January 8, 2018 ~ Transfer 12 Week 6

Hi all!

So we had transfers today!
My companion Elder Jarvies will be moving down to Parla and I'll be with Elder Kamber from Switzerland.

I'm short on time so here are snippets of the week. The ideas may not follow as well as they should haha.

Monday: And we went to the Pizzaro's for lunch. We ate butillo! It was sooooo sooo good. It may be my new favorite Spanish food. It's a stomach of a pig stuffed with ribs, tail, and other bones/parts and it tastes like chorizo with a little kick of spicy (but it's a Spaniard meal so it's really not THAT spicy). But really really good. The soup that went with it too was really good. I know...it probably sounds terrible or inhumane but it's not haha.

Tuesday: Then we did some Pass bys in the center, not much luck, followed up by some calls. And we also saw Maria again! We ran into her near the bus station. She told us that she had given her number to some of our companions on the bus coming back from Bembibre and we said "you sure it wasn't us?". And she said "no". So we set up a time to visit her. Haha but she didn't remember us at all.

Then we saw the Pizzaro's for the third time today haha. And we met with Jose Mari at his home to bring us to a paper store to print English cards. He knows the owner and used it as a finding opportunity so that the owner would definitely know which church Jose Mari is from (and Jose Mari is also the name of the store owner haha). It was very interesting too because the whole situation worked out really well and we had a super good conversation (although if we hadn't been with the member Jose Mari, I don't think we would have made the friendship with the store owner that we have now). It was pretty interesting seeing that natives are more open to talking to natives and how if you are with a member they can help you out a ton to seem more normal haha.

Wednesday: Then we used some of our lunch time and we went to the Castle here in Ponferrada. It was soo cool! The coolest part was a really skinny spiral staircase that takes you up to the top where you can see all of Ponferrada. It's a beautiful pan-o-rama. And that super beautiful view got me pumped about finding people to teach, it makes Ponferrada look a lot bigger and we can see the places we walk maybe a little too often in the city and analyze better. It was cool.

Friday: At Joaquin's, we shared a quick message and they talked to us for 1.5 hours like normal haha. We sat in the kitchen around the old fashioned stove as Joaquin put coal in it to keep us warm. Great people, Joaquin and Loli.

Saturday: And then we started the fast with Juan Carlos. He didn't quite understand how we were going to do it but he locked himself in the bathroom and I start it and he ended it. And as he was adding to the prayer, he was praying and then one of his sisters asked what he was doing and he yells "I'm on the phone!" and continues as if nothing happened hahaha. It was pretty funny.

And earlier this week the prophet Thomas S. Monson passed away. Super sad but it's great to know that he is with his wife now. He was such a great example of always serving and loving. It's so comforting to know that we have a prophet who receives revelation from God to know how to guide His church. Heavenly Father has always worked through prophets.

In Amos 3:7:
7 Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

Luke 1:70

70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:

So ever since the world began, Heavenly Father has worked through prophets. And He has given us guidance to know whether or not they are a true prophet. In Matthew it says:

Matthew 7:16-20
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

So by their fruits you will be able to tell whether they are a true prophet or not. Jesus Christ established his church on the earth and gave the authority to Peter and the apostles to carry on his work after his death. But because the wickedness of the people (and as prophesied), all the apostles were killed and the church of Jesus Christ was lost. But because Heavenly Father loves his children so much and when his children were ready to listen, He restored that same church of Jesus Christ through the prophet Joseph Smith. The Book of Mormon is a fruit of the prophet Joseph Smith. I promise you that if you read, ponder on the message contained in it and pray to God to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet and if the Book of Mormon is true, you will receive an answer. Because I have. And I know the Book of Mormon is true. And I know that Jesus Christ guides His church, through prophets in our days. I invite you to read the book of Mormon and pray about it. And I'm you have any questions or concerns or whatever else, I'm happy to answer them :)

Have a great week!

