Measuring Success: 10.26.15

FAMILY!!

Ok first off, i had the opportunity to listen to Garrison´s talk and it made me SO PROUD!!  The shout out made me weap so that was awkward in the internet café.... but i am so proud and excited for you!  The mission is the best thing in the world for our personal progression!  I love it and i know that you are going to be an excellent missionary filled with the spirit!    

This week has been great with Hermana Peralta.  There have been some harder and sadder moments... like when we had to drop a family that i really love, because they just wont attend church!  But there were also beautiful moments for me personally.  

With Hermana Peralta we have ventured to some areas a little bit farther away to do some contacting.  The sun has been SCORCHING here in Riobamba.  It is cold outside, but the sun is so so strong.  I put on 70 SPF sunscreenon Tuesday and still got burned.  The sector that we have been working in is called La Libertad. It is all dirt and dusty roads, cows, and the other day we saw a dog eating a donkey head on the side of the road..... bienvenidos a ecuador.   But Hermana Peralta and i have been enjoying ourselves!  It has been fun to give the people a little bit of contact with the church and we are hoping to see some progress!  

This week i learned a couple of things.  On Friday we were doing our comp inventory.  Before i start i should share with you all that something i have been trying to completely change about myself is my pride!  I have realized in my mission that i am a very proud person.  One way to change this is to want take critisism and want it more than praise.  So in comp inventory my companion (by the way i LOVE her we are getting along so welll!)  But my companion told me something that i can do better.  To be honest it stung a little bit and normally i would have been offended and tried to defend myself.  But in the moment that i started to feel bothered i thought (well i think that really the spirit whispered to me) "do i want praise or critisism?"  I thought about how i could accept this critisism and become a better person.... or i could justify and defend myself and not improve in the slightest.  I felt SO GOOD after i realized that!  If we constantly seek praise, we may feel good about ourselves our whole lives, but we will NEVER progress to become more like our Savior Jesus Christ.  It was such an exciting realization for me!  I love the fact that The Lord shows me my weaknesses.  Every night i write in my journal something that i am grateful for... and i have looked back and many nights in my mission i have written "i am grateful that The Lord shows me my weaknesses."  Sometimes it is discouraging because i feel that i have such a long way to go, but i know that He helps me!  And it gives me the opportunity to draw closer to Him.  

One thing that my companion is helping me improve is to simply not stress.  I am realizing that my whole mission, thought i have been happy, i have been a complete stress case!  And i realized yesterday that the majority of my stress comes from the fact that i MEASURE my success.   I am realizing that success in the mission simply cannot be measured,  If we try to measure our success we deny The Lord´s hand in our lives and His grace and mercy.... that makes up for our weaknesses and shortcomings.  I have realized that much of the success that missionaries have is success that simply cannot be measured nor seen by our mortal eyes.  It is success that is seen by The Lord alone.  We must trust in the fact that He sees the fruits of all that we do here in the mission field.... even if we cannot see them.  Realizing this has helped me feel so much more at peace and has helped me to just enjoy everyday so much more!  I love missionary work!  

We ponderized this week with my companion 2 Ne 25:29.  Faith in Christ.  I love Him.  

I love the mission! I am just so content and at peace with my decision to serve.  It is something that i will be grateful for my whole entire life.  

Have a great week!  

Read Cuidaos del orgullo!  Its by Ezra taft Benson and i have no idea how it is in english so look it up!  

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!  

Hermana Neff 

wa wa de pan!! so delicious and tradition this time of year 

tunguragua exploded.  It wasnt even a big deal..... people here are so accustomed to volcanic explosions 

CUI Riobamba 10.19.15

HEY!!!!!

SO MUCH HAPPENED THIS WEEK I DONT KNOW WHERE TO START!! 

Ok so on Monday and Tuesday we went to Quito for the leaders conference and they talked a lot about changing the "mission culture."  Really there have been a lot of challenges in these past few months and we are trying to find solutions!  It was cool to see the spirit work in us as we talked with president and tried to come up with help for our mission!  

So it has been raining a lot in Quito and we got soaked on Tuesday.  On Wednesday i felt a little weird and on thursday i was really sick with a fever and sore throat.  Turns out it was strep....... blahhh it may possibly be the worst thing to have strep on your mission!  I was dying.  But i got some good antibiotics and i feel great now!! (oh also i recieved a priesthood blessing which was a major help) By the way a member here sent me home with coca cola and a lime and told me to drink the coke scalding hot and squeez the lime.  I was doubtful, but i tried it and.... miracle!!!  It was the BEST remedy and i felt 10000 times better.  I dont know how but these Ecuadorians are healers and i was so so grateful. 

