¡La última carta de la misión! No sé qué decir...

Hola! Bon dia a tots! Com va la feina per allà? Yes, it is super hot here, and above all really humid so you're just always sweating and sticky. I'm excited to not wear a shirt and tie anymore, I feel like that makes it 5x worse...

So, I can't believe all this time has flown by and here I am writing my last letter! I feel like the week is going to fly by and I'll be on a plane before I know it...but all of that is for trunky missionaries to think about =)

We had a good week. We have been seeing things really pick up for us. We received a couple references of some really prepared people who we are excited to start working with, and we were also able to do a few service projects, helping us feel like we are "serving" people. =)  ​We moved a fridge (us pushing it by hand through the streets to the other house) and the member moving a washing machine is his car to someone else's house, then moving their fridge and washing machine to the previous, basically doing a swap. It was pretty fun. We are also helping our ward mission leader move into a new apartment, helping him paint, clean, and carry stuff.​

I want to really focus this last week on just losing myself, not think about what I need or myself and just give it to the Lord. I know that he blesses us as we turn our lives over to Him, which is one of the great blessings of serving a mission. I think some of the greatest lessons and things that I've learned from the mission are what Alma taught to his son in Alma 37:32-37 and it's probably what I would teach people about serving a mission. ​ Be meek and humble. Teach people to hate iniquity and sin and love righteousness. Just keep the commandments and you'll be blessed, especially if you learn the habit and desire in your youth. Trust in the Lord in everything.

I don't know if I could say how I've changed...a fox can't really smell his own hole, you know? I'd say the good has been amplified and the bad diminished a little more, I've learned a ton, gained experience and above all more perspective. I'd say my confidence, patience, and Christlike attributes have grown a lot. We'll see what everyone else says I guess =)

Well, we gotta go enjoy last preparation day. We'll see you all soon I guess. Love you all. Thank you for all of your prayers and examples! Keep looking forward in faith and grow close to the Lord. 

This is God's church. This is His work. He guides us today through living prophets holding the holy Priesthood of God. We are guided, directed, and taught by revelation. The Book of Mormon and the scriptures are true and bear powerful testimony of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, and of His mission, ministry, and message. I know He lives. I know He loves us and that He carries us and guides us home to Him. He suffered for each of us and felt our pains, sorrows, desires and yearnings, and carried our griefs and atoned for our sins. Through His infite Atonement and grace we can change and become even as He is. This is His work and His glory.

Hoe to the end of the row

Hola buenas! Qué tal están?  

President Pace forwarded to us of the going home group a neat little poem this week, called Hoe to the End of the Row. Here  it goes:

Bill Brown made a million,

Bill Brown, think of that.

That boy you remember,

As poor as a rat.

He hoed for the neighbors,

Did jobs by the day.

And Bill made a million,

Or near it they say.

He worked for my father,

You’ll maybe recall.

He wasn’t a wonder,

Not that, not at all.

He couldn’t out-hoe me,

Or cover more ground,

Or hoe any faster,

Or beat me around.

In fact, I was better

In one way that I know.

One toot from the kitchen

And home I would go.

But Bill Brown always hoed

To the end of the row.

We used to get hungry

Out there in the corn.

You talk about music,

What equals a horn?

A horn yellin’ dinner,

And tomatoes and beans,

And pork and potatoes,

And gravy and greens.

I ain’t blamin’ no one

For quittin’ on time.

To quit with the whistle,

That ain’t any crime.

But as for the million,

Well, this much I know.

Bill Brown always hoed

To the end of the row.

- Anonymous

So yeah, I still have some hoe'in to do. Things are going well though. We had some high hopes for a couple menos activos who committed to come, but they ended up not coming. There's always next week I suppose! 

Last week we went to the Sagrada Familia, which was pretty neat. It is super big and has lots of symbolism, which was interesting. Today I went and visited Camp Nou, Barcelona's stadium. There sure were a lot of trophies in there, and a lot of balón de oro's and mvp awards for Messi haha. Lot of videos about their goals scored and about all of their accomplishments. They are apparently planning on building a new stadium for Barça which looks super fancy. They've got to do something with all of the money they roll in from games and tourists...

Well, that's about all for this week. Hope that you all have  a great week and keep working hard! I'm getting excited to see you all again, yet sad that the time is passing quickly with the great people here. Anyways, take care y hasta la próxima!

