Fruits of Labor and Just Fruit!

Lots of Fruit in Ecuador...This one, Passionfruit

I am an in the city Guayaquil, Centenario. it is a richer area, a lot of people have cars and actually have fairly nice homes. Habiscuses and other tropical flowers grow outside people´s homes, they are so beautiful and people in the U.S would kill to have these kind of flowers! People here really love rice and Plátanos (really big plantain) there are two types, verde, green and flavorless, you have to cook it and you make chifles and patacones with these. Then there are Madures wich are mas dulce (sweet) and you make Madura Fritas with them, you cook them as well. They are both really good.

I am actually doing fairly well with the language. it is easier for me to just listen to people talk than for me to talk, even though I am fully capable of holding a conversation with somebody. I need to have more confidence in my abilities. The fastest way to learn the language is to listen to what common words people say, study them, and study the scriptures! When you know the doctrine and do all you can to serve people, the Lord will bless you with the Gift of Tongues!

Arnold and Ayer with Giovana at her baptism

The people are hospitable here! Every time we go to someone´s house they offer us jugo, agua, or cola or anything that they have. The people love to talk and tell their life stories. At times it is unrelated to the lessons, but it shows they trust us, and they love to have company! And also Latinos love that upbeat hymns, and it does not matter if they are in tune or the harmony, they just sing with conviction and testimony, it is awesome!

Saturday was got 8 references from a member and invited so many people to come to church. We were positive that we were going to lograr out metas ( reach our goals) which was 10 compremetidos a assistar a la Iglesia. We woke up early one Sunday morning, to walk to thier houses, and nadie (noone) woke up and noone wanted to come with us .We were devestated because we also missed the Santa Cena. It was a really hard Sunday, my body was tired and just wanted to go home and sleep.

I learned that God withholds miracles from us because he is testing us, we need to fulfill our capacity or our potentcial. We haven't been inviting enough people to be baptized, Lately I have felt a burden, this is how I usually feel when I run a race and I dont give it my all, I am going to have peace until we give it our all and invite everyone to be baptized. Afterall that is our purpose. We need to have faith that someone will accept our message. I also learned from Hermana Ayer, that if we have trials or we have problems, we need to understand the root of our problems, like Nefi when he broke his bow. We have our agency to change our situations, and trust in God that he can help us fix it!

I just need to remember his will and he has all power to give us miracles! We just need to constantly change and trust in God! Max Lucado said, ´God loves you just the way you are but he refused to leave you that way." This life is our time to prepare to meet God. The Lord knows best; he knows our potential, I love you all!

Hermana Arnold

Miracles and Difficulties

This week I experienced a miracles and desafíos (difficulties). The first experience that I had, was at a baptism, me and one of my companion went to of one of the investigators of the Hermanas in our district. As a goal of our zone, we planned to invite our nuevos fechas ( investigator with Baptismal date) to the baptism so they can experience what the service is like. We planned to invite 3 of our fechas including 3 menos activos. Only 2 of our menos activos came, and 0 fechas. It was a bummer, however, the miracle happened with the menos activa Elsie. She has been inactive for most of her life, she 16 years old, and doesnt even remember her own baptism. We have been trying really hard to get her back to church, so far she has been really closed off and shy. I think it has been hard for her because she knows she has to change her life to come back to church. The truth is hard to hear. For a while, we werent sure if she was going to progress. But the Lord showed us people can and have desires to change.

She on her own went to a Noche de Hogar activity and she went with us to the baptism! So after we got to the church, we left her with the people who were attending the baptism and walked to get our other menos activa. When we came back with our menos activa, Elsie's little 8 year old brother was there with her! This was a miracle because this little boy wanted us to teach him, he had desires to be baptized! We didn't even think to invite him. The Lord inspired someone to bring him, it was super chévere! Elsie was welcomed by all the youth, and gave her kisses and hugged her (latinos are very touchy and loving, this is the way that they show love) They welcomed her as if she was already apart of the family and she wasn't even gone! The Lord wanted us to reach out to this family, I still believe that they have a long way to go, but at least they know that there is a way, and they have people that can help them.

Also Giovanna, got baptized this week!!! we were so happy for her and she was definitely prepared for us! I took some pictures before the baptismal service!

My second experience was really difficult. Sunday mornings, some of the members and the missionaries in the ward meet to go walk to menos activos and investigators houses for church. We planned on inviting 6 amigos, only 2 came. We could not get anyone out of their houses. One of investigators with a fecha, was not able to come for some strange reason, and she never came. Giovanna and Francisco came to church, but did not stay the whole 3 hours of church. That was really frustrating, they do not understand the importance of going to church yet! Then We went to go plan Francisco's week before his baptismal date which is this Saturday and the family told us that Francisco cannot be baptized this week because they have a really trip to take to see a relative and will not return until Sunday. We were devastated and frustrated because there are cambios this Saturday (transfers) and we may not be able to see him get baptized...lots of not so easy things happened that day.

