Week 8 - Comida, Calles, Playas y Mas

Adam visited the seaside resort of Atacames with his district today

Dear friends and family,

I am happy to say that I am writing you from a much more stable and settled frame of mind this happy Monday. I apologize for the scrambled thoughts last week and the abstract nature of my sentiments. This week I would like to share a little more detail about life here in San Esmeraldas, Ecuador. I’m going to try and organize my thoughts into categories if that is alright? Also, if anyone has a category they would like to hear more about, just send me a note.

• Food: The food here at the coast is good. There is a weird societal expectation that when someone dishes you a plate of food, you eat it all. This expectation is coupled with the social norm of preparing mounds and mounds of rice for your guests, and sometimes, it’s a challenge! However it’s a pretty good challenge to have because I get pretty hungry navigating tough terrain and tough work. Here in Ecuador we have “mamitas” that cook us big lunches. Sometimes they’re members of my church, sometimes they’re just people that like missionaries, but they’re all friendly, and make great food. I’ve had a lot of fried whole fishes, different types of chicken, some beef, lentils and lots of verdes (really, really green, unripe bananas that they bake like potatoes). They also like soup. It seems like whenever I couldn’t be any more hot and sweaty, someone will bring out a steaming bowl of soup. But they are all really, really good soups despite the fact that I can never decipher what is floating in them. My companion and I do our own breakfast, lots of eggs, yogurt and cereal. There is a panaderia about a 5-minute walk from my house that will sell me a week’s-worth of little bread rolls for a dollar. So I take those and put an over-easy egg in them for an Ecuadorian McMuffin. I have no complaints about the food. It’s all good.

• Street: The street is where I am from 10am to 8pm. Things are a little different here. First off, not many people have cars. There are only 3 parking spots at the church building and really only 1 of them (sometimes) gets used. That being said, there is still a decent amount of traffic on the main roads from taxis, buses and motorcycles. It’s perfectly normal to see a dad load up 2 or 3 kids on a little dirt bike and ride off, all of them wearing flip flops. The people in the street are generally pretty friendly – at the least willing to talk. Like I mentioned in my last letter, no one has physical glass windows so it’s pretty easy to just poke your head in and strike up a conversation about religion. I have learned so much about other religions and about other methods of thinking and it has been really good for me. I’m always pleasantly surprised how much Christian religions have in common as my testimony and faith has grown these past weeks.

• Traveling: Traveling is really interesting. To get to Quito we rode in a really sketchy bus up the steepest, windiest road I have ever seen. The bus almost didn’t make it. Traveling to Esmeraldas was another 6.5 hour bus ride. But this one was different. We were in a little bit nicer of a bus but the road was way sketchy…at the same time the view was absolutely stunning. I had my eyes glued to the real life Andes-Amazonian jungle that the roads wrapped around. It was unlike anything else I have ever seen – out of a movie. It was like the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland, except way better and real life.

• People: I love contacting people and am confident in walking up and talking to anyone but sometimes I have to turn to my companion when they respond with fast, slurred questions. The dialect is hard but I am getting used to it. Last week we contacted 80 people in 5 days and today we spoke to 31. People listen but don’t follow up. I am in a branch with about 80 people and I am giving a talk this Sunday! Tell Nick/Natty this week right as sacrament meeting was starting a dog came in, laid down under the fan, and slept the whole meeting.

• Spanish: Mi espanol esta llegando a ser major. Hola Javier y Rocio! Estoy muy emocionado a hablar con uds. en su propio lenguaje. La gente de Esmeraldas hablan muy rapido y flojo. A veces estoy confundido pero esta bien. Puedo leer y entender casi todas las cosas y tambien puedo escribir en Espanol. Pero ahora ingles es mas rapido. My goal is fluency by Christmas.

Overall it’s been a pretty good week. I love the service aspect of this and there have been lots of opportunities to serve. I’ll write on some more categories next week and, like I said, drop me a note if you have a suggestion. Everyone have a great week and remember to always have an open mind.

