Week 54 - Higher Motives

Dearest friends and family,

Well, Week 6 has come upon us again here in La Mision Ecuador Quito Norte and, as expected, the troops are animated and making guesses about who, to where, and how it will all take place when the call comes on Saturday night. For me it’s been an abnormal Week 6 because I’m relaxed and tranquil considering it’s near certain I will remain here in Cayambe to at least finish the training of Elder Cuevas. And I like that certainty – it means that we can stay focused and just keep on working instead of worrying about changes that may come. That doesn’t mean I’m not completely unaffected because our district will change a bit and I’m not looking forward to saying goodbye to some really good friends. I’m so blessed that I’ve been able to find awesome people who understand me and who have helped me feel infinitely more comfortable outside of my country. It’s interesting but the cultures of Central American countries more closely approximate the culture of North America, at least from what I’ve seen. I’ll never forget Elder Morales from Guatemala or Elder Hernandez from El Salvador, both of whom became great friends and strengths to me.

I’m not saying this sarcastically but rather with enormous gratitude (and I want the kids to especially listen well) but the mission really helped me realize that everything my parents ever told me is extremely important. At times it’s both sad and funny. I don’t want to give out too many details at the risk of bringing shame or embarrassment to someone - perhaps if I someday turn these letters into a book after the mission I can fill you in on all the stories using pseudonyms or something. Basically what I am trying to say is that while we are missionaries, and serving God and others is our mission, we are also people and we have to live – we all go back to an apartment, like everyone else, at the end of the day. I’m being awfully vague aren’t I? Uh, ok. Everybody…it’s important to be clean and to think about what you do, and to wash your dishes, and buy toilet paper before it runs out, and to not complain, and to be grateful for what you have in the moment, and blah, blah, lots more things…haha. Parents – thank you for loving me and for teach me all that you have and for not giving up on me when I was so stubborn.

On Tuesday morning we were out “contacting” or “tracting” as it is called in the US. To be honest I don’t like either word, I much prefer to say “finding” new people to help or teach. So we were out in an area called “Santa Marianita” which is code for “dusty little part of the countryside” about 20 minutes outside of Cayambe. We saw a kind looking gentleman who saw us while walking by and quickly put his head down and began walking away from us a little faster than he had been. I asked my great companion, who sometimes gets nervous in potentially awkward situations, if he noticed and he replied with a quiet “si”. I’ve learned to love out of the ordinary situations like this so we quickly started walking after the man and caught up to him right as he arrived at his lot. We walked up on a scene of his family sitting outside watching with 2 buff truck-driver dudes unloading a big supply of metal tubes/poles from their truck into his front yard. Some of the poles were rusty and all were oddly heavy but Elder Cuevas and I jumped in to help without asking. We learned that Senor Jose Quispe solders these poles together and then attaches tarps go over them as part of his greenhouse construction business. And we were pleased to be able to help them this particular morning but not nearly as pleased as Hermano Quispe was to learn that we were not the bill collectors from his bank, coming to collect late fees and loan payments, as he suspected we were and prompted him to heads-down flee from us. Just like I knew it would, this potentially awkward situation turned to laughter, smiles, a shared coca-cola, and brief message together with all of them. It was a great experience.

This little story has been in my mind this week because it speaks to me about what I mentioned earlier about why we do things and why we obey the rules. Maybe many children (like me), adults, and other people get caught up in moments in their life, like Hermano Quispe, where we react out of a lesser quality motivation like fear or obligation. But later in life, as we learn and grow (like when Hermano Quispe found out we weren’t there to shake him down for pocket change, but rather to help and enlighten his family), we realize it all changes when we act out of love and obey not because of fear or obligation but because of love. Let us all act/obey/react out of the highest-quality motivator: love. Let’s leave our egos at the door and enjoy success together. I promise its better this way.

With lots of affection,

Elder Ericksen

Other tidbits:

• Adam made pizzas this week with one of the local familes. If you look closely in the top most photo you can see a mini-mini pizza in the center of his hand. Adam has been requesting lots of recipes from Lisa recently and may come home with some new culinary skills
• Adam and Elder Cuevas went to the "real" Equator monument outside of Cayambe today - not to be confused with the "touristy" one closer to Quito. The days and nights are equally long, all year round, on the Ecuator.