Last Christmas on the Mission

I hope that you all had a great Christmas because I know I sure did :). It was a week of success, of lots of visits with our investigators, lots of cold weather and a tonnnn of food. No wonder they say that you get a little fatter during Christmas time, ha-ha. Christmas Eve we ate with a member family and some other members and we had some incredible food. Some fish, meat, potatoes, shrimp, and I have no idea what else, ha-ha. It was really good. Then Christmas, after going to church, we ate with another family for lunch and the four of us missionaries brought something. I brought rolls that I made (that actually turned out pretty good), my companion brought a salad he made, another elder brought some really good rice, and then the other brought drinks, and the family provided the turkey and a few other things. It was a really good meal, lots of fun, and we had a good time with them. After that we had yet another visit with a different family. But this visit went a little bit different, ha-ha. We get there and knock on the door and the husband answers and it's all dark inside their home. And then he says that the circuit breaker blew out, ha-ha. So there was no electricity there. We went in, he called an electrician to come fix it but it never got fixed while we were there. Luckily they had a gas stove and stuff so we still ate well :) But after eating two meals on Christmas and only within a few hours of each other, I did not want to eat for the rest of the week. I still don't, ha-ha. The members are so great here. I'm gonna miss them after I leave this area.

For those who remember that I mentioned something about our mission goal in a previous email, I have the update about how we did this year. Our goal of 450 baptisms seemed incredibly high for us because we haven't had that as a mission in about 20 years. So we all thought that it was a very lofty goal. But after receiving notice from the mission office we reached.......449......One short! BUT! We were also told that there will be two baptisms and confirmations during this last week of December. Sooooo that puts us at 451!!!!! I know that it hasn't happened yet, but I know that with continued prayer, it will happen. Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers because they truly helped us as a mission to reach our goals and to do even better.

I hope that you all had a fantastic Christmas and that this next week as you celebrate the New Year you all have fun but not too much :) ha-ha. I miss you all and will see you soon!!!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas! :)

It's finally winter here, ha-ha. The cold came pretty hard this past week and for the first time, I've really needed to wear my coat here in Tarragona. The wind has been blowing and it's been pretty cold and let's just say that without a coat, that is not exactly lots of fun to go walking in the street, ha-ha. So I got smart, grabbed my coat, scarf, and gloves and now I'm alright :)

This week, other than the cold, has been great. It was my first week with my new companion, Elder Watkins and it was fun getting to know him and working with him during his first week in the mission field. He's so good and I'm so excited to keep working with him and to see his progress as we keep going. He's been pretty tired because this is his first week of real work so he's still just getting used to it, but he's been doing great keeping up with it, ha-ha. He'll get used to it soon enough and then his feet and legs won't feel so tired. I remember how I was when I first started…dead tired at night with some really tired feet, ha-ha. But it's the best!

We had our ward Christmas activity Friday and it went really well. We had a dinner and a service project to gather food and things to give to some needy members. We had lots of inactive members come and other investigators come and it was really good for them to meet the members and to have fun at the same time. There was a tonnnnn of food and there was so much that they gave the missionaries, us, a whole bunch of leftovers, ha-ha. We're still trying to finish it off! But we ate well so that's alright :)

Yesterday we had a really neat experience at a little fireside. And it was a legit fireside with a fire, ha-ha. We planned to have one with our ward mission leader at his house and we wanted to keep it relatively small with just a few members and investigators to help them learn more about the church. We had five investigators come and three members which was perfect. As we taught, the Spirit there was so strong and even though it was slightly cold, the fire and the Spirit kept us warm. We've set up some visits with the people that came so that they can learn more and we're so excited to have some more firesides :) The only problem was we sorta smelled like smoke afterwards, ha-ha. So we went home, hung up our suits on some hooks and sprayed them with Febreze, ha-ha. It works pretty well, too.

Well, this is my last email before Christmas and actually my last Christmas one forever! Crazy huh!! But I just wanted to say MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of you :) Let us remember what it really means and that it truly is in celebration of our Savior's birth. I know that the lights, games, food, family, and friends are all amazing parts of Christmas and I love it all. But I think we all know what it's really all about. I love you all and miss you and I hope that Christmas is the best one ever this year :)

Training Round 2 in Tarragona!

Heyyyyy what's up back home?? Hope that things are great and that you are all getting ready for Christmas which is right around the corner. I absolutely love this time of year especially since it's a great time to teach people about the love of our Savior Jesus Christ. Today I got my new companion!! His name is Elder Watkins and he's from Orem, UT. He's such a great guy already and I can't wait to work with him. Unfortunately, I can't tell too much right now because I don't have a lot of time or anything, but this past week was incredible like always, ha-ha. We saw the hand of the Lord working through us to touch the hearts of the people here in the area at this moment. We are seeing miracles every day, every week, and we are so close to reaching our goal of 450 baptisms by the end of this year. As of Sunday we are at 421l so close!!!! I know that it will happen. I know that we can do it. And I know that it is the will of the Lord that we make it. Thank you for your prayers and your love. We really can feel it out here.

