Me quedaré en Murcia! I´ll be staying in Murcia!

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Paige Walton	Well, transfer weekend has come and gone and I will be staying in Murcia for ...	Nov 25 (8 days ago)
Well, transfer weekend has come and gone and I will be staying in Murcia for ...

Paige Walton	Nov 25 (8 days ago)
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Paige Walton	Nov 25 (8 days ago)
to me, Tyler, Elliot, Whitney, Luke, Tyler

Well, transfer weekend has come and gone and I will be staying in Murcia for 6 more weeks, and then I´m pretty much guaranteed to leave next transfer. So Christmas in Murcia it is! There are some definite pros to this, like having people to spend christmas with that I know and love, but there are some cons too. I´ll be with my comp for another 6 weeks and who knows what´s going to happen. We really are getting better, but it´s still just a rollercoaster some days. I´ve never felt like that drama girl, but I feel like that´s the only thing that´s been in my life this transfer, companion drama, and I´m not a fan, at all. So we´ll see. 

So we had a fun weekend! Friday night we went to Cartagena, a nearby city, and had thanksgiving dinner with the missionaries in our stake and our stake president. It was so much fun! It honestly wasn´t much of a thanksgiving dinner, just turkey and mashed potatoes, but that´s ok. It was nice to have a taste of it. Then afterwards we had a sleepover in Cartagena! It was a little strange because my comp asked the ZLs for a split so she could sleep with someone else and didn´t ask me at all and then just told me she was going with someone else. It was weird. I don´t know. But it worked out for the best. I went and got to spend the night with Hna Flake and Hna Bangeter (an hna i was in the MTC with who i also love to death). We had so much fun together! I loved having a sleepover with them! It was a much needed break from the mission  life, haha. Then we woke up saturday morning and played fútbol with all the missionaries. That was way fun too. But man, they´re all really good, and I haven´t played for a while, so I´ll have to work on my soccer skills. But it was so much fun! 

So they´re starting to put up christmas lights in the streets and in the shops and things like that. I can´t wait for the lights to be on all the time! I´m sure it´ll just make me happier and make it feel like christmas finally. Which speaking of which is only a month away from today. What the...that´s so crazy! But I´m so excited! It´ll be so fun to talk to you all and to hear your voices and see your faces! I love it! AAAHHHH!!! I get excited just writing about it! 

Well let´s see, what else. We found a new investigator that we´re going to hopefully teach tonight. She´s 17 and could be seriously golden. She is from equador I believe and it´ll be so fun to have someone new to teach. Her name is Sonya. So hopefully things go well with her. Well I love you all lots! Talk to you next week! 

Hermana Walton

November 18, 2013:  Hitting the 4 month mark this week! 

FAMILIA!!!!

So in case you didn´t know, I will hit 4 months on Sunday! How crazy is that!!!! Man, sometimes it feels like it´s been a lifetime and sometimes it feels like it was only yesterday that I was in the MTC. And this week is my last week of training and then I´ll just be a normal little missionary. Haha. That´ll be nice to not have to be in training, but there are also some downsides too, like we have to leave piso earlier during medio dia and there´s nothing to do at that time, but that´s ok. I´ll survive. 

Well let´s see. We had exchanges with the sister training leaders this week. That was so much fun! The hermana that came and stayed with me here in Murcia is the best! We had so much fun together, and lots of success too. Well, kinda. We had good lessons. Nothing new or anything like that. But the lessons that we had set up went really well, so that was fun. It wasn´t long enough though. It´s for 24 hours, but it seemed like 3. haha. But it was great.

So fun story. Kind of. Haha. We went out with a memeber last night contacting some references we got from the elders. We went and passed by the house of one man and we were talking about religion and stuff like that and we asked his a question about his life and beliefs, and he told us he´d been in jail for the past 15 years and was released within the past year. It´s kind of interesting. He´s a different kind of guy, but he´s willing to listen to us, so we´ll see how that goes. We have an appointment with him tomorrow, but we´ll definitely be bringing a member with us for that one. Haha. No, don´t worry. He seems like a nice enough guy, just a little different. I´m not nervous about that. 

