Rain, Rain, Go Away

Hey Everyone!

 

Lots of rain here in Lleida this week! Winter is starting and its freezing outside! haha

 

This week was a good week! Lleida had stake conference this week and we saw lots of miracles and... WE ARE FINDING!!!!

 

I am telling you that the blessings come when we stay out every night and work to the very end. The other night we were out working and we had finish our lessons for the day and it was just time to go to the street and find some new people to teach, so we began to contact and we were litterally talking with everyone! Well we had been contacting for quite sometime and it was getting late, so we started heading back to piso. I will be honest, we were tired, wet, and cold and we hadnt seen too much success with our contacts, but we knew that we could find somebody! Anybody! Well, on our way back, we made a couple more contacts, but I kid you not. The last 5 contacts of the night not only said yes to listen to us another day, but they all invited us to their homes! Within the next couple days! It was incredible! We have visited with some of them and have also found family members that live with them! We placed fechas and they are now preparing to be baptized! we will be visiting the rest within the next couple days! It is amazing to see the miracles that come from the Lord when we strive to be diligent and obedient!

 

Right now some of the people we are teaching are

 

Eva... She is an older spanish lady that has 12 cats that live with her! :) haha She is incredible!

 

Lina and Angela... They are from Columbia! Lina is Angelas mom. We found Lina that night. We had a lesson last night and invited them to be baptized! They both said of course! Still a long path a head but they are great! Lina reminds me of Rossy ODonald! She is crazy hiper! haha Its great!

 

Angi and her mom... Another contact from that night. They are from Peru. Angi accepted a fecha. We are still working with the mom. Long road ahead but they are progressing well!

 

Josefina, Victor and family... They are a family from Camaroon! They were a reference from a member! They are really good! Victor has like some crazy thought about Revelations and the bible but we are working with them little by little!

 

Paul Brown... My boy from Ghana! Unfortunately he didnt come to church this week so we will have to replace the fecha this week, but we gave him a big BoM this week with giant letters so now he can start to read it! :)

 

It has been amazing to see the work boom this week!

 

This week Lleida also had zone conferece. We had to go to Sabadell for the conference. It is a city close to Barc. A 70 came and talked to us. He is from northern Spain. He cracked down hard on missionary work, and for part of his lesson he had us teach the Restoration to the whole stake, I have never been so nervous to teach the Restoration in my life! haha I dont know why I always get so nervous when I am up there!  At least I didnt call anyone a girl over the pulpit this time! haha After the conference we slept in the mission office and Hermana Pace made us Breakfast in the morning. It was the best breakfast I have eaten in a long time! haha Man I miss moms cooking! ;)

 

Well thats about it! Hope you all have a good week! LOVE YOU ALL!

 

James

 

1459 Me and Elder Weiss... Just a little wet

1456 The Day in the life of a missionary... haha Dont worry! Im happy! :) haha

Zarragoza!

Hey Fam!

So this week was great! I was able to go on an intercambio with Elder Wiscombe in his area. I think I forgot to tell you that both Elder Wiscombe and Elder Garcia (The Elders I trained) are in our Zone. They are our District Leaders! haha It ahs been fun! So anyway, this week I went on an intercambio with Elder Wiscombe is Zaragoza! We had a great time and he is doing WORK! This past weekend he baptized a family of 4 and has 2 more baptismal dates for the end of this month! He is such a stud, I am really proud of him! He is working in a city named Zaragoza, which is a city that is outside of Catalunya. It was my first time out of Catalunya in a year and three months! haha Crazy! I found out that I have the habit of speaking some Catalan in my contacts because everytime I had to say goodbye to someone I said Adeu and they would always get mad at me! haha Such an intesting thing! It was good to be able to work with Elder Wiscombe again! We had a good time. They have an investigator that is trying to quit smoking and President Pace told us an interesting story of how some missionaries burned a package of cigarettes infront of the investigator and after they we done burning all that was left was ash and a bunch of tar. We thought that it could work. Im not going to say that President gave us permission, but I am also not going to say that he told us we couldnt do it... haha we tried burning a pack, but it didnt really work and it just made us smell like we had smoked a pack of cigarretes! haha Anyway, it was a story for the books!

