Emily MTC Madrid Week 2

Thank you for all of the e-mails they are veer much appreciated. I am not getting near as much mail here as I was in Provo. Dad I tried to take your advice of saving the letters and reading them through out the week, yeah right! I was so excited I read them all as fast as I could and printed them off so I can read them probably 5-10 times during the week. I love hearing from you! I wish I knew what you were doing all the time. Okay stuff I want to tell you about this week...where do I start?

Well first of all every Saturday we go to a park, that is gorgeous and we tract. We fill up our bags with Books and pamphlets and jump on the metro. My comp. of course speaks Spanish so I wasn´t too worried about this little adventure but it was pretty insightful. Most people we talked to of course told us that they are Catholic and uninterested but we did give out two BofM´s. One book we gave to a lady on the way to the park and the other one we gave to a lady in the park. I want to tell you about the lady in the park. My comp. and I walked past her at leat four times and I would look at her everytime but she never looked up. She was reading on a bench and she was kind of in the middle of the path and we were talking more to people on benches closer to the walkway. After passsing her for the fourth time my comp and I stopped at the end of the walkway and she told me that she really felt like there was a women who wanted this book and that we needed to find her. We went up to one more lady and she told us she was Catholic and then we started walking down the same path again. It was strange that we kept walking down the same path because the park is HUGE. As we got closer to the same lady again my comp. and I stopped. I said I think we need to talk to her. She is reading a book and we could say oh you like to read well we want to tell you about this book. It was just like a random thought that I had but I just knew we needed to talk to her. My comp. was really nervous to talk to her but she said okay lets do it. We walked up to her and we said we keep passing by you and we just really felt like we sould come talk to you. We want to talk to you about this book. It was awesome she was really receptive of everything we said and I bore my testimony to her. The spirit was really strong and it was a really neat experience. She is from Barcelona so hopefully Logan will be able to check up on her.

After we track for a little we all gather and sing like 5 hymns. About 20 people stopped to listen and the Spirit again was so strong. Our voices were not very good at all but the message in the hymns combined with the Holy Ghost is what is powerful. Over the last week I have realized very clearly that I got my visa because I needed to come to Spain for Hermana Cachari. We had a really fun week together. I learned A LOT of Spanish from her. She was very lonely because the other girls didn´t ever really talk to her in Spanish and she doesn´t understand that much English. There have been like 3-4 times this week that I would ask her a couple questions and she would talk for an hour or more. She has really needed someone and I know that Heavenly Father really helped my Spanish so that I could help her. The other day her Dad came to bring her some things that she needed. She didn´t have a coat and a couple other things. Well I guess her dad played a joke on her, I still don´t really understand what happened but the box that he brought was full of junk food. She was mad all night because she was leaving the next morning and she didn´t have the things that she needed. That day I prayed for a way to know how to help her. I decided to give her my black coat. Oh the timmer is going to cut me off but I will sign back on... hold on a sec.

So both of us were trying to take a nap and the other girls were being really loud so my comp. woke me up and we went to the other room where my stuff was because there wasn´t enough room in their room. Anyways we were sitting their talking and I was like I need to give her my coat. I took it off the hook of my closet and asked her to try it on. It fit her perfectly so we sat on my bed and talked while I cleaned it up for her. It is so much fun to give to people who really need it. She was so excited and she told me that no one has ever given her a gift like that before. I´m so glad that I had something to give her that would help. Later that day she gave me a pair of bright blue pants and I acted way excited about it. It was nice of her to give me something of hers even though I told her that she didn´t need to. She is a very strong person and I´m glad that I was able to have her as my comp. even though it was only for a week. Its amazing how mindful Heavenly Father is of us, even in little things.

Tuesday this week everyone left minus Elder Fowers and I. Ever since I left Provo I have been with an Elder more than I have a Sister, its really funny. Although I do have a sister comp. I am in class all day with an Elder. There was one day and one night that we didn´t have anyone here and I slept all by myself. I´m not going to lie it was really nice. Elder Fowers and I had dinner and breakfast all by ourselves with President and Sister Hill. I felt like I was with Grandma and Grandpa Gogarty at their table in St. George, I loved it! They told us some great stories, they are amazing people. We just got two new sisters yesterday but one is only going to be here for a couple days. After she leaves there will be Elder Fowers, his new comp. from Portugal, my new comp. Hermana Thompson from Alaska, and me.

