Change 4.27.15

HOLA!

So this week has been pretty great but we had to go to Quito AGAIN for the visa of my companion so we lost a whole day of work :( which i dont love but im over it. 

ALSO HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAM!!!!!!!!  Im not sure how old you are sorry but feliz día!

So this week has been a little harder because we have contacted a lot but we havent been able to find any new investigators!  But we are working with a few that i have lots of faith will progress! Everyone in Ambato is really catholic, so its a harder area, but I LOVE IT HERE!  Like so much.   Training is going great- i feel like i am learning so so much from training and it is really helping me humble myself (which all people know i need jaja) 

So we have been working with this forever investigator que se llama rosangela.  She is 17 and has a testimony, but her parents havent let her get baptized yet.... but we were able to talk with them and gain their confidence a little and now they are going to let her get baptized!  So we will be having a baptism this Saturday and we are so so excited!

Yesterday we were getting ready to go to lunch and i just felt like we should go by the house of one of our investigators that we havent been able to visit for while.  She hadnt come to church and i felt like we should just go be and invite her. As we were walking over there, the thought popped into my head "the spirit will guide you feet."  We got to the house and she was there and ended up coming to church just two hours after we invited her!  I felt so grateful for the guidance of the spirit.  I truly feel like he is guiding my feet everyday.  

I am learning so much in this transfer about humilty and Godly sorrow. I am so grateful for the atonement and the ability it gives us to CHANGE! 

LES AMO A TODOS!!! 

hermana neff 

la colada morado de nuevo yay! 

Nothing too interesting 4.20.15

Hi!

This week we went to Quito for the verification of new missionaries!  I love when we have conferences with the President because i ALWAYS learn so much!  

Right now in the mission we are trying to teach 15 minute lessons.  I think a lot of times as missionaries, we feel the need to give our investigators ALL the information that we have about the gospel.  Which is not true!  Right now we are practicing teaching our investigators just the necessary things to help them feel the spirit, and teach according to their needs.  We are seeing miracles because of it!

Today we went to a waterfall in baños.  It was SO COOL!  Literally just this massive waterfall in the middle of the mountains of Ecuador.  So cool.  i will try to attach pictures but this computer is struggling so we´ll see if it happens.  

Also ate a chicken foot it was pretty yummy! 

So sorry but i dont have anything else too interesting to write about!  But i hope you all know that i love and pray for you often!  You are all wonderful and i know that God loves you so much!!  I love you too! 

Keep up the great work in all you are doing!! I promise i will have better stories for next week!!

hermana neff 

Miracles 4.13.15

Hola!  

so this week we have seen A LOT of miracles.  We have literally been working so hard to find a family to teach.  One day we dedicaded an hour specifically to finding a family.  We said a very specific prayer and had so much faith that we would find a family.  I kept having this feeling that we needed to find the family with the green door.  So we knocked for an hour and a half and talked with a lot of people.  How many people did we find?ZERO.  I was feeling pretty down about it.  But my darling hija helped me out.  I feel like i am learning so so much this transfer and i am loving it! 

So anyways ya about two days later we were looking for someone that we had contacted and i saw this girl with two kids.  She almost walked past us, but i felt like i should talk with her.  The next day we went to her house where she lives with her husband and three kids.  They told us all about their family, and it was obvious that God and their family were really important to them.  We sat there in awe as they told us about how unified they were etc. etc. (which there arent many families like that in Ecuador).  So when we started the lesson I asked them if there was anything they wanted me to ask in specific in the prayer. The mom said that they are always united as a family.  At first i thought that she said that just so that they could continue strengthening the already very strong bond they had formed as a family.  But throughout the prayer i just felt like i needed to ask her why she wanted that blessing.  They proceeded to tell us that they really werent all that unified as a family, and that they had been praying for some sort of help. Ok rewind a little....  Before the lesson they kept asking us if we missed our families, and we kept telling them that yes of course we miss our families, but that we love our missions and we dont miss them too much.  They just couldnt seem to believe that we didnt miss our families! Ok fast forward so I felt very strongly to tell them about how in my family, sometimes we fight too, but that it is never something that lasts... because we have an eternal perspective.  I got pretty emotional as i testified of eternal families and how the reason i dont miss my family too much out here in the mission field is because i have that eternal perspective and i know that i will be with them forever.  They accpeted a baptismal date and i am so so excited to continue teaching them.   

(Our zone- we are the only hermanas)

Sorry a long story but now i have another one.  Awhile ago we contacted a young mom with her two kids.  We kept trying to find her these last two weeks and finally we found her!  She got married really young, had two kids, and then her husband left her.  When we started the lesson her mom cried and told us that her daughter is atheist Narsica is the mom and Carolina is the daughter).  So i aked Carolina if she was atheist and she was like "i dont know." At this point the spirit was prompting me big time to talk about how lots of times we make mistakes, and that this mistakes bring feelings of guilt- but that through Christ we can be free from this guilt and start over.  She began to cry and told us she wants to start from zero.  We talked about baptism and she accepted a date!  

I have felt the spirit so strongly this week.  Hermana Maldonado and I are really growing so much together and learning so much about listening to the spirit.  We are learning to teach as simply and powerfully as possible... and it is working!  I am loving life!  

