Valencia - Week Seventeen

Hey Family!

Sounds like it was a good week! Glad everyone's alive! haha. We had a super good week here too. We had a bunch of miracles.

One of them was that MATILDE finally came to church!! We have been working with her for two months now and every week she has told us she would come, and every week something has come up and hasn't been able to. She sorta old as well, so I think sometimes she just forgot haha. But SHE CAME! A member brought her as well, so that was even better. She loved it! She's going to get baptized! She always tells us she wants to, but hasn't been able to because she hadn't come to church, but if she keeps it up, she'll be baptized real soon. She saw a picture of Jesus´s baptism on the wall and asked if that would happen to her too, it was cute.

As well, we found a new investigator named Frank this week. He's from Libera, 28 years old, and just moved here. He's kinda like Billy. Super tall. He lives with Billy, that's how we found him. Anyway, we set a batismal goal with him and he came to church as well on Sunday! We had one of our African members, Steve, translate for him. We asked how it was afterwards and he said "it was awesome!" haha, made my day. He will hopefully get baptized this month as well. He was a miracle.

As well, we are teaching the boyfriend of one of the young women, named Guillermo, which actually means William, FYI. He's 18 and from Spain. He doesn't have any experience with religion, only what he remembers from being a little kid in a catholic school. We had a lesson with him this week, and invited him to pray at the end of the lesson. It was his second time doing it, ever in his whole life, (the first time was a week ago with us) so he was nervous, but he said a really sweet prayer. I think that's one of my favorite things about the mission, is teaching people to pray. Most people don't really know what it is, or they think its a repetitive thing. But when they try to say a sincere prayer to their Father in Heaven, it's always a really tender experience. He came to church as well on Sunday, we were so crazy busy watching over some of our other investigators that came, that we didn't get to talk to him a whole lot, but he had his girlfriends whole family watching over him. The dad sat next to him in every class and explained it all, it was really great.

Anyway, as always, life is really good. I feel like things are really picking up in this area, we have lots of people that are really ready to be baptized, we just gotta help them take the leap of faith and do it.

Transfers are this next week. I'm sorta nervous, I think I may be outta here, but you never know. Anyway, so I'll write on Tuesday. That's all really. I love Hermana Vance a lot, she's super fun. We laugh all day every day together. It's fun having a blonde companion as well :)

love you family!

love Hermana Reid

I look super not that cute in these pics..but it is what it is. Its too hot to look cute here..

But the first is Matilde.. love the crocs she's wearing.. and the second is Juan and Lolin. they are our Spaniard parents (or grandparents) they feed us once a week, they are investigators. 

Valencia - Week Sixteen

Hey Fam! Can you believe summer is over? Didn't it just start? Holy wild.

So Valencia was like an OVEN this week. One day, we left district meeting and it was 108 outside.. for real. Super wild. I have never felt that kind of heat in my life. And it's humid. But let's get real, we love it, the weather keeps us on our toes haha.

Anyway, it was a super good week! I don't remember any of it haha, once the day goes by, I need my agenda to even remember what happened.

I'll give some highlights.

We made some progress with a part member family we are working with! Only the mom is a member, and this last week, she invited us over for dinner. It was just her and the two kids at home but it was really good, I feel like we're starting to develop a good relationship with her, so that was a really good miracle.

As well, one of our investigators, Barry came to church! Idk if I have told you about him. He's 23 and from Cuba, we hadn't seen him for a while but we were able to see him this past week and he came to church on Sunday! He seemed to enjoy it as well, so that's exciting.

I was in Barcelona yesterday for concilio and today we had a zone conference with President and Hermana Pace. It was a really great spirit filled weekend. I feel like it really gave me a whole new energy to work really hard and to use every minute I've got here. It was a really incredible time, I love being with the Paces. They are really incredible people.

Also, so something really neat is that every stake in our mission as well as all of the missionaries in the mission have a goal to start and finish the Book of Mormon together, from now until the end of the year. As we read we are going to study the attributes and testimonies of Jesus Christ. We did this last year, and it was a really incredible experience, and it helped build my testimony a ton. So I was wondering... if you, dear family, would want to join in as well? :) I'll send the attachment with the reading schedule. (have tytyb2 translate it for you) I think you only have to read two chapters a day, and we will finish at the end of December. To be honest, I would love if you joined with me. I think it would be a really incredible experience for our family, to all be reading together in unity. So I'll let you think about it :) we started yesterday, but today's not too late to start!

