The Three Lighthouses

Next week will be Jacoby's last email from Ecuador as a missionary.  If you want to write him one last email, send it before May 12th, because that will be his last day to check emails.

Also, if you would like to hear Jacoby report on his mission, he will be speaking in church on Sunday May 25th, at 11:00am. It will be at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located at 4300 Dale Road, Modesto, CA.

Thank you for the love and support that you have shown him throughout his mission!

Elder Remington's Mother

Family and Friends,

We had a tender baptism this week of Alejandrina Loor. She is the mother of two less active sisters and grandmother of several less active children. Her family was a referral of a ward missionary and when we first met them all she wasn't interested at all. The first few times she wouldn't even join us in the lessons or is she did she'd hardly say a word or just tell us that she was Catholic and wouldn't change and that was that. We pretty much wrote her off and focused on other people. Then one we went to their house to teach her daughters to reactivate them but they had left and Alejandrina was the only one home. My seasoned, calculating, and efficient mind told me that teaching her would be a waste of time and her odds of progressing were very low thus our time would be better spent teaching other investigators with greater odds of progressing.... but the Spirit gently touched my heart and I had the subtle feeling that we should stay and give her a chance... so we stayed. We listened to her. We showed genuine interest, love, and concern. She opened up to us. She shared that her husband had been unfaithful and left her for another woman several years ago and that she was sad and lonely. We also detected that she greatly lacked confidence and felt timid about participating in our lessons not because of a lack of interest but because she didn't know how to read and felt embarrassed about it and nervous that we might call on her to read and she wouldn't be able to do so. We shared our love for her and taught her of the love our Savior and Heavenly Father have for her and that they're always there to help her as she turns to them. We read and analyzed the doctrine of Christ in 2 Nephi 31 with her and I felt the distinct impression (I had never done it before) to testify to her and promise here that if she was faithful and obedient to God that in this life or the next He would bless her with a good and faithful husband that would love, cherish, and respect her and she could be with him for all time and eternity. We taught that God is merciful and just and He won't rob her of any of the blessings of exaltation if she is faithful and does her part. A gleam of hope brightened in her eyes as she listened to us teach and testify. We set a baptismal date for May 3rd in that very first lesson and she accepted tentatively. Day by day she became more and more comfortable with the idea and after a week she was excited to be baptized. It was a lovely experience and lovely baptismal service :) I love this work and I'm grateful for those gently promptings of the Holy Ghost to guide us to the elect of God because we'd be lost without them.

Last week, my great friend Sister Walker sent me some wonderful advice that I felt inspired to share with you all, Now you are approaching the last leg of this part of your life. In track, when you run a distance, there is something to be said for pacing yourself, for keeping yourself strongly in the race, but remembering you needed to save something for the end.  Now you are to the point where you thought you were already giving it all, but you can dig a little deeper and give a little more.

Thank you Sister Walker! What a great thought and solid analogy. To be completely honest two years of working hard all day really does tire the body, mind, and spirit haha a LOT! Of course it is a good tired, a happy tired in a positive way but its tiring nonetheless and there have been days where my body begs for rest and a long nap seems so appealing... BUT that's when we really show the Lord what we're made of and just how much we love Him and just how dedicated we are to His work. Anyone can work hard and positive when they feel well rested and there's a nice breeze and there are lots of investigators progressing and things are going great. Its when you're rejected, all your appointments fail, you're tired, hungry, and the sun is blazing hot... that's when it really takes diligence and heart to keep going with a smile and faith and hope in the Lord. When we do so the Lord helps us and when we kneel and ask for the strength to keep going, He hears and answers. Its not always the answer that we want but its always the answer that we need. As we trust in Him and work our hardest things work out. Several times this week these words from Sister Walker came to mind and helped me work even harder.

There are many of you who are probably wondering why I put the title of Three Lighthouses and if that means I went to the beach or something like that haha lighthouse is faro in Spanish and it has a bit of a different meaning in Spanish. Our beloved President Amaya has three "lighthouses" (that's the literal translation but it'd be more like the three keys or three fundamentals) of the mission that are the key to success that he always teaches us. I'd like to share them with you all. 

1. Concentrate your mind on the mission. Don't have a girlfriend to distract you, don't think about home, don't get absorbed in thinking about what you're going to buy or do or see on p-day, avoid all distractions, and stay focused always 100% on your investigators and your work as a missionary. Have a balance of being fun and happy yet focused and obedient. 

2. Submerge yourself in Preach My Gospel. There are many good things to read and study and focus on during the mission but the most important, most relevant, and thing that will most help you grow as a missionary is PMG. Love it, study it, live it. Every single day study it for at least 20-40 minutes and if you want for the whole hour. Do the activities. Look up and ponder on the scriptures. Watch and analyze the videos. Be a PMG missionary. President teaches that you know you're a PMG missionary if the Holy Ghost whispers parts of PMG to your heart and mind at times. Its happened to me on several occasions and its a great feeling. PMG really is the most important and it sets a foundation for the rest of our life. 

3. Have your Mission Purpose in between your eyebrows. In all that you do be focused on bringing souls unto Christ. Put baptismal dates in the first lesson without fear. Always think about how to better improve your sector and bring more souls unto Christ. Every lesson and everything you do should be focused on completing with your missionary purpose. 

