tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55420554410563362432024-03-13T09:46:08.867-07:00Sister Forbush's Mission in Guayaquil, EcuadorMelaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12988452885443519846noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5542055441056336243.post-20447391259625583252012-03-18T18:03:00.000-07:002012-03-18T18:08:32.321-07:00Faith is not a perfect knowledge - 12 de marzo 2012Hola familia, amigos, queridos,<br /><br />Where to begin? I received a call last night from Elder Jativa<br />(ha-te-ba) saying I had two packages waiting for me in the Correo de<br />Ecuador in downtown Guayaquil. He gave me the codes and everything to<br />go and retrieve them today. Normally he goes and gets them, gives them<br />to the zone leaders, and I receive my packages during district meeting<br />once a week. This time the packages required my personal information<br />so I had to go get them. I went to downtown Guayaquil and waited in<br />line only to find out that I did not have two packages but only one<br />and it was in a town in northern Guayaquil called Urdesa. Hermana<br />Reyes and I hopped on a bus and spent an hour and a half retrieving<br />this package. I thought it would be the package with my sheets and M &<br />Ms (the only package I have received is the second one with all the<br />probiotics and clothing). Nope, Dear Elder had sent me a package with<br />all kinds of goodies, but I spent most of my Pday retrieving it. Well,<br />it was an adventure, but now I am going to talk with Elder Jativa<br />about the package with my sheets, AND why he would send me all the way<br />to Urdesa to retrieve a DearElder package. Dear Elder needs to get<br />their act together to send it to the RIGHT PLACE, gosh darn it!<br />Hahaha. P-days are precious time to waste because we have a lot to do<br />to prepare for the rest of the week.<br /><br />Now I will tell you about the trial of my faith that I have been<br />withholding from you these last few weeks. The past few months I have<br />had increasing amounts of pain in my right knee due to the increased<br />amount of walking we do in my sector. I told the mission nurses and<br />they have had me go to doctors and take medications to relieve the<br />pain. Last Wednesday, I had an MRI in downtown Guayaquil. The results<br />indicated everything was alright, that my ACL reconstruction is intact<br />and the meniscus scope is fine. I should not be having any problems<br />except for some inflammation. Nevertheless, I called President<br />Montalti to inform him of the information. He is having the area<br />doctors look at my MRI results to review them in case the doctors I<br />saw missed anything. The doctor who reviewed my results told me that I<br />will need to wear an orthopedic brace that has bars down the two sides<br />and go through physical therapy. The thing is I just did this two<br />months ago in the MTC - physical therapy and the brace. I do not want<br />to repeat this again this time and then in two months from now. I told<br />this to Pres. Montalti. I expressed that if the pain continues, I need<br />to cease walking. The only way to do that is to return home and<br />recuperate there until they reassign me to a mission with a car. All<br />options are being reviewed, but I am still having excrutiating pain in<br />the knees. I thought I should let you know. I didn´t want to tell you<br />before because I knew you would worry about me. I want to keep these<br />emails positive and upbeat. However, the situation has advanced that I<br />feel you should know. They take really good care of the missionaries<br />here so I do not want you to worry or send personal emails to the<br />President of the Mission. He is doing all he can.<br /><br />Now, for the good stuff.....I have great news. After weeks and weeks<br />of delays, Mario and Teresa are getting married this Friday! We had<br />the venta or sale of food and raised close to a hundred dollars. She<br />was able to buy her government paperwork and pay for the wedding. She<br />even has a little left over to buy a nice shirt and skirt for the<br />wedding. Then, the couple will be baptized this Saturday at 7 pm. I am<br />so excited because this is a miracle. They have been what we like to<br />call eternal investigators because they have been investigating the<br />church since last July. Hallelujah!<br /><br />Also, on Sunday, a husband of a member who has been putting off his<br />baptism for over nine months now finally accepted to get baptized this<br />weekend. His wife is such a faithful member of the Church. She has<br />begged him for nine months to change and get baptized, but he wouldn´t<br />have it. Now he is taking the next step. His name is Ricardo Chaglia<br />and his wife is Christina Caceres. These two families, after the<br />baptisms this weekend, will be complete families and can get sealed in<br />the temple a year from this weekend. What a blessing!<br /><br />We have a few other prospective investigators, but there is no more<br />time to write.<br /><br />I call this email a trial of my faith because when I talked with the<br />mission president about my knee, he asked me what I want to do. I told<br />him plainly that I want to return home to heal. I couldn´t take any<br />more of the pain with my knee. However, after that phone call, I have<br />seen how much I have come to love the people here. I cannot see myself<br />leaving my mission early. If it comes to the fact that I have to leave<br />early, I will for my health´s sake, but I will leave knowing I did<br />everything in my power to bring the gospel to the people here in<br />Ecuador.<br /><br />I love you all. Please read Alma 32 and 33 on faith. That has helped<br />me to keep going in this great trial of health.<br /><br />Take care,<br /><br />Hermana Melanie ForbushMomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01445764368595465827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5542055441056336243.post-32028437216290627202012-03-18T17:55:00.000-07:002012-03-18T18:03:45.573-07:0005 de marzo 2012Hola Familia y Amigos,<div><br /></div><div>Whoa! Has today been crazy and unexpected. Many things have occurred, but I will not go into all the details with the limited time I have. It is better to focus on all the really good details such as the baptisms that are coming up and the success we are having in our sector.</div> <div><br /></div><div>To begin, the family that we really wanted to get baptized, Mario and Teresa, did not end up getting baptized as originally planned last weekend. There was just too many things that needed to happen for them to get baptized. They needed to raise the money to purchase a government paper, get married at the civil registry, and a few other things. Of course all of this requires money, money, money. What else does this world revolve around? My sixth grade science teacher once told me bugs are what make this world turn, but that is a different story all together. Anyway, my companion Hermana Reyes and I organized a sale where the ward would contribute ingredients to make plates of rice, menestra, and meat, with a side of patacones. We were planning on selling it last Thursday, the couple would get married on Friday, and the baptism would be on Saturday. Unfortunately, however, the father´s birthday was on Saturday and he wanted to go drink alcohol with his buddies. Thus he avoided us all week long. Then, the sale of food didn´t happen, the wedding was postponed, and they didn´t get baptized on Satuday. </div> <div><br /></div><div>However, yesterday, we met with the family once more to see where they were at. The father, Mario, was very repentent. He knew what he did was wrong and that hiding from the sister missionaries was not a good solution because he only felt more guilty. This led him to choose to spend his birthday with his family and not drinking with his buddies. So he didn´t break the Word of Wisdom after all! I was so happy to hear that.</div> <div><br /></div><div>Now, the sale of food is going down tomorrow. The mom, Teresa, will make the food in her house, we as missionaries have a list of 54 consumers at two dollars a plate, and plan to distribute the food tomorrow evening. The sale of food is still going to happen. Yay! Their new baptismal date is March 17. I cannot wait to see the family become members as a whole. Then, a year from now, they can get sealed in the temple. This is their ultimate goal. It is so beautiful. Is it not? </div> <div><br /></div><div>We are also teacing two sisters ages eighteen and nineteen, Eunice and Lisset respectively. They have baptismal dates for March 25. What is so awesome is that they are neighbors to a recent convert, Christian Layedra. He is 23 and planning to serve a mission after his year is up as a member in the church. You have to be a member of the church for a year to become a missionary, to enter the temple, etc. However, transfers are March 20. Coming up! I hope that they will stay on the straight and narrow and get baptized even after we are transfered, if I am transferred. It is more likely that Hna. Reyes will get transferred because she has been here for six months in this very sector. I only have two transfers here.</div> <div><br /></div><div>Well, that is all for now. I love you very much! Please take care of that foot, Stephanie. Do not push yourself to fast to heal with three little monsters running around. Nathan, how did you celebrate your birthday? Write me and tell me all about it. </div> <div><br /></div><div>Lubka, please tell me what you plan to do! I heard the news from my Dad. I pray for you so much. More than you know.</div><div><br /></div><div>As my friend, Cicely Chipman, who I got a letter from this week, always says, what can I pray for you?</div> <div><br /></div><div>The Church is true and it is going forth in Ecuador so fast. South America is God´s sacred treasure and I love the people here. Especially my companion.</div><div><br /></div><div>Take care,</div><div><br /></div><div>Love,</div><div><br /></div><div>Melanie Forbush</div>Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01445764368595465827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5542055441056336243.post-85999090722207309042012-03-18T17:46:00.000-07:002012-03-18T17:55:20.223-07:00Trial of Faith - 27 de febrero 2012Time is flying by fast! Do I say that every week or what? Yesterday<br />was my four month mark in the mission since I entered the MTC. I<br />cannot believe it.<br /><br />We had two baptisms this week -- Juana del Carmen Lucas Ramirez (we<br />call her Juana or Carmen) and Eduardo Israel San Pedro Gomez (we just<br />call him Israel). Juana, who is 66 years old, sacrificed a lot to get<br />baptized such as her place of residence. Her daughter is very<br />Evangelical, a controversial religion down here, and swore that if she<br />got baptized, she would disown her. Now she is in the process of<br />relocating. It is rather sad, but I am glad she chose the Lord. She<br />will receive so many blessings from her decision to get baptized.<br />Israel is 18 years old. His whole family loves to hear from us.<br />Unfortunately, his Mom, Ana, doesn´t want to get married to get<br />baptized. She is rather comfortable with her lifestyle, but she is<br />such a wonderful person. We love them all and visit them regularly to<br />teach Israel and his little brother Joel. All in all, it was wonderful<br />to have two baptisms in the same day. We have been working hard this<br />month with relatively little success until Saturday. (We normally only<br />have baptisms on Saturday here).<br /><br />We are working with a whole family, yay a whole family finally, to get<br />baptized. The son, Jonathan, who is 9 or 10 years old, is already<br />baptized. Now the parents, Mario and Teresa, need to get married and<br />baptized. We finally convinced them to get married about a month ago.<br />Ever since we have kept daily contact with them to keep them excited<br />and committed to getting married. However, this last week they were<br />really hesitant saying they will wait a little bit longer. They have<br />been seeing the missionaries since last July. Each time they make<br />excuses not to get married. Now we are pushing for the wedding this<br />week. The ward keeps telling us that we are pressuring them, but if we<br />don´t they will never have the blessings of an eternal family. We just<br />need to help them raise 54 dollars to pay for the civil registry.<br />Please pray that they will exercise their faith to follow the Lord´s<br />commandment. I really want them to get baptized because they are such<br />wonderful people. Now is the time!<br /><br />Funny note, at Israel´s baptism, the white jumpsuit was kind of small.