Navidad

¡Hola!

I hope everyone had a great christmas and remembered why we celebrate this wonderful holiday! 

This week was a bit slow, because here is South America, everyone gets even more busy for the week of the holiday and a lot of people leave town. For christmas, everyone here gathers as cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, kids, and everything in between christmas eve and party till about 3 in the morning, and then christmas day is a normal day, just no one has work. It was a bit different from the christmases I have had in my life, but I am so very grateful the opportunity I had to pass this christmas season as a missionary and sharing the message of the Savior to those that would listen. It was a very different, but a very blessed Christmas for me! Though we basiclly only contacted this week, because everyone was really busy, it still flew by, because we were making sure to keep ourselves busy and do our part!

I truly loved talking to you guys this Christmas!! It gave me the added boost I need to keep pushing forward and doing what I am supposed to be doing here!

Today we went to the Basilica, a giant old catholic church here in Quito, and it was cool! The only thing is I always feel so uncomfortable in the Catholic churches, because they are a church, but so empty of the spirit. I am just so grateful that when I enter one of our churches, I can really feel the spirit and we leave rejuvenated by the spirit. But, we got some really awesome photos of Quito, because we could go up into the towers and they are high up! And it was a fun activity with my district! 

I am looking forward to the new year and the chance to make it the best year yet! One thing an apostle, I believe David A Bednar, said in a talk we saw in the MTC was that every year needs to be the best year of your life. With this gospel we should always be growing and doing better, and if we are not we are not using the gospel the way we should be. I really like that, that every year really can be and should be the best year that we have ever had, because every year we should be even more closer to the savior. 

I love you all and talk to you next year!!! 

Hermana Cordon

Wedding and Baptism!

¡Hola Familia!

Well this was a crazy, but a really amazing week! Christmas came early for us! haha For those of you who don`t know, alot of people here in Ecuador do not get married, but live together and consider themselves married. A lot of people are scared to make the commitment, and then have to get divorced, because divorce costs a lot and no one wants to deal with that. And so that is one of the biggest things we have to deal with, with families is helping them get married, before they can be baptized. And so it always seems to take a long time for families to be baptized for that reason. But, this family, Flia Medina, had such big desires to be baptized and such strong faith that they overcome every obstacle that was thrown their way this last month and were finally married this last wednesday!!! And seriously the second that they were married you could just see a huge difference in them, because they now are completely with all the commandments of God. Then they were able to be baptized this weekend! And boy was that a special experience! It was the parents and their little boy who is 9. And after they were baptized they were able to share their testimonies. And the spirit was so strong and they were just saying how they knew that this was the true church, and that despite all the opposition they faced to be married they were able to overcome it all because it is the true gospel. And they were saying how that this gospel has given them a family more unified and they are so excited that in one year they get to be an eternal family! And this has strengthened my testimony of keeping the end in mind at all times. They are looking towards the eternities and for that they are so much stronger and so firm in their testimonies, because they want the eternal blessings of being able to go to the temple. I have learned alot about faith and the importance of obedience from this family and I am so very grateful for the opportunity I had to teach and help them in this path to accepting the gospel.

Today we had a fun pday! We were able to go a little bit out of our mission to a mall called Quicentro, to go bowling! It is seriously the nicest mall I have ever seen. It is like glistening clean and beautiful christmas decorations and everything. Better than all the malls in Utah. That is one thing about Ecuador, its pretty worn down in places, but has really nice malls. Its kind of ironic. And bowling was a ton of fun! I got really lucky today and got 144!! I am pretty sure thats the best I have ever bowled in my life. The only problem is my arm is going to be really sore, because the only ball that my thumb fit into was the heaviest ball and i don`t have a lot of arm strength. But, it was a fun pday activity! 

I have been focusing a lot on listening, and truly listening, in every lesson. And it has made such a difference. If I am focused on what I want to share rather than what they are saying I don`t ever say what the Spirit wants me to say. But with this new focus, I have truly noticed a huge difference in my teaching and that I am truly teaching by the spirit and saying what the people really need to hear, rather than saying what I want to say. And I have noticed big differences this week and felt the spirit a lot stronger in the lessons!

I hope everyone is having a jolly Christmas season and is remembering to serve and focus on the Saviour! 

