MEMBERS MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE!

Can´t believe its Monday already! This week has been pretty great--we had a lot of lessons (the most lessons I´ve ever had here woohoo!!) and we´re excited to see the changes that are happening slowly but surely :) We have been working hard to strengthen the members and gain their trust and its worked! We´ve gone out with 4 different members to citas and about 2 more youth who have the desire to help us too! YES!! I love members!!! 

Also we worked really hard with our investigators! I mentioned last week that this week we focused as a mission on inviting others to come unto Christ through baptism. We fasted as a mission and prayed multiple times a day for specific people and then went out and followed the Spirit! Hermana Vigo and I had a list of names of investigators that we felt prompted that we should invite them to repent and be baptized. So this week we set out to do just that! But when we actually had the lessons, we either didn´t feel the Spirit/ or we didn´t feel it was the right time to invite them. We also had two other investigators that we were SURE were ready to take this next step. But after a heartfelt long conversation, we discovered that they´re not. There´s a lot of commitments theyé not ready to keep and it´s just not their time :( (noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!) They were our investigators with the most potential too (after Isabel). So at the end of it all we actually ened up losing the two bautsimal dates that we had (isabel still doesn´t have permission and we haven´t been able to meet with Fatima for a month) BUT that doesn´t take away from the fact as a mission, we reached our goal of having 250 bautismal dates by the end of the week! We feel so blessed. It´s still going to take a lot of work, love, and prayers, to help these 250 people continue to put their faith in the Lord and change their lives for the better but we´re so happy to have that chance!

And we did have a lot of tender mercies this week! The Spanish ward organized a Valentine´s Day party and we were able to invite three investigators to go! It was actually a lot of fun and I have a couple good videos of adults playing musical chairs haha! 

Our investigator Paula came to the dance with a family from the ward too! I can´t remember if I´ve ever mentioned her so I´´ll give a quick little background. We contacted her mom during the first week of this transfer and she invited us to teach her daughter, Paula,  english classes once a week. So we´ve been visiting her for about a month now and usually we just shared small spiritual messages at the end of the class but recently we discovered she really does have interest! We felt prompted to invite two girls from the ward to accompany us to the last cita with her and they all hit it off! We were able to talk about The Restoration and we were all able to share our testimonies about its truthfulness and the affect its had in our lives. And then at the end, Paula prayed at the end out loud for the first time in her life! MIRACLES! She cried afterwards too, we all felt The Spirit so strong. The Rodriguez family (the family of the two girls that came with us to the cita) has really taken her in and it helps SO much! Its amazing what a difference members can make in someone´s conversion. It makes ALL the difference! We could be working with someone for months and see no progress but then introduce them to someone they can confide in and who´s a little less scary ;) and it makes it all the better. And I know that they will be stronger too if they have a friend to help them.  

Another example of this is the Family Home Evening we had the other day. Our investigator usually stays after english classes at the chapel (English classes, thats how we get `em ;) and we usually have a lesson with her. Well this time, a member had come to English classes too and he also happened to stay and we had an amazing lesson about The Book of Mormon. He was so sincere and shared his testimony with her about the truthfulness of the scriptures. Even though she still hasn´t come to church, I know she felt something and was touched by his sincerity and kindness. What makes it even sweeter was that this man had recently been re-inactivated after a bout a year of not going to church. It was a special experience for me to see a truly changed person helping share the gospel again. 

So this week is the last week of the transfer! Saturday we find out if anythings changing AH!! I really hope Hermana Vigo and I stay together--I really can´t imagine leaving her or Puerto right now!! Seriously, its been so good which scares me! In the mission (and pretty much in life too haha) it always seems that when things are finally turning around and are getting good something changes! But I know the Lord knows where I need to be and I have faith in Him. But that doesn´t mean I still can´t hope to stay :) haha

I love my companion, I love Puerto, I love the mission, I love my Savior and my Father! And I love you all! Cuídense! And know that I´m always praying for you.

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!

Hermana Morrow

Plaza de Toros in Puerto. Every town/city in Spain seems to have one. (The place where they kill the bulls with the red cape and everything) 

Its a tender mercy when we actually have time to COOK! Our mini feast!

