Fwd: Bernabeu Stadium

from Jan 15, 2015


The Stadium!

Fwd: Fotos Oficiales

 "I am called of God. My authority is above that of the kings of the earth. By revelation I have been selected as a personal representative of the Lord, Jesus Christ. He is my Master and He has chosen me to represent Him. To stand in His Place, to say and do what He himself would say and do if He personally were ministering to the very people to whom He has sent me. My voice is His voice, and my acts are His acts, my words are His words and my doctrine is His doctrine. My commission is to do what He wants done, to say what He wants said, to be a living modern witness in word and deed - of the divinity of His great and marvelous latter day work. How GREAT is my CALLING."

Bruce R. McConkie

MY FIRST AREA!

Hola!! This week has been insane! So I´m here in Valencia with my trainer, Hermana Lamoreaux. She´s awesome. We´re white washing, that means both of us are new to the area! Crazy right?! Our piso is great. We have a tiny little kitchen, a washing machine, no dryer, 2 bathrooms (with bidets..weird, still don´t know how people use them, or why). Our first day here, yesterday, a member, Pilar called us to invite us for comida. So we went today. She´s a precious elderly woman, showed us pictures of her family and grandkids. Cooked us some really good food. Yellow rice (kind of soupy), salad, and chicken croquettes, also we had bread with this weird olive paste that was super gross.We also have been contacting and giving out Libro De Mormons on the street. Luckily Hermana Lamoreaux is really good at Spanish because I still can´t understand what they´re saying so I just bear my testimony or introduce the book of mormon.  

The mission president President Pace is awesome. He´s so strong in the faith. I am so glad he´s the president. When we got to the mission home from the mtc, I stayed the night with some misioneras  in the Barcelona area. My temporary companion was Hermana Diorgia, she´s from Italia and doesn´t speak English. But it was so fun! Her piso is right next to the Sagrada Familia, it was really cool. We saw so many cool things and talked to one menos activo and an investigator. The visits went so well and I just loved being with Diorgia. I was SOOO hoping I would be put with her and that she would be my trainer! So the next day President Pace assigned me to Valencia with someone totally different, who speaks English, and has only been out for 6 months. I was kind of bummed. And we´re whitewashing. I felt like God was punishing me or something. But I know this is going to be great. Maybe being with Hna Diorgia would have been a really good experience, but maybe it would have been just that. Here, I know I´ll learn a lot of patience and skills and also I have to work harder to learn Spanish here because my comp is from Utah! It´s so much easier to speak in English to her. 

Can you google stuff about Valencia .nd tell me about snce I´ve been in Spain my hair smells weird. I think it´s the water. Like right after I wash it it smells bad. We´re not supposed to drink the water, but we do shower with it. I thought it was my shampoo, but after trying different kinds, I know it´s not. Also if you could send anything I would like little things of hand sanitizer to take in my purse, Our piso is pretty dirty, the misioneras before us didn´t take care of it so well. Kinda gross. And we don´t have paper towels or any good cleaning stuff. Also we haven´t had a chance to go to the store to buy food. All we have in the piso right now is a bunch of brown bananas, muesli (which is actually good) and then some leftover croquettes Pilar gave us at lunch today. All the stores are closed because it´s like a holiday today. Haha it´s just an adventure here. Everyday. 

We had our first District Meeting today. Great missionaries here in Valencia. I played the piano and they asked me to play in Sacrament because nobody has been doing it! THere´s a baptism for the elders on Sunday so that´s exciting. Today me and Hna L. called a bunch of people in the area book and set up citas for tomorrow so we can get to know the investigadores and start getting BUSY and getting some BAPTISMS! We ride the metro to the Church building it´s like 20 min away. Also our area is super small, we have Valencia ward split into a few different parts among 2 elder companionships and then us, plus another ward. Our area is super small, me and my comps, but that´s super good!! We´re really happy about that, and we live in our area and the district leader said we have the most members and the best members in our area. Sweet!! Here´s an awkward pic of me and my trainer. We´re at the locutorio, it´s a sketchy place where you pay for each minute you use the computers. Yeah. 

