Tiernas Misericordias

FAMILIA!!!!!!!!!!

Well, this week was a rollercoaster, if I do say so myself. First of all, let me just give the good news first, WE HAD TWO BAPTISMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CRISTINA Y KARI SE BAUTIZARON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Such a miracle.

At the beginning of the week, we weren´t sure if they were actually going to get baptized or not. They're both overage, but their parents still said they wanted to give their permission if they live in their house, which I respect. I´m sure you, mom and dad, would want to know what I´d be doing, and still have to give your consent. So I was doubting a little, but I studied every day in my personal study to know how to help the parents come to understand the importance of baptism and the truthfulness of the church. My compañera and I even did prácticas con los líderes de zona to practice what we would do to help them. Thursday came around and we were sick of hearing, "No, we haven´t talked to our hijas yet, we´ll gave the answer tomorrow." So we said, no, today is the day. They are going to give permiso and God is going to change their hearts miraculously. That day, we get a call from Cristina saying she had talked to her parents that morning, and that they wanted to talk to us to let us know their decision. We were feeling a little uncertain, but we went to talk to them. At first, the mom wasn´t took excited to give permiso, but as the dad was talking, he came to say that he felt that it was a good decision for his daughters and that if they wanted to get baptized, él les apoya completamente. WHAAAAAAT????????!!!!!!!!! We were so excited! And right in that moment, the Spirit came in and testified that what he had just concluded was right and good and true! It was incredible!! He wrote a note to his daughter that said, "Cris, te amo. Está bien que se bauticen. Todos vamos a prepararnos como ustedes." So sweet!!!!!!!!!!! Their family doesn´t talk much because the parents work a lot, but this has truly brought their family close together. The baptism was beautiful, and we had the help of many miembros.

Then Sunday came along..........all was good and nice and tranquilo, and we were excited to have the confirmación. We went to the house of the Familia Puma to make sure they were awake, which they were, and then we left to go pass by for other people who were planning on going to church. Then we went back to their house at about 8:45, ready to head out and go to church. We knocked, we called, we yelled, and they didn´t come out. Finally Kari came outside for a second to try and open the door, but when she went back in to get the keys, she didn´t come out. We waited and prayed and waited and prayed some more for about 45 minutes, wondering what God´s will was in all of this. It turned out that the mom had gotten angry that morning at some little thing and didn´t want anyone in the family to go to church. Satan works sooooooo hard to stop us from reaching our potencial and making sacred covenants with our Heavenly Father! He knows they´re sooooo important, that he will do whatever it takes to keep us from making them and having the spirit with us. Evenutally, with a lot of faith, they came out, and the whole family, minus the mom came with us to church. They got confirmed and it was beautiful. It was a battle, but we won. Well, God won. And He always wins. And will win forever.

Happy Memorial Day, and a rabbit rabbit on Sunday. Also, dad, both our baptisms have your birthday, but one was born in 1994, and the other 1995. Also, isn´t it weird that the last futbol mundial lwas when Will was on his mission? And now the next one is happening when Parker and I are both on ours. Cool.

Parker, I had all those EXACT same feelings/thoughts when I started the mission. It was so fun to read your email and reflect on my first few weeks here. At least you don´t have to wash your clothes by hand....or do you? Also, where the heck in Brazil is Juiz de Fora?? Everyone asks me, but I have no idea.


This lady cut up a whole chicken right in front of us this week. My comp was enjoying it...mas o menos.

This is the true church!!!!!!!!! Go to church and renew your baptismal coventants!! The spirit will tell you all things what ye should do!!!!!! 2 Nefi 32:5

I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Hermana Ayer

P.S. Mas amor...for all of you.

Domingo de Milagros

FAMILIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I don´t have much time to write this week because I had to print out a talk for a lady we´re teaching, but I´ll make this short, sweet, and to the point.

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FUTURE ÑAÑA!!! I hope the 21st is an awesome day!!

Second of all, this week was a week of miracles!!!!!! Guess how many investigators we had in church?? Guess! THIRTEEN!!!!!!!!!!!! 13!!!!!!!!!!! It was a miracle! La familia Puma all went!!!!!! Well, except for one of their daughters because she had to do practicas because she´s going to be a nurse. It was such a miracle! The whole family loved it, and I was so grateful to be able to see them all their! Now the parents just have to be excited and ready to change and accept the restored Gospel, as well!

This week, I cut my compañera´s hair. It was so fun! The first time I´ve cut someone else´s hair. And it actually turned out pretty well! She was pleasently pleased...as was I.

