12/02;

Hey Family!

I can´t believe you guys did Black Friday first and then Thanksgiving. That like defeats the purpose! But whatever floats your boat. I´m glad you had a good holiday. You want to know what I did for Thanksgiving? Well let me tell you. Olsen and I decided to write 100 things we were thankful for for comp study. We did weekly planning. And for medio dia, we met with the elders at KFC. Every companionship bought their own bucket of chicken and then we headed back to the church with rolls, drinks and desserts and had our own little American Thanksgiving. Hahaha it was great. We all went around the table and said something we were thankful for. It was great. Other than that, it was just a normal day. Thanksgiving is not a thing here in Spain. Which is sad because food is great. But you know, we work with what we can.

This week was pretty good. I´m feeling better. The Elders gave me a blessing and hopefully this week I´ll be 100%. Haha but yeah same old good stuff going on. Finding new investigators and still just talking to tons of people on the street. Madrid is a good place. Olsen and I have a transfer goal of finding 25 Christmas Transfer miracles. 

Oh so last night we had a super good lesson with Roger and Maria. First off, they asked Elder Lloyd and Williams to come over so they could get some blessings of consuelo. And so they did that and then they had to go to a lesson of their own but it really just set the tone for the lesson. We went over the plan of salvation and the gospel and it was just a super good lesson. The Spirit was very fuerte and they had good questions. They are so ready. We are getting so excited for them. Ahh its going to be a good month. 

I hope you guys have a good week. I´ve got pictures for you! Be good. I love and miss you all like crazy! 

Hna Palomino

11/18;

Hey Family!

So yeah, I´m sorry about last week. I´m just bad with time and everything but I went to visit Rutillo and Lorena in Alcala! It was soo good. I was so happy to see them. I played with Jimena and had lunch with them and just talked forever. I feel bad it took me so long to go back and visit them but hopefully I can go see them on Christmas before we skype. The rumour is that christmas gets made pday and if thats true, I´m going to visit them and hopefully swing by Torrejon too. Transfers are this week so hopefully I stay here so I can do all that plus I´m finally getting attached to people here. But as you know, I´ve had tons of changes so far so now I just expect the unexpected. Whatever the Lord wants, I just go with His flow, ya know? Haha 

Shoot I have 2 weeks of stories to tell you. Let me see if I remember it all... OH we went to the temple last week. Finally saw the new temple movie. IT WAS SO COOL. And they let us watch it in English. That was pretty neat. Also Hna Olsen and I figured out we live like 10 mins away from the Madrid stadium but its outside of our area. We went and saw it from across the street the other day while we were contacting. We decided if we stay together next transfer, we´re going to a game. For sure! Oh did I tell you how awesome our recent convert David is? He´s bringing us references like candy. The other day he made us come to the church because he said he had to talk to us when we got there, he had a friend with him and he wanted us to give her a church tour and olsen and i just look at each other like... who are you and why are you so awesome! He got the priesthood last sunday and went down to the south to go baptize one of his friends that he shared the gospel with on Saturday. Seriously, he´s so awesome. He wants to share the gospel with his mom, thats what he´s building up to. He always asks us what scriptures he can share with her and slowly but surely is trying to work with her. OH. and i have to tell you what happened with Roger and Maria. So they´re the couple that needs to get married so they can be baptized and they´ve had missionaries come by for the last 2 years and we recently baptized their daughter Rosa, the one thats going to be a General Relief Society President someday... mark my words. Anyways, So we´ve been trying to get them on fecha because they have a date to get married but not baptism when we got here and that makes us nervous because it seemed like maybe se estaban enfriando. you know? So Hna Olsen and I planned this super fuerte lesson and watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration with them. And focused on how easily he could´ve just denied everything and moved on with his life but he didn´t... he acted. And so we talked about the importance of acting upon our faith and I invited them to act and set a baptismal date and they were so excited! It was a good lesson. They´re getting married the 16th and they want to get baptized that same day but we have a mission wide devtional thing we have to go to. So we put their fecha for the 20th and now we´re just hoping that the bishop lets us do it on a Friday because they have their ward christmas party that Saturday. But little details! They have a date and we´ll work it out. No pasa nada. 

One more funny story. We were having correlation this week at the ward mission leaders house. And i don´t know if I´ve told you but there´s 8 missionaries in B1. 3 companionships of elders and me and Hna Olsen. So we´re all gathered in this tiny room when someone knocks at the door and one of the elders answer it.... it was the testigos! They looked so scared. They just knocked on a door and found a room full of mormon missionaries. We just kind of looked at each other... it was really tense for a second. They left us a pamphlet and booked it out of there. Life of a mormon missionary. Its a fun time. Anyways. I hope this was a plentiful email to make up for last week. I´ll be better about emailing. I promise. I love you guys! I miss you a lot. I sent the family a letter for thanksgiving and one for grandma and grandpa. Hopefully you get it soon. Have a good week. 

Hna Palomino

11/4;

Hey Family! 

Well like I said last week we are trying to clean house over here in B1. Hna Olsen and I decided that street contacting is not really our strong suit so that we would try different ways of finding. For example, through the members! Because thats actually the way it should be, but no one seems to have gotten the memo over here. So this week we did try contacting but also visiting members to build that trust so they would trust with references and stuff and it´s slowly but surely working. We actually had a really good lesson with David about la obra misional and he´s just awesome. He´s basically been sharing the gospel while he was still just investigating. He´s all excited to share it with his friends and family. He even brought his aunt to church yesterday and we got her number and should be meeting with her some time this week. It was awesome! So we might not be contacting machines or anything over here but we are trying our best for references. 

