Last One! July 30 ~ Transfer 17, Week 5

Hi everyone!

Well this is it. I'll be home in a week. I'm sure it will go by fast just as the whole 2 years has gone by so fast. This week we had intercambios with the elders on la Palma in la Palma so that was fun. Flying to get to intercambios and taking a series of buses to make it all happen isn't all that fun though. But we had some really great experiences with the elders in La Palma and we  even had District meeting in McDonald's. That was fun haha. We didn't have any where else we could have done it but it worked out just fine haha.

And the rest of the week flew by. I don't even know where it went. It was a mixture of a few teaching visits, a few unplanned opportunities of service and just trying to find new people to teach. We helped a guy who was carrying a mini fridge back to his piso but his transportation was his bike hahaha. And so he had the mini fridge (it was not so mini) propped up on his bike and he was struggling to move along. He wouldn't let us help out much (there was a big language barrier, no clue what language he was speaking) but we did help him situate it on his bike a bit better after it fell. So that was fun.

We visited a few less actives this week, these ones we met have some really good potential of coming back and so that's nice. One less active surprised us by coming to church and they told us they will keep coming back from now on! So that's cool. And we saw Felipe this week, he's a member but he wasn't feeling too good so we were going to give him a blessing but he wasn't answering us. So we just hoped he was home, we went to his pueblo/town and he was coming out of his door right as we got to his street haha. What a miracle. If we were any later we would have missed him! So those were the main highlights of the week.

Wow, two years goes by really quickly. It was filled with all sorts of experiences. Amazing, great, wonderful, happy, sad, frusturating, difficult, challenging, hard, embarrassing, awesome, growing, cheerful moments. The mission isn't something that can be explained with few words. It definitely hasn't been without its challenges either but it has been a wonderful experience. It's been really hard for me to share a message that is so important to me with people who don't care or who reject me. But, I feel like if we are willing to learn from the bad or sad experiences that we have and to grow from them, truly Heavenly Father does consecrate our afflictions for our gain. Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose".

I know that Heavenly Father exists. He really is our loving Heavenly Father and He has a plan for each and everyone of us, his children. I know that Jesus Christ is our savior and my savior and that it is truly only through him that we can return to live with our Heavenly Father again. I know that families can be together forever and that we are led by a prophet of God in today's day just as was done in ancient times. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that he was truly given the authority from Jesus Christ to restore his church with the same organization that existed before. And the way I know this isn't because I just grew up in church or because my parents' belief in God or because of anyone else. It's because I found out for myself. I had to ask God if this was true. And I asked and little by little my answer came. I did like it says in Alma 5:45-46, through praying and fasting to know.

Alma 5

45 And this is not all. Do ye not suppose that I know of these things myself? Behold, I testify unto you that I do know that these things whereof I have spoken are true. And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety?

46 Behold, I say unto you they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit; and this is the spirit of revelation which is in me.

Another scripture that I like is John 10:16 "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd". When Jesus said this He talked about the fact that those in Jerusalem weren't his only sheep. And the Book of Mormon is evidence of that, it is a record of Christ's ministry in the ancient Americas after his resurrection. And another scripture I like: Matthew 7:20 "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.". The Book of Mormon is a fruit of the prophet Joseph Smith because he translated it. And it is by reading the Book of Mormon and asking God if it's true that you can truly understand that Heavenly Father has restored His church on the earth day and that He still speaks through his servants- the prophet and the apostles. I invite you to also find out for yourself. It has changed my life and I know it will change yours too.

See you soon!

With lots of love,

Elder Openshaw 

1) district pic

2&3) sunset

4) bananas!

5) if you want to buy some "pain" in the airport...

July 23, 2018 ~ Transfer 17, Week 4

Hi all!

This week in a nut shell: one really good lesson with Xiomara and her family and then a lot of finding opportunities (this week was door knocking...because no one was in the streets). Lots of crazy, funny, terrible, and great moments haha. Here are some of the funny things:

While setting up lessons there was this guy on his motorcycle who passed by us 3 times! And he kept shouting "Amigos Jehovah!" there were 5min gaps between the times he circled around the block hahaha it was super funny.

