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 

The Lord's work

Hey everyone!

This past week has gone pretty good. We had a lot of time in the office thus past week but we also had the chance to meet a lot of new people and experience a lot of miracles. I'll try and keep you filled in on some of the experiences the Lord's blessed us with this week!

One story I wanted to share was from this past Thursday. We were super busy in the office that day and we were only able to get out to teach a lesson and talk to some people for about 20 minutes. We saw though that even though we had such a short amount of time we saw a bunch of miracles and we were able to meet a lot of people that God put into our path. There were a lot of experiences like that but I wanted tonshare one that was really cool.

We went by a members house to help them carry a big bookshelf down the stairs to throw away because they didn't want it anymore and they were going to leave it on the side of the road for someone to grab, that's really common in Madrid. As we were doing that a couple pulled up next to us in their car and started talking to us. Turns out the girl is a less active member and the guy isn't but he loves the church and he said that he wants their daughter to be a member. So we talked for a bit, got their phone number, invited them to church, and said bye.

We then go get into the car and start to drive away only to see them parked on the side of the road trying to grab the bookshelf. So we pulled up next to them and asked if they wanted a hand. They said yes and seeing as it didn't fit in their car we helped carry it about 7 blocks for them to their piso. I'm sure we got a lot of weird looks "you know 3 guys in white shirts and ties carrying a bookshelf through the streets of Madrid get them sometimes" but they were super grateful. All in all it was a cool example of God putting someone in our paths as we did service. 

Something else that was super special that happened this past week was that we went and met as a ward in the new chapel for the first time. We finalky got permission from the government to meet their and we had the meeting and it was very special. It was a special broadcast to Spain and Europe and we heard some words from several general authorities, elder uchtdorf, and sister Jones of the primary presidency. I loved all the talks though I had a hard time focusing on them. 

Every Sunday we take turns translating for a senior missionary who doesn't speak Spanish and it was my turn to translate this time. So I ended up translating all 2 hours and on top of that their were a bunch of kids around me being a little energetic and having a lot of fun playing with my shoes....needless to say I was a little tired afterwards. 

Ha it was all super great though and I really loved the remarks of Elder Uchtdorf, he related the modern day saints to those in the time after Jesus Christ's resurrection and he talked about how similar we were. There was a string theme in the meeting about having a personal testimony and using that to strengthen the family in the home which I really loved and really applies to a less active family who we have been working with that attended. 

All in all its been a really good week. One thing that came to my mind as I put in the subject line is my personal testimony that this really is the Lord's work. With the amount of time that we had to proselyte this past week it on its own doesn't make sense that we had the blessing to talk to and find so many cool new people. Unless we take into account the fact that we aren't the only ones working in the vineyard.

Jacob 5

72 And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them; and they did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things.

We aren't the only ones working. When we put in an effort and put our shoulder to the plow, it's easy to see that we aren't the only ones pushing. Our heavenly father knows his children and is preparing and helping them everyday. Constantly striving to help them find and accept the restored gospel. And we as missionaries and members are working right at his side. It's own of the blessings that we can have as members of his church upon the earth. I love you guys! Keep up the good work and have a great week!

- Elder Bassett 

Misadventures and Miracles

Hey!!!!

So it's only been a couple of days since the last time that I wrote, but they were an eventful couple of days. So I'll try to keep you filled in on the fun and spiritual things that happened.

So we had zone conference on Friday, which went super well. I was a little nervous, because it was with 4 zones and one of my responsibilities was to order the pizza for lunch. First time I've ever ordered 36 pizzas, and I was slightly worried that the pizza would never show up. Thankfully it did, and everyone was happy!

So another fun thing that happened is that the morning of zone conference while we were moving packages of missionaries into the chapel, our companion Elder Jäger ripped his pants. Pretty badly, too. So he was stranded in the bathroom while we had one of the matrimony sisters sew his pants back up for him. It was super funny, and we were all just laughing so hard about it. They were able to get it fixed though, and Elder Jäger was able to leave the bathroom. 

The zone conference itself was really great. We talked about how to improve our teaching and the importance of invitations and commitments. That is something that we are trying to work and improve on. I really enjoyed President's words. 

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.

I Lost the Game!

Hey guys!

Our district hike last p-day

So about the subject line, I was walking back to piso one day when I remembered and lost the game. A select few of you will have a clue what I'm talking about and because of that will probably be frustrated with me, please forgive. Mom, I know for sure Amanda and Jeffrey will know what it is. If you're confused, ask Amanda; she can explain. Ok, onto the week!

So, it's been a pretty busy week. One thing that stood out is that Elder Hill and I went on intercambios in Puerto de La Cruz with Elders Merril and Tiebing. That ended up being pretty fun. After hours, we made some cookies, talked, hung out, ate the cookies and just laughed around. Good night in general. On the intercambios itself, Elder Tiebing and I had a good time and were pretty busy. We talked to some pretty cool people and had the chance to hand a copy of The Book of Mormon out to this super cool kid that will probably become a new investigator pretty soon, so that was great. 

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.