Hot And Still Happy

This week I have been reminded that Southern Spain is right next to Africa. I honestly think I sweat 90% of the day, including some sleeping time. The only comfortable place is our piso living room, and thats because we blast the air conditioning and have our table basically right under the a/c. We´re hitting about 112 ª F every afternoon. For those of you that are from Arizona or Texas or other such states, remember that I am from North Idaho. Yup. Land of the 70-80ª summers. So I´ve been drinking lots of water and the Spanish version of Powerade. good stuff. 

Besies the heat its been a good week. Its amazing that I can say that eveyr week, but its true. We have no investigators basically and have passed by almost all the old investigators and every less active we know about in our area. We are searching and praying and sweating. But I´m still happy. Crazy, right? Extremely. And it´s all due to the Lord. He has given me so much, and I can feel the Holy Ghost with me, and its such a comfort. And I have hope. I am filled with so much hope for the future, for tomoorow, for today! That today is the day that I will grow a little, learn a little, become a little more perfect. How awesome is that. 

This week I´ve been experiencing lots of what I´ve started calling ´´ Abraham moments´´. Lots of times where I have a prompting to act, even when it seems odd. And sometimes, nothing comes of it. I´ve decided to never question if its a prompting, to just act and show the Lord my faith. Even if no one opens the random door we knock, I showed the Lord I was trying to listen. Just like President Hinkley said, that if it leads us to do something good, it´s from God. So why not? It´s really helped my faith grow this week and I feel like I can feel the Spirit so much stronger than even just a few weeks ago. The Lord just loves to bless us!

Karina is doing awesome. We´re really working to teach her youngest son Greco so that when he turns 8 at the end of the month he´ll be ready to be baptized. 

It´s my last full week in Sevilla. Six months working here, and growing SO much. The next email you´ll be finding out where I´m going to next! 

Love you all! Don´t forget that Heavenly Father loves you so much too. Email hugs!

Hermana Woolley

Cathedral and the Spirit

I just had a dream come true. Not joking. There is currently an item from my bucket list with an imaginary check mark next to it. Wanna know what it is?

We visited this AMAZING cathederal today.

I´ve been eyeying the baby since my first pday in Sevilla, all the way back in January. But no one ever wants to go because you have to go in the morning and its a little expensive for our missionary budget. But its one of the biggest cathederals in Spain, if not THE biggest, and its from my favorite period (gothic) and has all the things I studied last year before coming out. So yeah, I´ve been dying to see it. And today I dragged my district and a member to go see it, and it was AWESOME!!!!!!!!

We had to wait in line for a little bit (obviously. It´s spain and its tourist season) But when we walked into the main room I litterally gasped. My mouth fell open and I think I even teared up a little bit. It was so, so beautiful. I´ve really come to appreciate how much work things can take and when someone really puts their soul into something. The people that built this cathederal didn´t have any other faith than what they knew, and they poured their soul into building this cathederal. And you can see it. It was absoultely beautiful. 

 And I am so sorry, but the internet cafe that we are in, none of the USB drives work. So.... pictures next week. After all that hahah, sorry. 

As for this week, it was a pretty good week. We had a zone conference and I was able to visit with some missionaries I haven´t seen in a long time. It was really fun and the conference was really uplifting. I always leave with more excitement to work and find and share the gospel.

Yesterday we visited with a less active and her husband. They are having lots of problems with their oldest son and so we brought a member who once had similar problems. It was such an awesome lesson. BUT, even more than having a member there, it was that the Spirit was there super strongly. I was praying so hard to bring the Spirit, I think Hna Cerna and the member were too. And boy, was it there. Its a beautiful thing to see the Spirit affect people like it did last night.

Love you all a lot!! Keep listening to the Spirit and you´ll see some beautiful things. And Happy Fathers day this week!!!!!!! Email hugs.