14 de Julio

7 de Julio

Bon dia a tots! First off, Happy Fourth of July! Woo! We didn't have too much, but we celebrated it in our hearts =) ​​
Well, we just got out of interviews, which was pretty exciting. I'll have another one in like 4 weeks with President so today's was kind of short. THey are always good though!
 We had a good week. This week we got a new investigator, Juan , so we are excited to continue working with him. He's a 60 year old Catalán from Barcelona here, and he was some evangelical or 7th day adventist, so he's studied a lot. He likes to read and study, especially the Gospel Principles book from church. We gave him one after the class and he was reading through next week's lesson before sacrament meeting started. He's briefly looked over the Book of Mormon it sounds like too. We also got back in touch with Edilenia, and I think she will be able to progress really quickly as soon as she finds some more time.
I would say that our miracle this week was that Juan came to church, that he enjoyed it and that the members really fellowshipped him. A lot thought he was a menos activo or already member =) We had brought one of Bishop's counselors Enrique with us to the first visit with him and it went well. So that was great.
It is fun to be with Elder Dean. He's a fun seeker and so always has something to say to make people laugh. Just a big people person I guess you could say. He's a water polo person, but also loves other sports. He's from around San Fransisco area.

 I'm proud to be part of such a great mission and I rejoice at our successes! The gives us His best if we give Him ours. I know that as we submit ourselves to His will, His counsel, and His voice that we will be guided for what is best and for our own personal benefit as well. We can truly remain calm, and watch as God extends His arm and accomplishes His marvelous work! Never miss a single day without reading from the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, and everything will work out for your good! You will be guided in God's paths by the Spirit's voice. You will feel confident and happy. You will feel close to God, and the needed changes will come more willingly and naturally to you. You'll be more keen in discirning truth and falsehood, both spiritual and every day like. These are blessings I have felt and seen and so I know they are available to everybody!! This week I am going to repent and strive to do everything with full and real intent. I think it will bring the Spirit more and make it so that everything just turns out better anyways!

14 de Julio

Hello everyone! Things are going well, and I am doing good. We had a good week, and we are looking forward to a really good week this week! We saw lots of great things happen. Our teaching with Juan is moving along. We finished the Plan of Salvation with him. He had lots of questions and doubts about the Fall and the Kingdoms of Glory, but I think we got them mostly settled out. I think really even though we try to answer all of his questions, we need to help him focus on gaining a personal testimony by the Spirit and the Book of Mormon. We have been involving the members in our teaching and that has been going really well. Edilenia told us that she feels like she wants to stay with her current church, where she feels comfortable and knows people. Her mom was there to back her up too...we did have a good conversation though, and we are still going to try to invite her to activities and stuff so that she can get to know p

A miracle of this past week was with a family. The mother, Nuria, is a recent convert who had stopped coming to church under negative pressure from friends and family and maybe some health reasons. We visited this last week with her, after calling and finding that she had moved without anyone knowing. She is ready to come back and misses the church. Her husband Miguel, who before didn't want to know anything about God or religion, now has interest in learning! They both came to church yesterday!! We have a visit this week with them. It was amazing how the members supported them and greeted and welcomed them back. They are passing a really rough and difficult situation right now as well, and the ward is doing a special fast for them and other needy families on the 19-20. It is a testimony to me that the Good Shepherd knows and cares for His sheep, using us, His "mini shepherds".

Have a great week! Take care! Love you all.

Last Transfer: The Final Countdown

Hello everybody! So, I can't believe how time just slips away so quickly! I never thought my last transfer would arrive, even after being around a lot of missionaries who have been heading stateside now. This transfer had two from our zone, and this next will be me and one of the Zone Leaders. It has been kind of funny too, it seems like everybody is coming to Barcelona from Zaragoza and Sabadell. Elder Ballam came here to Barcelona (although to the other piso) and an Hermana, and a lot went from Zaragoza to Barç when I was still out there. So, kind of wierd but fun to see familiar faces too. I saw Elder Judd in the station today, and he goes home tomorrow as well. My new companion is Elder Dean, from California. He started in Ibiza while I was in Menorca so we were in the same district and so already kind of know each other. He's a great guy, so we should have some good weeks.

