"Whensoever I take my journey into Spain..."

Sunday, July 13, 2014

June 30th

I feel like it has been YEARS since I last wrote you guys! I am now in my new area in Fuen! Its really odd being in President´s ward- his son gave a talk in church yesterday and I sat by Hermana Deere in Sunday School. Odd stuff, man. Its really beautiful though, right by the beach, lots of tourists and a lot of sun. Our building is SURROUNDED by pools. Oh my gosh its a terrible temptation. We leave our building and right in front of us is the entrance to the pool, wide open, calling me saying, "BECCA!! COME SWIMM!!!!" and I say, "I AM OBEDIENT, NO!!!!!!" Its okay though.

IT was really hard saying goodbye to Dos Hermanas. I have grown the most there and learned so much. The people there are incredible too and we saw so much growth in the area. Some cool highlights from my goodbyes are that I was feeling really bummed about not having any converts in Dos Hermanas and we were going to go say goodbye to a family of investigators, M. I.. and A.. and their kids, and when we got to their house, they told us that everybody was over at G..´s (the member who gave us them as a referral). We went over and they had thrown me a surprise going away party!! It was so perfect and so Andaluz. Then, we ran over to P..´s afterwards and he told us that he and M.. are seriously thinking about marriage and that they want to be members. Also W>> wants to be a missionary. I miss that place so much and cried my little heart out all day Wednesday, but I am growing to love Fuengirola and working hard to build up this area.

Also cool, I already know some of the members! J..., a JAS (young single adult) who is preparing for his mission right now and goes out with us a lot, he served a mini mission in my district during my first transfer- a year ago! I already knew him! Also one of the families that fed us every week while Ï was in Málaga just moved to Fuen 3 weeks ago. We had the coolest reunion yesterday at church!

RANDOM THINGS

My companion is Hermana Lionetti. She is from CA and is in Hermana Blake´s group. She´s a great missionary and we get along really well!

It was AWFUL saying goodbye to Dos Hermanas. I feel like such a different missionary leaving there than when I came there, I have grown up a lot, learned a lot about this work and myself and how I work. I feel like all that hard work and tears there were preparing me to come here and just hit the ground running and be able to apply everything I´ve learned and internalized up to this point here and just GO! I feel a different, more hastened energy here, I don´t know, its hard to describe. Our area is pretty solidly middle class I feel like. We have people from all over, there are a lot of south americans here too, I´ve missed that. I love comida latina. My replacement was Hermana Moreno, she is the sweetest hermana in our entire mission so they are going to do work. She´s also the only spanish hermana!

Love you all very much! have a great week! LOVE YOU!

Hermana Folsom

June 23rd

Yes, its the moment we´ve all been waiting for. I´m leaving Dos Hermanas. When President called, he said he was surprised I answered, he thought I was going to have turned off my phone. It was seriously considered beforehand actually... SO... I´m going to Fuengirola! To President´s ward. Holy moly that is some PRESSURE. Hermana Deere said she´s excited to get to see me and President keeps saying stuff like, See you next week! I´m probably going to finish my mission there which is weird, heading out to my dying area and with the Deeres! I am really bummed to be leaving Dos Hermanas but I´m excited to go to Fuen. It will be a different, fun change I think and I really feel like this area will help me to focus and work hard throughout the last third of my mission.

As for here in Dos, we didn´t get to spend much time in our area this week, we had to do 2 intercambios before the transfer so we spent a total of 2 days together in our area this week. But somehow during those few days, we managed to get dropped by EVERYONE. Li.. told us she can´t see herself converting to Christianity and that she feels bad wasting our time. M.. said she can´t get over this whole gay thing and that she´s decided she can´t continue. Po.. went to France. P... answered the phone, realized it was us and goes, "Oh! Son las mormonas." and hung up. I feel SO BAD that I am leaving the area like this for Hermana Blake... It's a mess. I don´t know whats going on but there is a curse on Dos Hermanas or something. Seriously, everytime somebody is really excited and learning a lot and showing a lot of interest and really gaining a testimony, BOOM all of a sudden they want NOTHING to do with the Church or us or anything. I DON´T GET IT. Somethings gotta change here...

