1-5-15

Wow!!!!!!!!!  Hello hello!!!!!!!!

So much to say!  First off, DEVIN!!  You areTRAINING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Ok.....I am telling you.......training really is for the trainer!  I am so happy for you and excited for you.  What a blessing to start out training right after training!  Seriously!  It forces you to step up to the plate even more and you learn SO much by being the one who has to lead.  That is so exciting Dev!  I am so excited for you and how great, you get a native companion!  You´ll learn Spanish even better now!  I´ve never had a native companion yet, so what a blessing!  Just always remember to include your companion in decisions....I know you probably know how it feels to be the one who´s opinions don´t matter.  Always include your companion in your decisions.........it will help him know that you trust him and that you care about what he has to say, and that will help you in your relationship SOOO much.  I am so proud of you Dev!  Keep being exactly obedient and I know that the Lord will bless you. 

So........ok....yes!  Por fin!  I saw the Andersons and Candy and Macarena!  It was really fun!!!!  We met up at the temple, took some pics and then went out for lunch!  We didn´t have a ton of time, but with the time we did have, it was really good to visit with them.  Candy´s Mom, Macarena is so great!  I know that Sister Anderson was saying that Candy is always uptight whenever they talk about the church with her.  The Elders in her area only have visited her once because she lives far from their area, but I think it went well.  It´s just a scary and foreign thing to them and so change is just hard.  It was really interesting, now being in Spain, and seeing how the majority of Spaniards are.....REALLY stubborn!!!  It was interesting to meet with Candy and her mom.....they are on the opposite side of the Spaniard Spectrum.....they are SUPER nice.  I feel like you either meet people who are really rude and nasty, or really nice and sweet.....but something they all have in common.......whether they´re nice or rude.....they ARE stubborn.  They want to be right, and if they´re not right, they get mad.  They are a very prideful people.  But, we´re all prideful.  Anyway........even the nice Spaniards....like Candy, Macarena, Loli and Javier my friend.....they still have this tone of voice....when talking in Spanish that is really stubborn....it´s hard to describe......it´s almost like all the nice Spaniards are just trying to get their point across with all the other Spaniards that don´t listen that they have to talk in a harsh way with a kind of rough and stubborn tone of voice in order to talk to other spaniards and resolve things.  Anyway......don´t know if that makes sense, that´s just what I´ve been observing and it´s really interesting.  But it was really good, kind of weird to see people who I knew before when I didn´t know Spanish and now that I can speak Spanish and that I´m used to the culture here....it was funny to see what was different to them, or what was a culture shock to them.......like for example......when we were ordering food...Spaniards OVER complicate everything because they are stubborn.  The Anderson´s weren´t used to that, and the waiter was just being really stubborn about this thing we wanted to order........he wanted us to order a big menu thing and we just wanted the simplest thing.  I feel like I´m just immune to this Spaniard stubborness.........so with the Anderson´s and seeing their reaction (not that it was bad, it just took them off guard) I just forgot that that´s not how it is in America.  Anyway......I don´t know if that makes sense.......these are all details that don´t really matter, but were observations I made.  It was fun and all went well.  I hope they had a wonderful time here!

Today, we are going to visit Loli again!!!!!  I talked with her the other day and por fin I can understand her now :)  We´re meeting in Alcala to go to a Belen (nativity scene) and then we´re going to their house to eat and visit in Azucaeca!  We´re super excited.  It´ll be really good.  I´m excited for Hermana Toone to meet them! 

Also.......THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE COOKIES AND CHOCOLATES!!!!!!!!!!!  They´re pretty much all eaten now :)  It brought a little bit of home here for me, so thanks!  They tasted great!  AND THE LETTERS!  First off.......Aubster......YOU are hilarious :)  I love your letters.......that´s all :)  I love everyone else´s letters too, don´t get me wrong.......but Aubs.....haha......I miss you dearly and you´re hilarious fun self!  And MAL!  Good luck with the GRE and the Job search, I know how you feel......I´m so happy for you that you have Marie to study with.....BLESSING!  AND.....drumroll.......YOU STARTED YOUR MISSION PAPER PROCESS!  OH MY GOSH!!!!!! BIG DEAL!!!!!!!!  Ok....I´m SO happy right now.  Keep me posted.  Have faith and keep moving forward, don´t doubt, exercise faith and the Lord WILL bless you tremendously.  Mal!  I know that going on a mission will bless your life more than you can imagine.  Ahh!  I love you and am super excited for you and happy for you.  And yes.....Grandpa....as a trainer....we are called Entrenadoras :)  To answer your question. 

Sorry I don´t have a ton of time to write anyone individually, because we´re going to Loli´s house in 15 min.  But, we are doing really good here! This week we found 2 people that accepted a fecha para bautizarse!!!!!!  One of them, Diego...from Ecuador....is really great, but works all the time, so we´ll see if he really takes our visits seriously.  The other, is Doli, a lady from Bolivia.  WOW!  She is so prepared.  Her heart is so open and teachable and it is incredible.  She has so many desires to do the Lord´s will for her and every time we´ve met with her, she prays at the end and always thanks God for sending her 2 hermanitas.  Her prayers are so thoughtful and she expresses concerns she has about her family that help us understand her life even more.  The last 2 visits have been very special and we have felt the Spirit so distinctly as we are watching her learn things for the first time and feeling at peace about moving forward and learning about the Gospel. It has been amazing.  She agreed that if she received an answer that these things are true that she will be baptized Jan. 31, so we will see how things go!  I don´t want to count my chickens before they hatch, but we are REALLY excited about Doli.  She has really wonderful potencial to progress!!!!!!!

Also.....Dad, can you send me Devin´s current adress again....or the one that is better to send letters too.....I wrote down addresses, but can´t remember which one is better.  Thanks!

Lately, I have been really contemplating the principle of obedience.  As missionaries....we can choose to get up on time, go to bed on time, start studies on time, leave our house on time, eat with members only for an hour....etc.  OR we can choose to be more relaxed about all of these things.  I´m not saying we be nazi´s and force everyone to conform to how we do things...or else!  But, I just want to testify of the prinple of obedience.  I know that when we are exactly obedient....even not as missionaries....there really are REAL blessings that come as a result of our faith to be obedient.  If we say to ourselves in our minds...."ok....today....I want to do what Heavenly Father wants me to do"....we know that we are going to do the usuals....start and end our day with a prayer, study the scriptures, etc.....we are going to keep the commandments.  When we do this, and when we do it....KNOWING and EXPECTING God will indeed bless us... we are exercising our faith....saying that we are willing to take the time to do something that we know is good, because we know that the consequences that come as a result will bless us....even if we may not know what those results and consequences will be....we just know that they will be good.  That is the kind of attitude I want to have.  Trusting in God´s promised blessings and living with the assurance that God is going to bless me as I show him I have faith in him.  I don´t know if that makes sense.  but I´m grateful that we have that principle of obedience, and that we know of God´s promised blessings that will come as we excercise faith in him to do what he asks of us. 

Anyway....I love you!  I don´t have time to proof read this....so this is just for our family this week....sound good?  Ok I love you!  I hope you have the best week ever and that you know how much the Lord loves you and wants to bless you....and I love you too :) 

This weekend is transfers so we´ll see what happens!  I hope I get to stay with Hermana Toone....she is WONDERFUL :)  It was so wonderful to see you guys last week.....You are the BEST!!!!!!!!  Keep sharing what you know with others and HAVE FAITH in the Lord!