Birthday Week

It's my birthday week, as you would have expected, it went amazing.

Where to begin, where to begin.

So I think I have already established this but Ecuadorian Coke is way

better than American Coke. I am sorry to those I offend but it is just

a fact. There is just something special when you get a Chimborazo

(That's a volcano in Ecuador) of rice which is a ton and some chicken

and a big glass of Coke. It just feels so great in your stomach. I

love the Coke here.

But anyways, My companion, Elder Lambson, was a little sick this week.

Every person told us the same remedy that was sure to cure his flu.

Boiled Coca-Cola, Lemon, and a Cinnamon stick. That's the secret

folks, do we need flu shots anymore? It was just really funny because

that sounds like such a strange combination. Justine you should try it

out, it just might work.

A pretty big event this week was that Quito was without water for 3

days. Like no water in the pipes. It was madness. By our house there

is a park with a fountain and everybody took the water out of the

fountain to use. You just do not realize how great you have it until

you do not have it. Being able to flush the toilet or shower feels

like such a luxury now. Also we had no clue when we were going to get

water so everyone was freaking out. The conspiracy theories where

funny. People talked about the fact that it only occurred in the south

part of the city, which is the poor part, that the government did it.

But as I am sure that that made international headlines I really do

not have much more to say. Just I went without showering or flushing

the toilet for three days. It was not as bad as you think.

So today was my birthday. We went to this really famous cathedral in

the center of Quito. It was really impressive. The views were great

from the top. The Cathedral is in the historical district of Quito so

all the buildings were really cool and for a second I felt like I was

in Spain. We had to climb up these sketchy stairs that were basically

a ladder to get to the top. But it was cool. Also Catholic Cathedrals

are so different from any other church I have seen. Especially in

South America. Very cool.

Also we have a mall in our Sector with a Pizza Hut Express. So we have

been planning for a while to save our money and blow it all at the

Pizza Hut because they say it tastes exactly like it does in the US.

So we bought the 3 story pizza box. Side note, I love stuffing myself

on the mission. Not sure if it is the greatest habit but it rocks. So

we each got an 8 slice pizza and a big cookie and we went to work. Man

that was hard. Those last two slices were a struggle. But I stuck with

it and finished it. I thought I was going to throw up afterward but I

did not. I am pretty proud of myself. Also I bought a fake soccer

jersey for 7 dollars.

The work is going really well. We had my record again for lessons with

investigators in a week with 18. Also in the mission, we have a saying

which is Golden Investigators. These are people who are just really

prepared to receive the restored gospel and are amazing. We have a

family like that called Familia Cruz. They rock and will be baptized

soon. And on Monday our golden investigators gave us Golden Mugs. They

had our favorite scriptures on them and our names. We are very proud

of them. A photo is attached.

Also, all the other missionaries are jealous of the relationship Elder

Lambson and I have. We go hard and have so much fun.

A dream is going to come true this week. Every missionary wants to

find, teach, and baptize an investigator in the same transfer or six

week period. And it looks like we are about to have that with Micheal.

He is a 18 year old from Guayaquil. He rocks and really has desires

for the gospel. His baptism will be going down this Saturday.

Shout out to everybody who wrote me on my birthday. Really appreciate

it and wish I could respond to each of you but I cannot. So big thanks

to y'all.

Family Part- That recording was awesome. First of all I barely

recognize Gavin's voice and his vocabulary. Since when did you start

using Dank? But I loved hearing from each of you. I cannot believe

Gavin has size 11 shoes. He probably will be taller than me when I get

home. So great hearing about everything. I am going to try to send a

recording over the Internet now because I see how awesome they are.

I love you all and I am just having a great time now.

Love,

Elder Tucker