Studying About Faith Lately

I hear that David and Dad started jogging!! Wow, that sounds super amazing!! Honestly, I'm sitting in a chair ALL DAY LONG. Just so you know, our daily routine is broken down as follows…We wake up to pray, study, eat, study some more, teach a lesson, back to study, eat again, study a bit more, teach another lesson, more studies, eat, pray, and go to bed. Then next day, repeat it all over again!! All spiritual and uplifting, but from what you can see, I am sun and exercise deprived. However, I keep telling myself that my mission post MTC will be mostly outdoors anyway. So, it is all good!

  

I show everyone my family pictures all the time and they always say how good looking family I have and how beautiful my Mommy is and I’m so proud of you all. My family is the best!! I LOVE YOU ALL!! I wish I could give you a big hug all the way from Spain. So, it is a BIG “Spiritual Hug”.

  

So, how is everyone doing?..How is Ella? And how are our cars running?..Is everything ok? So, are my prayers working? You are “siempre” (always) in all my prayers.

  

As of me, I am doing good and learning more each day. It’s really cool to learn so much about the gospel. I mean, I love it!! We usually go out on p-days and see a little bit of the city (Madrid), besides proselyting in the park but last week we had an opportunity to visit a soccer club stadium “El Real Madrid”. But I mainly thought of Darren and Dad since I figured you guys would have loved and enjoyed it! As always, we go to do temple session on Thursdays. That being said, the photo below at the temple was taken just today!

 

Anyway, I am learning so much about Spanish and the gospel in general. It feels great! I have studied and pondered a lot this week about the book of Ether. It’s crazy but I feel that I am learning a lot more than I did at home in my personal studies. It is super cool! It seems as I learn more for others and faster. Please read Ether 12: 6, 7 and then verse 12. I love those verses!!

 

I love y’all so much. More than you know!!

  

Your daughter, your sissy and best friend Hermana Arce

  

Big hug, little kiss, big kiss, little hug! (Nacho Libre)

Hermana Arce at the Madrid Temple

Hermana Arce at the "El Real Madrid" Soccer Stadium, Madrid Spain

Hermana Dueñas y Hermana Arce

Hermana Arce at the "El Real Madrid" Soccer Stadium, Madrid Spain

It's Been 3 Weeks at the MTC....

 Hello everyone;

Can you believe it’s been 3 weeks now at the MTC! Isn’t that crazy? The days seem so long but the weeks seem to fly even faster. Weird stuff!!

Every Saturday we proselyte as a District in a nearby park and try to talk to people about the Book of Mormon and the good news. I know it is hard, but I smile because I know our message could bring people closer to Christ by having joy and peace into their lives. Everywhere I go, I see people that seem so lost and sad. But then I get a feeling that I need to go, help and then all of a sudden I realize that is exactly the reason why I am here serving in my mission. I love my mission!

I love you all so much! I totally mean it when I say that! I think about you all everyday and how I cannot wait to get this Spanish down so that I can communicate better. Also know, that I am learning every day but I am not here to learn the language, instead, I am here to represent Christ and bring the good news of the gospel to His children.

I know this gospel is true with all of my heart. I love having the knowledge that we are all Heavenly Father’s children and He loves us unconditionally for who we truly are. He has a plan for us and I know it is the plan of salvation, also known as the plan of happiness. Christ’s atonement is real!! It is very powerful if we only apply it in our lives. His grace is sufficient for us.

I love all of you, Mom, Dad, Darren and David!!!

Love Always,

Hermana Arce

Amulek District 1

Group Proselyting in Main Square, Madrid

Hermana Arce y MARIO

Hermana Dueñas and Hermana Arce

Hermana Arce in Downtown Madrid

Amulek District 1 by the Madrid Temple

Hola Familia!

Today is my second P-day and I was able to go to the Madrid Temple for the second time. We left at 6:30 am this morning and this time all I thought about was “mi familia”. I cried because while I was in the temple I knew that we would be together forever with the best familia ever. It was comforting because I want these people in Malaga to have that same joy… that joy of knowing they will be with their “familias for toda la eternidad” (families for all the eternity).

