Sunday, November 11, 2012

7 November 2012


¡¡Hola!!
So we´ve had a decent week, we had as much lessons as a normal companionship in the field which is really good. We´re usually always pretty busy here in the office, which is good, and bad. It´s always nice to have something good to do, but then for all the things that don´t or can´t get done, it´s rather annoying to have to answer to those complaints. Overall, it´s pretty nice to be working in the office. (the perks are pretty nice too)
 
So my companion has been getting a lot of letters from his family and friends, and they´re basically saying that the nation is doomed. I suppose that they aren´t too happy with what Obama has done.  Well, hopefully Obama can be led to do what is right. While getting to know other parts of the world, you really come to know how great things are in the US. So as long as we can continue to keep good standards and personalities the States will be a great place to be.
 
Well, we are teaching several people right now. Firstly, we are teaching a Romanian, who is the boyfriend of a member that was less active. They are an investigator from the Elders that were here before us, they actually stopped working with them. However, when we got here we found out that they were going to get separated in order to obey the law of chastity and to allow him to get baptized. He is progressing pretty well, we have a date for him for the end of November. right now.
 
We also are teaching a couple that wants to get baptized, however, they are just waiting for some papers from Colombia that would allow the wife to get married legally. Yesterday they were saying that they were thinking about separating because the papers could take up from 6 months to a year in coming. So they could get baptized pretty soon if they are able to do that.
 
We are also teaching the ten year old daughter of an inactive. She started going to church, but then she got divorced and the husband took the car. And that means that she would have to take her three young daughters through the subway to church, which she is not willing to do right now. So hopefully when her daughter starts getting close to baptism, she´ll think more about the importance of coming to church and the blessings of her life when she does. Or at least we hope that she´ll think about her daughter and the blessing that the church will have in her life.
 
We are also teaching an Ecuadorian lady. She has been coming to English classes for quite some time now, and finally she started accepting missionary visits. The other elders here said that they had tried teaching her earlier, but that she wasn´t ready for the gospel at that time. However, as of now she seems to be rather receptive of the message that we have. Her biggest problem is going to be her testimony, because she is somewhat doubtful of the story of Joseph Smith ( mostly because it goes against her prior teaching and it is somewhat incredible).
 
That´s basically our teaching pool as of right now, we´re trying to find more, and we have found some really good potential investigators, however, it is somewhat difficult for us to be able to get in touch or meet with them. So hopefully we´ll be able to correct that soon.
 
So I think that the best part about being a missionary is the opportunity that we have to become friends with a lot of people and we can also see them progress as they accept Jesus Christ in their lives. It´s amazing what the gospel of Jesus Christ will do to people as they learn and practice it´s teachings. SO that would have to be my favorite part about the mission.
 
My favorite part of the office... would have to be the opportunity to get to know all the missionaries, and the ability to see all the new missionaries that are coming in. Also, I rather enjoy how I feel like I help a lot of people throughout the day.
 
As for driving, other than the fact that they all drive European diesel cars, it´s pretty much the exact same as in the states. The people are also a lot more aggressive on the road, and their hands are glued to the horn. There are also a lot more roundabouts here in Spain. But other than that, it´s basically all like home.
 
We get fed by three families. The Romanian that we are teaching, a boyfriend and girlfriend that are also waiting to get married, and the investigator couple that is also waiting to get married. Unfortunately it kind of seems like the ward here doesn´t have a whole lot to do with the missionaries unless the missionaries ask them to do something. It´s definitely not the same as in B3, I was spoiled in B3, and regrettably I didn´t know it until the end of my time there.
 
And yes we do have daylight savings time here.
 
Well, unfortunately that´s all the time that I have for today.
 
The pictures are of an old building in Toledo, the temple, and all the office elders one night.
(*I think all his pictures didn't come through in the email since there were none of the temple and only three elders in the other picture.
 
Thanks for everything and until next week!
 
Elder Johnson
 


 

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