Letter #11

October 21, 2024

Hey everybody!! Como están??

Man, it has been quite the week. I'm not even sure where to start- Moncagua is amazing! The first night we got here, we had dinner with the bishop and his family, and man, they are incredible. Just a bit about them- from what I've heard, they've faced a lot of challenges financially, so much that they work through the night to be able to support their family. In addition to this he's the bishop (a calling that is extremely time consuming and difficult) and also finds time to join the missionaries in lessons. Between all these things and his family, he gets 2-5 hours of sleep a day- and we hadn't even been in his house for 5 minutes before he started sharing his testimony of missionary work and how important it is. As a missionary, I hear stuff like this a lot, but this was a whole new level; the Lord is definitely hastening His work here, it was definitely an "oh crap, I gotta work harder" kind of moment.

The lesson I learned: we have more to give. I want to invite all of you guys to take a bigger part of the work, whether your a member of the church or not. Also, if you are a member of the church, I want to invite you guys to support the missionaries in your area!! If you have free time to join the missionaries in lessons, or if you have friends that the missionaries can help, don't be afraid to let the missionaries know! They would probably jump for joy (definitely not speaking from experience) if you sent them a text and said "hey elders, I'm free this day, how can I help?"

Anyways, back to Moncagua!! We saw a lot of miracles this week; in fact, our very first day we set a baptismal date for our amigo Tulio!! He's amazing, I've never seen anyone more receptive.

Other miracles: I gave another talk this week in church! For a bit of context, I'm the type of person that likes to write out what I say beforehand, I'm not much of an on the spot speaker, especially in spanish. But this time, I was the last speaker in the meeting, and even though I had stuff prepared, I was able to just talk and share my personal testimony, it was definitely a gift of tongues moment!

Last miracle: this one is about food (can't pass up the chance to talk about food lol) Anyways, just a bit of context about Moncagua: for a while, members here hated gringos to the point where gringos couldn't serve in this area for a bit. A big part of this was because they refused food and drinks a lot, along with some other drama. It was fairly recent that we've been let back in, and so basically we have to be on our toes to not be rude (meaning no refusing food or drink). Sounds pretty sketch no? Also, just a little fun fact about me, I actually can't stand bananas, they make me sick *almost* every time I have them. (See where this is going?)

So yep, of course one of the first houses we visit we are served ice cream and bananas! (lucky me). But with a little help from Elder Jackson (he's a lifesaver) and some prayers later, I was able to eat it all without being sick! I know this is kinda silly and may not seem like a big deal, but gotta keep a lookout for those little miracles!

Anyways, there's more I could talk about, but it's already been a long email (sorry, give yourself a pat on the back if you've made it this far) so I'll go ahead and close it with a little spiritual thought.

Something that has stuck out to me lately is the importance of hope. Hope is an attribute of Christ that is overlooked a lot, but it's super duper important. Out here, in full honesty, it's really really easy to get discouraged. There's been a lot of days, after bombing spanish and not knowing what I'm doing, that make it really easy to think that I'll never get this down, never be a good teacher, never become a fluent speaker etc. However, the thing about Christ and His gospel is that it's a gospel of change and of making ourselves better, and hope is the fuel for that change. A chapter in the Book of Mormon that I really like is Moroni 7. I definitely reccomend reading the whole thing, but a couple verses I like in particular is verses 40-41 which say

40 And again, my beloved brethren, I would speak unto you concerning hope. How is it that ye can attain unto faith, save ye shall have hope?

41 And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.

These verses are powerful. Without hope, nothing is possible, and hope, much like faith, is a principle of action. I may not be the best missionary or spanish speaker at this very moment, but I have hope and faith that one day I can be. It's not always easy to maintain, but I promise that having hope in your life will help you through your challenges! Having hope in Christ brings blessings, and I testify of that.

Anyways, love you guys!! Sorry it's been a long one, its been a week! As always, don't be afraid to send me an email and let me know how things are going back home! Enjoy the cool weather for me!!

Hasta la vista!

-Elder Bagley