I GET TO LIVE HERE?!?

Heyo!! What a week. Last time I wrote you I was still in San Fernando, which is crazy! Since then I have been shipped off to Málaga, which was an experience.

Okay, wow! What a time. As previously mentioned, I rode a train on Tuesday morning to Sevilla, and then switched to one to Málaga...and I had ALL three of my suitcases. Yeah. I was told at least 15 times that the ZL (who cover Sevilla) would be there to help me, however they were not. The communication of this mission is lowkey a disaster, and I'm still to this day, not sure what happened? But it's all good, some very kind people helped me out with both unloading (twice) and loading my suitcases. It's kind of intense, because the trains do not stop for very long; so I was not about to turn down the kind men that came up and asked, "Necesitas ayuda?". I was a little worried, but I found my new train (thanks to a kind worker who just looked at me and said, "Once". :) The most nerve wrecking part is that because I didn't see the Elders, I was very concerned I got on the wrong train. Sitting on a train in a foreign country wondering if you're traveling to the right destination or not is not an experience I would recommend. It also turned out the Elders were there, and the whole mission thought that I was lost in Spain for a little bit, so that's fun. I had a lot of concerned messages, once I connected to internet again (yes, I was traveling in a foreign country that I can barely speak the language of without phone service). I probably took a year of Hermana Hamilton's (my mission President's wife) life, but all's well that ends well.

My new companion is Hermana Roderer, she's from Switzerland, but has lived in Florida for the last 10 years. Her parents own a restaurant there, she she's pretty good in the kitchen! Her native language is Swiss-German, but she also speaks English perfectly. She's been out for two transfers, so she knows the area pretty well. The only issue is neither of us know Spanish incredibly. Haha. So that's going to be an experience, pray for us. I have never heard German before, but now having heard her accent when she speaks Spanish, I understand what they mean when they say it's a harsh language, can't explain it, you'd have to hear it. :) 

We are covering Málaga 3 and Fuengirola. The work is good, and we have some people that are coming along (see people section). Also Málaga it absolutely beautiful, and so is Fuengirola and all the towns in between that we cover. I can't believe I get to live here. I've been so bad at taking pictures this week, but I promise I'll take more next week. It's so amazing here. The view from our piso alone (one of the two attached images) is incredible. Our piso is crazy nice, definitely the nicest missionary apartment I've ever stayed in. The only issue is the baño, the bathroom door doesn't shut, there isn't a light, and the water pressure in the shower head is SO bad, and despite our best duct-taping job it isn't getting any better (so I'll be buying a shower head today). BUT again it's so beautiful, and cool here and I can't believe I'm here.

P E O P L E : 

STEVE: he talks to us in English despite being from Colombia. He lived in the US for a long time, and speaks great English. I think the main reason he prefers English is because he told me he doesn't understand people's accents here. Which is understandable. He came to church this week and told me he had to try really hard to understand what people were saying, and I was like me too! :) But when people came and talked to him he could talk to them perfectly. He's cool, an Elder who went home a year ago referred him. Apparently the missionaries here used to play Basketball with him every week, and had stayed in contact over the years. He wasn't ready then, but he is now. He's got a lot going on in his life - like a lot- but he has SO much potential.

LUÍS: Luis is a little bit of an eternigator. He's been taught everything, been to church a ton, and has even passed the baptismal interview. He just needs to choose to be baptized. It could literally happen today if he asked. He has a testimony of almost everything, but what's lacking is the Book of Mormon. But he's building that, little by little. He's nice and lied to my face after I said the prayer and told me that my Spanish didn't have an accent. Which might just be because he's living in Spain and the accents here are wack (he's from Colombia). Anywho, he'll get baptized, it's just about when. 

ENRIQUE: I've only talked to him over the phone, but Enrique is a true eternigator; but not by his own choice. Enrique has been working on the marriage process for a while...apparently it's tricky here. According to our records he has been to church 116 times (that's over two years of church attendance). So again, it's just about when.

AXEL: we had a wildly chaotic zoom call with Axel and friends. Axel is a referral, from his family members that are members. We talked with him over zoom, which wasn't great, but his girlfriend (...who he has a child with) invited us over to meet with them in person on Tuesday! So yay! A new friend. They also said they want to take their kid to church (he's one and a half)! So hopefully that motivation will last.

