What an
awesome and crazy couple weeks! I made it to Barcelona! The past 6 weeks have
FLOWN by, and I am going to miss the people at the missionary training center
so much! Last Thursday we went to the Prada Museum in Madrid and earlier this
week, when we went to the park, I was paired up with an Italian sister who
hardly spoke any English. It was difficult talking to people, and a couple times
it was heartbreaking, as they rejected us and our message. Some people have
become so hardened, and I could see that they had no hope at all in a Heavenly
Father who loves them. My purpose here is so important, to bring joy and the hope
of the gospel to them. My testimony of that gospel has been strengthened so
much over these past 6 weeks, and I have seen such a change in myself. Our MTC
president said that “the greatest miracle you will witness is YOU. YOU are not
to be who you WERE, but who you were BORN to be”.
Before we
left for Barcelona, we were saddened to learn that our amazing district leader,
Elder Larsen, had to go home. Last week he had a number of seizures, and it was
scary for us, as we didn’t really know what to do. After many visits to the
hospital and several phone calls, we discovered that he had to go home for
further evaluation. He is doing well now, but I was so amazed by his attitude.
He is one of the strongest, most inspiring people I have ever met. Throughout
the ordeal, he was always focused on others, and what we needed and felt about
everything. He continued to teach us about our Savior and that our Father in
Heaven has a plan for each and every one of us. Our Savior is the Good Shepherd, and we are
His sheep … and He never abandons His sheep. If we stay within His fold,
nothing can harm us. Christ is willing to take on ANY and EVERY pain to keep us
safe. Even if we leave Him, He will chase after us, guard us, rescue us, and
bring us right back.
If you are
in His fold, do not leave. If you are lost and don´t know where to go, look to
your Savior, Jesus Christ. He will never leave you … ever. He has walked where
you have walked and He has gone where you are going. Don´t ever give up. Through
my experiences this past week I have learned so much about our loving Heavenly
Father and His loving Son, Jesus Christ. The people at the Madrid MTC are pure
charity in action and they have all changed my life. I can´t wait to share that
love of Christ with all of Spain!
The past few
days have been wild! Tuesday morning, Hermana Stott and I had to wake up at 4:00am
to catch our early train! It was sad saying goodbye to everyone the night
before, but we had an amazing testimony meeting with everybody! I am going to
miss President and Hermana Lovell from the MTC so much! When we met with President
Jackson (the Madrid mission president), he would joke around with President
Lovell about switching me to the Madrid mission. He was so cool and I felt such
an attachment to Madrid and a love for the people; and I didn´t know what to
expect when I got to Barcelona and wondered how I would feel. After our three hour
train ride, Hermana Stott, Elder Noovao and I met President and Sister Pace
(the Barcelona Mission president and his wife) at the station.
From the
moment I met the Paces, I KNEW this is where I belonged, and THIS is where I
was called to serve. I cannot testify enough about how warm and welcoming it
was when we arrived. After dropping things off at the mission home and getting
some stuff done, we three new “misionerios”, the President, some of his kids and
his two assistants, went to this old castle that looked over the city of
Barcelona. It was breathtaking, and pictures do not do it justice! After that,
we went back and had interviews with the President. He started off with the
normal questions about my family. I talked about my parents and I told him about
my dad’s conversion story. President Pace was very touched and said he could tell
by my dad’s “fruits” that my dad must be an amazing man! He then asked me what
I liked to do. I told him that I love to sing and dance, that I love
photography and love to play sports. I told him all about my ACL, MCL, and meniscus
injuries, and about 10 seconds later he was rolling up his pant leg and showing
me his three scars!!! Haha, we were laughing pretty hard! He was vigorously
taking notes as I was talking, and then asked me what I want to do after my
mission and why I came on a mission. I don´t remember exactly what I said, but
the Spirit was so strong. I went on to tell him that this is something I have
prepared for my entire life … that I love helping people and that I couldn´t
think of a better way to serve people. I told him that, most importantly, I wanted
to share a message with people that would change their lives forever. I told
him that I love people and I have been extremely blessed in my life; and I
can´t imagine keeping these blessings to myself. I know that people want and
need this message, and that Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us …
and that He loves each and every person in Spain. I’m just here to help, and
when it came to deciding on whether I should serve a mission, it has never been
a question of WHY, but rather, WHY NOT? How could I NOT serve a mission? When I
finished, he looked up from his notes with tears streaming down his face. He
looked at me and said "Wow … can you feel that spirit? You, Hermana Vance,
are going to be an exceptional missionary. It is always heart wrenching for us when
our sister missionaries are finished with their missions and go home. But new
missionaries like YOU are the reason we rejoice. Just know that this is a great and marvelous
work, and I cannot wait to witness all that you will accomplish. You will see
miracles, because I know YOU will be a miracle to this mission. Thank you,
thank you, thank you … for deciding to come. I could not be happier. You will
be amazing, and you will change so many lives." It was incredible; and I
now truly know that THIS is where I am meant to be.
After doing
a lot of random things, we were paired up with temporary companions to go out
and contact people. I was paired up with Hermana Reid, and Hermana Stott was
paired up with Hermana Gillite. Hermana Reid was from the Valencia area and was
awesome. We contacted in the street and knocked on doors around Barcelona … it
was so fun! We went into this apartment complex and knocked on doors; it was
fun to see who would answer and whether or not they would be interested in what
we had to say. I felt really confident, and we would introduce ourselves and
say we wanted to share a message about Jesus Christ. Many times the doors would
open and there would be either a really big and scary dog barking at us like
crazy or people who were half dressed or just woke up. It was a little awkward
at times, haha. Behind one of those doors was an old man who answered and said,
even after we introduced ourselves, that he already knew who we were. He said
he was no longer active in the church and that he thinks the missionaries here don’t
know he is in the ward. It was such a miracle that we ran into him and I was
able to testify how important the gospel is in this life. He didn’t have time
for a lesson but I asked if we could just leave him with a prayer. We did, and
I hope he felt the spirit, even just a little bit, to remind him of the love
that the Savior has for him and his wife. Missionaries are going to go back to
visit him, so I hope that he gets somewhere!
We had knocked
on the rest of the doors, where we didn’t have much success, and we were about
to leave when I noticed that there was one door behind this little corner that
we missed. There were little toys all over, and I knew there had to be a family
inside. We knocked and this middle-aged woman answered. She had a few little
girls surrounding her. She was so sweet, and we asked her about herself and she
said she had actually met with the missionaries when she lived in Brazil, but
since she had moved to Spain, she didn’t know where to find the missionaries. Perfect!
We told her that we would set her up with some elders the following week. She
was thrilled! I handed her two daughters a picture of Christ and they had the
cutest smiles! What a blessing! Hermana Reid and I were so happy and had such a
great night! By the time we left and looked at the time, we realized that we
needed to be back to the apartment in 5 minutes and we were pretty far away. We
were NOT going to be late! We took off and started booking it down the streets
of Barcelona! We were running so fast and laughing, but we made it! Exact
obedience REALLY does bring blessings!
The next day
we found out who our companions were! I am with Hermana Reid and headed to
Valencia, about 4 hours from Barcelona! I love my mission and the miracles it
brings!!!
Con amor,
Hermana
Vance
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