Week 40: The busiest week

Hola hola hola!

This week has been so crazy busy but that's so good! It is crazy combining the two areas and making time for everyone (it makes daily planning take a while) but it is so good and we almost always have places to be and people to visit.

Also, being in a trio is pretty much just a party all the time. I think we're all a little sleep-deprived (it's easy to get talking once you're lying in bed at night, sabe?) but it's so so fun. Hermana Malcolm is awesome!

It kept raining this week (what's new?) so we've been carrying our paraguas all over town.

On Tuesday we had district meeting and afterwards we ate FRUIT PIZZA which I'd been craving for like 6 months I think. It was a combined hermana Malcolm hermana Moncayo fruit pizza birthday cake. On Tuesday night we got to visit a member couple, Bertha and Manolo, who are just so awesome.

On Wednesday we ate with Andres, it was this stew thing that was pretty good and actually wasn't drowning in grease--he's stepping up his game! Then we visited Isabel. Her family is still going through a lot of health challenges but she is staying strong and keeping her faith in God which is really awesome. Then we visited with an investigator named Juan Manuel. He had been having struggles with the word of wisdom but finally has overcome them so we are excited to see him keep progressing! After Juan Manuel we walked wayyyy across town to visit an older member named Luisa who's health isn't too good. She is so sweet and was so grateful to have us visit her since she hasn't been able to come to church for a few weeks. After Luisa we met with a new investigator named Manuel (yes, everyone in Puerto is named Manuel), who is a MAQUINA. He was a self-reference from the mormon.org website and had talked with missionaries there and then had met with the other hermanas once before the areas combined. He basically taught US the lesson! Then we walked way BACK across town to visit the Peña family. We had a good conversation with the parents about the Sabbath day, the kids weren't there.

On Tuesday we had a crazy long weekly planning because we had to get to know all the people on the other side of the area and hermana Malcolm had to get to know all the people on this side. We also got to eat with a member, Belli, who is so cute. We stopped by Francisco, the less-active member we met a few weeks ago, to read with him and his wife in the Book of Mormon before going to English class. There were so many people in English class and so many of them were named Manuel! I'm talking Manuel Mayo, Manuel Ballesteros, Manuel the new investigator, Juan Manuel... the only one missing was José Manuel. We decided some of them need to change their names because it makes class really difficult haha. "Manuel, you had a question?" *the entire class turns to look at us* "Okay, not YOU Manuel... no, not YOU Manuel either... you either... yes, THAT Manuel." Also, Manuel the investigator had read first Nefi 1 and had come with lots of questions to ask us! During the noche de hogar we wrote "letters to God," and talked about how in prayer we really are communicating with God--it's as real as writing a letter. But writing my "letter to God" really made me think that I need to improve my personal prayers! I would recommend writing a letter to God if you feel like your prayers are lacking something, it's really cool!

On Friday was Hermana Malcolm's birthday--she turned 20! Two birthdays in one week, Hermana Moncayo's last Sunday and then Hermana Malcolm's on Friday! We ate pancakes for breakfast and then visited Carolina... she has a really scary house with these slightly terrifying homemade statues of the virgin Mary that look... yes, very scary. And they're like 8 feet tall. I don't know, it was weird. And creepy. Then we went with Sister Fry to pick up pizza (a GIANT pizza--they had to open both doors of the pizza place to let her out with it!) and we ate it with Sister Fry and Abi at Sister Fry's house in honor of Hermana Malcolm's birthday. Abi was the investigator of the other hermanas who got baptized a month or two ago and she is THE BEST. She's from England so she goes to the American branch and she is so funny. I am so excited to get to work with her now that she's in our area! On the way back to our piso after lunch, Sister Fry stopped by the other piso so that we could transport some things from that piso to our piso in her car, which was so nice of her. Then we taught a lesson to Jorge, a new investigator! He has a really powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon and even came to church on Sunday for all three hours! Spanish isn't his first language so we need to find the folletos in his language so we can be sure that he understands us. After finishing the day we decided to make a chocolate cake (box mix and frosting in a can courtesy of the Americans, and hermana Moncayo was just as impressed the second time haha) for Hermana Malcolm because she needed to blow out candles! Only after making the cake and putting the candles on top did we realize we had no fire, but it's okay, she just pretended to blow out the candles.

