October 16 2017 - First Baptism and Waterfalls

I just had a super legendary week this week.

My first baptism was on Saturday and it was awesome. The spirit was so strong and it was just a freaking amazing experience. The baptism was supposed to start at 7 but this is Ecuador. We told Mishel to be there at 6:30 so we could start at 7. But she showed up at 7:20 which was a bit stressful for me. But she came and we held the service and a ton of members were there. Also the confirmation the next day was super spiritual as well. Baptised people just have a new light in their eyes. The only thing is the family is about to move and they do not know where. If they leave our area I am going to be so sad. But I do not think they will. That service just gave me so much joy. I really love the mission.

Our investigators are doing well and we have an investigator with a baptismal date for November 18. Every investigator wants to get baptized on their birthday and it is the same for this guy. Mishel wanted to as well and her birthday is in December but we were able to get her to accept Saturday which was a miracle. Also there is a family who we taught two lessons to and they came to church but then we lost contact with them for two weeks and we thought they were done with us but we refound them yesterday and they seem interested. Miracle.

The ward here rocks, it is very organized, the Bishop has the support of everybody, and all the leaders work really hard. Apparently, other wards in the mission are not this excellent. The best is going on visits with ward members who have a car. Cars are the greatest here and every time I am in one I am just loving life.

Also on Saturday I gained so much respect for the people here. We had a service in the morning at the house of a brother in the ward. He had this huge pile of like gravel concrete in front of his house that he needed to have on his second floor of his unfinished house (most of the houses here are unfinished and typically people only live on the first floor). So we shoveled the gravel cement dirt into buckets and walked it upstairs and dumped it in a pile. Man is that hard work. My shoulders are still hurting right now from that. I now know why everyone here is so muscular. But it was super fun and took all morning.

So for P-day today we visited these waterfalls that are in our zone. It is like a 45 minute drive out of Quito where nobody lives. I felt like I was in North Carolina for a bit because it was so beautiful. Hiking the waterfalls was so fun because it felt like I was in the legit jungle. I felt like I was in the Pirates of the Caribbean or like a conquistador or Indiana Jones. Super fun and we went with the whole zone so it was a party. I love being with the other missionaries here.

The buses here are crazy. There is always someone selling something on the bus, and a few times I think there were people preaching on the bus. We do not do that. We go one by one. But one day we were on the bus and these two dudes decided to drop their fire mixtape. They have this speaker and are just walking up and down the aisle rapping fire. It was one of the greatest moments of my life, they were so coordinated because one would finish the bar for the other. I am smiling right now just thinking about it.

If y'all were wondering if I am changing on the mission I just want to share with you something about me that has not changed. So at the Middle of the World there is this random science section. It kinda makes sense because it disproves the whole toilet-drains-the-other-way-below-the-equator thing (you can change the direction of your water flow to change the way it drains). But they also had other science things. And I came across this (photo attached). There is a huge error in this photo. Centrifugal forces do not exist, they are not real. It is just inertia. This is one of the science cardinal sins and when I saw it I was simply flabbergasted. Gavin, I have an assignment for you. If you ever run into Mr. Vernon and he asks about me, please share this photo and let him know that I still remember some things from his class.

BTW Ashley if you run into a Professor Christensen he was the old mission president of the mission. He left the transfer before I came so everyone talks about him and apparently he is super smart. I am part President Barlow's first set of new missionaries which rocks. I cannot say enough good things about him and want to get as close to him as possible.

My Spanish is coming along as always. The other day we called a member of the ward about something and I talked to him in English over the phone and it felt really weird in my mouth and I had a hard time talking. I think this means I am learning Spanish.

Also, no one here has AC or heating because they do not need it. It is a little paradise. Also, there are very few bugs so we can just leave the windows open. But fun fact: Quito is very elevated which means it is cool unless you are in the sun. The sun here is killer. Even though the weather looks perfect it is not in the sun.

I really love the mission and it already feels fast to me. The work is amazing here and the spirit is always present. I love studying the gospel and my goal is to read the Book of Mormon 5 times. This is just a great adventure and crazy stuff is always happening.

Love,

Elder Tucker

P. S.
  It is very interesting hearing about the missions but I hope they
do not change ours. We probably will not get smartphones either so no
worries there