Email from Badalona

Family!!!

Oh my goodness how are you all? I tried to send it to the family email so dad wouldn´t have to forward it, but I don´t think that´s the right address haha. But anyway, how are you all???

Oh my goodness I can´t tell you how fun it was to Skype with you!!!!! It was the most surreal thing of my life haha. I´m still trying to figure out if it really happened haha. It was so fast, but so so wonderful! Thank you all so so much for taking the time to talk to me and for making it work! I´m sorry if the connection was bad or anything! I loved seeing you and hearing your voices (or lack there of Annie haha) seriously I can´t tell you how happy it made me. It was so unreal haha. But I loved every single second of it! Getting off was super hard- I had to close my eyes and then press it, and it was so sad. But it didn´t make me homesick or anything, so that´s good! But man, I miss you all like crazy! it´s unreal!!!! Ah, thank you so much for making it work! I keep thinking about it and it was just so fun. Just know how much I love each one of you even though I could only talk to each of you for a few minutes!!!!!! 

How was everyone´s Christmas??? It sounds like it was fun on Butternut! I hope the rest of you had great Christmases! Thank you so much for all the letters and cards- I absolutely loved them!!!!

Christmas here was so so fun!!! So we made tons of batches of brownies and delivered them to tons of members, less actives, and people we know. People absolutley loved it cause they don´t have brownies in Spain!!! It was so fun cause we were running around from house to house delivering and visiting people- I loved it! We ate at a few different people´s houses on Christmas and Christmas eve, so that was really fun. Those 2 days and New Years Eve and Day we can eat with the Elders at members houses, so that´s super fun. The Elders are the best haha. It was such a party! We ate at one member´s house and she served us a pig leg- she tore out a chunk and gave it to me and I got it down! I was praying to not have to eat it, but I did it! Woohoo!!! For Christmas dinner they kept feeding us all these raw shrimp and I kept getting them down and I didn´t throw up! You would be so proud! :) It was so fun though, I absolutley loved Christmas. On Christmas morning, Hermana Tyler and I made french toast and hot chocolate and read the Christmas story in Spanish. Then opened our gifts! Tons of people in the ward gave us gifts- I couldn´t believe it. It was the sweetest thing in the world. The Relief Society gave each companionship (so 3) a HUGE suitcase full of food. So sweet!!!! I can´t believe it. It was such a fun Christmas!!! I absolutley loved it. I missed you all so much, but it was fun to just serve this time and not think about the material things. I loved it!!!!

Oh one story- so Mom sent me the cutest Nativity and we had it up in our apartment, but one day I turned to Hermana Tyler and said "who should we give the nativity to?" Both of us at the same time said "the Mendoza family!" They are the sweetest family that give so much but don´t have a lot. So on Christmas eve night, we took it to them all wrapped in a box. As soon as she opened the box, she cried and just couldn´t stop thanking us. It was the sweetest thing ever! Ah, I loved it so much!!!! Thank you so much Mom!!!!!

This week we haven´t had many appointments with all the holidays, but we have had so many miracles! We have been contacting so so much in the past month because we are still trying to get our area going. Usually we don´t have that much success contacting, but this week we did! We met so many people that were super prepared and that were familiar with the church. So we are thinking we will have a bunch of new investigators this week when we meet with them! Yay! The Lord is helping us so much.

So remember the guy that I told you about that was a miracle and that contacted US? Yeah. Struggle. We met with him this week and he legitimately- seriously minus the ring and the knee- proposed to Hermana Tyler. But it´s so weird cause he´s not a creepy old man like usual, he is real about it and genuinely thinks he is going to marry her haha. Ah!!! So luckily he lives in Barc, so he´s not in our area or the Elder´s area. Bah!! It was so funny, but so crazy! He calls us everyday and we are trying to avoid him. It was unreal.
Okay so I realized that I didn´t tell you that much about my area.

So we are in Badalona, which is like an hour by Metro south and east of Barcelona. Our ward is huge- it´s going to be split in a few months- but mostly in the Elder´s area. Our area is new and it has the most ghetto- with the Gypsies and Muslims, and then the nicest area- where all the Spaniards live. So we don´t have the Africans and South Americans that are golden. But our ward has a baptism every week! It´s super on fire. But our area will get there- I know it! So there are 2 companionships of Elders in our ward- so we are pretty much with them all the time. They are all from Utah and they are the best. One is from Holladay and he´s so funny. He went to Cottonwood and now we are BFFs haha- like with everyone I know you will make fun of me for saying that haha. But really, they are great.

We live in a piso in Pep Ventura, which is in the nicer part, but not on the coast. It´s just the two of us, and it's super fun and cozy!

The food is really good! We get fed all the time, which is super nice. I love the food, mostly. I´m getting better at eating meat :) But the South American and Mexican food is so so so good! I love it all. The big meal here is during Mediodia at 2.

Spanish is coming along! I love it! I can understand most things, which is really good! I know how to say pretty much everything I need to- but it´s just a matter of conjugating it in my head fast. But it´s gotten so much better than when I was in the CCM and that´s a huge blessing! It´s coming little by little everyday! But Hermana Tyler and I speak it a lot on the street together and we have long conversations in Spanish and stuff. It´s definitely coming! Spain Spanish is so beautiful- it´s so different than other Spanish cause of the lisp and the expressions and the biblical way of speaking- the vosotros form. I love it! I am so grateful for the gift of Tongues! It´s seriously real!!!!

Wow I can´t believe it´s almost 2014! What are you all doing for New Years??? Unfortunately our ward party goes from 11:30 to 4 on New Years Night, so we can´t come haha. I laughed our loud during ward council when they announced that cause I was trying to picture the third ward partying and dancing together from 11:30 pm to 4 am! Haha! They seriously know how to do it here in Spain- and that´s not just the young people- that´s everybody from the oldest to the youngest. It´s such a party! Let´s adopt that in Utah. Anyway, so I don´t know what we are doing for New Years haha.

Ah this Church is so true! I´ve just been thinking about how the Lord really does give us miracles in our lives. This week we were eating at a woman´s house who is really active and her daughter is too, but her husband is pretty against the Church. He has never listened the missionaries really, but this time, he did! He was really nice to us and we invited him to listen to our message and he did! We shared with him Alma 5:50 and I got the feeling to talk about the Atonement and Resurrection, so I did. Hermana Tyler told me later that his son died earlier, and that´s why he was against the Church. She said that while I was talking about Christ, his wife was teary and looked at Hermana Tyler so gratefully cause her husband was receiving it! He was listening and taking it in! It was amazing. Wow the Lord really does know what He's doing. I know each one of you has a lot of trials in your life, but the Lord is going to give you miracles- even if they are tiny. I think He always knows what´s coming for us, we just have times where we have to show Him we are willing to work and have faith in Him. But those miracles will come, I promise you that!

I love you all so so much!!!!Thank you so so much for your support, prayers, letters, pictures, and time!!! I love you all more than you even know!!! 

Love, Hermana Boyer :)

Ps- Dad I´m sorry my testimony I recorded was so bad! I feel bad I got all awkward and it came out funny haha. I promise my Spanish is better than that, for real. :)

Here are some pictures! Hermana Tyler sent them to me cause hers are better, so here you go!


This is us at the Mendoza family on Christmas eve- the family we gave the nativity to. They are so sweet!


This is where we ate Christmas lunch- they are a super great- partly active family. I love them!


This is with some of the kids in our ward- they are so fun! I love hanging out with them!


This is with a girl whose mom is less active, but we eat with them all the time. She is so cute.

Email from Badalona

Familia!!! Feliz Navidad!!!!!

Wow I can´t believe it´s Christmas in 2 days! That is so wild! How are you all!!! How are all the festivities going? I hope that you have all partied it up!!! How is the snow? Are you staying warm? Ah, I bet it´s so cozy and magical!!!!

Wow! This week was weird! Haha! I don´t even know. Hermana Tyler was sick on Tuesday and some of Wednesday so we stayed in piso all day- I almost died haha. But that´s all right she´s better now!!!
We had lots of random things that made this week crazy! On Thursday we had Zone Conference with the Barc zone! It was so good. It was fun- on Wednesday night we had 2 hermanas stay with us cause we had to be there early and they live far away. But one of them was Hermana Benson! She is the girl whose blog I've stalked, whose dad is in our stake, and whose mom is Liza´s visiting teaching companion! So I felt like I was meeting a celebrity. Turns out she´s dating my friend too haha. So many connections. But she is the best! It was fun to finally meet her.

