March 7, 2016 FINAL EMAIL!

My wonderful Family

I can't believe that this moment is actually here. It hasn't really hit me yet, but sitting here waiting for my interview is making it a little more real. I have so many feelings right now and I there's no way I'll be able to express my feelings, but I'm going to do my best.

Throughout my mission I have acquired a love for the hymn "I stand all amazed." The truth is I like the words better in Spanish, but the point still stands in English :) I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me! I especially love the second verse of this song. "I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine. To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine. That he should extend his great love as to such as I, sufficient to own, to redeem and to justify." That really is what Christ does for us. He rescues us! My mission has shown me this promise not only in myself, but in the lives of the people I love so much here in Spain. I love my Savior! I know he lives.

I thought I would be sad about ended my mission, but the truth is I'm okay. A little scared yes, but my title really doesn't change. As it says in 3 Nephi 5: 13 "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life." Even after I take my chapa off, I still get to be a disciple of Christ. I know Him, I honor Him, I love Him, and will serve Him with all my heart might mind and strength.

My mission has converted me. What started out as beliefs has changed into knowledge. I know that this is the true church of my beloved Savior Jesus Christ! This knowledge has laid the foundation of what I will build on for the rest of my life. And the best part is, I never have to stop being a missionary. I love this work with all of my heart and will forever be indebted to my Heavenly Father for this remarkable blessing to serve with Him in Spain for 18 months. It has completely changed my life. I love the people here and am so sad to leave them. But then I remember I get you in my arms soon and I feel better about it :) thank you so much for the support you have given me this last year and a half. I really couldn't have done this without you. I love you and am so grateful that I get to be with you forever!! See you so soon

Started it with this girls and now o, ending it with them! 

Oh I love these three.

 Matching jerseys! :)

 Cookies with Leidy!

 A few of my wonderful members from Barrio 3!

February 29, 2016

FAMILY!

I just finished reading your emails and I can't even believe how soon

I get to hold you guys. It's a good thing I love you so much or this

going home thing would be really hard. I still have one more week

though and that's a long time! I'm reminded about what the Savior did

in just a few days and then I feel a lot better about this last week I

have a missionary. But first things first! I'll tell you about this

last week :)

So remember how I said that I had my last intercambio? Yeah that was a

big lie hah! There was a miscommunication and one of the zones didn't

get assigned sister training leaders, so the next zone over is in

charge... us! So 3 more intercambios the last week and a half of the

transfer. AH! I was feeling really stressed out until I found out that

Hermana Berry got to come with me :) That was SO FUN! I got to be with

my baby again! We have grown so much in the last year. She is

seriously the sweetest person I have ever met and it was so fun to be

with her again. And this week I get to be with Hermana Baxter :) She's

my friend from BYU and I can't think of a better way to finish our

missions. Stay tuned!

Gerardo is doing great. We set his fecha back to the 18th so we would

have time to teach everything and his response was the best. A lot of

people say maybe or i'll try, but Gerardo said, "I will be prepared

for that day!" And has been talking about it ever since. He's so

excited it's the cutest thing. Every lesson is always a great one with

him!

Aga just has my heart. She really does! She is down to one cigarette

now. Almost there! Then we need to address the law of chastity... but

she really had made so much progression! She'll get baptized one day

soon. She's so excited to meet mom and dad. She's been talking about

it for the last two weeks! So excited for you to meet her.

We have two great new investigators that were member references and

they are great. The first one is Aldo and the second is Clotilde.

There really is such a difference between the lesson we have with and

without members. So you all have a job (and me soon too!). Find the

missionaries and go out on a lesson with them. There are very few

things more powerful!

We have a goal to meet the members and we came up with a new message

to share with them during our visits with them. We have been watching

the last 5 minutes of Grandfathers talk "Ask the Missionaries!" and it

has been so wonderful. Whether we help them with their genealogy,

visiting teaching, or teach their friends, we have already seen the

results. So thank you Grandfather! Plus it's a fun excuse to see him

for a few minutes every day :)

Okay I think that is about it. I love love love being a missionary.

