Hey family and friends! How is everything?! It seems like it has been a while...this week passed by fast but seemed like it had like 10 days in it. Kind of a weird sensation. Anyways, I have our transfer news. Woo! Elder Gleason is staying and will have to companions, Elder Johnston from Bountiful (he came in this morning) and Elder Ballam from Logan Utah (we just got here after picking him up from the station, a long 30 min bus ride from piso because it's on the other side of the city from us). And I...will be staying and training! I go to Barçelona tomorrow to pick him up.
We're excited to have a full piso again! One day has already been fun! It will be nice to be back to full force (and even one extra!) and already just having another throughout today has lightened the burden of our load haha. I'm a little nervous about training, I don't know why. I'm always just super nervous I won't train him to be the missionary he needs to be or that I'll give him an incomplete perspective on what a missionary should be... I'm sure it's all just in my head though and it will be fun =) I'm just a perfectionist and want everything to be just perfect and that's hardly ever possible.. I am excited though. I'm sure he'll be great! I'll find out tomorrow who he his.
A miracle this week: I don't know so much if it was a miracle we saw, but it has been on my mind about what a miracle it is to be able to receive revelation, and just that the principle of revelation itself is a miracle. It is key as missionaries that we receive revelation on a daily basis and even hourly or minutely basis, and yet in many other things God trusts us to make the right decision. It is necessary that investigators learn and understand the principle of revelation. It is their chain that connects them to the Rock of Christ. Nobody ever sneaks into the Church or leaves from an exposure to it without the adversary noticing...he always knows and always sends opposition. If the investigators don't understand how to pray, receive answers, and receive daily inspiration from scripture study, they won't be able to see through the clouds of darkness, especially if "their missionaries" leave or if they are for whatever reason distanced from the Church for even a week or two, and they are prone to be deceived. It is important that we strive to understand the thoughts and ways of God, how He works with us and through us, and what His will is for us.
This week I am going to repent on this, and strive to deepen my revelatory experiences. We have a lot of work to do! I've been thinking between various points, mainly "Would it be worthless to strive and bring people to the Church if it won't be able to retain them? Will God guide us to His prepared children if he knows the members aren't prepared to fellowship them?" and "new converts can help the members kindle their conversions and faith. They can be what turns them around!". In any way, I feel like the Ward has been making good steps of change. Our relationship with the Bishop has been improving a lot, and he seems a lot more open, trusting, and even talks with us! We have seen a lot of good in him these last couple weeks and even the way that he runs things has been changing. I think he sees our willingness and our efforts to help. We have been struggling to find a time to meet with the Ward mission leader however, which is not good haha. We do have a big activity planned for this Friday that should be great for all who come!
Thanks for everything. ¡Qué tengáis una semana fantástica! Un saludo!
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
February Updates
Feb 3rd
We had a really neat miracle this week. We were teaching María Angeles, one of our recent converts, about temple and family history work. She had said that she felt comfortable to do the work for her brother who was open and passed away at a young age, but was hesistant if she should do the work for her father, worried that he was "pure 100% catholic" and impossible to change. We were explaining the principle to her, and was still kind of unsure. In part of my example about how it works, I used "Juan" as an example (being the random name that came to my head) as someone who had passed through to the Spirit World, heard the Gospel message, and wanted to progress but couldn't until someone did his ordinance work. Then the most interesting thing happened: I had no idea what her father's name was, but apparently it was Juan. She said when she first heard it she got the chills, and thought, "Oh, it was probably just an example. Next he will say "Pedro" or something. When I kept using the name Juan 3-4 more times, she was just overwhelmed and knew it was the Holy Ghost inspiring me. She understood not only in her mind she said, but then also in her heart. As we read scriptures from DyC about the ordinance work and binding the families on earth together, she understood perfectly. Then, Elder Gleason extended a bold invitation and promise: That if she would prepare to enter the temple and begin preparing names, that her desires to smoke will leave her (her big challenge still). It was such a powerful lesson! The member who was there with us, Bishop's wife Karen, had a little booklet to help get her started and was explaining it to her. It was such a powerful lesson!
As far as charity grows, it is interesting. In one of the talks they invited us to think about our goodly parents. As I thought about my great parents I was filled with love and apreciation for all that you do. I also imagined you both teaching, in Sunday School and in Elders Quorum, and I'm proud of the great teachers you are. It was also funny, President Pace said something that reminded me a lot of grandpa Valberg. I wish I could remember what it was, but I can't.
