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
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