The powerful message of the restoration

12/21  This week we saw several miracles simply by making calls. We decided to go through the list of numbers in the phone and set the goal to have called all of them by the end of the week. Even Elder Cook didn't recognize most of the names. We were able to set visits with several people that seemed to have been forgotten about. One such person was Felipe. We had a wonderful visit with him. At first he said that he was only interested in talking about God. He seemed a little standoffish at the beginning of the lesson, but by the end when we had explained about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, he committed to read and pray and told us he would come to church. Elder Cook even challenged him to be baptized, and he said that he would pray about it. It was interesting to see the change the message of the restoration can make in people's attitude. We are very excited to be able to work with Felipe.

We had two really good lessons with Alejandra this week, and she is as excited as ever about her baptism. We are already working with the ward council to prepare everything so that the transition from missionaries to members is really smooth. I don't think we will have any problems with that though. She is already really close with Los Giron, a family from Colombia. They have practically adopted her as one of their own. It is so great to see how involved members are here with the work. It really does make things go so much smoother.

Elder Cook and I are doing very well together. We get along great, and I feel like we are practically best friends now. I can see that he will come to be an incredible missionary. He is very good at teaching clearly and simply, and he always seems to have a positive attitude, even when all of our plans fall through. I can see a bright future for him.

One thing I learned this week is the importance of our faith. More specifically, putting our faith to action. A scripture that really stood out to me this week is Ether 12:6 "And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith". Here it talks about a trial of faith, and that we don't receive a witness (in Spanish it uses the word testimonio, or testimony) until after the trial of our faith. In other words, the only way we can know if something is true is if we use our faith and try it out. For example, if we want to know that the promise Moroni gives us is true, we have to try it out. We have to read and pray, and after we exercise our faith in doing that, we will receive a testimony. I know that faith is essential, and that if we don't exercise it, we will loose it.

P.S. Funny story for this week. Sunday morning at about 4:00 in the morning we wake up to somebody ringing our doorbell over and over and over again. At first I just stayed in bed and figured they'd leave us alone. After 5 minutes, we decided to get up and figure out what was going on. We open the door to a guy that is totally drunk out of his mind. It took him a minute to realize that we weren't the people he was looking for, then he asked if he was on the first floor. We told him he was on the third, and he got so confused and turned around and stumbled down the stairs. It made for a funny story and strengthened my testimony of the word of wisdom.

¡Un abrazo querido amigo!

 Nely was baptized by Elder Peay after Justin left Burgos

And Nely's daughter Noelia was baptized the next month!

2 new baptismal commitments

12/14  We have seen so many miracles here in the district, the largest of which were the 3 miracle baptisms that Tortosa had on Saturday. I got a call on Thursday from Tortosa, and Elder Streadbeck told me they just got out of a visit, and 3 of their investigators who had been investigating for a while decided to be baptized that coming Saturday. Long story short, on Friday we had to travel to Tortosa and then take a bus out to the smallest pueblo I have ever seen to do 3 baptismal interviews. They are a wonderful family, and they were so prepared. The next day on Saturday the baptismal service went well. They got there really late, but when the did get there it went really well. It was such a cool miracle to see them get baptized!

One of our investigators is named Alejandra, and she is for sure getting baptized in January. She came to the service and told us of how excited she is for her baptism. She absolutely loved it and already has a super strong relationship with a lot of the members. We are also really excited for Ferran. He is prepared to be baptized, we just need to pick a date. We are hoping for the 26th of December. We have several other people who are really close to baptism as well. Elder Cook and I get a long very well. After the little time we have had together, I already feel like we are pretty much best friends. Along with that, I feel that we teach really well together. We are doing so good here in Tarragona, and I am super excited to get to work here!

One thing I learned this week is the importance of setting goals. This week in district meeting we talked a little bit about the goal to get 1 baptism per companionship in the month of December. I felt inspired to push the district a little harder, and we set the goal to get one more baptism per companionship in this month. We set goals to help us achieve that as well. We are all excited in the district, and we are all going to work really hard to achieve this ambitious goal. I realized that if we don't set goals to accomplish things, we are just left with empty wishes that will never come true. Goals are the essential first step to making a desire or wish come true. I know that God will help us achieve our spiritual and temporal goals if we put our trust in him and live his commandments.

Back to Catalonia!

