"What's up Homies!?"

Hello hello my friends, family, and homies!

I made it through my first week up here in Tulcan! All the members in my old ward who told me that Tulcan was cold, weren't kidding! Every day up here I dress like its fall or winter in Colorado and I  sleep with a heating pad! I walk the streets of what I would call a "mini city" and talk to new people everyday about the gospel of Jesus Christ! It's an adventure!

The streets of Tulcan!

The View

As I mentioned last week, I have a native companion now (who speaks no English) thus I speak Spanish all the day long!  But, we've also been working on some English phrases! So far, she has mastered, "what's up homies?" (a classic phrase by Hermana Leonard), "you're kidding me" and she's still working on "sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite" (that one's my favorite). The best is when we are with members or people we're teaching and she proudly says to them, "I've learned a few sentences in English like: what's up homies!" haha, I feel slightly bad every time because she probably thinks I taught her a super common phrase we all say in English, but hey, she loves it and it's so fun to hear everyone repeat what she said in their latino accents..."what's up homies" so proud that they, too, now know some English... good times!

My companion--Hermana Oloya!

Enjoying some crepes!

The people here in Tulcan are much different than those in Quito! A lot of people in my old area where pretty closed off to our message, but here it feels like everyone wants to listen! I'm not sure which is more overwhelming haha! But really, it's been fun to see the change in people's reactions when we ask them if they would like to learn more. Living circumstances are much more humble here, as we are on the border of Columbia, and we talk to a mixture of different people every day. One experience this week was super great in particular. One day I was feeling kind of down, and like I really didn't want to talk to people. Next thing I knew, a younger lady sat next to me at a bus stop and I felt I needed to talk to her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I started up a conversation with her, this young mom with her little boy, and she was very nice as she told me about her job and how she was living away from her family in Venezuela. As we talked, my spirits lifted and I felt God testifying to me that this is where I need to be, helping His children. I continued to talk with her on the bus, showing her the Book of Mormon and explaining what it is a record of, and overall I was so grateful that I had opened my mouth. It was such a testimony to me that God places people in our path, both for their good and for our own.

Another interesting experience this week was with a man we met while walking down the street. He asked us where The Church we represented was located and what time we meet. He shared with us that he drives Semi-trucks for a living and so he moves every week or so, but he always finds one of our churches to go to on Sunday (awesome!). We showed him where the church was, and set up a time to meet with him the next day after church. After we parted ways with him, I told my companion I felt he needed to become a member of the church, and be baptized... THIS Saturday! I felt like God was telling me, if he was going to be moving every week, but faithfully going to church every week, he needed to receive the blessings of being a member. As crazy and scary as it might have been, the very next day (Sunday) we asked him if he would be ready to be baptized the following Saturday! He believes this church is Jesus Christ's church and he told us he'd give us an answer this Tuesday! Who knows what he'll decide, but to me, it's just another testament that God puts people in our paths!

Our church building

Our District

I love you all so much and pray for many of you often. I pray this week we will all continue to experiment with the Atonement of Jesus Christ and all it's power: enabling, forgiving, and saving. I know my Savior lives, I know God has a plan, and I know God loves His children. Until next week, sending love from up here in freezing Tulcan, Ecuador:)

Hermana Leonard