HOLAAA! Buenas tardes!

SO, funny things first. Hna Noriega totally ran into a pole this week. Poor thing, she is always spacing out and almost dying (she´s also stepped in poop because of that and almost goes into the street without looking as well) so it´s a good thing I´m alert and warn her...well usually haha. 

Again, not too many eventful things happened this week. We met up with Miri on Wednesday in the church to finally talk to her in person. She looked so incredibly sad and I tried to help the best I could, but in these situations it just takes time. We talked about a conference article on how the Lord never forgets us and then went into the atonement a little. She tells us she will for sure get confirmed but still wasn´t sure she wanted to do it right now. She still wanted to take time and get her life back in order and have time to think. We explained the importance of the gift of the HG especially right now and challenged her to pray and reconsider. I also mentioned fasting and she said she would do it. We left with her saying that we´d see her Sunday...but Sunday came and she didn´t show up. I know she was out of town for most of the day so I´m hoping that´s the reason. We´ll see what happens this week. But thanks for all your prayers and concern! You´re all the best!

We are having a hard time getting people to church. Everyone always says they will come and then...don´t. It´s frustrating, since they obviously won´t progress without church attendance. But Sunday was great because we FINALLY had branch council with the leadership! Yay! We only have had one other since I´ve gotten here and that was in May. So yes, I am finally happy that we have some prospect of progress and unity in the branch. We´ll see what happens! And one of the member´s sons gets back from serving his mission in Madrid this week and he apparently will be our new branch mission leader! I am so excited you have no idea! He will actually do something to help us! Never take for granted a well functioning ward. 

OH AND GUESS WHAT! I bought maple syrup today and Reese´s cups! We are in Alicante for Pday since we have to go to a zone conference tomorrow and they have a store here that is like Nordstrom and they sell American things! Yeahhh best day ever! And we are going to play Monopoly, so yeah. Good stuff. And zone conferences are obviously the best since we get to see President Deere and everyone, so this week will go by fast. And since Elders Oak and Ballard (i think) were in France for a special training we are sure to learn some good things. 

Well that´s all for now! Talk to you all next week!

Love Hermana Thompson

and to end a photo of Hna Noriega and our potatoes. we tried to buy instant potatoes and as you can see they are not American. gross. also i made the brownies from the recipe amber sent me and they were SO DELICIOUS. our district now loves us. 

6 months!!!

On the 20th I will have officially been out 6 months. I still feel like I´m a brand new missionary though. 1/3 of the way through? Weird. 

Well another slow week without much to tell and no pictures...sorry! Hna Noriega went to Málaga to pick up her residency card so while she was gone I staying in Alicante (where our zone is based) with the sisters there. Goodness I love Alicante and the wards they have there. It reminds me that they are strong members and units in Spain, and it´s because they all work together and support the missionaries. It was definitely a nice change of scenery and also nice to feel like I was being of help to the other two sisters since they are newer to the mission and there was a lot I could teach them. But at this point almost everyone is new or training in the mission.

Well Hna Noriega, my companion is a wonderful saint-like person. Our branch pres asked me last minute to give a talk in sacrament meeting again but at the moment I still had to prepare the class I have to give later so Hna Noriega offered herself as a sacrifice. And while she was giving it she seemed fine, obviously struggled with the language a bit but didn´t look nervous...and then when she sat down told me that she almost fainted during her talk! She said everything got black around her eyes and her knees started going weak! Poor thing! But she is just fine now thankfully and never actually fainted. 

