"I know I'm in the place I'm supposed to be"

Sorry for the missed email last week! As you can tell from the photos, I have moved to a place much different and a lot more Spanish. Jerez is a very traditional town with horse carriages and people playing Flamenco on their guitars in the street. It is famous for its fair that will take place in a few weeks and the motorcycle event that has taken up the streets recently. For such a small town there are certainly a lot of celebrations; Thats something very Spanish too.

When I got here on last Wednesday we had the blessing of setting 2 people on date for baptism. One named Leo, from a part member family. He is 11 with his his mom, fairly inactive, and his dad, not as a member. For some reason, what seems frankly unprovoked by outside influence, Leo has wanted to be baptized. We have the blessing of visiting their home every week and it has not only helped him understand better the principles of the Gospel, but has completely changed the behavior of the Mom. She is now attentive and caring, sharing her tender testimony and teaching her son. As she recognizes the blessing that have come to her and will soon come to her son, she has become a great example to him, as he first was to her. The Dad has also been joining us recently!

Here in Jerez we live with another companionship which is a lot of fun. My new companion Elder Kreipl is from Idaho and is 23. He likes flying planes and is super awesome. He's also fairly young in the mission, but we're figuring it out together!

This last week we also had exchanges with the APs. It was really impressive to see their maturity and ability to teach without fear. For example, we found someone in the street and put a baptismal date with them in the same contact.

Last Saturday we taught Silvia about the Restoration of the Gospel. It was incredible to watch her reaction as we taught her. She teared up when we taught about Jesus Christ and His sacrifice, she nodded with understanding as we explained the Great Apostasy and when we described the First Vision she just said "wow" in a quiet, almost reverent, voice. We invited her to read a chapter of the Book of Mormon and she told us she had read it again, and again, and again. She said she felt a peace and love almost foreign and indescribable and she knew it was from God. She later told us "I know I'm in the place I need to be." I'm grateful for those that have been prepared to hear and for the miracle that is the Book of Mormon and for the chance to be able to share it's message of love and hope with others. 

As Elder Holland eloquently said:

"In any case, the impact of the Book of Mormon in my life is no less miraculous than was the application of spit and dirt placed on the blind man’s eyes. It has been, for me, a rod of safety for my soul, a transcendent and penetrating light of revelation, an illumination of the path I must walk when mists of darkness come. And surely they have, and surely they will."

Elder Dougall