1st week is officially in the books. I think you will get a couple good laughs out of this letter.
From Minors to Majors
Let me relate this experience to baseball. The MTC is the minors. I was doing good there so now I am in the majors. Lets say I was batting .400 in the minors with 25 HRs, and 80 RBIs. I am now in the majors batting .001 and am the kid that cheers when he makes contact with the ball. It is like they dropped me off in a foreign country and I dont know the language. Oh wait....
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| From the Minors |
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| To The Majors |
Travel
We left to go to the airport at 10:30 on Monday evening. I got to Ecuador around 11:00am the next morning. I successfully made it through all the countries with my American Flag suitcase. Success. When we arrived in Ecuador I found out that my luggage had ripped mid flight so now I had to lug around broken luggage (don't worry mom i fixed it). Many of you know that I get motion sickness quite easily. Imagine me being on a bus for multiple hours for 2 days. It wasnt fun.
(mom note: He did take many bottles of dramamine!)
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| A view of Ecuador |
Area Assignment and Companion
After we settled in at a local church in Guayaquil and had lunch we sat down for area assignments and companionships. Pretty cool experience. The called my name and then my companion, Elder Quispe. He is 24 years old and is from Argentina. He only has 2 months until he completes his mission. Awesome missionary. However, we were originally assigned to labor in Guayaquil but right there on the spot the mission president changed it to Machala, Vencedores. That is about 4 hours from Guayaquil. Come to find out later the mission president said he felt that he needed to do it, and that rarely happens. When I got to the area I was informed that I was the first new missionary ever to be assigned there for their first area. Looks like I have something to prove now, maybe. They said usually zone leaders, and people who have been out for a long time serve here.
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| Elder Shanklin and Elder Quispe |
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| Getting ready to leave to their new areas |
Death by No Sports
My mission president has a rule of no sports. When they put my in Ecuador without a knowledge of Spanish they like shot my foot. I could still get around just it would be tough. When they told me I couldnt play sports it was like they took a .50 caliber to my heart and pulled the trigger. It is okay I need to be obedient so no sports for me. I will never get hurt though so that is a plus.
Story Time with Elder Shanklin
I have a couple of stories I would like to share.
1) Weed Man- I saw a man wearing a USA jersey so I thought it was appropriate to talk with him about it and his life. Not exactly sure how this came about but I found out that he has killed someone and been to jail for 6 years. He then proceeded to tell me in English "I like to smoke weed". Slowly I started to end the conversation. Before I could walk away he gave me a little polar bear. So I now have a polar bear from a killer.
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| Polar Bear from "The Weed Man" |
2)Gringo- Not really a story but all the kids learn english here so they always say "Hello friend" to me and Im not really sure how to respond.
3)English Teacher- I met one of the English teachers and let me tell you. What a relief it was to speak english. It was so awesome. I didnt have to think about what to say it just came out. Wow.
4)Pina Colada Milkshake-If you are ever in Ecuador and offered a milkshake dont accept. We bought one and it was awful.
5)Age- People have guessed my age anywhere from 18-28 and when I tell people I'm 18 it is like that have seen a ghost.
6)Soccer- Soccer is a way of life. Last night there was a soccer game on TV. The streets were empty and after they won everyone got on their bikes honked there horns and cheered down the streets.
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| The empty streets of Machala |
Church
The church here is the nicest building in the city. Small,but it is a ward. We had 5 less actives and 1 investigator attend. The investigator is Luis. He is 14 and has a baptismal date for October 18. The ward has about 150 people but not a lot of youth. There are two young men who love to go out with the missionaries so that is cool.
Ecuador VS USA
USA 1 ECU 0- USA has stops signs
USA 1 ECU 1- Everything is cheap in Ecuador
USA 2 ECU 1- In america dogs and cats actually live in houses
USA 3 ECU 1- We speak English
USA 4 ECU 1- Hot water. I step into the Artic Ocean every morning
USA 5 ECU 1- Everyone has cars in America
USA 6 ECU 1- We eat dinner in America. In Ecuador I guess a big lunch is enough.
USA 7 ECU 1- In America we use trash cans instead of the street
USA 8 ECU 1- Girls shave their armpits in America
It has been a great week. I can already tell this is going to be a special experience. One that I will treasure for my entire life.
I dont want to make Ecuador look bad because I love it already but I thought I would have some fun.
Thanks for all the love and support
Elder Shanklin...In Ecuador
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