Week 57

For those of you who are interested, Sister Ross will be released on August 23.

Buenas.

Jolin.

there are lots of things to talk about!

I can't wait to see caden play baseball! what a cutie.

So, this week we will get transfer calls. I don't even know what to think. I've been here for almost 8 months....which is a realllly long time. But I don't want to leave Murcia ever...or Hermana Nelson. But, I would like to have more than two areas on my mission as well...ha. Who knows. I'll do whatever the Lord asks.

Last week, we went to cartagena to go see a castle...and run around. It was fun. But I liked today better. In the morning we went to the Royal Casino of Murcia :) it isn't a casino like the kind in vegas. But it is really pretty and old and has cool art and stuff. Loved it. I think Hermana Nelson mainly just went in because she loves me...and knew that I wanted to....but ended up liking it as well :) then we played district basketball and it was SO fun! I might have gotten sunburned though. story of my life. but, considering I'm one of the short people in the district, our district is pretty good at bball. it was a blast.

i think it's funny that spain is a soccer country...and I've mainly only played basketball. haha

Friday, was me and hermana Nelson's half-birthday (among other anniversaries and birthdays) so we celebrated. a lot. this is a picture of us getting churros y chocolate. yum! and we ate with Shirley (one of our favorite ecuatorian members) and we found out that her birthday is october 6 too!!! hahaha what a small world. so I sent a picture of that too. she sang a song for us and played the guitar for us. we loved it :) I'll just have to show you the video when I go home.

Also, this last week was la semana santa. Not going to lie....I'm mildly disappointed because I've been looking forward to this week all year...but hardly got to see the processions. Mainly because I was always worried more about our lessons and things...but still. anyway, all week there was a TON of people sitting on the side of the street watching processions. Like, giant parades everyday. It made catching the bus really complicated. They have a procession for each step that happened in the last week of the life of Jesus. The procession on friday night they all wear black...and then there isn't another one until the morning of the ressurrection on sunday. But, it was cool to see all of the people dressed in the costumes of the nazarenos everywhere. Even the little kids dress up as nazarenos. If you want to know what I'm talking about...just look at what Hermana Clegg put up on the mission blog....or google it. :)

this week is the festivals of spring...from what I've heard....we'll just be seening a lot of drunk people :) que bien.

We experienced some really cool miracles with our investigators this week. One of the coolest of my mission. Too sacred to share even. I just feel sooo grateful to be a missionary. I love it so much. everyday.

there are more miracles to come :)

Easter was so great. Every talk and class in church yesterday was about Christ. I spent the weekend as well focused more on christ in my studies. It's just so incredible.

I know Christ lives. I know that he not only suffered for us...but He lived for us. And, because of that we can live again. But also, we can draw upon His strength and His power EVERY SINGLE DAY and in every moment. He didn't just die for our sins. But He suffered so that we can be better and more like Him.

The gospel is a beautiful thing.

I love you!!!

Hermanica Ross

Week 56

Alright, don't feel bad about last week. It really wasn't even that big of a deal...at all. I wasn't devastated or anything (especially since I got an AWESOME easter package this week!!) but I will admit that it was nice to get so many emails this week :) I sure do love you guys. But it sounds like it was fun and crazy being all at grandma's this weekend. For us, with easter starting it means a lot of crazy around here as well. It means that semana santa has already started! There are huge processions (i don't spell anymore) everyday. I'll have to send a picture of one next week....but they are going to get pretty crazy. I'll give details on that next week because this week there are more important things....like how yesterday was the BEST DAY EVER!

because Lucia got baptized! and for other reasons too. but let's back up a step because last week when I emailed you Lucia didn't even have a fecha! (a baptismal date)

also, Lucia is the woman that I told you guys back a few weeks ago...that gave up smoking. Anyway, last monday night we had a noche de hogar (familiy night) with a family in our ward and Lucia. (the family is Nery and Araceli...in one of the pictures, Nery is wearing white bc he baptized her and his wife is standing next to him.) and we shared a message about the brother of Jared and how they waited on the seashore for 4 years. But it was awesome because we taught it as a little bit of a discussion but at one point when Lucia was talking, Nery just turned to her and said, "don't you realize that this is what you are doing?" and then he told her that she needed to get baptized now. as in this weekend. so that's what she did, Right there we set the baptism for sunday morning before conference. haha can you believe that?? talk about miracle baptisms. I loved it. It was perfect. She had absloutely NOTHING holding her back and was sooooo ready. It was time to be washed clean and sanctified through the Holy Ghost. Plus, after everything she has given up, she needed the gift of the Holy Ghost to help her.