This week i was reading a talk from Dallin H. Oaks.  He talks about our desires.  I remember a letter i got from Paige awhile ago.  She told me that she has lots of desires for her life, but sometimes her actions dont reflect those desires.  I remember reading that letter feeling as though the spirit had prompted her to write that... because i feel like i have so many righteous desires, but sometimes my actions dont reflect that i have these desires!  So anyways Elder Oaks says that if we have righteous desires, we will recieve the promised blessings with this simple formula.  

desire

labor

faith

promised blessing. 

I love the story of the father of king Lamoni.  Aaron teaches him and the king has desires to know more, as the words of Aaron touch his heart, his faith grows and he says that he will abandon all of his sins to know God... he commits to labor, in order to fufil his desire (to know God).  And after he recieves the promised blessing.  His sins are forgiven and he is converted to the gospel.  

May we all be like the king in this story!  We all have righteous desires, but what are we willing to do so that our desires are fufilled? Are we willing to act? To build our faith? I know that if we so what the Lord asks of us, we will ALWAYS recieve that promised blessings.  Oh how i love my Father in Heaven!  And how i love each and every one of you.  

Have a beautiful and happy week!

Hermana Neff 

Isn't Ambato beautiful?!

tengo pulgas de nuevo. 4.6.13

hola familia!

Conference was so amazing!  I am going to try to quickly write about a few of my favorite talks!  But first i just want to say how grateful i am for living day prophets!  I know that they are truly God´s servants here on the earth.  They lead and guide us, and they love us!  How blessed we are to have modern day revelation!  

I loved what Elder Eyering said about how when we succor someone, the Savior feels it, as if we were succoring him.  I think before this talk i never paid too much attention to the law of the fast, but i know that as we fast 24 hours, we are blessed, and that others are as well.  

As Linda Burton talked about the priesthood i couldnt help getting teary thinking about my own dad. Dad has always protected us, and exercised his priesthood worthily.  I felt such gratitude for the home i have grown up in, and for the parents that have created an environment of love, refuge, and peace for us.  I am convinced that i would not be here today in Ecuador if it werent for the wonderful parents i have.  I LOVE YOU MOM AND DAD!! Thank you thank you. 

I loved Dallin H. Oaks talk where he spoke of being rooted in the gospel.  I thought of the distractions in our lives that lead to "spiritual sedation".  I realize the importance of daily scripture study (especially from the BOM) and taking the sacrament worthily and without disctractions.  It isnt enough to simply lean on the testimony of others.  We MUST have our own testimony if we are to overcome the tempations that so widely surround us in these days.  

I have thought a lot about my own testimony (especially during this talk) and i was reminded of Grandma Anderson.  I remember her telling me one day that she believed with all her heart that this gospel is true.  We really should embrace belief and CHOOSE to believe in the restored gospel.  

I loved what Elder Bednar said about Godly fear.  It truly is a source of peace, assurance, and confidence.  It is loving and trusting in God, and as we trust in him, we love him more perfectly.... and as we love him more perfectly, that perfect love casteth out all fear-any worldy fear we may experience. 

A quote i liked "no failure ever need be final"

Michael Ringwood talked abut seeking approval from God and from no one else.  I think that a lot of times we seek worldly approval.  I know as a missionary, sometimes i go to visit someone simply focused on the number i will be able to give my leaders, but when i do this, i never feel that the Lord is pleased.  However, when i seek only His recognition, my soul is filled with joy and love for the Lord, and his work. 

I think overall the message of Saturday was to HAVE A TESTIMONY.  If you dont have it, get it.  Because it is getting harder and harder to live in this world without being rooted in a testomony of Christ. Simply going through the motions is not enough. A testimony is absolutely and 100% essencial if we are to get by in this world.  And it is something that we should be strengthening DAILY.  

One thing i like from the SUnday session was the talk about wonders.  Is the gospel still wonderful and new to us every day?  Are we noticing the miracles that God is performing in our lives?  If not, what do we need to change so that the gospel is new and wonderful to us, every day?

I was really touched by the talk of the prodigal son.  I know we have seen family that have wandered, but as we love them, and wait in faith-we can have the hope that one day they will return to the church.  I like the quote "although we could not embrace her choices, we could embrace her."  I think that sometimes we are a little to quick to judge and a little too slow to love.  

Elder Holland gave such a beautiful talk about the need for a Savior in our lives.  May we all grasp onto him as if our lives depend on it (because guess what, they do.) and obey him in every thing we do.  

I think i was most touched by Elder Uchtforf´s talk.  As he spoke of the grace of Christ i felt so infinitely grateful, that through him ,i CAN change.  I CAN be better. I CAN be perfect.  And how can i thank him and show him my love and gratitude? By obeying his commandments. I thought of Mom in this talk.  How she has always so faithfully obeyed the commandments out of her love for God, i have learned this principle from a young age because of your example! 

OK sorry so long, but i think what was said about the sabbath day was so so important!  We must must keep it holy.  Always!! 

Ok so LOVED CONFERENCE!! other highlight of the week:

Eating fanesca-it is basically a soup that they do for semana santa that pretty much just has all the grains in the world and it is delicious.  

Other than that we are just working working working and praying to find new investigators!  We are seeing little miracles ever day.  God sure does love us!  

I love you all with my whole heart!  

oh and ps for those of you who dont understand spanish, the subject line says that i have fleas again.  The joy of Ecuador! 

Also i am going to try to send pictures but this computer is slightly weird and i am not sure if it will happen today.  If not, next week! 

LOVE YOU ALL!!

hermana neff