Recognizing answers to prayer

5/2  This week was a little crazy. Mostly just because it was my first week here in Valencia with Elder Lightfoot. I have a good idea of the area now, and I'm excited to get to work this week! We visited with an investigator named Sylvester who has been investigating for a while now. The hardest thing with him is that he is convinced that if God is going to answer him, he will do it through visions and dreams. We've had a hard time convincing him otherwise, but at the end of the visit, I challenged him to kneel down and ask God if Joseph Smith was a prophet, if the Book of Mormon is true, and if he should get baptized in this church, then told him to stay on his knees and wait for a few minutes. When we talked to him on Sunday after church, he admitted that he did feel something. He described it as a peace in his heart. When we asked him if he thought that could have been his answer, he thought about it for a while, then said no. The important thing is that after we explained that that is the way we receive answers, he thought for a while and then told us he was going to try it again, and if he got the same answer, he would consider it. I think he will be baptized very shortly.

Elder Lightfoot and I get along great! We help each other out with our weaknesses, and work really well together. He is a really funny elder, and has a great relationship with the members of the ward, and people in our area. I can tell he has worked hard to get our area to where it is now, and there is a lot of potential here. I am sure we will see a ton of miracles.

The main thing I learned this week was that God answers our prayers. Although sometimes he answers them in ways we don't expect, he will always answer us. Sylvester was a perfect example of that this week. The feelings he described to us were very clearly an answer to his prayer. Sylvester is very sincere, and we can tell that he has true intent to know the truth. The only issue is helping him recognize his answer. I know that if we pray in faith, and do everything in our
power to obtain an answer to our prayers, God will give us that answer. One of my favorite quotes is by President Gordon B. Hickley: "Get on your knees and pray, then get on your feet and work".

A visit to the aquarium in Valencia

 

 

Welcome to Valencia!

4/26  So as you know this week was transfer week and as sad as I was, I got transferred from Tarragona. I'm writing all of you from Valencia now. There are three wards here and I am in Valencia 1 with Elder Lightfoot from South Jordan Utah! Of the little I have seen and heard of Valencia, I feel like I am going to love it! There is a lot of paella here, and it gets super hot! I'm excited to get to know the area, and make new friends with the families here. It was really hard to leave Tarragona though.

The lessons I learned in Tarragona will never be forgotten. There is where I truly learned the importance of having a good relationship with the members. I learned what it means to work hard. I learned the importance of diligence and perseverance. I learned that when things don't always go the way you planned, it's because the Lord has better plans for us. I will never forget the friendships I formed, and more importantly, the changes I have seen people go through. Saying goodbye to Pamela was one of the most difficult things I have had to do in the mission. She has grown so much and it is truly incredible to see how much she has progressed since her baptism. I know that she will be a very strong member.

Anyways, I love you all! Don't have much time thanks to travel, but I hope you all have a wonderful week!!

¡Un abrazo querido amigo!

Sant Jordi in Tarragona -- over 120 Book of Mormons given out!

The powerful testimony of a 9 year old

 4/18  Yesterday I had two of the most incredible experiences I have ever had my whole mission! The first one happened in the Hospitalet stake conference. It was super good to see all of the members and people I got to know in my second area of Vilafranca. Right as the conference was starting, Monica and her kids walked in and sat in the front. Monika is an investigator who Elder Jonson and I found and taught a year ago. She progressed a ton, and her son Esteban was just about to be baptized when I was transferred to Burgos. Well in the middle of the meeting, the stake president invited a few people up to bear their testimonies, one of which was Esteban! He is only 9 years old, and bore the most beautiful testimony I have ever heard, encouraging all of the members to invite their friends to church and thanking the first missionaries who came into their home and helped them find the gospel. I always thought that I had left Vilafranca without making that much of a difference, but when I heard this 9 year old's testimony, I almost cried. After the conference, Monika and Esteban came to greet me with the biggest grin on their faces. We spoke for a while, and I came to find out that ever since they have been baptized they have done a ton of work with family history and have a super strong testimony of it. That was definitely one of the most emotional experiences I have had!

After the conference, to make a long story short, Tortosa had a potential baptism in the chapel in Barcelona. After waiting around for a while, Dani, the investigator who was going to be baptized, told us he was on his way. Unfortunately, due to other people pressuring him and telling him not to get baptized, he came not so sure that he was going to do it. Despite that fact, I felt impressed to send the zone leaders a text telling them to fill the font. Dani came, we gave him a tour of the beautiful chapel in Barcelona 1 and then I did the interview. The interview went very well. I helped him understand that Satan was trying really hard to stop him from getting baptized, and shared a few scriptures that helped him. After the interview, despite the fact that he passed with flying colors, he made it clear that he wasn't going to be baptized that day. However, I still felt the distinct impression that he should see the baptismal font full of water all ready to go. So Elder Barton, he and I went in to look over the water. He went down the stairs and felt the water. We must have been in there talking with him for over 30 minutes. The spirit was so strong as we sat there staring over the waters of baptism in silence for what seemed to be an eternity, and he admitted that right then he had received an answer that he needed to be baptized. He commented that he really wanted to "get dressed in white and get baptized". The only thing that was stopping him is that his wife is totally against him being baptized, and he doesn't want to cause problems. We agreed that he would talk with her and fix everything so that he could get baptized next week. It was a very spiritual experience, and I believe whole heartedly that he will be baptized next weekend.

