Elder Adamson's Letter 12/30/2013

Hope you had a great Christmas!!

Here´s the week.

Tuesday was Nochebuena. (Christmas Eve) We couldn´t proselyte on that day so we just visited some members and what not.  We had a little gift exchange with our district and it was super fun. We all had a super good time and then later headed over to Dominos for the 6.20 buffet.  After we had eaten enough, Elder Johnson and I left to go visit the Obispo (bishop) and he had a bunch of Biscocho (biscuits) and turón ready for us.  We sang some Christmas hymns with their family for a little while and then we were on our way.  Later that night we met at the  capilla (chapel) with the other missionaries and J... brought us a TON of food, and we ate with the Russians again and also played some basketball in our church clothes.  Then right after that, we went to the Gran Vía and took some cool pictures with the lights and all. Then we headed home and crashed in bed because we
were super tired.

CHRISTMAS it rained buckets.  We went everywhere with an umbrella that day, but it was still lots of fun.  We hung out with the other missionaries for a while in the capilla and then went to eat with the A... family.  We had some good food there and they gave us those 2 little Finn and Jake dolls that J... made. 

Super nice of them and Elder Johnson and I are enjoying them for sure.  Right after that we headed over to the locutorio to skype with you guys.  It was super weird to see your faces and everything, but you guys looked pretty good. :)  Right after that we headed home and made some churros and Spanish chocolate with Elder Peters and Baker.  They weren't that great, but pretty good for newbies.

Thursday, the highlight of the day was visiting L... and L... M....  We met at their house and shared a mensajito (message) with them and then we ate some turkey together. We had a great time over there.  They are seriously my best friends here in Murcia.  That was all the exciting news from that day.

Friday, we had an eating cita with J... P... and she invited her cousin C....  Super crazy cita.  C... just kept telling us how beautiful we were and that she wanted to marry us after her husband died.  Also, she wanted us to marry her daughter.  By the way, this lady is like 60 years old.  ANYWAY, after that, all our other citas failed us and we headed over to English class and Noche de Hogar (FHE), and had a fun time.  L... M... came and so did A....  That was a bit of a surprise, but a pleasant one! She had a lot of fun playing games with us.

Saturday, we had some good clean fun playing fútbol.  We didn´t have too much luck teaching wise that day, but we got to go to the baptism of C....  She´s just nine years old and her parents would be getting baptized, but they have to get married first.  She´s great and the baptism went really well.  Later we headed over to visit L... and L... and we taught them about the priesthood and it was a good little lesson.

Sunday, L... M... showed up at the capilla without his dad because he had to stay home for something.  We talked to them both and the baptism is for SURE going down this Saturday.  Now we´re just making arrangements.  I´m so excited for them.  I wish you could just hear them talk about their testimonies and see them in a lesson.  Good guys.  Later that night we visited the M... family and G.... and both of them fed us.     I´ve eaten way too much this week.  But, it´s been a good week nonetheless!!

This Christmas has been super different, but I´ve loved it.  I miss everyone from back home, but              I´ve had a good time here with the mission family as well.  Christmas is always Christmas if we really remember what we are celebrating.  This week I was reading in 3 Nephi 11 when the Savior comes to visit the people in the Americas.  The first thing He does is invites the people to come and feel the marks in His hands and side.  That´s one of my favorite parts of the Book of Mormon because it shows how the Savior asks us to "Come and see" for ourselves. I read a cool quote from Elder Holland that went something like "Christ chose to keep His scars to remind us that we don´t have to keep ours"  I Love that.  Thanks to Him, we can become perfect spiritually and physically.  That was His mission.  The price has already been paid, and all we have to do is accept Him as our Savior and follow Him.

That´s all for this week, Have a great New Year!!  Love you!!

Elder Adamson

Merry Christmas from Spain

Our family had a great visit with Elder Adamson on Christmas morning.  It was 5:00 p.m. in Spain.  It  was so wonderful to talk to him. He loves missionary work and is so glad to be serving.  We feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to share this time together. 

Here's Elder Adamson high over Murcia wearing his new Christmas socks!

Elder Adamson's Letter 12/23/2013

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A BUENAS NOCHES.

Last Monday, we had a super fun noche de hogar at P...´s house.  We shared a fun little message. Ether 12:6 and it was a good success. Later we played some good games and had and all around good time.

Tuesday, we headed over to R...´s house and then went out to find some new investigators, but didn´t really have a lot of luck.  Got some doors slammed in our faces, pero así es a veces... :)  Later we went and visited L... and L... M... and the daughter B... was there as well, and we shared a little message about the Libro de Mormón with them.  After that, J... failed us so we ended up at the S...´s house and they hooked us up with some hot colocao and cookies. :)

Wednesday, Elder Johnson and I went out in the morning to trying and find some folks, but the futures that we had failed us and didn´t want anything, so we knocked a TON of doors there.  During mediodia we went to visit G... and J... and had SALMON.  The first fish I´ve eaten in the field.  It made it down with no problem, but I´m pretty sure I swallowed a fair amount of little bones.  I´m not dead though. Later we went to visit M..., and woke him up from a nap, but he was pretty cool about it.  Then we had to head for Murcia for the English class and the first ever Missionary Noche De Hogar in the capilla.  The Noche de hogar was a good success for a first time and we had a good amount of investigators there.  We shared a little message about the will of God at the beginning and then we played EFY type games the rest of the time and it was tons of fun.  After the Noche de Hogar, we talked with L... M... Most amazing experience on the mission so far.  We just shared a little short message with him and then he just opened up and told us everything about what he had learned.  He told us that he has received his answer that this church is true and that he knows that he needs to be baptized.  We reset a fecha with him for the 5th of January,  Also, he told me that he thinks it was the Holy Ghost that told him to let me and Elder Galarza in when we knocked the door.  WOW. I was speechless.  I´ve never taught someone prepared like this until now.

Thursday, we headed over to Palmar and visited L... and L... M... again.  We shared a little tiny message and then gave them the baptismal questions without them knowing it.  We gave them the whole interview and they passed it with flying colors.  We did it mostly to help them feel more ready because L... padre feels like he doesn´t know enough yet, but we´ve taught him everything.  Also, his super Catholic wife is not helping, but he´ll be baptized.  We set the fecha again with L... as well.  Super cool day.

