¡Estoy en España! ...whatever that means

"¡Estoy en España! We arrived in Madrid this morning at about 9:40 a.m. All is well here. I´m at the MTC now. We´re safe, but super tired. Spain is beautiful. I hope you are all doing well. I love you." Elder Fagersten

He's off in 5...4...3...2...1....

"Hola,

Yesterday, in the middle of class they called me to the Travel Office, so Elder Hilton and I walked over there, I told the lady my name and she said, "Yes, Elder Fagersten, you are going to Spain this Friday." So I asked, "Is it for real?" She assured me that it was, and promptly handed me my travel itinerary. It's official, I'm going to Spain this Friday! Elder Corbitt, who is in my zone, will also be going on Friday. It's just the two of us, so there won't be a whole lot to worry about. Sometimes with big travel groups it can get crazy but I'm happy to just have two in ours. He is serving in the Spain Madrid Mission and will enter the field upon his arrival. I will spend about 3 weeks at the MTC before I go to mission headquarters in Málaga.

The address of the Madrid MTC is:

4a. Planta
Calle del Templo No. 2
Madrid 28030
Spain

Thank you for all of your love and prayers. I am so grateful for you. The experiences here at the Provo MTC have deepened my commitment, strengthened my testimony, and further developed my relationship with the Lord. "

A challenge

This week I want to encourage you to have family prayer. Prayer is such an important part of our Heavenly Father's plan for our success and happiness. Have family prayer as often as you can! When you pray often, you don't even want to repeat the same things every time, so they quickly become personal and specific. These prayers will help you feel closer to Heavenly Father. Along with that is the importance of the scriptures, and how they help us increase our faith in Jesus Christ. My testimony of those things grows every day.

Time flies at the MTC. We had our "half-way day" a few days ago. It's crazy that it has already been a month! Anyway, I love you all sooooooo much! If I didn't, I wouldn't be here.

Moroni 7:41
"And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise. "

Love,

Elder Fagersten

Joe's CD's across the USA

So check it out. I added an app. that is now documenting which states people have bought Joe's CD from. (Scroll all the way to the bottom and take a peek!) It would be pretty sweet to get his CD in ALL 50! Let's do it. Send everyone you know in other states to his link http://sites.google.com/site/joefagerstenmusic/ to order one for $10. All the money still goes to support Joe in Spain.

No way to paraphrase...

Hola.
I want everyone to know, it is really really difficult for me to not be able to write everyone as often as I want to, there is just so much to do. There just isn't enough time to write everyone, but I haven't forgotten you, and I love you!

This past Friday Elder Hilton and I had just finished our companionship study around 8:30 p.m., so we took some time for personal study until we had to be in at 9:00. Each day I am reading the Book of Mormon, out loud in Spanish. As I was doing this a companionship from our advanced district (pretty much, those who are native speakers or already spoke Spanish well, who left today actually - they were here for 3 weeks) started talking with me. They asked me (in Spanish) if I had any worries or if there was something I was nervous about regarding the mission. I told them I was still a little unsure about expressing the thoughts and feelings of my mind and heart. Elder Alvarado (I'm pretty sure that's his name...) opened up to 2 Nephi 31 and we read together (this was also in Spanish). We started in verse 5 and traded off every other verse.

I came to verse 13 and read these words, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism--yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels..." As I read this last part the Spirit burned within my heart. I know the Spanish language will come, but it is the language of the Spirit that will bring others unto Christ. I love you all. My time is up. Thanks for all of you love and support. I pray for you every day!!!!!
Love,
Elder Fagersten

Only Kidding....

This is to inform you that Joe will not be leaving for Spain on Monday. Apparently the MTC gives all missionaries their travel information just in case their visas come through. There is a delay in Joe's visa so we will let all of you know when that comes in. Thanks for all of your love and support. In the meantime, you can still send mail to Joe at:

joseph.fagersten@myldsmail.net