Thanksgiving Week!

This week has been a little crazy and stressful with everything going on. Lots of people getting sick and needing appointments etc. I actually got a pretty bad headache the last two days and intermittent waves of nausea but I have been taking ibuprofen and drinking tons of water which has seemed to almost kill the headache completely. Tomorrow we are switching to Aetna the new insurance company so I´m sure getting use to the new system will cause some stress but hopefully by January I will be a costumed to everything.

Looks like everyone is having a fun Thanksgiving Holiday! I would kill for some thanksgiving food, especially pumpkin pie. Ryan´s Razor looks like tons of fun and a lot of mud. Today I helped a lady in our ward decorate her Christmas garland in her house and it made me a little homesick. Wish I could help Mom decorate the garland on the mantle again this year but you will just have to send me lots of pictures!

Today we have two baptisms that we are really excited about. One is the mother of our convert Rafael. Rafael is going to baptize her which is going to be so neat to see. Two of our converts Rafael and Richard are both attending mission prep after church and Oswaldo and his family are so excited to go to the temple in a year.

Con Amor,
Hermana Lyman

Ecuador.... Only Nurse!

Ecuador.

Now that my wonderful trainer has left me here alone and with a cell phone that NEVER stops ringing life has picked up quite a bit. Hermana Williams went back home Monday morning so last weekend we visited some of her converts which was neat. I can definitely feel the added weight and stress but am adjusting well. Most of the medications have different brand names so I have been constantly researching medications. I have several different packets that Area Medical Doctors have made with different medications for different problems to cut down on the number of clinic visits. These have been a great resource for me. Now I want to go to nurse practitioner school when I get back because I am LOVING it but at the same time stressed out of my mind!

My Spanish is far from fluent but this week I have been able to speak so much better and understand a lot more. This was my biggest fear that I would not be able to understand sick people that only speak Spanish but the Lord has strengthened me so much and I am able to understand most of what is being said. How great is his power and I know there is no way I could handle this calling without his strength. This week has been such a testimony builder for me that I am understanding phone calls that before I could not. I am so blessed. I am actually in a trio right now with the other two Hermanas that are my roommates. Hermana Blas and Hermana Aramayo that only speak Spanish so this will help me learn the language better as well. President Dennis told me he is searching for a new companion for me so maybe by Tuesday I will have a companion.

This week I had a phone conference for Aetna training, the churches new insurance, which will be effective December 1^st. We now have to contact Aetna first and give them the information and what clinic or doctor we want to use to get approval then we can send the missionary. Also it is only with doctors and clinics that have signed contracts with Aetna which as of today we only have 2 clinics in Guayaquil because they are still in the process of adding more doctors.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Con Amor,

Hermana Lyman

Short But Definitely Sweet!

Hola!

Thanks so much for the e-mails! Not much new to write about this week. My companion leaves Monday morning to go back home so I should get a new companion Sunday. I´m not sure if she will speak English but in all honesty I hope she doesn´t. We don´t speak Spanish ever unless we are teaching a lesson or in studies. I have progressed in the language just not as fast as I´d like. If I get a Spanish only speaker then I know I will pick it up in no time. I´m probably going to be really stressed for the next few weeks to adjust to everything. Also I will be the only nurse which means I now have all the responsibilities for that. Also we are changing insurance companies starting Dec 1st so I´ll be doing some training for that. 

We have 2 baptisms of a married couple 25 years old tonight. I still have a lot of progressing to do as a missionary but I would have to say my understanding of the importance of the gospel teachings has a whole new meaning now that I have witnessed how it changes lives. These people that pray for the first time and have prayers answered through the spirit and to physically see the change in families and homes is such a blessing. I am most thankful for the restoration of the church. I am so proud to be a member. Everything good comes from the church, it changes lives. I am also speaking in sacrament tomorrow over missionary work so I´m a little bit nervous but at least it is an easy topic! We haven´t made the video yet they keep pushing it back.

Love and miss everyone!

Hermana Lyman

Hola!

