Short but Sweet 9/11

Hello!

So it wasn't too long since I wrote you and it's been a short weekend! I'm really short on time but I'll just send a few updates!

This weekend our friend Annie came to church which was a HUGE miracle! When we first met her she expressed to us that she was super sad and she didn't really know why. But as we've been meeting with her more and more and she's reading the Book of Mormon daily and using her agency to come to church there is a new light in her eyes. We passed by her house yesterday and you could see such a big difference and she told us she had been listening to the Book of Mormon daily. What a miracle it is to see the power of the gospel work in people's lives!

Ok this is a really random miracle but it testifies of the power of prayer and that God is really looking out for us. It happened last preparation day, it was a zone activity and we all went to a park to play ultimate Frisbee. As the game ends we all go to grab our bags and my companion’s bag had disappeared. We all immediately went to look but of course someone says we need to pray. As a group of missionaries we huddled around praying for a purse that I personally thought we had lost. We ended the prayer and all separated. Within 2 minutes we had found it behind a bush with everything inside except for a few cards that we immediately canceled. What a miracle to see! God listens to our prayers and looks out for us even with all the difficulties passing around us.

Zone conference was super great! We talked about how to be normal missionaries and make sure to be ourselves in the work which is such a key. Finding yourself and being yourself while being obedient is when the true Joy comes!

Well I love you all! Sorry for the short email!!
Hermana Bangerter 

An adventurous week 9/6

Another Whirlwind of a week. We have zone conference tomorrow so we have our preparation day today up in Bilbao. So I have a 5 hour train ride ahead of me!

This week has been an adventure, turns out when you and your companion have only been in your Area for 3 weeks you end up getting lost a lot. But hey it always brings miracles and no matter what God puts people in your path!

This past week there have been ups and downs and many days where you know God is humbling you, the greatest hope about the downs is that you know it will always go up with Christ by your side. One of our friends, Cristian, seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth for a few weeks and we passed by him this past week and were able to teach him the plan of Salvation at the end we were discussing baptism and we were able to show him the video of Christ getting baptized. The spirit was so strong, after the video I asked him how he felt and he said, "me dio ganas de llorar" or in other words it made him want to cry and the sprit was palpable. He told us he wants to get baptized and it's something he knows he needs to do to be with his family forever.

The biggest blessing of the mission is the presence of the Holy Ghost. What an amazing blessing it is to have to time to study the scriptures for an hour a day, pray throughout the day alone and with my companion, give all my time to the Lord, and live a higher level of obedience to be able to be a capable instrument in the hands of the Lord. That's the true joy of the work, being worthy of, listening to, and acting on the prompting of the Holy Ghost.

I also just want to express my love that I have for the scriptures. Every time I prayerfully study them I am able to love them and understand them more and more. There is always something new to learn from them and it's such a joy to be able to know my Savior through them. As I've studied the scriptures this week I've found 3-4 verses that explain just how important it is to know and understand the scriptures that God has given us.
3 Nephi 27:26 and 2 Nephi 29:11

“And behold, all things are written by the Father; therefore out of the books which shall be written shall the world be judged.”

What a blessing it is to have the Book of Mormon so we can know there is such a clear way in what we need to do to return to live with our Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for the knowledge of the Savior and for His atonement that we can use every single day of our lives to prepare us to live with our Heavenly Father again. 

I've been focusing my studies this week on setting goals and plans and how we can use those goals that we set to become a true disciple of Christ. There is a scripture that I found that really is the ultimate test of how we can know what we need to do to be a disciple of Christ. 
Luke 14:33 
“So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”
We can use this scripture to do a personal analysis. Ask ourselves if we our willing to give up our:
-Habits
-passions
-attitudes 
-desires, etc. 
To follow the will of the Lord?
Are the goals we are setting in our lives what the Lord wants us to do? If not, we can reset our goals and plans in order to truly receive those blessings that Lord has in store for us and become a TRUE disciple of Jesus Christ. 

This church is true! 

