Mini vacation: missionary style!

First off, I loved Bilbao. It has such a big city feel. Palma actually has more people, but it just feels tiny. Bilbao has a big city feel, very metropolitan and such. We arrived Tuesday night, took a bus from the airport, and got off near our hotel. It was a really nice hotel and for a while I felt like I was on vacation. I forgot my camera though, so I´ll have to get pictures from someone else to send you. We got up early the next morning, had breakfast in the hotel and then walked to the Bilbao chapel. There was a fog out in the morning that felt and smelt great. When we got to the chapel, everyone was just greeting other missionaries, but I didn´t really know anyone, being new. Then Elder Kearon arrived and talked to us. Wow, he really is a servant of the Lord. I could feel the power in the things he said. He´s a convert to the Church, and when he talked about the missionaries coming up to him on the street in London and talking to him for the first time, I could feel the love he had for them. I want to be the kind of missionary that someone can talk about with such emotion years later. After the conference we flew directly from Bilbao to Palma and it was back to work. We found this week a wonderful part member family from Ecuador. They live all the way out in Andratx, so our branch mission leader Julio graciously helps us out by driving us out there when we have visits. His testimony is really helpful too, as he is a new member himself, baptized in July. This family has 2 daughters ages 16 and 17 who are not members, but have accepted a baptismal date for the 29th of March. I am very excited for this week and all the work we have ahead of us.

Short but sweet, and hot!

It is so hot here! I am dying of heat. Especially because we have to wear either a suit coat or a sweater until General Conference. Speaking of conferences, I am very excited to be able to listen to Elder Kearon come speak to us. We all fly out of the islands tomorrow at 6 to Barcelona where we´ll catch another flight to Bilbao which is on the north coast of Spain. They will house us in hotels and we´ll get up early to be in the Bilbao chapel by 9am ready to hear Elder Kearon speak. I am very excited as well for General Conference next month, I can´t wait. That´s pretty much all I have for this week.

6 Months Down! 18 to Go!

This week has been kind of slow. We´ve helped people move three times this week and we´ve been doing a lot of walking talking to people. I have been pretty tired. We have a great family who accepted a date for baptism on the 15 of March. I am super excited for them and I hope they can be ready by then. I have gotten a couple of emails about the Olympics, but to be honest I didn´t even know they were going on. I guess it´s because the winter Olympics are smaller, at least here. Also, everything is all about soccer "futbol" here. Everyone asks which team you support. I always say Barcelona because that´s the mission I´m in. I´ve also become a real fan of theirs as I´ve been here. I have a jersey of theirs that I got at a Nike outlet for only 24€ during Rebajas (kind of the Spanish equivalent of Black Friday or Boxing Day but for a couple weeks). Last week I went to the Cathedral of Palma and we took some great pictures, but it was closed and we couldn´t go in. I hope to be able to go in before I leave here. Oh, some news I almost forgot to mention. Next week, the mission is being visited by Elder Kearon on the Seventy. He´s in the Area Presidency of Europe and he´s going to speak to all the missionaries in the mission. He´s divided it into 2 sessions. One in Barcelona and one in Bilbao. Apparently to even out the number of missionaries in each conference, they are flying our zone to Bilbao on the 11th so we can be there to listen to Elder Kearon on the 12th. They will also probably be putting us in hotels. I am excited, as I haven´t been to Bilbao before and at the same time, I´m upset to miss 2 days of work in our area. That´s pretty much all the news I have.

Oh also, tomorrow is my 6th month mark in the mission! Wow that flew by super quick!

Math missionary style-x(funny) + y(Preston) + z(unknown)=Busy

What a blessing it has been to have Elder Oliveira here. I´ve already told you that he´s from Brasil but he has lived in Málaga since he was 3. He has such a funny accent when he speaks. It´s not a Brasilian accent, it´s an Andaluz (the southern part of Spain) accent. When he speaks Portuguese, he doesn´t have a Brazilian accent either, he speaks with the Andaluz accent in Portuguese too. He´s learning English, but he´s not that good so we only ever speak Spanish. He is super funny and I know we will have lots of success here. This week has been kind of hard because we were in a trio almost all week because Elder Farah (one of the other missionaries from the branch that lives with us) didn´t get a companion. His companion was the old secretary to President and had to stay to train the new one. But he arrives today so we will be able to focus on our area instead of having to focus on 2 areas. We don´t have any baptismal dates right now, but we are working with a great family from Bolivia that could get baptized any second because they´ve already been to church over 5 times and to a baptism. I personally feel as though the mother is a little scared and so she doesn´t want to get baptized just yet. And the daughters just follow the mom. I have faith that they will be baptized soon. That´s pretty much all the news for this week. Venga. Hasta luego  

Another miracle baptism!