And I am SO grateful for my companion. She is an absolute angel and

i'm so thankful for her patience with me! The mission is shaping me

into the person that my Heavenly Father wants me to be and I can't

think of anything better. I love it here. The people here have my

heart! I'm ready to give my everything to them this last week. Thank

you for everything and I hope you have a wonderful week :) Love you!

xo,

Hermana Marsh

The handouts we've been giving to the members during our visits with
them :) it allows us to serve our wonderful members more and it gives
me an excuse to see a little clip from my cute grandfather everyday!

 A few of my favorite members at church yesterday :)

February 22, 2016

Mi Familia :)

Oh it is so fun to hear from you. I've been on the mission over 17

months and talking to you guys never gets old. Happy to hear that all

is well :) Happy Happy Birthday to my Emerson and Finlay! I can't

believe that my little boys are 9 years old. I love you two and I am

thinking of two! We had a great week this week i'm excited to tell you

about it.

This week was filled of lots of lasts. First off- last concilio. It

was so wonderful to be in the mission home full of missionaries. We

talked about the importance of our studies and using time wisely. It

was exactly what I  needed to hear because I need to study at home and

use time wisely at home too! I love it. My companion and I got to

play a musical number on the piano too which was really fun for us. I

love concilios I will miss them! We had our last temple trip too and

that place has grown so dear to me. I love the Spain Madrid Temple.

It also was my last Zone Conference which I thought went really well.

We even got to squeeze in my last intercambio with the hermanas from

Toledo. I got to go with Hermana Calderon who actually is going to

serve in the temple square mission. She is from Spain and is waiting

for her visa and she is the CUTEST thing. So excited to spoil her

rotten! She's wonderful. And as always, it was so great to be with

Hermana Toone as well. That girl has been such a blessing for me! We

got to share our final testimonies at the Zone Conferences together.

First and last!

The work is going! After concilio about using time wisely we decided

that we had some weeding out to do. That sounds really bad, but I

can't think of any other way to do it! We decided that if they weren't

progressing, we needed to take a break with them. That included Sonia

:( i'm really sad about it. But we have faith that The Lord will put

someone in our path that is prepared. Aga and Gerardo are still doing

well though! We also had a miracle with Lourdes this week. She hasn't

been answering our calls and I thought she was over it. BUT she ran

into a member at the doctors and it turns out her phone broke in

Ecuador and we are going over this week! WAHOO! Stay tuned :)

We have been doing lots of finding this week and are excited to see

what happens with the people that we have found. Our menos activos are

doing great as well :) I love being here. I just am feeling really

weird right now! Excited to see my family soon, but really there isn't

anything better than being a missionary. Especially in the best

mission in the world ;) I love my Savior and am thankful for the

blessing to testify of Him 24/7. I love you all and hope you have a

great week!

xo,

Hermana Marsh

Concilio day!

Las Palmas crew :)

 Couldn't resist buying a little treat for the birthday girl. She is my favorite!

 Homemade valentines cookies with Lydia and Patricia :) cutest family.

  

 Mom and Dad, we are waiting for you!!!!!!!!!

February 15, 2016

Mis Queridos :)

Happy Valentine's Day! I love you all and I'm very thankful to have

you in my life :) I hope you are having a fun Presidents' Day weekend

too. The pictures from Arizona look amazing! Excited to tag along next

time. This week was a great one and absolutely flew like always.

Our people are doing well! We went over the baptismal questions this

week and it went really well. She only smoked a HALF of a cigarette

this week! She talked to her boyfriend and is making progress with

him, but once again she didn't show up at church again. So

frustrating! We confirm Saturday night, but something always comes up.

And that's a pretty important part of being a member of the church SO!

We'll probably push her fecha back again. Sad. She really is

progressing though, she just needs to come to church!

