Surprise, surprise!

Hey y’all!

So this has been a pretty crazy/surprising week. Things in Ferrol are going pretty good, and our investigators were starting to progress. It was a looking out to be a pretty normal week until we got back to the piso on Tuesday, and I saw that I had 3 missed calls from President....😓 never a good sign. He proceeded to tell me that he needed me to come serve in the office. That's the story about how I got emergency transferred for the second time.

I got the call at 13:15 on Tuesday. President told me that I needed to come down and fast. I packed as quickly as I could, and at 14:30, I was on a bus headed to the train station in A Coruña. I said bye to my comp and a couple elders from the district, and then got on a train and headed to Madrid arriving in my new apartment around 23:00. I was a little sad to not have time to say bye to the members and our investigators, but I'm confident that they are in the Lord's hands, and that Elder Henrie and his new Companion will take care of them.

So, our situation in the office is kind of interesting. Normally, the office Elders are a trio, right now we are 5 missionaries....very interesting. So there are 3 different jobs in the office: residency, secretary, and pisos. Residency deals with orders and residency in Spain; secretary is miscellaneous, and piso deals with buying and selling apartments. I will be coming in as the new Secretary; I'll be trained by Elder Tarver. Elder Jäger from Germany is the residency elder, and he is just finishing his training by Elder Brasher. Then there is Elder Keffer who is the piso elder. We are 5 right now because 2 are getting trained at the same time, but both Elder Brasher and Elder Tarver will be out in about a week.

Hey everyone! 

Things are going pretty good here in Ferrol, Spain! Not a lot has happened since my last email, but I'll try and keep you filled in on the big stuff.

So like I mentioned last time, we had our big Conference with Elder Sabin. That was super great. A big focus of what he was teaching was on the plan of salvation and the importance of sharing it with others and helping them realize the way it has an impact in their lives. Even that is such a small generalization of what he taught. He ended up covering so much and talking about so many different things. He is a very spiritual and impressive man. I enjoyed the meeting, and I could really feel the Spirit there.

We are starting to teach this one family who is super awesome. We have been meeting with them for a while practicing English with the kids as a service, and we have been teaching them doctrine a little bit as we go. This past Saturday though, we had the opportunity to teach them the Restoration. It was super awesome, and I was really happy to share with them the beauty of that simple message. Their names are Ramón, Magdalena, and their mom, Cristina. Their dad lives in another country as an engineer working on projects, so we haven't been able to meet him yet. They were all pretty excited to start reading The Book of Mormon, so I'm excited to show you guys how things go with them.

That's pretty much all that happened that stands out. This week I wanted to share something that Elder Sabin shared in the conference that really stuck with me. But first I want to talk about something else. In a talk by Elder McAllister, he talks about what it means to be a consecrated missionary. One thing that he mentions is the Lord's command for his servants to "open their mouths in every moment". Basically to always be talking to people about the gospel and to never miss an opportunity to share the gospel. That’s something I try to do be good at, but is one of my biggest struggles.

One thing that Elder Sabin shared was the story of Nephi in The Book of Mormon, that being the son of Helaman not Lehi. In Helaman 10, after becoming discouraged, the Lord comes to Nefi and blesses/praises him for endearingly declaring the doctrine. Basically, what Elder Sabin taught was that Nefi wasn't praised, because he reactivated a certain amount of people, or because he has this many baptisms, but because he kept going, kept trying.

One of my problems, or something that will hold me back sometimes from "opening my mouth in every moment" is my own fear of failure or not being good enough. What Elder Sabin shared was that as missionaries and members we can never fail as long as we keep trying. As long as we don't give up, as long as we make the effort to get out there and do it, we will be successful. That's something that really stuck with me, and I thought could even apply to everyone back home.

One things members have shared with us every once in a while is that they are hesitant to share the gospel with their friends, because they feel like their friends they won't accept it. Maybe that might be true. But it never hurts to try, and every time that we try, every time we make that effort, we are successful and our efforts are consecrated for the Lord.

I Love you guys! Have a great week!

- Elder Bassett 

Mission Tour

Hey everyone!

This week our mission is being visited by Elder Sabin from the area presidency, so we are down in Madrid for a couple days for a big conference that we are going to have tomorrow. That-s why I have p-day today instead of yesterday. 

This morning I had the opportunity to go to the temple again for the first time since I left Mostoles. It felt so good to be there again to feel that special spirit that is there. It made me think about all the members in the world who live so far from or don't have access to the temple. I only had to wait 8 months, but there are members who have to wait and sacrifice so much more than that. So much sacrifice goes into temple work, but the blessings and joy we can receive from those sacrifices are so incredible and always worth it.

