Monday, January 8, 2018

MISSION: POSSIBLE

"Oh hermanos, adiós, pues, adiós!
El momento de ir vino ya.

Si guardamos la fe ̮en el gran Dios,

nos veremos aún más allá.

Más allá, más allá.

¡Oh hermanos, adiós, pues, adiós!

Más allá, más allá,

moraremos con Dios en amor."


Name: Hermana Twede
Location: Spain Málaga Mission
Assignment: Preach the good word of God
Difficulty: Bastante high

Mission: ACCOMPLISHED

Well.......it's been a week. Or a month. Or a transfer. Or a whole year and a half of earth life. This week marked my last full week in the south of Spain and as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. And it was great!

When one starts their mission, they kind of create a vision of what they'll look like at the end of their mission. For me? I imagined having grown a few inches, speaking Spanish perfectly, key indicators off the charts, baptizing like it's my job, and just having the time of my life. Well......not everything turns out the way you expect......I should have learned that a long time ago. As I've drawn to the end of this week, I come to realize I'm still 5'5.5", Spanish sometimes is still hard (like when you don't know how to say ostrich), key indicators were improved yet still on the charts, and not a lot of people were home due to festivos.......but one thing I can tell you is that miracles still exist. Even when life doesn't turn out the way you think, it's because God has something better waiting. Let me just let you in on some of the miracles this week.

Jóvenes. Once upon a time, Hna Sigcha and I were walking in the street and contacted one college age student and then his friend appeared from behind the bus stop. They are from Peru and Colombia and just got here a few months ago and still don't have Spain numbers so we set up a cita with them for Saturday. Well.....come Saturday, it was Dia de Los Reyes soooooo that means almost all of our plans fell through. We were sitting at the gate of the church, 10 minutes past the time our friends were supposed to come, and things were looking rough. We were gonna wait five more minutes.....and then a miracle happened. Two minutes before we were going to leave, two joven boys walked up.....OUR FRIENDS!!! I was so surprised I almost hugged them! 🚩? We had a killer lesson with them and then invited them to church the next day. Well Sunday comes and we were in class, not expecting them to show up, when the Zone Leaders called us out of class and THERE THEY WERE!!!! They came to church and everything!! I was so shocked. MILAGROS!! Literally they are so prepared. La lastima is that they live in He elders area but ITS OK THEY ARE GOING TO HEAR THE GOSPEL!!

Fechas. Once upon a time we contacted this cute family, had a lesson with them in which their friend came and listened and is literal GOLD!! We had a lesson with him on Tuesday and another on Saturday during which we taught the Plan of Salvation. At the end we invited him to be baptized and he replied with, "Yes yes yes I will be baptized. What do I need to do?"
Us: "Well the goal is to be baptized on February 10th."
Him: "Yes yes ok great but what do I need to do to do that."
Me: *Complete amazement at the scene before my eyes*
He is so prepared and has been searching for a long time for the peace that the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings. I had a secret hope/prayer to find someone who had been searching for the gospel. Well......we found him. And he's so ready.

Food. I have literally been stuffed full of food almost everyday this last weekend. Due to it being festivo all week practically, people have been extra generous. The miracle in this situation? I did not have to re-live/re-taste the food I ate if you know what I mean. Saturday it got to a point where is hurt to breathe. But hey......Heavenly Father blessed me to fit it all in my stomach.......and throats a little bit.

Years. Well......on January 6, 2017, I was in the exact same place that I was on January 6, 2018. Due to intercambios a year ago while serving in Elche, I was in Alicante on that day and due to being transferred 4 months ago, I was in Alicante again on that exact day. It was interesting to think about where I was one year ago and how much has happened since then. Having not even completed 6 months in the mission, I had no clue the adventure that was awaiting me. Now looking back, I'm glad I didn't know what was going to happen, but grateful that God did.

This week has a big week of reflection on the last 18 months of my life. I've had my highest highs and my lowest lows. I've had trials come that have brought me to my knees, but learned how to lean on my Savior to get back up. There's been blood, sweat, and tears. There's been prayers said out loud and in my head. There's been moments of vulnerability. There's been thoughts of why I'm even here. But along with all of that, there's been days where my cheeks hurt from smiling. There's been moments of humble submission to the will of the Lord. There's been a happiness found that I didn't know was even possible. There's been a love felt for the people here in Spain. There have been companions who have forever changed my life. There have been priesthood blessings that have corrected my course and given me hope. Overall that's what's there's been.....hope. If I've learned anything in my mission it's that there is hope. In Christ there is hope. In the gospel there is hope. Hope is the anchor of my soul. When there's no one to teach, hope keeps my head up. When there's no one in the streets to listen, hope keeps my feet going. When we get dropped, hope keeps me grounded. When it's too hard to stand, hope brings me to my knees in prayer to my Heavenly Father.