MOLDING MOMENTS

Okay, so every time we got to Rota we see miracles! This week, after an English/ Gospel lesson (We were able to teach The Restoration woohoo!) one of our investigators and her mom took us to this random Peruvian restaurant in Rota. We got introduced to about a million people who were there and one of them turned out to be a reference from a woman from the American ward. The member had just gotten new neighbors and mentioned to the mother (she´s Peruvian) that there was a sister missionary in her church that was from Peru. But she wasnt able to talk to her more or get her number so it was nothing less than a miracle that we just happened to meet her in that restaurant and that we were able to get her information and a future appointment! We also got 2 more citas with different people out of it too! WOO ROTA MIRACLES! Plus we got to take pictures at the beach again during mediodia (lunch break :) Its the little things.

What else, what else....this week we also had intercambios! Hermana Vigo went to jerez and Hermana Rocha came with me! It was the worst companion exchange I´ve ever had hahaha- Everything fell through, except for our Family Home Evening with an investigator at the house of an American family (thank you Rhinehart family! You were my tender mercy!) We walked a tooon but I really enjoyed it. Hermana Rocha is a great example to me! 

On a sadder note, Isabel´s baptism is postponed. We just can´t get her husband to give her permission. We were all devastated, especially Isabel It´s been a real struggle and we´ve fasted and prayed so much. But we´re not giving up, our faith is strong as ever! All in the Lord´s time. And we know that there is something we ned to learn from this trial and at the very least, we will all be stronger as a result of it!

Now lastly, this week has been a little rough. I´ve had to really take comfort in the words and example in Pahoran in Alma 61:9, " ...you have censureth me, but it mattereth not; I am not angry but do rejoice in the greatness of your heart..." I have always always loved this scripture, Pahoran is a beast! One of my Book of Mormon heroes. And I´ve always wanted to be like him and this week I got the chance! hahaha. Now I´m not going to mention the specifics because it really doesnt matter but Hermana Vigo and I have felt very "censured" this week haha. By multiple people! In different situations! Oh my gosh, I hate miscommunication! And not going to lie, we were pretty angry (mostly me haha). The missions not easy and when you put your heart and soul and sweat and tears into something just to have someone not appreciate it or maybe criticize you, it hurts! (Now I know what it must feel like to be a parent ;) But this week we (okay fine I mean "I" Hermana Vigo´s an angel and she´s dealt with it a lot better than me) really had to decide our attitude and how we were going to react to these situations. We had to realize that these people have really good intentions and simply can´t see the whole picture. And even though we know we´re in the right and are doing the best we can, that doesn't mean we still can´t improve or be better. The mission has really helped me to develop more humility. And this week was dfinitely one of those "molding" moments. But I know I´m a better person because of it and thats all that matters! 

Okay I can´t end on a sadder note....yesterday was definitely one of those tender mercy days! We had so many less actives come to church last week, it was nothing short of a miracle. We have been working with one of them for months and there were honestly times I never thought she would be able to make this next step. But she did!! And after church we had four amazing lessons with investigators and I´m just so excited for the work here! This week we´re focusing as a mission on inviting more people to repent and be baptized. We´re really excited! We fasted as a mission and I know the Lord will put people in our path this week that are ready to be invited to come unto Him.

I love you all so much! Your emails make me cry every week (big, manly sister missionary tears ;) I hope you all enjoyed Valentine´s day and the rest of this week!

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!

Hermana Morrow

PS I have to give a shout out to the Guffeys! Hermana Guffey woke up at 4AM to make us soup for District Meeting! She´s amazing. And the soup was incredible, I wish i had a picture! I love them both to death, we´re all SO spoiled to have them here haha!

PSS Okay another shout out is deserved and this one goes to my beautiful comp--hermana Vigo! She is an incredible example and just so FUN. She´s really gotten me through this week just by being herself. I love her so much, Heavenly Father really knew what He was doing putting us together! Alright thats it, carry on! I love you all! 

NO PASA NADA! (ITS ALL GOOD)

Oh man this week! I am so tired, so so tired. For those of you who have seen The District, I feel like Elder Moreno in that one clip where he just says over and over again, "I´m tired. So tired. I´ve never been so tired:" hahaha (I´m a big fan of The District btw). We worked so hard and it really payed off. Slowly but surely, Puerto is turning around! If all goes as expected, I´ve reached my halfway mark here which has given me the push to work as hard as I can to leave the area better than I found it! But oh man, its so tiring. I´m exhausted.

