Barcelona Mission: (Hospitalet) Week-09 2013

We are doing well here in Hospitalet.  We really have been focusing on finding more investigators. It is a focus in our companionship study and we have been making goals of numbers of contacts that we would like to do each day. Some days are tougher than others but I am so grateful for the enthusiasm of my companion and for her motivation. This week was a little tough for us because we had many citas set up-almost every hour of everyday. Yet, 80% fired on us and we found ourselves struggling. We did back up plans, (not the best that we should have done), and we did make a lot of phone calls. We have been trying to focus on getting to know the members of our ward still. Yesterday we set up a food calendar for the members to sign up to feed us for this month. It didn´t have as much success as we thought it would. We do have citas to eat and we will call those members ahead of time to confirm. We have specific plans to help this week go more smoothly and successfully. Some of these goals that we have come up with are these:

-Be more obedient and diligent in our studies, planning, and prayers.
-Call the day before and/or the morning of to reconfirm our citas planned.
-Make at least two back up plans for every hour of everyday.
-Contact more and give more powerful testimony to the truths that we know.
-We want to make some 3x5 cards with the metro stops/areas of our area and make a list of the people-members, recent converts, less actives, investigators, and antiguos- on each card, so that if all of our citas fire we have a list of places to go and people to visit. This will help us make our back up plans.

These are a few of our goals and plans that we have created. We know that if we have the faith necessary we can help the mission complete our new goal of 20 baptisms per week. We know this is possible and we want to be a part of it!

My companion is incredible. Hermana Rivera is actually who I needed in my life. She is such a good example to me and she is so excited about the work! She gets sad when we don´t do our best. This helps us to try harder to do our best at all times. It has been such a pleasure working together with her. I don´t feel like I am alone in tackling this new area. We each give 50/50 to this companionship and it´s wonderful.

Despite our harder days this week, the Lord did bless us with some miracles. Hermana Rivera is sharing an incredible one about this less active family that we are working with. I will share one about a reference that we received from Elder Cerqueira. He contacted a Romanian woman who lives in our area. We called her, set up a visit, and she fired on us. We called and set a visit with another reference for a different day but she also fired on us. She happened to live right next to the Romanian woman and Hermana Rivera thought to try contacting Delia another time. We rang the bell and she let us in. We knocked on her door and she let us right in. Hermana Rivera was amazing at starting up Lesson 0 and getting to know Delia and a little about her family. It was incredible the friendship that immediately was formed. This woman, Delia, is amazing. She has so much faith in the Lord and she has so many miracle stories that she told us from her life. She was beaming with happiness talking about her Savior, Jesus Christ. She assists a 7th Day Adventist Romanian church near Sagrada Familia. She goes to church every Saturday but she is really interested in getting to know more about our church, and she hasn´t heard really anything about it before. We gave her a Book of Mormon in Spanish but told her that we would get one in her language to which excitedly responded. We have high hopes for her and can´t wait to see her again.

Our two fechas Lupe and Fausta are incredible! Lupe is amazing! I just want to be like her someday. She says the most intensely personal and special prayers I have ever heard. Whenever she prays I think of the words broken heart and contrite spirit. She really has a broken heart and is always ready and willing to learn and a contrite spirit. She is so humble and special. Her husband is a less active member now returning to church. Seeing them together is a delight because they love each other so much. He bore testimony of the sealing power in the temple and how he can´t wait to get sealed to her. He says that he knows now is her time to get baptized and that her heart is so ready to accept the gospel. Every commitment we ask Lupe to do she has already done and received her answer-pray about Joseph Smith being a prophet, pray about the First Vision, pray about the Book of Mormon, pray about the Plan of Salvation, repent from sins, etc. She is so prepared. I have never met anyone so prepared in my whole mission. Hermana Rivera and I are definitely blessed with this wonderful opportunity to teach her. She is incredible.

We are excited and ready to start a new and better week. We already have the week full of citas with members, recent converts, investigators, and less actives. So this week we will be focusing on back up plans so that we try to avoid as much as possible what happened last week.