Zone conference was so good!!!! President and Hermana Pace are incredible- I can´t even tell you. They are so strong and faithful, but also very real- like they are so funny and they get our humor and they are super down-to-earth. We talked about the Book of Mormon a ton and how we can better use it to convert. It was so good!!! It was humbling because I have so much to do better, but it was so good and I felt so much love from them. It was fun cause their daughter Amy who is my friend from high school is still here, so I sat by her and we had fun talking. So that´s nice to have a little bit of home! It was really fun. Such a good conference! I am so lucky to have them as my Mission Presidents, it´s unreal.

After that we had intercambios with our Sister Training Leader and she´s super fun, so we had a party. It was good because she helped us think of new ideas and she gave us good insights and helped us be better :)
On Friday night we had the Christmas Dinner that has been the talk of the town ever since I got here. The way they decorated you would think all the royalty in Europe was coming- it was unreal! So pretty. We have been working on this for weeks and it finally came! Okay- it turned out to be probably the most stressful night of my mission haha. So it started at 8:30- here the culture is just super late- like 7 is still considered afternoon. So it started then, and we had to be in piso at 10 which means we would have to leave the capilla at 9:30. So it started to be 9:25 and nobody had even sat down yet! So I am playing for the choir and we have practiced for this SO much, so I couldn´t desert them! Okay- break mission rules or break everyone in the choir´s hearts- ah!!!! So finally Elder Escobar (our zone and district leader) told us to just be back by 10:30. So we were running around trying to get the choir going in the middle of dinner and finally we sang before we had to leave. It was also stressful cause José was there and we had to make sure we had food and friends and that he was happy and all this stuff! We ran home after and we just collapsed when we got home cause it was so stressful haha. Ah!!! Oh well, the life of a missionary.

Okay this is weird- on Saturday a guy from Morocco who has come to church a few times took us to a bar and we had hot chocolate and we talked about all the world´s problems and and all this stuff. It was a weird experience cause he is 32, interested in us, wanting to know about the Gospel, telling us all his life problems, smoking and blowing it in our faces, and having us answer the phone to talk to his girlfriend who he hates. You know, on missions you jsut have experiences you wouldn´t have anywhere else haha. Gotta embrace it.
So last night we were gettting off the metro from visiting the bishop´s family- which was SO fun! We sang them American Christmas songs like Rudolph and they loved it! They laughed with us, sang with us, showed us old photos- ah they are the best family I love them! But anyway, we were getting off the Metro, and this guy our age cut us off. He said that we caught his attention and he had never seen girls like us before. Okay, we get hit on a lot, but usually they just call us cute or something and that´s it. But this was different- he was literally like in love with us, not just thinking we were pretty. He kept saying we were angels and that he was in heaven talking to us. He kept bending down to look in our eyes and he said he could look in them forever. Okay I know it´s way weird, but he was genuine about it. He was like a little boy talking to his crush- he was nervous and kept laughing nervously and stuff. It was so funny! We ended up talking to him forever and he said that we were angels sent to him and he would dream about us and stuff. He tried to give us besos and we ducked, like usual. He was all sad (as usual haha). But he said he respects our rules. Then he started telling us about how he wants to become closer to Christ and he has all these questions about if God is our Father in Heaven and where his brother is that died and all this stuff- BOOM! PERFECT. We were so happy! He is so ready for the Gospel- there´s something different about him. Like he has a Christlike countenance, I don´t know. So we are super excited about him cause he´s a golden contact- and he doesn´t even drink coffee or anything! But then we found out he doesn´t live in our area- we are way sad. But that´s okay. :) He called us before we went to bed last night to tell us we brought something different to his life and he loves us haha. I´m pretty sure our husbands won´t be as enamored with us and he is haha. Unreal.

Wow sorry I ramble on so much! But Merry Christmas everyone!!! I am so grateful for this chance to serve this Christmas. I am so grateful for my Savior and that He was born into this world to bring us the hope and peace that we seek. I think more than anything on my mission, I have learned about my relationship with my Savior. He is literally my best friend and I love Him and rely on Him more than I ever have. As missionaries, your weaknesses are in front of your face constantly, so I rely on my Savior every day to make up for what I can´t do. In Spanish when we pray, we use the tú form- the informal form of "you" that you use when you are friends with someone, rather than using the really formal "usted" that you use when you´re talking to people you don´t know. I love that so much! Because we are talking to our best friend- the person most familiar with us. I love that and he really is our best friend, our advocate, and our Savior in every sense of the word. How wonderful it is to celebrate what He brought to the earth that night in the stable. I love my Savior so much!
I am SO excited to talk to you all I can barely stand it! Thank you so much for figuring out the Skype thing! I'm sorry I can´do much to help haha. So I don´t know which version the members have, but hopefully it´s up to date. But I will make sure it works somehow! Also, people here just have cell phones, so I don´t know if we can call because it takes their minutes, but I can ask. But we will make it work, I know it! It would be awesome Dad if you could have your email open on your phone so we can communicate fast if something goes wrong- so maybe check it every few minutes in case I email you! Ah I´m so so so excited!!!!!! 7 o clock it is. I can´t wait. I will just have it open and wait for the call- I will print off the instructions Dan sent and have them right there. Thank you so much for figuring it out! I´m sorry I can´t do much about it- we can't get on the Internet, so I can´t do anything until we are right about to Skype. Sorry it´s only 40 minutes! I wish it was longer, but it will be the most magical 40 minutes ever. I love you all so so so so so much and I hope this week is so fun for you all! Eat a piece of the Christmas wreath for me and sit at my favorite place in front of the fire for me :) I love you all con todo mi corazón!!!!!

Hermana Boyer :)

Email from Badalona

José´s baptism!!!! Ah so happy!!!!!!!! He really is a happy guy, even though he doesn't look it haha :)


Me at the spot where my Facebook photo is! Ah, so so so pretty. The wall I'm sitting on is really famous, if any of you recognize it. It's mosaic and I love it!


The other elders in our ward and us at Park Guell next to the famous lizard there. We look diverse, but we're all from Utah except Hermana Tyler haha


Here is the view- so pretty. I love this city!!!!

Familia!!!! Qué tal???

Hello my wonderful family!!! How are you all????? How is Christmas season? Ah, I bet it´s so pretty in Utah with all the snow and everything! I actually miss snow so much! How is everything going with all the parties and everything? I hope it´s so fun! Martha and Adam- how is Dusty?? Ah, I´m so so so excited to meet him someday! Is he up for adoption yet? haha. But man, I hope it´s such a good Christmas season there. Ski every day for me Matt, k?

So guess what??? I HAD A WHITE CHRISTMAS!!!!!!! Baptism white!!! Oh my goodness I can´t even tell you how good it was! Ah!!!! Okay so this whole week, Hermana Tyler and I were super nervous about José cause his interview wasn´t until Friday night and he had had a whole bunch of doubts the week before and he made mention about some worthiness issues, but we weren´t sure if that was in the past, or still a problem. So we were not letting ourselves get too excited about Saturday. But Friday he had an interview with Elder Escobar and he is golden!!!!!! Oh my goodness, is he golden or what. We were so excited that he just kept laughing cause we were freaking out. So Saturday, we spent the whole day at the capilla getting the font filled, setting up chairs, just doing all these random things to get ready. He came and we were so excited!!!! Ah!!!!! The best part is that he was so happy and so so peaceful about everything. I couldn´t believe how happy he was- I´ve never seen him like that. He was so peaceful and just kept saying how good he felt. So it happened!!! The service was perfect- thanks to a whole bunch of incredible members doing talks and things super last minute since we couldn´t plan the service until after his interview- but the members saved us! They are so supportive of him and they have already taken him in. Ah, it was the best thing ever! After, he was just so happy and he felt so good. He was so excited to be rid of his sins and just be clean, it was amazing. At the end of the service, he gave his testimony. He said that he has had a complete change of heart and he is ready to go forward with faith and give this everything. yay!!!! We were so happy. The best too is that his wife and daughter in Ecuador have been members for a while, so they are so happy! The bishop is going to call their bishop and get temple goals worked out too!!! Ah!!! So exciting. I´m so grateful that the Lord blessed us with this Christmas miracle. It´s amazing to see people change and see how their whole countenance is completely different. I am so happy, I can barely stand it!

