Greetings!

Hey everyone!

It's been a pretty good week! We have been focusing on meeting with the families in the area that have been struggling recently and helping to animate them to come back to church. We met with a couple new people and one man named Miguel came to church this past Sunday! That was super exciting; he hasn't been to church in over 16 years. He came out and said it felt really good to be back. He was able to meet with the bishop too which was super great. 

We have started to meet with Julian. He has been addicted to drugs and alcohol most of his life and is still in the process of trying to give them up. He believes a lot in God though and has started to read a bit in The Book of Mormon. Right now, our biggest goal (my companion and I) is to help him stop drinking, so that he can feel the spirit easier. It's been a work in progress but we have some high hopes. 

He came with us to an activity Saturday, which as super great. It was basically a music concert and a bunch of videos centered on the Savior. He really liked it and had a super good time. It was a pretty good activity.

We have been starting to have some cool experiences talking in the street to people. We are starting to meet some cool people, and we are in the process of trying to start to meet with them. Things are still picking up poco a poco. I'm enjoying Cadiz and the field. It's awesome to be a missionary! Take care everyone and have a great week.

- Elder Bassett 

After getting locked out of the piso one night, I unsuccessfully tried to pick the lock

Hey Everyone! 

Things here in Cádiz have been going pretty well. We had district meeting, which went pretty well. We are a district of 4, us 2 and the hermanas. The hermanas of the district are Hermana Harris and Hermana Sullivan. But we had transfers today and Hermana Harris is leaving to Seville. Coming in will be Hermana Strand who is from Norway. There were a couple of cool things that happened this week that were a lot of fun.

One day, we were invited and went to help teach seminary, ha that was a lot of fun. There were 3 kids, and they didn't seem too tired. We talked about the Godhead and practiced teaching together. It was a lot of fun. After that, we went and did some service at the property of an older couple. They only have about an acre of land, but they have a bunch of fruit trees, a pool, chickens/ducks, a house, 2 sheds, 1 garage, and another one in the process. It's so cool, because they have built everything there themselves. When they started out, it was just a plot of land with nothing on it.

They are an older couple who have been in the church for almost 50 years. I love talking to them about the growth and changes that they have seen in the church during their time. They said that when they started out they were in a small rented hotel lobby with 4-5 people. They saw all of that grow into the stake that the Cadiz providence has today. They are a super great couple and despite their age, they really know how to work as seen by everything they've built. 

We were helping them lay more cinder blocks on the wall of the garage. Enrique, the husband, was walking around showing us how it was done. He's in his 70s and has a bad leg that forces him to walk on crutches, but it doesn't stop him from going to shovel the cement and move stuff around. They are a great family. We are going to be trying to work with them a little more to help fellowship Olga and also try and get to know her husband a little bit. 

Another cool thing that happened was a stake primary activity that we went and helped out with. It was a mock missionary experience. All of the little kids received mission calls, went through the mtc and came and taught lessons with us. Ha, it was a lot of fun, and the kids were all super cute. Our job was to help the elders learn how to tie ties while the hermanas helped out by letting the girls braid their hair. After that, we went and all of the parents were the people being taught while their kids taught them about prayer. It was all super cute. I had a little kid teach me about how we pray to God, because he doesn't own a cellphone. That one had me laughing a bit.

It was a moving thought to look at all of the kids (there were about 40), and to imagine them all as missionaries one day. Someday they will have the chance to go out and share the gospel, and I think the world isn't ready for what's about to hit them! "In the next 10-20 years"

This past week, I also had an inspiring experience with online proselyting. I got a random friend request from this woman that I don't know that lives in Alcorcón, an area right next to Móstoles, my first area. I had no idea who she was, and we didn't have any friends in common so I don't know how she found my profile. Not gonna lie, that happens a lot, receiving friend requests from people that we don't know. I would say I've received hundreds. Generally when I get a request like that, I send them a message first asking if we've ever met before. I've never really gotten a response back and with time I usually delete the request. 

