Baptism!!!!

G. was baptized! It was so so so exciting! But also the most stressful day of my entire mission. Holyyyyyy. You don't know stress until you plan a baptism man. No lie. We have to get there 3 to 4 hours early to fill the font so we got dominoes and ate with a member, it was super cute! Also she was late, the person baptizing her, and the pianist. And a ton of other things. So yeah I was beyond stressed. Haha but it all worked out!

Except...so she was baptized, walks out of the font, down the stairs, they close the door, all is good. Well I just had the worst feeling and we were all singing Hymns and Mama A. (who was helping her) runs in and grabs the Elders and I just knew it, I was like oh no she fell. So the Elders come back like  5 minutes later and grab the bishop and now I'm full on freaking out. Well my feeling was right. She fell and hit her head on the stairs and her elbow. She has a huge bump on the back of her head and her elbows pretty bad. My heart just sunk. This was supposed to be the happiest day!! But the first thing after she explained to me was "Dios esta" she's just too great.

 When we were teaching her she would always say how she's like a child, she doesn't know and we're just leading her and little by little she knows its the truth. Its the most precious thing ever. We gave her the Word of Wisdom folleto to read and we were going to teach it the next day, we come back and shes like coffees bad?! And in my head I'm like "okay this is it she's not getting baptized..." Nope she asked if she's been making herself sick and we said no, and asked if she would stop and she says "of course! I feel so bad! I didn't know it was bad!" cutest reaction ever. She's just perfect. I love her so much! She says we're her family.

So I'm not sure what all to say about this week but it was crazy good. We decided to hit Pautas again because well why settle for less right? So we worked our butts off. One day we were an hour late to an eating cita because we got lost (it wasn't in our area) and so after we have no time to return to piso to do language study so we just read on a bench but only for like 20 minutes because then its 5 and we have to work at 5. Well in that ONE hour we had 4 lessons and 2 news. It was insane!! We were like wait...did that just happen? haha.

 We also found our old investigators boyfriend literally RAN him down and got his number so we could talk to her. Literally Best 2 years style right there. So funny! We were talking to an old man having a lesson and he taps me on the shoulder says hi and walks away. So we pray with the old man. Look at each other and just book it. Run him down. Ah, it was so great. He asked if I was married...I said no I'm a missionary and he was like no before, and I was like noooo I'm young I'm only 20 and he goes that's not young. Are you sure? I'm like yes. I've never been married. So that was funny! Then later that night we were teaching G. the Law of chastity and she turns to me and goes do you have a boyfriend? Uh no...and she asks like 3 more times and I keep saying no and then shes like well..before your mission? Yeah I've had a boyfriend before..? And then just goes okay and moves on. So random! I love people.

So at church only 1 investigator showed up we called at least 11. So I was super depressed. Because we were planning on meeting with 2 after to set fechas. And they didn't show. So we only hit 3 of the pautas. And literally after church we talked about areas with the Elders they left and I just started bawling. It was actually super funny. I'm such an emotional wreck. I just get so stressed on Sundays!!! But my companion is so sweet and was like "Hermana we still hit 3 pautas, thats like super good, like not a lot of people do that" and I was just crying and was like I know but we could have done more. I just get stressed about wanting to do everything I possibly can and maybe get a little dissappointed when it doesn't work out. Haha That night Elder Davis was like you guys looked so happy at church (being serious) and I just started busting up laughing and was like well, I'm glad I'm really good at hiding my stress. Haha But it's all good stress!!! Right?

So my favorite scripture this week is D&C 6:32-37 go read it! My favorite line is "Fear not little flock" It's just so comforting to be called little flock. I love it :)

Well I love you all! Have a great week!

G.s baptism (Mama A. with us)

from the roof of a building we were knocking.. it was open so I had to go! This is our area! 

So mcdonalds has a walk thru for people instead of a drive through! 

This is the heart of Valencia! So pretty!

The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly on the Plains...

