Getting used to life as a Zone Leader

This week was my first week in my area. It was incredible!!!! Elder Wiscombe is incredible!!!! I love it so much and he is the best companion!!! (I love all my companions)

We have seen so many miracles this past week I think because this next week we will not be in our area hardly at all. Yesterday we went to Barcelona for the leadership meeting and tomorrow we have the zone “focus” (of the which I will be doing with Elder Wiscombe which is a little intimidating) and a zone conference back in Bilbao!!!! It´s great!!! hahaha Fun fact for you. Elder Wiscombe is from Morgan Utah and he knows the Smileys up north. (represent!!!!)

We had a huge activity this Saturday to start off the month of invitation (I will explain this more) and had a huge turn out. It was definitely a huge miracle!!! 

At the activity some members came up to us and told us that they were going to bring 3 friends to church tomorrow and wanted us to help them. What? Miracle!!!

Our investigators and less active came to church 30 minutes early and sat down and read the Book of Mormon. It was just one of those proud moments of your mission.

At leadership conference we made a goal for this June to do something we have never done before, to find 2000 new investigators as a mission. We have never done that before and it would be the miracle of the century. (By the way I think the picture of us at leadership conference is on Pte Pace´s facebook. not sure) I sure hope that we can get our zone fired up about it.

June, the month of invitation. In Europe June is the month of invitation, where every member should invite a friend or a less active to come to church or listen to the missionaries. We are very excited here in Vitoria and I would love to invite every single one of you to take the month of invitation to help some one meet with the missionaries or to come back to church. We have already seen miracles from it.

I got your package and I thank you for that but I do not need any more socks, I think, for the rest of my life. I have a million!!! Thank you so much for the candy!!! WE are so excited to eat away!!!

Vitoria is looking super solid and we are running off the ward and it is incredible! We are working with the members better than ever before and baptisms will be coming and retention will stay so we are pumped!!! We had 5 baptisms in our zone in May, but we are hoping to at least double that in June. I hope everything is going well for you there. Love you!!

Prayer list: 

Mercedes and fam. Baptism on the 14th.

Benita: Read, pray and come to church.

That our mission can find 2000 news.

I love all of you and thank you for everything you do for me!!! Love you all!!!

HELLO VITORIA!!

I am loving it up here in Vitoria! It is still super cold, but it´s going great.

I love my companion Elder Wiscombe. He is an incredible missionary and leader! I love him to death!

I got a good welcome from the WARD!!! of 80 people!!! It is incredible!! The members are so excited for the missionary work and we are super excited for them!

Today is a picture email day I hope you love all of them!

Plus nothing crazy happened this week except for not knowing anything about anything, being hit with the neuby syndrome again and being completely new.  

The new Zone Leaders in Vitoria Zone!  Get ready to dance the Baptize Boogie!!!!

GOODBYE MY LITTLE MEDITERRANEAN ISLAND!!!

Two families, the one we baptized, and the one that referred them!  Love these two families in Menorca

The awesome threesome in Menorca!!

Dave loves this picture, converts and recently reactivated members in Menorca

The last two of the family to go down!!!

NEW ASSIGNMENT NEW AREA SMILES IS A ZONE LEADER IN VITORIA!!!

Dave told us on Mother's Day that he is being transferred to Vitoria.  Back up in the "basque' area of Spain.  Vitoria is by his first area Bilbao.  He has been sent there as a Zone Leader.

It´s 10 minutes before I have to go home and I am busting out this email to be obedient. I am sure I will get you more info and pictures when I can. 

I cried my last night in Menorca with my recent converts and members. It was super hard because I had literally bled with them for 6 months. I loved it and I learned so much!

I love it here. After (literally) a full day of travel (plane,train,bus) we got to our piso in time to call the zone. Everyone was super surprised and super excited. We are excited about all that is happening here! The zone needs a little “umph” right now and President Pace told me that´s why they are sending me. haha I guess he knows I am a little crazy (probably from the letters of Elder Ponce, Alder, and Wilkinson). 

I will never forget what President Pace told me when I got to Barcelona.   He asked for a private interview before my train and he said he is excited and he needs me there in Vitoria to work with Elder Wiscombe (he is an animal!!!) Then he said ,crying,¨ I will never forget what you did in the branch of Menorca.¨ Then we cried hugging each other. It makes me remember that God has his plan and he only puts us in places that he needs us. 

I love all of you!!!

In a missionary threesome, but things are still bright in Menorca

This week Sole could not be baptized because the rest of the family was out of town. It was the worst!!!! We´ll live with it. This Saturday we are looking at 4 baptisms!!!! 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening. President was shocked when I told him that. He told everyone that we have got to invite everyone to church and baptize everyone!!! This week a brave soldier went home.

Elder Dewey had to go home. It was super sad and super hard for all of us. That will be 2 of 3 new missionaries sent here have gone back home. This island is tough stuff. We have been working in a threesome this week and I think through the transfer. I guess we´ll see. This week we are just pushing along. It was a little long. I got sick for half a day and Hermana Pace wouldn´t let me leave the piso. So I cleaned, then cooked, then cleaned again. I almost went crazy! This week we had 2 highlights.

1st a mothers day party on Saturday that was super great! We taught about eternal families and it was incredible! Then we ate and to end it they had a dance with a DJ. They all ¨danced¨ like they were just walking in place. I thought it was super funny and I loved every minute of it. You can tell that our church is full of recent converts because all of them told us after that they have never danced with out being drunk. I thought that was so cool to know how the gospel has changed even the little things in their lives too. 

2nd There was a birthday party for a less active African in the branch so we decided to offer our service in whatever they needed. They looked at us like we were crazy because we wanted to help them but they accepted. We showed up with t shirts over our white shirt and tie and aprons(?) and they got a kick out of that. Then when we went to town cooking and cleaning they were just awe struck! When I was cooking and cleaning super incredibly all the Africans whispered something in their native tongue and then all laughed. Elder Neumiller told me he thinks they said ¨What have things come to when the Africans have white people cooking and cleaning for free.¨ We got a good kick out of it.

You are all in my prayers and I wish you the best of luck! I hope you all can invite someone to a church activity or to meet with the missionaries. I know you will recieve blessings and see and feel what I get to feel everyday when people accept Jesus Christ. 

I love you all!

Prayer list:

1.Sole. Baptism.

2.Mathew and Deya. Baptism

3.Saeli. Baptism.

4. FIND! FIND! FIND!