Week 31 - Ibarra, Ecuador - Aug 4, 2014

Mi Querida Familia,

This week...Ah... was definitely one for the books. First of all... It was a little rough because I got sick on Wednesday and we had to return to the house midday and also stay in the house on Thursday as well due to vomiting and other unpleasant symptoms. But have no fear! The priesthood is true, and after a sweet blessing from the zone leaders I have been healed! I guess with the climate change and something I ate just left me in a bad state, but now I feel chipper! As far as animos I feel all right, just that we weren´t really able to work in the field as much this week. 

We have experienced a miracle however, as usual. Our last appointment Saturday night with a recent convert family fell through and so Hermana Pinto wanted to go visit some of our older investigators, la familia Morales. The one and only Jessica Morales was supposedly in Quito recovering from eye surgery. We decided anyway to stop by her house to see if we could share something little with her siblings. When we began to walk down her street, we found her little sister, Fernanda and began talking.  We walked with Fernanda back to her house and she told us that Jessica had just barely returned home. We were pretty ecstatic. Jessica is fine! And she is on for her baptism on the 23^rd of August.   She came to church in order to witness a beautiful testimony meeting. Also we found out that one of the less actives we are working with right now is good friends with Fernanda, so she can help us now with missionary work. I love finding missionary opportunities for less actives who are returning to the church because there is such a power when one shares the gospel, It strengthens and teaches the teacher just as much as those who are taught. The blessings of the spirit! Jessica is so great. She reads the book of Mormon and her prayers are indeed sincere. Even when she was in Quito and she couldn´t read because of eye patches, she made her aunt read to her. She told us that she believes the Book of Mormon is true because of the thoughts that come to her mind while she reads. She feels peace and love and enlightenment. After many challenges and setbacks, Jessica is finally progressing!

Testimony meeting was one of the more beautiful testimony meetings I´ve witnessed here in the mission. One new member of the branch, se llama Natalie went up to bare her testimony. She is a convert of 3 or 4 years I think. She began to express her deep gratitude for the church then she looked at all of us and began to express how deeply she wanted to see her whole family filling  up one of the chapel benches. She testified that she knew one day they would be here too. I started to think that its a little detail but its true, there are so many members that come alone to church because their family are not members, and I began to feel extremely grateful for my own little chapel pue at home, Our family of 9 and all of our memories that we hold, all being active in the church. And it made me incredibly sad that not everyone has that same treasure. I want so badly to find a family a help them all come unto Christ, so they can fill their own chaple pue with smiling faces.  

Also I may have shed a tear because our sweet convert Siliva, bore her testimony in front of everyone! It was her goal the week after her baptism to be able to share her testimony in sacrament meeting and she did it! It was so so beautiful! Siliva also finished reading the Book of Mormon and has started over. I feel like she is teaching us more than we are teaching her. We gave her a large photo of the Guayacil temple to put on her wall, and she looks at it everyday and is reminded of her goal to go to the temple. She also is super excited to start working on her family history. We had an excellent activity in the church on saturday for the whole district to get to work on family history. A huge step for Ibarra. Many less actives, recent converts and investigators came. Woot woot!  . 

I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know that I can´t be hard on myself for getting sick because it makes for a bad vibe and that is the last thing we need. I need to always be super optimistic and hopeful for my hijita Hermana Pinto. Sometimes I´m always looking for the ways we can improve and I forget to mention what we do well. I can be better with showering her with praises and showing my appreciation for everything she does. She really is such a help for me.  If I focus on my companion, like Christ always focuses on others, I will see a new light come into our companionship. I will feel even more love for her, and also for this work. So for this week! I invite you all that you may look for the good in each one of your siblings, parents, spouses, or friends. That you may tell them what you appreciate of them. Help them see that they are needed. Because we all need each other. Sometimes when things don´t go according to plan, when our investigators we think are true hang up on us and ignore us, when we have to stay in bed curled up in a ball because we´re sick, we need each other. I know that Christ helps us change for the better. Things never go exactly how we want them too but we never can lose hope in Him. I love love love Helaman 10. One of the best chapters for missionary work in my opinion. I invite you all to read and put yourself in Nefi´s position. And write down how you feel!

I love you all and hope that you have an excellent, funfilled week of summer! 

  

Con Amor

Hermana Powley

Facto Ecuatoriano: The toothfairy in Ecuador does not exist. Rather children place their lost teeth under their pillows in hopes of the ratón de los dentes (the tooth mouse) who will come during the night and leave a couple coins in exchange for a tasty morsel (teeth)

Week 30 - Ibarra, Ecuador - July 28, 2014

Mi Querida Familia! 

Here in Ibarra we have had a good week. We sadly don´t have any investigators with baptismal dates but we´re working on it. We have been diligent and the fruits are coming, we just have to be patient. Also this week we were served chocolate cake for the first time in forever from a lovely member family. I asked for a second helping. No shame. I am thoroughly content.

This week we went to Quito for verification! After the first six weeks of training for the new missionaries, the newbie and his or her trainer get to go to Quito to eat pan de chocolate, and subway, and recharge our missionary batteries of excitement and ganas de trabajar! It was great! While Hermana Pinto and the others from her group went on a little efiel trip to sight see Quito, it was nice to learn along with the other trainers in a group discussion how I can improve and be a better “Mom” for Hermana Pinto. I´m working really hard with making sure that she can feel the love I have for her, and hopefully it will be a good example for her for the rest of her mission. 

I am very grateful for this week we were contacting the other day in Caranqui, and found a sweet young mom, Doris Suarez, with her 3 kids, one is 9 years old, so a possible baptismal candidate! She told us that her neighbor was a member of the church who had recently moved to Quito and that she was interested in learning more. We got really excited and challenged her to baptism right there on  the spot. And she accepted! The only thing was she wasn´t able to come to church the next day even though she said she was going to L But Oh well! We have a cita planned for this Wednesday with her so we will see what went down sunday morning. 

Also we are still teaching Piedad and Erica, who are reading the Book of Mormon, and have a testimony that it is true. They were preparing to be baptized on the 9^th of August but weren´t able to come to church yesterday because they received and urgent call from Piedad´s mother about her health. They rushed to visit her Sunday Morning and weren´t able to come to church. We still have high hopes for them, and we will change their baptismal date to the 16^th tomorrow!

Remember Marco? Our fallen baptismal candidate...There is still much hope for his progress because he keeps reading the book of Mormon. And we visited his Mom, Maria for the first time on Thursday and she really opened up to us.. how she doesn't believe that the Evangelical church she is assisting right now is true and so on. She even started to cry because she ahs felt so distant form Family and from God. We gave her a book of mormon and she promised to read!, She really wants to know what church is true if there is a true church. AKA She has real intent!  Also with Marco, we visited him this week with the JAS (Jovenes adultos solteros) and he connected really well with them. We made plans in Consejo de Barrio for the Jas to go and visit Marco this week without us, so that Marco can feel more of a friendship with the members without the missionaries being the middle men. Marco still is on for his baptism this Saturday, but we feel like it would be best if he waited a week, because he was out of town this Sunday and didn´t go to church. We are excited for the progress of our investigators and we pray for them everyday! Hopefully we can also find new families this week, we will be looking and contacting as many as we see!

Also huge change in Ibarra! Another pair of missionaries is being added to each branch. We will be a stake soon! I know it! That means we had a long meeting with our branch president yesterday afternoon and decided the new limits for our sectors and such. Hermana Pinto and I will be changing sectors which is really exciting. We have to look for a new house.. which is a bummer because our house is the maxima.. pero nos toca!

