#23

Helllooooooo! This week was so so superb! Fall is coming, summer is over, the weather is cooler and everyone is happier. Including me, Hermana Rust.

Maybe some bullet points? 

Monday: Monday I'm pretty sure I came down with bronchitis again like in the ccm haha. I was dying but hey. I'm not dead. We called our friend Nessi (French. Female. Very kind.) And she told us to come over and teach her! She has expressed many times that she hopes this religion can change her life because she needs it. She is just living in Spain, doesn't have any of her family here and she just wants to go home but she can't. She keeps telling us that she really is interested to learn more and we had a !!!fabulous!!! lesson one with her. She prayed it was so great, Becuase ahe doesnt really have a whole lot of family or friends here, she comes to the Noche do hogar de Barrio and just has a blast. She's so cute. I really loved teaching her, but then we found out she lives in the other area so we had to refer her to the other Hermana 😓 sad day for us. But that's okay we are so excited for her! 

Tuesday: so Tuesday we had our Zone meeting. Which is basically like the district meeting, except the whole zone is there so it's like triple the fun and triple the spirituality. It's swell. We talked about the Holland Conference and really applied it to our work in our Zone. It was a really good meeting. One thing I loved is that Elder Holland said something like this, " I will defend the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith with MY LIFE" and why would he do that? And why would I do that? And why would we all do that? Because it's the TRUTH! the Book of Mormon is the foundation of our church. Everything that our church is depends on the Restoration of the Gosple of Jesus Christ. Both are evidence of a living revelation WHICH IS KEY. so that's what we do. We go and tell everyone about the Book of Mormon. And honestly making the Book of Mormon the focus is a great conversation starter, no? Also hermana Lake and I did a POWER practice of lesson three for the zone meeting. I felt the spirit. It was so great.

Wednesday: basically all of our plans failed. But we went to visit members and did practices with them and it was really fun! President a d Hermana Anderson have basically told us that we need to be better at teaching the basic lessons, so to do practices with members. So that's what we did and it was so fun! 

Thursday: (happy 6 months to me) we went and taught ALEJANDRA! (Spaniard. Female. 20 years old. Has no hair but man she works it. She's so cute.) We just knocked her door looking some less active, but she answered and told us to come back. Her parents were less active and she said she wasn't baptized. Her family left a while ago and she can't remember a single thing. But she wants us to teach her! We had such a great lesson with her! She seemed that she really wanted to know the things that we knew and that the things that her family once knew. She seemed kind of sad to be out of the loop. We are so excited to keep meeting with her. 

Friday: we had English class and this man and his daughter came and told they were going to bring me fancy chocolate. #win. 

Saturday: we taught our friend Ana! Ana (Spanish. 16. English master. Adorable.) She is reading the book of Mormon and she's praying and she's awesome. Jovens are awesome. Weekends are awesome. You wanna know why? BECAUSE AFRICAN MAN PARTIES. Our investigator is Coli from Africa and then we have a member from Africa and then a menos activo from Africa and we are all good friends so we learn about God together because you couldn't imagine a better situation. They are the nicest people I have ever met in my life. They always bring us food and they are just so good. They have such great testimonies and are such good examples. Photos to come of that spiciness.

SUCH A SWEET WEEK. And to top it off  in my scripture reading I'm in the thanksgiving feast part aka 3 Nephi 11-27. Chapter 17 is gold. How deeply I wish I could've been there but what comfort I feel to know that Christ still invites me to come to Him and receive a testimony of Him. I still can feel His love and feel like I'm in His presence. What a glorious thing. 

I'm just having a swell time. I love this place. And everyone. 

I apologize. I really didn't use bullet points at all did I? 

Os quiero! 

Hermana Rust 

1. Someone please set this picture as my profile picture on every single social media site. And I want my plaque picture changed to this 

2. We both turned 6 months old.

3. We got kebap to celebrate.

4. Feasting 

5. Spain Málaga mission 

6.african party. See that dress that Bako is wearing? I'm definitely investing in one. 

7.bako brought us GIANT Granadas 

8.  Alacant zone looking fierce. 

9.  waiting anxiously for the best day of my life. 

#22 9/18/2017 Elder Holland shook my hand this week

Okay this week!

