Sam in Málaga: June 2017

Elder Hirst week 96

Monday- we went down to mission council, the good old 8 hour bus ride as usual. This last council was really powerful and i was able to give my final testimony there and it's weird because the fact that I'm going home in 4 weeks hasn't even hit me yet so i never actually felt it. Others from my group were there and were crying and what not and i just haven't felt it yet! But it was a great council

Tuesday- we finished mission council and then had exchanges with the APs in their area. I was with elder Burton who i love so much, he's just such a good guy. We had a great exchange and were able to teach some of their investigators and talk to some great people

Wednesday- we finished the exchanges and i was with elder Dunham who too is an awesome guy and we were able to talk to some great people and work well. Then we took the bus ride back and it was really long as usual. We got back to good old crazy Alicante. It's crazy because right now the festival "las hogueras" is going on. Basically it's to celebrate the coming of summer and they build these giant flammable statues that are just amazing artwork all over the city in every neighborhood (there's over 100 in the city and its a competition to see who built the best one ) and all week they have big parades and stuff and are constantly blowing off firecrackers, and then on Saturday night they burn all of these statues (which is sad because the combined money spent on these statues is well over a million euros) and throughout the week they close off all the streets and put these big beer tents and music. Anyway it was crazy but it was cool.

Thursday- that morning we did weekly planning. Then that evening all of our appointments canceled but we ended up being able to teach a less active and help him out in a time that he needed us and it was really good. We too helped Erica with her English because she has to do some make up test because I think she didn't get a good score in it this year or something.

Friday- that morning we had district meeting and it was fun. I'm back to being in a district with more hermanas than elders hahaha. More than half my mission has been like that. Then we ate with a member Juan Guillén and he actually had us go to his house and cook for him and us. He taught us to make the famous Alicante Paella which (according to the people here) is the best paella in the whole world because of a special pepper they use that only grows in Alicante and Murcia. We made some good paellas though! Then that evening we were able to meet with Oscar, who is now one of our investigators who came to church like 1 month ago. He is a special ops soldier in the Spanish military and his patrol is stationed here in Alicante. He's been deployed on 5 different missions throughout the world and has seen some heavy stuff so he definitely has some very very difficulty questions for us. But he's super awesome and really is making some great changes in his life and showing a lot of faith. Then we taught a new investigator named Santiago. You remember the girl named Camila who was baptized in our area like 3 months ago? Well it's her grandpa who just got here from Colombia. He really is just an elect person for the gospel and ready to receive it. We committed him for baptism for the following month. Also we got a hold of Martin and hes still in Santander but should be coming back next week and has been reading the BOM a ton on his trip. He's awesome.

Saturday- because of the drunk parties of the city the previous night, it was a ghost town in the morning. Then that evening we were able to meet with Oscar again and the lesson went really well. He's a really cool guy. Then we met with frank Lourdes and Erica and they are doing great as a family and their nationality papers finally arrived so hopefully they can get married and baptized soon. Then the parties got too cray so we had to go in and just study the rest of the night.

Sunday- hahaha church was very empty that day! Most people don't go to bed the previous night until 6:00 am so attendance was low, including with our investigators. But Santiago, he's a machine! He came and really enjoyed it. Then that evening we just felt like contacting with the hope that the people in the streets were going to be the more Righteous part of the population, and were able to meet some super great people.

10:27 AM
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Elder Hirst week 95

Monday- Our final P day of this transfer wasn't too exciting. It's just getting way too hot and humid to want to be outside. I feel like I'm in Florida right now, we're literally just drenched in sweat all the time. But we all had a good bite to eat for lunch at "The Good burger" and took some missionaries to the bus station in order to leave. That evening we had a family home evening with a few active and less active families in the ward in the house of a member, and one of the less active families invited their non member father who we actually are going to start teaching. Also, Lourdes and Erica were able to come and it was a good time.

Tuesday- they are closing the other elder's area in our ward so we had to go and help them pack and empty all the stuff out of their apartment. The ward is pretty sad about this, but it's motivating them to want to start working more so that's good. Then we went to eat lunch at our new favorite restaurant here in Alicante called "Mr. Chicken." It's kind of like a chick filet type place and it's really good and well priced. Then that evening some members took us out to their house in the middle of nowhere and we ate there and then we went to the ward family home evening where all the missionaries leaving were able to say goodbye and stuff.

