"We are not judged, we are admired"

¡Hola!

A funny thing about Ecuador is, there are not many white people walking around the none touristy parts of Ecuador, aka everywhere I have worked. And so when there are 2 gringas walking together we turn heads, and a lot of heads. So today, we were carrying a giant bag of boxes, and I said that we probably look funny and people were probably judging, but then I was like, no, we are not judged we are admired.. haha anything that we do just will become the trend here, because we´re white. :) The bonus of being white here. Also a member told us today, that because we are white more people will listen to us and we have more success then the latin missionaries, not really sure if that is true or necesarily a good thing, but it was funny :) I am sure this was a lot funnier for me and my companion, but enjoy :)

This sector is moving along great, we have some really marvelous people that we have had the blessed opportunity to be working with. Fernando, Patricia, and Veronica all had their interviews this week. Veronica, is going to be preparing for the 23rd to just keep increasing her faith, she is awesome and came to conference and really loved it. The only thing is now she is back to going to school and she is super busy, so we are hoping to be able to find her this week at least twice, but we have planned to work out a time with her that would be a good time to call and be able to have a little conversation and give her an inspirational message to keep her excited and progressing. Fernando passed his interview and will be getting baptized this weekend, as well as Patricia. Fernando had asked us, when we explained the interview, or the conversation he would have with Elder Miza, he asked us "What do I need to do to prepare? Should I read all the pamphlets again? What should I read?" He got super nervous and thought it was some sort of test, we explained it wasn´t and that he would be just fine, he was just super worried that he wouldn´t pass, because he wants to be baptized so bad. So he was super happy when he left and that he had been told that all was okay and that he could get baptized this weekend. Patricia was also super happy and loved conference, and really enjoyed the part about having joy. She just wants to be happy, which is the most important. She is excited for her baptism as well. If all works out, we are going to have their baptism Saturday, and we are super excited for them, and I just love the change that I have seen in them as they have accepted the gospel, it really is a marvelous thing when people accept the Savior and His gospel into their lives. 

They are really enjoyed conference, and I am so grateful for conference and the opportunity that we all have to listen to God´s servants here on the earth. What called my attention was the need to pray from your hearts and not just from your lips, because it is easy to get in a habit with your prayers, and also to really know and love the doctrine of Christ. The second coming is nearing and we need to be prepared for what is up ahead.

This week we started meeting with the Chimbo Family. They are 2 sisters and their kids, one has 3 kids the other has 2 kids, and 4 of the kids are over 8. They are all really great, and were able to come with us to Conference yesterday and really enjoyed it and loved listening to it. We are going back tonight to talk about it and see how they felt being able to listen to God´s Prophet. They are a great family and we are excited to be working with them. 

Something I am so grateful for is the baptism interviews. They really help the investigators to keep progressing and really make those final steps of repentance, if they hadn´t been taken, and to really feel the love God has for them. Everytime one of the people I have been working with has gone into an interview, they are always super nervous, but as they come out after having been able to talk to my district leader, they are full of light and joy and really just want to keep following God, and you can just see in them the love of God. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to be working with so many wonderful people, and that I will be able to be present in their baptisms as they take this important step to come closer to their Savior and Redeemer and enter into the kingdom of God.

I know this church is true and I am a grateful for the chance I have to be a representative of God during this time.

Shout out to my sister who got her mission call to South Carolina!! Woohoo!! 

Con Mucho Amor,

Hermana Cordon

Beautiful Ambato:

Leer, Orar, y Asistir

¡Hola!

Well this week went great, alot of our appointments fell through, but we kept pushing through and we worked hard and we had an awesome week. 

Selfie with my Companion

We have 3 progressing investigators. Fernando, Patricia, and Veronica, all of which have a baptism date for the 8th. We love all of them and we are working hard with each one of them. Fernando asked us yesterday "Why can´t I just get baptized tomorrow?" Oh boy did that make us happy to hear his excitement to get baptized. I know that he is coming along and really letting the Lord change his life. Patricia is doing great and has come from being scared to be baptized to being anxious which is a great change! And I am finally friends with her little 2 year old daughter, who´s name is Paola Micaela :) I love her second name! She has always been super shy with us and would never greet us or anything, but this week she finally greeted me and took me by the hand! So cute! Veronica is doing great as well and everyday we can see a change in her. 

