a marvelous week in a marvelous country

HOLA TO THE PEOPLE I LOVE THE MOST-

Last week, I talked to you about Moises-a man that we found on the street with his daughter and invited to church. He is a person who is VERY prepared. I can see the spirit working when we meet with him.  This week, we had a lesson with him and we taught the restoration. The bishop came too and he helped us out a lot. He was super friendly with him and was able to relate with him better than we could. The lesson went so great. We invited him to read the Book of Mormon and to pray

about our message. He was so willing and even offered the closing prayer of the meeting. Which NEVER happens, it was a beautiful moment.  A few days later, we called him to remind him about our Thursday night family home evening activity. During the phone call, he told us that he had read the Book of Mormon almost every night and was loving it. (!!!!!!!) He said, "I prayed last night and this morning that I would have a good day, and my day has been greater than normal. I can feel something changing inside of me and it feels good." YES YOURE READING THIS RIGHT. I genuinely shed a few tears as to how perfectly prepared this man is. But I also wanted to cry because of how wonderful the Book of Mormon is. That book has so much power and brings so much happiness and I promise it'll change your life if you read it. We had another lesson with him on Saturday. We had planned to teach the plan of salvation but we ended up talking about the Book of Mormon. We were trying to help him recognize the spirit and know how to feel it more often. He hadn't prayed specifically about the Book of Mormon, or our message, so we invited him to do that. He is seriously so ready and so willing to believe everything we say. We invited him to be baptized, when he comes to know that this is true and he said yes. He wants to be absolutely sure that he knows it's true before he does anything, which is great. The spirit was so sweet in the room and I know he could feel it.

On Tuesday, we had a really powerful family home evening lesson with a family in our ward. The parents are very active but the kids are either half active or want nothing to do with the church. We usually teach a special lesson with videos and activities but this week we decided to go back to the basics. We taught about Joseph smith and the restoration and then had a sort of "testimony meeting." My testimony

was strengthened and I know that the hearts of everyone were touched in the room as we talked about our love for Joseph smith and the Book of Mormon. It's amazing as to how often his experience brings his spirit into the room.

All of our lessons have been going great recently, and the members have started helping out A LOT. This week was packed full of lessons and plans that actually happened!!! In fact, we barely had any time to contact this week because it was so fun. But, in exciting news-we contacted a woman a few weeks ago who wasn't in our are so we "passed the reference" to the other sister missionaries in that area. They

told us that they finally had a lesson with her and that it was MARVELOUS. They said the spirit was so strong and that when they invited her to be baptized she said, "Claro" which is kinda like "um duh." I know that's not my story but we found her on the street so I couldn't help but feel proud that Heavenly Father was able to use us.

A lot of you have been asking me questions answered about the culture and the food and the schedule so let me get to it.  Our schedule every day is different, and I'm on a training schedule but it consists of the following:

7:30-wake up((it's a blessing that this mission does a later wake up, it's because people here usually don't wake up til like 1)) and then exercise

8:00-get ready for the day/shower/eat breakfast

9:00-personal study

9:30-companion study

11:30-proselyting/teaching/contacting

2:00-medio dia ((in Spain, the people here go home and stop working and take naps from 2-5. So everything closes and basically no one is outside))

3:30-area book ((filling out lots of papers with the lessons we taught or with future people to teach

4:00-personal study

4:30-language study

5:30-proselyting/teaching/contacting

10:15/10:45-be back in piso to plan for tomorrow and eat a snack or something because they don't eat dinner here till 10 or 11

11:30-lights out

I'll attach a picture of my little agenda and what a full day looks like out here. We're pretty busy all day with studying and citas and walking and walking and WALKING. Like I've never walked so much in my life but it's okay because we're doin the work. I'm not necessarily sore but my legs and feet are no longer existent. A few nights out

here I've woke up in the middle of the night crying because my calf muscles feel like someone is ripping them apart. I mean, it's casual, that's what I get for not working out. Other than that, walking is great because I'm pretty sure I've gained about 47 pounds out here. The ward members are great and they feed us BEAUTIFUL food. My favorite is a plate called 'paella'. It's like rice and chicken and shrimp vegetable and it's so good. I cry every time I eat it, it's fantastic. They make it in this HUGE pan that's like the size of a small table no joke. Other foods here just have a lot of fish and rice or vegetables but it's all super yummy.