My thing to work on this week are my 3 things I took away from Specialized Training:
1. Use the Sacrament as a moment for revelation.
2. Pray earnestly for the ward and stake leaders. Work with them to build them up!
3. Consecrated obedience for personal sanctification.
There was a neat experience we had in the second day of our zone conference. President Pace had invited one of the counselors of the Lleida Stake Presidency to come and share something. He shared his family's conversion story and it was so inspiring. After he finished, President Pace felt inspired that we all kneel and pray. It was such a powerful moment!!
Feb 10th
We had a good week. It felt like we worked a lot and then it seems like we didn't because we didn't get a lot of huge changes, but hey, I figure most things happen a slower pace than we want. We passed by a lot of names on the lists, but not many of them were home or still live there so that was a little frustrating. There also seemed to be an unusually large amount of mockers and fingerpointers this week haha. They always come on harder weeks, those weasels... Nice faith refining for us I guess =)
A miracle this week was trust that we've been starting to see from some of the ward leaders. We decided to start supporting Hno Diaz in his institute class and it seems he talks to us more. He even got a hold of a guitar and a saxophone for us to play for a little bit today during preparation day, even after we said it wasn't necessary (I hope that's ok haha...I probably don't remember how to play anything by memory...I guess I can play through the whole hymnbook haha). We've also seen the Bishop become more energized and active in the work. The past couple ward councils have seemed to be a little more productive. We gave him an organized list of menos activos and he's been starting to assign us few to go and seek out.
We had an Enfoque de zona that talked about faith and hope, which was good. Now it's just a matter of exercising that faith, which sometimes feels harder than exercising muscles, but obviously the first is more worthwhile haha. Speaking of which, Elder Gleason is starting to worry about his coming home appearance and wants to get in top shape again, so we're probably going to kick on some more crazy workouts in the morning than push ups and situps haha.
Have a great week! I pray that God bless you all with the strength and ability to do everything you need to! Keep up the great work in everything. Love you all! Un abrazo.
We had a really neat miracle this week. We were teaching María Angeles, one of our recent converts, about temple and family history work. She had said that she felt comfortable to do the work for her brother who was open and passed away at a young age, but was hesistant if she should do the work for her father, worried that he was "pure 100% catholic" and impossible to change. We were explaining the principle to her, and was still kind of unsure. In part of my example about how it works, I used "Juan" as an example (being the random name that came to my head) as someone who had passed through to the Spirit World, heard the Gospel message, and wanted to progress but couldn't until someone did his ordinance work. Then the most interesting thing happened: I had no idea what her father's name was, but apparently it was Juan. She said when she first heard it she got the chills, and thought, "Oh, it was probably just an example. Next he will say "Pedro" or something. When I kept using the name Juan 3-4 more times, she was just overwhelmed and knew it was the Holy Ghost inspiring me. She understood not only in her mind she said, but then also in her heart. As we read scriptures from DyC about the ordinance work and binding the families on earth together, she understood perfectly. Then, Elder Gleason extended a bold invitation and promise: That if she would prepare to enter the temple and begin preparing names, that her desires to smoke will leave her (her big challenge still). It was such a powerful lesson! The member who was there with us, Bishop's wife Karen, had a little booklet to help get her started and was explaining it to her. It was such a powerful lesson!
As far as charity grows, it is interesting. In one of the talks they invited us to think about our goodly parents. As I thought about my great parents I was filled with love and apreciation for all that you do. I also imagined you both teaching, in Sunday School and in Elders Quorum, and I'm proud of the great teachers you are. It was also funny, President Pace said something that reminded me a lot of grandpa Valberg. I wish I could remember what it was, but I can't.
My thing to work on this week are my 3 things I took away from Specialized Training:
1. Use the Sacrament as a moment for revelation.
2. Pray earnestly for the ward and stake leaders. Work with them to build them up!
3. Consecrated obedience for personal sanctification.
There was a neat experience we had in the second day of our zone conference. President Pace had invited one of the counselors of the Lleida Stake Presidency to come and share something. He shared his family's conversion story and it was so inspiring. After he finished, President Pace felt inspired that we all kneel and pray. It was such a powerful moment!!