12/8  We had yet another marvelous week!  The biggest miracle of the week was that Nely was able to come to church again, and this time she brought her daughter Noelia. She had told us that Noelia was actually interested in being baptized as well, so we are super excited to start teaching her too. Nely has progressed so much and she is already sharing the gospel with everyone she can. She told us a while ago that she is pretty much teaching everything we teach her to her family. It has been such a great experience to be able to see her progress from the beginning. I still remember the first time I met her she told us that she would listen to us, but she didn't really believe in anything. Now she is totally prepared for baptism. It has been incredible to see the change the Book of Mormon and the gospel have brought to her life. I'm sad I won't be there to see her baptism, but I am happy to have taken part in her conversion.

Elder Peay has improved a lot. I really am so glad for the opportunity that I have had to train him. It's been great seeing how he has progressed as well. He has developed a really good work ethic, and I'm not worried at all about leaving him with the area. I am sure he will do great, and he will become a great missionary.

One thing I learned this week was the importance of living the gospel. There is a scripture in John 7:17 that reads, "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself". This is a great scripture to explain to investigators the need to put it to the test. In order to find out if something is true, we need to test it to find out. For example, one
cannot receive a testimony of the Book of Mormon without reading it. It is so important for our investigators to apply the principles we teach in order to find out if what we teach is true. Likewise, it is also vitally important that us as members apply the principles of the gospel in our lives so that we too can strengthen our testimonies. I know that by living the principles of the gospel, we can strengthen our testimonies and be examples for those around us.

P.S. I got transferred to Tarragona and my new companion is Elder Cook from Riverton Ut!!

Justin and Elder Cook

10 new investigators!

11/30  This week was great. We saw so many miracles, and by the end of the week, we had found a total of 10 new investigators to teach! We had been working hard all week long and it seemed like nothing was working, but we saw the blessings come over the weekend. It was so relieving to see all that hard work during the week pay off. Two of the people we found were from simply passing by one of the 3 addresses we had written down from the area book. We rang their door, and they just let us in. We sat and talked for a while to a very nice Spanish couple. The husband told us that he couldn't deny that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ, but he didn't really believe in the apostasy. I'm excited for a chance to try and explain that to him better. 

We continue to pass by Nely frequently. She has gone a week and a half without tobacco or coffee, and I have really seen a huge change in her. She used to tell us every day how hard it was, now she hardly ever mentions it. She has gotten to the point where she can't put the Book of Mormon down. She is reading an average of 7-8 chapters every day and is now finishing 2 Nephi. I have also seen such a huge change in her ever since she has started reading. Her understanding of everything is growing so much, and her testimony is getting stronger every day! She came to church for the first time yesterday and loved it. We had the primary program yesterday, and she absolutely loved every moment of that. At this point, I am sure she will be baptized, I just hope we can find a member friend to help her in the process. 

Elder Peay and I are doing good. We are teaching and working a lot better together now, and his Spanish has improved a lot. I feel like we have both grown a lot together and learned a lot from one another. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have had to train. We are currently studying the role of the Holy Ghost in conversion, and I love this section. The Holy Ghost truly is the most important aspect of a teaching situation. If we don't have the Holy Ghost, we can't teach.

One thing I learned this week as I taught our bible class on Friday is the things that amaze me about the life of Jesus Christ. Part of the lesson in the manual suggested reading the words to the hymn "Asombro Me Da" (I Stand All Amazed #193). After doing so, we invited the students to make a list of the things Christ did that amaze them. I'd like to share a few points from my list:

He healed the sick
He cured the blind
He forgave the sinner
He taught doctrine clearly
He taught by perfect example
He was completely selfless
He served others His whole life
He instituted the Sacrament
He suffered for my sins, pains, sicknesses, weaknesses, and afflictions
He remained completely calm and dignified as others defiled Him
He died on the cross
He broke the bands of death for me

These are only a few of the points I came up with. Really, I could come up with an endless list of things that Christ did that amaze me. I am so grateful for everything He did for me, and for all of God's children. I know that He is our Savior and Redeemer, and I know He loves us perfectly. He gave His life for us, and only asks that we accept Him and His doctrine. I know that as we do, we can find true happiness in this life. 

¡Un abrazo querido amigo!

The importance of the Book of Mormon in conversion

11/23  This week we saw a ton of little miracles with unplanned things. The best one was when we were looking through the area book for some people we could pass by, we found a name and wrote it down. We went to pass by this man and rang his door. Someone let us up and when we got to their door, a man opened it and told us that the person we were looking for didn't live there. I started to share a little of our message with him, but he said he had to go. We set a return visit with him. His name is Amos. We only later found out that Amos and his family are friends with the Ansah family in the branch. As it turns out, Amos and his family were actually at the baptism of Juliana!  That was so cool to find out! The Lord really does put people who are prepared in our paths. We are so excited to get to teach him. 

