FELIZ AÑO 2017

HOLA!! FELIZ AÑO NUEVO!! :) wow. Pueden creer que es 2017??! wow. :)

This past week we had a good week. Monday and Tuesday we had an intercambio with the hnas of the ward Porvenir. I went with Hna Warburton in her sector. she is awesome! i love working with her! she is just the sweetest and an awesome missionary!

Wednesday we had a fun noche de hogar with the familia Zambrano and Acosta. The familia Zambrano are a  part member family and the familia Acosta are members that came with us and really helped us in the lesson. we talked about the new year and the goals we want to set! 

Thursday was the beginning of the Leadership Council we have each month with president riggins. Thursday night we went to the temple. i am amazed how there is always something new we can learn each time we go to the temple. when we really want to learn, there is always something to be learned!

Friday we had the leadership council. it was great. we talked about what it really means to be a leader and how we can help other missionaries and the examples that we need to be. we were reminded of a few things we can do better and how we can work better with the part member families. it was great as usual!! that night we came back to Milagro and we were able to go to a small part of the ward party and talk to some great families and find new people to teach!

Saturday we spent the day in las Magaritas. we taught Mercedes, who is doing great. she is amazing and i am always amazed at her strength and desire to learn more and be obedient to the commandments. i just love her! :) That night was new years eve... and here in ecuador its a BIG holiday! fireworks for hours... and they burn monigotes, which are dolls made of cardboard (big or small) and they represent the old year. so they burn the old year and welcome in the new year!! :) its pretty cool!! 

Wow. i cant believe its 2017!! im so excited for all the new year has in store and all the things i have learned in 2016. as i reflected on the past year, i was so grateful for all the things i have been able to do. it has been an incredible year here in ecuador and i feel so grateful to have spent it as a missionary. i have learned innumerable things and there are still so many things i can and need to learn! thats one thing i learned this week... there is always something about the Gospel that we can learn. through scripture study, prayer, church  attendance, temple attendance and other things that invite the Spirit, really we can learn each day something that will help us become more like Christ and understand the plan God has for us! 

have a great 2017!

con amor,

Hermana Warburton

pic of the leadership conference

new years eve

a really big dragon munigote

FELIZ NAVIDAD 2016! :)

FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!! :) wow. ¿Navidad otra vez? Y fue increíble!! Me encanta la Navidad!! :) I love Christmas and all the fun things that come with Christmas in Ecuador... hot chocolate, pan de Pascua, and the fun Christmas songs and hymns... like Mi Burrito Sabanero. The traditions here are so fun! :)

This week we had a great week, with all the things happening for Christmas and all the happiness it brings! :)

On Monday we visited a part member family that is super cute!- the familia zambrano. we talked to her about the importance of baptism and how that can really bless her family.

On Tuesday i had another awesome experience and was able to sing Ave Maria in Malecon 2000. its a tourist attraction in guayaquil and they were lighting the Christmas tree. Presidente Riggins and his wife got to do the count down and light the tree! :) then we got to do a program of hymns and scriptures about Christ ( i got to sing a solo and read a scripture), and then also did our program from Parque Samanes (where i got to sing Ave Maria). it was so cool! we sang on an outdoor stage there in Malecon for lots of people to see! how neat! it was a good way to invite people to investigate and learn more about the Church!

On Wednesday i had an intercambio with hna quispe.. who was my comp in primavera for a month in june!! she is in milagro and so we had an intercambio! shes awesome, and we had a great day visititing people and sharing about Christmas.

Thursday we got to go to the Margaritas... a part in our sector, and visited some great families there! we found a new investigator, a cute mom with 3 kids (i think) and she was very sweet! we also had interviews and house inspections with Pres and Hna Riggins.

Friday i got to perform again in Guayaquil for a hospital party for kids. it was so fun! :) that day i was with hna wilson (from my group) and we worked in a sector in guayaquil, contacting the references from the parque samanes. we met a great family! they were so kind, and invited us right in to share with them a message and Christmas hymn! that night i also got to perform with a group of missionaries our program for a stake in duran.

