Week Two Madrid MTC

Hola!!!

Another week down yay!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY CUTEST NOAH!!!!!!! AND MY LOVE TATUM!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!! 

So last P day we went to the Plaza del Sol and they just let us loose to walk around wherever we wanted and go shopping. I bought the CUTEST skirt and shirt from Zara and of course we got gelato. I was having major Italy flashbacks it was so HAPPY! I got my classic straciatella flavor and it was SO good. Central market doesn't do it justice.

Also we all got the hot chocolate and churros that everyone told me about. SO YUMMY! The chocolate is super thick though so I'm guessing it's more for dipping than drinking. That's what we did anyways. So yummy.

Today we're going to the Museo de El Prado woo!

So this week we had a lot of Spanish lessons that I learned in Spanish 3. Past tense. Not fun. But I'm getting it. Which is amazing because we literally spent all of my junior year doing this stuff. Also SYL (speak your language) is from 8-1 now so no English during those times.

So this week I also made a goal to step up my Spanish study. I try to memorize 20 words a day and 5 phrases a day. And the first vision, the missionary purpose, and Moroni 10:4-5. So that's been good and I feel super great at the end of the day if I've been able to do that. And I use them in my lessons so it's SO useful!

Also I can't remember what day, but we had a devotional by Pres Packer (mtc pres) and he showed us some of the Patterns of Light videos by Elder Bednar. Something that stood out to me that he said regarding discerning between our own thoughts or the spirit was really interesting, and an outlook that I had never heard before. So all you people trying to decide colleges, or majors, or any decision really, pay attention this is gold haha. He said "When we don't know whether it's inspiration or our own thoughts, we need to act and then we'll know which one it is." -Elder Bednar (not a direct quote, but almost haha). Sometimes you just gotta do it. Study it out in your mind, and then do whatever you feel is the best choice. And then if you think you were wrong, and the spirit was actually telling you something different, do that instead. I don't know if I'm making total sense, but I hope this helps. :) 

So some blessings that I've noticed while being here:

I have really felt God's grace, or the enabling power of the atonement. It's something that I've always heard of and known what it is, but since being here I actually have an experience to go with that knowledge that just solidified it in my mind. This place is kinda tough (for lack of a better word). I don't really know how to describe it, but I feel so busy and it's hard not having free time and being in such a different place with new people and not getting to call home or anything. But I have such a happy time. My attitude is SOOO much better than it could be. And I know that's not me. I know it's the Savior helping me out because I am serving Him and my Heavenly Father. And I'm SO grateful for that.

Also something that I realized on the first day but forgot to mention, everything here is different. There's nothing that's super familiar really at all. But I went to bed the first night and said my nighttime prayer and then I got the feeling of familiarity. My prayers are the same. I'm talking to the same Heavenly Father that I've always talked to. And that was such a blessing for me. He's always there and He's always listening. He wants to hear from us. And I'm SO grateful for that.

Oh also I spoke on Sunday! Hermana Barlow translated for me! It was on the Holy Ghost. Super good topic love it.

Also the park. So this week my park companion was Soeur Yee On. She's a sister from Tahiti who is going to one of the France missions. So she speaks barely any English and almost no Spanish. Which was hard because obviously the people we try to talk to in the park are Spanish. BUT we were so blessed and the first people who would talk to us spoke English AND FRENCH perfectly!!!!! So I bore my testimony on God and told them that they can have a personal relationship with them, and my comp talked to them in French about something also and the spirit was so strong. It was awesome. And then we found other people from France who she got to talk to and then a couple that spoke English! It was good. We had 26 contacts and had good conversations with people. And I love Soeur Yee On. She's so cute and even taught me some French words.

Also everyone here is getting sick. They're just dropping like flies (in president's words). So far I've been okay so don't worry lil mom :)

Also our progressing investigator (alexis) who is played by our teacher (hermano Perez) is getting baptized!!! We had a really spiritual lesson where we talked about his dad who had died a few years before and told him that he can be with his dad and because of the atonement we can all return to live with our Heavenly Father. We tied in repentance with that and said that we can all be cleansed from our sins when we repent and the guilt goes away. And that when you are baptized (and after repentance) you are forgiven of your sins and are a step closer to getting to be with Heavenly Father and his Dad who was waiting for him in Heaven. And then we committed him to be baptized. It was awesome.

ALSO I got a calling! I'm our music director. so i chose the hymns (all in Spanish) and I decide who sings in church on Sundays muahaha. I might sing with my comp. She did choir too. 

GUESS WHAT! Part of my dream was in Spanish last night!!! In my mind I'm constantly translating English to Spanish and coming up with sentences in my mind, and i did that in my dream last night!!! YAY!

So that's good.

I love you all so much!!!!!

Hermana Johnson

 

Week One Madrid MTC

Hola mis amigos y mi familia!

They only give us an hour to type these things so I'll do my best to give details and still email everyone back.

So our P days are on Thursdays, So this is our first one woo !!  I can read my emails every day from 6-6:45. So email me any day of the week and I'll be able to read it! I can't answer (till Thursdays), but I can read it!

Wow so much has happened haha I feel like starting at the beginning is forever ago.