I can't remember anything! Holy cow! One thing that was cool was that we taught lesson one about 4 times this week. Which is new, that means we have new investigators! We just talked to a lot of different people and testified to all of them that God lives and so we are planning on doing that this week as well. 

We had 4 eating citas this week so that was awesome. 

I'll skip to the part we have all been waiting for. So Friday night I went to bed at 10 pm. I woke up at 2 am. Got a dress on. Put some makeup on. Did nothing with my hair. Ate some yogurt and gathered my pillows and a notebook and left piso at 3:30 am to get in the car with some other Hermana's from Crevillente and they took us to the capilla. There, I took a nap on the sidewalk until the charter bus came to take us to Málaga.  6 hours later we arrived in Málaga and my comp from the CCM  Hermana Dos Santos was sitting right behind me so we did some good catching up. It was cute and fun. So yes, we arrived to Málaga and were greeted by EVERY MISSIONARY IN THE SOUTH OF SPAIN. Wow what a site. We all had to be very reverent and we were all in pose for a picture and then the man of God came. Elder Holland came! And then President Johnson (area President over Europe) and Sister Johnson. And then we all got in line and he " interviewed us".   He shakes our hands, not that he really cares where we are from or what our names are, but he wanted to shake our hands so that he could look into our souls. He said that. And that's what He did. (But I'll have you know to all my homies back home that he said Moapa Valley was a very famous place ayyeee)!   And then we all took a photo with him and everyone and then we went into the capilla for a very powerful 2 hours. 

So we all sang a opening hymn in Spanish and it was so cool! We sounded so awesome! Sister Johnson gave a sweet testimony and then President Johnson talked about something super awesome that I am so sorry but I can't remember. It's in my notes which I do not have with, me at the moment. And then President Anderson got up and said the sweetest thing. Like Mormon said about his son Moroni, that he commends his soul to God;  President Anderson said that same thing about each of us. 😓 Tears, so sweet. So then Elder Holland got up, made some jokes, and then started pounding the microphone. Saying things like, DON'T MISS YOUR CHANCE TO ME A MISSIONARY. THIS COMES ONCE IN A LIFETIME. What he said was almost the exact same as the other Provo devotionals of his that we watched in the CCM but it was still powerful. He didn't want us to regret a single thing and just leave it alllll out on the playing field. He wanted us to go home not having anything left because we left it all out on the mission. It was inspiring and motivating. And then he talked about how important and key it is that our church gets revelation. This is what sets us apart. And then I got to see my friends from the ccm and it was so awesome! Hopefully I can write more about Elder Holland next week when I have my notes! Here are some fotos.

1. Old squad with big mouths 

2. Old squad

3.waiting at 4 in the morning for the bus

4. BAKO. Bako is a member that just struts through town with his African get up

5. Bako and coli. Coli is an investigator. 

#24 9/11/2017 Land of the Palmeras 🌴

Alright shall we start from the beginning maybe?

Monday: Monday night we had to go spend the night at the SHE'S house again! Because hermana Garcia had to go to Malaga early on Tuesday. Also my suitcase broke. Haha

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Tuesday: Tuesday was spent ALLLL day with my dear hermana Prior and Hermana Favero. I love those women.

Wednesday: Wednesday morning the hermanas shipped me off to go to the other side of the country! I slept the entire way. It was awesome. We stopped in Granada. It's in the center of the country and there were about 40 missionaries there I swear. I saw some elders from my group who I haven't seen in years and it was fun to catch up with them! And then I got on the bus again to go to Murcia where they were more missionaries to greet us, and then I got on a bus to go to Elche all  by myself. I got here, it was beautiful. Met my comp. She's awesome. And unpacked and went to bed.

Thursday: Thursday is planning say so I learned a little bit about what's going on here and then we had a lunch cita with a member where I ate a BUNNY! it was yummy. And then we had a really nice lesson with an investigator who's name is Ana. She is 16 and she is adorable. She just thinks everything we say is so amazing. It was a fun lesson.and then we had a ward noche de hogar and not many people came but hey were working on it!

Friday: We got to teach lesson one to another investigator for the morning! Teaching is always so fun! And Hermana Lake is an awesome awesome teacher. We also had this JAS activity and I got to meet more of the ward. There are some really awesome people. This ward is huge! We also had an eating cita this day!

