Monday, May 23, 2016

broken heart BUT a happy spirit

HOLA TO ALL MY FAVORITE PEOPLE-

Well, this week definitely hit us like a rock. More like a boulder.  Definitely one of my hardest weeks so far BUT I'm learning to focus more on the little tender mercies of the lord than on all the little things that go wrong. Just a little summary: we haven't met with Moises at all this week, we haven't been able to see Merci either, half the lights in our apartment burned out, the heat is coming at a rapid pace AND to top it all off Leo just found out he's not technically legal here so he might have to go back to Columbia this next week. WHAT A WEEK LEMME TELL YOU.

But anyways let's skip all the lame stuff and get to the miracles. The situation with Moises right now is really complicated. Even I don't know what happened. Everything was going so well and then he just got super distant and didn't answer any of our calls or show up to any lessons or anything. We saw him in the street a couple of times but he just acted really awkward and tried to get out of the conversation really fast. We've been really worried and praying and fasting for him
because we don't know what's happening. We had all this food that we were going to give to him and his daughter and then they just wouldn't show up to the citas. So, on Saturday, Hermana Vigo and I BOTH had the impression that we just needed to drop the food off at his house, anonymously. So that's what we did. And Heavenly Father is amazing because as we were walking into his apartment, he was walking out with Paloma. He seemed a little shocked to see us but Paloma was so excited. We explained that we were just gonna drop the food off and go as a surprise and I think that softened his heart a little bit. He took the food inside and then we walked with him to the park so that Paloma could play. He explained to us that he's just really stressed right now with finding work and with his ex wife and with his living
situation and everything. And to top it all off, we were just being the missionaries we are and calling him all the time. Oops. We were able to have a good talk with him and I think it made him feel a little better because he came to church on Sunday!!!! We were so worried that he wouldn't make it but he showed up yesterday and seeing him just brought a lot of peace to my heart. He even prayed in the gospel principles class and made most off the comments. Please please keep him in your prayers this week, he needs all the help he can get to prepare himself. We have a cita with him tonight so I'm hoping that everything works out.

The situation with Leo was a mess but we were able to meet with him and have a really good conversation. He was frustrated because he's been trying so hard to read and pray and be righteous and then this trial came along. He kept asking, "where's God? I don't understand?" The thing about life is that we're going to have trials and problems.  It's the only way to learn. God's plan is just different than what we might think or want. So we explained to him that sometimes we have a trial of faith to prove that we're still willing to follow him. We watched the video, "mountains to climb" and it brought a really sweet spirit into the room. We all ended up crying. We read a chapter in the Book of Mormon and talked about it and I could tell that any burden he had was lifted off his shoulders. It was a much needed crying session
for all of us. I mention this in practically every letter but there really is SO much power that comes from reading the Book of Mormon. It brings me peace in a life of chaos. It answers the questions that I have. Reading the Book of Mormon just ALWAYS makes me feel better, no matter the situation. If it's been a while since you read it, crack it open tonight and read a chapter. If you've never read it, go find a
copy and see what it's about. I promise it'll change your life.

Okay funny story to cheer up the mood of this letter. The other day, we walked out to our patio and there was this bird just sprawled over the windowsill. It was alive but I was so confused as to why it was just sitting like that ((picture attached)). Our patio is weird because it's really closed up. The walls of the building surround it so
sometimes birds fly down and then don't realize that they have to go all the way up to get out ((this probably makes no sense sorry)) but anyways, the bird was basically lost in our patio and didn't know how to get out so our neighbor told me to pick it up and take it inside and go to the front and let it go. Smart right??? Hahahahah WRONG because the second I got into our piso the bird started flapping like crazy and I had to let go so I wouldn't hurt it and then it started flying around everywhere. I promise you guys it was like a movie scene with us running around trying to catch the bird and it was just flapping and flying around everywhere and we couldn't catch it. FINALLY it went into the kitchen and we were able to grab it and take it outside. I wanted to take a picture with it but Hermana Vigo wouldn't let me ): probably a good idea because we would have had a bird incident part 2.

Last thing, our neighbor (whom I mentioned earlier) is the cutest old lady ever. Her name is Maria Pilar and she's like the grandma of the missionaries. She's not a member but she's known the missionaries since forever and loves to take care of them and spoil them. She lives in the floor above us and it's so fun because sometimes she will open her window and lower down food or treats or supplies in a little basket. She also makes us full meals and sends those to us when we have nothing good to eat it's great. I usually take videos for my family but I'll attach this video here for funsies.

Well, that's all the time for this week. Not much to tell but I could really use some extra prayers out here. The people here are so prepared and so ready to receive the gospel, they just need a little push!!!! Thank you all for EVERYTHING. I love you guys with every part of my heart :-)

Besitos,

Hermana Spangler







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