Feb 10th
We had a good week. It felt like we worked a lot and then it seems like we didn't because we didn't get a lot of huge changes, but hey, I figure most things happen a slower pace than we want. We passed by a lot of names on the lists, but not many of them were home or still live there so that was a little frustrating. There also seemed to be an unusually large amount of mockers and fingerpointers this week haha. They always come on harder weeks, those weasels... Nice faith refining for us I guess =)
A miracle this week was trust that we've been starting to see from some of the ward leaders. We decided to start supporting Hno Diaz in his institute class and it seems he talks to us more. He even got a hold of a guitar and a saxophone for us to play for a little bit today during preparation day, even after we said it wasn't necessary (I hope that's ok haha...I probably don't remember how to play anything by memory...I guess I can play through the whole hymnbook haha). We've also seen the Bishop become more energized and active in the work. The past couple ward councils have seemed to be a little more productive. We gave him an organized list of menos activos and he's been starting to assign us few to go and seek out.
We had an Enfoque de zona that talked about faith and hope, which was good. Now it's just a matter of exercising that faith, which sometimes feels harder than exercising muscles, but obviously the first is more worthwhile haha. Speaking of which, Elder Gleason is starting to worry about his coming home appearance and wants to get in top shape again, so we're probably going to kick on some more crazy workouts in the morning than push ups and situps haha.
Have a great week! I pray that God bless you all with the strength and ability to do everything you need to! Keep up the great work in everything. Love you all! Un abrazo.
January Updates
Jan 20th
It was a nice week for us. It seemed like we were busy and yet that we were not at the same time...kind of a strange sensation. We did have a couple visits though. We have our new fecha, Favour, for the 1st of Feb.. He is the friend of a member who came to church last week. We taught him about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, and he said that he understood it all and was going to read. We couldn't have our second visit with him though, and he didn't come to church yesterday.
We also finished our planning with the WML all of the activities we are going to do this year. It seems like it should be pretty successful if we can get the members to come out to the actvities. I think our miracle for this week was being able to meet with the Bishop, Elders Quorum President, and a couple other members who always tell us they don't have time during the week!
Elder Gil takes a train into Barcelona tonight and I still have no idea who my new companion is or when he's coming. We might have to sit around in a trio again for a bit. I am excited for Elder Gil though, because I know what he has been passing this past month and a half, and probably more since I waited triple his time and closer to home haha. He seems to be pretty excited, although not looking forward to the long flight. He leaves to Paris at 6:30 in the morning, then waits until 1:30 or so, and flys to Mexico. Although it is like a 13 hour flight he will get there at 6 or 7 in the evening haha.
Jan 27th
Buenos días! What a crazy week! I don't even know where to start. First off, thanks for your messages as always. I love to hear news! It sounds like lots of great things happening back home.
We had a pretty good week here. It seems that just when I get a grasp of how we are going to do things the Lord throws me another curveball and it's back to square one. Haha it's good for me though, change always keeps one on his toes! We were in a trio this week with Elder Roberts and Elder Gleason, because there wasn't any other missionaries to send our way here. Then, Sunday morning on the way to church we get a phone call from President. (Yeah, I know right? "What's next?" Is the first thing you think!) There is an Elder who is going into the office to be a trio and start getting trained in his duties there, and Elder Roberts is going to take his place in Terrassa. He left this morning =( I am going to miss Elder Roberts though! We had a lot of fun this week and lots of laughs and had some really good visits. It is weird though, because I got here to make 5 in the piso, than Elder Gil came and we had six, then with E. Wiscombe, Dixon, Gil, and now Roberts leaving one by one it puts us down to 2!
The areas will be interesting. Mine is in the top of Zaragoza right by our piso and the church, so it is easy to work in, just that we don't have very much going right now. The other Elder's is the bottom of Zaragoza, like 30-40 min in bus, depending on where we have to go. I can tell that they have been talking with a lot of people though...there have been a lot of people saying hi to us in the street down there! A lot in our area know us because of the church and everything. We have a few investigators to work with, lots of new references and people to start with, who have been hard to contact by phone recently.
Elder Gleason has a good memory of things that he has talked about with people. He can always remember what they talked about last and follow up and also to help people. He will be great for Zaragoza in his time here. We are praying for 2 more great missionaries that the Lord needs here when the transfer comes around. It is fun to work with him though, he reminds me a lot of Kaleb Rassmussen. He did MMA stuff and has a similar personality and everything. So we get along pretty well =)
It was a nice week for us. It seemed like we were busy and yet that we were not at the same time...kind of a strange sensation. We did have a couple visits though. We have our new fecha, Favour, for the 1st of Feb.. He is the friend of a member who came to church last week. We taught him about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, and he said that he understood it all and was going to read. We couldn't have our second visit with him though, and he didn't come to church yesterday.