Much sincerity,

Elder Ericksen

Adam lives on this street in Esmeraldas - it's possible the internet cafe on the right side of this picture is the same he uses to write his emails. His apartment may likewise be in this shot.

Some other tidbits Adam shared in letters to the family and in brief email exchanges this afternoon:

• I am in a small, extremely poor area called Aire Libre. The type of place where $500 bucks could buy you anything.
• Today was a big day! We went to this touristy beach area called Atacames. It was fun.
• The water barely works and we take showers with scoops from a pitcher from buckets we fill. I am getting used to it. I have a quality filter bottle for drinking water and 90% of the time I fill it with purchased bottled water.
• I am in a dangerous area but have yet to feel threatened. We go back to the house by 8pm and I don’t bring my camera out.
• It’s a little hard having a latin companion but I can tell already it is going to turn out to be a great blessing. My rate of learning is through the roof right now.
• There’s a place call the Multiplaza that I can take a 25 min bus ride and buy normal items – Chips-Ahoy, Frosted Flakes and milk pouches. It’s undoubtedly an adventure.
• We hike up and down the hills and I’ve sat in many very dirty chairs. I am sweaty 95% of the time and I’m breaking out like the 8^th grade. What do I do?
• Laundry is a pain – we bring some of it to a member a little more than a mile away – and do some of it ourselves. In buckets. Nothing really gets clean but it’s okay. Being humbled is a difficult but needed and worthwhile process.
• Sorry if I worried you last week – I lost it a bit. Tell the kids the prayers and fasting are working – this week was a lot better.
• I love teaching and I love being out on the town. It’s incredible here, dad, I will show you one day. I am safe. I am good. I love you.

Week 7 - Hot and Sweaty in Esmeraldas

Friends and family,

So much has happened the past 10 days that I couldn’t possibly hope to share it all with you in an effective manner. So I am going to try to focus on the highlights. Traveling was exhausting and when I arrived in Quito, I had a full day awaiting me still. I pushed through the orientations, interviews, and multiple car rides where there were definitely more passengers than seat belts. After all this, my district of 14 people from Mexico and I arrived at our first night’s extremely beaten down apartment. It had beds and blankets for everyone but that is where the amenities abruptly halted. It was really small and I was happy to pack up and get out the next morning.

The next day was an exciting one, not doubt about it. They gave us some flavored-milk-type beverage (I got blackberry) for breakfast and immediately started back up with the rules and mission formalities. I was antsy to receive my first companion and first assignment, which only made sitting on those hard plastic chairs even harder. I was assigned to a companion by the name of Elder Fernandez who is from Bolivia. More specifically, Yacuiba, Bolivia if you know the area. I got assigned to a decently sized and very humble zone that is called Aire Libre in the coastal region of Esmeraldas. Try to see if you can find that on Google Maps, Nick.

First impressions…things are so extremely different than the United States, and from my home, that it’s going to take 2 or 3 weeks, or 35, to start feeling like a normal person again. I don’t know what I was expecting though. I am happy to be here, I love what I am doing, and I am finding joy in the service and the experience. But oh man, I am so far away from home.

When I walked into the apartment that will be staying in for at least the next 12 weeks, I was taken aback by the smell of iron / metal and the bathroom. We didn’t have water that day apparently and when there’s no water, there’s no flushing toilets. I’ve come to learn that water will show up eventually, the key is just guessing what 3 hour window it will come. And when it comes we fill up buckets for showers and dish washing. We also buy big jugs at the store – don’t worry I am safe and alive. I am just transitioning. Another thing that has set me back is the humidity. Most of the sleeping arrangements through the church thus far have included a blanket. But not here; it was just a dirty mattress with an even dirtier pillow. But you don’t need a blanket here because it is very hot. You also don’t need a glass window here. In most of the houses, including mine, there is just a hole with a metal frame to keep out intruders and most of the mangy stray dogs. Therefore I have a mosquito net around my bed that has been working pretty well. I’m extremely thankful for that. You know, I’m also extremely thankful for my apartment; don’t allow my words to misconstrue your perception of my feelings. Out of the other casas in Esmeraldas, ours is definitely one of the nicest. We have tile floors instead of concrete which means I can flop around in my flip flops instead of close-toed shoes.

