Salutations!
This has been a weird week.
So MaAngeles is still having problems smoking, so we came up with a genius idea. We decided to fast for her. We went to her house on Tuesday and told her that she was going to stop smoking and we were going to stop eating (for one day.) And everytime she wanted to smoke she had to think about us and about Heavenly Father and how we were there helping her. What a miracle it turned out to be. She has not smoked one cigarette since. I am really in awe.
Wednesday night we took a train to Sevilla and stayed the night in the piso of the Hermanas there and Thursday morning we traveled to Málaga for a conference. Elder Kearon, a seventy, came to visit. It was super powerful. And it was super cool to see everyone. Now as a mission we are attacking our days. We have to jump out of bed in the morning, pour our soul out to God, excersize like fanatics, shower with cold water, eat a healthy breakfast, pour our soul out to God again, and then study with purpose. Basicially start out with lots and lots of energy. I actually think it helps a lot. I'm into this thing. And since we are just a bunch of 20 year olds, it's cool to have a new phrase to shout at eachother. ATTACK THE DAY!
Now I am back in Cádiz.
Luis recieved the priesthood yesterday. He was really excited. The Elders Quorum President bought him a a whole set of new scriptures and the manuals for all of the classes. What a ward.
We are ready to start a new week with energy. The goal of the mission is to have 250 investigators in Sacrament Meeting this next week. I have no idea how many normally come but we are totally going to meet this goal and it'll be exciting.
And that's it.
Have a good week everyone!
Hermana Hannah Ashby
Monday, November 24, 2014
Monday, November 17, 2014
Bautismo
Hey!
It really happened! Se bautizó!
I literally have five minutes. I am the worst time manager in the world. but I will relate what I can.
We had a noche de hogar with Luis, his brother, and his sister-in-law on Tuesday in the house of a member. They were all super happy. We did a fun little object lesson about having a firm foundation. Mangeñes comitted to stop smoking once and for all. And Miguel comitted to staying active for the rest of his life. Without us saying anything to them. Mostly we were just focused on Luis. On Wednesday we went the house of a different member and watched the long movie of The Restoration with Luis. He liked it. Thursday... I don't remember. Oh! We went to his house with a different member (everyone wants to be involved when you have a baptism) and talked about priesthood. He wants to have it. Friday he had his interview. Our District Leader was surprised at how prepared he was. It's mostly bacause after every lesson he has with us he goes home and studies the topic thouroughly on the church website and then prays about it. He almost knows more than us now. Saturday was the baptism! It was incredible. The spirit was so strong. Afterwards, he asked if he could tak to us and he thanked us for saving him. I almost cried. It is all worth it.
We also had more than 10 investigators at the baptism. There were more non-members there than members. I really don't know what happened. Cádiz is on fire.
There was a family in Sacrament meeting that nobody recognized. Luis got up and hugged the father and it was super weird because it seemed like they were members, but they had never been to this ward before and we didn't have time to ask Luis who he was.Then when it was time for his confirmation the man got up and stood in the circle to confirm him. Afterwards we found out that the man was Luis's bestfriend from school but they hadn't seen each other for 20 years or so. He lives in Chiclana, about an hour away. He and his family "just happened" to decide to visit Cádiz this week. WHAT.
We had a cita Saturday night with a new investigator and after church Luis asked us how it went and we told him we talked about The Book of Mormon but we aren't sure thas this guy is really interested. Luis got really serious and he asked us if we rememebered to tell him to pray about it. we told him "of course" and then he told us that this man was going to do it and in a couple of weeks he was going to be baptised. Like that's what always happens. duh.
Well okay so now I have to go. For Reals.
I love you and I miss you! Thanks for all the prayers.
Hermana Hannah Ashby
It really happened! Se bautizó!
I literally have five minutes. I am the worst time manager in the world. but I will relate what I can.
We had a noche de hogar with Luis, his brother, and his sister-in-law on Tuesday in the house of a member. They were all super happy. We did a fun little object lesson about having a firm foundation. Mangeñes comitted to stop smoking once and for all. And Miguel comitted to staying active for the rest of his life. Without us saying anything to them. Mostly we were just focused on Luis. On Wednesday we went the house of a different member and watched the long movie of The Restoration with Luis. He liked it. Thursday... I don't remember. Oh! We went to his house with a different member (everyone wants to be involved when you have a baptism) and talked about priesthood. He wants to have it. Friday he had his interview. Our District Leader was surprised at how prepared he was. It's mostly bacause after every lesson he has with us he goes home and studies the topic thouroughly on the church website and then prays about it. He almost knows more than us now. Saturday was the baptism! It was incredible. The spirit was so strong. Afterwards, he asked if he could tak to us and he thanked us for saving him. I almost cried. It is all worth it.