Many months ago in a car ride with President Amaya I asked him for specific feedback on how I could improve as his assistant. He chuckled and repeated to me the three lighthouses and said "Elder if you have the three things down then all the rest will take care of itself. Focus on those three things and that's all." At that time I was a little bit let down because I wanted something a little more specific but I now realize that his answer was very wise and that those three lighthouses really are key and as I've developed and perfected them more and more during the mission since that car ride its brought me more and more success. 

I love you all!

Elder Remington 

Families Can Be Together Forever

Family and Friends,

I've been humming that lovely primary song all weekend. This Saturday April 19th, 2014, the Cortes family was sealed together for all time and eternity. For those of you who aren't members of the church, one of the most precious truths we treasure as members of the church is that when a couple is married in the temple by someone who holds the authority of God, that couple will be sealed together with their future children as a family not just "til death do you part" but for all time and even after death they will be together as an eternal family. After a year of being baptized and learning and growing in the church you have the opportunity to go to the temple and be sealed as husband and wife and if you already have children to be sealed to them as well and thus sealed to all future children that you may have as a forever family :) 

Jonathon was baptized on December 22, 2012 and he baptized Maria Fernanda on February 16, 2013 [Elder Remington mentioned her baptism and was sent a picture in previous post entitled "Exciting News! :)"] and ever since then my old companion and great friend Elder Ayala (He's not an Elder anymore but thats how I remember him and he's still Elder Ayala to me ahha) and I have been following up on them through letters, occasional visits with President's permission as an AP, and facebook on Elder Ayala's part. As with all new converts, they had some trials but with our help, the help of some wonderful members in that ward, the strong testimony and consistent example of Jonathon (he really is a rock, he finished the Book of Mormon in 6 months, magnifies his calling as young men's counselor, goes to church always, shares the gospel, and has been constant in work to achieve his goal of going to the temple),  and above all the divine help of the Lord :) they made it to the temple :) wooooohoooo!!! Honestly words can't fully describe how happy I am :) this is a dream come true that I've been praying and working for over a year and it finally happened! Even if all other people in Ecuador rejected me and I didn't baptize a single other person in my two years here....it would've been worth it to find Jonathon and Maria Fernanda, teach them, baptize them, confirm them, and see them endowed and sealed as a forever family :) 

I had the privilege of being Jonathon's escort in the temple and Elder Ayala and I were the witnesses of their sealing. The temple worker explained to us that the two witnesses aren't just there in that moment but that their signature will forever be on the certificate of marriage and that they commit themselves to be guardian angels and look out for the family that sealed and always be an important part of their lives :) we both smiled and said that we had already been doing that and already had planned to continue to do so and that now with even greater dedication and with even more motivation and duty we would do so :) I'll always be there for this wonderful family and I'm so grateful that the Lord trusted us enough to put them in our path and help them. 

Jonathon's two children Domenica and Santiago (James in English) are normally very rambunctious and noisy and frankly I was nervous that when they entered the sealing room that they would be loud and distract from the Spirit. But when they entered the sealing room all dressed in white like little angels with big smiles and a glow in their eyes... the Spirit filled the room so strong that I couldn't stop smiling from ear to ear the entire time :) I looked at Elder Ayala and we smiled and didn't say a word... words can't describe what we were both feeling. The two children happily, quietly, and reverently took their place around the altar with their parents and when the sealing was finished the four of them all gave each other big hugs and kisses and everyone in the room was smiling and a sweet heavenly exquisite peace filled the room. The temple worker said that this was a taste of heaven for all of us.... this was one of the best and tenderest moments of my life and utterly unforgettable. As the saying goes, missionaries leave their families for two years so that others can be with their family for eternity. 

Elder Ayala and I were reminiscing and remembering the good times when we did companionship studies and practices dedicated to Jonathon and helping him finally accept a baptismal date :) and how much we had to work with Maria Fernanda before she finally opened up and went to church with us :) it was awesome seeing Elder Ayala and being with him again and he and the Cortes family will be lifelong friends :) it was also wonderful seeing many of the members from Albonor again and remembering the good ole days haha they will be lifelong friends as well :) After the sealing, the Cortes family invited us all over for lunch and we had a great time together at their house and I had a flashback remembering when we first contacted their house over a year ago and how much one contact has changed our lives forever (Alma 37:6-7). 

After the lunch we were able to go to the terminal and return to Quevedo just in time for the Stake Conference that night and good thing too because I had to give the first talk! (By the way, we had President's permission to attend just in case you're wondering hahah President has always said that we need to focus on families thus the motivation is that all missionaries who baptize families will get to go to their sealings :) yay! Thanks President!) I love public speaking. My talk was on the Work of Salvation and how we can work even better together as members and missionaries :) based on Elder Ballard's last two conference talks especially "Put Your Trust in the Lord" that I definitely recommend reading and applying. We made a little PowerPoint sideshow of some of the baptisms we had in the stake the past few months through members giving referrals and it was great it really invited the Spirit in the room and motivated the members. One of the last pictures was of Carlos and Cristina's baptism and I had his brother Ricardo Romero share his testimony at the end of the joy he felt while sharing the gospel with his brother and the happiness he felt as he baptized his own brother and saw him baptize his wife a month later :) I know a good opportunity to invite the Spirit when I see one :) it was awesome he did a great job! There were 3 key points that as members we need to do

1. Pray asking specifically for missionary opportunities and be looking for those opportunities.
2. Share the gospel in a normal and constant way (first presidency message by President Uchtdorf that is great on that; "A Firmly Set Anchor")
3. Give a quality referral to the missionaries at least once every three months (quality means that you help teach them and support them look up PMG quote by President Hinckley [Found in Chapter 13]). 