In other news, L..´s less active husband is ACTIVE now! He´s the new Sunday School president, and despite his Parkinsons, he comes to church every week and is involved and active again, for the first time in like 20 years! He was the worst one to say goodbye to, he was actually really sad I was leaving and made me promise to talk to them when I am back in the states. Their family is my family here in Dos, I´m going to miss them so much!

RANDOM THINGS

It's weird leaving Dos cause all the members keep asking how much longer I have in the mission and when I say 6 months they all go, "You are going to finish in fuen then." And it's weird, but I probably WILL! Going to my dying area sounds like I have NO TIME left. But 6 months is a lot of time and a lot can happen!

Everybody keeps talking about the new king, apparently he´s more conservative than the old one so they are nervous.Some rumors I´ve heard is that he was secretly baptized years ago and is actually a mormon and that his mom will only allow members in her staff. I don´t really believe them but members are holding onto hope that our king is mormon.

I am a firm believer also that when converts are baptized, their ancestors are in the spirit world cheering and shouting for joy and are waiting for them to do their work, it's so cool! Hey well my scirpture for you this week is 1 Tim 4:12, I love that it says that we should be examples in everything, in word, conversation, purity, spirit, faith and charity. People should be able to identify us as disciples of Christ by everything that we do and say. Our actions should reflect our committment. I love you al! Have a great summer (HAGS). LOVE YOU!

LOVE YOU!

Hermana Folsom

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June 16th

HELLLLLOO family! I am so jealous taht you are all together right now! NOT FAIR! ENJOY it and eat lots of good food for me!!

On Saturday, we got to go see the new capilla here in Dos Hermanas with some members on our way back from a baptism. When I arrived here, the capilla was just framework and some dirt, but you could see the outline of the capilla and the potential it could become. Now, it is completely finished outside, it is a beautiful, majestic and really special building now, you can feel the spirit just walking around the gate. It was a special experience seeing it with members because they explained to us how long and how hard they have been working towards having their own capilla here in our little pueblo. When I got to Dos Hermanas, the work was really slow too, we had some investigators, but they weren´t progressing but like the capilla, they had a lot of potential. Now, 3 transfers later, we have seen a HUGE change in this area and have some incredible people we are teaching who are seriously investigating the church and really progressing. Sometimes, when I think of the new capilla, it makes me sad because after hearing about it my whole time here and seeing such a big change, I won´t get to see it when they open it, I won´t get to see it filled. I was beginning to feel the same about this area, the thought of leaving makes me sad because I have seen such a huge change and it is now like the completed, but empty capilla, the next step is to fill it. The people we work with are all to the point where they just need to take the next step and be baptized, and I really hope that I get the opportunity to stay here a little longer and see that happen!

WE GOT TO DO SKYPE FOR LI..!! We skyped a chinese sister from the temple square mission yesterday and she taught Linda in chinese! It was so cool and she really opened up to her! We are going to start doing this every Sunday now so she can progress better. But she came to church for the first time yesterday and LOVED it! She said it felt really comfortable and warm.

RANDOM THINGS

I read an interesting article in this month´s liahona yesterday. It talked about if our preterrenal selves had written letters to our mortal selves, what would they say? The example one said, "It is my greatest desire to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, to share His gospel and to be part of an eternal family. Do everything possible to make it happen." It's interesting to think that every single one of us chose Christ´s plan before. Elder Scott said in the last conference that "trust that given the chance, we will chose so again." I love that! We all honestly want to follow Christ and that is why we came here, so now LETS DO IT!

Hmm a funny story? We were knocking doors the other day and the man told us to come back later when he wasn´t cleaning, so we wrote down his info and then I turned to walk back down the stairs and BIFFED IT and he opened the door again to make sure I was alright and suddenly we saw that his wife had been hiding behind the door the whole time we had been talking... awkward.

