Barcelona Mission: (Hospitalet) Week-01 2012

I now have been transferred to L'Hospitalet, which is located southwest of Barcelona!

Something interesting is that I was in Sabadell 2nd Ward, Zaragoza 2nd Branch, and now I am in Hospitalet 2nd Ward!

And something historical just happened here in the Spain Barcelona Mission!  Earlier today, the Hospitalet Stake was divided and the Lleida Stake was created, which will be the eleventh Stake in Spain. Our Mission now has five Stakes of Zion.  Every square meter of our Mission is now included either in the Barcelona, Hospitalet, Lleida, Valencia, Vitoria Stakes, or the Baleares District.  It is exciting to see the church growing dramatically in the Spain Barcelona Mission. Thanks to the Missionaries of El Faro, having faith, obedience, and diligence, that made this growth a reality. After nine years of devoted service, Luis Rodriguez was released as Hospitalet Stake President and his former counselor, Fernan Silvestre, was sustained as the new Hospitalet Stake President. The units in the Hospitalet Stake now include; Cornellá, Hospitalet 1, Hospitalet 2, Martorell, Tarragona, and Vilafranca(which is a Ward now!)  Jose Luis Hernandez is the first Stake President of the Lleida Stake. The units of the Lleida Stake are; Andorra, Lleida, Sabadell 1, Sabadell 2, Terrassa, Zaragoza 1, and Zaragoza 2. And now Zaragoza 1 is a Ward!  We've reached our goal of 600 baptisms in 2012, also!!

Here in Hospitalet there are two Hermanas in the Ward and two Elders, which are our Zone Leaders; and one just happens to be Elder Tirado. ...haha.  He will be in my District my whole time here in Spain! (except during the 5 weeks I served in Sabadell)

He is the one I mentioned a while ago that will be the Weber State University Mascot in Utah after his Mission. (lucky, he has a full scholarship).

Anyway, here I am in Hospitalet.  I was here before with Hermana Reeder when she had to get her fingerprints done back in September. Then, I met some of the members and they remember me!  The Hermanas just got a new piso here which is great! (The old one was terrible.)  So I am serving right here close to Barcelona!  I will be taking the Metro everywhere; no more bus riding which will be really different and will be doing a lot of walking.  The weather here is better than in Zaragoza, it's not as cold and doesn't have the crazy wind.  I am not too far away from the Mission home and the Mission office, which is exciting because I will be able to see the Paces more.

My new address is:

Rambla Badal 28-30   8,3   esc A

08014 Barcelona, Spain

or you can still send things to the Mission office and I will get them a lot quicker because I am so close now!

calle calatrava 10-12 bajos

08017 Barcelona, Spain

My new companion is Hermana Marissa Walker from Las Vegas, Nevada. She and her companion Hermana Cozzolino were from Pamplona and stayed with us for 2 ½ weeks during the festival and running of the bulls there. (also Hermana Walker served in Zaragoza last year for a few months). So, now we're companions here in Hospitalet. She has been with Hermana Stephenson (my first comp. in Zaragoza!)  So I took Hermana Stephenson´s place. Anyway, Hermana Walker is going home this transfer! I am "killing" another missionary! It will be interesting; I was hoping that I wouldn´t have to send home another one again; and I am almost positive that I will "die" here (stay here until the end of my mission-until March). But, it will be good, hard again but good. There is a reason for everything and the Lord knows where I need to be.

In my piso also are Hermana Farrell and Hermana Mancera and I will tell you more about them in the future.

It was a fast and interesting transfer. The next one will be in five weeks because they don´t want to do transfers on Christmas day and the one after will be seven weeks. So Hermana Walker´s parents are coming to get her on the 17th and they will tour around the Mission, including Zaragoza. It will be interesting to see what our short time together will be like!

This last week was one of the best weeks of my Mission. It was amazing. Hermana Jorgensen has helped change my life for the better and it was inspiration for us to have been together. I have learned so much from her. She knows so much about the gospel and she has such a strong testimony. I will miss her so much.

Dulce is really amazing and her baptism was so great!  She has a lot of faith and is progressing well in the church. Everyone was sad that she couldn´t come to the conference yesterday because she had other things going on.

The relationships with the Zaragoza members were so great and they were so good to us by feeding us and helping us when they could. It was a miracle the way everything worked out and I know Hermana Jorgensen and Hermana Cruz will do really well there keeping the momentum going. I will miss it a lot-my heart is there in Zaragoza-but I am looking forward to working in my new area with my new companion.

One thing that really helped our relationships with the members was when we all took the bus up to Cornella for Stake conference and to hear the announcement of the new Stake in Lleida. We had amazing conversations with them and really got to know them better. It took four hours to get there and four hours back!  A long time to be in a bus, but it was wonderful!

Also, we had the opportunity to visit many members´ homes so I could say good bye. This really helped Hermana Jorgensen get to know people better and she was able to set up future citas with some of them so they could get to know Hermana Cruz. The future will be great in Zaragoza and I am happy to see it progressing.  It was an incredible experience that has changed my life.