Love you all!!!

December!!!!!

Hellooooo! Hope that you are all doing great as we start yet another December. I, for one, am doing incredible out here. I have more than loved this past year and little bit and cannot believe that I'm running out of time this fast. This past week was a very good one as well. That seems to happen quite often here, ha-ha. But just so you all know transfers are next week...but we got a sneak peak and I'm staying, ha-ha. And on top of that it looks like I'm training again. Sounds fun right? Hopefully, it'll be another great experience and now that I've already trained once in Tarragona, I know what I can do even better. But anyway...what a week!

The Law of Chastity has been a challenge for some of our investigators. In order for our investigators to progress and eventually get baptized, they have to live all the commandments including the Law of Chastity. And, well, most of the golden people we're teaching right now are either living with a boyfriend or girlfriend or have some other problem with it. And man is it frustrating! I've never had to give so much marriage and love-life counsel in my entire life! But I know that the Lord makes a way for people the keep the commandments He gives. It may not be that person's time but we are here to plant the seed and to help them progress as much as we can. One such investigator is Pedro. He is an incredible man and is the best example of someone who truly understands what it means to repent and follow the Savior. He's living with his girlfriend and they just had two twin boys five months ago. He doesn't have work and she makes very little money. He also doesn't have papers to live in Spain legally so he can't even get married yet. But he's such a prepared man. He wants to repent, he knows he's been doing something wrong and wants to change it. He knows what this baptism will mean and he said that he wants to do everything he can to follow through with it. We pray for him everyday and hope that a miracle will occur.

Yesterday there was another baptism in our ward here and it went alright, ha-ha. The other Elders were in charge of organizing it because it was their investigator. But I found out that he actually lives in our area this past week, ha-ha. But I said, "Whatever. There's no point in really changing anything now." But I made sure that the other Elders knew where the boundaries were ha-ha. But during the baptism the Spirit was there, especially at one point when Abraham, a nine year old boy, gave his testimony. I know him pretty well because I know his family well. But my goodness, he totally caught me off guard with his spiritual maturity level. His testimony was one of an 18-year old person, no joke. His dad isn't a member but the rest are. As he was talking about the importance of baptism & why we do it, he started talking about his dad and how he was so sad that his dad will probably never take the step that this investigator was taking. In that small testimony, this little nine-year old boy taught all of us there just how much faith little children have. Of course they can be bothersome and immature; they're little kids. But inside they all have a burning testimony and enough faith to create worlds of their own. There is something we can all learn from them and I realized that I need to make sure that I focus on becoming as a child as Christ invites us to do.

Things are incredible out here…the members, the work, my companion and everything! Days come and go and some come and go better than others. But with the Spirit burning within us, there is nothing that really matters but the salvation of our brothers and sisters.

I love you all so much and can't wait to see you again. I hope you have a great week too! :)

White Christmas

Hello to everyone back home!!! This week was a great week for Thanksgiving :) Both with and without the food. The food was definitely good though and very necessary, ha-ha. Since we are four missionaries here in Tarragona and two aren't from the US, we decided to show them a little of what it's like on Thanksgiving. So my companion and I decided to make a Thanksgiving meal for all four of us. We made up a list of food and stuff we needed to buy a week before and we split it up so that we all paid equally, and then Elder Tyler and I went to work making the food. We had some whole chickens (since turkey is kinda expensive here) that were soooo good, mashed potatoes, rolls, corn, green beans, gravy, and then apple crisp for dessert :). It doesn't sound like much but we got full really fast and the food tasted so good! I never knew Elder Tyler and I could cook so well :) ha-ha. We wanted to make pie but we didn't have a recipe or time so we made something else.

Other than the blessing of food, we were are so blessed to have some great visits this week. We were able to have quite a few investigators come to church and one of them has a goal to get baptized on December 17. He's such a great guy. We were also extremely blessed to see one of God's children enter the waters of baptism this past Saturday. Jeremías is a young kid and we were originally teaching his dad since he's not a member either. The mom is and she wants more than anything for her husband and children to get baptized so that they can someday be sealed as an eternal family in the temple. Walter still has a few obstacles that we need to help him overcome and we're not sure what's keeping him from progressing. But he finally gave his consent to let his son be baptized after going months without letting him. It was an incredible baptismal service and the Spirit there was so strong. There was a good turnout from the ward and the members and Walter felt the Spirit there. You could see a change in his countenance during and after the service. While I was getting back into my suit after the baptism, Walter came up to me and said something that impacted me a lot. He said, "Thank you for all you've done for me and my family and especially my son. You know that you have to stay in contact forever now right? You're basically part of our family now." It meant so much to me because if you knew Walter, you'd know that what he just said really came from his heart. I knew that they enjoyed our visits because they tell us once in a while, but I never knew of the depth of the love that we shared for each other until then. They truly are my family. Even though I'm half Filipino and live in Fairport, NY and they are from Bolivia and live in Reus, Spain, they truly are my brothers and sisters, and I love them so much. The work of the Lord does that to you, ha-ha. When you selflessly serve others and want the best for them, you forget yourself, your own comforts and hungers and pains, and then you only care about them. You develop charity, the pure love of Christ and nothing else in the world matters. I remember days where I've been really hungry, hot, cold, or in pain. But as soon as I visit someone who has a whole lot less than I and who doesn't have the knowledge that I have of the Gospel, all of that disappears.

