BAPTISMO 2 en Benidorm!

HOLAAAA! I am so happy this morning, you have no idea! I am pretty sure I am floating. 

Ok so let me tell you everything. No, there is too much, let me sum up...Itzayana got BAPTIZED last Thursday and her mother Miri is getting baptized this Saturday! How did that happen you ask? Well the Lord works in very mysterious ways. Hermana Noriega and I had been praying and fasting that Miri would finally get her papers cleared to be married in October so that she could get baptized Oct 5th, I knew I´d probably be gone by then so I was resigned to the fact that´d I would miss it even though that it what I wanted more than anything. Miri´s fiance Antonio came to the baptism on Thursday and everything was going so well, we even ate dinner with them as a family the day before (yeah they are the absolute BEST, investigators who feed us? what). But on Sunday right as I was about to start teaching the gospel principles class she told me she was moving and showed me her hand without an engagement ring and started crying. I sat down and talked with her while Hna Noriega stalled the class from starting and she explained all the small details of how the relationship just wasn´t going to work out. I have seriously never felt so bad for someone we have been teaching. It had been in the making for years and years and I thought Antonio would even get baptized too eventually. But I told her that now she could get baptized this Saturday if she wanted and she said she´d think about it and call us. Well she called us this morning and now she is getting baptized this Saturday in the plastic font we have in the chapel! So if a transfer falls upon me at the end of this week I can leave happy with me life complete. Oh and mom, she now works as a consultant for Mary Kay and gave Hna Noriega and I a class on it one day in her house with the whole cleansing process! Hahaha we were like what is going on, how are we so lucky to have her as an investigator?

Now on to the baptism! It was at 8am and our district leader, Elder Tudela came down to baptize her along with his comp Elder Favero. It has always been his dream to baptize someone on the beach so we made it come true for him :) Itzayana and her mom had a baptismal dress custom made for her (who does that? no one. they´re amazing. oh and a custom cake too). So Miguel, Itzayana, and Miri are all baptisms that came from Dagmar, so cool! And we are still teaching two other friends of Miri and Dagmar´s. Hna Noriega and I sang a spanish translation we found of Be Still My Soul since it isn´t in the hymn book here. Everything went beautifully! She got confirmed in the chapel directly afterwards and went to the temple with Miguel and Dagmar and the others from the stake on Friday and Saturday. All of it sounds like perfection, right? Because it issss! I have a permanent smile on my face still. 

Oh and Sunday after I taught gospel principles (I am now the unofficial teacher since Alejandra just had a baby) we were asked on short notice to teach the young women´s class about dating haha. So that was interesting. But it actually didn´t go badly at all and wasn´t awkward either. Today we are going to try to go to a place named Guadelest where there is a castle and monastery but last time we tried it didn´t work out so we´ll see! Next time I write we will know if we have any changes for the transfer...I don´t think so but with all the new girls coming in and my luck I´ll be training yet again haha! 

Keep praying for us and for your own missionary experiences!

Love you all!

Hermana Super Feliz Thompson

fotos!

1. us and itzayana

2. us, her, and elder tudela

3. us, and elders tudela and favero

more in the next email...

more pictures of the happy occasion:

family & friends

Antonio, Itzayana, Miri, me & Hermana Noriega

Hola!

Hey everyone!

Well we have like zero time to email this week because we were playing Risk with the elders in our district and you know how long that game takes haha. Well not much has happened this past week but a lot will happen this week! Itzayana has her baptismal interview tomorrow and gets baptized this Thursday at 8am on the beach! I´m especially excited because she is going to the temple the next day (so is Miguel our other convert)! The temple seriously always helps strengthen testimonies! We also have a goal as a mission to find 555 new investigators THIS week. Which means 7 per companionship. The normal goal standard is 4 and we usually get 2. So it is definitely a high one. One week we got 8 so it´s definitely possible, we just have to work hard. So if you want to pray for anything in particular this week, there you go! We definitely need help on this side of the veil and the other. Oh and last Thursday we had a special training from Pres and Sis Deere so that was fun! Well we are on our second to last week of this transfer and this is the first time I find myself thinking that I want to stay! Weird, but things are definitely starting to pick up and I feel like I´ve hit my groove here in Benidorm. We are definitely seeing more miracles and how the Lord prepares everyone and everything in His own time. Well got to go! Love you all and pray for us especially THIS week! Hasta el lunes que viene!

Hermana Thompson

photo- Elders Dansie, Peña, Me, Hna Noriega, Elder Tudela playing Risk! And Elder Favero taking the photo. I lost. 

Cruzes y Angeles

Holita! 

We had a really good week. Like so good you guys. I don´t know how or why we are so lucky right now. Maybe it´s because Hermana Noriega is here or something, I´m not sure, but maybe the Lord just really loves her haha. Well Itzayana is scheduled to be baptized on the 22nd of this month (unless it needs to be changed). It´s tricky because the temple trip in on the 23rd and we have to make sure her membership record is in the computer system before she goes. Should be interesting...but she is seriously an INCREDIBLE 13 year old. Almost like a mini Joseph Smith. When we were teaching her I asked if she had prayed and gotten any answers about baptism or the Book of Mormon. I wasn´t expecting anything big but she proved me wrong. She said that she prays everytime before she opens up the BOM to have God guide her on where she should read and that before and during the baptism of Miguel that she was praying to know if she needed to get baptized too and she of course got the answer that, yes! you should get baptized! she also went on to say how all the other churches she went to don´t fill her like ours does. and hna Noriega and i are sitting there at the table like uhhhh...you said you´re 13 right? and her mom, Miri, also goes on to tell us all the miracles she has been having lately with almost everything in her life, big miracles too. We also taught them tithing on Friday, and guess what Miri did on Sunday? She paid tithing. Even after we explained that it isn´t needed until after you are baptized. We have two very converted investigators here in Benidorm and we couldn´t be more happy. They are seriously the absolutely most wonderful people I have had the privilege to teach, and meet for that matter. Miri also said we were torches of light for the world in her prayer. I mean, really, I am in love with her. They are also working on Young women´s personal progress! I can´t get over them.  

