So I think I’m finally starting to figure out why this
country is so beautiful. It’s the genuineness found in every aspect of life
here. The authenticity is amazingly refreshing. You can see it and feel it just
spending 5 minutes here in the gorgeous landscape, talking to these awe-inspiring
people.
For example, take our road trip to Otavalo this past Monday.
You honestly can’t help but breathe in breath after breath of culture and
tradition. We got to take a little walk down the main road of the town and then
stopped by the Plaza de los Ponchos, which is the largest market of its kind in
South America. I couldn’t help but buy a few things, of course, you know me. I
was all over the hand-woven ponchos, the colorful fabric-laced shirts, and don’t
even get me started about the panama hats! It was a delightful time and a
seriously beautiful day as the photos show.
Another example of the genuineness of this country is the Caliz
family. Hermano Richard has had a very hard life, growing up without a father,
and having to watch after his little sister who passed away tragically. And then
there’s Hermana Sondra, who is fighting as hard as she can to hold her little
family together, as she looks after her 2 small children, feeding them whatever
meager sustenance she can muster. Regardless of situation or circumstance,
these two great people always accept us missionaries into their homes, offer us
their only 2 (broken) lawn chairs to sit down in the living room, and share
something warm to drink knowing that it is cold outside and a long walk for us back
to cuatro esquinas. I love visiting them solely because, to me, with the little
course corrections that Heavenly Father is helping them make, they have turned
into an amazing, radiant pair, and an absolutely beautiful family.
There is a word in Spanish that I love: luchar. It means to
fight but more than that – more of a “wrestle with all of your strength” type
of fighting. Sometimes people here say it in regards to a struggle, like
wrestling against a situation. I really love the idea of that – I can’t think
of an English equivalent that has the same sort of meaning. Anyway, la familia
Caliz are definitely luchando. They both have left some very personal habits
behind in an effort to mend the gaps in their overall happiness in any way that
they can and their efforts show how sincere they really are. Richard amazes me
because he paints houses for work, which means he gets hit by cycles of having
money and then not having money. However, he always finds other work and never
lets his family down. He is also amazing at drawing graffiti (past life, see
above previous personal bad habits) and drew my initials in graffiti letter
font in my agenda. It’s actually one of my favorite things ever.
What am I learning in all of this? That we all need to keep
luchando. That I need to keep luchando. There really is no excuse for me to
stop. If Hermana Sondra can finish sweeping her concrete floor and turn over a
trash can to rest for a moment to listen to us, I know I can do a better job
studying my Spanish and coping in a world that lacks Sombrero’s (Mexican food
place here in San Diego). Because, truth is, I owe it to her. If Hermano
Richard can live with paint flakes on his hands 24/7 and forgot about the many
friends and family he has lost in his life enough to kindly laugh at one of my
stupid jokes, I can cope with getting up at 6:30am every day and foregoing time
with you, my friends and family, for 2 years. Because I owe it to him. Continue
luchando, my favorite people. I know you can tackle whatever is thrown your
way. And remember that there exists a wide multitude of people out here, in
this world we live in, that dream about the things we often complain about. Keeping
lunchando because you owe it to them, too. I love you all.
With genuineness,
Elder Ericksen
- Carnaval is in full swing this week and it’s crazy. Everyone is out in the streets with water balloons, eggs and this shoot-able foam (like silly string that smells like fruit and cheap perfume) being sold in stores everywhere. We bought 2 cans of course and I’ve been sprayed plenty. Kids hang out of cars and throw water, paint, and more foam out of the windows. Lots of streets are closed. We’ve seen a few people that have gotten soaked, including a girl that was thrown in a fountain. Someone threw foam at me walking to the cyber to write you all this afternoon. It’s overall crazy and should finish tomorrow!
- We have been stuck in the house because our appointments for the last 2 days fell through and it’s not good for us to be out on the streets during Carnaval. We’re great and easy targets. But it was good because I used the time to study and finished reading the New Testament.
- Life is good in Ecuador. We are moving closer to the date when we find out who is going to Colombia and if I will be staying in the new zone here. Elder Morales went to Colombia today with the church travel person to declare himself a missionary and to get his visa and stuff processed. It’s all very exciting and word is we’ll hear who will be moving over next Monday.
- What else did I want to tell you? Oh yeah, people eat chicken bones here like normal. I don’t haha. But I do eat the cartilage though. They also serve us a lot of cream soups that don’t really have flavor and we put canguil in them o sea popcorn. Not bad. We continue to eat a lot here.
- Yesterday in church we were talking about orgullo (or pride in English) and this dude who was visiting from Venezuela stood up and shared the most powerful thing I’ve ever heard about how pride has destroyed his county. Also how the church members there have been too prideful to prepare exactly how the prophet has asked them and they’re suffering because of it now. It was a life changing moment for me. It sounds like things are pretty crazy in Venezuela right now.
 |
| La familia Caliz |
No comments:
Post a Comment