La Autoridad de mi Llamamiento

Queridos familia y amigos,

Esta semana ha sido bien. Hemos visto muchos milagros. Claro hay cosas que cambiaría si podría pero así es la misión. Okay now I will talk in english, I just thought I would give you a little taste of spanish since I don't do that nearly as much as I should.

So this week I was reminded a lot of who I am as a missionary and what my name badge represents. In Spain, 70% of the people have no clue who/what we are and the other 30% think we are Testigos de Jehova (Jehova's Witnesses) so when people react to us wearing chapas it is usually negatively. But this week after district meeting we went out to Subway for lunch and a woman said "oh hey! Missionaries" she and her husband were on vacation here in Barcelona, they have lived a lot of their lives around the States, part in Utah, and a lot in Europe (currently living in Geneva, Switzerland). They are members and were super sweet. Then when we went to sit down another family greeted us and turns out they are members from Roy, Utah. Then a woman from England started asking us a bunch of questions about the name badges we wear. It was really cool. Elder Ferrer, Spaniard, was absolutely shocked. I don't know if he has ever just run into Mormons let alone two families in the same restaurant and he leaned over to us and asked "is this what it's like in Utah." The families took photos with us and it was so sweet to hear the kids get all excited about having pictures with the missionaries. It really made me think twice about what members think when they see missionaries. They have high expectations for us, as they should and it was really nice to remember that.

Then we had the sweetest visit with this older lady named Trini. She told us that she hasn't felt such a strong connection with missionaries since the elders that baptized her 40 years ago. She basically adopted us as her granddaughters and said that she wants to hear all about our futures. When we get home, when we get married, letters and pictures about everything. But despite the love that she has for us she said that she couldn't hug us because she said she doesn't think it's appropriate to hug missionaries. She says that we are too pure. And then in ward council they talked a lot about us missionaries and how we are held to a high standard and the ward needs to respect the sacredness of our callings. I don't know there were just a bunch of things that happened this week where other people talked about how sacred our calling is and the expectations they have of us and it really made me think more about why my name badge just says my last name and Christ's name on it rather than my first name.

So we also had some really good lessons this week but I'm super short on time so just real fast, we met with a woman named Tania and her daughter and they are amazing. And then on Saturday there was a primary activity as well as a YM/YW activity and we had 8 investigators and 1 less active there! How incredible is that!?!?!?! We were freaking out. Then we found a family of less actives on the metro and had an amazing lesson with them last night and we are visiting them again tonight. Oh and then today we had concilio and as always it was amazing! We talked a lot about less actives and recent converts.  Sorry not a ton of information about this week but just know that I am loving life and I am so happy. 

Hope you all have a great week! Lots of love!

Hermana Tuttle

Me quedo

Hola Familia!

Bad news: Josef is still not baptized and he has fallen off the face of the earth. One of the hardest things in the world for a missionary. Satan's the worst.

But moving on to happier things:

Valentines DAY!!!! It was seriously one of the best days of my mission. It was so much fun. On the 13th I got a beautiful bouquet of Gerber Daisies! They were gorgeous! Then On Valentine's Day we left early to help a pregnant recent convert named Marta move. It took forever because we had to wait for the van but it was a perfect day, the sun was shining and the temperature was warm and we and the elders had an absolute blast. Our zone leader gave us candy roses and then Hermana Swenson and I had lunch in the piso and then for dessert we went to Crepes de Barcelona and got chocolate crepes! (which we have been planning on doing for 6 weeks!) They were delicious I had chocolate with coconut and she had chocolate with strawberries. Then we passed by a bunch of old investigators. They weren't home but we were able to update their records so that was good. Then we helped Zuleide Lopes with something and ended up teaching her brother in law who is super sweet! Then we taught Crony and Luis and their kids (still trying to get them to get married and their eight year old son prepared for baptism) but the highlight of the day was definitely our dinner with Heidi and Carlos! We ate salmon with rice and anyone who knows me well knows how much I LOVE salmon. It was perfect!

