All We Did Was Work And We Worked Hard-Bananeros Guayaquil Week Fourty Three

This week was probably one of the best weeks of my mission. And no I didnt go on vacation, or get to see something awesome. All we did was work, and we worked hard.

Exhaustion

I dont think I have ever been tired then I was during the course of this week. Everyday this week we hit the concrete and went to work. There were many times this week were we had to many appointments to handle so we had to do divisions. My companion went with someone and I went with someone else. We were literally running at some points in order to make it to an appointment on time. Crazy experiences and I am super tired because of that. We have lots of people that we are teaching that are super awesome, and the members in this ward are awesome and help us out a ton. Some of the people that we are teaching are there friends or neighbors. However, all missionary no that it is all worth it when you see the end result.

The Elders enjoying some hamburgers

Baptisms

On Saturday we had two baptisms that went a lot smoother than some of the other baptisms that I have had. We had a little setup on Saturday because Maitte hadnt had her interview yet and she was studying and working the whole week and there wasnt time when we could stop by so we did it at like 2 hours before her baptism. Interviews are always stressful but everything went well. Wladimir (Vladimir) got baptize and so did Maitte. They both are super awesome and have strong testimonies. My companion baptized Wladimir and another missionary baptized Maitte. Always nice to see the result of your hard work, and watch people make such an important covenant with God.

The baptism of Maiette

Baptism of Wladimir

Elder Shanklin, Elder Montoya, and Wladimir

Elder Shanklin, Maitte, Wladimir and Elder Montoya

Count your Blessings

Blessings seem to fall from nowhere sometimes. This week it happened to us many time. When we needed the help of a member, they would just show up. When we needed to teach someone they were always in there house. If there is one thing I learned this week is that if you really serve the Lord with all your heart, might, mind, and strength then he will bless you abundantely in secret and in public. That is something I am certain of. 

Thanks for all the love and support. The work continues to move forward here in Ecuador, and it is great to be a part of it!

Life is a sport, make it count

Elder Shanklin

With Changes Come Blessings-Bananeros Guayaquil Week Fourty Two

For those of you who remembered but just "forgot" to write me, thanks for the birthday wishes. It really does mean a lot. 

Changes

So Tuesday morning we were just chilling in the District Meeting when my District Leader hands me the phone. On the phone was the zone leaders and they informed me that I had changes and had to go home immediately to pack and get ready. We quickly ran back to the house, packed super fast and then I left Santa Monica. I am still in the same zone but just in a different sector. This sector is like 5 times bigger than the other and we share it with 2 other missionaries. My new companion in Elder Montoya. He is from Peru and is an awesome missionary. We get the work done and have a good time while doing it. My companion was in this sector for a little bit before so we use his connections to find people and with the members. It is pretty cool. We have a lot of new missionaries coming and other things going on here.  Now more than ever we have no idea for how long we will be in a sector or with a companion. 

Blessings

My companion and I were sent to open the sector. So basically we started from square one. Because of my companions previous knowledge it wasnt necessarily square one but pretty close. However thanks to the Lord we had a pretty successful week here in this sector. We met some awesome people or some that before had talked with the missionaries  and are super interested. Honestly the harder we worked the more blessings we saw. It was like people fell from the sky some time. One of the biggest blessings is that this week we are going to have a baptism. We also have some others that are preparing for a baptism. It was a successful but draining week as well. Never before was I so excited for a pday to relax. Going to keep working hard to keep the work moving forward here at the same pace. Amazing how the Lord works. If we trust in him and do his will then he is obligated and will bless us. 

Birthday

Basically my birthday has become a national holiday here in Ecuador. Now I know lying is bad but that is the truth. Birthdays actually are just like every other normal day here in the mission. The members invited us to there house to have a party, kinda. Basically just eat hamburgers and cake. Should be pretty fun. Look for it on your Ecuador Calenders tho. May 18th, Birthday of Elder Shanklin. You might need to write it in but i promise it is a real holiday. And just so all of you know it isnt to late to send packages for the birthday.

thanks for all the love and support

Life is a sport, make is count

Elder Shanklin

Do You Want To Fight Him?-Santa Monica Guayaquil Week Fourty One

First off  Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers in this world. You guys rock and I wouldnt be here if it was for my lovely mother so shoutout to her. It was great talking with the fam yesterday and sharing some experiences with them. 

