Tuesday, November 21, 2017

October 30, 2017 ~ Transfer 11 Week 2

Hey all!

We had quite a few miracles and blessings that happened this week. For example:

From Monday: We headed back home from the park, and we were waiting for the metro. We were responding to a message sent from a set of missionaries earlier that day. And then we hop on the train and right in front of us on the same car and same train were these two elders. I hadn't seen them in about a year. How awesome. It was not a coincidence. For some reason we were supposed to find them. But we took them back to piso and one of the elders (who served here before) enjoyed remembering everything about the piso (he served here about a year ago).

Tuesday: This morning we went to the Registro civil (a government building) and thankfully this time they were open (huge blessing, we've passed by quite a few times) And the people at the security were really really nice! The lady asked if we were Jws and we said no, we are Mormons and she was commenting on how sharp we looked haha. We got the papers so that Angie (investagator) and Luis Angel can get married. So now they are super excited about get the process done! 

Wednesday: We went to talk to people in the ghetto called "la Uva" (the grape haha). It's a gypsy town and it's just trashed. We got some hard rejections and then we came across an old lady named Maria Jesus and she was super super nice and let us in. And so we gave her a Book of Mormon and talked about it a little bit. She told us a ton of stories. And then we tried to get her number to talk with her another time and it took probably 20 mins because she kept getting side tracked. And then she shows us all her sons' numbers as if we were able to get to know her sons better through their numbers hahaha. We found out that for one of the sons we already have his number! He is a future investagator (not sure how long along). But how many times do you go to the middle of-no-where and you find a random Spanish lady who let's you in and the missionaries have already talked with her son before...not by chance that's for sure. A miracle.

Thursday: we were talking with people near the airport and we say hi to this older lady and her grandson and she stops us. We find out she's from Honduras and has a relative that is serving a mission. She showed us where they live and invited us to come back one day. And we had lessons. That's a blessing.

Friday: background: last Friday I lost a number of a man that was super awesome. Basically I learned that you can't dial the number without service or it erases...super lame. I was ticked and sad at the same time. But this Friday we went at the same time on the same metro and the same stop and everything- expecting to find him. Nothing. But we did find a Dominican man who met with the missionaries about 2 years ago.  

Saturday: We ate Peruvian food with some members. Chicha morada, lomo saltado, papa a la huacuaina. Super good. Blesings.

Sunday: we had a noche de hogar (a bonding activity with friends and family) in hermana Maria's home. She made some morir soñando which is a Dominican drink with milk, ice, lemon & orange juice and tons of sugar. Really good. But we were able to get a good amount of friends there so that was a lot of fun. And it was good to help our friends get to know some of the members.

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So all of those were a ton of blessings and miracles. Now for the funny parts:

We passed by a Dominican bar and we made friends with a DR dude named Monkey (his nickname). 

While talking with people in the street we found a dude who plays American football here in madrid! Quite cool! He plays for the team out of Coslada I think.

One of the funniest conversations was with a Peruvian on a bench. My companion told me to talk to him and so I went up to him. The conversation wasn't all that funny but as we were talking there was this really short Spaniard man who walked right by us and stuck his cane in the bush behind the bench. He pulls out a crate and a wooden fold up chair. And then he leaves haha. It was super wierd but funny =) like a little leprechaun. And to add to it I started the conversations by saying "Hey, where is the street...oh no...i forgot the name...oh no..." and then I asked him where he was from hahaha. It was great. I had no intention of asking the street name, I couldn't think of a way to start the conversation. And I found out he is from Peru and lives in our area! What a blessing.

In the metro a girl walks buy with a sign and a big smile that says: "regalo abrazos" (I give free hugs). I thought that was cool.

And then there is this young girl in the ward here named Cristina (not the real name) who is in love with my companion. She was sneaking pictures of him during lunch with her family and at the end when waiting for the elevator she comes out and takes a selfie with him. I tried to get in the picture but she angled it away from me hahaha.


And a quick thought:
These two scriptures I've really come to like this past week or so. This first one talks about God preparing His children to hear his word.

Alma 16: 16-17
16 And there was no inequality among them; the Lord did pour out his Spirit on all the face of the land to prepare the minds of the children of men, or to prepare their hearts to receive the word which should be taught among them at the time of his coming—
17 That they might not be hardened against the word, that they might not be unbelieving, and go on to destruction, but that they might receive the word with joy, and as a branch be grafted into the true vine, that they might enter into the rest of the Lord their God.

Heavenly Father really does know his children and what they need. He prepares each of them to hear His guidance if they want it. I know that He can guide us today in whatever it is. Sometimes it's easy to think "wow, the prophets are so ancient how would they know anything I'm going through when they wrote the scriptures so long ago?". But I'm here to tell you that the prophets of the scriptures really did see our day. They wrote the scriptures for our benefit and enjoyment. They wrote to scriptures as the words of God because they were guided in what to write.

2 Nephi 4:15 And upon these I write the things of my soul, and many of the scriptures which are engraven upon the plates of brass. For my soul delighteth in the scriptures, and my heart pondereth them, and writeth them for the learning and the profit of my children.

So...read the scriptures so you can get the guide from Heavenly Father that you want in your life. =) I know it work. That if we read and pray, searching for our answers to even normal questions or questions we don't think have an application from the scriptures - that the answer will come. Sometimes it takes time. Sometimes the answers don't come how or when we want them. But they come.

Have a great week!

Elder Openshaw

1) turtles!
2) a wierd donut shaped thing
3) morir soñando - noche de hogar activity 
4) more morir soñando






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