Elder Peay has gotten a lot better at stopping people in the streets now. We did a lot of that this week, and he has started to stop people to talk with them without me having to urge him to do it. That was a huge step forward, and we saw a lot of miracles because of that. We found several new people that we hope we can visit with and teach. We are also a little ahead on the 12 week program. We are doing good here and continue to improve on teaching more in unity every day. 

I'm not sure if I have mentioned here before, but we are teaching a woman from Cuba named Nely. She owns a little candy shop that we have been passing by a lot lately. We were actually able to set a fecha with her for the 19 of December, and she was really excited about that. We just recently taught the word of wisdom, and she promised us that she would stop smoking and drinking coffee from that day on. Today will be 4 days straight of obeying the word of wisdom for her! We are so excited for Nely! Ever since she has started to read the Book of Mormon consistently, her progress has skyrocketed. I can see that her understanding of all we have taught has grown a ton, and she is much happier now. The first time we invited her to come to church she told us that it was impossible. She works in the store every day, and doesn't have anyone to cover for her. When we passed by yesterday, she told us that she had planned to come to church and had everything ready, but her daughter got really sick and they had to take her to the hospital. I was so happy to hear that she fixed things up to be able to come to church though. She told us for sure next week! 

My experiences this week with Nely have really grown my understanding of the important role the Book of Mormon holds in conversion. It really is our most powerful tool in conversion. We can teach principles of the gospel as clearly as possible, but if the student isn't consistently reading the Book of Mormon, they aren't going to understand what we teach, nor the importance of what we teach. I saw that with Nely. At first, she didn't really understand what relevance the restoration had to her in her life. She thought it was a good story, but didn't fully understand what it meant. Now that she is consistently reading the Book of Mormon, I can see a new light in her eyes. I can tell she understands why we are there and the importance the message we bring has. It is a marvel and a wonder to experience first hand the change the Book of Mormon brings to those that truly read it. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to invite people to make that change every day!  

The Lord controls even the small details of His work

11/16  We saw a huge miracle this week. We had planned to visit Oliver and Auriela, a part member family, right after lunch on Friday. We left for the visit about 5 to 10 minutes later than we had planned, but it still gave us just enough time to get to the visit on time. On our way to the visit, Oliver and Auriela were driving past in their van, saw us, and stopped to talk. They had things to do, but they invited us to a nearby park to sit down and have a lesson. We sat and had a wonderful lesson on the family proclamation. They both really enjoyed what it said about families and their potential to be eternal. As we finished with that visit, I stopped to think of what a miracle that really was. Had we not have left at the exact time we did, Oliver wouldn't have seen us on the road, and we wouldn't have had the visit. If we would have left when we had planned to, we would have gotten to their piso, and they would have already left. It was very humbling to see how the Lord controls everything just so that things will work out the way He plans it to. 

Elder Peay and I are starting to teach rather well in unison. He has taken over the Gospel Principles Sunday school class, and he is getting much better at guiding the lesson. He is able to cover all of the important parts in the missionary discussions as well. His knowledge of the lessons has definitely grown from when he got here. Overall, he has improved a ton, and already has a good idea of how to be a missionary. 

I realized this week that missionary work isn't always what people think it is. While part of our purpose is to invite others to be baptized and, granted, that is a large part of our purpose, there are other efforts that I feel we often neglect. According to Preach My Gospel, our purpose is "to invite others to come unto Christ". Although baptism is the first step in coming unto Christ, there is much more than that. There are many who have been baptized and then fallen away from the church. These too need the invitation to 'return' to Christ. While there is an obvious focus on bringing new souls unto Christ through baptism, I feel there is a great need to put an equal amount of effort in inviting baptized souls to return to what they know is true. Through my experiences this week, I have learned that there is a great need for that here in Burgos. I feel as though the Lord is urging us to work on our reactivation efforts, and I intend to do what I can. 

¡Un abrazo querido amigo!

A long term investigator

11/10  We had a bit of a rough week this week. We had set a number of visits with several investigators we thought had a lot of potential. We did everything we could to ensure the visits would all work out. We even called each of them at least twice to double confirm them, but unfortunately just about all of them fell through. It was a little hard to see such a well planned week fall apart, but I guess that's what happens sometimes. God must have intended for us to find or visit someone else. 

The good news of the week is that we had a very good visit with one of our investigators who has been investigating the church for several years. His name is Julio. He told us that he is looking for a new job so that he doesn't have to work on Sundays and can come to church. He has a lot of family who are members in Peru, and he has a vast knowledge of the doctrine of the church and seems to already have a testimony as well. It seems to us that he hasn't been baptized simply because he doesn't want to make a promise he doesn't feel he can keep. We are excited for our next visit in which we are going to clarify his doubts and possibly set a baptismal date with him. I feel sure that now is his time. He told us that he would try to make it to church on Sunday because he wasn't working. I was so happy to see him walk in 10 min early! He is already super good friends with about half the members of the branch as well. We are really excited for him!