Saturday was a great Christmas eve! i got to talk to my family!! :) they are the best!! :) We got to do some service in the morning, cleaning the church. we also visited some great families in las Margaritas. Mercedes, Cruz and her family, and everyone was so nice and inviting us to drink hot cocoa and eat with them! they were all so sweet!! i love the people here. they are so kind and loving, and always want to give. it is something i admire so much. they are always willing to share, it doesnt matter who you are or how much they have, they are always willing to share and give. it has been a great example to me too see that!

Sunday... FELIZ NAVIDAD! we had a great Christmas! going to Church, where the kids had their Primary program, and we visited some families. there werent a lot of people home, and at one point in the day we felt a little discouraged. we decided to contact a cute elderly couple that was seated outside their house. we sang to them and asked who else we could sing to.. they pointed us to their neighbor, who they said was spending Christmas alone at her house. We decided to go over and visit her (who was also seated outside her house). We talked to her, and sang to her, and it was an amazing experience. As we testified of Jesus Christ and His true Church, we felt the Spirit. i know that she felt the Spirit as well. as i testified of Christ, i was reminded of His great love for us, and as i told her about Him, i knew what i was saying was true. im so grateful we got to meet this sweet woman, and help her feel the Christmas spirit. it was a great Christmas!

Well FELIZ NAVIDAD!! i sure hope you all had a great week and Christmas. This week we enjoyed sharing Alma 7:10-12 with the people we visited. On Christmas sometimes we celebrate only the birth of Christ, but we also need to remember His life, and thanks to his life, and His Atonement, we can truly have peace and happiness. I love this scripture. It talks about all the things that Christ suffered for us, so that He knows how to help us and give us comfort. I know that He knows us personally and loves us. His atonement is infinte and eternal, and available for all. I am so grateful for this time of year and that i can share this great message of hope and happiness with those in Ecuador!! :) Feliz Navidad y Año Nuevo!

con amor,

Hermana Warburton

           me with the hermanas from the presentations we do!

                                       feliz navidad

Parque Samanes y Feliz Navidad

Wow. this week was amazing!! :) i had so many great experiences this week that i will remember forever!! :)

This week i basically spent the whole week (tuesday to Sunday morning) in guayaquil. we had practices for Parque Samanes presentation all week long. ... every day. but it went really well. i was with Hna Deakin (from Idaho) this week as my companion, staying in her sector so that i could be the week in guayaquil and Hna Peña my comp went with Hna Deakin´s comp to work in Milagro. It was super fun to be with Hna Deakin.. she is a great missionary and has about 8 weeks in the mission! :) reminds me of me a year ago!! 

On wednesday we had practices all day long... and we got done at Parque Samanes late at 11pm at night! and a miracle happened and Hno Olaya and his wife took us home from the Park... and it was so kind of him! we were so so grateful and it was a miracle that he and his wife could take us home that late at night! they are wonderful!

on thursday we had the big dinner as a mission with President and the whole mission! it was super fun! and we also performed our presentation for the mission!! :)

on saturday was the big Parque Samanes presentation!!! earlier in the day we had sound check, and then at 5-6pm started the prelude music that a choir of our mission, the south, and west mission sang. it went well! our presentation from our mission was the last part of the program!! and it went soooo well!! i sang Ave Maria for the many people that were there, and it was an experience unforgetable. it went sooo well!! :) the people loved our presentation, and were sooooo happy and excited as we performed. as part of our presenation we had actors, choir, and a band, all of which went really well, and fitted together so nicely. everyone in the audience was left with their mouths open!! :) it was amazing!! i am soooo grateful for the opportunity i had to perform and sing in Parque Samanes in the concha acustica. it was an experience of a life time, of which i am so grateful!! :) 

Christmas is this week! can you believe it??? this week as i studied about Jesus Christ and Christmas, i was once again reminded of the true reason of Christmas... Jesus Christ! i know that He lives and loves us. The true spirit of Christmas is not only that Christ was born, but that He lived, and lives now, and because of that we can live again! we can be free of pains, sufferings, and guilt. we can be cleansed. we can be healed spiritually and physically. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. He loves us, and thanks to Him, we can have happiness now, and in the eternities. I am so grateful that as we live and serve as He served, we can become more like Him, and light the world with light!! :) I hope you all have a great Christmas!! love you all lots!! FELIZ NAVIDAD!! :)

con amor

Hermana Warburton

PICS.. ME with my comp

          me with hna castillo.. mi hija!

me with hna castillo and her daughter.. my granddaugther!!

me with hna lange! shes awesome

us backstage

Ruby Camino Macias from the Semanes Ward 

Navidad y Santiago 1:5

Hola:) Buenas tardes a todos!! Espero que se encuentren bien! :) Feliz Navidad! 