Other cool things that happened this week. The best thing, I FOUND A PLACE THAT SELLS RANCH. The elders took us after district meeting so to celebrate we went and had pizza with our ranch. That was probably a bigger highlight of my week than it should be..........Oh a family invited us over for a comida on Halloween and it was awesome, they gave us candy :) On Friday we had a dia de las naciones. Basically just another party in which everyone brought food from their country and it was pretty cool. Hna Olsen actually made sloppy joes for the American table and I made banana bread. And then all the elders and us did a skit entitled ¨Querido Juan¨ which is basically exactly what you think it is. We did a musical number about a missionary that gets dear johned because our ward mission leader thought it would be hilarious. I´ll see if I can send you guys a video. Haha it was pretty funny. OH something awesome that happened. So my good friend Hna Seastrand is actually serving in Alcala right now. She was in a trio but then President made her train a visa waiter who is going to some Utah mission at the end of the transfer. So she´s basically building another area for the hermanas. And she was asking me what people I had taught when I was there that the other hermanas weren´t teaching anymore. So I gave her some names and last night she told me that they found the Dominican family that I loved that totally disappeared after my first transfer. They are back in Alcala and now the hermanas are teaching them again! Its so cool. They asked for me and Hna Wright so that was pretty cool. Also I´m emailing you right now from a little pueblo outside of Madrid called Aranjuez we decided to visit for Pday. Its super pretty here but super cold. I´ll send pictures! 

Mom, I forgot my coat size. I´ll send it next week with Rutillo and Lorena´s address. I´m giong to Alcala next pday to visit them. Dad, I´m so sorry the red sox won the world series. That makes me very sad. I´m so sorry about Hno Reyes but he´s in a better place now. What a blessing to know about the plan of salvation and know that he can be with his family again. Just one of the reasons this gospel is so great. But still I will keep them in my prayers. 

Well its getting colder and this little missionary is about to hit her 8 months. So crazy. I miss you guys a lot but I´m loving my time here. Really. I´m so lucky to be doing what I´m doing. The blessings are all over the place :) I love sharing the gospel with anyone that will listen. Its changing my life. I hope everyone has a good week. 

Hna Palomino

10/28;

Hey family! 

So Rosa got baptized this week. Yes, the super smart 8 year old that I´m sure will grow up to be a general relief society president or something haha no... but really. She´s wonderful. The district leader that interviewed her said that she was more prepared than most of the adults he´s had to interview. I believe it. Haha our goal this week is to get the parents on fecha. So we´re praying super hard for this one. 

Honestly this week has been a blur other than that. Hna Olsen and I have both been sick all week. We´re feeling a lot better now but yeah we´ve been super sick. Change of weather and all that I´m guessing. But its all good, we decided this week to just clean house with the area. Pretty much all of the investigators that the other hermanas left have disappeared on us. So we´re going to start fresh and hopefully get some fresh blood in here. I mean... new people to teach. Haha sorry that just sounded bad but yeah! We´re going to work on some hardcore finding. 

Well sorry to keep it short and sweet. There´s just not a whole lot to report on thisend. Sorry! I´ll be not sick this week and write a more quality email this next week. Be good and i love you guys! 

Hna Palomino 

10/21;

Hey Family,

So this week has been... crazy to say the least. White washing an area is super hard. Even harder when we can´t reaad the handwriting on the teaching records to see where everyone is at. Not to make a dorky sister missionary joke--- but i legit need a urim and thumim for this area book. (laugh) anyways but its been good. My new companion is an angel. And we haven´t met a ton of the ward members but the ones we have are awesome. Theres definitely a lot of work to be done.

We had a baptism yesterday and one on Saturday. Yesterday this really awesome guy from Ecuador David got baptized. Super ready, we really only had a pre interview with him and then just the day of his interview but he´s great and we´re excited to keep teaching him as a recent convert. Funny story, so I´ve never had to fill up a baptismal font before. Because we´ve always had super awesome ward mission leaders that do it for us but here in B1 we have to fill up the font. So we thought well since the B5 elders that we share a capilla with have a baptism on Saturday... might as well leave it filled for us right. No, bad idea. The water was super cold the next day. We left the hot water on an hour before the baptism and me and Hna Olsen were using little cups of hot water to mix it in with the cold water. I almost fell into the font like twice. NO big deal.

Our baptism on Saturday is going to be an 8 year old girl named Rosa, whose parents have been investigating for like 2 years but haven´t been able to get baptized because they´re not married yet. But this girl... oh my gosh. I feel like she should be teaching me. We go in there and we were told we had to go over everything from the start and just make it real simple. My comp is all nervous because she´s never taught children and I´m like Olsen, i was a primary teacher.. no pasa nada. Holy, no. I have never had an 8 year old argue deep doctrine with me. I was trying to explain the apostasy and she cuts me off by saying that not all the apostles were killed... what about Juan the Amado and I think i literally said what are you. Hahaha So yeah, that was this week in a nutshell.

Well thanks for all the good news, the good vibes and the love. I miss and miss you guys all the days of my life. HOping to make you proud. Remember to be good and read your scriptures and all that jazz. Have a good semana :)

Hna Palomino

10/14;

Hey Family!

So its the first day of Transfer 6 for this little missionary. Aaaaaaaaand I´m in Barrio 1 back in Madrid again! My new companion´s name is Hna Olsen. I´ve hung out with this hermana a couple times on pdays before, I really like her and I´m really excited to work with her. I´m like dead on the inside from having to leave Torrejon...... but hey its what the Lord wanted. They white washed our area. Hna Bellota is going to Guadalajara with Hna Soto. (Who is on her last transfer!!!!! Crazy!). There´s just been a lot of movement this transfer. Olsen and I are whitewashing B1. The companionship that was here got sent up to open Vallodolid in the north. And they left us a ton of work. We have 2 baptisms this week! And 2 more on fecha. So things are about to get all sorts of crazy. We´re emailng super quick and then I have to go back to the Alcala piso and have a nice little meeting with the Hermana thats coming down from the north to whitewash Torrejon. I have to make sure I´m leaving my favorite place in good hands you know? And run like crazy back here and sort out all the stuff we have to do. Crazy crazy but hey, thats mission life. 

