Meeting an Apostle of Jesus Christ

 

Hi everyone! Wow, what an amazing week, I don't even know where to begin. I'll start by letting y'all know that baptism number 2 was a success!!! 2 for 2!!!  Roque was an amazing investigator who, like Richard, was prepared to hear our unique message. Such a strong convert. He loves everything about the Gospel and shows his devotion to the Lord by walking an hour and a half every week to make sure that he is in the house of worship to partake of the sacrament. He and Richard both are going to move the work forward out here in Valencia! They love taking in the Gospel and also sharing it with everyone they meet. They are a pair of great missionary converts.

Next, me and my fabulous companion found an incredible family while contacting the streets last week, and we were finally able to meet with them yesterday. It's a  family of three. Mom and dad, and their son. Dad and son share the name of Sergio, and we may or may not have forgotten the mom´s name... oops... anyway, the dad knows the Gospel is true. He knows it. He knew it immediately. The son was taking in everything we taught him as well. Mom was having a rough time being on board with it though. You know the dad wants his wife to believe it when he is desperately trying to teach her at the same time we are teaching them and he doesn't even know a whole lot about it. The son was also trying to convince the mom. It wasn't until we read a chapter in el libro de mormon with them that there was a change in the mom. The whole cita we were there teaching the spirit was so strong! I was praying my heart out the whole time we were there that the mom would soften her heart a little and just be able to feel the spirit that everyone else was feeling. So we read 2 Nephi 31 with them and that is the chapter all about the Gospel of Christ and following his example. A powerful chapter that I have come to love. So half way through reading the chapter I saw the mom reach up and put her hand on her chest. That's when I knew she felt it. After we finished the chapter, the son was wiping tears from his eyes, and the mom patted her chest and said "Ï FEEL IT". The feelings in that room were beyond description in that moment. After that, the family started asking about coming to church and baptism. Yes I said baptism. So uh guess who might be baptizing a family in a few weeks?? WOO HOO please keep the Sergio family in your prayers. They need this Gospel . They need to be a part of the only true church on the earth. 

Last but not least, I was fortunate enough to be able to get on a train at 6 in the morning Saturday, travel 3 hours to Barcelona and be able to meet and shake the hand of Quentin L Cook. Yes, you heard me right, I met an apostle of Jesus Christ!!! It was an incredible, once in a life time opportunity. He is so inspired, and listening to him talk to the missionaries in the Barcelona mission was so incredible. It is a blessing I will treasure forever. Oh man, what an amazing experience. So I might just brag about it for a second.... I met an apostle!! Feel free to be jealous!! ok, I'm done. But while I was there I ran into the one and only Hermana Gittens! Oh how I adore and love her!! Don't worry missionary mommas, we made sure we took pictures for you guys.  Look at me go, I have run into 2 of the 3 other missionaries serving in Spain from the group. I am hoping to run into all three of them... soooo now I just need to find out how to run into Elder Letts and I will be set!! 

Well it was a great week, and I am looking forward to another great one ahead of me. Thank you for the love, support, the prayers and the emails and letters so send. I love you all! Talk to you next week!

Love,

Hermana Stilson

 

Two Sister Missionaries Walking The Streets Of Valencia, Late At Night Carrying A Huge Picture Of Christ

Hello friends and family!! Another week has come and gone out here in Valencia, and not going to lie, it was a pretty good week. So last week I definitely forgot to mention that I had a baptism set up, and guess what??? I HAD MY FIRST BAPTISM!!! It was so great!!! His name is Richard, and he is from Ghana. OH my goodness, he has been a golden investigator! We found him and he was just so ready to hear and learn about the Gospel. He was a firm believer of the bible, and the fact that we had another book comparable to the bible was like gold to him. He is precious. You should see the Book of Mormon we gave him, it is all marked up, highlighted and full of notes. He has been coming to church with us and asking questions and doing everything that he could to prepare himself for his baptism. It couldn't have come soon enough for the guy. He was baptized Saturday and then Sunday he was confirmed, and received the priesthood, AND he was given a calling. He is now helping teach the Gospel Doctrine class!! Ahh he is just so amazing. He has such a strong testimony, he is going to move the work forward out here in Valencia. Needless to say, my first baptism couldn't have been more perfect. 

