Week 44

(This is being posted one week late)

Hola!!

This week was AWESOME!!! seriously. It was an exceptionally great week.

First of all, we had a specialized training. I love every opportunity I get to listen to my mission president. We learned a lot about goal setting and keeping. I've decided that I need to be a goal setter for the rest of my life.

Second, it was dia de los Reyes. On the 6th they celebrate they day when the wise men came to see Jesus. It was bigger than christmas! The night before, there was like a straight up Macy's day parade going through Murcia. Or at least close to it. EVERYONE was there! It was insane. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't a missionary trying to get to a cita on time...but we couldn't because all of the buses were stopped and the main street was party central. Then on the actual day, we had a ward party and it was a blast! They have a traditional cake they eat..called Roscón de los Reyes. It is really delicious...especially since we dipped it in chocolate. yes. also, in these little cakes, they hide toys in them...but I didn't get one with a toy in it.

Then, on saturday, we had a BAPTISM!! yay! Dima and Rosi are so cute! They were soooo happy! and I was too. although they don't look like it in the picture...I don't know why people don't smile in pictures here. Anyway, the elder that is with us is Elder Forrest, our zone leader. He baptized Rosi because when we were teaching them, Rosi wanted to stop smoking (before we had even told him he had to!) and asked for a priesthood blessing. So, the zone leaders came and gave him a blessing. after that, Rosi stopped. He told us that after Elder Forrest laid his hands on his head...he didn't have a desire to smoke anymore :) and that was after over 30 years of it. He knew it was a miracle and so he wanted Elder Forrest to baptize him. So tender. Their confirmation was incredible too. Pretty sure Dima was crying for two days straight. It just never ceases to amaze me how much the spirit breaks language barriers. The ward is so excited to have them...and they are excited to go to the temple! :)

and now, today Hna Capener and I went to La Iglesia Fuensanta. Or in other words, this huge, ancient cathedral that is up in one of the mountains on the edge of the city. I have been wanting to go there for forever because I always see it from the bus. It was such a cool adventure. It was a baby hike to get to it...and then we could see the whole city from up there. It is days like this that I remember that I am in Spain. SO cool!! The history here is so amazing. Everything is old and like it should be in a history book.

It was kind of funny because there was a little souvenier shop up there and the lady was trying to figure out what we were and was like naming nun places to figure us out after she saw our tags. Then when we said we are missionaries she said, "oh...did you see the virgen when you came in?" Yeah lady, we saw your virgen shrine alright. haha my goodness. I really do love spain with all my heart. Actually, pretty sure there are a lot of things that I've gotten just so used to...that I forget that America doesn't do things that way. But that's fine.

The church is just oh so true!

Welp. I love you so much! I hope everyone is doing well.

con muchiiiiiisimo amor,

Hermana Casey Ross

Week 43

bahahaha oh man dad. I am crying from laughing so hard. that was so funny.
"I hope you have a week filled with pisos" means "I hope you have a week filled with apartments" hahhahaha :) yes. but appointments...would be "citas" no pasa nada

Happy New Year!!!
Best decision I have made so far this year: cut my hair. We went to day and cut our hair. So I just chopped it all off! I'm so glad I did.

Grandma sent me a few pictures of christmas (thanks grandma!!) looks like I missed out on TWO silly string fights (what the?) and the scavenger hunt...which is also always fun. and I saw mom's paper elves...so cute mom! But it sounds like everyone had a really fun christmas! We did too. and new years too. I've never eaten so much in my whole life though. The picture of us on the couch is of us, Josefina and her daughter Estefania on christmas. I love them!

New Year's eve (or nochevieja) we spent the first half of the afternoon eating with Dima and Rossi...eating like 3 different kinds of Bulgarian plates. It was so fun!! They are the best. Dima says she will come to my wedding. haha I wish. We found out that they got married after TWO WEEKS of knowing each other!! crazy! And they say things move fast at byui...my goodness. But now they have been married 28 years! They are fun. Also, we had to teach them tithing after we ate...and they just ate it up and said, where do we pay? :) love it. They are getting baptized this saturday....woot woot!

