Week 84 - I Came...I Saw...I Conquered

Dearest friends and family,

My last week in the office ended up being an incredible one! I feel like I was able to do Quito perfectly. What I mean is: I started my service in Ecuador far away from the offices of the mission here in Quito. After that, I was sent a smidge closer but more north and east to Tulcan and then Ipiales (Colombia). Later I went to Cayambe, considerably closer to Quito, and then boom, I was assigned to a sector as close as you can get to the mission office.

I arrived here on the 16th of October, a little less than 6 months ago. I came with high hopes and lots of smiles. I learned a good amount of the city and the bus system. We did amazing things every P-day (Volcán Pululahua, Lago Cuicocha, 3 trips to Otavalo, Teleferico and hiking, Mindo twice, basketball with President Murphy, bowling, Quicentro, Centro Historico, and with so many laughs with Elders Morton, Castagno, George, Welch, Millett, Aquino, and Ross.) I learned a new skill and the huge mission responsibility of mission financial secretary. I ate new and different foods. We found, taught, and baptized various people. I spent time in the homes of amazing families (Familias Muñoz, Campo, Enriquez, Ordoñez, Rivera-Millan.) I feel like we have made a difference here in this part of the world. We were able to help so many people. I had amazing companions and felt closer to some of my best mission friends. I received a lot of counsel and learned valuable life-lessons from the direct contact I have enjoyed with President and Sister Murphy. I learned to be and feel more confident and able in the ways I communicate. We have achieved many things here. And now the time has come that I will take on a new adventure in another part of the mission.

My new sector is a place called La Tolita in the zone San Esmeraldas and my companion will be Elder Chavez. And I am so excited! I’m going back to the coast (sorry Grandma Liz). I feel ready to go. I feel pleased that President Murphy had the impression and confidence to send me here, because I know it is exactly where I’ll need to be. I was feeling a little like I wanted to leave the office and be a regular missionary, but President has asked me to be zone leader of a 28 missionary zone and that has really rekindled my fire to continue helping other missionaries as much as possible. That’s what I love most! I’m also content knowing that this is probably the last time I pack my bags and travel to a new sector. The next time I do that, I’ll be headed for a very different destination. I love the feeling that I have yet again of an unknown, undefined opportunity. It’s like a warm, yellow and red sunset on the blue horizon of a new clear day. That is my favorite! There is no one deciding what I’ll make of the next 4 months of my mission but me. Its “take 2” at the coast and I know I'm going to do it much better this time. It’s time to go, to see, and to conquer.

I relate that feeling directly to the one that I have about my future after the mission. I have a lot of decisions to make. I’m stressed thinking about it, but I am not worried. Like this one, that is just another unknown, undefined opportunity, and I’m already content thinking about how I know that I’ll go and do exactly what I need to.

Everyone, let’s look up as we press forward because life is amazing and there is so much work to get done. If you do that, you’ll get to the right place. Or maybe you won’t. Who cares, destiny is really good at giving us lots of options that end up being the perfect ones.

With lots of my love,

Elder Ericksen

Week 83 - Los Dos Marcos

Dearest friends and family,

** Warning – this is a letter about food **

I have two Quito friends named Marcos. It is different for me because we don’t have many “friends” that we aren´t teaching or that aren’t members of the Church. With that, we do talk to both Marcos about religion and about their beliefs, but they really aren’t interested in what we preach and that is totally fine. The reason we end up continuing to talk with them is because they are the owners of the two stores where we frequently buy certain life sustaining items here: 1. Argentinian Choripan and 2. Chocolate bread.

The first Marcos works at a little food cart in front of Panadería Argentina on the street La Prensa by the bus station La “Y”. (It’s a newer store and may not be on Google maps.) We have to pass through La “Y” nearly everyday traveling to and from the offices and the Argentinian bread store is also a popular place to get food for the meetings with other missionaries. Walking up, Marcos usually sees us from afar and begins to slowly pound his chest with his fist in a very “bro”-like way. I asked him why he does this and he replied that it’s because we’re all family. I loved that comment despite not understanding 100% what he meant. We have started chest pounding back. In the cart, Marcos sells various food items like salchipapas, papas-fritas, and papas con chorizo. I don’t waste any time looking at the menu when ordering because I know what I want without a doubt: a choripan. (A choripan is a sandwich of chorizo that is deep fried with Argentinian Chimichurri and mayonnaise.) It costs $1.75 and is decently filling. We eat it for breakfast quite often. I have tried to ask Marcos to teach us how he makes his Chimmichurri so good, but he refuses in fear that we are going to start our own business and steal his customers (his joke). He kind of knows what San Diego is, and talks flatteringly about California. (Parents, I have invited him to visit our house but I’m positive he’ll never make it.) He calls me vos and uses different slang. To him, the Illuminati is a real threat and Jesus was an alien, but those conversations get out of control really fast so we try to avoid talking about it. I bring all of this up because I want to say that people are truly awesome! Marcos has a wife and a daughter (we have never met them) and that is what is awesome to me – that he makes his life and provides for his family selling fast food near the bus station in Quito while making small talk to whatever stranger comes up to his cart simply because “we are all family.” He has a beard. He goes to work with t-shirts and a mate. He spends time sitting in the sun when no one is ordering food and he seems perfectly happy. I said in the beginning that he is a friend, and I really mean it. He is the type of likeable person that leaves everyone thinking that he is a really awesome guy. My description may have him seeming a little crazy, but he isn’t! We always end up laughing about something, and I always walk away hoping just a little bit more each time that he will actually come visit me someday so that you all can meet him.

