HIIIIII FAMMMILLLYYY!! hoooooolllaaaa!!
So... this week!! I have so many thoughts and things I would love to share. There truly are so many things I could share every week, I pray that what I DO share comes out right, haha. Getting towards the end of a mission can be HARD. I can´t really describe it in words, but the adversary works hard at my weak points and I want nothing more to finish strong serving the Lord here! With the amount of time I have left, like Wade said, I know the Lord expects us still to serve with all of our Heart, Might, Mind, and Strength, and it ALL truly starts with our desires. I feel blessed to have Hermana Carrol here, she is a strong, diligent, good-hearted person and we have fun together. The Lord knew I needed her!
We had a zone conference this week, and listened to a talk from Dieter F. Uchtdorf, called Fear Not, I Am With Thee, and he related the story of how "This act of love (the Resurrection) transformed a band of frightened, worried disciples into a dynamic group of fearless missionaries who changed the world. The events of that day have the potential and power to do the same for every servant of the Lord, for every missionary, for everyone who is proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ."
Can you imagine how pained Mary and each and every one of the disciples felt as Christ was taken to His tomb? Would we be like Mary, seeking to know where Jesus was laid? Who do we seek? I believe desires truly are of the most importance, because when Christ asks "Whom seekest thou?" that is a question for each and every one of us!! Whom do we seek? According to Mary´s desires, He appeared to her. We will all pass through time of trial and darkness but according to our faith and the desires of our hearts, God´s word will be completed in EVERY DETAIL! I know that is true.
Will we be able to recognize His voice like Mary did that day? Will it be familiar because I have heard His voice as I follow Him and listen to Him every day of my life? Because of the event of the Resurrection, EVERYTHING changed. President Uchtdorf says that Jesus´s disciples before were mostly witnesses and followers, they observed and learned. I feel like at many times in my life I have merely been a follower, if that. We all, at time fear what others might say of us and maybe we were just observers from the outside. As I have come to know my Savior here while serving a Him, I understand that I really don´t know much at all!! But I DO KNOW that coming to know Him and believe that He lives and resurrected that day has transformed me. It´s not so important what the world may think of us. We are to fear no man. How has the knowledge of the Resurrection changed your life? Something to reflect on. Everyday we are faced with decisions... with those decisions, What kind of witness will we be? Will we be able to recognize His voice?
While serving a mission, I think we learn to recognize little miracles along the way every day, and that keeps us going :) God´s little tender mercies are there to tell us all will be well and He is pleased with the work we are doing, however imperfect it may be. About a week ago, we were walking home and it was late at night and we talked to an old Spanish man with a big mustache walking into his door (the mustache in an important detail, haha). We didn't think much of it, passed by another time and his wife told us not to pass by again, but we decided to call him. He said he would meet with us at the church this past Saturday, we weren't sure if he would come, but he did! He was even 30 minutes early. And we were there talking for almost two hours!! His name is Carlos, he is from Gijon, and he is such a GOOD man. I wish I could have video recorded the lesson, I just felt so astounded how the Spirit touched him. He began saying he didn't know exactly who God was, and was convinced that we cannot know truth, but as time went on, we described the Plan of Salvation and bore testimony of the role the Christ plays in that. As a father, he said that he loves His children--more than his wife--and he would be willing to give up his life for them. And it made me think so much profoundly about this scripture.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:16-17)
God has such a perfect love for us. He sent is Beloved Son to die for us. That is such a key point of doctrine, and it really touched Carlos' heart. Everything he said brought scriptures to our minds and little nuggets of truth that we could testify of. haha. By the end of the lesson, he said casually "Well, I think I might pass by this afternoon, will you to be here to talk again?" That NEVER happens!! haha We gladly met with him and invited some other members to come with us, turns out, they were acquaintances already! It was a day full of miracles! We tend to get scared to approach the people from Spain here, because they can be generally a lot more close-minded, especially the older generation, but we felt the Spirit so strong in our lessons with him, and we could see such sincerity in his eyes, searching for something. I could have sat there all day just enjoying that feeling of letting the Spirit teach us. I will let you know how Carlos is next week!
Just a closing funny thought, hahahahaha. Our ward mission leader. His name is Santi. He is from here, Gijon. He thinks the best way to do missionary work is feeding us and giving us chocolate. He has one arm. He took us out to lunch this week and as we ate he told us how he had copied pages of the Gospel Principles book to study while he was in the sauna that morning. I just about died laughing and had a hard time eating when we all pictured him preparing to talk about how families can be together forever (his little one-armed self) in the sauna. Hehe, he said he tried to share some little spiritual thoughts with the other people in there. I wonder how that went.
I hope you have a fabulous week! We will be doing the same thing at the same time, hearing the prophet's words!
I LUFFF YEWWW!!! I miss you!!
Love, Hermana Mather
Scriptures of the week (I hope you actually read them, they are incredible!):
D&C 6:20
Juan 16:12-13
Juan 21:15-17
Matt 16:24-25
1 Tes 2:8
1 Tes 2:17, 3:9-10
p.s. Are you sooo excited for conference?!?! Have you been preparing?! Have you got your questions all ready? :)
p.p.s. Hermana Philips, who served here in Madrid, and Wade met her in California on his mission (he interviewed her brother for baptism)… She was featured in Church News! Cool!
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| The two hour bus ride we took to zone meeting in Leon was beautiful!!! This is a shot out the window |
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| Elder Ward, Hermana Carrol, and I. Do you remember Elder Ward, he was in the MTC with me, he was the elder in the train crash? He is incredible, so funny :) He can play or make up just about anything on the piano, its incredible. We had a special musical number, he played piano and we sang. So fun! |
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| And… this is what happens when there are mirrors in elevators.. hehe |
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| Gijon! This is about a 40 min walk from our apartment! We went here for my first time today!! Tis so beautiful! We just jumped for joy :) |
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| Thought you might like this Wade and Aaron... paddle boarding! Our favorite family beach activity! They do it here in Spain too! |
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| I was speechless! These are my feet, we were standing above this beautiful overlook of the ocean! There are little stairs leading down from the grass patch to the ocean here. It was a fun, relaxing pday today. |
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