Anyway, the next day, someone called her to give her a job. So the blessings are already pouring in. Her baptism was soooo powerful. It was incredible. I don't think I stopped crying the whole time. which....considering I was one of the talks and the musical number....makes things a little interesting...but it was fine. haha It was just such a happy day. She got the holy ghost the same day too. But the difference was immediate. you could just see it in her eyes afterwards. She looked relieved and new!

sin is a burden.

and I love it because I have no doubt that Lucia is going to be faithful to the end. Araceli is already talking about how she is excited that Lucia is finally a member so she can give her a calling in the relief society. haha Lucia is going to be a powerhouse member. I LOVE IT!!!!

so the baptism alone would have made it the best day ever...but then it was followed with an entire day of conference right afterwards. So so so so wonderful!! Not to mention, I got to see all of our members and Dima and Rosi. There is just nothing better.

But, on saturday evening (your saturday morning session) they couldn't get the english one to work...so we had to watch it in spanish. even after a year of speaking spanish I still hardly got anything. Poor hna nelson. we were all so sad we couldn't watch it in english. it just isn't the same as when it is in your own language and you can hear their real voices! Plus, all of the translator people had weird accents. Can we get some spaniard translators up in here? haha Lo bueno es que yesterday...we got to watch it all in english! hooray!!! and I got to watch priesthood again :) I loved the themes that I noticed. Like mercy and forgiveness. Our doctrine is Christ. The church is SOOOO true! and i'm so grateful for it in my life. Living a righteous, gospel guided life is the only happy way to live.

also this past week there was a spain wide strike. it was buck wild crazy. except I thought so but when i told our investigator from ecuador that i've never seen a strike like that she was just like, uhh...try going to ecuador. haha goodness gracious. But, just seeing the people sitting in the road and the huge protest parade and stuff....ignited this little spark deep inside me that made me wish that I had a really nice camara and a newspaper to work for. it was crazy town. I probably shouldn't have taken pictures at all....but I couldn't resist. :)

Thank you for my package! I loved it!!! :) We are going to celebrate this week! :)

I LOVE YOU ALL!!

con amor,

hermanica ross

Week 55

Remember that time when no one emailed me? Grandma did though. Thanks grandma! :)

Welp...we're still just livin the life. Lovin Murcia.

Hermana Nelson is great! We are having a blast together. Everyone that sees us talks about how tall we are. yeah yeah....haha

So I am so excited for general conference!!! I feel like the last one wasn't all that long ago...but then I think about everything that has happened in the last 6 months. The weird thing though is that 6 months ago, I was in Murcia! I've been here for so long. haha but that's ok because I'm still enjoying it. It's just not very often that a missionary sees 2 general conferences in the same place! But I'm grateful to be here for it...because I will be able to watch it in english. Such a treat. We are encouraging everyone to go to conference and we are getting them PUMPED :) and inviting them to go to conference searching for answers. With questions in mind and written down. To recieve revelation from the Lord. What better opportunity will we have? These men are apostles of the Lord! It's so cool!!

I love it.

So does Dima :) we taught them (dima and rosi...our bulgarian converts) about conference yesterday and they are so excited. I love them because they are just so sincere. They can't wait to see the prophet...because they already know that he is called of God.

Ok....so this week I have pictures! The first one is my generation picture :) I mean...techincally I'm only like a 1/3 of Hermana Gibson's mom....but it's fine. (if you are confused, I was in a training trio with hermana sturgess to train hermana gibson, who is to my right, which makes me her mom in the mission. and this is her new greenie/daughter!) yay!

Then this is hermanas crowder and woofinden. The trio I was in while I was waiting for hermana nelson. We were making paella. yum.

last week we had a specialized training. I love every opportunity to see president and hermana Clegg. It was such a good one. That day it rained allll day and allll night. so much for straighting my hair. que va. speaking of hair, I cut it again a couple weeks ago.