Gerardo is doing great though. We taught the word of wisdom this week

and it went well. He only has problems with coffee, but he said he had

no idea that God didn't want him to drink coffee and said he would be

done from here on out. The best! He is great and the members take such

good care of him. He still is working on Sundays at 12 and he doesn't

like that he can't keep all of the Sabbath day holy, but we are

praying for him.

Leidy is doing okay. We are trying our hardest to prepare great

lessons and invited the spirit, but she is always so distracted. We

met with their whole family last night though and her dad (member that

hasn't come to church in years) shared the strongest testimony. He is

going to be the key for this family! It was so cute though we asked

Ramber if he would offer the last prayer and he said "Yes, but can we

do it on our knees?" It was so cute. My companion just cried haha!

Hermana West's family came this week and we just tagged along to all

of their eating appointments it was the greatest. This ward sure does

love her it was pretty great to see. Especially Aga. She just cried

the poor thing! We had a really great lesson with her this week on the

Law of Chastity. We are one step closer!

Things are going really well here. I don't know if I could be happier!

We had a pretty great day today. I got to see ALL of my companions

that haven't already gone home it was wonderful! We went to the

Titanic museum which meant I got to listen to my heart will go on all

day so I was pretty content :) This week is going to be a big one. I

have my last concilio, temple trip, intercambios, and zone training.

Yay! It's going to be busy. And that's how I like it! Thank you for

everything you do for me. You guys really are the best! I love you and

am praying for you. Until next week!

xo,

Hermana Marsh

Sent from my iPad

 Picture from the last concilio I forgot to send.

Temple pics :)

 Literally SPRINTING to catch the bus.

 So nasty haha!

 I held a baby... My companions little brother doesn't count right?!

 P day activity. Titanic exhibit!

My comps :) Alcorcon, Las Palmas, and barrio 3!

 Posterity picture! Get this. My granddaughter is Italian! Ha! I love it.

 I broke my investigators door... They said fuerte Hermana and so I was

fuerte!! The worst hahah.

Look who's here from the north! Had to squeeze in a llaollao trip.

February 8, 2016

Mi Familia

HI! Oh it's so fun to get to hear from you guys. Mondays really never

get old for me. I'm happy to hear that everyone is doing well! Things

are going well here in Spain. It was week one of the transfer and it

FLEW. Week one is normally so slow! So that makes me a little nervous,

but time flies when you're having fun :) We really did have a lot of

miracles though and i'm excited to tell you all about it.

We had the COOLEST miracle with our investigator Gerardo. We went to

our lesson and he told us that before we started, he had some

questions for us. That is either a good thing or a bad thing, and in

this case it was a good thing :) He opens his book of mormon to the

one and only... 2 Nefi 31! Basically one of the best chapters in the

book of mormon about the doctrine of Christ. He then continues to read

verse 12. Go read it. I was freaking out! He found that all by himself

and we spent the rest of the lesson talking about baptism. This guy is

prepared!!

Ramber was confirmed a member of the church yesterday and it was one

of the cutest things. It's so special to see his brother baptize and

confirm him. We met with his sister Leidy twice this week ands she is

doing well. I feel like our lessons go really well and that she is

really engaged, but Sunday rolls around and she still doesn't come.

So we'll have to figure that one out.. She really is doing well

though!

Sonia didn't fall off the face of the earth, she just got a job. Happy

for her sad for me haha! She is watching her friends girls and she

works sundays, but she said she'd ask her friend if she could bring

the girls to church. Fingers crossed! Smoked only 1 time all last week

though :) It was the hiring week I guess though because Aga got a job

too and hardly has any time. The worst. We'll still pass when we can,

but things aren't looking to great for her.

We'll have our last lesson with Nicole tonight and I am so sad. She

really is one of the best investigators i've had... She'd get

baptized this transfer! But that's okay she'll go to Peru and share

the gospel with her family. Then come back and get baptized in May :)

The good news is that Lourdes gets home this week!!! YES!! Now i'm

just debating how soon is too soon to call... I'm a little excited

i've missed her!