Hna Woolley

Black eye and miracles

Last pday we hung out at the church because no one had any money to go see cool things or eat out. So we started playing with these soft plastic dogeballs the primary has. We have this game where we play dodge ball, but use badmitton raquets and these balls. Super fun, we´ve played a couple times. Well we were playing like normal, but one elder accidently threw a ping pong ball.... and it hit me directly in the eye. Yup. black eye. Thankfully a small one, and its almost gone now thanks to healing salve and ice the first day. But everyone has been asking about it and for a while people would look at me wierd on the street. It kind of looks like i put a lot of makeup on one eye and none on the other. so yeah, crazy story of the week. 

So this week we put together a ward FHE. The Zone Leaders did a lot of the work, but I have to say it turned out awesome. It was super simple, we watched a 15 minute video about John Taylor and then Hna Cerna and I talked about sacrifice. Afterwards we played games like Limbo and some other games from here in Spain. Totally bringing them home to play with you guys. They´re really fun and not hard to learn, but I doubt I could describe how to play them in an email. And quite a few people came, some investigators included. And, of course, there was food. Yum. I love free food. 

I love moments like this FHE, because I think its what the Celestial Kingdom will be like. Playing games and laughing and joking with our families and friends. Of course we will work too, it won´t be playing games for eternity. But that same kind of joy. I get so excited about the thought!

This last saturday we had a really interesting experience. One of the investigators of the Elders was getting baptized. He´s got a really amazing story that I´ll share below. But before the baptism was set we had set up a cita with one of our investigators at almost the same time, only 30 min before the baptism time. So obviously, we had a problem. We tried to get ahold of hte investigator for days but she wasn´t answering her phone or texts. Never  a good sign. We prayed a lot and of course decided to still go, but earlier in the hopes that we could still make it to the baptism in time. Because I was supposed to play the piano and we really wanted to support this family. 

So Saturday we´re still trying to get ahold of her and let her know we want to come over early. We finally get ahold of her about an hour before the cita and she tells us that we can come over, but that she really dosen´t see a point. She tells us she isn´t going to go to church or read the BOM or anything, and she dosen´t want us to waste our time. We decided to still go. I was praying the whole way there and I´m sure Hna Cerna was too. 

We get there, and it is one of the most spiritual citas I´ve ever been in. Hna Cerna and I just listen and testify our hearts out. And there was a huge miracle too. The mom of this girl likes to talk to us a lot when we come over and its hard to keep the Spirit and stay on topic when she joins us. But this day, she didn´t come in and left us with her daughter. So we were able to talk really openly with the girl and have a really good cita. I know she felt the Spirit, even though she still decided she didn´t want anymore, Hna Cerna and I left feeling like we´d both done our part.

And the miracle continues. We hurried to the bus as fast as we can. The cita was much shorter than expected because the mom didn´t interrupt. So we hurry to the bus stop and the bus pulls up just as we get there. The bus ride is a little shorter than normal and we show up exactly on time. Right!!! The Lord was watching over us so much that day. The baptism started late too so we had time to practice our musical number with all the missionaries, ANOTHER blessing. 

Ok, story about the boy who was baptized. I think I might have shared part of this story before but im not sure, so I´ll give the short verison. A while ago Hna Cerna and I were running late to an eating cita. Hna Cerna felt impressed to talk to this lady and we ended up getting her number and address. When we went to visit her we found out she was baptized when she was 9 with her family, but had gone inactive a long time ago. We passed her over to the Elders because she´s in their area and they start teaching her and her son. The woman starts coming to church again and the boy decides to get baptized!! They´re going to be such a huge blessing for the ward as he is the only active YM in the ward. The Lord is moving his work forward :) 

Miracles all the time. These are some bigger ones,but little miracles exist everywhere. Im sure you´ll see them if you look :) Love you all a lot, email hugs!!!

Hna Woolley

May 12th Getting HOT

Well, its hot.It´s really hot for May. 90 degrees, in fact. And every day its getting warmer. Yum. But hey, we´re having fun out here! We went to the fair this week as a zone and we were able to ride a few rides and see all the Spainiards in their flamenco dresses and the men in their old style suits. It was a lot of fun. We all came home a little burnt (all of us forgot sunscreen) but it was still really, really fun. I´m really glad we had premission to go on a couple of hte rides.

