Be HIS Hands

I have to admit, my mission has been and continues to be the happiest, most REAL and rewarding experience of my life. Every day is a new adventure. Every day I learn something new. I meet someone, I serve someone and I just love everyone. It's all worth it; every moment. It's all about the work and other people, but it always just comes right back to me personally. The MORE we serve, we give, we share and we love … the MORE blessings WE receive. We can't ever really pay back our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ, because the more we do for His cause and try equal it out, the more we realize that we will always be indebted to Him … and His great sacrifice, blessings, and mercy. I know blessings await us as we serve Him with all of our heart, might, mind and strength; and that this is just a training for me for my life. He is preparing and changing me. I am so blessed to be one of the Lord's missionaries, called to bring to pass His work and His glory!

Tuesday (July 14): This morning we saw our friend Victor. We met him the week before, and he told us that he really needs the gospel in his life. He told us he wants to set a good example for his 8 year old son, especially now that he and his wife are planning on getting a divorce. We told him that this gospel is the best way to help his kid; that in this generation it just continues to get harder and harder, and that he has got to be walking on steady ground if he wants to bless and help his family. Victor is great and he has a big heart. He is an overwhelmed middle aged man who is just looking for that relief in the midst of life's craziness. He just doesn't know how to go about changing or finding that peace. That's why we're here. I'm excited to see where everything goes with him.

Wednesday (July 15): Today we were able to visit a woman named Marcela. One of her friends is a member of the church, and told us to stop by and that she wanted to meet us. As we stopped by she told us that she had accidentally fell asleep, and still had a ton of things to get done for the day. When we were at her door, she said she was sorry, but didn't have time to see us. We asked if we could just talk to her and share something for 5 minutes. She said that was fine and let us in. We simply testified of faith and the power of prayer. She wept as she explained to us that she was going through a lot of really hard times in her life right now and she was just exhausted. She just had a baby about 5 months ago and is searching for work. As we finished and prayer, we were able to notice how scattered everything was around us. We asked her if there was anything we could help with and she at first said no; but we insisted. We first helped her clean and organize her kitchen. We wiped some things down, swept the floor and put things in the fridge. She then led us to her bathroom that was just filled with dirty clothes. In the sink, in the bathtub, on the floor; you name it. She told us that her washer had broken the other day and she was just swamped with all of this. We then went out onto her little balcony with big tubs of water and put the clothes in. We poured some soap in and began stepping on the clothes and washing them with our feet. The bottom of my dress was soaking wet as we were washing, mopping the floor, and hanging up the clothes on the line. We were there for about an hour until we had finished with all of it. She was overwhelmed with gratitude and thanked us for what we did. She told us that we were true representatives of Jesus Christ, and that she knew we lived what we preached. What a blessing to experience that.

Thursday (July 16): We have a friend named Guri. He is about 17 or 18 years old and is from India. We have been helping him with his English. He is currently working on a project about the difference between Indian Culture and Spain Culture. It was so interesting for me. I realized I know very little about that part of the world, and he shared his passion for his country and his religion. I have so much respect for him because, even though his religion is different, he believes and he is faithful to his principles and beliefs. So cool!

Friday (July 17): Today we met with a less active woman in our ward named Doris. It was the first time we had ever met her because she is new here in Spain. It was hard for her to move here and she misses her family. She also is in a somewhat abusive relationship. We were able to go over there and give her comfort, and share our testimonies with her. It was such a sweet moment and she said it really helped. Please keep her in your prayers.

Saturday (July 18): MIRACLE BAPTISM! Joshua Simon Suleman was baptized! He is our other best friend from Nigeria! I love these people so much! He had been learning about the church for over a year, but because of family and girlfriend problems, he wasn't able to take this step. He has been waiting for this moment for a long time. We finally got things handled and fixed, and he was baptized and confirmed as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! Such a special day for him! He is so happy! I am so proud of him and this amazing decision he has made in his life. The boy that baptized him is actually going on his mission in about two months to the Córdoba, Argentina Mission!

At the baptism, we sang this children's hymn. I love it; it is so cute and simple. It really makes me reflect on my life.

“If the Savior Stood Beside Me”

1.            If the Savior stood beside me, would I do the things I do?

                Would I think of His commandments and try harder to be true?

                Would I follow His example? Would I live more righteously

                if I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me?

2.            If the Savior stood beside me, would I say the things I say?

                Would my words be true and kind if He was never far away?

                Would I try to share the gospel? Would I speak more rev’rently

                if I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me?

3.            He is always near me, though I do not see Him there,

                And because He loves me dearly, I am in His watchful care.

                So I’ll be the kind of person that I know I’d like to be

                if I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me."

