2 Nephi 5:27

This week felt like a year. But that's how the first week of transfers always are. I'm still not in love with my new area, but it's growing on me. Something I really do like about Pavones though is that we get to teach lessons on temple grounds. The people in Pavones, even though most of them haven't heard of the church, recognize and are really proud of the temple. It's so beauuuutiful.

Last Tuesday all the new baby missionaries came! There were 27 that showed up to our mission - 11 hermanas and 16 elders. They all look so dang young. But then again, the hermanas are 19 instead of 21. We ended the night ringing timbres (knocking doors) in a piso close to ours. We stopped at this lady's door and after we told her who we are and what we do she said, ''You know what, I have my religion and you have yours and I respect what you're doing, but I'm really not interested.'' I was ready to leave, and I had actually turned around and started walking the other way, when Hermana Olsen asked if she had any family or friends that could use the message that we have to share. She paused for a minute and then mentioned that her daughters both could use a little help. We talked about how the youth today as a whole doesn't have any morals and they've forgotten God. I explained that that's why I'm out here doing what I'm doing. I told her that my beliefs and the way I live according to my beliefs has changed me for the better and I want others to experience the same change and happiness. Then she said, ''And how exactly have you changed?' I was really taken aback by that question. For a second I didn't know how to answer. I told her that knowing God lives, love me, and has a plan for me gives my life purpose. I told her I know that the things I do in this life matter to God and that in the hard times when I feel alone, I take comfort in the scriptures and in knowing that God is walking alongside me every step of the way. After about 5 seconds of comfortable silence, she said with tears in her eyes, ''Thank you for your beautiful thoughts. I appreciate you for doing what you do and I'll think about having my girls call you.'' Our interaction with that lady went from kind of negative and disappointing to a really spiritual experience for me, and I think for her too. I'm grateful that Hermana Olsen followed the prompting to ask her for a reference.

Wednesday we did a lot of contacting in the metro. There were previously just two hermanas in our area so they had to split the area and we're basically starting from zero which is super hard. But contacting on Wednesday was really productive. I was sitting across from this 20 something year-old guy when I noticed he kept looking at my tag. He eventually leaned over and said, ''So are you a Jehova's Witness or an Evangelist?'' I told him I was actually Mormon which led him to ask what made our religion different and what some of our basic beliefs are. We talked about everything from the Book of Mormon to the Word of Wisdom to modern-day prophets to the Godhead to the Law of Chastity to everything. It was really awesome. I got his name and number and he said he'd love to learn more. It was super cool.

We ended the day singing in Retiro Park with Hermanas Hansen and Smith. It was a really incredible experience. There were a ton of people in the park and we were very much in the world. But as soon as we started bearing our testimonies in song, we created a heavenly atmosphere. Some people seemed drawn to us - little kids especially. The Spirit was so strong and during a couple songs I was almost brought to tears. There was something so incredible about singing about the gospel truths we normally share in word. I gained a testimony of the power of uplifting music that day.

Saturday made one year since receiving my call. I can't believe it's been that long! To celebrate we went to Domino's with the other Barrio 6 missionaries and Olsen bought my pizza :)

Church was really good yesterday.  In Sacrament Meeting the three of us that are new to the ward shared our testimonies. It was so much easier than it was 3 months ago when I got here. And the ward is HUGE. So many eyeballs were staring at me.

We had an awesome lesson with Rafa afterwards. He's 17 and from Bolivia. He hasn't heard anything about our church, but wants to know more. We talked to him about our purpose as missionaries and established our expectations of eachother. He's excited to read the Book of Mormon and at the end he said a beautiful prayer. I love hearing people pray for the first time :) We ended the night again singing in the park. We met this guy from London who said he previously had negative feelings about Mormons. He told us that even though he still isn't interested in knowing more at this point, he was moved by our singing and he now things positively about who we are and what we stand for. It really meant a lot.

I didn't get to even half of what happened this week, but that's the best of what happened. Since yesterday was cinco de mayo we had a party today in Leganés with like 15 of the hermanas. It was suuuper fun and Hermana Phillips made the best food ever. She's half Mexican.

Life is good. Really really good. I hope you all have a good week!

Love,
Hermana Munden

Goodbye Leganés, Hello Pavones

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Well today I'm majorly bummin. Transfer calls came Saturday night, and I left Leganés this morning. It's been way harder than I thought it would be. Leganés was my fourth area, so I've been transfered before, but for some reason I've been extra sad. Part of being a missionary is learning to give your heart, and all of it, to the people you serve and serve with. I truly love Leganés. The ward was my family, the investigators were constantly on my mind and in my prayers, and my companion became one of my biggest role models. But Rosi taught me a powerful lesson Saturday night. This work is not mine. It's not even President Jackson's. It is the work of the Lord, and everything is in his hands. I've done what I was sent to do and learned what I needed to learn in Leganés, and now I'm needed somewhere else. As hard as that is for me to accept, I'm trying to be positive.