And talking to my family yesterday-- there´s nothing better!! One hour isn´t enough time. Though I was kind of nervous because the member in whose house we were was talking to her family in Peru when we came in and had friends over. I was trying not to, but I kept checking my watch, watching the minutes tick by towards 5:30, afraid that she would forget the time. Thankfully she was awesome and all was well. And once I started talking all the friends trickled out. I could talk to you guys for hours. But that´s for when I come home :) <it reminded me how special our families are and remotivated me to try and work hard so I can help other people have an eternal family too. It´s a blessing that I want all to be able to have. 

Karina is doing well. She´s learning a lot still and is still very excited about the gospel. The ward is doing a good job of trying to help her get used to being a member too, something that I love to see as a missionary. 

Sorry its short this week, I´ve got ltos of emails and need to print some talks too for people. Love you all lots!!! Hope eveyrone had a great mothers day :)

Loves,

Hna Woolley

May 19th Watermelon is the BEST!

Did you know that Watermelon is Sandia in spanish? And that it is the most refeshing and delicious thing after a day of walking around in the sun.

...That honey mustard DOES, in fact, exist here in Spain. Score!

...The bus system in Sevilla needs some polishing. I´ve known that for a while, but you probably didn´t :)

...If you spend too much time under a tree in Sevilla, you come away covered in little black bugs that smear when you try to brush them off. Bugs that smear+white shirt= not a good combination.

.... you should double check the expiration date on all deli meat before you eat it. Learned that the hard week last week

... that after having food poisioning often your stomach hurts for a few days when you eat because its still sore. Yup. Felt like an old lady taking my gas pills. With the pills I was fine, but yes, i had food poisoning. I think its the first time I´ve ever had it. Not my favorite thing in the world.

But besides the food poisioning (how in the world do you spell that? ), things are going well. Karina is doing awesome, we taught her what a patriarchal blessing is the other day and we´re going to show her how to start her family history this week. She´s awesome, I´m so blessed to know her. I´m so grateful for the chance I´ve had to work here in Sevilla. It´s been a rollercoaster, but when is life not a rollercoaster? Thats what keeps it intersesting, right?

And having a foundation solid in the gospel is what keeps me going. Even though its hard as a missionary, yeah, it´s always going to be hard. It´s life. But with the gospel, it is SO much easier. I recieve so much strength every week taking the sacrament and remembering my covenants. And prayer. Oh wow, prayers. Without praying, I know I wouldn´t be able to do this. There are some thoughts that can only be shared with my Heavenly Father, some problems that only He can help me with. We are so blessed as members to have access to these things and to have the gift of the Holy Ghost. I´ve been thinking about it a lot the last few days and we really are so, so blessed.

Love you all. I´m praying and thinking about you guys. Thanks for all your support, seriously. I´m positive I´ve recieved help many times because of your prayers. Email hugs!!!!

Loves,

Hermana Woolley

p.s, sorry no picts this week. The computer I¨m using today is super old and dosen´t have a USB port.

..... ? I know. 

Hi there!

Well, this week was a lot of the normal missionary life. But Friday I did go on intercambios and spent Friday afternoon to Saturday morning in a nearby pueblo with a different missionary. Splits? I think thats what its called in english. 

This hermana is a good friend and lots of fun, so we had a blast. We ended up setting a baptismal goal with a man and his 9 year old daughter, which was awesome! I love the girl, she was super sweet. And funny. 

Her dad didn´t have a lot of time before going to work to meet with us. He kept talking and telling us what he thought about religon and about his life, and not giving us a chance to talk and start explaining the restoration to him. Its hard to know when to interrupt sometimes because I don´t want to be rude and we want to give people the chance to express what they´re feeling, but we also have something to share thats amazing! 

So I was starting to think we weren´t ever going to get the chance to teach before he had to leave, when his 9 year old daughter interrupts and says ,´´ Daddy, you have to let the Hermanas teach us. They haven´t talked at all yet and I want to listen!´´ I think she was listening to the Spirit without even realizing it :) Super funny experience.

