Sunday, January 29, 2012

January Happenings

We celebrate every week with baptisms. We rejoice with the many new converts to The Church of Jesus Christ. Elders Rodriguez and Barahona are seeing many miracles in Motril. Two of many more converts yet to come in Motril entered the waters of baptism.
Sevilla is continuing to work hard and bring many souls to baptism. Elder Waite and Elder White are working to have this entire family baptized.
Cordoba is seeing many miracles thanks to the hard work of Elder Velasco and Elder Thomas. Again, we are about finding and bringing families together in the gospel.
Hola to our former Hna Brown. Here we have one of our recent converts with one of the precious scripture bags made by the young women in the Filmore Stake in Utah. All the bags have been given out and we expect to see more pictures of these young women who received these wonderful gifts.
Yippeee says Annie Kate when she hears how great things are in the Spain Malaga Mission. She sends her love to all!
And in the District of Valdepenas, the Elders have a football p-day activity. Elder Seely and Elder Jones are incharge.
Elder Triana is jumping for joy. It must be a great match.
You show them Elder Fagersten.
In Lorca the Elders are doing some service. Elders Taylor, Avellar, Gibson and Wright are enjoying their time helping where they can.
A large part of the Malaga Zone enjoy a p-day seeing the sights of the beautiful city of Malaga.
In Crevillente Elder Jones is trying to be spiderman on the wall. Be careful Elder Jones.
Hermana Bascope and Hermana Vega were given the chance to try on some of the native clothes of some investigators from Ecuador. They look real nice but I don't think these cloths are correct for missionary work.
That's right, Hermana Ross. Lovely skirts found in Rebajas in Spain. We love the sales don't we. Hermanas Ross, Vega, Bascope and Capener took advantage of the sales.
Hermana Torres had to try on the "Red Claws" that we use in the mission home to take hot plates out of the oven. They seem to flatter her bright shiney smile.
A few other pictures from the Hermanas leadership training. All of these Hermanas have or are serving in Ciudad Real where they have done such wonderful work.
And yes, the Hermanas in one of the bunk rooms. 11 Hermanas in one room makes for a lot of happy faces.
In Murcia the District spent a p-day together. Hna Capener and Ross enjoyed their hike.
What a view from on top.
Another picture of the group up by the Christus statue.
Back at the mission home, Elder Fetzer arrived for the Trainer training to find the car with a flat tire. Never fear, Elder Avellar is here! (He was here for residency work)
Wow, with those reflective vests the "lights" of our missionaries shine forth. Elder Avellar and Elder Basurto do the changing while Elders Fetzer, Barahona, Staples and Thornley stand by to supervise.
The secretary's car was swiped by some unknown person. The problems that goes with cars. Elder Staples doesn't look too happy. Even though it wasn't their fault, we all feel bad to see damage done.
Elder Stevens uses a little duck tape to temporarily fix a fender.
This week we received two wonderful new Elders, Elder Crespo and Elder Barbosa.
Like everyone, they needed to be oriented to the mission.
And finally, where are they going?
Elder Crespo gets to work in Motril with Elder Barahona as his trainer. They are both so excited.
And Elder Barbosa with Elder Fetzer in Caseres. Two great Elders with two great trainers. We are sure the work will continue to go forth.
O.K., why does Elder Fetzer have a knife in his hand? Elder Basurto is wondering the same. Does it have something to do with Elder Basurto going home? Oh please say it isn't so. Not kind Elder Fetzer.
Elder Basurto isn't quite sure of what might be going on.
A nice hug, but wait, what is this? Elder Fetzer, we don't "kill" our Elders in this mission! What a crazy expression for when a missionary leaves the mission. We don't kill them, we send them off into the world to continue their journey.
We are often times sad to see our Elders and Hermanas leave.
Don't cry Elder Barahona, Elder Ferreira will be all right going home. He has a great future ahead of him.
Yes, two great missionaries who have served with all their heart, working on some momentos before leaving the mission.
Their last night in the mission field was spent in bearing testimonies filled with a few tears. This is a very special time to realize the full time service is over, but the work is still out there to be done. We wish them both well and are sure they will continue to serve the Lord throughout their lives.
And yes, Elder Ferreira, you have to leave the phone with our new ayudante, Elder White. It's hard to leave, but life is exciting for you and for your future.
Finally we spent our Sabbath Day in Huelva. Elder McGarry was excited for his letter along with the supplies for the 4 Elders serving there. Elder Seely is getting to know Huelva and enjoying it tremendously.
Elder Walton is the hit in Huelva. He plays the piano and they love him for it. See moms, it is definitely worth it to keep your sons and daughters in piano lessons if you can. They are a tremendous asset in the mission field. We love all our missionaries and know that they are working hard in this new year to reach our goals and bring many unto Christ.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Hermanas In the House