I love you all very much and hope you are enjoying life :) remember thats why we're here (2 Nephi 2:25) 

Elder Remington

Interviews, Burgers, and Baptisms OH MY!

Family and Friends,

President Amaya visited us this week to have interviews and reward us for being the zone that most passed the goal last week. We ate Carl's Junior together and had a great time with him and the Assistants. Elder Galvan and I had a wonderful interview with President Amaya. He said he had sent us here to raise the bar and put the zone on another level and that we had done just that. He congratulated us on the great unity, diligence, obedience, and enthusiasm that he could see and feel were very present in our zone and he said it was all consequence of the example of their leaders. It was actually pretty funny because he said that there's lots of missionaries that came from other less obedient and less focused zones and that when they got here to our zone it was like BOOM a wake up call and shocker. They can feel that its serious business here and then they get with the program and get their act together. He started cracking himself up haha but its really true and thats been one of the most rewarding experiences here for me is seeing the huge change and improvement that all of the missionaries here have had. Sadly, some zone leaders make the mistake of just worrying about and concentrating on REACHING THE GOAL and having results even if they have to intimidate, walk over, or boss around the missionaries to do it. That NEVER works. If you focus on the missionaries as people and children of God with a divine potential as Elder Eyring advises:

"Help others recognize the spiritual gifts with which they were born. Every person is different and has a different contribution to make.  No one is destined to fail.  As you seek revelation to see gifts God sees in those you lead in the priesthood, you will be blessed to lift their sights to the service they can perform.  With your guidance, those you lead will be able to see, want, and believe they can achieve their full potential for service in God's kingdom" ("Help Them Aim High").

and focus on their needs and their progress then they're happier, you're happier, and the goal almost takes care of itself. Yes you still need to give follow-up on the goal and focus on results but the people need to come first. President congratulated us on doing that well and said we're putting an example for the rest of the mission. 

We had 4 baptisms last week but it was so crazy and busy that we didn't have time to take pictures...sorry! But it was a great experience and one of the investigators Didier taught me a lesson that I'll never forget. Didier is nine years old and his mom and older brothers are less actives that we are reactivating while baptizing Didier (the good ole hit two birds with one stone!). Didier is very very very shy and gets scared easily. When I went to baptize him the first time he got scared when he entered the water and he shot his hand up out of the water so we had to do it again. On the second time he got even more scared and traumatized by the water and shot his hand up and came out of the water whimpering and crying. I took him out of the water to help him calm down and tried talking with him to motivate to go back and try it again. The sad part is that lots of members (who had good intentions but insensitive and foolish actions) started to swarm around him and say to him or to each other ¨Are you crying? He's crying. Hey don't be scared of the water you're fine. Just do it. Hey are you alright already?¨ This obviously just made it worst and he literally curled up in a ball against the wall crying and refusing to respond to anyone. Luckily his mom and another member we're smart and he told him in a loving way that he could do it. After about 10 minutes of confusion and crying we finally took him away from everyone and went in to a room just the missionaries and him and one of the members that was a good family friend. We said a prayer together to help him calm down. We waited for several minutes very patiently not pressuring him and then I got down on his level on my knees and said, ¨Hey bud how bout we just try one more time and if it doesn't work we can go home and everything will be fine okay?¨ He agreed and we went to the fount but we closed the door and waited for everyone to leave until it was just me, Elder Galvan, and the member family friend (priesthood holder). As we entered the water he started crying again but we just waited patiently sat down and prayed and then the member made him laugh with quite a few jokes and motivated him and then he decided to do it. I took him in my arms, said the prayer, and we entered in the water together. It worked! He left the water beaming and happy having conquered his fear. 

That taught me a lot about just being patient and not judging or laughing at people and being sensitive and gently persistent. Also the power of humor is very important as well. I've seriously changed since before the mission because before I would've thought what a baby and probably laughed at him a bit... I feel like I've changed quite a bit now that I think about it. 

Love you all so much!

Elder Remington 

Wonderful Converts

Family and Friends, 

Once again my heart is full of gratitude and love :) what a wonderful week we had. There were some trials and disappointments but as I've kept filling my heart daily with positive things and remembering all my blessings I've stayed happy and upbeat its great! I know many have said and heard about counting your blessings and remembering what you're grateful for and if you're like me you've kind of just shrugged it off sometimes and thought yeah yeah I've heard that before haha. I know its cliche and everyone says it but I'm telling its true! Do it! Decide to be happy and be positive and when things start to not go as planned just smile, laugh it off, and think of five things your grateful for. As we focus on our blessings and all the things that are good, just, and right in this world and we don't worry or complain about the things that are out of our control (other people's agency, the weather, culture, etc.) we find true and sustainable happiness. 

I love Alma 7:23 it has many important facets of living a balanced, positive, happy, and successful life. 

And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.

Apply it and you will see the results! 

This week Vanessa Loor and Cristina Romero were baptized together. They are wonderful and will be lifelong converts. Vanesa is the older sister of three recent converts. She's a twenty year old, single, pregnant, college student that is very smart. She had listened to the missionaries before but never wanted to be baptized and we had never really seen much of a chance in her progressing. But then one day we went to visit her younger sisters to teach and strengthen them as new converts and while we were teaching a very distinct impression came to my mind to invite Vanessa to join us as well and I did and we put a baptismal date and the rest is history. 

