Pascau

Dear Family and Friends,

Life is going great as a missionary. We have one week left this transfer. It is going so crazy here. So this last week was la semana santa! Or the week before Easter. Lots of Catholics make a really big deal out of Easter. Well we had a wonderful time sharing the story of the resurrection. It really strengthened my testimony of our living Savior.

There is also another thing that comes with Easter, Pascua - Food. Well I have to admit.....I am not a huge fan of this food. Part of the meal is canned shrimp ground up and put in a patty....I don't know what else they do to it. The other is a desert - bread with milk (so its soggy) with cheese, raisins, peanuts and sprinkles and sometimes coconut. It is so odd. We had it like 3 times this week. Every time it was so hard. Really hard. I am not a picky eater but some of this food just catches my gag reflex...but I will continue to eat my love for these people.

The time is going by so fast. I have almost been out for 5 months. Isn't that crazy. We are really working hard with so many people. I am pretty sure we are the youngest companionship in the mission and we are just learning as we are going. The Lord really does bless us with so many things. We are able to teach alot of people and I am so grateful that I get to learn Spanish.

One of my favorite families is applying for their visas. They might get deported. They are recent converts and they are just so amazing. Looking back at their photos from before they were baptized you can really see the difference the gospel makes in peoples lives. It really is just in their eyes. There are so many people that get caught up on the small things of the gospel. I really hope that we get to stay here together to work on these people.

So here is a little bit of the life of a missionary in case you don't know:

We get up at 6:25 - so that way we both will get out of bed and get ready to exercise

We exercise for 30 minutes ( you should see my calves :) )

Then we eat and get ready.

8:00 Personal Study

9:00 Companion Study

10:00 Language Study (We only get this like 3 times a week because of crazy things that happen).

11:00 Leave the apartment

9 - 9:30 Come home and Plan

10:30 Bed

We are always just going. I really wake up tired every morning. One thing I have definitely learned is that your body really doesn't need that much sleep :)

I really love being a missionary. I wish that we got 2 years just like the Elders. Right now I am in a great district. The week before this last week we lead the mission in avg number of new investigators and lessons. We are really doing well. We taught 39 lessons last week. We really want to get up to 50 I really think that it is close.

Mail - Can I just say that I really appreciate the mail that I get. Every time I get a letter it makes me smile and some days it really is what helps me get through everything.

Well I really really love you all!

See you after a really long time,

Hermana Spencer

Hablabeis and the Signs of Latins

Dear Family and Friends,

Things are going great here in CO! We are super super busy. Everyone in our district found more than three new investigators this last week. We are working so hard to teach people that are ready. This last week we taught two high school aged girls. One of them speaks Spanish and the other English. We taught them in English and it went so well. We also met one of their mothers, the one who speaks Spanish, and she fed us of course.....really I am going to be so huge.... but we will eat all we need to to show them our love and to teach them. We also met a lady through the elders. Our zone leaders called us Saturday and asked us what we were up to....well luckily all we were doing was knocking and told us to get where they were as fast as possible. A member invited a friend over for dinner and she only spoke Spanish. She is 20 and has a baby. Her husband is in Mexico. She only speaks Spanish, even though she was born in the US. She went back to Mexico soon after. Now she is working hard to get her husband here. We have been super blessed.

Today we tried to go to the Mint. I have always wanted to go. So we got the other Sisters, English ones, and drove down town....and they said you have to have a reservation and you usually have to get them a month in advance. Every time we try to do something it never works out how I picture it, but we still did have a good time walking down town.

This Sunday we saw miracles. We put up so many of the chairs in RS and they actually sat together. The spirit of the room completely changed. It was amazing. We also heard from a relative of one of our investigators, Hector, that he really likes us. Lots of missionaries have gone by with him because it is a part member family. But he likes us. So we have high hopes for them. We are eating dinner tomorrow! We also get lots of references.......but they are always for the North Mission. You could say there is a little bit of a rivalry with them. We have given such golden referrals...we hope that we get one from them soon. We got a call the other day and basically they said "I want to go to Church, I want all the lessons" and then we found out they live in the north mission.