Sunday (July 19): I once again had to speak in church. It is the 7^th official talk I have been asked to give in church during my mission. I love being able to stand in front of all of these people, whom I love so very much, and share that love with them. I shared a lot of very tender and special experiences from my mission. These experiences are so dear to my heart and so powerful. They have become a very sacred part of my life. As I continue to think about and reflect on my mission every day, I notice and learn a lot of things about myself and this blessed experience that I am having here.

I feel like I have changed a lot on my mission. It's interesting, because I still have my outgoing, bubbly personality … but I also feel that I have matured so much in every area of my life. I have realized what really matters and what is truly important. Like I said recently, if it's not eternal or of eternal significance, I don't want it in my life … it's simply not worth it. God knows us perfectly and knows exactly what we need. He knows our strengths, and how we can use them to the best of our abilities. He knows our weaknesses, and how we can strengthen them. We won't be perfect, but He won't let these little imperfections and faults immobilize us; we are stronger than that. Being here and having this opportunity, I have learned so much. I am able to witness things that are just so different and that really open my eyes. It has helped me see some really big problems that other people have, that are beyond me and any difficulty that I face. But it has also shown me that there is always a solution. It has humbled me so much and has helped me realize how truly blessed I am.

In The Book of Mormon, there is a very popular verse that I have really come to understand out here. It is in Ether 12:27, and it reads:

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

His grace is sufficient. We can’t do it alone. It is not humanly possible. Even if we are obeying each and every commandment that God has given us, and being the very best we can be … it still won't be enough. We have to meet Christ in the middle. We have to offer him all that we can, give our all, and do our part … and He will make up the rest. "To believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."

In Alma 26:12 it says,

"Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."

He strengthens us because he loves us. There are so many experiences I have had, and I feel like you all only hear about 10% of what happens. It's not just life changing, it's eternity changing … and that's what we want right?

I have met or taught people from: Spain, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, Paraguay, Brazil, Columbia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal, Angola, Liberia, Gambia, Ghana, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Romania, Armenia, England, Austria, Russia, Poland, Pakistan, India, Tanzania, Italy, Philippines, Canada, Guinea, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Portugal, France, Morocco, Korea, China, Sweden, Cuba and a handful from the United States.

I have witnessed and tried to help:

-A young woman suffering with anorexia

-A mother enduring the pain of losing her only son

-Marriages and families being torn apart (physically and emotionally)

-Men with their overwhelming alcohol and drug addictions

-A girl fighting off cancer, people with very severe illnesses

-Many homeless people find comfort and peace in their lives

-People who've lost their jobs and have been kicked out of their apartments

-People getting out of abusive relationships (physically and emotionally)

-Teenage pregnancy

-People with non-Christian backgrounds (Hindu, Muslim, Buddhism) 

-Burglaries and fatal accidents

-Youth running away from home

-People being wrongly accused and thrown into prison

-People illegally living in Spain and their problems with the police

-People with life threatening depression

We, as 19 and 20+ year-old “kids”, are supposed to have all of the answers and be able to fix everything.

You have to be the:

-Shoulder to cry on

-Hug giver

-The best friend or only friend they have

-Listener

-Obedient one

-Patient one

-One who loves and notices everyone

-The volunteer for everything

-The organizer

-The planner

-Problem solver

-One who always is smiling

-Counselor

-Hero to the rescue

-One constantly serving

-One that never gets tired

-Peace maker

-Scripture scholar

-Example

-Teacher

-Representative of Jesus Christ

We will meet with someone, or step into their homes, and be expected to bring this faith, hope, love and joy, to each and every situation. We need to show them the way to everlasting happiness and their personal salvation. They will come to us with a problem, and look at us with sadness in their eyes and fear in their voice, and ask, "Hermanas, what are we supposed to do? Help us. We have nowhere else to turn." As they turn to us … we turn them to the Savior. We guide them to the Way, so that Christ can show them the way. We are standing in the place of our Redeemer. We are doing all that we can to become more like Him and develop His attributes. We are his representatives and his disciples. He is depending on us. Many times, people and their longing and pleading prayers and hearts are answered and comforted by those around them. We are the Lord's instruments. We are His hands. He went about doing good, always. We must all be worthy of the call and be ready to be His hands, however and whenever He needs us. He is counting on you. He needs you. God loves each and every one of us. We are equal in His eyes. "Remember the worth of every soul, is great in the sight of God". While He loves us all, we have to gain His trust and be worthy of it, by being obedient to His laws and loving His gospel and His children. We must live that gospel and be His hands.