But this past week we found a man named Paul Brown from Ghana! He is the man! We had a lesson with him and he accepted to be baptized on the 30th! He has talked to the missionaries before in Madrid. He told us that he has been here for awhile and he started wanting to go back to church. Well, the moment he started thinking about how he wanted to go back to church, we contacted him. Miracles! I love this work! The Lord truly does guide our footsteps! We are seeing him again this next week and I am really excited for him! He is super humble and super prepared!

Other than that, it continued to be a pretty average week. We are still cleaning out hthe area book and we are startign to work more with the ward list to see if we can find some less active part member families. Lleida has turned out to be a little harder of area than I thought it was going to be, but we are still ont he rise! We just need to make Lleida the area that we want it to be. As soon as we put our heads down, Satan won and we lost. We are working hard and I think my feet are going to fall off! haha Naw just joking!

Dad, I got the small package you sent me with my card and the treats! It got here really fast! I wasnt expecting it that fast! Thank you so much! I dont know if it is activated or if you were waitign for me to tell you I got it. If you were waiting, well you can activate it now. :) The big sales are coming up and its the last sale that I will be in Spain for. I plan to buy myself a couple of Christmas and Birthday gifts! ;) All I can tell you all is that I will be looking fly! haha

Well I love you all lots! Hope you have a good week!

Love James

Looking, Looking, Looking

Hey Fam,

Hope it has been a good week at home... Sounds like it was pretty exciting with Jonnys baptism! Congrats Buddy! 

Here in Lleida it was a pretty average week as well. We continue to look, look, and look! We cleaned out our area book, unfortunately it didnt bring too many results... We found some investigators but they are still unable to progress due to some problems or they really just dont keep commitments. We also continue to talk to as many peopel as we can! This week we were able to fast as a mission, I know that with our continued effort and with the help from this fast, the Lord will bless us! Anyway, we talked to the bishop and ward mission leader this week and we are going to start cleaning up the ward list. We did it while I was in Barcelona and we found lots of less actives that wanted to come back to church and also many part member families. We are hoping that though this we will be able to find some people to teach. Lleida is a great ward and we are also trying hard to visit as many members as we can and win the confidence in us.

We are finding lots of people that tell us that we can come by and teach them, but whenever we pass by, they arent there... Weird right? Usually this never happens! haha On Saturday we set up visits with 7 new investigators! Friday night I called all of them and confirmed the visits! We were pumped! Come Saturday... Only one showed up to the visit... haha Usually after a day like that we would just go get some icecream or something to eat, but the worst thing was that it was FAST SUNDAY!!!! haha Blessings... Thats all I have to say! haha

But hey the work moves forward! :) 

This week was also filled with some great experiences! haha On Saturday the one visit we did have was with a lady here from Spain. We taught here in here store (I hate store visits) Well anyway her store is kinda in a sketchy part of town! haha We were teaching her and then all of a sudden a man, totally high, walked into her store and just asks Fumáis puros? haha Or in english, do you guys smoke weed? haha We all just started laughing! He then tried to sell it to us like 6 times! He had like a tiny bag and he kept saying come on! Its cheap! Its cheap! haha So I can proudly say that the first time anyone has tried to sell me weed was on my mission! haha There is a first for everything right? haha Well anyway... We set up another lesson with the lady, but I think next time we will be teachign her in the church! haha Maybe a better setting! :) 

But thats the story for the week! haha 

Well I love all you guys! Talk to you guys next week! 

James

P.S. Dad Happy Birthday this week! Im pretty sure its the 8th haha! If not well then happy early brithday! Hope its a good one! :) 

Lleida

Hey guys!

This week was great! We just got back from Barcelona! We had a meeting with President Pace today. We headed out Sunday night, stayed the night in the mission office, had the meeting this morning and came back this afternoon. Pretty crazy! Short trip, but the meetings are always incredible! Such an incredible spirit! 

