Happy New Year!

Bon Dia Todos!

 

So first off let me just give a good big shout out to my little sister! Turning 13 tomorrow! Holy! I cant believe that you are goign to be a teenager Bee! Thats absolutely nuts! Time flies! Stop growing up everyone!!! haha Well anyway, Happy Birthday Annie Bee! I hope it is a super good one! Remember dont talk to boys... If I hear of any news of boys, I will be on the first flight home to Salt Lake! haha

 

Well, it was super awesome seeing everyone for Christmas! Time just flies by! I wish I could have talked to all of you longer! There is no one I talked to all of you long enough, but it was good to see all of your great smiling faces! Christmas here was good but definately a lot different! We went to an Olive Vineyard with some of the members here and they made a bunch of food over an open fire! It was great! I will send some pics! We will being going out there again on the 1st to party with them again... "Party" haha We are also going to cut down some branches and do some service. I will be working in the Lords Vineyard and a Members Vineyard at the same time!!!! Crazy! haha Alright that was stupid but hey.... Its what happens on the mission...

 

So I dont know what it is, maybe its because I was sick, it was Christmas, or its because the people dont want to listen to us this week, but this week has gone by SUPER slow!!! Maybe it is all three!!! But Holy! It was a rough one! I really cant wait to get done with all of this and just get back to normal schedule. We knocked so many doors this week it was unreal! All with the same reply haha, BUT in the end. The Lord blessed us! Last night we knocked some doors for like an hour, we knocked two buildings... The first doors we knocked in both buildings told us to come back! DOPE! haha One is a family from Brazil (Who I cant understand to save my life!) and the other is a Columbian woman who is married to a Spanyard. We are stoked! We will see what happens! It was just more evidence to me that the Lord really does hold true to his promises! One thing I have learned on my mission is always, if we do our part, the Lord will always do his part! Its amazing!

 

We also landed another Fecha with Cecilia. I dont know if you remember her... She had a baptismal date for about two weeks ago, but didnt get baptized because her housband that lives in Honduras said no... We talked to her about it, and she said she has a testimony of everything and knows it is all true! She knows everything we have taught her comes from God and that she can really become closer to God by being baptized, but she said she will not split up her family because God would not want that. She said that she knows she will be baptized in the future, just when the family is ready as well. We told her that God really does bless the family and with her example she can help her family recieve the same blesings. We set the fecha for the end of January and told her we were going to all that was possible to help her, but she also needed to do her part! So really it is all in the hands of the Lord. Unfortunately, I cant go to Honduras and treach the father, so we will see what happens.... With faith, fasting, and pray, I am possitive we will see miracles! Please remember here in your prayers!

 

Well, thats about it from my side... It was great to get to talk you all! I love you all tons and I am so grateful for all of the support! Miss you all tons but know it is all for a great reason! The only reason we are the family we are is because of the gospel. I only hope that the families I teach will be able to feel the same love and joy we experience every day!

 

Love you all tons!

Elder Carrigan

Christmas

Hey everybody!

 

So I dont really know what to write because I will be talking to all of you TOMORROW!!! Crazy! To me it doesnt really seem like Christmas... It is a really wierd feeling haha. Tomorrow will hopefully be a fun day. We have some plans with some of the members here and we are just going to spend the day with whoever! Tonight we got invited to go eat with some other members as well, but it is tradition here to eat Christmas Eve dinner super late here and unfortunately President wouldnt give us permission.... haha So we are eating together tonight as missionaries! Everyone is pitching in something they like. Elder Magallanes (Argintina) is making some sort of meat, My companion (Spain) is making a really good spanish salad, Elder Carroll (USA) is making brownies. Tomorrow I am going to make some French Toast with fruit, Nuetella, and all kinds of good stuff! It will be good!

 

Well I need to throw a quick thank you out! I remmebered who sent me the package I got last week and she would kill me if I didnt thank her! haha So Thank you Courtney and her wonderfull mother for sending me a package! It looks great under the tree!

 

This past week has been super slow... I havent been feeling to good and nobody wants to set visits with us this time of year, plus add in just a tiny bit of trunkiness... Its been ruff! I have been pushing through to try and help out Elder Garcia but really he just entered the mission at the worst time possible! haha Hopefully things start to pick up this next week, but from what I have heard, these next two weeks are going to be tough! Everyone we talk to on the street says to call them after the new year, but hey, at least we are getting numbers! haha

 

So yeah, thats about how our week went haha. Not a lot of visits and a lot of searching with little success. I LOVE IT!

 

So Elder Garcia is great though! He is a great teacher! We havent taught a lot together but in our lessons we have taught, they have gone really well! He is a little big in the head, and thinks he is all that, but eh, a couple more hours of knocking doors, fired visits, and long cold nights, he will come around! haha He is learniogn though and he isnt afraid to call out his mistakes, which I like. I am trying to train Elder Garcia a little differently than I did Elder Wiscombe, and I really like how it is going. Mainly because he already speaks Spanish, it makes things a lot easier! I love being with a native speaker again though! I am learnign a lot more and hopefully can improve my spanish! It is wierd though, I all of a sudden feel like my spanish is terrible! haha Just a motivation to get better right! Like I said I havent been feeling very good and I caught my annual sinus infection... but anyway, yesterday we had to teach one of the primary classes. All the little kids kept laughing at me because first I was sick so my voice already sounds funny, and then my american accent on top of it. It was funny for like the first ten minutes, then it got old really fast and I started to get super frustrated haha. Its all good though! I am glad I am able to have this opportunity to improve my spanish.

 

Well thats it... TALK to you guys tomorrow!!!!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

 

Love

Elder Carrigan

The End of the World

Whats Up! Whats Up!

 

First off I need to send a huge thanks out to everyone who sent me something! I just in the office today and I walked out of the mail room with all the (White) packages and mail I had singing "Im Dreaming of A White Christmas" I thought it was pretty funny but some of the other elders in the office didnt find it very funny! haha You guys are the greatest family in the world! I really am so grateful to have a supportive family! I dont know how some Elders do it! If it werent for you guys, It would be so much harder!  But the list is long, I got ones from Mom (2) C Danas, Grandma and Gene, Grandpa and Cindy, Browns, and I know I am missing one... Sorry... haha I cant remember! But thanks again I love you all!

 

So anyway, Speaking of a white Christmas, We did have a baptism, but we didnt baptize all five like we were expecting... Cecilia dropped out like last second because her husband in Honduas messed some things up... We have a visit with her tomorrow and we are going to try and land another fecha with her. We will see ho wit goes! Also a fecha of the other elders dropped out last minute... We will see what happens!

 

So the big news for the week is yes I have a new companion! His name is Elder Garcia and he is pure blood Spanish! Both his mom and dad are converts and both are from Spain! He is the first missionary in his family! Im not going to lie, I am pretty stoked! I talked to him about how although he is the younger missionary and I am his trainner, this means absolutely nothing, and how hew has so much power as a native Spaniard! I am hoping to start working with some strong Spanish families and I think with him it will be a whole lot easier to get in with them! Mo one wants to listen to two kids from the states who can barely speak the languagem but some one from their own country... I think we will see some success! At least I am hoping we will! Yes, it was hard to see Elder Wiscombe go, but he is so great! Honestly, the most obedient missionary I have seen so far on my mission! He will do great things on his mission and I am glad I had an opportunity to be companions with him!

 

So that is about the news for the week... Nothing else really went down!

 

Just so everyone knows... On Christmas we are planning on Skypimg around 7 Oclock our time, I think that is like 11 oclock there... We still arent totally sure, but I will confirm it on the 24th or maybe a couple of days before! President still hasnt said anything about it and to be honest I dont think he will so we will see what happens! I am stoked to Skype and hopefully I can see as many of you as possible!

 

Parker Timmerman! Thats my BOY!!!!! BIG PHILLY! Yeah Buddy! Im stoked for you! Congrats!

 

Well I think that is it for this week! I will Email you guys on Monday and then we will talk on Tuesday! Yeah Buddy!

Love you all!

 

Elder Carrigan

 

Staying Focused!

