Transfer calls!

Wow no pictures again this week! It´s not working!

But big news!! I´m in LLEIDA!!

Leaving Valencia was so hard, we left this morning. Ahh, I cried so much saying goodbye to all the members and investigators. Valencia is literally the BEST area you could be in and I know I´m going to miss it so much.

My new companion is actually my friend Hermana O´Neill, we did intercambios together my first transfer when I was still in training. She picked me up in Barcelona this afternoon then we took the train to Lleida! She told me that I seem a lot happier now than I was when I was in my training! Haha, being trained and adjusting to missionary life and Schedule is super rough, I feel bad that that´s all she remembered about me. But she says I´m so different now and she loves it! Haha, so that´s good. She´s only one transfer ahead of me in the misión, so we are a very new companionship!!

When I got my call that I was going to Lleida everyone said that it smells bad here and that there´s no Nigerians  (worst news ever, I love Nigerians) and that it´s really small. There used to be 4 elders here but they just took 2 out, so our area just got LOTS bigger! So that will be fun!! I´m super stoked, Hermana O´Neill and I get a long super well and I´m PUMPED! Also I thought I had just escaped the Valencia heat, apparently not, it´s super hot here in Lleida, too!!

I think a miracle we had this week was just the fact that my Spanish has improved by leaps and bounds in the last 2 weeks. I feel much more comfortable with my spanish, I can understand basically everything (except the darn Spaniards that speak a million miles an hour with their crazy accent that is still so hard to understand). I am so much more confident than I have ever been in my Spanish.

Hermana Lamoreaux was the best companion I could have asked for to show me the ropes of the misión, to help me with my Spanish and to teach me how to work hard. And now I´m here in Lleida, it´s totally different than Valencia in SO many ways but I know it´s going to be great. I´m ready to work super hard here and build up this area the best that I can and do whatever is in my power to help build the Lord´s kingdom in this little town.

As far as our area in Valencia was this week, we had to say goodbye to lots of investigators, not just me but Hermana Lamoreaux too because yes, she´s staying, but they´re taking elders out of Valencia as well so HER area also just got much bigger and she lost a big chunk of her area as well. And she´s training again and whitewashing (because she took the other elder´s whole area) which is exactly what she did with me. She´s a CHAMP!

My favorite thing about this week was how much LOVE I feel for the people in Valencia. When I first got there in the end of January I was super selfish. I found it very hard to love the people, to love the area and to love the misión. But as I was saying goodbye, as I bore my goodbye  testimony at church on Sunday and as people were so kind to me as I was leaving, I felt so much love and I realized how much I have come to love them and love serving them. Being a member of the true church is such a privilege. I just LOVE being a Mormon. I love what we stand for. I love being a missionary.

I love you all, thanks for your love and prayers!

Con amor,
Hermana Birch

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Hermana Birch

Spain Barcelona Mission

C/ Calatrava 10 -12 bajos

Barcelona, 08017

España

more pics

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Maravilloso!

Querido Familia y Amigos,

A miracle we had this week was that yesterday after church I was just feeling super tired and super stressed and kind of down. At church I still struggle with talking to the members in Spanish, also the ward choir is singing at a baptism of an 8 year old this Saturday and so they needed me to play piano and it´s a hymn that is hard for me to play. So like we were practicing singing it with me playing it and I kept messing up and I couldn´t get it right. I was just really frustrated and frustrated that I still have a hard time speaking Spanish with the members. So I came home for Mediodia and just took a nap and relaxed. And when  we went out again we only had one set visit and then we were just going to do passbys after. And that just makes the day go by super slow and it can be frustrating as well. But I prayed and asked God to help me feel excitement in the work and that I would feel happy. And so the one visit we had set up was someone that the other Hermanas had contacted, so we didn´t know her. So we stop by the house and this guy says she´s sleeping right now. And then Hermana Lamoreaux said well can we come back in 30 minutes, and he was like, well hold on, and then he was like, okay she´s actually up now.  So we come up and it´s this CUTE family from the Dominican Republic. Johanna and her cuñado Lewware. And then someone else came in for a sec, just to tell us that his Mom was a member. But then he left. So we teach Johanna and Lewware about the Book Of Mormon and then Lesson 1 about the Restoration. And Johanna was like, So what do I need to do to be baptized!!?? Now they both have fechas and they both said they would read in the Book Of Mormon before our next visit. They´re super cute and invited us over to eat with them, that they´ll make us Dominican food. 

This visit was just what I needed to revitalize my spirits that day!! I know that God has a work for us to do. It´s a marvelous work and a wonder, but yes it is a WORK. 

Sorry no pictures this week! My companion dropped my camera. A member gave me one to use (so nice of them) but the memory card I already have doesn´t fit in it. So yeah, kind of a problem.

I love you guys lots! Have a good week!

Con amor,

Hermana Birch

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.