Alex is home!

After a long travel day, engine troubles in Quito, and missed connections in Miami, Elder Gomez is finally home and he has completed his two year mission!

His flight left Quito, Ecuador 50 minutes late on Tuesday the 16th due to engine troubles.  When they arrived in Miami they had to go through United States customs and by the time that was completed he had missed his connection to Dallas-Fort Worth.  He was traveling with a Hermana and the airline put them up in a hotel for the evening.  Separate rooms of course.  The missionary travel department booked them on a flight the next day for Atlanta, then onto Salt Lake City.  The flight was scheduled to leave Miami at 6:30 in the morning.  Elder Gomez was ready and waiting in the lobby of the hotel for the taxi to take them to the airport.  No hermana!  They called her room and knocked on her door and no answer.  After waiting for more than an hour he decided he better get to the airport so he doesn't miss his flight.  He arrived in Atlanta and went to the gate for the Salt Lake City flight.  Minutes before the flight was to leave, the hermana that he was traveling with made it and boarded the flight.  Apparently she had not slept for two days and was in a deep sleep and didn't hear the phone or the knocks.

He arrived in Salt Lake City at 12:45 pm.  All of his family was waiting to greet him.  And because this was his birthday, everyone sang Happy Birthday to him as he rode the escalator down.  We are so happy he is home and are proud of him and the way he served and fulfilled his mission!

Congratulations Elder Gomez!  Mission accomplished!  We love you!

Semana 94

Hi everyone! I hope you´re all doing good back at home. We´re doing great here in Riobamba!

We have the baptism for M this week and A is still doing good for his baptism the 20th. Things are progressing well. All the missionaries in the district are bringing people to church and there should be more baptisms this month of June and July. Asistence in church hasn´t changed too much but we hope that that can change in the following weeks. We´re working hard to hasten the work here in Riobamba. We have a lot of ideas this week. Starting Saturday, we set out a table with pamphlets in front of the chapel and gaves tours of the chapel to the people passing by and it went well. This week we´re going to do it a few more times and also try contacting the people in the buses. We have a lot of things we want to do.

I´m coming home this next week and there´s a lot of mixed emotions. It will be nice to see everyone again. But I´m going to miss the mission and Ecuador so much. Yo he aprendido bastante en mi mision. Yo he podido crecer y mejorar. He logrado un testimonio y una conversion verdadero acerca de la Iglesia y de Nuestro Padre Celestial y Jesucristo. Se que esta es la Iglesia verdadera de Jesucristo y que este Evangelio nos ofrece una felicidad verdadera y perdura por toda la eternidad. Testifico que todas las personas que con sinceridad preguntan a Dios si estas cosas son verdaderas, reciben una respuesta por medio del Espiritu Santo, el cual nos ayuda a comprender y aclarar las cosas, quitar la confusion y duda y ayudarnos a tener paz y tranquilidad y guia en nuestra vida. 

I´m thankful for all the support that you´ve all given me while I´ve been on the mission. God will bless you a lot. Well that´s about it for now. Hope you all have a good week. And I´ll see you next week in Utah. 

-Elder Gomez 

Amo ser misionero :) 

DyC 4 Nosotros somos parte de una obra maravillosa. :) 

Semana 93

Hi everyone! I hope you`ve all had a good week. We`re doing great here in Riobamba!

We went to a museum today. It was cool. They had a mummy that they discovered in ecuador. But they didn`t let us take pictures of it.

We`re starting to find some more investigators. We found one that asisted church yesterday. His name is A. He`s listened to the missionaries a few times before and almost got baptized many years ago but it didn`t happen. He was so happy to see the missionaries again and he accepted a fecha for the 20th of June. M still doesn`t have a baptismal date but just says that he`s going to get baptized before I go home. 

We`ve been seeing a lot changes in the branch. We`ve started out a missionary plan for the branch and the goal of our branch president is to qualify for being a ward by the end of the year. We`ve put some good goals and plans that will help to encourage the members to start participating in the work. They asked me to talk about this in sacrament meeting on the in two weeks on the 14th, which will also be my last sunday in the mission. 

