And the Work Keeps Going

¡HOLA!

I am just enjoying it here in Ambato with Hna Guevara, we are working hard loving the members, and loving all the people that we are meeting. We were able to meet a lot more new people this week and we have a lot of hope for them and we are excited to see their progression! 

I finally had Cuy (Guinea Pig) this week. Guinea pigs are only food here, not pets.. It was a little weird staring at the foot of an animal that I once had as a pet, but it tastes really good! haha It tastes just like chicken.. I can now say I have had a traditional meal of ecuador.

Quillanloma - there was no one around so we decided to take a quick picture!

We started visiting Dayana this week, she is 18 and was an old investigator who was going to school on sundays, and couldn`t change her schedule, but in 2 weeks she won`t be studying on a sunday again! So we started teaching her and she has a baptism date for the 13th, she is great and has a big desire for her family to be like the family of her aunt and uncle. Her aunt and uncle are the Flia Bravo, who are recent converts, who have a ton of faith and just love the gospel and put all their trust in the Lord. And when you walk into their home you can just feel the peace and love that is in their home. I love the gospel and the influence it can have on families, and hopefully we can help Dayana to have this blessing in her life and the life of her family as well. We are going to try and get to know her parents. 

We found Miquel this week! We went to buy some food for dinner and we contacted the lady that sold us the food, and she was really nice and we felt as though we should teach her, we were headed off to another appointment, but we decided to try a share a small message and get them more interested. We asked her if she could invite her brother and her friend that were there as well, her friend is Miquel. As soon as he came over he started asking a bunch of questions and saying how he isn`t baptized and that he hasn`t really had an interest in religion. At the end of the message he asked us from what church we were from, because he forgot. And we responded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, but sometimes refer to us as Mormons. And he responded, "You guys are mormon?? Of all the churches that I have studied this is the most correct and could be the true church." That was super cool to hear! He then was saying how his mom was studying this church and thing that caught his attention most was that his mom was always super happy listening to the missionaries, he said that that was the happiest he has ever seen his mom. I know that this church brings that kind of true happiness, and I am glad that he has seen that affect in someone that he loves. We walked out feeling really good that we shared a message and we were able to get to know him. We visited him again and he had read and had a bunch of questions, and then he also came to church! He was really hesitant to come to church, because he doesn`t like churches, but he said that he felt really good in our church. 

Also Adriana we have been visiting for 2 weeks, and she is great, also came to church! On saturday we were able to visit with her and her husband which was really awesome and help him to get to understand more, he is a lot more reserved and hesitant, but it was a big step, because we were able to gain a lot more confidence. But, Adriana loved church and is progressing really well!

We saw a lot of miracles this week, and yet right now I am having a hard time remembering all of them. I wrote them in my journal, but I didn`t bring that with me, but these were a couple of the miracles we saw. I just love the hand the Lord has in the work and really good feel the love he has for every one of these people.

I love this work, I love this people, and seriously I am so grateful for the guiding hand of the Lord during this time and that we are not doing this work alone!

I love you all and I hope you all recognize the Lord`s hand in all things!

Mucho Amor,

Hermana Cordon

I had cow foot soup this week.. it was interesting.. 

My reaction looking at it.. haha

Me with the Guinea Pig

Guinea Pig...

El Libro de Mormón es la clave

¡Hola a todos!

Once again its monday, really time is flying by, a little too quickly. We had interviews with our president this week, he talked about marriage and when I get home, I think he wants me to be trunky.. don`t worry I´m not. I am convinced that I am never coming home. :) 

Me with the Waterfall

We went to Baños again for our zone activity, it is so pretty and so cool! I am in love with Ecuador. We went to el manto de la novia (Bridal´s veil) a waterfall, and it was really cool and a fun little hike. Once again we left completely soaked, but luckily Baños is humid, we were just slightly cold when we got back to cold Ambato, but I love Ambato.

We are working with some investigators that the Elders were working with before, the Flia Zambrano. They are from the coast, they moved because of the earthquake. They are really interested in our message and we are excited to see their progress. The kids are really smart and they all really listen to what we have to share, they are great. I just love how excited they get when we are in their house, hopefully they come to church next week. We started working with a less active this week, Jessica, who is really great and really searching to understand and have a reason to come back. I have learned about the importance of being humble and ready to learn from her, she is amazing and commited to come to church this sunday! I truly love this sector, ward, and these people!! I am so happy to be here in Barrio El Recreo!

My Companion & I in the bridge by the waterfall.

