Elder Adamson's Letter 1/27/2014

Hello everyone!  This has been a great week.  Here it is.

This Tuesday we went over to M...´s house to talk to him about the girls and how we can help them.  He´s all for letting the girls get baptized, but the mom isn´t quite there yet.  We chatted with him for a little while and he told us that we could help them try to behave better.  Easier said than done...ha ha.  After that we visited A... and J... and they´re doing awesome.  Whenever we ask them a question like "How can we come closer to God"  They ALWAYS answer with "Being baptized".  They have a lot of ganas (desire) to be baptized and the only thing in the way right now is their mom, but things are going really well with him.  Later, we did a Noche de Hogar (FHE) at R... house and we talked about the Love of God.  It was a really cool cita.  His son, R..., is 10 years old and still isn´t baptized for a few different reasons, but that´s what we´re working for.  Later we went to M...s´s house and shared a little message with him and his friend C....  The whole time her child was running around and screaming , so it was alright, but kind of weird.  After we talked for a bit we invited them to come to the capilla on Sunday and M... made us some good soup and rice.

Wednesday, we went to Sevilla because Elder Woodford had a doctors appointmentt.  That took up a lot of time, so we ended up eating there in Sevilla.  We stopped by a little café to eat and then took the train home.  When we got home, all of our plans fell through on us, but then we had a little Noche de Hogar  (FHE) with a few members and investigators in the capilla, but that was the end of the night.

Thursday, we visited a menos activo guy named M... S... in the capilla and shared a message about grace with him.     He´s trying to quit smoking and he wants to come back to activity.    He´s a good guy and he ended up coming to the Capilla this Sunday.  After that, we taught A... and J... the word of wisdom and A... was like " Uhhh... what if I already tried coffee and tea...." ha ha.  He´s a good kid.  We told him it was all good and no pasa nada (worry), but he just should not take those things from now on.  Later that night we visited the girls and Elder Woodford brought them some little rubber band bracelet dealios and we helped them but them together after we shared a little thought with them.

Friday, we had a District meeting and I gave a little lesson on our purpose as missionaries.  Later that day, J... and A...´s mom invited us to eat with them (very good sign) and we had a super fun time.  They´re all Dominicans so they´re really fun and friendly people,  At first when we brought up baptism with J... and A... while the mom was there she said "PROHIBIDO" (prohibited), but now she´s really warming up to us.  Later we went to correlation meeting with J... and then we taught some English class.  Then we stopped by to visit C... and luckily her child was sleeping this time.  Then we headed over to X...´s house and read some scriptures with her and the family.

Saturday was rough at first, but it turned out really well.  We basically walked around the entire morning with no luck, but in the afternoon we tried some antiguos and one let us in.  Her name is E... and she´s from Colombia.  She´s super evangelista and she was super concerned about that fact that we celebrate Christmas.  Pretty weird, but we ended up holding up pretty well against all her little attacks.  We taught her about the priesthood and afterwards it looked like things weren't going anywhere with her, but right before we left she said she wanted to learn English.  So we set citas with her every Saturday and maybe we´ll get her to soften up a little.  We told her all we charge is a 5 minute lesson at the end of every cita, and she agreed.        She´s a funny lady.  We´ll see how things go with her.

Sunday, A.., M..., and P... all came to church and I had to translate again during Priesthood. This time was a little better. I was even able to filter out some false doctrine comments which was cool. ;)  Later that day we had to go to Sevilla again to practice and when we got back, we just had time to visit X... and the fam.  We read the psalm of Nephi with them and had a really cool discussion.  They´re awesome people.

This week I was reading in the Sermon on the Mount and the part that stuck out to me the most is when Christ says that we are like a light. As members of the church and disciples of Christ, our job is to spread and reflect the light of Christ to other people.  His is a light that cannot be put out and will forever overcome the darkness.  For that very reason, we share it with the people that need it. With that light, we " Lift the hands that hang down" and "Strengthen the feeble knees". (D&C 81:4-5)  Every member a missionary and disciple of Christ!

That´s the week for you.  It´s starting to get a little warmer here now, so that´s happy.

Have a great week!

Elder Adamson

Pictures from  Elder Adamson's  time in Murcia

Friends Forever

Elder Adamson's Letter 1/20/2014

¿Qué pasa calabazas??

Here´s the week.

