November 12: We just got back from Soller the most beautiful place on earth! Well, not quite, but it was amazing. we went hiking on a cliff that over looked the medeteranian ocean. so yesterday we had an investigatior in church! !!! from spain. her name is puri and she is Mallorkeen, or that means she was born here. But i have to tell you what happened. all was going well... she was taking notes in sacrament meeting, we had her sitting by a member, she was enjoying everything. then, we went to sunday school and she was asking questinos and reading, and all that great stuff. then, came relief society. she was talking with everyone, and all that jazz and as soon as they wrote the hymn on the board she stood up and said ¨were singing agani? I´m leaving! and she just up and left! it´s cause she didn´t like the music and said it was classical. it tunred out to be a disaster! And i was playing the piano for the primary and the kids were going loco and it was so much chaos! Aye Aye Aye! Count your blessings that you belong to the ward that you do! I feel like we are running the entire ward some sundays. we had to play the piano in sacrament and lead the music cause nobody was there... it was a disaster! But all is well and all we could do is laugh and say that we did our best.
November 26: What a crazy week. so many things happened. so it was thanksgiving, eh? all the members wanted to celebrate with us since it is an american holiday. so we drove to the other side of the island (it only takes an hour) and we ate with a less active family. turkey, corn, potatoes... even a very warped pumpkin pie (they don´t have canned pumpkin here!) It was so great. I was so full after we ate. blah. and then just last night we had another thanksgiving feast wtih another family. they are
really great. they are the Queirolos and they are from chile and oh my goodness. i can´t even tell you how great the food was. they made me a special vegetable soup that was so great.
so you wanted to know what we do on pdays... we just catch up, buy groceries, laundry, roam the city, write our families, and EXPLORE! there are so many beautiful places here to explore. yikes! so little time. and our first transfers are on December 1. I am almost 100 percent positive that i will be here for at least 4 months or so. But my trainer will probably go, which will leave me to do all the work... ahhhh!!!! then i am going to start stressing out. We had a pan carta yesterday which is where we set up a display and talk with people. it was so cold i couldn´t hardly move my mouth. and trying to speak a different langauge when your mouth won´t move is VERY difficutl. haha. needless to say, we got 3 phone numbers and maybe God is preparing these people´s hearts. who knows? our days are full of appointments. with less active members, recent converts and investigators. we have 2 hours during 2-4 for language study and lunch... but sometimes we don´t even get that cause we are at a cita.
Oh, so yesterday, the primary had a program here. i had to play the piano and it was so funny. it reminded me of you cause there was just pure chaos once again. our rama is so great. the members here have to work so hard to fulfil their callings. there just aren´t enough of them.
We are preparing 9 year old Alvaro for baptism before the end of the year!! hIS mom is less active and want´s him to get baptised. he is so great.
December 4: AHHH!!! I am left alone on the ISLAND! yes. my companion did get transfered to MURCIA. I get my new companion tonight at 8 and so I get to hang out with the ELders all day and sheesh. I am so nervous. I have to navigate the entire island all by myself. I feel so overwhelmed, but very humble that Heavenly Father would trust me with this responsibility. My new companion is Hermana Sorenson and she has been out for over a year, so i hope that she knows how to work hard and to speak the langage.
December 10: So much to say, so little time. so yes, i have a new companion. i am
doing everything. making appointments, teaching the lessons and takling on the phone (which usually doesn´t happen until later on in the mish, like 4 transfers or so), so i am super busy. but the lord is blessing me with all sorts of abilities that i never even knew existed.
yesterday we had a 10 year old in church. her name is Angela. her mom was listening to the discussions, but doesn´t really want to but her daughter is so excited and she
wants to go to allt he activities and everything. she made a ton of friends at church. it was great. the lord has BIG plans for her! One of my most favorite moments in my mission happened last night when we were taking her home. she lives far from the church and so we were walking a little bit to the bus station and the bus was coming, but still had somewhere around 10 minutes and i was sitting at the bus station and we were playing a game where you slap hands and sing a song, like patty cakes, kind of and i just felt so much peace. it seems strange, but i realized that this is the mission. just loving people. i am here on my mission to love people. and that is what i am doing. it´s great.
