Excerpts from January 27 email (what a crazy week!):
Okay, so SO MUCH STUFF HAS HAPPENED THIS WEEK. where do i start? okay, so monday night, debbies kitchen burned down. it was a short circut and it put debbie in the hospital for 3 days!
Saturday SPain has a FREAK windstorm and the mountain above our house catches on fire. I´ve never seen a bigger fire in all my life. IT was INSANE!!!! trees falling on cars, kids getting literally blown away, glass shattering EVERYWHERE!!! and to top it all off...
Hermana Henderson has been transfered to the Island of PALMA, and i am getting a new Hermana Olson from San Diego California! I can´t eat i miss hermana Henderson so much. I woke up this morning and made some pancakes for the sisters from ALicante who came to benidorm to stay with me cause hermana henderson had to leave yesterday morning and i tried to eat some and i just couldn´t. I miss that girl so much! we were like an earthquake in benidorm. i just don´t know what i am going to do without her. but hermana olson, the comp that is coming is really funny and i know that i am giong to love her just as much as i love hermana henderson, i just am having withdrawls... so that is our exciteing week.
Note: Here is a news article and You Tube video of the Benidorm fires.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Benidorm Fotos
Holly sent us the following fotos at Christmas time. She and Hna Henderson seem like they are having the time of their lives saving Benidorm! A few repeats of baptism fotos. Enjoy!!
Benidorm Baptisms
December 22 Excerpt:
Hey. so get this! OUr english family is GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!! Yep. The third of January, they are the best ever. came to church on sunday and loved it so much! today is my 16 month mark. crazy! i´m so having mixed feelings. like it´s so little time, but that it´s not going fast enough! with this baptism coming up, we have our hands full!
December 29 Excerpt:
well, not a whole lot has happened sincei spoken with you on thrusday. lots of food. i spoke in church on sunday about missionary work and i slaughtered the piano! it was so bad. man. i was ashamed. we had 6 investigators in church. it was so great. we ate baked spaghetti with our swedish members. so good. i was in heaven. their house is the best ever. you have to see it when you come cause it´s like a little community of all so rts of different houses. i don´t know how to explain it. it´s just fun. and it feels so swedish. you have to come and see it!
January 5 Excerpt:
The baptism went just as planned. Basically, our ENTIRE branch came to support them. We had a huge caravan of cars and we even managed to bring 6 investigators with us! It was so nice. James went first, then Debbie.Then afterwards, little James shared his testimony about how he knows that Nefi and Alma were prophets of God and that the Book of Mormon is true. He is a light in shining armor. Vaya. Sunday was their confirmation, and it went really well. In fact, we have another baptismal date with Deb´s daughter of 14 Hayleigh!
SO, Tuesday night, we get this frantic phone call from some members that just moved into the branch.¨Hermanas! Hay que venir ahora. Hay una mujer que quiere conocer la iglesia¨ or SIsters! Come to the church right now there is a woman who want´s to know the church. Hermana H and i were so confused. so we finsished our cita and we went to the church. it was a SPANISH woman named Rosa who has been looking for the church for 14 years or so when some sisters in Cartagena stopped her on the street and gave her a book of mormon. Appartenly her husband said that she couldn´t read it and she lost contact with the churhc, but a few years ago her husband died and she started looking again, and it just so happens that these members moved into her town, and she walked over to their house and said, please tell me you are members of the mormon church. they said yes and she said. i have to have it. so they brought her to the church to meet us and we set up a cita to teach the next day and invited her to be baptized, and she´s set for the 17th of this month. AMAZING. I´m not even joking when i say she fell out of the sky. it was incredible. vaya. she´s a spaniard. yep. a real, authentic spanish baptism. that makes 2 spaniards, 3 africans, 2 swedish, 1 brazilian, and 2 english. That´s incredible. i am serving in the entire world here in spain! man. i am the most blessed person on the face of the earth, i really think so. i just love my life.
well... this week is full of many exciting adventures to come. I can´t tell you enough how much i just love the church of jesus christ. i know it´s true without any doubts. it has changed me. it has changed others. it is a miracle. and it´s a miracle that i was able to come here to spain for 18 months to share this with everyone.
January 12 Excerpt:
Hey there family! Yesterday we had 8 people in church! It might even be a record. and 14 lessons with member present. Vaya. Our members are helping out so much! And we are going to have a 2 more baptisms this Saturday. Vaya. So much for closing Benidorm! My mission president said in our last interview You sure are making it hard to close Benidorm! I just had to laugh cause i´m not doing anything. It´s the Lord who is doing it. We´re just doing our part. We had a really good Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening) with the branch like we do every Friday night. It´s the best Friday night activity ever! Lots of games, lots of food... Yum.