On Saturday it was Saint Patrick's day, which no is not a thing here, but yes we did all wear green anyways. We went to visit a member, Conchi, in the morning, and Petri (a less-active member who we're working with) was there too! That was an awesome surprise because we had been trying to meet with Petri all week but hadn't been able to find a time that worked. In the afternoon the Miles family took us to this Italian restaurant to dinner, which was so fun. They are an awesome family and Sister Miles is going to help us teach Abi about family history. Afterwards we had to do a few things in the church, and then when we were walking back to piso we were attacked by this crazy wind and rain storm! I'm talking Hermana Moncayo's umbrella attacked her (she has a wound on her lip, no kidding), then blew like 50 feet down the street, and the pizza box we were carrying with leftovers from dinner blew open and then the pizza blew out onto the sidewalk, and I'm still a little sick so I was just there not even able to breathe because of the wind and hermana Moncayo couldn't see because her glasses were covered in rain and it was just crazy. No worries though, we all survived.

Sunday was pretty much just a day of meetings. We went to two hours of the American branch since Abi is in a different Sunday school class and we need to be there with her, then we went to three hours of Spanish ward immediately afterwards, and then had a meeting with obispo for a couple of hours. Then we had about an hour to eat some lunch, and then went with sister fry and Abi to a stake women's meeting. There were actually a lot of really good talks there and I think Abi really liked it. But by the time we got back to our piso, we only had time for personal study and then had to go to bed! So it was a good day, but a long day.

Overall, a really busy week but a really fun week. I love Hermana Malcolm and I love Hermana Moncayo and I love Puerto and I hope I stay here forever! Also, it is finally going to stop raining this week and I have never had so much ánimo.

Love, Hermana Walker

Week 39: not your average semana

3/12/18

Hola hola hola!! 

Well this week was anything but normal! On Tuesday we had five citas, which is the first time that's happened in my mission! It was crazy! We met with two less-active members in the morning, then ate some greasy macarrones with Andrés and read in the Book of Mormon with him, then visited Loli and then Stefany and Mateo who were going to move in a few days. It was a crazy busy day! 

Oh also on Tuesday Andrés offered us three fruit options, naranja (orange), manzana (apple), and pero. I was like, "pera?" (pear?) 

"no. Pero. La pera es distinta."
Hermana Moncayo shook her head, no, pero doesn't exist, he's just a confused old man talking about a pear. 
So I said okay, I wanted a "pero" - - expecting a pera. And then he comes out with a yellow apple!! 
Andrés. That is an apple. 
No, it's a pero! Apples are green and red. 
and yellow," says Hermana Moncayo. 
In the end we let Andrés win, and we may have discovered a new fruit... We still aren't sure. 

On Wednesday we had to wake up at 5:45 to catch our train to Sevilla. That brought back some fun memories of early morning Seminary haha. We had a really great conference in Sevilla and learned a lot about using the Book of Mormon in our teaching. After the conference we went to the piso of two hermanas, hermana May and hermana Horan, who serve in Sevilla because we had a train to catch from Sevilla the next morning! It was hermana Horan's birthday and so we grabbed some frozen yogurt to celebrate. 

On Thursday we got on a train to MADRID! Hermana Moncayo had to sign a paper for her nacionalidad and I was the lucky companion who got to come along with her to Madrid! We were only there for like four hours but it was fun to meet her mom and sister in the office where she signed the papers. Also super weird to go in the metro again, brought back memories of going to the park in the CCM! Then we took two trains to get back to Puerto and didn't get back until like 9:30 at night. We were reallyyy tired  of going on trains after Thursday. 

