Pictures from Gijon October 26, 2015

October 19th, 2015 Letter

Hi!!

Today we hiked the Cristus statue in Oviedo again, but this week we did it a little differently. We took off at 5:45 in the morning so that we could see the sunrise. Expect there was one problem- there was no sunrise. It was cloudy and rainy and sooo cold. But we did it! It was a great adventure. The pictures I sent basically describe pretty
accurately how freezing cold and cloudy and foggy it was. I only fell down once- and have not ceased to receive crap about it from every single member of my district. I enjoyed it. But I'll probably never do it again- hardest 30 minute hike of my life. Holy cow.

Also, this week, we got permission from President Pack this week to visit the Seventh Day Adventist church. We have an investigator who is a really active member of their church, T. We ran into him on the street and he invited us to come, seeing as he's come to our church once. So we got permission  and went. His family invited us over to
eat with them afterwards, so it was a really full Saturday with the Adventists. I don't know why, but I was really nervous walking in! We definitely got some weird looks, but the people were really nice. I think I was nervous that they were gonna pull out some weird stuff from the Bible that I had never heard about and make me doubt things
in my testimony or something. But it was so the opposite. They are really, really good people with great beliefs and there are a lot of active families that come and seem really happy. They practice their faith and have a really great faith in Jesus Christ which I admired a lot. But I didn't feel the Spirit there. Not at all. They talked a lot
about the Bible. They know a lot about Bible. They talked about why they worship the Sabbath on Saturday and not on Sunday.  They sang some songs but as I was sitting there, I just got this overwhelming feeling of peace and I had the though, "I know my church is true! Nothing they can say could sway me from that. I know what I know and
what I've felt and I have no doubt that it's true". And it was a really relieving moment for me. I think we hear a lot about the importance of keeping our testimonies strong and our faith strongly rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And we hear that so much, at times, that I think we forget that maybe we really DO have strong testimonies. We should never be content with our testimonies, it's a daily nourishment thing. But we can trust in what we do know. I need to give myself more credit, I think! I know the Church is the Church of Jesus Christ. I know that Joseph Smith was and is a Prophet of God. I know the Book of Mormon is true and I know that Christ lives and is always here for us, in every moment. I know it through experience, prayer, fasting and faith. And it makes me grateful to be able to say that. Lunch with his family was really wonderful. They're an amazing family that they were so kind and welcoming to us. They asked us a lot of questions about our beliefs and we did our best to answer them and bring the Spirit. I don't know if they will ever change their beliefs. I don't know if that was the purpose in all of this. But they accepted us into their house and listened. And that meant a lot. We created a great friendship with them and I was grateful for that. It was a good experience. 


This week I was so grateful for my Heavenly Father and His love and patience for me. I love Him and my Savior, Jesus Christ. I know they live.
I love you all, have a wonderful week!

October 12, 2015 Letter

Hi!! 

I was working on this email and then somehow the draft that I was typing got deleted... Ughh. So frustrating!! So I'm gonna have to be brief with a few asuntos of interest, I'm super sorry! I'll answer the questions as quick as I can and then tell you about my week. 

Ok this week was really good! It started off with Concilio. We had to get on a train last Monday at 8 in the morning and we got to Madrid at around 3:30. When we got there, we realized we had a little bit of time to go and have an adventure, so we went downtown (my companion and I) and just enjoyed being back in our home city of Spain. It was really fun. I love being there. We then did splits with the Hermanas in Alcobendas, a pueblo outside of Madrid where President and Hermana Pack live, and I enjoyed that a lot. We found a really prepared lady in the street and I'm hoping that the Hermanas can continue to teach her. Then, on Tuesday, we had our Concilio de liderazgo. It was a 7 hour meeting of just pure Spirit. I loved it SO much. I gained a testimony of, you're not gonna believe this, folding my clothes. We talked about personal grooming and cleanliness and I realized that having wrinkly clothes is not the best. We also learned a lot more about the Sabbath Day and about finding people. It was SO spiritual and I loved it so much. We then planned our zone training meeting that we give with the Zone leaders, hopped on a train at 8:30 that might, and went to Leon, where we stayed with the Hermanas up there. On Wednesday, we did intercambios with the Hermanas. Hermana Jimenez and I were together and it was awesome. She's only got a week in the mission field but she's just such a natural! Perks of going out with the missionaries before the mission. She's from the South of Spain and we just had a blast. Such a spiritual day. We found a golden family on the street, which was exactly what we had prayed for as we left the apartment. Our companions were together, as well, and they had an equally miraculous day. It was so cool. One of the best intercambios EVER. 

