A golden new investigator & a trip to Montserrat

3/31   Just a little bit about this new investigator we found. Her name is Lana, she is 17 years old, and she is from Ukraine. She just showed up to English class last week, and stayed for a missionary night activity that we are trying to get started in the ward. She loved the short lesson we shared, and had a great time making friends with everyone who was there. We later found out that after the activity, she ran into Manel, one of the youth of the ward, in the streets. They were apparently already friends, and Manel invited her to come to church the next day.

The next day, she came to sacrament meeting, and she told us that she really enjoyed it. She also stayed for the other two hours, and all of the members in the ward took her in like she had been there her whole life. She made a ton of friends that day, and she let us know how good it made her feel. When she left the chapel after church, she had already downloaded the Gospel Library app, and she had a young women's personal progress booklet. She had the biggest smile on her face. She told us that she was going to come to a wedding activity on Friday, English class on Saturday, and church on Sunday the next week.

She came to the wedding, and had a great time. The next day, she came to English class, which sort of just turned into a full-blown gospel discussion. We talked about pretty much everything from the restoration to the Word of Wisdom. Right after Elder Jonson quoted the first vision to her she told us it gave her goosebumps. We helped her realize that this was the spirit testifying that it was true. At the end, she asked us if she could have a hard copy of the Book of Mormon. When we saw her the next day, she told us that she had been reading all night, and couldn’t stop crying while reading it. She read 16 chapters that first night.

This experience has helped me notice the hand of the Lord in His work. There is no doubt that this girl has been prepared to receive the gospel, and I know that the Lord has a plan for each one of his children, and I am so thankful for the opportunity I have as a missionary to play a role in helping some of His children return to Him.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to hike all the way up Montserrat for Preparation day. It was so cool, and really great to get a chance to do something outdoorsy. I learned a lot of cool things about that mountain as well. Apparently there is a huge underground lake underneath it, and hundreds of caves and tunnels. A member told us last night that there is a tunnel that leads to Barcelona, and one that leads all the way to France! Of course all of these tunnels and caves and stuff are blocked off, so nobody can enter. On top of that, there is a huge cathedral and monastery on top of the mountain, lots of little shops as well. It’s like a full-blown city on top of one of the coolest looking mountains I have ever seen. I took lots of pictures.

At the top of Montserrat 

 The Montserrat Monastery