La Luz de Su Amor

Well, we had 2 more baptisms this week! what a wonderful day it was. Children are so sweet an innocent-- I have always loved working with them and I really understand why Jesus Christ always invites us to become as little children.

I know that Heavenly Father watches over us. When we are obedient, He makes everything happen in a way that always leads us to happiness. Sometimes the journey is a little rocky, and we may not understand why certain things happen the way that they do. But I know and testify that God has His hand in everything that happens in the lives of His faithful children. The experiences may be hard and may really test our strength and faith. Sometimes we feel as though we cannot make it through life´s tests, and we don´t see the light at the end of the tunnel. But have faith and trust that there IS a Light. There is an End. There is Help and there is happiness waiting for us, just over the horizon. Jesus Christ is Him who awaits us. I firmly believe that the harder our experiences here in this life, the greater our reward in Heaven will be when we return back to the presence of our Father. I am grateful for the challenges I face in this life because I know that they are preparing me to receive that eternal give of life eternal with my Older Brother and Savior, Jesus Christ. Enos 1:27

I love you all! See you "ya mismo".

-Hermana Busath

¡Que Chévere!

Okay, tons of pictures! Here`s a little recap of what happened the last couple weeks in the pictures...

-Making lemon juice... oh yeah it`s called lemonade in English haha

-Saw Hermana Nazer and practically my whole group from the MTC at Consejo de Líderes!

-Hermanas Ynoñan, Macahuachi, and Ureta the night I left for Machala from Huancavilca. 

Hermana Ureta was really sad :( haha

-The 4 of us from Huancavilca with our awesome zone leaders, Elders Arriaga and Gates, in the bus station when I was leaving

-Me with the nurses from my zone

-Hermanas Llacsa, Peralta, me, and my compy Hermana Roncal with our Ecuador fútbol team shirts that we bought

-Me washing my clothes by hand. Every week. It`s torture. Thankfully I have a loving companion who usually comes to the rescue as my fingers start to bleed... haha! Kidding, mom! (Not really. They really bleed.)

-Me and my darling companion HErmana Roncal. SHe is awesome. We have so much fun together! ONe of the best companions I`ve had. I really love her so much. She`s from Peru :)

-I took a picture of something I`m pretty sure doesn`t exist in the states. Here, the people hang huge chunks of meat, sometimes whole dead chickens, and other parts of animals, in their little stores, or in their cart and just leave it there all day. The flies really love it. It`s pretty gross. This one is pretty clean-looking. I love Ecuador!

-I had a little photo-shoot in a dress that Hermana Paralta lent me. Definitely going to Centro (the center of Machala) to the sketchy huge markets today to buy some dresses. THey`re awesome. Happy birthday to me! 

-Hermana Balladares, me, Hermana Roncal, and Hermana Paralta. Great day :)

-BAPTISM! Mayra Jaramillo got baptized this week. She`s 14 years old and her mom is less-active. She is such a sweet girl and the baptism was awesome. We had tons of youth there, and it was just a really special day. I love Saturdays! Baptism days! :D

In other news, I am almost at 10 months on the mission! Crazy! Like my mom said, it`s going to go by so fast from here. I just know it. I`m going to take advantage of every minute I have left here. I really love being able to serve my Savior in such a dedicated way. I know that He lives and can change lives if we give up our will to follow His. 

Love you all very much!!!

-Hermana Busath

PICTURES!!

Hola!!
Okay, so I am sending some pictures today and they take a long time to upload. I don`t have time to write about each one, but there is a historical site about Christopher Columbus here in Machala, and we took a bunch of pictures there. Then here`s the story of the other set of pictures with all the artifacts: Here in South America, and in a few of the areas I`ve been in, they have found a ton of ancient stuff, like from the time of the Mayans and the Lamanites and stuff. Well, there`s a guy in our ward who`s awesome who collects that kind of stuff, and here you can buy it pretty cheap, the real deal. Well, this guy has a bunch of real stuff but also a bunch of knock-offs that look real. The picture of the box is a box full of knock-offs and a few real pieces. It`s incredible his collection. So, he let us pick a few to take home :) In the picture of me on the floor holding one of them is an artifact from 7000 years ago, and that`s not even the oldest piece he has. It`s incredible. And he has a bunch of books about the history of the Book of Mormon and where these places acually are. And this guy has a friend who owns a whole bunch of land in the middle of nowhere that has like ancient ruins and thrones of kings and like cities of these ancient people, but this guy doesn`t tell anyone about it because the state will come and take all the artifacts and put them in the museums. Or something like that. Well, he said that after the mission, when my parents come down or whoever else, we`re all invited to go there! He went and brought back a slab of stone from a throne that they found on this land. Seriously, it`s awesome.