Being in the tour, I've also been able to meet up with some old friends in the mission, which was really cool. I got to say Hi to Elder Simmons, my trainer, who I haven't seen in a super long time. I also got to see Elder Brasher again and a lot of old friends. It's been really cool.

Craziness

Hey Fam and friends!  

Ok this week maybe hasn't been the busiest of the mission so far, but it for sure has been one of the craziest I've had up till now. We had 2 big things happen this week that I wanted to mention. First and foremost, the accident.

Maybe you might have already seen it on Facebook or heard it from others or church news, but there was a car accident in the Malaga mission which is right next to ours. In the car were 4 missionaries and an investigator; they crashed head on with a semi truck. Miraculously, they have all survived; although, the investigator, Jose Luis, is still in bad shape. The four missionaries are stabilized, and it looks like they will be fine. Of the 4, Elder Heninger will have to go home to recuperate, but from what I have heard the rest are staying in the mission. Like I said, it's a miracle that they survived, let's keep them all in our prayers. On Facebook, Elder Heningershared his testimony. It was super powerful, and I would definitely recommend looking it up and reading it, but a warning there are some graphic images of the crash. (Elder Heninger was MTC companion.)

Also of note was the baptism of Maicol and Militza. It was a super special experience, and I will never forget the spirit that was there. We had an issue of the font overflowing before hand, but thankfully, we were able to get it all cleaned up in time. After the baptisms, Militza got up and shared her testimony. It was so special, and I felt the Spirit so strongly. At the end, we sang Families Can be Together Forever to close. It was really sweet to see Militza singing while her son Maicol laid his head in her shoulder. It was a very special night, sorry to everyone, but because of all the craziness before we weren't able to get a pic with them. I'll send one another day.

Other then those 2 things and some other random stuff here and there, it was a pretty normal week. We started to teach a new woman called, Esnaider, who is from Cuba. She is a super nice woman and genuinely interested in finding out if the church is true. I'm excited to see how she keeps progressing. The rest of our investigators are still doing well. Elizeta is still in France, but we continue to teach her through video calls, and she is doing well. We met some other new people, but we haven't been able to start teaching them yet. 

In an email this past week, my mom asked me to talk about what kind of struggles a missionary faces when he reaches a year, and what it is that I'm looking forward to in this next year. From my own experience, I would say that my struggles right now are with making sure that I'm consistently doing what I can to exercise my faith and be the missionary the Lord needs me to be. For me, that consists of a lot of constant self-reflection and pushing of myself to improve. Ha, sometimes a struggle for me is staying focused on improving one trait before thinking of something else I need to improve.

The biggest thing that I'm looking forward to in this next year is really seeing what the Lord has planned for me and seeing who it is that He wants me to bless, and where I can go to find them. That's one thing that always seems to impress me. As a missionary during these 24 or 18 months, so much of our life is guided directly by God. He tells us right where to go, for how long we need to be there. When we coordinate and work with Him, He will even put the people in our path who need us the most. I've experienced that in my mission, and it's something that I'm really looking forward to this next year as well.

This week, I really just wanted to testify that God's hand is in each one of our lives. The fact that each of those missionaries is still alive, the fact that Militza and Maicol are in Spain and not in their home of Venezuela right now, the fact that I-along with thousands of other missionaries-was sent to a place thousands of miles away where people would need me, is all testimony to me that God influences our lives. Maybe we don't always see His hand, but I can promise that it is there. I love you guys. Keep up the animo!

- Elder Bassett 

Pictures from our pday at the castle, a lighthouse dating to the time of Christ, and last a picture from the car crash. Warning, it's graphic. 

My new companion, Elder Henrie

Hey y’all 

Well, another week come and gone here in the mish. This past week has been pretty busy, too. Elder Henrie has arrived and is all settled. He is a pretty funny guy. Don't know if I mentioned, but he is actually the best friend of Elder Jordan from back home. So he is also from Mesa and this is his 4th transfer in the field. He is doing well and has a really good level of dedication and a good work ethic. Stinking hilarious, too. Ha, we are getting along pretty well, and we are excited to see what we are going to learn and accomplish in our time here in Ferrol together. 

The investigators are doing well. Unfortunately, this past week the sister of Militza was told by her boss that she would have to work on the weekend making it impossible for her to attend the baptism. Militza wants her sister to be there for it, so we postponed the baptism for this Saturday. She is still doing super awesome though and has such a strong testimony. I'm super excited for her and her son, Maicol.

