April 14th

So as you could probably tell, we are solidly in Semana Santa right now. And guess where it is the biggest in all of Andalucia? YUP, you guessed it- SEVILLA! It was madness last night with it being palm Sunday. I wish I could send pictures this week, but my computer I´m on doesn´t have a USB drive... BUMMER. Some crazy semana santa facts: During the Spanish Civil War, many of the cathedrals were burnt down and destroyed, but to conserve the imagenes that they use every year for semana santa that are OLD and have been used for YEARS, they took all the clothes and gold off of the statues and then put them in caskets and walked them through the cities like it was a funeral procession, crying and weeping and wailing, and then they buried them! Once the Civil War was over, they dug them all back up and are using the same ones today. Its CRAZY! We have been seeing the nazarenes (the KKK looking people) all over and its actually really scary from an American´s viewpoint because they are carrying candles and crosses wearing these white hoods. Like FREAKY. But its cool to see these traditions. And this is the one week a year that Spaniards actually practice their religion and think about Christ so its a cool opportunity for us!

 

We had some cool stuff happen this week, the coolest being P.... We FINALLY got to meet with him on Friday and we taught him the Gospel of JC. We laid it out for him simply what it was and then started going in more detail with each point. After laying it out, he points to faith and goes, "I have this, but I need to work on strengthening it. Repentance, I feel like I have fully done this, with every fiber of my being. Now all I need to do is baptism and confirmation. Then, once I´ve done this I just need to endure to the end and keep doing all of this." I was like, well. Guess we don´t have to teach this lesson then! Hahaha but really he was super open and up front with us about his concerns and it was a really spiritual lesson. He says he feels like he is almost to the point of receiving his answer but that he wants to go ahead learning with us and integrating himself into this church. AND HE FINALLY ACCEPTED A BAPTISMAL DATE!! It was our 4th time inviting him to one and he finally accepted one for the 4th of May. I feel really good about him and how he´s progressing. SUPER COOL.

RANDOM THINGS  

I got a cool letter from Sister Forneilus this week about things she wished she had known while she was on her mission. One of them was not to just be patient with your companions, but to LOVE them. I think this is probably one of the things I need to work on still. I still have moments when I´m just DONE with being with someone 24/7. Its easier being a SHE because we do intercambios every week which really helps me appreciate my companion, but its still something I think I need to work on. It was nice to hear that little reminder from a member from our ward!

I did notice the HARRY POTTER stamps and LOVED them. My comp has the theme song and when I heard it the first time, I was about ready to cry. I love that kid.

I´ve already planned though that I want to make a typical Spanish meal for all of you when I get back too. It will be fun. I love that thought about the Atonement. Since its Semana Santa, we´ve been sharing messages about Christ with EVERYONE we talk to and its a good way to introduce our church right now. Easter really is my favorite time of the year because we get to take a break and think about Christ and His atonement. We were talking to some Evangelicals yesterday and they asked why we didn´t have crosses and it was cool to testify of the living Christ.

The cups thing is that you build Christ's church with a base of his 12 apostles. So you put 12 cups in a line of 2X6 and then Christ taught the gospel so you put the 5 cups on top with faith, repentance, baptism, HG, endure. Then you do 4 big commandments on top and then the next line is read, pray, go to church. and then the top 2 are revelation and authority and then Christ goes on top. Then, when he dies, you take him off. then you explain that the 12 apostles died so you slowly start taking them off until the whole church falls. APOSTASY. Then you build little churches with parts of the truth, but none are the same, full church. Then you explain the restoration and rebuild the church, but on the back of Christ´s apostles are pictures of the 12 apostles today, and then where Christ was before you put the prophet and then Christ goes on top of it all. its cool to visually see the restoration. I like IT!!

Okay katie it was 27 degrees last night at 9 here. Ïts been in the 30s this week. Do you know what that is in Fahrenheit? I´ll tell you. HOT. That's what it is- HOTTTTTTTT! I am already melting and the best is still yet to come. Hmmm stories from this week? So you know how its a rule that missionaries can´t swim? You also know how at the mission home there is a pool that we always take pictures around? So Monday night was freaking hot and we were all standing around talking and one of the hermanas goes, I wanna swim. So we all knelt by the pool and splashed our hands in it and were like, "WE ARE SWIMMING WE ARE SWIMMING!!" Missions do weird things to you.

John 19:19-22. From studying these verses and reading the account of Christ´s trial multiple times, I am a firm believer that Pilate knew of Christ´s divinity, especially given his response in verse 22, that rather than putting that Christ called himself King, but that He actually is. I love it. And I love you! have a great week!

Love you all loads and miss you tons! have a great week!!

And happy semana santa:) and EASTER!