<br />He wore these white socks with tiny red footprints. It was like seeing<br />a person with white underwear and red hearts. What a funny sight. I<br />guess you had to be there.<br /><br />Nathan, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I am sorry I haven´t got a card in the mail,<br />but one is on its way. I promise.<br /><br />I love you all. Please know that I am working hard to bring others to<br />the knowledge of the Gospel that blesses our family so much. Please<br />stay strong in the faith and move forward with action. This Gospel is<br />true. I know it with every fiber of my heart.<br /><br />Take care. Until next time,<br /><br />Hermana Melanie ForbushMomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01445764368595465827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5542055441056336243.post-58875672106886564302012-03-18T17:41:00.002-07:002012-03-18T17:46:14.352-07:00Carnival - 22 de febrero 2012I can imagine Mom sending an email to President Montalti asking why<br />she didn´t hear from me on Monday like she did the day I arrived to<br />Guayaquil and didn´t receive a phone call from me at the airport.<br />Well, the answer to all this is that Monday and Tuesday all the<br />businesses in Guayaquil were closed because all the people were<br />celebrating a holiday called Carnival. It is basically a holiday that<br />allows people to take time off work to enjoy themselves in water<br />games. Many flock to the beach. I got hit in the back with a water<br />bomb or water balloon after two girls chased us down the street with<br />it. They cornered me, I turned around with all hopes that they would<br />have pity on me, or maybe that an angel would come down from the sky<br />and warn them not to touch a servant of God. But none of those things<br />happened. They threw it right in my lower back. I was not a very happy<br />camper for the rest of the day with a wet shirt and skirt. Haha. It<br />was all fun though.<br /><br />To update you on the missionary work, Israel´s baptism is back on for<br />this weekend. We are pretty sure it is going to go through because he<br />trusts us now and hasn´t broken the Word of Wisdom. Yay! Also, Juana<br />Lucas Ramirez will be getting baptized. She is sixty six years old.<br />She has such a love for the Book of Mormon. We are excited to have two<br />people this weekend because our zone has suffered great losses. Many<br />baptismal dates have fallen because Satan has worked especially hard<br />to dissuade the investigators. That has taught me that I need to have<br />daily contact with my investigators so they are consistently feeling<br />the Spirit and are encourgaged to perservere until their baptism. Pray<br />that all goes well this weekend.<br /><br />To answer your questions from last weeks emails, Hna. Reyes and I are<br />in the same sector, in the same apartment. What it means to not be<br />transferred is that we didn´t move at all.<br /><br />Mom, I have not received the box yet. The one with the probiotics. Not<br />yet. I think it will come in the next week. No worries yet. But I<br />would check on the one with the sheets. That worries me.<br /><br />Dad, I will take the money out that you told me to. I also need to<br />take out fifty dollars to have an emergency fund. They encourage us to<br />have one here. I will take the money out a little at a time. Ten<br />dollars here, ten dollars there, until I have built up my fund. That<br />way it isn´t a huge chunk out at one time. You have to work up these<br />things. It is like saving money in an account, right?<br /><br />Nate, expect a letter in the mail in about ten days. I wrote you in<br />response to your email. I love you.<br /><br />Well, I only have fifteen minutes to write today. They wanted us to<br />write only to advise you that we are all okay.<br /><br />Love you all. Take care. Church is true.<br /><br />Hermana Melanie ForbushMomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01445764368595465827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5542055441056336243.post-68845821738908293342012-03-18T17:27:00.001-07:002012-03-18T17:33:26.117-07:00Opposition in All Things - 13 February, 2012Hola! Two months in the mission!<br /><br />Has today been a good day or what! As normal for a P-day, we have to<br />study as normal in the morning with personal study for an hour,<br />companionship study for an hour, language study for another hour, etc.<br />Then we clean the house and wash our clothes by hand (my companion and<br />I decided this was the best way to keep really good care of our<br />clothes instead of pay someone to do it for us), buy groceries, and<br />write our families. That pretty much takes up our entire day until six<br />o´clock when we resume proselyting. However, I am a firm believer that<br />this day is sagred when you should do something really FUN because we<br />work really hard the rest of the six days of the week. Missionaries<br />are the only ones in the world, I think, that do not get to enjoy a<br />Sabbath day. Haha. Anyway, today my companion, Hermana Reyes, and I<br />made pupusas. Basically, it is a tortilla stuffed dish typical of<br />Central America, and yes, Central America is different from South<br />America. However, the pupusas are filled only with cheese instead of<br />meat which I have eaten before. The ones with meat are famous in Utah<br />among the El Salvadoreans. It was fun to eat the pupusas with her. I<br />showed her how to whip up some really good mashed potatoes. Yes, my<br />specialties are limited, but I can at least contribute with mashed<br />potatoes. Anyway, that is how we enjoyed our free time...cooking food.<br />We are both strong personalities, and often fight to reach good<br />communication, but we always agree on food. Yum...<br /><br />As for the obra misional or missionary work, it is going forward. No<br />one can stop the hand of the Lord in his work. I entitled this email<br />opposition in all things because we have seen a lot of opposition this<br />week. Last week, I described how we had transfers and Hnas. Meono and<br />Needham left. From that day onward, we worked with our zone leaders to<br />teach their investigators in our sector. Add our investigators to the<br />mix and we had our work cut out for us. We found we were trying to<br />teach them all, and in the process, some got neglected. For example,<br />we had two baptisms scheduled last Saturday (baptisms in this mission<br />only take place on Saturday), and both of them fell through. One was<br />Israel Gomez. He is an investigator that we inherited from the other<br />sisters. We took him last Wednesday to his baptismal interview,<br />thinking he would be all ready to be baptized and would pass his<br />interview with flying colors, but come to find out he had drank<br />alcohol five days before. No worries, he is getting baptized this<br />upcoming Saturday.<br /><br />Additionally, Christina Carrascal was scheduled to get baptized<br />Saturday, but when we verified that she was living the Word of Wisdom,<br />she told us we never taught her about that. Uh-oh. That was our fault.<br />She loves to drink her black tea with her Korean friends and coffee at<br />every meal. We are working with her on overcoming this. She lives in<br />the northern part of our sector which is a little far, so she ended up<br />being one of the investigators that we neglected. Thus, we have yet to<br />schedule another baptismal date with her. I hope this will not change<br />her mind to get baptized. We have taught her for two months. I have<br />come to love her a lot and want to see her get baptized before I get<br />transferred. I am grateful that the Lord put me in this sector one<br />more transfer to follow through with her baptism.<br /><br />As for the package you sent me, it still has not arrived. I want to<br />make sure you are sending them to the right address. If you look in my<br />call letter, it is the address to the mission office which has the<br />street name ¨Casilla......Guayas.¨ That is where the packages should<br />be sent. Not the pouch mail. You cannot send packages through the<br />pouch mail. I hope this clarifies things.<br /><br />Mom, I was thinking about what you could put in the package. Please<br />send me cereal such as the Apple Cinnamon Cheerios and Raisin Bran<br />Crunch. Yum. And Dad, if you would like to send Dear Elder packages<br />with chocolate goodies, or cookies, or whatever, I welcome any<br />goodies. Plus, please send more pedis. I really need them. You have no<br />idea! Anything else? I am doing pretty good with getting most things<br />here. It is part of trying to be more self-reliant. Hehe.<br /><br />Well, I didn´t get a chance to print out your emails last week and<br />read them, so I will do that today and respond to them next week.<br />Remember if you want a question answered right away, send me an email<br />with just that question in one or two sentences in the email. I can<br />respond to those rather quickly.<br /><br />I love you all. Know that this Gospel is true. I wouldn´t be here if<br />it weren´t for the Lord. I know it is his work that I do. Joseph Smith<br />restored this Gospel. The Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the<br />Gospel and with the Bible, those two books are the Word of God. Jesus<br />Christ lives. That is all. Love one another and take good care of one<br />another. Treat each other only with love and by example.<br /><br />God be with you until I write next week with some more tidbits of Ecuador.<br /><br />Love with all my heart,<br /><br />Hermana Melanie ForbushMomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01445764368595465827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5542055441056336243.post-23377071658070888072012-03-18T17:20:00.000-07:002012-03-18T17:26:43.768-07:0006 de enero de 2012 - First day of second transferMom! Dad! Kelly! John! Familia y friends!<br /><br />How are you all doing this fine Monday afternoon? (Mom, I am worried<br />because I did not receive a letter from you last week, which is<br />understandable from the major that weekend, but I didn´t receive one<br />from you this weekend either. Is everything okay?) I hope everything<br />is well in St. Louis, Missouri and now Colorado Springs, CO (with<br />Nathan´s new home). Our family is finally spreading across the North<br />American continent! Yay. Expect that I will visit your home when I<br />return since you are only a few hours from Provo, Utah. Haha. Have you<br />fallen in love with the mountains like Dad and I have? The west is<br />really something special and I cannot wait to return to school there.<br /><br />Today is transfers (is it hard to believe that I have already<br />completed my first transfer in the mission) but I stayed in the same<br />sector with Hna. Reyes from Honduras. I was grateful that I didn´t<br />have to pack my bags at 5:30 AM. Hna. Reyes had her heart set on<br />leaving this sector this transfer because she has been here for six<br />months (she started here for her first sector, went away for two other<br />transfers, and then returned here for the last three transfers. She<br />has ten months in the mission in total). However, she is here with me<br />for another transfer. We talked for a long time last night about some<br />familial troubles she has been having, and we grew a whole lot closer<br />as a companionship. She admitted she never told any other companion<br />these things so that made me feel really special, as if I shared<br />something with her that no other companion had. Now I feel we can<br />start this transfer with a clean slate and a stronger bond.<br /><br />With transfers, however, Hna. Meono and Hna. Needham were transferred.<br />I do not know where, but they packed there bags. Now there is only two<br />of us once more in the apartment. I must admit that I learned a lot<br />from Hna. Needham. There is a mother named Teresa in our sector. Her<br />son, Jonathan, is a recent convert that we have been teaching.<br />However, when Hna. Needham arrived, she committed Teresa to marry her<br />husband Mario so they can follow the Law of Chastity. After they get<br />married, they can get baptized. However, because Hna. Needham and Hna.<br />Meono were transferred, we will once more teach them. To sum things<br />up, Hna. Needham made all the difference to commit Teresa to marriage<br />and baptism that we could not do. The Lord really does put his<br />servants in the places where he needs them the most. I am learning<br />that we each have spiritual gifts that we must use on the mission.<br />Hna. Needham made all the difference in this woman´s life. They come<br />to Church every Sunday where they didn´t before. Thus I can say she<br />was a real example in my life.