And the picture at the table is of a ton of real artifacts that he has there at the house. I am just amazed by this kind of stuff. TOtally had nightmares that night of Lamanite attacks, but totally worth it ;) And  I learned that one part of my area in Aurora, called Verheles, is all built on a huge ancient cemetary. Totally makes sense with some of the creepy things that happened there...

Oh yeah, and I had transfers on Tuesday! I am back here in Machala! This time I`m in the ward Florida. It`s awesome. My new companion is Hermana Roncal. She`s great. We have a lot of fun :) So now in my mission I`ve been to Machala, Guayaquil, Machala, Guayaquil, and now I´m back in Machala. NOT sure if I`ll ever make it to Cuenca, Loja, Naranjal, or los Galapagos. We`ll just have to wait and see! OH and I completed 9 months, half of my mission, last week :) We took great pictures. I`ll probably have to send them next week. It takes FOREVER to upload pictures here. :(  More pictures and more stuff next week.

This gospel is amazing. It`s true because it works. It makes people happier. It brings families together and unites them for eternity. It protects us. It saves us. It really works. There are no flaws; it`s perfect because it`s the gospel of our Perfect Example, Jesus Christ.

One more thing, thank you for your prayers. I know that especially those in my family have been praying for me recently for all that has happened, and I am just so grateful for all your prayers. I am doing a lot better, and I know that I couldn`t have healed as quickly without the prayers that were given in my behalf. 

I love you all so very much!

-Hermanita Busath

Lost in His Love

First of all, thank you everyone for your great birthday emails! I`m sorry that I don`t have time to respond to everyone, especially this week (more on that later). I really can feel your love and am so grateful to have been blessed with such wonderful family and friends. My birthday was great! I`m hoping to send home some pictures today. Pedro (WHO GOT BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!) and his wife cooked us lunch on my  birthday! They decorated the house with balloons and had a cake and it was great. I thought he was going to make us steak, but it ended up being fried beef with rice and beans, which is steak to these people. It`s the preferred food by almost everyone here. When I eat it, I feel sick all day. Haha, funny how that works. But it was so sweet of them to cook us lunch. Then we went to the doctor for my feet (which are doing better!) and we taught some lessons and then went to a really humble and sweet family`s house for another batch of cake. Brother Aguilar (the dad) bought a new disk for his video camera and was filming the entire night, so excited to be able to send the video to my parents. Wellllll, turns out he didn`t know how to work the camera and wasn`t filming anything from the night. It was so sad when he realized what had happened. So we filmed a little bit after that, but everyone had left and it was really sad. My companion smashed my face into a cake, so at least there`s that. ;) I hope he sends you the video, mom and dad!

Then on Saturday Pedro got baptized! It was so wonderful! He gave an awesome testimony in his baptism. He used to drink a LOT, but has really repented and now he was baptized for remission of his sins. There is such a powerful Spirit in the baptismal service of someone who has changed so much and who finally receives forgiveness of all the sins they have committed.

Then the next day, he received the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and then he bore his testimony in testimony meeting. It was awesome. And my other convert, Carlos, blessed the sacrament. I felt so overjoyed to see both of them there doing such great things in their lives, and having changed so much for the better. Through Jesus Christ, we are able to overcome all sin and all temptation and return to live with our Father in Heaven. What a blessing it is to be able to share that wonderful news with others every day.

So today I have less time than normal because we aren`t allowed to be out of the house for much time. Why? I`ll tell you why. There is a holiday here called Carnaval. I`m sure you can find cool videos on YouTube of this holiday. So pretty much, everyone just throws stuff at the people in the streets. And there isn`t much you can do to avoid it. Usually they just throw water, but sometimes they go a little crazy and start throwing chalk, paint, eggs, mayo, and other really gross things... needless to say, we`re stuck in the house for 3 days until it all passes.

