The lighthouse at Formentor, Mallorca

The background shows sidewalk tiles - "rajoles" - that pave the sidewalks throughout Barcelona. They were designed by architect Puig i Cadafalch for the entryway of a home. Since 1915, they have been used by the city to pave sidewalks, and have become emblematic of the city. One of the city's most famous chocolatiers, Enric Rovira, produces chocolate bars in the shape and design of these tiles.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

We completed another round of Zone Conferences this week: Barcelona and Barcelona Nord on Monday, Hospitalet and Zaragoza on Tuesday, Elche and Murcia on Thursday, and Valencia on Friday. Wednesday was a travel day - 7 hours on the train from Barcelona to Murcia.

Valencia Zone

Zaragoza Zone

Hospitalet Zone

Barcelona North Zone

Barcelona Zone

We had a wonderful round of conferences. Much of the conference was spent in further discussion of the instruction from Elder Perry to teach 20 lessons every week, starting with our own investigators and new converts but filling in by teaching less-active families selected by the ward council. As an experiment, we asked the Elders in Alcoy a couple of weeks ago to implement the suggestion of Elder Perry. The work had been slow in Alcoy and they were only able to get 5-6 teaching appointments during the week. Two weeks later they taught 19 lessons. They demonstrated clearly the power of following the counsel of a member of the Twelve!

Last week we taught 679 lessons throughout the mission. We believe we can increase this to over 1,000 lessons per week. Our goal, of course, is not just to teach but to be instruments in the hands of Lord in conversion. Our purpose is to fulfill the great mandate given by the Lord to "teach all nations". In the Spanish language Bible, this scripture is somewhat clearer: it reads, "make disciples of all nations." (See Matthew 28:19-20, especially footnote "a" in verse 19).

Hna. O'Neill, Hna. Hinckley, and Hna. Church in Valencia

Elder Laney and Elder Lee in Valencia

Without exception, we have marvelous missionaries. They work very hard, they strive to teach with power and authority, they are wise beyond their years, and they are motivated by love.

The Lord continues to bless us with many miracles. Thursday night in the train station in Murcia, we were able to give a pass-along card to a women. Upon doing so, another woman sitting behind us turned around and asked if she could have a card, too. She has an uncle in Bolivia who is a member of the Church, she is here in Spain with her daughters, and wanted to know if she could learn more of the Church. She is living with her daughter and was unsure of name of her street, but Elder Laney used to work in her area and from her description was able to remember the name of the street! She agreed to meet with the missionaries as soon as she returns home. We love being part of these miracles!

[Note: Photos of the Murcia and Elche Zones are missing, as Hna. Hinckley and her camera were not at these conferences. We should have some photos of these zones in another day or two...]

1 comment:

  1. Mom you are so bright & lovely in picture. Your missionaries look so happy!

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