Great Week!

Hey guys! 

Alright I am going to apoligize now, this letter is going to be a short one! I have been doing a ton of stuff with all the pictures I have because I havent touched them in 3 months. I had to pass them all to pin drives so I can send them home to you guys! Hopefully I can get that done soon! 

Well Everything is great here in Barcelona! Elder Seegmiller and I are working really hard to find new investigators! Maybe thats why he is always sleeping! haha He is a good kid and just a new missionary! It has kind of been hard for me to slow down and actually train him. I had gotten used to working with someone who already knows what they are doing that my patience has definately been tried this past week. It has been a stuggle to stop and explain what we are doing, where we are going, why I we are doing this and that, where we are goign next... ETC. but it has been good for me as well. 

Like I said, the biggest thing we are doing is looking for new investigators... We are stuggling to find people who live in our area. We have been talking to a ton of people but all of them live somewhere else in Barcelona! I know the Lord will bless us! We have started going with the basics again and we are trying to find some less active members that live in our area. The bishop is really excited to have more missionaries here in the ward and we are creating a"plan of action" about how we are goign to work effectively! 

Nick Well done on the homecoming date! She looked like a cute girl! 

Ryan, Way to take one to the throat! Thats my boy! I would love a picture of that nice bruise you have! 

Annie, I heard about your goal! Nice job! Nad against your rivals! Thats awesome! Keep up the good work! 

Other than that I am still lovign Barcelona! Im not sure I have much more to tell you all! I love you all tons and I am glad you are all having a good time at home! 

Sorry its short! Talk to you all next week! Loves

Elder Carrigan

A New Son is Born!

Hey

Sounds like a great week at home! I found out this week that I am the worst older brother ever because I forgot to wish my brother happy birthday! I still cant believe he got an Iphone... Such crap! haha I feel like as soon as I left for my mission, everyone at home started recieving sweet stuff! Wow I am sure everything has changed at home! Today I hit 8 months left in the mission... ARE YOU KIDDING! It goes by way to fast. Got to enjoy what I have left! 

So this week was nuts! Like I told you guys, 45 new missionaries arrived this week to the mission and it has been absolutely crazy! I havent been in my area like all week and it was tough but now everything is settled down! 

So I do have a new trainee, or son! His name is Elder Seegmiller! He is from Troy, Idaho. Never heard of it! He tells me its in the North of Idaho! He comes from a large family of 8 kids and is the youngest... Classic Idaho mormon family! haha His dad is some sort of scientist and he wants to be one too! He is a really great kid who is excited to be here and is ready to work hard! 

Unfortunately Benito wasnt baptized this week.... He has dropped smoking a lot. he has gone from a pack a day to about 2 or 3 a day which is good, but unfortunately its not stopping. We are still meeting with him and hopefully we can get him to stop completely! The only problem is that h eis going to Brazil soon for a wedding and will be gone for a couple of weeks... So we will have to wait for him to get back for him to be able to be baptized...

After that, investigators are running dry. We are headed back to stage one and we are looking, looking, looking! We recently dropped some investigators that werent progressing and then I actually just barely recieved a text from an investigator saying that she doesnt want to meet with us anymore... Lovely! haha But Im not worried! There are prepared people everywhere! :) 

Claudio recieved the Priesthood this weke! So that is great news! Only problem is that he found work and now wont be able to come to church for about a month.... Bummer! But he did say that he is going to come to all of the activities and everything during the week, plus we will still visit him during the week as well! All is well here in Barcelona! Still loving life! 

Love you all and I am happy you guys are doing well! 

Loves! 

Elder Carrigan

Traslados

Hey Guys!

So I guess I will let you guys in on transfers! I am super excited! I will be staying here in Barcelona for another transfer! :) Elder Feller and I will not be companions, but we will be living together. Like we thought, President split us up and both of us will be trainning! IT should be really fun! I am going to stay in our area and Elder Feller is going to go take over a part of the sisters area in the upper half of Barcelona. It should be pretty exciting! We are trying to get the members excited as well! With so many missionaries in the field, we could see a lot of amazing things happen, but only if the members help us in the work! We had a meeting with the bishop yesterday, and next week we are going to sit down with the bishopric what we are going to do to be the most productive has possible! We are going to see miracles! 

This next week is going to be nuts though! Becasue we live here in Barcelona we have to help all these new missionaries with residency and all this stuff! It is going to be a disaster! haha 45 new missionaries will arrive in Barc Sants (The Train Station) tomorrow at 9 O´clock in the morning! The will all come up the esscalator together and Im not going to lie, it is going to be an epic sight! haha I am glad I get to be apart of it! Then after we have to take them everywhere and do a bunch of paper work for them and all that stuff... That part im not excited for! haha It will be an interstign week for us! Thursday afternoon I will recieve my new companion and then get back to work! It should be great! 

So as for this week... A lot caught us by suprise! On Thursday morning we received a call from a member of the church and he told us that some one had broken into the old church building and had made a mess. They needed help cleaning up, so we went as soon as we could.. On the outside of the church, everything looked normal, but as soon as you took one step into the church, it look as if a hurricane had hit the place! It was destroyed! It made me sick! It wasnt like someone had broken in, stole some stuff, and left. No, people had broken in like 3 months ago and they had been living there for who knows how long and in the meantime just destroyed the place! It was terrible! There were beer cans everywhere, paint all over the walls, and the whole place smelled terrible! They had taken one of the fire hoses and just wet the whole place down! The basement was flooded and it was just an awfull sene. Something I deffinately didnt think I would ever see in a chruch... So we spent the morning cleaning the place up, but I cant say I did much... There was way too much to clean up. I think they just ended up hiring a professional cleaning team to just go in there and take out everything! It was nuts!

This week we dropped some investigators and hopefully in the future they will accept the gospel. Its always hard to let peopel go, but if they dont do their part, we cant do anything for them... The good news though is that Benito is going to be baptized this next week! At the end of the month he is goign to Benito for a couple weeks and he wants to get baptized before then. So, he is lettign smoking go this week, and he will be baptized on Saturday! Please pray that he can stop smoking!! He needs the prayers! Dad, thanks for the program. We are using it! :) We think everything will go well. We know it will be hard for him, but everything is possible with the Lords help! 

Well thats about it for this week! I still love the mission! haha Nothing better! O I do have one request! I need a special marking pencil... I know it sounds lame, but they are the best adn I cant find one anyone here! You can buy them in the MTC store and i am sure in deseret book as well. It is just a marking pencil wih tons of colors. Ty knows what I am talking about... Ask him. 

Well, sounds like all is well at home! Love you all lots! Dad, dont dream about me too much! Dont worry, the Mediteranian Sea´s waves arent that crazy and President will never find out! Im way too sneaky! haha 

Love you all lots! 

E. Carrigan

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!