This week was kind of a blur. We had an activity at the church for Dia De La Hispanidad. And it was awesome. Colombia was not represented though which bummed me out because I miss Colombian food but I´m good on the Ecuadorian food hahaha also everyone was expecting Elder Weixler and I to cook something American but we dodged out of it... oops. But it was a good time, we had an investigator come and enjoy himself so it was a very good night. Oh! On Saturday night we went to my favorite member´s Jhonny and Alba´s to wait for transfers and Hna Bellota guided me in cooking the meal. Yes I made chicken! Hahaha I was so proud of myself! We made some kind of rice called... cholafan.... i am definitely not spelling that right. but it was good! On Sunday we had to say goodbye to all the members, they made us go up and bear our testimonies and I thanked the ward for being so good. Honestly, Torrejon is the best ward in Spain. No offense to any of the other places but my heart will always be in Torrejon. And a little in Alcala. I´m just a little in love with all of the areas I´ve left behind. Heres to number 4! I was very sad to leave, but I was good about not crying until I was in my bed and under my covers. Haha I´m just really going to miss Torrejon. Mom, if you come pick me up I am definitely taking you to Torrejon. Well everywhere but definitely Torrejon. 

I hope I can make you proud Mom and Dad. Thanks for always writing me good things and being so good to me. I miss you guys a lot. I love you guys! I´m sending Amelia a lot of pictures ok so be ready for that :) have a good week. 

Hna Palomino

10/7;

Hey Family!

Yeah, wasn´t conference the best? Definitely everything this little missionary needed to hear thats for sure. Elder Ballard talked about me. Not specifically because I mean he probably didn´t want to make anyone feel bad but I was part of those missionaries he met. So he was totally talking about me. Its fine. hahaha 

So this week I learned a really hard lesson in doing your best even when things suck. Let me explain. I guess I should explain that things in Torrejon although they are good, could be better. The people we teach are awesome, we just can´t meet with them a lot due to work and all that stuff that people have going on. But we meet with them whenever they give us a window. We have a lot of potential here. The people we teach are really good, I just wish they would come to church and progress you know? This week I had to do another intercambio with the sister trainer leader and I was just super stressed because I wanted her to see how hard we work and EVERYTHING failed. Back up plans. Everything. And then conference rolls around and we had about 7 people that had promised they would do everything they could to go to a session and EVERYONE failed us last minute. I was having a break down during the last session on Sunday. I was sitting there trying so hard not to just break down into tears and then we heard the prophet speak. And one of those little conference miracles, where it just touches you. And I just got a nice feeling come over me. I know that I am trying my hardest, maybe I do need to think outside the box and find ways to help these people progress but I am doing what I´m supposed to be doing. Maybe my numbers don´t reflect that but I am working hard. I look at the picture I have of Christ in the piso when I come home every night and I can look at it and know that I´m doing everything He expects of me. There is always room for improvement but I have to stop beating myself up and letting it get me discouraged. I have to move forward and continue and perseverar hasta el fin. 

Things with my companion are hard but I know that with the help of the Lord i can accomplish anything. There is only one week left of the tranfer and if its in his will to change us, then he will. If not, then I will hold my head up high and do what I must and keep working hard. I love you Mom and Dad. Thank you for your words of comfort. I did hear Marcelo translate but one of the members set up Elder Holland and Elder Ballard´s talks in English for me and Elder Weixler in the other room so we could hear it because they were our favorites. We both cried together. Haha But I heard him in the other sessions. I´m glad you guys got to go to the conference center. Thats super cool. I miss you guys. I hope you have a good week, ok? I love you! 

Hna Palomino

09/30;

Hey family!

Well this week has been realllllllllly slow. LIke time wise. I feel like its been soooo long. But it was a good week. Its raining today which is lovely. I am so sick of the nice weather. Madrid is prettier when its overcast. But the week was good! We´ve been hunting down less actives. Alot. which is kind of fun. We met a lady that got baptized like years ago and then nicely decided to tell us that she had gone back to being catholic. it was a little awkward. I guess I haven´t hearrd of very many people going back and forth like that but hey whatever makes her happy right? I think less actives are scarier to teach than investigators because there´s a reason they´re less active, you know? and its either something dumb or something super fuerte. Never a tender middle. 

We found some new people to teach, got to go to the temple, had a noche de hogar in the capilla with the ward which was fun. One of our investigators brought a friend and we got to do a little church tour with them after which was really cool. I´m really excited for conference because its just a little cool to testify about living prophets and then invite people to our special conference where they can hear them for themselves. Really excited. 

Well I hope everyone has a good week. I´ll send pictures. Sorry I didn´t have time to do it last week but I have a couple for you. i love and miss you guys a lot! que tengan una buena semana :) Hna Palomino 

9/23;

Hey family.

Its been quite the week. It feels like it went by super fast yet super slow. We had David´s baptism on Saturday which was by far the highlight of the week. It was really special, I´m not really sure how to describe it. It was just a really good baptism. The talks were all really good, a lot of the ward members came. Watching his dad baptize him was just so sweet. The night before we were at their house trying on the clothes and just getting last minute details together and his dad asked us if we knew the baptismal prayer and Hna Bellota and I just look at each other.... umm no... we had to pull out the little white bible where they have priesthood ordiances in the back and we practiced the baptism in the living room. Hahaha it reminded me of when I was going to get baptised and Will would whip out D&C 20 and pretend to baptise me in the basement. I doubt he even remembers that but I do hahaha But anyways, it was really good. His parents got up and bore their testimonies and then he did too.. and there was not a dry eye in the chapel. I´m sorry I have a hard time describing moments like that but just trust me when I say it was really special. 

