Temple... Toledo...Terrific

Okedy dokedy....... first things first... MADDIE IS ENGAGED!!!!?!?! say what???? AHHH I AM SOOOO HAPPY FOR YOU!! THAT IS SO GREAT! :)

So want to guess where we went this week.... TO THE TEMPLE!!!!!!!!!!! OHHHH MAN I LOVE THE TEMPLE SO MUCH!!!!!  Want to know something else super cool... I did the whole session in Spanish!!! ...and understood the whole thing!!!  I really love people that speak slowly and clearly :) haha  It really was so great and such a confidence boost that I know more than I think I do...There is no better place to go to feel so much peace and comfort, oh man I love the temple so much... well until next transfer... I am so glad I have a temple in my mission and I have the opportunity to go.:)   Such a good refresh!!

Umm Thursday was basically a day of miracles!  Everything that we studied that morning we were able to apply and teach and really touch some people... Sometimes I feel like I don´t make that much of a difference because there is so much of a language barrier... but this day I felt like I was able to say what they needed to hear, I just felt completely guided and I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT!!  Also we had contacted this man on the street and met with him on Thursday, we end up meeting with his whole family, including his son who is going through chemotherapy right now... They definitely need the hope and joy this gospel can bring and I was so glad to have the opportunity to teach the beautiful message of this gospel and be where I needed to be both when we contacted them and when we taught them. Seriously the hand of the Lord is in every step!! It is just amazing when you get to see the fruits!

This week we ate with this AMAZING MEMBER ... Arus is the mom´s name and she is basically an angel!! She is the most sincere and genuine person and she is always so nice and considerate to the missionaries. Anyway she is Armenian and we had some pretty spectacular fish and these amazing tortellini/potsticker things... dang!  Good food just makes the day all the more better! :)  Also she gave us ice cream.  I am totally justifying all the ice cream I am consuming in this heat. :)

So we are meeting with a lot of people from Nigeria... haha sometimes they just say the greatest things like ´go ahead and unleash the good word of God!´ Also today for pday we went to Toledo!!! Oh my goodness gracious it was soooo beautiful!! So historic and beautiful!! Everything was so old and historic... this is kind of what I pictured when I envisioned Spain... haha  It was soooooooooo pretty!!!  I loved every second of it!!  Hey guess what... I am in Spain!?!?!

I love it here! The people, the experiences, the language, the food, the places!! Everything!! 

Well have a great day!!  Love you all!!!!!

Pictures of Pday in Toledo...

I am holding the good word of God...

P

Cow Kidney... mmmmm

I am sorry to report that we missed the running of the bulls... haha but we did get to walk by like a half hour before it started and got to see all the very drunk people ready to watch the run!  Also this week was like a national holiday and there was a full out fair set up in Casa del Reloj (where our chapel is) so our area was very lit up, very loud, and very full of excitement this week...there were probably like 5 firework shows this week. Madrid knows how to party! That also means that a lot of our lessons fell through this week.

Can I just say that God can work miracles even when it appears that everything is falling apart?! There was one day in particular where I think every single lesson we had planned didn´t happen... but we were always able to set something up on the spot with someone who really needed us to stop by! It was incredible! It just is amazing to me how well God knows each of His children, he knows who needs to be taught and what they need to be taught. Some of the most spiritual experiences are the moments that are unplanned and you can completely see God's hand leading his work. Now let´s talk about the lessons that didn´t fall through :)

Kennedy :) He is so great and we can teach him in English which I LOVE!!!!! One day this week we were teaching him about the Word of Wisdom and he went into his kitchen and came out with a chocolate milk mix (like a Nesquick equivalent) and asked if that was ok... haha He is so great.  Also he is on date for baptism!! 

Kendy :) She is also on date for baptism and she is soooo sweet! She is Bolivian, 24ish and she is just like a friend :) I love her so much... I´ll be explaining something in Spanish and be like struggling with the words... haha and she always knows exactly what I´m going to say.  It really is more like she is teaching us than we are teaching her.  During one of our lessons she wanted to see the baptismal font... so we took a little fieldtrip to the font... and it was so great!! :)  She was just all smiles, and just said 'I like this'... (but in Spanish ;)

Cesar... He is hilarious and is just so funny... He always jokes around with us... He loves learning English, so he teaches me Spanish while I teach him English.  Good arrangement.  He loves learning, but is really scared to be baptized... I think we just really  need to focus on helping him feel the spirit when he is reading and recognize that he is feeling the spirit. He loves the gospel... he just needs a little more time.

