Happy Week in Ecuador

Hey y'all!!! This week has been the beeeest! Life is great!!!

Monday, We just had a fun time and messed around. Rested. Cleaned. Ate. I thought it was a great use of preparation day :) Then we had a family home evening with a family in the ward. They are great! It always goes great with them.

Tuesday, We had divisions with the sister training leaders. I was with Hermana Bastidas. She's from Ecuador and just a darling. I love the way she teaches with so much love towards the people. It really helped me a lot :) We had a great day and talked to a bunch of people and found 3 of them who are ready to receive the Gospel. It was awesome! The Spirit was so strong. It made me so happy. We also got hot water in our apartment which is awesome! ha ha

Wednesday, we visited those new people that we met on Tuesday and met some cool new people too. It has been going great finding wonderful new people. That night, my companion and I did our weekly planning and companionship inventory and just talked about everything. We were able to start anew and I feel so much better. I feel like I can be myself again. Our personalities are very different so it was a little hard for a while, but I had sister Finley helping me out :) and God of course. He knows what He does. and He has a purpose for everything. 

Thursday. I WAS MEEEEE. I am me!!!!! ahh I love life. We have zone conferences which are great because we see all the progression in all the people being taught and the missionaries, etc. Its so great. We are there with all the missionaries in the zone and its also fun because I'm really good friends with some of those missionaries, but we only see each other on Thursday. From there, we had our lunch with a member. She loves us so much and gave us sushi!!!!!!! ahhhhh it was sooo good!!! :D We had a great lesson with her and left with our hearts and our stomachs full. hahaha from there, we went to an American family's house in the ward  because they invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner. it was the sweetest of them!!! It was amazing because I was thinking....one of the best places to put in practice the teachings of the Savior is in our families because it's an atmosphere of love, unity, and hopefully peace.... but there we all were at the dinner table and the Spirit was just so strong because thats what it was, an atmosphere or love, unity and happiness...peace. I loved it! They made us (the American sisters) feel right at home. They also had a friend over for dinner and we talked and she loves what we believe and wants to know more! :) She is so ready to receive the gospel. yaye!!!!! OMG from there we laughed off every calorie we consumed that night. If only I could describe the things that happened. hahahahaha lets just say...we're all really short and sometimes we have problems. haahahah

The rest of the days were great :) We had wonderful experiences and met wonderful people. Also a sister from the ward who I just want to be best friends with. She is sooooooo the best!! :) She is 23 and has two kids, but is always home taking care of the kids, so she was soooooo happy to have us come by and visit her! :) Have people preparing to be baptised as well as the other sisters in our ward. Good things :)

After starting over with my companion, I have been able to be myself and life has turned back to normal. It was just hard because she is so serious. But I love life and I want all of you to love life too!!! That's why I am here. I want people to feel this happiness that i feel!!!! You guys are awesome. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true. I promise. This life is hard, but its hard because its our time to prepare to return with God :) We´re imperfect and learn from all of our experiences!! I share that with you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

I love you guys and think of you all the time!!!! I hope you all had a happy thanksgiving and have a great week!!! Good luck with finals coming up!!! :) Pray! Pray every day! God will help you. He loves you.

Con amor,

Hermana Tangedal

Feliz Cumplemeses!! 2 months on the mission. Where does the time go?!

This week sped by once again. It was a wonderful week! We had changes last Sunday, but didn't get changed which was nice :)  We met so many wonderful people and enjoyed the week. I'm going to come back ratchet and black because of Sister Finley. Also, we eat so much fried chicken. Its delicious. :) ha ha Well , this week, we had a baptism. Her name is Shesly

. As you can see, from the picture we didn't know how to spell it, so we nicknamed her lil mama...but erased it 2 seconds later. ha ha  we had a good laugh :)   It was awesome. All the ward was at the temple that night, but all the family was able to get there. We started 2 hours late though because we're running on Ecuadorian time and satan really doesn't want people to make covenants with the Lord. The family´s car broke down and they were stuck far away for a long time. Finally, they arrived and we were able to begin :) It was so beautiful, the messages that were shared, the Spirit that was felt, and the testimonies that were born. The family is less active in the church, but they are part of our "crecimiento real" and are slowly coming back. :) They see the blessings in their life as they come closer to God :)

This Sunday the relief society sang in Sacrament and it was beautiful. Even if Sister Finley and I were the only people you could hear...and we were singing alto...and we had so much phlegm in our throats and were so sick. hahahahaha  we have fun. ha ha :) The ward is great. Individually. As a group...they need to learn unity. :/   We´re working on that though! :)  We live right next to the US embassy, so we have like 7 or 8 families from the US and they are awesome :) love them!! 

This week, our quadpanionship break apart and we start working in companion ships. Its a bummer, but it's for the best. We still get much more work done :) I'm excited. Its good now that we know our way around here :)  Life is great! I know I vent sometimes, but I really love the mission. I learn soooo much. I will come back a changed woman. for the better i hope...jhahaha :) and my English will suck! :o    We find our selves asking "how many years do you have?" and questions in English with Spanish grammar all the time. we´re weirdos. hahaha

This week, sister Finley got bit by a dog...on the butt. hahahahaha she only had a little bruise though. The next day, I got bit by a dog on the elbow. He was a frisky dog. he likes duh white meat. hahaha.  That day, sister Finley and I were together while our companions had a lesson just near by. She and I contacted 26 people that night, found 2 new families to teach, and had 4 lessons. It was so good. Unfortunately, we don't get those numbers with our companions, but its OK. We have learned that everyone still learns everyday, no matter how long they have on the mission :) It was so fun. We would go to bus stops and talk to everyone. Find groups of people and meet them all. hahaha. We had a goal to find 2 families. We were in this pueblo, Zambiza, and were like walking down this dirt road...there's no one and nothing. We see way far away a family and were like omg...that's a family! they're getting in the house!! act quick! and sister Finley just yells.... "BUENAS TARDES!!!" and we ran over and found out they are super awesome and were super receptive to have us come over and visit them! :)   

