Dear Family and Friends,

How is everyone doing? Asia that's awesome that you won your game! Way to go! Any other events coming up?

This week has been normal for "the Jungle" (our areas nick name ha ha it has a lot of nick names). But this week we taught a lot of lessons and we are trying our best to teach everywhere we can. We had a very fast paced week and it always seems there is never enough time. We have been soooo tired some of the days here. Its nice to have p-days. O and we are going to go play Disc Golf today with some members. So to Andrew especially "chupa lo!" I am super excited. But more importantly we have a baptism this up coming Saturday! this will be my first one out on the mission that i was a small part of. I am super excited! Our other investigators are moving slowly. All the people here are pretty poor. And so as missionaries we really have to look for people with real intent because we could have a ton of people to teach but they all just want money from the church. But its still an amazing area because of all the people and there differences. But to give you an idea of the kind of people that we teach . . . . this week we got a new investigator that is schitzophranic and gay/lesbian. I say both because i am not disclosing their info. But ya a whole variety of people here. Well i love you all! And stay strong because this world is just going to get harder.

- Elder Frampton

p.s. and this is Chester i found him in the apartment. and elder orillana i going home this next transfer. 

Week 1 in ARG- Elder Gillett 4.28.14

Doing good! Talk about getting thrown into the mix of things though! Castellano (the Spanish language they speak there) is tough but fun! I am continually learning a ton! I love Argentina though! The Food is really good! No problems with eating anything yet! It is super different though! All the people in Argentina are generally really nice but super arrogant as well! The houses are usually barely standing when you get further out into the wards or areas! I got up and introduced myself in the ward yesterday! But luckily I had a few minutes to prepare a little espanol! My companion is Elder Santos from El Salvador! He is a super nice kid! He has been out about 10 months and is able to speak spanish and english so he kind of helps me learn new words and stuff but he is really quiet when he talks so i never understand anything he says! and especially when he talks in castellano and quiet is when I really don´t understand anything! I understand a lot of what they say here and stuff but trying to respond is different because of all the tenses/conjugations! Still doing good though! It will come eventually! We are going to play some soccer later today though with the other missionaries so I am excited for that! We are living with 2 other missionaries as well right now and they are both super cool and funny but only speak spanish so We have been helping them learn english and me castellano! We don´t have a ton of investigators right now because my companion Elder Santos has been sick for a while and some of the ones he had before are moved or don´t want to hear anymore! So that has been tough but we did get one new ivçnvestigator named Martha this week who was super nice and accepted the gospel super well! We taught her the restoration and it went well! So we will see what happens when we go to teach again! We haven´t been putting our full effort into this week though which has been really frustrating especially since we could have been! Elder Santos has been kinda using the I am sick excuse for going back to the pension and doing nothing which is rough but I don´t know what to say! We get along well but its definitely hard when we can be working harder but aren´t! Other than that though I am loving it here! Its not easy but it is rewarding to see non less actives or new investigators like Martha understand so much! Love you all!  

Yep I’m in a Cafe! I am in the area called Berazetegui.  We have a strip mall right close but its not in our zone! They have the area split into wards and each ward has at least 2 missionaries! Laundry is done in the sink or given to a hermana in the mission but it takes a week to get back whatever you give to her...I know we can be giving more effort! Love you! pictures will have to wait until next week though.. i thought the computer would take a SD card but it is older so it doesn´t have the right slot so i need the cord for my camera to connect it! Sorry!

The bread is really good as well! If you ever have the chance or can find some on the internet try to buy some dulce de leche! Super good kinda caramel thing that is super big here in Argentina! Or Empenadas which are like a roll with good beef and a few veggies in the them, and then milonesa which is like a fried chicken almost! Which is super good as well!

The other 2 missionaries are named Elder De Loayza from Peru I think! hahaha haven´t figured out exactly! And then the other missionary is Elder Denis from La Plata Beunos Aires! Haha his house is in our mission and for whatever reason he got called to be in the zone next to where he lives! :) They are both super funny though and we all get a long really well so it has been a lot of fun! And I have ben learning a lot of kick boxing while I have been down here because its really big here in Argentina I guess and Elder Denis fought Semi Pro before his mission!  The members down here are really good about feeding you everything you want and more! So I am only usually hungry right before bed! Haha So far everyday for lunch we have food at the members houses! hahah its super hot and humid here today! The summer is going to suck! Its going to be super hot! its about 70 outside today but feels about 80 with humidity!

It was hard to say goodbye to Elder Reynolds and Elder Trotter but I was excited to really start the mission!

