transferred to fuenlabrada

Hello Everyone!

We finished the transfer really well, working really hard with Elder Boone. However, we found out on Saturday night that i´m getting transferred! To Fuenlabrada (it´s actually where elder Wilson served not too long ago, which is exciting haha, I love that guy. By the way, did I tell you guys that he´s the AP? So awesome!)

Our address is
 Calle Tulipanes 4, 4´C
 28941 Fuenlabrada
 Madrid España

But remember, that with the main bigger stuff, you can send that to the mission office.

Our investigators are doing well, Sambu went to the ward´s FHE last Monday and loved it, I really do think that one day he will be baptized. Jari is still awesome, and has started to read a bit more. It confuses me a lot with him, he loves this stuff and visiting with us, but he´s not progressing...we finally got it out of him that he wants to be more prepared to be baptized, to learn more. So we´ll see.

On Sunday we had a lot of goodbye appointments with members and investigators, we were honestly running from house to house. We said goodbye to Roger and Analis--a family there that is amazing and so special. Roger especially has made a huge impact on me. They hope to visit the states one day and come visit us and see our horses and cows haha. He loves seeing pictures and hearing stories about our hobby farm.

Another family that was really hard to say goodbye to was one that has a little boy about Porter´s age, who I got attached to over these last couple of weeks. He loved, by the way, the goldfish and jam haha, couldn´t stop eating them. Thank you mom for sending that, it was perfect. At the end I gave him a big hug and he couldn´t let go, started crying saying that his favorite elder is leaving. It broke my heart! His mom said that since it was his dad who baptized him and everything, he didn´t really have any special ´missionaries´ like many converts have with those who taught them. But that I kind of became that elder for him. He wanted me to promise that I´d come back and visit him later, which I am totally down for, mom haha.

I´m excited for this change though, it´ll help me grow a lot i think. Thank you so much for your emails and prayers. I am praying for you all the time and hope everything is going well!

Love Elder Franson

With Roger

teaching a muslim

Well, This week has been an interesting one haha. I´m sitting here looking at the amazing pictures from Leah´s wedding, so happy for her and excited. That day was a weird one for me haha, I kept looking at the clock and my mind was constantly just calculating the time for back home and wondering what you all were doing. Probably not the best thing I could have done, but I missed you guys a lot more on that day. I´m sad to have missed it but I´m so happy for her and Todd. Wow, can´t believe they´re actually marrieddddd.

Ok, bringing my mind back to Spain. We had some really cool miracles! We have that investigator from Mali--Sambu--and he is awesome!! So he is Muslim (isn´t the first time I´ve taught a Muslim), and he´s from the very very poor part of Mali where the kids grow up on the field without any schooling. He is very slow at reading, but has told us that he takes the Book of Mormon with him everywhere he goes and reads it when he can which is really cool. THEN, he told us after I asked him what he thought about the book (because Muslims don´t believe in Jesus Christ like we do and I was a bit nervous), and he said he likes it more than the Koran (their 'bible')!! I´m so happy. He´s showing some great potential and we´re hoping he continues. Pray for him please, he´ll need it.

Jari isn´t really reading the B.o.M, and isn´t progressing at all which is a big bummer. He is super good and I love him, but he´s not putting in his part at all. He´ll also need some extra prayers. We continue to work with him and push him down the right road haha.

Just so you know, this is the last week of transfers, this Saturday we´ll find out the changes. I´m hoping I won´t leave, so many good things going here! And Elder Boone and I are doing great together.

Today was cool, we went to this huge forest area right next to Madrid, and did a cool little hike/walk to the place where Elder Romney dedicated Spain for the preaching of the Gospel. Took some pictures, and then read the dedicatory prayer. Pretty spiritual. I can´t tell that many people here have been prepared by the Lord.

Then, we went to a store called Taste of America. Yep. It´s got American stuff haha. Lots of things there that I didn´t realize they don´t sell here. I found Goldfish there! But they were pretty expensive and I knew you were going to send me some, so I didn´t buy them. They were from Pepperidge Farm though! I did buy some Fruit Loops and a Dr. Pepper since it´s been over a year since I´ve had those haha.

