36 lessons and 9 new investigators this week!

8/24  This week Elder Webber and I have seen so many miracles! Since the areas have been combined we have never been busier, nor happier. We get along with each other so well, and even after just one week, we teach so well together. The Lord has really blessed us for our hard work and obedience. By the end of the week, we had taught 36 lessons to investigators, and found 9 new investigators! We were so excited about that! We were also able to set a solid baptismal date with a man over the phone! So awesome! We saw so many blessings this week. 

The best lesson we had this week was with Pedro José. Up until this point he hasn't really progressed. He is stuck at the authority to baptize, and couldn't seem to accept that Joseph Smith restored the authority and that it is only found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We read 3 Nephi 11 with him and had a powerful and spiritual lesson about the power and authority to baptize. Elder Webber extended a powerful invitation to pray and ask if he needs to be baptized into this church. It was the perfect commitment for him. Then I bore a very bold testimony that I knew without a doubt that the authority to baptized was restored to the earth by Joseph Smith. Words cannot describe the spirit that was felt.

So Samir is doing really well. We just set a family plan with all of them to help them stop smoking. They are all really excited to try. They are actually out of town now, and won't be back for a week, but Samir is still reading every day, and I can see the light in his eyes growing brighter and brighter. 

My testimony on hard work and obedience has grown so much this week. I know without a doubt that if we do what we are told, if we keep the commandments and do what we are suppose to do, the Lord will keep his promise. D&C 82: 10 reads "I, the Lord, am abound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." I testify that that is true. I have seen His promise fulfilled this week. The Lord lives, He loves us, and He wants us to have success.

You'll be happy to hear that one of the members made me a cake yesterday. It was so nice of them. Also, another member had his birthday on Saturday, so we sort of celebrated both together with him and his wife. It was super fun!  I'll send you photos of the cake. Thank you all for the birthday wishes! Love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Very kind members who made a cake for Justin's birthday

Double the investigators and double the area to cover!

8/18  So today is transfer day yet again, and I am happy to announce that I will be staying here in Burgos. However, they have made some drastic changes here. Elder Wheat, my old companion, and Elder Bennion, Elder Webber's old companion, were transferred somewhere else. The weird part is that there are no new elders coming to replace them. They took our two areas and combined them, so now I am companions with Elder Webber. We are the only Elders for miles! It's going to be wonderful though!  Now we have all of the investigators from both our areas to work with. It's a lot, but it will keep us on our toes!

Funny story. Yesterday, Elder Bennion and Elder Webber received a phone call in the middle of a visit at 6:30. It was the office telling them that Elder Bennion had to get on a but that evening at 7:30. Yes, only one hour to get everything packed and onto a bus. By some miracle they made it and sent him off to the airport, and from there, the beautiful island of Ibiza. Lucky.... It was super crazy though.

The main miracle I wanted to write about today is that of Samir. He is the son of Luminita, a recent convert. We have been teaching her and her family, most non members, for quite a while now. Samir has been the one showing the most interest. A few days ago, we had a wonderful lesson with him. When we asked him how his reading was going, he said that it was going very good, and that he wanted to share an experience with us. He told us of his need to pay for a trip to Bilbao, and how there was no money for it. He was worried that he would never be able to afford it. He prayed and asked for help, and kept doing all of the things we told him to, reading, following the commandments, etc. He told us that he met a woman on the street the other day, and she offered to pay for his trip there and back. That was such a huge blessing for them, because that means Samir may have the opportunity to find a job now. What was an even bigger miracle was to see how Samir realized that those blessings came from the Lord, and they came because he was doing the right thing. That realization strengthened his testimony so much, and he told us he has never felt happier reading the Book of Mormon. That was an incredible experience!

My time here with Elder Wheat has been good. I have learned so much, and I've seen so many blessings. Now that he is gone and I am covering all of Burgos with Elder Webber, I am so excited to see what we will be able to do. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and a lot of people to teach and take care of, but I don't have any doubts that we will see so many miracles here.

Elder Male & Elder Webber

Reread the BOM and find something new in EVERY chapter

8/10  This past week was full of hard work, and just yesterday, it all paid off. We went to the hospital to visit a member, and we spent a little time with him. While we were talking with him, he told us about a guy he met in the hospital who he gave a Book of Mormon to. We later met this guy, and he is way nice and super excited to go to church when he can leave the hospital. We had a little lesson with them both, and at the end, he asked us if we wanted to pray. It was such a miracle to see how the Lord is preparing His children everywhere.

