Where Can I Turn For Peace?

¡Hola hola familia y amigos! Buenas tardes Gracias por todo su amor y apoyo ¡Ustedes son lo mejor!

This past week was fun! it was a little different than usual, because tuesday and wednesday we did divisions (were we switch companions for 2 days) with the Hermana Assistentes. So we had 4 hermanas in our sector and were able to do double the work! i learned a lot from the hermana i was with, hermana jorge from peru. She is so sweet and really loves the Gospel. it was neat to work with her and learn more about how to be a better missionary. :)

on wednesday we had the world wide missionary training. it was a worldwide broadcast that all the missionaries in the WORLD watched about how to be a better missionary! there was a lot of focus on teaching by the Spirit, and working with the memebers. it was neat to know that all of the missionaries in the world were watching this, and we are all doing the same things. we are all here for the same purpose and working together to bring people unto Christ.

on thursday... this was our day of tears.. haha. yep. we kind of randomly had people cry on us... haha! We were teaching Vicenta Coba, an investigadora, about how there is only 1 true church. She is Evangelica and she believes that there is not really one true church, but that the church is within all of us... we have gone over the doctrine that God is of order, and there is only 1 church many times, and still it was not sticking. after we had finished the lesson, we were a little worried that our lesson was a little harsh... but she came out with some malduros fritos (fried green bananas) for us to eat, and then started crying because she LOVES us so much and will be so sad when we leave. guess the lesson wasnt too harsh!! she loves us, and even though we are different religions, she realizes that we are doing something so important and good, and calls us her little angels. It was so sweet! :) 

We have this investigador family- Amalia (60yrs) and her 2 daughters, Sahiana (17yrs) and  Karla (30yrs) and her sons gabriel (8yrs) and Andres (2 yrs). They are an awesome family! amalia has been coming to church for about 2-3 months now, and has finally accepted a baptism date. The reason they want to get baptized is because Karla wants her son Gabriel to be a missionary when he is older. She REALLY wants him to be a missionary, and so the first step is baptism! karla is great! she asks so many questions, and really has a desire to learn about the church. she asks sincere questions about the priesthood, sacrament, word of wisdom, and keeping the sabbath day holy. She wants to know the reasons for things, and how she can find out if all of this is true. Her sons are adorable as well!! at times they are a little crazy.... like when they steal all the stuff out of my bag and eat my candy and try to rip my scriptures.... but they are adorable! :)

This past week we had some neat experiences where i really felt that we were being guided by the Spirit. On friday we had just gotten done with lunch and we were trying to find out where we should go after. we said some names of people that were close in the area, and casually picked the last name we said. So we went over to the Familia Valencia house. Angel Valencia Jr (30yrs),  who is a member and has served a mission, had been sick, and we wanted to see if he was home from the clinic and how things were going. When we stopped by the house, the father of the house (who is not a member of the church) and his granddaughter were there and were very sad. They had just found that Angel Jr had a tumor in his stomach, and was most likely cancerous. Hermana Childs and i didnt really know what we need to say to them, and we decided to sing a song we had been practicing- "Nearer My God to Thee". We sang this song and as we sang we tried to comfort them with the music and words of this beautiful hymn. As we sang the mother came home as well, and we all enjoyed the hymn, and talked a little after about the plans that God has. and while we may not understand all that happens in this life, we know that God does, and He has an eternal perspective. Again i am so grateful for good music. it has a powerful effect on people that words dont have. truly the song of the heart is a prayer unto God. Music can invite the Spirit into a house, comfort those who are seeking comfort and peace. We felt guided to that house at the opportune time to share our love and support for this family! God really will direct our paths if we let Him.

As for some funny happenings this week....

When we were at the Familia Vicenta Coba´s house, she had me help her make the salad. well ive heard that the lettuce here can carry a parasite... and so to kill the parasite, the people here put salt in their salads, and some lime. so... i made the salad with lime juice, some olive oil, and salt. but A LOT of salt. i was worried about getting a parasite! and i wanted to kill whatever bugs may be in that salad! but turns out ... i put waaaayyy to much salt on the salad! so much that it tasted soooooo nasty! and it was a big plate of salad!! hermana childs and i ate it all though, and somehow got it all down. Vicenta ate a bite of the salad when we were almost done eating, and she was like "ah! this is nasty! wayyy to much salt! why did you guys eat that??" haha... 

