Elder Adamson's Letter 12/29/2014

Hello everyone!  I hope you've had a great Christmas.  I had a great one and I´m still enjoying the spirit of it. Here are the highlights and miracles of the week.

On P-day we went to a place called el Mirador de San Nicolas where you can see the Alhambra very well, and we got some good pictures and saw a few guys playing some Flamenco music.  They have the best spot to make money in all of Granada.  You´ll see why when you see the picture.

On Noche Buena (Christmas Eve), We had lunch with the familia Morcote and sang some villancicos afterward. After, we went to Hermana Nubia´s house and had a big dinner with all the missionaries and the Oldroyd family and had a lot of fun there.  The house was packed.  There were like 20 of us in a room with tables and everything set up.  After we ate we have a white elephant gift exchange and I scored a sweet nerf gun. :)

On Christmas morning we went to go sing some Christmas carols to a couple investigators and for lunch we went over to Hermano Darío´s house and had a barbacoa argentina that was VERY good, and then we went back to Hermana Nubia´s house to skype.  After that we headed for the bishop´s house for a Christmas dinner with the Oldroyd family again.

On the 26 we saw a huge miracle.  Hermana Nielson called us from the office and told us we had a reference from mormon.org which are usually really good, so we went to got the contact that morning and it turns out that it was in a pueblo about 30 minutes from Granada called Huétor Tájar.  Turns out that the woman who sent the request was a member from Bolivia who has been looking for the church but hasn´t been able to find it for 10 years and she wants to come back.  She was smiling so big when she and her husband invited us in.  Turns out that her husband, Marcileno was an antiguo that I was looking for him in DOS HERMANAS like 8 months ago  and here we are hundreds of kilometers away from Dos Hermanas and we found him.  Holy cow.  Christmas Miracle.  We´re very excited to work with them. We also got to see Maricarmen who has made some huge progress.  She´s praying every night and a few weeks ago she didn´t even know if she believed in God.  Now we´re trying to help her quit smoking.

I have loved this Christmas and I´m a little sad that it´s my last one in the mission, but I´ve got these next 6 months to keep working and enjoying the work that I've been called to do.

Love you all and have a great New Year!

Elder Adamson

Christmas Call

Elder Adamson is doing great and loving every minute of his mission.  His new area looks so much like Utah.  We were privileged to meet his new companion as we began our call.  Elder Metcalf is from Houston, Texas and these two elders seem like a very good combination.  It was a wonderful blessing for us to hear his voice and see how excited he is to be doing the Lord's work.  He loves Spain.

                         

Merry Christmas to all and to all a BUENAS NOCHES

Merry Christmas! 

 Elder Metcalf and I have had a really great week.  I am very excited for Christmas and to be able to skype with you!

This week we were able to meet with Maricarmen again and we had a very good lesson with her.  She FINALLY prayed on her own and she said she felt "strange but good" afterwards.  We explained to her that that feeling comes from the Holy Ghost and we ended up setting a fecha with her for the 11th of January and we've set goals so that she can be living all the commandments necessary for that date.

I have been meeting a lot of people in the past little while and I´ll tell you more in detail when we talk on skype.

Yesterday we traveled to Málaga for a tri-zone conference.  I got to conduct the meeting.  We heard some really good lessons from President, Hermana Deere and the assistants.  The Hermanas that came in my group gave their final testimonies which was very weird to see.  We entered the MTC at the same time and now         they´re going home.  The time is so short!  Elder Metcalf and I are both ready to give it our all these last few months we have left.  President Deere also announced who the new mission president will be which is also pretty crazy.  Their names are DarVel and Marilyn Andersen and they´re from Idaho.  I´ll probably only be here for about 2 weeks with them.

Zone Conference

I´m loving Granada so far and I´m starting to get my feet on the ground I've never come to love people so fast as I have here in Granada including my companion, investigators, and the members.  I´ve been transferred to a great place and I hope to stay here for a long while.

Well, I´ll talk to you soon!  Love you and MEEEEEEEERRY CHRISTMAS!