This week we had a miracle. We had a baptism! Usually we commit people to baptism 2 weeks in advance so they can prepare and go to church a couple times, but this time we did something different. Adela is a friend of Maricarmen (a member) and she has been to church 2 or 3 times before in the past few weeks, but we haven´t had an opportunity to meet with her until this week. So on Monday after preparation day, we met with her and realized she was really prepared. We committed her to be baptized this Saturday and she agreed. She is wonderful. She reads the Book of Mormon every day and prays. When we taught her the Plan of Salvation, she cried tears of joy because she realized that her 2 sons that have died are not lost. She asked me to baptize her, and I included some pictures. She is from A Coruña, Spain and she is one of the nicest people I´ve met. Also, some news today. You might be wondering why I´m emailing on a Tuesday. It´s because of transfers! Elder McMahon left to serve in Barcelona. I´m staying here, and I´m getting a new companion. His name is Elder Oliveira, he´s from Brazil but he´s lived in Spain most of his life. I don´t know what he´s like because we´re going to pick him up from the airport tonight. He´ll be my first native-speaking companion though. And my first companion not from the US. I´m excited. 

Elder McMahon, me, Adela, and Maricarmen at Adela's baptism.  

A baptism, a beautiful view, and better with the language

Dear Everyone,

This week has been amazing. On Saturday, I performed the baptism of Blanca, our amazing investigator. She is about 60 years old, Spaniard, and very very sweet. When we first met with her, she only met with us because she was being nice. She had her own beliefs and told us they would not change any time soon. She didn´t believe in Jesus Christ, or the Bible. She believed in God, but as more of an energy that moves everything and not a physical being. But as she read the Book of Mormon and prayed every night, and continued to meet with us, the Spirit testified of the truth of our message and changed her heart. She was so grateful to me for baptizing her, and she bore a testimony right after her baptism that made another investigator that we had brought to watch the baptism cry. I will attach pictures of the baptism. This last week, we went to one of the most beautiful places I´ve ever seen in my entire life. It´s called Cap de Formentor. It´s the very northernmost tip of the island and there is a lighthouse there that is beautiful. The views up there rival any I´ve ever seen. I´ve also gotten a lot better at the language just this week. I´ve felt a shift in my ability and I feel a lot more comfortable speaking it. It´s just been a really really good week.

Old buildings, new Saints, cold weather, blue sea!

Dear Everyone,

This week we have been busy meeting with our investigators, helping prepare them for baptism. Blanca, a Spanish lady of about 60 or so years, is our most prepared investigator. We are still working with the family of Maria, Veronica, and Ariana towards baptism. They don´t feel ready quite yet though. Blanca has a baptismal date for the 8th, and we are praying she will feel ready when the day comes. I have really grown to love Mallorca, and I am for sure coming back. It is so beautiful. We are going today with a member out to a lighthouse which is pretty famous around here. It´s on the completely other side of the island, which is about an hour drive. It´s such a small island isn´t it? When we ask if someone can give someone who doesn´t have a car a ride to church, and they have to drive 10 minutes out of their way to get them, they act as if we´ve asked them to drive from BC to California. The other thing that´s different here is when it gets even a little cold, everyone bundles up and asks you "aren´t you cold?". I always say no, I´m from Canada and I´m used to there being snow right about now. It´s actually really hot in the morning here. I´m sure it´s boiling in the summer. I love the history here, and the old buildings. I also love the bull fighting stadium we walk by every so often. It´s huge, and it´s be quite an experience to watch a bull fight there. They don´t happen very often though. I hope you enjoy the pictures of the cathedral we visited last week and the view from the steps. You can see out over the Mediterranean with palm trees lining your view. It really is beautiful.

These pictures are from a cathedral we went and visited here in Palma last P-day.

                                                                        The Mediterranean Sea!  Pretty cool, eh?