I can testify that we receive so much more blessings and success when our whole heart is in the mission and you exercise charity to everyone. We are given weaknesses to work on them and build them to become our strengths. <<We should all recognize that and enjoy life. God loves each one of us so much and is just waiting to bless us! :) just come to Him. ask Him questions. Pray. He will answer. Its a promise. I know because I have experienced it and see it everyday. I love you all and I pray for you all the time. Stay strong y'all. ªsnaps fingas in Z formationª      The church is TRUE. I share that in the name of Jesus Christ. amen!! !! :)

pics....  

 I loved this talk that helped me greatly this week. Its by President Monson. http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/i-will-not-fail-thee-nor-forsake-thee?lang=eng

my lowest point of the week when i was sooo sick...but still happy!! hahaa

and "lil mama Guerrero" hahahaha I love us. :)

love you!!!

HERMANA TANGEDAL

Time flies when your in Ecuador

WOW! I actually have time to write an e-mail about the last week(s). Weird. Soooooo oh my goodness. So the last time ya'll heard from me, I was in Zabala, (Calderon), Quito  but after too many people being creepy, the president decided for our safety that he would send us to a different area :) And so now I am in El Eden, Quito and I love it!! we are opening up a new area and its crazy, but contacting is so fun and talking to people is great. I have been rejected so many times, but I just remember that the world rejects you if you are not of the world, and we are not of the world. We are in the world, but not of.  They rejected Christ because He was not of the world.   I just remember that I am sharing something that has changed my life and the lives of so many others. The Gospel of Jesus Christ BLESSES our lives SOOO MUCH. I can't even explain it.

 So what has happened this week..... I live in a really nice apartment now ha ha which is a huge change. There is no dust and there are still a bunch of dogs, but I am in the city!!! yaye!! The people are great and I have met people from lots of different places.   In addition to a new place, I tried chicken leg soup.  ummmmm. no comment. its like fat with a bunch of bones. Some people really like it..but I have a hatred for chickens so my opinion was different. but I ate it and was polite :) hahaha of course. Next week, we`re eating worms and "cui" (guinea pig).   Lots of stuff to try here!! hahah   sooo Hna Erika from my last sector was baptized this last Friday and I am sooooooooo happy! She is soooo happy too!! Her husband is getting baptized soon too :) Ahhhh man sooo good!! And crazy story, but IDK. haha soooo there we are walking in <Nayon, a little Pueblo in our area and we saw this Gelateria and were like ommmmmmggggg I need this. So we went in, and the girl behind the counter was wonderful and i seriously know her from SOMEWHERE, I DON'T KNOW WHERE BUT I KNOW HER!!!! AND she was like OMG I KNOW YOU FROM SOMEWHERE TOO!!! but its impossible because she was living in Spain for the past x amount of years and I haven't been to Spain. and I was like maybe you FB stalked my friends from Spain and saw me? Or saw someone who looked like me? and shes like NO!! It's YOU!!! and so we are in agreement that we are friends from somewhere, but not here. My conclusion in the premortal life. Ha ha it was a joke at first, but I really think so, and she is so happy that we came to get gelato because from there we contacted her and taught her about the restoration and she is so excited about the Gospel too!! I just love her. Love her. :) That was a cool story. 

We have been with Hna Finley and Hna Davila the past 2 weeks because they have been showing us around since we are opening the area and its been great. One night we were in Nayon, visiting with some members in their restaurant and one of the sisters was like," hey do you want to go visit this sister", and we were like yeah!! So Sister Finley and I left and went to go visit said sister, but I think we went to the wrong sister´s house. So, there we are walking along and we see Brigitte, a little girl who was recently baptized, and we were like "gurll!! how are you!!?? :)" and she was like good... and I was like, no you're not,  you look so sad. What's wrong? And she started crying and told us that she lost her phone and she can't tell her mom because she'll hit her and she was so scared. So, we're like, OK this is fine we are going to say a prayer! And we had her say it, and then we started looking for the phone. We had the idea to call the phone and look for it, but weren't hearing it anywhere! Sister Finley had the feeling that someone had the phone and we asked Brigitte to retrace her steps and what happened. Then, she mentioned some lady walking by and asking if she had lost something, but she said no, because she was scared. ( this family is super poor and at this moment in the story, we were looking for the phone in a field of trash and lots of times you just don't talk to the people who ask you things)- and so, when she told us that, we´re like OK, that lady has the phone! and so we are like lets call it one more time, and then we'll go ask her.  Then, this group of kids came walking along and we're like" hey do you have a phone?" and the little boys like yeah, let me ask my dad!! and so he ran away and  there we are standing with two 12 year old boys and Brigitte who´s also 12 I think, and we're like, hey are you guys friends!? and they're like No...... and I was, like enemies? and they're like...mm mm.... and  Hna Finley and I "ooooooh girl nuh uh!" and got all defensive about Brigitte ha ha . Then the little boy ran back and was like OK lets look for the phone!!! and he brought two others to look for the phone. 

