October 19, 2015

Hello family!

Thank you thank you for all the great updates! Happy to hear that all

is well on your side of the pond :) Things are going really well here

in Madrid. We had an awesome week in Madrid. I'm excited to tell you

all about it!

First off, we had two of our six intercambios this week and they were

awesome. For the first one, Hermana Hinton came here with me in Barrio

3. She is in training with Hermana Rossberg (I'm a grandma!) and

she is awesome. I asked her what made her decide to come on a mission

and she said, "The gospel is just the best and everyone needs to hear

it!" haha I love it :) Fun to work with her. Then I went up to

Villalba with Hermana Stephenson and oh I LOVED it. If I ever move to

Spain i'm living in Villalba. It is up my the mountains and it is

absolutely beautiful there! And only about 30 minutes from Madrid :)

Hermana Stephenson is an awesome missionary too it was fun to work

with her.

We had lots of miracles this week in Barrio 3. The first I wanted to

tell you about was Lourdes. So in our piso, we have this chest of

drawers with all sorts of things in it. It wasn't that bad, but from

the first day I got here I have been dying to organize it haha! We

don't have much free time as missionaries and everytime we had a spare

minute or two, something came up. One morning this last week I had had

it and opted to organize it over doing my hair (Hermonie hair yayy). I found a carpeta in it from about two years ago that hadn't been

touched in two years! This is gold for missionaries!! We opened it up

and the first page was Lourdes. She had heard everything and was ready

to get baptized 2 years ago, but she wasn't married. We called her and

set up an appoinment and guess what... She's married now!!! She said

she got married in may and has been thinking about the missionaries

and baptism since then. She wants to hear everything again since it

has been 2 years, but so much potential there! Not sure if it was the

Spirit or my OCD that made me clean that morning, but i'm very happy I

did :)

Next miracle- Calixto. He is a 30 year old man from Ecuador and he is

awesome. We met him at the ward party last week and were able to teach

him lessons 1 and 2 this week. He loved it! Especially lesson 2. The

plan of salvation is that best! He wasn't able to come to church

yesterday, but wow that guy is prepared. I'm excited to see what's in

store for him. We were able to find a few more new investigators this

week and now we just need to make the change from new to progressing.

I am amazed at the blessings we are receiving over here!

Our other main investigators are doing pretty well. Elena is solid, we

are still working on helping Aga quit smoking, and Ramber and Leidy

are still kind of in the same boat. It's really hard with a mom that

isn't supporting them at all, but there brother gets home from his

mission in December and i'm excited to see if anything will change

with that. I forgot to tell you guys about Nemesio too. He is a

Spaniard man married to one of the members and he's tough. I love

spaniards with all my heart. They are so caring and sincere, but they

are also very blunt and a little stubborn. We met with him last night

and i'm hoping something we said touched him. Pray for that guy!

Fun fact- I think I might have eaten horse this week. I don't know if

I really did or if the elders are just enjoy stressing me out, but

either way I ate some type of meat that was not bee, pork, or chicken

haha. It was yummy!

Also, this week is Stake Conference and guess who is in my stake...

Alcorcon!!! I get to see my family from there!!! I am so so excited :)

I think that is about it for this week. It is raining like crazy

almost every day, but The Lord is blessing us with lessons in a warm

chapel so it is all good :) I absolutely love my companion. She is

doing so good at not getting trunky! She's so much fun to be around

and i'm learning new things from her every day. I still love being a

missionary :) Thank you for all of the love and support you send me. I

couldn't do it without you guys! Have a great week 

xo,

Hermana Marsh

Villalba!!! You are supposed to be able to see the mountains in the
background. I don't really know what happened, but there ya have it.

 Can you see the cross from the apartment window?? It's right next to villalba!! 

Remember when dad fell?? 

Oh you guys are the best hahaha I love you!

 Yep my umbrella broke in half hahaha that was a fun rest of the night!

We got our hairs cut

October 12, 2015

Hi cute family!

Monday's are the greatest. I love hearing about all your adventures!

Happy to hear that everyone is doing well. What a great week we had in

Barrio 3. My testimony of the power of prayer was strengthened so much

this week. I know that if we pray with specific questions or needs

then do our part, The Lord does his. We saw so many miracles this

week. I'm excited to tell you about a few!