Well this week was the first week with my new companion Hermana Peña from Bolivia! we had a good week with its ups and downs and she is a great missionary who works hard and loves missionary work! 

This coming week is the week that we will perform in Parque Samanes the big Christmas presentation! So this past week we have been practicing and this coming week we will be practicing a lot!!! like all week... but this past week we had a practice that went well, of a choir that we will have as prelude music with the mission sur y oeste tambien.

Also wednesday we were able to visit a lot of recent converts. its great to visit them and see all the progress they are making. i love watching how they make the Gospel of Jesus Christ part of their lives and how they are working to go to the temple!!

On Thursday we had our zone meeting, and me and hna peña and the zone leaders trained the group from the training we received from President last week. it went well, and it was fun to teach the other missionaries. also we were able to visit our investigatores in las margaritas (a part of our sector that i love), and as i taught one of our investigators, Fatima, i felt as i taught her the love that Heavenly Father has for her and her son. its amazing how much love God has for each of His children. i feel so priveledged to be able to feel some of that love as well. i know that God´s plan for each of His children is perfect, and His timing is perfect as well, even if we dont understand everything in the moment!

Friday i had a great opportunity to go and travel to Quevedo (where i started my mission) and perform the Christmas presentation we have been practicing for a stake activity with the missionaries that are part of the presentation. it went well! it was fun to be able to perform the show for members and non members in Quevedo, and President and Hna Riggins as well. they were all pleased with how it turned out. It was also fun to go to the church where i first started my mission and see a couple of members from that ward as well!! 

On saturday we had ups and downs, with people that willingly accepted our message, and others that were very very against the message. its hard sometimes when people reject the message we share, but i know that the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet. i know because i have felt through the Spirit that the message we share is true. By the Spirit is how we can know the truth of all things, and even when people reject our message, we invite them to do as it says in Santiago 1:5 and ask God. Because He can tell us what we should do, and give us the knowledge that we need. 

i am so grateful that we have a loving Heavenly Father in heaven, who will always answer our prayers. He wants to help us and guide us, so all we have to do is ask. And i invite you all to do that. to follow what it says in Santiago 1:5 (James 1:5) and ask of God, if you have questions or doubts about anything, because as it says in this scripture, He will answer us, abundantemente y sin reproche, because He loves us! :)

Love you all lots! Hope you are all enjoying the Christmas season, and serving as Christ served, and lighting the world with light! :) I love this Christmas time!! Have a great week!!

FELIZ NAVIDAD! 

con amor,

Hermana Warburton

with 2 conversos for her birthday! ...sorry the only pics of the week! haha

Diciembre y Cambios

Hola familia y amigos! :) Feliz diciembre! El mes de Navidad!!! :)

This week as usual, seemed to go by so fast! we had so many things we were doing each day!

On monday we visited a recent convert family who are adorable! they live in a house on stilts! and after i had climbed up the ladder to get into their house i had to climb over a little gate that blocks their door. well i could not get up, and as i was trying, my shoe fell off, and fell down outside under the house! the whole family was laughing so hard that whole night.. and well it was pretty funny!! haha! luckily the daughter was super nice and went down and found my shoe for me! haha! :)

On tuesday we visted la familia torres lara. they are adorable! they are a part member family and so sweet! they are so prepared to receive the Gospel, and know that the Church is true. they love coming to Church and are so receptive of the Gospel! im so glad i get to teach this great family!

on wednesday we had our district meeting, and we also passed out 35 calenders for diciembre for the Ilumina el Mundo. it was great talking to lots of families about Christmas, service, Christ, and the Church!

