Week 23: We're not asking for money!

Hola hola hola!

The Christmas countdown is now at 35 days.

This week flew... most weeks fly. We had intercambios (exchanges) this week, which was way good. I went with Hermana Pickett to a teaching appointment with this super cute couple. The husband is from Spain and the wife is from some country where they don't speak Spanish. They were super friendly and I guess it's a custom in the wife's country to give a LOT of food to visitors, so we were eating nuts and crackers and bread and she just kept pulling out more and more food! We were teaching and then all of a sudden the wife (who's muslim) whips out her Quran and starts reading to us from it! First in her language (arabic?), then in Spanish. Meanwhile we're sitting there, our mouths full of almonds and pecans, trying to chew and swallow so we can move on. She read like two pages before we were able to get a sentence out haha. That about sums up that cita, eating almonds and reading the Quran. But intercambios were really great, and I learned a lot from being with other missionaries for a couple of days.

Update on Jonathan: he can't come to church until the end of JANUARY because he has to work literally every Sunday until then. And his wife doesn't want to go without him, and neither does Matei... so we're a little bummed. But they're still reading every day and Matei is burning through the picture Book of Mormon, which is good. We heart-attacked their door and copied some scriptures from the Book of Mormon in Romanian to put on the hearts, which was a struggle but ended up good in the end... we think. Hopefully it's legible. We don't speak Romanian.

On Thursday we had a noche de hogar (family home evening) with Yovanna, her kids, and her husband! It was awesome! Yovanna was in charge of the spiritual thought, and we left it up to her to decide what she wanted to talk about. We watched a video she found about how families can be together forever, and then read a few verses of scripture, and basically she called out her family and said they need to go to the temple and get sealed or they won't be able to be together after this life. WHOA! GO YOVANNA!!! And then they all talked about the steps to get to the temple, like going to church every Sunday and things like that. We also played charades, which was super fun, and then ate peanut butter Hershey kiss cookies (from us) and polvorones (from them) for a treat. Basically, the best noche de hogar ever.

For the past few weeks, Hermana Encarnación and I have been planning a Christmas concert with all 3 Málaga wards to kick-off the Christmas initiative this year (it's called #lighttheworld in English, and the new video and everything come out the 25th of this month so mark your calendars!). It's been a lot of work, finding people from all the wards to participate and getting invitations and things. Well on Sunday we brought a (pretty cute, if I say so myself) brown sign to put on the table inside the doors of the church that says "Concierto de Navidad" (Christmas concert) really big and then some of the details--you know, to get the members all excited. But awkward, because on the bus into Málaga on Sunday morning, we were holding this Christmas concert sign and someone tried to give us money! "No, it's okay." "No, I insist!" We kind of looked at each other. "Is it because of our sign?" "Yes!" Oh no. "No, this is a sign for a Christmas concert at our church! We're not asking for money!" "Oh..."

Kind of awkward. We tried to give him a pass-along card, but he wasn't interested.

This was our first Sunday with the new, big ward! It was great. We finally have a ward mission leader!! He was the ward mission leader in Málaga 1, but he got moved to our ward so now we've got him. Not sure if/when they're going to find someone to lead the music in sacrament meeting... but I don't want to do it anymore! Actually, I haven't wanted to do it for the past 17 weeks, either. Still holding out hope. But we've got a ward mission leader, so hey.

The big miracle of Sunday was that Yovanna actually came to church! She hadn't come in a while. And not only Yovanna came, but her two teenage kids came too!! Did they have the time of their life? Probably not, they're teenagers (I guess I'm a teenager too...). But did they come? YEP! We were so excited when they walked into church!!!

This coming Sunday we'll get phone calls to know what will happen with transfers (the 29th), so I'll let you know what the news is with that next Monday.

I was reading this week in the book of Mosiah (one of the books in the Book of Mormon), when it's talking about the prophet Alma and his people. Basically, they were in bondage to these really bad guys, and they prayed to the Lord for help because they were suffering a LOT. I really loved what happens in a response to their prayers. "And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord." The Lord didn't take away their trials and their burdens, but he DID give them the strength that they needed to be able to face their problems. I've been trying to pray less for my problems to be taken away and more for the strength I need to face them, and I really can see a difference. We can learn so much from the scriptures!

Side note: One thing that some of our investigators this week were surprised to find out was that in our church, we don't just believe in the Book of Mormon. We believe in the Bible (the Old and New Testaments), AND the Book of Mormon (Another Testament). The Bible takes place around Jerusalem, the Book of Mormon takes place among the ancient inhabitants of the Americas. We talk about the Book of Mormon so much because it's the "keystone of our religion"--we are the only church that believes the Book of Mormon to be the word of God, so basically if the Book of Mormon is true, then this is the true church of Jesus Christ. There are so many different translations and interpretations of the Bible (a person can point to a verse and say it means that the Lord's day is Saturday, while another person can point to a different verse and say that only 144,000 people will be saved). The more I learn about other religions here in Spain, the more I see the need for the Book of Mormon--another Testament of Jesus Christ. It states so clearly the doctrines of Jesus Christ, and together with the Bible we really do have the fulness of His Gospel. If you haven't read the Book of Mormon, I would encourage you to read it!