So yeah. Things are going great. I am still having a hard time with Spanish, but it is slowly getting better. I really just need to use all of the energy of my whole soul...it just is so hard. We have like two weeks left in the transfer. I think I will be staying here with Sis Coughlen. It makes the most sense. I really hope so.

So Signs of Latins in Denver. So some people have plaques on their doors that say basically "I'm from Mexico". Others have the Virgin Mary. The best one was a person who had "Esta Casa Es Catholica" Or this house is catholic written on the door. It was great. I love talking to them. I love these people so much. I love meeting them and seeing the need they have for the gospel. I really wish all of them would listen.

Ohhh other great news: Karen, Yoana and Silvia are all getting baptized in Grand Junction!

I love you all so much. I am sending out some postcards.....so the post office was super busy so you will get a lot of them together!

Love,

Hermana Spencer

Attack of the squirrels and the mighty fortress

Hi Family and Friends,

I have completed another week in Denver. This transfer is going by so quickly. Yesterday Hna. Coughlen was sick so we didn't email. So just a little update about everything.

My package! Thanks mom....I got most of it :0) So what happened was....last Tuesday we were doing companionship study. Hermana Coughlen sees a squirrel outside out patio doors. Well I look out there and see a box and was like yeah there is my package. Well I went out there and chased off the squirrel. ....So Mom....the creature ate through my box and stole my cookies....I think next time you shouldn't put nuts in them :)

Another great story.Tuesday (the same day) we decided to go find this less active. So we go to the apartment building. It was like almost impossible to get in. We followed a car in on foot. We then had to find a way in. You can't even get in the front door. I have no idea how you would get in to get an apartment. They have a parking lot under the apartments. So we decided to go down there and try to get in. We find a door open magically. We climb up to the third floor and it was so creepy. It was so quiet. The design of the apartment was super odd. We then found the apartment and they were not there. Then we realized how are we going to get out....well we magically found our way out. We had to run after a car to get out of the gate. I have no idea why they would make an apartment like that. 

So this last week I have eaten some interesting food. I had pig skin in beans. At first when I saw it I thought it was Bacon....no big deal. It was really rubbery.....well I was really trying to finish my food.....I love it when we have bread or tortillas that I can mask the taste of the food. Hna Coughlen had already finished off the bread :( Another meal - Menudo! One of our investigators made it. Oscar is an interesting man. Well it wasn't horrible.....I tried to just swallow the meat whole. You could see the villi on the meat....I survived! We think that might have made Hna Coughlen sick... I also ate Pho, Vietnamese, this week! I loved it. I have had something very similar to it before!

So we had Zone Conference this week. It was amazing. We got up at like 5 to go to the temple. We got there and I realized that I didn't have my temple recommend. We live like 20 miles away and there was no way. Hna Coffee knew that we could have them call President Maynes. Well we got in there and President Maynes was already in the session. It was so sad. So I made Hna Coughlen go in and I sat out there. It was so sad. It was like the judgement day. I was right there but couldn't go in....Now I have to wait till May! But I did learn a lesson. Zone Conference was so great! President Maynes is so wonderful. I really learned alot about the time that we live in. It is a time that has always been talked about by the prophets. We also tied with the other sisters at zone conference and won the golden hubcap award and got 100 extra miles :) Yay!

So Amalia is our wonderful investigator. She is in her 60s. She is just so cute. She is doing well. We really want to put her on date, and are really working hard. We have some other investigators that we are really working hard with. As always less actives. This week we had the idea to buy breakfast for Sunday and give it to people that we wanted to come. So we gave it to this part member family. They said they would come. Then on Sunday morning we got up early and went and woke up people. I loved it. We didn't feel bad doing it because they really needed to get up for church. They came!

The work is really hard in this area. I have no idea what is going on here, except that alot of people have a hard time with the leadership and have stopped coming. We have people going to different wards and others that just don't go. Others that don't want to stay in this ward. So we have a problem. We are really trying.

My Spanish is improving. It is still so hard. The way you express yourself is different and just in general the culture is different. We have been blessed to find interested people. I am really excited about some of our new investigators -Oswaldo and Hector! I really think we will see baptisms soon!

The mission is great. The Lord really is humbling Hna Coughlen and I! The gospel is true and Jesus is the Christ! These are things that I know, and because I know these things I love getting up at 6:30 and I love talking with people.