I wish I could go back to high school with the knowledge I have now of how to share the gospel. Just INVITING makes a huge difference, you would be surprised how many people are really interested in learning about the gospel. You could invite them to seminary or to a noncommital meeting with the missionaries cause a lot of people don´t understand what we believe and are usually willing to have a first meeting. just an idea.... Practica, saying: "hey, thats a great question. I don´t really know how to explain that but our church actually has people called and trained to answer questions like that. They are the missionaries. Maybe one day you and they could come over to my house and they could just explain that to you, no committment but you can chose to listen to them more or not." FACIL. My scrip for you this week is ephesians 6:11-13 I like the difference between withstanding and standing against. The armor of god helps us withstand the blows of the adversary, and also defend by standing strong. It's a cool chapter. Study it.

I LOVYOU FAM! have a great week1!

hermana folsom

Monday, June 9, 2014

June 9th

Hola querida familia!!

Oh my LONG week, but so much fun! We did so much this week, from concilio to intercambios to awesome investigators in church to THE WORST MUSICAL NUMBER OF MY LIFE. Just for some previews:) Oh by the way i am goin gto hit my YEAR MARK on Thursday, when did that happen??

Concilio was BOMB. It was probably my last one and I´m going to miss it a lot, it’s so great getting to listen to President and Hermana Deere and spend time with them. SO FUNNY, me, H Blake and H Deere had all decided we weren´t going to eat sweets until concilio after talking about 2 weeks before it, but we failed and were SO worried to have to go give an accounting to H Deere about our diet. We walk in the door and she goes, Hermanas, I need to talk to you in private. We go into the kitchen and all three of us start talking about how we tried so hard but failed miserably. I love that lady! It was so funny!

COOL update on P..: He stopped investigating another church!! I was shocked! He has been studying with both of us the entire time I´ve been teaching him (aka my whole time in dos hermanas) and he said finally he came to the conclusion that it was too confusing and that he needed to drop one or both of us. He prayed and decided on dropping the testigos. He was really nervous about doing it and didn´t feel like he could, so he prayed to be given the valor to do it. They came over and were talking to him and the entire time he was going back and forth between saying something or not until he decided not to say anything. He told us that all of a sudden he felt a force rush through him, he sat up and said (without any thought) "Listen, it’s better if you don´t come back. I´ve decided to stop studying wiht you." ALL THE LORD HELPING HIM! The Lord is totally guiding him and he says he wants to be baptizedi n our church for sure! YES!

H..(from Rota) IS GETTING BAPTIZED ON JUNE 21ST!! He emailed Hermana Hoffman this week to tell her! IT’S ABOUT TIME! 6 months, 2 continents and countless missionaries later he is doing it. I am so happy!!

M.. is the most prepared investigator I´ve taught in my entire mission and SHE WON´T ACCEPT A FECHA!! She knows she is going to get baptized and we both feel SO strong about the 21st, but she feels like it’s too fast. It’s frustrating, but i don´t know what to do. I really feel like she is the reason I am here and if I leave without seeing her baptism, it would feel really incomplete. I have to trust in the Lord and His timing though... The lady is having such a hunger and thirst after the word right now, she is zipping through the gospel principles book and can´t get enough of the gospel right now. SUCH a change from when I first met her and she wouldn´t even sit in the same room when we shared messages with her mom! Also her baby is SOOOOO cute!

RANDOM THINGS

It’s weird that I could be serving with elders abbey´s age pretty soon here! Haha what the heck! Right now the youngest elder in our mission will turn 19 in august, but i have a feeling that this summer we are about to get a whole lot younger! we are seeing a lot of cool miracles still. We cut out a lot of unnecessary activities and at first we had a hard time filling that time, but the Lord is blessing us with more work and with more prepared people to teach. Like P.., he came to church on Sunday and LOVED it and is on track for the 21st for baptism with his daughter. Ma... Oh I totally think that Preach My Gospel should be applied thorougly everywhere! I was on intercambios in San Jose de la Rinconada, a pueblo of Sevilla and I was talking with an Hermana and we both didn´t really understand before the mission how EVERYTHING comes back to the restoration! PMG is gold. yeah transfers will be in 2 weeks.

