Hey everybody!
Well, our week turned out to be really great and full of great moments. Yesterday, to start off with the best part, we had a fireside with Brad Wilcox (who teaches at BYU and is here right now with a group of study abroad students in Madrid), and it was AMAZING. Honestly, so powerful. He started off by saying he´d answer the question of ´why´. Why is it so hard, why am I here? Why do I have to live the Word of Wisdom? And he answered it by talking about birthright. We talked about the family of Jacob/Israel, about the tribes and there roles. One thing that he said that called my attention was when he likened life to a journey, like a cruise ship. We´re all on the boat, we´re all sons and daughters of God. But the difference in why we can´t participate in lots of things that the other people do, is because we´re crew members, not passengers. And a blessing of being a crew member is that we receive a salary. We´re receive so many blessings and so much protection for being where we are. Remember who you are, and the potential that you have. It was so spiritually powerful, so motivating.
We witnessed a cool miracle of talking to a kind old Spaniard who walked into the chapel right before English classes and asked for the missionaries. I had never seen him before, but missionaries a year ago told him about lessons that we give to people and he decided he wanted to come. First of all, it is amazing to think that we never know what the people we talk to every day might do in the future. They may remember something for a while and then later decide to act and try it out. We were able to actually sit down and talk with him on Saturday, got to know him a bit more. He´s a bit older, well like 60 or 70 maybe, isn´t the cleanest guy nor does he appear to be that ´golden´ contact in the street, but he sincerely told us that he wanted to change, that he wants to start over. He affirmed his desire by coming to church the next day, all three hours. We, to be honest, haven´t done much, the Lord organized a lot of this one, but I am so excited to continue talking with him and sharing the Gospel which, applying to his life, will change his course for the better.
I remember Dad talking once about noticing the smell of tobacco at church sometimes, and how it wasn´t a disgusting thing nor something that we as members (that are not perfect either) should scorn. I´ve come to love and yearn for the sight of people at church who may not smell the best, or that may have an addiction to tobacco or alcohol, because by sitting with them at church, I realize that they´re working their way towards our Savior. They´re not perfect, just like I´m not perfect, but I admire their sacrifices to come unto the Lord. We´re working with a less active member named Angel, who´s got a bad addiction to smoking as well. But what makes me so happy is that, instead of sitting at home like he was for some time before, he´s been coming to church every Sunday now, recently activated once again. I can´t remember who said it, but I loved the quote that said the church is a hospital for the sick, and we need to help all of come to partake of the ´medication.´ We´ve been having a hard time with some of our investigators, a couple of firm ones have moved to another ward's area, and we´ve for some reason lost contact with others. It´s always frustrating and hard to see people lose interest or lose the desire to meet with more, but I guess there´s not much more that I can do than continue on and do my best.
I love you all so much, thanks for the great support and help!
Have an amazing day :)
Love Elder Franson
Monday, March 30, 2015
Monday, March 23, 2015
reactivating
It´s incredible how different missions throughout the world can be different, I love hearing from other missionaries about things going on in that area. Sounds like both Cierra and Heman are enjoying the heat, over here the weather is still grey and rainy. It´s a bit tough with the work, just being able to find happy people outside to talk with, but we´re doing well. I´ve been happier than ever though, and am doing well out here.
This week we had a particularly bigger number of fails, but it hasn´t been hard to count the blessings that the Lord has given us. We had one of our investigators come to church--Nick--who´s from Bolivia and is 18 years old. They were being taught by the missionaries about 4 or 5 years ago, and his older sister even got baptized, but afterwards I´m not exactly sure what happened because they kind of lost contact with the missionaries and the sister went inactive. But we´re in regular contact now, and Nick appears to be really interested and attentive.
We met a really nice Colombian family, at least the mother and her 2 daughters, in the street and they seem to have a ton of potential. After explaining what we do and while my comp was writing down her number we had said something else that we do and she got serious and said "You´re going to call me on Wednesday, ok? and we´ll talk." Haha we both were super happy to hear that. Her daughter is faily new to Spain, just arrived, and we´re both really wanting to be able to introduce her to the youth of this branch so that she has great friends right from the start, but a couple days after the initial contact we talked to her and she said that her husband is pretty superstitious and doesn´t want them to do anything with us until he comes to our church. We´re not sure if he´s actually going to come soon, because now she won´t answer our calls and we´re worried. Hopefully everything goes well.