Wednesday- my comp left pretty early in the morning to go to his new area in Los Alcaceres in Cartagena. I'll see him next Monday anyway, but I'll miss elder Pincock he was a fantastic comp and we had a solid 6 weeks together. The rest of the day i just spent it with the other elders in Alicante and we actually were able to visit someone who lives in this super nice beach house in a pueblo called San Juan Playa and it was sweet! Lots of tourists and rich Europeans live around there. But this place had like a private elevator and a huge movie room. It was the nicest place I've ever been to in the mission. Then i went to ward council and we talked about things we can do to improve the missionary work in the ward. Then i went and picked up my fantastic new Swedish Companion Elder Kärn. I think I'm mentioned it, but he was my district leader when i was in Sevilla so i already know him well. He is super super super cool.

Thursday- we did weekly planning and i''m grateful i have only 5 of those left. That evening we were just running around between appointments with a less active in the area of the previous elders. Then we taught our Nigerian investigator God's Time and were able to watch the restoration video and clarify some things about that and committed him to come to church. Then we had a family home evening with a less active family who is coming back to church now and doing super well. It was a really good family home evening.

Friday- that day, even though we had set up some appointments, just kind of failed on us and we ended up knocking on lots of doors, talking to lots of people in the streets, and things in Alicante are just complicated right now because all the huge festivals are starting so it's getting pretty crazy and people aren't too spiritual right now.

Saturday- we played futbol that morning with some members and less actives and it was way fun. God's time was going to come but he said he had chores he had to do so that he could come to church on Sunday, which was fine by us. Futbol was way fun though, although it was incredibly hot and humid! That evening we taught Frank Lourdes and Erica and it was a good lesson. Then we taught a less active and helped out with some stuff in his house in San Vicente.

Sunday- wow, church was really good! We had 5 investigators at church! Some of the highlights were that God's time was able to come, and the father of the less active family i was talking about on Monday also came to church. His name is Santiago and he's fresh from Colombia, as in he just got here like a week ago. We set up a lesson with him for this Friday. Also, a few less active families we are working with came to church and it was super awesome!

I continue just loving the mission incredibly. I feel like I've learned more in my mission about myself, about life, and of course about the gospel than in my whole life. I have the opportunity to meet so many amazing people and something I've loved about the mission is just seeing to gospel being applied in the life of the people, no matter where they are from or what circumstances they face. Those who truly live the gospel of Christ are happy.

3:30 PM
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Elder Hirst week 94

Monday- p day was good, we rented some bikes here as all the missionaries in Alicante and went down to San Juan, a pueblo of Alicante which is cool. It was way fun. That evening we had a family home evening with frank Lourdes and Erica.

Tuesday- we had district meeting in the morning and it was really good. Then that evening we had exchanges with the elders in Elche, elder Hildebrandt and elder Cox both from American fork. I was with elder Hildebrandt, who I've been with so much in my mission. We were in the same MTC district, we were in the same zone our first few transfers, and we were in another zone together, so it was awesome. I love Elder Hildebrandt. We had a great exchange and talked to a lot of people. One guy even invited us to go to a bar to talk about stuff and he bought us some juice (he didn't by juice...) and well he really doesn't want anything but it was interesting. Then we went to family home evening for the ward and Martin came and it was way fun.

Wednesday- that morning we were able to talk to a few people and it was good. That evening we taught a new investigator my comp had contacted in his exchange. His name is God's Time, and he is from Nigeria. He is a great guy with a desire to know the truth. That night we had choir practice.

Thursday- that morning we actually went over with Martin and made some lunch with him. He actually has to go to Santander ( a city in northern Spain) with his aunt, Sabina, so he can pick up some papers. His aunt is officially moving there, so we have to make sure the elders get in contact with her there. But they are so awesome. We had to change martin's baptismal date to the 24th just because he will be gone for a few days in Santander and we want to make sure he is ready. That evening we were able to teach Angel. We actually had to go and do some service and he was willing to come help us and it was really awesome. Instead of teaching service, we did a interactive lesson hahaha.