We had a good week. I think it helped a lot with Elder Rasmussen leaving, we were able to get a lot of visits in to say goodbye and to meet some other members and menos activos. We have been struggling lately with finding some new investigators, so I think really that is what we are going to focus on. I continue to pray that we can find news, especially through the members and this month as our goal. As we have been passing by menos activos, we have found that many do not live in our area anymore, so the number of members in our area went down pretty quick :/ I am excited to really start to work with some of the good people in our area though.

A miracle from last week: We were able to catch a menos activo family all together right at the perfect time, and normally it sounds like they have a busy schedule and are hard to meet with together. We knocked their door right after they had gotten home and a little before they had plans to leave again! They are a really nice family and I want to try to work more with them. They were super nice, I don't know why I haven't met them until now!

I enjoyed working with Elder Rasmussen. He is a fun and funny guy and was a good example at gaining the member's trust just with who he is. They were all sad to see him go. I am excited to work with Elder Dean for my last few weeks, he is a good guy as well. I'm thankful for the high caliber of people the Lord has put me around to learn from and just because the work is great =) That's probably where I have learned the most from on my mission, is the people, both those we preach to and companions and members and stuff.

Oh, so an embarrasing moment of the week... I know, you are probably all excited and sitting on the edge of your chairs now. It's actually not too embarassing. So, in our ward of 150 or whatever members nobody plays the piano, usually just some tourist passing through or acapella. Well, this month being the month of invitation, each organization signed up to do a special musical number on one of the sundays. We stayed after with a couple of the Elders Quorum to practice our song (parts of it, like the bass or tenor) and I played the notes on the piano for them, since that's easy cheese. Well, some lady from the primary saw that and thinks I can play the piano now, so she begged me to acompany the primary on their song, Army of Helaman. So I practiced throughout the week and played it for them. It wasn't anything great, but it worked I guess. It was kind of funny, one of the kids came up to me after and said "you play the piano baldy" (all of this in spanish of course) and I was like "Well, sorry...?" "Was that your first time playing this song?" "Umm, yes." "Oh, then you did really good!" "Uh, thanks..?" It made me laugh a little. So lesson learned: practice piano, especially hymns! *wink wink nudge nudge brothers...*

This week, especially last night and today are San Juan festivos, so there have been fireworks and those annoying street bomb firework things that kids have been playing with nonstop...it has been getting kind of annoying...So yeah, lots of craziness. It has also been starting to get super hot, and our dagon piso doesn't have AC Probably because it's a super old one...I think ours is probably one of the few left in the mission with one shower and no AC. But hey, I suppose I count my blessings that we have pisos and not tin shacks!

This week I am going to try to improve on my integrity. I recently listened to a talk by Tad R. Callister about integrity and there were a few new insights and perspectives I gleaned from it that I would like to put into practice. I feel like it is one of those attributes that has always been important to me and that I feel like I do demonstrate, but I always feel like I can be more =)

​Just as other random sidenotes, as I show our family picture to people, they always say everytime 1) Wow, your mom is so young and pretty! 2) Your dad looks like a movie actor ( I don't remember his name right now though) 3) I can't believe you have all brothers 4) You all look alike. So congratulations I guess!​ Also, a member here works in a watch factory thing and said that she could get us 70% off on watches! So I might be buying a few in the next couple of weeks =) They said the website was www.marea.es if you wanted to look and see one you like.

​The World Cup has been pretty interesting. There is a member here who updates us on all of the scores and we've drawn out the bracket and teams and stuff on a whiteboard in our piso. Ever since Spain got it's butt kicked they haven't really been super interested, and there aren't a lot of people who even go to the bars to watch the games anymore, unless it's a good one, and just look up the scores I guess. But yeah, it sounds like the US has been playing pretty well! To move on they just have to tie or beat Germany, or if the other teams tie we go on, and if one of them wins, Ghana would need to score 2 more goals than the US does to win on the deficit thing, and Portugal like 3 goals, so our chances are pretty good actually. I wish I could watch the games though. Maybe on youtube when I get home or something =) ​

​Well, that's about all for this week! Have a great week! Thank you for all of your prayers and inspiring comments and for everything. Always trust in the Lord and see what He would have you do for Him each day!​

16 de Junio

I can't believe it's already Monday again! It has passed by quickly. It was Elder Tigre's birthday last week so we had a lot of celebrations, and then coming up will be mine!