Sorry but this week is going to be kind of a short one. But just know that I really really love what I´m doing. And Torrejon is such a good ward. I love this area and the people here are great. If I have to leave soon its going to break my heart, probably more than leaving Alcala did to be honest. I love being a missionary and serving the Lord. I know this church is true. And the Book of Mormon is the word of God. Should I ever forget or deny that, someone punch me in the face and remind me, vale? I love you guys and I miss you more than I can say but its ok, its only a little bit and plus you guys keep me going every week. :) Thank you so much for everything. All the love and the support and the happy thoughts you send me my way. I appreciate it. Be good :) 

Hna Palomino 

9/16;

Hey Family!

Well, I´ve had quite the week. Let´s see, I met Elder Ballard, David passed his baptismal interview, my comp taught me how to make Peruvian food at Johnny and Alba´s, stake conference, and I just got back from Toledo again. Nothing special. 

Oh yeah, I met Elder Ballard as in, the apostle. yeah that happened. We got a text from the zone leaders on Thursday that totally last minute he was going to be at the stake center in Madrid on Saturday to meet with all the missionaries in the 3 zones of Madrid and the ones in the MTC. So obviously everyone books it there. It was so aweesome. He shook hands with everyone! And gave a rocking talk. I think my whole mission has changed, it was definitely a big moment. My favorite thing he said was sometimes he feels discouraged. He said I´m almost 85 and I´m still running around and I´m tired and I think why do I do this, I do it because I understand Getsamane. That really just blew me away. He told us to contemplate the attonement when we get discouraged. Because no matter what the Lord asks us to do its nothing compared to what the Savior of the world had to do for us. That really touched me. Its true I get discouraged justl ike all we do at times but really as a missionary, I don´t have the time for it. I only have a year left to show the Lord how much I love Him and what He has done for me. Thats not a long time at all when I contemplate the blessings I have. I´m taking that to heart. i have no time to be discouraged. Its the time to act and to change and to do better everyday. The Lord is telling us to hurry it up and pick up the pace in regards to His work. Are we willing to work hard and serve, step up to the challenge or sit on the sidelines? I think a lot about 3 Nephi 19:25 when the nephites are praying to the Savior and it says He smiles upon them. Thats what I want to see at the end of my time here on Earth. I want my Savior´s smiling face to welcome me to the heavenly home. So right now, I have to give Him plenty of reasons to smile. Just a thought. 

Hna Palomino

9/9;

Hey family :)

So my new companion´s name is Hermana Bellota. She´s from Peru but she´s lived in Spain for the last 9 years. She´s from Richard and Peggy´s ward from the estaca de Valencia. Crazy small world right? She said she´s heard about me before from them so that was crazy. Yeah, training is definitely a little harder than being the jr comp but its all good. We work through it like always. 

Its been a little slow still this week because my comp is super shy and doesn´t like contacting. I´m basically teaching lessons by myself. Which is scary but its only her first week, she´ll get it. We had this cool experience with an investigator, Rafael, that was gone the whole month of August on vacation and we saw him for the first time since he left this week. We watched the Restoration DVD and he loved it. So after I´m bearing my testimony about the book of mormon and the Spirit was just really awesome and after I´m done, he just looks at me and says I want to feel the same way you do about this book and I said, you can! And he starts talking about how he´s been having a super hard time and he feels so lost and I felt prompted to share Alma 7:11-12 with him. He read it over twice and got real quiet and I said how Christ understands everything we go through and was bearing testimony about that. And he just says, Palomino you really understand me. It was a pretty cool moment. I´m really excited to be teaching him. I´ll have to let you know how that goes. David is doing good! We pushed his baptism one more week though because his dad wants to be the one to baptize and confirm him and he´s supposed to be getting the Melquisdec priesthood next week. But he´s progressing really good I love that family. Last night we also had a random family home evening with some of the recent converts of the members. We watched 17 miracles with them and had a little testimony meeting after. IT WAS SUPER EMOTIONAL. We were all crying. But it was really good. Just a good week this week :)

But yeah 6 months now. Its so crazy. I´m just really happy to be here. I feel like I´ve learned so much and my heart is just changed. I can´t even describe it. I wouldn´t change the last 6 months for anything. I love serving the Lord. I love and miss everyone back home but I´m good. I´m happy. :) Thanks for being so good to me and for all the love. 

Hna Palomino

9/2;

Hey Family! 

Well this week marks the start of a new transfer. Transfer 5 for this little missionary :) hitting month 6 this week. I´ll be staying in Torrejon, Hna Vouemba is going to Barrio 9 in Madrid and.... I´ll be training a new missionary. I meet my companion tomorrow at 2 at the stake center in Pavones. So yeah, I´m going to train.... thats a little crazy. I feel like I just got done with my own training. I´m basically a baby missionary but I guess its time to step it up. I´m really excited though. I LOVE Torrejon. The ward is incredible. The work has been rough this transfer but thats just because the month of August is the worst but September is here and I´m ready to get moving again. We have David´s baptism planned for the 14th and hoping to get some more in the plan. 

Well this week was a good one in terms of lessons with the part member families. There´s one lady in particular that Hna Vouemba has been working really hard with to get active again, Carmen and she has been steadily coming to church for about a month now. When we visit her, her son Nefi listens to us. Nefi is 24 years old and was never baptized, he listens to the spiritual thought we leave her and comes to our English classes so now we are working on seeing if he will listen to the lessons. I mean really, someone named Nefi and not baptized? That is just not ok. Hahaha There´s another part member family, Jahira and Miguel. Jahira has been a member her whole life basically and Miguel married her knowing she was a member and he respected it. Well now he has finally been listening to the missionaries again and was going to church but all of a sudden got lazy and stopped coming. Its been hurting Jahira a lot. He could get baptized really any day he wants, he just needs to stop being lazy about it. So thats the challenge right now. I´m hoping to see some miracles here. These are really good people and I know their time will come and the Lord will make it happen. And David is doing so good and really progressing like a dream. He´s getting baptized the 14th and is super excited about it. 

