les echoes de menus (i miss you all) ((i think that's what it means))

hola family and friends!!!!!!

this week was hard but im telling you the days are FLYING by!!!! there´s not much to write this week so hopefully i´ll have more time to actually read all my emails this week.

this week has been crazy and hard and has really tested my faith but dont worry im still going strong!!! the park was GREAT this week!! my companion was hermana estrada, a full spaniard that speaks no english whatsoever but has the sweetest and kindest soul ever. it just so happened that this week in the park we only talked to 1 english person, so for the whole 2 hours in the park i only spoke spanish. which was amazing but also way hard. we gave out 4 books of mormon and 15 pamphlets and contacted 67 people!!! hermana estrada did most of the work because when people hear her spanish they speak a lot faster and its hard for me to keep up. she would talk to them and teach them and then let me testify with my broken spanish. the first lady that we talked to wanted to know more so we got a reference!!!! (her name and number and email) it was so great because that means that different missionaries can go to her house and teach her more. she was very excited that i was from texas and kept bringing that up throughout our whole conversation. everyone else we talked to didnt want anything but let us bear our testimonies to them-which is definitely still something!!! i gave a book of mormon to a man from turkey that wanted to read it on his own and everything so that was exciting!!!! the other 2 and the rest of the pamphlets were all spanish speakers so i didnt understand everything but it was still great!! hermana estrada had such a love for the people and for me and the gospel and i really learned that showing the people the love you have for them will really let them open up to you and they will be more willing to listen.

in other news, hermana allen and i were called to be the sister training leaders!!!! which bascially means we are in charge of all the girls here and making sure that everyone is happy. its fun because we get to spend extra time with thte president and his wife and its given me the opportunity to really meet all the girls here. we have 6 full spaniard girls and also 5 girls that are learning russian. so our group is very diverse but we have a lot of fun. every night before bed we have a group prayer all together and the prayer is in a different language almost every night (spanish, english, russian, french, portuguese..)its amazing and the spirit is seriously so strong in that circle. we are so blessed with our zone and the group that we have and i have made so many friends that i know i will stay friends with forever. one hard part for me on a mission is all the goodbyes ;( we meet all these people and become really close and then have to separate in 6 weeks. its hard but also great how the spirit and the love we have for the gospel can really connect us. my favorite teacher and favorite person EVER left this week and i cried like a baby. one thing that this mission has done for me is that its made me more emotional...really i cry all the time now and its crazy because i really was never been that big of a crier. the spirit just touches me so often that i cant ever hold back the tears. its amazing how the spirit speaks to us in different ways and can touch us in ways we never thought would happen.

a lot of people have been asking to hear spanish so i decided i would end this letter by bearing my testimony in spanish.

yo se que dios es nuestro padre celestial y nosotros somos sus hijos. yo se que jesucristo es el hijo de dios y a través de su expiacion, podemos recibir la vida eternal. el libro de mormon es evidencia del amor de dios por sus hijos. yo amo mucho el libro de mormon. estoy agradecido por todos las personas en mi vida y les quiero mucho!!!!

sorry if that makes no sense at all but there´s a little sneak peak to what ive learned. also sorry that the email this week is a lot shorter AND no pictures but thank you thank you thank you all for all the love and support!!!! all the letters and emails and everything else have really brightened my day!!! i LOVE you all and miss you guys so much!!!!

con amor,

xoxo

hermana spangler

talk to everyone and keep moving forward

hola familia!!!!!

WOW there is so much to talk about this week, i dont even know where to begin!!!! first off, once again thank you thank you thank you for all your emails and support!!!! i apologize from the bottom of my heart that i really dont have time to write an email, read all the other ones and reply ): however, every single email makes my day so so much brighter, so THANK YOU!!!! i love love love you all!!!!

