April 6, 2011
Dear Shalesie, (And to the Family)
I only got one letter out this week and I migth only get one out the next week as well because something big happened! I moved out of our apartment because I got transfered to Leganes. I am with Hermana Benitez who is awesome. I´ve written a letter all about her that I will send this week. She was in the CCM at the same time as Mikayla. Pretty cool. I am really enjoying her, she is really a great missionary and I am constantly speaking Spanish now..and it isn´t hard. I love it.
Mom sent me that letter that Josh sent to you. It pumped me up. Things have changed a lot at home I can tell. We all love you a ton. Un montón!
Hey, it is pretty cool that your mission president will be Pres. Hinkley´s son. I have heard that the missionary work is on fire over there.
I see your dream of talking about the mission all together in Spanish!! That is so awesome!! Until then, enjoy! All the hard stuff and all the fun stuff...It goes by way too fast.
Thanks for your email. I´m so glad you sound like you are enjoying the MTC! Keep on enjoying, meanwhile I´ll keep telling everyone I know that my sister is in the MTC. I´m pretty sure my last district heard about it at least five times. That´s ok. Now that I have been transferred my new district is super excited to hear about you ;) <- That is a winky face.
I love you a ton!!!!
Love Shayla
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Transfer 8, week6
March 30, 2011
Hi parents.
I sent individual emails to everyone this week. I hope you got the email from shalese. If you get other emails from her you should forward them to me so I know what is going on with her etc. It sounds like she is doing a little better this week. Letters are always..always welcome and helpful in the MTC
As for me, I am doing great!! This week has been awesome. We have spent more time eating with members and hearing their amazing stories. We are also teaching a woman that is reading and praying everyday. Each day there is more closeness and more light in her eyes. Her name is Katya and she is from Peru. She asks good questions. hard questions that I have had myself...which is great because it means that she really cares. Mostly this week has been awesome because of the Spirit I have been feeling. I know fasting is important and works. Alma 5: 45-46. One wonderful member from Armenia told us about the light he sees in our eyes...he says that we have to fight for that after the mission...the adversary will be working double time as we lose the protection of the mission so we have to turn immediately to prayer, reading the scriptures, and fasting.
Did you know that there are 10 million Armenians in the world? 3million live in Armenia and 1 million live in Los Angeles....so where are the other 6 million?
I love you a lot. We are so blessed.
Love Shayla
Hi parents.
I sent individual emails to everyone this week. I hope you got the email from shalese. If you get other emails from her you should forward them to me so I know what is going on with her etc. It sounds like she is doing a little better this week. Letters are always..always welcome and helpful in the MTC
As for me, I am doing great!! This week has been awesome. We have spent more time eating with members and hearing their amazing stories. We are also teaching a woman that is reading and praying everyday. Each day there is more closeness and more light in her eyes. Her name is Katya and she is from Peru. She asks good questions. hard questions that I have had myself...which is great because it means that she really cares. Mostly this week has been awesome because of the Spirit I have been feeling. I know fasting is important and works. Alma 5: 45-46. One wonderful member from Armenia told us about the light he sees in our eyes...he says that we have to fight for that after the mission...the adversary will be working double time as we lose the protection of the mission so we have to turn immediately to prayer, reading the scriptures, and fasting.
Did you know that there are 10 million Armenians in the world? 3million live in Armenia and 1 million live in Los Angeles....so where are the other 6 million?
I love you a lot. We are so blessed.
Love Shayla
Transfer 8, week5
March 23, 2011
Dear Family at home:
So I just forwarded Shalese´s email to Mom and Dad...It looks like it has been a rough first week. Lots of letters, lots of love, lots of prayers and we can all fast together this Sunday before General Conference. The MTC was way fun but also super stressful. The best lessons are the hardest ones because they really stick. They really carve us down and change us. the result is a happier and more powerful us. I read D&C 35:9 today. Shalese needs a miracle and miracles are possible by faith prayer and fasting. (I think I asked you to read a story in Mark 12 about that but I looked again and I think it is Mark 9)
I hope you are all doing great. I loved seeing the pictures of Jake and Josh going out to the dance. That is pretty fun.