There we are in cow pie field looking for a phone with 6 little kids. Didn't find it, so we're like OK lets ask the lady ( who happened to be one of the kids moms!!) so we went to the house and guess what! she had found it!! how she found it?....I have NO CLUE. there was the possibility that a cow or a pig ate the phone. and what the heck was the lady doing over there?  whatever....We found the phone and all the kids were like "OMG!!! PRAYERS WORK!!! and they wanted all of our pictures of Jesus and wanted us to go and visit them again.   Yeah they'll totes get baptized :) we talked about how awesome God is and we left them with a prayer. so cute!! I wish I took a picture!! 

A couple days ago, Sister Finley and I went to go check up on a family who is preparing to enter the temple. We really didn't know where to start, then sister Finley shared her preparation and experience in the temple and how she needed to learn how to forgive people and forgiveness and everything.  Then the wife lit up and was soooo interested. We told her we would write down all the scriptures on forgiveness and hope for her, she was stoked!!     We returned two days later and gave her the sheet with the scriptures, she was soooooo happy!!!   yaye for following the promptings of the Spirit :)

Last Monday, we had a family home evening with the Granda family. We had a video planned, but when we got there, we realized they temporarily removed the TV or something, but there was no way that we could watch a movie. So, we just thought alright, lets talk about that Family Proclamation! and so we did, and well, everyone was crying because the Spirit was so strong. I have no idea what I shared, but the husband was so happy to hear it, and so was the wife. It was good, so peaceful, such a joy. When we left, sister finely told me that the last time they came to the family's house, there was something wrong and there was this tension in the house. Before we left, the family was like crying and said that this is the message that they really needed to hear. Sister Finley and Sister Davila were like hmm that is what it was!!!     We had one thing planned and the Spirit led us to teach something else. The exact thing that this family needed to hear. I LOVE THE GOSPEL.

Ha ha, this one is like my favorite! One of the sisters has a hard time with the topic of eternal marriages and marriage in general, because her parents are divorced, and just when all that went down, did everybody dirty. It was messy, and the marriage that the mom is in now is not the best. So, this is why this sister has a hard time with this topic. Coincidentally, the topic of yesterdays lesson in Gospel principles was "Eternal Marriage". So, last week (we all) but her studied it really hard to understand it better, then came yesterday. We're sitting in class, waiting for the teacher, but to our surprise, there was no teacher, so the responsibility fell on this sister to TEACH the lesson. Ha ha ha it was so cool! I have pictures of her in front of the board and the map and pictures of the temple that she drew. She did such a great job! I am sooo proud of her. The Lord is sooo funny. He knows that she has troubles with this topic and somehow she was the one who ended up teaching it. Good times. Great times.  

The same with me. The Lord heard my prayers. I prayed for patience and charity. Two things that I felt I was alright at, but very soon, I found out that I was wrong. My companion Hna Calderon is great. she's from Guatemala and has only been on her mission for 4 months. This is her first time training and opening an area and she gets stressed easily. I CANNNNOOOOOTTTT work when people get stressed out. I can't. CAN'T.    The Lord gave me certain trials these past weeks (and now) that have REALLY been making me exercise and learn patience and charity, I had no idea how much more I really needed to learn patience. But, all is well. It has been probably the biggest help having the other sisters here helping us because we all learn from each other and sister Finley and I can speak English with, which is a DE-stress-er. Ha ha its great!

Everything here is so cheap. I love it! Except for American things and imported things.  The mission is the best thing ever. There are super highs and super lows, but it is essential to have both so we can see the contrast and see the blessings the Lord bestows upon us every.single.minute.  :)   Teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ has helped me so much in my testimony and just understanding the world. The Gospel is 100% true. I can PROMISE YOU THAT. I cant wait to share it with all of my friends when I get back home and even with my family. I have seen the BIGGEST changes in families for the better when we have introduced the Gospel into the families. I have seen lives CHANGE. I have seen my life change. I wouldn't be here sharing this if I didn't KNOW it was true, and we study it so deeply EVERY day and we just learn more and more every day. Nothing falls apart or doesn't make sense or leads to a dead end. It doesn't, because its truth. God LOVES us and this is why He has revealed His Gospel to us, so that we can be happy and return to live with him!! :) I know Christ lives and I know that the Lord wants me to be here , right now. I share this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

I love you all and please write or email me!!!  Sometimes in those lows, I read your e-mails and letters and they make me soooo happy that you actually care to write me and see how I am doing and let me know how you are doing!!! I love them ALLLLLL!! EVERY SINGLE ONE! 

And if any of you know these people, forward them this email and tell them to e-mail me,  because <I love them and want to hear from them!!

Gabriela Davalos

Maria Lydiksen

Brittni Henretty

Libby Frame

Taryn Seymour

Cody Yarbro

all can be found on my facebook friends list   :)

Love you all!!! email me or else. I will vicariously bow and arrow choke you through Scott Long. That's not a threat, its a promise. You can find my e-mail on my Facebook cover photo too and the address. suckuhs.

Love you!!

Subject: 4 Days Makes a Month Out. WHAT!? Such a good week!!
Date: Mon, Oct 21, 2013 at 4:45 PM

Well where to start... hahaha

1) the shower. the showers in my apartment take my breath away. not because of the view...but because we have no hot water and the temp of the water is like jumping in Mona in  the early winter. Its like borderline icy water. hahaha---------   Breaking News-- We have no more water. Like..we just don't have water. hah We don't know what happened, but we've had to go across town to shower at the other sister missionaries house. ha ha ha.

2) Oh my gosh it rains here. it rains so hard!! haha and the storms are so intense that it takes out the power all the time. I LOVE IT!! haha its crazy!

