bonjour

CHERS AMIS, ((dear friends))

Why am I speaking in French you ask???  Well, my new companion is the absolute CUTEST thing from Paris, France!!!  Her name is Hermana Malterre and she is AMAZING and we have already seen so many miracles!!!!  She speaks a little bit of English but not too much so we end up always speaking Spanish together.  She's from Hermana Højholdt's group so I know her from the MTC and we get along great. She is a really hard worker and a really really good missionary.  I am already learning so so much from her.

This week was surprisingly marvelous!!!!!  Well, not really a surprise but I think I expected it to be a lot harder than it was.   It was incredibly sad to let Hermana Taggart leave but I think the mission will be in great hands having her up there in Malaga.  She is an amazing missionary and I learned so much from her in our time together.  Our last transfer together was so fun but it was like getting to live with your best friend, serving the lord, working hard, and seeing miracles every day.  I'm gonna miss that lady a ton but it's not too bad because I'll be seeing her today!!!!

Okay, story time:

There is a less active man (Alfonso) that I have been passing by so often in my last 3 transfers here and he is never home or "never has time."  On the last week with Hermana Taggart we passed by and just talked to him about life and he was SO NICE.  We got his trust and invited him to our St Patrick's activity and then his wife came out and we met her and their cute daughters and the mom said, "why don't you guys pass by this week and have a family home evening with us?" !!!!!  UM CLARO QUE SI-especially because the mom and three daughters are not members. So Hermana Malterre and I passed by and it was so so good.  We had some snacks and got to know them a little and then shared a way fun message.  We turned the lights off and had everyone draw a self portrait.  Of course, everyone's pictures were so ugly and so funny and then we turned the lights on and did it again and all the pictures turned out a lot better.  We talked about how Jesus Chris is the light of the world and how everything is a lot easier when we have his light in our lives.  The spirit was seriously so strong during the whole lesson.  We ended it with a family prayer on our knees and I have seriously never felt so much love for other people in my life.  The spirit was so strong and I'm positive we all felt it.  We invited them to do a family prayer together every night and they said they would do it!!!!  Alfonso has not been to church in like 25 years so please keep him in your prayers that his heart will soften and he will come back.

In other really exciting news, I got to spend the whole day in San Fernando ((when Hermana Taggart left me)) and I got to see all my friends!!!!!  It was so fun visiting all the people I haven't seen in months.  Madre mia I miss San Fernando so much. We had a correlation with the ward mission leader and Lorenzo and Andi ((who are now the ward missionaries)) and my heart just wanted to explode with happiness seeing how excited they are to help with missionary work.  God is so good to me :-)

I'm on my way to consejo right now so I don't have too much time but thank you all for everything!!!!!!  SENDING ALL MY LOVE FROM ACROSS THE OCEAN.

Avec amor,

Hermana Spangler

                                                          Matching shirts with my girl

                                                                      Gerrard!!!!!!!

                                                                       Mi Chanita

                                                           Some of my lovely jerezanas

                                                 We have a new missionary over here!!!!!

                                                                Hermana Malterre :')

                             The new and improved 4th transfer district--we have people from 

                                                  America, Spain, France, and Germany.  

Seville Zone Conference

                                                       Can you see her on the far right?

Her mission president's wife. 

Her Mission President, Pres. Andersen

                                                That's the back of her in the middle :)

i love spain

MY DEAR PEOPLE-

I think this was the funnest week of my whole mission!!!!!!  We saw SO many miracles, met SO many fun people, planned and had a BOMB activity, and then got transfer calls.

Yes, you read that right.  We have transfers this week!!!  AND IM STAYING IN JEREZ FOR ANOTHER TRANSFER.  This will be my fourth transfer here!!!!!  Hermana Taggart is leaving ))):  Apparently, she's too good for this area so they are sending her to Malaga to be the super SHE and work her magic over there, but I'm happy because I'll have intercambios with her :')))))

This week, Hermana Taggart and I put our sweat, blood, and tears into this SUPER FUN Saint Patrick's Day activity.  We did a talent show and a tortilla de patata competition and we got the ward really pumped.  We basically did it all by ourselves and we had such a good turn out!!!!!!!  Everyone was involved in the show and everyone brought food and friends and we were SO HAPPY :-)  Rocio sang the cutest song ever, the youth did a song together, the missionaries did a skit, the relief society did a dance, some people played the piano or danced or sang, etc.  We had 9 investigators come!!!!!!  And A TON of less actives.  I've been here for two other activities and we've never had so much support, which means the ward is REALLY progressing.  I'm way excited to stay another transfer to see how much we can do with the people out here.

In fact, some members this week invited us over to eat and then pulled out all their flamenco dresses and got us all dolled up and dressed up and we took a bajillion pictures hahahaha it was SO fun.  I love Spain so much.  I love the people and the culture and the language and the gospel and being a missionary and just everything!!!!!!