Elder Openshaw

January 1, 2018 ~ Transfer 12 Week 5

Happy New Year! 

This week was quite a long week. I'm going to share snippets of the week so bare with me:

On Christmas we ate rabbit with a member family. The texture was like a mix between chicken and frog. It was pretty good, it was a fun experience.

Then we had intercambios (exchanges) on Tuesday in Leon. A funny moment that happened is that I asked two teenage dudes about where a fake street was - "calle Martínez Gómez" and they decided to look it up on google maps and didn't find it haha. I didn't get a good transition either haha. It was an awkward but funny conversation haha.

On Wednesday, we were getting ready for Juan's lesson but we felt unsettled. We felt an uncomfortable feeling. So we got down on our knees and prayed. We prayed individually. And when we stopped we both felt the same - we felt that the whole family was there at home and that it was okay to go over but that something unexpected would happen that we couldn't control. And at this point we still didn't know if we had a member so we were just acting on the faith of those feelings. And right after leaving the apartment, the Branch President calls us and says that he is on his way - a tender mercy for sure. And sure enough we get to the home and everyone was home. The unexpected part is that only Juan and his nephew were really present, not all of the family wanted to participate this time. That was pretty sad. But it was a miracle that we both knew that everything would work out and that the whole family would be home. The lesson went really well, we talked about the Book of Mormon and we did How to Begin Teaching again but this time a lot better, helping them to understand that they need to act. And then that was the day.

Thursday: Weekly planning. It was alright. I was pretty drained after it just because it took so long. And we threw in a chicken so it would be done after we finished weekly planning. It worked out pretty good. The only issue was that when we were sitting and planning I had the odd feeling to check the chicken...and so I did. And I opened the oven and saw that the end of the plastic bag had melted because it was too close to the heating coils...so thankfully we found it before it was a big issue.

Then we did our studies and we get a message that says "hey I'm luis, can we meet today at 4:30?". (It was 3pm at the time). And we didn't know any Luis...so we were wondering who he was. And we were pretty sketched out. And we found an Antiguo investagator record of Luis and figured it was probably him. But he would text us, we would call and he wouldn't answer and then he would keep texting us. But in the end we prayed about it and felt good about it so we met up with him at 5:30. And so we met with him in the park (Plantio) and he told us about how he wants to change. And it was cool to see that he wants to change. We got to know him a little better and told him we would be happy to help him find his faith. And funny moment: we start talking and he tells us he's very awkward talking to girls and he wants us to help him find a mormon girlfriend. I told him I am bad at talking to girls too so we couldn't help him out with any more then teach him about the gospel hahaha.

Friday: We met with Luis again and then we had a lesson with Miriam. It went well. She's a great lady. We invited her to be baptized and she said she would be "encantada"/pleased/delighted to be baptized. She wants to but she can't quite get to the capilla.

Also a funny moment: while out on the street today I was talking to an old guy who asked why we were here and I told him that we are missionaries. "Somos misioneros" le dije. Y él me dijo "no, no los sois, nadie es prisionero aquí" jajaja. I had to correct him and tell him, no not prisoners, we're missionaries! Haha it was pretty funny. He thought I had said "Somos prisioneros"/ we are prisioners.

Saturday/Sunday morning: Apparently I woke up at 2:30am, turned the light on and started praying. My companion was so confused and told me that he asked me for the time and I just grunted and kept praying. And then we checked the phone and his tablet to make sure it was 2:30am and sure enough it was. So he goes to the bathroom, comes back and I'm still praying haha. And he tells me to go back to sleep and that we still have 4 hours to sleep. Apparently I just flopped back down and went right back to sleep haha. I don't quite remember all of it happening haha.