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHT:

My friend Eric, from Klamath Falls, got baptized yesterday and I was able to Zoom in to see it. I had to get some special permission to stay up 30 minutes later, because the 2:30 pm baptism was 11:30 my time. Which is my bedtime. BUT I was able to see him get baptized and confirmed! It was so amazing, so glad I got to meet Eric and be a part of his story. I saw a lot of fellow missionaries there to support him too, which made my heart very happy. He even had quite the international audience. Between me in Spain, Elder Broadbent in the Dominican Republic and Elder Moulder in Brazil. You've got to love technology! Very grateful I got to be a part of it, even from the other side of the world. 

Con amor, Hermana Shelton

F O T O S :

1 - the view from my piso?!?!?

2 - my new companion 

three week shafted part 2

Well, well, well, good thing I never really unpacked. :) I'm being moved to Malaga, or more specifically, Fuengirola. Which is once again on the coast, I guess there's just something about me and the ocean. :) Coast part 3 here we go!! I'll be companions with Hermana Roderer, who despite being in the same zone as, I know next to nothing about. I'm sad to leave San Fernando & Cádiz, but also I was only here for 3 weeks, so it'll be fine. The only part of this transfer news that I'm truly distraught about is that we will have a car. Not sure how many of you have experienced European driving, but it is not something I ever wanted to do. I guess I know why the office Elders were so anxious for me to send in the documents needed for me to get an international driving license now. :) Big sad, but I'll probably not be driving this transfer, so yay! President told me on the phone that I was going to the most beautiful area in the mission, and with how beautiful I find San Fernando to be, I have pretty high expectations for Fuengirola! I'll be boarding a train for Malaga on Tuesday (well one for Sevilla, and then switching to one to Malaga, with all my luggage, pray for me).

Also I went to Barcelona this week!! And it was high-key ~immaculate~. If the only reason God sent me here for 3 weeks was so I could be companions with Hermana Guerrero for the perfect window to go to Barcelona, that is fine in my book. We took a train to Sevilla and then flew from there, and my comps were straight up scrubs at the airport. Both of them hadn't flown in a long time, and I was trying to explain things (because an airport is an airport weather in America or Spain) but they didn't really seem to think I knew what was happening. They PURCHASED water before we went through security, and I asked if they could take that through security (because in my mind I was like...maybe security is different in countries that don't have 9/11 trauma???) and they said yes. The answer was no. Then when we got to the security the man said something to them, and then they didn't do it I guess, because in English he asked, "Do you need English?" And they were like no, but she does and points to me. The guy then looked at me, saw I was slipping off my shoes and had my bin full of all my belonging, gave me a thumbs up and moved on. They were also super nervous during take off, which I guess is understandable, just not something I personally relate to. I quite like take off on a plane, I have quite the faith in science. Being in a car drove by an office Elder here in Spain though....I fear death. Anyway all of that was super unimportant, but it was important to me.

Barcelona is so amazing though, I saw so many pretty things (2 castles??), and stood in the middle of the city while birds legit came and attacked me. At one point three were on my arms, and one ON MY HEAD!?! Hopefully one day I'll get to see that cool parts of Madrid too, because all I have seen so far is the mission office (and el templo, which is quite beautiful so yay). 

Anywho here's a lil run down of my last week here in San Fernando/Cádiz :

A lot of this week was just citas for Hermana Reyes to say goodbye to everyone here. Which was super wholesome.

Margarita, a sweet member of the Cádiz Ward, heard I was American and had us over for Thanksgiving dinner! It was so sweet of her, and it was probably the most I have ever enjoyed Thanksgiving food. Probably because it was LITERALLY, made just for me, so it tasted extra sweet. We had the whole shabang, turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, bread (bread here is so good!!), stuffing, cranberry sauce (still not sure what the purpose of it is), vegetables, yams and pumpkin pie to top it all off! My personal favorite part however was that in true, American style, she allowed us to dish our own food. A true blessing, which isn't very normal here. Usually they dish it for you, and give you an unreal serving that you are expected to finish; so that, combined with the incredible meal, made just for me, gave me a lot to be thankful for this week. :)

This week I noticed something during our lessons, and starting searching through my memories to confirm, and I genuinely don't think that in any of the lessons we've taught since I've been here, we have shared a scripture...like not one. Unless it's a member message, in which case we just share a scripture. But the lessons... like actual lessons, we haven't used a scripture...which is insanity to me. We were teaching a family from Columbia the Plan of Salvation the other night, so I could actually understand enough to semi-follow, and kept opening up scriptures from the LDM about what we were taking about, and they just...didn't get the hint. After that night I just kept noticing. There has been a lot of differences, that I have just gone with, but if we're not using the BOM to teach the restored gospel of Jesus Christ then there's a problem. I hated role plays as a new missionary, but I think I'm finally getting why we did them. The Book of Mormon isn't talked about for its power of conversation for nothing. 