The week started off with our concilio at the mission home and I

always leave so ready to work! We talked about the plan of salvation,

keeping the sabbath day holy, and finding with faith. The thing that

stuck out to me the most was finding! Hermana Pack talked about the

importance of asking specifically about what we want to happen, then

going and doing it. We put that to the test and I am so grateful for

it. I know that Heavenly Father lives and listens to our prayers. This

knowledge has made my prayers more sincere and my relationship with my

heavenly father stronger. How grateful I am for prayer!

After concilio I was able to go on our first intercambio for the

transfer (we have SIX!). I stayed here in Barrio 3 with Hermana

Freestone and it was great. It was only my second week here so it was

an adventure trying to get around, but it all worked out! She is an

amazing missionary. Hermana Toone trained her so it was fun to share

stories and to learn more from her.

I got to meet a few more investigators this week that I wanted to tell

you about. The first is Aga. She is from Poland and has been through

SO much. If I told you you wouldn't believe me! She has a long way to

go, but she absolutely loves coming to church and meeting with us.

She's so cute she is trying to quit smoking and it is really hard for

her, but she makes sure that no matter what she doesn't smoke sundays

so she can come to church clean. It's a start! Like I said it will be

a while, but I have faith!

I also wanted to tell you about a family we found, the Claure Family.

The dad is a less active, mom anti-mormon, son on the mission, and we

are teaching their other kids Leidy and Ramber. We had a lesson with

the whole family and it was very clear that the mom did NOT want her

son to be on a mission or for her other kids to be going to be

baptized any time soon. We left a little discouraged thinking there

wasn't much hope, but Ramber walked in to church all alone sunday.

This guy is amazing!

The greatest thing happened this week. We were walking to pass by for

some investigators when we saw this woman carrying home groceries when

her bag broke. We went over to help her and long story short we ended

up in her house teaching the restoration and have an appointment to

see her again this week. A million and one things happened so that our

paths crossed and it is so evident to me that The Lord is at the helm!

Last story sorry we will be here all day. Yesterday we had 2 lessons

set up with people that seemed a little sketchy. We were walking to

the lesson and I pulled out my iPad to look up an address of a less

active the bishop told us to go visit soon. Right when I found it my

companion said, "Hermana I think we should go visit that family Bishop

told us to go see." I turned my iPad to show her what I just looked up

and we just smiled and were off! She let us in and ended up teaching

her sister who isn't a member. It went so well and have an another

appointment this sunday to go and see her and well as tuesday to meet

her husband who isn't a member. What!! The Lord is so great.

I could go on and on. This was a really great week. Really fast though

we ended the week with a ward activity and it was so great. The

majority of members brought their friends and we have a few that are

interested in hearing a little more. So excited! I feel like the work

is picking up a little and i'm excited to see what is in store. I

don't know how to describe it other than saying that I know that God

lives and answers prayers. We have struggles to make us stronger and

even when they are hard, we turn out better because of them. I am

grateful for the hard days because they caused me to turn to my

Heavenly Father and know him better. And I can't think of anything

better! I love this gospel with all my heart. As President Uchtforf

said, "It works wonderfully!" Have a great week!

xo,

Hermana Marsh

Concilio! :)

 Zone Conference!

October 5, 2015

Hola Queridos!

Oh it's so great to hear from you all. Happy that everyone is doing

well and enjoyed conference :) Wasn't it amazing?! I still am in awe

at how blessed we are to get to experience that twice a year. It is

amazing that even though there are thousands of members all around the

world listening, it seems like the words were prepared just for me. I

came to conference with LOTS of questions and I was able to receive

guidance and direction from The Lord with all of them. I want to share

some insights with two of my questions, but first I have to recognize

my cute grandfather. He did amazing! I absolutely sobbed the whole

time haha! So very proud of him.

My first question will help you fill in a little bit about how my new

area is. Precursor though: This experience is not to complain! I feel

so incredibly blessed to be serving where I am and with who I am with.

I am doing great and am happy, this experience will just help the

miracle of the story :) We have a couple of friends that are

progressing and are ready to accept the gospel, but other than that we

are basically starting from square one. We have spent a lot of time in

the streets which has actually been a really great experience for me.