Then we went back to Josefina's house (where we were for christmas day) for the rest of the night. All 6 missionaries again and eating even MORE food. kill me! But it was a blast. The rest of New Year's was pretty laid back. We were sooo tired. So me and Hermana Capener went home and went to bed. We got in bed like right at 12 and just heard all of the fireworks :) then the next day at church the elders showed us the video of their new years celebration they had in their piso. haha silly string and all!

The tradition in spain for new years is that at 12 o clock everyone eats 12 grapes. One for every month of the year! Also, here, the holidays still aren't over because the 6th is el dia de los reyes! I know I told you guys when I called...but the day when the kids get presents is on the sixth....because the wise men bring them!

Good news. Remember how last week we went bowling for p-day? Well, for what I am pretty sure is like the first time in my life...I broke 100! haha yes!! and I even beat the elders. It was pretty exciting.

That calling is right up Curtis' alley!! haha that's good. How did your talk go dad? I'm sure it was great. That branch probably really appreciates someone else speaking in sacrament rather than them again :)

anyway....I love you!!! Have a good week!

con amor,

Hermana Ross

Week 42

Merry Christmas again!
I just didn't want yesterday to end. It was such a GREAT day. Which is fitting...because it was christmas! Between Fulgencio giving us peanut butter, Dima and Rossi crying in church, our missionary christmas party at Josefina's and calling home...I was in heaven. Also, Hna Capener got Reese's for Christmas. That was a good time too.

It was SO good to see you guys and talk to you! Although I don't really even remember what it was we talked about...I guess that isn't the point. It was just good to hear your voices. I wish I could have talked to Curtis and Whitney too...but I at least got to see Caden for a bit :) and I got to see his cool new watch. haha It seems kind of unreal to call home...but way good. It looked like everyone is doing well...or at least you look how I did when I left you...and you looked good then...so all is well. haha and I loved seeing those two little babies! They are so cute. I hope they are always best friend cousins. Kind of like me and Lisa...but maybe cuter since they are babies. Luckily, right now until May is a lot shorter than it was from May until now. Plus my time is flyyyyingggg...NO BUENO.

So I don't think I've told you guys about this yet...but last month President Clegg gave each one of us a book of mormon (and it even had our names on it! it was great) and asked us to read it while marking everytime Christ is mentioned. So, as a mission, we read the book of mormon together in one month. I finished mine last wednesday...just before the deadline! haha but it was the first time I had read it so fast...and so focused on the Savior. I loved it. The best part about finishing is that we can start back over! The Book of Mormon is true!

And, yes, I am a rather happy camper. I love being a missionary. I love it SO much!!

Well, short email...but I feel like I just talked to you. Happy New Year! We are going to be eating a lot of times this saturday too...sheesh.

I love you!!!

con amor,

Hermana Ross

Week 41

Hi Dad!

I'm so excited to talk to all of you next week!!! It will be so nice to see you.

I definitely don't have the address of where we will be. sorry. but I do know yours. And I am planning on calling at 6 our time in spain. Sounds like you have lots of crazy traveling and work right now! Luckily you will get to go home this week.

So this week was crazy, full of changes and things. Hermana Woodward left on tuesday morning....but Hna Capener didn't come in until tuesday night. Obviously, just one hermana misionera in Murcia just can't be. SO...I got to go to Cartegena! Really it is only 40 minutes away but it was super fun...I just spent the whole day with the hermanas there going to their citas and district meeting and such. Cartegena is a beach city and super pretty. It was weird not being in my own area though...I could totally feel that it wasn't under my stewardship. That may seem like a really missionary thing to say...but i'm a missionary. and it's true :) I'm supposed to be in Murcia right now. So coming back was just as fun as going! I got off the bus here just a few minutes before Hna capener tuesday night. I am so excited to have her here!!! I love hna capener! She is super fun...we have a lot in common and get along so well. She only has two transfers left....which is crazy but it is also nice to be with someone who has more experience than me.

