Saturday, November 24, 2012

Barcelona Mission: (Hospitalet) Week-02 2012


This week has been a great week getting to know the city of Hospitalet and the Ward members, which are amazing!  I have never been offered so much food before on my mission! They are so loving and welcoming. They love the missionaries and it is great to be with them. It has been perfect for us to get into their homes so they can get to know me, the "new missionary." They have gone through a lot of hard times, but what I have learned is that the majority of them have such amazing optimistic attitudes. They just move forward in life with faith and their testimonies. It is a privilege to be here and to serve them.
It is also a privilege to be with Hermana Walker, and she is an amazing example to me. She is a hard worker and my favorite thing about her is her contacting skills. She is SO good at contacting people on the streets! We each have been taking a Book of Mormon with us as we leave the house and we pray that we will find people to give the books to. We pray that we can find the elect and ready people.
It was raining and kind of dreary outside one day---not many people were out on the streets. We had a neat experience as we were waiting for an investigator to answer their door. A lady came up and we started talking to her just asking how her day was. I was looking for a perfect opportunity to give her my Book of Mormon. I started testifying of the truths of the gospel and then out of the corner of my eye I see a rope being lowered and keys at the end of it. They hung there for a while and then started going back up. Then I realized that they were for her. So then I told her and she grabbed them off the rope real quick and then it went back up to the piso window where it came from. I was laughing so hard! I had never seen anything like that before. I laughed so hard which made her laugh and it lightened up the tension and we had a connection. I gave her the book and told her that it has changed my life. I told her that it´s my most prized possession. She was so flattered. She was so excited to take the book and she thanked me multiple times. We have a cita set up with her later this week. But, it was just neat how much laughter and smiling can change the mood. The Spirit can radiate stronger when we have a smile on our face and when we love the work.
I also feel privileged to be sharing the piso with Hermana Mancera and Hermana Farrell. They are amazing!!!!!! I am learning so much from them and I feel really close to them. We do need to speak more Spanish in the piso-I personally would like to improve that. I often tell Hermana Mancera this and apologize to her that we don´t speak enough Spanish. She is so sweet though and always says, "no pasa nada, necesito aprender el ingles...es mi meta." So we are helping her and she has such a good attitude about it! We taught an English class in the church building on Saturday and we taught directions. We did it in a fun and memorable way, enough for Hermana Mancera to record all of it in her journal! It was a really neat experience. I also love Hermana Farrell. She has taught me so much and I look up to her a lot. We have had amazing conversations and it is exciting to be involved in the work of the Lord with these great girls.
I feel very blessed to be here. There's a lot that I need to improve in myself, but I am grateful for the interactions and relationships I am forming because everyone has influenced my life in some way for the better.
Love,
Laura
Overlooking Barcelona

Overlooking Barcelona

In a cave - Barcelona

Looking outside of apartment balcony in Hospitalet
 

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