Sam in Málaga: November 2016

Elder Hirst week 66

This week was pretty normal, sorry I don't really write too many interesting things anymore, I just fell like I have less and less time every week now. But hey, we are really just trying to help the ward and talk with tons of people and we're always seeing small miracles and enjoying the journey

Monday- p day was great, my companion and I bought a ton of Christmas decorations and just decked our apartment out with Christmas lights and even bought a cheap fairly good sized tree. That evening, we visited a family that we had contacted a while ago from Paraguay and they let us in and we taught them a lesson! They are really awesome, we hope they will continue.

Tuesday- we had district meeting and then we went down to Málaga for companion exchanges with the APs. I was with elder Holman who was my first ever district leader in the mission. We had a good time, we mostly taught some families from Nigeria which was my favorite because I love Nigerian people. I've learned at least a word from many dialects of Nigeria from my friends here in Sevilla, so I always like to ask where they are from in Nigeria and then say the word I know from their dialect and they always just love it! It was a great thing I learned from my last companion elder Reseigh.

Wednesday- we continued in the exchanged and we just talked with a ton of people in the morning and it was fun. We later took a train back to Sevilla, ran to teach some lessons, and went home, planned, and just fell on our beds exhausted. Traveling is just exhausting.

Thursday- we had thanksgiving dinner at the TGI fridays here in Sevilla. There's a couple here in Sevilla from Texas Tech university who are in charge of a study abroad program, and they've been here since August. They took us to the thanksgiving dinner they had there at TGI fridays and it was really good and we were so grateful for that couple. Later we met with Juan Carlos, from El Salvador. He's still having some difficulties in his life, but he's truly an awesome guy. We met in Burger King and he even bought us some whoppers to celebrate thanksgiving. We then stopped by our Argentinian family we are teaching and they are struggling right now so we just talked about how they need to put God always first and things will turn out alright. Then we met with our top investigator, Paula, and she's still progressing and everything, she reads every day in the Book of Mormon it's still just so hard to get her to come to church.

Friday- we met with Gabriela the recent convert, and we talked about ways she can help with missionary work. Also today was the day they the Christmas initiative for the church started so we just talked with a ton of people in the street and would show the new video to everyone who would let us! Later that evening it started to rain and wouldn't stop until Sunday night... man it just flooded like crazy. But we were able to teach one of our investigators, Silvina, from Bolivia. She was a reference but she's having problems going to church. Later we had a meeting with our ward mission leader, and after a family home evening of the ward and it was cool

Saturday- Saturday morning- we just straight up talked to tons of people in the streets then met with a member to talk about getting some references from her and her family. Then that evening every plan we had failed us so we decided to go to a part of our area in Sevilla that I've never really been to called La Negrilla and talk with some people there. There's tons of families with young kids so we want to work more there and we visited an awesome family of the ward as well. They said we should try and work there more. That night we met this Argentinian teenager who actually was basically raised in LA so we talked with him for a long time, and he's a true California bro which was just awesome to meet. He wasn't super religious but he let us tell him about our message and he was a nice kid.

Sunday- church was good, we were able to talk with the bishop about how we can help the ward some more. I really liked this week because they focused a lot about making the sacrament a better experience and it's something I feel like I need to improve on, in really preparing myself and thinking about it more throughout the week. The sacrament is such an amazing and spiritual experience and there are always things we can do to make it even more so for ourselves.

Well I just still love the mission so much. I'm so grateful that I've been able to be a missionary for the lord and for the places he's sent me to and the companions with who I've been. Each companion had been a best friend for me, and each place I've served in feels like a home for me. I miss Cadiz and Ciudad Real, but Sevilla has become another special place for me too and I just love the mission and what I'm doing. I wouldn't trade it for any other experience in this world. I'm so grateful for the restored gospel and I too wouldn't trade it for anything else in this world. I know who God is and I know that he knows me personally. I'm so excited for Christmas because I can focus on the light that the savior is in my life.

2:22 PM
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Elder Hirst in Spain week 65 update

Monday- for p day, elder reseigh has some final souvenir shopping to do so I just sort of walked around with him on that and it was good, Elder Reseigh is a great guy. We ate at a very good Peruvian restaurant. That evening, we said goodbye to one of the families in the ward

Tuesday- we had district meeting in the morning and said goodbye to everyone leaving their areas. Then we ate at dominoes buffet with some members. Then later we visited a few more different members for elder reseigh to say goodbye to.

Wednesday- it was transfer day which are always super crazy. We have to really help people get to the right places so they arrive to their areas. We just helped with that, then came a sad moment when my companion got on the train and we said goodbye. Reseigh was really such an awesome companion. My new companion arrived later, elder Owens from Gilbert, Arizona. He's a really great, super hard working missionary and a super awesome bro. We helped more with transfers then eventually got out and just went contacting a ton of people. Unfortunately from running around all day kinda stressed out, I caught a cold.

Thursday- we did weekly planning in the morning. That evening we visited the Nigerian member Morrison and he's always doing great. He hopes to go to the temple soon. Then we went and taught our investigator Gabriela from Argentina and she's actually been reading the Book of Mormon so that's awesome! Then we went out contacting more and eventually taught our investigator Paula and she's been reading a ton in the Book of Mormon and really loves it! It's just hard to get her committed to come to church.

