Why Mom´s are Heroes....

So, I am one of those few very lucky people in life who has the opportunity to be blessed with two moms! My mom in the states, and also my mom here...Patty Calderón. When I had my little gum incident I had absolutley no idea how to get gum off of my pants. I asked my mom in the states, and because she had never had to deal with that either she suggested to google it. Well after no successful Google suggestions I resorted to asking Patty. She kindof giggled and then cursed the "niño quien puso chikle en la silla!" and told me to get a sheet of newspaper, and the iron. After about ten minutes she had successfully removed the gum from the seat of my pants, and they were good as new! So the secret i wish to share with all of you, if you ever happen to find the bum of your pants covered in gum, all you have to do is heat up the iron. Lay your pants flat, and put a peice of newspaper on top of the gum. The gum will heat up, and slide right off. It truley is a miracle. And mom´s know everything!
When i shared this exciting news with Heis, he said; "Well Em, here that is a common prank, so we had to remove gum from our pants about twice a week when i was in school!" i couldn´t beleive it! however...i hope you all learned something along with me!!!!


Choa,
Em

Que Hermosa El Día

Buenas Tardes a todo el mundo!!!!
Saturday again??? wow...I can hardly express how fast time seems to just fly by here...I know I have mentioned that before, (in almost EVERY blog post...but it just doesn´t seem to slow down. It´s so crazy!!! Entonces...
As a goal to myself, with only three months left to go, I decided that not a single Saturday would go wasted. There is just not enough Saturdays left until July 15th to simply not do anything Ecuadorian. So...I decided I needed to take matters into my own hands and I planned a day to go to the Mitad Del Mundo. I have been before, (remember with maritza) but we didn´t get a chance to do all the cool things you are able to do there, so I wanted to go back. Originally many more people were going to go with me, but in the end it was just Gabi, me, Brian, and Gabi´s brothers.
We headed out on the bus, which was fabulous if I do say the least...(haha) but from this picture i am sure you can see what really happened. Yep, i sat on gum.
I mean really, who puts gum on the bus seat as a practical joke!!!!??? now i have to figure out how to get gum off of my favorite pants!!! grrr...but anyway, I didn´t let it affect my day!
We arrived in Mitad del Mundo about 11:00. It was a beautiful day to be at the center of the world. I learned today that the monument, as seen in this picture,

really doesn´t mark the real equator!!! The line, that we stand to take pictures at,
is where the French thought the original line was. But with modern advances in technology, we discover that the equator the real "equator" is located a couple hundred more feet to the left, which i will explain more about in a little bit. We walked around all the little gift shops, and museums located by the monument, I even climbed into some Cuban guys strong iron hands...i was worried i was going to get in trouble...haha

We also found ourselves looking at ugly insects and beautiful butterflies, and spiders the size of my fist...it was creepy, but very "educational". After a lunch of mora ice cream, and a hamburger for a dollar, we set off to the Museum Intiñan. Which is where the "real" equator is located. It was soooo neat, they had all this authentic indian stuff, and a tour guide, and some really cool tests that you could do on the equator. We learned how to tell time from the position of the sun, and we balanced an egg on a nail.

we learned that becuase of it´s position, the equator makes it so that when the hot air and the cold air comes together there isn´t hurricanes, or cyclones, it simply just balances out. (for some reason i picture when Moses parted the REd SEa I don´t know why....) we watched how right on the equator, the water goes straight down a drain, with out spinning in any direction, in the east the water turns in a clock wise circle, and on the west the water will turn counter clock wise. ( i think i remembered that right...???)
we also learned cool things about indiginous people. for example, they lived in these little tomb like huts. when they died they would be put in these large pots, to be burried. if the person happened to be important his whole family was killed along with him. and they were all burried in these big scary pots. I also learned the meaning of quite a few words. for example. Totum pole. TO=Earth, TUM=Protection. or Intiñan. INTI=Path, and ÑAN=Sun Sun path. Also Quito. QUI=Center, TO=Earth. all in different contexts of course. so that was quite interesting!
and so...it was quite a fabulous day!!! and i can check one more thing off the list of things i MUST do before i leave to home...which is soooooooo soon! yikes! the rest of my week was good too, i met up with lucia again which was fun! it´s so fun to have her here! and other than that life just continues to roll on, way too quickly!
Cynthia turns ten tomorrow...and i can´t beleive it!!! So i end this with saying FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS mi Naña!!! and i hope you all have a Fabulous week also!
until next time
Em
ps for more pictures check out my facbook pics!!!