Last Monday we taught my favorite member in Benidorm, Vicente, whom I have mentioned previously. He one of the recent converts and is basically like family at this point. He is always so helpful and genuinely kind to us, he even has bought us chocolate multiple times because he knows I love it so much. Well on Monday we met him in the park for the lesson and he seemed down and then went on to explain that he had decided to quit the church permanently. I though he was kidding, but he was serious about his decision. The hard part was that he didn´t have a real concrete reason. I tried everything I could think of. I went to the base of his testimony and up asking him questions, and to every one he responded affirmatively, that yes he new all of it was true. I couldn´t wrap my head around it and Hna Noriega was to shocked to speak. I kept going, thinking of everything possible to try and reason with him, it was so frustrating and I felt like my world was falling down around me. I couldn´t help thinking of Miri too and what was happening to her. And just as I thought we were making progress he said, I haven´t changed my decision Hermana, but you´ll still write me and we´ll still be friends right? I had tried my hardest to keep it together during the whole lesson and that is where I fell apart. The tears came heavily. I have never felt so awful or so let down. We had worked with him multiple times a week since I got to Benidorm and now he was saying that he was giving up without reason. I made him promise to rethink it, pray about it, and to read the Book of Mormon everyday. He said that he would and we both left the park with tears streaming down our faces. I have never cried like that so far, especially not in a lesson. We were literally heartbroken. But I didn´t believe it, I knew he would change his mind. 

As we were walking home, still trying to stop crying, two British guys asked us for directions and when I explained that we were Mormons he said, Mormons? I haven´t heard of Mormons, but I have heard of mermaids. I couldn´t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation we were in. I think it was one way of God giving us a tender mercy to cheer us up a little bit. And just as we entered our apt building Vicente called us back and said that he was praying and God told him that what he was doing was wrong and that he needed to continue being a member. Just like that. I tried to change his mind for 2 hours and God changed his heart within 5 minutes. I was emotionally, spiritually, and physically worn out but so grateful that God answers prayers, especially when they are humble and sincere. 

And although I never want to feel that way ever again, I think that it was good for me, necessary. I think it is the closest I have ever come to feeling what God feels for us. Pure love for someone, and then the devastation that comes when after everything we have done for them, they chose not to accept, not to change. I truly felt the helplessness of not being able to do anything about the situation, because we have our agency, and not matter how much I would like to take it away from people sometimes, we can´t. If it´s that frustrating for me, I can´t even imagine how it must feel for Heavenly Father with his countless numbers of children and the perfect love that he has for each one of them. He gives us everything, he gives us the witness of all the truths of the gospel, but yet we are still so incredibly imperfect, selfish, and rebellious. And while this transfer has been especially tiring and hard for me so far, I know that all of it happens for a reason and that God has a better plan for each one of us, but it is all in his timing. 

Love you all, and continue praying for the work, and Miri!

By the way we finally have an appt with her this Wednesday so hopefully she will get confirmed this Sunday!

Hermana Thompson

 and photos!

from when I was in Alicante with Hermanas Camacho and Parrilla (she is from the canary islands!)

Holaaa!

Well...I am tired. So tired! 5 more weeks in Benidorm, can I do it? Let´s hope so. Our mission has basically just exploded with the amount of new missionaries, changes, and newly opened areas. Check out the mission blog if you´re curious. 

This last week we went on exchanges with the sister training leaders. I stayed in Benidorm and Hna Noriega went to their area in Cartagena. Whew what a change it was to teach with someone that I knew I could stop talking and they would take over just fine. Sometimes we take little things like that for granted. But not me! Haha. It was a good opportunity to see how someone else worked and get to spend time with someone who´s been out longer than me. And this week coming up Hna Noriega is going down to Málaga to pick up her residency card so I will be in Alicante (where our zone is based) for two days to work with the sisters there. 

Honestly not much has happened this past week. We are running out of investigators so that is our focus right now...finding new ones! All the crazy tourists are slowing leaving day by day and we´ve actually had some rain lately which I have been LOVING. I have forgotten the feeling of being cold...and the taste of strawberries in the summer time (Hna Noriega is obsessed with Lord of the Rings too). 

And the sad news last I suppose. Miri still hasn´t been confirmed as a member yet. She hasn´t been answering calls or texts and didn´t show up for church which is extremely unlike her. We were doing a family night with Miguel and Dagmar, and Dagmar´s mom, Ana Maria told me that she just talked with her and that she has been crying all week basically but thought she would come on Sunday. It´s even more sad since Itzayana can´t really come if her mom doesn´t...we will keep trying and thank you for all your prayers!