Tuesday, we went to visit A... M..., and P...´s mom to have her sign their form to be able to get baptized.  She had given verbal permission before, but she didn´t want to sign the paper yet.  She is really atheist but she want´s them to be more ready before they get baptized.  We´re going to keep trying with them and hopefully she´ll be more comfortable with baptism. The father has already given permission.  Later, we stopped by A...´s house and he was on his way out, so we just read a short scripture with him.   He´s a super nice guy, and we´ll work with him more.  Later, we went over to    R...´s house and did a noche de hogar with them and did a good object lesson with them about Ether 12:6.  That lesson is our bread and butter.  Later, we watched The Restoration movie with J... and A... and went to visit X... for a bit.  She´s starting her Chemo therapy again this week, but she´s super positive.  I have a lot of respect for her.

Wednesday, we had lunch with the V... family and it was super fun.  The food was really good and we had some good laughs.  Later we visited X...´s step dad at her house and he made us some tortitas.  Kind of like little scones, but saltier.  They were pretty good.  He has a SUPER strong Andaluz accent, and he´s super hard to understand.  When the family came back we read a chapter of the Book of Mormon with them.  Afterwards, we left to teach English to the girls (A... M..., and P...). They behaved a little better this time, but they´re still pretty crazy.

Thursday, we visited J... and A... and did the Ether 12:6 lesson with them and they loved it.  Then we met with J... J... in the capilla and talked about the organization of the priesthood with his two little boys.  Hopefully we´ll be able to start teaching the whole family soon.  After that, we went to X...´s house for dinner and we read a another chapter of the Book of Mormon with them.  Her mom made us the dinner.  She LOVES us.

Friday, we visited the girls again, and had a short, fun lesson with them.  There´s something special about them.  I really hope we can see them be baptized because they really are good girls.  Later, we visited A... and J... and taught them about repentance and baptism.  They are super golden.  The only reason they can´t be baptized right away is because their mom wants them to wait too.  But they´re progressing super well.  Then it rained like nobody´s business and Elder Woodford and I got soaked.  Then we went to the V... family´s house to dry off and then taught them some English.  They made us a bunch of pizzas after, so we were happy happy happy.

Saturday, we went to R... and J...´s house (miembros).  They live in Utrera so we went out there for the whole afternoon to do service.  We helped fix the roof in their kitchen and clean some sheds out.  It was super fun.  Just imagine some really LOUD and round Bolivian people. That´s them.  Really funny folks though.  We had a good time there.

Sunday, we went to pick up A... and J... for church and they came with us.  During Sacrament meeting, I got to translate for an American couple that works on the military base.  IT WAS SO HARD.  The first speaker got up and told a story and my translation went something like this.

"Alright, she´s saying something about a guy in a desert.............he has a horse.............................she said dog just barely................storm.................lighting...............they died...??....................Well, I´m really sorry but I actually have no idea what´s going on right now.  I´ll tell you when she´s done with the story."

Then I just sat quiet until she finished. After she got done with the story I did alright, but it´s super hard to translate stories, quotes, and scriptures.  I was relieved when the meeting was over... jaja.  Later that night we went to Sevilla again to practice for the choir and then came back to bring the sacrament to X.... And that´s a wrap.

This week we shared a scripture with X... that I really love.  I can´t remember for SURE what the reference is, but I´m pretty sure   it´s Mosiah 26 or 24 Verses 14-15.  It talks about how the people of Alma are bearing their burdens, but that if they rely on Christ, everything will end well for them.  Later it says that after they´ve received the help of the Lord, that they would be Witnesses of Him.  We should all take after their example.  We´ve all be helped by the Savior in one way or another by Him, and that´s means it´s our job now to testify of him.  We´ve felt "the marks in his hands", so to speak, and now it´s our job to invite more people to do the same.  I loved that thought.

Hope you have a great week!.  Love you all.

Elder Adamson

Elder Adamson's Letter 1/13/2014

Here I am in a new place.  Hello from Dos Hermanas!!

