Same Old, Same Old

Hey Everyone!

It was a bitter sweet week this week! Elder Feller and I have decided that we are going to have to start dropping some investigators. At least for now... Some of the people just arent progressing! The worst part of missionary work! Like I have said before, I hate free agency! haha The worst thing about a visit is when you go and you ask them if they have read and they say no... It kills me! Or they say yes, yesI promise I will be in church! Sunday roles around... They dont come! It kills me! haha but hey, thats the mission, life goes on! The great thing about Barcelona is that there are always new people who show up at church! :) 

 

We had a couple new people show up this week and we set up some visits with them and they both seem to be pretty good! Its actually kinda funny, both are named Gloria and they both have been to church at least 3 times. We have planned to meet with both of them this week we will see how it goes!

We are seeign a huge miracle right now with a man named Benito! He is a spanish man that contacted us and he is incredible! Unfortunately he has a problem with smoking. We taught him about the Word of Wisdom this week, and he asked us if he had to give up smoking before he could get baptized and we told him that yes he needed to stop before he could be baptised. He replied, Alright Lets do it! It will be tough because I have smoked my whole life, but I am going to do it! It was amazing! We are going to meet with him tomorrow to make a plan of how he can quit smoking. We have some recent converts that had problems before help us out! It will be great! I know he can do it! 

Nancy and Yuly are progressing slowly. Nancy didnt come to church this week because she had to work. We also couldnt meet with Yuly last week because she was scared that we had to meet her in here house, but we solved the problem and told here we were going to meet in the church... Easy doubt! haha Little by little! 

Other than that, everything is great! Just trucking along! I honestly cant believe we are going to start September! Crazy!

Love you all! 

Elder Carrigan

Fun Week

Hey Guys! 

Looks like you guys had a great week at home! Park City looks really fun! I just hope that you all know that I could beat you all in the Alpine Slide ANY DAY! :) I cant believe school starts tomorrow! Thats nuts to me! Time flies by! I hope you guys all enjoy your first day of school today!!! O man the first day of school is always great! And Ry Guy! Holy! Your first day of high school! Thats nuts! 

I also still cant believe that Ty is home... It still blows my mind! You guys all looked really good in the photo you sent me! Ryan looks huge! Nick needs a hair cut! (I hope he didnt go to his first day of senior year like that haha) Annie looking good in her Blue Knights jersey! (Congrats on the championship!!) Ty... You chose the ugliest tie to come home in! haha But really do I expect anything different... haha

Well anyway... All is well here in Barcelona! This week was actually a week of mixed feelings! We are teaching a lot of people right now which is really good! The only problem is just none of them come to church! It kills me every Sunday! There is no way they can progress if they dont come to church!

The worst part of the week is that we ran out of calls and messages on our phone so we werent able to call anyone during the day... We had to call everyone in the morning and confirm the visits and then just hope they would be there in the afternoon. We had to work like they did in the olden days! I dont know how the missionaries did it back in the day! Never had I had so many cancelled visits in my life! 

We also werent able to meet with Celeste and her family this week because of this. The hung us out to dry twice this week! It was rough... We are trying so hard to help this family but the dad is always working and we just cant meet with them. This week we are planning on passing by a couple times by suprise this week. We need to find out if they really are interested. If they are, they need to start doing their part as well. It seems like that is always what holds us back. The part of the investigator...

As far as progressing investigators.. We have a couple! This past week we had a Spanish man call us and he told us that he wanted us to help him. We have started talking to him and he came to church this past week! It was pretty sweet, in Elders Quorem we got into a "heated discussion" about unity. Im sure you know what I mean, and at the very end of the lesson he raised his hand, stood up, and said I think if we have the Holy Ghost with us, we can do all things! BOOM! Roasted! haha after that, no one said anything! haha 

We also have a lady named Yuly. She came to church for the first time this week as well and absolutely loved it! We set up another visit with her and she said she is also going to bring her sister! We are excited to start teaching her and her sister! More info to come! 