Friday, we went to a pueblo that we have called La Alberca.  I´ve only been there like 3 times total.  We went to try and find some new investigators.  We visited a ton of futures and antiguos but didn´t really get any luck until S....    She´s an antiguo from a few months ago that looks like she just lost contacts.  She told us we can come back next week and she´ll gladly recieve us.  Later we were looking for some menos activos and we happened to pass J... P... (member) and she took us to her house to meet 2 Ecuadorians that live below her and we got a couple new investigators there. :)  Turned out pretty well for the risk we took on going to La Alberca.

Saturday was the baptism of J...--an investigator of the other Elders who they found like 2 weeks ago.  He already wants to serve a mission and is a total maquina.  L... and L... M..., as well as N..., came to see it and they loved it. (YESSSSS). Later we had our Cena de Navidad (Christmas Dinner) and it was a good time.  We sat with L... and L... M... and had a fun time.  I showed them the picture book of the family and we also chatted with these two Russians  that I´m pretty sure live on the street.  They were cool.  Anyway, it was a good night.

Sunday, L... and L... M... both showed up at the capilla again and enjoyed the meetings.  They´re doing really well.  After church, we had some leftover chicken from the cena (dinner) and then went out to work.  Our main plans failed us, but we met a new Nigerian named T... and taught him a short lesson about the Book of Mormon.  Then we visited M... and later J... and G..., and I gave J... a blessing of health because he pinched a nerve or something in his side.  It was a really cool experience.

This week the mission had a goal to find 800 new investigators which is beyond high, and we were able to find 847!  Really cool.  Elder Johnson and I were only able to contribute about 5 to that, but we got the goal!

Christmas is here and I can hardly believe it.  Jesus came in the the world in the most humbly manner, and yet he is the Savior of us all.  He is our Salvation and if we follow his example and be humble, and submit our will´s to the Lord´s He will lead us straight to the kingdom that awaits us.  Humility is the key.  

Super good week.

SEE YOU IN 2 DAYS. :)

Love

 Elder Adamson

Elder Adamson's Letter 12/16/2013

CHRISTMAS IS ALMOST HERE.  Hope you´re enjoying the snowy weather there.  I miss the snow a lot.  It just feels like it´s Fall here right now.  Anyway, here´s how the week went.

Last Monday was good.  After a Pday full of playing futbol with the missionaries, we had pretty much all plans fail on us in El Progreso, but we got 2 surprise lessons in.  We passed by P...´s house who we haven´t seen in over a month and she happened to be there, so we dropped in a reviewed the restoration with her.  She seemed like she wanted to have us start coming again, but I´m not really sure.  They failed us on the return cita we set.  It´s hard to tell sometimes if people aren´t interested or just super forgetful.  Then we were able to find a Nigerian man.  His name is M... and we got in his piso and he just talked to us about how much he liked rap and stuff.  He had a pretty dirty mouth and it´s been a while since I´ve heard the English swear words... ha ha.  But, we shared a good lesson with him about the Restoration as well and we told him that we´ll come back to find him.  His girlfriend gave Elder Johnson some besitos (kisses) on the cheeks like they do to greet people here, but I successfully avoided them with a stiff handshake.  Sometimes they sneak up on you, and               it´s pretty rare to be a "never been beso´d missionary", but I still am. Yesssssssssssssss.

Tuesday, we visited R... and also L... M... and they are doing awesome.  We taught them the law of Chastity and M... came with us.  He´s a total stud and I wish you could meet him.  Anyway, They´re doing awesome.  Later we went to go visit J... because we passed J... and he told us he was home, so we went there and reviewed the Plan of Salvation with these little drawings that I made like they do in primary.  

Wednesday, we went to visit N... and her friend L... again to help them with their English homework and it was a good little cita.  Afterward we shared a little message about the Book of Mormon and had to RUN to catch the bus and then SPRINT to the capilla to make it there in time to teach the English class.  L... and L... M... came and after the class we got a lesson in with them about Alma 7, the atonement and how it applies to baptism.  They liked it a lot, but told us they´re still a little hesitant to be baptized, but I´m sure they will be.  It might not be on the 21st or while I´m even here, but        they´ll get baptized.  Love those dudes.

Thursday, we had our weekly planning complete with Kebab and then visited L... and L... M... later that night.  We taught them about the 10 commandments and they were 100% in agreement.  When we teach them something and ask them to commit to it, they always express their desires to do what God wants for them.  They are for sure the most prepared people I´ve taught so far.

Friday the 13th turned out to be not too bad.  We talked to P... about our goal as a mission to find 800 new investigators tomorrow and we´re hoping they´ll be able to help us complete it.  Later we visited G... and a friend that was there with her and just shared a short message with them.  Also, that morning we went to visit with J... C....  We´re trying to help him back to activity and he´s improving little by little.

Saturday, we had a Cosecha (harvest) here in Murcia.  All the missionaries from the Cartagena zone came with  few members to contact in the street for a few hours.  We got quite a few futures, but about 90% of them were in the Hermana´s area, so it didn´t help us out too much, but it was a good time.  I went with Elder Lucero and actually saw M... begging on the street.  That was a little weird, because in his house, he definitely doesn´t look that poor, pero bueno... who knows.  We also taught L... and L... M... tithing and they were totally de acuerdo again. Great guys, and they´re always eager to listen to us and have us come over.

Sunday was the primary program, and it was super funny as always.  The classic 2 or 3 kids singing their guts out and the rest looking around and mouthing the words.  Super funny, but it was really good too.  L... M... came again for Church, but his dad couldn´t because they lost the keys to the house so he had to stay there or something, which means they can´t be baptized on the 21st, but that´s alright.  After Church, L... M... pulled us aside and told us that he didn´t think he´d be ready by the 21st, but that he wanted to see a baptism first.  The other Elders have a baptism coming soon so we invited him to that.  We´ve been pushing pretty hard to get them ready for the 21st, but they don´t feel ready, so we´re going to have to wait a bit.  I just hope I get to see it.  They´ll be such strong members.  Later we went and ate with the M... and then went and watched the Christmas Devotional at the capilla.  It was super good and L... M... showed up to that as well.  He´s such a maquina.

In the Christmas Devotional, I really loved Elder Anderson´s talk about the Savior.  I love Christmas so much and even though it´s not quite the same without snow and a tree in the house, I still have the most important part with me.  The Savior is everything.  We celebrate His birth every year to remind us of him.  He sacrificed everything for us and died for us, but more importantly, He lives for us.  

