Blessings from Heaven

7/26  We had a wonderful week this week! We found two people that seem to have appeared out of nowhere with no apparent correlation to the work we have been doing. I call those miracles. On Tuesday, we got on a bus, and no sooner had we sat down, than a lady sitting in front of us asked us if we were Mormons. We responded hesitantly because usually one of two situations occurs after that question. She got really excited when we said yes and asked for the address of the chapel in Valencia. She told us that she had met with missionaries before, but lost contact with them and wanted to come to a service. Her name is Eva. We exchanged information and she said she would for sure come on Sunday. On Saturday, I called her just to confirm. She was in a meeting and didn't answer but 30 minutes later she called back and told us not to worry, that we would see each other on Sunday. Sunday came and it was time to catch the bus to the chapel. We got on, and Eva was right there to greet us. She really enjoyed sacrament meeting. Unfortunately she couldn't stay for the next hours, but she said that next week she probably could. We are pumped to start up with her!

The other miracle is a woman named Liliana. She was a reference from Emilio Mambo, a strong member. He was in Zaragoza for a few weeks working in an orchard, and it's there where he met Liliana. There were 4 other members working there, so every Sunday Liliana would go to church with them. She even started considering herself a member. Emilio told us he had planned to take her to an activity in the chapel, and so we went there to wait for them. After 30 minutes, they still hadn't come, so we were planing on going to our next visit. As we were leaving the chapel, I had a super strong impression that we needed to reschedule the other visit and wait longer. So we did. They came 10 minutes later and we were able to get to know her and teach her. She came to church on Sunday with Emilio. We are pumped for her too!

One thing that I was reminded of this week is the importance of hard work and obedience. Throughout my mission I have noticed a pattern: when we work as hard as we can and do what we are suppose to, it's like filling a celestial bank account of blessings. As long as we keep doing what we are suppose to, the Lord will pour out blessings upon us when the moment is right. The two people we found this week had nothing to do with our efforts. They seem to have fallen from heaven. Definitely miracles from our Father in Heaven! It's like it says in Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord is bound when we do what he says, but when we don't we can't expect any promises.

City of Arts and Sciences building in Valencia