How to Make a Faraway Land Your New Home

I served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Guayaquil, Ecuador from June 2018-December 2019.

Serving in Ecuador was the most humbling experience of my life. Never had I seen such extreme poverty nor such extreme generosity. The people there changed my heart. While I helped them come to know Heavenly Father better, they helped me see them, His children, through His eyes. Life is busy and fast paced. The Ecuadorian culture is much more laid back than ours here in the United States. During my time there I learned to the importance of serving and how to really love someone. I never want to take for granted the simple things in life because without them life isn’t so simple- water, food, a roof over our heads. I was placed in five different areas all in very unique geographical locations from rural villages to bustling downtown cities, beach towns and southern city slums. I saw all walks of life and was serving alongside companions from the United States, Peru, Colombia, and other Spanish-speaking countries. I learned how to communicate and work effectively and practiced that in varying leadership roles within my mission. It was undoubtedly the most difficult yet most joyful and rewarding experience of my life thus far. I will always love the people of Ecuador!

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“Lift up your heart and rejoice, for the hour of your mission is come; and your tongue shall be loosed, and you shall declare glad tidings of great joy unto this generation.”

Doctrine & Covenants 31:3

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