As for tidbits about the culture, I really can't think of any at this moment. I'll try to think about that during the week so that I can update you all on how everything works out here in Spain. But it's all beautiful and it's all so fun. I love it all. Thank you all for the emails and prayers and letters and support.

Miss you mucho and love you all even more!!!!

Until next week,

Hermana Spangler

bautismos por miles habra!!!!!

HOLA TO THE PEOPLE THAT I LOVE THE MOST-

Well let's get to it why don't we??? I cannot believe how fast this week flew by!!!! We had miracles upon miracles. First off, in completely unrelated to anything spiritual news, GUESS WHAT. This week, while contacting and talking to different people on the street, we stopped this teenage couple to talk to them. They're from Columbia and you'll never believe this but THE GIRL'S NAME WAS GINGER.  wow!!!!  Isn't that just crazy fantastic!!!!! I've barely ever met anyone in America named Ginger let alone Spain!!!!! Not to mention, she gave us her contact information and we have a cita with her this week!!! Okay I'm sorry I am overly excited with this tidbit of information but I just couldn't believe it!!!!

So this week we had a lesson with our investigator, Merci who has been taking the lessons for a while. Let me just give you the background story here. Angelica is a girl here that was baptized about 3 years ago, she's great and totally active. Her mom, Beatriz, has been taking the lessons for the past 3 years and absolutely loves the church.  However, she can't get baptized yet because she still lives with her boyfriend, Jesus. They have been dating for 14 YEARS. Wow. A lot of people here always date for at least 5 or 6 years before they actually get married, it's crazy to me. Anyways, they can't get married because he doesn't have his papers to be legal in Spain yet so it's kinda a big ordeal. But they're great and they're practically like members because they do everything else they're supposed to as members.  Anyways, Merci is Angelica's best friend and also happens to be like a daughter to Beatriz and Jesus. She's always at their house and always coming to church and doing things with them. She's super sweet and has 2 kids. ((Wow I hope that made sense))  So we had a lesson with her this week and it was MARVELOUS. The problem we usually face with her is that she's always distracted and never wants to answer questions herself-like take the time to think.  She's loves the church and I think she WANTS to get baptized but isn't really willing to make all the commitments or choose a date. This week, I've been working a lot more on trying to teach by the spirit rather than stress myself out about the language. When we started the lesson, I prayed in my heart that I would know how to help her. We started off just asking her how her praying and reading was going and she surprised us by saying that it was going amazingly well and that she feels so much peace when she reads. Which is amazing for her because she only 26 and has two kids, ages 11 and 7. So she's super young and alone and has a lot on her plate. She told us that when she reads and prays she feels kinda like all of her burdens are being lifted. Amazing. So we testified that what she was feeling was the Holy Ghost. Her problem right now is that she doesn't have her own testimony of the Book of Mormon or Joseph Smith-which is key in the conversion process. I had the idea that we should use her feelings and the sweet spirit in the room to help her receive that answer. I said, "Okay I have an idea. Right now, we are going to read Moroni 10:3-5, talk about it, and then get on our knees together and pray about the Book of Mormon. Then we are going to stop and think about our feelings and see what happens." That's not a normal thing to do with investigators because we like them to read and pray on their own to get that answer. But that wasn't working for her because she wasn't really doing it on her own. I told her to think about the feelings that she has when she reads the Book of Mormon and to remember that that is the spirit. So, together we read Moroni's promise that if you read the Book of Mormon and ask God with a sincere heart, and real intent, the Holy Ghost will show you the truth. We got on our knees and I told her to pray and ask specifically, "Heavenly Father, is the Book of Mormon true?" She was actually really excited to receive an answer and know for herself. She said the sweetest prayer asking God if the book was true and if this was the path she should take her life. The room filled up with a really special spirit as we listened to her words and thought about our feelings. She told us that she felt peace, and warmth and that she liked what she was feeling. We testified of the spirit and invited her to be baptized because that's the way she can feel the spirit all the time. She accepted but didn't want to choose a date because she wanted to pray about what day would be best for her. We gave her a calendar and told her that she can mark off every day that's she's reading and praying and that on the 31st of April, we are going to choose a date together. It was such a sweet moment to watch her get so excited about everything.