This week, juggling trying to visit all 3 to get the lessons in, and trying to visit the less actives and converts, we had a hard time having new lessons with new people. I was really trying to figure out what we could do differently to be able to find new people to keep the work progressing, and not just have no investigator work after the 8th. Then, on friday we had a ward activity, and the bishop came up to us and told us about a friend of his that will come to church on sunday, and then came yesterday as well! He came with his wife and they both enjoyed the church. Then yesterday we were able to visit with them and their kids. They have 4 kids who are 13, 11, 8, and 1. They are all super receptive and want to know more. They are not married, but we are excited to be working with them and we have a return appointment set up with them for tomorrow. Really I know that the work moves forward a lot more productively when the members get involved, I have a strong testimony of that now, because for the first time in several months I am working with people who are progressing, and all three of them are references from members. We just got to keep working with the members and we got to keep getting them excited to get involved in the work. I love this ward and I love everyone who is excited to work with us and to help us out. We are seeing great things here in El Recreo. 

Watching Conference

Women´s Conference was great, if you didn´t watch it, do it. Some of the things I liked was "In the end everything will make sense." Dieter F. Utchdor. And I liked the general theme and what Sister Oscarson talked about how we are essential parts in the kingdom of God and a bedrock understanding of the doctrine of Christ. I loved it and I am excited for conference this weekend!

In personal study this week I was studying a little bit of Joseph Smith´s story and I was thinking in the people we have been working with. Joseph Smith, to get an answer, went to many churches to see what they teach and how he feels. He searched in the Bible, he read it alot and really pondered on what he was reading. And he finally took it to God and prayed, with a sincere heart, real intent, and faith that God would answer him. And he got an answer, an answer that has changed my life and millions of others as well. While pondering on that, it just reinforced to be the reason we need to make sure that everyone we are visiting (investigator, convert, less active, member) is reading the scriptures, going to church, and praying to God. And if they do that they will have a testimony. Sometimes it seems so simple and so easy to do all those things, and it is. But, we need to make sure we are doing it with all of our heart and a true desire and then we will see miracles in our own personal life. No, not a vision and talk to God and Jesus Christ face to face, but something very powerful and very spiritual personally. I know that if everyone makes time, and really does all with their heart, that reading the scriptures and praying to God daily and a weekly church attendance will change your life spiritually. I testify of that in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Les Amo Muchísimo!

Mucho Amor,

Hermana Cordon

The typical cudor meal. You just have to have your rice, fries, and chicken.

We love Kinder Eggs. You can´t find them in the states, because they are illegal because they come with a little toy. But, they are delicious.

Called to serve, but written into how to pronouce it for a spanish speaker. 

Me with Deyni, a less active, and beautiful Ambato

We made mac and cheese with our mission leader and his wife, for our activity. We had a ward activity and each organization was assigned a country to present a food and a talent. So we got assigned the USA and we presented mac and cheese :) And we sang in english with the elders and our mission leader.

El Recreo Round 3

¡Hola!

Great news, I am staying in El Recreo with Hna Bench to finish out the mission!! I am super excited to be able to be here for the next 6 weeks and to keep working with these wonderfully amazing people here in El Recreo. Also I am stoked to be able to keep working with Hna Bench. It also means I will have about 7 months here in Ambato, but thats okay, cause it is the best!

We went with Jessica and her Mom to feed
their animals, we forgot our cameras.
Her mom gave me her shall to put on,
because it was super windy, and she put it on
the Ecuador Way.

Jesica, our less active, is doing good. She has never come to the first hour, but has been coming to church for awhile now. So we talked to her about why we need to go to the first hour, mainly for the sacrament. She thought you had to be basically perfect to take the sacrament, so she didn´t go, because she didn´t feel worthy enough to take the sacrament. So we cleared that right up, and testified to her that the sacrament is for the imperfect people who are trying to do better. I love the sacrament, and here on the mission I have been really able to understand it on a whole new level. 