I am really enjoying having questions and then basing my studies off of those questions, also writing down questions that i can´t quite answer from investigators adn studying them. One that I studied today was: If we are created in god´s image, why aren´t we perfect like Him then? or does that mean He is imperfect? I read in Galatians 4:1-2 about how the heir is like a servant and i was thinking, okay so a prince when he is born is not born a king. He has to learn, has many tutors and challenges and it takes years before he becomes a king. Its teh same with us! WE are born as princes and princesses, still learning to become teh royalty our Heavenly parents know we can become!

Worst musical number of my life: 1. we had to sing to a recording on an ipad 2. we had never practiced all together 3. the little girl who was playing the violin with us didn´t know we were doing it, so we get up to teh stand and she realizes whats going on, but takes like three solid minutes gettign her violin ready and running up. 4. the music started halfway through the song, but we didn´t eralize it until a few lines in, had to stop it and reload it and start again 5. the little girl didn´t know when to come in, she came in a bar late in the wrong key. 6. the music shut off as soon as the violin came in. 7. we ended in teh wrong key. IT WAS MORTIFYING!! haha so funny. i was laughing so hard afterwards!

KAtie: YOU ARE AN AWESOME MEMBER MISSIONARY!! Members like that, who invite the investigators over and befriend them like that are TEH BEST. Thanks kate.

Best part of my week was probably intercambios with hermana israelsen, she is an incredible missionary and was a SHE before this area so we know each other fairly well, we just talked nonstop from teh moment we got together until the moment we switched back, it was SO MUCH FUN!!

So i really didn´t understand a lot about the priesthood much before my mission either, but i´ve been learning a lot. something that has really helped me understand it adn my role in it was elder oaks´ talk from the priesthood session of last conference. I love how clearly he described the keys and authority of the priesthood and the differences. another cool insight an elder shared with me is that the aaronic priesthood caters to physical things, and the melquisedek to spiritual things. one example being baptism, the ordinance of baptism is done under the aaronic priesthood, but the reception of the gift of the holy ghost is under melquisedek (i don´t know how to spell it in english). Study teh section in PMG chapter 3, lesson 5, that also helps a lot! I lvoe you al! have a great week and stay fresh!

i love you all!

hermana folsom

June 2nd

I canNOT believe its Monday again, but at the same time it feels like its been forever since I last wrote. Its been a crazy week, we did 2 intercambios, went to Puertollano and back, rode on various speedtrains and had some cool miracles.

So you remember how I´m obsessed with L.. and her family and how we are the first missionaries that her kids have actually opened up to or even allowed into their homes? They are awesome. They love us. We are going to baptize M... Okay that's jumping to conclusions, but remember how I said that last week we prayed to know a date for a baptism and we both felt good about June 21st? So yesterday in church, I was feeling SO STRONG that M.. needs to be baptized that day. And after church I mentioned this to Hermana Blake and she said she was feeling the same! she came again all on her own and is really pushing to get her husband to come with her. Okay he´s not actualy her legal husband yet, but all they want to do is go to the townhall and sign papers and they are already planning it, so we just need to give her a reason to do it sooner rather than later. She is loving learning about the church and she went out on Saturday and bought a skirt and a dress! When she came to church yesterday wearing a long skirt, I complimented her on it and she leans over and says, "I´m Mormon, so I need to wear a skirt!" So many cool miracles happening with that family. L.. says she has never seen her daughters act like this before and they are even impacting their brother who used to get angry whenever anybody would bring up the church and now he´ll even sit in while we share messages. I know that if for nothing else, I was supposed to come to Dos Hermanas for this family. I have been blessed to see so many changes in their lives in the few months I´ve been here and seeing M.. dressed in white would be the ultimate. I am coming back to Spain for her sealing. Done.

P.. and his wife came to church.. and his wife is determined to come to Noche de Hogar on Wednesday. YES!

Speaking of Noche de Hogar, G.. and A.. came! I don´t know if I´ve ever talked about her, she was baptized in Sevilla like 15 years ago but when she moved to Dos she went inactive cause she had a little baby boy and NO support from the ward members... sad. So A is 13 and never been to church or any activities or anything but THEY CAME ON WEDNESDAY AND LOVED IT! she wants him to be baptized, but wants him to feel comfortable at church first. BIG STEPS FOR THIS FAMILY!