3) the busses and riding the bus is crazy because a lot of the roads are dirt roads and sooo bumpy, and because sometimes we ride the bus when the school kids get out and the busses are absolutely full. like we are standing in there like sardines. Friday I punched a kid in the head on the bus, fell into someones lap twice and smacked my companion in the face twice hahaha. I thougth wow. what is next?  Well, today us six sisters had to go to the offices in Quito and let me tell ya. No comment. getting off the trolley/bus was insane. they don't wait for everyone to get off which is hard because we're like sardines in there. hahah Today we were getting off the trolley and the doors started closing but we somehow squeezed/pushed ourselves and others through and ..... Hermana Stephenson and I...tackled some poor old lady with a cane. She.. wasn't the happiest. haha But..hey in our defense, it's always like that getting off the trolley and she should have known better. sorry old lady.. she is okay though!!! hah

4) Much like in Casper where sister Stebbing is serving, people here love their dogs. In fact, Hermana Espinoza was bitten by a dog this week. It bit her calf and bit into the muscle pretty deep. It didn't help that the dog was owned by the person whose house they were going to. It was so deep that...the mom sewed it back together. Tha'ts right. Sewed it back together. Hna. Espinoza tried to say no a million times, but the mom insisted. It looks fine now, but she just went to the doctor to get some blood tests done to make sure she didn't get any disease of any kind from the dog.


Alright, the good stuff. This week, like all the weeks had its ups and downs. Everyday, my companion, Hermana Calderon, and I had many appointments, but unfortunately a lot of people forget and a lot of our appointments fall through which is hard, but when that happens, we just say a prayer and go contacting on the streets =)   We taught Gloria and her sister on monday and they are both excited to get baptized. Gloria has a date for the 9 of november and her sister wants to, but wants to learn more about the Gospel before she makes such a grand commitment. She says she is going to get baptized though because she knows that this truly is the Lord's Gospel =)  It was kind of a hard lesson though because that day it was raining so hard and seriously every time we started teaching, it would rain super hard and we were like yelling so we could hear each other because a lot of the roofs here are like tin and make a lot of noise.

We have a less-active recent convert, Hna Lilain, who owns this little garage along one of the main strreets and she sells plantain tortillas and some other kind of tortillas and we always go to visit her. We go probably once a day and we love to contact there because every time we do, she bears her testimony which is great. It's so powerful, and it helps her too. =)  So, we go, we visit her and get her excited, we contact, and we support her little business. One night, we were just eating and contacting and this girl overheard. She asked what religion we were and told her we were missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or also known as Mormons. She said she never heard about us, so we were like oh we could come and share our message with you!! and she was like alright! so we got her contact info and tried calling her for like 5 days, but she was never there or we could never get the call through. One day, we had an appointment, but she wasn't there so we just sat waiting with her little brother who totally reminds me of Norman haha It was so funny. We just talked and stuff and the power went out again because of the storms. We had to go though because we had other appointments. We called her and actually got the call through and she begged us to wait for her and that she really needed to talk to us and she was on her way home, but we never found her. We were pretty sad, but knew that we would find her. We went to our other appointment that night and that was awesome. We visited Ricardo and Yuliana. Ricardo just got baptized 5 months ago and is soooo awesome. His wife Yuliana is excited to get baptized too, but she has school and work everyday for the next 6 months and can't miss a day because she is finishing some special program. So it's a bummer, but we know that she is going to get baptized and is already accepting the Gospel and has seen so many changes in her life =)
 Friday, we SOMEHOW were able to get a hold of Sofia, the girl we met at Hna Lilian's. We came over and she warmly welcomed us in. we just talked and got to know each other a bit and she is super cool. She used to be catholic, but doesn't believe in those things because she realizes that worshiping and praying to saints is putting other gods before God and she just never felt right there. She was telling us abut how she started going to a Christian church and loved, loved the messages about Christ, but she moved and hasn't gone back to a church. We began to share our message and OH MY GOODNESS the Spirit was soooo strong. She had invited her mom to sit in the lesson too which was awesome!! The power went out again, but it was just in time because it was so quiet and you could just feel peace all around. They were so excited about the <Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I invited them to be baptized (which was a little scary because i am brand new here) but Sofia was so excited and she wants to get baptized. Of course, we were all crying and so happy. She has a baptismal date for the 16th of November. Her mom was crying too and we know that she felt the Spirit. She didn't know about getting baptized, but we left them with the Book of Mormon and the promise that they can know for themselves if it's true. I know that her mom is going to get baptized after Sofia. =) I know it!   that was a very special day.     after that, we went back with Hna. Lilian and just talked with her family there for a while and joked around. it was super fun and super cool because they lived in Italy for 5 years or something like that, so we talked in italian}. It was super fun!

The next day was hard because all our appointments fell through and we felt like we didn't do anything, but we KNEW that "tomorrow would be amazing" and indeed it was. There were a lot of drunk people out who are surprisingly very curious about the church haha   I contacted 4 drunk people and they were all very excited about hearing about the Gospel. Obviously we contacted with other people which was equally pleasant =)    Then, we were just walking along going to hna Lilians and I passed a dad and his two daughters, being followed by 4 dogs. I was like wow! all your dogs!? and he was like haha no just these two. and then they walked away. Then, I saw the guy come back and he waved me over and asked me and my companion if we could help his family know more about the Bible and the Gospel. We were like.... YEAH!!! hahah He was like yeah I have been looking for videos or people to help me and then I was like well as a matter of fact, I have a video right here! and I gave him the card for a free video of "finding faith in Christ". (we're giving them the video this week)   he then explained that his wife left him and the three daughters recently with some other guy and he has been having a really hard time and is searching for God's help. The earliest we could get an appointment with them was Saturday, but that's perfect. I feel very strongly that they will get baptized too and I am so excited!!!

