Elder Adamson's Letter 6/30/2014

Elder Adamson's sendoff to San Fernando

I´ve arrived safely in San Fernando and I´m loving it!!

Here´s what happened this week.

Monday was my last P day in Dos Hermanas so the Utrera Elders and the Hermanas came to the capilla (chapel) and we played some card games and ate lunch together.  It was tons of fun and a nice and relaxing P day.  Later that night, we went out to say goodbye to Samuel and I got all his information so I can keep in contact with him.

On Tuesday, I had to say a lot of goodbyes. We had district meeting and then we went over to Joni and      Alex´s house for lunch as kind of a despedida (farewell) meal.  It was lots of fun, but pretty sad, because 

I´ve been over at their house so many times in the time I´ve been here in Dos Hermanas.  After that we headed over to Ximena´s house to say goodbye and they made me a little heart-shaped lemon cake. After that, we ran over to the Páez family´s house and then to Jordi´s house to say goodbye.  We ended off the night at Natalia and Helton´s house and it was really hard to say goodbye to them after all the time I´ve spent with them.  When it came time to leave, Vitor and Breno both ran into their room and grabbed a couple little hot wheels cars to give to me.  I felt really bad taking therm because they don´t have a lot of money and the boys don´t have very many toys but they insisted that I take them.  After a long hard goodbye, Elder Enfield and I hurried home and I got the rest of my stuff packed up.

Wednesday, I got all my last minute things ready to go and went to say goodbye to Joni and Alex in the morning.  We had a little wrestling match in their living room and then had to say goodbye.  Right before I left, Alex was scrambling to give me something so I would remember them, so he ran into his room and gave me the invitation to his first communion in the Catholic church when he was a like 11. ha ha ha After that, we went home and ate and then I headed off to the train station. I said goodbye to Elder Enfield and hopped on the train to San Fernando all by myself.  About an hour and a half later I arrive in San Fernando and Elder Buttars was there to pick me up.  He took me to an English class for an hour and then we headed to the piso (apartment) with all my bags, and then we went out to meet the bishop at night.  

This week has been a blur because everything has gone by so fast and I´m in a new place so I´m just going to tell you how the area is right now, because I´m not sure if I´m going to be able to remember all the names.  Right now we have an investigator named Jonathon who has quit smoking cold turkey and who has progressed pretty slowly, but he keeps getting closer and closer to baptism.  He´s 21 and he´s almost there, but we just need to keep working on his testimony.  We also have a part member family that we are working with that is looking really good.  Veronica is the mother of the family and she is less active.  Her boyfriend isn´t a member, but her two kids José and Paula are 12 and 10 and they REALLY want to be baptized and their parents want to let them, we just haven´t been able to get them to settle on a date yet. Should be coming soon, though.  We also have been teaching a guy named Paco and his friend Maika.  Right now Maika has a fecha (date) for the 19th of July, but she hasn´t really kept her commitments lately, so we´ll see how that goes.  The members here are AMAZING.  We have like 3 former stake presidents and 4 former bishops in our ward and it´s a very well functioning ward.  This week we had about 71 people at church and I got to meet a lot of them.  The city is awesome and Elder Buttars and I are the only missionaries in our ward which is pretty awesome.  We´ve got it all to ourselves. ;)

Next week I´ll give you a better update on all the members.

Lately we´ve been studying lots about using time wisely.  There is a quote in the back of Preach My Gospel in the using time wisely chapter that is awesome.  I think it's by Elder Oaks but that could easily be wrong.  It talks about how missionary work is like fishing and sometimes people will be gone fishing an entire day, but only have their line in the water for 2 or 3 hours.  What´s important in missionary work is that we have our line in the water for as much time as possible because the Lord has called us to be fishers of men, and the more time we have our lines in the water, the more people we´ll find.

        

I have more pictures to send, but this computer I´m on right now is SUPER slow, so I´ll send the rest next week,

Love you! Happy 4th of July this week!

Elder Adamson's Letter 6/23/2014

This has been a good week here in Dos Hermanas!

Here it is.

I´m not going to give the play by play this week because I left my journal in the piso this week, but here are the highlights.

On Monday, I got to see L...M...l!! (Recent Convert from Murcia)  He drove all the way from Sevilla to Murcia to come see Elder Johnson and I.  He spent a little time with us for P day and it was great to be able to see him again.  I attached a picture.