So today is my first day in Pavones. I'll be serving in Barrio 6 and my new companion is Hermana Olsen (who I lived with for 6 weeks in Leganés and who was my companion for a week). It's rainy and cold and miserable (probably because Leganés is mourning my loss), but the view from our bedroom window is the temple, which leads me to believe everything will be okay. I hear the ward is great and we meet in the stake center which is on temple square, so I get a legit chapel with pews and carpet and everything for the next six weeks. I'm pumped about that. And there's 8 missionaries in the ward. EIGHT. That's super nuts.

Anyhow, allow me to fill in the gaps between last Monday and the night I fell into depression... My intercambio with Hermana Marshall was complete bliss. We were companions for just a night at the very beginning of last transfer when she came back from the islands and she scared the crap out of me. She goes home tomorrow, so she was super old in the mission, really beautiful, and incredibly intimidating. So since that first night six weeks ago, I've kind of avoided talking to her and being her friend because she scared me. And what a shame! I loooooove this girl! She's incredible. We spent 45 minutes on the bus back from Toledo getting to know eachother and telling stories and talking about pretty much everything. Monday night we had English classes and Noche de Hogar. Eduardo brought Evelyn so now we're up to four people. Woo-hoo!

Tuesday morning Hermana Marshall made me french toast. She's the sweetest. Then we had a lesson with Andrea. We had the lesson at Efigenia's house - she's this woman who got baptized in November, but had been going to the ward in Fuenlabrada until just a few weeks ago when she moved to Getafe. Sometimes lessons with members there is kind of awkward, but the lesson we had with Andrea and Efigenia was so good. Efigenia jumped in and shared her testimony and experiences where they fit perfectly. We taught her the Word of Wisdom and tried to base it off the scripture that says our bodies are temples because Andrea has a tongue ring and we didn't know how to go about telling her to take it out. After we talked about the Word of Wisdom and she agreed to live it, we read the section in the strength of the youth pamphlet about modesty. We asked her if she was willing to be modest in all things and take care of and protect the body Heavenly Father has given her. She said yes, but nothing about her tongue ring. When we got outside, however, she told us she was going home right then and that she was going to take it out. She said it wasn't a problem and she wouldn't even miss it. I got a little tear-eyed because I was so impressed at her willingness to obey the commandments of God, even the tiniest ones regarding piercings. Andrea is incredible and I want to be more like her.

In the renfe station on the way home from the lesson this African man stopped us. At first I was kind of annoyed because I saw that our train was coming and I didn't want to miss it, but after talking to him I knew that the Lord had put him in our path. He was so happy to see us. He got baptized 6 years ago but hadn't been to church in a very long time and wanted to come back. We gave him directions to the chapel, took down his number, and headed out. President Monson has said, ''There are no coincidences. Look always for the hand of the Lord.''

Wednesday morning we had zone training meeting and I got Hermana Blodgett back. I was happy to see her, but so grateful for my intercambio with Hermana Marshall. At ZTM I had a good chat with President and then we had to take off because I had an appointment in Aluche to get my residency stuff going.

Thursday morning Andrea had her baptismal interview. Everything went swimmingly and on our walk back she yelled ''Goooooodbyeeee!'' in English out the window. Do you see why my heart hurts so much to leave these people? Thursday night we went to Lorena and Rubén's for dinner and she made us arepas. Nommmmm. The neighbors came over and Rubén began to explain perfectly to him who we were and what we did. I love that dude.

Like usual, we spent Friday night with Carmen and her hijas. They always cook for us, so we told them we wanted to make something American for them. We made Sloppy Joes. Haha and they loved them! We played cards had the best time.

Saturday was Andrea's baptism! She looked soo prettty. On our walk to the chapel she told us that she'd been to a lot of churches, but that she knew this one was true because of the way she feels. She now recognizes that ''feeling'' as the Spirit. There was an activity in Segovia so not many members showed up, but there were like 10 missionaries there! We took a bunch of pictures and it was a really good day. That night we went to Rosi's and ate with her and her family and while we were there we got the transfer call. Rosi and her husband both said some really nice stuff about me and reassured me that I'd be happy and well taken care of in Barrio 6. I was a child and cried. But it's okay because Rosi did too. Haha I love that woman her family so much it hurts.



Andrea's Baptism



Sunday morning was Ward Conference and Andrea's confirmation! Bishop spoke and so did our Stake President and we had 144 members there. That's the most there's been since I'd been there! In Relief Society, the Stake Relief Society Presidency asked me to share my testimony on my experience with seeing and helping people change as a missionary. I cried. Again. Afterwards I said goodbye to everyone and there were more tears. Paola cried while she was hugging me and told me not to forget about her. I'm gonna miss everyone so much. Hermana Piedade and Hermana Miron who both started their missions in Leganés also finished there, so I'm hoping I follow tradition.