I love the Book of Mormon. Every time I read it, I feel my Savior´s love. I know it's true with my whole heart. I know that every time we read from it, we can learn so much. It was preserved for our days, and it should be studied frequently and carefully. It is a blessing in my life.


Anyway, I love you all lots and lots. More than you know. Keep being great :)
Hermana REID

Also the other day someone said something about how he had heard about "Hermana Reid Speed" haha apparently I walk fast..

inspector frassy legs.

haha. Nick.

One more thing

So I haven't eaten blueberries in over a year right? I know, imagine that cuz they are hard to find and when I find them they cost so much money for not that many blueberries. So I never buy them. sad life right? Like what is a life without blueberries? haha k that's weird. But you know what I mean.

Anyway, so I got back from concilio on Sunday, and my sweet companion had put a container of blueberries on my shelf in the fridge with a note that said "I love you just as much as you love blueberries" How sweet is that? So today, I ate my first blueberry in FOREVER. It was good. I took a video too. Too far? Maybe. But its fine. Anyway, I just thought that was cute and wanted to share it.

Valencia - Week Fifteen

HIIII FAMMILLY!!

I really loved reading your emails this week. I mean I love them every week. But they were real good this week.

Also dad and I are twins! We both spoke in church on Sunday. How tender. PS. if you ever get nervous about speaking in church again.. just remember, at least it's in your native language! Haha. I think it went well though. I really love speaking in church so it was fun. It was hard to prepare though cuz I didn't have much time. I used all my free time to work on it (and by free time I mean sleep time and lunch time... missionaries don't have free time haha). Maybe I'll send it to you eventually. It's handwritten, and in Spanish.. but maybe I'll copy it and someone can translate it for you. I need it here just in case I gotta speak again. I talked about how the Atonement is the reason we do missionary work. It was fun to write.

Anyway, it was a GREAT week. First off, Billy, our Cameroon friend, came to church! He knew some of the members too! He really liked it. So keep praying for him that he can be baptized on the 6th. We taught him the word of wisdom this week and he said he drinks sometimes, but told us he was willing to drop it if God commanded it. He has really great faith.

Also were teaching this Spaniard couple, Juan and Lolin. We ate with them yesterday, they are super sweet, Juan actually isn't interested, but he loves having us over. Lolin is in 2 Nephi 9! She's really incredible. We asked if she was praying to know if it was true and explained to her how she would recieve her answer. She's really great. She will be baptized one day.

Wanna hear a funny story? So when we were talking with Juan while we were at their house, all of a sudden he goes okay, I gotta go to the service. (and I'm thinking he's going to his catholic church service because he's done that before while we have been at their house) but I wanted to make sure we shared something with him before he left, so I was like wait! Can we share something before you go? And he was like, no you can share it with me after, I have to go right now, and I was like please? We have to go soon too, it'll just be really quick, 5 minutes, no more, and he was like no, I'll be right back, I have to go right now.. and I was like okay, how long will you be gone? (just thinking in my head, I guess we can wait till he gets back) and he goes I'll just be 10 minutes, maximum, and I said okay... so he leaves,.... and then wallks in the bathroom. And right then it clicked haha. He said service but he was talking about the bathroom... Hermana Vance and I about DIED laughing. It was so funny. I totally thought he meant church service because all he said was the word service.. gah. funny. But you probably had to be there to get it haha. But we were dyinggggg of laughter.

Anyway back to serious.. so a miracle this week was that a less active lady we are working with came to church! Her name is Odalia. She brought her whole family too (who aren't members). We are going to her house on Tuesday to eat, so hopefully we can start seeing them more regularly.

Yesterday we had a little miracle. We were teaching one of our African friends, and he brought another friend named Stanley. Well Stanley was very... fierce haha. SUPER sassy in our lesson. But at the end, I invited him to be baptized. I asked if God told him that this church was His church, if he would be baptized. He said absolutely! Unfortunately, he's headed back to Nigeria on Tuesday for a few months, so we won't see him for a little while. We were super bummed about that, because he will make a great member. Later that night he called us and told us he was explaining to a friend about our church and who we are, and the friend told him he had always seen missionaries but had never talked to them and was wondering if he could meet with us. YAY! So that's sweet. Miracles happen all the time. God always is putting prepared people in our path.

I love being a missionary because it has helped me to see how much God is really involved in every detail of our lives. He gives us miracles every single day. It's incredible to see how the gospel changes lives and how much joy it really brings to the people we teach. The mission is really rewarding.

