Denton here I am!

Dear Family and Friends,
What an amazing week I have had!!! Actually the reason the email is a
little late this morning is because we got a call from an investigator
who is struggling and wanted some scriptures to read to help him, and
as we were talking to him a man walked by asking if he could ask us
some questions, and we taught him a lot!!! It was an amazing
experience knowing people are looking for the truth and they can find
it in our church!
So I have been transferred to Denton Texas and I have two colleges in
my area! A women's college and another normal arts college!! And
apparently this area is known for its talent in music and this
Christmas the members of the church are putting on an amazing
performance in the church and I can't wait to see how it is!!
So here is how my week was in a nutshell!
Week November 23-29 2015
Monday:
Today was so speedy fast I don't even know what happened!! I was so
crazy getting things taken care of that I didn't even have time to
email everyone back who emailed me, but don't worry, I am working on
them and will get them out!! So today was the last time to be with the
2 Fort Worth Zones! I leave this week on Wednesday to Denton! My
address will be 1512 N. Elm St. #103 Denton TX 76201! So I got the for
sure on me leaving this  morning and I started packing right away so
that tomorrow I an finish up and be ready for Wednesday! So for our
activity for pday we just played a lot of sports and had a fun game
called scatter ball! And after our pday we got right back to work and
went over to teach the Family of Erica Leyva for the last time with me
being there, and I was very sad to leave and they were teary eyed too!
I am going to miss that family a lot, but I will be back to visit them
after my mission for sure!
So we were headed to a bus stop and as we got there we found a small
young family waiting as well that we had noticed got off the bus
earlier speaking Spanish. So we began talking to them first and after
teaching them about the Book of Mormon. They really loved it and seem
to want us back, because they wanted our number and to know if they
could call us to set up an appointment. We said of course and pray
they will call us!! I know they never work like this, but this one
really felt different!!
I had such an amazing day and only know it can get better from here!!



Tuesday:
Wow, today was such a hard day.... I had to say good bye to everyone
before I leave tomorrow. It is so hard to say good bye to the people I
have found to be part of my family while I am away from home. It still
doesn't seem real to me that I am leaving, but it is! So today I had
my last service project in the Tarrant County food bank and it was so
amazing! I was able to just have so much fun with all of the amazing
volunteers that come! Also we went to dinner at Hna. Martinez' house
and ate with her and her family. We had a really good lesson and I
will miss her for the amazing testimony she always bore to use in
church while doing a cool handshake with us!! One thing I have learned
from her is to smile through every trial, because others have the same
trials or more and they need that! After our dinner we got dropped off
at the house of Juan and Guadalupe to eat with them as well and to
have our last lesson together. They were really hard ones to say good
bye too when I left, because I feel they have changed my life the most
from the people that we taught... I never thought before my mission
that it would be this difficult to leave the people I grow to love,
but it is as hard as it was to leave my family coming into the
mission!! And the hardest ones to say good bye to were the Peñas
tonight! We visited and had a good time, kind of a good bye night for
30 minutes and it was amazing. They have been my parent figures here
in this area to teach me and be there for every little thing when I
can only email my parents on Monday!! When I said bye I was in tears
and I will miss them so much! As we began writing in our journals
tonight Sonny Moreno called crying and told me, "you are my little
brother, and you can't leave me!!! You need to stay, because I won't
be here when you get back in 18 months." He has kidney problems and
has dialysis and his chances of living slim more and more every year.
I feel horrible that he thinks that way and it could be true, but I
told him how much I loved him and that I would never forget him! I
hope he keeps doing good and stays healthy. Today I would say was just
as hard as leaving into the field again.... But if I don't get out of
my comfort zone I don't grow, so I know what is coming is of God and a
good thing, now I just need to be ready to find those people who need
what I can give them. Things I learned today is that the simple things
you do make the difference to those around you. And never forget whose
life you can change.