We've seen some good things this week. I was sick on Tuesday, so I've been a little under the weather physically, but I feel like I've grown a lot spiritually. I've had some reflecting time and it has been inspiring for me to feel closer to the Lord. I downloaded a bunch of talks by Elder Neal A. Maxwell and Tad Callister from lds.org and their messages have always inspired and guided me. =)

Our investigator Edilenia has been kind of avoiding us. We think someone might have been talking negatively about the Church to her, so we are still trying to meet with her to find out what's going on there. Isabel has been reading a little, but not very much, and I get the feeling it was just casually looking over and really not feeling the power of it. In our last visit we tried to help her liken the scriptures to herself with Nephi's experiences with his brothers.

We haven't been able to follow up with hardly anyone else either, it's kind of been hard...but hey, a new week with new opportunities!
Today we had preparation day as a zone and went to some park thing and had a barbeque and played some sports. And we just got back from everything which is why we are writing late today. Last week we went to part of park güell, but didn't have time to do all of it, so we did the maze park instead. It was pretty cool.

This week I want to repent and be better in asking for and expecting miracles and certain blessings. I feel like I have been falling into a habit of waiting and just expecting the Lord will bless me with what I want just because He knows I want it, when it requires my asking, (like in BD Prayer, blessings available, conditional upon our asking) and expecting answers "with no thought, save that ye asked me" (DyC 8/9). So I am going to work on my meditation and pondering a little more this week and ask for miracles in Barcelona =) It seems like we're off to a great start for our goal as a mission. We'll see how we do!

It sounds like a pretty crazy week and some more exciting stuff coming up. It seemed like a lot more hellos than goodbyes, which is good I guess =) I came to a sudden realization last week, that now all my friends are arriving home and I'll be one of the last out in the field still. How lucky  for me =) After-mission life seems daunting and almost as mysterious as after-earth life haha.

Well, I don't have much else to tell or even time, so I think I'll just end today with a testimony! I know that this is God's work. This is His "only true and living church". I know that we are led and guided by living prophets and apostles, and that Thomas S. Monson is called by God. I testify that the man Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. He did indeed see God our Father and our Redeemer, Jesus Christ and he spoke with them face to face. I know that the Book of Mormon is another Testament of Jesus Christ, and that a man will see, feel, and recognize a special power come into his life as he reads from it's pages daily. I have no doubt that God lives and loves us. He knows us. He guides us. He prepares us. He changes us. I testify that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind. Because He suffered the pains, afflictions, temptations, and sins of each one of us intimately and infinitely, He has perfect compassion, perfect empathy, and perfect love for us. He descended meekly and humbly below all things not only to overcome each one of them, but so that He could lift us above them as well. He will come again to the earth, and we and His established kindom will be patiently and anxiously waiting for Him =) I know that we have the potential to become like and to be with our Heavenly Father. Like President Monson stated, "may we all be aware of how close He is willing to come to us, and how far He is willing to go for us." It is by the grace of our Savior Jesus Christ that we can come off conqueror of all things, and this things I leave in His name.
Well, have a fantastic week!

26 de ¿dónde se ha ido mayo?

26 de Mayo

Hello! Another long anticipated preparation day! Mondays are one of a missionary's favorite days! And their family's too =)

It was a great week. We were able to narrow down some unknown MA's who don't live here anymore and some phone numbers and stuff. Now it's really just working with those that are here! I've really been inspired by these last few conferences and such focusing on working with the lost sheep of the Lord. He is concerned about their well being, and we really aren't building His kingdom if our fruits keep getting lost or swiped away by the adversary. 

I really enjoyed a fireside last night as well. I think it was obvious for all who were there the Spirit that we felt. It was really special and difficult to put into words how I feel and am still feeling about it! The Spirit was SUPER powerful and there were a lot of different "flavors" of it, or different ways it is manifested I guess I would say it. (Love, peace, tingly feelings, *almost crying, inspiration, etc. You get the idea). I just  feel inspired to go and be good =) And super greatful to be a missionary for such an amazing Church! It was a faith building and testimony strengthening experience =) It was based mostly on videos (Mormon Messages, Bible Videos, conference excerpts, etc.), musical numbers, and testimonies/talks, including President and Hermana Pace's. So much talent the Lord has given us! It was great.