This is a little part from my email to Hermana Reeder (who actually ran into Sister Jarman (Tori) when she was traveling.  I had told her about Tori and she took a picture with her and sent it to me J)

Please pray for Pres and Sis Wolfart.  Pres Wolfart is in the hospital and the doctors still don´t know what he has L it’s been a month and he can't walk very well and is losing feeling in his feet and hands!)
Before I left Zaragoza, I made a journal and had everyone write in it. It is beautiful and thick!  I can’t wait to show it to you and describe all these people and what they mean to me in my life and how they have helped me become the person I am today. I will have to translate the letters for you. L

Also, I got a lot of gifts!  People are so sweet.  Even though they don´t have a lot of money they are so caring and have so much love and give so much. I got scarves, a beanie, a bracelet, earrings, purses, etc.  But most important to me are pictures with them and their letters in my journal.

It was a bitter sweet experience saying bye.  It was hard.

I love you. I will talk to you soon.

Love, Laura

Laura with Zaragoza Branch Pres. Gomez and his wife Resa

Arriving in Barcelona at train station with new companion Hna. Walker, old companion Zaragoza Hna Stephensen & Zone Leaders

Barcelona Mission: (Zaragoza) Week-28 2012

This is my last week in Zaragoza! I am so sad! BUT so many good things happened last week and so many great things will happen this week.  It has been an unforgettable experience. Zaragoza and these people will always hold a special place in my heart. I am excited for you to meet them next year and to see this wonderful city. I have learned a lot here and have grown up a lot...that is for sure.

Thank you so much for emailing me! I loved your emails-Mom, Dad, and Uncle Bruce. I appreciate them and your support and love.

Sorry for the multiple emails sending all of the pictures. I want to make sure I can get a picture with everyone!! And we have a lot of meal appointments this week as I say good-bye to these wonderful people.

On Tuesday we had a referral from our great Branch mission leader, Sergio. We went into the piso where they had their own sewing company/business. We were a little hesitant because we were hoping that they weren´t thinking that we were there for the business. It was so interesting. They were making nice coats. But, it turned out to be a success. We talked to the man Carlos and found out that his brother is a Bishop in Venezuela!

We also visited with our recent converts, Happy, Kate, and Maria. They are all amazing. Their faith is strong despite the trials that they go through in their lives and somehow they always have smiles on their faces. They are good examples to me.

On Wednesday, we missed our train in the morning and then we almost missed the second train going to Lleida! Ha...But we made it and we did the long walk with the Elders to the church building. We had a great Zone training meeting which got us pumped up, (Elder Tirado dressed up like a stripling warrior).  The Spirit was strong and we really felt that this is really the second harvest and that we as a mission can baptize 600 people this year (right now we are at 409).

Later, we had a meeting with Sergio and planned for Dulce´s baptism on Saturday. Then we went to Nicole and Rubens, where we ate and watched them play on the wii just a dance game to Halloween songs. It was fun. I LOVE THAT FAMILY so much!

On Thursday we visited with Dulce in the morning...she´s so great and so prepared. Who do you meet that does not smoke, drink alcohol, coffee or tea?! NO ONE! It´s amazing. Then we went to visit Lorena and Paco. They are amazing. Paco is the Young Men´s president in the Branch and is in the military and works on tanks. His wife, Lorena is originally from Argentina. Their families are both converts to the church. Paco served his mission here a few years ago when Pres. Wadell (from San Diego) was Mission President. And Paco´s Zone leader was Carlos Augustin (the second counselor in our Branch presidency!). Anyway, they are a bit less active.  We had a wonderful meal together and shared with them that there is a reason why they have trials and that they can get through them with the help of the Savior. We invited them to church. They are always so thankful for our visits and tell us that they really feel a strong spirit when we visit them. Just wish they were more active in church.

When we left Hermana Jorgensen and I were talking about how as Sister missionaries, we have different roles then the Elders and sometimes don´t realize the power and the influence we have on people. It´s amazing to bring a little light to others and help them in whatever way we can. It is a special opportunity and a blessing we have and I love it and really appreciate it.

While we were waiting for the bus to go back into town, I recognized this Chinese man who was on the bus earlier so I decided to talk to him. He doesn´t speak much Spanish...does NOT speak English...but I was able to say the few phrases that I knew in Chinese. He has a wife and a seventeen year old son. His face lit up when I started saying the few Chinese phrases that I know. I wish I knew more and that I would have learned more of the language while attending the Chinese Branch for so long. L  I showed him a picture of my family. He smiled and was very nice. When he got off the bus he smiled and said good-bye.

That night we went to the Church´s house and then to the Chacon´s house to eat and then to the Halloween party the other Branch had.

Friday I got a phone call from Hermana Rejon, my trainer in Sabadell. She told me that there was a tragic accident there with some of the people we had been working with. Three died in a house fire, and the son is in the hospital, his legs burnt and the Step Dad just got out of the hospital. SO SAD. I loved that family so much. It was hard to hear that news. I will explain more details later...no time.

Then we went to the Young Adult activity to help translate for the Church's. They did an amazing presentation about how our life is 90% of what happens to us and 10% of how we choose to deal with it. We can have success if we try to make the best out of our situations in life.  What a blessing it is to be in the presence of Elder and Hermana Church. They are amazing examples of people who have really been successful in all aspects of their lives.