Marcos number two is the rightfully proud owner of the famous store (famous at least among missionaries), Pan Especial, on the street Los Pinos right by our house. He makes croissants, sweet bread, donuts, cakes, and many things being a baker. Our favorite is the chocolate bread. Whenever I walk in, he greets us, or shouts from the back of the store “Tio!” to me because, again, we are all family. I say it back to him. Small salt breads to make sandwiches cost $0.15, but he gives us 7 for 1$ since a dollar can’t be divided evenly by 15 cents. Last P-day after soccer, we wanted 8 breads to make food for 4 people and the girl who was ringing us up at the counter wanted to charge us $1.20. I jokingly made a big deal out of “the robbery” and the tio came out from the back to come see what was happening. I loved it when he defended us saying: “My job isn’t about the money. It isn’t even about the breads. It’s about the people, the clientele, Hermano Erick.” I had the same feeling once again: people are awesome. The tio uses a little bit of foul language and likely isn’t the perfect man/father (but then again who is?) but he is hilarious, and even though he was joking that day, I could feel the sincerity in his voice. He notices when a few days pass without us coming in. He makes the best quality bread he can because he feels a responsibility to his fellow man…5 cents don’t matter to him because he knows that what really matters is that we are all family, and that everyone deserves more chances to choose to be happy.

I humbly submit that we can learn a lot from these men. We really should try to be happier. Always. Jokes and laughter are simply good. There is value in doing our best and striving to provide something valuable to society. There are many professions that can put food on the table. Personal connections with strangers can turn into amazing friendships. We all really are family. Have an excellent week.

Lots of love,

Elder Ericksen

Week 82 - Mental and Physical Leverage

Dearest Friends and Family,

Elder Aquino has started asking me quite frequently: “Hey Elder Ericksen, me puede ayudar subir unas cajitas?” Part of his responsibility is ordering the Books of Mormon we give to people interested in our message. The books come in heavy 18kg boxes containing 36 books each. These weighty boxes are delivered to our bodega in the basement of the building where the mission office is and we have to load them, 10 at a time on a dolly, up to the 5th floor for storage. His requests for help remind me that since Elder Ross has essentially taken over my finance clerk responsibilities, I have become nothing more than a body here in the office. I’m joking!

Though it may sound like it, I’m not complaining! On Wednesday, we went to the distribution center basement to retrieve our 40 boxes, and I can’t say that it did not help with my exercise goals. Hah. There are 4 obstacles in bringing the boxes from the basement to the 5^th floor: 1. the initial ‘umph’ it requires to tilt back the dolly (180 kg) so that it rolls; 2. pulling the boxes up a 15-meter ramp to exit the basement and enter the building through the parking lot; 3. boarding and exiting the building elevator to go to the 5th floor and; 4. the last umph and careful bracing required to set the dolly down without letting it crash too hard on the ground. Reflecting on this exercise has helped me to see and learn something about physical leverage and mental leverage when taking on a problem.

1. The initial umph… the dolly of boxes is super heavy! Tilting it back requires me to lean back with all of my weight to get it to roll. In life, many problems or challenges come when we’re least expecting them, and they leave us stunned and even a little disheveled in the moment. They can feel instantly heavy and a lot bigger than us. What do you have to do? Decide right away that you are going to get the problem rolling toward a better location and lean back, away from it’s weight, with all your might. Decide to change your attitude. Smile! Recognize that anything thrown your way is conquerable. Seek immediate relief through something productive. Serve someone you love.

2. The 15-meter ramp… getting the dolly rolling doesn’t mean the boxes are where they need to be. I roll it a little and then reposition to take on the ramp. The first 5 meters are easy, the middle 5 a little tougher, and the last 5 almost impossible. It’s interesting how when the dolly tilts back on its wheels, its lighter in my hands, but I arrive at the ramp it goes right back to being just as heavy as it was before it was tilted, if not heavier! The same often happens with our challenges…you get them rolling along and then, boom, you arrive at a ramp. For me, the trick to conquering the ramp is: 1. knowing that the ground will go back to being flat as soon as I crest (perseverance) and 2. not being afraid to ask for help after you have lifted as much as you can alone. (Elder Aquino often has to push as I pull up the ramp.) Be humble enough to involve others. Receiving a little push in the right direction from a friend is never a bad thing if you accept it with humility.

