Why Do You Speak Such Bad English?-Cuenca Week Ninety Four

This week wont be too long. But thanks to all those who wished me a Happy Birthday. It is great and I enjoyed my

 last birthday in this lovely country.

Lost Sheep

My companion is fairly new here in this sector and I recently have a week here. I know I was here before but I forgot

 a lot in 16 months. This week we made a goal to be able to get to know our sector. Feel comfortable there. We 

achieved our goal but we learned the hard way a couple times. On Tuesday in the afternoon we talked with a

 nice family and we made a return appointment for the next day in the night. We felt comfortable that we could 

return to the place were we previously had been. Sadly we were ran. We made  turn after turn after turn and before 

we knew it we were completely lost and we had no signal. We asked the people around us how we could return to 

the main road. After about an hour of walking we finally arrived at the main road and than quickly we just decided

 to catch a taxi and head to our appointment. We only showed up like 2 hours late. Not that bad. That is just one of

 the many experiences that we have had this week. We talked with some "gringos" this week and I have been

 practicing my English with them so that we I get back you guys don't make fun of me. Every one them has asked

 me "Why do you speak such bad English?" I think that could be a problem. 

Elder Shanklin and his zone

Birthday

So this week was my birthday and just to celebrate it we did a little barbeque with a family from the ward. They are

 great and did it as a surprise. I hadn't told anyone that is was my birthday but I think my companion spilled the 

beans and told them. The food was great and we had a good time sharing mission experiences with them. I sure 

will miss this people a lot we the time comes to an end. Even though the Cuencanos are super closed and hard, I 

still love them and know they are great people!

Elder Shanklins birthday celebration

I am sure he loved that food!

Not much has happened this week. With my companion we have been working super hard and had been learning a 

lot together. Hopefully things continue to improve this week and I have a lot more to share the next week. I know

 this  was super short and boring but thats about all that has happened. I will be better next week in remembering

 things to share that are cool and noteworthy. 

Thanks for all the love and support. See you guys soon!;)

Life is a Sport, Make it Count

Elder Shanklin

My Return To Cuenca-Cuenca Week Ninety Three

So this week has had a suprising twist to it. Nothing to important or cool but it was something that I wasnt expecting at all. 

Changes

Friday night I recieved a friendly phone call from Elder Donayre, my zone leader and an ex-companion of mine. We chatted for a little and I really didnt understand the point of the call. We then tells me, "Thanks for all the work that you have done here in the zone. You destroyed it. But you have changes." I was a little flustered and mad at the same time. The first thing that came to my mind was I need to tell bye to my converts. The gave me just enough time to be able to pack my things and say goodbye to everyone in my old sector. I really had no idea where I was going to go but in the back of my mind rose the thought that is was possible a return to Cuenca. And boom. Here I am in Cuenca after 15 months. I am in the very same sector that I was in before. It was great to see most of my converts active and going to church. I need to help one of them submit his mission papers before I leave here. 

New Companion

My new companion is Elder Sican from Jalapa, Guatemala. We actually have the same time in the mission which is super rare. He is a way good missionary and in no time we should explode this sector. President sent us here because before and up till now the missionaries hadnt been working super hard and we have the privledge to practically open up the sector again. We are on the hunt of great families. We are just going to hit the pavement. Finding, teaching, and baptizing. Pray for us. It wont be anything easy. We will need all the help we can get. I know the time is short but there is still so much time to invite other to come unto Christ. That is what I will do until the moment I finish. 

Hope everyone has a great week. Enjoy the vacations and the summer time. It is pretty cold right now in Cuenca and it is raining alot. So enjoy it. Thanks for all the love and support. 

Life is a Sport, Make it Count

Elder Shanklin

This Is The Church Of Jesus Christ-Maracaibo Guayaquil Week Ninety Two

So I know we talked yesterday but still there are a few things that I forgot to share with the family in regards to this 

past week.

Training with President

These next couple of weeks President will be traveling the entire mission doing his last training session with the Elderes

 of this mission. This event started here in Guayaquil on Thursday and we had the privledge and the blessing to hear 

from a special witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Many of you know that my mission president was called to be a 70.

