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.

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

6 Months!

¡Hola familia!

Time is really flying by here in Ecuador and the fact that it`s monday again really gets to me every week, because it always feels like yesterday the last time I wrote. And the fact that I can say I have 6 months in the mission is so crazy, it feels like yesterday that I stepped off the plane here, but yet not at the same time. I have had so many experiences and have met so many people these last 6 months and I am excited for the next year to keep growing and learning and meeting even more people to share this gospel with! Make the most of every second, because before you know the seconds will have passed and you haven`t changed. Make sure you are always changing and growing!

My thoughts on the policy change: I know that we have a prophet called of God guiding this church, and I know that we will never go astray if we follow and trust President Monson. Don`t doubt your testimony of this amazing church, because it`s not the popular opinion according to the world. 

This week was an interesting week, but great!! Here is an interesting story for all of you: This week 2 different investigator families told us that after the first visit with us that had an interesting experience with evil spirits. This family that I have been talking about, Flia Medina, had one of these experiences. They said that in the middle of the night something threw 4 pens really hard from one end of the house to the other end of the house. And they said that they knew it wasn`t from God, and that they weren`t scared. I am so happy that they weren`t scared and that they recognized immediately that it wasn`t from God. Satan is really trying and the people here in Ecuador are so perceptive to spiritual things both good and bad, that they have these experiences so insane with evil spirits. But, we were able to bring an Hermano from the church with us so that he could bless their house so that they can have protection from these spirits at all time. I am thankful for the power of the priesthood and the knowledge that the evil spirits can`t do anything if we don`t let them. 

Also something really cool, Flia Medina and Flia Aguiler, (our 4 progressing investigators) all have really old BOM that they recieved from someone a long time ago. That is just evidence to me that the Lord has been preparing these people for some time so that they would be receptive and open to this gospel at this time with me and Hna Molina. And these BOM are really cool the 1980 and 1960 versions of the BOM :) 

Ecuador is very predictable in the weather here. It is always really nice and sunny in the morning and then really rainy and windy in the afternoons. Every day. And the rainy season here is their winter. Everyone is saying how this is winter and it`s so cold, yet I am always perfectly comfortable with a light cardigan. They just don`t understand what a true winter is here in Ecuador. haha :) 

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

Hna Cordon

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 

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