On Friday we had weekly planning and then interviews with President Andersen where we got some unexpected news: Hermana Pinkney is going to a different area TODAY and we are going to be in a trio with Hermana Malcom until the end of the transfer! We will be over both areas of Puerto and all living in our piso. So it's been a crazy few days since then of moving a third bed into the room where we sleep and things to get all ready for Hermana Malcom this afternoon! It will be really different but we are excited. 

On Saturday we had a cita... I think... I actually can't remember. Saturday night was stake conference and we were invited so we got to go listen to some really good talks! A member from the branch drove us back afterwards which was so nice. 

On Sunday we had the other stake conference meeting, there was a bus to bring all the members so it was fun to be with everyone on the way to San Fernando. Andrés came and really liked it! Also, Sunday was hermana Moncayo's birthday and once one member found out ALL the members found out and were so cute sending her happy birthday messages all afternoon. One member, Manuel M, even made a super pretty birthday cake for her and brought it to us on Sunday  night! We got to teach Hortensia and her friend on Sunday night too and had a good lesson with them about the Book of Mormon.

Today we kept cleaning the piso.. With a new companion coming we decided to really clean it well. Then we did compras and other normal boring preparation day things. And then we helped Hermana Malcom bring her suitcases across town to our piso! It finally isn't raining today, which is very nice. I'm used to being in a sunny place I guess and the rain is kind of depressing! 

One talk that I really liked at stake conference was by elder Johnson (the Europe area president who was there) who shared a story about his daughter and her two girls. She picked up two big, beautiful music boxes for her two daughters for Christmas, then a smaller music box for her niece who was going to have a birthday. That night she told her girls that she had bought a music box for her niece, and one of her daughters started to cry because she said, "Mom, that is the present that I've always wanted!" The mom kind of smiled because she knew what this girl was going to get soon for Christmas. But the girl kept crying and asked to see the music box that was going to be a present for the niece. So the mom brought it in and the girl started crying harder. "Mom, it's PERFECT!" Her mom was feeling pretty happy right about now because she knew she'd gotten an even better present for her daughter. "Who knows, maybe you'll get something even better for Christmas." "No mom, this is PERFECT. There isn't anything better!"

The little girl was so sad about this music box because she couldn't see the big picture of what was ahead for her. Elder Johnson comparte this to us and our trials - - Heavenly Father always has the best in store for us, but in the moment we can't see ahead. But He will always bless us in the end through our trials. He knows us perfectly and we should trust in Him and His plan and that He DOES have the big picture view that we lack! 

Love, Hermana Walker

Week 38: Wet and Windy

Hola hola hola!!

On Monday we watched Meet the Mormons, which was really good! I hadn't seen it before. If you haven't seen it, you should go watch it! We watched it in Spanish, so the part about the family in Costa Rica was definitely a highlight because for a few minutes we weren't listening to voiceovers haha. On Monday night we visited Manuel B. He gave us glitter glue, which we're actually super excited about haha.

On Tuesday the Manwarings brought food to district meeting, so that was a party. Afterwards we got to visit a less-active member and then tried to visit one of our investigators, but she basically told us she doesn't have time and to not visit her anymore. So that was a little rough, but in the future maybe she'll change her mind!

On Wednesday I woke up sick, which is never fun, especially on the mission. Also, it was pouring rain and super windy. Day 1 of a rainy streak that's still happening. Also, turns out that umbrellas don't work very well when it's super windy, because they're just turning inside out every 2 minutes and the rain gets you anyway. It was great, during the morning we were walking around and my shoes were making that "squish squish" sound that means that they're full of water! Who needs to go swimming when you can get just as wet just walking around? No but it was actually good in the end, because one of our investigators who normally makes up some reason that we can't come in let us in because we were so wet, and we were able to teach her a good lesson!

On Thursday the rain and wind (and sickness, woo!) continued. Luckily we had weekly planning in the morning, and then in the evening we had English class and noche de hogar so in the end we weren't outside very much at all that day. Also, we visited Andrés on Thursday with Stefany! So that was fun. He wants to make us paella, we'll see how that goes. Not a lot of people in English class and noche de hogar, but there WERE a lot of cookies so I think they still enjoyed it haha.

