Crazy Week!

September 8, 2014

Good Morning!

This is going to be a short email, but I´m going to try to write more in a letter.

It´s been a crazy week, and a really long one too.

Last Monday, I was still feeling really sick. We went to concilio and Hna. Deere had made Café Rio Pork Burritos. ): I ate applesauce instead. I was really sad, and just about said that I felt fine enough to eat them. They looked really good though. The applesauce was satisfying though. After eating, we listened to the best concilio talks I have heard. They were so good. First, President Deere talked and he talked about doing practices in all situations. Then Hna. Deere talked about a study journal, and then the A.P.´s talked about the Book of Mormon. It was a great talk. Incredible actually.

Hermana Moreno-I love this girl!!

After that, Hna. Deere brought out... guess... cheesecake. LIke 3 different types. I didn´t eat any. After, we went down into our room and we played cards and danced and laughed.

It was Hna. Moreno´s last concilio and she wanted to play Pukana. She is the cutest thing in the world. 

Tuesday morning I was feeling a lot better... then I ate. It stayed in me, I just didn´t feel too good. After eating, we told our numbers. After, President Deere told us that we should be baptizing more. It was really something we needed to hear. We have a goal of 600 baptisms by the end of the year and right now we only have 303. We made a goal to baptize 65 this month.

All of us have served in Alicante, and since I was there so long, I had served with all but one Elder.

The spirit was SO STRONG and we all knelt down and President Deere prayed and it was just incredible. After, we took the picture and then we got stranded at President´s house. I wasn´t mad, because we got to talk to him and Hna. Deere. Then they took us to the office and we got a ride back to Málaga with the a.ps. It was an incredible afternoon. Every one of our plans worked out and we even saw extra people. We saw Jenni, Mileida (Less active that we found) Nigerian family, Mari, Michael and Lucy. I´ll write more detail about a few of them. When we went to the Nigerian family´s house, only two of the daughters were there. One of them, Briska, knows the church is true, but is scared. Then we saw Marislay. Milagros wasn´t there, and we had an incredible lesson with her. We talked about the temple, she ended up crying at the end because her mom isn´t doing very good. She is really depressed and Mari wants to help her. We told her we would fast with her this Sunday. 

The following are pictures from our long, quick trip to Barcelona.  We had a great time, but were super tired by the time we got back.

Dunkin' Donuts!!!

End of the first day-We were tired!!

A cool palace and fountains

Old Plaza de Toros

Statue of Christopher Columbus

Last Train-end of a fun trip to Barca!

Well!! I don´t have more time!

I´ll write from Wednesday on in a letter!

I love you so much!

Love,

Sara

September 1, 2014

It was a pretty good week like always!.. we saw so many miracles!

On Monday we played basketball and invited a few of our investigators from Nigeria. They really liked it I think. It was a lot of fun, really hot, but fun! After, we just hung out at home. I wrote you another letter, and I FINALLY got stamps today. Last Monday the place was closed when I tried to buy them. We taught a few people, Micheal, our recent convert, and he is just doing so great. I really am so grateful for him. He´s incredible and I can see so many great things happening in his future in his family, church and life. We also got to see Cinthia and she doesn´t really want to get baptized right now. She said she wants to wait until she is like 40 so she doesn´t make more sins. We tried to explain it to her.  After that, we saw Milagros and Marislay. Marislay is super awesome. She said she wanted to come with us to teach one evening. She has suprised me so much. I love her to death. Then we had a noche de hogar with Lucy and her family. It was really good. We talked about the atonement. We had 3 glasses and 3 knives and the glasses were in a triangle and you had to form the knives so that you could make a strong foundation. We talked about the three parts of the atonement. After the lesson, Magali (the 21 year old girl) asked us.. ´´Who decided the topic of the lesson?´´ We responded telling her that we had both thought of it. She said, ´´I was just thinking about that before you guys came over´´ It was pretty cool. While we were eating, Lucy, the mom, made a napkin rose for Elias (8 yr old) and he grabbed it, turned around and quickly said, ´´¿te cases conmigo?´´ (means ´´will you marry me?´´ It was so cute, I didn´t really know what to say. He is the cutest little boy in the world.

Tuesday we were planning on doing intercambios with one of the Málaga companionships and then they called us and told us that they were getting a new companion. We had to postpone it, but that´s okay. We had correlation with our mission leader and he bought us waffles with nutella stuff on it. It was so so so good. Then we had district meeting and I had to give a talk. It went really well I think. That afternoon, our mission leader came with us. We taught Jenni about personal progress. She was really excited! Then we went and saw Michael and talked about the priesthood. (It was in English, so I taught a lot of it) then we went and saw our Nigerian family. (also in English, but not too bad because we watched the Joseph Smith video) That was a really sad lesson. We talked to them about reading and praying to know if it is true. They said they would, then we talked about baptism, and they said even if they know it´s true, they would never change. It´s sad, because I know one of the girls has her answer. After that, we went and saw Milagros and Miriam. We watched a video, then we talked to Miriam about still listening to us, even though she´s not ready to be baptized yet. She really appreciated it I think, and now it´s not as awkward. 