This week was sad, because we had to drop two of our investigators. I come to love every one of our investigators and I am able to learn so much from them. But, there comes a time when the person isn´t progressing and is not doing what we are asking them to do, we have to love them enough to let them go and to allow them to come back, when they will progress. I am just super grateful for the chance we had to meet with them and for all that I was able to learn from them. 

We had a service project this week, and we painted. It was fun! Fun fact: Ecuadorians think you need to put half water and half paint, so we basically painted the wall with water. And it was a white wall, that we sanded last week, and so we were putting a new white paint on it. But, it just ended up being gray.. It was kind of funny, just painting the wall and just finding gray in our paths.

Use with Deyni, a less active we are working with
that goes to appointments with us.

The members here are great, and we have been able to work with so many here. Hopefully we can just keep working with them and finding more people to work with.

Not much to share, but I love the work and I love the mission. Just keep on keeping on :)

Love you all!!

Con mucho amor y cariño,

Hermana Cordon

Our District, Elder Paiz left, but everyone else is staying

Beautiful Ecuador, the view from our front door.

Our Zone

Amor para las personas

¡Hola!

Me and Hna Morán

We had divisions this week, it was great :) I got to be with Hna Morán, she is gringa, but her dad is mexican so she looks latina. We had a great time in there sector, and we visited a family that I had visited with the Hna Leader about 3 months ago, and they remembered me :) There are 3 cute little girls that are super sweet, one wanted to brush my really snarly hair (Thanks to the wind and dust and walking everywhere :) ) haha It was fun to see them again, and I was able to learn alot, it was great.

Well three weeks ago our mission leader informed us that someone was at church that wasn´t a member and that he had been going for a long time, but he didn´t get any of his information and he informed us after church. So we had to wait a week until we got to church again, and we were grateful that he came again :) And this week we finally were able to visit with him, he is great! His family goes to the Jehovah Witness, but his mom is the only one baptized there. He has gone there his whole life, so he has studied a ton and knows alot, which means a lot of questions, but he really listens to our answers and has a lot of faith and is really open to knowing for himself. When we taught him about the restoration and invited him to pray about our message, he responded quickly saying yes. Since he has been coming to church for awhile, I then thought to ask him if he had ever prayed about it, he then responded with a no, because he didn´t know that you could pray and actually recieve an answer. I just love the knowledge we have of God and prayer, knowing that if we pray He listens and He answers us. I know that is true, because I have recieved answers from Him, in many different moments in many different ways. We testified to him and he left with a lot of desire to find out for himself and he accepted a baptism date for the 3rd of September! We are excited to be working with him and to guide him along this path, I just love how humble and open he his and we can see that he has a true desire to follow God. 

Dayana opened up with us this week and let us know what she is truly going through, and the obstacles she will have to overcome so that she will be able to be baptized. Thursday we had commited her to be baptized for the 26th of August and she had accepted and we were going to fast with her to help her to recieve an answer from God, but we weren´t able to find her saturday when we were supposed to start with her. And then she also didn´t come to church. When her grandparents got to church, we asked about her, and they responded saying she now doesn´t want anything and doesn´t want to be baptized... My heart dropped, I almost started crying right there in church hearing that, but I convinced myself that they were mistaken and that there was just a miscommunication and she just didn´t feel good to come to church. After church we went and passed by for her to talk to her to see what was up. As she was telling us why she had decided to not be baptized and stuff I felt my heart break, knowing that the decision she was making would prevent her from recieving all the blessings the Lord has for her. While listening to her I felt an overwhelming sense of love for her and a desire to help her. A love I know that God blessed me with to help her, and we began testifying and explaining to her the consequences of not being baptized. We testified a lot and she opened up to the idea again of really seeking an answer from God and doing a fast with us this week. I am praying for her and I want the absolute best for her. I know as a missionary the Lord has blessed me with a love for these people that would be impossible to create in such a short amount of time knowing a person. I love Dayana so much and I know how happy she can be coming closer to this gospel and I hope and pray that she makes the right decision so that she can have this happiness. But, it also helped me to realize how Christ feels when we make bad decisions, when we move away from Him. His heart breaks, He wants nothing more than to bless us, and we are choosing another path. But, for that He suffered and died for us, so that we could come back to Him, and that brings Him the greatest joy imaginable when we have come back into His. The joy we feel as missionaries when people make that step (come to church, read, pray, are baptized, etc..) is a small part of what Christ must feel, and that joy is something very difficult to describe, it really is true joy. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be working with Dayana and that she really is seeking to know for herself and to come closer to Christ.