Another thing that has been setting me back is the language. In Bolivia they must speak the same type of Spanish as they do in Esmeraldas. They speak bien rapido, and truncate all of their words in random ways. What I am trying to say is that my “superior” (sarcasm) Spanish skills have been rendered completely useless here with my companion and all of the other people that live by the coast. It’s been frustrating not being able to talk with anyone in this country but I am staying faithful. And I do get better every day. My first lesson – I’ve taught maybe 12-13 in 5 days – my first was at the top of this steep, dirt hill. We were knocking on doors of really run down apartments and for this one door, a super buff, tattooed man opened and greeted us coldly. But he invited us to sit at his make-shift table and we began teaching, asking some questions to get to know him better. After saying my best attempt at an introduction, I reached out my hand to shake his. Something caught the sunlight and glistened…his brass knuckles! And, in that moment, I forgot every Spanish word I had ever learned. The following lessons were much better and only keep getting better. I love teaching, it’s the one thing that gets my mind off of negative moods.

Every once in a while I catch a reflection of myself in some glass or a car window. And I see a really sweaty, 18-year-old kid from California, with a black shoulder bag and a black name tag, surrounded by dirt, rocks, cinderblock houses, trying to speak Spanish. It’s in those moments that I feel like it’s all a dream and soon I’ll wake up and jump out of bed and go hug my parents. But this isn’t a dream. This is real, this is my reality, and now it’s time to go to work. Only 97 weeks left. I hope that anyone who will have the opportunity to read this letter will have an amazing week, and know that they mean a lot to me - when I feel lonely and when I feel happy.

Much affection,

Elder Ericksen

In addition to the letter, we were able to trade a few brief emails on more specific questions:

• Esmeraldas is extremely poor and extremely hot and I’ve been having a pretty rough time. All dirt floors and cinderblock houses. They speak extremely fast, extremely lazy Spanish that I really can’t pick out any words. It is so frustrating and isolating not being able to talk to anyone.
• Three missionaries from my MTC district were sent to the area but aren’t in my district so I don’t know how they are doing. Esmeraldas is the hardest area and not very many missionaries get to see this part of the mission - they usually only send Latinos. I consider it a compliment to be sent here.
• We have a Zone Conference on Thursday and I am so, so excited. I did meet this one guy named Elder George from a different district and we got to talk for like 15 minutes. First conversation I’ve had since I got here.
• The apartment is really dirty. We have tile floor and a small bathroom. All I want to do is clean the whole thing but my companion doesn’t really care too much. It’s good though.
• We do laundry in a bucket. It is the hardest work. My face is always greasy and I bought some baby wipes today. There are dogs everywhere…strays.
• Yeah, I am in a very, very dirty internet cafe. There are bugs everywhere and there are bugs all over everything in my room.
• The food is really good. Coast food is the best food. It’s a lot of soups and rice and fish. The weirdest thing so far…they serve up this delicious fish thing called Marisco and I love it. But you eat the scales and the head. I don’t know if fishes have brains or not but, if they do, I definitely ate it. I’m too scared to eat the eyeball though. They also take green, hard plantains and use them like potatoes in soup and French fries. It’s weird.
•  I am getting hit pretty hard with the negative emotions – mostly from the isolation and not being able to talk to anyone. I just have so much time on my own and can’t understand anything. I am doing well and I don’t want you to worry in the least, I just need to vent a little bit.
• I love you so much, family. Thank you for your support, truly. I miss you and love you. Goodbye.
  
  
  We didn't get any photos this week but here are some screen shots of Adam's neighborhood - thanks google street view.
  
  
  With just a little time on Youtube, I found this panorama of the area where Adam is currently serving.
  