One thing I learned is that, through the good and bad times, the Lord is blessing us. and even though we are not perfect, and people reject us, and not understand the importance of their salvation, we still have ours. We still know that this church is true, and if it is not going to get through to them, its going to get through to us. There is only one way to happiness and eternal life, and that is through the Savior. He descended below all, so we can be raised up and live with our father in Heaven. I love this Gospel and I know my Savior lives. This work is so hard, but Vale la Pena. Vale la Pena means it is worth it...Salvation isn't easy, but its worth it!

I love you all

Hermana Arnold

Things To Know About Ecuador

1. It rains at least 2 to 3 times a week and half of it is !Full hace Color! 
2. The bakeries, the rice, and the cockroaches are 10x bigger in Ecuador...
3. There is a 3 day holiday called Carnaval where everyone throws water at each other. Me and my companion were only able to proselyte for 2 hours each of those days! One day, we were walking down a street and a cute little family drives slowly past us and sprays us with soap and water...it was by far the weirdest experience I have ever had in my life...
4. Latinos really like to practice their English when they pass by us. They say," HIII HOW ARE JUUU" One Latino yelled at us while he was on his motorcycle," Hermanas I love JUU¨" It really is quite hilarious. 
5. You cant flush toilet paper down toilets, you have to dispose of it in the trash. Its nasty 
6. The jugo (juice) is absolutely amazing, members make it for us for lunch. It is like a smoothy, it super buenísimo! 
7. Guineos (bananas) are like 25 cents each, I am addicted to them! 
8. Keys are worth a lot of money here, like 45 minimum! Aparently, to make them it is really expensive in Ecuador. A lot of families have only one set of keys! 

MORE FACTS TO COME NEXT WEEK!

This week has been really difficult for me to have confidence in teaching. Every time I say something, the adversary really loves to send buses to overpower my voice and dogs that start barking. At times I freak out because I don't know what to say or how to start lessons. But the times when I just let the spirit guide, everything works out and I am able to teach with clarity. It seriously amazes me when I have no idea what to say, but when I start to open my mouth, the spirit gives me words to say! I have faith that the investigator understands by the spirit!

In Alma it says by small and simple means the Lord will bring about His great and Eternal purposes. I don't know everything, I cant see everything, but I know I just gotta keep doing everything I can, as simple as it might be.

I also learned about sacrifices, that when we make sacrifices the Lord will bless us even more that we thought possible. We just have to have faith and let the Lord lead us! And like President Monson once said," sometimes faith means trying again tomorrow". We cant be perfect at something unless we keep working at it, sometimes we just gotta jump into the cold water until swimming and breathing becomes natural.

Faith is the biggest principle, Life is always about faith. Faith can help us see miracles, we just have to work at it until we no longer need to act on our faith to see miracles, we will have a perfect knowledge of things...I love you all!

Hermana Arnold

Two weeks in Ecuador

I dont have a lot of time but I will tell you that I am in the city of Guayaquil. The other areas in my mission that I will probably be transferred to are Santa Rosa, Cuenca, Loja, and Machala. Loja and Cuenca are in the Sierras! We are missionaries over the Centanario ward. There are 16 missionaries in the zone, and there 13 zones in the Guayaquil South Mission. In our zone we have 25 baptisms on average a month, it depends on every zone...but it is about 250 to 300 each month.

The food is really good but super duper fattening. Lunch is the biggest meal here, and usually a meal comes with a big bowl of soup, meat, and lots and lots of rice. There are also bakeries  EVERYWHERE! I am a little worried about gaining weight, a lot of sisters here do...one sister gained 30 pounds! I sincerely hope that I wont gain that much weight.

This past weeks, our faith has been really tested. We have to have members assist us on our visits, it is MUY IMPORTANTE because the members here are not always reliable. The youth are absolutely amazing, the majority of the ward is youth, and a lot of them just come to church on their own. I really do enjoy getting to know them, they are super PILAS! Anyway, the language is coming a lot easier, however, it is still hard to understand the needs of investigators because of the language barrier. and it is also difficult because most of our lessons are taught out in the streets. People dont have very much here and so they don't often like to invite people into their homes.

I feel as though finding people is like picking out of big bag of marbles at random, I have know idea where to go or who to talk to. I often times just have to listen to Hermana Ayer and follow the spirit, that is seriously the hardest thing to do, but we have been obedient and we have been working our tails off!