So I flew to Madrid woo! And I got my companion-her name is Hermana Clark. She's fun, we get along really well. My roomies are Hermana Storheim and Hermana Barlow which is so fun I LOVE THEM! Also I knew Hermana Barlow from BYU so it's just a blast.

So some MTC details:

1. We have been asked to read the entire Book of Mormon  before we leave here. Which is easy since we have an hour every day to read.

2. So this is really cool. There are only 42 missionaries in this whole MTC and we all arrived on the same day. So it's super small and we all do everything together and we all know each other. It's awesome. And very different from the things  I"ve heard about the Provo MTC. But it's cool there's a small group from Brazil (yay mom and Jeremy! YOU WOULD LOVE THEM THEY'RE AWESOME!!! And one's from Recife Jeremy!) And a sister from Portugal and a sister from France. Way cool.

3. Sundays- we have to prepare a talk in Spanish every week and on Sundays our MTC president calls on people to give their talks and people to translate. I didn't have to go last week thankfully, although I did have a talk written on the purpose of a missionary.

4. THE FOOD IS AMAZING! It's  all super healthy. I've had pea soup (lol family and Sarah), lots of fish, chicken, churros, lots of chocolatey things, everything is so good. There hasn't been one meal I don't like. Also I eat two kiwis with every meal and they're bread is absolutely amazing. I love it.

5. The Parque de Retiro is the park we go to every Saturday at 4 pm to proselyte in. It's a little smaller than Central Park, but imagine something like that with really pretty buildings and statues and fountains and green grass. It's amazing. More details on that to come.

6. Every day from 8-12 we have to speak in only Spanish and our lessons are in all Spanish. I'm getting really good at understanding, I can pick up everything in our lessons it's awesome!

7. Every P day they take us on an excursion to downtown Madrid!!!!! I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT TODAY!!!!! We're gonna go get churros and hot chocolate from somewhere today. PUMPED!

Okay so the park. That was so cool. We get a different companion for our park proselyting and I was with Hermana Holtry. Keep in mind that at this point I had only had one Spanish lesson. So it was super scary to try to talk to people when I didn't speak Spanish, but Hermana Holtry is way good so it worked out. We passed out cards and talked to a group of people from Belgium who actually spoke English thank goodness. I bore my testimony on the book of Mormon and told them to read it. 

We also met this guy who goes to the park at the same time every day to feed the birds there. He spoke no English but Hermana Holtry and him were having conversations about the birds. He gave us some peanuts and let us feed them too. It was cool. He loved us. So we talked to him about the church a little bit but didn't even think to get his number. So this Saturday we're getting it. Yay happy!

Also every day we have a lesson with our "progressing investigator". All of the teachers act as an investigator that they met on their missions. So it's actually real people that they're acting as. And we have to teach them in Spanish. It's so hard. But last night my companion and I had the coolest experience. The two lessons before last night were kind of rough. We would plan our lessons in English and then write out the Spanish translations, but it just wasn't going well.

So then last night we made our plan and then decided not to write any Spanish down and to just let the spirit take it and let the Spanish come as we thought of things to say. We said a prayer and said we'd act in faith and just let the lesson go how He wants it to. And it did! WE talked to him for 30 minutes in all Spanish. I understood everything he said, and I understood everything Hermana Clark said and I was even able to talk too. Gift of tongues. AWESOME!

Also every day we have an hour to do a physical activity. Our options are gym, soccer, basketball, or volleyball. We alternate between gym and soccer. Soccer's cool cause it's like a 4 minute walk from the MTC and it's in this pit that's covered in graffiti. I have pictures that I'll send. But it's super fun and the locals come and play. 

Also on P day we go to the temple! The worship is in English and most of the workers speak English. The temple is just feet from the MTC. So that's fun we can see it out our window. 

Okay I'm probably forgetting so many things but that's all I got for now haha.

So my district has 8 people in it (4 elders and 4 sisters). All of our classes are just with that group of 8 so it's super nice to learn Spanish in such a personal setting. I LOVE all my teachers.

Also I've never been so busy or exhausted in my entire life. We get 8 hours to sleep and the days are 16 hours long with something happening every hour. No free time ever. It's hard and I'm having a hard time staying awake when we have personal study or big group meetings. It's just so hard. but I've also never felt the spirit so often. Every day feels like Sunday and I LOVE IT! They split up the Spanish lessons with gospel lessons and I love those. The spirit is there and I just feel so good. Ah I love it.

Also I was thinking the other day-Ya know I love the Bible. I love the things that we can learn bout Christ from it. It is the word of God. But isn't it so cool that there are multiple sources we can turn to to learn about Jesus Christ and His gospel? The Book of Mormon testifies of Christ, it is a book that, like the Bible, gives us more information on the things that Christ did. It is another account of Him and His miracles and His interactions with people. The Bible and the Book of Mormon go hand in hand. It's awesome and I just want the whole world to read it and learn the things that I've gotten to learn from it. So all my non-mormon friends-get on it. You don't have to be Mormon to learn from the Book of Mormon and I know you all love Christ and would love a chance to learn more. :) I love you guys.

MUCH LOVE FOR EVERYONE! And happy valentines day!

Hermana Johnson