I love all of you,

Hermana Spencer

Denver - The weather is just like Lubbock

April 4th, 2011

Dear my wonderful friends and FAMILY!

I hope you all know how much I love you all. I hope you all were able to listen to our prophet this weekend.

I wish I had more time to write today. Every zone conference they have car inspections and whoever wins gets an extra 100 miles! So we want this badly. So we cleaned the car and are going down town for some fun with Hermana Thomas and her companion. So expect pictures next week.

Denver is good. It is still hard. We are working hard and some times stressing. The area is so huge. But the thing that I have really been focusing on is the spirit. As missionaries we struggle alot wondering if we are visiting the right people, doing the right things and teaching exactly what they need. I read a talk this morning by Elder Bednard from last conference. We really have to remember Christ to have the spirit with us. When we remember Him we will act and think like Him. I love my companion....I really do. We differ just like any other people. Sometimes God gives me opportunities to choose to be more like His Son....its great right!?! Life is good.

Lately I have really been struggling with Spanish. I think part of it is that I feel like I should know it because I am not a greenie anymore and I am with someone who has a transfer more than I do. However, I do not know everything. Some days it is hard to accept corrections. I want to be good at this, but man I am struggling. I know that it will get better. For the most part I can understand people and I can get my point across and testify. I just can't do it with finesse. The Lord is definitely helping me. One night this last week I had a really hard day. I was praying and I just knew that God loved me and that it was going to be ok. It reminds me a verse in 2 Ne 4. Nephi talks about how the Lord has helped him. He said that he has felt His love even unto the consuming of his flesh. What does this feel like? I think I know a portion of this feeling. Food for thought.

Speaking of food - this week we went to dinner and I just couldn't do it. It wasn't too strange just not great...and it was our second dinner. I hate it when I cannot finish their food.

So Conference! It was ok. Some of the translators I was able to understand more of than others and depending on the topic. Elder Scott and Sister Allred translated their own talks. It was wonderful to hear their voices. It makes me sad that most of the world does not get to hear the voice of President Monson. I really missed hearing their voices. I don't know which one was my favorite - because I didn't understand everything, put I did learn some things. During Elder Holland's talk, when he spoke of the prophet, I really felt the spirit testify to me that we really do have a living prophet. How amazing is it that I am a missionary and can proclaim this to all that I see. This last week we have talked to so many people. I love it. I love knowing that we have something that can help every person here on Earth! I really really love it. It is hard but it is amazing. The gospel is so much more than we are. I love that we can feel the spirit, we can know of our Savior and that we know how we can get back to our Father in Heaven.

Help the missionaries out. Refer your friends.

I love all of you and hope that you know how grateful I am just knowing of your prayers. I still and probably always will love mail!

Love,

Hermana Spencer

P.S. Can someone facebook Kayla and tell her congrats for me!

Denver 4th the land of the huge area

March 29th, 2011 (so sorry for the delay in posting)

Dear Familia y Amigos,

So this week has been very interesting. On Tuesday I was the only sister being transferred back to the Denver Metro area - so me and a bunch of Elders. It was sad to leave Grand Junction, but at the same time I was excited. It was also my fourth trip between Denver and Grand Junction that transfer! On the way I learned that I would be driving in Denver....that was a little scary! I rode in the truck with two Elders from Washington, Elder Allred and Elder Christensen. One is in the same stake as some of my relatives in Washington...crazy! They both were really fun. I got to Denver and found my new companion - Hermana Coughlen. She is from California and is a convert of almost three years. She has been out one transfer more than me. So we are both newbies.

My new area is huge....we cover a large part of Denver and even down town. Driving was a little scary, but it is definitely becoming easier. I am so glad that one of the APs is letting us use his GPS. I have been all over. So here is a little story of our area. Last transfer the Hermanas - Hma Ricks and Coughlen - whitewashed. Apparently there are problems here....but we don't know exactly what they are. So we have a lot of work to do here. We have been looking for less actives. The ward directory is in bad shape. The Elders found 50 addresses wrong last week and we are still continuing to go through the lists. However the people are super nice here. The members love to feed us. Last transfer the Hermanas never went to a grocery store because of double dinners....this week we have a couple of them. I have spent several hours this last week looking at the map. I am starting to know the area and around where people live.

