It was a short week again everyone I hope everything is going well especially for all my friends in California with the fires!
Tuesday: today we taught a few more lessons and had a visit which was pretty great. We visited a woman in the ward who was the first person in the Valencia area in Spain to be baptized. The very first one and she just told us her whole story of the church growing here in Spain in this area it was so cool. Shes 85 and is still strong in the church, all we need is more members like her honestly. After we taught a lesson to Eduardo our friend from Venezuela. He has always been curious about the church and he asks us a lot of questions but the problem was he wasn't receiving the spiritual side to it and he didn't understand our purpose and missionaries. So we taught him the first lesson and made sure we explained very well what we believe and that he needs to ask God about the Book of Mormon and our message to see if its true. Because if what we teach is true that means God is showing him the right path to take and that he needs to continue in the church not just learn a lot of info. It was a good lesson and we are going to meet him on Friday for a family home evening with a member family so I'm excited. Then we taught Edwin English and then shared a short message about prophets and why they're important. Very simple, we're just slowly working on the gospel with him and he is taking it very well.
Wednesday we taught Praise the Nigerian woman again and taught her about the Book or Mormon. We read from the talk the Book of Mormon what would your life be without it from President Nelson which is super super good. I encourage you guys to read it. It's from October 2017. We are trying to help her realize how important it is to know that we are the only true church on the earth and we know that through the Book of Mormon. We then taught Pedro which was a man I found on Facebook. We met with him to teach English. He told me before that he knew some English and he basically speaks English but he can't read and write so we taught the alphabet and most importantly the sounds they make so he can start getting ahold of that. We then taught our friend, other Pedro who we are teaching about the gospel. We taught a lesson with a member named Arturo who's is a returned missionary of about a year I would say and he totally helped us teach. He's Spanish and so he can so simply explain the topics and so Pedro really learned and understood a lot. We taught him the gospel of Jesus Christ And in the end of the lesson he asked us how long it takes for someone to be baptized and that's all we were looking for. He truly feels the power and truth of what we teach and so he is on track towards baptism. We haven't set a date yet but he's progressing to that point. We are progressing a lot and teaching more with some awesome people!
Thursday we has first district meeting in Gandia it was pouring! Like a lot which made me so glad I have an umbrella, it's seriously a lifesaver. Then we ate at the Good Burger with the district which was bomb. Every Thursday you get 2 burgers for the price of one and they're amazing. Best burgers in Spain, level with some from the US to be honest. Then we split up and went on exchanges and I spent the rest of the day in Valencia. We didn't do too much except teach an English class. That night we hung out and just talked and then grilled chicken on a George Foreman grill his mom sent him that day through Amazon. It's very interesting to me missionaries are not very good at managing money. That's something I learned in college and high school and I'm glad for it. Most missionaries blow through they're monthly money and always are scrapping for food by like halfway through the month.
Friday, we ended the exchange in the morning and then went to the Fitzgerald with the Viñas. Elder Viñas was a member of the 70 for about 20 years and so he's very knowledgeable and very nice. He took us to the Fitzgerald which is super good and very expensive hamburgers. They drop like 10 euros on every burger it's too much but he was kind enough to pay for us. It was super good. After we taught Eduardo our Venezuelan friend and we had another good but tough lesson, we didn't even get a lesson in all we did was answer all his questions. He's a very curious man and sometimes he jumps too far ahead and misses the important info and so we had to help him understand the story of the Book of Mormon and how it makes sense why we have it and he committed to read it and pray about its truthfulness. Honestly he's a very good man, very fun to be around and very honest, always goes through such his commitments and so I think little by little he will learn to enjoy the church and find the knowledge and answers he's been looking for here.
Saturday an English class with a 74-year-old Valencian man named Paco and that was an interesting class. We taught him English and he told us all these things about Christ and how he is very Catholic and so we just served him and let him go without sharing a short lesson. To be honest he's a little crazy so we will see where this all goes. Then a lesson with praise first who we read from 2 Nefi 31 and talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We invited her to come to church and she said she's going to come so we will see. Then we taught Brian a convert of about 8 years in his country of Uruguay. He was baptized but moved to Spain and now feels like it's his time to get his life together and come back to church. He has a big testimony of the Book of Mormon and he's very motivated to come to church. Because he had a big pause without the church he's relearning a lot but that's ok and were helping him out. We then finished with Jorge and Adriana who are recent converts and taught the plan of salvation. Very long day but very good and we invited a lot of people to church so we excited. I also am starting to see myself more relaxed in the work. I am at a point in the mission where I'm adjusted a lot and I am comfortable in the language and so I can be more of myself and more confident and its comforting and helpful in the work in lessons, contacts, and with members it's a lot more natural.
Sunday, we had church and 5 friends in church again which is fantastic. It was a good service with the primary program. It was different because it's not like normal talks but the primary program is all focused around basic doctrine which helps out our friends in the church a lot as they learn more. Then we walked around with a friend named Joaquin and talked and got to know him better. He really doesn't have friends and so we as missionaries minister to him and be his friend and invite him to learn more about the church and better his life. We met with Alberto and answered some of his questions about the church quickly. He is progressing a lot and he's been coming to church which is fantastic. After that we had an eating visit with a member who made us arepas which is like a thick tortilla with chicken and vegetables inside. They were good and now we're headed to Valencia to stay 3 days. Tomorrow we are doing a service project and after a big Thanksgiving feast with all the missionaries and then we are staying there 2 more nights for other plans we have!
That was my week and I hope you all have a great week as well. Send me emails and pictures I love to hear from all of you and keep Spain in your prayers as recently it's been raining and flooding all over the country.
Love you all,
Elder Keith
1. Kebab, delicious I wish they had it in the US but it's super bad for you
2. Murals in Valencia
3. With all the district and some more missionaries
4. Been raining a lot this last week in Gandia
5. Other church propaganda. It's very interesting to me what other churches put out. It's very very out there in my opinion.
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