Lets see, random things I wanted to tell you. Oh I picked up my residency card this week and it broke my heart a little. I´m an official resident of Spain now but this heart is American like an eagle. Hahahaha oh I think I´m funny. ok. I had to give a talk in district meeting and referenced the scene in Lion King when Simba sees Mufasa and he´s all Remember who you are. It was golden. Also I don´t know if I´ve said this or not before but I´m super good about eating anything the members give me. This week I tried gaspacho and it was disgusting. Also octopus. It was alright but the texture was super weird. I´m basically a champ when it comes to eating. 

Well I´m just super nervous to train. I hope I can be a good little trainer like Hna Wright and Judy were for me. I´ll just be obedient and try my best. :) I love you guys and hope everything is going super swell on the other side. Talk to you next week :)

Hna Palomino

8/26;

Hey Family! 

This week was... not the greatest but thats ok. It just leaves more for improvement for next week right? I´m ready for the month of August to be over and for people to come back from vacation. The streets are EMPTY. There is not a soul out until about 9pm when its not as hot. Its the worst. And everyone this week decided to fail us. It was a really slow week. Pero no pasa nada. Better days are coming. This is the last week of the transfer, so we´ll just have to see how things play. Hna Vouemba is on her 5th transfer here in Torrejon so we´ll see, we´ll see. 

So I think I´ve told you about David, the 13 year old boy we´re teaching, who´s family was less active and they´re on their way back and trying to prepare for the temple and everything? They said this week that the mom and one of the boys is moving to Ecuador next month because she got a sweet job there. I feel so bummed! I love them. And once the mom leaves, we probably can´t go visit because they live out in Coslada and there´s not a ton of members out there that would be willing to go with us. But its fine, David is getting baptised on the 15th before his mom leaves. And then the rest of the family is moving at the end of the year and hopefully things keep going well and they get sealed down in Ecuador. I love them though. They made us dinner this week. Chicken ceviche. I hope i spelled that right. IT WAS SO GOOD. I mean I eat regular ceviche now because I pretend I like seafood but really I´m just dying on the inside but with chicken it was super good. 

Dad, thanks for the jokes and always the good updates. Mom, I did get grandma´s package. Like 2 weeks ago. 2 bottles of ranch, I cried a little. Hahaha I did not cook for those members yet. I´m too scared to. I´m going to avoid it for as long as I can. They love me, I can´t ruin that with my horrible cooking skills! Haha I´m glad you guys had a good week. Sorry that summer is over and back to real life now. But on the upside, by this time next year I´ll be home bugging you again. :) I love you guys! I hope you have a super good week. Hopefully I´ll have good news for you next week. Be good!

Hna Palomino

Happy Happy Pictures. :)

8/19;

Hey family!

You guys sound like you´re all having a good week. Haha I wish I was on vacation.... oh well. Just a year left no pasa nada. Haha Carolina sent me pictures of the kids. I miss them. They´re getting so big... no me gusta para nada. They´re supposed to stay little and cute and stuff. I mean look at Junior. He was cute and little and now look at him. Just kidding. :) 

So Andres got baptized on Saturday! It was awesome. President and Hna Jackson even showed up. So naturally, everything went wrong at first haha they started a half hour late. The first speaker was one of the Young Men that Andres picked and of course he shows up in jeans and the bishop got mad and didn´t let him talk so the bishop improvised a discurso. I was sweating bullets the whole time but it was all ok once he was in the water. One of the counselors of the Young Men baptized him and it was just so awesome. Seriously there is nothing like seeing someone that you have taught and grown to love enter the waters of baptism. Its really the best feeling in the world. And after he got up and bore his testimony and I just about cried. He´s a good little guy. He´ll be a missionary someday. No big deal. 

Mike and Carlos got baptized in Alcala yesterday but Hna Vouemba thought it was a waste of time to go all the way out there just to go back and then have to go back home to Alcala and by the time I had finally convinced her, it was too late to get an investigator that wanted to go out there with us. But its all good. Hna Judy gave me a whole play by play that night when I got home and showed me all the pictures. I´m just happy they´re both finally baptized :) 

Other than that, its been a slow week. Its sooooooooooooooooooooo hot. Its insane. Today we went and had a nice little Madrid adventure and I thought I was going to die. I live off ice cream. The other day I was feeling sad over something dumb so naturally I bought myself some chocolate. I was outside for 2 MINUTES AND IT HAD ALREADY MELTED. Thats life. Dad, I got myself a Real Madrid Jersey today. Its sweeeeet. I think I´m gonna start looking to see when the games are so I can go next transfer. Well I have to decide if I want to go to a Madrid game or a bull fight. Because President only lets us do one or the other once in the mission. What are your thoughts? 

And mom of course the provo mission is using facebook already.... pssh they said we wouldn´t get to use it until the end of the year. Oh well. Did I tell you Elder Ballard is coming next month? They´re having a special stake conference and I think they´re making a stake in the Canary Islands. So everyone is super excited about that. 

Well I hope you guys keep having an awesome week and Mom have fun with the Silva´s. Dad, remember you only have to clean the day before she comes home. So enjoy it. Hahahaha just kidding. I love you guys. I miss you a lot! thanks for all the good thoughts and all the love. And MOM THANKS FOR THE RECIPE. I´ll have to see if I actually do it or not. Hahaha 

Hna Palomino

8/12;

Hey Family! 