Anyway, wednesday transfers were still going on so an hermana from Torrevieja had to come to Murcia to spend the day with us! So I had a great couple of days being in a trio again :) we just enjoyed it and kept working!

Yesterday, Dima and Rossi (our bulgarian investigators) came to church finally! But the schedule was all changed around so our meetings were in the afternoon, at 5 (because the other ward had ward conference...they needed the whole builing all morning? classic.) So everything was a mess. Not to mention they don't speak or understand spanish incredibly well. I was so worried the wholllllle time. And it was the primary presentation in sacrament meeting...haha oh jeez. They aren't like the ones in the states. I've never heard a more off key primary...hahaha it was so funny. But, through it all...they still loved it! It probably helped that they had no preconceived notions of what it should be like....you guys would have thought that sacrament meeting was a hoot :) also maybe it does help that they don't understand everything. and...they had studied with the testigos de jehovah for a year in bulgaria (jehovahs witnesses) so maybe they just loved that we like to party. Either way, Dima was writing down the schedule for christmas so they could come next week and they were just so happy to be there! It was like a miracle!! haha I love them. Also, Rossi has totally quit smoking and they are super excited for their baptism :) they have even been asking us about what they need to wear :)

This week we are going to try to pass by all of our members houses. It will be fun! I'm making enough snickerdoodles to feed all of africa. Snickerdoodles are a new concept for spain.

Well...MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love you!!!!!!
talk to ya sunday :)

con amor,

hermana ross

Week 40 - The halfway point!

Hey fambam

yeah...I'm insanely aware of my halfway point this week. not a fan.

it goes by too fast!

so big news this week. we have transfers tomorrow! but I get to stay put :) phew.

hna woodward is leaving though...she is going to jerez (close to cadiz for anyone who knows spain geography...which i'm guessing isn't many haha) I am sad to see her go. We had a way great time together. But the good news is that Hna Capener is coming! yay! I know her from the hermanas conference over the summer and she is super great and funny. and a byu-i girl...so obviously we are going to get along :)

I have to say too that I sooooo don't envy Hna woodward right now. This was her first area so it has been hard to say bye. that is just the worst. I'm so grateful to be in Murcia a little longer....i loooove it here! I love our ward and we have a fun christmas ahead of us.

last wednesday we went to lorca for a zone meeting. If you remember, Lorca is where that huge earthquake was earlier this year. I didn't really think about seeing the damage from it but....boy was I surprised. The capilla (church) is totally unusable. We went there for our meeting...but the branch there meets in a hotel because their church got trashed. It was so crazy. There was debris everywhere and huge cracks and holes in the wall. The primary room still had a poster of the 13 articles of faith up...but the ceiling was caved in. And there were a lot of buildings and stores that had major damage too. welcome to the last days!

also, fun fact about murcia :) Murcia is a big citrus growing place (pretty sure there is a word for that but I can't remember) anyway, there are lemons and oranges EVERYWHERE. we have lemons coming out of our ears because everyone gives them to us. (speaking of oranges, I have a cold. it's terrible. but could be worse) and even on the streets there are tons of trees lining the roads and in parks and things...just like any other city in the world...but these trees are orange trees! They are all over the place. I've never seen anything like it.

So last year, the missionaries of our mission set a goal to get at least 300 baptisms this year. I don't know about other missions, but for the history of the span málaga mission, that is HUGE. This mission has never even come close to it. Especially for how small the mission is and how young all the missionaries are. But, we did it! We all have been praying for this goal every day for a long time! and guess who was the 300th baptism? PEDRO! yay!! :) so now we will have well over 300 baptisms for the year...it is pretty exciting! We are seeing lots and lots of miracles.

Pedro is doing super great still. Yesterday he got confirmed, received the priesthood, and got a calling (ward missionry) all within like an hour of each other :) haha it was great. The picture is of us after church yesterday. he's really somethin.