Anyway, that's all for the week, short and sweet. LOVE YOUUUUU!!!

Love Hermana Reid

Valencia - Week Fourteen

 Hi family!

So the lake was crazy? Wanna know what's funny? Everyone said, I'm sure you've already heard about the lake, so I won't tell you about it..  but no one really told me what happened.. except mom kinda, thanks mom haha

Anyway, life here in Valencia is super good. It was cooler this week so that was nice. We had a really good week. Wait but first, I just got an email from Tatiana (she's the less active woman we were working with in Zaragoza) When I was there, all her kids weren't baptized, and weren't really into it, and Tatiana really suffered because of it. She felt a huge burden for the fact that her kids didn't want to be a part of the gospel. I don't know if you remember, but the week after I left, the oldest boy, Alexander (who was the most uninterested at the beginning) got baptized!! Tatiana emailed me this week saying her two other kids just got baptized this weekend and that they are planning on going to the temple at the end of this month. Gosh, it made me cry. I loved that family so much. I couldn't be happier for them, how incredible. I'm so sad I couldn't be there for any of their baptisms, but I'm glad to know that they can now be sealed together, forever. Gosh, the gospel is incredible.

So this week.. were teaching a guy named Billy. Did I tell you about him yet? Hes about 6´4 and from Cameroon. His first language is french, but he speaks English pretty well too. He's super cool. We've met with him twice now and he has read a ton in the Book of Mormon, he had even marked things he liked and things that he wanted to ask us about. The neat thing is that the elders had a baptism this week of a man from Camaroon and it turns out that he and Billy are friends! Unfortunately, Billy couldn't go to the baptism, but I'm hoping that his friend can help us with lessons and such. Billy has the goal to be baptized on September 6th!

Another neat thing is we are teaching this older Spaniard couple named Juan and Lolin. Lolin put her own name in as a reference because her daughter in law is a member. We went back this week to teach them the restoration and it went really well. Juan actually isn't super interested, he's very very catholic, but he loves having us visit. Lolin has read 20 chapters in the Book of Mormon! She's really great, it's fun to teach them. They talk A LOT. You have to be super smart about what questions you ask because otherwise they will go off haha. But we love them.

We had a specialized training this week that was super good. Only President Pace was there because his daughter just got married so Hermana Pace went home for the wedding. It was really good though. I always love when we have conferences, they are super inspiring.

I am really loving the mission. I learn so much every day. I love the Book of Mormon, it is such an inspired book. I have no doubt that it is true. I love learning about my Savior. His example is really incredible. You know, it's really incredible that I am here. My Heavenly Father really does love me. When I think about the fact that I am on a mission, I can't help but be grateful to my Father in Heaven for helping me to get here. It has changed my life. I know that I am His daughter, and that He loves me, and that is the greatest thing.

Life is really, really good.

Love you and miss you fam!

Love Hermana Reid

Valencia - Week Thirteen

Hey Fam!

Sounds like the lake has been super fun! I'm so glad, that's the best. Valencia is still the best, as always, I love it. I think its getting hotter though. For real. But that's okay, it keeps us tough.

We had a good week again. One highlight was that we contacted this kid the other day on a bench named Barry. Hes 23 and from Cuba. This last week we had a lesson with him that was so good. We taught him the restoration and he told us that he had read 13 chapters of the Book of Mormon, so that was the best. He totally understood the restoration really well. He told us he has never really believed in churches, but has always believed in God. He thinks churches are corrupt. But he said he really liked the Book of Mormon when he read it, it made sense, and he was excited to keep reading it and meet with us more.

Another miracle was that Cosby, our 15 year old Nigerian came to church this week again! We visited him during the week and it was kinda rough. I think stuff was going on with him and his family because he wouldn't talk to us and he seemed upset. He wasn't sure that he wanted to keep meeting with us. Which was WAY sad cuz last week he LOVED church and was so excited to go back. So we were super super sad. On Saturday we called him, and he brought up church first! He asked if he could come again! He came with us again, and loved it. So that was a miracle.

Another neat miracle we had was that one day this week, I think Friday, every single one of our citas fired haha. wait that's not the miracle. But that happened first. So we were passing by menos activos (I think you're supposed to stay stopping by? someone told me passing by makes it sound like youre just walking past them? idk.) anyway, as we were walking, a woman shouts at us asking if we are from England. So we stopped and talked to her for a second. Her name is Amparo and shes from Peru. She told us she has met with the missionaries before and that she really likes our church. She told us she didn't have time but asked if id write down her info and come visit her. (miracle, that never happens) So Sunday afternoon we went by and she had made us a chocolate cake! How sweet is that? We talked to her about the restoration and about baptism and she accepted a baptismal date! It really was a miracle. She was super super sweet.

