I Felt Like Superman-Maracaibo Guayaquil Week Eighty Nine

I have no idea where to even start. Like it has been so crazy and weird. So many emotions and experiences that I cannot even put it into words. It is hard for me to write this email right now. But here goes nothing....

Monday-Friday

Everything was normal. Besides the fact that I got hit by a car. Not run over but it definitely hit me. It was actually super funny and I got a good laugh out of it after the fact. I was crossing the street and the light turned green and they like hit me as there way of telling me to move out of the way. Nothing happened to me and I am completely fine but I can officially say the the drivers of Guayaquil are worse than those of Springfield. Also my companion had changes of Friday morning and I haven't had a companion since that moment so I have been working with the Zone Leaders.

We are Alive!!

Saturday

This day was completely normal. We had the zone meeting in the morning. Part of the day we spent preparing for the baptism that I was going to have. We went and visited everyone that we need to visit and we headed to the church for the baptism. We showed up to the church and starting filling the baptismal font because the water had lowered a little. We got everything ready and at the hour that we are going to start the baptism in comes running a young man yelling "Earthquake". Everyone starts panicking but I still didn't feel anything. We got outside and it was like a wave hit me. It about sat me down or knock me over. IT was super powerful. People fell to the ground and the earthquake seemed to last maybe 2 minutes. It was so intense. You could hear things falling. The chapel was like about to fall. The lights were blowing up and everyone was screaming and crying. I was just thinking about what I was going to eat for dinner (mom note: some things just don't change.). But the city was dark, like pitch dark. We rushed to visit a couple of people and headed to the house. The baptism was no longer a priority but rather the safety of all the members and the families of them. We made some quick decisions that were great and checked on lots of members and investigators and missionaries in a short period of time. ALL IN DARKNESS. Kind of dumb, but I felt like Superman. The city didn't have cell phone coverage nor anything. We had to look them done. Like Sherlock Holmes or something like that. 

Sunday

The power came back to the city Sunday morning. It  hadn't set in yet what had happened. There was no church and actually we spent the whole day in the house. We got the report and the numbers and it really surprised me the damage that had been done. They said that a bridge had fallen and some house and buildings had fallen here in Guayaquil. I know more damage happened there in Quito and Esmeraldas. We are praying for them and all those who are there. It is sad to hear everything that has happened. The members and the church have acted fast and things seem to be improving.

What a crazy and remarkable experience it was. Crazy to have experience it. Something that definitely went in the journal and I will never forget it.

Thanks for all the love and support, All is good here. 

Life is a Sport, Make it Count

Elder Shanklin