a push up competition and finding paco

Hey family and friends!

I'm going to start right off with the miracle and hand of the Lord for this week, which was that investigator named Paco! A couple months ago I told you guys we finally got in contact with him and it was a miracle. But when the day came to meet with him he called us and cancelled because he was sick. After that we lost contact with him for a while again. BUT somehow he answered his phone last week and we set up an appointment to meet with him and it actually did happen this time. We met in the chapel on Tuesday, and for the first time since the beginning of October I talked to him! He is still doing awesome but pretty sick. We found out that the main reason he went off the face of the earth was because of his wife. She can't stand our church basically. Can't stand the thought of Paco having any part in it. So every time we would call Paco's phone and she saw, she'd freak out and threaten him, threaten to answer and chew us out. Sounds like a crazy woman. Never met her and don't really have an interest in meeting her.

Anyway, he told us he has his Book of Mormon hidden away in his house and whenever she would leave for work he got the book out and read as much as he could and then hid it away again when she got back. This story made me really realize how easy we have it. I've got a family who are all members and support me on my mission, encourage me to go to church rather than keep me from it, parents who invite me and my siblings to read the scriptures together and pray every night. And yet, here is Paco with this search for the truth. During the lesson, without us mentioning it at all, he told us he wants to get baptized really badly but doesn't know how to with his situation. I didn't really know at first what to say, how to address the issue. I mean, we are here to bring people closer to Christ and to get baptized and be strong in the church. I hate to admit that at first I was thinking like, "Hmm...how can we get rid of or past the wife," haha which I feel so bad about, because this gospel really is all about families as well. I've been praying super hard every day that the Lord will soften the heart of his wife and at least, for now, allow him to continue meeting with us and eventually get baptized. Then when he does that, she could see the change in him for the better and hopefully she can change and come to our church. So if you guys could, she needs all of our prayers and help. Please pray for her and Paco. This is something that I, or any missionary, can't do alone. The better way is to rely on Christ. Is there anything too hard for Him?

This week was really good. We ended up teaching a total of 32 lessons, which was the most we've ever taught in a week. It was incredible. I feel that every week with Elder Wilson we're getting better and better--we've been together for almost 4 and a half months now. There have been some frustrating times but overall it's been great.

Okay, funny story to end it off. Friday, Elder Wilson and I were talking about our 30 minutes of exercise each morning and how we should have a contest. So on Saturday morning we had a push up contest--who could do the most push ups in 30 minutes. The winner got the nice couch on Sunday morning (because only one person can lie down on it, and Sunday morning we don't have to exercise, which means we just go out there and lie on the couch or chair for the 30 minutes listening to music or reading haha) as well as the second shower, which means they can lie there on the couch for longer! A lot was at stake. So Saturday morning rolled around and we both got started. Oh boy, we both went so hard those first five minutes. We hardly talked at all haha. After I hit 80 I was struggling haha. I went until I honestly couldn't support any weight on my arms anymore--I think I got around 180 total. Showering was quite a struggle because I couldn't lift my arms up to put shampoo on my head haha. Elder Wilson probably won (he claims he did), but he lost track so I'm holding that against him and telling him it was a tie ;) It probably was one of the worst decisions of my life.

I weighed myself the other day...and yep. I weigh more than 190...came out with 170. I don't know where it's all going, but thank goodness not too much is going to my belly.

Well, that's it for now, folks. Have a great week!

Love, Elder Franson

P.S. The last day of the transfer is the 16th, so make sure to send all the letters to me before this Friday because there is a good chance I could get transferred :(

splits with an old member

Dear family and friends,

The hardest part of writing this weekly letter is the very beginning. I never know how to start them haha. We had a great week, but it went by so fast. It's been the usual rainy and cloudy weather over here, which I love. Today, however, is super nice and sunny. On Friday we did a new fun thing--splits with the members. From 4-6 we had two members come and Elder Wilson and I split up and went with them to cover more ground haha. I went with this guy named Juan Manual. When I called him to ask if he could come do it with us he agreed but seemed super worried about the fact that we don't have a car. And then when he met with us and found out we were going to be passing by some houses over in a place a little ways away, he freaked out on me saying, "I'm a 66 year old man! I can't walk like you guys!" Haha. Whining before we even started. So it ended up that we drove to that neighborhood and then walked to the differen houses. Besides the whining about not being able to walk part, he did a pretty good job.

We were walking and he saw a girl smoking and decided to ask her for directions and turns out he recognized her from probably 12 years ago when she was a little girl. She was baptized into the church here in La Laguna with her dad I think! But when I tried to ask for her number or the option of talking some more she quickly refused and closed off. Pretty sad. I wish we could have talked some more and brought her back to the church. The dang free agency will getcha sometimes.

