May 27, 2013 "A Week of Miracles"

“A WEEK OF MIRACLES”  

Dear Friends and Family,

Wow wow wow!!!! The lord truly works in mysterious ways! We have seen miracles this week!

I’ll get to that later. First off, guess what? I’m sick.....again!!! That makes 3 times in 6 weeks. Hahahah it´s actually kind of funny. I mean I’ve never been sick more than once a year or once every year and a half and then the second I enter into the field my immune system decides to take some time off. Hahaha! It´s really not a big deal at all though. more just of an annoyance but it doesn´t interfere with the work in the slightest. We´re still doing exactly what we do every other day, I just keep my distance from everyone. I´m doing perfectly fine! Another thing, our last name is ridiculous! I love it but NO ONE can say it here! Most people just know me as ¨hermana¨. So there´s that.   

Now to the good stuff. Missionary work is incredible. MADRE MIA!!! I don´t know how, but we now have 6 progressing investigators which means that they are coming to church, reading, praying, and keeping all of their commitments. Wow.

We have another investigator who is SOOOOOO close to baptism! She knows the truth but says that she just wants to know ¨for sure¨ so we´re working on that.  Another investigator of ours is truly a miracle. At the beginning he was completely uninterested.  Little by little we were able to teach him and we have seen a MIRACLE with him. We have been able to watch him change his life right in front of our eyes. Wow!  He´s SOOO kind to us and gets soooo excited to see us. Wow wow wow!!! MI-LA-GROS (miracles)!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our investigator I met after first arriving here, is progressing SO incredibly fast! We asked her to start reading the book of Mormon last week and she´s already in second Nephi chapter 10! She has become one of my best friends out here even though she has 10 years on me. I´m POSITIVE that she was one of the people that the Lord has prepared specifically for me. I can´t describe the bond that I have with her. It´s all thanks to this wonderful message of the gospel. Tender mercies and miracles every day. 

This gospel changes lives, the book of Mormon changes lives! I´ve seen it! It has changed mine. I can´t begin to describe how much I love this work and how much more I love my Savior. Every day I grow closer to my Savior and every day I fall to my knees in awe of Him and his works. I love this gospel with all of my heart! Thank you for all of the love and support!!! 

Come what may and love it!

Con to do mi amour,

Hermana Israelsen

May 20, 2013 - Finding Joy in the Journey

May 20, 2013 - Finding Joy in the Journey

I seriously feel so blessed! The work is incredibly hard but I have such a wonderful companion! We get along so stinkin´ well! We´re SO much alike! Tender mercy!  The investigator that we found last week is coming along! She really really loves meeting with us and is taking what we teach her really well. She has a LOT going on in her life right now so we´ve just been trying to get her through some of her trials. I just adore this woman with all of my heart!  I don´t know what happened exactly but her and I have developed a bond that I can´t quite describe in words. I honestly feel like she was one of the people that I was supposed to find. The lord is so merciful because I needed her so much! She has been such a blessing out here for me!

Yeah!!! A member approached me after church yesterday and told me that she and my mom’s good friend knew each other from the misión. So cool!!! Small world! This sweet member has truly kept an eye out for me. She´s wonderful!

Elche has officially stolen my heart! I could live here forever. So there´s a soccer team here that is a PRETTY freaking big deal to the people. It´s insane how much these people love their soccer team. They played yesterday and the people had a TWO DAY celebration to prep for the game. We were blown away. Not just a Little drinking and laughing in the streets but a full out PARTY ALL OVER ELCHE!!!! Imagine if the superbowl were to be held in your town and EVERY person in that town was obsessed with one team that was playing. I seriously don´t know how to describe it. THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of people were out in the streets in their Elche team gear cheering and partying like the world was going to end. It was AWESOMEE!!!!!!!! They had a parade, a pep rally in the center of the city, parties, and people driving through the streets waving their massive Elche flags. Everyone was with their family and friends just having the greatest time ever! It was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen! Elche is now and forever my soccer team. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it here! I never want to transfer!!!!!!!

The first week out here was incredibly difficult for me.  This week, however, was a million times better!!! Oh my lanta! The strange thing is that nothing was different from that first week. I had the same struggle with the language, same rejection, same investigators, same people, same área. Only one thing had changed - me. I didn´t magically pick up the language, experience a crazy miracle, find a ton of investigators, or even see much success this week. I simply stepped back and changed my perspective. I realized that entering the field had caused me to turn inwards and focus completely on myself: “I’m so tired all of the time.  I can´t understand the language. Why is this so hard for me?”