2 de Junio

We have been seeing some good things. First off, we have been working with some less actives, starting to get to them (on my part at least) and we are hoping to find some new investigators through them this June! We also did find a new investigator this week through Antiguo Investigador registros. Her name is Isabel. Boy, does she have a rough life though. She told us about it for what seemed like forever. Her son is abusive to her, her husband doesn't do anything but watch television all day, she has to take care of her 90 year old bedridden uncle who provides their only income through is social ayuda and she has bad knees and health and has to climb to the attic of their building which isn't a real piso even, etc. Lots of really difficult things. She told us that she felt that if she had the courage she would take her own life but she doesn't. We had no idea how to respond to all of that, because "lo siento" doesn't cover it...

So we read the D&C section 122 I think, about "all this shall be for thy experience" and testified of how the Savior Jesus Christ descended below all things, and has felt her pains and more. He descended below them all so that you could lift YOU above them. We left her with a Book of Mormon and invited her to read it every day.

Another fun thing, we did intercambios and I was up with Elder Alder in his area. It was fun to work together for a day again =) We have lots of fun between the 4 of us in piso too. 

On another news front, we found out today that the king of Spain, Juan Carlos, has denounced the throne. That's something you don't hear about every day! So I suppose that his son will fill in his place now. I haven't heard too much of the details though.

There was an activity in the church this last week, a Flamenco dance production. There were a couple different groups from a Flamenco school that performed, and the church offered our facilities for their show, so it became kind of a community/church activity haha. It was pretty neat though.

Bon dia des de Barcelona! 19 de Mayo

Funny thing about church here: The ward is huge (well, both that meet in our building are...and they're super united! And tons of people come to activities...yess!! Take that Zaragoza!) Also, being Barcelona, there are tons of tourists that come to church here. Yesterday totalled like 18+ americans haha. Part of them were that couple that took our photo, a group of 6 BYU grads that are touring all of Europe, and a few on some cruise. It was kinda fun to get to see some people from Utah! And, there are tons of tourists here in general. And the beach is part of our area, so we see a lot of them...

Also, Elder Alder is training Elder Tigre, an Elder that was baptized by a RM in Zaragoza. He's a super great guy. So, we have a fun piso. It's also the one I stayed in  the first night when I got to Spain! Weird...

I am enjoying my service with Elder Rasmussen. He is a great ​kid. He is fun to be around and always keeps people smiling and laughing and he doesn't get discouraged. ​He's a joker and kind of a goober haha. Good ol' Tremonton boy =) He loves baseball too. I told him he'd get along well with my family haha.​

This week a miracle that I feel like I saw was how the Lord uses His servants to build upon the work of another. Not just with missionaries following the work of another, but also I felt that the conference with Elders Snow, Dyches, and Nelson built upon a few things that Elder Kearon shared with us. One example in particular was when Elder Kearon invited us to come to know who we are as children of God. Then in this conference one of them invited us to "Find the Master whom you serve" and to "aquiant yourself with your Advocate". So, it builds upon coming to know who we are in relation to God as His children and servants, and as we do so we should come to know Him for who He is. It's a process that improves the way we teach this relationship to others around us.

A few other things I liked from the Conference:

-They all work in the Church History Department, so they know a ton about the history and Joseph Smith especially. They said that they have records and know what Joseph Smith was doing on almost any given day. A lot of other churches can't say that about their founders! They also testified how the "real Joseph Smith" is the same one that the Brethren testify of and the one that we are sharing with the world, and that there isn't another Joseph that the church is covering up. 

-"Years teach much that the days never know."

-Coming to know what the Lord's will is for us and our circumstances, and coming to obtain a vision of what we can do. He talked about the stories of the athletes who broke the supposedly impossible 4 minute mile, but then after one did it, tons of others started to do it, because they saw it really was possible. 

Also, even though a flea has remarkable abilities to jump in comparision to it's size, if you put them in a shoe box with the lid closed for a couple days, after jumping so many times and hitting the lid, when you take it off, they can no longer jump out or don't want to. We should avoid limiting ourselves, because really that's our only limit! 

-We sometimes get caught up in our tasks a lot. We don't see the forest around us because we focus on the trees.

-We are establishing the Church in ways we can't imagine (future fruits of our current efforts) and we are blessing more people than we can imagine (future generations, other side of the veil, etc...you know the drill=) ).

-Excuses never correct mistakes and never get anything done!

News out of Barç!

