Adoring the Spain Barcelona Mission

Today has been crazy...we literally cleaned our piso allllll day! It was filthy--pretty sure in the 5 yrs that missionaries have lived there it has NEVER been cleaned. But don't worry, 1000 hours later it is actually inhabitable again so we are all good.  Luckily the weather here has been warm still, but one day this week it rained alllll day! It was crazy monsoon rain with thunder and lightning. We made the most of it, but the highlight of the day was when we were walking around one of our pueblos at like 9 that night (and NOBODY was outside except us).  We tried to contact this old man we saw, but he didn't really understand us... then as we are about to walk away, he grumbles "?Sois de Hawaii?"! THAT IS THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT I COULD EVER RECEIVE! My comp and I were psyched after that because who doesn't want to be from Hawaii?! Pretty sure we are still not over it, jajaja.  My new comp is fabulous. She  graduated from BYU Hawaii, and already has me co...

Well once again my comp got transferred! Hermana Martens is now in Valencia, and my new comp is Hermana Halls.  She is from Arizona and she graduated from BYU Hawaii before coming on a mission. I am excited to get to know her...so far all good things! (We have probs been together for like 3.2 hrs.)  She is super sweet and I am so excited be here with her in Martorell. Today has been crazy with lugging giant suitcases all around the Barce metro system hahaha- once again we are giving everyone something to stare at!  It has been another great week full of blessings and running around like crazy people trying to talk to everyone we see. This week was Paco's birthday (our recent convert) and he taught us how to make tortilla de patata like a "real Spaniard."  Haha, he is so cute. The real trick is to say "Ayudame, Padre" when you are trying to flip it over. Haha, Paco considers his ability to make tortilla one of his "spiritual gifts" and takes any c...

So yesterday we had zone conference in Barcelona. So we went to stay with some hermanas who live in the city  on  Sunday night. Of course we got there late (as usual), and the rule is that if you are not home by 10pm, you had better be running from wherever you are at. So me and 3 other hermanas come out of the metro by the Sagrada Familia (a major tourist attraction here) and we just start booking it. Hahahaha we were quite the sight in our dresses with all of our overnight bags and random stuff running through the middle of the city. We defs gave people something to laugh at.  (But what is new?jajaja.) Today, my comp and I went to a place in Barce called Tibidabo! It is a big monastery in the mountains overlooking the entire city and the Mediterranean, and there is also randomly a little amusement park there too! It was so gorgeous! This time of year is so funny because most people are in school now, so the only tourists left are all the retired...

Well... probs the most exciting thing that happened this week is someone spit on me off their balcony, hahahaa. Obviously it was disgusting! But I also totally deserved it because I definitely almost got kicked out of the Boardwalk when I was like 10 for trying to spit on people off the Skyride, haha. It was a real full-circle moment, jajajaa!  Also, this week we took good old Paco (our recent convert) to a "family home evening" at the mission home in Barcelona. I think he loved it so much that he almost died! He started crying tears of joy when we left (not because we were leaving, because he was so happy, jajaja). His genuine appreciation for all things gospel related is truly inspiring! On the way home, he was trying to get us to sing hymns with him on the metro,  haha.  He is the BESTTT! And, of course, Conference was marvelous! Because of the time difference, we end up watching Saturday morning session  on Saturday  night, and th...