It was really great to see Jim out here. Tell hope thanks for the home knitted dish cloths. They are almost too nice to use! I definitely want to go out and visit them later.
I hope all is well with you. Dad, I hope you can be guided in you work decisions. It seems like you usually have been though.
We just got back from the mission home where we relaxed and talked and ate. It was pretty fun. That is a very stark contrast to what is going on in other parts of the world. I am so glad Mathew Robertson was safe. It means a lot that the Lord has a plan of happiness for us. As I talked with another missionary I realized how much peace and understanding the gospel has brought to her after losing someone close to her. The gospel is amazing and there is so much to learn. I am so grateful to be on a mission right now. I know Shalese will be forever grateful as well. Please pray for us all to have more faith...faith to find and faith in the Lord´s plan.
I love you all. Thanks for the letter Mom.
Love Shayla.
Dear Family at home:
So I just forwarded Shalese´s email to Mom and Dad...It looks like it has been a rough first week. Lots of letters, lots of love, lots of prayers and we can all fast together this Sunday before General Conference. The MTC was way fun but also super stressful. The best lessons are the hardest ones because they really stick. They really carve us down and change us. the result is a happier and more powerful us. I read D&C 35:9 today. Shalese needs a miracle and miracles are possible by faith prayer and fasting. (I think I asked you to read a story in Mark 12 about that but I looked again and I think it is Mark 9)
I hope you are all doing great. I loved seeing the pictures of Jake and Josh going out to the dance. That is pretty fun.
It was really great to see Jim out here. Tell hope thanks for the home knitted dish cloths. They are almost too nice to use! I definitely want to go out and visit them later.
I hope all is well with you. Dad, I hope you can be guided in you work decisions. It seems like you usually have been though.
We just got back from the mission home where we relaxed and talked and ate. It was pretty fun. That is a very stark contrast to what is going on in other parts of the world. I am so glad Mathew Robertson was safe. It means a lot that the Lord has a plan of happiness for us. As I talked with another missionary I realized how much peace and understanding the gospel has brought to her after losing someone close to her. The gospel is amazing and there is so much to learn. I am so grateful to be on a mission right now. I know Shalese will be forever grateful as well. Please pray for us all to have more faith...faith to find and faith in the Lord´s plan.
I love you all. Thanks for the letter Mom.
Love Shayla.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Transfer 8, week4
March 16, 2011
Hi Family,
It is pretty crazy that Shalese is, or will be very shortly, in the MTC!!! I loved the MTC a lot. I felt like we had no time, but really it was the easiest part of the mission...we just had to get used to it.
I hope we will get to see Jim Laingen!!! That would be so cool!
Someone asked me how my parents were taking having two kids out on the mission now...How are you? I just figure it will be a double party when we get back. Time is a funny thing...it moves slowly when things are rough and too fast when things are going great. Hey, if everything goes so well in the eternities, I guess they will fly by ;) Today I would say time is flying by ;)
We we´re going to go to Segovia today but we missed the bus...bummer...so we have compensated by getting treats at the bakery that we are in love with on the corner near our house.
Thanks for sending the pictures of Cyle´s wedding. I liked the one where they just came out of the Temple and Cyle still has this look on his face like he is in the middle of telling a joke.
I have a feeling there might be changes at the end of this transfer and Hermana Smith might not live with us anymore...that is pretty strange cause we have lived together for a year. I don´t think I have ever lived in once place for so long at a time since high school. That is funny because I thought that people had to move all the time on the mission.
We are teaching a woman named Katya and we taught her at the university where she studies. She seems very open and prepared. She has started the Book of Mormon from the introduction and has prayed about it. She is really sweet. We hope things can work out for her to get to church. A lot of our investigators and recent converts have been facing opposition in coming to the chaple (Grant says using the word chapel instead of church is very common in Spainglish - neat) ..whether it is work or family, it has been difficult. Now they are changing the church schedule and Carolina might not be able to come. I have a lot of faith that things will work out though. In Mark 12 (I think) Jesus heals a child that His disciples couldn´t heal and He said that it is by prayer and fasting that miracles happen. If the Lord can work miracles, He can help people get to church!
Well, I love you all.
