18 Meses

¡hola!

2 Bananas in 1 :)

Selfie with Companion

We didn´t really get to have many lessons with any of the investigators we already had, they were either super busy or not home. And so we had a bunch of time to visit with less actives and converts and find some new people that seem to have a lot of potential. A cool experience was that while we were knocking doors one afternoon. We had gone to a new place to try and find a contact, and we didn´t find her, so we decided to knock doors until a bus came to go to another part. And as we approached the first door, a bus came, but we decided it would be better to knock this door and we would catch the next one. We knocked, and a lady came to the door, she was hesistant, but as we kept talking she accepted to listen and let us in to share short message. After asking her a couple of questions about her, she opened up and told us how recently her husband had passed away and how she is now a single mom struggling to balance everything in life all the while fighting off depression. We then asked her why she allowed us to come in, she told us that she had just been praying asking God for help and guidance and as soon as she had finished her prayer, we knocked on her door. As she said that, that spirit just filled the room and testified to me that the Lord truly knows and loves everyone of His children and He knew that our appointment would have fallen through and He had put us in her path that night. We were then able to share about how the Atonement of Christ can lift her up and find joy and peace in this life. It was a really powerful experience and I am so grateful that I can be an instrument in Gods hand and be a literal answer to someones prayer. We are hoping to meet up again with her this week to keep sharing this wonderful message.

Pretty sunset with Chimborazo

Fernando and Patricia are transitioning really nicely and are just really great. Good news, Fernando recieved the Aaronic Priesthood this week, and the bishop has assigned him to bless the sacrament next week, so last night we reviewed the sacrament prayers with him. He is so great and is super excited to be able to be an instrument in God´s hands to bless other people.

We are working with 2 less active families, and if all goes well and we find them, they all will be saved by next sunday. They are all meeting with the bishop and have plans to go to the temple. It is great! I am so excited for them and I am so grateful for the chance that we have had to have been working with them.

Well the time has come, though it has seem to come by really quickly and at the same time seems like I have been a missionary for many years, my last week as a full time missionary is starting. Here we go! :) I am just grateful I at least have one more week.

I have learned alot on the mission. 

1. I´ve learned that God loves each and every one of us, with our weaknesses and everything, He is patient as we work to overcome those weaknesses, and I have seen and felt the promise that He gives in  Ether 12:27 that He will make our weakness strengths, when we allow Him to work on us.
2. I have learned that the best medicine to having joy, is forgetting yourself. When I have been the most focused on my investigators, less actives, companions, etc.. I have felt the most peace and have truly enjoyed the mission. For a good amount of time I focused alot on myself and on my weaknesses, but once I changed that mindset, the mission changed completely as well. It was a joyful ride, rather than a stressful, overwhelming ride. My weaknesses didn´t just disappear nor did the trials, but I was able to enjoy it alot more.
3. I now know for certain that this is the church of God, the only true church on earth. I know that Thomas S Monson is a prophet of God, and his words are just God´s words. I know that the full power of God is here on earth and through it we can see miracles and just really feel the full extent of God´s love. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer and that because He loves us so much, He literally gave Himself up and suffered and died FOR US. I know that God is my Heavenly Father and that He loves me. 
4. We are truly here to be happy and to have joy, and through the Lord we can. 2 Nephi 2:25
5. I know that the most important thing is going to the temple, and being able to be sealed as a family for time and all eternity. This needs to be EVERYONES goal.

I have learned a lot more and I am so grateful for these last 18 months I have had to experiment and learn so much. It was truly a life changing experience that I will forever be grateful for.

I love you all and thank you all for the love and support!

Con Mucho Amor,

Hermana Cordon

We went bowling today as a district, I won :) (sorry it is a dark photo, hopefully you can see it)

We found a dog with no front legs, he was able to walk by bouncing on his stumps.. and he just stood straight up as well.

2 wonderful people coming to Christ

¡Hola!!