We also found a lady named Nancy this week! She is from Columbia! She is really smart and super nice! She just moved here from Italy and is figuring things out. She also came to church. The only problem is we think she got really confused in the 2nd hour. The teacher of the Gospel Principles class is kinda stupid.. We are sitting in a class with a bunch of investigators and he asks stupid questions like. Is there anyone here who doesnt know what a patriachal blessing is??? Well Duh!!!!!! He tried to explain the priesthood this week and it didnt go well at all. She ended up leaving right after the class so we are going to try to meet with her this week... We will see what happens. 

O fun story! So a couple just got married in our ward and for their honeymoon they went to thailand! So they got back this week and so I told them that Justin was serving there and was asking them what it was like... They told me that it was absolutely beautiful, that the ground never stops moving...(Becuase all of the bugs crawling around) haha, and that the food was interesting! I hope Justin is having a good time! :) haha Please send me his emails. I would love to hear from him and his intersting stories! 

Well. Thats it this week! Love you all lots! Hope school is fun! Live it up! No regrets! 

Love you guys!

Elder J. Carrigan

Claudio goes DOWN!

Hey everyone! It was another great week here in Barcelona! 

Claudio got baptized!!!! It was an incredible service! Honestly the spirit was probably the strongest I have ever felt in any baptism! HIs mom came from a pueblo of Barcelona and shared their story on how hteir family found the church and it brought an incredible spirit into the room! Anyway, he asked me to baptize him and everything went perfect! He showed up to church on Sunday in a suit and a tie and was looking FLY! haha It was incredible! The change I have seen in this man is the greatest thing you can ever see in the mission and honestly it is why I am here! The gospel changes people! It honestly completely changes their lives! Its the greatest thing in the world! I wish I could send pictures, but these computers dont work... I will work on sending all my pictures home... There just isnt time! Too much to do! haha

Rocio was also supposed to be baptized this week but unfortunately she decided to wait until her husband gets here to Spain... Kind of a bummer, but it is what it is...

We continue to see a lot of miracles here! This week we went to see this family we found last week and they are super great! They came to church thsi week but got there a little late. They called us in the middle of sacrament and we went out to get them. They ended up bringing two other friends with them as well. Not going to lie. It was kind of fun to walk into sacrament meeting a little late with 5 investigators! haha I think more than anything it pumped up the ward! After the meeting the whole ward was talking to them and inviting them to activities and all this stuff! It was incredible! Honestly I think they felt a little overwhelmed, but hey, I loved it! haha 

Other than that, we continue to work hard, and both Elder Feller and I are loving the time working together! We are seeing miracles daily and we truly are seeing the hands of the Lord in our work! I love it! 

But thats about it for this week...

Mom, I havent gotten the package yet, but like you said I am sure it will get her this week! I am excited! But yes please! Send pictures of the wedding! 

Also, Nick please give Ty my love... I will let you decide how... Just dont be the way that Ty wins 50 bucks! haha 

Love you all tons! Have a great last week of summer! :)

Love

E. Carrigan

PS

Brian, Congrats on the wedding. Wish I could be there!

Also Mathew B. Happy Birthday big dog! Hope you have a good one!  

Miracles!!!!!

Hey everyone!

It was another great week here in Barcelona! It seems like the Lord just keeps blessing and blessing us! This week we saw more miracles than I have ever seen in my life! My testimony has truly grwon this week in how the Lord really does still work miracles in these times! 

So first off! Claudio is getting baptized this week! Boom! I am super stoked! I wish I could send you a picture of this man! He is incredible! If you all remember, we met him about 2 weeks ago and I remember puttng the baptismal date with him, Right as I was putting it with him I kind of thought to myself, there is no way this man will be prepared in two weeks! Where in the world was my faith?? The gospel changes people! I am positive! Claudio has changed so much in two weeks and I know he is ready to be baptized! He went from die hard rock and roll to just an insainly spiritual man! I love this gospel! 

So we are busy planning his baptism.... Rocio also still has the goal of getting baptized this week! I have learned my lesson, and I have faith that she too will enter the water, but she told us on sunday that she would rather wait for her husband to get here so they can get baptized together... we told here that the temple should be there real goal and that he could be baptized in Peru and she could get baptized here and then they could enter the temple togehter when he got here, but she is convinced that her hhusband wont like the idea. We have a family home evening with them tonight and we are hoping that we can have the dad on skype with us, but we will see what happens. 