That`s sad that the Apostol Elder L. Tom Perry died. I know that all of the prophets and apostols are inpsired men of God and that if we follow them, we will be blessed with success. 

Well that`s all for this week. Hope you have a great week and stay safe! Pray for missionary oportunities and don`t be afraid to share the gospel. 

-Elder Gomez

Amo ser misionero. Se que esta es la Iglesia verdadera y que Jesucristo vive. :)

Semana 92

Hi everyone! I hope you all are doing good and that you had a great week! We´re doing great in Riobamba!

We hiked Chimborazo today for p-day. The top of the mountain is the highest point on earth. We only hiked to 5000 meters (i don´t know how much that is in feet). We saw snow higher up on the mountain. It was cold but I wore my poncho which was warm and gave my coat to my companion since he didn´t have one. 

Our investigator M had a baptismal interview on Wednesday and it went all well. He may get baptized this Saturday but it´s been hard to visit him since he´s almost never at his house and doesn´t answer the phone much. We´ll be praying a lot for him to help him accept the baptism date. 

Our new branch president is excited to work hard and help us. We´re seeing some changes here and we hope that these changes can keep going forward. Now, we´re trying to teach the branch council leaders to know how to work with the Work of Salvation. 

After this we´re going to Quito for the new missionaries and trainers verification meeting that we will have tomorrow. So that´s about all for this week. I love being a missionary and I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ and that this Gospel brings us hapiness and teaches us how we can have a personal relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Somtimes there are doubts, but I know that if we sincerely pray and ask God if these things are true, He will help us know for ourselves by the power of the Holy Ghost to know that these things are true. 

Have a great week. Happy birthday to my dad this Wednesday. I love you, Dad! 

-Elder Gomez

Amo ser misionero :)

Semana 91

Hi everyone! I hope you´ve all had a great week! We´re doing good here in Riobamba!

We had district conference (stake) conference yesterday and the district presidency and mission presidency gave really good talks. We also had a zone conference on saturday before the sessions. 

We´ve been working hard and we´ve found some new families that we´ll be working with. We´re hoping that things start changing. We talked with our branch council after a video broadcast we had on sunday that the area presidency did. We talked about what we need to do to improve and help retain the less actives and converts and work together to have more baptisms in the branch. We got a new branch president and we´ll be helping him as well so we can all work together. 

Well that´s about all for this week. Hope you have a great week and I hope to hear from you all next week!

-Elder Gomez

Amo ser misionero :)

Semana 90

Hi everyone! I hope you´re having a great week! We´re doing good here in Riobamba!

My new companion that I´ll be training is Elder Morales from Trujillo, Peru. He´s 24 years old. He´s really excited to work and learn all about the mission. 

M is progressing well but everytime we plan an interview for him, it falls through, so that´s been a challenge for us to find a time when he can have his interview. 

We´re working hard and focusing more as a zone on talking to families that we pass by on the street. It´s more effective that way than knocking on doors. Many times, God puts the people we need to help in our very path, but sometimes we´re not paying attention to the people that we pass by. I know that we are all children of our Heavenly Father and that everyone should have the oportunity to learn about the plan that God has made for all of us. I testify that the plan that God has given us gives us true happiness in this life and helps us learn how we can come to know Him and Jesus Christ. 

Well that´s about all for this week. Hope you have a great week and stay safe and I hope to hear from you all next week!

-Elder Gomez

Amo ser misionero. Se que Jesucristo vive. :)

Semana 89

Hi everyone! I hope you`ve  all had a great week! We`re doing good here in Riobamba!

We had our transfers today and I`ll be staying and training a new misionary. I`m excited that I`ll be able to train a new missionary for my last transfer. We`re going to Quito tomorrow for the new missionaries meeting that willl be on Wednesday. 

We`ve been working hard here in Riobamba and yesterday we had a lot of less actives come to church and asistance at sacrament meeting is going up as well. We had 93 yesterday and we`re that it can start to increase more and more every week. We`ll be working very hard. There`s no reason to stop working or being lazy. We promised God that we would keep our covenants in every moment of our lives. Not just when it`s convenient or until we`re at the end and want to stop, but in every moment. 

That`s about it for next week. I hope you all have a great week and I hope to hear from you all next week!

