So I understand that it's snowing in Monument today...it's not snowing here, so I'm jealous of you from Monument. But that's okay, because it's currently not raining in Riobamba, which is nice because it has rained every single day since I got here. But thus is winter in Ecuador. Oh, more weather related news! On Saturday we were walking to a service project (I was with Elder Rodriguez at the time), and I noticed that something was falling from the sky. I pointed it out to Elder Rodriguez, and he told me that it was ash. Ash? But from what? Why, from the volcanoes of course! Yep, there is a volcano rather nearby that is rather active and has been for 12 years now. My first night here it erupted (it was mild, as in there was just a bit of lava coming down the sides, no explosions or anything), and then it spouted ash Saturday. Welcome to Riobamba! Also, ash doesn't feel so good when it gets in your eyes, but thus is life.
So, remember how last week I said I was trying to do away with striving to become a leader instead of striving to be a representative of Christ (or something like that)? Well, today was the real day for cambios (changes [last week I was changed a week early]), and I was made district leader. I'm still in quite a bit of shock actually. Elder Sotomayor called our former district leader this morning to find out the cambios, and when he told me that I was the new district leader my insides did a few flips, sunk out of my shoes and then leaped back up, and they're still doing acrobatics actually, though they've calmed down considerably. But wow. Also, the responsibility of a district leader is a lot more than even being a trainer. I'm now in charge of 8 missionaries (myself included). I get to teach them in the weekly district meeting, I get to do baptismal interviews for their investigators (my first one is Wednesday), I get to go to more leader's meetings, I have to plan what the district will be doing throughout the week, I am the one that's called at night now (the missionaries have to call and give a report of their day and stuff), and I have to pass on that information to the zone leaders...I'm now responsible for all kinds of things. Believe me, there will be much praying to be had.
Anyway, to other things! I saw the Christmas Devotional last night by the First Presidency, and it was amazing. Seeing Salt Lake and all of the Christmas lights may have made me miss home a little bit, and hearing it in Spanish wasn't as good as hearing it in English would have been, but I did receive a little bit of revelation, which was pretty cool. While President Uchtdorf was talking, a thought came to my mind: "How can I make Christmas more spiritual than materialistic?" I was kinda thinking of the future (as in with my own family) when I thought of that, but I decided that there's no need to wait till later to start having more spiritual Christmases. A little bit later during the devotional, I got my answer from President Monson. I decided that the best way to make Christmas more spiritual and more focused on the actual reason for celebrating the day than materialistic is to serve others. Service is a principle that Christ always taught. He was always serving others, and He completed the biggest service project of all when He took upon Himself our sins and died for us. If we can all do more service this year in the days leading up to Christmas, then we will all have the most wonderful Christmas of our lives, I'm convinced of it. But there's a catch; we can't serve just to say that we've served someone else, or else the good feelings won't accompany the service. Rather, we need to serve because we want to serve. And why should we want to serve others? What have they ever done for us? Well, that second part doesn't matter really. We should want to serve others because we are all brothers and sisters. We should love everyone and want the best for them. Just think of the happiness that you want this Christmas. What if you did your best to bring that happiness to someone else? How incredibly grateful would that person be? Now, I want you to think back to any moment in which you served someone selflessly, even if it was a very small service. How did you feel? You probably felt pretty good, especially if the person at least said "thank you." Now think if you tried your best to make someone feel happy. How happy would you feel to see the look of gratefulness and joy on the face of the person that you're helping? I know that if we can all put aside our own self interests and help others as much as possible, our joy will become complete. We will have a Christmas that is unforgettable. I challenge all of you to go out and serve others. Serve from now until Christmas, and see what kind of a Christmas you have. It's nigh on impossible to have a bad Christmas if we're trying our hardest and our best to love as much as possible. Your attitude during the service will determine how happy you are, so remember to always keep a good attitude about things. Also, write to me about your service experiences! I want to hear how you feel and what you do and how the other people end up feeling! I'm sure that this experience will be incredible for all that have the courage to test it out.
So, there are two more events that I'd like to share. First has to do with the Devil trying to bring me down. So, we were walking to lunch on Friday when I saw some graffiti. Graffiti is not unusual at all, and it seems that most of the graffiti is of people declaring their love for someone else (nothing says "I love you" quite like graffiti). Anyway, I saw this graffiti, and it said "Mishell y Andrés" in a big ol' heart. Now, if you were in an English-speaking country, that graffiti would have said "Michelle and Andrew", and would have still been in a big ol' heart. I just found it rather amusing that Satan is trying hard enough to distract me from my mission that he's now resorted to graffiti. I just kinda laughed and kept walking. Now, the second story is not about graffiti, but rather is about fireworks. So, Saturday night we had just finished our prayers and heard some fireworks go off. Fireworks aren't unusual; every night someone lights of a firework somewhere. However, this night was special because someone had bought a whole bunch of fireworks and gave us a rather nice show. When I say fireworks I'm not talking about firecrackers and smoke bombs and sparklers and whatnot, I'm talking about ones that you actually shoot up into the air and ooh and awww over. Anyway, we had a nice 10 minute show of fireworks that night. Welcome to Ecuador!
Well, I think that's about all that I have for today. I love you all very much, and I am very grateful for all that you do for me. Thank you for your prayers of support, and thank you for remembering me. Have a lovely week! I love you!
Love,
Elder Schomburg
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