This Week! [Letter 18 - Nerja, Spain]

Dear Loved Ones,
This week has been quite the week. We have been working like crazy, of Course. Sadly last week when we reported our numbers Hermana Gibson and I were disappointed because we do all we can. We after some deliberation between us and a lot of time praying we decided to recommit. We continued on. And we have been blessed. Our numbers this week were better. But I think even more then that I have been blessed with a greater perspective on persevering to the end. One example of this great principle is found in our experience on Wednesday. We spent the morning in Torre Del Mar. We kind of had a cita planned with a women, Gladis, who said she could see us in the morning so we cut our studies a little short and caught the bus. We headed for her place but her address wasn't very specific and we couldn't find it.

To make problems even worse we lost our phone. It was in Hermana Gibson's bag and some how fell out and was left in a car of the Massaro's (couple missionaries). We wouldn't get it back until Thursday at our specialized training. To call this women we had to use a payphone. Well when we called to specify where we needed to be she promptly said "I'm busy now with work. You can't come now." and hung up. Okay well we were feeling a little disappointed because both of us knew that we needed to see Gladis. Well we now had the option of contacting or contacting so we contacted. We knocked a couple of doors. We found so great catholics and few Jehovah's Witnesses (Here we call them testigos). (FYI Torre del Mar is full of testigos. If the person behind the door is Catholic they are probably a testigo). We didn't have any luck on finding anyone.

Well we decided to catch an earlier bus back to Nerja and try there. As we were walking to the bus stop Hermana Gibson stopped a man. He was nice but boy can he talk. We ended up missing our bus. So we had another hour and a half until the next one. We had a reference from a member and they lived pretty close. We figured we would go see if she was home. When we walked up them the door was open but no one seemed to be home. No idea. Well Hermana Gibson remembered that there was a family next door from Paraguay. She thought to knock that door. This man answered and was like "oh you need to talk to my sister-in-law." He let us in. A women came out and sat down. As we got to know her guess what her name was GLADIS! She listened to our message and promised to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. It was amazing. The Lord really does bless us. After hours of disappointment and a little frustration about missing our bus we continued to pray, exercised our faith and work. In the end the Lord blessed us with an amazing new investigator.

Also this morning we were studying, like we do, and Hermana Gibson came across an amazing scripture and an explanation that I would like to share with you. I would like all of you to turn to Moroni 8:25-26. If not I have it here:


 25 And the first fruits of repentance is baptism; and baptism cometh by faith unto the fulfilling the commandments; and the fulfilling the commandments bringeth remission of sins;
 26 And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God.

This scripture is full of Action and Results. Repentance results in baptism Faith results in fulfilling or keeping the Commandments Fulfilling the commandments results in a remission of sins remission of sins results in meekness and lowliness of heart meekness and lowliness of heart results in a visitation of the Holy Ghost the Holy Ghost results in filling us with hope and perfect love enduring love comes from diligent prayer

As we discussed these principles another scripture came to mind Alma 37:6 "by small and simple means are great things come to pass." The small decisions that we make daily truly effect the greater result later. This is again exemplified in one of out investigators. As we have discussed the blessing of the gospel with Danny he has said that as he as learned more about God and our message has been a big part of that he has given up hate and anger. He has seen more love in his life. Because he has started praying his life has changed. I have the great opportunity to see this great work in many people. I know that it is a true for them as it's true for me as it's true for you. Stay with it. I know the way is hard sometimes but there will always be light.  2 Nephi 31:20.

I love you all,
Hermana Petru

Also, here is a picture of Sister Petru's district! Notes from her: "This is my District. Elder Valasco is on the right He is the district leader. He is training the other elder, Elder Aveles. Both are native speakers. Fun Stuff!!"

Hola from Nerja [Letter 17 - Nerja, Spain]

My dear loved ones,

Hello! I hope everyone is well. This week I have been working on studying the scriptures for the second lesson in Preach My Gospel. As I have studied the Lord's Great Plan of Happiness I have learned even more about the love of our Savior for us all. I have found two new favorite chapters of the scriptures. I am pretty sure that as I continue to study they will all be my favorite. Anyway, I would like to share with you 2 Nephi 9 and Doctrine and Convenants 138. I just love the knowledge that we have. It is most definately the fulness of times. 