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQTCZmqYjWI
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Week 6 - I Arrived!

Hello family!

I am happy to tell you all that I am safe in Ecuador. I am extremely exhausted and have been awake for like 36 hours. Right now I am emailing you from the computer of President Murphy. The mission home is incredibly nice and I cannot wait to show you all these photos. Way nicer than I think you could imagine. I have learned so much today. I am already worrying about the emailing situation because I only get an hour of computer time here just like the ccm but now I also have an obligation to write a weekly letter to President Murphy. I have no idea how I am going fit in all my computer wants. That being said, things are good. I am finding that Ecuador has completely different kinds of stresses and challenges than I had in the CCM. Essentially I am back to day one. But it is good. I am happy and in a very good place. I love you all so much and I cant express how much I miss you. I find out my companion tomorrow along with my first area. Wish me luck!!!! Again I love you guys. Make this week a great week okay, for me! Its time for dinner and it smells absolutely amazing. I really like the murphys! I have to go.

Elder Ericksen

Missionaries arriving

Adam with President and Sister Murphy

Dinner at the Mission Home

Adam and his new companion

Ready to serve!

Week 5 - My Last Week in Mexico

Hello friends and family,

Happy Wednesday!  I am writing you all from the midst of a very busy P day. Already this morning, I have done a weeks worth of laundry, eaten two meals, completed a mock pack and weighed all of my luggage, went to the CCM tienda, and even got a haircut! It isn´t even 1 o´clock yet, and despite the busy nature of today, I have been lucky to find some time to reflect a little bit about my experiences thus far, and to think ahead about the adventures that await me in Ecuador. I am really starting to become very excited about leaving! I retrieved my travel plans yesterday, and that really only fueled the flames. 

This coming Monday night, I will be going with my district to the reception/meeting place in the CCM at 9:50 PM. We will load up onto a bus and then head for the Mexico City airport, saving time to check in and navigate the Spanish hallways. I will be flying on a plane that departs at 1:28 AM, with an airline called Avianca, to Bogota, Columbia. After a 90 minute layover I will get on another plane that should have me arriving to Quito, Ecuador at about 10 AM. I know that it will be one exhausting day, but I can´t help being incredibly enthusiastic. It only makes things sweeter that I will be flying with all the guys that I have bonded with over the last 6 weeks here in Mexico, since we will all be going to the same mission.

I mentioned that today has been a day of reflection. If I had to sum up the last 38 days away from my family and friends, it would be: change. Although, don´t take that in a negative connotation. Change is the catalyst for growth and improvement. I have grown in so many ways and in so many ways that I would have never expected. I have grown in my ability to live alone. I have grown in my confidence to adapt to challenge and hardship. I have grown in the Spanish language. I have grown in my people skills and sociability. I have grown in so many important and amazing things. It is becoming quickly apparent to me that these growths are just little sample size doses of the type  of person I will be for the rest of my life. And I kind of really like that.

Also, I have found that the key is to embrace the changes. I have been so much happier and more content as I have stopped resisting so strongly the improvements, and started welcoming them, as I cope with the help of God, my friends here, and the letters from the loved ones back home. I encourage you all to embrace your life´s alterations as you finish out a great week! Life is good! Don´t ever forget that.

Much Affection,

Elder Ericksen

District E

Missionary ready

Light skinned haircut face for Kanoa

Missing the Gym

Mega Desk.  Be careful Elder

Flooded Laundry Ooops

Week 4 - MTC Routine

Hello Friends and Family,

Can everyone imagine a semi-nice Italian food restuarant - the kind where they bring you out a little dish of oil and vinegar before your meal? Well, have any of you ever wondered what would happen if someone were to pour that little plate of bread garnish into a glass and drink it in order to preserve their manhood and pride? Keep reading to find out...

Today, what I really wanted to do this week for my letter home, is to zoom in a little more into the life of a missionary at the CCM. Our days here are full, from 6:30AM to 10:30PM, every hour with something to do in our preparation for the field.

