Amazing Week

Yo.

Ok so I'm just gonna jump in. Getting really bad at small talk.

So today we went back to the Pantano d'Elx but this time we had some
homies from Alicante come and two elders from Elda so that was cool.
Our guides (which will go nameless) decided to back out so Hna Clark
and I ended up doing it even though we had no clue where we were
going.

Ok so LAST Monday I wrote my group before we did actual Pday fun stuff
but I didn't care to write another email. So last week Hna Pickett and
I went and did compras and cleaned and all that stuff, then we went
shopping in centro, went and climbed to the top of a cathedral, went
to an archeological museum, went in a castle, I faced my fear of
spaniards and finally got a trim after over 8 months (Sorry Lezlie I
just couldn't do it before), then we went to a little cafe and sat
outside and ate delicious bocadillos. Needless to say we SLAYED Pday
last week. We've been getting so efficient with them it's great. Like
this morning we got groceries done in 15 minutes. CRUSHED IT. ANYWAY.
Last Pday was great and later that night we had some Noches de Hogar
and they were awesome.

Tuesday.....INTERVIEWS!! Wow. President Andersen is just killer. Sorry
homies in other missions, but the mission President of the Spain
Málaga Mission is the best in the world. He's like Darren Twede's
cinnamon rolls.....none compare nor compete. Sorry not sorry.
So after interviews we had a KILLER lesson about the restoration with.
Joven chica who doesn't believe in God but said a prayer at the end
and promised God in her prayer that she would read and pray about the
Book of Mormon. HOLLA! So vamos a ver what happens with that. Then we
had English class and I got to go early to help this adorable little
girl with her homework because she had a test the next day. Makes me
think I should have payed more attention in Mr. Durham's English class
bc I don't know my own language para nada. But I'm learning more bc I
have to teach it so fun. Then I went and picked up my new scripture
cases I ordered that a guy in our ward makes for missionaries!!
They're killer but I forgot to take pics so sorry you can't see them
in their glory quite yet.

Wednesday we had some good visits with recent converts, good food from
members, and some good Big List visits with old spaniards. Thursday we
had weekly planning, ate some delicious food again from members, some
not so delicious pineapple upside down cake (don't listen to Shawn and
Gus....they're lying. I had such high hopes after watching Psych and
they've been thrown on the ground over and over again), and had some
more good Big List visits with our favorite Colombian family here.

Friday.....ZONE CONFERENCE!!! Best day of the week. Got to see my
homie G's from the CCM and old comps and just having a good time while
being spiritually fed. The conference was a bit of a "Come to Jesus"
moment for me because they emphasized working a lot with people
between the ages of 15-25 or in other words, jóvenes. Which I don't
like doing. Never have been a fan of contacting jóvenes or anything.
But this conference made me realize I gotta do it because these kids
go on to serve missions and have families and raise faithful
generations. So I'm ready to start working more with jóvenes and we
had a really cool experience which brings me to SATURDAY!!

So we had a missionary activity on Saturday and invited a ton of
people and we were gonna eat and have a tour of the capilla and it was
gonna be great. But then it rained.....right on our little hopeful
parade. Idk if y'all know, but when the rain in Spain falls mainly on
the plains.....the country shuts down. So we planned on 70 people and
I think 20 came and 10 of them were missionaries. Woohoo. But it was
fine it was a good activity. Then we were contacting that night and we
contacted this joven chica and we asked her if she is creyente and she
said her parents no but she's super interested in religion. So we
asked her if we could pass by and share a bit about our beliefs and
she answers, "yes of course!! I would like that very much!" So we got
her info and we're gonna be paying her a visit this week!! WOOHOO!! My
testimony of contacting jóvenes is growing and she helped it.

Sunday was killer with investigators in church and stuff and it was
great. One of our investigators fasted too....just on his own!! So
cool!!

So this week I was studying in Mosiah when Abinadi comes into the
picture. If I could describe Abinadi in one word: MAQUINA (machine)!! That guy
is just one cool dude. So I'm reading and King Noah is in power and
just doing all these awful things and then Abinadi shows up and says,
"what are yah doing?! You guys know better than this!!" Then Noah gets
mad and is like, "Who is this guy?!" And they arrest him but then
Abinadi is talking to them and he says, "You teach the Law of Moses,
and commandments, but you don't understand it nor do you practice it
yourselves." It just made me wonder that as a missionary, do I TRULY
understand what I teach everyday? And if I do, do I practice it in my
own life? It just gave me cause for reflection. A French man in my
ward asked me, "How can someone teach or testify something that they
don't believe themselves?" Well.....you can't. Also it's hard to
testify with the Spirit if you don't already have a testimony of what
you're testifying. And if you can't testify with the spirit.....you're
really just saying empty words. So now Ive been trying to really apply
these lessons to my own life and make sure I'm keeping the commitments
that I invite others to do daily. THE GOSPEL IS SO COOL YOU GUYS!!
There's sooooo much you can learn.....it doesn't matter how long
you've been a member.....don't ever fall into the trap thinking you
know all there is to know about the gospel. Heavenly Father will
humble you in a quick second.....I can testify of that. I'm learning
so much everyday that I REALLY study my scriptures and words of living
apostles and prophets and it's incredible. I LOVE THE GOSPEL OF JESUS
CHRIST!! This things changes lives. It's changed mine, and I'm seeing
it change others. Our father in Heaven is so merciful and loving we
can't even comprehend it. I know that He has a plan for every
individual person on this earth and if we choose to follow it over our
own, we will find eternal happiness.
Thanks so so much for the support and love. You all are wonderful!
Have a great week!!
Kia Kaha

Hermana Twede