We Believe. We Hope. We Endure.

Hola a todos! Como va la semana!? MAGNÍFICO!? Muy bien, me alegro muchísimo.

Wow, it is getting hot and humid here in Barcelona! Summertime is the best; everyone is out of school and on breaks! We are able to see so many more people now, except when they go on their two-month vacations to visit their families back in their native countries. South Americans, I just love ‘em! Haha, I hope all of you are enjoying your summers as well, spending time with your beloved family and friends, soaking up the sun and every moment together. 

This week was another great one; but aren’t they all! Haha, oh the mission, it´s incredible. If you are thinking about going … GO! If you´re not … you are really missing out! It has been the greatest decision of my entire life. It is worth everything to go!

Monday (June 29): Another fun preparation day! These days are so nice to just get yourself organized and have some fun. Today we went to the gym in the church and played volleyball with the other hermanas and elders. It is always so fun, and at the very end, we had filled up some water balloons and brought them from the bathroom, and snuck into the gym. We attacked the elders and had a huge water fight! It was hilarious!

Cool story. Hermana Steinfeldt and I were walking when a man called out to us and said, "Sisters of Jesus! Sisters of Jesus! Wait!" Haha, of course we stopped and talked to him! His name was Eddy and he is from Tanzania, Africa. It was so cool, as I had never met anyone from there! He told us that back in his country, his house was right across the street from the church, and that he was interested in learning more about it and he has always had questions. We will see where it goes!

Tuesday (June 30): This morning we "heart attacked" Dary! We cut out all of these hearts and wrote little notes on each of them and stuck them all over her door. We hadn't seen her for about a week, because of her crazy, long schedule with her new job and everything. We knew she had been pretty stressed out and she felt bad that she couldn't see us. As we went to do the "heart attack", we met a man named Victor on the way up. He was super nice and said he had seen a lot of missionaries before in Ecuador. He told us that he actually lived right in front of the temple when he was still in Ecuador. He said he was kind of busy at the moment, but that we could come back a different day! We will see what happens. Late that night, we got a text from Dary at about midnight, thanking us for the notes. She had come home super late from work and was just exhausted and a little overwhelmed. She told us that when she saw the notes, she immediately began to cry. She was so grateful. I just love that woman so much!

We were also able to see Imilse again! We are getting to know her older daughter (Imi) better, which I think has been helping, as we are trying to work with the family as a whole. We shared with her the "Articles of Faith" … there are 13 of them. They are simple, but so powerful. These are the articles of our faith … declarations that were written by the Prophet Joseph Smith to help explain to nonmembers some of the basic things that we, as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, believe.

1 “We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost."

(We believe in the Trinity, that there are 3 members in the Godhead. They are ONE in purpose and unity, but they are 3 separate beings.)

2 “We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression."

(Adam partook of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, and was cast out of the presence of God, and into mortality. It was all a part of God's plan. Adam transgressed and fell, but because of this … we have been given the gift of agency, or the ability to choose right or wrong for ourselves. We will be held accountable for our own choices and mistakes.)

(https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/where-justice-love-and-mercy-meet?lang=eng)

I love this talk from Elder Holland. In my opinion, it explains this principle perfectly.

3 “We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel."

(Because we are mortal and we are not perfect, we are bound to mess up and fall short; to sin and make wrong choices. But because our Father in Heaven loves us so very much and we are His children, He wanted us to have a way to fix that … to be cleansed, to be forgiven of those errors, and to come back into His presence. He provided that way through the Savior, Jesus Christ. He came to this Earth to save and redeem us all.)

4 “We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost."

(This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There are 4 steps: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost/Spirit. We first must have faith that Jesus Christ really is our Savior and that through Him, and only Him, can we be redeemed and receive eternal life. The Atonement of Jesus Christ will only be effective in your life, if you have this faith in Him.

5 “We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof."

(These people are given power and authority from God. We are to act in and under His name. We know that in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the priesthood authority of Christ and His prophets and apostles has been restored once again onto the earth. "We declare in words of solemnity that His priesthood and His Church have been restored upon the earth …“built upon the foundation of … apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone”. (Ephesians 2:20))

6 “We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth."

