Tanto Monta, Monta Tanto

Hola!!!!

This week was great

1. I finished the Book of Mormon again, and so I've started reading it in Spanish with the goal that I'm not going to pick my English copy back up until I've finished my Spanish copy. I think Heavenly Father is seeing my efforts though because I feel like I've met half the nation of Spain this week haha. Okay, not true - but I did meet 10 people from Spain and that's way more than usual. I always love meeting people from Spain, even though people from Latin America are usually more open and receptive to the gospel, I just have such a love for the Spanish. I love their culture, I love their accents.. I just love them haha. The people I met came from all different parts of Spain, I met a couple from Barcelona - they spoke Spanish and Catalan! I also met a couple guys from the Madrid area, from Andalucia, and from Basque Country! They spoke Spanish, as well as Euskara! Only two of the ten people I met were interested in reading the Book of Mormon, but they were all such wonderful people and I know that Heavenly Father is mindful of them and that they're hearts will all soften in time.

2. Andrea!! Andrea is getting baptized TOMORROW! We are so so so excited! We aren't sure yet if we'll be able to watch, but either way we will get pictures and she will have made her first promise with Heavenly Father. We are super excited for her, ever since the beginning she was just so ready. This week was crazy for her though, and a couple days ago we realized that she was going to have her baptismal interview, but hadn't yet been taught the law of chastity - which is kind of important. So we kept trying to schedule with her and it just kept falling through - she lived too far away for the Elders to be able to teach her, so it was up to us to get through to her. So we ended up getting permission, and staying up until 10 o'clock at night (which is really late for missionaries haha) so that we could call her once she got off work and teach her the law of chastity so that she could have her interview the next morning. Luckily she didn't have any problems with it haha. But everything went well, and we are excited for her baptism tomorrow morning <3 

3. I can't believe the transfer is almost over - this time next week I'll have a new companion! Since I'm in the office, I already know the entire transfer board, but we've been asked to keep it low key until Monday when everyone else finds out. Sooo... I'll tell you all my companion next week :) Let's just say, I love America. 

4. There's a saying in Spain that goes like this: Tanto monta, monta tanto, Isabel como Fernando. The short history about it is that it's about the Reyes Catolicos, the Catholic Kings. Isabel and Fernando were both rulers of different kingdoms in the Spanish peninsula and they got married - when they married this became their motto. What it means is that neither Isabel nor Fernando is more powerful than the other, that they are equals. Many people come to Temple Square and ask me why it is that women can't hold the priesthood, or why women can't be the prophet and men can. A lot of people I meet on square, especially the women, are sometimes offended by the idea that a woman couldn't be the head of the church. I don't see it that way though. The way I see it is more like Fernando and Isabel - they were both powerful rulers, but they had different kingdoms. Arragon and Catalan have different strengths and resources. When the married, they had greater power and possession but only because they loved each other so much that everything they had they shared, and they respected each others dominion. I think that we as males and females were created differently for a reason. That we each have our own kingdoms so to speak, our own roles in the Creators plan. Those roles that we have can be magnified when we marry our husband/wife, because we can use the resources and gifts that come from each of our spheres and use them to benefit each other. We can be better able to serve others and serve God when we use our unique talents and gifts given to us as males and females when we use them together. So it doesn't bother me that women don't hold the priesthood, Isabel didn't rule Arragon, but neither did Fernando rule Catalan. Men and women were created as equals, with different capabilities and blessings, and I think the Creator did that for a reason.

That's about it for the week though!! I know my family just started summer break, so I hope everyone enjoys the beginning of summer and that you remember to read your scriptures. They're important :) 

All my love,

--Sister Black 

Warming Up!

Hello everyone!

We had another fantastic week here on Temple Square. Our investigators are all really progressing and we've found some really prepared people. I'm also really getting to used to how to the office works and I'm feeling a lot more confident with all the different things we have to do to make sure the missions runs, it's fun! I like having responsibility, makes me feel useful. 

1. Summer season is certainly here... we have a ton of visitors from mainland China and it's certainly a party. I'm pretty sure I'm famous in China, because a ton of them have asked me for pictures. It's the funniest thing, but we love it. We also have a lot of Hispanic visitors and we've been doing a lot of Spanish speaking lately. There's also a lot of people from Europe too. Summer is going to be so much fun, I'm really looking forward to it. Everyone says it's crazy and that I'm going to be exhausted, but I think that's what will make it fun! 

