Week 62 - Adjusting to Office Life

Dearest friends and family,

Well everyone, I’m not in Cayambe anymore. By now you’re aware I've been transferred to a new area and given a new assignment. I thought I’d use this week’s letter to fill-in the little details in fun way by talking about the differences:

• I’m no longer a district leader. I have been called to serve as the mission finance secretary. It’s very different. I work in the mission office here in Quito. I’m really only there for four days of the week because Elder Moon and I have the goal of getting our office responsibilities finished quickly so we can get back to our area to work.
• My new sector is not rural. It’s in the city and a much wealthier part of Ecuador than anything I’ve seen before. The people in the area aren’t extremely warm, but we are teaching a few of them. There aren’t any dirt roads here in my area. In fact, there isn’t really any dirty anything. My shoes don’t get dusty anymore but they will surely wear down a lot in the coming months.
• I went from one excellent house in Cayambe (the best I had seen) to an even more excellent house here in Inaquito. It’s large with several bedrooms and bathrooms. There are three showers and extra bunks to “hotel” other missionaries when they come to Quito – for example when old missionaries go home and new ones first arrive. We even have a Jacuzzi tub and an oven, which is something I haven’t seen in a long time.
• Something very new is the fact that I’m now assigned to my first gringo companion. I’ve come to know many Peruvians and Bolivians, but now I’m with a new friend. He is very smart and is teaching me well the things that I need to do and we get along splendidly. His name is Elder Moon and he is from Idaho.
• This is interesting. In the beginning of my mission I started super faraway in Esmeraldas. After that I was sent to the other extreme of the mission, even farther from Quito, which eventually included the opening of Colombia and all that fun stuff. Cayambe brought me closer to Quito and Otavalo. And now I am right here, in the center of it all. All come to us, every thing is directed to us, and we send it out to everyone else from the office. I have also loved being so close to Pres. Murphy. It’s been interesting observing how he handles different situations that come our way and I have come to appreciate and know even more just how truly qualified he is to be here, leading and guiding us in our efforts.
• I have one last point of contrast for you. We no longer have mamitas to help us with lunch and laundry and things. This is because we live pretty far away from where we work and our schedules vary so much, it would be a heavy burden to coordinate and meet needs on both sides. To compensate for this, I receive a slightly larger allowance to buy our lunch. Hearing this at first I thought it might be fatal to my diet, however that is not true at all! I’ve actually felt really good about being able to pick my lunch and when I buy there’s no obligation to eat the entire mound of rice they’ve given me like there would be when eating with our mamita. My favorite Quito restaurants so far? Tropi burger, Menestras del Negro, and Saca La Resaca.

I’m really quite satisfied with the balanced routine Elder Moon and I have set up and I feel as though we haven’t had to ignore any responsibility being a normal missionary and the finance clerk. I am happy, healthy, and learning so much. It’s a great time to be alive!

Elder Ericksen

Other tidbits:

• Today was a great P-day. We are all kind of broke so we basically just worked out a plan to go hike a hill and then we played a game called "Rocky Mountain Cricket." I’m not sure if it’s a real thing or if it’s just made up but I had an awesome time! Personally, I am really enjoying having p-day on Saturday and being with such awesome missionaries here in the office. 
• Other than that, life moves on. I’m in-charge of quite a bit and I get calls at weird times throughout the day from people with questions. Yesterday I organized a huge lunch in Otavalo and another in Quito because a general authority is coming to the mission and we want them to eat well. Logistics is kind of hard, haha. The missionaries seem to be happy because we are getting them their money on time. That has been fun. I have lots of ideas and its great talking to President and hearing his input. I know I’ve talked about this a lot, but I really respect him.
• On Tuesday Elder Moon forgot a password for a bank website and so we called and talked to some people from Bank of America in Tennessee. So that was odd, haha. I don’t know why, but when I was saying goodbye I said something like: "Have a great day and, if you can, eat some peecaan pie." I felt so dumb; it just slipped out. I was just trying to be funny. 
• Aside from being Financiero, I’m also a missionary and we are working really well in our area. We are teaching this Venezuelan man who knows the Bible better than anyone I’ve met, its crazy. We were talking about the Plan of Salvation and a question came up about where we came from before being born on Earth. I start turn pages to go to Jeremías 1:5 and before I could get there he quoted the scripture and left me pretty open-mouthed. The mission is cool. In other news, we had a lesson with a former communist from Cuba. Talk about an interesting conversation.
• Elder Chavariaga would love a tie from the USA. I don’t know if that would be possible but likes colorful and covets everyday that flowery one you sent me.
• Finally, did you see the photos of the Lady and Stalin wedding??? How amazing! I cried. Like seriously bawled. I love that family so much. (Lady is the adult daughter of the Lopez family from back in Tulcan. Lady and her sister were baptized near the first of the year followed by their parents. Adam adores this family. See Weeks 35 and 36 for more background.) Congrats to Lady and Stalin!