My weaknesses are becoming stronger and I have never given so much my

in my entire mission which is a great feeling when we get home every

night. We talked to everyone we passed and have had some amazing

conversations, but it is a little disheartening when the numbers turn

out being false or promised people don't show. My question was, "How

can I find happiness in trials and make sure I am giving it my all?"

After watching General Conference I was overwhelmed with The Spirit

and received my answer- love! Whether that means serving my companion,

seeing the people in the streets as children of God, or a simple smile

to the members here. Looking back I realized that that really is when

I am the happiest and i'm excited to put it in practice this week :)

My second question had regards to the spirit and how I can better

follow its whisperings. I had all types of different thoughts and

ideas running through my head throughout the conference and i'm not

going to lie, I felt a little confused by the end. My emotions were

all over the place, then cute President Eyring started. I think he

wrote that talk just for me! It was exactly what I needed to hear and

I can't wait to reread it. I LOVE conference! I love our dear prophet.

I am so grateful that someone like him is willing to give literally

everything he has so that I can be closer to my Heavenly Father and

Jesus Christ. The church is so true!

Okay there was my general conference rant. I love it!!! I really am so

happy to be here in Barrio 3. It's fun to be back in Madrid! :) The

members here are so great i'm so excited to get to know them better.

We do have one friend that I wanted to tell you about, her name is

Elena. EIGHT years ago she was praying to know which church she should

join. That night she had a dream and she saw a church and the plaque

was blurred except the last words: "ultimos dias." The NEXT DAY

missionaries came knocking at her door. How great is Heavenly Father?!

She has had problems getting divorce papers from Bolivia so that she

can marry her boyfriend, but all the papers are done! We are know just

waiting for them to be mailed here and her and her boyfriend are

getting married and baptized December 24th :) She is great!

My companion is a machine. This is her last transfer and you would

never guess it she is on fire! I am so grateful for her hard work, she

makes me a better missionary. And she helps me SO much with my spanish

ah!! So grateful for her. I am so excited for this transfer and to see

what The Lord has prepared for this part of his vineyard. Being a

missionary is my greatest blessing. I love it! Thank you for all of

the love and support you send my way. Have a great week!

xo,

hermana marsh

Some are missing, but a few of my cute companions! :)

 This woman got baptized one month ago and you would never believe it.

She is a rock! Her kids will be old enough to get baptized soon :) 

She is amazing and her kids are DARLING.

September 28, 2015

Mis Queridos 

Happy Monday! So fun to read about your weeks, i'm glad everything

went well. We had a pretty crazy week over here in Spain with

tranfers. As i'm sure you heard, i'm leaving paradise which absolutely

breaks my heart, but i'm going to a great place. It's pretty funny

actually about 3 days before we found out about transfers we were

playing the what if game and at one point I said, "I just want to stay

or go to Barrio 3 with Hermana Irigoyen!" Lo and Behold The Lord was

listening.... I'm going to Barrio 3 with Hermana Irigoyen! She is from

Argentina (native wahoo!!) and I have only heard great things. We are

going to be the sister training leaders there too which will keep us

extra busy. Hermana Griffin served there before she absolutely loved

it. So i'm excited :) Sad to leave paradise, but happy to go back to

civilazation haha 

I do have some final updates on my people, the highlight definitely

being with Susi. She was confirmed yesterday and is now the newest

member in Las Palmas! She is incredible. She is going to help the

church in the islands be strengthened so much. She is already saying

the opening prayer in Relief Society and will have a calling in no

time :) I love this family I am so excited for them.

Next up, Danny. We had the BEST lesson with him this week. We didn't

even bring it up, he just started asking all of these questions about

his baptism and confirmation. He wants to get baptized and is ready to

go, he just wants to make sure his faith and testimony are strong

enough, which I am totally fine with. We have only been meeting for 6

weeks! Through out the lesson told us though that he has made the

decision to get baptized, he just wants to be more prepared. Sad to

miss it, but excited for the picture that will be coming soon :) He is

such a cool guy I feel so blessed to have met and shared the gospel

with him.

Marina is also progressing towards her baptism as well. She is set for

just a few weeks away and feels ready, but wants her husband to be

there. He left to go visit his family in Brazil and will be back in

December. Again, sad to leave, but excited to see the pictures haha :)

Last night they showed the women's broadcast and we were BAD

missionaries and totally spaced telling her about it. But I guess she

was paying attention during the announcements at church because she

showed up all on her own :) THE BEST! She got me the cutest gift, I'm

going to miss her!