Last night I had a pretty cool experience as well. We had a few citas fire on us so basically from the time church got out until it was time to go home for the night, we were contacting in the streets and finding apartments to go door knocking on. It was a jolly good time!! Anyway, my wonderful companion and I decided to do a quick pass by with  recent convert and take her this huge picture of Christ that she has been wanting. So yes, two sister missionaries are walking the streets of Valencia, late at night carrying a huge picture of Christ... picture perfect. Anyway, we saw a family walking towards us on the street, it was a mom, dad, and a 6 year old girl. I nudged my companion and told her that we had to talk to them. So we approached them and in my broken Spanish I told them that we are missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ and asked if we could share a message with them. The parents were quick to turn us down but the little girl ran up to me and told me she wanted to hear my message. Oh my goodness, she was ADORABLE! I squatted down, showed her my jumbo picture of Christ and asked her if she knew who it was a picture of. She excitedly replied that it was her brother. I about died, she was so cute. So I gave her the quick speal about how God is our loving Heavenly Father and we are his children, and that God loves her so much and that he knows who she is. The little girl started cheering and she threw her arms around me saying dios me ama!!!  It was so cute!!!! Her parents were a little startled but asked if we had a card or anything with more information on it, so we pulled out a pass along for them to have, and then they went on their way. I was just so happy that I had the opportunity to share a simple message with a little girl, and by the girls response we were able to catch the attention of her parents. I just love being a missionary. 

Last but not least I can finish with a funny story. Lucky for me, I haven´t had to eat anything too out of the ordinary. Which I am counting my blessing for seeing as members feed us all the time. But this last week we ate at a cute members house and she made delicious meal for us, and to finish she brought us out our own salads. Now the salad looked delicious, except for the fact that it looked as if she had cut up 5 tomatoes alone and put them in my salad. Big ol chunks of tomatoes covering my salad... well I put on my big girl pants and choked quite a bit of them down. It was rough, there were just SO many!!! I finally looked at Sister Gillette and desperately whispered that I couldn't eat any more tomatoes. She told me to toss some on her plate the next time she left the room. Well then the sisters two sons and husband came home and joined us, so I was getting desperate. She got up and left and her husband went to sit behind us on the couch with his sick daughter, so I took my chance to rid my plate of tomatoes. I tried to softly flick some tomatoes onto my comps plate but apparently I don't know my own strength. I launched a tomato a good 4 feet into the air and it soared right onto my companions lap. And to make the situation worse, her boys saw it all happen AND Toni, the lady feeding us, walked back into the room right as the tomato was making its decent into my companions lap. Good thing no one took offence to it and we all had a nice laugh about it. Hahah it was so funny and I didn't end up having to eat the tomatoes at all!!  It was a funny miracle...

Well that's all I have for this past week but I am working hard, teaching as many people as I can find. We have another baptism set up for this Saturday... pray that it goes according to plan, because this guy is another miracle investigator who the Lord prepared for us to teach!!!

Love you all,

Hermana Stilson

Learning Spanish in the middle of the night

Hola mi amigos y familia, que tal? Well another week down in the field, and it is still going so great. I love being out in the field!!! Well, this week has been really good. So much happens in a single day that it is hard to remember all of the good things that happen. But I will try to fill you all in on what has been happening to me this week. To start I will tell you all a little fun fact about my amazing companion. Turns out, she talks in her sleep even worse than I do. For the past 6 nights in a row, I wake up to sweet Hermana Gillette in full conversation sitting up in her bed. Now the first time this happened, I was scared out of my mind but it's almost normal now haha. The best part is, is that the conversations aren't just conversations. They are full blown lessons, in Spanish. hahaha I think I will learn Spanish faster from her sleep talking. The other night I was able to listen to her teach me all of lesson two in Spanish before she collapsed face first back onto her pillow fast asleep. It is great!

So before coming out to the field I understood that some people would not be willing to listen to the wonderful message that we have to share, but I experienced a certain situation that took things to a whole new level. After one of our citas cancelled on us, Hermana Gillette and I decided to do some street contacting before catching the next metro out to our cita. Well, we came across a man who seemed interested in what we had to say, but when we asked if we could set up a time to meet with him to share more of our message with him he said, wait what?? What do you want to do?? So we replied we want to share more of our message with you.... well a look of pure horror crossed his face, and he turned and sprinted away from us down the street. Oh man, Hermana Gillette and I lost it. we were laughing so hard. Never have we ever had someone run away in fear from us. I decided he just felt the spirit so strongly that it scared him. Oh well, esta bien. 