The Christmas season is upon us and with it comes so many wonderful things: the lights, the music, the food, friends, family, service, and the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. The world may tell us with its fancy and flashy lights that all Christmas is about is gifts and fancy things. But we know as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that Christmas is so much more. It is an opportunity to spread the "tidings of great joy" to the world that we have a Savior who died so that we may live again. It is an opportunity to renew our dedication to serve and love others just as Christ did. And it is a great opportunity to share the Gospel with those who don't have it. So get to work! Open our mouths and overcome our fears. As Elder Holland said in General Conference, "Open you mouths and speak miracles." I know that as we do it, we truly will see miracles because I have seen soooo many here on the mission. Every baptism of a child of God is truly a miracle and our mission has been blessed to see 398 of them up to this point. Every mission is different and the cultures as well. Some missions have a higher baptizing rate than others. But no matter the number, the fact is that there are children of our Heavenly Father waiting to accept the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Right now we are entering the last month of this year. As a mission we set a goal at the very beginning of this year to reach 450 baptisms. And for our mission, I think that's a record high. If not, it almost is. But right now we are at 398 with four weekends to go. President has asked us to invite our friends and family to join with us as a mission these final weeks of the year so that we may be blessed with an outpouring of the Spirit so that we can accomplish this goal. We know that we can do it. And I know that we can, too. And I know that there is power in prayer. So if there is anything that would mean more to me this Christmas, it would be to achieve that goal. And that comes through united prayer. So that's my Christmas wish from you all back home. Even though we set a number as a goal, every number is backed by a name, a person, a special child of God. And I know that just as Alma prayed for the success for himself and his brethren on their own missions, we too can pray for success and the Lord will grant it to us. We will have a White Christmas with 52 more sons and daughters of God dressed in white, entering the waters of baptism. And as it says in Mosiah 18:35, "And they were in number about four hundred and fifty souls."

Thank you for you prayers and your love. I love you all and miss you so much. Talk to you next week!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Just had a good week and looking forward to another one. And on top of that it's Thanksgiving this week!!!! Even though Thanksgiving is non-existent here, the four of us are planning on making our own "Thanksgiving Meal". And we're going to pull out all the stops, ha-ha. Minus turkey because that's pretty expensive here. And probably not some pie since it's not that common here so we'd have to make it allll from scratch and we just don't have that amount of time. But it'll still be way good I'm sure. I'll be sure I send pics home about it :).

But where do I start? This Saturday we have another baptism of a young kid named Jeremías. He's so great too. We've been teaching his family for quite some time and his mom is a member who’s recently began coming to church again and his dad isn't a member. We've been working with the dad mostly but Jeremías has been listening too and said that he wanted to be baptized, ha-ha. So with the permission of the parents since he's underage, he's getting baptized this week! We're excited for him and such a great kid. He loves church and loves reading the scriptures with his family and loves it when we come over. I'm going to miss their family soooo much when I leave. Hopefully I still have a few more months here in Tarragona. On Tuesday we had a great visit with a man named Pedro. He was a contact we did on the street last week and his story is actually really neat. Last week when we had all our visits fall through we knelt in prayer to ask the Lord to guide us to someone who was ready and prepared to receive the gospel message. We both felt prompted to go to a certain part of the city and we knew that the Spirit was guiding us so we talked with as many people as we could on the way. Of course there were a few people that didn't want anything like always. But we found quite a few people that said yes and one of them was Pedro. We were walking down a small street and he was sitting on some steps looking the other way. We took about three steps past him and I just felt that we needed to go back and talk to him so we did. We got his info and he said we could pass by. Well, Tuesday we heard his side of what happened. He said that while he was sitting there he saw us go by and he said that when we took those few steps past him, a thought came to him that said, "They're going to turn around and talk to you." And right as he thought that, we turned around and came towards him, ha-ha. We shared a brief message about who we are and what we share and he accepted the invitation to be baptized on December 17^th! It was incredible to hear his side of the story and to see just how prepared he really is. The Lord truly does guide us when we come to Him in humble prayer. I've seen it over and over again on the mission and it never ceases to amaze me.

