Changes

Hey everyone.

So it's only been a couple of days and normally that would mean that not a lot has happened, but it's actually been a pretty busy weekend. So I'll start where I left off last Thursday afternoon.

So that night we received our new companion. His name is Elder Liza, and he comes from the office in the south. He came up with Elder Hernandez who is one of the AP’s from the south. They are both really great guys and missionaries. I'm looking forward to working with them both.

A little more info on Elder Liza. He has been on the mission for about 19 months, and he has been serving in the office for the past 4-5. He is from Peru but has spent most of his life here in Spain in a city close to Pamplona which is part of the Barcelona mission. He is a really great guy and a hard worker. I'm really excited to be with and learn from him as we are companions in this transition. I'm also really loving only talking in Spanish with him. It helps me a lot with my Spanish, which isn't the best, and he helps me out a lot.

So that Thursday night we stayed up a little late preparing a contact list to have ready for President Bussey for when he came into the mission to have a way to get in contact all of the missionaries whenever he needed. The next Friday morning, the Busseys came!

The Packs, the office Elders, and the AP's all went to pick them up that morning from the airport. It was super exciting to welcome them off the plane and say hi to them. After that, we went over to the office so the Packs could brief the Busseys on a few things. So we were there working while the Packs, and the Busseys were talking, and then the Packs came out and said "OK time to go; this is goodbye".

It was pretty abrupt, and not gonna lie, it was pretty hard. We were all getting pretty emotional, and it was rough. I know realistically that we will see them again some day, but it felt for a bit like we were saying goodbye forever. Hermana Pack started to cry, and I was having a hard time holding it back. I'm so grateful for the Packs and all that they have done for me and the mission. 

After that the Packs left, we spent the rest of the day doing normal office work. The next day we had the big zone conference with the Busseys. It went super well. We spent the time getting to know the Busseys better and talking about how we are going to improve the mission. President Bussey focused a lot on taking the best of our both missions and working together to make an even better one. It's going to be hard for sure but I think it will be good for everyone.

President and Hermana Bussey themselves are wonderful people. President Bussey is a very fun and kind person. He laughs and jokes a lot, but he has a very strong and firm testimony that you can really see in his words and actions. Hermana Bussey is one of the sweetest people in the world. Both she and president Bussey are very open. 

So one random thing that happened is that Elder Liza had to come down south for some important work in closing the office down there. So that's the story on how one minute I was in Madrid, and the next I was in a car on the road to Malaga. We have only spent one night here, and we will be returning tonight, but it has been very interesting to see a new area that is now a part of our mission. 

As I've been thinking about this next transfer that is to come, I've been thinking a lot about the importance of humility. With 2 missions merging and a new president coming in there are going to be a lot of changes and a lot of starting from scratch on some things. In this past short week, we have already seen how many differences there are between how the Madrid mission did things and how Malaga did things. I was talking with Elder Liza for a while about how important it is that in this change that we are just really truly humble and loving to one another. Any conflict or clashing heads frankly isn't Christlike. It's not going to be easy, but as we strive to have that humility and desire to accept and love I think it will go well.

I think that will be a good lesson for all of us to learn so that we can apply it in our futures. There will always be change in our lives, and we can choose to accept it and do the best we can or complain and stop our progress. We need to choose to be like Nephi when his parents told him that they were leaving Jerusalem. Even though it was an action that completely changed his life, he obeyed with humility and love for his father, his family, and his God. I don't know, that's just something I was thinking about. I love you ALL! I hope you all have a great week, talk to you someday! 

- Elder Bassett