I'm a foreigner.

Happy Monday!

Another week come and gone. I keep telling Élder Rodríguez that I think we skipped a few days last week. I'm a little worried that today is actually Saturday because there is no way 7 days have happened since the last time we were here. Anyway, for once we had week that was more or less normal. We did splits with Valdepeñas on Thursday evening and switched back on Friday, but besides that we were just here in Alcázar doing to good ol' missionary thing. Which is good because this week we have to go to Málaga on Tuesday and Sevilla on Friday because Elder Richards of the Area Presidency is coming to visit us. Yay travel!! We are way excited

On Friday morning I had to go to Ciudad Real to present my passport and give copies of every page for my residency renewal. We figured if we left here really early to get there at 9 when it opened, we wouldn't have to wait too long and we could get on with our lives. Turns out we weren't the only ones who thought that because when we arrived at 8:50 there were already about 50 people standing around and when the lady got there to start handing out numbers (because handing them out as people come in would be way too hard) it was an all out mob to grab a number from her. We were lucky and got 21 and only had to wait about 2 and a half hours to get called. The best part of it all was that when I went in the lady looked at the copies, looked at the passport, and said we were all good. I think the whole thing took about 45 seconds. Doesn't residency sound awesome? Haha.

The Columbian family we are teaching is doing awesome! The three girls have baptismal dates in October and really love church. They are fun to teach and are totally awesome investigators. We have another investigator names Regalado who is doing really, really well right now, too. He has read the entire Book of Mormon and is starting Doctrine and Covenants now. He was an extremely successful lawyer in his 30s and is now retired at the age of 45. He is funny because he hates money but he earns a ton of it without wanting to, haha. He has a few court cases he has to do at the end of the month so he told us that he wouldn't have as much time to read...only about an hour or 2 a day. We're always amazed by him...like when he says "Sorry guys, I haven't read much...only 5 sections in D&C." It is like a missionary dream! haha.

I know the church is true! Christ has prepared the way to true happiness for us. The temple is where we can be sealed together as eternal families. I am so thankful to be a missionary and to share those things with everyone I possibly can!!

Have an awesome week!

Elder Mockler

Lots of travelling and a family of...how many?!

Hi!

And another week gone in Alcázar. It seriously does not feel like it could be Monday already...I feel like I was just here writing. We travelled a bunch again on Tuesday and Wednesday to go to zone concilio. We had a great meeting (as always) and plenty of fun as well. President Deere made us hamburgers that were real hamburger size and Elder Rodríguez could not believe that they would have been normal in the US. Having a native companion is so fun, haha. Hna. Deere also made us an incredible key-lime-pie-ice-cream-pie-cake thing and it made me think of Dad. Key Lime is the bomb!

On Monday evening we headed out to a pueblo we had never been to before called Miguel Esteban to contact a future we met here in Alcázar about a month ago. We got a little lost trying to find their house but felt pretty famous because EVERYONE in town stared at us as we walked around. We could see lots of people reading our nametags under their breaths and changing their dinner conversations in the bars, haha. Finally we got to the house, went up the stairs....and realize we didn't have the door number. Oh no! But it was ok because within about 30 seconds we heard a little boy yell, "they're here!" and open the door. We went in and there were 5 or 6 people there with their mom, Miriam, who we had met here. They told us to wait because more people were coming. And they came, alright. Pretty soon there were 8, and then 10, and then 14. 14 people!! We didn't know what to do! We had only brought 2 Book of Mormons! We introduced ourselves and taught one of the most unique lessons I've ever had in my mission. On Thursday we went back with 12 more books (thank goodness we have a car!) and tonight we will see them again. We're excited!

Well, it is time to go. I'm so grateful to be here as a missionary. I love being able to show people the path they must take to make covenants with God and one day obtain eternal life. I know the temple is the House of the Lord on Earth and that the blessings of the temple are far beyond any other thing we can strive to obtain. I'm grateful that we have living prophets and apostles to guide us and I know they are inspired to lead us in this time.

Have an awesome week!

Elder Mockler

The following pictures come from the Spain Málaga mission blog which can be found at http://thespainmalagamission.blogspot.com/

Hello September!

Happy September!!

We had a very busy but very awesome week this week. I don't even know if I can remember everything that has happened...I don't know how so many things fit into so little time!

Anyway, last Tuesday we met up early in the morning with Elder Mora and Elder Berrett so that Elder Mora could do Pedro's baptismal interview. Everything went great with the interview and while we were in the park talking to him, a lady called out to us. Whenever someone shouts out "Elder!" we get pretty excited, haha. Turns out she was a member and was baptized years ago in Columbia. We haven't had a chance to see her yet but this week we are going to go talk to her and her family. After coming back from the interview with Pedro (he lives pretty far away), we ate lunch and headed to zone conference in Malaga.

