Valencia - Week Nine

HIIIII!!!

Valencia is just the best. I really love this place. I am always dripping in sweat, but it's fine. Kinda like being in New York in July right? haha Valencia is a great place to be. We had a good week this week. It fleeeewww by.

Monday night we had an FHE with Ana and her kids at a members house. We watched the 20 minute restoration video (pageant flashback oh my gosh, it's so weird to think about how I was at the Joseph Smith home a year ago and now I'm in an Ecuadorian home in Spain teaching a woman from El Salvador about the most important thing in my life) Big throwback. Anyway, we watched the video and Ana reallly liked it. I think it was good for her to be able to see the restoration and to feel the Spirit that the video brings. She told me afterwards that it really touched her and that all of the scriptures from the bible that the movie quotes, she knows from memory. She's doing really great.

Sad news, we saw Veronica this week and she told us she was having doubts about different things. So we read together in Alma 32 about faith. We taught her about how faith starts with a desire. She told us she mostly struggled with believing that the BOM prophets were true because she was more familiar with the ones in the Bible. We explained how everything starts with a desire. If she has the desire to know its true, she's just got to be willing to act on it by reading the BOM and asking God about it. She told us she had the desire and everything ended well. Unfortunately after we left her house that night, she called us and told us that her desire really wasn't in it. I'm not sure what happened but she said she was content where she was and didn't want to continue anymore.

I was really devastated. It was really really hard. It's hard to see someone progress so much and start to recognize the Spirit and feel good in church and then just change their minds. I think she just got scared. I don't think its all completely over with her, but it was really, really hard to hear her say she was done. At the same time, I felt a lot of peace about our part as missionaries. I felt we had really taught clearly and the Spirit guided us in the lesson and I don't feel like we should have done anything different.

So I don't remember if I told you but we are teaching a Pakistan man named Farooq. His English and Spanish isn't very good, so we have to keep it really simple. He contacted us. It was really cool though because yesterday I had a moment as we taught him on the bench. I sat there with my Spanish Book of Mormon, he had his BOM in Ardo  and Hermana Vance had hers in English. I just thought man, if  you would have told me a year ago that I would be in Spain, on this bench, teaching Farooq the gospel in three different languages, I wouldn't have believed it. It was a really tender moment. I am really glad to be here. I love the mission so so much.

Oh one last little thing. On Tuesday, Hermana Munns and I went to Barcelona for our conference for sister training leaders. It was really good! We talked about how we can lift the mission and help unite the sisters. It was a really powerful meeting. President and Hermana Pace are incredible. They are so inspired, I love being with them (Also they gave us homemade Cafe Rio salads, talk about being in heaven) After the meeting, I got to go out and work with HERMANA FINDLAY. it was THE BEST! I love her so so much. It was the biggest tender mercy, especially since last week was kinda rough. We just laughed and reminisced about when we were in Zaragoza. Love her.

Also, for any of you that ever get nervous about leading music.. try leading a group of 100 people without a piano.. this last Sunday got wild, let me tell you. But I loved it. I volunteered to play the piano sometimes. Because I know four songs. One of them being God be with you till we meet again haha that'll be a regular Sunday one now. We have no pianist! Help! Anyway, life's good. I'm glad pageant is a blast. Tell them all I miss them and love them.


I love you fam bam!