That was super awesome. We had a great time contacting and came upon some very sweet people =)

Sunday was awesome too!! Church was amazing and we were accompanied by one of the sisters that just got back into the church and is sooooo happy =) she brought her two daughters! she was baptized young, but then they moved and became inactive. Now, after over 10 years, shes back! and stronger than ever =) after that, we had lunch at a members house and found out that the son is famous here in Ecuador. Hahaha he has set up his own foundation,. crazy!!
uh oh I have to go !! love you all and life is great!!


Hermana Tangedal

Just to start this off right....

1) I think I know how the Latin American women enhance the apparent sizes of their butts!!!! No butt pockets!! hahaha

2) Mmmm I went to the bathroom on Sunday at Church, and there was a dead spider on the ground...THE SIZE OF A YOUNG CHILD¨S HAND!!! Good thing it was dead. haha tarantula? i dont know...¨

3)For Ellen--  I live on the dustiest trail I EVA SEEN!! In all senses. So, I am allerfgic to dogs and dust. Of course I live on a dirt road and the dust gets into the house even if the windows are closed. >We have to sweep like at least 1 a day and get piles every time. So then when I hit the dusty trail to go to work, I have to walk in a bunch of dust and pass six million dogs that live on the street. haha THEN, when I hit the dusty trail, sometimes the toilet doesn{t flush. hahahhaa whoops.

4) If I figure out how to upload pictures on the computer and you see them, dont be fooled, i literally live in a cloud. I live ABOVE  the clouds. Yes. ABOVE the clouds! Were only at like  9000 feet elevation here though  :)

5) Oh goodness. So last night it was sooo foggy because we live in a cloud... that when walking back home, you could only begin to somewhat see black figures which were people walking like 30 feet away. Ther dgos didnt like that... hahaha they were all barking at us and other people walking. It wasnt pleasant because some of the mcame up to us looking like they were going to bite us , but i was like (duh, God is awesome and He´s not going to let these dogs bite me! if they try, ill just smack em anyway :) )

6) While contacting on the street, I talked to a drunk guy and shared a message with Him. He was surprisingly appreciative of our words hahaha :) , it was weather for a light jacket, but because I was in utah, this is seriously nothing. I walk around probably looking like a weirdo because everyone is bundledup and i am walking around in a short sleeve shirt. So there i was, standing at the bus stop with my companion Hna. Calderon (she is awesome and has been here for 3 months, is from Guatemala and.....it like a whole head SHORTER THAN ME!! haha who thought this day would ever come?)   anyways there i was and I was actually kind of warm while everyone else was freezing and <i was like woooo it{s hot, but in spanish and this mom and her two kids turned around and started laughing and we like haha you¨re not from our country, huh? haha     then i told them who i was, why im here, and we shared a message with them and they were so happy  to hear it and wanted us to come by and share another message with them :) then, they had to go. we were just waiting for the bus and then to our surprise, the family came around the corner in a taxi and held us at gun point and told us to get in!    hahahhahaha no no no no no no they were like hey! my husband drives this taxi! this is my husband :) since were going to the same place, why dont you hop in and well take you there !   it was such a pleasant ride and <i am stoked to visit them and teach them. They are so nice, It was perfect because before we left the house, i prayed to find a family that was ready to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ :) bam.   we got to oiur meeting and found out that they didnt let us know that it was cancelled so there was no point in going over there, but I knnow it was definitely to meet that family :)

7) We went to visit our progressing investigators and invited them to be baptized on the 26th of OCtober. They said yes!! So we have Hna Ericka Zambrano and her husband Hno. Pablo   preparing for their baptisms on the 26 :D   soo happy for them!!   We also went to visit a girl who is less active. she is awesome. she was baptised when she was young, but then went inactive right after and she watched conference last week and told us that she felt the Spirit very strongly. She is so happy to be back and she has been coming to Church the past 2 weeks :)  We are now teaching her husband and getting them prepared to get married and then invite her boyfriend Hno. Carlos to be baptized. They are a darling little family :) After those two visits, I couldn{t explain it, but I just loved them. I have been sitting in the bus looking out the window just seeing and loving every person that I see :) I can{t explain it, but it is the best feeling!! 

Sooooooo many things have happened already. Great things!! :D anad the food is great. Not much seafood since were not on the coast :)  lotssss of rice!! haha

If you have questions, email me  leah.tangedal(at sign)myldsmail.net

these keyboards are weird. haha

You know, I just want you to know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the Church that Jesus set up when He was here on the earth. I honestly have no doubts about that. None. I promise you that if you read the Book of Mormon, or part and pray and ask God with all sincerity of heart, to know if its true, the Lord will give you and answer through the Holy Ghost, because through the HOly ghost, we can know all things. ALL THINGS. You just have to pray and ask. I challenge you to read the last two paragraphs of the introduction of the Book of Mormon (at LEAST that) and then pray to know if its true, youll find out for yourself. The Spirit will let you know and how to know if its the Spirit? well Galatians 5:22 describes the fruits of the Spirit :)  then email me when you do it. <i know youll do it if you love me   ;)

welp times up. <i gotta go. We are going to visit Rosillo and her husband and invite him to bve baptized :)    i love htem. honestly love them. so happy!!

ok i love you all ad email me!!!!! :D Ill have picutres next monday. today I didnt have enough time to upload and write.

LOVE YOU ALL!!! 