Con amor, para siempre,

Hermana Lydia Pamela Vance

 Hermana Lydia Vance

 C/Calatrava N, 10-12, 1

    08017 Barcelona

          ESPAÑA

lydia.vance@myldsmail.net

True Repentance, Forgiveness and Love

This past week we had transfers, but Hermana Steinfeldt and I are staying together! Woohoo! We were so pumped! She really has taught me so much. We have a blast together and we work so hard. We have become just the best of friends. We were sad to hear the one of the hermanas in our apartment, Hermana Arauco, was leaving. We are really going to miss her, and I will never forget these past two transfers with her. She is truly a remarkable missionary and friend. I know we will be friends for life and beyond.  But, she is heading to paradise … in the Islands of Mallorca! Palma! She is going to rock it and she is so ready for this; and I get to do companion exchanges there with her every few weeks!  

Tuesday (July 7): Today was another great preparation day. The majority of the day consisted of saying goodbye to missionaries who were getting transferred or going home, and then with missionaries coming into our Hospitalet Zone. That night we went to visit a less active family, Monica, Fanny and André, for a family home evening. This family really has become a family away from home for me here. They are incredible and have a daughter serving in Fresno, California. We ate and then they had planned to watch the movie, Joseph Smith: Prophet of The Restoration. I absolutely love that movie, and you all have to watch it. It has truly strengthened my testimony and my passion for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2006-05-01-joseph-smith-prophet-of-the-restoration-2002-version?category=feature-films&lang=eng  It is so great and makes me get emotional every time!

Wednesday (July 8): Today was great. We were able to visit a lot of people with Angela, a young single adult from our ward. When we went to visit a girl named Damilka who we met on the street a few days prior, we noticed that we wrote her address down wrong, and she didn’t live there. An 18 year-old boy named José answered the door. He was so sweet and nice. He invited us in and told us he was from Honduras. We bore powerful testimony of The Book of Mormon and he said that he was interested and he would begin reading it!

Thursday (July 9): Today we went out with Niyeli. She is a 14-year-old girl from our ward. We are trying to invite all the Young Women to come out with us to do visits every day this week! It has been a blast! They have so much energy and great faith. They are just the breath of fresh air that we needed, and I can see them all as great future missionaries one day!

Friday (July 10): We took 14-year-old Augustina out with us today. There was a Spaniard woman who stopped us and asked if we were Mormons. Her name was Fina; and she began to cry as she talked to us. She commented that her cat had died the week before and that she was really close to him. She asked what our viewpoint was on animals, and if we would be able to see them after we died. We told her that Heavenly Father loves all of His children and creations, and that it would make sense that we would see them again. God wants us to be happy, and I think He would want us to be with all of our loved ones. My ‘lil puppy Sadie better be up there too!

Saturday (July 11): Today we had our Stake Relief Society activity! The theme was "La Vida es Bella" or (Life is Beautiful). It was such a joy to be among so many strong and fun women of the church. The Spirit was felt and laughs were shared. Dari came … she is amazing! She currently has a job working from 11am to 11pm, Sunday through Friday. It has been really hard for her and we have been praying for her a lot. She had a new job interview the other day and is waiting to hear back from them. Please keep her in your prayers.

Our ward was in charge of doing the skit part of the program. Let´s just say, long story short, my companion nailed me in the eye at one point with a piece of fruit! HILARIOUS! Haha, she was a monkey and I was the seed. It was last minute, but it turned out great! Moral of the story/skit … all of the seeds were trying to grow in a field, but every time they tried to grow their roots in the field, they got attacked by a group monkeys throwing fruit. I was originally supposed to just be another monkey, but I ended up having to be the brave seed that kept going back and back and back … until all of the beatings from the fruit over months and years … eventually made me strong, and I grew into a strong tree in the end. It was cute and simple. Everyone seemed to love it!

After the activity, we had the chance to go to the Relief Society President´s house for dinner. She was having some problems with her 12 year old daughter who was kind of going astray, veering from the path a little bit. She looked to us for help. We taught her about Repentance, Forgiveness and Love … because I was that little girl at times, who needed a little bit of a reality check (to be continued at the bottom).

Sunday (July 12): Terry came to church … with Joshua (our other Nigerian friend) … in a shirt and tie! He was so precious and he received the Priesthood and will be passing the Sacrament next week! We are so excited for him!

Monday (July 13): Whoa! It’s my 14 month mark today. It´s a weird feeling, and I can't believe I will be going home in November. Even though I miss all of you all, that still sounds way too soon. Can't I just stay forever, haha? I don't even know or remember what my life was like before, and I can't imagine not being a missionary. I can't imagine not wearing my name tag with a Book of Mormon always in my hand. I love my mission so very much and wouldn't trade it for anything. It has been the best decision of my life.

Back to Saturday night … I really started thinking and was very impacted by this experience. It was interesting, because I had read this talk about repentance and forgiveness as well. Here are some bits and pieces that I loved from a talk (“Point of Safe Return”) by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the First Presidency of the Church.

"True repentance blesses our lives with the effects of the Atonement: we feel God’s forgiveness and His peace, and our guilt and sorrow are lifted away; we enjoy the influence of the Spirit in greater abundance; and we are better prepared to live with our Heavenly Father.”