This week was pretty much the same as the last. we continue to look for investigators. The good news is that we are finding! The bad news is that the people we are finding are also easily falling of the face of the earth or cant come to church for some reason. Just the normal difficulties of missionary work. We are working hard and we know the Lord will bless us and that is what really matters! 

To be honest I cant really remember what happened haha it all blends together so easily... What I can tell you is that I am happy! :) Sometimes I dont really understand why because I am always tired, sweaty, I walk like 1000 miles a day, and I never stop hearing peoples problems...  but I am the happiest I have ever been! haha its strange but true! The mission in the greatest thing in the world! 

Well, I love you all lots and I am so greatful that I have such a wonderful and beautiful family You guys are amazing! 

Loves! 

James

Lleida!!!!!

Hey Everyone!

What a week here in Lleida! Going into the week I was a little worried that it was goign to be a long week, but this week has been incredible! Elder Weiss and I had a blast together and we have already seen SO many miracles!

So basically after writing you guys last week we headed back to piso and actually looked at everything for tyhe first time. Well, I think Elder Rios might have gone home a little trunky haha. There wasnt much... In fact, there wasnt anything haha! We found an area book that hadnt been opened for about 6 months, a phone that had a ton of numbers but we had no idea who anyone was so, we just went to work! We organized the area book into street names and just startedpassing by and calling EVERYONE! Well because of it we have found some really great people!

We found a couple from the Dominican Republic. Their names are Jeffery and Jhosmary. They also have a little one year old daughter, Ashley. They are really great! They arent married, BUT they dont live together! Score! haha They talked to the missionaries about 6 months ago. We asked them why they lost contact with the missionaries and they said we dont know, they just stopped coming... We talked to them about The Book of Mormon and Baptism. We put a baptismal date with them for the 9th of November. Unfortunately they didnt come to church this week, but that only means that we have some work to do! :)

We also found a lady named Dali and her son Ruddy. They are incredible! Dali has been to church a lot and she loves it! She said that the only reason that she isnt baptized is because she is working on Sundays and cant come to church, but she wants her son to start coming to church so that he can learn the truth and learn good values in his life. We placed a baptismal date with them as well!

We also found a lot of potential investigators that said that we could come back this next week and teach them. We are excited for this week to see how all of these potential investigators play out. We are praying that we can get some people to church and hopefully we can see a baptism here in Lleida really fast!

Elder Weiss is a great companion! The thing that I have enjoyed the most so far is that we think almost the same. We both know what needs to be done and it gets done faster! I have turned to him like 20 times this week and have been like hey we need to do this and he just turns to me and says, I already did it! Its been incredible! haha We have been passing by these people but also talking to everyone! I think we have already talked to about half of Lleida in the first week here! haha Bottom line, we are having a lot of fun and we are working really hard! I couldnt be any happier!

The good news is that the piso we live in is amazing! haha Its a two floor piso that has like huge deck! Its incredible! Probably the nicest piso I have ever lived in! haha We had to clean it up a bit because Elder Rios is kinda a messy guy, but with a little bit of cleaning, its shining again! The only bummer part in that our fridge is broken right now! haha I have been eating a lot of PBJ haha! 

Well I love you guys tons! Looks like it was a fun week at home! Glad everything is going well at home! Makes me happy! Well, thats it for this week! Got another week of hard work ahead of me!

Love you Guys! 

Elder J. Carrigan

Adeu Barcelona. Benvenguts a Lleida!

Hey Fam! 

Knowltons! Congrats on the baby! She is a cutie!

Well...transfer week this week. I got hit! I thought there was a good chance of me staying one more in Barcelona and finishing trainning with Elder Seegmiller, but I got hit! And so my time here in Barcelona has come to an end... Its been really fun serving here and I have really come to love all the people here in Barrio 1. It was also tough saying goodbye to some awesome investigators we have found in the past two weeks. This week we set three solid baptismal dates with these investigators and I know they will all be baptized. Its hard to see the hard work slip away just like that, but I know that really the success isnt seeing me in white, but seeing them in white. Ans so I am off to Lleida. 

