Christmas Pictures

Christmas morning and Elder Smiley is the only one with presents from home.

A redistribution of wealth and BINGO  -  Santa came and everyone had a present.
Thanks Mom & Dad for sending extra stuff, it was a blast playing Santa

My two favorite presents!

MENORCA MAFIA     #CHRISTMAS NERF WARS!!!!!

Singing at the hospital on Christmas Day, lucky she was hard of hearing!!

COMING UP ON A NEW YEAR IN MENORCA

This week was a tough one for the numbers. Everyone wanted their own time for Christmas. It was a little tough at times, but we are seeing miracles in the contacts and in the futures. We are going to see miracles with all of them, but right now it´s super hard to talk to anyone because of  the festivities.

Manuel is looking good. He is hurting super bad right now. He has been going to the hospital a couple times a week and it´s not looking to swift. He hasn´t found much time to read the Libro de Mormon so I am super scared right now. We are going to see him tomorrow, but totally we are just praying like crazy right now for him! 

Fernando: We lost complete contact with him this week. It was the scariest thing ever!!! I almost died. I called him Sunday during church and he finally answered. We saw him on the street and he acted like nothing had happened. I am a little scared. He just has to read!   The Book of Mormon is incredible!!!

Our family is super busy with all the festivities, but I think we are going to get back on the train this week and get working with them. I want to baptize a family so bad! This branch needs families!!!! They will come with time, but I am so impatient I could die!

We have got this crazy Menorquin and he drinks wine and the works but he likes listening to us and loves reading the Book of Mormon and loves coming to church. He is one of a kind! He will be baptized here soon. I am so excited!!

Right before we came back to talk to y´all for Christmas we were contacting on the street there was a storm and it was the worst. I was just going as hard as I could to get through that day.  Time for a miracle! Our ward mission leader’s best friend stopped us and invited us into his house and we ate and chatted and I think we are going to have another family in our investigator pool!!!! I am so excited!!! 

I am trying to think of goals that I can make for this year to help me baptize more. If y´all have any suggestions please shoot them my way.

Thanks for your prayers and thanks for talking with me on Christmas. It made this time a lot easier for me. I love you all!!!

Prayer List

1.Fernando. Come to church. Read the book of Mormon.

2. Manuel. He can feel better. He can read the book of Mormon. Understand baptism. His family can be ok with all of it.

3. Margarita, Pedro, Rene. The family can read, pray, and come to church juntos and be baptized here in January. They can find more time to see us in January.

4. Antonio (mission leader’s friend) Steve can talk to him. We can start the discussions. They can be baptized.

5. Veronica. She can understand the authority that only this church has. She can read the book of Mormon. Baptized here in Menorca.

I love all of you!!!!

CHRISTMASTIME IN MENORCA SPAIN

It makes me so happy that you all are just trucking through this Christmas season! I am so glad for all the presents that you gave me! I am so excited to open them. The soccer balls are incredible!!! I am going to start giving them away today! I get so fired up thinking about making people´s Christmas. I love it so much! Can you tell Bishop thanks, one for his letter and two for his toys, and that I love him.

This week has been one of the toughest weeks of my life, the biggest trial of my faith by far. Manuel was not baptized. He did not feel ready to be baptized. It is super difficult right now to contact him with all the Christmas and family and I am super nervous. I know he is going to be baptized, but I just put all of my faith into this and he was not baptized. One thing this island is teaching me is patience. You all know how impatient I am and this island is putting me there. The thing more than anything is that I am learning is to trust in the Lord, to trust in his timing. To have faith that he can send the answers when our investigators are ready. Right when I meet these people I think they are ready so this is driving me crazy!!! Everyone just needs to be baptized and just very few understand it.  I have been as diligent as possible. I have talked to the most people I have ever talked to on my mission and Elder Alder says that we practically run everywhere. I just want to find those people that are prepared and those that I told them that I would come to Menorca and baptize them. That´s all I want this Christmas year.

Thanks so much for your prayers! Thanks Dad for the idea about the scriptures and the sticky notitas.

That makes me so happy that you all are hopping on the missionary train. I love you all and thank you so much for you help in this work. It is truly incredible. Thanks so much for reaching out to that family.

I love the picture of Tate. That is neat!  Can you tell him that from me?

I have been thinking about how good I have it, even though one elder spent all his money and I have to buy his food and now we have had to eat pasta for the last 2 weeks and that we sleep on the ground and that so many people here don´t believe in Christ or think that their church is perfect. There was always someone that was lower than us. That always keeps me humble and reminds me why I am going to work as hard as I possibly can to bring the gift of the gospel to as many people as possible this Christmas season!

Thanks so much!!!