"Life is Beautiful: Hermana Leah Tangedal"
Family!!! How are you:! I cant make any smiley faces or much punctuation because like every language known to man is typed in this keyboard and I dont know which buttons to press hahaha. oh mannnn i love this. It is so amazing. So, I am here in the MTC (missionary training center). It has been such a great experience so far because I have learned soooo much and I can feel the Holy Ghost testifying that these things are of Christ. I feel it so strongly. I love it so much. I love how AI have been able to notice when the Spirit (Holy Ghost) is here and when it leaves. Sooooo with that being said, it has been a roller coaster of emotions. I will be on a spiritual hgh and then we get distracted and then start  laughing really hard and loud or sometimes we get distracted and start talking about other thingsd that really dont matter, but then when we resume studying, the Spirit isnt as strong. Thats been a little hard, but I have really realized what drives the Spirit (the peaceful, calming, loving, feeling) away and what brings it in. With that being said, I have been praying  A LOOOOOT. haha Like every 20 minutes we say a prayer to start study, or class, or lunch, personal study, etc.    I just love this. I dont want to leave this kind of life which is hilarious because I just started my mission 5 days ago. I only have 18 months left... NOOOOOOOOOoooo.... (sad face)    I love my district. The district is the group that I am in. We are the advanced spanish speakers, there are 8 of us, and 7 our of 8 of us are going to Ecuador.  Elder Cody Yarbro is in my district! Love it! and then I LOVE my zone! A zone is a few districts combined. We are awesome and from all over the world !! I love my companion. Her name is Hermana Wendy Sanchez. She is from here in Orem, but her family if from mexico city. We get along so well! mmmm what else... I am the senior companion which is kinda cool and Elder Yarbro is the District leader which is awesome!

Basically we study and have class every day from 7am to 10pm. we wake up at 530am and eat breakfast at 630am. we have to be to class right on time. not that we will get in trouble or anything, but they were explaining that its class, and scripture study time,. We have an appointment with THE LORD at 7am or 9pm or whatever time it is. So even when I am like 1 minute late, i feel really bad because I want to be the best that I can be. today is our preparation day (sort of like a break) and we went to the temple, are doing laundry, studying, and writing letters. 

we just ate lunch and it was sooo much fun. our zone has all gotten really close. we all sit together at meals and today....we went through... 2 BOTTLES of hot sauce...between 4 girls.... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA we were like omg we are going to have the curse of the Chalula tonight. hahaha So many funny thingfs have happened. Because we are living mmissionary standards and everything and basically apart from the superficial, inappropriate, like...really not important things, of the world, we have become ..just more innocent and more in tune with the Spirit. I honestly LOVE  it so much. It is like you feel a peace at heart and you feel a warm protection around you. 

I already got my travel itinerary and I leave for Ecuador Monday the 8th or oct. what what. Teahcing was a little scary at first, but we have learned to teach with the Spirit and it. WORKS. MIRACLES. You just KNOW. you know (question mark) hahahha

omg I was showing my hermanas in my district some jiu jitsu moves during our stress management orientation and it was sooo funny,. we were laughing to hard and apparently there was a microphone on in that classroom and it was all being trasmitted over some speakers in the classrooom HAHAHAHHA sooooo then this teacher came in to let us know and he walked in when I had Hermana Phipps in a rear-naked choke (choking her out) hahahhahhaha it was soo funny. 

Ah I really dont have a lot of time (like an hour), but I just want to tell you (Mom, Pappy, Bull, Normy, and Andre ..oh and BROWNIE!)  that I love you guys so much and I really miss you! I am praying for you and all my friends every night!! But I PROMISE you that if you James 1 verse 5, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God. or Moroni 10 verse 5 -----ask God and all things will be known by the Spirit. I PROMISE you that the Book of Mormon is true and my testimony has grown sooooo much more in these 5 days here. I feel like it was just the size of a little ....bacteria. so small, right!!        now its maybe the size of....something a little bit bigger, but it has increased in size ...TENFOLD haha I can honestly say that I have prayed to KNow if the Book of Mormon is true and I felt the Holy Ghost testifdy to me that it was. and I read in oh shoo...mmm a scripture in the New Testament, but I dont remember where, but it sayd that the Spirit testifies of Christ. And The Spirit was the promise that Christ left His Apostles with. soooooooo, if we pray and ask God if the Book of Mormon is true and feel the Spirit, then Christ was really on the earth and MADE that promise, so then He lives, and if we are feeling the Spirit , then it is testifying of Christ, that this IS the RESTORED Gospel of Jesus Christ. Not the reformed. the restored. the Book of Mormon is not something that competes against the Bible. It testifies that the Bible is TRUE and vice versa. The Bible is testimonies and stories of prophets in those ancient times in Jerusalem and all those places, testifying that Jesus is the Christ..(because the Lord loves His children, He sent them prophets to find their way back) The BoM is testimonies and stories of prophets in those ancient times in the ancient americas, testifying that Jesus is the Christ. ahhh so great. then i realized... God loves all His children equally. so doesnt it makes sense that He would send a prophet to His children that went to other places of the worl after Jerusalem was destroyed, other times, now, etc  (question mark)    it does!! ahh  I wish I could put smiley faces because I am soooo happy. I wish I had more time to type more and explain more, but all i can do is promise you that if we read the Introduction to the Book of Mormon -my favorites are the last two paragraphs- and ponder it, and pray to God in the name of Jesus Christ to know if these things are true, you WILL get an answer. You will know for yourself. Its not a scary thing, but such a marvelous thing. my heart is so full.