Haha okay okay,I´m done. first of all, I have to talk about Isabel. I haven't talked about her in a while I´ve realized, mostly because shes still as amazing and as faithful as ever! Every cita with her are my tender mercies of the day. She´s just so full of light and hands-down the most prepared person I´ve ever met to receive the gospel. She remembers everything we teach her, everything. And she immediately takes it to heart because her spirit immediately recognizes the truth. Sh went through an incredibly rough week but she always praises the Lord for the blessings she has recieved. What an example to me. Something I´ve learned this week is that we´re given struggles and trials in this life and its just not about surviving them...what really matters is how we act and the choices we make DURING them. For example, even if I made it through a really stressful time in my life,the end wouldnt be as sweet if I knew I didn´t go through it with a good attitude. Maybe I even affected others in a negative way on account of my stress.The mission has definitely helped me to have a better " No pasa nada " attitude (its all good!). A cita failed us? No pasa nada! i got back-up plans! I have to give a 15 minute talk in Sacrament Meeting in a couple hours and I havent prepared yet? No pasa nada! The Lord knows how busy we´ve been and He will give me the words the congregation needs to hear. etc. etc. I dont think I´d survive one day here if I didnt learn how to go with the flow haha. But anywya, sidetrack over...  We´re on a countdown: 2 weeks until ISabels baptism! Her husband´s health is improving and we´re hoping that will all our prayers and fasts we have made will soften his heart! I have faith!

This week I´d also like to talk about an investigator, Sonia. With Hermana Steffensen, I tried to meet with her for 6 weeks. And then when Hna. Vigo came, we continued to call them and set citas with her and her husband but they always fell through. At one point this week (I admit, I was driven by a little bit of impatience, than by the Spirit ;) I told Hna. Vigo that if they didnt come to this cita, that was it! We went to the church to wait for them and lo and behold, they actually came! It was a miracle. It was definitely a sign from the Lord, "Don´t you give up on them, have faith!" Then, a couple days later, Sonia came to English classes and we happened to show up towards the end to prepare for the ward Family Home Evening. Okay wait, let me take a step back. Earlier that day, our of our citas canceled so I spent over 30 minutes during break, calling over 20 people with the hopes of finding somebody that could meet with us. Nobody could and I was frustrated. We went through the plans we had and the last planned thing we had was that FHE at the church. So back to what i was saying. Englsih classes ended and the Elders left but we asked if Sonia would stay for the FHE. She did and we waited around for people to show up but NO ONE did. No one haha. It was a little embarrassing but we ended up talking for Sonia for TWO hours abiut her life and her struggles. She told us her faith is slipping because how could she be going through these hard things in her life if God really existed? We shared scriptures about the Atonemtn with her and that God will not always solve our probelms when we want Him to. he might not solve them at all! Sometimes all we can do is pray for strength and hope to survive these trials, with the knowledge that one day we´ll have peace. Thats not always the answer we want, but Heavenly Father loves us and will not forsake us. We are on theis Earth to be tested and tried and we have to let these challenges purify us rather than defeat us! There was a reason i couldnt find anyone to meet with that day and there was definitely a reason no one showed up to FHE: That was a sign to me that Heavenly Father was looking out for his daughter, Sonia, so that whe could talk with us and get the consoltaion she needed. She still has a choice but we´re definitely going to keep meeting with her!

Thise are my two miracles of the week! I hope you all can feels Heavenly Father´s love for you! And if not, pray until you do! I love you all!

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!

Hermana Morrow

Our zone

The Hermanas

Before our ferry ride to Cadiz

Beach in Rota

Peruvian food at an investigators home

MIRACLES AND DIAMOND DAY!

MIRACLES MIRACLES MIRACLES! Thats it. I´ve felt so many tender mercies and the hand of the Lord in my life this week, it stresses me out because I just want the time to express them all uniquely and fully to you all!