Our apartment. We live in a two bedroom apartment. Its ok nothing fancy. It has some quirks. Hermana Coughlen and Ricks talked about how the vacuum doesn't work. Well I fixed it. It was so clogged. There was a paper towel, receipt, and candy wrappers. It was kinda bad. So It is so much better now!

Hermana Coughlen is helping me so much with Spanish. We speak in Spanish 75% of the time during the day. It is fantastic. We both are so new and at times this is really difficult. We both struggle with Spanish and we both struggle with what we need to do. But we have seen miracles!

One of our investigators is Amailia. She is an older woman that lives with her and daughter and her family. She is so wonderful. She is almost on date. She loves what we teach and she also makes great food. I really am excited to get to know her more and teach her. Another less active/recent convert that we work with is Yazmin. She is amazing. I love her personality. She works three jobs to help her family in Mexico. She is always smiling though. She also likes to feed us. We are going to help her go to the temple for the first time!

So the funny story for the week. Yesterday the libraries were closed...so that's why I didn't email. Hermana Coughlen was telling me about her horrible hair cut experiences here in Denver. She went to this place and the woman butchered her bangs. Then she went back and it only got worse. So she ended up going to another place to get it cut. Well so we tried to go to the good place and they were super busy. So we went near our house to the "Fantastic Sams." Thinking what would be the chances that I would get the same person. Well guess what I did! We got in there and she was the only one not busy. Hermana Coughlen just gave me a look. What do you do? Do you tell her you don't want her? Well I am obviously too nice so....I got my hair cut.... Luckily its not too bad. It was almost the same problem with me and my bangs. My hair doesn't look exactly like I would like...luckily it grows right?

I also got to see Hermana Thomas on Sunday for a baptism. It was great to see her.

This weekend is General Conference. For conference, our mission president has asked us to clean everything - our apartment and ourselves so we can we ready for it. I am so excited and also nervous about it because I will watch it in Spanish. So pray for me! :) I know it will be fine. I am so excited to hear from our prophet! Ohh I finished the Book of Mormon last week! There were so many times when I just couldn't understand why more people don't read regularly. I felt such a desire to understand it more. It really was written for us. I love the Book of Mormon.

I hope this email wasn't too boring. I have been adjusting to everything all over again.

On Saturday, Sonia was baptized in Grand Junction! I wish I could have been there, but I am so excited for her!

Here is my new address:

1397 S. Geneva Way #C2-105

Denver, CO 80247

I love you all and can't wait to tell you about the miracles here in Denver! I have great hopes for this area and I think I will be here for a while!

Love your favorite Hermana,

Hermana Spencer

P.S. Don't forget I always love mail!

Hello all!

So it has been an amazing week. But, I am getting transferred! Hermana Day is staying and training. It looks like I am going to Denver! So it should be good. I think (because I am the only one who is getting transferred out of the Hermanas and two are going home) that I will be with Hermana Coughlen, or Hermana Coffee because people can't say her name. We shall see though tomorrow. I am so sad to be leaving I won't even lie. I cried.

We just got back from hiking and it is so windy.

I am attaching some lovely photos! We hiked near the monuments with another set of sisters and a member. It was a lot of fun.

I have to tell you about all of the miracles we have seen...especially in the past three days!

We have been teaching this family since my first week here, the Fraustos. They are a lot of them. Last week we met with two of the daughters and read the Book of Mormon with them. They really enjoyed it! At the end of the lesson, I asked them if they would be baptized when they knew it was true (in broken spanish) and they said yes! It was wonderful. Then on Saturday we met with pretty much the whole family. We sang a song at the beginning and the spirit was there so strong. The youngest girl, 13, had a dream about the church. She saw a church with lots of kids and heard a voice that said that it was true. The mom also knew that the Book of Mormon was true and that the church had to be true because of the way that we dress. Both of us understood why we dressed the way we did to represent Jesus Christ. She recognized us by the way that we looked and also the spirit that we had. Yesterday at church they were supposed to come. I prayed so hard that they would be there. I just had a good feeling that they would come. The sacrament was passed and they still weren't there. The first talk began and they still weren't there. Finally we gave them a call again and we looked out the window and there were 10 people. We had a total of 13 investigators at church.

