- “October 23rd, 1994 – Sunday. Puyo, Ecuador… Ecuador is sweet. It’s pretty. It’s a ghetto in the jungle. The people here are normal but don’t realize what it’s like to live good. But they’re happy. One thing I remember was today a boy with ragged clothes & who lives in a wood shack was praying for the poor. Kind of makes you think. To me, they’re poor but they don’t think so.” – Clinton Brown Missionary Journal
- “It is important that we keep our thinking straight, my brothers and sisters. Let us ever keep in mind that all material things are but a means to an end, that the end is spiritual, although the Lord is anxious and willing to bless his people temporally. He has so indicated in many of the revelations. He has pointed out, time and time again, that we should pray over our crops, over our livestock, over our households, our homes, and invoke the Lord’s blessings upon our material affairs. And he has promised that he will be there and ready and willing to bless us. The Lord will not do for us what we can and should do for ourselves. But it is his purpose to take care of his Saints. Everything that concerns the economic, social, and spiritual welfare of the human family is and ever will be the concern of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” Manual, Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Ezra Taft Benson, Chapter 21 Principles of Temporal and Spiritual Warfare
- April 2, 1996 – Tuesday – Quito Ecuador…”We next went to Marcelo Mosquera’s house. Let me tell you about him. He got his right arm blown off to the elbow and 3 fingers and half of his left hand. He did it working in the Jungle. His wife left him. He never gets hired because of his physical impairment, so it’s very hard to get a job. The government pays him 150 mil sucres each month (about 60 bucks a month) as a retirement pay. This month he has no money at all because after getting it, he was robbed on the way home. He’s had to go 2 days without food, and today he finally was invited to eat by Elder Howard and another friend. With all these trials and problems (by the way, he lives in a one room house and basically all of his possessions (gas stove, bed, TV) were all given to him) he still works soooo hard in the church work. He sold almost all his possessions last November to go to the Lima, Peru Temple. He’s the Turubamba Ward Mission Leader and magnifies his calling sooo much. He reads his scriptures and is active. He serves others. He’s an example for me. The thing was, after telling us his situation, he testified of his love for Christ, cried while doing it, and then went looking for things to give things away to us. He gave my comp stickers. Just seeing his situation, he has all the reason to complain and be selfish. But rather he serves others. He is so awesome. I’ll be like him. I left 5 mil sucres on his table. I hope he can make good use of it. I left from there repenting of my selfishness, and of the times that I’d whined for material things. How lost I was. I’ll pray for him.” – Clinton Brown Missionary Journal