Riobamba 8.3.15

Ok WOW! 

So this has been a crazy week of adjusting to Riobamba, and REALLY missing Ambato!  But i am excited to get going here!

My companion is Hermana Costa:

{she is the furthest from me in this pic}

She was actually my sister training leader a few months ago and now we are companions!  We get along really well and we are having fun!  She is from Venezuela. I am really learning a lot from her and we have been seeing miracles this week!  I have been feeling the spirit SO strongly in the lessons.  He guides me, and i know what to say.  It is truly amazing.  

We have been finding a lot of new people to teach and i just am really loving it here! What more can i say?? jajaja being a missionary is the best, and serving in Ecuador is SUCH a blessing!

So in Riobamba there is a volcano really close.  This one isnt active... it is called chimborazo and it is THE BIGGEST MOUNTAIN/THING I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE!!!! I couldnt get a good picture this week but i have never seen anything so massive.  Seriously i look at it i just know that if it explodes it will be the end of the world:

Also today, i saw a bee that was four times the size of a normal bee. They are everywhere here.  Ok another thing that you should know about Riobamba.  It is a city that was founded by the spaniards.  I have never seen so many catholic churches in my whole entire life.  They are beautiful and literally on every corner in the city:

When we get up higher into the mountains they are filled with catholic churches.  It makes the setting nicer, but the work a whole lot harder!  Another thing, the mountains are huge! Like i would say twice the size of Utah mountains.  Maybe that is an exaggeration, but really they are giant!  

The rama is great.  We are a branch because the people here need to pay tithing and they need more priesthood leaders.  So Hermana Costa and I have set goals to help the ward members, less actives, and investigators with this.  I hope i can make a diference here!  

I am just feeling ready to work and love my sector, and love the hermanas.  This week we start divisions and we are in Quito today and tomorrow for a leaders conference.  I think it might cost me a little at first to not be able to work in my sector every day of the week, but i know that i have been called for a reason. so i am just ready to do my best!  

I love you all so much.  I know the gospel is true.  Life is happy!

Hermana Neff

adlfj

Riobamba! 7.27.15

NO TIME!! 

Ok so i am no longer in Ambato.  Yesterday we got the calls and i cried and cried and cried!  I was so sad.  I really wanted to finish Hermana Willson´s training and stay in Ambato, but The Lord has a different plan for me. I am truly so grateful for Ambato and the love i have for the people there.  Ambato changed my life.  I am also so so grateful for Hermana Willson.... she has been one of my BEST companions!   

My district celebrated my birthday because they felt that i wouldnt be here in ambato for the real thing.... they were right:

My new companion is Hermana Costa.  She is from Chile and she is finishing her mission in 2 transfers, but i LOVE HER!  So i am NOT training again.  But i have been callled to be a sister training leader.... or hermana líder. It was a surprise for sure... and i am a little scared, but i know that The Lord has called me for a reason!  And i am ready to serve the sisters in Mission Quito Ecuador and just really magnify this call that The Lord has given me! Oh by the way i am in RIOBAMBA!  

This week we had some really special experiences.  So our two investigators are getting baptized next Saturday which is really exciting (although i wont be there).  But this week we were contacting and we found this lady who lives alone.  She is a bit of a cat lady, but was a GOLDEN investigator!  She has recieved lots of missionaries in her house, but when we arrived she said that "God touched her heart and told her that this was the right pathway."  She told us that there is a light in our eyes that is different from all the other people, and it is what she wants in her life.  It was amazing to find her, and i hope to hear good news about her from Ambato!  

Really i am excited about what the future holds for me!  I know that The Lord has called me for a reason.  Leaving Ambato made me realize just how GRATEFUL I am for the mission.  And the love that i have for the people here.  I am with Sister Nydegger this week. I feel like my heart has grown so much with love for the people here, all of you back home, and for my Savior.  We are so incredibly blessed.

Much love from Riobamba, 

Hermana Neff 

These are our investigators that are getting baptized:

Ambato 7.20.15

HOLA! 

Ok so this was such a great and weird and hard week! 

We had to go to Quito AGAIN!  This time we went for my visa... i guess it had to renew it because i am almost at my 1 year mark in the mission.  So sad.  