Saturday: Another eating cita! With an awesome recent convert named Maxi. She has triplets and I

look just like them! It was weird! There was an activity for the Relief Society where I also got to meet some more ward members!

Sunday: Church was awesome! The ward is big, I gave a little talk. The people sing on tune. WE HAVE A BISHOP. Also fun fact Alcala finally has a bishop... So happy for them. 

This side of the mission is so so different! Elche is so beautiful! It's a city and there are other missionaries here! I don't live a pueblo life anymore! There are palm trees everywhere! The people are so so nice! And the members are completely awesome! We had three eating citas and another one tonight! Wow!  I'll send some pictures. 

Awkward comp pics. Looks like Nevada no? 

This is the way onto the capilla. Palm trees everywhere. 

And then the tall hermana is Hermana brinkman, she is from my MTC group, and the one with the WHITE shirt is my comp, hermana Lake!  

  This photo is elder Jarvis and I, he was in my first district. he is from Vegas so we took an obligatory L V picture. 

  These were all taken today on this pday. We went on a hike to a water fall dam thing. It's crazy how much it looks like southern Nevada.

. The one of me is Centro in Elche. It's so beautiful and really fun with little shops. 

# 23 Agridulce goodbyes

Well, I saw President Anderson on Saturday, he told me that I have to pack my bags and leave my beloved Alcalá. I started tearing up that I had to go to the bathroom and keep myself together. Who ever knew I could get so emotional to leave a little pueblo haha. At first I will admit, I was not happy but right now I'm excited! I get to go to Elche🌴 everyone tells me that Elche is just the best place ever and I really am excited! It is all the way on the other side of the country so I get to take a 14 hour bus ride there 🎉. 

I seriously loved my time IN Alcalá and all the people I fell in love with. It makes me excited to love new and more people in all parts of Spain! Alcalá was my first area and I just still think that it will always be my favorite. Melisa's baptism is in 1 week and I am kind of dying.but anyway.

This week.

1. We have had citas on citas with some of my favorite people! We have met with Melisa 3 times and and Loe a couple of times also. We have had some really good lessons this week. One of my favorite moments in the a lesson we had with Melisa was this: we were going over the plan of salvation which she already knows really well and we were asking her if she had any questions or doubts about it. She told us that she understands everything really well but it's just a little difficult to know of that whole plan is actually going to come about. She said she wants to believe it will but she just doesn't really know. Right after that, her mom Mirna jumped in and said that it's okay, she doesn't have to know for sure right now, she just needs to learn and grow more and then she can develop more of a knowledge. Right after that Melisa chimed back in and was like "hey that reminds me of a scripture" so she pulls out the infamous Alma 32:27. " But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words."

Talk about golden investigator. She literally found a scripture and answered her own question. It was so great. She is sharp as a knife with her knowledge of the gospel and it just pumps me up. She is so so so excited to get baptized. I'm so excited for her.

2. I finished memorizing "The Living Christ" or should I Say "El Cristo Viviente" this week. It's kind of fun because of my immense study of the doctrine, the testimony of those prophets has become my testimony as well. So this week we had a focus of sharing the Easter video BECAUSE OF HIM with... like everyone, we would pass by for less active members or just contacts or cualquier person we would share this video. And then we would talk about our favorite parts and I'd find myself a whole lot this week teaching with the words I had memorized from the Living Christ. It was so cool. I love that I can add my testimony to that of those great men and use it in my missionary work. 

We had Stake Conference in Sevilla this weekend. It was so sweet to see the capilla filled with people who had come a couple hours to be there  on the Sabbath morning. There was a choir and they sounded so good! All of them were from Alcala and I was so proud of them! President Anderson and Hermana Anderson came and they spoke and they are just the cutest.

Also a frequent occurrence this week was that hermana Garcia and I literally ran to every cita. This town is shaped like a roller coaster and we turned 30 minute walks into 15 minute runs. Up and down steep hills. It was fun. It hurt my calves and made me sweat but hey you gotta do what you gotta do. 

Well next time I write you all I will be in the east (not so hot) part of Spain. Bring it on Elche. 

1.I  made a Spanish tortilla de patata. It tasted like a real Spaniard made it. Success. Also my tablet made a handy dandy collage of all the pictures all by itself. 

2.I will miss La Calle ice cream 

3. Here is a pretty walkway 

4. lunch with the she mates.