Cristina Romero is Carlos Romero's wife. If you remember, Carlos is the brother of our first counselor and was baptized last month. He received the Priesthood and baptized his wife with power. It was so special to see them enter the waters of baptism together and I know they'll be sealed as an eternal family in a year and I plan to be there to see it :) they are wonderful friends and they study the scriptures daily and mark them up with highlighters and are really converted to the Lord. What a joy and a blessing to know them and see them progress. We came to know them just by sharing a simple message and asking for referrals after lunch in our first week here and look where that got us. Alma 37:6-7 share messages and ask for referrals after every meal :) 

I love you all and know with all my heart that this gospel is true and changes lives 

Elder Remington

Good Times

Family and Friends,

I am very happy and have my heart full of gratitude these days. I am so happy and thankful for all that my Heavenly Father has given me. He's blessed me with a wonderful companion that is such a positive and humble hard worker, a zone full of good happy and hardworking missionaries, a powerful and inspired Mission President, two greart leaders and friends as APs who always give great advice and guidance, members that support us and love us, chosen investigators that are so wonderful, and powerful converts that share the gospel and have powerful testimonies. Alexandra (a convert from last month) is already in Alma in the Book of Mormon and she sits right next to our investigators that we bring to church and in the lessons with them she straight up motivates them and tells them not be scared, to trust in the Lord, and to be BAPTIZED. She shares how much her baptism and this church have blessed and changed her life for the better. Today I was singing all afternoon in the house very happy and I hope to share this happiness with everyone!

There are quite a few pictures so just to explain a few of them we had 3 great baptisms of Joselyn, Joshua, and Adrian. Joselyn is a single mom who has great neighbors that are members and really welcomed her in to the church and we're already teaching a few of her friends and they have baptismal dates :) Joshua is the nephew of some members that we're less active but we rescued them and baptized him :) two birds with one stone and now they all go to church together and they're quite happy! Adrian is the younger brother of a recent convert named Andres and he is super solid and is one of the few kids here who likes basketball more than soccer wow! It was great to see his big brother baptize him.

The picture of two crazy guys hugging each other is of Elder Rallison and I just before Elder Rallison left to Guayaquil for transfers. He is an AWESOME missionary and great friend and it truly was a joy to have him in the zone and work side by side with him. He will be missed but we know that he's doing great things where he is and it's the Lord' will so its whats best :) also the Lord blessed us greatly as a zone and we were able to pass the goal and we will be celebrating with President Amaya and the APs soon :) good times! 

We worked our tails off as a zone and it paid off :) There were several keys to our success this month and many are found in the 8 Attributes but here are a few that stand out in particular. We followed all the instructions and guidance of President and the APs especially about being submerged in the Work of Salvation with lots and lots of lessons with members, referrals, and rescuing less actives. We were like pilots looking at the gauges and levels of the planes making sure the planes flies smoothly and successfully. We did the same every week and every day with the Key Indicators. Every Sunday night we counted the totals and compared with past weeks and were attentive to tendencies or weak points or progress to help keep improving every week. We focused on the spiritual growth and progress of every individual in our zone, especially with the district leaders in making sure that they became strong lions of leaders confident and capable in what they were doing so that they could then take good care of the missionaries in their district. There are many more but I'll have to share next week! 

Something that I felt would be important to share... many members and missionaries think that it is just plain evil and wrong to talk about numbers and goals and that you should just focus on people. It is natural to think that at first but its important to remember that when used in the right way numbers and goals are a powerful instrument in bringing about eternal salvation to more people. Of course we need to be focused on people and make sure that we don't get to carried away with only wanting to have impressive statistics. But when used with a proper balance and an understanding that like PME teaches each number represents a son or daughter of God, then numbers and goals are necessary and valuable. As President Monson taught, When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported, the rate of improvement accelerates.  And he is a living example of that as the Prophet of God. What was the first thing President Monson announced at General Conference? Numbers! He said that there are currently over 15 million members and over 80 thousand missionaries serving. The Lord has said that He has His sheep counted and it is important to count for Him so we need to follow His example. (3 Nephi 18:31). 

Remeber to be humble and make changes when the Spirit gives you whispers of correction. 

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 

Good Times

Family and Friends,

Two weeks ago a wonderful sister named Elina was baptized by one of her friends that had shared the gospel with her. Elina is best friends with his mom and it was his first baptism so it was very special and when she shared her testimony you could really feel her sincerity, happiness, and joy in the decision she had made and she felt God's presence as she entered the water. She had been taught by several missionaries and never went to church but now was her time and she went to church loved it and was baptized in 3 weeks.