On saturday Paty and Nicole were baptized.  It was such a special service! We were honestly so happy.  

^^paty and nicole. i love them!

{i know. i cant ever look like a normal unawkward human being in pictures with Ecuadorians.... i am far too tall.}

I dont know if you all remember but Paty and Nicole were the mom and daughter that had a tragic death in their family--- and because of it their whole family is knowing the gospel!  Hermana Costa and I sang "Jesus the very thought of thee".  The spirit was so strong!  After Paty and Nicole bore testimony of the changes they have seen in their life since they accepted the gospel.  Nicole (she is 13) talked about how grateful she was for us in helping her family find the gospel..... Hermana Costa and I were dying of happiness!!  

paty and nicole's confirmations:

Now we are teaching 2 more of their family members that we hope will get baptized this transfer!  

Hermana Costa finished her mission and now i have a new companion! I was so sad to see Hermana Costa leave because she was such a good companion to me.  We worked an taught great together, but now i am excited to be with hermana peralta!! 

She is an excellent missionary that doesnt have too much time in the mission, so i am going to be training her how to be sister training leader.  I did divisions with her last transfer and teased her that she would be the next hermana leader.... and i was right!  She is from Bolivia and makes me laugh all the time.  

I am so excited for this new transfer!  Time is flying way way too fast for me and i wish it would just slow down.  Sorry for the cliché missionary talk, but i really am understanding now just how wonderful it is to be a missionary.  I love it so much.  

This week i am ponderizing the scripture omni 1:26 (that talk was amazing wasnt it?) It talks about offering our whole souls to Christ.  I am trying to apply that in my life.  Offer my WHOLE soul to Him... that is, to accept His will in all things.  I am trying to accept His will for me and my mission.  Where He wants me to be, what He wants me to do, and how He wants me to do it.  

I LOVE being a missionary.  I am so happy and at peace to be here at this time.  It is the greatest blessing that The Lord has given me.  

I love you all! 

Hermana Neff 

ps i ate CUI!! o sea, guinea pig!!!!!  and it was SO SO DELICIOUS!! Tell the gisele to feed her guinea pigs a lot so that they are nice and fat when i get home...... je je 

one of the recent convert families we visit ^^

 one of our last pictures together :(

^^ CHAMBO I LOVE YOU

 ^^ a usual sight in ecuador ^^

i love our zone!

my two favorite things.  missionary work and food 

^^ its that time of year... wa wa de pan

Riobamba. 10.12.15

sorry but i dont get tired of this!! I have the prettiest area! 

CHAMBO. here live 6 of my favorite investigators!  

hermananas! 

one of my favorite ecuadorian dishes.   encebollado.  

this was my real reaction.  I loooove ecuadorian food!!!  

AHHHH I WROTE YOU ALL A LONG EMAIL AND IT GOT DELETED AND I AM SO SO MAD!!!!!

ok well i will just tell you in short 

patty and nicole are getting baptized this week! Pray for them! 

I helped a member realize that he needed to keep the sabbath day holy and i was scared to do so... but he told me after that it really helped!

ahh you dont know how madddddd i am right now!!! 

Ok but love you all and i am so sorry for this TOTALLY LAME email this week.  

hermana neff 

Living Prophets. Riobamba 10.5.15

My heart is so completely full right now.  There are so many thoughts, impressions, and feelings after this wonderful weekend of conference. I love thinking about how hard the spirit must have worked this weekend.  While reading your letters, i was so touched by how the spirit worked in so many people.  Think of the millions of members around the world that were touch in special and specific ways--according to their personal needs.  I felt the spirit abundantly. 

Some key things that i LOVED.  

The many talks about Sabbath Day Observance.  We do not simply keep the sabbath day holy to keep the commandment, but to remember the sacrifice of our Savior.  And our activities this day should help us to remember Him.  

The simpleness of the gospel as taught by Elder Uchtdorf.  We dont need to look for misterious doctrines to satisfy our spiritual needs.  The beautiful truths of the gospel are ENOUGH.  

We need to love Christ´s way more than our way.  

Ok i especially loved Elder Lawrence´s talk about how the spirit can give us very PERSONAL counsel.  I loved the promise he made about how if we pray and ask the Lord what we lack to be better, to become more like him... then He will tell us!  I took the challenge the same night that he made the promise to us and i had the opportunity of feeling something small (yet very important) that i need to change to become more like The Savior.  All i can say is that this talk completley blew me away.  We need to better tomorrow than what we are today.  And the Atonement is not only for sinners, but also those saints that desire to be better.  Wow. 

If we justify ourselves and our sins, we offend the spirit.  

Again. sabbath day observance. 

