January 30, 2012
Sevilla-Land
¡Hola!
Well, here I am in the Aljarafe library. This area is basically the complete opposite of Huércal...it is HUGE! In Huércal there were 3 or 4 buildings that had 6 floors...here there are plenty of buildings much bigger than that. We live in a pueblo called Mariena del Aljarafe. We are about 20 minutes from downtown Sevilla so we will go there a lot on our PDays. The largest pueblo we have is San Juan de Aznalfarache (yes, that really is a name). We are part of the Castilleja de la Cuesta ward which is about a 15 minute drive away. It is pretty weird having to drive so far to church but it isn't a big deal. We live in an actual house which is really cool. It has central heating!! Woohoo! Anyway, my new address is:
c\ Jara Nº 14
41927 Mairena del Aljarafe (Sevilla)
It has been a pretty interesting couple of days here. Elder Wells is a little directionally challenged and just learned to drive a stick shift about two weeks ago. So we have been lost a good number of times and he has stalled the car just about as often. But I'm starting to figure out my way around so things are getting better, haha. Our ward is mostly Spaniards which is a big difference from other areas where it has been about half Spaniard and half South American. There are a ton of Domicans here which is cool. I love Dominicans.
As far as culinary experiences this week, I had one which was quite exciting for me but will probably not be too exciting for you...potato salad, ribs and chicken wings! There is also an American family in our ward and they invited us over and gave us a real American dinner. We even ate it at 6:00pm! It was a lot of fun and, more importantly, delicious! Haha
Well, that is about it. Amidst all the changes we have in life, one thing is always constant: The Gospel. The joy we can have when we live it and share it doesn't change depending on where we are...the only variable is us! So if we aren't where we want to be, we only need to see how we can follow the example of Jesus Christ better and all the doors will open for us.
I love you!!!
Elder Mockler
January 23, 2012
Goodbye, Huércal-Overa
January 23, 2012
¡Buenos días!
Well, the big news
this week is that I'm leaving Huércal. I'll be headed to Sevilla on Wednesday
morning! Aljarafe, to be exact. I actually have no idea what it is like there
or what my area is like...I just know we have a car again and that I will be
serving in a WARD instead of a branch! Woohoo! I'm really really going to miss
it here but every transfer is a good chance to change and start everything over
again and I won't let myself miss that opportunity. I will be serving there
with Elder Wells who goes home in April so there is a good chance I will be his
last companion.
Well, there isn't a
lot more to say about this week. We did a lot of searching and knocked a lot of
doors. We started the project of knocking every door in the city and now we
have a big map of Huércal and we cross off streets with a sharpie when we do
them. It is fun but really hard work. There is no work that makes us happier
than the work of the Lord, though, and I can testify of that! I love being a
missionary and sharing the Gospel! The commandments and the gospel are our way
to happiness on Earth and in the eternities.
I love you!!
Elder Mockler
Photos:
1. The Most Stylish
District in Spain
2. Elder Marchello and
I with Carlos, one of our investigators
January 16, 2012
Snow?
¡Hola!
Well, we're getting to the end of another transfer. We'll find out on Thursday if there are any changes and it is looking like I might be leaving Huércal. We gave up the car this week because it has been to hard to get investigators to church from the pueblo so there have been a lot of changes already! We drove to Granada to drop off the car and there was a lot of snow on the mountains around there. This morning we woke up to see snow on the tops of some of the mountains around here, too. Crazy!!
We didn't have a super exciting week this week, just a lot of teaching and finding. While we were knocking doors the other night we had a pretty weird experience though. We knocked on a door and we heard someone say, in English, on the other side "I think it's the mormons." Two American girls answered the door and we talked to them for a minute about the Gospel. Things got weird when they said they were kind of drunk and asked us out so we just told them they could come to church any Sunday and then left. It was really random and weird. I'll stick to talking to Spaniards.
Well, not a whole lot else to say. The Church is true! Living like the Savior is the best way to live a life full of profound happiness. I am so grateful to be here and to be able to help people come unto Christ.
I love you!!
