Meet the Britos!

One of the amazing things about serving here in Ecuador is being able to see how many people are coming into the truth right out of the territory. We have been here for 8 months total and are still surprised to discover how many in the congregation are very newly baptized, or just unbaptized publishers! I've learned to always ask in service, ¨So, how long have you been baptized?¨ The majority of the time it is within the last 5 years and pretty often you'll get, ¨Oh, I'm not baptized yet, I hope to be baptized at the next assembly.¨ --And that is after they have just taken you on 2 of their own bible studies. It is such an encouragement to see their zeal and appreciation. I have decided to try and introduce you to some of the new/interested ones in the congregation and share their experiences with you....

MEET THE BRITOS.....
Some of you might remember them from our last visit--they fed us our first cuy (guinea pig). They are probably one of the poorest families in our cong, but are INCREDIBLY generous, especially with us. We usually eat at their house at least once a week, sometimes more...
Her whole meal never costs more than $2, but it is always delicious! I am learning a lot from her! It is usually a HUGE plate of rice, a small piece of meat and vegetables....

They have been studying for about 2 years total, and are unbaptized publishers. His brother started to study first and persuaded them to study and they have been making steady progress ever since. Although we don't study with them, each week when we are at their house they have tons of questions for us, usually about little things that we take for granted because we were raised in the truth like.....¨Can you show us how to have a family bible study?¨ (which, by the way, they faithfully have every week) or ¨I started to try and prepare for this part in the meeting, but I am not sure where to look for the answers¨ or ¨Where can I find information to share for the Bible highlights?¨ It is amazing. They are putting forth a lot of effort to make progress--he has recently started 2 bible studies of his own!

They have had some obstacles to overcome....they live about 100 ft from his parents, and so they have dealt with some opposition from the family as they are making changes and it is hard for them. But, their good example is paying off, recently his father and brother both started studying the Bible. Their other obstacle is work. He works out of his little house making shoes. The factory pays him $.99 per pair, and each pair takes about 1-2 hours. So you can imagine that he works ALOT just to put rice on the table, sometimes he works through the night.

They are both working towards baptism at our next assembly in March.
He is an awesome guitar player and is giving Chad lessons. He absolutely loves ¨English¨songs and so he always makes Chad sing in English with him while he plays those songs...The Eagles, The Beatles, Kansas.....He listens to the songs on the radio or a CD and then he just plays them by ear!

I put a little video together of them and they wanted to say hello to our friends and family back home.....