Life in the office is not normal.

Bonjour!

Well, another week come and gone. I can't believe how fast it has gone by!

It is strawberry season here in Spain. Most of the fruit here is absolutely incredible...and the strawberries are no exception. The other day a member from the English branch brought 2 big boxes of strawberries to the office and they're amazing. Just thought everyone should know how jealous they should be of me.

We also went to the Málaga castle today which was awesome. Here is a picture of the view of Málaga from on top:

On Thursday morning we got to do another good ol' 3am airport run to take the Stevens, the Senior office couple, home. It was super weird to see them go. But, that's the way it goes! On the way out of the airport a real storm brewed up and some crazy lightning started. By the time we pulled out it had started to rain and before we got to the freeway we pulled over because it was raining too hard to keep driving. Then it started hailing....but not just your normal run-of-the-mill 2 minute hailstorm....it kept going for what seemed like ages. By the time it stopped hailing and raining and we started going, it looked like it had snowed! Spanish engineering isn't always the best, and it really showed because for about half our drive home we were driving through at least 6 inches of standing water...sometimes with little hail icebergs floating in it. It was a good thing we were in the van! Anyway, it was a smashing good time, as the British would say, and we got home slowly but safely.

But life isn't all just eating strawberries and driving around in the middle of the night! This week we have had tons of time to teach, which was been awesome. And on Sunday, the APs had a baptism! A great Cuban man named Ciro. I had the opportunity to do his baptismal interview. He is an amazing person...he was held in prison for many years in Cuba for his political ideas before being sent here to Spain through a program for Cuban political prisoners. He has found great joy in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and drives more than a half an hour every Sunday to get to church in Fuengirola. After the baptismal interview, he asked if I would baptize him, and I got to do that on Sunday. It was a really special service.

The church is growing in Spain!! The English branch was reorganized on Sunday and the Spanish ward barely fits in the chapel anymore. The stake president spoke after the reorganization and said that they have plans to split the current Granada Stake in order to make a Málaga stake and that they plan to create 2 new wards in Málaga in the next year or so. So awesome! It is an amazing time to be a part of the Lord's work as he gathers those who will listen to his voice and come unto Him so that he may heal them.

I love you so much!! Have a great week!

Andy

The following two photos are from the Spain Malaga Mission blog at:  http://thespainmalagamission.blogspot.com/

Andy at Ciro's baptism

Andy and a group of missionaries at the Stevens' piso

Note from Andy's Mom:  Andy and I have started a sparring match of sorts.  I have started attaching beautiful pictures of Utah to his letters to help him get excited about coming home.  This is what he said about that: "You picked the wrong guy to get in a "beautiful pictures of the place I live" competition with. I'll be fighting your Utah pictures back every week :)"  And here is the picture he sent me.