Speaking of, I've been trying to the read the LDM during personal study instead of the BOM. Which is rough, because personal study has always been my favorite hour of the day, and now most of it is taken up by reading one chapter (because it's my second language, and there's always sounds going on during personal study in the apartment, personal study isn't held to the same level of sacred as it is in the OEM here, to say the least). It's rough, and I end up re-reading a lot of verses in English. While reading I noticed a difference in Omni 1:13 between the English and the Spanish version. In English it reads, "as many as would hearken unto the voice of the Lord", but in Spanish the verb used is a conjugation of "querer", to want. "As many as [wanted to] hearken unto the voice of the Lord". When we're confirmed after baptism they say, "receive the Holy Ghost". We have to receive it, we are not entitled to it. It takes work. We have to want it, that's the whole point. Everything about the gospel, every growth point is something we have to want. If we don't want it, we won't work for it; and everything worth doing takes a little work. 

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, I love Thanksgiving and I love gratitude. I'm thankful for everyone of you on this email chain, and it you made it this far in this monster of an email, I'm even more thankful for you. This has been a rough month. I've been out for a year, and I've never been more homesick or felt more out of place. I'm starting to believe there's a reason that you're supposed to deal with this while your greenie fire is still blaring. BUT I'm still so thankful to be here. I'm so thankful to serve the people here, to live in these beautiful places, and to suffer through learning Spanish. I'm so thankful for those 11 months in Oregon, and I'm so thankful for my knowledge of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel. I can't believe people go through life without it. I've never felt so alone as this past month, and can't imagine what I wouldn't done if I didn't know He was right there beside me. ♡

Sorry this is so long. I think not being able to talk to my companions makes me miss communicating my thoughts a lil' bit. :) 

Hermana Shelton 

F O T O S : 

1 - screenshot of a bird attack

2 - la familia Rodríguez 

3 - Juan y Susi ♡

4 - me @ Montjuic (low quality because it was send over messenger)

5 - Thanksgiving dinner

6 - Cádiz baby

7 - lil piece of Oregon

8 - 6th time boarding a plane with the tag!

9 - presidente  de la estaca y su familia

10 - idk where we were, but us in Barcelona 

11 - me @ some castle!!

"if you can make it in san fernando, you can make it anywhere " - my mission President

 Heyo! 

Another week another 10 hours of traveling so I can make a 15 minutes appointment to get a green card. :) I very much desire to stay in my area for a actual week for once. Sadly that won't be happening this week either, my companions and I will actually be heading to Barcelona this week for my companion's residency. This time by plane. So that's fun, seeing as this is the only possible way I'd ever see Barcelona as a missionary, I kinda lucked out with that one. :) 

I spent my one year mark in Madrid, and then on a train for 6 hours so yay! We also had a bit of an issue with the train and had to switch to another train and ride the rails backwards for the final 2 hours. Which felt quite interesting. Happy one year to me! :) 

We had two member meals this week and both of them almost put me in a coma. The first one was with Juanita, a member of the Cádiz Ward. I'm told it was very traditional Spain cuisine. The main one I've noticed so far being, tortilla de patata. Which slaps, and for all my Utah people, very much reminds me of funeral potatoes. :) Also Spanish rice, which I've never liked before; but I'm here to tell you the real stuff is far less atrocious. Also she gave me some lil snack for dessert that tasted just like sweet tarts ropes? So that was reminiscent. Also almost every member meal I've had here they've made incredible homemade bread. So yay.