This week went well, and we got some good work in. I have been stressing a bit, feeling like I can´t do all that I need to do, and not wanting to finish the mission, because I am not ready, but I just keep changing my mindset and focus on what I am doing, and focusing on always seeking the help of God in every situation. I just have to keep reminding myself to do that, and then I am good. :) I love the mission and I love the help that I recieve from God in every moment.

I know this is the true church, I know that we pass through trials so that we can become more like our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that I am a representative of Jesus Christ and for that reason I proudly put my nametag on everyday and boldly claim that I am a representative of His true church. I don´t doubt it, I never have. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

I love you all and thank you for your prayers!! :)

Mucho Amor,
Hermana Cordon

Me and my companion

My companion, Deyni (a less active that always goes to appointments with us), and me 

Me and my companion with a rainbow 

Lunch at the mall with Hna Morán and Hna Loayza

Caldo de Pata aka cow foot soup again. This time I tried the cow foot. It was really, really chewy....

The work is moving along

Well like everyone says in their missionary emails, I can´t believe it is another monday again. Time sure does fly when you are enjoying the work :) 

This week was great, we have been able to find a lot of new people that are interested in our message and that are willing to do the things we leave with them. I just know we got to make sure they feel the spirit while we are there and that is the most important part. We finally got to visit Flia Salazar again. They were a family that Hna Guevara and I found about a month ago and we only were able to have one appointment with them, and then all the following appointments kept falling through. But, this last monday we finally were able to meet with them, and they are great. The wife is really interested and doesn´t have many doubts, but the husband has a lot of doubts and is scared to change religions. We testified a lot and tried to focus the lessons on them. The second lesson with them this week was cool, because they invited his brother and his wife. The wife happens to be a member, just hasn´t been going for 3 years, basically since she moved to this ward. But, she seems really interested in having her husband listen to us and become a member, we just need to focus alot on her, because if he sees her doing the things, he will want to do it as well. We are excited to see where it goes with them, they are in my prayers and I hope to always teach with the spirit in the lessons to know how to teach them. 

Some members introduced us to a neighbor, the best way to do missionary work! This neighbor is going through a lot right now and could really use the gospel, I am so grateful for these members that willingly shared the gospel and helped their neighbor have a way to find comfort. 

We are working with a less active, Deyni. She is awesome, and from the Galapagos. She loves the church, but doesn´t have a lot of knowledge, because she was baptized little over a year ago. And her testimony was weakening, but we can see it starting to blossom again. She is always super willing to go out to visits with us, and we love her help! Yesterday she came with us, and she was in a very thoughtful mood all night, I think it is because we taught a lot of different things and she was learning a ton. I know her coming out with us will really help her to increase her testimony and really be able to become a strong active member in the church. We put a date with her to be an active member by the 27th of August. She seems really excited about this date, and started reading after we put this date, which was great! 

Jessica, another less active, started reading this week! She was sending us subjects and we sent her scriptures related to that subject, she is finding a lot of answers and is excited. Yesterday when we visited with her, she had a doubt about marriage, and why we have to get married. I love the reason, it is so that we can become gods. Once we started explaining about exaltation and read with her DyC 132:19-20, she really understood and walked away with a lot to think about and an understanding of why we need to get married, or better put why we need to be sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. I love this gospel and I love the opportunity I have to be learning with the people we are teaching, they teach me so much every week. 

This week I started feeling really overwhelmed with the amount of work we have to do in this sector and feeling very inadequate and incable of really doing what needs to be done. Really being able to help these people or not. Reading the emails of my friends on their missions, gave me an answer I needed. Forget myself, trust in the Lord, and get to work. I know if I just put my focus on Him and what He would do, I will do my best and the stuff that needs to get done in this area. And that is my goal this week, to completely forget myself. 

