Hey everyone!

I hope things are going well! Life here in the mission has been going super great. We have been out in the streets a lot talking to people and passing by addresses of less active members and potential investigators.

We are going to start trying out a bunch of new things this week. We have a couple of new ideas for online proselyting that we want to put into affect. We are also going to try and go knock even more doors this week.

In other news, we also have ward council this week, which is super exciting. We talked with the bishop a bit. We are going to be using it as an opportunity to present Light the World and start brainstorming ideas for how we want to implement it here in Cadiz. Also, we will discuss what service projects and activities we want to implement. I'm super pumped.

I also had a meeting this past week for missionaries that will be going home soon. It was actually a super good meeting. There was a big focus on being self-reliant and on living a consecrated life. I learned a bunch. There was a talk that was shared that I really loved. You should go check it out! It's by Elder Christofferson called Reflections on a Consecrated Life. It's from October 2010. Have a great week everyone!

- Elder Bassett 

Hey everyone! 

Things here have been going well. We are still striving to find people to teach. We've been working on talking to people in the street and on meeting with less active members and trying to help them come back to church. We have found a couple of cool people and right now we are striving to meet with them but are having trouble setting up appointments. Poco a poco. 

We are still trying to work with Julian. He has been opening up to us a little more recently and has shared a little more about what he has been going through. Last time we passed by though for an appointment, he wasn't there, and we haven't been able to get in touch with him again. 

We have also been working on getting to know more members and strengthening them and our relationships with them. The members here are super great and the nicest people in the world. 

To be honest, I can't think of any other big noteworthy things that have happened this week. I love you all and hope that you have a great week!

- Elder Bassett 

 

One of the great members in our ward

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