(Jesus Christ established His church and His teachings while He was on the Earth. We know that Christ stands at the head of our church today, and under that authority, direction and revelation, we too have living prophets and apostles. Our modern-day prophet and President of His church today is Thomas S. Monson, who works with the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to lead the church under the direction of the Lord. If this is Christ's church, doesn't it make sense to have it organized and run the same way as before … under His direction?

7 “We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth."

(These things happened in ancient times and the work of God has not ceased.)

8 “We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God."

(There are many different ways that the Bible has been translated. We believe that the King James Bible is the most correct, and also know that The Book of Mormon is truly the word of God).

9 “We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God."

(We believe in the prophets of old, such as, Noah, Abraham or Moses. We know that God has not ceased speaking with His children. We have a modern living Prophet today, President Thomas S. Monson, who leads and guides the Church. He is called of God, and this is The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-Day Saints. He receives direct communication and revelation from God and then shares it with everyone. We can also receive personal revelation for ourselves and our lives. The Prophet receives revelation for the entire church, just like in Biblical times. He will continue to manifest the things of God unto us. How blessed we are to know that God has not stopped talking to His people. He LIVES, and He speaks to His children through personal prayer and through His living prophet and His apostles.)

10 “We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory."

("We testify that He will someday return to earth, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” (Isaiah 40:5). He will rule as King of Kings and reign as Lord of Lords, and every knee shall bend and every tongue shall speak in worship before Him. Each of us will stand to be judged of Him according to our works and the desires of our hearts. Jesus is the Living Christ, the immortal Son of God. He is the great King Immanuel, who stands today on the right hand of His Father. He is the Light, the Life, and the Hope of the world. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son." (The Living Christ) I know that He is coming. We don't know when, but what a glorious and joyous day it will be!

11 “We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may."

(We are merely here to invite people to come unto Christ. We don't and won't judge anyone for what, how or where they worship and believe. So many churches like to get into the political side of things, but we don't. Everyone has their agency to choose for themselves.)

12 "We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law."

(Of course we have our religion, but we know how very important it is to follow all of the laws of the land and our leaders.)

13 “We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul--We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." (See the end of this post).

Wednesday (July 1): Today we had our very first Conference with our new mission President and his wife, President and Hermana Dayton! It was a really special moment. The second he walked into the room, I knew that he was a man called of God to preside over this wonderful mission. We had 4 of the zones together and sang “The Spirit of God”, as a musical number, but for the 4^th verse, we had all of the missionaries stand up and sing it in Spanish. It was awesome and so powerful! We are so blessed to have them here, and we are just going to take off as a mission! There is a new energy … here we go!  

Thursday (July 2): Tonight we had a great and pretty intense lesson with our new friend Ivan. He is from Russia and is about 20 years old, but speaks perfect English. He is super smart and is studying to become a lawyer. He comes from a rich family and is honestly a little prideful. He recognizes that he needs God in his life, and now. He is hanging out with the wrong crowd and is into a lot of bad stuff. We went to the church to talk. We testified of the love and saving Atonement of Jesus Christ. He asked some very deep questions. He made a comment about how the world has to get a lot worse before the Second Coming of Christ, and that maybe it would be better for him to help make this world get worse, faster. I told him that this world is slowly dividing between the righteous and unrighteous people. I said that we have plenty of people who are willing to do anything to destroy the good in this life. I explained that we need him on our side to fight for the right, and that he can be a powerful leader of hope, faith and justice. We were all in tears. He said that we were right, but that he would have to think about it. I think his heart was softened a bit.

Friday (July 3): Today were we able to visit a lot of less active families. We visited a woman named Raquel. She is just so sweet, but has been having some problems within her family, and was quit emotional about it all. Sometimes it´s just nice to sit there and listen; to let them just get everything out, and just be there and care. I´m glad we were able to be there for her. 

Later that night we visited Yennis, Maikel, Markel and Majorie. They are a Dominican family who I just adore. They are just the cutest! Markel is 9 years old and Marjorie is 7. They have a wonderful family and they have been sealed in the temple for time and eternity. Maikel actually just got out of jail for being falsely accused of murdering his best friend. It was a really rough and sensitive situation for their family. Every time we are over there we just try to lighten everything up, and just talk about love, family and Jesus Christ (the best topics right?) They are such an incredible family that is just filled with light, and I know the Lord will bless them. 