If any of you have been to Spain, you will know all about the oranges and clementines that they have here. They are literally everywhere, and members and investigators will give us bags full of them every time we see them... so that means that right now, as I speak, there are 6 shopping sacks full of clementines in our kitchen... so many. Well Hermana Gillette and I passed one of these orange trees, and we couldn't figure out why no one was stopping to pick and eat any of them. So us being the blondes that we are, went up and picked one and decided to eat it... bad idea! They were not even close to being ripe, and they were thee most sour and bitter things we have ever had the misfortune of having in our mouths. We got some nice pictures of it that I will send you. Never eat the oranges off the trees unless you are absolutely certain that they are ripe. ew, it was gross! The sight of us as we spit them out into the dirt had to have been amusing to by passers. 

Well, there was one thing that I am really trying to focus on now that I am a real missionary, and a fresh new greenie. I decided to always work on becoming perfect. Now becoming perfected in Christ is not just something that will happen overnight, and there isn't a time frame in which we have to reach perfection. The Lord and His love for us, understands that the goal for perfection is achieved one step at a time through obedience. My work towards perfection is completely dependent on my gradual but steady efforts on trying to better myself. To becoming perfect like our savior is having the constant desire to help and lift up others around me, just as the Savior lifts and helps each and every one of us!!!

I love you all, and hope you all have an amazing week!!!

Love,

Hermana Stilson

The Real Work Has Begun

 
Greetings from Valencia!!! Holy smokes, I am officially out of the MTC and am wandering the streets of this beautiful City!! I couldn't have asked for a better area to serve the Lord. The people here are so humble and caring, and the work is absolutely flourishing. Oh and I have thee best companion and trainer in the whole entire world!!!! Long story short, we actually went to school together, and have quite a few friends in common... we just never had the opportunity to meet. But she is WONDERFUL. She is such a strong Disciple of Christ, and she is showing me what it means to be a great missionary. I am learning  how to work and serve the Lord with all that I have. She is an amazing example to me, and all those around her. The Lord knew what he was doing when he put her in my life.
 

 

Well, I experienced my first holiday out in the field, and it was kind of weird. Spain doesn't celebrate Halloween, but it is slowly becoming a thing out here. There were a fair few people with the orange and black decorations, and festivities. It was so exciting to me when I would see a few kids running around the streets all dressed up!! It was sad not seeing the holiday in full swing, but there was just enough to make me feel at home here. Me and Hermana Gillette, tried to make the most out of the day and had some fun with costumes that consisted of some super sweet cape socks!!! Our costume was only possible because of my wonderful missionary moms, Thank you guys so much!! You helped us have an amazing day!!!

Even with the holiday, this week has been super crazy busy!!! I mean traveling to Barcelona from the MTC, than from Barcelona to Valencia, and then desperately trying to unpack.... which still hasn't really happened. And then being thrown straight into the work from the minute I got here. it's been a lot but I love it!! My fantastic companion is a sister training leader so she had to go back to Barcelona two days ago and spend the night there for meetings, so I was left with Hermana Greggory for 2 days. Well that was interesting, she is only one transfer ahead of me so in other words neither of us speak Spanish and neither of us know how to navigate the city yet.... soooo basically we had a huge adventure with trying to go teach lessons with investigators haha it was so great though. we made the most of it and simply relied on the Lord to help us as we tried to do his work.  

We did have a relaxing day on Saturday, our district goes and plays basketball every Saturday. It's a way to try to involve and meet with our investigators better. It was so much fun! It was relaxing and yet hard work because we had to try to show off our American sports skills to our investigators hahaha we are all fairly terrible, but it was still a blast. Going to church was different... Bishop had me get up and bear my testimony hahah you better believe my comp was a champ and she went and stood at the pulpit with me to help translate the things I couldn't say.... I am not sure if that is

typically allowed, but we made it work. I guess I did a fairly good job, because my new ward fell in love with me after!!! Uhh I have had a few dinner appointments already and luckily they have all been yummy... I get super nervous every time though. but mission life is great! P-day has been a huge blessing to me. as much as I love the work, it is exhausting, so a day to recover was well needed. We had to clean our piso this morning before we did anything, and that is what we do every p-day, and mom, I just need to thank you for teaching me how to clean properly!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!! As nice as our piso is, it is old. and the Hermanas living with us are clean people, but they aren't really sure how to do a nice deep clean... I scoured the snot out of our bathroom and it was disgusting!!! I can proudly say that it is sparkly, shiny, and more than anything, it is truly clean now. I have you to thank for that mom. It makes a difference!! Now I just need to teach these other sisters that I live with how to clean hahaha wish me luck with that. I love Spain, I love Valencia, and I love this gospel.... and I am slowly, oh ever so slowly learning to love the language. But thank you all for your prayers and love, it helps so much!! I am so sorry this email is crazy and sporadic, I promise that next week I will have more to fill you in with!!! 