Well I have no pictures this week...sorry y´all. Love you and keep helping the missionaries where you live!

Hermana Thompson

BAPTISMO 3! (and a flooded chapel)

It has been a crazy roller coaster week. And it all started with the words "I prefer a pool".

So Miri got baptized on Thursday! It was incredible. But let me back up a few steps. Monday we taught Miri and she expressed that she would prefer certain members at her baptism so wanted to push it to Thursday instead, she also expressed she would prefer a pool...So we scheduled the baptism for Thursday in the plastic font. All going well...and then we are told of the complications of putting up the font and filling it with water...it had never been tried out before and there weren´t any instructions. After some choice words with our "mission leader" I decided Hna Noriega and I would just do it ourselves. (I am still working on the Christ-like attribute of patience). But to no avail, we needed tools which we didn´t have. A wonderful miraculous member put the font up the next day and told us everything was fine and it was filling up with water...and then we get a call around 3:30 asking us to bring a broom because the font broke and there was water on the floor. In my mind I was imagining a puddle...and then we got to the chapel and saw it. The entire floor flooded with 1-2 inches of water- we were standing in a font. Apparently the legs of the font weren´t mounted well and it fell just at it had gotten full. Well to make a long story shot we spent all afternoon ridding the church building of water with small buckets, dustpans, and mops. It was a miracle that it dried up in time for our investigator lesson at 6:30 and the baptism at 8. It was such tiring work and such a fiasco, but I was laughing the whole time at what a strange situation it was. Suffice it to say we are probably doing the next one on the beach. 

Miri´s baptism was so incredibly spiritual. I haven´t cried that much my whole mission and afterwards just thinking about it made me cry...she is amazing. Miguel, our first convert, gave a talk, or should I say, two sentences haha. And we sang O my father in Spanish to the tune of Come Thou Fount. Kevin, a member baptized her and the font water was dirty (we may have put some of the water from the floor back into the font ehh hem) and cold, and she had to be dunked twice but she came out shivering, beaming, and crying. She later bore a testimony of how she had been searching and searching and finally that when she had gotten tired the truth came to her. She said that she knew that this was the true church and expressed her gratitude. Watching her baptism and listening to her, I have never felt so happy or so fulfilled. She truly is converted, and I know that this baptism was so special because she is so special. The whole day was so rewarding. Also her two friends, Loli and Johanna, who are also our investigators came so that was great! Seeing our investigators and converts in one place made me want to explode with happiness. 

But then there always is a downside to things isn´t there? Sunday Miri didn´t show up to church for her confirmation as a member. She wasn´t answering texts or calls the whole day either. Which is extremely extremely unlike her. She has never missed a Sunday and she usually is the one that calls us first. The members tried with no luck either. I called Loli, nothing. To make it worse none of our investigators came to church and we only had 33 in attendance. Sunday was rough. I couldn´t sleep at night I was so worried about Miri. This morning we called her again, nothing. But finally she called us back and explained that Antonio called all his and her family and told them that it is the church´s fault they are breaking up...which is not true. So everyone has been calling her and sending her anti-Mormon things. She is being bombarded in a moment where she is already heartbroken. We are going to try and see her as soon as possible but there isn´t much we can do. She wants to wait for things to calm down. Please keep her in your prayers!

Also, remember my miracle story about Javea? Well we went back on Saturday to see Elizabeth! And she was home, but Rebeca wasn´t there. We talked with her and she shared with us all of the problems they have been having lately with the inheritance and the family after the death of her husband. It involved a lot of tears and I wish we could´ve been of more help but I think it was just good for her to talk about it and have someone listen. I shared the scripture Mosiah 27:14 about how God always answers our prayers of faith and told her to have patience during trials. I don´t know if anymore will come from it but we are planting seeds at least! 

Anyway, time to go! Oh also, I am staying here for another 6 weeks to finish training Hna Noriega. I finally get to see what is past week 6 in the training book! Haha. I didn´t want to leave the people here (I actually had been crying about that whenever I would think about getting transferred) but Benidorm is wearing on me. At the end of this transfer I will have spent 1/3 of my mission here and I am definitely ready for a change of scenery but with September more and more of the tourists will finally start to leave.