Love, Hermana Walker

 We did some service and were rewarded with cookies.

Week 22: Chestnuts roasted on an open fire are pretty good

Hola hola hola!

We decorated for CHRISTMAS! No, we're not even halfway through November, but we're wearing sweaters now, so I say it's Christmastime. Our little tree is the cutest thing you ever did see. I love Christmas so much. 42 days and counting!!!

This week I would say the biggest lesson I've learned is about GRATITUDE. We were meeting with two of our investigators and invited one of them to read a verse in the scriptures. She told us she couldn't do it, but we found it in her language so she would be able to. But she still couldn't do it. She shook her head. "No colegio." "No school." She's not some crazy grandma lady who's 92 and half-blind, half-deaf. She's a normal woman who's probably about 50 and just never learned how to read. Later, we were meeting with another family. The husband has been out of work for 5 months as of this week. I've been on a mission for 5 months as of this week. 5 months is a long time! His wife is sick, and can barely talk. She can barely sleep because she can't breathe. And because of his wife's problems, this man is so stressed that he can't even eat. After hearing these people's stories, I'm trying to be more grateful. No matter how tired I am, or no matter how many people don't want to talk to us, at least I can read. I can eat. I can sleep. I can breathe. We have GOT to be more grateful.

We went over to Andrea's house to help her clean a couple of times this week. She still hasn't found the Spanish Book of Mormon that we gave her, BUT we found a Book of Mormon in Hungarian (her language) and gave it to her. She was so excited to get something in Hungarian, and it was so cute. We also finally got to meet her husband and her two cute kids. They ALMOST came to church yesterday. Normally we don't even have hope that anyone will come to church, so this is a step forward. At least someone ALMOST came. We're hoping they'll ACTUALLY come this coming Sunday, or the next Sunday for the primary program (when the kids from the ward sing songs and say little things). They're such a cute family and their piso is almost done, so we're excited to keep teaching them.

We've met several times with Jonathan and Lelica. They're so cute too. We gave their son (who's 8) one of those illustrated Book of Mormon picture books and he was so excited to read it. When we visited them last night, he was already several pages in. We're hoping that they will come to church this Sunday. They didn't come this past Sunday. We have to go slowly so that Jonathan can translate for Lelica, but they're happy to have us come over and teach them any day.

Update on the roasted chestnuts: I did finally try them. They weren't what I expected, but they were pretty good. Probably 4 out of 5 stars. Would definitely recommend!

In other food news, I made the peanut butter cookies with the chocolate in the middle again. I hadn't made them yet this transfer, and Hermana Encarnación really liked them, so you could say I'm finally contributing to the gourmet cooking here in Torremolinos.

My goal is to finish the Book of Mormon again by the end of the year, which means I've been reading a LOT. Got 2 minutes while Hermana Encarnación hangs up her laundry? Read the Book of Mormon. Waiting for something in the microwave? Read the Book of Mormon. Lots of reading. It's awesome! I was reading in 2 Nephi 33:10 and really liked this verse, which is written by one of the prophets in the Book of Mormon named Nephi. It basically explains the purpose of the Book of Mormon:

"10 And now,... all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words (these words= the Book of Mormon) and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good."

The purpose of the Book of Mormon is to help you believe in Christ, and teach you to do good. Anyone who believes in Christ and reads this book will know that it is true. It's called "Another Testament of Jesus Christ" for a reason-- I can honestly say that, although my testimony of the Book of Mormon grows as I read it, what's growing the most is my testimony of the Savior. I've been putting a little black dot in the margin next to every time Christ or Heavenly Father is mentioned, and there are a LOT of dots in this book. It's a book about Jesus Christ and anyone and everyone who reads it will come closer to the Savior. So if you haven't read it, or you aren't reading it every day, READ IT! It's the best!

Stay warm, decorate for Christmas, drink lots of water, and read the Book of Mormon!

Love, Hermana Walker

Yummy food made by my companion

Zone Conference

Waiting at the bus stop

Christmas lights strung across the street

The Christmas wreath on our door

Week 21: I got pooped on by another bird

Hola hola hola! 

First off: no worries, the majority of our investigators who dropped off the face of the earth have now been found. We met with Fátima, Kevin, Victoria, Lorenzo, Andrea, and MORE this week! 