Maicol with his sister and uncle

Militza and her Mom

Hello,

Well, end of another transfer here in the vineyard of the Lord. It's been pretty great. This past week we have kept pretty busy, and it's been good. Our investigators are still doing well. It's awesome to see their progression and the ways that they grow in the gospel.

This past week we were able to have the baptismal interviews for Maicol and Militza, that’s the next step towards baptism. It’s an interview to make sure they understood and were prepared to get baptized and didn’t have any questions or concerns. They did so awesome and both passed. I love that family so much, they are so kind, and it's so fun meeting and talking with them. Maicol is the biggest ball of energy you have ever seen. Every time we pass by, he just wants to go and play futbol. 

He also just had his 8th birthday so we went over for that which was a lot of fun. They had some family friends there so we were able to talk to them, too, which was really cool. They live in another city, but maybe with time they will be willing to meet with the missionaries, too...we're working on it.

Transfers came and our district has changed quite a bit. Both Elder Brock and Elder Lopez have finished their missions and are headed home. The new elders coming to replace them are Elders Ward and Santa. My companion, Elder Jordan, also got transferred and he’s headed off to the city of Cuenca. My new companions name is Elder Henrie who is also from mesa Arizona. Turns out he and Elder Jordan are best friends from back home, so I already feel like I know him a little.

Elder & Sister Bitton have the missionaries over after district meeting

Mari's Baptism!

Hey everyone!

So it's been a pretty busy week! Life is good up here on the cold shores of Ferrol. Even though, to be honest, it isn't that cold....just a lot of rain. Like I said, this past week we have kept pretty busy, and we have been doing pretty good. Also want to shout out a big thanks to the ward! I got the poster you guys sent, and I loved it! It was super sweet to read all of your awesome messages.

So here is some stuff that happened this week!

We went and met with some members this past week. They are a super fun family. It's the one that I was talking about in a previous email that is going through a hard time and the parents have to live separate for a bit. Well some awesome news is that the father was just able to receive the Aaronic priesthood this past Sunday. It was super cool and just one more step towards their goals of being sealed together as a family for eternity. 

So, I mentioned in last week's big email the big event of this week was Maria’s baptism! On Thursday we built the font, then of course on Saturday, we filled it and did all of the final preparations. Of course, there were all kinds of little last minute mishaps that occurred with things like the programs, musical number, and the prayers, but the Spirit was there through it all so strongly!

It was a super special experience, and we are super happy for her. She was baptized this past Saturday by another member and then was confirmed as a member and was given the gift of the Holy Ghost in church the next day. It was a really cool and humbling experience. 

The covenant that we make when we are baptized is something that is just incredible. As we come out of the water, we promise to take upon ourselves the name of Christ. We do our best to follow him and his chosen servants. We look to him for help in the rough moments, and he is always and will always be there. Jesus Christ gave his life so that each one of us could have the opportunity to be born again through him. He did it all for the love that He has for us, and for the love that our Heavenly Father has for us. 1 John 4, go check it out!

I love you all! 

- Elder Bassett 

Hello family 

Man, it's been a pretty crazy week. So, we have been keeping very busy this past week, and we have had little time for everything. But it's been good to be this busy. The investigators are doing well, and we are currently working on finding more, so that when the current ones are baptized, we don't find ourselves with nothing to do.

One of our investigators, Maria was going to be baptized next week, but last minute, she told us she didn't want to next Saturday.....since her sister is going to be out of town. Instead, she now wants to be baptized this Saturday so her sister can be there. Ha! So she has her interview tomorrow, and if she she’s prepared, then she will be baptized this Saturday. As of right now, she really wants to be baptized this Saturday, and we are just making sure that she is completely 100% ready. Better to wait if we have to, to make sure that she is ready. 

So other big news, we haven't been able to say anything up until now, but there are big changes going down in Spain. We received news about our new mission president. His name is President Bussey! I'm excited to meet him when he comes, but I will be sad to say bye to President Pack. He has been such an incredible president, and he has helped me so much. I will be sad to see him go.

The other big change is that there is mission consolidation happening in Spain. Starting in July I believe, there will only be 2 missions in Spain, Barcelona and Madrid. Malaga will be combing with us. It kind of caught us by surprise, but our president explained to us that it is very normal. It's actually happening in a lot of other missions around the world. It’s going to be interesting to see how it all works out. Who knows? I could be serving in the Straits of Gibraltar or in Seville.

Well, I'm sorry guys, but I got Prisa and need to go. I'll see you all next time!

- Elder Bassett