Hope Josh and Sharah had Happy Birthdays!!
Love Shayla
Hi Family,
It is pretty crazy that Shalese is, or will be very shortly, in the MTC!!! I loved the MTC a lot. I felt like we had no time, but really it was the easiest part of the mission...we just had to get used to it.
I hope we will get to see Jim Laingen!!! That would be so cool!
Someone asked me how my parents were taking having two kids out on the mission now...How are you? I just figure it will be a double party when we get back. Time is a funny thing...it moves slowly when things are rough and too fast when things are going great. Hey, if everything goes so well in the eternities, I guess they will fly by ;) Today I would say time is flying by ;)
We we´re going to go to Segovia today but we missed the bus...bummer...so we have compensated by getting treats at the bakery that we are in love with on the corner near our house.
Thanks for sending the pictures of Cyle´s wedding. I liked the one where they just came out of the Temple and Cyle still has this look on his face like he is in the middle of telling a joke.
I have a feeling there might be changes at the end of this transfer and Hermana Smith might not live with us anymore...that is pretty strange cause we have lived together for a year. I don´t think I have ever lived in once place for so long at a time since high school. That is funny because I thought that people had to move all the time on the mission.
We are teaching a woman named Katya and we taught her at the university where she studies. She seems very open and prepared. She has started the Book of Mormon from the introduction and has prayed about it. She is really sweet. We hope things can work out for her to get to church. A lot of our investigators and recent converts have been facing opposition in coming to the chaple (Grant says using the word chapel instead of church is very common in Spainglish - neat) ..whether it is work or family, it has been difficult. Now they are changing the church schedule and Carolina might not be able to come. I have a lot of faith that things will work out though. In Mark 12 (I think) Jesus heals a child that His disciples couldn´t heal and He said that it is by prayer and fasting that miracles happen. If the Lord can work miracles, He can help people get to church!
Well, I love you all.
Hope Josh and Sharah had Happy Birthdays!!
Love Shayla
Transfer 8, week3
March 9, 2011
Dear Family!!!
Yeah!!! Cyle´s getting married!!!! Dear Karin, thanks for the update on your girls. "I can see two moms!" Haha. I can´t wait to meet Charlotte!! Thanks for the email.
I am super excited...we had interviews with the president yesterday and I learned that we have a new plan to work much more closely with members. I guess they must have had problems with missionaries spending way too much time with members just before I got into the mission because early on Hna Smith and I understood that we we supposed to visit almost entirely investigators and we felt guilty to accept even a dinner invitation from members. That means that often, instead of thinking of visiting a member who we can help inspire to help with the work, we stuck to contacting in the metro, meeting people that may or may not be home when we pass by their homes. We´ve seen miracles from contacting for sure...but I am so excited to start making short visits to every member of the ward. References we receive from them have an automatic support system and the member can be a lot more involved from the beginning. There have been a lot of times lately that I have been walking around in the metro thinking, "There´s got to be a better way...how can we get to be friends with the members without visiting them?" Truth be told, Preach my Gospel would definitely support the new plan and we should have gone with it all along. I am also happy that Shalese will be in Barcelona...where we got the family mission plan calendars that we have started to use...so she will learn this system from the start.
Moral of the story: Every missionary has different ideas and different success stories and things that work for them...sometimes these suggestions compete. I, being a person that takes things literally thought I had to be obedient to every suggestion...which is difficult because plans always change and suggestions adapt every other month. My advice to myself and to Shalese would be....just try to implement what Preach My Gospel teaches. You can think outside the box and learn from the experiences of others...but never feel guilty for not doing exactly the same things. Pray about it, follow the Spirit, use your head. It would be bad to spend hours in the house of a member and lose focus, but we feel comfortable asking for help from the members that we know well...and we should do what it takes to get to know them and gain their trust. The new plan is to make short spirit filled visits to get the members on our team and to inspire them with faith to think of people they can share the Gospel with. I feel like I am saying obvious things that every missionary should know but it finally got into my heart and head. Hna Bell and I are super excited to plan for this week!
-hope that all made sense.
Okay out of time, Hope you all know you are great and I love you.
