October 26, 2015 "Short"

October 19 "He knows us"

I'll write something next week, but this would take too long to write.
I really hope you guys enjoy this one. It's special to me. I love all
of you. (:

Silence
https://familysearch.org/photos/audio/19959611

¡La Iglesia es verdadera!

Foto con Lesly, my recent convert and my son, and my people from my
first area! I went back and visited... They all said that I was too

skinny.... I thought it was just because they had gotten me fat there!

#57 Voice Recording

Well this is my first voice recording! Let me know what you all think!
Love you all!
Rocio story

#56 Hmmmmm

Bueno I have no time this week! I've been very busy and I can keep my mind off of what we get to do to help people! It's awesome! Well I just want to briefly share a story that impacted me and helped me very much. 

The familia Salas are awesome people! Hermana Salas is a rock in every sense of the word... He beat me in an arm wrestle while I was using two arms... Plus he's got 2 hernias( I'm convinced they help him have super strength) He needs to get operated on soon. Then his wife Elma is awesome too... She has three herniated discs that are out of place... She's in a lot of pain... We decided to make them cookies. I wanted to share a message, and I shared a good message, but their responses were much more powerful than my message. Manuel Salas talked about how God sent us here to be tried... He needs to allow us to see that we're strong enough to go through trails and come out victorious having gained greater confidence in the Lord. Then Elma talked about how through these trails she's come to have a greater appreciation for the Atonement and a great love for God... These people are amazing. 

I've come to learn that "my yoke is easy and my burden is light" that means there is a yoke, and there is a burden. God doesn't take away all of the pain, so we can be happy, but rather provided something much more gratifying.... He provides a way for us to be happy through our burdens. God is great. 

#55 "Miraculous day en Villalba"

Group email! 

    Okay well I actually had a little bit of time to write on the train, so I can tell you about Richard. He's our Nigerian investigator who is spectacular! He used to be Muslim, but the Lord went preparing him poco a poco until he was ready to know the gospel of Jesus Christ. This man has more faith than anyone that I've met... He's incredible. He has a baptismal date for the 16th of October. He still has to get married, and wait for the government to say he can get married. Reasonably he's still a ways out from getting it all done, but he says that God will open whatever door He needs to to help Richard me a member of the church of Jesus Christ. Richard is amazing, and I feel extremely blessed to be a part of his conversion. 

 Now I'll tell you about my miraculous day en Villalba. Today I went to go visit my first area, and had very little time due to travel. I really only had time to visit 2-3 families that I really wanted to see. As I was talking to one of the families about people who had accompanied me to lessons, and brought me their friends to teach. I asked about 2, Harison and Giovanni... Both of the now inactive. I was heart broken and truly sad. These people are incredible. I really wanted to see them, but I knew both of them worked. On our way to another place we found Harison! I was super excited to see him, and I have him a giant hug! This guy is great! I got after him with love and told him to go back to church. It was short quick and powerful. Then on our way to another visit we saw Giovanni! Again, a crazy unexpected miracle. I also invited him to come back to church; told him how much I loved him and how much I knew he could do. It was wonderful. 

As I was talking to Ismael(my first convert) we acknowledged how great the Lord was and how he was and is a God of miracles! I was incredible to go back and visit! I felt a ton of love and I'm so grateful that I was able to see those incredible people again... God is good. God is great!

I got to visit my first area today! It's been almost a year since I've
seen a lot of these people! I have to catch a train and go three hours
away, but it was great and I'll write more next week!

Richard is a machine!! He's our investigator he has more faith than
anyone I've ever met. I love him and his family a lot! I'll write more
next week! I never have time!

#54 "Stories"

These last few weeks have been fantastic! We've had incredible growth here in Azuqueca! I got here looking to do everything right. I wanted to do things by the book and fully invest myself. To make cookies for the members and investigators, allow ALL of my thoughts words and deeds be dedicated to my area. I tried to humble myself, to not do my will with the work, but rather to do the Lord's will. 