This was the source of the majority of my struggles. When you´re so consumed with yourself and your own concerns and trials of course you´re going to become discouraged and even a Little depressed. How could you not be sad when you´re only thinking about your own struggles.  I was in desperate need of a large dose of selflessness. Once I realized that I’m not here for myself and that this work is so much bigger than me my whole attitude started to change. I remembered that when I accepted the call to serve as a missionary I also accepted the call to surrender my time and concern into the service of others. It wasn´t until I turned my focus and concern onto the members, my investigators, other missionaries, my companion, and the people of Elche that I started to find the joy of missionary work. Suddenly my problems didn´t seem as significant or important to me. I made a decisión this week to FIND  joy in the journey. As my attitude and perspective changed so did everything else. I was no longer burdened down with worry and discouragement. I found strength that I didn´t know I had. Yeah, the language is a struggle, I’m exhausted all of the time, and not everyone wants to listen to us. That´s just fine! This work has begun to change from a struggle and an obstacle to a ¨marvelous work and a wonder.¨ How lucky am I to be able to wear the Savior´s name for the world to see each and every day. How can I truly feel alone when his name is right next to mine. As I have turned my time, concern, effort, and will over to the lord he has given me a new perspective. He has given me a greater love for the people and the work. He changed everything! That change in focus and attitude has changed this week from enduring to enjoying. I have truly started to find the joy in the journey.

Love you all!! Thank you for all of the love and support! I love this work! I love this góspel!

Ï never said that it would be easy. I only said that it would be worth it.¨

Con todo mi amor,

Hermana Israelsen

April 30, 2013 Hermana Israelsen arrives in Malaga Spain!

Hermana Israelsen arrives in Malaga Spain on April 30, 2013

Hermana Israelsen and Sister Deere (Mission Mother)

 Hermana Israelsen and a dear friend from home

  

May 13, 2013 - I'm On the Lord's Errand

May 13, 2013

I don´t have too much to report on this week because I talked to my family last night for Mother's Day but just know that i´m hanging in here. haha. I've now been in the mission field for two weeks.

I´m going to be honest here. Missionary work is by far the hardest thing I´ve ever done. It´s hard. There´s no getting around that. It´ll push you to your limits but it´s also the greatest thing I´ve ever done. I told you how every morning this past week I get up and I think "can I honestly do this for 16 more months?¨ I´m just so grateful that I have such an incredible trainer to help me out and keep me going.  It´s been a really tough transition to the field, mainly because of the communication barrier. I think once I have a hold on the language things will get SOOO much better. This is the part of my mission where I just have to grin and bear it. Don´t get me wrong, I´m struggling but I still find joy in each and every day that passes. There are some days that I just love and there are some days that I would just love to be over. It´s hard but I still love it. It´s pushing me to my limits but I'm just keeping my eye on the future when this mission becomes my every waking thought and desire. I can´t wait until i can actually communicate with the people! That´ll make SUCH a big difference for me! Once I can do that I think I´ll be in fantastic shape! I still love the work now, I´m just having a rough patch. Thanks for all of your love and support. This has in no way reduced my testimony. If anything it has expanded my testimony in ways that i never thought posible. I will NEVER be angry with the Lord. I made that promise years ago. I love the Lord and his góspel with ALL of my heart, mind, and soul. This is the Lord´s work and if I´m going to do it I have to do it his way. Sometimes the Lord has to bring us down so he can lift us up. This is just the phase where the lord is molding me into what he really needs me to be. I love my Savior and will never lose faith in him. I will never be embarrassed to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. So basically, the language is my only enemy at the moment. haha. Other than that it´s just a matter of battling my exhaustion each day but that´s ok because it just makes me that much more dependant on the Lord.

I´m struggling like every other new missionary out here to learn this language but I´m still happy! Don´t you worry about that! I´m still doing great! 

When I recieved my calling I was called to surrender my time and concern to the service of others. That´s what I have to remember! Once the mission becomes about other people, that´s when you come to love the work.

I truly love this work and I love this góspel. Never lose hope. Never lose faith.

