Caminar y Encontrar

Buenas tardes! :) 

Well.... this week was a good one! working hard, walking in the sun, and finding new people to teach! :) Missionary work is great, and i am so grateful for the opportunity i have to teach God´s children here in Ecuador! :) 

We are still teaching carlos and victor, and also antonio. after a few lessons of not accepting a bautismal date, this past week he finally accepted a date for the end of octubre!! :) wow we were so happy!! :) he is not a member, but the rest of his family is, they've been members for about 10 years i think, and they all love him so much. it is so great to work with this family, because they are so sweet, and are working so hard to have a more united family!

On friday we walked ALL DAY long. i dont know what it was, but no one wanted to let us into their house! we passed for many people, but they only wanted to talk to us through the window or door. my feet were soooo tired!! when we finally got to sit down and teach a lesson it was so great! i think sometimes we have days like this to teach us humility, but also help us to find new people... because although we walked a lot, we were able to visit some new families in the ward, and contact a few people! :)

on saturday we were able to find a new investigator, that is actually the husband of a member in our ward. he usually works a lot so we can never teach him, but saturday when we stopped by the house, the husband soon came home and we were able to teach this cute family! :) they are a sweet family, with lots of faith! 

This week i studied a lot of lesson 1, which is the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Wow. there is so much to learn in this great lesson! as i studied i realized the great importance of the restoration. and also the great importance of profetas and priesthood. i know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored through the profet Jose Smith. I also this past week finished the Book of Mormon in Spanish for the first time! :) i know that this Book is true. i know that when we follow Moroni´s counsel and ask to know if the Book is true, we will know through  the Holy Ghost. "Y por el poder del Espíritu Santo, podréis conocer la verdad de TODAS las cosas." (Moroni 10:5) . Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you. i am so grateful for the Restored Gospel on the earth now! :)

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

con amor,

Hermana Warburton

me and hermana castillo with ice cream!! 

me in la joya... where we work everyday!!

Feliz Cumpleaños 20

Buenas tardes a todos!! :) cómo están?!

Well this week was fun week!! :) we had some good surprises and some great experiences! thanks to everyone for your birthday wishes!! :)

this week we were able to go to the temple thursday night to start our zone conference. that, as usual was fantastic! i was lucky enough to go to the temple 2 times this month of august!! 

on friday... FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS!! :) we had our zone conference with all the missionaries in our zone at President´s house. when we walked in President wished me happy birthday, and then everyone who walked in wished me happy birthday as well! they even sang for me! we had a great training with President. learning more about the importance of sharing our testimonies about Jose Smith and the First Vision, and working with leaders and members of our ward. then we had a wonderfully delicious lunch! oh it was soooo good. mashed potatoes and gravy, chicken, carrots, and a roll.... just like a USA meal!! and i even got the seat of honor right up at the front of the room right next to President Riggins!! and we finished the meal off with cake and ice cream and them singing happy birthday to me again! 

that night we visited a family of menos activos, and the mom had cooked some food for us and was so sweet to remember my birthday! then we had a ward activity that night, and they also had brought cake for my birthday and sang happy birthday and had me bite into the whole cake!! (haha i guess thats the tradition here... so the cake gets all over your face haha!!)!! and then at night the other 2 missionaries that live with us surprised me with another cheesecake!! :) it was so sweet! to say the least, i had my fill of birthday cake!! everyone was so sweet and i had a great day! birthdays are a big deal here in this culture, and everyone that i saw made my day great!! 

our investigator carlos is doing great! he is such a great investigator! he is really searching for the truth and wants to do whats right. he has a baptismal date for septiembre! he hasnt really had a religious background, but its so amazing to see the progression he has made. i realizes now the importance of prayer and learning, and feeling the Holy Ghost. it is so great to see how Jesus Christ can change people! also we we are working with our other investigator Victor, who has come to church 3 times, and as well is doing great!! :)

thats about it for this week!! i am so grateful to be here in ecuador! i know that Heavenly Father loves us. He listens and answers our prayers. i also know that the Book of Mormon is true. as i have read it, i have learned more about my Savior, and grown closer to Him. i know that if we ever have a question or doubt, we can turn to the Book of Mormon and also to our Heavenly Father in prayer to receive an answer... como dice en Santiago 1:5.."y si alguno de vosotros tiene falta de sabiduría, pídala a Dios, quien da a todos abundantemente y sin reproche, y le será dada."

i hope you all have a great week!! love you all lots!!

con amor,

Hermana Warburton

Sol, Caminando, y Investigadores

Hola!! buenas tardes! :) 

Ecuador.. the land of lots and lots of sun!! haha this week there was a ton of sun, and as usual.. we walked A LOT!! but it was such a good week!! we were able to visit many investigatores, less actives, and converts, and it was amazing to see the progression of all of them!

we are teaching an investigator named Victor, and yesterday was his second time visiting the Church!! he is doing great, and is looking to find the truth in his life. we taught him about the restoration, and the importance of the Book of Mormon, and how the Book of Mormon can help him receive his answer. He read and prayed and is waiting for his answer!

