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

Poniendo Nuestra Confianza en Dios :)

Familia y Amigos,

Ahora solo voy a escribir en español. Entonces les aconsejo que ustedes aprendan y puedan entender español si queiren leer mis correos electronicos :) van a ser bendicidos por su esfuerzos de entender un otra idioma de los hijos de Dios. ¡Jaja bromeo no se preocupen! 

{Loosely translated:
From now on, I will only write to you in Spanish. Then I counsel you to learn and understand Spanish so you may read my emails :) You will be blessed for your efforts to understand another language of God's children.  Don't worry, I'm just teasing!}

No don't worry I won't do that to you. But I realized the other day that I now officially think and have dreams in all Spanish! At first it took a lot of effort to force myself to try and think in Spanish because I knew it would help me learn faster but now it comes naturally and its strange to think and speak English. The weirdest thing is that if I remember something that happened back home, I remember what happened and what was said but translated to Spanish. It's really strange and I'm not sure if that's something that normally happens with foreign missionaries but it's pretty intense. 

Anyway this week we had a conference for all the new missionaries with President Amaya that was incredible. I learned a ton and have been putting into practice a lot of the insights I had there. Something that really hit me was that we need to focus on teaching the doctrine. One of the Assistants Elder Hansey taught that the doctrine=why, the principle=what, and the application= how. Often times we focus on the principle but we don't help them understand the doctrine of why that principle is so important. For example, in Ecuador its very for couples to live together, have kids, and live like a normal family but they never get married and therefore we often have investigators who want to get baptized and have testimonies but they have to get married first. Many times as missionaries we just focus on the principle or the ¨what¨ they need to do... Get Married!! We just keep telling them that marriage is important and they need to get married to be baptized and we try to commit them to do it. Much more effective than that is teaching and helping them understand why marriage is important and why they need to be married and promise specific blessings of how it will bless them. We need to teach them the fundamental doctrine that the power to create life is a sacred gift given to us lovingly by our Heavenly Father and that this gift is so sacred and special that it should only be used in the bonds of marriage or we are misusing this power that God has entrusted us with. We need to teach the doctrine that they will be blessed with more peace, self-confidence, and inner-respect by keeping this sacred commandment and being married. If we teach them and promise them that they will have more love in their home, be better examples to their children, and be blessed with greater capacity to raise their children in righteousness by being married then we won't have to try and convince them to get married. If we teach true doctrine and they understand the true doctrine, they will have a sincere desire within themselves to make this change in their life and keep this commandment of God. As President Packer said, ¨True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior.¨ Helping people understand the doctrine is key. 

For all the future missionaries out there remember that and apply it in your missions because it will help you be much more effective and it will bless your investigators. And really this can be applied to any situation. Future missionaries, Sunday school teachers, parents, and anyone else who wants to teach effectively. Teach the doctrine. If you have a child who won't share his toys with his brothers rather than just trying to correct the behavior by telling him ¨what¨ to do... ¨Share with your brother!¨ instead focus on the doctrine of ¨why¨ he needs to share with his brother and how it will bless his life. Teach him the doctrine that when he serves his brother by sharing he is serving God (Matthew 25:40 and Mosiah 2:17). If the child comes to understand this fundamental doctrine you won't have to force him to share... he will want to share with his brother and he will want to be better. 

In our ward we our having some problems with a lot of people gossiping and saying negative things about leaders. Remember that leaders are called of God and that we need to support them and love them. Also remember that we should never gossip AND we shouldn't listen to gossip. I know that its natural to want to know what happened because we're curious but we need to not gossip ourselves and we need to not encourage gossip but not listening. It's hard but its important. 

Something else a leader said is that there is never a good reason to raise your voice and raising your voice never makes things better it always makes things worse. No matter how upset we are it is much better to pause, take a walk, take some time to think, get a better perspective of things and then communicate calmly with love. I think that if we put this principle in practice it will greatly help us in all of our relationships. 