 

Love,

Hermana Stilson

 

 

 

Someone took a Tumble!



 

 

 

GUESS WHERE I AM

 

MOM, DAD, RYAN, AND ANYONE ELSE WHO IS CURIOUS TO KNOW ABOUT ME...Holy smokes I am a real missionary out in the real field!!! So this is what happened. Tuesday morning we packed up and headed out of Madrid to the train station at 5 in the morning. We had a 3 hour train ride straight to Barcelona. When we arrived our mission pres and his wife were there to pick us all up, and oh my goodness they are amazing!! We spent the day at the mission home and pres took us out to see Barcelona for a bit. Then we were assigned a temporary companion for the night to stay with and spend the night in their piso. Wednesday was the day I was waiting for. It was when we were finally introduced to our new companion slash trainer and we finally found out where we would be serving. It was nerve racking just waiting around to find who and where we would be.... and then we found out.... anyone want to guess where I am.... I AM IN VALENCIA!!!!

 

I am in the area that EVERYONE wanted to be in. The best city to serve in out of the whole Barcelona mission!!! It is absolutely amazing out here!!! Oh and by the way, my trainer is a rock star!! She is exactly what I needed. Just goes to show that the Lord does answer prayers!!!! Her name is Hermana Gillette, she is perfect in every single way!!!!!! I will send pictures next time. She is incredible, I could talk for hours about her... and it turns out we went to high school together for a year. We have similar friends, and know the same people, but just never knew each other. It's such a small world. She is showing me the ropes and roads of the mission. It is going to be one great transfer and a half with her before she goes home. But hey, I only have a min today to let y'all know where I am and that I made it safe, I will be on next Tuesday to email. Our normal p-days are Mondays, but because of transfer week, it was a little messed up. 

I love you all so much. Mom, dad, don't forget to email me next Tuesday. Love you so mucho mucho. I am doing great, and I honestly have the best trainer for me. She is not girlie at all, she is down to earth, she is helping me with the language, and basically everything in between. I have been blessed. Oh and my piso is SO nice!! I'll take pictures of it and send it to you guys. I love you!!

Love Hermana Stilson

Sharing the Gospel in the Park

Hi everyone, to start this email off I just want to give a HUGE shout out to all the missionary moms!! That package saved me and it couldn't have come at a better time!! Thank you all so much for all the love and work you pile into those boxes. I have watched you all put several of them together, but I never could have imagined the feeling of actually receiving them. You moms are absolutely amazing, and just know that I love each and every single one of you. I wouldn't have been able to make it though the week without your guys love. Well this week was one of stress, confusion, frustration, nerves, and Spanish... but seeing as those are all things that NO ONE likes, we are just not going to focus on them, I'll just skip to the good and happy parts. I am just going to tell you about the best part of my week, other than receiving my amazing package. So for those of you who don't know what happens every Saturday here at the Spain MTC, we have the opportunity to go to a HUGE park and try to talk to as many people as we can, place a few copies of the Book of Mormon, hand out some pass along cards, share a warm smile, say a cheerful Hola and bear testimonies with those we come in contact with. We basically get to proselyte. I love going to the park, there is always an amazing experience to get out of it. This last week was probably my favorite time that I have gone. So when I went to the park I was fortunate enough to talk and meet with one of the most cold hearted, stubborn, anti religious man I have ever met. He was all about talking with us and willing to hear us out just so that he could try to argue with us. I made enough small talk with the man (in English) to learn that he is a "religious parody" movie critic, who is from Brazil. He travels to other countries to watch their films and

this week he was working in Spain. Yay for us! He started off by asking who we were and what our purpose was to be walking around a park all dressed up talking to strangers. We thought that that was the perfect opportunity to share a quick message with him. So we introduced ourselves as missionaries of the Church and briefly explained that we are here to share our message of joy and happiness with those who desire to hear it. Well our short introduction was enough to get this man going. He proceeded to tell us that we were foolish for believing in such things and that religion is something that the desperate and arrogant make up to fulfill their/our selfish needs. He went on for a while and told us that we are terrible people and the only truly humble people in the whole world are Brazilians and ended by telling us that what we believe in. It is a lie and is wrong and false and made up, and that we are idiots for believing those things. He expressed how sorry he felt that such beautiful girls are stupid enough to make up and think we believe in something that never has and never will be true. At that point my comp was ready to bolt. The whole time he talked to us, I just felt this horrible feeling inside me and it just got worse as he talked. I realized that what I was feeling was pure sorrow and heart ache for this man. I so desperately wanted him to be able to find the happiness and joy in this life that I have found but he was just so cold hearted and not willing to budge on anything. Before my comp could run off crying, I shared a simple testimony with him

