Graven Upon Our Hearts

Hermana Vance and Hermana Reid are going strong and life is great here in Valencia! Yesterday our amazing investigator Billy came to church for the first time! He is SO great and is loving everything! Keep him in your prayers!!

As I have been here, I have noticed that my world is getting smaller and smaller. At church on Sunday, I felt a tap on my shoulder and someone said, "uhh, Soeur Vance?" Long story short, it was a bishop and his family from France where my sister Madeline had served for 6 months. They went on to tell me that they had met and had dinner in their home with my parents, my sister Emily and Madeline just a couple weeks ago! What a tender mercy; when I shook the man´s hand, it was weird to think that my family had done the same thing not that long ago. CRAZY! Haha, they were SO cute! It has been so comforting and a huge blessing in my life to have so many experiences with people with a French background!

This week we spent some time with this elderly couple we are teaching. They are FULL-ON Spaniards, born and raised in Valencia, so it has been fun! Their names are Juan and Lolin, and I feel like they have become my grandparents here! They are so precious, but will definitely talk your ear off (in their thick Spanish accents) as well. My brain always feels fried, haha, but they are the greatest! They are very strong Catholics, but they have a son living in Mexico who is a member of our church, so their little granddaughter was just baptized! They called us up and wanted to know more! Lolin is progressing so much, and she LOVES the Book of Mormon. She says it just makes sense to her, and she reads it every single day! Juan is a little more stubborn, but is just hilarious! The other day we were teaching Juan in his house, and after we ate, we wanted to just share a quick message with him. He said (this is all in Spanish, mind you) "I can´t right now, I have to go to the service." Hermana Reid and I didn´t know what to do, thinking he was heading to his church. We thought we weren´t going to be able to share anything that day, so we said "It will just be quick and then you can leave after. Or if you are leaving now, we can just leave with you and come back a different time." He went on to say "No you just wait here, it will only be 10 minutes, MAX." This discussion went on for a little longer and he finally got up to leave, so we went to follow him out, but we then realized that he went into the bathroom and that he needed to use the "servicio". Hermana Reid and I just busted up laughing. Hahaha, it was hilarious!

This past week I started the Book of Mormon from the beginning again, and today I was reading in 1 Nephi 21:9-11, 13-16.

9 That thou mayest say to the prisoners: Go forth; to them that sit in darkness: Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

10 They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.

11 And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.

13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; for the feet of those who are in the east shall be established; and break forth into singing, O mountains; for they shall be smitten no more; for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.

14 But, behold, Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me—but he will show that he hath not.

15 For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel.

16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

I love these verses so much, especially verse 16, which explains how we are graven upon His hands. We are told that the Savior remembers us, because of the sacrifice that He made for us. How often do we forget our Savior? We don’t need to have nail prints in our hands, but we should have Him graven upon our hearts.

Have an amazing week! LOVE YOU!

Hermana Vance

Which Way Am I Going?

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great week! Thank you to everyone who supported my sister´s homecoming this past weekend. It sounds like everyone had a great time. I send my love from Valencia! The work is going great here! Can you believe that summer is almost over? Most of you are going to be heading back to school. How crazy! It´s getting a LITTLE cooler here; it hits below 90° about one day a week! Haha, but it´s so great!

We had a talent show in our ward the other day, and people did all sorts of things. Our district was going to do something, but it was too last minute, so we didn’t. But when we were there, my companion told me, "Hermana, you HAVE to do something!” My response … NO WAAAYY!! I have nothing prepared! Long story short, after the pressure of just about everyone there, I sang a hymn on the spot (AGAIN). After I sang, "How Great Thou Art" (Grande Eres Tu), all of the old women told me, "wow, preciosa hermana!" You do what you gotta do, I guess, haha.

The other day, we were teaching one of our new investigators, Billy. He is a 6’5” African with the biggest heart, and he is from Cameroon, where they speak French! He knows some English as well, and he is so sweet and really wants to know the truth for himself. He has begun reading in The Book of Mormon and understands almost everything! He said the book makes perfect sense to him, and he thinks it is true, but still needs to pray about it. We asked him what it would mean to him if God answered him and told him that it was, in fact, TRUE. He responded by saying "If this book is true, and I receive that answer for myself, then this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ and His restored church, and I want to change my ways and follow Christ. I want to start with a clean slate, and leave everything behind me." He said he wants to be baptized on the 6^th of September! We are so excited for him! Please keep him in your prayers.

