A surprise baptism!

3/14  This week was absolutely one of the best weeks I have ever had on my mission! As you know, Pamela had a baptismal date for the 26th of March. Well, in our first visit last week we taught tithing. She loved the lesson and understood and agreed with the whole concept of tithing and committed to live it after her baptism. After the lesson, we were talking a little about her baptismal date and mentioned that if she wanted to she could get baptized sooner because she had already been to church twice. She looked at us and asked "can I get baptized this Saturday?" I had somewhat planned on moving it up just one week sooner, so I was astonished at her urgency. She told us that she felt that there was something trying to persuade her not to get baptized, so she wanted to get baptized as soon as possible to get rid of that feeling! We all agreed that if we could visit every day during the week, she would be prepared for the 12th, and so that's what we did. We had a visit every day and were able to teach all of the commandments and get her ready for the 12th.

On Friday we did the interview with the zone leaders. It was a really crazy morning and we had so many things to do, but somehow everything ended up working wonderfully. The interview went great, and as we were getting ready to leave, we heard Hermana Corina from the kitchen saying "now I understand! It all makes sense now!" When we asked her what she was talking about, she told us that in her patriarchal blessing it says that she will be like Joseph of Egypt. She said that it all made sense now that she had helped Pamela understand several of these dreams she was having, and now she is getting baptized.  That was a really cool connection there.

On Saturday, Pamela was baptized by Julio Pacheco. The baptismal service was perfect. Nothing went wrong, it all went very smoothly. At the end, Pamela shared her testimony, and the spirit filled the room! It was such a great experience to take part in! We have formed such a great relationship with Pamela and Los Pacheco, and it is a perfect handoff to the ward now. She already has an entire family to befriend her, and a ton of other friends in the chapel.

The thing I have learned from my experiences this week is that the Lord knows His sheep, and they hear His voice. The Lord knows each and every one of His sheep, and He knows which ones are prepared to receive the gospel. Pamela was clearly one of the sheep the Lord had prepared to hear His gospel. From day one I could tell that she really understood the gospel. Almost every time we taught her something new she would say "this seems really familiar to me". Before we even taught about tithing, we asked her what she understood about it. She answered us and gave us a word for word response from Preach My Gospel. It almost seemed like all of the lessons were a review to her. The Lord is preparing people in every part of His vineyard, and the best way to find them is working through the members.

Elder Male & Elder Cullimore with Pamela, her children, & Julio Pacheco

Diligent member missionaries

3/8  This week was absolutely wonderful! We were able to find a lot of new people, many of which have a lot of potential. We were also able to have several great visits with Pamela. Ever since we set the baptismal date, she has been progressing so fast! She already has such a strong testimony in all the things that we are teaching her. In the visit we had with her on Tuesday when we finished teaching the Word of Wisdom and the law of chastity, both of which she committed to live without any problem whatsoever, Hermana Pacheco told us that she had invited another neighbor over to start the discussions with us and that she would be over in a few minutes. Sure enough, 5 minutes later, another woman walks in and we got to know her and started teaching her as well. Her name is Ana, and because Pamela and her are good friends, she has a lot of support and I believe she will progress a lot as well.

Pamela came to church again this week and loved it. In gospel principles class she made a ton of comments, and she literally sounded like a member. She was asked to give the closing prayer and gave one of the most beautiful prayers I had ever heard in a gospel principles class. After the class, everyone was commenting on how much of a "dry Mormon" she is. All of the members are very impressed by her and very excited for her baptism.

Elder Cullimore and I are doing very good together. We are seeing a ton of miracles, and now our area really has a ton of potential. Every single one of the investigators we are teaching right now were found through the members, and you can definitely note a difference. They all progress! Preach My Gospel knows what it's talking about when it tells us to work with the members. Tarragona is looking like it will see many baptisms in the coming months!

I can't remember if I have already shared this scripture, but Alma 26:12 is one that stood out to me this week; "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever". These are the words of Ammon who, as we know, was a very very successful missionary in the Book of Mormon who baptized entire cities. It is incredible the humility he shows in this verse. With all the success he had in his service to the Lord, he gave all the credit to the Lord. He is a true example to all of us. Whenever we see success of any kind, we need to be sure to recognize the hand of the Lord in it. Especially when it is in the work of the Lord. The moment we forget to recognize his hand in the work, the blessings stop coming. I hope to one day have the humility of Ammon and the sons of Mosiah.

Visiting the famous Christopher Columbus monument in Barcelona

Writing their emails on the train

 

Two baptismal dates!

2/29  Despite the fact that I was a bit under the weather this week, we had a good week. I was able to do an intercambio with Elder Streadbeck in Tortosa, and we had a great time working with Jordi again. He is such a machine when it comes to missionary work! As we were walking to the car after a visit, we saw a group of guys playing basketball. Jordi told us to go "destroy them". So we did. We played with them for a little bit, and while we played, Jordi taught the people who were sitting out. It was such a fun experience, and the guys invited us back to play with them whenever we wanted. Interesting how many ways there are to share the gospel!

While Elder Streadbeck and I were working in Tortosa, Elder Cullimore and Elder Barton did a ton of good work here in Tarragona. They were able to set a baptismal date with Daniel, a new investigator from Mexico. Apparently when they invited him to be baptized he said "if that's what God wants, why not?". He is super prepared and we are really excited for him. Elder Cullimore and I were also able to set another baptismal date with Pamela, a neighbor of a family in the church. We have been visiting with her in the house of the Pacheco family, and although at first Pamela had some strange ideas, she is progressing very well now. She came to church with her two kids and absolutely loved it! She has a date set for the 26th of March, but we are already thinking about moving it forward a little more.

In my studies this week, I really enjoyed a verse in Jacob 5 that talks about the fruits of our labors. Verse 72 says; "And the Lord of the vineyard said unto them: Go to, and labor in the vineyard, with your might... and if ye labor with your might with me ye shall have joy in the fruit which I shall lay up unto myself against the time which will soon come." Just as last week, we are still seeing the blessings of our hard work and diligence the weeks before. These experiences have taught me so much. I know I may sound like I am repeating myself, but the blessings of hard work and diligence are so real, and so wonderful. I especially enjoyed the part that says "if ye labor with your might with me". I testify that if we labor with our might in the work of the Lord, He will be right there beside us, giving power to our words and actions. This is the Lord's work, He is in charge, and He will help us according to our dedication. 

Enjoying food at a Columbian restaurant