We fasted from saturday afternoon to sunday afternoon, and let me tell you that was really difficult, but worth it! Saturday afternoon we taught a menos activo named Jose-Luis who served his mission in Quito, but hadn't returned to church in over 15 years. His wife is a catholic, and he has two children named Francisco (13 years old) and Guermo (17 years old) and they have never been to church. we taught them about the importance of the Sacrament and going to church, we also gave Guermo and Francisco the book of mormon to read and pray about. I bore my testimony of going to church, that even though the language is hard for me, I still feel the spirit, I still am at the peace, because the church is the same everywhere you go! Then we asked Francisco to be baptized on the 22nd of March, and he agreed, he just has to get permission from his mom.

we specifically fasted for 5 people to attend church, 3 new baptismal dates, and more investigators available and acountable to assist us in our visits. The next day, we witnessed a miracle! The next day, Francisco and Jose-Luis attended church, and a women named Fanny and her son attended (who are also menos activos). That seriously made me so happy that they came to church. and then, the bigger miracle happened. We sat next to a girl named Giovanna, it was her first time attending church, and she asked my companion if she could be baptized as soon as possible! We so far have planned her baptism, but she hasn't had her interview. But if she is worthy, she will be baptized on the 15th of March!

I learned this week that even if you do not know where you going, and you do not know who to talk to, the lord will bring you there. and sometimes the Lord will make you look and look, until your faith has been tried, until you know exactly where to find that person or the person will find you! Everything always works out! It is beautiful and this did not happen by chance! This was the work of the Lord!

Until Next Week

Hermana Arnold

Always Growing...Always!

Hermana Arnold and Hermana Ayer

The mission is pretty difficult, getting used to missionary life and the language. The people are pretty nice, although, it stresses me out sometimes when we are at the church and their are a lot of Latinas there, and the common thing to do before and after you greet them is you kiss their cheeks...seriously, I am not used to that! Latinas are very touchy and loving...haha its wonderful, they are so full of charity!

The language is still difficult but Hermana Ayer is helping me a lot! She is like an older sister, she is the best senior companion ever! I think with her help, I will be able to have the language down in 3 months!

The spirit is amazing, I have never felt its presence this strong before! I have learned that the spirit talks to me in inspirations and ideas. I never know beforehand if that is what they are, but the answer always comes after. I am able to detect good and bad spirits, just by looking at them! It seriously is a super power!

knowing the scriptures has been the most wonderful asset for me on the mission! I may not understand completely what others say, but by the look on their face and the few words that I do catch , the spirit tells me thier needs and exactly what scriptures they need to hear. I may not know the language very well, but I do know the language of the spirit!

Apparently smiling is not something Ecuadorians do in pictures

We had 1 baptism and conformation this last Saturday. His name is Eduardo and he is 14 years old. We call him the Karate Kid because he takes Karate lessons and jujitsu and he strongly resembles the Karate Kid. He is seriously is muy Chévere! ( That is Cool in Spanish) He has such a gift to understand the gospel and he is so responsible! We are very happy for him and we believe that he will always have a stong foundation in the church.

The past few weeks we have been praying specifically for a family of 3. We haven't had much success because we are both new in the area, we are still getting used to know the members. Sometimes it is really hard to hope, but the Lord leads us along. One night we had 20 minutes left to go back to the Casa, and so we decided to find more people to teach. We were walking down one street and we both felt prompted at different times to turn down a certain street. The street was emanating with the spirit! So we turned at this street not knowing why. We walked still not knowing, we were both asking,"spirit, where do you want us to go?" At that moment we were planning which houses we felt we needed to visit and we wanted to know the name of this street. We saw a family walk out of thier house and asked them what the name of the street was and the cross streets. They told us the name was Rosenda Savilles. We thanked them and went about our business. While we spoke to them, I had the strongest feeling that we needed to teach them! I realized they are the family of 3 we have been looking for!

I never cease to learn that the only way we can be receptive to the spirit is by being good girls or good boys and being obedient! Obedience brings blessings, but Exact obedience brings miracles! I know that that is true! I cant wait to publish peace to the people who have been waiting to hear the gospel  their whole lives! I know that my savior lives and am so grateful for the atonement, I truly am nothing without him! The gospel is true!

Hermana Arnold

First Week in Ecuador!

I'm sorry I do not have pictures yet, it is not as safe to take pictures because of robbers...it is definitely different here! My companion's name is Hermana Ayer, she is super cool and she has a year in the mission field! She is fluent in Spanish and she is super focused! She is from New Hampshire and she is 22 years old. She will be returning in June. It has been nice to have a companion who both speaks English and Spanish, I am able to ask her for help whenever I need it and I know that she can relate because we are from the same country.