Jesus´s life did not end on the cross, but He will live on forever in His glory, and thanks to His atonement, we can do the same.  If we follow his steps,   they´ll take us straight to Exaltation. "I Stand All Amazed" comes to mind when I think of Him and His love for us.  He is someone to be celebrated all year round!

• Are you staying warm outside and inside?
• Yeah, I´m fine now.  The change was just so fast that it caught us surprised.
  

• How festive is Christmas in Spain?  Is it as big a deal in Spain as it is here?

• Honestly, it´s not THAT big here.  It´s for sure still celebrated, but not so much as in the States.  They have like 2034980293458 other holidays for the Virgins that kind of take precedent.  They still celebrate it a lot though.

That´s all for this week.  Hope everything is going well and enjoy the Christmas spirit and the gingerbread cookies and stuff.  Jess and Mom better make and eat some on my behalf.

LOVE YOU!!!

Elder Adamson

Elder Adamson's Letter 12/9/2013

 Elder Johnson and Elder Adamson

Sorry I´m writing late today.  It´s a Festivo day here and pretty much everything closes down here so we had to find a different place to come write.

This Monday, I went and bought a sweater so I wouldn´t die of frost bite (kidding).  Later that night we went over to P...´s place and did another Noche do Hogar with them.  It was tons of fun and we got some inactive family members to come as well as their children who haven´t been baptized yet, like N... and P....  Lots of fun with them though.  We played some games and had a merry old time.

Tuesday, we headed over to El Palmar and ate with the Patriarch´s family.  His daughter made us some Korean food, which I sent you a picture of.  It was super good and we also had some really good pasta.  She is a master chef basically.  We visited R... and the Familia S... after that and shared quick messages with them.  After that our other plans fell through so we went to knock a few doors and found a Moroccan man named A... who was pretty cool.  We taught him a little bit about the Book of Mormon and he seemed to like it and told us we could come back to talk with him.  We also got to see J... that night, but he   didn´t seem too stoked that we came.  After, we went and gave a Lesson 3 to L... and L... M... and talked about how they can prepare for their fecha baptismal on the 21st.  They´re awesome and are FULL of real intent.  Later we passed by J... and A... and shared a mensajito (message) with them.

Wednesday, we ate with A... again and M... A... also came (potential investigator)  We talked to them about the Book of Mormon and they seemed to enjoy the message.  Later we went over to P...'s house to do a little service and we taught N... and her friend some English.  They´re learning in school so we helped them with their homework.  Later that night, we went to teach English class at the capilla but not a SINGLE soul was there.  Super weird, because we´ve always had at least 1 or 2 people there and some times more than 10.  Then we had a little correlation meeting with the district to find out which of the members on the list are menos activos or actives, which was time well spent.  We had 7 set citas for this day, but all fell through except for 2. Bad days happen all the time, but it´s nothing out of the ordinary. :)

Thursday, we had an eating cita with J... J... and G....  She made some really good Ecuadorian dealio and some cake she made.  We didn´t have too much time to talk to J... because he had to go to work, but we talked to him also about how he can progress toward his fecha.  Later we had a little miracle and were able to get in a piso of 2 menos activos named J... and P... that doesn´t have a timbre (bell) so we´ve never been able to get in, but the door was open this time, so we went in and got both of the information.  After that we had our interviews with President Deere and it was a good time.  We talked about maybe moving out to El Palmar since the majority of our work is there and we wouldn´t have to travel so much to get there, (takes like 30 minutes on a bus to get there).  We´re thinking about it...  More to come.

Friday, we had some Specialized Training from President and we talked about the purpose of the Book of Mormon. We had a good time there and learned some good ways to present the Book of Mormon and all.  Later we went to El Palmar, and we were able to sneak a lesson with J... in again.  We read the first part of Enos with him and talked about it because he was kind of antsy to get out with his friends.  Later, we went to visit L... and L... M... again and talked about how reading, praying and coming to church are going to help them feel ready to be baptized.  They´re both super sincere and want to do the will of God, but they have this idea that they can´t be baptized until they have enough "conocimiento" or knowledge.  We´re working hard to help them learn that it´s just the first step and that they can be ready for the 21st.  

Saturday, we had the most awesome day of soccer ever.  L... and L... M... both showed up to play and had a great time.  They were laughing a lot and got to know a ton of members.  I also scored like 230349 goals that day.  Being in Spain is making me better at soccer. After soccer, we shared a message with them and showed them the capilla and they liked it a lot.  We told them about following the prophet and how we are blessed as we keep the commandments.  They took it very well and have testimonies that Joseph Smith was a prophet.  :) :)  We also visited them later that night with M... and taught the Word of Wisdom.  At first L... was a little iffy about the coffee and tea part, but then he just accepted it and said that if God says we shouldn´t do something, then we shouldn´t do it.  What a guy!  Super good day.

Sunday, we went to church and GUESS WHO CAME??  L... and L... M... showed up and they told us that they really liked it and that it was really beautiful.  Theýre on their way!  I was super happy with the members because they all welcomed them and really took them in.  Later that night we had a cita with J... J... and G... because he wasn´t there at church.  When we got there, J... didn´t want to come out and listen.  G... was super sad, but there´s not anything that we can do.  He´s got his agency, but I wish he would just do his part and listen to us.  G... just wants to be married in the Temple, but until J... accepts the gospel and stops being lazy, it can´t happen.  I wish I could do something more for them, but it´s up to him, really :/

We´ve seen lots of Miracles this week.  The mission is awesome now.  I´m done training and I really feel like I´m settling into it now.  I know what I´m doing a lot more now and I´m LOVING it.  Some people might think that miracles have ceased or that they never existed.  To who ever says that, I´d like to give them a Book of Mormon and some good quality time to read it.  The Book of Mormon itself is a miracle to me. It´s part of God´s "Marvelous Work" and it´s the way for us to know if all this is true.  Those who read it and pray about it will come to know that Christ is our Savior, that Joseph Smith was called as a prophet of God to restore His church, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the kingdom of God on this earth.  I love to testify of that, and I do it just about every day here.

 That´s all for this week.  Elder Johnson and I are working super well together and we´ve had a lot of success.  We´re working hard and I´m excited to report the miracles of next week to you. 

