It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

What the hail! It snowed in Quito.

Kinda.

It hailed in Quito on Thursday and in parts of the city that are more

elevated the hail accumulated and looked like snow. I might have my

first white Christmas. I know it is a little early to talk about

Christmas but it is less than two months away which in mission time is

like 3 weeks. I am so excited.

Mom and Dad y'all got a huge shoutout this week.

So we had multi-zone conference this transfer with President Godoy. He

is of the 70 and is the President of the Northwest area of South

America. This means he is the area president of Venezuela, Columbia,

Ecuador, and Peru. So he is kind of a big deal. He also had a

conference with the priesthood leadership in Quito after. And man did

he bring the machete. In Spanish when someone chastises or corrects

someone they call it macheting. You can see why because like a

machete, they cut you down. But everyone agreed that he macheted in a

suave manner. Suave is like smooth. Or in other words, he macheted us

with a butter knife. I did not even realized we got macheted until

after the conference, it was that smooth. But the conference was

really spiritual and we have already seen success in applying the

principles we learned.

Bishop for 5th Sunday talked about how the Guayaquil Temple was not

built until 17 years after it was announced and we need to work harder

if we want the Quito temple to be built quickly. He also got this from

Pres Godoy. Straight Machete.

Also I got my flu shot Mom. You always begged me to get it and I

finally did (It was mandatory for the entire mission). But that is not

important, actions are all that matter not attitude. That was Satan's

plan right?

Any who, we got fed at the conference as well which was cool but they

never feed us enough food at these conferences. As we were eating

President Barlow came up to me and said I was going to interview with

President Godoy. He said I was not in trouble or anything, he just

wanted to interview 4 random missionaries.

The interview was pretty cool and fast. He asked me about the fam and

if they served missions. I shared how excited I was to speak Spanish

with Dad after the mission. He asked me what difficulties I was having

and I just said I used to get scared of the dogs, but I am doing

amazing now. He said he could tell I was going to develop into a

strong missionary which felt really good.

But he ended the interview with a request. He wanted to share his

thanks to you Mom and Dad for doing an amazing job in preparing me for

the mission. He really could tell that I was brought up in a correct

way.

It did not dawn on me until afterwards that I just interviewed with a

member of the 70 and an area president. What an awesome moment.

This week might have been better than the last, they were both amazing.

It started off a little rough because Tuesday morning we went up the

mountain. I have always called downtown Quito another world because it

is so rich and nice. Going up the mountain was also another world. It

is just poor farmland and dogs. And it is not just that there are dogs

but that there are no fences. That means that all the house dogs that

want to protect their territory come out and charge us. I now will

never complain about working in the city where there might be one dog

in the street.

But we killed this week and had a ton of lessons. My teaching skills

have really improved and having good lessons is the best. When

everyone is talking and laughing it feels like home. Also I love our

ward so much. I really do see the image of family in their

countenances. I pretty much have identified each of you in my ward,

not by looks but by personality. I have my Latino Grandparents, the

cool just-married couple which is my sister (sorry y'all are both cool

and young), the young men who are Gavin, and President and Sister

Barlow who are Mom and Dad. It is amazing and I do not want to leave

my ward. (Also Elder Pontón just looked at a photo of you Mom from

Halloween and thought you were my sister).

The cool just-married couple is Family Pepinós. The wife is from

Arkansas and speaks less Spanish than me and the husband is from

Ecuador but served a mission in NC. They are also really rich and have

5 houses. After zone-conference we got to visit them and have

scrambled eggs, biscuits, and chocolate gravy. What a blessing. I miss

some good southern cooking and it was just so amazing. The fried

chicken here is not bad but I am sure that if CFA opened some

restaurants here they would kill it. Everyone here loves chicken.

While I wrote this letter this little girl has kept coming up to me

and asking questions about me. When she learned that I am from the US

she flipped out and said she really wants to visit New York. Just a

funny moment.

On Sunday these three school girls interviewed me and Elder Pontón in

English. It was super awkward for me just because I had to speak

really slow.

We have had some more miracle contacts and Elder Pontón and I are

killing it. We have so much fun together but he is probably going to

leave after this week. He had been in Guamaní for 5 months but I do

not want him to go. This transfer has flown and every day I am happy.

I cannot believe Halloween is tomorrow. Part of that might be because

the weather is eternally spring so it does not feel like fall.

I love the mission so much. I come home at night happy every day and

just feel so satisfied about the day. They is no greater joy than the

Lord's work.

Elder Tucker

P.S.Question: Is Hallowen celebrated there? What about Black Friday.I know you'll miss shopping with me:)
Bryce:Halloween is not big here. Let me know how many towels are bought, we
need to know how the market is.

Question:Where are you intimidated at all during your interview?
 I was not intimidated, just surprised, it was super cool.

Was the interview in English or Spanish?
 English, he is from Brazil so he speaks Spanish English and
Portuguese, he is excellent in all three languages.


How's the dog situation?
 Honestly the dog situation has gotten way better. I think every missionary in the
beginning has their different stressor, for some it is the language,
other the sickness, others missing family, and mine was the dogs. But
I have really gotten used to the dogs. They do not stress me out like
they used to. Do not worry about me, I am doing amazing now.