36 lessons and 9 new investigators this week!

8/24  This week Elder Webber and I have seen so many miracles! Since the areas have been combined we have never been busier, nor happier. We get along with each other so well, and even after just one week, we teach so well together. The Lord has really blessed us for our hard work and obedience. By the end of the week, we had taught 36 lessons to investigators, and found 9 new investigators! We were so excited about that! We were also able to set a solid baptismal date with a man over the phone! So awesome! We saw so many blessings this week. 

The best lesson we had this week was with Pedro José. Up until this point he hasn't really progressed. He is stuck at the authority to baptize, and couldn't seem to accept that Joseph Smith restored the authority and that it is only found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We read 3 Nephi 11 with him and had a powerful and spiritual lesson about the power and authority to baptize. Elder Webber extended a powerful invitation to pray and ask if he needs to be baptized into this church. It was the perfect commitment for him. Then I bore a very bold testimony that I knew without a doubt that the authority to baptized was restored to the earth by Joseph Smith. Words cannot describe the spirit that was felt.

So Samir is doing really well. We just set a family plan with all of them to help them stop smoking. They are all really excited to try. They are actually out of town now, and won't be back for a week, but Samir is still reading every day, and I can see the light in his eyes growing brighter and brighter. 

My testimony on hard work and obedience has grown so much this week. I know without a doubt that if we do what we are told, if we keep the commandments and do what we are suppose to do, the Lord will keep his promise. D&C 82: 10 reads "I, the Lord, am abound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." I testify that that is true. I have seen His promise fulfilled this week. The Lord lives, He loves us, and He wants us to have success.

You'll be happy to hear that one of the members made me a cake yesterday. It was so nice of them. Also, another member had his birthday on Saturday, so we sort of celebrated both together with him and his wife. It was super fun!  I'll send you photos of the cake. Thank you all for the birthday wishes! Love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Very kind members who made a cake for Justin's birthday

Double the investigators and double the area to cover!

8/18  So today is transfer day yet again, and I am happy to announce that I will be staying here in Burgos. However, they have made some drastic changes here. Elder Wheat, my old companion, and Elder Bennion, Elder Webber's old companion, were transferred somewhere else. The weird part is that there are no new elders coming to replace them. They took our two areas and combined them, so now I am companions with Elder Webber. We are the only Elders for miles! It's going to be wonderful though!  Now we have all of the investigators from both our areas to work with. It's a lot, but it will keep us on our toes!

Funny story. Yesterday, Elder Bennion and Elder Webber received a phone call in the middle of a visit at 6:30. It was the office telling them that Elder Bennion had to get on a but that evening at 7:30. Yes, only one hour to get everything packed and onto a bus. By some miracle they made it and sent him off to the airport, and from there, the beautiful island of Ibiza. Lucky.... It was super crazy though.

The main miracle I wanted to write about today is that of Samir. He is the son of Luminita, a recent convert. We have been teaching her and her family, most non members, for quite a while now. Samir has been the one showing the most interest. A few days ago, we had a wonderful lesson with him. When we asked him how his reading was going, he said that it was going very good, and that he wanted to share an experience with us. He told us of his need to pay for a trip to Bilbao, and how there was no money for it. He was worried that he would never be able to afford it. He prayed and asked for help, and kept doing all of the things we told him to, reading, following the commandments, etc. He told us that he met a woman on the street the other day, and she offered to pay for his trip there and back. That was such a huge blessing for them, because that means Samir may have the opportunity to find a job now. What was an even bigger miracle was to see how Samir realized that those blessings came from the Lord, and they came because he was doing the right thing. That realization strengthened his testimony so much, and he told us he has never felt happier reading the Book of Mormon. That was an incredible experience!

My time here with Elder Wheat has been good. I have learned so much, and I've seen so many blessings. Now that he is gone and I am covering all of Burgos with Elder Webber, I am so excited to see what we will be able to do. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and a lot of people to teach and take care of, but I don't have any doubts that we will see so many miracles here.

Elder Male & Elder Webber

Reread the BOM and find something new in EVERY chapter

8/10  This past week was full of hard work, and just yesterday, it all paid off. We went to the hospital to visit a member, and we spent a little time with him. While we were talking with him, he told us about a guy he met in the hospital who he gave a Book of Mormon to. We later met this guy, and he is way nice and super excited to go to church when he can leave the hospital. We had a little lesson with them both, and at the end, he asked us if we wanted to pray. It was such a miracle to see how the Lord is preparing His children everywhere.