-Elder Gomez

Amo ser misionero. Se que Jesucristo vive y que esta es la Iglesia verdadera de Él. :) 

Semana 88

Hi everyone! I hope you`ve all had a great week! We`re doing good here in Riobamba!

M is progressing well and came to church yesterday. Also B, the mom of a return missionary came and she liked church and we`re hoping that she can progress and get baptized. 

We`ve been finding a lot more investigators and starting to see fruits of our work, so we`re really excited for that. We taught a new investigator named J. He`s really good! We showed him the new Easter video `Because He Lives` and he really liked it. The spirit was strong when we showed it. He believes in God but has lived a life separated from God and wants to learn more about Jesus Christ and gain a personal relationship with God. He`s really excited to learn more and to start praying. We`re hoping that this week he will be able to asist church. 

Next week we have transfers and it will be my last transfer. I want to train a new missionary this next transfer. 

Well that`s about it for this week. Have a great week and stay safe and I`ll hear from you all next week! 

-Elder Gomez

Amo ser misionero :)

Semana 87

Hi everyone! I hope you´re all doing good! We´re doing good here in Riobamba!

M asisted church yesterday and will be getting baptized in May. He´s excited for his baptism and we´re happy to see his progress. It´s been hard to teach him though, since he´s going to Quito evey week and gets back for the weekends in time for church. So that makes it kind of hard. We had two less actives in church this week (the family V and family S) as well as F who is also less active. So we´re really excited for that. Church attendance is also increasing and we´ve been hearing that there are plans to split the district and form new branches.

Well that´s about all for this week. Hope you have a great week and be safe and I hope to hear from you all next week! 

-Elder Gomez 

Amo ser misionero :)

Semana 86

Hi everyone! I hope you´re having a great week! We´re doing good here in Riobamba!

We´ve been working hard and we´ve been finding some new investigators. A member gave us a referral for his family who listened to the missionaries and asisted church years ago but were never baptized. They really like our message and want to learn more and remember all that they learned a long time ago.

I´ve had to learn a lot about patience this week and learn more that all things work out in the due time of the Lord. I know that God is in charge of this work and that he helps us so that we can have success. I know that this church is true and that Jesus Christ lives and loves each and every one of us.

Have a great week and be safe this week!

-Elder Gomez

Amo ser misionero :)

Semana 85

Hi everyone! I hope everything is doing good for you all. We are doing good here in Riobamba.

General Conference was awesome this week! I learned so much. General conference has a lot more importance to me now, and I learned a lot of things. Mostly about what I can do to be a better leader in the mission, and a better disciple of Christ. I hope you all study the talks when they put them online and in the liahona. 

We don´t have very many investigators right now, but we´re looking and we´ve found a few that seem good that we´re going to work with. M came to church though and he´s still excited to learn more and for his baptism. 

Easter was great as well. On Friday we ate the fanesca which is the traditional easter soup they eat every year in Ecuador. It has a ton of grains and beans and fish, but it´s really good. Most of the missionaries don´t like it though. I like it but it fills you up fast!

Well that´s all for this week. Hope you have a great week and be safe and I hope to hear from you all next week! Chao!

-Elder Gomez

Amo ser misionero :)

Semana 84

Hi everyone! I hope you´re having a great week. We´re doing great here in Riobamba! It´s awesome here and I´m happy to be here.

This week I reach 21 months!

We asist in a branch and asistance this week was about 62 which is very little. My goal is to by three months have regular asistance of about 90 to 100. We´re going to work really to make it work out. 

We have an investigator progresing. His name is M. He is has already been coming to church for a while and studies a ton about the church on the internet and scriptures and has a huge desire to be baptized. He can´t yet though because he wants to wait for his daughter to come back to Spain to see him get baptized. She gets back the first week of May so he´ll get baptized May 2nd. Which the zone leaders interviewed him a while ago and said that´s all okay. 

That´s about all for this week. I hope you have a great week and stay safe and I hope to hear from you all next week.

Chao!

-Elder Gomez

Amo ser misionero :)

Semana 83

Hi everyone! I hope you`re doing good. We`re are doing great here!

