Sabadell Is a land of miracles 12/11

Sabadell is a land of miracles :-)

December 11, 2017

FELIZ NAVIDAD! I can't believe Christmas is almost here. Literally two weeks away! I love the feeling of Christmas. Especially being a missionary, you just learn to appreciate the true meaning of Christmas so much more!

BIG NEWS I hit my six months on Wednesday! Not really news, but I can't believe it to be honest. These past six months have FLOWN by!!

So this week was one of those weeks that just went by so fast and I can't remember much of what happened. Let's be honest it's like that every week ;)

Don't worry though, I can at least remember what happened yesterday. Well yesterday for some reason just didn't start off too well, I got to church just feeling a little stressed about the area and our investigators and all of the above. And of course, I just decided to pray for some help with the area. And wow, God answers prayers. After church we had a cita (appointment) with a man we found in the area book! We met up with him and he said he had talked to missionaries a lot in the past but then they lost contact with him, but now he wants to meet with us and is so eager to learn more! And then, right after this cita (appointment) with him, we were walking away and we heard someone yell out after us "las hermanas". Now this isn't something that happens often here, so we were definitely a little confused. We turned around and saw three girls with a ton of suitcases and bags. It turns out they were just moving here to Sabadell THAT day. One of them is already a member and the other two have already been meeting with the missionaries and they want to meet with us! It was all just such perfect timing.

The more I am here, the more I realize that this work is being guided by the Lord in every single aspect. We are literally just instruments in his hands. He is going to put us where we need to be and when we need to be there and then he is going to tell us what to say. I love being a missionary!

Have a great week!

Love, Hermana Bangerter 

Bitter Cold 12/4

Bitter cold

December 4

First week of the new transfer!!! It's been a great week! So this week the temperature just shot down, SO cold. Yesterday I wore 3 tights, 2 sweaters, 2 coats, a scarf, and a hat. And you could still feel the cold. I don't know how missionaries in Canada or Russia survive hahaha. Anyway having to lead the area all over again has been fun, especially now because I know this place like the back of my hand! We have seen lots of miracles here in good old Sabadell this week! We've been finding finding finding!

So my companion is great!  To sum her up, she literally wouldn't even hurt a fly. No joke. She told me today she feels bad stepping on ants. Hahaha she's just so innocent and cute. I know I'm going to learn a lot this transfer. But she just shines with the spirit and has such a great testimony. 

One thing I learned this week was during a trial of our faith. For some reason I felt inspired to go knock doors in a building that we had never knocked before, I was sure there was someone who was so prepared in there. But I turned out that everyone in that place (and when I say everyone I mean it) just slammed their doors right in our faces. It was definitely not easy, I felt a little discouraged afterward. But we went out to the streets right after and just decided to contact like crazy, not let those people get to us. And we found 3 incredible people in just about an hour right after that happened. It made me realize that sometimes we need a little trial of our faith, or a little hardship, so we can receive these miracles. 

I read a talk this week, called, “God Has a Work for You” and it was talking about how we are put on this earth so that we can help other people and how there are specific people we are put on this earth to help. I've never really thought about it like that. But I really like that way of thinking cause it just changes our natural inward thoughts to looking outward and thinking WHO can be the person I help today? Everyday, every situation, there is someone that needs our help. I loved that! It's so true and as we help these people and look for the people who need our help, it will help us in our own lives. 

Well I love you all. Que tengáis una buena semana hehe (have a good week!!)

Love Hermana Bangerter 

Buenas Noticias and another transfer 11/28

Novermber 28

BUENAS NOTICIAS

Wow so many things have happened in this short week, first off! Transfer week! I'm staying in Sabadell!!!! My companion left to be sister training leader in Valencia! She's amazing and we worked so hard together here in Sabadell and I know she's going to go kill it in Valencia! My new companion is Hermana Carroll, she's from Idaho also! She is so cute! This is supposed to be her last transfer but she extended! So she has two transfers left in the mission! Also, the two Hermanas that were living in our piso, their area got closed down, so we're back to a two man piso! Let me just say I am so excited to be able to stay here another transfer and just continue devoloping relationships with everyone here, especially as my Spanish improves! It's a long time to stay in an area but I know I'm staying here for a reason and I am just so excited to keep working and building this area! 
     So this week we had to opportunity to see Arlen baptized!!!!  It was such a miracle and such a testimony to me that there are people so prepared for this gospel. Arlen is from Venezuela and moved here about a month ago. Her boyfriend is a recent convert in our ward so she came to church with him the first Sunday she was here. We talked to her that Sunday and tried to meet with her but it fell through. So the next Sunday, we talked to her after church and she said, "I want to get baptized, how do I do it?" we met with her that day and set a fecha (a date) for two weeks later. She is so incredible, she loved the lessons and participated in each of them with so many great questions. Her progression in just the two weeks we taught her was a miracle. It was a testimony to me that when we teach people the gospel they are being reminded of what they already knew before this life. She just loved everything we taught her. And the service was beautiful, there was so much support from the ward, and her testimony was so amazing. She was just glowing all day. It was such an amazing experience being able to witness such a great miracle.