Thank you for your prayers I feel and love your support! I love you all and I hope you all have a fantastic week!!

Love,

Hermana Cordon

P.S. Oh I completely forgot! This week I ate Yaugarlocro (Blood Potato Soup). And the hermana that gave it to us, put the blood in a different bowl, and the soup apart. And we didn´t know that you were supposed to put the blood in the soup and that it is better that way. But, we finished the soup and then ate the blood, I only ate a spoonful, because the Hermana was super great and wasn´t offended for not eating it. But, here is the photo of the blood.. I don´t recommend it. It is literally fried blood.

Hugs for a Smile

¡Hola!

Drummer

Well a funny experience this week was we were walking with a member to go and visit another member, and as we were walking we saw 4 men in suits sprinting down the sidewalk. We went to step out of there way, when they stopped and said "un abrazo por una sonrisa" (hug for a smile) and came in to give us a hug, and me and my companion both quickly stepped back and quickly explained that we couldn´t hug them, because we are missionaries. They were slightly confused and were hopping we would make an exception for them. We didn´t and I am sure the real reason why they were sad is because they weren´t able to hug the two gringas. I promise you we are probably the most popular people here in Ambato :) haha About every other car passes by and honks and the guys inside are waving like maniacs... it is quite funny and we just smile at each other and say "look, more friends!"

The Girl with a  Skirt

We went to go and visit a less active this week, she is less active because she isn´t married and lives with her boyfriend and he isn´t a member. I hadn´t been able to meet the dad yet and this week he was there!! We were able to get to know him better and to really gain his confidence, and it has been a year since he has listened to the missionaries so we are hoping that this time around he really opens up to the gospel and can become an example for his daughters. They have two little daughters and one was baptized in our church a year ago. We asked him what he likes about our church and he was saying how he likes the difference he sees in his daughters. He likes the way they pray and how they have a relationship with God and all that stuff. We then explained that those things he likes about the gospel can only be amplified if he accepted the gospel and showed his daughters the correct path. He really opened up to that when we said that is daughters would learn and grow even more if he would just show them the correct path. Hopefully we can help him and that they can become an eternal family at one point. 

Drummer

We visited another less active and she is awesome and really wants to be active in the church, just doesn´t understand alot. Her daughter, who is like 21, is inactive and is always there when we are talking to her mom, but hides in the back. This time we were able to get the daughter to join us and she was super open and accepted the invitation to start learning about the church again to gain a testimony. That was an awesome experience as well.

We were able to find a couple of new people this week, hopefully we can help them to progress and to really relate to this message and to change their lives. Stanley is still progressing, he was able to go to all 3 hours of church yesterday which was awesome!

Our ward has planned an activity for this friday for all the couples in our ward that aren´t married so that they can get married. Hopefully we have success with this activity. It is a lesson focused on families and the temple, it should be cool.

Today we went to a park close to our house that has a bunch of hedge scupltures. Enjoy the pictures :)

I love you all and I hope you all have an awesome week!

Mucho Amor,
Hermana Cordon

Jumping for the Stars 

Hidden in the Maze

Me and My Companion

Feliz Dia de la Madre!

¡Hola! 

Well it was really awesome talking to my family yesterday and hearing from my big crazy family! Technology is so amazing that we were able to have 8 different connections on our skype call, pretty cool :) Thank you for always dealing with me and sending me your support, I love you all!