I love you all. I´m happy and healthy and safe. Thanks for your prayers! 

Con amor, Hermana Birch

Last Days in the CCM

I´m in Valencia

Hi Mom, 

I just made it to my first area with my trainer. We are in Valencia! We have four misioneras in our piso. My trainer, me, another girl who was in the CCM with me and then her trainer. Her trainer though has only been here 7 weeks. Training is 12 weeks, so she hasn´t even finished her own training, and she´s training someone else!! Crazy. We took a 3 hour train from Barcelona. I´m safe, happy and I love you! Talk to you soon!

Love, Hermana Birch

Last email from the CCM!

Tonight is my last night in the Madrid CCM! We are taking a train to
Barcelona! It´s really sad to leave the CCM. I have loved it here so
much. I´m going to miss it. Keep me in your prayers. I´m going to get
assigned to a trainer and an area! I feel really scared but this is
what God has been preparing me for! It´s time! It´s been a rough few
last days here. But I´m just glad I got through it all. We just had
our Field Orientation so I feel pumped up!! I love you all!!

me and my comp. last time at the temple

last time to the Madrid temple for 18 mos!

Fw: Semana 5 en la CCM

 

Es loco that I have been here for 5 weeks!! The language is coming
along. Me and Hermana Thorpe have been having some really good lessons
with our ´investigators´. Missionary work is just awesome. I think
I´ve learned so much about myself and others from being here. I´ve
learned how to comfort others when they need it and how to be a better
friend and a better, happier person. I´ve learned to be patient and to
be kinder. I love the people here. I spend a lot of time with my
district, 3 elders in a trio and then 2 other companionships of
Hermanas. I love them so much. We study together pretty much all day,
eat together, sing together, play soccer together, go to P day
together. We´re all really close and I love each of them. Sad to say
goodbye to them as we part our ways and go to different  missions of
Spain on Tuesday. I feel the Spirit here a lot. I know that God is
watching out for me. I read my patriarchal blessing pretty much
everyday, it gives me a lot of strength. We have so many awesome
devotionals, scriptural thoughts and experiences here, I just don´t
know how to say everything in one email. Hermana Lovell (pres. wife)
has us memorize stuff every week and if we do she bakes us something.
We memorized el objetivo, el bautismo invitaciona and this week is
Moroni 10:4 by Monday, and she just told us yesterday. So I´ve been
working on that. I treasure my time here. And I´m excited for el campo
on Tuesday! The MTC has been great. I actually loved the MTC. I wish I
could stay here longer, it´s our safe little bubble here. Haha, but
it´s time to press forward. I guess I´m hoping for a native Spanish
speaker for my entrenador. I want to master the Spanish language and
having a native, I would be able to learn the accent really well and I
feel like I would learn a lot better. But we will see what the Lord
has in store for me, I trust Him. Everyone always says that you change
on your mission, and become better. I don´t know if I´ve changed yet,
I don´t think people really change. They just come to recognize Christ
as their Savior and then they try to emulate Him in every way they
can. I pray about you guys all the time. I worry about you and I hope
you all are safe and happy and that school is going well for all the
boys. I love you all so much. I can´t wait for you guys to go on
missions, it´s such an awesome experience. Keep feeding the Sisters
and take good care of them!! Think of them as me. I know you do and
I´m glad that you were such an example to me of taking care of the
missionaries! It´s really important.