So this week has been a week of growing. After Dia de Diamante my courage to contact leveled and then dropped. I'm still not quite sure what happened. But contacting has again become a struggle. As I have prayed and thought of how to change once to be a better servant of my Savior I have found some interesting things happening. We have been listening to the testimonies of the Apostles and as I have listened to their witnesses I have been amazed at their love for others. Then it dawned on me. Contacting those in the streets is an act of love. As my love for the people here grows my willingness to share what I know also grows. After I realized this great attribute I walked into the streets and they all seem new and different. I am so excited to be a servant of the Lord and continually look for a friend to stop on the street to share the gospel with. I am so grateful to the Lord for this new light and vision. I understand even more the term "a change of heart" mine has seemed to swell with the knowledge of the love of our Savior for ALL His children. I am grateful for His Atonement and the power it gives me to change and become better. I know that everyone has this opportunity and I get to share this great news with everyone. What a great CALLING! 

I have been seeing small miracles all week. The Lord never ceases to bless. I have met some great people with great spirits and great desires to follow the Lord. It is amazing to see their determination and love for the Savior. Its these small points of light that light up the whole room. Also this was the week that I was able to go up to Madrid and collect my residency card. I am now an offical resident of SPAIN. Cool huh. Well I had the opportunity to travel from Málaga to Madrid all by myself. I rode the train into Madrid then figured out how to get from the train to the metro. Then I was able to find the right metro line and get off at the right stop. I found the Office where to collect my card (which took all of 20 minutes after 6 hours of travel). I met some of my friends and fellow missionaries that I know from the MTC. It was so much fun to see all of them again. After lunch I then had to do the reverse all the way back home to Nerja. I made it. All by myself. For me that was a miracle. After such a day it was great to give Hermana Gibson a big hug and go home. Hermana Gibson spent the day in Málaga with the sisters there. All in all it was a good day but we were excited to get back to our area and continue the work. 

I love you all. I hope all is well. 

Hermana Petru

Nerja [Letter 16 - Nerja, Spain]

Well family and friends it has been another crazy week.

Hermana Gibson & I are still doing very very well. We are working as hard as ever. We have a lot of area to cover and we are trying to get to everyone. Our area goes from Benerjafe, velex-Málaga, algarrobo, torrox pueblo over to Maro. That is the outside and then all the way down to the ocean. Our bus trips are like 40 to 15 minutes whenever we go anywhere. Then our district leader asked us to go see some less actives in Almuñecar when we visit a reference from one of the members of our branch. That is a hour bus ride. We spend a lot of time on the bus. We try to contact as much as we can in our travels and we have met some amazing people. In Almuñecar we were running for our bus because we couldn't miss it because we had to be back for a meeting with our branch mission leader. We RUN into the station because we are 5 minutes late and this really nice man asked where we were going. We tell him Nerja and he smiles tells us to take a breath and calm down. The bus hasn't come yet and then proceeds to help us buy tickets. As we are talking like all good missionaries do we ask if he has heard about the Book of Mormon. He says he has but he has always wanted to know more. We got his name and phone number. He lives in Almuñecar. We gave the elders in Motril his info because that is technically not our area.  The Lord definately sends us people to talk with.

Yesterday we went looking for an old future that Hermana Gibson thought we should go see. She wasn't home BUT her husband was. He invited us back. He has had the elders over before but he was really nice. We totally weren't expecting THAT! we are excited to teach them because that is a FAMILY! Families can be together forever. And it is always nice to share that with such a great family.

Investigators are doing very well. We of course have the same ups and downs as every missionary but the Lord never lets the downs last very long. On the days that it seems like no one wants to listen or even cares the Lord guides us to some of our best investigators. I feel very privledged to be able to share this message of the restored gospel of Christ with such great people.

Also we are trying to strengthen the branch. We have a Noche de Rama planned. Well being planned. It is going to be a Family home evening but for the branch. We are really excited. This branch is amazing. They love the Lord so much and are excited to share the gospel with everyone they know. We had a new investigator in church on sunday because one of the members brought him along. They are great missionaries. I hope to be like them when I get home.

Hope everyone is doing well. I love you all. Know you are in my prayers. I will try to write everyone back. It may take me a bit though. Sorry.


Love,

Hermana Petru

Yet Another Week (With Pictures!) [Letter 15 - Nerja, Spain

Well HELLO!!