Love you, 
Hermana Bangerter 

"enjoy what you are doing" 8/27

Another week come and gone! There was a quote from a talk that my sweet mom sent me by my great-grandpa that just perfectly describes missionary work. "once you enjoy what you are doing it no longer becomes work and you get to the point where you don't have enough hours of the day to do what you want to." Wow, such a perfect description. Using the Lords time wisely is so important and enjoying yourself as you do so is so much more important. I love this" work" it is not easy but every second is worth while.

This week we saw such a big miracle! Our friend that we met 3 weeks ago contacting in the street got baptized! He lives in the other ward (my last area) but I had the privilege of seeing his progression and see his baptism. He was one of the most prepared people. He is from Africa and his first language is French. He loves the Lord and wants to start preparing to go on a mission! He is 22 years old such an amazing miracle. The ward just loved him and accepted him so much. There are so many prepared people just waiting to find the truth!

This week I was studying a lot about the Sabbath day because we've been struggling a bit with getting people to church! I found an amazing talk called "this do in remembrance of me" by Elder Holland. He discusses the importance of the sacrament meeting, which to be honest, I didn't understand its importance until I was on the mission. But there were some amazing quotes that I loved.

"to those who stagger and stumble he is there to steady and strengthen us. In the end he is there to save us, and for all this he gave his life. However dim our days may seem they have been darker for the Savior"

He then goes on the explain what the Savior asks of us in this sacred meeting, and he used the scripture Matthew 26:40:

"could ye not watch with me one hour?"

Christ gave everything for us and he asks for our thoughts to be focused on him in this sacred meeting, and he promises if we do so that we will have his spirit poured upon us.

My invitation for all of you is to focus on the Savior this next Sabbath day, put your thoughts toward him throughout the week and prepare yourselves for this sacred ordinance we have the privilege to partake of every week.

I love you all so much!

Hermana Bangerter 

Seeing old friends 8/22

I think this was one of the fastest weeks of the mission. There has been a lot of traveling, lots of learning, and of course, lots of miracles. I started off the week in Barcelona. Wow I love that place, it was just home sweet home. We had a meeting that we call "concilio" it's a meeting with all the leadership of the mission. The meeting was honestly so much fun and it was such a blessing being able to see so many of my friends I've been able to make here in the mission. It was crazy, it was kind of like an MTC reunion because we now have a part of the Madrid mission and a part of the Málaga mission so there were a lot of Hermanas there that were in the MTC with us. 

Something I loved from this meeting we had was a message from Hermana Galli, she taught about how important it is to always act in a way that we can be recognized as disciples of Jesus Christ. It is something that we hear a lot as missionaries and members of the church but it is something so simple yet life changing. If we understand this principle, we will constantly strive to live worthy of the Spirit, being an example, treating others with love and we will see growth in out lives and in the lives around us. 

Another thing we discussed was the importance of a vision. A life vision, mission vision, school vision. What ever it may be, if we know what we want out of something and set goals and make plans to get there it helps us get through the difficulties and helps us know we are on the right path. This teaching made me think about the perfect plan God has created for us. He is the perfect example of making a vision and setting the perfect plan to achieve it. As I was thinking about this topic, I stumbled on a conference talk called "the mystery of life" by Boyd K. Packer from 1983. And he explained with a very clear perspective of our lives here on earth and how God is the Master of this plan and despite the trials and difficulties we face his plan will come to pass. There was a story from this talk that I'm going to end my email with it is a bit long, but I highly recommend reading it. 

"We know that this life is a test, that life did not begin with birth, nor will it end with death.

Then life begins to make sense, with meaning and purpose even in all of the chaotic mischief that mankind creates for itself.

Imagine that you are attending a football game. The teams seem evenly matched. One team has been trained to follow the rules; the other, to do just the opposite. They are committed to cheat and disobey every rule of sportsmanlike conduct.

While the game ends in a tie, it is determined that it must continue until one side wins decisively.

Soon the field is a quagmire.

Players on both sides are being ground into the mud. The cheating of the opposing team turns to brutality.