just letting him know that regardless of his opinion, I have happiness in knowing for myself that what I believe in is true. I told him that no one can tell me that I don't believe in something unless I don't believe for myself. I told him I was not ashamed of sharing my happiness with others or in declaring the word of Christ, because I know for myself that it is true. I finished by telling him that he won't ever know of these things unless he asks for himself. Then I grabbed his hand, thanked him for his time, and wished him the best. The look on his face as I turned to leave gave me hope that one day he will invite the missionaries into his life. I had never had my beliefs tested before, and because it was, I can now proudly say that I have a stronger testimony of this restored Gospel and Gods love for each and every one of us. Meeting that man was a huge blessing in my life. When I got back from the park I opened my scriptures and the first verse I read was Romans 1:16. it says "for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth." I am not ashamed of this Gospel. I will not be afraid to share its amazing message with all those I meet. I can do all things through Christ. I love you all. p.s. wish me luck, I head out for Barcelona on Tuesday!! I am so excited! I will also be on and emailing on Monday if any of you guys want to send me an email before then.

Love,

Hermana Stilson

One month down, 17 to go!!!

One month down, 17 to go!!! The time is already flying by. It truly does not feel like I have been away from home for a whole month. It's crazy how fast the time flies. But this week has been uneventful to say the least. Just the same schedule as usual at the MTC. But I can proudly say that I have developed a new skill. I am able to make my bed with me still tucked into it until the very last possible moment, and then I finish it while still on top of it in the dark! I am a champ!! Definitely a lifelong skill right there!

Oh my goodness, I just remembered, last week I had the opportunity to go to the Prado Museum!!! I was beyond thrilled!! Ever since my art history class, I have made it one of my dreams to go there, and I did! It was incredible. It was amazing to see how religious people were thousands of years ago, and how they depicted the stories of the bible through art. Almost every painting in there was religious. And 90 percent of them were of Christ. It was so cool to read what the artist was expressing in their work, and how they viewed the life of Christ. Simply amazing and beautiful. If you ever have the opportunity to go to Prado, I highly suggest it!! It is worth it on every level.

Well, the Russians finally peaced out to hit the field. And guess what. The scary Russian elder who tried to kill me last week in the soccer game, actually had a little bit of a crush on me. I would walk into my class to find paper folded roses scattered across my desk, and notes in Russian asking me to add him on facebook and write and email him.... I guess if a Russian man likes you he will tell you by body slamming you to the ground. Who knew. But as tender as his actions were, I am slightly glad that he is now serving in the field. Hopefully he will now be able to focus on serving the Lord.  

 

The weather here went from summer weather one day to dark and dreary the next and I love it! It has been pouring rain all week long but the air is bitter cold, it feels like winter air, with straight rain. It's amazing! So one night you better believe that I snuck out of my prison cell before bed time with my companion, and we danced in the rain in front of the temple. We were soaked to the bone within a minute of standing out there... then a teacher walked out and saw us as he was leaving for the night. I thought we would be busted for sure, but all he said to me was, you're not supposed to be out here... I won't tell, your secret, it's safe with me. Then he walked away. haha i have some great teachers and I am loving this Spanish weather.

I apologize for the short and lame letter this week, I will try to be a little more enthusiastic next week. But I do have a spiritual thought for you all this week, and it's about the power of faith. In this church we believe that the first principle of the gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is the principle on which ALL gospel growth is built. Hoping for things not seen is the perfect definition of faith. We all know the saying seeing is believing but if we switch the order of the words around just a little bit we can apply it to faith a little better. Believing is seeing. Faith is what allowed the brother of Jared to seek and see the Lord. It was faith that allowed lepers to be healed and the blind to see. Through Moses's great faith the waters of the red sea were parted to save the children of Israel. It was only through faith that allowed Abraham to lay his son Isaac on the altar. Because of their faith in the Lord, the stripling warriors lives were saved as they fought for their fathers. Because of faith Joseph Smith he saw and heard God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. And it is faith that will guide my life and bless my efforts as I search for the courage to open my mouth and share the wonderful message of Christ's restored gospel.

I love and miss you all. Keep the emails and prayers coming, they help me more than you can imagine.

Love, Hermana Stilson