Transfer 6 week 1

December 1, 2010

Dear Family,

So the big news: I have been transferred from Barrio 9 to Barrio 3. That means that I moved my stuff upstairs with Hermana Bell and Hermana Smith stayed downstairs (not much of a move ;) My address is still the same:

C\ Las Tintas 17, 3ºB
Madrid 28025
Spain

The pictures: The first one is with some girls from Barrio 9. Laura, the one hugging me teaches seminary and came with us on a lot of visits over the summer. Sheyla is next to her. She has become a good friend and it has been amazing to watch her spirit and strength grow. Gabby is on the far left. She is the one that showed me how easy it is to deep fry...which I learned was a mistake when the first thing I deep fried was my hand.

The second picture is of me and Hermana Bell. She is great...very happy and very excited to work and see miracles. There is a lot of adjusting to do in a new area but it feels like I am starting fresh again. It was a little sad to leave behind some of the people that I have been with so long. The nice thing is that we still attend the same chapel so if there is ever a baptism in Barrio 9 we will get to bring someone. The other nice thing is that I still live with Hermana Smith ;)

I still don´t know many of the investigators in this area but I am excited to meet them. We actually met Veronica the other day who is working very hard on her papers so that she can get married and baptized. The cool part about that was that Hermana Smith and I contacted her a long time ago and gave her address to the other sisters...it shows how important contacting is even if we don´t personally end up teaching the person. Veronica said she watched us contact another couple on a bench and hoped we would come talk to her. We knew that she had been watching us so we almost passed her by because it feels a little awkward talking to someone who just watched you talk to someone else (I know that is silly...I´m getting over it.)

I hope Mikayla got my letter. I have also had a letter sitting on my desk for Grandma C for a long time.

Yesterday I read in 1Nephi 3: 15 -16 about how determined Nephi was to do the will of the Lord. It reminded me of the council President Monson gave in a recent(ish) Priesthood session of conference. 1.Find out the will of the Lord, 2.Make a plan, 3.Do it. I feel like it is a great time to make goals and find out exactly what the Lord wants from me now as I start in a new area. Something I have learned though is that we shouldn´t wait for a big external change like that before we re-evaluate and decide to change. It just takes a little more effort if there isn´t that external change. Nephi did make a plan...he and his brothers gave away all the riches they had left...their whole life´s savings...and that plan failed. (Don´t feel bad when your first plans fail...) I bet that they felt that they had given everything they could give but Nephi went back and truly gave the last effort and that is when the Lord stepped in and gave him what was required. The Lord probably could have given the plates to Laman in the first place, but miracles happen after faith and obedience. Besides that, we wouldn´t have this inspiring and instructional story at the most-read part of the Book of Mormon...the beginning. Side thought: When we are passing through something really difficult, maybe that trial will become a story for the people we love in the future to learn from, just as Nephi´s hard life has become an honored and loved example for us.

I love you all so much. I am so glad to be on a mission. Shalese you are going to learn and grow so much it is crazy.
Love, Hermana Moulton