Paella for Thanksgiving

Christ serving his disciples.

Have an awesome week!
Hermana Birch

We totally ate the best paella of my life on thanksgiving day, but I
forgot to take a picture! Paella is Spanish rice with seafood, or
chicken, or both. Josefa made it for us and it was sooooo good. I ate
two big plates. It was the first paella that I have liked! Haha Josefa
is amazing, she cooked it just for us two. It had octopus, calamari,
chicken, steak, mussels. Amazing.

Ugh I've been so bad with taking pictures this week! I know I know,
I'm sorry! I promise pictures next week!

This week was really rough. We got some more fake numbers. My feet
were literally frozen last night because we got stuck waiting outside
for a train for 30 minutes at like 9:30 at night and it was probably 5
degrees C. Sorry don't know what that would be in Fahrenheit. But it
was cold.

We had a zone conference with mission president in Barcelona (awesome
conference, LOVE The Daytons) and afterwards they gave us the flu
shot. Well, the next day I got sick. We still went out and worked
after mediodia, but we rested in the morning. So today we didn't go do
anything fun, we just went shopping for groceries and then I slept all
day.

We have been visiting the ward members in their homes, mostly out of
necessity. Because if we don't we are out in the cold, literally. I
love visiting the members. Some of them really need our visits. Lots
of them are less active, lonely, or going through a rough time. They
are just as important sometimes as our investigators. The
investigators we had have dropped us and the other ones were
apparently too busy to meet this week.

The the Zone Conference Hermana Dayton talked about the importance of
thinking positive. And President Dayton and the Assistants talked
about how we need to be consecrated missionaries. I love it when we
learn about that. I feel like it's a common theme. I want to be that
Consecrated missionary. Totally focused on the work, left my "nets"
behind, like Peter James and John.

My companion is awesome. We aren't probably as close as friends as we
should be. That's definitely my fault. She kind of intimidates me I
guess. Her family has lots of money, she's really happy and serves me
a lot in piso (apartment) by cleaning and cooking and doing dishes.
Especially when I was sick last night after freezing my toes off, she
brought me herbal tea, toast and galletas (crackers...) in bed.

My favorite thing about my mission right now is the members. I feel so
close to many of them. I feel so loved by them, but I think they also
feel loved by us. When we are in their homes for an eating visit, or
just to stop by, they open up to us so much. They are awesome people.
They teach me so much. Their lives are filled with faith and
sacrifice.

The Christmas website and video for this year has come out! I love it!
Www.Christmas.mormon.org

This is what I look at everyday.

Family Home Evening!

She's from Mexico.

I'm so grateful for the members and miracles here. We are all missionaries!

Love, Hermana Birch

Hola a todos!

We had an awesome miracle this week with Rosa! Our investigator from
Bolivia! I was super nervous to do this, but we decided to teach her
about Family Home Evening and then invite her and her husband to have
one this week. Her Romanian husband, we didn't know very well, never
really had talked to him, but he said we could do it and he would
participate! So we said we would bring a treat, and he could share a
spiritual thought and then Rosa was in charge of the game. So we
arrived to their house Saturday night and he said he actually wasn't
very religious and didn't have a thought, so instead we shared the
thought, no pasa nada, and we played a game and had a treat (Rosa made
one too) and it was super fun! And then at the end he invited us to a
barbecue and that we could do another FHE next week! We ran out of
that visit screaming and jumping because of how well it went. Mariano
is this huge Romanian guy, so he kind of intimidated us, but he was
SUPER.

Then Rosa came to church the next morning, Mariano drives her, helps
her with her baby and the stroller out of the car, but then leaves.
And in gospel principles Rosa said she really would like for him to
join her at church, but she says little by little with him. We will
keep doing the FHE and everything to slowly warm him up to the church.
LOVE THAT FAMILY.

I've been thinking a lot lately of my brothers, I hope all four of
them are preparing and planning to serve missions. The best thing you
can to do prepare is read The Book Of Mormon daily and really
strengthen your testimony of it.

It's really super cold now in Granollers. I had an intercambio this
week with my Sister Training Leader. She came here to my area!

Movie night

Last night was super super cold and we were in one of our pueblos (small town outside of our city) and we had about two hours until our next visit. So we were just walking around in the freezing cold. There was nobody in the streets and it was dark even though it was only like 6. I felt miserable because I was cold and we didn't have anything to do. We couldn't get into an apartment building to knock, so it was just bad. Luckily God really does watch over his missionaries. We said a prayer, I asked that we could find something to do and find some one who would accept us so we wouldn't just be here in the pueblo wasting our time. And then we literally followed the Spirit walking in the dark cold until we found a house and rang the doorbell. The houses in this neighborhood had gates and then the driveway. So the person had to come out the door and up the driveway to the gate to come talk to us. And a Spanish girl came out, our age, and she was super sweet. She wasn't interested at first but after we talked a little bit about God and we prayed with her she said we could come back and she's usually home in the mornings! When we most need visits!

