The Economy in Spain

Crystal had an excellent question in her letter, and I'll answer it here so you all can read the answer... she asked if it is apparent living here day to day that the economy is bad... the answer is YES. it is really bad here. so many stores have been closed. everyone we talk to is looking for jobs.. there are no jobs. if you have a job, you are lucky. everyone is always talking about the crisis... it is really intense.  there are people who cannot come to church all the time because they dont have gas money to get there because they are out of work... the crisis also is affecting missionary work. In some ways it is good because there are so many people out of jobs, and so they have more time to meet with us, but then again it is bad because there are SO many people in the street that say that if there was a god that things wouldnt be so bad right now... all most people can think about is getting food on the table and finding a job-- they cant think about next week, nevermind eternity.. that is a little difficult. but with that being said, of course there are some people who are still doing ok. just the majority of poeple we talk to do not have enough.. it is really intense. 

lets see, i love you all so much! i hit my year mark in the mission this past week! one year ago i left home! i cant believe it! i cant wait to see you all!

Happy Easter in Sevilla

So Can you all believe that it is Easter already? Here in Spain, Semana Santa (Holy Week) started yesterday.Here in Sevilla is one of the regions where in Spain where they celebrate it the most. Every day there are processions where the differennt catholic brotherhoods will take out their images to the  street and havea  procession with a band... it is interesting. we actually had our first encounter withthis last night when we were walking home to our apartment. We got stuck, and could not pass streets tog et home for at leeast like 30 minutes. It was such an interesting experience! The tradition is interesting. it is hard to explain, but there were people everywhere, tehre were peple doing something called penetance in the streets marching with candles... yu should google it... they are people who are doing some  kinds of sacrifice and they dress is outfits.... sometimes they are white, sometimes other colors. interesting. anyways, it was quite a cultural experience!

 

I dont know what we will be doing for easter-- dont know if we will have any plans.. but HAPPY EASTER!!! I love easter. I think that  out of all of the holidays it is my favorite. The meaning of Easter is the most significant thing we could celebrate-- the atoning sacrifice of our savior and his triumphant resurrection. This is the reason why we have the opportunity to live with our families for eternity-- this is the reaso why we have the ablility to erase our mistakes through repentance, this is the reason why we can experience the consoling power of the savior´s love during our most difficult earthly trials. The atonement is somethign that i cannot even begin to comrepend, but that I know took place. I know that it is the center of the plan that God has for us, and I am infinately grateful. Take a look at Alma 7:11-13. It is a greatscripture about the atonement.... Christ suffered so that he would knnow how to succor us...that knowledge is simply amazing.

 

Things are going well here. I just got word today that it looks like 6 December will be my release date. See you call in 8 months! wow! I am really halfway done! weird!!  Anyways, I love you all and miss you so much.

Back in Dos Hermanas!

So I am back in Dos Hermanas with a permanent companion! it feel so good! I traveled to malaga this week to pick up my new companion. It was so fun to go to the mission home again!  I just love going to the mission home. President and Hermana Clegg really are like my parents here on the mission (dont worry mom and dad, I still miss you! haha). It really feels a little like being home when I am there.  Thursday night, just the missionaries who were going to be training were at the mission home-- we had a trainers training meeting, which was great. I love this work, and I am so blessed to be here. 

It was great to be there in Malaga, but it is also great to be back in Dos Hermanas. We have a baptism coming up on Sunday!!!!!!! I cannot wait! Carlos and Kevin will be getting baptized. We have worked so much with them preparing them, and they have so many righteous desires to follow christ. i will tell you more next week.  i miss you all so much!

 Hermana Collett and Hermana Letendre at Setenil.  A pueblo blanco in the province of Cadiz.

 Hermana Letendre, Hermana Sturgess and Hermana Torres hanging out in Malaga.

 Valerie in Plaza de Expana in Sevilla!  It is soooo beautiful!

 A family that Val and her companion are teaching in Dos Hermanas.

 Relief Society Activity Celebration for the Anniversary of Relief Society.

 All of the missionaries that will be training new missionaries this transfer as they were waiting for their new companions!

President and Hermana Clegg, Valerie and her new companion Hermana Roderick.

