April 11, 2013

April 11, 2013

Things here in Madrid are great. I guess there´s been so much going on since I got here that I forgot to tell you something. I´m a zone leader. Well, technically it´s called a coordinating sister in the MTC but I had no idea what that was until the president explained to me that it´s just a zone leader for the sisters. That´s been interesting. There are a LOT of meetings but other than that it´s pretty fun! My companion and I placed 6 copies of the Book of Mormon last week so that was cool. I´m seriously so blessed to have the companion I have here in the MTC. She´s honestly a tender mercy from the Lord. She is AMAZING!!!!

So conference was absolutely amazing!!!! It was honestly the best conference I´ve ever heard because I was the most prepared I´ve ever been for it!  Because of the time difference we watched both morning sessions live and then had to watch the other sessions later. We actually haven´t seen the Sunday afternoon session yet. We´re watching it in 2 hours from now! I can´t wait because everyone has been talking about Holland´s talk! I´m pretty sure that President Monson just turns to Elder Holland just before he speaks and says ¨Well, Elder Holland. Light it up.¨ I´m way excited to hear the whole session tonight! For relief society last Sunday we watch the Young Women´s broadcast which was absolutely amazing!!!!!!! That one movie about the girl going to the temple made EVERY single Hermana here cry! It was the coolest video ever!!! I´m sort of heartbroken that Elaine S. Dalton was released. You all know how much I adore that woman. Maybe now she´ll have more time to go out to lunch with me once I get back.

I can´t believe how fast time is going by! We only have 19 days until we get out into the field. I feel like yesterday I had 19 days until I left for Spain. It´s crazy how time works here. Hours feel like days, days feel like weeks, and weeks feel like hours. I feel like i´m in a time warp. 

The Spanish is coming along little by little. I actually feel pretty comfortable with the language at this point. That DOESN´T mean that I´m good at the language though. It merely means that I can get my point across and use my broken Spanish to say what´s in my head which is awesome for me! I can´t wait for the day when i can wake up and not have to worry about the language as much. Can´t wait until i´m fluent! Patience. Lots of patience. I heard something really cool this week though. I was told that we´re called to the language in which we can bear our testimonies most powerfully. That was so comforting to hear!

I had an incredible experience last Thursday night. I was reading the scriptures and came across Alma 22:18. I realized that I want to know my Savior better. I knelt down in prayer and expressed my desire to know my savior better. I told him that I would give ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to come to my Savior. It dawned on me that if I want to be the missionary that the Lord needs me to be I need to give all of myself to him. I had been praying all week for the lord to test my faith and put me through the fire. I wanted the lord to purge me and bring me to my knees so that I could come closer to him. Boy, does the lord answer prayers. Haha. I´ve never been more grateful for an answer to prayer though because I have grown closer to my Savior than ever before in my life. I will walk through fire if it meant I could know my savior better. I love my Savior with all of my heart! He is everything to me. I love being able to give him my life and see what he can do with it. It´s been an incredible experience!

Funny story for the week. The men in Spain are very……forward. Haha. Everytime the sisters walk out of the MTC we get hit on. No joke. Every time. It´s nothing dangerous, I promise! It´s kind of funny actually. For example: I´ve already been proposed to….twice. yup. Earlier this week my comp and I were walking down to the store when this old man stopped us to talk. He was about 5 foot nothing and had about 4 teeth. Anyways, the old man started talking to us and asked if we had boyfriends. We laughed and the next thing I know he´s about an inch away from my face with his lips puckered! If it wasn´t for my companion pulling me back I´m pretty sure I would have broken a mission rule haha. But yeah. That´s a typical thing when we go outside though so we´re pretty used to it. The sisters can definitely handle ourselves out here! No danger whatsoever. Just makes for a lot of good stories.

Alright well I´ll end here because I don´t have much time left to email. I know I say this every week but it´s still true. I love my mission! I love these sisters! I love these elders! I love this work! Most of all, I love my savior! I´ve never felt happier in my life because I´m inviting people to come to Christ. Nothing else brings greater joy into your life. I promise you that. Bringing someone closer to their savior is a joy that I can´t put into words. Love you all! ¨Come what may and love it¨

Love,

Hermana israelsen