Also Sonia is getting baptized this Saturday. I am so sad that will not be here. The greenie gets a baptism her first week :)

I have been reading in the Book of Mormon a lot this week. (My computer just got restarted randomly - I love that gmail saves it!) I am near the end of the Book of Mormon. I have been reading alot about the prophecies about the lamanites. Yesterday night we were meeting with Irineo, who is actually Myan. He is a recent convert. But I realized while we were meeting with him that we were part of the prophecy of the Book of Mormon being fulfilled. He speaks 3 different dialects of Myan, Spanish and is learning English. He is an amazing example. Hermana Day also spoke of how he would be a great instrument in bringing many of his people to the truth. I never thought that I would be part of something like this.

 

I am really sad to be leaving the great people here. They really have changed my heart. Every time that I told someone that I am leaving they said why lol - most missionaries stay along time in the branch. I really hope that I get to come back here.

I am not going to have any time to write today because of packing and saying good bye and hiking (that we already did). So I apologize! I am excited to be able to see Denver and Hermana Thomas. I love all of you - please send your mail to the mission home. They forward it really fast!

I love all of you and can't wait to tell you more!

Enjoy the pictures (that makes up for mail right?)

Love,

Hermana Spencer

The last week of my first transfer!

Dear Familia y Amigos,

Como estan? I hope all is well where ever you are! We are really busy out here in Colorado. We had a very good week. Nothing super significant happened, but it has been good.

So some information about the Branch! I love the branch. I was looking around yesterday and realized that I pretty much had met with everyone this last week or we have an appointment  with them this week! So I love it. I particularly love a new family we have, la familia Quijano! Hermana Quijano is so amazing. She is going to change our ward. She went out with us this week and she just is such a great example to me. She always goes and talks to people. She is always smiling. So many of our investigators, less actives, and members feel more welcomed because of her. She always talks to as many people as she can. It is evident that she is the kind of person the Lord can use. I love her and I can't wait to see how the branch changes because of her.

Ohh I almost forgot.....you all will be so proud of me! I translated most of Relief Society yesterday! It was a miracle. So the stake RS presidency came yesterday. Since they couldn't speak any Spanish, our RS president asked me to translate for them. And I think I did OK. They didn't get all the details, but they got the jist of what the lesson was on. I am grateful that the Lord helped me with all of that. I have really been struggling with Spanish lately. There have been so many times when I wanted to help people and I just couldn't because I didn't have the words. I know that it continues to get better, but sometimes I just want to give up because it never seems like I will be able to understand and communicate my personality and my thoughts. I know that these are lies....duh. Some people are starting to notice more, how little I understand at times :( But it does get better every day! So yes a miracle occurred in the Grand Junction Mt. Garfield Branch Relief Society!

So we are reading the Book of Mormon as a mission. I am in 3rd Nephi right now. I am so amazed at how simple the gospel is. I read Ch 11 this morning when Christ is talking about baptism and also His doctrine. I was so amazed by the love that our Father showed and also the love that Christ showed to the people. I am just falling in love more and more with the Book of Mormon.

So Grand Junction is having amazing weather. I didn't wear tights for the first time yesterday! It was so amazing. I felt so free! So its time to put away my winter clothing. I am just fine with that. Next week we are planning on going hiking. That should be alot of fun! Yay! Also transfers are coming up. We get the calls on Wednesday about training and then Saturday for everyone else. So we will see if I am going to staying and who my companion will be. I really hope that I get to stay. I really love the people here and really think that I can help the Branch become better and stronger. So next Monday I will let all of you know.