In the mornings, we arise early and get ready for the day (Brushing teeth, showers, classic missionary-white-shirts). After that we head off to breakfast. The food is pretty good for breakfast, and recognizable - french toast, pancakes, eggs, Mexican food items with lots of potatoes. Sometimes they serve up dishes that definitely aren´t meant for breakfast (enchiladas, rolled tacos, deli sandwiches) but no one ever complains about that. After breakfast we head off to our first block of classes. We study Spanish, the Bible and Book of Mormon, and we do lots of practicing teaching. We work from 8-1230.

After that is lunch. We are all usually pretty hungry at this time of day and it is a place of many jokes and fun memories. Almuerzo is the time when Elder Palmer decided he was going to follow through with the dare to drink the oil and balsamic, that poor fellow. He lost a game of "would you rather" and immediately sighed as he consigned to his fate. Right when he slammed the glass of substance he retched hard three times and grabbed for a pile of napkins, breathing into them trying to hold it down. After the first 10 seconds of nausea, he just stared down at the tray in front of him for a good 90 seconds  making a face as if his soul had left his body and was slowly reentering his being. We are all happy he is still with us.

After lunch we migrate back to the class for the same block of classes, except with a different teacher and subjects. Another funny moment happened this week when we were practicing some Spanish skills through an activity of teaching one another a lesson about Joseph Smith and his life. We do this often, and have many aliases for our various role playing. In this particular lesson, Elder Palmer decided that his alias for the investigator of the church he was playing, was going to be Joseph Smith himself. I am sure you all can image how quickly things frustrated and then unwound as Elder Christensen tried to teach a lesson about Joseph Smith to... Joseph Smith. Oh man we have way too much fun here.

After this is dinner, which is always great. There has never been a time where I have showed up to the comedor and not found something that I enjoy eating. Tamales, tacos, rice, beans, chicken of various kinds, the best watermelon ever, its all delicious.

When dinner is over we either have more Spanish classes or some kind of uplifting devotional. The devotionals are always great and on Sundays they even show us some church movies! Its always exactly what I need after a long day of learning. This past Thursday we were favored with a fun presentation for the Mexican Independence day. They brought in some dancers of many varieties and had a live band! After we got to watch some fire works from our dorms.

All in all life is pretty good here at the CCM. Each day gets shorter and I am beginning to get so excited for Ecuador. I hope all is well back in the states and you all have a lovely rest of your weeks.

Elder Ericksen

Week 3 - Always Try Your Best

Hello friends and family,

I am happy to be emailing you all from half way through week 4 of 104 total in my two year mission! This past week was a really great week with lots of triumphs. There is so much to talk about however I think I would like to spend the meat of this letter home on a slightly humorous story.

 Okay, imagine this... A group of 60-70 missionaries reporting to "service hour" in the middle of the day with no real idea of we´ll be doing for the next hour other than the fact that it will involve serving someone or something. We all arrived happily to the location outside the MTC tienda  where we expected to find the person in charge, with more information about where to go or what to do to move along the chores of the MTC.  When we arrived, we walked up on a small-framed, smiling Mexican fellow who was on a 6-speed bicycle in a working uniform with a clipboard in hand. 

All of a sudden, to everyone´s surprise, he blurted out some rapid spanish, turned the bike around and booked it off through the campus. All of the American elders (about 20% of the group of workers) rightfully confused, looked around at each other and then decided that we had no other choice but to race after the unpredictable bike man. After a good 5 minutes of some hard chasing, we arrived at our intended location - the MTC water tower - that was surrounded with a plethora of empty water jugs. We confused Americans got a good 3 minute split time on all of the native, spanish speaking missionaries, so when we arrived out of breath, the man motioned us over off to the side. 

At first we all thought that he was just separating us into spanish-speaking and non-spanish-speaking missionaries for ease of giving instruction. But then, once everyone had gathered, very similarly to the last time he spoke, he yelped out some more slurred Español and again we all looked around in confusion.