...is a lie. It falls EVERYWHERE! Its been raining since Friday just straight! I actually love it a lot haha Its not too cold still warmer than Terrassa was so we just bundle up and its great! One night it was too windy for our para aguas (umbrellas) and so we were just booking it to a cita with G. (we were late because we were in a cita in a little pueblo pretty far) and we bring a member and poor girl, its just downpouring! So by the time we show up to G.s we're super late AND dripping wet. We looked like wet puppy dogs. haha But G. let us in and it was great! She is wonderful, she had a brother who just died and we were able to have a wonderful lesson on the Plan of Salvation and promise to her that she could see and be with her brother again. It was so good! And.....

She has a fecha!!!! For this Saturday :) the 28th our other fecha for the 28th (a.) changed to the 11th of April because her moms going to be out of town and General Conference is the week after that. So thats a little sad but its all okay!

So Tuesday I went to Barcelona to get my residency! So thats like super super exciting!! On the way there we got super nice seats that reclined back and were cushy to sleep :) Ah so great! It was so nice to be able to see everyone from the MTC again! It was a super fun day!

And then on Wednesday I did intercambios with Hermana Boyer in Catarroga!!! Basically I wasn't in my area this week..haha pero bueno. I love Hermana Boyer!!! She's from Holliday Utah and we're just like best friends already. Ah she's so great! She goes home this transfer which is actually super depressing because we can't be companions ever. We're both actually really sad about this! But she's great and taught me so much! She definitely taught me how to have more confidence street contacting!!

So Thursday night Fallas ended, we actually got to watch them burn since there were 2 right by our piso!!! Such a cool experience! It all seems like a dream because by the time we woke up Friday morning there was no sign of the Fallas, the buses were back to normal the ninots were (obviously) gone. So crazy.

So Friday night we're planning and me and Hermana Een both are like wait, we can hit pautas this week, (pautas are like the main goals of the mission every week) so we scramble and Saturday and Sunday work our butts off and make pautas!! Well not all but 3 of the 5! It was crazy Sunday at church we're like okay we still need one more new and 2 more member present lessons. Well someone brought a sister to church who lives in our area, so after church I took a member with me to teach one of our investigators in the church and Hermana Een took another to teach the new and bam. There we did it! It was such a great blessing to see that we did all we possibly could and then the Lord provided the rest for us :)

So one Spiritual thought I want to share from my scripture reading this week is about the signs of Jesus' birth. So the sign of his birth is 3 days of light right? And the sign of his death is darkness. I just had a moment and was like "I am the light and the life of the world..." He is the light of the world and when he was born it was light for 3 days....when he died the light left. But returned when he was resurrected. Just a fun thing I thought I'd share :)

I hope you all have a great week! I love you all so much!!!

Love, Hermana Terrazas

Ps. Thank you Santa Maria 2nd ward for the cute heart notes!!! They made my entire week :)

Fallas!

Familia y amigos!!

This was a good, long week! :)

I'm not sure if I talked about the fallas last week in my email but the fallas are a huge celebration here in Valencia and it's AWESOME! I'll send pictures today. There are these huge ninots some are taller than the buildings (huge) and others are a little smaller. The childrens ones they burn at 10 pm and the big ones at midnight! We'll be able to see them from our window well..the 10 pm one because they're right in front of our piso it's great :) Today we went to the mascleta which is the "firework" they do everyday at 2 and literally it seems like your going to die. There's thousands of pictures and the ground is shaking it's so loud. Terrifying...but yet so awesome :) We were there with most the zone in the heart of Valencia! It is GORGEOUS! Like when you think of what Spain should look like that's it. Bull ring and all. People are dressed up in the traditional dresses and are parading around today probably until the 19th when it ends! I have pictures :) Also fireworks are always going off and every time I'm convinced someones being shot. No joke. This is not America that's all I have to say about that. Haha I love it! Saturday night the huge parties started every street with a ninot had a party so ours did...yeah it was loud. haha

So we played a lot of games this week...the first game we decided was hide n seek. So the ward gave us a list of all the members who didn't have home teachers and all but like 2 are inactive so they wanted us to pass by and see if they still lived there. Haha. Yeah...so we had each bought a chocolate bar (because our investigator told us she didn't want us to visit anymore) and we decided that every time one of the people didn't answer or didn't live there any more we would eat a little square of our huge chocolate bar. Lets just say after probably 3 hours we had eaten all but 3 little pieces...a night that usually probably would have been really hard was super fun and we kept good attitudes the whole time! It was way great. So we decided that was like hide n seek. They're winning in case you were wondering..haha The second is ultimate sardines. With the fallas the metros are PACKED from like 1-3 literally we had to let 3 go by because you could not physically squeeze one more person on. Sardines to the max. I decided one day I want to play ultimate spoons in a metro...HOW FUN! But afraid that's going to have to wait until after the mission. haha!