Saturday was Dulce´s baptism, she was so happy and it was incredible! I think I played the piano the best I have ever done so far on my mission!  All of these amazing people showed up to support her and it was my last baptism in Zaragoza so I was hoping it would be the best. Hermana Jorgensen, Elders Spencer and Oliveira and I all sang acapella the song "Lord I Would Follow Thee". It was so good and the spirit was so strong. J

Sunday was the best Sunday I have ever had on my mission. A less active family that I have been working with during my whole time here in Zaragoza came to church! It was a miracle! Also, Javier bore his testimony and shared about his bus experience about when he prayed that a Sister missionary would sit next to him and then I did. It was incredible. It brought tears to our eyes. So many people bore their testimonies that there was actually a line! That never happens. AND we went overtime, which never happens!  Lots of children bore their testimonies, which never happens. A lot of people talked about perseverance and how the Lord answers prayers. They were amazing. I bore my testimony about how the Lord is our light in the wilderness and even during hard times the light can be there for us.  There were a lot of investigators that showed up. The most amount of people I have ever seen attend church! It was a miracle!! I love being here.

Oh, I just want to tell you all the details of EVERYTHING. But I don´t have time. And I need to take more time to write in my journal to record all of these amazing experiences.

Thanks for being there and supporting me.

Love, Laura

Dulce Monteiro baptism & her daughter

Javier - Larua's contact on a bus in Zaragoza

Printing with artist of Laura's favorite street in Zaragoza - Calle Alfonso

Relief Society President Beatrice & Niece

Young Men's President Paco with wife Lorena

Barcelona Mission: (Zaragoza) Week-27 2012

I like the Marvin Goldstein CD and thank you for all the tissues and NyQuil/DayQuil you sent. It was much needed because now I am sick! I think it´s the sudden change of weather and probably being so busy and eating too much sugar. Ever since Hermana Jorgenson came I have been eating more and exercising less. L  I am determined to change that and get back into the swing of things. I have been in bed resting lately and I can´t breathe out of my nose and I kind of have a sore throat.  J

Exciting about the new people serving missions!  I am so glad that I am on a mission. I really cannot imagine my life without it and where I would be right now or who I would be without my mission. It´s been an incredible experience and I am so grateful for it!

Thanks for sending Tori´s letter. I have to write her back! I feel bad that I haven´t written her.

This week was a great one and I love being with Hermana Jorgensen, she is incredible and such a good example for me. She is a great missionary and the best companion a Sister missionary could ask for. I feel so blessed to be with her.

Kate, our recent convert, is amazing!  We asked her if we could teach some of the ten friends that came to her baptism. She has talked to them and they want to watch her first to see how she acts as a Mormon. If she doesn´t start smoking again and then maybe they will all get baptized!  Kate says that she is determined to be a good example to them. We even went over some things that she can say to them if they ask certain questions. We also taught her how to pray in Spanish so she can pray in church. The next visit we had with her this week she said the opening prayer in Spanish to start the lesson and did a great job!  We are trying to teach her son, Kevin, but he is just so busy. Kate barely sees him. He´s only 14 and speaks Spanish, not English so it is an interesting situation. We are trying to figure out how we can help them as a family. We have been made her visiting teachers along with Hermana Church-an assignment from our Relief Society President.

Maria, our other recent convert, loves Young Women’s. She received her Personal Progress book and loves doing the assignments! She hasn´t started doing them yet on her own though because she loves doing it with us. She loves meeting with us and looks forward to getting out of the home to be with us. We have been trying to meet with her mother but she is always too busy. When we finally do see her, she loves having us in her home and loves our lessons.

Bright and Elvis our other two recent converts are doing well and are staying strong in the gospel for the most part. Bright was able to say a prayer in Spanish. He and Elvis have a desire to get the priesthood so hopefully that will happen soon.  Elder Church is the Gospel Principles teacher for English speakers and all the Africans LOVE  him and are always excited to attend his class.

Happy and Pius are "hanging in there".  Sunday Happy showed up at church with her baby Joann in a stroller. She came by bus and we were so excited to see her and she was SO happy to be there.  We need to continue helping this family. Hermana Church, my companion, and I have also been made Happy´s visiting teachers.

Engracia, another recent convert, is doing so well!! I have really learned the importance of members in the lessons and becoming friends with the investigators, through Engracia´s experience. As soon as we brought the member, Rose Maria, to a lesson, Engracia was golden and she wanted to be baptized. She understood everything and even now a few months later, she will sit next to Rosa Maria every Sunday at church. What's incredible is that she even got a temple recommend to go to the temple with the Branch on Saturday, but in the end couldn´t go because she couldn´t get work off.  She was so sad and was heartbroken. She told us, "Only God knows." She also mentioned that it probably wasn´t her time and that she needed to prepare herself more. She is an amazing example of faith to me.

Dulce is our fecha for this last weekend, is getting baptized next Saturday!  She is SO prepared and was a referral from a member, named Gloria. Dulce is a single mother who wants to be a better mother.  She obeys the Word of Wisdom completely. She loves church and is such a good example to her sister and nephew that live with her.  She is from Cabo Verde, Africa and speaks Portuguese and Spanish. She lived in Portugal for a while and now has been living in Spain here for a while. She has a 4 year old daughter named Ari who is so cute. Dulce is 30 years old and is gorgeous. It has been so neat teaching her. What a blessing.

And that same member named Gloria, invited her other friend, Monica to church. We have been trying to get a hold of Monica for the past month! She was a referral a while ago from the Elders. It was amazing to see her just walk into church and to see that she knew Gloria and Dulce! It was incredible and such a miracle!!!! We immediately set up a cita with her so that we can start teaching her again and her cute family. We are so grateful for Gloria and her amazing missionary efforts.