One thing that I learned this week, is the importance of the Book Of Mormon. The first week we met with a less active, and she told us, "in my 2 years as a member, I have never finished 1 Nephi, and thats because I don`t like to read and I never read the Book of Mormon." So we talked about the importance of the BOM and the power it has and the blessings she can recieve and we commited her to read every morning before she does anything. She, with her husband, has read everyday since :) And we have seen such a huge difference in them. They are a lot more receptive to what we have to say, they have a stronger desire to do the right things, and they really are focused on the goal of getting to the temple. We also commited Jessica to read the BOM everyday as well, she didn`t read everyday, but she was reading and she also is a lot more excited to keep learning and to keep increasing her testimony. Everytime we go into a home, whether it be an investigator, recent convert, less active, or member I ALWAYS verify if they are reading the BOM or not. And if they are not, we teach them about the BOM and read with them. I know that this is the key to having a strong testimony and that no one will be able to progress, if they are never reading the BOM. I want to encourage everyone, that if you are not reading the BOM everyday, DO IT: You won`t regret it, and you will be even more blessed and have an even stronger testimony that this really is the true church. I have seen the BOM change lives here and I am so grateful that I have grown to know this for myself.

Well I love you all and never forget that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints is the true church and that the Book Of Mormon is the word of God and has power to change your life!!

Have a fantastic week!

Love, Hermana Cordon

Buses, Buses, and more Buses

¡Hola familia y amigos!

Estoy feliz, disfrutando la mision y conociendo mi nuevo sector, es MUY grande! 

Well today we cleaned up our house fully, and now it is pretty. It was not pretty before, but you can now tell that Hermanas now live in this house :) haha I also had to cut the grass today, and I used a machete.. picture included. It was quite the adventure, I am just happy I didn`t accidentally cut myself :) 

We are getting really good at using buses. In every other sector I have had, I could walk really easily, we never used buses. Here we ALWAYS use buses. We have taken the wrong bus a couple of times, and have gotten lost a couple of times, but now I would say we are basically experts at buses. I never thought I would use so many buses in my entire life. The reason we use so many buses is because our sector is GIGANTE, in a week we have only went to about a 4th of our sector. We are going to need to learn how to sectorize, I don`t think that is an english word, but I am not sure. We are just going to have to figure out how to work one day in one part and another day in another part. So we aren`t using so many buses.

I am loving being with Hna Guevara, she is great! We are always laughing and enjoying the work and we work really great together as well. It is nice being with a companion that has the same time so that we can work and use the knowledge that we have together and get things moving along in our sector. We love this ward and we are getting to know the members, less actives, converts, and finding investigators. We are working hard and we are seeing success. I know the Lord is blessing our efforts.

Yesterday we had a first lesson with this family that we contacted the other day. They are really humble, but content and happy with their life, but have a lot of worries. When we shared the first vision, we asked the mom how she felt, and she responded saying that she was really worried about something, and that worry went completely away, she felt relaxed and a happiness, and she started crying while she told us that. While listening to that I felt the spirit so strong confirming to me that this gospel truly is the only gospel that can bring that kind of instant peace. Tears came to my eyes with a feeling of gratitude knowing that I was able to be an instrument in the hands of God to give this wonderful sister a message of hope and comfort. Everyone has different problems in this life and everyone has different experiences, but this gospel is for everyone and can help everyone. I know that this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ, I know that He is our Savior and Redeemer and through Him and His gospel we can find true peace and joy, where we really can`t find in any other place. 

I am loving this time I have to serve the Lord and boy do I wish that the time wouldn`t fly by so quickly. I am just happy for the time that I do have. 

I love you all and remember that if your feeling down, turn to the Lord, He will take your worries and problems and make them lighter so that you can bear the burden. You don`t have to do it alone.

Tengan una maravillosa semana!!

Les Quiero,

Hermana Cordon

Crazy Old Man

¡hola!

So I have a funny story for you. Well its pretty obvious as we are walking down the streets here in Guaranda that we are two gringas, we are both tall and we are both white and I am blonde. So yesterday we were contacting, and we just started contacting this one lady in front of her house. But, like 2 seconds after we started talking to her, this old man started talking to us, he asked where we were from so we politely answered him and then that started a conversation up with him. He started out by telling us how beautiful we were (keep in mind that this is like a 65 year old guy) and then he asked if we have the Holy Mass in our church, when we responded no he was shocked. We said that we are a different church so we don´t have mass. Then he started asking if we had the bible and we said yes that we always have the bible with us. Then he asked if we could have a bible. We said that we didn´t have any bibles to hand out to people. He then started saying how I could give him mine, but then I said that it had my name on it and that he wouldn´t want it. He then said, well I would like to have something to remember your name so I don´t mind. But, I then tried to return to the lady that we had been contacting, but she then said she had to go inside and said goodbye to us. Then this old man was trying to convert us to the catholic church. He said "I have a proposition for you guys, just join the catholic church, it´s really pretty." A good argument, but I think that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints has a prettier ring to it :) He then insisted on keeping talking to us, no matter how many times we tried to leave and stop talking to him. Then he invited us to join his church again, and then started talking about how we need to pray for him so that he might come to our church next week. And then he kept telling us how gorgeous we were and that we are missing out not going to the catholic church. It was a very interesting conversation and the old man here just love us gringas :)

