All in the Tag: Week 45! "Pies Everywhere!"

From 12/1/14

I exercised today!! Yaaaay me! :P jajaja The diet must commence once again because I splurged quite a bit last week. Hna Q and I found a store on the street we live that sells legit PIE. They spell it "pay" here because that`s how the pronunciation equals ours. jaja We ate chocolate cream pie, apple pecan, lemon y piña pie, and one more I`m forgetting. It`s just.....you know....pie practically doesn`t exist in Ecuador and I just happened to be "lucky" enough to live in a sector that actually makes and sells slices of pie for 70 cents....And it was Thanksgiving. It seemed like a good enough reason to me. Now the homemade cookies and tortas de argentina we also made with a side of manicho chocolate ice cream....I gues you could say we did overdo it just a sliver... :P jejeje. BUT. The diet begins today...You betcha! I`m determined!!!! ,`:) That is, until Christmas comes of course... :)

Today I turn 11 months old on the mission. I don`t even know how to respond to that bit of news. I love being here! I love how inspired to changes are both in the mission and in our lives.

Yesterday was time for cambios once again, and I get to stay here with Hna Q! There was a possibility that she would be changed out, but all I wanted (and prayed for) was to be able to "finish what we started" here. I feel that we`ve gained some momentum in a variety of aspects...and cambios now would disrupt it in a way. To my relief, the Lord knows how important this is to me, and allowed us to be here together for a little longer. Now we can finish our "diet" plan, see our investigators through to the end (you get what I mean here), and continue the momentum of energy we`ve been able to gain in the ward with our ward mission leader and the other elder companionship. And I am truly relieved to still be here.

Yesterday something super cool happened in our Sunday meetings. Well, at least I thought it was cool, I`ll let you be the judges jaja.

So, Hna Q and I were making our way up the stairs to the Gospel Principles class, when suddenly an Hermana peeked out her classroom door and pounced us as we walked by. She seemed anxious. She asked us, "Hermanas, are you on your way to teach a class right now??"

"No," we responded, "We`re teaching in the next class after this."

"Oh!" she said, "Because the teacher never showed up to teach the JAS (i.e. YSA) class today and now I have to improvise! Could it be that the two of you can share something on friendship and fellowshipping?"

On any normal day before, this would also put me in a panic, "No way Josè" attitude. But, "Okay!" we immediately replied. Ideas came quickly to mind....I have a video clip which would be perfect, and happened to bring my Preach my Gospel book for the capacitacion we were to give next hour, and I`m sure there`s a super good scripture that will come to mind....LET`S DO IT.

We told her to go ahead and get everyone (about 20 people) to introduce themselves first while we marched over to roll the television into the room. When we arrived, we also introduced ourselves. The little lesson lasted about 25 minutes. We watched a video, shared a quote from Preach My Gospel, and ended with a scripture. The class participated. And the Spirit was super strong. It almost seemed as though Hna Q and I had planned that lesson beforehand....but, not so my friends. The group of young single adults, a little of every personality, were attentive and aware of the truthfulness of fellowship in sharing the gospel.

One thing that came out of my mouth without me ever meditating upon it before was something like, "Yeah we are tying Friendship to missionary work because, well, we are missionaries. But, if you really think about it, every little thing we do is missionary work because we are either bringing people closer to Christ or further away from Him in everything that we do." It was kind of an "ah-ha" moment for us all....even me as I said it. My reaction was the same as everyone else`s as they listened and nodded in unspoken agreement.

It was so interesting to see the Spirit work in that lesson. The YSA are really a special group of people to have the Spirit care so much for an improvised lesson to turn out so well. I feel blessed to be able to prepare daily to be an instrument in the Lord`s hands for whichever moment He sees fit that we should open our mouths to testify and speak. I know as we do, He fills our countenance, thoughts, and words with His words of life.

And I know that this can happen to any prepared member of the Gospel at any time. The work of the Lord is expanding - Can`t you feel it? One reason, we discovered yesterday, that my ward doesn`t share the Gospel with their peers or family members is because they don`t know what to say.

That`s how I felt before the mission more often than not. But, if we don`t feel prepared, the Lord expects us to prepare. What better gift to give Him this season...as December begins...than to PREPARE. Prepare our testimonies and fill them with words of Life so that we can share and testify.

I, like Mom, have the goal of memorizing El Cristo Viviente -- The Living Christ. More than thinking of Christmas this season, I want to think of Christ.

I know He lives. This is His work. Because of Him, we have the Truth restored.

I love you all and hope you have a great week!!

Love,

Ñañagu Fernelius :)

"I am so happy to continue here! I am set on being here until we finish what we have started! jeje Yesterday for quinto domingo the elders and we were able to spend some time speaking with the members of the ward. Hna Q and I spoke on personal conversion in order to increase our desires to share the gospel. The elders spoke about what it means to have the pure love of Christ. Then our mission leader spoke. We handed out slits of paper to get an idea from the members what their biggest challenges are in sharing the Gospel. We were greatly surprised by the responses they wrote!

Many feel scared because they don`t feel they have a good understanding of the doctrine or what to say. Others plainly stated that they don`t have support from their own family. Other said they are so drowned in work that they simply cannot share as they`d like. With these responses, we plan to have a mission activity to help the ward overcome these challenges and help them feel more prepared.

Our ward mission leader is working more with us now than in the past. We feel a great momentum rising in the ward missionary work, and we have several ideas planned to be able to verify and keep the momentum going in the future.

We recently discovered that the ward mission boundaries span WAY further out than we knew, and we will really need the ward`s help to no longer neglect the sectors of the campo that are actually part of our ward boundaries.

I am so happy to be with Hna Q! She is absolutely awesome and I love her very much. I am learning great things and have felt great spiritual changes within me this last transfer. I feel like I`m truly learning to confide in the Spirit....and the attribute of ESPERANZA has led me to feel true peace in the little daily efforts we make in our sector and ward. And for that, I am very grateful.

I know my Savior lives, and that He is Jesus Christ. I know this church is true, because it is restored by God who has a living prophet called by Him. And I am so grateful to be called by God to this work. :)"

Mom, this is the kitchen of the Relief Society President. Wouldn`t you just love to have a pot that big?? jaja

And more goodies for Thanksgiving week :P jejeje

Notes I took....uhm, with more drawings than notes. Gosh...I had to entertain the little buddies that were sitting next to me, pues. :)

Cookies in a pan....because we don`t have a stove. This is the recipe Mom sent me :)

The little girl came with us and her older sister to a cita. This was her "culebra", or snake. She dragged it with her the entire way. When we came to a muddy puddle, it was my job to quickly lift it up to "fly" over the puddles jaja. On the way back, the snake broke, but we quickly tied the two halves back together and she kept walking. :)