alvaro has a baptizme date for the 22 of dec. he is the 9 year old boy that is the son of a menos activa, and his mom helena is coming back. they are both from spain. angela is from ecuador. that is the great thing about serving in spain. it´s like i am serving in south america also cause there are so many south americans here. i love it. so much culture. alvaro told me i was the most guapa (beautiful) missionary ever. haha. 9 year olds, eh?
December 17: Guess what? We went to Barcelona again this week. For 2 whole days. It was werid though cause we got there and we had to go out and do contacts in the area called Hospitalet and it was SO different than being on the island. It was so small and I felt really clausterphobic cause all there were were buildings and people and there was no ocean there was no space there was nowhere to walk. They told me that they don´t do a whole lot of walking in that area and that the area in which i am in right now does the most walking in the mission!
What´s going on here in Mallorca? It´s FREEZING!!!! Wow. I swear I have hypothermia half of the time. Sheesh. Who would have thought that it would get so cold in the middle of the med on an exotic island?
Also, guess what? My first baptism is this SATURDAY!!! Yes, it is going to happen. Alvaro, who is 9 is the son of a menos activo and we have been teaching him and reactivating his mom and his baptism is set for Saturday at 6. Wahoo. I am so excited.
THe conference was huge! So many people were there. And get this. THe president called on 4 people (out of 70 or 80) to bear their testimonies, and of course, i was the one hermana that was picked. YOu know how much I just LOVE to get up in front of people and talk... NOT!
It´s a funny thing cause I have lost myself, literally. I couldn´t even remember how my favorite song went the other day. But at the same time I am SO aware of who I am. I am a child of GOd. I have a purpose in life. I know that I made covenants with our Heavenly father before I came here to earth. And now I am here.
December 31: What's new? I FELL OUT OF BED THE OTHER DAY. MY COMPANION AND I LAUGHED FOR LIKE 10 MINTUES. SHE RAN INTO A GLASS WINDOW TRYING TO LOOK FOR A STREET CAUSE IT WAS CLEANED SO WELL, AND WHEN WE WERE DOOR KNOCKING IN THE ¨GHETTO¨ A LITTLE BOY ANSWERED THE DOOR AND INSTEAD OF ASKING HIM IF HIS PARENTS WERE HOME SHE SAID ¨ESTAMOS SUS PADRES¨ WHICH MEANS, WE´RE YOUR PARENTS. HE WAS LIKE ¨QUE¨ WHICH MEANS WHAT? AND IT WAS FUNNY. WHAT SHE MEANT TO SAY WAS ¨¿ESTAN SUS PADRES?¨ THOSE WERE THE FUNNY THINGS THAT HAPPENED.
ROB- I DREAMED THAT I BROKE MY FRONT TEETH SNOWBOARDING LAST NIGHT. MORE LIKE A NIGHTMARE. TEN CUIDADO Y RECUERDA QUE TE AMO UN MONTON! HART
January 7: so what happened this week? we had some strange contacts. we were in the ¨ghetto¨contacting (knocking doors) one morning and we knocked on this door and this old man without any teeth answered and started chanting things and saying things like ¨sexy nuns¨... it was super strange and i wanted to leave as soon as he answered the door. we walked away laughing and were super weirded out after that. everyone here thinks that we are nuns. am I a nun?
and i can´t believe that it´s already been over 4 months. feels like just yesterday i left you at the mtc, but at the same time, i can´t hardly remember being in the MTC at all. My memory is shot. i can remember bascially the things that happened to me since i woke up this morning, and everything else is just a blur!
