Humility In My Heart

Wow, what a wild week! Haha, I wake every morning and still wonder where I am! Living the dream! I absolutely LOVE it here. Every single moment of my mission thus far has taught me so much and has been a tremendous blessing in my life. I’m still a bit awestruck and figuring out how everything works here in Europe. It is quite the adventure ... I don´t know what ANY of these signs say! But I am really trying to pick up each and every word I come across and, even though I feel like my Spanish isn´t very good at all compared to everyone here, I just work that much harder and try not to stress about it. Everyone keeps telling me that my Spanish is good, considering how long I have been out on my mission, and that I have a pretty good accent! We´ll see!

I am meeting so many new people, from all different cultures and from all over the world. This week I was able to meet some great people with my trainer Hermana Reid. She is the best and she works so hard! We totally stand out though; these two bright blondes walking through the streets of Valencia! We’ve had some great experiences, teaching about Jesus Christ and about how His gospel can bless the lives of our Heavenly Father’s children. Whether we were talking with a sweet old gyspy woman about trials in her life, eating a HUGE dinner with a family from Ecuador, teaching a 14-year-old girl about her purpose here on Earth, making Spanish food with a Columbian lady from our church and singing in her kitchen, or talking to people on the metro about what makes us different … it is the best feeling in the world! I cannot even begin to describe it. Sure, we get sleepy sometimes, and don´t understand anything that is said in church for 3 hours, and melt in the 105° sun, and get rejected by people for four hours straight, haha. But it doesn’t matter, because even within the short amount of time that I have been here, I can see the lives of people changing right before my eyes. The miracles I see every day make everything so worthwhile! If any of you are even considering going on a mission … do not second-guess yourselves. It will be the best choice you ever make in your life. I can testify of that, and I’ve only been here for seven weeks!

We met with a few people who are recent converts to our church. Three of them are from Nigeria, and their names are Peace, Loveth and Monday. It was the first time I met these people, and I did not know what to expect. When we went to Loveth´s apartment, she was so sweet, but I was taken aback by the surroundings. There was no A/C, and she led us into a small room with all kinds of stuff in it. There was bathroom stuff, toiletries, clothes, food, blankets, bags, books, her little baby´s stuff, etc. … so much in one room. I was confused, and after meeting with her, I asked Hermana Reid why she had all of that in there. Hermana Reid went on to tell me that the room is her home … for her, her baby and her husband (Monday). Another woman owns the rest of the apartment, but makes them pay all of the rent, even though they just live in this little room. Tears filled my eyes, and my heart ached. It was one of the most humbling experiences of my life. We are all so very blessed with so many material and temporal things compared to so many others. Yet those things don’t really matter when it comes to our happiness. This sweet woman REALLY helped me realize that, and I hope we can all remember that we have so many things to be grateful for; most importantly the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I love and cherish the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and am so blessed to be able to share that great blessing with the people of Spain! I love you all, and thank you all for your support! Have a great week!

Con amor,

Hermana Vance