Love,
Hermana Johnson

Barcelona Mission: (Hospitalet) Week-08 2012

Dear Family,

We went to the Christmas/ New Year’s open house at the Mission President´s home. It was so wonderful to be in their decorated home and we got a less active family and an investigator to go. We had good American food, which was wonderful!  Hermana Eyre played her violin, Hermana Robinson played her flute, and Hermana Pace played the piano. It was beautiful to be there and the Spirit was so strong. I got a lot of pictures and videos. When we were leaving Pres. Pace yells out my name to come back up the stairs. He said "I didn´t get to say goodbye to you yet." Then he said, "Does your family know how much of an amazing missionary you are?" Then he pointed at my companion and my investigator and he says "You have a really good influence on the future of this mission and on the future of this church with these people right here." "I love you and keep working hard and Merry Christmas."  What a nice thing to say.

This has been a week full of miracles that is for sure! Hermana Rivera, is wonderful and we are doing great together-having fun and working hard. At the end of each day we have been discussing the miracles that we have seen throughout the day. Saturday and Sunday were both wonderful days full of miracles.

We have been working with an investigator named Xavi who is 23 years old. He has been visiting with the missionaries since February. His dad is a very less active member and his mom and sister are not interested in the church. He has a lot of doubts and struggles that he is dealing with. He has been reading in the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. He has met with plenty of Elders and Sisters and comes to church every Sunday and to every activity and to English class. His second home is the chapel. You will often find him there if he is not at school or at work. He wants to get baptized very badly but knows that Satan will attack him harder after baptism. He knows the importance of the covenants made at baptism and does not want to risk breaking them. He watched the videos and listened to the words of the prophet and apostles on the church website. He read articles. When we saw him at English class on Saturday morning, it was the happiest I have ever seen him. He said that those have changed his life and feels that he can be baptized in January. His prayers are more sincere. He says he better understands his purpose and his life. We'll see what happens.

Our week is full of citas with members, recent converts, and our two fechas that we now have!  A lady named Lupe wants to get baptized on January 12th. She is amazing and SO PREPARED.

The other fecha is Fausta. She is probably around 70 years old and living with her less active daughter who is now coming back to church. They are from Peru. We learned that we have to teach her VERY simply or else she will not understand. This is challenging my companion a lot, because she loves to talk. But it is perfect to simplify things and to really put Elder Richard´s counsel to practice-simple yet powerful lessons. She has been to church and likes it a lot. She also has been reading the Book of Mormon slowly.  Her daughter, Cristina is so excited for her mom to finally be baptized on January 24th. She told her, "Mami, finally there is nothing to hold you back for more years. This is your time."

We have been doing a lot of the 12 weeks, a lot of the activities, and a lot of watching the District videos. We love doing it because it is so informational and helpful. We have been working on Lesson 0-"How to Begin Teaching" and Lesson 1 "The Restoration."  My companion loved the video of the "Purpose of Missionaries with the Robles Family"-their story and them making it to the temple (my temple in San Diego!) in the end. It was a sweet experience watching it and that is really our goal-to help these people make it to the temple.

After our lessons with people throughout the day, we have been evaluating ourselves to help us realize what we can improve and what we did well. This has really been helping us better ourselves and knowing what we can do to help the investigators more.

Happy New Year!

Love, Laura

Barcelona Mission: (Hospitalet) Week-07 2012

What a week! It has been quite a change going from sending another missionary home, to training a new one but I am grateful to do it and I have been really enjoying it. I am learning something new every day. The extra hour of studying and not eating with the members for mediodia has been a little tough but I am getting used to it. Our studies sessions for the mornings have been going really well. We have been running to each cita that we have so that we can make good first impressions and not be late.  I am grateful that Hermana Rivera has a ton of energy and enthusiasm for the work. We are very similar and we know how to work hard together. We are perfect for each other. It has been a bit difficult getting to know the area and the members. Together we are learning the power of prayer and the importance of relying on the Lord. As a result of extra prayers this week, we have been seeing lots of miracles. The Lord´s hands are in this work and we are His servants.

A recent miracle is about a convert named Maria Rosa. She lives with her 7 year old son and her father.  Her daughter (who lives in Ecuador) and her got baptized, but her Dad is not a member. We first met him at our Ward Christmas party on Friday night. We walked into the piso with intentions to talk to Maria Rosa and share with her a Christmas Mormon message. Before starting the video, we invited her father to join us. He said no and went outside to smoke. We watched the video and as I started to talk about it afterwards she interrupted me, stood up, and opened the door calling to her father to join us. After a couple of minutes, he came in and we watched the video again. His heart was softened and he loved the video. We talked about it afterwards and I invited him to church. His grandson started begging him to come to church with them. Maria Rosa was in tears sitting behind him. He said that he would go to his Catholic church like usual and that they can go to their Mormon church. The grandson was sad and Maria Rosa told him not to lose hope that someday grandpa would join them at church. We left them with a prayer and as we were walking out the door, Maria Rosa grabbed me and gave me a tight hug thanking us for coming and not giving up. It was a very special experience. Afterwards I hugged Hermana Rivera and bore testimony to her that we are truly called as disciples and servants of the Lord. Sometimes we don´t even have to say anything, just our presence makes a difference in a home. It is incredible the Spirit we carry as long as we are being obedient. It was a really special miracle.

