Tidbits

Hola,

Time goes so quickly for these emails. We have one hour to read all of your emails, read the weekly bulletin for the notice, write the mission president, and try to write you as well. So, this might be brief, but I'll try.

Here in Almería we have fútbol for ward activities! Every Saturday morning they play at the chapel. Our ward is about 1/3 Spanish, 1/3 Ecuatorian, and 1/3 Argentine. People here can't say my name at all and they all ask if I'm from Germany...

There is no carpet here. Nobody has carpet, the chapel doesn't have carpet, it's just not here.

There is so much more that I want to tell you! I'm sorry, but I'll have to continue next week.

The Lord is very much aware of who we are and what we are experiencing in our lives. Stay close to him and continue to develop your relationship with Him. He loves you!

Love,
Elder Fagersten

Correction...again

HERE IS THE CORRECT ADDRESS FOR JOE--discard the previous address

Elder Joseph Fagersten

Carrera del Peru 18, 4ºB
Almería, 04006 España

¡Estoy en Almería!

¡Estoy en Almería!

On Tuesday morning I left the Madrid MTC and traveled, by train, one of the cool 200 mph trains, to Málaga. When I arrived in Málaga I went on a bus to Fuengirola, which is where the Mission Home and Mission Office are, to meet President and Sister Clegg. We ate lunch and talked a little bit, had an orientation of sorts, and then they told me my first area - Almería. So, I went back to Málaga and caught a bus to Almería, about a 3 1/2 hour bus ride going east along the coast.

Elder Marchello and Elder Hurley picked me up from the bus station at about 10:40 and we walked back to our piso (apartment). My trainer, Elder Adams, didn't arrive until Wednesday night, but that's who my trainer is, Elder Adams. He's from Smithville, Utah and he's the man. He was serving in the Madrid mission but now he is here in the Málaga Mission. All four of us live together at this address:

Av. Peru 18, 4ºB
Almería, 04006 España

It´s awesome. The ward here has a goal to become a stake by 2015 and they do the work with us. There are so many things I wish I could tell but I'll go with the basics for now.

The schedule here is quite different. We arise at 7:30, have breakfast, study and everything until 10:30, then we go out to teach and find people, then usually at about 2:30 we have mediodía or siesta until about 5:30. Nobody is on the streets at this time because it gets hot. Oh, and we don't have air conditioning. But, anyway, yes, we come back and do some more studying and eat lunch, then from 5:30 until about 10:00 or 10:15 we find and teach people, then we go to bed at 11:30. So yes, it's great, and I love being here.

I will tell you more next week about how things are going but for now, I love you all, and I hope you enjoy each and every day. Stay close to the Lord and He will continue to help and support you.

Con amor,
Elder Fagersten

Almeria...Here he comes!

A letter to Elder Fagersten's parents.

Dear Bro. and Sister Fagersten,

We just wanted to let you know that Elder Fagersten arrived in the New Malaga Mission today and he looks great. He is so excited to be a missionary and we are so excited to have him here.

We have a mission blog and we invite you to watch during the next two years and look for Elder Fagersten and also just to see what is going on in the New Malaga Mission. The site is spainmalagamission.blogspot.com. I do a post once a week.

He has been assigned to Almeria, probably one of the best cities in mission to work in. The members there are fantastic. We visited there just this last Sunday and your son is in for a treat. I have attached a picture of him with us and this next week he will be on the blog for sure! His companion's name is Elder Adams, a wonderful Elder who will guide him on his new journey.

Thanks for raising such a wonderful son, he will bless many lives during his mission here in Spain. We are looking forward to a wonderful two years together.

Warmest Regards,
Pres. and Hna Clegg

¡Hola!
We learn so much every week, and every day! I love it.

Every Saturday morning we take the metro and go into the big park in Madrid (which I can't remember the name of...) and talk with people about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Last Saturday, as we did this, I really enjoyed it. It took a lot of work to understand what people said, and at times I didn´t understand all of it, but I had experiences that really helped me grow and that strengthened my testimony. The Spanish language is beautiful, but along with that I felt words spoken in the language of the Spirit, which makes it even more beautiful to me.