I´m learning a lot from these humble, happy, friendly people in Ecuador. I can feel the Lord shaping me and molding me into the person that I need to be. For any of you out there considering going on a mission I have three simple words... just do it. It has blessed my life in so many ways and already in just three months I have made incredible changes and overcome major weaknesses like my impatience, inability to remember directions, and my pride just to name a few. On top of that I have been able to strengthen my talents even more and use them to bless the lives of others. I promise that the decision to go on a mission is one you will never regret :) 

Love,  

Elder Remington 

Saving Souls and Loving It!

Family and friends,

Holy Smokes! This week I learned that missionary work is hard work. It's hard work but well worth it. I remember before the mission I used to only get about 4-6 hours of sleep (I know its terrible) and could do just fine with that for the most part so when I heard that in the mission we get 8 hours of sleep everyday I was stoked and thought I would never ever be tired while getting that much sleep everyday! And in the MTC that was correct because the MTC is mostly just sitting in a classroom studying and learning. I was never very tired and most of the nights I would lay there for a good hour before falling asleep because I wasn't tired at all. But here in the field I've been working like a dog and even with 8 hours of sleep I'm tired a lot cause its hard work! Some nights after planing, getting ready for bed, and saying our prayers I literally fall onto my bed and I'm out cold the second my head hits the pillow. Although I'm dead tired and there are a lot of challenges in missionary work, I'm loving it! I'm tired sometimes but its the result working hard to bring about the salvation of souls and bring joy into people's lives, thus its a good tired and I'm loving it. There are many challenges but I'm learning and growing from each of them. With each challenge, I'm able to show my faith and then increase my faith as a result of overcoming that challenge. Missionary work is exciting :)

I've really seen that there's a huge difference between working hard and working smart. Both are important and I always try to make sure I do both because the time I have here on the mission is the Lord's time not mine and it's sacred time so I want to use it wisely and efficiently. My companion and I have started planning out our weeks so that MWF we're in one west part of our area and TTHS we are in another east part so that we can be more efficient and save both money and time. On Sundays we go to the most important people like those with a baptism that week. We always try to schedule appointments with people who live close to one another on the same day near the same time. If any of you have any tips on how to be more efficient and how to work both hard and smart then I'd really appreciate it :) also tips on how to work best with a companion would be nice :) you can send them to my mom and she forward them to me or just send them straight to me :) thanks! 

I don't have much time today and I couldn't write as much because I literally have wanted to write in Spanish quite a few times. Its like having writer's block but times 10 haha. Anyway, this is God's true church and it blesses lives. As a missionary I have the opportunity to see first hand how those who live the gospel are happy and those who don't live the gospel are miserable. So choose wisely! Remember you can be smart and happy or stupid and miserable the choice is yours :) I hope you all choose well and hope you all are happy and find ways to draw nearer to God this week :)

Love,

Elder Remington

Another Amazing Week in Ecuador!

Family and friends,

Jorge and his wife getting married

Empalme, Ecuador is such a blessed place and I'm so very grateful to be serving here. The first picture is of Jorge and his wife getting married so that Jorge can be baptized. And of course the next picture is Jorge (the one wearing white next to my companion haha) with his family before the baptism. Exciting stuff! Jorge is a very humble and kind man. He sales juice on the street as his job and has very little temporal things but since his baptism he has so much spiritually. It's been such a privilege to see that change that the gospel of Jesus Christ has brought into his life. He has more peace in his home, his relationship with his wife has greatly improved, and he has the light of Christ in his eyes :) he's happy and his family can see the difference. They were all there at the baptism as well as lots of his friends and they were all truly touched! I have great hopes for them all especially his wife and daughter, they will be baptized this month if everything goes according to plan! Missionary work is so exciting because it keeps building on itself. One baptism is a great finding opportunity which leads to more baptisms and those lead to more and more and the cycle continues. But its important to remember that we're not just here to increase the number of members in the church. We're here to serve the people of Ecuador both physically and spiritually and bring them peace, happiness, and joy into their lives by coming unto Christ and accepting the Restored Gospel. I'm so thankful to be a part of this work, bringing about the salvation of souls :)