The most recent convert is a 13 year old boy named Alexis. Hermana Farrell and Hermana Mancera helped him get baptized. It was neat because Hermana Farrell´s last Sunday there Alexis passed the sacrament for the first time. Hermana Farrell almost started crying and it was a special moment to see his progression in the church. We will visit him this week to continue with lesson 5.

Something that we are working on and repenting of is getting into the house by 10 o clock. It is tough! But as we sprint home, we can see the blessings as the Spirit is stronger in our nightly planning sessions and we are better prepared for the next day. At times I feel like we are offending the members as we quickly run out of their house, but at the same time they can see that obedience is something very important to us and they can take us more seriously as missionaries knowing that we are obedient.

We have been watching many District videos this last week to help us learn to be "Preach My Gospel" missionaries. We have been contacting more as a result of following the Spirit. We have been working hard on better our planning sessions-nightly and weekly. We have been putting goals to help stretch us and strengthen our faith.

We have really seen the help of the Spirit as a result of our obedience and following the suggestions and examples from the District videos.

Merry Christmas!

Love, Hermana Johnson

with Hermanas Walker & Ferrell

Ward Christamas Party with Roman Family

Teaching members country dance at Hospitalet Ward Christmas Party

 

 

Barcelona Mission: (Hospitalet) Week-06 2012

Dear Family,

There is so much to tell you and not enough time. Today I am especially rushed because of everything that has been going on.

Mom, I got your package thank you very much!!! I LOVED everything!!! Concerning my package to send home...I am worried it won´t get there in time for Christmas because I don´t know when I will have time to send it off.

I thought for sure that they would close the Hermana´s area of Hospitalet second Ward and that I would switch to Hospitalet first Ward and "kill" another missionary-Hermana Farrell....so they did close the Hermana´s area and they took Hermana Farrell out. Now I am in the first Ward and I am training a new missionary!!! How exciting right?!

We were supposed to be working in both areas (the both Wards´ boundaries) but because it was Hermana Walker´s last week there were many people to visit and many things for her to do before leaving. I am very used to this process because I went through it with Hermana Reeder.

Anyway, we had the second Ward Christmas party, which was neat. It started out with a talent show and there were a lot of neat talents-I have some videos. Hermana Walker and I taught everyone how to line dance to the song "Cotton Eyed Joe."  People LOVED it! They thought it was so funny. We even taught them how to say "yee haw". At church on Sunday people would come up to us and say it at random times haha. After the dance, we had a dinner.

Then another day we went to a birthday party of an investigator and had paella...it was wonderful!

On Friday or Sat. (can't remember) we got the transfers phone call. I then found out that I would be training a new Hermana.

On Sunday, I went to the first Ward´s Sacrament meeting (my new Ward) and introduced myself and set up some appointments and then I went to the second Ward´s Sacrament meeting for the last time. I still have appointments with some people from the second Ward...Anyway, Hermana Farrell was companions with a member as she stayed in the first Wards´ meetings and had my planner and made appointments for me all week...I have a packed week!! I am nervous because I have to figure out where I am going and who these people are..haha Oh well...

Then we met with Elder Tirado and Elder Shiflet our Zone Leaders, also in the second Ward with us and gave them our area books and told them about our investigators. They are taking over our old area and taking our cell phone...

It is kind of complicated, I don´t know if you followed all of that....welcome to my life...hahah

Overall, I am VERY EXCITED. I like challenges and I am so excited to train this new Hermana, who is super cute.

er name is Hermana Rivera, who was born in Argentina but moved here to Elche (close to Valencia) when she was 11 years old. I am excited to work with her and train her. I haven´t really done the the 12 week training program myself, so I am excited to do it and I have to be a lot more obedient and reliant on the Lord. It is going to be great!!! Like starting my mission all over again!!  Just pray for me please. I know things will work out. She is excited and President Pace really, really trusts me. I need to tell you some of the things he said about me in front of a lot of people. He is very sweet and very good at giving compliments...

