HIS Work and HIS Glory

HELLOOOOO! What a fun and great first two weeks in Hospitalet! I just LOVE it here! It´s VERY different than Bilbao, but it has that fresh, exciting and fast-moving pace to it. I think the sunlight helps a little bit too. I can´t say I miss the Bilbao rain!

Hermana Moser just got out of training, but she is such a champ! She and I have been hitting it off just great, and we also live with two other hermanas, which is so fun! Their names are Hermana Bastidas and Hermana Arauco, and they are HILARIOUS!

It also has been so great and really neat to live so close to the center of Barcelona. For preparation days, we are always doing something super fun! Last week we went to the Rambla! It is this huge, famous street in the middle of Barcelona, with tons of little sotres and restuarants and people selling stuff. At the end of it there is a harbor with a big statue of Christopher Columbus. Today we also went to a hands-on science museum, and it was so fun!

I was finally able to meet almost all of the members in our ward here in Hospitalet, at activities and at church. They are incredible! We had to help with the Primary this past week and teach them a song that they will be singing next Sunday. There is this little girl named Luz (or light). She is ADORABLE, and is about 9 years old. The other day I was wearing my hair in a side braid and she seriously is convinced that I am Elsa from the Disney movie “Frozen”! Haha, I started singing a little bit of "Let it Go" in Spanish to her and she asked me "Are you Elsa?". I just looked at her and winked and told her, "Shhh, don´t tell anyone". She gasped and asked me all these questions in a whispered voice in my ear like, "Do you have a sister named Anna? WAIT … do you have … magical powers? Where is your ice dress? Oh, well, I guess it´s pretty hot outside, so it probably melted, huh? But don´t worry, you can just make a new one next winter!" Hahaha, I was dying! She is just the cutest! She reminds me of myself when I was little.

We have been seeing a lot of miracles here in Hospitalet. I think this area was a little stuck for a while. Not much was progressing and we just kind of needed to start fresh. The other day we had a great experience with a man named Rafael. He is from the Dominican Republic and he was sitting on a bench. We actually had past him but we both felt the really strong impression to turn back around and talk to him. We sat down and talked with him for about an hour. He just loved it! He said he would like to learn more and wanted to thank us for stopping and sharing this message with him. He said, "You two completely made my day! I never thought such a nice conversation could mean so much to me. Thank you. I knew you two were Christians before you even opened your mouths." We are going to meet with him again this week! He is AMAZING and we are excited!! Please pray for him!

There is also this women named Imilse (she is also Dominican, and they are the best!). She was meeting with the missionaries a few years ago. Everyone in her family are members of the church, but almost all of them live in the Dominican Republic. The last time we saw her she was having really bad pains in her stomach. We got a call a few days later that she had gone to the hospital and had emergency surgery. She had to get her gall bladder removed! We passed by the day after her surgery, and the elders gave her a blessing. She told us that she was and is in a lot of pain, but that during her surgery, she was at peace. She said she now feels like this has opened her eyes a little bit, to what is really important, and that she knows she needs to be closer to God and to her family. She knows that the little petty or material things in her life are just not important! She knows she needs to change, and wants to change. We are going to do everything we can to help her! Please keep her in your prayers as well! Thank you!

I know that this gospel is literally for everyone. No matter who you are, or who you were or where you come from … we ALL needs this. We ALL need to have the opportunity to feel of this great joy! I have felt it in my life, and I have seen the miracle of it in the lives of so many others. I know it is the everlasting truth.

"For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Moses 1:39

Joseph Smith once said:

"The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; … the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done."

I have been a witness of this great work. You can too! Glorify God always, and help to bring forth this truth!

Love you forever,

Hermana Lydia Pamela Vance