Nope not usually dinner! Lunch is their biggest meal! Yep siestas pretty much everyday day! They always joke about there being a holiday pretty much everyday because the people are hard workers but lazy and need their siesta! haha they joke about having holidays of hot dogs and milk because of every holiday they have! not sure about mothers day yet but i have to go so i will let you know more when i find out! I have to go though! Love you!

Les Quiero

Elder Gillett  

Elder Weelson- April 28th

Hey family!!! 

So this week was incredible.  Even better than the last week! But also it was a very emotional week! hahaha.  So the work is just booming out here in Fuenlabrada! The other elders should have a baptism coming up in about 2 weeks! And we should have about 3 investigators getting baptized the 17th of may. There names are Joy, Chiti, and Victor.  They are all progressing SO well!  

So I'll start out the week telling you about Victor.  Victor is seriously the man.  He is 20 years old, and already has a little daughter.  He's from colombia and just the humblest most soft spoken guy Ive ever seen.  We get along super well! He comes and plays soccer with us every week, and its weird... but soccer just like connects me with people.  Its really weird, but its really awesome!  He did have a date for the 4th of this coming month, but he needs a bit more time, so we moved him back 2 weeks.  Well... this week, we starting meeting with his sister as well.  Victors whole family is Jehovahs Witness and let me tell ya.... they just go hard.... all of the Jehovah Witness's.  So we were teaching his sister and mom... and they just got talking about deep doctrine, and began like putting words in our mouths and it just didnt turn out good.  Well.... After that lesson Victor failed us in a lesson, and then just didnt show up at church, when he promised he'd come.  And wasnt answering his phone.  So we thought his family had just told him all these lies about us.... so we pass by Sunday night, and is doing amazing! This whole week, he has still been reading the Book of Mormon, and had legit excuses for not coming.  He said he didnt have any questions or doubts, so we dodged a bullet with that one!:)  Please pray for him.  He is doing incredible.  And is progressing so well.  We have such powerful lessons with him.  

Later that day after the lesson with Victors sister and mom, we went and visited chiti.  We stop by and begin talking with her, and she just breaks down crying.  They dont have hot water, her husband is in Austria looking for work, and she is raising 4 little girls.  Every morning she has to get up at 4am and boil water for her girls, so they can shower with warm water.  The Crisis here in spain is crazy.  Seeing people dig in dumpsters for food, is almost a daily experience.  Seeing homeless people IS a daily experience.  Almost NO ONE has work, and are just barly surviving.  It is such a hard situation.  

Were getting an awesome BBQ/Water Party planned for the Branch here in Fuenlabrada.  They need it.  The branch here is really struggling.  There is SO much drama, and just no active preisthood holders.  Its tough.  So were hoping this will excite and unite them.  I basically planned it all... hahahaha but its gonna be a BBQ with slip n slides, Water Balloon Vollleyball with the towels, music, free LDS DVD's, BOMs, etc, Ping Pong, and rely race things! hahaha.  We already got invitations out, and are having everyone inviting their friends and family! Should be an aewsome activity! Were planning it in June.  

So I have SO MANY funny stories about Nigerians.  Dont let me forget to telll you guys when we call in like 2 weeks.  Im just dying thinking about it.  They are such incredible people.  I am so thankful for them.  So humble and loving. I have tons of funny experiences! 

Zone Training is coming up this week!!  Today for P day we went to Toledo! Look it up.  Its way awesome.  I almost bought a "Capitan Moroni" Sword, custom made for missionaries, but I just couldnt do it... maybe a little bit more down the road.  

I love you guys so much.  1 request to you all.  Read 3 things.

1) The Book of Mormon

2) Preach my Gospel (Doesnt matter if your going to serve a mission)

3) The Articles of Faith.  I realized how I really dont even know all of them!

I love my Savior.  That is my motivation.  Thats my drive.  I love my Savior more than anything.  

I love you all!

Elder WeeLSON

Jarrett Weekly Letter 4.27.2014

Whats up!!

Well its another week in the city! Freak it was the fastest week I have ever seen, I guess I am just loving the city way too much! I never want to leave this area!!

So I got my haircut this week; and my companion cut it for me!! It looks super sweet I like it! I did a little new hair style, it is were the sides are way short the top is long but I push everything to one side and then have it stand up I guess it is pretty chill. 

So the sisters had a baptism this week and that was way cool to go see, her name is Tomoka San. She is 14 years old and her father just recently got baptized so he performed the ordinance. It was super cool to see her so happy before and after the baptism and I could really tell that it brought the sisters a lot of joy! I was super happy for them! 

We had a ZTM this week and that was pretty good we had a guy from the Quorum of the 70 come and talk to us. His name was Brother Aoyagi, yes a Japanese man but a really nice guy. He taught us about the importance of having the spirit with us at all times because that is truly the thing that converts the kyudosha. It is so important for us to bring in the spirit with our investigators when we are teaching. 

