Week 44: Plan of Salvation

There's a woman in the ward named Rosi. Her mom has had cancer for a few months and was in the hospital and was very sick. Rosi asked us to come visit and give her mom a blessing this week. It was such a great experience. We sat there in the hospital room with the whole family all gathered around the hospital bed and we shared a spiritual thought. The spirit in that room was so powerful. After the message, we proceeded to give her a blessing. We went home to our piso that night with such a peaceful feeling. Rosi's mother really wasn't doing that well. But I know that she was in God's hands. The next morning, Rosi called us. Her mother passed away shortly after we left. She expressed to us her gratitude for our visit and for the spirit that was left in that room. She said her mother's passing was very hard, but at the same time it was very calming and happy. She shared with us her testimony of the plan of salvation and it was super moving. It strengthened my own testimony of the fact that she is doing great things up in the spirit world. I didn't get the chance to get to know her very well, but from what I've heard, she was an amazing woman. She was only 70, but she did so much good in her life. She was always serving others and following the example of her Savior. I know that the plan of salvation is real. Death is not the end. I know that families are forever!

Elder Hendrix and Rosi.

Rosario, our Peruvian investigator, is progressing so well! She's reading the scriptures every day and praying and is so excited to be baptized! She wants to make sure she's really prepared for her baptismal date of July 9th. She even made herself a baptismal calendar where she can mark whether or not she read and prayed each day before her mission, which is awesome because we were actually planning on making her one. But she beat us to it, haha. She's so awesome. She came to church this Sunday too and loved it!

Speaking of church, yesterday was my first normal Sunday here in my new area in Barrio 9 because last week was conference. So I got to introduce myself in sacrament meeting! But funny story- During the sacrament ordinance, the bishop walked over to where I was sitting and asked if I could give a 15-minute talk as well because one of the speakers didn't show up. I've only heard stories about this happening, haha. I didn't think it would ever happen to me. But it went alright! It was a great reminder that I need to be prepared at all times because you never know when you're gonna get called on, especially as a missionary!

We had a zone conference this week! It was super cool! Our mission president was here and spent like a solid hour talking about the importance of having a clean piso and making a serious effort to fix it up. And I'm so grateful for it, because there are definitely missionaries here that needed it! Some people here refuse to clean their piso and it's disgusting.

My old investigator Felix came to visit me here in Madrid! He still lives in Torrejon and he drove over here for P day today! It was so awesome to hang out with him! He's doing good! He's still reading scriptures and praying. He's such a cool guy!

It's getting so hot here in Madrid! I'm sure it's not as hot as Arizona, but it's dang hot! It makes me very grateful for the United States where air conditioning exists. There's hardly anyone here that has air conditioning. But it's ok because literally every member we visit gives us a giant cup of horchata and like half a watermelon. I'm getting some sweet tan lines too.

That's it for this week! I love you all!

Elder Hendrix