Remember how a couple weeks ago I told you about that woman from english class? Well her name is Mari. She is the one that we found totally on accident one night (with my mini missionary) while we were looking for someone else. Anyway, we have been teaching her and her daughter Andrea and they are so great! They came to church yesterday and loved it. And the other day we had a lesson where Alberto asked them if they have ever had a spiritual experience. Mari said yes and told the story about that day when we found her house. She said that she had been having all of these problems and a hard week. and that day she had fought with her husband and was home alone crying all day....when we showed up :) she said for her it was like a sign from God that He loves her. It was cool to hear it from her side. The Lord is so amazing. Truly amazing. It's moments like that that make being a missionary the absolute best. I love it so much!

Good news: we ate with Josefa this week and she prayed for our boyfriends again. At this rate, I should have quite the pick when I go home :) bhahaha

and this week we ate at dominoes with the elders...and one of the pizzas had corn on it. Just because it is an american company doesn't mean it's american. Kind of like chinese food in america I think. haha it made me laugh. but it was actually pretty darn good too :)

oh...I just realized why no one wrote me. You were all in utah!! I hope it was fun!

Well family, I love you so much!

ole.

con amor,

hermana Ross

Week 54

Hi family!!

So...I forgot my camera. I had pictures I wanted to send of the week. But it will just have to wait till next monday!

Today is father's day in spain so...

Happy Father's Day!!! :)You can however, see photos of me and my new hija on the mission blog! (http://www.spainmalagamission.blogspot.com/ ) and then next week I will send better ones. This week was SO fun! I loved it. And I love Hermana Nelson :) She is such a champion!

Let me just give you the low down on how awesome my greenie is. She is from Provo (yes...the one that Grandma was talking about) She is 5'11''/6' tall. She plays basketball and is totally hilarious. And maybe the happiest person I have ever met. I for real have not seen the smile leave her face since we've been together. It's so great. She is super excited about everything...which is fun because I'm excited about everything too!! :) But here's the kicker...her birthday is October 6. yep. real story. we have the same birthday. We about peed our pants on the bus to Murcia when we figured that one out. Everyone that has seen us together is like, 'you're the same person!' hahaha man it is funny. we even have brown hair and similiar body types....it's weird. but we are having fun.

Plus, this is a great time to come into our mission...and Murcia. Our mission already has 91 baptisms this year! We are just breaking Málaga records. And, Murcia is the best place in the whole world :) I've already got hermana nelson running around all over the place with me. I missed Murcia while I was gone.

Last week...we spent p-day in cartagena. I got to see the beautiful port there on the ocean and one more day in cartagena and then we came back to Murcia for a couple more days. It was fun being in that little trio. We had some good adventures. On wednesday night, we had one of the best english classes of my life! we had 12 students there!! (normally we have like 5 on a really good day) and half of those 12 are investigators :) yessss. we played 'do you love your neighbor?' and it was hilarious. especially since none of them know english yet. But it was fun. one of our investigators, james, sounded like he was speaking chinese when he was saying 'do you love your neighbor?' hahaha oh I love my life.

Then we went to Málaga to spend the night in fuengirola at the mission home. always a treat! Hermana clegg made us american meals and we just learned a lot about how to be a good trainer. I was so nervous and excited to meet my new companion! With so much anticipation! But it was so fun! Hermana Nelson said that when all of us trainers walked in, she knew I would be her comp bc of how tall I am. haha awesome! So, we took pictures, ate burritos and then got BACK on the bus for another 5 hours. And it's been happily ever after :)

oh! also! something funny...is that hermana Gibson is training too....which makes me a grandma in the mission! haha yay! and hermana gibson's hija is from Murray! Hermana Petru.

oh and...no big deal...I just hit my YEAR MARK on thursday. The same day I picked up Hermana Nelson. So weird. I can hardly believe how fast time is flying. But...I plan on taking advantage of every second I have left!