We also had a visit set up with a member and her family. When we got there, there wasn't a man in the house, so we decided to just wait outside the door to see if her son would come back. Turns out, another man that is not a member showed up. So we went inside and started a family home evening. While we were just starting up, this guy came into the room and asked us if he could join. We had a wonderful lesson with that family and their roommate. We later got his number and invited him to an activity. Overall, we ended up finding 3 new investigators and having 4 lessons with a member present in just one afternoon. That was such a big blessing to us, and it truly helped raise my spirits.

So today was an awesome preparation day. We just got back from a little pueblo that the branch president took us to. That pueblo was the most beautiful place I have ever seen! I tried taking tons of pictures, but none of them did it justice. We had to drive a long ways, but we finally got to a pueblo that is nestled inside a small canyon. The first thing you see driving up to it is an amazingly beautiful waterfall that is right beside the road and goes through a tunnel right under it. The falls kind of reminded me a lot of that place we went in Jamaica. We spent a lot of time walking around there and taking tons of pictures. It was so nice to be able to get away from the city and see a little bit of Spain today. It was such a good experience!

Something I learned from my study of the Book of Mormon this week is really simple. The more you read it, the greater understanding you get. I noticed this week that while reading through it again, I am understanding so many things I didn't get before. There are so many prophesies that I just read over without even noticing them. So my challenge for you this week is to read the Book of Mormon every day, and mark something new that you learned every day. If you finish reading a chapter and haven't marked anything, read it again. I promise you will be able to find something new and edifying in EVERY chapter.

Love you all so much! Have a wonderful week.

Listen to the Prophet

8/3  This week we had a wonderful lesson with a less active. Her name is Inés, and she is from Argentina. When we got to her house, she was super friendly and really excited to visit with us. We talked about how she was doing, and then started talking a little bit about what a mission is like. She asked us a few questions about the mission, so we had a good conversation on that. Then we decided to share a few verses from the Book of Mormon on prayer. When we had finished reading them, I looked up and she was crying. She told us that she had really missed feeling the spirit, and she felt really bad for being away from the church for so long. The spirit was so strong as we sat there and discussed the power of prayer and church attendance, and she promised to come to church. It was a wonderful lesson, and she was such a kind person. I am looking forward to visiting her a little more often.

Our investigators are still learning and progressing well. There haven't been any big steps taken, but they are still progressing slowly. It looks like the Lord is preparing them step by step until they are truly ready for baptism. We were able to have a few good visits with each of them this week, and they are all wonderful people. I look forward to helping each of them progress in the gospel.

One thing I learned this week was from 1 Nephi 16. I read about the Liahona, and learned what it represents. I noticed this time that the Liahona can represent the revelations of God to a prophet. It was given to Lehi, who was the prophet at that time. The scriptures say that the Liahona guided them, and told them where they needed to go. It also says that it guided them through the most fertile parts of the wilderness. I thought that related a lot to the fact that if we harken to the teachings of the prophets, or the revelations they receive on our behalf, we will live prosperous lives. The scriptures also say that when Lehi and his family did not follow the directions, or did not have faith in the Liahona, it did not work. That is just like what happens when the people on the earth reject the teachings and guidance of a prophet. The Lord stops revealing through his prophets, and the world falls into apostasy. It was a great chapter, and I learned a lot about the importance of a prophet, and how we need to follow his guidance. Sorry if that was a little confusing...

Last preparation day we climbed up to a castle on the hill right behind the center of the city. It was really fun, and had an incredible view of the entire area. Burgos is such a beautiful city. We then went and walked through the city to find Elder Webber some shoes. We had a great time walking in and out of some really fancy shoe shops that made me feel like a millionaire just sitting on the couches inside. Pretty cool being in Spain!

A visit with the new misson president

7/27  This week, we had a wonderful visit with Luminita and her family. We were able to bring a member with us, and she helped out so much! We were teaching about the Word of Wisdom and helping one of the sons to quit smoking. The member was such a perfect help for us!  She told him that if he would pray and tell God that he did not want to smoke anymore, he would receive help, and he will be able to quit. He got so excited about that, and I am excited to see his progress. The other two sons have already reported a lot of progress in their efforts to quit. I am really excited about this family!  Now we just need to find a way to get them all to church.

