First Baptism

So first things first, I am staying with Elder Lambson another change. Heck yeah! We were so worried that one of us would be transferred, but we are staying together. We flipped out when we learned we were staying together. So I am so excited for this next change. It is also his last, but we are going to work really hard. 

And I got my first baptism this week. We baptized Michael. We found him knocking doors my first week in Argelia, and now he is a member. I was nervous to do the ordinance but it all went smoothly. He was just beaming after the baptism. It was so rewarding to me. It is nice to see how much happiness the work I have dedicated two years of my life too brings to the people here of Ecuador. Also Elder Lambson and I have seen a lot of success here so we have another baptism this Saturday and maybe the next two Saturdays in a row. It is amazing. 

I think I remember hearing from someone at Chic-fil-a say that they hated how they never realized they were in the good old days until they got past them. I am not sure if you understand what I am saying because it feels weird writing in English now but hopefully you get the point. But that came to my mind this week and I realized I am in the good old days. I wake up with a purpose, work as hard as I can, fall asleep immediately at 10:30, and repeat. And that is all that is asked of me. It is fantastic, and I just feel this sense of love and approval from God every day. By the way, if you want to feel that way serve your fellow man, it is really easy and you will probably get more out of it than they will. 

So I was looking through Ashley's old mission photos. Man was her mission Pelucon, that means like fancy and wealthy. I think I forget how the US is. It is a life of luxury there. But anyways I noticed she took a picture of a joke she saw. It says "I got this truck for my wife...pretty good trade huh?" Funny joke because it plays on the imprecise nature of the word "for." This joke would not make sense in Spanish because they have two words: por and para that would clear up the confusion that the word "for" causes. You probably do not find that interesting unless you know another language but just had to say it. I am trying to get you woke to the real issues. Your welcome.

The culture here is different. I know I say that every week, but I just find it fascinating, and I feel like it makes my letters cooler than my older sisters when they were missionaries 😝. So we eat with this amazing family every Sunday, Family Jativa, and they rock. They are solid members. Two parents and two kids who are both return missionaries. They cook great. But they do things differently. They were incredulous that I did not see Deadpool before the mission. Deadpool. I said it was bad and inappropriate and my mom would kill me if I saw that movie. They said that does not matter, it is a hilarious movie. People just do not care as much about that outside the US I guess. Also everyone, even like 4-year-olds love horror movies. I do not know why. 

I had a surprise birthday party thrown by a recent convert/investigator family on Monday which rocked, and I had birthday cake as well yesterday. So it remains lit here. 

Also I do not know why but every time I am running in my missionary clothes (white shirt and tie) it makes me laugh. I just have a moment of clarity and I cannot believe I am running around in church clothes in Quito Ecuador. And that happened this Thursday when we snuck out of a district meeting to buy an ice cream cake for an elder who had a birthday this week. We had to sprint to the store to make it in time and it was awesome. This ice cream cake was fantastic as well.

Fun fact: Venezuelans rock. Their country is doing really poorly right now so a lot have immigrated to Ecuador. They sing when they talk, and I do not understand a word they say, but they all know the church so every time we talk to one we try to teach them because they are super accepting. And they cook amazing. The people rock but don't visit Venezuela, even they say that right now it is way too dangerous. But if you every see one, hang out with them because they rock.

The weeks fly here and I love it here so much. The sun rises 15 minutes later here but the weather is exactly the same so it really does not feel like christmas. Pretty great because I am less homesick.

Love y'all

Elder Tucker