I know that the field is ripe and ready to harvest, and we are here in Ibarra for a grand purpose. I have learned so much about diligence this month. Feeling greater satisfaction and truly understanding the importance of the Atonement when we want to develop cualquier atributo. Estoy super animada por el proximo cambio y sé que vamos a ver Milagros, bautismos, y mucho éxito. Estamos tan felices a ver los frutos de 6 rescatas, la familia Figeroa en el mes de Julio. (A rescatada, is a family that once was less active but now are going to chruch each week and have received all the missionary lessons once again and have had interviews with the Bishop) Sabemos que hemos tenido un gran propósito retaining converso recientes y ayudando menos activas. Estoy contenta. Sé que el Señor vive, y que somos sus siervos, pero aun más, sus amigos. Quiero ser aún mas de un ejemplo y representante de Él. Tenga una buena semana Presidente! Gracas por todo!

Con Amor
Hermana Powley

Attached is a pic of our wait for the transfer calls. Have no fear. Hermana Pinto have another change juntas! AHH que animo! I made Patacones. A super delicios plate that hails from the coast of Ecuador... Large fried green bananas.

Week 29 - Ibarra, Ecuador - July 21, 2014

Mi Querida Familia!!

   I kind of feel like I don`t know where this week went! It flew by! For sure, we worked really hard each day, but still, a lot of our citas (appnts) fell this week and so we taught a lot of contacts, which some were effective and some not so much. 

A quick example of an ineffective lesson: we were outside teaching a young lady with her baby daughter the other day, and suddenly her angry mom comes storming outside telling us to go teach someone who actually needs to be saved. We were like... umm.. YOU need to be saved.... in our heads. But its all right. She though we were Jehovas Witnesses. When we cleared that all out, she seemed a little less brava. But in the end, she told us that even though she new we weren`t Testigos, she didn`t want us to confuse her. Oh well. Nos vemos en el Juicio. NBD. 

  On the plus side, we were walking down main street Friday night and we passed by a house, where a young man was sitting on his front porch with his head in his hands. We kept walking, but I stopped. Hermana Pinto asked me what happened. And I told her I felt bad, like we need to turn around. She told me, Do you want to go contact that man? Me too, lets go. And so we did! Turns out he was locked out of his house, because his grandmother had fallen and coulnd`t get to the door, he also told us that last week he was sick and he was prayign that the Jehovas Witnesses could come and visit him. For the last time, we are not Testigos de Jehova!  He told us he knew that, but he still felt like it was an answer to his prayer. We plan on visiting Diego again later this week. Who knows? I have learned to not get my hopes up to much for the young men, because half the time they just want to flirt. But he was an inspired contact! So we will see where the spirit takes us!

    This week, we were able to find and teach 2 new investigators, Erika Elizabeth and Piedad. They are set for baptismal dates for the 9^th of August, and both came to church. If you all remember correctly, Erika Elizabeth was the young women who came out of her house and started listening to our lesson with Marco, later asking us if she could come to church too. Erika Elizabeth is very curious about the idea of prophets on the earth today, and Piedad is her mother, who is super sweet, she`s around 75 years old.  They live together, a little bit lonely, because Piedad has bad knees and don`t get out of the house much. But they both are very receptive and are excited to read the book of Mormon. With Piedad we have to make sure we are very clear with her, and always verifying her baptismal date, do be sure that she understands. In church on Sunday Piedad wanted to answer all the questions and she was usually spot on! <Piedad literally feels like a lost family member that I`m just now gettign to know. I have faith that they will continue to progress. A member family picked them up for church on Sunday,and they were super happy to help.

    We have also tried to visit and rescue Marco who was our other investigator progresando, but it looks like hes going to the coast in the next week to work. And so we will try to visit him one more time this week, and leave him on a good note, para fin de que pueda seguir escuchando a los misioneros en Quinende, Esmeraldas.

    I want to try something new in my letters,  I would like to share my testimony with you all in Spanish, it feels more like home..

Yo sé que vive JesuCristo. Y algo que he aprendido y sentido super fuerte este semana, es la veracidad de la Restauracion. Lo tiene todo sentido que  Dios ha enviado un profeta aquí a la tierra para guiarnos. Hay muchos personas que piensan que no importe la religión, JesuCristo va a salvar a todas. Pero... sì lo importa! Él nos habla por medio de un profeta para guiarnos en este dia para fin de que podamos guardar sus mandamientos, ser bautizados, recibir bendiciones, y  en el fin ser salvos. No tengo dudas or miedo ahora para contactar y decir personas que tenemos un profeta viviente para guiar la iglesia. También he estudiado mucho del Espiritu Santo este semana. Sé que si confiamos en el Espiritu durante los lecciones vamos a poder escuchar, discernir, y hacer las mejores preguntas. Las preguntras que puedan cambiar vidas. Sé que yo estoy haciendo mi mejor parte y que Él va a bendecirnos con éxito pronto!

 

(I know that Jesus Christ lives. And something I've learned and felt super strong this week, is the truthfulness of the Restoration. We all sense that God has sent a prophet here on earth to guide us. There are many people who think that no matter the religion, Jesus Christ will save all. But ... yes it matters! He speaks through a prophet to guide us on this day to ensure that we keep his commandments, be baptized, receive blessings, and to be saved. I have no doubt or fear now to connect people and say that we have a living prophet to guide the church. I've also studied a lot of the Holy Spirit this week. I know that if we trust in the Spirit during the lesson we will be able to listen, discern, and make the best questions. The preguntras that can change lives. I know I'm doing my best part and that He will bless us with success soon!)

Con Amor

Hermana Powley  

 

 

Week 28 - Ibarra, Ecuador - July 14, 2014

Mi Querida Familia

I guess this week was a little hard on me, but I learned a lot. We weren´t able to work as much because Hermana Pinto was sick and we stayed in the house for 2 days. I tried to call all of the members in order to do divisions (splits/exchanges) but nothing worked out, we were able to do divisions a Little bit Wednesday evening and that was a real blessing, just to be able to leave the house and work for a couple hours, I felt complete.

 

But the hardest part of this week was when Marco never showed up to his baptism. We called and called all day—no answer. Finally at 7:30 we decided to take a taxi to his house to see what happened. He was there, but he wouldn´t talk to us, he wouldn´t even look at us in the eyes. He finally told us he was undecided and that his friends had told him that he was young and deserved to have a good time, and that the church would restrict him. We ended up giving him a few scriptures to read, and baring our testimonies. Then we obviously returned to the church empty handed and on the brink of tears. We arrived just in time to here the testimonies of the other sister´s baptisms. Which was super beautiful.. I may or may not have started to sob. Jaime and Ferndanda,  a young couple got married on Friday, and were baptized the next day. Truly, I realized that God is hastening the work, and their testimonies brought such a strong spirit. But I know your all probably wondering: What had we done wrong? The question overexhausting my thoguhts before we arrived at the church. Marco had received an answer, and just the day before was telling us how excited he was for his baptism.  What had we done wrong? But as we sat in at the end of the baptism, I realized that each and every person in the world has their own agency, and we can be the best missionairies the world has ever seen, trusting in God, and being super obedient. But sometimes, things just don´t work out. God tests us.  We can maybe just taste a little bit of the pain that Jesus Chrsit passed through. I´m reminded of Helaman 10, when Nephi is left to walk home all by himself, after performing miracles in front of his people who simply ignored him. I´m reminded of the words which God sends to him. That he is blessed because of his unwavering testimony, and unweariness in the work. He is blessed with strength in word, faith, and action. And what does Nephi do after this revelation? He turns around, and he returns to his people in full diligence, preaching repentance until the day that Christ himself comes to the Americas in his glory. We are blessed too as missionaries, as children of Israel. Even Nephi, felt foraken by his investigators. But God never leaves us alone. We are on His errand.

