Changes

Well, Elder Hall officially left and Elder Wells is officially here. Talk about a weird change. It's strange when you go from someone that was a great companion for 18 weeks to someone different. Everyone who comes in always wants to make a few changes and so I am trying to be patient haha. For example, first thing Elder Wells does is completely change the layout of the house. In fact, we are going to Ikea later today to buy more things haha. Also, I am doing P90x in the mornings with him, and I am learning to cook a bunch of different things. So maybe change is good... 

Other than that we are just working right along. It is weird to have to be the one to show him around. While driving around, I surprised myself. I don't know how I learned all of this stuff so fast. I hope that I don't get transferred too quickly because our area is super unique. We have a car because we have about 10 different pueblos that we visit. So not only do you need to learn the layout of one but 10 areas. It's difficult. I've been here for 18 weeks and I still don't know all of the areas, but I am excited to try and teach him around, there is a lot of cool stuff to see. He has opened up my eyes though to a lot of things, for example.... Ikea. I have never gone in my whole life in an Ikea, and we have one in our area. So we decided to go, just for the sake of going. I fell in love. Why don't we have one in Medford?? And the food!! Sure, it's not gourmet but it's super cheap, I loved it. 

This weekend is Christmas and so it's going to be a lot of fun. We only work til 6pm on Christmas Eve and then we get all of Sunday off. I think we are going to go to a BBQ on Saturday night, eat Christmas lunch with a member, and then go to Sevilla and just spend good ole quality time with the other missionaries. I don't know what I am going to do yet for Christmas morning (well, open presents). Tomorrow we have a special zone conference and so I am excited for that as well. I get to see a lot of missionaries I haven't seen in months.

Church for us is only one hour and it's at noon, so the rest of the day will be relaxing. I'm not sure if we also will get to use the Internet on Monday since we are calling on Sunday, but if we don't, then you will know why I haven't written. The holidays here are fun, but not like home. They celebrate more the Three Kings and so it's still not as exciting. Plus, instead of having special sales all the time, Spain has reserved two times a year for Black Fridays. So basically that means though that prices are the same the rest of the year, so there isn't any cool Christmas sales or nothin. I need to wait for the Spain Black Friday (Rebajas) in January to get all the cool stuff I want. 

Well.... I hope that everyone has an AMAZING Christmas. I am super happy to be a missionary during Christmas. There are few things better. I just hope everyone knows that I am having a blast, and that I just love Spain so much! Sure, there is no snow and it's weird to think that in America everyone is just full of Christmas cheer and movies and all (And if you're not, you should be). Other than that I am just pumped. I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and thanks for all that you all do for me!

Love
Elder Card

The Seven Stages of Grief

Yep... I felt those this week. Elder Hall is getting transferred!!! As soon as we got the call, I was devastated!!! Sure, we have been companions for 18 weeks, so we figured he was most likely going, but still. Actually, what made it worse was the way we found out. On Thursday, we were doing some good ole service at the farm of the Bishop. He has a nice little farm out in the country, so we went to help do so good ole work. Actually, it was really fun. He was making some new granite stairs for his front door and so we helped out with that. I felt like I was working on a temple, carving and chiseling away the granite stone. Very cool experience. Well, one of the other members of our missionary district called and told us that one of them was getting transferred! We didn't expect to receive calls on Thursday, and since President normally does calls at once, when we didn't receive a call for 5 hours, we assumed he was staying. So after that huge adrenalin rush, we all calmed down, and realized, look, 6 more weeks together as companions, and through the holidays! How awesome! Well... about 5 hours later, the zone leader called us and asked,
"Where is Elder Hall going?!?!" 
"What? What are you talking about?" I said.
"Yeah..... I already know his new companion......"
"Wait, you already know he is leaving?"
"Yeah.... oh.... you guys haven't been called yet...."
'Click'

Then ten minutes later, Elder Hall's new companion calls...
"Hey can I talk to Elder Hall??"
I said, "Wait... Elder Peterson? Is that you? Are you going to be his new companion?"
"Yeah... oh... you guys haven't been called yet..."
'click'