Oh I also had to give another talk on Sunday but this time I didn´t get the blessing of notice ahead of time. No, right before the sacrament was passed I was asked to give a 7 minute talk since the other person didn´t show up. And I´m sitting there like, come again? Cool. 7 minutes in Spanish without any topic or idea. Thanks. So I spoke about faith and I´m not sure how long I took but I`m pretty sure it was about 7 minutes. And I don´t think it went badly from what I know haha, but when I sat down in the back one of the members was like, so the only problem is I couldn´t hear you at all...yeah. And funnily enough all my dreams last night were members coming up to me and saying that they couldn´t hear my talk either. Those are my forms of nightmares here in the field, exciting right? Everyone´s on vacation no so the branch is even smaller so I wouldn´t be surprised if I have to give another one soon. The blessings of being the senior comp. Oh and someone in the branch who speaks Spanish as a second language told me I was speaking Spanish too fast to her and she can´t understand me! point! 

Last Pday we hiked up this mountain to a big cross overlooking the sea and Benidorm. It was incredibly breathtaking but we are also a bit crazy for hiking so far on what should be our day of rest. I don´t think I have ever been so tired or sweat so much in my life. It is so HOT here. So hot. It´s really hot. But at the end we were talking about how wonderful it would be if rained, just once. And guess what. It started sprinkling. Tender mercies do exist. Today we are attempting to go to a castle in one of the towns nearby so we´ll see if that works out. 

Well, love you all and keep praying for the work! 

Peace and Blessings,

Hermana Thompson

ps...

photos!

1. Miguel, Dagmar, and us at church. He is getting the priesthood and he bought a suit!

2 and 3. Pictures from at the top of the mountain where the cross is at!

BAPTISM in Benidorm! :D

Hola Familia y Amigos! 

So guess what?! WE HAD A BAPTISM!

Miguel got baptized on the beach this last Saturday and was confirmed as a member yesterday in church! And let me just say that we are very happy. First baptism of the Spain Málaga Mission in Benidorm, first baptism of the year, and both our first baptism as well! And we have some pretty cool photos, not gonna lie. We held the service at 8am but there were already some people on the beach (it´s a smaller one out of the way) and then more people came during it, but oh well, we sang and prayed despite the onlookers. The branch president, Presidente Mondol, baptized Miguel and Hermana Noriega and I sang with his wife Nearer My God to Thee for a special musical number. And he gets the priesthood next Sunday. But wait that´s not the end! His recent convert girlfriend, Dagmar, has a mother who was born in the covenant but was never baptized. She believes in the Gospel but also smokes (i gave her steps to quit) but she has said that once Miguel gets the priesthood she wants him to baptize her! So that was such incredible news for Dagmar since neither of her parents are members and her sister is inactive. So we will see what happens and if she will get baptized soon!

Their house is also a fountain of new investigators. We are teaching a woman named Johanna that rents out their downstairs and she is seriously one of the sweetest women ever and so genuine. She asked for a Book of Mormon as soon as we came over for the appointment and at the end asked us for the return appointment first, both of which never happen haha. She also accepted the invitation to be baptized in the first lesson and only needs to look at her work schedule so we can set the date! She also has a 12 year old son who I am sure would get baptized as well.

Speaking of baptisms, we have another baptism scheduled for this month! Remember our angel of an investigator, Miri? Well her daughter, Itzayana (13), finally returned from vacation and we set a baptismal date for the 17th of August with her. There is a temple trip at the end of the month and she wants to go! Her mom suggested she wait and get baptized with her in October but she would not have that idea and so we told her August was definitely a possibility haha. Oh and we are still teaching that 80 year old woman, Carmen, that used to have a baptismal date. She just needs more time to get a little more strength in her leg before she goes to church, but she still understands everything and believes everything we teach as well. She´s the best. And a lot of people actually came to English class this week and they were all investigators so that was a miracle.

Anyway, we are seeing a lot of miracles recently and it is such a blessing. We are actually getting references and contacts through the members and that is exactly how it should be. I haven´t even knocked doors yet with Hermana Noriega which is rare for us here in Benidorm. But Hna Noriega is so sweet and patient so I am lucky to be training her. She is humble and willing to learn even from a trainer as inexperienced as me. Spanish is still a setback from her so I have been talking a lot but in time she will get more and more comfortable. Thanks for all your prayers, love and support! God lives, he knows each and everyone of us so personally and deeply cares about all the small details of our lives. Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. I find myself looking forward to the sacrament more each week, more than ever before. It is through Him that we have the amazing opportunity to overcome our weaknesses and change. Don´t forget that everyone has the potential to change. Everyone has the potential to make it to the temple and the celestial kingdom someday. We just have to see those people as how they can become, not as they are right now. Love you all and keep sharing the Gospel and being an example to those around you. Bless and change lives. 

Hermana Thompson

ps- i definitely had a dream about poor comet as a zombie cat, may he rest in peace in the spirit world until he makes it to the celestial kingdom. and i loved all your face book eulogies you sent me (aka this week i was laughing instead of crying in the Internet cafe haha) he truly was a magnificent creature. 

PHOTOS!

1. Us, Miguel, and his girlfriend Dagmar

2. Us, Miguel, and Presidente Mondol

3. Us and Miguel!

more photos!

1. group picture of those who came in the branch (Miguel is in the blue checkered shirt)

2. baptism in the Mediterranean!

3. coming out of the water!