September 16, 2013

Heeellllo! 

Greetings once again from Madrid, the greatest city ever! I really am in love with Madrid.

So this week has been . . . interesting. Let´s begin with the good news.

We found a new piso this week and moved in just this morning. It´s pretty nice, quite a bit larger than the last one we were in and it´s just the 2 of us now, which will be good. It´ll be easier to focus and be obedient with just 2. We also just spent 116 euros between the 2 of us on new stuff for it (not such good news). 

Another cool thing from this week is that Elder Ballard (like of the 12 Apostles) came and visited us. He was here for some meeting or other, and he took time to have a short meeting with the missionaries of Madrid. So after getting up at 5:30 (blech) we were back in Pavones at 8 in the morning for a 1 hour meeting. We all got to shake Elder Ballard´s hand (super cool!) and listen to him speak for about 20 minutes (there were also a couple of seventies who spoke). It was really cool to be right there in the room with him and listen to a talk directly for us. He talked a lot about how desire is the key to success. It was a cool experience.

We did a noche de hogar (family home evening) with a member on Friday. Arthur showed up, the Filipino who was passed to us by another ward about 2 months ago and whom we had not meet before. So that was cool, but I´m afraid he was mostly there to talk with the member about trying to find work. But during the lesson he bore his testimony, and it´s obvious that he really likes the church and has a testimony. There was also a family there that the member invited. That was super cool, that is want I want to focus on here, lessons with member´s friends in member´s houses. That is how missionary work should be done and how it will increase in speed and success. Unfortunately the family lives outside of our area, but I got to pass them over to Elder Levorsen when I saw him again at the Elder Ballard meeting. We actually have quite a few members here who we are starting to work with. They have all named a specific person and committed to talk with that person and invite them to meet with us. It´s super cool! Hopefully this week we´ll get to meet some of these friends. 

Well, on to the bad news. So, about those baptisms. . . yeah, they´re gone. We have none now. Merci and her family sent us a text saying that they had decided not to be baptized, that they have always been Catholics and maybe always will be. They said thanks for everything we taught and that was that. They haven´t answered our calls and they were out of town this weekend. But there is a bit of hope. The member who referred them said that they just felt really pressured by us and they might be willing to meet just once a week with us. So I´m not sure exactly what to think. We may just leave them alone this week and see if they come to church next week and go from there. I can´t understand why they would just suddenly drop us when they have been progressing so well, so I´m afraid something might have happened, or else it´s just like the member says and they just need some breathing room. We´re praying a lot and we´ll see what happens. 

Bastilio unfortunately is gone too, but he just moved so he should still be baptized. We texted him to remind him to come to church and he said, "I found work in Valencia and I´m on my way there right now." So that´s that. But he was super nice and I know he´ll make it to baptism one way or another, he is too golden not to. It´s just too bad we won´t be able to see it. 

Well, I think that´s about all the news for this week. We´ve begun putting our goals first and then planning and also making backup plans for everything this past week, and it´s cool to see what we can do. I´ve realized that I could be working a lot more efficiently and that I could push myself a lot more. It´s good stuff. 

Thanks so much for writing me and keeping me updated. I love hearing from you guys even though I don´t get to respond to it all. Mostly I´m happy to know that you are all safe and happy. Que sigan así. Les quiero mucho a todos!! Have a great week!!

Elder Cousins