We had our Mission Tour this week and we had Elder Moreira come. He is

AWESOME. Seriously so funny, but so serious all at the same time. He

shared with us the story about when Christ used 5 loaves of bread and

2 fish to feed the entire multitude. I'd heard this story many times,

but he said something that stuck out to me this time. Do you know what

kind of bread it was? Barley bread. That's the bread they give to

pigs, not people. But Christ made it possible so that this bread that

really isn't that appetizing fill thousands. He then talked about how

as missionaries, we really are nothing. But The Lord works with us and

shapes us so we can be the miracles and fill people spiritually. I

really am nothing. All success that I have had on my mission is thanks

to Him! I'm grateful that he trusts me enough though to work through

my weaknesses so others can have the gospel.

I love this gospel with all my heart and I can't imagine doing

anything else with my life right now. Hermana Spencer is wonderful and

I feel so lucky to be her companion. I hope you all have a wonderful

week I will talk to you soon!

xo,

Hermana Marsh

Thanks for the new shirt!!! I love it :)

 this is from lunch today :)    Nilo is my favorite. 

Very few people are invited to P-day activities haha!

February 1, 2016

Mis Queridos :)

HI! What a wonderful week it has been. I'm so proud of Hermana West

she did it! And we ended it with a baptism. I can't think of a better

way! It was absolutely wonderful Ramber is great. The greatest news is

I already love my new companion. Her name is Hermana Spencer and she

started in Mostoles my third transfer in Alcorcon. I'm so excited for

this transfer. Still can't believe that it's my last one, but we are

ready to go! Thank you for all of the updates and pictures. Happy to

hear everyone is happy and healthy!

The baptism yesterday really was wonderful, but my favorite part was

probably what happened after. They invited us over for dinner last

night and it honestly was one of the funnest nights of my mission. We

had a great lesson and then they planned a little dispedida for my

companion and it was such a great night. He's mom still likes us which

is the biggest miracle. And Leidy wants to hear the lessons again!

She's going to be next :)

Nicole is doing great. She had work yesterday, but told her boss she

would be late and came to church anyway :) SO SAD she is going to

Peru. It's okay though she's going to do it when she gets back! Sonia

and Lenny kind of fell off the face of the earth this week which

breaks my heart... but whatever happens will be for the best I guess!

We have been praying a lot lately for Aga and decided that we need to

focus more on her and the results have been amazing. She is a pretty

big smoker and drinker and we were always a little scared to teach the

word of wisdom though. We were big brave girls though and asked her to

set a goal to start quitting. We were thinking she was going to say

maybe 10 cigarettes and 2 beers a day or something like that, but she

said 2 cigarettes a day and 0 beers. And you know the best part? She's

doing it!!! I'm so proud of her. She loves coming to church too and

just cried when Hermana West left. I know she loves our visits and

it's the best feeling.

One more new guy! We have this guy named Gerardo that we are teaching

and he has come to church for 3 weeks in a row now. I didn't tell you

about him because he works a ton and hasn't had much time to meet with

us during the week, but he comes to church and the members love him! I

would have it that way than the other way around any day. He told us

that he wants to get baptized, but we've literally only had 2 lessons

with him haha! We are excited though and praying that he likes the

commandments haha!

I think that is about it as far a the people go. I really am so

excited for the next 5 weeks i'm going to hit the ground running!

Hermana Spencer and I are the sister training leaders for our zone

still and have a meeting this week after our mission tour which should

be incredible. This week is going to be a great one. I love being a

missionary!! I wish I could express it more. I love being here with

these wonderful people. Thank you for the love and support you send my

way. I can feel your prayers! I love you and hope you have a great

week.

xo,

Hermana Marsh

 My wonderful companion. I will miss her!

 I LOVE THIS FAMILY.

 Otra vez :)

 Last district meeting for Hermana West!

 MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! For Hermana West... I still have 5 weeks 😝

 I love this family too. The people here are just GREAT.

Lunch with the elders!