Big Email

President & Sister Bussey 

Hello everyone!
Well, it has been a very interesting week to say the least. I remember that last week my email was super short, but I don´t remember what exactly I talked about. Ha, so I will try to fill you in on a lot of good details from this week to try and make up for it. 

So after p-day, we had a normal Tuesday in the office working on well...office stuff. That night, we went to the train station to pick up all of the zone leaders who would be attending the Mission Leadership council the next day. That night, 8 elders came to our piso to spend the night. Being in the office, we have a lot of extra mattresses for this exact reason. The most I´ve ever seen in our piso was 14 missionaries who were going home plus us 3. 

The next morning, we went off to Concilio; we arrived early and helped get everything set up. We ended up setting up the tables in a big U in the gym to have more of a council like setting. Not going to lie, it felt really cool. I laughed a bit when one of the elders said that he felt like we were in a huge Jedi Council. 

Normally, the office elders help with transportation and setup and then head out, but right as we were about to get started, we realized that they needed someone to translate. So Elder Liza and I stayed to translate while Elder Jäger and Elder Keffer went to the office. Downside of the situation, Elder Liza’s English is pretty decent but not to the point where he could translate very easily. So I ended up translating the entire meeting....10:00-5:00 with an hour lunch break. I downed maybe 6 water bottles, but my throat was still feeling a little hoarse by the end. 

But I really did enjoy being able to attend; it was a very amazing experience. We talked a lot about making sure that we are centered on Christ and that we do all we can to be examples to the other missionaries. A big section was also focused on setting goals as a mission as we progress forward together. It was really cool to see all of the leaders from both the north and the south who used to be from different missions working together and having good open discussions about how we can all improve and get better. I lot of good goals were set, and it was cool to see it all.

One of my favorite parts of the meeting was when they were finishing setting the new goals as a mission. When it seemed like everyone was settled and in agreement, someone suggested that we say a prayer, "always a great suggestion". Following that, this group of about 56 missionaries all kneeled down in a big circle and said a prayer together. The spirit in the room was very special; I couldn´t help but think of the power that comes from so many missionaries united together in prayer. It was a special experience and one that I hope not to forget. 

After that, it was time to send all of the leaders back to their respective areas. When I was buying all of the tickets, I was able to find tickets for all of the leaders from the south to return that same day, which was really nice. I gave an hour and a half gap between the end of the meeting and the train departures. Normally that is enough time, but there was one little thing that we overlooked. That is that none of the leaders in the south had ever served in Madrid, so they had no idea how to work the metro system. So the meeting ended a little late and people talked for a bit after, but when it came time to go many of the missionaries began to realize that they had no idea how to get to the train station.

We gave them instructions and sent them on their way. Unfortunately, they didn´t get off in time, and all but 1 companionship missed their trains to the south, so about 16 missionaries. Yeah, that was definitely a slightly stressful moment. I was able to get on the phone and find new tickets for the all but 1 to leave that night, thankfully, and it was resolved, but it was a bit of a head ache in the moment. It was a good learning experience though, and we will do better in the future. 

Moving on from that, this past Saturday we had a ward activity, which went super well. A lot of members came and brought their friends, so we were able to get to know a few new people. We also got to know a little better some less active members, which was awesome. We even had 4 of the people that we are teaching come, which was super exciting. I was worried, because at first, they seemed a little excluded, but more towards the end they were getting a little more involved with the members; they were all talking and laughing together, which was great. 

Noemi and her daughter are doing ok. They still love the church and the gospel, but they are experiencing a lot of resistance from others right now, and it’s been a little hard on Noemi. On top of that, we can only meet with Noemi on the weekends, but we haven´t been able to meet with her in a bout 3 weeks. 

I still don´t have a picture of the missionary boundaries, but I will try and send one later. Right now as a mission, we are trying to focus mostly on being disciples of Christ. I´ve been thinking about having love for others a lot. That has always been a reoccurring thought on my mission. We are always constantly told that we need to love our investigators and love the people. I´ve always strived to have that love for the people that we teach. In the past, I feel like I’ve had it. However, more and more I have experiences here and there where I can just feel a strong love for the people who we visit, work with or teach. Looking back on it, the love I felt is so much more stronger then what I assumed I already had in the beginning of my mission. All of that is kind of helping me come to my own kind of conclusion. Finding true joy in missionary work really centers in finding a love for the people that surround us and that we serve. But that love isn´t something that comes easily or right away. That’s not to say that we don´t love the people. What I´m talking about is a way of loving that’s bigger maybe then we understand, charity or the pure love of Christ. Like it says in Preach my Gospel, and as Moroni teaches us. We have to earnestly pray and search for that love. When we do that, our own capacity to love others increases in a way that we can´t achieve on our own. So all of that in a nutshell, even if you think you have that love constantly seek for the guidance of the Lord to increase it. Because when we do so, once great experiences become even greater. 

I love you all! Whitney and the baby are in my prayers, thanks for keeping me informed!  I hope you all have a great week, take care till next time!

Elder Bassett

Saying goodbye to the Hermanas from our MTC group

Our ward mission leader and his twin brother