I love being a missionary - the hard parts too. I've never been a fan of change, but it's part of life, and the mission. There's someone here waiting for me. And there's something I'm supposed to learn from Hermana Olsen. I take comfort in knowing that the Lord knows what's going on. I'll probably be happier next week when we talk, but right now I'm praying for positivity.

I hope everyone is happy back home! Thanks for the letter Mom! I know email is so much easier, but mail is the number one thing that cheers me up here. Haha and good job Had speaking in church. Send me a copy of your talk pretty please. And Conner, hooray for your Patriarchal blessing! I read mine at least once a week and I'm super excited for you to get yours. Tom, thanks for taking care of Josie. I miss her a lot. Haha and if you wanted to send me some more peanut butter, I'd be eternally grateful. I've run out :(

I love you allllllll!

Love,
Hermana Munden

P.S. Here is my new address for the next six weeks:

Hermana Paige Munden
Calle Valdebernando 10, 3C
28030 Madrid
España

''Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.''

Once again I'm a little short on time. We went to Toledo today and just got back and we have to head to the church for English classes and Noche de Hogar really soon, so sorry!

This week was good. Super busy, but really good. Tuesday was crazy. We had Andrea in the morning and taught her about the law of tithing and the fast. She already is super excited to pay tithing and she told us she's going to fast this week because she has a ton of tests that she needs to do well on to graduate. I'm always so impressed when people are immediately willing to keep the commandments even before they're baptized. Then we went to Johanna's house. She was a lady we found while waiting for the renfe one day. She and her husband are from Honduras and they have three kids and have talked to missionaries before. She asked us when we could come over, so we were especially excited for Tuesday. Well we showed up to her house and her husband told us she got called into work last minute, so she wasn't there. But the rest of her family was and they're really neat. Her husband said he loves the missionaries and that we could come back any day next week (we're seeing them tomorrow)!

After that we went to our appointment with Ascensión and her dad. This was the man I found on the bench with Hermana Shepherd and I prayed outside of their apartment and she let me in. Remember? Anyhow, so we go up there and she's like, ''Hang on, I'll go grab my dad.'' Her dad walks out and he's not the guy from the bench... How embarrassing. Haha so we explained the situation but we stayed and taught them because Ascensión had a ton of questions. She asked about literally everything. It was awesome. We left her with a Book of Mormon and pamphlets about the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation. She said she's going to take the time to honestly read it and that we can call her in May. I'm super excited about her. Especially because she's Spanish.

Wednesday morning we went to the temple with our zone. I love the Madrid temple. It's so preeeeeetty. At the distribution center we bought hymns and children's songs on CD for Carmen and her girls and a picture of Christ and the temple for Evelyn and her parents. We took pictures with the other hermanas and talked to the elders for a little bit and then went over to the San Martin family's house for chaufa. So so good. I've decided I'll probably eat nothing but rice when I come home. It's my fave.

Our district getting kebab after district meeting last week

Friday morning in companionship study, Hermana Blodgett and I found our mission in the Bible. Romans 15:24,28:

"Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company.... When therefore, I have performed this, and I have sealed to them this fruit, I will come by you into Spain."

Pretty neat. Haha then we had a lesson with Pablo, our cute older Spaniard. Our ward mission leader, Alejandro, came with us and it was good having us there. Lessons with members are either really good or really awkward, but with Alejandro it was good. He and Pablo have a lot in common so they could relate to each other. Then we went to the renfe station in Villaverde Alto to meet a guy we were hoping to make a new investigator, named Olmedo. He showed up and offered to drive us to his house, but we explained that we couldn't go with him unless another woman was in the car. So he showed us what bus to get on and said he would meet us at the fifth stop. Well the fifth stop was this street where all the prostitutes are and there aren't any pisos, so we figured he meant the sixth. The sixth stop was a metro station and we waited for him there, but he never showed. We called a couple times, but he never answered either so we gave up. Such a bummer too! He was really sweet. He hasn't answered the phone since that day, so I hope we haven't lost him.

Friday night was the absolute best. We went to Fabian's house to teach him and Nicol and to try to resolve some of the doubts he has that are keeping him from allowing Nicol to get baptized. Well we get there and Magaly tells us that he went to go play volleyball with his brother, so we just taught Nicol and Magaly instead. We didn't have anything planned, but we had a couple copies of the proclamation on the family, so we whipped that out and talked about families. After we finished reading that, Nicol goes and grabs her Gospel Principles book and asked us to read the section on eternal families. Haha what a cutie. When we were getting ready to leave, Fabian and Yermo walk in! They asked about English classes and since they can't make it on Monday nights asked if we could teach them right then. It was everyone; Fabian, Magaly, Nicol, Yermo, Viviana, Jonny, and then two random friends. We said we needed something to write on so Magaly goes in the back room and returns with a blackboard! Haha so we started teaching them simple stuff like greetings and stuff. And then Yermo said he wanted to know how to say, ''We're going out to eat tonight.'' So we wrote it on the board and then practiced saying it together. The last time we said it, Fabian and Hermana Blodgett stood up and were like, ''Alright, let's go!'' Haha it was super funny. I love their family a lot. And Magaly and Viviana are so flipping beautiful. Those brothers got really lucky with those two!