2. We called Andrea and taught her the Plan of Salvation! Andrea lives really close to her local missionaries in Guatemala, but because of her work schedule the only time she has to talk to them is on her lunch break and she works in another missions boundaries. So they can only go see her once a week, but because of the miracle of modern technology, my companion and I can teach her over the phone! It's been really fun for us, because she's so sweet and so prepared and excited about the gospel, and we get to be her primary teachers! We call and teach her a few times a week, and her sweet local missionaries will follow up with her when they go see her and when they see her at church. We really love her a lot, and she's going to be baptized on the 26th. We're pumped! Her locals are awesome too, so that makes our job way easier. We also have Whatsapp, which is a messaging app that's really commonly used outside the US so that's been a blessing to have as well.

3. We had Zone Conference this week! It was really good, we talked a lot about trusting in God and about repentance. How we need to not just be better teachers of this principle, but also better live this principle. I used to think that repenting was this scary thing you go and do and that God hates you and that it's the worst thing ever, but here on my mission I've really been able to see that while God hates our sins, He never hates us. Being able to repent is a gift from a loving God. It's a way to change our lives, and completely start over. Nothing we do wrong has to weigh us down forever, and that's something I really love. I think it was Elder Holland who said that it takes exactly as long to repent as it does to say I'll change, and mean it. Repentance is a good thing, and we can all feel so much better afterwards.

4. Alora is another investigator of ours who lives forever and a year away from her local missionaries and the church building, but is so so sweet. She is on date for the 16th of June and she is already so excited. She just wants to get baptized, but she has to come to church a few times first. She has such a great desire to be more like Jesus Christ and to come closer to Him. I love her so much.

That's about it for this week! Fun fact about my companion - she is deathly afraid of butterflies. Who knew! Scorpions, fine. Hornets and bees, fine. Butterflies? Deathly little monsters.

Love you all!

--Sister Black

All is Well

Hello everyone!

The weeks and months are flying by and I can't believe that this Sunday I'll be 9 months through my 18 month mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. There is still so much more that I want to do and become that I can't believe that I'm already half way through! I have just fallen in love with the desert of Utah and the beautiful rose it has blossomed into thanks to the sacrifice and dedication of the early Mormon pioneers. What a blessing it is to serve here on Temple Square.

1. Austin got baptized! Austin is Amanda's son - Amanda is our recent convert that we took on a 999 tour a month or so ago who got baptized a week or so ago. One of her sons, Austin, is 10 and he decided he wanted to be baptized. So that happened Saturday and he was confirmed Sunday! It was such a blessing to get to be a part of that. Her family will definitely always have a special place in my heart, and we really love them a lot. They have all grown and progressed so much as they come closer to Jesus Christ every day.

2. The office is going great! Now that I've been in there for a few weeks I have a better idea of how to explain to everyone what we do - we are basically just normal missionaries who take care of a few loose ends for the missionary department. Every week we collect a bunch of data from the companion ships here on Temple Square including how many members and nonmembers they talked to that week, how many new investigators they found, how many baptisms they had, how many people they were teaching were going to church, etc.. and we take all that information, make a bunch of graphs, explain what they all mean to the mission presidency and the missionary department, and brainstorm different ideas and possibilities on how we can improve and help the numbers better. Of course, it's not about the numbers. But the numbers are a good indication of how we're doing holistically as a mission. So it's interesting! I really like it!

3. Chet! Chet is our new investigator and he's from the Bible belt! He's really cool, he came on chat and he just had a couple of questions about what Mormons believe and about whether or not we're Christian. I had a really good conversation with him, and he told us at the end that he felt like God had led him to mormon.org and that he was so excited to read the Book of Mormon and ask God for himself if it's true or not. We're really excited to get to call him later this week and get to know him better.

4. Alora and Andrea! Basically, they're both super golden and super solid investigators that we really love. Andrea is getting baptized on the 26th and we're pumped for her! Alora is a little harder because she lives so far away from the church and the local missionaries, but we're going to figure it out and help her too. It really is amazing to me how God leads so many prepared people from every corner of the earth to Temple Square - online or in person - to hear the gospel.

This week I've been pondering on the hymn "Come Come Ye Saints". It's currently my favorite hymn in the hymn book. It was the "battle cry" of the Mormon pioneers as they struggled through hardship after hardship and eventually came to be in the Salt Lake Valley. My favorite part of that song is that throughout the lyrics, it talks about trusting God and how they can put their faith in Him. The last line of every verse says "All is Well, All is Well". I love that. I know that when we put our trust in God and do what He would have us do, that all truly will be well. Even if it may not seem like it right in that moment, God really does take care of His people and He really loves each and every single one of us.

I hope you all have a great week! I love you!

--Sister Black