LOS CHILLOS 12.29.14

ok. First off. thank you seventh ward primary for the most darling apron i have ever recieved in my whole life!  I want you all to know that the mission is the BEST thing in the world and that one day you can all go too!  I love you!

Also, please thank the Cederlofs for their kind note and words of encouragement!  I love the support from our ward! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!  I absolutely LOVED talking with you people and i miss you terribly! But i am happy to be here in the mission!  Today we had transfers and i had to say goodbye to Hermana Monzon.  It was actually pretty sad!  I love her so so much.  She is such a good example of a hardworking missionary and i was so blessed to have her finish my training!

I am staying here in Los Chillos and my new companion is..... Hermana Bahr!  She is the sister whos family you called when we were skyping to help her find out her skype name and password.  She wasnt my companion at the time... but now she is!  We are both super tall gringas and i love it!  She only has two transfers more than i do, but she speaks spanish super well, so i am not worried about it!  I am super happy to be staying here in Selva Alegre because i LOVE this ward.  I love this area so so much!  I think i would maybe be content to stay here my whole mission.  I love it!

This week was crazy!  Tuesday we sang in the San Luis (a mall) and it was so fun!  My companion and I (hermana Bahr but we werent companions at the time) sang White Christmas together in english and it went super well!  It was fun to sing together as a zone and we practiced HOURS to make it good!  

On wednesday we worked and ate basically..... Maria made us a full turkey which we ate.  and it was delicious.  And the members kept wanting to feed us and give us things!  It is so humbling to be around these people at Christmas time.  Because even though they have their own families to worry about, they still love to do something for the missionaries.  Ah i love this ward!  I love this country!  

On Thursday we talked for skype. I really loved seeing you all with your smiling happy faces!  The mission really helps you to appreciate your family.  And i appreciate you all so much!  Which by the way mommy i got your package and i am in HEAVEN!  I died when i saw the carmels.  My companions (we are in a trio until Thursday) really want me to share and i am a tad bit reluctant..... 

Friday and Saturday were normal days!  We worked and found a less active who i love so much.  Her name is Mirian and she is always willing to do anything for us.  I know that we are going to help her get back to church!  

So the majority of our investigators aren´t progressing.  Which is hard.  But this Sunday the Familia Savando came to church.  And they loved it!  And we visited them last night and.... THEY WANT TO BE BAPTIZED!!!!!  We still dont have a date set but i am so so so so so so happy!  I love this family with my whole entire heart.  It has been absolutely amazing to see their progress over these past (almost 8 weeks).  And in all honestly, as missionaries we haven´t done really anything.  God has worked in each one of them, and he is changing their hearts. They are reading the Book of Mormon together and they didnt have a desire at first.  But i know that this book is helping that desire and their faith to grow.  I KNOW that the Book of Mormon has POWER.  I know that this book can change hearts.  It can change every single one of us.  I know that my personal conversion has come through reading the Book of Mormon.  And encourage you all to read and study it every single day. 

Merry Christmas! 12.22.14

Ok i want to say Merry Christmas but first off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN!! 

This week was crazy, but i cant really remember what happened.... our investigators are progressing..... very slowly.  But surely!  I have faith that in this next transfer we will see miracles!  

Hermana Monzon goes home next Monday and i am pretty sad! I have LOVED her. And i have learned so much from her!  However, i am excited to finish up my training and just be a normal missionary! 

Although it is difficult to be away from you all this Christmas season, i have loved the fact that i dont have Christmas shopping to do, or lights to put up, or finals to study for, etc. And most of all i love that i am learning more about the Savior and who he really is.  

John 8:12 "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." 

That light that is mentioned in this scripture can be seen in a few ways.  There are times in our lives when we walk in darkness.  When we feel competely alone, stressed, or maybe tired.  The blessing is that we dont have to stay in darkness. We can turn to Christ and walk again in the light. But even more than that, without the Atonement, after this life... we would be in complete darkness.  Suffering the effects of physical and spiritual death.  I am SO grateful for the light of the Savior in my life. That i can repent, change, and become perfected in him. I am grateful for the opportunity that i have to share this light with others, and the strength He gives me every day in order to do so.

I hope you can all remember the Savior this Christmas season. And what he has done for YOU.  MERRY CHRISTMAS!! 

I love you with all my heart. 

hermana neff

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 12.22.14

Ok i want to say Merry Christmas but first off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN!! 

This week was crazy, but i cant really remember what happened.... our investigators are progressing..... very slowly.  But surely!  I have faith that in this next transfer we will see miracles!  

Hermana Monzon goes home next Monday and i am pretty sad! I have LOVED her. And i have learned so much from her!  However, i am excited to finish up my training and just be a normal missionary! 

Although it is difficult to be away from you all this Christmas season, i have loved the fact that i dont have Christmas shopping to do, or lights to put up, or finals to study for, etc. And most of all i love that i am learning more about the Savior and who he really is.  

John 8:12 "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." 