Love Shayla
P.S. One of the best things that happened this week was the letter I got from Sharah saying "and I made Davis Frenched toast cause he was at our house... And I am going on a mission." Loved the thought process and loved the goal. I have the best siblings ever!
Dear Family!!!
Yeah!!! Cyle´s getting married!!!! Dear Karin, thanks for the update on your girls. "I can see two moms!" Haha. I can´t wait to meet Charlotte!! Thanks for the email.
I am super excited...we had interviews with the president yesterday and I learned that we have a new plan to work much more closely with members. I guess they must have had problems with missionaries spending way too much time with members just before I got into the mission because early on Hna Smith and I understood that we we supposed to visit almost entirely investigators and we felt guilty to accept even a dinner invitation from members. That means that often, instead of thinking of visiting a member who we can help inspire to help with the work, we stuck to contacting in the metro, meeting people that may or may not be home when we pass by their homes. We´ve seen miracles from contacting for sure...but I am so excited to start making short visits to every member of the ward. References we receive from them have an automatic support system and the member can be a lot more involved from the beginning. There have been a lot of times lately that I have been walking around in the metro thinking, "There´s got to be a better way...how can we get to be friends with the members without visiting them?" Truth be told, Preach my Gospel would definitely support the new plan and we should have gone with it all along. I am also happy that Shalese will be in Barcelona...where we got the family mission plan calendars that we have started to use...so she will learn this system from the start.
Moral of the story: Every missionary has different ideas and different success stories and things that work for them...sometimes these suggestions compete. I, being a person that takes things literally thought I had to be obedient to every suggestion...which is difficult because plans always change and suggestions adapt every other month. My advice to myself and to Shalese would be....just try to implement what Preach My Gospel teaches. You can think outside the box and learn from the experiences of others...but never feel guilty for not doing exactly the same things. Pray about it, follow the Spirit, use your head. It would be bad to spend hours in the house of a member and lose focus, but we feel comfortable asking for help from the members that we know well...and we should do what it takes to get to know them and gain their trust. The new plan is to make short spirit filled visits to get the members on our team and to inspire them with faith to think of people they can share the Gospel with. I feel like I am saying obvious things that every missionary should know but it finally got into my heart and head. Hna Bell and I are super excited to plan for this week!
-hope that all made sense.
Okay out of time, Hope you all know you are great and I love you.
Love Shayla
P.S. One of the best things that happened this week was the letter I got from Sharah saying "and I made Davis Frenched toast cause he was at our house... And I am going on a mission." Loved the thought process and loved the goal. I have the best siblings ever!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Transfer 8, week 2
March 2, 2011
Dear Family,
Just finished an intercambio...which means I spent the last two days with Hermana McMurray. She is an awesome missionary with a very cool history. She is the youngest of eleven children. She lived in Tonga for a year, one month and one day because her dad was a mission president there ;) She served a mini mission there and learned a lot of the language...or at least enough to share her testimony, and then she learned more when she came back. She said it really helped her get into the hearts of the people because they speak English too and she could have settled.
I got a lot of great ideas from her and I learned a lot about what I should be studying. I just finished the intercambio feeling pumped to help our investigators. I have a lot of ideas to write down and sort through now. I am excited. It was funny how obvious some of the things that I learned were....like the fact that people really need to understand the Apostasy!! If they don´t understand that then it is impossible to understand why a Restoration was necessary. I also want to focus more on helping people understand and listen for the Spirit in the very first lesson. The cool thing about Hermana Bell, my normal companion, is that she is always looking for things we can do better and she isn´t afraid to change, so it will be really fun to practice these new ideas with her. Other cool thing about Hermana Bell: She doesn´t worry so much. She has fun and she is teaching me not to stress out so much. YES!!!
Back to what I learned from Hermana McMurray...I just think it is funny too think that I have been on the mission for a year now and I am still learning the simple things....I have a lot to learn and do!!!
Today we went to a park in Torrejón where they have replicas of many important monuments in Europe. It was very cool and it was nice to be with a bunch of people. At the end one elder took out a guitar and another took out a violin and played some hymns and we sang...we were all freezing by that point but it was my favorite part.
