Tradition...

'ello chaps!

This day finds me very well, happy, and, as always, with a message! Woo! But first, I should tell you about something that I forgot to tell you the last week! It's an Ecuadorian tradition that's kinda cool, and I know how it got started (well, I'm 96% sure I know how it got started if it's as old as Elder Sotomayor tells me it is). Okay, anyway, there's a New Year's tradition here that's called the Burning of the Old Years (I kinda made part of that up because I only know that what they burn are called año viejos (old years)). The people make or buy what are basically piñatas that represent the old year that has passed, and at midnight (well, really, anytime during that day) on the 1st of January they burn the año viejos. Elder Sotomayor said that in Guayaquil they sometimes make año viejos 9 meters tall, and whole neighborhoods gather to party around and burn the año viejo. It's kinda cool, and it's a bit symbolic too. So, where do I think this tradition came from? Well, we know that the native inhabitants of the Americas are all descendents of the Lamanites, and the Lamanites in turn have roots with the Jews (before Nephi and his brothers Lemuel and Laman split into two groups, they lived in Jerusalem and practiced Judaism[I have no idea how to spell that word]). Well, the Jews practiced burning sacrifices to atone for their sins, and on the first of the year they also burned a sacrifice. Well, we know that through many years of apostasy and false traditions, the commandments and the correct way to perform sacrifices was lost completely. All in all, I believe that we can assume with reasonable certainty that the tradition of burning año viejos dates back to the times of the Lamanites. So there.

And on to another topic: GOOOOOO BRONCOS!!

Yesterday was a bit difficult for me. We didn't have any investigators come to church again, and the one that we were able to pass by to see wasn't there. Throughout most of church I was really sad. I was irritated with my companion, I was mad at myself, and I basically felt like a failure. Also, we were three lessons and 4 contacts (people contacted in the day) short of the goals that we had set as a zone. I was feeling really down, and I had no desires to meet those goals at all. We went home for a few minutes before lunch, and I knew that I absolutely had to pray, and so I did. It was a simple prayer in which I asked for strength and for comfort, and at the end of the prayer I felt much better. Well, as the day progressed, my desires to complete our goals came back with full force, and we went crazy trying to get those lessons in (specifically they were lessons with active members, and for some reason almost none of the members were at home yesterday). By the end of the night, we had met those goals that we put; we had had 7 lessons to active members in the week and we had contacted 80 people. It was such a good feeling to be able to complete those goals. I learned that it's really not that hard to talk with people (I still have problems with just walking up to people in the street and just talking to them), and that the members need help just like everyone else. Overall it was a very spiritual experience, and we're going to be able to meet our goals again this week. Wooo!!

But surprise! That's not the theme that I actually wanted to talk about this week. Something that I've really learned this week is patience. Through the course of my mission, but more specifically in these past few weeks, I've learned that I'm not the most patient person in the world. I thought for a long time that I was patient, but I'm not really so much (an example is how badly I want my own family. Man! It's hard to be patient for that, especially when I see absurdly couply couples or babies that are just shy of being impossibly cute.). Patience really is a Christ-like attribute that we all need to develop more. Something that really caught my attention is that patience isn't just waiting for something to happen. It's also working diligently to obtain that something, all the while trusting in God and that if it's His will that sooner or later you will obtain that something. Patience requires a lot of faith in God. A lot. Patience requires a lot of humility, too. We have to be willing to accept that God has a plan for us. God has things that He wants us to do, and He will bless us according to our service to Him. Those blessings are promises backed by the most powerful Being in the universe. They are promises that will be carried out. That's what we have to have faith in. Many times we don't see the fruits of our labors for a very long time, sometimes even years. Some promises will not be fulfilled in our mortal life period, but they will be fulfilled. God's promises are eternal, not temporal. We just have to have the faith to say, "Okay Father, I'm going to do thy will, and I will do it for as long as thou asketh me to do it." Patience requires a positive outlook. We cannot be patient while at the same time pining and whining for what we want. If we truly believe that the Lord will bless us, we'll be able to go about our work with a constant smile. We'll be able to support whatever difficulties come across our way because we know that there is something better in store, and in the eternal aspect, we'll get that something very soon. I love Doctrine and Covenants 24:8 for this thought. We're going to have afflictions, and we're going to have a lot of them. BUT Christ will always be with us to help us support those afflictions if it is that we try our hardest to endure. We can be patient because Christ was and is patient. We can be patient because Christ and the Father will always be there to help us if we are willing to put in the effort. I really need to learn to be patient with myself, too. We all should. We cannot expect ourselves to be able to repent and become perfect instantly. We can't expect Christ-like attributes to come to us overnight. We need to learn to patiently endure the hardships that will come on the road to becoming like Christ. And the real kicker of it all is that to learn patience we have to wait. Patience does not come overnight, nor in the blink of an eye. It comes little by little, but when it comes we will be stronger than ever. I know that having patience will bless us greatly, and will help us to be better tools in the Master's hands.

Okay, for more news: did you know that Reese's cups come in half-pound sizes???? I didn't either until Wednesday! But now I do, thanks to the wonderful Read family! SNAP! Basically all that I have to eat in the house now is chocolate, but that's okay. Chocolate's good for you, right? Thank you so much!

Well, I now have to go. I love all of you very much, and I'm very grateful for all that all of you have done for me. Thank you to all that have written me and all that will write to me. I love you!

Love,
Elder Schomburg