Good Morning Friends and Family!

First let me just throw a shout out to my LITTLE bro! Turning the big 17 this week! Happy Birthday buddy! Although you get older every year, and this year I am in Spain. Remember who is in charge! haha Love you buddy! Keep up the good work!

This week went really well! Elder Wiscombe and I have been trying hard to keep focused and this past week it really wasnt that hard, we have tons to do right now and it is always so much easier to stay focused when you have stuff to do! I love it!

This past week we worked hard progressing our two fechas, Cecilia and Sofia! Right now everything is looking really good! Sofia is pretty much set! She came to church yesterday and we only have a couple of the commandments left to teach her. I do have to say, it is SUPER hard teaching a ten year old! haha You have to teach so simple and some things I dont even know where to start! We taught the 10 commandments and the word of wisdom last night and... It was interesting haha! The summary of how it went was, Dont eat or drink anything bad for your body and always obey your parents! haha It has been a really good experience though. Sometimes as missionaries I feel like we get a little caught up on trying to teach and explain every little detail that the investigators just get lost. It has been good to just take a step back and try to teach just the basics. Bottom line, Sofia is super excited for her baptism and so is her dad! It will be awesome to see them both in white on Saturday! We just need to keep praying!

Cecilia is progressing as well! We continue to work with her and need to start teaching her the commandments this week! From what we have seen, we dont think there should be any problem. She is amazing and super prepared! The only potential problem is her working... But, luckily she works for a member´s mom, so we should get everything worked out! Just the minor details!

Other than that our week was pretty average! We continue to work really close to some Menos Activo families and are trying super hard to get them back to church. I have been here for almost two months and stories are just barely starting to come out... This week we found out that I guess some time ago a branch president offended a bunch of people and that is why there are a ton of Menos Activo Families here... Stupid! So there is still a lot of work to do in that part of the work.

We also found out that a couple transfers back a couple missionaries did a bunch of stupid stuff here and lost the trust of a lot of the members... More stupid! For this the members havent given too many references to us. The other day one of the members came up to me and Elder Wiscombe and gave us a couple of references and said I am glad they sent us some good missionaries again. It was a super nice compliment and just made me pumped! Hopefully we can get the members involved in the work again! We think they will start helping us out again. Yesterday in Sacrament we announced there is going to be 5 baptisms on Friday and everyone was super suprised/stoked. I guess what I am saying is I think things are going to start speeding up here and I am really excited! Tarragona is an area with a lot of potential. Great Members, Great Area! All they are missing is a Chapel! haha

Now that I have said all this I am sure I will get transferred... haha Its all good! Come what may and love it!

Well thats about it from Spain! I hope you are all loving the Christmas season! Although it is a little different this year I am really loving it! It feels good to be sharing the message about the real reason of Christmas! Hope you all have a great week!

Love
Elder Carrigan

Just Keep On Truckin!!

Whats up! Whats up!

This week was one for the books for sure! First off I just want to thank a ton of you for the things that have been sent! C Danas, I got the package I think you were talking about. It had all the pictures from the kids and a great letter from Clarker D! Loved it! I loved reading what was going on with you guys and it sounds like all is well there! Loved the pictures of the kids! The picture of Jack player soccer! That is a soccer FACE!! So focused! Thats what I am talking about! haha Clark it is funny that you know Elder Tirado! He is my Zone Leader right now in the Hospitalet Zone, and such a stud! Honestly one of the greats! Knows how to work and knows how to make those around him better! Great Missionary! BUT, he definately remembers you and said you were a stud, even remembers your kids! I think I scored some brownie points just by being your nephew haha.

Baers! Thank you as well for the Christmas package! I loved the tie and I am actually wearing it right now! Great choice! Bring a little lavender into the mix! Love it! And the Christmas decorations will go along nicely with our little christmas corner! haha

And Last, Family, Thank you much for the Pre-Christmas package! I loved it! Everything was great and we now have a great little corner of the piso filled with Christmas joy! haha

So like I said this week was a rough one but Elder Wiscombe and I just "Put our shoulders to the wheel" and went hard! First it started off with getting your package... Dont get me wrong! I loved it, but I got SO trunky! haha I mad the stupid mistake of trying to bring a little bit of home here! I turned on that christmas music I had and set up our little christmas corner one night... TERRIBLE IDEA! haha I learned my lesson! Luckily it didnt last long, but it was a rough night!

So then for 2 full days, literally, we got fired on left and right! It was the worst! And it wasnt even like a good fire where they call you like a couple hours in advance and you can try to make other plans, it was just straight up show up at thier house and then they are either not there or they forgot and we need to reschedule! I dont understand! How can you forget? I call you the day before and they remember then, I confirm the visit, then... Not there! I get so mad! haha

But even with all of this we were able to land two baptismal dates this week! Miracles! One is with a lady named Cicilia that just showed up to church last week. We had our first visit with her and invited her to be baptized and she said yes! It was awesome! Didnt have any doubts! She was only scared that she wouldnt be ready in time! No problem! She will be ready! The second is with thhe daughter of a menos activo family the bishop assigned us to visit. They are from Nigeria and have a daughter who is 9 named Sofia. We have been visiting them for the past couple weeks and every question was asked Sofia would answer it on the spot! Honestly, she is so smart! She speaks Spanish, Catalan, and English! Its crazy! But anyway, in the prayer at the end of the lesson, Prince, the father, asked to have the Lord touch Sofias heart and help prepare here for baptism. Until this point we had no idea that she wasnt baptized. We talked to him a couple days later and told him that she was ready and that we can help her finish preparing! They are both preparing to be baptized on the 15th! The other elders here in Tarragona also have 2 fetchas for the 15th of December! We are working hard to getting all of them baptized! I want to see a white Christmas!!!!! haha

So anyway, This week I learned something interesting about Spain and about Santa Claus that I didnt know! It involves the little gifts mom sent me... Those little Pez things. We went to there house this week to give them to them and we were talking about Christmas, but I learned that Santa Claus actually doesnt pass by some of the childrens houses. Some of the kids here dont even write Santa Claus. In Spain, the 3 kings bring presents to everyone on Januray 6th! Everyone writes the 3 kings and they come the night of January 5th. Wierd/Cool right?

They also have these little things called Tios that come down from the mountains. They walk down from the mountains every winter because it gets really cold up there. They feed the tios and put blankets on them to make them warm. As they feed them they get bigger and bigger until finally on the night of December 24th, the tios poop out presents for them! Yes you read that right! haha. The kids sing to them the night before and the next day they find the present that they pooped out! haha pretty awesome right! I dont have any photos of Tios yet but I will take some this week! haha

Well anyway... Thats about it this week!... We continue to work hard with the other investigators we have. Hopefully we can land some more fetchas this week! Please keep praying! The prayers are definately felt! I also would love to see everyones Christmas cards. If you all have extras will you send me one to the mission office address! I would love it! Thanks!

Mom, stop worrying about singing infront of everyone! Everyone knows you are going to kill it!
Nick, stop being a punk in Physics haha! Good luck on the ACT, DO WORK! And, of course, Jade Jones... Need I say more? Well done! I approve!
Ryan, I heard you had a guy rub your but this week... NICE!!!!! haha
Annie, Keep being beautiful!

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love
Elder Carrigan

P.S. I hope you enjoy our Christmas Card... Merry Christmas from Elder Carrigan and Wiscombe! 

Thanksgiving!

Good Morning everybody!

