The Update in Ecuador

Hello everyone! I hope this past week has been great for you all! This week it was blistering hot in Ecuador! I mean, that is very obvious but still. This week was so good! We have been working a family of 5 this week and they went to church with us and we have been talking about baptism with them and they understand the importance del baptism y want a lot of time to prepare. But we are hoping that they will be prepared for the 25th of this month! 

So this week our Mission President came and visited us! He just showed up during one of our meetings and he let us ask him questions about the mission to help our investigators. I asked him how to help people feel more prepared for baptism because of the family that we are working with right now and he gave me such an incredible insight. He told us that if we really want to help people feel prepared for baptism we need to listen to the prayers that the say with us. Because we can tell when they have a desire to learn more and be prepared when they say prayers that are sincere and say the things in their hearts. And that had me thinking so much about my prayers. Are my prayers the same every time I say them personally or are they sincere? Because we teach people how to pray and the importance that prayers are sincere but how often do we not do that personally. Because our Heavenly Father hears all of our prayers and answers them, and how many times do we say simple and quick prayer because we don’t have time or the motivation  to say a prayer that expresses how we really feel to our Heavenly Father?  

And during this week I noticed a huge difference in this week when my companion and I took to the time to say our prayers personally and together to say prayers that are sincere and we worked better together and had a better week! And that is the invitation for you all this week. Is every time you say a prayer to not just say something super basic, but to express every thing that you are grateful and all of your concerns or questions you have to our Heavenly Father and I promise you will have notice the blessings from Him more. 

Thank you all for the support and love! Keep on being great everyone! I love you all! 

-Elder Pincock!

Ecuador, Guayaquil Oeste

Buenas Tardes! 

This passed week has been great! We have found new families to teach and have been working with 2 people getting them ready for a baptismal date this month! With everyone that we have been finding to teach they all have told us their concerns about joining a church and being a faithful member of the church. and with their concerns I was searching in the Book of Mormon for something to help them resolve the concerns. And I found something that helped them all and I want to share what I found with you all too. So Everyone grab your Book of Mormon and open to 3 Nefi 13:31-33.

So in verse 31 Jesus Christ was telling his disciples not to worry or think about worldly things. For example, what to eat, what to drink, and what to wear. Then in verse 32 he told them that our Heavenly Father is very aware of our need for those things. Which is so true. We always have the need for food, drink, and clothing and its always a worry we have, little or small we all worry about at least 1 of those 3 things everyday. And then in verse 33 Jesus Christ told them the way that they will receive all of the things that they need. (I would tell you what he told them but then there would be no need for you to use your Book of Mormon.)

With the lessons for us in these 3 verses we pretty much have it all, if we do what we are told in verse 33 we literally will have it all. And these 3 simple verses of scripture helped two families here understand that we do have a loving Heavenly Father and he will give us the help we need when we search for Him. And I know its true, I have seen to blessings in my ability to speak the language here and in the health that I have had. And I know everything you all need and want will come to you when you search for the Kingdom of God ad Justice in all things. I love you all, I hope and pray for you all everyday, and thank you so much for the support you give me! 

-Elder Pincock

Another Trip to Guayquil

Hello everyone! First things first I would like to say Happy birthday to my cousin Seth Ingram and my Uncle Holland Fabela! Happy birthday you two!

So this week we went down to Guayaquil for a multi-zone conference! We left Thursday at 4:00am and arrived at 9:00am. Then we were able to visit the temple and spend time getting to know the other missionaries en otro partes de Ecuador. Then Friday we had the conference from 8am until 6pm. It was such a good conference. We talked so much about what it means to have fully repented of our sins and how essential repentance is. The part that I loved the most was when my president de mission, President Santos, was telling us that when we really want to repent, it basically means we want to improve. Which is something that I have known before but what made hearing that so much more impactful was when we told us that the commandment to repent means that we are commanded to improve. And in the scriptures many times it says that without repentance we can not enter the Kingdom of God. So basically we are told in the scriptures many times that if we do not improve we can not live with God again.

 That just blew my mind hearing that. And we have been working with a man whose name is William Mercedes and have been talking much about repentance and we have seen the changes in him and he tells us very often that he has seen the changes too. It is such a great feeling when we can look in the mirror, and at an old photo and be able to say that this was a different person. So I invited all of you to repent. It is a very simple thing to do however it will change your life. I know its true because I saw the effects before I left for my mission and still I am seeing such change here in Ecuador with the power of repentance, or improvement as my President de Mission told us. 

Thank you all so much for the support and love you all give me! If I can do anything for you just let me know! Keep on Keeping on! 

-Elder Pincock