that we will be lifelong friends :) One of the greatest blessings of being a missionary is seeing the fruits of your labor and knowing that you're making a difference for generations to come and that your mission will have echoes in the eternities.

Elder Remington with Roberto and his sons

Well the church is true and life is good :) Remember that despite all the hardships, challenges, disappointments, and frustrating trials that we deal with everyday... the purpose of this life is to have joy and learn how to one day return to live with our Heavenly Father. Let's enjoy life and be happy :) Remember that happiness truly is a choice.

Love,

Elder Remington

Happy Week

Family and Friends,

After suffering through my longest period of time without baptisms in the mission, we had a great baptism this Saturday. Two girls that we've been teaching for a while named Allison and Amelia were both baptized together and at the end they both shared their testimonies. There was a lot of members there supporting them, lots of investigators there feeling the spirit :), and they both looked very happy and you could see a bright light in their eyes as they shared their simple sweet yet powerful testimonies of how the gospel has blessed their lives. It was a great moment for me and I was very happy that all our hard work payed off and the great thing is that we have a great program going here in Albonor with lots of progressing investigators, great support from the ward, and an awesome companionship that makes the work enjoyable, satisfying, and much more effective. Elder Ayala and I get along wonderfully :) He is super happy, always positive, has lots of experience and is teaching me a ton, knows how to give compliments and constructive advice in how I can improve, has a great sense of humor and we're always enjoying the day. He is very humble and knows how to receive suggestions or advice and apply that advice without getting offended, and he truly serves the Lord with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. He's a great example to me and we are really learning and growing together and enjoying it too :) Very similar to the companionship that Elder Lopez and I had :) wooohooo! I truly believe that every single companionship is inspired of God and that you can always do your part to make a companionship work and you can enjoy being with every companion and learn something from every single companion.... that being said there are some people who make enjoying the mission and having success a whole lot easier than others :) and luckily Elder Ayala is one of them.

Everyone says that the mission helps you prepare for marriage because you learn how to live with someone and make relationships work through compromise and all that jazz. Very true. I also think that it is a great opportunity to find out what type of people you enjoy being around so that you can have a better idea of what qualities to look for in a future spouse when you are dating after the mission. I know that sounds a tad weird and I'm not meaning it in a gay way at all just give me chance here to  explain haha. For example, due to my experiences with my companions I have come to the conclusion that I want to marry someone who is humble yet confident and knows how to receive both compliments and advice well. One of the biggest reasons that there is contention in companionships or relationships is that often we as human beings get offended and protective when someone tries to correct us or give us advice in how we can improve. The majority of my companions (especially Elder Lopez) have been humble yet confident, and thus I almost never fought with my companions because we both knew how to receive advice without getting offended and arguing. People who lack this trait are hard to live with... trust me. So as a missionary when you get back you can remember some of the qualities that were most important to you and then look for those qualities in a future spouse and you can remember certain qualities or characteristics that really bothered you and if you see that in a potential future spouse that can be a red flag for you.

Oh and I recently got this picture from Elder Lopez of the baptism of three girls that we taught together named Caterine, Angelina, and Marisela :) They were super sweet and very smart and fun to teach! I got transferred right before they were baptized but now I have the picture and I still get to write to them to give them encouragement. Also the guy in front of them sitting down in the polo shirt is named Johnathon and he got baptized the week after too but I still don't have the picture. But I wanted to share a neat experience we had with him when he was taking the discussions. After the first lesson we taught him how to pray and invited him to give the last prayer. He's way shy and he was really nervous and didn't want to do it. But then I said how about I say a prayer first for you and give an example and then you give one after me. He agreed to that so we got on our knees and then after my prayer he began to pray. Normally in their first prayer the investigator doesn't know what to say and feels uncomfortable so they just say some generic things and finish which is okay because its a good start but not Johnathon. This young man said one of the most sincere heartfelt prayers that I've ever heard. It was short and sweet but powerful and you could really feel that he wasn't just saying words but that he was truly communicating with his Heavenly Father. In one part he said simply, ¨God, thanks for sending these missionaries here to help me change my life¨ and the spirit filled the room :) The power of a simple heartfelt prayer is incredible :) Elder Lopez tells me he is active and doing great :)

I love you all and encourage you all to do your part to participate more in the Lord's work. Share the gospel with your friends and give the missionaries lots of referrals :) Don't be afraid its not awkward! It's the Lord's work and its true and this work progresses much better when the members support and help the missionaries :) Love you all!

Elder Remington