Wednesday:
Today was a crazy day! I still didn't feel I was going anywhere until
I saw the car of Hermano Beltran pulled up to pick me up for the
transfer. So I left the area at 8 in the morning right for the Hurst
Stake Center. It was an amazing time seeing all the missionaries so
excited for a change and it really helped me calm down and see that
everything would be alright! So I got to ride with a man from my new
ward home who people call colonel because he was a colonel in the
military and majored in Spanish after his mission in Argentina! It was
so much fun to meet him and when I met my companion he was so awesome!
He gave me a big hug and it was so awesome! Tongan people I have found
out have just a huge hearts, just have a hard time speaking clear
English, but I can understand him perfectly in Spanish which is
amazing!! So I was kind of expecting a huge Tongan, but elder 'Otuafi
is about the same hight as me and just build a lot more muscly than
me, but he only has more muscle, because he has been out longer. So
today was a long, but really fun day!! My new area covers two colleges
and we actually live right I front of one of them and supposedly the
arts program is amazing and the music students are really amazing
here! So elder 'Otuafi messed up his hand and can't ride a bike for
our whole transfer so we are on foot, and we walked all day and my
feet are so sore!! It was a great opportunity to find people, and they
are all over! We actually were able to teach two people quick lessons
out of the blue, and it was just nice to have elder 'Otuafi who isn't
afraid to speak! Also today we knocked on one door and the I am
excited for some more days of success like this!! I didn't take any
pictures, but I will work on that tomorrow! Also pictures of my
house!!


Thursday: HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
Wow so today was probably on of the weirdest days for me in the
mission, because everyone always says missionaries have most success
on holidays, but it is all false!!! People don't want to talk to us
when their families are around, so we spent all day with members!! To
this morning after studies we go picked up by two other Spanish elders
with a car named, Elder Saanga and Elder Hooper. We went to their
house, because they live with members, and we cleaned their members
house while they were out of town for a good service!!! And as we got
finished cleaning the house it started to rain really hard! So after
that we went to the a chapel near by to have a lunch/dinner with our
whole district and a family!! It was really fun and then we got to
sing songs and teach them a really fast lesson!! I took a picture of
my food, so my mom could see I really did get to eat for thanksgiving,
and it was an amazing day even though I missed my family! So today
really was hard, because we had down time and I just felt like a bad
missionary, because I felt like I wasn't out teaching, but then I
realized that it is a holiday and that it would be okay to relax and
eat for a few minutes and visit the members! After our good dinner we
went to another dinner with a recent convert and his family! His name
is Moises and he is a tad goofy and crazy in the best way possible! He
took us with him to his families house where we had a Mexican
thanksgiving with tamales and turkey!! It was so good and really
enjoyable!! As we left it was raining so hard that the streets were
flooded! You could barely see in front of you and now at 10 pm it is
still raining hard and it is supposed to rain all day tomorrow as
well!!! For us walking we are going to be soaked inside and out!!!
Today definitely was a different day for me, however, it was an
amazing Thanksgiving and I wouldn't change it for any experience!!!
Yes the mission can be hard, but it is the best thing ever to teach
you the lessons that nothing else can teach!! If it isn't hard you
aren't growing! My scripture for the day is Alma 37:37!





Friday:
Well today was probably one of the coldest and rainiest days I have
every had in the mission!! So we started off the morning planning on
going to a special needs school and playing with the people there, but
we got there and realized that the school was closed because of
Thanksgiving so we just went home and finished our studies!! As we
finish our studies we had lunch, which was roman noodles, because we
haven't gone to the store to buy anything yet. We had our weekly
planning after lunch and were able to get things figured out really
fast! We had an amazing companionship inventory where we are getting
to know each other even more. Elder 'Otuafi is opening up to me and
telling me when he has problems, and I love it! So today he was
feeling homesick because of the time of year and the seasons, so we
watched a church based Christmas film that was 25 minutes long called
Mr. Krugers Christmas. We finished that and got busy working, but our
work was very slow on foot and in down pouring rain! It rained all day
and is still raining, and we were walking through rivers up to our
ankles in some parts, and the best part was it was freezing cold
outside to make the water burn your skin! Haha it was an amazing
experience and we were able to get in and teach an investigator named
Salvador and invite him to be baptized using the video of Jesus
Christ's baptism. He said as he keeps reading and praying and receives
his answer he will be baptized!! As we asked him how much he had read
he showed us his book mark, and he is already in the end of Mosiah!!
He told us he reads about 3 pages every night and loves it! I invite
all of you to go onto LDS.org or gospel library and to watch the
baptism of Christ! It helped our investigator know what to do and I
loved it a lot! So we came home a tad early to dry off and plan,
because no one wanted us in their house all wet! And know Elder
'Otuafi and I are just talking and getting to know each other! I am so
glad I have the opportunity to be with him, because he truly loves the
people that are in this area!!