If there is one thing I learned from my experience with Dani this week, it's that we can always receive answers to any question as long as we are willing to show that we have real intent. Dani had been praying, reading and going to church, but still claimed he hadn't received anything telling him he needed to be baptized. It wasn't until he was practically in the font that he received the spiritual confirmation he was looking for. I remember Elder Bednar saying that circumstances like that are a perfect example of the water parting when your feet are wet. When we show by our works that we are willing to do whatever it takes to get an answer, God will always give us that answer. Sometimes, the answer doesn't come until after the trial of our faith. Just as Ether 12:6 says, we can't expect to receive a testimony until after the trial of our faith. God will always answer us, but it's up to us if we are willing to act in order to receive it.

A year and a half of practice is finally paying off ...

4/11 We had a good week this week. We found a few people with a lot of potential this week, one of which is named David. He is a super nice Peruvian who invited us in to teach him while he was hanging up laundry. He is very open and receptive. We hope to be able to continue teaching him and seeing him progress in the gospel. Unfortunately, for reasons unknown to us, Jose sent us a text this week saying that he doesn't want to continue with the discussions. We suspect it might be the family that doesn't approve, but he did say he would continue reading and call us in the near future. He'll get baptized some day, that's for sure. We also had a good visit with Ana in which we invited her to pray and ask for a specific date that she could be baptized. We are excited this week to see what her answer was.

Elder Cullimore and I are working well together and we both continue to grow more every day, both spiritually and physically (lots of eating visits...). Our finding and teaching skills have really been fine tuned, and we work very efficiently now. We are teaching a ton of lessons in the streets, and when we manage to get into a visit, we teach and testify with power. I feel like the year and a half of practice is finally paying off, and now is when I need to thrust in my sickle with my might. I have seen a lot of miracles and blessings in the work here in Tarragona, and have seen many people's lives changed due to the gospel. It is so marvelous being a missionary here!

This week my studies seemed to have a similar theme: repentance. I really learned a ton about the miracle of repentance and forgiveness. There truly is nothing in the world that brings more sadness and guilt than does breaking the commandments and sinning against our Heavenly Father. When we do so, the spirit departs from us, and we are left feeling empty and alone. The miracle is that there is a way, and only one way, that we can get rid of that empty feeling and regain the presence of the Holy Ghost. That way is through true and honest repentance. Mosiah 26: 30 teaches us the mercy our Heavenly Father has for us: "Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me". I came to realize this week that there truly is no other way that we can get rid of the sadness that comes with sin other that repentance. I am so grateful that we have the opportunity to become clean and correct every mistake we have made in our lives. It isn't always easy, but because of our Savior it is possible. That is the miracle of forgiveness.

The importance of eternal families

4/4  We had a rather successful week this week. We didn't have many set visits, so we spent a lot of time in the streets. Normally spending as much time in the streets as we did is rough, but we saw a ton of success this week in contacting. We were able to talk to and teach several people every day. We found a lot of people that would actually listen to us, several of which actually have a lot of potential to progress. By the end of the week, we had taught a total of 27 lessons just in the streets. That is a lot more than I have seen before. We were also able to find several news in the streets. We worked hard, and made sure no time was wasted, and the Lord blessed us for it. I definitely recognized a power outside of my own at hand in the work we were able to do this week.

Our investigators are doing very well. Unfortunately, we were unable to visit with Ana this week, but are excited to visit her this week. Jose now has a baptismal date for the 23rd of April, and continues to study and read the Book of Mormon faster than I can keep up with him.

The main thing that stuck out to me from general conference is that the family is the most important thing in God's plan. There were countless talks given on the importance of families, and how we can work to strengthen them. As I was reflecting on that, I came to realize just how important having an eternal family is for me. As I think back on all of the memories I have created in 20 years on this planet, the best memories were always made with family close by. Really, I can't imagine what this mortal life would be like without strong family relationships; furthermore, imagine what eternity would be like without them.  That would be very hard for me. Reflecting on that helped me realize just how much our Father in Heaven really loves us. He cares about us so much that He has prepared a way to make these relationships that are so important to us  eternal. As long as we are true to sacred covenants made in the temple, our families truly can be together forever. That knowledge alone is a huge building block of my testimony of the restored gospel. What a beautiful belief!