This week, Fernando and Patricia were baptized!!! Such a great week, but with a lot of little to dos to get everything organized good for the baptism, but it all worked out great, and it was a very wonderful service and the spirit was really present. 

Us with Fernando, in his white shirt and pant :)

Fernando was super excited and nervous all week, but just really was looking forward to be able to be clean. There was a baptism in the ward this week for a little 8 year old, so we invited Fernando to come and see what a baptism is like, he loved it! He really enjoyed it and I know that it helped him to be a little less nervous for his own baptism, knowing how a baptism worked. Then in the baptism, he was able to bring his mom, who we hadn`t met yet, and she really seemed to enjoy herself, this week we are going to be able to meet with her and get to know her as well. After he was baptized he said "I feel blessed." Hearing that just made my heart happy, he is such a humble and sincere person with a ton of desire to follow God and he just wanted to change, and when he said that I knew he had been able to make that change and came to know God on a whole new level, and really felt the effects of the Savior`s atonement for us.  Yesterday after he was confirmed we asked him how he felt about everything and he said he felt great, also he was super excited when we reminded him that the gift of the spirit helps him to overcome temptations. He is great, and is heading in a great dirrection.

Us with Patricia, in her white gown :)

Patricia, disappeared on us this week, and we weren`t able to find or talk with her much. But, we had an appointment planned for friday night to finish up the lessons and to keep up her excitement for her baptism. She told us that she was going to come to the baptism of the kid in our ward, but didn`t show up. Then we tried calling her afterwards and it went straight to voicemail.. we were super anxious to talk with her and we were worried that she was getting scared or something that she was avoiding us to not get baptized. At that point Hna Bench was getting super worried, and so we went and found a room and knelt down and said a prayer for Patricia to find her and to help her to progress to her baptism for the next day. As we were praying I felt a bunch of peace and I knew the Lord was aware of Patricia and of us as well. Right afterwards we called her, and she answered right away! She said that she was on her way down and that she would be there in 10 minutes. Seriously was a testimony to me of the love of God. He loves Patricia and also wanted her to be baptized, also He loves me and Hna Bench and was able to comfort us in a time when we were worried for Patricia. I am grateful for prayers and for answers to prayers as well. We were able to visit with her, finish her lessons, and keep her excitement for the next day. She loved her baptism and just looked super happy and content. Afterwards we asked her how she felt and she said that she felt really good, and just couldn`t stop smiling. She also told us that she felt great after her confirmation and is really a great person, I love her so much!

I really love both of these wonderful people, and I am grateful for the chance God gave me and Hna Bench to work with them and to guide them along this path. I am so grateful for their examples and I have been able to learn so much from them. I know that they are headed along the right path and we are going to focus on strengthening them to help them to keep going down the right path and always have the Spirit with them. 

Baptisms always remind me very clearly of my purpose as a missionary. The people as they come out of the waters of baptism are full of light and joy, and that is the effects of being with God and after baptism they are right there with Him. I know that every little thing we do as missionaries when sharing the gospel, brings everyone that much closer to God and to His kingdom. I hope to give it my all these next 2 weeks to more fully fulfill my purpose as a missionary.

I love you all!!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Cordon

This is me with a giant book of mormon we found in our church, while waiting for the font to drain. 

It had pages and everything! It also weighed quite a bit.

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....

"Fear Not, I am with Thee"

¡Hola familia y amigos!

Yesterday a great thing happened 2 less-actives, that we have been meeting with since my first week, showed up to church! It was there first time since I´ve been here and it was such a great feeling seeing them come into church and to see how much they enjoyed the meetings and the change I saw in them! It was truly a blessing from the Lord helping them to have a desire to attend church and to receive the blessings from learning more about the gospel and feeling the spirit! Also one of our investigators finally came to church and was excited to be there! He is 11 and his parents are recent converts, and he hasn´t really been super interested and we have been trying to increase his desire and we finally were able to reach him and to help him understand why the gospel is important for him! It was honestly so great to see all of them come to church. The Lord truly gave us that blessing on helping us help these people and help them understand the importance of attending church! 