Elder Mockler
Well, we're getting to the end of another transfer. We'll find out on Thursday if there are any changes and it is looking like I might be leaving Huércal. We gave up the car this week because it has been to hard to get investigators to church from the pueblo so there have been a lot of changes already! We drove to Granada to drop off the car and there was a lot of snow on the mountains around there. This morning we woke up to see snow on the tops of some of the mountains around here, too. Crazy!!
We didn't have a super exciting week this week, just a lot of teaching and finding. While we were knocking doors the other night we had a pretty weird experience though. We knocked on a door and we heard someone say, in English, on the other side "I think it's the mormons." Two American girls answered the door and we talked to them for a minute about the Gospel. Things got weird when they said they were kind of drunk and asked us out so we just told them they could come to church any Sunday and then left. It was really random and weird. I'll stick to talking to Spaniards.
Well, not a whole lot else to say. The Church is true! Living like the Savior is the best way to live a life full of profound happiness. I am so grateful to be here and to be able to help people come unto Christ.
I love you!!
Elder Mockler
January 9, 2012
End of the Holidays
¡Feliz Reyes!
Finally the holidays are over! Friday was Dia de los Reyes which is when they celebrate the wise men visiting Jesus. It is the day Spaniards do what we do on Christmas. Today all of the schools are back in session and everything is finally back to NORMAL! Yay!
Last night we had a pretty great cultural experience. One of our members introduced us to a Bulgarian family that lives by them and we went over to teach them. There is one lady who speaks some Spanish and some English, but not a lot. Her parents don't speak any Spanish or English. It was an interesting lesson to say the least, haha. We gave them a Book of Mormon in Bulgarian, though, and that really does missionary work much better than we do. The Bulgarian language is pretty crazy (completely different from English or Spanish)...I tried figuring out some of the words by comparing our Spanish materials but it was impossible. We also learned that in Bulgaria you nod your head when you say no and shake your head when you say yes.
We had a really special experience on Saturday. We had gone out to Turre, one of our pueblos, to teach a lesson and after driving about 35 minutes they called us and said they couldn't meet. It was a bummer after making the trip and we had a member with us so we felt bad for taking him all the way out there for nothing. We went by all of our future investigators in Turre but no one was really interested. We decided to go back to the car and say a prayer to know what to do. After praying, we thought to call a man in a pueblo about an hour away. When he answered he said "I don't have time but my brother Juan is extremely interested and wants to talk to you." After getting his brother's address and phone number we made the long drive to Albox. In 3 days, Juan had already read HALF of the Book of Mormon (up to Alma 22)!! Within the first few minutes of being there he asked us if he could be baptized. Clearly we said yes! We have a few things to work on before he is ready but it was definitely a miracle. When we pray with faith, the Lord always listens. Sometimes the answer doesn't make a ton of sense or doesn't come in the way we expect, but he answers us. We just need to be working and moving forard - that is when he can put good things in our paths.
I love you!!!
Elder Mockler
Finally the holidays are over! Friday was Dia de los Reyes which is when they celebrate the wise men visiting Jesus. It is the day Spaniards do what we do on Christmas. Today all of the schools are back in session and everything is finally back to NORMAL! Yay!
Last night we had a pretty great cultural experience. One of our members introduced us to a Bulgarian family that lives by them and we went over to teach them. There is one lady who speaks some Spanish and some English, but not a lot. Her parents don't speak any Spanish or English. It was an interesting lesson to say the least, haha. We gave them a Book of Mormon in Bulgarian, though, and that really does missionary work much better than we do. The Bulgarian language is pretty crazy (completely different from English or Spanish)...I tried figuring out some of the words by comparing our Spanish materials but it was impossible. We also learned that in Bulgaria you nod your head when you say no and shake your head when you say yes.
We had a really special experience on Saturday. We had gone out to Turre, one of our pueblos, to teach a lesson and after driving about 35 minutes they called us and said they couldn't meet. It was a bummer after making the trip and we had a member with us so we felt bad for taking him all the way out there for nothing. We went by all of our future investigators in Turre but no one was really interested. We decided to go back to the car and say a prayer to know what to do. After praying, we thought to call a man in a pueblo about an hour away. When he answered he said "I don't have time but my brother Juan is extremely interested and wants to talk to you." After getting his brother's address and phone number we made the long drive to Albox. In 3 days, Juan had already read HALF of the Book of Mormon (up to Alma 22)!! Within the first few minutes of being there he asked us if he could be baptized. Clearly we said yes! We have a few things to work on before he is ready but it was definitely a miracle. When we pray with faith, the Lord always listens. Sometimes the answer doesn't make a ton of sense or doesn't come in the way we expect, but he answers us. We just need to be working and moving forard - that is when he can put good things in our paths.
