Merry Christmas!

Good Morning Utah! And Hong Kong... and Argentina... and Brazil... and Arizona... and Oregon... and Idaho... and Florida... and Mexico... and Jerusalem (if you're still there)... and wherever you are right now.... Good morning everyone!

This was such a wonderful week! Like I promised, we had a Christmas Party! One with all the Zones in Madrid and the other one in our Ward here in Villalba. So we took pictures at the Madrid party but i don't have any of them right now... But it was super cool!  Got to see all of my companions again! (Hermana Schriever, Davis, Phillips and Koeber... well she's still my comp ;) It was so wonderful! I'm so grateful for the incredible friendships I've made here in Spain, it was a very nice reunion. (:

The Ward Christmas party was so well done. Nines (our 3 month recent convert) was in charge of it and she did a FANTASTIC job. The theme of the night was "Humility" so we dressed up as if we were in biblical times (kinda) sat on mats and ate theme fitting food from the markets. It was so beautiful, I couldn't have been more proud of Nines! She is incredible. I will attach the photos at the end, definitely an occasion for the books.

Then the last of the celebrations we had a baptism yesterday! Her name is Emma, she's the youngest of a part member family that we've been eating with and she just turned 8. It was such a beautiful service, the spirit was so powerful as she and her mother and sisters bore their testimonies of the truthfulness of the gospel and of our Savior Jesus Christ. They invited EVERYONE. I admire their confidence as they share what they believe with others. They had been planing the baptismal service for over 3 months and inviting their friends and family to the sacred event.

In the scriptures, baptism is described as the gateway to the straight and narrow path. It's the first covenant we make with the Lord and so important that Christ himself did it. I loved watching this family as they recognized the importance of the event and hope to remember their faith and testimony as I prepare myself every Sunday to partake of the sacrament.

I'm so grateful to be a missionary during the most wonderful time of the year! I absolutely love it! It's incredible to see the change in everyone all around me and for the light of Christ that shines just a little bit brighter every day. I am so grateful for this Gospel, that it has been restored, never to be taken away from the earth again. I'm so grateful for my family and for all of you who support me. If you haven't already, I highly recommend reading or listening to or watching the Christmas Devotional. I'm so grateful for our Savior and know that He lives. No matter how many people don't believe it, it will always be true. I am grateful for that truth.

I hope you all have a very merry Christmas!

Loves and snowflakes ❄️☃️

Hermana Warner

1. Nines at the ward Christmas Party

2. Emma's Baptism!

Never Fear, Snowflakes Are Here!

I figured you'd all like to know how to make the snowflakes so I made step by step instructions on how... (:

1. Fold a normal paper hamburger style, keep it folded.

2. Fold in half again but only press the folded corner. Like this.

3. Fold at a 45° (I think, I don't know math anymore) making a triangle... like this. Make sure that the folds are neat and as exact as possible (I use the trial and error method and just refold it a bazillion times, but it's worth it)

4. fold down the center and press so that you can see the flaps...

 like this...

5. Cut at the top of the flap. (It was really hard to take this photo)

6. With pencil, lightly draw a design and begin cutting, making sure not to cut all the way through the whole thing except for at the end... duh...

(Picture didn't load)

7. Erase the pencil marks and unfold! Vuala! You got yourself a pijo looking snowflake.

Tune in next time to discover more snowflake making next week!

I love you girlfriends.

Jacquel

Villalba

I love Christmas!!!

This week was overall pretty great. We've been so very blessed and I'm so grateful for all the miracles we've seen.

1. Hernando! We met with Hernando again on Tuesday. He's been reading a ton in the Book of Mormon and is doing really well, he just couldn't come to church because he was out of town.
2. Norma and Antonio. They are my FAVORITE! They are visiting their daughters right now from Argentina. We met with them for the second time this week and they are doing really well. When we met, Antonio told us of how his son-in-law had been reading the Book of Mormon and while he was reading he was like, "Mama mia! Mama mia! Nefi, que haces!?" Antonio got pretty excited to read 1 Nephi 4 and we will be meeting with the whole family later this up and coming week. 
3. Monica and Marisol. Hermana Phillips and I contacted them in the street a few weeks ago. Marisol works a ton but got hit by a car and broke her leg so when I called on a whim (the spirit) she answered and invited us to finally come teach them. When we started getting to know them more Monica (15 year old) started just talking to Hermana Koeber and Marisol turned to me and said, "You know, I was about her age when the missionaries found and baptized me, but you know, life just gets in the way." With like a little chuckle thing. What the heck!? So yeah, we found a MIA member and are now teaching her and her daughter. Miracle.
4. Fabian and Jerolin. The biggest miracle! About a month ago Hermana Koeber and I contacted a lady named Alba, she is also a MIA member form Columbia. We finally were able to get in contact with her and we had a lesson on Sunday. Her son and daughter-in-law were also there so we taught all of them. We had already planned and prepared to teach them about #ILLUMINATEtheWORLD and it ended up being exactly what they needed and thy are excited to learn more about how they can become more united as a family as they draw closer to Christ.