Well, I have to say that this was a really long week in the mission for me. I am sad to say that yes at times I got a little discouraged and thinking that I must be doing something wrong for all of our appointments to be falling through. But, I was able to keep moving forward and I am excited and looking forward to another week. I am really happy that me and Hna Stoneking will be staying together and we are going to be able to keep putting our efforts into this sector and we hope to start seeing some fruits of our labor! Now, don`t get me wrong, I still love the mission, I love the work and honestly I am so grateful for these trying moments that I have in the mission, because it keeps me growing and improving. I learned a lot about focusing on the Spirit and learning to keep moving forward even when the disappointment comes. I was reading a talk about the Fourth Missionary again this week, and it mentions a lot about a 3rd and 4th missionary. They are both obedient, righteous missionaries, but the 3rd one does it out of obligation and the 4th one does it out of desire to do the right thing and out of love for the Lord. Though at times I was discouraged I kept going, because I wanted to do the work I was called to do. I wanted to keep giving people the chance to accept the gospel, even if they kept repeatedly rejecting us. There is a quote that I really loved from this talk; "Just give up. Surrender your will to Him. Unconditionally. Withhold nothing. Turn it all over to Him; all of your desires, wishes, dreams and hopes. Be true and faithful in your head and in your heart, not just in your behavior. Trust in Him. Trust Him who knows all thing. Trust Him who has all power. Trust Him whose love for you is perfect. Trust Him, who alone suffered, paid and atoned for you sins, and for your weaknesses as well. Trust Him that He will make of you, immeasurably more, than what you will ever, ever, in all eternity, make of yourself. He will create of you a masterpiece. You will create of you only a smudge. You will create an ordinary man. He will create a God." (Anyone who would like to read this talk, just shoot me an email and I will forward it to you :) ) And the best thing about this quote is it applies to anyone and everyone, whether you are a missionary or not. If you give it up to Him, He will shape us into the person we need to become. I truly love this.

A cool experience was yesterday we had a lesson planned with a family that we contacted a couple weeks back. In the contact the husband was very contentious and just kept telling us that all churches have been formed to confuse people and that unknowingly we are following Satan. We testified to Him that are purpose isn`t to confuse but to help people to understand and we never try to convince only help people to know for themselves. After a little conversation we were able to set up a time to come back. That time kept changing, but yesterday we finally were able to visit them. I was really worried yesterday morning for this lesson, because I didn`t want a lesson where he is fighting and we are desperately trying to get him to understand our point of view. I kept a prayer in my heart as we went into this lesson making sure that the spirit was going to be teaching that lesson not me or my companion. A couple of months ago I would have gone into that lesson, ready to whip out whatever scripture I had that would prove him wrong or whatever point I had that would should him what he needs to change, but I would have walked out of that lesson feeling frustrated and drained from not having the spirit. But, yesterday we testified simply instead of trying to prove. We testified that this gospel is a gospel of truths and enlightenment and through this gospel we don`t have the confusion from the world anymore. Now we didn`t even get to really teach a lesson, but we let him feel the spirit and we were able to set up a second visit. That strengthened my testimony that if we testify rather than prove we are going to help the lost sheep more than if we tell them they are wrong and they need to change now. We need to guide them to change we can`t push them to change. It was a faith strengthening moment for me the importance of focusing on the spirit. 

I hope that you can all take a minute to think about how you can even more give up your will and surrender to the Lord. We can all work on this together. I know that this is the way of the Lord and that this is the way to true happiness. Don`t let the world convince you that giving in and surrendering yourself to His will makes you weak, because in reality it makes you strong. I love the Lord and I am so grateful for the patience and love that I know He has for me.

I hope you all have an amazing week and know that I love you!!

Hermana Cordon

Photos: My pensionista family, they are seriously the greatest family and my family here in Mira Flores. We even bought our pensionista a mothers day gift and they always call us their daughters :) I love them!

Sleep Contacting

¡Hola!

Well my brother came home from his mission and my other brother got married this week, a lot for my family. And with a bunch of things going on, I kept doing the same thing here, and I couldn`t be happier. I am so grateful for this time to serve the Lord and I wouldn`t trade it for anything else. It was a good week and I am grateful that I was able to stay focused and wasn`t distracted thinking of my family and home.

Indigenous Statue at the Market

Well first off my companion told me one day that I had woke her up during the night, because I was talking in my sleep. Apparently I was contacting someone and it was in spanish! I guess that is a good sign that I am spanish sleep contacting! haha I thought that was a pretty good sign! And back that up with the husband of our pensionista is always giving me a hard time about my gringa accent, but I am secretly grateful, because it is helping me to improve my spanish! My accent still has a lot of room to improve.

