Week 73 - Cha...Cha...Cha...Changes

Dear family and friends,

So this computer apparently doesn’t have the ability to connect to my camera. Oh Ecuador, haha.

Well, I survived crazy week and the 4 trips to the airport! I didn’t sleep at all on Monday night. We also had a zone meeting on Friday and I got to meet some great new people. Elder Morton got transferred to the coast to be a trainer – the mission needs great trainers right now. I think we were all pretty sad about his departure and the office will be different without his constant, calm and happy presence. I am grateful for everything he taught me and will miss him. But the news wasn’t all bad because his replacement is Elder George! Remember how he basically saved me, a genuine friend and lifeline at a time in my life when I needed it most, back at the coast when I first arrived in Ecuador? Well I couldn’t be happier that he’s now in the office with us and I am really going to enjoy the next 3 months here in Quito.

As part of the changes, I transferred to a new sector called “La Luz” which is a solid 10-minute walk from my previous sector “Inaquito”. I essentially cover the east side of the one main street that runs north-south through Quito – La Luz is on the east and Inaquito on the west. Despite being close, I am in a new house; a new ward and I have a new companion, Elder Aquino, from Paraguay. He’s a little bit younger in the mission than me and anxiously awaiting his one year mark in a couple of weeks. He has great people skills, is open and warm, and we get along excellently. I now live in the “hotel house” which is where I stayed my first night in Ecuador. I like my new sector there’s more humble people, lots of refugees from Venezuela, and I’ve really grown to love Venezuelanos…so receptive and friendly. There’s also a lot more food in the streets. J My favorite is Choripan with jugo de caña. So, so good! We are also working with a family from Colombia that is really cool.

I had a really nice p-day. We spent the morning relaxing a bit in an effort to recover from crazy week. After that we went with the other office elders to an Argentine grill… super, super good food. This afternoon we plan to go play tennis in this park call Parque Carolina with some rackets borrowed from the Murphys. Parque Carolina is this really big, beautiful park. If you have the interest to google map it. Be sure to also check out the Quicentro shopping center – it’s a nice place in the city and was in my old sector.

I love you all a lot. You’re my favorite people and I can’t wait to read your letters.

- Elder Ericksen