Tambien, We had the GREATEST miracle occur this week. I'm telling you guys, I almost cried it was so golden. We were walking down the street to visit an old investigator and saw a man on a bench with his daughter. Hermana Vigo started to go down a different road but I really felt like we should talk to this man. I went over to him and explained who we were and what we were doing and his daughter, came right up to me, held my hand, and smiled so big I thought her cheeks were going to pop. It was so precious. His name is Moises and his precious little girl is Paloma. Hermana Vigo started talking to him about our beliefs and he seemed very interested. He believes in God and feels like he owes a lot to him because of the many blessings he's seen in his life. His wife of 6 years left him for another man and he just barely got out of a drug rehabilitation center so he could take care of his daughter. He said that he would never be where he is today without the help of God. His faith is so strong. Anyways, he gave us his information and told us to come visit him so that we could teach him and Paloma. We also invited him to church for Sunday and he said he wasn't busy so he would stop by. This is where I wanted to cry because HE CAME TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY. He stayed all three hours and he loved it. It was truly a miracle. In all the time I've been here our investigators have never come to church. But he came with paloma and the ward members were so nice and I couldn't stop smiling. Paloma practically stole the hearts of all the members as well. She's 6 and so so special. She had a brain tumor in her head when she was younger so she can't talk but she's the smileyest little girl ever and she just shines. We have a cita with them on Wednesday and I'm praying that it all works out.

As for another bit of good news, we have two investigators with baptism dates!!!!!!! Maria and Nazaret are sisters ages 8 and 10.

Their older brother is a member but their parents aren't because they aren't married yet and can't get baptized. However the girls are super sweet and super excited. They love they church and they love primary ((classes for children)) and their date is for May 21. We're super excited to help them.

Anyways, sorry that this email was so long but I am just BRIMMING with joy and feel so blessed to be a missionary. Thank you all for you love and support-I know I say that every time, but seriously, thank you all.

One random item of business, we have family home evening every week and this week Hermana Vigo and I are in charge, we are in need of more object lesson ideas so if anyone has ideas about fun ways to teach the gospel, let me know :-)

Love love love you all,

Til next week

Hermanita Spangler

1 monther!!!!

HELLO MY BEAUTIFUL FAMILY AND FRIENDS-

Well, it's that time again!!!!! Seriously, these weeks are FLYING by.  The day's definitely feel long but when I think about the last prep day, it was seriously yesterday. Also, I have officially reached 1 month in the field!!!!! CRAZY. Hermana Vigo was so cute and made a little breakfast while I was getting ready. I can't believe I have really been out here for that long. Sometimes it still feels like I got off the plane yesterday. But I'm learning and growing so much and I can feel this experience truly changing my life.