The schedule is so nice here and its so quiet. We have class for four hours a day and then we study what we need to during the rest of the time. I´m learing so much Spanish because everything is Spanish. Our teachers teach in Spanish and we talk back to them in Spanish as much as we can. Right now I´m teaching lesson 1 and 2 in Spanish, crazy! This morning we went to the temple. After leaving the MTC it takes about ten steps to be inside the temple. The temple is gorgeous and its amazing to be so close. As I walk to the temple I look for Jess to come popping out of a tree but she never does. Then I look around me and realize that, IM IN SPAIN!

Sister I´m so excited for you. I knew it was going to be a girl because we all guessed it was going to be a boy. When I read your letter which by the way, took 6 days I think and moms only took 5, I started crying. Its okay to cry in front of your comp. if she is a girl but since I´m with an Elder all the time its kind of different. Actually he is a great Elder and we have a good time together. Anyways I tried to picture myself there with you when you found out and seeing the little girl on the screen and just knowing that I was going to love her so much. I already feel such a strong love for her and I don´t even know her. I´ve been having dreams over and over again since I read your letter about the day when I come home. I can picture all of you standing there and the cutest little girl standing in front of Jess. Although I will be messing my pants because I´m so excited to see you guys, I´m sorry but I will have to run to her first because I´ve known you guys my whole life but it will be my first time seeing her and I will need to meet her. I can´t wait!

Being a missionary is so hard to explain. It is so rewarding but so tiring. Everday I get a headache because I´m trying to learn so much and I have to concentrate so much on everything that is being said. The time is already going by so fast because every second there is something to do or learn.

Today the new sisters had class but its my p-day and I needed to go buy a couple things. My teacher went with me, the one that kind of reminds me of Jess. Her name is Hermana Viso and she is having a baby a month after Jess. Anyways we took the bus to the mall and I bought a really cute new coat and we shopped for some other things that I have run out of. It was fun to be out in the city with her. I love this MTC, so different! While I was with her I tried to pretend like it was Jess, Sarah and I shopping together. We talked the whole time and it was nice to just take a break and see some more of Madrid.

Brother I really hope you get your visa. Either way if you get it or not you come here for a couple days to get your visa paper work done. Yesterday I heard that the Elder that works in the office in Barcelona mixed up the paper work for the missionaries, the President and his wife. They aren´t allowed to leave the country and if they do they won´t be allowed back in. They might send them all back to the US! Anyways its a big mess and I feel bad for the Elder who messed it all up. Thats probably one of those things that won´t even be funny in ten years. I guess the reason visas are so hard to get here is because of the terrorist attack. They changed the whole process and they try to be more careful. So they decided to take everything off the computers and its a bunch of paperwork now. When we went to the office to sign some paperwork it was insane how many stacks of paper there were. President said when he checked a couple weeks ago there were 90 missionaries who were waiting for visas but he doesn´t know what its at right now. I´m very blessed to be here right now!

I can´t think of anything else to tell you right now although I know more happened this week. We are for sure going to have to come back here after Logan and I get back. I can´t wait to see northern Spain, I hear its very different from Madrid. I love you guys so much and I wish you weren´t all so awesome because then I wouldn´t miss you. I can´t imagine being here with out the sure feeling I have, that this is where Im suppose to be right now. I can´t imagine not having the experiences that I have had so far in just the first month. Amazing things happen everyday and I´m not even in the field yet.

Heavenly Father loves us sooo much and because He loves us so much he sent us a Savior so that we could have the chance to return to live with Him. That blessings that we are promised if we keep the commandmets are beautiful. I want to help everyone in Spain come to the knowledge of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. But most importantly I want each member of my family whom I love so much to keep the commandments so they can enjoy the blessings that we are promised. Some days are harder than others but we can´t give up. It all works out and makes sense in the end. Heavenly Fathers plan is perfect because He is perfect and I´m so thankful to know that each one of us are literally sons and daughers of God and we can return to Him in Eternal families.

I miss you guys a lot sometimes but I know this is where I´m suppose to be. Keep writing me as much as you can. I´m glad you had a nice time in CA, NO MORE TRIPS UNTIL I GET BACK OKAY! Brother if you have any questions or concerns, please write me! Oh ya Mom I talked about you in R.S. on Sunday. Sister Taylor the doctor´s wife and Sister Hill both want to meet you and they said they hope their daughters talk about you the same way I talk about you. We were suppose to share an experience with RS. I told about you and how visiting teaching isn´t it for you. You serve everyone one you meet and your not afraid to help anyone with anything. Dad thank you for loving her and choosing her to be your wife. Thank you for being a worthy Priesthood holder. Thank you for teaching us the gospel and helping us find our testimonies. You are both such amazing people and I´m glad you have each other. Okay I guess I better go, oh I love you guys so much!love, Em (Sister Gogarty)