Well fam...I love you so much!!!! Have fun with Gma and Gpa for easter! And good luck with your cancer dad :)

you are in my prayers

con muuuucho amor,

hermana ross

Week 53

that's so funny that they knew hna capener! haha I wonder who that was...

thank you for looking up the dates and stuff for school. I should be able to talk to president this week when I go to málaga this

I love getting news from ldsplan!!! :) yay curtis!! exito!

question...have you heard anything about drew fisher on his mission? is he doing ok? he just randomly came into my mind this week.

so this week has been crazy! and there is more to come!

first of all, something funny that happened today. I'm in Cartagena right now...and this morning we went to the police station to do residency stuff for one of my companions. We ended up standing in line by some people from England and so we started talking to them. But the thing is, even though I can speak english to my american comps...when we talk to strangers it is like spanish mode takes over. Anyway, we ask them where they are from and such and I told them that I live in Murcia. So of course they said, oh what part of Murcia? and I responded cleverly "umm...I live in like, the centro. By the station buses."

uh. bus station? they were so confused. so I apoligized and clarified. (bus station in spanish is estacion de autobuses)

jolin.

but the three of us left laughing pretty hard.

ALSO, last night, we went to the house of the mission leader here in mucia...and he had just been to the american base. He had a TON of american food. and had it all set up together so he could see our faces when we saw all of the reeses, root beer, ranch, goldfish, skittles, etc...we peed our pants. It wasn't even like I wanted to eat all of it either...it was just fun to see american things :)

speaking of which, i got to use a dryer to dry my clothes today...for the first time in almost a year. what a luxury.

alright, on to the more important things of my week.

tuesday morning I sent off La Hermana Capener. It was sad and I cried. And I've missed her bunches this week. but I got emails from her and hermana sturgess! :) it made my little day. turns out there was some mess while they were catching flights and such...and the two of them got a layover in the form of an overnight stay in paris...for free!! all on their way home. isn't that so cool? The Lord is happy with the work they did...and blessed them with a sweet vacation :) love it.

After putting hermana capener on the bus...i went to cartagena. I spent a couple days with hermanas crowder and woofinden following them around and going to citas and stuff. It has been fun! I've loved being in a trio again...and it is always cool to see a new area and meet new people. Then we went back to Murcia...and it was good to be home :) they followed ME around for a couple days and then went back to cartagena on saturday.

Obviously, I couldn't be alone...but I also wasn't willing to miss a sunday in Murcia. So, Estefania (the girls computer that I used to call home for christmas) was kind enough to be my "mini" missionary for a night. She is 19 and super cute and great. We had fun :) It was fun to have a native companion again. It's been awhile. and that night we were together, we even saw some cool miracles together...I didn't have any real cita planned so I was just going to do some contacting with her. I ended up trying to pass by a lady that we had contacted in the street last transfer...but that had given us a wrong phone number. So i was thinking...well, the address will probably be wrong too (if hermana capener is reading this...it is the Patricia lady on calle la seda!) but when we went and rang the doorbell...one of our english class students answered! and i've always wanted to teach her the gospel and not just english :) so we taught her. It was a lesson sent from heaven.

I love it when that happens.

Yesterday was a little weird at church....because I basically didn't have a companion. I was running around trying to do it all alone. I'm so glad I usually have a companion. I can't wait until this thursday when I can pick up my hija!!! But this time without a companion has been a good opportunity for the Lord to show me my weaknesses. I hope I can be a good trainer.

good news: Lucia is totally DONE with smoking!!!! :) she was so excited to tell me about it. she had even baked us an entire cake for us to put in my backpack and take home haha. She looks so happy. I love it. It was one of the happiest moments of my life at her house on thursday. The elders had a big 3 person baptism on saturday so she came and loved it. so now it is her turn! yay!!!

Well....that's all the time I have. I love you so much family!!!

Have a good week!

LOVE YOU

hermana ross

p.s. this is Hermana Crowder with the american food and the family of the mission leader and the other photo is with Estefania

Week 52

Hi dad!

don't worry about last week. I knew you were in the job fair...so it didn't even surprise me. no biggie :)

besides, todo el mundo emailed me today! that was fun!

man....i've got big news this week :) teehee

but first...birthday shout out to RACHEL!!!! YAY! happy birfday best friend!!!!

ok, so basically....hermana capener leaves tomorrow!! what? It is so crazy. Not going to lie...I am so sad. I love hermana capener. You know, sometimes you just get a companion that is just so great that it is like...easy. Never hard or weird or annoying. That is how it is with us. Same sense of humor, tons in common, working hard....it's just been a blast of three months with her. But now she is on to her life again. The really good thing is that she goes to BYUI so I know I will see her again...and I already have plans to live with her :) I love me some hermana capener.