So this week we were really excited because next week (the last week in the transfer) we were going to have the baptism of Leslie and Jennifer.  I was so so excited because these are two of the most prepared investigators i have ever had!  We are working with the whole family, but it is a little slower with her parents because they arent married.  So this week Leslie and Jennifer disappeared!  Like no one, not even their parents, knew where they were. We found out later that they were stuck in Quito and couldnt make it here in time.  So they couldnt come to church and have their baptismal interview.  I was so so sad.  But i honestly felt like it was the will of The Lord! I recieved the impression that it was truly what He wanted to happen with them.  So they will be getting baptized August 1st, and i am ok with it!  

 We have transfers next week- and i want to stay here in Ambato with ALL MY HEART!  I love it so much here, but i dont know what The Lord´s will is for me and Hermana Willson.  I would love to finish her training. So we will see what happens!  

I have truly come to love the ward here SO MUCH.  This week we sat down with our ward mission leader and bishop and set up a ward mission plan.  This ward has been struggling for years with missionary work.  Hermana Willson and I felt like we needed to really get the ward excited about missionary work.  So as we sat down to make the plan, we really felt the Lord guiding and helping us know what goals and plans to make for this ward.  It was amazing to see The Lord work with us in that little room, guiding and helping us know what to do.  I really love this ward so much.  I would be perfectly happy to stay here and finish my mission! They have become my family and i am hoping that i get at least one more transfer here with all of them!  

{my pensionista}

I just am so happy to be a missionary.  I love the peace that comes from the gospel.  I am grateful for the love i have for the people here in Ecuador.  I am grateful for The Atonement and for the chance that i have to be clean from ALL my sins.  I have so many short comings, but i know that God forgives!  And that He loves us so much.  I feel like the greatest blessing i have recieved so far in my mission, is to have the doctrines of the gospel rooted deep into my heart and soul.  I love the gospel.  I love the Book of Mormon.  I love life!  We are so blessed.  

Love you all! 

Hermana Neff 

chimborazo!! I finally saw the third volcano that can be seen from our rooftop.  (usually you cant see it becaus of the clouds)

we did a service project this week!

this is my pensionista's husband... he is always making fun of me haha:

So today is dia del amigo... so this goes out to all my PANAS!!!!! HAPPY FRIEND DAY!! 

The wall in my room.  

So i woke up to tunguragua like this.... just a little scary:

patacones:

Ambato 7.13.15

HIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!

ok first, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMORROW DAD!! I love you so so much and i hope you have the best day! 

Ok so this week has been CRAZY!! We went to Quito for two days so that put a little damper on our work schedule, but we still had some sucess.  We were contacting of Saturday and we found this lady whose sister is a member of the church.  We entered her store and started teaching her about José Smith and she started freaking out!  Screaming how God would never appear to a 14 year old boy etc. etc.  She has seen videos about the church that have put complete false ideas into her head. So we decided to take a different approach and talk about the Book of Mormon.  In the end the spirit was so strong!  My companion testified about the fact that people DIED for this book and that God wants us to read it to know if it is true.  By the end she said she was going to start reading a praying about it.  The spirit truly can work miracles!! 

On Monday we were going to have family night with the bishop and familia lopez at 8, but they called and said that they had to go earlier.  So i called the Bishop and he was like "call my wife to ask her if you can go at 7"  so he gave me her number and i dialed, and then he answered and burst out laughing because he had given me his number again... ok maybe not that funny for all of you but i was dying of laughter.  

So this week the pope came to Ecuador.  For those of you that dont know, Ecuador is one of the most catholic countries in the world... because it was conquered by the spaniards. Like i have gone to some pretty poor cities where people dont have much, but there is always a HUGE catholic church in the middle.  Needless to say, people were SO EXCITED that the pope was coming.  Literally everyone was talking about it, and it made for a harder week.  But is has been funny because in spanish the pope is "el papa" but because papa ends in "a"... i have been thinking that it is a feminine noun all week and calling the pope "la papa"  or in other words "the potato" oops..... 

I have felt impressed to study about tender mercies this week because it is somehting that i really fail to see in my life.  I studied the talk by Elder Bednar "tender mercies" 

"God does not have a list of favorites to which we must hope our names will someday beadded. He does not limit “the chosen” to a restrictedfew. Rather, it is our hearts and our aspirations and ourobedience which definitively determine whether we arecounted as one of God’s chosen."