Wednesday we had a great morning. We saw Natalia, and she is great! We talked about the restoration and she is reading a lot in the Book of Mormon and said she liked church. Then we went and saw Edith. She is kind of driving me crazy. All of this crazy moving stuff and trying to get help from the bishop, it´s nuts. Then we taught another lesson, then ate with Alicia. It was good, Pasta stuff. That night, Marislay accompanied us and we taught Houssain. He said he wants to be baptized. He just has to be taught little-by-little, he used to be muslim. Then we had English class and it was super awkward. They just talked mostly about politics again, pretty much every time they speak, it´s about things like that.

Thursday we ate with Milagros and then we had our interviews with President. It was a good interview. He told me that I was doing a great job, and then told me I would be in Málaga one more transfer then asked me how many I had after that. I told him only 2, he said, ´´oh.. how are we going to get you to train again?´´ He said, ´´I hope we can, but you might just be a leader the rest of your mission.´´ I´ll just do whatever, I love my mission. I would love to train, but I would also love to continue being a SHE, it´s all great! Then after that, we saw Jenni again. She had read all of the things we left with her. She is super excited and is doing so well. Then we went up to see Loli, just an old investigator. Then finally, we were able to see Hakim. As we were waiting outside of the church, there was a crazy man that kept asking us where he could get help. He was nuts, luckily there was a member there. The lesson with Hakim was good. I hope he can get progressing like he used to and get baptized. 

Friday morning we saw Natalia again and had another great lesson. Then we went and saw Edith and taught her the word of wisdom. She´s fallen again into a few bad habits. After that, we had specialized training with President Deere. It was good, it was about finding. I liked it, then we did intercambios with Fuengirola. I went there with Hna. Folsom. She is awesome! She´s my sister too (: Hna. Johnson started her training, and then Hna. Nielsen finished it! She´s such a great missionary. I learned a lot in the intercambio. She´s helping a lot in Fuen. She´s making a big difference. That night, Elder Olsen called me and told me that they had found a family for us to teach. They are from Chile and they are awesome. A mom, dad, and 3 kids over 8. (: It was cool, because for the past week or so, all of the leaders in the mission have gotten a text every morning of one companionship in the mission (zls or shes) and today everyone was praying for us.

Saturday I came back and we ate at Elenir´s. It was such good food. Ah man, she made mashed potatoes that were so good. She is such a great cook. Then that evening we saw Michael and talked about the law of chastity. He remembered all of it and told us how happy and calm he is especially after he broke up with his girlfriend. He is so happy. I love it. That night, we practiced a song to sing in the baptism for Sunday.

Sunday was a day FILLED with miracles. Even though I woke up feeling really sick, but we went to church anyway. We invited the Nigerian family to come to church. As we were waiting outside, they came. All of the girls and the mom, and they stayed for all 3 hours. They liked it I think. We ended up having 10 people in church. The chapel was FILLED with people. We had an attendance of about 180, which is incredible. We brought in about 15 extra chairs, and there still wasn´t enough room for everybody. I felt so sick during all of the meetings, but I stayed until it was over. Then the a.p´s took us home and then Elder Rojas asked if I would like a blessing. Elder Olsen gave me a great blessing and then they left and I just threw up for about 5 hours. It was not very fun. Then we had the baptism. Nayara, a little girl that we had taught, was getting baptized. I was just praying and praying that I would feel good enough to make it through the baptism and one lesson we had that night with the Chilean family. Wow, it was incredible how I felt great as soon as the baptism started. I played the piano for our musical number. We sang ´Nearer my God to Thee´ and we sang in parts for the first verse then the second verse we sang a'capella and I sang tenor, it sounded good. Then the last verse I played an octive higher - it sounded really good I think. After the baptism, the Castillos brought us to our lesson with the family. It went great. They want to be baptized. (: I´m really excited to teach them more. After the lesson, we went home and my body hurt so bad. It was hard to get to sleep, but eventually I did. Hna. Castillo told me to sleep in, I did and it was really nice. It was weird, but I feel quite a bit better today.

Today we have concilio. It´s going to be weird without Hna. Johnson and Nielsen. But, I´m excited!

I love you so much!!! (: 

AUGUST 25, 2014

Hey mom!!!

Good morning! I love you a lot! I´m so happy to see that you got to meet Hna. Johnson. She said that you and dad are just so cute.

She loved the collage that you gave her. That was really nice of you. Thank you. She´s happy and that makes me happy. I´m sure she talked to you already, she was super nervous to go home, but it makes me happy to know that everything is great!! 