Then, on Thursday, we had our zone meeting! It went really well. All of our zone came up and we trained them what we had learned in Concilio. It was really cool. My companion and I talked about keeping the Sabbath Day holy and how it really is what makes the difference between strong families and falling away from the church, eventually. It was a really good thing for me to study for in depth and gain a greater testimony of. We then ate together, packed up, and headed for the bus station with the Elders from our area, SO ready to get back to Gijon. We were thinking we were gonna get on the 5 o'clock bus, but jokes on us, it was sold out by the time we got there. So we're freaking out, super stressed, and we realize that there isn't another bus that leaves until 9. So we're stranded in Leon until 9. We were gonna go out and work again with the Hermanas,  but we didn't want to interrupt their schedule or anything, and we also had our luggage with us that we would have had to haul around. So we sat down with the Elders and proceeded to play UNO for 4 and a half hours. In a bus station. In Leon. It got pretty competitive... Between everyone else. I only won one time. My uno skills are lacking! It was such a weird day but, hey, they come around every once in awhile. We FINALLY got to Gijon at 11 that night, were asleep by 12, and then proceeded to work the rest of the week. Luckily we were able to meet with a lot of people and see progression in a lot of them. We ran from cita to cita to cita. It was amazing and it felt so good after almost a full week of traveling outside of our area. We met with a Lot of members and investigators.

 One of the coolest experiences was with R. She's an active member and was coming with us to a lesson that we had set up in the capilla with F. He ended up not coming because he got called into work at the last second, so we asked R.if we could sit down and teach her a little lesson, because we have the goal of teaching all the members about keeping the Sabbath Day holy, seeing as the apostles are focusing so much on it as of late. We got to know her so much better and she ended up opening up to us about some insecurities that she has as a mom. She's an AWESOME mom, but she is just so down on herself about little things, like having to work and not being able to make homemade cookies for her sons class and not being able to go to his performances. It was so sad because it's so obvious to us how wonderful she is. So we left the cita that we had with a plan. We went during Medio dia, bought some cookie ingredients, and whipped up some cookies for her. Then, at church the next day, we brought the cookies and had her son secretly write her a note about how much he loved her and how grateful he was for her. Then we gave him the cookies at told him to give them to her when he got home. She was SO happy. She texted us and was just really grateful. It was a really sweet little moment. It taught me, again, that what we do as missionaries can take a lot of different forms. R. isn't MA, she's not an investigators. She's an active member with a great testimony. But she's a daughter of God and she needs help, just like the rest of us do. We all have our issues, and as missionaries, we're here to invite people to come unto Christ so that He can help us through our issues that we have. We do that through serving, following the Spirit, and opening our mouths. Im so grateful for the chance that I have to teach Gospel principles, to study them, and then to serve people and help them see the changes that the Gospel brings into our lives. I see it in my own life and it's so cool to see it in the lives of others. I'm praying to see Paola and Fernando get baptized before I leave here, but I know that if I continually do my part, I can accept the Lords timing. :) 

I love you so much! Thank you for all that you do for me, mom! You're an amazing mom and person and I'm so blessed to have been sent to you. I'm doing the best I can do be the best I can be and I know that the Lord, thankfully, is patient with us. I love you! Have a great week! I'm ponderizing Mosiah 2:22 this week- exact obedience in everything. 

Love you!! 

Love,

Sam

Service with a peace sign

Beautiful Pueblo

Leon Cathedral

District Pic

Zone Meeting-the food was awesome!