After that, i just felt so blessed. God is so loving. He knew we were bummed because everything fired and we were just trying to keep going, and He placed someone in our path. It was a really incredible tender mercy.

As I've been re-reading Jesus the Christ, ive been learning a lot about the nature of Christ. He really is our perfect example. And everything He did was out of love for us. It is really incredible. I love the mission. I have really come to know my Savior. I know He knows me. I know He understands what I go through. I know He has felt what I feel. I know that I never have to feel alone, or sad, or burdened down. I have someone by my side every step of the way. The Atonement is incredible. The Book of Mormon is incredible. The mission is the best.

Life is good. Be safe family! I love you lots and lots.

Hermana Fras

Valencia - Week Twelve

HIIIIII HOOO HIIIII

Sounds like you're all just killin it this week on the lake. That's fun! Keep the boat crumb free OKAY? just kidding. Just drop all your cheesy soggy bread crumbs wherever you want. haha.

So let's see. This week was wild. I was in Barcelona three times between last Wednesday and this past Thursday. So I'm pretty exhausted haha. I feel like dad. They need to give me frequent flyer miles.

I got to go work in Barcelona with Hermana Hair, so I got to stay with Hermana Findlay again! It was the best. We went out to lunch with a woman that's about to be baptized and bought the biggest hamburgers you've ever seen. I only ate a fourth of it haha. Lets get real, I could have eaten the whole thing, but I didn't really want all of that inside of me. But don't doubt my abilities.

So we were running wild this week. We had a ton of super great citas. One person we are excited about is a 15 year old kid named Cosby. He's about the most hipster Nigerian I've ever met. He's cool. His dad was an old investigator, but never had time to visit with the missionaries, so he stopped progressing. Cosby told us the other day that his mom told him he can choose which church he wants to go to, so he's really sparked an interest. He came to church with us on Sunday, and he LOVED it. Let me tell you, some of the greatest joy I have ever felt in my whole life is when an investigator comes to church. Gah. Love it. He told us afterwards that the people were super nice to him and that he wants to come back next week! So that was really exciting.

As well, we went to see Glory yesterday, she also had the goal to be baptized on the 16th, but she said she is moving to San Sebastian on the 13th. Super big bummer. But she told us she wants to talk to the missionaries there to help her be baptized.

We are teaching so many new people lately so our life is pretty busy. I love it. We have been really really blessed lately in this area. I really am loving Valencia. The ward is so great, and I love my companion so so much. Hermana Munns just got transferred to Zaragoza! We will really miss her though, she's been a huge blessing throughout my mission. We started day one together. Haha that was a very rough day one.. Now we just look back and laugh.

Matilde, our Spaniard we are teaching is doing well. The only problem is she always says she's coming to church and then plans come up on Sunday and she doesn't come. She's way excited to be baptized as well. So if she starts coming, we can help her be baptized. Did I tell you she only has three upper teeth? Haha love her.

Our mission has the goal right now to invite someone to be baptized every single day. I am loving it. In 5 of our lessons yesterday we talked about baptism. It just feels so good. Baptism is such a blessing. It is one of the most incredible gifts that God has given us. The Lord has really been blessing us in our work here. I am excited to help all of our new people start progressing towards baptism. I am so happy here, even though I'm sticky sweaty all day long. Makes it even more fun right?

Well today were going to the Zoo. Gooo us! haha

LOVE YOU FAMMM!!!


sorry my emails are always a scatterbrained mess.

Love Hermana FRY.

Valencia - Week Eleven

HIII FAMMM!

SO I don't have much to say about this week. Also I don't have much time because I sent some pics, and I've been emailing you all individually. So it'll be a short one. This week was pretty good, pretty average. We found two cute new girls. One from Colombia and one from Ecuador that live together. They are about my age and were super sweet. We're excited to teach them. Matilde didn't come to church on Sunday, which was a bummer. She does so well and is progressing, but she won't commit to church. Other things keep coming up first, but we will get her there next week for sure.

We had interviews this week with President. It was really weird actually. Time has really flown. Kinda scary. But life is really good in Valencia. I know I say that every week, but it's true. We are really blessed here. We have been finding so many new people lately, so we are excited to teach more and to help them get baptized.

