Hannah in España: #22

Hello to all of my friends in case you were wondering here is what you missed in Alcalá this week:

A little review of my friend Melisa: Melisa is the only one of her family that isn't a member, she's 17 and she is sharp as a knife. She has had the charlas 3 times and numerous baptismal fechas but has never been baptized. Well Melisa loves to do personal progress and so usually we do that with her. And we would talk to her about baptism but she would just simply tell us that she didn't want to baptize herself. She knew that God wanted her to but she simple didn't have the desire. So that is a little confusing but bueno. I remember the last week with hermana Spencer last transfer, we had a lesson with Melisa and both left feeling so strongly we needed to teach the Atonement. So we taught it a little bit and then the last couple weeks those prompting were coming to me so strong again, so as I said last week we really buckled down on the atonement and taught about three different lessons on it. We really felt like we needed to focus on it THAT much... so we did. because you know, teach people not lessons 😎 WELL Hermana Garcia and I were in charge of the mutual activity on Friday for some reason and after the activity, Melisa and her mother pulled us into a classroom and closed the door. Mirna (her momma) said looking at Melisa , "do you want to tell them, or me?" And this is when I knew it was coming EEEEKKK. Melisa said "QUIERO BAUTIZARME" TWO WORDS NEVER HAVE BROUGHT ME SO MUCH HAPPINESS. So we sat down and had a good talk and set three citas with her a week and just gave her a big hug and Ah We are SO happy for her and her family. I really think she is going to strengthen her family so much more and be key to her family. Now we pray that she can have strength to press forward with her desires and go through with it. We are going to be working witht her SO MUCH. After all her baptism is in 18 days and transfers are in 9 days 😅 I hope I can stay for it.

My girl LOE: Loe has been on vacation for about a month and that means she kind of left us in the dust BUT we met with her and had an AWESOME lesson and set three citas with her this week as well. She is so willing to do e everything she can to come closer to God, to read, pray, go to church and everything! The only difficult thing for her is that her husband isn't to gungho about this whole Mormon thing. I've never even met him but she wants so badly for her husband to support her and at least try listening to the missionaries or going to church or something, but he won't 😔 it's so sad because it makes her sad, but she is still super motivated to continue with us. We asked her if she would prepare herself (again ) to be baptized on the 23rd. She expressed these concerns and I just felt in my heart that I should make her a promise. So I made Loe a promise. I promised her that if she would do all that she could to prepare herself that her husband would have a change of heart. She asked me if I really believed that and i said 100 percent yes. She just kind of nodded and thought about it a little bit and then said that she would prepare herself but not commit to a date quite yet. I have hope yet. We are so excited to keep meeting with her 😄

Thursday in the campo- There is a really sweet family who live about 30 minutes away from Alcalá out in the campo. They realize that we missionaries can't make it out there a lot so they sometimes bring food with them to church and give it to us so we can eat it for lunch that day. They are the sweetest and Eva cooks like a master. Well, the father, Javi said that he and his wife were going to come to Alcalá and pick us up so we could eat lunch with them. So we went out to their cute little house in the middle of nowhere. And it was SO FUN. We ate these delicious sandwiches called Serranitos and they are just so dang good. They have a daughter Narea a who is 15and she's adorable. Javi just interrogated us the entire time haha but they are such w fun family. And then yesterday after church she told us that he brought some food that he was going to cook after church and we were all going to eat in the capilla. So that was super fun too, we just had some lunch with some members.

MY JOVEN FRIENDS- like I said, we were in charge of mutual on Friday and we were so pumped because we love the jovens. So we started planning some fun activities to involve the menos activos jovens and made them an assignment to visit a menos activo this week. And then on Sundays we get to help the girls do Personla Progress and it is such a good time. We all get to set goals together and learn together it's so great.

Week of the Atonement- this has been such a fabulous week and I really think it's because we have been studying the atonement of Jesus Christ all weeeeekkkk looonnggg. We taught Melisa about the atonement and some other people to. So we have had the opportunity to teach it many times this week. So because of that we have studied it a whole lot. We have studied it personally and together as a companionship. It has been absolutely thrilling. Also in preparation to hear Elder Holland, we have listened to about 20 of his talks in the mornings and nights and a large amount seem to be about our Lord Jesus Christ. AND added to that is my memorizing of the Living Christ Literally our entire week has been focused on Jesus and I think everyone needs to have every week like that. I'll just share a little of what I have so much enjoyed to learn:

• WE watched the bible video of Jesus Christ suffering in the garden with Melisa just so she could understand the actual event of the Atonement. Although it was a little hard for me to watch, I learned so much about the character of Christ, how submissive, loving, quiet, and meek he was. To go so willingly with the soldiers and to heal so gently the ear of the man who was arresting him. After he had just suffered pain that was so much more painful than the wounded ear.

•Christ suffered the atonement to know how to succor our afflicions (alma 7:12) succor means to "run to" He comes when we need Him and home knows what to do. Something that my friend Elder Holland taught me.

• WE read John 16:33. Christ overcame the world. There is not a single thing. Not a single sin, infirmity, weakness, or pain that Christ didn't overcome. He was sinless yet still knows how it feels to be a sinner. He was perfect, but still knows how it feels to have weakness. He went about doing good and was persecuted for it. He overcame it all to be our Savior and our Redeemer. There is nothing that the power of Jesus Christ can't do for us.

Out of all of the studying I have done this week of the Atonement, though I have been completely lifted and edified by it, I still believe that the best and most effective way to learn of Jesus Christ and come to know Him is when you have to turn to Him and actually use His atonement. You can study it all you want but nothing will give you a firmer testimony than actually coming to taste of His love, like King Benjamin describes. I believe that.

I'm still just a little brown hermana with two braids in her hair and a Book of Mormon in her sweaty right palm, no worries.

Hermana Rust