Ecuabits:
Today (new year´s eve) is the big crazy day in Ecuador for the new year. I remember mentioning such things as burning "año viejos" (scarecrow type dolls with masks) at midnight and people dressing in costumes… I just learned that another practice is to eat 12 grapes during the last 12 seconds of the year. We need to be in early, of course, because people can get a little crazy what with the alcohol and all.
Some other random Ecuador things that I´ve wanted to mention…So it´s perfectly normal to sell whatever you have to sell out on the street. Other than food, you commonly see sunglasses, brooms, clothes, flags, and whatever else people feel like carrying around to sell. The best is what we saw the other week. We were walking along and as we turned the corner saw a man holding a big blow-up kids pool. Then, we went up the block and saw another man carrying around an inflated air mattress. Just in case you need a kiddie pool or mattress FAST. Haha We usually turn to each other and ask, didn´t we need to buy a pool and just keep walking with bigger smiles on our faces. It cracks me up.
Thank you so much for Christmas! I loved getting to talk with so many of you on the phone, even though it wasn´t for very long. I did miss Mark and Shana, though. I´m glad to hear that the snow was not a big problem with all the traveling that was done. The snow hasn´t been too bad down here either… I just thought I´d mention that since Zac asked me about the weather in the Christmas letter he wrote. It´s typically in the 70´s everyday and had been raining about everyday (it´s the rainy season…I don´t know when it ends, though, as the natives don´t even seem sure on that. Apparently it´s a little unpredictable.), but these days it´s been getting more sunny and dry. It´s nice that we can just get together to play in a park or play volleyball because the weather is perfect. Thanks for the cards and letters, Flia Strickland and Sonnet. I did receive them, on Christmas day, actually.
So we had a surprise visit from some area Seventies the other week. Elders Pratt and de Hoyos came. Apparently the whole point was just to do interviews, because the spirit was definitely not like it was with Pres Rasband, who just came down to tell us of his love and encourage us in the work. I really loved the messages from the Elders wives, though (they spoke while their husbands were interviewing). Hna de Hoyos talked about Moses´experience learning from the Lord. She pointed out the importance of what and the order of the things the Lord taught. Then, just following the story, you can see the importance of that information and those elements of his personal testimony as he faced trials and temptations. So, read the scriptures.
Because of that visit, the mission party (the one change meeting we have as a whole mission) for Christmas was cancelled. Luckily, there are some very loving older missionaries that didn´t want to be alone or sad on Christmas. So they baked and prepared up a storm and we missionaries in Quito were invited to stop by at whatever time in the afternoon for lunch with them, complete with brownies and all sorts of treats we never see in Ecuador. It was great because they weren´t as sad missing their kids and we still got to visit and not be so homesick, either. Good deal.
Other than that, a missionary Christmas is pretty much a normal day. We had district meetings and everything, as we do every Tuesday. The one difference is that we made little "gingerbread houses" out of crackers. We were assigned to make the icing, which I ended up making at the last second from margarine, powdered sugar and water. The different part was that I didn´t have any utensils to make it, so I just squished all those things up together in a plastic shopping bag and then distributed it from there. Too bad they don´t make the shopping bags stronger…it got a little complicated when there were 5 holes in the bag. It was a first-time thing for many, and perhaps a little tough, but I think they still enjoyed it.
I´m so grateful for the Restored Gospel. We were talking about the Atonement in a special conference with Pres Shurtleff (MTC pres from MTC Colombia) Thursday and just as missionaries today. We may not understand it all, but I know that as we study it, we will come to appreciate and understand it more. The real challenge is learning to use it more effectively in our lives. That´s why I´m so grateful for the Restoration, because we would not have access to the Atonement without the Priesthood power on the earth, much less understand the true nature of the Atonement and what it is that Christ expects of us in return. I love you all so much. I love my Savior.
Have a great week!
Hna Henrichsen
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