A little miracle I had was a phone call last night. The first 4 or 5 months I have been here in Zaragoza, we've have struggled a little with trying to connect with the Relief Society President, Beatrice. She is an amazing woman with a strong testimony. Beatrice did the surprise goodbye/happy birthday party for Hermana Reeder, which was a great thing. After Hermana Reeder left, Beatrice has been a bit warmer to us. Yesterday I was feeling a little sick at church. Beatrice called me last night to see how I was feeling.  During the conversation I asked her when we could visit her at her house. (Sister Missionaries have never been invited to her house). She told me that she lived far away in a pueblo. I told her that we would be able to get there. She was surprised and said she would let us know. Even if we don't make it, at least it's progress.

Another miracle was with the less active Young Men´s President Paco and his wife Lorena who we have been trying to visit the whole 7 months I have been here!  We finally went and listened to them talk about their wedding and showed us pictures. They told us their conversion stories and their families´ conversion stories. Then we shared with them a DVD called, "Reflections of Christ" which has a slideshow of pictures portraying Jesus Christ´s visit to the Americas. It was beautiful and we talked about it afterwards. We told them that they are not alone and we bore testimony of the Atonement. The Spirit was so strong. Hermana Jorgensen thanked them for having the Spirit with them in their home. We left their house reflecting with one another the amazing power that we have as missionaries. Sometimes, we don´t realize the power and influence we have on people.  We carry the Spirit with us and have power from our callings and have the wonderful opportunity to help influence lives for the better. No more than 15 minutes later we got a sweet text message from Lorena thanking us and inviting us to eat lunch with them this week. It was wonderful.

Miracles are happening every day!! I LOVE ZARAGOZA. It is a beautiful and exciting area. The work here is thriving and we see the hands of the Lord daily. It is AMAZING. Zaragoza has really changed me and influenced me to become the missionary that I am.

Today for preparation day, we made burritos for the Elders at the church and some no bake cookies.  We also played soccer outside!!! SO FUN!

Wednesday is Halloween! I can´t believe it and am excited to hear all about what you will do with Bryanna and Jasmine! We are going to Lleida again for another specialized training. We have been traveling there so much lately! Then that night we are going to Nicole and Ruben´s house to spend Halloween night there. I am so excited and LOVE Nicole and Ruben. They are from Chile and are in the other Branch. We told them that we would decorate Halloween cookies and they are inviting the Elders over too so it will be fun.

Time is flying by so fast. I can´t believe it.

MOM!! Did I tell you that Charles Abuou, the BYU Basketball player moved to Huesca, which is in my area? He is playing for the professional basketball team there. We are trying to get a hold of him because he contacted the office wanting to know where the church building was. EXCITING RIGHT? I want to get a picture with him... haha.

Also, some BIG news...the Zaragoza Branches are going to be a part of a Stake!! They are forming a Stake and we are all going to Cornella on November 11th to find out the details. And I think the Elders´ Branch will be made into a Ward. Our Branch will stay as a Branch because we need more priesthood holder tithe payers...but it is super exciting! The only sad thing is that I think when we go on the 10th to Barcelona...that I will stay there and spend the night at one of the Hermana´s pisos, then go to the Stake Conference on the 11th...and then stay with the Hermanas until transfers on the 13th when I get transferred to my new area. I don´t want to leave Zaragoza so soon!! I wish I could come back after the Conference and have a least a couple more days here...but I don´t think the church would do that...it would save them money to have me stay in Barcelona the whole time instead of coming back for a day or two and then go back...I don´t know. We will see what happens.

I love you all and I love being a missionary. I love every second of everyday and am enjoying it while I can. IT IS WONDERFUL. J

Thank you for your support and love.

Love,  Laura

P.S. This is our new mission blog:      spainbarcelonamission.blogspot.com
Oh, and a member painted me a picture of one of my favorite streets in Zaragoza. It is beautiful and I am very pleased with it. I paid her 50 euros and am excited to show it to you. I want to take a picture of the painting with me and the member in it (of her giving it to me).  Hopefully I can send the picture to you next Monday.

Laura and Hna. Jorgensen sitting in front of Maria's house

Trampoline fun

Zaragoza street

Aljaferia Castle in Barcelona

Barcelona Mission: (Zaragoza) Week-26 2012

Hi, First of all I apologize that I didn´t email yesterday, I just ran out of time!

I am doing well and it's been cold here. The weather is very extreme. HOT and then COLD there is like no middle. And it poured down rain on Saturday. I went through those two pairs of boots that I was wearing in Salt Lake City and they both got water inside, so I finally had to throw them away...And I found some new ones and bought them yesterday. I think they will last me the last 5 months of the mission.

Hermana Jorgensen, my new companion is amazing and I love being with her.

We had interviews with the President in Lleida on Friday. The Churchs drove us there, once again. I love them so much and will miss them SO much. I will be sad to leave Zaragoza, when the time comes. Like I've said, it's an amazing place.

Maria and Kate got baptized and it was beautiful!! They were so nervous and excited at the same time. Kate brought like 10 women-all her friends to support her. It was so exciting. As she got out of the water...she looked overjoyed as she walked up the stairs out of the baptismal font. With a huge smile, she said "I DID IT!" "I MADE IT!"