So on Wednesday we had a Mission Tour with Elder Olssen from the 70 :) It was such an amazing experience! He is super great! Also of course President and Hermana Pace were there which I just love being with them. They are so loving and every time they teach I learn so much! One thing Hermana Pace has been focusing on is your "drag", so an airplane can't take off it has drag, well she relates that to us and how we can't become the missionaries we could if we don't leave our drag behind. So this week I figured out what my drag was and I've been working really hard to just leave it behind! I'm definitely not perfect at it yet but I've noticed a change and I love it! It helps that I have such a diligent up beat companion! Yesterday Elder Davis (our district leader) told us that he always sees us so happy and that the members notice it. That made me so happy to hear! It's my goal to not complain and just always look at the bright side of things and I've noticed even on the hard days I've still been able to be happy and keep a positive attitude!

My piso is awesome. I just love all 3 of the hermanas. We celebrated pi day obviously because well, 3.1415926....uh this year is the only year it will ever be this cool. So we ate pie on 3/14/15 at 9:26 yeah. Coolest thing every. Hermana Lamoroex (something like that) has a ukele and she'll play and we'll all just sing. Ah it's great. I love it! Also the other Hermanas in my zone are awesome! We all do things together on preparation days so it's super fun! Hermana Boyer is a Sister Training Leader and we decided we're twins (she's the youngest of 8) she goes home at the end of this transfer which is super sad but she lives in Utah so I'll definitely be seeing her around..she said she'd write me :)

So WE HAVE A FECHA!!! A. is great. She has a fecha, her grandma is a less active and A. has been taking the lessons and we thought she didn't want anything and then she came to church and she just completely changed! Like super happy, her mom and grandma told us she's changed :) She's 13 and the mujeres jovenes just were awesome! Her date is the 28th but we have to push it back because her mom's going to be out of town! So hopefully the next weekend!!!!! She's stellar. Also we taught her mom the first lesson and she was super receptive :)

We worked with less actives a lot and had a good amount at church! :) One came who we apparently called (neither of us remember it) but she brought a friend and now we're going to be teaching her! MILAGROS :)

In our ward we have a cute young family from Arizona they have a little boy who's 4 months old. We had dinner at their piso and it was just so nice :) They really need friends because she doesn't speak any spanish and is really lonely. But they're awesome and they're going home in 2 weekends and offered to bring us back downeast shirts and peanut butter. Bless their souls :)

Well that was my week! Oh btw on Friday the 13th a black cat crossed our path. Super sketch. But don't worry todo bien :)

I love you all! Have a great week!

From las Fallas :)

Ps. Tomorrow I'm going to Barcelone to get my residencia :) I'm gonna be a resident of Spain!!!!

This is my piso that I love so much :)

3 MONTHS!

Can you believe it?! Cause I can't!

So this was weird with transfers and all, I haven't done much I feel, but I have at the same time. My companion is Hermana Een she's from Las Vegas. We actually get along really well. She loves bad jokes (like stupid not like morally bad) and it's great. makes me laugh tons. 

Our piso has 2 other hermanas and one was in the CCM with me! I love it! It's loads of fun. Seriously it's the best. Our piso is nicer in ways but also not. For instance to turn on the hot water you have to turn this knob on the wall, turn on the sink, and then turn on the water in the shower. haha. Yeah and even then it doesn't work, so I use the other hermanas. Also for hot water in the kitchen you have to turn the sink on in the washer area until something turns on and then turn on the sink. It's good fun. 

