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
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