Fun at the Feria

So like I told you last week, we ended up going to the feria on Monday. It was fun!! There were lots of crazy people, dancing, and lots of cool things!

I´m terrified to send pictures, but I´ll do it!! I saved them to my usb already, just in case!! Okay, I did it... all is good! The feria was fun!

"Shall we start teaching him?"

I´m glad we went. I want to go when we visit and dress up! After the feria, we came home and I wrote you a letter. I still need to send it. I need stamps, I¨m gonna buy them today. After that, we started working again. Our first plan failed, so we went to go do a back up... I messed up on the door and this man opened the door and we talked to him and he is awesome! His name is Marco Antonio and he just is great. We went to go get a member who lived close to come help us, but as we were going back - he had to leave. That night, we saw Michael. He has had a hard time with something. He said he had been really sad for a few weeks. He has a Spanish girlfriend that doesn´t have very good standards. He doesn´t want to break the commandments, so we talked a little bit about standing as a witness in all things, times, and places. He said he is going to break up with her.

Tuesday we had district meeting, and then we went to see Milagros and Mari. We talked about the law of chastity. Mari remembered really well about what it was. She surprises me everytime. She is incredible. When I first met her, I had no idea what a strong testimony she would have. After, we taught a woman named Yolanda. After that lesson, Hna. Guerrero and I were thinking the same thing. We can´t teach on benches. The spirit is not strong, it isn´t there. I think it´s pretty incredible the difference I´ve felt growing up in my mission. I can recognize the spirit a lot better. I´m so grateful for that! So incredibly grateful! After that, I got on a bus to Almeria. I slept almost the entire way. I got to do an intercambio with Hna. Roan!!! I love her so much. We had so much fun, and she just makes you feel so happy and loved. After I got home, I still just felt so happy. It was a good intercambio. That evening when I got home we got to eat with the Bishop´s family. They are really fun. His wife is crazy!! They are from Uraguay and cook really yummy food. 

Thursday we ate with Milagros and then went to the train station to see Hna. Johnson.

Goodbyes are hard!

It was sad. I cried, I´m such a baby. But I only got to see her for a second. After, I was just pretty sad. It made me sad to know how fast the time passed and that is just keeps going fast. We got ice cream, then we did another intercambio with Hna. Read and her companion Hna. Reed. I was with my hija, it was fun. I love her a lot. She is awesome! She is doing a great job, her area is struggling a little bit, but she has such a great attitude. She asked me what my plans were for after the mission. I told her I had no idea. She asked me if I think that I should think about it. It made me remember what President Deere said to Hna. Blake. He asked her the same thing - if she was wanted to go to school or wait. She said that she wasn´t thinking about it. He told her that it is something important and that she should. I always feel like I shouldn´t think about anything other than the mission, and I feel bad everytime I start thinking about college and where and what I should I do with my life. But he´s right, it is important. 

Friday we taught a few people in the morning, and then we switched back. That afternoon we visited quite a few people and had some good lessons. We´ve been trying hard to get people to give us referrals. If you and dad have the missionaries over to eat... before they come, you should pray and think of non-members that you could introduce to the missionaries. It really is so much better when members tell you people to go visit. As we were walking around, I asked Hermana Guerrero.. ´´sabes que es un scene´´ English - ´´do you know what a scene is´´  she responded, ´´pecado´´ english ´´sin´´ hahaha it was funny!!! (: I love her! We were practicing English all day.

Churros and Chocolate

We were on our way to see some less-active members and we saw a woman named Yeidi from Columbia with two little babies in a stroller. We asked if we could talk to her for a little bit. She was very happy and said yes. She is incredible... but of course - she lives in the a.p.´s area. (:

Saturday morning, we met with some more investigators and found a new one named Joaquin. He said he would like to come to church. That afternoon we saw Yeidi again and she said she is going to come to church on Sunday.

Sunday we saw so many miracles. Yeidi came and Joaquin too!! Then our old investigator Juan came and Natalia a new investigator of ours that appearantly used to come to church all the time! It was an awesome Sunday. In total, out of the 6 missionaries that are in our ward.. we had 16 investigators at church on Sunday! So awesome! (:

This week was good. After a little while of being sad after H. Johnson left, I got better. We have interviews with president this week so I´m excited for that! 

I am really happy mom! I can´t express how incredible a mission is. It´s something that is indescribable and something that I want to do for the rest of my life. It´s helped me understand what kind of mother I would like to be. What is actually important in life and the way I want to teach my children.

I love you!!

To Da

Sara

HEAT WAVE

AUGUST 18, 2014

Wow... It has been incredibly hot here in Málaga. Apparantly there is a wind that comes from Africa and this one lasted for a really long time. Like 4 good days.. the wind was really hot and we were sweating. But... we still saw many miracles.