This time though, I got a response back from this woman. She said that we hadn't met before and that she didn't want to bug me, but she was a little curious. We started a conversation on Facebook messenger, and it the led towards religion. It turns out that recently she has been feeling the desires to believe in God and find peace but had been having a really hard time finding faith. We talked for a bit about that and about the blessings of the gospel. In the end, she said she was interested in meeting, and she gave me permission to send her profile and phone number to the missionaries where she lives. They got in contact with her the next day, and now they are starting to teach her!

It was a super cool experience for me, in part, because it was so surprising. It came out of nowhere and turned into a teaching experience really quick. It was just another way that my testimony has been strengthened in the blessings of technology and social media when used in an appropriate way. I love you all, and I hope that you have a great week!

- Elder Bassett 

Conference!

Hey everyone!

Well, it's been a super crazy and awesome weekend! It all started out with conference, which was super great. I loved the sessions that we were able to watch. One of my favorite talks was the one by Elder Brough where he talked about finding joy amidst hard things. I also really loved Elder Rasband’s and Soares’s talks. They were both very inspiring and really helped me on my own personal questions that I had.

I loved what President Nelson said about the name of the church. He spoke so clearly, and I really felt the power of what he said. As he spoke, I thought of the power of repentance and the chance that we have as a people. It is true that in the past, I've become comfortable with the nickname Mormon; it is oftentimes more well known than the actual name of the church. As we have been explained the importance of the true name of the church, we all have the opportunity to repent and to stop making the same error we did before. 

As the Prophet, he is giving us guidance for ways that we can improve and has promised us the blessings that will come from doing so. I'm excited to experience those blessings as we move forward. And continue to try and improve. I'm so grateful that God sends living prophets to us in our days to communicate to us and help us to grow. How comforting it is to know that God still guides and leads us through a living prophet. That's one principle that we always talk about, but really seemed to hit me more than ever this last conference. 

Noemi and Daniela are doing great. They had their baptismal interview this past Sunday, and they are ready. They should be baptized this Saturday. I'm so excited for them. They have really begun to live the gospel and are seeing the blessings of it in their lives. The opportunity to be a tool for the Lord in helping people experience that is one of my favorite parts of being a missionary.

In other words, we watched one of the sessions of conference at the Bussey’s home. That was a really fun experience to be there with them. We talked a bit about what we had heard and had some insightful moments. Afterwards, President Bussey pulled me into his office, and we talked for a bit. He told me that after praying about it, he had decided on where my next area would be. So with that, he told me that my next companion would be Elder Kohkström, and my next area would be Cadiz. 

I knew it has been coming for a while, and to be honest I'm excited. I've heard a lot of good things about the area and my new companion; I'm excited to go and see what the Lord has in store for me there. It's going to be good to get out and work again as a normal missionary. I am a little sad to say bye to the area and the people I have come to know and love, but they are all in good hands. 

Well, I can't think of anything else to mention, so I'm going to be done writing for today. I just want to say that I love you all, and that I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is God’s church on this earth. And He is guiding and preparing us every day. Take care everyone and talk to you next time! 

- Elder Bassett 

El Campo! Y Milagros

Hello to my friends and family who I love so dearly! How are ya?

Ha, things here in Cadiz are going great. I know it still hasn't even been a full week since I got here, but it is just so awesome. It feels really good to be back in the field again. I'm going to try and fill everyone in a bit on what's been going on, so have patience with me!

We have been working on visiting as many of the members as we can for 15-20 minute each to try and get to know them and gain their trust. Our plan is to go in and get to know them and then we have been starting to share the lesson of the restoration with them in about 5 minutes. So far, we have only been able to get a couple of families, but we are seeing a lot of miracles from it. 

It feels super great to be out in the field again. I've been missing my past area a bit, but it's really nice to be fully dedicated to the work again. Noemi and Daniela weren't able to get baptized this past Saturday, and they are probably a little stressed, so if you can keep them in your prayers. 

