Hermana Twede: Adventures in Spain: HADES

Holy Hannah on a popsicle stick!! It is HOOOOOOT! Hades decided to
unleash his wrath on Cartagena early this summer so we've been sticky,
hot, and stinky these past few weeks.

Besides it being hot it's been a good week. I don't even know what to
write for this week! We had some crazy things happen that is for sure.
We learned a lot and have grown a lot this week.

At one point of the week, I became very frustrated with the work. I
wish it were easier for me to hide my feelings but......I didn't do it
very well that day. Everyone failed us and no one was answering their
phones and it was hot and I was feeling very.....useless. I sometimes
get myself in these ruts where all I want to do is share the gospel,
do what I came here to do; and when we don't have work, I get
frustrated because I can't do that. So this day I was frustrated and
Hna Palmer knew it so, like the great missionary she is, she suggested
we pray. So she said it and then after I looked at her and asked what
she thinks we should do. "Contact." So we did. We took the car to a
different part of San Pedro and I told her to pull over when she felt
like we should. So we end up parking in a spot we usually park in when
we get out to contact and we hop out. We got in a discussion with a
man and his wife and this man was just telling us how faith is just an
excuse that we use when we can't explain something. They weren't
interested so we gave them a card and kept walking. There were three
people walking to their car and I said hello but didn't stop them and
as we kept walking, all of a sudden Hna Palmer whips around and starts
talking to them in Spanish. She looked to me for some help and so she
started talking to them and one says, "Son...? De donde son.....? Oh I
don't remember." And then Hna Palmer goes, "English?" And all three
go, "YES!!" All from the very south of England. So we have a great
conversation with these people and move on. Next people we contact,
Hna Palmer is the one who stops them....again!! She always apologizes
to me for not being able to help me in contacting but here she was
stopping all these people. They said something and Hna Palmer goes,
"English?" This couple answers, "YES!!" From London area. We have a
great conversation with them and move on. Last people we were going to
contact and Hna Palmer stops them too!! She was on fire. The husband
started speaking a little bit and then she asks them again, "English?"
Both answer, "YES!" North of England this time. All three groups of
people she stopped were ALL from England. So she got to share her
testimony in English with all of them. After, as we were walking to
the car, I just said, "Do you realize what you just did? You stopped
every single person we contacted tonight! And almost ALL of them spoke
English!! Do you know how much God loves you?" Cool experience.

Then on Thursday, we got a call from one of our investigators and he
told us he would be getting off of work early if we wanted to meet.
First: that has NEVER happened. Second: he had told us THE DAY BEFORE
that he could only meet on Fridays for which we set up a Noche de
Hogar for Friday. So we met with him and he first thing he tells us is
he wants to be baptized on the first of July!! WHAT?! Craziness. So we
were freaking out a little bit and then he just kept saying, "I want
the spirit because I know it is going to help me. And I know you guys
are here to help me too." It was a cool lesson. We ended up meeting
with him for the next two nights and we changed his date for the 8 de
Julio so that he's ready in time. But that was really cool to
experience. There's some things he has a hard time understanding, but
he has such a great desire to be baptized so he's doing his best to
keep his commandments and come closer to Christ.

I love the mission. I really do. I've learned so much from training.
We've had some rough days this week but we've learned a lot. I know
that God loves us soooo much and that if we hand everything over to
Him, He will make us better than we could ever imagine. I know that
Jesus Christ is my Savior and that He knows my needs and my struggles.
I know that I can hand my weaknesses over to Him and He will make them
strong. I know that we live in a world that continues to tell us
Satan's lies and tries to make us feel like there is no hope. I was
reading the story about Korihor the past few days in Alma and the last
verse really hit me. It's Alma 30:60 "And thus we see the end of him
who perverteth the ways of the Lord; and thus we see that the devil
will not support his children at the last day, but doth speedily drag
them down to hell." But something I realized is that our Heavenly
Father, when we do His will and keep His commandments, ALWAYS supports
us. He keeps His guiding hand on our shoulder until the end. He walks
by our side through it all and even carries us when we can't walk. We
can hand all of our burdens over to our Savior because His yoke is
easy and His burden is light. I know Christ loves me and my Heavenly
Father is always watching over me. I'm grateful for the opportunity I
have to share that with these people in Spain.

Have a great week!!

Kia Kaha

Hermana Twede