I Need A Laugh

When I need a good laugh, I like to google images of Snoop Dogg.

I mean, how could that face not make you laugh?

Oh Hey!

Is there anyone still waiting in anticipation to read about my incredibly fabulous life?

I am emerging from my post-mission funk...who knew it would be so difficult to come home?

But, I have had some wonderful experiences in the few months I have been home. Traveled to Arizona, California. Watched a lot of baseball. Read books. Sewed. Thought about my future. Spent time with family and friends. Danced.

I am excited for Summer. And for all the adventures that are coming!

While I was Away...

Sarah started writing notes. Now, she writes me notes like this one...

I love notes like this.

Right Now I Am Listening to Enrique Iglesias in Spanish...

Apparently people want me to blog...namely my Mom, which I find humorous since I am with her pretty much all the time.

So, a peek into my post mission life.

I am looking for a job. Is there any activity that I loath more? I think not.

I spend a lot of time with Kimberlyn. She is my new best friend. She thinks I am funny. Perfect. Even if we have to fight over Justin Bieber.

I read Mockingjay. I got my haircut. I went to Arizona. I practice my Spanish. I play Settlers of Catan. I laugh with my family.

I 'adjust'.

Sometimes...I miss Spain.

Everything Is Just So Fancy

Right now I am at the Seminary, typing on my Dad's tablet. It has only taken me like 5 minutes to write these 2 sentences. It is a slow and steady process. I am trying not to say at every moment 'oh my goodness how things have changed'. Difficult. I am beginning to understand how Rip Van Winkle felt. Minus the long white beard. I have watched Tangled and read Mockingjay, so I think I am pretty caught up on what I missed.

Anything else I need to know, watch or read...from the last 18 months? Also I need to decide what to do with my future....any suggestions?

John Denver Said It Best...Hey It's Good to Be Back Home Again

So, I am back. Whenever I visualized myself back at home, I always pictured wearing my Great Harvest sweatshirt, wool socks and my Snoopy pajamas. Dreams=Reality.

How was the Birthday?

My Birthday was grand! It truly was a great day and the mailbox has been flooded! Letters=Love. Hna. Soderquist is not a big birthday person(she would rather people ignore her birthday) but she made me an amazing crown and let me celebrate my style! It was a good way to start out the next quarter of a century! Thanks to everyone for all the Love! We had district meeting, so the Elders filled my bag full of confetti...obviously while I was not looking! It was a fun day!

The Best of all was that Joselyn got BAPTIZED!!! She was so excited, and when she was all dressed in white, she told us she felt like an angel. She was nervous but in the end it was perfect. She went under the water like she had been baptized a million times before. She had told us that she did not want to give her testimony but in the end she got up and testified about the Hope she now feels for her life! She is amazing!!! Her mother, Julia, was telling us how Joselyn has a stubborn personality, that she never does things unless she truly wants to. This is true...she said that she does not like to read but she reads everyday in the Book of Mormon! I do not think I will ever get tired of seeing people baptized! It is beautiful!

  I think something I have learned as a missionary is the importance of following the Spirit. I am still not perfect at following it, but I think I am able to better recognize when the spirit is speaking to me. On saturday night, after the baptism, we did not have a lot to do. We had tried passing by a couple of people but no one was home. There was a member in that area that we hadn´t seen for awhile, so we decided to pass by. It turned out to be the perfect moment. She has been sick and on top of that she has been passing through some hard family things. We were able to call someone to come and give her a blessing, and then we made a cake for her son´s birthday. I am so grateful for the spirit, that it always guides us to people that need love. I am so grateful for the priesthood and for righteous priesthood holders, who when we call them say 'I will be right over'. CHARITY! It is so beautiful. And it is in those moments that I truly feel like I am an instrument in the Lord's hands! 

 This week is going to be great! With tons of miracles! I am so excited! I love being a missionary. There is no greater joy than sharing the gospel! It just fills you right up...with joy, light and happiness!

I am praying that this week will be the best of my mission! Pray that we will be able to find lots of prepared families!

I love you a million beautiful perfect baptisms!

Love, Melissa the Beautiful

RaRaRa...the letters come pouring in

In other news, I officially can not spell in English.

In even more other news, I officially turn a quarter of a century tomorrow. I am AWESOME!

True to my character, I have let everyone know that it will be my birthday and that we need to celebrate. Thanks for all the cards...

This week has been great! The weather has taken a turn for the sunshine, which I attribute to Heavenly Father´s love for me in this my birthday month! This weekend should be amazing with the baptism of Joselyn, as well as the baptism of Carlos...the man from Mexico I told you about!