3. The elevator… the dolly is precisely 4 inches skinnier than the opened door of the elevator. Considering the weight, fine maneuvering is not easy, especially with the added pressure of an aggressively closing elevator door. The key here is lining up everything just right (planning) and going right for it, with haste. And this is exactly what we need to do when an opportunity arises that can help us solution a problem. Just as the elevator lifts me, and the boxes, to exactly where we need to be, there are always opportunities that can help alleviate or solution a problem. This could be taking action to forgive or to ask for forgiveness. It could be an opportunity to move to take control of things. It could be looking at the situation differently, from a different perspective. It could mean trying different things to get a different result. It could be accepting some game-changing advice. I wouldn’t be able to carry the dolly up to the 5th floor alone…the opportunity of the elevator is completely necessary.

4. Bracing for the release… once the dolly has arrived at the 5th floor, it requires a great deal of strength to let the dolly down without banging it on the floor. I must bend my knees, extend my arms and lean back with all the leverage I can muster. In that same way, once a problem is resolved, you have to continue to brace, to let things go, and move on with a perfect brightness of hope.

Just a few thoughts this week about using leverage, tools, and the assistance from others to solve a major challenge. I love you, family. I hope everyone is happy, healthy, and enjoying each new day a little more than the last.

Elder Ericksen

PS - In two weeks I’m leaving the office…I’m interested in your guesses about which zone I’ll end up in! Your choices are: Esmeraldas (the coast), Quito, Ofelia, Calderon, Otavalo, Imbabura, Imbaya, Ipiales (Colombia), or Oriente (the jungle). Let me know!

Week 81 - Living Up to Our Privileges

I’m happy to be writing. I continue to feel like I’m at the peak of my learning. And that is why I have been so happy. I know the language, I know the lessons, I love the people and I am completely accustomed to the culture. Every day I feel like God puts a new life lesson in my path to refine and shape me into the person He wants me to become.

On Wednesday night, we met with a man from Syria. He immigrated to Ecuador because of the religious persecution that he was facing in his home. Various times in the mission, I’ve met with people and had conversations with them, both of us talking in Spanish, a language that we are both learning that is not our natural first one. What I’m saying is that talking to a Syrian, in Spanish, feels kind of funny to me! Well, I guess even when we all gather on Saturday for P-day, we are a group of Americans + 1 Paraguayan and we all speak Spanish even when the Paraguayan isn’t listening.

Going back to the story, Hussein explained that he would have been killed if he had continued living where he is from. He told us that he loves Ecuador but that he feels that in Brazil he could have even more sustained success with his work, pay, and social atmosphere. He kept smiling and expressing that it was such a pleasure to meet us. I loved that so much and expressed back that I considered it the same to meet him. Not to mention, he also had an awesome beard. I also loved what he said about Brazil. Talking with him, I realized something that I had already known, but really stuck out to me this time: some people really live below their privileges. It was clear that the man we met was really living up to his. I felt so clearly the excitement he had to go out and seize every opportunity he can see for himself.

Sometimes living up to our privileges means recognizing that our surroundings are a privilege in the first place (a change of attitude). The privilege of leaving the house in the early morning during the week for whatever reason, to go outside and find beauty and people all around us…the privilege of going to work and progress toward a common goal with other people…the privilege of grocery shopping and being surrounded by an abundance of food and food choices that exists in the US…the privilege of knowing people that need our support, mentally and physically…the privilege of going to school to learn and grow…the privilege to smile. Every one of us has the privilege of meeting new people and trying to brighten their day. I’d consider this the privilege to be ‘pure in heart’. One thing that I now accept and honor as a privilege is the time I have dedicated to talking with everyone I see.

Something that many don’t think about the mission is that we don’t have any down time; there’s no time to relax. We wake up, work out, prepare for the day, and then leave the house knowing that we won’t be back until 9/9:30pm. During the day, we attempt to line up appointments with the people we’re teaching, but many times we have big gaps in our schedule when we “go out and work.” We talk with people in the street, we knock doors, we visit church members, and we strike up conversations all around town about God and His plan for us. It’s the same thing almost every day. I’ve been asked if the mission is boring or repetitive and, in the beginning, it did feel stressful. However, now I couldn’t possibly enjoy each day more than I do because I’ve learned to see our work as a privilege.

I felt that in a particularly strong way on Thursday. We went to the office, finished all our tasks early, and immediately returned to our sector to be normal missionaries. We looked down at the agenda and realized that we had about 3 hours to fill between 5-8pm when we had our next appointment. I looked at Elder Ross, smiled, and said: “let’s get to work.” We called references, we went out in the street for a bit, we met another family that needed to see us, and we eventually arrived at the appointment with just enough time to realize that they weren’t home to receive us. Right there, right then, in that precise moment, we had to decide if we were going to live up to our privilege. We sat for a moment to decide how best to use the last hour of our day, and then went immediately to the house of Mateo, another person we’re teaching to share a short lesson. I came home that night knowing that we had done all we could to make it a great productive day, and I felt so full. I love days like that.

I love you all family. Thank you for reading and supporting me. I can’t wait to hear from you.

Elder Ericksen