Leon Zone Hermanas

Good times at the Mission Home

October 5, 2015 Letter

Hey!


We got to spend Saturday and Sunday watching Conference in the capilla that we have in Gijon. We also got to watch it in English which was AWESOME. It's sooo much better listening to their actual voices. There were a few members and our investigator F. that came and watched it with us in English and they all loved it. It was like a spiritual feast. We didn't get to watch Sunday afternoon session but we're hoping we'll have the chance to download it and watch it sometimes this week. It's always a bummer to miss Bednar. But hey, the new apostles seem great! I loved their testimonies. Something that really stuck out to me was how humble they all are. They're Apostles of the Lord and they still are overcome, almost, by their feelings of inadequacy and "painful self-examination". But I loved what Elder Stevenson said about focus on what you can do. And those men can testify with the Spirit. 

Something that I've really seen out here is it doesn't matter who we are, where we've been, what our strengths or weaknesses are, our interests, where we are from, what language we speak- it's not important. What sets us apart is our testimonies of Jesus Christ.

Anyway, my favorite talks (of those that I listened too so far): I loved Elder Hales. Such good advice for me. I felt like he was talking right too me. I love Elder Hollands, as well, because that man is BRILLIANT. His control of the English language makes me want to drool. He also just about scared me out of my desire to be a mom- I WILL NEVER BE READY FOR THAT. It just made me grateful for you, momma. :) I loved Elder Nielsons talk about womanhood. It inculcated a desire in me to be a better, more virtuous, more valiant woman because I know that I was born into this time of the Church for a reason. And loved President Monson, but the fact that he just about fainted on the stand was not cool. I was so scared for him! Ok honestly I loved all of them. Such a spiritually bomb conference. I felt close to Heaven and that confirmed to me that these men truly are in direct and frequent
communication with our Father in Heaven- He's closer than we think. 

We had investigators there and menos actives and they all loved it. One is a Catholic friar and we didn't think he had come until the next day, when one of the members told us he had been sitting next to him and that he drove him home. Our investigator LOVED it. He told us that he wished he would have brought paper and a pen to write down all the inspiration that he had received. Like... Wow.  He was inspired and that was a testimony to me. Ahh. Conference is the super bowl of missionary work. I loved it.

The rest of the week was great. We did trio intercambios with the Hemanas of Leon while waiting for the new missionary to come. It's a little bit weird contacting in a trio but we found some bomb people. One guy was from Zurich, Switzerland and he spoke English and was just so chill. I hope they're able to get somewhere with him. He was chill. We also had a cool experience with this old man we found in a bench in a park that we were contacting in. We approached him and he said- no, no, no, I'm not interested. I don't want anything, thanks anyways. But then we persisted and persisted and we were finally able to share something with him, get to his core beliefs and write down his information. The reason it was cool for me was because this guy looked homeless, smelled really bad, and just didn't seem that interested at all. But as we started to talk to him, I said a prayer, asking to help us have charity and see him through Gods eyes. And it worked. I got a brief glimpse of how much the Lord loves him. He loves all of His children so much. I don't know- just confirming something that I already knew.