RANDOM THINGS

Snails are called caracoles (small ones) and cabrillas (big gross ones). I´ve had a weird squid rice dish that was blackish purplish. It was gross. But thats up there with snails!

Li… speaks Mandarin (is that the easier one?) SO COOL!! we talked to President on Monday during our interviews about Linda and he called the Provo MTC who talked to the Temple Square mission who has sister missionaries FROM CHINA who SPEAK MANDARIN who are going skype us and L.. so they can teach her in her native tongue! ISNT THAT THE COOLEST THING YOU´VE EVER HEARD?!? I´m so excited to see her face when she gets to hear them testify of Christ and understand that she won´t be alone if she decides to follow Him and be baptized. YES! When have I felt the Lord sustaining me? During a lesson with M.., we got to testify and I really felt the Lord talking to her through me. It was really cool!

Alma 13:24- on that angel note, angels are preparing the hearts of people all around the world to be ready to receive the gospel. There are people being prepared here in Dos Hermanas, there in Woodinville, with Liz in Utah and Katie in Maryland. Angels can be people serving the Lord on this side adn the other side of the veil. This is one of my favorite scriptures to share with members because they are the angels preparing their friends and family for the gospel by their examples and testimonies. You are an angel, preparing the hearts of your friends to receive the gospel, maybe not today or tomorrow, but one day when the missionaries knock on their door, they will remember your example!

Thanks fambam for all your love adn support! love you! have a great week!

Hermana Folsom

May 26

Okay disregard any sad, discouraged talk I gave last week. This week, everything changed. The week started out AWFUL, but ended miraculous.

After our really disappointing week before the elders gave us each blessings (YAY FOR THE PRIESTHOOD!!) and we set some really good comp goals and GOT TO WORK. We decided to put a lot of faith in the Lord and we prayed and have set the goal for having a baptism on June 21st and now we are working hard and putting it all in the Lord´s hands, knowing He will provided people that are prepared for this date. And boy, has he been preparing them!

So L.., the woman whose house we skyped at and you met, she was baptized like almost 30 years ago, but after a few years she and her family went inactive. Her two oldest children, D.. and T.., were baptized, but her youngest, M.., was still too young when they went inactive. BUT since they were all sealed in the temple, all of the family is on the ward list. So fast forward until 3 years ago, L.. was going though hard times; her son had cancer, her daughter with a difficult pregancy, she had to have surgeries and the crisis started, and she realized that she had to go back to church. SO one Sunday, she just went and keeps coming back. Her husband is in the process of being rescued, but her children wanted NOTHING to do with the church. Until me and Hermana Blake came to Dos Hermanas. T.. and M.. both have one child each and we´ve just been friendshipping them, getting to know them and loving them. And then two weeks ago, separately, each of them asked if we could go over to their homes to teach them and their husbands English! So this week was the first time we went over and it was AWESOME! M.. knows almost nothign about the church and wants us to teach her from the very start and T.. is softening. THEN on Sunday, we are leaving Relief Society when our ward mission leader comes up to us and says, "M.. just came with her husband and baby. Go get them!" THEY CAME ON THEIR OWN TO CHURCH WITHOUT US EVEN FORMALLY INVITING THEM! I almost cried, it was the greatest miracle of this week! I have such a great feeling about this family, we are seeing so many miracles with them right now!

Update on L..: We taught her about the premortal existence on Sunday and she pointed to the picture of Christ on the folleto and says, "When I look at Jiji Christ, I feel warm." We asked her if she believed in Him and she said that she didn´t know, but that she would like to. She is progressing SO MUCH! She is actually really understanding things. The Lord is blessing us and her so much right now.

RANDOM THINGS

Things are going so much better. This week was a testimony to me of what a difference WHAT you focus on makes in the Lord´s work. Last week, we were so focused on getting the standards and the numbers and it ended really bad. But this week, we shifted our focus on finding the elect and helping others COME UNTO CHRIST and we saw such a difference. It just naturally happened that we had really good numbers and saw miracles and were able to set baptismal dates with people. I studied a lot about goal making in PMG this week and somethign that really touched me was this, "Goals reflect the desires of our hearts and our vision of what we can accomplish. Through goals and plans, our hopes are transformed into action. Goal setting and planning are acts of faith." I hadn´t ever thought of goal setting as an act of faith, its so true! President always talks about setting goals that burn within us and then working hard to accomplish them and it really is the only way to do it!