<br /><br />We had a baptism this last weekend. Remember Katarine, the daughter of<br />Teresa? Yup, she was finally baptized, but she did not count as one of<br />our baptisms, even though we taught her all the lessons. She counted<br />as a baptism of the ward since her mom is a member. We couldn´t do<br />much to organize the baptism to make it really special, but we found a<br />beautiful white gown for her to wear on her very special day. The<br />family doesn´t have much, so it was the least we could do. I will send<br />photos next week because I only have three minutes left.<br /><br />One other thing, we found a less active member named Merardo Moreyra<br />in our sector. He gave us a reference to teach his two sisters. The<br />really cool thing about it is he owns a panaderia or bakery so we get<br />free food. I need to watch what I eat because I have gained a little<br />wait with all the rice and bread that is offered to us. It is so<br />delicious.<br /><br />Well, I must go. I love you all.<br /><br />Hna. ForbushMomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01445764368595465827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5542055441056336243.post-84238016496667646732012-03-18T17:13:00.001-07:002012-03-18T17:20:23.237-07:0030 de enero de 2012, Wow, time flies!Wow, the time is really flying by on the mission, but I am learning to enjoy every moment of it.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>This week we had a baptism! He is a chosen spirit and was ready to hear the Gospel. His name is Lorenzo Vince, 41 years old, and the nephew of a recent convert that my companion, Hna. Reyes baptized back in May or June 2011. I remember when we first started teaching him. We were in our weekly planning session and I suggested we look into teaching nonmembers of the part member families. Lorenzo Vince came to my mind. Now he is baptized. It was one of the most spiritual baptisms that I have attended, although I have only had two baptisms in the mission. </div> <div><br /></div><div>When we went to go pass by Lorenzo´s house to pick him up for the baptism on Saturday at 6:30 pm, we were walking on the main street called Quito and walking toward us was the entire family in their Sunday best. This was unheard of because normally we have to drag them to the baptism from their house. The grandparents of Petita even came to the baptism at 7 pm after they told us they were leaving Saturday morning to return home. Obviously they wanted to support Lorenzo. I am including a picture with this email of the baptism. Maybe I will start a tradition to send a baptismal picture after every baptism. We have had a lot of success in the Bolivar sector in my first transfer. </div> <div><br /></div><div>We have a few more baptismal dates lined up for February 11, Christina Carrascal, and February 28, Catarina Flores (we found contacting yesterday). Transfers are next week or the second week of February though. I hope I can stay to see them get baptized, but I will go where the mission president receives inspiration that I should go, and with which companion I should be with. It is his work that I do, not my own. I really love the people here and labor hard to help them enter in at the door of baptism so they can gain eternal life.</div> <div><br /></div><div>On Sunday, the bishop taught the lesson in a combined Relief Society and Elders Quorum lesson. He shared the promise that Gordon B. Hinckley gave in 2005 about the Book of Mormon. He is encouraging everyone to read the Book of Mormon in our ward. He shared Pres. Hinckley´s promise that if we read the Book of Mormon every day, we shall receive a greater portion of the Holy Spirit personally and as a family. He specifically shared 2 Nephi 32:3 which says the words of Christ will tell you all things that ye should do. Wow! I can find every answer to life´s problems in the scriptures. Maybe not the exact answer, but by reading the Book of Mormon and focusing on the impressions of the Spirit, I know your mind and mine can be enlightened to receive the answer we seek. Hence reading the scriptures is the portal to receiving personal revelation, as a General Authority stated in the last General Conference. That is my spiritual thought for the week. And I know that is true!</div> <div><br /></div><div>Alright, I am using a different cyber so the picture didn´t download and I am not going to waste too much time to figure it out. I promise to send it to you next week.</div><div><br /></div><div>Lastly, I want to share two cultural things about Ecuador that I learned this week. First, I ate cerviche at a member´s house. It is a dish that has shrimp or can be eaten with any sort of meat. I challenge you to google it when you get the chance. Maybe you can make it in your spare time to have a Latino experience like I am having down here everyday. It is very good. Second, every month there is a holiday. In January, I explained how they celebrated the new year with the munecos. In February, they have Carnival. Think the movie Rio which takes place in Brazil. From what I have heard, it is like the Tomatina in Spain, but they hose you with lots of water. Maybe you can google it and tell me more. I will let you know what I hear from the natives. I am taking lots of pictures to show you all when I get home.</div> <div><br /></div><div>One last thing, Catarina Flores which we started teaching yesterday, Hma. Chamberlain taught her when she was in this sector. Please let her know I found her again and we hope to baptize her. Her mother´s name is Blanca. It has been a year that she hasn´t had the missionaries teach her but she loves having them over to hear the word.</div> <div><br /></div><div>Please take care of yourselves. Love you all. Nathan, good luck getting settled in Colorado. Stephanie, there is a letter coming in the mail this week for you. I learned mail only takes 10 day to get to the US from here, but a month from the US to here. Strange.</div> <div><br /></div><div>Love you all,</div><div><br /></div><div>Melanie or Hermana Forbush</div>Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01445764368595465827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5542055441056336243.post-2513664938680405212012-03-18T17:05:00.000-07:002012-03-18T17:11:52.875-07:0023 January 2012Hi Dad, Kelly, Mom! Familia! Friends! Loved ones!<br /><br />I miss you all. I pray every day for you. I can feel your prayers in<br />return. The work goes forward. I hope my email two weeks ago did not<br />frighten you pertaining to my health. I am doing much better. I have<br />finished my medications that the doctors have given me and I am on the<br />mend. Mom, please still send me those probiotics and antiacid pills. I<br />need them a lot to help me continue to regulate my food. Every meal we<br />eat has rice, menestra (fried beans) and a type of meat, so the food<br />is rather greasy. But it is very delicious. I tell myself the health<br />problems are only a side-effect to having a cultural experience.<br /><br />My language is improving a lot to with the natives with the help of<br />Hermana Reyes. The fact that she only speaks Spanish forces me to use<br />all my knowledge to communicate with her. Sometimes because of the<br />language barriers, we don´t communicate the best, but when we fight,<br />everything gets cleared up. Companionships are teaching me a lot about<br />patience and charity towards others, and always having a companion is<br />good marriage preparation. Haha.<br /><br />We have two new sisters who are living with us. Hna. Meono and Hna.<br />Needham. In fact, Hna. Meono entered the MTC with me on October 26.<br />They are both from Utah. I like having other English speakers in the<br />house, but I them remember that Hna. Reyes feels left out, so I only<br />speak in Spanish when she is around. I like to have a good laugh in<br />English every now and then, though.<br /><br />Update on the missionary work: we have a baptism this week! His name<br />is Lorenzo Vince. He is the nephew of a recent convert. Plus, we hope<br />Katarine, the daughter of Teresa can get baptized as well. There are a<br />few complications, too much to explain here, but I will let you know<br />what happens next week. Also, Karen Preciado did not end up getting<br />baptized on January 7. We had to drop her, which means we had to stop<br />teaching her and visiting her. It is sad when we have to do this with<br />our investigators, but if they are not progressing or doing their part<br />to join the church, we cannot do much more for them. Sometimes it is<br />frustrating and sad that we do everything we can for them to find joy<br />in their life, and they are so stuck on the world that they don´t want<br />to change. But God has given us our agency to exercise. I just<br />remember how patient Heavenly Father is with me. We finally got a<br />baptismal date from Christina Carrascal, a 17-year-old whose Mom is a<br />less active for 15 years. She is an incredible youth. She is very<br />studious of the Book of Mormon and has a strong testimony. She will be<br />getting baptized on February 11. Yay! Plus, we started teaching the<br />Manilla family. They will not accept a baptismal date until they<br />¨receive their answer that the church is true. Thus I pray they do<br />their part to read the Book of Mormon and pray by tomorrow when we go<br />to visit them. Cross your fingers and pray hard. Fast if you can. That<br />is the most powerful tool that can bring about change for our<br />investigators.<br /><br />Still haven´t gone to the temple yet in Guayaquil, but I ask the<br />mission president every week. Patience.<br /><br />We were in a training meeting this morning and talked about how all<br />the gringos or North Americans are having health problems because of<br />the food they eat. I was grateful I was not the only one. It put my<br />problems in perspective. Now I don´t complain at all because some have<br />it a lot worse. I am starting now to put my life in order and watch<br />what I eat. It all starts with me.<br /><br />If you could, please gather some simple recipes to send to me next<br />week. I am learning how to cook from my companion, but my knowledge is<br />limited. I can´t just go to the internet now and look up how to boil<br />vegetables. Haha.<br /><br />Dad, I am going to purchase some really nice scripture covers, real<br />leather with Christ´s pictures engraved on them, but they are going to<br />cost 70 dollars. Can you make sure the money is in my account?<br /><br />That is all I have for now. I am working on writing you all this week<br />with personal letters.<br /><br />I love you. God bless you. I hope you find strength and a testimony<br />building message in this email. Please find people to give references<br />to the missionaries. It makes a world of difference.<br /><br />Love you all,<br /><br />Hermana Melanie.Forbush<br /><br />P.S. I print out your emails every week, but cannot reply to them<br />until the following week.Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01445764368595465827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5542055441056336243.post-67512047553611292072012-03-18T17:01:00.001-07:002012-03-18T17:04:51.846-07:0016 January 2012Hi Familia! Love ones and friends!<br /><br />Another week gone by. The 12 January marked my one month in the field.<br />Can you believe it!<br /><br />Temperature and humidity are getting easier to adjust to here every<br />day. It has started raining torrentiously, especially right at eight<br />every evening. Weird. Still too hot to wear my coat, but I use my<br />umbrella a lot.<br /><br />Teresa did get baptized last weekend on the seventh. Yay! However, she<br />is now having trouble coming to church because her boss makes her<br />prepare the food every morning. If she cannot come, her daughter<br />Katarine cannot get baptized next week. She is nine years old. And she<br />wants to get baptized soooo bad. Please fast and pray that Teresa can<br />have the faith to keep the sabbath day holy.<br /><br />We are also teaching Lorenzo Vince and Andy Litardo who have baptismal<br />dates for January 28. We continue to work with Cristina Carrascal, a<br />bright 17 year old girl. I hope she can get baptized before I leave<br />this transfer which is in about three weeks.<br /><br />I received a letter from Lubka, as you might have guessed. Please let<br />her know that I say thank you and will write her back. I love and miss<br />her. She is one of my dearest friends. Dad, keep me posted and keep in<br />touch with her.