I can't remember if I have said this previously or not, but my P-day will now permanently be on Tuesday. My mission President wants us to have the opportunity to go to the temple more, so we now have the option to go every Tuesday if we want to. But just for future notice, my P-days are on Tuesday now.
Unfortunately this week was not quite as miraculous as it was last week. But this was was still super great and I learned a ton. I'm sure many of you are wondering how Ilonka is progressing. I'm wondering that too. We had our meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Elder Marcum and I were there waiting, and she never showed up. It was a major bummer. I was worried because the night before she had texted us and said, "Hey I was doing some research online about your church, is it true you added scriptures to the Bible?" I was worried that she had gotten some incorrect information online and was apprehensive to meet with us again. We told her that our meeting on Wednesday was going to be about the Book of Mormon and why we need it and that we'd be able to explain better in person, but the lesson never happened. We still haven't had a chance to meet with her again, but we're hoping to set something up this week.
I got to go on an exchange this week! I was with Elder Wiest in his area, it was super fun. He's a goon so we had a blast. His area is a bike area, so I got to bike for a day which was pretty fun, except for the fact that it was raining all day. Hahaha it actually was really fun, but being in a car area is really nice. I'll miss that when I'm in Ecuador for sure. Just for everyone's information, I have no idea when I'm going to get my visa and I haven't heard anything about it, but it's all good, I'm just working as hard as I can out here and I'm loving it. But yeah, back to the exchange. I got to teach a lesson to this older woman who is in a rest home for people with special needs. We taught her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and invited her to come to church with us. She said "I know your church is good and the Book of Mormon is true, but your church is boring so I'm not going to go." Hahaha it was pretty funny, Elder Wiest and I laughed pretty hard about it afterwards. We also got to teach a lesson to a returning member family. The mom is from Guatemala, so I had like a 5 minute conversation with her in Spanish! I'm in an English area, so I don't get to speak spanish much, so it was great to get to be able to do that. But yeah, the family is coming back to church, so we met with them and talked about faith. It was a great lesson and the spirit came into the room pretty strong. We invited them to go to the Visitor's Center at the Portland Temple, and they said yes! It was pretty cool, I love when people say yes to our commitments.
How was everyone's Easter? I love Easter, it's one of the best times of the year. Elder Marcum and I had the opportunity to both speak in sacrament meeting on the Atonement. I thought I gave a pretty good talk, 3 people quoted me in Sunday School so I'd say it was successful. I'll attach it to my email so feel free to read it. We went to the 1st counselor in the bishopric's house for dinner, it was so good. It's been a while since I've had like real, good food.
Funny story: There's a lot of homeless people here, like I've said. We were driving yesterday and there was a man holding a sign that said "Something to eat, or somewhere to sleep." I felt pity for him so I threw a granola bar over the car and it landed next to him. The look he gave me after seeing the granola bar was one of complete disgust and hate. I was kind of offended, because I had just sacrificed this granola bar for him and he just completely rejected it. Hahaha maybe one day he'll see granola bars as a blessing.
One of my favorite scriptures has been a good reminder to me of why I'm out here serving. It's Mosiah 27:29. It says, "My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more." I love the comparison in this scripture. The light the Gospel brings into people's lives is amazing, and that's really why I'm out here serving a mission, to help people behold the marvelous light of God.
Well, that's about all the time I have for today. Thanks to those who sent me emails over the week. I can read emails any day and I love hearing from people, so feel free to send me a quick update on how you're doing.
Love and miss all of you!
Elder Spangler
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