Now, a little bit about the member who helped us. Her name is Maria, and she has to be the most faithful, strongest member I have ever seen. After the visit with Luminita and her family, we stayed outside and talked with her for a while. She told us that she is having a difficult time right now with not having a whole lot of support from family. Despite her challenges and setbacks, which are several, she still comes to church every week, and she even took time away from her family to help us with a visit because she felt it was important. Even though she is going through a really rough time with really tough trials, you would never be able to tell because she is the happiest person you have ever seen. She always has the biggest smile on her face, and she just lights up the room whenever she walks in. Her faith and testimony are so inspiring to me. You can just see so clearly how the gospel can bless one's life and/or attitude just by watching her. My testimony was strengthened because of her inspiring attitude, even in the hardest of times.

This week I had interviews with President Dayton for the first time. He is a wonderful man, and I have no doubt he has been called of God to serve here. It is quite a journey to get to Vitoria from here, so we had to take a 2 hour long bus in the morning. On the plus side, I did get to see a lot of the northern countryside which puts Vilafranca to shame. It is so gorgeous here! My goodness!  When we got there, we got to talk with Hermana Dayton while we were waiting. She is way nice. She use to be an image counselor, so she went around telling each of us what colors would go best with our skin tones. Haha, super funny. My best color is a light navy blue. I knew there must have been some reason why I have so many blue things. The interview went wonderfully, and from what he can see of my accomplishments, however few they may be, he said I am a very talented and well rounded person. Again, not sure how true that is, but it was very kind of him. I am looking forward to getting to know him and serve with him for the next year or so.

Anyways, love you all so much!! Have a wonderful week!!

Welcome to Burgos!

The BYU folkdance team comes to Burgos

7/20  So unfortunately we have had a lot of stuff fail us this week. It was a little rough, but we also had several magnificent visits with a few people. We were able to have a visit with Luminita (recent convert) and her family. Robert, one of her sons, told us that he has made tremendous progress with quitting smoking. It made me very happy to hear that. Their family is doing great, and they are so ready for baptism. It is a little difficult to get them to church though. We will keep working on that. They have told us that they want to be baptized though, so I am super excited!

Ana and Victor are another family we are working with. As of now, we teach their two little boys English and try to share a message at the end. Their family is so perfect! They are such good parents, and the kids love praying. We invited them to an activity with the BYU group that came on Saturday, and they absolutely loved it! It was a great opportunity for them to get to know the branch, especially the branch president and his family. We think those two families would be such great friends! We are really excited for them!

I learned a lot about how to work hard and stay strong even when all our plans fail this week. My companion is such a hard worker, and he never lets anything discourage him. We worked hard this week, and I am looking forward to working hard next week as well.

A little more on this BYU group. There was a folklore festival here in Burgos this week, and as part of that there were several groups from other countries that came here to participate in the festivals. The BYU group came as part of a tour they are doing. On Saturday they came to the chapel for an activity with the branch. They did a couple of dances, then took everyone outside and taught them square dancing. For obvious reasons, the missionaries were excluded, but it was so fun to watch them! It was also really cool to see people from home. The members loved it, and people out on the streets were really interested and stopped to watch and ask questions. Great contacting opportunities! So this week has some very interesting things going on. We ran into the group a couple of times in the street, and that was fun. 

Mom was very excited to receive a text from BYU's artistic

director when she ran into Elder Male & Elder Wheat!

 

Investigators who ASK when they can be baptized!

 

7/13  So this week, one of the miracles Elder Wheat and I have seen is that one day, all of our visits worked! We set up the whole day full of visits, and all of them pulled through! We were able to visit with everyone we had planned on, and we had great lessons with all of them. Then the other day, the exact opposite happened. All of our fixed visits fell through and failed on us. So we spent a lot of time in the streets contacting. After one of our visits failed, we turned to keep walking down the street, and we saw a family walking towards us. We both got the feeling we needed to contact them, and so we did. They seemed pretty interested and very nice. I hope we will be able to visit with them again really soon.