We had tranfers and I got transfered to Riobamba! in the Branch Los Alamos! It was sad to leave Ambato, but I`m excited to work in Riobamba and knowing that this is my last sector, I want to work as hard as I can here and in 12 weeks (two transfers) feel satisfied with what I`ve done here. Riobamba is a district but President has a lot of plans and visions for Riobamba and hopes that it can soon become a stake.

As for Ambato, we had four investigators in church yesterday. The family C asisted and we`re hoping that all works out for their baptism on the 4th of April. L, the mom of the two kids we baptized this change also asisted but doesn`t have a fecha. We also had Pablo asist who we found this week. He has a strong desire to follow Christ but has had some challenges in his life. He likes what we teach, but has a bit of a challenge accepting Joseph Smith. 

Well that`s all for this week. Hope you have a great week and be safe and I hope to hear from you next week!

-Elder Gomez

Amo ser misionero :)

Semana 82

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great week! We´re doing good here in Ambato!!

We had stake conference yesterday and it was great! Four men from our ward were ordainded to the Melquisedec priesthood and that excited me a lot. We´re seeing a lot of changes in this ward and it´s headed in the right direction. Church asistance is also increasing and the ward is a lot more stronger now. Something that I´ve come to understand recently is that the most important thing in missionary work is bring souls to Christ and help establish the church and strengthen the wards and branches. If we baptize or reactivate a lot, then that means that asistance should go up and also have more men receiving the priesthood and more people renewing their convenants each week. If that doesn´t happen, then it´s not real growth and it´s just numbers. 

The family C asisted yesterday. They´re progressing really well and it was their second time in church. We hope that they can get baptized for the 28th of March. 

I´ve been studying a lot more the Bible and it´s helped me double the strength of my testimony in this month. The majority of members don´t study much from the Bible, but it´s important to read it. Everything of the Church is in the Bible. Everything about the book of mormon, apostasy, restauration, authority, temple ordinances, are in the bible. I´ve learned a lot of things that I´m starting to put into practice and it´s helping us a lot as we can answer the questions of people. We had a story about that with someone we taught who is evengelical and studies the bible a lot. What we shared helped her comprehend the importance of the book of mormon and the restauration. 

Well that´s about it for this week. Hope you have a great week and I hope to hear from you next week!

-Elder Gomez

Amo ser misionero :)

Semana 81

Hi everyone! I hope you´ve all had a great week! We´re doing great here in Ambato!

We had a lot of awesome miracles this week. A less active family asisted church yesterday by surprise! We didn´t think that they wanted to come back to church, but as we were sitting in sacrament meeting, they walked in. We´re really excited for them, and we´re gonna help them come back to church and so they can make plans to go the temple and be sealed as an eternal family. 

We had an awesome zone conference with presidente on friday and it was a great motivator. We learned a lot about the holy ghost and read the talk The 4th Missionary. It´s a great talk. If you haven´t read it, you should look for it. 

Well that´s about it for this week. Hope you have a great week and stay safe and I hope to hear from you all next week. Chao!

-Elder Gomez

Amo ser misionero. Se que Jesucristo vive y que estamos en la misión para llevar almas a Cristo. :)

Semana 80

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a great week! We´re doing great here in Ambato!

I´ve got 20 months now! The time has gone by fast!

I was in Quito thursday and friday for a conference for the district leaders of the mission. It was really good and we learned a lot of things. 

We had some new investigators in church yesterday and we´re really excited and hope that they´ll be able to get baptized in this month of march. We´re also seeing more less actives coming back to church and making plans with the bishop to be active again and get a temple recommend and have a calling. 

Well that´s about all for this week. Have a great week and stay safe and I hope to hear from you all next week. Chao!

-Elder Gomez

Amo ser misionero. Se que Jesucristo vive y que Él es nuestro Salvador. :)

Semana 79

Hi everyone! I hope you´re all doing good! We are doing great here in Ambato!

We had our two bautismos on Saturday and it was really special. S and A are really happy and their dad as well as he is coming back to church and had an interview with the bishop and they are progressing well. The mom still isn´t baptised but we think she will be ready to be baptized in March. 

