Gogarty Missionaries

"El Ultimo" Logan - Barcelona Week 13

2010-03-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

Well this will be the last blog post and that sure feels weird. My last week as a missionary has gone extremely well. I was in my old stomping ground Badalona last Tuesday and we visited a great less active family. They live right on the beach and have every toy you could imagine: 10 stretch hummers, Ferraris, Porsches etc. We talked about surfing and wakeboarding and then they gave us the typical Spanish snacks which were great.

We had a great lesson with them. We asked him and his family to write down questions that they have always had and then we answered them using the Book of Mormon. The fathers question was how can I find true happiness? I gave him part of the answer and then left him a reading assignment. It shows that the phrase is true, "money can’t buy happiness." After that the son drove us home in his brand new GT 500 mustang. It was fun cruising through Barcelona in an American muscle car. You never see Mustangs here. Luckily President was out of town so the loud engine didn’t wake him up when we rolled in a little late to the mission office.

Wednesday we had P-day, and I tried registering for classes. I need to change my major, but I am not sure. I think a week in California talking to you in the water will be perfect to sort out my 10 year plan. I still want to be an orthodontist but I need to major in something that will give me a good back up plan if getting into dental school fails. I am going to try and start volunteering at an office and join dental student clubs and what not so my application will look good. I have read some stuff on the internet and I will make sure that a few dental schools will want me in a few years but back-up plans are always a good idea.

Thursday I finished reading the Book of Mormon again and Sunday I am going to do Moroni´s challenge. We received good news that someone that I talked to at the church tour we did during the Menorca storm is getting baptized this weekend. Her name is Angelica, and I remember asking her when she was going to get baptized because her all of her family is members of the church. I told her it was her turn. I´m glad that the money we spent has at least reulted in one baptism thus far.

Today, Friday is my 2 year mark. We had the baptism of Nataly to celebrate. Everything went really well today. I loved hearing her testimony after. She said that she was full of peace and joy and that what she was feeling was indescribable. We then worked the rest of the day and tonight Nataly cooked for us and we had a great visit with her Aunt about the church. That was definitely a gift from God to be able to help one more person be baptized before leaving. I had been praying for that and the timing was impeccable.

Yesterday night (Sunday) we finished my last week with 20 in house visits. It was a stretch but setting that goal really helped me focus and strive this last week. I also was asked to speak in church and it went really well My Spanish was incredible and not because of my own skills but because God was helping me. The spirit is amazing and really fine tunes us as humans. It was also great to see Moses and Ruben there together. Moses got a calling and Nataly was confirmed a member of the church. It was a great finish.

I also had my exit interview with President and that was really sad. We laughed and then cried together. He told me about his mission and then I told him about mine. Then he said crying “So you’re just going to abandon us here or what?” I think I´m starting to realize that I will have to leave this week. The last two nights I could hardly sleep. I love so many people here so much and I don’t want to leave them. I am, however, excited for the next chapter of my life. I didn’t realize how hard it was going to be leaving my life for the last two years. The mission has been a success in so many ways. I have seen my life change as well as the lives of the people of those with whom I worked and loved. Not much more to say. This is a perfect definition of bitter sweet, en español dulce amargo. Way too many emotions to be felt at one time. I love you all. Thank you so much for your letters that have helped me each week. I´m excited to see everyone, especially Brenna. Thanks for getting everything at home in order so that I haven’t had to worry about it too much. Today and tomorrow I will be saying bye to Spain. Tuesday we have a dinner with the Hinckleys and Wednesday I will be embarking to the United States leaving part of myself here in Spain.

Hasta ver,
--
Elder Logan Gogarty

Logan - Barcelona Week 12

2010-03-15T11:06:00.001-07:00

Hey Family!

The picture I attached is of Nataly the girl getting baptized this Friday.

Well another week in Barcelona has gone by. Monday we worked in the office, and I started making a list of all my recent converts with accurate information and pictures. It will be nice to have that for after the mish. It also started snowing on Monday and didn’t stop till Tuesday. We received about 6 inches of snow which is UN-heard of for Barcelona. It was said to have been the biggest storm in 25 years. We had to push a bunch of Mercedes out. No one knew how to drive at all. They would just floor it and wonder why they weren’t moving. They also don’t have snow shovels so it was fun to watch people shovel the driveways with hoes lol.

Wednesday we picked up Elder Keller from the train station. We had been waiting for his visa and now he is finally here. We ate with him and told him about the best mission in the world. Then we dropped him off at the bus station and shipped him out to Zaragoza. There have been interviews with the President the last two days here in the office, so we constantly have people coming in and out which make it hard to get anything done. It was nice however to see a lot of the missionaries that I soon will not be seeing. Today we are taking p-day and I would like to go to Pau de La musica or the Lab gardens but will see if that happens. We are also going to eat breakfast with a senior couple that lives close by.

We had a visit with Nataly who is getting baptized on the 20th. We took her to eat at the Deweys house. The Deweys are an American family and it was great to eat some American food. They helped us a lot as we taught about tithing. Nataly is very smart and is studying to be a doctor right now. She speaks English really well and it was fun to teach in English. I had completely forgotten a few words in English like offering and income. It´s embarrassing when you forget your own language.

...
Friday we took P-day and I bought a bag for school. I had the money in Euros but I didn’t have it on me at the time so I had to use the home card. I will just carry the euros that I had for the bag home and then exchange it. We also went to the labyrinth gardens and they were really pretty. I want to go again if I find the time. Friday night we had a visit with Gizzel and I don’t know if you remember who she is but she is from Brazil and likes to sail and wind surf. She has a ton of crazy ideas because she reads lots of books and so it has been hard to get anywhere with her. Friday however we took a philosopher with us and he was able to speak her language.

I tried taking it back to the basics of the Book of Mormon and I told her that there is a formula to know if it’s true. That formula is reading and praying. She has already read the Book of Mormon once but I explained the scripture in Matthew 7, "by their fruit ye shall know them" and asked her how the Book of Mormon tasted when she read it. She then admitted that she hadn’t read it carefully enough to answer that question. So then I told her that when we are eating something good like cake, we should chew it slow and really experience the flavor and that after two bites we can know that the whole cake is good. Then we assigned her a chapter to read with questions to answer. It went really well and she is coming to church with us today. We also found out that she smokes and wants help quitting.

Yesterday we took Nataly, the girl that is getting baptized, to the Hinckley’s house. We taught about Lehi`s vision and the three important commandments learned from it. Prayer, Follow the Prophet, and Read the scriptures. The lesson went really well and she asked me to baptize her. We will hold the service this Friday.

Today church went well. I was most excited to see Moses, the man we baptized a few weeks ago. He came to church in a white shirt and suit. He understands so well and I love seeing that change that has took place in his life. We had also been teaching a less active name Ruben and now they have become best friends and come to church together. When we first visited Ruben he didn’t seem interested at all in coming back and he was also depressed because he hadn’t had work for over a year. We promised him that God would help him find work if he did his part in reading the scriptures saying his prayers coming to church and helping us with missionary visits. He started doing these things and now you wouldn’t even recognize the guy. He is so much happier. The best part of it all is that he found work while he was helping us in a visit we did to Moses before he was baptized. Moses got him the job and they now have become good friends and work together everyday. Every Sunday it makes me happy to see them.

Well we just finished off the week with 20 lessons in houses which I´m excited about. That was the goal we set last week and the standard we have set. It helped keep me focused and I want to get it again this week. Love you all! Have a great week

--
Elder Logan Gogarty

New Zealand sounds like a great idea Dad! Thanks for tkaing care of all the housing stuff for me. I´m excited to go to California!

Logan - Barcelona Week 11

2010-03-08T07:06:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

This week has gone well. We have one investigator scheduled to be baptized the 20th of March. Her name is Nataly. We had a great visit Monday night and we made a calendar with her to set up visits and reading assignments. We promised her if she did all those things then she would be ready to be baptized before I go home.

Then Tuesday we had Mission Concilio which is the meeting we have with all the Zone Leaders. It went really well and even though I won’t be here this year I still felt like I played an important part in setting the goals and standards we want to achieve. We resolved some important issues which will help the mission grow a lot. The monthly goal for the coming year is 50 baptisms a month and 600 by the end of the year. I know they can do it. Today is our P day and we were going to go to Tossa Del Mar but it started raining. Now we are just going to have a picnic in the Hinckleys house lol. I also want to buy a few more Spanish items before I come home. Then tonight we are headed off to Murcia which is an 8 hour train ride. We will be there for a few days and then hopefully we can make it back up here in time to work in our area a little bit before the end of the week.

...
We just go back from Murcia and everything went really well. I was able to teach one of my old investigators Vladamir who is getting baptized this Sunday. He was excited to see me and wants me to go down to Murcia again to baptize him but I don’t think we will be able to make it. I always knew he was going to get baptized it was just a matter of time. Everything else went well on the trip. It was fun to work in my old area and see some people that I worked with a lot while I was there during the hot summer.

Today we are going to work in our area a little bit and hopefully get some stuff done. The rest of the week should be pretty tranquil. Yesterday church went well and I enjoyed fasting. It is another one of those principles that I have come to understand and be more grateful for.

I don't have much more to say. This week should be my first week of normal misisonary work. It has been a while but I´m looking foward to it. I have had a hard time sleeping lately because my mind is overloaded. I can't believe it is nearing the end. I dont think I will really realize it until I´m home with you guys.

Love you all!
--
Elder Logan Gogarty

Logan - Barcelona Week 10

2010-03-02T18:25:00.000-08:00

Thanks Mom and Aunt Laura for your letters!

I got into BYU Idaho for the Fall and Spring. That means I will be starting April 20th. Please talke to Brad P. about rooming so I can live with him. Have we found out about when the Stake President can release me? Also can I speak that first Sunday? Dad just because I only have 3 weeks left dosent mean you can stop writing me. I still am waiting for your weekly email!

Monday we had our meeting with the President and we talked about Andorra which is a small country inbetween France and Spain that is part of the mission. We haven’t had missionaries there for awhile, but President went up and visited and thought it would be a good idea for us to go up there and train the members to be missionaries. I was really excited when I heard this because it’s something I have wanted to do but didn’t feel comfortable suggesting that we do it. We started looking at dates and then President chose the week after I leave. I was way bummed; part of me does not want to come home at all. There is so much going on and great things are happening here; I don’t want to miss out on anything. After the meeting we packed the bags and caught a train with the Hinckleys down to Murcia. We set up for the Conference and the following day all went well.

My favorite part of the conference was hearing the testimony of a recent convert that came to the conference. You are always a little nervous when a convert gets up because they may not know what a testimony is or how long it should be etc. But this lady bore a powerful testimony and the spirit hit me hard. She had been looking for the church and didn’t have internet access so she was basically just wondering in the streets looking for the missionaries on her free time. Her daughter’s boyfriend had a computer, and she asked him to look up the church address. Somehow he found the address to the Hermanas apt. thinking that it was the church address. Well as you all know missionaries are never home so every time she went by their apartment no one answered. She went home crying after the 3rd attempt this was a Sunday and the Hermanas were in church. Her daughter told her that everything would be fine and told her to go back and try again after having said a prayer. Meanwhile one of the Hermanas has a headache and they both leave church early and go home. Right after they get home the doorbell rings, and they find Alba who is now a member of the church. She read the Book of Mormon in a week and is now on her 2nd time through. You can see that the Gospel has already changed her life.

We then had conference in Valencia the following day and now we are back in Barcelona. Tomorrow we head out to Menorca for Project STORM. We really hope to see some success.

...
The Menorca trip went really well. We left early Friday morning and the Hinckley came down to see us off. President gave us a good pep talk to get everyone's excitement up. The night before we were up late packing and preparing things. We also made a conference call with the missionaries out there to get ideas flowing on how we were going to do things. The flight over was beautiful and the island was beautiful as well. The missionaries live right on the bay so the view from their house is amazing. We started contacting people and publicizing for the event as soon as we got on the plane. The city Mao which is the biggest city on the Island is where we focused our effort. There are only a little more than 2,000 inhabitants in Mao and we contacted over half of them. The following day we had a tour and movie in the chapel expecting at least 50 people. We didn’t get quite that much but throughout the day about 30 potential investigators came through. The tour we set up was really nice and professional. We got all those people’s addresses and hopefully they will be taught and baptized.

All the missionaries that flew out with us went home and my comp and I stayed another night. Sunday in the small branch was really fun. I blessed and passed the sacrament. Then Elder York the branch Secretary randomly called on my companion and I to share a musical number lol it was fun. The flight home was beautiful. The sun was going down over the coast of Barcelona as we flew in and I just felt really grateful for some of the amazing experiences I have had here. The Hinckleys picked us up from the airport and then we ate with them and gave them a debriefing on project STORM. They thought it was a great success and always make us feel good no matter what. It was great sitting down visiting with them. I feel like they are just good friends more than anything now.

Well this week we have some trips down to the south planned but it should be a relatively calm week. Love you all !

Thank you Dad so much for bying those tickets to AZ and organizing everything for me. I look foward to the week in Cali.

--
Elder Logan Gogarty

Logan - Barcelona Week 9

2010-02-24T12:47:00.000-08:00

Thank you Mom and Ashley for your letters!

Dear Family,

Well things are going well. We had three conferences this week which was a bit overwhelming but everything went smoothly. Everyone said I looked really tired. How do you respond to that?...."Thanks?" A few things on my mind have been weighing me down. I want to work in our area and baptize at least one more person before I come home, but it’s so hard to find the time. Then I also have been thinking about the office things and looking for ways to better it and we constantly have things to do here. Then lastly, home comes to mind occasionally and that scares me. I don’t even know what to think about that. I feel better now that I have been accepted to BYU Idaho but now I am worrying about what track they are going to give me. It’s hard for me to not think at least 6 months in advance.

Tuesday we went to Palma the island and the conference went pretty well. Then Wednesday we had conference with Barcelona and the following day with Hospitalet. Today we took P-day and we went out to eat at some Argentine grill. It was pretty good. Next week we have a full schedule. Monday afternoon we are leaving to Murcia which is far away. We will have a conference there Tuesday and then another one in Valencia on Wednesday. Then Thursday next week we will take p-day and Friday-Sunday we will be on another island called Menorca. The Branch is really struggling so I came up with this crazy idea to take the best missionaries out there to try and publicize for a church tour. We are going to storm the whole island and everyone is going to get a flyer. If we don’t see any results from this President will have to close down the branch and take missionaries off. Right now the missionaries are the only ones keeping it going.

The conferences have gone well and I have enjoyed teaching with Elder Jensen and the Hinckleys. I´m glad that Elder Jensen is going to BYU Idaho. We will be seeing each other soon. I´m going to get back on Monday and finish this letter.

Well we almost didn’t go to church today. The bus took forever to come by, and I wasn’t feeling well. Right as we were about to walk back to the office the bus came around the corner. I was glad that we made it there just in time for sacrament. The importance of the sacrament has defiantly been one of the most valuable lessons I have learned on the mission. Once we really remember Jesus Christ always is when we always have his spirit.We taught a recent convert that asked us why she doesn’t always feel the spirit like she did when she was baptized or like she does when she reads the Book of Mormon. I responded by using the Sacrament Prayers in Moroni. When we are keeping our part of the covenant God blesses us with the spirit. The problem is during the week there are many instances when we are not thinking about Christ or “remembering him always”. If we always kept our baptismal covenant and always remembered Jesus Christ we would never sin and always be worthy of the Spirit. That is part in reason why Missionaries feel the spirit so much. We are constantly testifying of Christ and avoiding anything that leads us to forget him or in other words sin.

After each zone conference we have a short meeting with the District Leaders and the Zone Leaders to ask their advice about conference and to see how we can improve it. I think President is very wise for doing this. It helps everyone to feel a part of the big picture and keeps us all united and on the same page. When we prayed with the other mission leaders I really felt a sense of unity. It’s so important that we have that relationship with them because then when we ask them to do things they trust us and insure that it happens.

Well that is enough for this week. Do we know what day I am speaking? If we leave to California on Monday I would like to speak the first Sunday the 28th and get it over with. Also the next Sunday is general Conference (4th) and the Following Fast Sunday the (11th). The Sunday after that we will be in St George the (18th) and the one after that the (25th) I will be in Idaho so I don’t think we have many options. Will the river be high enough to Surf in April? Will you ask Bishop what the topic is when we settle on the day?

Some things I want to do in Cali,

· Visit the Temple

· Surf until I get back into shape

· Kite Surfing Lessons

· Get a Massage

Is the whole family going to cali? What day are we leaving?

--
Elder Logan Gogarty

ps yes I woud like to room with Brad. Hopefully I get in the Spring track. Once that info gets to the house please email me and let me know what track I will be on.
For the Mesa Trip the 7th I would like to leave and get there not too late. Then leave Saturday the 10th in the morning. So I still have the day with you guys.

Logan - Barcelona Week 8

2010-02-15T06:49:00.000-08:00

The first picture is of Irana, the woman we baptized.

Thanks Jess and Brenna for the valentine.

Today is Saturday and we just got back from our little trip to Valencia. We had a great time and I have been enjoying too much my time with Elder Jensen. We did intercambios with the Zone Leaders in Valencia and also attended a baptism of a family that he taught while he was there. It was fun to see some of the members I know from Valencia, and I was surprised that they still remembered who I was. However I missed the baptism of Irina the woman I taught in Badalona, but tomorrow we will be going to see the confirmation. It is late but we have to finish a video we are making before the conferences next week. We did short interviews with all the missionaries that went home last transfer and asked them some fun questions. Now we are editing the film and will watch it during conference.

I ´m going to jump back to Monday and tell you what has happened this week. Monday the Hinckleys took us to get Patatas Bravas at the El Bar de Thomas, supposedly the best in Spain. It was fun to enjoy some of the Spanish culture with the Hinckleys. We then went back to their house and ate to celebrate the departure of my old companion and the arrival of my new one.

Tuesday however was not so pleasant. Tuesday was transfer days so we had to help with getting people all over Spain to their new homes and companions. We were driving back and forth from the airport and train station dropping off clueless missionaries and getting ridiculous phone calls all day. We also picked up a new missionary and dropped her off in a hurry. It was frustrating to come back to the office to pick up the next set of missionaries to take to the station just to see that they weren’t ready and clueless about everything. They know what time their train leaves but make zero effort to catch it. Everyone just stands around waiting to be told what to do. Needless to say sheep herding the dumb missionaries was stressful. One kid missed two trains, got his bag stolen, and then went to the wrong city and had to stay the night with members. It was a mess and we are having a meeting with President this week to make things run smoother. I suggested taking pictures of the set meeting spots in each station and sending them out but we´ll see what happens. We also got pulled over Tuesday and Elder Ames didn’t have his carnet de conducir, but we luckily got away with a warning.

Wednesday Elder Jenesen and I taught a pre-game concilio to the Zone Leaders here in the office. It went well and helped prepare us for the concilio the following day. We also ordered pizza for all the zone leaders to help create more unity between us and them.

Thursday was concilio and we were with the Presdient and the Zone Leaders all day talking about the mission and what we can do to improve things. Right now the focus is the Book of Mormon. We are all reading it in three months. He gave us the invite in last conference and I should finish it again right before I come home. We are reading it quickly and he has given us a specific marking exercise that has been really interesting. We are all going to pray about the Book of Mormon the Sunday before I go home to strengthen our testimony and receive another witness that it is indeed true.

Things are going really well mission wise. We continue to improve drastically. At this rate we should baptize 50% more then what we did last year. A lot of souls are being saved. I had the chance to do the baptismal interviews for the family we saw baptized in Valencia tonight. I love doing the interviews. The whole family was so ready and excited to make this covenant with God. The Dad looked like a changed man as he came out of the water tonight it was great to see.

Tomorrow we are headed to the islands to do intercambios and then conference on Tuesday. The rest of the week we will be traveling for conferences. I will probably take Preparation day on Friday. If you want to get on at the same time as me Dad I would love to talk about the trip. Just let me know what time you can get on.

Today we got to eat lunch with the Hinckleys and talk about Zone conferences it has been a super nice easy going Sunday, kind of like they use to be before the mission. I was also able to make it to the confirmation which went really well and I felt the spirit strongly as she bore her testimony after. Well love you all have a great week!

Love,
--
Elder Logan Gogarty

Logan - Barcelona Week 7

2010-02-08T07:32:00.000-08:00

Thanks Lis and Jess for your letters!

I am tempted to not write a letter because there is just too much going on right now. President is not going to let me get trunky that is for sure. He just swamped me with stuff to do, and on top of that this week is transfer week which means the office will be a zoo for missionaries coming and going. We also have lots of success going on in our proselyting area which adds to the craziness. Last Saturday we had a baptism. I think I mentioned Moses in my last letter but he was baptized and all went well. I could use the whole letter to tell you of the many miracles I have seen while working with him but there is no time. It suffices to say that he has been prepared by angels and the spirit has converted him. Every time we visit him I feel the spirit as he speaks.

Another miracle of the week was working on transfers with President and Hermana Hinckley. It was amazing to take part in making such a big and important puzzle, matching the right people together so that they can have the experiences they need and so that they can work well together and carry out the work God has for them. We thought we had it finished on Thursday but a companionship kept coming back to my mind and I knew we had to change it, but I didn’t want to say anything because everything else looked so good and when you change one it affects everyone. It kept coming back to my mind, so Friday I said something and President said he was thinking the same thing so we started changing things. I saw the change we were supposed to do in my mind, but I didn’t want to say anything because it involved Elder Monks going senior companion, and I didn’t want it to seem as if I were changing it because we are friends. Then my comp made the change on the board and everyone liked it. We then thought it was done Friday, but I got a phone call late Saturday night from a missionary in Zaragoza. He told me that he had been texting a girl and needed to be moved and so I told him to call President. Once again we had to make changes. We went in there and started moving things and nothing was happening, nothing was working. I realized we hadn’t said a prayer to start so I said well let’s say a prayer, so we did and right the prayer we knew exactly what to do. We all agreed and then felt the spirit confirm that it was correct. It was an amazing experience for me.

Sunday we had a Special Spain Broadcast and we heard from Elder Nelson. It went really well and to my pleasant surprise I ran into a Russian lady that I taught in Badalona. She came up to me and told me that she wanted to get baptized so I called my old companion and we set the date for this Saturday. I will probably go up to Badalona to perform the ordinance. We also have had a ton of success with the less actives in our ward and we have seen the re activation of a lot of them.

Today the Hinckley are taking us to get the best Patatas Bravas in Spain. They said we need to party more.

Well my new companion Elder Jensen will be here today and this week will be crazy with picking up new missionaries dropping old ones off and concilio meetings along with a million other things. My whole last transfer is already scheduled and packed to the max with traveling. I love you all, have a great week!
--
Elder Logan Gogarty

Business:
My drivers license is expired. Could someone pass by the DMV to see if they can extend it due to the fact that I am here in Spain
I want Jilly Cluffs email address along with James Greff
I will think about the dates you sent me and the trip and then write you back today Dad. I am re considering the conference because now Elder Petersen is going too.

Logan - Barcelona Week 6

2010-02-01T16:10:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

Well I already sent a written letter home that contains a lot of what happened at the beginning of the week, and you should receive it today or tomorrow. Last Monday after our meeting with President we zipped to the train station and headed down south to Valencia. We ride the trains so much that I now recognize the all the workers on the train. We actually missed our train though because the meeting with President went late. We were talking about transfers and who is going where and before we knew it we had been in talking for three hours. During that meeting he also asked me who I wanted for my next companion. It was crazy looking at the board of missionaries and trying to decide who I wanted. In President's office there is a huge board with pictures of all the missionaries that shows where they are at in Spain and who they are with. A lot of our Monday meeting is spent sitting looking at the pictures and talking about the needs of those missionaries also reviewing the numbers for each missionary of the previous week.

The Valencia trip went well and I got to do an intercambio with Elder Jensen. He is who I have chosen to be my next companion, but he still doesn’t know. We had a good time and went to eat with an American family who lives on the beach. The dad has actually been taking kite surfing lessons and while we were there we watched a few kite surfers. I definitely want to get into it after the mission. It was frustrating that I felt awkward speaking with the family in English. I had to think about what I was going to say and everything came out funny. I say the most ridiculous things in English now. Like¨ we played all the day long¨ because in Spanish "todo el dia" is how we would say it. I need help when I get home.

I told you about Jazel last week and this week she has been super busy and it has been hard to get in contact with her. I said a prayer specifically for her and yesterday when we left the office she was walking up the road and we were able to talk to her for a minute. It sounds like she had read bad stuff on the internet about us and I explained to her that if you want to know something about us and the church then talk to us and not anyone else. It’s amazing asking God for things and feeling completely worthy and confident that he will give you those things which you asked for. When we are being good we can ask God anything with confidence and then plan on receiving it. "God you know me I am doing all I can and am being the best I can and I need this so please give it to me." Our will becomes his and we receive what we want and what God wants.

We will be baptizing a man named Moses this weekend and he is from Peru. We honestly haven’t taken on a huge roll in his conversion. He has been prepared by angels. He has already made all the changes necessary and just showed up to church. We talked to him and basically just made baptismal arrangements. He is worried about his family in Peru and is worried that his wife who is less active in the church. We gave him a chapter to read in the Book of Mormon and told him to think about the questions he wants answers to about his wife and family and in the following visit he told us how God told him exactly what he needed to do. It has been amazing to see the change in this guy’s life. He said he has no feelings of hate locked up in side anymore and he feels so much better. He has truly been converted by the spirit.

Biggest news is that our mission is taking over the Victoria stake of Bilbao and the mission of Bilbao is being dissolved. Madrid will be taking over the other part and Malaga will be taking our southern stake of Elche which is really sad. We will lose all those missionaries to the Malaga Mission. This will take place in July. It was pretty exciting to get the news. The Hinckleys came down into the office late last night at 11:30 and then we just sat in his office and talked about it till 12:30. He seems to have mixed feelings but is excited about it. I am talking him into doing a tour of the new part of the mission so I can go with him and we can scout it out.

This morning we will be having our Monday meeting and its going to be wild trying to decide who we will put in the Elche Stake because they will be changing missions and we will lose them. Well I have already written too much. Love you guys. Have a great week!
Love,Elder Gogarty

Oh I also met a Mexican from Beremejillo and he knew all the same people I did his name is Thomas Flore we talked about the Junkyard and everything it was great.One more thing, Do you guys know who Ricky Shrouder is? He is in our ward and was in some older movies.

Logan- Barcelona Week 5

2010-01-25T11:56:00.000-08:00

Thank you Grandpa Gogarty, Ashley, Mom, and Grandma Layton for your letters and packages.

Happy Birthday Coby!

Things are going well here. We took a trip to Murcia this week to do intercambios with the missionaries down south. It went very well and we were able to help out an area that has been struggling for some time. On the way home we stayed in Elche which was my 2nd area. I baptized a man named Gustavo while I was there about a year ago and he is now preparing to go through the temple. The missionaries also told me that they are a baptizing one of Gustavo’s friends this weekend. It was good to hear that he was doing well and that he is doing missionary work.

I had to clean the Elders piso in Elche because it was pretty thrashed. It took me 45minutes to do all their dishes and then 8 trips to take trash to the dumpster that was clogging the hall way. Dirtiness has been one of the most annoying things for me during the mission. Having to take care of the people you live with, in a Christ like way. I have gotten much better though and feel good about serving them instead of mad at their laziness. Hopefully this prepares me for messy kids.

There is a Brazilian woman that lives near us and has wanted to hear the gospel. She contacted the missionaries in Matorell and they gave us her information. We had tried to pass by and couldn’t get in contact with her so we assumed it was a fake address which happens frequently. A month later this Brazilian women was sitting in her house wondering why the missionaries had never came by to visit her. She wanted to hear the message but didn’t know how to put herself in contact with us so she said a prayer. I don’t know why people don’t just use the Internet to contact us but the prayers usually seem to work equally as well. She prayed and asked Heavenly Father to send the missionaries her way again. 5 minutes after her prayer we called her. We then set up a visit for the next day and in that visit we committed her and her brother to be baptized the 6th of February and they gladly accepted. Then Saturday night we went with them and the Hinckleys to a baptism in Sabadell and the spirit was felt so strongly. Jazel, the Brazilian woman, was crying. I love baptismal services. They are probably one of the least attended meetings but one of the most spiritual ones.

Business:Dad should I fly or drive to AZ? How are we getting to St. George for Grandpas shin dig? If I start school the 20th I won’t be able to speak on the 25th. Did you ever receive the camera card I sent home? You said you sent me your camera card but I have yet to see it. Does anyone know where James Greff is? What is the latest on Gio? Is he getting baptized? Dad, I was just joking about the boring letter last week. It’s probably better for me anyways.

Love you all have a great week!

Logan - Barcelona Week 4

2010-01-19T08:56:00.000-08:00

Thanks Mom for the letter!

Well today is my B-day and it’s also my P-day. Monday we traveled down to Murcia and set up for the conference and then Tuesday we had the conference and it went really well. I´m learning how to be an effective teacher. I love reading the body language; I don’t think people realize how obvious they are with it. I can tell easily how well the message is getting across by their body language. I also have to worry about my own body language and the message I am sending. The best messages I have taught during the conferences were the ones where I was walking around a lot and talking with my hands.

After the Conference in Murcia we headed to Valencia and got to eat my favorite Kebap. Then we set up for that conference and Wednesday we had the Valencia Zone conference. It went very well and I felt the spirit very strongly. Then we caught another train home to Barcelona. I love traveling with the Hinckleys. It’s so nice to just sit, visit, and learn from them. I had a letter here waiting from Elder Monks which was fun to read, and he bought me some cuff links for my birthday. I feel bad that not all the missionaries will have some of the experiences that I am having serving as AP. It’s been such an amazing two weeks and I have learned so much.

The Hinckleys took us out to Freeway which is a big buffet and the food was great. Then after we got back to the office they brought down a cake with 21 candles and we sang feliz cumpleaños. They wrote me a really nice letter and the office elders bought me some ties. Yesterday we had a normal work day which was weird because it’s been so long since we have done that. It’s hard to just jump back into regular missionary mode after traveling for a few days and not following any type of schedule. We had a great cita with the bishop though and we talked about how we can be more united in purpose and I tried to do all the things I taught to the other missionaries throughout all the conferences. Then on the way out of his house he gave us and key and asked us to put it in his mailbox downstairs. I was trying to figure out why the whole way down. We got to the bottom and I asked Elder Laney if he heard why we were supposed to put it in the mail box and he said I don’t know and then threw it into the mailbox. Then we tried to open the door to leave and it was locked. We then realized that he had given us the key so that we could open the downstairs door and then throw the key into his mail box after. We were full of shame and didn’t want to go back upstairs to tell him and tried to get out but couldn’t. Then we finally went back upstairs and he laughed at us and then gave us another key to open the door. ¡Que Verguenza!

I´m having a hard time trying to decide if I should start school on April 20th or if I should wait till September 9th. April seems too soon and September too far away. If I start in April I will be done that block July 24th and then I will have until September 9th again for summer break. I could stay home and work until September and also enjoy river surfing, maybe even take some classes at CSU-P or I could just jump right into school and then have August for break. I hear there will be a surf comp in May. I can’t tell which would be better. I hope my ACT and transcript get in soon so we can send off the application. I don’t want to have to worry about it right now. Thanks for doing so much of it for me. My mind is always thinking way in advance so it’s hard for me to get it off my mind. I want to know when I am going and make plans or what not because that’s just how I work. I want to start April 20th so put that on the application.

The other night we had a visit a great visit with a recent convert and we did it in the house of the Hinckleys. It went really well and I felt the spirit really strong. It was a little intimidating teaching in front of the Mission President but not as bad as I thought it would be. We had a prepared lesson but the spirit quickly guided us to what the recent convert personally needed. She wanted to feel the spirit like she did when she was baptized. As she tried to explain that to me we both felt the spirit really strong and connected. It was really interesting and I asked her "Do you want to always feel the spirit like you do right now?" Then we were both almost crying and she told me yes. Then I explained to her that our testimony is like a seed and we have to water it, give it sun etc. I told her that her lack of reading the scriptures daily was what she was missing and why she wasn’t feeling the spirit like she did when she was baptized. I love how we are given the words to say, questions to ask, and scriptures to teach after we have done all we can to prepare. Even though many times we don’t teach what we prepare.

Well today is Monday and we are going to take Preparation day. This week we will be traveling again to Murcia to do intercambios wit the Zone leaders. Love you all! Have a great week!

Amor,Elder G

Logan - Barcelona Week 3

2010-01-10T19:50:00.000-08:00

Thanks Mom for your letters! I loved the Christmas letter you guys sent out. I also finally got the letter sealer, thank you very much.

Well this week has been almost crazier than the first. The conference went well in Palma (The Islands) Elder Laney and I did our workshops and they went really well. I talked about becoming united in purpose with our local leaders. My main points were ceasing to talk smack about them, respecting and honoring their priesthood keys, and realizing that they have the right to receive revelation for the missionary work in their ward. We have to respect them and do it the way they want it even if we think we could do it better. I used the story of Ammon in Alma 18 how he made himself a servant and served and did what the King Lamoni wanted and in return the king offered him everything. Then I also talked about planning the way PMG tells us to and taking time each night to set goals and make plans to strengthen relationships with local leaders.

On the way home from Palma I scored a seat next to the Hinckley’s on the plane so we had a nice visit while my comp caught some zzzzzs. Then in the Airport we ate some burger king and talked about how the conference went. I love how humble the Hinckleys are, and how they evaluate everything they do so they know how to become better. We asked the missionaries when the Hinckleys weren’t there how the conference went and they told us the good things and the things that could have been better and then the Hinckleys asked us these things and changed the way they did it in the next conference. I was surprised when he asked us what he could do better. It shows his humility and desire to get better. Taking advice from a bunch of twenty year olds seems crazy but he does because he respects us.

Then Wednesday we had a conference in Barcelona which went well and Thursday we had another one in Hospitalet. I have enjoyed having so many teaching experiences and gained a lot of confidence while doing it. The first time was scary, teaching 20 missionaries, but now it’s not so much and I enjoy teaching. Being ayudante also means sheep herding or in other words making missionaries move to certain rooms at certain times. They are like sheep sometimes and you have to grab them and move them to their rooms. "Now we are going to do this then this" and they sit there talking.

It’s also interesting to see the difference in each conference. We have the same material but teach different stuff each time. This shows you how the Holy Ghost helps people receive exactly what they need. It also depends a lot I have noticed on the missionaries and if they come prepared to learn to if they want to just be impressed. You can feel the difference while you are teaching and it hinders the spirit. I asked President about this because in the Barcelona conference I felt the spirit the whole day and it was such an edifying experience and then the day after in Hospitalet we talked about the same things but there wasn’t as much participation and the spirit was not as strong. A good teacher depends a lot on the student as well.

It has also been interesting to see how some missionaries have to or in their mind want a limit or a rule for everything they do. I love how President always teaches the doctrine or the principal and then lets them make their own decision. Some of the missionaries want the rule though like for how long can we be at members houses how many hours and he will just take it all back to our purpose and ask them are you fulfilling your purpose while you are there? And then leaves it at that.

We have been focusing on helping the wards set goals and makes plans for the amount of baptisms this year instead of having separate mission goals we will help them achieve their goals since we are on the same team.

Well today is Friday and it’s our P-day so we went down to Zara by Las Ramblas and I was so happy to find the suit and the jacket I wanted a few weeks ago but marked way down. I am glad I waited to buy them. I bought both and told myself Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday. I hope that’s ok with you guys it came to 200 euros.

Oh I almost forgot to tell you what happened the other night. After one of the conferences we went working in our area and on the way home in the metro some punk Spanish kid was staring at me and saying something under his breath but I ignored him. Then he followed us out of the metro and I kept walking but heard that he was walking close behind me. He then kind of spit but not a lot it was more of a spray on the back of my neck. I turned around quickly and grabbed him by the shirt and asked him if he wanted to die. Of course speaking in tu and not usted. Some missionaries have the tendency to speak usted to people when they are trying to talk down to them because they have the habit of speaking in usted and it doesn’t make any sense. Anyways back to the story I asked him if he wanted to die and why he had done that. Then he said some swear words and I let him go and kept walking. He kept following me and then got brave enough to try and trip me. I was shocked! I swung around again and grabbed him by the shirt but this time slamming him against the wall with my fist ready to hit him in the face. Then Elder Romney an office Elder grabbed me and pulled me away. We kept walking and I couldn’t decide if I regretted not hitting him or not. It was the right decision not to hit him but I sure wanted to. If I see him again I may not be able to refrain.

Anyways I´ll get back on Monday morning and tell you what happens with the rest of my week. For the rest of the transfer we will be having P day on Wednesday but President lets me write you guys on Monday because sometimes we are traveling and we don’t get a chance on Wednesday. You can write me whenever you want. Next week we will be traveling to the south to do conferences in Murcia and Valencia. Then things should slow down a little bit and we will hopefully have more time to work in our area. We still have one lady that wants to get baptized on the 23rd and this Saturday or tomorrow I will be going to Badalona to baptize a girl I taught se llama Violeta.

So today is Sunday and Friday night I went to Badalona to do an intercambio with the Zone Leaders there. It went really well and the highlight was Saturday night. Violeta a girl I taught from Badalona asked me to come baptize her and it was a great experience. While I was sitting next to her during the service I saw her grown up and giving me a hug as I was welcoming her to heaven. It was a day dream I kind of had and I felt the spirit. It was actually the most spiritual baptism I have ever been to. Right before I baptized her I felt the spirit very strongly and almost started to cry but it hit me all at once. After the baptism we went to their house and had a great feast which made us get home about a half an hour late. This girl is the cousin of two kids I baptized when I was there. I will attach a photo of the whole family but I hope to see them all get baptized one day. We baptized the two of the kids you'll see in the photo and then reactivated their parents. Then the rest of the family we are also teaching.

Well this letter is really long and I am going to send it tonight because tomorrow we are headed to Murcia and I don’t think I will have time to get on the internet. Love you lots! Elder Gogarty

Logan - Barcelona Week 2

2010-01-10T19:35:00.000-08:00

Date: Mon. 4 Jan 2010

Well this morning we caught a flight to Palma de Mallorca which is an Island located off the coast of Spain. It was a very short flight and I slept the whole way. I was up late last night because we had a ton of stuff to do to get ready for the conference and then this morning we got up at like 5. I am pretty wiped out right now but hopefully I'll catch up tonight. This week has been crazy and it feels like I've already been doing this forever.

Well the area of the Ayudantes is quite dead right now, but I am going to change that. My companion is Elder Laney, the kid I actually facebooked before the mission, who is friends with Jenny Roberts. who would of ever thought we would serve as Ayudantes togther? We get along well and I have to keep him a live becasue he will be going home in 5 weeks. He is suprisingly super focused and dedicated so it makes things nice. He is also excited about getting the area going as well. Speaking of which we found a lady this week in the few hours that we did missionary work and set a baptismal date with her. She also came to church and liked it a lot.

Mondays we have a meeting with the President and his wife. I love how Hermana Hinckley is so involved in the mission. She comes to all the meetings and helps him with everything. It's amazing to see how united they are in everything they do. I also love kneeling down and praying with them. they are such spiritual giants and its great to be around. For New Year's I had everyone in the zone email me a thank you note to the Hinckley and I put them all together and printed it on nice paper and then left it in their house. They need to know how much we appreciate them. I can't believe how much they trust us. I really respect that about President Hinckley.

Tuesday was a crazy day becasue that was transfer day. So basically I was on the phone all day fixing everyone's stupid mistakes. We also picked up the New missionaries and then drove up to Montjuic which means mountain of Jews in Catalan. It's the largest Jewish cemetary in Europe, and we showed them the city of Barcelona. It was fun to feel their enthusiasm.

Wednesday we dropped off the old missionaries and then got lost in Barcelona for an hour in the misison car arriving late at our meeting that we had to give to the Zone Leaders. They were patient with us and the meeting went really well. I felt guided and helped throughout it. We also played ping pong after to celebrate the new year and ate churros.

Then Friday we had another meeting with the Zone Leaders and President. We had that meeting most of the day and I felt like President and I are on the same page and share a lot of the same ideas and vision.

Before the Ayudantes did lots of office work, but I am going to change the role of the Ayudante a little bit and work in our area a lot more. I want it to be the example area. I want to lead the mission in Key Indicators and try all the things that I am telling them to do. For example in every conference this transfer I'll be teaching about being united with our local leaders in purpose and how we can go about doing that. So I want to try everything I am telling them to do and that way the teaching will have more power as well. Before it seemed like the Ayudantes told us how to do missionary work when they really weren't doing it that much.

It's weird not being on the missionary schedule. I like it as well. We have to study whenever we have a minute which will be good preparation for coming home. I have had fun preparing my message for conference. I have done some researching and have looked up and called some missionaries that have gone home to ask them what they did to have good relationships with the leaders. Some missionaries are famous for it. I have also talked to a number of Bishops to ask them what they want and expect from the misssionaries.

Well there is a lot more going on but no time. I sent a good letter home that will explain things better. This week we will be traveling a lot to do all the ocnferences. Don't worry about a b-day package. I'll just buy somthing here. Rebajas start soon and I want a few clothing articles for after the mission. Thanks. Oh and send me your CHristmas letter you sent out this year. Love you lots!

Elder Gogarty

Logan - Barcelona Week 1

2009-12-28T07:52:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-24T09:51:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-08T12:38:00.000-08:00

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 !

Logan - Badalona Week 8

2009-11-30T09:06:00.000-08:00

Thanks Grandpa for the email!

Well this week has been stressful with the renovation of out apartment and the trip to Valencia, but surprisingly it was still very effective.

Monday I traveled to Girona which is one of my favorite cities in Spain. We then traveled further North to Costa Brava to work in some beach pueblos along there. It was amazing. We ran through the narrow cobble stone streets to catch the sunset on the sea. It was amazing and I would love to go back some day. I'll send pics soon. We of course did Missionary workas well. Most of the people we visited don't come to church because of the distance and the price of traveling. We also had a Zone conference this week with Elder Kopiske from the Quorum of the Seventy. It went very well, and I learned a lot.

We always share success stories and one of the success stories was about a woman who called the missionaries and said I want to be baptized. She had live in Ibiza, an island and knew no members of the church, so when she came to Valencia to visit her Daughter Patricia (a woman I baptized while I was there) she called the missionaries and was baptized. I then actually had the chance to meet her which was amazing.

We took a trip to Valencia on Thanksgiving because we had a meeting with all the zone leaders. We got there early enough that I was able to visit all my recent converts. It was the best Thanksgiving I have ever had. I was so happy to see that they were all still strong in the Gospel. I was worried about them and had been praying for them and it was great to see them. I felt so thankful and full of gratitude. We then ate Kebap at my favorite kebap in all of Spain for the Thanksgiving feast.

In concillio, the meeting with the ZLs, we talked about reaching our goal of 400 baptisms by the end of the year. We are close: 350 as of right now. I'm excited to see if we can make it. The work is starting to open, I believe, in Spain. When you look at the numbers from lasts year you see a 30-40 % increase which is amazing. I´m grateful to be here at this time in the church's growth.

We also set another baptismal goal with a 10 yr old girl and she will be baptized the 12th of Dec. We have also been teaching two Russian women who will soon be getting baptized. The work is going well in our area and its not because of us. I feel like God is really helping us since we are trying to help the other areas. Half the week I´m not even in the area but we continue to see miracles.

Today we went to the top of the mountain Montjuic; it was incredible. I have a great time seeing the sites. I can't believe most the missionaries stay in on P-day; it's ridiculous. More good news: a woman I had been working closely with in Lorca finally got baptized. Her name is Maribelle. I baptized her Son while I was there.

Love you all have a great week!

Business: Could you please include butter microwave popcorn in the christmas package as well as a seal with a G or L on it. One you use to seal envelopes with wax like in the olden days. It may be hard to find. Oh as well some fun Physco Analysis tests like a few questions you answer and then they have certain meanings. You could just attach those to an email.

Logan - Badalona Week 7

2009-11-23T11:54:00.000-08:00

Thanks Mom for the letter and camera card where are the pics of Cali? Thanks Jenny as well for your letter.

Well the first week of the transfer has been hectic but went by very quickly. I feel like I don't even have time to think. The last day for the missionaries that are going home everyone goes to Plaza Catalunya to sing to them or with them. That is one of the pictures.

One of the new missionaries that came into the zone got paired up with a newer missionary, and they are both very interesting characters. Well as I was getting into bed at 11:30 I get a call from them letting me know that they were in Sabadell instead of Mataró. I was shocked. The one missionary that's been living here for 5 months couldn't make it back to their house. In fact they went the complete opposite direction. I told them to come to our place because it was closer but they then got lost on the metro lines again. Finally at 1 am they called me from the metro stop that's close to our house and we left to go get them. Then the following morning the same kid manage to break our elevator which I wasn't super happy about. Carrying groceries up 9 flights of stairs is not fun. Lots of fun things happened to get the transfer going.

Good news is that we are now using the bus system up these crazy hills. Previous missionaries had said it wasn't worth it and the idea had just been passed down for a while. We investigated and now are taking the buses everywhere which makes things a lot easier. It's incredible no one has looked into it sooner.

More good news. We have been teaching a Bolivian mom and her child and in one of our lessons we talked about baptism and the mom let us know she wants to read all the BOM first. I felt down because I wanted her to get baptized before the end of the year. I was studying and thinking about her and how we kind of needed a miracle so that she would changed her mind on this. I prayed for the gift of discernment because that's what I was studying about and while I was praying I felt I was given what I needed to tell her. It was interesting because something like this has never really happened to me before. I went into the next lesson with her and I said what I was told to and then she really opened up and we were able to commit her and her daughter to get baptized in December. I'm really excited and feel blessed that God helps us so much.

We couldn't do it by ourselves and I finally am really understanding that. I felt overwhelmed last week but I rely and trust in God and things seem to work perfectly. Its funny we have to be burdened or have trials before we really rely on him.

Not to much else to say. Today we went to the highest point in Catalunya or Barcelona and its called Tibidabo. The Spaniards believe its where Satan tempted Jesus and offered him all the world and money. It was interesting and I attached a pic. I was also cursed and had a demon cast out by some crazy gypsies that live by our house. That's always a pleasure.

Things with Elder Davis are going well. He is a good worker and exactly who I need right now. Dad how is the bike shop doing? This week I will be traveling a lot. Tonight I go to Girona and then Wednesday we have a conference in Hospitalet then Thursday I ll be headed down to Valencia for concillio notes. It will be another crazy week.

Love you all have a happy Thanksgiving, Elder G

Logan- Badalona Week 6

2009-11-17T10:47:00.000-08:00

Thanks Mom for both your letters!

So much has happened this week it has been an emotional roller coaster. I feel very exhausted and excited at the same time. Transfers happened and Elder York is leaving me to serve in the Islands. His mission is to baptize a new branch President because the current one went MIA. I´m excited for him and know he will get the job done. It has been great serving with him. I will be staying in Badalona but will now be the Zone Leader of all of Barcelona. I am super nervous about this because we combined the zones and there are a ton of people to worry about. There will be 3 Districts added, and I will be doing traveling twice a week to do cambios. One of the new ares that was added is Zaragoza which is a 4 hour bus ride away. I´m excited but nervous as well. The new zone basically entails all the North of Spain Barcelona mission. Likewise, Elder Petersen will be headed home tomorrow, and his area closed down which will mean that we will have to work that area as well. My new comp comes into Barcelona today form the Islands and his name is Elder Davis.

We have to much going on right now to slow down. More big news! We had three baptisms on Saturday and they all went very well. I baptized Vanessa, a 10 year old from Bolivia. We found her by passing by members on the list. Her parents are less active, but now the family is coming and Vanessa is a member. Also we baptised Asong and his Mother who are from Ecuador. The whole thing went very well and the spirit was felt. The zone saw 15 baptisms last transfer which is unheard of and was a great way to end the Barcelona North Zone.

We also had a chapel tour last week as a finding activity. 80 showed up from other churches. They did a tour of our church and we did one of theirs. We had Catholics and Muslims and other denominations. It went very well. During the tour the Catholic priest asked me in front of 50 people where I received my authority to do what I was doing. He asked me what school I had gone to and for how long I had studied. The scriptures have become a part of me and when people are talking doctrine with me scripture references are shuffling through my mind until the correct one is found. As response to his question I said we believe that a man must be called of God as was Aaron. In Hebrews it teaches us this. I said, "I have studied the scriptures and a modern day Prophet has given me the authority to teach and baptize." I think he was surprised at my answer and didn't respond. It went very well and I felt the spirit.

We found some new people to teach as well. Also I set a baptismal goal with a lady form Russia on Sunday. She is golden and I´m excited to watch her progress. She really understands and I get to use the little bit of Romanian language because the gospel words are the same.

Sunday night we also had a Noche De Hogar with the Ward members and after there was like a tribute thing to the missionaries. I was extremely grateful to hear them tell us thanks. Many times it feels like they are unappreciative and don't realized what we go through. The ward here is amazing though, and they all took turns thanking us and telling us how we have become like their family. This one girl whose family we have been working with said, "Once you get here my sister and I were the only active ones in the family and currently my parents and my brothers and sisters are coming thanks to your visits and commitments." It was great to hear and feel their gratitude.

Well not too much more going on. I´m now in a two man piso which will be weird but fine. I'll be traveling most of the week anyways. Dad I can't believe your thinking about Seattle that's crazy, and Jessica I don't want Brenna that far away but I guess whatever's right.

Love you all have a great week! Love Elder G

Logan- Badalona Week 5

2009-11-09T13:58:00.000-08:00

Thanks Audrey for the letter!

Another exciting week in Spain has quickly passed by. Today we enjoyed a visit to Park Güell which is well known as one of Gaudi's many works. It was really pretty and I will attach some photos.

I had the oppurtunity to do intercambios a few weeks ago, and while I was in Granollers with Elder Lindsy we taught a Spanish lady that told me she didnt believe in God. I testified as boldy as I could that there is a God and that He loves us. I also asked her to prepare for baptism and to be baptized the 31st of Oct. I felt prompted to extend the invitation even though she had just told me that she didn't believe in God. She accepted the challenge and just last week I had the priviledge of doing her baptismal interview. She was baptized last week and I had a great time talking with her while doing the interview. I told her to explain to me what happened and why she now wanted to be baptized and how she now believes. She told me about the Book of Mormon and how she feels while she is reading it as well as attending church. What a great experience. You could feel that she was truly converted, and it was fun to play a small role in it.

Another miracle….I can now finally spell miracle correctly.

Likewise we were calling the mom of a younger girl we have been teaching to get permission so she can be baptized. I was worried the Mom would want to delay the baptism for whatever reasons or not give us permission. Elder York was talking on the phone and I heard Vanessa's mom say, "Well I feel like its too soon and maybe we should do it next month." When I heard this I started praying asking that God could change her mind so that Vanessa could be baptized the 14th. After I did that Elder York didnt respond to her. She asked do you understand and he said no I think the 14th would be great what do you think? and suprisingly enough the mom then agreed, it was amazing. Vanessa will be getting baptized this Saturday along with two other friends from Ecuador, a mother and her son.

More great news! Juan the older Spanish man was baptized last Saturday. I felt bad for the man because he was so nervous he about passed out in the font. He had to take his out tension before he got in the water! Everything went very well though, and I can't belive he got baptized. Just two weeks ago he told me he would get baptized but not until summer. Then some praying, planning, and fasting later and he tells us this Saturday, "I want to be baptized as soon as possible. He gave us his testimony after the baptism, and I felt the spirit strongly.

I´m thinking about doing a Nueva Comida section every week in which I´ll explain what new food I have experienced in the last week. This week it was Cow heart and lots of it. I cant say that it was that good nor that it taste like chicken as some say. I am not going to go into details on this one but we looked like vampires while eating it due to blood squirting out in every yummy bite. OK sorry about the details you can cut this out if you would like to parents.

Our zone is doing incredibly well. We have baptized more people this transfer than in any other in the history of Badalona Zone. Its great to see the changes in these people's lives and the happiness that always comes.

Buisness:¨Elder Petersen goes home next week and all he wants is one more letter from anyone but his mom. Could sombody Please write him a letter and just tell him thanks for being my friend or whatever you want to say. He is a great missionary and great example. You can send it to my address becasue we live togther just Label it Elder Petersen and send it soon like today if possible.

Love You all! Elder G.

Logan Badalona - Week 4

2009-11-02T06:09:00.000-08:00

Thank you Grandpa and Mom for your letters and emails.

This week has been crazy like the majority of my weeks here in Spain. I have visited a few other cities on intercambios to do baptismal interviews like Sabadell and Mataro, both very pretty places. As a zone last week we had 7 baptisms!

I loved doing the interviews with the converts. I ask them to share their testimony with me and the spirit is always felt so strongly. One little girl I was interviewing stopped me in the middle of the questions and asked me, "Who made God? Does God have a girlfriend?" and "What do you feel like being bigger and older?" I told her to ask God those questions and that I felt the same as when I was 8 but that my body had just changed a lot.

The two kids we had been teaching Fernanda y Eduaro from Bolivia were also baptized on Saturday. Everything went so well, the spirit was felt strongly. We also got President Hinckley to come and I think he really enjoyed it. I feel like the spirit of the Lord is working very strongly in our area right now. After the baptism we had two cousins of the Bolivian kids that came up to us and asked to get baptized as well. We will be having 5 more baptisms in two weeks and one this Saturday.

We had also been teaching an older Spanish man who was a Jehovah's witness. Here in Spain there is somewhat of a battle between them and us. Not really a battle but they don't like us, and we see one another frequently in the street. They also go tracting and occasionally you will be knocking a building that they just finished and the people will get mad thinking you're Testigos de Jehovah. Anyways we had a cita with him and I felt prompted to invite him to be baptized. I was nervous because well, one he is Spanish, two he is 80, and the older people tend to be more set in their ways, thirdly he was testigo de Jehovah. I asked him anyways to be baptized and he said I want to be baptized, but not until next summer or spring. I felt a little frustrated about that so Elder York and I have been praying and fasting for him and then while we were planning the lesson and what we were going to teach him I felt that I shouldn't go to the next cita with him because I had already talked to him about baptism, and I didn't want to come across as pushy. Elder York wasn't in the cita and could come in and talk to him again about it without any problem. So we did intercambios, and Elder York started to bring up Baptism and Juan quickly told him that he wanted to be baptized pronto meaning right away. So we set the date for this Saturday. Turns out he doesn't live in our area so Sunday we took him to his church and announced the baptism. We will still go to his baptism but it will be in another ward; he has asked me to baptize him and I m really excited about the whole situation. The Ward he is being baptized in is actually the Ward Jess Emily and I visited when we were here.

Fast Sunday was amazing, they always are. I felt so good yesterday and felt extreme feelings of gratitude for the time I have had to serve here and all the miracles we are seeing, The area is just on fire right now. I love you all, have a great week! Love Elder G

Logan Badalona - Week 3

2009-10-26T09:55:00.000-07:00

Thanks Mom and Jess for your letter this week!

Well my email was just lost, you ve got to love that! I will give you a review of what I said.

We haven’t had hot water or a stove since Thursday and we won’t be getting it fixed until this Thursday. We have enjoyed the cold showers and cold food. President laughed about it when I told him so I don’t know what that means. I think it means just deal with it.

2nd we went to an eating cita and while we were trying to hide the pig skin they were giving us Elder York coughed it onto his plate later forgetting and then giving to another missionary Elder Monks who it was then eaten by. After we walked out of the cita we all realized it and had a good laugh/gauge session. Two elders were able to sneak out the pig skin safely in their pocket wrapped in a napkin.

3rd we took a trip to the city of Girona which is near France and it was amazing. I fell in love with the city. We left Sunday night and didn’t give Elder Petersen the option of coming. We packed his bag for him and then we ran to the train station barley catching the train. He was glad he came after all.

4th Our Bolivian kids we have been teaching are still getting baptized this Saturday. They went to stake conference and I introduced the family to President and now President is coming to the baptism. Everything else is going well I have no more time.

I love you all.
Love,
Elder G
And the zone is doing great we are currently leading the mission in Baptisms!

Logan Badalona - Week 2

2009-10-19T06:55:00.000-07:00

Thanks Hepworths, Mom, and Sisters for the letters and the great package that came this morning. I was so happy to get it and I was out of food!

Today it is so cold I can hardly type! We are already using heaters and I know this winter is going to be a cold one but no worries.

Last week we had an activity in the church for the 40th year anniversary of the church here in Spain. It was a neat experience and was fun to be able to see the pioneers of the church here in Spain. They bore testimony and talked by name about the missionaries that taught them so long ago. I felt the spirit and felt and do feel grateful to be apart of such a great work. The old pioneers told some stories of when they first started the church, and they didn't know how things really went. Sometimes after priest quorum they would go buy churros and chocolate on Sunday and then if there was a parade, they would pause sacrament to run out and watch it lol. Things have changed a lot.

Last p-day we went to the Colon statue and went to the very top of it. We had a great view of the harbour and all of Barcelona. We then went to the Cathedral de Barcelona and it was one I have been wanting to go to forever. Inside was absolutely gorgeous. We were able to go onto the roof and see a great view of the Ocean as well. It is the Cathedral where Columbus reported to after returning from the Americas. We also saw a baptismal font where they baptized some of the lamanites they brought back. It was interesting to read a quote by Columbus and see that he was clearly guided by the holy ghost to the Americas.

Dad- I loved the conference talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. I liked it so much I burned it and we used it in one of our Zone meetings. It was amazing to feel the spirit so strong while he spoke.

This week I have been traveling a lot due to intercambios. I feel like the missionaries in the south were a little bit more on top of it but I imagine that we can help raise the level here. I went on cambios to one piso and it was filthy. I spent most the time cleaning and then told them to stay in one morning and clean. They don't understand how important it is. The spirit was not there and we have to have the spirit to plan and study. Those things determine how well and effective we work in the streets. They are like the backbone and its crucial.

I also did cambios with the APs (assistants to the president) and that was way fun because I got to sit down with President for an hour and just talk to him about the Zone of Badalona and hear some stories from his mission. I told him about cambios to the dirty piso and he said hopefully they heeded your counsel because I will be doing surprise interviews there next week. We also talked about another missionary in the Zone who does not seem to want to be here. It makes me sad and I have been praying to know what to do. He is serving with Elder Monks and I also worry for him because he is a newer missionary. I hope he can stand up to the challenge. We will be doing intercambios with them this week after conference to try and help. I have never seen a missionary ike this with such a bad attitude. It seems like he is here to just get it off his check list.

Good news is that our area is exploding. We have found 15 some people to teach since I've been here and 2 of them are going to be baptized the 31st. They are two kids from Bolivia and there parents were less active. Well now the whole fam is coming to church and doing much better. The whole zone is doing well and we are seeing a ton of miracles. We should see a lot of baptisms. I also talked to President about the decrease in Missionaries we are seeing here and he said we might change the Badalona Zone boundaries and add 10 more companionships. We don't know whats going to happen for sure but Elder York and I won't be companions next transfer which I am sad about. I hope to become District leader because I enjoyed that a lot and would like to be in my area more time to focus on the people. It seems like I'm hardly here. Well all is well, thanks so much for the package. Another Christmas idea is Muddy Buddies! I love those things. You could even just send the chex mix and I could make them. I need the recipe as well. Love you all have a great week!

Elder Gogarty

Logan Badalona - Week 1

2009-10-19T06:47:00.000-07:00

Thanks Mom and Jenny for your letters! I got them my last day in Murcia. If any other letters arive in Murcia Elder Flores will foward them to me so no worries.

This week has been crazy and I dont know where to start. I am loving Badalona minus the huge hills. My butt will most defiently be well toned along with my legs upon arrival in the US. It has to be worse than San Fransico. We have to literally climb some of them, but I am thankful for the workout and the good night sleep. The piso is a little run down but I am going to paint it and fix it up a little bit. The view is absouletly incredible. I see a lot of the Mediterranean sea and some famous sites in Barcelona like pickle building and La Sagrada Familia.

We actually found a exersice bike this week and carried it a mile across the city over and down the hills to put it on our balcony. Now I can work out while watching sailboats on the ocean and the sun rising and setting. Its very beautiful. I have also enjoyed living with such great people: Elders York, Petersen, and Close. Elder Close is actually a nephew of the President. Things are going well with all of them and it has been a pleasure living with them.

Oh there is an Elder Burton here who I met at a Zone leader meeting and he said his cousin is in your guy's ward, Do you know and Elder Burton?

It was great this week for Concillio meeting with all the zone leaders. We talked about what we want to change and add or quitar de la mission. Elder York and I dominated the counsel and we made some changes that I have always wanted. I have thought about better ways to do things the whole time I ve been here and we were able to dicuss and vote, hopefully bettering the mission as an end result. Elder York and I led the whole meeting and got exactly what we wanted. I am somewhat sad I want be here long to enjoy some of the changes but also happy I was able to participate and change some of the things I couldnt understand before. For example the jacket rule has been changed and each set of Zone leaders are in charge of when they go on and off. There were many changes and they are great changes.

On Sautrday Anotio the Spanish man's baptism that I missed called me and said how well his baptism went and expressed thanks. It was super good to get the call and made missing the baptism ok. The work here is going well and I am excited to see all the succuess that will occur. We are working with alot of people and since I've gotten here we have found 8 new people to teach/baptize. The ward is super great as well and I know that the converts will be comfortable and be able to plant their roots in the rich soil. The Bishop is on top of it and the members as well.

Everything is going well and I am enjoying the north. They speak Catlan here which is quite different. I can understand but I am going to study a little bit so I can carry on a conversation. It's an instant acces to the Spanish people's hearts. Today we are going to the staute of Colon (or Colombus) to celebrate Colombus day. I will send pictures next week.

Love you all

Elder G

Buisness
Please send address labels. I would also like to apply to a few school for next fall so I have options open. I was thinking ASU, CSU, BYU P and UNR university of neveda Reno what do you think dad?

¡Bautismo!‏

2009-10-08T07:51:00.000-07:00

Hey we had the baptism tonight and it went very well. It was short and we were able to focus on the importance of the ordinance and not get carried away in all that other garbage.

I'm headed north!

2009-10-08T07:50:00.000-07:00

Hey I´ll be catching an early train to Badalona which is right next to Barcelona. There I will probly finish the mish.
My new address will be

Elder Gogarty
C/ Pau Picasso
10-12,9,1
08914 Badalona (España)

Dont think you can just wait till I get home to talk to me. I still lack 5 months! Love you all!

Logan - Murcia Week 12

2009-10-08T07:40:00.000-07:00

10.6.2009
Hey thanks Sarah for finally writing me and Mom for your letters!

A lot has happened as always this week. The biggest news is that I am getting transferred. I was shocked at where I am going and who I'll be with. It's almost too good to be true. I will be going to Badalona tomorrow at 6 my train leaves. Badalona is located a little bit North of Barcelona. From our piso you can see the ocean. I stayed there when we went up to a meet a few weeks ago and sent a picture of the sunset. I will be living with Elder Petersen which I am really excited about because we are good friends. My Comp will Be Elder York from California who is 26 almost 27. He already has his masters and is a great kid. We came in together at the same time and got along really well. We even joked about serving as Zone Leaders together. I cant believe its happening. We will have a super mature piso and thats exactly what I need.

The other good news is that Elder Monks my hijo will be moving to the same zone so we will be able to do intercambios and stuff still. He will be riding up with me tomorrow. I got special permission to leave tomorrow because Armando our Spanish friend is getting baptized tonight! He has asked me to baptize him so I asked if I could stay an extra day with Elder Monks. I am super happy to see him make such a huge step. I was worried because in church the ward mission leader came up to me and said "I can't even come to the baptism because of work. I feel like hes just going to get wet and go inactive"... and a bunch of other tontarias (silly or dumb things) as we say in Spanish. I felt bothered and annoyed and realized that he doesn't know the kid as well as I do and its not my fault he doesn't know him. He hasnt talked to him when he's come to church or come with us to citas and so I can see why it just looks like he is getting baptized out of nowhere. Anyway I was worried about the whole thing but I said a prayer asking God to let me know if he was ready and if this was the day. I talked to Armando very boldly and had him promise me he was going to do his hardest to live the commandments and come to church every Sunday. He said yes and did great on the interview and that's when the spirit confirmed to me that he was ready. I am very excited and there will only be me my comp a counselor form the bishopric and Amandos gf who is a member at the baptism. He is very timid and didn't want anyone there. I am excited for him.

The hardest part about leaving is that Anotonio our other Spanish friend will be getting baptized the 10 the and I am going to miss it. He is so ready and has been the best convert I have ever worked with. I am sad I will miss his baptism but excited that hes doing it. His programs and everything are already made. He will be a leader in the church here in Spain.

I was feeling it was about time for me to go here this whole week so I had been doing laundry and getting ready. I ve been in the south too long. I even have there thick accent. The members say I speak like a murciano which is not necessarily a good thing. They like it but I had no choice it has just rubbed off on me. I tend to cut my ssss and blend my D´s and O´s even. I am also going to really miss all the Elders and Hermanas in this zone. I have grown really close to all them and its sad I have to leave now. One Elder was impressed I knew his family and gfs name etc after only visiting with him one time and its something I learned from Dad, caring about someone enough to remember names. They really notice the difference. I loved conference and had specific questions beforehand that were each answered. I had also recently studied the majority of scriptures used and felt very prepared. I love the talk my Russell M. Ballard about the sons and Fathers. I was sad I was sitting with you dad but realized I will be home for next conference. Many other amazing things have happened this week but there is no time to explain them. Dad I am super happy to hear about the surfboards in California that is great news and saves so much money. I cant believe how many times you guys have been to cali in the last two years! Ridiculous! Love you all, Elder G

Logan - Murcia Week 11

2009-09-30T21:15:00.000-07:00

9.28.09

Thanks Emily for the package ! it was great!

This week has been a n eventful one. Tuesday I went down to Lorca to do intercambios with my Hijo Elder Monks and we had a great time. We got to teach some of my recent converts from Rumania and I got to do an baptismal interview for one of their kids that ahs recently moved here. I sent a picture of the family last week. Then while we were teaching we set a baptismal date with one of their brothers and they both got baptized on thursday. I wasnt able to make it becasue we had a meeting with the stake president but its been great helping this family come into the church. I was also shocked durning the interview at how much rumano I remembered. I was able to say the gospel words in his language which helped a lot so he could understand it better. I had to learn them when I was teaching their parents.
We also had to run to the train station at midnight becasue Herman Hinckley had left her purse on the trian with all her passport, money , etc. They hadnt gotten off in Murcia and then called us as soon as they found out. We booked it down to the station and luckily beat the trian there. Then we jumped aboard and searched for the purse and amazingly found it under sombodys seat. It was a mircale we found it and were able to get off before the train went to its next destination. I will admit I was half way tempted to just stay on the train and end up in the beach city of Aguilas for the night, unfourtantly the spirit said NO.
I also met someone from Egypt this week and it was fun to learn about their culture a little bit. He lived right next to the pryamids and loves to break dance. Today we are going to go out to his house and he is going to teach us some moves. He is an incredibly good break dancer. He does back flips and lands on its head all in style.
We had to teach a Zone meeting I pretty much had to teach zone meeting but it went well anyway despite the lack of prepatation from my comp. I felt very guided in what we were to talk about it and strongly felt it was what we needed. We talked a lot about gratitude and watched alittle bit of confrence. We also focused on the why of things. I wanted them to see the real goal which is Gods goal moses 1.39 and not get so caught up in the 20 in houses. I still encouraged the 20 in houses I just wanted to help them see why. We also talked about love being the motivator and not anything else. It was amazing preparing for it becasue during the week little parts were just kind of revelaed to me its hard to explain but I think you get the point.
We set a baptismal date with a 22 yr old who is Catalan. They are the hardest type of Spainard to baptize. They are like the Texas of the states. They think Catalunya is its own country and have their own language an everything. We had been teaching him and we were going about it very carefully. Usually I emention adn commit to baptism in the firt lesson but him we waited till the third or 4th. Finally I felt the holy ghost tell me that it was time and how I should go about it. After explaining the Dia de reposo and sharing one of dads sotries the spirit was strong and the question came to my mind that I should ask him. I said would you like to be a member of the church and he said yes. It was as easy as that. Then I said we will hold your baptismal service next week at this time. He said sounds great and I promised him blessing and told him that he was ready. It was a great experience.
Well I have written quite a lot this week. We did do service with Bill and Fran the English member couple like we do every week. Good news is that I fixed their pool with my fiber glass work and I will be remembered forever the other great news is that I leanred a new road rage english phrase. The following is to be shouted with an english accent ¨Put some wally on it why dont you!¨ Or ¨Oh please put your clock down¨I asked him where these come from and they refer to wallingtion boots so but your boot down or wally down and the other is when they use to wear clockers. Put your clock down. Wow this letter was long sorry love you all

Elder G

Logan - Murcia Week 10

2009-09-23T09:44:00.001-07:00

9.20.09

Thanks Ashley T, Elder Petersen, Mom, and Grandpa Gogarty for the letters.

Well this week has been really good. I now cary more then a year and half in the mission which is pretty incredible. I thought about it all day and dont even know where the last 6 months wents. I set goals and made plans to ensure a few things happen before I go home, knowing that this last six months will be just a blink of the eyes. The night of my 1 year 6 months I had a dream I was home and its the first dream I have had being home which was really weird. It made me even more motivated to get things done here these last 6 Months.
The big news is that gregorio was fianlly baptized. He was the guy I worked with a lot in Lorca. Elder Wrthen and I went down for the baptism and were able to be the testigos for the baptism and share our testimonies after. It was so great to see all the memebers from there I felt right at home and didnt want to leave. I ll be going down again on tuesday for intercambios with my hijo which will be fun. We showed up 45 mins late to the baptism but they had started almost a half an hour late. So there were still people showing up after us...unbelievable. One family that showed up late had a little girl that was always terrified of elder Worthen. She is a little balck girl and always cried and ran away form him. Well right as the family came in the door Emma the girl recognized him, started balling and they had to run out with here. I couldnt believe she still recognized him from over 6 months ago. The best part of being there was seeing people that we had baptized now with their families non-members that have a dates to be baptized. There was also an investigator I had been working with and he was there with his whole family. It was great to see fruit from the work done there. I thought the few baptisms I had were the fruit but those people have now brought other people into the church and it felt satisfying to be there with them. All I ever want is to see is results and feel effective so it was a great trip down there.
The weather finally permits us to sleep under our blankets which is nice. Its been months now sleeping on top. The good weather makes everyday more enjoyable. I love this time of year. I wish I was in the mountains to see the leaves change but I know I ll be there next year.
We also got a new ward mission leader which is great because the last one was is less active and I was just trying to get him to come to church before helping us missionarys. This new change should help pick things up even more here. We have a lot of people so close to getting baptized. THis week we also got 20 lessons in house with Investigators and Less Actives. That is what Preisdent wants everyone doing.
I have been preparing for the Zone meeting we have to give tommorrow and at first I had no clue what to teach but it was intresting to see it all come togther this morning. It seemed like durning the week I was revelaed little bits and parts and I jotted those ideas down, then this morning I said a prayer and the lesson came togther perfectly. I am excited to teach it. I love being an instrument in Gods hands.
The enlgish family are members Dad, oh and I had intercambios with and Elder From Italy who is 25 and it was super fun. We get along well and he told me he has a ducati motorcyle waiting for me in Italy. He wants to get rid of it. Too bad I cant drive it home! How much does it cost to ship?

Love you all!

Elder G

I was going to send pics but this comp is garbage. Dad I talked with my friends about a surf trip and they sounded exciting. The problem is that their spring break ends the week I come home. Is a surf trip important enough to come home a few days early? lol Love ya !

Logan - Murcia Week 9

2009-09-15T20:25:00.000-07:00

9.14.09

Thanks Mom and Jess for your letters!

Aaron Happy B-Day!

Well not a whole lot happened last week. We had zone confrence and that went well. the President re-stressted teaching 20 lessons in house each week to Investigators and less actives. That has been going well and almost everyone in the zone is acheiving that goal. The best part of confrence was the testimony meeting at the end. I really love sharing my testimony. I believe that is how I found it to begin with and everytime I share it I feel so much growth. Durning my testimony I felt so much joy and gratitude for this oppurtuinty I have to be here. I have had some of the best days of my life here in Spain. The holy ghost has helped me to feel even happier then I have ever felt before and it makes everything worth it. Another brightside of confrence was that Jeanette and Gustavo my recent converts form Elche showed up and suprised me durning lunch. I didnt eat anything because we were just talking the whole time. It was great to see and hear how well they are growing in the Gospel. They told me about their callings and their family and just how much the gospèl has blessed them. It was a great booster to me. Knowing that God was able to use me to help them.
The hardest part of my week was yesterday listening to the bishop tell me stories from his misison for over an hour when I was planning on talking to him for 5 mins. It was a good bonding moment? but I really wanted to eat lunch. He told me he was the best missionary there evere was and his misison President had even told him so. Then he exhorted me to try and be as good as him etc. He kept asking me things like do you want to know how many baptisms I had? etc. I just kept saying wow how many did you have wow thats great I am proud please let me get out of here. I just wanted the names of some less active families to pass by and it turned into an ordeal. Anyways not much else has happened. Oh we did have a memeber preaching in front of our church with a sign on that said beware the third easter is coming or somthing like that. He was handing out material and has been confused on the doctrince. you cant blame him because he has been baptized in every church including islam. Anyway we got him to take it off and come in and listen.
Everything else is goign well. I painted the fiberglass work I did last week in the pool. I sure hope it dosent leak after all the work I did. If it does leak I pray that ia m transfered by the time they find out. I do like eating with the English people because its fun to learn their phrases. I love you all! Have a great week and dont forget to write me

Elder G

Logan - Murcia week 8

2009-09-07T08:41:00.001-07:00

9.7.09

Thanks Jordan, Mom, and Jessica for your letters!

Well this week has been another eventful one. I was a testigo or a witness in a wedding which was intresting. It was not how I want my wedding to be but nevertheless I am glad the couple are now living in line with the commandments and can be Baptized. I mentioned this family before to you guys in Lorca I had done a lot of work so they could get married. I traveled to offices, got papers, talked to Ecuador etc. I was sad to leave Lorca because they still hadnt been baptized due to documents but, finally everything came and we were able to be a part of it anyway. Its was a neat experience to be with Elder Worthen and Monks who had both helped me teach them and now we finally get to see the fruit from our Labors. We were all witnesses in their make shift wedding and they will be baptized the following week here in Murcia.
The wedding went somewhat like this. We waited in a huge line with other southamericans smoking and wearing skanky clothing. Then the very pleasent lady at the end of the hall looked over the documents, asked some questions, stamped some papers and then said somthing like if you want you can kiss the women. Gregorio then looked at his wife and hesitated for like a minute making it super akward. It looked like he was deciding whether or not he wanted to kiss her. Then after that they thow a handful of rice in your face and you walk out the other door. I felt bad for being dressed better then the groom.
We also did some service for the Emglish people and that was fun? I had mentioned before how I was going to fiberglass their pool and I was a little worried about not knowing how to do it. I made it look like I knew what I was doing and it came out ok. The worse part was that there was still water in the bottom of the pool that was stale and grose and to add to that the resin for the fiberglass would leak off the walk into the water and then burn my legs. So my legs are still sticky today I will need a knife to cut the fiberglass from my skin. All is well in Zion.
My comp and I seem to get along ok? I miss Elder Petersen and I dont miss being Mr Mom. I hate having to tell everyone what to do. Hey today we have to get up just like we ve been doing for the last year. Hey its time to go to bed, do I have to look at the clock and take you to bed or can you read it and figure it out for yourself. OK sorry for the venting but thats how it is. I wont go into details but I hate playing that role. With little kids it would be fine because they dont know any better and they are cute but 20 yr old babies its not as fun. He also seems to never think of anything in advance which is the oppisite of me. durning lunch I am thinking of what I will need for the night and whats things will need to happen and how I can make it happen. With him its more like hey you dont have money for the bus again and I asked you before we left and you said you did. Alright I am sorry for the pouting. He is a great kid and there is obviously somthing I need to learn from him because this is the second tiem serving with him and that dosent happen often. Maybe I just need more patience.
Spiritual highlights of the week was taking one of our investigators that is a 75 Yr old spanish lady to church. Elder Diego Flores from Casa grandes came with me to pick her up because my comp was still getting ready. She is in a wheel chair so we pushed her to church and had a great visit on the way. She loved church and I hope we can help her shake her old Catholic ways. Our other SPanish Inv. Antonio is still getting abptized and is strong in the Gospel. He asks great questions a lot of them being the same ones I had. Its been nice to talk deep doctrine with him and teach some intresting things I have learned and never thought I would need. Most people you just barley skim the surface but him we go deep. The Gospel is simple but as you study an live it you gain a better understanding and it has deeper menaing. Well I have said way to much. I love and miss you all.

Love Elder G

Logan - Murcia Week 7

2009-08-31T12:01:00.000-07:00

8.31.09

Thanks Aunt Laura and Mom for the letters. It was also fantastic to hear from Nick, Ethan, and Reese this week. Where is Aaron?

Dad, Fire him if he continues to not write me...

Well the week has most definetly been an eventful one. Wednesday night we traveled to Alicante and I slept on the Balcony of some other missonarys piso. Thursday we then rode first class to Barcelona and were feed breakfeast. We got to Barcelona super early so we were able to see a ton of the sights and I really enjoyed my time there. I really like the city and learning a little better about all the history it has. Thursday night we watched the Sunset in Badalona which is where my old comp moved. We stayed in his piso and the sunset and rise were amazing from the 9th floor overlooking the ocean. The meeting we had with the Zone Lords and President went really well and I was shocked at some of the changes he is making. I felt the spirit confirm the changes and am very excited for the new direction the mission is taking. He is giving us a lot more slack and trusts us a lot. He wants us to start using our talents to bless the work more. Like by doing free guitar lessons etc. We have alos stopped counting and reporting contacts which is huge. We use to have to talk with 15 random people everyday and contact them by giving them the name of the church and seeing if they wanted to learn more. He wants us to continue doing contacts but also find more effective ways to find people. He says it dosent matter how many people you tlak to every week but how many investigators you find. I was so excited to hear some of these thigns because they were thoughts I have had.
I m afraid a lot of us feel like robots and just wait to be told what today and now The new president wants us to to what works best and think out of the box. Its greta and I am excited to see where it takes us.
An Elder that recently finsished the mission came back and was staying here is Murcia so him and his Mom invited us to drinks at the 5 start hotel they were staying at. It was way nice and we 2 spanish B ball players that play for the Lakers and the Grizzles. We felt cool as we walked past all the guards at the front of the hotel and when we walked out there were people camped all over the side walk taking pictures.
RIght now our area is going well and we are teaching a ton of spanish people which is unheard of. Antonio is already so strong and will be baptized the 19th. I m super excited. We also had a good lesson with an older Spanish Couple and at the end we read the Moronis Promise and then prayed togther paying attention to our feelings. It was amazing how we felt the spirit and received an answer so quickly. We hope to get them baptized but they have a harder time making it to church due to old age. Well everything is going well. I am getting along alright with the old/new comp. We also are living with a kid thats hald mexican and he is from Casa Grandes which is crazy because Ive ben there. It was funny talking to him because we actually know some of the same people. Well That is plenty for today, Love and miss you all.

elder G

Logan - Murcia Week 6

2009-08-26T20:36:00.000-07:00

8.23.09

Thanks Dane and MInette, Jess, Mom, and the Schamels for your letters. Yes the address is correct and I have received letters there. The postal code is 30009

Well the biggest news is that my comp Elder Petersen has been transferred. We were both really sad because he has become one of my best friends. I enjoyed everyday with him and we never once argued over anything. He will be opening an area and training a new missionary for the last 3 months of his mission. We have talked about going to byu I-do and I was hoping that someone could register me for the summer semester. I at least want that door open, however I haven’t made any concrete decisions.
My new companion is that new lol I have already served with him in Lorca. Elder Worthen was called as Zone leader and we arrived this morning. I am excited to work with him and to better our relationship. Murcia has been a hub for missionaries traveling this transfer and I have already made 4 trips to the train station on the other side of the city. Yesterday we had to get up at 4 30 and drag luggage all the way across the city. It was delightful.
The other big news is that Antonio one of out investigator excepted a baptismal date and will be baptized the 5th of Sep. He is Spanish which will the first Spaniard I´ve baptized. He will be a great leader in the church. He already has such a strong testimony and I m excited to hear from him in the future. He is 26 yrs old.
I have been frustrated lately work with the bishopric. They don’t appreciate anything we do and always try and correct us or tell us how to do our job and that’s never fun to hear after working hard all week. They haven’t even read PMG and it’s hard for me to `just listen to them. Needless to say we are trying to combine our efforts and bring about more good here in Murcia. They just don’t have a lot of unity and their meetings are them just arguing about nonsense. My mind can’t even handle ineffectiveness and that’s all they do. I like to pin out the problem, brain storm, pray and then follow through with a plan and fix the problem. Anyways maybe I ll be able to learn something from them.
I translated for an English man during the High Priest meeting and I am not sure I ever want to be a high priest after attending that meeting. I won’t go into details but it did test my testimony lol jk
Well that is all for this week. The weather is becoming tolerable and the work is going amazingly. God has really blessed me with new ideas and approaches that have advanced the work here and I am grateful to be that instrument. My love for these people has become immense and the feeling indescribable, it motivates me to keep working hard.

Love you all

Elder G

Logan - Murcia Week 5

2009-08-17T15:23:00.001-07:00

8.15.09

Thanks Aunt Laura, Gabby, and Grandpa for your letters!

Well a few amazing things have happened this week and I will start with those stories. Lately like I mentioned before we have been visiting all the memebers and gaining their confidence by teaching powerful lessons and then making a plan with them about how they can help us in the work. We have set goals with almost every family of bringing either one less active person or family and or one INvestigaor or family of investigators to the church. This has proved to be incredibly effective. Yesterday I counted 15 Less active in Church that have been rescued through this strategy! We visit each pueblo or small outskirt city once a week and have a family night with everyone that lives close. Non memebers, less actives, and active memebrs. We are seeing a ton or results and have a ton of people to teach.
Yesterday at church Lorca ( my previous area) was also mentioned as a miracle story durning church. They have to expand the building because they have doubled in numbers over the last few months. I felt like I was a big part of that and it makes me happy to know that its still growing and the memebers have caught the idea.
As for the work here things are just going incredibly right now. We are recieving refrences like crazy and finally I think we will have a spanish baptism. We should be seeing the date this week so I will let you know how it goes. Hes about our age and dating a member from our ward.
Confrence was last week and it was funny to see how relaxed the new president was. He put on a slide show of spanish clips and we all sang vive españa togther. I was shocked but it was a nice change. I felt so comfortable around him and that was a nice change as well.
The new piso is great and it has made such a huge change! IT has so much more light and makes studying so much more effective. I cant believe how much the old one was effecting me. I am glad we got out of there. I dont understand why some people think the mission has to be a survival camp. I want to punch the elders that even signed the contract for the old piso. I dont even like going into the neighborhood where the old one is. Anyways we are much happier now. Oh and last wednesday we did service witht the english couple which I always enjoy. First of all I always to to pray us safely there because the man dirve like a lunatic. We went 180 km which is about 111 mph in his car. Whihc he was shouting crazy english things like ¨ohh do behave ¨ I do enjoy the accent but the almsot dieing part not so much. We were seriously burning out around turns and the man is in his 70s. I wonder if he even realize what hes doing sometimes. When we ot there we had a nice afternooon working in their fruit orchard and then sat up as they say in england to a nice mela of Curry which was fantastic. Well I have said plenty. I hope all is going well. I am happy to be here and love being guiding in so many ways everyday by the spirit. Its amazing what can happen as we put all we have into one thing especially with the help of the Lord. Have agreat week

Love

Elder G

Logan - Murcia Week 4

2009-08-10T09:06:00.001-07:00

8.9.09

Thanks Audrey, Ashley, and Mom for your letters!

Where do I start.... Today my head is kind of spinning beacause we have been moving out of the old piso and into the new one. The new flat is way nice. Its a first floor flat looking over the park,it has AC (which is rare in Spain) and is super new and clean. I am very pleased with it and it also is the same price. I am super glad I wouldnt put up with the crappy living conditions and that we were able to find a better place for the same price. I dont know if I told you about the old piso but it was horrible. There are so many buy and the walls are molding and the texture is just crumbly off. I took some video of it so you can see. As I was going through the checklist of things that the landlady said there was I could hardly find anything and just thought of all the stupid missionaries that had broken and thrown away things that were hers. We will defienetly not get back the security deposit.
As for the way of missionary work things are going incredibly well. We have been visiting all the members and winning their confidence. In every small city outside of murica we have been holding bbqs and Family nights at one members hosue and then inviting everyone that lives in that pueblo. Its really effective and we got some less actives in church yesterday because of it.
Yesterday we were visiting someone and it was just after we had finished eating and it was hot. As this guy was talking to us my eye lids just got so heavy and next thing I know I am waking up. I dont know how long I was out for but when I woke up I looked over at my comp to make sure he was listening and to my suprise he was sleeping too. lol then I looked at the man and he was still talking as if nothing had happened. I dont think he is very good at reading body language. lol
The only other exciting news is that I met a member who surfs and is from brazil. We hit it off quickly and he says we can take a surf trip to brazil whenever we want and he has family that will give us free housing and food. They live on one of the best beaches in Brazil.l You might have to look into plane tickets Dad. Oh I loved the pic of Brenna in canada that is the best pic I hva e seen in a long time. Ia m excited to get the card. ç
Well that is all, I am getting along super will with Elder Petersen and enjoying the heat. I just have to make it through Augusto. I ve enver sweat some much in my entire life. Hope all is well I love and miss you all.

ELder G

Logan - Murcia Week 4

2009-08-04T08:04:00.000-07:00

8.3.09

Thanks Lis, Mom, and Jenny for your letters! Mom thanks for the package! Well somehow Dads email got lost so I wasnt able to read that which is a bummer but I am hoping you can send it to me via mail this week maybe urgent. Things are going very well here In murcia and yesterday we had a great success with the ward memebers who ahred their testimonies about missionary work. The ward is changing and we are seeing the benefits. We found 7 new people to teach last week and all them came from references. Things are now picking up and we have 4 people that will be recieving baptismal invitations this week. Its been fun to see the change within such short time. We have been visitng all the members and exciting them about the missioanry work and have started teaching a lot of their friends. this week we had a zone meeting and I felt strengthed through the Holy Ghost as we taught. I was super nervous but it went really well and I think it hit home with everyeone. The Zone as a whole did great last week and things are continually progressing. We have been eating with memebers a lot but when we are at home I have been bettering my cooking skills. I learned a lot of spanish plates last week and they came out super well. I am excited to cook for you guys when I get back. Sorry I cant think of much more to say. Main things are that the ward has completly changed and warmed up to us and we are now busy teaching alot instead of walking around in the streets. I like work effectively especially in this heat. I am glad to be here and so thankful for all the things I m learning. Elder Petersen is great and everyday is just a blast. Love and miss you all Much Amor Elder G

Logan - Murcia Week 3

2009-07-28T05:48:00.001-07:00

7.26.09

Hey thanks to the Hepworths, Kayli, and Laura for the letters!

Things have been crazy here lately! With the new calling came lots of travleing. I have been in all the surrounding cities last week and we took an 8 hour train ride to Barcelona for a meeting witht the President. This morning I was in Lorca figuring out more residency stuff and I think I am finally actually legal. It has been such a mess. Last week the Lwyer called me and said I might be going to TX to finish but today our last chance in Lorca was a miracle. The lady didnt look at the exp date on the paper and I detered a few questions that almost got me caught.
This week we visited a family from ENgland and I loved their accent. We drove in his car which had the steering wheel on the right side which made thigngs intresting. He also trusted too much in his ABS system on the car and was hitting cornerers way too fast, I thought we were going to die. He would then yell at people english phrases witha thich accent things like ¨Oh bloody heavens Sir, Get out of my way, Thank you lad, have a good day¨ I enjoyed are time with them. WE have already seem to have a lot of succes with the ward. We have been pushing missionary work. We are visiting all the members and reading parts of the bring souls to me confrence talk and then inviiting them to have a missioanry experience and share it in testiomny meeting. We literally had no investigators when I got here but through refrence this week we have found 5 and three of those 5 want to get baptized. Things are going well.
This morning while we were in Lorca we broke into my Old piso and scared teh other Elders really bad it was super funny. What else is going on....We have been hunting cockroaches a lot in our house and battling them. they are winning. This week they submerged from the toliet water. We have found a new piso and should be moving the 15th of August. Dont worry about the mail you can keep sending it to the same address. Sorry I dont have more time. Everythign is going well. We are working hard and seeing lots of miracles here right now. It was also 123 degrees last week...ya I know tell me about it. Love you all have a great week

Elder G

Logan - Murcia Week 2

2009-07-25T14:25:00.000-07:00

7.20.09

Thanks Mom, Kayli, Grandpa for your letters that came this past week! Well as you all know by now I am in Murcia and the farewell party in Lorca got a bit out of hand. The day I left everyone came to the train station with gifts and such and I am glad they liked me so much but I am turning into the old man and dont like making a big deal out of things. I did get some nice shirts from the youth which was nice. As Zone Lord I am mean leader everything is going super well. My companion is amazing and I have already learned so much from him Elder Petersen from reno Neveda. I read an artice about renos kayak course that was recently put in so I have an excuse to go visit him after the mish. He has 4 months left and I have 8. One experience I had this week was while visiting a member that is taking care of some handicapped people. We watched general confrence with her and I was super tired from the heat and eneded up falling asleep on the couch. I woke up to one of her handicapped kids screaming and kicking through the door where we were. It was terrifying I thought I was having a nightmare becasue when I woke up I didnt know where I was at. Luckily we were able to finish the lesson without getting beat up by the crazy girl. She was screaming though and knocking things down in the other room. We had to just kind of get up and leave the poor lady with those crazy kids. I think I have almost seen it all I think, knock on wood.The ward here seems kind of blah but I assume that is why I am here. I kind of had a vision yesterday durning Sacrament of what needs to happen here and I hope to do just that. We can not do it without the members and so this week and next we will be visiting all of them and Daremos la caña or in other words give them the cane. I am sick of excuses like¨I dont know anyone, or they dont want it¨We are going to talk about 1 nephi 17 with the questionin mind of what can God not do ? And have miracles ceased among the childern of men? If they have its because of our lack of faith. We are going to talk about miracles from the scriptures and then ask them if they think God and help them with their friends as we show fatih and Diliigence throught working witht them. If every memeber would do their job of being amisisonary the church would double within months I gurantee. I felt the spirit a lot yesterday and felt like this is the direction we need to go here in Murcia. We have to get everyone going because its not effective for ous to walk around in the street all day. One perk of the new calling is this week we will be going to Barcelona for a meeting with President. We get to eat a few meals and have meeting for two days so that should be fun. I also want to take time to see some sight sin Barc while we are there. I am glad I ve been called as Zone leader it was really what I need right now in my Mission. It has helped me get more focused and not worry about just myself. I was kind of feeling like I had things mastered last transfer and it was the same stuff day after day and so I am excited for the new challenge and responsability. Well I love you all and miss you. Elder G

Logan - Murcia Week 1

2009-07-17T20:59:00.000-07:00

7.12.09

Thanks Mom, jess, Maureen, Ashley T, Lynn, and Jordan for your letters!

Well first big news is that I ve been called as Zone Leader for Murcia Zone. I was pretty suprised but almost expecting it at the same time. I was most suprised that I wont even be changing zones. I ll be taking an hour train today up to my new crib. It will be nice to be close because I lll be able to do intercambios and visit Lorca and keep up on all the investigators here. One of the people we are teaching wants me to come down to baptize him in a few weeks, so that will be nice as well.
The branch was pretty sad I was leaving. I would have rather just snuk away quietly but we visited everyone, and one of the families was crying which made it kind of akward for me becasue I wasnt. I had been working with their 14 yr old son a lot and they were sad to see me go but My comp will keep things going here. Everyone wrote me letters which were nice to read because they expressed thanks for the things we ve accomplished here. It was nice to recieve that kind of reward so to say. Sometimes it feels like your doing everything and no one notices so the letters really lifted me up.
Today the members are going to come see me off at the train staion and I have to keep reminding everyone that I ll be back and I am only moving an hour away. Its hard to just say bye with a hand shake becasue I really do feel so much love for all of them. They have become family and made me feel so comfortable here. I have enjoyed working with the youth the most. They have a lot more enthusiasm and be freind new people so much better then the adults here. We also have been working with the youth outside of the church. While I was gone last week some punk kids tried to thorw rocks at my comp and the other misisonary he was with. Today we saw him and Elder MOnks recognized who it was and so I just started chasing them but it was hard because i was in flip flops. Luckily they got away but I wanted to teach them a lesson as well, but not the kind you start with a prayer.
So I will be in Murcia an hour south and its actually hotter then Lorca Yeah! THats the only thing I didnt like about here but oh well. I ll try not to complain about wearing a tie, pants, collar, shoes in 100 plus degree weather while everyone else is in bathing suits. Maybe I need to learn how to not complain lol. Well everything is going well, I am going to make people call me Zone Lord instead of ZOne leader I think its a lot more fitting jk lol. My comp Will be elder Petersen from Reno NV and he is a great kid I am really excited about that. The hardest thing for me to leave is the shower. I took one last bath/shower today it is the only shower that has any pressure on the east coast of spain and I am going to miss it. While taking the bath I also imagined I was in the ocean and did some duck dives through the waves which is always fun. I ve already been to the Murcia Piso and the shower is horrible but hey things could be alot worse. I remember mexico showering with a bucket and cup. Well I have rambeled enough. love you all

My new Address is as follows

Elder Gogarty
Plaza profesor Tierno Galvan
Edf. 11, Bajos D
Murcia 30009
España

Sarah please post it on my myspace account!
Befoer you send the package please put in Ear plugs and Labels for the new address. thanks!

Logan - Lorca Week 26

2009-07-08T10:59:00.001-07:00

7.6.09

Happy B-Day Mom and Brenna!
Emily are you going to be getting a new email soon?
Can someone get me Jesses email or physical Address?
Next week I ll be writing on tuesday the 14th due to transfers.
If you have anything to send me today is the last chance for the Lorca Address. If I leave it will be next week so make sure the mail to Lorca goes out today if there is any.

Well where do I start... We had a confrence in Alicante with the new President and it went very well. We almost got there late because the Zone leaders that have been in spain for almsot two years now still dont know how to read the train schedule. I was really suprised about that. My new comp has been taught and already knows how to see what times train leaves and when it changes due to weekends or festivos. Luckily we got there just in time and everything went well. President Hicnkley of course reminds me a lot of his Father in looks, voice and everything. It was nice to meet him and exciting to see how somthings will change.
Mom I read your letter about taking swim lessons I just want to let you know I am very proud. Keep up the Good work. Lately >I have been working out pretty hard morning mediodia and night and that keeps me sane. I feel like I have so much energry stored up and I cant get it out.
The highlight of my week was fasting and feeling the holy ghost strongly while I took the sacrament. Fasting has been one of the best parts of my mission. I recieve so much help through doing it the way its supposed to be done. I also felt like I recieved revelation over specific questions I had about some of the inestigators and now know how to help them better. The capilla was jammed packed and that made me content knowing that it wasent like that when I got here. I was sitting with 5 recent converts that have been baptized while I ve been here and then another 3 investigators. Its amazing to see the work grow so quickly. They will be expanded the building soon and I actually gave books of moromon to the contractors that came to measure it out.
One of our investigators is an 11yr old kid that comes to church all by himself, and he really impresses me. His drunk father is unfountanetly not letting him get baptized. WE talked to him about miracles and that God can do anything even changes his dads stubborn heart.
Sorry your not very updated on our investigators but I didnt know if anyone wanted to hear about that. We are teaching a ton of people and it would take a lot of time to get you updated. IF things go as planned we should have 4 more baptisms my last saturday here the 11th. I dont want to rush it though with any of theses people so I might be gone when they get baptized and put it off for one more week to ensure they understand everything. Its a miracle to see people converted to the Gospel. I have gained complete confidence over the promise in Moroni by seeing others recive the answer and by perosnally doing it everytime I doubt. I can tell the investigators I know its true God told me a few days ago, I asked him and this is how he answered he will answer for you I have no doubt.
Everything else is going well. I get along with my comp well and he is a good friend. for some comp study today I just let energy out and we fought for 30 mins. It was fun. I really want to just go do somthing fun but without breaking the rules that is very hard. We found out we cant ride bikes either by the way. When I get home I need to get some serious adrenaline rushs to make up for the lack there of. Speaking of that I would like it if someone could talk to the Maroneys for me about their sail boat and wind surfer and tell them that I will do work for them or buy them when I get back and to not get rid of them. Thanks ! Love you all and miss you. Send letters today if you have them and the 14th I could be writing from a new city. I will get the call bnext sunday. I want to leave just to get out of the heat and to help other peioplel I feel like I ve done all I can for a lot of these people and out of ideas. A new misisonary in here could see things differently and help people in ways I have not thought of. Love you all take care

Logan

Logan - Lorca Week 25

2009-07-05T16:52:00.000-07:00

June 30, 2009

Thanks Mom, Kayli, Jenny, The hepworths, and Sarah for your letters! Thanks Elder Carpenter (my trainer) or I guess now its Fletcher for your email it was good to hear from you !

Well first big news is that we had a baptism, it went really well and I always feel an incredible amount of joy that comes from the Holy ghost on those special days. I also felt wet because I was practically baptized as well. We had and French African who just recently recived the Priesthood peform the baptism. He did it african style and picked her off her feet and then African slammed her to the bottom of the font. In so doing a wave came from the font and soaked my shirt and tie. I actually enjoyed it and pretened I was surfing in the ocean. I confirmed her yesterday and church and it was as always a special experiance. We hope to have at least 4 more baptisms before I leave here.
Last P day we were in Aguilas my beach town that I like and we went up to the castle I ll send some pics. We realized that we had to catch the last bus that left in 30 mins and the station was at least that far away. We started jogging and I actually held out my thumb to try and catch a ride with someone because I knew if we didnt make it we would be sleeping on the beach. No one stopped but luckily we caught the bus just in time.
Yesterday in church I got to bless the sacrament with Angel our recent convert and then another one of our recent converts Javier passed it. It was a neat experiance and I was bery greatful to have been a part of their conversion experiance. Angel is preparing for the mission and will help keep the Branch alive in the mean time.
Dad I loved the Bike shop article I was way xcied to read it. I hope everything keeps going well there I would love to work there when I got back if you need me.
My comp answered the phone this week and the ward mission leade3r asked hime for the telefono of Blanca who is a member but blacna is also the color white in spanish, My comp said no our phone is black sorry we dont have a white telephone lol I thought that was funny. well not to much else going on I love and miss you all. I will be probly getting moved the 12th of july and will be writing email on the 14th. If you want to write snail mail make sure to send it no later then the 6th of July. Take care

Elder G

Logan - Week 24 Lorca

2009-06-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

6.22.09

Happy Fathers Day!

I recieved letters from ashley, Jess, Emily and Mom thank you very much

Well I got emilys camera card this week and that was very fun to see brenna and everyone. I also liked hearing about the surf comp. 2nd place dad thats way good. You guys better watch out next year though I ll be back!

Everything is going well here we actaully have two kids that want to get baptized but the parents wont let them. THe parents want them goingto church but wont come themselves, they told me that the kids need it but wont let them get baptized. Thats a little frustrating especially because the kids have really been converted. The One kid from Rumania told me about how he recieved his answer and what it felt like and said that he wants to get baptized and serve a mission like me but hes worried his parents wont ever let him. We will see what happens. I pray that things will change in the near future.
I had my first intercambios which is where we change comps and being Dl I am supposed to help them and their areas. I always thought they were kind of a waste of time but I wanted to actually have it make a differeance andI felt like it went really well. THey have been lacking on their contacts and I practiced and hleped the ELder with it a little bit and this week they did better then they ever had so that felt good to do somthing and see it work. I have three baptism interviews this week which will be intresting as well. I have never done oneof those before.
We have a baptism this Saturday and I am excitied about that and we will also have a couple being baptized after getting married the following week. My comp and I will actually get to be the witnesses for the wedding so that will be fun. I have been working with this family for a long time and I am glad I get to be here for their baptism that is finally goingto happen. I had to visiti offices in Murcia for them etc. to find out what they needed to do to get married. The husband has been truly converted and will be a great leader in the church.
Well not much else to say sorry this way kind of boring. EVerything is going well, its really hot and I hope and am pretty sure I will be getting moved to a new location in three weeks. We wills ee though because things could change witht the new president. We go to ALicante tommorrow for our last confrence with President Waddell. Then the following week again to Alicante to have one witht ht enew president. I miss you all and Love you. Send some pictures! I like how you play with brenna like a cat I think thats way funny. Have a greta day !

