Chapter 36: Hermana Hopsicle

Yes, this week I was Hermana Hopsicle. I don’t know what hit Spain, but it sure wasn’t the weather I was expecting—not to mention I am in the warmest area in the mission right now. People keep telling me that I should be used to this being from Utah, but I don’t think they understand that I have been living in Spain for the last 8 months, and have become accustomed to the warm, Mediterranean air not the bitter-cold, humid wind. However, it is starting to warm back up, slowly yet surely. Unfortunately, this weather report seems to be work report of our week as well. Every time we got some sunshine, we were hit with some rain. We taught Fernando this week, and it was an incredible lesson. We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and my companion told me before the lesson that she would also like to teach the word of wisdom. I thought that was crazy! We already knew that he had a problem with drinking, and so I was thinking we would make sure that he had a testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith before teaching it to him...but as the time came, I felt it was the right time to talk about it as well, and so we did. We taught the word of wisdom, and he just looked back at us like we were the craziest people he had ever seen. It was the biggest let down ever. I was just thinking, “Great, we just lost our best investigator.” However, then he looked up at us again, and told us, “Hermanas, I somehow knew all my life that smoking, coffee, tea, and drugs were bad for me, but I have had a problem with alcohol. I have been trying to stop. Last night, I felt a presence stand next to me as I was about to take a sip of alcohol that told me to stop. I know that I need to stop and that this is the right path for me.” I was shocked!! He told us he still wanted to talk to his son and his wife about his baptism, but he would try to stop drinking alcohol. It was definitely a bit of sunshine! However, the end of the week came, and we decided to fast as a companionship because he told us that he would tell us if he would get baptized this week on Sunday morning. A couple hours after we started the fast, we got a call from the Elders telling us that they found Fernando drinking outside. I was so upset. He came to church, but got an emergency call and had to leave before we really got a chance to talk to him. This one might take a little bit more power from the Heavens than I originally thought. We also started teaching this other women named Gris. She is from Ecuador, and she is so open.  We taught her the Restauración, and at the end we asked her what she thought, and she replied, “Well, I guess I need to be baptized.” You guessed right my friend!  However, she didn’t come to church like she promised, so it will be a little easier said than done.... It was, however, a very trying week. I think God had to send us little miracles to keep us going. One day in particular comes to mind. We had a really long day—everything cancelled on us, it was raining, and we were cold and tired—the perfect setting for a miracle. It was so tempting to just go back to our apartment a half hour early just warm up and make calls or something. However, we decided to be good little missionaries, and stay out, and God sent us a miracle indeed! We were walking, or splashing more like, to a little park inside of our area—it seemed fruitless since everyone was inside enjoying the cozy warmth, but then we saw a man walking his dog in the distance. Since he was the only person brave enough to face the cold, we thought maybe he was warm enough to accept our message. We walked up to him, and he was Hussain! Our lost Muslim investigator! After we had talked with him and made an appointment, we saw another one of our investigators that we had lost the phone number for, and hadn’t been able to contact him. It was such a blessing that wouldn’t have happened if we had gone back! So although we had some rough patches this week, we were definitely blessed, and the forecast for next week definitely looks a little brighter.

Les Quiero!

Hermana Hopsicle J