I also have a couple cool stories.

This week we were able to do divisions with the Hermana Leaders. One of our appointments fell, and so Hermana Cayama and I decided to pray to know what we should do. At first after the prayer I didn´t really feel anything, but unconsiously I started to walk down the road we had just barely returned from. We found a family at the end of the road, Familia Gomez, and taught a super powerful lesson. I actually just barely saw Hermano Gomez agian ont eh bus ont he way here to write, and we are going to visit them again tonight! Pray for them! But the story doesn´t end here. As we began to return to the main street after teaching the Familai Gomez, I heard someone calling Hermanas. And so we turned around and there was a middle aged man beckoning to us,. Usually we would turn our heels and walk in  the other direction, because old man that call out to us usually just want to say how beautiful we are and so on. But we walked over to him to talk. It turns out that Efren is an inactive member for many years and was in Ibarra visiting his sister. He had been praying and recently started to read the Book of Mormon again, he wants a fresh start. We took down his adress and informantion, for the Elders of Touican to find and help him. Wow! We truly were instruments in the hands of God that day. The power of prayer in order to know where to go is so real!!!

Also Sunday evening, we asked our District Leaders to accompany us to visit Marco again, in order to say that really we tried everything in order to help him. This lessoon was pretty darn amazing. Marco expressed his deep love for his family in this lesson, and his freinds were there too. The Elders were able to really help him open up. We talked about how he can live wiht his family for eternity. And he shared wiht us that he knew the gospel was true. So we are actually going to vist Marco again tomorrow  with a couple members of the ward. His friends want to come to the church for mutual activities to play volleyball on Wednesday. THERE IS STILL HOPE! And even better, during this lesson, a young women came out of her house and walked over to us and just started to listen. After the lesson, she asked us where the church was so she could come on sundays. WOW! MIracle? I think yes. We are also going to visit her tomorrow. Her name is Elizabeth, like my sister. 

Also as we were walking to the bus stop form Marco´s house. THe Elders noticed a little girl walking with her friends, the Elders told us that she looked familiar, and they remembered that she was a recent convert from a couple months ago, but from the sector of the zone leaders. We decided to talk to her. We found out that Paola had recently moved to our sector after a couple months, and that she wanted the missionaries to visit her. We were pretty excited, and we asked her if we could talk with her parents. She led us to their house, and we found out that her mom has been inactive for mucho tiempo, and is in the process of separating with her husband. We luckily were able to have a lesson with her and her husband, and it was super powerful. Gabi, Paola´s Mom, had been praying ardently for the past couple days for help. And who knew, that because Marco didn´t come to his baptism, and we went to visit him with our district leaders, we were placed in her path? At the end of the lesson, her and her husband were holding hands and promised us that they would read the book of mormon later that night. We are going to visit them today to have family home evening. Her husband, Luis, isn´t member, so we have a prospective baptism!!

Hermana Pinto and I have grown closer over these experiences. We have been humbled. We have worked 10 times more harder. And we have found many prospective new investigators. This Sunday, hardly any were able to come to church because of world cup finals, (Go Aramania/Germany!!) and the one who did come,  received a pone call in the middle of sacrament meeting, got up and left. But we know that if we are diligent, contact many people, and pray with full purpose, nothing can take away our faith in the fruits we will see. I know that my Redeemer lives, and I know that I have felt a little tiny part of what he went through that night in Gethsmane, and I also have felt extreme joy. I feel even closer to him than ever before. I am grateful for this week with all my heart. I love you all and I wish you the bestest of weeks!

Con Amor

Hermana Powley

 Here's a pic of the market place where we buy our fresh produce! 

Sorry that its upside down, my companion has mad skill

 

 

Week 27 - Ibarra, Ecuador - July 7, 2014

Mi querida Familia,

What a great week! We have seen some amazing miracles this week, with less actives, and investigators alike. I know that God`s hand is in our lives as much as those around us.

Let's start out with Marco!

Our real life miracle! Literally with each commandment we have taught him, he has eagerly agreed to live according to. I think our Heavenly Father has huge plans for this young man of 19 years old... we simply found him knocking doors and he was ready. Marco came to church this Sunday and also had his baptismal interview. While we were reviewing the questions for his interview outside the church building, Presidente Teràn came outside to meet him. It made me feel good, that Presidente is making a real effort to get to know our converts. Marco is all clear for his baptism this Saturday! Please keep him in your prayers that everything will flow smoothly and that his baptism will be super special this weekend!

Next: Monica . Monica wasn`t able to come to church because she thought the meeting started at 10.. when really it starts at 10.30…. she came to the building early, and waited. We were in ward council so we had no idea she was outside. Then she leftL  It made me kind of sad. But we are going to visit her tomorrow and she told us she was all good for coming to church next Sunday. She has baptismal date for the 26th of July.

And! David: The real miracle about David, is his less active father, Josè. Mientras David has been investigating the church, his father has taken a change for the better. Yesterday, David couln`t get out of bed to go tho church but Josè came all by himself, without us calling him. Josè stayed for all 3 hours and asked al lot of questions in Principios del Evangelio.. we visited him and David last night, and Josè is a really great support for David. David has a baptismal date for the 26th of July as well.

I am so grateful to be serving here with Hermana Pinto. Sometimes I get really stressed out, being a trainer, which is new for me. I feel like I have a lot of weight on my shoulders, and sometimes I feel like I`m pulling it alone . I want to be exactly obedient, but this week Hermana Pinto has been sick, so we`ve been a little slow walking, waiting etc. I know that I need to be more patient and longsuffering but sometimes  when our lessons are long and we don`t get anything done in correlation missional, I feel disheartened. This week will be better because I will keep Christ in vision siempre. I will not doubt in his ever powerful hand, nor will I fear my own insuffiency. I know that I can`t compare ourselves with other missionaries… and that also has been a struggle for me this week.  Many returned missionary members have been telling us about their numbers in the mission. And our numbers are SUPER low compared to theirs. Also the other hermanas have so many investigators that come to church. But I know, that when I start to compare, Satan begins to talk in my head and that is the worst. Like I said time to keep Christ in the vision and no one else. But literally, when we feel doubts creep into our heads.. its because Satan really knows our potential.. and he`s scared of what we can do. Better to imagine Christ standing in front of us with his knowing gaze and smile. Christ knows our potential. We each have gifts from heaven bestowed upon us.. and it is up to us to decide if we will exercise them.   D&C 6 has been a real help for me lately. And I encourage you all to take a look at it, imagining that God is speaking to you. I honestly really love Ibarra and the people here, and I know that we are making a difference. I have so much faith in my savior and his atoning sacrifice. We can be made more perfect each day:)

 I love you all sooo much!

Con Amor

Hermana Powley

 

 

Week 26 - Ibarra, Ecuador - 30 June 2014 (plus pics!!)

Mi Querida Familia

Wow what a great week! With zone conference in Otavollo, new investigators, a huge heart to heart within our own zone, and por fin correlation with our ward mission leader. Its been a week of blessings for sure. 