Zone conference was pretty normal. We went down on Tuesday, stayed the night with the zone leaders, had the conference on Wednesday and stayed in Puertollano that night, and then got back here Thursday morning. If you can't tell already, we have traveled A LOT this week! In Malaga we got a box of dunkin donuts which was pretty awesome. Normal Spanish donuts aren't the same at all. Anyway, we got back here to Alcazar, got ready, did the last few things for Pedro's baptism, and ran to 2 lessons we had planned.

On Friday, we woke up early and went down to the chapel (thank goodness it is right underneath our piso!) and started filling the font. While it filled we picked up Pedro (more driving) and a member and got to the church just in time to find our investigators who came (Margarita and her family) and start the service. Since it was a Friday morning, not a lot of people could come, which means yours truly got to play piano! That was pretty different....and by some miracle I didn't ruin the hymns too bad! haha. Everything went great with the baptism and it was a really spiritual service. I attached a picture of us right before it started.

After the baptism we ran around cleaning everything up and dropped Pedro off (more driving). We had just enough time to go see a recent convert family in a pueblo (more driving). It was an amazingly tiring and amazingly amazing day! The weekend was more normal than the rest of the week, thankfully. Tomorrow we head back to Malaga for Zone Leader Concilio (have we travelled enough?) and we'll get back Wednesday night. I am so thankful for all of the experiences I am having as a missionary. It is awesome to be here and do all the things we get to do. I know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers and that those prayers gain even more power when combined with fasting. He knows the best for us and if we'll just ask it will be given to us!

Love you so much!!

Elder Mockler

I never know what to put as the subject of these letters.

Hello!

Well another solid week in Alcázar. Pretty relaxed for Elder Rodriguez and I as far as things outside of missionary work. That is probably the best part about not getting transferred...it saves you a week of stress. It is still pretty stinkin hot here but it is getting colder and colder at night which is a good sign. By the time I leave here I'll probably be running around with my winter coat on. Gotta enjoy the heat while it lasts.

We've been searching a lot for new investigators and had a lot of success this week with contacting. Tons of our appointments fell through, but that is pretty normal with new people. We found a great new family of 4 from Columbia that we are especially excited about! Pedro is still doing great and is excited for his baptism on Friday (and so are we!). Overall it was an awesome week with TONS of walking. Elder Rodriguez and I are always exhausted. We always talk about how old we're getting (in the mission, that is). It is scary. Today makes 1 year and 4 months since I entered the MTC. We only have 8 left. It is great motivation to leave the piso everyday and give it everything we have.

We're seeing all kinds of miracles in the mission. On Saturday the Sisters in our zone found a great new investigator and invited him to be baptized on the 8th of September. When he went to church on Sunday he kept asking them if it could be any earlier than that. They told him "Well, tomorrow?" and he accepted! So yesterday we ran a bit with the district leader to get everything ready for them and they are holding the baptismal service right now. Incredible! We are seeing incredible success in the mission and the Lord is blessing us a ton. I'm so happy to be part of this great work! I'm so grateful for the Gospel in my life that brings me such great joy and hope. I know that Christ is our Savior and Redeemer.

Have an awesome week!

Elder Mockler

What Mockler REALLY means...

HELLO!

Well, we had quite the exciting week this week! Hopefully this weeks email will make up for a few of the terrible boring ones I've sent before, haha. But don't get your hopes up too high. The weekly weather report is that it is HOT again. Real hot. But that's ok....it just makes missionary work more fun! Also, another 6 weeks have come and gone and this week is the start of a new transfer. And what's the big news this time? Well.....nothing. Elder Rodríguez and I are going to stay here 1 more together! This will be my first time staying 3 transfers with one companion. We're excited! Unless anything really crazy happens we'll be together until the beginning on October and I'll be here until the middle of November. Cool. Elder Berrett is also coming to our district which will be awesome...I'm excited to see him again!

On Friday we ate Kebab (In Amigo Kebab....amigooooo) to celebrate the start of our 3rd transfer and while a man from Pakistan was fixing our food, Elder Rodríguez said, "Hey, Mockler, do you want everything on yours?" The guy working stopped and said, "Wait, your name is Mockler? That is a word in my language. It means...big...hole. Or big gap." Hahaha! Elder Rodriguez always tells me my name is weird and now he has even more ammo, haha. The guy working wrote "Mockler" in his language for me and wrote the name of his language, too, but I left the paper in the piso. Big hole it is, I guess.

I had my first interesting food adventure in quite a while this week! We ate with some recent converts (we hardly ever eat with members here) and they served us fish and rice with peanut sauce. It was awesome! When they served the fish, they served it whole, with the head and all, which is pretty normal here. At the end I asked if I should eat any part of the head and they said I could if I want but that it is kinda hard with the bones. And then they said that the eye is really great. I don't know what has happened to me, but as soon as they said that I went right for it thinking "well, I've never eaten fish eyes..." It ended up being pretty good! The texture is a bit like the yolk of a hardboiled egg. Weird. Anyway, we can cross that one off the list now.