This week was was a great one! We worked really hard and it is amazing how the work pays off! We did a lot of finding this week, or i guess I should say searching but nothing really came of it. We knocked a lot of doors and got shut down time and time again! haha I feel like it has turned into a compitition between Elder Wiscombe and I to see who can say the most before the door closes or before they hang up the timbre... We try to make it as fun as possible! We knocked for about 4 hours and found one person that said to come back! It honestly is amazing how good those words sound! Since we are close to Christmas, I will just have to compare it as if you opened a present on Christmas morning and you got exactly what you wanted! O its so great! haha So we will call him this week and see if we can set something up! Hopefully the number isnt fake! haha

We did see miracles though and I honestly think it is because we put so much effort into knocking doors this whole week! At church yesterday, we had 5 people show up to church that we have never even seen before! we talked to them after church and they all said they loved it! They said they were going to come back next week and we have visits with 3 of them this week! Miracles I tell you! Miracles! I know God inspired them to come to church! Before we started knocking doors before, I said a prayer and I told Heavenly Father that we were going to put in the effort to find those ready to hear the gospel, but he needed to help us and put them in out path. After we knocked doors and only found one person, I was a little down, then Sunday hit... I knew it was the answer I was looking for! Coincidence? I think not! haha

So Thanksgiving wasnt too bad! It was tough because I kept thinking about the Turkey that was cooking at home with the Football and all of the goods that come along with Thanksgiving, but we had a conference in Valencia that was pretty sweet! The 2nd councilor of the area presidency came and talked to us! He did a great job and got us all motivated! I always love the conferences! They make me want to go out and work that much harder! Afterwords, the whole zone sat down and ate a GIANT Piealla (Not sure how to spell that) There is a member in Valencia that has won a ton of awards for his piealla! It was super good! So although I didnt have turkey and football, I had a conference and Piealla! Thansgiving Spanish style! haha It was pretty great! After the conference, President Pace gave me the opportunity to have a one on one visit with the area seventy and it was a really cool opportunity! We talked about some things but those are personal! haha Sorry! It was an experience I wont forget! One on one interview with an aposle of the Lord!

So Christmas is in full swing here! Lights, a big Christmas tree, Christmas music in the streets! Im not goign to lie! IT SUCKS! haha How in the world am I supposed to stay focused and not think about home when I cant even walk down the street without hearing Ill Be Home For Christmas! haha It will be tough being away from home but I am sure I will live! I am still super nervous I am going to be transfered in these coming weeks... We are like 95 percent positive that one of us is going, we just dont know who. President kind of spilled the beans at this conference! haha We were talking to him and he said something about how him and Hermana Pace are going to come down here in January for a fireside, about halfway through it he caught himself and you could just tell he knew one of us was probably not going to be here! I dont know, we will see! I could see it either way, either one of us could go! Either way I am stoked to be able to talk to you guys soon! I am pretty sure that we will be able to skype, but we still dont have details! That will definately be the highlight of the month!

Well Guys, there is much left to report! All is well and we are working hard! Hopefully we can get some baptismal dates this week from these potential investigators we have! I love you all much and I miss you all tons! Cant wait to talk with you guys on Christmas! we are now less than one month away!

Keep it Real!
Elder Carrigan

Definitely an Exciting Week!

Hey everyone!

This week was incredible! Had some great visits this week and we really worked super hard! In return we also had A TON of fun! That is what missionary work is all about right? It was probably the best week we have had here in Tarragona!

So to update you all on Jose and Carmen... This week we taught them the Resturation and it seemed like they accepted the principles pretty well. They have a really complicated schedule so it is hard to have a nice sit down visit with them, but we do what we can. This week was the first week we had the chance to sit down with the whole family and teach them together. It was really special. We still havent invited them to be baptised because of a few reasons... 1. Like I said it is hard to get a sit down visit with them 2. When we do have a sit down visit, it is hard to get the whole family together. and 3. Jose still has A LOT of doubts! Everytime we sit down to have a lesson with him he always asks one of those stupid questions and sometimes they are so funny! We are working with him though and I am possitive this will change really soon! It is already amazing how much he has changed. At first he didnt even want to talk to us, but now he loves us! Before he wouldl have people in his store and complete ignore us when we walk in, but now he could have the whole world in there and everytime we walk in he yells "CHICOS!" Its awesome! We are also spending a little time on Sundays teaching him english to gain his trust! He loves it! And I love teaching him! Its great! They have a lot of potential! Im really excited for them! Please keep praying for them!

We also had a suprise baptism here in Tarragona this week! It was a huge miriacle! She lives in the other Elders area but we all have been working with her a ton! She has been investigating the church forever, decided she wanted to get baptised, then there were problems with her mom not wating her to get baptised,  and finally (I think Thursday) called up the Elders and said, Hey I want to get baptised this Saturday AND My mom said it was OK! It was awesome! Definately a miracle from the Lord!

So like I said, We also played HARD this week haha! On Friday we had the opportunity to go back to Madrid to pick up my companions ID card. Elder Tyler (My last companion) and his new companion were also there for the same thing. We got there in the morning and didnt leave until the afternoon so the 4 of us had a great time in Madrid together! There are a ton of pictures I will send soon, but this Locotorio computers are getting filled with Viruses so I am scared to plug my camera in... I will find a way to throw them on a USB and send them off soon! They are so great! The street performers in Madrid are hilarious and they all know the Elders because all the CCM Elders are always there! So they all were calling us out! We had a lot of fun! One street performer was dressed as spiderman, but he is super over wieght! It is hilarious! We took a ton of photos with him! It was a lot of fun to go to Madrid and actually a lot of fun to be back with Elder Tyler! There is no doubt in my mind we would have had a blast together in Vitoria! Maybe even a little too much fun! haha

Then today for Pday we went on an incredible hike! One of the members here is a die hard climber! So he took us on this awesome hike in the "mountains" of Spain! haha It was a good hike, we went with all of the JAS and really had a blast! Took some lunch up there, chilled, it was good to get out! It definately didnt beat our man trip that we take every summer, but it was really fun! The whole time I kept thinking about out Timp trip... I swear Pdays just make me trunky haha! I have some good photos for this as well, but I will have to send them another time...

So that is about all I can think about this week... I am feeling like I am just finally getting settled here, and I have been here a transfer and a half... I also was talking to Elder Tyler about this coming transfer, He said he could definately see me getting transfered this transfer.Just a heads up... Transfer day is on the 18th of December so if anyone is planning on sending anything, I would send it well in advance just in case...

Well we just got a call from the ward secretary saying our church is flooding so... WERE OUT! haha Thanks!

Love you all!
Elder Carrigan

Transfers!

Hey everyone!

Hope everyones week went well! Sounds like it was a good one! The snow storm looks like it was super legit! It would decided to snow a ton while I am gone! The past two years we got absolutely nothing!!! LAME! haha Its all good though! I loved all the photos! Someone go tear the slopes up for me!!

So transfers were this week! Pretty crazy that I have been in Tarragona for a full transfer now! Time just flies, and at the same time it doesnt... haha As mom pointed out, this past week I hit six months! Pretty wierd to think about! It doesnt feel like it it has been six months at all. It feels like last month I was just entering the MTC in Provo! It kinda freaks me out! Then at the same time a year and a half still feels like forever! haha I love it though! So with transfers came a couple suprises... Would you believe me if I told you I got transfered!!! Well, dont believe me! I am still here in Tarragona! Elder Wiscombe and I are still companions and will work together this transfer! This is good and bad. Now we are both nervous that one of us is going to be transfered a week before Christmas, which would be terrible, but I guess we will see! Elder Frenzel, one of the Texas elders, was transfered and Elder Magallanes is now here with us in Tarragona. Remember him? He was my native companion in the CCM. We will see how it goes! I am glad there is a native here that can help me out on my spanish. I cant believe I am saying this, but I actually really miss living in Vitoria with three native speakers! It was SUPER dificult at the time, but I learned so much and it was so much fun! Hopefully he will bring something new to the table!

So as far as this week goes, Elder Wiscombe and I hit it hard! We spent one full day in every pueblo that we have searching for members, menos activos, old investigators, and futures. It wasnt a very successful week as far as numbers go, but it was good because now I know exactly who we can visit, and pass by, and where the most productive areas are to work. And, in the proccess, we saw miracles!