So other news! I am amazed at how all people are the same. We all have our difficulties and we all have something to contribute to the world. Our RS president amazes me. She is poor. She has 6 kids. One is a brand new baby and the oldest is 13. Her husband is the EQ president as well and they just work. I can tell that they love the Lord and they want to work hard. The other day we stoped by her house to talk about an idea we had. She was cleaning her house and just talked to us normally. As the conversation went on she talked about she was feeling inadequate with everything. We had just had a RS activity the night before and it was great. She said she wishes that she was more spiritual like so and so. I was thinking at this time - my how wonderful you are. I was so very grateful for this opportunity to talk about how to strengthen herself and how she was a wonderful person and a spiritual person. I was struggling with the same things at that moment. With my calling as a missionary, Spanish and just feeling inadequate. And I was reminded by my words and by the words of my companion, that Satan really trys to make us not feel our worth and how wonderful we are. I know that we all feel this way sometimes. I was so surprised to hear this wonderful sister say these things and also so grateful that I was able to help. I am so glad that we went over to talk to her. Many times I wonder if we as missionaries really do anything and this week I just knew that we did. That we were making a difference.

So the Elders. We are working on improving our relationship with them. Most of the Elders here really don't like talking to us and I have no idea why. They act like they are scared of us.

So things are going good on this side of the mountains. I even have been teaching people to sing primary songs. If we stay here, we are singing at another baptism! Who would have ever thought people would think I could sing well. I think that the Lord really does help us to sound better!

Well all I love you and I wish I had a good funny story! I will try to remember them more! I can't wait to hear from all of you - especially those who have never written me!

Muchos Gracias for all the mail!

Love,

Your Favorite Hermana

P.S. I keep thinking that everyone is just going to be married with 5 children when I get back. Weird. I know.

Raking and Sonic

Hello All!

I am glad again to be writing you. I really do look forward to it, because it helps me feel like a normal person. Which at times I don't want to be and others I miss it.

So this week has been very interesting. We have been busy. We are seeing small miracles here. One is people are giving us referals. We are going to start teaching a family from Mexico that speaks spanish and an Indian language that cannot read and write and lives like an hour away. So I am excited about that one! Also yesterday our RS president told everyone how the missionaries have changed her life. She spoke of how she felt the spirit when they first came to her house. She then told everyone to make a list with 5 people and start praying about who is ready for the gospel. That was awesome! Most of the branch are converts and some of them are so amazing.

So some stories. So we go visit this less active family every week....I still haven't met them. They are both returned missionaries. Since they never open the door we noticed that they needed some raking done. So this Saturday we spent a long time raking their yard in our skirts. I really didn't think that there were that many leaves, but it turned out their were. We ended up filling 30 trash bags with leaves and one with sticks. Another blessing, the Elders walked by and they helped us finish up. The yard looks alot nicer and I hope they appreciate it. It was one of the happiest days here in the mission.

On Saturday as well we went to sonic, because it is free and we didn't have dinner. We met a man and it was his first time to ever go to sonic. So we helped him use the machine to order. Afterwards we started talking to him (yep we are missionaries). It broke my heart. His heart was so hard. There are so many people in the world who use reason and science to explain everything. They cannot see past the bad in the world. My heart actually broke.

Another great story. We went by a less active members house the other day and one of our investigators just happened to be there. Her family hasn't been progressing that much. This young girl got a lip ring. We started talking about how our bodies are temples and this led to talking about temples. And eventually to her saying that she has felt the spirit when we have talked to her. Well she wants to get baptized. This is another evidence that as missionaries we don't do anything - I mean I can barely speak some days. The spirit really does it all. But I can tell you that as a missionary, the Lord really does bless us. People can tell that there we are different.

Another good one. We went to visit this less active member. We were talking to her son and his friend for a long time. During this time we were standing on the porch. I could tell that there was something that was making them laugh. It took me a second to figure out what it was.....the Hermana was driving around ..... avoiding us. This made me laught so hard. Because I saw it early on but was not sure that this was her car. Ohh my! It was so hilarious and we were out there for like 15 minutes :) So family - I feel bad for anytime that we didn't open the door/ avoid "church people" when we were inactive! Right after this - there had been two tiny dogs following us around - these two dogs got in our car lol.

Food. I love the food here, but at times it does not like me. At dinners I really try to finish my plate, sometimes this seems like an impossible task. The other day we were eating Pasolie (I have no idea how to spell it), but she gave us this huge bowl. I had no idea how to finish it. I got close. So when I get back I might have to get a personal trainer lol!