<br /><br />I wish luck to Nathan this week as he moves to Colorado, if he is<br />moving this week. I wasn´t quite sure. I have to read the long email<br />he sent me. Thank you, Nathan. And thank you, Stephanie, for the<br />email. Megan, where are you?<br /><br />Yay, Dad, you get to work from home for Time Warner Cable. That is<br />great. Your dream job to work in your pajamas. Haha. Love you. Thank<br />you for all your hard work to support me. You are part of the reason I<br />am here and keep perservering every day.<br /><br />I have not received the sheets yet. I received a package I sent to<br />myself from the MTC last week. We receive mail tomorrow from the zone<br />leaders in our district meeting. I hope the package comes tomorrow.<br /><br />Mom, Steph, I join you in reading the BOM before Easter. I am in<br />Mosiah 13. Where are you at? Of course, I am trying to read it in<br />Spanish. I have a hard time understanding every thing though.<br /><br />Mom, please keep the DVD movie you made for Gram and Grandpa´s<br />anniversary. I don´t have time to watch it here, even though I have a<br />DVD player, but I will love to see it when I get home. Keep a list of<br />things I need to do when I get home. Such as new released movies. That<br />will be a huge thing when I come home. And TEAM and LIFE books.<br /><br />I bear you my witness that this Church is true and that Joseph Smith<br />restored the fullness of it in this dispensation. Jesus Christ is at<br />the head of this Church. It is through him, the modern prophet, and<br />apostles that it is lead.<br /><br />I love you, all. Thank you for your continued support. Have a great week.<br /><br />Love with all my heart,<br /><br />Melanie ForbushMomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01445764368595465827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5542055441056336243.post-41232790306862022232012-02-12T17:31:00.000-08:002012-02-12T17:40:59.350-08:00January 9th, 2012<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e1yg6NisVTA/TzhplI1RsqI/AAAAAAAAAAc/Q9PI1_3hwIw/s1600/DSC00057.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e1yg6NisVTA/TzhplI1RsqI/AAAAAAAAAAc/Q9PI1_3hwIw/s320/DSC00057.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708428614439121570" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9fFYpqUrVjw/TzhpltifbwI/AAAAAAAAAAo/o0NH6KtlM-c/s1600/DSC00079.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9fFYpqUrVjw/TzhpltifbwI/AAAAAAAAAAo/o0NH6KtlM-c/s320/DSC00079.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708428624292441858" border="0" /></a><br />Familia!<br /><br />Thank you soo much for all your emails this week. I have printed them<br />all out and will read them as soon as I get home. Last week we had bad<br />luck because while we found a cyber to send emails to the family, no<br />one knew how to print out emails. Thus I had to print them all out<br />this week. I will respond next week. Word of advice, if you have a<br />specific question that you would like me to reply to the day I check<br />email, send me one email for that specific question and keep the email<br />short. I will respond when I check my email. But that way I know the<br />question and can respond rapidly.<br /><br />This last week has been a trial of my health. I scraped my left knee<br />very badly while I twisted my ankle on Tuesday. Then, on Friday, I<br />went to the doctor in northern Guayaquil. He diagnosed me with an<br />inflammed colon and inflammed esophogus right above the heart. I am<br />now taking medicines and am restricted in my diet. I spent the whole<br />weekend in casa resting. I couldn´t walk very much.<br /><br />We enjoyed a baptism and confirmation this weekend of Ana Teresa<br />Guaman. It was very exciting because we were actually focusing on<br />teaching her daughter Katarine who is nine years old. However, on<br />Monday evening, we visited Teresa and she accepted the invitation to<br />be baptized. I have attached a picture of her baptism. The man who<br />baptized her is our mission leader, Hno. Vera. Her two sons are Joshua<br />and Jordi. Plus, the first picture is one of my companion, Hma. Reyes<br />and I in Malecon, a huge resort next to the river Guayas. I hope that<br />the right picture attached. Anyway, the baptism was great. We had a<br />hard time getting her to church on Sunday to be confirmed because she<br />was working, but she showed up at the end of testimony meeting. She<br />was confirmed right before the closing prayer. And she brought her<br />neighbor that we can teach! The Lord and his tender mercies.<br /><br />Please pray that we find new investigators to teach. That is the<br />aspect of our teaching that we lack the most.<br /><br />To finish, please include in the package hydrocortisone cream. I am<br />getting mosquito bites up the wazoo on my legs. Plus, the probiotics.<br />If you see any new skirts, my size is 10. Send them my way. Lastly,<br />naproxen sodium headache medicine. They do not have that here. That is<br />all that I need.<br /><br />I love you all! Sorry the letter is short this week, but I wanted to<br />send you some pictures. You can see what I have been up to. A baptism<br />always lifts my spirits and helps me perservere until the end. I have<br />definitely learned to think positively. That is what keeps me going<br />strong. Plus, I often ask the Lord to remind me of happy memories.<br />When I think of good times that I have had, I always feel encouraged<br />to keep going. I record these in my journal and they remind me of what<br />is most important.<br /><br />Thanks again for all your emails. Keep them coming. I always receive<br />strength from them, although I feel bad I do not have time to respond<br />to you personally. But I promise to write you letters by hand and send<br />them to you. Isn´t that better?<br /><br />Love you, everyone, so much. Please take good care of yourselves.<br />Share the restored gospel with someone this week. Find people for the<br />missionaries to teach. The Gospel is true. Read the scriptures.<br /><br />Besos,<br /><br />Hma. Forbush<br />XOXO<br /><br />Mom, Dad, special shout out to you for all your support. I love you<br />more than words can tell.<br /><br />P.S. I received a letter from Lubka via Dear Elder on Tuesday as well<br />as from Sister Bentley who is serving in St. Charles. Thank you thank<br />you thank you! I still haven´t received any letters from you Mom or<br />Dad via Dear Elder. It is the strangest thing.<br /><br />P.P.S. Faith is the power. Obedience is the price. Love is the motive.<br />The Spirit is the key. Christ is the reason! This is a saying that<br />Sister Bentley taught me that I wanted to share with everyone. Thank<br />you, Sister Bentley!Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01445764368595465827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5542055441056336243.post-53662513616502079042012-01-08T18:39:00.000-08:002012-01-08T18:45:13.869-08:002 de enero 2012 - Happy New Year!<div>Hola Familia!</div><div> </div><div>It is very weird, as we were walking to find a ´´cyber´´ here, that is what they call the stores where there are computers, all were closed because no one works the day after New Years. (In Spain, they call them locutorios I remember). We only found one because a nice man who owns one was sitting outside his cyber and permitted us to use a computer. The Lord does love his missionaries! </div> <div> </div><div>Two people that we have been teaching are important to note for this weeks highlight on our investigators. Teresa Guaman is a single mother with three children-Katarina (9), Jordi (2), and Joshua (1). She has had a problem with the law of chastity for the longest time because she has lived with her boyfriend, a returned missionary of the Church who was excommunicated. He has since left her and she can get baptized this week on January 7. Please pray that she can be cleared to be baptized this week! Also, while visiting a less active family on Tuesday, who were not home, we contacted a girl named Emily Brand or Brown. She is 18 years old, married, and pregnant. She lives in the humblest of circumstances, and is going to be baptized on January 21. Hopefully, as we continue to teach her, that she will be receptive to the Gospel message. It is weird that you only teach two people in the MTC to train yourself how to teach, but you have 20 or more people in the field. I have a very difficult time remembering everyone´s name, definitely not a spiritual gift I was given, but my companion helps me.</div> <div> </div><div>For New Year´s, we were confined once more to our rooms all day from 2 pm and onward, but we had a good view from our balcony. On December 31, after all the munecos were bought and cleared from the street, at midnight, they piled them all together and poured gasoline on the pile. Then, they lit the munecos with a match and watched as they popped and burned. It seriously looked like the city was aflame. The week leading up to December 31, there was a huge carnival in the streets. Vendors sold food, fireworks, and munecos. The munecos look like cartoon characters popular to the US such as the Smurfs, Green Lantern, and Captain America. It was neat to be here for the new year celebrations. I don´t think I will get another chance to be here for them.</div> <div> </div><div>My roommate and I made pizza on Saturday for New Years. It tasted delicious, just like home almost. Everyday, we eat meat, mostly chicken, rice (lots of it), and a bean dish called menestra. It is very delicious. I am still waiting to eat something different or varied though. It is the same thing everyday. That is where my companion and I cook something different on the days when we are not fed by our mamitas.</div> <div> </div><div>In closing, I challenge you to read Mosiah 2, especially Mosiah 2: 20-21. I love this chapter because it is like a general conference where all the families gather together to listen to the words of the prophets. My goal is to read the entire Book of Mormon before the end of January. I have never read the Spanish BoM all the way through. It has strengthened my faith and testimony of the Gospel.</div> <div> </div><div>Finally, please pray that we can get more people to attend Sacrament this Sunday. We are trying to get more and more people to come.</div><div> </div><div>I love you,</div><div> </div><div>Melanie</div>Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01445764368595465827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5542055441056336243.post-56921465101872159022012-01-08T18:16:00.000-08:002012-01-08T18:37:34.080-08:00Feliz Belated Navidad - 26 diciembre 2011<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wPdyIvKchlE/TwpRtMd6F2I/AAAAAAAAAAQ/pEgZlsL1RYY/s1600/Garcia%2BMoreno.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 190px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wPdyIvKchlE/TwpRtMd6F2I/AAAAAAAAAAQ/pEgZlsL1RYY/s400/Garcia%2BMoreno.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695454515646044002" border="0" /></a> For us it is a pleasure and a privilege to have your daughter serving in this mission. We have enjoyed a wonderful Christmas lunch. Attached you will find a picture of your daughter, the zone and our family. We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">With Best Regards,<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">President and Sister Montalti</p> and our children<br /><br /><br />Familia!<br /><br />How are you all doing the day after Christmas? Did you fill your<br />bellie with lots of pavo or turkey and sleep it off by sleeping in<br />today? I wish I had that same luxury as you, but every day we have a<br />structured schedule of waking up at 6:30 am and going to bed at 10:30<br />pm.<br /><br />The last two days, Christmas Eve and Day, we were limited in the time<br />that we could go out and share the message of the Gospel with the<br />people because we had to return to our apartment by 2:00 pm. The<br />mission president found it would be too dangerous for missionaries to<br />be in the streets while the people partied on the streets either drunk<br />or shooting off fireworks or buying munecos. It was chaos. As we<br />looked out our windows both nights, the constant dissonance of<br />honking, booms of fireworks, and yelling reached our ears. I do not<br />even want to know all that the city does to party, but it must have<br />been NUTS!