December 30, 2013

I hope everyone had a WONDERFUL Christmas! Mine was great! especially since i got to see and talk to my family. So there are five cute sisters who all work in the primary and well , they were our christmas! One of them, hermana blanca made a christmas dinner for us 4 missionaries at the church on the 24th. then while in the middle of dinner hna, faye and hna Jenny come in with a stocking and small gift for each one of us! We were not expecting that and it really filled my heart with gratitude and love. We finished the 24th making sugar cookies and frosting at the church to hand out to members the next day. (which kind of didnt end up happening). so the 25th hna swenson opened all her gifts. (my family package is still in madrid customs) and we had our studies, got ready then met up with the elders to go over to hna Jennys house (pictures in other email). we played basketball - not as easy when your wearing a skirt but still doable.. ha.- Then after we ate and shared a message we walked back down to las arenas because we were in a pueblo , the elders went to email and we went back to our piso for language study (a very awkward time of the day for me b/c i dont study spanish or engish, which most natives are told they need to learn enlgish on their mission. since i know both languages i kind of use that time to write in my journal, clean or read) After that study time we went over to hna Elenas house where hna swenson and i were supposed to use her comuters to call our families. long story short, there were some problems with the internet and we ended up running to a locotorio to call. It all ended well. then afterwards we went back to hna elenas house, talkd with her , shared a message and then went back to las arenas... and i know it doesnt sound like much but that was our christmas day and it was a very nice day. Our REAL christmas though was when we played secret santa for this very cute family who comes every sunday to church but she cant be baptized b/c she isnt married and her husband is in africa working/studying right now. But she has 3 kids. and lives with her mother in law too. So hna Swensons family sent her 150$ to buy someone christmas and really that is where i found my christmas too. buying gifts and then wrapping them all. carrying them in a big bag, getting on the wrong bus because it was raining and we didnt want the gifts to get wet, contacting a lady on the way, the bus taking us out of our area , then getting on another bus and finding another really nice lady to talk to. then rushing to Paulas house (the family) ringing every one of her neighbors door to try and let them get us into the building, finally getting in. then walking up four flights of stairs just to go running back downstairs, gifts still in hand, because we heard one of the boys open the door then running into the mother, paula, who was coming in from outsde. Caught red handed...... haha so it turned out not to be so secret but man was it worth the trouble. the gratitude and tears that came from that womans eyes are unforgetable. I felt prompted to let her know that this was the christmas spirit of christ that led us to her after we had prayfully thought of someone to use this money on. she was so happy that she said she is going to sleep tonight with a smile on her face and then wake up with hurting cheeks from smiling all night. she is a doll. I am so grateful that i have many many many ways to serve the people here in spain. The most important of course being that I have the opportunity to share with them the gospel, but really, to me , any act of service just screams out our purpose. I am here to serve. to let the lord use me as an instrument in his hands in any way possible. I love being here. I love all the opportunities i have to serve and I especially love all of you , who support me and love me while I am her. I hope you all continue to have a beautiful Christmas Season and that you can make this next year especially special. Happy new years!!! 

Love, Hermana Hair

Christmas Day

This wonderful family invited us over christmas day to eat and hang out a little. We went and played basketball and jumped roped haha. it was so fun and nice to feel like doing a little family get together and to play outside while we waited for dinner to be ready. This familys oldest son is out on a mission so the mom, Jenny, says how much she hopes people are taking care of her on over there so the least she could do was take care of us! how sweet is she. she is a very strong and fun member . I am so grateful for her love. (they are from bolivia.) 

San Sebastian

So last week on preperation day we went to San sebastian! I cant remember if I told you all about this or not or if i sent pictures or not but here are some beautiful pictures of this little place called la concha , its where the ocean comes in and wow its beautiful . the picture of all of us consists of elders and hermans from san sebastian, bilbao, and las arenas. 

 

December 17, 2013

Querida familia y amigos,

Sorry for never having enough emailing time. but i just wanted to wish  you all a grand, happy, feliz, merry christmas!!! 

Yesterday was our Christmas Zone conference and it was absolutely wonderful as usual! but that is why preperation day got moved over to today.  I never get to send much pictures so i think i will just send pictures and write what they are about and that will be my email for this week. ha. Ill apologize in advance for blowing up your email with messages:) 

love you all! take care and dont get sick!

the church is true! 

love, Hermana Hair

Just another view of the river and the hanging bridge. We live on the side that is seen on the other side of the river. that is called Las Arenas. but where we are standing is called Portugalete. Portugalete and Santurtzi (both on this side of the river) are our areas. 

RAMON THE BIRD MAN! we say this man as we were walking through the plaze and saw that all this pigeons were just surrounding him as he walked. he then extended his arm and 3 of them just landed on his arm! crazy. so long story short. we went over to talk to him and asked if we could feed them and they ate right out of my hand! Ramon even knows english because he lived in new jersey and all over alaska and the states training dogs and other animals. How cool! but... he wasnt interested in the church but he was super friendly and took a pass along card anyways! 

Side story: we were walking the day after we met the bird man and i saw him and he walked right passed us so i yelled out RAMON! and went and shook his hand. he looked at me all puzzled and said i think your confuse.. so i was like uuuuhhh are you ramon? and he said yes. so i asked ramon arenas ? and he said no. embarrassing!!! haha. he totally was not our bird man but it sure was a funny way to start a contnact :)

The green grinch door! We got into this building and wow, i have never ever met the most non christmasy grinch people ever. before we even could knock any doors a lady yelled down from the top of the winding staircase and asked us what we wanted. we said we were missionaries and have a beautiful christmas message for her. she yelled back to go away. that they didnt need christmas and to not knock any doors. we werent going to listen to her but then some of her neighbors came out wondering why she was yelling and she started complaining to them so we decided it was best to just leave. however when we were in the entry way we notice how beautiful our voices sounded in the echoey entry way. so we decided to sing silent night to the whole building. not a good idea. the same lady yelled down at the end of the second verse to stop singing and go home and merry christmas and happy easter. that they didnt need christmas..... crazy huh? we couldnt believe it either. so we left and took a picture of the building for memories and then went and grabbed hot chocolate... haha o boy. 

**hence my face, I was trying to make a grouch face but couldnt help but smile... so it ended up being something in between

The four missionaries in our little branch. (there is a senior couple who are also missionaries in this branch. The Herreros. Elder Herrero was actually the very FIRST missionary ever in spain. He is spaniard. cool huh?)

We had a pretty good turn out. the food was... alright. but the best part was that everyone had fun! such a fun tiny branch. Elder farrah also dressed up as santa and came in running with candy and coal... he is crazy. 

December 9, 2013

Okie-dokes. . so this week was a bit slower than ususal. For some reason on tuesday both Hna swenson and I were just draggin our feets. we were incredibly tired, so tired that it felt like Sunday night where you are ready for preperation day , not like a tuesday morning where you just happened to have a preperation day. I felt like we were both about to come down with something but gratefuly I didnt. but not so gratefuly hna, swenson did :/ which if one companion is down , then the whole companionship is down. the poor thing had a terrible sore throat, a huge headache and whole body ache. She toughed it out for a couple days but thursday came around and she was in bed most of the day which proved to be excatly what she needed. by friday we were out and working again So i feel like we had a bit of a set back but we are going to get back on top of things and have a great week this week (we hope!).

 The cold weather is creeping on us more and more every day which is a great motivator to have our schedule full with visitws so we are inside but makes contacting on the street a bit difficult. Another fun fact about my area is that it is super hilly and has lots of ups and downs. but mostly ups! If all the stairclimbing and walking hasnt already gotten my legs into shape, this area certainly will! 

Our fecha Nilda is still progressing . She came to church again yesterday!! (the hardest part for investigators) and since she has been to church at least  twice she has nothing holding her back from being able to be baptized. She didnt however let us announce her baptism for this saturday at church because she said she needs to think about it a bit more.(not what a missionary likes to hear) Today she is coming to FHE for the singles in our rama and we are talking to her tonight a bit more about baptism and what it means and then just going from there. Her thing is that she has lots of random, yet profound questions . for a 17 year old she is very smart and really thinks about life. She is amazing though. i know she will be baptized and then later when she is older will be relief society president . she is that great! **we talked to her parents and they are completly fine with her being baptized if its what she wants. MILAGRO** 

Our other Fecha , Kairo is being a bumhead and not answering our calls or calling us back but his family has such potential we met his nephew and his sister and want to start working with them. they are a wonderful family! 

So this week we also met with a menos activa (less active) named Carola. She has two daughters a crazy dog and a husband who isnt a member and works all the time. Her father passed away a couple weeks ago and she is still very sensitive about the topic, she has grudges against her family and really needs to be loved right now. I teared up hearing her story but because of her very very very very attention needy four year old and sick dog, who took up most the couch, i felt it wasnt the moment to share my personal experience, the spiriti wouldnt have been felt or appreciated. Before we left I hugged her and told her that I could relate a little because of a similar experience. she hugged me real tight and invited us over for lunch this next week. She is a sweet sweet lady who really needs to rely on the gospel more. I hope we can help her. 

So for this sunday i was asked to give a talk in sacrament meeting! of course i didnt have time to prepare anything, although they told me a week in advance, but I never really prepare for any of my talks, even before my mission... haha so i wasnt too worried. I decided to talk on Faith.Its something so very important but something that i feel we dont talk about enough. In the scripture guide in the spanish b.o. m. it says faith is to trust in someone or something. That reminded me of my favorite scripture alma 36:3 and how all the Lord asks us to do is to trust in him and he will support us through all our trials, troubles and afflictions and it made me think about how if we think of Faith as more than just believing and having hope in something that we cant see, that its actually believing AND trusting. Trusting that he will help. Faith really is a word of action. Faith can move mountains, incredible right!? but what good does that do us? faith needs to move US. I know that our savior lives . That he died for us and gave us the example in everything we need to do. I love him with all my heart. I love all of you with all my heart! and I want to wish you all the best christmas season ever! Keep spreading the christmas joy! Thanks for all you do. Thanks for being in my life and for helping me be the person I am today. I am so grateful for every one of you! xoxo

Hermana Hair

Here is my 7 month picture!! 7 months can you believe it? can time please slow down:( 

The other picture is of the whole Bilbao Zone. there is this huge christmas tree in Bilbao , which is about a 20 minute metro ride from las arenas. and we had our zone enfoque, Our district leader also gave us all those christmas hats with the scripture reference 3 Nefi 5:13 on the back!

Here are some pictures from Hna. Swenson, 27 is our zonez baptisimal goal for the month of december. can you say white christmas??:) and that other picture there is of our cute lil place. our little cute tree with the stockings that hna swensons mom sent and our fake fireplace we made last preperation day to hang our stockings over! looks great for a paper fire huh??:) 

cant remember what i uploaded but i think its just of pretty Las arenas!

December 2, 2013

DECEMBER????? whaaattt??? well Merry Christmas Month everyone!!!

okay, so Las Arenas is absolutely beautiful! and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to serve here. Hermana Swenson is such a big ball of sunshine and I love her wonderful spirit, It was a bit different going from knowing every street and member to not knowing anything or anyone but I love the fresh start and new beginning. Its going to be a wonderful transfer. 

The miracles are already starting to pop up everywhere.. We have two fechas already! Kairo is from Africa and we bumped into him while going to visit a MA (less active). He lives in the same building as the MA. We started talking to him and asked him what piso he lived on. On our way down from visiting the MA I suggested we should stop by Kairo's piso and knock his door. So we did. He wanted to invite us right in but his sister wasnt home so we couldnt. However we got his information and set up a cita for the next day. He is a single man who seemed a little flirty at the beginning so we were kind of iffy on whether we should go back or not. I was like Hna, we will go and invite him to be baptized and that way we will know his real intentions and we did and he accepted! the lesson went really well actually, He was serious and took our lesson in and asked questions and was very professional and not flirty at all. It was amazing! I really think that when we invite people on the first lesson and testify it lets them know our purpose and sets that barrier of professionalism between us because they know what we are here to do and we earn that respect from them that even though we may be younger than them they realize we have something great that they want as well. 

Our other fecha is Nilda, she is a sweet 16 year old girl with many many questions. Hna Liu and Hna swenson have been teaching her but they can never really get through a whole lesson because she has so many deep questions. So when we went in I remembered our specialized training that we had the month before with president and how he emphasized importantce it was to get through whole lesson 1 (the restoration) . so we went in with that goal in mind. She had questions, lots of them , but we would answer them the best we could and quickly get back to the lesson or tell her that her questions would be answered in the lesson (because they would be). we got through the whole lesson and we invited her and she accepted!! Her mother is completely fine with us teaching her (her mom works as interna so is never really home) but we have yet to really confirm with the father about baptism (apperently they have never met him) 

The amazing thing is that THEY BOTH CAME TO CHURCH! Hna swenson said they have never had an investigator come to church (besides a forever investigator who cant get baptized b/c she isnt married. but who is basically a member.) So overall i would say this past week here in Las arenas has been a very good week! oh both their dates are for the 14th of December. 

I am super excited for this christmas season! I can already tell and feel that we will be seeing lots of gran milagros in this mission this season! its the perfect time to talk about CHRIST! Ive heard the christmas spirit is something that spain lacks but dont worry, with all of us missionaries out there, there will definitely be some christmas cheer going around. especially with hna swenson and I out on the loose. She is a nutcase!! in a super good way. haha i love her so so much. we already have so many inside jokes and she really is just so happy and so cute and so open and such a great missionary! I know you all can be great missionaries too! This is the season of cheer and giving. Give something that will last a lifetime.. more like eternity! give someone the gospel. Love you all!! and have a great week! 

xoxoxo 

Hermana Hair 

Spain Barc Mission

So my camera isnt hooking up to this computer.. I know just my luck. so my compañera is going to email them to me from her computer and i will forward them to you. I hope. :) sorry for my lack of pictures. I should try and do better. 

This is literally across the street from our apartment. This is our view! and that is Hna Swenson

Hna Swenson and I take this treadmill/escalator like things that are on big hills in our area. Yeah were in the rich, lazy part of town haha. so random right? They even function in the rain!

and the correct address for my place is actually the same street nambe but instead of just 6C its 6 BIS, C :)

 

love to all!

November 27 2012

WOW  this week has been crazy! more like the past few days have been crazy, So we will go in chronological order. Saturday, Hna Williams and I were at the church literally all day! we give english classes saturdays at noon so we were there at ten to start getting tables ready for the activitiy the missionarys were putting on that night called, noche de culturas, where everyone brings a dish from their country and then we all share and its a big fun get to know you environment with food and music . anywho. all week we were preparing, making calls, decorations etc in the little time we have between our already full missionary schedule. But saturday we were getting things ready, then the elders had a baptism after lunch and then our activity so we literally did not leave church until 9:45 pm because we stayed to clean the church. the good part was that the activity was a success. some members invited some friends, (which was the main point of the activity) and we found some new investigators that way! Okay so here is the part you have all been waiting for. since we were all at church the Zone Leaders checked their email and we all found out together where everyone was going and I am now in LAS ARENAS! yaaayyyy... ya no one knows where that is at here either... ja. but it is way up north by Bilboa and San sebastian. aka, the prettiest part of the entire mission! and it really is absolutely GORGEOUS here! now i really feel like I am in Spain. It has the cute little colors and buildings and streets , its so historical yet so modern and cute! But I will talk more about it, first i will continue on with my week. so then sunday was church and oh, goodbyes are so hard. I really have fallen in love with all the people in lleida, its my first area and it will always hold such a special place in my heart. The members are so sweet, which explains my schedule for monday. Monday was HECTIC! we were running around , literally, from appointment to appointment, squeezing in member visits in between. Its funny how everyone really shows their love once your leaving... ha. but i ate so much i felt like exploding by the end of the day because every house fed us something. and the members were so kind. Carol, gave me a very nice, warm winter jacket because she said she noticed i didnt have one and that it is super super cold up north and she didnt want me to freeze, how cute! and then an investigator, milagros gave me a cute red peticoat (the same one who threw my surprise bday party) love her. and others gave me other cute very sentimental gifts. I love them all and felt really bad accepting gifts from them. Much tears were shed , but its all a bitter sweet moment. I am sad to leave but excited for the new experiences that await me.

Okay, so now on to Tuesday. I woke up and finished packing then we left, grabbed my last buñuelo from the colombian bakery and headed to the train station. A few memebers and investigators came to say bye and I headed to Barcelona on a 1.5 hour train ride with E. Schwartz (only him and I were transfered from our district this transfer) Once at barc we met up with a whole bunch of missionaries and then from there everyone goes on different trains to all their new areas. So we waited there for a few hours till our train was leaving , I hopped on a train with one other sister and a set of elders and we headed to Bilboa. . . for SIX hours.. Longest train ride ever. . yet. not my favorite but we got to bilboa at ten at night and then had quite an adventure trying to get to our piso. My compañera was there at the train stop waiting for me and her and i with the two other hermanas who were staying at our place for the night went on a little detour on the metro.. we had to hop of the metro unexpectadly twice (remember i am traveling with all my luggage) and lug it up and over stairs to get to the other metro side, (twice) because I guess the metro lines run a bit different at night and one was closed and ya i didnt really understand it all but then we walk out and start walking in the cutest little place ever, go down a really dangerously steep hill for luggage and then cross on a little transport bridge over a river that comes in directly from the ocean (its the oldest transport bridge in the world !! according to my compañera it was built the same year the eiffel tower was built.) and then we just walk across the street and up a little and there overlooking the beautiful river is our new piso! ah i about died, it has such a pretty view and its a brand new piso, my companera and her trainer opened the area for sisters so the area is , once again like lleida, just getting started so its still trodding a long trying to get it going. I am so excited to get working here. 

My companera is so cute, (i feel like i have been using that word alot, but its true, everything here is so cute) She is 19 and from Alpine Utah. she is super bubbly and still learning spanish but she is doing great. She is the oldest of 5 girls and her dad owns the swenson dental place right across lehi high on main street. Her name is Hermana Swenson. and she is super pumped to keep working and sounds like they have just barley started having solid investigators here so we will see what we can do. She came in the same time that Hermana williams did so she just finished her training but i am really excited to be her. My address here is ç

Muelle Tomas Olabarri Nº6,C 48930 Las Arenas, España 

I will definetely send pictures next time. I am short on time right now because we have to go to a visit. But just wait till monday monday monday! :) 

OOOHHHH i forgot to tell you, So remember the baby that is being named Melanie well she was supposed to be due next week but i kept telling them that she was going to be born before i left.. more like, she HAD to be born before i left becuase i really really really really wanted to see her and take a picture with her (her parents say im melanie's aunt.. haha.) AND SHE WAS BORN ON MONDAY! I went to the hospital and got to see baby melanie and left her one of my chapas so she could always remember me. they almost melted when i handed them my chapa... haha they are so cute. they said they would always have it and keep it in her room. I love them. okay i have to go. Pictures next week! love you all 

love, Hermana Hair

November 18, 2013

So this past weekend was Stake conference and our fecha, Justice, unexpectadly had to work sunday morning and wasnt home when we went to pick him up so sadly he lost his fecha. (they have to be at church at least twice before being able to be baptized) We also rang the timbre (doorbell) of this man who lives in the same building as Justice that we had met the other day but he was not home either.. about this man though. His name is charles and he is from  from Nigeria we ran into him by the elevator. He looked at us and asked if we were Jehova witnesses. we explained who we were and told him that we would love to explain to him more about our church. He accepted and we got his information then we invited him to stake conference in the llotja (His building is right by the llotja) we told the time and said we would come by in the morning and tocar his timbre so he could come with us. - which we did but his brother said he wasnt home, and his brother also denied our invitation through the timbre to join us for church.. Rough start to stake conference right... ha so fast forward to after we missionaries sang and were heading back to our seats , I glanced around and received this beaming hello from an african man sitting maybe a few seats below from my seat that i was heading too. I smiled and continued to walk to my seat in silence, just as president requested :) but the whole time I was racking my brain wondering who that man was...  and it never came to me. so conference ended and this man and another man he was sitting next to came up to hna williams and I and he was like, dont you remember me? and then it hit me! it was charles!! he came to conference! all by himself! with his little bible in hand and everything. He had sat next to a recent convert from zaragoza who is also african and the first thing the RC tells us is , I want him to be baptized like me! que milagro. We are meeting with him tomorrow and if a man comes to stake conference by himself, without even us meeting with him once, then i know he is prepared. the Lord really does prepare the people and place them in our path. 

So earlier this week we finally moved out of the hotel, Yes if we add up up the time from the very beginning of my Lledia time and now, I have spent well over one transfer in that same hotel room.. haha oh boy. but now we are in a small yet very modern and nice apartment. We had twin beds put in for us and we share a bathroom and a small kitchen but it has heating and no bed bugs so we arent complaining! its on c/ d'aragon Nº33 its in a nicer place of lleida, i really like it we are right across from the city library which is a nice old, european building, i really like it. 

so quickly about the weather: its been raining non stop all weekend!! and yes we still go out in it. dont worry mom, i bundle up real nice and last preparation day i bought myself some nice black spanish leather boots to keep warm.and today i plan on buying a winter jacket because all i have is my rainjacket, who knew it was cold in spain. weve had a low of 4º celsius.. but the wind and rain really make it feel colder. but i am well and loving it!! 

love you all!!! xoxo 

Hermana Hair

November 11, 2013

We have a fecha (baptisimal date)! His name is Justice and he is from Ghana, Supposedly he was a reference from the Barc Elders to the Zone leaders here but he ended up being in our area. He however does not remember the Elders in Barc or how they got his phone number. Milagro?:) Well during our first two visits he would not accept a fecha at all. During the second visit he expressed that he wants to marry first and then be baptized as a family. (He is 22 and doesnt have a girlfriend) We reassured him that both of those desires were very righteous and exactly what God wanted for him BUT that he can get baptized now and when he has a wife if she is not baptized then she can get baptized then. He was hard to convince until finally I started to share my experience when I was baptized, he then exclaiemed, "But your not married??" and that is when i think it finally clicked. We asked him to pray about getting baptized the 23rd of November and the next time we met with him he said he had prayed and the he would get baptized on the 23rd! and he also came to church! He is very prepared, very humble, and has a very very good heart. I am so excited for him and pray that he when the day comes we can see him dressed in white with a big smile on his face. 

Well we are still in the hotel but i think that tomorrow or tonight we will be moving into a temporary apartment. The owner of our apartment, after hearing the news that we were going to move out permanently, drove all the way to barcelona from lleida to talk to the mission president. He begged to have the church keep renting the apartment (because we are very good people and dont make noise and always pay) He promised he would get rid of all the bugs for good and fix up the piso, with new paint etc and they would rent a temporary piso for us to stay in for a month and then after that we can move in and try it again.... we said okay. on the condition that we could teach his family the gospel!!! haha. I love how our mission president negotiates. well anyways so that is what is going on for now. Although transferes are the 26th so who knows if I will still be here or not to try out the piso again..We will see:) 

Well I love you all and im attaching a picture of what my companion and I like to get on preparation days. its become a monday tradition.. Bunuelos and pony malta!! Im making her cololmbian;) and no its not beer haha. 

Have a wonderful week y'all! love you!! 

Love, Hermana Hair

November 4. 2013

This week was wonderful with finding new investigators! We were able to find 8 news! and it was all because the new zone leaders were going through their area book and found about 12 antiguos that live in our area. and we received the blessings of finding news not because we found the antiguos but because we went looking for them and on the way we found all our news! It really stregnthened my testimony of anitguo hunting . I learned that we keep records for a reason. Either the Antiguo will be ready later or if they have moved, the address is still in our file becuase the person living there now is ready to listen and accept. The lord really does bless us when we are being obedient and using all our resources. 

So the bed bugs are still in lleida..we thuoght they were gone so we hauled all of our stuff pack to our place, got setteled and slept the night there in new beds and new sheets. AND.... then i wake up the next morning to find NINE bed bugs on my bed... that i could see. these creatures are wild! so what do i do?? I text the mission presidents wife immediately and complain.. haha i know , im horrible but I really dont want to sleep in bed bugs anymore. she immedialtly responded back , with , "thats it we are getting you a new piso (apartment) ". so that is what we are doing now. we are rewashing all our stuff and packing it up and going back to the hotel.... haha. the Senior missionaries are going to be looking for a new place for us this week and we will go from there. But transferes are coming up soon!!! nov 26th. so that week i will be emailing on a tuesday. and finding out if i leave or not. but everyone thinks i am leaving.. haha. ive been here for a looonnngg time. 

okay crazy thought!!! I have been on the mission for 6 months!!! im a third of a way done i only have one year left! i will never ever have another november on my mission :( time goes by too fast.

well i love you all and hope you are all having fun with the holidays. be grateful you dont have bed bugs!! haha. take care!

love, Hermana Hair . 

Random fact

I also dyed my hair today!! by myself.. haha well with the help of my compa. The summer sun had really bleached my ends and it was looking a bit fried. so i went back to dark brown! and i gave my companera a haircut and gave her layers. we basically had a spa morning ;) haha

before

after

October 28 2013

Happy Monday Everyone! 

So I am still in the hotel, they did the second fumigation and the piso (apartment) is being cleaned today by a lady from the ward and her son - the mission office didnt want us to clean up the poweder stuff left behing from the fumigation- so we should be able to move in later this week! 

So we were trying to plan this cultural activity for nov 1st but it turns out that day is el dia de los santos (the day of the saints) here in Spain. Which is when everyone goes to the cemetary, so kinda like memorial day? so we decided to change the date to the 23rd of November. We are planning a small halloween FHE for this week, it was short notice but I think we can do it. Halloween isnt nearly as big of an event here as it is in the states. I wonder how christmas will be here. Thats my favorite season. 

So the miracle for this past week was that we were door knocking and this nigerian lady answers the door, she seems confused and her 3 little kids were running around. We ask if we can come in and share a message about God with her and she lets us in (surprised us too- doesnt happen much here in spain) She then sits down and continues to weave her daughters hair. We ask if she can turn the tv off and she looks kind of annoyed and just mutes it (not what i asked, but works for now) then she receives a phone call and starts yelling in this other language and hangs up on the person and doesnt seem to happy, Hermana williams and i kept looking at eachother , like, what the? ha. Oh and she speaks english!  and I remebered i had an english plan of salvation pamphlet, (dont know why, but I did) so long story short, we start with a prayer, she grabs her bible. and gives us her full attention the enire time! we invite her to be baptized and she says yes! She didnt come to church this sunday though and we need her to come at least twice before being baptized so we are going to try and help her get to church. It seems like an easy thing but its really what most investigators struggle with here, getting to church.

Well I will keep you all updated and i appreciate the updates you all give me! I love you all so so much! 

love, Hermana Hair

p.s. I almost forgot to tell you all. But we saw a human castle this week!!! its super traditional here in catalunya. they compete and everything. They have everyone bunch up at the bottom and people just climb up . they have adults , teenagers and then little kids at the very top. it was very impressive. I´ll send pictures. 

October 21, 2013

Querida Familia!! (Y seres queridos que son como familia!) 

I have no idea how I forgot to tell you all this in my last week's email but we have been living in a hotel since the night of my birthday!! :) Its actually the exact same hotel that we were staying in when we first got to lleida, not only the same hotel, but the same room! So what happened was that for quite a few weeks now, Hermana Williams has been getting bug bites on her arms and well everywhere. She was constantly itiching, the poor thing. I dont know why we werent concerned, I guess we thought she was just getting them from outside or something. But then I start to get a rash on my thighs! I put some hydrocortisone cream on it and think its all good. but the rash keeps spreading and starts itching and itching. So I call the Presidents wife and she tells me to send pictures of the rash to a doctor in salt lake. So i do. Then when we wash our sheets that week, they come out all spotted. Scariest part is when Hermana Williams goes to wash her sheets there are little flat like bugs on the corners. So we scoop some up in a zip lock bag and we tell the senior missionaries in our area, the do some googling and print us out 15 pages on BED BUGS! we call the presidents wife and the owner of the piso and had to wash all our clothes in super hot water, take them to the hotel so that the fumigator could come fumigate our apartment. and we are still in the hotel because he is fumigating agiain this week just to make sure it is all well covered. I was super disgusted with the thought of bed bugs and that i was sleeping with them. aparently some people´s effects are just getting itchy welts from the bites (hermana williams) and some people are completely allergic to their meer touch (like me! ) and some people get physchologial effects (hopefully neither of us! ha) But yeah... thats what happened a couple weeks ago, I dont know how I forgot to tell you all that story but here it is. Hope you enjoyed it.

On a happier note, we are planning an activity for the ward! It will be on Nov 1st and its a cultural night!  We had a ton of sisters sign up yesterday next to their country to help out. The plan is to have different tables from different countries and have the sisters put together the decoration (flag, etc) and have a typical dish from each country so that everyone can come and try some and then sit down to eat while dances from the different countries are being performed by either the members from that country or friends they have invited. The idea is to unify the ward and have them work together for this activity and to INVITE friends and family. Everyone is proud of their culture so hopefully this activity will animar everyone to come and to come with friends to represent their country. 

We have also decided to start inviting ourselves over to members home to do a family home evening and asking them to invite a non member friend or neighbor. We decided to test it out with the bishop first so this week we are having an FHE with him in his home and one of their family friends. By the way, if any of you have any fun FHE ideas/lessons/activities, I would love to add more ideas to our list. 

So Our focus as a district is to find new investigators!  I know the Lord is preparing people for us but he wont keep preparing them if he sees us walk staight pass one of his prepared sons or daughters. talk to everyone!!! young or old. Thats our motto for the week /mission :) I also know that every one of us as members are the ones who are the insturments in the Lords hands in order to help prepare his children for the missionaries. Never be afraid to share the gospel, Never be afraid to invite them to activites. and Dont put a time limit on God, If he wants someone to be baptized in 2 weeks then he can do it. One of the things that members do the most often is that they think that their friends and family need time, that they need to take it slowly and from the very beginning they put a restraint on that persons progress. Have faith and let the Lord place the restraints wherever he wants. Some people do need time, but dont limit their progress from the beginning, Dont shelter them from the missionaries. Missionaries and Baptism should be a comfortable topic of conversation, that way when those words actually come up as an invitation, they wont be surprised. Trust the Lord, I know he will let you know what to do and when to do it, what to say, and how to say it, I know this because He does it for me and I know He will do it for you. 

So I want to talk about Iris real quick. Iris is a recent convert's sister in law. She just had a baby and has been to church multiple times. I know that all we need to do is help her gain a testimony of the B.O.M. We want to show her our love by planning a surprise cleaning day with her brother in law and her friend who is a member. We want to get her out of the house and then with all four of us helping, clean everything in an hour, its a small piso , so very doable. She also called us today and set up a visit for wednesday!! (since she had her baby she hasnt picked up our phone calls but says its because she always has her hands tied up with something when we call so SHE CALLED US! milagro!! ) I have so much faith in her. After this visit she will start progressing, I just know it. Fun fact: her baby was born on my bday! and we surprise visited her (unannounced) a couple days after, not knowing she had her baby so we got to see him! I - I cant remember if I already told you all that or not or sent the picture last time... but im sending it now . sorry if i sent it last week as well. 

And the other picture is of hermana williams and I yesterday. We made heart shaped brownies for the relief society with little flags that said thanks for your help and we love you , love the sister missionaries. and they all loved it and love us! (i hope ha.)

Well I love you all!! 

xoxo 

Hermana Hair

October 15, 2013

Good Morning, Buenos Dias, Bon Dia! 

a picture of the river in Lleida

So the reason I am writing on Tuesday is because this week was transfers and on the week of transfers preperation day gets changed from Monday to Tuesdays. (Ya, I didnt know either, thats why we hadnt done it the last few times. haha. oops) So this transfer, lots changed here in Lleida , just not with my companionship. I am still her with Hermanan Williams but I know for sure that I am leaving in November, Im about a third way done with my mission and I know they wont keep here longer. Three elders in my district left this transfer. E. Jackson, E. Bascope and E. Rios. This afternoon we meet the new elders that are coming in to Lledia. Sunday night we all went to the train station to say goodbye to E. Rios he is going HOME! it was so crazy to see a missionary at the end of their mission going home. It was a bitter sweet moment for sure. He was my zone leader and a very good missionary but lucky him, he lives in Granada (southern spain) so he can come visit basically whenever he wants. One of the Elders coming in was in my mtc group so it will be fun to see him again and here how his first 6 months have been. 

MY 5 MONTH PICTURE

I want to thank everyone again for the birthday wishes, cards and emails. Everyone made me feel very loved for my birthday. So the morning of my birthday , I get out of the shower to see that my companion had made a delicious french toast breakfast for me and decorated the table with a streamer and balloons, it was super sweet, then they sang to me at district meeting and we went to lunch at mcdonalds with the elders... haha (their decision) So i was all happy and satisfied with the day, we go to some visits , do some doorknocking and then go to Andres and Milagros house for a visit (they are peruvian investigators who are not married so they cant be baptized till next year after they get all their papers for marriage and stuff) we visit them once a week , usually tuesday at 6. So we ring the bell walk in and to my surprise when i walk into the living room they had a happy birthday sign with balloons and treats on the table and started playing "estas son las mañanitas" from the computer (a typical latin song for birthdays) and I was so surprised and happy AND THEN all four elders come in holding an ice cream cake with candles singing happy birthday! It really was the best surprise birthday party ever, because i really was surprised haha. i was not expecting the party, I was especially not expecting the elders to be there. They made it wonderful and I really felt loved. I teared up when i was thanking MIlagros and Andres for everything because I know that my whole family but especially my mom would be so grateful that they did this for me. And Hermana MacLean (the senior couple) gave me a very cute scarf! It was a beautiful day. . I tried two different ways of adding pictures.. but here are a couple from my bday. One with the cute family and the other with the elders. 

I love you all. im going to try and send more pictures! take care 

love, Hermana Hair

Randomly one day there was a huge rain shower, but that doesnt stop us! We still went to all our citas, it was a fun day.