"Queridos el misioneros El Faro, In his
recent tour of our mission, Elder Richards spent considerable time discussing
the importance of teaching. As you may recall, he mentioned that in Europe we
achieve the following on a weekly basis: New Investigators 3,000 Investigators
in Sac. Meeting 2,500 Investigators with fechas 1,500 Baptisms 150 Elder
Richards drew our attention to the big discrepancy between the number of people
in Sacrament Meeting and those that eventually get baptized. He taught us how
to teach the discussions using simple words. He encouraged us to NOT complicate
the teaching process. Many of you have already tried to put this into practice.
I am pleased that you are doing so, and seeing much success. In Chapter 3 of
Preach My Gospel, we are taught: Our purpose is to teach the message of the
restored gospel in such a way as to allow the Spirit to direct both the
missionaries and those being taught. The
missionary should feel free to use his own words as prompted by the
Spirit. The Holy Ghost will bear witness
of the truth of our message as we teach simply, clearly, and bear testimony of
the gospel truths."
This sure has been a wild week...but we are
getting through it. It has been tough going from a companionship of two and
suddenly changing into a trio (Hermana Mancera left) but we are figuring it
out. It has been an interesting situation that is for sure. I have been
studying a lot in Chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel about the Christ-like
attributes. My whole mission I have been working on and learning about charity.
As soon as I feel like I have a better grasp of what it is and how I can obtain
it, Heavenly Father throws me a curve ball. I am very grateful for every curve
ball and lesson that I have been receiving. This week I have been focusing on
patience and humility. Those are two difficult attributes to obtain but I have
had plenty of opportunities to better myself in those aspects. I truly feel
blessed for these experiences I am having.
A miracle story from this week was when we
contacted a referral from a member. The lady and her husband are coming back to
church and we went to visit them a couple weeks. We gave them a lesson with
their cousin there, also. (She is always so good at inviting everyone at home
to join in on our lessons). We had to cancel the next visit because we were
sick. The three of us finally met with him and it was great! He had already started reading the Book of
Mormon. We had a great lesson 0 and amazing discussions about the world and how
the church and the gospel help us in our lives today. We invited him to be
baptized and he said alright but that he wants to learn more first. The most amazing part was probably that he
doesn´t smoke, drink, or does drugs. He is so prepared!
We are trying to figure out how to best use
our time with all the work we have in the two areas now. We have prayerfully
made priority lists so that we can make sure we visit the people we need to
visit first and then fill up 5 back up plans...because we definitely have
enough work available for five back up plans. We are just taking it one day at
a time. I am relying on the Lord more than ever during these moments and I have
felt his loving arms wrapped around me. It´s incredible just how much he is
aware of us and our needs. I am grateful to be a part of his work here in
Hospitalet and to be a part of this companionship for this week.
We will receive the phone call on Friday or
Saturday about transfers. There are two Hermanas going home and two Hermanas
coming in. Apparently, there are 16 missionaries from our mission waiting for
their Visas to enter Spain, sound familiar? So, President Pace will have to close
some areas for the Hermanas because there won´t be enough. We think that he
will close my area and then I will be Hermana Farrell´s companion and then send
her home in February...and then train someone for my last transfer...because
there are already two Elders in our Ward, plus us, and most of the members live
in their area. Plus, there is a lot of work to be done in the other Hermanas'
area in the other Ward and they are the only missionaries in that Ward.
We had Zone Conference on Thursday, which was
so good!!! I look up to Pres. Pace and
his wife so much. We had an amazing testimony meeting. I bore my testimony
about the Christ-like attributes and how important it is for us to be more like
Him.
Then my favorite part of the whole day was
when we did the Christmas devotional.
The ayudantes put together this incredible
slide show of all the baptisms we have had in the mission. They had us email
all of our baptismal pictures to them so that they could put it together. I
loved seeing all of my pictures that I sent in and I even got a little
emotional. Miracles happen. Every person is special in the eyes of our Heavenly
Father. We are lucky to be missionaries and to help these people be saved. It´s
incredible, and I can´t wait to see that slideshow again....maybe it´s on the
mission blog???? I don´t know.
They wrote up a script of quotes and
scriptures about Jesus´ birth and life with hymns added in there every so often
according to the quotes. So we each took a turn (everyone in the Zone) reading
a paragraph and then we would sing the songs where we were supposed to. It
strengthened my testimony of the Savior. I am so grateful for the Savior and
all that He is done for me. As we invite people to be baptized we ask them the
question, "What better gift could you give to the Savior then by following
his example and entering the waters of baptism?" We have had pretty neat
experiences with this.
What gift will you give to Christ this
Christmas? That is an interesting question to think about and I have plenty of
answers for myself as I have pondered this topic.
I know that He lives and that He loves us. I
just want to do everything right and be obedient so that I can show the love I
have for him. He has done so much for me.
Keep moving forward with faith in Him.
I love you.
Love,
Laura
Area Conference in Barcelona
Found Graffiti - (she didn't do it--haha)
Christmas time in Hospitalet
Christmas lights
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