lets start off today with my park experience-which was absolutely insane!!!! i was companions with hermana spencer aka the cutest and sweetest and most positive missionary i have every met. she is always smiling and the light of the gospel and the happiness she has is just always shining out of her face. i love it. so we started off by saying a prayer at the temple together that we would havve the gift of tongues and have the spirit and be able to convey our message and also that the people we were going to teach would be prepared and WOW were they prepared. the very FIRST person we talked to took a book of mormon, two pamphlets and wanted to come watch us sing at the temple ((which we do every sunday)) it was amazing!!!! he spoke spanglish, kinda like us, so we were able to properly convey the message we wanted and testify over and over again of how beautiful this gospel is and how much happiness it can bring. then, THE SECOND PERSON DID THE SAME!!!! she was a sweet old lady and she was so so so excited when we gave her the book of mormon and told her how much it would help her life and how happy it would make her. we also gave her 3 pamphlets about the restoration and the gospel and families and she jumped around and hugged us both and kissed us on the cheek it was so cute. let me remind you that this whole entire thing was in spanish!!! crazy that i can already understand so much and speak so much. (ps, the thing to do here in spain is greet each other by two kisses on the cheek. so we can only do that with other girls, but we´ve been practicing with each other so that we´ll beore comfortable in the field. and not gonna lie, the first few times were pretty uncomfortable because i kinda had no idea what i was doing) so the next few people we talked to were super nice but they only took a pamphlet and didnt want a book of mormon. which is okay, because now they have contact with the missionaries. every pamphlet and book of mormon has numbers to call if they want to know more, its great. then we talked to another super spanish guy that i think only talk to us because we were girls but i mean he took a book of mormon and 2 pamphlets so thats a good sign. he seemed genuinely interested and then wanted to take us both out to lunch which of course, we had to decline. in spain, the people here dont take anything if they dont actually want it. so the fact that we passed out 12 pamphlets is a good accomplishment. (the normal amount around here is 7 or 8) and then the best storry for last...me came across this guy sitting on a bench and we started talking to him about the church and he was so interested. his name was pablo he was athiest but he still wanted to here everything we had to say. luckily, he spoke english so we could really testify and answer all his questions. he had  A LOT of questions and some of them were pretty hard but i think we did a good job answering all of them. we gave him a book of mormon and 2 pamphlets AND THEN GUESS WHAT he said he loved it so much that he wanted missionaries to come to his house and teach him!!!!! i almost started crying i was so happy. so we got his contact information and we are going to send it to the madrid missionaries so that they can send some elders over to talk to him. its amazing how much god has prepared these people to listen to our word. they are so ready to hear it and they´re just waiting for us to go up and talk to them. that was our motto for saturday. "talk to everyone." anyone you made eye contact with or passed in the park, we had to talk to them and it seriously paid off.i can testify so strongly right now about the power of the spirit and how he can truly help us with anything we need. whether its finding the courage to talk to someone or knowing the right word in spanish. its truly amazing.

hermana allen and i are doing so great as a companionship and with our teaching. we have had many different teachers come up to us and tell us that we have a special companionship and a special light between us. that really helps during our teaching because the people we are teaching can feel the love we have for them and see our testimonies in our eyes. on saturday, we had a trc lesson and it was SO great. we taught "eduardo." he was a scientist that didnt believe in a creator and his mom was sick all the time and he didnt know what to do. so we did A LOT of testifying. we taught him about prayer and the power that it has to bring the spirit which brings guidance and comfort and anything else you need. at the end of the lesson he said, "i believe everything you have said to me and i want to pray more in my life." !!!!!!!!!!!do you realize what this means!!!! in spanish, i was able to change someone´s heart and help them with their problems and feel the spirit. our teachers that do the role playing are supposed to be really hard on us and only do things if they really feel the spirit or really have that desire. after the lesson, during our feedback, the teacher told us that he had a real desire to pray in his heart and that he even wanted to go home and reevaluate the prayers he had right now. it was amazing and the spirit was so strong. i promise to any of reading this that the power of prayer is REAL. its so real. if you have a question, or a problem, or a broken heart, or anything, get down on your knees and prayer for the strength to get through it. i promise with every inch of my soul that you will receive that comfort and peace that you so desperately need.

spain is SO BEAUTIFUL. last week we got to walk around madrid and see the palaces and take pictures and it was amazing!! i love it here and im so happy that this is my home for the next 18 months. also, for all you soccer players out there,  today we get to go to the santiago bernabeau (sp?) stadium!!!!! and we get to tour it and see the inside of it and everything!!! im super excited so ill send pictures and tell you all about it next week.

well thats all the time i have for this week, i miss you all so much!!! thanks for the love and prayers and support, its what keeps me going when i just want to cry. any time i have the thought that im not good enough or that this is too hard, heavenly father gives me the strength and the faith to keep moving forward. my spanish is improving more and more each day and i just love everything about spain and this CCM.

i love love love you all!!! you`re all special to me and even more special to your heavenly father so dont ever forget that.

until next thursday!!!!

xoxo

hermana spangler

ps, i am going to send a lot of pictures this week ((FINALLY)) but they only send one at a time so i am apolozing in advance. also, i really dont have time to spell check and correct everything so i hope it all makes sense.

the view outside my room EVERY NIGHT. the sunsets and sunrises here are breathtaking

this is my zone out here aka all my new best friends and favorite people ever 

just a little sneak peek of madrid and all its beauty 

dos pulgares arriba!!! (two thumbs up)