I'm so grateful to be a full time representative of Christ. I am studying the New Testament more and the more I learn the more I love our Savior. I'm so grateful for this holiday season that we have to remember what's really important, its like the Sabbath day of all the year. Idk I just love it. Everyone is so much more happy and open and willing to talk. I'm just so grateful! This week we are going to have and incredible Christmas party I will take pics an tell you all how it goes!

I hope you all have a great week!

Hermana Warner

I make snowflakes!

I make food.

Mmmm smells like churros and chocolate

I love fall! There are leaves everywhere and snow on the tips of the mountains! I couldn't be more happy (: Well happy December!

So about a month ago When I was with Hermana Phillips, we went to Pavones for the Stake Conference to hear Ninez speak, I wrote about it on the 7th of November. To get to Pavones, where the temple is we need to take a Bus to Moncloa and then from Moncloa we take the Metro to the Pavones stop. While we were on the metro I remember looking across to the passengers sitting on the other side. There were a few people but the one who caught my attention was a middle aged man wearing a tan sweater, who instead of looking down at his phone or tablet, looked up and was smiling. We were a few stops away from Pavones when another man, with obvious mental health conditions came into our car. He started yelling and shouting random things that I couldn't understand. He seemed to be really angry and everyone on the train would look up then look away or continue whatever it was they were doing. But the man with the tan sweater didn't. He looked up at the frustrated man, thought for a moment, then motioned for the man to come toward him. The man in the tan sweater calmed the troubled man down and talked to him like a normal person. I was really impressed with this man and felt that we needed to talk with him. Luckily, he was headed for Pavones as well. So as we were going up the escalator I turned around and told him how impressed I was with what he had done. We talked for a few more moments as we reached the top when I felt prompted to give him a Book of Mormon. I told him that it was a book that was very important to me and that i thought he would like it. He accepted gratefully and we parted our ways, Hermana Phillips and I running to get to the church on time.

When we made it to Pavones we met the missionaries serving there and told them of the experience. One of them asked, "Well did you get his number?" And without thinking I said, "No, but don't worry, he will call." We continued the night, went home, and everything continued as normal.

Just a few days ago a man called us, he told his name and that we had given him a book in Pavones. He had been reading the book and wanted the missionaries to visit him. We wrote down his name and address to give the the missionaries in Barcelona.

I don't know all that will happen with this man in the tan sweater. But there is one thing i do know. I know that this is God's work. I know it is true. We live in a world bombarded with lies and scandals, a world full of people looking for the truth. I'm so grateful that i have the opportunity to help bring these people the Lords truth. I'm grateful for the Book of Mormon. It is truly the word of God, translated by a modern day prophet. I know that God's true church is on the earth today. 

I'm grateful everyday for my parents and church leaders who have all helped me in my journey to recognize and accept this truth. I'm grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ and for this wonderful season to celebrate him. He lives. He is at the head of His church. "As to my strength, I am weak... [but] in his strength I can do all things"

I hope you all have an amazing week and an even more fantastic holiday!

Hermana Warner

Hermana Koeber and I with our member friend Ana

I found a dead cat. 

A cuter picture when I made a cake with our member friend Sadith (:

Insert my dad saying, "It's Christmas" yep it's November. Yes it's Christmas.

Wow what a week! Well more like week and a half, it feels like forever since I've written. So this week was pretty good! We officially have two progressing investigators! Whoot whoot! My week in a nutshell: Thanksgiving feast with the Zone, Inercambios, miracles with Sadith, New investigator Hernando, we went to the temple today, El Escorial Monastery, all our lights burning out (we still have all our Christmas Lights though so don't worry), finally breaking through (literally they are shredded) those $10 boots I bought last min before I left and I can still breath... kinda... the inversion kills man.