I dont know if I have talked about Carmen much... She was a reference from a member that owns a tiny little store here in Tarragona. We always try and pass by, but either she is super busy working or her husband was there and didnt want to talk to us. So this week we passed by to talk to her and she wasnt there, only her husband was there. My first reaction was to act like I wanted to buy something and then just get the heck out of there! haha But it was incredible, the spirit hit me HARD and promted me to talk to him and set him straight! haha So we started talking about what we had, the message we share, why I am here, all the above! He fired questions and I fired right back! Sometimes I didnt even know what I was doing but I was just throwing down doctrine and speaking truth! It was awesome! From what I could tell, he just didnt know who we were. He was scared of something new! He had heard all these things, things that obviously arent true, and when I set him straight, he was glad we were there. At the end of the lesson I bore my testimony about how I am super far away, I cant speak spanish perfectly, I miss my friend, family, and many other things, but that I left all of those things at home, to share the message I had with the people here in Spain. I left it all because the message i have changed my life and has brought me more happiness than anything elses in this world! I honestly bore probably the strongest testimony in my life, and by the end of the night. His whole self changed. He admitted to us how he wanted this peace and happiness in his life, and how he truly respected us for being 19 years old, sharing a message about Jesus Christ, while every other 19 year old is out on the street doing drugs and partying there life away. He went from not wanting us there at all, to inviting us back whenever we could! I am suiper excited to start teaching this small family! Please pray for them! Jose and Carmen!

This week we also found the most amazing family who have been less active for some time. Both the mom and the dad are returned missionaries, and they have two little kids! The whole time we were over there, I could stop playing with the little boy. He is like 3 years old and just reminded me of all my little cousins! I couldnt help it! haha I miss all those little guys so much! Anyway, it was a super wierd lesson! They kept talking about their missions and how great they were and the experiences they had and this and that! At the end of the lesson I was so confused on why this family is inactive! They are so great! So I am excited to start working with them as well. There is no doubt in my mind we can get them back to church! I really dont have an option! The thought of letting those kids grow up outside of the gospel kills me! I have learned a lot on my mission, but my eyes have really been opened on how nasty this world is! Maybe it is because I grew up in the church or maybe in Utah, I was a little shielded, but it is terrible! I hate leaving piso every friday night and seeing teenagers with huge bottles of alcohol in there hands while smoking! It kills me! I swear yesterday we passed like a 13 year old boy smoking a cigarette! I cant even express how greatful I am for the way I grew up, the teachings I learned, and the friends I had. I think it is sad that kids have to find fun in things like that....

So anyway... That is about how the week went! Nothing else to really report. We continue to work hard and to do our best to find those who are prepared to hear the true gospel of Jesus Christ! Some days are rough, but I love it!

Love you guys all a ton!

Elder Carrigan

BAPTIZED!!!

Whats up everyone!

First off, Happy Birthday to the OLD MAN! O I mean Happy Birthday Dad! haha Hope you have a good week! Thanks for the support and everything you have done for me! I wouldnt be where I am without you and all you have taught me. Love ya!

This week was a rough one, but it ended really well... It seemed like Satan was just throwing everything he had at us. It started on Monday. A night full of cancelled visits. Didnt land anything. Then Tuesday we had zone conference and after zone conference we had a really important visit! Well, we went to the train station in Lleida to come back home, well, little did we know that the train company was on strike.... Ya, so we had to cancel on a new investigator and havent been able to get another opportunity yet.Then just more searching, rejection, and getting called out on the street! I think this is the first week where we literally got called out by someone on the street everyday... Sometimes its funny and most the stuff they say is just stupid but it gets old... One night this week we had a drunk homeless guy follow us for like 10 minutes just yelling stuff... The Bible is this, Jesus Christ that.... Everyone was just looking at us and ya... It was a joke. The good part was we did end with a baptism! Ana passed her interview and was baptized and confirmed this week! It was pretty sweet! I think Elder Wiscombe really enjoyed the experience and I think she did too! The only bad part is we scheduled the baptism on the same day as a wedding in the ward so we only had like 5 members at the baptism. Out of the 5 members, 4 of them were there just because they had to do something on the program... I felt a little bad but I know she really enjoyed getting confirmed on Sunday. the ward is so great here! She was the most popular person there on Sunday and was always talking to someone! It was great! Difinately ended the week right! Other than that ... Just an average week.

Teaching is a little slow. Right now, we have a lot of potential investigators and have taught a lot of first lessons but cant land a second lesson with anyone... Elder Wiscombe and I have really been studying hard and doing a lot of practices to figure out how we can inprove our first lesson. We have some lessons set up this week and hopefully we can see some success and begin to have some solid investigators!  We have been searching a lot for some menos activos as well. We got once lady named Belinda from Bolivia to come back to church! She hadnt been in a really long time, but she has been to church two times in a row! Its great! She is so amazing! I am really glad she is coming back! Yesterday she was talking with the bishop about recieving a calling! I am really happy for her!

Other than that I really dont have much more to write... I am super stoked for the elections this week and Im not even in the states! haha I hope Romney can pull it out! I sent my vote in awhile ago so I think it got there in time! People here in Spain dont really like Mitt Romney because of some comment he made awhile back... It is kinda funny! I dont really say much just so I dont make them mad, but I dont know! We will see! Im sure we will here about it!

So I guess I will explain these pics for ya...
Pic 0632 Ana at her baptism! No one knows why she doesnt look happy, but I promise she was haha
Pic 0626 So this is a Roman Ruin in Tarragona. It is a collosium (Not sure how to spell that...) But it is super sweet! Litterally way close to the ocean as well! People faught wild beasts in this thing!!!! Awesome!
Pic 0630 Haha I love this picture! This is the Lleida zone! There were like 20 cameras all sitting on 1 table on the timer setting... This is the best one I got and we are missing a couple of the other Elders!
Pic 0631 Me enjoying some wonderful homemade chile! haha It was great! Thanks Mom and Dad! :)

Well thats it from Spain this week! Thanks everyone for the love and support you all give me! Love you all tons and I am already excited to hear from you all next week!

Love Elder Carrigan

  

Little By Little

Hey Everyone!

Little by Little the weeks here in Tarragona are getting better and going by

faster! The work in our area is starting to pick up and I feel better about

working. This week was the fist week at church that I was really able to

talk to some of the members and connect to them, and that is what I love!

This week I went on an Intercambio with the District Leader. His name is

Elder Shumway. He is from Orem, Utah and we had a great time together! He

taught me a lot of things and ways I can get things going here in Tarragona,

but most importantly, he taught me that I just needed to calm down and

relax!!! And let me tell you, these last couple days have been SO MUCH

BETTER!! Thinking back, I think I was more stressed about training than I

actually thought I was. I was so worried about Elder Wiscombe learning this

and trying to be some kind of super missionary, that I was killing myself! I

think I actually realized this week that I have only been in the field for a

little over 3 transfers and really, I am still training myself! I also think

that I have been forgetting to have fun! So the past couple days we really

have been having a good time together and just DOING WORK! It has been so

much better!

So everything thing with Ana is great! She came to church yesterday, and as

long as we can finish teaching her everything and she passes her interview

on Thursday, she will be baptized on Saturday! I kind of talked Ana into

letting Elder Wiscombe baptize her so I think he is really excited/nervous!

I think it is great! He will be getting his first baptism within his first

transfer in the mission! I love it! It will be awesome! Please keep praying

for her and for us! As we all know, The week before the Baptism is when

Satan tries his hardest!

We also talked to an AWESOME Nigerian man yesterday named Dominion! I LOVE

NIGERIANS! haha It is a blast to talk to them! They are just so sweet and

easy to connect to! All you have to do is call them brother, speak a little

pigeon English, do their special handshake and you are IN! haha Anyway, He

said that he just moved her from the islands and he was talking to the

missionaries there but never really took them seriously. He just likes to

talk to them because they spoke english and we great kids, but now he is

really interested in hearing what we have to teach because he thinks it is

great that we dedicate our lives to God for 2 years and preach the gospel.

He told us that he has a wife and a little girl who is 9 years old! BOOM! We

have our second visit with them on Tuesday! I am super stoked to teach them!

I can not tell you how much fun it would have been to serve in Nigeria! O

man, probably not the best living and eating but O MAN it would be so much

fun! haha

So that is about it from here in Tarragona... Right now I am feeling a lot

better about things and the future is looking better! It should be great!