We also had a visit set up with a member and her family. When we got there, there wasn't a man in the house, so we decided to just wait outside the door to see if her son would come back. Turns out, another man that is not a member showed up. So we went inside and started a family home evening. While we were just starting up, this guy came into the room and asked us if he could join. We had a wonderful lesson with that family and their roommate. We later got his number and invited him to an activity. Overall, we ended up finding 3 new investigators and having 4 lessons with a member present in just one afternoon. That was such a big blessing to us, and it truly helped raise my spirits.

So today was an awesome preparation day. We just got back from a little pueblo that the branch president took us to. That pueblo was the most beautiful place I have ever seen! I tried taking tons of pictures, but none of them did it justice. We had to drive a long ways, but we finally got to a pueblo that is nestled inside a small canyon. The first thing you see driving up to it is an amazingly beautiful waterfall that is right beside the road and goes through a tunnel right under it. The falls kind of reminded me a lot of that place we went in Jamaica. We spent a lot of time walking around there and taking tons of pictures. It was so nice to be able to get away from the city and see a little bit of Spain today. It was such a good experience!

Something I learned from my study of the Book of Mormon this week is really simple. The more you read it, the greater understanding you get. I noticed this week that while reading through it again, I am understanding so many things I didn't get before. There are so many prophesies that I just read over without even noticing them. So my challenge for you this week is to read the Book of Mormon every day, and mark something new that you learned every day. If you finish reading a chapter and haven't marked anything, read it again. I promise you will be able to find something new and edifying in EVERY chapter.

Love you all so much! Have a wonderful week.

Listen to the Prophet

8/3  This week we had a wonderful lesson with a less active. Her name is Inés, and she is from Argentina. When we got to her house, she was super friendly and really excited to visit with us. We talked about how she was doing, and then started talking a little bit about what a mission is like. She asked us a few questions about the mission, so we had a good conversation on that. Then we decided to share a few verses from the Book of Mormon on prayer. When we had finished reading them, I looked up and she was crying. She told us that she had really missed feeling the spirit, and she felt really bad for being away from the church for so long. The spirit was so strong as we sat there and discussed the power of prayer and church attendance, and she promised to come to church. It was a wonderful lesson, and she was such a kind person. I am looking forward to visiting her a little more often.

Our investigators are still learning and progressing well. There haven't been any big steps taken, but they are still progressing slowly. It looks like the Lord is preparing them step by step until they are truly ready for baptism. We were able to have a few good visits with each of them this week, and they are all wonderful people. I look forward to helping each of them progress in the gospel.

One thing I learned this week was from 1 Nephi 16. I read about the Liahona, and learned what it represents. I noticed this time that the Liahona can represent the revelations of God to a prophet. It was given to Lehi, who was the prophet at that time. The scriptures say that the Liahona guided them, and told them where they needed to go. It also says that it guided them through the most fertile parts of the wilderness. I thought that related a lot to the fact that if we harken to the teachings of the prophets, or the revelations they receive on our behalf, we will live prosperous lives. The scriptures also say that when Lehi and his family did not follow the directions, or did not have faith in the Liahona, it did not work. That is just like what happens when the people on the earth reject the teachings and guidance of a prophet. The Lord stops revealing through his prophets, and the world falls into apostasy. It was a great chapter, and I learned a lot about the importance of a prophet, and how we need to follow his guidance. Sorry if that was a little confusing...

Last preparation day we climbed up to a castle on the hill right behind the center of the city. It was really fun, and had an incredible view of the entire area. Burgos is such a beautiful city. We then went and walked through the city to find Elder Webber some shoes. We had a great time walking in and out of some really fancy shoe shops that made me feel like a millionaire just sitting on the couches inside. Pretty cool being in Spain!

A visit with the new misson president

7/27  This week, we had a wonderful visit with Luminita and her family. We were able to bring a member with us, and she helped out so much! We were teaching about the Word of Wisdom and helping one of the sons to quit smoking. The member was such a perfect help for us!  She told him that if he would pray and tell God that he did not want to smoke anymore, he would receive help, and he will be able to quit. He got so excited about that, and I am excited to see his progress. The other two sons have already reported a lot of progress in their efforts to quit. I am really excited about this family!  Now we just need to find a way to get them all to church.

Now, a little bit about the member who helped us. Her name is Maria, and she has to be the most faithful, strongest member I have ever seen. After the visit with Luminita and her family, we stayed outside and talked with her for a while. She told us that she is having a difficult time right now with not having a whole lot of support from family. Despite her challenges and setbacks, which are several, she still comes to church every week, and she even took time away from her family to help us with a visit because she felt it was important. Even though she is going through a really rough time with really tough trials, you would never be able to tell because she is the happiest person you have ever seen. She always has the biggest smile on her face, and she just lights up the room whenever she walks in. Her faith and testimony are so inspiring to me. You can just see so clearly how the gospel can bless one's life and/or attitude just by watching her. My testimony was strengthened because of her inspiring attitude, even in the hardest of times.