We also finished our planning with the WML all of the activities we are going to do this year. It seems like it should be pretty successful if we can get the members to come out to the actvities. I think our miracle for this week was being able to meet with the Bishop, Elders Quorum President, and a couple other members who always tell us they don't have time during the week!
Elder Gil takes a train into Barcelona tonight and I still have no idea who my new companion is or when he's coming. We might have to sit around in a trio again for a bit. I am excited for Elder Gil though, because I know what he has been passing this past month and a half, and probably more since I waited triple his time and closer to home haha. He seems to be pretty excited, although not looking forward to the long flight. He leaves to Paris at 6:30 in the morning, then waits until 1:30 or so, and flys to Mexico. Although it is like a 13 hour flight he will get there at 6 or 7 in the evening haha.
Jan 27th
Buenos días! What a crazy week! I don't even know where to start. First off, thanks for your messages as always. I love to hear news! It sounds like lots of great things happening back home.
We had a pretty good week here. It seems that just when I get a grasp of how we are going to do things the Lord throws me another curveball and it's back to square one. Haha it's good for me though, change always keeps one on his toes! We were in a trio this week with Elder Roberts and Elder Gleason, because there wasn't any other missionaries to send our way here. Then, Sunday morning on the way to church we get a phone call from President. (Yeah, I know right? "What's next?" Is the first thing you think!) There is an Elder who is going into the office to be a trio and start getting trained in his duties there, and Elder Roberts is going to take his place in Terrassa. He left this morning =( I am going to miss Elder Roberts though! We had a lot of fun this week and lots of laughs and had some really good visits. It is weird though, because I got here to make 5 in the piso, than Elder Gil came and we had six, then with E. Wiscombe, Dixon, Gil, and now Roberts leaving one by one it puts us down to 2!
The areas will be interesting. Mine is in the top of Zaragoza right by our piso and the church, so it is easy to work in, just that we don't have very much going right now. The other Elder's is the bottom of Zaragoza, like 30-40 min in bus, depending on where we have to go. I can tell that they have been talking with a lot of people though...there have been a lot of people saying hi to us in the street down there! A lot in our area know us because of the church and everything. We have a few investigators to work with, lots of new references and people to start with, who have been hard to contact by phone recently.
Elder Gleason has a good memory of things that he has talked about with people. He can always remember what they talked about last and follow up and also to help people. He will be great for Zaragoza in his time here. We are praying for 2 more great missionaries that the Lord needs here when the transfer comes around. It is fun to work with him though, he reminds me a lot of Kaleb Rassmussen. He did MMA stuff and has a similar personality and everything. So we get along pretty well =)
This week I am going to work on charity. Elder Roberts gave an excellent talk about love and charity on sunday and it has impacted me from other talks and messages. I feel it is something the Spirit would have me think about throughout the week. And that was even more confirmed when you sent me all of those quotes by Pres. Uchtdorf haha.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
A peek into the past
Hola!
It was a great week for us here! We saw a few miracles this week. The first one: We need new investigators, and we prayed and fasted to be able to have new people to teach. What happened in the following 2-3 days was incredible! We received at least 6 or 7 references! Hopefully this week a lot of these people can convert into new investigators! We did have a visit with that mailman, but we went and they called him in to deliver an urgent package or something, so we didn't get to teach him.
Another miracle was that everything went well in Madrid, that Elder Gil received his visa, and that we were able to enjoy TWO sessions in the temple, one Thursday mediodía and another Friday morning before the embajada opened up! It was a once in a lifetime experience! I was impressed by the peace and serenity and above all the Spirit. We had been that afternoon to a Catholic cathedral, an Egyptian temple, and couple other places, and there is a noticable difference between the true temple of the Lord and those of the world =) I felt the Spirit strongly and was impressed more about the person who I am deep down and what the Lord expects of me a little better. And it was SUPER beautiful =) After one of the sessions we walked around the temple and saw all of the rooms and such too.