Kate is really special. She went from smoking 10 cigarettes a day to only 3 to none! When we first met with her she didn´t know that there was a way for her to stop smoking. She told us, "If you know of a way, let me know!" She didn´t think it was possible. She is originally from Nigeria, Africa and has been living here for 10 years or so. Kevin, her son, is 14 years old and only speaks Spanish so it is a bit difficult for them to communicate (and we have been trying to meet with him too!).  She said, "Whenever you people come over I am happy and I feel relieved like weights are lifted from my shoulders." We explained to her the purpose of the Spirit. When we asked her if she wanted to still get baptized and quit smoking in such a short time she said, "I have always wanted to be baptized. This is my chance and I will not miss it." When we asked her how she felt she said, "I feel this happiness like I cannot stop smiling and when I read in the Book of Mormon I am happy. My friends ask me why I am so happy and I tell them I do not know. Why is this happening to me?" We explained the power of the Book of Mormon. SHE IS AMAZING.

In my talk on Sunday I shared Kate's story. We invited her to stop smoking and introduced her to the stop smoking program of the church. I felt impressed to give her the Jesus Christ pass along cards and invited her to put them in places to help remind her of her decision to be baptized. I didn´t know if she would do it...A couple days later we returned and she had a picture of Jesus Christ hanging in every room in her house. It was beautiful! I told them that Jesus Christ´s atonement is for everyone. I said that I knew many of them are converts to the church and all of us have our own challenges that we go through. Then I shared the story that President Gordon B Hinckley shared in the "Preach My Gospel" book about a letter he received from a recent convert woman. She explained how hard it was to be a new convert because you are entering into a new way of life, a new world and how she NEEDED the help of the members. After reading this story in my talk, the story was mentioned later in every class we attended and was mentioned in our Branch council. I hope people will take it to heart and extend their friendship to the new members of the Branch: like Kate. J

So that is Kate. Maria, who is 14 years old, lives with her mom and little sister (who has a LOT of energy!) Her mom is from Nigeria, Africa and Maria was born in Madrid. She is very smart, motivated and optimistic. I look up to her a lot. She helps take care of her family and called to meet with us! She heard about us through a neighbor who was a contacted referral from a recent convert. We started meeting with her but her mom is very busy...we only met with her once. She was on date for the 3rd of November but has never gone to church (not even for Maria´s confirmation, which is surprising because her mom was very proud of Maria´s decision to be baptized. So we often met with Maria outside in a plaza. She learns quickly and is very attentive. She is incredible and a very good positive influence on her little 4 year old sister. Maria was nervous to get baptized but in the end it worked out just perfect. She came out of the water so happy that she was shaking a little. It was a beautiful baptism and she looked beautiful. We are so excited to have another active young woman in the Branch! That makes 2!  We just really need to work with her mom so that they will be able to come to church as a family, which seems to be Maria´s desire as well.

We are putting our faith and confidence to the test and trying to talk to more Spaniards! Now that we have this week to calm down, after the baptisms last weekend, we will focus more on contacting! We know that we can do it with the help of the Lord.

Thank you for your support. LOVE YOU!

Love, Laura

Shopping Mall Zaragoza

Kate & Maria's Baptism

Laura happy to receive her "care package" from home

Laura on the streets of Zaragoza

Barcelona Mission: (Zaragoza) Week-25 2012

This week we have had a lot of success with referrals that people have been giving us.

We have two amazing fechas that are working hard on getting baptized this weekend. Kate is trying to quit smoking, but has faith and is working hard on being able to be baptized. Maria is this amazing 14 year old who loves Young Womens! It was a busy yet great week teaching these two. They are both from Nigeria, and are friends. We are trying to get Kate´s 12 year old son involved and Maria´s mom involved but they just seem to be too busy to have time for us. Families are important so we will keep trying!

We saw many miracles this week and a great one was when our recent converts Pius and Happy showed up at church on their own! They got off on the wrong stop and then they walked for 2 hours but they finally made it soaking wet from the rain. Financially they are still struggling. AND THEN!!! The Wolfarts are amazing. After church Hermana Wolfart invited Happy over to their house. This was so nice because not many members make efforts with our recent converts. Happy was SO excited to go to their house and I was so happy for her. We rode the bus home together and I talked to Pius and Happy about the bus system and how to get to church and back to their house. They said they will remember now and hopefully we'll see them come more.

This week was also very crazy because of the Festivals at Pilar. There were a lot of people and especially teenagers everywhere, which made the streets so packed. I have so many stories to tell you. I have been keeping up pretty well in my journal writing about as much as I can so in the future I can let you in on all the details.

The festival was beautiful. It made proselyting hard because everyone was Catholic and we tried not to contact because we wanted to be respectful. I took a lot of pictures of the huge Virgin Mary statue and all the many beautiful flowers around and pictures of random people in their traditional Spanish clothing. There were religious ceremonies and singing going on and there were performances all around downtown...including this amazing break dance team. I got a lot of videos of them.

That was our week, walking A LOT because the buses were PACKED with people and couldn´t fit us in. Overall, I have really seen the protective hand of the Lord in my life. I am so blessed to be a missionary and to have this protection. I am so blessed to be here and it´s been an amazing year on my mission so far. I have loved every second of it. Thank you for your support and your prayers. I love you all.