Monday after emailing, we went home and I was so tired so I took a nap. I was exhausted. Then that night we ended up running around. We had a noche de hogar with Lucy, Milagros, Miriam and their families. We taught the lesson and they brought out food, we had to take some and run because we had a lesson with the miracle that came to church on Sunday. We taught her a little bit about baptism and she said she would like to get baptized. The only sad thing is, she moved to Madrid. )= but we sent the information and I really hope they will find her really soon and teach her. After seeing her, we went to eat with Elenir. Her food is always so good. I could eat an entire giant bowl of salad if she made it just for me!! I love it so much. She is awesome! One of my favorite members in Spain. She is always doing things to help us.. and she does so much.

Tuesday we had our district meeting and it was super awesome. Our new district leader is Elder Larios. He is from California but has spanish-speaking parents. He is super awesome and I learned so much. Then after, we had intercambios. Hna. Hubbard, from my same mtc district came with me in our area. We came home and I made paella!!! haha it was just from a mix, but it turned out really good. I´m going to bring some home so that you can try it!! (: Also, I´ve learned how to make rice in a different way, Hna. Guerrero makes really good rice. That evening, we saw a granddaughter of a couple in our ward. Her name is Nayara. She is going to get baptized in 2 weeks. We taught her and she just wants to get baptized. She is super cute!!! After that, we saw Milagros and Mari. I love them both. We went over the word of wisdom and they remembered everything. They really are great. Then we went to go see a future investigator and we taught them a lesson. They are from Brazil, but the daughter is going back soon. ): The mom is pretty cool though.

Wednesday morning we saw a woman named Natalia. The other day we talked to her in the park. She said she had talked to missionaries before and when we talked on Wednesday it turns out she has known a LOT of missionaries. She said she has read the Book of Mormon, prayed and been to church and has not receieved an answer. We read 3 Nephi 11 and hopefully we can see her again and help her. The only thing is, she only lives in Málaga for the summers. She lives in a pueblo in the winter. After that, we had another lesson with Nayara. She is super shy and doesn´t really talk at all.. But she understands everything. That night we saw our Ghanan friend, Soloman. He doesn´t really talk much either. but he is really nice. In English class... we had a lady from Russia and a lady from Ukraine. They told each other straight up that they were in a war. It was crazy. We were a little scared. They were seriously mad at each other. 

Thursday we had weekly planning then we went to eat with Milagros. We ate yummy things called, canelones. They are crepe batter with meat inside with a sauce over it. It was really good. That night we saw Jenni and she told us she really wants to be baptized. Then we saw Edith and shared ´´Because of Him´´ she really liked it. She is awesome and really does have a testimony. Then we saw Michael and taught him about temples. He told us he wants his family to grow up in the gospel. He still isn´t married, or even have a girlfriend or kids, but when he does get married, he said it will be in the temple. He is pretty cool. We´re going to bring him a picture of the temple to remind him. Then we taught his sister-in-law, Rosi. She told us that she wants to be baptized. She is going to pray to know and when she knows, she will tell us. I´m excited, because she is really awesome. Later, we saw this lady from Colombia named Sandra. She is super sad. She told us her whole story and man , she has had a hard life. She is so nice. I want to help her so much.

Friday we had plans, but not very fixed in the morning. We went up to this area with all of our investigators and the people failed us. We went to go knock on one of our futures houses. She let us in and when we got to the door.. a younger girl opened it and told us to come in. Then we saw a father, a little girl.. the mother, another teenage girl and then we asked if they had any more kids and then another teenage girl came out of her room. It was a family of 6 Nigerians. BLESSINGS. Before we went home, we taught a man named Andres. That night, we saw Jenni and her mom. We needed to ask her mom permission for Jenni to be baptized. She said, ´´absolutely not´´. She will not let her be baptized. She´ll let her come to church and listen to us, but not be baptized. It´s sad, because she really wants to be. Then we went up to Nayara's and taught the 10 commandments. It was good. 

Saturday morning we taught Nayara again and got everything ready for the baptism. That evening we saw Lucy and talked about the tree of life. Then we were able to see José, and his wife Natalia. Jose is inactive and his wife isn´t a member. The reason they were seeing us is to help Natalia´s mom come back to Christ. She wants to be baptized into the Jehovah´s Witness and they are sad because she is forgetting about her family. It was a really good lesson, the spirit was strong. Jose told me that every time I speak that I just know how to say it and what to say. It definitely isn´t me talking that´s for sure. It´s the spirit. When they talk about how to help Charo ( the mother) The thing that is going ot help her is feeling the spirit. That is the strongest tool we have that the other churches don't. After seeing her, we went to our lesson with Miriam and Milagros. When we started the lesson, we asked how the reading in the Book of Mormon was. Miriam told us that she doesn´t want to change and she isn´t going to change. It was really hard to hear. It was sad. I was really really sad. We still shared what we were planning on, which was Alma 32 about faith. It turned out really good. For the second time in my mission, I cried during a lesson. The spirit was strong. I hope she felt it. 