I love you all! ¡Feliz Navidad!

Hermana Cordon

A picture with Flia Medina and their Wedding Certificate

Baptism of Flia Medina

Spiders

¡Hola Familia y Amigos! 

Well this week there were way too many spiders present! I haven´t really seen spiders more than in Utah here, but this week there was a lot! One was we were walking to our Pensionista´s house and there is this fence and my companion was like "Oh wow, look at that!" And I looked and it was this giant spider!! I screamed and ran a little more down the sidewalk and my companion started laughing, she didn´t know I don´t like spiders.. haha Then the worst was we were in a lesson with a recent convert and her friend and we were talking and then all of a sudden she wacks my arm while screaming and then I see this giant spider (Like the size of a quarter) running away on the floor and then she smashed it! She then told me how the spider had crawled OUT OF MY HAIR and was crawling down my arm. I about had a panic attack and whipped my hair around thinking that there was probably more spiders hanging out on my head. IT was quite a terrifying experience. And needless to say I still hate spiders. 

We had our Christmas dinner with President and Hermana Christensen this week in their home! It was so much fun! We spent the morning in a conference with President and focused on temples and how we always need to be focused on the temple and the covenants we have made, even though we can´t go right now. It was a great conference! Then we had the christmas dinner and it was delicious! Just like a normal utah christmas dinner! Just slightly different, because nothing tastes the same here :) And we then played some games, exchanged gifts, had a little talent show, and just enjoyed the day! I am so grateful for President and Hermana Christensen and that I get to be a missionary here in Ecuador during this Christmas season! 

Great news!! Flia Medina are going to finally get married this week and BE BAPTIZED SATURDAY!! I am so excited!! They are finally having the opportunity to have this gospel strong in their lives and they are commited and are going to be strong faithful members! The cutest thing is their little daughter, who is about 2 years old, is so smart! When someone asks her who is Joseph Smith she responds "un profeta!" And when we are praying to open a lesson she makes all of us kneel down, because that is how we pray and she knows it a she kneels down and folds her arms and bows her head! Its so cute! Granted that only lasts about 2 seconds and then she is distracting someone or screaming during the prayer :) This family just makes me so happy! 

A cool experience was during a lesson this last week with new investigators we were talking and getting to know them and my companion had started the first lesson and then it was my turn and I was supposed to talk about prophets, but then I felt like I should not continue with the lesson, but rather ask them who is God for them. And when I asked them that the whole spirit of the lesson changed, the daughter then admitted that she really doesn´t believe in God and that she believes in something, but believes that her life is her own and that she doesn´t see the impact of God. And then the dad admitted that God really hasn´t had a big impact or has been a big part of his life, but he wants to change that. With that question we were able to discover a big doubt and big iceberg for them. I am so grateful for the companionship of the spirit in lessons to really help us to really help these people rather than give robot discussions and not try to understand these people. It was a really cool experience and really helped me to recognize the spirit more. 

One thing I have been focusing a lot on is Why we need a Savior, because of the Church´s Christmas thing they have going on right now. If you haven´t been able to watch the videos, watch them! They truly help make you remember what this season really is about and how we always need to remember the blessing it is that we have a Savior and that because of that we can be happy and be better! Otherwise we would be in never-ending sorrow or misery. Keep your focus on Him, this Christmas season!

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

Hermana Cordon 

The daughter in Flia Medina loves to be Hermana Cordon!

Christmas Dinner

Cows in Ecuador

¡Hola!

Well this week as we were leaving a house of an investigator we were walking down the sidewalk next to a busy road and we look ahead and there are 4 cows just casually walking down the road. Now this is not normal for ecuador and it was quite comical! Especially when a little indigineous lady came running after them trying to corral them. And then a little calf went into a park that was surrounded with a fence and the lady was trying to corral the other ones so we went into the park and cornered this calf so that he would leave and join the other cows. It was quite a comical experience!

Well Christmas is starting to pop up here in Ecuador and it makes me so happy! A lot of the houses now have nice pretty christmas trees! Not a lot of the houses have lights, but a couple do and its fun to see when we are walking down the streets at night! When we walked into our pensionista´s home this week after she had decorated it made me so happy! Her house feels like home with all the decorations, and the best is that underneath her tree she has a train that makes sounds and everything! It really is just like home! This really is such a great time of the year and I am truly grateful for the opportunity I have to be spending this time dedicated to the Lord´s work. 