  I will start off answering a quick question...concerning details to a recent robbery. It wasn`t that bad. I was on a bus with Hermana Espinoza and we were on our way to Quito. We naively placed our bags at our feet. We keep our money in little coin wallets and we had taken out our wallets to buy chips from the bus venders and then hastily placed them back into the top of our bags... I thankfully always keep my camera in the bottom of my bag so it wasn`t stolen.... As the bus jostled along on the journey, a cunning thief sat behind us and unzipped our bags, grabbed our coin wallets and zipped our bags back up. When we got off the bus.. no money. Oops. Luckily Hermana Espinosa had a reserve stash in her white bible (the Mission Manual) in order to take us to our destination in taxi. And we were kindly reimbursed by secretary elder Hess.. my old district leader de Zona Quito. 

Anyway... Now to the real news. Our investigators!

     This week Marco continues to progress! He came to church yesterday in white shirt and tie without us even having to tell him. He surely is a gift from God. He`s preparing for his baptism the 12th of July.

    We have had a lot of success this week finding new investigators. Mostly through contacting references. I am beginning to receive a testimony of the power that members have and their ability to feel the spirit in order to know who is ready for us to teach. We contacted a family of 4 the other day…. The husbands name is Ryan and you guessed it, he`s from the United States. He works with one of the returned missionaries in our branch, and she gave us the reference. His wife, Malu, (Maria Luisa) is from here in Ecuador but they both speak excellent english, Malu actually also works with a member from our branch as well, Anita Perez, they are both English Professors in the Universtiy. Ryan and Malu are super sweet and they seem to be pretty interested in the Doctrine of the church especially when we talk about families and how they can be eternal. They have many many questions,  but are also very interested in El Libro de Mormòn: That's gonna be key for their conversión more than any way we can answer a question they have for us.   

   Also, we contacted another reference, that the other sister missionaries made when doing an activity with the young adults who are preparing for their missions (We all got together in the church building one day, and we as missionaires shared a little capacitación de la obra misional, and then we split up on divisions with members to practice contacting… why didn`t we ever do this in Utah? Its so awesome!) Anyway, Hermana Pinto and I were able to contact a reference receveived from this activity: Jessica Morales and her 2 sisters, Maria Josè and Fernanda,  and now we are teaching them. They had accepted the invitation to be baptized July 15th, and sadly weren`t able to make it to church yesterday… But they are absolutley wonderful and we hope to see them progress.

   We had a really cool experience this week, contacting and following the spirit. On Thursday, we were outside the door of  a less active`s house because we had planned a lesson with her that night. We called her, and she told us she was going to be late by 30 minutes, I looked at Hermana Pinto and we decided it would be best if we went and visited a family of recent converts so as not to waste time waiting. We told Paty that we would visit her a different day and then crossed the Street. But as we were talking to Paty on the phone, I had noticed a little family get out of a taxi. They looked super familiar to me but I could`t place a finger on where I had seen them before. They crossed the street and walked over to an apartment complex. Then Hermana Pinto and I crossed the street and we began to take a few steps towards a different street where the Familia Vinueza lived.  In my head I kept thinking, we need to contact that family. I said aloud, “Hermana I feel like we need to contact them," pointing to the young parents and little pair of twins. We confidently, began walking towards them. When we got to the entrance of the apartment complex, they were still outside fumbling with keys. We quickly introduced ourselves, saying that we had a very improtant message centered in the family, and to my felicidad, the father said, “Si! Venga porfavor!” Hermana Pinto and I looked at each other surprised, and followed them, up to the top floor where they lived. We later found out, that Ronny, The father, was part of a family of members but he himself had never been baptized. His Mom, a strong members, had recently passed away. He told us he knew that God had brought us to his door and that he was ready to change. The spirit was so intense in this lesson, and I felt a huge immense happiness.

    I know that God is preparing souls to accept the góspel, and he brings them to us, we just have to be ready, listening and taking head to that still small voice.  Wow, and can I just say, I love Hermana Pinto? She is teaching me so much. We are learning to trust in the spirit even more. We are experiencing the fruits of exact obedience, and she is such a strength for me. I feel like I am learning more from her than her from me, but that`s just how the misión works. I am so amazed each week from the blessings that we continue to receive, and the only explanation is that someone much greater is in charge. We are like one grand orchestra, instruments in the hands of God. We must learn to blend, learn to listen, and learn to shine when directed. And who is the director? Our heavenly father.. and if we follow the sheet music he has given us (The scriptures, the words of prophets) and moreso his directing hand (the spirit, obedience) we can create a beautiful harmonic symphony. l know that Christ lives and that we can be even more like him each day, learning from each other and from the experiences He gives us through his Holy Spirit.

 I love you all so much, have a great week!

Con Amor

Hermana Powley 

 

Me and my hipster companion Hermana Pinto

Eating duck feet  :-)

Our apartment

Surprise! Fantasma del Opera.. Ecuastyle

 

Week 25 - Ibarra, Ecuador - 23 June, 2014

Hola!

It`s been a great week here in Ibarra, even though we haven`t had that much time to work in our sector because of changes and such (I actually had to travel to Quito and spend the night with the mission nurse, Hermana Barret to pick up my new companion, it was quite pleasant, Hermana Barret`s house has carpet, hot water, a good smell, mirrors etc. I literally feel like if the mission was my epic Lord of the Ring journey, Hermana Barret`s house would be Rivendale). But anyway! I traveled with another Hermana who was going to be trainer as well, Hermana Espinoza, and we got robbed on the bus.. also amidst the confusion, I left my suitcase in the cargo holder.. and when I realized this, the bus had left. So we made a little bus chase via taxi and were able by some miracle to find my suitcase which had some pretty important stuff like my journal and toothbrush. Any way! Crazy week… but definitely worth it, because now I have a brand new companion!

Her name is Hermana Pinto, and she is from Lima Peru.

She`s super beautiful, has excellent style, and a strong testimony. She spent a lot of time before her mission accompanying the missionaries in her home ward, so she basically came preprepared. Also she knows English!! Woot woot! I am helping her now, have better pronunciation, I am convinced that she`s going to be perfectly fluent by the end of our 12 semanas.

Anyway! Back to business! We have a few investigators with baptismal dates:

David C. – David is 17 years old and wasn`t able to come to church this Sunday but he has a baptismal date set for the 12^thof July. He is still really excited, just a little stressed about exams coming up.

Marco B.  –Marco is a new investigator that accepted a baptismal date for the 12^th of July on the spot. We were just knocking doors and I had a feeling to walk to the last house on the street and knock the door. And so we did! Turns out Marco has 2 sisters that live in the cost in Quininde that are also attending the church. And so he is really interested. He is 18 years old, and turns 19 in July...do I hear “future missionary” birds singing? We visited him the next day and brought him to the church to give him a tour. After the tour we left him in the sacrament meeting room to pray and ask God if everything we taught him was true. He stayed in there for quite a while. You can probably imagine how intense that was for us. But when he came out, he had a huge smile on his face and he said that he felt really good. He came to church yesterday and we are super hopeful for his progression!
This week I have been on a little emotional roller coaster, sometimes I can feel little doubts creep into my head that I`m not the best trainer, that I`m not as clear as Hermana Madrid, my super mom/trainer, but I know that those thoughts come from Satanàs. I already feel super humbled by this experience, and my new companion Hermana Pinto is quite amazing. She has such a strong testimony and is trying really hard to be a preach my gospel missionary. I feel like I am learning more from her that her from me. I am excited to really get started this week and meet some of the goals we have made.