Love, Laura

Festivals at Pilar

 

Barcelona Mission: (Zaragoza) Week-24 2012

Hi.
Last week was a LONG week. We went to Barcelona to drop Hermana Reeder off.  We got there Monday morning stayed in the office all morning (got picked up from the train station which was nice so we didn´t have to take the metro to the office), and Hermana Reeder went through her suitcases eliminating and organizing. We went to the Hermanas piso in Barcelona and ate lunch there and took short naps. Hermana Reeder got pretty sick. She kind of had a fever. We then left and went to that locutorio.  Tuesday we went back to the office so she could get medicine from Hermana Pace where we stayed there for a little while.  We later stopped by Burger King and went to Las Ramblas and back to that great food market. I got a jamon bocadillo and fruit and candy and a smoothie-it was so good. Then we went back to the office and then to Singing with the Angels. It was so neat to be out there and to be with all those missionaries. We stood in a big half circle and we sang some hymns. Members came from the nearby cities to say good bye to the four missionaries that were departing. It was fun to see all the sisters and some of the Elders that I know. Then we went to the Hermanas piso in Barcelona but a different Hermanas´ piso this time and there were 9 of us Hermanas staying there that night!! It was wild. I opted to sleep on a thin mattress on the floor. I had said good bye to Hermana Reeder at Singing with the Angels and she spent the night in the mission home Tuesday night and left early Wednesday morning to go back home.  It was hard saying good bye but I knew I would see her again and that it was her time to go. I loved being her companion but I am also way excited to be with Hermana Jorgensen.

Wednesday morning, Hermana Jorgensen and I woke up and took the train back to Zaragoza. It was so nice to be back!! We dropped our stuff off, unpacked a little bit and then we went to district meeting. I love district meetings with Elder Tirado as our district leader-he is amazing and so spiritual and humble. I also LOVE having the Churchs in our district they are really special people and I feel blessed for the opportunity I have to get to know them and be in their presence. Elder Tirado is still training Elder Farah and then Elder Spencer went to Barcelona and picked up a fresh new missionary originally from Brazil but grew up in Malaga, Spain so he speaks perfect Spanish-Elder Oliveira. He is a nice kid.

Then Hermana Jorgensen and I went about running some errands.  We had to buy her a bus pass and figure some other things out.  We still have to get her empadronized in Zaragoza.  We went grocery shopping because we had no food!

Thursday was Hermana Jorgensen´s birthday! The morning was kind of dull. I snuck into our room and made her a card and blew up some happy birthday balloons. She didn´t get any mail because her family didn´t know her new address in time.  She has a lot of birthday packages awaiting her in the office. For lunch we went to the Churchs house. It was so nice to be with them. Hermana Church is the best cook ever. Then we met the elders at our favorite frozen yogurt place: Smooey.  Then we had a few citas and to end the night before we went to Esther and Helen´s house; some of my favorite people and they made Hermana Jorgensen some cake!!  It was so sweet of them. So overall her birthday was pretty good.

Some good memories from the week:
Lost my voice! But I wasn´t sick and didn´t have a sore throat at all. I couldn´t talk from Wednesday until Saturday! Weird! And I was so tired. It is hard sending a companion home. Poor Hermana Jorgensen is my rebound companion. She´s perfect. She has energy to keep me up and going. She is optimistic and she gives great advice and she´s a hard worker. I LOVE HER and I know we will have success together this transfer and I know she is the perfect missionary to keep this area up and going successfully. She is amazing. I am so blessed to be with her.

Bright in his closing prayer after a lesson:
"You know God? I was just walking and I saw my sisters sitting and teaching so I joined with them, and now I am nourished by the good word and I can help others come to you and you´re just full of surprises, God!"  Bright is known in my mind for his amazing prayers. What simplicity. It´s an amazing example to me of the kind of close relationship I want to have with Heavenly Father in my prayers.  Bright tells Him anything and everything.

And Bright got help from the branch president! He now has a place to live and food from the church. He is doing well. And he LOVED Jeffrey R Holland´s talk in the Sunday morning session. When Elder Holland asked the final time: "Do YOU love ME?" Bright almost shouted yes! Haha. I thought he would stand up and shout Hallelujah, start singing the chorus or something hahah. But it was incredible. The whole time he was shaking his head and he even started crying hard. He has an amazing testimony and is such a strong person I really look up to him.

Friday at Happy´s house:
Pius left them to travel to Madrid for the weekend.  He often does this and just leaves Happy and their two children at home. It´s hard for Happy, she often tells us that the children give her headaches. I don´t know how she does it by herself. She is very optimistic and strong, I really look up to her. Anyway, whenever we visit her one of us takes care of the kids, while the other one teaches and then we switch. Well, I forgot to tell Hermana Jorgensen that and so I took care of the kids the whole time to give Happy a break. I was trying to distract and occupy Joseph... hardest task ever, and I had inspiration just to whisper in his ears the three most important words I have learned to say in my life: "I love you."  I whispered it very clearly so he could understand me (he doesn´t speak yet even though he is two years old.  I think he is struggling with the Spanish/English thing). Also, it might be a part of physical and verbal abuse as well, as well as malnutrition.  ANYWAY, I whispered "I love you" and his face lit up. He got the biggest smile on his face. THE BIGGEST SMILE. It was beautiful. It was a miracle. He calmed down. He focused. He pretended to whisper in my ear back.  I kept whispering the same thing over and over in his ear. It was amazing; a moment I will never forget in my life.

Friday at Engracia´s house:
"I only have an hour and a half of work every morning but it´s better than nothing. I may not have food and I may have hard days of hunger but prayer is my alimiento." (alimentation?..I don´t know the word in English... nourishment?). Her faith is incredible. She is incredible!!! I love her SO much.