On Monday night, Hermana Encarnación and I decided to toque (knock doors in) a building. This is a massive building. Twelve floors, about 50 pisos per floor. Where do we start? We felt the twelfth floor sounded good. So we started toquing. First door, no one opened. Second, no one. Tenth... No one. And then, after probably 15 doors, someone opened up. "I have your book!" said this man, super excited. He ran back into his piso, grabbed the Book of Mormon and all the pamphlets, and came back to the doorway. He pulled out a note that two sister missionaries wrote him thirty-five years ago, and that he'd kept all this time. "Me and my family read the Book of Mormon together!" he told us. This man's name is Jonathan. He's from Romania, so his pamphlets and book are in Romanian, but he speaks Spanish and English well too. He gave us his number. "Visit another day when my wife and son are home!" Um... Okay! 

We went back a few days later to visit Jonathan again. This time his wife, Lelica, and his son, Matee, were there. His wife speaks very little Spanish but is so so cute and so patient as he translates. Matee is eight and speaks Spanish and Romanian perfectly and is super sweet! We found out that they've met with elders (missionaries) as recently as a couple years ago. "They were my friends," Matee told us. The entire family has such a strong testimony of Jesus Christ. Lelica was a little confused about the difference between the Book of Mormon and the Bible, so Jonathan opened up his book, flipped to the picture of Moroni burying the plates, and explained it to her. He remembers EVERYTHING! The thing is, we can't find any teaching record for Jonathan or his family. We had never heard of them before. But the Lord knows that this family needs the gospel, and He helped us find them again. 

We asked if we could come back and visit again. "Yes!" Lelica said. "What day?" we asked. "Every day!" Jonathan told us. Um... OKAY!

I'm not saying this family is going to join the church in two weeks. Jonathan smokes and drinks a LOT of coffee. His wife has health problems, and she might need surgery. But it was such a miracle that we found this family and we are so excited to keep teaching them and to see them progress!

In other news, this week was Halloween. No trick or treating, but a lot of kids dressed up in kind of scary-looking costumes. No princesses here, that's for sure. 

We visited Andrea again this week too! She is awesome. Her apartment is still being renovated, so life is pretty crazy for her right now. We taught her part of the Plan of Salvation and she liked it. She asked questions when she didn't understand but wasn't contradicting everything we said. Then we went back the next day to help her clean some parts of her piso. She's not really in a position to learn a ton about the church for the next few weeks, just because of the craziness of the renovations, but we're going to help her clean again this week and when she finds her book of Mormon (it's packed away in one of her MANY boxes), we're going to keep moving forward in the lessons.

I needed a winter coat and found one in our piso which works great, except the first (and only) day I wore it, I got pooped on by another bird. No worries, the coat is now clean and ready to be worn again. 

The tri zone conference was awesome! I wish I could remember more about it off the top of my head (my notes are in our piso right now, and we're in McDonald's). But trust me when I say it was really REALLY great. It's always fun to get to be with so many missionaries, too! 

On Saturday we had correlación (in English, correlation meeting? Not sure) with the elders in our ward and Ramon. We don't have a ward mission leader (Ramón is in the bishopric) but we decided to have this meeting anyway. Basically, we just talk about what's going on in our areas and how the ward can help. It was really good and now I can say that after 15 weeks in the field, I finally know what correlación is! Our ward is so excited to get new members on the 19th. Málaga 2 is definitely winning in the ward-boundary game, because we aren't losing anyone, only gaining more people. Here's to hoping the boundary change brings a ward mission leader, and someone to lead the music in sacrament meeting.

On Sunday we had stake conference in Granada! The church had a bus to pick up members from Fuengirola, Torremolinos, and Málaga. I think it was about 2 hours to Granada. The bus ride was beautiful, and the chapel in Granada reminded me so much of a chapel in the States! The talks were really good and we got to hear from the Madrid temple president and his wife, President and Hermana Andersen, and several members from the stake. 

Sunday night we went with Susana (daughter of Ramón and Norma) to eat with Lorenzo, our investigator! We had a good conversation about prayer and recognizing the Spirit. This is so important, because it's the only way that anyone will ever join this church. As missionaries, we don't quote scriptures at you until you get baptized. We teach what we believe in this church and then invite you to pray to know for yourself. The Espíritu Santo (holy ghost) can show you the truth of all things, but you need to do your part and read the scriptures and pray with real intent. If you have doubts about anything, I would encourage you to "study it out in your mind" and then ask God for an answer. He will always respond! 

Fun fact of the week: Dora the Explorer exists in Spanish-speaking countries, but instead of teaching you Spanish, she teaches you English! Hermana Encarnación and I discovered that Dora the Explorer exists in each other's countries and it's kind of super cool. 

Have a great week!

Love, Hermana Walker

Spanish Bakery

 Coconut pastry

 The chino store is ready for Christmas

 Flowering tree in Torremolinos

 This street felt like walking into the jungle for us.