HOLA to all my favorite people in the world!!!!

first off, thank you thank you THANK YOU for all the emails and letter and love and support!!!! i am so appreciative to all of you :)) second off, i am loving it here!!!! so much to do and learn and see and think and my brain is on the verge of exploding!!!

lets start with a language update: my spanish is improving so much every day. i cannot believe how much i can already understand and say. for fast sunday last weekend, i had the idea that as a zone we should do a fast from food as well as a fast from english. i think it helped A LOT. it was hard because on sunday we really didnt know a lot of spanish or know what to say but hopefully the lord will look upon our sacrifice and diligence by pouring blessings upon us. here in the CCM, we fast for 24 hours straight. that means no food or water from the night before to the next night, which is a LONG time but that also meant that we had 24 hours straight of speaking spanish and practicing the language. i am going to do the same thing this sunday and with the amount of spanish i have learned and can understand, i am fully confident that i will be able to communicate exactly how i want to. spanish is a great language and actually makes a lot of sense in my head (thanks to the spirit). its amazing to see what the lord is doing with me and with my testimony. i can physically feel the spirit so much stronger in my life and i love it. i love love love it here.

i figured that you all might be a little curious as to how my day goes out here so here is an example of my daily schedule:

6:30-wake up, get ready, eat breakfast

8:00-personal study for an hour

9:00-companionship study for an hour

10:00-grammar

11:00-a lesson with one of the teachers (restoration, plan of salvation...)

12:00-teach an investigator

1:00-lunch

2:00-comp study/personal study

3:00-personal language study

4:00-language study w a teacher

5:00 physical activity and showers and such

7:00-dinner

7:30-comp study

8:30-language study

9:30-rooms

10:30-bedtime

so as you can see, its just work and work and study and teach and study and work and on and on and on. theres so much to do all the time!!! the hardest thing is just getting up so early and working all day and just falling asleep right away and then having to wake up and do the same thing again.  but i love it and im learning so much. as for the investigator, hermana allen and i are teaching ismael (hermano lopez, he is related to the pickups) and hes great and ready to learn and to pray but hes just having a hard time understanding pray and the joseph smith story so for our next lesson we´re going to focus more on that. next week we will have 2 investigators every day which will be crazy!!!! we barely have enough time to prepare for one so our schedules are going to be even more jam pakced than usual but its gonna be great!!!

you may have noticed that there is time for physical activity every day, which includes a range of the gym, volleyball, fútbol, and dodgeball. its different every day and its actually so fun!!! if you know me at all, you know i am not athletic nor do i want to be athletic but you will be suprised to know that yesterday in fútbol I SCORED THREE GOALS!!!! thats an all time record for me!!!! especially because half the teachers and kids here are basically pros but woohooo!!!! the CCM is changing me in more ways than one.

on saturday we went the park again but this time was a llittle bit different because the oldies that new a lot of spanish left last week so its just all of us newbies that barely know any spanish. but it went SO WELL. i was with hermana stanley (great girl, sister training leader, and just super fun) and we had 53 contacts!!!! just us too!!! that just means we at least attempted to talk to the many people and either we were completely ignored and they decided to talk to us :)) we talked with one group of kids that were studying abroad and could speak english which was SUCH a relief. only one of them actually seemed interested but i was able to testify of everything to him and share the joseph smith experience (my favorite part) and the spirit was SO strong. he didnt want a book of mormon but he took two pamphlets which is still success!!! hopefully, his heart was touched that day and he remembers what he felt. we also talked to these sweet old ladies who gladly took the pamphlets and seemed so happy that we wanted to talk to them. let me remind you that this was all in spanish. but we testified and talked to them and i think we really made their day. some people are not interested but will talk to us anyways because we are so happy and friendly which i think is great because that is usually their first impression of the church and when the seed is planted. practicing in the park is so wonderfulbecause i can get a feel of the people and the culture and the language. the CCM is great but being able to experience it first hand is even better.

spain is BEAUTIFUL. seriously, i love it!!! the sunsets and sunrises are the most beautiful things in the world and its right around the temple. speaking of which, we get to go the the temple every thursday morning out here and its beautiful. the outside and the inside are all stunning and i just love the sweet spirit i feel every time i am inside.

also im trying to send pictures, but its not working as well as i want, so maybe you'll have to wait  til next week....

okay well im running out of time ): but thanks again for all the love and prayers!!! i can feel them helping me in times of confusion or frustration. you guys are the best!!! love and miss you with all my heart.

until next thursday!!!!!

xoxo,

hermana spangler

HELLO FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!!!!!

oh my goodness i dont even know where to begin!!! unfortunately, i dont have quite as much time as i wish but i will try my best to fit everything into this first email.