We found an Ecuadorian family who own a bar right behind the bus station. They asked if we were American the first time we passed by and I asked "se nota?" (Can you tell?) And he said "claro". (Obviously) Hahaha and we passed by their restaurant again and they stopped us and asked if we were on vacation here and we told them that we are missionaries. And they asked if we were from the CIA or the FBI hahahaha. And we had some good laughs with them. One day I hope to pass by their restaurant so that we can talk to them some more.

We got a yes while knocking doors! The lady said yes, put your message in my mailbox hahahaha. So we put a restoration phamplet in the mailbox haha. 

Then there was pigeon man - there was a tower that had a ton of pigeon in it and all the pigeons fly out and then all of a sudden there is this man resting there, leaning out the window hahaha.

And an old lady answered. I spoke very clearly and loud. And she told me she doesn't speak english and didn't understand me. So I said okay let me do this in spanish and I said the same thing word for word and she then said she wasn't interested. What a funny excuse at first hahahaha. Because we both knew she understood us the first time. People are funny :)

We played sports Saturday morning. Someone came with nestea and was wearing a weed shirt. We took a group picture and the person who took the group picture made the one wearing the weed shirt cover it up with someone's bag haha. It was super funny.

A scripture I really liked that came to mind this week:

Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

It is truely through Christ that we can do all things. No matter how small or big the task may be, with his help with can be strengthened so that we can accomplish it.

Alma 37:6 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

7 And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.

It's also by small means that big things happen. Even if all we can do to improve seems insignificant or not enough, consistent, small progresses add up to be huge. The direction we are going is more important than where we are or currently stand.

Have a great week!

Con cariño,

Elder Openshaw

1-3)some pictures for mom haha. And a chapa picture

4) street name...both his parents were feo (ugly) so he must be really feo hahaha

July 16, 2018 ~ Transfer 17, Week 3

Hey everyone!

This week wasn't without it's challenges but we definitely had some miracles happen! Here's some random funny moments! 

-We met the most believing person I have ever met in Spain. Long story but basically what happened is that she was so happy to meet us that she basically was in tears and she gave us some preaching/preacher advice and then chased after us to say a prayer with her in the middle of the sketchest place in our area hahahaha. But it was great. It was a really positive experience.

-Funny moment: we were walking down the street and a lady in a black dress stops and takes a selfie....she made a duck face and had tomate Frito (tomato soup) and all-purpose cleaner in her hand...I can only wonder the story behind that hahahaha.

-One day, on the walk back home to piso I told my companion he wouldn't say "Aloha!" to everyone that walked by. It just happened to be that a group of jovenes were walking by and he did it to them hahaha it was hilarious.

-That moment when England scores a goal and all the people in the bars and buildings in Costa del Silencio (one of the towns in my area) shout all around us...That's how you tell how tourist-y a place is...

-We were walking to the church and we were stopped by an italian and we had a full Italian conversation with this guy. He spoke in italian and we spoke in spanish haha. I understood about 50%. But we got through it alright. Haha

-Then we went to a member's home to eat - we rang the timbre 2 mins late and the wife shouts into the mic "A comer!" (Let's eat!) And she rings us in hahaha. And also the dessert today was store bought apple strudel...she tells us that her homemade one is way better than this one....and we figured out why really quick... it was still raw! But we pretended everything was fine and we forced it down haha. The dough was very chewy haha.

Analogy/reality: Knocking doors is like ding-dong ditching without the ditching haha

Miracle Sunday: We had two miracles.

One: for the past 2 weeks we have been texting "Jose" who we thought was Obispo's friend Jose. Apparently it was a future investagator that the elders had never met with before...and he came to church! And that's how we found out it was the wrong Jose hahahaha. So that was funny.

And two: one of our friends we are teaching (the family that we have started to meet with because we passed them our phone number when we were waiting at a bus stop and they passed by) told the young wwomen's president that she wants to get baptized. So...that's super cool. And their whole family came today! Including the dad! For second hour we talked to the dad about his doubts. We've been teaching them and they are great. It's been such a miracle that we were able to find them and that they are so prepared to accept the gospel. The mom used to go to the church when she was in her home country but then she moved and she hadn't found the church here. But now they keep coming so things are going great with them! It's so awesome to see how happy they are as a family when they come to church.

Also, we went to Monkey park today. That was fun haha. The baboon didn't like my companion...hahaha. And my companion didn't do anything to it, it just started going crazy haha.

