Do Our Best and Leave the Lord the Rest

Message from Elder Remington's mother:

We received Jacoby's release date and flight plans....he will be returning home on May 20th at 11:25 am at the San Francisco airport! 

These last few month of the mission are hard....because although you want to go home and see friends and family....you also don't want to leave the people you have grown to love so much in this new country!  Jacoby doesn't talk about coming home at all, he avoids the topic completely, which is alright with me.  I'm glad he is staying focused on the work at hand.  In fact, he is not the one who let us know of his release date, rather it was the mission office that sent us an email and informed us.  He doesn't want to think about it or get distracted....he wants to finish strong and remain focused on his mission.  So if he writes you and doesn't mention excitement about coming home, it's not that he doesn't miss us or doesn't want to come home.....it's that he doesn't want to leave the people of Ecuador or the joy that he feels from being a missionary.   

Thanks for all your love and support that you have shown Jacoby throughout his mission!!

Family and Friends,

My buddy Elder Magill was assigned as zone leader in Babahoyo and another great friend Elder Curriden took his place with Elder Rounds. They are both wonderful missionaries and will do a great job. We're leaving the mission in good hands :) and just as President promised us, Elder Magill and I will get to die with our boots on out in the field! What a blessing it is for us honestly it was hard at first to get used to the field again but now its so great and I'm so thankful that President Amaya is so inspired in all that he does and I'm happy for Elder Magill because he really wanted to be out in the field and he deserves it :)This last week we had a leadership conference and I was able to sit next to Elder Magill as a fellow zone leader just like we did for the first time as zone leaders exactly a year ago! Just like old times we said to each other haha but the crazy thing is all the other people who were in last year's leadership conference other than President Amaya and Sister Amaya are long gone in their houses and all the people in the leaderhship conference this time weren't even thought of a year ago in the mission world or were just barely getting started. We are old! 

These past few days I have been a little let down a few times by people's poor use of their agency. On several occasions, missionaries, members, less actives, converts, and investigators have failed to keep their commitments when we don't give them a ton of follow up every single day. Its a little frustrating at times but then you've just got to remember to do your best and leave the rest to the Lord (Proverbs 3:5-6) some will endure to the end and others won't but we've just got to do our best part to help them and never get discouraged. I think of how poor Mormon and Moroni must have felt as they saw their beloved people rot in their own sins and be destroyed for their pride... we can't control others we can just do our part and love them and help them.

Be happy :) 

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

I'm alive and well :)

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

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

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

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

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

Your son,

Elder Remington

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

The Power of One

Family and Friends, 

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

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

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

Love,

Elder Remington

Baptisms and Happy Times

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

Family and Friends,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elder Remington 

Busy and Happy

Dear Family and Friends,

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

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

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

Love,

Elder Remington