On Friday morning we tried to pass by a few people, but no one was around or had time. Also, it was still raining. Party! Actually, speaking of parties, on Friday night there was this big ward activity to celebrate a girl in the ward who just got back from her mission in England! So that was fun. We helped with the set-up and the clean-up and it meant that we weren't outside in the storm so we were definitely glad for the activity. I was still kind of coughing and the ward members were offering me all sorts of suggestions... some of them good (drink water!) and some not-so-good (here, take my prescription medication!). Manuel brought me oranges because he noticed I was sick on Thursday at English class and oranges are "llena de vitaminas" haha.

Oh also on Friday, we got back to our piso for mediodía and flipped on the lights and then suddenly all the lights went out. And we looked out the window at the storm like, "oh, great." And we were feeling pretty negative, because it was rainy and windy, we were wet, I was still sick, and now we didn't even have lights. We were sitting in the half-dark piso feeling pretty sorry for ourselves for a few hours while we ate and then did some studies. 

But when we got back from the activity, we realized that the elevator in our building worked, and that's something that doesn't work without electricity... come to think of it, we took the elevator down when we left our piso a few hours ago too. And the lights in the hallway just outside our piso had also been working... long story short we got back to our piso and felt pretty dumb because we realized that the switch that controls the lights had just turned itself off. The power to turn the lights back on had been in our hands the whole time! And then we were like, okay, time for a gospel analogy. We sometimes sit in the dark and feel sorry for ourselves because it seems like everyone is happier than us, or knows their purpose in life, or we don't have a testimony and everyone else does, when really, the key to find happiness and find a purpose in life and get a testimony is all in our hands, and the fix is so simple! We just need to study the scriptures and pray every day and come to church and we can find those things we're looking for!

On Saturday I got an awesome email... SHOUT-OUT TO MY SISTER EMILY WHO GOT INTO BYU!!!!

On Saturday I was a lot less-dead, and it was still raining, but not windy so our umbrellas actually worked finally. We visited Isabel, who still is going through a lot of trials, then visited this less-active member, Fransisco. He'd been one of the pins in our map for ages but we could never find his building. Well de repente on Saturday we were walking down the street looking for the building for the 10th time and THERE IT WAS! I have never been so happy to see a number 16 in my life. Francisco has a lot of health problems so he hasn't been able to come to church for a lot of years, but he still has a testimony and was able to share it with us even though he can barely talk. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he was so cute, he hadn't had one for so long and was so excited to have it. He wants to come to church but can't on his own, and couldn't on Sunday because his wife was worried it was going to rain, and this next Sunday is our stake conference but the next Sunday we are going to pick him up and take him to church ourselves! 

On Sunday we went to church, and then at night there was this crazy thunder/lightning/rain/hail/wind storm! Luckily we were already in our piso to do language study, but JOLÍN it was loud! And according to the ward whatsapp group there was even a tornado that touched down? Not sure if that's reliable or not, but if so, then that's a good explanation of our week haha.

I'm not sick any more, and we were able to buy good food at Carrefour today, and we're going to Sevilla on Wednesday for tri-zone and then to a mystery city on Thursday (stay tuned haha) and then on Sunday we have stake conference with Paul Johnson, the Europe area president! So this week will definitely be less sickly and hopefully less wet than the past week haha. Hope you all have a good week! 

Love, Hermana Walker

Week 37: We got yelled at by a van

Hola hola hola!!! 

On Monday we went to San Fernando for a zone preparation day! It was really fun to be around so many missionaries. Then afterwards we went to visit Faly! Her house is under construction but she said she will buy paint and invite us over to help her paint! Then we went to visit Manuel B. He gave us this pony coloring book. Very thoughtful. He's awesome. 

On Wednesday we had transfers! Not much (actually nothing) changed for Hermana Moncayo and I but we did have Hermana Pinkney with us for part of the day while she waited for her new comp to arrive so that was fun! Her comp was coming from the other side of the mission and in the end didn't get to el Puerto on Wednesday night, so Hermana Pinkney came to our piso for a sleepover. We made fajitas and it was a pachanga! Luckily Hermana Malcom got here early on Thursday morning so Hermana Pinkney could have a real companion again. 