I am excited for one thing this week! We have a thanksgiving dinner that we´re doing with the Stake President and all the missionaries in our stake! I´m so excited! I don´t even care that we aren´t doing it on the actual holiday! I´m just excited that we get to do something! The stake president here is an awesome guy. We love him. And I´m so thankful that he´s doing this for us. There of course are some things that I will miss from our family traditions, but that´s ok. I can deal with it. And I know you guys are going to have an awesome thanksgiving next week too! Followed by an awesome wedding! AAAAHHHHH!!!!! I´m excited for them! That´ll be so fun! I wish I could be there, but that´s ok. I know it´ll be beautiful whether I´m there or not :). Haha. No, it´ll be fun. And we can photoshop me into some of the pictures later. 

Well I´m not sure what else to tell you for this week, so I´ll end here. But I love you all and am so grateful for the blessing that each and everyone of you is to me. Thanks for being exactly who you are! Enjoy the snow and have the best week!

Hermana Walton

Latest from Hermana Paige.  I love her honesty and willing example to learn and grow and give all credit to the Lord!  Miss you Paige!

Family!

Well, all I can say is thank goodness it´s a new week and that we get to start over again. It´s been a rough one. But one with a good ending. So it started out normally and everything was fine, nothing too exciting, nothing too bad, but fine. Then we got to tuesday. It was going to be a great day! We had 6 lessons we were going to teach (which is a whole lot for us!) and then every single one failed. We had nothing. I felt like a really crappy missionary. It was probably one of the lowest days I´ve had in the mission so far. That was only magnified on thursday when I was reading my scriptures and there were so many about pride. I kind of had an epiphany that day with the whole companion situation that I´ve been dealing with. I realized that as much as I may want to change things about my companion, I can´t. But I can change me, and I can change the way I go about things. I realized the pride that I had in my heart and my unwillingness to change. It was a very humbling morning. I went to my room and cried for most of the morning. I felt completely torn down. I felt like I wasn´t doing anything right. I felt like I wasn´t good enough, that there was no way that my Heavenly Father actually wanted me here, because there was no way I was doing a good enough job with his work. Well after a day of wallowing in self pitty, I decided to pick myself up and get over it. I decided that no, things may never be perfect with my companion, but I´m going to try to at least make them better. No, I may never be a perfect missionary, but I could do better than I was doing then. And so that´s what I´m going to try to do. Things are definitely going better. The work may not be going better, but I´m at least happier. My companion and I still have hard moments with each other, but we´re found fun things we can do together. I may not be able to see all the fruits of my work, but I know that I´m here for a reason. I really do love these people. I can´t imagine not knowing them. I can´t wait until one day you get to meet them too. I don´t know why I´m needed here, but I am, and I´m going to try hard to do what the Lord wants me to do.

Alright, well now that I´ve told you all that, I´ll tell you about my spanish. It´s coming. Poco a poco (little by little) just as everything else, but it´s definitely coming. I catch myself thinking in spanish and I can communicate what I want to say a good majority of the time. I obviously have a long way to go as learning a language completely takes a long time, but I finally am feeling like yes, maybe one day I really will be able to do this and talk to people like I really know what they´re saying instead of just nodding my head like I understand them. Haha. One day, but it´s definitely coming. Although there are some days where I swear that my head is just sick of spanish and it rejects to translate or understand it because somedays I just  can´t understand anyone haha. But it´s good. I gave a talk in church yesterday, obviously in spanish, and I got lots of complements on it so I guess that´s a good sign! I felt like it went pretty well. It was on missionary work. We´re trying to get the members excited to work with us more and to help us out. It´s hard because Murcia at one point was the most successful area in the mission, but now it´s kind of dead. Our ward has only had 4 baptisms all year and one of them is already inactive. So we´re got lots of work to do, but it´s not going to go anywhere if we don´t get the members to help us out. 

