Rabbit Rabbit again??

QUERIDA FAMILIA,

I feel like time is just FLYING!! I feel like I JUST said rabbit rabbit, and now I´ll be saying it again on Saturday! Seriously, the mission is a time warp. A great time warp. Also, Mom, I hope you had a great HALFY BIRTHDAY last Thursday!!!! I was thinking about you all day. Also, Will, have a great almost halfy birthday between Friday and Saturday! I hope you´re doing alright! Stay safe!!

This week, my comp and I had some great experiences feeling and following the Spirit. We´ve had a hard time finding new people to teach, and we feel like everyone just wants to stay where they are and not repent. It´s really hard when people don´t repent because our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ and repent! That´s what Christ always did--He invited people to repent. So with all the rejection and lack of repentance, my companion and I were feeling a little down, thinking about what we were doing wrong and what we could do better, and we decided we just need to pray more.

Prayer is the key to having success. Like it says in D&C 42:14, "And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach." We can only teach if we have the Spirit, and we can only have the Spirit if we pray for it with faith. It´s hard to find a secluded area to pray here in Ecuador because there are people on every street with cars passing by, people listening to loud music, dogs barking, babies crying, etc., but we realized that we can´t find people if we don´t pray for them with faith. The Spirit will always lead us to where we need to go, but we have to ask for the direction first. When we put ourselves to pray, we could feel a guiding power every time.

One experience in particular was when we were near our house and it was 8:30. We didn´t have any investigators close to where we live, and we had already visited all the menos activos, so we decided to pray to be led to where to go before we had to be in the house at 9. I looked down a street and noticed how bright it was, but didn´t say anything, and then my companion pointed down the same street and said, "Aquí?" I felt the same assurance that it´s where we needed to go. We could feel the Spirit so strongly out of one house, so we decided to knock. The family who lived there was just on their way out, so we asked them for directions to try and start a conversation. They were headed out right then, but we told them we´d come back and visit them today. After, we felt a warm confirmation that it´s a family God wants us to teach. Today, we´ll go and visit them, and hopefully they can progress. I know Heavenly Father has people prepared to hear this message, we just have to be worthy enought to receive the promptings of where to go.

Also, we had a baptism this Saturday! Eduardo got baptized, and he´s so awesome! He´s the karate kid, by the way. He has lots of friends in the ward, and he just had to go to church and feel that it was true in order to make the necessary changes in his life to accept the Gospel. He´s a great kid and going to be a great missionary someday!

Sorry I don´t have more time, but please know that I love you all! I can´t wait to play with children and hold babies when I get back. Definitely one of the hardest things about being a missionary, but I know God will bless me for my obedience. You are all so wonderful and I´m so grateful to be a part of the same family! Exito en todo!!!!!!!

All my amor,


Hermana Ayer

P.S. My comp is not related to any Arnolds from NH to her knowledge.

P.P.S. All my hijas´ names have started with "Ar": Arellano, Argueta, Arnold. Kinda fun. God definitely has a sense of humor. :]