The Real McCoy

¡Hola familia!

Well, another good week here in Aljarafe. Elder Wells got really sick on Tuesday and Wednesday so we were stuck in the house. Luckily I dodged it so I just got to take a few days of R&R. Besides that we've been really busy. On Saturday we had a 'cosecha' in our area, which is when all of the missionaries in the zone go to one place to do contacts. There were 16 or 18 missionaries there and it went really well! So we've got lots of people to call and pass by this week.

On Thursday we had specialized training in Sevilla. It was really great, just like all missionary meetings are. Afterward we all went to Dominos pizza (yes, it exists here!!) because they just started doing an all you can eat/drink deal. Yes, all you can drink....most restaurants here charge for refills. But Burger King brought free refills to Spain and it is finally starting to catch on! Hoorayyy!

Yesterday in church Fernando, the member who LOVES America, described something as "the real mccoy." It was hilarious to hear him try to explain what that means in Spanish. Almost every one of his comments starts with "In the US..." or "As the Americans say..." and so forth. It is good to have someone else repping the States with us. And during Elders Quorum he made Elder Wells and I the "American Team" for finding scriptures and I'm proud to say we definitely won the multi-national scripture chase.

Well, that is all for this week. The church is true! I'm so grateful for the Book of Mormon...it brings a special spirit of peace into our lives. Heavenly Father has prepared a plan of happiness for us, we just have to humble ourselves, accept it and follow it. I'm so grateful for the Gospel!

Love you!!
Elder Mockler

P.S. I attached some pictures from our trip to the Real Alcázar last week. It was awesome - it is absolutely gigantic and very pretty inside. I hope you enjoy them!

Andy at zone conference in Sevilla

The Spanish courtyard at Real Alcázar

Another part of the Spanish Courtyard

Elder Wells and Andy with some "popcorn popping" in the gardens

Lost in the hedge maze

Part of the Arab courtyard

Feliz Día del Padre!

¡¡¡Feliz Día del Padre!!!

So here in Spain, Father's day is the 19th of March. So, dad, you get 2 "Happy Father's Day"s this year! Thanks for being the best dad EVER!

This week was pretty normal. Not too much out of the ordinary. Last Monday we tried to go see some Roman Ruins nearby but they are closed on Mondays (nooooo!), so that was pretty anti-climactic. On Saturday we went to Huelva to do a baptismal interview with an awesome guy named Juan Antonio. He is super excited for his baptism and it will happen next Saturday. It is always awesome to see the excitement and change within people who are commited to taking the step of baptism. We didn't have much time to go around Huelva but it is a cool city and it is where Columbus set off from when he made his journey to America. And the best part was how clean the streets were which is really a marvel here in Spain.

Speaking of baptisms, we have to push back Sonya's because she isn't ready yet. She missed church yesterday and is still a little hesitant. So, no baptism next week, unfortunately. We did get a new investigator to church yesterday, though! Her name is Lucia and she lives in San Juan de Aznalfarache. It is really hard to get to Castilleja from there on Sundays so we had a fun hour long bus adventure to and from Sevilla to get to church. She loved the meetings and we're really excited for her.

I read a lot this week in Doctrine and Covenants and one of my favorite parts was reading section 76 which talks about the kingdoms of glory. I'm so thankful to have the knowldge of God's plan for us and to know that he has prepared such great things for us in this life as well as afterward. I know that every trial and difficulty is really just an opportunity to improve and learn and grow and I hope we can all use our trials in that way! If we do, our Heavenly Father will surely accept us into his kingdom one day as heirs to all he has.

I love you so much!!!!!!!

Elder Mockler

Summer is coming!

¡que paha familia!

Pueee gi. It has been a good week. It is starting to get pretty hot here already. Elder Wells only has 5 weeks left and all of them are going to go by way too fast for sure. We've been really busy and the work is going really well here. One of our investigators, Sonya, is on track for baptism on the 24th and we're hoping to confirm everything this week. That'll be awesome!

So I have some bad news. This week we got robbed! Well, ok, not really. The other day we printed out a bunch of materials for English class and as we walked out an old drunk guy stopped us to talk. We started talking to him and as we were about to leave we stole the papers straight out of my hands and wouldn't give them back. After a few minutes of trying to deal with him being completely insane we just went to a different locutorio to print out the pages. It was frustrating but after the fact it is pretty funny.

So being a missionary is cool...just now a guy walked in from Camaroon and started talking to us. His name is Rick. He met missionaries about 10 years ago. He is a cool guy...hopefully we'll be able to see him this week. Meeting new people is so much fun!! He is extremely faithful and knows the Bible really well. He owns an American toy company and is an American resident! Crazy! haha I'll tell more next week!

I have been thinking a lot about Matthew 10:39 this week:

He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

I just want to say that I know that is true! If we lose ourselves in serving others we find that we are really so much more. We just have to let go of our selfishness and we can start to grow. I'm so greatful that I know that!

I hope you all have a great week! I Love you!!!!!!!!!

Elder Mockler