<br /><br />In our apartment, we had every intention of sleeping the WHOLE day to<br />celebrate the birth of our Saviour, hahaha, because we are just<br />exhausted all the time from the work we do here, but our zone leaders<br />called us and gave us specific assignments in Preach My Gospel,<br />scriptures, and a program that I do as a new missionary called the<br />First 12 Weeks. (This is a program initiated by the First Presidency<br />for incoming missionaries that was started in August 2011). All our<br />hopes for sleeping flushed counterclockwise down the toilet. Did I<br />tell you that the water flushes the opposite direction here? So that<br />is what we did for the holiday weekend, but the members did send us<br />home with lots of good tortas (cakes) and turkey. Yummm...turkey. But<br />the highlight was talking to you all. As I hung up, I cried with such<br />happiness. I miss you all very much. I do know that if I was allowed<br />to talk to you more though, I would be more focused on wanting to talk<br />to you on the phone than the missionary work, so I know that rule is<br />inspired by the prophet for all missionaries.<br /><br />Something I read from another sister missionary in an email this week<br />was if we ask for specific questions in our prayers, the Lord will<br />answer them in specific ways, or in other words, we will receive<br />specific answers to those questions. That has blessed me so much this<br />week. I thought I would share that with you and challenge you to do<br />the same when you pray at night. You will be blessed more than you can<br />know.<br /><br />As for the work at hand, we are teaching an 11 year old named Karen<br />Preciado. She is so excited to get baptized on the 7 of January. The<br />one thing she lacks though is support from her family, especially from<br />her parents. They gave her permission to be baptized, but she will not<br />continue to go to church if her family does not take interest as well.<br />Please pray her mother´s heart will soften to listen to our message.<br /><br />We have encountered that same fellowship problem in the ward that I am<br />serving. We have no problem finding people and baptizing them. The<br />problem is retaining them as an active member of the Church after they<br />have been baptized. They might have a testimony of the restored<br />Gospel, but if the members do not fellowship them and just stay in<br />their little clicks, they will not stay active. They will just stay in<br />their old habits. Please pray that Hna. Reyes and I can find a way to<br />bring this ward closer together and fellow our investigators. We are<br />not having the greatest of luck.<br /><br />Thank you for all your uplifting words and advice in the phone call<br />yesterday. They went down in my journal so I can refer back to them in<br />times of need. I have seen an especial change in Nathan in regards to<br />his growing testimony. Keep it up, Nate! I love you all, my brothers<br />and sisters! Give my nephews a hug and kiss!<br /><br />Love to all! Feliz Navidad y prospero ano nuevo,<br /><br />Melanie or Hma. ForbushMomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01445764368595465827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5542055441056336243.post-10855234710879911352012-01-08T18:08:00.000-08:002012-01-08T18:16:07.934-08:0012-19-2011 I Have Made It To Ecuador!!Hi Padres!<br /><br />I am not used to these types of keyboards, so I will do my best to<br />type without any wild mistakes.<br /><br />I have made it here to Ecuador. I spent the Wednesday evening with<br />some sisters in downtown Guayaquil in a ward-sector called Bolivar in<br />the stake called Garcia Moreno. You can use LDS.org to find that ward<br />and stake and that will show you exactly where I am at. I was told by<br />the mission president that the next day I would find out who my<br />companion was. He said because I was still recovering, yet knew the<br />language well, he would assign me a native companion who was short.<br />Funny, huh? I stayed the evening with Hna. Cochran from Alaska who has<br />been in the mission nine or ten months and Hna. Reyes who is a native<br />of Central America from Honduras and is short. I guess you can guess<br />where I am going with this. The next day, the APs called us and<br />assigned Hna. Reyes to me and Hna. Cochran was reassigned to Milagro.<br />She packed everything up and was gone by three o´clock. I cannot<br />believe that happened, because they weren´t even together for a full<br />transfer. Nevertheless, they did as the mission president had<br />instructed. Now I am with Hna. Reyes. She is an amazing trainer.<br /><br />Ecuador is a poor place to live and preach the gospel. Imagine Mexico<br />and Ecuador is still poorer, especially being stationed in downtown<br />Guayaquil. It isn´t the safest place, but the people are fantastic.<br />Whoevers house we knock on, they let us in because they know we are<br />messengers of God and they want us to bless their house. Also, they<br />really hate to disappoint us, so even if they do not want to listen to<br />our message, they listen politely and say I´m sorry. But they are very<br />friendly people.<br /><br />The work is very hard because we walk for eight to ten hours everyday.<br />I hated the work for the first few days. I hated the heat, the<br />exhaustion, the missionary work I was doing, and I did not want to<br />teach the people. However, each day I am working on something new. For<br />example, I prayed yesterday for more charity and love for the people I<br />taught. Although every appointment fell through, or no one was at<br />their door if we had an appointment with them, I was patient. I was<br />very unhappy, but I was patient. We decided to start contacting to<br />find new investigators. The area we were at was all heavily-devoted<br />Catholics, but we stopped and prayed for one person to teach. We came<br />across one student, his name was Josue who was in his early twenties<br />and studying to be an engineer at a local university. He and his<br />seven-year old sister Isabel came out to receive us at the door. He<br />had admitted that he had heard about our religion and wanted to know<br />more. I was shocked. Someone actually wanted to hear from us! He took<br />a Book of Mormon and accepted the challenge to read. I knew he would<br />receive our challenge because he was very earnest to read it. I hope<br />we teach him further this week, but the next we have with him is<br />Saturday at seven, but with Christmas eve and Christmas, we are<br />restricted to our apartments. We will have to reschedule with him.<br /><br />I am not used to having twenty even thirty investigators. It is more<br />difficult to remember all their names, let alone pray for each<br />individually, but I am trying.<br /><br />Our house is full of cockroaches and ants. There is only cold shower<br />water. I burned myself with a match today while trying to light our<br />stovetop just to boil water. We don´t have a washer like in the MTC,<br />so I wash all my clothes by hand. We drink water from a huge jug of<br />water bought in the streets. Luckily, they have plugs that accept the<br />American plug. Yay! That is my apartment life.<br /><br />Lastly, we will be able to call our families on Christmas, but since<br />it is a Sunday this year and we have church from nine to one, I am<br />going to arrange to call you on Saturday. I am limited in my time, so<br />please all be together when I call. I am going to be calling you by<br />Skype at 12:00 Ecuador time. I will let you figure out when that is<br />your time, but that should be about 11;00. Everyone please be gathered<br />in her house to speak at that time. I will only be allowed to call one connection<br />of Skype during my time for about 40 minutes.<br /><br />Take care. I am sorry I couldn´t write more. I will try to include<br />some more detail in my next email. Love you all so much!<br /><br />Love,<br /><br />Melanie, Hna. ForbushMomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01445764368595465827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5542055441056336243.post-1463595566664008802011-12-16T19:41:00.000-08:002011-12-16T19:41:35.491-08:00December 12th - Final letter from the Provo, MTC!!!<div>Yay! I cannot wait to call you from the airport and spend a few minutes talking about everything that has been going on at home. I really just want to call you just to TALK to you about you and the family. Normally, it is a supervised call that concerns medical problems or travel plans. ]-p This will be great. Not just that, but I get to call on Christmas, too. This moment in time is so opportune to leave the MTC because no missionary in the MTC gets to call their families on Christmas. There is just too many missionaries to accommodate calls home for all. To tell you the truth, because of the massive amount of missionaries, we are restricted a lot by rules. For example, we cannot play music in the residence halls or sing in the showers. Imagine how much noise that would make if all the women on my floor sang in the shower. Even worse, what would happen if a really HORRIBLE singer sang in our showers. I would cover my ears or shriek in pain. Just kidding. Maybe it is a blessing in disguise because it spares me from hearing a really fat opera singer singing "Figaro, Figaro, figuero!" and making my face cringe at the sound of it. Actually, there are a lot of really good, talented people here at the MTC. Every devotional or fireside, we have someone new doing a musical number. Yesterday, I heard a female singer sing, "For Me, Alone." It is the most beautiful song I have ever heard. You HAVE to buy it and train Megan how to sing it. Maybe you can record her singing it and send me an attachment. </div><div> </div><div>Today is my second to last day before leaving the MTC. Hna. Read and I took our fifty minute gym time, planned everything that needed to be done, and was able to do everything that I needed to do or buy. Then, I even had time to pack one suitcase. My companion has really been stressing effective planning, and it really worked. She was grateful that we got so much done in such little time. Sometimes I am a space cadet and don't use our time effectively, so I feel it gets on her nerves. However, I have gotten much better and she is very proud of me. Thank you, Mom, so much for teaching me the value of making lists before the mission.</div><div> </div><div>I am very excited to be leaving tomorrow, especially because it won't be at 4:00 A.M., but rather at 4:30 P.M. But that means I fly all night until I arrive in Guayaquil at noon on Wednesday. My mission president stressed that I cannot arrive at night time in Guayaquil. It is not safe. That is why he is picking me up from the airport. His name is President Montalti. From what President Wilkins told me, President Montalti does not speak any English. That means I will be having all of my personal interviews with him in Spanish, and every phone call will have to be in Spanish as well. I will be fluent in no time! I also bought a tape recorder at the Bookstore so I can tape native speakers speak while there. I will use things like this when I teach teenagers the Spanish alphabet and dialect of Ecuador. I am so excited. Don't be surprised if I send home a bunch of Ecuadorian memorabilia or flags. I will use that stuff to decorate my classrooms. I want to be the best teacher ever! I am SO grateful to go to a Spanish-speaking country. Plus, I got a little experience teaching this intermediate class the last two or more weeks. It has been a real blessing to use my knowledge to teach the people here. The Spirit has quickened my understanding and loosened my tongue. I feel much more confident in my Spanish-speaking ability thanks to the gift of tongues.</div><div> </div><div>Not much has taken place here since I last wrote you last Thursday. Last night for the devotional, the BYU Men's Chorus sang all their choral repertoire for us, including a few additional songs that they reserve to sing only at the MTC. I saw Kap Sanders and Andrew Moore! However, I couldn't catch them afterward to say hi. Unexpectedly, I saw my old friend Josh Pluim. He was in my ward freshman year at Wyview and my senior year at Roman Gardens. What is even funnier is that my roommate, Hermana Raines knew him too! </div><div> </div><div>Additionally, I got shot two more times last Thursday with immunizations, more specifically the last Hep A and Hep B shots. I am all up to code now! For my Hep A shot, I was two days shy of never having to take another Hep A shot again. The two different Hep A shots in the series have to be taken six months apart. I highly doubt a doctor would require me to get another booster just because I was two days shy, but I had to get it at that time because I couldn't receive the immunizations any other day.</div><div> </div><div>Please know that I pray for our family at every prayer, especially for Nathan, Stephanie, and the nephews. How is Landon progressing in school? Do you think he will be able to get baptized when he turns eight next March? I wish I could be there if he chooses to do that.