Hermana Arnold with the group of
missionaries that entered the field with her.

Let me just say that in the coast, it is super hot and humid, but it has its own beauty! There are lots of beautiful tropical flowers and huge trees!! I am in the city of Guayaquil, but our ward is called Centenario. There is more poverty here, and lots of stray dogs and cats. It is definitely different than back at home...I did not realize how lucky we have it in America. The people in Ecuador are super serviceable and giving, even though they do not have a lot, they still always want to give everything they have, it truly is amazing how loving these people are.

People don't speak as clearly here, so it is not only difficult to understand the language, but it is difficult to understand the way they are saying things. I am not going to lie, it has been a challenge for me, and sometimes very discouraging because I want to run before I can crawl. It has honestly been hard to even walk the streets and stay awake because it is so emotionally and physically exerting. I know it will take time and I know that if I am obedient with exactness, I will able to have the gift of tongues and see miracles.

The customs in Ecuador is when you leave or say hello to people you know, you kiss thier cheek, that was very different for me! Also, there are no rules on the road, so people drive on both sides of the streets in both directions, it is kind of funny but also dangerous! We were in a taxi once last week and our driver drove on the left side of the street, and I immediately thought of Jerry Seinfeld, ¨ I would never do that in my car!¨ haha It made me laugh...to kind get through things emotionally, I have had to just laugh about things. These kinds of things happen everyday, and I know that I will soon become more accustom to it!

The ward is kind of small, but they are strong members...with lots of youth! It makes me so happy to see so many young kids, coming to the knowledge of their savior and doing there own missionary work! The people in my ward are wonderful missionaries, they know themselves what ¨ the work of Salvation¨ is. There are lots of young youth that want to serve missions, and they have only been baptized for 2-6 months...that is so cool!

One scriptures that really helped me was a scripture that my friend from the CCM, told me to look up: it is D&C 78:17-18: "Verily, verily I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you; and ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The Kingdom is yours, and riches of eternity are yours. This scripture gave me so much comfort because I know I cant see my success now, but if I wait and I am dilligent, I will be able to love every minute of my mission, and I wont want to return. I know things will get better, and even if I have doubts, I should not doubt my testimony, because I have one, and I know my Savior lives. That is about all I have been able to communicate to people, and I know at times, that is the most important for conversion: it is simply knowing that our Savior died for us and that He lives. I love Him and wish that I could see him, and I know that day will come...I just have to wait

Until next week,

Hermana Arnold

On My Way to Ecuador!

Just wanted everyone to know that I am heading for the airport tonight!!! I seriously can't wait to get out on the field and serve the people in Ecuador! I am so excited to finally start teaching and publishing peace! Please pray for me that my trip their will be safe and my luggage will not get lost!

It was wonderful to have the experience of being in the presence of an apostle, Elder Oaks is very factual and methodical in the way he speaks! He get's the point across! It was so amazing to hear a man who holds all the keys of the Priesthood on Earth to bind the blessings for the CCM! He talked a lot about Preach My Gospel how it was essential for success on the mission, and that member missionary work is vital! He also said that the Lord had plans for the CCM even before we were born...he said the Lord has so much more in store for it! He not only dedicated this place but he blessed all the missionaries leaving from it, that they would not be grieved! So much he said was so sacred, but I know the things he said were inspired for me and all who were there to here. I have more confidence to go out on the field, because I am blessed by a MESSENGER OF THE LORD!  I know this place is a very sacred and I love the people in Mexico, I am going to be sad to leave this place and the people that I have come to know and love! 

I have a testimony of prophets, and I know that they speak directly to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. There is no hesitation in their voices, they bear witness of them! They are special witnesses of Christ! I know that faith is more than believing, it is acting, and everyday we exercise our faith. I know that God puts people in our lives to help us become better, to learn to have unity and to learn to be patient with others. I also have learned to be patient with the Lord's timing, the Lord is building and shaping us, we just haven't seen his master piece in the finish yet. I also know that obedience to the commandments of God will bring endless blessings, and if we truly open our eyes to his small tender mercies, we will begin to see the miracles in our lives! I know that Joseph Smith is a true prophet and that he restored the church on Earth. We have to fullness of the Gospel, and the Lord is hastening His work, I am so exceedingly joyful to be apart of it, I cant wait to see the light come into people's lives and give them the hope that they always wanted but never could find. I can't wait to fall in love with the people in Ecuador! This is going to be the best year and half of my life!

Wish me luck!