April 16, 2012

Hola,

This week went great!  Elder Card and I have worked and walked and talked a lot over the last six weeks and this week was probably the best!  We taught some of the people that we had originally spoken with over a month ago but with whom we couldn't get in contact again until last Thursday.  They told us that we can come back and share more with them and we feel excited and grateful for that.

From lunch on Wednesday to lunch on Thursday, the entire mission joined in fasting and prayer to prepare ourselves for a mission wide "harvest" on Friday.  The Zone Leaders in the mission, at the April Zone Leader Council, organized a day in which the entire mission, every companionship, would spend the entire day looking for those people who will hear and accept the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.  No lessons were to be scheduled that day, no one was allowed to teach a lesson unless some one let you in the door.  Specifically planning the streets and neighborhoods and where we would be at what time, we were to spend all day contacting and knocking doors.  We loved it!  Knowing that the whole mission was united in faith and in prayer seemed to give everyone extra ánimo, or excitement.  Elder Card and I knocked a ton of doors, and talked with a lot of people, and many of them invited us to come back.  We felt really grateful and really humbled by the goodness of the Lord and the strength and energy that He gave us to do this work.

One bit of sad news, however, did come our way.  Elder Card will not stay in Huércal-Overa as my companion next transfer.  On Saturday morning, President Clegg called and told Elder Card his new assignment - Elche.  Elder Card is an amazing missionary and is definitely one of my great friends from the mission.  We learned and went through a lot together.  He then spoke to me and said, "Well, Elder Jones is going to be your last companion."  There are two Elder Joneses in the mission, but Elder Ryan Jones, who was my District Leader when I served in Puertollano, is the one who will be with me here during my last transfer.  He's great and I am excited to serve with him.  It's crazy that I am already in the last six weeks of my full-time missionary service.  The time has flown by, but at the same time it seems like ages ago that I stepped off that bus and arrived in my first area.

I know that the Lord loves and knows each of us individually, and there is no sacrifice or task or challenge beyond the enabling power of his grace.  The Atonement of Jesus Christ assures us that it will all be worth it.

Love,
Elder Fagersten in Spain