Saturday was CONFERENCE!!!! J.  We saw the Relief Society session and I had a crying moment. There were three African women in the English room with us and they are all recently baptized. They are the Elders´ recent converts. They don´t know a ton yet but they are so faithful. We stood up and sang “I stand all Amazed” and they were singing horribly at the top of their lungs, but they were proud and praising their Lord and God. Tears came strolling down my face. They are amazing examples. They have probably been through so much. Their culture and life is SO different from mine yet we are sisters in the gospel.  We are daughters of a loving Heavenly Father. He knows us individually and He sent His Son to die for us. Christ died for me and for these amazing women as well. After the song I gave them a tight hug and thanked them for their singing. I even complimented this one woman named Beauty because she was wearing a gorgeous traditional African outfit. She was shocked when I told her she looked pretty. She secretly behind my back told her friend that the American girl said she looked pretty. And then she got out her camera and had the woman take a picture of her. Compliments can go a long way-who knew? It was an incredible moment. After the session I took a picture with all three of those women. And they told the elders before they left: "We saw angels today for the first time" (they were talking about the young adults who sang at the RS Session who were all wearing white shirts). It was amazing.

Sunday at the church building for conference, Hermana Jorgensen, Hermana Church and I had the opportunity to re-watch the Relief Society session but with one of Elder Spencer´s fechas because she couldn´t come to any other session because of work. She is incredible. She LOVED the Relief Society session. She was so impressed with the organization of the church in general and that there was an organization for women. It made me proud and grateful to reflect on the special purpose that the Relief Society has. And she is excited to get baptized this weekend. And she gave us a referral for her friend who also wants to learn more.  Her friend lives in our area! So we get to teach her. J

Sunday between sessions we had a nice luncheon outside of the capilla with tables. Mostly people from the other branch were there but our Branch President and his wife were there. We have such a good relationship now!!! Things have changed completely. I am so blessed to have seen the miracles here in this beautiful area for the past 6 months. I love his wife and he was very kind to us. I love Hermana Jorgensen. She is very up to beat and a quick learner. Her Spanish has improved incredibly since the last time I saw her in the MTC. I am so impressed. She is amazing. I am so lucky to have her and so is Zaragoza.

After the luncheon we got on the bus and picked up our two investigators, Maria (14 year old born in Madrid, but her mom is from Nigeria. Maria speaks perfect Spanish and a little English and her mom speaks English and little Spanish-interesting and common situation among the people here). The other investigators´ name is Kate. She is also from Nigeria. She has three children: 1 here and 2 in Nigeria. All the Nigerians here know each other in some way or another. She is amazing. They both are. We picked them up and Bright and brought them to the church. The church is far and it takes two buses to get there, but they came and I showed them the way. We taught them a lesson in the baptismal font room before the Sunday morning session started and it was amazing. They both are going to be baptized on the 20th! And we need to get Maria´s mom involved and Kate´s son. I don´t remember how old he is. I think he´s eight hopefully. But anyway, they loved conference especially Kate. She loved Elder Holland´s talk. It was the first time that I have seen her face light up. It was neat! Maria stayed in the English room though I suggested she go to the Spanish room. But she chose to stay. She didn´t really say anything afterwards, but we are meeting with both of them this week to talk more about it all.

I loved conference! It was amazing and just what I needed. We couldn´t see the last session but apparently we are going to watch it tomorrow as a district in the church building. I wish more of our investigators, recent converts, and less-actives came because there were a lot of talks that I heard where I thought of some people, but I know that these men are men called from God to speak to us. They were inspired to tell us those things. We are so blessed for this opportunity to hear from them.

I love Zaragoza and I love my new companion. Things are going well and they will get even better. Thanks for your love, support, and encouragement.

Wednesday we are going to Lleida for more training with our Zone; without the Paces and the Churchs. I am excited to go with the elders and we are going to get the double barrel napolitanas again!! I am so excited.

Today for preparation day we are going to a bull fight! My very first one! So we will see how it goes. I am kind of nervous but mostly excited. I will let you know what it´s like.

Thanks for your prayers and advice. Keep continuing forward being true to the faith. J

Love, Laura

Singing Angels

Laura with her new companion Hermana Jorgensen on her birthday at the Church's

Laura with Hermana Jorgensen

Laura at bullfight in Zaragoza

 

Barcelona Mission: (Zaragoza) Week-23 2012

Hello family, 

This last week was fun in Zaragoza, which was Hermana Reeder’s last week before she had to go home to South Jordan, Utah.  Everyone wanted to say goodbye to her and celebrate her birthday with her. Many people surprised her with citas, etc. She had a wonderful week. She loved seeing all the people and doing all the things we did. (We did a lot!!) We are both exhausted. The surprise birthday party with the Relief Society went really well. She had no idea and she was so surprised and happy. She said it was the best birthday she has ever had in her life. She turned 25 years old! I made her a card that had a list of our memories and the dates that they occurred. Then I made a list of our inside jokes/songs/poems. Last, I wrote a list of the things that I learned from her and a thank you letter. It was like a 5 page long card.  And I gave Elder Tirado some money to buy her favorite candies. She loved it all and cried a lot. 