We also had more than 10 investigators at the baptism. There were more non-members there than members. I really don't know what happened. Cádiz is on fire.
We had a cita Saturday night with a new investigator and after church Luis asked us how it went and we told him we talked about The Book of Mormon but we aren't sure thas this guy is really interested. Luis got really serious and he asked us if we rememebered to tell him to pray about it. we told him "of course" and then he told us that this man was going to do it and in a couple of weeks he was going to be baptised. Like that's what always happens. duh.
Well okay so now I have to go. For Reals.
I love you and I miss you! Thanks for all the prayers.
Hermana Hannah Ashby
Monday, November 10, 2014
Que yo no...
Hola!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are going to have a baptism!!!!! It's like really going to happen!!!!! If it doesn't, it's because a bus ran into Luis, so we are all going to pray that that doesn't happen, okay?
We met with him three times again this week and he is ready to go. We reviewed the baptism interview questions with him and he was almost offended at how "easy" the interview is.
Us:"Are you willing to live the law of tithing for the rest of your life?"
Him: "I'm getting baptized... so, like, duh."
Everytime we have an appointment with him I'm nervous that he's going to back out. But he's still going strong. He cancelled on us on Saturday, and I was momentarily devastated but then he told us it was because a member invited him to go to a Family Home Evening activity for Single Adults (mayores). Way to go members of Cadiz. I am proud of them all!
In Sacrament meeting yesterday, they asked him to stand up and they announced his baptism (THIS SATURDAY AT 7) and he waved at everyone and I felt like a proud parent. But then he leaned over to us and whispered that the whole world was going to show up except for him--and we just stared at him. Then he laughed. And we just stared at him. I think my companion made a nervous giggling sound.
I hope he was joking.
Actually, yesterday was a miracle itself. We had four investigators in church and five less active members. Cádiz is blooming.
I am just excited to be a missionary!
And now I have to go! Ill send you pictures next week!
Hermana Hannah Ashby
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are going to have a baptism!!!!! It's like really going to happen!!!!! If it doesn't, it's because a bus ran into Luis, so we are all going to pray that that doesn't happen, okay?
We met with him three times again this week and he is ready to go. We reviewed the baptism interview questions with him and he was almost offended at how "easy" the interview is.
Us:"Are you willing to live the law of tithing for the rest of your life?"
Him: "I'm getting baptized... so, like, duh."
Everytime we have an appointment with him I'm nervous that he's going to back out. But he's still going strong. He cancelled on us on Saturday, and I was momentarily devastated but then he told us it was because a member invited him to go to a Family Home Evening activity for Single Adults (mayores). Way to go members of Cadiz. I am proud of them all!
In Sacrament meeting yesterday, they asked him to stand up and they announced his baptism (THIS SATURDAY AT 7) and he waved at everyone and I felt like a proud parent. But then he leaned over to us and whispered that the whole world was going to show up except for him--and we just stared at him. Then he laughed. And we just stared at him. I think my companion made a nervous giggling sound.
I hope he was joking.
Actually, yesterday was a miracle itself. We had four investigators in church and five less active members. Cádiz is blooming.
I am just excited to be a missionary!
And now I have to go! Ill send you pictures next week!
Hermana Hannah Ashby
Monday, November 3, 2014
Brujula
Querida familia y Amigos,
I'm sorry I haven't written a ton of details, but I will try to feel you in now.
Cádiz is a city of miracles.
Okay, rewind.
Like my first week here Hna Volpe brought me to a cita with a menos activa. Name: Mari Angeles. Hermanas have been visiting her house once a week for like 15 years now and she hasn't been to church once within those fifteen years.
She was too busy to talk to us, so I asked if maybe we could come back the next week and watch a movie with her. Her husband's whole family was there and so I invited everybody but they kind of laughed at me and made some jokes about watching another movie about Joseph Smith And I was like "awkward, it was going to be a movie about Joseph Smith." So then I told them all that we could watch a different movie, and to just show up. Then we went home and panicked because the only other cool church movies we have in Spanish are either really girly or about Jospeh Smith. So we returned the next week with the plan to watch Saints and Soldiers. Neither of us had acuçtually ever watched it before. We got there and little surprise only her and her husband, Manolo, were there.
Basically it was a disaster. we didn't even have time to finish the whole movie. And as we left I told her that we were going to have an activity on Saturday in the capilla. She said, "no" right off the bat. But then Hna Volpe told her that it was my birthday, so then she asked me if I was really just inviting her to my birthday party and I was like... "yes?" and she told she would come!
