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