I know that God has placed his trust in me to take responsibility of this sector in Ibarra and also to be an obedient, diligent, example for Hermana Pinto. I feel so much love for both Hermana Pinto and the people we come in contact with. I feel tranquila, and I know that this work isn`t just for the people we find, but for me as well. I am growing each day, and learning, and changing. I know that the Savior is beside us, guiding us by the Holy Ghost. I can feel the weight of our calling, and it makes me want to work even harder. True, sometimes I get stressed out, but I know in whom I have trusted, and he will never falter his hand if we remain obedient. I would like to share a scripture D&C 6:33… inviting you all to look it up. Do not fear, because whatever we sow we will harvest. Do we want to see miracles? We must obey the commandments. Do we want to feel more pleased and satisfied with our work? Then we must sow good works, and kindness. We must not doubt, we must not falter. Our long term goal is vida eternal. Si recordemos eso, siempre vamos a poner nuestra voluntad atrás y la voluntad de Dios en primer lugar. Sé que Él vive. Y porque Él vive, nosotros también viviremos. Viviremos con Él si seguimos marchando, agarrándonos del barro de hierro. Les quiero muchísimo. ¡Tenga una maravillosa semana! 
 
Con Amor,
Hermana Powley

Week 24 - Ibarra, Ecuador - June 16, 2014

Mi Hermosa Familia,

¿Como estàn? Estoy super emocianada ahora porque voy a entrenar una nueva misionera! Me voy a Quito para recogerla en Miercoles y voy a quedarme en mi casa antigua de Iñaquito para la noche. Despues en jueves ambos vamos a regresar a Ibarra para hacer el entrenimiento. Quiero pasar por mis conversos en Miercoles si tenga tiempo... estoy tan emocianado para regresar a mis casa en Quito aun si es solo por un dia. Tambien Hermana Aravena va a entrenar! Siempre dije a ella que debe entrenar por que es muy buena (vivìamos juntos en Iñaquito), y ella me dijo que si el presidente esta diciendo el mismo, pero ella solo no lo quiere entrenar. Pero, ya va a hacerlo ahora! De repente porque siempre estaba dieciendola que debe, ella deciduò dar consenta! Lo siento que estoy solo escribiendo en Español es porque estoy tan animada y no sè como expresarme tanto en Ingles ahora. Mis pensamoientos son mas en Español que Ingles. Pueden pasar esta parte de mi carta por Google Translator o pedir a Andrew!!  
Translation: "How are you? I 'm Super emocianada (emotional) now because I'm going to train a new missionary! I go to Quito to pick it up on Wednesday and I will stay in my old house Iñaquito overnight. Then on Thursdays both going back to Ibarra for the introductions. I want to go through my converts on Wednesday if I have time ... I'm so emocianado to return to my home in Quito, even if only for a day. Sister Aravena also will train! I always told her I should train that is very good (we lived together in Iñaquito), and she told me that if the president is saying it, but she just does not want to train. But, you will do it now! Suddenly because I was always dieciendola should she give consenta deciduous! Sorry I'm just writing in Spanish is because I am so excited and I can not express myself in English so far. My pensamoientos are more in Spanish than English."

We had a good week as far as finding new investigators and making desafios bautismal. We found a super amazing family of 10 on wednesday, and they all accepted baptism. They are almost exactly the same as our family, with an oldest brother of 17 años, and then a younger sister (me) of 15 años, and bueno... 3 more sisters (in our family theres only 2 more sisters) of 13, 12, and 10. And then 2 boys, like matt and tom, of 8 and 6 años, and a baby girl like Jane whos 1 year older. When we taught them the spirit was so strong. I am so excited to keep teaching this family. There is a problem in that they all work together making bricks... on sunday. So we hope they will be able to feel the spirit strong enough to make the sacrifice in order to keep the sabbath day holy and come to church. They also live very high up on the mountain, where there is no phone service and so we can`t really contact them. But oh well! We just will have to visit them a lot.

Also fun fact: I received a letter from Hermana Madrid, and she was able to tell me about our converts, Francisco, and the Familia Puma! Francisco passes the sacrament each sunday, and he is now 2nd counselor in the young men`s presidency! Also the Familia Puma toda via es super animada para ir a la capilla, and they are preparing now to be sealed in the temple! I feel sooooooo good! I know that I am just an instrument in the hands of the Lord. I feel so blessed to be able to see the way he molds and shapes his children.

 We have a new goal in our zone, that we won`t count new investigators until we`ve invited them to baptism. This has helped us so much. It makes our numbers seem more real. And also pushes us to stay focused in baptism and see the people who will progress. Only one thing that I regret this week. We have been suggesting ways to help the branch be more united. And so we suggested a talent show, but basically the way our ward mission leader presented the idea, was that it was under the direction of the obra missional. And so our ward mission leader asked us to prepare the activity and organize everything. We did everything we could, we invited menos activas, conversos recientes, and members, and investgators alike. The event was a hit. It was one of the first activities that the rama presented where an overflow of people came. I even sang a little bit of opera. But the thing is we arrived at the church at 5:30 to help preapare this activity and didn`t leave until 9:15. Almost 4 hours of our day lost. And because of this.. we weren`t able to visit a family of 10, new investigators. And this family`s feeligns were hurt and they didn`t come to church on sunday. Right now I am trying to decide in my mind if it was really worth it to waste so much time in the activity. We know the ward is a little weak and needs a helping hand. After the activity, the branch now appears more united, and the president filled with more love and concern for the other memebrs. We saw on sunday how instead of rushing to his office after the meeting he stopped to greet everyone he saw. And this was because of the huge ice breaking talent show that we prepared. Even better, he told us on sunday that the rama was going to prepare another talent show for august, and this time the obra missional won`t be in charge. Anyway.. this is my dilemma. I don`t want to waste time, I want to always be working in order to see results.. o sea personas veniendo a la capilla.

But I know that everything will work out. Maybe now the members can help and trust us more and we can work together to help this family of 10. I know the Lord has a plan. I just always want to be obedient para sentir los susurros del espiritu santo. Sè que tengo que confiar aùn mas en Èl. Sè que Èl està dispuesto para ayudarme solo tengo que tener una oracion silente en mi corazon todo tiempo. Estoy emocianado para servir y entrenar esta cambio. Me siento que Èl confia en me tanto que estoy lista para entrenar. La quiero mucho mi familia! Hasta la proxima!

Con Amor

Hermana Powley

Week 23 - Ibarra, Ecuador - 9 June 2014

Mi querida Familia,

This week has been great! We have one investigator with a baptismal date, David Chilcañan, 17 years old, who came to church on Sunday all on his own. His dad is inactive and has recently started showing interest in the church. David, on the otherhand is really excited fo rhis baptism. He is reading the book of Mormon and praying. He told us the other day that he has received an answer to his prayers and that the book of mormon is true, so we are pretty excited. Right now we just need to involve the branch more in lessons with him and also help him to keep the Sabbath day holy. David likes to play soccer on Sunday with his friends... I hope that everything works out with David and that he can keep progressing and be a help for his family and his father in returning to the church.

