#52 Too Much But Too Little

I have so much to say, but with so little time. Last week I have
traveling like 10-12 hours to get to my area. It was sad to say good
bye to my saints in Ourense. They did a small farewell with our small
branch, but I love them sooo much! They did a ton for me, and I don't
know if I can ever repay them.

Now I'm in Azuqueca and its my fourth area! I'm actually in a big
ward... I think the Lord likes to take me to dead areas, but there
wasn't a lot of work going here, but just this last week we've gotten
straight to work, and I feel like I've had one of the most productive
weeks of my mission! We've been blessed with a lot of miracles, and we
have plans to see many more! The ward is excited for some movement,
and we're going give them that and get into a momentum having the
Spirit guide us and open the windows of Heaven!

Above all we got the rest of the Fuentes family sealed!! It's too cool
and I wish I had more time to dedicate to telling you guys about it!
But here are some pics! The church is true!

#51 Land Before Time #76

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This week was awesome! I've still been working on writing my miracle for every day and I've been more happy and excited! I think some people believe I'm borderline insane, but I get so pumped when we go and talk to people about wonderful truths! 

Just briefly for my email I want to share how great it is to see how God can transform people's lives and allow us to shift our mindset. I would like to share two examples one is my recent converts' father from Talavera. His name is Daniel, he was part of the Romanian police force and was one of the most hard headed people I've ever met. (I was one of, but I mean definitely) Our branch mission leader said that he's seen people Change and has seen God do miracles, but that he didn't think Daniel would go anywhere. 6 months after that discussion I had the opportunity to hear him tell me that Daniel, his wife and 2 kids have been going to church for the last few months! Haha My old branch mission leader was happy to inform me that he was wrong about Daniel and God really can change anyone. It was a good moment to see Miguel being a good example for his family and to see seeds you planted start to grow. 

The next example is Consuelo! She's a Columbian investigator that we have. I met her about 4 months ago. I had previously met her daughters, but they told me that their mom didn't want anything to do with us. I then saw her crossing a bridge, and went to talk to her. She said she was in a hurry, quite rudely, and kept walking. I told her that it wasn't a problem because missionaries walk fast! She still gave me a cold shoulder and I was very persistent and finally hot permission to stop by her house. This week she called me because we hadn't seen her for 5 days and got after me for not visiting her! She's also been to church about 5 times and is now bringing her daughter! GOD IS GREAT! 

Well those were just 2 examples and God's still working on making me the third, but I've still got to humble myself and let The Lord mold me. The church is true! I hope you all have a great week! 

Pics from Santiago, Pontevedra and my buddy elder Bartholomew... Come to find out I punched his cousin in the face in 7th grade... Small world. 🇲🇽

#50 Because I'm Batman

This week consisted of tender mercies and peace. I've been in Ourense for almost 6 months now. I came in with my old comp, Elder Peterson, and opened the area. We worked tirelessly for the success of the area, and after almost 3 years without baptisms we were blessed to be a part of 2 people's eternal salvation. I've now been with Elder Galvan for 3 months and I saw a lot of the things we built up fall in spite of our efforts. With a branch that's about as big as my old priest quorum it hurts when we don't see progress. But it's not even me it hurts, but it hurts because this is their reality. After another year I'll go home to my monster size ward. 

After having a couple of down weeks where it seemed like our efforts were going to waste I decided that I needed to shift my mindset, follow what President Hinkley said and have an attitude of gratitude! I started seeing little miracles occurring more frequently. Just small things like running into a less active member that had been dodging my calls. We saw her, chatted a bit about life, and without saying anything about church she said that tomorrow she'd come and she did. An old investigator started reading the Book of Mormon. It also seemed like a lot of problems just fixed themselves! The biggest one though is Consuelo's daughter vamp to church. Her mom is our investigator, and when we went to pick her mom up she got in the elevator too. I know her mom didn't pressure her at all and neither did we, but I feel like the Lord touched her heart and she listened to the prompting! 

I'm grateful for the tender mercies God gives all of us everyday! Look for the and you'll find them! 

PS for those of you RMs I have a question. When was the last time you talked to one of the people you taught on your mission? As missionaries we played a big role in their lives and surely told them we loved them. Let us not just be speakers of the word, but also doers. I put myself in this category too. I need to be better at writing my converts, but I also invite you rms who read this to join me in doing better at showing that love we told our people we had for them. The church is true! 

#49 Este Semana

We had quite the week! From painting to preaching to anything else you can imagine. 

Oswaldo was a member reference from our branch mission leader. He's a very good man from Venezuela. He's encountered some tough economic times, so he has to sell his house. We helped him for a good chunk of our week to paint his house. We had an awesome time painting his house, and discussing with him. I think if it were just his choice he'd get baptized, but he doesn't want to do anything contrary to his wife's will, so she's our focus now, but overall I think it was a great opportunity to show a little bit of our love for them! 

