FIRST COMES THE TRIAL THEN COMES THE BLESSINGS - January 6, 2014

 

So I guess I better tell you about how New Year´s Eve (la noche vieja) went. It was sooooo awesome! Our whole district went to a member´s house, ate a huge dinner, played games, and partied it up. Because it was new year´s eve we got permission to stay out until midnight so that´s exactly what we did. They´ve got a tradition here with uvas (grapes). You have 12 grapes in hand or in a cup and then at midnight you start eating the grapes. You have to eat one grape every second for 12 seconds. Each grape represents a wish or desire and so if you don´t eat all twelve grapes in that time then you have however months of bad luck from the number of grapes you didn´t eat. Let me tell you though, it´s not as easy as you´d think. These grapes aren´t little raisins. THEY¨RE HUGE! I’m starting to think that the members might have given the American missionaries massive grapes on purpose though. If they did then all I have to say is props to them cause it was hysterical. One missionary almost choked, another just shoved all of the grapes into his mouth like a hamster, and another one just spit them all out. haha. Don´t worry! I DID IT! I got all 12 of my wishes and no bad luck. That makes me quite content. After that we drank celebratory juice and clinked classes like fancy folk. It was by far my favorite New Year´s Eve EVER! I’ve never had so much fun and laughed so hard on new year´s eve. Family, you best believe that I’m going to make you guys eat the grapes next year. You better start preparing! You´ve got less than a year.

The mission has been the greatest blessing in the world to me. Yeah, you have your ups and downs and good days and bad but in the end it´s the best thing I’ve ever done. The mission is never easy; the challenges are always changing but that doesn´t necessarily mean that it´s not fun. I wouldn´t trade my mission for anything else in the world. I´ve thought about that lately and I cannot think of another thing in the world that I’d trade my mission for. Nothing! I´ve come to develop a very deep and personal relationship with my Savior that has made everything worth it. That´s what has made my mission so amazing. yeah, I’m so grateful for the people I’ve met, the places I’ve been, and the things I’ve learned but the one thing that has made my mission the best experience of my life is the relationship I’ve developed with my Father in Heaven and Savior.  Getting down on my knees everyday and talking to my Heavenly Father are my favorite moments. I can´t help but smile as I pray, even when my heart is heavy, because I know how much the Lord cares for me and how He is preparing my way. I can say ¨come what may and love it¨ each and every day because I know that the Lord will be there for me every step of the way. It´s through my Savior that it´s possible to find the good in all of the bad. It´s through Him that amidst trials and heartache I can have joy. Sometimes I wonder how it´s possible that I’m so happy. That´s just it, we can´t quite wrap our heads around the joy that the gospel brings us. It fills us up, lifts us, and heals us. It´s the only way to true and lasting joy. It doesn´t lack anything. I love this work, I love my Savior, and I love you all!

 

Have an absolutely amazing week and don´t forget to find joy in the journey!

 

Love,

Hermana Israelsen!

AHHH!!! It´s such a good day! That is all

 

 

Christmas in España – December 30, 2013

This week was really great! It was SOOOOOOO good to see and talk to you guys! That was the best part about Christmas! I loved it! I understand why they only let us skype twice a year now though. It really takes a lot of energy to refocus yourself on the work because I was sooooooo stinking excited to talk to you that I thought about that a lot. I also thought about everything we talked about for the rest of that night and the day after too. Man alive, I love you guys!

 

Christmas was awesome! Never again will I have a Christmas like this one. I mean, when am I going to be in Spain for Christmas again? Anyways, Christmas was awesome because we got to spend it with some members and less active members that invited us over to eat and celebrate. We had such a great time! We couldn´t really do a lot of proselitismo (I can´t remember what that is in English... sorry) on Christmas Eve or on Christmas because people just wanted to be with their families so we got creative. We gathered all of the missionaries and went to the center of the city to carol. We were surprised how many people came to watch. It gave us a wonderful opportunity to talk to a lot of people and tell them about the awesome news that the gospel has been restored on the earth. After caroling we all went and ate churros and chocolate. AH! It was so good! That was the first time I had actually eaten those here in Europe. We´ve just never had time before. It was a Christmas that I’ll always remember!

 

This week with New Year´s Eve we got permission to join in on some of the traditions here in Spain. We get to stay out until midnight tomorrow night to eat las uvas (grapes) with the people. It´s a really cool tradition that they do here for New Year´s Eve. I´ll tell you more about that next week!