Stage 1: Shock and Denial

So yeah.... we got two subliminal messages that Elder Hall was leaving, but we never actually got the call. Talk about weird emotions. You think everything is staying the same, so you calm down, then a huge rumor, and then we receive no call. So we actually never received a call on Thursday, but eventually, President did call us Friday morning. Stage 2: Pain and Guilt. Well, it was more painful that he was leaving. I don't know about the guilt. Stage 3: Anger and Bargaining: Angry in the fact that it was right before Christmas, and I was thinking about calling President to offer him a deal haha. Step 4: Depression. That one I can't deny. I won't say it was real full on depression, but I was pretty down that he was leaving. Stage 5: The Upward Turn: The last few days I have just been realizing, "it won't be that bad." Step 6: Reconstruction and Hope: The transition of information has already been all given to me. I know my role as district leader, and I know what to do in the area for the first few weeks since I will be the only one familiar with the area and people. Step 7: Acceptance. Well, I am glad to say that I came into today, Monday, with an acceptance and hope that it will all be alright. Plus, I am sure I will see Elder Hall again anyways and we will be in touch. Anyways.... long story short, my new companion is Elder Wells! He is actually really old in the mission. He is going to "die" in this area, because he only has three transfers left. So now I am district leader and I need to make sure he "dies honorably". We'll see how that goes.

It's great to have the change, but I'll admit.. I didn't want this change! I loved Elder Hall, and now I have to readjust again. I guess that is one thing that the mission teaches you: how to deal with change. It's good that we at least ended with out best week ever!

On Monday we went to the great Sevilla Cathedral again. Mostly because no one else in our district has gone so we went again. This time I paid the extra €3 and bought the audio guide. Well worth it if you ask me. Then on Tuesday we all went to Huelva. The whole zone to have a special district meeting and to have a cosecha. Meaning all of us go out in Huelva to do contacts for them. Can you imagine? 16 missionaries all contacting in one city at one time. Pretty epic. Then, we hit a gold mine of investigators. The sister of one of our active members is a less active. And all of her kids are non-members so we taught them. One of them already has a date to be baptized and the others are all progressing. Not to mention, we had a Christmas concert on Saturday and that was just awesome. Well, at least we ended with a bang! I will miss him a lot, but it's okay. That's the mission life. I am excited for the future. (Can you tell I am trying to convince myself?) Haha. Well, thanks for all the support! Pray that Elder Wells and I will get along great! I am excited for it! Thanks for everything!

Love,
Elder Card

PS That family in the picture is the American family in the ward. The best people ever!!

Thanksgiving in Spain...

   ....is pretty much non-existent haha. Actually, the truth is that, I am pretty sure the ward threw a Thanksgiving Day dinner for us just because we were all feeling the homesickness a bit. It was really nice of them. On Thursday, the ward got together and we had a big party about Thanksgiving. We explained a little bit about the culture and history of the holiday then we began! Well.... instead of jumping into the turkey we had chicken... and instead of mashed potatoes we had potato puré (yes, there is a difference). Other than that... it was pretty much Thanksgiving. We all had the family feel and it was a great time. Everyone was expected to bring a dish, and well... as missionaries..... we were running a little behind and we were busy, so we did the next logical thing.... Order pizza with chicken on it for our dish. Nothing better than having two Telepizza pizzas among the other homemade dishes. But it gets better.....
The next day we had to do a baptismal interview in Dos Hermanas so we go over and do the interview and everything goes great. Well... afterwards, the missionaries in Dos Herms invite us over to this American's house. He invited everyone over from the American Air Force base over to have Thanksgiving dinner and THAT was Thanksgiving! It felt just like home minus the family and friends. Other than that, REAL turkey, AMAZING Honey baked ham, creamy mashed potatoes. It was heaven. We were super fortunate. It was a lot better than some of the other food we had earlier in the week....
We were teaching some Africans and they invited us to eat at their house. They ate some stuff I have never seen before in my life. There was one thing in particular. It looked, tasted, and felt like raw dough. Just one giant plate of dough. What they would do is grab some in their hands, dip it into a soup and then swallow it whole. No chewing involved. Apparently, it's a popular dish in Nigeria.... Yeah.... It was a great week though. All of our investigators are slowly progressing. We are trying to be teaching more, and this week we get presentation time in our ward correlation to present our ward mission plan. Yeah... well, it was a way good week. Thanks for all of the love and support. If there is anything that I can do for anyone let me know!!
Stay in touch!
Love,
Elder Card