Sunday was a good day. Church was good and the afternoon, we saw the Nigerian family and Michael came with us. He bore his testimony and Hna. Guerrero invited them to be baptized. It´s all in English and Hna. Guerrero is doing such a good job!!! They said they will get baptized when they know the Book of Mormon is true. After, we went to see Rosi. She is awesome too!!! Then we were able to see Bianca, a less-active. It was another great lesson. All of the lessons we had last night were very spiritual guided. 

I was really happy with this week and the way the spirit guided every step we took. Hard things happened, but it´s okay. We´re going to see miracles this week!! I know it!! Please pray for this Nigerian family. We need them to know....

I love you so much!!!!

Love,

Sara

AUGUST 11, 2014

This has been a long week!!! Not in a bad way though.

Monday we just hung out in the vialia, the train station, and just signed journals and hung out. It was fine, not many people came - but it was more for Hna. Grant than any of us. That evening we saw Milagros and Mari and Hna. Grant said bye to them. They are so cute, and really love Hermana Grant, they don´t want anyone else to come. They said it´s too hard when one leaves that they don´t want to meet any more. Then we saw Edith and said goodbye to her. She promised she would go and find a church in northern Spain and even looked online to find out where the church there was. She is excited to go, and it will be a good change for her.

Tuesday we saw Miriam and Milagros and had an amazing lesson with them. Miriam is from Paraguay and lives with Milagros the member. We watched the restoration the video and she started to tear up and said she felt really good. She accepted a baptismal date and Milagros started crying. It was super great. Then we got to say goodbye to Blanca.

My good friend, Blanca.

It has been so long since I´ve seen her, she has been stuck in her house taking care of an older lady. That evening we saw a member named Angela and she is super lonely. She takes care of an older lady too and just stays in the house all week long until Sunday. It´s too bad, then we saw Jenni and said goodbye to her. She promised to come to church. Then we saw Milagros at the park and it was a good lesson. She is from Nicarauga and will be baptized I'm sure. Then we saw Gilbert and Jhannet and they could not believe that one of us was leaving. When Gilbert prayed, he prayed that the missionaries would never stop seeing them. It was cute. Then we went to see Angelica. We thought she was going to feed us, but when we got there she said that she was just way too tired and just gave us cake. It was fine, we weren´t very hungry. 

Wednesday we went to the vialia and we saw a few of the trainers with their new companions. It was fun. Then we stayed there until Hna Grant had to go, then we had to babysit Hermana Muse and it was pretty much just a long morning in the train station. That evening we met a man named Monolo and taught him in the street. He reminded me a lot of Alicia from Alicante.  He is really nice but turns out he is in the zone leaders area.

Best Friends Forever Rings

That evening we had English class and then noche de hogar. We had the lesson this week and we taught about the atonement. It went well. Elder Rojas is here in the ward and everyone is flipping out because they just all are obsessed with him, but I don´t blame them. He is awesome! I love that guy. Michael came to noche de hogar and participated and had a good time I think. Then we taught him after. We taught about the restoration and it went well, it was hard teaching in english by myself because I was used to having Hna. Grant with me. Hna. Guerrero does a good job, but it´s not the same.

Ice Cream with our SHEO before Hermana Grant is transferred.

Thursday we had weekly planning and it went really well, then we took a nice nap!! I love naps. Then we saw Jenni and also Janeth and Milagros. Janeth isn´t as ready to accept everything as Milagros is. They are the two from Nicaragua. Milagros is awesome though. After, we taught Miriam and Milagros again. We taught The plan of salvation and it seemed to go pretty well. They promised to come to church. That night we went to teach Edith and her friend Ana joined us. We watched the restoration in English and it was the first time I had seen it in English and it was super good. After, Edith told us that she had a dream that this was the true church. I had never heard the story before, but she was telling us her testimony and it was super cute!! I love her so much. I don´t want to her to move.

Friday morning we had zone meeting. We gave a talk about companionship inventory. It was a little awkward. We pretty much just talked about talking through your problems. It went well though. Elder Rojas and Elder Olsen taught us and they are just such an amazing spiritual companioship. I love them both and they did a great job. The spirit is so strong every time they talk. After the conference, we went to Dominos and then we came home because I didn´t feel too good. I have Neuralgia so bad. Then in the afternoon, Kleuska accompanied us. We went to see Cinthia, but she wasn´t home, so we went to see Rosi and David and Michael was there and he let us in. We showed them a video and invited them to church. They said maybe they´ll come. Then we saw Bianca ( a less active) and her family (also less-active) We had quite a strong lesson with them and Bianca started crying. Then we saw Chris in the church. It was another lesson in English. It was a frustrating lesson because he doesn´t really want to do anything. Then we saw Michael and taught him about the priesthood. He said he is working his hardest to keep the commandments of God. He told us a story that happened the same day of his baptism. Right after his baptism, he got a phone call from a friend asking him to come work for a few days. He said ´´It was such a miracle. My first work in a year´´ He knew it was because he made the decision to be baptized that he was getting blessings. He is super cute! I just love Michael.