Hello!  I have transfer news...I'm now in Barcelona! The trip from Lleida was not too exciting...just 2 hours in the train through farmland. It is a neat part of Spain that amid all of the farmland and hills and stuff, you see an occaisional little town with an old chapel or neat spanish architecture in the countryside (perfect photo opportunity, except that we're travelling at like 250 km/hr and there's a window in the way... also, today is not so sunny in Barcelona. Cloudy and almost rainy. But I am excited to not melt like I hear they will in Zaragoza!

 I am excited to serve in the main city of the mission, and I really just like the feel of Barcelona. I hear the ward is great (and big!). I'll be working kind of on the northern/eastern side, towards the end of Badalona. We also meet in the large stake center building!  So I am excited to see what the Lord has in store for these weeks to come. I am kind of sad to leave our great District in Zaragoza though ='( I am glad to see a familiar face in the new district though (Elder Alder)!  My new companion is Elder Rasmussen, from Bear River. I don't know if he's related to those in our ward or not... he seems like a fun guy though.

I really enjoyed the opportunity of training and working with Elder Loaiza. I enjoyed seeing him progress and start to become an el Faro missionary. He has a good heart and he will do great things. I enjoyed his desires to serve and help others.

As far as miracles go, I really feel like the ward is improving a lot in various things. The Bishop has been a stalwart example. Lots of simple things, like dressing up for ward council. (A sub-miracle is that we had almost all of the ward council there, as opposed to the half we normally do!) He also gave a powerful testimony and thoughts on Sunday about the Sacrament and the importance of the ordinance and the reverence and respect that he felt that the ward could improve on =) I also had the opportunity to speak on sunday and a few members shared with me they really appreciated my remarks and I'm glad to feel that I have been an instrument in the hands of the Lord throughout my mission, probably one of my greatest joys of the mission. I spoke about being unified and a more Zion-like people. In other words, my last chance to give a word or two and dar caña a los miembros! Aka no gossiping, backbiting, arguing, no lazyness, serve others and love your neighbor, and share the Gospel!

This week I am going to focus on learning the area quickly and getting to know the wonderful members of Barcelona 3. I want to look for simple ways to serve others and opportunities to serve strangers. Just support all the members and leaders and such.

Have a great week. Love you all. Keep smiling and looking forward!​

April gone already?? You've got to be kidding!

4/14
This coming week might be a toughy, mainly because it's Semana Santa, so everyone's out of work and school (don't be fooled...that's actually when they have the least amount of time to meet with missionaries...) which means drunk people and everyone leaving for vacations! That, and catholics walking around in KKK costumes...I guess that their culture/perspective is a little different here haha. [See picture attachments]

4/21
¡Hola! ¡Buenos días! This week felt kind of long actually. We didn't have a lot of stuff actually, seeing that it was Semana Santa craziness. And I didn't even do much for the first half of the week! Monday was preparation day, then Tuesday I went into Barcelona for the morning and afternoon to renew my residency card, so we didn't have much time after I got back.

So, because of Semana Santa it seemed like a ghost town with everyone on vacation or in the city center watching processions and such. So we didn't get a lot of finding accomplished like we were hoping, but we did get some visits with our investigator, David, and some members RC/MA that normally are harder to get. David is progessing a lot more, he read the Book of Mormon a little before this last time. The sad part is that everytime he can come to church he twists his ankle at work and is stuck at home...

This week I have learned something that I am going to try to do better on: being grateful like in Pres. Uchtdorf's talk. I was thinking this week while we were eating that it would probably be me washing all of the dirty dishes because they have a tendency to linger longer than we'd like...and native companions aren't the cleanest of cultures when it comes to maintaining the kitchen and piso clean haha. Or just 20 year old boys in general haha. So yeah, I was thinking about selfless service and how God blesses us when we selflessly and anonimously serve, not "to be seen of men" and how I would suck it up and do the dishes again... It occurred to my mind a thought though, "Who blesses God for the good and service He does for us?"

I've been pondering that question,  and I still can't say I know the answer. I know that blessings come from obedience to laws of heaven and from doing good, but those come from God I suppose. And knowing that God's work and glory is bringing to pass our inmortality and eternal life, His eternal posterity brings Him happiness and peace and I suppose we are a "blessing" to Him, but seeing that he created us He technically blessed Himself... So I don't know. I suppose that our thanks and glory we give to Him and praising Him are His blessings, seeing that He is in a state where He has already received the greatest blessings offered.

