Natalie's Mission

Week two of quarantine complete! I now have 16 days without leaving the apartment. My companion went grocery shopping, but we're not allowed to go together, so I let her go see the great wide world while I stayed home and jammed to some nice primary songs on the uke. I was fine with the arrangement. But this week has been pack full of video call meetings and missionary work! We've been having lots of meetings to try to figure out the best way to help everyone be successful and use their time wisely and I've learned so much! Firstly, I've learned the work of the Lord will not stop. It may change. And whether we can see it or not, it will probably only change for the better because He is a God of progression. He's never gonna hold back the most important work in the world. At one of our meetings this week, we watched a ted talk about David and Goliath. It basically highlighted all of the reasons why David was not actually the underdog that we tend to think he...

March 26, 2020 Dear Parents of the Happiest Missionaries in the Church, Let me once again thank you for sending us such honorable and admirable missionaries. We are continually impressed with their dedication, faith and diligence. I so often think to myself, “This must have been how Helaman felt leading the 2000 stripling warriors.” I continually have to remind myself that these are 18-22-year olds. They are wise beyond their years. As we are well into the second week of our government mandated self-isolation, the National Government announced that it will extend the quarantine until Easter (April 12). Even with that news, spirits remain high and the work is moving forward in miraculous ways. Even though this virus has limited our mobility, the forward movement of the Gospel has not slowed or contracted. It is awe inspiring to see the miracles their faith continues to bring. Our finding efforts are succeeding, and we continue to extend baptismal invitations to our friends. Sis...

Hey ya'll! We're going on to day 9 in quarantine over here with at least 21 more so wahooo! (they announced that they were going 15 more days yesterday lol). And it has officially been 9 days since I have taken a step into the outside world. But today we get to take out the trash! Field trip! But anyways, I started out the week great on Tuesday by biting my lip so hard on accident that it made my tooth hurt and my bottom lip was huge! And then a few minutes later, I think something else bit my top lip and it all the sudden was super itchy. So I itched it, and then half a second later it had all the sudden tripled in size! Sadly I did not get any pictures, but by the next morning, both my lips were back to normal so that was nice. I do still have a pretty great canker sore on my bottom lip though. (hence the subject line, although I'm not sure how to spell it because it's polish I think so I hope at least some of you get my joke)  Veggie Tales: I Love My Lips - Sill...

March 20, 2020 Dear Parents of the Best Missionaries in the World! I apologize it has taken me a week to update you, but as you are well aware, the coronavirus is a game changer and the game keeps changing in Spain and as you are experiencing in the U.S. as well. What I want to reassure you is that your missionary is safe and doing well with the current situation. In fact, statistically speaking your missionary is safer on their mission than virtually everywhere else. In short, it seems your missionary is more protected staying in the mission field than trying to go home where our own government’s response seems more chaotic and disorganized.  Plus, we are in a country where the main essential businesses left open are pharmacies, grocery stores and bakeries!  Viva España! We have been under the government mandated quarantine now for almost a week and so far, all is well. We remind ourselves that these are not punishments, but protections that have been p...

Well a lot of you probably already know, but on Friday, Spain declared a national "state of alarm" and we are now in a 15 day nationwide quarantine and if you're found out on the street you could get fined. But if you really have to go get food, the grocery stores are open but proper social distancing is enforced. You could say we're having a great time. And we're hoping this only lasts 15 days :) But we are enjoying doing lots of calls with the members and our amigos and just making sure to stay in contact with everyone! We've been brainstorming lots of ideas of what we can do these next two weeks to keep the Lords work going strong here in Spain. I'll let you know what we come up with. And if anyone has any ideas, let me know! On Saturday night we were finishing up language study and we heard a weird noise outside, after a few seconds, we realized that it was clapping! But it was coming from everywhere! We opened the window and we were surrounde...

Dear Spain Madrid, Missionary Parent,  I want to provide you with an  update on the evolution of what is transpiring with your missionary in Spain. Things continue to evolve rapidly, and we feel it is important to update you on what is happening and try and provide some peace of mind for you as we journey with your sons and daughters through this unique and transformational time.   The quick summary is that Spain is about two weeks ahead of the United States as far as the progression of all things related to the Corona Virus. We closed schools, requested self-isolation/distancing and started curtailing and limiting church meetings two weeks ago. Today, Spain President announced further restrictions, limiting travel, closing all but essential businesses and inviting everyone to not venture out unless absolutely necessary. For the next two weeks we are also postponing any exchanges, baptism services, District Council meetings in person and preparation days with more than one com...

Well lots of stuff yet not a lot happened this week. Lo normal. We spent a day in Granada with the missionaries there and that was a party! And on Friday I hit one year in the misison! Wow I feel super old haha but it's ok still hasn't really hit me. Plus I was sick all day (don't worry not corona virus) so slightly miserable but that's alright, feeling mostly better now. And we got to visit some really fun members the last few days because we have transfers tomorrow and my companion is leaving and so wanted to say bye to everyone and everyone wants to throw parties so it makes for a fun time.  Church was hard because we're not allowed to beso or shake hands but it's habit now so it makes for some awkard interactions haha. But at least we have toilet paper.  Anyways, highlight of the week: On Wednesday night as I was praying, I was curious and so I asked God "where are you?" not because I didn't feel like he was listening or felt his ab...

Dear Parents of the Happiest Missionaries in the Church,  As the Corona Virus continues to evolve worldwide, we wanted to provide just a quick update on the situation in Spain and how it is affecting (or not) your missionary and the important work they are doing here in this part of the Lord’s vineyard. As of today, Spanish Health Authorities have reported 234 cases reported of the virus with no deaths. We have had no missionaries in our mission, nor all of Europe to date come down with the virus.  Spain continues to be very proactive and as a result, our missionaries and members alike continue to be blessed. We believe this issue is going to be with us for a while and things will evolve daily, but overall, we consider ourselves fortunate to be living in a country that is very committed to caring for the well being of those living in its borders.  I continue to have daily contact with the European Area Presidency and the European Area Medical staff who have been very helpful in keep...

Heyyyyyy this week was super fun and super funny. So on Tuesday we had Intercambios with malaga 2 and I met some pretty hilarious people. First off, we had a Cita with this guy named Sauce. And that's basically all I have to say haha. He called the book of Mormon his baby and asked to be baptized the first time he met the missionaries. Good times. While we were waiting for him, we were sitting on a bench and this other guy walked past us and then just stopped. He stared at us for a few seconds and so I asked him how he was doing. He spoke English by the way. Anyways this guy was hilarious. He used to be musulmán and so his name was Mohammed but now he's Christian so his name is Christian. What a guy. And he wanted an English book of Mormon but we only had one and it was for Sauce so we got his number so we could give him one later. On Thursday we went to visit an amiga at her work which was kind of far away but she didn't have time to come to us so we decided to make the...