Players are carried off the field. Some have been injured critically; others, it is whispered, fatally. It ceases to be a game and becomes a battle.

You become very frustrated and upset. “Why let this go on? Neither team can win. It must be stopped.”

Imagine that you confront the sponsor of the game and demand that he stop this useless, futile battle. You say it is senseless and without purpose. Has he no regard at all for the players?

He calmly replies that he will not call the game. You are mistaken. There is a great purpose in it. You have not understood.

He tells you that this is not a spectator sport—it is for the participants. It is for their sake that he permits the game to continue. Great benefit may come to them because of the challenges they face.

He points to players sitting on the bench, suited up, eager to enter the game. “When each one of them has been in, when each has met the day for which he has prepared so long and trained so hard, then, and only then, will I call the game.”

Until then, it may not matter which team seems to be ahead. The present score is really not crucial. There are games within games, you know. Whatever is happening to the team, each player will have his day.

Those players on the team that keeps the rules will not be eternally disadvantaged by the appearance that their team somehow always seems to be losing.

In the field of destiny, no team or player will be eternally disadvantaged because they keep the rules. They may be cornered or misused, even defeated for a time. But individual players on that team, regardless of what appears on the scoreboard, may already be victorious.

Each player will have a test sufficient to his needs; how each responds is the test.

When the game is finally over, you and they will see purpose in it all, may even express gratitude for having been on the field during the darkest part of the contest."

Update on out friends!!!! 

Ok super fast, a man named Bonaventure from my other area here in Zaragoza will be getting baptized next week. He was searching for a strong answer about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and the Hermanas went to visit him and he told them of such a powerful converting experience. 

The night before, he had a dream, in this dream a man approved him and told him he was Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith told him in his dream that the Book of Mormon was true and that he was following the right path and Bonaventure answered him saying that he knows it is true. He woke up the next day filled with joy, knowing exactly what he needed to do. What an amazing miracle!! 

So sorry for the long letter! Love you all!!! 

Hermana Bangerter 

TRIO LIFE AGAIN 8/13

Alright big news! I'm back in a trio!!! Woot woot. It's actually a really funny story. In the transfer meeting they miscounted the number of missionaries coming into the mission. So they didn't call enough hermanas to train. Well, we normally receive transfer calls on a Saturday and leave on Tuesday. Instead we received a call on Tuesday night informing us of the mistake they made and saying they were going to send another missionary here to be in a trio with us! So my companions are Hermana Jenkins and Hermana LeSueur! And Hermana Jenkins (she's from Vegas and she's super super cute I love her) companion super last minute got called to train! Another crazy thing, Hermana LeSueur trained Hermana Jenkins! So her hija is killing her! (Weird missionary language if you have questions feel free to ask). So it's just great we are in a trio until Hermana LeSueur goes home in two weeks!

Well this week a lot of my studies were focused on unity! In our mission we've had a ton of changes and missionaries coming from every mission and it's just crazy. President Galli has been talking a lot about "unidos en cristo" or "United in Christ" so I decided to do some studying and I love it! I found a lot of scriptures that I loved! (Romans 15:5, Psalm 133:1, Mosiah 18:21, 3 Nephi 27:1)
There was a pattern in all of them, they all talk about how the unity is only possible through Christ. And it's so true! Everyone is so different in so many ways and we all have different ideas and ways of seeing things, but if we all strive to become like our Savior and use His atonement daily we can find that peace and unity!
There's a quote I've been thinking about a lot this week from a talk that Court told me to read, "What if Love was Our Only Motive" 
And it says, "when others successes become more exciting than your own, this is when we are starting to feel the love our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for us." 
When we get out of ourselves and focus on the needs and the success of others and rejoice over them, that is when the real joy comes!!

Update on our friend Adalbert, we had a very inspired visit with him and he is rehumbling himself and has recomitted himself to another baptismal date! He's made so much progress and we are so excited to see him be baptized! 

Well I love you all!
Hermana Bangerter.