Friday- we went that morning to teach Martin again and the lesson was incredible, Martin had read so much in the Book of Mormon the night before and said that on his trip he plans on reading more. He understands it super well. That afternoon was awesome. Daniel and Nancy, investigators i had for a long time while I was in Ciudad Real, actually moved to Benidorm. They seriously have been some of the people I've loved the most in the mission and so I got permission from my mission president to see them, so they came down and we ate lunch together. It was so good to see them, we had such a fun meeting. I truly was overjoyed to see them. That evening we taught some members we are working with, Omar and Gabby. They haven't come to church for a while but they recently had a baby and they came the previous week to church to bless their baby. They are such nice people and are really excited for the church after their baby blessing. They also want to do a family home evening next week so that'll be fun. That night we were able to teach frank Lourdes and Erica and it was great

Saturday- another incredible day. We had a stake/zone mission activity. All the young men and women in the stake came down, and all the missionaries in the zone came down and basically it was a mini mission day. Each companionship in our zone was assigned some young people to go out with us and visit people here in Alicante. When we arrived and there were no more boys so my companion and I were assigned three 13 year old girls (one of them was Erica, so that was cool) and we taught a lesson to a less active family in our area. It went super well and the beehives did great!!! Too much energy for us though!!! The activity went way well and the stake presidency was very happy so it was good. That night we taught Blanca the recent convert and she is doing well, still continues with many health problems. Then we taught our investigator God's Time and he had read the part in the Book of Mormon we had assigned him so he's doing great!!! That night we found out transfers and these transfers blew our mind. Elder Pincock (who just got here) is leaving to go be the zone leader of the Cartagena zone and my new companion will be elder Kärn from Sweden!! He was my district leader back in Sevilla and he's awesome. And I'll have a Swedish comp which is sweet.

Sunday- church was great, not anything too exciting happened but it was good. People were very surprised to hear elder Pincock is leaving and he's obviously pretty bummed. But we had some great times and worked really hard this last 6 weeks so we are satisfied

Well I've officially got 1 transfer left. I'm excited for my new comp and excited to give it all i got for my last 6 weeks of the mission!!! I have loved the mission so much, it has been the greatest

1:45 PM
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Elder Hirst week 93

Monday- p day was rather uninteresting. Don't even remember what we did to be completely honest. But i know we played lots of ping pong. That evening we were able to go to the family home evening and Martin actually came as well and really enjoyed it.

Tuesday- today we had exchanges with the elders from Elche, Elder Smithson and Elder Wood. I was with elder wood and he's super awesome. He's from San Bernardino California and a convert of a couple years. He's a really solid missionary and we were able to talk with lots of people in the street and teach a less active we've just started working with, and it went super well. The rest of the night we really just focused on finding people and i learned a lot form elder wood.

Wednesday- we continued the exchange and just spent the whole morning talking with tons of people in the street, and then we taught Martin in the morning and it went well. He's really progressing. Then that night we just had lots of ward meeting and ward choir practice and it was fun, but I have to sing tenor now.

Thursday- we had weekly planning that morning. Just 7 more of those!!! Then we had lunch with some members and there actually was a girl there who just got home from her mission, and she was actually in the Milan Italy mission, so she was with my cousin Anziano Hogan. Haha small world. Then that evening we taught Martin with his aunt and they had some great questions about baptism. Then that night we had a meeting with the stake presidency and it was really awesome, i love the stake presidency here they are such solid leaders and great examples. They're all super young too! It was a great meeting and then they took us out to dinner.

Friday- we had interviews in the morning with president and it went really well, i found out that i will most likely be finishing my mission here in alicante which I'm super happy about. Then that evening we taught Martin again and we put his baptismal date for the 18th of June because he's progressing way well. He knows he needs to be baptized, so that's super awesome. Then the APs were up here for the zone conference the next day, and so i went with elder Dunham to visit the recent convert Dunham. Elder Dunham was the elder who baptized angel and we had surprised him and it was awesome to see, Angel was so excited to see Elder Dunham.

Saturday- we had the most incredible zone conference I have ever had in my mission. Elder Gay from the quorum of the 70 spoke at our conference. He actually was the first missionary to ever serve in this stake. He opened up these areas to missionary work and to see that this area turned from nothing when he first was there to a strong stake here in Spain was amazing. Elder Gay shared some of the most incredible things I've ever heard. I loved it. I also had to direct the meeting so that was scary. I was sat up on the stand next to a 70 and a couple of area 70s and president Andersen, and it was pretty frightening.

Hermana dos Santos. She was in Alex ward in England

Sunday- church was both disappointing but good. Disappointing just because Martin didn't come but we found out that he had to go to Murcia that morning. But it was great because the less active person we have been working with came to church for the first time in a long time, and enjoyed it. Many member talked with him and he said he'd come the following week. Also Elder gay gave a fireside and it too was extremely incredible.