So I feel that we should, as Pres. Uchtdorf said, be grateful people and not just grateful for things or "blessings". It's a state of being that God is in, and that is why we should be grateful and serve and obey without really expecting to "earn" God's blessings, although they will surely come anyways and always just because God loves us and desires to bless us. And it is good that we seek blessings from God for the purpose of growing closer to Him and becoming like Him. They are His "divine favors" that contribute to our happiness.

4/28
Here we are again, another Monday! Time passed by pretty quick this week. It has been rainy all week, but in the annoying way where it rains for 5 min so you pull out your umbrella and then it stops for 5, so you put it away, then it starts again. And a lot of people don't walk around when it's rainy haha.

There was a talk last week that I forgot to share something I liked. They were 5 points about being a good worker:
1) You don't know anything that can't be done.
2) Be willing to make the difference.
3) If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right.
4) Make sure that things are done well/right.
5) You control the circumstances, not your circumstances control you.

So yeah, they're pretty useful taken from the right perspective of course. And especially in missionary work, where the work is great and the laborers are few. It requires more sacrifice and faith. And also that God usually doesn't call the prepared to serve in a position he aldready does really well, but rather someone who is there to learn, and taking into account their gifts and abilities that will be able to bless those they serve.

This week I am going to repent on seeking the voice of the Spirit more. I listened this week to the recent CES devotional that I had downloaded, about learning the language of the Spirit, and I learned some good things. And then your message in the Noticias emphasized it, so I guess it's what God wants for me right now! Not that I've been doing terrible at it, just that it can always be better =)

7 de Abril

Hola!! What a great week with tons of news! That's super great about Brandon's call! Congrats! ¡Felicitaciones! ¡Enhorabuena! Woo! Argentina huh? I bet Dad is super stoked for him =) I still can't fathom what Dad's secret is to his guesses...he must have connections there in Salt Lake. Instead of going to "work" there he probably hangs around the church missionary department haha. It will be great to be home together for a week before he heads out! I'm surprised that 70 people could fit into the new house! It must be bigger than I though =) And that Brandon has that many friends haha jk :P That made it out amid all their busy schedules I mean... ;)

It was a good week mainly because of the weekend I think =) Throughout the week we had hardly any visits and we set ourselves out to lots of finding. It was difficult to just endure no after no with high hopes, but we managed to keep a laugh and a smile on. It just is so frustrating when everyone is saying no and shaking their hand before I finish "Hola..." and they accelerate walking and don't even stop to hear me finish "...buenas tardes". I kept thinking that there had to be something we were doing wrong... I loved Conference though. Which leads to my miracle:

God answers prayers!! In addition to questions, I even just simply wrote down a few topics/things in general that concerned me or that was weighing on them, and they too were addressed and talked about! Almost every one in the first session alone, and of course repeated throughout all of conference! I was also especially impressed with the music too. Everything was just simply magnificent =) We didn't get to see Sunday Afternoon, since that was 22-00:00 here, so I'm downloading it now. I was super sad to see one of my favorite seventies, Tad Callister, be released, but then he got a calling as Sunday school president, so he'll still get to speak a lot =) It was sad to see Russell Osguthorpe get released though. But that's how the Lord's work goes!

I couldn't tell you which talks to watch...they're all super great! I don't have my notes on me, but off the top of my head I liked Elder Holland's, Elder Ballard's, First Presidency, Elder Bednar, and the Priesthood Session =)

I think our district is doing great. The Hna's and the Elders both have a couple fechas now, and we are all working hard. I feel bad that we don't have any investigators ever to show a good example, but I guess I can still be one in other ways as we keep searching =) I feel that we are really unified and that good things are coming to Zaragoza. The ward and especially the bishop seem to have been opening up a lot. I'm greatful for so many great blessings =) It was interesting District meeting this last week, Elder Loaiza not speaking English and Elder Dunn still learning Spanish, but they are both learning lots so before we know it we'll all be bilingually fluent =)

Well, that's about all I have time for today.

24 de Marzo. Where has the month gone?

