Sister Training Leader

January 26, 2015:

Wow! So I definitely did not think I would miss Alcalá, I mean I´m still in the same country for crying out loud! Not. True. Homesickness for Alcalá hit me like a ton of brinks on Tuesday. Don´t get me wrong, Alcorcón is gonna be great, but Alcalá is still my home. I wonder if that will ever change. I mean I´m sure I´ll love Alcorcón, but my ward, my area, my memories there were for a 1/3 of my mission. It's a long time! But I´m getting more used to Alcorcón and there is so much work here for us to do!

This week we spent a ton of time just trying to organize things. Missionaries aren't the cleanest so even though Hna Marsh had already done a ton, we´ve been deep cleaning this week. Our piso, the numbers in our phone (Hna Fowers I learned that from you!), and the next thing up is our area book! Oh yeah Alcorcón is a branch. There was about a total of 40 people at church yesterday so yep, a lot of work to do! :)  We also got a list from the president of the branch of all the members in the ward and there are at least 130 names on that list! It is gold! We are talking part member families, menos activos, and more! GOLD! So we've got our next project. Hna Marsh and Hna C. are already teaching a bunch of part member families, we've just got to make them realize that we're not just passing by to share a scripture, we're there to baptize them. Woo! Even though I´m super sad to leave Alcalá it is great to be in a new area and have so much to do. It´s like a breath of fresh air. A new area, a new companion, a new piso, a new me. Every transfer we have the chance to grow and to change everything....whew! Biggest opportunity ever!

Speaking of opportunities... I got a call Thursday and it´s President Jackson and he´s like "Well, I´d just like to officially ask you to be a Sister Training Leader, but I assume you already know." Uhhhh....what? Me: "Nope, uh actually I didn't know, but I mean, sure, what do I have to do exactly?" Yep, so apparently I get to go on a bunch of intercambios and show people this new area of Alcorcón that I don´t know....This is gonna be great! Hahaha! And we have the tour of the mission this month so I don´t even get to go to the mission home for leadership training. Apparently we're going to be meeting with an area 70 (Elder Dyches or something) in Pavones so we will speak with him as the "leaders of the mission". All I´m saying is I better get Hna Jackson´s food ;)  BRING ON THE DESSERT! Wooo! 

CPdE: Sooo we have an investigator......He took the Divinci Code too seriously and now well....this was our conversation basically:

Us: "The Church of Jesus Christ is restored!"

Him: "And in the painting of the last super the virgin María is sitting by Jesus and this is the lost religion!" *virgin María? 

Us: "Yep well.....We would like to testify that..."

Him: "And you can tell it is her cause it forms a V!" 

Well everybody has their own time and one day he´s gonna realize what he lacking, but for now. I don´t really think he´s ready to listen, if you know what I mean. 

Annnnd I love you all and I hope that everything is going great!

5 Questions:

1.  How are you liking your new area?

      I didn´t think leaving Alcalá would be that big of deal...wrong! I started tearing up in a lesson, one day I missed Alcalá so much. I like Alcorcón, don´t get me wrong, but it´s no Alcalá. It´s different and instead of a ward we have a branch, but there´s a lot of work to do and we've been working really hard this week to get everything organized and cleaned (especially our apartment!)

2.  Do you live with just your companion or are you with another set - like in Alcala?

     There is only one sister companionship in Alcalá so it´s just Hna Marsh and I in our almost clean piso!

3.  What is your apartment like?

     Dirty. Missionaries suck at cleaning. Seriously. That´s what we've done for all our medio dias this week when we didn't have comidas and that´s what we´re doing today, but.....we´re almost done!

4.  Where do you email from?

     We email from locotorios. You should google them. I´ll take a picture of them. Basically just a shack that has computers...super glamorous I know ;)

5.  What is your favorite part or chapter from Preach My Gospel?

     My favorite part of Preach My Gospel....hmmmm Chapter 3 Lesson 1 the point about the Apostasy. There´s a red box that says key points or remember this or something. Basically it talks about the apostasy. Whew! Maybe it´s just because that's what I was studying this morning, but really! You can´t have a testimony about the restoration of the gospel unless you have a testimony about the apostasy. Study it. It´s incredible how fully the gospel was lost from the earth, just to have a complete and utter restoration of it begin in 1820.  This is so cool!

A new companion and McKenna is forwarding her emails to me!  Yeah for awesome companions!  We love to hear about her mission from a different perspective!  Here are some excerpts:

Hola Mi Familia :)

First off, I absolutely adore my companion.  It has only been 1 week and I already feel like we are best friends.  We laugh all day long, but also feel the spirit constantly. That is the greatest thing as a missionary! We are both pretty new on the mission, so we still have that fire and desire to give it our all and it is the greatest. We are working really hard and I am excited to see the miracles this transfer.  She´s great! I am a loser and didn't take pictures this week of us together, but there will be some next week!

As for our investigators, we made some progress this week! I want to start off with "C".  He received the Holy Ghost and is officially a member of the church! There is no greater feeling you guys.  I love that 13 year old boy so much! He is going to be a great example for his brother.  We were teaching them this week and "R" and without us asking, he said that he wanted to be baptized this summer.  In a perfect world it would be sooner seeing as it is January, but we can work with that! I was worried that he was closed to the idea and he isn't! So that made me happy :) They are great.  I really love those two boys so much they make being a missionary fun.

We met with "P" this week for the first time and he is just great.  At the first of the lesson he kept talking about his desire to know more about the church and hey, that´s our job :) He was attentive during the whole lesson and gave the greatest prayer at the end. I wish I could've recorded it! He is so prepared I am excited to continue to teach him.  He wasn't able to come to church yesterday so that was a little sad, but we have an appointment this week to see him again.  

We had interviews with the Jacksons this week and I can´t say enough good things about them.  I feel so blessed to have them as mission presidents! 

xoxo, 

Hermana Marsh