It wasn't until the one native companionship in our section turned around and exclaimed, " We´re done! He said we´re done!!" that we really realized what had happened. Apparently, the unknown hermano told us that who ever got to the service activity first, would be let go, off the hook! All of us white kids faced each other for the third time of the day, except for this occasion it wasn't driven by confusion, it was to cheer in pure excitement! We soon realized soon after shouting out that it was not a very good idea to make our inner joy known, considering we were surrounded by all the kids who would still have to do the chores and fill up water jugs for the next hour. 

Extremely cheesy moral of the story: Always try your best, and always give your all to anything you are engaged in, even when you don't understand the process or the final outcome of a work. This is just one story of many that have taught me this on my mission, and I am so incredibly blessed to have learned this so early on in my time out here. I urge you all to do your best in all your endeavours, because I have learned that a certain peace of mind, a self-respect, and a self-confidence comes when we sincerely give all to our efforts. I have been able to apply this to my spanish classes, my teaching instruction, and even in all my relationships here. Things are good in the CCM and I hope that you all have a lovely week. 

I would also like to extend a sincere gratitude to everyone who has written me and sent me prayers throughout my days here.

Until next week, 

Elder Ericksen

 The bus ride

 Tag picture

Treat bag

Week 2 - The Water Incident

Hello friends and family,

September 7, 2016

I am just sitting down at the computer after a very full day of travelling to the temple! The Mexico City temple was a really special experience that brought me much joy and peace. 

Im realizing that in life, many things are all about perspective - frames of mind in which we perceive the world around us. One great blessing of my mission is that I am constantly getting opportunities to reevaluate my perspective about my life and about the events taking place around me. In our comfort zones as humans, we tend to stay in pretty steady frames of mind and perspectives. However, being a missionary, being far away from home, learning a new language, and constantly being persuaded to the edge of critical thinking and comfort, gives me a million different opportunities of refreshment... every day, every hour, even every minute! This has been a huge blessing and I can feel myself growing as a person and stretching in my personality. I am realizing more and more that all I have to do is figure out a way to sift through all these different lenses of my world and just pick out the ones that are beneficial to me. 

 Some things that I have learned the positive perspective of at the CCM. 1. Elder Baumgarter drinking 4 full liters of orange juice and then washing it down with another full liter of water! We all thought he was going to explode, but he didnt! And when he pulled out of the sugar coma in a few hours he shot us all a smile and promised to do it again. 2. Waking up to broken pipes and no water coming into our dorm. This has happened 3 times since I have been here and the perspective it has taught me very fast is that it is a real reason of excitement and joy when warm water comes out of my shower head when I want it to. 3. Learning a new language. Sure it can be difficult when someone asks me a complex question in Spanish. However, it is a true blessing when I can communicate the simple and necessary things to the Spanish speakers around me. 4. When the Mexican people shoot off fireworks all day and all night long. This has been a real treat for me because it has gotten me really excited for the Mexican Independence day that is coming in a week or so! It also has led me to really appreciate when I sleep all the way through the night, and that is happening more and more. 5. Spending some time in the enfermedad with my companion. The perspective this has taught me is that I am very thankful that I take care of my feet and dont have massive, ripped-open, 3 inch tall blisters in my soles like he does. It also is a good reminder that the missionaries get good medical care in the CCM and we all are blessed for that.

In all seriousness, this week has been one of triumph. Everyday I get a little better in teaching. Everyday I get a little better of a handle on the pesky emotions that can be a tad solemn at random times. Everyday I grow a little closer to the guys in my district as we laugh, smile, and succeed together. And everyday I get a little more excited for Ecuador, where Ill be departing for in 3 short weeks! 

I miss all of you lots and I have been so incredibly thankful for the messages I have received through the emails and letters. Please everyone have an amazing rest of the week and remember to be thankful for the many things we tend to take for granted in our day to days.

Much affection, 

Elder Ericksen