Something fun that happened the other day; we were at a member's house running late for our next appointment and one of the members offered to give us a ride and of course we accepted but then we found out that all he had was a rather small motorcycle but we didn't want to offend him and we didn't want to be late so we both hoped on the back and held on for dear life! It was pretty crowded but it was lots of fun :) I was surprised that it wasn't against the rules but my companion said in our mission there are some sectors where the members only have motorcycles so we can use them. The drivers and motorcyclists here are crazy! Not quite as crazy as they were in Thailand but crazy nonetheless!

Jorge with his family before the baptism

We're teaching a 21 year old young man named Jofre (pronouced Yofree – haha I know dad would butcher his name if I didn't do that) and he is very ready for the Gospel. He's excited to learn more every time we teach him and his baptismal date is June, 23rd he's a great young man. In our last lesson he had a question that I have asked myself several times before and I´m sure all of us have wondered this at times. He basically said, "I know that it's important to have faith in Christ, but how do I gain faith in Christ? And how do I increase my faith in Jesus Christ?" When he asked this the Spirit burned within me and I shared my testimony with him of how we can build our faith in Christ everyday by doing the little things. We opened to Alma 37:6-7 (scripture mastery and one of my favorites) and I shared with him that in my life I have truly seen that the little things like praying sincerely everyday, studying my scripture especially the Book of Mormon everyday, and serving others have helped my faith to grow everyday and have solidified my conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ little by little everyday. I want to share with all you that truly by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. We can't just pray for faith and then the Lord will snap his fingers and BAM our faith increases. We have to demonstrate our commitment to Christ by our works everyday. Faith without works is dead and good works allow us to preserve a living and burning faith in Jesus Christ. Always remember, that everyday of our lives we are either getting worse or better. There isn't a single day that we just stay at the same level of spirituality. Everyday, based on our works, we are spiritually progressing or spiritually digressing. Or better said, everyday our hearts are drawing closer to God or pulling farther away from God. We have our agency, we get to decide which it will be and we get to make this decision everyday. The way we spiritually grow, develop, become more Christlike, and have our hearts nearer to God everyday is by doing the little things. I encourage every one of you reading this email to decide everyday to give quality time to the Lord by praying fervently, studying the word of God, and doing good works for God's children. I promise you all that as you give quality time and quality works to the Lord, the Lord will give you quality blessings and will increase the overall quality of every aspect of your life.

Wow its weird to be writing in English, I've gotten really used to speaking, hearing, and even thinking in Spanish its pretty crazy. Oh and speaking of English, I'm going to be teaching an English class once a week every Saturday :) my companion and I were trying to think of other ways we can find people to teach and we prayed about this and we know this will be a great opportunity. The Bishop announced the class in Sacrament meeting and we're going to tell all our street contacts and investigators about it and all the youth in the ward are excited to attend and bring their friends along too!! Oh and dad you are totally right about working with the members it works way better :) we've had a lot of solid references from the members especially the new converts because they're way fired up about the gospel! I'm excited to use English as a means to find more of God's children to teach them the gospel and bless their lives :) I'm hoping that the English classes are fun, spiritual, and educational. Most importantly, I hope it leads us to find and teach the elect of God.

Everything here is great. It's a lot of work and at times it's sad to see people you love and care for that use their agency to make poor choices but the good times are well worth the bad times!! I'm having the time of my life here! It truly is quite the adventure to be here and everyday see sights that I had only previously seen in movies! I'm adjusting to the culture and to the weather haha you pretty much just accept that fact that you're going to be very sweaty all the time! I have truly the happiest that I've ever been in my life!

I love you very much :)
Elder Remington

First Week in Ecuador!