 

With it being the beginning of 2014 this week, it blows my mind to think I’ll be home this year. August 22nd seems so far away but then so close at the same time. I don´t know how I feel about it. I´ve just decided that I’m not going to think about it at all and I’m going to just enjoy each and every day that I have here and give it all that I have because like my phenomenal trainer taught me “This is the only time that we´ll have to completely exhaust ourselves in the work of salvation.”  It´s so true! There won´t be another time in my life where I devote 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to bringing others to Christ. Man, I just love being a missionary! I LOVE IT! There´s NOTHING in the world I’d rather be doing right now than this.

 

The work here is really busy! We´re always running from one thing to the next. It seems like we´re always behind on something because we´re just so busy. I love it like that!  I love the people, the ward, the missionaries, the ward, and the fact that it´s a big city! We should be having another baptism this weekend.

 

Well it´s the last week of the transfer so you know what that means: transfer calls this weekend. AH! I have a feeling that both of my companions are going to leave and I’ll be getting a new companion. I´m not completely sure but I just have a little feeling. We´ll see. 

 

If you´re having a little bit of a tougher day get down on your knees right now and talk to your Father in Heaven. Tell Him what´s going on and ask for His help. I promise you that you´ll feel a lot better afterwards.

 

Love you all!

Hermana Israelsen

 

Every Miracle Starts With a Prayer… December 23, 2013

Every Miracle Starts With a Prayer… December 23, 2013

This week was full of miracles like I know it was for every missionary in the mission. Truly an incredible week.

 

Well, I´ve officially hit my half-way mark in my mission. AH! I don´t like that! It´s all going by way to fast! I want to be a missionary for the rest of my life but I also want to see friends and family so I´ve decided on a compromise. Everyone I know can just move out here to Spain. Sound good? Ok it´s a deal. See ya all real soon! Ok, not really but I wish that was possible. I love talking about the Savior every single day and bearing witness of him. There´s nothing that brings me greater joy than focusing on Him.

 

We had a baptism this week! It was awesome! He´s from Nigeria and he´s the coolest guy ever! He was SO happy and SO excited to be baptized! He´s solid and is going to change the world. We´ve started to find a lot of people from Nigeria to teach. My new goal here in Malaga is to find, teach and see baptized enough Nigerians to start a Nigerian branch here. How tight would that be?! We´re well on our way because a few more awesome individuals from Nigeria will be baptized in two weeks. The Lord is truly leading us to his elect children who are willing and ready to follow Him.

 

Other great news......I GET TO SKYPE! Yeah! Just thought I’d let yam know that I’m pretty stoked to talk to my family! Love you guys! Talk to you in 2 days.

 

A lesson I’ve learned here is that every miracle starts with a prayer. 

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS! FELIZ NAVIDAD! I just want you all to know that there´s nothing that brings me greater joy than losing myself in the work of the Lord. I´ve found greater joy than I’ve ever experienced before when I forget myself and focus on others.

 

I can´t remember where I got this from but I’m going to share it anyways.

When we have our priorities straight we feel J.O.Y!

J- Jesus Christ

O- Others

Y- Yourself

 

If you´re having a really difficult time this Christmas season I want you to try something. Remember that There´s someone down the street from you right now that is having just as hard of a time or an even more difficult time than you right now. See what you can do to forget yourself and serve them tonight and see what happens. I promise that the Lord will help fill you with joy.

 

Love you all! The Lord lives and He´s very aware of us. MERRY CHRISTMAS and remember to come what may and love it.

 

Hermana Israelsen!

Gods love is there whether you deserve it or not - December 16, 2013

First of all I just want to apologize for my last two emails! Things here are a lot busier now and we haven´t gotten our full email time since I got here. There´s a lot more to do with this new assignment than I thought. I love it though! It´s so awesome being able to work with, get to know, and learn from other hermanas. I´ve gotten to travel a little more too. We´re always behind on something because we´re so busy but I really like it like that! It´s awesome to be fully engaged and busy in the work of salvation.

 

On Saturday a group of missionaries from our mission were invited to sing in a concert. I think there were about 50 missionaries in total. On saturday we all got on a bus and traveled to sing. We sang a few christmas songs with all 50 of us and then one hermana sang a solo. After that a group of 8 hermanas, myself included, and 8 elders sang ¨walking in a winter wonderland¨. We then got to sing a few more songs with the orchestra.  It was honestly so fun and was actually a pretty big concert. There were supposed to be about 500 people there. We were all talking about what a memorable experience it was. I mean, how often do you get to sing in a huge concert as a missionary, in one of the most historic cities in Spain, and for Christmas. We all felt so lucky and so blessed. That was an experience that I will never forget.

 

Things are going really well here. We have a baptism coming up on friday. This man is a complete miracle.  He is sooooo excited for his baptism and so am I! 