Primero, the miracle for the week. So on Tuesday our day was packed full with citas. Then unfortunately, between 6 and 8:30, our plans fell through ): it was rainy and windy and cold and no one was outside. We tried to visit any futures or anyone that might be
interested but no one was home. We stopped and decided to say a
prayer. ((This is a normal occasion in the mission)) we prayed for
strength and animo and for someone that would be prepared. We felt like we should visit an old future and GUESS WHAT HAPPENED ON THE WAY THERE???? A MIRACLE. God is always providing. We ran into this sweet little family of a young mom and 3 precious daughters. They were walking in the rain with a stroller and tons of grocery bags. We stopped them and offered to help them take it home. They willingly obliged. On the way to their home, we told them who we were and explained a little bit about the church. We also talked about them and their lives and they are just SO sweet. The little 6 year old, Eva and I became best friends immediately. She was so cute and telling me all about her life in her cute little Spanish and kept hugging me every 2 minutes. It was precious. Anyways, we got to their house and they invited us in to share our message. We shared a video and then talked about the Book of Mormon. We testified of it and then gave them a copy
to read. The spirit was so strong in the room and I know they could
feel it. They took the book and said that they would read it as a
family. I told them that there is so much power that can come from
this book and there really is. Families can be strengthened, spirits
can be lifted, hearts can be mended, and lessons can be learned.  Make a habit of reading that special book every day and I promise it'll change your life. The sad news is that we found out that they're not in our area, but we passed them to the elders and I know they'll take good care of them.

This weekend we got to do intercambios with the sister training
leaders. Intercambios are when we switch companions for 24 hours and work with them. We drove to Murcia, which is the area that they are serving in. I was assigned to be with Hermana Asay and she is seriously AMAZING. I learned so much from her. We had a lesson right off the bat and I think she assumed I knew more Spanish than I know because we didn't really have time to prepare for it. She just said, "okay we're teaching the word of wisdom." And then we went to go teach it. Help. I've never taught that before so I was kinda freaking out. But I prayed and prayed and prayed that heavenly father would help me with what I needed to share and say. The guy we taught is an African man named Upa. He is so solid. He's the kinda of investigator that every missionary wants. When it came time to teach him, the words I wanted to say flowed so perfectly from my mouth that even I was surprised at the fact that I knew what I was saying. I have never felt the spirit so strong helping me in a lesson. Hermana Asay is amazing and she taught with so much power but also so much love. Upa drinks, smokes, and has coffee every day but he said, "okay, if this is what God wants me to do, then I'll do it." !!!!!!!!!!! AMAZING. There was
such a special spirit there confirming to us all that this is what God
wants for him.

Later that night, Hermana Asay took me to her favorite ice cream place to celebrate my one month on a mission. It was so cute of her. We talked about the best parts of a mission and the hardest parts and I seriously learned so much from her. Her advice was so good and being with her made me want to be a better missionary and a better person. She's been on her mission for about 13 months so her Spanish is pretty much perfect but she teaches with the spirit and that's what makes it different. The spirit is truly that thing that makes it powerful. On Wednesday, we had a zone meeting and the stake president came and talked to us. He talked a lot about the way we serve others and teach.  He said, "it's not that you're serving, it's HOW you're serving." It's so important to serve and teach and live with love. People can feel it. I feel so much love for the people out here in this area and I can really feel a difference between when I portray that I love I feel through my lessons and when I don't. Especially for me, a young white girl who can barely speak Spanish. When people can feel that love and the spirit, it'll touch them more than with something I say in their language.

That's about all the time I have for this week. If you ever have
questions about what I'm talking about or want to learn more, go find some missionaries. They'll help you. Thank you all for the letters and emails and love and support. You guys are the best!!!!!

Con mucho amor,
& Until next week,
Hermana Spangler

Mosiah 24:13-15

Sonrisas and besitos

MY FAVORITE PEOPLE IN THE WORLD-

This week was a week of learning. It's one I will remember because it was hard. We did not have a lot of RESULTS, but we had a lot of
SUCCESS. I would say that results are measured by people we find to teach or new baptism dates but success is measured by how hard we are working and how happy we stay in moments of difficulty.

I learned the importance of humility. This week has been hard because no one on the street wanted to talk to us and all our citas fell through. Really, we only taught about the 4th of the lessons we had planned. I was wondering what we're doing wrong or what we could do better, praying for guidance and strength every day. We were working so hard and talking to everyone and calling people and asking for references but nothing. I soon found out that my sweet companion has been working on humility this week and praying to have more in her life. That explained everything. I realized that we really cannot do this work without the hand of God. He is in everything we do and we HAVE to trust him. He'll lead us to where we need to go and help us with what we need to say. Without him, we're just regular human beings, striving to be better. With him, we can be powerful, life-changing missionaries. In conference this weekend, Steven E. Snow said, "Humility allows us all to be a little better." I LOVE that. We could all use a little more humility.