January 15: Transfer day and guess where I am right now??? Yep. Still sitting in the same locutorio in MALLORCA!!!! I have another six weeks to enjoy the island. We are planning on going to Valldemossa next p-day and the cuevas de drach (google them, they are way rad). I´m happy that I am still here. I was freaking out in my head the night the transfers came cause I wasn´t ready to leave everyone here on the Island. I finally know everyone and basically have every street and piso memorized on the island! haha.
Debbi, who is from England is a member here in Palma and last night she invited us to her MANSION for dinner. whoa nelly. can i tell you that her house is like the ones that you see in movies that overlook the beach and are ginormous!
Oh mom. Being a missionary great. I love what i am doing. I mean here we are sharing the most amazing message with people, and even though people don´t want to listen, as long as i do my part, God will do his part.
January 21: Buenas Dias madre mia! can you believe that i will have been out for 5 months tomorrow? wow. time flies when you are studying the gospel in a different language! haha. it has been a great week. things are SO much better. whew. it sure is true that god answers prayers. i cant even tell you how many prayers i have had answered this week. so get this. yesterday we were in the chapel making calls to people yesterday and our movil (cell phone) rang. so i picked it up and said hola soy la hermana thomas. it was our branch president asking me if i would give a 12 mintue talk in about 2 hours in our sacrament meeting cause the speaker le falló (i don´t know how to translate that to inglish... oops!) so i had to run to piso and hurry and throw something together (scriptures, translation, theme... all that jazz) in like an hour. it was my first time speaking in sacrament meeting here aside from bearing my testimony the first sunday that i was here. it was funny cause before my mission something like that would have scared me out of my medios and i would have probably peed my pants. but actually i could have gone on forever cause i was talking about eternal families and i told them i was here on my mission all because of the things that my mom taught me. i used Alma 56 when the strippling warriors talk about their mothers and how they don´t doubt cause their mothers knew. i just wanted you to know that i love you! and i am greatful that you have the testimony that you have so that i could be here today. here in mallorca serving a wonderful mission!!!
it has been a crazy week. we have been teaching a lot of new people and there is one named maria fernanda who is from ecuador who i have a lot of hope for. she doesnn´t snoke or drink and that is rare here in spain! estrella has been reading the book of mormon all by herself and she has read over 200 pages now! she loves it and we are going to work with getting her to church now! she is this cute little española who is a social worker. she has a heart of gold and loves when we come over and talk to her.
January 28: Hola mom! I just cried this morning when i found out that president hinkley passed away. i was reading a talk from the ensign when elder christofferson called and hermana sorenson picked up the phone. he said i´m afraid we have bad news. president hinkley passed away. and then i couldn´t study and i was so happy at the same time cause he is walking down celestial lane with his cute little wife and they are so happy together! that is why i was happy. but its true. he is MY profeta! He was an amazing man and i am going to miss him.
so what did happen this week? we had another pan carta this sunday and i talked with some pretty weird people. one man from germany. he clapped for us when we sang. haha. some catholic priests were arguing with the elders. that was pretty funny.
last night we ate again wtih the queirolos. they are all going vegetarian! haha. hermana queirolo made lasagna with soy protein for me. i think they think that i am their daughter, cause they are always spoiling me. they are one of the strongest families that i have ever met. great people and they are from chile. we are also going to be eating with a family from the dominican republic this friday. she is making me this super rico tomato medeteranian type dish that i am so excited for.
February 4: we went to valldemossa today. absolutely amazing. wow. beautiful. google it.
we taught a lesson in pants! we went to do a service project and the member was sick so we just taught a lesson in pants. i felt so comfortable. i wonder if people would be more receptive if we wore pants all day long?
we had an awesome cita with this woman named irma. we were teaching the plan of salvation and we were talking about how our family members are waiting in the spirit world to recieve the gosple and how we will see them again and she started crying and said you mean i am going to see my sister again? it was so great. it´s moments like that that make the mission completely livable!
we were able to see preident hinkleys funeral via satelie. i cried. i will miss that man. wa´snt he great? for sure he was my prophet.
on sunday there was a baby blessing for a recent convert. her baby is almost a year old and it was amazing to see the elders and the branch president blessing that adorable little life. she is the little african baby. the spirit touched my heart and i wished that every baby in the world could recieve a blessing like that. esosa dressed her in a beautiful white dress and did her hair in little palm tree bunches.