On Friday, we went on a hike. It didn´t mean to be a hike, but we went to visit a menos activa family, and it turns out that they don´t have an actual road to their house, just a random path that goes past corn, animals, other houses, barbed wire, dogs, etc. It was quite exciting, and it was lucky that the family wasn´t there when we got to the top, because it de repente started raining, and we had to get down pretty quick, or else we would have been mud sliding down. When we got at the bottom, though, we ran into a woman who needed us right when she saw us! Her son has been missing, and she´s lost almost all hope of finding him. I know that the restored gospel can help her, so we shared scriptures of aliento and love. And we gave her a book of mormon. There was a noteable change in her countenance at the end of our encounter. THe gospel changes lives.

Funny quote, my zone leader this week said in our Reunion de Distrito, "When I think of humility, one scripture always comes to mind. 1 Nephi 4:31."

I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Hermana Ayer


P.S. Alma 13:27-29
Alma 26:12,16,35-37
Alma 29:9.10,13-17

Pictures!

The first picture is a llama sweater I bought last Monday.  It´s so cozy!!!!!!

The second is my zone here in Cuenca...well, it was my zone.  3 missionaries got transferred since then.

The third is my compañera´s and my planeamiento semanal.  So fun.

Happy Mother's Day!

FAMILIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can´t believe it was just AYER that I talked to all you AYERs! It seems like time has flown faster than ever. I don´t want my life to go by as fast as these past few months have...and how fast the next few months will go. Christian, I am so proud you´re keeping up the family Mother´s/Father´s Day talk tradition. It´s a good tradition. They probably always call on one of us to talk because we have such good parents and they want the speakers to say uplifting things that help everyone to be as good a parent as one of ours. Happy Mother´s Day, Mom!!!!!!! Thanks for being the best mom ever, and for letting me serve a mission, and for letting me grow up with the Gospel, and for teaching me correct principles and letting me govern myself...I hope that´s gone alright for all of us. haha Just know how much I love you!!

This week, a recent convert found a menos activo from Peru who´s living with a lady who´s not a member of the church. The problem is that they´re not married, but they went to church on Sunday and absolutely loved it! I hope they can figure out their life and live the Law of Chastity!! 4 Nefi 1:10-11

I also met a man from NH on Friday! He was wearing a Southern New Hampshire University sweatshirt, and I had to stop and talk to him. He wipped out the cigaretts right when we went to talk, but he seemed fairly normal...besides the fact that he has a girlfriend who doesn´t speak English and he doesn´t speak Spanish...oh, and his girlfriend is LDS! Kind of a funny combo.

El Presidente Torres put a lot of emphasis this week on the importance of our albedrío. Our decisions not only affect ourselves, but EVERYONE around us! It´s such a great and important gift, but we have to use it wisely.

Maria came with us to visit a family and her testimony was so strong! She said the closing prayer on Sunday and it was beautiful! She went to the temple on Saturday and wants to be a temple worker!! Ahhh!! She´s awesome!

The familia Puma´s daughters are getting baptized this Saturday! They´re so excited! Pray for them!!

That´s all I have time for, but I was so happy to meet you yesterday, Stephanie! Thanks for being a great addition to our family!! I love you!! Parker, rock Brasil!!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!! THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!! CRISTO VIVE!!!!!!!!!!


Hermana Ayer

P.S. I love you!!!!!!!!!!

Upsies and Downsies

Familia,

Just so you are all aware, I might shoot this keyboard from being so annoying and

hard to type on. Shoot, might not be appropriate, so I´ll just keep doing what I´m doing, which is type has hard as my fingers possibly can.

Getting that aggression out of the way, I´ll get on to say, that I CAN'T BELIEVE PARKER IS IN BRASIL!!!!!!!!!!! It´s so nice to finally get to tell people that he´s there and not have to explain the whole visa-waiting thing, because believe it or not, it´s kind of a hard concept for people here. I also can´t express how much joy it gives me to say that William is engaged!! I just get happier and happier every day that Will and Stephanie are going to make this step in their lives. It´s even better that I´m going to be there! Also, I want to wish you all a Feliz Cinco de Mayo! Not a holidaiy here in Ecuador, but my companion and I are still celebrating it up and eatingth e candy I got in my package! (Thanks, padres! It finally came!)

 AAaaaaaand............HAPPY MOTHERS´ DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can´t believe time has already passed for me to be speaking to you again! Timeflies and I can´t wait to be able to hear your voices and express my testimony in words in vez de writing, becausethis is rather dificult right about now. English and keyboard issues.....THe church is still true, though!