The Benitez Family... wow that was hard saying goodbye to them!

Vanessa is hands down the most prepared investigator I have ever

taught. This week she asked is there was a member going to the temple

soon so they could do the work for her mom and her grandmother. What

investigator says that?! She is doing a LOT better with the word of

wisdom and is still coming with her dad and her girls every week.

Praying hard that she will get baptized soon.

We met with Lilian this week and her life is just really hard. On top

of everything that she is going through, she has been SO sick these

last few weeks. She hasn't been able to make it to church because of

that, but she has been reading the book of mormon every single day.

She told us this week that she missed her bus because she was so into

the part that she was reading haha she is great. I'm going to miss her

and Scarlett so much!

We got the best news this week too. Yamilka is moving to Virginia in

the UNITED STATES!!! She'll be there in November and I am so so

excited. I was absolutely dreading saying goodbye to her because we

have gotten so close over the last 6 months, but yesterday wasn't even

hard because i'll get to see her so soon! So so so excited.

Just so you know though, things aren't all rainbows and butterflies

here. This week I got pooped on by a bird... Right in the middle of my

head!!! That was a lame day. I do NOT like pigeons (sorry emma).

I love Las Palmas! I am so grateful that I got to serve here. The

members here are absolutely incredible I am going to miss them like

crazy. They have taught me so much and have strengthen my testimony in

ways that no one else could. The only thing that helped me not cry my

face off was that I will get to see them again in March. Heads up mom

and dad that is going to be a rough despedida! I'm excited for the

next chapter though, good things are ahead in Barrio 3. I love you

guys thank for all of the love and support you send my way. I couldn't

do this without you! Have a great week 

xo,

Hermana Marsh

Sent from my iPad

La Familia Roka. The most incredible family! I'm going to be a better member of the church thanks their examples. Love them! (Pretty Willy is here... He needs to be mentioned!)

Susi and her darling girls 

 YAMILKA! She is my miracle in Las Palmas. I still can't believe how great she is! 

Luckiest missionary in the world.

 My little girls 💕

They are the daughters of our recent convert Yajaira and wow am I going to miss that family. So darling!

   Danny Boy! Next pic you see of him will be his baptism :)

September 21, 2015

Mi Querida Familia,

Here we are at Monday again! Oh it is so fun to hear from you guys

every week. Thank you for the pictures, emails, and videos there

really isn't anything better. This week was AMAZING! Seriously there's

no way i'm going to be able to explain how great it was (and how FAST

it went!), but I will try my best :) It's going to be long head's up!

Madrid was awesome. We got in early Monday and went straight to

Pavones to play basketball with the Elders. Don't get me wrong I love

sports and everything, but the Lovell's were right there in the MTC so

we took that as a good excuse to go visit them. It was so fun to be

with them. After that we went to the mission home for lunch, to write

our families, and cook with Hermana Pack. After that we got to work! I

went contacting with a member named Augustine. She is about 70 years

old and i'm not going to lie I felt a little nervous for the next 3

hours, but wow was I wrong. She is a power house haha!! It was awesome

I learned a lot from her. After we got to sleep in the mission home

with some of the other sisters from the North and it was great.

Tuesday was the concilio and it was amazing. I can't even express how

great the Packs are! We talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ, but

more specifically the first two steps: faith and repentance. As

missionaries we focus two much on the baptism and we brush over the

first two steps that make baptism possible. We also talked about the

Sabbath Day and how our faith will grow when we are obedient to this

commandment. I loved everything about it! Our flight didn't leave

until wednesday so we spent the day helping the Packs with some things

and I felt right at home. They seriously are my parents here and I am

so grateful for them. They even woke up at 5 in the morning to take us

to the airport! They are amazing and I feel so blessed to have them as

my mission presidents.

Wednesday and Thursday we spent in Tenerife doing intercambios and

Zone trainings. It is so fun to be with other missionaries! I don't

know if it is just because I am serving on a teeny island, but any

chance we get to visit with other missionaries is a great one. I went

out with Hermana Mattson and she is an incredible missionary. After a

long four days though, we were very happy to come home to Las Palmas

and get to work.