February 11: so guess what? we had another investigator in church and she seems really good. her name is nadina and she is from argentina. it was really a miracle how we found her. okay, here is the story. once day about 2 weeks ago, we were early for an appointment, so we decided to knock a building to get some of our contacts done. but, we didn´t have enough time to finish the entire building, so we took the elevator up to the third floor and knocked the first three floors. then, just the other day, we were in that area again and needed to go do our contacts, so we picked another building to knock. my companion thought that we had already knocked the building that we were knocking, but i was sure that we hadn`t, so we agreed to knock the building. turns out that yes, we had already knocked the building. BUT, this time we found Nadina.
when she opened the door she had green paint all over her hands because she was painting her house. we gave her our usual introduction: Hola, somos misioneras de la iglesia de jesucristo de los santos de los ultimos dias y queremos compartir un mensaje de jesucristo porque hoy en dia hay un profeta en la tierra y la iglesia de jesucristo, que ha sido restaurado otra vez en la tierra... (basically, hello, we´re missionaries from the church of jesus crist of lds and we want to share a message about jesus christ. today, there is a prophet on the earth and the same church that jesus formed when he was here on the earth has been restored). anyway. she said that we could come back the next day, but she didn´t give us her number because she would FOR SURE be there (how many times has that not been true on the mission??? ). So, we wrote the time in our planners and left.
The next day we call up Luzmilah, a member who lives close by from ecuador and ask her if she will come with us to bear her testimony about the book of mormon and joseph smith. she says yes, so we pass by and pick her up the next day. so the three of us go back to the house of Nadina and i push the button at the bottom of the building so she can let us in. Silence. I push it again. Nothing. So i start pushing other peoples bells so that someone can let us in and we can just go knock on her door (someone has to let us in at the bottom of EVERY building and usually people don´t let us in unless they know who we are...) anyway, someone let us in and to make this super long story short, she wasn´t home. go figure, right? we have a member and the investigator isn´t home. So, we tell Luzmilah thanks for coming and continue doing our contacts in another building.
So, about two days ago, we were in the area and decided to stop by and just see if she was home. Miraculously, she´s home and she invites us in. we teach her the restoration and she is just eating up all our words. Turns out she is catholic, but doesn´t believe in it cause it´s such a cold church. and... SHE WANTS TO COME TO CHURCH!!! so when she says this, i am like freaking out in my head cause she wants to come to church and she is going to bring her little son and all. so, on sunday we passed by to pick her up, and sure enough, SHE WAS HOME! and she LOVED church. and even more amazing, is that it turns out that she has a really good friend who is a member, but inactive IN OUR RAMA!!! and they are going to walk to church together next sunday. oh man. That was all heavenly fathers work. I take no credit cause everything worked out so well. Its like she has been waiting for this her entire life. and here are 2 young strangers who showed up one day at her door and opened the gate to the happiness that she has been waiting for all her life.
It´s amazing. And i feel so blessed that the lord trusts me to be ablt to work with her and help her through her journey in life! It´s amazing. I wrote like 3 pages in my journal last night. haha. but yeah. we have another cita with her tonight and we are going to teach the plan of salvation (my absolute favorite lesson). and the elders are going to come and give her a blessing cause her husband is super depressed and can´t hardly get out of bed, which will be another obstacle that she has to overcome. but i hope that God has been preparing his heart too. I hope one day they are sealed together forever as a family... okay, well enough about that. i just spent basically 10 mintues of my 30 translating my thoughts back to english to be able to write that little story! ahh! so much to say, so little time.