We want to show you what the back of some of our missionaries chapas look like. The end of 2010 was 203 baptisms and 2011 was 325. We now have the huge goal of 404+ so we will need everyones faith and prayers and a lot of super work by our super missionaries over the entire year. We are all up for the challenge and know that if we are obedient and do everything we can, the Lord will be there to guide us and direct us to the honest in heart. We love being missionaries.
Speaking of the honest in heart, Elder Mervai and Elder Hatch found a wonderful man in Alicante. They know this is a very spiritual work and these two are so faithful in all that they do.
The same thing goes for these two wonderful elders, Elder Estrada and Elder Hunt. They are some of the hardest working missionaries in the mission, each week striving to reach the standards of excellence which means bringing souls unto Christ. They are seeing marvelous miracles in Elche.
On the other side of the mission, Elder Brown and Elder Hafen are helping to bring families together in the gospel. This young man was fortunate to have his grandfather come all the way from Switzerland to baptize him. We are all about bringing families together in the gospel. It is a wonderful work.
Our Zone Leaders in Sevilla are busy working to find the elect. Elder Waite and Elder White are a dynamic duo. For the Spaniards Waite and White is said the same way, so they are what we call "Twin" Zone Leaders.
Elder Moss and Elder Redd have also been busy in Granada working on growing the church there. It always helps to have friends when someone decides to accept the gospel in their lives.
This week brought us two wonderful new Hermanas to the mission. Hermana Escobar originally from Columbia but now from Ourense, Spain and Hermana Collett from Draper, Utah. We met them at the train station in Malaga and brought them to the mission home for their orientation and to meet their trainers.
But where are their trainers? Well, we thought we would bring in all the Hermanas to greet them and welcome them to the best place to serve in the world.
Wait a minute, Elder Staples, you seem to be surrounded by 3 Hermanas, where is Elder Thornley when you need him? Hermanas Vasquez, Torres and Vega were so happy to see their former District Leader who is now the Finance Secretary in the mission. He, along with his companion were helping to transport all 20 Hermanas to the mission home for a 3 day leadership conference.
Here they are, ready for some dinner before we start the conference. We have the best Hermanas in the entire world serving in the Malaga Mission.
After dinner the first thing was to let Hermana Escobar and Hermana Collett find out their first area of service and which one of the Hermanas was going to be their trainer. When Hermana Collett picked Dos Hermanas, there were lots of expressions of surprise and disbelief. There haven't been sisters in DOS Hermanas (this means Two Sisters) for years, if ever.
Hermana Collett will be going there with Hermana Letendre to be the first Hermanas in Dos Hermanas. Everyone was very excited.
And next we have Hermana Escobar hugging someone. I think that is her trainer, Hermana Rojas who is hugging her back. This was fun to introduce them with everyone in the mission home.
Dos Hermanas in Dos Hermanas!
And Dos Hermanas in Sevilla. Great day for the Hermanas!
We ended the day after great instruction from the Ayudantes and Presidente Clegg. Hermana Torres and Hermana Vasquez came to give me a good-night hug. The smiles of our hermanas radiate so much light. Angels were among us in the mission home.
The next two days were filled with teaching and instruction done by each companionship on the 8 fundamental lessons from the missionary department. We learned so much from each other and know that our Hermanas are even more equipped to teach and preach and work as missionaries do.
Fitting all twenty of them in our living room along with the Massaros and the Stevens took some real organization. But we all loved it and felt the spirit with us throughout the leadership training.
Hermanas like to take pictures. Notice all the cameras on automatic.
Hermana Perera and Hermana Moreno looked adorable in their floral skirts. Two wonderful Hermanas who have loved being companions. Hermana Perera has done a wonderful job in training Hermana Moreno.
At the end of the conference Presidente Clegg had them stand up and companionship by companionship informed them of the transfers. There were a few surprises but the reality is that every Hermana is a great Hermana to serve with, so no tears here.
And talk about twins, Hermana Letendre and I have the same pair of earings. We just had to show them off. Say cheese!
And here they are, all 20 of them. 20 of the best Hermanas you will find anywhere. They are all so dedicated to doing the best they can. We love them for it and know they are giving all they can to serve the people in Southern Spain.
And so for a few days, we heard lots of laughter, experienced lots of hugs and witnessed many smiles. The light of Christ was so evident in their eyes. Hermanas are such an important part of the missionary force throughout the world. We can't imagine what it would be like if they weren't here. Les queremos!