And then we went on our way to a movie night we had planned with a less active. She had her friend over and we watched the hour long Joseph Smith movie. She bought me canapés (Bolivian cheese roll) because she knows how I love them. I just have grown to love her so much.

Also my new companion got to meet our two Spanish grandmas we have here in Granollers. Maria Jesús, who feeds us every single week and comes to church without fail even though she can't barely walk. She had breast cancer, she has no living family, she never was blessed to have kids but she is one of the funniest, happiest people I know and she has the strongest testimony I have ever seen.

And Josefa. Who also feeds us every single week, never went to school when she was younger, her kids aren't super active in the church, she gets super nervous giving talks at church but she loves serving us, never lets us help do dishes because she says it's a blessing to her that we come to her house.

I learn so much everyday, I'm seeing lots of miracles and Gods's hand in what we do. Do people always answer their phones? No. Do people cancel visits like all the time? Yes. But the most important thing is that we are doing what we can to help people understand and enjoy the gospel. It's not always easy but it's so fulfilling!

Con amor
Hermana Birch



Hello everybody

Well this week has just been great. My new companion is just a big
bundle of sunshine and rainbows, super positive and happy ALL the
time. She is so happy to be here because we have so many
investigators, we have a ton of potential in this area. It's so great
I feel so blessed.

New transfer!

She is awesome she is from Arizona. Hermana Handy.

We had a great week, saying goodbye to a companion is always hard. But it's another opportunity to learn and grow And change!

Last picture with Hermana Canales :( She has been a dream companion! Always doing the dishes, folding my clothes, making my bed and super chill but super hard worker and we had lots of unity :)

We had an awesome barbecue with a recent convert! The one that lives in the theatre, it was awesome!

Also we had our ward activity!

It was super great except we didn't have a great turnout, but overall it was super fun and super spiritual. We set up 3 classrooms, one for each kingdom of glory and we had games in the rest of the church. There were worldly games and spiritual games but no one noticed that the different coins they earned would get them to which kingdom. We set up the celestial kingdom with lights and everyone brought food and we made it really beautiful. The other kingdoms were dark and only had biscuits. And in the end we all made it to the celestial kingdom thanks to the atonement of Jesus Christ. It was really great.

Our bishop was mission president in Colombia in the 90s and he invited two of his ex missionaries to come speak in our ward. One is from Utah and he's a Kirkham so we might be cousins! Haha. His wife was there too, she didn't speak Spanish, she served a mission in Taiwan. They have 6 kids all young and came to Spain just them two just to visit our bishop :) so cool right?

We literally don't have time to write today so I'm sorry, but I love you all!

Love, Hermana Birchj Queridos familia y amigos,

I have a new companion!

The Rain In Spain

Saturday morning was awesome. We were on our way to visit Rosa, her husband is Romanian, but she's from Bolivia. And at the bus stop we ran into a member. She was on her way home from her morning job cleaning floors, and I felt like we should ask her to come with us to our visit. So I did, even though I totally didn't want to because I knew she was tired, but she came happily and Rosa, the investigator, came to church on Sunday for the first time ever! And the member that had came with us fellowshipped her and introduced her to other members! It was like a dream come true! I usually get so stressed on Sundays worrying about the investigators but we didn't have to worry at all. I feel like God really does know who we are teaching and wants them to feel good at church.

I felt the Spirit really strong this week when we were in the chapel having a visit with Lamin from Senegal (the Muslim). Honestly, teaching him is so frustrating. Like he speaks Spanish, just he can't understand everything, especially gospel things, so we teach SUPER simply. We decided to have a lesson just about Jesus Christ, because Muslims don't believe that Christ is the Savior. But what I love about Lamin is that he is so sincere, he really really loves everything we teach him. I have the gospel art book on my iPad so we were just flipping through the pictures of Jesus' life, and talking about them and when we got to the Atonement, I just started crying. I have learned so much about the Gospel on my mission, it has been such a wonderful gift to be here. I can't even explain how I felt, but it was really neat. And at the end of the lesson, Lamin prayed! I love it when people pray for the first time, it's so amazing.

We went to Barcelona today and we walked the Rambla and the food market! We loved it, it's soooo cool! There were a ton of tourists, I heard lots of English people!

After walking around this huge indoor market with every food imaginable- empanadas, fried fish, smoothies, gelato- we decided to go find a burger place that a member had told us about! Hermana Canales is obsessed with burgers. Haha

Lots of love,
Hermana BirchIt was really awesome to have some of our investigators at church this
week! The church is so true! We are teaching an African woman, and we
walked to church with her. We teach lots of Africans because they are
so humble and teachable. They have a strong belief in God. Her name is
Inmaculada, or Immaculate in English. She is like 60 but every time we
meet with her she runs out of her house to greet us and she's always
dancing. She's so cute!

La Sagrada Familia!

All of the returned missionaries in the stake shared their testimonies, like 6 of them, and it was super powerful! The stake president then invited all of us missionaries serving to stand up so everyone could see us. Then he said that every single person who could serve a mission or start their papers right now, needed to do it and get going on it immediately! Missionary work is the best!