I got to do an intercambio this last week in Barcelona, and this week I go again! I have been there once a week for the past 6 weeks haha. It's a beautiful train ride too. Three hours. Hermana Benson will come here with H. Vance. which will be super fun. And I'll get to go spend time with H. Findlay again!

Transfers are this next week as well, but I think I'm staying to finish training Hermana Vance. I won't leave just yet. I really like it here. I wouldn't mind being here a while. Sorry its so short. But I promise life is so good! LOVE YOUUUUUU FAAAAMMMM!!

Love, Hermana Fras

My water bottle fell.. behind this fence.. how sad. I can't get to it.

The lighting is bad, but its all of us STL... on the train!

My last time seeing H. Benson!

Valencia - Week Ten

HHHiiiiiii family!

So pageants over? Remember that last year? The day after (which would have been today), I got set apart, and then Tuesday I was off to Spain! How weird is that? I thought about that yesterday as we taught these two Nigerian men yesterday on a bench.. If I would have known that a year ago, I probably wouldn't have believed it. Wow.

Anyway, this week was super good! I can't remember if I told you this story yet, so I hope not. We passed by a lady on our ward list a couple weeks ago named Matilde. The ward list said she and a few of her family members were members of the church. When we stopped by, we talked to her and her daughter and they told us that they not only were not members but that they had no idea what the Book of Mormon was and had never seen missionaries before. Anyway, we started meeting with Matilde, (her daughter has always been busy) and Matilde wants to be baptized! She's been reading a ton and we've taught her the first two lessons. Her goal is to be baptized the 9th of August. So that's super exciting. Sort of a crazy miracle. How did she ever end up on the ward list if she's not a member? Not really sure. But hey, now she will be!

We also did lots of birthday stuff this week. Ana and Nicole both had birthdays this week so we went and surprised them both with cake and balloons and stuff. It was fun. I think they were really happy that we remembered them.

Other than that, it was kind of a mellow week. We have been finding lots of new people lately, this week I think all of them were Nigerians which is cool. I loooveee Africans. One we found is named Glory, who is a friend of a recent convert. We met with her yesterday and she as well wants to be baptized and is preparing for the 9th! She's super sweet. She told me she might move up north (to San Sebastian!!) when Peace moves (which could be next month) so I hope she stays long enough so we can teach her everything. She was really sweet.

The elders had a baptism this week so I'll send pics of that. We sang at it as a district. We did a sweet rendition of come thou fount and Oh my Father. Everyone really liked it. Would I ever have sang in a group of 6  before the mission? Nope. I'm getting bolder. Also guess what else I did? Played the piano in Sacrament Meeting. I know 4 hymns. So those were the ones I played. Haha. We're gonna have to sing God be with you till we meet again every other week...

Anyway, tomorrow we have interviews with President! Then on Wednesday and Thursday I'm going to do an intercambio in Barcelona, and then on Sunday I head up to Barc again for concilio (which means I'll probs write on Tuesday next week) By the end of this transfer, I will have been in Barc on average once a week. My poor companion. She's doing so great though, we have lots of fun together.

Life is really good. We are working really hard and seeing lots of miracles. I hope I get to stay in Valencia a while, I like it a lot. The members are really great here. Have a fun week FAAMMMM!!! Haha I just remembered red robin YUMMMM! Go tytyb2. Remember how if someone said red robin the other one would have to say yum? Haaaaha. We are so strange. K love you lots!!

Love, Kassibaby2000 haha.

Valencia - Week Nine

HIIIII!!!

Valencia is just the best. I really love this place. I am always dripping in sweat, but it's fine. Kinda like being in New York in July right? haha Valencia is a great place to be. We had a good week this week. It fleeeewww by.

Monday night we had an FHE with Ana and her kids at a members house. We watched the 20 minute restoration video (pageant flashback oh my gosh, it's so weird to think about how I was at the Joseph Smith home a year ago and now I'm in an Ecuadorian home in Spain teaching a woman from El Salvador about the most important thing in my life) Big throwback. Anyway, we watched the video and Ana reallly liked it. I think it was good for her to be able to see the restoration and to feel the Spirit that the video brings. She told me afterwards that it really touched her and that all of the scriptures from the bible that the movie quotes, she knows from memory. She's doing really great.