Saturday morning I was hurting so bad, I rested a little in the morning, but we went out to work. We saw Edith and taught her and then we went to see Soloman. He is Muslim, but he lives with a Nigerian Christian. We are going to try to teach him!! That afternoon we did splits and I went with Kleuska and Hna Guerrero went with Magali. We went and saw Rosi and David and we watched the restoration in Spanish and put English subititles so that everyone could understand. It was a good lesson. Michael loved it. Also Rosi said that for sure she was coming to church. Better than the day before when she said maybe. Then we saw Miriam and Milagros. We brought up her baptism and Miriam said that she wasn´t sure. But that she wanted to be sure. She said she will wait until she feels good in the church. I prayed so hard that she would feel good in the church. After that, we met back up with Guerrero and we went to the zl´s area to give them Monolo. It was a good lesson and Monolo is awesome.

Sunday was awesome. Full of miracles. Miriam cried in church (: from being so happy. We had a miracle come to church named Celestina. Our nigerian clan came and we sat with them. Yeah... I felt pretty cool. Rosi, David and Sam (Michael´s friend) came. It was cool. Also we had 9 less-actives come to church. It was pretty great. The less-active family bianca, they came and it was so good to see them there. The evening was long. It was a hot day and there was absolutely no one in the street. We just saw Edith and that was it. The rest of the day was getting a few futures. But it´s alright. It was good!!

Today we just went to a mall and bowled and ate food! It was pretty relaxing.

I love you so much!!! Have a fantastic week!!! (:

Love,

Hermana Sara Brown

P.S. Please pray for us to have 5 baptisms this month!! We´re working hard!

Bautismos por miles habrá!!!

August 4, 2014

What a crazy good week!!!

So this week just started out crazy!! We changed our last monday to a normal day so we could have p-day on Saturday with the AP´s and office elders. We had intercambios with Fuengirola and Hna. Lionetti came here to Málaga with Hna. Guerrero and I. We were able to teach a few people in the evening so that was good. Michael failed us so it made us a little nervous because he was supposed to be baptized on Wednesday. But we did get to teach Brayan (Edith´s 8 year old son). We also saw a Nigerian man named Aziz and we talked to him about baptism and he said he doesn´t want to make a mistake afterwards. Then after a lesson, we saw him and he told us he was going to buy a cigerette. He is a good guy, he just has to quit a few bad habits. Hna. Lionetti is hillarious. She has such a cool attitude. I just love her.

Tuesday we had district meeting then we ate together with the other district. Hna. Guerrero made a dish called papa de guancallino?? haha I don´t know how to spell it. Or if that is even close. But it was SUPER spicy, but still good. Then we saw Michael and we taught him the rest of the lessons. We had to teach them super simply, but he understood what was going on. Then he had his interview. It went great! 

Wednesday was a CRAZY day. I mean CRAZY. Probably the craziest day on my mission. We didn´t know if we could help get Edith and Brayan ready for their baptism. We saw Edith in the morning and finished the lessons, she said she still wanted to get baptized so we had her run to the church and said we would meet her there for after. We ran to Milagros and Mari and taught them and then ran back to the church.

Filing the Font

After being at the church, we talked to Edith then had to run to an eating cita. It was a little far away, and the food wasn´t prepared when we got there. Then when it was prepared, we ate appetizers first, then two giant lasagnas. It was good, we were just super stressed out because we had to go teach Brayan all of the lessons so that he could get baptized with his mom. We got there in time, taught Brayan and then he had his interview. Then it was the baptism. I had to give a talk in English, and it was so scary because guess who showed up.... PRESIDENT DEERE. We invited his daughter, Annie, because she invited Michael to be baptized. It turned out fine, but when they were baptized Michael had to be baptized 3 times because it was just a little rough. Oh man, I¨m just glad they were baptized and everything went great. 

Thursday we had weekly planning, then we went to Concilio. It was good. Last time was better, but it was still super fun. We were supposed to get kicked out to go sleep somewhere else again, but Hna. Deere asked us if we wanted to sleep on the couches again. We said sure. They were outside on the deck and she just asked if we just wanted to sleep out there. It was just like camping. Or the closest thing we could get to it on a mission. 

Concilio

Friday we had the concilio part and then President told us where we were going. He went around the circle. It was fun.

Concilio???

The only sad part was saying goodbye to everyone. It was really depressing.