We also experienced a crazy miracle this week! So It was in the afternoon and we have been working on cleaning up our area book so we have been passing by lots of people. Well we were in one part of the city and we had planned to pass by some less active members, so we jumped on the metro to go to this house well on the Metro I had a really strong feeling that we shouldnt go visit this family, but that we should get off at another metro stop and continue passing by some of the records we had. So I told my companion and he said alright lets go! So we exited the Metro and we pulled out the map to see where this person lived, when my companion stopped and said, wait! We need to contact THAT lady! We went up and started talking to her. As we talked to her, her little boy pulled up on a scooter. We talked about the family and how the gospel can bless their lives. She than siad, well my husband is in our piso right now. I then asked her, o well can we go meet him! She accepted! We walked to their piso, and also met the father! It turns out the the father was baptized when he was a teenager and that he wants to return to the church. Him and his wife are happily MARRIED and have a wonderful 10 year old boy. We shared a lesson with them and have a return visit on Tuesday. I am super stoked and its all becuase both me and my companion followed the promting of the spirit. After is was all done, we both looked at eachother and were amazed with what just had happened! 

AND!!!! On Sunday, we were passing by some more records looking for old investigators. We knocked this door and no one answered. I sat down to look and the map again when a spanish lady walked by. All I said to her was hello and she stopped and looked at me and said, Do you happen to have a pamphlet that talks of God. Im having a rough day and maybe this could help. Well, we began talking to her and she started crying and explaining the things that had happened. We gave here the Book of Mormon and testified of it power and she LOVED it! She started explaining to us how she has always thought it was weird that there is proof that the Native Americans believed in God and yet there is no record of them and their relationship with God. Well... BOOM! Book of Mormon! We also have a return appointment with her this week! Honestly, the Lord is placing people in our path! It is incredible! 

Well, I am running out of time... I love you guys a ton and I know this work, this church is true! It really is run by Jesus Christ himself! Hope you guys have a wonderful week! 

Love 

E. Carrigan

P.S. Dad, stay away from the cherries... I recieved quite a few complaints! :) Loves! 

Train Crash!!

Hey Everyone!

SO its been an incredible week here in Barcelona! We saw so many miracles this week it was unreal!

So first off, I just want to clear some things up. The missionary that was in the train crash is actually from the MADRID mission, so I really dont know too much about the whole thing. I saw a video of the crash! Nuts! The conductor is an idiot! Last I heard he is being charged for man slaughter and is willing accepting being put into jail. Kind of interesting. Last I heard the Elder is doing fine and will be in the field soon. There was also a member couple on the train... The Husband is doing fine, but the wife is still in critical condition in the hospital. Pretty intense. Hope everything turns out well! 

Another thing, I think some of you might have misunderstood me. They are NOT splitting the mission. They just split my ZONE. haha President Pace is still the mission president and I still serve in Barcelona! :) 

But anyway, like I said, this week was a week of miracles! Last weekend, Elder Arce and I fasted for our area, we knew that one of us was going to leave, but we decided to fast for the ward because Barrio 1 hasnt seen a lot of convert baptisms this year. Well, Elder Feller and I saw the miracles this week! On Tuesday we received a couple calls. The first was from a lady named Maria. We set a visit for the next day to go and visit her. We got there to the door and as she opens the door she says Hello, Im Maria. My boyfriend is an exmissionary who lives in Chile. He is on Skype right now, and I have been talking to him and I want to be baptized! The only bad part is she left the next day for a month long vacation... BUT we gave her a Book of Mormon and when she gets back we will start to teach her the lessons! Miracle! 

Well, We also recieved a call from a man named Claudio. He was born in Chile but moved here when he was 13 and has been living here for 30ish years. He called us and said he wanted to talk to us. We arrived to his house and he was super nice, as we sat down on his couch I ask him how he is doing and he says really well thanks. Really I want to get baptized and I just want to know the process and what I need to do! haha Boom! Miracle! I guess his mom is a member here as well and he decided he wanted to become closer to God and knew that baptism is the best way to do it! Well, I couldnt agree with him more! 