Sweet Reunion with Elder Johnson and Elder Adamson

This Friday, President Deere called me to tell me where I was going.  This Wednesday, I´m headed off to San Fernando 2 with Elder Buttars.  I´ve heard really great things about the ward there.  Elder Buttars was in my MTC group, so I know him a little bit and I´m really excited to head over there to start working with him.

 I´m going to miss Dos Hermanas a lot.  Being  in a place for 6 months is pretty long, but you really grow to love all the people and the area.

 It´s going to be another big change to move again, but I´m excited to meet new people and be in a new place.

This week we had a super fun activity in Utrera at R...s house on the FINCA.  We hopped on the train with J..., A..., and A..., and we all headed that way.  When we got there, we played some soccer on a tiny little patch of grass that they had there, and I    don´t think I have ever been so sweaty in my life.  Playing soccer at like 2 pm in the Sevilla sun.  It was tons of fun. but we were all dead tired after that.  After we had a little barbeque, and then played some baseball with a ball made out of a sock.  After we finished playing we all got together and had a good little lesson from J... V... about making good decisions and he had all of the missionaries there comment on how we decided to go on a mission.  It was a really awesome activity.  Later we came back home and went back to work.

As far as investigators go, things have pretty much stayed the same.  We have been asking referrals from pretty much   everybody but the investigators haven´t quite come yet.  We did find a pretty good Ecuadorian man named A... on Sunday.  We found him while we have been going through all of our former investigators and trying to clean it up a little bit.  One of my biggest pet peeves is finding a bunch of former investigators that have almost no information on their paper, but we´ve been weeding those out this week.  We´ve done a lot of walking and it´s getting HOT here, so it´s a good thing I´m heading somewhere a little bit cooler.  My white boy skin can´t take the heat.

Those are all the highlights for this week.  I´ve been really digging into my scripture study this week and I´ve loved it.  The more you study the gospel, the more true it becomes.  If I´ve learned anything with having such an awesome schedule for scripture study every day, that´s it.

Hope you have a great week.  love you all!

Elder Adamson

Elder Adamson's Letter 6/16/2014

¡Hola a todos! (Hi All)

Here´s what I did this week.

Monday was a nice relaxing preparation day.  The Utrera Elders came over in the morning for some good ping pong, and we ordered some kebabs for lunch.  Later that afternoon we went to the big park in Dos Hermanas to play some volleyball with the Elders and Hermanas, and we had a good time, but it was burning hot.  It´s gotten up to like 42 degrees (107 degrees in Fahrenheit).  After that, we went to J... and A...´s house and I let A... cut my hair.  He did a pretty good job, but then Elder Enfield had to shape it up a little more.  After that, we stopped by to see S... and all was normal over there.  He´s doing just about the same as always.

On Tuesday, District Meeting in the morning was a blast.  After we finished with all the lessons and the meeting, we all went to a little sandwich shop and then went back to the capilla to have lunch and eat some ice cream and some no-bake cookie cake that Elder Enfield and I made.  You would be impressed.  After that I went on an intercambio with Elder Chumbipuma to Alcalá and got to spend some time with him and the people they are teaching there.  It was a good time.

On Wednesday morning, I got back to Dos Hermanas and we went to see M... in the afternoon.  We were able to have a lesson with the son of two member parents who looks like he has a lot of potential and he might have just recently broke up with his girlfriend, which was one of the only things holding him back.  That was a great little boost for us and we're going to keep working with him.  Things are going well here.  We're still on the quest for some good progressing investigators but I know that if we just keep working hard they will come.  

After that, we stopped by to see A... and A..., and then went to the Noche de Hogar.  It was huge that night.  We had like thirty people there and had tons of fun.  A member named C... also made some really good lemon chicken sandwiches afterward.

Thursday, we got down to business and had a solid, organized weekly planning.  We went to see J... and A...´s house to see how they were doing and they would not stop talking about the World Cup that´s going on right now.  Right now if there´s an important game on, it´s really hard to find things to do.

Friday, we walked for 3 straight hours without stopping.  We´re going through all the former investigators in our area book to see if we can find some more people through that, but that morning, we had no luck.  In the afternoon we had our correlation meeting with J... and then went off to see the P... family and all was well over there.  