My companion was sick this week, so we lost of little of working time, but I just kept animating my companion and making her feel bed. It is so hard to be sick on the mission! And she has been sick like really bad 4 times already and she is still in her second transfer.. so difficult, but she is awesome and keeps pushing through! During this week trying to help my companion realize why the mission is so awesome, because sometimes it can get hard, it just makes me love the mission even more. It is a great time to learn and to grow and to become like Christ. I won`t have another time like this, this time completely to focus on how I can become more like the savior and to really put all my energy in His work. It is quite the blessing. My companion is so awesome and I am learning so much from her about being really diligent and truly giving the work your all!

We went to the Market for P-day and I found
 this cool hat... I didn't buy it though!

We were blessed with a bunch of little blessings this week from the Lord and He was guiding our footsteps. I am really trying to focus on truly following the spirit as I teach and for everything that I do really. Sometimes I just get in the habit of being a missionary and forget to really focus on what He is telling me to say and do, I just need to remember whose work this really is and that without His spirit I am not going to have much success. I know that it will be a huge blessing if I can learn how to follow the spirit in everything I do, and this has been my focus this last week and will be for the rest of my mission I believe. I am also learning that I need to think less about myself and my needs and a lot more about the people around me and my companion. I am here to serve and sometimes I think to much about myself and my personal struggles. I still have a lot to work on, but when I focus on the work and the people, those things will come as well. The Lord blesses us a lot more, when we forget ourselves. I really love the quote from what Gordon B Hinckley´s dad said, "Forget yourself, and go to work." I just need to forget myself even more and to really just focus on the work and the service I am here to do for others. 

I found myself in a lot of moments of reflection especially with the last email from my brother, I began thinking about where I want to be and who I want to be when my time has come to a close, and as I started thinking about that I realized that I still have a long way to go. Gratefully I still got time, I just have to use it wisely. 

Selfie with the Statue

I am so grateful for this work and the love that the Savior has for me and every one of you guys. I know that this is the true church and it doesn`t matter how many times people try to tell me why we are wrong or confused or ignorant it just makes me love this church more and know with a stronger assurance that this church is true. We have so much opposition, because it is the true church. It wasn`t easy for the Savior so it won`t be easy for us, that`s what Elder Holland has said many times. Today a guy in the mall, as we were eating lunch, was trying to argue with us about how the Book Of Mormon contradicts with the bible and all that fun stuff, but as he was talking I just had a strong feeling, that okay if you want to find mistakes and contradictions, you`ll find them. Because, you won`t understand what it is trying to say and you are going to find what you are trying to find, you`ll make anything work. I know without a doubt that the Book Of Mormon is the word of God and is a compliment to the bible. And with them both together we have everything we need!

This is the work of Jesus Christ and I am so grateful to be His representative and to be working in it.

I love you all!!

Tengan una maravillosa semana!!

Mucho Amor,
Hermana Cordon  

La Semana

¡Hola!

Seriously cannot believe that it is monday again, every week just goes by faster and faster. But, I guess that is a good sign, I am enjoying the mission! I am seriously loving this work!

We have a progressing investigator! Wohoo!! His name is Stanley and he came to church yesterday and really seemed to enjoy himself! We are going to visit him today and see what questions he has for us! He seems really interested in knowing the truth and really following God. He is also always making fun of my very gringa accent, it is just a friendly reminder that I still have room to improve :) Haha 

The volcanoes we can see from ambato - Tunguragua

We also visited this really sweet old lady named Esther! She has a special needs daughter and they are the sweetest! She accepted a bapstimal date, but wasn`t able to come to church yesterday, because she had the anniversary mass for the death of her husband. He died about 18 years ago. She is the sweetest and we are going to visit her again this next tuesday! She just brightens my day.