In my studies this morning, i read a couple of talks about finding peace. The world may try to offer peace and comfort in various ways, but the ONLY way we can find true and lasting peace is through the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ and His Gospel. There is no other way that peace can come. as we live the gospel, and obey the commandments, we will find joy and happiness. it is that simple. Where can i turn for peace? where is my solace? In Jesus Christ. As days may seem long and precoccupations cloud our views, remember that the true source of light and comfort can be found in living the gospel of Jesus Christ. He will guide us to peace and safety. Not only physically, but spiritiually as well. Each day as we turn to him, we will find peace. 

I love you all lots! :) Gracias por su amor y bondad. Esperamos que tengan un buena semana. Una semama de felicidad y paz. Recuerda siempre Jesucristo y el amor que Él nos brinda. 

¡les amo much!

Hermana Warburton

Food here in Ecuador (but it was actually made by a columbian.. so its kinda columbian food.. but basically its all the same.. rice and more rice... )

More pics of Isla Santay last week

Wedding and Baptism

The week of a wedding and a baptism!! :)

On wednesday we were really lucky and got to go to the wedding of Joffre and Kati! :) Wow it was so special! we went to the registro de civil in the south part of the guayaquil city and watched them as they signed their papers and legally became man and wife! ... they are on their way to a wedding in the temple in a year!!

On friday was joffre´s baptism! This guy is awesome! He was so happy and excited to be baptized! he was baptized by kati´s son pedro, and he looked so happy to be there and be following the example of Jesus Christ. Hermana Childs and I got to sing "I Stand All Amazed" for a special musical number, because it is his favorite hymn. Joffe bore his testimony after he was baptized and it was an amazing testimony! He truly is converted to the Gospel. He expressed his love for the Church, Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith. He also said he knows that Thomas S Monson is a living prophet. He really knows these things, and told us he felt the Spirit after he was baptized, that he started crying in the font. It was so sweet! :) he will be such a great member and leader in the church here in ecuador!

As usual, we had some funny experiences this week. Yesterday when we were singing the opening hymn in a lesson we had, I started singing the words of "The Spirit of God" to the melody of "How Firm a Foundation"... and we sang almost the whole first verse before we stopped and realized it was wrong, because the people we were teaching were trying to get us to stop and fix the problem!! Hermana Childs and I couldnt stop laughing the rest of the song! :) haha! Also when I sing my opera songs for the members here, they are soooo suprised and almost fall off their chairs! haha! :)

Today we got to go to Isla Santay. Its a island and you ride your bike out to this beautiful island where the vegetation is so green and beautiful! we also got to see a bunch of real crocodiles! it was crazy! but lots of fun!

Im so excited and happy for Joffre and Kati. This week they made bigs steps in their lives and especially in the spiritual part of their lives. Marriage and baptism. Both events brought so much joy and happiness to their faces. I love seeing this in the people here! I know the Gospel brings so much joy and happiness. When we are following the commandments of God and choosing the right, He will shower us with blessings. Blessing that are temporal or physical and spiritual. He knows how to give us the things and blessings that we are in need of at the time we are in need of them. One of my favorite scriptures is in D&C and it talks about that when we receive any blessing, it is because we have been obedient to a law of God. So blessings are ALWAYS available when we are choosing the right! :)

I hope you all have a fantastic week! i love you all a lot!! thanks for everything! :)

les amo,

Hermana Warburton

PS... i am now the ward pianist... ah!! Sometimes it goes better than other times....:)

 the wedding of joffre and katy

 joffre´s baptism

Our visit to isla sanday today.... we went biking and saw crocodiles up close

New Investigators and the Atonement

Hola hola familia y amigos! ¿Cómo están?

Another week in the barrio Samanes 1! Wow the people here are so awesome! we have great ward and leaders who are so willing to help this ward and area progress. :)

This week we found a new family! its kinda a crazy story, but here´s how it happened... 

So.. we have found this cute little restaurant in our sector. its run by the sweetest little old couple.. we call them grandma and grandpa! :) and its a buisness that looks like its run out of their kitchen, so we really feel like we are stepping into grandma and grandpa´s house when we go! not to mention its way cheap and super delicious! 

so this past wednesday after we didnt have the most successful day of finding and teaching people, that night we stoped by grandma and grandpas kitchen to grab something to eat. while we were there a man from the street called to us and asked us to talk to him. His name is Fernando and it turns out his is an inactive member of the church, and his girlfriend, Melisa wants to get baptized so they can be an eternal family! We taught them later this week and set goals for a marriage date and baptism date! A miracle of finding these people!

we are also getting ready for joffre´s baptism this week!! ya! finally! joffre and kati´s marriage is this wednesday and then his baptism is this friday! we are so excited!! :)

Also we are always reallllyyyy happy when we have investigators in church! yay! this past week we had 8! a miracle! these people HAVE to come to church or they cant progress... at all! the importance of the día de reposo... sabbath day... is sooo important! i have realized that a lot as i have been here!

hermana childs and i always have super fun and funny experiences that just seem to happen to us!

