Testimonio y Nombres

Una otra semana en Ecuador! :) Sol y calor como siempre!! :)

We had a good week this week! :) my new companion (hermana alvarez) and i worked hard to contact lots of people and find new investigatores. i love working with hermana alvarez. she is amazing!! such a great missionary and has such a great testimony. and she is ALWAYS looking for ways to serve others. she is a great example for me.

This week we were visited the familia Nuñez, a menos activo familia. they are so sweet!! i just love this family! they actually remind me of my own family. they are always happy and making jokes, but they also have a great love of the Gospel. We taught them the 10 commandments this past week, and did fun hand signals to remember them all. they got a kick out of that and remembered the hand signals the next time we visited them too!! so it was fun, AND they remembered the 10 commandments too!! :) 

We also found a new family that is super great. the familia mendoza. they are really sweet and were a reference of another family in the ward. they are really interested in the book of mormon and learning more! :)

This week i learned about the power of a testimony. we were teaching a lesson this week to a less active couple and they started arguing in front of us. la verdad, i didnt know what to say or do. i wasnt exactly sure what scripture to share or what we should say. i looked at my companion, and she just started to bear her testimony. the second she started to bear her testimony, the Spirit came into the room again, and we both felt like we should share about the Atonement. she started talking about a scripture in the book of mormon, i knew and was guided to exactly where the scripture was and we shared it with them. that was one of the most guided-by-the-Spirit lessons i have ever taught. i went from not knowing what to say, to having the words put in my mouth. it was a great experience for both of us!!

on a funny note... i hear just about everything about how to pronounce my last name. washington. waaarburton. warbuuuurttuuun. waalalala. almost NO ONE can say my name. and it can be kind of funny sometimes!! :) but this last week, there was a taxi driver and he was trying to say my name and finally just ended up saying "well its like you are gargling water and then spitting it out!! hermana waaaaa twooooon" hahah. i laughed pretty hard at that one! he was pretty clever!!

This morning i was reading the talk by elder uchtdorf from the last conference- He will put you on His shoulders and carry you home. wow. what a great talk!!! i really liked when he said "the sheep is worthy of divine rescue simply because it is loved by the Good Shepherd". i know this is true. i know that no matter who we are, no matter how far we think we have fallen, we are never out of His reach. i know he loves us, and "with each step of faith on the path of discipleship, we grow into the beings of eternal glory and infinite joy we were designed to become." He will guide us, and He will always be there to help us. i have seen how the Atonement can change lives, and help us when we most need it! 

love you all! have a great week!! :)

con amor,

Hermana Warburton

me and hermana alvarez

me and hermana alvarez with cupcakes from the familia nuñez

me and a little turtle!! ah!...

Feliz Dìa del Padre y Caridad

Bueno. Entonces esta semana fue cambios otra vez... y yo todavía estoy en el mismo barrio, en Primavera... pero tengo una nueva compañera!! :)  Good. So this week was change again ... and I'm still in the same neighborhood in Spring ... but I have a new partner !! :)

So this week was transfers again... i know can you believe it, 6 weeks has gone by since the last transfer! And i am still in the same sector, in the same ward, but i have a new companion! Hermana Alvarez! :) She is from Peru, and has 6 months in the mission, and is super pilas! im really excited to work with her! we are actually "missionary family"haha because hermana childs was my "mom" (trainor) and hermana childs is her great-grandma... so i think that makes me her great aunt or something like that!! haha :)

But this week we have been working hard, and teaching, and walking, and eating! :) We worked really hard to contact more people this week, since we really needed new investigatores.. and we found some AWESOME new families!! :) im so excited to teach them. they are great! :)

This week we also visited with Manolo Altamirano (investigador) and his wife who is a member. he has sooooooo many questions. about EVERYTHING!! hahaha. but really. and he researched a lot about the church on the internet, so he has a ton of questions. but its fun. he is a good guy, and really wants to understand everything. this week we explained about the Bible and the Book of Mormon and why we need and have the Book of Mormon. as we showed him scriptures from the book of mormon and how he can receive an answer from himself, we are hoping that things are a little more clear in his mind now! but he is good and progressing!

i was also super happy yesterday when we came to church and found a menos activo familia that we have been working with sitting in sacrament meeting!! it was the first time for all of the daughters of the family in a long time! i was so happy!! wow. its times like this where all the hard work is worth it! when i see these people making changes in their lives its so great!! :)

Also this past week was hermana quispe`s birthday, so a couple of the ward members gave us cake, and were so nice! this ward really is great. there are so many people here who are so willing to help us and share with us, because they are just so full of love!