We are teaching alot. I can definately tell that my mission is going to change the way I look at alot of things. It alread has. I love these people. I love the small things that I see them do. I love seeing the gospel make a difference in their lives. One less active member, Hermana Infante, is sick. She works all the time and takes care of her family. She was talking about all the things she was worried about. We taught her about the blessing of paying tithing. She realized she needs these blessing. It was so wonderful. I love it when we can teach principles that will change their lives.

I love all of you and appreaciate every word that I get from you. Please continue to send mail. I love mail more than I love eating....if that tells you anything. I appreciate all that you do at home and love hearing all of your stories. I know that Heavenly Father loves all of you and that the gospel is very true.

Next week I will attach some pictures! Be excited!

I love you all,

Hermana Spencer

P.S. I haven't started driving yet....I'm a little bit glad, but I think it is going to happen this week. By the way transfers are coming up and who knows what is going to happen. We have 1 new spanish sister coming. 2 going home. 1 sister that has been out one transfer longer than me. Hermana Thomas and I. Hermana Day and her MTC companion (10 months). That is it! Awwwwwww!

D 5/8 Road and Another Week in the Mission

Dear Family and Friends,

First off I love you all and am so grateful that I have people that like reading my letters, writing me and most importantly praying for me. I really need all of these.

So you are probably wondering about the title of my email. Grand Junction has really odd street names. They have names like 32, 28 1/2, and then roads like D 5/8. How odd is that. They even have a Road Ave. Ever since I have been here I have wanted to tell you all about the crazy roads. So I made sure to do it this week.

So Miryam was baptized on Saturday. It was so great. It was a little stressful all in all. 1 hour before we were worried about the special musical number (Hermana Day and I .....crazy I know), the programs (we didn't know if they would make it), and people coming to support Miryam. Well lets just say that prayers really are answered. Everything went lovely. Right before the baptism started our Mission President decided to show up :) So he was there and it was great. We had a spanglish baptism because she knows so many people. Our special musical number went fine. We sang Venid a Mi (Come Follow Me) and I even did the alto part...BY MY SELF....that is definitely a first. The talks were great and the spirit was there and there were non-members/less actives etc!!!!!!! All in all it was great. Ohh the only odd thing was a dog present. A little one :) Luckily it didn't make too much noise.

Yesterday was the confirmation. Which is always my favorite for some reason. I love how every time I hear the words "Receive the Holy Ghost" no matter what the language. I always feel the spirit strongly. I love the power of the spirit in my life. I have seen it over and over again.

So it looks like I am going to be driving soon...maybe tomorrow. So that will be a change. I would appreciate your prayers with this. Luckily Grand Junction is not to crazy, but our area is huge and I haven't driven in 3 months. Well I know that I will be fine, but I am still a little nervous.

So since I just wrote on Thursday I will tell you all a little more about my life:

So I live with members who attend an English Ward here. They are really nice and occasionally bake things for us. We live in a pretty nice house in a nice neighborhood. We drive a Corolla ( I really can't think of how to spell that). It actually reminds me a Laynes car lol.

We eat quite a bit of beans. Which I luckily love. We serve in a branch with 2 other Elders. I love our branch. They are always so nice to me. It is really interesting to see a branch with lots of new members. So things at times do not go as planned. We have alot of fun with everyone. I am amazed at how busy Sundays are at times.

P-days They are almost like other days, but we are just busy with different things. We go to walmart, wash the car and email. On days like today we have an interview with our mission president. Who by the way is fantastic. We also do laundry at home. We then either do something fun or we take a nap and write letters. I like to write letters because I get them :) Just so you know sometimes writing is a great sacrifice. I am so tired. The Lord really gives me strength to always get up at 6:30 and to do everything that day with a smile. I am so very grateful He loves His missionaries.

We are so excited for this week. It already looks like a great week. I just want to let all of you know that missions are a refining period of time. I didn't realize how prideful I was....sometimes it still surprises me how humble I need to be. Spanish is coming along. I really do love the language and can't wait till I can speak more. At times it is frustrating when you know exactly what would help them, but you can't say it. I have been amazed at what I can say with my limited vocabulary.