As i read his talk i reallized that i needed to be a lot more aware of the tender mercies of the Lord in my life.  

So on Wednesday i was feeling pretty down.  I was looking through one of my desk drawers and found my wallet with my passport stuff in it.  I decided to look through it for the first time in my mission.  As i looked through it i found a letter that Sam had written me the day i left on my mission.  I had completely forgotten about this letter.  I remember when i read it in the airplane to Mexico... it really didnt have much meaning for me.  But as i read it this night, i felt as though The Lord was trying to talk to me through this letter.  He wrote that he had felt very inspired to write me this letter, and the first time i read it i couldnt imagine why, but now i do. The Lord uses His children to fufill His purposes in His time.  And He used the feelings that Sam had almost a year ago, to write me a letter, in order to fufill His purposes at this time in my mission.  And what Sam wrote to me, was EXACTLY what i needed to hear in this moment. I am so grateful to Sam for recognizing that spiritual promting when he did, and for the tender mercies of The Lord in our lives.  

I love Him.  He love us.  

And i love you all so much. 

Hermana Neff 

Just a nice view in Ambato:

This is Dominica, I took this picture in a bad moment.

Ambato 7.6.15

Familia!  

FIRST OFF HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!! It wasnt too exciting here in south america... jaja but it was fun nonetheless! 

This week was SO MUCH BETTER!  We still had some hard days, but we saw miracles too!   Our zone decided to fast to see what The Lord wants us to do better, because we have been seeing lots of challenges this transfer and feel that there is something that He wants us to improve.  So i was fasting and praying and i just realized that i simply need to be more humble.  That The Lord has His timing, and His way.. and if i am not humble enough to follow the spirit, or be obedient, or listen to my leaders... or whatever challenge there can be in the mission... then i am not going to be a sucessful missionary!  Our zone is also doing this thing where we do something everyday to become more like Christ.  So Hermana Willson and i decided to recognize the hand of The Lord in everything that happened that day.  It ended up being funny because all of our appointments fell and we didnt have anyone to visit.  But we found a new investigator that said that all her life she has been confused because she doesnt know which of all the churches is true.  It was a blessing to tesify to her of Ther Restoration of the Gospel. 

 I have really come to love that first lesson that we give to everyone.  The message and truths are so simple yet so powerful.  It is a blessing to think back about ALL the houses here in Ambato where we have left the pamphlet of lesson 1.   Even though not many have accepted the invitation to progress... the message of the restoration of the gospel has reached many ears, and it is a blessing to be a part of it.  I know that The Lord blessed us with someone to teach that day, because they needed the gospel.  

We also fasted to reach our goal of 5 baptisms for this transfer.  We have been working with a certain family for awhile. Familia Lopez.  Their two daughters are two of the most prepared people i have ever met.  They both told me that ever since they were little girls, they dreamed to be baptized like Christ.  The daughters came to church one week, but her parents and little brother didnt.  So we were pretty sad... but then yesterday ALL FIVE CAME!!  I have sooo much faith that they will all be baptized this transfer.  They are such a wonderful family. Like most of our investigators, we found them contacting... and i simply felt the spirit tell me to talk with them.  I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!    

I was studying the book of mormon this week and i think i might have found my new favorite scripture 

 38 That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, butthat ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ;that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worshipGod, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and intruth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the manymercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you

I would explain the feelings i had as i read this scripture, but i want you all to read and ponder it.  

I was also reading in mosiah 5. One of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon and i love what it says in the last verse. 

 15 Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast andimmovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ,the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his, that you maybe brought to heaven, that ye may have everlastingsalvation and eternal life, through the wisdom, and power,and justice, and mercy of him who created all things, inheaven and in earth, who is God above all. Amen.

I love what it says, the if we are steadfast and immovable, and ALWAYS abounding in good works Christ, may seal us "as His."  

What a beautiful promise!  That if we are faithful and loyal to Christ, he will seal us as His, and give us "everlasting salvation" and "eternal life"  just as He has promised us.  

I am so grateful for His sacrifice.  I am so grateful that in this mission, He is molding me into the person that He wants me to be... and i love Him for it.  