Rosa is doing good. she is so excited about her baptism. She can´t hardtly wait! Hayleigh too. She is like the little sister that I never had. james reminds me of Robbie when he was little! Too many people that i have grown to love. how am i ever going to leave Spain and my language??? Oh man. Don´t think about it and you´ll be okay! haha. There was a rainbow yesterday. that was fun. I have written 2 songs on the piano now. one about the mission, the other about debbie´s family. I´m excited to play them when i get home. Today we are going hiking with Debbie and Hayleigh. It´s going to be fun. we have a picnic planned :)
We are teaching a woman named Karina, from ecuador who just needs to get married to get baptized, so we fasted with her this week and her husband, who hasn´t wanted anything to do with us fasted with her and came to church!!!! It was a miralce. we are going to have wedding soon... and then another 2 baptisms. YES! I want them to be baptized before I leave the area. I have 2 months to make this miracle happen.
It was the day of the wisemen here in spain on the 6th and we ate a cake. the tradition is that if you get the bean in your cake you have to buy it and if you get the king (they are mini figures they put inside) then you get to wear the crown. haha. hna h got the bean! i just got cake.
January 19 Excerpt:
BAPTISMS!!!! Yes. Hayleigh and Rosa were baptized and confirmed this week. oh what a MIRACLE! They were both baptized in Alicante on Saturday at 5:30. We had another caravan of members who came with us and we all drove together in a big line of members. it was fun. Rosa went first, then Hayleigh. They are both so great. Rosa wore a lot of black because they have a tradition here in spain where after someones mom dies they sometimes wear black for an entire year to show that they are in mourning (i think it´s a catholic thing?) and after she was baptized she said that she came out of the water and heard her mom say, Get rid of your black clothing. I´m alright. So on Sunday she came to church with a cute purple shirt and a green skirt! She is amazing. I am so excited for you to meet her.
Transfers are next week, so I have hermana henderson for another week and then i am almost 100% sure that she is gone, and i will have a new companion for the last part of my mission. weird. i only have 7 weeks left, next week 6... i´m scared out of my mind for come home.
last monday hiking with Debbie and Hayleigh was so much fun. we just laughed and laughed. it was the best prep. day ever. i am going to miss that little english family so sosos os os os so os much. i can´t even think about it right now.
Hey. so get this! OUr english family is GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!! Yep. The third of January, they are the best ever. came to church on sunday and loved it so much! today is my 16 month mark. crazy! i´m so having mixed feelings. like it´s so little time, but that it´s not going fast enough! with this baptism coming up, we have our hands full!
December 29 Excerpt:
well, not a whole lot has happened sincei spoken with you on thrusday. lots of food. i spoke in church on sunday about missionary work and i slaughtered the piano! it was so bad. man. i was ashamed. we had 6 investigators in church. it was so great. we ate baked spaghetti with our swedish members. so good. i was in heaven. their house is the best ever. you have to see it when you come cause it´s like a little community of all so rts of different houses. i don´t know how to explain it. it´s just fun. and it feels so swedish. you have to come and see it!
January 5 Excerpt:
The baptism went just as planned. Basically, our ENTIRE branch came to support them. We had a huge caravan of cars and we even managed to bring 6 investigators with us! It was so nice. James went first, then Debbie.Then afterwards, little James shared his testimony about how he knows that Nefi and Alma were prophets of God and that the Book of Mormon is true. He is a light in shining armor. Vaya. Sunday was their confirmation, and it went really well. In fact, we have another baptismal date with Deb´s daughter of 14 Hayleigh!
 |
| From Christmastime in Benidorm |
 |
| From Christmastime in Benidorm |
 |
| From Christmastime in Benidorm |
SO, Tuesday night, we get this frantic phone call from some members that just moved into the branch.¨Hermanas! Hay que venir ahora. Hay una mujer que quiere conocer la iglesia¨ or SIsters! Come to the church right now there is a woman who want´s to know the church. Hermana H and i were so confused. so we finsished our cita and we went to the church. it was a SPANISH woman named Rosa who has been looking for the church for 14 years or so when some sisters in Cartagena stopped her on the street and gave her a book of mormon. Appartenly her husband said that she couldn´t read it and she lost contact with the churhc, but a few years ago her husband died and she started looking again, and it just so happens that these members moved into her town, and she walked over to their house and said, please tell me you are members of the mormon church. they said yes and she said. i have to have it. so they brought her to the church to meet us and we set up a cita to teach the next day and invited her to be baptized, and she´s set for the 17th of this month. AMAZING. I´m not even joking when i say she fell out of the sky. it was incredible. vaya. she´s a spaniard. yep. a real, authentic spanish baptism. that makes 2 spaniards, 3 africans, 2 swedish, 1 brazilian, and 2 english. That´s incredible. i am serving in the entire world here in spain! man. i am the most blessed person on the face of the earth, i really think so. i just love my life.
well... this week is full of many exciting adventures to come. I can´t tell you enough how much i just love the church of jesus christ. i know it´s true without any doubts. it has changed me. it has changed others. it is a miracle. and it´s a miracle that i was able to come here to spain for 18 months to share this with everyone.