Well that's the week in a nutshell. I've learned a lot listening to the spirit this week and trying to be sensitive to even the slightest impressions or thoughts. Every week in the mission is a learning experience. A quick scripture I would like to share for this week:

1 Nephi 1:1:
"1 I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; having seen MANY AFFLICTIONS in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been HIGHLY FAVORED of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days." (I had to make the words BOLD the old fashioned way haha)

I just started reading the Book of Mormon again this week and I thought it was interesting that the prophet Nephi starts by writing about how he had "many afflictions" but yet he had been "highly favored of the Lord" all his days. I think that is very common in our lives. Life isn't meant to be easy. We can be very blessed by the Lord but bad things will still happen. Keeping the commandments doesn't make us immune to trials in life. Trials are helpful and help us to grow. I know that our Heavenly Father knows us personally and that He always has what's best for us in mind even if we can't see it ourselves. And He has promised that He won't give us more trials than we are able to bare.

Well have a happy first week of January! 

Love you all!
Elder Openshaw 

December 25, 2018 ~ Transfer 12 Week 4

Merry Christmas to everyone! 

I hope everyone has a wonderful day and week!

This week was a pretty eventful week. We are still searching for people who we can teach and how we can help out here in Ponferrada. We are trying new things and switching things up so we can do things better had how we are doing them.

Early this week we went to the food bank to see if we could volunteer there and we are able to! We did everything necessary and now have service to do every Tuesday even we can (a really slow time)! That was a blessing! I have never had such an easy time finding service and signing up for it here in Spain! And the lady helping us out was super happy.

Tuesday morning we set the goal of sharing the Christmas initiative and sharing the restoration. And we met the goal this morning! We showed the video and shared the restoration, and we got a fake number hahaha I called it and he tried to cover it up...haha but we gave him a book of Mormon and at least he walked away with that.

That night we went to an investigators' home and we taught the whole family! We were so excited to be able to teach his family! The family was so interested about what we wanted to tell them with the restoration and about how the church of Jesus Christ has been established again on the earth by a living prophet. Nicolas (the 14 year old) asked when church was even before we asked! They are a great family. I don't know if I've seen a more excited to family to hear about the gospel. And even with little kids they all were listening very intently. It was a wonderful experience and we will see how it continues.

Then we had intercambios (exchanges) with the elders in Leon. It went well, all fairly normal until the bus ride home. I stayed awake (miracle) and was finishing up some things I needed to do on my tablet. And then, when almost home (about 20 mins away), a lady hops on the bus and she sits across from us in the aisle. She's super drunk. And she sees us and says in a really loud voice "hey, you're the Mormon missionaries aren't you!" (all in Spanish). "Well I talked to some missionaries a while ago (Elder Jarvies and another on intercambios but she didn't remember that) and I want you to visit my home, here's my address and number and here's my full name". And they she told us she was looking for a new church. And she kind of went off and starting saying a bunch of things and she started singing songs about Jesus but really really loud. She also told us she wanted to be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and Virgin Mary. Suggested "the Spirit" as part of that list haha. It made people on the bus really uncomfortable that she was talking about Jesus and talking so loud (keep in mind, this is 20 mins). And then when leaving she says to the lady sitting behind us "these are good boys, you should listen to them". It was great.

We met with quite a few (emphasis on few) of our investigators this week. I was very thankful for the help we had from the members we invited to be with us. They really helped us teach what was needed and to help relate to the investigator better than we knew how (they explained things using examples from their culture that we don't fully understand but that the investigators did understand haha). The members saved us. We had some really awesome lessons.

We were on the way to a members home and we heard revving engine noises. And really loud engines. We go up the hill and there is a rally car race going on! It was super cool! We were able to have some conversations with people about what it was and I learned a lot of new words about cars haha. And the members live right above where the track was so we had a nice view haha.

Yesterday my companion gave a talk in church and I told him about the scripture in Doctrine & Covenants 38: 30 "...if ye are prepared ye shall not fear". I suggested that he read that scripture and then say, "I know the counsel in this scripture is true because I didn't prepare my talk and I'm really scared". He went up and told the joke and nobody laughed hahaha. Most were just stone-faced. A couple of smiles but not much hahaha. I was laughing so hard because no one else laughed.

