Called to Serve

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

First trip back to the islands

Silence Broken! Sorry for the delayed response on this one.

Wow this week has been a crazy one that's for sure. From now until the rest of my mission, there will be weeks where I don't write home on Mondays because there are always things that come up and we have to change our p day a lot, but I will do my best to try and get something home to keep everyone updated.

Things are going very well here in Barrio 8. I feel like I have just come right home. The members and I have a really good relationship from the 6 months that I was here before. We look forward to seeing some miracles as we can work with them to find, teach, and baptize.

Im overall super super tired at this point. Not just because of the time I have on the mission but because of how much work we are doing. Today was supposed to be p day but that one isn't going to happen due to a companion exchange that is going to last the rest of this week! But we have also done a lot of super amazing things too recently! This week we got to go back to the Canary Islands for Zone conference and I was able to work in vecindario, my old area! Got to see a lot of the old members but the best highlight was seeing Jorge. Jorge is an older guy who moved to Spain from Cuba that we were able to teach and baptize when I first got here! He's been very ill and it was so good to see him again because it not only lifted his spirits a lot but mine as well! I also got to see my old buddy Elder Bennett at Zone conference in the islands just before he goes home which was awesome too!

WE had a really cool experience at Zone conference. As part of mine and my companions part we were going to teach the restoration in 4 minutes. The moment we got up to teach the restoration, I could feel the spirit really strong and i just felt a confirmation that what I was teaching was true through the promptings of the spirit that came to me in that moment. I didn't know until after but one of the people in one of the married couples said that they loved our part and asked us if we noticed what happened with the air conditioning. We didn't notice in the moment but the air shut off right as we went into the restoration, giving us complete silence as we taught. We don't know why the air shut off right in that moment, but we were very grateful for the effect it had on helping us to feel the spirit though in that moment.

Im discovering a lot of my weaknesses and imperfections every day. Especially because I feel like I'm kinda teaching alongside Alma and Amulek over here with the way my companions teach with power and authority, and I just see myself as average compared to them, but I'm going to continue to give it all that I've got here and try to be not what I think I need to be, but what the Lord needs me to be right now.

Im very grateful for the way that the mission has helped me to grow stronger in the gospel and at the same time as a person! This one is hard for me, but I think it's a secret to happiness. We've gotta have hope in ourselves and push forward and not beat ourselves up if we only move a little each day. That's all I can do, but a mission has taught me that my baby steps matter to God, so I need to keep taking them.

HAVE a good one!

Elder Baron

Calle Fuerteventura 4, 2, Office 8B

Monday, July 10, 2017

First week once again in Barrio 8

Things are going good here in B8. It's been very busy and I've already had to do some interesting stuff here with my new assignment as assistant. It's not too stressful yet though. We have got a couple important meetings coming up here in the next couple days that should put things to the test.

This week we have taught a lot of new people and had a lot of success. The work is really going well in Barrio 8. My companions are truly one of a kind. First you've got Elder Brady from laguna Niguel who goes home in two weeks, and then you've got Elder Barrales from Chile. They both teach with a ton of power and authority, but most of all with a lot of sincerity. It's really cool to work with the two of them. Every lesson this week has been really really spiritual and we have been able to see the spirit touch the hearts of our investigators in a powerful way. A lot of the people we are teaching though have come from old investigators who the other companionship was teaching when I was here before. Don't know how that happened but bueno.

Besides that, been busy with companionship exchanges and working hard to improve my imperfections every day. Being on a mission has caused me to look back and see many things I can improve on. Not just from my mistakes but also just the way that I was, I see many things I can improve on to be a better disciple of Jesus Christ. I hope to finish off my mission strong and come home a better person when I go home.

I've been super sick since last night with a fever of 101 and all the symptoms of the flu! I got a priesthood blessing though and although I was pretty worked when I got the blessing, and really suffering from the chills, I felt like everything was going to be ok very soon! Today I stayed home and rested and now I am doing way better sincerely! Hopefully I will be well enough by tomorrow and later this week when we travel back to the Canary Islands for Zone conference!

With lots of love!

Ps- these are my companions

Elder Baron

Calle Fuerteventura 4, 2, Office 8B

Gonna miss this guy with all my heart that's for sure!

They made me a cake to say goodbye.... SWIM away!

One awesome family I am going to miss from Azuqueca

Monday, July 3, 2017

See you Later Azuqueca

Well,

This are my last couple days here in Azuqueca! I've been asked to go back to Barrio 8! My companion will be Elder Barrales from Chile and wow I am so excited! I'm so excited to see the people of Barrio 8 again (Barrio 8 means Madrid ward #8). I'm also super exited for this new assignment which means lots of traveling and lots of exchanges with many different missionaries! I also get to work really close along side the mission president with things like transfers, and zone conferences!

This week was a really good one! I wanna share two highlights from the week! The first one was in a chat we were having with an investigator named Sara! We were sharing about the plan of salvation and in the middle of the lesson she was just like, no way, you guys are kidding me. I had a dream years ago and saw all of this. She also told us about how she has a dear grandmother who passed away and that she had so many desires to give her a hug again! We got to explain the principles from the plan of salvation like the resurrection and other things that brought her to tears and helped her feel the spirit really strong! It was quite the experience!

We also had an opportunity to meet with Rosa, Dylan, and Astrid, the three members of the family that we got to baptize a couple weeks ago. We got to share the restauration with them and there was a part in the lesson where I began to tell them how grateful I was to have gotten to know them and wow the emotion overcame me. I had to stop and pause for a good 10 to 15 seconds and realize how grateful I was to my Heavenly Father for the opportunity that he gave me to get to know them!

Other than that, we had some other really great experiences this week. From doing some serious yard work in the yards of the members, to great companion exchanges, to knocking doors in a far away town, to all the great experiences I feel so blessed to have as a missionary! I'm so so grateful for all the wonderful people in this ward and for all the love I have felt from them and for all the work that we have been able to do together!

Life is really good! It's got trials mixed into it every day but it's incredible how much better my life has gone as I have realized that gods hand is in all of it!

I hope you all can see that this week too! Love you!

Elder Baron

Calle Fuerteventura 4, 2, Office 8B