New Companion :) New Opportunities

It was a surprise to get this email today, since it's not Monday, nevertheless it's always great to hear from our missionary.  He doesn't say it in his letter, but it sounds like he is the A.P. now.  For those of you who don't know a lot about missionaries, A.P. means he is the Assistant to the President of the Mission.  So, he and his new companion, along with the Mission President, will be in charge of their whole mission.  He sounds excited about his new assignment.  Thanks for all your love and support to our missionaries! ~Elder Remington's Mother

Family and Friends,

Elder Remington and Elder Magill

My new companion is Elder Magill :) We've been good buds for a long time and we always talked about how sweet it would be to some day be companions... that day has come. For those of you who have been paying attention, you know what that means. He is truly a great friend and a wonderful example of Christlike love, obedience, happiness, diligence in the Lord´s work, and he has a positive attitude that's contagious. We're very similar in our way of doing things and we work really well together. I'm excited to learn a lot from him and work hard together. Most of all it is truly a privilege to be able to work so closely with President Amaya and get to know him super well. We've had some long car rides with him while going to visit some of the zones and the conversations are super intense :) I've always known that he was a very wise and inspired man of God but I never knew how much he really loves us all. Now that I get to work with him regularly and I see all that he does for us I have a much deeper appreciation for him and I'm grateful to the Lord for blessing us with such a wonderful mission president. He truly is inspired of God and I know that I have a ton to learn from him. I'm excited for the opportunity to learn and grow even more. 

One of my favorite things about my new assignment is that we have the chance to visit all the zones and work directly with the missionaries and help them out in their sectors working with them and teaching with them. Also when we travel with President Amaya we get to have little meetings with all of them and review their area book and daily planners to give some feedback and encouragement. Since the first review we did together, Elder Magill and I are always on the same page and really feed off each other in helping them improve and motivating them at the same time. It's amazing how the Spirit directs this work. On Monday our first day together I had an impression that we need to go visit zone Duran South and Elder Magill felt that we needed to go to Duran North. Before we had the chance to plan with President where we had thought of visiting he called us and said that he wanted us to join him to visit Duran North... and then the next day he said we should go to Duran South :) we were all on the same page. While we were we saw several situations of missionaries who really needed our help and we were able to make a difference. 

At BYU with over 30,000 students, Elder Magill and I just so happened to have two classes together and got to be great friends. With over 400 missions in the entire world that we could've been called to, we just so happened to be called to the exact same mission. Of all the dates that we could've been assigned to for entering the mtc, we just so happened to be assigned to enter the MTC on the exact same day. And in a mission with a little less than 200 missionaries, we just so happened to be called to be companions. I really doubt that all of that is coincidence and I'm quite sure that the Lord had His hand in it all and that he and I have a great work to do here in Ecuador Guayquil North Mission. He told me that while they were making transfers with President Amaya he had a neat experience. Right as President moved my name next to Elder Magill to be companions he felt a calm assurance and joy that it was the right thing. I too have felt confirmations of the Spirit that this is inspired of God and I'm not sure what the Lord has planned for us to accomplish but I'm excited to get to work and find out. 

Love, 

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 

Little Time to Write

Right now I have very little time because today we have to travel to Guayaquil for a leadership conference tomorrow. Should be great and will learn lots of new things from President Amaya :) I love you very much and hope you enjoy the pictures. 

Love,

Elder Remington

Pictures of 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