President David O. McKay said, “Every principle and ordinance of the gospel of Jesus Christ is significant and important … but there is none more essential to the salvation of the human family than the divine and eternally operative principle [of] repentance”

“For salvation cometh to none … except it be through repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Mosiah3:12).

It is not repentance per se that saves man. It is the blood of Jesus Christ that saves us. It is not by our sincere and honest change of behavior alone that we are saved, but “by grace that we are saved, after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23).

President Spencer W. Kimball taught: “The essence of the miracle of forgiveness is that it brings peace to the previously anxious, restless, frustrated, perhaps tormented soul. … God will wipe away … the tears of anguish, and remorse … and fear, and guilt”.

Satan will try to make us believe that our sins are not forgiven because we can remember them. Satan is a liar; he tries to blur our vision and lead us away from the path of repentance and forgiveness. God did not promise that we would not remember our sins. Remembering will help us avoid making the same mistakes again. But if we stay true and faithful, the memory of our sins will be softened over time. This will be part of the needed healing and sanctification process.

For our own good, we need the moral courage to forgive and to ask for forgiveness. Never is the soul nobler and more courageous than when we forgive. This includes forgiving ourselves. The gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ provides us at all times and at in places with the blessings of repentance and forgiveness. We will receive the joy of forgiveness in our own lives when we are willing to extend that joy freely to others. Lip service is not enough. We need to purge our hearts and minds of feelings and thoughts of bitterness and let the light and the love of Christ enter in. As a result, the Spirit of the Lord will fill our souls with the joy accompanying divine peace of conscience.

Jesus promised, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: … Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

Wherever you find yourselves on this journey through life, whatever trials you may face, there is always a point of safe return; there is always hope. You are the captain of your life, and God has prepared a plan to bring you safely back to Him, to your divine destination."

I know that President Uchtdorf is a man of God and that he speaks the truth. I love everything that he said, and I think it is something that we all need to remember and apply in our own lives. I know that all good things come from God; that our Father in Heaven loves us so much and that we can learn how to truly repent and forgive. But it is only possible in and through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Our faith in Christ and our love for Him lead us to repent, or to change our thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors that are not in harmony with His will. When we repent, we feel godly sorrow, then we stop doing things that are wrong and continue doing things that are right. Bringing our lives in line with God’s will through repentance is the central purpose of our lives. We can return to live with God the Father only through Christ’s mercy, and we receive Christ’s mercy only on condition of our personal repentance.

To repent, we recognize our sins and feel remorse. We confess our sins to God through prayer. We ask God in prayer to forgive us. He knows we are not perfect. We must do all we can to correct the problems our actions may have caused; this is called restitution. These can be specifically with people or situations … that we feel have never been resolved. As we repent, our view of ourselves and the world changes. As we change, we recognize that we are children of God and that we need not continue making the same mistakes over and over. We will fall at times; we are human. But we won´t fall as deep and we will be able to recover faster and faster every time. If we have real desire to change for the better, He will help us. If we sincerely repent, we turn away from our sins and do them no more, and we resist any desire to commit sin. Our desire to follow God and love Him and His commandments grows stronger and deeper.

We will feel God’s forgiveness and His peace in our lives. Our guilt and sorrow are swept away. We also must recognize that we will not receive a full remission of our sins without making the promise or everlasting covenant of baptism, by someone holding the proper authority. By doing so, we will continue to feel the influence of the Spirit in greater abundance; and when we pass from this life, we will be more prepared to face and live in the presence our Heavenly Father and His Son.

Even after we have accepted Christ and repented of our sins, we may fall short and sin again. We should continually try to correct these transgressions. In addition, we should continually improve; to develop Christ-like qualities, to grow in knowledge, and to serve more effectively. As we learn more about what the Savior expects of us, we will want to show our love by obeying Him. Thus, as we repent daily, always striving to become better, we will find that our lives will change and improve. Our hearts and our behavior will become more Christ-like. We will come to feel this great joy and indescribable peace.

Anyone that I have ever wronged or offended throughout the course of my life, whether or not I remember it or not, I would just like to say a general "sorry” from the very depths of my soul. I mean this from the bottom of my heart. I have prayed, cried and prayed about this numerous times throughout the week. If I have ever caused you heartache or grief, frustration or pain … I truly am sorry, and I hope you can forgive me. I am doing the very best I can to make restitution with everyone and anyone in my life. I want to come home with a completely clean slate. I have changed so much on my mission and I want to continue to become better each and every day.

I love you all so much! I invite you all to get rid of any grudges or hard feelings you have; to repent and turn your heart over to the Lord and start over. This gospel is all about second chances and forgiveness. We can´t expect to be forgiven by the Lord, if we don´t forgive others.

Have an amazing week!

With all my heart,

Hermana Vance