This week we had a lot of time to contact to find new people and to try to have some appointments, though many people didn´t accept the invite to listen to us, we were able to plant so many seeds! I am reminding myself of that a lot this week, that a lot of people need 7 or 8 times in contact with the church to actually accept the gospel into their life. So this week I was able to be a one of these times for a lot of people and that in the future when they talk to missionaries again or have a time in their life when they are looking for the Lord they will have a moment that they heard about this gospel to have the chance to accept this gospel! I just remind myself of the investigators we have right now, the ones that are truly progressing all had several contacts with the gospel before we even entered their lives and that they were able to be prepared for this moment in time. And that is truly a blessing to me that I get to be the one to see these people accept the gospel, and so I just have to remember that one day these people I am talking to will one day have this moment in time and there will be some missionaries in the future helping them accept the gospel in the moment that they were prepared for. 

One motto that I have started saying and that I just love is "Dios tiene un plan"(God has a plan). Sometimes we don´t know this plan and sometimes things just seems to be a little to difficult or different then you had hoped. But, just remember that God knows you and knows what you need and everything happens for a reason. I know that I am here in Conocoto right now and with the companion I have and with the people we are teaching, because God has a plan and he knew what I needed and where I needed to be. Just remember always that Dios tiene un plan! 

I love you all! Thank you for the letters and love that you send my way!
Hermana Cordon

The cows in the middle of the road with the indigenous lady

A picture a member drew for me whose mom is our investigator

The Family Car

¡Hola! 

Funny thing about Ecuador, did you know that a motorcycle is actually a family car? Here in Ecuador a motorcycle can fit an entire family, a mom, a dad, and 2 kids. Unless they have a baby then 3 kids. It takes a lot of talent to manage that and it definitely is one of the most interesting things that I see here. Can you just imagine 4 or 5 people piled on a motorcyle that is just speeding along the street? Its quite the sight. 

I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving and ate a lot of food!! Me and my companion decided to have a thanksgiving dinner, because we don`t have a pensionista for dinner so we usually just buy bread or make a sandwhich to eat later. But, this day we bought a chicken dinner for our thanksgiving meal! Definitely not the same, but a nice little celebration for us to have a little fun! 

This week we had the baptism for Nelly!! She has been such a great investigator to learn how to help someone understand that not only is this the true church, but its the ONLY true church. She was someone super interested in a lot of religions and when we started teaching her, she looked at it as just all the other ones and something good. With time and with a lot of prayers with her, she gained a strong a firm testimony and she knows that this is the only true church of God and she is going to be a strong member! We had fast sunday this sunday, because we have stake conference next week, and she had remembered without us reminding her and she payed her fast offering and everything! She is such an amazing person! It was such a great baptism too, very spiritual. 

Well, I am now with Hna Maldonado and she is from Chile, she seems like an awesome missionary and I am excited for the opportunity to be with her. We are going to work hard and help the people here in Conocoto! 

I hope everyone has a great week and enjoy the beginnings of Christmas!!! 

Love, Hermana Cordon

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

Baptism for Nelly!

Faith is like a little seed

¡Hola!

First off.. I have a new companion! :) Her name is Hermana McGill, she has about 10 months in the mission, and she is also from Utah. She is a lot of fun, and we work great together! I am excited for this time to be learning from her and having different experiences. 

This week our investigators taught me a lot about how much power a tiny bit of faith can have. Every one of our investigators right now are progressing and have dates for baptism in the next couple of weeks, and so when they are at this stage we are looking for any problem they could have about the church to solve all of their doubts and to make sure nothing will prevent them from being active after they are baptized. Every single one of them we came up with one or two commandments that could possibly be a bit of a struggle for them to accept immediately. And so we taught them all these commandments this week, and every single one of them accepted all of these commandments without a hesitation, because they have faith in this gospel. The basis of why each of them accepted all of these commandments without hesitation is because each of them have recieved an answer and know that this church is true, and if this church is true each of these commandments is something that we need to follow for our benefit. They all have such amazing faith and I always walk out of the lessons repenting and realizing how I need to keep working on growing my faith and being stronger every day.