I am so happy that I have made this decision to serve the Lord for 18 months. So happy. OH!! Cool quick stories. It was FREEZING here in UT the first couple of nights. I was sooo cold. One night i was just like. you kno,...... so I just prayed and asked that I could be finally be warm while i slept and have a dream that would help me understand the Gospel better, and guess what..immediately, a warmth came over me. like I was in a warm bath or something. it was amazing,. AND my dream was amazing. ahhhh

and then today i got in the shower...530am woot haha and it was omg like 40 degree snow water run off and i was shivering and teeth chattering and this was still like 5 minutes after i turned the water on and let it run to warm up (with me in it) haha and I was like...ah ohk ill prya and immediately, the water turned warm;hot!!!! say what you want, but I know who it was (smileyface) haha   I love life

my spanish has improved. i will have a horrible accent when i speak english when i come back haha. i LOVE life, BUT more importantly i LOOOOVEE THE Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love it. I challenge you all to read the intro to the BoM and pray about it, talk to the missionaries, do it. its not a scary thing, but rather the best thing you could ever do. i want to share this love that i have. this is how you can receive it. I leave that with you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Mom, I love you and miss you so much!!! I really hope that you are doing well and the family too. love you guys!! you are in everyone of my prayers.

and to my friends, you are also in every single one. Love you!

I have run into so many of my friends here that I just happen to know from all around the world HAHAHHA hilarious, right!!  my district calls me the popular girl because out of like thousands of people, the first day I already met like 7 that I knew hahaha. love this.

love,

Hermana Leah Tangedal

EMAIL ME AND WRITE ME!!!  sorry i cant get pics on this PC!!

Farewell! I bid thee adieu!

I gave my farewell talk in church today and it went a little something like this. But like really...just a little something haha because I was prompted to say many other things. It was such a beautiful sacrament meeting. The Spirit was SOOOO strong. I was crying the whole time. :) It's a beautiful life. The church is 100% true, I promise. :)

Le talk---

Good morning Brothers and Sisters! Many of you know me, but a lot of you don’t.  My name is Leah Tangedal and today. Is. My. farewell! So, as many of you know (because I haven’t stopped talking about it), I have been called to serve a mission for our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I have been called to serve in the Ecuador, Quito North mission for 18 months, and I honestly don’t know if I could be more excited than I already am.

Well, first off, I just want to thank you all for all the support and prayers, and just help, that you have been sending my way. I really appreciate it all. They have been such a help to me in this waiting period that seems to get more and more difficult, but I KNOW that once I’m out there everything is going to be absolutely amazing.  So….thank you. J

Alright… I was asked to give a talk based upon this quote by Jeffrey R. Holland: “God is anxiously waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can’t if you don’t pray, and He can’t if you don’t dream. In short, He can’t if you don’t believe. 
    - Jeffrey R. Holland 
Terror, Triumph, and 
a Wedding Feast

I love this quote because it is so true. When it boils down to it, it’s all about faith. As John 3:16 reads, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son. That whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

God loves us. We are His children. He loves us so much and He wants to bless us and bring us joy. That’s why we’ve been sent here to earth to receive bodies and become like Him and have everlasting life. Just as a parent who wants to bring his children joy, the Lord wants to bring us joy, but He needs us to believe on His name. He needs us to have faith in Him.

The story that kept coming to my head whilst writing this talk was the story of Alma and Amulek from the Book of Mormon. Alma and Amulek were two men preaching the word of God in a place where the word of God was not welcomed. Sounds about right…   Well, Alma and Amulek were beaten and imprisoned, mocked and spit upon. They had food and drink withheld from them, had their clothes taken away so they were naked and vulnerable, and bound them with strong cords and left in the prison for many days. Days past and people came mocking them and beating them because they were preaching the word of God, telling them to prove that they had the power of God and to release themselves from the cords. Finally, one day when the last guy beat them and taunted them, Alma and Amulek arose and, (Alma 14:26-28)  

“And Alma cried, saying: How long shall we suffer these great^aafflictions, O Lord? O Lord, ^bgive us strength according to our faith which is in Christ, even unto ^cdeliverance. And they broke the cords with which they were bound; and when the people saw this, they began to flee, for the fear of destruction had come upon them.

 27 And it came to pass that so great was their fear that they fell to the earth, and did not obtain the outer door of the ^aprison; and the earth shook mightily, and the walls of the prison were rent in twain, so that they fell to the earth; and the chief judge, and the lawyers, and priests, and teachers, who smote upon Alma and Amulek, were slain by the fall thereof.

 28 And Alma and Amulek came forth out of the prison, and they were not hurt; for the Lord had granted unto them ^apower, according to their faith which was in Christ. And they straightway came forth out of the prison; and they were ^bloosed from their^cbands; and the prison had fallen to the earth, and every soul within the walls thereof, save it were Alma and Amulek, was slain; and they straightway came forth into the city.

The only way they got out of there was because they prayed to the Lord and verse 28 says they were granted power ACCORDING TO THEIR FAITH. Because they had faith that the Lord would help them out, they were let out.

As we learn in Luke 17:6 :   if we had faith as a grain of mustard seed, we could command a tree to be plucked up and be planted into the sea and it would obey us.  We could command a tree. To go plant itself in the sea. In Matthew 17:20 we read that we can move mountains if we have faith the size of a mustard seed. That nothing is impossible if we have faith.

I don’t know if you know, but a mustard seed is this big [shows size of mustard seed]. That is really small.

It’s almost like a slap in the face…for me at least, it’s like… “I can’t command a tree to go plant itself in the sea. My faith isn’t even as big as a mustard seed.  …. Not even as big as a mustard seed.” It really gets you thinking.

I’ve been quoting the New testament a lot because I just finished reading it, but also because it’s amazing. 