Send me videos and pics!!!
Love always, Hermana Birch

Semana 4 en la CCM

08 01 2015 Hola everyone! I love you all so much! Feliz ano!! On
Saturday at the park
I had a really cool experience. My companion was Hermana Barbee. It was
awesome that I got assigned to her, becuase I had just told my comp. that I
wanted her! So I was really pumped for the park and was going to be really
brave and talk to everyone. First on the metro I placed a Book Of Mormon to
this young lady sitting next to me on the train. She didn´t want it at
first, but I was persistent and she was super nice. So we get to the park
and everyone we see we talk to. We faced a lot of rejection though and I
started feeling really sad. I wanted to give up. It was really hard. I just
wanted to cry. I was trying so hard with no results. Hna Barbee was really
encouraging so I said a prayer in my heart and we kept walking. We decided
to go on the less beaten paths of the park, where people are more at ease.
We started having success. We passed this one guy sitting on a bench and
when I saw him I just knew I needed to talk to him. But that made me really
nervous so we passed by him without saying anything. we didn´t go too far
though, because I had a tugging feeling we should talk to him. I told my
comp and pointed to him. She said ok let´s go. But suddenly my stomach got
all nervous (even though I´d been talking to strangers all day) and I
really didn´t want to. Hna Barbee told me that we need to talk to him even
more now, because if I´m getting all nervous that means something big is
going to happen. I still didn´t want to. He was a young guy, blonde hair,
sunglasses on, writing in a journal and he just made me nervous. On our way
out of that section of the park though I told hna barbee just to pass him
but luckily she didn´t listen to me and she approached him. He was very
nice. He´s from Germany and got to Spain they day before to study at the
university. His English was very good so we spoke in English. He was so
cool!! I´m so glad we talked to him and that my companion didn´t listen to
me when I said I was too nervous!! We told him about the Book Of Mormon and
how it answers questions about God´s plan for us and he was so interested!!
We almost left without getting his info but the Spirit told me to be
persistent so I got his contact info so the missionaries serving in Madrid
can contact him!! I got my first referral!! I was so happy after. I love
sharing this message with God´s children. I´m grateful that God is patient
with me in my difficulties and my nervousness in talking to people and gave
me a comp that day that would be bold enough to follow through with the
prompting we had to speak to him.

Also for New Year´s here you eat 12 grapes 12 seconds before midnight. 1
each second. Our juvas had seeds in them so it was kind of hard to eat
them, but it was funny.
I finally learned the word for ¨cool¨. During one of our lessons I told the
Investigator that I had a ¨fresco escritura¨to share with them. I thought
that meant ¨cool¨ but it means ¨fresh¨. It was really funny. And ¨que guay¨
is what you say for cool. In case you´re wondering. OH! And I got the
Christmas card mom. It made me so happy! I showed my district. My
compañeras think you are cute, Tyler. And Dad you look like this Elder
here. It´s really funny because you´re the same heighht, same hair, same
face, same glasses same everything. Really weird. The Elders thought it was
funny.
Also do you love the fact that I´m BLINKING in the pic with Archuleta!?
Ugh.
I love getting all your emails and pics, sorry I don´t have time to respond
back to them all! But it´s the highlight of my week reading from you all!!
Contact with the outside world!! Oh and one of my teachers, Hermano Ponsoda
is so funny. He doesn´t really speak English. I love how he says my name.
He says Hermana BEERCH. It´s the cutest thing. So now everyone in my
district says it like that.
Oh we just got a bunch of missionaries from the Provo MTC, they´re going to
Russia. They´re really cool. And yesterdaylots of native or proficient
Spanish speakers came in for my last two weeks (their only two weeks) here
at the CCM!! Crazy!! I leave January 20th for el campo (the field). My time
here has flown by. I have learned so much. I still have a lot to learn
though. Today for P Day we are going to the Real Madrid Stadium. It´s gonna
be cool! Me and my comp wanted to go to the art museo but not enough people
signed up, actually just us two signed up. So yeah. Oh the chocolate I´m
holding in the pic is Milka brand. It´s really good. I think I´ve said this
way too much but the chocolate here is so much better than America!!
Anyways, I love you and tell me how you´re doing! Love, Hermana Birch

More pics

Another pic from the Bernabeu stadium! Oh and we do planks in our room
after exercise time. Good stuff. I love my roommates.

David Archuleta pic

This is the picture of us with David Archuleta, I don´t know if you
guys saw it. I hate that I´m blinking!! Haha, he was so cool though
when he came and sang for us. I loved it.

