Fool in the Rain

March 5, 2018

It has been heavily raining and windy all week, but we've managed to keep the days full and uplifting. The wind is actually very nice. I always appreciate some good airflow.

There was a lot of time spent in things this week that aren't normally grouped together with your standard issue "missionary work". This included dealing with things the office needed from me, cleaning the chapel, zone council meeting, and giving out referrals to different parts of Spain. To focus on that last one, we have been running into a lot of people who don't live near us. Old investigators in our phone wanted to meet with the missionaries again and/or go to church, but now live in other places (one of which, seemed really promising and now lives in Málaga). We also met this very nice engaged couple in the bus station in Granada after the zone meeting. They have a knowledge of who the missionaries are; the guy even has a Book of Mormon at home! We have their information and will see what we can do from there.

Monday: We had a fun little castle run of which I took a myriad of photos. Feel free to feast your eyes on the ones I sent. It wasn't as adventurous as the no-limits castles that are scattered about Extremadura, but the company was pleasant, and it was a fun trip overall. We hiked practically straight up the mountain to the castle, did the tour, then walked out to the big white cross that stands on a rock outcropping of the mountain. We sprinted down the hillside on the way back to town. I enjoyed that a lot and nobody was hurt! We went with Julian who is an investigator who's going to school here and with Johnny and Jenni. 

Our companionship in a nutshell.

Before I continue, I would just like to mention that there are two really awesome American families here. Johnny and Jenni are two recently married RMs (one went to Florida, the other to Norway) who are studying here at the university. The other is Dan and Kelly. They have...four kids? Anywho, the kids are all under 12 more or less and they're all a hoot. Dan and Kelly are teachers here and I guess Dan worked for NASA for ten years. He's our ward mission leader.

Our Monday evening consisted of passing by people, but no one was home. We did get to enter the home of a sister who lives with her 89 yr old father and mentally challenged brother, and two of her nieces were present (they could be less-active). We shared a message on The Book of Mormon and the strength and peace we can receive from it's teachings. It went well. Especially since we didn't have much of a game plan.

Tuesday: We were going to have a lesson with a recent convert, but he couldn't do it because he was so caught up with prepping to leave for the Canaries the next day. I didn't get to interact with him very much, but evidentally when he finally accepted the Gospel it completely transformed his life. He found a solid job in the Canary Islands, so he's there now. 

On Wednesday we were able to teach a new investigator named José. He's an older Spaniard and a friend in the ward has really been pushing for him to go to church and meet with the missionaries. We taught The Restoration and it went very well! The member sat in on the lesson and was very helpful in bearing testimony and explaining certain aspects of prayer. José is very busy amd travels a lot for work, so we hope to see him at least once a week. He also has come to church two times consecutively including today. After the lesson, we just had our studies in the chapel until it was time for soccer. The weather conditions were horrid, so we played chair soccer inside. 

Thursday was interesting. Stuff kept coming up during our weekly planning so that ended up being spread throughout the entire day.

Friday: After our daily morning stuff we made some calls, sent some messages, then headed over to the chapel to clean (it was our group's turn). We swept and mopped the chapel, then walked to our bishop's house for a lunch we had set up with them. His wife made really good paella. Now, I'm normally the faster eater in the companionship, and that always comes with the cross to bear of accepting seconds because people are still eating and they just assume that you're still hungry. When you politely decline because you really don't need more, they heavily insist until you give in. This time, I had just downed a heaping mound of saffrony rice goodness. I was guilted into eating "a little more" and I specifically asked for "just a little more". I received a mound semejante. Woo. This was the first time at a member's house where I couldn't eat all of the seconds :( Most of the evening was spent helping clean the rest of the chapel.

Saturday: We bussed on down to Granada because Elder Bingham had to go to the zone council meeting. My part of the day consisted of very uneventful contacting in a slightly-chilly Granada, and a trip to a chinese buffet that was really good, but ended up costing surprisingly too much. We got back in time for some quality study time aaand that's it.

Sunday: It was a very quality fast and testimony meeting! We also had a really good visit with a member who's trying to deal with problems with The Word of Wisdom. We planned on reading in The Book of Mormon with her, but we had no idea what to read. So we were throwing out different chapters, and then I started thinking about King Benjamin and suggested Mosiah 4. We visited her with Johnny and Jenni and it went extremely well! It ended up being exactly what she needed to hear and we had a very good discussion as we read. 

It's interesting how something as simple as analyzing what you read in the scriptures can uncover powerful and uplifting treasures.

Aaaaand that was the week more or less!

I was saddened to hear of Great-grandpa's passing. I would have really liked to see him again and get to know him more. Luckily, I will; because that is our Heavenly Father's plan for us. I've been keeping the Anglesey's in my prayers, especially my lovely Great-gramma. I hope she receives the comfort she deserves. 

Enjoy the many pictures!

Elder Jensen :)