I love you all so much and i hope you have an amazing week!  LEA EL LIBRO DE MORMÓN!!  CAMBIÓ MI VIDA

Hermana Neff 

Larping again

Our zones fave Mexican restaurant 

Just a pretty sky in Ecuador 

The two volcanos that you can see from my rooftop.  The one with snow is called cotopaxi and it recently reativated.. 

the other one is called tunguragua.... dont worry mom that isnt smoke.... 

This time I can't lie that is smoke...

Ambato 6.29.15

HOLA MIS QUERIDOS!! 

So this week we saw some miracles!  In our zone we are doing something to be more like Christ everyday and on Wednesday Sister Willson and i decided to exercise our faith and contact in an area where most the people are really rich and it is almost impossible to get in!  So anyways we went and contacted and most of the people that answered were just the cleaning ladies, but we walked by a little tienda and i felt that i should walk inside.  We walked in and began talking with a young mom who is 20.  She told us that she has been looking for the true church! She has a lot of doubts, but The Lord blessed us with someone to teach... and He blessed us for our faith!  

Then on Saturday we went to visit a contact that we had made.  Well, he wasnt home.. but he lives close to where our old investigator Carolina lives.  We had to stop visiting her because she worked every single day and never had time for us to visit her.  But i felt prompted to walk by her house and to see if she was there.  At first i didnt want to, but we did and she was home!  It was truly a miracle.  

I realized this week that there are lots of moments in my mission when i just dont want to do something.  A lot of times there are certain people that i think i dont need to visit because "im sure they are fine" or " they dont want to recieve us right now".  But i realized this week that when i have those thought, that is when i need to go visit them EVEN MORE. Because those types of thoughts usually come from the adversary.  So family and friends, when you get a prompting to visit or help someone... JUST DO IT!  Dont think, just act.  Because i have learned that when we think, the adversary usually tries to convince us not to act.... and you know and i know that we never want him to win the fight!  

We are seeing lots of challenges in our sector, but working despite the difficulties.  I have faith that The Lord has good things in store for us.  

Be happy.  Go visit someone that needs love!  Share kind words and read the Book of Mormon EVERY DAY!!

I LOVE AND MISS YOU HUMANS!! 

hermana neff

6.22.15

HOLA!

Training again.... and loving it!  I´ll be honest, i think i was a little less than excited when i got the call to train again, but I AM SO HAPPY NOW!  I am training another girl from Argentina, Hermana Willson.  She is the best.  I have never had such a good teaching pattern with anything and we really feel the spirit in the lessons that we have.  She is so kind and so loving and i am learning so much from her.  I am really really content.  

I spent Monday and Tuesday with Hermana Molina- we talked a lot about training it was so fun being with her.  I have made so many friends like Hermana Molina here in the mission that have really become some of my best friends and favorite people in the world.  

On wednesday we went to Quito to pick up the missionaries we would be training.  When i walked in the church i saw Hermana Grace Gardiner!!  It was such a happy reunion.  And it turns out that Hermana Molina (like i said my good friend and i also trained her)  is training Hermana Gardiner!! And we are in the same zone so i see her all the time, which is so so fun!  

We have a few investigators progressing because people FINALLY came to church this sunday! I am so happy.  I love Ambato so much.  I would spend my whole mission here if i could.  I love the ward, the people, our investigators etc.  Oh and this week we had a funny but kinda scary experience.  This guy walks up to us and starts yelling at us telling us that we are false prophets.  He was obviously crazy and i didnt know what to do because i didnt want my new companion on her second day in the mission to start freaking out.  He told us that we had to tell him the 10 commandments by memory to prove that we werent false preachers.  And well, i dont actually know the 10 commandments by memory so i was freaking out a little because he started getting closer and yelling louder.  BUT, i used my charm and in the end we became friends-although i pray that i will never cross paths with this loco again.  

I feel like i always say the same things to you people.  That i am content, happy, and at peace!  I feel The Lord´s love for me and i feel a love for the doctrines of the gospel. I have been been thinking specifically about prophets lately.  The blessing it is to have a prophet to lead any guide the people here on the earth.  I never want the mission to end. I love life and i love this gospel with all my heart.  Missionary work is the hardest and best thing that any person can do, and i am so grateful i chose to serve.  

HAVE A HAPPY WEEK!!! 

Hermana Neff