Also, we had a ward baptism on saturday...an 8 year old boy in our ward. He was so cute. After his baptism he bore his testimony and while crying his eyes out, said that he knows the church is true because he prayed about it and has felt the holy ghost :) I cried too. It is amazing the faith that the little kids have...way more than many adults! They just get so underestimated. Anyway, it was wonderful. Heavenly Father answers prayers.

Sounds like everyone had fun taking family pictures...about as much fun as we usually have. bahaha

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAXEN!!!! i love you!!!

Have a good week! Good luck in st louis dad! And that time should be fine to call...I'll get an hour to talk.

I love you family!!!

con amor,

Hna ross

p.s. if anyone wants to send candy canes....that would be cool. but if not, don't sweat it. They just don't have them here and it would be fun to give them to people.

Week 39

Ohhh what a week!

so, as you saw on the blog...Pedro got baptized!

First investigator of my life to move their baptism date FORWARD!

actually, my first investigator ever to get baptized. Let's just say I'm a happy camper.

Ok, so what happened was his original date was for this next weekend...but he was flying through the lessons! Like, really flying. I've never met anyone like Pedro in my entire life. Anyway, on thursday night we went to pick him up and were walking to our Bishop's house to teach a lesson and he said, "Hermanas, I wan't to get baptized this saturday." I laughed. That really was my reaction. I just laughed and was like oh good I'm glad you are so excited to get baptized. But, turns out he was serious. He said that the Lord told him that he need to get baptized this weekend. Hey, I can't argue with that! Although I did pray about it. Because we have only known Pedro for 2 weeks! That's crazy!! But it felt good...so we just went for it! But we told him the soonest we would be able to get everything together was sunday. So our weekend was a roller coaster of preparing for the baptism. By thursday night we had taught all of the lessons...except all of the commandments. No biggie :) haha so on friday we taught him the 10 commandments, keeping the sabbath day holy, law of chastity, word of wisdom and tithing...all in one lesson. Listen, for anyone who has served a mission (or anyone who hasn't for that matter) you will know that is insane! You just don't do that! But we did. and he loved it. He ate it up and then testified of it after. amazing. A person doesn't get any more prepared than that.

Of course, lots of things went wrong...and I had a constant stress headache all weekend. But that is just because satan fights baptisms, especially with people like pedro...he fights so hard. Not to mention, our musical number was a disaster. haha but it's fine. (it was me, hna woodward who is sick and two elders...ha. so much talent.)

Last night was the baptism and tonssss of people came! It was like a party! The ward is getting so excited about missionary work because of Pedro. He is such a miracle for Murcia. Not to mention, he is young, single, spanish and rather good looking. So is is a one of a kind type of baptism :) Lots of young girls in the ward came too :) hahaha

Anyway, I just don't have the words to describe the day we had yesterday. It was a happy time. I'm so grateful to be here and to be a part of miracles like this. God is a God of miracles. His miracles have not ceased! But isn't it amazing...this miracle came through a MEMBER! It's so simple.

Basically, the church is true. The Book of Mormon is true. I love the Lord. I love being a missionary. Iz tha best.

I love you family!!! I almost get to talk to you really soon!!! yayyyy! Plus we already have a member's home that has offered us skype christmas day. I just need to know what time you guys will want to do it so I can tell them at some point. It is starting to get cold here...it isn't windy like vegas...but it is humid cold.

Well I love you again! Have a good week!

con amor,

Hermana Ross

p.s. here is hna woodward and I with pedro and then us after the baptism doing a thumbs up...it all worked out!

Week 38

Seriously...so many things happened this week. So many GREAT things. In fact, I had some of the most spiritual experiences that I have had in my entire life this past week. How will I ever be able to describe it through an email?

