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!