My Compies:  Hna. Johnson, Nielsen, Grant

I sat by Hna. Johnson on the train ride back and talked to her. She was super depressed and it made me really sad. I hope she is happy when she gets home. That night, Jhardel accompanied us on a few lessons and we ended up teaching quite a few people. It was a good night. We saw Angelica and she is just the cutest thing ever.

Saturday we played sports with everyone. We played volleyball and I played with Gonzales and we won! It was fun. Then we played soccer and I got to be on the natives´ team. It was awesome! I loved it. That night Elenir invited us over to eat! It was super yummy, like always. The bishop´s family was there again too. IT was bbq and the best rice and salad! YUM!!

Sunday was great! We only had 2 investigators in church... but we had 8 recent converts there. All the ones that have been baptized since I¨ve been here have been coming! It makes me so happy. We taught Michael last night and we asked him how he felt about being confirmed. He said, ´´I felt something different enter my body. I don´t know how to explain it, but I feel different´´ He is the most prepared people I have ever met. He loves God and he just wants to do what God wants him to do. He is the coolest guy ever. He also said that he loves the way he feels when he feels the Holy Ghost. He is such an amazing guy. 

It´s been a good week. I´m super excited for a new transfer. It´s going to be a great one!!!

I love you!

July 28, 2014

This week has been nuts!! We had a ´´mini missionary´´ Annie Deere, President´s daughter.

It was so fun! She is amazing!! Last Monday, I wrote and said what we did for p-day right? Well, our plans were to go to the castle, and we wanted everyone to come. Hna. Samuelson and Morris were at the mall so we went and tried to convice them to come, Hna. Morris didn´t want to... I ended up staying with her while all the rest went to the castle. It wasn´t too bad. It made it worth it to know that Hna. Samuelson could enjoy her time away a little bit. That evening, Hna. Samuelson stayed with the Castillos and Hna. Morris was with us for a while, also Annie Deere came and we had to go on splits. We didn´t end up teaching anyone, but when we all got back together, we had a family home evening with Lucy and Magali. It was super fun. Their little son, who we were teaching to help him get ready for his baptism, is the cutest thing in the world. His name is Elias. I have pictures of him, but it won´t let me upload them. That night, Hna. Morris returned to Hna. Samuelson.

Tuesday we had a normal morning, but then Hna. Grant and I went to Almería (AGAIN) to help with a cosecha. The zone leaders asked us to go and help the hermanas there. It was a great success. Hna. Grant and I were kind of hoping we would be able to stay together and work in the cosecha, but they split us up and put us with Hna Roan and Becerra. I went with Hna. Roan and I think it was a good learning experience. At the first, she didn´t really contact with power and boldness, but with time, we were able to get more information of the people and teach too. Hna. Grant said it was good for Becerra too. As we contacted this one Bulgarian man went to give Hna. Roan besos and he grabbed her and she couldn´t do anything about it, then he came to me and I told him no. He called me rascist. It was funny. Also, another man told me he had heard a few things about ´Mormons´ and he said that Franco was a Mormon. We told him that was absolutely incorrect... haha and we said we would come and explain more about what we believe. Overall, I think they got a good 30 futures, which is pretty good for 2 hours. That night, we were supposed to catch a bus from Granada, but we missed it. We stayed with the Hermanas in Granada that night, and then caught a bus that morning. We were pretty gross, we didn´t bring clothes or a toothbrush, and by the time we got home, we had to go work. We were pretty gross. That morning, I went with Hna. Guerrero to go get her residency stuff done for Spain. We spent most of the morning doing that, but it was fun still. Then for medio-dia we ate with a crazy Argentinian. She talks SO MUCH. I can´t even believe how fast she can change the subject and just talk about whatever. Then, that evening we did splits. I went with Annie and Guerrero and Grant went together. We ended up teaching 8 lessons in total!! It was great! 

Thursday was the 24th of july and my year mark. My 3 companions made such a big deal and it was a great morning.

They decorated the piso and sang and bought a sign that says ´´mission complete´´ then put 2/3 after mission. It was cute! That morning we did weekly planning, with mustaches.

Planning in Mustaches. 

Don´t worry. I have pictures. Then after planning, we dropped Annie off and went to work again. We taught a bunch in English. During one of the lessons with Axis, he told me I have a china face. Then he said that Hna. Grant likes problems and Hna. Guerrero gets mad easily. It was funny. He has a crush on Guerrero and the other black man has a crush on Hna. Grant. I´m just the awkward chinese girl on the side. That night, weirdest thing... Hna. Morris called and Hna. Grant answered, then she asked to talk to me. I answered and she just called to ´´talk´´. It was weird and it really surprised me. I guess we´re alright. Oh... I also burned a shirt that night. It was crazy.