One of the families we are teaching is really good. Their names are Robert and Florina, and they are from Romania. We were able to have 3 really good visits with them this week in which we were able to teach the restoration, plan of salvation, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. The coolest thing happened after our last lesson. We invited them to come to church, and then Robert asked us "when can we be baptized?" We had to explain to him that they need to come to church at least twice, and that he would need to quit smoking, but we told him that we could help them set a goal. That was super exciting! They are a great family, and I just learned that they have a lot more family that live with them and are listening to the missionaries as well. They are out on vacation right now, but they get back soon. I am very excited to see what we can do with this family!

So my new area is great! It's a biggish city, but the buildings are very spread out, so it feels nice and open. It is also a lot cooler here, and the air is nice and fresh. I really like it here. Elder Wheat is a really hard worker, and I am going to learn a lot from him. He is from Sandy Utah, surprise! Another companion from Utah. Almost all of the missionaries here are from Utah. We have two other elders in our piso, Elder Bennion and Elder Webber are from Payson and Draper. It's pretty fun here, and I am excited to get to know the area and the members of the Branch here. The Branch President is from California, so that is pretty cool. His kids speak English and Spanish.

Anyways, I love you all so much! Have a great week!

p.s. I can get and read email any day of the week now, so if you guys wanted to write me sometime during the week, that would give me more time to write you.

 

Welcome to Burgos!

7/8  So I did write a really nice weekly letter and everything, and then my iPad decided it wanted to loose everything I had written and now I don´t have any time... If by some miracle I can find that email again, I will send it too you, But if not, I'm sorry. 

Long story made really, really short, I got transferred to Burgos with Elder Wheat. He is from Sandy Utah. Really nice guy. The weather is great here because it is one of the coldest places in Spain.

Like I said, I am so so so sorry that I lost that email and that I don't have time to write a new one. I will do everything in my power to find it and send it.

P.S. Just in case I can't find it, here is a part of my letter to President:

I had a wonderful last week in Vilafranca. Our two investigators we are focusing on the most are Jorge and Monica. We were able to visit with Jorge twice this past week. In one of the visits while we were teaching, someone walked into the room and sat down at a couch a little ways off. It appeared as though he was a little curious about what we were talking about but that he was just going to sort of listen in the background. I was about to invite him over to join us when Jorge, our investigator, called him over and told him to sit down with us. His desire to share what we are teaching him with other people was very inspiring. I often have to remind myself that he is not a member just because he knows so much about the doctrine, and he is so open to sharing what he is learning with all of those around him. I have no doubt that he will get baptized one day, and he will be a wonderful member missionary.

We also had a good visit with Monica. She has a fecha for the 18th of July. In our last visit she told us that if she can't get baptized on that day, she really hopes that her 9 year old son Esteban can. When we asked Esteban if he would want to get baptized, he told us that he doesn't quite feel ready because he doesn't know everything. Monica told us that she would talk him into it later. She has such a strong testimony of the gospel and wants to get baptized really bad, but she just needs to fix a few things about the situation in their home. I am 100% sure she will be baptized very soon, and she too will be a very strong member.

I am very thankful for the time I was able to spend in Vilafranca. I have learned so much from working with the members there, and I will never forget the experiences I have had there. I also look forward to this new opportunity to serve with the members in Burgos. I look forward to applying all that I have learned in Vilafranca to the work here, and I am excited to see miracles. From the short time I have had with Elder Wheat, I can already tell that he is a Preach My Gospel Missionary. He will be a wonderful companion for me, and I will learn so much from him.

A donde me mandes ire, Señor

6/29  We had a couple visits with Monica and Jorge this week, and they went very well. Monica is doing well. Her situation at home seems to be improving, so that is really good. Her testimony is really strong, and she really wants to get baptized. She keeps telling us that she has also seen a change in her son's behavior from participating in primary. She says that he always reminds her to pray over the food. That made me really happy to hear.

Jorge is also moving a long very well. I have noticed this week that a lot of his previous doubts are beginning to become clearer for him. Things he wasn't so sure about before are now easier for him to understand. For example, he had a few doubts or questions about Joseph Smith, so we shared the Joseph Smith video with him, and took time going through the restoration with a little more detail (iPads were a wonderful tool in helping us with that). Now it seems to me that, though it may be small at the moment, he at least has some testimony of the restoration of the gospel. Like I have said, I know he will get baptized, it just might take a little longer than others. I can see his faith growing, and his desire to act according to that faith. He is reading the Book of Mormon with more interest now, and paying closer attention to our lessons than he was a few weeks ago. Now the next trick is helping him get to church on Sundays. 