Prayer list

1. Fernando. He can be baptized on Jan 4.

2. Manuel. He can receive his answer and be baptized in January

3. Familia de Margarita, Pedro, and Rene. They can come to church and read and add a family to this branch.

4. Veronica. She can read and find time to see us. Understand what she reads.

Love you all and Bon Nadal(Menorcin) and Feliz Navidad.

PICTURES FROM MENORCA

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE ISLAND OF MENORCA

WEARING MANUEL'S  COKE BOTTLE GLASSES.......REMINDS ME OF

LAST YEAR PHOTO WITH GRANDPA SMILEY TRADING HATS

Things are so bright in Menorca - He has to wear shades!!!

First things first. What is your Skype account so I can talk to y´all if I need to call you? I think we are going to shoot for about 7 in the evening here. Making it about 11 there. We can talk for about 30 to 40 minutes. Thank you so much Andi for the help with the account. That is truly incredible.

I got your package this week finally. It was too heavy for anyone to take over by plane so they had to send it by mail. It was super funny. Thanks so much for the meat cheese and mustard. That is incredible!!!! I love it so much!!!

When I first got here it was super hard. I came into nothing. It was just super different than Bilbao. I just decided that we would be obedient and diligent and that the lord would do the rest.  It has been just that. We have found 3 families and we should have visits with 2 more families this week! We have a fecha for this weekend. This is the miracle of the lord. This is what the lord does for us.

Brother Dickerson sent me a letter that said the word "after". I really liked working with that word. After we do all that we can do, with all that we have, the Lord will pick up and do the rest. We worked with our small rama and with the few investigators we had, and we are now seeing so many miracles. I get a little bit of pride because this island has not seen a baptism in over 6 months and we have got so many people that can be baptized. It is incredible. We are just doing the Lords work and it is incredible.

This past week we had a Christmas fiesta with the rama in the house of a member who lives a bit out.  There was about 15 of us there and it felt like our own little family there. We all shared Christmas traditions, then it was kind of like what are the traditions going to be for this rama in the years to come. I get really excited. We then did a choir thing that they do every year with investigators and it was incredible. I am just really excited for Christmas and really excited to baptize. Our theme for December is a white Christmas. White with baptism!!!! Wooooo Hoooo!!!!

I love all of you and thank you for you letters, presents, and prayers! Thanks for all!!

 Prayer list

1.Manuel. He has got to be baptized this week!

2. Fernando He has to accept a date and be baptized in the next 2 weeks.

3.Victoria, Pedro, Rene. They can be baptized and receive an answer they need to be baptized as a family on January 4.

4. Christian. He can receive an answer to his prayers about the truthfulness of the book of Mormon.

PHOTOS FROM MENORCA

I pretty much used all my time sending those pictures but I can answer some questions. Our Piso is Elder Alder and myself, Elder Vargas (who has the most time here at 9 months, and is our district leader) and he is training Elder Nath (another native)(he is having a hard time giving up his girl & family)  Mark and Cody, Girls stink! WE JUST GOT TO BAPTIZE!!!

My spanish is incredible (I know, humble right). I can start a conversation and talk with almost anyone and understand and talk about weird things that are not missionary vocabulary. That really is all thanks to the nativos. They help me get my 5 words every day by mid day. It is incredible!

We are actually trying to serve the people and it is helping us out a bunch! It is hard to serve the members because everyone but 2 members live too far to walk to, and we would have  to take a bus and use up almost half the day and skip food and language study. It is a whole different style of missionary work here. 

I am so fired up for Christmas!!! We are seeing so many Christmas miracles. It is truly incredible. We are in the process of getting permission to have a baptism on Christmas. I hope the zone leaders say yes. I am so excited!! We got 2 of our best investigators to come to church. The whole ward got fired up!! We just got a ward mission leader who is from America and is a fire ball!!! I´m fired up!!! Holy Crap!!!!!!!!! Miracle.

I said hi to a man here in the internet cafe and he said he was looking for our church and wanted to know when he could see us. It was incredible. Well I used up all my time sending photos so I will talk to you all next week. I love you all. 

Prayer list

1. Manuel Come to the church 1 more and be baptized on the 21^st or Christmas.

2. Pedro, Margarita, and Renee. Come to church, listen to the discussions. Be baptized on Christmas. Reactivate their less active mother

3. Susana & Oswaldo. They need to be baptized in Diciembre

Dad I got your dream to be in a piso with nativos so we have to speak spanish. It´s a dream come true. 

Love you all!!! Thanks so much for your prayers and packages and letters. The whole ward is jealous of the packages. It is so funny. I love you all so much!!! Thanks for the support.

Christmas tree in Bilbao

My new companion, Elder Alder

4 Missionaries and the Branch in Menorca