Logan - Barcelona Week 1

Thanks for the great Christmas Package! I will be expecting the other package soon. I actually moved Sunday night and my new address and final address is

Elder Logan Gogarty
C/ Calatrava N 10-12 Bajos
08017 Barcelona

Well the rest of this week has been absolutely crazy. President called me as the new AP! I wasn’t expecting it even though everyone was telling me that I would be the next ayudante.

The day after Christmas I woke up to stomach pain and stayed inside. I basically used the bathroom more times in 4 hours then the average person in 3 weeks. I had nothing in my system. I got up to walk somewhere and I felt lightheaded and everything started going black so I yelled to my companion ¨Brother I’m going to pass out!¨ but we are horrible at communicating and he heard that I needed some water or something like that so he went to get me water when really I need someone to support me. Luckily I realized what had happened and I kind of just crumbled to the ground of the bathroom floor, not hitting my head on anything. My companion then came in and I woke up and my body instantly went really cold. I also started sweating profusely and my hands and legs were going numb. This was the climax of the sickness I suppose. My companion had no idea what to do but I calmly asked him to call someone that could help.

I then tried to stand up again making my way towards the couch but everything went black again. I luckily landed on the couch but was shocked at what I was feeling; I thought I was dying for sure. Then I told my companion to give me a blessing and I could hardly sit up. As soon as he put his hands on my head I felt the spirit strongly but I also still felt the sickness in my body. It was a weird sensation as the two seemed to almost battle. As the spirit went to my hands and legs the numbness instantly left and I no longer was feeling cold. It was an amazing experience and a good reminder of how powerful the priesthood can be.

I still felt sick the rest of the day, but the blessing gave me instant relief. At first President told us to go to the hospital but after the blessing I felt well enough to stay and recover in Piso. I didn’t eat anything until yesterday night and it has stayed fine with me and I feel perfectly fine today.

Sunday I stayed home from church as well and then packed my bags and headed down to Barcelona. After taking numbers from the whole mission we celebrated with the Hinckleys the fact that 402 people were baptized this year. We had a cake and then of course ended the Mormon party reading from Alma and offering a prayer of gratitude. It was an amazing experience.

Currently I´m in the office and we just finished having a meeting with President. We discussed a lot of changes that will take place in the mission. We were going to live here in the office but now we are moving in with other Elders that live close by. I think it will be more effective and I'll have place to put my stuff. Being AP entails to a lot more responsibility; it's crazy. I want to still baptize though and be an example to the missionaries. Next week we will be picking up the new missionaries, dropping off the old ones, and will be flying out to the islands to do intercambios with the Zone Leaders there.

I´m sure there is a lot more to say but I don’t have any time. We take Preparation Day when we have time so it will be changing every week but I will try to always write on Monday when we are here. I can’t think of anything else to even say because there is so much to say. Love you all! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Gogarty

Please dont write the President asking why I was sick or anything like that thanks. We are not supposed to tell you when we get sick I am perfectly fine no needs to worry.

Logan - Badalona Week 11

Well last Monday we finished Elder Monks Birthday bash in an Irish Pub. We were on a blitz in his area so I took him out and we had a great time. I also visited with an Irish man and he knew that my name came from his country. Its been fun to have Monks in the same zone for so long.

You can call me at 10 in the morning your time. Basically we are opening gifts in the morning then going to the mission house and to eat with some members and then I am all yours.

President called me this morning which was quite shocking because everyone has been telling me that I will be the next AP or Ayudante as we say in Spanish, and so when I got the call this morning I thought it was for that but then he explained what had happened with Grandpa and I felt pretty sad. Thankfully we know where he is and don't have to worry about it. A bunch of scriptures came to mind about death and I was instantly comforted.

Today we took a train with some other missionaries and Hermanas to a mountain called Monserrat. It was amazing and it was snowing! The first time I have seen the stuff since I left. I loved it and it made it feel more like Christmas. The view was amzing and I had a great time just sitting in the Monestary in the mountains. It's something you don't get to do everyday. I prefer one of our temples over the Cathedrals but it was still fun.

Alison was baptized on Saturday and it went ok. There was just so many kids which did not invite the spirit, and we have been so busy that we didn't have it planned as well as it could of been. I felt bad and upset with myself because baptisms can be such a spiritual feast when done right and the dad came who isn't a member so I felt even worse because it could have been a more effective baptism. The confirmation however went really well. I am very impressed with this girl and the example she is to her family. Currently we have baptized 387 persons this year which is amazing. Our goal is 400 and we have one more week with 15 people currently committed to be baptized this Saturday. I pray that we will reach this goal we set last year. It is a amazing how much more effective we are becoming even though we have less missionaries. Last year we baptized 267 so we have already come along way. God is pouring his spirit out over this country. So many people are prepared and waiting.

For the nasty food list this week I would have to say pig foot. The meat is gross and you can still see and feel the hair on the hoof. They also make it look worse by using big witch pots and having the hoofs surface from time to time. I have had some other soups though that have been good in this bitter weather. Its about 32 degrees but it feels so much worse because of the humidity. Well lots more has happened but I will save it for the phone call. I would appreciate leather gloves and popcorn for maybe a b day gift so maybe you can think about that. Likewise a motorcyle for a coming home gift? I think it would be perfect to get around on until I leave for school, then I ll sell it.

Well I cant wait to talk to you guys this week Feliz navidad, Bon Nadal, Merry Christmas!

Love, Elder G
P.S. The pics are from monserrat today. The one on the monument is me with an umbrella its not part of the monument.

Logan - Badalona Week 9

Thanks Ashley, The family Mcnitte, Sarah, and Mom for your letters!

Well the trip to Zaragoza went well and was effective. We had a good time and I loved getting to see more of the countryside of Spain. The big downer was the wind and cold. We are still rocking a pretty good temperature here in Badalona and I'm grateful for that. After returning from Zaragoza I did another intercambio in Barcelona. I was lucky enough to catch a lights show in Placa España. I'll send pics!

I have enjoyed doing the intercambios and have learned a lot from all the missionaries. I also feel like I can tactfully correct now. As Zone Leaders we are expected to correct and help the other missionaries, but a lot of missionaries don't take correction well. So usually you have two types of Zone Leaders: ones that don't correct because the missionaries don't like it and the ones that do but at the same time they turn the missionaries against them. I feel comfortable now talking with them and am able to help them out as they help me out.

We also taught Concillio notes this week and it went very well. I was nervous at first because the Zone is so big now and President and his wife were there, but everything went very well. We said a prayer in a different room before we started and then we were truly guided in what we said.

I met a girl from Nicaragua and she told me that if we go there the best surfing is in San Rafael de Sur. You might have to look into that.

Currently we are in Barcelona. We just did some Christmas shopping and we visited the 2nd oldest hospital in Europe, Hospital de Sant Pau. It was very impressive, it looks like hogwarts from Harry Potter. Then tonight we are singing Christmas songs in Catalan which is a different language and super fun and we will be singing on stage in some plaza.

The work is going well and we will be having a baptism this Friday.

I started filling out my application for BYU-I and its going well. I dont know when I will have time to finish it. Well that's all things are going well. I love you all !