I know that this is a special work. The Lord's hand is really in it. I see it so often when I am paying attention. I am amazed at how many prayers I need to say some days. I no longer worry as much about what exactly I will need to say because the Lord really does fill my mouth and at times I can't even remember what I said. So everyone help the missionaries. Think of people that you know that need the gospel - pray about it. Be a Member Missionary!

I love you all and look forward to all of your mail (hint hint) ohh and if you have time write Hermana Day!

Hermana Spencer

Shout Outs:

Cathy, Mom, and Grandma - Thank you for the packages! I really felt loved!

Anna, Katie, Meekayla - Thank you so much for the letters!

Elder Seipert's Mom - Thank you so much the letters esp. from Elder Seipert. Tell him I say hi!

I hope I got everyone! I really appreciate all of them!

Sister's Conference and Rosa

Dear Family and Friends!

I love all of you so much....especially the ones that write me :)

Grand Junction is great. We are having a good week already. I wasn't able to write on Monday because of President's Day and then because we had a sister's conference.

So let me try to remember last week. We did not reach our goal sadly. One day no one was home...we had appointments the whole day and most of them bombed....so we decided to get some ice cream. A member owns a Dairy and we get free homemade ice cream. That cheered us up a bit and then the day got better. We were able to teach alot.

I want to talk about this week more than anything else. We had 6 investigators at church. I also got to see someone pay tithing for the first time. Watching that was amazing. I knew how much faith it took for that women to pay tithing. Also just seeing all of them at church filled me with joy. I mean that. I sat in awe for a couple of minutes just so happy.

The next day, we didn't really have a P-day, we drove to Denver. When we first got there we decided to meet up with Hermana Thomas and Hermana Wilkerson (Hermana Day's MTC Comp)! I was so happy to see her. I really didn't expect to be that happy. We talked about how we feel about Spanish, the Members, the work! She feels the same way I do! We feel at times like we do not know anything and that it is never going to get better. BUT, I know I felt better after talking to her. We were at a bowling alley....and that was weird....music....people in jeans....:) Then we went to the mission home to be greeted by our mission president and his wife. We had such a good time. We ate dinner, talked about mission stuff, sang and talked. I met all of the sisters in the mission. There are 19 of us this transfer. I was amazed by all of them. I loved talking to them and meeting all of them. There will only be 6 Hermanas after this transfer. One is coming out of the MTC and 2 are going home. This means we have no idea where people are going. Hermana Day and Hermana Wilkerson are the only old Hermanas. Hermana Coffee (a nickname) has only been out a transfer longer than Hermana Thomas and I. So I am excited to see what happens. Sisters Conference was great because I really felt the importance of improving and it was great to reflect on my short time here. I have already seen small miracles - like fitting food in my stomach after my second dinner that day (by the way I feel horrible for making the Sister Missionaries in Lubbock eat so much). Or just talking in Spanish. Randomly I get called on to pray, teach primary, and bear my testimony. We also got to go to the Denver Temple! I just thought of Katie and Cathy and thought...they sat here too :)

We drove back on Tuesday night. Yesterday was AMAZING.

We have a  new progressing investigator. She has been investigating for a long time. Her son wants to get baptized but she wouldn't let him. She is now investigating and I really think we can put her on date :) Also our investigator that is getting baptized this weekend :) Miryam invited her friend Rosa last week to an appointment. We didn't even know that she was coming. We taught about tithing and fasting and Rosa asked questions. She didn't seem too interested, but she asked us to make an appointment with Miryam when she could come! So yesterday Miryam had her baptismal interview and we took Rosa on a short tour of the church. I felt the spirit so strongly when we were talking about the gospel. We were talking about a couple of things and she said - this sounds so familiar.  We told her the story of Joseph Smith and the spirit was there. We then talked about the Holy Ghost with her. She said that she felt it last week when we taught her and Miryam and that's why she wanted to meet with us again. SO I have HIGH hopes for this one! The Lord has really been working on her. She wants to be taught more!

So things are great! We are busy but life is good. I miss all of you so much some times. I think of random experiences at times.

Please continue to send your love to Colorado!

Love,

Hermana Spencer

Shout Outs:

Meekayla - Thank you for your letters I will reply this week!

Cathy - Thank You for the talks and the letters! You just make me smile!