and as far as what is going to happen to me...i'm training!! sweet! I'm SUPER excited about it. There are 5 american girls coming in. I don't know who my comp will be yet...president doesn't even know yet! haha but the really tricky part is that they don't get here until the 15th of march because they are visa waiting! So lets do the math, tomorrow is the 6th and hermana capener leaves in the morning and my comp doesn't come till the 15th...hmmm...so what does hermana ross do? Good question. Obviously I can't be alone...but there is a companionship of hermanas about 45 minutes away in Cartagena. And those two will be training in a trio at the same time as me. So for the next week, the three of us are going to be traveling back and forth from Murcia to Cartagena until our greenies come. That way, Murcia isn't unworked for a week...and I have people to stay with :) It is going to be pretty darn crazy. But super fun. Trios are a blast! and I love those two hermanas...so it will work out.

I'm so pumped for my daughter (aka greenie) to come though that I just want her to be here now!

I'm so glad I get to stay in Murcia. I've been here for 6 months! But it has gone by so fast! And i'm not ready to leave these people yet. Especially Dima and Rosi. Que va.

So, lucia update. She is a champion. A champion I tell you. She is doing well. The woman in planning her own baptism. At one point last week, we left her house and almost felt like...why are we even here? haha she progresses on her own. It's great. I LOVE this woman! But, we had an incredible cita with her on thursday. We invited Nery, a man from our ward that she is good friends with and we had the "this is it" cita. So she could put it behind her once and for all. She got a priesthood blessing over a year ago to quit smoking...but she didn't have her heart in it...she just didn't want to say no. Miracles work according to our faith. but this time, she was ready. It was so powerful. The spirit was so strong and the blessing that the Lord gave her was beautiful. One of the coolest experiences of my mission hands down. After the blessing...she just cried. Change is really hard. But she wants it so bad. And i'm so happy for her! She'll get baptized en seguida. :)

uhh...there was definitely something else. oh well.

OH

i remembered. School. dude. I don't know what to do about school yet. But...will you find out when it starts and stuff? I need to know so I can talk to president aobout the transfers and such. Also...will you ask the school what happens if I don't come back in the fall? Can I just extend my defferrment like that?

For the first time ever...I'm thinking about extending. BUt it is a pretty big decision. I know....I made that decision before I left so I wouldn't have to now...but things change. I don't know what I'll do. Maybe every missionary feels like this...but I would just do anything to have as much time as I can here. I love it soooo much.

it will be a pretty big fasting/praying deal for me. But I can 't do that till I know when school starts and what would happen and such.

got to go.

i love you family!!!!!

hermana ross

Week 51

Hi fam bam!

So what is the update on whitney's dad? I've only gotten very vague update's from mom and grandma. Maybe because no one really knows yet?

How is miami dad?

Remember that time when this is going to be Hermana Capener's last week in the mission? yeah. SO crazy. It's just weird. THis transfer has just FLOWN by! Every transfer seems to go faster than the last.

We are going to work our butts off this week so it will be a good one though :) Unfortunately, we won't have another baptism before she goes...we have been working for it...but it just isn't the Lord's time.

Not going to lie, I don't envy Hermana Capener only having a week left. I'm so glad I have more time to apply the things that I am learning...I guess she will too...just not as a full time missionary :)

But it also means that something will be happening to me next week. I will be at least getting a new companion...but I don't know yet! AH! sometimes it kills me.

Well, just a side comment, we heard about Whitney Houston. Yes...I realize I'm late in commeting...but I forgot about it last week. ha. We were so sad when we found out though. But it did make me laugh just a little because everyone we talked to that day wanted to talk about her because they knew we are american. It is interesting trying to turn a conversation from Whitney Houston into Jesus Christ.

Have I told you about Lucia? Lucia is our favorite investigator right now. She is a hoot! She has actually been an eternagator for quite sometime (eternal investigator) because she comes to church every week, reads the scriptures, knows it is all true...just isn't baptized yet. We weren't teaching her because she was living with someone...and we didn't want to get into it. A few weeks ago...everything changed. They seperated and she wants to keep the commandments! yay! So now, she could basically get baptized tomorrow...but she just has ONE cigarette a day holding her back. ONE. just one. But we have had some really good citas with her. She is so close. It is interesting how strong that addiction is. Or any addiction for that matter. It is such a burden.