Well I'd like to briefly explain some of the bounteous blessings that the Lore has allotted us. 1. Ruben..  I talked about him last week, and now he has a baptismal date! 2. They've now changed the ward mission leader and given us 5 new ward missionaries. Now I don't say this to brag, or to say that I'm any better than anyone else, but rather the opposite. I notice that when I try to do things my way we get okay results, but when we do them the Lord's way the Heavens open and we are elevated to higher planes. 

I'd like to finish with a story that happened last Tuesday. We were going to meet with a less active family. The father is not a member, and the 10 year old son isn't either. We showed up and just kinda started getting in a routine ( I despise routines) my comp was doing a good job explaining principles, but there was just a lot of noise and jokes going along. They've had various visits from the missionaries, but I fear that some one them may not have been that effective. I stopped the lesson and asked them why they thought we were here? They gave off some good answers, and then I pulled out my iPad. I showed them my first screen saver, which is a picture my my family dropping off my cousin at the MTC. Then I told them, " Let me show you why I left these wonderful people." I proceeded to show them my other screensaver which is a picture of the Fuentea family right after their sealing. "Families can be together forever, but I have to be honest, without the gospel of Jesus Christ and the temple.... They can't be" 

Arlet( the mother) started tearing up as did the non member friend. The Spirit was testifying of truth. 

I then directed my attention to Jesus(Arlet's husband) I asked him if he had ever recognized the Spirit? He said that he has felt it a few times during testimony meeting. The Spirit again testified as he shared his experiences. We discussed a little more with him and proceeded to talk to Adriano. I asked him, "Do you know what baptism is?" 

He said, "I do... It's when we make a promise with God that we're going to do the right thing."

"Do you want to get baptized?" 

"When I feel ready." 

"Great answer. What do you think you'll feel when you're ready?" 

"The Spirit" 

I proceeded to ask questions and he then understood that he had felt the Spirit and that he needed to get baptized. We set a date for him. He started crying. He ran over to his mom. He said that he was so happy that he now felt ready and was going to get baptized. I thin addressed the friend (Patricia) and asked her how she felt. She also recognized the Spirit.

Now we have three people with a baptismal date, some great investigators, and a lot of progress. It's truly amazing how God can change us when we simply allow Him to. The church is true. 

#53 I submit to you...

This week was fantastic! We I've been focusing on assuring that I don't become complacent with and that I constantly improve. I've experienced a lot of personal growth along with progress in my area. 

On exchanges with my buddy Elder Barlow we were contacting in the streets. For the last 9-10 months I've pushed myself to talk to everyone, but recently I've wanted to talk to EVERYONE! Whether it be that they are on the bench, with their girlfriend, on a bike, or even parked in a car. We have the greatest message in the world, so we should be running to let everyone know about it! 

We had been stopping a lot of people, and then we saw this young couple. So you understand the culture people in Spain do EVERYTHING on benches. So they were on the bench mingled together (kinda awkward) then we started talking to these two Spaniards. They both started laughing at us.... Ha I was chuckled a little and then somehow the situation changed. We started talking to them about God, and His love for us. We ended up talked to them, and sharing the restoration with them. Their countenance changed. They now had a respectable distance between them, and they were listening and sharing experiences. In the background you could hear some arguments and loud music, but we really felt the Spirit. It was strong and testifying of truth. 

The last experience I'd like to share was when we stopped Ruben. I approached him and he shook his head and finger as if to signal me to leave him alone. I did what I always do when I see that.... Contact them anyway! He told me that he didn't believe in God and wanted nothing to do with us. Using inspired questions we were able to find an experience in which he had prayed, asked God to help him with cancer, and now he has no signs of cancer. We got in deeper and talked for about 30 minutes. At the end of the conversation the Spirit was very powerful and up lifting. It was hands down the most powerful lesson I've had on my mission. We're meeting him this coming week, and he seems very anxious to meet and better understand our Lord's love.

I learned that we never know who someone truly is until we take the time to know them. The Spirit can can people over time, and instantly. God loves us. The church is true.