BUT we did have leadership meeting today in the mission! So we headed over to the stake center in Centinario and had an amazing meeting with President Torres. I got to see Hermana Nazer and lots of my friends from the mission who are in leadership positions too! The biggest thing that I learned today is that at the end of my mission, it`s not going to matter as much to me how many baptisms I had, but how much I have changed to become like Jesus Christ. It really is true what they say, "You`re biggest convert on your mission is yourself." Here in South America, there are so many baptisms that happen so fast, that it sometimes becomes the focus and the most important thing it seems. But I have really re-learned what misisonary work really is, and it has helped me a lot to be able to feel accomplished as a missionary. I can`t wait to be able to bear my testimony at the end of my mission about how much the Lord has changed me as I have lost myself in serving His children. That is my goal, at least. And that is my focus. I really understand so much better now how it is that God takes care of me as I lose myself in serving others. I am just trying to put all my trust in my Father in Heaven and love others as I share with them what is most important in my life-- the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that He lives, and that by learning of Him and following His example, He is able to change us into what He knows we can be-- what He knows is our potential.

I so wish I could just sit here all day and type away my testimony. But don`t worry, it`s all (mostly) written down in my journal. When I get home, I can`t wait to share ALL that I have learned with you all :) Ahhhh, how sweet is the joy and peace that I feel when I follow the example of our Loving Savior. I invite you all to learn more of Him this week by reading the scriptures and talks given by our prophets and leaders today, then pick an attribute to emulate and practice it for a week. I promise you that you will see good changes in your life. Even if you don`t completely (desorrallar--I forgot that word in English!!) the attribute, Heavenly Father will see your efforts and will bless you. I know that to be true. Have faith, and trust that our Father in Heaven looks after and blesses those who fervently try to follow the example of His Son. As we come to know our Savior, we will find ourselves lost in His love and constant care.

I love you all! Thank you so much for your support and love!

-Hermana Busath

Dedicated Sacrifices

Hallo!! 
Thank you all for the happy birthday messages! It`s been a great past week, and this coming week is going to be awesome because 
1. It`s my birthday on Wednesday!.......
and 2. Pedro is going to be baptized on Saturday!!! 
It`s been an amazing journey working with him. He is so loving and kind. He told us all about his plans to help save all the people with whom he used to drink and stuff. He´s made plans to rent out an apartment and give those people a place to work making tables and chairs and stuff so that they aren`t drinking. And he`s going to talk to them about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and for those who want to change their lives as he has, he is going to introduce us to them. He is a really great man. Oh, and did I mention that he is going to cook us steak and make me a cake on my birthday?? He`s wonderful!!

I have heard that it is not very favorable to tell all the members that it`s your birthday because you end up having to eat 40 cakes on your birthday. Well, that was the plan, but my companion keeps telling everyone, and yeah. We already have like 4 families who are going to make us cake. I just love this ward! But I´m forseeing a "sick day" on Thursday...

This past week has been wonderful. I had been struggling with some things here in the mission, but my new companion Hermana Macahuachi has really helped me to remember how to follow the Savior. I wish I had more time to explain. But just know that as we follow the example of our Redeemer and forgive immediately as He would forgive, we are happier.

I have realized this week, I love making sacrifices for this Celestial Work. I love waking up 20 minutes earlier to boil water so that I can have a warm shower. I love carrying a heavy backpack in the hot sun in 100% humidity. I love dancing around the cockroaches and rats that crawl the sidewalks at night. I love hitting my pillow exhausted every night. I love keeping my scriptures in plastic bags to protect them from the rain. I love hiding everything of value that I am carrying so that it doesn`t get stollen. I love boiling water to drink when we don`t have money to buy bottled water. Do you know why? Because it`s worth it. Every sacrifice is worth it. I know that each sacrifice that I make here brings me closer to my Savior and helps me understand Him better. They help me to love Him more and recognize how great is His Sacrifice for me. Without sacrifice, I wouldn`t be able to show my love and devotion to Heavenly Father-- how much His gospel and His Son mean to me. I am willing to sacrifice. I am willing to be uncomfortable. I am willing to forget myself and focus on the people I am here to serve. I really love my Savior and I know that He lives and really helps us in difficult times. It`s okay to sacrifice because the reward is even greater than the cost. I really know that to be true. I am learning it more and more every day. I love being a missionary, and I love being able to make such dedicated and valid sacrifices every day to help build up God`s kingdom among His children.