President Amaya taught us several important lessons these past few weeks and the biggest three that come to mind are the following. First, he explained that there Turkish salesman always are very successful because they have the practice of not eating breakfast until they make their first sale of the day. This motivates them to work hard and sale and this discipline makes them successful. Elder Magill and I decided to apply it to missionary work in that we must earn the right to eat and relax when we get home by first finishing daily planning and updating the area book BEFORE we eat, drink, or even go to the bathroom (little extreme but it sure works for motivating you if you gotta go haha). This has really worked well for us and several other missionaries that we've shared this principle with too. Second, while analyzing D&C 4 he said that if we really want to serve God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength as God requires of us there is no room for a boyfriend or girlfriend. He emphasized that God is very demanding of his servants and that he wants 100% of our hearts and minds, thus if we want to be truly successful we must leave everything behind and not give half of ourselves to God and the other half to our boyfriend or girlfriend. This made me very grateful for choices that I made before the mission and sad for some of the Elders in our mission who didn't make such choices and now I see them suffering the consequences. For all those current or future missionaries reading this who currently have a boyfriend or girlfriend, I strongly and lovingly invite you to break it off completely and concentrate on your mission and serving the Lord. I know that President Amaya is inspired in what he teaches and I've seen with my own eyes how important it really is to dedicate ourselves 100% to the Lord. Just do it. Do it now. Third, he cited Elder Hales and taught that ¨darkness cannot overcome light unless the light is diminished or departs.¨ Be a light. Fill your life with goodness, happiness, and productive activities. Become so involved and busy with scriptures, service, prayer, lesson plans, thinking of how to help others that you won't even have time nor desires to do evil (Mosiah 5:2). That is the biggest key to overcoming weaknesses and becoming better. 

This week has been wonderful and reminded me that life really is what you make of it! Have a good attitude and you will produce good results!

Love,

Elder Remington

Good Times in the Office

Family and Friends,

I always capitalize the ¨¨F¨¨ in Friends because you are all so important in case you were wondering. This week has been very good. Elder Magill and I were running all over Ecuador in buses to see various different houses to rent for the church because we have 38 new missionaries that will arrive in 3 weeks for a grand total of 220 missionaries (soon we will have 250!) in the North mission... (as Jessica would say) sooo pretty much we have a lot of work to do haha its a little tiring to say the least but with a good attitude its much better. Honestly I was feeling kind of down this week and felt like I didn't quite have the Spirit as strong as normally and I didn't get why if I was still saying my prayers and studying my scriptures daily and going to church, etc. then I realized that I was missing a vital part of the famous 5 Star Day that my cousin Kayla taught me... I was missing the service part. Normally when we're in companionship interchanges and out teaching I always feel great because we serve people spiritually and physically and that helps invite the Spirit and keep you close to the Lord doing what he always went about doing (serving others). But this week we couldn't go out teaching and it was just going from one city to another from house to house talking business and not talking gospel... plus in the buses they play worldly music or worldly movies and even when we don't watch them just being in that environment you can feel a difference in a lower presence of the Holy Ghost because He can't be in environments like that (therefore we have to be super careful about the types of music, movies, and conversations we participate in because we NEED His guidance) thus I was feeling down and a little out of it earlier this week but then the other day I started to serve in little ways like making a sandwich or protein shake for my companion or looking for specific compliments to give to the missionaries we saw and I started to feel much better. Then I studied a great talk by President Eyring called ¨Come Unto Me¨ from last Conference 2013 and it was solid. The thesis is that through serving others we come close to Christ and that if we serve our fellow man while in this life then the moment at Judgement Day when we stand face to face with the Lord we will rejoice and He will say ¨¨Well done thou good and faithful servant¨ WOW! What could be better than that?!? Anyways that really motivated me this week and I wanted to share it with you all. Be sure to always be having 1. sincere prayer 2. scripture study 3. smiling 4. self reflection and 5. SERVE others and you'll be happy :)

The baptismal pictures are from last week. The two that were baptize are the young bucks in blue and black named Daysi and Alexis. Both are great and really excited about the gospel and learning more. Daysi shared a really sweet testimony of how she had a dream a few weeks ago where she saw herself being baptized and knew that it was the right thing to do and how much it has changed her life :) in missionary world there are few better moments than hearing the testimonies of your converts. We share a sector with 2 other missionaries Elder Randall and Elder Silva (the two next to Elder Magill) and they cover for us while we're not there so that our investigators have daily contact. Its a little different because my companion and I don't have the privilege of really getting to know and work with the investigators but its for the best adn still very rewarding :) I love working with and getting to know better Elder Randall and Elder Silva they're both hilarious and Elder Randall goes to BYU so I'm sure we'll be great buds after the guy is legit. 

The other picture is the celebration with the Babahoyo Zone congratulating them for being the zone that most baptized. President started that tradition in February with Portoviejo and he's decided to keep doing it. It's lots of fun and a good motivation. What is very neat for me is that the two zone leaders of Babahoyo Zone (Elder Garzon and Elder Peña) are very good friends of mine and we worked hard together in past zones. Elder Garzon was a district leader in Portoviejo and Elder Peña was a district leader in Quevedo Sur. They both are super smart, obedient, happy, positive, and hard working missionaries and we fought a lot of battles together in those zones and learned a lot from each other. The most rewarding part is to see that they are applying a lot of the same things that they learned in Portoviejo and Quevedo Sur and its bringing them great success. For example, they share with their zone the 8 Attributes and use them, they meet with their district leaders and plan like we did, they do little things to show genuine concern for their missionaries, and they apply many other things that they learned from me and they have thanked me for my friendship and example. That is something special that I treasure because it gives me great hope that what I'm doing will bless the lives of several investigators, converts, members, and missionaries who will then be able to pass it on to future generations just like Elder Linares and Elder Vielma did for me. That is a beautiful thing and its exciting to be a part of it. We had a great time celebrating with them all in Babahoyo and its exciting to see the growth of Elder Peña and Elder Garzon. 