Love you!!!

Hermana Israelsen

May 6, 2013

May 6, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

AHHHH!!!! Estoy en el campo!!!! puede creerlo?!?! So my trainer´s and I are opening the area called Elche 2. It´s amazing here!!! Wow!!!!! Elche is apparently the palm tree capital of the world and I 100% believe it. They are EVERYWHERE! It basically feels like Hawaii on steroids. I absolutely love it here! The ward is so welcoming and ready to help us with missionary work! My trainer - madre mia de mi arma (that´s an expression here that basically means ¨oh my gosh¨). My comp is an answer to prayer! The Lord knows me SOOO well! She is EXACTLY what I have needed as both a companion and a trainer. She is AMAZING!! We get along SOOOOOO well!!!!! Ahhh i love her!!!! It´s crazy because we are basically the same person. seriously though! She´s just an older, much cooler version of myself. I don´t know how to explain it. it has been freaking me out this week how similar we are! I´ll have to explain more another time but just know that she is perfect for me! I´m so blessed to be able to spend at least 3 months with her! 

Oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah!!!! I figured out why this mission is the PERFECT mission for me this last week! We found out that the spain mission´s daily schedule is different from any other mission in the world. Because of medio dia (their siestas), Spain shuts down between 2 and 5 or 5:30 which means that we can´t find anybody to teach during that time. during the summer we wake up at 7:30, study til 11:30, and teach until 2. at 2 we come back for lunch and then continue to study until 5:30. at 5:30 we head back out and teach until 10:15 and go to bed at 11:30. I know you´re all probably laughing because you know how happy this makes me! this is my jam!!!!  I looooove this!!! Best schedule ever for me! The only bad thing is that we don´t get time for dinner. Spain doesn´t really do dinner. Other than that small detail it´s THE BEST!!! 

We have a few investigators! It´s the coolest thing! This week will be the first week we get to start teaching them so I´ll have to update you more about them next week.

These are my people! I didn´t think that i would be able to love these people so quickly! I can´t explain why or how but i just have this incredible love for the people here. 

Some things that have happened this last week:

-I ate shark. It actually wasn´t that bad. I might actually do it again.

-We didn´t have a big enough lighter for the first few days in our pizo so to light the stove we had to light a paper towel on fire and use that instead. whoops! haha. don´t worry we didn´t set our pizo on fire. We finally got the chance to buy a lighter this weekend. no more lighting the ends of paper towels on fire. It worked pretty well though if I do say so myself.

-We hear sooooo much american music here. The people here mostly listen to American hits. The other day we heard Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, and The Black Eyed Peas all in one day while on the buses.

The start of this last week was the hardest week on the mission but has turned out to be incredible. That transition between the MTC and the field was crazy difficult because I had to say goodbye to those Hermanas that i have become best friends with knowing that I won´t see them until August or later because of how far away Elche is. They´ll get to see each other but I won´t be able to. I have to keep reminding myself that I´m here to work, not to socialize haha. I´m doing PHENOMENAL now though!!! I have developed such an incredible love for this work! 

My mission mom described the stages of the mission 1. fantasty -the stage where everything is so new and exciting. 2. The reality stage- everything sets in and you think ¨what have i gotten myself into? Am i really doing this for 18 months?¨3. The liking it stage- accepting your mission and coming to like it. 4. The loving it stage- coming to love your mission, the people, and the work with all of your heart! Earlier this week i had an abrupt reality and entered into stage number 2. I even had thoughts of coming home over the period of those few days but I kept reminding myself that it would get better and sure enough it did! the lord has been sooooo merciful and has allowed me to get over stage 2 in a matter of a few days. I think I´ve officially entered into stage 3. There are some moments when i refer back to stage two but for the majority´of the time now i think i´m in stage 3. I love it here!!!! love you all!!!! this work is the most incredible thing I´ve ever done!!!!

love you all!!!! Come what may and love it

Hermana Israelsen

Youtube videos of Malaga Mission and Missionaries singing at Madrid Temple

Here is a video clip of the Malaga, Spain mission.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPpiXC1Y5ms

This video clip entitled "MTC Madrid Missionaires Sing by Temple April 2013" shows Hermana Israelsen on the second row, second sister from the left.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuBwBJtyao0&feature=youtube