This Saturday the Hermanas here in Vilafranca had two baptisms. Their names are Valentina and Francisca and they are 16 and 14. They are cousins from Chile. It was really cool to be able to see their progression from the sideline. They have been coming to church every week for a little over a month, and their testimonies have grown stronger every week. The baptismal service went very well, despite the fact that people had literally just finished taking out a wall and repainting the whole chapel an hour before. It was an honor when Valentina asked me to do the confirmation on Sunday. That was the second time I have been able to perform that ordinance, and it was a great experience. It is incredible how the spirit just filled my mouth with words to say, and it even works in Spanish!! It really was such a spiritual experience, and I look forward to the next opportunity. 

The weather here is getting really really hot now. Even with a fan on, it is really hard to sleep just because it is so hot. I feel really bad for all my friends serving down in South America. It must be hot as death down there. Respect.  I fear I may be spending my last week here in Vilafranca. Transfers are coming up, and it is very likely that I will go. I don't want to leave though. I don't feel like my work here is done yet, and I have a lot of close relationships with the members here. But then again, "a donde me mandes ire, Señor". I know that wherever I get called, that's where the Lord wants me.

Los Cruzado with the missionaries & Francisca & Valentina

 

Goodbye to President and Hermana Pace

 

6/22  Well this week we saw several miracles, the first of which was a little disguised.  We didn't have a visit set up with Malena, but we decided to pass by her house with a member anyways. We planned to go there at 7:00, but the member called us and told us he would be a little late. So we sat and waited in the park right in front of Malena's house and made some calls. At about 7:15, Malena waked by with her two kids. She saw us and invited us in, and in that moment, the member walked around the corner. At first I didn't realize what a miracle that was, but later I realized that if we had passed by at 7:00 when we had planned, she wouldn't have been there, and we would have left. It's amazing how the Lord uses what seem to be inconvenient little things to bring to pass miracles.

I don't know if I have written about him yet, but we have an investigator named Jorge. He is from Peru (yes, almost everyone we know here is from Peru). We have been teaching him rather often for the past couple of weeks, but he is missing something, we just can't find it. He has told us straight up that when he feels like getting baptized, or when he feels like he should, he will do it. While we were having a lesson with him this last week, I got the strongest desire for the ability to give him all the knowledge I have about the gospel. He is so intelligent, but there are just a few things he is having a hard time understanding. I just really wish I could share everything I know in one night. I got the sure feeling that he will get baptized some day, and when he does, he will be the strongest, most faithful member I have ever seen. 

Another really cool thing about this week, WE MADE CONTACT WITH LANA!!!!!! We tried calling her, but she didn't answer, but she called back a hour later! I'm not quite sure what is up with her because she didn't talk much. She was sort of acting as if nothing had really happened. But at least we got contact with her. We are going to keep trying with her, but we are at least one step ahead now! 

We also had our last meeting with Pres. and Hermana Pace on Friday. It was super good, and they taught me so much. It was really sad too. I am going to miss them so much. I'll look forward to seeing them in future mission reunions. 

Anyways, love you all so much! Have a wonderful week!

Yummy Paraguayan food!

6/15  So this last preparation day was a little bit of a bummer. Elder Johnson got really sick on the way into Barcelona. It got to the point where we had to turn back and spend the day in piso. We really didn't do anything, but at least we got to rest a little. Now he is feeling much better.

Monica is doing surprisingly well even after a little catastrophe she had at home. We visited with her on Thursday, and we actually walked her dogs all the way out to Azucena's house to visit her. It's pretty ironic, Monica's sister lives right by Azucena, and Monica asked us if she could get to know her. We went out there and had a great lesson about following the living prophet. Monica has really strong desires to get baptized, and she is doing everything she can to get everything figured out. We are all really excited for her to get baptized on the 18 of July!

Julio invited us over to eat twice this week, and the food was incredible both times. He gave us a really good chicken wrapped ham with a sauce and rice on Thursday, and then on Saturday, he gave us carne al orno, which is basically a huge pan full of oven cooked meat. He also cooked something called sopa Paraguaya, along with a really good salad. For dessert, he gave us cheesecake!! He knows we absolutely love that stuff and so he makes it for is a lot! He is a professional cook too, so everything he does is super good! He sent us home with a lot of leftovers, so we will be eating good for a couple days!