Tuesday, we went out to say some goodbyes to a few folks before I left.  We stopped by to see R... and he gave me a kiss on the back of the head when I left which was pretty weird.  Right after that, we headed over to visit L... and L... M....  They had tons of snacks there ready for us so we shared a message and had some good food.  After chatting for a bit it was time for us to go, so they gave us a ride home and L...M... gave me his favorite shirt so that I would remember him.  Heaven knows I´m not going to forget him, but it was really nice of him.  I´ve got it with me in the piso.  Kind of a bittersweet night, but it was a good despedida.(farewell)

Wednesday is when I headed out to the Dos Hermanas.  I hopped on a bus and said goodbye to all my good missionary friends from Murcia and was on my way to Málaga.  Just so happens that I saw Elder Farrell in a bus station on the way there.  I´ve seen him quite a bit lately and every time I've basically tackled him.  After we got back on the bus we finally made it to Malaga and Elder Galarza was there to pick up his new companion.  We had a great chat for a few minutes and then he took me to the train I needed to catch to Dos Hermanas.  I got on and was all alone so it was a bit of a boring trip, but I got a little nap and some reading in.  When I arrived, Elder Woodford was there to pick me up and we went straight out to work.  He took me to see the girls who are named A..., M..., and P.... They are 12, 11, and 9, and are getting ready to be baptized.  They´ve all got fechas (dates).  Super funny girls but also really good and attentive.  Their dad is from Cameroon and their mom is Spanish.  They are a hoot though.  Then we visited some recent converts named X..., L..., and A....  They are a really solid family and are doing really well.  They were just baptized about a month ago.  That was about it for that day.

Thursday, we got to visit some semi-eternigators named A... and M..., and our lessons went pretty well.  They haven´t talked to missionaries for a while so we figured we´d give them a try.  Later we had our correlation meeting and then went to visit an Investigator with a man named J... J....   Then later that night we headed over to the V... family´s house.  They are all from Ecuador I believe, and they are super fun to be with.  We taught them a little bit of English as a service and shared a little message with them.  In return, they fed us some really tasty rice.  They have like 5 kids and all are under the age of 17.  They´re awesome.

Friday, we had our Zone meeting in Sevilla.  It went pretty well and I was actually able to meet The Wilson´s finally.  They´re super nice people and I got to talk to them for a little while.  Right after that, Elder Webb came with us to give A... M..., and P... their baptismal interviews and they all passed :)  Right after that, we headed over to the capilla (chapel) to teach English and I was teaching one on one with this lady and she was basically teaching me Spanish because she knew so much about English.  I helped her with a few things though. She gave both Elder Woodford and I wallets from the "reyes magos" (Three Kings).  Super nice lady, but I don´t think anyone has been able to teach her the lessons yet. Then we met with some investigators named J..., A... and E....  They are Dominicans but they all look like they came straight from Africa.  All 3 of them are super receptive and they want to get baptized, but the thing is that they stay with their dad on the weekends in Sevilla, so we´ll have to see what we can work out in that situation.  Then we stopped by X...´s house and read from of the Book of Mormon with her and her family.  That was the night.

Saturday we had 2 citas (appointments) in the morning, one with L... (husband of  X...) and then later with the grandmother of A..., M..., and P....  She´s pretty catholic, but she´s willing to let the girls be baptized, even though it really just matters what the parents say.  After that we had a lunch cita fail us. so we headed back to the piso and ate and went right back out to work.  Then we didn´t get into a cita until like 9:00 with a menos activo named C....  He´s only 15 and he´s a super good kid but he´s got kind of a cruddy family situation.  His house is pretty ghetto and his mom isn´t really a mom for him.  He ended up coming to church though, on Sunday. :)  He´s a really good kid.

Sunday, we went to church and I got to meet a lot of the members.  To my surprise, we have a lot of English speakers in our ward and I got pretty tripped up when people started talking to me in English a couple times.  It´s a great ward though.  I´m really excited to work with them.  Later that day, we had to go to Sevilla for a choir practice.  We´re singing in Stake Conference, so we got together to practice.  When we finally got back to Dos Hermanas, we headed over to X...´s house to give her the sacrament.  She has cancer right now, but it´s in remission.  She´s going through another week of chemo this week so her doctor told her she shouldn´t go out.  She is such a trooper.  I´ve been super impressed with her and I already love her and her family.

This is a great place and I´m really pumped to be here.  Elder Woodford is awesome and I´m learning lots from him.  I´m probably going to send him home because he´s only got 2 more transfers left in the mission, but in the meantime I´ll be taking notes.  The area here is really cool as well.  So far, it´s a lot prettier than Murcia and a lot more Spain-y. It´s a great place to be.  Elder Woodford is from Afton, Wyoming and he´s an awesome missionary.  We´re getting along super well.

Have a great week! 

Love you!

Elder Adamson's Letter 1/6/2014

Happy 2014, homies.