One cool experience this week was with our investigator Nelly. She is someone super interested in religions, but thought that all religions are great and from God. So last week we told her that she needs to read the BOM and to pray to know that only one church is true and that it is this church. Then when we went by monday, she hadn´t prayed so we asked if we could pray with her, because we knew that would solve all of her doubts if she would just recieve an answer in that moment. So we knelt down and she prayed and asked if this church was true. And when she paused and listened after about a minute she said "It´s true. He said it`s true." We then talked about it and she said that never in her life has she recieved such a firm and direct answer from God and that she knows that this is His path. It was such a remarkable experience for me and the spirit was so strong. I know that if we pray with a sincere heart and have faith that He will answer us we will recieve an answer and know how to follow God even more. I am truly grateful for that testimony builder. 

This morning I read in Alma 60 and 61 where Moroni is accusing Pahoran of a bunch of stuff and how Pahoran responds to the unjust and untrue accusations. I am not sure the exact words he uses in english, but in spanish it says that he responds and says that these things aren´t true but I am not annoyed, because he understands his intentions. Its a great lesson on how we need to learn how to put ourselves in the other persons shoes and understand why they are saying something and not take offence. Pahoran was truly remarkable and christlike at how quick he was forgive and to avoid offence. 

I love Conocoto and I am truly grateful for the experiences I am having here and the people I know and are helping bring to the gospel. 

Sé que la iglesia de Jesucristo de Los Santos de Los Ultimos Dias es la iglesia verdadera en todo el mundo. Sé que Jesucristo es mi salvador y redentor y Dios es nuestro Padre Celestial y el nos conoce y nos ama mucho.

Love you all!!

Love, Hermana Cordon

Last Photo with Hermana Molina

Hermana Cordon & Hermana McGill

Flia Medina

Christmas Tree

Comida

¡Hola!

I have decided that I will explain a little bit about the food here. So lunch usually consists of soup, rice, meat of some type, a fruit juice, and a salad. It is always a ton of food, but I have adjusted and I am satisfied after every meal, luckily with all the walking and my good metabolism I have lost weight and not gained weight :) But, sometimes because I am tall they think that means I need a ton of food and they pile it on. In these moments I suffer a little bit.. haha one funny story is when we were at a recent converts house and she gave us some bread and said to me "here is a fat one for you, because you´re fat" That´s an endearing term here :) haha it was quite funny especially cause I am not fat, only tall :) The fruit juices are really good, and its so weird to have it at every meal. My favorite is with the fruit Maracuya, I have no idea if its in the states, but its delicious. And all the do to make the fruit drinks is peel the fruit and blend it and pour in some water and a lot of sugar. Its not healthy in the slightest, but I enjoy it. But I do not like the fruit tomate de arbol (tomato from a tree) its a tomatoe that grows on a tree, and it really isn´t good. I am happy we don´t have this one in the states. Also here when they have fish. They eat a fish. Its the complete fish with bones and eyes and all, it´s quite interesting having this fish staring at you trying to eat it. I never ate fish before my mission because I didn´t like it, but I am learning to love it here, and its an interesting way to learn to eat it. The next time my pensionista makes fish she is going to tell us so I will bring my camera and I will take a picture for you all :) And still the bread is DELICIOUS! I have a slight addiction to hot bread, so whenever we pass a bakery and they have hot bread I always buy one. And it doesn´t help that a roll is only $0.10. 

I learned this week what power the spirit can have with a person. We had a lesson with this investigator and she was really closed off and wasn´t really wanting to hear what we had said. So we left her with the commitment to read and pray and we set up a return appointment just to see what happens. In the second lesson we didn´t go in with high hopes, but it was a lesson completely different. She was completely open to the idea of praying and I could see the spirit in her life. She had completely changed her idea. For me it was a testimony to me that the spirit can change anybodys heart and I cannot be quick to assume that someone won´t accept this gospel, because the spirit can help anyone to accept. Yes, everyone has their agency, but we have to make sure to bring the spirit to them so they can accept or reject. 

Love you all and I hope you are all having a great week! 

Hermana Cordon