MIRACLE WEEK! 11/26

Ok miracle week! It's been an eventful week, trying new foods like fufu, celebrating Thanksgiving the Spaniard way with paella, yesterday we had two family home evenings in a row.. Which means two dinners in a row. Wow, that is always a fun experience. And of course many miracles that just show that this is God's work! 

Miracle story.

Halloween we decided to knock a building, well this building happened to have 8 floors with 3 doors on each floor. We started knocking from the top floor going down. Well you can only imagine how we had felt when we made it to the third floor without any success. We were debating on whether we should keep going, and finally on the third floor a woman answers. We had so much hope as she told us she knew a few members that lived the floor below her and that she would love to meet with us. We got her contact and set a visit. We ran down a floor and talked to the member (young women's president in the ward) and she told us that she was friends with another family in that piso. We didn't think much of it and looked forward to the visit we had with the woman we had met. Sadly, she informed us that she would be moving in less than a week and didn't have time to meet with us. Well a bit of hope was lost until the member showed up to Noche de Barrio (ward family home eveneing) that next Friday with the other family living in the same piso where the woman had just moved. We met a new family, a woman and her two sons, from El Salvador. They had lots of interest in English and we happily started to help them, offering to come to their house to tutor her son personally. We were able to visit because the new family had not moved in yet. We shared with them the Book of Mormon and they were very interested. However, they informed us that a new family would be moving in and they most likely wouldn't allow visitors. We respected that hoping that we would be able to return in some way or another. Well, a few days later, after the new family moved in the member sent us a message telling us the new family were members and they would love to receive visits from us! We were able to return and teach everyone together, they all came to church yesterday and the ward loved seeing so many new faces. God is guiding every little step of this work! 

Another miracle story, our friends Alfonso and Eli, the family from Venezuela were able to go to the temple with the ward. There were some empty seats on the bus and they excitingly said they would love to go. They had expectations to just see the outside of the temple, but they let them enter the front entrance for about 2 minutes. Yesterday we had a family home evening with them and they couldn't get through telling their experience without crying. They both seemed to be glowing and had such a change of heart. It was the spiritual experience they had been searching for and it was a lot more powerful than they ever thought it would be. What a miracle! There is power in the temple, it truly is the house of the Lord. They still have a fecha (date) for this Saturday if all goes well! Keep them in your prayers.

Well I hope everyone is going strong with the Book of Mormon challenge! I've been reading the war chapters in Alma and I've been able to learn something new this time reading through. In Alma 43, the Lamanites go to attack the Nephites. But the Nephites catch them by surprise, they had Armor protecting their bodies while the Lamanites didn't have any protection. The following questions came to my mind as I read:

How are we building our armor of God? 

Are we preparing for the second coming? Are we preparing for harder times?

 How can we prepare?

 Well as we keep reading in the Book of Mormon it tells us how we can be prepared and build our armor of God.

 We must keep God's commandments and remember him. Do the little things, read daily, pray often, magnify callings, serve!

 As we make little decisions to do these things or not, whether we know it or not we are either building or taking down the armor of God that will protect us when the challenges come.

Love you all! See ya in a few weeks ;)))

Hermana Bangerter 

I forgot about someone!!!!

Last transfer my companion was on a bus back from Bilbao after an intercambio (exchange) and she started a conversation with an 18 year old girl from Vitoria on the bus. They talked the entire time and she told my companion that she believes in God and goes to church, which is reaaaally rare for teenagers from Spain. We weren't able to meet with her until this week, we were having a normal conversation getting to know her and we had the Book of Mormon on the table because we had planned to teach her the story. The whole time, this young girl could not stop eyeing the Book of Mormon. We asked her if she had seen it before and she said it's in her house and her dad had read the whole thing! She was super excited to have one of her own and she made the goal to finish the entire Book of Mormon before next week! There are so many prepared people here!!! 

Happy Thanksgiving! 11/20

Hey all! We had our zone activity today and we've just been going non-stop! We went to an indoor court and played basketball and soccer for three hours. Two sports that I do not play, so I just ran back and forth the whole time because I miss running!

Ok this week has been super great! We did a super fun activity about the plan of salvation. Back story of how it happened, on the train ride from Zaragoza to Vitoria I was with an elder and he told me all about an activity he had done in all his areas. It's called "trip to Hawaii." I loved the idea and decided to throw it together here in a period of about two weeks haha. It was a big success. So what we did. We told the members they we were going on a trip to Hawaii and that's about it. They all came to the church and we acted like they were in an airport on their way to the airplane. We decorated one of the rooms as an airplane and did a take off, but after being in the "air" for a while the plane stopped functioning and it crashes and everyone dies... After, we took them on a tour of each of the kingdoms, with help from the ward members we were able to show a little bit the difference between the kingdoms. We started in the Telestial kingdom, which was a dark crowded room, then the Terrestrial which had a bit more light with people sitting alone in the corners. Finally, we ended in the Celestial kingdom which had a ton of light, music and a family dressed in white greeting everyone as they walked in. Then bishop bore his testimony and we ended singing "Families Can Be Together Forever". It was such a spiritual experience that a few members got very emotional. A lot of members ended up bringing their friends also. So they were able to come and feel the spirit and learn a bit about the plan of salvation!