STRIKE: So there is this huge strike for public transport right now. Super sketchy. They are doing "manifestations" all over the place because the prices have gone up. There are two scheduled for this week. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

TRANSFERS: Guess who is still only on her second area!!! This girl! Just to give you a little perspective. There are girls that came in with me who are on their 5th area. Most of them have been in their areas for 3-4 months. But when I leave Barcelona after this next transfer I will have been in Valencia for 6th months and Barcelona for 6th months with only 5 months remaining in my mission. How awesome is that! I have really gotten the best of both worlds because I have been able to see most of the mission through intercambios but I have been able to stay in areas for long enough to really get to know and help the people. I love these people so much. Elder Bascope (my zone leader for the last three transfers and a really good friend) is finishing his mission today and it was super sad to say goodbye to him. It's hard when you really don't know if you will ever see some of these people again because they live in other countries.

So on Sunday I was asked to give a talk (probably because they thought I was leaving). I didn't have a ton of time to write it so I was a little nervous about it but I was okay until I walked in and saw President and Hermana Pace sitting on the stand. I freaked out. Luckily it went well but I definitely felt the pressure of being the preceeding speaker for Elder Bascope (who had all 18 members of his family there), and the mission president and his wife!

Still just loving life between Zumba classes, basketball, Volleyball, and other activities we are really having a lot of fun as we try to help people become more comfortable with the members and the church.

Hope you guys have a great week! Thank you so much for the sweet Valentines day cards and letters! They mean the world to me

LOTS OF LOVE!

Hermana Tuttle

Fa es lejos en ingles

Dear Everyone,

Okay so in order to explain my subject line I will write my email a little backwards and tell you about our preparation day today first. So we went bike riding! It was GORGEOUS! Oh my goodness I have missed bike riding so much! And of course it didn't compare at all with going up Provo canyon with my dad or around the neighborhood on a Sunday afternoon with both of my parents but we covered a lot of the coast of Barcelona and got to see a lot of really cool things. I have lots of pictures so hopefully I will have a little bit of time today to send them. As the 6 of us were riding along the coast along the Mediterranean sea and this beautiful city of Barcelona I thought about two things 1) how bad I feel for the people who are doing homework and taking tests right now while I'm just living the dream and 2) Sound of Music. It was hilarious. I started singing the Do a Deer song and asked the 3 native elders we were with how to sing it in Spanish. The best line is "fa es lejos en ingles" which translates to "fa is 'far' in english" I don't know why but I thought that was absolutely hilarious. Anyway, this week was pretty packed with good stuff so moving on...

On Wednesday I left my  companion for two days again (poor Hma. Swenson) to go on intercambios to Zaragoza. It was beautiful and really windy. It's known for its wind so when I was there no one even noticed the "little gusts" every once in a while, but I did and I loved it. The hermanas there are so sweet and are doing great work. I learn so much on intercambios and I feel so privileged to have this calling. I'm not sure how much longer I will have it since there are so many amazing sisters in this mission and I am sure President wants to give others the chance to have this amazing opportunity so I am really just trying to soak up every minute of it.

We had a couple of setbacks this week. Harry dropped us which was super hard for us especially Hermana Swenson because she was so sure he would be her first baptism in the mission but we have a meeting with him on Sunday and are really hopeful things will turn around. And Josef pushed his date back again to this week because Kofi wouldn't have been able to be there last Saturday and obviously that is something that is very important to him. He promised us that this Saturday no matter what he will be baptized though because, as he put it, he could die any day and he wants to be prepared.

The highlight of the week was Saturday. We did a tri ward activity where we hiked a mountain called Monserrat. It was gorgeous!!!! I stayed in the back to push and pull some of the older people and carry the backpacks of some of the kids. Before long we were about a half hour behind the next group and I remember thinking about how nice it would be to go at a faster speed with the bigger group and all of the YSAs but about 15 minutes from the top a girl got dizzy and fell down. We sat her down and gave her water but she couldn't keep it down and started to get really sick. The elders carried her up a little ways because we had to get her to the top to get medical attention but the mountain was so steep that we eventually had to stop again and lay her down. She was freezing cold but sweating, her eyelids were going dark, she felt super sick, and she was trembling. I was so grateful that I was in that group so that I could help with what little knowledge I still remember from my Exercise Science classes at BYU but frustrated that after over a year of being out of school I couldn't remember more than I did. Luckily where my knowledge fell short, the power of the priesthood made up for it. As she laid there on the side of a mountain covered in jackets and sweatshirts an Elder and our bishop gave her a blessing. It was so loud but as they said the blessing everything went silent. Then four guys carried her up the rest of the mountain. In total that last little bit took about an hour but it was one of the most inspiring times of my mission. The activity was such a blessing to so many people and yesterday (Sunday) we had 6 less actives in church (of which were two kids who came to the activity who haven't come to church in years) it was a great weekend.