Saturday morning we went back and had a lesson with them on the Plan of Salvation. They sat and listened and Fabian was especially active in the lesson, asking a lot of questions and everything. Magaly is such a strong member and a really good example to Fabian and Nicol. I love her. And after the lesson she made us some bomb chicken and rice. They told us they're moving back to Ecuador in September and that I'm invited to their house when I end my mission. I absolutely plan on visiting them :)

Sunday the weather was utterly beautiful. Eduardo wore church clothes (finally) and he received the Priesthood! Yayyyyy! He's blessing the Sacrament next week and he's super nervous, but he's gonna do just fine. Alina was sick so she asked Hermana Blodgett and me to teach the gospel principles class and we did. Sometimes I remember that I'm doing all this in another language and it's pretty cool. It'd be a little cooler if I didn't know Spanish before, but still. Haha it's neat. At one point in Relief Society we read Psalms 139:23-24 and I love it so much:

"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting."

One of my new favorite scriptures.

This morning we went to Toledo with a bunch of hermanas and a couple elders. Toledo is beauuuuutiful. Intercambios started today so I'm with Hermana Marshall here in Leganés until Wednesday morning. She goes home in one week when this transfer ends. I can't believe it's already been another six weeks!

I love you allllllll!

Love,

Hermana Munden

''His love is for all, but He never loses sight of the one.''

Hiiiii my beautiful people :)

Today we're going to Sol (again) with some other hermanas, so I gotta be kinda quick.

The weather is finally starting to warm up. For the last three days I've been coatless and tightless and it's fantastic. Unfortunately in about a month or so I'm apparently going to be so hot and begging for winter to come back. Not so much looking forward to that.

We had a really good week. Last Monday after P-day ended we taught English in the chapel and then had Noche de Hogar (FHE). Not many people come (by not many I mean the same two people every week), but it's still really fun. For FHE we watched the long Joseph Smith movie because neither Nancy or Miriam had seen it. I love that movie so much. Joseph is the man. The trials and suffering the early saints went through were horrible, but I'm so so grateful for all the sacrifices they made for us.

Thursday we went to the doctor because I've been in a dumb amount of pain the last two weeks and I finally called Hermana Jackson to make me an appointment. Well we made it to the doctor's office without me getting us lost (yay me) and then the dude checked me out and got me some stuff that will make me all better. Then we had a lesson with Nicol. She really wants to get baptized, but her dad is still hung up on some stuff. In the closing prayer she said, ''please let me dad give me permission to get baptized so I can be obedient and keep the commandments.'' She is the coolest 10 yearold I know and I love her prayers.

Friday I hit 7 months! We went to Nancy's and she made us a bumload of Peruvian deliciousness. Then we saw Andrea and taught her about the ten commandments. She's seriously so great. She asked how she can get more involved with the single youth and she already wants to go on splits with us and stuff after her baptism. On our way from her house to the train station we were walking along this path next to a Spanish couple when we see that the train is already here. So this girl from behind us starts running to catch it, the four of us obviously interested to see if she makes it or not. The doors began to shut and she baaaaaarely slid in. So awesome. The four of us did a little Tiger fist pump in excitement. Haha it was awesome.

We had mediodia with Rosi and her boys (one of my absolute favorites from the ward) and then headed to see Carmen and her girls. We watched a talk from Conference that they didn't get to see and it was awesome. Carmen is talking more and more about baptism and is excited about the idea of being baptized with Paola and Jessica. I have a good feeling she'll be there in white too on May 25th. After our lesson they made us dinner and we listened to church music and gave eachother backrubs and it was the best. Friday nights are Nelson's trouble night so we've made it a priority to be there with Carmen and her daughters to take their minds off of where Nelson is. They even drove us home afterwards! I love them.

Yesterday we met Andrea at the Metro station and walked to church together. When we got there everyone came up and introduced themselves to her - the members are so good at doing that here! When I was home I sucked at saying hi to new people. Work on that for me will you? It's so important that they feel welcome and that they have friends in the ward. We introduced Paola and Andrea to each other and they're not in love yet, but I'm hoping they'll be best friends soon. Haha that would be awesome.

After church we had a lesson with Pablo. He was a guy that Hermana Olsen and Coakwell had been teaching, but we'd kind of put him on the back burner because everytime we went to meet him he hadn't showed up. I'm SO glad we met with him yesterday though. He's the best. He's 59, Spanish (which are hard to get) and super sweet. He brought some material he'd found on the internet, written by a guy who'd left the church (not the best thing to be reading) and he asked us to explain it. I simply told him that the best source of information about the church and our religion is us, mormon.org, the pamphlets we give him, and the Book of Mormon. He said, ''Well then if you're telling me I should just tear this up then that's what I'll do. I won't even bother reading it.'' I LOVE THIS MAN. He wants us to teach him the ''good path'' and that he wants to be a member of the church. So ooooobviously we invited him to be baptized and he agreed to May 18th. Super excited to watch his progress. Pablo is awesome.

