Audrey gave Owen a custom-made water bottle, to resemble the one he saw in Yosemite but didn't get. He was pretty excited about it!
The boys enjoyed hanging out playing games. We played some dodgeball, kickball, and the adults went out to eat at Whiskey Cake restaurant.
We spent one day in downtown San Antonio, starting the morning off with service at the Salvation Army. We transferred a couple pallets of things to another room. We then worked on preparing several bags of food. We had a pretty efficient assembly line going to get the bags filled. After the Salvation Army, we had lunch at Savvy Sliders. Then we headed to the Riverwalk and the Alamo. The Lego replica was a hit, made of over 50,000 pieces. Weston left his hedgehog along the Riverwalk. It fit perfectly in a spot along the way.
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I finally got all the pictures organized from the last 5 months or so of Nathan's mission. Here's the update:
In July and August, Nathan was serving in Quito as a finder missionary, specifically finding people for other missionaries to teach. He served with Elder Ramirez and Elder Hill in Quito. A few notable experiences were knocking on the door of a drug house, hearing gun shots a block away, and feeling an earthquake. His companion was sick enough to have to be in the hospital for a little bit. Despite the hard times, he continued to have good experiences and enjoyed his service there. He got to give a priesthood blessing to a woman who was sick.
In September, Nathan was transferred to the jungle area of Lago Agrio (Nueva Loja) in Oriente, where he is still currently serving. It's very hot and humid there, often in the 90's. He served with Elder Rivera from Peru until he finished his mission. He has also served with Elder Bayles and Orellana Vera (not sure where they were from) and Elder Borbor, from Ecuador. In this area, they serve in a branch (smaller than a ward), and 7 other missionaries cover that area. They often travel 1.5 to 2 hours away to teach people. They helped open a new area in Cascales and had 2 baptisms of people there, the pioneers for that area (they were baptized in a river). The people are very willing to learn, and they have had 20 people attending church to learn more.
Nathan served as district leader and currently serving as zone leader, so he's had more leadership responsibilities in this area. Some memorable experiences are riding a motorcycle on the way to a teaching appointment, riding the bus long distances, eating live grub worms (gusanos), teaching an English class of over 20 kids, and a service project helping to install pipes for a bathroom (in the rain). They met a 79-year old member of church, who 4 months prior had been baptized. During the pandemic, his other church wouldn't allow him to attend because of his age and Covid risk. He left and later saw missionaries from our church and called them over. He started learning about the church and was recently baptized.
Nathan really enjoys serving, teaching, and meeting the people there. He has seen changes in himself and continues to grow and build his own testimony. He said, "Tomorrow I hit a year of being on the mission! It's so crazy that time has flew by so fast. So far it has been an amazing experience and I have learned so much. As a missionary you truly grow as a person and come to have a greater testimony of the truth. I love this gospel and this opportunity to be able to participate in this great work and participate in the Gathering of Israel...
Ether 12:27 "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."
...This year as a missionary I have come to learn that this scripture is true. We are all given weaknesses, but as we humbly accept them and work on them, we receive strength. We also receive direction in our life and become the person that God wants us to be. Personally, I know that this process is hard. Honestly, it has been really hard for me, but each day I am working on my weaknesses and I am slowly seeing power and truth of the atonement of Jesus Christ. It brings more joy and understanding to the gospel. And so my invitation is to humbly kneel down and ask God how you need to change. Don't be afraid to start the journey! I promise you that you will be a different person for the rest of your life and have greater power and control in your life. Being a missionary has been the greatest opportunity to experiment with this promise."
Nathan traveled back to Quito for a Christmas party with his zone and the mission president. They got to stay there a few days since the bus ride to get there was about 8 hours. In Quito, they got to go bowling, out to eat, and to the Quito Temple. We get to chat with Nathan every Monday, which was Christmas day, but we also got to chat a little on Christmas Eve. It was heart-wrenching to chat on Christmas Eve, finding out that they didn't have anything for dinner that day. Their gas was out on their stove, so they couldn't make anything, and they didn't really have anything to eat in their apartment. They were waiting for a member meal, but it didn't come until the next day at lunch time. Meanwhile, back here in the states, we were with family about to enjoy a large Christmas feast, so it was hard to hear he didn't have anything to eat.
I sent Nathan a Christmas and birthday package, which he received when he traveled to Quito. I didn't send much this year, as he said he didn't really need anything except sunscreen. I still sent some money, our Christmas letter, candy, apple pie treat, and a pair of socks. One notable thing is that I decided at the last moment that I should get socks to send. I ran out the evening before I was sending the package to get socks. When I got to the store, I felt that I needed to also buy socks for his companion. I was already including candy and such for his companion, but I had the thought to include socks for both of them as well. Nathan said that sending the socks was inspired, because his companion didn't have socks and had been borrowing Nathan's socks. I'm glad the Lord prompted me to help with their needs.
With Elder Hill
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