I have to go because we are going to singing with the Angels in Plaza Catalunya because Hermana Walker and two other missionaries are leaving. I love you and hope to send the package soon. Hope Bry Bry has an amazing birthday this weekend.

Love, Laura

With Sis. Walker at "Singing with the Angels" Goodbye to her

Missionary Transfer Board in Mission Office

New Jr. Companion Hermana Revera in Mission Office

Barcelona Mission: (Hospitalet) Week-05 2012

Here is a copy of some of the letter from President Pace in our weekly newsletter:

"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

Barcelona Mission: (Hospitalet) Week-04 2012

I know that my Redeemer lives. I am so grateful for His atoning sacrifice for me. He is my older brother and my best friend. He suffered for me and knows exactly how I feel during the hardest times and the best times. He is the only one who knows. I am glad that we are never alone; He is always there with us with arms wide open waiting for us to come unto Him. He is very aware of us and our needs. He suffered for our sins, so that we can be forgiven and progress in life. We can never stray too far from the path. His Atoning power is available to all. There is always hope for something better. We can always be better. He helps us become the people Heavenly Father wants us to be. When we follow Christ´s example, we are happier and receive more blessings. It is our choice whether we want to be happy or sad in this life. To be happy, we need to follow Heavenly Father´s commandments and then we´ll see the blessings.

I also know without a doubt that Joseph Smith was a prophet. The First Vision was real. The priesthood power was restored on this earth so that we could participate in saving ordinances. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true church on the earth today. We have a living prophet named Thomas S. Monson who leads and guides the church today. The Book of Mormon is the word of God-another testament of Jesus Christ and it brings one closer of Him. I love it! I love this work. I know these things to be true and I say them in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Hermana Laura Eve Johnson

This week started out as a good week and then it got a little rough as I got food poisoning Thursday morning and then my companion, Hermana Walker, got food poisoning Friday. We laid in bed until Sunday when we finally got up to go to church. We prayed hard that we would have the strength to make it to church and to work the rest of the day. After I took the sacrament during the last hour of church, I just got a burst of energy that lasted throughout the rest of the day as well as Hermana Walker. We were able to work hard the rest of the day and we ended it strong. As soon as we got home, we crashed from lack of energy and nutrition. It was a big testimony to me that this is the Lord´s work and he will use us accordingly to bring it to pass. We needed to see the people that we saw and to help the people we helped. It was amazing-a true miracle.

With Hermana Walker's great example, it is getting easier for me to contact people that we see.

Before we got sick we set 3 amazing fechas for December 15 but only one of them came to church. Sunday night we set another amazing fecha for the 15th-totally prepared woman who has come to church several times. Her name is Patricia and is originally from Ecuador and is the mother of 2 recent convert teenagers. She has been to church many times but never felt ready to be baptized. She came to church yesterday! Then we had a great lesson with her and showed her this neat DVD called, "Reflections of Christ." She loved it and we invited her to finally be baptized as a gift to give to Christ for Christmas. We are praying hard for her so that she can make her decision!

The other fecha´s name is Maria, originally from the Dominican Republic. She had the lessons in the beginning of this year but doesn´t remember much. We taught her then she came to church for the first time and liked it and wants to return.  She is going out of town this week, so we hope we don't lose her.

A really neat experience was last night with a recent convert-a 10 year old girl named Dafne. She is an incredible example for her aunt and the other women that she lives with. Her mom is in Switzerland looking for work. Her mom is a less active member and wanted the missionaries to teach her. Dafne was baptized towards the beginning of this year. She is so smart and just finished reading the Book of Mormon for the first time (she started around February when she got baptized). Last night we visited her and read some of the Book of Mormon where she is at in Moroni. Then Hermana Walker was sweet and gave her an old mission skirt and Dafne loved it. We then watched the "Reflections of Christ" DVD and Dafne then gave us the biggest hug. She is normally shy and doesn´t express her feelings much but she started saying just how grateful she was for our visits and that she always looked forward to seeing us. It was really a neat experience that warmed my heart.

Today Hermana Walker and I went to this huge mall to take our Christmas pictures in front of this huge Christmas tree and these people walked up to us asking, in English, if we were missionaries. They just got off a cruise ship! A family from Utah-how exciting right?! They treated us to lunch at a restaurant in the mall. It was so great talking to people from the United States in English. It was just great to be in that culture again. They were very sweet.