I love you guys lots and I hope you have a great week! Happy Valentine's Day

Hermana Tuttle

Specialized Training, Valencia, Russian.

Dear Family and Friends,

I had this amazing revelation: I am going to start (trying) to write shorter emails so that 1) you guys actually read them and don't get bored out of your minds and 2) I can spend some more time communicating with recent converts, less actives, and members here that I have worked here in the past. It's a win-win. That being said...for Hermana Tuttle... talking less is a lot easier said then done. Little by little.

What sparked this revelation? INTERCAMBIO TO VALENCIA!!!!! So you know how I have to travel to different areas each transfer to help the sisters around the mission (intercambios) well this transfer I have been asked to visit the two companionships in Zaragoza and the 2 in Valencia! You have no idea how excited I have been. I have been looking forward to it for the last few weeks and it was perfect! I went down on Wednesday and I got to work in my old area for all of Thursday and then in the area of the other hermanas on Friday and returned to Barcelona that night. It was so much fun to call people and say "guess who" they would say "the sister missionaries" and then I would say "ya, but which one?" and to hear their reactions was the most amazing thing in the world. The best was from Belén Mambo. We ended up at the church to visit an investigator and a less active and she was there too. Her family knew I was in town but I told them to keep it a surprise from her. When I turned the corner and said hello she just stared at me for a second and then she screamed, hugged me so tight, and just started crying. I asked her why she just stared at me for so long and she said "at first I was mad, I thought it was just someone who looked like you and that it was a cruel joke because how on earth could you be in Valencia but then I realized it really was you!" It was such an amazing experience to go back and to help the hermana who just got there and hasn't really gotten to know anyone see how loving and welcoming these people are and how much I love them and how much she will love them too. Rosemary (remember the investigator I had before I left, by far the hardest goodbye) got baptized shortly after I left and is doing very well. (I could go on and on but I did that in my journal so I'll move on to the next topic but just know that it was mi sueño hecho real)

So Monday as you know I had Concilio, Wednesday-Friday I was in Valencia but I kind of skipped over that Tuesday and Wednesday I also had training. Usually Specialized Training is just like a mini zone conference where we focus on one thing and we talk about it and practice it for about 4 hours, however the first training of the year President and Hermana Pace like to make it 2 days long. It was so helpful and I think we all learned a lot. The theme was not losing the faith to find. To talk to everyone and if the first 100 people say no but the 101st says yes, that one person is worth it. It got us all super excited.

Last but not least, we are teaching a Russian family who is absolutely amazing! We found Kira and her son Slava through metro contacting, they had a lot of interest in learning english then we invited them to the district conference we had(a conference broadcasted to Portugal, Spain, and Cape Verde, Elders Ballard, Maynes, Teixera, Richards and Sister Reeves spoke. They did amazing! It was perfect for investigators). Not only did Kira want to come but she asked if she could bring her boyfriend Vadim. They all came and afterwards when they had to leave Vadim said "could we come back sometime so you can explain to us the history of this church and the book?" He has worked a lot in Salt Lake for an international business and he says that he has had a really good impression of the Mormons. Last night we taught them and it went really well. We asked Kira to read Moroni's promise (10:3-5) in Russian and after she read it they were quiet for a second and then Vadim said "that was beautiful" we testified about the Book of Mormon and asked them what they thought, Vadim said "I am going to read the book, it sounds very intriguing" Slava, who is about 10, wants to read it too because there are wars. Kira is quiet but she was smiling the whole time and seems to enjoy it as well. They are great! 

Real fast: Harry and Josef both have baptismal dates for this week so please keep them in your prayers.

Thank you for everything! I love you!

Hermana Tuttle