Okay so the rest of this week. . . on Monday the other elders in our ward and us went to Park Guell, one of the most famous things in Barcelona. It´s amazing! It was so cool. It´s all done by Gaudi and it´s stunning. I realized that the picture on my Facebook- that gorgeous picture of Barcelona that I always show everyone- was taken there! I took a picture from the exact spot haha. It was so much fun.

Okay here´s a miracle story for you. On Monday night, we were exhausted from the Park and we were contacting in the freezing cold, so no one was listening. We were waiting for the Metro to try a different area, and I just prayed so hard that the Lord would lead us to someone that needed us that night. Right as I looked up, a woman passed me and I knew we needed to talk to her. It was like an arrow in neon lights was above her head haha. So we sat by her on the Metro and talked to her. It turns out that she has been less active for a lot of years, and shés been going through some really hard things, but she still loves the Lord. She cried to us and just kept saying how grateful she was that we met her that night and she needed that. When we put her number in our phone, it was already there! Turns out Hermana Tyler had contacted her a few months ago haha wow! So crazy. Obviously the Lord loves that woman so much. It was amazing, we gave her our support and love and she said she would call us. So good! I was so happy and so grateful for the Lord´s answer to my prayer.

Okay, so here´s a really weird story for you haha. So on Saturday us two were at the capilla all day and the door rang, so we got it. It was a girl about 15 and her cousin who was about 10. They said that they had gotten a tour of the capilla before and they wanted to know more about the church. Perfect! Golden!. . .. except that they were gypsies haha. (Okay, side note- I thought that the stereotypical gypsy didn´t exist that steals things and sings and claps all the time, but they do haha. They sing and clap on the metro and everything, it´s wild. Our area has gypsies all over haha. we aren´t supposed to teach them really because their religion is so strict). Anyway, the girl was super nice and took pictures with us and all this stuff. Then she told us that she came here because her boyfriend likes her cousin, and she wants us to pray that her boyfriend will like her instead. I had no idea what to do, but Hermana Tyler was like, All right! So we took them into a classroom, knelt with them, taught them how to pray, and prayed for just that. As we were praying, I thought to myself, "this might be the strangest thing I have ever done." haha. So yep! Weird huh? We prayed with a gypsy girl that her boyfriend would like her. But at least we taught her to pray :)

Okay now for something you will be proud of me for!!! This week I ate straight up chicken twice!!!! Twice when we ate with members they gave me a huge breast straight off a chicken- one had the heart and veins and everything. The first time, I had to put my mind in a different place and just pray haha. But the second time, it didn´t really phase me! And both times I was surprised by how good it tasted. I´m going to come home a total carnivore! haha just kidding. But after the first time, I told Hermana Tyler that she has to understand that that was life changing for me! haha it was so funny. But I know you will all appreciate that cause you´ve seen me around meat at home haha. Hopefully my mission will help me get over the weird phobia. (Speaking of phobias, I thought I was so lucky that I hadn´t seen a spider in Spain until this morning when a HUGE- seriously HUGE spider stepped out of Hermana Tyler´s shoe as she was putting it on. I´m planning on having nightmares for the next month, but it´s fine.)

Ah family, this church is so true! There are so many times when I walk down the street and I¨m thinking "Is this real life? I´m a white girl from Holladay walking in this ghetto haha.What am I doing??" But I always think of a talk Elder Holland gave in the MTC when he says, "You think that this isn´t real life being a missionary?? This is as close to real life as you will EVER get. Capital R. Capital L. REAL LIFE:" I love that cause it´s so true- I´m walking down the ghetto trying to help people with their lives, it´s crazy haha! But in that same talk, Elder Holland said "people always ask me when the Second Coming is happening and I always say I don´t know, but I know that it started in Spring of 1820." Dang! The Second Coming is happening!!!! We are all a part of this work, laboring with the Lord in His vineyard for the last time, trying to get the world ready for His coming. Right after that, Elder Holland says, "We are the generation that gets to hand the Lord the keys of the kingdom when He comes." So cool. We get to prepare the world for our King to come, and how grateful I am to be part of that work right now. I know you are all part of that work as well. Pray for missionary opportunities- I know they will come. Talk about the Gospel- why not? This is it! Capital R. Capital L. REAL LIFE. And I love it!

Have the best week ever! I love you all so much and I seriously can´t thank you enough for your love, support, and prayers. I seriously can feel it across the ocean :) I love you all so so so much!!!

Love, Hermana Boyer

PS- I can´t wait to talk to you all so soon!!! Thank you so much for figuring out the Skype thing! I´m so sorry I´m not more hlep, we are kind of helpless until a member offers us something haha. But a member did offer for us to use their skype on Christmas night at 7 here- so 11 AM your time. Is that okay? I´m so sorry that i can´t really choose the time- so if it doesn´t work for you all, it´s okay,Í´ll take whoever I can get haha. I´m sorry though if that´s in the middle of everything. So we are trying to figure out if they have a phone, but most members just have cell phones, so I´m not sure if we can use it or not, but I will find out this week. But all the missionaries have done Skype premium before and they say it works, so that´s good. So hopefullly it will be okay! I´m sorry you have to buy it! Thank you so much for figuring it out, I really am so sorry- we don´t really have much say, it´s just whatever the members offer us. But if you could have your email open that morning and while we are trying to set it up, that would be stellar cause I can communicate with you that way. ah, I´m SO EXCITED!!!! Also, in answer to your question Dad, I´ll still email you next Monday, our P day is still that day and then Christmas is just visiting members and stuff like that- hopefully not contacting haha.

PS again- if you send letters, would you mind sending them to my new address that I sent a couple weeks ago? We only get stuff from the mission home about 2 times a month haha. But it´s totally fine, you dont´have to write letters, but if you do, send them here haha. I love you all so madly!

Email from Badalona

Me in my city! Finally got to see Barcelona! This is at the fortress we saw on our first day :)


This is us with our ladies we did the service project with us. Aren´t they the cutest???


Hermana Tyler and I with smoothies from the street- our favorite :)


The view from the fortress- so pretty! Barcelona is gorgeous!!!!

P.S. - We are going to Park Guell today- a super famous park so I will take lots of pictures there!!!! Sorry I don´t have that many from the field yet!!!
Te Amo MUCHISIMO!!!!!!!!


Buendia famila!!!!!

If those of you that speak Spanish were confused that this isn´t Spanish, you´re right!!! That was Catalan haha. Yes, I am in the middle of Catalunya! I thought I had learned the wrong language when I came here and all the signs looked super different and the Spain flag was nowhere to be found. Catalan is a region of Spain with a totally different language that´s a lot like French and the people are super independent from Spain- the Catalan flag is on every building haha. It´s wild. Everyone speaks Spanish, but they love Catalan- one lady wouldn´t take a picture for us the other day cause we didn´t ask her in Catalan haha. So good.
Anyway, how are you all???? How is Christmas for everybody?? I hope that you are all super busy with performances, concerts, decorations, all the goodness! Ah, I love Christmas!! I hear that it´s super cold! Man, that´s so crazy. Has anyone gone skiing yet? Please tell me it´s the worst ski season yet and that I´d hate it if I was skiing right now :) haha. but really.

This week was really good! I realized I didn´t tell you that much about Badalona last week! So it´s a little southeast of Barcelona, but we are close- I can see the Sagrada Familia from my balcony. :) But our area (the Hermanas) goes from the coast to an area called Sant Andria. So the coast is beautiful, Mediterranean, super rich area that you picture Spain being. I love it there! Then the more inland you go, the more ghetto it gets haha. Sant Andria is super sketch, we only go there when it´s broad daylight haha. But it´s fun, I love it. It´s a wonderful place I love Badalona!

Our ward is so amazing I can´t even tell you! I thought I was coming here to serve them, but they are so good to us. We get fed almost everyday! They are so sweet cause they feed us, and the 2 sets of other elders in our ward too. They are so wonderful. The food has been SO good! It´s pretty much all South American food and man, it´s tasty. Guess what- I ate a whole fish! And I kept it down! I was so happy. It wasn´t that bad either! So don´t worry, I am being taken care of! The other day we were fed 2 HUGE meals in one day and we seriously had to roll home. We did our planning lying on the floor cause we were so full. I had the biggest food baby of my life. She asked me what I thought about something and I was like, "I´m too fat to think" haha it was so funny. I literally don´t think I´ve ever been that full. So now we try to just have one eating appointment a day haha. I love the time we spend with the members, they are so sweet and fun and they are really patient with my Spanish. I love this ward!