We had 8 investigadores asist church yeserday! A lot of miracles. We´re hoping to have a lot of baptismos in March 

This thursday I´m going to Quito for a conference for all the district leaders of the mission on friday. Sounds like it will be good. 

We´re seeing a lot of changes here in Ambato. The ward is growing and there is a lot more member participation in the work of Salvation. We´re hoping that this will keep going as it is. 

An Area Seventy taught me something really cool on Thursday. Me and two other missionaries are finishing the mission in the next 3 to 4 months and the seventy told us that Jesus Christ performed the Atonement at the end of His mortal ministry and that if he were to have relaxed or been "trunky" we wouldn´t have the atonement. Jesus is our perfect example of how we should work and at the end of the mission we should be doing the most important things that we can do and not get trunky. 

Well that´s all for this week. Hope you all have a great week and be safe and I hope to hear from you all next week. Chao!

-Elder Gomez

Amo ser misionero. Se que Jesucristo vive y que Él nos salva para que podamos volver a vivir con Nuestro Padre Celestial. :)

Semana 78

Hi everyone! I hope you`re all doing good. We`re doing good here in Ambato!

We have the baptisms for the family B this week! We`re excited and they are really excited too. V asisted church yesterday and it was her second time and she has a fecha for the 28th.

We did a service on Saturday where we sprayed pesticide on the crops of an investigator. Her daughter was baptized a few weeks ago but she still hasn`t accepted a fecha to be baptized because of problems with her husband, as they are in the process of getting divorced. We really want to help her and her family.

Well that`s about all for this week. Hope you all have a great week and stay safe! Hope to hear from you all next week! Chao!

-Elder Gomez

Amo ser misionero :)

There are three times when we are dressed in white:

1. Baptism

2. Temple

3. Celestial Kingdom

Semana 77

Hi everyone! I hope you´re all doing good! We´re doing great here in Ambato!

Me and Elder Reynolds are staying together for another change in Ambato. But all the other missionaries in our district were changed and they also closed one of the sectors, so now we´ll only have 4 missionaries instead of 6. The missionaries left behind investadores and less acitves progressing, including one that´s supposed to get baptized this week. So we´re going to have to help them all, including the other missionaries that will be coming here to know the sector. 

For a few days, I´ll be working in Pelileo instead of Ambato. All the missionaries in Pelileo had changes and the new lider of district here will be training a new missionary and won´t get his companion until Thursday. So until then, I´ll be here in Pelileo, since I´m the only one in this zone now that knows Pelileo (because I was there for 4 months). I´ll be helping them get to know the sector and the members and others here. My companion will be in Ambato with the other missionary in our district who is also training and is waiting to get his new companion.

We had a new investigador in church yesterday. His name is J. He lived in Canada for many years and while he was there, he asisted church and the missionaries came to visit him a little. He came back to Ecuador because of health problems, he had cancer in his eye and they had to take out one of his eyes. He was really excited to see the missionaries again and wants to learn and come back to church. He asisted yesterday and really liked it, and he has a fecha for the 28 of february. 

Our other investigadores didn´t asist church yesterday so the baptisms that we were going to have this week will be for the next week. We´ve been working hard though and we´re seeing a lot of restuls and miracles.

For these next few months we´ll be doing La Fe de Febrero Trae los Milagros de Marzo ( the faith of february brings the miracles of march) like we did last year. This year, we´ll be reading the book mormon in these two months, marking every time it mentions Jesus Christ, weekly services, fasting, personal sacrifices and always trying to recognize the miracles. It´s going to be really good. As a mission, we need to increase our faith. There are a lot of missionaries that don´t have much faith and without faith, we can´t do anything. But with faith, all things are posible. (Moroni 7:33) I know that miracles are real and that we can only see miracles if we have faith.

Well I hope you all have a great week! Stay safe and I can´t wait to hear from you all next week! Chao!

-Elder Gomez

Amo ser misionero. Se que Jesucristo vive y que Él dirige la Iglesia hoy en día. 

Y Cristo ha dicho: si tenéis fe en mi tendréis poder para hacer cualquier cosa que me sea conveniente. 

-Moroni 7:33    

Semana 76

Hi everyone! I hope you´ve all had a good week. We are good in Ambato!