Saturday:
Wow what a difference it is in this area than Fort Worth! So this
morning we went to a missionary coordination meeting with our ward
mission leader and had a great time learning and sharing how our weeks
went and how we can improve!! So the one big difference in this area
from the last is that every member I have met so far can speak both
Spanish and English perfectly, and it is hard to keep them talking in
Spanish the whole conversation. Also in our Spanish ward Coordination
meeting there was so much English that I felt like I was letting all
of my Spanish teachers from the MTC down!! Haha it was alright though!
It gives me something to work on! So today we went contacting all day
and were able to find a lot of people to talk to and teach, however,
it is hard finding Hispanics!! It is not like Fort Worth where every
house is a Hispanic. So we had a dinner tonight with the Family
Corona. They are members that were baptized a few years back and they
are super sweet! They made us enchiladas and some really good soup!!
We had an amazing lesson with them and it was nice getting to really
know them! Also we went and taught 2 more investigators their first
lessons and set return appointments!! I love my companion so much!!
Elder 'Otuafi and I know how to make each other laugh and always can
mess with each other and still have an amazing time!!
 So today I believe I learned that the best way to love someone is to
truly listen to what they are truly saying and when you are feeling
homesick always think of how you can help your companion!!
Also it is finally cold enough that we found one tree that changed
colors before the leaves just dropped!!! So we had to take a picture
in the 35 degree whether!!!

Also after the crazy rainstorm the canal here is crazy big and deep
with fast moving water!!! It is crazy how much rain we got, but what a
crazy experience!


Sunday:
Today was a really good day for me!! So we woke up and got ready for
church really quick, because one of the Hno.s came and picked us up at
730 so we could get to the church for the ward council meeting, and
being the newby I was thrown in and didn't know any of the
investigators, but had a great experience seeing what the ward council
meeting is like from the perspective of a missionary, and I love it!!!
So after our meeting we went to our sacrament meeting, and it was
really different!! There was people their that can't speak Spanish and
it is translated for them and vise a verse a depending on who speaks
in the ward. And today this younger for got up to talk who was a red
head and white as can be and she was speaking in fluent Spanish with a
Mexican accent. I looked at my companion so confused, and he told me
that she is from Mexico and she somehow is just white like that! It
isn't a bad thing, it just isn't very likely! It gave me hope that one
day I can have a great accent as well!!
So today in our classes we read some passages and this is one that I
looked a lot!! I will put it in Spanish and also translate it!!
“La opción de venir a Cristo no depende del lugar donde se viva, sino
que es asunto de dedicación individual."
"The option of coming to Christ doesn't depend on the place one lives,
but the dedication of oneself!"
It really hit me that it is up to us whether we come unto Christ or
not!! As missionaries we teach people, but I realize more and more
that teaching is not enough. They have to have the desire as well! So
this evening we had a lot of appointments, but they all fell threw the
cracks but 2. A member from the ward, Hno. Torres took us and was
amazing with his testimony and insight to things!!! He is a member I
won't forget, because not only was he amazing at teaching as a
missionary, but he told me that he was very impressed with my Spanish
accent only being out for 6 months and he never would have guessed
that I have only been out for that long!! So he really made me feel
good!!! It was such a good day full of love, and spiritual feelings!!
I invite you to find ways to make every day of your life full of
spiritual experiences!!! And may I start by inviting you to read. True
power from the Book of Mormon comes from reading it first!


Do we love God? Because He loves us!
(1 John 4:19)
Con Amor,
Elder Spendlove

 My new companion!!

 My new apartment