Another Week in Sevilla and Dos Hermanas

The american restaurant last week was good but a little pricey. I had a burger, which was actully pretty good, and a banana split! haha. it was pretty fun, and the inside looked like a 50s style diner.. it was really fun!

the best thing is that the 13 year old boy that I have been teaching  is for sure getting baptized!I cannot wait!! He is the most spiritually mature 13 year old that I have ever met.. He has so many wonderful thoughts about thigns, and he just loves church, and he just wants to do the right thing! His baptism was supposed to be the 18th, but we have decided to postpone it one week so that his grandmother, which has been traveling, will be able to be there. His grandmother has been taught  by the missionaries a few different times, and I really think that when she sees her grandson getting baptized that she will want to as well! I just cant wait! He has already been to a youg mens activity and he will be going to another this coming weekend! how great is that???!!!  I feel so blessed to be themissionary that gets to teach him. I cant just see him being a great leader in the church one day... and a missionary! I really think that he will stay strong and will serve a mission! I cannot wait!!!!

So this week has reallly been focused on him and preparing him for baptism. It is so amazing how the Lord prepares people. Carlos is so prepared. The spirit has taught him so much, and he has such a thirst for knowledge. When I first met him, he didnt really seem to have interest.... but when he watched the film about the restoration, everything changed. He all of a sudden began to understand. He is so amazing! I wish you call could meet him!!! 

This week I will be going to Malaga on Thursday and Friday to pick up my new companion! I will be training again, like i said before. This will be great! I really like training. You have the chance to really work with someone and help them to grow intot he missionary that they want to be. I feel so blessed to have the chance to train again.

Today for P Day we are going to go inot sevilla to see the cathedral there. google it. it is either the 2nd or 3rd largest cathedral in the world!!! it should be great!!!

I love the work that I am doing, and it is so amazing to see such grteat changes in peoples lives! thanks for your love and support!

Back to Do Hermanas Tomorrow!

so things are going well here. it has been a strange week because i have been living in sevilla with the hermanas here and traveling in to dos hermanas by train a few evenings a week to do some lessons there.  i CANNOT WAIT to get back to dos hermanas. i will receive a temporary companion tonight and tomorrow morning we will be back there. it has been rough to be here in sevilla because i feel like i am just watching things happen a little bit. it is amazing how as a missionary you really come to love your area. you come to love the people, the place, everything.  i just want to work!!


so today for pday we are going to an american restaurant!!! it is like a 50s style diner with burgers shakes and stuff.... we will see how authentic this is!!! hahaha... sevilla is nice, but it is a really big city! i am glad I am serving in dos hermanas!!! ttoday i got my hair cut a little and went to corte ingles, which is like macys here in spain. it is wonderful!!! i have been wanting to go there for  so long!!


ok, well i really need to go. cant think of whether there is anything else that i need to write. i love you all and i miss you all!!! 

Dos Hermanas y Sevilla

I feel so blessed to be teaching these people!!! right now, since i dont have a companion in dos hermanas, i am going to be staying with the hermanas in sevilla for this coming week. I will be traveling by train three times this week to dos hermanas to teach some lessons to these three investigators with members. then next monday or tuesday another hermana will be coming to be my companion for about week.... then after that week i wil get my permanent companion. it looks like i will be training again! wow!!!!! ahh. i keep being challenged by the Lord to work harder and harder. I know that I will continue to be blessed!!! Even thoug hthese last few weeks have been really hard, I am still happy, and I am still feeling good. Thanks for your support and for everything. I love you all so much. 

So, one thing that you might be interested in knowing is that the office elder called this week to ask me about when i would be going home. my normal release date is 7 feb. 2013. however, i told him that i need to come home early to get to school. he told me that he thinks my new releae date will be 6 december!!! it is not set in stone, but thats what it looks like! so, i think ill be home next christmas! we´ll see though. we have a new president coming in, so things might change, but it looks like that is it!!! wow! crazy, huh? the real date that i would be going home is dec. 27, but the church doesn't want to send people home two days after christmas, so looks like ill come home then! we´ll see!!!

7 Months!!!?!?!

So! How was everyone´s valentines day??!! We hada relief society activity where we decorated heart shaped cupcakes! haha it was pretty fun! So this week was pretty good. Kind of tough as far as the work goes--However, we have some great things happening thisweek and we are going to work hard to find new people to teach!