Also we are teaching another investigator Carlos, and we have been trying to have him read the Book of Mormon... and after weeks of reading nothing, we taught him this past week and he told us he read 14 chapters!!! wow!! i was so surprised!! and he remembered and understood what he read!! :) wow! again i am amazed at the power of the Book of Mormon. i know its true. ive seen this book change the lives of people. it has helped so many peoples lives, as it has helped mine!

on friday we had a small intercambio and i worked in my sector with one of the hermana liders, hermana guaman. it went pretty well. it was only for the night, but we were able to have a couple of good lessons and i learned a lot from her. i was reminded of the importance of asking inspired questions! :)

on Sunday when we went to lunch, the cute family we ate with remembered that it is my birthday friday, and when we walked in there was a chocolate birthdaycake on the table!! they sang happy birthday and were so sweet the whole meal!! :) it made me so happy i almost cried!! :) there are amazing ward members here, who do so much to help the ward and the missionaries! i love this ward a lot and i am so grateful to be working here with my companion!!!

i know this Church is true. I know that through Christ we can be cleansed from our sins. we can feel the peace and comfort in our lives that we are all looking for. i know that through Christ we can be healed spriritually. El ser limpios del pecado es ser sanados espiritualmente. thanks to the Atonment of Christ, there is hope. there is hope on the darkest of days. when we have Christ as the center of our lives, we have a life full of light and hope. what a great opportunity i have each day to see this great Atonment work in the lives of the people here! :) have a great week!!!!!!! :)

con mucho amor,

Hermana Warburton

the temple last week with hermana alvarez ( my old comp)

noche de hogar with the familia nuñez

        celebrating my birthday with the fam alcivar

Nueva Compañera y Invitaciones Baptismales

Hola hola!! :) Espero que todos estén bien! 

This week i received my new companion... Hermana Castillo. :) She is from Peru, and she is a convert of about a year and a half. She is 25 yrs old and so sweet! we are having a great time and learning lots together!

On Tuesday we received a training from Presidente Riggins before we received the new missionaries. he talked to us about the important assingment of a trainer and how we really have the opportunity to help a new missionary and help them learn how to be a missionary in the mission field. he talked about this assignment as being one of the most important assingments in the mission! :) wow i feel so honored and happy to be training again!

On Wednesday morning we went to the temple with all of the trainers and new missionaries and i as always i loved being in the temple! it is such a special place of peace and love and blessings. how grateful i am to know that we have a loving Heavenly Father who wants to bless us with all the blessings He can give us. :)

Then all day wednesday we received trainings from presidente and hermana riggins and the assitentes... and then at the end of the day i received my new companion hermana castillo! 

on thursday was the first day in the mission field for hermana castillo, and it was great to watch her work and take the initiative to invite our investigatores to be baptized! she invited many people to be baptized (the goal of week 1) and did a great job!! We have some great investigators and great new investigatores that we found. we were able to visit them, and it amazes me each time as we talk to people, how some are so willing and open to come unto Christ and learn more about how they can change their lives through Christ.

On Sunday we had a great day in the church! 5 of our investigatores came and that made me soooo happy!! :) That night we were able to have a family home evening with the familia nunez, and that was so great. hermana nunez expressed her thanks for us and how we have helped her. But it really wasnt us!! it was her and Jesus Christ. She and her family have progressed so much and have really made Christ the center of their lives! :)

As ive reflected on this week, ive realized that when Christ is the center of our lives, we can be blessed with the blessings we need spiritual, and temporal. its amazing how God wants to bless us! We just need to be obedient, and He will bless us. DyC 130:21-22. i know He loves us so much. as we follow in the footsteps of Christ, and try to be more like Him, we receive more and more blessings, as a result of our obedience. Each day is a new day to be better, and work a little bit harder to follow in these footsteps. I am grateful for the opportunity i have each day to try and follow in His footsteps, as a representative of Jesus Christ.

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

con amor,

Hermana Warburton

Cambios y Milagros :)

BUENAS TARDES! hola de ecuador :)

Cambios!... im still here in barrio primavera, and will receive my new companion tomorrow.. im going to be training a new missionary again!!! and im so excited and grateful for this experience! :)

This week we had a week full of miracles!! our mission President asked us to set some high goals as a mission this week and for the month of August. he set goals about contacting, and finding new investigatores. as hermana alvarez and i worked hard this week, we truly saw the hand of the Lord in the work here. 

this week we had planned to visit a family that we thought we didnt know who they were and are members. so we went to go and find them, and when we got to the house, we realized this was the direction of a house of members who are very active and we know them well. at first i thought...ok well thats ok maybe they have a reference for us. the family was actually leaving when we got there, but when they saw us they said "hey we have a family we would like you to meet!" and showed us to the family and we were able to have a nice lesson with them!! and they accepted that we could come back and visit them. 

also we were able to have a family home evening with a family of members, and she invited quite a few friends to come and listen to us! we watched the Joseph Smith movie, and the friends really liked it, and i was reminded again of how grateful i am for jose smith and all he did to restore the true Chruch on the earth again. it is amazing all the things he and the early Saints had to expereince, just because they were Mormons. i am so grateful and proud to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! :)

As we worked hard we were able to find new investigatores to teach, and were able to see miracles in this sector! i am so grateful for the opportunity i had to work with hermana alvarez! she is an incredible missionary  and i learned a lot from her! :) as we work hard and work in faith, we can really do the work that we need to hear, and be guided to the people who are waiting for this Gospel!

This week in our district meeting, hermana alvarez and i did a practice about the Book of Mormon, and how the Book of Mormon can answer questions to our doubts. as we taught, and as i thought about this, i realized that this is true. whatever doubt we have, we can find the answer in the Book of Mormon. through the Holy Ghost, we can receive guidance and direction about our questions and doubts. what a blessing we have to have this great book!! i am so grateful for the Book of Mormon and the many things i can learn daily from it. im grateful for the things it teaches us about the Atonement and how we can better apply the Atonement in our lives. Sé que Jesucristo vive y es nuestro Salvador! :)

con amor,

Hermana Warburton

hermana alvarez y yo con una familia! :)