But yeah the most important thing I wanted to write about is our miracle with Sadith! Sadith is incredible and I know I've introduced her before so I'll just get to it. Last weekend we felt prompted to teach her about keeping the commandments we studied and prayed and planned but when we got to the door step to her piso we knew we needed to change the game plan. We prayed again before entering and 100% relied on the spirit. As we started the lesson I felt prompted to follow up on her reading and daily prayers. She told us that she hadn't been reading and that she thought it might be a good idea to just read. So that's what we did. I prayed and prayed in those minuscule moments to try to remember a good chapter about keeping the commandments without the "and he shall be thrust down to hell" part. So yeah, I was at a blank. I asked her where she was at in her study, she said 1 Nephi 3....

My heart just exploded with happiness and I knew that that was exactly what Heavenly Father wanted us to do. The Spirit truly testified to her and to us that we need to be obedient to all of God's commandments and that the Lord truly will provide a way. I invited her to read every day and to attend church. She came!

The next lesson we had with her was even more of a miracle. We knew we wanted to teach her about baptism and covenants. Again we made the lesson plan prayed and studied. When we got there we still felt confident of what to teach. I followed up again about how her Scripture study had been for the week. She told us that she had found time to read the Book of Mormon just by taking it everywhere with her. She said she studied it between classes or on the bus ride home. She then proceeded in sharing two scriptures that impacted her deeply. She explained that they were the answers to her prayers. She told us of her desire to be baptized, we asked the baptismal questions and picked a date. It was incredible. 

I'm so grateful for the commandments of the Lord. No matter how small and simple they may seem they really do make a difference. I know that God answers prayers, that he wants to help us in our lives. I know that that BOM is the word of God and that as we apply it to our lives we will know what the Lord would have us do. I'm so grateful for the opportunity we have to attend church every Sunday to partake of the sacrament and to strengthen each other's testimonies. These things are small but I truly believe that, 

"...by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

   And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls." Alma 37:6-7

I'm so grateful to be one of the small and simple, I hope you all have a fantastic 25 days of serving this December.

 #ILLUMINATEtheWORLD  #LIGHTtheWORLD

Yeah do it soon!

That kid Elder Cample kills me with the chicken hahaha you can see me laughing hahaha.

Thanks for the Peanut-butter Mom

Hello all!

This week felt like FOREVER. In the white handbook it talks about P-day and shares the scripture in Mosiah 4:27 And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.

I now completely understand why that is there. It was hardly a Pday last Monday so I'm super grateful to have another one today. But no importa! This week has been INCREDIBLE! I've seen so many miracles and so many blessings. This really is the Lords work.

A few weeks ago Hermana Philips and I found a man near the new chapel that's being built. We gave him a BOM and he promised to read and meet with us after a few weeks. Well those few weeks passed and we had an appointment set up with him and his family on Tuesday. I was tooooooooo excited! This man was so happy and seemed so prepared when we met him and I was so excited to finally find and teach a family. So on Monday right after the end of "Preparation Day" I decided to give him a call to confirm the appointment that we had set up. He told us that because of family visits he wouldn't be able to meet, but then continued to explain that he had been reading the BOM, felt good about it, then went on our website to the frequently asked questions page. He explained that he no longer had questions about our faith and that the appointment would be entirely unnecessary. 

My heart stopped. I stumbled to find the right words to say and the next thing i knew, the conversation was over. I was completely heartbroken. I prayed to God saying, "I've been working so hard. I've been giving it my all. The gospel is true, why wont they listen? Where did I go wrong? What should I have said? What should I have done? What can I do?" This family was so close to receiving the most incredible gift of eternity that we can find on the earth but he was too easily satisfied with the answers to his questions. I invited him to continue reading the Book of Mormon and to pray if it was true and that further down the road we could visit him again. 

We have another friend about two pueblos away from Villalba. Last Saturday she accounted the trials and struggles in her life. She lives a great distance from any loved ones and feels completely alone. We were able to teach her the lesson of the Restoration and testify how the Gospel blesses our lives. She told us of her experience in the prominente church here in Spain, explaining that everyone kept to themselves and that even there she felt alone. 