So today I complete 7 months in themission! can you believe it??!!! Time fliees by soooo quickly!! It is funny because in the mission sometimes it really feels like days go by slowly but that weeks and months go by really fast!!!

This week we ate with members everyday!! sometimes two time a day! uggh. I think the newness will wear off soon and we will not have so many eating citas... however, a few of these eating appointments are worth mentioning! First, Ricardo and Juanita are fromBolivia and Argentina. They live out in the campo in the middle of an olive grove!!!!! ricardo takes care of the olive trees for his job. It was soooo cool!!! unfortunately, it was night time and i could not see much, but they invited us to come back during the day sometime so that we could walk around the olive grove andall.. there are over 1000 trees there!!

Another great eating cita that we had was with the Black family.... AMERICANS!!!!!!! Brother Black is in the military and works on the base closeby. They are about the age of Crystal and Jess, and they have a 10 year old, 7 year old, and a 1 year old!!! how perfect! I felt like I was in crystal or Jess´s house!!! it was soooo amazing to have dinner and just talk to americans and just enjoy our culture! and our food! we had excellent ribs!!!! also, sister black offered to buy us whatever we want from the american food store on base! we already have a list of things that we want... for example: pancake mix, lucky charms, kraft mac and cheese, peanutbutter cups, root beer..... etc. hahaha I cant wait!!! i had SO much fun being in their home!!!

things are going great. im happy. i really like it here in the Sevilla area. everything looks more like what I imagines spain to look like. Also, there are Flamenco dresses EVERYWHERE. I amso happy I am here on my mission.I cant imagine my life without this experience already. What a blessing that I am here.

Hermana Letendre's Birthday Week!!!! :)

So things are going great here. I cannt believe that it is my birthday this week! i am getting old!!!! I found a member in the ward who has the same birthday as me! how cool! we are going over her house this week, so ia m going to bring her a little chocolate or something as a birthday present! The ward here is great. we took time this week to go over to a lot of members houses, it was really great to get to know them. There are a bot of great people. The ward here is about 60% inactive, so there are a lot of les active members that we need to meet. The Bishop here is really great, and is willing to help us a lot. THere are also a few sets of Americans in our ward! it is really exciting.... but the sad part is that they all live in Utrera, which is the Elder´s area, so we probably wont see them tooo much. But i Really like this area. It is letting me see a different side of Spain. I love La Mancha, and really miss the members there, but I really love the feel down here in Sevilla. It is more of what you imagine Spain to look like and be like. Here in the summer is gets SUPER hot, so hopefully I will be out of here by then! it gets to like 40-45 degrees celcius, which is soooooo hot! look that up to see that it is in F.

We are actually headed off to Ikea today! since the piso we live in used to be the elders, we dont really have very much kitchen stuff, so we are going to go buy stuff and get reimbursed by the mission for it! i am excited! anyways, i have to go...

Dos Hermanas in Dos Hermanas!!

Greetings from Dos Hermanas!!! It has been a crazy week! When we got here the Elders were here to pick us up and showed us around our piso and for the last few days they have been taking us around to show us things and to introduce us to members and investigators.

The new ward here is great! It isnt a very big ward. Also, there are Americans in the ward!!!!!!!! It is sooocool to be able totalk with them. We went over to our ward mission leader´s house-- he is half american half spanish, but grew up in america. His wife is spanish but i feel like i amin america in their house!!! he works on the american military base here so they have sooo much american food and stuff in their house!!!! i even for to drink a dr. pepper!!!! haha. it wasreally exciting!! haha

Things aregoing great. my new companion is wonderful! I do not feel overwhelmed like I thought i might. I feel supported by the Lord, bymy companion and by your prayers. It is a bit tough to be in a new place, and have a brand newcompanion, but things are going well so far!!! I amso excited about this challenge! We are basically starting the work fromground 0, and we will work work work until we find a lot of people to teach! This week is when we will actually get started because we wont be with the Elders this week... woo hoo. i am so excited.

Sevilla is soooo different from La Mancha. I feel like I am in Floridasometimes! haha it has that same feel--with palm trees and classic spanish style architecture... there is a big influence here from the arabs that occupied spain many many years ago... the buildings have tiles all over the walls with beautiful artistic designs... i will send photos soon! it is beautiful!