That's pretty much all that happened last week, but it was really good. This is week 5 of the transfer, so we might do exchanges with the sisters, and we're going to the temple. Next transfer we're getting 28 new missionaries - 17 elders and 11 sisters. Which means there's a good chance I'll be training. Haha I just hope it's Yo! I asked Heavenly Father if I could be her mom, so we'll see what happens.

Guys, I love being a missionary. I never want this time to end. It's unlike anything else - I've experienced the lowest lows and the highest highs, it's the hardest thing I've ever done, I cry on a regular basis and I'm exhausted all the time. BUT this is the happiest I've ever been in my short 22 years of life. I get to tell people every single day that they have a God in heaven who loves them unconditionally and that he wants them to be happy. I get to watch people make changes, big and small, that allow them to live better, as that is the natural effect that the gospel has on you. My heart is about to explode with all the love I have for the people here. Haha it's unreal.

Love,

Hermana Munden

P.S. We get to Skype in 27 days!

''Too many of us try to serve the Lord without offending the devil''

Hi fam bam!

How was everyone's General Conference weekend? Mine was the absolute best.

Alright so last week I left off with our appointment with Carmen. Not even five minutes after we sat down with her she just broke down and started sobbing. She told us that she's not happy, and she’s having some serious family problems. One thing that is interesting about being a missionary is that we can speak to people in a way and with an authority that we don't have when our tag comes off. There is no way before or after the mission I could have said some of the things I said to Carmen and her husband Nelson. But when we speak with love and the Spirit, with the person's best interest at heart, they trust us. Nelson responded that his family is the most important thing to him and he doesn't want to lose them. Hermana Blodgett told him he was going to lose Carmen and his girls if he didn't get help, but that we were there to help him. And so is his Heavenly Father. We talked about the power of prayer in the healing process and with tears in his eyes, Nelson offered his first prayer. He told God he had a serious problem, that it was out of his control, and that he was ready to change. He expressed gratitude for us and our willingness to help, and for his beautiful family. It was one of the sincerest prayers I've heard. We told him we'd stop by several times a week, and he gave us his number so we could call and check on him. Then we went back out in the living room and watched a video about the Savior since Easter was the next day. We invited Nelson to church and said we'd come over early to be able to walk with them. He said he'd come! We decided on 10:00 and said our goodbyes. When I was kissing Carmen goodbye she whispered to me that we should be there at 9:00.

Monday night we had a lesson with Carmen and family. Since Nelson really needs our help, we're coming over 4 times a week. We wanted to do something fun for them because we figured the mood in the house needed to be lifted, so we brought over The Testaments movie with popcorn, cookies and Fanta. We met with him again privately before meeting with the whole family and we made some plans to help him. Then we joined the rest of the family for our movie night. It was really fun. The four of them sat on the couch together and for an hour or so they looked like the happy family they should be. After the movie we bore our testimonies and said a closing prayer. We asked Nelson to say it. He was timid at first, but then Jessica said, ''It's not hard, Dad. Start with 'Dear Heavenly Father' then tell him what you're thankful for, ask him for what you need, and close 'in the name of Jesus Christ, amen'''. Cutest thing ever. And it was the first time Nelson's family had heard him pray.

Wednesday we met with Andrea. We taught her about the importance of daily prayer and scripture study and going to church every week. Afterwards we asked if she had any questions and she was like, ''So what do I need to do if I want to go on a mission?'' I love this girl. She's not even baptized and she already has the desire to serve a mission! She's going to be the best member, and I can't wait to take her out teaching with us after she's baptized. And we're trying to get her and Paola to be friends. They're going to meet this Sunday at church :)

That evening we had a lesson with Jar, Marina and Laura. We read Mosiah 2 about King Benjamin's speech and invited them to Conference. After Marina we saw Carmen again. We had dinner together and then had a lesson about service - especially serving our families. We did an activity where they had to choose a member of their family and find one way every day to serve them. Nelson was there again and he paid attention and participated in the lesson.

Thursday we saw Mary and José and they told us that since our lesson on the family things in their home have gotten much better. Oh how happy I was to hear that! In the metro on the way home Hermana Blodgett and I saw a girl with an American flag shirt. We put our hands over our hearts and sang the national anthem :)

Friday we had Zone Conference in Pavones and it was fantastic. The AP's put together a video of our missionaries' videos of them opening their calls and it made me wish I had a video. They had pizza for us afterwards and brought us our mail. I got a birthday package from Grandma Klee, and letters from Stephanie, Elder Ponce, Yo (who will be in my mission in just a few weeks) and the Relief Society back home.

