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