I have decided that I truly love teaching the gospel. It is fun to share the things that bring me such happiness! Because everything that I truly love comes from the Gospel!!

Last week we were calling some old investigators...ones that neither Hna. Soderquist or I had ever met. We got in contact with an old man named Guiseppe, who is in the hospital. We asked if we could come to visit him and he said yes! It was a wonderful experience. He is very ill and can barely speak but he asked us to sing 'I am a Child Of God'. We sang it first in Spanish, then in English. His face just smoothed over and he had a smile on his face, with his eyes closed. I guess I forget sometimes that we are all children of God, no matter what our age is. There was such a peace in the room- Heavenly Father truly does love each of us!

A nice compliment to me...some of the members have said that it doesn´t seem like I am going home because I am still working hard! YES YES YES! There are still more miracles out there waiting for me! And I still need to find my family! Dad, Mom and Child!!!

I love you a million sings of 'I am a Child of God'

Love, Melissa the Beautiful

Family and Friends- Here are a couple of the latest emails from Melissa.

Melissa’s Birthday is this month. I asked her what she wanted, and she said letters, as you can read in this first email.

So, if you have a minute and a $1.05 stamp, send her a letter, note or card.  She really loves mail (remember she did an internship at the Postal Museum!) 

Thanks so much!

Karen

January 22, 2012

   I am still here in Barcelona! HAPPINESS!!! I am happy to stay here and enjoy my last transfer. Plus that means that I do not have to search for a new suitcase until I come home!!! YEAH!! I love this ward and I am excited for this new transfer.

   I do have a new companion. My kid, Hna. Smith, is off to Pamplona...the land of my mission birth. I am sad to see her go because she is amazing but I know that she will have a great time in Pamplona. It is a bit hard because I know I won´t see her until she comes home from her mission! AHHH! My new companion is Hna. Soderquist! She is an experienced missionary...she has a little less than a year in the mission. She has a lot of energy, so I am excited to work together. She comes from a big family as well...bigger than ours -10!

  I think the best part of my week was seeing Steven pass the sacrament. We had called him Sunday morning to make sure he woke up, but when we got into Sacrament meeting, I could not find him. I was a bit sad because he had said he was coming. Then when the deacons stood up to pass the sacrament, there he was! He is adorable and I cried a bit. He takes his responsibility as a priesthood holder very seriously. My heart is filled with gratitude to see his love for the gospel and his desire to serve the Lord.

   As for my birthday...what I really want is a letter or card from everyone! Friends, family, etc! I want a million letters in the mail. That would be the best!

  I can not believe it is already the end of January! The time is passing much too rapidly! I want to make the most of this transfer and really go out with a BANG! And just be the best Hna. Roberts that I`possibly can!

  

I love you a million adorable deacons passing the sacrament

Love, Melissa the Beautiful

February 6, 2012

   I am doing great, even if it is freezing! Everyone says 'But you are from a cold state, you must be accustomed to it'. NOT SO!! The cold is my worst enemy! Besides Satan of course!

  This week was a great week...best of all...Joselyn has decided to get BAPTIZED! On Febrero 25...which if my horrible memory serves me right, the day I got baptized many years ago! She is honestly adorable. Her one 'fear' about being baptized was that she thought she would have to invite lots of people. We assured her that she could invite whoever she wanted. Also she wanted the 'guapo' Elder to baptize her but unfortunately he just got transferred! She truly is amazing. She is reading in the Book of Mormon  and is now in Mosiah! We are praying that her mom will decide to be bpatized on the same date. Julia, the mom, just wants a little more time to prepare! Julia has been telling all her friends that she is attending the Mormon Church and that she is there to stay!

We had a broadcast Stake Conference on Sunday. It turned out great, even if it started a little crazy. Our stake wrote down the wrong time...we all thought it started at 11 but it truly started at 10. Then we had to wait until 1 to watch the re-broadcast. Some investigators ended up leaving-4 hours is kind of a long time- but a lot of them stayed, got to know the members and enjoyed the conference! Everything works out in the end!

We have been seeing so many miracles and I have felt truly guided by the spirit this week. I love that feeling! I feel so strongly that Heavenly Father truly does love each of his children! We are so lucky to know that!

I love you a million baptism dates on the day that I got baptized!

Love, Melissa the Beautiful

My Week

Things are going good in Barcelona. I have had a couple discouraging days but I think this week is looking up. We have been struggling to teach lesson, really to anyone. Pres. Hinckley in my interview invited us to teach 20 lessons...to whoever we can teach. It is going to be a little hard, but we have been making tons of calls to less active and active members. We will have 20 lessons this week, and hopefully lots of references. We also have started praying that we will find prepared people in OUR area...we find lots of prepared people who live in the Elders areas. Though they do get baptized which is the most important thing.