This week I had interviews with President Dayton for the first time. He is a wonderful man, and I have no doubt he has been called of God to serve here. It is quite a journey to get to Vitoria from here, so we had to take a 2 hour long bus in the morning. On the plus side, I did get to see a lot of the northern countryside which puts Vilafranca to shame. It is so gorgeous here! My goodness!  When we got there, we got to talk with Hermana Dayton while we were waiting. She is way nice. She use to be an image counselor, so she went around telling each of us what colors would go best with our skin tones. Haha, super funny. My best color is a light navy blue. I knew there must have been some reason why I have so many blue things. The interview went wonderfully, and from what he can see of my accomplishments, however few they may be, he said I am a very talented and well rounded person. Again, not sure how true that is, but it was very kind of him. I am looking forward to getting to know him and serve with him for the next year or so.

Anyways, love you all so much!! Have a wonderful week!!

Welcome to Burgos!

The BYU folkdance team comes to Burgos

7/20  So unfortunately we have had a lot of stuff fail us this week. It was a little rough, but we also had several magnificent visits with a few people. We were able to have a visit with Luminita (recent convert) and her family. Robert, one of her sons, told us that he has made tremendous progress with quitting smoking. It made me very happy to hear that. Their family is doing great, and they are so ready for baptism. It is a little difficult to get them to church though. We will keep working on that. They have told us that they want to be baptized though, so I am super excited!

Ana and Victor are another family we are working with. As of now, we teach their two little boys English and try to share a message at the end. Their family is so perfect! They are such good parents, and the kids love praying. We invited them to an activity with the BYU group that came on Saturday, and they absolutely loved it! It was a great opportunity for them to get to know the branch, especially the branch president and his family. We think those two families would be such great friends! We are really excited for them!

I learned a lot about how to work hard and stay strong even when all our plans fail this week. My companion is such a hard worker, and he never lets anything discourage him. We worked hard this week, and I am looking forward to working hard next week as well.

A little more on this BYU group. There was a folklore festival here in Burgos this week, and as part of that there were several groups from other countries that came here to participate in the festivals. The BYU group came as part of a tour they are doing. On Saturday they came to the chapel for an activity with the branch. They did a couple of dances, then took everyone outside and taught them square dancing. For obvious reasons, the missionaries were excluded, but it was so fun to watch them! It was also really cool to see people from home. The members loved it, and people out on the streets were really interested and stopped to watch and ask questions. Great contacting opportunities! So this week has some very interesting things going on. We ran into the group a couple of times in the street, and that was fun. 

Mom was very excited to receive a text from BYU's artistic

director when she ran into Elder Male & Elder Wheat!

 

Investigators who ASK when they can be baptized!

 

7/13  So this week, one of the miracles Elder Wheat and I have seen is that one day, all of our visits worked! We set up the whole day full of visits, and all of them pulled through! We were able to visit with everyone we had planned on, and we had great lessons with all of them. Then the other day, the exact opposite happened. All of our fixed visits fell through and failed on us. So we spent a lot of time in the streets contacting. After one of our visits failed, we turned to keep walking down the street, and we saw a family walking towards us. We both got the feeling we needed to contact them, and so we did. They seemed pretty interested and very nice. I hope we will be able to visit with them again really soon.

One of the families we are teaching is really good. Their names are Robert and Florina, and they are from Romania. We were able to have 3 really good visits with them this week in which we were able to teach the restoration, plan of salvation, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. The coolest thing happened after our last lesson. We invited them to come to church, and then Robert asked us "when can we be baptized?" We had to explain to him that they need to come to church at least twice, and that he would need to quit smoking, but we told him that we could help them set a goal. That was super exciting! They are a great family, and I just learned that they have a lot more family that live with them and are listening to the missionaries as well. They are out on vacation right now, but they get back soon. I am very excited to see what we can do with this family!

So my new area is great! It's a biggish city, but the buildings are very spread out, so it feels nice and open. It is also a lot cooler here, and the air is nice and fresh. I really like it here. Elder Wheat is a really hard worker, and I am going to learn a lot from him. He is from Sandy Utah, surprise! Another companion from Utah. Almost all of the missionaries here are from Utah. We have two other elders in our piso, Elder Bennion and Elder Webber are from Payson and Draper. It's pretty fun here, and I am excited to get to know the area and the members of the Branch here. The Branch President is from California, so that is pretty cool. His kids speak English and Spanish.

Anyways, I love you all so much! Have a great week!

p.s. I can get and read email any day of the week now, so if you guys wanted to write me sometime during the week, that would give me more time to write you.