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