Our friends here are doing very well with their progression; it is in their own time which has tried my patience a bit. But the Venezuelan family is doing very well, they have been coming to church early to greet everyone and this Sunday they were helping a family who had come to church for the first time! They have expressed to us some doubts about the word of wisdom so we are working on them with that, having faith that they can enter into the waters of baptism!

The Quispe family is doing amazing and they are getting a lot more involved with ward activities and with other members, Camila is still progressing very well and is learning more and more about her true divinity!

Love you all so much!

Hermana Bangerter 

17 Months in the Field 11/12

This week was honestly so crazy, we traveled to Barcelona on Tuesday and got home Saturday afternoon. It was a long trip. But there were so many inspired teachings and I was able to see many members from Barcelona. It was honestly such a great blessing. We also had the area seventy of Europe, Elder Johnson, with us. 

Thursday we had concilio (leadership council) and it was very inspired. President Galli taught about the importance of numbers but he made a big énfasis (emphasis) and this most important number and that is the Number 1. We minister to others one by one, yes we use numbers to see how we are doing and how we can improve, but we should never lose sight that this work is impossible if we don't focus on the 1. We serve others one by one, just as the Savior did.

Hermana Galli taught about repentance. She explained it so simply and clearly, stating, "without repentance, the entire plan of happiness would be frustrated." if we do not repent we cannot return to live with Heavenly Father. Without repentance, our struggles and trials are all in vain. It is only through the power of Jesus Christ that we can be fully healed. Repentance is the "key" that let's us enter God's kingdom. We must be repenting daily and constantly asking "what lack I yet" in order to have our hearts and behaviors change and become more Christ like.

In Alma 10, Alma is preaching the gospel and he says, "repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand." he doesn't say "repent or you will be condemned." he rather explains the great door it opens as we learn to repent daily.

Lastly, Elder Johnson spoke to us about our purpose and staying focused on it. He helped us understand how we can stay focused on our purpose by explaining the law of Moses. It was given to help all remember their God, to live in a way that keeps them focused on God. This worked for many people. However, when the law of Moses was taken away, people were not prepared, they started to put their focus on worldly things and chastise those who were not living the law, they completely lost their focus and became a wicked people. This can be compared to many things in our lives. We each have our agency and it is not our job to judge others. We should strive to be one with our focus on Christ. We need to love the commandments in order to grow and change and become. That is the purpose of the gospel and that can only happen if we keep our focus toward the Savior.

As we came home on Saturday we were still able to see some great miracles in our area. The members are working hard and they had brought lots of their friends to our noche de barrio or "Ward night". María and her family have been continuing to read and pray together. Her daughter Camila told us that she now believes that God exists and let me tell you it's the greatest feeling hearing someone offer one of their first prayers. She prayed with us yesterday and really prayed from the heart. The Venezuelan family we are teaching is still progressing well, they came to church right on time yesterday and we are meeting with them tomorrow! I love this work and the little miracles you get to experience every single day. It is the absolute greatest and brings so much joy.

Love you all!

Hermana Bangerter 

short and sweet 11/6

Hello!

Tomorrow we have concilio (council) and Friday we have zone conference, then we will probably be traveling back to Vitoria on Saturday! It's a super crazy week! 

Honestly this week has been just full of ups and downs. We had an intercambio (exchange) and both of the Hermanas from Santander came to Vitoria and it was super fun! We both worked in different parts of our area, double the work! We had a day very full of rejections, doors slammed in our faces, phone calls hung up on, etc. and after a few days of major rejections I was starting to feel a bit down. Sunday arrived and I went to church with a lot of hope for our friends. The miracle God blessed us with was with our Venezuelan family that we are teaching. They were able to finally move pisos (apartments) and we went to their house on Sunday with a few families from the ward, the bishop came and blessed their piso (apartment) and they were so much happier in a new environment where they can feel the spirit as a family. They also started talking about their baptism with members and making it real!!! Their progression is incredible and you could see such a difference in their faces and attitudes! Another miracle, a few members brought a family member to church on Sunday and I was able to talk to her and she said she is more than willing to meet with us and learn more about the gospel! She seems very prepared and I am very excited to teach her. Our family from Peru that we are teaching is doing very well, they have constantly been asking us to come to their home which has been such a miracle. Their daughter, Camila, offered her first prayer with us and they have started to pray and read together as a family!

We had a Halloween activity and it was a success and we have a few other activities planned here to help get the ward excited about family history! Love the work!! 

Love you! 

Hermana Bangerter