Abuelo (or Manuel) is a member who is like 80 and lowkey a phenomenal chef. This man really made us a 6 course meal. I was so hyped at first, and then he just kept bringing out more food. We finished the soup, bread, and salad, here's some random piece of meat, finished that here's a tortilla de patata, finished that, here's flan (a very common dessert here that is the texture of jello), finished that here's some other dessert. I was exhausted and at one point had to say a prayer to push through. But Abuelo is so sweet, he's crazy hard to understand, because he's from here. But he tries to slow down for me. :)

People we talked to, and a rating of my understanding of their accents:

Rosaly, an amiga de Bolivia: she's super cool and I actually could somewhat understand her (5/10). We shared a brief spiritual message with her, and she seemed pretty respective. We'll see when the next time we see her is, we don't seem to meet with our progressing friends as much as I would like us to here.

Juan and Susi (Argentina): an adorable old couple that just got baptized a couple months ago. They're super sweet, and I can understand a bit of what they say...sometimes. Susi talks really quiet, and we always seem to be with them in crowded places. Still not that bad though, I can understand the general idea, sometimes. :) (4/10)

La familia Rodríguez (Columbia): Absolute legends. Kateryn, the mom, is a member, but the dad, Jesús, isn't and neither is their daughter María who is 11. They also have Emmanuel, who is 7. The women of the family are somewhat understandable, but the dad and little dude are practically spitting raps as they speak. They're such a sweet little family though, and are pretty close to being baptized! (4/10), (the dad, 2/10)

Rosa and her mom Érika (Ecuador): Hard to give a fair judgement, because they wore masks the entire time, but all in all, I've had worse. It also helped that we were teaching an actual lesson, and not just doing some kind of message were we elaborate on what "Hope" means to us. I can't follow things like that at all, but I semi-know my lesson vocab. We're teaching Rosa (member who is almost 8) the main lessons before her baptism next month; so I got to say the first vision in spanish, which was scary because it had been a minute. All in all, not to bad, but as usual not great. (5/10)

Obispo Sánchez y familia (España): I walked to the other side of San Fernando to talk with this man and his family, and then didn't understand a word. But that's okay. I also walked all the way there in rain boots (which rubbed the calfs quite intensely, because I'm out of longer socks) because I was told it was raining only to go outside and see one puddle and feel three drops of water. I don't know if I'm living in the plain, but so far I don't think the rain in Spain falls mainly here. Anywho, Obispo Sánchez thought it was pretty cool that I was American. Which seems to be a recurring theme here, they haven't had an American serving in this area since COVID started. He asked me if I was from "la fábrica" (the factory, code for Utah :)) when I told him yes he asked from where, I said Logan and this man geeked out about our temple for a while. And I understood none of it. (.3/10)

Sergio and su amiga (Cádiz): homeboy Sergio is a JA (YSA) here in Cádiz. Apparently every time we meet with him he brings one of his friends who isn't a member. What a legend. He's also way into tik tok and just over all a legend. He talks very southern Spain but slightly slower than most. So, (.9/10). 

As you can see, when they're not from Spain, there's a chance. Haha. It's fine. The people get it to, when I tell them this is my first area in Spain the answer are almost always the same. If they're not from Spain they looked shocked and say something (in Spanish) along the lines of, "And they send you here?" And if they are from Spain they chuckle and say something like, "Well, if you learn to understand our Spanish, you can understand it all." I think they all like it that I don't understand a thing, it's like they all got a new pet for the first time in almost 2 years. :) 

Better week this week, still crazy frustrated about Spanish, and trying to figure out how they do the work here. I just feel like I do so much less in a day here, but I guess I need to realize it's a different mission. :) Transfers will be announced by the next time I talk to y'all. So that'll be an adventure. I don't think Hermana Guerrero and I will be staying together, and we'll see if I even stay in the area. At this point I won't be surprised by anything. 

♡/ Hermana Shelton 

F O T O S : 

1 - Sergio and his kinda referral of the day

2 - cádiz for the first time.

3 - i actually made it to spain with a tag :)

4 - view from the vacant piso in Madrid♡

5 - funny cause we're going this week

6 - the first course of many to come

7 - lunch w/ Juanita♡

8 - tortilla de patata !!!

9 - el domingo ♡♡♡

10 - lunch con abuelo!

11- we love a language barrier :))

accidentally toured a castle

Well hello again, 

Another week, another email. It was a pretty good week. I don't ever understand what's going on here, but that's okay. :) After week one I am no longer just confused about the language, but the whole ordeal. Things run a little differently here, and I am in confusion.