So today is our p-day instead of tomorrow. Our schedule seems to be crazy lately because a lot of things have been happening on Saturdays so we´ve been having to change our p-days every now and then to Fridays. Tomorrow our ward council is being filmed as well as our pan de guineo activity. For the last two weeks we have had a general authority at our meetings and having extra meetings in preparation for the film. Our ward has had a lot of growth and for this are making a film for South American wards to show as an example. Last night the general authority actually told us that it might not be filmed until next Saturday so I might have p-day on Friday again this upcoming week.

This week has been pretty crazy with making appointments and getting medicines for sick missionaries. President and Hermana Dennis have been in Peru all week for a training conference. We have to get approval for any appointment we make and sometimes for medications that we send out. With them being out of the country it has been hard to communicate in a timely manner. Also yesterday President´s daughter got sick at school so we had to go pick her up and take her to the mission home. We are excited for them to get back! This week I also went to a doctor appointment with a Hermana to meet a doctor and to see some clinics and a hospital in the southern part of Guayaquil. Before Hermana Williams leaves we might take a hospital-clinic day so I can be familiar with the locations and facilities. 

This past Sunday our converts, Rafael blessed the sacrament and is talking about serving a mission in a year and Oswaldo received the priesthood. It was such a great thing to witness! They both are so great and Oswaldo and his family have been so blessed and are so happy. His wife and son have two chairs set up in their living room waiting for us every time we have an appointment with them. They are excited to go to the temple in a year to be sealed as a family for time and all eternity and I should be able to attend!

Love and Miss Everyone,

Hermana Lyman

Birthday P-Day!

11/2/13

Thank you so much everyone for the birthday wishes, love, and support!
 

I am so lucky that my birthday is on PDAY! This morning my other roommates came into my room early in the morning and woke me up singing "Happy Birthday" in English with their Latina accents holding a huge cake! So apparently it is a tradition in Ecuador to bite the cake after you make a wish....they neglected to tell me that it is also tradition to slam the person's face into the cake while doing so!!! So here I am taking a bite out of the side of the cake and my face getting slammed into the side while screaming! I ended up with icing all over my face and hair and Hermana Blas got it on video so it is pretty funny to watch. The assistants to the Mission President also called me and sang me "Happy Birthday" in a nice remix between Spanish and English (they are both from Columbia.)   It was so sweet and a great start to the day.

So I got my package in the mail 3 days ago but I was good and waited until today to open it. I Started with the picture album and It was so nice to see photos of everyone and when I got to the end of the pictures with Dad, Mom, Tanner, Ryan, Brannon, and Bryce with families they had baptized on their missions I started crying as soon as I saw Dad and Mom's pictures in Chile and Japan and I was pretty much weeping by the end of it. That has been the BEST gift EVER and means so much to me.  I am so grateful for the wonderful example my family is to me. I have put a photo of my first baptism next to them to finish the album. Mom that was such a meaningful gift and I will cherish it forever.  Also thank you for the gifts! It was a lot of fun to open them all!

Today we went to the Park of Iguanas downtown which has some really pretty buildings.  The park was pretty despite the fact that I am not a huge fan of IGUANAS!  But it was neat to see them and as long as they weren't running at me I was good. Little kids were picking them up and such....crazy!  Today Ecuador is celebrating the day of the dead and I am celebrating the day of my birth! Just a fun fact for today. Also some people celebrate Halloween but we really only saw a few people dressed up.

Yesterday 23 new missionaries arrived so we were at the Mission Home pretty much all day. We did preventative teaching and handing out care kits of medications the missionaries won't have access to in Ecuador without a prescription including Tylenol and ibuprofen. It is so weird to me that we can't buy those without a prescription but you can buy antibiotics and pretty much anything else. The new missionary orientation is actually pretty fun the office elders always do skits which are WAY entertaining! My companion leaves on the 18th to go back home to South Carolina and I am going to miss her so much!

I am so incredibly blessed!

Con Amor,

Hermana Lyman