Okay speaking of our ward, I should not have complained about "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem" last week haha. The ward choir director came up to me and gave me heaps of music to play for the ward Christmas dinner haha. They are all super hard- most of them are arranged for MOTAB haha. So they are crazy, but I practice a lot and I´m trying my hardest! It´s really fun to be able to help them and share the tiny piano talent that I do have with them. Yesterday I also got to play in Primary, which was so fun! I love it.

This week we did a service project where we took people in a nursing home out on a field trip around Badalona! I was with the sweetest old lady and ah, it was so fun. It made me miss Grandma and Canyon Creek so badly. It was so fun! We got proposed to by one of the old men countless times. It did a lot for our egos as frumpy sister misisonaries :) haha

So José´s baptism is on Saturday!! Woohoo!!!! He is so ready, even though he has lots of doubts. We just try to see him really often and strengthen his faith. He has friends that I´d like to have a word with because they talk him out of everything we say haha. But he´s solid and he knows it´s true. I am so excited for him! Keep him in your prayers cause he needs all the support he can get! His wife and daughter are members, but they are in Ecuador, so he can´t talk to them much. But I´m so excited for him, he´s such a sweet man and we have a fun relationship with him.

We also taught a lady named Lucracia this week. She doesn´t have a job and she came into the lesson and cried to us and was feeling awful. We taught her the first lesson, and her whole countenance changed. She was filled with so much hope and it was amazing! She had a peace about her that was so special. It was amazing! And I got to help teach and I was able to do it! Ah, so amazing, I loved it.

We mostly spend our time teaching, contacting, and visiting members and less actives. We have gotten a lot of references, but we keep getting stood up haha. But that´s okay, we don´t have a lot to teach now, but we will! I am determined to find people to teach. Our goal as a zone is to have a white Christmas- baptism white! So excited! It´s happening, no matter what.

Well, I really love it here! We are working super hard to contact all the time and ask for referrals and find old investigators. It´s kind of hard cause this area was just barely opened by my companion, so we are finding people to teach. But I know that if we work as hard as we can, the Lord will bless our efforts. I know it. It´s so exciting to find people to teach and I know that we will be blessed.

Oh- you asked to hear more about Hermana Tyler! Ah, she is the best. She is so fun. She can laugh at everything, and we laugh a ton. That is so good because this work is hard and if you don´t laugh, you will cry haha. But we laugh so much, and we have so much fun talking- she loves hearing stories about our family. My favorite thing about her is the way she relates to people. Every single person she talks to, she has an inside joke with, or teases them, or something and everyone just adores her cause they feel like they are her best friend. She has that with kids, with the guy at the store, every member, the people we meet on the street, it´s amazing. She is so awesome! We get along perfectly, I just love her! I seriously couldn´t have a better trainer- she is so patient with me and she pushes me, but never too much. She is perfect for me, I´m so grateful for her!

This work is so good! Christmas is such a fun time to be a missionary cause people´s hearts are more open! This week I read an article in the December Liahona that was incredible. You should look it up if you have time- Dad and Mom, you should read this together, it´s absolutely beautiful. It´s called "A Child is Born" by Bruce D. Porter and it´s on speeches.byu.org.

But my favorite quote from it is "He knew life from every angle and every side, both above and below. He who was the greatest became the least- the Heavenly Shepherd who became the Lamb." The Savior was born to heal our hearts, to bring us the peace we all seek. He gets it- He has seen every side- from being God, to seeing the lowliest person on the street. He was born at Passover so that His blood would be dripped on a wooden post so that all the bad in this world would pass over us. I love that so much! This time is an incredible time of hope to us all that we can find healing and peace in our Savior, who descended below all things for us. Born in the lowliest of places when He came from a palace. Ah, so amazing.

I love you all so incredibly much! Thank you for everything you do!!!!!!!
Love, Hermana Boyer :)

PS- Okay so I´m still trying to figure out how the Christmas thing works. We Skpe at members' homes, we just need to figure out whose. So I don´t know what time yet- I would guess probably the late afternoon here, so probably late morningish for you. But I´m so sorry, I don´t know yet- but I will figure it out this week and tell you next Monday. But one elder suggested Skpe Premium, which allows you to have as many people on as you want, so that would probably work. I have a Skype account, but I can´t remember the password or anything, so maybe you could make one for me and then send me the password- You can use my email jennie.boyer3.@gmail.com. Or if it´s easier, we can just talk on the phone. I´m so sorry I don´t know more! I´ve been asking around, but nobody really knows, so we will definitely work it out this week. I´m sorry though cause I know you all need to plan your schedules and everything. I will work it out I promise!!!! I can´t wait to talk to you all for a wonderful, blessed 40 minutes!!! Love you!

Email from Badalona

Familia!!!! Qué tal???

Wow how are you all?? I´m sorry, you´ve heard from me 3 times this week haha! But I still feel like it´s been ages since i´ve talked to you cause I haven´t been able to read any emails! But how was Thanksgiving?? (I¨m so sorry, this keyboard is crazy, like half the buttons don´t work, so forgive my terrible typing haha). It sounds like it was super mellow for Mom and Dad haha. I hope it was good though- I want to hear all about it! And Lizzie- how is Molly Mouse? I´m so sad I can´t see it this year! I hope it was amazing. Thank you Mom SO much again for the package- it literally saved me haha. It was the end of the month when I got here, so we haven´t had any food- seriously- so the package has been what I'm living off- so thank you SO so much!!!!

Wow! I have so much to tell you all I feel like!! So I told you that I left the CCM Tuesday morning and it was crazy cause I didn´t get the memo we were leaving at 5:45 haha. It really was like a movie putting my boots on as I´m running out the door. It was super sad and rushed saying bye to Hermana Shelton! But the adventure just continued, with me falling down the escalator after my suitcases and all sorts of things haha. oh goodness. The elders were so great in looking after me though. The native elders kept waking me up on the train to make sure I was okay. haha.

So we got there and did lots of stuff--met the Paces and they are great! They know our family and all the connections and everything, so that was really fun. We went to a really cool fortress that is gorgeous. That night, we had exchanges, and a native sister and I went out with 2 Hermanas and taught with them that night. We visited a less active member and I just bore my testimony haha. It was a good night, but I was super tired but that´s all right :)

Then Thursday we had trainings and things and a big pizza lunch, and all found out our trainers! Okay for any Brighton people out there- get this! One of the Senior missionary elders gave me a plate and said "Do you want to creep?" I was so confused and kept having him repeat it. Then he said, "Giggle, do you want to creep and pray?" (only Brighton peeps will understand). I almost died!!! They were Midge and Maverick-they worked at Brighton for a bunch of years until 2011. I was so happy that we talked about it forever, and he cried as we talked because he loves it so much. It was the sweetest thing in the world.

Then we found out our trainers!!! It was way scary haha! But the best thing ever. Okay- Hermana Tyler is the best. She is from Northern Cali- like Oakland area. She is SO GREAT!!! She´s really fun and so funny- we laugh all the time. She is really chill, which I love, but she works really hard and she loves this work. She is so awesome cause she helps me, but never patronizes me or anything like that. She is seriously the perfect trainer, I can´t tell you how great she is. I am SO grateful for her. She has been out for about 7 months- she was trained, then she was sent here to Badalona to train and open the area. Crazy right? And then she´s training again for me. The ward absolutely adores her, which is so fun.