The Lord is truly blessing us with great opportunities to meet people and to teach them, we contacted 4 new people this week that are interested and want to learn more! Hopefully they stay interested and that we have the opportunity to see them progress and accept this gospel into their lives. I truly want everyone to accept this gospel, because through this gospel we recieve more strength and through this gospel we can truly be happy. 

Just remember that when life gets hard to fear not, because the Lord is with you when you are obedient to him. So do what you can in times of trials to bring your life in alliance with Christ and to continually recognize his hand in your life through your trial, because He does not and will not leave you alone when you are focused on Him. 

Love you all!

Hermana Cordon

2 Months

¡Hola!

 Well like the subject says, yesterday marked 2 months since I left for the mission field. And boy has it been a crazy 2 months full of experiences that have made me learn about myself, God, and this gospel. But along with realizing 2 months are already done, is realizing the time I have left. I started with only 18 months and that means that in all reality I don´t have that much time here. And so I need to give everything I got for these next 16 months completely to the work and the Lord. I have a wonderful blessing to be here in Ecuador to preach the gospel and to give my all to this gospel and to the people here. And I need to work harder and be more focused to do all I can with these next 16 months.

 We didn´t get to meet with many of our investigators this week, because they have all been really busy with work and being out of town. But one was able to attend church this sunday, Santiago, and he seemed to really enjoy it and had some really good questions in the gospel principles class. He has been reading the Book of Mormon and is really interested, we get to teach him again for the 3rd time tonight so it will be cool to see what he thought of church and finally get to teach him the Plan of Salvation.

 But since we didn´t meet with many investigators we did a lot of walking around and knocking doors and trying to share our message, but just like any other missionary could tell you, this method isn´t very effective. We really need to get the members more involved and being led to people through them. If you are struggling to find a way you can help at home with mission work, I encourage you all to pray and ask for a missionary opportunity. And then LOOK for the opportunity to come about. If you ask you shall recieve, you just may miss it if you aren´t focusing on it. Do all you can now and at all times to continually help move God´s work forward. You don´t need a nametag to share the gospel :)

 But we have also had the opportunity to meet with members this week so that they can get to know us. And that is a great treat. The members here are so loving and so kind and all want to help, we just need to guide them on how they can help us. :)

 Love you all and I hope you are all having fabulous weeks! What blessing did the Lord give you this week?

 Love, Hermana Cordon

Final Days in the CCM

¡Hola!

Well first off the fact that I can say I am down to 4 days left in the CCM does not feel right. These last couple of weeks have flown by and I am more than excited to be finally getting to Ecuador and the real life of a missionary!

This week has been a really interesting change to the normality, for the ccm, of the first 4 weeks! I have a latina companion and a Latin district so A LOT more Spanish and a lot more guessing of what people are saying to me and what exactly is going on! :) My companion is Hermana Willson, she is from Argentina, but she also speaks really good English! It´s way nice, because I´ve actually been able to get to know her and to have real conversations with her, but at the same time she has helped me a lot with my Spanish and specifically my pronunciation. My goal is to not sound like a gringa when I finally actually am conversational in Spanish! :) My district is me and my companion Hermana Brimhall and her companion and 6 Latino elders. The Elders have been a lot of fun and always make sure to remind me and Hermana Brimhall that we shouldn´t be speaking English :) They are all really helpful as well making sure we know what´s going on and trying to slow down when we cannot understand them. It´s been really nice and I´ve truly enjoyed getting to know all of them, as well as I can with the tiny bit of Spanish that I know! I definitely have learned a lot more Spanish this last week and half and it´s been really helpful, but I am definitely more then ready to get out of the monotony of my schedule here!