Love you all!

Hermana Thompson

pictures!

1. Alejandra (branch pres´s wife) and her new baby Sara 

2. Font disaster

3. Us, Miri, Loli, Itzayana

More pictures:  

Hermana Noriega , me, Miri & Kevin

group picture at Miri's Baptism

Elizabeth & Hermana Thompson

BAPTISMO 2 en Benidorm!

HOLAAAA! I am so happy this morning, you have no idea! I am pretty sure I am floating. 

Ok so let me tell you everything. No, there is too much, let me sum up...Itzayana got BAPTIZED last Thursday and her mother Miri is getting baptized this Saturday! How did that happen you ask? Well the Lord works in very mysterious ways. Hermana Noriega and I had been praying and fasting that Miri would finally get her papers cleared to be married in October so that she could get baptized Oct 5th, I knew I´d probably be gone by then so I was resigned to the fact that´d I would miss it even though that it what I wanted more than anything. Miri´s fiance Antonio came to the baptism on Thursday and everything was going so well, we even ate dinner with them as a family the day before (yeah they are the absolute BEST, investigators who feed us? what). But on Sunday right as I was about to start teaching the gospel principles class she told me she was moving and showed me her hand without an engagement ring and started crying. I sat down and talked with her while Hna Noriega stalled the class from starting and she explained all the small details of how the relationship just wasn´t going to work out. I have seriously never felt so bad for someone we have been teaching. It had been in the making for years and years and I thought Antonio would even get baptized too eventually. But I told her that now she could get baptized this Saturday if she wanted and she said she´d think about it and call us. Well she called us this morning and now she is getting baptized this Saturday in the plastic font we have in the chapel! So if a transfer falls upon me at the end of this week I can leave happy with me life complete. Oh and mom, she now works as a consultant for Mary Kay and gave Hna Noriega and I a class on it one day in her house with the whole cleansing process! Hahaha we were like what is going on, how are we so lucky to have her as an investigator?

Now on to the baptism! It was at 8am and our district leader, Elder Tudela came down to baptize her along with his comp Elder Favero. It has always been his dream to baptize someone on the beach so we made it come true for him :) Itzayana and her mom had a baptismal dress custom made for her (who does that? no one. they´re amazing. oh and a custom cake too). So Miguel, Itzayana, and Miri are all baptisms that came from Dagmar, so cool! And we are still teaching two other friends of Miri and Dagmar´s. Hna Noriega and I sang a spanish translation we found of Be Still My Soul since it isn´t in the hymn book here. Everything went beautifully! She got confirmed in the chapel directly afterwards and went to the temple with Miguel and Dagmar and the others from the stake on Friday and Saturday. All of it sounds like perfection, right? Because it issss! I have a permanent smile on my face still. 

Oh and Sunday after I taught gospel principles (I am now the unofficial teacher since Alejandra just had a baby) we were asked on short notice to teach the young women´s class about dating haha. So that was interesting. But it actually didn´t go badly at all and wasn´t awkward either. Today we are going to try to go to a place named Guadelest where there is a castle and monastery but last time we tried it didn´t work out so we´ll see! Next time I write we will know if we have any changes for the transfer...I don´t think so but with all the new girls coming in and my luck I´ll be training yet again haha! 

Keep praying for us and for your own missionary experiences!

Love you all!

Hermana Super Feliz Thompson

fotos!

1. us and itzayana

2. us, her, and elder tudela

3. us, and elders tudela and favero

more in the next email...

more pictures of the happy occasion:

family & friends

Antonio, Itzayana, Miri, me & Hermana Noriega

Hola!

Hey everyone!