Sad news, we saw Veronica this week and she told us she was having doubts about different things. So we read together in Alma 32 about faith. We taught her about how faith starts with a desire. She told us she mostly struggled with believing that the BOM prophets were true because she was more familiar with the ones in the Bible. We explained how everything starts with a desire. If she has the desire to know its true, she's just got to be willing to act on it by reading the BOM and asking God about it. She told us she had the desire and everything ended well. Unfortunately after we left her house that night, she called us and told us that her desire really wasn't in it. I'm not sure what happened but she said she was content where she was and didn't want to continue anymore.

I was really devastated. It was really really hard. It's hard to see someone progress so much and start to recognize the Spirit and feel good in church and then just change their minds. I think she just got scared. I don't think its all completely over with her, but it was really, really hard to hear her say she was done. At the same time, I felt a lot of peace about our part as missionaries. I felt we had really taught clearly and the Spirit guided us in the lesson and I don't feel like we should have done anything different.

So I don't remember if I told you but we are teaching a Pakistan man named Farooq. His English and Spanish isn't very good, so we have to keep it really simple. He contacted us. It was really cool though because yesterday I had a moment as we taught him on the bench. I sat there with my Spanish Book of Mormon, he had his BOM in Ardo  and Hermana Vance had hers in English. I just thought man, if  you would have told me a year ago that I would be in Spain, on this bench, teaching Farooq the gospel in three different languages, I wouldn't have believed it. It was a really tender moment. I am really glad to be here. I love the mission so so much.

Oh one last little thing. On Tuesday, Hermana Munns and I went to Barcelona for our conference for sister training leaders. It was really good! We talked about how we can lift the mission and help unite the sisters. It was a really powerful meeting. President and Hermana Pace are incredible. They are so inspired, I love being with them (Also they gave us homemade Cafe Rio salads, talk about being in heaven) After the meeting, I got to go out and work with HERMANA FINDLAY. it was THE BEST! I love her so so much. It was the biggest tender mercy, especially since last week was kinda rough. We just laughed and reminisced about when we were in Zaragoza. Love her.

Also, for any of you that ever get nervous about leading music.. try leading a group of 100 people without a piano.. this last Sunday got wild, let me tell you. But I loved it. I volunteered to play the piano sometimes. Because I know four songs. One of them being God be with you till we meet again haha that'll be a regular Sunday one now. We have no pianist! Help! Anyway, life's good. I'm glad pageant is a blast. Tell them all I miss them and love them.


I love you fam bam!

Valencia - Week Eight

Hey fam!

I hope you all had a good week! I can't wait to hear about it someday... haha sorry, I guess I must have made it sound like I wasn't going to be on today.. my conference in Barc is on Wednesday.. awkward. that's okay, I'll tell you about my week.

So this week was kinda rough to be honest. We had lots of great visits and such, I was just more tired than usual I think. My animo was down. But we ended the week really strong so that was good.


We saw some really good miracles this week!

One miracle was that we started teaching a girl named Veronica, a friend of a less active. We met with her this week and taught the first lesson. Hermana Vance said the first vision for the first time and rocked it. She invited her to be baptized too and Veronica gave a solid YES. It was so great. She's preparing to be baptized on the 19th! She was so excited the next time we came back she asked if we could send missionaries to her family in Paraguay! She and Maria came to church on Sunday too! Veronica doesn't have money for the metro so they walked an entire hour there and back. It was incredible. Maria told us normally she cant walk more than a block because she has bad stomach problems but that she was willing to sacrifice for Veronica. Later she told us that as they walked she didn't have pain the entire two hours of walking! Maria as well told us that ever since we have been meeting with Veronica, she has completley changed. She's had a better attitude and has been super sweet. Maria said she's been praying for Veronica for a long time now, and now were seeing miracles. Such a blessing. I am really really praying that she will be prepared for the 19th. It would be a huge huge blessing.

Another miracle was that Abi and Ana and their whole family came to church again! That was a miracle because the other day Abi told us they were probably going to get kicked out of their house on Monday and every time we saw them they were super stressed. So I thought there was no way they'd come. AND THEY DID. I shed a few tears when I saw them. It was the most tender mercy from God.  They are really incredible. I really hope we can help Ana be baptized this month. She's so ready, we just need to help her realize it. The members were super sweet to them as well.

We also had a miracle with a man named Farooq. He's Pakistani but wants to know about the Bible. He contacted us and told us he's searching for the truth. We have met with him a few times now as well, and HE walked to church too! He told us he would leave at 7 so he could be there at 9 30 when it starts, and HE DID! It was a huge miracle. We were really blessed this Sunday.