I ate my first Niepolatana (not sure how you spell that) in a while too while I was in Dos Hermanas (The pueblo) and it was fantastic. I´d forgotten just how much I love those goodies. They´re the chocolate filled croissant thingies, I´ve sent pictures home before I¨m pretty sure. Yum!! 

This week I´ve been reading Moses for my studies, and its amazing how much stuff is in there! I´d forgotten so many things in there. Like Chapter 6 is full of the plan of Salvation and the Gospel of Christ and mentions Adam being baptized. Super cool stuff. I´m really learning so much out here. All these little bits and pieces that are building up my foundation and strengthening my testimony. It´s an awesome thing. My mission is still hard and there are still days when I´m not sure if I´ll make it to that night. BUT, the good things I¨m learning and the strength I´m gaining far outweighs the hard parts. 

I think thats how we felt about life, looking down from the premortal life. We knew it would be hard and that we´d get pretty darn tired. But its worth it, and we knew it. So we jumped from the edge of the cliff, knowing that Christ´s Atonement would catch us. We put all our eggs in one basket. We must of had so much faith!! It amazing to think about. I want to have that same faith, and more. That´s what we´re all working towards, right?

Just some of what I´ve been thinking about this week. Love you all a bunch, Keep on going strong! Don´t forget to read your scriptures and say your prayers, not for even ONE day. Love ya!!!! 

Hna Woolley

Karina's Baptism

This week has been full of miracles. Seriously, I think its been the most productive and amazing week of my mission. Not only the baptism of Karina, but we found lots of new investigators and had lots of lessons and had the help of several members. Our district leader was very surprized at the jump in our numbers. I´m fully convinced its because we decided to do our very best to be obedient and follow the Lord´s commands as exactly as we could. It has made all the difference this week.

I´ve been blessed to hear spiritual promptings more and more during my mission. It´s such a blessing to feel the guidance of the Spirit. This week we were in a lesson where we couldn´t really feel the spirit for various reasons. And it was the first time I realized how much I depend on the Spirit when we´re teaching. Because in this particular lesson I couldn´t think of anything to say. Nothing. We tried to talk and share something, but it just didn´t work. In part because of a language barrier (the women didn´t speak very good Spanish, she speaks Romanian), but hugely because it was impossible to feel the spirit. It was a really good learning experience for me.

Ok, so Karina´s baptism. It was absolutely wonderful. A teenage girl was baptized the same day so we worked with the Elders to make everything all happen. Our ward mission leader was awesome too. We went to go pick up Karina and her family, as a ´´just in case´´. 

Often the week before or even the day of the baptism something happens. Satan is trying as hard as he can to stop this baptism from happening, so he does all he can to discourage it. So we went to pick her up in case she was having cold feet. We got there and everything was fine, she wasn´t ready, but it was fine. As we slowly made our way to the church, I realized that we´d needed to pick her up more for us than for her. We ended up showing up at hte church 10  minutes before the baptism was supposed to start. (Here in Spain thats not a big deal. we were there before everyone else) If we´d been waiting for her in the church we would have been freaking out, but since we were with her all was calm. 

It was a beautiful service. The spirit was strong and Karina and the girl, Maria, were very happy. It was a miracle to see Maria getting baptized too. She almost got baptized a few weeks ago but got sick and had other problems so it didn´t happen. But the ward, especially the youth, bonded together and really helped her gain the courage to keep meeting with the missionaries and get baptized. 

I have never been so happy in my life as I was watchign Karina being baptized. There is no feeling like watchign someone I love so much make such a good decision. It was a moment of inexpressable joy. I don´t think there are words for how beautiful a baptism is. When people decide to come unto Christ and make the choice to try and be better..... it´s beautiful. Just beautiful. 

Love you all so much. Remember your own special day and why you decided to be baptized. Remembering the ´´why´´ of the gospel makes all the difference. Hugs and loves!!!!

Hna Woolley