On Wednesday we got to visit Andrés! He made us meatballs that were drowning in grease. I'm not sure how he is still alive at 82 eating so much grease all the time, pero bueno. We're glad he's still around! We had a good lesson with him too. 

We taught a piso full of Romanians this week, which brought back memories of Torremolinos haha. We got to meet one man who used to meet with the missionaries a long time ago and has a really powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon--he didn't want anything to do with the missionaries but they gave him a Book of Mormon anyway, he started reading it and he knew it was true! He's been looking for missionaries here in el Puerto for a while, like 2 guys with white shirts and ties, but in the end two girls in dresses (hint: us) showed up at his house! Jorge has a really busy work schedule but we are hoping to meet with him this week. 

One afternoon we were walking down the street and suddenly we were in the middle of this herd of goats, which was kind of cool but also a little scary. They had a guy in charge of them though, and they were really obedient haha. The shepherd (goatherd?) guy had a big stick like you always picture shepherds having and he kind of looked like a human raisin.

Manuel B had a birthday this week so me and hermana Moncayo made him a cake and brought it to English class. Sister Fry had given us a cake mix and a can of frosting a couple months ago that we used to make it, and Hermana Moncayo was very impressed that such things exist. All the Spaniards loved the cake "que rico!!" so I guess American cake mixes win! 

 On Friday a bunch of little mildly stressful things happened that piled up and got me and hermana Moncayo feeling super stressed by the end of the day. But in the mission you pretty much have to choose between laughing and crying, and we chose to laugh when we were sitting at the table that night listing all the crazy things that had happened that day! 

So on Saturday we were just walking down a street minding our own business when suddenly this white van pulls onto the street. And this van is yelling at us! It had this giant megaphone and had a recording that was yelling--like very aggressively--to buy strawberries! "fresas, roja roja rrrrrrrrrrroja como un tomate!!!!" and then as it pulled up closer I guess the driver changed the recording and it started yelling at us "Señora señora señora fresas fresas fresas" it was kind of like a super weird super aggressive ice cream truck but instead of having music it just yells at you and instead of selling ice cream it sells strawberries (2 kilos for 5 euros!). Needless to say we did not buy strawberries, but we did see one woman come out of her house to buy some, so I guess that sales method is at least semi-effective. 

On Sundays we are always so hungry since we're at church for like 6 hours, so I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to bring to church. Hermana Moncayo had never had (or heard of) peanut butter sandwiches but she decided to make one too to try it out. She liked it so much that she made herself another one later in the afternoon!  I'm planning to get hermana Moncayo to like the US so much that she moves there so we can live by each other after the mission, and I think my plan is working!! Haha

On Sunday afternoon Stefany (a member who is awesome!) came with us to two citas, first with Rolando and hortensia and then with a less active member. The cita with Rolando and Hortensia went really well and they both committed to read a little from the Book of Mormon this week! But then afterwards we were just chatting for a few minutes and somehow de repente the conversation turned to being about burying/cremating dogs here (I do not know why or how) but I was in a piso with these 4 native Spanish speakers and let me just say I thought they were talking about people for a solid two minutes and was very confused/concerned. I also accidentally said Lehi was from the United States (do not ask me why, I do not know why) the last time we had a cita with Rolando and Hortensia and they definitely remembered that and still think it is hilarious. Spanish is a fiesta. The cita with the less active member went really well, he is like 20 or 25 and basically said he just felt like something was lacking in his life--and that thing was the spirit! So that was really cool, and we really hope he can come to church this Sunday! 

This week I've been studying commandments and blessings. We are always asking people to do things and keep certain commandments as missionaries, and it's important to remember the blessings that come from keeping the commandments--every commandment we are given is followed by a ton of blessings! I've been reading in the scriptures and making lists of the blessings that come from keeping different commandments, and really whatever sacrifice we need to make to be obedient to one of God's commandments is tiny compared to the mountain of blessings that we will receive from keeping it!