Who needs men...When you have Harry?

Hey Everyone…
Wow…another week has come and gone, I can´t believe it! Saturday found me in Cumbaya. A town where people from Quito would say is considered the “country”. To me I was reminded of Logan. So relatively smaller than Quito, but a town built around the university “Sanfransico”.
Personally I loved it, it was quiet, a ton warmer than Quito and I found myself wondering why I couldn´t just stay there…haha. As it was I was there to celebrate the first birthday of Samantha Anabel Mora. (Anabel the Bishops daughter) I rode up to Cumbaya with Bishop Mora and his wife early in the morning to start the preparations for the feast. We made a “Colorful rice” with peas, and carrots, and chicken, and lots of other veggies. We also made a ton of appetizers, and cakes. It was a fun day as I got to know Hermana Gabby more, and her family. Personally I was blown away by the carrots I was put in charge of cutting. As you can see from my picture, it was literally as big as my head!
The party that night went great! Poor Anabel though was sick, so she wasn´t very happy. But we managed to get a few fun pictures before she zonked out. Bishop made a slide show of pictures of her first year, and it was so much fun!
My Sunday didn´t go as well as planned. Lorena, nor my family ended up going to church with me, but with patience and perseverance I know that one day they will be brought unto the light that I know will change their lives. Right now I just have to be a good example and show un conditional love. (even though their naughty habits drive me up the wall) Life in Ecuador is going well…but seeing as in class only my presence is required and really nothing more I´ve gone back to my old study habits…becoming a book worm. Right now the books that have once again caught all my attention are Harry Potter. My new motto is who needs men when you have Harry? Certainly all problems are solved as you engross yourself in the pages of mystery and adventure in Hogwarts along with Harry, Hermione and Ron.
Life is great! Perfect and wonderful! I am still so eternally grateful for the decision I made to come to Ecuador. The experiences I have here daily change my life, and make me a better person. As I turn to my Savior for strength, and siguir adelante I know that everything in this life happens for a reason, and even though we may not realize it now…all our trials, and mountains that we climb are all for our own good. I love Ecuador, and it´s the most bitter sweet feeling to think about leaving all this behind soon.(so I just don´t think about that…)
Thank you for all your prayers, and support!
Love Em

Happy St. Patricks Day!!!

I must say it is pretty cool that I really can technically say the phrase “kiss me, I’m Irish!” On my mom’s side, my Grandma Barringer has Irish blood from the McCormick’s. And so, even though it is kind of a large stretch, I can say... “KISS ME, IM IRISH!” (haha) however once again I feel as if I am celebrating one of my favorite holidays…solo…but I suppose Ecuador just doesn’t have very many Irish immigrants. …But I wish all of you a very very Happy St. Patty’s Day!
Speaking of holidays. I was talking to my host family this weekend about Easter, and I was interested to find out the small amount of commercialism that Easter has here. And more than anything I could not believe that the Ester Bunny doesn’t know where Ecuador is! My Easter will be colored egg-less, Cadbury chocolate egg-less, Easter basket-less and let’s just say…very different!

However I am very interested to observe how they do this here…we have the entire week off before Easter. Being in a country with a catholic majority I have learned to appreciate all these fantastic holidays. On “viernes santo” there is a huge parade in the old town, where Christ’s procession will come in, with palm leaves and everything! Saturday is an observed holiday where the entire city shuts down to prepare for “Domingo de Gloria” (Sunday of Glory) I am very excited to observe all of this, and also to spend Easter closer to my Savior.
I have always just spent Easter as just one day…but here there isn’t even a word for “Easter” it is all “Semana Santa” (Holy Week). And as much as I love that dear ol Easter bunny it will be good for me to focus on the true meaning of the Easter Season.

But holy cow I can’t believe I can say this... "Happy Spring!"