Oh, and my peek into the past: We ate dinner and breakfast in the MTC there with the other missionaries, and stayed in the hostel for members on temple trips that is downstairs. It was interesting. At first they all thought we were new missionaries, but then we proved ourselves to be missionaries out in the field. They didn't really talk to us though, just the teachers. I think I didn't miss out on too much in the MTC, I think I would have still liked the Provo MTC more. So, looking back, the Lord is indeed merciful in His mysterious ways! And I still got to go to the temple! ¡Toma! It was great =)
Well, that's all that I have for this week. Hope that you have a wonderful week and keep the faith burning bright!
It was a great week for us here! We saw a few miracles this week. The first one: We need new investigators, and we prayed and fasted to be able to have new people to teach. What happened in the following 2-3 days was incredible! We received at least 6 or 7 references! Hopefully this week a lot of these people can convert into new investigators! We did have a visit with that mailman, but we went and they called him in to deliver an urgent package or something, so we didn't get to teach him.
Oh, and my peek into the past: We ate dinner and breakfast in the MTC there with the other missionaries, and stayed in the hostel for members on temple trips that is downstairs. It was interesting. At first they all thought we were new missionaries, but then we proved ourselves to be missionaries out in the field. They didn't really talk to us though, just the teachers. I think I didn't miss out on too much in the MTC, I think I would have still liked the Provo MTC more. So, looking back, the Lord is indeed merciful in His mysterious ways! And I still got to go to the temple! ¡Toma! It was great =)
Well, that's all that I have for this week. Hope that you have a wonderful week and keep the faith burning bright!
7 de Enero de 2014
Hola! So, I have a lot to share, but I don't know how to start and honestly I don't have a lot of desire to type it all...if only I could just telepathically send it across the world. Oh well, cound my blessings I guess =) We'll see what we can do here.
First item of business: Elder Gil is still with me! We went into Lleida for Zone Enfoque on Wednesday. Elder Gil's package had arrived monday, but he couldn't pick it up because the mailman still had it whereever he was in his route, and Tuesday and Wednesday the office was closed for holidays. So, he came with us, and the Zone Leaders planned an intercambio with us, and Elder Weiss was to come back to Zaragoza with Elder Gil and I and E. Dixon stayed in Lleida with E. Carrigan. Well, 5 min before our train was supposed to leave, we get a call from President Pace. He said that he thought Elder Gil's package was a divinely sent sign, and it gave him more time to think about things and that he felt much more comfortable with sending Elder Dixon to Barcelona. "Uh, sure President sounds great! One problem...he's in Lleida and we're boarding our train." So, we got back to Zaragoza and put E. Gil on the first train back and E. Dixon got a train to Zaragoza to come pack his bags, then Thursday morning he left! So here we are!
First item of business: Elder Gil is still with me! We went into Lleida for Zone Enfoque on Wednesday. Elder Gil's package had arrived monday, but he couldn't pick it up because the mailman still had it whereever he was in his route, and Tuesday and Wednesday the office was closed for holidays. So, he came with us, and the Zone Leaders planned an intercambio with us, and Elder Weiss was to come back to Zaragoza with Elder Gil and I and E. Dixon stayed in Lleida with E. Carrigan. Well, 5 min before our train was supposed to leave, we get a call from President Pace. He said that he thought Elder Gil's package was a divinely sent sign, and it gave him more time to think about things and that he felt much more comfortable with sending Elder Dixon to Barcelona. "Uh, sure President sounds great! One problem...he's in Lleida and we're boarding our train." So, we got back to Zaragoza and put E. Gil on the first train back and E. Dixon got a train to Zaragoza to come pack his bags, then Thursday morning he left! So here we are!
Next on the list: Elder Gil is going to Madrid on Thursday for an embajada appoitment for his visa, and I get to go with him. Woo!! So he goes in the morning, and then supposedly if all goes well he can have his visa that evening. Then whenever the next transfer day in Mexico is he would go, maybe end of Jan. or something. So we'll have all late morning and mediodía to go do stuff, and maybe go see the temple!
I usually like to share something I learned from my studies this week, but I can't think of what to share out of all the good stuff I learned! I started the Book of Mormon again for the new year, made a comparison chart of the callings of prophets (how old they were, their reaction, their circumstances/background at the time, etc.) and a lot about member missionary work stuff. So yeah, everything in that general area I guess. =) Mainly I guess I noticed how natural the things of God become to those who consistenly study, pray, and live them. Then missionary work is easy and exciting, your relationship with God flourishes, and blessings are abundant.
Hope that everything goes just great and that you have a fantastic week =) Un abrazo!
