Week 76 Move over Santa, the missionaries are coming to town, PICTURES.

 

New Member of the Church of

Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Congratulations!

 

Another new Member of the Church of

Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Congrats again :) !

 

Making Christmas treat bags

 

Scrumptious cake 

 

Our Christmas Dinner at midnight!

 

Breakfast with the hermanas of Otavalo

 

Apparently Missionaries will do whatever it

takes to get into a home down in Ecuador... Hahahahaha.

Getting ready to go down the chimney, anyone!

Week 76 Move over Santa, the missionaries are coming to town!

Hey friends and family!

Merry Christmas!!! Feliz Navidad!! I got a "white Christmas" after all! I hope you all had an amazing Christmas! It was a little bit of a sad Christmas but a Christmas to remember. My last Pday was fun. We went to Cotacachi and played volleyball in the house of some Texans who are living here. 

Tuesday
We gave my last training and talked about how we need to put goals that are realistic. It went fairly well. At least one of the hermanas said thank you for the training. We played a game afterwards in English where some of the companions were blindfolded and the others had to give directions in English. Hna. del Rosario made me trip a few times. We took some groceries to Jenny because she did not have anything in her house. She was crying with joy to see them. Later, we visited Andres, our other investigator with a baptismal date. He loved going to church and is so excited to go on Sunday again. Richard is super excited for his baptism. 

Wednesday
We visited Rosa and I know I say this everytime but I love her so much. She is a super funny old lady. Andres was eagerly waiting for us outside his house. He keeps talking about how he loves how he feels now. We gave him his own Book of Mormon and his eyes shone so bright and he promised that he will read every day. It has been super cold here in San Pablo lately and I am dying of cold. We visited Gabriela and we did not want to leave because it was so cold. She just laughed at us. 

Thursday
So last week, we did divisions with the hermanas from Rumiñahui. Today, we got to do divisions with them again. Kathy and I went and visited some recent converts. Later, we met up with Hna. del Rosario and Tania to go celebrate with Jenny for her birthday. I made banana bread and we had fun for a little. We divided again and talked with the ward mission leader to get the baptismal clothing. We met up with the hermanas again and swapped back. Hna. del Rosario and I went to visit a recent convert who was sad to hear that I am going home. She kept saying that she was going to miss her "chuspicita" (fly in Kechwa). It was cute to listen to her pray about how much that she would miss me. 

Friday
No one was home!! We looked everywhere but everyone had Christmas programs in the elementary and high schools. We ended up going to Otavalo to make sure everything was ready to go in the chapel for the baptisms. We ate lunch with Kathhy and Tania then headed to watched the peeps in the church. Of course, everytime that there is a baptism, there are always problems. Richard got there super late. He has oxygen and part of his oxygen difuser broke and they tried to fix it with hot glue. He made it and Francisco, his brother (a recent convert), baptized him and Jenny. Even though Francisco was nervous, it was still an amazing experience to listen to the testimonies of Jenny and Richard afterwards. Jenny talked about how she was converted for the BOM. Richard talked about how he feels so very different now. I am so grateful that I was able to be part of both their baptisms. Afterwards, we went to the Fam. Antamba and helped put together goody bags.

Saturday - Christmas Eve!
This was another crazy day. We chatted with Jenny and she said that she was so excited and felt so much better. She has been through so much and I am so proud to see how far she has come. We went up to eat lunch with Digna. She finally got her revenge (after waiting 3 months) to smash my face in a cake. It was pretty funny but the cake never came off! We chatted with Fam. Pachito and talked about the traditions of members of our church. We visited Andres and read a little bit in the BOM with him. We chatted with the Fam. Antamba. For our Christmas eve, I made 2 batches of brownies, a batch of banana bread, caramel popcorn, and mash potatoes. Hna. del Rosario made the chicken, washed her clothes, and cleaned the floor. I wanted to go to bed but celebrated Christmas, Peruvian style. We had our table set and everything. I went to take a nap then we ate at midnight. I was dying but Hna. del Rosario wanted to celebrate Christmas her way, so we did it. It was fun. We exchanged gifts. I gave Hna. del Rosario finger nail polish, my favorite picture of Christ, makeup, and a bag. She gave me chocolate and a sweater. It was hard to sleep because behind our house there was a wedding going on. Here, the weddings are insane and go until 5 in the morning... 