The big news is Susi's baptism. Oh wow that might have been the best

baptism I have every been to I just cried! We've been waiting for

September 20th for a long time and it still doesn't even feel real.

And the biggest miracle... her ex-husband came! This man wants nothing

to do with the mormon church and we were all in shock when he walked

in the door. Not only did he come, but when Susi was sharing her

testimony, we looked back and he was in tears. Which only resulted in

the girls running up to us with tears in their eyes telling us that

their dad felt the spirit. It was a miracle! Hoping and praying that

they can get baptized soon. It was amazing.

Danny is the best. Yesterday at the baptism he kept just saying how

nervous and excited he was. He is still deciding on whether or not he

wants to get baptized this saturday or wait a few weeks, but we're

probably going to hold off a little bit. There's no hurry! Sad for me

because i'm most likely not going to be here, but he's getting

baptized!! Best news for a missionary :) Marina came to the baptism

too and is so excited for when it is going to be her turn. We are very

blessed missionaries here in Las Palmas!

This is the last week of the transfer and we are receiving 43 new

missionaries this transfer... 43! Lots of changes and crazy things

coming up we are excited.

I love my companion, mission presidents, investigators, area, members,

family, and most importantly my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus

Christ. I am overwhelmed in the blessings that I have received this

last year and the person that I have become thanks to them. I love

being a missionary and am excited to give it my all these last 6

months. Thank you for all of the love and support, have a great week!

xo,

hermana marsh

 

 Sister training leaders and Zone leaders of the Spain Madrid Mission.

 All together!

 Hermana Finch! :)

They have a yellow capilla... are you kidding?! I love it.

 Bautismo! :)

September 14, 2015

Hola Mis Queridos :)

Here we are at Monday again! I can't believe it. Currently writing you

from the airport on the way to Madrid. We have our Mission Leadership

Conference tomorrow, then we are off to Tenerife for intercambios.

It's going to be a crazy week! Sad to not get to be in Las Palmas with

our investigators and members, but The Lord will be taking good care

of them while we are gone. It sounds like you had a great week! I'm

excited to tell you about mine.

At the beginning of this week, I went to Telde to do an intercambio

with Hermana Clements and it went great! I went on my very first

intercambio with her when she was only 7 months in the mission, and

now she's in her last transfer. It was fun to see how we have grown

over the last 10 months (especially in spanish!). I learned a lot from

her and I'm grateful I got to go. As always though, I was very happy

to be back in my area with my companion and investigators. They are

the best!!

First up this week, Danny. He is doing great! We went to a family home

evening with the Mesa Family last night and they were astounded at how

he found us and how quickly he is progressing. One of the members kept

on saying, "wow this guy is a golden!" We feel igual :) I love our

lessons with Danny. He always comes with about 4 or 5 questions and

always asks us questions in between. He has been to church 3 weeks in

a row now, and is still preparing for next week! He knows he wants to

get baptized, he's just not sure if he wants to do it this fast or

not. Totally understandable, and we will be happy with whatever he

chooses!

We met with Marina this week and great news... she has a fecha! We

taught The Plan of Salvation and she absolutely loved it. She accepted

her date without a doubt :) We still have things to teach, but we're

going forward with faith. She is one of the most giving people. It

doesn't matter what we say, she never lets us leave empty handed. She

is still our little missionary and is always mingling with the other

members. She's great!

Our girls (Vanessa, Lilian, and Susi) are all doing great as well. Big

news is we had Susi's interview this week and she is good to go! This

week people!!! I remember her telling us September 20th and thinking

it was ages away, but here we are. So excited for her.

I need to take a minute to talk about the members here. I'm diligent

in letting you know about the people we are teaching, but I very

rarely talk about the people that are keeping me together. These

members here are my family and I am so thankful for them! Whether it's

helping with lessons, inviting us over for lunch, or even just

visiting with us at church on Sunday, I will forever be thankful for

them! I couldn't do this without them and I hope you can meet them one

day :) Okay rant over haha!

We were immensely blessed this week. I'm still amazed every time I

think about it. Between members, contacts from other missionaries, and

contacts from ourselves, we had a lot of lesson 1's set up for this

last week. Normally lesson 1's have a history for being a little

sketchy, but all of them were amazing. We are starting this next week

with a lot of new investigators, and I am so grateful! I'm not going

to tell you about them yet because I don't want to jinx it, but stay

tuned :) It's my 4th transfer here and i'm just kicking myself because

I don't want to leave! There is a lot of work to be done here and I

wouldn't mind staying in Paradise a little longer, but I'll go where

The Lord wants me to go!