Thanks for allyour letters!!

Hermanas Conference in Malaga

So I am finishing up my last few days here in Ciudad Real. It is such a strange feeling to leave this area. I feel so excited to move on to Dos Hermanas, but at the same time, I am really sad to leave behind all of the people I love here in La Mancha. There is really something special about La Mancha that I do not think I will find anywhere else in the mission. This past few days, as I have started saying my goodbyes, I have realized how much I love these people and how much they love me. They are literally feel like they are family members. The members here are so impoortant to me--I just pray that they will see a baptism here soon so that they can get excited about missionary work again and really have more hope that the branch will grow.

This week we went to Hermana´s Conference in Malaga! It was sooooo fun! We were there for about 2.5 days and it was just great to see my old companions and also to meet all of the hermanas in the mission. President and Hermana Clegg do not have to have an Hermanas conference, they just do it because they want to. They are sooo wonderful! I feel so blessed to be in this mission!

Here are a few pictures from theSpain Malaga Mission Blog!

Twins!!! Valerie and Hermana Clegg have matching Swarovski earrings!

All 20 Hermanas in the Spain Malaga Mission at Hermanas Conference in Malaga.


Hermana Letendre meeting her new companion, Hermana Collett.
Hermana Collett & Val pointing to Dos Hermanas!!! Dos hermanas in Dos Hermanas, Spain!! How very cool!

Dos Hermanas!!

So this week was kind of a normal week, except this week, a LOT of people fallared us... (this means that they stood us up!). although we didnt have a lot of lessons, we had a good week! my companion and I were having a great week, then on saturday morning i received a phone call from President Clegg...............................He told me that I am going to be transferred rom Ciudad Real. I will be leaving Wednesday the 25th. I was not expecting to be transferred--i was thinking i would be here for one more transfer. Ok, so there is more news! President also told me that I will be going to an area that currently doesnt have hermanas--a city called Dos Hermanas!!!!! Right now there are Elders in Dos Hermanas, but the ward there has been asking for a set of hermanas. So, President is granting their wish and he is putting dos hermanas in Dos Hermanas!!! The Elders who are there are going to be moving to a pueblo outside of Dos Hermanas and we will be living in the Elder´s current appartment. Wow!! Dos Hermanas is located outside of Sevilla, so I will be going to Sevilla once a week for district meetings and all! how cool! oh... and that is not all. After President told me that I would be transferred to Dos Hermanas, he also told me that I will be training a new hermana. That´s right.... training! Whatttttt?! I couldnt believe it! This is sooo crazy! I was just barely trained. I only have 3 transfers in the mission, and I am going to train. Usually trainers have much more time in the mission. I felt pretty overwhelmed at first. It is really an interesting situation because I will be moving to a new area AND I will be training. We will have to learn the area together, we wil have to learn everything together! wow! President seems to have a lot of confidence in me, and so does the Lord. I am working on having confidence in myself! This is a pretty big task. I feel like I still need a companion who speaks better spanish then me, i feel like i still need a companion to turn to to ask what to do in certain siutations... but starting next week, I am going to be the one whois turned to.

This is all really unbelieveable. I can´t even believe this it really happened! I have so much to do to prepare myself to train this hermana!!! But, I am so grateful for this situation. It is going to be hard, but hard things always make us stronger--always help us to learn and to grow. Although I question whether I have the ability to do this, I know with all of my heart that with the Lord´s help I can do it. I know already that this is going to be an amazing experience-- that I am going to grow so close to the Lord because I am going to have to rely on Him so much more. I feel so honored that the Lord has so much faith in me and is putting one of his missionaries in my hands--to teach her and to guide her. What an opportunity! wow!! Can you believe it?!!

Working Hard in the Vineyard!

On dia de los reyes, some members took us our for churros and chocolate for breakfast, then we went out to their house in the campo to PICK OLIVES!!!!!!!!! I told them when I first found out that they have olive trees that I really wanted to help them pick them!!!! As you all know this is like a dream of mine!.... well I did it!!
we spent the morning picking 4 huge buckets of olives. Normally people dont pick the olives by hand like this.. but they dont have many trees, so this was the best way to do it. We did it in many different ways.. we also took big sticks and hit the top branches so that the olives would come off! it was soooo fun! it was soooo great!
afterwards, we stayed at their house in the campo to eat lunch! we had a very spanish meal of salad, cheese, pork, and chorizo!! it was sooo good! they have a special barbacue house that they cooked the meat on.. it was cooked on an open fire and was super delicious!!! it was such a wonderful day!!!!