Sunday - Christmas day!
Today was a day that I did not want to come. We went and ate breakfast with some hermanas from our district. It was so much fun. During church, I had to give another final testimony. I could not stop laughing. It is really weird because before, I was crying all the time. Now, I am fine. They gave us a bag of cookies and candy. We ate lunch with Klever and Isaura. Later in the afternoon, I had to have an extremely tearful goodbye with Jenny. She was so upset that I was going but something she said (and I have heard it before along with many other missionaries) that we were angels in her life when she really needed us most. That is something that every single one of us can hear if we stop thinking about ourselves and go help someone. I really am so grateful for having the opportunity to have met Jenny because I learned a lot about how the simple acts of Christ-like love can really make a difference. Sometimes, we cannot do a lot of things or we do not have the resources. One thing that we can always do is give someone a little bit of our time, a hug, an encouraging scripture, or listening ear. It is the simple things that make the biggest differences. We went over and spent Christmas with Fam. Antamba and was seriously the funniest Christmas ever. We go to talk to our families and just like Mother's day, we had to skype on a phone. Thankfully, Francisco was kind enough to let us borrow his phone. While talking to my family, everyone wanted to see what snow looked like, so I had my family take the computer outside to show them the snow. It was so funny because everyone got so excited. We made pizza from scratch and it (thankfully) turned out awesome! We took goofy pictures and then had another tearful goodbye. Hna. del Rosario and I got home and I finished my packing.
 

This is my last letter. A few people came to the terminal to say goodbye. I traveled with two other hermanas that were finishing the mission too. I am now heading to Quito, where I am going to visit some of my converts. Tuesday, I have my last trainings, an afternoon in a huge museum of Quito, and dinner with Pres. and Hna. Murphy. Wednesday, I will be on my way home. I know this gospel is true and amazing. It changes lives. I have been changed. I love my mission and the opportunity that Heavenly Father has given me to be here in Ecuador. 

Until next time,

The Strawberry Blonde Hermana

Homecoming for Hermana Megan Duff

Hermana Megan Duff is coming home December 28, 2016, and her plane will land at 8:13 pm at the Boise Airport.

Megan will be giving her Homecoming talk on January 1st at 1:00 pm and the Paramount East Building located on 5501 N. Meridian Rd., Meridian, Idaho. Her home ward is the McMillan Ward.

Megan will be returning to BYU Idaho on Tuesday January 3rd.

Week 75 Pictures

 

Christmas with the Murphys!

 

Sharing a Merry Message

 

Practicing English by playing hangman

 

Sharing all the fun the mission will be

with a new Sister from the CCM (aka MTC in English)

Week 75 Flashback to the CCM! That is the Spanish version of the MTC...

Hey friends and family!

It was a super stressful week but a week of miracles all the same. We were asked to participate in a mini MTC so we had a flashback to the good ol' times... I got to go out on divisions with an hermana named Kathy. She was super awesome to work with.  

Tuesday

We headed to Quito for Christmas! It was a lot of fun. On the way there, Hna. del Rosario taught me how to crochet a little bit. We got to Quito and had a little Christmas zone conference with Pres. and Hna. Murphy. We presented our little skits to everyone. Ours was pretty great. If you remind me, one day I will show you them. Lunch was super good. We got turkey, so it was kind of like a late Thanksgiving dinner. I helped clean up the messes while waiting for my interview. Guys, there was progress, I did not come out of my interview crying. It is so weird to think that it is finally all coming to an end. We got home around 9:45 and quickly went to bed because we had gone to bed late and had gotten up early. 

Wednesday

We had a fun district meeting. Afterwards, we went to eat with Hna. Liliana and her daughter. We talked about the importance of giving referals. She promised to be on the lookout. On our way out of her house, we contacted one of her neighbors, Andres, a cute old man, who accepted a visit. We taught him about the plan of salvation because his wife died 13 years ago. He was so happy to hear that he could see her again. We prepped Richard for his baptismal interview and helped finish the lessons of Jenny. I helped with some English homework, then we were introduced to an hermana that said she would be happy to receive a visit! 

Thursday

Richard passed his interview! All he had to do is go to church one more time and everything would be set... We visited Andres and he was patiently waiting for us. We invited him to church and he was so excited. We finished Jenny's lessons and her interview was set for Saturday. One hermana who came with us was awesome! She always wanted to be a missionary but could never do it. Oooof! She would have been a powerful missionary. After Richard's baptismal interview, we took the elders to give a blessing to an hermana who was sick in our sector. She was so happy to receive a blessing. One of our recent converts also got to participate in the blessing and he was so excited. Later, we visited Geovani and he is getting closer and closer to baptism, he is just missing one thing. 