Have a great week!  Love you all!

Elder Adamson

Missionaries come in all sizes!!

This threesome always gets a few laughs when they go out together.

Elder Adamson's Letter 12/2/2013

Hey Er´ebody.  This has been a really great first week of the Transfer and I´m excited to report on it.

Monday, We had a noche de hogar (FHE) with P...´s familiy and we had a lot of fun there.  I made some little drawings like you do in primary to help the younger kids understand.  We also ate some SUPER garlicky sauce.  It tasted really good, but I woke up the next day tasting it again, and yes I did brush my teeth the night before.  Then we went and visited the A... family so that Elder Galarza could say good bye to them.  That´s about all for that day.

Tuesday, was a little crazy.  Elder Clark was with us again because Elder Peters was in Malaga again.  We went to all our set citas and then visited the Bishop so they could say goodbye to him.  He brought out tons of Christmas time snacks and we had a little feast.  That night we had to come back to the piso early so Elder Galarza could pack everything up.  That night we had 6 Elders sleeping in our freezin cold piso so they could get to the bus station on time in the morning.  It was a wreck, but it´s all cleaned up again.

Wednesday was even more crazy.  I went to the bus station back and forth to pick up and drop off missionaries that were transferring.  That´s what you get for living next to the bus station during transfer week.  I walked ALL OVER Murcia that day.  I´m pretty sure more than I´ve ever walked in a day of working.  Super exhausting, but at last, my new comp arrived!!  Elder Johnson is a stud and he´s been out on his mission for about a year now.  He´s half Korean and he´s from Brigham City.  He speaks Spanish just about perfectly and he is a really hard worker.  I´m really pumped for this transfer.  He also brought a guitar with him from Granada.  A GUITAR.  He´s WAY better than me, but now we´ve got one in the piso we can play when we have free time.  He´s teaching me a sweet version of I Feel My Saviors love right now.  Wooo hooooo.  I don't have a picture of him yet, but I´ll take one this week when we´re looking good.  Later that night we went to English class and then went back to the piso to get settled in.

Thursday, We had our weekly planning in the morning and all went well.  Not much to report there...ja ja.  During Medio dia, all the Murcia Elders got together at the capilla (chapel) and we got Kebab for Thanksgiving.  No Turkey for us, but it was a merry little celebration. Later that day we went out to work and everyone failed us so we went to go meet some member families for Elder Johnson.  Pretty normal day, but a little disappointing  It´s all good though.

Friday, we had another pretty off day, but it ended well.  We had a good district meeting with the new folks here.  Elder Peters is training a new Elder named Elder Baker from Chicago.  It rocks not being the youngest anymore..ha ha.  I feel experienced now... at least a little bit.  Later that night we passed by a Nigerian antiguo, and set a cita (appointment) with her, which is pretty hard, because she is super flojo.  BUT Elder Johnson has worked with a lot of Africans, so he´s got some experience and knows how to relate to them.  That was a little miracle.  Later that night, we were walking to our other pueblo and we happened to see N... outside, and I asked if we could go up with her and see her mom, and her mom was home this time.  We´ve been trying to find her for a while.  Her mom is named P... and she´s menos activo (less active) and she isn´t baptized.  There is a lot for potential with that family and we´re going to work with them this week to see what we can do.  P... has even told us that she has desires to return as well, so that´s awesome.  I´m excited for them.

Saturday was another really good day.  We visited J..., R..., and A... and had really good citas with all of them.  The best cita of the day was with L... M... and it was really good.  We finally got to teach him the restoration and we set a fecha (date) with him for the 21st of Dec.  The same as his Dad´s.  They were a little uncertain about it, but we told them a ton of times we´ll be there to support them in their progression.  Good, good guys, though.  I wish you could meet them.  We also got HEATING today.  We called our dueño (landlord) and he brought us over two radiators and a microwave.  Christmas came early this year.  He also brought me 20 euros that he owed me which was an added bonus. :)  Elder Johnson is the master of Nesquik hot chocolate and we´ve had it like every day this week. Sooo good.  Bishop would be proud.

Sunday, we had a good day at church, and Elder Johnson met all the members and all.  It was a good day.  Then afterwards, we set some eating citas with people.  One thing I´ve surprised myself with on the mission is how bold I´ve been.  I just straight up ask people to feed us now.  And also to be baptized, more importantly. :)  Seriously though, that part of me has changed a lot.  Later that night we went and visited J... and had a really good cita with him.  We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ and invited him to be baptized and he accepted a fecha for the 21st of December.  That is another little miracle.  We´ve been moving pretty slow with him and now he´s getting more and more comfortable with us.  G... looked super happy when we set the fecha, and a few tears were shed.  What a great job I have.  "Shall we not go on in so great a cause?"

This week I just want to talk about how much I love this mission.  It´s such a blessing to be here sharing the most valuable thing on earth.  I love it so much.  The Lord is working miracles and I´m so glad that I´ve been chosen to be an instrument in the gathering of his children.  There´s not a better work in all this world.  It´s hard at times, but I´ve really grown to love it.  The people, the work, the miracles, my comps and everything else.  Thanks, family, for the support you give me, and for helping me to get out here to Spain.  I wouldn´t chose to be anywhere else but here.  THANK YOU.

That´s all this week.  Love you all so so so so so much.  Have a great week.

Elder Adamson

Elder Adamson's Letter 11/25/2013

Hello family!! Happy Thanksgiving week!!  I feel dumb cause I thought it was last week... ha ha  Whoops.  Here´s the week.  

Monday, we had a pretty average P day, mostly just kind of hung out with everyone.  Then after, Elder Clark came with us to el Progreso, but unfortunately all our plans called us and bailed.  So we had pretty much nothing to do there.  El Progreso is kind of dying now.  We´dont really have much work there anymore.  Anyway, we came home that day without a single lesson.

Tuesday, Elder Clark was still with us because his comp was in Málaga, and we went to visit one of his investigators and had an eating cita with them. It was lots of fun and he had some pretty good food.  I had no idea what it was though.  Then after  a while we dropped Elder Clark off and hurried over to the bus station for El Palmar.  We had a quick visit with R... and J...and it went as usual.  They don´t have anyone visiting them yet.  After that we went and visited A...and shared a short message about the Atonement with him and he loved it.  We´ve got to work with him poco a poco, but he´s very accepting of u our message, even though he's pretty Muslim.