SO I am sure that everyone is dying to know what our big surprise was this week. Well we had a Dia de Diamante or dimond day. We spent all day in the streets contacting. Hermana Gibson and I went to Friligana and contacted. Mostly we knocked doors. We got 4 references and are planning to follow up this week. After medio dia we went back out with a member named Maricarmen. She was the first member in Nerja. She is one of the nicest ladies ever! We went to Torre del Mar and street contacted. We had only found two people that would actually talk to us and only had an hour left. We had a goal of 20 futures and we were at 6. We knew that our fast on thursday was going to work and we had the faith to find but we weren't sure what to do. Finally Hermana Gibson said that we were going to split up and talk to everyone down this street. As long as I could see her I was okay. So us three went our seperate ways down the street. A lot of people didn´t even listen but I kept trying. This was my first time contacting without my companion. It was all on me to explain in my broken spanish what I want to share. FInally I this really nice lady stopped and actually listened to me. She gave me her number and said to call. I gave her the address to the Church and the time. She said she would try to come. We didn't see her on sunday but I have hope. That would be my very first future all by my self. The Lord trully blesses us. I know I couldn't have done that without Him. We only ended up with 13 furtures that day but I know that we worked hard and the Lord will continue to bless us.

This week has been a struggle for the work. Many of our appointments canceled or told us they didn't want anything from us. We found 4 new investigators that have an amazing attitude about the gospel. One lady gave us her sons' info in Bolivia so we could send missionaries there to teach them. The Members are getting very excited about the work. We are getting many references and offers to have lessons in their homes. This is great because that means that the invistigators have a support network already in place. We are still working on getting investigators to church which is definately the hardest part of the work but I know it will work out. 

One of my favorite lessons this week was with a man who is less active. We taught him the plan of salvation. I was able to testify of why we are here on earth and where we are going. I was also able to tell this wonderful brother that he had the potential to be a God and live with our Father in Heaven once again. He doesn't have to do some trememdous thing like part the red sea or baptize thousands. He just has to keep doing what he is doing by reading the scriptures, praying and going to church. Those things that help him repent and strength his relationship with Heavenly Father. It was so amazing and the spirit was so strong. I feel truly priviledged to be able to serve this way. It made up for every single one of the canceled appointments.

God loves you. I know this chruch is true. I have the great opportunity to add my witness that it is true everyday. I know that the Atonement is real. That we can use it everyday and it heals the heart and soul. I know that only through living the gospel of Christ will be able to be truly happy. Thank you all for your love and prays.

Love,

Hermana Petru

 

1 beach like 5 minutes away.

 

2 Hermana Gibson and Me

 

3 Beach 

 

4 Ocean

 

5 Hermana Gibson and ocean

6 Hermana Gibson and her amazing cooking

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hola de ESPANA [Letter 14 - Nerja, Spain]

Hey there all my loved ones!!

This week was really great. We are working like crazy. We had 16 lessons this week with a goal of 20. We haven hit our goal for 20 lessons yet but we keep praying and working. We will. I know we will. The mission president, President Clegg, has something planned for the whole mission this week. I am really excited for it. I won't tell you what it is yet. Stay tuned for next weeks report and I will report results as well as efforts. I know miracles will be happening this next week. It is going to be GRRRRRREAT!

This week was semana santa. Meaning holy week. so pretty much the whole town goes down to the catholic chapel. The get all dressed up kinda like the KKK and parade up and down the streets with these giant images of Christ and the virgin Mary. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The outfits change and the giant trundels change as the atonement of Christ progresses these three days. Saturday is called silent Saturday. Nothing goes on. Everyone is waiting for the Resurrection of Christ. Then on Sunday the last one parades through the streets. The ones on wednesday, thrusday and friday went right past our piso. Generally right as we were going to sleep. So we got to listen to the Trumpets, drums and wailing/ singing for about 45 to and hour into the night. Very interesting. I heard that the one here in Nerja is tame compared to others here in Andalucia like Málaga and Sivilla. So depending on where I am next Easter we will see how things change.

We are still trying to contact people like crazy. We contacted a few old investigators and they seem to be more open then the last time Hermana Gibson was there so we are teaching some new people for me at least. I am still struggling with Spanish. I am working hard and it seems to be getting better little by little. Mostly I am just frustrated with myself at not picking it up fast enough. I will keep studying, talking, and PRAYING because that is all I can really do. I know the Lord is with me. He helps always. Stay close to Him. I am learning little by little to rely more and more on Him. My pride has kept me from relying completely on Him but I need to remember whose arm and whose work is this really. I know as I continue to strive to put more of my trust in Him I will grow closer and more like Him and He will be able to preform more miracles. Praying for you always. Stay safe. Stay Happy.