Friday

We quickly visited with Geovani before heading off to Carabuela for divisions. I went with Hna. Jueschke again. We had a fun time chatting about all the miracles that we have seen in our mission. We visited a partial member family and a recent convert. Then we went to the plaza in Otavalo with the Imbaya zone and sang for an hour and a half while other missionaries contacted. It was pretty fun other than Hna. Jueschke and I have been a little sick so our voices were horrible. 

Saturday

We got the chapel in Rumiñahui and were given "trainees". I got a sweet girl named Kathy. Of course, all of our appointments fell but we were able to talk about how awesome the mission is. She is so excited to turn in her papers in January. We visited Rosa and she is doing awesome. After lunch, we hurried to get Jenny for her baptismal interview. She passed!!! She is going to be getting baptized on Friday!! Yay! Later in the evening, we visited Geovani and he asked if he could be baptized... Sayyyy whaaaaaat?! Yeah! I was pretty excited. 

Sunday

We went to get Andres for church and he was so excited to go. We found out that he went to the ward activity the day before with our ward without even being invited... It was pretty funny to find that one out. Richard almost was not able to come to church... He did not have oxygen to travel. We got pretty discouraged but with a lot of prayer and faith, he came to church. Officially he and Jenny are going to be baptized on Friday! I was crying because we have put so much work into this happening. We ate lunch with Hna. Berta and she was bummed to find out that this was the first and last time that I would eat with her. We caught the bus and visited Andres. We planned the baptisms then headed to Gabrielas's house. Jannik turned 13 so we celebrated with them a little bit. It was fun. 

It was a crazy, emotional week. My goal is to not spend this whole week crying. Wish me luck! I hope you have an awesome week and can you believe in a week, I finish this crazy, amazing journey that I started a little over two years ago?? 

Until next time,

The Strawberry Blonde Hermana

Week 74 Pictures... different foods...

 

Merry Christmas

 

White beetles: fried

 

 

Megan up in an avocado tree picking avocadoes.

 

Anyone for fried chicken feet?

 

Dinosaurs can be friendly too :) 

Week 74 The weird food that I ate this week...

Hey friends and family!

So last week, I sent the picture with Richard, right? Where we always teach on the doorstep if his mom is not home? Right... So this week, we got attacked a ton by dogs trying to get in and out! It was a pretty interesting week. 

Tuesday

We helped an hermana set up her Christmas tree. It is always funny because they all use pine trees here, just like in the states. Her son asked why they use pine trees and she said, "I don't know. They do it in the US, so we do it too." We got to the F. de la Cruz and they were playing around with gatsos (a white beetle). People here really love eating them fried with tostado (kind of like corn nuts). Yes, I tried gatsos about a month ago. No, I do not like them... We talked to them about the importance of family prayer. 

Wednesday

Richard, our investigator with a baptismal date, always had the idea that he was going to be baptized in the waterfalls of Peguche. We had to break the news to him that that could not happened. He was a little bummed but still really wants to get baptized. We visited a few recent converts and it was pretty funny. One family, F. Casco, finally answered our prayer to give service. We always ask if we can do anything for people but are always rejected. Today, we got some homework- teach them how to have a family home evening. It was cute because the mom said "Yes, I do have something that you can do for us!" We found a new investigator named Vicky. She is a funny lady. We will see how she progresses.

Thursday

We got lost on our way to lunch. The other week, we changed up our mamitas, so I am a little lost as to where some live. They gave us "molleja" which is chicken liver. It was a very interesting experience... Later, we helped F. Antamba pick avacados from their giant tree. Yup, I got to pick avacados in Ecuador. It was pretty fun. We went up to Cajas and visited a family and they gave me chicken feet... In the evening, we were talking to some other investigators and they tried to convince me to get over my cough with goat milk... 

Friday

We chatted with Rosa Elena to see how she was doing. Oh how I love her. I told her that I had printed off her pictures of her baptism but that I would get them to her the next week. She told me that it was an excuse and that I have terrible memory (I told her a month ago that I would print them off.). We finished Richard's lessons, so he is all set and ready to go! We just need to plan his interview and he needs to come to church twice to be baptized! After leaving Richard, we went to Estela and she told us that she thought we had forgotten about her because she had not seen us in over two weeks... I felt so bad! We have a recent convert named Mercedes who is close to completing a year as a member and she is pretty funny too. I know a few words in Kechwa, so I use them with her. I said "chuspi" which is fly in Kechwa and she could not stop laughing. Her daughter told me that she tells everyone about what I said. 