My ward seems good! It's different than Terrassa so it's taking some getting used to that's for sure. But I'm sure I'll love it :) I sang in church! Apparently since I'm blonde I know how to sing? That's what I was told anyways. Haha we were with the choir and the director just thanked us a ton for helping it was awesome :) 

So story time. On Friday we got a call and they said go straight home after the Metro don't wait till 10 (we have like 10-15 minutes usually) so we did and we went and talked to the hermanas and apparently the Elders went to visit a recent convert and he told them that he was abducted by the spanish governmet and was told to kill all the Mormons and Muslims also everything American was being taken out of Spain. He said "the war starts Monday" the Elders saidthere were weapons and stuff in his piso (hes in the military or something?)  and it was pretty freaky but they called president and he just said not to visit him anymore. So today we're wearing normal clothes just to be safe. But we basically all just laughed about it after the inital shock. I was pretty scared for a bit but we're pretty sure he's just kinda not all there. So don't be worried so far so good! So we laugh about it a lot in our piso, not sure if we should..but nothing else we can do right?! 

Anyways. This week was a little tough adjusting but I'm sure it'll get better and better   :) I love you all! Have a great week!

Love, Hermana Terrazas :)


My address!!! It is

c/ Fontanares

1, 2

46007

Valencia

Spain

I love you all :)

Valencia!

Well I'm here! So this afternoon I took a train from Barcelona with 6 other missionaries to Valencia! I knew the other Hermana because she lived with us for a week or two so that was super nice and I knew some of the Elders because they were in my zone. At the train station there was a TON of missionaries and I saw like 3 or 4 from the MTC :) They all were super shocked I was being transferred already!

So basically all I heard the whole train ride was how Valencia is the "paradise" of the mission so I'm super stoked! Also we went by the coast so it was just like home :) The ocean on one side and field and mountain on the other! SUPER PRETTY! Our piso is SUPER nice, way different than Terrassa, and we live with two other hermanas, one who was in the CCM with me! We're both super excited :) Valencia is huge, there's 3 wards and 6 missionaries in each! Way different than Terrassa haha

Tomorrow I have to go back to Barcelona...I don't know why I just didn't stay there seeing as its about 3 hours away, but oh well. My companion has to go to the training meeting! But I'll get to meet the new missionaries so that will be fun! My companions only had 12 weeks in the mission (she trained at 6 weeks) so I'm a little bit afraid for the language part, but all I hear is how great she is and how shes a machine :) She must be if she's training again! Especially this young in the mission!

Well I'll talk to you all Monday! I love you :)

Hermana Terrazas :)



My address!!! It is

c/ Fontanares

1, 2

46007

Valencia

Spain

I love you all :)

Transfer Week!

So Sorry if I scared some of you by not writing (Rebekah) but I didn't know the week of transfers preparation day is on Tuesday, so every 6 weeks remember that!

GOOD NEWS: B. IS GETTING BAPTIZED SATURDAY!!!!! My first baptism!!!!

BAD NEWS: I'm being transferred so I won't be there. Freaking Depressing

BUTTTT I'm going to.....................VALENCIA!!!!

Super weird that I'm getting transferred, I got up to bear my testimony and I said well "Me voy a Valencia" and literally everyone just gasped and started whispering. Everyone was fer sure we were both staying because I'm in the middle of training or if anything my comp would leave. NOPE. Saturday night we got the call...Hermana Terrazas your help is needed in Valencia. I don't have time to write today just to tell you that, maybe when I get in tonight or tomorrow I can write! Valencia is SOUTH like more south than Madrid...so it's going to be hot.

I never realized how much I loved these people. Literally since Sunday morning my heart just feels like it's breaking. And B. is so sad I'm not going to be at his baptism. He wanted me to baptize him (of course we told him I couldn't) But still. So that's super depressing. And saying goodbye to the members. Holy. I don't think I've ever been this heart broken. Besides saying goodbye to the family this was the second hardest thing. Ay yi yi. But I know I'm needed in Valencia so I'm excited (and also terrified) for this new adventure! My companion has only been in the field for 12 weeks :) She trained at 6 weeks! Buttt she's american so I'm guessing we're going to have a struggle with the language, but it's going to be okay.

I love you all! Sorry I can't really answer all personally but I will later or on Monday :)

Love Hermana Terrazas :)