Another great example of the Lord fulfilling our dreams according to our faith is the story of the woman with the issue of blood. She was sick with this issue for 12 years. She saw Jesus and though “if I could just touch the hem of his garment…” and she did and Jesus was like “who touched me!?” and the woman came trembling before him and told him that she touched him.    Luke 8:48 And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good ^acomfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.

This woman literally just touched His clothes, but because she believe that He was the Christ and that He would heal her of this issue of blood SHE WAS HEALED.

Back to the quote by Jeffrey R Holland, he said “God is anxiously waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. From the few examples I gave of the hundreds that are in the scriptures, we do see that the Lord ALWAYS has fulfilled dreams.

But He can’t if you don’t pray.
Richard G Scott gave a beautifully uplifting talk on prayer. It’s called “using the supernatural gift of prayer” (WRITE IT DOWN!!)  He defines prayer as “a supernal gift of our Father in Heaven to every soul”. Prayer is a way for us to communicate WITH the Lord and let Him know how we are feeling, what we need, etc.   He then says  “It matters not our circumstance, be we humble or arrogant, poor or rich, free or enslaved, learned or ignorant, loved or forsaken, we can address Him. We need no appointment. Our supplication can be brief or can occupy all the time needed. It can be an extended expression of love and gratitude or an urgent plea for help. He has created numberless cosmos and populated them with worlds, yet you and I can talk with Him personally, and He will ever answer.”

Brothers and sisters, I promise you. I promise you that the Lord hears our prayers and if we pray to Him with faith and real intent, believing that He is there, listening, and ready to answer, that He WILL answer your prayers. I was sort of freaking out because I couldn’t think of examples to use for this talk, but when I told my best friend the topic of my talk, she was so excited for me and reminded me that-stories about prayers answered are seriously my life.

1)    Another example of the Lord listening to my prayers was one day last year, I was just really wanting to practice Italian with someone. And like all day I was speaking Italian in my head and I prayed and asked to find someone to speak with and to help and I went to the temple hours later and as I was sitting, some woman came up to me and asked if I could do some names for her and I said of course and I saw that they were Italian names and I was like oh are you Italian and she was like yeah I grew up there! And then we spoke italian AND I helped her.

    

      --further comments--

2)    This story may seem silly because I know some of my coworkers are here, but last week, my coworker and I were selling food at an event off site and it was her first event because she is the new marketing person so she was sooo nervous and I was just like don’t worry everything is going to be ok. Of course, we were running a little late, we had no gas and didn’t have the gas key to fill up the truck and were running on empty, didn’t know if we were going to make it, we’re both wearing nice clothes and we’re hauling carts of things up to the second story of a gym on a dolly, sweating drops, finally set up and realize, we left the cash drawer with the money, then after time, we had a bunch of food left over and my coworker was really sad because she over estimated the amount that we needed and now we had food that didn’t sell and she really wanted to show the boss that she was hired for a reason, you know? And I was like don’t worry. Everything is perfect! J and we were just praying that all would go over well and some lady came up to us towards the end of the event and ask for the exact number of sandwiches and cookies that we had left, and we had no waste food and everything was sold. The lady walked away and we were both just like…..that…was all God and she was sooo happy. And on the way home she was telling me that she was sooo happy that I was her partner for the day because I was such a help to her with the positive attitude I had and I was like really?? I helped? And she was like YESSS!! And that was perfect because that was the main thing I prayed for that day which was to be able to help a friend J

So brothers and sisters, I promise you that the Lord hears and answers our prayers.

I have such a strong testimony of prayer so I want to share this quote with you. It’s also by Richard G Scott:

“Should you ever feel distanced from our Father, it could be for many reasons. Whatever the cause, as you continue to plead for help, He will guide you to do that which will restore your confidence that He is near. Pray even when you have no desire to pray. Sometimes, like a child, you may misbehave and feel you cannot approach your Father with a problem. That is when you most need to pray. Never feel you are too unworthy to pray.”

The Lord truly is waiting to bless us and answer our prayers. He wants to see us happy, but He can’t do it unless we have faith that He will help us. He knows that faith is what will get us through this life. He wants us to exercise it. When I was having struggles with just letting go and relying on my faith, I had a dream that I was climbing on a pole that was lining the ceiling and there was a net just under me and I knew it was there, but because I couldn’t see it for whatever reason, so I wasn’t sure that it would really catch me, but at the same time I knew it would. And I just had to let go and let the net catch me. One would say, it was the ultimate trust fall, but eventually I just did. I took a big breath and just let go, and the net caught me. From that I learned, that we just need to take a big breath and proverbs 3:5 it. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding” because He has our backs. He had all the prophets in the Old and New Testament, the Book of Mormon, and even our current prophets of the latter days. And He doesn’t only have the prophet’s backs, he has ALLLLL His children’s backs. Forever. Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.” The Lord does not change. So remember. If you don’t pray and believe in Him, the Lord can’t fulfill your dreams. Faith is key.

-      Bear testimony  .......   In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

   I report to the missionary training center in 2 days. I am SOO excited. I would be lying if I said that these past couple of days have been easy because I feel like I am 100% targeted by satan. He's doing everything in his power to hinder me from going. If I named off the things that have happened, you would seriously laugh. I have been. haha But wow. Today was amazing. So amazing. I have the best friends ever and the best family ever. The Lord is amazing and He is constantly holding me up through all of this. 59 more hours. I will miss my family, but I need to get in the MTC and get in a safe zone! I can't wait to share this message with everybody in Ecuador. :)   I have so much love in me that I feel like i'm going to explode.

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE <3 LOVE <3 LOVE <3 LOVE YOU!!
    From the bottom of my butt (because that's bigger than my heart)
  
          Soon-to-be Hermana Tangedal