Dearest family and friends,
TIS THE SEASON! I can´t believe Christmas is right around the corner! I am so grateful to be here in Spain as a missionary at this Christmas season. I know it is the best thing I could possibly be doing right now! And what better way to spend Christmas than going out everyday to teach the people about our Savior, Jesus Christ. For me, Christmas has already started coming! I want to share a few of my "presents" that I received this week! My title for my email comes from one of my companions, Hermana Larsen. Every night she would ask me, "What was your happy moment?" And I would have to think of what happened that day and what the happiest moment was. Her mom did it to her every night growing up and now she does it to all her companions and now I do it to all of mine! So this week I want to share the "presents" I have been receiving for christmas and they just so happen to be all of my "happy moments"!
The first one is my companion! I am training a brand new missionary this transfer which is a little scary and a little stressful but also really fun! I went to the training meeting last week and then picked up my new companion... HERMANA CAROLLO. She is from Colorado but her mom is from Mexico and her dad served in Mexico so her Spanish is really quite incredible (even though she doesn´t think so... trust me... it is). It is such a blessing that we were put together as companions so that we can both learn from each other and become better missionaries and disciples of Jesus Christ. I have already learned so much from her in this short time we have been together. I know that companions are inspired and direct revelation from our Heavenly Father and we are placed in specific companionships to help us learn and grow and become who we are meant to be.
Another present was Vera. Vera is from Brazil and has a health challenge with her legs making it very hard to walk. But she wanted to come out contacting with us one day! So we took her and before we started she pulled out her phone and said, "now here... hurry and write down all of these numbers. These are all of my friends who I just know need to hear about the gospel!" She sat and gave us references for about 30 minutes and then started setting up citas (or appointments) with all of them for us. She is the absolute sweetest and never forgets that she is always a missionary. We then went and contacted with her and even though we only were able to walk down one street in about an hour, we talked to every person we could about the gospel and we ended up receiving 4 new investigators as we taught them a lesson on the street, got their information, set up another cita and prayed with them! Each one of them was a miracle and I truly believe it was Hermana Vera and her faith, smile and diligence. Vera taught me that it doesn´t matter what health challenge you have or how much pain you might be in... you just need to smile and remember that you are always a missionary!
Our District is doing pretty well here in Tarragona as we had three more baptisms on Saturday! The Elders from Tortosa are working really hard and all of their hard work is paying off because the "group" that only had 17 people to start out with 4 weeks ago now has 34 and it is now going to be officially turned into a Branch! That was a very big Christmas present for all of us to hear!
On Sunday I gave a talk in church! My first talk in sacrament meeting, in Spain... IN SPANISH! I think it is safe to say that I was just a tiny bit nervous (ok, I was really nervous). I talked about perseverar hasta el fin (endure to the end) 5 simple steps that we can do to perseverar hasta el fin. I was sitting up on the stand to play the piano for the sacrament meeting and in walked Yolanda and Christian with their three little girls. I can´t remember if I have talked about them yet or not. Yolanda and Christian just got baptized this year and haven´t been coming to church very often. They have their three little girls, Marina (8), Daniella (6), and Africa (3). They remind me SO much of Livvy and Liza and Abby. They are the three little girls who honestly think that I am Elsa from Frozen. it is so cute! They saw me playing the piano and their mouths all DROPPED. They told me they didn´t know Elsa knew how to play the piano haha :) Anyways, this was definitely one of my happy moments to see all of them in church and sitting on the front row! And in Sunday School Christian talked all about how he needs to help his family Endure to the End and then Yolanda told me she wants us to help them prepare Marina to be baptized since she is 8 years old! It was definitely a miracle right from Heaven! I am excited to help them continue to progress!
We had a lesson with Barbara this week! Barbara is 74 and probably one of my best friends here in Spain! She lost her husband about 3 months ago and we found her as we were knocking doors one day. She was practically in tears when we found her but smiling said, "How did you angels know to come visit Barbara today? Did God send you here to my door?" We testified to her that He knows exactly who she is and what she is going through. She loves every single thing we teach her and LOVED the restoration and told us she knew it was all true. She came to church and talked to pretty much every single member and then told us afterwards that she knew it was true. Hermana Carollo and I went to teach her the plan of salvation this past week. We told her it was a present for her and Manuel (her husband). When we got to the spirit world I started crying and couldn´t even talk. The spirit in the room was so strong and I knew that what we were teaching Barbara was true. I knew that Manuel was in the Spirit world at this very moment listening to and accepting the same message that Barbara was listening to. I told Barbara this and tears came to her eyes and she looked at me and said, "Puedo dar un besito a Manuel ahora?" (can I give Manuel a little kiss right now?) I nodded my head and she blew a kiss to the air and said, "I want to be with you forever my sweet Manuel". It was probably one of the most spiritual experiences I have yet had on my mission. When we ended our lesson by sharing with her about the celestial kingdom and how she CAN be with Manuel forever she said, "I don´t have to wait for christmas. You sweet hijas are my christmas present and your message is the best christmas present I could ever ask for. I know it is true! I know with my whole heart it is true!" I loved that lesson with Barbara so much! And she was right. That time with her was probably my favorite christmas present of all! I know that Barbara can be with her sweet Manual for all eternity just like we can all be with our families for eternity if we choose right now to follow the example of Our Savior Jesus Christ. He is the only way that we can make it safely home to our Father in Heaven and everyone we love. I know they love us and they want us to return home to them, but it is up to us to turn to our Savior and use the gift of the Atonement every single day to draw closer to Him. I know that families are forever and I can´t wait to be with mine forever one day!
Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season!
I love being a missionary!!
Love,
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