collage

collage

I am serving a mission as a sister missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for a period of 18 months. I am serving in the Spain Barcelona Mission and I am speaking Spanish. I reported to the Madrid Missionary Training Center on May 13th, 2014, and I will return home November of 2015. I love each of you with all my heart and I hope to hear from you throughout this life-changing experience and journey.


Friday, September 18, 2015

Blessed, Spiritually and Temporally



I recently hit my 16 month mark … and it is freaking me out! I JUST WANT TO BE A MISSIONARY FOREVER! My companion is amazing; I love Hermana Gutoff! I am learning so much from her and these past two weeks have been so great. We are really starting to click and I am so grateful that she is my companion.

Yubelkis! I don´t know if I have ever mentioned her, but she is from Nicaragua and is about 22 years old. We have been teaching her for quite some time now, and she wants to be baptized so badly! She has a job where she has to work on Saturdays and Sundays, so she hasn’t been able to come to church yet. She has been really bummed about it, but this past week she just got a new job. Woohoo! We are so excited for her, as she thinks she will finally be able to come to church this week. Yes! Please pray for her!

The other day we met this man named Manuel. It was about 9:00pm and he was just sitting on a bench, and it was sprinkling with a little bit of rain. I saw him from a distance as we were coming up from behind to walk past him. I could tell that he looked very run down. His clothes were a bit torn, he had long hair and a long beard, and he had his face cupped in his hands. We were about to walk past him, but a voice came into my head saying, "Don´t you dare keep walking without stopping to talk to this man. Don´t think for one second that you can just pick and choose who needs and doesn´t need this gospel. This message is for everyone, and this man is a child of God. Go and talk to him."

This prompting literally stopped me mid-step, in that very moment. Immediately, words of peace, love and comfort starting coming out of my mouth, that I knew weren´t my own. What a powerful experience, and honestly a spiritual smack in the face of humility and gratitude. I am so blessed to be a vessel of the Master, Jesus Christ. I have tried remember on my mission to, "See people as God sees them. Through His eyes. To picture everyone I see, as if they were in white. To really see their potential and great worth."  Miracles happen and lives are changed forever as we see others as our brothers and sisters, children of God … coming back and coming home. We are merely the instruments, but it´s the best feeling in the world!

We also met Jorge last week. He is about 21 years old, from Guinea in Africa. He came to Spain about 7 months ago to get a major operation. He had some type of cancer that left huge tumors all over his body … his arms, legs, head, inside his mouth, you name it. He showed us all sorts of pictures, and he is a miracle. He told us his story and how he knows, without a shadow of a doubt, that God is very, very real. God exists and so do miracles. Jorge is healed from all of it. The doctors said his recovery was indescribable. I am a personal witness to his story. He has so much faith and wants to continue to strengthen it. He came to church on Sunday! I will keep you all posted on Jorge and how he is doing!

One of the biggest, most visible miracles I have seen on my mission involves our investigator, Miguel. He has been investigating the church for about 2 years. Over time, his faith and desire to follow God has grown immensely. He used to be a hardcore alcoholic, but these past few months, he has given up drinking completely. This past week he gave up coffee, as he normally drinks about 5 cups a day! He also has a girlfriend who was in an accident a while back, and hasn't been able to walk or leave her wheelchair in about 3 years. He told us that she has been gradually getting better and that she started to stand the other day! As we were sitting in church waiting for Miguel to show up, he walked into the chapel … with his girlfriend! She was walking! Miracles exist, both spirituality and physically! It was such a blessing. Things are ready to take off here in Badalona! We are excited!

"And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive." - Alma 7:23

“And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it." Mosiah 2:41

We are blessed in all forms as we follow God and His commandments. As we move forward with faith, and simply believe … all things are possible!

Have a great week everyone! See the miracles (and be the miracles)!

Hermana Vance
b

No comments:

Post a Comment