Hey guys!!

It's Christmas!  Well for me it's a normal day, but it's still Christmas!  How's everyones Christmas going?  The only thing I want for christmas right now is the cold.  I love the cold weather so much, but here it's just super hot.  But yeah, I can deal with it.

On Saturday we had this huge activity with the stake.  It was so cool.  Tons of people came and there were tons of references that we got.  Now we just have to try to find those people.  There were a bunch of music and lots of people learned about the restored gospel which was really cool!  We gave out tons of pamphlets and Book of Mormons and yeah, I loved it.  Also, Santa came and yeah, it was cool.  I put some pictures here so you guys can see a little.  (note from mom....he said his pictures took too long to download, so didn't get any sent, so I sent a couple from our Skype yesterday and I received an email from his Mission President with some pics too.  So Fun!)

Also, the other week my comp and I were contacting, and we came across this Jehovah Witness and he really didn't want anything to do with us, but we gave him a Book of Mormon and he was talking and he said that he didn't need the Book of Mormon in his life and stuff and gave it back. I was like woah...... so I just told him why he needs the Book of Mormon in his life and said some other stuff and then gave the Book of Mormon back to him.  He took it, but I don't know if he's going to ever read it though.  But, the Spirit was strong when my comp and I were talking and it was good that we got to talk to that guy and share the Book of Mormon with him.

Well, other than that, this week was normal and stuff.  It was hot, there was a lot of walking, and we talked to tons people.  It stinks when we contact people and we sit down and teach them and then later find out that they are members but not active and were baptized like 10 plus years  ago.  Haha, but yeah, all is well we can just reactivate them haha.

Anyway,  I love you guys so much and hope all is well.  I hope everyone is having an amazing Christmas, and remember to read the Book of Mormon every day.  Love you guys!  Bye.

Elder Pollock

Day 146

Buenas!!

I am sorry, but right now I cannot remember what all I did this week. Whoops.  Everything is going good and the people here are awesome.  Yesterday was Sunday and one of the Ecuador soccer teams won this championship, so everyone was out in the streets and stuff watching the game and almost everyone was super drunk haha.  My comp and I had this drunk guy yell at us and walk up to us and was going off, haha.  It was kinda stressful at times cause there were times where he would just stop talking and it was literally a staring contest.  He would stop talking and we would just be staring at each other for like 30 seconds.  I thought he was going to start throwing punches.  So we gave him this pamphlet and left and he was just yelling in the street..

This week we also did a little stand in a street mall.  It's where tons of people go and sell stuff and yeah there's tons of people.  We set up this stand call ilumina el mundo and it was dope.  We were just handing out these sweet cards and trying to get references.  We did that for an hour and yeah it was cool.

Well, I don't know what else to mention.  It's been super super hot this week.  Christmas is in a week.  I'm pumped.  Oh and I forgot to take pictures this week, so sorry guys, haha.  Other than that, it's just been tons of working, walking and trying to find people.  So yeah, that's all I've got for you.  Lo siento.

Alright, love you guys so much!!  Bye.

Elder Pollock

139 Days In!

Hey guys what's up!

This week went by so fast it's unbelievable.  We are working super hard and it's just been day and night lately.  Wow. But, I love it.  It's starting to get super super hot here.  It hasn't rained yet so I'm just waiting for that to come any day now.  It was just like one day it was incredibly hot and it's just been like that ever since.  Now I'm starting to love the super cold showers haha.  Yeah, I'm actually really starting to like them.

Every day is the same, but it's not, you know.  We go out and walk all day doing the same stuff, but everyday different things happen and there's always new people and tons of people to talk to.  It's super cool.  Our investigators aren't progressing a whole ton.  It's hard when you have an appointment and then you go to their house and they aren't home.  That happens a ton.  Right now we are working a lot on trying to find tons of references from the members.  It's hard to find the houses.  Especially here, but it gives us a ton to do.

This week we also went to the temple!  I loved it!  It was good cause I could actually understand almost all of it.  Not all, but almost.  It felt nice just to sit, relax, and feel the spirit.  Now I get to wait another 3 months yeah!  After that, the mission pres told all the missionaries at the temple to come to his house and we did this zone picture with them so that was super cool.

I hope everyone is having a fantastic week and are working hard.  You guys are amazing and hope you are always recognizing the Lords hand in your daily lives.  That's important.  Don't be slow to recognize the Lord and put Him first. If you do, He will bless you more than you can imagine.

Love you guys so much.  Alright, well, see you next week.

Elder Pollock

Cambios Emergencia!

Hey guys!!

This week was absolutely loco!  So if I remember right it was Wednesday morning we got a call from the assistants to the president and they said that my comp and the two zone leaders that live in the house with us had transfers. So yeah, they all left.  Haha.  So now I have a new comp and two new zone leaders. The zone leaders names are Elder Pava, who was my zone leader in Manta and also Elder Pincock who was a missionary in this zone so I know both of them, that was nice with the whole change.  My comp is a lot different than my old comp.  My new comp is a Gringo too!  It's nice to have an American comp honestly.  His name is Elder West.  He is from Utah, Heber City.  He is super cool and has 11 months in the mission.  He's fluent in Spanish and doesn't have a Gringo accent when speaking Spanish.  It's dope.  We get along really well and both love hunting!!!  That part is a bonus haha.  We have been working really hard these past couple days to get to know people like the members and investigators, and trying to find people to teach also.  There's a lot more English now, haha so that's good.

My Spanish is getting a lot better.  I can understand what people are saying so that's really nice.  Obviously not everything, but I can get the general idea of what people are talking about.  When I'm talking and teaching people it's hard to respond most of the time cause I can understand, but I'm still trying to put stuff together in my mind so it's rough sometimes.  But, better and better every day.

Yesterday morning their was another earthquake.  It's so crazy cause there was like none for my first two months and now its weekly.  It's pretty cool.  We were just sleeping and about 6 in the morning my bed started shaking for like 10 seconds.  It was cool.  I woke up and said Elder West "hay un temblor."... and then he said, "cool" and we went back to bed for another half hour.  Sleep is very precious.

So that was my week pretty much and all is going well.  I hope all of your week is going great!  Don't forget to pray.  It really makes your days better, trust me.  It's almost Christmas too, so that's super exciting!  We have a Christmas tree in our house.  Alright, love you all! bye!

Elder Pollock

One pic is of me and Elder West eating breakfast and the other is a pic of the street, haha, cause I never take my camera out with me so I never really get pics throughout the week sorry.