Week 35: Manuel B Keeps Giving us Things

Hola hola hola!!!

On Monday afternoon, the 4 hermanas of Puerto went bowling. We decided that we are not very good at bowling, but it was still fun.

 On Monday night we visited Isabel, she's still got a lot of problems with her husband's health but we are hoping that things get better soon. She really wants to come to church, she just doesn't have time! After Isabel, we stopped by Manuel B. He gave us little rose plants and chocolate! He is so sweet. We will try our best not to let the rose plants die. 

On Tuesday night we visited a woman named Elena. She received a Book of Mormon a few years ago and has read it every so often. She said she loves reading it when she needs to find peace or is really stressed, because it helps her feel calm and happy. Spanish isn't her first language, but we have found some folletos in her language and we are excited to visit her again.

On Wednesday we visited Andrés and re-taught him the restoration (it had been a while). On Wednesday afternoon we had another cita with Jazmin! She had a lot of questions for us and in the end decided that she wants to read the Book of Mormon again. We are hoping that we will be able to teach her again soon!

It was super cool on Wednesday night because we were walking along the street and first ran into these siblings we had been trying to talk to, then 2 minutes later ran into Isabel! It was just a reminder that the Lord literally puts people in our path.

On Thursday we had a cita with an investigator but in the end she wasn't home, so we went to our piso to do weekly planning. We were planning for week 6 of the transfer! The transfers keep going faster and faster. On Thursday night we went to the house of a family from the American branch to eat. They were so crazy, but it was really fun. At English class on Thursday night, Manuel B brought these little picture books about fairies and rainbows (no kidding) that included 2 paper dolls and lots of outfits to match the outfits they wore in the story. We decided to make good use of them and gave them books of Mormon. 

On Friday sister Fry took hermana Moncayo and I out to lunch at this pizza place and then to Baskin Robbins (yes that exists here, there are a lot of Americans), which was so nice of her! 

On Friday afternoon and evening we were in Rota. I think I was hoping for some kind of birthday miracle and a day full of citas but in the end we just talked to a lot of people on the street and knocked on a lot of doors. We did meet several people who told us to come back another day, so that was good. 

On Saturday morning we went to the church at  7:15am to start filling the baptismal font for the baptism of someone hermana Pinkney and hermana Bockova have been teaching. The water wasn't super warm so we ended up boiling some water in a pot and dumping it in the baptismal font every so often to heat it up. A little chungo, but it worked and in the end the water was nice and warm. And the baptismal service was really sweet! 

On Sunday we ate with a family from the American branch, except we ate dinner at 4:30 because there was something they had to do at 6, so that was kind of weird. On Saturday night we got to visit this woman and her son and teach them about the Book of Mormon! The ward is having a Valentines day activity this Friday and the son might be able to come to that.                         

I'm reading the New Testament in Spanish and right now I'm in Luke, when Jesus is teaching the people the sermon on the mount, and telling them basically how to be good people. The main thing I took away from it was that we need to treat others the way we want them to treat us and think about others the way we want God to think about us. When we see other people on the street, they appear to us as the cardboard cutout version of who they really are--but really, everyone's life is just as intricate as your own. I'm trying to treat people more the way I would like to be treated and would like to invite you all to do the same--be a little nicer and a little more patient with someone this week. :)

Love, Hermana Walker

Sweet treats that the other hermanas made for Holly to celebrate her birthday.

Week 34: Well it's February

Hola hola hola!!

First off, about the announcement that I'm sure a lot of you have heard about--on July 1st 2018, all 3 missions in Spain were supposed to get new mission presidents. But about 2 weeks ago, President and Hermana Andersen told us all that we actually aren't going to get a new mission president in December, but that part of the Málaga mission is going to consolidate into the Barcelona mission and part into the Madrid mission come July 1st, so there will only be 2 missions in Spain. When we first found out about it I was actually really sad--the mission is kind of like a big family, and when July 1st comes I suddenly won't see part of the mission ever again! And we have things like a mission hymn and other things that I'm not sure what will happen to. But the more I have thought about it the more I have realized that it's really the Lord's way of hastening His work and we are so blessed to be a part of that. We still don't know the new mission boundaries in Spain, but basically there's a transfer on June 27th and wherever you are placed during that transfer will determine whether you go to the Madrid mission or the Barcelona mission. So that's kind of crazy--we won't know which mission we're going to be a part of until 4 days before the changes! But it's also kind of cool to think that I could serve anywhere in Spain--it's like the BYU thing, "the world is our campus," except it's "Spain is our mission!" 