Friday morning we went to teach our muslim friend Terek, and a girl was at his house and she came in to listen. Her name is Erika. She is awesome. We want to teach her more, because she actually is there to learn. That night we did intercambios with Hna Rawle and Anderson. Hna. Rawle came here with Hna. Grant and I. It was good. We taught a lot in English too, but it turned out good. We had such a good lesson with Michael. He is a Nigerian that came to church last week. On Wednesday we asked him to pray to see if the Book of Mormon was true. He came back on Friday and we asked if he had prayed. He said, ´´yes, I did. I felt something really weird. I´ve never felt before. Like ice all over my body´´ We told him that it was the Holy Ghost. He got a huge smile on his face and said, ´´It is??´´ He was so happy and even more because the only thing he wants is to have the gift of the Holy Ghost. He is super prepared and super awesome. He asked us, after teaching the restoration, ´´What are the commandments? Because I want to keep all the commandments of God´´ We ended up teaching all of them in one lesson. He is getting baptized Wednesday! We went to visit Hna Samuelson and we played Uno with her and Hna. Morris. It was fun!

Saturday we taught a girl that moved into a member´s house. She´s cool, she´s pregnant and is from Paraguay. She will be getting baptized soon (: That night was Elias´ baptism.

I think Elias has a crush on someone!

I love that boy. He was super cute in his baptism, of course, at first it was a disaster like always, but it turned out great (:  That night, we went to see Edith. As we walked up to the park, she lit a cigarette, as soon as she saw us, she threw it on the ground. We had a good talk and she said, ´´I haven´t smoked for 3 days and now the only time I went to do it, you girls came´´ It was a cool thing, because we went earlier than we had planned and it helped her know that God is helping her. 

Sunday we walked with Cinthia and Axis (our nigerian friends) to church. Also Michael came and a Jehovah´s Witness and her daughter came!! It was good! (: Another week of miracles. That night we went to see Hna. Samuelson. We played Uno with some of the other Hermanas, then Hna. Samuelson asked if we could share a message with her. I had the idea to share Alma 29:9-10. Wow... it was a really strong spirit there. People were crying and maybe it´s what someone needed to hear. It was super cool!!! That scripture has changed my mission. It´s my favorite and I think if I ever had a doubt of the reason I´m on a mission, that would be the scripture to help me through it. 

I love every second of my mission. How cool it is to be here. I´ve become so much closer to my Savior. I´ve been able to make goals for my future, for the way I want to be. You gotta let the mission change you, if not - you´re not out here for the right reasons.

Love you so much! (:

This is what it´s all about. Working hard and having fun and doing the will of the Lord.

WHAT A WEEK!!

July 14, 2014 

What a week!! It´s been crazy, and it seems like it took forever too! But it´s been great! 

Monday we played basketball and soccer with the elders. It was a fun time. I already talked about it in my last letter. That afternoon, we went to see a future and decided to knock the doors. We knocked the first one and the man let us in. As we got in and said we were missionaries, he didn´t really want anything to do with us. We asked him and his wife if we could say a prayer with them and then we asked if there was anyone that was passing through bad times and that we could include in our prayer and the woman started crying. Her sister had passed away recently and so after that, we got a return appointment and it was a super cool experience. The rest of the day was filled with finding a lot of people. It was good start to the week!! 

Tuesday we had intercambios with Hna. Samuelson and Hna. Morris. It was good.  Hna. Samuelson came with Hna. Grant and me and Hna. Guerrero left and was with Hna. Morris. It was a good intercambio. We went to see a future, a Muslim teenager.  When we got there her mom was super happy to see us young girls preaching the gospel. She was so cute and she fed us. (even though they were fasting) It was super yummy meat. I was really happy!  

Wednesday was a great day. We taught 10 lessons. We had intercambios in the morning, and then in the afternoon, we did splits in our area. WE got a lot done. Then that night, a bunch of the Hermanas came to our house and we had 7 of us there.

It was super fun. I got to talk to Hna. Roan. I just love her so much.  

Thursday was the multizone conference. It was fun. It was super great.

The ´´theme´´ was ´2 times in White´ It´s talking about being in white in baptism and the temple. It was a really amazing conference. We learned a lot of stuff. Then I went on a 5 hour bus ride to Almeria. It stopped in every pueblo and took forever. I got super sick too. We didn´t even get there in time to proselyte, but it was good. Hna. Becerra is awesome, just super quiet.  

Friday was a long morning. All of the citas in Almeria failed, then I rode another long bus ride back. Luckily, Hna. Becerra is awesome and made yummy lunch!!

When I got back to Málaga, we taught Gilbert and Jhannet and played basketball. It was fun. We won. 

Saturday was Hna. Guerrero´s birthday and we had a piñata and saw a few members. It was a good day. 

Sunday we went to Elenir´s and ate yummy food again. She cooks so well! I love it so much, best salad in the world and yummy Brazilian meat!!  I love it.  

It was a good week, lots of things happened, quite a bit of drama, but it all worked out okay!!! 

Love you!!   

Love, Sara