Body Builder

This week we were just walking in the street and there was this huge jacked dude. And I made a joke to my companion and asked if he would fight him. My companion threw it right back in my face by telling this dude that I wanted to fight him. Thankfully he joked it off and we kept on talking. Come to find out he is a member of the church. His 3 brothers served missions but he never did because of his body building competitions and stuff. We took some awesome pictures that i know you will enjoy and then made an appointment to met up with him and take some more.

Who do you think is going to win this fight?

Talking is Not Teaching

As missionaries we are supposed to teach to the needs of the investigadors. However that is sometimes a lot harding then it seems. People get way distracted way easily. This week while we were teaching the restauration we had an investigador start to talk randomly about his ex girlfriend that he had like a year ago. The problem was we could not get him back on subject and ended up talking about this dudes girlfriend problems for like 30 minutes. Most of the time was just spent listening. Soccer, power rangers, super heros, and much more has interrupted lessons. You never know what will happen during the lessons. Pretty fun sometimes. 

Stake Conference

This week was stake conference here in Ecuador. President came and made a visit. I learned a ton. From a missionary standpoint, and from the view of a member. Presidents talk was awesome. Really felt the spirit super strong as he bore a powerful witness of the importance of missionary work. It told the members of the stake that it is no longer acceptatble to come to church with just your family. More is required of us.

Hamburgers made by Elder Shanklin

Baptism

We will be having a baptism this saturday. His name is Geo. He met the church threw his friend that lives in the north. It is great because she and her family willl be coming to his baptism this week to support him. Geo is awesome and has a super power testimony already. 

Thanks for all the prayers and love. We are working super hard here and hoping for a lot more success to come. 

Life is a sport, make it count

Elder Shanklin

Rock and Rolling This Week-Santa Monica Guayaquil Week Fourty

This week started with a shake and then we keep things rolling during the week.

Earthquake

Because of the immense heat here in Ecuador things happen. This week at 6:00 on Monday morning  we woke up to our house and beds shaking because there was an earthquake. Those of you from California -it was not a huge one but instead a small one.(Mom Note:  I looked it up and it was a 5.8 magnitude earthquake) However for the Ecuadoreans it was something huge. However us missionaries are not from Ecuador. The earthquake woke us up and within  3 minutes we were both back asleep. We still had  30 minutes more of shut eye. That has been the talk of the town tho. Since that has happen tons of people has asked us if we felt it and if we were scared and a bunch of others things. We are still alive.

BBQ FHE

This week we had an awesome Family home Evening with the youth and recent converts. We all had a bbq and watched a church movie. Good time. Yours truly was head chef because suprisingly nobody knows how to cook hamburgers here in Ecuador. We had a great time and took some cool photos. The youth here are great. One is leaving to his mission in Bolivia soon so it was like a going away party for him. 

 Investigadors

We are working super hard in Guayaquil in order to have as much success as possible.  We have tons of investigadors and lots are super excited to come to church and learn more and are working hard to help them progress and eventually take the steps necessary to be baptized. Geo is a 23 year old who has been investigating the church for 9 months and is now ready to be baptized. There is also a single mom and her 3 daughters that we are working with and some others in the mix as well. This are moving along and hopefully in the next couple weeks you will get pictures of us in white!

Thanks for all the love and support

Life is sport, make it count

Elder Shanklin

Follow Me And I Will Make You Fishers Of Men-Santa Monica Guayaquil Week Thirty Nine

First off for those of you that read my brothers letters as well....... the mission in South America is not like that at all.;) We actually do have to work in order to have baptism here just like the rest of the world. Speaking of baptisms we just had one this week.

Baptism

Leonardo asked us during the week if it was possible for him to get baptized even earlier than May 2. We talked with our leaders and they gave us permision so that he could get baptized this last weekend.  Just like every baptism something always goes wrong. I dont know if I have explained this before but Ecuador time is different than normal time. When you say something is going to start at 7:00 it really starts at like 9:00. We told everyone the baptism started at like 6:30 so they were be there or some would be there at 7-715. We get to the church and there was like 5 people. We are still waiting for the young man that was going to baptize Leonardo. At 7:30 Leonardos parents show up and still no person to baptize Leonardo. We then get a call that he had to work and can't make it. We have no back up and no clothes because he was going to bring his own clothes. Quickly we find a substitute and clothes, and the baptism starts at 8:10. Then we walk in the room and the water is full of mosquitos so we had to clean that. Then finally everything settled down and it finally starting rolling. It all turned out okay  because Leonardo enjoyed it and had a good time. Lots of youth were there to support him, and he has tons of friends in the church. One of his good friends is actually going on a mission soon which has really made Leonardo excited about that as well. Good time even with all the stress.

