Oh the ups and down (seems like a lot of downs lately) of being a missionary!!

This week was really hard again until Sunday night. We had an incredible miracle yesterday. Boom. This week we just had fired visits and lots of disappointments especially at church. When 1 of our promised 6 came to church I just got super mad. I had just had it. I felt like god had just forgotten about us. I almost cursed God. Pte. Pace had asked us to find in a certain way called pass by´s. Not working. That we should work with the members. Not working! Talk with everyone. Not working! I prayed and asked what he wanted of me. If he wanted something happen here or if we should just roll over and die. I literally felt like I was just suffering. Like there was nothing that we could do except take Satan´s blows. I was just down. All of the miracles of the last 2 weeks just rolled over and died.

I was just at that point last night when we went over to a person that fired us at church (Maria and Elisa). They received us and let us go up. They told us their reasons and they were really good. Things had happened, and they had to fix the emergency. We then said it´s time for baptism and she said yes it is. I need 1 week to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. We said yes. She thanked us for helping her all this time and for putting up with her. She cried and it was just what I needed.

It was a miracle. It might be the one. The one before Elder Wiscombe goes. I want him to go out punching with a baptism. I have worked so hard so that we could help someone be baptized. That is really all I want. We have also been trying to help Bishop´s family which the majority are inactive and it´s hard on him. We found one of his less active daughters and we are now working with her and her husband to help them come back. They are progressing and I think we will see him in church next Sunday. Plus they have friends who are nonmembers and one is deaf and mute. I think she is prepared for the gospel. I am very excited for these weeks to come.

I´ve got a good feeling about this week. I think that we are going to see some huge miracles. God really tests your faith. I´ve never been tested like this, I think even worse than with Elder Alder. I hope we are blessed for enduring.

I love all of you and I thank you for sending Angels to help the work here in Vitoria Spain through your avid prayers. I love the opportunity to serve my savior Jesus Christ and even sometimes to bleed in his name.  It´s an opportunity you will not and can not get in any other circumstance.

If you could pray for Maria and Elisa we would love that. We´ve got to find then baptize everyone!!!

Élder Smiley

Northern Spain Zone Leaders

After last week, this letter sounds great!!!

I don´t have much to say this week just because the last week I got around to it so late. I want you all to know that the week finished well. We saw miracles and they all came from the members. Let´s just start with the miracles in church. 2 investigators who are members friends came to church after telling us earlier in the week that they just weren´t going to be able to come. (First time in my entire mission and might be the only time in my mission). 2 members invited/brought an investigator to church. This investigator is now super fired up. Boom! We saw a member Saturday night and he told us to invite his friend right next to him to come to church, he didn´t come but we do have a visit with him. We really are receiving tons and tons of blessings and miracles. 

We had interviews with President Pace this morning. Even though our numbers have been down as a companionship he looked at me and told me that he didn´t have to worry about me. He knew that we were working hard, that we were being obedient, and doing exactly what we needed to do. That gave me a lot of comfort to my soul. We talked about the zone for a little bit and how we were going to get the zone excited. At the end of the interview he shared a scripture with me that really made me feel good. He shared a scripture that said that they worked and did all the missionary work AND THEN they saw tons of miracles. It brought peace to my soul that good things are coming. I am going to try and get better at taking more pictures but I will get around to that. Also I don´t know if I told you this but Faith went to the temple and has not missed church since her baptism. She loves the church and is a super strong convert. It is true conversion. We are going to see tons of miracles this week. I can feel them coming.

I love all of you!

I thank all of you!

I know that I am doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing and exactly where I need to be right now even if it is really hard. 

Let´s go out and baptize the world!

Let´s pray for the work of the Lord in the whole world and go out and help someone come back to church, be baptized, repent and come unto their savior. The real work happens when the members are involved.

Let´s go to work

I love all of you!

Élder Smiley

You have to take the good with the bad!!! Great attitude Elder Smiley

This week has been difficult. I have been all over the place. This week alone I went to Bilbao, then to Barcelona, and back to Bilbao, then to Burgos and now today I arrived back in Vitoria.