That light that is mentioned in this scripture can be seen in a few ways.  There are times in our lives when we walk in darkness.  When we feel competely alone, stressed, or maybe tired.  The blessing is that we dont have to stay in darkness. We can turn to Christ and walk again in the light. But even more than that, without the Atonement, after this life... we would be in complete darkness.  Suffering the effects of physical and spiritual death.  I am SO grateful for the light of the Savior in my life. That i can repent, change, and become perfected in him. I am grateful for the opportunity that i have to share this light with others, and the strength He gives me every day in order to do so.

I hope you can all remember the Savior this Christmas season. And what he has done for YOU.  MERRY CHRISTMAS!! 

I love you with all my heart. 

hermana neff

A Christmas Dinner: LOS CHILLOS 12.15.14

Family! 

I am thrilled to be writing you all! I hope all is well wherever you may be!  

This week was super fun! We spent a lot of time with our zone because we were practicing a choir to perforn for the President Christensen!  We sang 5 songs for him and had our Christmas dinner!  I love President and Hermana Christensen.  They are wonderful and so kind!  We ate, played with bells, and played white elephant!  I won a toy chicken so i was pretty excited about that.  

I love the opportunites that i have to spend with other missionaries.  I love that fact that we are all so united in one cause.  Bringing others to Christ. And what that really means.  I love when we are all together.  I love being a missionary!  I think i love it because of the people that i get to work with, but also because i feel spiritually protected.  The days are not easy in the mission.  They are tiring and at times, frustrating.  But as missionaries, we recieve the strength of the Lord.  And the opportunity to learn something new every day.  

We are super busy here in Los Chillos.  I feel like we never have enough time in the day for everything we want to do!  The Family Savando is progressing... slowly but surely.  I love the moments that i spend with them.  I am always so amazed about how full my heart is with love for them, and for the people her in Los Chillos.I cannot imagine my life not knowing them! 

We were blessed to find a new investigator this week.  She is wonderful and so open to our message!  Her name is Jolanda and she lives alone, but has an amazing relationship with our Heavenly Father.  

I guess that is it!  Our investigators are progressing slowly but surely.  I have realized that what i need is pacience.  Sometimes i just want to get on my knees and beg them to be baptized.  But the truth is baptism is not a covenant with missionaries.  It is a covenant with God. So i am being patient and praying really hard for them!  And i have faith that one day they will be baptized and recieve ALL the blessings of the gospel.  

I love you all so so much!  I hope that you have a wonderful week!  

Hermana Neff 

 the only person taller than me in Ecuador... and she's an Ecuadorian too!

welcome to the beauty of Ecuador!

washing clothes!

There are fleas in my bed. LOS CHILLOS 12.8.14

What is uppppp 

I cant really even remember what happened this week... but i have some funny stories.  

So we are working with this less active (Maria) Right now she is living with her boyfriend (Enrique) but we are trying to help them get married!  Anyways they are our  good friends and they always give me coke (which by the way is so much better in Ecuador).  So the other day we were talking with Maria and her daughter Wendy... they were telling us how Enrique always has to be right.  Well, it was funny because whenever my companion corrects my spanish i always say "I know" even though i dont and we always have a good laugh over it!  So anyways we are talking with Maria and Wendy and my companion says "that sounds like hermana Neff! Hermana Neff, usted es Enriqua!"  So i guess i am girl Enrique.  I am Enriqua. 

Also, today as a zone.... we larped.  I am not kidding we made cardboard swords and fought for our lives.  It was so much fun!  The things we do as missionaries....

Hermana Monzon and I also got our nails done... i never ever thought i would get my nails done in Ecuador, but we had time today and it is super cheap here! 

So i was feeling pretty down this Sunday because none of our investigators came to church.  I prayed and prayed that they would come and they didnt.  But i learned something very important. Every person has their agency.  And i cannot control them.  But i can control how i will react to these situations.  As church continued on i started to feel better and better.  I couldnt figure out why i was feeling better unitl i realized that i was the spirit. My comfort and my friend.  The mission is not an easy thing.  Sometimes i feel stressed, tired, anxious, etc. But i know that i can always pray for peace and it will come.  I love my Father in Heaven for giving me this gift.  The gift of the spirit.  The negative feelings that come from Satan can always be beat by the feelings of the spirit.  And i feel this every single day in my mission!  We have this gift.  I am grateful for the opportunity i have to help others find this gift!  

There is a video on LDS.org called "He is the Gift" and i encourage all of you to share it share it share it!!!  I absolutely love it.  It is a good reminder of what, or rather who, should be our focus at Christmas time.  I am grateful for the opportunity i have to serve Christ during this wonderful time of year.  

I LOVE YOU GUYS WITH ALL MY HEART!!

hermana Neff 

p.s. i am 99% sure that there are fleas in my bed and...... our house doesnt have water right now...  weird how i still love this place with all my heart! 

I was WAY too excited about my lego set. 

Milagros 12.1.14

OK. MIRACLES!!!

This week was sooooo good!

So first we had an activity with our zone.  We went to an old folks home here in Ecuador and sang songs to the people there.  It was super hilarious and adorable and i loved it.  