I know the gospel can help her but she still can't see it. I've been pondering the idea of how we can help these people progress in their conversion to the Lord and although it's a working progress, I have found a bit of the answer.

Yesterday Ninez, our recent convert, came to me and told me of a revelation she received in the temple as she was doing baptisms for the dead. She told me that she felt strongly impressed that she needed to be doing more to share the Gospel. She discussed with me a family member and asked me for help in inviting her to the Gospel. As she finished writing down the information of this beloved family member and handed me the paper I thanked her for the reference. She in turn said, "No, thank you for helping me keep a commandment of the Lord."

I think too often as members of the church we become complacent in our efforts to share the Gospel with others, forgetting that it truly is a commandment of the Lord. I remember these two friends who are so close to receiving the fullness of joy God has in store for them. As a missionary there are many things I need to improve within myself and within my teaching, that is obvious and to state otherwise would be frankly dishonest. But I am thoroughly convinced that if these two friends were befriended by a member, their stories would be completely different. 

I know I've shared before the story of Ninez and Kike. They were a reference from the Bishops wife Monica. As their kids were friends the mothers decided to have a brunch together. At the brunch Ninez offered Monica a coffee. Monica stated boldly that she does not drink coffee because of her religion. This caught the attention of Ninez enough to start asking questions. Monica answered simply and clearly. The questions continued and Monica invited her to learn more from the Missionaries. She and her family are now baptized, active, contributing members of the Ward.

I am grateful for Monica's example to share the gospel and I'd like to invite you all to do the same. I love talk given by Elder Oaks this last General Conference. He explains simply and clearly we as members can share the gospel in a natural way, no matter the friend or circumstance. Pray for opportunities to share the gospel and when the opportunities come be proud of what you believe and continue to give them opportunities to ask you questions.

I'm so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We really can be forgiven of our wrongdoings and feel free from guilt. I know Christ lives and that he loves us individually. He set the perfect example. As you follow His example and study his words you will know what to say in the exact moment you need to say it.

I hope you all have a fabulous week! We had a few more miracles that I wont get to share today but I know that God's hand truly is in the work. 

Awkward besitos to everyone!

--Hermana Warner

What a week. What a transfer. Time flies way too quick.

So guess what! I have a new comp! Her name is Hermana Koeber! She's a cute chica from Highland Utah and we are going to kill it this transfer. When we got transfer calls Saturday night I honestly didn't believe Hermana Phillips would be leaving, We thought for sure we'd have another transfer together but God knows what he's doing and all I can be is grateful. I've truly had the most incredible companions.

So yep! I'm staying her in Villalba! And I'm so happy! I absolutely love it here! This week our out of the area proselyting efforts paid off and we were able to teach three new people in Torre Ledones, a pueblo about two train stops away from Villalba. We are also going to start teaching a guy in Las Rosas, Alpedrete and La Escorial. So yep lots of first lessons this week! We are so excited! 

Las week we taught Sadith again and she came to sacrament meeting yesterday! Speaking of which, I spoke! Oh my goodness I was not made to talk in big groups, but I did it! and I'm grateful for the experience. I talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon and how it's helped me in my life. I am so grateful for the BOM everyday. I know it was written for our day and that as we read it we can receive the answers we need to continue with faith in this life.

So yeah back to Sadith, she's a student and lives with her Grandmother, also named Sadith. She is so cute! Sometimes we visit her because she's home bound and gets super lonely. So for lunch she taught us how to make papa de Juan Something.... I'm really bad at spelling so I'm not going to try right now. It's like potatoes with this pepper cheese sauce. It's delicious. I love Peruvian food! This week I also learned how to roast chestnuts and I tried a persimmon! It's so good! And it's called Kaki here, so even better. 

As far as any other investigators, friends, go they are all really new or they aren't progressing. It breaks my heart. These people are so close to receiving the greatest joy they could ever imagine. The relief they need is so close. All they need to do is keep their commitments and come to church. 

I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve here in Spain, specifically Villalba. I'm so excited to see what this transfer will bring.

God blesses us when we work our hardest AND our smartest. I strive to be the missionary the Lord wants me to be.

I hope you all have a fantastic week!! 

You're happier when you put the Lord first. Do it.

Loves and besos

Hermana Warner 

Last selfie with my cute comp Hermana Phillips

Me and my new cute comp. Pumped.