I love you!!!
Elder Mockler
January 2, 2012
¡Feliz Año!
¡Feliz Año Nuevo!
2012! I can't believe it! I will spend this entire year in Spain! Woohoo!! Pretty crazy to think I will be a missionary for this entire year. I'm excited!
Not too much happened for new years here. During the night people were setting of fireworks (read: bombs) but besides that not a lot goes on. Most of the people here go out to party at clubs or bars for any Holiday (new years, Christmas, Christmas eve, and any Monday they decide they don't want to work...), so nothing else really happened. They celebrate 'Los Reyes Magos' (the 3 kings that visited Jesus) here more than anything else and that happens on the 6th, so we'll see if anything cool happens here in Huércal!
So, like always, here is the food update. We have eaten a lot of homemade tamales this week - twice from the Honduran family and once from a Venezuelan recent convert. The Venezuelan tamales are also called 'Allacas', which is like Allá y Acá (that means 'there' and 'here), because their tamales are more Spanish influenced. So it is a mix of 'here' and 'there'. Yesterday we also had bread pudding, which was quite good and normal. It was great!
The work here is going well. We had a long week this week because we had to drop a lot of investigators that weren't progressing. It is always hard to do, but it is necessary because we really can't do anything to help anyone if they aren't willing to do their part. We still have 4 baptisms planned for this month, including Melisa who will get baptized as soon as she fixes some paperwork concerning her marriage that kept us from doing it last week.
I'm so grateful to be here in Spain. I have really been blessed with the language a lot and I know it is because The Lord helps his missionaries. The Gospel is to go forth unto every nation and all men will hear it in their own tongue. That profecy is fulfilled and continues in miraculous ways. Like Moroni says, if we think miracles have ceased in the world it only means our faith in Christ has ceased. I hope we all have the faith to make miracles and to see the ones that happen all around us every day. ( Mormon 9)
I love you all!! Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!
Elder Mockler
2012! I can't believe it! I will spend this entire year in Spain! Woohoo!! Pretty crazy to think I will be a missionary for this entire year. I'm excited!
Not too much happened for new years here. During the night people were setting of fireworks (read: bombs) but besides that not a lot goes on. Most of the people here go out to party at clubs or bars for any Holiday (new years, Christmas, Christmas eve, and any Monday they decide they don't want to work...), so nothing else really happened. They celebrate 'Los Reyes Magos' (the 3 kings that visited Jesus) here more than anything else and that happens on the 6th, so we'll see if anything cool happens here in Huércal!
So, like always, here is the food update. We have eaten a lot of homemade tamales this week - twice from the Honduran family and once from a Venezuelan recent convert. The Venezuelan tamales are also called 'Allacas', which is like Allá y Acá (that means 'there' and 'here), because their tamales are more Spanish influenced. So it is a mix of 'here' and 'there'. Yesterday we also had bread pudding, which was quite good and normal. It was great!
The work here is going well. We had a long week this week because we had to drop a lot of investigators that weren't progressing. It is always hard to do, but it is necessary because we really can't do anything to help anyone if they aren't willing to do their part. We still have 4 baptisms planned for this month, including Melisa who will get baptized as soon as she fixes some paperwork concerning her marriage that kept us from doing it last week.
I'm so grateful to be here in Spain. I have really been blessed with the language a lot and I know it is because The Lord helps his missionaries. The Gospel is to go forth unto every nation and all men will hear it in their own tongue. That profecy is fulfilled and continues in miraculous ways. Like Moroni says, if we think miracles have ceased in the world it only means our faith in Christ has ceased. I hope we all have the faith to make miracles and to see the ones that happen all around us every day. ( Mormon 9)
I love you all!! Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!
Elder Mockler
Photos from the Spain Málaga Mission blog:
The Murcia Zone meets in Cartagena
Murcia and Elche Zones Christmas photo
...And a silly one!
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