Spain Malaga Mission Picture

Here are two pictures Valerie sent this morning of the missionaries from the Spain Malaga Mission!

Can you find Hermana Letendre.......

There always needs to be a silly one..... ;)

She may have to work on that... ;)

What a great looking bunch!!!!

Feliz Navidad!

Merry Christmas from Ciudad Real, Spain!!!!

Thanks for all the packages, letters and cards!

It's great to hear from you all!!!!

Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad!

So! What a week! I have been pretty busy. Transfers were this week, so i now have a newcompanion-- hermana carter. i was able to go to Sevilla to pick her up on wednesday! It was great! it was sooooo great to see my MTC companion hermana crowder!! it was likeseeing a friend from home! i had forgotten how close we had gotten! we had so much fun together. we even got to go onsplits, and hermana crowder and i got to go out and teach a lesson to a less active member together. it was really fun toteach with her again!!! it was great! on thursday morning i went out with my newcompanion, hermana carter. she had to do some last minute errands in sevilla, so i get togo with her. she needed to finish up some of her residency things, so we had to go to the plaza deespaña. it was soooo beautiful! google it! it was amazing! i amgoing to attach some photos to this email so that you can see! it was sooo great! around the plaza, there are tile displays ofall of the bigger cities in spain, one of which is ciudad real!!! sowe got to take our picture with it! it was great!!! It was sad to leave hermana crowder in sevilla, but on thursday afternoon, weheaded back to ciudad real!

{{Valerie wasn't able to upload pictures. Below is a photo of Plaza de Espana in Sevilla thanks to wikipedia!}}

So, we have three fechas!!! In spanish, fecha means date. WE have three investigators that have baptisms planned on certain dates!!! these dates are more like goals than fixed dates of their baptisms, but it is a really good sign! we are really excited about these three poeple. they are all such great people, and it is so great teaching them!!! The hardest thing right now is getting them to church. I have realized so much on my mission how important it is to go to church. The Sacrament is the most important thing that we do all week. The sacrament is the only ordenance that we do every single week. We dont even renew our temple covenants as frequently as our baptismal covenants... it is so interesting to think about that. I love going to church... even when it is all in spanish! haha.

I am really starting to be able to speak and understand a lot more. it si great. i dont understand everything of course, but it is getting so much better! it is great! I have realized that I depended on Hermana Sturgess a lot and I didnt talk as much as I shoul dhave when I was with her because she really took the lead... but now that I am with Hermana Carter, I now have the chance to really speak a lot. It is great! Hermana Carter has been in the mission for a little over a year. It is nice to have another companion who has been out for a while!

This Saturday we had the stake christmas party... well not stake, but district... we are not big enough here in la mancha to call it a stake! it was soooo great! each ward did some kind of a skit. our branch did something goofy, and another branch did the nativity... it was great! they even used a real baby as baby jesus!! the baby was only 1 week old!!! it was such a fun party! they had sooo much food, and there was a gigantic paella!!! it was sooo good! dad, you would LOVE to see the giant pan that this paella was cooked in.. i am going to try to send it today, but im still not sure if i can get my pictures off of my camera...

Things are going great. i am really starting to love teaching, and i love working hard. it just feels so good to work hard as a missionary. the lord really blesses you when you work hard, and you just feel great!

oh, i get to go to malaga this week for another zone conference!! wooo hhoooo!!! we got to stay with hermana sturgess for the night! it is going to be soooo fun! I cant wait!!! oh, but we have gotten some sad news here. The senior missionary couple who lives here in ciudad real, the cleggs, are going to living up in madrid for the next few months!!!!!! they are going to act as interim president of the MTC in madrid while the new president waits in the US for his visa!!! they think they are only going to be there for a month or two, but it is soooooooo sad. it is a huge loss for us here in la mancha. they are a huge support and have become like my grandparents here. i love them so much. however, we are still going to be abelt o cal them when we want to, and i hope they come back before i leave la mancha!! it seems like i should be here in ciudad real for 12 more weeks, but well see!!!