We were unable to visit with Malena this week, but last I know she is still doing very good. Still nothing from Lana. Our bishop said he spoke with her, and she is going through a rough time, and has lots of studying to do. I hope that's why she is not answering our calls, but I guess we will see.

iPads are here!!

6/8  So this week was a really good one! To start it off, on Tuesday we had an excellent lesson with Monica about baptism and confirmation. It was super good, and she absorbed everything. At the end, we asked her if she wanted to be baptized, and she said "of course I do". We had a little chat about what she needed to do in order to be baptized, and we set a few goals. She has a baptismal date for the 18 of July, and we are really excited about it. She seemed very motivated when we left.

The next day was a very interesting day. We had one set appointment, but it fell through last minute. We decided to pass by several people with Julio, but all of them weren't home. As we were walking through the streets feeling a little discouraged, we actually ran into every person that wasn't home. Everything seemed to be timed so perfectly. Right when we finished talking with one person, we would turn the corner and run into the next person just in time. One really cool thing was that we went to ring an apartment, we asked for Luis right as someone walked up to the door. Turns out that it was Luis, and we got to meet him and set up a visit with him. I could really see the hand of the Lord guiding his work that day. It was very humbling. 

We were also able to see Malena and her husband in the street the other day, and that was really cool. Normally her husband doesn't seem really interested, and he is normally a little closed off. Talking with him in the street, however, we noticed that he seems a lot more open and sociable with us now. I'm really excited to see how our relationship with him can improve.

So guess what??? On Thursday, we had a zone meeting, and we left with our new iPads! It's pretty cool I guess. It will help us a lot in lessons and stuff. We can share videos, talks, magazine articles and all that stuff. The gospel library app is incredible! We also have a few apps for language study which will help a lot! I am super excited to see what we can do and how much help these new tools will be. 

So everything is good here and we are both really excited! I hope you all have a great week, and I love you all! 

P.S. I have recently grown fond of a drink from Paraguay and Argentina called Mate. Look it up. I'm almost 100% sure you wouldn't like it.  

An adventure to Narnia ...

6/1  So first things first, you all know that my new companion is Elder Johnson. He is from Utah as well from a city called Fruit Hights. Never heard of it? Me either, but he told me it is right by Kaysville. He is just about finished with his mission. He will be leaving in two transferes, so that either means I am only staying here for one, or I'll stay for 3 more. He is a really cool guy, and we get a long so well! I know I have pretty much said that about everyone, but we really have had a great first week. Super excited to see what we can do here in Vilafranca over the next month!

Elder Johnsons second day here, we went to visit Monica. We had a great lesson about the word of wisdom in which we learned that she is already living it. She told us that she has absolutely no problem with any of those things. It made me really happy to hear that. After that great lesson, the real adventure began. We had to go out to visit an old member named Azucena who lives way out in Narnia. Really, we had to climb up into the mountains and walk for 30 minutes to reach her humble home way out in the middle of nowhere. She is a really nice lady though, and her testimony is very strong. She is one of those naturalist people that believes living like the indians is the only way to live, but she is really a great person. 

When we finally hiked all the way back, we went to Julio's house to eat. Julio is the old ward mission leader who helps us a lot with visits. Julio always cooks so much food, and it is always super good too. This time he cooked something called Milanesa (could be spelled wrong...). It is kind of like a battered and fried steak. It was super good! We then accompanied him to a hometeaching visit that went on a bit longer than planned, and we were in a panic to get all the way back to Vilafranca in time for a visit. After a while, Teo, Julio's hometeaching companion, decided to drive us all the way back. It was funny because Teo doesn't speak much spanish, but he said ¨God has just told me to drive you to the chapel¨ and so that is what he did. Over all, it was a really fun adventure.

Malena and her family are still doing good, and we plan to visit them on Wednesday. Unfortunately, still nothing on Lana. A little discouraging, but we are working hard to find her and get her baptized.  In other news, iPads are on the way. Rumors have been spread that we might be getting them this Thursday. Don't know if they are true, but it could happen. I'll keep you updated.

Justin & Julio Bordon

Goodbye to Elder Jonson, hello to Elder Johnson!