(however here in Ecuador, it is more like an eternal never ending spring, I am excited at home you guys can finally start to enjoy warm weather, and maybe you won’t be so grumpy…haha jk)
Now let’s see….what’s been going on in my Ecuador life…I was talking to Hermana Ward yesterday and we were discussing how weird it is that all of the sudden after learning your comfort zone, Ecuador (or where ever you may be) becomes your comfort zone. And all those “weird quirks” just become part of your everyday life.
On Sunday afternoon, Elder Padilla and Elder Rivera finally made it to my house to teach the first discussion to my family. However this is truly a full story in its self…let me explain.
Here in Ecuador directions are kind of given like in Weston, by land marks…but that gets a lot more confusing in a hustling and bustling city of like a trillion people…anyway so to give a direction here you say the two main cross streets, and then you add in any more landmarks you might need in order to reassure safe arrival, with as little confusion as possible. So for example, my address is:
Emily Zilles
6 de Diciembre y Ramon Borja
A la primer calle a la izquierda
Siga recto, hasta Brasilla 2
Conjuto entrente Brasilla 2
Primer Edificio a la izquierda
Departamento #202
Now in English this means, corner of the streets 6 de Diciembre, and Ramon Borja. At the first street turn left, go straight for a while until the town houses “Brasilla 2”. But no into Brasilla 2. Enter the gated community in front of Brasilla 2, first building on the left, apartment “202.

Now imagine putting that on an envelope, it would be impossible right…(hence the awful mail system we have here in the wonderful country of Ecuador!) I honestly don’t even know my exact address it’s not needed. Every time I have to give my address-that’s what I give. (Pizza, Chinese delivery, taxi drivers, and…unfortunately…the Elders.)
So when I talked to Elder Padilla on the phone earlier that day he said, “oh yeah! I know where you are talking about.” I should have known, I mean this was coming from the person who gave me directions to the church house like this….
“Get off the bus at Banco Pichincha, look around until you see the street, “Rivera” go up one or two blocks, (I don’t remember exactly how many) and then you will see a brown building turn left, (don’t remember what street) and the church is in the middle of the block….” (right, I’ll be able to find that!)
Anyway about ten minutes before our scheduled time I get a text from Elder Padilla…”um….Hermana….We are lost….” So I called and they had ended up in Brasilla 1. (honest mistake) and could not figure out where to go from there. Well Brasilla 1 is just around the corner, so I told them to stay put and I would come find them….
Well by the time I made it to Brasilla 1 we had made circles around each other and they were now back at Brasilla 2. But instead of staying outside of the gates they entered and got even more lost looking for an apartment building amongst a whole gated community of town houses! When I finally found them they were sitting at a park scratching their heads, and I was really winded.
But all that was worth it to finally have the Elders teaching my family. The lesson went great. And my entire family was there. Heis offered the closing prayer as we all knelt as a family. It was so so so cool . my family agreed to talk to the Elders next week! And even gave them the names of my two aunts as referrals! It was fantastic! Can you imagine if they accept the Gospel?! My friend Lorena is also very interested in the Gospel, and agreed to take the discussions with her mom, and go to church with me! Today I gave away my 11th BOM since I came here…my New Years Resolution was 20, do you think I can make it?!

And So the life continues to roll on here in Quito! For those of you who have not looked over on to the right margin of my blog, and noticed my count down, we are officially down to under four months!!!!!! AHHHH!!! time is flying!!! I love you guys all SO SO SO much! Thank you for your love, support and prayers! Until Next Time...
HaStA LuEgO
Emmy Ann

Because I Believe....