Anyway, I love you. Thanks for the emails Mom. I will let you know when I get the package and thanks for sending it!!! Also, thank Tiff for me for the email.

Have a good week. I love you and miss you.

Love, Laura

Unusual "Hospilet" sign

Having lunch with cruise ship (LDS) people

Us with Dafne

Taken at local shopping

Barcelona Mission: (Hospitalet) Week-03 2012

Wow. Another week in Hospitalet went by really slow probably because I am trying to get used to the new area still.  I used to tease Hermana Jorgensen about being so tired and even falling asleep in lessons in Zaragoza...now I am the one being tired and almost falling asleep in lessons. I think it is just because of change and transitioning. I am grateful that this area is small and is not too hard to learn. We walk most of the time so I don´t have to memorize any bus routes or anything. I only have to memorize street names and metro stops which is super easy. I am also surprised that there is not as much Catalan than I thought there would be here. I am in Catalunya now instead of Aragon, but I think because of the area we are working in, I mostly feel like I am in South America because of all the South Americans here!  Also, they ALL want to feed us. I have never been fed so much food before in my life...it´s rough. I am trying to learn tricks on how to not eat as much. We often try to ask for a box to take extra food home(they seem to not have plastic containers). It´s an interesting culture. Everywhere we go we are always offered some kind of cookies, crackers, and juice or soda. NEVER WATER. And the cookies and crackers are Spain style-which is fine..but different. Anyway, needless to say I miss eating what I want in my piso back in Zaragoza. I barely go grocery shopping and eat at home now. When I do eat at home, Hermana Mancera always cooks. She is from Venezuela and moved here to Malaga when she was 12.  It´s good, but it is also a lot...haha it´s just their culture. Anyway, it's different from Zaragoza...The other day we ate with a Spaniard family! I love eating the Spaniard food (don´t worry Mom, the Spaniard Mormon families really clean up the food before they feed us because they know we are in a foreign country and in a different culture-so don´t worry too much about that octupus thing! Olga insisted that it was fine and I never got sick from it so that´s good). I am grateful and these people are so sweet. They don´t have much to begin with and then when you visit they are so sweet and give you all they have. Always giving and always caring.

Haha anyway...

Speaking of Zaragoza...I talked to my former comp, Hermana Jorgensen this morning. She says that Pres Wolfart is still in the hospital and they still don´t know what´s wrong with him! :( Please pray for him and his family. Also, my recent convert, Engracia, accidently spilled boiling water on her and has third degree burns all over her stomach and legs!!! How horrible! The whole Branch is helping her out around the house and visiting her. Please keep her in your prayers as well. Thank you.

Please let me know when the package gets there. It is full of letters and there are two t-shirts for Jasmine and Bryanna (I hope they fit). You can decide whether to give them to them for Christmas or now. I also have great Christmas presents for everyone on the way!

Happy late Thanksgiving! How was it?! It is like it didn´t exist this year because we actually were fasting and of, course it's not a Spanish holiday!

The time is sure flying by fast. I can´t believe that Thanksgiving came and left and Christmas is just around the corner. It sure is tough sending off another missionary but I pray often and receive strength to help her, me, and the area. It is an interesting situation.

With the increase of missionaries, President Pace says that some missionaries will have to train two sisters at one time! I wonder when this will happen...it will be interesting to see...I personally think it will be super exciting-for sure tough but I am so excited to think about all of the missionaries that will be joining us :) These are the last days and the Lord needs all the help he can get from his worthy children. We really are armies of Helaman bringing the world his truth, it seems. Something that is different in this area is how much we need to contact people on the streets and in the metros. In Zaragoza, we got referrals all the time. People were calling us wanting to hear about the gospel. Here we need to approach people. It´s different for sure and I am learning to come out of my comfort zone. Hermana Walker is amazing at contacting. She has no fear and never gets embarrassed-a great companion and example for me. We work well together, so far.

Hermana Walker asked me what my favorite part about being a missionary is. I told her that I love the relationships that I am making and influencing peoples´ lives for the better. I love being a representative of Christ and helping people feel of His love through me. I love listening to peoples´ stories. Everyone has their own stories, opinions, and ways of thinking. Peoples´ stories are incredible. I feel so blessed to have the life I lead, the family I have, and to be the person I am especially with the knowledge of the gospel in my life. I am really learning about patience and charity. I think those are the two attributes of Christ that I have really studied during my time as a missionary. I have realized that everyone likes to have a listener and everyone likes to feel loved. If we can figure out how to achieve those two goals with everyone that we come in contact with, we will be successful missionaries and good brothers and sisters to all because we are all of God´s children here on this earth together. Really that is what everyone needs-a friend and to feel loved. Sometimes it is harder than it seems but I know that it is possible and it is worth it in the end.