Elder Peay and I are all caught up on the 12 week program. We are now studying my favorite part about the importance of the Book of Mormon. His knowledge of Spanish is growing quite a lot. He knows the grammar and the words well enough on paper, but when it comes to speaking it, he still struggles with it a bit. I can see his study habits are helping him a lot though. I think he is just missing the confidence to be able to speak in front of other people. That's usually the hardest part of learning a new language. 

This week I was asked to give a talk in sacrament meeting on the topic of Jesus Christ and how through Him we can be cleansed of sin. In my preparations for the talk, I learned a ton of things. As part of God's eternal plan for us, we will all one day be judged according to our works and desires here in mortality. We know that God is loving and merciful, but we also know that He will judge us in a just way. According to the law of justice, when we disobey, there comes a penalty. Equally, when we obey we receive a reward, or blessings. We know that all of us have disobeyed and broken commandments of God. We would have to suffer punishment to complete the law of justice, but because of Christ, we don't have to. When He suffered for our sins He literally took upon Himself the punishment for our sins. Because He loves us, He suffered the punishment for each and every one of us in order to fulfill the law of justice. Alma 34 states that the "bowels of mercy... overpowereth justice". It is through Christ, and only through obedience to His commandments and teachings that we can be cleansed of our sins. When we show that we accept His sacrifice by having faith in Him unto repentance, are baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end, that is when we qualify for His atoning sacrifice. 

P.S. A little update on transfers: Burgos will be receiving two more elders. Another training companionship will be coming to join us this week here in Burgos!

More member referrals!

11/2  First, a little background on the miracle of the week this week: about two weeks ago in church, a member mentioned a friend she thought would be ready for the gospel. We talked to her a little bit, and she said she would talk to him then talk to us more. The next week in church, the same member told us she would try to set up an eating visit and invite us over. When we got to church this week, the first thing we see is Hermana Divina come up to us with a huge smile on her face and introduces us to her friend who she had brought to church! As it turns out, after the meeting he came up to us and began telling us how much he absolutely loved it here, and that next week he will bring his whole family! It made me so happy to see a member so involved in missionary work. She was giving him a tour of the chapel and everything! We also received two more referrals from other members that we are really excited about, one of which will be coming to church next week. I can see a huge increase in the members' excitement for missionary work!

Our investigators are doing well. We seem to have lost contact with several of them for a time, but we did just find a lot of newer investigators who have a lot of potential, so we are really excited for them. We found a young family who just had a baby, and we were able to set a visit with them on Saturday. They are from South America, and are very kind and open. The husband works late every day during the week, but he is free on the weekends, which means they can come to church!

One thing I learned this week is that our will is not always the will of God. I noticed this week that sometimes we planned on things happening, and then they didn't happen. Even when we did everything in our power, they didn't happen. It's these times where we can get frustrated and ask why God has done this to us, or why God didn't allow things to happen. It reminds me of a talk Elder D. Todd Christofferson gave about the will of God. He shared a story of a gardener who pruned down a very large and overgrown bush in order to allow it to grow berries. As he looked at the sad stumps of the trimmed bush he imagined it saying "how could you do this to me?  I thought you were the gardener here." To this the gardener replied that he is the gardener and he knows what he wants the bush to be. Later on in the gardener's life, he was in line to be promoted to general in the army, but he was rejected because he was a Mormon. He asked a similar question, "God, how could you do this to me?" He then remembered what he had said to the bush in the garden, "I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be." God knows what we need better than we do, and He knows what He wants us to become and who He wants His children who we are serving to become. All we have to do is put our will in line with His. I know that as we do that we will see countless blessings, and we will one day look back and thank God for loving us enough to cut us down.

The Cathedral of Burgos -- listed as the third largest in Spain

God's commandments protect us

10/26  We had another very full and fulfilling week this week. Sabina continues to read from the Book of Mormon, and I am sure she is almost done with it by now. Unfortunately she was out of town this whole week, but she told us that she is reading every moment she has. It is unfortunate as well that we seem to have lost contact with Mohamad. I'm not sure if he is getting my emails, but we haven't seen him or heard from him a while. I'm sure he'll come around here pretty soon though. We had several miracles in finding a bunch of new investigators, one of which was that we set up to meet one of our investigators to play basketball, and when we showed up, he had brought three of his friends, all of which seemed to be fairly interested in our message at the end.