Okay, so our ward! They are the BEST! Our ward is so incredible- they are so warm and loving and welcoming- they seriously feel like a family to me and I've known them a week. They are amazing! So our ward covers a third of Badalona and we have 2 sets of elders in our ward too, so that´s fun. They are all from Utah and they´re awesome. But we have our own area of about 5 metro stops- that´s the only way I know how to measure haha. But I seriously love love lvoe this ward. We had a welcome party for an elder that just got home and it was So fun! They kept giving us food and making us feel so good and they treat us like family. Yesterday, church was really good! It was a little overwhelming because there´s so much to remember, but I loved it. I was asked to bear my testimony, and it was so fun! I just introduced myself and bore testimony and I hope it was all right. I had fun doing it though :) So last night we went to choir, and guess what- I´m officially the new choir pianist haha. They have ZERO music talent in Spain, so they all jumped on my terrible skills haha. But guess what song we are singing in choir? Yes- Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem- why we choose the hardest Christmas hymn? No idea haha. But the director asked me to teach the altos how to sing harmony, so I´m playing this crazy hard hymn and trying to find the crazy insane alto line, and keeping up with the choir haha. It was so fun though! And then a bunch of people asked me to teach them Christmas songs, so I played a bunch and taught them how to sing them and it was so fun! I loved it. Man, I'm grateful for the tiny piano skills I have. Parents- make SURE your children can play hymns cause it will bless SO many lives!!

So our schedule- is the best. We wake up at 7:30!! woot woot!! It´s so good I love it. It´s cause everyone in Spain stays up super late and gets up late, so we have to be in our apartment by 10 and in bed by 11:30. Its the best! And then at 2 is mediodia, and everything shuts down. So we have 2 hours to eat, hang out, and do language study. It´s awesome!

Weather- is freezing. Everyone said Barcelona was so mild and I´d never be cold! SIKE! It´s super cold haha. I wear my coat all day, even when we´re inside cause it´s so cold. It´s humid cold, so it goes right through you haha. But it just makes it all the more exciting! The first couple days in our piso we didn´t have heating, but I messed around with it and finally got it to work. Praise be!

Okay investigators- we don´t have very many haha. But- we committed one to baptism this week! So José has been working with the missionaries for a few months and has had a few baptism dates, but hasn´t ever gone through with them. So this week we taught him and then I said the baptism committment, and he accepted! Hermana Tyler said that this time it was different- it was sincere and real this time. I hope so so much! I´m so excited.

So since we don´t have many investigators, we are working super hard to find them! We contact pretty much all day, except for when we visit less actives or ward members. We worked super hard this week to contact. Hermana Tyler keeps saying how surprised she is at my enthusiasm for contacting cause I guess most people hate it. It is super exhausting, but you just have to go for it and laugh at things that go wrong. I just go up to everyone and try, and we´ve had so many funny stories. But I am just trying to work super hard so the Lord blesses us with people to teach, and I know He will. This work is crazy exhausting, but so good. I love it. I´m so excited to find people to teach. This week we will be a lot busier cause we've gotten some references and things, so that will be good!!!!

This work is amazing! I´ll be honest, this week has been hard cause it´s a big adjustment from the comforts of the MTC, and it´s super exhausting. My Spanish is gettting better, but still is bad. I can understand people when they speak slowly, but everyione speaks so fast! haha! But I understood most of church yesterday, so that was good. I would be a lot more confident in my Spanish if it wasn´t for subjunctive- this crazy grammar principle that changes everything haha. But my Spanish is coming along, and I know the Lord will help me as I continue to study. It´s super scary to teach and things cause I can´t think of everything I want to say on the spot, but it´s good. :)

I love this work! It´s super hard, but amazing. I found that you just have to laugh and find things that are funny, and you´re fine. I´m trying to embrace every moment and not wait until I'm fluent or anything to enjoy it here. This morning I was reading in 1 Cor 1:27 and it says that the Lord calls the weak to confound the strong in the world. He called a bunch of teenagers who don´t know anything about anything to do His greatest work! It´s incredible. I know the Lord will bless us so much if we just work as hard as we can and trust Him. Being a missionary is incredibly humbling, but I know the Lord will bless us and I am just constantly praying to be an instrument in His hands, however that happens.

I´m sorry that was so long, I just had so much to tell you!!! I love you all so so so much I can´t even tell you how much I love you!!!!!

Love, Hermana Boyer :)

PS- for Christmas, we Skype home, so I don´t know how we want to do that with everyone being in different places. I´m not sure if I can use gotomeeting.com but that might work. But maybe you all could talk about what might be the best thing. That will be so fun!!!

Thanksgiving Email

Hola familia!!

Happy Thanksgiving! How are you all? I hope that today is a really fun day for you and that you eat lots of super super yummy American food! 

Wow the past 3 days have been crazy! I´m in Barcelona!!!! I love it here so much! It´s so beautiful and such a cool city. It feels so so good to finally be in my city!!! ah!!!!!

So Tuesday morning we came to Barcelona and it was quite an adventure- I didn´t get the memo that we had to be down there at 5:45, I thought it was 6:45, so I was running out the door putting my boots on and all this stuff haha. it was nuts. We got there and did residency papers and all this stuff. We had lunch with the Paces and interviews and things. The Paces are the best! They know our family and they are so great. Their daughter Amy just finished her mission last week and she´s here so I got to see her and she´s my friend so that´s fun! We went to this fortress and it was so gorgeous! I absolutely loved it. That night we did exchanges with some sisters in Barcelona and it was really fun, but I was super tired haha.

Yesterday we had some trainings and things and then we got our companions!!!! I am in Badelona, which is a suburb of Barcelona. I´m so so excited!!!!! My companion is Hermana Tyler and she is the best! She is from Cali and she´s awesome. She reminds me a ton of my friend Kirsten from high school. We already have had some fun times and she´s so sweet. She opened this area, so there´s tons to do!!! AH I´m so excited! It feels SOSO good to finally be out in the field and doing real missionary work! It´s the best thing!

The past few days have been really up and down- super nerve wracking but super exciting but I¨m feeling good! I´m just so happy to be out here and I can´t wait to start getting going with everything. It´s hard, but amazing and I¨m so lucky!

Mom, thank you SO SO SO much for your package! Seriously, that´s what got me through the past few days haha. I can´t even tell you how happy it made me!!!! You are the best! Today we went to the mission office and I got your other letter too! Thank you SO Much!!! You never fail me!!!!!

So here is the address to my piso. I can still get letters from the mission home address, but only every few weeks. But packages have to be sent to the mission home.

But for letters for the next 3 months:
c/Placa Badalona,
Pep Ventura
6,6º,3º
08912
SPAIN

I´m so sorry, I only have 10 minutes to email you, so this is it, but know that I love you all so much!!!! I am so so happy to finally be in the field and I¨m ready to give it everything and be the best missionary I can! I love it already. Thank you so much for all you do for me! I love you all so much!!!!

Love, Hermana Boyer :)

PS- my P day is on Monday, so you´ll get a better email from me then!!!!

From the Spain Barcelona Mission blog--Jennie with the new group of missionaries

Hermana Boyer with President and Sister Pace in Barcelona

Dear Families of our new missionaries,

We are pleased to inform you that your daughter has safely arrived in the Spain Barcelona Mission. Hermana Pace and I, along with the two assistants, met her at the airport. The group of missionaries we received is wonderful young men and women, ready to go to work. Their enthusiasm reflects their love for the Savior and we are grateful for the privilege of guiding them along as they serve the Lord.

Every area in the Spain Barcelona Mission is unique and beautiful, rich in history and tradition. More importantly, each city is full of children of our Heavenly Father, waiting to hear the glad news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Thank you for the trust you have put in us to shepherd your daughter. Please know that we feel a great responsibility to guide and protect “our” missionaries. We love your sons and daughters as if they were our own. With the Lord’s help, we intend to make their mission experience in Barcelona the most memorable time of their lives.

Sincerely,
President and Hermana Pace

Last Email from Madrid MTC

Hello family!!!

How are you all??? They told us we can email since we are leaving the MTC tomorrow! How is everyone doing? How is Thanksgiving week going for you all? I hope that Thanksgiving is so fun! So I´m leaving to Barcelona tomorrow morning at 6!! I am SO excited/freaking out/can´t believe this is real/every emotion! It´s so funny cause when I left home, I wasn´t really nervous or anything, but I feel like I¨m leaving on my mission for reals this time cause I´m so nervous! I´m SO excited though. It´s so many emotions cause today has been super super stressful (packing was nuts!), saying goodbye is going to be so so so so sad, but I can´t wait to start doing real missionary work and to see my city Barcelona!!! Yay!!!! I seriously don´t think I´ve ever experienced so many emotions in my life than I´ve experienced on my mission haha. And stress too. But it´s so good. I love it!