5/26   So we found a new investigator a week or two ago, and she is just now starting to progress. She has actually been an investigator for quite some time, but the first time we could meet with her and her family was two weeks ago. The few lessons we have had with her were ok, but it didn't seem like she was really that interested. This Sunday, she showed up in church and she loved it. She invited us to eat papa a la guancaina (a Peruvian dish that could be spelled wrong...) at her house yesterday. We are now starting to see her open up to us a little more. That was a huge miracle this week. She is from Peru, and her name is Malena. Super nice.

Monica is still doing super good, and we are starting to see the members take her in and invite her to ward activities already. It made me super happy to see her unexpectedly in the ward garden on Saturday. Unfortunately, we still haven't heard anything from Lana. Our bishop spoke with her Mom, and she told him that Lana was really busy with tests and homework and stuff, so I really hope that we can talk to her soon.

We had a few companionship exchanges this week, and the funnest one was with our zone leader Elder Daily. He is super funny! Most of our visits failed that day, so we spent a lot of time in the streets, and to make it interesting, it was pouring rain all day. We only had one small umbrella, so we got home all wet. My left side and his right side were soaked, but we were dry as a bone in the middle! It was really fun though.

So today is transfer day and guess what??? Yeah, I'm staying here. But Elder Jonson is going to Santander!! It is super far away! Funny story though, my new companion's name is Elder Johnson. Yep, I won't have any trouble getting use to his name. He is a little older in the mission, and will probably die here (when I say die, I mean he will finish his mission here). I will stay at least one transfer more, and possibly two. I'm totally fine with that, because I love the members here. It will be really hard to leave.

Justin and Elder Daniel Johnson

A trip to Tibidabo

5/18   So this last preparation day, we went to a cathedral called Tibidabo. You should look it up on google, cause its pretty sweet. It is on top of a mountain overlooking the entire city of Barcelona. We had to march half way up the mountain to get there because we didn't want to wait for the bus, but when we finally got up there, the view was incredible. We went inside, and we were approached by a priest who started talking to us about all the history and stuff. Then he invited us to go to the very top of the cathedral. Normally you have to pay to get up there, but he let us go for free because he figured we didn't have any money. He was spot on. Missionaries don't have money. He gave us each a little paper heart with a Christ-like attribute written on it, and told us to put it on our head and let it blow away in the wind when we got to the top. The view from the very top was even more incredible!

Tibidabo in Barcelona

iPads are coming!

5/11  So I guess there's not really much to say, seeing as I just spoke with you guys yesterday (Mother's Day), but I guess I'll tell you a little bit more about the conference we had this past week. On Tuesday, we had two general authorities, Elder Dyches, and Elder Alen, come to Barcelona for a mission wide conference. They are both really good speakers, and Elder Dyches used a lot of movie quotes which made me happy. The main focus of the conference was being an agent and not an object. They explained a little bit about what will be expected of us when we recieve iPads, but it was mostly about how to make sure we are obedient to the same rules even when the temptation is there. It was a great conference, and I learned a ton!

Not much to update you on. This week was a little slow, and we weren't able to visit Lana or Monica, but they are still doing very good. Lana did tell us that she feels like she needs to finish the Book of Mormon before she gets baptized, then told us that she would have it done by Sunday. That was pretty cool, and I'm excited to hear where she is at.

A new investigator

5/4   So this week, we were finally able to get a hold of a referral we got from the other elders in our district. Her name is Natalie, and she lives in the farthest outskirts of our area. We set up a visit with her on Tuesday, and when we got there with Manel, she was waiting for us at the train station. She was really nice, and invited us to her house to share a message and to eat. The lesson went really well. We started teaching the restoration, but then when she asked a question about what happens when we die, we sort of switched to the Plan of Salvation. She told us that she believes in reincarnation, but she really liked the idea of being resurrected with our same bodies, just in a perfect immortal form. She was really excited to come to church on Sunday, but wasn't able to make it. She apologized, and said she would come next week. Overall, she is a very nice lady, and she has a lot of potential.

To be completely honest, I don't really have anything else to talk about. This week was pretty slow. But today is the first day we are allowed to go out with short sleeves, and it feels great! Tomorrow we have the mission wide conference with the manager of the mission department about iPads, so I'll keep you updated on what comes from that.