Hello
everyone! I hope you all had a great week! It is weird because in Valencia it
was SUPER hot every single day, and it NEVER rained, and some days it was just
miserable. But now here in Bilbao, it is FREEZING! It is SUPER windy and it
rains almost every day! Haha, oh well, it´s fun, especially with my companion
Hermana Mendez! She just makes everything fun and always has a smile on her
face!
Aside from
the weather, there are plenty of other differences here in Bilbao compared to
Valencia. We are working a lot more with families here in Bilbao. There are a
lot of part-member families, and I just love working with them. We have also
been trying our best and have been faithfully finding families! We have seen
some incredible changes in people, with hearts being softened. I miss seeing
Africans, there are hardly any here … they are the best! I try to talk to
everyone I see, and it has been a great experience over the past couple weeks
getting to know people.
This week we
had Enfoque de Zona, where we discuss the things we learned in Concilio with
the whole Zone. It was fun getting to know everyone and seeing new and familiar
faces! I learned so much during the meeting that I would like to share with all
of you.
After they
had announcements, monthly reports and a couple “get-to-know-you” games, we
began the meeting … with a question.
Am I trying to be like Jesus?
A very
simple question, but it got us thinking. We then read this poem about a
missionary that was having a hard time on his mission, but then had a huge
change in perspective.
"The alarm bell rings at
6:30, I stumble to my feet
I grab my companions bedding and
pull off the sheets
A groan fills the room, is it
already time to arise?
It seems like just a second ago,
I was able to shut my eyes
The morning activities follow - study,
prayer and such
When it's time to leave the
apartment, you feel you haven't accomplished much
‘We have a super day planned,’
My comp. says with a grin
I lowly utter a faithless breath,
"Yeah, if anyone lets us
in."
Ready for a new morning, we start
off down the street
Prepared to face another day of
humidity and heat.
It's 9:30 in the evening, the day
is almost through
Now we are coming home, after not
accomplishing all we thought we could do
We ride up to the mailbox, hoping
to see something there
Only to look inside and see that
once again it is bear.
We go up to our apartment, the
day is now complete
The only thing to show for our
work today is a case of blistery feet.
It's past 10:30 p.m. My companion
is fast asleep,
Silence engulfs me all about and
I begin to weep
In the midst of sadness, I kneel
down to pray
I need to talk to Father, but I'm
not sure what to say
‘Oh, Father,’ I begin, ‘what
happened to us today?
I thought we'd teach somebody,
but everyone was away
My hands, my aching hands - worn,
hurt and beat;
If our area was any smaller, we'd
have knocked every street
Why on missions are the days so
much alike?
The only difference about today
was the flat tire on my bike
Will you send some cooler
weather? The heat is killing me
I sweat so bad, it gets in my
eyes, it's very hard to see
Why do I have to wear a helmet,
isn't your protection enough?
People always laugh at me, and
call me stupid stuff
Please send us investigators so I
may give them what they lack
I want to give them Books of
Mormon, the weight of them hurts my back
And what about my family: They
don't have much to say
I'm sick of not hearing from home
day after day after day
Oh Father, why am I here; am I
just wasting time?
Sometimes I only think about
home, I'm sorry but that's on my mind
My companion, Heavenly Father,
what have you given me?
We never get along and we always
seem to disagree.
Now you have it, I can't go on, I
don't know what to do
That, my Father in Heaven, is the
prayer I have for you’
My prayer now finished, I stand
up, and jump right into bed,
I need my rest for tomorrow, we
have another long day ahead.
Sleep starts to overtake me, I
seem to drift away
Then it seems a vision takes me
to another time in another day
I'm standing alone on the hill.
The view is very nice
A man walks towards me and says,
‘My name is Jesus Christ’
Tears of joy well up inside, I
fall down at His feet
‘Arise,’ He states, ‘Follow me to
the shade. You and I need to speak’
My attention's towards my Savior,
total and complete
He says, ‘Your mission is similar
to what happened to me
I understand how you feel, I know
what you're going through
In fact, it would be fair to say I've
felt the same as you
I even know how you feel when no
one will listen to you
At times I felt not quite sure
what else I could do
I know you don't like to walk or
ride a bicycle, for you a car would be sweet
Just remember the donkey I rode
wasn't equipped with 21 speeds
I understand you don't like
sweating, in fact it's something you hate
I remember when I sweat blood
from ev’ry pore, oh how the agony was great!