At Pilar's baptism there was an elder from the Seventy there to have a leadership meeting so he came for the baptismal service as well. He was a really cool guy, super nice, but I found it kind of annoying because almost throughout the whole service he was sitting up there on the stand in front of us all, switching off between his iPhone and iPod. I know he's super busy and got lots of stuff to do but I just wish sometimes people would leave the technology and live in the moment, feel the spirit right there and pay attention. We spend most of the day walking in the street and there are so many people on their phones texting or playing games. I admit that it happened to me as well before the mission. I wasted too much time on the computer/iPod. But being on my mission I've seen the other side and am so grateful.

This world that our Heavenly Father created for us is amazing, so incredible! Everything about it is amazing. Luis and Pablo are doing good. They both want to get baptized (Pablo accepted another date!) but Luis is still wanting to go a little bit more slow. We've been doing our best to reach out to him, showing him we love and care about him, want the best for him. We'll see what happens this week. Pray that his heart will be will be opened and he'll have a desire to be baptized with his son!

Thanks for everything. You all are truly amazing and have helped me out so much. I love you!

Elder Franson

first baptism success

Dear Family and Friends, 

I have lots of good news for this week- Pilar got baptized!! What a great miracle it was to see her choose this path for her life. Pablo isn´t quite ready, still needs a little bit more time, so our game plan is to continue with him and his dad and get a date for them both. Pray for them! 

Pilar´s baptism is a memory that I don´t think I can ever forget. The spirit was so strong and I felt so much joy and happiness from seeing her get baptized. I felt so happy, so at peace. I realized how truly amazing this Gospel is and the light it gives us. Since her baptism I can see just a bright light in Pilar--she seems so happy and glowing. That was a cool experience for me, just to see the dramatic change in her countenance. Just after the baptismal service we gave Pilar the opportunity to share her feelings/testimony. She got up to the pulpit and started off by thanking everyone, then thanked ´the elders´ for being persistent and loving to her and her family. (backup a little, about 2 months ago we told her our first names and haven´t said them again ever since), She said ¨I can´t remember their last names, all I remember are their first names--Levi and Landon¨ haha so now the whole ward knows our first names! It was hilarious, we couldn´t stop laughing. How did she remember our first names but not our last names?? She then went on to give such a powerful testimony, talking about Joseph Smith and how grateful she is for his sacrifices for her personally, then about Jesus Christ who suffered for us all. It was such an amazing testimony, not that usual testimony that we all seem to give every fast Sunday. I love hearing the testimonies from new members; they just seem a lot different, maybe more sincere. Pilar was definitely ready to hear and accept this Gospel. Missionary work is the greatest. I´ve had some tough times out here of course, but the joy and happiness that I´ve gotten from being a missionary is something super special for me and I´m so grateful for it. 

We had a really good District meeting last week, about the Law of Consecration. We talked about dedicating ourselves completely to the Lord and this work. There is a talk that was given to a bunch of missionaries and that foccused on this and how we as missionaries can do better. It is super good, and it made me truly want to dedicate myself to the Lord for these 2 years. I´ve seen missionaries who have one foot here in Spain and another back home, and it doesn´t work too well for them. So since this talk, I have been working on being a consecrated missionary day by day. I am definitely not perfect and I still have a lot of things to work on, but I know the Lord wants me to be completely focused in the work and do my best. He´s done so much for me. I´m going to do my best to do this for Him. 

Thank you for everything, you all have been a great support for my and I love you all. Have a good week!

Elder Franson

At Pilar's baptism.

Levi in his new Christmas shirt.

ctr rings on both hands

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was awesome We had a great start this this new transfer.

So, this week was a little tough with our teenage investigators because the university does their finals for the fall semester after Christmas break which does not sound fun at all. But we´re starting to get more investigators that have houses and are a little bit older which makes it easier. 