So since I emailed you last, it´s been super crazy but really really good! On Friday we went to Sol again- the center of Madrid- and it was way fun. It was just us 3 girls, so it was a party! We got McDonald's and it tasted SO good- I can't even tell you haha. I love me some greasy fries and chicken nuggets!

On Friday we had our last day of class and it was really good, but we were all super antsy cause we´re so excited! But Friday something really cool happened- so Elena is our investigator who is "Muslim" and we never thought we were making progress with her. In our last lesson with her, we were just planning on giving her our testimonies and that was about it. But during the lesson, the Spirit was so strong, and we felt like we should commit her to baptism! So we did! It was an incredible experience because we didn´t think we had affected her at all, but she accepted the invitation and shared her testimony with us and it was amazing. Hermana Ganaza (the teacher who was role playing Elena) and us cried together cause the Spirit was so strong. Even though they aren´t real, the Spirit is still guiding the lessons and it really is amazing.

Saturday, the park was so good! Hermana Shelton and Sister Statham and I got to be together! It was so fun cause Hermana Shelton and I speak pretty well when we´re together and we know how each other teaches. So I wasn´t nervous this time, just way excited! We gave away 6 copies of the Book of Mormon and got 2 references! It was cool cause the whole time, we just had really in-depth conversations with people- which is my favorite thing to do rather than give out tons of stuff. We talked to one lady who didn't believe anything at first, but as we bore our testimonies that the Savior lives, her countenance literally changed- I can´t even explain it. She ended up taking a Book of Mormon and she promised us she would read it. It was amazing. Then there was a couple that we talked to on a bench and the man started firing us all these questions- why don´t we worship Mary, why don´t women have the Priesthood, why are boys and girls separate on missions, and what we think about abortion. BOOM! All in Spanish. Yep. Luckily, we had had a training on answering most of those questions! But that was training was in English. But we were able to answer their questions in Spanish and it was really good! At first, he was hostile toward us, but at the end you could tell he respected us and we definitely planted a seed with him. The girl he was with took of Book of Mormon and said she wanted to find out for herself if it was true. Then, on the Metro, we went up to 2 girls from Romania and told them about the Book of Mormon- they both said "Wow! Why haven´t we heard of this before? Can we know more?" Woo hoo!!! Best question ever.

On Sunday we had our meetings as usual. Every week, we have to write a talk in Spanish about a topic and they call you up randomly in Sacrament Meeting to give it. They called on me yesterday! It was awesome. I gave a simple talk about the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and it went pretty well! It was a really good experience for me cause it gave me confidence that even though I can´t think fast in Spanish, I can still teach about something and help people. That night, we had a talent show! Hermana Shelton and I were charge of it, so it was super stressful haha. But it turned out awesome! Right before, I pulled together a song. I played and sang "The Way I Am" by Ingrid Michaelson (Anna would appreciate that) on the guitar. I play it at home a lot, but I haven´t played the guitar since home haha. But it was really fun, I love playing the guitar. It was really fun with lots of awesome music. President Jackson- the president of the Madrid mission, played the accordion! It was the best thing ever.

Today was super stressful cause we were in class all day, but we have so much to do! Packing and cleaning and pictures and signings and everything haha. We had SIX HOURS of a training today haha. It would be like if a class of 7th graders were going to Disneyland on Saturday, but Friday they had an all day review of everything they learned that year. Yep- same emotions! We were going crazy haha. But that´s all right. Tonight we are having Dominos pizza! I´m so so excited! And then we are having a testimony meeting all together, then we say goodbye! I can´t even tell you how sad it will be to say good bye to everyone here. We all are so tight and some people I will never see again! Our teachers I definitely won´t cause they live here. It´s so sad! Saying bye to my district will be the worst. thing. ever. haha. But luckily, most of them will go to BYU, so we can party there!

But I am so so so so excited! I can´t wait to finally be really doing missionary work! I´m so excited to start teaching lessons, finding people, working with members, everything! I am so nervous because I will be completely immersed in Spanish and I´m going to have to learn it super fast. It´s also super scary to teach real people that don´t already have testimonies! There´s no messing up haha. But it will be so great! I can hardly wait to see Barcelona and to meet the Paces. Tomorrow will be such a crazy day! So we leave at 6 AM and take the train- I think a 2-3 hour train ride, and then we go to the mission home and from there we go to our new area. I can´t wait to find out where I go! So crazy. This is real. Just taking it a day at a time so I don´t have a panic attack haha. Actually, like a couple hours at a time. :)

Family, I love you so much! This Gospel is so true! I´ve been thinking about what I´m grateful for this week, and the thing I keep thinking of is that our Savior lives! He lives! He is there, He walked out of that tomb and He is there. I know that with my whole heart, and that is the message that we are all giving our lives for. I can't wait to help real people see that they have a Savior who loves them and feels their pain and sorrow. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful, hopeful message to give people! I can´t wait to get out there and share it.

I love you all so much!!! I can´t thank you enough for your prayers and your support! I hope you have such a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Love, Hermana Boyer :)

PS- AnnMarie Pace has a blog and she posts pictures of every new group of missionaries that come. If you search Spain Barcelona Mission, you will find it! There´s 2- one from the old mission president, and then the current one. Just look at the dates and you will know. :)

Hermana Boyer studying in the MTC (Pres. Sitterud, Madrid MTC president, sent this picture to our dad). 

Email from Madrid

¡Mi familia¡¡¡ ¿Como estan?

How are you all??? Thank you so much for your emails and letters and pictures! I can´t tell you how happy they make me! I seriously love them with all my heart! Ah, family- I can´t tell you how much I love you all! I am the luckiest missionary in the world to have so much support and love! Thank you a thousand times over!!!!!

Wow, life is happening! It´s real that I´m going to BARCELONA!!!! AH!!!!!! I have so many emotions about it, it´s crazy. It hasn´t been real until the past couple days. I am SO excited!! But so nervous haha! We leave for Barcelona on Tuesday morning at 6 am! There are only 3 of the North Americans going to Barcelona, and then a few natives. So it´s going to be SO sad to say goodbye! My whole district is staying in Madrid, so I won´t see them until after my mission! I am so sad to say goodbye to them! They are like my Spain family! (no one compares to you all, but in Spain they are like my family :) It´s odd- I feel like I´m leaving on my mission again because the MTC is like my comfort zone and all these people have been my best friends and family for the past 6 weeks. And since I´m one of the only ones going to Barcelona, it feels like I¨m leaving again! It´s really funny. But ah, I´m so excited to see Barcelona, it´s unreal. I have been in love with that city for so long, I finally get to see it! I can´t wait. I´m super nervous though cause my Spanish is not very good and these are REAL PEOPLE!!! But it´s going to be awesome, no matter how bad I am :)

So this week- let´s see, the park! The park this week was very cold and very wet haha. We got SOAKED!! But that´s okay cause we have the burning light of the Gospel! haha just kidding, I¨m really not turning into one of those missionaries. So my companion in the park was a native! Ah! It was such a different experience cause usually I¨m the one doing all the Spanish speaking, but this time I was the awkward mute standing there grinning with a Book of Mormon in my hands, having no clue what in the world was going on. It was awesome. But my companion´s name was Hermana Herrera and she´s from Barcelona! She´s been in the church for just over a year, so she wants me to convert her family! So awesome! We had so much fun talking even though my Spanish is no bueno. We laughed a lot though. We placed 6 copies of the Book of Mormon! (Here we have to say copies of the BOM because it´s a serious source of contention whether or not it´s Books of Mormon or Book of Mormons.) Anyway, so that was awesome and we got 2 referrals! I am so happy, but I didn´t really have anything to do with it, so I can´t take any credit haha. I thought I understood Spanish until Saturday because they speak SO FAST! I could barely even understand haha. But that´s all right. But one really cool thing- there was a woman on the metro that we talked to and she said her sister is taking discussions. My companion gave her a Book of Mormon and bore her testimony about the BOM. I couldn´t catch all of it, but I just had this feeling to bear my testimony about my family. So I told her this book has changed my life and brought so much joy to my family. This light came into her eyes and she said that she has had problems with her kids and she would read this to help her family. BOOM! I was so happy. Even though my testimony was super simple and compared to their Spanish, super super slow- I knew it meant something to her and that was worth all the feeling gone in my body from cold and soaked to the bone. I was able to help one person with my broken Spanish, and that´s all I need! It was awesome.