Lleida is a pretty big city that is still here in Catalunya. It is a little south of Barcelona. Basically you head down south to Tarragona, hang a right to go to Madrid, and boom you hit Lleida. I have been there a couple of times for some conferences and interviews. All I remember is that the city smelt kinda weird and it was really cold. Funny thing is, thats all I have been hearing from everyone as well! haha everyone asks me where I am going, waits for a reply, and then they say, Good Luck, Its really cold and smells funky! haha I am sure it will be great! 

My new companion is Elder Weiss. He is from Switzerland. He kinda talks with a funny accent! haha It reminds me of the accent the three little pigs have on Shrek! haha Not that bad, but still! He is a little older than me in the mission. He goes home one transfer before and is a great missionary! I am really excited to be working with him! We will be white washing the area so I am sure the first 2 to 3 weeks will be a little rough but I am sure we will see LOTS of miracles! The funny thing is Elder Rios just finished working there... No wonder we are white washing... I now have to go clean up the mess he made! haha I actually talked to him one last time today and he said it is a really great area! Lots of Africans and lots of Dominicans! Ya Tu sabes Papi! Dad you may need to send me a list of good dominican baseball players! And Ty maybe give me some tips on how to win the hearts of a Dominican. I already have some sayings that you taught me, but I know you can fill me in on some more! 

Well my last week here in Barcelona went really well! Like I said we worked a ton and landed some great fetchas. I told you about Betsy last week, well she continues to progress towards her baptism on the 26th. The cool thing is this past week she intruduced us to her friend Marta. Marta is froom the northern part of Spain. Well, she was super interested too and we invited her as well to be baptized on the 26th! She is really excited! The amazing thing is, her boyfriend, is a member that lives in Lleida! Small world! haha She is amazing and progressing really well! They both came to church and to a baptism as well as to an activity we had this past week! Its has been amazing to see how prepared they are! They both know a bunch of members from the church and they just fit right in! If only they were invited to church by their friends, they could have been baptized for ever ago! 

Like I said, we had an amazing activity this past week! It was a platos típicos activity! The greatsest thing in the world! haha All the members brought food from all over the world, and just enjoyed the time together. We had about 120 people there and we counted about 40 investigators! It was incredible! Like I said, the missionaries here have lots of work ahead of them! It was amazing the response we got out of the members! I truly love every single one of them! They are definitely my family here in Barcelona!  

The great news is I did end here in Barcelona with a Baptism this past weekend. Here name is Adriana. I contacted her and here mom in the street one day, they ended up living in the area of the hermanas of the other ward, but it was a nice suprise when the hermanas called me and told me that she wanted me to baptize her! The Hermamas are still working with the rest of the family! 

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

Love Elder Carrigan

Conference Weekend!

Hey Everyone!

 

How can I even start this letter! Conference was amazing!!!! I was able to watch all 5 sessions, but Im not able to tell you what talks I liked more... There was so much!  am definitely excited to go back and study all the talks that were given! But, there is one thing that I am positive of I found a common pattern in the talks. It seems that they alll talked about anchoring our testimonies and staying strong to our covenants we have made! I also found it amazing at the very beggining of Conference on Saturday morning, Elder Hales, I think, said that we have blessed that we have not been persecuted as a church like the church was in the past. He said that this blessing will surely end son as the worlds standards move farther and farther from the church´s standards. found it super interesting. I truly believe that we really are in the last days! Like all of the leaders taught us this weekend. We need to find ourselves daily, buried in the scriptures! e need to be prepared!

 

Mom, as for those guys on the plane... Open your mouth next time. :) I know its hard sometimes, but honestly, those moments are the best time to share and bare testimony and I am positive that anyone will feel the spirit as you bear it to them. I made a long time ago on my misión that any time I Heard anyone call us Jehovahs Witnesses or anytime someone said something bad about us as we walked passed, I automatically talk to them! It is amazing how may people change. Like the apostles taught us this week, its no longer just the missionaries responsibility to share the góspel. It is all ours. Every member. Those two men dont know the truth only because they dont know what we believe.