Saturday night we had a Missionary fireside with the two Branches. We had a question and answer session with Hermana Reeder and the members. She played the violin, also. Hermana Church and another member did a tap dance! Then the Elders prepared this very funny skit that I narrated. I have to find a video of it and there are a lot of pictures that I would like to send but this locutorio I am at (internet cafe type place) won´t read my SD card for some reason.  

Hermana Reeder said goodbye to everyone on Sunday. We had an extra good pancake dinner at the Church´s house, which reminded me of home and the U.S.  Then early this morning sweet Abel picked us up (on Thursday for Hermana Reeder´s birthday Abel and Maria Jesus-the ones who took us to the pueblo/castle and gave us cherries-he took us to a really fancy Italian restaurant).  Anyway, Abel took us to the train station so we could go to Barcelona and the Mission office Elders picked us up to take us to the office. There Hermana Reeder weighed her suitcases, had her exit interview with President Pace, and then we went up to the Mission home and she had a video interview. They always interview the leaving Missionaries and show it to the new Missionaries. It was so interesting watching all of that. Hermana Pace showed us around their home and then we left the office, took the metro, and went back to the Hermanas piso (the ones that live near the Sagrada Familia.) Hermana Reeder got kind of sick, too much excitement, probably!  

My new companion is my friend Hermana Jorgenson! I can´t believe we are companions now and it´s going to be great. She and I had a class together at BYU in the Elementary Education program. After we both got our Mission calls, we contacted each other on Facebook and helped each other with ideas on what to pack, and then entered the MTC together on October 12th. We both then got reassigned to the Salt Lake City Mission, because our Visa's hadn't come yet. I was in Rose Park the whole time while she got transferred all around the Mission (mostly in English speaking areas.)  We flew to Madrid together.  Then I went to Sabadell, my first area, and she went to Valencia, where she's been ever since.  I get to show her the area for the next 6 weeks and then I will most likely leave the area in the next transfer in November (I've been here in Zaragoza for 7 months!)  Anyway, I wanted to stay in Zaragoza for a bit longer to strengthen my relationships with the members. I know that the work is still booming and I am happy to be a part of it. There are a lot of amazing people that are potentials to be baptized. I am very hopeful and these next few weeks are going to be great. 

Elvis, our recent convert, is still looking for a job. He has great faith and knows that God will help him. He was able to earn some money by giving our sweet Ward Mission leader Sergio a haircut. 

Happy and Pius are still struggling. They don´t have things for their children...food, diapers...The Branch President is trying to help them. They also don´t have a way to get to church. Happy started walking and got lost on her way yesterday. She called me and gave up hope trying to find the way in her heels and holding her 6 month old baby. It was bad communication, I guess, so when we found a ride for her, she said it was too late. I felt so bad. It is a sad situation. 

Bright is still homeless. Sweet Sergio agreed to let him put all of his stuff in his piso. Sergio lives with other family members so there is no room for Bright to live with them. Bright always seems to come to church looking good and still is reading and studying the gospel. Luckily he has papers to work here. The economy is so bad and there are hardly any jobs available. Sergio is a saint and is just driving these people around, serving them...even though he doesn´t have a job either and his car is breaking down... 

Engracia is still doing well in church and fits right in. She is lucky to have a job to go to everyday, also! 

Overall, I am shocked by how much faith these people have! They are incredible! They always remind me that God knows how they feel and that He is aware. They are pretty optimistic and just keep moving forward living day to day. And they are very glad that they have been baptized. They can recognize the Holy Ghost in their lives. I have hope and faith that things will soon work out for them... 

Our District here in Zaragoza is amazing. We sure love our Elders and together as a District this week we had 9 baptisms!!! Our Zone exceeded our goal of 10 baptisms (we had 11 in the Lleida Zone). It´s incredible to see the miracles and be a part of them. But most of all to be instruments in the hands of the Lord. He is preparing people to come to accept the gospel and enter the waters of baptism. It was a blessing to help 4 people be baptized this last month. :) 

Tomorrow night Hermana Jorgensen and I are going to "Singing with the Angels"; it is a tradition that is done every 6 weeks for Missionaries who are at the end of their Mission. We gather in downtown Barcelona in Plaza Catalunya (close to that food market we went to last week). Members come to it to say goodbye to the departing Missionaries and we sing hymns. It will be my first time and I am so excited! I will tell you all about it later. Then we will be catching a train early Wednesday morning to go back to Zaragoza. 

This week is Hermana Jorgenson´s birthday!! So many birthdays! It is on Thursday and I saved some balloons from Hermana Reeder´s birthday and talked to a few members and set up a few visits that we can do...I hope she enjoys it. 

Always adventures here and I love it and am so grateful for the Paces and for the chance I have to be here in Spain. I feel I am progressing and growing a lot. I have for sure learned a lot and my eyes have really been opened to different situations that I never thought I would ever see. I have learned a lot about myself... what I struggle with, my weaknesses, and how to overcome them to become a better person.  I have a lot of work to do...a phrase in Spanish "poco a poco" little by little. I am grateful to be here. Thanks Dad and Mom for teaching me and raising me right. I love you so much and pray for you often. I hope you´re doing well. 

Love, Laura

Abel & Maria-Jesus took Laura & Hna Reeder out for last time

With the Diaz Family. Dad is 1st counselor in Branch Presidency

With Sergio - Branch Mission Leader

Surprise Birthday and Going Away Party for Hna. Reeder

Hna. Reeder's departure before returning home.

Light Show at Barcelona "La Sagrada Familia"