Wednesday was a SUPER off day.  We went to go eat with A..., and we´re just about there and the member that was going to come with us called and told us he was going to be 40 minutes late.  So, we had to wait outside her piso for about an hour because we can´t go in a house with a single woman.  But, eventually we got in, even though it kind of messed up all our plans for the rest of the day.  After eating with her, we went straight to the Capilla for English class.  This week I was trying to do some one on one teaching with an African man from Mali, and it was SO hard.  He speaks nothing of English and his Spanish is pretty bad. His native language is French.  Later I just called Elder Galarza in to help him, because he knows a good chunk of French.

Thursday, we had our weekly planning session and Elder Galarza had me do the entire thing by myself so I could prove to myself that I

know how to do it.  And I did it.  It was super long, but at least I know, I know how to do it.  Afterward, we met up with Elder Clark and Peters to do an intercambio. I went with Elder Clark to their area this time.  I went to all his citas with him and we found a new investigator for them.  Later that night in the piso, we ate some pumpkin squares that he made, and they we delicious.

Friday, Elder Clark and I went out in the morning to teach a member in the ward a little English.  She´s trying to learn so she can be a teacher for little kids.  It was pretty awkward though because we just kind of showed up and had no idea what we were going to teach her.  

I didn´t know what to start with because I didn´t know how much she knows, so we just started conjugating a bunch of verbs.  Then her husband brought out a pile of notes he took, and they were super good.   Later that day, we took a bus to Cartagena for the Thanksgiving dinner activity.  The stake president was there and it was also an activity for the YSA members too, so he was talking to them for a lot of it. He challenged them all to bring a friend to an activity this month.  And then, we all ate some turkey.  It was super good, and the members were super excited about it.  After the activity, we went to the Cartagena ZL´s piso to sleep.

Saturday morning, we woke up and played a little soccer with Cartagena and then got back on the bus for Murcia.  Everyone was a little stressed out because President was calling everyone to tell them what´s going to happen this transfer and where they´re going.  When we got back to Murcia, we went to visit R... again and then to L....  We taught L... about the Restoration and he asked a ton of really good questions.  He´s awesome and he´s got a fecha now for the 21 of Decemeber.  I´m excited to keep working with him.  L... M... is still in Madrid, but he gets back this week.  Later, we went to visit A...and shared another little message.  After, he showed us how he writes in arabic and french and everything.  I´ve never seen anyone write it before, but its super cool. That night, President Deere called us and told us what was going to happen with us. :)

Sunday was a really weird day.  We had our correlation meeting in the morning because church got moved to 5:00 in the afternoon. After that, we went to go eat with J... and he had her super good Lasagna again.  We shared a quick message with her, came back to the piso to study language a little bit and then went to church. It was weird to be having Sacrament meeting when it´s already pretty dark outside. Since the day was so weird, we didn´t get a chance to go out and work in our pueblos.

Anyway, this week has been pretty good and something that I liked that I read in the Book of Mormon this morning is Alma 37:44,45.  It´s so easy for us to find the word of Christ and easy to understand.  All that he wants for us is the best.  His way is set and it´s clear for all of us.  All we need to do is seek the word of Christ and follow it to eternal life.  His plan is simple, and perfect.  The Book of Mormon is our Liahona.  It contains the word of Christ and leads us straight to Him if we study it.

So on Saturday, we found out what´s going to happen with us this week, since it´s transfer week. Elder Galarza is heading out to Nerja, which is a pueblo of Málaga.  He´s going to do some good work there. 

It´s a branch of only 26 members, but he´ll do a lot of good there.  I´m staying here in Murcia!  My new companion´s name is Elder Johnson and he´s from Ogden I think.  Not sure.  He´s been in the mission for just under a year I think. I don´t know much more about him, but I´m excited to meet him this week.  

Have a great Thanksgiving family!  I´m thankful for all of you and I love and miss you all tons.

Elder Adamson

Finally Pictures of Elder Adamson!!

Elder Adamson's Letter 11/18/2013

This has been an AMAZING week and I can´t wait to tell you about it.

Monday was a good P day and we went to one of the only patches of grass we could find in all of Murcia, and we tossed the frisbee around for a while.  It was a good time because I was finally good at something that the Spanish speakers aren´t.  They still kick my trash in soccer though.  Later we met with P... and her grand daughter was there.  We shared a short message with them and planned a noche de hogar (home evening) for the next Monday.  N... is her granddaughter's name and she´s not a member, but her mom is menos activo.  They´re both coming, I hope.  Then after that, we visited J... C... and did a noche de hogar with his  family.  It went well and we shared a message of the Book of Mormon.  He´s starting to come back to church and things are looking good for him and his family.

Tuesday, we went to eat lunch with J... and J... J....  They made seviche which is another Ecuadorian dish. There was shrimp, squid, and fish in it, but I managed it pretty well.  Hope you´re proud of me.  Then we shared a short message with them and talked about his church attendance.  J... said he wasn´t bored in the capilla this time and it´s getting more interesting and that is kind of an answer to his prayers for him.  Later that day, we visited R... and he happened to be moving a washing machine down 4 floors of stairs with his niece, so we helped him with that and then shared a little message.  We´re going to keep working with him until the members get involved.  No one else is visiting him.  Later, we went to visit a referral from J... and got right in to the house.  The guy´s name is L... and has a son named L... M.... They are actually really interested and are so nice to us.  We did a lesson 0 with them and they said we could come back, and L... M... came to our English class the next day.

Wednesday, We ate with E... and R....  She made some super good paella which we´ve eaten about 2083 times since being here, after leaving there, we went to try and visit some VERY menos activo Russians, but they didn´t want to let us in.  After that we just went straight to the capilla to teach English.  We had a really good class and L... M... showed up.  After the class, we asked L... M... if he could meet for like 10 minutes, and went in a separate room and talked a little about the Book of Mormon.  After that, we gave him a little tour of the capilla and he said that he thinks he´s been there before when he was little.  Really good day with him.  He´s a maquina  (machine) and remembers EVERYTHING we teach him and knows how to apply it.