Love, Hermanita Busath

PICTURES!          DISFRUTE! (ENJOY!)

1. Selfie. Tan and lovin` it.

2. Selfie with the compie on Valentine`s Day.

3. Huge chunk of watermelon that Pedro gave us. He ALWAYS gives us food. 

Word of advice- don`t visit him after you`ve eaten and Ecuadorian lunch ;)

4. A tiny banana. There are a bajillion types of bananas here. 

And tons more different kinds of fruit. I`m in heaven here.

5. A picture of a picture of 2 of the other girls I live with, at a zone meeting. 

Hermana Ureta and Hermana Ynoñan.

LOCOTROCIOUS!!

[I could not open the 2 photos she sent this week, sorry.]

Hola!

First of all, I had transfers this week! Well, not really. I just got a new companion. We actually just switched the companionships of our ward. So now my companion is Hermana Macahuachi. :D She`s great. She is always very happy and optimistic, and tries to look at the good in everything. I know I am going to learn a lot from her!

WE HAD A BAPTISM THIS WEEK!!! It was my first baptism since December 7th. His name is Carlos Macias. It was probably the most stressful night of my life. Let me just tell you a little bit of why... Here`s a little glimpse to the life of a missionary in South America...

2 of the sisters stayed at home because Hermana Ureta and Hermana Ynoñan stayed home sick. So it was my companion and me, but basically just me because she was sick, running the whole night. Hermana Ynoñan had a great idea to have a Book of Mormon theater at the church. Cool. We didn`t plan who was going to lead the night, who was going to be the MC, and every other detail of the activity. Not cool. So that was my job. And while running the show, I also had to plan and secure the baptism that was going to start at 8:00 because Carlos didn`t decide to be baptized until the afternoon. Woot!

The activity was planned to start at 6:00, but it`s just custom here that no one shows up for the first 30 minutes. So we planned to start at6:30. Guess what time we started? 7:30. Remember what time the baptism was going to start? Yeah. So during the activity we literally would run up to the front and announce the next act, run outside to greet Carlos and calm him down, run back up and announce the next act, write the program for the baptism, announce the next act, make sure the food for the baptism was all set up, announce the next, and so on. It was LOCO.

But somehow the baptism started at exactly 8:00. I don`t know how it was possible. It really was a miracle from the Lord. The baptism was great, and I was able to relax a little bit. In the baptismal font, he told the brother who baptized him that he wasn`t sure if he wanted to do it. He almost ran away, haha. But in the end, he decided it was the best decision for his life. Attached is a picture of him hugging his mormon girlfriend, who is scheduled to leave for her mission to Peru on my birthday.

So we got home about 9:20, and we started to plan. But my companion was acting really strange and started to cry. I asked her what was wrong, and long story short, she was having heart attacks. So yeah, to the emergency room we went. We got home at about 1 AM, then in the morning went to take our investigators to church, and had church at 8 AM. I was just a little tired. But anyway, that`s just the life of a missionary! Fun fun!

Oh yeah, and last Monday, after I wrote the letter home, I went to the hospital with my then-companion, Hermana Ureta, for the night. Turns out she had dengue fever. We`ve all been visiting the doctor a lot this week, with my compy and Hermana Ureta. It`s been a crazy loco week!

I wanted to include a couple other pictures, but this computer is too slow. Next week :)

The week our investigator, Pedro, who used to drink a lot, said to us, "You both are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. You saved me. I really consider you my sisters... No, I consider you my daughters." Awww it was so sweet! I am so privileged to be able to work with such a loving and caring person.

I know that our Heavenly Father values each of us as His special sons and daughters. I have learned this week that I can be happy with small changes toward the Savior. I can be happy with little steps of faith, little acts of service, and little resists of the temptations of Satan. I know that the Lord is happy when we follow Him, even if our steps are seemingly insignificant. They are significant to Him.

Love,

Hermana Busath

A Missionary's Valentine

Hello! I had a lot to do in my hour of computer time today, so again I won`t be able to write a lot. But here are some pictures. The gospel of Christ is true. He lives. His teachings and love change lives. The basic gospel principles that we all know fromSunday School really do guide us to happier lives if we live them.

