Even if I could write a novel, I just would not be able to fit half of the number of times that I have seen God’s hand this week. It was eternally long and passed in the blink of an eye. My check list has never made me feel so grateful that I am not alone in this. After the craziness of packing last Monday, we had to teach at Concilio, then the next morning we took an early trip to the airport to fly into Vigo. It is STUNNING. Literally the most gorgeous place on earth. We have had so many adventures and are quite utterly and completely lost, always haha. Our area stretches all the way down to Portugal and we missed our train stop and ended up 2km from the border in a little ghost town (well it was medio día, so all pueblos are ghost towns at that time. Don’t mess with a spaniard and his siesta... haha). The culture here is really different than Catalunya and their language is a mix of Spanish and Portuguese and it’s beautiful. It is much cleaner too. We also have to take a ferry to go teach a few of our friends. I am in paradise.
We also had to plan, prepare, organize, and teach in zone conference within 48 hours. The missionaries here are verrrrry different than what I am use to, but I know with patience and love and prayer they will grow to love Barcelona. They are a bit rebellious, but I love them. A dear friend from my BYU tap class is in our zone and it is so fun to get to see her again. She is a remarkable missionary. I adore Hermana Palmer! She is SO fun and a fabulous adventure buddy. We just laugh and laugh with all the craziness that we have been thrown into.
To top it off, I was told I wasn’t going to speak but they called me up anyway. The gift of tounges and the spirit once again took it away. I had some ideas drafted up, but I forgot my notes. Good thing I truly love being in front of people, I wasn’t nervous at all and everyone had huge smiles and seemed to love it. I know the spirit carried it to their hearts.
Meet Dennys.
Walking to meet with someone, we had some extra time, so we were contacting in the center. There was a young man playing the bag pipes and Hermana Palmer said, “We need to talk to him.” We didn’t want to interrupt so we started talking to a few other people. Then PERFECT timing, we say goodbye, and he was walking away, so we ran over to him. He is from Brazil and speaks better English than Spanish, but really good both languages. We invited him to church and a member walked up WHO ALSO SPEAKS PERFECT ENGLISH and bore a powerful testimony. Dennys came to church the following morning and loved it, but afterwards pulled us aside and took us how he did not want to continue living and how empty he was. We sat down and the spirit told me to show him the Surviving Suicide video I acted in. He really connected and we taught him how the hope and joy in life comes through Christ. We gave him the talk Songs Sung and Unsung by Elder Holland.
A few hours later we met with him in the home of some members and he had completely changed!!! He had read it and prayed and come to the realization that God is listening. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and he will be baptized on the 15th of September!! It is amazing the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how it can change someone’s life in the matter of 48 hours. He is eating up the Book of Mormon and he has hope!! He mentioned that he wasn’t planning on playing there that day, but he just felt he needed to. He also told us that he had stopped praying for 6 years and in 24 hours of starting again he recognized how he his life before when he prayed, was still hard, but it was better. He is so excited. He walks nearly 2 hours just to meet with us and to go to church. It is amazing. He is a miracle.
I am so grateful for the blessing it is to know and have that hope. I have been so blessed to learn from and help many who struggle with depression and I want you all to know that YOU MATTER and that YOU ARE HERE FOR A REASON AND THAT IS TO HAVE JOY!! When we have the gospel, and LIVE IT! We are not lost! Ever. Even in the middle of Vigo, with crazy buses and pueblos. I know the spirit is guiding us.
The ward embraced him. They are remarkable! I am so thrilled to get to be here!!
Today we ventured out to Baiona. A GORGEOUS little city and saw a fortress and climbed of la Virgen de la Roca for a remarkable view and just had the best day with the Hansons (the senior couple here that are just like grandparents to us) and Hermana Palmer. I’m making every minute count!
I love you all! And I hope you all can find the miracles all around you in your lives!
I know Christ lives and HE is the source of all joy!
Hermana Read
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