</div><div> </div><div>Give my best to everyone in the family and at EFC International! Take care.</div><div> </div><div>Love you,</div><div> </div><div>Hna. Forbush, your M&M</div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12988452885443519846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5542055441056336243.post-41406772788014788882011-12-16T19:18:00.000-08:002011-12-16T19:18:15.950-08:00The Final Arrangements!!!<div>Hi Parents!</div><div> </div><div>I will be receiving my travel plans tomorrow, 12/9, at 11:45 A.M. from the district president. We will be calling you soon thereafter to confirm everything is alright to go. Please stand by your cell phones for that call. </div><div> </div><div>Thank you and love you both,</div><div> </div><div>Melanie</div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12988452885443519846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5542055441056336243.post-20725838287276241822011-12-16T19:10:00.000-08:002011-12-16T19:10:02.074-08:00Dec. 8th - A Turning Point...........<div>Bueno, I promised you the good stuff and so here it is. My companion Hma. Read and I went to the TRC (Training Resource Center) on Saturday morning during class and taught a BYU student named Rinna Adorable. This girl was the most beautiful Spanish looking girl that I ever met, but she spoke Spanish like me--a gringa. We went in not knowing what we were going to say, but somehow got on the topic of serving other people. I had shared with her one of my favorite scripture mastery's that I had learned in Seminary, Mosiah 2:17 about "when you are in the service of your fellow being, ye are only in the service of your God." She started telling us about where she was in her life. She had completed three years at BYU as a Psychology major and a Spanish minor, but she had not dated any men exclusively for a couple years. (Sounds like a kindred spirit for me, huh, Mom?) Lately, in the back of her mind she had the question about whether she should serve a mission or not. Both Hma. Read and I told her about our experiences at BYU, because we are both BYU students, and how we came to choose to serve a mission. About halfway sharing my story in Spanish, Rinna started to cry the most sincere tears I ever saw. Apparently, the Spirit must have hit her to the very soul because she suddenly said in mid-sentence, "I can't do this anymore. I mean I cannot speak in Spanish." For the remainder of the lesson, we spoke in English. (I guess it doesn't matter what language we speak in to teach a lesson, because the Lord's Gospel is universal). She told us that she had finally received an answer to her prayer that she should serve a mission, and when she said it, the Holy Ghost overcame me so profoundly and bore witness to me that my companion and I were there for a reason. That reason was to share our stories with her and give her the final encouragement or final witness that she should serve a mission. That just made me think that my knee injury was not just for my benefit, but for this beautiful young women, this child of God, who was searching for an answer. I know that we were supposed to be there because it is usually through people that the Lord blesses our lives. By the end of the meeting, all three of us were crying. As we exited, I can bet we were a strange sight to behold--three women exiting the room with full, streaming tears because the Spirit was so overwhelming. I do not know what Rinna Adorable will end up choosing because she still has her agency, but I do know that this work that I am anxiously engaged in is true and it blesses lives. </div><div> </div><div>The rest will have to be left for letters. I love you both very much. Hopefully, you have felt the Spirit of my message because this was a turning point during my stay here at the MTC. This meeting with Rinna reaffirmed to me how important my work is as a sister missionary. Please pray for our family. I know they need our prayers. :-)</div><div> </div><div>X-)</div><div> </div><div>Hma. Forbush</div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12988452885443519846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5542055441056336243.post-48883703322611756192011-12-04T19:52:00.000-08:002011-12-04T19:52:55.535-08:00Dec. 3rd, 2011 - Yay!! I'm Leaving For Ecuador!!<div>Hello Parents!</div><div> </div><div>I am writing a quick letter to you both because I need you to send a few things to me or my mission home in Ecuador to prepare for my departure date on 12/14. </div><div> </div><div>First, Mom can you please send me that camera I requested that takes videos with sound? I do not have a model number for you, but you can get some that are fairly inexpensive that take really good pictures. If you can't get that make and model, please try to get something else that works just as well. I am leaving in less than a week and a half. Please get it bought as soon as possible and sent to me. Thank you.</div><div> </div><div>Second, can you please buy two or three sets of sheets and pillowcases and send them to my mission office in Ecuador. I need to have them sent as soon as possible because it takes a few weeks to get down there. They should be a flat sheet, fitted sheet, two pillow cases for each set of sheets, and if you can include two comforters, that would be great. Please get that sent this week if you can. Thank you.</div><div> </div><div>Third, Dad, can you please send that MP3 player this week with the speakers. Remember, we cannot listen to music with headphones, so the MP3 has to fit into something with speakers. I am sorry to sound pushy, but I have confirmed with my District Presidency that I am leaving the week of December 14. So I would like to take care of these things as soon as possible. Thank you.</div><div> </div><div>Lastly, Mom, Dad, can one of you arrange to log into my gmail account and forward all my open emails that were sent before or after I left for my mission to my MyLDS Mail account? Please can you do this by my next P-day next Thursday? I want to answer anyone who emailed me after I left. I am not allowed access onto my gmail account. Only my MyLDS account. Things are a little strict here. Thank you.</div><div> </div><div>Those are the most pertinent things that I can think of to get sent to me right away. I just wanted to confirm to let you know I am at this point planning on leaving for the field on 14 December. My doctor here at the MTC told my District Presidency to go ahead and buy the plane tickets. Yay! Isn't it exciting?</div><div> </div><div>Love you,</div><div> </div><div>Hma. Forbush</div><div> </div><div>P.S. I haven't heard from you guys for a week-and-a-half, besides Mom. Is everything alright? I am getting worried. Love you! Please fast tomorrow for my knee</div><span><span style="color: #666666;"><br />
</span></span>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12988452885443519846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5542055441056336243.post-76488386442087268392011-12-04T19:47:00.000-08:002011-12-04T19:47:16.691-08:00December 1st, 2011 - Getting Anxious To Move On!!<div>Mom! Dad!</div><div> </div><div>Happy Belated Thanksgiving! I know I wrote you on Thanksgiving, but I don't know if I had wished you this greeting. It was a very hectic day, but it was worth it to hear from Elder Russell M. Nelson. Just think? If I had not stayed in the MTC to recuperate, I would not have been able to hear from two great apostles and receive that apostolic blessing.</div><div> </div><div>How is everything at home? Mom, I did receive that letter from Nathan, Megan, Dad, Stephanie, and you. (There is a delay in me receiving DearElder mail because my mailbox has changed. It is now #276). It was one of the best DearElders I have ever received. I can really see a change in them, especially Nathan. He has definitely changed his life around. The Lord is really preparing his heart to come back to the Church. I wrote him a letter last Thursday. Did he receive it? I wrote you a letter, Mom, on Saturday. I am trying to write everyone at least once in the MTC while still sending letters to all the new elders and sisters that I meet here in the MTC. I am really making wonderful and lasting friendships. It makes me remember the promise in my patriarchal blessing which says there will always be people there by my side when I need help. What a promise from God! It definitely came true when I needed the help of my friends to recover from the my ACL and now my meniscus surgery. With each new district, I am gaining loving brothers and sisters in the gospel. We are truly family here.</div><div> </div><div>The knee is doing great. I have been in physical therapy for two weeks, three times a week. The therapist already has me doing resistance training exercises. Hallelujah! I was getting really bored with basic ice and electric stimulation with the occasional hamstring curl. Now I am doing more rigorous exercises like leg presses and resistance bands. I talked with President Wilkins last Sunday and expressed my profound desire to go straight to Ecuador after my four week recuperation period. Originally, the plan was to spend one transfer here in a local Utah mission. I thought, heck no! Get me to Ecuador. So I talked with him and he compromised. He said if I can walk six miles a day for three or four consecutive days, and get the okay from my orthopedic surgeon and my physican here at the MTC, he would let me go straight to Ecuador. Well, the Brethren have to pray about it and approve it too. However, it is looking pretty optimistic. However, I have started walking on the treadmill at physical therapy. Yesterday, I got to two miles and my knee swelled up like a pumpkin. I have tried to take it easy today during P-day. Anyway, if I get the go ahead from everyone, I can leave the MTC by 12/14, exactly one month after I was supposed to originally go to the mission. Who says exact obedience doesn't bring miracles! Please fast and pray for me! This Sunday is fast Sunday and my whole district is doing a group fast, as well as the first counselor in our Branch Presidency, President Hopkin's, wife, Sister Hopkins. I have seen fasting work miracles, and I need a miracle to go. I am so ready to leave the MTC, mentally and spiritually anyway. </div><div> </div><div>What can I tell you about this week? I have truly enjoyed teaching this Intermediate group of elders and sister. I am learning as much as they. Yesterday, as we taught our teacher who was pretending to be a progressive investigator, Kevin, another teacher sat in on the lesson as a "member." Afterwards, he gave my companion, Hermana Read, and I feedback. He suggested to me that I stop trying to speak so fast like a native and work on my pronunciation. I speak very well and can formulate good sentences. The only thing I didn't do well was enunciate my vowels. That is good feedback. I am starting to work more on my own grammar and the tiny details of the langage that I didn't know before. That will help me a lot.</div><div> </div><div>I am sorry that I don't have much time to write this week. Mom, you should receive a letter in the mail this week. Dad, I will try to write this week. The weeks are going by so fast while the days seem to go by slow. Before you know it, I will be home from my mission in the blink of an eye. I don't want this mission to end.</div><div> </div><div>I will close with bearing my testimony because I feel impressed to do so. I know this Gospel is true. I know that it is the same Church that existed during Christ's ministry on Earth. When the apostles were killed by the Jews and various governments that rejected Christianity, the authority to establish Christ's church was lost. However, this authority to establish Christ's Church back on the Earth was restored or brought back to the Earth through Joseph Smith the Prophet. Because he restored the truth once more on the Gospel, we have a living prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and twelve living apostles who lead and guide this Church in the latter-days. Joseph Smith also translated a set of scriptures written by prophets who lived on the ancient American continent. Today we call it the <u>Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ</u>. I know this book is true. I have read it all the way through, cover to cover, and have prayed about it for myself. Through modern revelation, the Holy Ghost told me this Book is true. I challenge each and every one of you to share this testimony with everyone you know. More specifically, pray about someone that you can share this Gospel with and give that name to the missionaries as a referral. You can trust them that they will help this person find more happiness and joy in their lives than ever before.</div><div> </div><div>I love you all. Please take care of the family for me. And write me this week with updates about the family. When I attended the temple this morning, as I sat in the celestial room, I asked God to give me some news about the family. I got an uncomfortable feeling. Did Stephanie's surgery go okay? She had some complications with her toe and ovaries. I pray they did. How did your trip to Chicago go, Mom and Nate? And the plan with Doc Brown?</div><div> </div><div>Love you,</div><div> </div><div>Melanie</div><div> </div><div>P.S. Got any new teaching advice that you learned from a TEAM or LIFE CD that I can apply to my teaching of the lessons? </div><span><span style="color: #666666;"><br />
