Tina from Romania

Hello! And here we are heading into week three of my time here in Valdepeñas! Where does the time go? So since things are a bit quiet here in valdepeñas and we are a bit far from other missionaries, our p day(free day) is a bit tranquillo. So last Monday we decided to make chocolate chip cookies from scratch and ended up making about 50. Don't worry we took them to our district meeting and shared them with everyone else. Other than that we just relaxed! So this week we had a goal of talking to at least 25 people a day and man was that exhausting. We tried every way possible of talking to people and it's hard when people just don't want to listen! But we are now professional contacters and my fear of talking to people has basically disappeared. So some highlights of this week was teaching our friend Tina from Romania. She's awesome! Her son is less active but she has so much faith! We had an amazing lesson with her this week as she told us that she knows that she needs to stop smoking because she feels that it takes her away from God and that she needs to make some changes sooner rather than later. The spirit was so strong and for the first time since I've been over everything was quiet as she testified that no one could ever change her belief that God exists. I love that many times when we are teaching people I learn from them. We teach so many people from different religious, cultural and economic background but the gospel applies to everyone. Not just me but every single person the has lived is living and will ever live. We also went to visit a less active lady who stopped going to church about 15 years ago because of conflict with her family. We shared Ether 12:44 "Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God." I felt so much love for this lady who told us with tears rolling down her face that she had lost her faith and how she felt so very hopeless. She told us that we had brought her so much happiness through our visit and we told her we would come back. We need to make sure that we hold onto our faith because it really is so precious! I can not over emphasize the fact that deciding to come on a mission is the best choice I've ever made! Thank you everyone for your support! Have a great week!

Hermana Evelo

A Branch of About Twenty

Another week has come and gone here in Spain! This past week I had to say goodbye to all of my investigators and to my wonderful companion but hey that's how the mission works! So Hermana Viglione and I woke up early Wednesday morning so that I could catch the train with Hermana Gale to Cordaba and then to Valdepeñas. We got off the train with all my luggage and began the 30 minute journey of dragging all my stuff to our piso. After we got there I decided that maybe just traveling with the clothes I had on would be a better option. So the pros about my new piso is that it has a toaster and a shower head that is actually mounted on the wall... I know that doesn't sound exciting but it makes a difference! The cons is that we don't have AC but I don't think that should be a problem for too long and that we live about an hour bus ride from any other missionaries. Hermana Gale said that we are definitely a traveling area because we go to Ciudad Real once a week for district meeting and at least 3 times a transfer to Málaga. I actually don't mind traveling so I think it works out pretty perfectly! We have a branch of about twenty people and they are so amazing and have so much faith. So story for this week is that we were walking down the street and contacted this man named James he said that he was from Bolivia and that he had talked to missionaries there and that he would like to talk more so we set up a cita to talk to him more. As Hermana Gale and I testified to him that he could know that our Heavenly Father loves him we could feel the spirit testify of what we said. This week I have learned that we are never alone and that we need to constantly remember our Heavenly Father and our Savior so that we can have the comfort that comes from having the spirit with us always. Thank you everyone for all that you do for me! Have an amazing week!

Hermana Evelo

 

 

The Church in Valdepeñas

 

Hermana Viglione, Hermana Evelo, y Hermana Gale

 

Flying From House to House

Change is in the air! It's finally starting to cool down a little bit which means the end of the hottest summer that Spain has had in 40 years is finally come to an end. This week was fantastic! Hermana Viglione and I where flying from house to house and talking to people in between! On Monday we went to the cathedral here in Malaga and did our usual compras and writing. Then that night we went and had a lesson with Grace. She is amazing and so prepared and always gives us a big glass of juice after we climb up the giant hill to her house. We read about the plan of salvation and during the lesson she told us about how, since we've been coming over, she has really noticed a difference in here life! And how could she not! It's what we promise everyone if they act then God will bless them! On Tuesday we had district meeting. The highlight of the night was our lesson with our Nigerian friend Emmet, he speaks English and most of the time we feel that he is already a member. He owns a locatorio so most of the time we teach him there. So we were teaching him about the word of wisdom when all of a sudden a member of our ward who is also a friend of Emmet's walked in. He sat down and testified of the word of wisdom. The spirit was so strong! We asked him to be baptized and he accepted! Another fun adventure for the week is that we got to check out the hospital here In Spain because Hermana Viglione had a doctor appointment because she's been sick a lot. I was glad that a member took us that spoke English and Spanish because it's hard enough to understand doctors in English. This week we were also to set a baptismal date with our friend Joseph who sells internet on the side of the road and to find two new investigators. One of them is ,John, a guy that we met in Emmet's locatorio and the other is Joe a guy that we saw sitting on the bench. Joe was a lesson to me because he was someone that I probably wouldn't have normally contacted because he was sitting on a bench with a bottle of beer in his hand but we contacted him and he was super sweet and genuinely interested and should us pictures of his 4 daughters and a granddaughter on the way. These people that we meet all have families and are sons and daughters of God! They are all important and should all have a chance to here the gospel! In other news transfers have come and I have to leave....I wish that I could stay here longer with Hermana Viglione and see everyone's baptisms but I guess I have people waiting for me in Valdepeñas. Yep, I'm heading to Valdepeñas a small town up north and even though I'll miss everyone here in Malaga I'm ready to see what's waiting for me up north. I know that this church is true and it can bring people so much happiness. It's amazing to think that I'm a part of this work!

Hermana Evelo

 

 

Yum French Toast

 

Pictures

Running From Lesson to Lesson

This week was super busy but lets be honest I would definitely prefer that then not have any work! We have been super blessed to find people in so many different ways! An example of this was this week we were sitting on a bench making a couple of calls because some of our plans fell through. This teenage mom walks by pushing her toddler on his bike, he waved at us and pointing at the bike says ¨"bici bici" We laughed and thought nothing of it until they walked past us three or four times we finally decide to contact them. We talked to her and she said that even though she didn't believe in God she wanted to know for sure if He was there or not. We quickly wrote down her information and set a day to come back. The lesson that I learned from this is that sometimes God has to get someone's (my) attention by making them pass by me three or four times and that maybe I need to pay a bit more attention. This week we where literally running from lesson to lesson all while having miracles in the process. There are just so many people ready to hear the gospel! I just hope that I can find everyone that´s waiting for me and that I don´t let opportunities pass me by! On the complaining side it reached 43 grados(109) this week.  Please winter just come faster!  I love you all so much!

Hermana Evelo

 

 

I am turning blonde!

 

Our Zone