Saturday

Planned service projects fell through but we still had a good day. We planned some visits for the next week with members. A lady started talking to me and offered to let us help her make humitas! Yes! We visited Cynthia, a recent convert who's baby is super cute! Such a temptation! He is a little chubby thing. Next week, I will have to send a picture of him! We had our weekly meeting with our ward mission leader and coordinated how we are going to do things with the ward activity and baptisms. 

Sunday

Richard came to church! Jenny and her kids came to church! They all have a baptismal date! It truly was a blessing to see them at church and so happy! Jenny has been going through a lot of things since we started visiting her but she is going strong and is super excited for her baptism! The bishopric gave us new glasses for the house. After lunch, we were sprinting out the door to catch the bus to go to San Pablo. It was pretty funny because I ran out the door without my bag, so there was Hna. del Rosario, running behind me carrying all the things as I tried to stop the bus. It was quite the sight, they told me. 

This week, we have our Christmas luncheon with Pres. and Hna. Murphy! I have my final interview tomorrow. Time is flying by way too quickly! I hope you all have a great week! Find ways to give service! 

Until next time,

The Strawberry Blonde Hermana

Week 73 Pictures of all sorts of good friends...

 

A new take on the Nativity scene...

is that a crocodile?

 

Our Christmas Tree

 

Friends losing a loved one going home;

Megan is on her way in 21 1/2 days!

 

It's a good thing that they are not related.

Week 73 Hello, My name is Hugo Montoya, you came to zone conference, prepare to be edified!

Hey friends and family!

This week was quite the interesting week! We had a visit from El. Montoya and his wife. I lost the keys to our house. I was basically Ariel because I did not have a voice. I learned how to make "papa rellena". I do not have parasites. The sky is still just as blue here in Ecuador as it is in the States... I really do not want to go home...

Tuesday

During our district meeting, we practiced singing Silent Night and played hangman. Everyone got super competitive. I almost died laughing. We found one of the recent converts who we had lost today! It was miracle! We chatted with her and she thought that the missionaries and everyone had forgotten about her. We were able to share a scripture with her and she is excited to come to church! Our investigator, Richard, continues to progress little by little to his baptismal date. 

Wednesday

I made lunch then we headed to visit Dayana and Jordan. Later, we visited Richard and watched a talk by Pres. Monson about decisions. It is funny because when Richard's mom isn't home, we sit on his door step to teach him and his brother, Francisco. 

Thursday - 17 months in the mission!

We read a little bit in the BOM with Rosa then helped wash her clothes. Later, we took Jenny, an investigator, to an hermana who is going to beauty school to paint our nails. It was a fun night to just sit and chat. Jenny opened up more and more about her needs and how she really likes to listen to what we are teaching. She told us that she knows that the church is true! She is closer and closer to baptism. 

Friday

I woke up without a voice. The bad thing was that I had to lead the music in the meeting with El. Montoya and I was part of the choir. Hna. del Rosario could not stop laughing at me because I was coughing so hard every few seconds. We talked about the inciative for Christmas this year. We really are focusing in on giving as much service as we can. During the luncheon, we got to chat with El. Montoya's wife. It was such an amazing experience. All afternoon, we showed the Christmas message to everyone and gave cards to hand out. Geovani and his family took a bunch and were so excited to start sharing. 

Saturday

We gave a tour of the chapel to Jenny and her kids. The spirit was so strong. I did not want to leave the chapel. She still is not quite sure but says that she is close. We contacted for a little bit and set a few appointments. Later, we chatted with Richard and his family about his baptism. Richard is so excited. The only challenge is that he has a heart condition and is on oxygen which makes church attendance a little difficult. We are working with ward counsel to fix that.

Sunday

The ward counsel was revising the ward mission plan and we gave a few ideas to help them keep progressing as a ward. We ran around the second hour giving everyone the Christmas inciative card. Later, we ate lunch with Geovani and his family then chatted with Jenny. Richard could not come to church so we had to change his baptismal date but he is still going with his excitement. We helped an investigator was dishes before heading to Gonzales. I lost the keys on the way to Gonzales but thankfully, our land lady did not get mad. We just need to make copies... We helped a convert fold her laundry. The Christmas devotional was awesome as always! "Not only because he was born but that he lived, died, and resurrected for us."

We had a district activity today and watched The Best Two Years. Hna. del Rosario said that at the very end of the movie, it describes our relationship perfectly... I hope you all have an awesome week! 

Until next time,

The Strawberry Blonde Hermana