Oh wow, so much to tell you. So, David my comp in the MTC is cute, and her name is Hermana Dueñas. Actually, she looks like me, and has long brown hair. Interesting enough, her brother is currently serving in Santiago, Chile. Also, her father is originally from Peru, so she actually can speak Spanish already and it’s all super stressful because while we teach investigators (fake ones), they are our teachers, she mainly talks and I just say the prayer and bare my testimony..Oh well, it stinks L because I have all this stuff I would want to say but I can’t because I don’t know how to express my feelings in Spanish yet. I sometimes just try my hardest to say a sentence or two and it is so chopped up. I prayed and asked for a Priesthood blessing and I feel like no matter what I say or how bad I say it I just hope people feel the Spirit when we do teach.

I do have some rough days that I get so frustrated because my teachers, all three of them, ONLY speak Spanish so it’s so hard to understand what they are trying to teach me. But nonetheless you all are such a strength to me because when I am a little down I think of all of you and it brings such peace and joy so, guess what, I just keep on pushing forward...

Mom, I love you so much. You have no idea the impact you had in my life. I am glad and forever grateful for your faithfulness to the Lord. I am sorry I cannot write more-- They don’t give me much time. But I have one week down five more to go.

..Until next week..

Abrazos y Besos! (Hugs and Kisses)

Hermana Arce

Our Group of New Missionaries

 

MTC President Kenneth D Lovell reported: "Our new group of wonderful missionaries. They include missionaries from the U.S. learning Russian and from U.S., Canada and Norway learning Spanish; and native French and Portuguese speaking missionaries from the U.S., France, Portugal, Vanuatu and Mozambique. —
 

My First Week At the Madrid, Spain MTC

 

Hola Familia!!

I finally arrived in Madrid, Spain safely but tired after a long 15 hour flight! Actually, I got lost at the airport in France, but after a little prayer and a couple minutes later I found my way to the gate...On my way to the MTC, I saw the Madrid Temple and is so beautiful and I can't wait to go in. 

I am super excited and ready to get my missionary experience started at the Madrid MTC. --" There is so much strength in this MTC and I haven't been here that long but its been great!!!

I love you all!!

Hermana Camille Arce

Madrid, Spain Temple

 

 

 

An Urgency to Share the "Good News"

In October 2012, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that, from now on, young women starting at the age of 19, should they desire to do so, would be allowed to serve as missionaries.  Since then, many young women have entered the mission field, including two young women from York County in South Carolina, U.S.A.  McKayla Garnett and Camille Arce, putting aside school and other ambitions, have answered the call to serve.

Camille Amanda Arce, a student at York Technical College, and graduate of York Comprehensive High School in York, departed this week to serve an 18-month mission.  She and her parents, Francisco and Valerie Arce of York, are financing her mission.  The Arces, commented: “Camille is sacrificing to be without her family for a year and half, so that others may be with their families for all eternity. Our family is very proud of Camille having the desire to serve a mission and to invite others to come unto Christ.”

On August 5th, Camille reported to the Church’s Missionary Training Center in Madrid, Spain, where she will intensely study Spanish, as well as, the Bible and the Book of Mormon.   After approximately six weeks of study, she will report to the Spain Málaga Mission to teach the gospel.  Camille’s older brother recently served a two-year mission in the Chile Osorno Mission for the Church as well.  She exclaimed, “Words cannot describe how excited I am to serve the Lord. I have been extremely blessed to have the knowledge of this Gospel in my life and can’t wait to share it with the people of Spain!”

After graduating from high school, Camille attended York Technical College this past year and worked at Upper Palmetto YMCA.  She plans to resume her studies when she returns in 2016.  She, like over 80,000 other Latter-day Saints (Mormon) missionaries who are serving worldwide for the Church, has postponed her education to serve a full-time mission.

Many might wonder why so many young men and women would be willing to give up one and half to two years of their lives to serve as missionaries.  If asked, most respond with same way: To share the happiness that the “good news” of Jesus Christ brings!  Church leaders have repeatedly conveyed the necessity of spreading the “word of God.” It is an urgency many young men and women around the world have felt and taken as their own cause.  Church leaders have put it this way: “The gospel of Jesus Christ is the cure for so many of life’s ills that Mormons want to share the good news of eternal life with the same urgency.”  http://mormon.org/missionary-work

Mi familia at the Airport

Hermana Arce and Mom