January 12 Excerpt:
Hey there family! Yesterday we had 8 people in church! It might even be a record. and 14 lessons with member present. Vaya. Our members are helping out so much! And we are going to have a 2 more baptisms this Saturday. Vaya. So much for closing Benidorm! My mission president said in our last interview You sure are making it hard to close Benidorm! I just had to laugh cause i´m not doing anything. It´s the Lord who is doing it. We´re just doing our part. We had a really good Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening) with the branch like we do every Friday night. It´s the best Friday night activity ever! Lots of games, lots of food... Yum.
Rosa is doing good. she is so excited about her baptism. She can´t hardtly wait! Hayleigh too. She is like the little sister that I never had. james reminds me of Robbie when he was little! Too many people that i have grown to love. how am i ever going to leave Spain and my language??? Oh man. Don´t think about it and you´ll be okay! haha. There was a rainbow yesterday. that was fun. I have written 2 songs on the piano now. one about the mission, the other about debbie´s family. I´m excited to play them when i get home. Today we are going hiking with Debbie and Hayleigh. It´s going to be fun. we have a picnic planned :)
 |
| From Christmastime in Benidorm |
 |
| From Christmastime in Benidorm |
We are teaching a woman named Karina, from ecuador who just needs to get married to get baptized, so we fasted with her this week and her husband, who hasn´t wanted anything to do with us fasted with her and came to church!!!! It was a miralce. we are going to have wedding soon... and then another 2 baptisms. YES! I want them to be baptized before I leave the area. I have 2 months to make this miracle happen.
It was the day of the wisemen here in spain on the 6th and we ate a cake. the tradition is that if you get the bean in your cake you have to buy it and if you get the king (they are mini figures they put inside) then you get to wear the crown. haha. hna h got the bean! i just got cake.
January 19 Excerpt:
BAPTISMS!!!! Yes. Hayleigh and Rosa were baptized and confirmed this week. oh what a MIRACLE! They were both baptized in Alicante on Saturday at 5:30. We had another caravan of members who came with us and we all drove together in a big line of members. it was fun. Rosa went first, then Hayleigh. They are both so great. Rosa wore a lot of black because they have a tradition here in spain where after someones mom dies they sometimes wear black for an entire year to show that they are in mourning (i think it´s a catholic thing?) and after she was baptized she said that she came out of the water and heard her mom say, Get rid of your black clothing. I´m alright. So on Sunday she came to church with a cute purple shirt and a green skirt! She is amazing. I am so excited for you to meet her.
Transfers are next week, so I have hermana henderson for another week and then i am almost 100% sure that she is gone, and i will have a new companion for the last part of my mission. weird. i only have 7 weeks left, next week 6... i´m scared out of my mind for come home.
last monday hiking with Debbie and Hayleigh was so much fun. we just laughed and laughed. it was the best prep. day ever. i am going to miss that little english family so sosos os os os so os much. i can´t even think about it right now.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Rob Turns 21!
Better late than never, right?! Rob turned 21 last week! We took him to the Cheesecake Factory because he wanted cheesecake instead of a birthday cake. The hamburger he ordered was so big, that he was too stuffed to eat cheesecake at the restaurant, so we took it home in a to-go box. However, the servers did bring him a bowl of ice cream with a lighted candle, and we all sang to him. Yay! He's such a MAN now!!! Happy birthday Robbie!!!!!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
The Sweetest Words!
On Sunday afternoon I got the best surprise ever! Becky held the phone up to Asher and asked him to say "Hi Grammy" and HE DID!!! It came out "Hi Gammy!" Since then I've heard it about 5 more times! I've been waiting to hear those words for so long! I feel like a REAL Grammy now! Such a moment to remember! Asher, I love you sooooo much!!!!!!!
Operation Save Benidorm is Working!
December 16 Excerpts:
Hey Mom. we are still here in Benidorm working with all the amazing people that we have met!
otras cosas.... Okay. There is so much that i want to tell you this week! I'm starting with people.
