...And A Happy New Year!

Wow! "So little to do, and so much time to do it! Scratch that, reverse it." So many things happened this week!

First of all, Christmas. It was AWESOME to get to talk to my family. But I didn´t even shed a tear... Cold hearted, or just having too much fun in Ecuador? ;) Then that night, my companions and I had to be in our house at 6PM, where we ate some food on our balcony, sang some songs, and just chilled in the house. The rest of the world here in Ecuador started their festivities at midnight, where they eat a huge dinner and dance the night away. Even the families. The traditions here are whacked out. New Years should be even more interesting... They all burn "Año Viejos" in the street at midnight to start the new year, then drink for like 3 days. I´ll be sure to send pictures, mostly of the año viejos, but maybe of some borrachos too ;)

So this morning at 3 AM, I left Aurora to be transferred again to Guayaquil. Here I am, in the sector next to where I was before. It´s called Las Acacias. My companion´s name is Hermana Ureta and she is really chill. She´s from Peru. We live in a house with 2 other missionaries again, but this time they are missionaries who work in a different ward. My companion says that this sector is really hard to work in because the members don´t really help very much, but I take that as a challenge ;) It´s a lot hotter here than I remember, but I know that this is where the Lord needs me to be right now, working with these people here. I´ll keep you updated, friends, family, and future missionaries! (because I know now that some of you reading this on my blog are future missionaries who are coming to my mission... I´ve had like 3 people come up to me and tell me they´ve been following my blog before they came here, haha! Lovin it. Read away, future greenies!)

Heavenly Father is here to help. He is our Loving Father. He rejoices when we choose the right, and offers His hand when we stray from the path. Pray to Him, and He will manifest Himself to you.

Love,

Hermana Busath

I have so many pictures to send home from Christmas Week! And what a wonderful week it was. Here are the pictures, with an email to follow. They´re in reverse order from when they actually happened... and next week I´ll have to inlude pictures of New Years, which is going to be CRAZY in the street. Until then... Enjoy!!

¡¡FELIZ NAVIDAD DE ECUADOR!!

-A little shot of what my sector looks like. I seriously love Machala.

-Hermana Jiménez and I after talking to our families on SKYPE!!! WAHOO!!!

-Hermana Mosley and I had a little photo-shoot... 
definitely not going to include the other pictures we took. 
Embarrassing.

-I was a sweaty mess, but there´s a picture of us in front of our 
Arbol de Navidad on Christmas day. 
It was like 200 degrees outside on Christmas! 

-The 4 of us goofing around on Christmas  :)

-The four of us in our apartment all wore pink one day without planning it! 
Too bad it wasn´t Wednesday... (Mean Girls reference) 

 -The headband and earrings I bought for myself for Christmas! I also bought new shoes, 
which I desperately needed. Thank you to all who helped me to buy those!
What wonderful Christmas presents :)

 -The last picture I took with Hermana Jiménez before I got transferred. 
I love her!

-A little shot of a part of Aurora at night. The sky is always hermoso!

-A really delicious fruit that I love to eat, but looks like unhatched baby aliens.

-Here´s what the bathrooms in Machala are. If you thought outhouses only 
existed in the olden days, think again... 
And this one is nice compared to others I´ve had to use... 
Or had to not use... haha

-I found my sister Ali´s favorite word in the dictionary.

-VIVA LA AURORA!

Feliz Navidad!

{Sorry, this is a few days late. We got to talk to Angela on Christmas day. If I can figure out how to put some of what we recorded on Skype here, I"ll do it. She is doing well, she is very happy and loving her mission!}

Hallo! Guess who gets to have a little face-to-face contct with the good ´ole U S of A in 2 days! Wahoo!!! I`m getting really really excited for that. And I don`t know how it is for the missionaries over there in the states, but here in Ecuador we have to be in our house at 6:00 on December 24, December 25, and December 31 because the streets are really dangerous on those nights. So we`re gonna be partying in the house with us 4 missionaries! Woot woot!

So this week was SO hot. It`s a good thing I like the heat... But even still, I was dying. And we had some pretty great experiences the last week. So we come across a lot of people every day that are really religious and when they see us, they come up and start talking just to preach to us and tell us what`s wrong with our religion. Welllll, on Saturday this one man started explaining to us that Jesus drank wine with His disciples, so it`s a sin not to drink alcohol. He flat-out told us we were sinning for not drinking. Loco. There`s always a first time for everything!

Well we`re just loving it here. My companion Hermana Jiménez is so sweet and awesome. She`s really humble and has so much love for everyone we talk to. She`s a lot more homesick than I ever was, but then again, in reality I hardly missed my family much haha (sorry mom). I think the fact that I lived away from home at college before my mission really helped with that. In central and latin america, almost everyone studies while living at home, and then everyone marries someone from the town they live in, and the all live on the same street. I think there are like 2 families in our ward who aren`t related to the rest of the families in one way or another. But I`m really glad that I can travel around and have experiences away from home and feel comfortable wherever I am :) Thanks mom and dad for helping me with that!

Not much else to report... I`m just loving it here! I`ve spent the majority of my mission here in Aurora, so I really really love it here. The ward is like my Latino Family. This Christmas will be one to remember. I am so grateful that I get to spend one Christmas in complete service to my Heavenly Father and my Savior, Jesus Christ. I am hoping that this Christmas will help me gain a greater appreciation for all that I have and help me realize why we celebrate this day every year. Although I will be in a different hemisphere from my family this year, I am going to use this unique once-in-a-lifetime experience to understand more in-depth the Atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ and to look for all the blessings He has blessed me with. No matter where you find yourselves this Christmas, I invite you all to do the same.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Love to all,

-Hermanita Busath

{We thought we were recording the whole conversation, but turned out we weren't, so we got a couple of recorded clips at the end of our call. The first one she is speaking Spanish with Mike as he is asking her different questions, then she is expressing her testimony in Spanish and the second is a continuation of her testimony.}

Rapido!!