Since then, as missionaries, we have seen a change in him. His power as he testifies has increased and his boldness has

 gone way up. It is incredible to see his progress and then to hear him speak. This week we talked about many

 important things but basically he talked about 2 things. Miracle and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. They go hand in

 hand. The atonement of Jesus Christ is a huge topic here in the mission. There is not a day that goes by that we dont

 hear or preach about it. We love to talk about it and I love to learn about. President shared many personal experiences

 and many deep thoughts. He touched points that I had never thought about. For example. the most important part of

 the mission of Jesus Christ took place in the last 2 weeks of his life. In that time he instituted the sacrament, fulfilled 

the atonement, and dead for all of us. Imagine if he would have stopped working in those last days. If he did feel the

 need or desire to keep working until the last moment. Where would we be? It helped me to understand that although 

the end is near there is no need to stop working or to become lazy or think the my job is over. I need to work until the

 last moment that I have in the mission. That is what is driving me right now. My energy is low, and my time is little but

 what helps me to work hard everyday is the knowledge that I have. That this is the church of Jesus Christ and I want

 everyone to know that. 

Convert Update

We have been working really hard with those that have been baptized recently so that they stay active in the church.

 They are all super incredible people and I cant even think how much it would hurt to see them less active or fall 

away from the church. Diana and Javier are great. Javier got the priesthood of Sunday and they had enterviews with

 the Bishop in which they expressed there desires to be sealed as a family for time and all eternity. Jordan continues

 his preparations to serve a mission. He comes and does visits with us, he received the priesthood on Sunday and

 blessed the sacrament with me. His sister, Marjorie, started her personal progress. Those 2 were thrilled to met my

 mom and dad on Sunday as we skyped from there house. Armando had his enterview on Sunday and will receive

 the priesthood this next Sunday. We gifted him a white shirt and tie so that he comes to church looking good. We 

was super excited and thrilled about the gift. It truly has been a blessing to be in this sector and to have been able

 to met all these wonderful people. Everyday I thank the Lord for that blessing. Hopefully he keeps blesses us and

 provided us the strength need to keep fighting. 

Thanks for all the love and support.

LIfe is a Sport, Make it Count

Breaking Records And Making History-Marcaibo Guayaquil Week Ninety One

First off...HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to the greatest Mom in the world. Event though we will talk Sunday I feel she is worthy of the shoutout.

Baptisms

This weekend we had more baptisms. A week is not complete unless you have had a baptism. This past week we had the blessing and the privilege to have 2 more baptisms. Not just baptisms but great converts to the church. Marjorie Heredia is a young women and the sister of Jordan, who recently got baptized. She is super great and has a strong testimony of the church. Not only that but she has already overcome many obstacles in her life to get to this point. For example, just recently one of her friends told her that the "mormons" are crazy because they believe that a lizard came and talked to some dude and that is why the church exist today. We quickly resolved that doubt. She has been able to make many new friends in the church and she asked me to baptize her. So I had the opportunity to baptize her on Saturday night. It was a great experience for me. Armando was the other person that got baptized. He was supposed to get baptized the night of the earthquake but because of that he didnt get baptized. 2 weeks later he decided that it was time to get baptized and he as well enter into the waters of baptisms. We were a little worried about it because he was back and knee problems but everything went smoothly and was able to lean back without any problems. On Sunday they both were are church super early and got confirmed and have made plans to go to the temple very soon. 

Marjorie at her baptism with the missionaries

  

Armando on his baptism day

Records Broken

This month in the zone Centenario in Guayaquil we broke record for most baptisms in a month here. The old record was 24 baptisms in the month. Marjorie was baptism 25 and Armando was number 26 so we broke record this month and have left our names in the record broke. Here in Maracaibo we had 7 baptisms this month and we hope to keep working super hard to keep baptizing the world. That is why we took a picture of all the missionaries with Marjorie because she was the record breaking baptism. Even though we had many problems this month and it wasnt super easy we were able to overcome everything and break record. It has me to know that the Lord is working hard than us and is making sure that we know that.  To celebrate we went and bought some Pizza today and that was about it. Maybe we will make some tshirts or like do something with President but who knows. We just have to wait and see.

Enjoying a pizza celebration

Marjorie the record breaking baptism

Thanks for all the love and support. Things are great here. Have a great week. 

Life is a Sport, Make it Count

Elder Shanklin