Halloween: Another American holiday that came and went here in the jungles of Ecuador. We didn't celebrate or do anything to acknowledge that it was Halloween, but it's okay, I just got some candy and ate too much and it felt just like home.
The branch here in Baños is pretty solid. About 100 members come each Sunday and there's a lot of really good, faithful members. We had fast and testimony meeting yesterday. It was a really uplifting one. All of the members bore powerful and simple testimonies and invited the Spirit really strong into the chapel.
I ate chicken gizzard, chicken heart, and chicken foot this week. All in the same meal. It was horrendous and I wanted to die, but I was able to live through it, mostly because I didn't actually eat all of the chicken foot. I was on an exchange with Elder Carney in his area, and when we saw the foot on the plate, we both just cried inside. The hermano left the room for a second, and Elder Carney just looked at me and then started scraping off the meat from the foot as fast as he could, and then just chucked it in his napkin, which then went into his pocket. I had eaten a few bites of the foot and it was heinous, so figured I might as well just follow Elder Carney's lead, so the majority of the chicken foot ended up in my pocket as well. I felt kind of bad about it because he had taken his time to make this food for us, but I think it's better to not eat it than to throw up in his home.
One of the cool tender mercies we had this week happened while we were out contacting. We were knocking doors and as we were walking, we saw a family a little way down a dirt path, and Elder Santagio and I felt like we should both go and talk to them. However, there were three massive dogs on the path, and most of the time when you enter someone's property, the dogs aren't too happy about it. Elder Santiago said, "Yeah, we have to talk to them, so you take the lead and if the dogs bark, just kick them, okay?" I figured we'd be okay, so I started down the path and all three dogs came running and barking, but they didn't touch me. We got up to where the couple was standing without the dogs touching us, and we were able to introduce ourselves. Turns out they were a family of less active members that the Baños branch had been looking for for a long time. We were able to have a good visit with them and got to know them better. I was a special experience because first, the Lord prompted us both to talk to them, and second, He protected us from the dogs. I love being a missionary, just for experiences like that.
I was going to send some updates on our investigators out here, but I want to talk to my family, so next week I will make sure to talk about the people we're teaching.
I love and miss you all, thank you to those that still email me! Have a great week, until next time!
Elder Spangler
My halloween costume that I found in Elder Carney's house
A postcard picture I took
An active volcano that's super close to where I live
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