This is copied from Hermana Walker´s email:

We saw so many miracles this week. We had a lesson with a Spanish man who claims to be an atheist.  He read over 50 pages of the BOM!!!  We asked him if he would say a prayer that night to ask God if He was there and is real.  He said out of curiosity he would.  As we testified to him the spirit was so strong!!  We felt it and we knew as we looked into his eyes he felt it.  It was the best lesson ever!  He excepted a visit back, we are really excited to teach him tonight and invite him to be baptized.   Afterwards Hermana Johnson got in the elevator and just gave me this huge hug and then we said a prayer of thanks. 

This week was a good week. We are trying to find new investigators! We have looked through antiguos and tried calling a lot but their phone numbers were wrong or turned off. So, we are continuing and trying to find the elect and prepared people! We also have been visiting many members so that I can get to know them and we always ask for referrals. A few of them have taken our pass along cards to give to their friends and we have received referrals but none for our area. We also carry with us everyday two Books of Mormon to give to people who we feel inspired to talk to. We have had pretty amazing experiences but for some reason it is tough to find these people again-they are never home or they never answer their phone. We have faith that the Lord will bless our efforts.

A miracle story this week was one that followed my miracle story last week. We contacted that lady where the keys dropped from the upper building on the rope...well we got a random phone call a few days later from a man named Oscar. When we met with him we discovered that his Mom was the lady I contacted at the door where the keys were lowered on the rope the week before. Oscar is 23 years old and so prepared! We had an amazing lesson  with him and he was excited to start reading the Book of Mormon. Even his Mom joined in and they were so excited to learn how to pray. It was amazing. We were blessed with a wonderful opportunity to share the gospel to people who were searching. Unfortunately, neither of them came to church after much effort, but we do have a cita with him tonight and we will invite him to be baptized.

Another miracle story is that we finally got a hold of an antiguo investigator, named Daisy. We had a very intense lesson with her, her young adult son, and his friend. We taught lesson 1 with more detail that I have ever given since being on the mission because of all the questions that her son asked! It was an interesting conversation and sometimes hard to speak. But the Spirit was the strongest when I recited the First Vision. Every time I recite the First Vision in a lesson I am touched and my testimony is strengthened so much of the reality of what happened in that arboleda and the impact this had on history and on our lives. The Spirit was strong in the room at that moment, but people have their agency and sometimes choose to harden their hearts. Something that I have learned is that our efforts as missionaries are never worthless. Even if we think no one is opening their hearts and listening, Heavenly Father is always aware of our efforts and he will bless us accordingly. Even if the Spirit didn´t touch the son´s heart (or he was in denial over it), it touched his Mom´s heart-enough for her to surprise us and show up for the first time at Sacrament meeting! She enjoyed it and we hope she will come back.

It's a challenge contacting Spaniards. Out of every 10 or so that we contact a day 1 or 2 actually take a pass along card. We are brainstorming different ways to approach them and different things to say.

Also, this week we had a huge conference with Elder Richards who is in the Area Seventy and is in charge of the Missions in this part of Europe. It was a wonderful conference and we were deeply enriched on Tuesday from 1:30-6!  A lot of sitting but a lot of revelation received. I think one of my favorite pieces of advice was him telling us how we need to try to teach our lessons simple, yet powerful.  As missionaries sometimes we get into the habit of saying the same things over and over again to teach certain principles. We try to be sensitive to the persons´ needs and questions but we also get too comfortable explaining things a certain way. While we practiced teaching in the meeting, it made me realize how much I repeat myself and how much I need to change my teaching habits. It was interesting. I think another favorite part about the Mission is learning about myself. I have learned a lot and about who I want to be when I go home...We Sisters met with Sister Richards. It was really good but I missed a lot because I was busy translating for Hermana Mancera...tough! It´s hard to translate when people speak so quickly, but I could feel the Lord helping me and I knew Hermana Mancera appreciated it-as well as Hermana Farrell. She was a little stressed thinking about how she needed to translate so I volunteered to do it instead.

Anyway, that is the news from this last week. I love you and hope all is well.

Love, Laura

With Hna Mancera, Hna Walker, Hna Ferrell in Hospitalet