But, when someone knows the truth...and understands the commandments. And actually, even people who don't know them...can't be truly happy until they are kept. She wants SO badly to be a member...because she can feel it weighing her down. But one cigarette? Doesn't that just seem ridiculous? But it is such a struggle.

I've been studying it and thinking about it a lot lately, Obviously, this addiction is all in her head. It is just a matter of changing her own mind. That is something as a missionary...we learn a lot about. That is the only thing that God can't change. Our mind. He can change anything in our physical surroundings. But our nature is our choice. He can give us promptings though the spirit. But because he can't interfere with agency...he can't change it. We have to change it. When we do, we are happier. I study this a lot when it comes to missionary work...giving your heart and mind to the Lord as well as your actions. But it applies to all of life as well.

Maybe sometimes we just hold onto a sin...like one cigarrette a day...because we secretly like it. We just have to change our mind and do it...because it is the only way to be more like Him. And, it will be hard, like it is for Lucia. She is struggling so bad...but if there was nothing hard, there would be no opportunity to choose the right. And we would have no need to rely on the atonement.

I hope this is making some sense. I feel a little scatterbrained today.

Well, I'll let you know what the news is next week.

I love you!!!

I hope whitney's dad can get better soon. He is in my prayers. Along with the rest of you :)

con amor,

Hermana Ross

p.s. buddha?

week 50

Well, in case you were wondering, Valentine's day was the best!!! :) We had a bomb zone conference...so I ended the day feeling uplifted and loved. perfect.

It really was an extraordinarily awesome zone conference though. Sometimes I wonder if it is because the zone conferences are getting better, the mission is getting better, or I am just getting older in the mission and understanding how to apply the things more. Maybe it is a little bit of everything. But I'm always so grateful for the correction and advice we receive.

Then, on tuesday night Hermana Capener and I made heart cookies really fast before we went to bed...just because :)

This week has been crazy busy. But that's a good thing. We've been teaching a lot. And running everywhere. A lot of the time even the buses won't get us places fast enough. So it also means that we are way tired. haha

This week we had one of the most intense citas of my life! It was with Alberto's mom. She isn't a member but she comes to church every sunday and has had hermanas coming to her house for a booty long time. Way too long. Anyway, we had a lesson with her on thursday to tell her that she needs to get baptized. But...we did it well. Not that we are crazy cool teachers or anything...because we totally aren't. The Lord just helped us out a lot. It actually is a really cool experience when this happens. We knew we would have this lesson this week. I was pretty nervous about it. I love Alba and I wanted it to go well. So, we had been praying for her, as always...and I had been studying for her all week. I can hardly study the scriptures with out her coming to mind. And we have been asking Alberto for advice. Anyway, after brainstorming all week and still not knowing how we should teach her, on thursday morning I prayed SO hard that we could know what to do. And as I began my studies...it was like everything just starting flowing into my brain. It almost felt like out of nowhere. But I know that it was from the Lord, through the spirit. He loves her too...and didn't want us to mess it up :) But really, it was 'pure intelligence' that I got from the spirit. so cool. And the best part was, when we got to companionship study, the things that I had and what Hermana Capener had....all fit perfectly together! :)

I love the gospel.

The cita went well because we were prepared and guided. And because we had a super woman member with us to bear testimony.

I hope we can set a date with her this week...

Pride is a huge stumbling block.

Ummm...I can't remember what else I had to say.

On saturday, we had a cosecha ('harvest') Where we invite other missionaries and all of the members to come out and do contacts in the street with us. It was stressful getting it all together...but it turned out so well! It was so much fun too because we had 6 elders come from other cities...the more the merrier! We got a ton of futures and it was a good experience for the members too. On of the couples that came was a family that we had asked references from just a few days earlier...and they kind of complained about it. Then they came, tried street contacting, experienced how hard it can be sometimes....and learned that it is easier to share the gospel with someone you already know. :) yes!

But we had a blast.