September 28, 2015 Letter

Hello Family-

 Here is a typical lay out of our day-
1) We wake up at 7:30. We get out of bed. I pray, bathroom,
and exercise. I like to do jump rope, p90x or go running.
2) Then, at 8, we shower, eat breakfast, get ready and listen to a
conference talk.
3) at 9 o'clock, an alarm goes off, I get down on my knees, pray, and
then I study the Gospel. Right now I'm working on finishing the Book
of Mormon again in Spanish, I ready PMG everyday, and I do activities.
Then, our other alarm rings, and it's 10 o'clock which means that it's
time to do language study,
4) so I pray again, then read conference talks in Spanish out loud
because I'm working on my accent right now.
5) then, we leave because another alarm goes off and we're out the
door. We pray, recite our purpose, grab Books of Mormon and leave.
6) then, were either teaching, contacting, doing pass bys, making
calls, and just doing the work. Trying to be diligent, trying to be
obedient, trying to rely on the Lord and follow Spirit and not get
distracted and not get hurt when people reject you and be persistent
and use every single second of time perfectly.
7) then we come back, eat and rest for an hour, try to use that
diligently by studying and listening to talks and still talking and
being normal. And just. Trying to be good.
8) then we study as companions for an hour. That usually goes well. We
sing hymns. We read together. We practice. We set goals.
9) then we leave again. And we work. Just like we worked in the
morning. We walk the same streets, we try to talk to people, and
honestly...
10) we come home at 10. We plan for the next day. And then we go to bed.
Lots of prayers, lots of diligence, lots of work and lots of really
good things. And I'm trying to do this unwearingly, with good desires
and lots of faith. Usually it goes pretty well.

 I'm sooo happy that I'm staying in Gijon. I love the members here, I love the area. I just hope I can keep working with all my heart until the very end. I have faith in this next transfer. It's gonna be amazing, I know it is. F. should be getting baptized, and hopefully P. as well. We also had a Catholic friar come to church on Sunday and he LOVED it. He's a really great guy, his name is J.M. We were teaching him a few months ago and he went on vacations for a long time, but then he CALLED US and came to church for a lesson. He LOVED hearing about the plan of salvation and he really loved Church. And that makes me so happy. I want to leave this area feeling like I've done everything I can, and now I have more time to do that. Today has been a good day, were in Oviedo with Hermana Ross waiting for her new companion. We went shopping and it's been really nice to just do something different. I'm just starting fresh this transfer, gonna do the best I can and just get things rolling!! I know we have good things to come. I know the Lord is helping us and guiding us.

I'm so happy to hear that Parker made it!! It makes me so happy. I'm so stoked to hear from him. I love you all sooo much!! It's gonna be a great week!! I love you all so much. I know Jesus Christ lives and loves us so much and helps us in every situation I love this Gospel and I love sharing it. And I'm so very grateful to be here! Just gotta live it, apply it and go everyday. I love you so much.

Pictures:

The shoes that I literally wore out and threw away.  My companion and I both sporting blazers and my district.

September 21, 2015 Letter

Hey!! 

 This week was really good. We were out of our area for four days.  We went to Concilio and we did intercambios but ... We a) travelled to Madrid (5 hours on a train...)b) our comments were valued in Concilio. President listened to what we had to say and c) we got to help plan the zone training and then we gave it with the zone leaders. It was an exhausting, weird week and I'm so grateful to be back in Gijon doing work. But I loved experience. We talked a lot about repentance and sacrament and I understood it so much better. It was amazing. This week was a really spiritual experience during sacrament meeting for me and I was so grateful for it. It's just SO COOL that we get to do that every single week. Jesus Christ is amazing to me. The rest of the week went really well. 

Concillio in Madrid

We have a baptism coming up with F. He's awesome. He's getting a new job at the university and he's gonna be able to come to Church every week. Everyone in the branch is really excited about him, us included. He's going to be the 6th of our 5 active priesthood holders right now. It's going to be a huge blessing to a lot of people to have him around. He's a joy to teach. He understands everything, asks great questions and takes it very seriously. He's amazing. 

Paola is also doing really well. We're focusing on repentance and understanding it better with her, so that she can feel more sure about baptism. We've had some great experiences this week and I feel like I just learning so much. 

With P.-the best investigator a missionary could ask for

It's been a little hard finding new investigators but it's a huge goal that we have going into this week. My companion and I are doing great. She's an awesome missionary and just so great to be with. I love her a lot. 