There was the famous futbol classic--Real Madrid vs. Barcelona. It´s insane here. It honestly is these peoples´ religion. When the games start, the people disappear from the street and you can find them all crammed uncomfortably in the bars that are found on every corner of Spain. Sadly Madrid lost by one, but I heard it was a great game.
I hope all is well out there, I love seeing those pictures and hearing the stories. Tell everyone I say hi. Take care!!
Love Elder Franson
This week we had a particularly bigger number of fails, but it hasn´t been hard to count the blessings that the Lord has given us. We had one of our investigators come to church--Nick--who´s from Bolivia and is 18 years old. They were being taught by the missionaries about 4 or 5 years ago, and his older sister even got baptized, but afterwards I´m not exactly sure what happened because they kind of lost contact with the missionaries and the sister went inactive. But we´re in regular contact now, and Nick appears to be really interested and attentive.
We met a really nice Colombian family, at least the mother and her 2 daughters, in the street and they seem to have a ton of potential. After explaining what we do and while my comp was writing down her number we had said something else that we do and she got serious and said "You´re going to call me on Wednesday, ok? and we´ll talk." Haha we both were super happy to hear that. Her daughter is faily new to Spain, just arrived, and we´re both really wanting to be able to introduce her to the youth of this branch so that she has great friends right from the start, but a couple days after the initial contact we talked to her and she said that her husband is pretty superstitious and doesn´t want them to do anything with us until he comes to our church. We´re not sure if he´s actually going to come soon, because now she won´t answer our calls and we´re worried. Hopefully everything goes well.
There was the famous futbol classic--Real Madrid vs. Barcelona. It´s insane here. It honestly is these peoples´ religion. When the games start, the people disappear from the street and you can find them all crammed uncomfortably in the bars that are found on every corner of Spain. Sadly Madrid lost by one, but I heard it was a great game.
I hope all is well out there, I love seeing those pictures and hearing the stories. Tell everyone I say hi. Take care!!
Love Elder Franson
Monday, March 16, 2015
finding those searching for the truth
Hello :)
Well, we had a lot of great things happen this week, And it went by super fast. Of course, we had a great time on Tuesday because we went to the Real Madrid game at night and it was so fun! Definitely a once in a lifetime experience, and I´m so grateful for that.
We are continuing with that Ecuadorian family that I was telling you about before, Samuel and Irene, and their two sons David and Joshua. They´re so great, and continue to show lots of potential. They weren´t able to come to church on Sunday though :( but I´m sure this next week they´ll come. On Wednesday they invited us over for a very nice dinner (and actually fed us deer meat which was a change haha). They´re reading in the Book of Mormon and it seems like they´re really enjoying it too.
That really cool investigator, the miracle, Antonio, just moved to another ward in Madrid...with his girlfriend. A little sad, but I´m really excited to hear from them about his progress and to see if they're able to make an eternal family. It was really fun teaching him though, he is 24 years old and seemed to take it all seriously. He´d have his Book of Mormon open and a pencil to mark things in it when we´d arrive.
We found this really really cool Colombian family last night!! I´m really excited, although it´s still really new, and we´ll have to see how it goes. The mom seemed really excited and happy to have found us. She´s got two daughters. We´re striving hard to continue to find those who are searching for the truth. It can be easy at times for missionaries to get discouraged with so many rejections and obstacles, but I´m trying my best to stay happy and motivated--my companion and I are doing well with that.
The branch here has had a huge history of problems, people getting offended, hard feelings, whatever it be. And although it seems to be improving, there have still been some difficulties. But we´re working with them and trying to help and do our best haha. It´s hard to bring investigators to the church when some of the members that are already there can´t stand to have a normal conversation with the other.
We´re doing really great here, we´ve been pretty exhausted these last couple of days from walking and contacting a lot, but it´s going well. We´re slowly but surely finding those people who are ready.
With all my love,
Elder Franson
Well, we had a lot of great things happen this week, And it went by super fast. Of course, we had a great time on Tuesday because we went to the Real Madrid game at night and it was so fun! Definitely a once in a lifetime experience, and I´m so grateful for that.