Delicious food made by my companion

Week 20: Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

 Hola hola hola!

For district meeting this week, our district leader asked us to read a talk called "Return and Receive" by Elder Ballard from last April. It was REALLY good and I hope you go look it up and read it! It talks about goals and plans and it's just really really good.

This week a few of our investigators just dropped off the face of the earth. That happens sometimes. But we're going to figure out what happened to them, don't worry!

One investigator who HAD dropped off the face of the earth but who decided to reappear this week was Andrea! She's the one who we taught lesson 1, then she went on a trip, then she was living in a different city while her new piso was being renovated... Well, her piso is still being renovated, but she and her family are living in it now, which means she's back in Torremolinos! It had been a really long time, so we kind of did a lesson 1 (the restoration) overview. One problem: we invited her to read the Book of Mormon (she said she read a little before her trip), but the Book of Mormon we gave her is packed in a box and she doesn't know which one! She didn't want to take ANOTHER Book of Mormon ("Really it's fine, we have so many!") but she's going to go looking for hers. Hoping she finds it, and hopefully we'll get to meet with her again this coming week!

We also taught this cute couple who moved here from... Romania, I think? Not sure. All I know is that their first language is not English and it's not Spanish. But they are so cute, and we found some things (pamphlets, Book of Mormon) in their language. So we're going to visit them again this week and try to use the things we found and give them the Book of Mormon to read.

Speaking of the Book of Mormon, I finished reading the Book of Mormon and just started it again! I'm trying to finish it by the end of the year. The Book of Mormon is so awesome and every time I read it, my testimony of it grows! One thing I noticed from general conference was that several people mentioned President Monson's challenge to read the Book of Mormon every day. I would also challenge you to do that! The Book of Mormon is AWESOME.

We also visited Yovanna and her husband (Gonzalo) this week! They gave us this kind of Spanish giant-muffin-cake sort of thing. I took a bite and it was reallyyy hard to bite through, and kind of had a weird texture on the outside edge. But I made it through the bite and swallowed it.. then realized that I had just taken a nice big bite of the paper wrapper (picture a giant cupcake wrapper). So... that was awkward. Aside from the paper, the cake thing was really good! Spanish Christmas treats do not disappoint. 

Keeping with the paper theme, I taught Hermana Encarnación how to trace your hand and make it into a turkey. She's so funny. I NORMALLY understand what she's saying to me, but sometimes I just kind of match her facial expression and pretend I know what she said. Except she started catching on, so now when I do that she just kind of laughs. "No entendiste?" (You didn't understand?). "Nope!" Then she says it again, and I normally get it the second time. It's super weird waking up in the morning and immediately speaking Spanish. Kind of messes with your head haha. Also, as predicted, we have been eating REALLY well this week. She's the cook and I'm the dish-washer. It's a good system. She uses all sorts of fancy stuff, like lentils and tomatoes and basil (I REALLY don't cook haha).

Today we have our tri-zone conference with Elder Bennesar, an area seventy from France! He and his wife also came to our ward for church yesterday, which was cool. They were really nice! I had to give a talk in sacrament meeting, which I really was not excited for. Then I found out this area seventy was going to be there! Even more nervous. Luckily they don't speak Spanish haha. Elder Bennesar gave a really good testimony and I'm excited for tri-zone this afternoon!

Random note: I knew chestnuts are roasted over an open fire, because of that one Christmas song. But I've never actually had a roasted chestnut. I've actually never even seen ANY chestnut, I'm pretty sure. But in the past couple weeks, there are so many stands that have been set up on random street corners that have little fires and pots and sell chestnuts that are roasted right there in front of you! Haven't tried any yet, but Hermana Encarnación says they're good so we'll have to get some soon.

So I've been reading in 1st Nephi this week, and I've learned so much. In 1st Nephi 13:16, part of the verse stuck out to me. "(they) did humble themselves before the Lord; and the power of the Lord was with them." The power of the Lord can be with us, but we need to humble ourselves and recognize that we CAN'T do it on our own. As missionaries, we can't teach a lesson just using the knowledge we have--we need the Holy Ghost to be there. That's the same for any calling in the church. You can't do a good enough job or touch the hearts of the people you're serving or change the lives you're supposed to change if you're trying to do it on your own. But when we humble ourselves and recognize that we need the Lord's help, His power will be with us, and THEN we can do what we need to do.

Have a great week!

Love, Hermana Walker

This one type of tree decided to get flowers and it makes no sense to me because it's definitely almost November, pero bueno.

At the halloween activity (combined with all 4 Málaga wards)... Hermana Encarnación stuck spaghetti noodles in her hair and we decided it made her look like the statue of liberty
Also at the halloween activity, look who I ran into!

Paseo del pan triste: literally translates to "walk of the sad bread". Why this is the name of a street, I have no idea. What made the bread so sad?