I would like to start out this blog entry with a few questions…
Where does misery come from? Where do feelings of worthlessness come from? Where are fear and doubt originated? And who gives Satan power???
Now, where do hope and faith come from? How then do we learn to tune out the despair and fear of the world and put enough hope and faith in our lives so that we don´t feel utterly worthless??? These are questions I have been asking myself all week.
Out to dinner with my friend Hermana G. this evening I was enlightened by a very important principle that I had neglected to realize. When Satan was cast out of Heaven, with his angels it is not as if God gave him “all the power of the world” no, he was cast out…so the question, who then, gives him the power?
The answer is simple, we do. We are constantly reminded that faith and fear cannot exist in at the same time. So it´s the short seconds of fear that Satan chooses to sneak in, he catches us at our most vulnerable times, and we lose a small section of our faith for just a second and Satan takes the punch. Satan literally is powerless, until we give him power! And that´s the exact reason he thrives on our weaknesses, and also can´t stay when we command him to “get thee hence” Each of us are presented with times of “trials of Faith” whether they are trials we can or can´t control they are trials none the less. President Sloan (Mission President, Quito Ecuador) has a very good analogy to explain the principle of “trials of Faith” it is depicted in this drawing…now I know this isn´t a very good one, but I wanted you to all be able to visualize with me, as I explain it.
The period of our “trial” is in between the two barriers, this may include a number of things, for each of our trials are different, because we each have our own lives, and definitely our own agency. Now there are three types of people in this world…Person A, hits their trials head on, never wavering, the path is not easy its full of valleys and canyons and tall steep climbs, but at the end you are able to reach the other side and witness the miracles because you endured your trial of faith. Person B, is a person who recognizes his trials, but gets half way through, and thinks…”you know what…this is WAY too hard, so he turns around REAL fast. Person C, swims around in circles never really experiencing any of the trials, there for never witnessing any of the miracles, there for never putting his faith to practice.
In Ether chapter 12 we read,
“Wherefore, whoso beleiveth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of Faith, maketh and anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God….
“…I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; where fore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.”
We each come to this earth, and we each make decisions. Each decision brings forth consequences whether good or bad. I received an email from my mom this week with a cute and very true message, I thought I would share that with you…it read:
“What´s the secret of your success?” the teacher asked.
“Two Words,” the principal replied.
“And what are they?” asked the teacher.
“Right Decisions”.
“But how do you make right decisions?” the teacher queried.
“One word,” The principal responded.
“And what is that?”
“Experience….”
“ And how do you get experience?” asked the teacher.
“two words,” replied the principal.
“and what are they?”
WRONG DECISIONS!
I´ve recently been brought face to face with some of the many mistakes I have made in my life. One story brought me comfort as I plead unto my Heavenly Father in prayer to save me from this turmult. It is taken from the “Parable of the Princesses” written by the LDS author/singer Jenny Phillips. The story is about three princesses Rose, Ebony, and Hazel.
One day Ebony, finds herself in a helpless situation. She has crossed the line her father put in place for her and wandered into a great palace full of lies, and tricks. She feels locked in with no way out…
“one morning, Ebony felt something cold around her ankle. It was a large iron shackle, and seeing it frightened her. Attached to the shackle was a long chain. In a panic, she looked around and realized that all the inhabitants of the palace were shackled and chained. Most of them seemed unaware of the chains around their legs, though, and continued dancing and laughing, oblivious to the danger.
Ebony desperately wanted to leave the palace and return to her sisters. Struggling with the heavy metal pulling on her leg., Ebony moved toward the palace door, but she couldn´t reach it. The chain held fast, holding her back, preventing her from escaping. Tears welled up inside her eyes as she sank to her knees. She finally recognized the enemy her father had warned her against. But it was too late. She was in his power now, and she knew he was intent upon destroying her. As much as she wanted to escape, she could not. She was not strong enough to break the chains that bound her.
But something inside ebony remembered how strong her father was and how much he loved her. She was so sorry she had ever set one foot across her father´s line…”Father, save me. Please save me,” she implored. With all her heart she cried and prayed. Just as she was about to surrender to despair, she felt strong arms around her, breaking the shackle and the chain and lifting her out of the shining palace.
She could not see the face of the man who carried her away from the palace, but she could feel him. She knew it was her brother, sent by her father to save her. The enemy lashed out at them as they left the palace, trying to prevent their escape…but her brother shielded ebony from the blows with his own body. When they finally made it to freedom ebony knew that her dear brother had suffered horribly to save her that day….” (Pgs 8-9, Parable of the Princesses, Jenny Phillips)
I also found comfort as I opened my Book of Mormon to 3 Nephi. I started reading as Christ came to the Americas. I could almost close my eyes and imagine his glorious decent upon the people. I got chills as I read,
“… and behold they saw a Man descending out of heaven, and he was clothed in a white robe, and he came down and stood in the midst of them…
“I am the light and the life of the world, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end”
“ Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me, as a little child him will I receive, for of such is the kingdom of God, behold for such I have laid down my life, and have taken it up again, therefore repent and come unto me ye end of the earth and be saved. “
We all have agency, we all make choices, it´s how we choose to handle those choices that shows who we really are, and who we are becoming. Hermana G. challenged me to be “grateful for my trials” and to express “gratitude” unto my Heavenly Father for the lessons I am learning. I believe as we truly take each trial, challenge, bad decision, good decision, etc.etc. we will learn from them.
I know my Father lives, and loves me. And I know that even though I have made mistakes in my life that my Savior, and older brother just like in the story about Ebony will come and carry me home. I resolve to each day, from now on be the person I know I can be. I strive to be ready for the second coming of Christ. Because when the book of life is opened, I want to look back and know that I did all i was sent to this earth to do.
"and i will tell you the wrestle which i had before God, before i received a remission of my sins...
"Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard or seen...go to, thy faith hath made thee whole...(Enos)
Love, Em

What in the World is Dia De la Mujer?!