So good news first. Andres is getting baptized next Saturday. He had a super fuerte experience in EFY and he´s stoked and ready to go! This kid is just super prepared and awesome. I´m really excited for him. He invited some of his friends to church yesterday to warm them up to the idea of coming to his baptism. He´s already being a little missionary. Its awesome. Things are awesome.

We´re on the search for new investigators though! Because a lot of people have disappeared since I got here and plus its super hot and we need more lessons! Haha We met some pretty cool people though. Torrejon has a lot of potential. DId you know the first ward in Spain was Torrejon? Just a little bit of SPain Church History para que sepa. Anyways, I got to teach a Nigerian in English by myself yesterday since my comp doesn´t speak any English. A little scary, a little fun. The thing with most Nigerians though is that they love to talk to us to hear the word of God but the second we talk about the Book of Mormon, they get all defensive. Becuase the Bible is the only word of God. Blah blah blah. Its like, dude just chill and pray about it. Seriously its so easy pero no pasa nada. Some of them actually are super nice and open to learning more about the Book of Mormon. You just have to get lucky and find those. Haha speaking of which. Mike in Alcala is getting baptized on Sunday and so is Carlos! He came back like 2 or 3 weeks ago and they´re both getting baptized this week. I might be able to go as long as I get an investigator to come with. So cross your fingers! 

Anyways, yeah working hard as always. OH. There´s these members here that always make missionaries cook for them. LIke they buy all the ingridents and everything and we do it at their house we just have to be the ones to make it. So it was my turn and since I can´t legit cook anything I made banana bread. and they said it was good and all but I owe them a real meal....... so MOM HELP. Send me a recipe of something! I need to win their love with food! Haha well i miss and love you guys as always. 5 months down and a few more to go. It´ll go by quick and then you´ll wish I was gone longer. hahaha mom next time you miss me, just remember how I never cleaned my room or did dishes and slept in all the time. hahaha that should help you not miss me too much :) I hope you guys have a good week. Have fun with Will and the family this week :) 

Hna Palomino

7/29;

Hey Family!

I never email anyone back. I hate emailing. Haha I´m sorry but its the truth. Its just really stressful so if anyone says to you, I emailed Hna Palomino and she didn´t email back... just apologize for me. Plus I´m on the Lord´s time. When Paul was a missionary, no one emailed him. I´m not sure what that has to do with anything but I´m trying to make a point. Haha just tell people not to get offended if I take a million years to email. You´re my main priority when it comes to email and everyone else just kind of comes second. I should also apologize for not taking pictures. I never have my camera with me but I promise I´ll try to take more pictures. I´m just busy bringing souls to Christ, OK! :) 

Ok since I´m sure you´re super concerned about the accident, it was no where near me. The train was headed to Galicia which is the North of Spain. Still the Madrid mission but I consider it like the exile of the Madrid mission because when you get sent to the north, you go for a freaking long time and you never get to see anyone. Whereas in Madrid you can still see people from time to time. I have harsh feelings towards the North, I´d rather get sent to the Canaries... but anyways. Haha this new elder was getting sent to an area called El Ferrol or something like that and was invovled in the accident. He´s out of the hospital though and I believe he´s in the MTC in Madrid while he recovers and all that. Super crazy. The whole mission was praying him. Poor little guy. 

So Torrejon is awesome. Its a lot like Alcala just... a lot bigger. Haha I love it though. The ward is so great! I love my companion, Hna Vouemba. She´s great and a super good missionary, I´m learning a lot from her. She´s really hard on herself sometimes and it bums me out because she doesn´t see how great she is. But everyone struggles with that I think. I´m just trying my best to be a nice and little helpful companion. Oh, Mom what part of Guayquil are you from? There´s a ton of people in the ward from Guayquil and they keep asking and I have no idea... oops. The work is kind of slow right now because well... Spain is weird. The whole country takes like July and August off for vacation. Granted it makes sense because its hotter than sin out here and there´s no beach in Madrid but still. We´re trying our best but I´d be lying if I said I wasn´t praying for cold weather for more than a few reasons. Haha but other than that, things are great. How are you guys? How was Pioneer day? I really missed you guys on Pioneer day. Not that we ever did anything super special but I was just missing Utah and home. Normal stuff. Well I love you guys and hope everything is going super good! Be good and all that jazz, tell everyone that I love them. 

Hna Palomino 

Picture Monday.

Just a few photos to start off our Monday! :)

My two "madres".

Lorena, Rutillo and Ximena.

With all their missionaries. 

The best day ever. :)

A family from barrio 4. They were so good to us.

7/22;

Hey family!

So I have a lot of good news. First off, I got transfered... again. Now I´m going to be serving in Torrejon! My new companion is Hna Vouemba and I love her. The Alcala Hnas and Torrejon hnas share a piso so I have lived with her before so that means.. I´m back in my old apartment. Funny right? She´s been in Torrejon for like 4 transfers now and she´s awesome. I´m really excited. Hna Soto is staying in Barrio 4 and is going to train a new missionary. She is really happy, she really really really wanted to train. 

More good news, yesterday after church and saying goodbye to the members of barrio 4 I got a phone call from Hna Judy, she told me I had 2 hours to figure things out and find an investigator because I had to go to Alcala for Lorena´s baptism! I had it figured out in like 2 seconds, no one had to tell me twice. Haha it was the happiest day of my mission.. so far. I can´t even describe how happy I was to be there. The first people I taught as a missionary, my little family that I left in Alcala, she was finally getting baptized! I got to see Mike there and also Jose! Hna Wright was even there! It was so perfect Rutillo gave an amazing talk followed by Hna Wright, which by the way, it was her last day as a missionary. A pretty awesome one if you ask me. She gave a great talk, the Spirit was just so strong during the whole baptismal service. And then Rutillo, having just received the Melquisdec priesthood, baptized his wife. It was the perfect moment. Lorena stood up and bore her testimony after. And the last hymn Para Siempre Dios Este Con Vos, I had to sing it with Hna Wright right next to me and it was a little awful but a little perfect. I´m going to miss her alot. When I was saying goodbye to the members in Barrio 4, one of them was shocked that I had only been out here for 4 months, she said you must have had a really good trainer. And I just smiled and said, you have no idea. Hna Wright was the best and I´m just so happy that yesterday we got to see people we had taught together get baptized. It was a really beautiful day. This stupid email does not do it justice. I´m sorry. Haha