Saturday was awesome.  We had a pretty long morning again, trying to visit some former investigators, but still haven´t gotten in with any of them.  In the afternoon, we got went to the baptism of R... (the man I got to do the interview with last week) and the baptism was amazing.  It´s been a little while since we´ve seen one here and the Spirit was really strong.  He is a truly strong and committed man.  He´s ready to become a disciple of Christ.  Another great addition to the ward of Dos Hermanas.

On Sunday after church, we went to see X... and A... because they weren´t able to come to church because X...´s sister in law just had a baby so they were going over to see it.  After that we stopped by the P... family´s house and we found P... there, so we had a little Noche de Hogar at their house and then headed home.

This has been a good week, and it will probably be my last full week here in Dos Hermanas.  I´ve loved the 6 months I´ve been able to spend here and all the people I´ve met. 

I don´t have any pictures to send this week unfortunately, but we´ll see if I can shoot some off next week.

I LOVE THE MISSION!

• Are you keeping a good journal?  
• I sure am!  I´ve already made it through 2 of the books I came out with.

• How are you doing with your laundry?  Are your shirts still WHITE? yes and yes.  Don´t worry.  I buy whitener for my clothes.

• Have you and Elder Enfield made any good meals lately?  
• mmmmmmm  We made some stir fry the other day.  Nothing super new though.

Well, that´s all for this week!  Love you!!!!!!!

¡Os quiero muchísimo! ( I love you very much!)

Elder Adamson

Elder Adamson's Letter 6/9/2014

HOLA FAMILIA.  

Here´s the week...

Last Monday we had a sweet p day.  We went to a place called Real Alcazar which is an old Moorish Palace that the Spanish people overtook.  It is one of the most amazing things I´ve ever seen.  I´ll attach some pictures, but they might not do it justice.  I highly recommend google image searching it. 

Real Alcazar 

Later that afternoon, we went over to S...´s house and talked with him and B... about the plan of Salvation and for once S...      didn´t try to Bible bash with us. ha ha  It was a pretty good lesson, but the only one we had that day.

Tuesday, we went to see J... and A... for a little while and shared a little message with them, then we headed over to N... and H...'s house and they told us that they had found someone that wants to hear the message of the restored gospel, which was awesome.  They gave us a reference without us even asking, but the the lady lives in Sevilla so we´ll have to pass the reference when we get more information.  But it´s awesome that     they´re already wanting to share the gospel now.

Wednesday, we went to see L... and started to help her with her final English exam.  We´re still trying to teach her, but she´s pretty closed right now.  She refuses to believe in God for right now, but I think that will change soon.  After that we went to the Noche de Hogar at the capilla and had a good time.  We played signs, but there were a few members that weren´t really getting it, so it kind of flopped, but at least we got a good laugh out of it.

Thursday, we had our weekly planning and in the morning, and then that afternoon, we went and saw P..., the P... family and then we headed over to N... and H...'s house and we helped them take out an old mattress to the dumpster after we had a little lesson with them

Friday, we had a really good Zone Meeting in Sevilla and then afterwards went to eat at a Peruvian place.  I ate some Seviche, which is raw fish that is soaked in lemon juice.  It lasted nothing like fish so I was alright with it. After that, we went to or correlation meeting back in Dos Hermanas and I headed off with Elder Favero to Utrera to do a baptismal interview with R..., their investigator.  The interview was awesome and one of the most amazing things I´ve been able to be a part of on my mission.  I loved it.  It was amazing to hear this man´s growing testimony of the gospel. We had a great intercambio.

Saturday, we met pack up with our companions and Elder Enfield and I had a pretty slow day, but we ended with 2 good visits with the P... family and the V... family.  We asked them for referrals and they even offered us cookies and milk after. :)  Goooood deal.

Sunday, was good.  We were sitting in our Gospel Principles class listening to J...´s lesson, and then in the middle of it X... walked in.  X... came to church with all 3 of the kids this week.  THIS WAS A HUGE MIRACLE FOR US.  She´s only been to church 1 other time in the past 5 and a half month, and now she told us, that now that she has started to come again, she can´t stop coming.  That was an answer to our prayers.  The rest of the night, we went to X...'s house to share a quick message since it had been a while since we´d been there, then we went to see a man named J... M... who is still just as atheist and stubborn as when we first met him, but we thought we´d give it another shot with him.  After that we went to N... and H...'s house and they were all dead tired because they had to work that day in the field.  But, they´re happy and still trucking along.