The best part about this week was that we were able to see the beginnings of the fruits of our Fast from fast sunday last week. We fasted that our leaders in the Branch would be strengthened and that we would be able to work with them in a better way. This week, we met with our Ward Mission Leader and told him how we felt… it was a lot like a companionship inventory. And it was great, we ended the meeting feeling more confident in him and he left with the conviction to strengthen his relationship with the branch president. On Sunday, we then met with President Teràn and our ward mission leader together. And it was very effective, we straightened out how we should improve Ward Council, and include the members in lessons, we are also planning talent show this friday wiht all of the Rama. Everyone is a little bit shy in this branch, ther are even some members who don`t even extend a welcome to our recent converts, for example the Young women don`t even talk to Alejandra and Luisa are recent converts from a week ago. We are hoping to help each oraganization build unity, and start with the leaders. I hope that ward council can begin to be more eficaz.( I really can`t think of a word in english sorry). Hermano Alex Romos, our Ward Mission Leader asked the President at the end of the meeting if there was a day this week when he could visit the president at his home. We hope that Hermano Alex will begin to strengthen his relationship and trust in the president, therefore providing a more solid connection between the obra misional and the branch.

I have a cute little story, we were out contacting the other day, and saw a little girl no more than 6 years old sitting on top of a very tall wall. She waved to us from across the street. We went over to say hi. She told us she was babysitting her little brother, and waiting for her older brother to come home from school. We asked her if her parents were home and she said no. We told her that we were missionaries and we would like to come and visti again to share a message with all her family, she seemed excited and told us we could come by the next day and that she didn`t remember her parents phone number. We then said bye and kept walking down the next street to keep contacting. It wasn`t long before she came running over to us with her little 2 year old brother because she had remembered her Dad`s number to give us. Then she ran back home. 10 minutes later, she was back, with a piece of paper, because she realized when she returend home that she had messed up on the number. She was so cute and diligent. Little kids have the purest spirits, I totally understand why Jesus loves the children so much and why we should be like children, pure of heart. Anyway the next day we stopped by her house and m,et the Mom, Maire, who is super sweet and has a little baby in the hospital. We left her with a prayer for help and peace. We ahve an appointment with them for tomorrow. I just have a good feeling about this family!

We also have focused this week a lot in the members and we have received more references in this week then in any other week of this change. So that’s good. We have made a cute little paper to give to all the members. Each paper is centered around cultivating a Christlike Attribute. The idea is that they pick an attribute to improve in, devise a plan in order to devlop this principle, and have a specific blessing in mind that they want to receive from God if they follow their plan. If they do these 3 things, studying the scriptures each day, they will develop the attribute, and see the blessing they desire. As a mission we did this in May. I was focusing on being more virtuous, and the blessing I wanted to see was a family baptized in my sector. In the last day of May, the Familia Vinueza was baptized. Wow right? With effort on our part, we will always see fruits, even if its in the very last moment. We are handing out papers to each member, menos activos, y converso recientes, teaching them the principle behind gaining and acquiring Christlike Attributes. We are hoping that as we continue to check up on the members we will be able to see fruits from this labor in a more loving attitude from the members.

I have a testimony in the love that my savior has for me and for the people of Ibarra. I know that I am responsible to open my mouth, invite people to baptism, and share the warmth and glow of the spirit. I also have a testimony that God wants us to succeed and that he sent his Son, Jesus Christ to fulfill the atonement, allowing us to progress each day, throughout our lives, and throughout eternity. I know that there are moments of joy and miralces in each day, we just have to look for them. When I feel the spirit, and am filled with this testimony, we work harder and more diligently. My goal this month, June, is to be more diligent. Its my new Christlike Attribute that I am working on. Progression is one of the most beautiful things about this church. There is always hope in becoming a better person, family, mother, father, missionary, when we focus on the example Christ set for us. I`m excited to get to work!

Con Amor

Hermana Powley

 

 

Week 22 - Ibarra, Ecuador - June 2, 2014

Hola Mi Querida Familia!

Well to start out with... This week I was able to witnesssomething that probably should never be witnessed again by a poor gringa such as I. We were passing by the home of a less active when we decided to visit her real quick. Her brother told us that Maria was working in the back of the house so we entered the front gate to go help her. Well... I should have recognized the clues and I will admit I was a bit confused when I noticed clumps of blood in the path to the side of the house, and then the clumps turned into a stream of blood. And I was kind of freaking out. The blood pooled up alongside the poor carcass of a recently slaughtered chancho, or pig. We talked with Maria and she said she was busy... clearly because she had just killed the pig. her son then came out and started cleaning off the pig. I was like, well we will just come back later, because I kind of wanted to vomit, but Hermana Silvera, was like, hey I want to see this.. And so I was like, what`s gonna happen? And then they started to cut into the pig and shovel out all its innards into a crate, where then they placed al the innards on the same place where you wash laundry, and Maria began to separate the intestines. Well it was a great sight, I took lots of great pics, and I was going to send them but one of our investigators was looking at pics on my camera and actually deleted all my pics.. so I`m kinda bummed about that but se la vie. Then they brought the other pig over to theside of the house, and it was his turn to be executed. I just couldn`t watch at this point so I went and talked with Maria`s kids and we learned the colors in English. Mientras mucha squealing and then silence... Hermana Silvera wanted to watch... Who is my companion? I don`t even know.
 On the plus side.. we had 3 baptisms and confirmations this weekend, David, Alejandra, and Luisa Vinueza. It was so beautiful and we felt the spirit so strongly. We were a little worried about Luisa because she got in a little bit of a disagreement with her Dad the night before, and so our zone leaders came to the church early Saturday afternoon and interviewed her again, and surprisingly to us she said she was excited for her baptism, so that was a relief and then we taught her and Alejandra a little bit about enduring to the end and how God teaches us line upon line and precept upon precept, that baptism is just the first step in a long journey towards eternal life. I hope with all my heart that the branch can extend a warm friendship towards the Vinuezas. I was a little worried when we were with the young women on Sunday, and the other girls weren`t even talking to Luisa and Alejandra. I feel like many people in the ward are closed off and don`t express neighborly love.  That’s why we have so many less actives. People can`t just see how someone needs help and go and help them. President Taràn`s wife was sitting all alone in relief Society, and I went and sat by her, and we started to talk. She is struggling so much, with their family jobless and a newborn baby, and she has to study every day, how hard. And she was just sitting all alone. Tears began to fill her eyes as we talked. After relief society, each and every mmebr should feel edified and loved, not more sad. Why can`t we all be a little more Christlike? Why can`t the whole branch cry with those cry and mourn with those who mourn. It literally breaks my heart to watch this happen. What can I do, as a missionary, to help this branch learn how to express love? We have a goal this week to visit 15 different houses of members and share a short message. I hope with all my heart that we can touch each and every one of these members hearts with the spirit, that they may work to have more Christlike Charity.

Other than the baptisms this weekend, it’s been a little bit of an unproductive week. We were able to visit a few new investigators that had baptismal dates but did not come to church on Sunday, and so we need to visit them again this week with members in order to help them come to church! I know that we can work harder in our planning to call members in advance to make sure that they can accompany us. On the plus side, one less active member Jose Chilcañaun, and his 3 children came to church on Sunday. We went to their house Sunday morning and brought them to church. We actually were way up on the mountain and were trying to catch a taxi in order to make it in time for sacrament. But there were no taxis. It was 10 minutes passed when curch was supposed to start, and Hermana Silvera and I were dying, because we ddn`t want to miss the Sacrament or the confirmations of The Familia Vinueza. I decided to say a quick prayer in my heart because we truly were depserate. And justo despues dige Amen` I turned around, and there was a taxi parking on the side of the road waiting for us. I don`t know about you guys, but the gospel is so real. Then when we stepped into Sacrament Meeting, Luisa was just in the action of sitting down on the chair up on the stand to recieve her blessing. We missed nothing! It was perfect. Back to the Family Chilcañaun! We actually taught Josè`s oldest son 2 days before sunday and he accepted baptism, but he wasn`t able to come because he was really sick when we passed by his house. We have high hopes for this family, and for the 4 children, Stefen, Maribel, Jemi, y Davìd, whom aren`t baptized, we are hoping that we can teach them all together and help them realize the blessings of the gospel and challenge them all to baptism.  