Tuesday we came home and we didn`t have any lights... the my companion was like, "oh right, we need to pay the lights" :) So we had an adventure of planning with our flashlights and both of our flashlights were having problems, and then we didn`t have any hot water to take showers, because we have an electric shower. So then we went on wednesday to pay the lights. We had to go to a light place and pay it, it looks like I am growing up, because I am paying light bills :) 

On friday as we were contacting my companion asked me what time it was and said 5:10? I thought I heard her say 5 to 10? And I was like no... its 10 to 5, how could it be 5 to 10. And then she said, no I said 5:10 and I had no idea what she was referring to. I thought she was talking some kind of slang or something. I am forgetting english.. haha I hope that made sense.

An adventure, I think I got food poisoning on saturday: I wasn`t feeling so well and we were in the street trying to find someone to visit, and my companion started contacting someone. I wasn`t feeling so well, but I just kept a smile on my face during the contact. But, like the middle of the contact, I had to step away and throw up. Luckily the ladies we were talking to were really nice and just were really worried about me, not disgusted :) haha A very interesting experience, but don`t worry I am really healthy today! 

The volcanoes we can see from ambato - Cotapaxi

This week I was reading a conference talk from last april, I don`t remember what it is called, but it is by Dale G Renlund. I really liked something he said and I have the quote in spanish "Era yo, mas no soy" Which means that was me, but now it`s not. I really liked this talk about how we can become a different person through the atonement and we can look back and say that I was that person, but now I am not. Through my time here in the mission I have become a different person. I have had my personal challenges and have had some of my lowest lows here on the mission. But, thanks to those moments I have grown and become a better person. I have a lot of room to grow and improve still, but thanks to the atonement I can do just that. I am so grateful for this time I have to learn and to grow and to focus on the Savior and His atonement. It truly is a marvelous thing.

This letter was really kind of all over the place, I apologize. That´s just how my thoughts have been this week. :)
Thank you for all the support you send my way and I love you all!!! 

Tengan una maravillosa semana!

Mucho Amor,

Hermana Cordon

Before Haircut

After Haircut

Miming my way to Ambato

¡Hola!

Ya I am not in Guaranda anymore, after 5 weeks, because this change was a week shorter, I got changed again! Now I am in Ambatom still outside of Quito, and I am going to finish the training of Hna Stoneking, and she is from California! So now I am going to be a stepmom! :) haha A bit of a change, but I am excited to be here and get to work.

Now the reason for miming, is because I basically have no voice right now. I have an infection in my throat, so my throat hurts and my voice is very quiet. A nice change for those around me I am sure ;) I am just hoping for a quick recovery, luckily I can keep working, because my companion can talk fine! Hopefully she is confident with her spanish! 

Easter here in Ecuador is quite different from home, they don`t really celebrate easter, but focus more on the Good Friday, because everyone is Catholic and they put a lot more emphasis on the death of Christ then on His resurrection. I am so grateful that we realize the why He died and the importance of his resurrection that we are able to look at the more positive side of things. I am so grateful for Christ and His atonement for us and the strength we recieve, and I am so grateful he was resurrected so that we too can be resurrected and live with Him, our Heavenly Father, and our families for forever! They do have a couple of traditions here that you can`t eat red meat thursday, friday or saturday, so we had fish two days. And they say that if you eat red meat you will turn into a fish...They also say that if you go swimming these two days you will turn in to a fish as well.. Also they have a traditional soup, that`s called Fanesca, and it is so interesting. It is a bunch of different types of beans, with fish that usually isn`t deboned, and a hard boiled egg (see picture). Not my favorite, but got to try new things in a new country!

We found a new family this week that are so awesome!! They are really prepared to hear this message and want to really guide their kids down the correct path. Even though I won`t be there anymore I am so happy that they are starting to listen and I know they are in good hands with Hna Varney. It is quite weird leaving an area only after 1 change, but I did what I was supposed to and I gave it my all. Now I am ready to do what the Lord needs me to do here in Ambato! 

This week I took pictures of some typical ecuador plates so enjoy these photos!

llamingachos (my favorite ecuador meal, and Ambato is famous for it and everyone says they have the best here, so I am so excited!!)

llamingachos

Rice, egg, and avocado

Fanesca

My fish was going to eat me

I love you all and I hope you have a truly amazing week!

Gracias por todo!

Mucho Amor,

Hermana Cordon