Hola
hola hola!
This week went by SO
fast!
We made two batches of
banana bread on Monday and took one batch to district meeting and another we
cut up and took to different members. We gave some to Lorenzo and Inma and to Ramón
and Norma, and we also stopped by a few more members in our area to drop it off.
When we took banana bread to Arlessa, who's a recent convert, she actually let
us in and we were able to have a really good conversation with her and she said
to call her this week and come visit again! Neither of us knew her very well so
this was super cool. We're making more banana bread today because apparently
that's the way to people's hearts here in Spain. It's a good excuse to go visit
the people we need to see.
We got some new dresses so we posed together.
On Friday we went to
the sister training leaders' (she's) area for INTERCAMBIOS! I went with Hermana
Pickett and hermana Johnson went with Hermana McKeown for the evening, we
stayed overnight in their piso, then I went with Hermana McKeown for the next
morning and hermana Johnson went with Hermana Pickett. It was super fun just
meeting more missionaries and getting to learn from them. We taught one lesson
the first night and then went and painted an older member's living room the
next morning for some service. I don't know if they don't have paint rollers in
Spain or what, but we were definitely painting with paintbrushes. The member
seemed to think the walls looked great but we actually thought they looked
pretty bad haha. But it's her living room, so I guess if she thinks it's good
then it's good!
There were a few
really good things I got out of intercambios. First: everyone kind of has the
same worries and struggles, more or less. Everyone gets tired, and no one
really likes talking to people on the street, at least at first. But you have
to keep going when you're tired and keep talking to the people on the street
and things will really work out. I feel a lot better about contacting now
though! Poco a poco!
Speaking of
contacting, hermana Johnson forgot that she knows English when we were
contacting yesterday. We started talking to this couple and they responded, in
English, 'sorry, don't understand.' and both of us kind of just backed off,
like, 'oh, they don't speak this language.' Then a few seconds later we
looked at each other and were like, 'WE SPEAK ENGLISH TOO.' but they were
already gone and we were left just laughing at ourselves. So, that's fun. We
also tried praying in English to start companion study and it was WEIRD. I
think we're going to stick with Spanish.
On Sunday after church
the elders and Hermana Johnson and I ate lunch at the church with Obispo! He
hasn't been super close with the missionaries in the past so this was a big
deal. We had a really great conversation and feel like we have a lot better
relationship with him now. Here is a picture of the outside of our church.
Today for p-day our
district met up and went to a castle! It cost 60 cents to get in and was
definitely worth it haha, it was super cool! Our district is really awesome. It
was a hike to get up to the castle but the views were AWESOME.
Then we went to Domino's together and did their pizza buffet (I don't know if it exists in the
states or not), and we went through a lot of pizzas... because we had
four elders with us. Domino's in Spain is really different than Domino's in the
states, but it's REALLY good.
This week was a big
feria in Málaga. I've seen so many people walking around with giant flowers in
their hair and wearing beautiful flamenco dresses! It's made it difficult to
teach, since everyone is at the feria, but it's sure been fun to see everyone
all decked out!
This week I finished
Mosiah in the book of Mormon, and when I was in Mosiah chapter 26 I read a part
that was kind of funny, but also really reassuring. There was a group of
unbelieving people who were causing a lot of trouble, and they were brought
before Alma (who was the head of the church):
10 Now there had not
any such thing happened before in the church; therefore Alma was troubled in
his spirit, and he caused that they should be brought before the king.
11 And he said unto
the king: Behold, here are many whom we have brought before thee, who are
accused of their brethren; yea, and they have been taken in divers iniquities.
And they do not repent of their iniquities; therefore we have brought them
before thee, that thou mayest judge them according to their crimes.
12 But king Mosiah
said unto Alma: Behold, I judge them not; therefore I deliver them into thy
hands to be judged.
13 And now the spirit
of Alma was again troubled; and he went and inquired of the Lord what he should
do concerning this matter, for he feared that he should do wrong in the sight
of God.
14 And it came to pass
that after he had poured out his whole soul to God, the voice of the Lord came
to him, saying:
15 Blessed art thou,
Alma, and blessed are they who were baptized in the waters of Mormon. Thou art
blessed because of thy exceeding faith in the words alone of my servant
Abinadi...
19 And because thou
hast inquired of me concerning the transgressor, thou art blessed.
So basically, Alma had
no idea what to do with this group of people. So he tried to get the king to
take care of it, but the king didn't know what to do either. So the king sent
them back to Alma, and in the end really neither of them knew what to do. And
they were the leader of the church and the leader of the government! So it's
okay if we don't know how to do something. If someone asks me a question, as a
missionary, and I don't know the answer, it's okay. Because these amazing
people didn't even know what to do or say in every situation! The important
part is that rather than just giving up, we turn to a Heavenly Father and ask
him for help. He'll never be annoyed that we're asking him!
This week is our tri
zone conference, and on September 16th ELDER HOLLAND is coming to talk to our
mission! And I lucked out because he's also talking to the stake in Málaga
which means I get to hear him twice! We're really excited!!!
Talk to you in a
week!
Love, hermana
Walker
No comments:
Post a Comment