So, last week we didn't end up going to the mexican restaurant because the elders knew of an american one. It was the first hamburger I have had in a really long time. But it was fun :) after that we all went back to the church to play ping pong. Happy Thanksgiving! haha

On actual thanksgiving day we didn't end up eating with that one family...I think she kind of forgot and has been asking to come on tuesdays instead. Anyway, we didn't eat with anyone that actually knew that it was thanksgiving. But, we ate with 3 different people! haha It was like cita after cita...every house we would go to we were eating food. I thought we would die. Pretty classic thanksgiving in that sense I guess :) Plus the day before thanksgiving and the day of we had a TON of citas!!! It was such a blessing. I essentially decided that it was because of all of the extra prayers during the holidays. So, at the end of thursday I was thinking about thanksgiving and how all of you guys were eating and celebrating and things...and realized we didn't do anything super thanksgiving-y that day...but there was still a lot to be thankful for. It was a good day on the mish. And hna woodward took this thanksgiving picture for our beloved padres :) do you like the turkey hna woodward made? haha

Something awwwwesome that happened this weekend was that hna millán came! Remember her? Maybe, maybe not. Well Hna Millán was my trainer. She is spanish so she only lives like an hour or so from here...maybe a little more. (she is home from the mission) Anyway, there was a stake YW activity so she came down for it and called our phone on saturday saying she was in the church!! I about peed my pants with excitement! It was so fun to see her!! It was a good tender mercy for the week :) I wasn't sure I would ever see her again...but turns out she is going to byu in march so I guess it won't be the last time either :) But when I told her I am half way through already she said, what? you just got here yesterday! haha But it was a good opportunity to think back to my first transfer...and what I have learned.

ALSO we have really cool investigators :) remember how I told you about the bulgarian couple we are teaching? Well...they are sooooo great! Last night they basically taught US lesson 3! haha it was so much fun. We show up to their house and they have read everything we asked them to and marked all of the things they liked :) and they will say, this is so important. and start reading the book of mormon in bulgarian while we follow along in spanish :) they make me SO happy I can hardly stand it. It is so much easier to teach people who are humble. I told them that we are going to make a plan for them to prepare for baptism...and they were so happy! they are greatttttt

ALSO we have a miracle investigator right now. He is spanish! and 25 and doesn't drink or smoke or drink coffee, his favorite book of mormon character is moroni, and he already knows that the book of mormon and the church are true. and we just met him last monday!! He was so prepared. Every lesson we have with him blows my mind because of how quickly he learns...and how much the Lord has prepared him for this. For example, when we taught him about the restauracion (lesson 1) he explained prophets perfectly and understood the apostasy (not common in spaniards) and he was so excited about it. We asked him to kneel down in the moment after we had taught about Jose Smith to pray and know if it is true. So he did it. And he got an answer, right there, in front of us. It was incredible. Then later when I asked when we could see him again he said, "Well, tomorrow?" And that made me cry. I love teaching people who recgonize the truth so fast. His name is Pedro Cesar. I never know whether I should call him Pedro or Cesar so I tend to flip between the two. It's kind of weird. Anyway, Pedro is what everyone told me before the mish that just doesn't happen in spain. but it sooo does!!!

Welp. Just another random email.

What time do you guys get my emails? We go to a computer/internet place to write our emails.

I love you!!! I'm glad you had a good thanksgiving. I don't miss black friday that much.

have a good week!!!

con amor,

hna ross

Week 37

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Definitely the time of year when I think of my family the most!

I hope you all have a good thanksgiving and black friday :)

One of the elders told me he wants to buy something crazy friday just for the sake of it being black friday...haha oh jeez.

Today we are celebrating Thanksgiving as a district...we were going to make a big dinner for each other and eat it at the church...but the elders had voluteered to do the turkey. They called last night asking us if we know how to make a turkey. hahaha I don't think they even sell turkeys like that here. So then they called us again this morning and said, "we have a new idea. How do you feel about burger king?" Obviously I said Heck NO. But that we should go to a mexican restaurant instead so we will feel like we are back at home. haha they liked that idea. But, mexican restaurants are extremely rare here. Mexicans are extremely rare here. It should be fun though! Here there are 4 elders and three of them are from america. The other one is from spain...so I don't think he gets the mexican restaurant joke...haha but that's ok. we still love him.