Anyway, life is good in Valencia. It is hotter than hot can be, but were surviving it. I think it'll still get hotter before it gets cooler...

Also Mom, I cut a watermelon today just the way you always do it (I think it's the first time I've ever cut an entire watermelon.. embarrassing) anyway, it went well. Personal Progress points? Yes.

I love you fam! Hope youre enjoying pageant!

love Hermna Fras

Valencia - Week Seven

 Hiiiiiiiiiiiii

It's pageant time again! That's the best! Thinking about pageant made me think about when I received my call. Remember how we were all wondering when I would leave and Rockstar (this is why we call him Rockstar) totally knew that I was going to leave July 24th, three days after pageant. And it happened. I was thinking about that and how much of a tender mercy that was for us. It's really interesting to see how God works. Obviously if I would have been called to report before pageant, it would have been fine and life would have gone on.. but God knew how special it would be for me to be at pageant right before I left, so He let me. For me that was one of the biggest testimony builders that God is really involved in the little details of our lives. He wants us to be happy, and what's important to us is important to Him. He really loves us. Besides, I'm pretty sure He knew I would totally rock that King Noah crowd scene last year..

Anyway, life here in Valencia is good! It's.. hot! haha. But not as bad as Palmyra in July yet.. but I think it'll come. People say theres still more hot coming. We had a really good week last week. It was kind of scattered because i spent half of it in Barcelona getting my new comp. But the second half of the week was good.

Sad news, we went to visit Ana and she told us she's just not ready for a baptismal date yet. She wants more time. I know we can keep working with her though. We explained how it's just a goal, and that it can be changed, but she wasn't ready for it yet. So that's a bummer. I know that she will get baptized this month though. Keep her in your prayers.

Other than that, to be honest I don't remember much from last week.. sorry. We had a lot of good visits though. Hermana Vance is doing great. She's a hard worker and she's up for anything. She's not nearly as sensitive as I was when I first got here. It's weird how I keep asking her if she's okay or if she's sensitive or if she's tired.. (cuz that's how I was when I was new) but shes a champ! So it's been way fun. She's willing to do anything and everything, I'm really glad to be with her. Especially because she's blonde. Blondes are the best.

So Sunday night, five of us (2 zone leaders and 3 STLs) went to Barcelona for concilio. We got to sleep over at Hermana Findlay and Bensons piso (yes they live together, so not fair!) but it was SO fun to see them. I love them so so much. On Monday we had concilio. It was really incredible. We have been working as a mission to work hard to find new investigators together. It's been really uniting and motivating. I love going to those meetings. They are always so inspiring and the Spirit is so strong. I feel blessed to be able to go. Next week we have a meeting in Barcelona again for the sister training leaders. That's three weeks in a row that I'll be in Barcelona haha. It's like a 3 hour train ride so it's not bad. It's fun to do it with the other STLs as well. We have really bonded a ton.

Anyway other than that, I don't have much for this week. This week we have coming is going to be great! We're super excited to work really hard and to make some progress with the people we are teaching. I love this work, it has blessed me so much. Have a great week fam!

love, Hermana Reid

Valencia - Week Six Pictures

Valencia - Week Six (Pictures to come!)

Hey fam bam!

So you all sounded like you had a WILD week. But good. Well maybe you didn't think it was wild, but I did. YAY FOR PAGEANT TIME!!!! THE BEST TIME IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD. Remember how a year ago we went to the Palmyra Temple? YAY! Also all my companions think I'm crazy because I talk about how OBSESSED I am with pageant. But it's fine. They're all convinced they need to do it. I think it's cuz I act out the King Noah scene so well for them. 

ANYWAY BIG NEWS

I'M TRAAAIINNNIINNNGG!! We got calls Saturday night and I was super pumped when I found out. Hermana Munns, who I live with got called as a STL so that's sweet too because I LOVE her and it'll be way fun to travel with her and do intercambios with her. 

Anyway, I just picked up my companion in Barcelona. Only two sisters and two elders came in. Her name is Hermana Vance. She's blonde! Woot! She's from Ohio. She did one semester at BYU  Idaho and now she's here. She's super cute and ready to work. I'm pumped about these next two transfers together. There's something about new missionaries that I just love, they are so excited to work and learn. It will be so so fun. 

So this last week was really good. We had a lot of really great miracles. We have been finding more and more news through the members lately, it's been great. This past week, just from stopping by members we have been able to set up visits with some of their friends that happened to be in their house at the same time, so it's been really great. 