Yesterday they started putting up Christmas lights and decorations in the

City! WHAT! Cant believe it is the holidays already! Too bad you guys arent

goign on vacation! You guys just knew it would be fun without good old Older

Brother James! :) Or you guys just arent telling me where you are going to

not make me feel bad... haha

Well, I love you guys! I tried to send some pics but this computer wasnt

working right... Next week! Keep up the good work! Love you guys lots!

Love

Elder Carrigan

P.S. Emily Kay Brown = BEAUTIFUL! Good Work Brown Family!

WE ARE AT WAR!!!

Hey everyone!

So like the title says! We are officially at war with the cockroaches in our Piso! I decided that since I will probably be living here for the next little while I wasnt going to put up with living in a crappy piso! So I started going to town last P day! This Piso is so nasty! Vitoria was pretty bad also but after we went to town on it it was much better and so much easier to feel the spirit and work! So I chewed the other elders out and now its a little better but we still have some work to do today! But anyway, I hope you enjoy the picture!!!!! haha Dad I am sorry, I still havent taken many pictures here! I guess I just dont know what you want to see! I will try to strat snapping a lot this week!

So things here in Tarragona are slowly getting better... We had a lot of potential visits set up but a lot of them fired on us so that really blew! It I feel like I am starting to really get a feel of how things work here and hopefully things will really start to pick up! We have some really great investigators rigth now that we are working with but everything is still in the starting stage of the lessons. At the beggining of the week we met with a lady named Ana from Cuba! She is amazing! She doesnt really know much about Jesus Christ because when she was in Cuba she lived really far from the church and wasnt able to attend. In our lesson, we were planning on just having a "lesson 0" with her and getting to know her, her background, and then go from there As we began to talk to her, the conversation slowly turned into the importance of Christ in our lives and why we need to shape our life to be like his, I then slowly started talking about baptism. As I explained baptism and how the ordinance is performed she became real alert. When I was done explaining it, she asked me to explain it again... I thought to myself, o great! She doesnt understand! My spanish is terrible or I simply cant teach... So I drew a picture, after i drew a terrible looking picture and tried to explain it again, she asked me to explain it again! Im thinking to myself! O gosh! How can she not understand! So we took her in the church and showed her the font and the picture of Jesus Christ while he is getting baptized. She then looked at me and said, I have seen this all in a dream! Me standing here in White! BOOM! Another dreamer! So we asked her on the spot if she would get baptized and she accepted a date! Miracles!!! it is amazing what the Lord has in store for us! Unfortunately, she didnt come to chuch yesterday so we will have to change the date , but thats a different story.... With a little work she will be baptized! I know it!

We had interviews with President Pace this week, and I always love talking to him! He is a great guy who always gives me a little extra motivation for the week! They went really well! He gave some tips on things I could do and talked to me about the importance of trainning and all that jazz! I cant express how glad I am to have such an awesome mission president. I feel like if I didnt like my mission president it would be just that much harder to be here! Its definitely the little things that keep me going on the rough days!

This week, once again has a lot of potential, but I dont like potential. Too much risk involved for a fired visit! Tarragona just works a lot differently than Vitoria did and I am still trying to adjust. In Vitoria we worked a lot with the less active families. There was always something do and always someone to visit and we hardly ever had a visit fire on us! He contacted in the streets a lot and rarely knocked doors! Here, Totally different! We had more lessons fire on us last week than we did lesson, it is super hard to visit someone else because the live super far away, Less actives dont give you the time of day, and all we do is knock doors... Im not a big fan of it! I dont mind knocking doors but I would much rather work through visits with less actives and members! Its just different! Yes, change is good, it is just super hard to adjust!

Well Fam! I love you all! Hope everything is going well at home! I love you all tons! Thanks for everything!

Elder Carrigan

Little By Little

Hey Everyone! 

First off thank you for the emails of support and advice! They really helped! This week as been pretty slow, but what can you expect. New area, I dont know anyone.... Its been rough! The first couple days, as you could tell, I was freaking out and had no idea what to do! Luckily that feeling is slowly going away... The first couple days I just had no idea what i was doing! The other Elders here havent really been helping me much which is a pain! I was expecting them to help me make a smoother transition into the ward (Getting to know the members, Menos Activos, Investigators) but they didnt really help much... The basically just threw the area book in my face and said good luck! It was crap... So I started looking through the area book but mission area books are such a joke its not even funny! So then I just maned up and started calling people. The phont the office gave me was full of just tons of investigators and Future investigators so I called people for like 2 to 3 hours straight... Im still not done. I have found a ton of potential investigators and hopefully we will start teaching some of them this week.

I feel bad though because we have been in Piso a lot these past couple days calling people and trying to set up visits. I think Elder Wiscombe is a little bored which is never good for a new missionary. Every once in a while, we would take a "break" and go contact people. He doesnt like contacting too much either! haha Is Spanish isnt that great and the people here dont understand him at all. He has a hard farmers boy accent haha. But he tries! We tried to contact this man, and I told Elder Wiscombe that it was his turn to start the contact. He went up and started talking to the guy, The man stoped him midway through his sentence and said I have no Idea what he just said! haha I had to try super hard not to start laughing! Being a couple days with a new missionary has made me realize how fast the Lord has blessed me with being able to speak spanish. My spanish still isnt perfect and I still dont understand everything but I can get by! It is definitely the little things that kept me going this week!

Trying to learn my area is definitely the hardest thing right now. Tarragona is a very intersting area. The city of Tarragona is pretty small and easy to understand, but then there are pueblos everywhere! And all the members live in the pueblos! Its a pain! I hate pueblos! They take forever to get out there and are just a straight pain. Its like trying to learn 5 different areas because I have to learn 5 different small cities. It sucks, but it is what it is. I am just learnign a little bit at a time...

So my address in Tarragona is this

Elder James Carrigan
Calle Rambla Nova 125, 3, 3
43001 Tarragona
Spain

I dont mind is you guys send me things but as far as friends, just tell them to send things to the mission home. It will be easier this way! Thanks!

Dad, everythign you said you were sending sounds great! I would love if you sent me that ballot! President Pace said we could try to set it up online and all that but I just dont have time to try to figure out how to do everything! If you could send it to me also with some instructions on what to do that would be great!

Well, I think that is pretty much it this week... Sorry, not much went down! Thanks again for the prayers and the love and support! I am still feeling a little overwhelmed, but this are gettign better little by little. Thanks for everything! Love you all!

Elder Carrigan

Training?!?!?!

So I have some time to write you guys today because my companion gets to write home and tell him them about everything... You know the story. So let me give you the run down today and then I can fill in details and answer all your questions on Monday. So here is the story... Elder Tyler and I were in weekly correlation meeting with our ward mission leader when we recieved a call from President Pace. Elder Tyler answered the phone and described that two visa waiters were coming in and they had barely found out it. If they would have known the would have planned during transfers but because they didnt know, obviously they couldnt plan for it. He told Elder Tyler that they were in need of some trainers and that we would be training. At first Elder Tyler and I believed that we would be put into a trio and train a new elder in Vitoria, so we were pretty stoked! President Pace then asked to talk to me... He asked me if I would be willing to train and I told him that it shouldnt be a problem. It wouldnt be a problem. He then told me I would be leaving for Tarragona and whitewashing ... I then realized that I wasnt going to be in a trio... My heart dropped! haha I had to ask him to repeat what he said... So he then told us that we needed to be in Barcelona the next day around noon... May I remind you that this correlation meeting was at noon! So 24 hours... Elder Tyler and I changed all my plans so I could see as many people before I left Vitoria! Honestly, it was tough saying goodbye to everyone and I didnt get to say goodbye to a lot of people because I had to pack all my crap. We took the latest bus we could up to Bilbao, stayed the night in Bilbao, and then woke up the next morning to take the 640 train to Barcelona. I sat on a train for 7 hours to Barcelona. Barcelona is SO humid and hot! I hate it! I miss the nice cool north already... haha So anyway, we met our new companions, took some pictures, and then parted ways. Elder Tyler to Vitoria with his "son" and me with my "son" to Tarragona. So these last couple days have been absolutely crazy!