My new companion is named Elder Kohlström. He has been on the mission for about a year, and he is from Sweden. His last area before this was actually La Laguna which was his we do d area and mine as well. He came into this area and has been doing what we call in missionary work “whitewashing”. He got here and then, instead of their being a missionary to train him in the area, he entered with another missionary who was new to the area. Basically, it's like coming in to a new start and learning everything from ground zero.

He and his last companion have been doing a great job, and the Lord has really been blessing the work here. Yesterday, there was a baptism that came with a miracle of a story. If you’re a missionary or future missionary listen to this! 

The woman's name is Olga, and she is 82. She is from Chile but has lived in Spain for the past 30 something years. About 29 years ago, she was at the bus station in A Coruña, Spain. There she met the missionaries. She met for them for a couple of months but for a variety of circumstances was never baptized in the church. Flash forward to a couple of months ago. Olga is walking in the streets of Cadiz looking for a jewelry store. She enters a couple and isn't decided on which one she wants. Finally she decided to go home.

On the way home, she passes one more jewelry store and for some reason she feels like she should go inside. She goes in, starts looking around, and eventually starts up a conversation with the man behind the counter. They talk for a bit and eventually the topic goes onto religion. Olga mentions that over 29 years ago, she was meeting with some missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints. That worker then responds and tells her that he is the bishop of that same church here in Cadiz. 

The bishop invited her to the church again, and she started to meet again with the missionaries. With time, she decided to be baptized. She wrote and told the missionary that had first found her who had stayed in touch all those years. That returned missionary, who is now married and the father of 4 children, decided to come up with his wife and this past Sunday, was able to baptize the same woman that he found almost 30 years before.

That is just such an incredible miracle to me. It's a witness to the seeds of faith that are planted into the hearts of people. It's also such an incredible witness to the importance of staying in contact with those we have taught and are teaching. Some people are ready when we are with them, some aren't. The Lord knows His children and is preparing the path for them to return unto His Gospel. How incredible is that to know?! 

I love this gospel, and I know it's true! I love you all and hope you have a great week!

- Elder Bassett 

Hello Again

zone conference

Hey everyone!

So as you can see and have probably noticed, my P-day was changed again and is on Tuesday this time. This time, it was because we had a lot of office work to do yesterday that couldn´t wait, so we moved it to today so that we could get everything done in time. Well, Last P-day was on Thursday, so not a lot of time has gone by, but I will try and fill you in as best as I can. 

On Friday, we went and helped a member move to a new apartment. Unfortunately, she told the ward really last minute, and she started right in the middle of the day when most of the members had work, so nobody was able to come. We also had Zone Conference the same day, so we weren´t able to come until the very end, unfortunately. We were able to make it to help with the last load that she did. She had such a great attitude about it; though, and she is the nicest lady. 

We did stay at her place though to help her set up the Bunk Bed for her kids. She said it was the simplest one that IKEA had, but I have never been so confused in my life. Ha. it is all finished now; though, so the confusion is past, I am calm, and the family is getting settled. 

Zone Conference went pretty well. We had a lot of tech problems which made things a little stressful. (Biggest of those being the projector going haywire at every possible second.) Then half way through the conference, the front lens kind of melted; so that was rather unfortunate. Ha! The majority of the morning half of conference was President and Hermana Bussey doing training while I sat next to them fidgeting with the projector. It all worked out in the end though, and it was a pretty good conference. 

The focus this time was on Exact Obedience and how to exercise the Power and Authority of our calling as missionaries. There was also a big focus on the Holy Ghost. There were a lot of things that stuck out to me that I really enjoyed. One thing that was talked about was the importance of completely dedicating ourselves to the work at which we are about, keeping our focus on our missions and letting ourselves be changed to help us become true disciples of Christ.

The people that we are teaching are doing well. On Saturday was the baptism of a man named Jorge who was being taught by the sisters. Daniela and Noemi came early to the baptism, and we were able to teach them a little bit before. They also came to church the next day and even though they had to head out afterwards pretty quickly, we were able to still teach them later that day through a video call, "YAY for the blessings of technology!!!". They are both doing great and are on track to be baptized the week after General Conference.