So this week I was pondering. It's a new hobby I have. I have been really wanting to learn more about the Atonement. I have been praying for God to help me understand it more. Last week Tyson told me sad news about one of his friends losing their baby and it really struck me hard. That night I was praying a lot. I felt so bad for the family and what they must be going through. It's really really hard to see bad things happen to really good people. People that spend their whole lives striving to do what is right and then are given incredibly hard challenges. In my prayer I was asking God why something so bad had to happen to such good people. While I was praying, a phrase from a talk I once heard came into my head, "he's my son, too". I remember reading a talk where a dad had begged God to know why his son had to have so many complications with his eyesight. The doctors did a ton, but he would only be able to see out of one eye. As the dad prayed one night asking, "why" he heard in his head, "Spencer, he's my son, too". 

I think sometimes I forget that just like we love our family and friends, God loves them too. He loves each one of us with a perfect love. He knows our needs, our strengths and our weaknesses. Sometimes I still don't understand why bad things happen to good people, or why we are given the trials that we have, but what I DO have, is faith in my Father in Heaven. I know He knows better than I do, and that every challenge we are given is to help us, to strengthen us, to bring us closer to Him.

I am so grateful for the Atonement. I am grateful to know that on the days when I'm tired or stressed or just about to give up, that I have someone right by my side. I have a Savior that knows exactly what I am feeling. I have a Savior that loved me enough, to come to this earth and suffer voluntarily just for me. Just so He could know how to strengthen me when I am weak and comfort me when I am sad. The Atonement is the most incredible thing. I am so grateful for this gospel. That is why I am here. The peace the Atonement gives me is unreal. People need this in their lives. I love the happiness this gospel brings me. I love the knowledge that I have that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. I know He lives. I know we have a Father in Heaven that is very aware of us. He is in the details of our lives. 

Life is so good. 

I love you, family.

Love Hermana Fras 

Valencia - Week Five

HAPPY FATHERS DAY ROCKSTAAARRRR!!

Remember when you got that name? Can I be called rockstar mini? haha. Jk.

So this week I ate rabbit liver.

And then I ate sardines.

Do I get personal progress points for that?

So we had a reallllllllyyyyyy good week this week! One sweet miracle is that one night we were out passing by old investigators. We had a sheet with two men named Marcos and Julian. We hit their timbre and a girl answered. So I asked for the two mens names and surprisingly, she buzzed us in. We met this girl at the elevator and she said her name was Juliana, but that she had never met with missionaries before. She was on her way out but told us we could go up and share something with her mom.. who was named Martha. How weird is that? What are the chances that the names we have (from investigators from 2005) would have very similar names to these woman who had never met us? Marcos and Julian... martha and Juliana? It was wild. Anyway, we talked to the mom and shared with her about the Book of Mormon. She just looked at us the whole time in shock that we had found her. She told us how she doesn't believe in coincidences and that she knew we had found her for a reason. So she invited us to come back again. And she's Colombian. Which are my FAVORITE. so she told us she'd make us arepas too.

Hermana Blanco and I walked away very shocked. These investigators from our sheet must have left that place years ago, but God put other people in that same place that He knew we would eventually find. It was really an incredible moment.

Another miracle this week was that Abi and Ana and their family came to church for the first time!!! Here we do the order of the classes backwards so we called Abi after Relief Society and he said they were lost outside somewhere haha. So we went and found them to bring them in. When I saw them I about cried. They all were dressed up, with their hair all done up nice. Even though they weren't in your typical church clothes,  you knew that they were dressed in the best that they had. In that moment, I just felt so blessed by the Lord. It was such a tender mercy to see them there. A family of five! At church! Wow, it was incredible. I think they had a good experience too. Luckily, I feel like I'm a pro at entertaining toddlers (thank you Allie) so I kept their two year old under control all during sacrament meeting to help them enjoy it better. It was literally one of the happiest moments of my mission seeing them there. I really think Ana will get baptized. They would be such an incredible add to the church.

Anyway, this week was really great. The Lord is really blessing us here. I feel so incredibly blessed to be with Hermana Blanco. We have a very different way of working, but I am learning so much from her. She is one of the most incredible teachers I have ever met and I feel so blessed to be with her. The Lord has really blessed this area. Day after day He keeps putting prepared people in our path. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by His kindness. These days I have been studying a lot about humility. I just always want to remember that every blessing we have is because of the Lord. He has blessed me so much in every aspect of my life. I hope to be always humbly grateful for what I have.


I love you family, have a great week!

love Hermana Fry Fry