So now info about Tarragona.

Tarragona is about a 45 minute train ride from Barcelona. It is a smaller city like Vitoria but surrounded bt Publos. I have heard that Tarragona was a Naval Base for the Romans back in the day so there are a lot of ruins, but I am yet to see one, There were two elders here working here before we got here and we live with them. So its not exactly a complete whitewash but it still is going to be tough to get to know everyone and the area by ourselves. There is a ward here and from what I here it is huge! I am stoked for this! I have heard there are tons of youth and young single adults as well! It will be a lot different from the small branch in Vitoria! The Piso here isnt too bad but it isnt the best either! It is super dirty and nasty! I dont know why some Elders chopse to live this way, but I refuse so I have been cleaning in all the spare time I have haha. And yes I have found a few suprises crawling around. Mom you wont want to read this part, we live with cockroaches... Yay! haha We will have to try and solve the problem! We wilve with two other elders who are both from Texas, and as you can guess, I have already heard enough about how great Texas is! haha Got to love those Texans! They are both kind of interesting.... Interesting Texans... Ya,we will see how it goes...

Now my "son"

My companions name is Elder Wiscombe. He is from Morgan Utah and lives on a farm... haha Like me in the begining of my mission, He doesnt speak any spanish. In fact, he doesnt speak much English. He is super super shy. I am going to have to find a way to break him out of his shell or I am going to go crazy! Um I dont know what else to tell ya. He loves math and was the... I cant remember what its called... Its the person who is like the best math student in the school... Ya that... He went to Morgan High School. His nickname is Swoosh but he doesnt play basketball... Still a little confused on this one... And ya thats about it... If you want to know more let me know. Unfortunately, I forgot my little photo thing in my suitcase in piso so I will have to send photos on Monday... Sorry!

Summery of this whole situation. I am super nervous and feel super unprepared to do this... For the past two days I have thinking that President needs to reset his revelation signal because he got this one wrong! haha I know once I get the hang of things here in Tarragona it will be easier but its going to be tough! I would love all the prays and all the advise anyone has. I am sure it can only help!

Well I love you all tons and thank you for you support and incouraging words! I will send you pictures and my new address on Monday. I will talk to you guys then!

Much love!

Elder Carrigan

A GIANT surprise

So, I am writing you a quick letter to tell you some crazy news. Mom, remember how I told you I felt like this was going to be my last 6 weeks in Vitoria... Ya it was more like my last week in Vitoria... I recieved a call today from President Pace telling me that I am leaving tomorrow morning! I know you guys and others were planning on sending things to me sometime soon. DONT SEND THEM TO VITORIA! Send them either to the office or wait till I give you my new address...

Why am I leaving? Very good question...ç
President Pace asked me today to train a new missionary that is coming in tomorrow... He was a Visa Waiter in Provo... I will be white washing a city called Zaragoza. (White washing means missionaries havent worked there for sometime, or reopening is a better word) So, I will be reopening an area and trainning a new missionary.... I cant tell you how nervous I am!

More information to come on Monday! Love you all lots! Have a great Tuesday!

Love
Elder Carrigan

P.S. PRAY LOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Wake Up My Friends, Its Time For Conference!

Family!

Another week goes by and it ended in the greatest way possible! Conference weekend! Conference was a lot different this year, and I think for the first time in my life I actually missed dad running down the stairs playing a fake trumpet and yelling, "Wake up my friends, its time for conference!" haha It truly is interesting what you miss on the mission.

Conference was amazing! We watched it in the church with all the members and since we have some members here in Vitoria who speak english, I was able to watch it in English. I was very happy! haha Unfortunately, we dont have the chance to watch the Sunday afternoon session and we had to watch the priesthood session in Spanish due to some problems... But I loved it all. When we were finished watching conference I wanted to watch more! I was dying we couldnt watch the last session! Please send me the magazine! haha Overall, I think my favorite talk was from President Uchtdorf in the Saturday morning session. He said two things that just hit me really deep for some reason. He was talking about enjoying the things we are doing in life in the moment. Too many times in this life we go through things way to fast and forget to stop and look around. The quotes I loved went like this.

"Dont wait until you are about to die, to learn how to live"  and "Stop looking with your eyes and start looking with your heart"

Great advice to everyone and I definitely think it is great for missionaries. I have already seen way to many missionaries, and even myself at times, who just want to get through there mission way too fast! We forget to enjoy where we are and what we are doing! So coming away from conference it is my goal to enjoy the little things in my mission a little more. Enjoy the time here and love what I am doing!

And of course the famous announcement! Crazy! When he announced it, my mind went straight to everyone I knew who can know turn in papers or is now very close to turning in papers! So if you hear what people are going to start doing, please let me know! Definitely tell me what Justin and Nick are planning on doing! I was trying to think what I would have done if I had the chance to leave at 18... I still dont know what I have done. Looking back on freshman year, I am really happy that I did go to school because I learned a lot of things that have helped me here and I had an absolute blast, but if I would have had the option of leaving before I knew what school would be like... I honestly dont know what I would have done. The one thing I do like is I think it becomes a bigger and more personal desicion for everyone. For me, my option was 1 semester or 2 semesters of school. Now there is a lot more that factors into it, One thing for sure, START PREPARING NOW. We had an opportunity to watch the press conference where Elder Holland and Nelson talked about it, and they both said that MTC time would be cut down by at least 1/3. To me thats a lot of time. Nick, Justin, whoever. Prepare. Know The Book of Mormon and know Preach My Gospel! Like Elder Holland also said in the Press Conference, "We need missionaries the first day they get into the field!" There is a lot of work to be done!

Well Fam, thats about it from here in Vitoria... Not much is going down. Elder Tyler and continue to try to find some more to teach... I think it was actually easier to contact with Rios, people automatically had a connection if they were from South America! Nobody wants to listen to two white kids in suits who dont speak spanish very well haha. We try! We have faith and know in time we will find someone! No worries! The Lord works miracles!

As far as things I need... I think I am fine! Like I said, I am pretty content right now.. The only thing I can think of is some more pens (The kind that dad likes) but dont rush! I will be fine! I found ONE in a store yesterday and I was going to buy it, it was almost 2 euros... What a joke! haha So ya... Other than that, I think I am good!

Thanks for everything! Love you all and I hope you all had a wonderfull conference weekend! I know I did!!

Love
Elder Carrigan

Pig Feet and Chicken Bones

Whats up Whats Up!

 Another week goes by... Time flies by it is crazy! I just realized yesterday that I have been in Vitoria for 3 months! I cant believe it! Where did the time go!?

Well anyway, This week has been pretty average and a little on the boring side... We dont have many investigators right now because when Elder Rios found out he was leaving, he got super trunky of Vitoria haha. This week we spent most of the time sayign goodbye to members, taking tons of photos and blah blah blah. It was also good though because now Elder Tyler knows just about everyone here in Vitoria and knows the area pretty well. It was also a very good week because just about every family here wanted to invite him over to eat before he left. I honestly dont think I will have to eat this week... I have never eaten so much in my life. So yes, you can probably guess by now, that this week Pig Feet and Chicken bones were on the menu... We ate chicken bones with an African Family. They are great but eatign with them is always interesting. She made us this great chicken and I ate it all and loved it, Then the mom turned to me and said, do you not like the bones... O geez! I knew I had to eat them.... There is never another choice! haha Ya... It was interesting haha. So then the next day we at a house of some Columbians, I think. And they fed us some awesome soup and then pig feet...I hope I never have to eat pig feet again! Honestly, If I could describe it, It is like biting straight into a huge thing of FAT! It was terrible. I just took it down as fast as I could! Elder Tyler tried to do the same... haha but he choked on it! hahaha Elder Rios had to give him the hymlic hahahaha Honestly, the scariest but funniest thing I have ever seen! hahaha The Mom was freaking out! hahaha Awesome! I am pretty sure she will never feed us Pig Feet again and I am alright with that! haha

So that is the story for the week... Nothing else really went down! It turns out that Elder Olaya was also transfered! O my gosh I cant explain how happy I was haha. But the new elder that came is just as interesting... His name is Elder Hikola and is from Finland... He is a GAMER! That eplains it all... He is about 3 times the size I am. haha. Ya it should be fun,

Anyway, Elder Tyler and I are ready to get back to working hard here in Vitoria! Right now the other Elders here in Vitoria have 5 fetchas. Pretty exciting right. we should see some baptisms soon and we are all really excited for conference this week! Unfortunately we dont get to watch the Sunday night session... Here they have like a conference marathon on sunday! We watch almost all the sessions on Sunday... I might die haha! We will see! Luckily, because all the africans that attend church that speak english. There is a good chance they are going to play it in english in a different room! Im stoked! But yes please send the magazine when it comes...

