Well family,
Looks like all of us had kinda a slow week this week. I was in the piso (apartment) a lot because Hermana Tyler was sick. Poor girl, her first week here and she's in bed sick. She was so out of it and trying to meet everyone at the same time. I felt so bad. Now she is getting better though, so this week should be good. I had a lot of time to read and study and stare at the walls though, so that was fun!
Even though we spent a lot of time in the piso, The Lord still blessed us with miracles. Matthew is preparing to be baptized in March. We don't have a set date, but slowly and surely he is gaining a strong testimony. We also were able to set two dates with Eugenia and Manuel! I'm going to make you wait for their stories though and I'll tell you about all the rest first.
So this week I was talking to Elder Moreno (my district leader) and he told me that my spanish was great. I was so honored. He doesn't speak English, so I'm hoping I heard him right and that's actually what he said haha! Finally though I am feeling strong and confident in my Spanish. I am finally feeling like I really do live here now and I'm not just on vacation. I still have a hard time with certain accents, but for the most part I am doing really well. I love learning new words every day.
I love Martorell. The people here are amazing. We have such a strong relationship with the members and I know we are going to see miracles from it. We are going to focus a lot this transfer on missionaries and members working together. The members are going to catch the fire, I know it. I have a lot of people who call me their daughter. Also, I feel like a part of the branch and not just a missionary. It's amazing. It's definitely different from my relationship with the missionaries at home. I decided that when I get back, I am going to make sure the missionaries feel welcome. It makes such a difference when we can trust the members with our precious investigators. I know that the members here are always going to welcome our investigators.
Okay so now for the fecha (baptism date) stories. Manuel is an older man (and I mean OLDER) from Spain. He met with Elders a long time ago. One day when we were knocking doors, we found him and he told us he didn't have time, but he would come to English class. When they say that it usually doesn't happen. However, the next week there he was in class. We started to meet with him. He has a hard time with his faith because he is very alone. His children don't talk to him and his brother and mom are both dead, so he has no one. He comes to all the activities and he hasn't missed church in 4 weeks. He even came to the baptism that we had. He is so sad and lonely, but he says he feels like he has a family in the church and people who care. This last week we made a fecha for him for the 8th of March! Yesterday, he came up to me and said, "maybe we can change the baptism to the summer, because it's cold right now" haha. It was so cute. I told him the water was warm and that we would make sure the heat was on in the church. He agreed. He is so cute, and he's Spanish! (Rachel doesn't get to teach many Spanish people because her areas are filled with people from different parts of Africa.)
Eugenia is from Columbia. I met her my first week here in Martorell. She is a friend of a woman in our ward. Hermana Oli (the friend) asked if we could help Eugenia move into her new apartment. So we moved her in and she made us dinner. The next week we had a bbq with Oli and Eugenia. We were a little hesitant to start teaching her though because she would always talk about how people from another religions pushed her so much and they would always call and bother her and she hated it. We weren't sure what the good balance was between pushing and teaching. Anyway, we finally started teaching her last week and we had another cita with her on Saturday. She has come to church twice, and she accepted a fecha for the 15th of March! I was shocked at how easily she accepted. She told us though that everything we teach is exactly what she believes. She said it's like she has heard it before. She is perfect!! She's so happy and bubbly too. She comments in church and loves the ward! So now we have two fechas for the month of March!
Well we had a good week even though we were in piso. It just shows that the Lord still will bless us as long as we are doing all we can. My testimony of prayer has grown as well. Before the citas with Manuel and Eugenia, I asked the Lord to help us in our plans to set fechas, and it happened. I know the Lord listens and answers prayers. We just need to search and be ready for the answers. I LOVE THIS WORK!!
Well I'm glad you're all doing well. I miss you all. I'm glad you're safe and I hope everyone is feeling better. Looks like this week was a week of being sick for everyone. Well, get better and have an amazing week. Love you all!!
con amor
Hermana Barker
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