I see you don't like your
companion - you'd rather have someone else
I once had a companion named Judas
who sold my life for wealth
It's hard to wear a helmet and
have people make fun of you
I remember when they put thorns
on my head and called me King of the Jews
So you feel burdened down by the
weight of your pack
I recall how heavy the cross was
as they slammed it on my back
Your feet and hands hurt from
walking and knocking on doors all day
I guess when they pounded nails
into mine, I ached in a similar way
It's hard not to hear from home
when your family's not there to see
I lost communication on the cross
and cried, "Father, why hast Thou forsaken me?"
We have a lot in common, but
there's a difference between us you see
I endured to the end and finished
my mission, so come, follow and do like me’
He embraced me with His arms and His
light filled me with His love
With tears in my eyes I watched
as He ascended to the Father above.
I stood with awe and wonder when
a beep rang in my head
I listened and heard the alarm,
then realized I was in my bed
My companion let out a groan,
‘6:30 already, no way!’
I sat up and said, ‘Come on, I'll
even carry your scriptures today!’
Each and every day, we see
miracles of our very own.
So ALWAYS remember that in this
marvelous work, we are NEVER alone.
That no matter what we go
through, when we feel we can't take more
Just stop and think about Jesus
Christ,
He's been there before!"
We know that
Christ is always there for us and He wants us to succeed. As His servants, He wants
the very best for us and wants to give us strength.
We talked
about how there are things in our lives that hold us back from really fulfilling
our potential; that we are like airplanes, so ready to take off, but there are
things, dragging or weighing us down that keep us from just taking off and
SOARING! We talked about how it all starts with us, and if we are going to change
as a mission, it first starts with every single one of us. It starts from
within and then, and only then, will we see the change.
"The Lord works from the
inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people
out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take
themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their
environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world
would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature." – President Ezra Taft Benson
Yes, Christ
changes men, and changed men can change the world. Men changed for Christ will
be captained by Christ. Like Paul, they will be asking, “Lord, what wilt thou
have me to do?” (Acts 9:6) Peter stated they will “follow his steps.” (1 Pet.
2:21) John said they will “walk, even as he walked.” (1 Jn. 2:6)
Finally, men
captained by Christ will be consumed in Christ. To paraphrase President Harold
B. Lee, they set fire in others because they are on fire. Their will is
swallowed up in his will. (See John 5:30) They do always those things that please
the Lord. (See John 8:29) Not only would they die for the Lord but, more important,
they want to live for Him." - President Ezra Taft Benson
"And
know ye that ye shall be judges of this people, according to the judgment which
I shall give unto you, which shall be just. Therefore, what manner of men ought
ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am." - 3 Nephi 27:27
"Yea,
come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all
ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God
with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you,
that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye
are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God." - Moroni
10:32
Christ was:
Humble
Obedient
A Healer
Kind
A Teacher
Courageous
A Servant
Submissive
Selfless
Full of Love
We continued
to talk about how, as we start to change from the inside and become more like
the Savior every day, one step at a time, we will see this miracle within
ourselves. We need to have Christ´s name engraven upon our hearts, but there
are those things that can slowly erase or replace His name. We need to be doing
the little things EVERY DAY to carve his name deeper and deeper.
So everyone
had a piece of paper and wrote down the things that are holding them back from
becoming closer to the Savior, or things that were erasing His name from their
hearts, little by little. Then we had our testimony meeting, and every single
person went up and bore POWERFUL testimonies of Jesus Christ and His Atoning
sacrifice and infinite grace. One elder, who had gone home early from his
mission at one point and just now returned into the field, went up and said,
"I just want to thank everyone who has spoken. I have felt the Spirit more
here today than I have in my ENTIRE LIFE. So thank you. I know my Savior loves
me and, through Him, I can change." Everyone handed in their sheets of
paper, with the list of those things holding us back. At the end of the
meeting, we told everyone that we are ALL going to start with clean slates and
we are purifying or "PURI-FIRING" the Bilbao Zone. We then lit them all
on fire!! It felt so good!
I know that
we can ALL start with a clean slate and it is never too late. I know we can
repent and that NO ONE has gone TOO far away from the infinite Atonement of Jesus
Christ. This gospel is all about 2nd chances. HIS wounds heal MINE.
He loves you all so much and He is just waiting for you to drop the things that
are dragging you down, so that you can just take off and be free! LIGHT THIS
FIRE WITHIN YOURSELF AND LET´S CHANGE FROM THE INSIDE, AND PURIFY OUR LIVES
TODAY!
I love you
all! Let´s SOAR, and be perfected in HIM.
Hermana
Lydia Pamela Vance
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