Hey everyone!

So today I have even less time then usual today so I'm going to have to be very quick.  Last week was good. Transfers ended up going pretty smoothly and there weren't any big problems so that was nice. 

So the big reason I don't have a lot of time is that we moved our pday to Tuesday today, so we could go to the temple with a recent convert from La Laguna. My companion, Elder Johnson and I, found her back in October. Then after we left she kept meeting with the hermanas and eventually got baptized.

President gave us the permission to go with her today to the temple so we could do baptisms with her in the temple. It was a very special and spiritual experience. She asked me to be baptized for the men in her family, so I did that, and it was a very special experience. The Spirit was there so strongly, and it was very beautiful. Lucia started to cry as she was being baptized. She said that she just felt so happy. It was a really humbling experience that really reminded me about the power and beauty of the plan of salvation. It is something that is so special and powerful to know that all those we love who are seperated from us now will be united with us again one day. 

I love you all! Sorry I didn't have more time have a great week!

- Elder Bassett

Surprise, Surprise!

Day 162 on the island...things are getting more and more desperate....the food is running low and the piso hasn't been cleaned in a while.....we are in desperate need of help, but I can't say it's ever going to come.....if anyone finds this note, please remember me....remember Elder Bassett.....

Ok, so ever since I got on the island, I've wanted to start an email like that, but I always forgot...but not today!!!! Ha! So with that as the intro, it's been a pretty good week. We had some trouble meeting with our investigators this week, so we spent a lot of time in the street talking to people and doing some passby’s. We had some pretty cool miracles and experiences though; that's just because it's awesome to be in the service of the Lord!

I did an intercambio in Puerto this week, which was fun. I was with Elder Tiebing who I served in a trio with for 2 weeks. It was fun to go back to an area and a piso I hadn't been to in such a long time...."like 4 weeks". Ha, it was a pretty good day. We had a cita, did some service on a local farm, and talked with the people for a bit.

So transfers went down, and we got the news and… surprise, surprise, but I am out! It really caught me off guard, because I was only halfway through the training of Elder Johnson, but it happened anyway. That doesn't happen to often, but obviously it does happen every once and a while. So I'm off to the north of Spain, a providence called Galicia. I will be serving in the town of El Ferrol. It’s supposed to be super cold and rainy over there but super beautiful. They have a branch that's pretty big and is working hard with the missionaries to become a ward. I'm super excited to get to a new area and have a fresh start, but at the same time, I'm definitely going to miss the island. 4+ transfers....a little over 5 months. It will be good to see a new area, but at the same time, I'm really going to miss the people and the district. 

 

We have such a great zone. I'm gonna miss them.

Happy New Year!

Hey y’all!!

Happy New Year!!! Man, I was doing the classic look back on the year and pondering, as I'm sure we all do around this time, and I realized that the majority of the year was on my mission. Even when it wasn't, it was just me doing nothing and waiting to leave....crazy!! Well, it's been a pretty awesome year, because it's awesome to be a missionary. I hope everyone had a happy Christmas and New Year's! I feel like there is a lot to fill you guys in on since I didn't send an email last week, I'll try and keep it to the big stuff.

So our bishop’s daughter was baptized the Saturday before Christmas, and that was super awesome! The Spirit was there so strongly; I loved it so much. We also had 2 of our investigators come out to that which was super awesome. One of them even brought a friend, which was super cool. They all loved it and really talked about how they could feel the Spirit there.

Christmas Skype from all over the world!

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 

Transfers = 0 changes

Thanks to the GB 1st ward for looking after Brandon!

Hey guys!

So it's been a pretty interesting week. With whatsapp and the new technology, we have been able to get into contact with our potential investigators a lot easier, and we were able to set up a lot of citas this week, which was awesome. Unfortunately, almost everyone of them failed...ha. It's all good though. We are starting to get stuff set up for this week, though; so I'm still pumped.

This new technology is honestly such a blessing. We are only just starting to see the advances in the work, and it's only been 2 weeks. I will say sorry, though; I haven't been posting on Facebook as much as we were originally thinking. I’m still planning on doing messages frequently. We just haven't been able to decide on a plan of how we are going to use Facebook, and I don't want to go onto it if I don’t already have a clear idea or plan of what I am going to do… Just to make it easier to avoid temptation and to help us use time wisely. 

Hey Guys!

On the way to zone conference!

So it's been a pretty crazy week. So we had zone conference, and it was just awesome. The majority of the focus was on how we can use the new technology to focus on our mission purpose and to help further the work. I am so excited to see all the advances in the work that are going to be coming; the Lord is truly hastening His work. 

So one cool thing that happened this week was that as a district, we went out to a busy street and set up this poster of Christ, and then sang hymns by it for a bit. It was an idea we had to mix things up a bit and to see how it worked. I was a little apprehensive about it, but it ended up being a super cool experience. We ended up meeting this super nice old Canarian lady who was like our only audience. It was super fun though, she was calling out to people as they walked by and telling them to come listen to us, ha. She was super sweet, and funny. I attached a picture of her below. 