Every day, except Thursdays and Sundays, we play fútbol with a bunch of local kids down at the field. To answer your question, Jacob, it´s a mixture of a street game and a real game. One of the kids, Luís Carlos, is probably about 9 years old I think, and he comes up to my shoulder, so he's small, but he has got some moves! Yesterday, he sent me the wrong way so bad I almost fell over. But I also dribbled the ball between his legs, so we are even. It's a lot of fun and we all have a good time.

My birthday went really well. Some of the missionaries went and bought some cakes without me knowing and we ate them at lunch. Everyone sang, and it wasn't the same as home, but I enjoyed it.

One of the many things I learned this week had to do with family, and how privileged I am to be a part of my family. They are people that I want to be with forever, and I am so happy that we can be. All of us are privileged to be part of our families, and our families can be together forever because of the atonement of Jesus Christ.

On the way to Spain, on the flight, I read this scripture, which I have read many times, and it had a great impact on me as I considered the Savior's love for each of us.

Alma 34:9, 10, 14-16, 31 "For it is expedient that an atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made... an infinite and eternal sacrifice... and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God, yea, infinite and eternal. And thus he shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name; this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means that they may have faith unto repentance. And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, and encircles them in the arms of safety... for behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you."

The atonement of Christ, this love He showed for us, this sacrifice in our behalf, is the means by which we can have faith, which leads to repentance, and we can have a hope in Christ to receive mercy and forgiveness. And when we exercise this faith, when we begin to repent, immediately that healing power takes effect and begins to change our hearts.

I know this is true. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. Through the power of his atonement we can find joy and everlasting life. ¡Nunca se de por vencido! (Don´t give up!) DOn't quIT!

I love you all soooo much,

Elder Fagersten

P.S. I'm really grateful to everyone that has sent me letters and I'm really sorry I haven't written you all back but I'm really trying to figure out a way I can do that, somehow. ¡Adiós!

A Message From the President

The entire MTC (above)
Sister Earl, President Earl and Elder Fagersten (below)

The Madrid MTC President sent this letter and these pictures to my parents.

Dear Fagersten family
Here are a couple of pictures of your missionary. He has about a week left here and then he is off to the field. His Spanish is good, his piano is off the charts. He has a great attitude and is really well versed in the gospel. He has the answers and will really be a good missionary in the field. We have enjoyed him here.
Pres. Douglas Earl

¡Buenas dias!

I'm here at the MTC in Madrid and this week went great! I love it. We left from Salt Lake City last Friday, flew to Atlanta, Georgia, and from there flew here to Madrid. The flight took about 8 hours, but the time difference was 14 hours, which was a challenge to get used to but I think we're doing all right now.

We came here and President Earl, Sister Earl, Hermano Expósito, and Frére Pepe picked us up from the airport and brought us here. The MTC is called the CCM, el Centro de Capacitación Misional. It is quite different from the MTC in Provo. In Provo there are about 2,000 missionaries in training and there were 11 in my district. Here there are 11 in the entire MTC, and my companion and I make up our district. Elder Middleton is my companion and he's awesome!!!! He´s from southeast London.

Yesterday basically completed my life. Hermano Expósito had told us about soccer fields to play on that we could go to during our time for actividad física. So, after a few boring days in the gym at the Stake Center, we decided to go find these fields. We had been told where they were, but we weren't exactly sure. So, we are walking in this park, where we were told they were, and I'm looking for goals, or a bit of grass, or something that will help us find it, and I see this big opening in the ground. I saw a big cement wall on the other side, so I thought it was a skate park, but when I kept walking, I saw big stone steps leading down to an open area, like a coliseum, with two goals and a "field." It wasn´t cement, and it wasn´t rubber, it was somewhere in between that, but either way, I was so excited. Ben and Jacob, it´s like FIFA Street in real life. There was graffiti on the walls and steps and bits of trash here and there. It's the most beautiful field I have ever seen, haha. There were two little boys playing so we asked if we could all play together.

This morning we went to the Madrid Temple, which is right on the same block as us, and it was beautiful! It is beautiful! Oh my goodness. We had people in our session that spoke English, Spanish, Portugese, French, and German. We ended up doing the session in English, but it was cool to see that many languages there together. When we come back to visit Spain we must go to the temple here.

I love you all!

Con amor,
Elder Fagersten