Elder Farley's Life in Ecuador: Week #58 - Happy Birthday Garrett! 20 years old

After a year of speaking Spanish, Garrett is forming his sentences in English the way you would form them in Spanish. He is going to have to relearn all of his English grammar when he returns, but for now, I am just so happy he has immersed himself in the Spanish language. I highlighted my favorite "Spanish/English" sentences from this week's email.

HOLA!!!!! Como están?

I AM turning 20 this week--that is crazy! I am so old!!! Dang, I never thought I would be 20 years old. I really never thought this day would come! I am so old!!! GGGOOOOOSSSSHHHHHH!!!!! But thanks for the thoughts and the very distant hugs and kisses!!!

Well, now my answers to your questions!!!

1- No, I haven't received your birthday package yet, but I am hoping that tomorrow I will get it!!! If I do, that will be perfect timing.

2- No, I haven't received the package from DearElder.com either, but if I get it tomorrow that would be so convenient!!

3- Getting my toe-nail removed went a lot better than I thought it would go!! I will explain it later in more detail.

4- Yes, I know that guy. He is a goof ball!

5- Yes, we do have a DVD player, so I will be able to watch the movies you sent me. Don't worry, I will make sure to bring them home after the mission!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!HAYDEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love you buddy! You have fought the battle and you won!!! I love you buddy! Just know that I prayed for you everyday!!! I am so thrilled that the tumor is now dead and that we won't have any more problems with you and the cancer!!! But the truth is that I knew from the beginning that everything was going to be okay. I had no doubt! Through this experience I have learned that the Lord makes everything in our lives happen for a reason. I believe this was meant to happen for a reason. I am thankful to the Lord for this opportunity to grow and become better because without Hayden's cancer we would not have grown nor would we have become better. I love you guys--especially you Hayden!!!

Well, my week is as follows:

This whole week one of my Zone Leaders (who is a little bad in the knees) and I just rested because the doctor told us that we had to rest!! So, we didn't really do anything other than that! Then on Friday the doctor took out my toe nail--for the third time!!! But surprisingly a miracle happened!!! The first two times that they took out my toenail it hurt so bad. It was the worst pain that I have ever felt in this life so far. So, coming up to this third time I was freaking out because I didn't want to experience that much pain. So I was praying this whole week that I could withstand the pain and that through this mini operation my toe could be healed for good!! When it was time to have the mini operation, I was really freaking out. Right before he injected my toe I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer. Literally 2 minutes later I opened my eyes and he was done! I didn't feel a thing!!!!!! I was so surprised by this miracle so I thanked God for this tender mercy. That was a really cool experience!! When we put our trust in God, He takes control and everything turns out better than we think it can be!!

Well, that was basically my week!!! Oh, one more thing...This week we had a baptism. Her name is Michelle Mina. She has 11 years and it was really cool. BTW, the guy who is baptizing her is the Bishop of my ward.

I love you all.

LOVE,

Elder Farley