I'm glad everyone liked the story about my surprise boyfriend :) We visited Josefa again this week and it was equally full of good times. She told us that she always had lots of boyfriends when she was young. And when I asked if she had more than one at a time she said yes :) so I told her about mom. hahaha and the picture I attached is of us and Josefa. She is just a real gem. LOVE it

Also we had zone conference this week and it was the BOMB! Pretty sure I have the best mission president in the world. No, definitely sure. I always just learn so much. And it makes me excited to be a missionary! We are reading the Book of Mormon in a month. All together as a mission :)

So we have a message that we have been sharing with our members recently about Jesus...so I am going to share it with you guys. It kind of fits in with the story that dad told me about caden. (It's no wonder we are told to be like little children)

Isaiah 41:10, 13 says,

10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

13 For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

and in the last conference in april, Elaine S. Dalton said this to the YW,

"Your course is marked, and you can be assured that the Savior has not only walked the course but will agian walk it with you - every step of the way."

Christ lives! He knows us all perfectly and loves us all perfectly. He understands and has felt every pain we have felt. He loves us so much that He is willing to carry us through it again. But, we have to let Him first. We come to know the Savior through the scriptures and exercising our faith in Him. He will bless us. I know it! I know it because I have felt it. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and for the inexpicable love that he gives. I'm grateful for my family...for parents who taught me to trust in the Lord and for my older brother and sisters who have shown me how. I love you!!!

con amor,

Hermana Ross

Week 36

I can hardly handle how cute all of my sobrinos are these days. my goodness.

So first of all, let me tell you about this picture. We teach an english class every wednesday night. Here, all of the missionaries teach english. So normally, the elders in the other ward teach the advanced class and hna woodward and I teach the basic class. And we have been getting some regular english class comers that are super great and that I really want to teach the gospel too as well...anyway. Lately, the elders haven't been able to come to their class so hna woodward goes to teach their class while I do ours. (teaching alone is extremely weird) and this last week I started out the class with a piece of chalk the size of a pea. ha. but I had no choice to use it and keep going because I have to be able to write on the board to explain things and answer people's questions. But by the time I was done the piece of chalk was smaller than a grain of rice and I was still trying to write with it. I had no choice! One of our students said he is going to bring me chalk this week. haha but when hna woodward came in and saw what I had been doing she laughed at me. a lot. and so we took a picture. :) maybe you had to be there.

Also, ash told me about her language barrier adventures :) hahaha totally understand. I am happy to hear that you at least caught the word abogado though. But I have interesting language barrier experiences too...for example yesterday we started teaching a bulgarian matrimonio. But they are so great! They don't speak spanish very well, and neither do we for that matter...so there was like a triple language barrier...but they understand the spirit! I love them already. We are just going to have to throw out all of their jehovah's witness pamphlets :)

so Luis is still progressing quite nicely and going strong. We'll be having a baptism within the next few weeks and I am so excited!!!!

Another funny thing that happened recently was with our dear little menos activo friend who is actually pretty active...she just has a hard time with a certain commandment. Her name is Josefa and we visit her about once a week and love her to pieces. Sometimes when we eat with her and she says the prayer she will pray for us to get married one day. It really is thoughtful of her haha but this last time she prayed that we could go home and there would be a surprise boyfriend for us...hahaha I about peed my pants during her prayer. She's just lookin out for us :) maybe we'll both have surprise boyfriends just because of the faith of Josefa. what a woman. also, she told us that her favorite things to do are read and preach the gospel :) haha I just love these people. Sometime I'll send a picture of Josefa. She's a real gem.

So...this may be the most random email of my life...but ya know. It happens. I am loving Murcia, being a missionary and Hna Woodward. We have zone conference this week and I can't wait to here what president and the spirit have to say to us! The church is true. God lives. I know that when we read the Book of Mormon everyday...our lives change, we can recognize the hand of the Lord in our lives and we recieve answers to our prayers.

I love you family and I miss you!!!!

olé.

con amor,

hna ross

Week 35

Goodbye car.

That's ok. It was it's time. I'm glad to hear though that you are making the jeep even more chulo. haha speaking of chulo...I looooooved Adam's and Ashlynn's costumes!!! So awesome! She looks so cute in her pictures :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Natalie!!! I love you!!