Saturday (4th of JULY!!):

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY AMERICA! Happy 4^th of July! AHH! I hope you all enjoyed the fireworks! I love fireworks and miss ‘em! We sang a lot of patriotic songs though from way over here in Spain!

Sunday (July 5): I just love church every Sunday don't you? It's the best day of the week … to be able to partake of the Sacrament and feel the Spirit so strong in the House of the Lord.

We BELIEVE. We HOPE. We ENDURE. We BELIEVE. We HOPE. We ENDURE. If we are being "honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous" and if we are doing things that are "virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy … we will happily endure and we will endure it well. We seek after these things. I have learned that if there is something in my life that isn´t ETERNAL or of ETERNAL SIGNIFICANCE … I don´t want it in my life.

I invite all of you, to SEEK after these things and apply them in your life. That is when you will be TRULY happy!

Love, Hermana Vance

Hermana Lydia Vance

C/Calatrava N, 10-12, 1

08017 Barcelona ESPAÑA

(Sometimes snail mail is more fun to receive! I'm not always the best at writing letters back but … thank you! You know who you are! Love you all!)

God Be With You Till We Meet Again

Wow. Where do I even begin!? Last week was just an emotional rollercoaster. It has been a fantastic and very special one.

As you know, Hermana Steinfeldt and I are just loving and soaking up everything about every experience we are having together. I really needed her. This area needed her; and the two of us together have been a remarkable thing to see. She has truly blessed my mission and my life. We have so many miracles waiting for us here in Hospitalet! I can´t wait to see what else we will witness together!

Tuesday: I went on intercambios with Hermana Arauco! She's such an exceptional hermana! We just have so much fun! I always learn something new and great from her! We contacted this super sweet lady, Yolanda, at the very end of the night who was just sitting on this bench and talked to her about the Book of Mormon and she seemed pretty interested so we set up a follow up appointment! I hope it turns out great!

Wednesday: We had an appointment with Dari! Back story … Dari is about 31 years old, she has a 15-month-old baby boy and she is from the Dominican Republic! They have become some of my favorite types of people! They are just a blast! Three years ago, she was being taught by some missionaries in her country. She didn´t feel like it was her time then. But now, she said she is ready to pick a path and stick with it! On Sunday we were walking to church and she came up to us and told us she wants to hear about our message! MIRACLES! We bore powerful testimony of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Atonement. She told us that, if she prays and receives an answer that this is true, she will be baptized! She is so prepared and just the cutest thing ever!

Thursday: We were able to visit a lot of the less active members in our area. It truly was a blessing. I have loved getting to know all of the members here. They are the BEST! I love it when the youth come out with the missionaries. They always tell us how much they want to go on missions now, because they spend so much time with us and are able to see these miracles each and every day!

Friday: ZONE CONFERENCE! It was so emotional! I bawled my eyes out, but … what else is new? The Paces were with us and it was "basically" our new last time seeing them. I can truly say that this time getting to know them has been one of the greatest blessings in my life! I cannot even begin to describe my love and appreciation for these two spiritual giants in my mission and my life. They are a couple of the most loving, kindest, knowledgeable, humble people I've met. Hermana Pace talked about how we need to always be spiritually fed, because just as we can't go without food and water for more than a day or two or three, the same is true regarding our knowledge of the gospel! We have to keep feeding ourselves every single day so that we don't we lose our testimony! We can´t eat or be spiritual fed on Monday and expect for it to last until Wednesday or Thursday. We´ll die spiritual! It can´t be a stale testimony, it´s gotta be fresh!

Then President Pace talked about the sacrament! He said that our faith should never be determined by anything that happens with people or situations. He said: "The center must hold, and the center is the sacrament." He then talked about how, if we have faith and always remember the Atonement, then we should never stray away. It´s so true.

Saturday: Today was an incredible day. We able to have an appointment with Dari and President Pace! It was amazing! We taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the end. I was a little intimidated at first, but it was powerful, and Dari couldn´t deny it! Dari is just incredible and has so many desires to learn, to change, and to stick with it strong. Just like we promised her … she will be a very amazing and strong member of our church someday soon! She has a baptismal goal for the 11^th of July. Please keep her in your prayers.