Pablo dropped us yesterday when I was gone. I am just trudging along trying my hardest to keep going. These times might be even harder than the times we had in Menorca. Something good is coming. It´s got to come! We need a miracle! We need something to keep us moving!  Something is coming. A big miracle is on its way. It´s going to be great week this week.

I love you all and thank you for your prayers and your constant thoughts. Please keep us in your prayers. I really do need them. I thank y´all and love y´all. 

Élder Smiley

Baptism in the Basque Country

BATPISM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Faith got baptized. There was a lot of stuff that happened this week, fulll of crazy stuff and full of miracles. I will start from the beginning. We went to Bilbao for a zone conference and we got to teach for 10 minutes. It was great. It was what our zones needed and it was what I needed. I learned a lot about being a better person. President and Hermana Pace are really worried, not only about during the mission but also after the mission. They want us to endure to the end. 

We found a great Spaniard early last week. His name is Pablo. He is from north Spain. We have already taught him twice and he came to Faith´s baptism and loved it then came to church. He told us it has been a desire of his to be baptized in the name of the father, and the son, and the holy ghost. We are very excited to be with him.

At the baptism of Faith she brought 4 friends with her, one less active and 3 nonmembers. boom!!! 2 of the which have baptism fechas. We had a huge turn out because at church last week and during the week she made sure that everyone knew about her baptism. It was great to see the real desire to be baptized. 

Last night we had 2 great visits that just make me think about the importance of members. 1st we had a visit and we brought a member all the people present were from Nigeria. There were moments when the investigators didn´t understand what was going on in the lesson and our member explained to them in the simple terms of a recent convert what we were trying to say. He even testified the need for them to be baptized. 

2nd We had a family night with a member family and a nonmember friend. We watched the restoration and the members testified. I am getting better at really loving and using the members.

We are going to start this new transfer off with a bang. I don´t know how but somehow Elder Wiscombe and I are going to find the whole world, then teach them then baptize them. Let´s do this! Let´s go baptize the world!!

Prayer list:

Pablo: Baptized the 12th. Quit smoking.

César: come to church. baptized the 12th.

Austin and Doris. come to church. Baptized the 12th.

Thank you all! I love all of you and thank you for your prayers! Can we all go out and baptize the world please?

Élder Smiley

Finally we got a letter with some length!!

Today I finally have some time to talk to y´all. This past month has been an atrocity, trying to pull everything together and do everything, but today I have a little bit of a break to talk to y´all. This past week was a bit crazy and a bit funny. First of all I got to do a companionship exchange with a missionary who reminds me of Jake Lamb. It was so funny. He talked about Star Wars, sword fighting, and all this other crazy stuff. It was something I will never forget. 

Another funny story, we were teaching Faith this Saturday and we were teaching the word of wisdom and we brought up tea. She asked if we couldn´t drink all teas and we told her the exceptions that our president has told us!  She responded saying that there was one herb that helps her go to sleep and poop better. When she said this Elder Wiscombe and I tried so hard not to laugh, while our member explained everything and she was ok with it. I had to say a prayer in my head so I wouldn´t destroy the rest of the lesson.

Yesterday was the best and the worst. Almost none of our investigators could come to church.  Then almost all of our visits with new investigators fired. That made me mad. Especially when we are trying so hard to find these 2000 new investigators, but all of them are firing us and we just can´t find them. After trying everything that we could and passing by and talking to everyone a miracle happened. We found him. The friend of a member that has been reading the Book of Mormon but just has not had time to meet with the missionaries. He is in Alma! He loves it. He wants to know more about it. He is so excited. It was a testimony builder to me that AFTER we do all we can that God will come in and do the rest. Just like the atonement. He will do the rest. 

Just one of the few lessons I have learned from being a missionary. I have learned so many it´s hard to count, but these are the lessons and the things I will use and know for the rest of my life. It is not about me anymore. Probably the hardest lesson to learn as a 19 year old.

This week in Vitoria we should have a triple dipper, between us and the Hermanas.

Prayer list:

Faith will be baptized this week.

George and Luilli from the hermanas.

Maria and Elisa can know they are ready for baptism. They can just DO IT!!!

Cesar can be baptized on the 12 of Julio.

FIND! FIND! FIND!

I love all of you and thank you for everything! Y´all are the best and I pray for you and I feel your prayers. 

Élder Smiley