About 3:00 in the morning this morning I woke up suddenly to loud banging music, shouts of laughter mixed with slurs of words I didn´t understand, and clinking glasses. I had called it an early night the night before and so to wake up to so much racket really confused me. Well I decided it must just be my host brother and friends and I put some primary songs on and tried to fall back asleep. When I woke up at 6:30 this morning to get ready for church I listened closely and thought the racket had passed, until about five minutes later it all started up again. I stepped out of my room utterly confused and my brother Heis was standing there, he swooped me up in to a big hug, and then got down on one knee and wished me a “Feliz Dia de la Mujer…” I must have looked perplexed because he kept rambling on trying to explain to me what was going on. I got something out of it like, “Estoy muy barracho, tengo chuchaque….mumble mumble mumble.” ( which translated means I am very drunk, and will be SO hung over….)
Well I started to get a little uncomfortable so I went to inspect the front room, where I found a whole bunch of strange people and in the midst of them my host mom and sister. I was greeted with many slurred and un comprehendible “good mornings”, and I was introduced to all the strangers. Well I found refuge in the bathroom as I showered and got ready for church. As I was getting ready to go I had to walk again through the front room, where as if I hadn´t been in there a few minutes before I was again regreeted with “good mornings” and I was also re introduced to everyone in the room…no one remembered a thing!
I left for church mortified because the Elder´s were coming this afternoon to finally talk to my family…so I went to church…(which is a different story) and I came back and I set to work cleaning as rapidly and thoroughly as I could. I had just finished the kitchen, and the alcohol smell had started to be overpowered by cleaning supplies and dish soap when my mom rolled out of bed. I was like…there is no way she´ll understand anything the Elder´s say…so I started to pray that a miracle would happen. About that time my phone rang and Elder Scott was on the other line. He said that the Ap´s couldn´t come today because of something that had come up and they were super sorry, and hoped to call and make a new appointment.
So at first I was really really upset! But then I realized it was probably for the better…today in my house there´s a ton of drunk passed out strange people, and my mom is still in an odd funny mood. But I also know that Satan is working really hard against me and against them as they prepare to hear a message that will change their lives….
Now all of that taken care of…my week…?¿?¿? well… on Thursday I went bowling with Xplorer. (the pictures) now…I love bowling…I am still quite horrible at it, but when it comes down to it, I actually quite like it! ( I was taught to love it) well my first few (what are they called…rounds? Throws? Rolls? Whatever…) I was awful, I had gutter ball after gutter ball or only hit a few here or a few there, and then I started to kick butt! Brian was winning, by a LOOOONG shot, but when I kicked it into gear I totally kicked his butt along with everyone else´s! it was awesome….
Friday night I spent at the house of some friends from Institute. They are the coolest family. Both of the parents were born and raised Otavalans and they wear their traditional dress and everything! So much fun, we pulled out some mattresses and stayed up all night watched “Pride and Prejudice” ( the long….long….long…A&E version) but it was fun, and I hadn´t had a real sleep over like that In quite a while.
Church today was great! We had a GREAT improvement in the primary! We called an HLJ teacher today. She is my age, and so cute! And so excited to have a calling with the kids. This also makes my life easier and I am no longer second councilor, CTR teacher, and song leader! Right now we are learning a fun new song, and it´s always stuck in my head!
I also joined the ward choir and we are preparing some pieces for ward conference which is the 21 and 22 of this month! So that will be fun, but when I tried out my voice I was put in one song on tenor, another in alto…but it is lots of fun!
If there´s one thing I learned about these sweet Ecuadorians it´s that they LOVE to partay….there is a party occasion for EVERYTHING! It´s very interesting….and I just learn to grin and bear it…haha
Well I love you all, thank you for your love and support as another week has come and gone! I thank you for your prayers, and your thoughts!
Un abrazo Fuerte!
Emily