A Year of Growth

¡Hola!

One year down.....you can believe it?! The truth is, this is super sad. I only have one year left in Spain. Only one year left devoting all my time as a full-time missionary. Today happens to be my real birthday. On a day were most jovenes in the US. celebrate their right to legally purchase alcohol, I am out serving the Lord. I believe I am having more fun!!!

Well I had a lot to say. But the computer froze and I had to restart. And now I dont have time. Everything here is wonderful. We have baptisms scheduled for every weekend for the next few weeks.

We saw MANY miracles this week. It is amazing how blessed we were by the Lord! However it is hard for me to remember off hand all the different miracles because one affected me profoundly. We left our last visit on Monday quite discouraged. At the beginning of the month we had several fechas set for the month of August. However some of them found work, others moved away, and others we lost contact with. On Monday our last fecha for August told us that she wanted to wait until September (we later found out she has problems with the Word of Wisdom). As senior companion I felt really bad. I kept thinking of all the things we could have done better with our investigators. I felt as if I had let my companion down and President down (because he had received revelation about every companionship baptizing this month). That night during my nightly prayer I asked God for a miracle. I told him I had the faith that he could lead us to one of his sons or daughters who was ready to be baptized. On Thursday we met Juan Carlos. He had been attending church for several weeks. We thought he was a member until his girlfriend approached us during church that Sunday before to set up a visit. His girlfriend, a member, is on vacation here, visiting him for several weeks. She brought him to church and has been teaching him everything. He even started reading the Book of Mormon. During the visit Thursday, we invited him to be baptized on 10 September. When we did so, he turned to his girlfriend. She interrupted, telling us, "Well the problem is that I leave on the 30th." And then he followed saying, "Yeah. And I would like her to be here." So problem-solved...we set the date for 27 August! I know that the Lord answered my prayer. I know it without a doubt. When we have the faith, the Lord guides us to his prepared sons and daughters.

Thank you to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday!

¡Hasta luego!

Love,
Elder Buchkovich