Thursday was another day of miracles.  We visited A..., who we visited like the first week we got here. She has a son on a mission but she isn´t a member.  She´s gonna take a little more TLC to accept the Gospel, but she´ll figure it out one day.  We´re going to eat with her and M... next week.  Later we visited L... and his family again and his Daughter B... was there too.  She´s about 21 and L... M... is 20 I believe. We taught them the plan of salvation and everyone was very involved in asking questions and the lesson was really good.  Then we went to visit J... and A... and just shared a short message with them.

Friday, wasn´t the best day of the week, but it never is.  Friday´s are tough because not a lot of people are home.  During medio dia  (noon) we ate at the O...´s house.  We had this soup that had garbanzo beans and little noodles and it was pretty good.  After visiting them, we went to the familia A... and Elder Galarza helped M... and D... with their French homework.  I helped a little with a few things in English, but they didn´t have too many questions for me.  Later, we talked about the 2000 stripling warriors with them.  Those boys are like perfect children, and they know the scriptures super well.  One of my favorite families here.  The rest of the night, we tried to find some other members or menos activos in Patiño, but didn´t have any luck.  I´m telling you, Fridays are rough.

Saturday, we ate with the Familia A... and they made some really good chicken and rice.  After that, we stopped by L... M...´s house, because it was his birthday.  He just wanted us to stop by and say hello, but they invited us in and gave us some cake.  This time the mom was there, and her name is something really hard to say, so she told us we could call her M.... :)  We taught the whole family about the BOM and it was pretty good, but M... is super Catholic.  But all in all, it went well.  After that, we visited A.. and shared a short message with him about Christ.  We had a good discussion about our beliefs and what Muslims believe about Christ. There are a lot more similarities than you might think. Right now we´re just sharing little simple messages with him about what we believe. Not trying to baptize him at the current time.  Plus he gives referrals which is an added bonus.  That night, I was a little sick with a fever, so Elder Galarza gave me a blessing, and I was able to sleep well and wake up the next morning feeling a lot better.

Sunday was a decent day as well.  We had a good time at church, and Elder Galarza and I taught the investigator class.  We taught a lesson on temple work and family history.   After Church we went to visit J... J... and just shared a little baby message about faith and repentance.  We´re taking things a little slower with him so he understands everything well this time around.  The lesson went well and we set everything up to talk about Baptism next week. We didn´t have any luck after visiting him though.  At church, Elder Clark brought me a couple super warm blankets because in our Piso we only have like 3 tiny, super thin ones and it´s reaaaaally cold here now.  It just changed all  the sudden.

This week has been by far our best week in Murcia.  We had 20 lessons which has been really hard for us to do in the past and as well for all the companionships in Murcia.  We´ve seen lots of miracles. This week we've really tried to step up our obedience, and we've been blessed for it. We weren´t disobedient missionaries, but we've been doing our best to keep ALL the rules this week and we´ve seen the blessings for it.  This principle is important for missionaries, and that´s why it´s stressed so much.       It´s easy to slip into habits of disobedience, but when we´re obedient, we see miracles.  This              isn´t just for missionaries though.  Heavenly Father blesses all his children when they keep his commandments.  It´s a natural result.  We have commandments so we can be blessed.  Commandments keep us safe and happy. "Consider the blessed and happy state of those who keep the commandments" That is the truth.

So how are you doing with the seafood? 

         The truth is I haven´t eaten very much, but I´m doing fine. :)

 Are you having any opportunities to sing? 

        Not really.  Sometimes with R....... and other times in the shower.

Is the weather changing?  

        OH YES.  It´s pretty cold here now.  the humidity makes things feel so much colder.  I have no idea what the temperatures are though.

Are you getting more member referrals and are you teaching them in the homes of the members?

            Every once in a while, but not too frequently.  We don´t get too many from the members.

Any new favorite foods?

           Little pastries filled with chocolate and I don´t know what they´re called, but that will come later.

Have you lost your keys to your PISO and been locked out?

          No, thank goodness.  That´s impossible for us.  Our door doesn´t close unless you lock it from the outside, so you have to have to key to close it.

Well that´s all for the week.  Have a good Thanksgiving!!  I believe I´ll be going to Cartagena to have a Thanksgiving dinner.  I´ll report next week,

Love, Elder Adamson

Elder Adamson's Letter 11/11/2013

Hello everyone!

We didn´t have the best week, but we´ve learned lots from what we´ve done.

Monday, we went to el progreso and had no luck with investigators, but we were able to visit P... and also the Familia A..., both of the citas went pretty well.  We didn´t do anything eventful for P day.  Just walked around the Gran Vía for a while with some other Murcia Elders.

Tuesday, we went to visit R... and J...  We shared pretty good messages with them, but they still have their silly excuses.  We´re leading them to the water as best as we can, but we just can´t make them drink.  We´re not making very much progress with them.  We´re learning a lot from this though.

Wednesday, we went to visit a different menos activo who is an RM and is making a lot more progress. He´s already come to church 2 times.  He´s told us that he knows what he needs to do, he just needs to get up and do it.  Right now, he´s following through with that very well.  We didn´t have any luck that day, but we went to Clases de Ingles and helped a little there.  Elder Ordoñez was helping teach the class and was writing all the English words how they sound with the Spanish alphabet, and it was one of the funniest things I´ve ever seen.  I know that doesn´t sound funny at all to you, but you really just had to be there.  He speaks almost no English, but when he does, it´s so unexpected and funny.

Thursday, I did an intercambio with Elder Peters and we went to El Palmar.  J.. bailed on us again, which wasn´t too awesome, because he was our main plan in el Palmar, but we did our best to salvage the day, and went to visit J... and A..., and tried to help him to come to church, but he didn´t show up this week. :(  Later we went to to the Familia G... and then P... talked to us about the Abrahamic covenant and patriarchal blessings.  We were able to share a short message with them after and it was a good time. They´re an awesome family.

Friday, we had a really good zone meeting in the morning and we met back up with our companions there,  We talked a lot about how to help our investigators come to church, which was awesome, because we struggle with that a lot here.The things that come from President Deere are always so inspired for the whole mission.  After that we went to Domino's as a zone and ate some buffet pizza.  I thought I would never eat Domino's again after the MTC but I´ve eaten it like 5 times since then. ha ha After lunch, we went home and studied and then went to help Elder Ordoñez and Bleazard move, because they are changing pisos.  It was quite a site to see.  6 missionaries wheeling a bunch of suitcases through Murcia, some carrying mattresses on their heads, and others carrying boxes full of stuff.  That took up pretty much our whole night, but they needed some help.  It´s not easy to change pisos without a car.