Friday- we taught Gabriela the recent convert in the morning and it went well. Gabriela is the best! That evening we stopped by the less active from El Salvador, Juan Carlos. Juan Carlos is the funniest guy ever, I just wish he'd come to church... then we visited another less active Gustavo, and he's still struggling with stuff but he's getting better. Then we contacted lots of people and met some great prospects!

Saturday- we had correlation with our ward mission leader Antonio and it went well. Then that evening, we taught Andrew, from Nigeria, and he promised us he would come to church at the beginning of December. He's awesome though. Then we passed by some people and found a great new prospect named July, she seems cool. Then we were able to teach our awesome investigator Silvina, from bolivia. She just doesn't know which church do join, because her daughter is pushing her to join her other one, but she really likes ours too. We invited her to pray to know what path to take in life and promised that god would answer her.

Sunday- it was good. It rained a lot. We had gone early to go to church with one of our investigators, but she didn't answer so we were bummed, but we had good meetings. The rest of the evening wasn't that exciting.

Well i hope with thanksgiving coming up, people our thinking of what they are thankful for in their lives. I sure am grateful for a ton of things, more than anything, the comfort and peace I feel because I know I feel like i have been able to strengthen my relationship with god. I'm incredibly grateful for the mission, nothing has been better for me in my life. The miracle of my mission is just the fact that i'm on it, because I have gained a testimony of my faith and of Jesus Christ. I hope all people will think about how grateful they are for the blessings god has given them.

9:53 AM
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Elder Hirst post week 64

Monday- we took an early train from Sevilla and went down to mission leadership council at the mission home in Fuengirola. It was way awesome, but I will admit i was way tired after. We had some great food though.

Tuesday- we continued with the leadership council and then took the train back to Sevilla and that was already the whole day!

Wednesday- Wednesday morning, we visited our progressing less active Gustavo and he said he is thinking of coming to church this Sunday. He's progressed a lot, and we had a great conversation about the 'why' we do things in this gospel. That evening we taught the Argentinian family and it was a great but short lesson. Then we went and knocked on the door of an investigator we had dropped for a bit named Paula, but now we've started meeting again and we talked about how she needs to act on her faith in order to receive answers. Then it stared pouring rain outside to we had a fun rest of the night!

Thursday- we had interviews with president, I found out my companion will be leaving this transfer... haha just kidding, he's going home so I already knew he'd be leaving. But we talked a lot about learning to appreciate our own blessings and not undermining what the lord has given us just because of the blessings or accomplishments he gives to other people. Something very inspiring he told me was that if in our baptismal covenant we are told we must mourn with those that mourn, so can't we too take it to mean that we can rejoice with those that rejoice? It was a great interview. That evening, we ate with some awesome members Antonio and Cecilia, then we visited the Nigerian recent convert, Morrison, to talk about going to the temple, then we visited the less active Salvadoreño, Juan Carlos, and his greyhound Lucas. We talked about the importance of doing things in the gospel for a reason, and Juan Carlos is so awesome, he understands everything, he just is facing challenges in his life right is.

Friday- we met with Gabriela, the recent convert from Bolivia, in the morning and talked about being grateful for our blessings. Then, we had exchanges with the elders that are serving in Córdoba. They both came here, and I worked with and elder who is Chilean! His name is elder Pesce, from Santiago Chile. Haha, I love chilenos! 🇨🇱 we had a great night, mostly just talked to people during the night, and man am I sick of hearing about politics! Every person we contact in the street, the moment they find out I am American they just want to talk about the current political situation and I honestly have zero desire to do so and I outrightly tell them that, but they just kept going. But anyway, we'll give it a couple weeks and things will be back to normal. I hope.

Saturday- we had Zone Meeting in the morning and it was great. We talked about our authority to share the gospel and represent Jesus Christ as missionaries, faith, and gratitude in this season of gratitude. We also talked about the new Church Christmas Initiative. Every Easter and Christmas, the church always releases a special video as well as we do special stuff as missionaries as a way to share the gospel in a way that will touch people's hearts in these amazing seasons of the year, and it's just always awesome. Anyway, as missionaries we got to see the video early this year, and it's just absolutely beautifully done, I hope everyone November 25th goes and watches it (that's when it comes out on Mormon.org) anyway it's all focused on service this year, so I love it. Just amazing. That evening, we did some home teaching to many of our African members, and man it just amazes me always to see these people's very very humble circumstances, and hear the insane things they had to go through in order to find a better life, yet they all have such tremendous faith and are so grateful for any circumstance they are in. That truly is what gratitude is, not being grateful for the things we have, rather being grateful for the circumstances we are in no matter what they may be. All you have to do is talk to someone from these places, and you really see how amazing they truly are and how much faith is an integral part of their lives. I love it and it teaches me so much.

Sunday- church was good, I really enjoyed it. We had one less active who showed up and the biggest and coolest miracle was that we had our recent convert Gabriela bring her friend to church! Her friend said that she really liked it and wants to come back. She won't live in our area if she becomes an investigator, but hey it was cool.