Well thats about all for this week... It was fun chatting with soem of you today! It is always great to hear from everyone and how things are going back home! Good to hear everythign is well! I love you all tons and I will talk to you next week!

Love you all!

Elder Carrigan

A New Companion

Its Monday once again! Wow these times fly! It is incredible!

This week went by super fast. Probably because we were SUPER busy!

So yes, Transfers came a little early to the city of Vitoria! My new companion arrived on Wednesday! His name is Elder Tyler and he is from Ogden Utah. FINALLY! Another American! hahaha It has been good to have him here! Elder Rios is still here as well for another week. Elder Tyler has been working in the office for 9 months! Crazy right! Nearly half of his mission! But President Pace wanted to get him out the office as soon as he could so he put him here with us two weeks before transfers! Like I said it has been super nice to have him here to speak some english, but at the same time I dont really like it because I feel like in just 3 days my spanish isnt as good... Kinda weird! I dont know too much more about him... He seems like a pretty cool guy, but I dont want to make any judgements too early! haha I say he is a cool guy one day and then the next day he is going to be super weird. So I think I will just hold my tongue for today! haha But because he came we have been trying to visit as many people as we can with in the Branch. (Members, Recent Converts, Menos Activos, Investigators) Just everyone! We have been on the run everywhere! I am dying! This week was the first week where it has been hard to lift my head from my pillow in the morning! Not good! haha It has also been a lot of fun working in a trio! I love it! I am sad to see Elder Rios go, but I am excited to get working with Elder Tyler! Elder Rios was a stud and a pretty good trainer, I am glad I had the opportunity to work with him! So Elder Tyler is in one of the pictures I am sending! The one we are all sitting at the table eating.

So some sad news as well... Juliet stopped progressing and decided she "wanted soem time to figure some things out" Kinda sucks, but it is what it is! She had a ton of faith and a lot of potential, but in the end she wasnt reading the Book of Mormon, and if your not going to read the Book of Mormon there is no way your going to know if its true or not... So in the end we wrote our number in her Book of Mormon... She tried to give it back to us but we just told her we had plenty and she could keep it! haha We fasted for her and hopefully she will show back up in the future. We are going to keep in touch with her and keep praying for her. Please do the same.

Mom I will get on the favor you asked me! I will get it to you next week. I cant really remember one of the top of my head so I will think about it and then let you know next week! Thanks!

Dad about pictures... Ya, I should probably take more! I will work on it! I am sending 3 today! I will explain them really quick to you guys!

One of the pictures is all of us sitting at a table eating Lunch. From left to right. Rosalva (Member) Helps us out a ton with the work and has an amazing family. It was her birthday and she fed us like crazy! So good! Francis (Member) from Hondurus! Super strong member, She doesnt live in our area so she works with the other missionaries all the time. Elder Castillo, from the Dominican Republic. Has crazy swag! He walks like he is a gangster! Hillarious! Love the kid! ME! Elder Tyler! You already read about him. Elder Olaya, Not sure if I have told you much about him... He is from Columbia, Super Femy and really annoying! I hope he is tranfered this transfer haha BUT he is a child of God so I am nice to him! haha (As long as he doesnt touch me!) 2 investigators! Rosalvas friends who just started taking the lessons from the other missionaries last week. The lady talks like you wouldnt believe. We tried to have a 5 minute lesson... We talked for five minutes and she talked for 25...

Next... The photo with the 2 little black boys! Maswell y Mice! Craziest kids in the world. Take Johnny times 5! And then there are 2 haha The mom is also pregnant with a 3rd... She wanted a girl... She is having another boy! Good Luck!

And last... The one with the little girl, Atanie. The cutest little girl in the country of Spain! She is I think 2! I die everytime she comes to talk to me!

Well family! Love you lots! Hope everything is going well at home! I miss you guys tons and love hearing from all of you! Thanks for everything you do for me!

Lots of Love!

Elder Carrigan
  

Great Week!!

Familia!

Mom! Thank you for the Package! I loved every second of it! The beef jerkey was gone REAL fast! haha Elders Rios, Castillo, and Olya were amazed that in the United States we sell meet in bags! haha I was dying. Trying to explain exactly what it was and how that little freshness packet you cant eat keeps the meet fresh! It was a great moment! haha The CD is exactly what I wanted thank you and the lyric book was a great suprise! I hadnt gotten the Ensign yet. It is a great read. Thank you tons! Love you lots!

So the BYU... Ya that sucks, but I guess we will live! How are they looking this year? Is there any chance of them doing anything good or is it just going to be another average year?

Bilbao was fun! We didnt do much site seeing but almost all the elders from the zone were there so it was really fun just to do something together! We all went to the park and played basketball, football, alll kinds of good things! The best part was speaking english with the American missionaries! haha Dont get me wrong, I have learned a ton of spanish this transfer and it is a lot better, but I always love a break! haha It was a really fun day. Mom to answer your questions. All the cities are pretty close. We take the bus and everything is within 1 or 2 hours of Vitoria. Vitoria is in the center of everything.

So it sounds like the week was pretty average at home. It was a pretty average week here as well. Juliet is somewhat progressing. I can tell the teachers at her church are influencing her a ton! Or at least trying, they are doing everything they can to make it so we cant talk to her... It is frustrating. In almost every lesson we have with her, she brings just a list full of scriptures that her teachers have given her and tons of questions. We always take the time to answer them, she understands and then she comes back with a brand new list the next time... Its tough but I kind of like it! haha Ty sent me a quote last week from Elder Holland that said, "We dont always try to Bible Bash, but when we do, we ALWAYS win!" haha Its so true! Sometimes it is hard to find the scripture, but there is ALWAYS a scripture! Always an answer! It has strengthened my testimony a lot! When you have and know the truth, it is easy to disprove (Is this a word haha) wrong doctrine! Please continue to pray for her!

So Saturday we had another baptism with a man named Victor! I think I have talked about him... I cant remember! haha sorry! It has been an interesting story with him because he doesnt live in my area so I "cant" teach him, but I am the only one that speaks english so I taught him everything! We had to do intercambios everytime. Really stupid, but whatever... So he was baptized on Saturday. I had the opportunity to baptize and confirm him! It has been great teaching him. Before we started teaching him he told us he was never interested in church before he met us. He believed in God but wanted nothing to do with a church. He had problems Drinking, Smoking, and the law of chastity, but he has changed a lot! It has been great!

I attached photos of both the baptism of Katy and of Victor! Enjoy.

One Question... A lady from the Branch here in Vitoria is going to conference in October. She offered to bring anything I need or take anything to you guys. I couldnt think of anything. Do you have any ideas?

Thanks for everything. Love you all lots

Talk to you next week

Elder ¨Carrigan


  

Baptisms, Conferences, Miracles, and a day in Bilbao

Hey everyone!

This week has been crazy! The Lord has helped us in so many ways this week! I have experienced Miracles!

First, Juliet! Remember her? She is the girl from Nigeria! The daughter of the family of 7. Well we went to her house for our second lesson and before we even said the pray she sat us down and said, I want to get baptized! My companion and I just looked at eachother and didnt even know what to do! haha so we were stoked! More on this later!

