Chapter 13: The Island Carol

Chapter 13: The Island Carol

          We have all heard of Charles Dickens’ The Christmas Carol, and I am here to tell you the story of the Island Carol. Yes, this story begins with me—Hermana Scrooge. Alright, so I wouldn’t say I was quite on the same page as Mr. Scrooge, but for all intents and purposes, I would say it is quite fitting for this week. So here I am a missionary in Barcelona. I have loved every day just going through the motions of missionary work. I loved the area, my companion, the ward, but of course, we all have our little frustrations. This all changed when I received a text on Tuesday morning. This text basically said that since I was doing such a fantastic job in Barcelona, they were going to ship me out to the islands to let me rest and enjoy the beach for a couple of days. Ok, so the text really said that I was going to be having a companion exchange for 2 days on the island of Mallorca. So I got my bags, and I was excited to see what it was like out there. I was first visited by the ghost of areas past. It is NOT Hawaii, let me tell you. I have never loved my area more. Not only did my little part of Barcelona become much more beautiful, I love the people in my area, and I love the investigators that I have here. From the second, alright probably more like the hour, that I stepped off the plane, I just wanted to be back in Barcelona. Then, the next ghost was the ghost of companionship present. I have never appreciated my trainer more than I did for those couple of days. When I stepped off the plane (which was weird, I didn’t expect to be on a plane until I was flying home) I noticed that there were no missionaries waiting for me. I didn’t have a phone since my trainer had it back in Barcelona, so I just walked up and down the exit hoping they would be there. They weren’t. So I sat and waited for 45 minutes hoping that someone would remember that Hermana Hopkins had landed in Mallorca. Luckily, they finally showed up. So that was a great start. The Hermana I was working with was a Sister Trainer (the equivalent of Zone Leader), so I expected a hard working missionary. However, I didn’t expect to be treated like I hardly knew anything. I sat in a two hour appointment not being allowed to say a word. I wasn’t allowed to touch the phone, and I didn’t take any part in planning. At all. Every time I started to contact someone, she would just take over. She really was nice, but oh my goodness. The funny thing is, she would always compliment my Spanish saying I was one of the best non-native trainees that she had ever heard. It was slightly ironic, and I felt so bad for her trainee. I love my trainer so much now, I can’t even express it. She treats me like an equal companion. I never realized how important it was for someone in training to be able to take equal part in everything. I also never realized that there were trainees who weren´t taking an equal part. Then I had the final visit of the ghost of wards future. I love my ward here in Barcelona. I was so sad being separated from them for a day. I missed teaching my English class where the ward mission leader and cute Gladys are our faithful students. They brighten my week, and I didn’t realize how attached I had been to our wonderful ward here. Nobody tells you when you leave on a mission that you pretty much have to say goodbye to home every single time you leave an area. It’s awful and wonderful at the same time. All I know is that I think I have separation anxiety now. Haha On the flight home, I was considering all that I was blessed with back in my area. That is when I had one of the worse landings of an airplane that I had ever experienced. The grandpa next to me picked up his cane and yelled some mumbled curse in Catalan. In retrospect, it was hilarious. At the moment, I thought I was going to die. Haha So, I could add my life to the list of things I was so grateful for. Shaking with wobbling legs, I grabbed my trainer and practically blurted, “Don’t make me go back there!!” haha Everything in Barcelona looked so much brighter and beautiful. I came back with a new resolve to make the most of every day here. I talked to my trainer about how grateful I am for her, and she said, “ You know what, it makes me sad to hear about Trainers like that. You were called to this mission with not any less authority than anyone else. Experience in the mission does not make you any more privileged to do the work. You have equal rights to receive revelation and guidance than any one else for your area.” It’s so true! And I will NEVER complain about making a phone call in Spanish. My biggest advice to any missionary comes from our mission president (I believe, I heard it from my trainer though), “ Your most important investigator is always going to be your companion—you can’t do the work unless you have the spirit of unity with each other.” Although it will be a really hard goodbye in 6 weeks when my trainer goes home, I am so grateful that we have been able to develop a strong friendship with our companionship. I can definitely see the difference. Now, the mission work this week was definitely a trial. We lost contact with our dear Francisco. I was terrified. Fortunately, he called us Friday night and said he had been on vacation and that he would be at church. Then, we had an INCREDIBLE lesson with Angela and Manuela. We decided to call in the help of our amazing primary president, Catalina. She is honestly one of my favorite people here. She came in and taught Manuela (who is 7) about the Faith in God program and how she is a Child of God. It made Angela, her mother just cry. Then, Catalina bore testimony of the importance of church attendance and how it was Angela’s responsibility as a parent to take Manuela to church. It was exactly what they needed to hear. Well, remember when I said this week was a trial? Yes, my beloved girls moved out of our area. Not only did they move out of our area, but we helped them move out of our area. One Metro stop out of our area to be exact. I just wanted to cry. But I had Francisco to look forward to at church, right? Hmmm. It was the craziest church block I had ever attended. It was absolutely hilarious had Francisco not been there. To begin, the Elders brought an investigator to Sunday School. He stood up, said he had no faith in God and that he felt like he had been deceived coming to our church to find out if there was a God. The lesson was on Eternal Families, and he told everyone that there is no way that was possible. Then, another person brought up how their neighbor was sealed twice, and how is THAT possible. Madre mia. It was ridiculous. We asked Francisco when we could come by and visit him this week, and he gave us the “I’ll call you”…we are really worried, so pray for Francisco. Then Relief Society…oh Relief Society. A lady from the street who is a menos activo, I guess, came in. She was on drugs, I can tell you that for sure. The lesson was on the will of God. When asked what is the will of God for us women she raised her had and said, “To be prostitutes; all you religious people are fools because there isn’t a God.” Right about then, I was a mix between mortified, and trying to hold in my laughter. I just looked at my companion and we both were biting our cheeks trying not to laugh out loud. What a crazy day. Transfer calls were last Saturday. It was the longest day of my life. From 10:00 to 10:30 we were just staring at the little mobile device that held our fate for the next 6 weeks. No changes here, so I guess my Island Carol truly followed the same pattern. I am excited to enjoy the time I have here while I can. We were blessed with one great potential investigator on Sunday. We will meet with her this week. She is super cute, 19, and from the Dominican Republic. She was just like, “Oh ya come over and teach me. I am really interested!!” YES! You rarely hear that from youth here, so I am so excited. I love the work here and I love being a missionary. Although the work was hard this week, I know that it helped open my eyes to see what I have been blessed with. I think God will bless us more when we take the time to see the little miracles that happen every day.

Les Quiero!!

Hermana Hopkins