We also had interviews with our mission president this week. Really fun because while everyone was waiting to be interviewed, we talked to President Dayton's wife and she had music and a table set up with homemade banana bread and Halloween candy :) she's like our mom, and she is the most loving, generous, sweet person I have ever met.

After interviews we ate a a burger place in Barcelona! These burgers were huge, and really good too! And cheap!

Me and my companion are finally seeing some more success! We found a whole bunch of new investigators this week and our agenda is already full of appointments for the coming week! Whoo hoo! Kind of a miracle actually.

We are working with a less active that got baptized in her country, Bolivia, but hasn't been to church here in Spain since she moved here like 8 years ago. We contacted her in the street, not knowing that she was already a member! Miracle! She is so sweet and has a beautiful baby daughter. The only problem is that when we were visiting her in her house, her husband called. We could hear the conversation and we noticed that he is very controlling and very bad tempered. When she got off the phone I asked her if it was ok we were here, and she said no, so we left real fast! And we have seen her with bruises on her face and we are kind of worried about how he treats her. Like she was going to come to church last week, so we stopped by in the morning to pick her up, but she said her husband wouldn't let her. It's just so hard, we don't know what to do or how to help. Also we have an investigator who wants to be baptized, but her husband won't let her because he's Orthodox. Also the husband of a less active who recently has been reactivated, because her teenage daughter got baptized, has no interest, but we go to their house every Monday for Family Home Evening, but he doesn't stay for the lesson. We are just praying that the hearts of these women's husbands will be softened! It's like the general conference talks about women, and how the strong women of the church are the backbone.

Guess what! It's Christmas time again! I'm just slightly obsessed with these individually wrapped cookies that they sell only this time of year. I don't know what they would be called in English, but it's like an almond cookie, but comes in different flavors. Reminds me of the MTC because that's where I first tried them!

Something funny this week that me and Hermana Canales have been feeling is that we are really pesadas (annoying). Now that it gets dark super early, and it's cold, and nobody is in the street, we have to resort to door knocking. I just feel horribly annoying knocking on people's doors when they just want to be sleeping. But that's just something about the mission life. Our message is much more important than whatever anyone could be doing in their house.

Sometimes I feel really annoying because even when people tell us they're not interested I keep talking, until they slam the door in my face! It's just that they're saying no to something but they don't even know what it is! But president in my interview confirmed to me what I have been doing, he told me to be like Ammon. To be bold. Because the thing is, the church IS true! So this message is the most important message they will ever hear, and they might not get another chance in this life to hear it!

Sorry for the longish email this week!
Love you all so much!
Hermana BirchThis was a great week for us here! Everyday I love the mission more
and more, if that's even possible!

We had Stake Conference in Barcelona, which was awesome.

Week 3 Granollers

I keep getting the feeling that I need to trust more in the Lord. I think that the Lord is literally testing me. I can feel it. The mission.....ah I love it. You can like feel the eyes of the Lord on you at all times, He is literally here. Often times, when we are in a lesson or in the street, and I need help, I say "Heavenly Father, I know you're here right now, so can you help us with what to say, because I really don't know what this person needs" and I always feel the Spirit after and the person we are talking to receives exactly why they needed.

Halloween Cat in the casa de un miembro por Mediodia.

Creepy weird statues like this by every school. It's a weird Catalunya thing. Gotta love it.

We have contacted some great people this week. One guy when we gave him the card and he saw that there was a DVD he got super excited and so we are going to show him The Restoration tonight for the first visit! He's an old man, and the elders have visited him before, but I think it's been years. He says that his friend from Granollers works for Disney and helped on Frozen, Jesus Canal, you can look on the credits and see if it's true :)

Today we hiked to this mount of Tres Cruces with our friend, she is less active. We had a cool experience this week with her. We were in her area, but we never passby her house without calling first, but I had a feeling we should go. So we did and she was on the street with a friend, and at first we almost turned around because he was a guy and we didn't want to interrupt them, but I decided we should just go say hi. So we did and she said bye to her friend, invited us to her house and she opened up to us for the first time about her life and about her testimony. How she was super depressed but prayed and felt that God was there and now she's trying to come back to church again. We also shared Soy Mormon videos with her, which she loved! Great having an iPad.

I am healthy, and safe. But it has been really cold! And we don't have heat in piso. So lots of Colacaos (hot chocolate) and fuzzy socks. Also we think we are going to be super sore tomorrow from our hike today, pero Bueno!

This isn't sacrilegious at all. Well, this week has been another rough one. We are doing what we can
to improve the situation here. We went through the Area Book and got
all the names and addresses of ALL the past or potential investigators
that ever existed in this area and put them in our iPads. So that when
we are in the street we can stop by their houses when we don't have
other visits. Also to gain trust and love with the members we made
cookies for and have been heart attacking recent converts and less
actives. (Thank you Hermana Manotas) We are also planning a ward
activity!