 

I read a story this past week that changed the way I looked at things. I wish I would have read it early in my misión. It was about an investigator who reciieved the first lesson. (The restoration) After the lesson w sat back in his chair with a kind of blown away look on his face and asked the missionaries one question He asked, Do you guys really believe all that you just taught me? Do you really believe that God and Jesús Christ came down to earth to restore their church? Do you really believe that Joseph Smith was called as a prophet of God? Do you really believe that the same power that Jesús Christ had is on the earth? The senior companion then reponded. Yes, We know its true! The investgator then responded! Wow! That is incredible! Why in the world are you not running door to door, person to person and sharing it with everyone? It hit me hard, and ever since then I have been trying to talk to as many people as I can a day! Many people arent members of the church only because they still dont know the amazing message we have! We need to share it wth everyone! We always need to be looking for oportunities in which we can share the góspel.

 

Well this week was great! I have found that the week before General Conference always brings miracles! We found two amazing people this week who are solid! Both came to conference! The first mansname is Seli. He is from Camaroon and he has an amazing story! Only problem... He only speaks french! No Spanish... No English! haha We have a member in the ward who translates for us in our lessons. But he has been in Spain for 1 month. He told us his lifes story and it is pretty incredible. Bottom line is before he got here to Spain he didnt believe in God. In his journey here, some things happened and he came to know that Go does exist and he feels that he arrived here to Spain for a certin reason. When he arrived he prayed to God and promised him that he would do everything posible to become closer to God if only God would show him the way.... He started Reading the Bible and praying, and then two weeks later.... 2 Mormon missionaries contacted him on a park bench! I was lucky enough tobe one of those missionaries! :) We are going to start teaching him the lessons, In French! Wish me luck! haha

 

The next lady we met this week is named Bitzabet. She is from Peru! When she was younger she atended church here in Spain with a friend, but then things happened, she traveled back to Peru and stopped going to church. Well, Elder Thorpe and I went on an intercambio this week and we contacted her. She told us that she has always wanted tcome back to our church because she remembers that she always felt something different in church, but never knew how to start coming again... Well, this week she was able to come to church and feel the spirit once again! :) We are meeting with her again this next week!

 

At General Conference I also had 2 great experiences!

 

A man came up to me after a sesión of conference, I had no idea who he was, and said Hey thank you so much for inviting me to this conference. I will be honest, at first I had no plans of coming, but something told me I should come so I came. I absolutely loved it! It was incredible! I guess during this week I talked to him in the Metro and I gave him a card. ell he came, he loved it, and nw is starting to take the lessons from the isters in the 3rd ward!

 

There is an investigator that the Elderes from the 3rd ward are teaching right now. I asked them how they found him and they said that it was a miracle! He had just showed up to church. So I went ans asked him what motivated him to come. He told me the following story. He said, You! I asked him what? How? Did we talk before? He told me that we never talked, but one night he was super stressed because he ealized that his church wasnt on the right path that would take him back to God. He didnt know where to turn. He prayed to God and asked him to show him what to do. Just then Elder Thorpe and I walked by... He said to himself. Those two guys have God in their lives! I need to go to their church. As Elder Thorpe and I walked away he turned to some guy walking on the Street and asked. Those two kids, who are they? The man responded, The Mormons. He looked it up onine. Sent a reference to himself to the church. The next day he was sitting in conference in a shirt and tie. He is getting baptized in 2 weeks!

 

People are prepared to recieve the góspel! Im possitive! I feel so blessed to be here now and to really be an instrument of God. Inboth these situations I didnt even do anything. The Lord truly pepared both of these people to recieve the góspel. All I did was my best! I know this work is Gods work adn its incredible to be apart of it! I hope that all of you too can find small simple ways to share the góspel with those who need it. The feeling you feel when you realizr that you have brought one of the Lord´s children to his church is the best feeling in the world.

 

Mom and Dad, dont try to cut me down to 6 months yet... I stll have 7. :) Dont get trunky on me! Thank you both for the advice you gave me tis week! It was exactly what I needed to hear! I am gla the family is doing well! It sounds like my prayers are being answered! :) Love you all tons! 

 

Remember always!

The Church is true, and God loves you!

 

Elder Carrigan