On thursday was the first day of diciembre, and so to start of the Church Ilumina el Mundo, it was world wide service day! so we went to a care center for abuelitos, and it was so neat! we had such a great time helping the people there! we were able to talk to the residents, teach them exercises, serve them lunch, clean the building, and do what ever else we could to help there. we also were able to do a Christmas Song presentation, and we sang a few hymns, Christmas songs, and i sang Ave Maria. Everyone loved having us there! they kept asking us when we could come back. i felt so happy serving them, and felt such a love for the people there, even though i had just met them. they were all so fun to be around and everyone had their own personality. it was such a good way to start of the month of december!

That night we went to the temple, to start our consejo de lideres (leadership council) with President. we had a good temple session, and then the next day, Friday had a good training with President, Hna Riggins, and the asistentes. we were reminded of a few things we could do better, and how we can help our zones and everyone reach our goals and become even better misionaries.

on saturday we had a practice.. basically all day long for the performace we will have in Parque Samanes thats in 2 weeks!! ah!! im super excited, and its all coming along nicely! our mission is doing such a great job, and there is so much talent in our mission! im so glad i get to work with all of them! That night we stayed in Guayaquil, because it was a little late.

Sunday we came back to Milagro, for the last Sunday here with Hna Dominguez! she is an AMAZING missionary and i am soooo grateful for the time that i had to be her companion! i learned so much from her! we went back to guayaquil to drop her off, and this morning i came back to Milagro with my new companion Hermana Peña from Bolivia! :) she is super great and im excited to get to work with her! :)

This week we started the first week in December, the month of Navidad! im so excited for Christmas and the joy that comes as we, and all the world remembers the birth of Jesucristo. This week, as we got to serve, i was reminded of the joy and happiness we can feel as we serve others. As it says in Mosiah that when we are in the service of others we are in the service of our God. as we serve and love others like Jesus Christ did, we can feel of that happiness and feel His love more in our lives. I know, because i have felt that as i have served others here. We can share our light with others, and help others feeel the love that Christ has for them. I know that He loves us and is our Savior.

have a great week!

FELIZ NAVIDAD!

con amor,

Hermana Warburton

me and hermana dominguez

all of the leaders and president and hna riggins

me and hna dominguez, and una mamita that gives us lunch

Feliz Dìa de Acciòn de Gracias

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! i hope you all had a great thanksgiving, and enjoyed spending time with family and friends! i had a good thanksgiving, and the cute mamaita for lunch made us chicken and mashed potatoes and a yummy blackberry juice, so i had a great thanksgiving lunch too! :)

Lunes we met with 2 new investigators that we have- luis y erika. they are both 20 yrs old, married and so fun! they have a lot of questions, questions that are great too.. like "how do i know which of all the churches is true?" .. questions that us as missionaries love to hear, because that is exactly what we are here to teach!! :)

Martes we were able to teach Jeffersson about the Plan of Salvation. it was so neat to teach him about the temple and baptism for the dead, because his dad and brother passed away a few years ago. it was so neat to help him know where they are now, and that he can see them again!

Miércoles we had an intercambio with the hermanas de Porvenir, and i went with hermana hernandez in her sector. she is an amazing missionary! i learned so much with her, i learned more about the importance of always speaking and teaching with sinceridad, and sharing testimony, and working with the members!

Jueves was thanksgiving! :) 

Viernes was a great but kinda crazy day! we had practice for the Navidad program in the morning, then stayed in Guayaquil, ate lunch, then went to Rio Centro again, because i got asked to perform again with a small group of missionaries, doing solos, duets and choir pieces. it was so fun! i got to sing "Ave Maria" and also "its beginning to look a lot like Christmas" (as a duet) and some pieces as a group like Carol of the Bells, Jingle Bell Rock, and some hymns. it was super fun! i love singing! it is one of my favorite ways to share the Chirstmas spirit! :)

Saturday we were guided to the Spirit to where we needed to be. we found 2 new investigatores, but then after lunch all of our appointments were not home. we didnt know where to go or what to do. we decided to call Mercedes our investiator, even though she lived a little far away from where we were at. she said we could come, so we went to her house. when we got there she told us that she had probably recieved an answer to her prayers abou the Church, and that we coming that day were part of that answer! i felt so happy that we listed to the Spirit, and just follwed the impressions that came into our mind. we didnt know it at the moment, but it was!