Now time for a bit of a crazy story. Saturday morning Elder Tyler and I had just finished doing some exercises and stuff in the morning like always when Elder Saldaña ran in our room and said, "Did you see all that?” We looked out the window and there were tons of flashing lights and sirens and black smoke. So Elder Tyler and I ran downstairs to see what it was and an apartment of a nearby building was on fire! And it wasn't any small fire either. It was the top apartment of the building and the fire was totally eating up the building. The fire department took a bit of time to actually do something but they eventually got it put out. But man that was a crazy fire. There were a few explosions from inside but as far as I know, no one was hurt. But it was a crazy way to start the day, ha-ha. But yeah we had a great week and I know that this is the Lord's work. I can't do anything without Him and I love this mission so much. And it's going by way too fast.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and give thanks for the many blessings that we have been given. Talk to you soon!!!!

Kicked in the rear

Well, we sorta got our butts kicked this week, ha-ha. It was looking like a good week to be honest and we were excited for our visits and everything. But one thing after another just didn't go right: we didn't have any minutes on our phone and for some reason it's taking too long to get more from the office, visit after visit fell through, and we had no idea why all this was happening. But after lots of personal prayer and just thinking, I came to the conclusion that my companion and I were probably getting a little too cocky with ourselves. As we know, the Lord likes to humble us. And that's pretty much what happened this week, ha-ha. More than half our visits fell through and we had no idea what to do. One day after six visits fell through, we had no idea what else to do. I turned to my companion and told him, "Let's go pray." and he just asked me where. And I said that I wanted to go somewhere a little secluded where we could kneel down and pray vocally. It was around 8:15ish and dark out already and we went to a big park and found a little area off a path that was secluded with trees. We both knelt down and prayed for help and guidance. I said a prayer first and then my companion said one and afterwards we both sat in silence just listening for the promptings of the Holy Ghost. After about a minute we both looked at each other and said what we felt we should do. And we both felt that we needed to head in a certain direction towards a certain house. We didn't know why but we went and did everything we could on the way to find whoever the Lord was going to put in our path. We talked to about 10 people on the street in the span of 15 minutes and about 6 of them gave us their information and a few of them were actually great contacts. I don't know how any of these people will turn out, but I know that both my companion and I were prompted to go that way and to find the children of God who are prepared to receive the Gospel. I feel that throughout the week we became a bit more humble and we began to rely on the Lord more. And to bless us for doing that, the Lord gave us a huge miracle. It actually started when I first got to Tarragona. We received a reference from the office in a town called Tortorsa which is over an hour away on train, and we never would have gone there if we didn't get this reference. Long story short, the reference doesn't exist. But we had found a few inactive members that live there and we decided to pass by and we set up a few visits with them. One of them was a woman named Patricia, a returned missionary. She was so excited to see us and she asked when we could pass by. She said that when we come by that she'd bring a friend to the visit. The first visit we had to do splits because the town is so far away and we needed to have a few other visits. But Elder Tyler came back that night and told me that the friend of Patricia (Maribel) was a golden investigator. We just had another visit on Sunday and she is incredible! She asked how she can know the true church and that she wants to be baptized in the true church. And we taught the Restoration and she just ate it up. She said it all made sense and she said everything was clear. During the visit when Elder Tyler was testifying about something, the impression came to invite her to be baptized. I pushed it away the first time because I told myself, "She lives too far away. She probably wouldn't even come to church." But the impression came again and this time even stronger. As I started talking again the feeling spread from my chest outward until it filled me and I knew that I needed to invite her to be baptized. And she accepted without thinking. She said, "Yes! I want to be baptized." We set the fecha for December 10th originally but as she looked at her schedule for work and stuff she asked, "Can we have in November 27th?" I was totally caught off guard, ha-ha. Unfortunately, she can't because she needs to come to church but as we kept talking we realized the 10th wouldn't work either. So we set the 24th of December, a white Christmas for her. She said that she's so excited to learn more, to read the Book of Mormon, and even said she'd take the train to Tarragona to come to church on Sundays. She's so excited for her baptism and her friend said that she'd be there the whole way at her side. The true miracle was that we were led to Tortosa by the Lord. He knew that we'd never go there unless we had a good reason. And that reason was the reference from the office. Even though the reference didn't exist, someone else did who was and is ready to hear the Gospel message. This work is incredible! There is nothing better that you can experience, and I just hope that when I get home that I can continue to share the message with others.

I love you all and hope you've had a great week. Enjoy the leaves!! He-he!

Rain, rain go away

My gosh I've never seen so much rain here on my mission! Even the people who live here say that it usually doesn't rain this much! Pretty much every day this week was cloudy and almost every day it rained at least a little bit. But today is a gorgeous fall day. It's a bit cooler but that's alright. It feels good compared to the summer heat, ha-ha. Transfers came and went again and surprisingly Elder Tyler and I are still together. We weren't sure if he was going to be transferred or not but it turns out he's staying. I don't mind though. We work well together and get along great so that's one of the benefits, ha-ha. Another Elder came in because one left. His name is Elder Saldaña, and let's just say he's quite the character, ha-ha. Sometimes he doesn't quite know when to be mature. He's fun and everything; don't get me wrong. But there's a time and place for everything.