My compa and I with our youth group in Gijon

Oh, also, just a heads up, I got proposed too. There was this member in B8 that fell in love with me and when I got to Madrid for Concilio, he was there at the train station, waiting for me. He gave me a shirt that he made with a picture of us on it and gave it to me, drenched in his cologne. And he was wearing the same one. And then he gave me this letter and told me I had to wait until I got off the mission to read it. Naturally, I read it later that day. He told me he wanted to marry me and that he was waiting for me to finish the mission. It kind of freaked me out, honestly. So I got permission from President Pack to email him and tell him no. It was sort of a fuerte email. But it had to be done. Anyways. 35 year old Ecuadorian men on the prowl over here in #españa. It was an incredibly uncomfortable situation. But it's ok now, I think. 

 I know that Heavenly Father lives and LOVES us. I feel like He has really answered that prayer for me this week. I know that Jesus Christ was and is His Son and that we need Him always, everyday. I know that the love of God should be the reason for everything that we do and say and think. It's a high goal, but He can help us reach it. I know that this is the work of the Lord. I know it. I'm so grateful to be here, and so humbled by it. But I know it's true and I will keep on going. I love you all so much!!  I love my mission and I love all of you!! 

September 7, 2015 Letter

Hey!! 

This week has been long and slow and grey. We did intercambios with the Hermanas in Oviedo on Tuesday. That honestly really threw me off. I was with an Hermana that was struggling with her companion, who is a really good friend of mine. I was trying to help this Hermana and be her friend while still being an example but I left the intercambio feeling like I had sort of let my standards of obedience down a little bit in the effort to try to help her and make her feel loved and everything. I should have been a better example, and the situation caught me off guard. I prayed about it and then called Hermana Pack, the mission presidents wife. She helped me and I decided that I needed to call the Hermana that I did the intercambio with and just talk to her a little more. So I called her and talked to her about some things that had stood out to me from the intercambio and some things that I felt like could help her with her obedience and everything. It wasn't an awful intercambio. It was really good, and she said she felt lifted at the end of it. I just felt bad that I lowered my standards to help somebody feel more comfortable. I did it with good intentions but I didn't feel super great afterwards. I was grateful to be able to call her and talk about it. It taught me a really good lesson- never lower your standards, not ever!! Always stand up for what you know is right. It's something I want to do better at. My accountability is to God, not to anybody else. I'm grateful for the lesson learned, though. It reminded me of a line in my patriarchal blessing- it said that before this life, I was a friend to all and determined to follow the way of the Lord. I thought of that after the intercambio and realized that it's possible to do both. Be a friend to all but ALWAYS follow the way of the Lord. I promised myself that I would do better and make a greater effort to be exactly obedient, especially in the small things. It's a goal that I have for the rest of the mission. 

We weren't able to meet with a lot of our investigators this week. It was a little bit hard, but we have been making an effort to work more with the members and it's been awesome. Slowly but surely. There was a day this week when I literally felt like the adversary was attacking me so obviously. I was struggling during studies with tiredness and ended up reading an article in the Liahona about Joseph Smith with some information that I didn't know about him before. It was a little bit troubling for me, not a lot, just kind of weird. Then, we went to contact and we met a man that had been a member of the church in Ecuador and he got baptized in the Evangelical church here. He was bashing on the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and it was sort of hard to hear. Super sad. I felt sad for him. Then, next person we stopped SCREAMED at us about how  Joseph Smith wasn't a prophet of God and how we're all confused. So weird! Everyone else said no. Like always. But it was just the weirdest chain of events. I felt really down and it was hard for me to hear all that on the same day. And then we found out that the mom of some of the youth in our branch got baptized in the evangelical church and that was really hard- they got sealed in the temple three years ago and she just got really confused. I went to bed that night and just cried- mainly because I just felt so overwhelmed by the whole situation with this mom. It was just such an obvious attack on my testimony and it was weird. But. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I know it. My testimony of him is just as strong as ever. Anyways. Just a weird moment. 

We also got to go to a futbol game with the Browns!! It was awesome, I loved it. I'll write more about it next week and send photos, I ran out of time today. 

I'm so sorry I ran out of time!! But I love you so much!! I'm doing great and loving the mission. I miss you all so much. But things here are going great. Send me pics throughout the week. I love getting them!! Love you!! Read alma 31- two types of prayers. 

Love,

Hermana seeg