We had a baptism...ALBA. well it was slightly a combined baptism...we taught her, the elders taught her. She lives in the other ward, but goes to our ward! She is amazing. She has been praying for 4 years that her mom would give her permission to be baptized. It was absolutely beautiful because her Dad was able to baptize her. Her face was absolutely radiant when she came out of the water! I love BAPTISMS!!! It never gets old!

I am just so happy because our recent converts have started coming back to church! And Lina found a job! Obedience brings blessings!!

I am really focusing on talking to families this week! The time is getting short- and I still need to find my family!!! I will find them!

I love you! I hope you have an absolutely fabulous week! Take care of our health!

I love you a million Baptisms...and she is a Spaniard!

Dec 4, Dec 11

Dec 4  

   I think the biggest miracle I have seen this week is the baptismal invitation. We actually had a pretty rough week, as it goes with lessons and everything. But I felt like we worked hard to teach and find prepared people. I have been studying a lot about baptism, which has given me more desires to invite people to baptism. The more I am understanding and really receiving a testimony of baptism, the more I am feeling bold and confident in the invitation. We have been inviting all of our investigators to baptism and even though they do not always accept, I leave the lessons happy because we have testified and invited them to baptism. Heavenly Father just loves his children so much.

    We are having a baptism....Steven. It is a little sad that we won´t actually get to see it! It is fun teaching him, just because he enjoys it so much. He is so excited and talks with his Dad on the phone about his baptism almost everynight!! He is adorable!
  I have been reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish and I am now in Alma 24. I am hoping to finish before I go home- I am learning a lot of things by reading in a different language. I love the story of the Anti Nephi Lehis. I have never really noticed, when the Lamanites come to kill them, that the King-all the words he says are of gratitude. He gives thanks for the missionaries, he gives thanks for a loving Heavenly Father, for a merciful Savior, for repentance. Not once does he complain that God is letting the Lamanites come and destroy them. Now I am trying to apply that- to stand on my feet, with a heart full of gratitude for all the blessings that I have recieved this year! I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ! I am so excited for this Diciembre and for all the miracles that are still to come!
   
  I am so lucky. There are so many miracles and amazing things that are happening. 

Dec 11

It is still hard for me to believe it is the Christmas season! For awhile here it was not that cold, so it did not really feel like winter! But the last week the cold has set in. We did not have heat until about 4 days ago! We have been trying to get it to work...yeah I know nothing about heaters especially Spanish ones. A magical man came and fixed it and now we are living in bliss!

Hna. Smith was sick this last week, so we spent a couple day in apartment so that she could rest. I organized a lot of things...and probably had a bit of cabin fever! There is only so much time I can devote to organizing before I go crazy! Also we had our special conference with Elder Causse of the Seventy. It was amazing! He taught us all day! It is incredible to me how he did not use notes, he was just guided by the Spirit. I had brought a couple of questions that I wanted answered and they all were answered. Heavenly Father hears our prayers!

 I love you a million hearts full of gratitude

Love, Melissa the Beautiful

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

November 21, 2011

I honestly can not believe that Thanksgiving is already here! Today we are going to look for the American food store, to see if we can find some PUMPKIN!! This is my heart´s fondest desire this week...that and find more families to baptize!!!

  I do not know what is going on with the mail. I just recieved a package from Aunt Amy that she sent at the beginning of October...it was delivered to our neighbor. It might be something to do with the zip code... I guess the real zip code is 08013. Hopefully that will help things come better but you can just send packages to the mission office if you are worried.

  This week we are having a fireside of Past, Present and Future Missionaries. It is to help the returned missionaries in our ward have desires to still be missionaries, concentrate on our efforts now and encourage the young people to serve missions! It should be pretty amazing because President Hinckley is coming...I will be speaking as well!!! Bahaha.

    We have some baptismal dates set for this next month! It is pretty exciting because the last Saturday of the month just happens to be Christmas Eve! A White Christmas indeed! And what better gift to receive than the resmission of your sins and the Holy Ghost! There have been lots of miracles as usual- people walking in from the street and wanting to know more, people who have investigated long ago showing up at church. The Christmas Spirit is in the air!!