I learned about the importance of a smile. Yes, this week was hard but I never found myself sad or angry. At times I would feel discouraged but Heavenly Father always somehow gives us the extra strength or boost that we need. There is nothing that I know more than the fact that smiling will always put you in a better mood. Did you know that it's been proven that smiling alone can lift you spirits? At times when nothing was going right, I would put a huge smile on my face and decide that I want going to make the next person I talked to smile. It always made me feel better. On Saturday, Hermana Vigo and I had about 3 extra hours of nothing planned. Everything had fallen through.  Nighttime is always harder because there are less people in the streets AND not to mention there was a huge fútbol game Saturday night that everyone was watching. We were trying to visit anyone we could but no one was home so we just ended up contacting on the street. We
ran into this woman and started talking to her. She seemed so sad. I
wanted to ask her what was wrong but didn't wanted to pry in her
personal life so I just said , "Every person this earth has
challenges, but we know that God loves us. God loves you. We have a special message that can strengthen you and bring you peace and happiness." Her eyes actually lit up a little bit. We asked her if she wanted to learn more and she said yes. She gave us her number and address and I handed her our card. It has a picture of Jesus on it and has a website with an Easter video that we've been showing to
everyone. She smiled SO big and said, "for me?" And I said, "yes!!! Our number is in on this card if you ever need anything. We're here to serve you." It was like we had made her whole life with this little card.  I don't know if we'll really ever see her again or if she'll progress at all. But what I do know is that I made her smile. And sometimes, that's the only thing that people really need. In the General conference of 2015, Elder Hugo Montoya said, "Smile. This small action can help those who are overwhelmed or burdened." So all of you reading this today, go make someone smile today.

Speaking of general conference, WOW. Wasn't this weekend just the best??? I feel so blessed and grateful to have had the opportunity to watch it. My heart brimmed with joy knowing that at the exact same time I was watching conference in my beautiful country of Spain, most of my friends and family were watching it in their own homes. I pictured my sweet family sitting together in the living room with blankets and pillows and fruit loops, gathered around to watch the prophet speak. At the end of every talk, I could almost hear my mom in her agreement saying, "AMEN" because the talk was so good. It made me feel closer to the people that I love so much but it also made me so happy that all around the world, people are gathering together to learn and be spiritually uplifted from the leaders of the church. If you didn't get the chance to watch it, go online and watch it. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go on lds.org and look it up. I promise you'll learn something that will touch your heart.

Okay funny story. As you all my remember from previous emails, out here in Spain we greet everyone with two kisses on their cheeks. Everyone does it to everyone. However, as missionaries we can only "besito" with women and have to shake hands with men. On more than one occasion I have watched Hermana Vigo quickly duck out of a kiss and explain that we aren't allowed to do that. Yesterday, we were sitting on a bench and calling the district leaders to report or numbers for the week. A group of men passed by and said hi so naturally, I said hi back. One man put his hand out to shake my hand so I was thinking, "great an opportunity to share the gospel!!!!" No, I was wrong. The man went in to kiss me on the cheek and for a split second I literally had no idea what was going on. Thankfully, Hermana Vigo came to my rescue. She literally shoved her hand in front of the man's mouth and pushed his face backwards hahahahhahahahahahhahahahahah I was dying.
We proceeded to tell them that we couldn't do that because we are
missionaries and they sadly walked away. Oops. But if anyone out there is worried about some spaniard men actually kissing me, don't
worry!!!! I have a high quality protector!!!!

Well anyways, I love you all and miss you like crazy!!!!! Thank you for your support and your love and everything else.

Besitos and handshakes from your favorite spaniard,
Hermana Spangler

D&C 68:6