Tengo Prisa!!!

So sorry my beautiful friends and family, but as the email line states, I'm in a hurry. We have a zone pday today and zone conference tomorrow, so we are flying out super soon. I'm trying to get my writing done now. Not gonna lie, we don't have a lot of time. So some quick stuff that happened.

When you're on intercambios during a surprise rainstorm and do't have a coat

This past week was good; we had intercambios with the zone leaders which were great. I was with Elder Jones who is a pretty cool guy. A big thing I learned from the intercambios was the importance of prayer. We had a lot of cool experiences.

I wanted to share some experiences that Elder Johnson and I had this past week that were just straight miracles.  So on Saturday, we were passing by the addresses of some less actives and former investigators to try and catch someone at home. While doing this, we were also talking to people in the street. So we were doing that and not gonna lie, it was a little rough. It had been a long day; it wasn't going very well; and there just wasn't a lot of animo. So we stopped in the street and decided right there we needed to change something. So we said a prayer asking for help and guidance right there in the street. We finished praying, and we went and talked to the very first person we saw. It was awesome! She is from Ecuador but has lived here for 18 years. We set up an appointment for the next day to teach her family.

#iluminaelmundoentenerife

Light the World Choir!

Hello my dear friends and family....how ya DOIN?

So once again, it has been a delightful week. Unfortunately, I have even less time then usual, because we have intercambios with the zone leaders tomorrow. So, our pday is getting cut short; I basically have about 10 minutes. Real quick summary.

Elder Bodhaine

I went on an intercambio with Elder Bodhaine, which was super great. He is a super cool guy from my MTC group and also was trained by Elder Brasher. 

Also during the week, we did service. It was a little bit of an interesting service though. There is an old widow who had 12 chickens that weren't laying any eggs anymore, so she asked for our help to donate them to some other members. We basically went over and did that for her. I won't go into detail for those who potentially might not like that kind of thing. It was cool to see how grateful she was though. She is a really impressive woman who has been through a lot in her life and still has such a strong testimony of Christ. 

We also had a “Light the world” choir again, which was awesome! Even less people came this time, but we still did it and had a blast. Some of the other missionaries were even able to get a phone number, which was super cool. Another cool thing that is going on is that we are trying to really gain the trust of the ward members. It's a slow process, but we got invited over to eat at the bishop’s house for the first time since I've got to the island, so that is a great sign.

Well, sorry guys, but I gotta go. Sorry for the lack of detail and good punctuation of which there is very little.

Love you!!!!

- Elder Bassett  

#iluminaelmundoentenerife

How ya doing????

I hope everyone has had a great week in all of your respective locations; how could you not considering Light the World has started!!! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I highly recommend going to mormon.org to check it out, because it is awesome. As a district, we have been putting a lot of prep into this. It’s super exciting. So let's give you guys a walk through what's been going on in the best island ever!

Day 1

We had a big service project as a district where we washed the cars of all the members that came. It had a shaky start… when we got there, the water was turned off and no members had come. Thankfully though, we got the water on for the hose, and some members came, so we could get some washing in. We also made a sign to put on the road, and we got 3 different cars to come in which was super cool. We might even end up teaching one of the guys, which would be even better. 

Day2 

On day 2, we had a big ward activity which was just a little round of games. We invited the members to bring water to donate to Red Cross though, and a bunch brought some. It was super cool.

Day 3 

So for Sunday, we went with another ward to have a choir in the street. We went out and sang Christmas songs, while I and the other missionaries walked around talking to people. That was super awesome. I did learn something though. Knowing how to read music and conduct does not necessarily mean that you can direct a choir. Ha, I started out leading, and it did not go so well. Ha, but thankfully our ward director for choir saw my distress and came and rescued me. On top of all of this, during sacrament meeting there were a bunch of members who shared their testimonies on the importance of Light the World, and their experiences from last year.

So, other updates. I got my new trainee! His name is Elder Johnson, and he is a super fun guy. He is from Sandy, Utah. He has some impressive dedication in his desires to learn Spanish. He works super hard and is constantly studying. He's a good example for me in that aspect.  He also has a twin brother in the Barcelona Mission.

Well, I gotta go, but my final invitation for you guys is to get involved in Light the World if you haven't already! It's never too late! This is such an amazing opportunity and the way we can feel when we serve is so incredible. Just yesterday, as I was singing in the choir with a bunch of people from all kinds of backgrounds, I was just struck by how many amazing people there are in the world. If I've never said it, I'll say it now, you guys are awesome! Keep it up! Till next time!

- Elder Bassett