But I love this gospel and I love being a missionary. I love seeing how the gospel of Jesus Christ blesses families and changes lives. I´m seeing it and its changing my life. There is nothing that I would rather be doing right now. This is the work of salvation, it truly is. I´m so blessed to have had this gospel and enjoyed its blessings my whole life and for that reason, I have to share it with anyone that will hear me. The Lord loves each of His children and He is aware of every little thing that we are going through. We just have to reach out to Him in prayer and He will bless us. I´m seeing it. I love you guys. Thank you for all the love, support, prayers, everything. 

Hna Palomino

7/15;

Hey Family!

Mike and Lorena did not get baptized this week. I didn´t ask questions. I´m not the missionary in that area anymore so we´ll just have to pray and see. I had something cool this week happen though. Last week Hna soto and I had contacted a guy on the street and he was super nice and invited us over to meet with him and his wife. Turns out this young couple from Peru, Edson and Diana have family in a town called Azuqueca that are members and they were meeting with the elders there. They had a baptismal date and everything but the elders were very fuerte with them and pushed the baptismal date on them. So they backed down and when they moved to our area of Madrid, they lost contact with the missionaries and we found them on the street! They are super nice and really awesome. Diana came to a relief society activity with us on Friday and she´s already friends with all the sisters in the ward. Its so great! The members did a really good job on hermanamiento! There´s a lot of potential there, they just need love and patience and thats why they have sister missionaires now! So yeah, it was awesome. 

We also got to go to the temple this week. Which I know I say every time but I LOVE that I have a temple in my mission and that we get to go every transfer. Its really such a blessing. I can´t stress enough how much temple attendance should be a priority for people. There´s nothing that can compare. We always seem to go to the temple when I need some peace and I can always find it there. 

Mom, good luck with your new iphone :) hahaha and primary. I´m so jealous that you have my old kids! And dad, I hope you´re loving your new phone. junior sent me what superman was about and it sounds like it was pretty good. Just have the blu ray waiting for me next year so we can watch it :) I love you guys. thanks for all the love and support. I really couldn´t do this without you. So thanks for being so awesome. Have a super good week. 

Hna Palomino 

7/8;

Hey Family!

I have good news from my last area Alcala! Lorena is getting baptized this Saturday and so is Mike! Hna Judy let me know this week. And I totally get to go and see my favorite people from Alcala get baptized! I´m so excited! Lorena herself called me on Tuesday night to let me know so I could get permission to go. And since its still in my zone I can totally go back! I´m super happy! Hna Wright got permission from President Jackson to go with us too! So my first comp from Alcala will go down with me to see 2 people that we taught together get baptized. Its super neat and it´ll be nice to go before she goes back to the states. This is her last transfer so she´ll be going home in 2 weeks. 

Other than that, things have been pretty normal. We got to teach some more lessons, meet some cool new people. We had zone conference on Thursday and since it was the 4th of July we sang the Star Spangled Banner. It was about the most american thing I did all day. Haha but it was a super good conference. They talked a lot about how the Lord is hastening His work and it would only make sense that he is calling a lot of missionaries because people are being prepared to receive them. And if we act in faith, He will be an active companion in our efforts. It gave me a lot to think about. it was good. 

I was feeling sick this week though so thats why things were slow. My stomach is not handling eating with members everyday well. I basically take Tums like 3 times a day. But its ok I will just have to get used to it. Don´t freak out or anything. I´m a big girl missionary and its just a tummy ache. Haha I´m just going to have to eat more fruit. Its just hard since I don´t have a nice mom that has all the fruit I need and I hate grocery shopping here because its so different. The only fruits I ever eat are bananas but now Hna Soto is going to force me to have more of a variety. Hahaha its good. 

Well I´m glad you guys had fun during your 4th of July. Thanks for the pictures. You all look so great! I love you! 

Happy Birthday tomorrow Mom! I hope you got my letter in time! 

Hna Palomino

7/1;

Hey Family :)

Mom, stop making me cry. Thank you for the uplifting words. Definitely needed them :) Dad, you too. You guys are great. I did get the shoes from Grandma, THEY ARE THE BEST. Sandals. I needed them. ITS SO HOT HERE. And we don´t have AC in our piso or the church... but lets not dwell on that. Tell her thanks! Oh I got an email from Grandpa FINALLY! I answered right back. Hopefully he gets it. Dad, there is no guy from Mozambique I have no idea what you´re talking about... Haha sorry! 

This week was AWESOME! We had a zone meeting and it was like a huge answer to my prayers. We talked a lot about how we have to work in faith in order to see miracles in the work. And how love needs to be the motivator. I loved it. After zone meeting, I had to do an intercambio with Hna Judy since she´s the sister trainer leader for our zone. So I got to go to Alcala and be her companion again. Only for a day though but it was great. The Lord blessed me because I did not see anyone I used to teach and it wasn´t hard to leave again. I had forgotten how much I loved teaching with Hna Judy, she´s a spiritual powerhouse and we always taught with awesome unity. I came back super motivated and Hna soto was super pumped too and not even kidding, we saw miracles all week. In 2 days we got 5 new investigators it was awesome! Finally! People to teach! We even had our first investigator that attended sacrament meeting. Her name is Ajumi (I´m definitely spelling that wrong), she is 16 and from peru. She´s awesome and we teach her dad too. Hoping to get her mom to listen and then boom, a whole family to teach and baptize :) Its been a good week. 