December Updates
12/9
I love being with Elder Gil! We are in kind of a weird foursome now. Elder Gil is waiting to go to Mexico City on his visa, and we got him here on Wednesday. He is a very prepared missionary, even if he hasn't been through the MTC yet. He is fun to be around and always laughing and causing laughs. He's from the Canary islands. He teaches all the new missionaries in our piso spanish and helps me perfect my vocabulary and accent =)
So yeah, we are getting by! This is only temporary, there is a "mini transfer" on the 17th for missionaries going home early for christmas and school, and we might see a change there. We decided just to keep the area how it is and not split it, then share/trade off teaching people. It has been interesting working four in the area with not too many people as far as investigators go, so we have been working on passing by the list of less active members to get to know them and invite them back, and try to find new inv. No fruits as of yet, it has been hard to find someone home or open their door for now, but we keep working with faith!
It has also been freezing cold this week! Last night it was -1 celcius, but super foggy so like 100 % humidity. It has been a rough adjustment for Elder Gil haha, being from 20-25 year round on his island. I haven't gotten any packages yet. We have Zone Conference on Friday, so I might get stuff then, and I will have to go into Barcelona maybe to renew my residency card sometime.
I'm glad everything happened in the move!! My thanks to all who helped you guys. It sounds like the new place is great to be in, with a few future additions haha. We've had to go buy more stuff to house us 2 extra missionaries in our supposed 4 man piso too. Last week the Belén was closed so we might try again soon. Today we are going ice skating down at that giant super mall complex. =) Congrats on all the wins, keep working hard. Sorry to hear about all the crazy things happening, and losing stuff =) New Christmas gift, right? ;)
This month of December I am studying the attribute of humility and trying to put it into practice. To remember the humility of our Savior in condescending below everything to be born here in the earth in normal, or below normal circumstances and how he demonstrated it throughout his life. It's been really great. Also, as a mission we are going for a "white christmas!", not only for baptisms but also being purified, as in the story of 3 Nephi 19. So some great things happening.
Well, that's about all I have for this week. Keep being great, keep sending prayers! Hope all is splendid =) ¡Qué Dios os bendiga!
I love being with Elder Gil! We are in kind of a weird foursome now. Elder Gil is waiting to go to Mexico City on his visa, and we got him here on Wednesday. He is a very prepared missionary, even if he hasn't been through the MTC yet. He is fun to be around and always laughing and causing laughs. He's from the Canary islands. He teaches all the new missionaries in our piso spanish and helps me perfect my vocabulary and accent =)
So yeah, we are getting by! This is only temporary, there is a "mini transfer" on the 17th for missionaries going home early for christmas and school, and we might see a change there. We decided just to keep the area how it is and not split it, then share/trade off teaching people. It has been interesting working four in the area with not too many people as far as investigators go, so we have been working on passing by the list of less active members to get to know them and invite them back, and try to find new inv. No fruits as of yet, it has been hard to find someone home or open their door for now, but we keep working with faith!
It has also been freezing cold this week! Last night it was -1 celcius, but super foggy so like 100 % humidity. It has been a rough adjustment for Elder Gil haha, being from 20-25 year round on his island. I haven't gotten any packages yet. We have Zone Conference on Friday, so I might get stuff then, and I will have to go into Barcelona maybe to renew my residency card sometime.
I'm glad everything happened in the move!! My thanks to all who helped you guys. It sounds like the new place is great to be in, with a few future additions haha. We've had to go buy more stuff to house us 2 extra missionaries in our supposed 4 man piso too. Last week the Belén was closed so we might try again soon. Today we are going ice skating down at that giant super mall complex. =) Congrats on all the wins, keep working hard. Sorry to hear about all the crazy things happening, and losing stuff =) New Christmas gift, right? ;)
This month of December I am studying the attribute of humility and trying to put it into practice. To remember the humility of our Savior in condescending below everything to be born here in the earth in normal, or below normal circumstances and how he demonstrated it throughout his life. It's been really great. Also, as a mission we are going for a "white christmas!", not only for baptisms but also being purified, as in the story of 3 Nephi 19. So some great things happening.
Well, that's about all I have for this week. Keep being great, keep sending prayers! Hope all is splendid =) ¡Qué Dios os bendiga!
12/16
My fingers are a little slow typing this from the cold outside, but we're doing great.We have been passing by the list of Less Active members and trying to visit members to get to know them. We've also had a lot of people busy and hard to get a hold of! Normal aspects of missionary work I suppose.