To cap off this week we had a pretty miraculous experience last night that I am just dying to share with you all. Yesterday we planned to visit a member family for a family home evening. They hadn`t been to church for the past month and we wanted to see what was up. The problem is they live arriiiiiiiiiba!!!! Up on the mountain. And Hermana Silvera and I were out of money, so we couldn`t take taxi. We were on the bus to their house, when the the bus stopped and kicked everyone off (sometimes they do that because the bus driver wants to go home). we tried calling the family Figeroa because they have a car and perhaps they could`ve come to pick us up but they wouldn`t answer. I probably called them 100 times. And by now, it was really dark. Everyone talks about this area that we were in, like its one of the most dangerous areas, with vicious dogs and thieves. But we decided to walk to the house of the Familia Figeroa, becuase we both felt like it was very necesary. We walked for probably 25 minutes until we reached the street which lead up the mountain. A cloud had submerged onto the hill and we literally walked up the street and into the cloud. It was really eery.. Just fog and the faint dim of street lights above us. We were panting because it was actually a really great work out as well, hiking up the mountain in the dark. When we reached a dirt road that Hermana Silvera thought was their road, we turned. But 10 yards onto this street, we were walking in pitch black and the street lights from the main road had disappeared. Hermana Silvera then says, I don`t think this is the right road. We`re freaking about by now, and so I ask her what we should do. And she says, Oremos. And so we huddle together and start to pray, with bowed heads and closed eyes we ask for guidance, that God can help us find this family, that clearly needs help or else we wouldn`t have made it this far without feeling we should turn back. We lift our heads and our eyes and walk back to the main road. We hardly notice that right after our prayer, the cloud had lifted, and everything was clear. I look up and the sky is strewn with starlight and we could see the road that we needed just a little bit more up ahead. But this is not the end! As we continue walking, a man comes out of the darkness, cleary drunk and starts to walk roughly and loudly towards us, saying things that I couln`t understand, My heart jumps a beat. He is literally inches from touching my arm and I slow my footsteps, he passes us and walks to the other side of the street as though he never saw us. Wow. I know for a moment their on the mountain, we were both protected and I couldn`t help but imagine angels walking by our sides as we kept walking and finally arrived at the Family Figeroa`s House. Apparently their phone wasn`t working, and they had thought that we weren`t going to come. As we began to teach the lesson, the father shared his feelings, that God had sent us to visit them because he was just about to give up going to church all in all. He felt that God had stopped answering his prayers. But as we shared a heartfelt lesson on trusting in the scriptures and in Heavenly Father, he was humbled and said out loud, we have made sacred covenants with God and we are not going to give up, ever. This was a manifestation to me, that the spirit teaches through us when we base our actions on faith, that God has a plan, and even though our journey to the Familia Figeroa was immensley intense and scary, we were filled with peace and God protected us.

I know that my Redeemer lives. I know that we are here in Ecaudor to bring families together under the blessings of the Atonement and sacred covenants that we make in the temple. And I know that I am on the Lord`s side, and that he is on mine. This is my testimony that I leave with you all this week. And if there ever is a moment that you feel like God is not answering your prayers, just remember he has a plan a lot grander than our shortsighted plans. He trusts you to make the right decisions, and he loves you so much. He tests our faith, that we may exercise it, and receive aun mas un testimonio de la veracidad de su plan. Les quiero mucho mi familia, Que Dios les bendice. Hasta la proxima semana!

Con Amor

Hermana Powley

PS We went to a zoo today with our zone! I`m gonna send some pics.. it was super fun!

 

 

Week 21 - Ibarra, Ecuador - 26 May 2014

Hola Mi Hermosa Familia!

Well, where can I start?! This week was amazing. I feel so blessed and lucky to be here in Ibarra, and even more so here in Ecuador. Siliva was baptized and confirmed this past weekend, and I am so happy. Although the program maybe wasn`t the most organized, it turned out beautiful. Many things went slightly array for example. The church building was out of gas to heat the water! So we brought our own gas from our house, which was a little bit of a struggle because it was super heavy.... but definitely worth it. When we had the water runnign adn everything was perfect, we came to check on the faunt a couple hours later and it was scorching hot. So we carried buckets of cold water to cool it down. On top of that the key  for the church kept getting stuck in the keylocks for the different rooms we needed to access, so we were a little stressed about that as well. And when everything was in place and ready to go, we didn`t have white pants that fit the branch president to baptize Silvia. Thankfully our District Leader came just in time to attend the baptism, and had the feeling that he needed to bring white pants and a tie. Whew! It was so great that our Branch President came and directed the meeting and baptized Hermana Silvia! Our branch president is passing through a refiner`s fire right now. He has a brand new baby, and recently lost his job. He is also relatively new, and the branch doesn`t support him as much as it should. And did I aso mention he is a convert of 4 years? Ya.. well he actually is really amazing and works so hard to help the branch. At first we didn`t really understand him because he didn`t come to the stake meeting for leaders or to my first 2 ward councils, but after Hermana Silvera and I took the time to visit him, offer our service,and share a message of hope, we have seen him work even harder. Anyway! Back to the baptism! After Silvia was baptized, she bore her testimony and I could feel the spirit so strongly She bore witness of the Book of Mormon, that even though we told her to pray and ask God if it was true she didn`t need to do that, becuase she can feel the spirit and the love of God everytime she opens the book to read (We`ve only bee teaching her for 3 weeks and shes in Alma). I also got to sing Nearer my God to Thee, and you know how much I love to sing, There was a love and spirit present in the air...Silvia was wiping tears from her eyes. All of the stress from the hour before started to melt away and I enjoyed the moment. A lot of members came to the baptism as well and Silvia was able to feel the love and support from the branch. We talked about temples and how her next step is to go to the temple! In the end, the baptism was a beautiful success!

After the baptism, we taught the Familia Vinueza in the church building about the temple, and I enjoyed especially seeing David`s face light up about the prospect of eternal families. David, and his two daughters had their baptismal interviews with Elder Lindeman, our District Leader after the lesson, and everything went great! They will be baptized this saturday! We are so excited for them. One thing I have realized through teaching them, is the importance of daily checking up. We have been able to check up on them almost everyday in order to read the book of mormon with them. Now, reading scriptures as a family has become habit and they are progressing so much. On Tuesday, Our zone leaders came with us to teach this family, and it was very neat. Elder Cedeño and Elder Olivares shared their testimonies about the importance of not necessarily needing to know everything in order to be baptized, but needing a testimony, or an answer to a prayer. We also talked about the priesthood, and how its very important for the head of the household to possess this grand power. And that the priesthood is crucial when it comes to having a successful family. I really think after this lesson, David became much more excited for his baptism.   