This week i was pondering on the importance of charity and love. and it is true.. without charity and love, we are nothing! that is why its so important to have charity. sometimes its really difficult to love others, but ive learned that when we stop focusing on ourselves, it sure makes it a lot easier to love others. That is something that Jesus Christ always did. He was always thinking about others. in everything He did. wow. how important it is to have love for others here in the mission field, so that we can show them how much Jesus Christ really loves them and cares about them. I was reading a few talks from the last conference and there was a lot about love and service. those are 2 of the qualities of Christ that are sometimes the hardest to develop. But the mission has sure helped me to develop those more. i am so grateful for the perfect example of Christ, and of His love for us. its incredible that His love is always there no matter what. we are never too far out of reach of His love, and He is just waiting for us to accept Him. Always remember that no matter how low we feel, how out of reach, Jesus Christ is always there, and He is never too far away to help.

Love you all lots!!! have a great week!! happy father`s day ayer (yesterday) to all the padres!! :)

con amor,

Hermana Warburton

our district

this cute new shirt i bought from a lady in our ward that makes clothes

                            . .ps... look how long my hair is getting!

                happy birthday to hermana quispe!

the bishop and his family and the happy birthday to hermana quispe

just the normal lunch... shrimp and rice... haha dad you would love it!!!!

La Visita de Elder Rasband :)

Hola hola! :) Buenas tardes de Ecuador :) ¡Esta semana pasada fue super bien!

This week the big highlight was the visit from Elder Rasband from the 12 apostles! :) wow that was sooooo neat! he came saturday in the morning. we had to be in the chapel suuupper early so we could be seated and ready for when he came. i luckily was in the choir, so my seat was reserved and up front in the choir seats! :) but there were 3 missions there- the west, south, and north mission..... so about 600+ missionaries were there.

after about an hour and a half of waiting, Elder rasband and his wife came!! we ALL got to shake his hand!! :) that was so neat. he said he was looking into our eyes as he shook our hands, looking to see if we had a sparkle! :) Elder Montoya and his wife came too, they are from the area presidency. 

Elder montoya and his wife spoke first, and then Sister Rasband spoke. wow. she is just the sweetest ever!! :) she has such a glow about her and when she speaks she speaks with such love. i know she has a great testimony, and is such a great leader and example. she talked about smiling! :) we all need to smile, because when we do, others will see the light in us, and want to have that same happiness. she said, "let the message of the plan of salvation penetrate so deeply in your heart, that when you smile, people will see how the plan of salvation has changed your life and made you happy." she is a great speaker, and even gave her testimony in spanish! :) she did a great job and i looooved listening to her. one of my favorite moments of the day.

Elder Rasband was amazing. i know he is an apostle of God. he spoke like an apostle!! :) he spoke with such order and such power. he talked about many things. he gave us a message from the prophet Thomas Monson- that he loves us and thanks us. He also said that we are only one hand shake away from shaking President Monsons hand! :)

Another thing he talked about was the Holy Ghost. he said that a lot of us often wonder if the thoughts we have are from the Holy Ghost or just our own thoughts. He said "if the thought is good, its from God." if it leads us to do a good thing, it is good. we dont need to worry about it. he said that often, we talk ourselves out of doing good things, or out of spiritual promptings- our own selves!! he reminded us that we need to just follow the first prompting, and if it is good, its from God. Read Moroni 7. Also he told us that we need to have the "sparkle" in our eyes when we smile. it comes from having the love of Christ and practice!!