19 months now. The time goes by too fast.

The family B asisted church again yesterday and they have a fecha for the 14th of Febrero so they´ll need their interview at the end of this week. They are progressing well. The dad, who is less active is happy to be back in the church and his two kids are excited to be baptized. His wife is still a little confused about changing religions from being catholic. We´ll be helping them a lot though.

F asisted yesterday but his wife no. The two had a pre-interview last week to see how they are progressing and f has a lot of doubts about the restoration and other things. So we´ll need to help them a lot this week with that.

We did a service for a less active on Saturday. They said that they can´t asist church because they go to their terreno for Pelileo on the way to Patate almost every sunday where they have avocado trees and have to rake all the leaves that fall. So we said that we would go with the other misionaries in the zone on Saturday to help clean so they wouldn´t have to work on the sunday. We helped them with the missionaries in Pelileo and everything seemed okay for church the next day, but then they didn´t show up to church. haha At least we tried. There´s some issues in their family and work as well so we´ll have to help them a lot.

I really love it here in Ambato. We´re seeing a lot more success and the district is improving a lot as well as the whole zone. We have changes next week and I´d really like to stay here, but we´ll just have to wait and see what happens next week.

Have a great week! Stay safe and I hope to hear from you all next week!

-Elder Gomez

Amo ser misionero. Se que José Smith fue un profeta de Dios y que la Iglesia fue restaurada por medio de él.

Semana 75

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great week! We are doing good here in Ambato!

We had more investigadores come to church yesterday. The wife of F asisted but F no. They`re progressing well though and have a fecha for the 7th of Febrero. The family P asisted yesterday too. They are a part member family. The husband r is a less active and his wife and two kids aren`t members. They want to get baptized and they all want to come closer to God. The three have a fecha for the 14th of Febrero. We`re really excited for them.

We had a fun service on saturday with the zone. We went to the property of a member in the mountains and helped break open plants that have beans in them called chocho. haha

We`re hoping to have a lot more investigatores asist church this next sunday. We`re working hard and seeing a lot more results and that making us really excited. I love being here as a misionary. I know that this is the work of the Lord and that He is directing this work. His hand is in it and He is giving us the blessing and miracles that we see every day. I know that the book of Mormon is true and is the word of God. I hope you`re all reading it. If not, I invite you to do it. 

Have a great week and stay safe and I can`t wait to hear from you all next week!

-Elder Gomez

Amo ser misionero! :)

Semana 74

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great week! We´re doing great here in Ambato!

We went to Baños for p-day. That was a lot of fun! Went to the zoo there and there were a lot of cool animals, especially animals that are only found in Ecuador and Galapagos. There were some lions too and that was cool.

We did a service for a part member family on Tuesday. We went to a place called Quero, which is in our ward, but about 40 minutes away. We helped with the yard and had to find their rabbits that got out of the cage.

F asisted again yesterday but only for 20 minutes of the second hour, and his wife didn´t come again for work. We need to help them a lot. F brought his brother so we need to follow up on that. We taught F and his wife in the chapel one day, had them pray alone to know if these things are true. They feel like they´ve received an answer and want to progress but feel like they need more preparation for their bautismo

Violeta asisted church yesterday also and she has a fecha for the 7 of febrero. She really liked the church and will be coming back next sunday also. We did a tour of the chapel with her and her kids and at the end, they prayed in the baptismal room alone to know if this is true. They really feel like this is true. The kids are preparing to receive the comunion and confirmacion in the church catolic but they really want have a desire to asist church with us and learn more.

We´ve been working more with the members this week and bringing them to more lesons and it´s been helping us a lot. They Lord has been blessing us a lot with miracles and I know that this is His work. The Lord called us to this work to bring to pass his marvelous plan of salvation. I know that God lives and that Jesus Christ is our savior.

Hope you all have a great week! Stay safe and I can´t wait to hear from you next week! Chao!

-Elder Gomez

Amo ser misionero :)

Cristo nirca: Canguna ñucapi feta charijpica charinguichimiushaita ima cuzastapash rurangapa ñucapi minishtirishca cajpi.   

-Moroni 7:33