Okay.  Elder Hollands talk.  It made me so excited to be a mom and SO GRATEFUL FOR MY MOM!  You have no idea how touched i was as i thought of you Mom.  I love you and am so grateful for your Christ-like love for me.  I love you so much, 

SMILE!!

We need spiritual strength.  It is not enought to simply live this life without trying to increase our spiritual strength.  Eventually we will be engulfed by the darkness of the world that surrounds us.  

Our response to life experience will influence our testimonies.  

Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.  

Our mind should be full of NOBLE THOUGHTS.  

Russel M. Nelson.  I dont have words to describe how i felt during his talk.  I will always strive to be a covenant keeping woman.  

It is time for us to stand up and testify!!

If we follow spiritual impressions, we will continue to receive them.  We can only learn eternal truths through the spirit.  

D. Todd Cristofferson.  This will help me in my everyday proselyting.  

1 verse of scripture a week!  A new goal i have that i am so excited to start. Ponderize. 

The commandments are like barriers.  They keep us safe!  God WANTS us to have joy and peace.  

The talk of David A. Bednar jsut made me so so grateful for living prophets.  

How blessed are we to have these special witnesses of Christ!  The whole weekend i was filled with the spirit.  He reconfirmed to me many times that the men that spoke to us are truly called of God.  Their words inspire, help, and bless me.  I have learned in my mission to love the words of latter day prophets.  They KNOW what Christ needs the world to know.  As we apply their teachings i know that our lives are filled with the spirit and with the love of our father in heaven.  I made a goal after this weekend to always study the words of the living prophets.  Without Prophets, there would be NO testimony of Christ.  There words in the scriptures and in these latter days are my strength and guide,  to become the person that God wants me to become.  

I love my mission.  I feel that my testimony of the simple truths of the gospel has become unshakable, yet it is something that is strengthed every day. I am so infinitely grateful for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.  

I love you all!  Have a happy happy week.  The gospel of Jesus Christ IS happiness!! 

Hermana Neff 

ps. look in the liahona from september or october.  There is a little part that talks about a service that we did in Ambato and i am in a picture!! Ok my face is really small and my head is turned to the side... and there are like 100 people in the picture, but i felt so famous when i saw it.  GO ECUADOR!

Are you sick of chimborazo yet?? Cause im not.

these are rock tortillas.  They are delicious and only made here in riobamba.  They cook them on rocks. 

This is one of our favorite places.  Next door to our house there is a huge market with tons of fruits and vegetables so cheap!! 

we went to the park today! 

The Spirit: Riobamba 9.28.15

FAMILY!!

Ok this week was very spiritual and uplifting.... sometimes i just never want this beautiful time in my life to end!  I love being a missionary!! 

So first off we had a lesson with Patty and Nicole. Ahhh i wish i could just describe to you all how spiritual this lesson was!  They accepted a date for the 10th of October.  I felt especially inspired to share a scripture in a certain moment in the lesson, and my companion in the very moment felt the prompting to look at me.  It was perfect.  I am loving working with Hermana Costa because there is so much unity in our companionship and teaching.  She goes home in three weeks and i am so sad!  

We had a special zone conference this week.  The President showed us a video that was made by the first presidency and quorum of the 12 about the sabbath day.  We learned some very interesting things that just made me think about how PERFECT the gospel is!  The focused a lot on the Atonement, and how that should be our focus throughout the sacrament, the classes, and really all we do in the church!  

My companion and I had just been talking about The Spirit this week.  I have been realizing lately that The Spirit is something that i cannot feel all the time, it is something that i only feel in moments that i am testifying or teaching. However, it is something that i know i have because although i may not recognize it all day everyday, when it leaves i feel it leave.  And the only word that i can use to describe that feeling is.... feo. For those of you that dont know spanish... that means ugly.  It makes me always want to be worthy and obedient in thought, word, and action, so that He is always with me.

In my study this week i feel so grateful for a God that loves us so much.  In Ether 3:2 we read that even though we are so unworthy, the Lord COMMANDS us to pray SO THAT HE CAN BLESS US!! According to our desires.  

I have so many things that i wish to share with you all this week! But this will have to do.  I love you ALL!!! 

Hermana Neff 

ps i forgot to tell you all.  The other night we were walking home at night and i saw a dog.... eating A CAT!!! I almost barfed.  It was the worst thing i have ever seen.  

our trip to BAÑOS

i love my compi

 rio

ugly spider 

I cant believe its that time of the year again!! My favorite thing in the world.... Colada Morada

these are called humitas and they are my FAVORITE!!! They are like a corn type thing that i dont even know how to explain 

divisions with hermana tello de peru 

divisions again!

 hermana peralta de bolivia