My emails have progressively gotten shorter and shorter and for that I apologize but here's a cool miracle from the week:  So we have been passing by this girl named Rosi now for my whole time in Jerez and she's almost never there.  But this week WE FOUND HER AT HOME.  We taught her ((she's 21)) and her brother Roiner ((16)) about the restoration of the church and they both accepted baptismal dates for the 22nd of April!!!!!!  The spirit was so strong when we shared the first vision. The spirit always confirms to me that this is the church of Jesus Christ and that it has been restored.  I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that he truly saw God and Jesus Christ.  I know that the Book of Mormon is physical evidence of this and you can know it for yourselves - you just need to read it!!!!!!

I LOVE YOU ALL

Hermana Spangler

Alma 26:16

                                                           We are such spaniards

                                                          Last Sunday with my BFF...

                                          Sad to say that Elder Ramirex (the Mexican one)
                               and Elder Brown (the tall one) are also leaving :/ but it's been a
                                                      grand time out here in Jerez.

                                                    Some of our lovely lady friends

Lunch with our second family <3333

                                                                St. Patty's day

                                                     Check our this comp unity 8)

joy

My lovelies!!!!!

This week was absolutely marvelous :))  A lot of miracles were seen, people were visited, things were done, and my love for the mission just grew even more.  The sun finally came out again and it's so warm!!!!  People are nicer and happier and so am I.

Something Hermana Taggart and I have started this week is a "joy journal."  It has truly opened my eyes to how often I feel joy.  Not just any joy; true, indescribable joy.  This week during stake conference, I had a moment of perfect joy.  First off, we were in the San Fernando building-my second home :') We were singing "All creatures of our God and King" and during the chorus I genuinely felt like I was in heaven.  I was surrounded by so many people I loved (Hermana Taggart, Rosa, Rocio, Lorenzo, Andi, Robert, and other members of the ward I just adore) and tears came to my eyes because of the immense happiness that I felt.  Speaking of which, I GOT TO SEE ALL MY SAN FERNANDO FRIENDS and it was one of the coolest experiences ever to see Lorenzo, Andi and Robert and how much they have progressed.  Andi hugged me and kissed me a million times and kept thanking me over and over for not giving up on her and helping her find this.  It was so special.  I also got to see Chani and Mayka and a lot of members that I haven't seen in forever. ((Photos attached))

This week, we went to visit Yolanda, a woman in our ward that's been in the hospital for the past 7 months.  Long story short, her boyfriend of like 4 years shot her mom, her, and himself.  It's really a brutal story but she actually ended up surviving.  She's been hospitalized for so long because her intestines basically exploded and it's been a really long recovery process.  She is so so so insanely positive even though she is really skinny and really not in a fun position.  I love visiting her because she is just proof that God exists and is working miracles among his people.  We talked to her for a long time and shared a message using one of my favorites- Alma 26:12

"Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."  We talked about how wonderful it was that we don't have to rely on our strength, God is truly there to work miracles!!!!!  We can boast in the strength of the almighty, all powerful God because he will never abandon us.  He will lift us and strengthen us and guide in times of trial and need.  I don't think I have ever so strong felt the presence of the spirit in my life.  It was like the room was filled with angels.  I know that God loves us and it really doesn't matter where we are or what we've done, he will always manifest his love.  I am so incredibly grateful that I get to be a missionary and help lonely, lost people feel his love literally lifting them up out of the holes of darkness they were trapped in.  God's love is REAL.  I've felt it so many times this week.

This week, I hit one year of being in the mission field.  1 year!!!!!!  It's actually crazy because I got to be with my whole group ((doing residency)).  I slept in the same bed I slept in 1 year ago on the first day in the field.  I tried to remember all the thoughts and fears and expectations and I couldn't help but be so happy with the decision I've made to serve a mission.  I never thought I would be so happy or grow so much, but here I am!!!!! 

All my love,

XOXO,

Hermana Spangler

PS if anyone feels like writing me, here's my address:

Spain Malaga Mission
Hermana Ginger Spangler

AV. Jesús Santos Rein N°2, 1°C

EDIF. Ofisol, Fuengirola

29640 Malaga

Spain

if you don't do it, WHO WILL?

MY LOVELY PEOPLE-

Rosa and Rocio were confirmed this week!!!!!  It was perfect and then afterwards, Rocio bore her testimony and the whole entire ward fell in love with her :))

Speaking of which, my first week here was pretty hard with the ward because they didn't have too much trust in the missionaries, or the hermanas at least but we have seen MAJOR progress!!!!  The ward invites us to have family nights and bring investigators and come to citas.  Now they come up to us and ask how we are and tell us stories and I have just really come to love this little ward.

This week I've done a lot of reflecting on the missionary I am and the missionary I want to become.  I want to be better at reaching out, at serving, at doing more for the lord and the people I'm serving.  My new motto is, "If you don't do it, WHO WILL?"  Life is just so much better when we are doing what God asks and serving his children.

Not a lot of time this week so I'll just attach this lesson by President Hinckley that I LOVE-it inspired my motto :))

 

 Losing Ourselves in the Service of others

Love you guys!!!!!!!

Besitos,

Hermana Spangler

Here's LOTS of pictures to make up for my lack of email: