October 20, 2014

Buenas Tardes Everyone! 

So it really hasnt been until now,  while reading everyone's emails that Ive realized this is probably my last email home.. The truth is It doesn't feel like Im going home. It feels just like any other week on my mission. Just like all the other weeks on my mission where now that I think back on , Ive never wrote anything about going home because if you told me now that i was going to go home in a year i would believe you. Time has just flown by. 

In our last Zone Conference they asked me to go up for the "What the Lord has taught me" time that is for any missionary going home that month. I was the only one in my zone... When I got up I had no idea what to say. The lord really has taught me so much and im still being taught every day that the first thing I said was, " I dont think im really going to know everything the Lord has taught me till I go home"

 Elder Uchtdorf gave a talk where he says, something along the lines of, "a succesfull mission is reflected in the returned missionary years after they have returned from their mission".. Its all about who Ive been able to become right? oh boy.. I still feel like I have a lot to learn. Its a good thing The church of Jesus Christ is all about progressing every day. We will never get to a point during this life where we will know everything and have nothing else to learn... how boring would that be? Im so grateful for the Lords perfect plan that helps us progress little by little every day. Im only at the beginning. 

If anything throughout my mission I have learned not only what my role and potencial is as a daughter of God but I have come to feel and experience the love that our brother Jesus Christ has for each on of us. He loves us more than we can imagine. I have never felt, seen nor applied his atonement in my life as much as I have the last 18 months and let me tell you, the atonement is not just for repenting... its there for every single emotion or need we will ever have. He's gone through it all and is still with us every minute of our lives, compasionately comforting us, encouraging us and laughing and crying with us. HE is the center of Gods plan . And he should be the center of our lives. ( thats when we really start to progress)

I am so grateful for everything and everyone God has blessed me with, Im grateful for this experience I am having here in Spain. I still have many more minutes here and you know what that means... theres still time for many many more miracles to happen. I love you all so very much!! 

Con muchisimo amor , 

Hermana Hair

Here's a poem that my mission president sent me. I really liked it and think we can all apply it to our normal lives as well... not just the mission. 

enjoy:)

Hoe to the End of the Row!

Bill Brown made a million,

Bill Brown, think of that.

That boy you remember,

As poor as a rat.

He hoed for the neighbors,

Did jobs by the day.

And Bill made a million,

Or near it they say.

He worked for my father,

You’ll maybe recall.

He wasn’t a wonder,

Not that, not at all.

He couldn’t out-hoe me,

Or cover more ground,

Or hoe any faster,

Or beat me around.

In fact, I was better

In one way that I know.

One toot from the kitchen

And home I would go.

But Bill Brown always hoed

To the end of the row.

We used to get hungry

Out there in the corn.

You talk about music,

What equals a horn?

A horn yellin’ dinner,

And tomatoes and beans,

And pork and potatoes,

And gravy and greens.

I ain’t blamin’ no one

For quittin’ on time.

To quit with the whistle,

That ain’t any crime.

But as for the million,

Well, this much I know.

Bill Brown always hoed

To the end of the row.

- Anonymous

October 13, 2014

Hey everyone! 

I dont have much time but i sent some pictures. Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes. I love you all so so much and am always so grateful to have you all in my life. 

I am great. Happy and enjoying every minute of my mission. We are working on helping the investigators we have on baptismal dates and helping them keep their commitments. We did find 8 new investigators this past week , we will see what happens. 

sometimes i ask myself why am i so blessed? I have the gospel in my life and so many people to love and so many that love me back . What more could i ask for? thank you for your love! 

you are all in my prayers and my heart. 

love, Hermana Hair

Birthday Surprise

Woke up on my birthday to find this pretty artwork on the wall across from my bed. Hna Dorgia had gotten up at sometime in the night to make this for me ! how sweet of her! 

the other picture is of the surprise birthday party we walked in to (I thought we were having a visit with some investigators at a members home) Turns out the investigators were there.. but so was the party haha. and my face on the cake...?! haha it was a great surprise. - apparently hna dorgia took my picture one day at gave it to the members.. sneaky sneaky. 

More Birthday Surprise!

So the sunday before my birthday it was paqui's birthday, a sweet member in our area. We decorated her living room for her... later in the week she invites us over for the next sunday.. okay. so we go. ends up they never took the decoration down because they wanted to leave it up to celebrate mine! so this is my 2nd birthday cake in the week. I love the members here. they are incredible. 

Nazaret Pic

And sometimes we find random brindges that overlook catholic churches and decide to read the book of mormon ;) 

this is in a small town called Nazaret! how neat right? we keep trying to find a man named Jesus in this town so that we can baptize him and say we baptized Jesus from Nazaret :) ha - missionary humor. 

Group picture

Here is everyone that was at the surprise birthday party.. the kid in the white in the front is FERNANDO! remember him? He is the youth that was getting ready to be baptized . seems like hes still not sure but he is coming to activities and church again . his mom is the blonder lady on his left. She is our next target ;) they are both incredible . 

September 29, 2014

My dear family and friends!

The work is continuing and the weather is cooling down :) Which are both huge blessings.

This past week was great! We met lots of new people. I think looking back on my mission I have always seen so many grand miracles when we have members with us. Its when we find the most people and see the most miracles. Im a strong believer that when we have a member, God has a miracle that he is about to surprise us with because ive noticed that God really likes to help member's faith and testimony grow by showing them these little miracles when they are out with us. For example, the other night we had a member coming out with us to a visit for the last hour of a day, the visit fired and we asked the member if she would mind accompanying us as we contacted. she was more than happy to be with us. We offered a prayer before we started to let the Lord know where we were going to be contacting. I was praying and specifically asked for him to guide us to at least ONE person who had a DESIRE to know more. As we were wrapping up our contacting out in a small nearby pueblo we got on the bus to head home. The bus driver was super friendly and we started a conversation with him. Long story short. He was interested. He had questions because he said whenever one of "us" get on the bus he notices that we are happy. he said we have something special in our eyes and that that sparks some curiosity in him. We ended up talking to him the whole way to the members stop where right before she got off I heard her whisper to herself, "wow, la oracion de la misionera fue contestada" or in english, the missionaries prayer was answered...  I know that that member already has a very strong testimony but i know that somehow that little prayer and contact helped her testimony grow. I love the little miracles that occur all around me all the time! God is a God of miracles. He lives and miracles exist.  and one of my favorite quotes, "Coincidenences are just small miracles where God chooses to be anonymous" They are all around us, we almost always miss them. but oh life is so much prettier when we search for them in our daily lives. I can promise you that if you search, you will be surprised. Count your blessings... and most of those are miracles inthemselves. 

I love you all and consider all of you great miracles in MY life.

love, Hermana Hair

22 Septiembre 2014

Buon Giorno!! (Buenos Dias in Italian)

This week has been strange. But thats how every first week of a new transfer is. So in other words.. I guess its been a normal week. ha. 

Given that I have only been in Valencia for one transfer, Hna Dorgia and I are learning the bus system and our area together. I kind of knew our area but there are still many more things to learn. and we learned a lot this week! 

We were able to get back in contact with Maria the paraguayan lady , apparently her phone had been stolen and she is in the process of getting a new one so thats why we couldnt get in contact with her but she is excited for general conference and wants to prepare to be baptized. so thats great!

Good news, the youth who had baptismal dates a month ago are still good. Alejandro is now in cataroja and the elders there are still visiting him, Fernando came to church these past two weeks and is slowly coming back. I think he is still confused because he hears things from his grandparents who are very catholic but I know he cant deny the what he feels when he is at church. He tries to push those feelings away though because of his family telling him confusing him but i know he just needs time. Im just really happy these two boys still have contact with the church. I know God has a great future planned for these two. 

Everything is great here in Valencia, its cooling down slowly. and the sun is setting later, fall is on its way  Hna Dorgia and I rented bikes today and went for a short bike ride around Valencia then hit the Old historic center and saw some great old cathedrals and other old buildings:) it was really neat. I love the architecture here. 

I also found out this week that I love the italian language. Hna Dorgia is teaching me italian and I am teaching her english:) its been really fun. I can half way pray and half way testify in italian! She and I get along great! its like we were friends forever. I love what I do! I love missionary work, I love talking to people and having people say they see something in different in us and then us having the opportunity to explain what that something is. i love every day although i wake up tired, I wake up happy. 

Here is a picture of Hna Dorgia and I while we were waiting for the elders in our ward so we could take a train to cataroja for our district meeting with the 4 missionaries there. 

love you all!

Hermana Hair 

(Sorella Capeli) ;) 

16 Septiembre 2014

NEW TRANSFER, NEW COMPANION, SAME AREA.

okay thats about it... ha just kidding. But thats the main news. 

Hermana Scoville left to Vila Franca, a little place outside of Barcelona and today I picked up my new companion. Hermana Dorgia!! She's Italian! Do you remember her? Her very first day on the mission in barcelona, before she had her real companion, she came out and worked an afternoon with us and stayed in our apartment, this was in april. And i cant really remember if I told you all about it. but anyways. she is my new companion. she is beautiful and super sweet! but she is learning english. This is going to be my first companion who i cant really speak english with. it will be weird. but she wants to learn so we will work on that. 

I am still her in Valencia and hna Dorgia is very excited to be here. We are still focusing on finding new investigators. We find some every week but its always a few who ever want to really progress. We did find a lady from Paraguay called Maria who has real intention. she wants to learn more and wants to know if this is true and if it is she said she wants to get baptized. so thats great! she is a super nice, 25 and has such a humble spirit. I already love her. 

Well.. Valencia is cooling down. . okay not really but i like to think that the mornings are a bit cooler:) I think it should start to soon. Im a little worried that I dont know the area as well as hna scoville did. but its okay, getting lost a little bit is part of the mission experience.  It will be a great transfer. 

I would love to hear what you all are learning in your book of mormon studies. 

love, 

Hermana Hair

8 Sept 2014

Happy Monday ! 

So starting Sept, all the members and missionaries in the barcelona mission started reading the book of mormon together. Its a challange that the mission president and the stake presidents put together. The challenge is that everyone needs to read two chapters in the book of mormon every day and by the end of december we will all be done with the book of mormon. The challenge is WONDERFUL!! Its the best thing ever invented, but really, the members are taking this seriously. Yesterday in Sacrament almost every person that testified talked about the book of mormon. Its obvious that when we read the book of mormon a natural consequence is that we want to testify about it. We have a had a recent convert, that we have been having difficulty meeting with regularly because of her health and work , that is now enthusiastcly asking us to come over for a little bit every day to read the book of mormon with her because she wants to accomplish the challange. Its great to hear people relating what they teach in a class, or in a talk, as they always throw in something that they found in the book of mormon that goes with their lesson/talk I love it! 

The book of mormon is the keystone to our religion. Everything starts with this book. The sacrifices that all the prophets in that book went through to preserve their words and history should be appreciated and we can show the lord our gratitude to Him and for the prophets by just simply reading the book. I know that everytime I read it My testimony of it grows. God wants us to read it and to ask him over and over if the book is true so that we can see that everytime his answer is the same. We can feel that its true. I feel that its true every day. I invite you all to keep renewing your testimonies of the book of mormon, I know that everytime that we do that, we are blessed beyond our expectations. 

Have a great week reading the book of mormon:) This church is true. Without a doubt, I know this church is true. 

Love you all! 

Hermana Hair

September 1, 2014

Happy September, 

At the end of every week I always feel the same. Tired but happy :)   Well this week had its ups and dons like all the other weeks. Our fechas grandmother came into town and said that she did not agree that alejandro be baptized so the baptism was called off. But she said it very respectfuly and nice and we returned that same respect and love by letting her know that we respected her decision. Alejandro is moving down to a pueblo near cataroja for school so he the elders down there will have the privilage of continueing his visits. He's a great kid and I know he will be baptized when he turns 18 and is allowed to make that choice for himself. His prayers are incredible and so sincire. as if he was a mature member of the church. I always loved his prayers. every time without fail he prayed for the missionaries and for the truth to continue to spread around the world. I love him!

besides that everything is going well. a lot of people were out of town the last week of august but now in sept, which is when everyone told us they would back, we should get things going again. 

I dont have much time left but I wish everyone the best with school and work and life! 

I just had this thought come to my mind and wanted to share it with all of you.- The trials in life arent about how strong we are when they hit but how much stronger we are when we come out of them. Its not about how quick we come in our out of a trial but its about where our heart is when we are going through them.- Dont know why that just came to my head but maybe you or someone you will talk to this week will need it. Its definately something ive learned by experience . 

I hope you can all feel my love and gratitude that i have for each and every one of you. Thanks for being so special to me.

love, 

Hermana Hair

25 Agosto 2014

Hey Hola!  

This week had its ups and downs. Fernanado, a joven who was so excited for his baptism which was supposed to be on the 23rd started to act different, where we couldnt get in contact with him and then when we finally met him he shared with us his doubts and we were happy he did, sounds like he is confused because he goes to a catholic church and his grandfather is catholic and he says he hears things from different places that confuse him. We shared with him the key to know if anything of what we share is true is the book of mormon, at the end of that visit he walked away happier and was acting normal again. Doubts are normal and we know we can work through them, the next day we had another visit with him because we wanted to talk to him about the holy ghost, so that he can understand and recognize it, so that when he gets his answer he will know that that is what it is. He came in to the visit not really looking at our eyes and you could feel that there was this barrier between us that he was putting up. Im not sure why but I just felt so sad and hurt. It hurt my heart to see how he had felt the love and knew with a surety that this is what he wanted and now talking to other people, he has forgotten about why he said yes to baptism in the first place. I feel like i looked at him with the eyes of a big sister. and felt like he was my little brother who was lost and that i wanted to give him this happiness and he was touching this happiness with his fingertips but that something was holding him back from really grasping it all in his hands. . I have loved everyone that I have had the blessing to teach and met, and even though his doubts are the same as many other peoples, it just hurt my heart so much to see how close he was and how satan attacks. we are going to keep working with him and loving him. I know though that after this trial of his faith he will come out stronger and that this experience is to strengthen him and prepare him for his wonderful spiritual future that he has ahead of him. I feel like this young 13 yr old boy was my friend in heaven and I dont think I have ever prayed harder for someone on my mission than for him. He has so much potential and God needs him on his side. 

Our other fecha, Alejandro had to get postponed to this next saturday because he had really bad back pain and couldnt meet with us last week so we still have to teach him more stuff, but this saturday he is getting baptized! he is 11 and the best experience was yesterday when hna scoville asked him why he wanted to get baptized.. his answer was, "because I want to follow the gospel and be a child of god" I love that! he gets it. He gets it better than many adults we have taught. We are all children of God  but we must BECOME children of god and that is through baptism and obedience.  like it says in Mosiah 5:7 :) He gets it and that makes me really happy! 

So as you can see this week has been full of really good happy moments and really sad moments as well. I read a poem that was talking about missionary work .. one part said, 

Ive never been so happy, 

Ive never been so sad.

Thats exactly how I felt this week. many ups and downs, but thats the mission, and thats life. I can only imagine the tears Christ sheds for every one of our wrong choices and the smile he gets for every one of our correct choices.... lets make him smile :) I know we have and I know we still can. 

con mucho cariño, 

Hermana Hair

Agosto 18, 2014

Happy Monday everyone! 

This week has been really good. We have 3 fechas (baptismal dates) for this weekend. Two of them are thanks to a recent convert and the other one is through a member! member missionary work , works! :) 

All three of these are jovenes (youth) Fernando, 13 . alejandro 11, and maria luisa is 14. I think i have testified of this before but its because i see it so much on my mission. The jovenes are the ones being the anchor in their family and bringing the gospel to them. They are the faro (lighthouse) of their home and it makes me so happy and so proud to see these jovenes so strong in the gospel and not progressing alone but bringing everyone they can with them. 

We also had a very big miracle on sunday. Some antiguos (old investigators) who have been seing missionaries since 2009 came to church for the first time! We decided to pass by them on friday and invited them to church . I dont know what was different or what finaly got to them or why they decided that after so many invitations to finally come, but they came! and they brought a menos activo friend with them! The greatest part is that this family was a member reference from barc back in 2009. perserverance and mucho faith are the magical keys and sincere love :)

Things are going really well here in Valencia. we are pretty sure that at least one of the three fechas will be baptized this saturday and the other two if not this saturday will be baptized shortly after:) Maria luisa is deaf so it will take a little more time to be able to communicate to her the lessons and help her understand the basic. She can understand , we just have to take more time with her. but she is excited to be baptized , we just really want her to know what she is doing and why. .she is so special and so smart! We know she can do it. 

Well im running into a lot more colombians here. there are a handfull in the ward and many in streets. its been fun. I hope everyone is healthy and enjoying their summer. 

lots of hugs and kisses from spain, 

Hermana Hair

Agosto 11, 2014

Valencia, Valencia.... its really hot and humid here... like really really hot and humid :) 

Here is my compañera and I !

So I was so sad to leave all the people I love in Barcelona but once again the lord has shown me the great gift that as missionaries we just have the biggest capacity and space in our hearts to love people the way he loves them. I came into Valencia ready to love this ward and its amazing at how I can meet someone and instantly love them with all my heart. I already love Valencia and all the people who live here. I also love my new compañera, Hna scoville! she is an angel and I know that I am going to learn a lot from her as I have from all my companions and areas. She is from Utah and goes to BYU-H. She has six months left on the mission and this is her third transfer here in V-town which means she will probably leave after this transfer.

This transfer is going to GREAT!. I can feel it and its already started out to a great start. We have already seen SO many miracles. Biggest miracle for  me was...... JOSE LUIS AND SUSI!! do you remember them ?  I was teaching them in barc but a couple days before transfer calls they moved back to valencia. Well... we were walking home one night this week and I see sussi in front of a piso talking to two ladies. When i saw her i felt so much joy in my heart! we had a very big hugging celebration as we were both so happy and surprised to see eachother. the best part is that they live in our area! and the worst part is that they leave for bolivia in 9 days... :/ But I want to help them the best way I know how to and keep teaching them and guiding them to make those decisions they have to make so that Jose luis can be baptized.. I know that if they dont get married here they will in bolivia and he will for sure, no doubt, be baptized. He is so prepared and ready. They came to church on sunday! 

Talking about sunday.. I had to give a talk and so did the other two elders that are new this transfer. apparently once every month sacrament is dedicated to missionary work and the missionaries take turns talking. I think its a great idea! So this ward is a new ward that was created last october, so less than a year ago. which means that our area is pretty new, especially our area, it has the least amount of members that live in it and its been the area that has least been worked on over the years. So... you guessed it. back to lleida and las arenas times. haha . there has only been 4 other hermanas that have worked here before... im the 5th. so its a very new area still

Our fecha here is alejandro he is a recent converts nephew he is 11 but turns 12 in october. He wants to be baptized and has a fecha for the 23rd. Yesterday he was playing with other boys his age after church and we wanted to have a quick visit with him and the recent convert, Santiago. Since he was playing with two other member boys, we invited them in for the visit too . We told them we were going to have a visit and they had to be reverent  if they wanted to be there with us. they agreed and sat down.  the greatest thing happened in this visit. While we started to teach about the importance of reading the scriptures , praying and going to church.. these two jovenes started to testify of how it has blessed their life to do those three things. They were the ones teaching Alejandro through their experiences and testimonies. I could just see both of these jovenes in 6 years with chapas and a tie. It was perfect to have alejandro goofing around with these boys 5 minutes before and then hearing them share their testimonies... It was a beutiful cita, I was so proud of those two young boys. I know the Lord is preparing the youth of this church to be great leaders and parents in this church. They are going to carry  on the work for the lord and the best part of the lords work is just beginning and the peak and greatest part of this work is going to happen with these youth when they go out and teach and preach. 

I am so proud of my siblings, jessica joe and ashley who all have a strong desire to serve, Im proud of their example to me and to many other people, Im proud of every friend and family who are young and so strong in the church. The youth are so important and I admire their faithfullness and testimonies.

Sorry this email got kind of long. :)

love you all! 

Hermana Hair

The view from our apartment... Im back to a two person apartment with just us two.

5 Agosto 2014

Querida Familia Y Amigos, 

Today is my last day in Barcelona. Im all packed and ready to catch a train at 4 this afternoon that is going to take me to Valencia, the most south part of our mission. Transfer calls came in Saturday night and when Hna. Benson and I heard the news that I was leaving, It was hard not to look at eachother and not shed some tears... Its hard leaving companions who become your best friend since day 1. 

I honestly didn't think that I was going to leave becuase Hna. Benson leaves for home in two weeks... but they are sending two other hermanas and they will be in a trio for those two weeks and then after that they are basically white washing (when two missionaries are in an area that neither of them know) I just pray that they will still work with everyone we have been working with and that they wont forget the members or less actives who are so important me. 

A small group of women in the Relief Society... not all of them :/

Sunday was hectic as so many members came up to me trying to say goodbye and as I tried to talk to everyone and give them all my love.  Im glad it was fast sunday because I was able to get up and bare my testimony along with two other elders who are also leaving the ward. It still amazes me to see the member's love that they express to you with words, hugs and tears when you are leaving their ward. I read a scripture yesterday in alma 27 Where it says , "for they were treated as though they were angels sent from God" and that is how I felt these past couple days but i dont know why... the thing is I know its not me. that what makes people treat us like that is the power and presence of God that is with us. Its because we live the gospel every single minute of our lives and that allows the spirit to be with us constantly and even when I dont think i deserve it... the people see something that even us as missionaries dont see or feel.... I can honestly say that i dont think i deserve to be treated like an angel because I am far from being one. but I know its something special that God allows us to have and I am so grateful for that love that I feel from the members. and the love that i am able to give back to them. becuase I do love them with my entire heart. Every area is so difficult to leave, they become your family and I love them. 

Im a little bummed that right as we started getting that calendar visit going I have to leave... haha. but i think it was ment to be like that becauase now the new sister missionaries coming in have visits already set and i hope they can love these members here even more than i have.  

Ive loved my mission, every experience and moment... except the bed bugs ... and okay packing and traveling with luggage is always going to be on my list of least favorite things to do- :) but besides that its all the best , especially having friends and family like you who support me and send me lots of love. Thank you!

**Sending a huge hug for everyone with a ton of love**

Hermana Hair

Here is Jose Luis and Sussi.. Remember them?? She is from bolivia and he is from VALENCIA and they just left last week back to Valencia but they are leaving for Bolivia on the 20th. I am going to see if They are in my new area but either way i will be in contact with them and will try to help them get married so he can get baptized! 

What a miracle that Im going to valencia right? I thought i wasnt ever going to see them again. ooohhh im so excited to see them again and keep helping them progress:) 

 

Aleida is a member from Honduras and she has been bringing her nephew , Daniel, for this last 3 months to church. HE LOVES IT. Him and I instantly became best friends. I was always so excited to see him at church. He turns nine on the 15th and his parents finally gave him the OK to be baptized!!! (his parents arent members) the sad thing is that it will be this next saturday and i wont be here. he almost changed it to yesterday so that i could be there but his parents had to work and they need to be there too. we were both sad i wasnt going to be there but man, i just love this kid. Hes number one! and im so happy for his decision he is making. it will bless his life forever. 

July 28, 2014

Hola todos!

This week started out rough but ended with a bang! Hermana Benson and I went on splits and we were able to find 3 menos activos that want us to visit. we were doing the member pass by lists and really i can not believe how many people are on here that havent had missionaries visit them  in forever! Even very strong members have commented on how missionaries havent visited them in like 10 years. i think that even the strongest members need to feel the missionaries love and spirit in their home every once in a while. 

Pretty much with every menos (less active) that we found , we have found an investigator to teach in their home. It is great!  We hope to see many more miracles from these menos activos. 

Another great thing is that in relief society , we passed around a "visits calendar". not a food calander. we were very clear in announcing and letting the sisters know that we want to get to know THEM and that this isnt a food calendar , that we will take even just 15 minute visits if that is all they have time for. I told them they have no excuse to not sign up and that if they want a baked good from us to put a star next to their name ;) haha . they laughed and to our surprise, when we got the calendar back at the end of church we had almost all of relief society signed up ! we have a member visit almost every day for the next few weeks. We also had members (SPANIARDS) come up to us and tell us that they want to invite a friend to the visit. WOW! who knew all these ladies needed was to see that we were interested in THEM and not just their food. I have seen in past wards that the people who feed the missionaries are ususally the same 5 people. and other people might not have time or money to feed us so they never invite us over because they think we want food. Well when we showed these hermanas that what we want is to meet with them they all jumped at the opportunity. Members need love. love. love. love. They are just as important as any person we visit with, they need to see us in action as we teach and bring the spirit into their home and i know we will see many new investigators from this because they will trust us with their friends. Love is everything. Love is what motivates me. I know that God love us all and I know that Love is probably one of the biggest things we were sent here on earth to learn. And we all have a long way to go but i know i have never loved as purely and as much as i have on my mission. I am amazed at how much God and Jesus love us. and I want each one of you to know that I love you and I am so grateful to have so many wonderful people in my life who have taught me about love through their  words and actions. 

LOVE YOU ALL!! 

LES QUIERO MUCHO!!

Hermana Hair :)

July 21, 2014

Hey! 

As usual we are running around from place to place and don't have much time left to email but I wanted to let you all know that I am great! This week has been a bit slow but we have big plans for next week. 

We are really going to work on finding new people to teach this next week. We have been working on trying to find them through the members and less actives but its been pretty slow that way, i know though that when we do the Lords work HIS way that he will bless us. We have been told to really try and find news through members... so that is what we are doing :) 

But life is great! I love being a missionary and wouldnt change it right now for anything. I appreciate all your love and support and all your prayers. I know that they reach my heart in the moments when I most need them. 

One day this week my comp and I were singing "mas santidad dame" which is "more holiness give me" (we sing every morning in companionship study) and I think i sang this song at the beginning of my mission maybe once or maybe i havent at all but this time when we sang it, it really touched my heart. All the words, but especially the ones in the third verse, are all exactly what a mission does/gives a missionary. Its what every missionary stives to obtain every day. I dont know if the words are the same in English but I used to not really like this song much because it said "more" lots of times but now I really like it :) 

Love you all ! 

Hna. Hair

July 14, 2014

Buenas Tardes todos!

So I think I hit a new level of tiredness on my mission this week. I have always been a morning person and getting up in the mornings has never been hard for me, not even on the mission... untill this past week. The alarm would go off and it was like as if my body was too heavy to move. I can honestly say, I have never felt this tired my whole entire life. I just feel like im really old. Yet im loving every minute of it. i dont know if people can tell how tired i am but I know that our heavenly father gives us missionaries the stregnth to keep going. We just get used to being tired and so its like were normal.. if that makes sense. I know that this week i will probably be just as tired but it wont affect me as much because I get used to it. Oh the adventures of a mission :) 

So this past week we have really been focusing on going through our ward list and visiting every single member that is in our area. we have been finding a lot of menos activos and people who dont even live there any more. It is helping clean up the ward list a lot. 

Okay so do you remember last weeks miracle, Sandra. Well... this week we have visited her twice and she is very nice, a bit reserved but still accepting our visits. she is from Peru and has two daughters, who we havent meet yet. She couldnt come to church this sunday but she lives super close to the church so it shouldnt be hard for her. if she is really prepared and interested she will be at church soon. Talking about church so you know how we always have americans in our sacrament meeting who are visiting well.. this week the elders from the other ward offered if they wanted translator headphones, they said yes... then the elders told me I had to translate all of sacrament into this microphone so that the americans could understand. I had never done something like that before. But i was up for the adventure. ha. so I tried my best. It was a bit difficult at first but then i got a hang of it until the last speaker went up and he was speaking really fast because he didnt have much time and repeating himself a lot and i couldnt remember simple words in spanish like "sacrament" for santa cena. Oh boy. but the americans said it was good! i think they were just being nice haha. but it was fun doing that for them. 

so friday ... i lost my wallet. it had my DNI (spain ID), my mission debit card, metro pass and cash. We looked everywhere for it but i think that it must have fallen on the bus or something because i am very aware of my purse and i dont think anyone stole it from me. but so now i have to go throught the whole process of getting new stuff . its a bit of a pain but the good thing is that my home debit card and drivers license was not in there. So due to that incident my companion and i are now getting to know the streets of barcelona bit more than just the underground metro so thats good. 

oh one more thing about sandra, so at the end of our first lesson with her I felt prompted to ask her if she had been recently asking God something very specific. She said yes... I then explained to her how we were guided to her house and how I know that God wants her to hear this message. That moment was just a huge spiritual experience for me as i felt that what i was telling her was true that god loves her and that he wants this for her. She listened very carefuly and looked into my eyes the entire time that i was testifying. The spirit was there and it was touching both our hearts. 

Barcelona has over 2,000 people. and the lord has called 6 companionships thats only 12 missionaries to work his barcelona vineyard. He trusts us so much, its incredible. I dont want to let him down and i know he will never leave us working alone. He is here, I can feel him with me every single moment of every day. 

I am so blessed to be his missionary. 

love you all,

Hermana Hair

We went to the Sagrada Familia today. Here are a couple pictures.