Hello family and friends :)

Elder Remington & Elder Alvarez

Wow where do I even begin... so much has happened in the past week its crazy! So first of all I finally brought my camera with me for email writing time so I have some pictures of the mtc and Ecuador. The first two are my two companions in the mtc (the white Elder was in my intermediate class and obviously Elder Jarquin was in the advanced class) they're both great and I was super close with both of them. Then the picture of Elder Alvarez and I was taken outside of our house. That's the only picture of Ecuador that I have so far cause I haven't had much time to take any but don't worry mom I will take more and send more next week :) Elder Alvarez is a great trainer, obedient, hardworking, and funny but he doesn't speak any English! This has made communicating and working together effectively very difficult at times but luckily my Spanish has been improving tremendously and whenever there's a word I don't understand he's really good at either acting out the word or describing it in a way that I can understand :) we make it work! His patience, his ability to teach me well, the fact that I'm surrounded by people who only speak Spanish, and above all blessings and strength from the Lord have all helped my mastering of Spanish accelerate at a phenomenal rate! Elder Alvarez says that I speak fluent and my accent is solid I just need to improve my ability to understand everything that I hear because when they get going super fast I only understand about 50% haha but luckily I can almost always say what I want to say. I was talking with the Bishop's wife when we had lunch at their house and she said that I speak the language as well as some American missionaries do when they've been out a year in the field so that made me feel pretty good :) I know that it truly isn't me though all credit goes to the Lord. When we put our trust in him and do our part by being obedient and working hard then the Lord blesses us. I've learned this week that the gift of tongues and the gift of interpretation are real and they really can bless our lives if we put our faith in the Lord and are in tune to the Spirit :)

Oh also before I forget I want to apologize for some of my comments in the last email. After having written that I realized that it's not my place to judge, people aren't perfect, and I need to focus on seeing the good in people not harping on the negative things. Those missionaries that goof around during study time are human and they have a lot to learn but I shouldn't have been so hard on them. And I'm no where near perfect either. I still have a lot to learn and a long way to go so I wanted to say that yes there are missionaries who mess around during study time and they shouldn't do that but I need to focus on the positive things. The truth is the majority of the missionaries in the mtc and the field have burning testimonies of Christ that they want to share with the world and they're doing a good job :)

Anyway, I also wanted to say that it was great chatting with you mom and dad at the airport and congrats to Jessica and Eliza on their graduations :) exciting times and lots of changes for all of us! Thanks for keeping me posted on how the family's doing and what's new in America haha. Oh also in answer to your question I found out that anyone can send me emails but I unfortunately cannot write emails to anyone except for family. So if you could tell Tyler Lythgoe, Russell, Arianna, and Aunt Tami that I can't write them back but that I really appreciated there emails and it was great hearing from them :) oh and Russell or I guess Elder Fischer was asking for my address so if you could let him and anyone else know that it's this below that'd be great thanks :) love to hear from anyone who wants to email or write a letter.

Mission Ecuador Guayaquil Norte
Edificio Mallorca 4 Piso
Casilla 16160
Guayquil- Ecuador

An amazing quote that I heard was "Obedience brings blessings and exact obedience brings forth miracles" BAM! Is that powerful or what? I love that quote and here in the field I've been doing my best to apply it everyday :) also in the field I have found scripture mastery to be incredibly useful in multiple teaching situations. I am sad that I didn't take scripture mastery very seriously with Old Testament as a freshman but I am extremely grateful that I worked hard and focused on knowing my Book of Mormon scripture mastery inside and out because that has paid off big time! Scripture mastery is very very useful not only as a missionary but in our daily lives whenever we have a trial or a question. So Eliza and anyone else that is in seminary take scripture mastery seriously and work hard because I promise it will be well worth.