Brothers and sisters, hermanos y hermanas, and whoever else is reading this. There's one thing I hope you learn from reading this weird crazy letters and it is this: there is Hope. No matter what your difficulties may be, no matter how hard the storms of life are hitting you, no matter the thoughts Satan is putting in your head, there is hope. And that hope is found through Christ. So please, I invite you to find that hope again. Through Him. Don't go looking in the world, because you won't find it. If you've strayed from the path, I urge you to come unto Christ and find your way back. If you're testimony is feeling rocky, I invite you to get on your knees, and then open your scriptures and feel it become grounded again, one stone at a time. I know this gospel is true and that it's a gospel of hope. I know that Christ is my Savior. He's saved me so many times. I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father. I will never tire of testifying of that very thing. Nor will I ever stop testifying that it's true even when I'm no longer to pin the chapa to my chest. Even when I won't be walking the streets of Spain as a representative of Jesus Christ. It will all still be true. And I will testify that it is until the day my lips can't move anymore.

Thank you for the support during all this time. Thanks for the love shown. It means a lot. I wish you all luck in your lives. See you on the flip side. ;)

Kia Kaha

Hermana Twede

P.S. For homecoming details.....ask Bea Twede:)

Lunch with Arlex y Edilia

PAN DE BONO

Last time with Mina and Mina

LUIS! He's gold and also weirded out that we can't give besitos.

Roscon. What you eat on Dia de Los Reyes.

We hit that up with Marisol, Juan y Mayte

Friends! Guillermo y Alex y me feeling awkward.

The crew. Love this family.

Last lunch with Gaby. Love her.

Monday, January 1, 2018

I Love It All

I go through moments where I'm really excited and really sad to not be a missionary anymore. It gets me teary just thinking about it. I don´t know my life without the mission and it´s hard for me to want to. I love what I do. I love being on the Lord´s errand, I love being so close to the spirit all the time and always striving to be better. I love Spain. I love it all. I am really excited to see my family and continue my life but I kinda wish I could do it while still being a missionary. I just look at the elders and think how lucky they are to have more time and they don´t even know it. I remember Darrick telling me when I was starting that he would pay any price to be where I was. I didn't understand then, but I understand now. I am so tired and ready to see everyone, but I would give anything to keep being a missionary. To see the miracles we see everyday. To see people change through the gospel and get to be the person teaching them the good news. I love it. I tried explaining it to an elder and he asked if I just keeping thinking "I should have done this or this..." And it's not that. It's just I'm in something so good and wish I had more time to apply all I'm learning even still. But I'm so grateful for this transfer. It's been hard. But oh so good. I've had one of the best weeks of my mission. We found 30 future investigators and we've been completing most of our goals every week. This is the first time ever in my mission I've done that so continuously. I've been blessed. Very very blessed. This last week I've been the most tired I've ever been in my life, but my companion and I have not passed a day where we haven't been laughing and smiling until our cheeks hurt. I just feel very humble and very blessed.

SUMMER

So Olaf would really enjoy the weather here in Alicante because it is
literally HOT!!! Like today people were swimming at the beach.

Ok so this week was awesome. Christmas was the best. I almost threw up
because of eating so much food. Tuesday we went to a Latino restaurant
after district meeting and I got nothing more than a huge plate of
Southie food so that was awesome.

Wednesday and Thursday we had intercambios with Hna Magoffin and Hna
Valdez!! It's was so good we saw some killer miracles and met with
some awesome Bulgarians and contacted all morning on Thursday!!! LOVE
IT. MISSIONARY LIFE.

Friday was a splendid day I don't really remember. We had weekly
planning and it was all great. Then Saturday was also good and a day
full of contacting and meeting new peeps.

Sunday was sooo great!! I love the sabbath. Church was awesome and
then we went out and worked and had a great mini lesson with an
investigator. And then we went to the house of Alejandra with the
elders and ate delicious food and played some games and the elders
gave some blessings and made me super grateful for the priesthood.
That night we went back and did some things and then ate 12 grapes in
12 seconds......or like 35 seconds. So the tradition is spain is that
the last 12 seconds of the year, you eat 12 grapes, one for every
month, and you make a wish with each one. Pretty difficult stuff and
we didn't succeed but did succeed at eating them and enjoying them.

I know these last few emails have been lame and short and I promise
next weeks will be better........#ultimo but I just want to end off by
saying how grateful I am for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I read the
talk, "Abiding in God and Repairing the Breach" by Neil F. Marriott
and it taught me a lot about how we need to use the Atonement to truly
love our neighbor. I know that as we pray to have the love of Christ
in our hearts, God will help us have that love and see others through
His eyes. I love this gospel of love and the opportunity to have felt
the love God has for the people of Spain these last 18 months. I don't
know how to describe my experience with it but it's been life
changing. I love the mission. I love my Savior. I love my Heavenly
Father. And I love this gospel. It's true. I know it.

Have a great week love you all
HAPPY NEW YEAR

Kia Kaha

Hermana Twede

Intercambios!!

She loves me. Jejejeje.

Very typical Spanish Christmas thing.
New Year's Eve Dinner Crew

Feliz Ano Nuevo

Alicante

Alicante

What Alicante is known for. Gorgeous.