I'm so thankful for the members here who have fed us this week and who invited us over to share Christmas eve with their families so that we didn't have to just spend it alone at home. We are well cared for.

Christmas is such a special time to spend together as family and to remember the greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ. He paid for our sins and suffered so so much so that we can return to our heavenly home. We can't repay Him for His sacrifice but we can do what He has asked us to do, keep His commandments. And by keeping the commandments, continuing in faith, repenting and being baptized, receiving the Holy Ghost and continuing until the end, we can return. I know He has restored His church on the earth once again through a living prophet as He did in times of old. Here's a beautiful scripture about Jesus and His earthly ministry:

5 For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases.
6 And he shall cast out devils, or the evil spirits which dwell in the hearts of the children of men.
7 And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people.
8 And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary.
(Mosiah 3:5-8)

I know that Christ knows us personally. That He suffered for us and gave us a gift so valuable that we can't even imagine it fully. He did what we could not do ourselves. I love you all and wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy week!

Love,
Elder Openshaw

December 18, 2017 ~ Transfer 12 Week 3

Randy emailed about our plans for getting to Skype on Christmas...WE ARE SO EXCITED!!

December 11, 2017 ~ Transfer 12 Week 2

Hi all!

So Thursday was Pday, Friday was zone conference. We met with about 50 missionaries and it was a wonderful conference. We talked a lot of the changes that we need to make this coming year that can help us become the missionaries that Heavenly Father wants us to be. It was cool to be at a zone conference where I actually knew so many people haha. And Friday night we came home right after the conference (we actually had to leave the conference a little early).

I forgot to mention but on Thursday night we did some caroling in downtown A Coruña. We made the front page the next day (December 8th edition of La voz de Galicia) which was pretty exciting haha. I think you can find it online. Also Thursday night we had a really good opportunity to share the Book of Mormon with a guy who works as a taxi driver. He was interested in learning more and we had a Book of Mormon wrapped like a present that we gave to him. We had tried quite a bit to give out the 2 copies of the Book of Mormon that we brought and wrapped to hand out during the caroling. Well let's just say things didn't go as planned and we ended up finding this taxi driver that wanted one. So that worked out well haha.

On Saturday we had a piso inspection and we passed so that's always good. It was an overall great day. And Sunday I gave a talk in church and we had an investigator come that we weren't expecting to be there! That was a huge blessing.

Today we did all the little chores that needed done and then we took a moment to go look around Ponferrada. We went to the castle that is here and that is really cool.

I think the best thing this week were the lessons we were able to have and although we didn't have many, we had some pretty high quality lessons where we got to know the investigators so much better and really address their needs.

A miracle from this week...in Spain it really hasn't rained much. The whole country has kind of been in a drought. And so the crops haven't grown, the water reservoirs are running low and there were a couple fires that burned quite a few areas. So the cool thing is that many of the members around Spain were asking to pray and fast for rain at the beginning of this past month. And nothing really happened. But now, only a week later, all we have on the forecast is rain for the next week. There are puddles every where and cars have splashed us a couple times (just because there is so much water). It's pretty crazy but it's really good that Spain is getting to rain that they need.

I hope the Christmas initiative is going well! I've really enjoyed being able to participate and to help spread some smiles :) here's a scripture to remember:

Mosiah 2:17 "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

When we serve those around us we are only serving our Heavnely Father.  He knows of every sacrifice we make no matter how big or small.

Have a great week!
Elder Openshaw

Pictures:

Castle and surroundings

Caroling

With Elders Gil and Ethington

Funny statue 

Front page of newspaper

December 7, 2018 ~ Transfer 12 Week 1

Hi all!

These past couple weeks have been pretty eventful. We had our preparation day changed to today because we have a missionary conference in La Coruña. And on the bus we will pass by Lugo which is one of the area where I served. So that will be cool too.

This may be a short one because writing emails on a bus that is winding through the mountains makes me a little sick haha.