We had a tough time meeting with our amigos this week, but we had such an amazing member lesson with Nadia. I think they told me she's a less active member, but as usual, we can't be sure if I heard correctly. :) She's so sweet, we talked about The Atonement and read Isaiah 53:3-5 with her. She teared up during it and told us she'd run to church this week!♡ We also had a ton of other member lessons, but I didn't understand much of them. :) whoops.

We had to go up to Madrid for my residency, which we have to do again this week, apparently it's quite the process. :) We rode a snazzy train, and a lady came through with a cart and I felt like I was going to Hogwarts!

Both of my comps are from Honduras so they made me baleadas! They were super good and I was so crazy impressed by how quickly Hermana Reyes whipped up tortillas from scratch. They made me help and mash up the beans, so yay!

This week we visited two older members who didn't have teeth. I did not understand a single syllable of what they said to me. They could have been speaking German and it wouldn't have made a difference. Spanish with no teeth is no joke - it turns out.

We went on exchanges with the Sisters in Jerez. During which we accidentally toured a castle, so that was epic. Hermana Flaunders - the only other American - and I just followed as Hermana Guerrero managed to get us into an ancient castle for free. It was so cool, the old world is kind of cool!!

During exchanges Hermana March (she's a greenie, and name is pronounced "Mark") and I ended up sharing a message with a "futuro" (yellow dot for those of you familiar with area book, an almost investigator for those of you not). March and I were a bit nervous because she's a baby and I can't speak Spanish. But it went well, the lady held the phone so that her hand covered her face the whole time, so that was funny. We were both trying not to laugh the whole time. 

 Fun fact: the green plus sign outside of a building in Spain is a pharmacy. In Oregon it's a weed dispensary, so I was shocked by how many there were at first. Then I realized it meant something different here. Hehehe.

 

Food that Spaniards are simps for:

☆brownies: at least 10 people have asked me if I can make them? Yet they're nowhere to be found?

☆Burger King? I have no explanation to give you. (Kind of making me miss Campbell though...:) )

☆hot dogs. The worst news yet, due to my undying hatred for this food.

☆Tuna 

☆chocolate, but it's weaker than in the US

That's all I can think to report, we'll see what this week brings us!! Also I hit a year as a missionary this week. ILLEGAL.

Con amor,

Hermana Shelton 

F O T O S :

1 - member brunch appointment 

2 - me encanta ver el templo♡

3 - professional chefs

4 - THEE madrid elevator 

5 - toured an ancient castle lately?

6 - in said castle

7 - mis compañeras 

8 - train rides are tiring 

9 - ♡♡♡

10 - hma Reyes !!

I'M IN SPAIN?!?

¡hola, hola!

Wow!! Okay, big week I guess? :) Wild that a week ago I was bowling in Eugene. It has been quite the adventure since a taxi came and picked me up at 3 am. 

To start things off, I got there so early that security wasn't open. I had to stand in a line to wait for it. I also didn't think about it and left the pepper-spray BP gave me on my lanyard....so that was definitely a casualty of TSA. The lady at TSA really asked me if I wanted to go back and check my bag so I could keep it? What kind of scam is this lady running?

I flew all alone until I made it to JFK, where I found two other Hermanas. One who was in the MTC the same time as me, and one who's an infant in the mission. That was a pretty wack flight, at one point they asked for any doctors on the plane to come to the front of the plane. Some kind of medical emergency I guess? I just went back to sleep. 

No one was in the airport when we got through customs, for like 30 minutes. We got so desperate we tried to use a payphone, but they weren't functional anymore. Just for looks I guess. Eventually we saw two Elders walking towards us, turns out they were waiting for us outside the whole time, because until recently you weren't allowed to go into the airport (COVID things). They both spoke perfect English so that was a relief, both with accents though. One is from Sweden, and the other from England (so he literally speaks perfectly English). They're the office Elders here, and do the job of 8 senior missionaries in the OEM. Wildin.

After a few days of experiencing European driving I desire nothing less than to drive here. I've never witnessed anything like it. My heart sunk when they gave me a DAP scan (which is European TIWI, or the thingy they put in the car to roast you when you don't drive good enough). Luckily about 12 senior couples are coming in soon (wild choice for missionaries to bring first, but vale). So I think all the cars will be taken by them. Which is actually no bueno, because we're all covering a massive amount of area here (my DL-who's from Idaho- put it in my language by telling me that his area is bigger than Maryland, but smaller than West Virginia), but it'll be fine.

