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...

Rain

¡Hola! 

All of december was really dry and really hot, but this week the rain started back up again and it has cooled down a bit! Its been a welcome change, but it makes for an interesting time when we get caught outside in the downpour and we get soaked through, whether we have our rain jacket or not :) haha I have learned to love the rain and make the most of it, this rain storm that happened this last week we were completely soaked, but I had my water bottle with the filter that the church gives to us and so I just took the cap off and tried filling up my water bottle with the rain, but I never ended up drinking it, because it grossed me out when I saw dirt and stuff floating in the water. The filter would have been able to handle it, but my mind wasn`t able to :) haha My companion was making fun of me the whole time I was filling my water bottle, because she kept saying how gross it was!

We finally were able to locate an investigator again this week! We haven`t been able to teach him for almost 3 weeks and he was progressing really well, but then we weren`t able to teach him. But, when we finally were able to teach him this week it was a great lesson! He has been having a lot of problems and difficulties and that is why he was hard to find. He told us how he felt completely alone and how his only comfort during this last couple of weeks was the Book Of Mormon which he was reading everyday. This lesson we were able to explain to him the power of the Atonement and how Christ truly knows how he feels and he never needs to feel alone, because Christ always understands. I truly felt the Spirit testify the truth of this to me, which was something I needed to hear as we were teaching it to him. It was a little aha moment for me where I was able to truly feel the love a Christ and really begin to truly understand the power of the Atonement. I read a talk the other day, The Atonement: Our Greatest Hope by James E Faust, and he explained that this is something that we need to focus on learning and understanding everyday of our lives. It is a power greater that in its fulness is greater than our comprehension, but everyday we can focus to understand it even more and truly apply it in our lives. This is something that I want to focus on even more to truly let the Atonement into my life to become an even greater person.

Thank you for all your love and your support and remember that Christ loves you!

Les Quiero Muchisimo!

Hermana Cordon

Aftermath from the Rain Storm

A Bunny and a Cat eating Corn Together

Love and Laughter

¡Hola familia y amigos!

First off me and Hermana Greer get along great! We are always laughing and both have a lot of goals to get the work moving along which is awesome! Laughter is seriously the cure for anything, if you´re frustrated or down in anyway just laugh! But it has definitely made a difference and it is continually strengthening our relationship! One funny thing is the public transportation here. There is one thing called an eclovia (I have literally no idea how to spell this word) but it´s basically kind of like the trax in Utah, but 5 billion people use it. So when you want to get on you basically are crammed up against everyone else and have literally no space to even take a step in either direction and you´re all moving with the car and so people are falling on top of people and when me and Hermana Greer had to get on it, we were basically dying of laughing. It was quite the experience and I realized that in that moment I could have been annoyed about how crowed it was or found how humorous it was that we were falling on top of each other. And laughing about things are always a better option! So my advice just laugh!

One huge blessing from the Lord this week is that we were able to find and contact two families, which added 12 investigators to our teaching pool! It definitely was a huge blessing and hopefully we can do all we can through the spirit and our willingness to work hard to teach these people and help them to accept the gospel and recieve all the blessings that it has! And the fact that is families is awesome! Because families help each other to progress and families stay so much stronger in the gospel, because they have a good support system!

One big lesson I learned this week is the importance of loving everyone that you are teaching, whether it be the first lesson with this person or the tenth lesson. Because when you love them the spirit is so much stronger in the lesson and you are able to be guided more by the spirit to know what to say to help these people exactly for their specific needs! This trait is definitely a gift from God and something that doesn´t come with no effort, so I am working and focusing day to day to just love everyone I come into contact with, and basically everyone in Ecuador so that I have a desire to talk to everyone and to teach everyone.

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

Love, Hermana Cordon