The largest miracle, however, was when we found that miracle long term investigator that is totally prepared to be baptized this Saturday. It is a part member family where everyone is a member except for the wife. We were talking about baptism and found out that there was a little confusion on the subject. She wanted to get baptized, but she thought she needed to get baptized before getting legally married. When we informed them that it was the other way around, they got really excited and told us that they are ready to do whatever it takes! Her name is Auriela, and she is from Romania. We will be working with them really hard to get the marriage finalized, which shouldn't be hard at all. We are preparing everything for the baptism on the 31st of October!

One thing I learned this week is the importance of commandments. Many people ask why we have commandments. Lots of them complain and claim that the commandments we live are way too restricting and fun-killing. Some don't even recognize that there are commandments. There was a talk given in the last conference by Elder Von G. Keetch that really deepened my understanding of why we have commandments and why it's important to live them. He told of a time when he was visiting a bay in Australia known for its large waves. He saw a group of surfers that were frustrated and complaining about a barrier in the water that, according to their point of view, destroyed their opportunity to have fun and surf the big waves. After some time a man, clearly experienced, approached the group of whiny surfers and told them to look at the barrier with his binoculars. When they did, they saw something they hadn't seen or even considered before: swarms of sharks on the other side of the barrier. The complaints died down as they began to realize why the barrier was there. The experienced man said as he walked away that the barrier was the only thing keeping them from being devoured. That story is a beautiful analogy of why we have commandments in this life. God knows better than we do what the dangers of this world are and the limits to which we can 'surf safely'. He has put barriers or guidelines for us to follow in order to protect us from the awful, ravenous dangers and temptations of the world. If we live within the barriers that God has set for us, we can be sure we will live a happy, safe life here in this dangerous world. I am so thankful that God loves us enough to protect us from the things that can do us the most harm. I know that Gods commandments give us that protection.

P.S. I encourage you to read that talk again. Sunday afternoon session titled: Blessed and Happy Are Those Who Keep the Commandments of God. Super good talk!

Two baptismal fechas!

10/19  This week we have two people with baptismal fechas, Mohamad and Sabina. Sabina is a friend of a member who told us in our first visit that she really liked the church, and wanted to learn more. We have visited with her a few times, and she loves everything we are teaching. She told us in our last visit that she feels even more sure of her fecha, that her husband said she could get baptized if she wants, and that she was going to finish the Book of Mormon this week! She is so good! We are excited for her! We also had a wonderful lesson with Mohamad about baptism. We showed the video of Jesus being baptized and shared a few scriptures. We then asked him if he would prepare himself to be baptized. He asked us if we do baptisms the way Jesus was baptized. We explained that we do it the same way, and then he said yes! He is preparing to be baptized on the 31 of October!

Elder Peay and I are doing pretty good here in Burgos. We've got our work set out for us and are keeping very busy. He has taken to using every second of free time to study the language. It has helped him a ton! He is still struggling to talk a bit, but I have seen phenomenal improvement with the short amount of time since he has started studying. Instead of just testifying in lessons, he is now able to cover just about an entire point by himself. He is participating and understanding a lot more.  Over all, we are doing good here.

One thing I studied this week was the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His gospel, or the principles he taught can be summarized in 5 basic points: faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. According to 2 Nephi 31:21, those principles are the way, "and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God". Christ came to this earth to show us that one way. He gave us the perfect example by being baptized. "And now, if the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water!" (2 Nephi 31:7). Christ's whole purpose was to come to earth to establish His church and His doctrine by example and above all, to redeem all mankind through His atoning sacrifice. If we have faith in our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ, if we truly repent of our sins and demonstrate that we are willing to follow His example by being baptized and receiving the Holy Ghost by proper authority, and if we show our faith every day by enduring to the end and keeping His commandments, "thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life" (2 Nephi 31:20). I know that living the gospel brings true happiness that cannot be found anywhere else. It's a happiness that lasts not only for all of this life, but also in the life to come.

P.S. My favorite chapter in the Book of Mormon is probably 2 Nephi 31. You should read it!