Oh yeah, and have you found anything Idaho or America related that I could give to this one amazing member family here? Like a fridge magnet or something, I think he´d love it.

Thanks for everything you guys, I love you so much. I love you Mom and Daddddddd and Leah! AHHHHH gosh, this is so crazy. Ok well have a great week and take care!

Love Elder Franson

the cotton-eyed joe

Hello everyone!

This week was SO great! So many great moments that have brought me to a higher level of happiness.

Okay so one of the greatest moments was the huge activity our ward put on on Saturday that celebrated each country and culture that our ward has here. Spain, Ecuador, Peru, the Domincan Republic, Bolivia, and the States. The Latin groups each prepared great dances with complete costumes to represent their culture, which was really cool to see. We as missionaries wanted to do something for our country, so a couple weeks ago I was thinking about country line dancing, something pretty typical right? Haha so we started planning and decided to do the Cotton-Eyed Joe dance for them, and it turned out so good! They all started getting excited and clapping and yelling, pretty awesome :) Jessica, our investigator, filmed it and put in on YouTube so you guys could all watch it. Okay actually I just called her and she said it´s not working right, so she´s going to send it to me. We´ll see, but some day you guys will be able to watch it haha. There were some really cool dances and things from the other countries. I just love those countries and people. 

Other great news, it´s been raining quite a bit here too, which is nice. I mean it does make contacting a bit more difficult when it´s pouring, but always makes for a great story. On the way home from the activity, we were walking home with some other missionaries with plates full of food and out of nowhere tons and tons of water just comes falling down! Haha we found shelter in a little bus stop and decided to wait there for a bus. I also found out my shoes have a hidden hole in the bottom, when I realized my toes were sloshing around in water haha. Pretty great. The Nordic skis have a little crack in the bottom I guess.

Jessica is doing really well. Now that she has work she only has 1 day off, and so she came to the activity this last week, and this week she´s going to come to church! She´s a great person, and even though we weren´t progressing a whole lot when we were meeting regularly, I think she will in the future and be baptized someday.

The work is doing really great, I´m doing great out here and loving life :) I hope you guys are all doing great! I´m praying for you every day.

Love, Elder Franson

when nice miracles fall into your lap

Hey!

Well conference was just great, and although I miss being able to watch it with you guys in my pjs in the living room, it was great to be with other missionaries and members at the temple/stake center. I especially loved Elder Uchtdorf´s talking about getting an answer, and focusing on the basic requirements. I wish Jari and all of the other investigators could have heard that (yeah all of the investigators were punks and couldn´t). We did however have a nice miracle fall into our lap--Elder Boone´s teacher from the MTC had a friend who lives in our area, and brought him for the last session and we went and sat with him. He´s great, got a lot of questions, but has some potential. Member references are the best, one of the greatest surprise gifts you could give a missionary. We don´t get many here, but the ones we do get are great.

I was able to see Logan just for a second! haha I knew he was there, he left a little note with Hermana Hadley (Leah knows her) who lives around there, for me. So I saw him while I was down by the temple, and he was inside in the stairwell and I got all excited haha. They are pretty strict on us missionaries not getting anywhere near the MTC missionaries, but somehow Chelsey found a way haha. I´ll try to see what I can do, I´m sure there´s a way. He looked happy and good, as far as I could tell down from the temple grounds looking up to the glass stairway.

You asked about Sambu, mom--he´s doing good, the other elders I guess saw him walking around the city with his Book of Mormon tightly held with him. He is the only one out of them that can somewhat read, he reads fine but it is just really slow. He ran up to them and showed them the book, telling them he reads it whenever he has a moment :)

The Brazilian lady invited us over to eat some Brazilian food--rice beans and some chicken haha, it was so good. She seems to accept the gospel really well and doesn't have many problems or objections.

Jari is great, haven´t met with him since Tuesday, but he´s awesome. We´re just working with him now to help him be more active, he´s only come to church twice and it´s been a while.

Thanks for everything you guys, thank you mom. I wish I could show you guys more love and appreciation than what words on a computer allow me.

Have another great week!

Love Elder Franson

The cinnamon rolls turned out great, Mom! Thanks for the recipe.