Good Things to Come...

I think this week I have learned a valuable lesson, well both Elder Hall and I both have. We have learned that in times when things look down and the whole world is crashing in upon you, you have to keep your head up and keep pushing. This week was so hard at the start, a lot of bad things happened, a lot of unlucky and bad things, but by the end of the week we both had a smile on our face and were both so extremely happy and proud of the things that we did earlier in the week. 

It all starts with the little things.... last P-Day we had to take the car in to go and get the oil changed. Well, the appointment was at 930 so, after 930 we would need to catch the bus to do all of our things since we didn't have a car. Well, we leave early and get there at 9am, but the service was slow and the line was out the door so we didn't get out of there til 10am. By then, our bus that we were planning to catch had already passed by. Discouraged, we realized that that bus was the last to pass for a long time so it was time to start the long back to another bus stop. It took us over 30 minutes walking to even find the closest bus, and even then we had to wait for awhile for the bus to even get there. After it was all said and done, we picked up our cars HOURS later (just for the oil mind you) and the cost? €178..... It was quite a.... shock to us, to say the least. By the time we got back we realized we couldn't even do library at our normal spot, the library; why? The library apparently closes for Halloween, and takes the whole week off..... Monday was far from relaxing to say the least..

Tuesday, was a fairly normal day, a lot of walking around since most of our citas failed us, and what do we see when we get back home at night? Our neighbor..... soaking wet. Apparently, since our plumbing is connected we had problems.... Our toilet wouldn't stop running and that caused hers to overflow. She was soaking wet in her PJs, and not too happy.... Por eso.... our landlords came the next day!! Fun... They inspected everything, and luckily we do do a good job with the upkeep. Well, it was really awkward to have studies and a nap while they were hovering over us the whole time. It was hard to pretend they weren't there.

Well, we decided to go visit a really old investigator since we were desperate. By this time it is Thursday and we have only taught 5 lessons. Things are rough. This man's name is Pascual. Well, he is the owner of a cyber cafe and he just wanted nothing to do with us. He said he wanted to listen but he just had no time whatsoever. So we gave him a Book of Mormon, and there goes another lead. Dead end. Well, I thought to myself, at least I'll buy myself a nice bag of chips to make me feel better. What's the worse thing that could possibly happen in regards to a vending machine? Well, first off, let me just say why do they even bother to put in the coin release button if it never works?!?! Yeah, it ate my money.... a little thing, but it was just enough to put you over the top on a week like this. To make it all worse I got lost driving home, and me and Elder Hall didn't get home until almost 2230. So.... with all that said, I will say that we were laughing and had a great time anyways, because like I have said before it's never your situation that determines your attitude, it's you that determines your attitude. So Elder Hall and I said to ourselves, these things just happen, beyond our control and we didn't let it get to us.

That's when the miracles started to happen. Starting on Friday things started to turn around for the better. I don't even know how to explain them all, and to others they might not seem like miracles at all, but to Elder Hall and I, we know that they were miracles. We were walking randomly down the street when an old investigator called us and told us he wanted to start listening to us again. Later that night, we were able to meet with another old investigator for the first time in months, and she said she wanted to take the discussions again. Then at church on Sunday one of the members who, from our perspective, always seemed as if he hated us, invited us over for dinner and it turns out it's quite the opposite. We have also seen old investigators while shopping at our grocery store. The rest of the week has just been filled with miracles. Throughout it all, I couldn't help but think of the words from Jeffrey R. Holland, who said,

"Every one of us has times when we need to know things will get better. Moroni spoke of it in the Book of Mormon as “hope for a better world.” For emotional health and spiritual stamina, everyone needs to be able to look forward to some respite, to something pleasant and renewing and hopeful, whether that blessing be near at hand or still some distance ahead. It is enough just to know we can get there, that however measured or far away, there is the promise of “good things to come.”

