Well howdies!

Hello familia and all!

So here I am, in the great country of Ecuador! More specifically, I'm in the town La Concordia. Maybe it's a town, no se. Anyway, it's hot here. Siempre está calore, y siempre está humido. That's okay though, because the people here are fantastic. The first day that I got here, Elder Huarahuara (my trainer/primero compañero del campo) took me out to work. The first day we actually got three people to commit to baptism! That was pretty crazy, especially since two of the people committed on the first time we'd ever met them. Let's see, the food here is actualy really good. I like it a lot more than the CCM's food. Also, most of the juice here is out-of-this-world good, probably because it's all generally really fresh. Oh yeah, Elder Huarahuara! He's a great guy. When I got here he'd been in the field for 22 months, so I'm his last companion! He's from Perú, and he's the only member in his family. As you can expect, he's really good at teaching and getting people to trust him. Also, he's a hard worker, which is very good. He speaks no English though, so there have been some interesting (read: semi-frustrating) moments when I'm trying to tell him something, but things are all good. I can already undestand Spanish better, but there are times when I just cannot understand at all. Truth be told, missions are hard. If anyone ever tells you that their mission was easy, they're either lying or they didn't actually work during their mission. It's tough out here. All the missionaries I've met have said that my Spanish is pretty good and that I'm learning quickly, but I just have to take their word for that. But it's amazing out here. On Saturday after General Conference we had baptisms, and that was pretty amazing. I got to see one of our investigators get baptized, and a bunch more. It was really amazing. Also, General Conference was pretty darn fantastic. I noticed that the three most talked about things were the temple, marriage, and tithing. At least, that's what I remember about it. So yeah, Elder Scott's talk was almost difficult for me to listen to because it brought up a bit of homesickness, but it was still amazing and powerful nonetheless.

I just remembered that the enter key on this computer works! Woo!! Okay, things you should know. If you send packages, make sure they have some kind of green sticker that says what's in it on the package, and don't make packages more than 2 or 4 kilos. The green sticker should be at the post office. Keep sending to the address that involves Calles 640 and Amazonas or whatever it is, because that goes to the mission headquarters, and then they send it out via pouch on Saturdays. So, I'll receive mail on Saturdays only, and I didn't receive any this Saturday (in case you were wonderig if I had received anything you sent). Also, I won't be able to send out a lot of mail, because it's $2 to send one letter. Elder Martin, my zone leader, said that I can send about 5 letters in one package for $5, but that's still not cheap. Entonces, I won't be sending a lot of letters due to a lack of fundage, but I'll still do what I can. Also, I'll probably send that one package to mi madre, and if she is able to I'll have her send them out from there. So, any mail I send will take a bit longer than it already has I think. Sorry guys!

Oh, so, Ecuador is beautiful. Where I am is basically jungle. Well, it's a city, but just on the outskirts of town it's pretty jungley. The drive here was through pretty mountainous roads, but it was so lush and green that it didn't really seem like we were in the mountains, except for all of the switchbacks and such. Quito itself is pretty gorgeous. It's much cooler there. It's similar to Colorado in spring/later-ish fall, though a bit more humid. Not a lot more though. And it's very hilly. Everywhere here is hilly, but that's okay. I love it here.

I'm so excited to hear about everything going on back home! You guys are doing incredible things. Also, Jeffrey, if you could graduate early and get a headstart on saving up for your mission, that would be a great idea I think. Also, if you aren't doing it (talking to whole family, and anyone else really), I think family home evening could really be very rewarding.

Well, that's about all I have for now. I'll try to email some pictures next Monday (oh yeah, P-days are lunes), and if that doesn't work I'll probably mail one of my SD cards so that photos can be put on facebook/blog/christmas cards/whatever. I love all you guys! Thank you for all of your support. I know the Church is true, and it was restored by the power of our Heavenly Father through the prophet Joseph Smith. The Book of Mormon is true, and really is the word of God. It testifies of the Bible and Christ, just as the Bible testifies of the Book of Mormon and Christ. Thomas S. Monson is truly a prophet in these latter-days, and I leave you with this testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love,
Elder Schomburg