Last week there was a man who was selling honey. it is natural honey and is supposed to have super good health benefits, and he was trying to sell it to us for $15, which is wayyyy above the price it should have been. but i only had $4, and there was no way we were paying $15 for a jar of honey!! so with some bartering, and the fact we really didnt have much money...  somehow... we talked him down.. and we bought the jar of honey for $4.60 and 2 chocolates!! :)

This week we have shared a lot with the people here about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. many people here have a Christian background and believe in Jesus, but have no idea what the atonement is. they have no idea what the word means or what actually consisted of the atonement. we have enjoyed sharing the importance of the atonement with the members and investigators here. it is incredible how everyone is impacted and changed through the atonement. I love the explanation of why an atonment was necessary in Alma 34:9-10. It talks about how an atonement is necessary to fufill the plan of God, and how it needed to be an infinite and eternal atonement. The atonement isnt something that if you sin once its your only chance and you cant repent again. No! it is a gift that is available to us an infinte number of times, everyday for our whole lives. A great gift of hope that is available to us everyday. Jesus Christ truly knows how we feel, and how to comfort and strenghthen us through anything! :)

I love you all so much! Thanks for your endless support and love! have a great week! :)

les amo,

Hermana Warburton

Feliz Año Nuevo 2016

  

Feliz Año Nuevo!

Happy new year! i hope you all had a great end of the year, and are ready for a brand new year! :) It´s crazy how fast this year flew by!

Hermana Childs and i had a fun new years eve... in the house! haha we werent allowed to leave, and so we had to be in the house at the usual early hour and stay in there. But its a good thing. it was CRAZY!! we were able to look through our window at ALL of the fireworks and craziness that was going on. here in ecuador the people go a little crazy for new years. and when i say a little... i mean a lot!!!! there were fireworks going for probably like an hour! and they also have this tradition here where they burn monigotes- which are paper mache dolls that can be anywhere from 3 ft to 50 feet tall! They put a note inside the doll of a list of things they would like to "burn" or get rid of about themselves so they can become better this coming year. Then they light the doll and burn the old self for the better new self for the coming year. :) It was fun to watch all these fun firework traditions from the safety of our little casa!

As for our investigators, we are being continually blessed to find new investigators and receive help and guidance with our investigators we have now. Seriously i am always so amazed at the patience and guidance that God has for us. He really does put us in the right path at the right time. 

This past week we were looking for  reference we received about a menos activo family in the ward. So we were looking and looking for the house but were having a hard time finding the direction. As we were looking we came upon a man who was sitting outside his house reading his newspaper. We said hi to him and got talking, and it turns out that he is a member of this church but has just been inactive for 30 years. His daughter who also was there and talked to us, is not a member, but was very interested in our message, especially Jose Smith. She invited us back to visit with her. We actually never ended up finding the reference we set out to find that day! But we found other people that we needed to talk to! God will direct our paths if we are willing to listen to the Spirit and are just willing (and not afraid) to talk to people! :)

Well this time of year in ecuador is the hot hot time of year! its the opposite of utah.... and boy was it hot and sunny this past week! wow! yes... i got sunburned a lot this week... Its also the time for the bugs to start coming out. here there are these nasty bugs called grios which are like a cocroach flying type bug. They are awful! we had 2 in our house last night, and one was flying all over! at one point it even landed on my back! hermana childs and i were screaming and going crazy... and the lady that lives below us called us to see what in the world was going on!! haha! 

Im so grateful to be here and to have the opportunity to spend this new year in ecuador serving the people. this gospel is so amazing. it is a gospel of blessings. :) we are able to see miracles in our lives if we just trust in God and turn to Him. His love is incredible, and it will allow us to make it through anything, and have the strenghth to do the things we need to! I hope you all have a great start to this new year, make some new goals, and trust in God and His plan! Love you all lots!

Les amo,

Hermana Warburton

Our Christmas celebration lunch at Chili's last Monday

Fireworks on New Year's

My sunburn...the one on my neck is even worse.

The grio bug!!ah!!!