Thursday, February 16, 2017

Skibby sent the following email and photo on Wednesday, February 15, 2017:

Date:  February 15, 2017 at 9:55 AM
Subject:  Hello from Carabanchel!!

Hola Familia!

This week has flown by. It's crazy to be in a different area. I know things are going to be great here, but we haven't had ward meetings yet, so I don't know the ward members very well.

Differences here: It's less pretty, less clean, and there are less cats.

But more people!! So it's great. Lots of Chinese people. Not so great because they can't speak English or Spanish...

I've met a few investigators and we're working on staying in contact with the rest. Not much to report on that front.

We had contact with Tecla in Mostoles before I left. We couldn't see her but we talked on the phone. She left for Guinea the next day. I do not think it was chance that we found and talked to her and gave her a Book of Mormon in the small window that she was here in Spain.

Hna Quispe is working hard in Mostoles and I hope they see a lot of success.

Miracles:
Thursday night we went for a pass by and were rejected. We were in the building so we decided to knock doors. We decided to start from the top. We were in the middle of praying, asking for the help to find the people who are ready, when a door flew open and music filled the stairwell. We finished the prayer quickly and decided to go up and talk to them.  A lady was in her doorway telling a man to go get something I think. We started talking to her and she said she had had doubts about God and that she had been praying a lot. She felt like us talking to her was like God knocking on her door. She said she was going through a hard time and started to cry. We told her God loved her and that we were here to help in what she needed. We got her number and said we would visit her soon because she couldn't in that moment. We've tried having contact with her again, unsuccessfully, but we are still trying.

Yesterday was Valentine's day and we decided to make lots of valentines with compliments and give them out. I really feel like we spread the light of Christ. It was great to see so many happy faces. I put the question: ask us what was the biggest demonstration of love in the world... on my backpack. At the bus station, we handed out a bunch of hearts and they eventually asked us about the question. We got to share our testimonies about Jesus Christ and the love of Heavenly Father. One lady said she liked our Valentine better, but it was still awesome to bear testimony to a bunch of people at once in a bus stop in Spain.

Later, we were seated on a bench making calls and organizing things and Ignacio came up to us and started talking. I started to explain his question about the Mormons, and he sat down on the bench and we basically taught him the whole restoration. He thinks it's amazing that we leave our homes to come out here and preach the Gospel. He is Catholic. We got his number and we're going to stay in contact with him.

That's about all folks! I'm glad you're all doing well out there on the home front. I am happy, and trying to dedicate all I can to improving this area.
love,

Hna Christensen
Skibby (with the sign on her backpack) and her new companion, Hermana Hinton


Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Skibby sent the following email and photos on Monday, February 6, 2017:

Date:  February 6, 2017 at 10:25 AM
Subject:  Me voy [I’m going]

Dear Familia,
I didn't think it was ever going to happen, and now that it has, I'm not really sure what to do. 

I LEFT MOSTOLES

 Now I am in Barrio 3. My companion is Hna Hinton. She is from Colorado. We did intercambios [exchanges] here in barrio 3 so I've been here 4 times already. Things are going to be really different, but I'm sure I will love it here and I'm really pumped to be able to start anew in a barrio and help the best that I can, now that I know at least a little bit about being a missionary. I believe barrio 3 is the smallest area in the mission. Lots of metro time, which is good because I'm setting a goal of talking to someone every time I step into the metro. Woohoo!

Obviously I'm a little sad because Mostoles is my home, and Hna Quispe is my sister, but I will have to get over it for now. A million things have happened, but I can't think of them right now so I will have to write them for you next week. 

The elders here do not know how to make travel plans. We carried my suitcases to Pavones and then back when it would have been so much easier to come straight to b3 and then to Pavones. Hombres! I do not know how to pack a suitcase. Either I only packed bricks or somebody dumped a whole bag of rocks in my suitcases porque pesan mucho [because it weighed a lot]. I wish you guys (Heidi and Peter) had been here to pack everything:);) broma [joke]
Luckily there were lots of nice people who helped us up the stairs.
Well, I wish I could write more, but you will all have to wait until next week. Sorry!

Love,
your favorite,

Hna Christensen