Ponferrada is a cool little city. We have to get creative to find new people to teach but it's going well. The branch here is small yet strong (10-15 members). And there is a really cool castle.

I feel like so much as happened but at the same time I don't know what to explain haha. We have a few investigators who we are working with. Very willing to learn and to grow but a little apprehensive about baptism and what their families might think. But we are working through concerns and helping them out.

We've been trying to find new people to teach and we have gotten creative. We got a large sign (that all companionships in the mission got) and we put lights on it. It attracts some attention haha. And we also will be putting up a small Christmas tree with cards for the initiative in a internet cafe of an investigator. We also gave brownies out to our neighbors and got to know them a little better. We also have been using Facebook quite a bit too. The members feed us quite well haha. It's great.

Funny stories:

We went to go visit a member in a pueblo and its a 45 mins brisk walk. And then had a quick lesson (he told us to make it quick) and then they talked to us for another hour haha. and we ask about what time the bus comes and Joaquin says it's not coming for another hour! Yikes. So we had to wait in the cold for an hour making calls and trying to stay warm. We had heard the bus times wrong originally and so we messed up pretty bad haha. But wow it was cold!

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Our neighbours have a "testigos de Goku" sign on their door probably because we have the family proclamation to the world on our door haha. We asked them for a wrench the other day and they are really nice :)

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Alright, next week I'll have better stories but I can't think of anything else to share haha.

If you haven't checked it out yet, check out Mormon.org! There is a super cool initiative! Every day of December there is a new video and theme of how we can help other people this Christmas season. Check it out :) this is such a great time to be able to reach out to other people who may be lonely or not have any where to go this Christmas.

With love and care,
Elder Openshaw 

Pictures:

1) my companion and I 

2) a funny sign

3) testigos de goku

4) the light the world sign

5) waiting for the bus

November 27, 2017 ~ Transfer 11, Week 6

Hi all!

So there were transfers! 

And I did get affected by it but I'm going to tell you about the week first. 

So not that much time has passed since I last wrote but here are some funny stories...

We went to a member's home that may or may not be named Hegel. He is a little old Peruvian man. We shared the Christmas initiative and then he gave us some unexpected food. He just goes over to the cabinets after the prayer and pulls out plates that already are prepared haha. We ate Papa a la huaquaina and lasagna. And then choclo biscocho. He's a funny guy.

We also went to go eat at another family's home and it was sooooooooooo much food. I tried to finish and I couldn't even get close haha. And the daughter (14-15 years old) was sneaking pictures of my companion Elder Snyder the WHOLE time. I caught her in the act and gave her the biggest smile hahahaha. It's soo funny that she does that.

So....transfers:

This transfer both my companion and I are leaving and no one will be coming to replace us for a little while. Elder Snyder is going to Barrio 9 which is part of Madrid. I'm going to Ponferrada! I know my time here in B4 was short but I learned a ton and made a lot of new friends :) and we did get some good things going here :)

A miracle: We talked to one family about the light the world initiative and followed up about their commitment to pray for missionary experiences. We've been doing really good at following up. And the son (17) is a boss! He remembered the commitment and was telling us about experiences that he has had with friends at school or in classes and that he has been praying for missionary experiences. He's such a cool kid. It's people like him that make me want to be a better person and who make what we do so much more worth it.

I wasn't here in Barrio 4 for very long (6 weeks) but I really enjoyed my time here. We've seen a huge difference that we were able to make this transfer and even though we didn't have many people to teach, we strengthened the members a lot and helped them to help themselves. They are looking out for each other quite a bit more. We didn't feel like we worked or even focused much on them but with the little time that we did, we were able to make a difference.

Also...if you want some ideas on how to enjoy your holiday season helping out others check out mormon.org! Everyday there is a theme, a cool little video and ideas on how to reach out to others :) #lighttheworld

Have a wonderful week!

With love,

Elder Openshaw