Well thats all folks :) I sure love you all very much! Enjoy Conference bye!

Elder Remington

Solid Converts and a Solid Month

Family and Friends,

Here are the pictures from the baptisms we had last week :) we had a combined baptism with other sectors and it was a very sweet experience with a ton of members there supporting them, a musical number, cookies, and the Spirit was felt strongly there. From our sector, Marelene Barboto, Daniela Lema, and Khevyn Lema were baptized. Marlene is a single mother of 2 little rascals with one on the way. She has been through a lot of tough times and is still having lots of trials but now with the gospel in her life she is much happier and has greater stength to overcome all the obstacles that life is giving her. She was a referral from the ward and the sisters here are really supporive and hepling her spiritually and physically as well. She reads the Book of Mormon everyday and has a sweet and sure testimony :) She looked very happy the day of her baptism. 

The way we got to know and teach Daniela and Khevyn is pretty funny and a great example of the importance of being bold and fearless in missionary work. Their mom Diana was baptized 20 years ago but had been inactive for years and they had never gone to church before. The dad Jorge is not a member and wasn't a big fan of the missionaries and doesn't like religion. For several months before Elder Muñoz and his other companion and many other missionaries before them had tried to teach this family with no success. The missionaries had heard that they were a part member family so they tried several times to teach them and did everything they could to get them to let them in and share something but all they got was no, no, and no. Elder Muñoz told me that one time it was so bad that the dad yelled at them and slammed the door in their face. So my first weeks here in this sector anytime we walked past their house Elder Muñoz would tell me about them and jokingly say if you're brave enough you can try it again. I would just laugh and say that I'm sure they're already tired of missionaries visiting them and didn't think much of it. Several weeks later we were on a split with two members and as a member and I were walking past their street I felt the subtle impression that we should go there and invite them to church. It was 9:30 in the morning (church starts at 10:00) and we had recently went to several investigators' houses to go to church with them but had no success.... I figured we had nothing to lose and it was worth a shot. We went to the house and knocked on the door. They didn't answer and I just heard a girl's voice shouting"Who is it?!" I put on a big smile and friendly replied "Its your friends the missionaries :) we want to invite you to come to church with us?" 

She coldy replied "No we're not interested thank you." The majority of missionaries in this case will say "ok thanks have a good day" and leave. But you've got to think outside the box sometimes and go the extra mile. Without hesitation I happily replied "Okay don't worry its all good but we can still be friends :) whats your name?" She responded and I then told her who I was and where I was from, I introduced her to the member who was with me, asked her what she liked to do, what her favorite color was, used some self-deprecating humor about being a gringo who doesn't know how to speak Spanish, made her laugh, showed her that we're normal people, and gained her confidence (all with the door still closed and not being able to see her face and having to speak loudly). You gotta do what you gotta do sometimes but it worked because she then agreed to let us visit her the next day at 6:00 pm ... then she remembered that her favorite tv show is at 6 so she changed it to 7:00 pm and we happily agreed and went on our way.

The next day we got their at 7:00 pm sharp and knocked on the door... nobody answered... knocked again... heard noised from inside the house but still no answer. I looked through the side  window and could see her sitting behind the couch trying to hide... I grinned and excitedly said "Hey Daniela I didn't know we were gonna play hide n seek before sharing a lesson you should've told me! I love that game! Come on out so we can play some more!" She laughed but then hurried up the stairs so that we couldn't see her. Once again the majority of missionaries in this case would´ve hung their heads and grudgingly walked away a little discouraged. But in this moment I felt inspired to not give up and really felt that this family needed what we had to share and we just had to get them to open the door and hear our message and that then they would progress and love it. So I stepped back a bit and said "Daniela we know you're up there :) hey we want to know how was your tv show that you just watched? What happened? Did he finally marry the girl? What else happened we wanna know, etc etc" After a while her brother opened the door and then we gained his confidence and he helped us convince Daniela to come down and chat with us too. At this point she finally agreed and went to the door. They both listened to us but only with the door ajar and without letting us in the house. But we taught them and helped them feel the Spirit and they accepted that we visit them the next day too. Little by little they opened up to us and they progressed in the gospel. We became great friends :). They let us in the house, they listened and participated intently in the lessons, they read the Book of Mormon, they accepted a baptismal date, they went to activites, they made lots of friends in church, they went to church, and they were baptized and confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints :) but the story doesn't stop there that's just the beginning. Now they are doing great and thriving in the gospel. Daniela reads up to 10 chapters a day in the Book of Mormon and remembers its all and really enjoys its. Khevyn is a spiritual machine that loves reading the Book of Momon, goes to seminary everyday at 5:30 am and gets there early (a feat that I admire haha), recently had an interview with the Bishop to receive the Priesthood, and he's way excited to be a missionary soon :) it is truly a joy to see their progress and its great to see their mom Diana happy in the church again and loving being there with her kids. Now the challenge is their dad. He's kind of tough but we're working with him and we have the faith that as he sees the changes in his family he will open up even more :) 

IMPORTANT side note, the experience that I recently shared in being so persistent with them was a unique experience that happened because I felt prompted by the Spirit to do it and that doesn't mean that you should do this as a missionary in every contact, no no no one of the keys of being a missionary is being able to discern because many times this is just going to irritate or offend the people and they aren't going to progress anyway. A good missionary has to be able to recognize when its appropriate to be more persistent and when its time to focus your efforts on other people. That's why the Spirit is the most important part of this work. This is not an example of what to do in every case. But this story does illustrate an important point of missioanry work that it is crucial in many cases to be bold and fearless. Doing so will bing great blessings to your own life and the lives of many others :) 

