So... I'm in the chapel for a baptism interview and two white people walk in. The lady had a shirt on from the boat we worked on, one of the members of the Church, they simply wanted to know at what time the meetings were Sunday. I asked them where they were from... They said Utah (big surprise haha), they then said they were from Orem also (a little cooler, not really) but THEN the man said 'wait... your name is McGinn... is your Dad our Stake President?!' Sure enough I, Elder McGinn, ran into Brother and Sister Kartchner from the 6th Ward and 8th Branch who are on the ship with the members! I quickly got a picture and WAS going to send it to you haha. Anyway, how crazy!
Mase, I'm jealous of the steaks you are eating BUT I am really happy with all the fish I've got down here. My favorite dish has to be 'Ceviche Mixto con Chifles' it's got fish, shrimp, squid, a bunch of veggies, it's hard to explain haha. I love Ceviche, Viche, Corviche, Encebollado y Carne Asada con Menestra.
I know it's a bit quicker this week too, we're off to Guayaquil 'ya mismo' (right now). We have been traveling SO much this Change, it's ridiculous. We are hardly ever in our sector, but at least we're not with the boat! That was so fun AND I bet I got you jealous with the Gun in my hand, huh Cam? We have been running from Interviews to Interchanges to Boats to Guayaquil, it's been crazy, but I love it!
It's sad to see when goals aren't met, but we still have 65 baptismal dates as a Zone for this month that is coming. As for our sector, it's tough to tell you, haha. We had 10 at church, but most of them need to get married before anything changes. We hear about fights in the home, drunks, abuse, it's sad, but they've all shown progress in coming to church yesterday. The Lord has blessed us with a few new people that are so excited and told us 'thank you for listening to us, we feel like we can trust in you and it simply feels good to have someone listen.'
That's a bit on the investigators... we have so many that listen, but not many that are acting right now. The members help us, we split up yesterday to divide and conquer our sector and 3 young men that LOVE coming with us! That helps a lot.
We have so much potential out here, I am learning so much from Elder Escalante, we laugh our heads off the whole day and I'm nervous and sad he's about out of here cause I lack so much as a Zone Leader.
Anyway, I am just having a blast! I love the mission and the key is being humble and obedient. My companion is ALWAYS correcting me in the tiniest things (Spanish or mission stuff, haha. I guess I shouldn't have told him to go for it...) but I really am learning so much. The little things really make the difference and I'm trying so hard to become the missionary the Lord didn't simply call, but who He Chose!
I want to tell you a cool story that happened this past month cause most of OUR investigators are simply hanging out haha (and that all 8 of the investigators I had in Eloy Alfaro have been baptized!) . So I taught classes of English in my last ward here in Manta. A guy came to church after everything to meet up with a friend from college who's a member. I simply got to know his name and invited him to English classes. Nothing more. The next Saturday he showed up, we taught and learned English, nothing more. The next Sunday he came to church with a Liahona and lots of questions! I pulled him aside AND HE ACCEPTED A BAPTISMAL DATE! But he lives in another ward and I simply sent him off with a baptismal date. I hadn't heard anything from him in 2 or 3 weeks until the missionaries in that ward told me that Johan Díaz was going to be baptized May 28th AND wanted me to do it!
That was such a sweet experience and made my entire mission. I have simply seen miracles here in the mission, he is one of them. I felt excited the day I put the baptismal date in my old ward, but lost it not hearing from him. But what a joy to hear that the date I put stayed AND that he wanted me to finish it off. I hope you all understood that story, I am a bit spacy right now haha. But I KNOW the Lord guides this great work and I know that He needs good, worthy, diligent servants that will obey at all times. I know that by keeping the Holy Ghost with you AND obeying it, you will be the hands of the Lord here on the earth. He needs you, He needs me, He needed Johan and Johan needed Him. Together we create the Lord's Kingdom here, He is coming, He is happy and we should be too.
Les quiero mucho, busquen la guía del Santo Espíritu, esperen las respuestas del Señor en silencio durante sus oraciones. El les guiará, les consolará, les dirá todo lo que tienen que hacer en esta vida de pruebas. Lo siento por los que no hablan español, ¡disfrútelo Jeff y los demás que los pueden hacer! No hay ninguna felicidad MAS GRANDE que sentir la aprueba del Señor personalmente.
(I love you, seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Lord answers wait in silence for prayer. Then guide them, comfort them, tell them what to do in life test. Sorry for those who do not speak Spanish, enjoy it Jeff and others that can do it! There is no greater happiness than to feel personally approved of the Lord.)
Elder McGinn
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