Saturday morning we had lesson with Emmanuel. We taught him the restoration and he really liked it. During one part we were talking about the things Jesus did when he was here, including peforming mighty miracles. Emmanuel goes, ''Like walking on water. I've tried that. It's not easy.'' Hahah he's so funny. Towards the end I felt like we should invite this dude to be baptized. I was already looking at Hermana Blodgett and I whispered, in the quietest voice I could, ''Baptism'' and without skipping a beat she transitioned into the perfect invitation to baptism. Homeboy said yes! He's awesome. Next time we see him we're gonna give him a date!

Saturday night we went to Pavones for General Conference. It was the Saturday morning session and we watched at 6 in the evening, so it was live and I was watching it with all of youuuu! How cute. We went with Eduardo and Evelyn, they watched in Spanish, while we watched in English. I love Conference so much dangit. Afterwards Eduardo took us out for kebab and then we went home.

Sunday morning we went by Carmen's to pick them up for Conference. We saw Jessica and Paola outside in front of their piso, but didn't see Carmen. And then five seconds later we saw her walk around the corner with Nelson, holding hands! They told us Nelson was coming to Conference. What the heck! Talk about a General Conference miracle. We drove to Pavones and then did a temple tour with the whole family before Conference started. It was really awesome and I was glad Nelson was there for it. The session we watched was the Saturday afternoon session and it was the only one Carmen and her family could be at, but there were some talks that were perfect for them so I was grateful for that. During the two hour break we sat on the temple grounds, talked to other missionaries and members we hadn't seen in awhile, ate some lunch, and enjoyed the atmosphere before the next session started. At 6:00 we watched the Sunday morning session, and then we came home. I was bummed cause we didn't get to watch the Sunday afternoon session, but we're going to try to find time this week to do it.

I left a bunch of stuff out, but mainly I'm just excited about the Carmen and Nelson situation. I love being a missionary. Do I say that a lot? I don't even care, it's seriously the best. I don't want to come home in 10 months. This is the only time in my life I'll be able to do what I'm doing and I never want it to end. I loved the missionary themed messages at Conference this weekend and I encourage you all to do your best to be good member missionaries. Don't just pray for opportunities, actively look for them! And when they present themselves, don't you dare ignore them. In this dark, depressing, hopeless world, we have the best news there is; God lives, Jesus is the Christ; The gospel makes life worth living and we should share this precious gift with everyone.

This week I hit 7 months and Hermana Blodgett hits 11 tomorrow, which means our diets have begun. We're on ''10 and 7 months to sexy.'' Haha it's a Spain thing. Be good! Write me! Share your testimonies! Watch the game tonight! And miss me :)

Love,

Hermana Munden

P.S. I'm not going anywhere. Happy April Fool's!

Transfer Blodgden

Hi beautiful family :)

I've had the best week ever. Hermana Blodgett is quickly becoming one of my favorite companions. She is 22 (our birthdays are a month apart), comes from a family of 10, and calls San Fransisco home. She's been out almost 11 months and was previously in Vigo, way up north. Every transfer I get stressed out about the potential of having a new companion, and this transfer since Miron was leaving and I was certain I was getting someone new, I was especially anxious. But since she got here 2 weeks ago, it's been complete bliss. Haha that sounds super lame and weird, but it's been incredible. ANYHOW.

I'll start where I left off last week with Victor's lesson. So the game plan Tuesday was go in there and share Matthew 6:24-34, help him realize the importance of putting God first, and invite him to be baptized. We got in there and read the scripture. It talks about putting God first before everything else and that if we do, we're promised we don't have to worry about anything. Hermana Blodgett said, "You know Victor, the three of us pray for you often. We know Heavenly Father loves you, so we've been asking Him what to do." At this point Victor was literally on the edge of his seat. He cut Hermana Blodgett off, "And? What did God say? What does he want me to do?" Hermana Blodgett then asked, "Victor, will you be baptized April 20th?" He hesitated for a moment and then, with tears in eyes said, "Yes. There is no problem. If that is the will of God, who am I to argue against it?" I'm getting chills just writing this. Victor is the man! I'm super lame and I cried. Haha but it was seriously the best. It reminded me of Daisy and the awesome experience I had with her in Provo when she decided to be baptized. Well, we spent the rest of the time helping victor figure out his options. He has great faith that Heavenly Father is aware of his situation and that He will help him do whatever he needs to do so that he can be baptized in three weeks.

The rest of the day was kind of ordinary, but we were so high off of our lesson with Victor, we didn't even care. We did have a pretty awesome lesson with Marina and Laura though. I met them with Miron and they're awesome. Marina is the mom and Laura is the 9 yearold daughter and they're Colombian. Last time we went over, the husband was sick so we didn't get to meet him, but he is all better and we're teaching him too now. We taught them the Restoration and they really liked it. The Restoration is my favorite lesson to teach. I especially love teaching the part about Joseph smith. Every time I share the First Vision experience, a unique and powerful Spirit enters the room. Everything becomes still, and people can feel that what I'm saying is true. And even if they don't have a testimony of Joseph yet, they at least know that I do. Anyhow, so we talked about the Book of Mormon and praying to know if it's true, and then we gave Laura her own copy. She grabbed her Bible from her room and said she reads it when she's sad. She's the cutest. I love our new Colombian family.