Family from England, Debbie, James, Hayleigh, Cheryl - Family sent from HEAVEN! Okay. so we were knocking doors a few weeks back when i just bearly got here to Benidorm and we found a young English girl named Cheryl who introduced us to her family. THEY ARE AMAZING.
we spent some time knocking doors on sunday after church and it was so funny. so, we knock on a door at the very top of some random building and a spaniard man comes to the door and says hello, so we start presenting us and he says what do you want, and we say to share a message from god with your family. so he says that we can come back another day and starts to give us his phone number and suddenly we hear, JOAQUIN, NOOO!!!!! His wife freaked out and he was like, Dear, you don't want to listen to 2 missionaries? and she was like NO!!!! But we still made a cita with him to come back. We'll see how it goes, it was soosososo funny.
Normally we are the ones that get the door slammed in our faces, but we were knocking on a door and a little boy came to the door and so we said, is your mom home? and he went to get her and she shouted, NO! I don't want anything! CLOSE THE DOOR! So we had the privilege of slamming the door in our own faces. We laughed about that.
We were given cookies at someone house the other day and we were eating them and they were really good until we got to the last one, picked it up and saw that there was a DEAD COCKROACH on the plate with the cookies. I wanted to throw up. Hermana H and I both just put the cookie back down and pretended like we didn't notice. It was so grosss!!!!
Hey Mom. we are still here in Benidorm working with all the amazing people that we have met!
otras cosas.... Okay. There is so much that i want to tell you this week! I'm starting with people.
Family from England, Debbie, James, Hayleigh, Cheryl - Family sent from HEAVEN! Okay. so we were knocking doors a few weeks back when i just bearly got here to Benidorm and we found a young English girl named Cheryl who introduced us to her family. THEY ARE AMAZING.
we spent some time knocking doors on sunday after church and it was so funny. so, we knock on a door at the very top of some random building and a spaniard man comes to the door and says hello, so we start presenting us and he says what do you want, and we say to share a message from god with your family. so he says that we can come back another day and starts to give us his phone number and suddenly we hear, JOAQUIN, NOOO!!!!! His wife freaked out and he was like, Dear, you don't want to listen to 2 missionaries? and she was like NO!!!! But we still made a cita with him to come back. We'll see how it goes, it was soosososo funny.
Normally we are the ones that get the door slammed in our faces, but we were knocking on a door and a little boy came to the door and so we said, is your mom home? and he went to get her and she shouted, NO! I don't want anything! CLOSE THE DOOR! So we had the privilege of slamming the door in our own faces. We laughed about that.
We were given cookies at someone house the other day and we were eating them and they were really good until we got to the last one, picked it up and saw that there was a DEAD COCKROACH on the plate with the cookies. I wanted to throw up. Hermana H and I both just put the cookie back down and pretended like we didn't notice. It was so grosss!!!!
Holly's Adventures Continue
December 8 Excerpts and Photos:
vaya. que semana mas llena con cosas que hacer! haha. that says what a week more full of things to do. i don't know how it translates to correct english. i am forgetting my own language.
we made a cita with Lorena, our new investigator from Colombia. we actually met and taught her mom over the web camera that she had at her house. we sang and she wants the sisters in colombia to go visit her at her house. we are going to send the referrence to her house. it was fun. first cita over the internet! (Here's Hermana H, Lorena, and Holly in the photo below)
(Below are the hermanas in the ascensor or elevator. Don't they look like they're having the time of their life?! This is one of the few times I've ever seen Holly smiling in an elevator. She is deathly afraid of them!!!! I just love Hna Henderson for her happiness and enthusiasm!)
vaya. que semana mas llena con cosas que hacer! haha. that says what a week more full of things to do. i don't know how it translates to correct english. i am forgetting my own language.
we made a cita with Lorena, our new investigator from Colombia. we actually met and taught her mom over the web camera that she had at her house. we sang and she wants the sisters in colombia to go visit her at her house. we are going to send the referrence to her house. it was fun. first cita over the internet! (Here's Hermana H, Lorena, and Holly in the photo below)
(Below are the hermanas in the ascensor or elevator. Don't they look like they're having the time of their life?! This is one of the few times I've ever seen Holly smiling in an elevator. She is deathly afraid of them!!!! I just love Hna Henderson for her happiness and enthusiasm!)
we ate lunch with our branch president's wife. she is hilarious and al final, she ended up teaching us all the verbs for animal sounds, aka, to meow is maullar in spanish, to roar like a lion is bramar, to chirp like a bird is piar. it was so funny, i was crying.
The bus ride to Valencia was 2 hours and we consumed an entire bar of chocolate out of excitement. We stayed up basically alllll night in Valencia talking and chatting and I got my hair cut (more spanish bangs!) by one of the missionaries that was a hairdresser before her mission :) It's so cute. i love it.
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