This past week I also got to talk to Elder Keeler for the first time in a year! I had to talk to some other missionaries for something and they were with Elder Keeler since it was transfer week and he asked if I wanted to talk to him and of course I said yes, ha-ha. But at first I didn't believe it was him, ha-ha. He said "Hey this is Elder Keeler." and I just said, "Yeah right." ha-ha. But it was great to hear from him, to see how he's doing for a few minutes, and all that. I still have yet to actually see him...we'll see when that actually happens.

I ordered another nametag just in case one breaks or I lose it in the future. Well, I got it yesterday from another missionary who went to the office and.....they spelled my last name wrong! That's never happened to me out here because no one has ever seen the last name Mathews. But my nametag says Matthews, ha-ha-ha. So I get to keep that and I'm getting another. This time it had better be spelled right. But since no one here knows how to spell my name anyways, I use the other tag once in a while, ha-ha, at least until I get the other one.

This week has seriously gone so well. But the best part was the baptism of Fernanda!!! It was so good and the members loved it. Even bishop told us afterwards that it was one of the best ones he's been to. Her story is incredible actually. She was dating a man named Victor who's actually a member but was inactive. One day Elder Tyler and his previous companion were walking down the street and Victor said hi to the missionaries and they started talking and set up a visit for later that week. Well, they found out that Fernanda wasn't a member and started teaching her the Gospel. I got transferred here and there was still a bit of work to do. They had to get married or split up to keep the Law of Chastity and they chose to get married and they have the goal to go and be sealed in the temple a year from now which is incredible. After they got married everything just went so smooth from there. She got baptized this past weekend and the members love her. It truly was a miracle that she, with her boyfriend, stopped the missionaries on the street. And because of that, she was able to find the truth that she was looking for and that every person needs.

Tarragona is booming and we're keeping way busy with visits and helping others come unto Christ. I love this place so much and the people are the best. There is no rest for the weary that's for sure, ha-ha. When the people here of Spain, most say that missionaries don't have success here. But to be honest, that is a huge lie. I hear stories and everything from other missionaries and from President and I feel that we have more work than many missions around the world. But no matter where you serve, the children of God in that place need the Gospel and you are there to teach it to them at that moment. I love my mission with all my heart and do not want to leave when these two years end. So if I don't come home on time, you all know why :) ha-ha.

Love you all so much and hope you're enjoying the great fall weather!

November!!!!

Helloooo November!!! Today is a gorgeous day with some sun and fantastic weather and on top of that, it's Preparation Day and a holiday here in Spain! Ha-ha. Talk about being able to relax and do nothing! Everything is closed but that's ok. We went to a member's house this morning with the other Elders and just had fun with them.

This past week was fantastic just like every other week here in Tarragona. Oh and I haven' been transferred; forgot to throw that in, ha-ha. We've had such a busy week with all of our visits that I think Elder Tyler and I worked ourselves sick. Seriously, ha-ha. Friday we had a visit with the Bishop and his family and while we were there I just started feeling tired and achy and sick. As the day went on it just got worse and on top of that it rained incredibly hard Friday night and a few days before as well. We ended up having to cancel a few visits Friday night and go in early and I just went to bed around 8:30. Saturday morning I still wasn't good at all and I was just in bed and could not get comfortable. I took some meds and felt ok after a while but we had to visit two people because I felt bad if we bailed on them because they had invited us over to celebrate a birthday party for me actually, ha-ha. So I loaded up on pills (not too much of course) and we went. But then came right back home afterwards and I crashed again, ha-ha. I know Mom would never let me do that at home but I knew that since she wouldn't find out until it was too late I could still do it ;) ha-ha sorry Mom.

Sunday was Stake Conference in Hospitalet which is about an hour and a half north in a car from Tarragona. Our ward rented two travel buses and we all went up there. I still wasn't feeling great so once again I took the meds and went especially since one of our investigators who's getting baptized this Saturday was coming. It was a really good conference and I got to see some of the other missionaries and to be with the members of the ward. It was a fun experience going on the bus with them, ha-ha. Once again, we got home after eating with a member and I just napped, ha-ha. But now I'm ok :) Not 100% but better. But I don't recommend doing what I did, ha-ha. Better to stay home through it all.

Well, my birthday was not bad considering I was sick, ha-ha. The only problem was that I had no appetite whatsoever and two families invited us over to eat that day. That did not help me recover at all. Luckily, the mothers understood that I wasn't feeling good so they didn't feel bad that I ate very little. I didn't even tell them I was sick though...I guess it's just that motherly sense they have, ha-ha. One family gave me a little present that I totally did not expect. They came out and gave me some deodorant and aftershave that smell way good! I thanked them and everything and then after just said, "What're you trying to say here? I smell bad?", ha-ha. We made some cake and I couldn't eat it until yesterday because I just couldn't eat. Today was the first day I even felt like eating something. And even then it wasn't that much. But we have such great people here in Tarragona. They treat us so well and love us so much. And I just love them to death. I even got to talk to some people from Mataró on my birthday!, ha-ha. They surprised me with a phone call and I had no idea who it was and then they told me and sang happy birthday and talked for a few minutes. It was a nice little surprise :)