Wednesday morning we got a call from President Jackson. Hermana Garcia, who is currently serving in Barrio 6 in Pavones, is really sick so she had to go home. That meant our trio was getting split up. President asked Hermana Olsen to pack her bags because she was leaving that day. SO GLAD it wasn't me. I'm not at all ready to leave Leganés. She packed everything in an impressive amount of time and we headed to Fuenlabrada for Zone Training Meeting. It was really good - we spent the whole time talking about the Atonement, since it was Semana Santa (Holy Week). I love talking about the Savior. President and Hermana Jackson came because they had to take Hermana Olsen back to Madrid with them, so they each bore their testimonies, and Hermana Jackson encouraged us each to read "The Infinite Atonement." Basically what I'm trying to say is that if someone wanted to send it to me I wouldn't even be mad :)

Thursday morning we had a lesson at Fabian's house. This was only the second time I'd taught them in the whole 2 months I've been here, but we are going to start visiting them once a week. Fabian is our investigator, and so is his 9 yearold daughter Nicol. His wife Magaly was less active for a time, but since Nicol and Fabian became interested in the church, she hasn't missed a Sunday. She's awesome. So we went over there with the plan to watch The Restoration movie because Fabian has doubts about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. When we got there, Fabian's brother Yermo was there too. So we invited him, his wife Viviana, and their son Jonny to listen. They said they didn't have time to watch the movie, so instead we just hopped on the bible videos site and watched the special Easter video. Afterwards we bore testimony of the Savior and somehow we got into a discussion about how God the Father and Jesus Christ are two separate and distinct beings. Yermo was convinced they were one, so we read some scriptures and I was proud of Fabian for explaining to his brother the nature of the Godhead. It was really cool. Then we started talking about the Book of Mormon and the eight of us read 3 Nephi 11. It was so dang cool and it felt really right. We made an appointment to come back when all of them are gonna be home again. I'm really excited! I can just picture them in the temple together.

On Saturday morning, three of the four lessons we had planned cancelled on us, which majorly bummed us out. On top of that, Hermana Blodgett and I both had baptisms going on that we couldn't be at (Stephanie and Justin in Provo, and Robert in Vigo) so we were sad all day. We decided to head to Domino's for mediodia and cheer ourselves up with some pizza. While we waited for our food we made some calls to try to salvage our day. First was Arnold. He hadn't answered his phone since our lesson with him last week and I was worried we'd lost him. He answered this time and told me that he'd been reading the Book of Mormon and loved it, but that his family didn't want him to meet with us anymore. I hate when that happens. Next was Carmen. She'd cancelled on us two days before, but said that now she wasn't busy and that we could come over! We snarfed down our pizza and headed over to visit our girls...

Unfortunately my time is up so you'll have to wait a week to hear what happened at Carmen's house. Haha don't hate me. I suck at managing my email time.

Oh! But the big news this week is this. I got a call from President yesterday and he said that they haven't been able to process my residency. I've been in Spain over 60 days and haven't been empatronized so I have to back to the States. This is my last week in Spain and next week I'll be in the Utah Provo Mission again! Yayyyyyyyyyyy :) I seriously can't wait.

I hope everyone had the best Easter and that you all enjoy hearing from the Prophet this weekend at General Conference!

Love,

Hermana Munden

The strangest/funniest/best week of my life

Hiii!

Last week was probably the best week I have had like my whole mission. At first I wasn't so sure about the companionship I'm in, but I absolutely loooove Hermana Blodgett -- she is hilarious. I'm happy I'm with someone who can compete with my sense of humor. Haha and Hermana Olsen is great because she keeps us in line and on time.

Tuesday was my birthday! Yayyyy I'm 22. I got some really sweet birthday texts throughout the day: from a lot of the elders in my zone, Hermana Miron, and Lorena from the ward. That morning we had a lesson with Victor. We headed over to the park near Victor's house and sat one of the tables and began the lesson. Halfway through Romans 1:16, this drunk Russian dude comes over and sits down. He and Victor were speaking Russian, but Victor translated what he was saying. He told me that I have beautiful eyes and with them I can conquer the world. Cool... Then he grabbed my head and tried to kiss me. That was fun. Victor was sweet and pulled the guy away. So that was adventure one of the morning.