Then this last week we taught Consuelo. They're also been having a lot of family problems, especially with one of her sister, who is a member. We shared a bible video that illustrated that we need to do things for God, and that she should ask him what He wants her to do. We finished the lesson, and then she prayed. She got very emotional and said that's why she doesn't like to pray. She said that it feels like I'm covered by this feeling. I told her that's the Holy Ghost. We still have a long way to go, but it's great to see how the Lord goes by giving us just as much light as we can take. He truly prepares people for us to teach. 

Overall we've had some great stuff happening. We've dropped a lot of people, and have had to be quite bold, but I know of we do the Lord's will that's He'll provide a way for us to grow and build His kingdom! the church is true!! 

PS for the future missionary who wrote my after looking at my blog I accidentally deleted your email... come to find out that stuff actually happens. I would love to write you, so if you could just send me a quick note, I'll gladly write you about the greatest mission on earth!!! 

#48 Tradition the Mission

This week we got some big news with our Colombian family that we helped reactivate, and baptise the grandmother. Esneda (Grandmother) had a son that got poisoned while drinking alcohol. He was in the ER and fighting between life and death. We prayed and fasted together, and receive news that he was now conscious. I learned a lot from this experience. One being that God loves us which is why He gave us commandments. Second being that prayer is powerful, and that we need to learn from our difficult experiences. This family drew closer together, and felt the love of their Father a little more. There is always something good that we can obtain from a difficult situation. 

The last thing I want to talk about was a song that was showed to me by an investigator. The whole song was not a missionary appropriate song, but I feel like this line can relate to us. "We've come a long way from where we began, and I'll tell you all about it when I see you again." To me this directly relates to prayer. every night we give an account of our day's proceedings to the Lord. I just hope that every day I can feel like I've taken good care of the part of the vineyard that the Lord entrusted me with. We all have something that the Lord has entrusted us with. I hope that we can  all see that we've come a long way. 

The love the Lord. His church has been restored, and is wonderful. I love you all and hope that you all have the greatest week of your vidas!!

Con amor Elder Bailey

#47 Tradition the Mission!

This week we got some big news with our Colombian family that we helped reactivate, and baptise the grandmother. Esneda (Grandmother) had a son that got poisoned while drinking alcohol. He was in the ER and fighting between life and death. We prayed and fasted together, and receive news that he was now conscious. I learned a lot from this experience. One being that God loves us which is why He gave us commandments. Second being that prayer is powerful, and that we need to learn from our difficult experiences. This family drew closer together, and felt the love of their Father a little more. There is always something good that we can obtain from a difficult situation. 

The last thing I want to talk about was a song that was showed to me by an investigator. The whole song was not a missionary appropriate song, but I feel like this line can relate to us. "We've come a long way from where we began, and I'll tell you all about it when I see you again." To me this directly relates to prayer. every night we give an account of our day's proceedings to the Lord. I just hope that every day I can feel like I've taken good care of the part of the vineyard that the Lord entrusted me with. We all have something that the Lord has entrusted us with. I hope that we can  all see that we've come a long way. 

The love the Lord. His church has been restored, and is wonderful. I love you all and hope that you all have the greatest week of your vidas!!

Con amor Elder Bailey

#46 Who am I?

I have been very edified this week. We were able to have a unique service opportunity, and I continue to learn from my Saviour. 

We have a great Colombian member here in Ourense her name is Rosa. Her husband, Jorge, has recently had a stroke and they detected that he had a cancerous tumor in his throat. Rosa was operated for her knee on Thursday, and has been suffering a lot. This 60 year old lady has been carrying her family for a long time, and in a matter of 2 weeks her life came changed dramatically. 

We always ask Rosa if there's anything that we can do to help her, but she always says no. Sunday afternoon she wanted someone to stay the night with him. They called around our small branch and it seemed like nobody could help her. We heard about it, and said we'd go. Many people said that she had family that should help her, or that she was taking advantage of the branch. I was a little upset with that attitude, and asked them what they would do if Jesus was there?

In the end we broke mission rules and stayed the night with him. I was unable to sleep because of the constant noise, and smell that was there. It wasn't fun, but I had a lot of time to think of why Ido I do? I'll be the first to say that I'm far from perfection and that I desperately need the atonement. I realized that many times I do the right thing because others may be watching me, to please my leaders, parents or friends. I knew it intellectually, but I needed to comprehend it Spiritually. I need to do the right thing because it's the right thing. Not for blessing that will inevitably come. I reflected on the hymn "Choose the Right" I need to always strive to chose the right and let the consequences follow. 

I know that my redeemer lives. He loves each one of us personally. He is my best friend.