Goals fulfilled thanks to a dedicated member missionary

10/12  We've had a fairly good week this week. We had the goal to get 12 lessons with a member present at the beginning of the week. By the end of Saturday, we had only taught 6. The miracle this week is that we achieved our goal!  After church, we had a member, Jose, come up to is and ask us if we had any visits in the afternoon. We told him we had one set at 4:30, and he told us he would come along. Turns out, that visit fell through, and Jose decided to stay with us anyway. We went to our next visit and had a great lesson on the restoration with Oliver and his family, then afterwards I felt like we needed to go to a park and visit with a man named Samuel. We got there when he told us he would be there, but he wasn't there and didn't answer his phone. I figured that while we were there, we may as well pass by an investigator we have that owns a shop nearby. On the way over, we saw another investigator in the street and we stopped and taught him a short lesson leaving him with a prayer. We then passed by the shop and actually ended up meeting the husband, whom I have never seen nor taught. He has been reading the Book of Mormon and finds it really interesting. We had a good lesson with them. Then as we were walking in the street, I got a call from a member telling us that she had set up a visit with an investigator at her house. We went to that visit, taught the plan of salvation, and set a baptismal date with Sabina for the 7 of November. By the end of the day, we had taught a total of 7 lessons with a member present, and it was all thanks to Jose who was more than willing to walk all over the place and accompany us the whole afternoon. God prepared everything perfectly so that we could visit all those people!  If those few people had not fallen through, we would not have had the opportunities we had to visit all of the others. 

We still haven't heard anything from our investigator Souri. I am a little worried that she has found some doubts and is too afraid to talk to us about them so she is distancing herself from us. I'm not sure what to do to help her. We may let her rest for a little bit. The investigator who is progressing the most right now is Mohamed. We had a wonderful lesson on the Book of Mormon just the other day, and we have set up regular visits to teach him Spanish along with the gospel. His progression may be a little slow due to a small language barrier (he speaks English, but it's not his first language...) but I see a great future with him. Cristina, the mother of Jose, is also progressing little by little. We have had two really spiritual lessons with her now, and I think she may finally be ready for a fecha! I guess we'll see in our next visit. 

Elder Peay and I are doing very well. I have seen a huge improvement in his Spanish. He is not quite as lost in lessons now, and he can and does participate a lot more than before. He is coming up with really good ideas for planning, and he is getting to know the large investigator pool we have very quickly.

One thing I studied this week is the Plan of Salvation. I learned that the doctrine of the Plan of Salvation is literally our road map of eternity. Before that knowledge was revealed, we could only think of things from our imperfect, mortal point of view. But now, thanks to scripture and modern revelation, we don't have to ask ourselves where did I come from, why am I here, and where will I go when I die. We know that we did exist before we were born. We did truly know God because we lived with Him as His spirit children. We know that this life does have a purpose, and that purpose is to obtain a physical body at birth and learn to control it through experiences here on Earth. We know that the trials and challenges in this life are for our good and learning. Although we all make mistakes, God sent His son to pay for all of the sins and mistakes we could ever make. Christ's atonement makes it possible for us to correct our mistakes and erase our sins, but there is one condition. We must truly repent of our sins and accept and live the gospel of Christ. We know that if we do this, we will have the opportunity to stand before God at the judgment seat with a clean conscience, knowing that we have accepted our Lord and Savior and have been "made white" by His blood. I know that we can all return to live with our Heavenly Father again in the celestial kingdom of glory. I know where we came from. I know why we are here. I know where we will go after this life. 

P.S. My favorite scripture of the week: Enos 1: 26-27

A visit to Vitoria for preparation day

Lemon dessert he made himself ...Yum!!

A new trainee!

10/5  So on Wednesday we had a training meeting with President Dayton. There were 26 new missionaries coming in, so double that and that's how many missionaries were there. It was probably the largest training meeting I have ever seen! It was excellent. The meeting with the trainers was all about how important the call to train really is. President Dayton told us that in his opinion, trainer is the most important call in the whole mission. As if I wasn't already stressed enough, haha, but I'm really excited to be training Elder Peay from PG Utah!

The first week back here with Elder Peay was a little rough. Mostly because of all the traveling. We didn't get back until Thursday afternoon, then on Friday, we had to travel to Logroño for district meeting. We did have a wonderful and very spiritual district meeting. We were outside our area for almost the entire week, and then we had General Conference. I absolutely loved every bit of it! I don't think I have ever been so attentive through 4 sessions of conference in my life! It was wonderful, and it was exactly what I needed to recharge. 