Love,

Elder Adamson

 

                            

Christmas Ham

Elder Adamson's Letter 12/15/2014

Hello everyone!  I've arrived safely to Granada and I´m loving it.  It´s a beautiful city and it seriously feels like    I´m in Utah here when we drive down the highways because we have the Sierra Nevada here close by. it´s even cold and there´s snow in the mountains. Our plan today for Pday was to go up to play in the snow but the weather was bad so we weren't able to.  Here´s the week.

Last P day in San Fernando we got together with our district and the Chiclana district and played some basketball and had tons of fun.

In the afternoon we had a cita with Lucas and María and their family and it was really good. My last couple days in San Fernando I just tried to get in as many goodbyes as I could there with all of the amazing members.  It was pretty sad to leave San Fernando behind after being there for about 1/4 of my mission, but I am very happy here in Granada.  The area here is totally different and it´s going to take some getting used to, but it looks great so far.

I got to Granada on Wednesday at about 3:00 and Elder Metcalf came to pick me up in the car.  Elder Metcalf is a big guy and he´s from Texas.  We were in the MTC together but in different zones so we didn't really get to know each other very well, but I can already tell that he is a great missionary and I´m super excited to be here with him. I´ll attach a picture of us.  He´s a very hard worker and he´s been here in Granada for 3 months.

This week has been a little bit of a blur so I´ll just give you a few of the highlights since I got here.  So, here in our area we have a car because most of our area is little towns that are on the outskirts of Granada, and we also have a portion of the city as well.  The area here is a lot different from what I´m used to, but I like it.  Right now we´ve got a lot to work with and we´re setting high goals so we can do a lot of good here.

This week I got to meet the Bishop and his family and they´re awesome people.  I also got to meet a few of our investigators named Maricarmen, Kevin, Aliou, and a few others.  So far, I´ve LOVED teaching with Elder Metcalf because our lessons are so focused and guided by the Spirit.  I´m learning so much already from him.

Maricarmen is a Spanish woman who lived in Germany for 20 years who also speaks English very well.  We´re having a hard time with her because she looks like she has the desires to know if God exists but she´s just not really willing to try anything.  She has problems with the word of wisdom and we tried to do a fast with her, but she backed out.  We´re doing what we can with her.  

Kevin is a 20 year old Ecuadorian.  Things are going really well with him and we´re hoping that he´ll be able to get baptized here soon.  We´re going to shoot for this week.

Aliou is from Senegal and he´s Muslim. The most recent news about him is that at the end of our lesson with him, he prayed in the name of Jesus Christ which is a huge step forward.

The ward here is about 90 active members so it´s just a little bigger than San Fernando 2, but here in Granada we meet in a big stake center which is pretty awesome.

This week we had a Christmas Concert in the capilla and the Granada city band came to perform and it was really awesome.  There were about 600 nonmembers in the capilla that night and It´s a yearly tradition.  We had a stand out with proselyting material but the city didn't let us pass stuff out so we had to just put it all on a table.  It was a really great concert though and it left us all feeling the Christmas spirit.

Sorry this wasn't the most detailed letter I´ve ever sent, but this week I´ll have more details for you.  I´m doing well and loving the mission more than ever.

1. Package?

I´ll probably be getting it next Monday.

2. What are some Christmas traditions that you have observed in Spain?

They have lots of traditional Christmas treats like Polvorones and things like that.  Here Santa isn´t really a big tradition, but it´s getting a lot bigger.  The biggest day of the holiday for them is the 6th of Jan, which is when the Three Magician kings come and bring the kids gifts instead of Santa.

3. How have you shared The Gift?

We used it at the Christmas concert and we´re using  it with pretty much everyone we talk to.

4. Any info on your Christmas call?

Not quite yet.  We´re not sure how it´s going to work yet, but next week we´ll have everything planned out.

So next week we´ll have a zone conference on Monday so I probably won´t be able to write you on that day just so you know that I´m not dead if you don´t get an email from me that day.  

love you!