That night we had the baptism of Jeffersson, who is 20 yrs old. it was so neat!! he is the only member in his family, and has been coming to church for about 3 months. he has accepted the Gospel so fast, and loves it! he is so great! the baptism was so sweet, and the family of the Bishop are his best friends, and those who have been helping him the whole time, and it was so sweet to watch them and how happy they were! wow. it made all the work worth it. everyone was so happy, and just seeing the light in all of their faces was amazing. i am so grateful for the chance i have to serve here. the people here in ecuador are amazing. i love them all! i feel so grateful for the chance i have to serve with them, and watch them do great things in their lives!

At the baptism we watched the new Church video for Christmas!! "Illumina el Mundo" ("Light the World"). wow. its amazing! i love that video!! i also love that we can do 25 acts of service for 25 days in diciembre! wow. so that we can share our light with others here, as Christ did. He is the light of the world, and as we share our light, others will see the light of Christ in their lives. How i am so grateful for Jesus Christ and everything He did for me. i know this Church is true!

have a great week! love you all!

con amor,

Hermana Warburton

intercambio with hermana hernandez de colombia

baptism of Jeffersson

Milagros en Milagro

Hola Hola!! :)

Well another great week here in Ecuador! How i love being here!! :)

This week we had all sorts of things we did, and saw so many miracles... milagros en Milagro! :)

On tuesday we had an intercambio with las hermanas de Paraíso! .. i was with Hermana Vargas, mi hija!! :) haha it was like the good old days again when i was training my old comp hermana vargas! she is so great, and it was so fun to see how much she has grown. she is an awesome missionary, and we were able to find a cute new family to teach!

These past couple weeks we have been practicing a lot, so that this week we could sing in the shopping center of Rio Centro thursday! and it turned out great! Our zone and other zone of only elders, sang with us. i was the director, and we performed for little less than an hour! we sang a bunch of Christmas songs... hymns, and other traditional Christmas songs in english and in spanish! it was fun! i enjoyed performing and directing the choir! :) They all did a great job.. and i was also able to sing Ave Maria to start it all off!

That night we went to the temple to start our zone conference with President Riggins. it was so nice to go to the temple again! :) On friday we had our zone conference with President and it was awesome!!! wow. there were so many new things i learned and new things i want to apply to how i can be a better missionary and better person. he has such a great way of teaching to help us all understand and remember the things he teaches. for lunch President gave us a thanksgiving dinner!! it was so fun...even with apple pie for dessert!! :)

that night we were able to teach our investiagor Jeffersson.. and help him prepare for his baptism that will be this coming saturday! we are so excited!! he has been coming to church for a while now, and he is about 20 years old, and doing great! Mercedes, another investigator is also doing well, she is so sweet, and has so many good questions for us!

on saturday.. guess what... we were in guayaquil, again!! haha! we seemed to be in guayaquil a lot this past week..(thursday, friday, saturday...) haha. but we had another practice for the big Christmas program we are doing in diciembre, and we were there almost all day. but i love singing! i am so  grateful for the opportunity i have to sing for this program. how i love music! this week i was thinking about why i do love singing, and as i thought i was again reminded of how important music is and how it can invite the Spirit. thats one of the reasons why i love it so much, is that it invites the Spirit, and its one way to share testimony of the things i know to be true. 

This week although we seemed to be everywhere, always traveling and doing something, it was amazing how Heavenly Father blessed us with so many miracles. Miracles even in the smallest of things. Finding new families to teach, walking down the street praying the family we were hoping to see would walk out of their house when we passed by, and when we walked by they did! seeing how the Restored Gospel changes lives... there are so many small and big miracles i get to see each week, and im so grateful for each of them. i know that Heavenly Father truly does love us. Each of us. I am so grateful for the opportunity i have to feel of that love, and see that love in the lives of other people as well here in ecuador. 

have a great week!! happy thanksgiving!!! :)

con amor,

Hermana Warburton

singing in rio centro for Christmas!