A scripture that I really appreciate is Romans 1:16:

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ because it's the only way that each and everyone of us can live with our Heavenly Father once again and and with our families forever. I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for each and everyone of us. 

Isaiah 55:8-9

8 ¶ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Some times his plan is different than ours, but his plan is always better. And in the end it will always benefit us to follow what His plan is because we have a have limited view on life compared to our loving Heavenly Father. Something else that I liked this week was said "You know you are on the right path if its uphill" because honestly that's how it is sometimes. The things that are better for us often aren't the easier things.

I know that Heavenly Father loves us and He sees better than we do. We just have to trust Him.

With care,

Elder Openshaw

Monkey Park!

July 9, 2018 ~ Transfer 17, Week 2

Hi all,

This week has been pretty eventful. It definately didn't come without it's challenges but the blessings were also many. Some fun experiences...

This week we had zone conference and we got to meet the new mission president and wife, President and Sister Bussey. They are super loving and it will be great for all the future missionaries that will be here in the new Madrid Spain mission. The mission boundaries changed now and basically half the map of Spain is all in our mission. So that's fun. It's a huge area. But it doesn't really affect me because I'm in the islands. But next transfer will be crazy with all the changes.

Also we got to meet with a super awesome family this week that we found because we waited at the bus stop and the husband stopped his car in front of us and asked for a card with our number on it. And then she called us. So we are meeting with them and they are awesome. The mom is a member and the husband isn't yet. We will see what happens. We meet with them again tonight.

Also, at church yesterday we were surprised that one of our friends came! She didn't even tell us she was going to come but we had invited her and she just showed up! It was awesome! And we hadn't been able to meet with her this week so we were able to yesterday and she felt really good having come to church :)

Other than that, we have had almost all our plans and back up plans fail us. One day we got from Plan A all the way to probably plan F. We went through so many ideas of what to do with our time and everything failed. So that has been frusturating but I'm sure Heavenly Father knows better than us and there's got to be some lesson we are supposed to learn or something.

Some things I learned/liked this week on faith:

“Challenges, difficulties, questions, doubts—these are part of our mortality. But we are not alone. As disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have enormous spiritual reservoirs of light and truth available to us. Fear and faith cannot coexist in our hearts at the same time. In our days of difficulty, we choose the road of faith. Jesus said, ‘Be not afraid, only believe’ "

“Faith comes not by signs, but by hearing the word of God”

Ether 12:6, 12

6 And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.

...

12 For if there be no faith among the children of men God can do no miracle among them; wherefore, he showed not himself until after their faith.

Heavenly Father can't work miracles until after our faith has been tried. That's the hardest part haha. It's so much easier saying you believe rather than acting on it and showing and trusting Heavnely Father that He really will help us in the end even if it doesn't seem like it in the moment. But He always pulls through. Maybe we can't see it with our limited vision/perspective but God is always there for us and He sees from an eternal perspective (a lot bigger and better than ours). I know Heavenly Father loves his children even when we don't think so or even when things don't seem to be going our way and that as we trust in Him He will strengthen us to endure our trials with courage and faith.

Have a great week!

Elder Openshaw

1) trying African fufu with a member

2) morning exercise by the ocean 

3) calle Boston

4) Smart yourself! 

July 2, 2018 ~ Transfer 17, Week 1 - T minus 5 weeks :/

A lot has happened this week. 

First off, since Friday we now have a new mission president, President and Hermana Bussey, and all the new Malaga missionaries. So that's cool.

Second off, Spain got eliminated from the World Cup this week so hopefully proselyting might go a little better now haha.

Third off, I can't think of a third really important thing haha. But we have zone conference this week and get to meet the Busseys. It will be good. Things are going well here on the islands. It's still perfect weather and we are enjoying ourselves. My companion Elder Medeiros and I have a lot of fun so we are doing well. An overview of this week:

Monday-Wednesday - intercambio with Elder Rogers and waiting for my companion

The rest of the week was fairly normal work and our friends that we are teaching answered so that was nice.

Monday: We went to la oratava (my second time there). We passed by a less active who totally blew us off haha. And we also passed by some Russians that the missionaries there met the other day and the Russians were impressed with my Russian words hahaha. And one American that lives with them too haha. My 6-ish words in Russian really helped us hit it off right away haha. And we talked to people in the street about the Spain game because literally everyone was watching the game and so that makes things super unproductive haha.