This week we saw an awesome miracle. As a mission, we have the goal to have 70+ baptisms this month of August. Elder Rodríguez and I had a few investigators that we thought would maybe be ready this month, but most of them have gone on vacation or kind of fallen off track. So we have prayed that we could find someone who would be ready to be baptized. On Thursday we contacted a man named Pedro who is from Cuba. He was a reference from the missionaries in Madrid and when we met with him he told us he has already heard all the missionary lessons, he has been to church many times and visited the temple there in Madrid, and that he has read half of the Book of Mormon. We invited him to be baptized on the 31st and he said, "I was hoping I would be able to be baptized this month, so that day is perfect for me!" We are super excited for him!! So it looks like next week we'll be having a baptism..super awesome! God answers prayers, helps us with our goals, and will do whatever it takes to bless all of His children. When we ask according to His will, He will always bless us!

Love you so much!!

Elder Big Hole Mockler

HOT HOT HOT!

¡Qué Caló!

Well, we've had some interesting weather. It was hot this week. Really, really hot. On Friday the car told us it was 48ºC outside. I'm just glad I'm so far North and not still in Sevilla or Almeria where it gets much hotter. Since it is so dry there was tons of dust in the air as well and Elder Rodríguez and I even got stuck in a dust storm one day this week. One day we walked out of a building and it was like being in a zombie movie...the streets deserted and the air all creepily dusty. It was fun, haha. Anyway, today it has gone back to almost being chilly and we're really excited about that. Really, really excited.

We have been blessed again this week to be able to find lots of new people to teach. All of our other investigators have stopped progressing so we spent a lot of hot says searching for new people. And we found plenty! We're excited. It is amazing how in a town so small like Alcázar there are always people to find and teach, even after more than 20 years of missionaries passing through here. As Joseph Smith said, The standard of truth has been erected. No unhallowed hand will stop this work. I'm so grateful to be a missionary!

Love you all SO much!!!

Elder Mockler

Another Málaga Monday!

Heello!

Well, we had another Monday in Málaga this week for Zone Leader Council, so we're finally back in Alcázar and doing email on Tuesday. It is always awesome to go to Málaga to be with other missionaries, plan how to be better, and get a little 'recharge'! Hermana Deere made us the most amazing burritos ever and that alone made the trip worth it! Haha. As always we took the bullet train there and back so the travel went pretty fast. No matter how great the conferences are, though, it is even better to get back to our areas and back to work!

We've been seeing a lot of miracles in La Mancha lately. The La Mancha zone has always been infamous for being harder than the rest, for teaching and baptizing less than the other zones, but this week we saw that rumor totally turned on its head! Elder Rodríguez and I are especially happy to have found tons of new investigators this week. The just come at us from everywhere! It seems like everywhere we go we find someone who is willing to talk to us. We found a new guy named Paco this week who is really great. He is from Sevilla and reminds me a lot of Jesús. He has a 4 year old son.  He came to church on Sunday and we're hoping to see him keep progressing.

In Zone Leader Council we talked a lot about 'The Rescue', which is a new program we are going to start to help us find less active members, help them find their testimonies again, and help them and their families make it to the goal of being sealed in the temple. We read  John 15 which Hermana Deere described as "a chapter about lost things." I loved reading them but was particularly touched by the most famous of the parables, that of the prodigal son:

11 ¶And he said, A certain man had two sons:

 12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.

 13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.

 14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.

 15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

 16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

 17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,

 19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

 20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

 21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more aworthy to be called thybson.

 22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:

 23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:

 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

There are lots of things packed into this story, but I just want to point out some of my favorites in the little time I have left. First and foremost, like the citizen in the strange country, the world can only offer us the husks of the swine. Our Father, however, is willing to take us back - to fall upon us and give us again the best robe, the ring on the hand, and the shoes on our feet. He is waiting and watching for us and will run to us and lift us up as we begin the long road back home. Our Father in Heaven longs for us to return to his house and our souls long for the same (Alma 36:22). Although we are lost and spiritually dead, Jesus Christ has broken the bands of death. He will leave the 99 to find the 1 and carry us upon his shoulders back to the fold. He will light the lamp and sweep the house to find us. And when we come, there is much rejoicing in heaven and on Earth. I'm so grateful for the Gospel. I'm so grateful to be a missionary and to be able to help Heavenly Father in the great task of bringing eternal life and immortality to all men. God loves us and the path He has shown us may be hard, but it is the only one worth anything.

Have an AWESOME week!! I love you all SO much!!

Elder Mockler

Here is a photo of Andy at zone leader conference at the mission home in Málaga.  This photo comes from the mission blog at http://thespainmalagamission.blogspot.com/