Every Saturday night we have sports night and oh my goodness it is the greatest thing ever! So this last sports night there was quite a bit of people but there was 6 including me wanting to play basketball and all I got to say is that it was the greatest thing ever and I just freakin miss sports soo much! And I am not going to lie we played 2 on 2 me and my companion didn't lose a single game.... I still got game!

So dendo this week was really slow! I think we are going to try some new styles like go up to the college, morning dendo, and just other things like that because lately we haven't been able to find a lot of new investigators or anything. And so it totally stinks how we don't have anyone to teach and see them become closer to God; so we really got to start moving. My companion kinda likes the relax dendo (not really pushing yourself dendo) so that is kinda of hard but I just got to keep trying to push the both of us! 

Well I love you guys, thank you for all your prayers I really feel them!!

Love, Elder Nielsen

This Week (Elder Frampton 4/21)

Dear Family and Friends,

How was everyone's Easter!? This was my first Easter away from family and i learned a ton. I was able to focus more on the savior out here on my mission. It was an awesome day.

But this week was good. Crazy busy but really good ha ha i like when its crazy busy. I am still getting used to the area and all so that's a whole 600 members to know and all the streets. So this week just decided to throw a double exchange on us as well. So what happened is i packed for two days and went from one companion to the next over 3 days ha ha. I went with elder Romero on Wednesday and Thursday then came back for 2 hours in my area then went with elder Cheney for Thursday night and Friday. It was crazy ha ha. And elder Cheney is in a Spanish branch so everyone we went to talk to or teach was Spanish! so that was fun to try y best ha ha he ended up translating for me most the time ha ha. We have been working our tails off though and i am feeling a lot better :). I was so excited to get that video of Britt getting her mission call! St. Louis Missouri! i cant believe it ha ha. But it was an awesome week. This picture is of a fungus that was growing in our bathroom! i found it while trying to clean up after all the past gross missionaries that have dwelt in this apartment! Then the other is a picture of me and elder Cheney. I love you all!

- Elder Frampton

Elder Anderson's (4/14)

Andrew's letter from last week.  He responds to our visit to his mission without him knowing we were there until he read it in our next email to him.  It was fun to see his area and to visit the visitors center.  What a great mission!



Well, well, well!  I cannot believe that you would do such a thing! You really drove through my area? Chinililis! Well it looks like you had a great time bumming around in my stomping grounds. How did you like the country club? Pretty nice right? What time were you there, in the morning or later? When i saw those photos I was laughing so hard! I cannot believe that you came here HAHA! Good thing I didn't see you here.  Well, that is awesome that you had a great time here in my mission. I loved those pictures of the temple. They were so incredible. It is such an amazing place, and we are going to go to the templetomorrow!!!

Anyway, I have been having an incredible week. I truly have loved almost every moment this transfer with Elder Calhoun. We are working so hard and finding a lot of people. We literally have been finding on average, 1 person a day that is just so prepared to be baptized. We have been finding a ton of people, but none of them live in our area. We have not found any prepared people that live here, or some of them speak English so we have to transfer them over to the other missionaries. I am just happy that we have been guided by the spirit to the prepared people who will be baptized, even though we have to send their referral. We are still doing a lot of work and seeing a lot of success. We have noticed that the only way to have success is to be 100% obedient. We have been seeing the miracles day after day because we have been so obedient. We have found in the last week about 5 people total that would be a surprise if they didn't end up getting baptized. Too bad we can't teach them, but I don't care. We have been guided by the spirit time and time again and have found the most prepared people. We are harvesting all of the good fruit, but we have to give the fruit away, and I am getting pretty hungry.  :)

Yesterday, we had another miracle story finding someone. On general conference Sunday we were street contacting in between sessions and we saw this old couple walking. We stop and talk to them and they kind of just walk away from us. We started walking with them and finally they opened up a little as we connected with them. They gave us their information, and said it was okay to come back. They really did not seem interested at all, so I was a little reluctant to go back, but Elder Wing said that he felt like we needed to go over there yesterday, so we did. We get there and only the husband is home. He lets us in and we start getting to know him. He is from El Salvador Santa Ana, and recently moved here!  He misses his country a lot, and he said that he remembers seeing guys like us in El Salvador. we began sharing our message with him, and he accepted it all. He accepted the Book of Mormon and said that he was going to read it.  He said, "I only accept this book because I will read it." He said that he would be baptized when he learns the Book of Mormon is true. He is so ready, and the best part is he actually lives in our area. We finally have someone to teach!!! We finally got a new investigator. I know that we were prompted to keep talking to them, even though they walked away from us.  In fact they were on their way to mass. Is mass out? No but your hats on crooked!  HaHa!