Wow! And miracles are real. On sunday, before the meetings we were pretty sad, because we didn`t have any promising new investigators. New investigators that we had been working with-- The Juma Family, and Visente--- didnt come to church. We were feeling pretty desperate for new investigators. And then, we received a phone call! From one of our contacts the week before, Simón. He told us that he wanted to come to church and was on his way to the building. Talk about God leading and preparing the elect! We waited outside the gate for him, and then introduced him to the Elder`s Quorum President, Hermano Meneses. Hermano Meneses was so great, he sat by Simón throughout the meeting, and even grabbed him a copy of the May Liahona to read (the conference talks) Simón stayed for all the classes afterwards, and then we were able to teach him outside the buiding on the grass. We wanted the purpose of this lesson to be to answer any of his questions about what he learned in church. But really he just wanted to know about prophets and the priesthood, and so we rolled right into Lesson 1. The spirit was so strong, and he opened up and told us that he feels bored and guilty with the way he is living and he wants to change and improve for the better. He has investigated many churches, but said their is something different about our church, and that he wants to be baptised. He has to leave to go to Guayacil some time in June, and so he doesn`t know if he will be here to be baptized but we are praying that everything will work out, and that even if he has to go to guayacil, he will be able to continue learning more about the restored gospel! 

Well that was our week! Hermana Silvera and I had a little rough patch on Saturday, but we talked about and we`re fine. I think the way that I express myself is sometimes very direct and I need to always rememeber to be careful and mindful of feelings. I learned that I need to always ask her what she thinks and for her opinion. I was always just used to stating my opinion with Hermana Madrid, and then Hermana Madird would boldly state her opinion, but now I know that with Hermana Silvera its not the same. I need to ask and be aware of her opinions or tense feelings build up inside of her... and we fall into silence and can`t feel the spirit as strongly. I am learning so much from her, like to have hope in everyone, and to be humble. We are having a great change and I am glad to call her my friend:)

There are hard days, and their are beatiful days, and God is present always. In the way the mountains touch the clouds with just the right tint of sunlight, in the way we feel love for everyone that we meet, in the way I know that the purpose of this life is to tie families together under binding convenants in the temple for eternities on end. I am so grateful for this mission. I can`t imagine how my life would be if I had not decided to serve a mission. I love this work so much!! Hasta la proxima semana! Les quiero mucho!

Hermana Powley

 

 

Week 20 - Ibarra, Ecuador - 19 May 2014

Hola mi Querida Familia!

This week has been great! I feel like Hermana Silvera and I have gotten close and we are able to really teach with the spirit.Some fun facts about my companion. She was baptized when she was 15, and is the only member in her family. After a couple months from being baptized she inactivated for 3 years. And then she decided to turn her life around and go back to church. She told me the hardest part about returning to church wasn`t just the repentance but being accepted in the ward. I see her through different eyes now. She is one of the strognest people I know. And I feel for her. I never want anyone in my ward to feel that way. If someone is trying to return back into the fold of God, we should never judge ony accept with open arms. I am so glad to have her with me, her testimony is so incredibly strong and she is super real. She understands the point of view of the investigator, the less active, and the leaders (did I mension she was also called to be secretary of the stake primary one year after she re-activated?) Wow I have an amazing companion. We have so much fun, we laugh after people reject us and we just keep going, I hope thats OK. But more than anything we are happy adn the spirit is with us. I have gotten to the point sometimes where after praying or studying I feel the spirit so strongly tears come to my eyes. I think this is one of the fruits of my maravilla de mayo. We set goals at the beginning of May to develop an attribute of Christ of our choosing. My "Maravillla de Mayo" is virtue. I have been able to see a change in the way I think... I don`t think in away where I focus on what I`m doing wrong..  but rather what I`m doing right and the things I can improve. I`ve discovered new stengths that I never knew I had, like planning, setting goals, making cake ;). The Lord has opened up my mind in ways that I never thought would be possible. I feel so much love for those around me.. and I know its because I have chosen to focus on having more virtue. Positive and clean thoughts filled with love and meekness. I have learned even more deeply how the power of prayer can change behavior and attitude. I have been able to really relate to one of our investigators, Silvia who will be baptized this Friday. Silvia was addicted to smoking, but we helped her make a plan to quit which included a lot of prayer, a lot of memorized scripture, and alot of reading the Book of Mormon. She has grown so much. I know without a doubt that she will be strong in the gospel because she has learned how to depend on the Lord. She truly has a testimony. I love her. I have seen how the Atonement has changed her behavior. She is filled with hope and focus. As I`ve watched her progress I have been able to seemy own progress as well. I think this is what missionary work is all about. Every time when we go to teach her her testimony fills my eyes with tears. Truly I feel like an instrument in God`s hands. We had her interview yesterday and she is ready!
Also we have been teaching David, Luisa, and Alexandra Vinueza. Their baptismal date was set for this weekend as well, but because David and Aexandra were unable to assist this Domingo we decided to change the date for next weekend.. This way we can have the baptismal interview this Friday night and announce theit upcoming baptism in sacrament Meeting in order to have total suport from the ward. Something truly miraculous is the progress we have been able to see in Luisa. Luisa used to be very reserved and struck us as kind of a rebellious child. Her Mom died about a year ago. But after we taught the Plan of Salvation, I can see a new type of light in her eyes. She came to church yesterday with her dad, David`s grifriend, Mercedes (A newly reactivated member) This was another miracel for the week. We talked about the gift of the holy ghost with them last night, adn they are excited to receive this companion to be able to make right choices and to have this companion of peace. David, more than anything is gaining a testimony of the church. He told us yesterday that he feels a special peace and happiness when he reads the book of mormon with his family and when he goes to church! This is the influnece of the Holy Ghost! Just imagine what it will be like when you receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, we told him.
Fun Story: I don`t know if you knew or not but a coupe years back a pair of sister missionaries was kidnapped in Guatamala. Anyway.. so our releif society president of the rama was one of those missionaries! One day when she was accompaning us to visit investigators she told us the whole story! And wow.. it all started with a lady telling them she wanted to be baptized with her husband and telling them to come visit later that night. And so ya.. Gladis and her companion went to this house and it was a trap! These man were waiting with knifes and they tied them up and everything. They were threatened and held ransom and beaten. I had no idea stufff like that even happened anymore. It reminds me of Alma and Amulek. Any way Gladis is just telling us this story like it was funny. I love hershe is so positive. Eventually the Mission President got together with the police force in guatemala and they saved the sisters.. but its the coolest story ever. Gladis would have to tell you... its a long story. Any way you could imagine that Hermana Silvera and I were a little bit on our toes the next day walking down the street in the dark to our last appointment. It was with a man named Pablo and he wanted to meet us outside of a school. We made it to the school and then Pabl drove up in his truck and parked in a little street a longside the school. We were kind of freaking out. There were some ladies waiting on the side of the street we contacted them and then almost begged them to accompany us, they were like.. Oh we know Pablo.. he`s fine! Then Pablo`s cousin comes out from the dark narrow road, and says we`re waiting for you sisters! Come over by the truck theres more light up the road (the little narrow road that looked like it led into the forbidden forest) we were like ok.. coming! And we said a little prayer in our hearts and didn`t feel to scared so we walked over to them. And itwas totally fine. Pablo is great he accepted baptism and everything. We were just a little spooked. We laughed so hard walking back from the lesson. I guess we are just girls sometimes. But if the spirit had told us not to go up the road after we prayed we wouldn`t have done it. Just so ya`ll don`t worry too much about us. Anyway thats my phone story for the week!

I love you all so much! Que Dios les bendiga! 

Hermana Powley