running.running.running.running...

Another crazy week!! How many times have I said that in my mission? And what % of those times has been in the office? haha. I feel like we've barely stopped running since last Saturday but that is ok! Lots to be done!

We've received our 15 visa waiters! And we found out we'll be getting 1 more this week from Peru! Elder Teixeira from the area presidency is also coming to tour our mission this week so it looks like it'll be another crazy one. But we've been blessed a lot to be able to take care of everything so far.

Since Spain got 50 new missionaries at once (yes, 50), they couldn't fit them all in the CCM in Madrid to do their residency there. So, they decided to do an experiment and see if they could do their residency here in Fuengirola. So, on top of receiving missionaries 3 days in a row, I had to go get them all empadronado and fingerprinted before they left with their trainers! It was insane but everything went as smoothly as we possibly could have hoped for. Lots of planning and lots of paperwork paid off and they are all legal and on their way to being happy missionaries out in their areas already! Finishing the first group without any problems was definitely in the top 10 most triumphant moments of my life, haha. In the meantime, Elder Berrett was working on getting 3 new missionary apartments in 3 different cities while keeping all the normal financial part of the mission running. Like I said, it has been crazy but it has been fun and rewarding!

Anyway, not much else to say but I decided to make a list of a few things we did this week that are pretty normal to me now, but I don't think used to be:

We ate ice cream out of an orange skin and out of a cocoa bean shell
We pulled 2,000€ out of the bank for apartments and residency
Made oatmeal with milk from a box
We ate chicken curry with an English man and a Belgian woman in a house overlooking the Mediterranean sea
We woke up freezing one night from not using the portable heater and sweating the next night from having the heater up too high. Oops.
Considered purchasing jamon from a shopping card filled with pig legs

But most importantly, we were missionaries this week! I love being here and I'm so grateful to be in the office! I loved this video that came out this week Like Peter, I know that Christ died for us and today lives again so that we may have eternal life.

I love you!!

Elder Mockler

On my list I forgot to add that we literally went running right next to the sea a few mornings this week. How is that for awesome? Love you!

¡Ostras!

¡Buenos días!

So, this week was probably our most normal office week yet. Thank goodness! Elder Berrett and I actually have had quite a bit of time to work in our area during the week which has been grand. On Monday we had concilio, which was a really great meeting (as always), and besides that we haven't really had anything unusual going on!

On Tuesday we got word that we will be receiving on of our many "visa waiters" this week because the Spanish consulate is finally beginning to process our visas for us. We are changing the residency process for her, so Elder Berrett and I will have quite the adventure trying to figure out the new process we are trying out. We are so excited that visas are starting to come through! We're hoping to receive 25 more visa waiters in the next few weeks/months. It'll be crazy!!

This week we were blessed to see a huge miracle. On Wednesday, the APs were out traveling the mission when they got a call from a British number. The lady calling introduced herself as Katie, said she had found our card, and asked to set up a time to meet with us so we could teach her. Elder Berrett and I got her number and called her and we met with her and Jack, a member from the English branch, on Thursday. She is SO awesome and super prepared to hear the Gospel. We all felt the Spirit strongly during the lesson with her. She has 2 children, a 5 year old daughter and a 7 year old boy. We can't wait to see them at church tomorrow! Just goes to show that there are people seeking and finding the Gospel every day - makes me wonder how many more there are who haven't had the luck to find a card or the courage to call the number.

Speaking of miracles, we finally got to meet with a recent convert from the English branch this week who is from Egypt. He converted to Christianity 17 years ago in Egypt and when he did, his family completely abandoned him - they even put a headstone in the family plot with his name, his birthdate, and the date he converted to Christianity for his death date. After being thrown in jail and treated very poorly there, he was released and slowly found his way out of Egypt and here to Spain. That process took 15 long years of persecution. While in Egypt, he investigated many churches through the internet and said he read "everything bad" about the Mormons. But, he always wondered why everyone talked so bad about them if they were a Christian church. Slowly, he gained a testimony of the Gospel and stayed firm in his faith in Jesus Christ until he made it to Fuengirola, Spain, and submitted his name as a reference through mormon.org. That will be a year ago in February.

There are people everywhere searching for the Gospel! I am so grateful to share in the great calling of preaching it. Let's look for miracles every day this week - they are all around us!

Love,

Elder Mockler

Happy New Year!

Happy 2013!!

This week marked the end of my "blackout year," the full year that I'll be a missionary. I found a pocket calendar of the Madrid temple at the beginning of last year and marked off my last day this week. Crazy!!

On Monday we went out to San Pedro de Alcántara, a pueblo a little past Marbella, to eat with a family from the ward. We were able to stay out until 12 and eat the grapes and then head home. Here in Spain at midnight, as the bell tolls for 12:00, they eat 12 grapes, 1 for each chime of the bell. It is definitely way harder than it sounds. I got all 12 in my mouth in time, but it took me another 20 seconds to chew and swallow them all. Elder Berrett was a bit quicker on the draw and ate them all. What a champ. Tons of fireworks...which here mostly means lots of really really loud bombs people set off everywhere. Driving home felt like driving through a war zone. Definitely different from Huércal-Overa last year. We got home and everyone was just going out to party, so the streets were pretty loud. When we woke up, everyone was just starting to go home from the clubs. Good ol' Spain.

So this week we've been getting everything switched over for the new year, especially Elder Berrett. New forms, getting rid of old documents, etc. Fun office stuff. Luckily not much else has been going on, so we were able to be out and teach quite a bit. Hopefully that will continue this week - besides Concilio on Monday, things look pretty calm.

We've got to wrap up, so sorry this is kind of short. I know that we are blessed as we keep the commandments and as we strive to be like Christ. He will lift us up when we fall. I am so grateful to be a missionary - it is the most rewarding work there is.

Have a great week! Love you!

Elder Mockler