Well I don´t have much more time today, so I´ll end here. But I love you all with all my heart! Being away from you has only shown me how much I love you and how much each one of you means to me. I´m grateful for the knowledge that this and any other seperation that may come our way is only temporary. We will be together forever. And I wouldn´t have it any other way. Thank you for all your love and support! Talk to you next week!

Hermana Walton

November 4, 2013  Yay...it's a better week!

Hola Querido Familia Walton!

Entonces, este semana fue un poco dificil y el mismo tiempo eran tiempos muy buenos. Como viernes. Fuimos a la casa de un miembro de nuestro barrio por un noche de hogar. Ella se llama Paula y su marido se llama Enrique. Alright I´m done with spanish...haha. Basically, we went to the house of a member last week. There names are Paula and Enrique. They´re basically my favorite. I don´t know if you remeber the lady that I talked about that I met in the temple when I was in the MTC, but this is her and her husband. She´s one of the sweetest ladies in the world! We went to their house for family home evening and we had fun and watched a little video and chatted for a little while, and then she wanted to make rice krispy treats! No, they don´t have them here in spain, but she heard about them and wanted to make them, so she found the recipe and we decided to make them! They were so good! Little piece of america, haha. Basically that was my favorite night of the week though. She just is so sweet, she´s like a grandma, but younger, and she just loves us so much, and I just love her. I hope you get to meet her one day! 

So Halloween here is basically the same as in the US to be honest. Obviously we weren´t home for that so I don´t know how that works with them knocking doors and stuff like that, but they get all dressed up and go trick or treating and all that fun stuff. The day after is dia de los muertos (day of the dead) which is basically like our memorial day where they go to the cemetary and honor their dead. 

So the work is pretty slow here right now. Still nothing is moving forward. The elders in the other ward had a baptism on saturday and I guess we helped with that, so dad, I got like half a baptism, but it didn´t count for our numbers, haha. So she lives in our area and in our ward, but she started receiving the lessons from the elders when she lived in their area and she got baptized in their ward because of some family stuff. It´s a long story, but we did go visit her a few times and taught her and she´s super sweet! I love her! Her name is Jesica and she has 2 little kids that are super cute too. 

Well things are going a little better with the whole companion situation. We had a good talk and at least aren´t going to kill each other anymore. It´s not perfect, nor do I think it ever will be, but we´re going to try to not get so frustrated with each other. I´m still hoping this will only be one transfer, but at least this will make the rest of the transfer a little bit easier, I hope. Haha.

Well I hope all is going well at home. I love you all lots, more than you know. I´m incredibly grateful for the eternal family that I have. I couldn´t ask for better people to have by my side for the rest of forever. I love you and will talk to you next week! 

Hermana Walton

October 28, 2013...  My how she is learning!

To those whom I love most in this life:

Well this week has been interesting to say the least. Things haven´t really gotten better in any aspect. With my companion I would say things have gotten worse. We just aren´t getting along. Just a bunch of little things that have all rolled up into one big thing that hasn´t done anything good for us, but I have no idea how to get rid of it. We also haven´t had much success this week. No good news yet from our failed baptisms. There´s no way it´s going to pull through for this saturday, sorry daddy to get your hopes up. I wish it was different news, but it´s not. 

We did get one new investigator this week though. Her name is Pilar. She´s a friend of our bishop´s wife and has been "investigating" for a while, but she´s in the midst of seperating from her husband so she´s finally at a point where she really feels like she wants this in her life. I think it´ll be really good for her! She´s awesome, spanish, has 2 kids, and is probably in her late 40s early 50s. We´ll see where it goes with her. We just started teaching her so I don´t have a ton to say about her, but I think she could make some really good progress.

We also had a Cosecha (harvest) on saturday in Cartegena which is another big city that is about an hour away from us. Basically what we did was had all the missionaries from our stake go out and contact and try and help the missionaries there to find some new investigators that they can teach. We did find one future for them, so hopefully something can come of that. We´ll see. It wasn´t a very good day (you can ask mom for some more details if you want), but I did have the saving grace of seeing Hna Flake and her companion Hna Bangeter (who I was also in the MTC with and who I love to death). Honestly they got me through that day. It was so much fun to see them and to have someone else to talk to and to be able to talk in english again! Haha.