Tuesday: we hiked 30mins up a steeeeep hill to get to a lesson. Had the lesson and because they had arrived about an hour late, we were an hour behind. We were late getting back to where the matrimony couple from gran canaria were going to pick us up and take us out to eat. We were supposed to meet at 1pm but we finished the lesson at 12:50pm. We ran down the hill and got down in 10mins. So we were good on time. But then when we were 2 mins away elder rogers feels the need to stop a guy resting on his bike. He moved here from the Czech republic. He starts out by saying, "I was testigo but now I'm evangelist. If you want, you can sit down and we can talk". And I said "tenemos prisa" ("were in a hurry", which was not an exaggeration). But he proceeded to share some miracles with us and answers he got from God. And wow. That's the first person that believing that I have met in a very long time here. We invited him to read the Book of Mormon, and shared quickly about the restoration and it all worked out (although we had some real prisa haha). That contact gave me hope that there really are people out there (on this island) that want the gospel. A ton who don't want it but there are a few who do want it. And we made it to go eat right when the matrimony couple found the place.)  :)

Wednesday-Friday, Sunday - all great days but I can't think of really funny/entertaining things to share right now.

Saturday: we ate with our favorite Peruvian family here in Los Cristianos (and only but besides the point haha). We ate cheviche and anticuchos. They were really, really good. I'll send a picture.

Funny rejection 1: 

Me:"what happened in the soccer game today?"

Them: "do you live here?" 

 Me:"we live in Los Cristianos" 

Them: "oh well I don't care"

He runs away haha

-Funny rejection 2: knocked a door, got rejected by a woman. Right after, we see another woman walking down the street with bird cage and we talk to her. 20 min later we see them walking together, and the one that rejected us is staring at a wall to reject us again.

-Funny rejection 3: talking to two ladies on the bus on the way back home... they are from a different faith and they didn't like us although we were nice to them. And they talked poorly about my companion under their breath the whole rest of the ride home. We thought it was pretty funny

Here are some quotes I enjoyed from a talk from general conference this week:

"Pure love is the true sign of every true disciple of Jesus Christ."

"Wherever they go, they bring the love of the Lord and peace to the hearts of others. True disciples love to obey the Lord’s commandments, and they obey because they love the Lord."

"True disciples know that the real blessings are not always what they want but rather what the Lord wants for them."

"“May we begin now, this very day, to express love to all of God’s children, whether they be our family members, our friends, mere acquaintances, or total strangers. As we arise each morning, let us determine to respond with love and kindness to whatever might come our way.”'

"The love of those who serve silently and are not known to most of us but are well known to the Lord. The love of those who forgive all and always. The love of the ones who give more than they receive."

Christ's gospel is a gospel of love. Everything about it is about love. The commandments, the plan of salvation, the atonement. All was done because our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us. 1 John 4:8 - "...God is love"

1 john 4:11 "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another."

I love that the Lord love us and He really does want the best for us. Sometimes it's hard to believe but we must trust in Him and His plan for us. May we love one another more and truely love the Lord.

Have a great week!

Elder Openshaw

1) compy and I

2) cool pic

3&4) Peruvian food

June 25, 2018 ~ Transfer 16, Week 6

This past week has been an interesting one. Between holidays and the World Cup to makes it a little difficult for people to meet with us but we managed haha :) I would say this will probably be a short letter but it will probably be just as long as the other ones. :)

Transfers: my companion elder Hydrick is going to B9 in Madrid to be with Elder Gil (who I trained about a year ago). So he will enjoy that. I'm going to be with Elder Medeiros (from utah). And in 6 weeks I'll be coming home...yikes.

Monday: we went to San Isidro for proselyting. And we got a reference by asking a guy on a phone call for Wi-Fi haha. It was what came to mind and so I asked and he said that he needed to talk to us so he gave us his number. And we gave out a book of Mormon to a Cuban we stopped on the way to the bus stop haha. People are funny. And they like free things. We also saw some familiar faces today, some people we've talked to before. 