The church is true. I know it, I live it, I love it! And sharing it is

the greatest experience I have ever had. Thank you so much for the

love and support. Have a great week! 

xo,

Hermana Marsh

I had to eat cake blindfolded in district meeting this week... Score.

 Our Pinterest skills were put to test this week. Our recent converts daughter turned three this week and we were put in charge of the balloon arch. I thought it turned out pretty great! These girls are darling!!

Carmen turned 13 this week! Only 5 more years until her baptism wahoo!!! :)

I took Hermana Griffin to my favorite spot this week. Paradise!

Madie made it to Madrid for the leadership training.  Here is what she had to say:

"We made it to Madrid and look who we got to visit! I LOVE the Lovells.

They are amazing! Fun way to celebrate one year in the mission :)"

September 7, 2015

Hola Mi Familia!

So great to hear from you all this week. You all sound great! Lots of

September birthdays- special shoutout to Ricky, Moo Face, and

Grandfather! I love you all and hope you have/had the best day.

Thinking of you! Lots of great things happened this week in Las

Palmas, I'm excited to tell you all about it! Pre-warning: I feel like

this week is going to be SUPER long so make sure you get a treat or

something before you start reading this.

First up, we had our Zone Conference this week and it was amazing! It

is always so fun to be with the Packs. The main focus was on the

Restoration and the importance of us to have a testimony of it. We

practiced teaching lesson 1 in 4 minutes (like they did in the mission

president seminar) and it was a great experience for me. 4 minutes

doesn't give you much time to say anything that isn't important, and I

love the way it has changed the way I teach lesson 1. The doctrine in

it is amazing I love lesson 1! Also, after we got to do intercambios

with the hermanas in Los Cristianos- Hermanas Turina and Finch.

Highlight of my week they are great!

Okay, I love our investigators. They are the best! I'll start with

Danny. We met with him twice this week and he is doing great. He

talked about the changes he has made the last month that he has been

meeting with us, and he loves the difference in his life. He expressed

his desires to be baptized and we invited him to be baptized September

26th. We still have things to teach and every time we meet with him he

has about 5 questions for us, but I have faith! He came to church

yesterday for the 2nd week in a row and he loved it. He's great!

This update is short, but we went to visit the Benitez Family and you

will never believe what Vanessa is doing. Personal Progress! Cory

started, and she wanted to do it as well :) She's amazing!

Susi is still ready to go for the 20th :) She bore her testimony is

church yesterday and invited the whole congregation to her baptism

hahaha she is the best! The best part is half of the ward didn't even

know she was an investigator. She blends right in! Her baptism is next

week... I can't wait!

Intermission Break: We were at an investigators and I drank wine this

week... ah!! I didn't know it was wine I just thought it was really

gross juice. Then my companion told me after haha it was nasty. Also I

ate rabbit this week and I liked it!

Lilian is incredible. You wouldn't believe the things she has been

through, and all of the faith that she has at the end of it all. I

admire her so much! She is passing through really hard times right

now, but she has never lost her faith in God. I saw her walk into

church yesterday and it almost made me cry. This is her 9th time at

church it wasn't like it was anything new, but just to see the

priority that God is in her life despite everything that is happening

is admirable.

We had another huge miracle yesterday at church with Marina. She

brought her friend to church! Her name is Regina and she's great. And

no this wasn't the reference that she had given us earlier this

week... She's the greatest little missionary! We met with her this

week and her husband was there this time and he is incredible to! Of

course he had to leave the next day for Brazil for 90 days... but

that's okay! Marina is progressing and in December her husband will be

too :) He said he sees missionaries in Brazil all the time and

promised us he'd stop them if he sees them.

I think that is about it for this week! We are doing great. I love my

companion, investigators, and members! They are the greatest I feel so

blessed to be here in Las Palmas. Being a missionary is the greatest I

am grateful for it every day. Thank you for all of the love and

support you send my way! Have a great week and i'll talk to you soon

😘

xo,

Hermana Marsh

Zone Conference!