We have a progressing investigator here now in Guaranda! Marly is doing awesome and came to church yesterday! She is reading the Book of Mormon and really feels that this church is the true church! She has a ton of faith and has really been prepared to hear our message! Hopefully we can keep helping her to progress and to understand the importance of baptism and what it means :) She was telling us again yesterday that she feels like we are her answer to change and to follow God more. She just puts a bright light in our week. Also this week we found a family and started teaching them and they seem really interested and really want to know the truth! One problem is that they weren´t able to go to church, because he had a soccer game. That is a big problem here in Ecuador, because people love soccer, and a lot of the time the games are on saturday. Hopefuly we can help them to understand the importance of this gospel and help them to have a desire to keep the sabbath day holy, and hopefully he can find a new team and start playing on saturdays. 

Here every thursday we have a district and zone meeting. But our meetings are in Riobamba and Riobamba is a 2 hour bus ride away. So every thursday we have to leave by 7:30 to catch the 8 bus to Riobamba to be there by 10 and then we usually leave Riobamba by 2 and get back to Guaranda by 4, so we usually lose a lot of our thursday. But I have learned to love the bus ride and use it to catch up on my book of mormon reading and to sleep :) A cool thing though is we go up pretty high to cross mountains and when we are high up we are passing through clouds so all you can see is white outside of the bus windows. You can´t see anything more than 5 feet away. It is pretty spooky, but cool :) I love it here in Ecuador, it is so pretty!!! 

Today for our pday we hiked up to a indian statue that they have here in Guaranda, I think it might represent the natives that started Guaranda or something. But, it has a really pretty view of Guaranda as well and it was a fun little hike. It was good to get out a do something. 

I love you all and I hope you have a fantastic week! 

Me and the indian statue

Me and Hna Varney

Emergency Room

¡Hola!

First off don`t worry, it wasn`t me :) My companion decided she didn`t want her appendix anymore and so she had an operation to take it out :) haha no she got appedicitis and so we had to go up to the hospital thursday night. And we left the hospital saturday in the afternoon and hung out in the house all day saturday and only left for church on sunday and now today we only left to write and we are going to be in the house for 2 more days so she can recover. I am going a bit stir crazy in the house, but luckily the nurses gave us a dvd player and we have been watching a bunch of movies. I am just excited for when we will finally be able to work again :)

This week we had a broadcast from the General Mission Council of the church for every missionary in the world. And fun fact that are over 76,000 missionaries serving right now! How cool is that?? But, it was a really awesome broadcast that focused on teaching repentance and baptizing converts. It also talked a lot about finding when you teach and teaching when you find. That in every moment you can be doing everything and not just finding in one moment teaching in the next. Which is something I liked, because at times I thought that there isn`t time for everything, but if we do everything at the same time then there is plenty of time :) It was a really cool broadcast and I really enjoyed it! 

Our investigator we had that was progressing pulled away again. I think he has a ton of fears of losing family and a bunch of other stuff that the idea of baptism scared him, even though just 2 days before he was anxiously waiting for the day that he was going to be baptized. We haven`t been able to really talk with him the last couple of days and we were hoping we were going to be able to do divisions and meet with him tomorrow, but we haven`t set up the appointment yet, because we haven`t been able to talk with him. Hopefully we can get a hold of him and help him to keep progressing. Just the opposition in this world gets to people, we just have to remember that there is opposition in all things. If the path was easy, what does that show to God? We need to have opposition to really show God that we are in it for the long run and that we have the faith necessary to follow Him always. And if we read the scriptures daily and pray daily and go to church every sunday (with real intent) than we will have the spiritual strength to stay strong with the opposition comes along. Just remember what Helaman 5:12 says when satan throws his fiery darts (or something like that I am translating from memory :) ) it doesn`t say if it says when. So we need to be prepared when the temptation and opposition come to stay strong and not falter. Remember to always trust God.

I love you all and I hope all is well!! 

Hermana Cordon

Me and my companion in her hospital bed

The view from the Hospital Room