Tuesday: We came home to hot water! The technician came and it got fixed! At least for tonight, we will see what happens tomorrow. (It is still going strong)

Wednesday: We woke up this morning and then we went to go help Hermano Guzman with moving a bunch of his stuff from a storage unit in his complex to a different storage unit and to his brother's house in (he has to move it because they are doing construction in his complex...reinforcing the structure with steel beams). It took us about 5 trips, 2 to the storage unit and 3 to the home. It was a Chinese buffet. And it was super good. I ate way too much haha. And then we did two loads after eating to finish up and I was dead. I fell asleep in the car and Guzman shouted "cuidado!" (Watch out!) as if we were going to crash haha. We had a fun time with Guzman.

Thursday: We did Pancarta this morning (we used a stand up board with a question written on it, "what makes you happy?" And we asked people to write on it). We saw some familiar faces. And we also had a JW talk to us again and give us a phamplet hahaha. He was the only person who recognized us as Mormons. We had people call us JWs a few times and the best was an english lady who said "look it's the omish-ism" And my companion said hello in English and she got really embarrassed haha. Super super funny. But we saw a bunch of the same people as before. It was kind of interesting. Different day but a lot of the same people passed us.

Friday: weekly planning and English class

Saturday: This morning we went to go play soccer. Felipe, Maria V. and Aurora V showed up. We threw around the football a little bit and taught them how to play 500/jackpot and that was interesting hahaha. It was a very non-competitive game haha. And then Hermana Maria asked a bunch of Chinese young men playing basketball if us 5 could play against them 5. She's amazing. Haha and so they agreed to let us play. We got wrecked at first. And then after they beat us it became a game of who can make the coolest shot haha. And then we made a come back and started drilling some shots (Aurora and Maria made quite a few actually haha and Felipe too). And then we switched up the teams and it was a lot of fun. They spoke a little bit of English and quite a bit of Spanish but most the time they spoke to each other in Chinese haha.

We also missed the bus, ran and missed it again just barely...but it turned out to be a blessing because we made some calls and 2 people picked up that usually don't and we now have a couple of great lessons set up for this week!

I also helped a Russian lady with directions this week haha she was so excited that I spoke a bit of Russian hahaha. But I didn't get very far. We did help her out though. Huge language barrier but if you can make hand gestures and use Google maps it works great haha.

I was studying a talk by elder bednar this week from October 2008 called "pray always" and here are some things that I liked:

"Morning and evening prayers—and all of the prayers in between—are not unrelated, discrete events; rather, they are linked together each day and across days, weeks, months, and even years. This is in part how we fulfill the scriptural admonition to “pray always”"

"After expressing appropriate thanks for blessings received, we plead for understanding, direction, and help to do the things we cannot do in our own strength alone."

"Petitioning Heavenly Father for the blessings we desire in our personal lives is good and proper. However, praying earnestly for others, both those whom we love and those who despitefully use us, is also an important element of meaningful prayer. Just as expressing gratitude more often in our prayers enlarges the conduit for revelation, so praying for others with all of the energy of our souls increases our capacity to hear and to heed the voice of the Lord."

As the scriptures say, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:" (Matthew 7:7). As we ask and seek for answer, we shall find answers and recieve answers to our prayers. We must also understand that sometimes something we see fit for us isn't what Heavenly Father sees that we need. His thoughts are higher and He sees the whole picture. We have a very limited view. But as we use prayer as a way of aligning our will with His will, we will come to see (or continue to see) that Heavenly Father really does love us and will guide us back home. He loves us. He loves you, me, each one of us. And He wants what's best for us. We just need to trust Him and have faith that He will guide us as we ask for His direction. I invite you to pray and seek for answers to questions you may have and use prayer as a time to align your will with God's. Ask for His guidance and help and you will be led. Heavenly Father answers every earnest prayer. Maybe not in the timing that we want but in His timing because He sees best.

Have a great week!

Elder Openshaw

1) you like my fanny pack? It's huge! I didn't buy it though haha

2) super nice car...

3) a funny diagram we found in the moving van haha

4&5) my companion and I

June 18, 2018 ~ Transfer 16, Week 5

Hi everyone,

Shout out to the best dad (and mom) in the world for father's day :)

I'd say not a ton happened this week...we are still without hot water.(this is going on week 4 without it haha, week 3 complete...a good 18-20 days without hot water haha). Last Pday we spent running around and cleaning the old piso to give back the keys today.