After the Sunday morning session which ended at 8:00 pm, we had a visit with Cristina, an investigator who we hadn't visited in a while. I'm not entirely sure why, but on the way to that visit, I was feeling a little discouraged and down on myself. I felt like I was unable to really make a good first impression of missionary work to Elder Peay. To be honest, I kind of felt like I was failing as a trainer. I said a prayer in my heart, and asked the Lord to help me overcome these feelings. I asked Him to help encourage me. We entered Cristina's house, and I was still feeling a little down. We decided to start with reading a chapter in the Book of Mormon and then had planned to repass the restoration. For some reason I felt like we should read chapter 10 in first Nephi, even though she was on chapter 9. As we got to the end of the chapter I realized why I had felt that way. It talks about how Nephi wanted to know and see of the things his father had just prophesied. Nephi writes that the spirit is that which gives unto all men who diligently seeketh. That is exactly what we needed to lead into the lesson of the restoration. We then taught a powerful lesson on how the true church of God was lost and then was restored in its fullness by Joseph Smith. Although Elder Peay couldn't say much, he quoted the first vision word for word and testified when he could, and in doing so, invited the spirit even more. It was just what Cristina needed. I then went around the room and asked everyone what it meant to them that the only church with all the truth was restored in these days. The answers varied, but almost everyone said that it was a blessing. I shared what it meant to me, which will be touched on later, and then testified of God's love for all mankind and the truthfulness of His message. We invited her to pray about Joseph Smith specifically, and read from the Book of Mormon every day with her son (a member).

Elder Peay is doing very well. He has been here a week, and I have already seen improvement in his Spanish, and his ability to participate in lessons. As well, he is already giving very good input in our daily planing, and has wonderful suggestions of what we could do when visits fiar. I think he is progressing very well. Training isn't quite what I thought it would be.  Now I am realizing what it was like to be in my trainer's shoes. We have started the white handbook and also set the goal to read one chapter from the Book of Mormon in Spanish every day out loud. I believe that will help him loads with his pronunciation, and as well, he will become more familiar with key chapters and verses in Spanish. He is struggling a little with the study schedule, but I assured him that that will come with time. Adjusting to the morning schedule was the hardest for me, so I understand where he is coming from and what he is feeling. 

One thing I learned this week in our lesson with Cristina is what the restoration means to me. The knowledge that the only true and living church has been restored through the prophet Joseph Smith means everything to me. It means that God hasn't left us alone. Many people believe that after Christ's Atonement, God took a step back and is now just waiting to see what we will do. They believe that the times of miracles have ceased. They believe that there is no need for modern prophets. I testify that that is not true. Because Christ restored His church, that means that God loves us and He is very much a part of our everyday lives. It means that He knows us personally and is aware of our individual needs. It means that He loves us enough to give us modern day prophets to guide us and give us divine counsel. It means that He loves us enough to restore saving ordinances and gospel truths that bring us comfort not only in this life, but in the life we now know is to come. This knowledge means everything to me, and I feel so blessed to have the privilege to share this knowledge with everyone I can. My invitation for you all is to to ask yourself the same question: what does the restoration of the fullness of the gospel mean to me?

With Elder Peay receiving his first assignment to serve in Burgos

My first bullfight!

10/1  Elder Webber and I had another great week this week.  Juliana's family is doing incredible!  We had a visit with them and set a goal for a day to go to the temple as a family. They are such a wonderful family, and they really lighten up the room when they walk in. I really have grown to love them so much! We have such a great relationship with them, and they are already completely integrated with the ward. It has been such a privilege to be able to be get to know them and help Juliana prepare for her baptism. 

This last weekend we planned a barbecue with the branch. It was so relieving to see the whole branch participate and help bring it together. One of the hardest things here has been getting activities to happen, but these members just took charge of the whole thing and made it happen. It was such a good turn out. It started out a little slow, but then when Juliana's family got there, things picked up real quick. Everybody was talking, eating and having a great time. We had a few investigators there as well, one of which was Mohamed. He is doing very well and has asked us to help him with his Spanish. He has showed a lot of interest in the church, and is very friendly with everyone. 

One thing I have learned through my studies and experiences this week is the importance of being firmly rooted in the gospel. I have seen that if we do not have a rock solid testimony, we will not make it through trials and challenges. Our testimonies need to be firm in Jesus Christ. We need to know that He is our Savior and Redeemer. We need to know without a doubt that He restored His church, the ONLY true and living church, through the prophet Joseph Smith. We need to know that this church is guided by living prophets, and there are no errors in its doctrine or teachings because they come directly from the Savior. As Helaman wrote, if we are anchored to the "rock of our Redeemer", nothing will be able to sway us. No trial or challenge will have power to pull us away from the truth. 

So this week I got to see a bullfight! It wasn't really a full on bullfight, it was just a little kid doing it with a baby bull. It was still really cool though. The little bull still charged and everything. The kid actually ended up getting thrown on the ground at one point. He was fine though. I lucked out on companion exchange to Logroño! They were celebrating San Mateo all last week, and the parties were crazy! Lots of wine and alcohol. Not the best for missionary work, but it was a cool cultural experience. I also got to see Pamplona on transfer day. I had to go there Sunday night and sent Elder Webber off Monday morning. It was a little hard, but I know I'll see him again back home. I got to stay in Pamplona until Tuesday night. It's an incredible city! I took lots of pictures and saw the streets where they do the running of the bulls! Way cool!