This week, we had a baptism!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Maria is an extremely blessed and prepared daughter of God. Her baptism was beautiful, and the chico who baptized her is a recent convert and was so excited to baptize. The water was cold, but they still feltth e warmth of the Spirit. She bore her testimony in her servicio bautismal, andt he Spriit was so strong! She said that she wants to be an instrument in God´s hands to help all His children know the truth and that she wants to be una persona útil en la Iglesia!! She's also going to the temple this Saturday with the ward! So great!! :)

The familia Puma has been doing really great. Yesterday, they all came to church with nice Sunday attire! The children are 20, 19, 15, and 14. They have another younger sister who´s 9 and tyhey live with both their parents, but they´re a little bit more duro. Their cousins are members. THey love church so much! In Relief Society, we talked about For the Strength of Youth, and when we visitedthem inthe afternoon, they asked usa bout modesty and music because they have desires to change!! The oldest daughter also had a piercing under her lip, and she took it out on Sunday!

My companion and I seriuosly have been so blessed to be teaching these people. Keep praying for Laura that her heart can be softened andth at she can readthe Book of Mormon. Pray that we can alsofind newpeople to teach!!

I love you all so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The church is true! Christ leads it! He LIVES and LOVES us!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Hermana Ayer


P.S. I guess, I'll just leave the rest for Sunday.

Día del Trabajador

FAMILY!!!!!!

First of all, I would like to wish in advance a happy Rabbit Rabbit and May Day this Thursday (which also happens to be the Día del Trabajador here in Ecuador...which is ironic, because it´s the day all the workers stay home and sleep or go on vacation or something), and a HALFY BIRTHDAY to Christian on Sunday. May the Forth be with you.

This week was incredible and passed SO FAST!!!!!! I´ll start with the miracle people we´re teaching:

MARIA. Maria is a woman who showed up to the Stake Conference two Sundays ago, and said she wanted to get baptized. She´s from here, but the past few weeks was visiting her sister on the coast. Her sister is a member, but she didn´t know that. When she was with her sister, the missionaries came over and began to teach her. She asisted church twice over there, and loves it. She loves the Book of Mormon. She reads Teachings of the Prophets of the Church in her free time. She reads Gospel Principles in her other free time. And reads the Book of Mormon every night for a minimum of 15 minutes. She already marked all the books in her LDM, and highlighted all the chapter headings, etc. She is incredible. She is prepared. I honestly don´t know how I am so blessed to be the one to teach her. She´s lived in Cuenca for so long, but the missionaries never found her. Her sister has been a member for a while, but she never knew. I don´t know what Hermana Price and I did right to deserve such a great blessing. I am so grateful to my Father in Heaven to have this chance to be entrusted with one of His most precious daughters. He loves us so much! I know He is a God of miracles. Maria will be baptized this Saturday. Pray for her to vencer la tentación. Satan works hard during the week before a baptism. But God is always stronger. :)

FAMILIA PUMA. This family was a referencia de una familia de mi old ward in Tomebamba. The oldest daughter attended the conferencia de estaca and loved it and told her whole family that they should go. There are 5 children in the family, and all are above the age of 8! The parents are a little more duro, and haven´t had the desire to go to church. It´s hard to visit them, too, because the work until 9 pm every day. Que bestia. But I know that they´ll come around. The 4 oldest children (20, 19, 15, and 14) all went to church on Sunday, and it was funny because there´s another church on the same street but Evangelica. They accidentally went inside that church, then realized that they didn´t feel the same spirit, so they left and looked for the Church of Jesus Christ, and when they walked in felt instant peace. The Spirit is real. All the children have a baptismal date, and love the church. The oldest daughter said that they´re going to be an example for their parents and that with time, their parents will come to church and be baptized, too. What faith!! I know it´s true, too! God wants us to return to His presence como FAMILIAS!! Not alone.

LAURA. Laura was ALSO a referencia. By the Stake President. She´s his work compañera, and is going through some really hard times in her life. She loves going to church, and she loves the Book of Mormon, but she can´t let the Catholic Church go and be baptized like Jesus Christ. The more she reads and prays, she´ll get her answer. Pray that she can get an answer. She needs the renewal of baptism in her life. Like the soldiers who killed our Savior in Hechos 2:37-41. Arrepentíos y sed bautizados.

The best part of this week, was having a visit from ELDER UCEDA!!

It was so awesome! I led all the music for the meeting, and the special hermana choir. It was great. He is a great leader and speaks with the Spirit. I learned so much, and know I have so much to improve on in my last few months here in the mission, but it´s never too late to change! I wish I had time to write down everything he said, but he talked a lot about the OLD type of missionary who just sees their propósito and thinks BAUTIZAR, and the NEW type of missionary who works with the members to find, teach, baptize, retain, and reactivate--a missionary who really helps people to have a true faith in Jesus Christ.