On Wednesday (i think) we were walking out of a less actives house and i saw this middle aged woman cleaning in front of her house.  I felt like we should talk with her, so i walked up to her and started a conversation.  She told us we could visit her Friday and i didnt really think anything of it.  We visited her on Friday and her and her son accepted a date to be baptized.  It was super cool to look back at Wednesday and realized that the spirit was working through me!!

That same Wednesday we didnt have anywhere to go and we werent sure what to do.  Hermana Mollo and I had been visiting a family called the famliy Chano.  They were super great, but worked and studied every Sunday.... so we had to stop visiting them.  But this Wednesday i felt like we should stop by and visit them again.  So we did.  Turns out the Hermana Silvana is no longer studying on Sundays and her husband isnt working.  Miracle!!  They accepted a baptismal date as well!  We were so happy! 

We had been visiting the Family Savano for awile.  The mother, Joconda has cancer.  We have had some really great visits with them, but they hadnt been attending church for three weeks and we werent really sure how to help them. We didnt have the opportunity to visit them this last week and we werent excptecting them to come to church either.  

So Sunday comes around.  We had been really focusing on the Famlily Chano and Paula (the girl we found cleaning in front of her house) and were praying super hard for them to come to church.  It was stake conference in los chillos and we had saved seats and everything.  Both the familia chano and paula said they were going to come.  So we waited. and waited. and waited.  They didnt come.  I was on the brink of completely loosing my faith when i looked in the hallway and saw...... JOCONDA!!  Her whole entire family.  It was a miracle.  Joconda, Ramone, Kevin, Helen, and Diana.  I cannot express the joy i felt in that moment.  They loved church and that night accepted a baptismal date for the twentieth of December.  It is amazing to watch the spirit working in them.  I can sincerely see the Lord changing their hearts and strengthening their faith.  

I realized yesterday that even though i think i know what is going to happen in my mission, in all honestly i have no idea.   I may really really want certain things to happen, but the truth is, EVERYTHING is in the hands of the Lord.  This is HIS work, all that we do is HIS will, and he is constantly preparing and putting people in our pathway. People that he trusts we can love and do our best to help.I dont know what will happen with our investigators here in Los Chillos.  I dont know what the Lord has in mind for them.  But i do know that he has a plan for them, and he has given me the opportunity to play a part in their lives.  And i love them.  So much.  And i love the Lord for giving me the opportunity to know and love his children here in Ecuador. 

This gospel is true.  Although i may not speak this language perfectly, i can feel the spirit working in me as i strive to do my best in helping these people. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND I LOVE YOU ALL FOREVER!

Hermana Neff

p.s. we taught a family this week and the father told us that it talks about aliens in the bible..... hm. 

LOS CHILLOS 11.24.14

Family!  

How is everyone?? 

I am doing great!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BENNY!! 

My new companion is seriously the light that i needed in this transfer.  We have so much fun together!  She is teaching me how to work hard, but how to enjoy it as well.  

So we were visiting a less active this week.  And her boyfriend Enrique was there.  We have been teaching him lots, but he isnt baptized and he cant get baptized until him and Maria get married. In this lesson was the daughter of maria (wendy) and her husband (Santiago)  They are also inactive.  So we asked Santiago to give the closing prayer and her really didnt want to.  So Enrique offered to help him and started to pray.  He says " ENrique, you say, Heavenly Father, thank you for this day...... and other nice things other nice things like that"  Hahahaha we were DYING.  Ok maybe it isnt as funny over email but we were dying.  And then we sang Nearer My God to Thee and he was singing HORRIBLY:  i was trying so hard not to laugh, but i loved it because he was singing from his heart. As i sat with them i saw an eternal family.  I felt that i wanted to do everything i could to help them obtain the goal of an eternal family.   Santiago eventually said the prayer and GUESS WHAT:  HE CAME TO CHURCH!! They only stayed for 1 hour, but it was definitely a miracle.  

We are teaching a woman named Claudia, she listened to the missionaries before, but didnt want to be baptized.  We are confident that now is her time! She loves church, the only problem is that she doesnt want to leave her catholic traditions.  We have faith that her heart will change!

I am so happy about the miracles that we saw this week, but the truth is, i realized something.  Maybe Maria, Enrique, Santiago, Wendy will never be active again in the church, maybe Claudia, the Family Savando, and the Family Asipuela will never be baptized.  But that isnt what is important.  I am here to simply make a mark on their lives.  And if i can help them even just a little on their path to eternal life, then i have done what i was sent to do. Because everything that happens in my mission and in our lives is what the Lord wants for us.  Sometimes it isnt easy to accept, but if we press forward with faith... good things will happen for us. 

I love the hymn Master the Tempest is Raging and the story that goes with it.  When the apostles said "carest thou not that we perish?" and the Savior asks them why they were so afraid, where was their faith??  Arent there times in our lives when we ask, "Carest thou not that we perish?" " What motivates us to ask this question? It is our lack of faith.  I am realizing that i need to increase my faith.  I am grateful that Father in Heaven is patient with my weakness and is constantly helping me strengthen them.  I love him! 

I love you humans will my whole heart.  

hermana neff