Tuesday morning we did Pancarta here in Los cristianos - we wrote on a board "what makes you happy?" And we actual found two people. One guy said he would come to church. And we met samuel who talked to us about religion and who said he would come to english class. And the first people to talk to us were testigos...haha but they were actually pretty nice about everything. And there was a cute couple that pointed to each other when we asked them what made them happy. Many people didn't stop and there were lots of tourists but it went pretty well (we also put our sign in English and Spanish for the tourists haha). It was a fun little time that we had.

Wednesday: we went to San Isidro. We got failed on today just before the lesson (and we realized that they said yes but there was no possible way it would have worked out in their schedule...that was annoying). And so we just did pass bys. And we knocked on a door next to the pass by because they were home and apparently Elders Hydrick and Meeks had knocked her door before. And we taught her (Rachel) what we could about the restoration. And she knows the bible well so that's good. Maybe she has potential. Hopefully she will listen to what we have to say.

Friday: And for lunch we went to el fraile to visit with Maria and orlando -and Maria's cousin "Juan" is now living with them. He just got here a week or so ago from Venezuela. And for the lesson we "threw an audible". We were going to talk about temples before but with the new person in the plans we thought of sharing the restoration. But then Orlando asked for a video and we thought of the video about father's. And it happened to be perfect for what "juan" needed. It's hard for him because he had to leave his family behind so that he can help bring them to a safer place. And so he feels bad and he misses them a lot. But the video really helped him process what it is that he needs to continue to do. Everything he does is for them. It was a cool spiritual moment we had there with them.

On Friday: English class, Samuel and Juan came! They are new from this week. We met Samuel on Tuesday while doing the pancarta and he asked if he could bring a friend to english class. (So it was them 2, Maria V, Aurora V and Jesus in English class today, the Romanian family is in Romania and no one else came...so it was a small class today).

Right before starting the noche de hogar, Maria Villalobos and Jesus were talking up Mormons and missionaries the whole time before the song and after the prayer haha before starting the spiritual thought. It was pretty funny. We shared a simple message about the savior and his love for us and it seemed like it touched them or helped at least some people out. I felt the spirit at least and it helped me feel good. My companion said those noche de hogars are so good because they are a break for us too where we get to teach people who want to hear the word. And I agree. And both Maria V and Jesus invited Samuel and Juan to church (and Jesus the non-member asked before Maria V and Maria V told him he was more of a member than her hahahahaha it was super funny). Hopefully Samuel and Juan come to church too

Saturday: So while we were thinking about our day we first thought...well...we don't know who's coming to soccer (the Villalobos and Joseph said they wouldn't be there) so we were praying that someone showed up. And we got there to play soccer and we had a huge tender mercy. Christian and Carolina came to soccer today. They are less actives that we both met for the first time today. But what a tender mercy. And we threw around the football with Christian and then played soccer with some younger kids. It was fun. It was good to get to know them. And then Felipe showed up and we played 3 v 3 against some 10-12 year old kids. The teams were actually pretty matched/even haha us and Felipe versus them. They were really good haha. And they didn't want to split up their little team haha.

Then we got ready, ate, studied. I still wasn't excited for our day. And I called Sandra and she failed us...I figured. This is the second time. Well we decided to replan a bit and we went to go do pass bys in los cristianos and get to know it a little better. But we didn't quite make it. Right after walking out of piso we saw an English man and his son carrying a bunch of things up their stairs (they live in the pisos next door). We offered help and the father said sure. And then we brought it to the bottom of the stairs where he said it was fine and we asked to take it all the way of the 50 stairs haha. And after insisting he let us. So that was cool that we got to do some service. And the 11 year old "John" made fun of me for my American accent. He said "wow, you guys sound really American" and he mimicked the way I said Manchester hahaha. (I was explaining that my last name is English and cames from a city by Manchester). The father invited us to come back and talk to him another day if we would like. He doesn't seem interested but he seemed polite about allowing us a chance to chat. It was a polite thing for the 5-10mins we took to help him.

Then we headed towards the bus and because it's a Saturday our schedule on the app is off...so we had to wait for the bus to come. And as we got on the bus, Madeline, an Antigua investagator of the hermanas stopped us and said "hey, I know the hermanas, are you the missionaries?" And we've invited her to a noche de hogar or two but she has never been able to come. And we found out today that she has more potential than we thought. We talked to her on the bus and with her friend Borja. They both are super cool. Hopefully Madeline will be able to come to a noche de hogar or meet with us soon.

