Letter #23

This past week was a tough one. Not tough on me but it was a tough week of work. It is more or less a drought up here, in the sense of the word.  Elder Barragán and I contacted and knocked doors a ton this past week but we saw very little fruits. It has been so hard to get any referrals and when we get them half the time they are wrong numbers. I haven´t gotten down from it but I've been wondering what I need to do to see more fruits of our labors. I realize that sometimes there are just hard times, so that is also a possibility. The work up here in Northern Spain is hard.  If we are lucky we will get 2-3 references after contacting for hours. I am still holding together strong and I am determined to get more referrals this week so we can have more lessons. 

Juan Carlos is doing well. Oh that guy. He is working on a few things so he can get baptized. His date was going to be this coming Saturday but it may be a little longer. We gave him a 15 step plan to dejar fumar and also bought him 4 liters of grapefruit juice to drink after every meal when he has an urge to smoke.  He has ganas to dejarlo but it is still a challenge. He is excited that we are preparing him to get baptized though. He thinks that I am some sort of American God or something, haha.  Que pasa Miles, Que Pasa Miles??

Transfers are this next coming Saturday. I am probably staying here one more transfer but there is always that possibility of me leaving. 

The leaders in my branch all changed so that will be fun to get to know all them and workin with them in ward counsel.

The other week we visited a couple in our branch and they asked us to share something profound. The rest of that day while we were waiting to go to their house we were thinking of a profound message. What I realized is that the message of the restored Gospel is very simple and can be easily understood with an open mind and an open heart.  The profound part about the Gospel are the changes that people make in their lives in order to live according to the Gospel. The message of the Gospel itself is not the profound part, it is the way people change their lives around. The message of the restored Gospel is beautiful and interesting and touches the hearts of God's children through the spirit. But it's what we do with this this knowledge... is what is important. Faith, Repentence, Baptism, Holy Ghost, and Endure to the end. 

I love the Gospel and all the blessings that I have seen in my life from trying my best to live it. No matter what challenges we may have or trials that we must live, the Savior is always there for us and we just have to accept him into our lives. God is our Heavenly Father and He loves us. He wants the best for each and everyone of us. He has blessed us with families and with a modern day prophet that we can learn from.  He has shown us the way to return to him by living a life with more purpose and happiness. These things I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior, Amen.