February 20, 2012

Hola,
We had a fantastic week.  Zone Conference took place in Málaga, which meant that we had to travel down there the night before.  We took the AVE, which is the high-speed train, from Ciudad Real to Málaga.  We got up to 300 km/hr.  Zone Conference was amazing!!!  President Clegg talked to us about being consecrated missionaries and doing the very best we can.  Some days, our best is just getting through the day, and other days, our best is more than we ever thought we could do.  In either case, the Lord accepts our efforts because He only asks that we do our best.  I'm grateful for the enabling, healing power of His atonement that helps me grow and progress and learn from all of those experiences.  Another part of Zone Conference is that we hear the last testimonies of the missionaries that will return home before the next Zone Conference takes place.  I felt a lot of emotions as I listened to these missionaries that I have known for so long share their experiences and their testimonies of the joy and the truth of this work.  What added to that was that I realized that I will do the same thing at our next Zone Conference!
On Friday night, Elder Barney and I had almost all of our plans fall through.  We are supposed to be in the apartment at 9:45 p.m. and at about 9:40 we walked to the corner of the street that leads up to our apartment.  We decided to go down the street a few more blocks and talk with whoever came across our path, and then come back.  We walked and got totally ignored by the first person we approached, the second person quickly shook off our attempt to start a conversation, and the third person (well, it was actually a couple) told us they didn't have time.  So, a little bit frustrated, we turned around and started back along the same sidewalk we had just come.  We saw a couple and we gave it one more shot.  The girl wasn't so excited to talk to us, but the guy, Isaías (Isaiah) was.  We introduced ourselves and told him a little about the message we share.  Before we said good-bye we had his number written down and we set up an appointment to meet at the church the next day, Saturday afternoon, at 5:00.  By 5:10 on Saturday, we were wondering if he had forgotten, and as we were about to leave, at 5:15, he walked in.  He told us that he had a little trouble finding it and that was why he was late.  We had a great lesson and invited him to come to church on Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m.  He came, right as we started the meeting.  Three other investigators also came to sacrament meeting.  We felt greatly blessed by the Lord, and we are grateful for those miracles, and others that we experienced during the week.
The Lord is very aware of us.  He knows us personally and perfectly.  He has not ceased to be a God of miracles (Mormon 9).
Love,
Elder Fagersten in Spain