Well we have like zero time to email this week because we were playing Risk with the elders in our district and you know how long that game takes haha. Well not much has happened this past week but a lot will happen this week! Itzayana has her baptismal interview tomorrow and gets baptized this Thursday at 8am on the beach! I´m especially excited because she is going to the temple the next day (so is Miguel our other convert)! The temple seriously always helps strengthen testimonies! We also have a goal as a mission to find 555 new investigators THIS week. Which means 7 per companionship. The normal goal standard is 4 and we usually get 2. So it is definitely a high one. One week we got 8 so it´s definitely possible, we just have to work hard. So if you want to pray for anything in particular this week, there you go! We definitely need help on this side of the veil and the other. Oh and last Thursday we had a special training from Pres and Sis Deere so that was fun! Well we are on our second to last week of this transfer and this is the first time I find myself thinking that I want to stay! Weird, but things are definitely starting to pick up and I feel like I´ve hit my groove here in Benidorm. We are definitely seeing more miracles and how the Lord prepares everyone and everything in His own time. Well got to go! Love you all and pray for us especially THIS week! Hasta el lunes que viene!

Hermana Thompson

photo- Elders Dansie, Peña, Me, Hna Noriega, Elder Tudela playing Risk! And Elder Favero taking the photo. I lost. 

Cruzes y Angeles

Holita! 

We had a really good week. Like so good you guys. I don´t know how or why we are so lucky right now. Maybe it´s because Hermana Noriega is here or something, I´m not sure, but maybe the Lord just really loves her haha. Well Itzayana is scheduled to be baptized on the 22nd of this month (unless it needs to be changed). It´s tricky because the temple trip in on the 23rd and we have to make sure her membership record is in the computer system before she goes. Should be interesting...but she is seriously an INCREDIBLE 13 year old. Almost like a mini Joseph Smith. When we were teaching her I asked if she had prayed and gotten any answers about baptism or the Book of Mormon. I wasn´t expecting anything big but she proved me wrong. She said that she prays everytime before she opens up the BOM to have God guide her on where she should read and that before and during the baptism of Miguel that she was praying to know if she needed to get baptized too and she of course got the answer that, yes! you should get baptized! she also went on to say how all the other churches she went to don´t fill her like ours does. and hna Noriega and i are sitting there at the table like uhhhh...you said you´re 13 right? and her mom, Miri, also goes on to tell us all the miracles she has been having lately with almost everything in her life, big miracles too. We also taught them tithing on Friday, and guess what Miri did on Sunday? She paid tithing. Even after we explained that it isn´t needed until after you are baptized. We have two very converted investigators here in Benidorm and we couldn´t be more happy. They are seriously the absolutely most wonderful people I have had the privilege to teach, and meet for that matter. Miri also said we were torches of light for the world in her prayer. I mean, really, I am in love with her. They are also working on Young women´s personal progress! I can´t get over them.  

Oh I also had to give another talk on Sunday but this time I didn´t get the blessing of notice ahead of time. No, right before the sacrament was passed I was asked to give a 7 minute talk since the other person didn´t show up. And I´m sitting there like, come again? Cool. 7 minutes in Spanish without any topic or idea. Thanks. So I spoke about faith and I´m not sure how long I took but I`m pretty sure it was about 7 minutes. And I don´t think it went badly from what I know haha, but when I sat down in the back one of the members was like, so the only problem is I couldn´t hear you at all...yeah. And funnily enough all my dreams last night were members coming up to me and saying that they couldn´t hear my talk either. Those are my forms of nightmares here in the field, exciting right? Everyone´s on vacation no so the branch is even smaller so I wouldn´t be surprised if I have to give another one soon. The blessings of being the senior comp. Oh and someone in the branch who speaks Spanish as a second language told me I was speaking Spanish too fast to her and she can´t understand me! point! 

Last Pday we hiked up this mountain to a big cross overlooking the sea and Benidorm. It was incredibly breathtaking but we are also a bit crazy for hiking so far on what should be our day of rest. I don´t think I have ever been so tired or sweat so much in my life. It is so HOT here. So hot. It´s really hot. But at the end we were talking about how wonderful it would be if rained, just once. And guess what. It started sprinkling. Tender mercies do exist. Today we are attempting to go to a castle in one of the towns nearby so we´ll see if that works out. 