We are working with 2 people who are preparing for their baptisms, Carlos Macias and Pedro Criollo. Carlos will be baptized this weekend (WAHOO!!!!!) and the story of Pedro is incredible. The first day we visited him, he was completely drunk. The day before, his daughter got married, but no one invited him because they didn`t want their drunk father at the wedding. THey just showed up with a bouquet of flowers and told him what had happened. It was really sad. We shared some of the gospel with him, comitted him to stop drinking, and when we came back 2 days later, he hadn`t had any alcohol at all. He completely changed. Now, 1.5 weeks later, he still hasn`t had any alcohol. His life is better. He is literally SO excited to read the Book of Mormon and really looking forward to his baptism on the 22 of February. Oh, it is wonderful. I really find joy in seeing changes like this in the lives of Heavenly Father`s children. This is the reason I came on the mission.

I love Ecuador, and I love the people here. Sometimes it`s scary, sometimes it`s hard, and sometimes it`s a little frustrating. But I try to find the best of every day and lose myself in this work. As we forget about our needs by serving others, Heavenly Father personally cares for all the needs we have. I know that to be true. I have really lived that here in the mission. The Good Shepherd knows every one of His sheep, and He cares for us as we care for each other.

All my love,

Hermana Busath

 The view from our window at night

 I saw Hermana Nazer!!! I love her!!!

My zone with President Torres

Me with President Torres, my mission president!

Some little notes I made for myself and some companions

My zone, Huancavilca

Huancavilca, foto loco

A member family that we work with a lot (the old man is our ward mission leader)

The bishop´s family and us 4 missionaries who are here in Huancavilca ward. His name is Bishop Chavez

 A cute shirt I bought for myself for Valentine`s Day today! (back side of the shirt) Not actually sure if that holiday exists here because I haven`t heard anything about it yet. But it exists for me! 

Yahoo for the most awkward Valentine´s Day I´ll ever have------as a missionary! ;)

Snapshots

Angela said she had no time to write this week because the photos took SO LONG to upload. I guess the computer she uses is an old one, so frustrating! 

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Hola!

Well, here are a bunch of pictures from the last couple of weeks! The mission is so great. You really learn how to follow and serve our Savior Jesus Christ. I know He lives, and I know that Heavenly Father watches over each of us. Through our faithful prayers and righteous actions, He blesses us with the things we desire from Him, if they are righteous desires. What we do every day-- share the Plan of Salvation, teach His children about their Savior, and invite others to come unto Christ-- is the best way I know to understand and follow the example of Jesus Christ. God is so involved with this work, because these are His children.

1. "Hello from Ecuador!"

2. I know missionaries aren`t supposed to give besos, but I just couldn`t help myself...

3. I used my raincoat for the first time last week... It was raining cats and dogs! And the houses here don`t have raingutters, so the water just pours down into the street, and the kids go wild. Seriously, it`s like a waterpark on the first Saturday of Summer. I had a little fun too... ;)

4. Our apartment building where we live here in Huancavilca.

5. We had an awesome surprise party for an elder whose birthday was on Saturday.

6. ...and then the elders smashed his face in the $25 cake. But it was awesome. Our zone is so great. I seriously love all the missionaries there. And I really love being the sister leader. It`s such a great experience to focus on other people and how the Savior would treat them, as their Leader. I have been so blessed to have the trust of the Lord here in the mission to watch over His sister missionaries here. We had our Leadership Meeting of the mission again today... more on that later.

7. My companion, Sister Ureta, and me :)

8. The view from our apartment the other night.

9. A white rose that I found laying on the ground outside of the house of a really "strong-willed" lady. There was a lot of contention in her home and in her voice and she was very confused about the doctrine of Jesus Christ, but I stayed calm, kept the Spirit with me, testified plainly and directly, and we left. Then I found this rose outside. I know it was Heavenly Father manifesting to me that He recognizes my efforts with His children and that He is with me.

10. I SAW HERMANA NAZER TODAY!!! WOOOHOOO!! It`s so awesome that we`re both sister leaders and we get to see each other every month now. I really love her.

11. My two zone leaders that are so great, Elder Arriaga and Elder Gates. They have really helped me through some difficult things this transfer, and I am so grateful to have them as my leaders. Oh, and Hermana Cambal is there too :P

12. One of my trainer, Hermana Cambal, and me. It was great to see her, too, at the Leadership Meeting :)