But I´ll try, here goes:

First of all, Hermana Vigo is AMAZING! She came to the mission with such a hard drive to work, and she has just DOVE into teaching. She has no fear and I cant imagine teaching without her. I love the newbies fresh from the MTC, they always have the Spirit SO close to them....its something that I want again. Anyway, she´s just so great. It´s a privilege for me to be "training" her even though I feel like shes teaching me more than I´m teaching her. I basically just need to show her the ropes and she´ll be able to lead Puerto by herself! She´s my biggest miracle of the week and probably for the rest of my time with her :)

So this week I started a Miracle Journal because honestly I cant write a journal. I just cant, Ive tried for years. Its less expressive and has less feeling, but I´ve finally figured out what works for me---making a list of the miracles, tender mercies, and the things Im grateful for, every day. So here are some of them! :

On Saturday, I was looking through the Area Book and just felt overwhelmed with the amount of Past Investigators I found there. It was just too much...I couldn't handle the idea that there could be SO many people ready to hear the gospel again and I didnt even know where to start. So at one point I just got up and went to our bedroom and said a short fervent prayer, just asking Heavenly Father to guide me and help me to be an instrument in His hand. Because there was no way I could do it by myself and I knew thats not what He wanted either. He knows who is ready, He´s preparing these people Himself! After the prayer, we had to leave and I felt I should grab a stack of names of past investigators. I felt that we should go to Rota that day even though the bus is a nightmare on Saturdays. We taught someone English for the first hour (she shows interest in coming to chuch too woohoo!) and then afterwards, we had no clue what to do. it was mediodia and as everyone in Spain knows, you do NOT bother people during their lunch/nap time! But we felt strongly to visit some members that we did not know very well. They welcomed us in with open arms and even fed us! Then, we began talking about the work and I pulled out the stack of names I had grabbed out of the blue that morning and they knew almost all of them! They filled in the blanks for us--missing addresses and phone numbers and showed us on the map how to get there and everything! They were AMAZING! And on top of that, their teenage daughters volunteered to go to some citas with us! My heroes of the week: The Rodriguez Family :) So after that, we got out of the house as fast as we could so we could go find these people before the bus left. We stopped at one man´s house, Joel, first. He opened the door, took one look at us and said, "Where have you guys been, its been almost a year!" We were shocked to say the least haha. We have a return cita with him next week...I dont know what happened in his case but somehow he fell within the cracks with the change of missionaries months ago. I feel so blessed! i know the Lord was guiding us to find this man! I´m so excited for the work that is popping up in Rota...its seriosuly like the Promised Land!haha. There´s going to be a branch there soon, just you wait!

This Wednesday we had Diamond Day. In our mission, we dedicated an entire day, all 9 hours of proselyting time to contacting in the streets. We fasted last weekend and having been preparing spiritually for a week for this day. Our goal was to get 20 future investigators (meaning you need to have at least the persons number or address) for our mission goal of 2015 future investigators. Hna  Vigo and I started out that day with a goal of talking with 100 people and by the end of the day, we had talked to 143 people! Only 13 people were interested enough to give us their information, and out of those people, most of them were just interested in English classes :( It was a rough day and rude people get me down sometimes (For example, my favorite responses of the day when I said "Hello, we´re missionaries of the Chruch of..." were "Congratulations, I´m in a hurry" and "Oh yeah? and I´m Spanish" hahaha. Sometimes you just gotta laugh and brush it off! Even though it was hard and my enthusiasm really took a toll at one point, I know we planted seeds and I´m gratfeul for that experience we had! And of course Hermana Vigo was amazing. She kept us going! I´m so grateful for her constant enthusiasm and love that she has for the gospel, for the people, and for me. I couldnt have asked for a bette hija!

I feel like I´m serving a completely different mission right now...its so completely different when you have to teach someone else the ropes. I´m really grateful for this opportunity to serve even more fully, though. So grateful. I love the mission and I´m so gratful for the experiences I have every day that fortify my faith and make me spiritually, physically, and emotionally stronger!

I LOVE YOU ALL! Have a great week!

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!

Hermana Morrow

After District meeting the Guffeys always bring lunch--they're AWESOME!  This time we had quesadillas.  (Guffeys are the Military Service Missionaries in Rota) 

I found my pathfinder here in Spain!  Who would have thought?  Ha ha!