The Zone Conference was really great. I always love messages about the Book of Mormon because I love the Book of Mormon! It is always a good reminder to refocus on the Lord's chosen evidence for His work. I am going to rededicate myself to teach from the Book of Mormon with greater power!
A miracle that we saw this week was the Christmas Program here. It was such a neat experience to be a part of the Christmas Program here in Zaragoza. All of the missionaries here in Zaragoza (like 14) participated, and they even brought up Elder Glenn from Valencia (a fellow Pleasant Grove-ite! He's Patrick Glenn's (the good saxophone player from Jazz Band a few years ago) brother.) to play in a piano duet with Hermana Pace, that Sleigh Ride arrangement. They did super great of course. We sang tons of Christmas songs, in English, Spanish, German, Aftrican, you name it haha. An Hermana here from Sweden sang a tradicional song from her country as well. I felt the Christmas Spirt, the Spirit of Christ, as we sang and helped others to feel it. There was a lot of work put into it, so I was glad to see good results! It was also a great privilege for us and for the members to have the Pace family with us for the weekend. Their testimonies and comments inspired many and they always tell us what a great mission president we have =) Their daughter just finished her mission in Norway and has been visiting President and Hermana Pace before going home for school. Their son should be coming to visit this month too I think.
Another small miracle was being able to catch the train from Lleida right after the meeting because it came 10 min late =)
12/23
Hola! I can't believe how fast this month has just flown by! It feels like the middle of December still! It kind of doesn't even feel like it really. We are excited though =) It hasn't been quite as cold this week, mainly because the fog blew out finally and we had some sun. It was still 0-8 degrees C but more dry with sunlight so it was hardly noticable with a coat and such.
Lots of news this week:
First off, it is great working with Elders Dixon and Gil. They are great missionaries. Elder Dixon has a spirit of obedience and in doing good. Elder Gil connects with everybody. EVERYBODY in the ward loves him =) Maybe because he is Spaniard, but he is just super fun to be around. They both love to learn and work hard.
This week's miracle was María Angeles' baptism. It was E. Wiscombe's last day, so it was special for him especially. It was such a neat and spiritual experience. The Spirit was strong and she just has such a special testimony. She has a long life's story of difficulties and hardships, which are evident in her outstanding character and personal strength. She is already connecting so well with the members! At the Relief Society dinner they all had a great time and she has already donated clothing and jewelries and service to so many people in the ward! She is just incredible. She will be a great strength to the ward here. She was a little late for Sacrament meeting, but made it just in time to be confirmed =)
We have spent a lot of time finding--knocking doors, contacting in the streets, looking for less actives. We don't have many investigators right now so we hope to find many soon! We have been blessed to see miracles and if not new investigators yet, the Spirit has come into us.
Most of Spain celebrate the 24th largely, and dinner on the 25th, but the main gift giving and presents are on 3 Kings day, the 7th or 8th of January. Also, no, we do not have iPad's yet. I would love them, but it's whenever they roll around I guess.
Thanks for your neat messages and comments. I hope that Christmas will be a nice day for you all and that you can continue to feel the Spirit! Thanks for all of your prayers and remembering me =) The Senior couple serving in Lleida are going to the office today to pick up mail and they're supposedly delivering stuff to us tomorrow maybe, so hopefully my package is there! Anyways, that's all folks. ¡Bon Nadal a tots!
12/30
I have been seeing a noticable change in many of the members throughout our time here. I feel like we are reaching the hearts to the members in a unique way. Elder Gil has been wonderful at getting many to open up and they love talking with him. I have been trying to comment more during Sunday School and church meetings. I feel like a lot of missionaries tend to sit back and not participate, leaving it to the class, when for me I feel that a missionary's involvement can be a great opportunity for teaching and inviting the Spirit by testimony. Elder Dixon has proved to be a talentful person and impressed a few people as well!
We did get some sad news however: They are moving Elder Gil into Barcelona because someone's companion needed to go home to fix some medical things and so we got a change a week earlier than transfers next week. President has already told me that he plans on me staying for a while, so we'll see. We're all sad to have Elder Gil leave though
We have been blessed to have such great missionaries working here in Zaragoza. I hope that things do start for the better this year. We have some plans to put into action as far as helping the members catch the Spirit and the ward I think will hopefully catch on with some resolutions for the year.
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