I hope you´ve all had a good year and didn´t write 2013 the last time you dated something. 

 Here´s the week.

Monday was super fun.  L... M... came with us on P day and drove us around in our search for fútbol shoes.  I didn´t end up finding anything but it was a super fun time.   Later that day we went to visit L... padre and the S... family.  Nothing too special but it was a really fun day.

Tuesday, was Noche Vieja (New Year's Eve) and another day we weren´t allowed to proselyte, but we still had a good time.  We visited a few members and then later that night we got together with the other missionaries and had a little party with the other Elders and some members in the capilla.  We played some basketball outside for a while and then had some super good chicken and rice.  Immediately after that we headed outside to eat the 12 grapes at midnight (Spanish tradition).

Twelve Grapes???

  Lots of fun, but I was DEAD when we got home.  Staying up late as a missionary really is not that much fun, even when we have permission.

Wednesday, we headed out to El Progreso, but the city and streets were pretty dead so we were only able to meet with P.....  We headed straight to English Class after, but the only people who showed up were L... M... and J... (Elder Peter´s Recent convert), so we ended up having a little movie night and got some popcorn and watched the longer Joseph Smith movie together and turned it into a lesson, and we all had a good time.  We also made some delicous Korean BBQ that Elder Johnson´s mom taught him how to make.  Super tasty and i´m definitely writing down the recete.

Elder Johnson's  Korean BBQ

Thursday after weekly planning, we did an intercambio and Elder Peters came with me to El Palmar.  We first went and ate with the patriarch and his family and it was super good as always.  Then, on our way out, these 3 girls that were doing door to door sales stopped us because they wanted to know what our door knocking methods were... ha ha, but we shared with them a little about what we believe and got their numbers to try and contact them later.  Then we visited J... who is still super flojo, but he always lets us in.  Right after that we went to go visit L... and L... M... and they were in the middle of moving some furniture around so we tried to help them a little bit and then afterwards Elder Peters did their baptismal interviews and they both aced it. I wish you could hear them talk about their testimonies.  Super fuerte.  After that, we headed home to get things ready for Elder Rasmussen and Avilés who stayed over at our piso for the Conference the next day.

Friday, we were at the capilla (chapel) for a SUUUPER long time, but it was lots of fun.  President, the AP´s and Hermana Deere all gave us really good talks and then after we had a HUGE paella and a little talent show. 

paella

Zone Conference

 The best part was that Elder Farrell was there so we got to catch up with each other a little and have some good laughs.  Our jokes will never get old. After that, we went and visited R... for a while and had to head home right after because we didn´t have any more time.  Awesome day.  

Elder Adamson and Elder Farrell find each other once again.  What a great day!!!

Saturday was INCREDIBLE.  In the morning we played a little fútbol and after mediodía (noon) we tried to visit a few antiguos that we set citas (appointments) with, but they all failed us unfortunately.  BUT, we headed home to get ready for the baptism.  L... and L... M... have officially been baptized and confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  Such a happy day.  I got to baptize and confirm L... M... and Elder Johnson baptized L....  They both bore strong testimonies afterwards and we were all very content.  Not only was this the first baptism I´ve participated in, but       I´ve been able to be with them from day one.  Really awesome day.  All the missionaries here are all good friends with L... M... and L... so they came to support. 

First Baptism for Elder Adamson

After the baptism, we got a call from President Deere, and I got some bittersweet news.  He told me that I´ll be headed to a pueblo in Sevilla called Dos Hermanas with Elder Woodford.  I´m super excited and I´ll let you know how it is next week. :)

Sunday was great and I gave my last testimony in Sacrament meeting.  It´s a little sad to leave all these people where I started my mission but I´m ready to start a new chapter in Dos Hermanas.  I stopped by a few people to say goodbye.

That´s all for this week.  I´ve had a great start to the new year and I hope this next one goes well also. 2014 will be my full year on the mission so no doubt it will be a good one.  Even then, no matter what our circumstance we can have our "anchor of faith" holding us stead and sure.  Christ will never let us down.  He gives us hope for a better world and the opportunity of Salvation in the life to come.  Ether 12:4 tells us that we can have "Hope for a better world" and that doesn´t necessarily mean that the whole world around us will change, but that our world will change.  The gospel brings personal peace if we have faith in it and in our Savior.

Have a great week and a happy new year!

Love,

Elder Adamson