Oh! While we were waiting for the elevator to visit the family that gave me the little presents this old guy got out of the elevator and saw us and then asked, "What apartment are you going to? Who are you visiting?" We told him and he just looked at us and said "Well, no one here appreciates what you have to say and you are not welcome here so you can just leave." I just stood my ground and said, "Well sir, you may not. But there are other people that do. Have a good afternoon." And then we walked right by him into the elevator, ha-ha. At the beginning of my mission that sorta bugged me, and it still sorta does once in a while. But most of the time I just think, "You poor lost son/daughter of God. If only you knew just how much our message can bless and change your life." But oh well. God made all of us the way we are :) As you can see, there are some people who just don't want to hear anything. But this Saturday we have a baptism of Fernanda!!! I'm so excited!!! We've been working with her for a while and finally the day has come and she's excited, her member husband is excited, and everyone is excited, ha-ha. I'll let you all know how it goes and send a pic of it all :)

Hope things are all going great back home though. Have fun raking leaves :) he-he-he. I still have another year without doing that. And stay healthy! I love you all lots and thanks for all you do to further the work of the Lord.

The Cold Has Come...

What a week! And kinda cold! I've been used to having to wear short sleeve shirts for so long that now when the cold came we've had to change up a bit and start wearing our suits again. Kinda a shocker since it was a pretty abrupt change of temperatures. This past week I was up in Zaragoza on exchanges. And it just so happens that the cold started this week and Zaragoza just happens to be the second coldest city in our mission, ha-ha. Well, I didn't exactly bring a coat or anything so we were a bit chilly. I had my suit and everything so it was ok and we used the buses/ran to and from visits so it was ok, ha-ha. But the cold has come and winter is on its way. Finally! But this exchange was such a good learning experience. I was with Elder Harris and he's such a good missionary. I learned a lot from him about how I can continue to become a better missionary. I have so many things that we're applying now to our own area and our own work because of what I learned and I'm so excited to get out and work so much more every day. It's been incredible to see the difference at just how much your enthusiasm really does affect the work and your investigators. It was kinda funny though at one point because as we were running for the bus and as I was just getting there, this big huge guy came off the bus and I ran right into him, ha-ha. Luckily he was a bit bigger because I sorta just bounced off him, ha-ha. Hopefully that's not being too mean. I just said sorry and had to keep going. We had a good laugh afterwards.

Things here in Tarragona are going soooo good! We have quite a few people who are preparing for baptism and they are so great. We have so many incredible people here. I've just fallen in love with this people and I love visiting them, helping them, teaching them, and getting to know them. The best part is when you see the changes in their lives that can only come through this restored Gospel. It is so incredible! It's so great in fact that I'm not quite sure if I want to leave...ha-ha. I'll come back home and then return to Spain how about that? Ha-ha just kidding. But seriously, I never thought I'd get attached to these people this way. And even be best friends with 40-50 year old guys! Ha-ha-ha. It's actually just like being best friends with my dad which isn't too hard to be honest.:) But I remember just thinking about it one day and realized that wow, most of these people are about my parents age and I talk to them about marriage problems, their eternal salvation, how to help them be happy, and a whole lot of other things. And I'm only 20! But it's just another witness to me that through small and simple things are great things brought to pass in the work of the Lord.

Last night we had an incredible visit with about 12 or so Filipinos. We have a Filipino member named Jocelyn and we organized a little movie night with her and told her to invite all of her friends and that's exactly what she did. We watched "The Testaments" and it was such a powerful experience. We watched it in English because I guess it's not in Tagalog. But afterwards I got up to bear my testimony with our ward mission leader and I saw more than half of them wiping away tears. I bore simple but powerful testimony of what we had just watched and invited them to learn more. The spirit flooded the room and it was as if we had been taken up into heaven for a few moments and that all our worries and cares of the world had been swept away. And what was even more powerful was that one of the other elders who is from Spain and hardly speaks any English was touched I think more than the Filipinos. He was in the back and couldn't stop crying and had to leave with his companion. But it was just a testimony to me that the spirit has no language barrier. No matter what language we speak and no matter what language we hear the word of God, the Spirit of the Lord can and will touch our hearts if we let Him. I know that's true because I have seen it. I speak the language well but I don't speak the language perfectly and I know my companion doesn't either. But the Lord is able to work through us to change people's lives. I know that this gospel is true and that through it we can find eternal happiness.

I love you all so much. I hope you have a fantastic Halloween! Ha-ha. Unfortunately, we don't have it here but that's ok. Until next week!

Do you believe in miracles?