That really cool investigator, the miracle, Antonio, just moved to another ward in Madrid...with his girlfriend. A little sad, but I´m really excited to hear from them about his progress and to see if they're able to make an eternal family. It was really fun teaching him though, he is 24 years old and seemed to take it all seriously. He´d have his Book of Mormon open and a pencil to mark things in it when we´d arrive.
We found this really really cool Colombian family last night!! I´m really excited, although it´s still really new, and we´ll have to see how it goes. The mom seemed really excited and happy to have found us. She´s got two daughters. We´re striving hard to continue to find those who are searching for the truth. It can be easy at times for missionaries to get discouraged with so many rejections and obstacles, but I´m trying my best to stay happy and motivated--my companion and I are doing well with that.
The branch here has had a huge history of problems, people getting offended, hard feelings, whatever it be. And although it seems to be improving, there have still been some difficulties. But we´re working with them and trying to help and do our best haha. It´s hard to bring investigators to the church when some of the members that are already there can´t stand to have a normal conversation with the other.
We´re doing really great here, we´ve been pretty exhausted these last couple of days from walking and contacting a lot, but it´s going well. We´re slowly but surely finding those people who are ready.
With all my love,
Elder Franson
Monday, March 9, 2015
blessings from service
Hey everybody :)
Don´t have much time this week, because we´re going to a REAL MADRID GAME TOMORROW! So we have to work extra today to make up for the loss of working time. But we´re stoked. My compaion, who´s a die hard fan of Real Madrid, is going crazy.
My companion and I are doing awesome, and we honestly are seeing so many miracles amidst the trials. Remember when I told you about that day where we helped a little Ecuadorian family carry mulitple heavy bags up to their house? It was pretty tough, but definitely now has lead to many blessings. We finally were able to visit them at home (they had failed us a couple of times before and I was beginning to worry if they didn´t really want to hear us), but we´ve had a couple lessons already and they´re showing so much potential. The father even said at the end of the lesson how he´s happy because he know´s we´re guiding them in the right path and he wants his kids to be taught and follow as well. The mom and the two kids--Joshua and David--came to church (I´m still not sure why the dad didn´t come) but they´re showing a lot of potential. Continue to pray for them please, they could use it.
Not much more happened other than that, haha that was just a huge blessing.
I continue eating from my jamon leg, it´s so delicious. Dad, you´d love it so much I´m sure. The thing is though, that it´s tricky to cut it. If you cut the slices just a little to big it doesn´t taste good at all, and is harder to eat. But if they´re thin it turns out wonderfully.
I love you all so much, thanks for the emails and help you´ve all given me :)
Have a great week!
Love Elder Franson
Don´t have much time this week, because we´re going to a REAL MADRID GAME TOMORROW! So we have to work extra today to make up for the loss of working time. But we´re stoked. My compaion, who´s a die hard fan of Real Madrid, is going crazy.
With the Real Madrid tickets!
My companion and I are doing awesome, and we honestly are seeing so many miracles amidst the trials. Remember when I told you about that day where we helped a little Ecuadorian family carry mulitple heavy bags up to their house? It was pretty tough, but definitely now has lead to many blessings. We finally were able to visit them at home (they had failed us a couple of times before and I was beginning to worry if they didn´t really want to hear us), but we´ve had a couple lessons already and they´re showing so much potential. The father even said at the end of the lesson how he´s happy because he know´s we´re guiding them in the right path and he wants his kids to be taught and follow as well. The mom and the two kids--Joshua and David--came to church (I´m still not sure why the dad didn´t come) but they´re showing a lot of potential. Continue to pray for them please, they could use it.
Not much more happened other than that, haha that was just a huge blessing.
I continue eating from my jamon leg, it´s so delicious. Dad, you´d love it so much I´m sure. The thing is though, that it´s tricky to cut it. If you cut the slices just a little to big it doesn´t taste good at all, and is harder to eat. But if they´re thin it turns out wonderfully.
I love you all so much, thanks for the emails and help you´ve all given me :)
Have a great week!
Love Elder Franson
Monday, March 2, 2015
new companion from france
Hello everybody!!