Also he talked about how missionaries are assigned to their missions. ok this was such a cool part!! wow. he explained that ONLY the apostles can assign calls. its not the staff workers.  only the apostles. and they fast and pray and ask to know PERFECTLY where we need to go on our mission. it was so neat. i realized in that moment that i truly have been called of God. it was not a mistake that i'm here. each missionary is in his or her mission for a reason. while we may not realize the reason, the reason is there. we may even feel inadequate, but God knows we can do it. and for that reason he sends us, individually, to our individual mission, because we are each individual children of God.

and his testimony was so neat and so heart felt. i know that he knows that Jesus Christ lives and loves us. he left us with his apostolic blessing, and that was incredible as well! i also feel so blessed to have been able to sing in the choir for him! :) that was so neat! :) we sang a medely of "Pon Tu Hombro a la Lid/Con Valor Marchemos (put your shoulder to the wheel/onward Christian soldiers)" and also sang "We´ll bring the World His Truth". that was amazing. how i love music. Elder Rasband said that we should all joining the Mormon Tablernacle Choir! :)

such a great opportunity we had to see elder rasband. wow. it was so neat and i know that the Church is true, and that Jesus Christ directs the Church through His prophets and apostles. we are so blessed to have the restored Gospel here on the earth!!!!

other notes of this week... one of the recent converts here - Roque Macias baptized his 8 year old daughter yesterday and it was so sweet. i ate cow heart for lunch thursday. we had a house inspection by President Riggins and passed.:) a mosquito flew in my mouth as we were walking down the street. 

i hope you have a great week!!!! i love you all lots! thanks for all you do! remember that Heavenly Father knows us and loves us each individually. i know that Thomas S Monson is the living prophet of God on earth today. :)

con mucho amor,

Hermana Warburton

Ejercito de Helaman y 2 Almuerzos

¡Buenas tardes!! ¿Como les van? Bienvenido a Junio!! :)

Hey everyone another week here in ecuador. we are now in the month of june, the middle of the year and i cant even believe it! im excited for this week becaue Elder Rasband is coming to speak to us! :) and i am singing as part of the combined mission choir, so we will be right up next to him!! wow!

This week was pretty normal... well teaching, and walking, and helping, and eating!! But it was good. we learned a lot as companions this week. we learned that it is crucial to listen to the Spirit!! especially in a sector like this, because if the person is not home, you basically have wasted your time, because you cant enter the gated community that you are at... so it is sooooo important to listen to the Spirit about where we need to go, and what we need to say to the people.

The week was full of visiting less actives, receint converts, and investigatores. it was good! we met with this cute mom and daugther, both named Sara Rodriguez. they are so sweet. they were so happy to receive us again in their homes and said that they were just waiting for us to pass by again. they are good, but they dont want to accept the compromiso de bautismo. so its a little hard... but they are so great and would be awesome members of the church!! :)

on tuesday we had 2 lunches. its actually a funny story. because this week started the new month of june. but tuesday was still may... so we were supposed to still have lunch with the family that we eat with in may.... but we thought the new june schedule had started so went to the new family that is going to give us food in june. well we show up at the house and no one is home! so we think.. oh well. ok we will just eat at the restaurant that is close by so we can get out and work. so we eat a lunch at the restaurant. then we go visit the family we have planned after lunch. and i just so happens to be the same family we usually eat lunch with on tuesdays for the month of may.... and guess what. they had been waiting for us with lunch all ready!! ah! and we couldnt say no! so we ate again!! wow! i was soooooo full! i thought i would burst!! hahahah! :) but well good think i like the food here!! :)

As part of the choir i am in for the coming of Elder Rasband we are singing Army of Helaman. i love this song! and to make it even better instead of saying "we will be the Lord`s missionaries to bring the world His truth" we are singing "we ARE NOW the Lord`s missionaries!" wow. when i sang those words i realized that all that time that i have been singing that song as a child, is who i am RIGHT now. i have been born as Nefi of old to goodly parents who love the Lord. I am so grateful to be here, and to be given the wonderful opportunity to bring the world His truth. I know this Gospel is true. i know when we follow the commandments and the words of the profetas we will be blessed and protected.

thanks for all your love and prayers. have a great week of summer!! :)

con amor,

Hermana Warburton

we went bowling as a zone today!! :