There is another man that got baptized this past Saturday, who is also from Cameroon; but he only speaks French. His name is Julio, and he was taught by one of the elders here who is from France, Elder Delue. We went to the baptismal service and it was just incredible. All of the people that spoke at the service knew both French and Spanish. Most of them spoke in French at first, and then translated it into Spanish. It was a really cool experience for me, because when they were talking, I pictured myself as my sister Madeline. I was just in awe as they were talking and I could not believe that my sister can talk like that, fluently! I got a little emotional when Julio shared his testimony in French, as I pictured the people that my sister taught and the baptismal services during her mission. I am so grateful for that tender mercy. It was also interesting because, when they would speak in French, I could only pick up about three words (like Baptism, the Spirit, or Jesus Christ). But when they started translating into Spanish, I was relieved and thought, "Whew....finally something I can understand!" Haha, but then I realized that Spanish isn’t even my native language! Haha, o madre mia! My Spanish must finally be getting better!

This week we had a specialized training meeting with our mission president, President Pace. He is always so inspired and I love every opportunity we get to meet with him. Every time I see him he always thanks me and tells me how much he cares about us. He is one of the most loving men I have met. He reminds me so much of my dad. He is the greatest! One of the things he said was, "You can´t bear testimony that is old or stale. It HAS to be alive! You have to be doing things every single day to grow and strengthen your faith." I think that is so true; and teaching people this principle and trying to do it myself has really helped me. I am learning so much about myself and I feel myself growing stronger every day! We never stay in the same place … not even for one day. We are either growing closer to our Father in Heaven and coming unto Christ … or we are slowly drifting further and further away. I encourage all of you ponder this question and ask yourself, "Which way am I going?"

I love you all so much. Thank you for the examples and friends you are to me … I can really feel your love! Until next week!

Muchisimas gracias por todo! En serio!

Con amor para siempre …

Hermana Lydia Pamela Vance

Looking, But Not Really Seeing

¡Buenas dias mis amigos! ¿Como fue la semana? I hope you all are doing well, this week was great! I made it through my 1^st transfer in the field! Wow! It was weird (and kind of sad) having people from our zone and our area get transferred to other areas. There are some incredible missionaries in our zone, and it has been fun getting to meet so many of the new missionaries this week! Everyone in my district thinks I will stay here until December, but we’ll see! I would LOVE that, because I love it here in Valencia! Except for the brutal August heat (haha), it is the best!

Last Tuesday we were able to go to the ZOO! It was so fun … I guess I had forgotten how much I loved animals until we actually got there! We had such a great time and it was fun to see some of the different animals they have here.

Hermana Reid and I saw a lot of miracles this week. The other day we had a super great day planned, but literally every single person cancelled on us. I will admit that it was disappointing, because some of our people didn’t want to meet with us for unknown reasons. I will say, though, that we have been so blessed to not have had a day like that until now. Towards the end of the day, we were just looking to stop by to see some other people, when a women with a bunch of her friends said to us (in English), "Are you from England?" We were caught off guard by this because it was in English and most of the time when people talk to us out of the blue, it is usually to say something funny or a negative comment. But for some reason we stopped and turned around to talk to her. We said that we were from the U.S., and she went on to say, "I know who you are; you are the missionaries and I LOVE your church! I have been there twice before! Could I go with you sometime? Here is my phone number and I live in that house right there!" Both of us were just in shock. She then looked and me and said "I´ve seen you before. I don´t know where, but you just look so familiar to me." That just touched my heart. This woman´s name is Amparo and she is from Peru. She is just the cutest! We met with her again yesterday and she wants to start coming to our church! She actually said she would like to be baptized! She wants to be baptized on the 30^th of Agosto! Please keep her in your prayers!

We are still teaching our amazing investigator, Matilde. She is just golden and so great. She has so much faith and wants to be baptized as well. She hasn’t been able to come to church though, because of some problems within her family. This past Friday we went to her house and we were planning on teaching her the importance of coming to church, and how much it will really help and bless her life and the lives of those in her family. We started our lesson, and then one of her middle-aged daughters, Toni, came into the living room. She started to tell Matilde something and insisted that they had to go somewhere. Matilde apologized and said she had to go with Toni, and went to grab her shoes. Toni was standing near us, leaning against the table. She was very quiet, and Hna. Reid asked her if she was okay. She said she was fine, but I knew that she wasn´t. The Spirit was so strong within me, and within seconds I ran over and gave her a huge hug. She immediately broke down. I hardly know her, so I didn’t know what to say and I didn’t know what was wrong, but in that moment she opened up and just needed someone to show her love.

Apparently it had something to do with someone in their family who was in trouble with the police. I don’t know what they are going through, but God does. We are merely the instruments by which He shows His love and concern for His children. I told Toni that her family would be in our prayers and that everything would be alright. Sometimes, we have to look past the surface of a situation to really SEE what is there. Sometimes we have to step out of our comfort zone and simply be there for someone. I challenge you this week to open your eyes a little wider and see the children of God through His eyes.  

Love you,

Hermana Vance