I'm sorry I don't have as much time as I wanted to describe Ecuador but let me give you a brief overview and I'll go into more detail next week. Ecuador is incredible! I love it here! It truly is a completely different world here. Words cannot adequately describe the poverty we see here everyday and yet these people are so happy. I know its cliche and cheesy and utterly unoriginal but its so true that I have to say it... money does not bring happiness. The most important things in this life are the gospel and our families and when those are the first priorities in our life then we'll have peace, joy, and happiness in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come :) it has been a wonderful experience already to be immersed in a new culture and share precious truths with the people of Empalme, Ecuador (Empalme is the name of my first area) Empalme is a small town and one of the poorest areas in the mission but one of the highest baptizing areas in the mission :) cha ching! I love it here! I am literally the only white person in the entire town and I am at least a foot taller than everyone here so needless to say I stick out big time! It's pretty funny to see the look on people's faces when they see a giant gringo in a shirt and tie walking up to their house hah a especially the little kids because some of truly have never seen an American before in their entire lives! Anyway it's great here I love learning more about Ecuador and the people love to hear stories about the United States and my family :) its amazing!

This is the true church of Jesus Christ established on the earth and we are all so blessed to have it in our lives to bless and protect us everyday. Never forget it!
I love you all very much :)
Elder Remington

Jacoby's 2nd email

Hello everyone!

So there's been quite a few changes here for me. On Monday we were studying Spanish in my intermediate level class and then one of the Spanish mtc workers came in to see if any of us needed any help. I started just chatting with him in Spanish about how his day was and what not and then after a few minutes of talking he just gave me a funny look and said "Elder we need to get you out of this class you already know all this stuff!" I was a little surprised but said ok sounds good to me so then he took me to the head language department and they gave me a little test there to see if I was ready to be in the advanced class (where native speakers go for only three weeks) after chatting for a few minutes they all agreed that I should go to an advanced class. So thank you thank you again to my Spanish teachers and above all thanks to the Lord :) cause now I've been in the advanced class all this week and I'll get to be out in the mission field in Ecuador in less than a week! My flight is next Monday May the 21st and I'll be in Ecuador Guayaquil preaching the gospel for real! I'm thrilled!

Elder Remington & Elder Jarquin

I really liked my other district and zone and companion so at first when I was switching it was kind of a bitter sweet moment but I said a little prayer in my heart when they asked me if I wanted to move up to the advanced class or not and I definitely feel that this is what's right for me and it's what the Lord needs me to do. My learning rate has greatly accelerated in the advanced class and I've been able to fit right in. I love every member of our district, especially my companion. His name is Elder Jarquin and he is hilarious! He is also very good about helping me with any Spanish words that I don't know. He is very patient and he´s fluent in Spanish but doesn't quite know the lessons or the gospel material as well so we complement each other and make a great team because he helps me with Spanish and I can help him with how to teach gospel concepts and what not. It's great! Then there's Elder Zamudio and Elder Zepeda, they are in my district as well and they're both super funny and very passionate about the gospel. The other members of the district are Elder Clark, Elder Meriles, Hermana Garcia, and Hermana Johnson The great thing about our district is that everyone knows how to have a good time and we all get along well and more importantly we all have strong testimonies and we all work hard :) it's awesome!

In conclusion, there have been lots of changes but all good changes and although it's been rather tough at times to keep up with all these native speakers I've been putting my trust in the Lord and working my hardest and the Lord has truly blessed me. I'm able to understand about 90% of everything they say and I can almost always communicate whatever I want to say. That's in large part because I've learned how to get around not knowing words. For example, if I don't know how to say the word bridge then I'll just say the clothes you sleep in (ropa de dormir). Stuff like that has helped me out a ton and what's great is then they'll tell me what the actual word is after I explain it so I learn more while still getting across the point. I don't know if that made sense to everyone but I'm guessing those who have learned another language know what I mean. lol. like I'm sure Uncle Ron knows exactly what I'm talking about. Anyway if you are learning a language its a technique I would recommend using and also just remember that usually you know a lot more than you think you do so just don't be scared to try and be brave about it!

Oh and last thing I wanted to share was a cool experience with one of our practice investigators. She told us how she was struggling with a bunch of little things in her life and we shared Alma 37:6-7 and you could tell she was really touched by it she said that was exactly what she needed to hear at that point. And I just want to testify to all of you reading this that you should read that scripture and apply it to your life because it truly is the little things like prayer, scripture reading, and acts of service that make a huge difference in our lives!