I love this Gospel and know that we can all return to our Father in Heaven! Be the best missionaries you can and help everyone to come to the truth. If people aren´t going to church, you should feel PAIN, and do everything possible so that they can stay active! This is the only way we can return to God´s presence and enter into His kingdom! He loves us! If we love Him, we will serve His children! Mosiah 2:17.

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Hermana Ayer


P.S. I totally ate it this week and it was hilarious. My companion was dying. Don´t worry, I just can´t walk on flat ground anymore. No harm done.

Cuencur

FAMILIA!!!!!!!!!!!!

Welp, I´m back in the beautiful, cold city of Cuenca. I´ll be honest, I wasn´t really looking forward to being back here in the sierra, but it´s been a great blessing! My companion and I have already seen so many miracles! My companion is Hna. Price from Ogden, UT, and she has 3 weeks in the mission! I´m training still! Yay! I have so many hijas and hijastras, it´s nuts. It´s been so fun to be able to help her to have a good time on the mission and remember why she´s here. The beginning of a mission is really hard (the middle and the end, too, but especially the beginning). It is so important that people love the mission right from the start, or who is going to want to be here for a year and a half? (Or 2 years, for you elderes.)

This week, we´ve been trying to get to know the sector and it´s crazy because we are in the biggest ward out of all of Cuenca. We have two sides with limits, and then one side is the mountains, and the other side is until there´s no civilization. The Obispo said that there are members who live an hour and a half from here. El Presidente doesn´t want us to go over there unless we have an appointment with someone, but I don´t see the chances of us having an appointment an hour and a half away very likely.

This Sunday, we had a stake conference por satelite for all of Ecuador. It was awesome! The people who spoke were Marcus B. Nash, Rosemary M. Wixon, Jeffrey R. Holland, and Richard G. Scott! Hna. Wixon gave all of her talk in English (it was translated), and most of E. Holland´s talk was in English, but he started and ended in Spanish. At the beginning, he said, "No voy a continuar hablando en mi horrible Español. Es terrible. Es horrible." It was so great. Then at the end, he bore his testimony in Spanish, and it was incredible. It was simple, but powerful. I feel like that sometimes. My testimony may be simple, but I hope it´s powerful so the people can feel the truth of this message. He said, "Sin el Evangelio, no tenemos nada. Pero con el Evangelio, tenemos todo--luz, paz, y gozo. El Evangelio y la Expiación son los dones mas grandes en mi vida." I love the Gospel and I love the Atonement. I was so grateful to have that stake conference on Easter, because it helped me to remember the great and atoning sacrifice of my Savior, Jesus Christ. I love Him. I know He died for me, and was ressurrected. I know He lives. He lives!! Elder Scott said that Jesuscristo should be the center of our homes porque se llenará de paz y serenidad. I love the apostles and know they are called of God.

Here, Easter isn´t really a big deal--just Good Friday (Viernes Santo). Kind of sad that the Catholics only want to think about the death of Jesus Christ instead of the resurrection. I´m so grateful that we focus on His life over His death. Thanks to Him we all can live again!

I loved this quote from Gordon B. Hinckley: "Qué grande será el día en que los miembros no solo oren por los misioneros de todo el mundo sino que también pidan al Señor que les ayude para colaborar con los misioneros que están trabajando en sus propios barrios." Work with the missionaries! They need the help! Also, your tarea for this week is to read the quotes at the end of chapter 1 in PMG. [HEBER J. GRANT: love = share the Gospel. GEORGE ALBERT SMITH: exaltation = share the Gospel. DAVID O. MCKAY: missionary work = love in action. EZRA TAFT BENSON: ward spirituality = missionary work of the members. HOWARD W. HUNTER: personal conversion = share the Gospel.]

Random happenings: (1)Guess who I saw this week?? KAYLA SCHVANEVELDT!!!!!!!!

I saw her at the Stake Conference!!!!!! I didn´t have my camera, but she took a picture with her phone. (2) At the Stake Conference, we also received other miracles--including one lady who had listened to the missionaries on the coast and came back here to Cuenca where she lives and wants to be baptized!! God is a God of miracles!!!!!! (3) There´s a family in our ward who is from the U.S. and it was so refreshing to be in the home of an LDS family from the U.S. THeir kids were loco. I felt right at home. :]

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Hermana Ayer

P.S. Happy Earth Day tomorrow.

P.P.S. Elder Uceda comes this Saturday to Cuenca!