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