P.S. I am training now, and that's why the email is so late. Sorry, you'll get the story next week.

Plaza de Toros where I saw the bullfight

Pamplona

The Running of the Bulls takes place on this street!

Juliana's baptism

9/21  We had a marvelous week, and to top it off, Juliana was baptized!  We had been making sure we had everything planned for a while, and all our work paid off.  The baptismal service was magnificent!  She and her family got there early enough to get changed and all ready.  We took a couple of pictures with the family, then started the service.  Juliana's dad invited a ton of his friends, and they all came!  We must have had at least 70 people in the chapel that night, almost all of which were nonmembers. It was incredible to see how excited that family was for the baptism and how eager they were to share that experience with all of their friends.  The service went very smoothly, and Juliana's dad did the ordinance perfectly.  All of the members were so excited to see so many people in the chapel, and we plan to work with that excitement.  

Souri didn't quite feel ready to be baptized yet.  We talked with her, and she says that she knows she wants to be baptized, she just doesn't want to rush it.  She also wants to make sure she can get Sundays off work so she can commit to coming to church.  We had several really spiritual lessons with her this week, and we have the baptismal goal of this Saturday with her.  We are going to work to help her feel ready and prepared, and we hope to see her baptized on Saturday.  Keep her in your prayers.

 

One thing I learned this week is that in order to learn the most from our scripture study, we need to apply the scriptures to ourselves.  This also applies when teaching from the scriptures.  Reading a scripture in a lesson is good, but if we don't apply it to the student's life, it's just a story.  When we truly apply and live the doctrines taught to us from the scriptures, that is where the true learning comes from.  That is also the way we gain a true testimony that the scriptures are true -- by applying and living by their principles and teachings.  I know that the scriptures are the word of God, because for the past year, I have been reading and applying their principles in missionary work, and I have seen miracles.

Juliana's family at her baptism 

Filling the font with Hermano Flores, branch mission leader

 

We just finished playing a game of fútbol with our zone.  It was super fun.

 

 

A new investigator from Iran

9/15  Yet another marvelous week here in Burgos! Our investigators are doing marvelous. Juliana and her family are as excited as ever, along with all the members of the branch. We are getting the baptismal program all put together, and have her interview scheduled already. She is so happy and can hardly wait for Saturday to come. Souri is also looking like she wants to get baptized the same day. We aren't 100% sure yet, but from the last visit we had with her about the Word of Wisdom, she is ready. Having two baptisms in one day would be such a big help for the branch here! We are really looking forward to this weekend, and praying hard that everything will turn out right. 

We found a person in the streets this week with a really interesting background story. His name is Mohamed. He and his mom are refugees from Iran. He along with most of his family are actually Christians, and they had been going to an underground Christian church in Iran. One day while he and his mom were running late to church, they learned that the police had found the church and were arresting everyone inside. With the help of their uncle, he and his mom were smuggled out of the country, leaving all they had behind. From what he told us, it sounded like his family was pretty successful as well. That kind of reminded me of the family of Lehi leaving all they had behind when they left Jerusalem. Unfortunately his father, cousins, and friends were caught at the church and are now in prison. Anyway, long story short, he showed interest in visiting with us and actually ended up coming to the Saturday session of stake conference. He stayed for the whole two hours! My experience with Mohamed has really strengthened my testimony that the Lord is truly preparing all of His children in every diverse part of the world to hear His message.

One thing I have learned this week is the importance to using scriptures in teaching. I have been re-passing a lot of talks by Elder Holland, and I have come to notice the main thing that all of his super powerful talks have in common is that he uses a story from the scriptures. In fact, almost all the prophets I can think of quote scripture often to clarify and give validity to their teachings. Even Christ himself often quoted scripture. The Guide to the Scriptures defines scripture as "Words, both written and spoken, by holy men of God when moved upon by the Holy Ghost". That means that scriptures are literally words from God. No wonder they are so essential in teaching! If we can read or quote words from men inspired by God to teach the gospel, what better way is there to do it? Scriptures are essential for our learning of the gospel, and therefore, we must study them thoroughly and quote them often in our teaching not only as missionaries, but as home teachers, Sunday school teachers, youth leaders, etc. I know the scriptures are the word of God, and He has given them to us for our benefit and the benefit of those we teach.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

P.S. Finally starting to get a little cold here. I actually like it a lot!