March 26, 2012

Hola,

Time is flying!  I feel like March just began a few days ago.  Such is life.

On Tuesday we had Specialized Training in Murcia.  I had the chance to see Elder Shaver, the missionary I trained in Huelva over a year ago!  He is now my Zone Leader.  It was great.  President and Hermana Clegg talked to us about a lot of things that will help us become better, especially about following the Spirit and being willing to sacrifice and do hard things.

On Saturday morning, the elders from Lorca were going to come because they don't have a baptismal font, so we set up the portable one we have here in Huércal-Overa and had it ready to go.  Well, I accidentally told them the wrong time for the bus on Saturday morning, and they missed it.  The next bus wouldn't get them there in time, so they asked us to start filling up the font and they would try to get a ride from some one else.  About an hour after we had started the font, they called and said to turn off the water.  The uncle of the boy that was going to be baptized had come the night before to take him to Alicante to see his cousins, and his mom and told the uncle to have him back that night so he could go to his baptism the next day.  Well, the uncle didn't, and there was a Stake Relief Society Activity in the afternoon that everyone had committed to go to, so we couldn't do it.  But, it's okay, because now the boy and the mom said they will be baptized together.

Yesterday we had some amazing meetings at church.  I felt the Spirit and learned so much.  In the afternoon, we visited a lady named Yuvannis who was baptized in September but can't come to church because of work.  She has no control over it, and she wants to come, but she's not able to at the moment.  We shared a message with her, but by the time it was over I think she taught us more than we taught her.  She talked about the Relief Society Activity on Saturday, and during one of the workshops or talks they saw part of the movie "Forever Strong."  I'm not positive if that was the movie, but from how she described it - movie about rugby, black uniforms, the coach and everything - I think that was it.  Anyway, they saw the part where he has to crawl on his hands and feet for 50 yards with his teammate on his back.  The kid keeps saying he can't do it, he won't do it, and so on.  So, the coach puts a blind fold on him, his teammate gets on his back, and he goes.  The coach is right there next to him.  He keeps asking how far he's gone, how much farther he has to go, but the coach only says, "Keep going!"  "Give it your best!"  "Keep going!"  When he literally could go no further, he collapses after having spent every last ounce of energy.  When he takes the blind fold off he sees that he had gone the whole distance of the entire field!  She related that to us that when we are influenced so much by what we see and hear, we often put limits on ourselves, on our abilities and on our capacity.  But if we concentrate and focus ourselves, we will do and become much more than if we let doubts and fears debilitate our dreams and desires, especially with the help and guidance we have with the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and the plan of happiness that our Heavenly Father has prepared for us.

Everything we do reflects our desires, and when our desires are directed towards God, everything else falls into place.  We are truly happy, and have a firm faith and hope in all those wonderful blessings that the Lord has promised us.

Love,
Elder Fagersten in Spain