I am happy, doing welll.... i love the people here-- the missionaries, the members, and the investigators. I am really loving reading the book of mormon. read it! i didnt realize before how wonderful it is to read it from cover to cover. it is amazing. the things that we can learn are just incredible. it is sooo inspired!! ok well i have to go!

Hello! Hello!

So, transfers is this week! My companion is getting transferred to Malaga. She leaves on Wednesday, so we have a TON of things to do. we have to clean a lot to get ready for my new companion, Hermana Carter. Hermana Carter is coming from Sevilla where she has been training Hermana Crowder! I just got some interesting news today..... On Wednesday, I will be going to Sevilla to stay the night there!!!!! wow!!!!!! how exciting!!!!! I guess hermana Carter cannot leave sevilla on wednesday because she has some residency things to do there... so i get to go there for a night! that means that I get to see hermana crowder!!!! and i get to see sevilla!!!! how cool!!!!!!!! i will be taking the train to sevilla with elder white, an elder from la mancha who is going to be transferred to sevilla. then i will come back on thursday to ciudad real! how exciting!! Ill take a bunch of pictures!

This past week was great. we met a few really great investigators.

This week in church was the pri9mary presentation! it was great!! we dont have many children at all, but they did a wonderful job, and the spirit was so strong!!! it was soooooo great! we had 3 investigators at church and they LOVED it! one of them is from Cuba! how cool! she just arrived in spain about a month ago, so she is very new here... but i thinj its so interesting that she is from cuba!

Soo this week we also had a fun time at the home of a less active member, Nieves. Nieves has two children... ages 22 and 25. her daughter is 25 and is studying law! we get along great. that is the home that i am going to for christmas eve! it should be really fun!! so dont worry about me, i will be having fun! im not sure what i am doing on christmas yet, but we have a p-day so if i dont have plans i get to just hang out at home!!! thats exciting! there are some single mebers of my ward that dont ghave family here, so we are going to try to do something with them! it will be fun!

Happy December!!

This week was good. we had a lot of great citas with members and less active members this week. We still dont have any baptisms planned, but we are still working hard, and have had some good lessons with some investigators. we have one man who would be ready to be baptized if he could come to church! his name is luis. i have told you about him before. his work schedule is going to be changing so he said he will be able to come to church starting in january!!! well wait and see what happens! he is such a great man!!!!!

This week we also got to play soccer with two of our younger investigators and a less active member!!! It ended up being really really fun! we got to play with a bunch of other people who were in the park, and we ended up getting 3 people´s phone numbers who want to come to our english classes!!! elders play soccer with investigators a lot and also play with people in the community to meet new people, but usually the hermanas dont! it was really fun to do it!!!! the less active member that came to play too used to be a professional soccer player in peru!!! he is now a soccer coach for kids here in ciudad real! it was so much fun!!

Anyways, things are going great! i miss you all!

Friends!

hey! check out this picture too!! a police man took it for us with his super cool camera. he has a specil lens on his camera that made the background look like that. soo cool! he was nice enough to offer to take a picture for us and email it to us!!! the gril in the middle is our friend myra. she is our neighbor. we are teaching her family, and she want be to taught, but she really doesnt have much time.... she is a great friend!

La Mancha District "Family Picture"

Hey everyone! take a look at this pic, this is a picture of my district here in La Mancha! once every transfer, we take a "family picture"! we are the only district in the mission that does it, and it is because we are more like a family here than in any other place in the mission... this is because there are so few members and so few baptisms tht we are really a tight knit group! it is great! plus we have elder and hermana clegg... they are like the parents of the family!!!! hope you like the pic! crystal, be sure to post this one!!!

I Finished!!!

i finally finished reading the book of mormon this week!!! i started my 3rd week in the MTC and just finished. The plan was for me to start reading it in spanish, but we were given a new challenge at zone conference... so i am starting that. they gave us all new books of mormon and asked us to read it and highlight all of the time that christ is mentioned in any form. they asked us to do it by christmas!!!! wow!!!! we have to read 18 pages per day to finish... we are trying really hard. It is nice to do a speed read of the book of mormon. We are really enjoying this little activity! I have heard of a lot of people doing it, and always wanted to do it, but now is my chance!!!

Take Care,

Hermana Letendre