Some big news to start off, with the transfers I´m staying here in Fuenlabrada but getting a new companion--Elder Schwenke left for a big ward in the center of Madrid. My new companion´s name is Elder Ziane--he´s from France! And actually I served a bit with him while I was in B9. We weren´t companions but we served in the same ward in seperate companionships. He´s amazing, and I´m really really excited for this next transfer. I think this change will be good, hopefully we´ll be able to really spark up some new growth in this area.
Dad--thanks for those BYU things you sent me, I really liked them. It got me excited as I thought about it, and made me feel really good about the choice of going to BYU. For now I´ll stick with BYU, who knows if in the future I feel like I need to change, but for now I´m feeling BYU.
Justo, the Spanish investigator that we have, is doing really well. Although did I tell you about how he´s been looking up a crazy amount of information? He is in a true search for the truth, and knows it's not in the Catholic church. And as we´ve been talking about baptism with him, He´s been thinking and pondering on it a lot, but wants to be completely sure of what he´s doing. And so what he does is look up everything; the details about the endowment session, the garments, and other things. It´s a bit weird at times, but he knows it´s sacred for us and has been respecting that. I just hope he continues to look at good and true information, and not false/anti stuff.
Antonio and his girlfriend are doing really well, although it was his birthday on Friday (I gave him some goldfish and soap haha and he loved it). We met with them on saturday and set everything up for them to come to church, they were super set. But come Sunday, they never arrived. Found out that they went to a party and stayed out until 7:00 a.m. and didn´t wake up in time for 10:30 church. Pretty extreme. I´m not worried though, I´m sure they´ll come next week, if the adversary doesn´t throw another dang curve ball. Dad--I bought an Iberian Jamon leg!! I´m so proud of myself, and excited. I got the upper leg, instead of the hind leg that can cost up to 100 euros or more. Now I´ve got to get a knife for it as well to be able to cut it good. I´ll send you lots of pictures later, but for now I only have a couple. I´m sure you´d love this stuff dad, it would go so amazing with your bread that you make.
That´s about it for now, with the changes and everything it took out some time in our pday. I´m doing well and really excited for this new adventure. I love you all so much, and am so grateful for everything that you´ve done for me. I hope you have a great week as well!
Love Elder Franson
Some big news to start off, with the transfers I´m staying here in Fuenlabrada but getting a new companion--Elder Schwenke left for a big ward in the center of Madrid. My new companion´s name is Elder Ziane--he´s from France! And actually I served a bit with him while I was in B9. We weren´t companions but we served in the same ward in seperate companionships. He´s amazing, and I´m really really excited for this next transfer. I think this change will be good, hopefully we´ll be able to really spark up some new growth in this area.
Dad--thanks for those BYU things you sent me, I really liked them. It got me excited as I thought about it, and made me feel really good about the choice of going to BYU. For now I´ll stick with BYU, who knows if in the future I feel like I need to change, but for now I´m feeling BYU.
Justo, the Spanish investigator that we have, is doing really well. Although did I tell you about how he´s been looking up a crazy amount of information? He is in a true search for the truth, and knows it's not in the Catholic church. And as we´ve been talking about baptism with him, He´s been thinking and pondering on it a lot, but wants to be completely sure of what he´s doing. And so what he does is look up everything; the details about the endowment session, the garments, and other things. It´s a bit weird at times, but he knows it´s sacred for us and has been respecting that. I just hope he continues to look at good and true information, and not false/anti stuff.
Antonio and his girlfriend are doing really well, although it was his birthday on Friday (I gave him some goldfish and soap haha and he loved it). We met with them on saturday and set everything up for them to come to church, they were super set. But come Sunday, they never arrived. Found out that they went to a party and stayed out until 7:00 a.m. and didn´t wake up in time for 10:30 church. Pretty extreme. I´m not worried though, I´m sure they´ll come next week, if the adversary doesn´t throw another dang curve ball. Dad--I bought an Iberian Jamon leg!! I´m so proud of myself, and excited. I got the upper leg, instead of the hind leg that can cost up to 100 euros or more. Now I´ve got to get a knife for it as well to be able to cut it good. I´ll send you lots of pictures later, but for now I only have a couple. I´m sure you´d love this stuff dad, it would go so amazing with your bread that you make.
That´s about it for now, with the changes and everything it took out some time in our pday. I´m doing well and really excited for this new adventure. I love you all so much, and am so grateful for everything that you´ve done for me. I hope you have a great week as well!
Love Elder Franson
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