The office Elders immediately took us to the mission office. Which is crazy nice. It used to be the Spain MTC, but now it's our office (at least one floor of it). I also got to see the Madrid temple, and got a tour- only of the outside, don't get too excited- of it from the Temple Hermanas (who also cover 2 other areas). I didn't understand most the tour, but it was beautiful. I met a majority of the mission that day, but I can't remember most of their names now.

Definitely a very different vibe showing up to this mission. The other Hermanas and I were 7, 8, and 9 from America; so they were VERY excited to see us. They knew our names (poor President Weekes could never know that many) and Hermana Hamilton had obviously stalked my Facebook because she was asking me about Softball. :) They showed me the board of all the missionaries in the mission (see attached image, I legit can't believe it), my group and I make the mission 53!!! That's ridiculous, my last zone almost had that many. 

Anyway, they told us our areas after a bit, I'm in Cádiz (say it Cádith, like a true Spaniard, also it's on the ocean!!!), and am in a trío. One of my comps (Hermana Guerrero) speaks pretty good English and the other (Hermana Reyes) doesn't speak English at all, so it's a great mix. They are both from Barcelona, but their parents are from counties in South America (Hermana Guerrero, Guatemala, and Hermana Reyes, Honduras). Also they're STLs so I've sat through a ridiculous amount of meetings. Which is rough in another language, but it's all good. Also WE COVER 5 AREAS?!?! No biggy. It's not like I just came from 5 Sisters covering one area or anything. And yes, before you ask, I think we have 5 apartments; but I only have seen one so far. We also run three Facebook pages, and I have to go one like 4 sets of exchanges. There is only three zones here, so there are like four other sets of Sisters in our zone. It's so crazy, I'm really experiencing the exact opposite side of the spectrum of how COVID is affecting missions. Because the three of us came, President got to reopen on of the MANY closed areas. I can't wait to see what happens when the next plane full of over 20 visa waiters hits us. It's going to be insane. :)) Can't wait.

Anywho...I'm covering Cádiz (main area with the most amigos), San Fernando 1, San Fernando 2, Chiclana, and the Algeciras Branch. We really be out here carrying around 5 phones! It's absolutely ridiculous. Also we use WhatsApp like a religion here, which makes sense, because everywhere but America does.

At first I was supposed to take a train down South and meet my comps, but I guess they figured sending a girl who didn't know how to speak Spanish, who's carrying 3 suitcases by herself, to navigate a train station wasn't the best welcome. Instead the only senior couple we have (the Kings, they got here last month) volunteered to drive me down because they had never seen the south. We also took the other Sisters to their area up north, so I've seen a lot of Spain so far. The other Sisters got dropped of in Segovia (which the Princess Diaries totally got the name Genovia from). It was beautiful! And was built in a year ending in B.C. which made me freak out!! There's so much history in Spain, apparently Cádiz is a city from the Bible, President Hamilton told me which one, but I forgot. I also went to Córdoba with the Kings on the way down. It was beautiful, but I'm starting to think everything in Spain is beautiful. 

I've had my first experiences getting overfed by Latinos this week, and I was in pain. A sweet recent convert of one of our wards Luzelly (from Columbia) made us dinner and I was stuffed, but then yesterday we ate with a member of San Fernando 2 (idk his name, they just kept calling his "Abuelo"). Fed me so much I thought I was going to croak right there. It was all so good!! From what I understand (and it's not a lot) most of the members and amigos here are from Latin America or their parents are, like my comps. 

Sadly I don't have a lot of pictures this week. I've been a little too shell shocked to take photos, but I promise they'll come! 

Con Mucho Amor,

Hermana Shelton

1 - our five phones 

2 - stranded in the airport vibes

3 - my ENTIRE mission

4 - spain from above 

5 - comps on zoom

6 - comps in person 

7 - bowling, but in Spain this time. :))

Bienvenida Hermana Shelton!

We are so excited to have your daughter here in the mission! We have been praying for her arrival! She has a beautiful first area and I am excited for you to talk with her on Monday! It is one of my favorite cities and the first place President Hamilton served when he was on his mission 30 years ago! We had our office couple drive her down to meet her companions and help her settle in a little easier.

We love your daughter! She is clearly sent here to bless Spain and the mission!

We hope you enjoy these pictures!

Con amor,

Hermana Stephanie Hamilton