We continue to meet with Pablo, Pilar and Luis (Pablo and Pilar both came to church again which made me so happy!). Their baptismal date this this next Saturday, the 18th and so this week we are going to be making sure they really are ready for baptism. Luis, the father, has been a bit of a struggle because he isn´t always their when we come and doesn´t seem as prepared and ready as does his wife and son. But Pilar and Pablo are machines, so so ready. We will continue with all three of them and hopefully we´ll have a baptism of a whole family! On January 6, the Day of the 3 Kings, after I had written you and we were ready to get back to work, we threw together some things for that family  in a Santa hat- some chocolate and candies from our packages that we had received, some other things, and Elder Wilson got a bunch of those little CTR rings from his mom (but in Spanish) and we gave them 3. So we gave it to them, they absolutely loved it! Pilar put it right on and went around showing her husband and son saying ´Oooh how beautiful!´ haha. and when we went back again on WednesdayI  noticed that Pilar was wearing 2! On both pinkies. It is awesome to see this gospel, this happiness, enter their lives and their home. I know that after their baptisms, when they receive the Holy Ghost, there will be an even bigger and better calmness and spirit within them. That is what I love so much about this Gospel, the true happiness and joy that it brings. So, stay tuned next week to hear more about the baptism!

We had another investigator at church yesterday, Juarez (from Brazil) and it turned out that he brought his good friend with him! I talked to them afterward and they both loved it. Juarez told me ´You don´t have to keep calling me and passing by anymore, I´ll keep coming´, and then the friend told me ´So what time are the meetings usually at? I´d love to come again´..!!! How did that happen?! I was so excited, and this friend of his (named Javier) loves to go on little day hike, so I told him maybe we could do one together. Coming to church is really the key, the spirit there is so important and helpful for investigators. If they come to church, they can feel the spirit there and it really helps as we continue to teach. 

Our Heavenly Father is a merciful God. He loves us dearly and wants the absolute best for us. I am amazed at the blessings and help he pours down unto us. Even though I, and every other missionary, chose to give 2 or 1.5 years of their lives back to Him, giving up basically everything, to ´repay´ a small sliver of what he´s given to us, he continues to bless me with blessings sometimes I feel that I don´t deserve. He loves you and He loves me, please don´t ever forget that. 

I love you all, you are in my prayers and thoughts. Now go out and share the Gospel with someone! :) 

Elder Franson

Little "party" at Mari and Paco's house a little while ago with the Cozzolino family.

Flat tire incident.

Our district from last transfer. (LEXI: The missionary on the far right is the one now going to BYUI. Please find her haha. She'll have lots of good stories.)

answered prayer: another transfer on the island!

Dear Family and Friends

Happy new year! 2014 came too quick if you ask me. 

The past couple of weeks have been kinda tough, just with Christmas and then the day of the 3 Kings (they celebrate them both, Christmas is more of just get with your family and eat, and then January 6 the 3 Kings come to your house and drop off presents (mysteriously just like Santa Clause)). So there are a lot of tourists here, people who are only gonna be here for a couple more days, and then our own investigators are pretty busy and its hard to meet with them. But, it´ll get better from here. 

So first piece of good news is that I´m staying here for another transfer!! Elder Wilson and I just stayed the same, but Elder Christensen just got shipped off to Cuence (back in the peninsula) this morning. It was pretty sad, just realizing that it all really does come to an end. I´m still in my first area, haven´t had to really say goodbye yet other than a couple of missionaries. I´m not looking forward to that day haha. 

Funny story for you all--We were parking in the church parking lot the other day and Elder Christensen barely hit the curb as he was turning a U, and immediately heard the distinct hissing sound. Yep, we popped the tire. After we found out we didn´t have the right size of crow bar, we spend literally a couple hours looking all over the car--taking everything out. Finally after a long time we some how figured it out and got everything taken care of. I´ve got some pictures but this dang computer is being stupid so we´ll see if I can send them. 

The family of Pablo, Pilar and Luis is doing great, they all came to church! It's so funny becuase Pilar just loves the church and all the members. I don´t know if you guys know, but Luis is a professor of art or something like that at the university here. He has a complete studio behind their house filled with canvases, paint, books, and some instruments. So we scheduled a day where we can go by and paint with him (I´m stoked!) and then we´ll be able to talk to and focus on him. 

Fani is doing alright, she found a job which is super important right now for her and Ivan, but she has to work almost everyday and can´t come to church :( However, Ivan is working on getting his license and when he gets that he´ll be able to drive her to work which would give her enough time to go to church. I´m hoping they get it soon! 