Maria had a hard go trying to quit smoking cold turkey... so we´re working on waning her down... She is so feisty, it is funny... she´ll get there I know she will!!! She has a testimony! It is amazing what the Savior can do!! He can work miracles... go read Alma 15- about Zeezrom... It is pretty powerful!

We ate cow kidney this week!  Yes, cow kidney!  Want to ask me if it was good?!..... because it was not.  Imagine this: rubber and dog food blended together, smushed into a patty and then grilled with some spices.  Not going to lie... the flavor actually wasn´t that bad... but the texture- dang, it was so gross.  We were dying the rest of the day.  I swear it like expanded in our stomachs..... yikes.

This week we actually ate at a home of a less active member who is blind... so we were really excited to watch her cook, so we were helping her in the kitchen, and it was quite amazing what she could do without her sight. . . We´re meeting with a lot of less active membeers and we have quite a few investigators!! :) It is so great!! People are getting home from vacations, and the festivals are over. I´m hoping it is going to cool down here pretty soon.... it got up to like 115 degrees (assuming our calculations are correct) and aye yi yi it is so hot!!!!  I love it here  and I love these people... even if sometimes I have no clue what in the world they are saying! :)

LOVE YOU LOTS!!!! HAVE A GREAT WEEK

And HHHHHAHAAAPPPPYYYY BBIIIIRRRTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHDDDAYYYY MADDDDIIIEEE!! (ps you´re my favorite sister :) and I don´t care who knows it!!! )

Much loves...
Hermana Fowers

 This is the fence to contain the bulls during the running of the bulls...

Running of the Bulls?!

So... we're walking to the church one day this week for an appointment and all these workers are in the road putting up these huge fences....Then the next day we're walking to the church and we see a whole wall of advertisements for the running of the bulls... that apparently takes place on the 16th on the same road as our church :)  Needless to say.... we are in the process of planning an appointment at the chapel on the 16th.....haha kidding...but kind of not :)  How legit is that!?!   Sometimes I forget I'm in Spain... but kind of hard to forget when there is A RUNNING OF THE BULLLSS!!!!

Also I've had 4 different people this week ask me if I am Spanish....granted that was before I actually spoke Spanish and blew my cover... but apparently I can pull of the Spanish look... who knew?

So last pday my companions wanted to go to Sol :) because Hma Zitting has been in the Canary Islands and hasn't seen Madrid... and I just love Madrid... so I was a ok with that!!! :) oh man have I told you how much I love Madrid!!  It really is sooo pretty!

I have neglected to mention food and I am soo sorry.  So here you go: occasionally we will eat with the members (always during mediodia) and basically Spanish people love meat, bread, potatoes, and eggs.  We have had a lot of variety of meatballs, different curries, rice with a fried egg on top- no matter what it is it is always accompanied by French bread... which I have a question about... if I'm in Spain... is it Spanish bread?  hmmm   Well meals here are a bunch of appetizers... it is so great.. haven't had anything I haven't liked yet.

Ok enough with that,  so Cesar (this man we are teaching) we took him on a temple tour this week!!!!!!! :) wooohoooo I love the temple!!! I feel so blessed that we are so close to the temple and can take our investigators to feel of that peace!  The Madrid temple has a beautiful stain glass window with the sun, moon, and stars on it... PERFECT way to recap what we've taught him about the Plan of Salvation. We also were able to take him into the waiting room, and oh man, the spirit was so strong... I felt it and I KNOW he felt it and it was such a great moment. 

Maria.... she is a less active that we have recently found, she is a returned missionary and everything (from Madrid mission wooohooo), but she has a problem with smoking... in fact she greeted us for our meeting with a cigarette in her hand... Not going to lie I was worried about how that lesson would go... but it was incredible!!! We read some scriptures and she was just hard... then we started talking about the Atonement and how Christ always loves her...and her entire countenance changed... her eyes!  Oh I wish you could've seen it! ...Her eyes, I could see her testimony, I could see her desire to follow the Savior, and she is now trying to quit smoking.. we've checked on her a few times and she is doing well!!!! I will never cease to be amazed at the change the Atonement can have on people!!! ahh amazing!!!