</span></span>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12988452885443519846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5542055441056336243.post-9736293872575100692011-11-27T16:28:00.000-08:002011-11-27T16:28:41.297-08:0024 November 2011-- Gobble! Gobble! Gobble!<div>Hi Mom! Hi Dad!</div><div> </div><div>Happy Thanksgiving! You get two emails from me this week. My preparation day is each Thursday, but I was able to write to you both on Tuesday because my companion needed to write home before she left for her mission on Wednesday. What a blessing I get to write to you twice. How are things back home?</div><div> </div><div>I am so grateful for a lot of things this year. The opportunity to go on a mission, to be a student at BYU, to have you both as my parents who love and take care of me with loving siblings interested in the Church again, for friends in the Church who share my faith and friends outside of the Church who help me realize how blessed I am to have this Gospel and Jesus Christ in my life, and for the health and spirit that my Heavenly Father has permitted me to have. There is so many more blessings I could count, but they are innumerable.</div><div> </div><div>Thanksgiving at the MTC is a little different for all of the missionaries. Instead of our normal schedule that we follow each Thursday, which is my preparation day, we have the privilege to hear from a General Authority from 10:00 A.M. to 11:30 A.M. for a special devotional. We already got to hear from Elder D. Todd Christofferson on Tuesday night for the weekly devotional, but now we are blessed to hear from another one today. This is the first week that I have heard from a General Authority and I get to hear from two! "Count your many blessings, see what the Lord hath done!" This evening, they have scheduled the movie 17 Miracles to play for all of the missionaries to watch. Yes, missionaries get to watch movies. Actually, each Sunday evening before we retire to our residence at 9:30, we get to watch church movies such as Legacy, Mountain of the Lord, or Elder Holland talks. He is an especial favorite because he gives such good talks pertaining to missionary work. Apparently he visits here often to give firesides and devotionals. Hopefully, I am here to hear him talk.</div><div> </div><div>I was very grateful to receive your DearElder letters on Tuesday. I cannot believe that Stephanie, Nathan, and Megan all created DearElder accounts to write to me. I really enjoyed hearing from them. I will try my best to write back to them today, but because of the Thanksgiving festivities, I have been robbed of most of the free time on my P-day today. It may be brief, but I will write them and have them sent in the mail tomorrow. Mail isn't sent out on the holiday. But oh, did it bring joy to my heart to hear from them, and to hear that they all went to the Single's Branch, including Mike! It made me realize the blessings that can come to my family while I serve a mission. Oh, my heart is singing with felicity right now!</div><div> </div><div>So are you going to participate in Black Friday? Dad, this would be the perfect opportunity to buy speakers for my MP3 player. ;-) To answer some of your questions, Dad, I am using my signature card a lot at the MTC Bookstore. It is a blessing that I got that at the ID center before coming here. Thank you. Also, I will need about $75 to get $200 for the airport when I leave for Ecuador. There is an ATM here next to the Bookstore, so I can withdraw money from that. As for what I would like for Christmas, skirts and shirts. Mom, please send me bright colored cardigans that have a three-quarter sleeve length and button up with frilly button-up shirts to go underneath the cardigans, if you would like. That is all I would really need. Please keep in mind that they should be cotton or appropriate for Ecuador weather. I have been going through my clothes and giving a few old things away in preparation to go down to Ecuador. I have plenty of shoes though. Thank you. Love you both!</div><div> </div><div>I think I wrote a lot on Tuesday, so I am going to keep this email pretty short. Mom, I received your package of "surprises" and I was surprised to find those letters from Sue S., Reid, and Joyce. Please tell them thank you. I will be writing thank you notes home to them today, but it was such a joy to hear from them, wishing me luck that my knee will get better soon. You both are too good to me.</div><div> </div><div>I hope you have a great holiday weekend. Enjoy Megan's healthy Thanksgiving dinner. That does sound interesting. You will have to let me know how that goes. And Dad, please tell Kelly's family that I say hi and Happy Holidays. Give the children and nephews all kisses and hugs for me. Maybe place a lifesize cardboard cutout of me to sit at the table with you guys. ;-) This is a great holiday to remember what we are grateful for and to spend with the family.</div><div> </div><div>Love you,</div><div> </div><div>Hermana Melanie Forbush</div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12988452885443519846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5542055441056336243.post-40515493747690220082011-11-27T16:10:00.000-08:002011-11-27T16:13:33.605-08:00Finally Get To Write Again!! Written Nov. 22, 2011<div>Hi Mom! Hi Dad!</div><div></div><div>I am taking this opportunity to write to you both now on Tuesday rather than Thursday because Thursday is Thanksgiving. The MTC does something very special this Thursday to celebrate "El dia de accion de gracias" but I do not specifically know what. I will keep you posted. My new companion, Hermana Emily Ann Higinbotham, from Orem, UT, has her preparation day today because she leaves for San Jose, California tomorrow. I spent the last week with her district, District J in Branch 55, but all of them have left besides her. She leaves tomorrow morning at 5:00 A.M. </div><div></div><div>It is rather ironic how most of the missionaries leave between 3:00 A.M. and 6:00 A.M. each Monday through Wednesday mornings of their determined departure date. Then, there is enough time in the morning to prepare for the new missionaries to come in each Wednesday afternoon. Last week on Wednesday, I was able to be a host for the incoming sisters with District J, show them their rooms, where they would have their classes, and around the MTC campus. The one sister I was able to host that day before I had to leave for my physical therapy appointment was Sister Jardine from Canada. She had arrived at the MTC the Tuesday night before at a very late hour. The MTC hosted her for the night because she had traveled so far and didn't have anywhere to stay. This was the case for at least 100 elders and sisters traveling from around the world. Unfortuately, Sister Jardine's luggage (both suitcases) were lost after she rechecked them. (Remember what happened to me when I arrived in Spain. Same thing happened for her. Porbrecita!) I put on my most cheerful disposition to reassure her that the Lord takes care of ALL his missionaries. Plus, I told her of my experience in Spain so she could be reassured that this happens to many people, not just herself. I thought this would cheer her up, but her facial expressions and mannerisms did not leave much room for emotions so I couldn't tell. She had arrived at around 3:00 or 4:00 A.M. that morning, though, so she was very tired. </div><div></div><div>This week we are not welcoming any new missionaries because of the holiday, so last week when I was a host, 655 people entered. That is double or one-third more than the MTC normally welcomes in one week. Actually, Brother Heaton, the Administrative Director here at the MTC gave a fireside two Sundays ago (we have a fireside every Sunday evening at 7:00 P.M. and a devotional every Tuesday evening at the same time). He described to all the missionaries what the church estimated would be the amount of missionaries in the mission field starting next year versus what it will actually be. I hope that sentence makes sense. He described that the Church had studied the numbers of young men and young women in the Church at present and guesstimated 52,000 missionaries would be in the field by the beginning of next year. However, with the number of mission calls being issued, we shall find that 56,000 missionaries will actually be in the field starting next year. That is why building 4M on the MTC campus is being stripped and rerenovated right now to welcome the increased number. Isn't God's work going forth?</div><div></div><div>To update you on my knee, I went to my follow-up appointment with Dr. Scott Jackson this morning at 8:20 A.M. He said everything looks great and fixed. I have one more appointment with him on December 6 at 8:20 A.M. in his Provo clinic at the Utah Valley Clinic. He promised to give me clearance to leave on my mission at that doctor's appointment. YAY! I go to the Spinal, Orthopedic, and Surgical Physical Therapy clinic at 3303 North University Ave in Provo. They nickname the clinic SOS Physical Therapy. Isn't that funny?! It is definitely saving my soul because I am so ready to leave the MTC as soon as my knee is strong enough to withstand all the walking I will do in Ecuador.</div><div></div><div>Other than that, Mom, I received both pairs of shoes that you reordered. The Clarks fit perfectly. The Sketchers are a little small, but I am sure that if I wear them here, they will stretch out for sure. If I had the same pair in a size up, it would have been too big. The Sketchers are super comfy, probably the most comfortable shoes I own. Thank you for reordering them in a half size smaller. For the things that I need, I am going to try and find what I need in the MTC Bookstore or depend on the charity of others until I leave for Ecuador. I am using my raincoat with the inside liner to keep me warm and I add the gloves Mom sent me for extra warmth. The MTC Bookstore sells nude control top tights, so I am using a few pair of those. I want to thank you both for doing everything possible to keep me warm and clothed properly. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have your support.</div><div></div><div>I keep hearing stories of sisters and elders who joined the church as a young adult. Then, they served a mission when they reached 19 or 21 years of age. However, for some reason, their parents disowned them and friends dismissed them. While they were on their mission, they didn't receive any mail or packages from family or friends. Especially around the holidays. Maybe you can put together something for the missionaries here and send it. Don't put a mailbox number on it. Just address it to someone in need of a package. I know you can get creative. My heart just goes out to them for the sacrifice they give to the Church and the Lord. Dad, was your mission kind of like that? I admire you so much more now. Can I just express my love to you for serving your mission amongst all the opposition you must have faced from your family. I can promise you that it definitely made a difference in my life as well as our family's.</div><div></div><div>Now that I have seen two different districts leave the MTC, I consider myself an expert. I want to fill you in on a few things. The day that I leave the MTC, I am allowed to call you and Dad from a pay phone at the airport. All missionaries are allowed one phone call. President Evans, my branch president, gave me permission to call both of you. I am allowed to call you on Christmas Day when I am in the field. I am allowed to set up a specific time with you then to talk to the whole family. </div><div></div><div>I think that is all I can think of right now. I love you all very much. How are my siblings doing? Please write to me soon. I haven't heard from you yet this week. I hope I have answered all your questions and requests in your letters. I love you both very much.</div><div></div><div>Ciao,</div><div></div><div>Hermana Forbush</div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12988452885443519846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5542055441056336243.post-27377608178716722622011-11-10T20:40:00.000-08:002011-11-10T20:40:22.420-08:00Keeping My Mission Exciting!! Nov. 10th, 2011This is written by Mom....................<br />