Dad, speaking of the violin you should definitely trade if Uncle Roy needs it. It want to save up and get a new one when I get home....just save the shoulder rest. This past week I took advantage of the violin we had in our apartment for a short time and I brought it to a couple of lessons. I love to play!!!
I should probably get off. I hope everything is well with you. Good luck with the eye surgery. I don´t think Mojo would make a very good seeing-eye-dog ;) I think I emailed Jacob to have fun on the Klondike...but it sounds like it is already over...I hope the boys are even more manly now.
I love you all. Thanks for being a wonderful family and for teaching me the gospel!!!
Love Shayla.
Oh yeah, one more thing...during the intercombio, we talked to a man and sat down on a bench to teach him for about ten minutes. He had good questions and a lot of interest. We are going to meet with him in a week. It was such a good lesson and such a miracle to me. I really hope it works out with him. It is funny how all the plans seemed to fall through when I was with a sister unfamiliar to the area, but we had a lot of unexpected teaching moments come up which is even cooler. ;)
Dear Family,
Just finished an intercambio...which means I spent the last two days with Hermana McMurray. She is an awesome missionary with a very cool history. She is the youngest of eleven children. She lived in Tonga for a year, one month and one day because her dad was a mission president there ;) She served a mini mission there and learned a lot of the language...or at least enough to share her testimony, and then she learned more when she came back. She said it really helped her get into the hearts of the people because they speak English too and she could have settled.
I got a lot of great ideas from her and I learned a lot about what I should be studying. I just finished the intercambio feeling pumped to help our investigators. I have a lot of ideas to write down and sort through now. I am excited. It was funny how obvious some of the things that I learned were....like the fact that people really need to understand the Apostasy!! If they don´t understand that then it is impossible to understand why a Restoration was necessary. I also want to focus more on helping people understand and listen for the Spirit in the very first lesson. The cool thing about Hermana Bell, my normal companion, is that she is always looking for things we can do better and she isn´t afraid to change, so it will be really fun to practice these new ideas with her. Other cool thing about Hermana Bell: She doesn´t worry so much. She has fun and she is teaching me not to stress out so much. YES!!!
Back to what I learned from Hermana McMurray...I just think it is funny too think that I have been on the mission for a year now and I am still learning the simple things....I have a lot to learn and do!!!
Today we went to a park in Torrejón where they have replicas of many important monuments in Europe. It was very cool and it was nice to be with a bunch of people. At the end one elder took out a guitar and another took out a violin and played some hymns and we sang...we were all freezing by that point but it was my favorite part.
Dad, speaking of the violin you should definitely trade if Uncle Roy needs it. It want to save up and get a new one when I get home....just save the shoulder rest. This past week I took advantage of the violin we had in our apartment for a short time and I brought it to a couple of lessons. I love to play!!!
I should probably get off. I hope everything is well with you. Good luck with the eye surgery. I don´t think Mojo would make a very good seeing-eye-dog ;) I think I emailed Jacob to have fun on the Klondike...but it sounds like it is already over...I hope the boys are even more manly now.
I love you all. Thanks for being a wonderful family and for teaching me the gospel!!!
Love Shayla.
Oh yeah, one more thing...during the intercombio, we talked to a man and sat down on a bench to teach him for about ten minutes. He had good questions and a lot of interest. We are going to meet with him in a week. It was such a good lesson and such a miracle to me. I really hope it works out with him. It is funny how all the plans seemed to fall through when I was with a sister unfamiliar to the area, but we had a lot of unexpected teaching moments come up which is even cooler. ;)
Transfer 8, week 1
February 23, 2011
Dear Family,
I´m glad you all made it through the farewell talk etc. That sounds way fun to have all the family over. I bet it will be a crazy big party when Cyle gets married!?!
Shalese I can´t believe it you enter the MTC so soon!!!! I´ll probably say that every week until you are there. At the MTC you only have 30min to email on p-days...so tell Mom and Dad not to worry about it if you don´t write much the first few weeks.
The mission is the best. For me it just gets better and better and easier all the time. Not because the nature of the task has changed... It is cool to see my own progress and my companion´s progress with Spanish and with teaching styles. The hardest thing to learn is how to ask good questions.