Speaking of P.., we finally got in to see him and his WHOLE family! It was my first time teaching an entire family! We watched the Restoration movie and I haven´t felt the spirit so strong in that movie before. It was really good. There is honestly such a special spirit teaching a family in their home. The gospel really does bless families!

I had to give a talk yesterday in church. They aksed me saturday if i could do it... and i gave a 15 minute long one... oops. its their fault for asking me last minute, i didn´t have time to cut it. hahaha the poor elder who spoke after me gave a 5 minute talk. So

My scripture foryou this week is 1 Corinthians 10:13, I love this because its so true. The Lord will NEVER give you more than you can bear. He knows us perfectly and understands our needs. I love this analogy: when you do cross stitch, the back is messy and sometimes you can kinda see the picture, but its not clear and you can´t see all of it. Thats the view that we are seeing of hte plan right now. But our FAther in Heaven sees the top, perfect view. He understands how each thread connects and makes us who He wants us to be.

I love you all os much!!

Hermana Folsom

May 19 Dear Mom and Dad-Today I ate snails, twice...

As you could probably tell from the subject line, I was shamed into eating snails with the elders, not just one horrifying time, but TWICE! On Wednesday we showed up to the missionary Noche de Hogar and we couldn´t find any of the elders... We go into the kitchen and find them all surrounding a table with a small tub of snails and a plate of empty shells on the table. Its really gross, you pick up the snail and its little head is looking at you and you have to bite the head (antennae included) and then you pull it out of the snail and swallow it whole. Its an odd experience. Then, on Saturday after correlation, they had bought the BIGGER snails and AGAIN pressured us all into eating some. They don´t taste awful, but its not my favorite thing in the world.

This week was... disappointing. I am actually like really disappointed and desanimada today. I feel like this whole time I´ve been here in Dos Hermanas, I´ve been trying SO hard, putting in all that I have and really trying to lift up this area but every time we get close to seeing some sort of success, everything falls apart. . I just feel like something has to give. I know the adversary is working SUPER hard on this little town right now because we are building the new capilla, but we are trying to fill it! Its just discouraging when everything happens at once, you know?

On the other hand, we did see some miracles this week. We FINALLY got to teach P.., that miracle from our prayer during Semana Santa, and he is GOLDEN!! I am excited to see his progression and he said he has read in the BoM and really likes it! So stay tuned for that one!!

RANDOM THINGS

We have a few senior couples, one in the Rota branch, one here in our zone, one in La Mancha and one in the office. They are really great and help us SO much! Like our Huelva catastrophe last week, they totally saved us so we didn´t get home TOO late! And the Todds in Rota were SO good to us before they left, now there are other ones, and they made us American food!! Senior couples are the best and they really help you stay animated about the work!

NO INTERCAMBIOS THIS WEEK!! It was weird but really good to just WORK in our area. But now begins the madness. We have 3 new Hermanas in our mayordomia so I am excited to work with them and help them adjust to missionary life! Its feria (fair) right now in Dos Hermanas, so EVERYBODY was in their flamenco dresses and staying out all night going to the feria. Its crazy cause they bring their little kids and have them sleep in the strollers in the casetas while they drink and party and dance all night. Oh Spain... Last Monday, Hermana Blake and I went to the real alcazar, which is the oldest palace in use still in Europe. its been used by so many different groups of people, but started by the Arabs so the architecture is BREATHTAKING. The entire time I was like, mom has to come back and visit with me so we can go here. The gardens are incredible too. its exactly the kind of castle I always imagined I wanted to live in when I was little. BEAUTIFUL!!

My scripture for you this week is Romans 9:22. Its interesting because our Father in Heaven is longsuffering and patient with us. This means that he never gets tired of lifting us up when we fall or helping us become clean again. He is there AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN. He sincerely wants us to return to live with Him again and is there to help us. He is longsuffering and kind.

I love you all so much, thank you for all your love and support!

Hermana Folsom