Saying Goodbyes

Elder Adamson's Letter 12/8/2014

Holy cow, this has been an awesome week.  Not quite as crazy but it´s been a lot of fun.  Here goes:

Last Monday, we played some more basketball and had a blast and this week we´re planning on it again this afternoon.  We got to see Lucas and Maria in the afternoon and taught them a lesson about the gospel of Jesus Christ and we showed them the bible video of Jesus´ baptism.  The kids loved it.  Celia had even written a summary of 3 Nephi 11 that we left her to read last week.  Pretty impressive.  They understand everything perfectly so far.  They need to be baptized!

On Thursday, we were able to see David and Angela and talk about her confirmation which was done yesterday.  She´s doing really well and she´s happy after her baptism  Later that night we got to see Guillermo and had a good lesson with him about the sacrament and he promised us he´d come to church this week with us.  Later in the night we found two new investigators named Edgar and Cristina.  Edgar is from Peru and is in the military and Cristina is from Barcelona.  We got to chat with them for a little while and they´re really nice, friendly people.  They have a 2 year old son named Justin as well.  We´ve got a cita with them this afternoon.

On Friday, we had an awesome zone meeting in Puerto de Santa María.  The main thing that we talked about was that the missions standards of excellence have changed.  Now it includes 5 news, 15 lessons with INV, 20 lessons total, 4 baptismal dates, 4 investigators in church and a baptism EVERY WEEK.  The bar has been raised, but the Lord is hastening His work, and we´ve got to keep up!  After zone meeting the sweet members from Rota made us Thanksgiving dinner which we thoroughly enjoyed.  Afterward we stayed for a little testimony meeting and we sang a bunch of Christmas songs to get in the holiday spirit.  I LOVE CHRISTMAAAAS. 

On Saturday morning Elder Rasmussen called to tell me what our transfers were.  This Wednesday, I´ll be going to GRANADA and my companion 's name is ELDER METCALF. 

 I don´t really know too much about how it´s going to be, but Elder Metcalf is from the same MTC group as me so that will be fun.  AND we will have a car (one of the few areas that has a car).  I never expected to be driving on my mission, so I guess I´m pretty lucky ha ha.  Even though it´s really hard to leave San Fernando,      I´m ready to start working in a new place.  I'm super excited. 

Elder Lelegren and I have come to be really great friends here in San Fernando and I have learned more in the past 3 months of training than any other period of my mission.

 I´ve learned many great things from Elder Lelegren and even though it's been a little tough here,         I wouldn´t trade the time I had here for anything else because I know it´s made me a better servant of the Lord.                           

I am very excited to get to work with Elder Metcalf there in Granada. The mission just always gets better and better and better, so I´m sure things will go great there in Granada.

This week I´ve been saying a lot of goodbyes because I knew that I was probably going to get transferred this week.  That´s the worst part of changing areas is having to say goodbye to all the great people you´ve met.    I´ll attach some pictures of some members.

1. Have you received your package?

No, not yet

2.  Do you know what time you will be calling on Christmas?

No idea.  That will have to be established once we get things organized in Granada.

3. Any word on your next transfer?

yes sir.  I´m going to be a zone leader in Granada with Elder Metcalf

4. How was your thanksgiving dinner?

Delicious.  I ate a little turkey just for the sake of tradition but I like the ham a lot better.

That´s all for this week.  Love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Adamson

Christ is the Gift

If you haven't already, please visit the website christmas.mormon.org AND SHARE IT LIKE CRAZY through social media and however else you can.  This is a great missionary effort that the church is doing and we want as many people as possible to be a part of it.

Christmas time is the best time of the year, and lots of people don't know what it's really about. Let's Share the Gift with as many people as possible this Christmas season.  Christ is the Gift that everyone needs this Christmas.

Élder Adamson

Elder Adamson's Letter 12/1/2014

Hello everyone!  I hope you've all had a great Thanksgiving.  We still haven't celebrated it yet but we will this week after Zone Meeting.  The members from an American branch are going to feed us in Puerto de Santa María and we're all looking forward to it. 

Here's what happened this week.  It's been CRAZY.