Saturday was really good.  We went to visit R... with E... and for the FIRST time, R... wasn´t there when we got there.  E... told us that he had talked to some ward members about him and J... and that they have always been this way.  Members and Elders have worked with them and always things happen the same.  E... told us this just so we wouldn't be wasting our time with them. That´s something we didn´t know anything about before. It´s a really tough call to make, but it has to be made.  Our time here is precious and we can´t waste it.  That´s something I´ve learned a LOT this week.  It´s hard to drop R... and J... because we´ve worked with them a lot and have grown to love them, but we can´t control their agency. We´re not positive what we´ll do yet, but we´re probably going to have to drop them. After we tried visiting R..., we went to J... J... house and did a Noche de Hogar  (FHE) with them.  E... and his wife came as well.  The lesson turned out a little weird and went super long, but I could feel the spirit so strong while we testified.  G... (J...s wife) wants so badly to be sealed in the Temple, but J... isn´t a member yet.  He´s talked with missionaries before, but he just hasn´t done his part and asked if it´s true yet.  Things are looking a lot better this time around and we´ve got another cita set with them for next week.

Sunday was pretty good too.  J... J... came to church with G... which was awesome to see.  He´s progressing little by little.  I´m praying hard for him.  After church we ate with the Familia M... and ate another really good equadorian dish.  After that we went and visited the Familia A...  They´re one of my favorites in all the ward.  SO nice.  We´re running out of investigators fast, we´ve got to start finding again.  This week we´re gonna work hard to find people.

That´s it for the week!

I´m reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish right now for our 85 day challenge in the mission.  I love it and I´m understanding more and more as I go.  The Book of Mormon has so much power, and truly contains the word of God.  We should  study it and apply it and always strengthen our testimony of it, because it truly testifies of Christ and helps us to understand him and what he wants for us.  I´m learning a lot about how to put my trust in the will of God by reading it.

Love you all un montón!
Elder Adamson

Elder Adamson's Letter 11/4/2013

Buenos días from Spain!!

Here´s the week!

Last P day we went to a Cathedral in the middle of Murcia. Someone said it´s one of the biggest on this side of Spain.  Pretty cool though.  I attached some pictures of it.  Then we walked around Murcia for a while, checked out the bull fighting stadium, which is cool. I´ve heard some crazy things about them. After P day was over, we went to el Progreso, and our citas fell through, so we walked back to Murcia, and visited a family in the ward we haven´t met yet.  They´re Bolivians and super awesome people.  They´ve been members for about 5 years I think.  I can´t remember the apellido, though.  We shared a short message with them, and got a referral of one of her friends, so it was a good visit. 

Tuesday, we had our first district meeting with Elder Peters as the District Leader.  He´s a MACHINE.  He´s been out for over a year and a half and really knows how to do the work.  Our district was very very young before he came, but I know we´re going to be learning a lot from him.  Later that day, we went and ate lunch with Elder Ordoñez and Elder Bleazard, and afterwards went out to work.  We went to El Palmar to visit R.... and he offered us some coffee.  He said something like "Yeah, I was thinking about it and I don't think you Mormons drink coffee, but can you?.  That was a little bit worrysome because I´m not sure if he still really considers himself a member, but we´re working on that.. ha ha.  Later we went to ...´s house and taught him a solid lesson about praying and reading the scriptures to help him to progress to baptism.  After that, we visited J... and A....  After sharing a tiny message with them they gave us SEVEN referrals.  A menos activo and a Muslim.  WOW.         That´s more than we´ve received from anyone else combined since we got here. ha ha

Wednesday,  we got to visit ... again.  ... told us that he got kicked out of school that day for doing something, bad and he was pretty bummed out, so we shared a little message from Alma 37 with him.  After stopping there, we went to visit ... and taught her the restoration. and it was a pretty solid lesson as well.  She´s progressing pretty well and we hope to be able to work with her family more, they just never are at home.  That´s all the eventful things for Wednesday.

Thursday, Halloween, was good.  Spain celebrates Halloween just a little.  I´m pretty sure I saw like 3 middle aged women go out to go trick or treating.  Definitely not the same as the States, but they try. :)  We met with ... again this day and took ...(young men's president) with us to the lesson.  We talked about the Día de Reposo (Sabbath) and how ... can come to church. ... (YM pres.) is going to give him a ride to the capilla next week, so hopefully that works out.  Then ...(YM pres.) took us to his house and showed us just about every neat thing he owns.  We were there for a while. He´s a bit of a talker.  Then we shared a short message with him, and then went home.

Friday, we had a cita set with ... (wife of former investigator  that dropped us a long time ago) .  We showed up at their house, and only her husband  was home.  BUT he let us in and we taught another lesson 0 with him and mostly just built up lots of trust with him.  He is so much more comfortable with us now.  That was the big news of that day.

Saturday, we took E... with us to visit R... He seemed a little apprehensive when we told him that he might have to sing a little, like everyone does when we visit R....  We started off with a little karaoke as always, and R... was singing some Spanish song and all the sudden E... joins and and ROCKS THE HOUSE.  He is incredible.  He is a pure Spanish man and he sings like it too. He and R... sang a few more songs and were singing harmony and everything.  That was a good time.  I was laughing my head off because I couldn´t believe what was happening.  After that, we shared a message with him and extended the commitment for him to come to church with us. He started listing off  excuses and what now, and I was thinking "ppffffffft.. not again". Then E... was very bold with him and said " You don´t think that can be fixed".  E... did WORK in that lesson. He was bold but at the same time he had lots of concern for R...    E... was menos activo for 17 years so he had a lot to relate to R....     E... lives pretty far from R..., but next week, he´s going to go pick him up for church.  That was an amazing testimony of how much the members are a part of the work.  It was perfect.