Well thats about all I've got time for :) there's much more to tell but you'll just have to wait until next week! I love you all very much and hope that you are learning and improving everyday. Spend time as families and enjoy those moments together. Dinner time is a very imporant moment don't let it go to waste eating separted or just watching tv. Sit down and chat together and it will help :) 

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 

Changes, Changes, Changes

Family and friends,

A few weeks ago I had my first baptism in a river :) Here is the picture. This was in a small little town called Pedernales that is 5 hours away from Portoviejo but its still part of the same zone. Crazy stuff huh but its worth every second of traveling time to go there because the people are so humble and happy :) I've gone there quite a few times to do baptismal interviews for the last few months and every time I went we would go visit Stalin and Nury (the couple to the left of me in the picture) and I got to know them really well and we became great friends. They were living together for a long time and had two kids but still weren't married (a common problem here in Ecuador) so for a long time they wanted to get baptized but couldn't because they were still saving up money to get married (it costs about $55 here and that's a ton here). Finally through a ward activity to help raise money they were able to get married and baptized together and Stalin really wanted me to baptize him so I got to stay in Pedernales for two days and I got to baptize him in a river :) a truly wonderful experience that I won't soon forget. This couple is incredible and I know that they'll be an eternal family :) they already have planned to go to the temple in a year and they're way stoked! 

That was one of the last events for me in Portoviejo because last week I had transfers... I'm not going to lie it was really tough at first because I absolutely love Portoviejo. Its an incredible zone, with an amazing ward that really loves and supports us, Elder Tibanlombo is an awesome companion and we really worked well together, the people there are so humble and happy, they love missionary works, the food is delicious, and we had surpassed the goal every month breaking records, winning dinners with President, and saving many souls :) life was really good in Portoviejo. I miss being there to be honest. There will always be a special part in my heart for the people there and the nice thing is that Elder Tibanlombo lives in Quito which is only a few hours aways from there so we already have planned that when I go back to Ecuador that we'll go visit our converts and friends there together with our families :) its sure to be a good time. "Preach My Gospel" says that we should always leave our sector and zone stronger than we found it so I feel happy that I have done that and hope that the work continues to progress and improve there :) 

I have now been changed to the zone Quevedo Sur in sector Quevedo 1 with my new companion Elder Muñoz from Ciudad Mexico, Mexico. This is the same zone where I first started my mission in Empalme and was having lots and lots of success in about a year ago with Elder Linares and Elder Vielma as zone leaders but sadly since those two left its been a downhill slide for Quevedo Sur. At one point things were so bad here that in the month of January the entire zone combined only had 4 baptisms. Honestly to me that's a huge example that its the quality of leader and missionaries that really makes the difference. I'll be honest when I first got here I was pretty stressed because there were a lot of problems in the zone. Lots of the missionaries weren't being obedient, there was contention between many of the missionaries, there was very little unity as a zone, there were very few baptisms and investigators with baptismal dates, and there was a lack of motivation and vision in many of the missionaries. So one of my first nights here I got on my knees and I had a very long conversation with my Heavenly Father pleading and asking for guidance and strength to be able to really turn things around here in Quevedo Sur and I felt his love and support :) I really felt and know without a doubt that He is well aware of me and my situation and he knows this is exactly what I need right now and Quevedo Sur is exactly where I need to be. I trust in Him (Proverbs 3:5-6) and I know that all of these experiences will be for my good (Romans 8:28) and if I do my part it'll be for the good of many people here in Quevedo Sur. 

Things have already changed quite a bit and its a new Quevedo Sur :) one of the things that has most helped us is what I call the 8 Attributes of a Successful Zone. Its a list of qualities and principles that good zone leaders and missionaries should do in order to have success. I first wrote this list when I was called zone leader in Portoviejo and I sat down and meditated carefully what were some of the key things that Elder Vielma and Elder Linares did in Quevedo Sur to have the results that they had. Since that time about 3 months ago I have made several revisions with the help of ideas from Elder Carrillo, Elder Tibanlombo, Elder Muñoz, my dad, and many other people and from many other personal experiences that have happened since that time. I know that this list works because its what helped us win the dinner with President Amaya and set a new record twice. Also a few months ago my buddy Elder Magill had recently been called zone leader and was a little nervous about how to do a good job so he asked me for some advice. Happy to help a friend I gave him a lot of tips from the list and he took a picture of the list and took that picture with him to his zone and applied it for the month of April in his zone Los Rios... and guess who won the dinner with President in April... Los Rios!! Haha when Elder Tibanlombo found out about that he joked around saying it was my fault we had lost the dinner haha but we both know that the most important thing is the salvation of souls so I'm happy that the list was able to help them save more souls there in Los Rios and hope that it can help lots of other zone leaders and missionaries be more successful and bring more children of God unto Christ. Fortunately, now that Elder Magill is assistant with Elder Vielma and they have both seen the power of that list they asked me the other day to write it all out in an email and send it to them to be able to share with all the zone leaders in the mission. The other day the assistants were revising the district leader handout that gives some guidelines to all the new district leaders how to do their job well and they asked for my help on how to make it better and I was able to add some points from the 8 attributes list that I know will help out a lot the new district leaders :) its exciting being able to share this information with others because I know it will help us all better build the Kingdom of God. Also I was thinking it'd be good to send this list to all of you because many of you reading are future missionaries and it will definitely be a big help or if you're not future missionaries the principles of this list will be able to help you in any aspect of life whether it be how to have a successful sports team, family, business, be a good student, or whatever it is these atributes can be applied and will bring results to all :) I definitely don't have time to write it all out in English with the little Internet time that I have so I will send the Spanish version that I sent to the assistants to some trusted friends who I hope can translate it for me and then I'll be able to send it to all of you :) I'll be updating you all on how that goes next week. 