God bless you all!

Love,
Elder Remington

Jacoby's first letter

Hello family and friends :)

Elder Remington pointing to Ecuador

WOW!! The mtc is amazing! I absolutely love it here! It was such a surreal experience coming in on the first day and getting a name tag that said Elder Remington. I had a HUGE grin on my face and could not stop smiling the entire day and I've been super happy this entire week. This truly has been the best and happiest week of my life :) I love learning the doctrine of Jesus Christ and I love learning Spanish so its the perfect place to be for me. And dad you are totally right that there is no feeling like knowing that I'm at the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing. It is such a peaceful and assuring feeling that I love. On the first day we sang "We'll bring the World His Truth" (the Army of Helaman one) and they changed the lyrics to say "and we are NOW the Lord's missionaries." I loved singing that and of course after that we sang "Called to serve" and we sang it like 10 times faster than we did in Sacrament meeting it was awesome! For all you future missionaries out there reading this, don't believe anyone if they tell you that the mtc is boring. The mtc is what you make of it. I've heard elders say that this place is awful and the worst place they've ever been stuck in and there are other elders who just love it and are having an incredible experience. YOU get to decide what you want the mtc to be for YOU. If you work hard, pray hard, and trust in the Lord you will love it :)

I'm so so grateful to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with wonderful spanish teachers in high school. Mom and dad thank you for encouraging me to do IB and supporting me while in it. Although it was very challenging it was totally worth it because I'm kicking some serious butt here with the spanish and with studying hard because I'm used to it. I can understand everything my teacher says aside from one or two words here and there and then I just figure it out based on the context or politely ask "Que significa esa palabra?" and she tells me so its awesome. I feel bad for the other elders here because a lot of them are really struggling so I'm doing my best to help them out :) Jessica please do me a favor and go tell Senora Hallack and Lacasta that I said muchas gracias for being such great teachers. Tell them both that they did a fantastic job preparing me and that I'm far ahead of all the other elders here in the intermediate class in large part thanks to them but above all thanks to the Lord for blessing me. I just want to reemphasize what I said in my talk that whenever you work your hardest, obey the rules, and trust in the Lord you will be blessed and you can't go wrong :)

Elder Remington & Elder Jacobsen

Okay so my companion is Elder Jacobsen. He is a wonderful missionary and a great friend. He's really easy going, funny, works hard, likes basketball, and we have a great relationship. When he was praying today he thanked the Lord for our companionship that we could each emulate one another strengths and help each other with our weaknesses. He truly is a great missionary and I'm blessed to have him as a companion. I know that companionships are inspired of God because we really work well together. He isn't very good at spanish... at all frankly. The poor elder just struggles with it and he barely understands anything that teacher says so he's constantly asking me whats going on. But you know what, I'm okay with that :) I'm happy to help him out and he's definitely come a long way these past couple days becasue he works really hard and he has great faith that the Lord will help him. I'd much rather have a companion that can't speak spanish but works hard than one who knows spanish but is arrogant or lazy. So I'm grateful to the Lord for putting him in my life. The other two elders in our room are Elder Baker and Elder Jarvis. Those two are complete opposites. Elder Jarvis is buff, loves sports, loves to joke, and is a really chill guy but he doesn't know spanish well either. Elder Baker loves to sing, plays every instrument known to man, and he knows spanish really well. However, the wonderful thing about those two is that despite their differences, they get along great because they both work hard and they're both committed to serving the Lord. Their companionship has taught me that as long as you have that in common (you both love the Lord and have a strong desire to serve) then you can get along great with any companion :) Last member of our district is Hermana Harbison. She is super nice, very spiritual, works hard, has a good sense of humor, so its easy to be just friends and work well with her :) Well I gotta go but I sure love you all and mom I really appreciated your letter and email :) They meant a lot to me!

Love,
Elder Remington