So I feel like lots of random things happened this week, so I will just do random little stories:

- We taught the Law of Chastity to our investigator Ana yesterday! Before we taught, I was so nervous and didn´t think I´d really enjoy teaching it. But it ended up being one of my favorite lessons! We just laid it out for her cause she´s moving in with her bf and it was awesome! It was crazy- I´ve obviously always respected and understood the Law of Chastity, but never had a special love for it cause I didn´t think about it very much. But as I taught about it, I realized that I love this law! It is so inspired and I got so passionate about it! I bore my testimony to her that my family can be together forever cause my family has kept the law of Chastity and it was amazing to realize the blessings that have come from it. It was an awesome experience.

-Last week we went to Sol- the center of Madrid. It was just us 3 (my companions) and 2 elders in our district and one of the teachers that is like our BFF. Imagine a black Chad Cannon that is a total spaz and that´s him. haha. But he´s awesome. It was super super fun- we did some shopping (Mom, I got dry shampoo!) and we got Madrid´s famous Churros and chocolate! They are SO good. It sounds weird, but it's so good. We also got some really good candy and postcards and things. It was so fun! I love Sol cause it's so classic European. I think we are going back today, so I´m super stoked.

-Today was our last day at the Temple! I can´t even tell you how much I love that Temple. The only thing that kept me from staying there forever is that next time I´m there, I´ll be there with Mom and Dad! I´m SO excited about that. I kept imagining my investigators that we have now in the Temple and it was amazing. I´m so excited to help people experience the joy in the Temple- thát´s the reason why I´m here!

-My teacher on Saturday nights was Lisa Tate´s companion! So crazy.

-The natives are our BFFs, even though we can barely talk to them haha.

-One Elder at lunch starting insulting a bunch of the paintings and artists from the Prado. I didn´t realize how passionate I am about art until I stood up from the table and yelled at him and walked away haha. Oops. It was kind of an Anne Shirley type moment haha. It was so funny- I don´t remember ever raising my voice at anyone but I did at him haha. One of my teachers loves art as much as I do and she told me she was so glad I yelled at him and to do it more haha. Oh gosh.

-My district is the best thing ever. They don´t believe me when I say how much I love them and that I really do write home about them- so here you go haha. They are honestly the best in the world. I can't tell you how much I will miss them! It honestly hurts me haha. Hermana Shelton, Elder Rawlinson and Elder Schwenke are all going to BYU hopefully and they´re all from UT county, so I´ll see them again which is good cause they are the ones that I am closest to. They are honestly the best, I can´t say it enough. But all the elders are awesome and I will be so sad to leave them.

I think that´s about it! So it´s going to be a mellow thanksgiving? I hope that it´s good! Mom and Dad, I hope you have fun in St. George! That´s crazy that it´s going to be so split up. I really hope it´s good though! Thank you a thousand times over for all you do for me, I love you all more than you even know!
I just want to leave you with my testimony!

Yo sé que este Evangelio es verdadero. El Libro de Mormón is la palabra de Dios, y que si leemos este libro, cambiará su nuestras vidas. Yo sé que my Jesucristo es mi Salvador y que Él murió y sufrió para mis pecados. Estoy muy agradecida por la Expiación y que puedo obtender pardón por mis pecados. Dios verdadamente es nuestro amoroso Padre Celestial y nos ama mas que sabemos. Le amo mi Salvador con todo mi corazón. En el nombre de Jesucristo, Amen.

I´m sorry- I want to say more, but I don´t have time! But that´s my simple Spanish testimony for you all! (PS- pecados is sins and pescados is fish, so a couple of times I´ve said that I know Jesus Christ truly suffered and died for my fishes.- oops haha) But I love you all so much! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!! Love, Hermana Boyer :)

Here are some pictures!

The first is 2 of the elders in my district- Elder Rawlinson and Elder Schwenke (the ones we are bffs with) in front of the Prado! yes, we meant it to be awkward :)

The second is Hermana Knell, Hermana Shelton, Sister Statham and I in front of the Prado!

The third is Hermana Shelton and I eating churros y chocolate!!!

The last one is Hermana Statham, me, and Hermana Shelton in front of the Temple today.

I got these from Hermana Shelton´s camera, that´s why they are random. But I thought you´d like them!
If you or Mom get the chance sometime, could you print these off and send them to me? We don`t have color printers here haha. Thank you so much! Love you!
Hermana Boyer

Email from Madrid

Hola familia!!!!!!!!!

How are you all???? Happy birthday Linz, Mo and Boo!!!!! I thought about you all on your birthdays! How was it? What did you all do? I hope you had some great celebrations! Mo- your birthday was on 11-12-13!! I was dying when I thought of that and how happy your number loving brain would be! We had a fiesta at 9:10 on that day so it was a 9-10-11-12-13 fiesta! We were so happy haha. But I hope you had wonderful birthdays I love you all!!! Can´t believe Boo is 4! What is this?? And Matt, Lizzie, Mom and Mo, thank you SO SO SO MUCH for your letters! I was so happy I couldn´t stop smiling. I will write you all back very soon I promise!

Wow! Time is absolutely flying it´s insane! I thought I´d be so happy that time was flying, but I´m wishing with all my heart it would slow down! I love it here so much! Wow a lot happened this week I feel like!!!!

So the PRADO!! Oh. my. gosh. I can´t even explain to you how amazing it was! So the Prado is pretty much the best art museum in the world besides the Louvre! Seriously, the whole day before we went, I had butterflies and I was shaking so hard! All the elders were making so much fun of me because I was so excited- seriously like a little kid on Christmas eve. I can´t even tell you! So we only had an hour in there! To see hundreds and hundreds of the world´s most beautiful paintings!!!! I almost had a panic attack. Actually I pretty much did. So Hermana Knell loves art too so we ran through the museum chasing after our favorite paintings! We saw El Greco, some Rembrandt, Bosch, GOYA!!!, so many other ones- but the best thing- and the reason why I wanted so badly to go is because of Las Meninas by Valezquez!!!!!!! It´s my favorite painting in the world and I´ve always wanted to see it! Both Hermana Knell and I cried when we saw it! I stared at it for about 15 minutes, and I could look at it for hours. I cried when I saw Adoration of the Shepherds by El Greco haha. Don´t judge me. I just love art. Melba and Anna understand haha. Anyway, it was the BEST.

So the park on Saturday! It was one of my favorite times there! I was with 2 of the native Russians- one is really outgoing and confident and she speaks perfect english. The other one doesn´t speak a lick of english and she´s super shy, but has such a strong spirit. It was crazy cause we were being filmed on the biggest tv station in Spain!!! They filmed us singing and some of the elders contacting! They said it´s on comando acualidad, TV1 Española- so I think if you look it up online and just search Madrid CCM contacting in park or something you might find it! But I´m not sure I haven´t seen it- but you can give it a shot! But it was crazy! So we had a couple really cool experiences- on the metro I was talking to a woman who was nice, but didnt´seem super interested. I just had this feeling to give her a Book of Mormon, so I did and I told her about it. I had this feeling to just bear my testimony about it- so I told her that this book has changed my life and that I knew that if she read it and prayed about it, it would change her life. As soon as I began testifying, I saw something change in her eyes and I knew that she felt the Spirit, even though the Metro is loud and crowded. It was incredible. The other really cool experience was that we went up to 4 women in the park that were from Venezuela. One of them had read some of thee Book of Mormon, but had forgotten about it. So I started telling the others about it and how much I love it. Once again, I bore my testimony about it, and the Spirit testified with me, I know it. I looked into each one of these woman´s´eyes- they were all probably in their late 20s or so- and told them that this book means the world to me and that if they read it, they will feel the power of God in their lives. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM WANTED A BOOK OF MORMON!!!!!! It was unreal!!!!!!! As I testified, I felt something change in them and in their eyes. They all told me they wanted to read it! So we only had 1 Spanish copy, so we gave that one, then gave them the website to order another one. Later, we were coming back to the meeting spot and they were all there still, so we sprinted to the elders and got 2 more copies and gave them to the other 2! They were so so happy. It was honestly incredible. One of our teachers gave us a lesson on testifying and it was truly one of the most spiritual experiences in my life. Ever since then, I have testified any chance I have gotten and the Spirit testifies with you. If you have the opportunity, testify of what you know is true, and I promise you that angels will back you up and that the Spririt will testify to the people you talk to that it´s true. Try it, it will change your life.