Leonardo and his family

Elder Shanklin, Elder Flamenco and Leonardo

New Investigators

We have a lot of new investigators that are starting to come out of the wood work. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks you guys well pictures of them in all white. We are working hard here in order to have some success. Like the Lord said, Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. This week we will be going fishing. We have the right bait, and everything, we just next to catch the right fish. 

Big things are coming your way from the small sector of Santa Monica. Thanks for everything that you do. For all the love and support!

Life is a sport, make it count

Elder Shanklin

Blessings Beat The Heat Any Day-Santa Monica Guayaquil Week Thirty Eight

I swear it just gets hotter and hotter here in Guayaquil. Even when it rains it is still super hot. There is just no break from this tremendous heat.

Blessings

This week we worked really hard without many results or success. Every day we were out early and we were out till the last minute. Instead of seeing more results we saw less results. People starting slipping and there wasnt much we could do. We keep working witht the faith and hope that the Lord would bless us as we continued to work. Sunday came and we only had 2 people in the church. 15 minutes passed and in walked a part member family whose wife wants to get baptized. Then another 5 minutes passed and in walked a single mom. When we talked to her after so had been invited by a friend and she came. She has 2 daughters and she is trying to find the right church. We had an amazing lesson with her and her daughters last night. Things are looking up here Santa Monica. We continue to work with what we have and then keep looking for new ones. Should be having a baptism coming up real soon. The 2 of May is when it is programmed right now.

Life on the Road

The other day we visited a recent convert who was baptized in October of last year. For his profession he drives semis. His semi was parked in front of his house. We were asking questions about it and he chatted for a while. He then asked if he wanted to drive it. We refused because we cant, even tho that was way hard for my companion lol. He offered to take us around the block just so we could see what it was like. We toured the sector for like 30 seconds and come back. Just a short little ride. Took some cool pictures tho.

Elder Shanklin, Elder Flamenco and a friend

Having a good time in the Semi

Not much happened this week. We continue to work hard and serve the Lord. It is still hot and will probably always be like that. Thanks for all the love and support! 

Life is a sport, make it count

Elder Shanklin

New Sector, New Companion, New People-Santa Monica Guayaquil Week Thirty Seven

Feels like it went from winter to summer over night here. Amazing how different it is here in Ecuador. Also a shout out to the little sis as this week she will be turning 14! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Changes

First things first. I am out of Cuenca and have returned to Guayaquil. I don't really know where exactly I am in Guayaquil, but the sector is Santa Monica. Not the biggest sector in the mission but we make it work. Cuenca was absolutely beautiful and I loved the time that I spent there but the Lord needs me here in Guayaquil, so here is where I will keep working hard. In Cuenca it is normally around 14 degrees celsius in the day, and at night you have to sleep with 2 blankets. Here in Guayaquil it is like 35-37 degrees and if you sleep with one blanket you will die of a heat stroke in the middle of the night. But really I sleep with the fan directly on my face. The coast is cool here. It is kinda where I started my mission and I am glad to be back.

The mountains of Guayaquil peeking through the clouds

Another view

New Companion

My new companion is Elder Flamenco. He was born in El Salvador. That makes 3 of my companions from El Salvador. However, when he was 3 he went to the United States or he moved there with his family. When he was 10 his family was introduced to the church and since then he has been going. He is a great example, plus he knows English and Spanish fluently which is a big help. We get along great and are working hard here in Guayaquil. Baptisms to come. 

The Santa Monica Zone

New People

This week when I got here we practically started from scratch. We just hit the ground running. We had a good week and we enjoyed our time as well. We have 7 people that we are working with and all of them were at church on Sunday. The all enjoyed themselves. Although some of them have problems and things that impede them from progressing we will continue to help them so that in time that can enjoy the peace and joy that Christ offers. There is lots of work to be done here in this sector and we are just getting started. Hopefully lots more success and cool stories are to come.  I don't have anything that will blow your mind away this time.

Torrential down pour in minutes flooded the streets

Elder Shanklin said, "this reminds me of New Orleans when we
would swim in the flood waters."

Thanks for all the love and support! Keep the prayers coming!

Life is a sport, make it count

Elder Shanklin