On Monday, we went to Cádiz for P-day and hung out with the missionaries there and played a little foosball and ping pong, which is one of my newly acquired talents since being on the mission.  In the afternoon we had a cita with Lucas, María and the kids and a member named Yolanda came with us who works in the primary.  We had a really good lesson about the restoration and Celia was literally taking notes the whole time.  These kids have better studying habits as 11 year old kids than I had as a Senior in high school.  They're really bright.  The lesson went great and we've got a great friendship going with the family now, so that's good.

On Tuesday, we had our interviews with President which was amazing as always.  We had a great cita with David and Ángela and talked about temples and family history work.  The lesson went well and Ángela has stopped drinking coffee so from that day, the baptism was on for Sunday so we started the preparations that same day.  This week we taught her the rest of lesson 5 and got the interview done and she was ready to get baptized.  She was baptized last night and the service turned out great. We were running back and forth all afternoon from filling the font and getting everything ready.  When she got up after she was baptized she shared the story of the prodigal son and how when he came home, his family threw a party for him.  She said that she felt like her baptism was the party we were throwing for her and that she feels like she's at home in the church.  Great night.

Wednesday, Elder Lelegren and I got to go to Málaga to do an intercambio with the Assistants to the President.  WOW.  We had a great time there.  I went with Elder Rojas who is one of the most amazing missionaries out there. I learned so much from him.  He truly works with the Spirit.  Elder Rojas is an amazing example of charity and a consecrated missionary. I wish you could meet him.

Friday, we had an intercambio with Cádiz.  I went to Cádiz with Elder Jack and it was fun to see all the progress he has made in just one transfer as a new missionary.  I have come to love intercambios.

On Saturday night, we found a new investigator from Honduras named Osman.   I'm so used to hearing Andaluz accents here in San Fernando (since that's all there is) that anything else just sounds weird.  We had a good lesson with him and scheduled a return appointment for next week.

Between all the things we've had to do this week I have been pretty stressed out, but now most of the stressful stuff is over so things are a little more calm now.
On Friday we had an amazing district meeting (one of the most spiritual we have ever had) and we started off talking about the miracles that we have seen on our missions.  Everyone shared a short story and I was amazed at all of the miracles people have seen on their missions.  That got the meeting off to a great start and the Spirit was very strong.  After that we talked about how Christ can multiply our efforts just like he multiplied the bread and fishes to feed the multitude of the 5000.  We read about Enoch in the book of Moses 6 when he was called to preach to the people. When called this was Enoch's response:

"And when Enoch had heard these words, he bowed himself to the earth, before the Lord, and spake before the Lord, saying: Why is it that I have found favor in thy sight, and am but a lad, and all the people hate me; for I am slow of speech; wherefore am I thy servant?"

I think we have all felt like that.  Sometimes we feel like we are too weak, too small, and too unimportant and we don recognize the potential we have with God.  This was the response that the Lord gave him.

"Go forth and do as I have commanded thee, and no man shall pierce thee. Open thy mouth, and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance, for all flesh is in my hands, and I will do as seemeth me good.  Say unto this people: Choose ye this day, to serve the Lord God who made you. Behold my Spirit is upon you, wherefore all thy words will I justify; and the mountains shall flee before you, and the rivers shall turn from their course; and thou shalt abide in me, and I in you; therefore walk with me."

Enoch listened to the Lord, and exercised faith in His promises.  This is what happened through that same Enoch that was worried about preaching to the people because he was slow of speech.

"And so great was the faith of Enoch that he led the people of God, and their enemies came to battle against them; and he spake the word of the Lord, and the earth trembled, and the mountains fled, even according to his command; and the rivers of water were turned out of their course; and the roar of the lions was heard out of the wilderness; and all nations feared greatly, so powerful was the word of Enoch, and so great was the power of the language which God had given him."

Let that be a lesson to us of how the Lord works through us, and also of how he can multiply our efforts and works miracles through us.

That's all for this week!  Love you all and I hope you've been putting the Christmas music on today.  It's time.

Love,

Elder Adamson