Well, love you all and keep praying for the work! 

Peace and Blessings,

Hermana Thompson

ps...

photos!

1. Miguel, Dagmar, and us at church. He is getting the priesthood and he bought a suit!

2 and 3. Pictures from at the top of the mountain where the cross is at!

BAPTISM in Benidorm! :D

Hola Familia y Amigos! 

So guess what?! WE HAD A BAPTISM!

Miguel got baptized on the beach this last Saturday and was confirmed as a member yesterday in church! And let me just say that we are very happy. First baptism of the Spain Málaga Mission in Benidorm, first baptism of the year, and both our first baptism as well! And we have some pretty cool photos, not gonna lie. We held the service at 8am but there were already some people on the beach (it´s a smaller one out of the way) and then more people came during it, but oh well, we sang and prayed despite the onlookers. The branch president, Presidente Mondol, baptized Miguel and Hermana Noriega and I sang with his wife Nearer My God to Thee for a special musical number. And he gets the priesthood next Sunday. But wait that´s not the end! His recent convert girlfriend, Dagmar, has a mother who was born in the covenant but was never baptized. She believes in the Gospel but also smokes (i gave her steps to quit) but she has said that once Miguel gets the priesthood she wants him to baptize her! So that was such incredible news for Dagmar since neither of her parents are members and her sister is inactive. So we will see what happens and if she will get baptized soon!

Their house is also a fountain of new investigators. We are teaching a woman named Johanna that rents out their downstairs and she is seriously one of the sweetest women ever and so genuine. She asked for a Book of Mormon as soon as we came over for the appointment and at the end asked us for the return appointment first, both of which never happen haha. She also accepted the invitation to be baptized in the first lesson and only needs to look at her work schedule so we can set the date! She also has a 12 year old son who I am sure would get baptized as well.

Speaking of baptisms, we have another baptism scheduled for this month! Remember our angel of an investigator, Miri? Well her daughter, Itzayana (13), finally returned from vacation and we set a baptismal date for the 17th of August with her. There is a temple trip at the end of the month and she wants to go! Her mom suggested she wait and get baptized with her in October but she would not have that idea and so we told her August was definitely a possibility haha. Oh and we are still teaching that 80 year old woman, Carmen, that used to have a baptismal date. She just needs more time to get a little more strength in her leg before she goes to church, but she still understands everything and believes everything we teach as well. She´s the best. And a lot of people actually came to English class this week and they were all investigators so that was a miracle.

Anyway, we are seeing a lot of miracles recently and it is such a blessing. We are actually getting references and contacts through the members and that is exactly how it should be. I haven´t even knocked doors yet with Hermana Noriega which is rare for us here in Benidorm. But Hna Noriega is so sweet and patient so I am lucky to be training her. She is humble and willing to learn even from a trainer as inexperienced as me. Spanish is still a setback from her so I have been talking a lot but in time she will get more and more comfortable. Thanks for all your prayers, love and support! God lives, he knows each and everyone of us so personally and deeply cares about all the small details of our lives. Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. I find myself looking forward to the sacrament more each week, more than ever before. It is through Him that we have the amazing opportunity to overcome our weaknesses and change. Don´t forget that everyone has the potential to change. Everyone has the potential to make it to the temple and the celestial kingdom someday. We just have to see those people as how they can become, not as they are right now. Love you all and keep sharing the Gospel and being an example to those around you. Bless and change lives. 

Hermana Thompson

ps- i definitely had a dream about poor comet as a zombie cat, may he rest in peace in the spirit world until he makes it to the celestial kingdom. and i loved all your face book eulogies you sent me (aka this week i was laughing instead of crying in the Internet cafe haha) he truly was a magnificent creature. 

PHOTOS!

1. Us, Miguel, and his girlfriend Dagmar

2. Us, Miguel, and Presidente Mondol

3. Us and Miguel!

more photos!

1. group picture of those who came in the branch (Miguel is in the blue checkered shirt)

2. baptism in the Mediterranean!

3. coming out of the water!