Fwd: pic

Hola everyone! I love you all so much! Feliz ano!! On Saturday at the park I had a really cool experience. My companion was Hermana Barbee. It was awesome that I got assigned to her, becuase I had just told my comp. that I wanted her! So I was really pumped for the park and was going to be really brave and talk to everyone. First on the metro I placed a Book Of Mormon to this young lady sitting next to me on the train. She didn´t want it at first, but I was persistent and she was super nice. So we get to the park and everyone we see we talk to. We faced a lot of rejection though and I started feeling really sad. I wanted to give up. It was really hard. I just wanted to cry. I was trying so hard with no results. Hna Barbee was really encouraging so I said a prayer in my heart and we kept walking. We decided to go on the less beaten paths of the park, where people are more at ease. We started having success. We passed this one guy sitting on a bench and when I saw him I just knew I needed to talk to him. But that made me really nervous so we passed by him without saying anything. we didn´t go too far though, because I had a tugging feeling we should talk to him. I told my comp and pointed to him. She said ok let´s go. But suddenly my stomach got all nervous (even though I´d been talking to strangers all day) and I really didn´t want to. Hna Barbee told me that we need to talk to him even more now, because if I´m getting all nervous that means something big is going to happen. I still didn´t want to. He was a young guy, blonde hair, sunglasses on, writing in a journal and he just made me nervous. On our way out of that section of the park though I told hna barbee just to pass him but luckily she didn´t listen to me and she approached him. He was very nice. He´s from Germany and got to Spain they day before to study at the university. His English was very good so we spoke in English. He was so cool!! I´m so glad we talked to him and that my companion didn´t listen to me when I said I was too nervous!! We told him about the Book Of Mormon and how it answers questions about God´s plan for us and he was so interested!! We almost left without getting his info but the Spirit told me to be persistent so I got his contact info so the missionaries serving in Madrid can contact him!! I got my first referral!! I was so happy after. I love sharing this message with God´s children. I´m grateful that God is patient with me in my difficulties and my nervousness in talking to people and gave me a comp that day that would be bold enough to follow through with the prompting we had to speak to him.

Also for New Year´s here you eat 12 grapes 12 seconds before midnight. 1 each second. Our juvas had seeds in them so it was kind of hard to eat them, but it was funny.

I finally learned the word for ¨cool¨. During one of our lessons I told the Investigator that I had a ¨fresco escritura¨to share with them. I thought that meant ¨cool¨ but it means ¨fresh¨. It was really funny. And ¨que guay¨  is what you say for cool. In case you´re wondering. OH! And I got the Christmas card mom. It made me so happy! I showed my district. My compañeras think you are cute, Tyler. And Dad you look like this Elder here. It´s really funny because you´re the same heighht, same hair, same face, same glasses same everything. Really weird. The Elders thought it was funny. 

 

Also do you love the fact that I´m BLINKING in the pic with Archuleta!? Ugh.

I love getting all your emails and pics, sorry I don´t have time to respond back to them all! But it´s the highlight of my week reading from you all!! Contact with the outside world!! Oh and one of my teachers, Hermano Ponsoda is so funny. He doesn´t really speak English. I love how he says my name. He says Hermana BEERCH. It´s the cutest thing. So now everyone in my district says it like that.
Oh we just got a bunch of missionaries from the Provo MTC, they´re going to Russia. They´re really cool. And yesterdaylots of native or proficient Spanish speakers came in for my last two weeks (their only two weeks) here at the CCM!! Crazy!! I leave January 20th for el campo (the field). My time here has flown by. I have learned so much. I still have a lot to learn though. Today for P Day we are going to the Real Madrid Stadium. It´s gonna be cool! Me and my comp wanted to go to the art museo but not enough people signed up, actually just us two signed up. So yeah. Oh the chocolate I´m holding in the pic is Milka brand. It´s really good. I think I´ve said this way too much but the chocolate here is so much better than America!! Anyways, I love you and tell me how you´re doing! Love, Hermana Birch