Week 14 in Gijon!

4/14/14

This has been a pretty hard week. We don’t have a lot of investigators, so......we’re hitting the pavement hard! I didn´t see a lot of success in door contacting, so I’ve been trying really hard to work on street contacting. You basically stop someone and see how far you get in the first lesson till they stop you. It is really hard and you have to try so many different techniques until you find something that works for you. It’s an art. We also go through the area book and visit old investigators. It was really interesting this week President Florín and Carmelo spoke to us on Friday and wanted to know what the branch could do to help us. They said that they wanted to change and be more involved in missionary work, but I think it was also them asking us to help them change. Hermana Endicott and I have went through the branch list and list of recent converts, we are splitting everyone up between us and the Elders and we are going to visit everyone! Hopefully that will help strengthen the branch and we can help reactivate the families. Hermana Endicott and I are also working more with the Relief Society and going visiting teaching with some of the women. This branch needs so much help. President Florín wants to do an activity in a couple weeks where everyone is going to split up in groups of 4 or 5 and go street contacting with us for 3 hours!!! Ha, ha street contacting is hard, especially when you’re out for 3 hours, no one wants to do that! We are going to talk to him about doing it is pairs and in shifts, and whoever isn’t out will be at the church and the missionaries there will be giving lessons on teaching and effective street contacting. It will be interesting about how it goes and what happens, I’m a little nervous. It is great that they want to help so much though. The people in the North are really different than Madrid and further South.

I really appreciated that story, it really fits with what I have been experiencing this week. There are so many experiences on the mission where you aren’t sure what the outcome will be of a decision, or you know it could either be really bad or really good. Having faith that everything will work out and that Heavenly Father is going to bless me if I put my trust in him has really been something I have struggled with this week. But every time I take that hit or make that decision, he has blessed me and provided me with the things I need to move forward.

I have really been thinking about the atonement this week. There are days and weeks on the mission where you feel like you haven’t done your best and that you could definitely improve. It is such a blessing that we can kneel in prayer, ask for forgiveness and strength to do better and then say, "Today is a new day." It doesn’t matter what happened before because you are a new person or it is a new week and all that matters is that you are going to try to do better. The atonement covers so much and has been such a comfort and a blessing in my life.

We do have an investigator named Kenny that has a fecha! (baptismal date) She is so cute and is from the Dominican Republic. We want her to be baptized on May 3! I hope it works out. She is so kind and loves reading the Book of Mormon. Please keep her in your prayers.

I am so excited for Joseph!!! I think he is going to the Philippines! Keep me updated and tell him I love him, and ¡BUENOS SUERTE! (good luck) It is so exciting and scary, but let him know that he will be so blessed and that no matter where he goes people are always praying for him and Heavenly Father takes care of all his missionaries. I have felt so comforted knowing that I have so many people praying for me and my success back home. It gives me so much strength. Tell him he looks SUPER GUAPO (handsome) in his tux!

I love you guys and can’t wait to hear from you again! Also, Mother’s day is coming soon and I will be able to Skype you guys. I will let you know the exact plans when they let us know! I love you! You are all in my prayers!

¡Les Quiero mucho! (I love you so much)

Hermana Brumble

Ps. We are going to the aquarium today! I will send pictures next week!