Sunday, we had a good day at church,  we received like a million pastries from the ward secretary, and some more health food from J....  Later during proselyting time, we went to visit a future, and were able to get in and teach a lesson 0.  It was kind of weird because they asked questions like "What does Jesus look like?" but it went pretty well in the end.  Then, we went to visit ... ... and had a SUPER good lesson 1 with him.  It was the best I´ve taught since being on the mission and it was so comfortable.  Things are looking up for ... ....  He just needs to do his part.  That´s the way the gospel is.  We have to do our part.  People try to convince us of anything with words, but it doesn´t mean anything unless you know it´s true.  You can´t know           it´s true unless you try living it.  That´s the way to build a testimony.  Live like you believe.  I´ve learned a lot about that this week in studying why we extend commitments to people. The more I study the more my testimony grows.  That´s how it is.  I learn something new every day, and the more you know about the gospel, the more it just makes sense.  And here, it´s easy to see the difference in people who live the gospel and who don't.  Consider the blessed and happy state of those who keep the commandments!!

That´s all for this week.  Thanks for the letters and the updates, I LOVE them.

Love, Elder Adamson  

Elder Adamson's Letter 10/28/2013

Hello FAM! We had a pretty good week.  A very different one, but good.  Here it is!

Monday, after P day, we went to Barrio del progreso and didn´t have a lot of luck.  We met with a Familia  and shared a short and sweet message.  It was a really good visit.  At first when I came here, I felt super uncomfortable with them, and we had kind of a weird relationship with them, but now they LOVE us and invite us over to eat pretty much every week.  We´re great friends now, and we feel perfectly comf when we go there.

Tuesday, I went on splits with Elder L (one of our Zone Leaders) which was a bit stressful since I´ve only been out for 1 transfer and he´s been out for over a year, but it went really well.  We visited ... and had a really good cita with him about trusting in the Lord.  I would encourage you all to read Proverbs 3:5-6 as well as Alma 37:35-37.  It teaches us how we can really learn to put our will in the lords hands.  He always knows what´s best, and if we realize that, we´ll live much happier lives and know exactly what it is we need to do to improve.  After that, we went to ...´s house because our other citas failed us, and shared a similar message with him.  He´s an awesome guy and has a great testimony.  He´s basically a ward missionary.  You should see how many of the investigator progress records his name is on as a reference.  Just about all of them in his pueblo.  After that we headed home and talked about what we learned.  I learned from Elder L to really speak with humility and love.  He also taught me to not be afraid to contact people while we´re on our way somewhere, even if we don´t have time.  He is a MACHINE.

Wednesday, the highlight was visiting ...... and her dad.  This time her dad was there in the lesson for us and we did another lesson zero with them.  At first her dad was almost talking against us and telling us how it's hard for him to believe in God, but after we got to start with a prayer, the lesson really took off.  We taught almost perfectly and taught by the Spirit.  We were able to answer all the concerns that he had.  One of my favorites so far.  We left with an invitation back and a solid trust with the dadl.  Awesome guy.  Unfortunately, our other citas failed us that day.

Thursday, we got to eat at the O....´s house again, and they made lentil soup for us.  They make a lot of that here, but             it´s really good.  Also, we invited one of the Hermana´s investigators to come eat with us and we had a really good message about the Atonement with her.  The atonement always brings the spirit, and I think she received it well.  The Hermana´s are working with her now.  She´s going through a divorce right now, so maybe this is her time to accept the gospel.

Friday, we had an awesome special training meeting for our Zone with President Deere and the APs.  We talked a lot about talking with EVERYONE and the Lesson 0 and how important those both are.  We talked about how in General Conference it was said  that "If missionaries want more people to teach, they should talk to more people".  THAT'S TRUE.  That hit me hard and        it´s something that I really really need to work on.  Our conferences with them are always awesome and so inspired.  Afterward, We went on splits with Elder Flores and Elder Datwyler.  I went with Elder Datwyler, who has been out the same time as me, and we went out to try and get some lessons in because we didn´t plan for 2 companionships.  We didn´t end up getting into any houses, but we got a few futures investigators from street contacts. Thanks so much for the package this week! I got it on Friday when President came. That jerky is probably the most flavorful thing I´ve eaten since I got to Spain and it tasted so good.   And I haven´t used the ranch yet because I have to buy some stuff to make it, but thanks a ton!

Saturday, all the missionaries from our Zone went to Cartagena for a Cosecha or "Harvest".  We all split up with about 24 companionships and contacted for a few ours and I think we got about 115 futures from it.  it´s a good activity.  I went with Elder Berry (From Draper UT) and we got about 3 I think.  There were hardly any people in the streets, so we knocked a lot of doors as well.  After coming home from that, we visited  ....  again, and shared a message about Grace with him from 2 Nephi 25 and it went really well.  Still trying to work hard with him, but he´s not progressing much.  No luck the rest of that night.

Sunday, was a good day in church, but at the capilla I always have a head ache because I feel like 230498025 people are talking at once and I can´t understand anything anyone says.  After lunch, I went on splits AGAIN with a member who went on his mission to Madrid.  We did it so Elder Galarza could attend a meeting and we could still get our citas in.  His name is .....   and he´s such a cool guy.  He does work contacting too! He was a teacher in the MTC when I was there, so that was pretty weird to go proselyting with him, but lots of fun.  All our citas failed us again that night, but we knocked some doors in a couple buildings and got some futures out of it, so that was good.  We also taught a lesson at a door, which I had never done before.  Pretty interesting... ha ha.

Here´s the answers to your questions dad!

• How is the ice cream coming? 
•            Fortunately, we didn´t get any this  week.
• Have you found any good milk yet?
•            No.  They don´t know what good milk is here. It doesn´t exist.
• Do they have anything like instant breakfast?
•             Yeah, I´m sure they do.  I haven´t bought any though.
• Have you visited with the Bishop and Ward Mission Leader (one on one) to get the engaged in the work?  Have you studied Chapter 13 of PMG and shared the highlights with them? Do they have copies of PMG--if not can you get copies for them?
•            yes, we have and I think they do have copies.  Elder Galarza just met with them yesterday and talked about that.
• What attribute have you come to appreciate in your companion?
•           He doesn´t accept anything but the right way.  At first that really bugged me, but there are some things that you just can´t mess up and he knows it.  He´ll always correct me when I do something wrong like that, but it a nice way.
• Do you need any more recipes?
•           I´m good for now.  We do most of our cooking out of the freezer.... ;)
• Any news on when you'll get ipads in your mission?
•            No Idea about that.  Probably not for a while.
• Are you missing Halloween?
•            Not especially.  just good candy. 

That´s all for this week.  ¡'Que tengan una buena semana!  Les quiero mucho y espero que todo esté bien con vosotros!

Elder Adamson