Miracle of the week: We had a ward mission activity so all the youth and young adults could get excited to go missions. We were going to visit a few investigators or less active members. I left the church with Jenifer, 19 yrs old, super smart, baptized in December, with an amazing testimony. For the twenty minutes we had on the way to see the investigator we had made an appointment with, she shared her testimony and insights and changes she has had in the process of her conversion. I love her!!!!! The investigator wasn´t there...so we went to another appointment early. That lady wasn´t home either...I felt bad it hadn´t exactly been the missionary experience we were hoping for. I suggested we contact some people in the metro on the way back to the church. Before we got to the metro, we stopped a woman and I said we had a message to share (it was a little bit awkward since I normally contact people with my companion.) Jenifer said..."um, are you going home? Can we talk to you for a few minutes?" The woman, Eli, said yes and we walked home with her. She told us how she´s been living with her boyfriend in Madrid for three years and it has been miserable for her. I think she has been in Spain for four years total...I don´t remember the details. She said she really needed someone to talk to and she liked the scripture we shared from the Book of Mormon about charity. She said she used to attend a church all the time in Bolivia but she hasn´t here and she has been looking for one to attend. Jenifer offered to pick her up the next day for church. The next day Eli came with Jenifer and she loved church. I gave her a Book of Mormon there and she has read a little since. We will see her tomorrow when we teach her in the home of a member that lives near her.
Jenifer and I got back to the activity pretty late, but it was definitely worth it. I think the leaders of the activity felt pretty good about it, especially the next day when they met Eli at church.
We are also working with a 20 yr old girl named Maida. She came to our English class the week after we got serious about publicizing english classes in our contacts. We have had two lessons with her with Carolina (who was baptized a week ago today.) Carolina took her to Noche de Hogar in the Stake center on Monday and she must have enjoyed it because she agreed to come to another ward noche de hogar tonight. She is from Ecuador and loves to read. She is hesitant about baptism and said she even told her best friend from another evangical church that she wouldn´t. I feel really good about her. We think Jenifer will also help a lot with her. I love that we keep meeting girls about our age to share the gospel with and they embrace it and love it and share it. We hope to have a great network of young adults teaching young adults before we leave. I am amazed at how easy it is to love all of them. Shalese, you are going to feel this too!!!
We have a new elder in our district who hadn´t learned any Spanish before the MTC...kinda like Dad ;) I am excited to see his progress with the language...it is a miracle! He is a good elder so I´m sure he´ll learn fast. Our former district leader finally left the ward after almost a year here. He was another great one and the ward will miss him, He is about 6ft 3 and blond. He went to Mostoles for his last transfer. Does that sound familiar Dad? Now Elder Stock is our district leader...he came into the CCM about three weeks after me so I met him early on.
Life is pretty great. Talking to people on the streets and in the metro gets more fun all the time...sure you have your occasional rudie but those guys just make life more interesting and a tiny bit funny. The best thing is when people really surprise you. Like the other day when we talked to a guy...maybe 20?...Dominicano, who actually had a ton of opinions or religion. We had a ten minute conversation until his friend passed by. We invited them both to a young single adults FHE tonight...hope they will come. So many people say they haven´t really thought about religion that it kind of takes me off guard when they start expounding on what the have learned. I think Internet and clothes and material comforts and other entertainment have separated a lot of people from their human frailty and we forget that we are dependent on Heavenly Father. hmm..
Well, like I said, life is great. Keep praying that we find people, and that we know what to do once we have!
I love you all so much!!! Dad good luck with the eye surgery. What is this about Mexico? Shalese, keep being awesome. Jake...run like the wind. Josh, derby it up. Sharah, I can´t wait to practice cutting your hair (I got my hair cut today)...hope you´ll let me. Mojo, keep being a dog. Mom, didn´t mean to put you last, you are the best one here. Love you allllllll!!!!!!
Love Hermana Moulton (1)
Dear Family,
I´m glad you all made it through the farewell talk etc. That sounds way fun to have all the family over. I bet it will be a crazy big party when Cyle gets married!?!
Shalese I can´t believe it you enter the MTC so soon!!!! I´ll probably say that every week until you are there. At the MTC you only have 30min to email on p-days...so tell Mom and Dad not to worry about it if you don´t write much the first few weeks.