Mose 1:39, 2 Nephi 2: 25

Hermana Petru

Another Week [Letter 13 - Nerja, Spain]

HEY THERE!!!
The weeks here just kind of run together because we do so much. We were able to watch two sessions of conference streamed over the web. We haven't seen the second sessions on each day because they play here after our curfew so we are planning on watching those today sometime.

PACKAGES & LETTERS: I have yet to recieve any package or letter from anyone. However, if you sent them to the mission home I have not had a meeting with anyone from Málaga so I will get those later if they were not snatched by customs. If that happened it may cost me an arm and a leg to actually get the package. If you want to send me something the best bet is to send it to my piso address which is the one here in Nerja.

Hermana Petru
c/ la cruz 2, 1A
29780 Nerja (Málaga)
SPAIN

We have two investigators on date. We are working with many more. Our teaching pool is growing. On top of that our branch president has been inspiring the members here and the work is progressing. We have been asked to visit all twenty active members and give them the first lesson this week. That is going to be really good for me to practice my spanish and get to know the members. There are quite a few less actives here. We try to visit with as many as we can on top of finding through our own efforts. We average about 15 new futures and only about 5 take the first lesson. We work hard and invite all to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. We know it is our greatest took in missionary work along side of our testimonies of the truthes it teaches. I love the Book of Mormon. I learn so much from it everyday. I have started reading it in Spanish which is quite a challange somedays but I get going. I learn spanish and also new things about the scriptures everyday. I am now in 1 Nephi 13.

Last week was my first district meeting which was all in spanish. I only caught about a fourth of it but I learned a lot about persevering and also the great importance of the ordinance of baptism. I knew some of it before but I love the simplicity of our Father's plan and also the great importance. The important things aren't great but rather the small things we do everyday. Baptism and keeping our covenants everyday. It is small to smile and uplift another but in the words of Brad Paisley "you are just one person in the world but to one person you are the world." Reading the Book of Mormon, even just a verse, shows our desire to follow the prophets. Praying even a small prayer shows our Father in Heaven that we want a relationship with Him and He will talk back. I know these small things make a life of importance because it is how we perseverar to the end. I invite all to start small and by these small things will great things come to pass.

I love you all!!!

Hermana Petru

Second Week in the Field (Letter 12 - Nerja, Spain)

SO sorry we're so behind, folks. Getting all caught up today.

 ---------------------------------------------

WELL HELLO EVERYBODY!!

This has been quite the productive week I have ever had in my life. We walk everywhere. My shoes are amazing (thank you mom!). We work a lot. Study a lot and then work a lot again. I have one of the best companions in the world. She is very very patient with me. And is very encouraging about my Spanish. I learn so much from her and I seriously couldn't have asked for better. The Lord truly knows us.

This week we mainly went to contact people. Try to get the working moving again after the absence of the missionaries in the area (Hermana Gibson pretty much stayed with sisters in Málaga until I came) so we have contacting old investigators and contacting new ones. We have a couple of new investigators that I am really excited for. One of them is from Germany but has lived here for 12 years so she speaks amazing Spanish but she had fun talking to me in German. I am a little rusty but it seems to come back when I need it. One of our less recent investigators really wants to be baptized but she is having a hard time because of her work schedule. We have been praying and fasting for the Lord to help her and us know how we can help and give her the opportunity to be an active member in His church. I love the people here. I am not great at the language but all of the members are very patient with me and listen and help when I am talking to them. I have been talking more in lessons and trying to bear a semi understandable testimony of the things we teach.

Talking of members!! Our branch mission leader is from England! So cool how many different cultures come together. Anyway, he is very nice along with his wife. They are very helpful and supportive. We help each other with our Spanish. Their accents are so COOL!! If I stay here to long I might come home with one as well as Spanish. LOL

Thank you everyone for your great prayers. I know that parts of the day only happen because of your great faith. Know that I know this church is true. I can feel the power of it every time I recited the first vision or tell someone the Book of Mormon is true or that there is a prophet today in the earth. THIS CHURCH IS TRUE. I can't say it any other way. When we talk with people on the street and they say that they don't believe in God or that He loves us. My heart breaks. I pray for them and I know God with watch out for them. He watches out for you too. :) Know that you are all in my prayers. Be kind to one another and PRAY ALWAYS (Alma 34:18-27)

Love Hermana Petru