This week I read a quote ( I don´t even remember who it was from or exactly how it went) that talked about how if there was no eternal life, all of the trials and suffering that we pass through in this life on earth would just be catastrophes that we don´t deserve, because a lot of bad things happen to good people.  But, if we look at this life in the perspective of eternity, everything makes sense and we can come to understand why the righteous suffer, and why the world is so full of suffering and what seems to be injustice.  But thankfully, there exists an infinite atonement that covers every sickness, temptation, pain, trial, and sorrow that we could possible have.  We are here for progression.  We are here to BECOME perfect one day, not to live perfect lives, or to never pass through adversity.  If we rely on the Savior, understanding WHY we suffer and how it benefits us, we can make it through this fallen world with bright hope and faith in Christ.

Have a great week!  Love you!

Elder Adamson

Elder Adamson's Letter 6/2/2014

Howdy. 

Here´s what I did this week.

On Tuesday, we had our District meeting and we ended with a little Book of Mormon trivia game which was a good time.  I made all the questions so I didn´t play, but we had fun.  Later, the Utrera Elders came back to our piso and we bought some Pollo Asado (2 full roasted chickens) and ate them. There´s not too many good places to eat in Dos Hermanas, but that place was good.

Wednesday, we went to J... and A...´s house and then stopped by to see how X... was doing.  She told us that she´s going to be starting radiation again on Monday, so we won´t be able to go see her much this week.  She´s a fighter, but this is just one more setback for her to not be able to come to church. :/ Later that night we went to the Noche de Hogar and had lots of fun and lots of people there.  H... came with the kids and we played pictionary with everyone.

Thursday, we went to the P... family´s house for lunch and then stopped by to see how A.., M..., and P.. were doing.  We tried to share a spiritual thought with them but I don´t think they heard a single word of it... ha ha.  After that we had a couple other citas fail us, so we did a good amount of walking that day.  We stopped by the V...´s house to end the night, and they were all doing good.

Friday wasn´t much different, but we had a cita with a menos activo named M... M....  He´s a really nice guy but he has a lot of family problems going on right now,so he hasn´t come to church for a while.     He´s a maquina (machine) though, because he´s read the Book of Mormon like 2 or 3 times since his baptism like a year ago and he´s DEVOURS the Sunday School manuals. We went to go see J... and A... after that, and set a goal with A... to read the Book of Mormon before the summer is over and that if he does it, we´ll take him to a China Buffet.  He´s on track and has been reading 7 pages every day.

Saturday, we visited J... and A... again, stopped by to see X..., and then went to J...´s house to have a Noche de Hogar with H... and the kids.  We had a lot of fun there and we played a game where you have 2 teams that are trying  to blow a cotton ball over the other side of the table.  V... and I were the reining champions.  The rest of that day, we spent walking around and trying to contact some former investigators.

Sunday was great.  Everything went well at church, we went to consejo de barrio (ward council) and then afterward, N... drove us to his house with the Utrera Elders and made us steaks.  BIG ONES.  I´m pretty sure I´ve never eaten a bigger piece of meat, but it was delicious.  After spending a little while at his house, he drove us home and then we went to see N... and H..., and J... and A....

This week has been a little slow to be honest.  Our investigators that we had have slowly been flaking out on us, but we´re still working hard.  President shared something with me in my interview this week that has been really helpful.  He talked about Alma and how when he was thrown out of Ammonihah an angel appeared to him and said "Blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice,for thou hast great cause to rejoice; for thou hast been faithful in keeping the commandments of God from the time which thou receivedst thy first message from him.".  The Angel told him that just before telling him that he needed to return to Ammonihah, and that is all he said.  He didn´t say who would be waiting there for him, or what would happen, but he just told him to go back.  He didn´t know that he was going to find Amulek there.  This helped me a lot because sometimes we don´t feel like we have blessings until the moment we get them.  The Lord had a miracle in store for Alma, but He didn´t tell him it was going to happen.  I know that if we keep moving forward, keeping the commandments and being faithful, that the Lord has miracles in store for us according to our obedience and diligence.

That´s all for this week,

Love you!

Elder Adamson