(She had many emails to answer this week, so had little time to write the general email. She apologizes.)

Rapid-fire highlights:

-We had a Christmas Choir Devotional this weekend. It was awesome! We sang as missionaries (I got a video, which you all won`t be able to see until I get home, haha), and there was a choir of 6 missionaries that played the violin, piano, flute, and sang. It was so beautiful.

-We left for Guayaquil this morning at 3AM so that we could take care of my companion´s VISA stuff. Definitely feeling the tiredness hit me!

-Hermana Jiménez and I are really becoming such great friends. I love her so much. It`s been such a blessing to be able to train her, and I know she is going to be such an awesome missionary becuase she loves every person she talks to so much. She`s a really great example to me.

-We`re getting geared up for Christmas here in hot Aurora! We`ve got a Christmas Tree made of paper all decorated on our wall in our apartment. I`ll take a pic and send it next week. And I can`t wait to skype with my family!! WAHOO!!!

I hope we`re all remembering the reason we get to relax and celebrate with family this time of year. I know that my Savior lives, and that His sacrifice makes it possible to be with our families for eternity. What greater gift could we receive than forgiveness of our errors and life eternal with our family? Jesus Christ made that possible for us becuase of His infinite love for us. May we all show our love for Him by thinking more in others this Christmas Season than in ourselves. I love you all very much!

Okay, no time for more. More to come next week :)

-Hermanita Busath

Picture:

-A cute kid in our ward with his favorite toys, made by him and his brother from boxes of food.

Happy 6 Months!!

Howdy y´all! Oh, I mean, Hola amigos!

It`s been another great week here on the equator! My querida companion enjoyed her first baptism this week! It was really great. His name is Roberth Malla, and his mom and sister were baptized about 3 months ago when I was here in Aurora with Hermana Cambal, but they were baptized with another set of missionaries who were living with us. Their family is very humble and I love them so much. It was a beautiful baptism :)

Other than that, Hermana Jiménez and I have just been livin it up! The other day, she saw a picture of me before the mission, and literally gasped. "Is that you??" The people here are a little blunt when it comes to a person`s weight... She was appauled at how different I look now. I will probably be enrolling in the "Six Weeks to Slim" program in the last transfer of my mission, where all the missionaries work really hard to get back to their original weight. Who knew that a pound of rice every day would do this to a person?? ;)

Other than that, the mission is treating me really well. It continues to be really hot here and the rain is starting soon, so that should be fun. I`ll include pictures. Also, I`ve learned more about the basic principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ than I even knew was possible. It`s truly incredible what Jesus Christ was able to for us, and what He is able to do for us now. He loves us so much and His purpose is our happiness. I know without any doubts that through living what He has taught, we more happiness than we thought was possible, especially with the difficulties and problems that we all face in our lives. 

I really love being a missionary. The time has flown by so fast. This week on December 5 I completed 6 months here! Does it seem that long to you all? I still remember the day I left my family in the airport literally like it was yesterday. One more year, and I`ll be seeing you all again in the airport :)

See you soon! :)

-Hermana Busath

 Roberth and his family, the one who was baptized this week (YAHOO!!) (he`s the guy on the right)

A couple funny ones of Hermana Catmull and Hermana Mosley at the baptism

 Sister Mosley

All 4 of us eating Subway today in our apartment that a guy in our ward bought for us

Sister Jimenez, me, and Roberth`s little sister

 A funny one of me that I took while my companion was writing her family because I forgot to bring my journal to write in and didn`t have much else to do, haha

Another Great Week!

Hola!

Another great week here in Aurora! We had stake conference here this week, so President Torres came and gave an awesome talk again about missionary work. He is so awesome. His words really helped in getting the members to participate in the missionary work.

Mija (mi hija) Hermana Jiménez is so wonderful! She is always so happy and cheerful, and she brings such a great, loving spirit to every home we visit.

This week, we´re looking forward to the baptism of Roberth Malla! His mom and sister were baptized when I was here before, but with the other set of missionaries. Now he is ready to be baptized as well. It`s amazing how the Lord leads us as missionaries to the homes where people are ready and waiting to have the change in their lives that the Gospel brings.

This morning I was reading the talk "For Peace at Home" by Richard G. Scott. I`m giving everyone homework this week-- read that talk! It is so absolutely wonderful, and I know that by living the principles mentioned there, each and every one of you will have more happiness in your own lives and in your families. Our Heavenly Father lives and watches over His children, I know that without a shadow of a doubt. His purpose is to help us to find happiness in this life, and return to live with Him after we die. It`s through the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we can receive these blessings from Him. That is the way He blesses us-- through our obedience to the teachings of His Son. Take 5 minutes to read and ponder the message from His servant, Elder Scott. I promise you, you won`t regret it. And if you do, well, write your complaint in the suggestion box :)

Love you all!  Have a fabulous week!

Hermana Busath

Pictures:

-My new companion and me on the bus! Hermana Jiménez is so awesome.

 -What I did with the skeleton my mom sent me for Halloween....

 -I got the lady on the bus from Guayaquil to Machala to play The Testaments, an hour-long awesome church movie.So everyone travelling from Guayaquil to Machala that day got a little spiritual-upliftment! haha

 -My friend Hermana Schiller and me at the temple to together last week. She is from Chile and is so awesome.

 -Hermana Jiménez and me with our friend, the skeleton