As for Nikole and Rocio, everything is still going really well! Hopefully Nikole gets out of the hospital soon, we still dont know when they will release her... Everything is going well though! Rocio is still progressing. We have a visit with her tonight and we are excited! I talked to her the other day and we  might have some potential problems with her husband not wanting her to be baptized, but im positive the spirit will help us! Please keep her in your prayers! 

Elder Feller and I are having a blast together! He is a really great kid! Really down to earth, has a lot of desires to work, but also likes to have a lot of fun! We are having a really good time together and have already seen a ton of miracles together! I am positive we will also see many more! 

We found a lady this week contacting and it was her birthday. She told us she was interested in learning more so we told her to come to church on Sunday and we would make her brownies and celebrate her birthday! Well, She came to church, but the brownies didnt turn out so well! haha In fact, the didnt turn out at all! haha 

Dad, as far as the whole Ipad thing... Yeah, I still think we are a little behind... My phone is still one of those little bricks! haha Hopefully the come around soon! I think they would make things a whole lot easier, but we will see! We are trying to work a lot closer with the members. I think President Pace said it best. The members arent here to help us with our missionary work, we are here to help them with their missionary work! Its so true! As members of the Lords true church, its our responsibility to share our blessings with others! 

Well, I love you guys lots! Keep up the good work and enjoy your last month of summer! :) 

Loves! 

Elder Carrigan

Transfers

Hey Everyone! 

So as you all know, transfers were this week, and I was expecting a transfer call, but the Lord wants me here in Barcelona a little bit longer! Im not complaining! :) Unfortunately Elder Arce is off to the Valencia zone so I will have a new companion. His name is Elder Feller. I have talked to him a couple of times, but dont know much about him. I do know that he is from Utah and went to Alta. From what I have heard and seen, he seems like a pretty cool kid and a great missionary. I am excited to work with him! Opening an area is always tough, and I feel like this next month or transfer we are going to see lots of miracles and lots of work here in Barcelona! 

The transfer was pretty nuts! You can tell that President in trying to prepare the mission for next transfer. We recieve 43 missionaries next transfer! Crazy! Because of this lots of people were moved around and put into areas where next transfer they can easily open a new area. They split the Barcelona Zone is half!! It is so fun to be in the mission right now just because seeing all the growth of the church and of the mission pumps me up! haha

As far as the work goes for us.. The week was filled with some ups and some downs. So Nikole was supposed to get baptized on Saturday but unfortunately she didnt... Thursday night we found out that she was sent to the hospital due to some issues... Please keep her in your prayers! I dont want to say this has turned out to be a good thing, but it kind of has. The young women in our ward are incredible! We called the young womens president as soon as we found out and on Sunday almost the of the young women in the ward went and visited her with signs, balloons, and everything! She loved it and felt really loved! Her mom also saw this and I think she is starting to open up a little bit now. Now she actually talks to us! :) Its a start. Hopefully she recovers well. When she is released from the hospital we will put another date. I know she she will be baptized and hopefully we can reactivate the whole family as well! 

We do have a new inestigator!!! Her name is Rocio. Both of her kids are members and her paretns as well! She is incredible and ready to get baptized! I guess not so long ago she wanted nothing to do with the church, but we invited the whole family to a family home evening with another family and it went extremely well. We talked to her, and at one part of the lesson she started explaining about how she didnt want anything with the church at one part in her life, and yet now she is at church every week. SO I asked her "Well why is it that you come to church now?" And she said it was because she felt good there. So I asked her."Well. what makes you feel so good at church?" She responded with the answer that I love! "Thats just it, I still dont know why I feel so good!" BOOM! We both testified about the Holy Ghost and how we can feel the Holy Ghost in places like chuch and FHE! The spirit was incredible! Not goign to lie! I love teaching by the spirit! It is incredible how much the spirit really helps me while we are teaching! We invited her to be baptized and she accepted! She is working to be baptized on the 10th of August! 