Then we met Eduardo for my birthday lunch. He took us to the super delicious Bolivian place we went to before. I ate Silpancho and almost died it was so good. The waiter found out it was my birthday so he brought me ice cream and everyone sang to me. Next we visited Evelyn and had a lesson with her. After the prayer I opened my eyes and saw a birthday card chilling in front of me. It was the cutest birthday card I've gotten in my whole life. She had colored the inside of it and wrote this really sweet message. She also bought me some earrings. I love that girl so much. After Evelyn we headed to Arus' house. They're the Armenians who make the best food. Ana greeted me at the door and demanded that I shut my eyes so she could guide me to the living room. There was a sign on the wall that said ''Feliz Cumpleaños Hermana Munden'' and balloons all over the place. They made me my favorite dinner and then sang to me. We finished the night with Ana. She made me a birthday cake and we sang again. Best birthday of my life.

Wednesday morning we had district meeting with our new district - which is made up of all the elders we've been hanging out with the last two months, so there was no awkward icebreaking that needed to be done. That afternoon we had a lesson with this guy Arnold from the Congo. We had found him in the metro a few weeks ago and I was excited to meet him, but I was nervous about finding his house because I always just relied on Miron to get us where we needed to go. But I found it! And we had an awesome lesson with him.

Thursday was awesome. K so a few weeks ago we met this guy on a bench on the way to Carmen's house. He was an older gentleman and when I told him I knew God loved him he bawled his little eyeballs out. He didn't know his phone number, and I couldn't understand what he told me his name was, so I got his address and I promised we would come find him. So Thursday we finally went to search for him. I found the building and rang his piso. A woman answered and I said, ''Excuse me, I met a man the other day on a bench near here. Do you happen to live with an older gentleman, named Juan maybe?'' She responded that she didn't live with a Juan and hung up. I was super frustrated because I knew he lived there and I wanted so badly to keep my promise and find him! So I asked my companions if it'd be alright if we said a prayer. I said it and asked Heavenly Father that he would help me find the man on the bench because I knew he was important and needed to be taught.'' I tried ringing his piso again, confident that Heavenly Father would help me out. The woman answered again, saying that a lot of her neighbors are older but she doesn't know any Juan's. When this happened someone left the piso and Hermana Blodgett caught the door so we could get in if we needed to. I asked the woman if we could come up, but she had hung up. We decided to go in anyways. We headed up to her piso and knocked on the door. She answered and said she didn't mean to hang up and that she was going to come downstairs to help us. She said her father lived there and his name was José. He sometimes walks around and sits on the bench by Carmen's house. Yayyyy I found him! Her name was Ascencion and she was the absolute sweetest. Her dad wasn't home, but we got her number and are gonna visit them this week. Yay for answered prayers.

Friday Paco called me and told me Ana was in the hospital. She's been suffering from migraines and has been feeling awful. We went over to see her and she wasn't doing so great. So we called the Elders and they came over and gave her a blessing. Elder Peña is from the same part of Andalucía as Paco, and he had actually spent Christmas at their house, so it was cool how that worked out. The Elders gave Ana a beautiful blessing, and we headed off to teach Mary and José, Evelyn's parents.

Friday night we had Noche de Hogar (FHE) at the church. It was so much fun, even though only 5 people came - Eduardo, Carmen and her girls, and this lady Miriam from the ward. We shared Matthew 22:36-40 and talked about loving God and loving our neighbor. Then we played a game and by the end of the night we were all in tears from laughing so hard. Oh my gosh so fun.

Saturday we had a lesson with Josè and Grismardi, the Dominicans I started teaching with Miron right before she left. So we get to their house and some rando answers the door. I was like ''Hi, we have an appointment with Josè and Grismardi right now. Are they here?'' He said they weren't but if I wanted to leave a message with him I could. It was kinda weird though, so I was like ''That's okay, I'll just call them right now.'' So I called Josè. AND I HEARD HIS PHONE RINGING. So I said, ''I hear Josè's phone, are you sure he's not here?'' ''Positive.'' K cool. I'll just call Grismardi. So I called Grismardi AND I HEARD HIS PHONE TOO. ''So let me get this straight. Neither Josè or Grismardi is here, but both of their phones are?'' ''Yep that's what it looks like.'' Then Grismardi walks up and says he was sleeping. Haha it was just too much to handle. So they let us in after like ten minutes of awkwardness outside and we talked to Grismardi and the friend, Angel. Angel told us he has five girlfriends, more or less, and that he's too busy to read the Book of Mormon but that if I wanted to be his American girlfriend I could because he doesn't have one of those yet. Haaaaaaaa so that was that.

Sunday was awesome. Church was really good and we had 5 investigators there. In Gospel Principles we talked about the Atonement and the lesson was really incredible - we have the best teacher. Most of members of the class got emotional when they testified of Christ's Atonement and what it means for them.

We had the best experience ever this morning, but I'll save that for next week. Basically life is good. Ugh, so dang good. And Stephanie and Justin get baptized Saturday! Hooray! And then Easter is Sunday! I hope you guys all have the best week :)

Love,

Hermana Munden

P.S. Thanks so much for all the birthday emails - it was a good one.