Well our Noche de Hogar (fhe) that we had on halloween was a total success. We were so happy and everyone had a blast! I love this place.

So we had a super crazy experience this weekend. One of our investigators is Maricarmen...she is a friend of a member, spanish and catholic. Anyway, we have been trying to get her to church or do anything for that matter...and last week we agreed to go to mass with her saturday night and then she would come to church with us sunday morning (obviously this isn't something we do often...or ever really. I have been offered it before but it just seemed like a good idea with Maricarmen) The whole week leading up to it I kept feeling like we needed to bring a member with us. It just felt necessary. But, her member friend, Josefina was in Madrid. So we had to ask someone else....and it is a rather odd request to get from the sister missionaries, "hey so....would you be able to go to mass with us this saturday?" What? Anyway, we asked one of our most favorite members, Paula. Ok, so us, Paula and Maricarmen all meet up and start walking to the church which happens to be called Santa Maria Madre de la Iglesia...haha...awesome. And Maricarmen explains that her mass isn't the general mass, it is like a neighborhood other kind of mass? I had no clue what that meant. But we were there early so we sat in the back at the end of the regular mass and watched. I had been to a catholic funeral over the summer if you remember...and it felt the same. Empty. But I was watching all of the people there and thinking about how this is all they know...so for them, to come to church and just feel nothing (instead of stress, etc.) must be really nice. BUt, they have no idea that they can go to church every sunday and be FILLED! With joy and the spirit and love and all kinds of good things! Too bad it would have been totally inappropriate to go contacting :)

Alright, so it was time for the other mass...but it was in another room that was a LOT smaller and weirder. They had two rows of chairs all in a circle and this overwhelming mural thing of who knows what. It felt weird. There is no other word to describe it. Anyway, Maricarmen introduces us and it is obvious that we aren't super welcome (and the three of us were way past ready to leave) then one man asks us if our church is a roman catholic church. I thought that was a rather silly question. No. So then he said, oh but obviously you still believe in our head, the Pope. (obviously not) I couldn't lie of course...and I couldn't not answer. So...I looked at him and said, no. we don't believe in the Pope. But we do have a prophet. (I wish I would have said that Jesus Christ is the head of our church but...too late now) He got midly flustered. I wasn't trying to offend anyone. Anyway, some lady who was setting up flowers went off on some rant about the trinity and the virgen for a few seconds. They were some of the most uncomfortable minutes of my life sitting in there. Then that man came back and asked if we could come out and talk for a second. To make a really long story a lot shorter, they asked us to leave. They said that we needed preparation to enter into this type of mass....and said that there are some things that you just can't mix. He asked maricarmen to show us the way out. He was pretty rude. But, the three of us were relieved to not be in there anymore. We were soooo grateful to have Paula there. It was nice to have support. Not to mention she has a lot better spanish than we do :) Paula kept saying afterwards, Hermanas, God saved us! ha. and she is right :) Maricarmen didn't really know what to say...and felt bad. But it wasn't a big deal. In fact, Hna Woodward, Paula and I feel like it only strenthened our testimonies of the restored church of Jesus Christ. Especially after a fast and testimony meeting the next morning where I felt the spirit. I felt hope, peace and happiness :) It might seem kind of crazy, but I really feel like that moment was like a milestone for my testimony. I saw first hand the difference of a church led and established by men and the true church of God. I FELT the difference. I don't want this story to sound like me bagging on any other church...that isn't what I mean. I just KNOW that ours is the church of Jesus Christ! Literally!! It's so cool! We aren't trying to recreate His church. We have it!!! whoa! I love it.

Essentially, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church. I'm so happy to be a member of it. We have a living prophet and alllll of the truth! yay!!! :)

Well I love you family!!!

Oh, side note, in our english class this week I showed pictures of our family and one of the guys in our class, oscar, told me that mom looks like she could be my sister :) Everyone comments on how young and pretty mom is :)

Have a good week!

con amor,

hna ross