This week was a good week. Wish I remembered more of it! We had a good second cita with an investigator and hopefully are going to meet with him again later this week. We also had a first cita with someone who used to be taking the lessons but stopped taking them. She was really friendly and invited us to come over tonight so we'll see how that goes.

On Tuesday we had district meeting, then afterwards we ate cake and chicken (hermana Moncayo made the chicken and it tasted just like KFC, we were all amazed) for Elder Clark's birthday. On Tuesday night, we taught Manuel B again! He is so funny and old. He gave us a mini cheesecake and was so happy when I told him that cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts.

On Wednesday we messaged Jazmín to ask if she had been able to read in the Book of Mormon. We couldn't meet with her this week and she couldn't come to church either since she was out of town, but she messaged us back and said that yes, she had read a little. How much? Half the book!!! So yeah, she's still the best. Also, we met with Andrés. I learned the right way to peel an orange (apparently I've been doing it wrong). 

On Thursday, February came. That's bizarre; I feel like December was 2 days ago.

On Thursday we started off the day with weekly planning for week 5 of the transfer. That was super weird! Luckily Hermana Moncayo and I are going to be together for two transfers, so we've still got week 6 of this transfer and then another 6 weeks of the next transfer. In the afternoon we got to meet with the girl who used to be taking the lessons but stopped taking them, and she was really sweet and we are excited to visit her again. Then on Thursday night, claro, we had English class and noche de hogar. Manuel B came and brought like 8 of the mini cheesecakes that we had eaten on Tuesday so that we could all enjoy them. He also sent us home with 3. He is so funny.

On Friday we went to Jerez for intercambios! Intercambios are so fun. I was with Hermana Johnson for the night which of course was a pachanga. We got to teach the restoration to a new investigator! Then at night we all ate strawberries with melted chocolate because Hermana Moncayo and I had a lot of strawberries and we were worried they were going to go bad.

On Saturday morning I was with Hermana Villegas, and we taught the plan of salvation to this guy in a bar (that was kind of interesting). Don't worry, we drank cola Cao (hot chocolate). Saturday afternoon we went back to Puerto and on Saturday  night we went to play fútbol, but problem, because the ball which is normally in the closet wasn't there. Luckily we found a set of 2 ping pong rackets (rackets? I don't know what they're called. I'm saying rackets) and a bunch of ping pong balls so we put some tables together and some hymn books in the middle and played ping pong. 

On Sunday we went to church (CLARO). I love the first Sunday of the month because we get to hear so many different people from the congregation go up and share their testimony. Lots of people had good things to share. Joselito came to church too! So that was fun. The second hour lesson was good too, it was on the creation but the teacher (she's an old lady) got a little off track and suddenly everyone was talking about where cotton comes from. Then they were talking about where honey comes from, and they kept saying abejas (bees) but I was hearing ovejas (sheep) and so that was really confusing for a minute. But the moral of the lesson was that the world is really cool. We were the music crew for primary 3rd hour. On Sunday afternoon we went to visit a recent convert (Manuel, but not Manuel B, another Manuel) and his wife. We had never really talked to them before but we had a really fun time and also got to read President Monson's last general conference talk about the power of the Book of Mormon with them. It is so important to read the Book of Mormon every day! And also, if you haven't read that talk (from the April 2017 general conference) for awhile I definitely recommend it, it's really short but really good, and I think there's some significance to the fact that it was President Monson's very last talk. The Book of Mormon is so important and so true! Every time I read it I learn something new, and the more  I read it the more I love it!

Love, Hermana Walker