So Spanish! I love it! We are learing all these crazy tenses, so it´s way hard, but I love it! Hermana Shelton and I are at about the same level, which is so awesome cause we challenge each other and we learn together. I can understand pretty much anything, which is awesome! Everything I do is pretty much in Spanish- the park, our lessons, everything. I love it so much. It´s so funny, I speak with the Spanish lisp so much! Now everything I say, even in English is with a lisp it´s hilarious. You`ll laugh when I get home. I love Spanish so much and I love studying it and using different tenses!

So this week we got over 30 new missionaries of ALL NATIVES!!! It´s so crazy!!! 12 of them are sisters! They are in a different zone, so we don´t see them that often, but it´s so fun! We eat with them at breakfast cause that´s the only meal we eat with them. They are so nice! It´s so scary though cause they speak Spanish! I love it though!

So teaching this week I had a really cool experience. We were teaching Ana about the First Vision. I was reciting the First Vision to her in Spanish- we always recite the part that Joseph Smith said, you never read it haha- and I got all choked up. As I was saying it, I felt the power of Joseph Smith´s testimony, even though it was in Spanish. I got all choked up and could barely finish. The Spirit was so thick and it was incredible. Also, we were teaching Elena- our "Muslim" investigator about the Atonement and I was testifying to her about how the Atonement has blessed my life. The Spirit was incredible even though it wasn´t real. Ah, missionary work is the best! I can´t even tell you! So hard, but so good.

Well, I have to go but thank you so so much for all your support, I can´t even tell you how much you all mean to me! Dad, good luck with Stake Conference! I hope that it goes well, I know it will! I´m so glad the Primary Program was good! I hope everything else is well at home! So after this weekend, if you write letters, write them to the Barcelona address because I leave a week from Tuesday. So probably after Sunday or Monday don´t send letters here any more. I love your letters so much thank you so so much! I can´t tell you how much I absolutely love you!!!!! Love, Hermana Boyer :)

PS- I´m so glad you got the pictures from President Sitterud! That makes me so happy!!!! I was hoping he would send them to you. He is the best.

Pictures from Madrid

This is my district minus 2 elders in front of the Prado!!! They are seriously the best- the 5 of us here are like my best friends and family out here. I love them!

The other one is me in front of the Prado fulfilling my life dream! Ah!!! (Don´t mind the elders photobombing in the background haha)

The last one is the 4 of us getting ice cream last week at the mall!!!!

Pictures from Madrid MTC President, Pres. Sitterud

He writes, "Sister Boyer is a fine missionary."

Singing at the park

Singing with the MTC in the background

In front of the MTC

Singing in front of the temple

Again, in front of the temple

Email from Madrid

Hola mi familia!!!!!! ¿Como estan?!!!

Oh my goodness how are you all??? How has your week been?? How was Cincinatti?? It sounds like it was so fun! I´m so glad that you both got to go and hang out with the Linscotts that sounds so fun! I bet that was such a party. I was thinking about you there hoping it was good! Oh my heavens Luke!!! I´m so excited for you! Wow that´s such a big decision, I bet that feels good to have over haha. I´m so excited for you, that sounds like an amazing position. ¡Felicidades!

How is everyone else doing? Is it freezing in Salt Lake? That´s too bad cause it´s only 73 here right now. . . pretty rough. haha just kidding :) But really, it´s still really warm. Life in España is amazing!!! I wish I could tell you how much I love it here. I love it more than I even thought I could. I am completely in love with Spain! Everything about it!! The CCM is seriously a heaven on earth, it´s an incredible place. Everyone here is like my family- we all are super super close and best friends. My companions are the best. Sister Statham is so great and I love her so much. It´s sad though cause we are only really together at meals, physical activity, and at night. But she is awesome and I´m so grateful for her. Hermana Shelton is my saving grace. She is so funny and I absolutely adore her.

So this week! Let´s see. . . Last p day, we went to the mall and it was way fun! We got ice cream and just shopped around. We found a Walmart type place and almost cried with happiness haha. It was really fun to just be in a European mall!!! The park on Saturday was really good, but hard. I think the Lord gives us times that are amazing so we get super pumped, and times that are really hard, but we learn a lot. This was a harder day cause nobody really listened to us. I was with Sister Tango, an Albanian sister who speaks English. But nobody listened to us! It was unreal haha. But we still had fun and tried our hardest. One guy was really excited and said he´d go to church on Sunday, so that was good. So crazy story- this gypsy came up to us- I know, I should´ve known better, I know haha. But she came up to us and started reading our palms, and I only got some of what she was saying. All of the sudden Sister Tango rips her hand away and starts bawling. I guess the lady had cursed her family and all this sketchy stuff. We ran away and its was crazy! Ah, I felt so bad for Sister Tango. Man, the people you meet in Spain haha. But this is cool- so I kept praying and praying that we would have a little success to help Sister Tango feel better. So I went up to 2 girls on a bench from Columbia. We talked to them about the Book of Mormon and stuff. I asked if they wanted one and they asked if they could have 2! Haha we gave them 2 and they were so excited! They couldn´t stop thanking us. It was amazing!!! I was so grateful for that. I LOVE THE PARK. Look it up online and see how pretty it is- It´s called Buen Retiro. I dare you to not cry when you see how pretty it is. :)

Everything else has been normal! We´ve been teaching 2 new investigators (our teachers are the investigators, but yeah). It´s crazy how much we care about the investigators even though they aren´t real. I feel like my whole heart and soul goes into preparing for their lessons and talking to them. One of our teachers decided to be Muslim- thanks a lot. haha just kidding. It´s good for us and we´re getting through to her! It´s incredible how much the Spirit directs our lessons even though they are just our teachers. The other day I was teaching Ana how to pray, and for some reason, it was the most fluent in Spanish I have ever been. I didn´t even think about what I was saying, the words just came out of my mouth! I know that´s so cliché but for real- it happens!!!! It was amazing, I was so happy. Teaching is definitely super hard and super scary, but the most rewarding part of being here.

Okay/ something funny- I am the only one that can play hymns here!!!! I play for every meeting haha. And I'm terrible! It´s so funny. I don´t even know. But I´m trying. Carrie- you´d be so proud of me! its funny cause there are all these incredible pianists that ALL PLAY BY EAR. useless talent. haha just kidding. but really, it´s exciting.

I love it here so much! Seriously, I love it. The sisters are awesome, and it´s been really cool to have my new assignment this week to get to take care of the sisters. Every night I´m up with one of them letting them cry on my shoulder- literally that has happened every night. It´s amazing to have the opportunity to serve them. I love it. The Elders are the BEST! They are seriously like our best friends, almost like younger brothers. They support us so much and they are so good to us. They go completely out of their way to make us feel so loved and to make us laugh and serve us. They are the best. Especially the ones in our district- I wish I could tell you how awesome they are. Everytime I think about leaving them- cause they are all serving in Madrid- I get all teary! Ah, I¨m so lucky.

It´s so funny cause the first two weeks I kept thinking- wow I'm two weeks down on a mission! Now I´m like- no wait, stop! Can´t time go slower!!! I´m SO SO excited to go to Barcelona, but leaving here will be so hard- especially cause only 4 of us are going to Barcelona, so I have to say bye to everyone here. It will be so hard! But I´m so grateful that I love it so much and that it´s hard to leave :)

Well, I need to go but I love you all SO much!! I Wish I could tell you how much I love you! Everytime someone asks about my family, my heart just swells with love! I can´t thank you enough for your letters, pictures, emails, prayers, and love! Thank you thank you thank you!!! Te amo MUCHO!!!!

Love, Hermana Boyer :)

PS- I¨m going to the PRADO TODAY!!!! I have had butterflies all week cause I¨m SO EXCITED!!!!! Melba and Anna, you would die!!!! I will try to write you after and tell you how it was! If you don´t hear from me, it´s cause I melted away from happiness. Guys, I cried when we DROVE PAST IT!!! I´m SO excited!!!!! I´m like shaking I¨m so excited. Everyone makes fun of me for how excited I am!!! yay!!!!!!!!! I will probably pass out, but it´s fine. Just like one of the biggest things on my bucket lists ever. :)