And she came! It was a miracle! She had never even been in that chapel because it was built about twelve years ago.
And then she showed up the next day to church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I did a little dance in the hallway after church when she left.
And she has not missed a week since.
We have no idea what changed, or why she has suddenly reactivated herself. But Heavenly Father has let us watch the gospel change her life for the second time. She has to quit smoking and she will officially be açcounted as "rescued" and will be ready for a calling. She told me she didn't smoke even one cigarette yesterday, so it's going to happen. And about three weeks ago we saw her non-member brother-in-law (Luis) walking down the street and invited him to come to church and he came just like that. The next week he brought his inactive brother with him. We started meeting with him last week and he is GOLDEN.
Tuesday, he asked us what he had to do to be Mormon and we taught him about baptism, then invited him to be baptized on the 15th and he accepted! Then we met with him again on Thursday (we teach him on a bench outside of McDonald's because he is a single man and lives alone) and gave him a calender with the baptism date and a list of what we were going to teach him before and he kind of flipped and told us he wasn't ready, and so we asked if we could meet him again on Saturday in the chapel so that we could show him the baptismal faunt and talk more about what it means to be baptised.
Saturday we had a member from Chiclana come with us (she just got her mission call to Argentina, woohoo!) and we had a really spritual lesson in front of the baptsimal fount about the Atonement and how we can use the Atonement by being baptized and through repentance and that is the only way to be free from sin. Afterwards, the member asked him how he felt about meeting with us and he told her the story about how we invited him to be baptized, but he had a lot of doubts. And then he told her that it seemed like now all of his doubts had disappeared.
He came to church yesterday and was inviting people to his baptism.
I am just so happy.
And now I literally have no time.
I love you all,
Hermana Ashby
I'm sorry I haven't written a ton of details, but I will try to feel you in now.
Cádiz is a city of miracles.
Okay, rewind.
Like my first week here Hna Volpe brought me to a cita with a menos activa. Name: Mari Angeles. Hermanas have been visiting her house once a week for like 15 years now and she hasn't been to church once within those fifteen years.
She was too busy to talk to us, so I asked if maybe we could come back the next week and watch a movie with her. Her husband's whole family was there and so I invited everybody but they kind of laughed at me and made some jokes about watching another movie about Joseph Smith And I was like "awkward, it was going to be a movie about Joseph Smith." So then I told them all that we could watch a different movie, and to just show up. Then we went home and panicked because the only other cool church movies we have in Spanish are either really girly or about Jospeh Smith. So we returned the next week with the plan to watch Saints and Soldiers. Neither of us had acuçtually ever watched it before. We got there and little surprise only her and her husband, Manolo, were there.
Basically it was a disaster. we didn't even have time to finish the whole movie. And as we left I told her that we were going to have an activity on Saturday in the capilla. She said, "no" right off the bat. But then Hna Volpe told her that it was my birthday, so then she asked me if I was really just inviting her to my birthday party and I was like... "yes?" and she told she would come!
And she came! It was a miracle! She had never even been in that chapel because it was built about twelve years ago.
And then she showed up the next day to church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I did a little dance in the hallway after church when she left.
And she has not missed a week since.
We have no idea what changed, or why she has suddenly reactivated herself. But Heavenly Father has let us watch the gospel change her life for the second time. She has to quit smoking and she will officially be açcounted as "rescued" and will be ready for a calling. She told me she didn't smoke even one cigarette yesterday, so it's going to happen. And about three weeks ago we saw her non-member brother-in-law (Luis) walking down the street and invited him to come to church and he came just like that. The next week he brought his inactive brother with him. We started meeting with him last week and he is GOLDEN.
Tuesday, he asked us what he had to do to be Mormon and we taught him about baptism, then invited him to be baptized on the 15th and he accepted! Then we met with him again on Thursday (we teach him on a bench outside of McDonald's because he is a single man and lives alone) and gave him a calender with the baptism date and a list of what we were going to teach him before and he kind of flipped and told us he wasn't ready, and so we asked if we could meet him again on Saturday in the chapel so that we could show him the baptismal faunt and talk more about what it means to be baptised.
Saturday we had a member from Chiclana come with us (she just got her mission call to Argentina, woohoo!) and we had a really spritual lesson in front of the baptsimal fount about the Atonement and how we can use the Atonement by being baptized and through repentance and that is the only way to be free from sin. Afterwards, the member asked him how he felt about meeting with us and he told her the story about how we invited him to be baptized, but he had a lot of doubts. And then he told her that it seemed like now all of his doubts had disappeared.
He came to church yesterday and was inviting people to his baptism.
I am just so happy.
And now I literally have no time.
I love you all,
Hermana Ashby
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