Well yesterday there was a baptism and some of our investigators came! Side story.... so I'm talking to this lady before the baptism starts and she asks me something about... well what I thought was about if I could sing... so I nod my head and say yes...when in reality I just signed myself up for a musical number... WHY!!! haha   I have never been more grateful for companions... so I didn't have to sing a solo... haha  I really need to learn Spanish...

Anywho!! The baptism was AMAZING!!!!  You know when you can just feel the spirit soooo strong! I just find myself praying all the time that our investigators are feeling the spirit as strongly as I am feeling it!!! I was talking to Kennedy after the baptism (in English :) ) and he loved how it is all so simple but it all makes sense. :) and now he wants to be baptized!!! woohooo. I love this.

Wellllllll yup that was my week :)

Love love love love you all!!!!! have a great week.

Hermana Fowers!

Pictures 1 - 4 - A Pday visit to Sol (the Center of Madrid)

Ice cream here just tastes better.... :) maybe it is just more needed haha I'ḿ not sure

Is that the fanciest McDonalds you've ever seen or what?

Miracles

Can I just start off by saying that we had 7 investigators in church yesterday!!! 7!!!!! Also we had a bunch of menos activos come as well!!!! It was such a great day! 130 people in attendance at church!!! My comp said that is the most she´s ever seen at our ward! Miracles... Seriously. If you don´t see miracles, it is because you are not looking.

So let´s go off on this theme of miracles shall we:

We met with this girl named Kendi!  She is absolutely the sweetest person I have ever met!! She is 24 and basically already has the light of Christ in her eyes!! The spirit was so strong in that lesson... and there were so many times when words just came! haha  and let´s make it completely straight here that I know basically zero Spanish- so when I actually make sense when I speak, it is because the Lord wants someone to hear something. It is one of the most humbling experiences to be a tool in the hand of the Lord. Now this whole knowing what to say thing doesn´t happen all the time... which is also a humbling experience... haha but I know without a doubt that God loves all his children and He will always provide a way for them to hear what they need.

Also as we were walking into the church for our lesson with Kendi, there was this man waiting outside the gate of the church... so we talk to him for a bit.... turns out he is less active, hasn´t been to church since Christmas so we invite him into the lesson, and he bore his testimony! So great!!  Now we are meeting with him and he came to church!!

This week we have been teaching a lot!! :) I love it so much!!!!  On Monday I went on exchanges to Leganés (One of the sisters is a training leader and had a meeting)... and it was suchhhhh a cool experience!!! I was in a new situation with new people... but it is incredible how much you can love people you don´t know... and how the more you love them the more insight you have as to what to say! Also we got ice cream.... that is a miracle in and of itself...haha  :)

Well our area includes Leganés and Getafe... it is HUGE!!!!!! So we ride the metro A LOTTTTT!!!! :) I love it!!!!! I would way rather talk to people on the metro than have to knock doors... everyone here lives in pisos (apartments)... so that doesn´t really work.

Ummm want to know some random things about Spain?!

-From about 2-4 in the afternoon the streets are completely empty.  Then at 8 everywhere is booooommmmmiiinngg!!!!! crazy

-People here love accordians ... and rollerblades

-On average people have more dogs than they have children....

-And everyone and their dogs smoke.... joking... but not :)

-I think it is required for old men to wear those cute beret hat things and have canes... seriously the cutest old men

-And for the old men that didn´t get the memo... they like to walk around shirtless?!?! WHY?!?!

-They have cute little parks on basically every street that are surrounded by cute little rainbow fences. Sometimes I really have the urge to go play on them. :)

-Also the kids here are adorable... like soooooo cute!! I think I´m going through children withdrawals haha

-Oh also... everyone gives those nifty little cheek kiss things...(but don´t worry...I shake all the boys hands ;))

Well that is my week... lots of teaching... lots of Spanish... :)

Shout out to Danielle!!!! I am soooo proud of you and think you are absolutely amazing!!!! (Her cousin who is going through the temple!!)

How about you all have a super good week... ok? OK!!!

LOVE YOU ALL!! MUAH