I love being a missionary. Do I say that enough? Because I do love it. I love you guys. I sent Dad his letter last week hopefully he gets it. And then I was feeling super motivated and I wrote everyone in the family letters. Haha I just love you and miss you guys! How is packing and stuff going? I hope you guys have a super American 4th of July. THINK OF ME AND HOW MUCH I MISS AMERICA. Eat a burger for me :) I´ll just wear my American flag as a skirt all day and be like yeah, take that Spain! I love you guys. Be good, be safe, choose the right and all that jazz. 

Hna Palomino

New Pictures!

6/24;

Hey Family! 

Grandpa is sending me shoes? Tell him thanks so much for me because I just killed my favorite pair. The sole is almost clean off. Hahaha oops. Guess thats what hard work does. Haha Mom I´m meeting a ton of people here in the ward from Ecuador but not anyone from Guayaquil or however you spell it. Sorry! But yeah the ward is filled with Latins. I love it. 

This week has been filled with getting doors slammed in my face, people shooing me and running into crazy testigos. Its been a rough week I won´t lie. BUT. Everytime I start to get discouraged I just think to myself. Well, you wanted to be a missionary so here you go. Haha its been a really hard week. Hermana Soto and I are just working on trying to find people and its been hard but I know that if we just excerise a little more faith we can see big miracles here in Barrio 4. 

Plus its hard to get discouraged when I think of all the blessings I have. I mean for one, I have an awesome family. High five for you guys. You guys love me a whole bunch and thats awesome. Seriously its true what you say Mom, Satan doesn´t have a family and he is going to do everything in his power to destroy yours. You have to be strong. And I am so blessed to have a family that is super united. Seriously you guys are the most important thing to me and I´m sorry if I didn´t show it enough but you are. Mom thanks for nunca dejar que Satanas entre ni a la puerta. Haha your favorite saying. Satan.... I hate that guy. You know whats the best to punch him in the face? By loving each other and being good people and keeping the commandments. So simple. Punch that guy right in the face. 

I just got carried away with what I was saying.... thats ok. What I´m trying to say is that when things get rough, count your blessings and you realize, its not that bad. Thats what I´ve been learning. So stay positive back home and I´ll stay positive out here. Deal? Because like I said, this is what I wanted. I wanted to serve a mission because I know the truthfulness of this gospel and I can´t deny it. People don´t want to hear me? Their loss. Move forward and trust in the Lord. 

Thank you for your love, support and prayers. They mean the world to me. I love you all so much. Oh by the way I went to Segovia today, I´ll send pictures. It was super cool. :) be good. I love and miss you. :)

Hna Palomino

6/17;

Hey family! 

Well first off I am currently sitting next to Hna Manner, the sister that visa waited in Saratoga Springs. She is serving in Barrio 8 with my good friend Hna Seastrand so yeah she is here with me for pday. :) its nice to know someone that just came from my favorite place ever. haha So to answer the question you are wondering most about... Barrio 4 is definitely a lot different than Alcala. So the part of Madrid we cover is Hortaleza. At least thats the big part of it. We have the second biggest area in Madrid but theres only like 90 people or so in the ward. The ward is going through a transition phase. Im not entirely sure what everyone means by that. But they just got a new bishopric like 2 months ago and they are trying to change things in the ward for the better. Which is cool. But that also means that they expect a lot from us. The last sister misisonaries that here about a year and a half ago did not leave a good impression on the ward so all eyes are us now. Everyone has said that. But its ok. The ward is basically all latins so they love me. Mostly people from Ecuador. Thanks for that Mom, its helping me win hearts. hahaha The elders have helped us a lot to get started. They had the members invite us to all their food appointments. So now we get fed by members like everyday. Haha on Tuesday the elders took us to a food appointment, Elder Prentell who has been here for 3 months and his companion just came down from Vigo so Prentell was just leading us everywhere because the 3 of us were new to the area. So he said it was with a less active and to not be scared but that this guy had a few different ideas about the church. So we got there and we were super nervous and we meet the guy and he was quiet for a long time and finally he starts talking and starts telling us stories about when he served a mission in venezuela. about an hour later, he says alright tienen mas preguntas para su obispo? and we just all looked at each other. And Prentell busts up laughing. HE WAS THE BISHOP. And the bishop was like what did he tell you about me, did he say I was a less active member that was crazy? And we just started laughing. It was so funny. 

Also we met someone super cool. We were going through the old investigators in the old area book and found this lady Cecelia that we went to visit. She is 85 years old, totally Spanish and met elders 20 years ago. The last hermanas left her because she was not progressing but she says its hard for her to take the metro to church since its so far and shes old. But the cool part was that she said, she had been thinking about the missionaries the last couple of weeks but did not know how to contact them. Until we came knocking on the door. She said that she had been reading the Book of Mormon and she knows now that its true. Awesome! So we are going to keep meeting with her and see where it goes from there. I love her, she has a lot of cool stories. I am super excited. 

So yeah, I like Barrio 4. I had to buy a little book with maps with all the street names because I was sick of not knowing where to go. So now my goal this transfer is learn Madrid like the back of my hand. I already have the metro down. Madrid has nothing on this New York girl obviously. 

Mom is a primary teacher now? HAHAHAHAHAHA yes! Good. That will keep you nice and young :) well I am glad things are going well at home. Dad, I started writing you a letter for Fathers day but I havent sent it yet. So I am not a terrible daughter and forgot about you. I will send it this week. I love you guys! I hope you have a good week and good luck with the primary mom. Oh man that is just too good. hahahaha thank you I am going to be laughing all week.

Pictures, on pictures, on pictures.

We're thrilled that our Hermana sent us sooooo many pictures today. Picture Monday is the BEST! :)