I love you a million baptismal fechas for the perfect White Christmas

Love, Melissa the Beautiful

More pictures

Happy Halloween...a day late

  Today we get kind of a short preparation day because...it is my duty and privilege as an 'experienced' missionary of the Spain Barcelona mission, to lead around a new missionary and show her what it is like to work hard! Bahaha. And in the words of the Assistants...to know the amazing Hermana Roberts. My fame will spread far and wide. It is hilarious that I am now an 'experienced' missionary! Surprise! It should be fun and there will be lots of miracles to be found, especially with  TWO new missionaries!! I will teach them what it means to be Amazing....bahaha.

Also I told the Elders that I was the new Assistant...and they believed me.

  I am putting all the conference talks on my mp3 player so that I can listen to them while I am getting ready! There were so many good ones in this conference!!

  This week was a lot of missionary-ness. Talking to people in the street, visiting members and seeing miracles. On Sunday one of the members gave us a reference...Member references are GOLD, so I called the man yesterday. I told him that we were the missionaries that his friend Jorge had given us his number...He said 'Is this a joke?' I started laughing and said 'No we would love to meet with you!'. He agreed and we are meeting with him today!

  I have decided that my happiness as a missionary is very much based on how much I talk to people during the day! When I am sharing my testimony, I come home exhausted but so happy. It is the best. I don´t think I ever realized how satisfying it is to share what you believe!

I love you a million member references...even when they think it is a joke!

Love, Melissa the Beautiful

CH-CH- Changes

   There have been quite a bit of changes since I last wrote. On Wednesday night, President Hinckley called and told me that on Friday I would be receiving a brand new missionary! It was a big surprise. A little bit of sadness-mostly because Hermana R and I got along so well. Plus we had just had the most amazing miracle filled day. But also excitement mixed with nervousness. Hermana R left quickly-Friday morning for Pamplona(again!) and I went to the office to be trained.

   My new companion is named Hermana S- she is from Sandy Utah and is hilarious. I am glad that the Lord blesses me with funny companions. She waited for three weeks in Salt Lake, until she got her visa. She rides unicycles and knows how to speak with an Irish accent. We may have told all the Elders that she is from Ireland... But most important she is is excited to work and has a strong testimony! We are already having a great time!

   I have had some funny experiences this past week. On Wednesday we went to a visit with the Bishop- the man had stopped some other missionaries on the metro and told them that he needed to be baptized. He lives in our area, so off we went! It turned out he lived in an abandoned warehouse...and there were a lot of shady looking people there. We had our lesson by candlelight and half way through the lesson, a HUGE rat ran across the floor. I am so surprised that I was able to hold in my screaming! He is a nice man but from now on we are meeting him in the church!

  We are teaching a man named Jesus who has a baptismal date for the 12 of November. His friend brought him to church last week- and when we invited him to be baptized, he said he would prepare to do so. It is amazing how there are people being prepared everywhere to hear the message of the gospel!

I love you a million lessons where rats run across the floor and the bishop has to hold in his laughter!

Love, Melissa the Beautiful 

October 17

Hello!

   I am doing wonderful today. The weather is gorgeous and I finally got stamps for about 15 letters I have not sent...so everything is great. I took some pretty pictures up on our roof- from the top we can see almost all of Barcelona.

 

We had some pretty funny happenings this week. We accidently left our keys in the apartment, and we really did not want to pay 50-80 euros to have it opened. We tried asking our neighbors, that have a kind of patio that connects to ours, if the Elders could climb over but they were not too keen on the idea...muy peligroso. So, we called the office Elders and they sent over Leo. He is from Argentina and knows how to repel down things- he has a harness and everything. So he repelled down from the roof onto the patio and rescued our keys. As he was going down, one of the people a floor down from us saw him and he was like 'It´s okay I am not a robber, I am just helping the missionaries.' Then he pointed up at us on the roof and we waved down to her. It turned out to be quite the hilarious adventure.

  

This week we also performed in the Ward TALENT SHOW.  I would like to call our talent Hoedown Showdown. Hermana R has an amazing talent with the violin, which just happens to involve fiddling! We decided to that she would fiddle and I would dance- all while wearing masks. One of the Queen of Spain and the other George Bush. Everyone knew that Hermana R was going to play her violin...and everyone assumed that I would be singing. Bahaha. I get up and introduce us, saying that we have prepared something very special for the ward. Then we run out in our masks, Hermana R starts fiddling like mad and I start doing some crazy footwork. It was good we were wearing masks because I was laughing so hard that I could not breathe. Then Hermana R played the Spirit of God (without her mask). It was hilarious. We are still laughing about it. I think the ward members were a bit confused but I got lots of compliments on my 'dancing'. Hopefully they will want us to teach their friends now!