Today was my last temple trip for the next 17 months, but I am very grateful I had the opportunity to attend the Colombia temple 6 times while I was here! One of the highlights of this last week was the bus ride back today. For the full 45 minute ride back to the CCM the whole bus was singing hymns the whole time. In spanish of course, but it was so much fun! It´s weird how the littlest things can put a smile on my face and make something so fun! It truly is the Lord blessing me to enjoy the small things and to enjoy the ride along with all the hard work that accompanies mission work. 

Well the next time that I will be emailing home, I will be in the field. I am so excited for Ecuador and for the ride ahead that the Lord has planned for me! Just remember to look forward always, but take life one day at a time, because if you don´t you´ll miss everything going on around you!

A simple reminder for you all from one of my devotionals this last week "Be grateful for the mercifulness of God." and "You need to cause things to happen, you don´t just let them happen."-If you have a goal in mind take it and make a plan and do all you can to make sure you accomplish it. It´s only going to be accomplished if you put in the work. 

Love you all!!
Hermana Cordon

P.S The first picture is me and my new companion and the second is my new district!

Just Two Weeks Left in the MTC!

¡Hola!

Well basically my weekend was the normal MTC routine of class and more class and learning a lot of Spanish! But that is what I am doing, learning Spanish and I notice it more and more everyday and it`s awesome! The Lord really is blessing me! I also did the temple session is Spanish today, and I understood quite a bit, which surprised me!! :)

Today was definitely the big highlight of my time here in the CCM. My district, for our last day as a district, got to go on a "tour" of Colombia! We went to this mountain tourist thing called Monserrate. It is at an elevation of 10,000+ feet and had the coolest views of Bogota. Bogota is a GIANT city. I never realized just how massive it was, till we could see the entire thing! 

On top of Monserrat overlooking Bogota City 

We rode this really sketchy tram type thing that we rode up the mountain in. And it basically going straight up or straight down, which was kind of intense! The mountain itself is pretty with really tall trees on it, since it basically rains everyday the mountain is really green! At the top we just looked around and saw the view and it was awesome just being able to walk around. 

Then we went into the church that was built on the top, because it was originally a religious sanctuary type place. It was a cool church, but it definitely was centered around Christ`s death. That`s something I really appreciate about our church is that we focus on the Resurrection and how that was why he had to suffer for us. I did appreciate the elegance of the church though and how much religious devotion they have, whoever built it. After we came back down, which was really sketchy cause it basically like we were staring at the ground because of all the windows. But it was fun!

Then we went shopping at a little flea market type place, and I got a Colombian souvenir of a llama sweater! It`s awesome. It was cool to see the little trinkets they all have and I am sure I am going to be coming back with a lot of Ecuadorian trinkets after my time there! :)

Hermana Cordon in her Llama sweater along with two missionaries who got one as well!

This picture is of me and my companion in front of our picture that they have hanging up in the CCM. We are CCM famous now! They will probably leave it up for several months even!

I get my Latina companion tomorrow and I am more than excited! It`s going to be hard, but it`s going to push me to use my Spanish more than I have been using it now being surrounded by people that speak English! I`m gonna miss English, but my mission is Spanish, it`s time to say goodbye to English! :) Thank you for the support and love and all the updates! I am blessed with many wonderful people who are sending love my way!

Love, Hermana Cordon 

English is a Blessing!

¡Hola!

First reason why English is a blessing, on Tuesday night we got to watch a devotional that was broadcasted from the Provo MTC. Elder Holland spoke to us and I was truly spiritually fed. But the reason why English is a blessing, because they broadcasted and spanish translation one and then just the english one, is because the power behind Elder Holland´s voice when he is talking to you is remarkable! It truly is a blessing to be able to hear and understand his talk in his own voice! Moments like that I am so very grateful to know and speak english! Some really good quotes from this talk is:

 1. "Make your own personal conversion and stick with it." Whether you´re a missionary, was a missionary, or neither it applies to you!   

 2. "We are all God´s investigators, don´t disappoint him."

3. "Obedience is the first law of everything."