Good morning everyone back home!!!! This week has been such an incredible week! But it did not start off incredible by any means, ha-ha. It was quite the opposite of that. Visits were falling through, things were going well, and we were struggling in the work. As missionaries we set goals every month, every week, and every day actually. And we strive to achieve those goals throughout the day and week and month. Well, we weren't accomplishing our goals this past week. We were a little frustrated because we know that as we set these goals and work hard to achieve them, the Lord helps us. So Thursday night and Friday morning we prayed and told Heavenly Father that we were doing our part and we were going to continue doing our part and continue to be exactly obedient, work diligently, and go forward with faith. But we told him that we needed His help a lot if we were to achieve these goals. And you know what? He did His part! He blessed us with so many incredible miracles and blessings that our prayers were pretty much nothing but thanks Sunday night. We achieved all of our goals when just two days before we didn't think we were even going to come close. And we reached them and even surpassed some of them. It has helped me to realize, once again, that when we set righteous goals and work and do our part to bring to pass the salvation of God's children, He will help us in this work.

This week one of the best visits ever happened. This man, Walter is the husband of a member lady and he's not a member. We've been working with him ever since I got here and apparently the other Elders before me have been meeting before that too. He's been invited to be baptized so that he and his family can start this path together and someday be sealed as an eternal family but he's repeatedly said no. But I can testify that the visit we had with him was guided by the Holy Ghost. I felt it's presence in that visit stronger than in many other visits I've had on my mission and I know that he, his wife, and his kids felt it as well. The words I said did not come from me. I felt that the words were given to me and I didn't have to think about what to say. I had filled out a survey about missionary work for all the mission and one of the questions in it was about how often I act upon impressions from the spirit in lessons and unfortunately, I couldn't answer "always". And that question popped into my mind during that visit. And immediately after the question popped into my mind, a thought came to change the lesson completely from what we were currently teaching. And so I decided to follow it. And what followed was an outpouring of the Spirit and this man who had previously denied to follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized to start a new life and to accept Christ as his Savior said that he would prepare to be baptized on November 12! It was an incredible experience that I'll never forget because I was not the one teaching and neither was my companion. The Spirit of God was the one speaking and we were merely instruments through which he worked.

The rest of the week was great too though. On a less "spiritual" note, the diet that we did this past week is now over and I'm back to eating normal :) ha-ha. Oh how I missed normal food! I do eat less and healthier actually which is my plan for the rest of my mission. This past week I lost two kilos which is about four pounds, ha-ha. Crazy huh!! But I still feel and look the same. At least I think so. But I'm not that worried about that anymore. I'll worry about it when I get home, ha-ha. I also got a little sick this past week. I've had a sore throat for about two weeks now and an annoying cough that drives me nuts at night because it wakes me up. But other than that I feel great! I still go out and work and everything and I think it's actually starting to go away....hopefully, ha-ha.

Oh! Funny story, ha-ha. Last night we had a visit in another town and we had to take a train to get there in time. Well, we missed the first train because our visit before that went too long. So we called and pushed back the visit an hour and caught a train to one town and switched trains to get to the town we wanted. Butttttt the only problem is that we got on the wrong train, ha-ha-ha. So we went to a completely different part of our area, had to ask where we were, cancel the visit, buy another ticket, and just go back home for the night, ha-ha. Talk about a crazy little train ride. And that's never happened to me! I never get on the wrong train! lol. I'm not sure what happened but now we know that we should double check before just getting on :)

Well, that's about it for me this week. It was fantastic and full of incredible memories. I love you all and pray for you all every day. Take care and I hope that things go fantastic this week!

I Know

I feel like I say this a lot but this week has been so good, ha-ha. I'm not sure how I can keep saying that the weeks are always good and you all probably don't really think I'm serious. But I have to say, it takes a bit to make a week terrible and very little to make a week fantastic.:) As missionaries, we talk with so many people every day. We teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and help others come unto Christ through baptism by someone holding the restored priesthood authority of God. Some people choose to exercise their agency to not accept the message we share but on the other hand many others do. When we walk through town, have our visits, knock on doors, or whatever it is and no one seems to want to listen, it can get a little discouraging. So you may ask, "Why do you keep doing it if you know that you're going to get 'no' for an answer so often?" We do it because we know that there are people who are just waiting for us. We cannot afford to let a day or a minute go by without searching for those that have been prepared by our Heavenly Father to receive the message of the restoration. And that is why we keep going. There is no better sound than that of hearing someone say "I've been waiting for this my entire life." The miracles that God brings forth are incredible and make every moment of these two years worth every door slammed in the face, every person that yells profanity at us, every person that says that we don't know a thing about life and about God because we're only 20 boys from the States. But let me ask you something: Do you think a grown man would know any better than I do now that God exists? If a person doesn't want to know that there is God who loves us when he is 30 years old, what would make him want to say that there is one at 90? I know that we are children of our Heavenly Father and that He loves us so much and knows us better than we know ourselves. By the time I turn 30, then 50, and hopefully even 70, I will be able to say the same things that I know now: that there is a superior being and he knows us and he is our Heavenly Father.