Then later that day, we had a ward baptism of two little kids. They asked us to turn on the baptism font for it...and I did it....but....forgot to plug it!! NOOO!!! baptism disaster.

we came back to the church later just before the baptism was going to start to find the bishop, Alberto and the elders with buckets filling up the font. It was totally my fault. Classic ditz move. But, the elders made me feel better and said that every missionary has to have a least one experience like that...sheesh. Every baptism has it's crazy. It's kind of like a wedding :) If it isn't the water...than it is the underwear, or the speakers, or something. anyway, we filled it up with buckets and everything worked out. hahaha now...it's really funny.

Well...I LOVE YOU!!!!

I will be praying for you extra hard this week.

con amor,

hermana ross

Week 49

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!! :) :) :)

umm...it's only my favorite holiday tomorrow. No big deal. I'm pretty excited about it. I bought a black and white heart scarf and we are going to play games with the elders today...maybe make heart shaped things to eat and cut out hearts from construction paper :)

They don't make valentines cards here like they do in the states in elementary school. It's mainly just something for couples. How silly. So essentially, a huge ward party where everyone gets a brown paper sack to decorate and we make each other valentines...probably would have been weird for them. But I would have loved it! jajaja

BUT tomorrow is zone conference! So that will be fun.

Also, just some clarification...that picture from last week is our ward mission leader, Alberto. Who just got of his mission (he served in Málaga too) He's great.

This week has been so cold again. It's so crazy. But, I just think about how much colder Rexburg would be...and suddenly I'm warm. I'm happy to be in Spain.

We had an AWESOME week!!! And because of that, we have a super busy week ahead of us! yay!!! I know numbers aren't everything...but they are a part of our daily life. So it's just so nice to have good numbers. For example, we got 14 references this week! That is just unheard of in my life as a missionary. Such a huge blessing. The miracles have just been falling out of the sky!

This week we set a baptismal date with one of our investigators, Pactora. She is just a cute, tiny, old spanish woman who is great. She came to church yesterday and loved it! I don't think she understood it all...but I think she just loved feeling like a part of everything. And she just soaks up the good feelings of the spirit when she is with us. We love her!

Also, Rosi comes back from Bulgaria this week (he was in Bulgaria for a month!) and we are so excited!!

This week we saw the movie 17 miracles...have you seen it? It will change your life.

ok...actually, I don't have any time to write about it...or anything else....

but, it's wonderful. The church is true. I'm loving life. and valentine's day.

I love you so much family!!!

you are the best!!

con amor,

Hermana ross

Week 48

So...only one week until valentine's day!! Who's excited? I know I am.

It has been SO COLD here! It wasn't crazy cold at all this winter until just this last week. We are frozen.

Remember how last week I raved about Alberto being home from his mission and how now he is our ward mission leader? Well, it is still the best thing ever to happen in our lives. For real. Here is a picture of us and our beloved ward mission leader. He has been spending his time studying the scripture and visiting the less active members...he's a saint.haha but we love it.

To give a little perspective on how small he is, I am 5'10" and Hermana Capener is 5'5". And his mom (Alba) is our investigator...and is even smaller. haha it's crazy. Hermana Capener always laughs at me when I have to give Alba besos. (besos=kisses...that is how they greet people here. A kiss on each cheek. But obviously the elders don't participate) I have to completely bend down. It's totally awkward. hahaha But, we are going to baptize her. We have a goal to have 3 baptisms this last transfer...we want hna capener to go out with a bang!:) but it will take some miracles. So we are praying for it.

And with the help of the Lord and Alberto...it can be done! :)

This weekend was our stake conference but it was broadcast from Salt Lake! So great! It was a broadcast for all of Spain and Portugal. We heard from Craig Zwick, Elaine Dalton, D.Todd Christofferson and Dieter. LOVED it! To be totally honest, I was wishing that I could actually listen to them and not the spanish voice overs...but that's ok. It was so great for the members. The saturday session was just from our stake presidency. But that was awesome as well. One thing I loved is that on saturday some of the exact things that were taught...were repeated by the apostles. Such inspired leaders. For example the exact phrase "tithing is a law of faith, not a law of money" was said on sat by our stake president and then again on sunday by pres uchtdorf.

And on saturday, a lot of the talks were on missionary work. Hna Capener were pumping our fists the whole way through :)

This week we've been so grateful for faithful, brave members that have brought investigators to us. Because those seem to be the only ones that come to be anything.

Well family, you are the best. I love you so much!!

I totally didn't even think about yesterday being the superbowl. haha I'm in another world.

LOVES,

hermana ross