My declaration is that this is precisely what the gospel of Jesus Christ offers us, especially in times of need. There is help. There is happiness. There really is light at the end of the tunnel. To any who may be struggling to see that light and find that hope, I say: Hold on. Keep trying. God loves you. Things will improve.

I think of newly called missionaries leaving family and friends to face, on occasion, some rejection and some discouragement and, at least in the beginning, a moment or two of homesickness and perhaps a little fear. I say: Cling to your faith. Hold on to your hope. “Pray always, and be believing.”

You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead. You keep your chin up. Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come."

--Jeffrey R. Holland

Anyways, I know that that is true, because I have lived it. Although it was just in the span of one week, and not one lifetime, I know that looking forward to the future with a smile and optimism will bring those good things to come. Elder Hall and I repeated that phrase many times throughout the week, and in the end I am proud to say that we made it. It was a rough week, but we survived, we did well, we are serving the Lord and throughout it all we looked forward to good things to come.

Thanks too all who send their support and I hope that this has brought some positive attitude into your lives this week! Until next Monday!! 

Love,
Elder Card

It Starts In Fifteen!

What a crazy weekend. Yesterday was the confirmation of Unai, our recent convert from last week. All day he was sweatin bullets because he didn't know what to say for his testimony. He was freaking out the whole time. Normally, he attends church with his grandma because his mom got offended by someone at church and for that she doesn't come. Well, right before the meeting started we get a call from her cell phone saying that she wanted to come to church to see her son Unai's confirmation! She never comes to church! We have tried for months now. Well, we look at our watches and we see that the meeting starts in fifteen minutes and Unai's mom has no idea how to get to the chapel! We rush out the chapel doors get in our car and head straight out the parking lot... I wasn't paying attention and BAM reversed the car right into a car parked behind me! 

Okay, so that part is a joke. But, moving on... we drive all the way out to the closest Burger King (the only monument everyone knows) and direct her to the church. As we park the car I felt like running into the meeting like I am about to stop a wedding! STOPPPPPP! Well, I didn't yell.... I actually didn't say anything. I walked reverently into the chapel, and it was right after the Sacrament so perfect timing. Well, Unai's grandfather confirmed him and all is said and done. He is officially a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints now. It was a great day. 

I wish I could say the same for the rest of the week.... It actually was really productive but I got sick! The first time in my whole mission that I was sick! I caught the flu, and I was bed ridden for a day or two. But, I was back on my feet in no time. It was a rough week when you are bed ridden and you can't just watch TV or eat Saltines and sip on 7-Up. We did manage to teach a new guy named Carlos. A 30 something Spaniard who is actually one of the most sincere guys I have met on my mission. His wife is a member and the missionaries have taught him in the past. He knows exactly what he has to do to get an answer, and the missionaries have been trying to show him that he is most likely received an answer. 

He came to church this last Sunday though, and even though he isn't a member he participates even more than the other members do. He is an awesome guy, but he wants to be positive before being baptized, so we are trying to show him that he already knows this church is true. He even came up to us at the end of the meeting and said, "You know, if it wasn't for you guys not one of these people would be here right now. Don't you feel a little prideful about that? You have effected each one of their lives." Almost everyone in our ward of about 70 is a first or second generation convert. Carlos is a great guy, and will hopefully be a member soon.

Well... anyways.... I love the support that you all have given me. If there are any questions that anyone has for me, let me know!! 