from the very moment that i arrived here in the CCM, the spirit has been so strong. the MTC president met us at the door and greeted us all my name. To me he said, "Hermana Spangler from Texas." he knew ALL 22 OF US by name and where we were from and a few other random facts about us. just from shaking his hand, i felt all the power and authority that he has. i absolutley adore him and his wife. the great thing about being here in the mtc in spain is that its much much smaller than the one in provo. we have the chance to really get to know everyone here and the teachers and the president. its absolutely wonderful.

so many people here remind me of people i know. a compilation of the group of missionaries here would be people like nicole naccarella, ashlee spangler, krista spangler, hailey thomas, kendal brandt, krista spangler and other wonderful people i adore like that. so as you can praobably tell, im loving the people here and they make it feel a little bit more like home.

speaking of which, my companion is hermana allen!!! shes the absolute sweetest girl ever. she is from england and she has the cutest accent ever. we spend so much time together that i constantly find myself speaking with an accent and she has starting thinking in an american accent hahahaha but really she is so great and just has the sweetest spirit ever. i really feel blessed to have been assigned to be companions with her because she makes me want to be better and is always trying to do whats right. the lord truly knows what he is doing. my district is a super small group of 2 elders and 7 girls but they are all SO fantastic. we all get along really well and always have the best conversations about what we are learning and everything,

most of you that know me, KNOW that i am terrible at languages and i basically almost failed out of all 3 years of spanish. but after being here for 1 week, i can officially pray(i was the first one able to do that, thanks dad), bear my testimony, have a typical conversation, give the whole first lesson and understand almost everything that the teachers are saying. THE GIFT OF TONGUES IS REAL. i cannot stress that enough. all the teachers here speak only in spanish so the first day was a mess of confusion but now during classes, i am able to understand everything they say, its crazy and amazing!!!!! its a lot harder to speak than it is to understand spanish, but my reading and speaking is coming along better than i thought. 

in other news, i already went proselyting!!!! ALREADY!!! for those that dont know, proselyting is just going out to the real world and doing missionary things like sharing the gospel and talking to everyone i meet. every saturday out here, we go to the park and take books of mormon and pamphlets and everything we have so that we can pass them out to people. my companion for that ((we get different companions when we proselyte)) was sister briggs aka the absolute CUTEST missionary ever!!!! shes been in the mtc for 6 weeks so her spanish was much much better than mine. but anyways, we walked around the park for about 2 hours and passed out pamphlets and pictures of the temple and 1 book of mormon!!!! sister briggs did a lot more talking than i did, but whenever we met someone that spoke english i took control. the one book of mormon we gave out was to an american girl that was here studying abroad!!!! so i basically just bore my testimony of the book of mormon and how much happiness it can bring you and she actually said she would read it!!! when we talk to people in the park we are supposed to get their info so that the missionaries in madrid can contact them but since she was going home pretty soon we didnt get it. but as a zone (all 50 of us in the mtc) we had 676 contacts!!! that means 676 new people were introduced to the gospel of jesus christ just by our little group!!!

along with the park proselyting, we also have "investigators." herman allen and i have been teaching an investigator named johanna and we teach her the 3rd lesson tomorrow!!! its actually really hard becuase everything we do has to be in spanish so when she asks us random questions we have to come up with an answer. on the spot. in spanish. its so hard buit its amazing how much the lord helps me during those times. hermana allen is pretty shy so when we get asked a random question, i do must of the talking. but ive learned that when i put myself out there and start talking, heavenly father will do the rest. we also have trc investigators which is just a one day random investigator, not someone that is progressing with the lessons. we taught ricardo on saturday and it went so well. we teach the lessons and then after then teachers give us feedback on how we did. brother basurto (ricardo) told us that he felt like he was talking to week 4 missionaries!!!!! we had only been there for 4 days!!!! its amazing how much ive progressed and how much im learning. i love everything about spain and the people and the missionaries here and all the teachers.

i love love LOVE and miss you all!!!! thank you so much for all the support and all the emails!! i may not have enough time to reply back but just know that they make my day and they will definitely help me throughout the week :)) also, we are´not allowed to take pictures here unless it´s preparation day and since this is technically our first p day, i havent taken pictures yet :(

i feel so blessed to be out here in spain at this time in my life. its hard but i can really feel the spirit working more strongly in my life. this is an opportunity to me to find out what i trust the lord to do with me. i am already seeing miracles and i am so excited for whats in store for me.

i wish i could write more about every little detail but i am running out of time :( thanks for all the prayers and love.

once again i LOVE you all!!!!

xoxo,

hermana spangler