Next, Katy, was Baptized on Friday! It was great! The service went really well, and lots of people from the ward came to support her! Elder Rios baptized her and then Katy asked me if I would confirm her. I was scared out of my mind! haha I had no Idea what i was going to say or anything! But the thought just kept coming into my that the blessing comes from the spirit so you dont even need to know what to say... Right now I have no idea what I said, but it either went well or really bad because when she shook my hand she had a huge smile on her face! I like to think it was because I did a good job, but it could have been that my spanish was just really bad haha! Who knows! :) So that started off the weekend on a high!

On Saturday, and Sunday we had Stake Conference with all of Basque country! I love when there are conferences becuase everyone comes from everywhere and it is an awesome sight! So we invited our investigators and Juliet came! At first she wasnt going to come but she changed her mind last second becasue she said she wanted to talk to us. Elder Rios and I were a little nervous about this. Turns out that during the week she went to her bible class with the testigos. She told them she was gettign baptized and her teacher ripped into her with all this stuff and so she was pretty hesitant about talking with us on the bus ride up. She was writing all these things in her note book on the bus to the conference like "I am sorry God, I dont know what I am doing" or "Soy Testigo" and all these things... I was super nervous! So I began to pray in the bus! And I prayed hard! Just asking God that something said in the conference would touch her heart and she would feel the Holy Ghost with her in the meeting! I had a feeling to promise her that if she wrote a question down on a piece of paper and put it in her pocket. By the end of the meeting, she would have an answer to that question. Well... Every speaker in the conference talked about Temples and the importance of Temples... And I am not going to lie, durign the conference I was really nervous thinking of all the questions she was going to have, this and that. I was scared haha. Well, we experienced miracle number 2 with Juliet in the same week! At the end of the conference she had the biggest smile on her face and loved the conference. She didnt have a single question about what was talked about. She said that when the lady talked about how our families can be eternal and forever, she knew this is where she was supposed to be. On the way home she called just about everyone she could and told them about her baptism on the 22nd! It was the greatest thing! The Lord works Miracles here! It is amazing to be able to see them every day!

So P day is today because we had Zone Conference yesterday. Unfortunately I dont have time to write about it because we decided to go up to Bilbao for P Day! we are going to go hit the town and experience the North today I am stoked! Because of this I dont have my camera with me so I cant send Pictures of the Baptism today. I will next week! But, I do have a couple of questions.

1. Did Trevor Montgomery recieve his call yet?
2. Did Brady Homer decide to join the Army?

Please update me on these! Thanks

I love you guys lots and I am excited for the package from Mom this week! I am sure it will be great! You guys are the greatest family in the world and I am so greatfull for everything you have done for me and the support you continue to give me! Love you all

Love
Elder Carrigan

Happy Birthday Brotha!

Good Morning Family!!!

First off, A huge shout out to my boy Ry Guy! Turning 14 this week! That is crazy! I saw the picture dad sent me and you are taller than nick now! From the looks of the picture you might even be taller than me! That is absolutely crazy! I was just thinking by the time I will be getting back, you will be learning how to drive! haha DONT DRIVE MY CAR!  haha no es una broma! Crazy! Well anyway, I hope it is a good one! Go buy something nice for yourself from me with Mom and Dads money! haha Love ya bud!

So this week as been really good! Lots of work and then again not alot of work! Katy continues to progess towards her baptismal date for this Saturday! She is great and really prepared! Unfortunately, her mom has been busy working and hasnt been able to come to our lessons for the past week. Despite this, Katy still has a strong desire to be baptised and we are hoping that with her baptism, her mom will also see the importance of baptism as well! Please keep them in your prayers!

The other elders have been teachign Victor and as far as I know he is doing well... I dont know how much he understands or if he knows what is going on, but he came to church yesterday so I think he is progressing haha!

Ernest, is the man! haha Honestly he was a blessing placed in my hands! he started reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning the other week and has read quite a bit! He also asked me how he can get a copy of Preach My Gospel and other books of the church! Amazing! O! haha and he also accepted his first calling as a nursery teacher! haha I have no Idea why the President of the Rama decided to assign the biggest guy in the branch to the nursery, but we will see how it goes! haha

Elder Rios and I decided to focus a lot on contacting this week. A lot of our visits have fallen through this past week due to just flaky investigators... So we went on our search. The Lord blessed us. Yesterday we had our first lesson with a family of 7. It was great. the whole family are all part of different religions and the mom really wants to go to a church with the entire family. We explained what we do as missionaries and presented the Book of Mormon and they seemed pretty interested. The funny part is we called the house before we came and the dad found out we were coming so he left in a hurry. In the visit we asked when we could come again and the mom set a date with us and said dont call before you come. I dont want my husband runnign off again. You need to be sneaky. haha She is a HOOT. It is great. I am excited to start teaching them. We have our second lesson with them tomorrow. Please keep them in your prayers as well.

Mom, I dont think I need anything else. Just the CDs and maybe some more Peanut Butter haha. I will work on what you asked for this week and then send it off to you next Monday! What kind of picture are you looking for though? Please give me a little more info on this... In a Suit? Just of me? Companions? Members? Please tell!

Well thats it from Spain this week... I love you all! I will talk to you guys next week!

Love
Elder Carrigan

A VERY slow week...

Hey everybody once again!

So I think this week is my first week in the mission where everyday just went by SUPER slow! ha ha. Things have been a little frustrating since Elder Keyes left. With me being the only english speaker here, we have been trying to figure out who is going to teach all the Africans in the other elder´s area... They desided that a member who speaks english can go and translate with them... I dont really like the idea just because I think it would be harder to feel the spirit if someone is teaching and one has to translate... I dont know we will see, I dont like it but I have no say so if it what the Lord wants then it will stay the same, if its not then I am sure he will find a way to change it...

Also with Elder Keyes leaving, I had to finish teaching one of his investigators from Ghana... He had a baptismal date for this past Saturday, but when I started teaching him I knew there was something sketchy about him... I dont know it was weird. He kept saying I have no food to eat, I am going to Malaga in 2 weeks and my brother is going to help me there but I dont have food for 2 weeks! And other wierd stuff, but he is 18 years old so I was like alright we can help you out. All the elders in the Piso pitched in 1 euro and we bought him like pasta and rice, things that will last awhile. (This was Friday) He passed his baptismal interview and I was like alright I guess he really wants to be baptized. His baptism was scheduled for Saturday at 6. So anyway, I recieved a call from him Friday night while we were planning and he says, He my brother from Malaga called and he baught me a ticket for a train tomorrow at 4 so can we do the baptism next week? I told him that we would change his baptism to the morning and he agreed... Im back to a little sketched at this point. Saturday mornign I called him to remind him to bring some things... Phone is off! Ya alright, he isnt coming! SO we went all the way to his house to see if we could find him. The adress he gave us isnt his house... Ya I felt really dumb, but what are you going to do! We teach a lot of people who I feel like they only listen to us because they need help from the church... Its sad! But at the same time I cant judge them and not teach them the gospel... They need the gospel just as much as everyone else, but its frustrating!

Other than that, we are teaching 3 new investigators...

Katy and her mom from Peru. They are great, we gave them both Books of Mormon and a chapter to read and Katy came back, had read the chapter wqe assigned and then 1 Nephi 1-10. Katy has accepted a baptismal date and I am sure her mom will soon follow... He mom is a little behind because she cant come to all the lessons, she has to work! But if Katy gets baptized, I think her mom will as well!

Also Victor! He is from Nigeria and is a friend of Ernests... He doesnt know much about God or anything about the gospel and has problems with Smoking, Drinking, and Womanizing (As he calls it) BUT he knows he needs to change and is willing to keep comitments! Its amazing! Today we are also having two lessons with a refference and a street contact so pray for us that they go well!

Other than that, all is well... Sorry its short! I wrote a lot of small emails today! And a long one to president! Love you all and I hope everything is amazign at home! I cant believe school started this week! The summer went by way two fast!

O and last week you asked me about my favorite food I have eaten so far... I attached a photo! The best in the Spain Barcelona Mission! The picture doesnt do justice, but depending on the day, sometimes the onlything you swallow is pure chocolate!

Love you all!

Elder Carrigan