General Conference!

Hey GUYS!

We are having a more relaxed pday today, just chilling in bed right now writing while Elder Johnson tries to figure out how he is going to survive in the game of chess we are playing. Ha, not really. It’s actually a really close game....nevermind. I just won, ha. It's only fair, though; he won last time. My ankle is doing fine now; doesn't really hurt me anymore. So onto the week!

Things have been going well here on the island. We had a dinner with a family in Puerto. Their names are Viktor and Heide, and they are the nicest people. The only hard part is that they are both German. Viktor speaks Spanish, but not very well, and his wife, Heide, doesn't speak at all. They are super great though. Afterwards, we shared a message about the restoration and Viktor translated the best he could for his wife. It was very simple, but also very powerful. 

Hey everyone!

The base of Mt. Teide

It's been a pretty good week, had some fun. As always, I'll start where I left off. So last p-day, we played futbol. That was fun for the first 30 minutes, then I messed my ankle or something and could barely walk. So after that, it was just kinda irritating. I was limping for a couple days, but it's good now, just a small bruise. 

The next big thing was that we did intercambios with the zone leaders. That was good. We went to their island for that. Due to the timing for our flights it ended up being a super short intercambio, but it was fun, and I learned a bunch.

Hey guys!

It's been a pretty good week here in La Laguna. So we don't have a lot of time to write today, so I gotta be quick, but I do have some cool experiences to share. So first thing that happened at the beginning of the week that was super cool was that we had a cita with an investigator named Alejandro. He is trying to give up smoking right now and has been having a hard time recently, so we taught him about priesthood blessings and asked if he wanted one. He said yes, and so we gave him one. Afterwards, he couldn't stop smiling, and he described to us how he felt a warm feeling traveling through his whole body that started from our hands. That was a really cool experience. 

We have also been trying to knock on doors recently to see if we can find people that way. We spent one day just touching doors. Unfortunately, nothing came of it, but while we were doing it, this pregnant woman and her daughter got stuck in a ditch on the side of the road. So Elder Johnson and I went and helped push her car out. That was pretty cool; she was super grateful, and it was a cool thing to go in the journal and memories. 

We also had stake conference here in the islands. Because it's an island, it had to be done over a broadcast system. President and Hermana Pack spoke in it. Their talks were centered on the restoration; I wanted to share with you guys what I learned while I was there. 

President spoke about Joseph Smith's experience in the sacred grove and the moment when Satan stopped his tongue and held him back from speaking. He went on to talk about how that is one of Satan's greatest powers, to stop us from speaking. We have our testimonies and our experiences, and we need to share them- any impression not to share comes from Satan.

Hermana Pack then spoke about how the message of the Spirit that we need to share is the restoration. A message that God is our loving Heavenly Father, and He sent Jesus Christ to establish a church and to help each and everyone of us overcome our sins through the atonement. Then with time, that church was lost, and the world fell in a state of confusion and darkness, but the church has been restored. The evidence of that restoration is The Bookof Mormon. We can each read it for ourselves and and pray to God to know that it is true, and He will answer us. I testify of this with every fiber of my being. I love you all, till next week.

- Elder Bassett 

Hello

Hey everyone! 

This week has been good, not a lot happened.  We spent some time in Puerto. While we were there, we went with a recent convert named Carlos to contact people. That was really great. We had a good time, and he got to share a lot of cards with everyone. He even invited some people to church.  We use the area book a ton. We have an app that combines everything and makes it super easy, or at least better then before. We are actually going to get an updated version this Wednesday.

Another thing that stood out was that I was sick for a couple of days, nothing serious, just a little nausea. 

We also had a mission wide fast to find new investigators. We did that last month, too. We saw a lot of miracles in the mission, so we are doing it again. I'm looking forward to hearing and experiencing the miracles that will come this time. We were so hungry after the fast that we just decided to go all out. We made pancakes, bacon, eggs, the whole deal. It was fantastic.

In Laguna, we have been having the festival of Cristo. It is this big festival that has been lasting about a month. It all kind of came to a climax these past couple of days which was a little irritating. I say that because, even though it's the festival of Christ, it's basically just a big party with lots of drinking, lots of immodesty, and just party like behavior in general, and, ironically, it does not mean that the people are more willing to talk about Christ. 

BIG Changes!

Hey everyone!

Our view Mt. Teide from our apartment in Puerto-no clouds! It's the highest point on the island.

So transfers came in this weekend....and nothing changed, the subject of the email is a lie. Ha! So Elder Johnson is still over here in La Laguna with me and the hermanas. Our district is staying the same. So yea, that was transfers. 