All in all it was really tough leaving Portoviejo and I still miss the people a lot but I know that this is what God needs and I will go and do what He commands me to do! Life is better when we have that attitude of trust and devotion to the Lord. And honestly I've always had the dream of being able to one day go back to this zone because I really love the people here and its cool to be able to see my converts from Emplame and some members here in Quevedo that I got to know a year ago. It truly is a blessing to be here and I will make the most of it while it lasts! 

Remember to always trust in the Lord and seek His guidance in all things. Make prayer more personal and meaningful (Alma 37:37) and we will have more personal and meaningful answers to our prayers :) we will feel His great love for us more abundantly. For all you future missionaries out there prepare yourselves for the time of your life and I promise you that this is the most important work that exists on the face of the planet and it is the most rewarding :) many blessings await you and also many responsibilities so prepare yourselves well :) the best way to do it is studying daily "Preach My Gospel" and the Book of Mormon, and living worthily of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.

With love,

Elder Remington

Visit from President, White Night, and Transfers

Family and friends, 

In Spanish the nickname for a big baptism is ¨noche blanca¨ which works a lot better than ¨white night¨ haha but I can't remember what the correct nickname in English is so that'll have to do for now :) Anyway as you can see from the pictures the Lord really blessed us this week with lots of exciting events but most of all there are three things of significance that happened. 

First, President Amaya, Sister Amaya, their son Andres, and the assistants all visited us Tuesday to congratulate us on our achievements  join our zone meeting, teach us, and share a nice lunch with us in the chapel. I'm not going to lie the last visit from President was a lot more funny and upbeat but this visit was great too. We got to know Sister Amaya and her son a lot better and we saw a side of President we had never seen before when he was joking with his son about beating him in ping-pong. Haha I know it sounds weird but here in the mission we all admire and look up to President so much and we usually only see him in a suit at zone conferences or interviews or leadership conferences that it shocks us to see that he's a normal Dad. Haha but it was great and he shared some really good advice with us. Most of all what I remember is that he said that one month in the mission is worth 5 years in college, work, or anything else that we could be doing instead of serving a mission... that really hit me hard and I realized that he's totally right because there is no other place on earth that you can experience the spiritual growth, learning, and development that takes place in a full-time mission. :) He said we should make the most of every second because of future children will be cursed or blessed depending on how we serve our missions. :) He is a very inspired man of God and I am very grateful to serve with him in this part of the Lord's vineyard. 

Second, the most exciting news of all is that nine children of God were baptized this week in our sector. :) We feel very blessed to be the Lord's instruments in this sector where so many members help us and support the missionary work. :) We can't do it without them and we most definitely can't do it without the Spirit and blessings of God. In order from left to right in the picture we have Elder Tibanlombo, Steven, Nayeli, Liliana (three in front), (after that from the back) Edith, Genesis, Melina, Laila, Bryan, funny looking guy, and Bishop Salas who also baptized some people. :) They all are part member families that we found through referrals or through the list of action of interviews (its an excellent resource that I recommend to all missionaries for finding people) and the wonderful thing is that in every single case we were able to hit two birds with one stone by both activating the less actives in the family and baptizing the non-members in the family. :) With everyone in these 5 families now regularly attending church the church attendance in our ward has skyrocketed so much to the point that we have to bring extra chairs in every week and the Stake President said they are going to build a second floor to the chapel so that everyone can fit! Bishop Salas and the whole ward are all very happy and grateful for the work we are doing... but most importantly of all my companion and I feel and know that the Lord is pleased with the work we are doing here in Portoviejo with our sector and with our zone... that is one of the best feelings in the whole world to know that God is happy with your work. :) Nothing beats it trust me!

Third, we had transfers this week and we lost a few great Elders from the zone but we received two great Elders in their place and we know that it is all according to God's will and His plan and we trust in Him because He knows a lot better than we do! I am very happy because I get to stay here with my buddy Elder Tibanlombo for another six weeks and its way fun being his companion! Seriously he has become my best companion that has most taught me how to be a good missionary, good friend, and good disciple of Christ. One of the most important lessons he has taught me that I feel prompted to share with you alll is that humor is the key to avoid contention. I repeat humor is the key to avoid contention. Simple but essential. Honestly with every other companion I've had we always a little bit of a disagreement at least one time. We would always work it out in the end and everything was great and trust me I've been very blessed with lots of other great companions but with Elder Tibanlombo we literally never argue because whenever there's potential contention he just says a joke that totally cuts all the tension and then we work it out with a smile. By no means am I saying that you don't have to be serious and focused at times because trust me there are moments when we are very focused and have serious talks and plans about what we're going to do in the zone... I am saying that humor is a great instrument when used correctly in the right moment to avoid contention and be happy :) 

Love,

Elder Remington