Love, Hermana Walker

Week 36: January and February

Hola hola hola!! 

On Monday night we were able to eat dinner with a family from the American branch. They gave us corn on the cob and it was awesome. I have apparently developed a love for corn on the cob since being here in Spain. Then we got to visit a less-active member, and then another less-active father and son. So it was a good night! 

On Tuesday we had district meeting, then we tried to visit some people but no one was home or had time, so we ended up toquing a street and then visited Manuel B. He is so sweet and we talked about prayer with him. He also made us food! 

On Wednesday we met with Jazmín! She has read the Book of Mormon for a second time. She has a lot of interesting beliefs so we go slowly through the lessons to explain clearly everything that she needs to learn. But she is awesome, and she was actually the one who texted us asking if we could meet on Wednesday! After Jazmín we visited Andrés. He is reading the Book of Mormon again, but going slower this time so he can really understand it. We were teaching him about the Plan of Salvación and the Atonement and HE was pulling out scriptures to help explain the points we were teaching him! Máquina! Then we helped set up a few things for a ward party later in the week, and then visited a less-active member and a brother and sister who are recent converts to the church. So it was a full, busy day! It's always awesome to have a completely full day, and they don't happen that often so we really appreciate them when they do.

There's this future investigator in our area, Encarni, who's the sister of a member, and hermana Matsu and I tried passing by her like 20 times I'm pretty sure, and then hermana Moncayo and I have tried 20 more. Every time she's either not there, or her husband tells us she's busy, or she tells us she's just heading out to do something or just started dinner, lo que sea. Why didn't you just leave the poor woman in peace? you may ask. Well she never technically told us she wasn't interested, and she was always really friendly, so we figured that if we were persistent enough she would finally give in! And she did! We had a really good first lesson with her, it turns out she really IS just a really busy person, but she said she will read a little in the Book of Mormon and pray about it, and hopefully will be able to find time this week so we can visit her again. 

On Thursday night we had English class. I don't know what I was expecting when I thought about missionaries teaching English classes, but it definitely wasn't the English class in el Puerto. Our class has a few people who have pretty advanced English. One week we talked about watching over the environment and they learned words like recycling and pesticides (!!). And then, there are the Manuels. They're these 2 old men who are both named Manuel and do not speak ANY english. This week we taught them the months of the year (I told them the months are hard, they didn't want to listen). They looked at the words January and February and pronounced them very badly, so then I pronounced them, then said them about 4 more times, and then they kind of started to get the pronunciation, but they decided the only way to pronounce these months is to talk like a drunk person. So just picture two old Spanish men pretending to be drunk and repeating over and over January and February with a very thick Spanish accent, and that's a pretty good summary of our English class.

On Friday we knocked some doors and then went to eat Mediodia with this family named the Rodríguez family. They were so funny and gave us this really good meal that's something from Honduras but was basically just tortillas and chicken and guacamole and beans. It was soooo good! On Friday night was the ward Valentines day party. It was fun, lots of people wore red and pink and we ate a lot of tortilla de patata.

On Sunday morning we got transfer calls, not much happening there--we knew we were both going to stay because Hermana Moncayo is in the middle of her training, so we're going to be together at least until the beginning of April. This is really good, because Hermana Moncayo is the best! Hermana Bockova in our district is leaving, which we're sad about. Jazmín was going to come to church, but in the end couldn't make it. We are hoping she will be able to come next Sunday!

This week in the Book of Mormon I have been reading in Alma. Alma is one of the prophets in the Book of Mormon, and at the beginning of his story he was kind of messing around, making bad choices as a teenager or young adult. But then he ended up turning his life around and becoming an AWESOME missionary and teacher. One thing that he teaches us is that we should "humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear." I like this verse because really when we pray to God and ask him for help, we can be sure that we won't be tempted more than we can bear, that we won't be given any trial that's too big for us to handle. Sometimes life's trials really ARE too big for us alone, but when we ask God for help, He will always give us the support and relief that we need.

Today we bought so much fruit at Mercadona. We love fruit.

Love, hermana Walker