Speaking of which! My spanish is coming along. I´ve definitely still got a ways to go, but I´m starting to feel more comfortable. For the last little while I´ve caught myself translating my thoughts in my head of how I would say that out loud, and sometime even thinking in spanish, which is weird but kind of fun at the same time. I still haven´t had my first dream in spanish yet, but that may also be because I don´t really remember most of my dreams. So that doesn´t help either. Haha. 

Well, I´m praying for the strength to get through this transfer (thank goodness we´re already 2 weeks into it, only 4 more to go) and praying with all of my heart that I will be blessed with a transfer. I don´t know that it will happen, but I would be absolutely exstatic if it did! I love you with all of my heart! I know that you are at home praying for me and working hard in all you do. I pray for you in basically every prayer that I say, even in lessons, and I hope you can feel the blessings from this coming your way as well. Yes, I´m struggling right now, but I promise you that I´m not coming home because of it, and I´ll get through it, as hard as it may be. I love you I love you I love you. 

Good luck with all you have to do this week. 

Hermana Walton

Elder Datwyler, Hna Morris, Bangeter, and me. We all were in the same MTC group, so we all hit our 3 month mark together this last week. PS this is my chapel where I go to church every week, but it´s the back left part of it. 

My Sweet Family,

Well, it´s been a rough week. My new companion, Hermana Cerna, is driving me a little crazy. She really is a good missionary, and I do love her, but sometimes we just clash a little bit. Maybe I´m just having "seperation anxiety" from Hna. Jarvis, but I really do wish it was her here with me still. But the Lord knows best I guess right? Someday I´ll figure it out. I don´t know why we´re together, but he does, and I trust him.

We also may have lost our baptisms. They came to church yesterday and it was amazing! We had fast sunday yesterday so there were some awesome testimonies that were born and they all just loved it, but apparently the dad doesn´t want them to get baptized. It´s hard because he literally works all day every day and comes home just to sleep and then goes back to work so we´ve never met him and haven´t been able to teach him anything, but we´re going to fast this weekend, so hopefully a miracle will happen and he will change his heart. I love this family and all three of them have very strong feelings for getting baptized, I just hope the dad can see that and let them do it. They´re so ready and they need it. We´ll see, hopefully I can tell you otherwise next week. 

We did have one miracle happen though. Hna Jarvis and I were in a locutorio a week or so ago and we had a woman come up to us and tell us that she was a member but had been inactive for a long time. She asked for our card and then told us she would call us and then left. I honestly wasn´t sure that she would call us, but the other day she called and asked about church and she showed us for sacrament meeting yesterday! She´s so cool! I think she said she´s been inactive for 19 years and then all the sudden she just decides to come to church one day. Wow. Her name is Viki. She´s just awesome, and so sweet too! Man, I really do just love the people here. They make the hard things a little easier. I really do feel an honest love for them. Though some things may not being going well, there are some  awesome people here that are changing my life, and I hope that I can be a part in changing theirs as well. 

Well here goes another week. I can´t believe that this one marks 3 months! I know missionaries say this all the time, but I really do feel like it´s gone by so fast, but at the same time, I feel like I´ve been out forever. My last transfer with Hna. Jarvis went so quickly, I hope the next few with Hna. Cerna will be the same. 

I love you all! I know you´re doing great things at home and I hope that you are feeling the love of your Savior. I can promise you that He knows you, even by name, that you need only ask and He will share all the blessings he has in store for you. He lives. He will come again soon, that is why I am here. To share this message and to help prepare the world for his coming. Never doubt that he hears your prayers. Trust in His timing, and search for the good in your life, I promise it´s always there. You´re the best! I couldn´t ask for better friends and family to share my life with. 

Hermana Walton

(hermana Jarvis and I with the daughter of a member (Liriel) love her!!!

r

Last weeks email... chatting with her now and will post this weeks soon.  Yee Haw!


 

Family! Hello!