24 de Marzo

    Buenos días! I always love Mondays! They feel more like our Sundays/day of rest to us than the rest of the week. And, today is the last Preparation Day of Elder Gleason! It is crazy how the time has flown by. It seems like March just started for some reason. I can't believe it!
   We had a pretty good week. We set ourselves out to find some news. Which leads into my miracle this week: In the District Meeting we were talking about talking to everybody, and we always make the goal of how many we want to find, then we get discouraged as we get rejected, and then we don't contact as much. I suggested something that we could instead set goals for how many "no's" or rejections we would get. So, the next day I set myself a goal to get rejected 100 times. And it worked! I contacted 100 people throughout the day between visits, and they all said no! Then, as we were walking home, there really wasn't anybody left in the street (that we hadn't already contacted at least =)) and I saw a guy sitting at a bus stop. I thought, why not, I'll beat my goal! And guess what? He gave me his information!! Woo! Blessings come after the trials of our faith. And, the goal helped us to contact tons of people all day, and when people rejected, it didn't weigh me down because it contributed to my goal! Of course all the contacts I did I actually tried to teach them/get their info/ and try to get something out of it. So it was like working towards my goal and against it at the same time haha.
   I did an intercambio with Elder Johnston this last Saturday, it went well. He's a great missionary and does a good job. I like how he's a dedicated study-er and is often reading PMG or a language book or something. He's a smart guy and it was fun for us to talk and get to know each other a little better. We had a visit with a crazy old spaniard...there seem to be a numerous quantity of those here...and a funny thing was that usually people talk super fast and non stop, so you don't get any opportunity to say anything. Well, this guy talked slowly, and there was always an awkward 4 second pause between all of his sentances. It was just weird because he'd say something totally irrelevant or weird, pause as if he were done, except we couldn't tell if he was or not by how he finished his words, like as if he was going to continue, then when he did it was on something totally different. A new way of dominating the conversation I hadn't come across before haha.
  We've been seeing lots of progress with some people, except none of them came to church  We even went to go pick up 2 people, and they both left us out to dry, and they made us miss the sacrament in our morning meetings Good thing there's the afternoon meetings! So that was a little frustrating but nothing out of the usual.

Well, I gotta go! Hope all is well, and have a fantastic week!

Zaragoza sees the sun!

10 de Marzo

Muy buenas a todos! ¿Qué tal estáis? Hemos tenido una semana muy buena. Os lo voy a contar un poco!

First off, it feels like spring weather. It has been clear and sunny all week, and kind of warm actually! 18 ºC pretty much all week. You can also tell not only by how much we don't want to wear our coats, but by how much others don't want to wear coats or other articles of clothing either! Yikes! Haha it's not bad right now though, and Zaragoza is not anywhere near the beach. It is a desert though...we hear it gets pretty dang hot here in the summer! I think I might be outta here by then though and hopefully to a place more cool!
This week on Thursday we have a Mission Conference, Elder Kearon of the Seventy (1st counselor in the Europe Area Presidency as well) will be coming. It's going to be super great! They are bringing like 2/3 (almost 160 missionaries!) of the mission into Barcelona and the rest will be in Bilbao. We will be in the Barcelona group. We're all super excited!!

17 de marzo

So, this week has been a good week for us. I loved the Conference we had on Thursday. It truly was an immense spiritual feast! There was lots of great things taught and such a great Spirit. I was really impressed overall with how Elder Kearon just stopped to enjoy the moment a few times, to just bask in the Spirit and admire the sight of what he was really in, and the sight of 160 el Faro Barcelona missionaries!  He also was good at having fun, and keeping everyone awake =) It wasn't ever a problem for me but there were a few other heads I saw bobbing here and there =) We learned a ton and it was a lot about giving our extra efforts, going from our "all" to our "absolute all" that is sometimes hard to give up =) 

I think a miracle we saw was while we were in Barcelona, we had an hour 1/2 or so before our train left, so we went out to proselyte. No one was really listening as we contacted. We were coming to the end of a big street, and I saw a man who had a more radical/different appearance than the average person. I thought came to my mind how the Lord looks upon the heart and not the outward appearance, as well as various things I have been reading in talks and PMG about how we really can't judge who will accept or not. So, I figured, the way I see it, the people who look the least "receptive" might be the most! So I contacted him and we ended up teaching him about the Restoration and leaving him with a Book of Mormon! He lives in a pueblo and didn't want to leave us his number, but he said he was going to read the Book and call the missionaries.