After the appointment and after she left, President Pace asked if we could give a prayer of thanks. It was so tender and dear. He was very emotional and I was touched when he said, "I pray that when the hermanas go home from their missions, to their families, they will be able to know that they gave their all in the service of the Lord. I am so grateful for this opportunity to have had this lesson with the hermanas, because I rarely get the chance. I love serving with them and among them." We later said, "President, thank you so much for coming and helping us. We really needed it." He replied, "No hermanas … I needed it. I can´t thank you enough." Bless his heart, I love President Pace so much!

Sunday: FATHER´S DAY! What an amazing day, and a very sacred and important day for all of the fathers around the world … and my Daddy. He shared with me a few of the life-changing events that happened on this wonderful day, years ago. ”Sunday (June 21^st is a special day ...

-          Celebrating the sacred privilege of being a father.

-          Celebrating 28 years since the day I asked your sweet mom to marry me.

-          Celebrating 30 years since the day I was baptized (6/21/1985).

My response to him: "Wow. How special. Isn´t it just beautiful how life works out? God is so perfect. And so is His plan. I am so grateful for all 3 of those celebrations! Thank you for being the greatest example I could have in my life. Thank you, thank you, thank you. For the love, the counsel, the support, the help, the funny memories, the spiritual moments and life-changing experiences that you have given me through my entire life. I could never thank you enough. I love you SO much dad.  Te amo papí!"

Dari came to church and sat in the front row with the Vargas family, and all the missionaries spoke! I was nervous, but it went well … my 6^th talk! We also saw the Giorginos! My awesome MTC teachers, whom I love, were in Barcelona for the weekend and just happened to show up at our church building for Sacrament meeting! I couldn't believe it, it has been well over a year!

Monday: President and Herman Pace – our last concilio with them. Our Concilio (Leadership Meeting) in Barcelona was seriously incredible! We learned things from the Paces that were inspired and exactly what I needed. Hna Pace talked about Faith, so full of spiritual power that I felt like I was capable of doing anything! She's such an incredible teacher! Then President Pace talked about forgiveness and how to develop better relationships between your companion, the members and investigators, and anyone in general in your life. It was exactly what the Lord wanted me to hear. I'm so grateful for my leaders and for their thoughtful and inspiring teachings that help me become a better missionary.

The assistants (Elder Dunn and Elder Skousen) asked all the missionaries to write a thank you letter to the Paces. They made a huge book out of all the letters and the Paces loved it! Our zone leaders, Elder Dailey and Elder Ponce, also asked a member to make a big lighthouse out of foam and then wrote all of our names on it. It turned out really cute. It was really sad having to say goodbye to the Paces on Friday as a Zone, but even more so this past Monday. At the end of Concilio, we had a testimony meeting. The Spirit was so strong, and everyone went up and bore such heartfelt testimonies of the power, divinity and beauty of this gospel. President Pace ended with his testimony. Tears were streaming down everyone's faces. After that, we all gathered close around the piano and sang our mission hymn 'Brillan

Rayos de Clemencia' (Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy) and everyone was bawling! President Pace offered the final prayer after that and for about the ten minutes we were praying there was not a dry eye in the room. Afterwards, President Pace said let's sing some more. We did and the room was just filled with the spirit. It truly was such a great meeting!

I´m sad the Paces will be leaving us next week. But I´m so grateful that I could have the opportunity to learn and grow from them. I truly love them so much! I´m excited for our new mission president, President and Hermana Dayton. They have been preparing for the last 6 months and I just know that we are going to see so many more miracles with them and learn a lot from them. They are called of God.

I absolutely loved Concilio yesterday. What a special and sacred experience we all had together. Our lives will never be the same. Thank you for all you have done. I cannot even begin to express how I feel.

President Monson says, "Change is one of the most constant things in our lives." I always think I don´t like it, or I won´t like it, but every time it happens, something extraordinary evolves from it. We learn and grow. We are crafted and molded into who we were born to be … new experiences, new opportunities … a new life!

And it is in and only through our Savior, Jesus Christ, that we can become perfected and change for the better forever. I love this gospel with every fiber of my being, and I love being a missionary. There is nothing greater, nor more rewarding, and we are going to hold our centers and declare it throughout the eternities.

I love you all. You are in my prayers. I´ll see you before you know it. God be with you … till we meet again.

Hermana Lydia Pamela Vance