Anyway, I am so happy right now. Everything is just so good out here. I have been learning so much, and I just feel the spirit so strong. I have been just loving every moment out here. I still have a long way to go before I get to where the Lord wants me to be, but I know that if I continue on the path I am on I will get closer and closer every day. I love you so much! I am so grateful for all of you at home. I truly am grateful to have such an incredible family.  It is the biggest blessing I could possibly have in my life.  Love you!

Elder Anderson (the younger)

Elder Weelson (4/21)

What a crazy week family!!! It was just an incredible week! I loved it so dang much.... man I hate starting emails. hahaha. 

But anyways... J. and V. ended up getting baptized! J. asked Elder Hansen to baptize him, and V asked me to baptize her.  It was an incredible baptism, and they are just the most incredible people ever.  They have so much faith and trust in the Lord.  Truly such examples for me.  BUT.... theres a story to this baptism... hahaha.  So usually I like to have members do the baptisms, but this time, they insisted on us doing it.  Well I get in the water with V.. and just picture a big, thick boned, nigerian lady...... whose TERRIFIED of the water..... man Im laughing just writing this.  It was a first time baptizing experience I will never ever forget.  Lets just say it took her many many times to finally get it.... but thats jumping ahead of the story.  So we get in the water together and I begin to say the baptismal prayer, "V. I. S. habiendo sido comisionado... amen" and as she goes back into the water as soon as her head hits the water she just flips out and screams!! hahaha she started to flale all 4 limbs all over the place.... causing me to basically fall into the water with her. hahahahaha.  Man shes got some force.  So there we are both soaking wet... doing it again.  I say the prayer again "V. I. S. habiendo sido comisionado... amen".  I lower her into the water and right when her head hits again she stops and says "Is that okay??" hahahaha. It this point Im basically putting my back into it trying to get her to go under the water... hahahaa.  Its like she forgot 100% of what we taught her and demonstrated her, on how the baptism needed to be.  So here we go again.... "V. I.S.habiendo sido comisionado.... amen." And I thought I was for sure gonna get her down this time. I had my leg infront of her body and basically just lowered her with a bit more force.  I got her down!!.... but her leg shot up some how between both my legs and straight out of the water. hahaha... dont ask me how she managed that.. but she did.  Okay.... here we go again... by this time everyone is like giving V. instructions at the same time and just stressing her out even more.  So I start... "V. I. S. habiendo sido comisionado... amen" this time I was literally stepping on both her feet and like tried to just get her to slowly go under water super naturally without me lowering her or anything.... well.... nope.  Still no. hahahahaha by this time Im willing to try anything to help her get under the water. So the final time... "V. I. S. habiendo sido comisionado... amen"  we both just kneel down together so our heads are barely poking out of the water... and in her words "She just dipped her head in the water".... FINALLY!!!! hahahaha! Some primary children that were there started to clap and cheer... hahahaha.  What an experience.  I cant even beleive how afraid of the water she is.  So j. was next and learned from his wife, and got it on the first time! It was a great experience, and still very spiritual:)  Then once I saw V. after getting changed she had a big smile on her face, and said "Well... double blessings!" hahahhaha.  Thos guys are incredible.  It was a very memorable baptism:)

This week we also went to the temple!!! WOW.  That was my first time seeing the new video.... talk about INCREDIBLE! It was absolutley amazing to be back in the House of The Lord.  I was so temple trunky.  I hadnt been to the temple for over 7 months.  But that just made me super thankful we acutally have a temple in our mission.  I cant even begin to describe the feelings that I felt in the temple.  Such a sacred place.  I love the temple so much.  It was so good to get back there.  I couldnt sleep the night before I was so excited! 

All the district in our zone went to the temple, so after the temple we had district meeting.  I went to the Alcorcon District Meeting and shared a message.  It was super awesome.  So many amazing missionaries.

We also had interviews with President this week.  Man there are so many perks to serving in madrid. It was a really really good to meet with him.  I love President Jackson so much.  He is such an incredible guy.  I really look up to him. 

Well thats about it for this week! Were finding close to double digit new investigators ever week, which is awesome! Were having a great balance of teaching and finding.  I love working with Elder Hansen, that guy is so increidlbe! 

Thats about it family.  Hope you enjoyed the baptismal story as much as I enjoyed writing it. hahahaha:) man, sometimes I just lay in bed and just laugh at so many funny things that happen.  Im so happy, and learning so much.  I left on the mission with a very simple and basic testimony.  I feel that with the time I have had here, my testimony has grown even more simple and even more basic.  I KNOW Christ loves me, and is my advocate.  I know the Gospel is happiness.  I love you family.  Thanks for all the love and support!

Elder Weelson