April 23, 2012

Hola,

What a great week!  On Wednesday I said good bye to Elder Card, and welcomed Elder Jones to Huércal-Overa.  He's awesome!  He's from Enterprise, Utah, near St. George.  He's a hard-working, obedient missionary and I love serving as his companion.  We are finding lots of people to teach and we have felt the Lord help us in this work.

On Friday morning, President and Hermana Clegg came here for our Specialized Training.  It was great!  We had interviews with President, Hermana Clegg gave a workshop, and we had a "Question-Answer" session with President Clegg - kind of an open discussion about the gospel, missionary work, etc.  I loved it!  My interview with President Clegg was especially significant for me, and I love and appreciate him for all of the help and guidance and encouragement he has given me during my entire mission.

On Saturday we went to Murcia for a meeting with our zone and the Stake High Councilman over missionary work.  We discussed plans that the Stake has to put into practice in each of our individual units to help the members and missionaries work together, and we all left with greater faith and desires to invite others to come unto Christ.  Instead of coming straight back to our area, we went to Cartagena, took the car that the missionaries had, and drove it back here.  Now we can go out to the other towns around here without having to depend on the bus schedule.  We're grateful to have it.

Yesterday, Elder Jones and I both gave talks about missionary work in church.  He talked about the "who," "what," "where," "when," and "why," of missionary work, and I talked about how the gospel changes lives.  Nearly everyone in the branch is a convert, so we encouraged them to make the effort to invite others to come unto Christ, to invite their friends and family members to come and see and experience the same changes that they have experienced by accepting and living the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I know that the changes that come into our lives by living the gospel are changes for the better.  Everything the Lord teaches us and commands us to do; all of the ordinances and covenants, principles and doctrines have the purpose to prepare us to return Home to our Heavenly Father, and to feel at home when we get there, so that we are prepared and able to live even as He lives.

I love you all so much!

Love,
Elder Fagersten in Spain