The view in Tarragona every day -- never gets old!

 

 Elder Male & Elder Cullimore

Semna Santa in Catalunya

3/28  We had a marvelous week this week with the mission wide goal of finding 8 news each companionship. At the beginning of the week, we were having a really hard time getting anything to work. It seemed like all of our visits failed, and nobody wanted to talk to us in the streets, however, we kept working. By Wednesday, we had only taught a handful of lessons, and hadn't found a single new. That's when everything started to turn around. Thursday we had a couple good visits, and were able to find one new. Friday, we had several great lessons and found two. By Saturday, I figured we would reach the goal, but I thought it was going to be a last minute thing. I was figuring we would find 3 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday, but I was wrong. Saturday, we had a few visits fall through, but we had a ton of success finding. By the end of the day we had found 5 new investigators and achieved the goal of 8 in the week. Sunday we were able to find one more to finish off with 9 in the week! It was so amazing to see all of those blessings pay off! A rather humbling experience!

Elder Cullimore and I are teaching very well together. We have several investigators who are likely to get baptized really soon. One of which is Ana. She is very intelligent, and understands and remembers everything we teach her. It's really incredible. We are also teaching a man named Jose, who before meeting with us had read all the way through the gospel principles handbook along with many other church manuals. He is very interested in the church, and is constantly researching and studying about it. He has a lot of potential as well.

On a cultural note, Semana Santa is really big here in Tarragona. Tarragona actually has the largest celebration in Catalunya. On Friday, we were able to get a real close look at the largest procession of the week in the old part of the city by the cathedral. It was super cool to see the traditional robes and cloaks that they wear and see all of the floats and drums. It's really cool that each float they carry represents a specific event that happened in the last moments of Christ's life. For example the last supper, the suffering in the garden of  Gethsemane, etc. it was by far the coolest experience I have had yet in Spain! I hope to one day see it again.

In celebration of Easter, I thought I would share a little on the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. Almost 2000 years ago, the most important event in the entire history of the world took place. Almost 2000 years ago Jesus Christ suffered for our sins, pains, and afflictions in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was betrayed by one of His chosen apostles. He was spat upon, beaten, judged, and scourged. On the cross He was crucified and gave His own life. In His last moments He even forgave those who tortured Him. Then, miraculously, three days later, with His infinite power, He broke the bands of death and rose from the tomb. The most miraculous thing of all is that by doing this, He made it possible for every human who has ever lived, and who will ever live on this earth, to be resurrected. Everyone, no matter what they do in this life, will be resurrected and live forever. His suffering before His death made something else possible. Something even more glorious and magnificent than immortality. His suffering for our sins makes it possible for every human being to receive forgiveness of our sins and be clean once again. This gift, however, is not free as was immortality. To receive forgiveness of sins, we have to show that we love and accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Redeemer, not in word only, but in our actions. We have to follow His teachings and His commandments. If we do, not only will we live forever, but we will live forever in the presence of our Heavenly Father.

Semana Santa procession

Blessings of obedience

3/21  We had a wonderful week this week! We had a couple of really great lessons with Ana, the other neighbor of Corina Pacheco and good friend of Pamela's. Pamela has actually been helping us with Ana quite a bit.  Ana has a ton of support now from Los Pacheco and Pamela, and she is progressing very well. We taught her the plan of salvation, and the whole time she was asking the perfect questions to lead us on to the next point. When we had finished and testified, she commented that this plan is perfect. We also taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ, and she understood all of the principles. We invited her to be baptized and now she has a baptismal date for the 9th of April! We are really excited for her!

Elder Cullimore and I are working great together. Every day we find new stuff to improve and we are working very well with the members. We work as a great team and always support each other with each one of our weaknesses. I have seen a lot of improvement in him and myself in the time we have had together, and we have seen many miracles. I am looking forward to how much we can grow and improve in the next couple of weeks we have together!

I learned a lot about the principle of obedience this week. The dictionary defines obedience as compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another's authority. As I see it, obedience is a concept of respect. When we obey a request or law, we generally do it out of respect for the one giving the request or law. For example, we generally respect our parents "law" of a 10:00 p.m. curfew. Why? Because they have more experience than we do, and they know the dangers that staying out late can bring, therefore, we obey them. In a similar manner, we are to obey the laws of God. He has given us certain requests, or commandments, to protect us. Why do we need to obey them? Because He has more experience than we do, and He knows the dangers that come when we don't follow His guidelines. Sometimes as a rebellious child we may catch ourselves saying "I can stay out later than my curfew. If I'm careful, nothing bad will happen," but the moment we step outside the guidelines that our loving Heavenly Father has set for us, we are no longer worthy of the protection of His spirit. Although sometimes we may not understand the rules placed by the Lord, we can always be sure that if we follow them, we will always be blessed.