Then, we had a lady call us this week and said, Hello, My name is Maria and I would like to listen to the message you share.... It blew my mind! haha I was like... Um, Yeah, I think we can help you with that! We will try to fit you into our busy schedule! haha We have a lesson with her today at 4! Hopefully it goes well! If everything goes as planned, we will invite her to be baptized on the 10th as well! 

So thats about it for the week! :) It was a good week of missionary work! 

So to answer some of your questions! 

Dad you asked why it feels so hot. Yes it is really humid! You walk out the door and imidiately start sweating! Its one of those heats where by the end of the day you just feel nasty like you are sticky and smell... Plus we have been in the street LOTS the past couple weeks! Put me at the beach and I dont think it would be that bad, but just the fact that I am in the sun all day everyday, in a white shirt and tie, makes it that much worse! haha

As for the package that both of you talked about... Honestly, I cant think of anything that I need right now... As of right now I am good! I will probably need some white long sleeve shirts in the winter because I have given some of mine to converts and peopel that need them, but I am going to buy some european style shirts so I can come back looking real spaniard :) My pants have all ripped but they have been fixed by the members here! I have holes in my shoes, but they still are hanging in there! My ties are stained with food, sweat, and who knows what else, but I wouldnt want it any other way! :) All is well! If your going to send a package, I would love lots of photos, some letters from my brothers and sister and just some goodies maybe some Dr. Pepper or Mountain Dew Code Red, if its possible! We were talking about it the other day and I suddenly have a craving! haha  Other than that, all is well!! 

I am also trying to get a package off to you guys sometime soon with some things and lots of photos. The only problem is the computers we use dont let us plug in our cameras, so I need to find another computer... but im working on it! :) 

Well I am headed off to pick up Elder Feller from the train station! Love you all tons! Nick and Ryan, let me know how camp went! Annie, I want to hear about your tournament as well! Love you guys ton, and I pray for all of you everyday! Thanks for everything! 

Elder J. Carrigan

Lake Powell

Hey everyone! 

Hope you all are enjoying your trip in Lake Powell! Dad sent me some pics and I feel like I got my little piece of heaven just looking at them! I am glad you guys are having a good time! Luckily I have been able to stay focused this week and I havent thought of you guys too much! haha

Overall this week went well. It was a little tough... Maria, the girl from Peru that was really good dropped off of the face of the earth. I called her this week to confirm a visit and she told us that she cant visit with us anymore. I think its because he mom doesnt want anything to do with us. She is 21 so really she can do whatever she wants, but she lives here with her mom, so i am sure she plays a major part. We are going to continue trying to meet with her and maube we can talk to her a little more and help her with some of the doubts she has, but as for now, she doesnt want anything...

we also found out this week that there is a chance that Nikole might not get baptized this next week... She is super ready and he have taught her everything, or I guess I should say repassed everything because she already knew everything, but her mom doesnt want her to be baptized until the end of August... The worst part is the mom wont even talk to us so it is pointless. I am kinda bugged with the whole situation... We are praying hard and I knwo if the Lord wants it to happen, it will happen, but unfotunately people have this thing called agency that really bugs me! haha More than anything, I feel liek I am lossing my patience for a lot of people... Its either that or the heat is driving me crazy! Maybe its a little of both! haha 

Thsi past week we had an activity with all the youth which was really fun! They all came super early to the church and had a mission day. We ate breakfast, had personal study, companionship study, and then visited some families in the ward. We taught them how to teach the Plan of Salvation, and then they had to teach it to the families we visited. It was really fun and I think the youth also had a reallt good time! We are trying really hard to work with the bishopric and get a lot of the youth here out on missions! Almoth everyday we have a young man helping us. Wether its with a visit or just contacts, we take them with us and do splits all the time. Its really fun! 

We also have an activity today in the church. We are having a big sports day! One of the sister missionaries made a ton of mexican food and we told the youth that if they bring a friend, they can eat Mexican food!! haha We are just going to play a ton of sports! Of course I am going to teach them how to play scatterball! I just hope I dont hit a little girl in the face today!! haha Its going to be a fun day! 

Alright, Im out! Thanks for everything! Love you all! I am looking forward to all the pictures of Powell you are going to send me next week! :) 

Loves! 

Elder Carrigan