The mission is the best. For me it just gets better and better and easier all the time. Not because the nature of the task has changed... It is cool to see my own progress and my companion´s progress with Spanish and with teaching styles. The hardest thing to learn is how to ask good questions.
Miracle of the week: We had a ward mission activity so all the youth and young adults could get excited to go missions. We were going to visit a few investigators or less active members. I left the church with Jenifer, 19 yrs old, super smart, baptized in December, with an amazing testimony. For the twenty minutes we had on the way to see the investigator we had made an appointment with, she shared her testimony and insights and changes she has had in the process of her conversion. I love her!!!!! The investigator wasn´t there...so we went to another appointment early. That lady wasn´t home either...I felt bad it hadn´t exactly been the missionary experience we were hoping for. I suggested we contact some people in the metro on the way back to the church. Before we got to the metro, we stopped a woman and I said we had a message to share (it was a little bit awkward since I normally contact people with my companion.) Jenifer said..."um, are you going home? Can we talk to you for a few minutes?" The woman, Eli, said yes and we walked home with her. She told us how she´s been living with her boyfriend in Madrid for three years and it has been miserable for her. I think she has been in Spain for four years total...I don´t remember the details. She said she really needed someone to talk to and she liked the scripture we shared from the Book of Mormon about charity. She said she used to attend a church all the time in Bolivia but she hasn´t here and she has been looking for one to attend. Jenifer offered to pick her up the next day for church. The next day Eli came with Jenifer and she loved church. I gave her a Book of Mormon there and she has read a little since. We will see her tomorrow when we teach her in the home of a member that lives near her.
Jenifer and I got back to the activity pretty late, but it was definitely worth it. I think the leaders of the activity felt pretty good about it, especially the next day when they met Eli at church.
We are also working with a 20 yr old girl named Maida. She came to our English class the week after we got serious about publicizing english classes in our contacts. We have had two lessons with her with Carolina (who was baptized a week ago today.) Carolina took her to Noche de Hogar in the Stake center on Monday and she must have enjoyed it because she agreed to come to another ward noche de hogar tonight. She is from Ecuador and loves to read. She is hesitant about baptism and said she even told her best friend from another evangical church that she wouldn´t. I feel really good about her. We think Jenifer will also help a lot with her. I love that we keep meeting girls about our age to share the gospel with and they embrace it and love it and share it. We hope to have a great network of young adults teaching young adults before we leave. I am amazed at how easy it is to love all of them. Shalese, you are going to feel this too!!!
We have a new elder in our district who hadn´t learned any Spanish before the MTC...kinda like Dad ;) I am excited to see his progress with the language...it is a miracle! He is a good elder so I´m sure he´ll learn fast. Our former district leader finally left the ward after almost a year here. He was another great one and the ward will miss him, He is about 6ft 3 and blond. He went to Mostoles for his last transfer. Does that sound familiar Dad? Now Elder Stock is our district leader...he came into the CCM about three weeks after me so I met him early on.
Life is pretty great. Talking to people on the streets and in the metro gets more fun all the time...sure you have your occasional rudie but those guys just make life more interesting and a tiny bit funny. The best thing is when people really surprise you. Like the other day when we talked to a guy...maybe 20?...Dominicano, who actually had a ton of opinions or religion. We had a ten minute conversation until his friend passed by. We invited them both to a young single adults FHE tonight...hope they will come. So many people say they haven´t really thought about religion that it kind of takes me off guard when they start expounding on what the have learned. I think Internet and clothes and material comforts and other entertainment have separated a lot of people from their human frailty and we forget that we are dependent on Heavenly Father. hmm..
Well, like I said, life is great. Keep praying that we find people, and that we know what to do once we have!
I love you all so much!!! Dad good luck with the eye surgery. What is this about Mexico? Shalese, keep being awesome. Jake...run like the wind. Josh, derby it up. Sharah, I can´t wait to practice cutting your hair (I got my hair cut today)...hope you´ll let me. Mojo, keep being a dog. Mom, didn´t mean to put you last, you are the best one here. Love you allllllll!!!!!!
Love Hermana Moulton (1)
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