Well first of all HAPPY BIRDTHAY MOM (tomorrow)!!!! Oh that´s so fun! You´ll have to tell me all about what you guys do, I want to see pictures and send me a piece of cake if you could too would ya? No, I´m just kidding. 

Well a lot of things are happening this week. It´s the end of my first transfer, which means I´m not a greenie anymore!!!! Not that I really ever felt like one, but it´s good to know that there will be missionaries younger than me and that I have some experience under my belt. Also it´s a transfer, so lots is changing...including my companion...which I´m not very happy about, but whatever the Lord needs me to do. Hermana Jarvis will be going north to a city called Benidorm and I will be gettting a NATIVE companion!!!! What?!?!?!?! Oh man, I don´t know what that´s going to be like. Her name is Hermana Cerna and she´s originally from Peru, but she´s been in Spain now for a while. She´s only been out for like 3 or 4 transfers so she´s fairly new which will be interesting, but good. At least she´s good at the language right? Needless to say, I probably won´t be using very much english for the next few weeks. I´ve heard she speaks/understands a little english so that´ll be good, but it´ll still be a change. 

Alright, now for the big news that relates to the title of this email. November 2nd now has two very important things. First, my sweet daddy´s birthday, and second, MY FIRST BAPTISMS!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!! Hahahahah, oh man, you guys, they are so cool! It´s this really sweet mom (Edita) and her two kids (Wilbur, 10, and Dayleni, 8) and they are from the Dominican Republic. We found them through some members (that´s honestly where finding is at. That´s why it´s being stressed right now so much to the members, because probably around 90% of good investigators are references from members) and they´re just super sweet and humble. Honestly so many people here are. They aren´t kidding about the whole "bad economy" thing here. That doesn´t even scratch the surface. I can´t tell you how many people I pass daily who are just out on the streets begging so that they can try to get by. It breaks my heart.

Oh! So something weird that I found out about last night, the way they do missionary farewells here in spain is just strange! There was one last night for a missionary in our ward and man oh man. So they do it on sunday nights, so it´s not part of sacrament meeting. They begin with "testimonies" which basically just turns into an hour long brag session about the missionary. Then they have a slideshow, then the whole family speaks, then they give the missionary a blessing (which I guess sometimes they just set the missionary apart right there in front of everyone) and then the missionary speaks, and then the bishop speaks, and then everyone eats. So it basically takes like 2-2 1/2 hours and it´s crazy! I´m so glad we don´t do that in the states. It´s not the way I would chose to do it at all!

So what else can I tell you...Dad I know you wanted to know more about our investigators, so maybe every week I´ll tell you about one of them. So someone we´re going to go visit after we finish emailing right now is Lorena. I don´t know if you remember her, but she´s the one we found in the park that started crying after we shared a prayer? Anyway, she´s so sweet! We taught her a lesson 0 (the book of mormon) and then we haven´t visited her for a few weeks because she´s been super sick, but we´re finally going back tonight. She´s a total Joseph Smith case! She´s been looking for the right church, and she´s getting baptized in her other church this month apparently, but we´re determined to change her mind and to sway her towards us instead.She has a little daughter who is 6 and she´s married, but we haven´t met her husband yet, so hopefully we can meet him soon and then have them baptized together. That´s something I´m realizing too, the family is the most essential part of this gospel. Everything we have, everything we do, is so that one day, we can make it back to our heavenly father and live with him and the rest of our spiritual family. He literally is our father, and we are his children, and more than anything he wants our safe return to live with him and become like him someday. The family is essential to God´s plan, and we must not defile or make light of so great a blessing the Lord has given us. 

Well I love you all! You are such a strength to me, and I don´t know how I would do this without you. Thank you for all your emails, love, letters, prayers, thoughts, all of it! I can´t tell you how much it means to know that you are all there at home cheering for me. I pray for you always and keep you in my heart. Wish me luck in my week of spanish! Haha, if next week´s letter is all in spanish because I can´t think in english anymore, be grateful, and then ask Luke to translate it :) I love you all! Have a great week!

Hermana Walton

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