    The joy that is felt at a baptism is indescribable, I think I was just like a giddy little girl. There is so much stress and time and preparation put into it, but being able to see someone that you taught be baptized is incredible and I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for guiding us as a companionship and helping Arlen make this incredibly important covenant.

LOVE YOU ALL 


Hermana Bangerter

Some girl fun on a p-day!

Facebook time 11/21

November 21

Facebook and smartphones? \_ :) _/

HI FAMILY AND FRIENDS

So this week has been full of adventures, we had stake conference this Sunday so we had to all load up on a bus and drive two ours to Lleida and two hours back. Then yesterday we had zone conference (reason why I have preparation day today and not yesterday) and got smartphones and Facebook. It's so weird, it's only been 5 months without a smartphone but it still feels so foreign. I'm really excited though; we are going to be able to use WhatsApp so we are going to be able to get into contact with a lot more people. I think we'll see lots of miracles with this new technology in the mission field!

So quick funny story, this literally happened like an hour ago. We were on the usual bus we take to get to the capilla (the chapel) and all four of us Hermanas got off the bus, but one of the Hermanas (Hermana Errigo) (Emily Shrader is actually friends with her haha sorry for the side note) got her shoe stuck in the door as it was opening and she couldn't get it out until the bus driver closed the door and started driving off. So we were all just standing there as the bus drove off with her. Hahaha she got off at the next stop and ran back laughing so hard.

A miracle I have seen this week is just seeing the progression of our investigator Arlen. She is just so incredibly ready for this gospel. She reads all that we ask her to read and comes back with questions and her prayers offers are beautiful. I have just never met anyone so prepared, she loves the gospel and loves learning about it. Her faith has grown so much just in the past week and she getting baptized on Sunday!! It is such a testimony to me that God really does prepare people.

This week, and even more in this transfer, I have really learned just how important faith is. If we have the mentality that we are only going to find 5 new investigators in a week because it is a “hard area” then we are only going to find five. We have to have the faith that God is going to put people in our path and let that faith drive us in this work. With faith, we can accomplish the goals we set so we can push forward this incredibly important work. I have also learned about prayer and fasting. It truly brings miracles; God answers our prayers. I know that God hears and answers our prayers, he is guiding us in every moment. 

 2 Nephi 32:9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.

I love you all! 

Hermana Bangerter 

PS we woke up again at 5 o'clock this morning and went to Barcelona to see the sunrise. SO WORTH IT. It was literally the prettiest thing ever. I love this city so much. 

5 month mark 11/13

HOLA MI FAMILIA today is my 5 month mark whaaaaat

November 13

So this week was just full of emotions. haha Don't worry, all good things. So we have two investigators that have been progressing really well and they both have a baptism date for the 25th of November, we've been meeting with them a lot and just trying to get them to feel ready. One man, his name is Dioke, he has come to church 3 times and he loves the Book of Mormon and he loves how he feels at church. He knows baptism is so important but his whole family is Muslim so he's been trying to talk to them about it but they just won't approve it. It was so sad when he told us that his family didn't want him to get baptized. But he said he is going to work with them little by little, so we're thinking it's going to take a little bit more time for him to be able to be baptized. And Gustavo, he has literally changed so much it is incredible. When we first found him he didn't want to read or pray para nada (not at all) but now he's reading everyday and praying, his progression has been incredible. We have been talking to him a lot about baptism and this week he accepted a baptismal date. It was SUCH a miracle. He has come to church quite a few times and we were really counting on him coming to church yesterday but he called us and told us he couldn't come. That was just devastating, especially because we've been working so hard toward this baptismal date. So yesterday I was pretty bummed cause none of our investigators came to church. I honestly just felt so sad because these people have been progressing and are so interested but then they didn't come to church. So during Sacrament meeting I just felt like the whole world was put on my shoulders, I just didn't know what to do. I prayed during sacrament meeting and just gave it all to my savior, I knew that he could take it for me and it was incredible. I felt so much peace, I knew that it would all work out. And suddenly I just felt so impressed to talk to a woman who had come to church before, she is the girlfriend of a recent convert. I felt impressed to ask her a specific question about baptism, after church I went to talk to her and asked her if she had interest in the church and baptism and she told me she wants to get baptized!!! WHAT! So we met with her right after church and had an amazing cita (appointment) with her, we had a member there and it was incredible. She is so prepared. We set a baptismal date for the 26th of November, we are going to meet with her as much as possible for the next two weeks, she is just so prepared. Its such a miracle!!!! This church is so true and missionary work is so great.

Love you all!

Hermana Bangerter 

También, guess what!!! We're going to have smartphones and Facebook in a week.... How weird is that! Like I'll be using my original account and everything!! So weird! Not really sure how it's going to work but they'll explain it to us next week. What I'm most excited about is WhatsApp because everyone here only has WhatsApp so it's really difficult to get a hold of people with our antiguo (old) phone lol