Our week was pretty good. As always, we spent 5 days in La Laguna and 2 days in Puerto. We had a lot of time to talk in the street this week, and we were able to get a couple references, so that was great. We are going to be trying to meet with them this week so that we can start getting some new investigators. What's hard is that for some reason it seems like the people in Puerto are just more willing to talk. Because of that, most of our references are from Puerto. It's hard, because it means we only have a 2-day window to try and meet with people. We think though that we might start staying in Puerto Saturdays to fit in more people. 

Oh man, I just remembered we got some big news! So this last week, President sent out a message to the whole mission to tell us all that he had been working with the missionary department and that our mission has just been officially approved to begin online proselyting. So this means that we can start using sites like Facebook, Instagram, and google hangouts to help further the work. On top of that we will soon be getting new phones that will allow us to use whatsapp. These are both huge steps for our mission. The online proselyting opens so many new windows for finding new investigators, and it is so exciting. On top of that, having whatsapp will help us to stay in touch with our investigators so much more. I can't even begin to describe how many investigators we can't get into contact with, because we don't have whatsapp. This is super big! 

Better late than never!

Hello my peeps!

Punto de Hildalgo on the northern part of the island

So, it's been a pretty good week, pretty busy again. On Tuesday we had intercambios with the zone leaders. That was a bunch of fun; we had to fly over to Las Palmas for that. It was cool and a super beautiful place. 

After that we went about our week. We had service with a family on Friday, which was great. The service that day was a lot like at grandma's; we spent a lot of time clearing plots of land, planting, and turning dirt.  We worked on a little farm on a cliff right next to the ocean. That was super beautiful. I didn't have a camera though, so no pictures of that. I'll try and take some if we ever do service there again. 

We need to take the first step

The Best-Alvaro's baptism

Sup! 

I greet the people who read these letters. Man, it's been a crazy week! We have been super busy this week, but not really in the best ways. By that, I mean we haven't had a lot of time to talk to people this week, which was a little frustrating sometimes. But we'll have more time this week, so I'm excited. Things are good here; just pushing forward.

And it’s another big day for the family, Happy Birthday Jeffrey. Man, I can't believe that Jeff is already 16. Is he still tiny or is his working out starting to build him up? He really only needs to eat more, if he does then he can get huge like Taylor.

So, last week we had zone conference, which was nice. Because we are in the islands, a couple groups had to be video conferenced into the meeting. That's part of why we had no time last week. Since everything was being broadcasted from our island and capilla, we were put in charge of the video conference. We had a member of the ward helping us out while we were getting that set up and tested; that took about a day. Then, as always, when the time for zone conference came around, everything failed. Ha! The tech was a little all over the place. Zone conference was good though; the emphasis was on teaching simply and using our time wisely.

Chocolate Frosting

Hello my fellow inhabitants of tierra,

It has been a good week here on the island of Tenerife. So first things first. I just want to say that it is a very important day today, because it is the birthday of one W. Mark Bassett. Yeah, Happy Birthday Dad! 

Ok, onto the week. The week starts off with Elder Johnson deciding to make some peanut butter bars for district meeting. At the end of the day, we get back to the piso, and he starts making them. Then he asks me to make the chocolate frosting. So I start making it and right off the bat big problem. The recipe calls for powdered sugar, but we don’t have it. So, being the desperate man I am, I start using white sugar. But, we only have half a cup. Already committed now, I used brown sugar instead. So I make the frosting, and it turns out tasting quite strangely. I kept messing with it trying to make it taste better, but eventually had to give up. In the end, I threw in some eggs, a little flour, and about an hour later we had a bundt cake. No joke, frosting became a bundt cake. And it was actually very delicious. Ha, so we had that for district meeting.

Onto the rest of the week. We have been focusing a lot this week on talking in the street to try and build up our teaching pool. Thankfully, we got a bunch of citas lined up for this week, so we´ll see how those go. We spent a couple days in Puerto this week and a couple in La Laguna. Our plans at this point are to be in Puerto Thursday and Friday and La Laguna every other day. We also spend every other Saturday in Puerto. Both places have a lot of potential, and we are already starting to see a lot of miracles, which is awesome!

Big Changes!

Hey everyone!

Ok, so this has been a super crazy week!

It all started with this last preparation day. I was in piso folding some laundry when our phone started going off. I go to check it, and it’s President Pack. I answer; he asks me how I’m doing. I tell him I’m fine. Then he goes on to tell me that I need to start packing, because I´m getting emergency transferred. That caught me by surprise. I mean I’d only been with Elder Freire for one week.

My new area is......the city La Laguna of the island Tennerife. Yeah, I’m in the Canary Islands. It turns out that I´m actually swapping with Elder Brasher; he is now serving in the office, and I’m companions with his previous companion, Elder Johnson.

So, when we received the news, there wasn’t a lot of time for anything. Because it was an emergency transfer, it was super last minute, and I had to leave the next morning.  I had time to meet with one family and say goodbye to Alvaro. Then the next morning, I was out of Móstoles. It was a little hard not being able to say goodbye to all of the investigators and members I have come to know over the past 5 months, but I bet one day I’ll be able to visit again and say high.