4. Open your mouth and talk to people. The moment you don´t open your mouth and share what you know to be true is the moment that you are letting Satan win. Something I really liked that he shared is that the worst thing that Satan can do to you is bind your tongue. Be like Joseph Smith and overcome that opposition and share what you know, or pray for revelation from God.

Elder Holland truly is called of God and I really  enjoyed the opportunity to hear from him and recieve specific guidance as a missionary!

Another reason why English is a blessing is because I got to hear the temple session in english today, because there was so many of us that speak english here that they could do one session for us! It was amazing and I had a fantastic time at the temple today! 

Not much else to report on other than my spanish is coming along. I love you all and thanks for all the support! I´ll report back again on tuesday!

Amor, Hermana Cordon

This picture is my district again!

Skip Frustration and Go to Work

Learning a language is hard work, and my brain gets so overloaded with Spanish everyday, that I don´t even know what`s going on by the end of the day.. haha :) But at least I get little english breaks here, whereas in the field it will probably be entirely Spanish all the time, until I have a companion that speaks English. But I am honestly looking forward to when I am forced to speak Spanish all the time, because I definitely will learn a lot quicker when I don`t have a fallback option. I definitely found myself getting frustrated this week with spanish and not really being able to understand it, but I just have to remember that learning a language takes time. Hopefully this week will be brighter and I will remember that I just need to work hard and to not give up on myself or the Lord. 

Well, not much has happened since the last time I emailed, except that every latin missionary left this morning and we are getting a whole new group tomorrow. I am definitely going to miss all the Latina Hermana`s though, because they are all so sweet, but I am sure the next ones will probably be just as awesome! Oh and 9 more norte Hermana`s are coming in this week, which will be fun helping them to adjust to life at the CCM!

On Sunday my MTC President shared a really cool devotional with the Norte missionaries in our english meetings. It was by Elder Bednard to missionaries a couple of years ago. But the main message of it was that you need to know the doctrine before you can understand the principles or apply the applications. So basically, you need to understand the doctrine of the atonement, before you can truly understand what repentance is, and once you understand both of those you can actually understand how to repent. I thought it was a really good reminder about how we just skip to the applications and not really explain the doctrine of why. It was a good thing to hear as a missionary, to remind me of what I really need to be teaching investigators. If you understand the doctrine, then you have a real desire to actually follow the principles. 

Well this week my district switches rooms and instructors and basically it will be spanish in every class the whole time, except to tell us what a word means if we don´t know it. It will be interesting, but it will increase my spanish learning so I´m excited! And it also means only 2 more weeks with my current companion, because the final 2 weeks I`m with a latina companion, so I`m gonna enjoy these last 2 weeks with someone that is struggling with spanish just as much as I am!

I hope everyone is having a great week and thanks for all the support and prayers! Love you all!

Love, Hermana Cordon

First week is DONE!

¡Hola!

The MTC is hard work, learning Spanish is hard work, and focusing when you´re tired is hard work. Though most things about the MTC is hard work, I´ve enjoyed it! My district is a lot of fun, it´s all Norte´s (North Americans) and all of us are always laughing about how we don´t understand anything, it makes the frustration of not learning spanish not so bad when there are other´s struggling with you! :)

My favorite day this week was sunday, because besides sacrament meeting and relief society all my meetings were in ENGLISH :) We were able to go in depth in doctrinal subjects and we combined with the other Norte district and got to have really good conversations. It was a good reminder why I am on a mission and why I want to share the gospel, because I just love the Gospel so much! Especially when I can understand what they are talking about. haha :)

I can definitely feel the Lord´s hand in my time here, because I understand more than I probably should being here for only and week, and I can remember a lot more words that I only learned once or twice. It´s wonderful. The Lord truly is remarkable and I truly love this Gospel!

Oh I got to go to the Colombia, Bogota temple today and that was cool! I truly love going to the temple and I´m gonna miss being able to go once I get to the mission field. But, I am doing a different kind of temple work :) 

Thank you for all the love and prayers! Have a great week!

Amor, Hermana Cordon

P.S. this picture is me and my district