Thanks all! Love ya all

Love
Elder Steven Card

Ripped Pants

Well, it was an amazing weekend if I do say so myself. I mean, when you have a BAPTISM it's bound to be good. That's right!! Baptism in Aljarafe!! Unai just got baptized last night and it was one of the best services I have been apart of. His whole family was there, which was actually a huge deal since a lot of them are not members of the church. What was even cooler was that we had to travel to the main stake center to do the baptism which is about twenty minutes by car from our pueblo, but we had EVERY SINGLE ACTIVE member from our ward make it to the baptism. We had about 50 members from our ward show up to this baptism. It truly was a special event. He is a great kid, and now his family can be together forever! What a blessing!!! Unai had his interview earlier in the week, and he was really funny. He was afraid he wasn't going to pass since he stole a one Euro coin one time from his mom's purse, and so he was freaking out. He also had some pretty funny explanations about the law of chastity and word of wisdom.

This was just to top off the great week. Earlier in the week we had dinner at the American's that are in our ward. They cooked us some delicious chicken and warm Apple Pie. It was like heaven. I love going over there. They treat us way too well. We also got transfer calls this week!!! BUT Elder Hall isn't going anywhere. We will now have been together for 18 weeks at the end of the next transfer. That's insane. And he's been here even longer than I have! I also did a split with the elders in Dos Hermanas. There is an American Air Force base close by and because of that there are Americans in the ward. I visited them and they had Mountain Dew. It was like heaven. I missed it so much. But now I got my thirst quenched for at least another year.

I'm sorry that wasn't the best email, but I also attached a bunch of pictures to make up for it! Thanks again all for the support and I will be in touch!! Love ya all!!

Love
Elder Steven Card

 Oh yeah, the story of the title. The little kid, we gave him two pairs of pants to try on for the baptism. He ripped the first pair trying to get into them, and then we ran scrambling for more pairs, and then he ripped the second pair as well. He ended up having to be baptized in a pair about two sizes too small, with the button undone, and the zipper half way up hahahaah. He's a bit of a chubsters lol

Olive trees...wait, What???

Oh wow, oh wow. It was such a great week, and then last night happened haha. I don't know if I have ever had an appointment go so awkward so fast. Our Bishop invited us over to have dinner and then talk to his cousin who has been having some weird dreams about vineyards. So we obviously accepted, then decided we would study Jacob 5. That was a mistake.... We get to the Bishop's house and we exchange our saludos and then start talking. She explains her dream and talks about she is walking in a vineyard and there is this tree that is always dying so she is trying so hard to save it but doesn't know how. Elder Hall and I thought, perfect, we'll show her the parable in Jacob 5 and she'll see that look the Book of Mormon has this parable that talks about a similar situation. Well.... we open up the book and start to read selected verses that we had marked. She then stops us in the middle of reading just the third verse and says..... "Yeah, this has nothing to do with my dream." But we said, "But look, it has the dying tree, and the Lord of the vineyard wants to save this tree." Dijo, "Yeah..... but not, I just don't see it." Bishop dijo, "Well, why don't you explain your dream more then..." She then basically went off for like twenty minutes talking about how this was all a trick of the Bishop trying to secretly convert her and that we were invited here to baptize her before she left the house..... It was just a lot of confusion. You think the story sound random and confusing? Try being there. I don't even know how to type it out because it was just so strange so fast..... Well.... anyways, we have a baptismal interview tomorrow for Unai! That 9 year old kid. Finally! He is getting baptized this Sunday so pray that it all goes through well. Elder Hall also just celebrated his one year mark in the mission field last week so we went to Telepizza and celebrated with €3 medium pizzas. I also had some spare time that morning so I went into the dark eerie basement and looked through some closets and I found a gold mine, of a sort. Ensigns! The old dueño of this house can read English and so he had Ensigns and he kept every single Ensign from the old missionaries that used to live here. I have Ensigns back to the 80's! I also found some old cool study guides and some pretty interesting books written by general authorities that I have never heard of before. Well, anyways... it's been a strange week to say the least. Next week, if all goes well I will include pictures of the baptism!! As always, I am thinking of you all always! Stay in touch!! Love Elder Steven Card