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Well, Melanie had surgery yesterday on her knee to repair the meniscus. Apparently, she tore it quite bad so Dr. Jackson (who did her ACL surgery last year) felt the need to repair it as best he could. He said everything went well and she should recover very quickly. The unfortunate part is that she will not be able to leave out of the country on Nov. 15th as was planned. She will stay at the MTC in Provo for another 4 or 5 weeks so that she can get physical therapy and gain the strength she will need to walk all those miles in Ecuador.<br />
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Since Melanie will continue with her Spanish classes and training here in Provo, instead of going to Peru, as was planned, she will be going straight to Ecuador from here. She is remaining upbeat and positive as she goes through this. She knows that the Lord will not give her anything that she cannot handle.Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12988452885443519846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5542055441056336243.post-87559092147242844192011-11-10T20:25:00.001-08:002011-11-10T20:25:56.202-08:00First Setback of the Mission - November 4th, 2011Dad, you probably received a call from the MTC clinic this morning. They needed permission to get a MRI. I will be getting that tomorrow, Friday, at 2:15 PM. Then, I will take those results to Dr. Scott Jackson who did my ACL surgery on 11/8 at 7:50 A.M. This is an update. Just to let you know what happened, I was simply standing up in my classroom and leaning on a desk. My knee just popped, but it was a significant pop that it hurt pretty bad. My knee became inflamed. The inside of my knee was very tender (what Dr. Sampson at the MTC clinic said was my medial lateral ligament area, not my ACL), and my hamstring became stretched. We will see what the MRI says and the doctor tells me to do. I tried using crutches for two days, but it has become such a nuisance that I have given up using them. I did receive a blessing from the elders in my district though so the priesthood is on my side!Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12988452885443519846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5542055441056336243.post-82060544600244521032011-10-30T14:08:00.000-07:002011-10-30T14:08:33.997-07:00My First Letter from the MTC in Provo, Utah.<div>This is my first email from the Provo MTC. I am only allowed thirty minutes to write an email, and I want to include as much as possible, so I hope you don't mind that I write one email to everyone. All is well. I have a wonderful companion named Hermana Xiomara Garrett from Kennewick, Washington. Do not let her name fool you. She is as white and English as me. Her father served in a mission in Honduras, and a common name of the people was Xiomara. He loved it so much that my companion's father named her that. She is also a Spanish Teaching major, although at BYU-Idaho, which means we are at about the same Spanish-speaking level. We compliment each other very well as we try to master the Spanish language. She knows words to fill me in when I do not know what to see, and I can fill her in when she needs it. There is so much to tell, that I am afraid I cannot put all of it in an email, but I will try my best. I have been assigned as the senior companion between the two of us. On Thursday evening, my zone met with our branch president, President Evans. After personally interviewing all of us, he assigned me. My companion kept telling me that she knew I would be chosen. I think the only reason why I was chosen was because the Lord wanted me to step up and start contributing more to the companionship. I certainly didn't want that much responsibility on my second day in the MTC. As senior companion, I am in charge of initiating everyone, companion prayer, companion study, and coordinating our daily and weekly planning sessions that we have each day at 9:00 P.M. </div><div> </div><div>The rules at the MTC are very strict, but they are to teach us obedience. Dad, as you have always taught me, obedience is the first law of heaven upon which all things are predicated. That is dually enforced here. We must wake up at 6:30 A.M., be ready by 7:00 A.M., be punctual to all of our activities, be in our residence by 9:30, start quiet time at 10:15 P.M. and have our lights out by 10:30 P.M. During the day, we have three square meals, class instruction once or twice a day for a three hour block, conduct personal study time as well as companion study time. Our exercise consists of either early morning exercise classes (solely for the hermanas) that start at 6:00 A.M. and end by 6:30 A.M. and gym time. That is a little about my schedule.</div><div> </div><div>I have had to memorize 2 Nephi 5:13 in both Spanish and English, a challenge from my mission president to know by Sunday. Addtionally, I have to memorize D&C 4 (the whole section) in Spanish and English before the end of my three weeks here. Not to mention, I have to memorize my purpose as a missionary on pg. 1 of Preach My Gospel which is called Predicad Mi Evangelio in Spanish. It will really aid me to keep focus to my purpose. </div><div> </div><div>Aside from our routine, I feel the effects that the Spirit has on me. I have come to realize that what I thought I knew about the gospel is nothing. My knowledge of the gospel has increased 70 x 7 while being here only four days. As my companion and I study the lessons and prepare for our investigators, we are taught to always keep their needs in mind. We are here to teach people, not just lessons. The whole time we start and end with prayer to invite the Spirit and teach by the Spirit. I have definitely increased my use of prayer. I know that it is by the Spirit that we can bring others to Christ. That is why it is so important that I pray when I wake up, when I go to bed, when I read my scriptures, etc. Each time I feel the blessings of those prayers as the Spirit augments my ability to speak Spanish and rely my message to the investigator. Yesterday evening, we had our first lesson with our teacher who really acted like an investigator. He took every single investigator he ever taught and combined it into the character Pablo Chavez. We failed miserably in our attempt to teach him because we forgot to start our lesson with a prayer. As a result, we stumbled on our words. Today, we had a chance to redeem ourselves. I realized that what we had to offer him was knowledge that our church was different. We offer a chance for the person to enter in at the door of baptism and receive eternal life. Other languages only teach people to save their souls. As we teach the doctrine and foundations of this gospel, people recognize the truth by the Spirit touching their hearts.</div><div>I have grown so much in the Gospel and in my relationship with Heavenly Father. Thank you so much. </div><br />
<div>I love you all. </div><div>Melanie </div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12988452885443519846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5542055441056336243.post-23113969189839501522011-10-24T09:57:00.000-07:002011-10-24T09:57:34.311-07:00Ay Carumba! Disaster Strikes heading to Salt Lake CityPicture this....it is 5:23 A.M. and you are tired beyond extreme. You have stayed up until 12:30 A.M. with your mother packing two large blue suitcases (that cannot exceed 50 lbs.) with everything you wardrobe possesses and that you will need to serve a mission for 18 months. You are stressed to the point that you have made yourself sick, and the only thing keeping you going is a single dosage of a nasal decongestant. It hurts just to speak, and you know that anything that comes out of that open hole you call a mouth will sound like a squeaky mouse, maybe venture closer to imitating Kronk's chipmunk language off of Emperor's New Groove. Squeak, squeak-ed-in, squeaker, squeak.<br />
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I had arranged with my parents to carry-on everything I would need for two days and all of my toiletries. Since the Church Mission Services arranged for me to take Frontier Airlines which charges for each luggage checked in, and my parents were taking Southwest, they could bring my suitcases without charge. Next thing I know, it is 5:23 A.M. with seven minutes before boarding my flight and the lady at the security check-in is forcing me to throw away close to $50 worth of toiletries, including a pretty expensive Mary Kay cleanser that was so beneficial to clearing acne from my stubborn face. I did have the option to go and check my bag into the ticket counter, but I was worried about missing my flight. My father's practical-minded advice kept ringing in my head like my own personal Pinocchio conscience, "Melanie, do not miss this plane. It is the only one that you can take that will get you out to Utah." (He was referring to the fact that he didn't want to have to buy a ticket for another flight when the Church paid for this plane ticket). "Alright, Dad, but the replaced toiletries are coming out of your money." Not really, but that was my thoughts that early in the morning. It was a small price to pay for the satisfaction and peace of mind I could give my parents that I am finally in Utah and one step closer to entering the MTC (Missionary Training Center).<br />
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For everyone reading this blog that does not understand the journey I am about to embark upon, or maybe even think I am crazy to go on a "mission trip" for eighteen months to a country so close to the drug cartels of Columbia or become kidnapped like that girl from Ecuador who made Dateline headlines, allow me to ease your troubled minds. I assure you that the Lord is looking over me and will keep me safe. In a passage of scriptures that we teach from called the Doctrine and Covenants, section 84, verse 88, it reads, "And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up." I know that the Lord will keep that promise to me because my stake president made that same promise to me as I was set apart as a missionary. I am his representative as I serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The mission that has been set up down in the southern coastal part of Guayaquil, in the province of Guayas, is very secure and organized. I report to a mission president who assesses the needs of the mission and assigns men missionaries called "Elders" and women missionaries like me called "Sisters" to areas in companionships to meet those needs. You will always find myself with a person of the same gender day and night. She never leaves my side and I never leave her's. Well, maybe if I need to go to the restroom, that would hail me some privacy.<br />
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Talking with an alumni, Ellen Chamberlain, who served in the Ecuador Guayaquil South Mission, she mentioned that President Montalti, my mission president, has taken all the sisters out of the mountainous regions and placed them in the coastal areas to proselyte and serve because that is where the sister missionaries have the most effectiveness in baptizing. My mission while here is to be the first sister missionary to serve in the Galapagos Islands where the huge tortoises crawl like a snail and the tame seals who come up to you with pure curiosity about your species. Of course, that will probably not happen because it is very expensive to send missionaries out there; also, the Elders who have to be there would need to be present with Sister missionaries there as well. There is only a small branch there (you can read about it in the August or September Ensign).<br />
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Well, I am sitting in the Salt Lake aiport at 10:52 awaiting the arrival of my father at 4:00 P.M. It will be a long wait, but now I have set up a blog that will keep everyone updated on my mission. This will probably be the last one I write. My mother will be updating it each week with letters and emails that I send home. I will train her how to use one. Hopefully, you will get some great pictures as well. Thank you for reading. I will look forward to hearing from you. Outside of family, I can only receive letters via snail mail. However, it only costs 44 cents to send because the Church sends pouch mail to my mission office. That is where you send the mail to the Church headquarters, and they send the mail via a private courier down to Ecuador. I will post my addresses and instructions about how to send pouch mail later on so you have the information. Thanks again!Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12988452885443519846noreply@blogger.com0