  

We have quite a few investigators right now, just most of them are struggling to commit. We are always looking for people who are prepared! We got a reference from some other missionaries and when I called him he told me that he has been wanting to be baptized, that his grandma is a member and wants to know what he needs to do. Miracles!

  I love you a million Hoedown Showdowns where people go wild over my dancing

Love, Melissa the Beautiful

Roof top pictures

 

All the leaves are falling and the sky is gray

October 10, 2011

All is Well here...the weather has finally turned a bit cooler...until we walked out the door today and it was as hot as ever! Just when I pulled out the winter blankets! I have never been so excited for Fall in my life!!

   This week I went on exchanges with HERMANA P!!! It was a blast because we haven´t served together since the MTC. It was great because we both now speak Spanish. She is amazing missionary plus just a riot. It is funny because everyone one always accidentally calls her Hermana Roberts...even though we have never served together in the mission and we look nothing alike. I feel so blessed to have met so many amazing people. I really feel that I was here at this certain time for a reason. It is incredible.

Right now we are working...to find new investigators.. haha I feel like I write that every single week. We have been seeing lots of miracles. Yesterday, we were waiting for our investigators, and no one was showing up. Sacrament meeting started and I was feel ing kind of sad because no one had arrived, even though several had promised. Then as the opening song was starting, 3 of our investigators walked in! Miracles, Blessings!  We are teaching the cutest young kid from Honduras. He just turned 13 on Saturday and he is amazing. His father is a member and he wants to be baptized. He has amazing faith, and has recieved answers to his prayers. I love seeing his desires to learn and to come to church. He loves it so much!

I love you a million days of fall...with nice cool breezes!!

Love, Melissa the Beautiful

Mission Pictures!

Hermana Roberts and Hermana R

Sagrada Familia

Hermana Roberts, Random Elder, Hermana R

Hermana P and Hermana Roberts
(switching tags because everyone mistakes them for
each other. They look nothing alike!)

September 26

I am copying my presidents letter because there were some things I thought you might like...

Miracle. I feel like the miracle this week was the help that we have recieved from our Bishop. More than any other Bishop I have worked with, he truly seems excited about missionary work and truly desires to help us. We had a little meeting with him on Sunday- we talked about our recent converts and he made plans right then to go visit them. Then he was telling us about a woman he had given a blessing to and went to find out her address so that we could visit her. He is just excited about everything missionary related. He told us that we are needed at ward council...which is true because the last 2 that I have been to have been about the missionary efforts! I love this ward! It is true that when you have the confidence of the leaders of the ward, things run smoothly and miracles can happen! I hope we can spread this excitement to the whole ward!
   Hermana R. She truly is an amazing missionary, she speaks Spanish so well and has an incredible faith. I love that she is not afraid to open her mouth and speak, even when she thinks she doesn´t understand and everything she says goes right with what I am saying. I am excited to work with her and see lots of miracles!
   There were just a few investigators I wanted to talk about. We have been teaching a young man named Francis, who is from India, for about 3 months. He studied to be a Catholic priest, but then decided against it. He is probably our most consistent investigator-he has been to church about 7 times, read and prays- I just am not quite sure how to help him get an answer. He does not understand much Spanish but he continues to come to church. But everytime we ask him what he is feeling when he reads and prays, he does not have an answer. Just regular. I know he is feeling something but I just am unsure on how to help him recognize it.
  Juan Carlos, Lina and Ernesto. I am worried because their finicial situation has been keeping them from church. We finally talked to the Bishop and he is going to visit them this week, so it should all be sorted out. They are amazing though and every time we meet with them, they have more desires to learn about the gospel. Lina's sister Rosy has desires to learn as well. She currently works on the weekends, but we are working with her as well.
 
   I am trying to focus on the blessings that I have. I am a little sad about Hermana S going home, and just sometimes missionary work is hard-emotionally. But I was reading the part in John, where Jesus Christ goes to raise Lazurus from the dead. In 11:41 he says, 'I thank thee that thou hast heard me'. Jesus Christ, a perfect person, thanked his father in everything. I need to thank my Heavenly Father because I know that he has heard me, in every moment. I love Jesus Christ and I hope I can be more like him.
Have a lovely week!!

It kind of gives a good run down of my week! I am trying to be a strong senior companion. Being with a new missionary has help me realize how much I have learned...not just Spanish wise but in the spirit. I truly love being a missionary. I don´t think I want it to end. Even though I am tired pretty much all the time, and sometimes it is just heart breaking but there really is no other joy like serving the gospel. I can not believe I almost let my opportunity pass by. I am so glad I didn't.

I love you a million service activites that build more than just playgrounds!

Love, Melissa the Beautiful