The death of her father in January 1852 prompted her to relocate to Guayaquil, where she lived with prominent nobles, and it was here that she began her mission of helping the poor and the sick and caring for abandoned children. It was also here that she took a job as a seamstress in order to fund her mission as well as supporting her eight brothers and sisters. But she soon moved to Cuenca for some months where she went from home to home and lived with whoever would take her in including Mercedes de Jesús Molina, to allow herself greater time for silent contemplation and penance. In 1865 her spiritual director fell ill, and died in 1868, which was at the time the local bishop invited her to live with the Carmelites even though she had refused the offer.