 

This week I have been thinking a lot about the love of the Lord. Sometimes I just marvel that the lord can be so patient and loving to me even when i know that i´m frustrating him. God´s love is there for you if you deserve it or not. Whether you´re old, young, sick, healthy, obedient, lost, broken-hearted, angry, frustrated, sad, happy, humble, prideful, or a million other things, The Lord cares for you so deeply. He will cry with you, laugh with you, talk with you, listen to you, walk with you, and even carry you if necessary. He will never ever forsake you. NEVER. Don´t ever let that thought enter your mind because it is one of the greatest lies the adversary can tell you. God is there and HE LOVES YOU. The Lord is perfect so why wouldn´t his love, patience and forgiveness be perfect too? For those of you who feel broken-hearted, abandoned, forgotten, or uncared for, i am here to tell you that god´s love is there for you. Our Savior, Lord and Redeemer paid the price for you. He felt everything that you have gone through and it kills him when you feel too burdensome to come to him. I think that we don´t quite understand how badly it pains the savior when we feel like we can´t talk to him, that he doesn´t listen, or that our problems are unimportant to him. Pour your heart out to the Lord and ask to feel the love that he has for you. I promise that the Lord is ready and waiting to show you that he loves you. Ask him to show you his love for you and I promise you that you will either feel it in your heart or see it in the tender mercies that occur each day. He loves you and so do I.

It´s better to look up

Feliz Navidad.

Hermana Israelsen

Challenges are Always Changing So You're Always Growing....December 9, 2013

Hey!!! WOW! I am so sorry! Once again this is going to be a short email because we have to run.

 

 

The mission has never been easy, nor will it ever be easy. The challenges are always changing so you´re always growing. It´s the same with life. Life has never been easy nor will it ever be perfect. We´ll always have a challenge to face or a mountain to climb because that´s one of the purposes of us coming to the earth, to learn and grow. The Lord doesn´t leave us helpless to face our challenges however. He will always provide a way for us to face our challenges. If the Lord brings you to it, he´ll bring you through it. I love my mission and I wouldn´t trade the challenges or joys I have had for anything in the world. It has changed me. It has changed my heart. I honestly feel like I’ve had a mighty change of heart like it says in Alma 5. I´m trying my best to lose myself in the work of salvation because this is the only time where I’ll be able to completely exhaust myself every single day in the work of the Lord. I´ll continue to do it when I get home but it just won´t be the same so I’m going to work now while I can. 

 

Things are going really well and I’m super happy! Last week we had a miracle and found a man who wants to be baptized. He´s going to be baptized in two weeks! He´s our miracle here! I´ll talk more about that another week. MERRY CHRISTMAS! I absolutely love Christmas time! It´s just as awesome here!

 

Love you all!

Come what may and love it

Hermana Israelsen

CHANGES - December 2, 2013

This week was such a blur. So many changes in such a short time.

 

We´re in a ward of about 130 rather than a branch of 20.  Our area is massive! We have so many people to take care of too. We haven´t had a moment to sit down and rest since I got here. It´s been go go go since I got off of the bus and we´re literally running from appointment to appointment. It´s pretty different from what I’m used to but it´s great. We´re staying really busy.

 

We are training a new sister who doesn´t speak any English so that means it´s 24-7 Spanish mode. I LOVE IT! It´s helped so much and it´s fun too. She is seriously the most darling girl ever! I am so blessed to be companions with her. She is already such an incredible missionary and I feel like she´s been out in the mission just as long as I have. The three of us work really well together and are good at dividing everything up evenly so that no one person is doing everything. I´m so lucky!

 

I´m really happy here. I feel like I’m learning and growing so much! I still have a long way to go but I feel like I’m getting a little better each day. That´s what matters right?

 

I´ve really been working on humility this week. I´m the newbie in the area.  I don´t know everything and I’m still learning. There are other people who can teach me things and help me to learn and grow. 

 

The Lord knows each and every one of our weaknesses and I’m seeing how the mission is aimed at helping me turn my weaknesses into strengths. The Lord has really nailed me with the whole pride issue my entire mission. I´m so grateful for it though because humility is something that I have so desperately desired. The Lord knows that so he´s trying to give me some specific trials to humble me out. I really am so grateful for those trials!

 

I´m sorry this email is so jumbled. This week has just been so crazy and busy that I’ve only averaged about 5 hours of sleep a night. I´m a little tired but really happy. Haha. I´ll be spending most of my p-day taking a nap. Haha.

 

Thanks for all of the love, support, and patience! You are all wonderful!

 

Remember that whatever happens it´s all in the Lord´s hands. He has a plan and he knows what He´s doing.

LOVE YOU!

Hermana Israelsen