Sunday: We also had a Moroccan guy who spoke English, Spanish, Arabic and German to us from his window. We had about 2-3 contacts from the window that day haha. I didn't understand a thing he was trying to say but he thought I knew what he was saying...

So much for not having much to share haha.

Here's a quote from a general conference talk that I really like and am trying to internalize:

"Life is different for each of us. We all have a time of trials, a time for happiness, a time for making decisions, a time for overcoming obstacles, and a time for taking advantage of opportunities.

Whatever our personal situations may be, I testify that our Heavenly Father is constantly saying, “I love you. I sustain you. I am with you. Do not give up. Repent and endure in the path that I have shown you. And I assure you that we will see each other again in our celestial home.” In the name of Jesus Christ, amen"

("He that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved" - elder zivic)

I really like that. The mission is hard, it really is. I'd be lying if I said it was easy. And I've had an especially difficult time. But it's kind of like a mini example of life. Life is hard. But there are good times and happy times and sad times and times where things seem impossible to overcome. It makes me feel a lot better that the Lord is there for us and that He constantly is saying, “I love you. I sustain you. I am with you. Do not give up. Repent and endure in the path that I have shown you. And I assure you that we will see each other again in our celestial home.”. Internalize those words. Let them ring true. And I know that He loves us even during those times that we forget or don't remember it or it doesn't seem like it. Just keep going. Just keep trying and things will all work out.

Have an awesome week!

Elder Openshaw

1) intercambios with La Palma 

2) a great pizza we ate this week

3) a hilarious video from a pizza company here in Spain (not made with actual missionaries)

Video: Will add soon

June 11, 2018 ~ Transfer 16, Week 4

Hi all!

So the start of this week we were on Gran Canaria (a different island than where we live) for a zone conference and interviews with the Packs. It was our last zone conference with them so it was bitter-sweet. It was an amazing conference, probably one of the most uplifting ones on my mission. I will definately miss the Packs. They have served with so much love and they have helped me out so much.

This week for taught a few cool lessons. One over video call (while in Gran Canaria, right before interviews haha). And the others in person. But we actually had a very action filled week. I'm not sure if I mentioned the ants or the cold water but...our new piso has an infestation of ants and we are finally getting it under control. Apparently they disappeared last week and this week they were back. And the cold water...we did have hot water for about 1-2 days. And then it went out again. And they didn't get someone out here until today...we've gone a good 2-3 weeks with freezing cold showers each morning hahaha. We will see how long the hot water lasts...

About the lessons, we've got a couple of investagators who are progressing steadily. Little by little they are coming along. This past week we had an intense lessons where one let us know that they didn't know if God existed because of all the bad that has happened in their life. And they said they would pray and things would just get worse, not better. We pleaded with them to keep going, to keep fighting. And to continue until they see the light and happiness that God can offer them. One of my favorite scriptures: Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

Most times, Heavenly Father doesn't take away the trial. He lets us learn from it and become stronger from it. And sometimes that means it may seem like the trial is too much. But He never will give us anything beyond what He knows we can handle/manage (however difficult it may be). He loves us and wants to best for us. We just have to trust that He is there to guide us and help us when things get difficult, when life seems impossible and when things really aren't going your way. I know Heavenly Father truly does love us and that He wants the best for us. Even when we aren't capable of seeing His love or help in the moment (I feel like gratitude and recognizing our blessings helps with seeing just how much Heavenly Father loves us). So if you are feeling down, count your blessings. And you will be able to feel/see how truely blessed you are.

Funny moments: little kid comes over during the lesson in the park with Lily (investagator) and we all say hi to him and he has one purpose...stone faced he goes over and tries to kick the soccer ball out from under Lily's little brother (he's sitting on it). And it was so funny. And the mom was so upset with the little munchkin but he still didn't change his facial expression haha

Also, I got hung up on 4 times (that day)...haha. People just kept hanging up while I was still talking to them. Even in situations where people normally stay on the line (like with members and such haha). But it was funny.

We also had a ward activity on Saturday and it went super well. There were more non-members than there were members. It was a lot of fun. We did a little cultural sharing night where everyone brought a typical dish from their country. We brought brownies and made them look like a soccer field haha. But there was a lot of great food there.

Have an amazing week!

Elder Openshaw

Photos: 

Zone pday, zone conference, some of the many people at the activity (the one where both my comp and I have blue ties haha)