Don´t have much more to say, oh except for thanks for all of the emails. Sorry I won´t have time to reply back to them today. Just know you are all in my hearts and I´ll try my best next week :) 

Love, 

Elder Franson

post-christmas success

Greetings, 

Let me start off by saying how awesome and wonderful it was to be able to talk to you guys! Wow, that was so cool. Who knew, time really does go on back home. You guys were awesome, thanks for the funny stories and everything. Sorry, as I was thinking back on it I realized my face was super close to the camera so I don´t even know if you got to see my whole face. If not, whipsie- sorry! I was so happy to talk to you all. You are the best! Man, and sorry about all those dang tears. I just can´t help it when I see you cry, mom, or any of you. Freak, when you started crying, Cady, that about put me over the top. But all is good, haha I´ll be better on Mothers Day :) 

Not much has happened since we talked just a couple days ago, except for this one huge miracle! We stopped by the house of Pilar and Pablo, the investigating family, and it ended up just us talking to Pablo because his parents were painting a room. We were just chatting about things, and then he whips out this perfect English that we had no idea he had! Haha it was so funny, all of a sudden he just started speaking in English to us. After a little silence, he said ¨I´ve been thinking, and I know I don´t know everything about your church, but I will be baptized with my mom on the 18th of January (we had previously challenged his mom to that date and she accepted). I was speechless, I had no idea what had just happened. He told us he hadn´t even talked to his parents yet, but that he just feels like he wants to and needs to. Miracle. I was so thankful for the Lord. That experience helped me realize just how much of a rold He really does have in this work and that there really are people ready to listen and accept. I just have to rely on him, and preach the gospel in His way, not mine. 

The mission has taught me a lot about humility, how to be more humble. First example is learning Spanish. Its always been a little hard for me to be corrected, and with speaking Spanish I´m always saying stuff wrong. So it's a good thing that they are correcting me, but its a learning experience--still is--humbling myself to accept criticism. Another is just being with your comp every second of the day and learning how to change and be better. There is a quote I like and have written it in my planner ¨open your heart and make the needed changes¨. I think all of us, including me, sometimes have our way, our groove with something and don´t want to change, even if it is for the better. But if we open our heart, striving for humility rather than pride, we can improve ourselves and be better instruments for the Lord to work with. I still could do so much better, and I'm still learning, but it was something thats been on my mind recently. 

Again, thank you so much for your support and love. A mission isn´t easy for anyone, but it helps a lot when you know you have your family and friends right behind you in full support. I love you all dearly.

Elder Franson

tracting games

My dearest family and friends,

It´s getting so close to Christmas, did it creep up this fast last year?? I am so excited to talk to you all and finally hear your voices! I will be ready to chat up a storm.

 

This week was pretty great, I got some more snowflakes to add to the ones you sent me and plastered them all over our piso. The other elders love it, always making comments about my Christmas spirit. I´ve been trained well :) 

 

This week started out super crazy. On Tuesday we were walking around on the streets contacting, when we got a call from the zone leader saying we had to be in our Piso´s at 3:00 because a huge storm is coming and we won't be able to leave. We found out a little later that there was a red alert throughout all of the islands for this storm and the stake president of the islands talked to president about keeping us in our pisos. It freaked me out a little but I was also a little excited--you know me, I like a thunderstorm once in a while. But sadly it hardly turned out to be anything, except in the morning there was a thunderstorm and one bolt struck right next to our building, illuminating our entire piso then followed by an incredible boom that stopped my heart. Besides that, it was just a little rain and wind which permitted us to continue working. 

 

Our ward had their Christmas dinner on Saturday and Pablo, Pilar, and Louis (our investigating family) all came! As far as I know they loved it. It was amazing to me how willing the members were to strike up conversations with them and make them feel welcomed and loved. Sadly only Pilar came to church yesterday, but I am praying and hoping that Louis and Pablo will want to continue coming. 

 

Now on to the funny stories: 

We were in a hurry to catch the tranvia (basically the train) which was just about to leave, and so we were scrambling to put coins in the machine right next to the train, by putting all the coins we could fine which were 1s and 5´s until it got to 1.35- the amount for one ticket. Right as soon as we bought the ticket, I grabbed it and turned around just in time to see the train leaving! Hahaha I felt like such a dork, someone was probably havin a good time watching us throw coins in the slot as fast as we possibly could. 

 

Some days we spend a little time docking doors, and a fun thing that we´ve come up with to do so that we aren´t bored out of our minds is pick a work that the other has to say during the conversation we have with them at the door. So Elder Wilson gave me the word bizcochon (that wonderful bread/cake stuff), so this was my conversation (translated):

 

The guy: Hello? 

Me: Hey, we are missionaries and would love to share our message with you, do you have some time right now? 

Guy: Yeah right, now I don´t have time

Me: Well could we pass by another day? I can bring bizcochon for you? 

Hahaha, well, it keeps us entertained. 

We passed a very serious looking man on the street with a complete samurai sword on his back...not sure if I should be scared or not. 

Okay that's about all for today. Once again, thanks for your support for me. I am very grateful for your love and sacrifices so that I can have this opportunity to be a part of God´s army and share this light that you have given to me, Mom and Dad.

Love 

Elder Franson