This past week was a week full of miracles and I have no idea how people can say that there is no God when all of this happens every day. One such miracle happened as we were sitting on a bench waiting for a member to come meet with us. We had a visit scheduled for that night and we needed an adult man to come with us to the visit or we couldn't enter the house because of mission rules. We had called everyone we could think of and we had no idea who to call next. About 40 minutes before the visit we both decided to pray so that we could somehow either have the visit or do what Heavenly Father needed us to do at that time. We both felt the impression to call a member who we hadn't thought about and we don't really use in visits much because of his schedule and where he lives, but it turns out he could come. So as we were waiting in front of the church on a bench for him, we watched the time tick by. We understood that he would probably come a little later because he lives a bit far so it didn't surprise us when he was late. We were sitting there still, 20 minutes late, and growing a little impatient. As we were there though, talking in English, a girl walked by. I didn't really pay any attention because people always walk by. But all of a sudden she just stopped and turned to look at us. She paused for about a second or two and then asked, "Where are you both from?" in English! We began to talk with her and it turns out she's from Texas! She came to study for her master's degree in teaching English as a second language. She apparently had a cousin who served a mission and she said that she's always wanted to know what he really did and what the church was. We set up a visit and we are so excited to meet with her. I don't know what will happen with her. She may accept the gospel or not. But I can't help but feel that the impression we had to call that member wasn't just a random feeling. We felt to call him because we knew he'd probably be late and Heavenly Father knew that we needed to meet in front of the chapel at a certain time to find one of His beloved daughters. I know that we are cared for and watched over even when we don't know it. And I know, more than ever before, that we have a loving Heavenly Father.

I love you all so much and I know I wrote a little differently today. But for some reason I just felt like I needed to. Have a great week and I'll see ya next week!!!!

October:)

I absolutely loveeee General Conference! It has become one of the things that I look forward to most out here and I can't wait until it comes again in April. For those of you that don't know what General Conference is, it's a worldwide meeting/broadcast of the church that happens twice a year. During the conference, we listen to the words of the Prophet of God, the Twelve Apostles, and other leaders of the church. It is such an incredible experience to listen to them, to watch them, and to learn at their hands. They truly are men and women called of God to lead and direct His church on the earth and there is no way you can know that unless you listen to their words. Unfortunately, I have to wait another six months :( But it goes by fast anyway so it'll be here in no time.:)

This past week was pretty interesting to be honest. Not as successful as we had planned but it did have its good parts. One of those was that I got to play a violin!!!!!! I've gone a year now without touching one and I walked into the chapel one day and saw a few members practicing a musical number and one of them had a violin in her hands. I just stood there in shock almost because I haven't seen a violin my entire mission, ha-ha. Instruments seem to be pretty uncommon here. Well, there's always guitars and pianos, ha-ha, but hardly any violins. So I asked to play and of course she said yes. To them it sounded great apparently. But man I was just like, IJ It made me miss my violin at home. So I'll make sure I play when I get home :).

This past week I hit my one year mark!!!! It was crazy. And now everything is just downhill meaning it’ll just go by so fast from here which is sad :( It's pretty much a push to work harder because I know that time is ticking down and it'll be over before I want it to. But we sorta celebrated my one year mark on the 29^th, ha-ha. We went up to our terrassa at the top of our building and I burned a tie, ha-ha. It was a tie that my trainer gave to me so I burned that one. Not sure why that one though. I am sure my Mom is happy it’s not one of the ties she got me.:)

Tarragona is such an incredible place. It was an ancient Roman city and it still has some ancient Roman ruins which is awesome! But the city itself is just amazing. It's a lot different than Mataró because it's just a lot bigger and the ward is much bigger as well. It's also a bit different with four Elders in the same apartment but it's been pretty fun :). We all get along well and we like to joke around together but obviously in a good missionary way :) ha-ha. There are lots of people from all over the place here: Spain obviously, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Columbia, and wherever else. It's a big melting pot, ha-ha. It's kinda funny because sometimes before we talk to someone in the street we'll try to guess where they're from and then during the contact we'll eventually ask them and then see who wins, ha-ha. It's pretty fun. We've been finding families to teach and other people that the Lord has been preparing and I'm so excited to be working here. I know that there are so many miracles that are just waiting to happen here and I'm so grateful that I can be a part of them.

The people here are so great especially the members. I actually think they're too good, ha-ha. It seems like it's almost a contest to see who can schedule an eating visit with the missionaries first! We've eaten with members every day and I barely have to buy anything to have in our apartment since we don't really eat a lot in our apartment. So it keeps shopping pretty simple, ha-ha. But it also means that I have to make sure I don't eat a ton at home since the members just stuff us full. They don't seem to understand what, "I'm full" means, lol. But it's great!

I love this work and I love Spain. This place is so great. I want to come back so bad after my mission and just see the people I've taught and lived with again. I guess I'd better start saving my pennies, ha-ha.

I love you all and miss you lots! Hope you all loved conference and have a great week!