Much amor,

Elder G

Emily - Vigo LAST

2009-06-26T09:27:00.000-07:00

6.22.09

Hello my dear family...
Wow where do I start. I really cant believe that this is my last time writing an email from Spain. As you can imagine my emotions have been pretty wacked. Its hard to take all of this in. I had an absolutely fabulous final week in the mission. It will be impossible to tell you everything that happened this week but I will try to get in the best ones.
Yesterday we finally taught Diana and Arturo together. My last chance to share the 1st lesson was with them. Their store was opened but we all sat together behind the cash register on pink princess chairs. It was very hot and sunny yesterday so everyone was at the beach and we didnt have to many interruptions. We compared the apostles and prophet to a captain and his marinos in a boat. The prophet is like the captian and the apostles are his helpers but what happens if they get thrown over board and all of us are left on the boat? Some think we should go to the north, others think the south and some say we should stay put. Everyone is confused and we dont have anyone to guide us. That is exactly what happend after Christ and his apostles were rejected and killed. Everyone left in their own saftey boat and no one knew which was the right way to go until Joseph Smith was called as a prophet to restore the truth. I loved their comment after we finished teaching everything they said, "wow Ive never heard of this before, its very interesting." When they make a comment like that you KNOW that they understood the apostasy and restoration. Thats not even the best part...after I shared the first vision Arturo told us that "yo la habia vivido" like the message sounded familiar to him. He told us that has only happened one other time in his life. I told him very clearly that it was familiar to him because its true. He prayed at the end and I was almost in tears. He prayed for us that we would be able to share more with them and that more people would listen to the message. He prayed for his marriage and the store. I love hearing pure prayers. He really was talking to his Heavenly Father about what was going on in his mind. I asked them to pray together about the message. I left floating. Im going to write my testimony in a BOM and give it to them before I leave.
I think what I love most about them is that they arent ashamed to be with us at all. Everyone always sees us with Diana and they always ask her who we are. She tells them very clearly "son mis amigas de la Iglesia de Jesucriso de Los Santos de Los Ultimos Dias." We live right by their store so before they leave at night they timbre us and we wave to them as they drive off on their moto.
Because they took me out to eat American food we had to eat food from my companions country too. On Saturday they took us out to eat again for carne asada and it was delicious. We ate octopus as like the starter plate and I actually liked it. Wow they have really treated us well and I sure love them. They are coming to the tren station tomorrow to see me off. One day Im going to come back to Spain to see them sealed for eternity.
I stopped by to see Manuel and Ana yesterday to say bye. She made me arepas and oj one last time. They make me so sad. I bore my testimony to them of Jesus Christ and how through him we can be forgiven and forgive. They have so much hate in their hearts. I shared the verse in Matt that says love them that hate you and also the verse where Christ says forgive them because they dont know what they are doing. We suffer when we dont forgive more than the person that caused us pain. Ana´s eyes filled up with tears as I testified to her of the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that we can be forgiven and forgive and truly be healed. I want that so badly for them. Manuel told me that my time with him has had a positive effect on their lives. He said that he isnt sure where the force comes from but he felt a peace and happiness when he came to church. One day that man will learn to think with science and faith. As I left Ana came running out the door and gave me a big hug. I told her that I loved her. When I hugged her I realized that she doesnt get hugs. Im probably the only person that hugs her with true love in my heart. As she hugged me it felt like to me that she was starving for a hug. It was almost like she didnt know how to hug but she wanted so badly to know how. I pray with all of my heart that someday her circumstances will allow her to receive the gospel so that at some point in her life she can feel true joy and peace. Its amazing how even just a hug can help someone so much. She has also helped me realize to keep loving and keep trying even when it seems like they dont want it. Really the problem is they just dont know how to receive it. We keep loving and serving as Christ would.
On Friday the jovenes had a talent show and asked us to participate. We did the makarena with scarves tied around our waists. The Elders even danced with us and all of the members were laughing hysterically. Missionaries dont really know how to dance. I was laughing so hard through the whole thing because it made me realize how much of a WEIRDO Ive become.
We went to another church on Wednesday with an investigator. It was quite thee experience I tell you all about it later. I will say that Im grateful to know that the still small voice only can be heard when we are reverent.
Im so grateful for my mission. Im so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ. I want you all to know that I know without a doubt in my mind that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ. Throught the Prophet the truth was restored to the earth. I know that I am a representative of his church. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. Through prayer confusion with cease and we can find the truth.
I love you all so much. Thank you for helping me become a missionary. This experience has truly changed my life.
I guess I will see you in a couple days...cant believe it.
Love,
The Sister
HAPPY FATHERS DAY MY DEAR POPS! SORRY I CANT CALL. I GUESS I WILL JUST COME HOME AND SEE YOU INSTEAD AND GIVE YOU A BIG KICK IN THE PANTS.

Logan - Lorca Week 23

2009-06-15T13:37:00.000-07:00

6.14.09

Thanks Jenny, Jessica, Mom, Grandpa Gogarty and Emily for your letters this week. I get a lot more mail then most missionaries with the time I have in the misison. I am glad I havent completly escaped your thoughts. This week has gone well and we saw a lot of success. I think i told you about the two kids that came to church last week from Rumania. We got in with there whole family this week and I was able to practice a bit of my rumano. They were content to see that I at least tried and I was able to share quite a bit of the first because I learned a ton of the languauge while teaching Ilia and Ana our Rumanian Recent converts. They look good in white as I say and should be getting baptized soon. Its always great to teach families. We have another couple that finally got their papers to get married and so we should have their baptism as well next month. The work is going siprisingly well and I am glad I didnt take seriously the comments from people about ¨not baptizing in Europe¨ before my misison. We took another trip to Aguilas the beach town and enjoyed some nice sea food witht the Old branch president. The poor guy wants to start the misisonary work there and when we sat down with the family to get names to pray for and begoin teaching each family memeber came up with an excuse and left the room lol Including the wife. We are still going to continue working there once a week. I have made good friends witht the Spanish Investigator and he always asks for me to come by and visit with him. Its been nice talking to him because I ve learned alot about the spanish culture. He always has his grandaughter call me and invite us over to sit down and talk. I think I ve done everything is my power to baptize the man but he wont have it. Doing anything more then what I ve though of would be taking away his agency lol. Its been nice to be in our gospel principle class and listen to son many honest people who are looking for the truth and are sick of people lieing to them. A lot of people get work, work and then never get paid. Its really sad. Its nice to see them ccoming to church and finding the truth which makes them happy. There is nothing better then being a missionary. Seeing the changes in people has been very rewarding and makes everything worth it. Even this horrible heat. Its like playing lava everyday but we hide in the shadows and avoid the sun. The catch is that it actually burns you as where is a house you just fall on the ground. Anyways I think thats enough for now. I want pictures of river surfing and the bike shop and just everything I want more pictures. Is Sarah still alive? I wouldnt mind hearing from ya ! Oh and try to keep emily coming home on the dl that means down low I really dont want to hear about it too much I dont think it will help me at all right now. Lol thanks Love you all Elder G

Emily - Vigo Week 24

2009-06-15T13:36:00.000-07:00

6.14.09

Hello Family...I got a lot of letters. Everyone is trying to sugar me up before I come home. I have two snail mails from Jess and mom. E-mails I have from Grandma and Grandpa Gogarty, Dad, and my trainer. I can´t believe this is my last week in the mission. Some exciting news is that one of the districts will become a stake in September. That will be a huge step for northern Spain. It will be exciting to see what other changes will follow. Today we went to the most beautiful island in the world...or so they told us. The sand was a beautiful white and the water very clear. I cant even explain to you how much I wanted to just touch the sand. We will have to take a trip to CA very soon. Im sure that wont bug pops. Ive missed the water a lot, I cant imagine how much brother is missing it. Our friends Arturo and Diana made us lunch and we spent the day together. It was really nice and Im going to miss them a lot. We continue to teach her behind the store but really want to teach them together. Hopefully they can give us some time during mediodia. She asked us a lot about the temples and it was neat to talk to her about eternity. Her and Arturo have a really good relationship. They are like mission companions because they are together all day long in the store. They just seem like really good friends, its neat. They have been such a blessing to me in my last couple weeks here. They love us and look out for us like family would. The other day we came late from a visit and Diana had Arturo waiting outside the store to see where we were. She pointed at her watch and was like um where have you been. She helps us with and respects the mission rules because she respects and loves us. This week we met with the older spanish couple. We had such a nice time together. The wife pretty much told us that she knows its the true church but she wont leave behind her husband. I think he knows its true too but cant give up smoking. They treated us so kindly and I really felt like I was just with Grandma and Grandpa Gogarty at their table in St. George. They even talked to us and counseled us about life. They try to go every year to Florida and love it. It sure makes me sad when people cant enjoy the blessings of the gospel because of something so stupid like a cigarette. There are so many horrible addictions in this world that take over peoples lives. Everyday our building smells likes smoke because people cant get out of the building fast enough to light up. They dont want to smoke in the house but they have it hanging out of their mouth with their lighter in their hands and its the first thing they do once they step out. We went to a Romanian birthday party this week that was pretty crazy. The little girl was turing two and had NO IDEA it was her birthday. I sang to her in english. We ate big chunks of meat with our hands and a big glass of coke. All of the food was set up outside on the dressers from inside. They were really excited to have us with them for the party and only invited us to drink about 6 times. I guess we will need to teach them the word of wisdom. Ill show you the video when I get home, its hilarious. Oh the experiences we have in the mission. Really I dont ever feel uncomfortable anymore in ANY situation. Ive seen it all. A mission prepares you for so many things in so many different ways. I have felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude this week for this experience. I have been so blessed to be a missionary for Christ´s church. Im really grateful for my mission. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. It changes lives and allows us to be truly happy.Thank you for your love and support.Love,The Sister

Emily - Vigo Week 23

2009-06-08T19:01:00.001-07:00

6.8.09

Hello Family...
Well its weird to think that I will only be writing an email from Spain two more times. Its getting harder and harder to sleep at night. I have so much on my mind. I hate the process of going home just as much as pops hated the dropping off process. I want to just get on a plane here my last day and fly home. They want us to stay focused but we start the going home process a week or more before we leave. I would seriously love to just get on a plane the 25th of June and head home.
Guess what I know it may be hard to believe but it started raining again. Remember how I told you it got hot well that lasted about two days. Today is a big rain storm with lots of wind. I think everyday pday of my mission it has rained. My comp. said that it has rained the most here out of all of her cities. Ive seen so much rain since I got I dont know where its rained the most. We came home last night soaked from head to toe.
We had a visit this week with Dana, Andrea and Adrian. Remember the three that came with us to church. We taught them about prayer. Its amazing how hard it is for people to pray. Especially when their religion has taught them that it is something other than a conversation with their Heavenly Father. They pretend to cry and repeat weird phrases. We went through every step of a prayer with them and tried to help them think of a prayer like a conversation with God. It went really well. As we were talking about the things we can ask for Adrian stopped me in the middle of the lesson and in portuguese said how do I stop smoking. Sometimes you wonder if people are really listening but when he asked that I knew that through the spirit he felt the desire to change. I looked at him straight in the eyes and told him that he was a son of God and that he loves him and wants to help him. We told him that prayer is a great start. They can pray as a family and individually for strength to quit smoking. When I told him how much God loved him and wanted to help him he turned his head and when he looked back at me his eyes were full of tears. We left them with the compromiso to pray together and individually. We also told them that we are praying for them and yesterday I fasted for him. Its amazing how when we feel a good spirit its makes us want to change and do better. Its going to be a hard process for him but I know through God´s help he can stop. People have so much guilt and living the commandments gives us freedom and peace.
We had a visit this week with an older Spanish couple. They are really good people. We sat around a table with them and visited for a while before the lesson. I felt for a minute like I was in St. George. We watch Finding Happiness with them and then asked them what part they liked the most. We ended up talking about God´s creations and a lot of what is says in the proclamation to the family. Its frustrating sometimes when people agree with everything we teach but wont come to church and dont progress because they are afraid of "religions". I wish they could understand that this is Christ´s church, that is why you agree with everything and it makes so much sense. It wasnt organized by man. I understand why they are afraid of religion but I pray that someday that fear will break here so they can receive the gospel.
Diana and Artuo our friends that own the candy shop next door have pretty much become part of my family. On Saturday they took us in taxi to a mall that has an American Resturaunt and we all ate together. The name of it is Hollywood and its like Chilis. It was the first time I have eaten food like from home since I left. They were so excited for me to be able to eat something that was familiar. We are teaching Diana in the back of the store with Artuo works which stinks because I want them to learn together. But this next Monday they invited us to go with them on a ferry to some islands and told us that we could teach them together out there. We are going to share the restauracion with them and Im so excited. Artuo told Diana that "son distintas" or distinct-is that a word in english? Anways it has been wonderful getting to know them. Its amazing to me to think that it all started years ago when her father accepted the missionaries into their home. She remembered seeing a blue book and asked me about it one day. I cant explain to you how much I love them. They have been prepared to receive the gospel. I dont know when but they will someday, I know it. I appreciate them so much. Its nice to know that they are right next door and they actually care about us. Ive never gone out to eat with anyone but missionaries my whole mission. They really treat us just like family. Its been such a joy and blessing to be a part of their lives in the last couple of weeks.
I stopped a lady in the street the other day from Venezuela. She told me that a friend had already talked to her about the church and she would like to come and see how it is one Sunday. Remember Teresa the lady we helped when my greenie first got here. Well she lives in A coruna now and a friend she made there is getting baptized this month. She talks to everyone about the gospel. Ive had a lot of dreams the last couple nights of people I want to talk to when I come home. Im so thankful that my mission has helped me to not be afraid to talk to people about the most important message in the world. It has also helped me to learn how to talk to people in a normal manner with out throwing up everything on them. I love that quote in PMG that says like something they say will allow you to teach a gospel truth as we converse and listen to people. Everyone has preguntas del alma. Im so excited to take what Ive learned here and apply it to my life.
The gospel of Jesus Christ allows people to change and feel more at peace. I know it is familiar to them because it was first presented to us all when we lived with Heavenly Father. I know this is Christ´s Church and as we apply the principles we taught or lives and everyones can change. I love my Savior and I know that He lives.
I love you all!
Love,
The Sister

Logan - Lorca Week 22

2009-06-08T18:59:00.000-07:00

6.8.09

Thanks Kayli, Jordan, Shannon, and Emily for your letters!

Grandpa Layton happy 84th!

Well this week was fast sunday and I did see a few mircales come from it. The first being that the Branch President was released. lol he wasnt that bad and you cant blame him because he has been serving form more then 8 years but I am excitied that a new one was called who will hopefully be a litle more succesful and helpful. This sunday we had two kids show up from Rumania who I had contacted in the street and will will be teaching them today. I have really enjoyed working with the youth of the branch and finding/teaching more. It has been a great experiance.
Last week we did some service which was way fun and also fairly akward. We painted for a family thats moving back to ecuador. The are trying to get the piso cleaned up because they have been renting for the last few years. I dont know what the contract that was made between the memebers renting and the Land Lords but when the land lady came over and saw that two punk kids were painting her apartment she was not very happy. Her husband asked us where our painting suits were thinking we were actually painters. lol situations like these I just pretned not to understand nor speak spanish. That is always the safest bet. Needless to say the apartment looked pretty decent by the end of it even though the land lords found out that we werent hired painters lol. He asked me if I had ever even painted befor and I si si but I dont think he was very convinced lol.
WE also went to the coast a city called Aguilas and did service for memebers that own a pizzeria and that was way fun. We helped make pizzas and also learned how to make our own. I tried convince them into letting us deliver their pizzas on their scooters but I ended up with just a picture instead. They want me to come live there for a summer and deliver for them which would be a town of fun. It would be fun to kite surf ,scuba dive fish, sail etc.
My first District meeting went well and durning my announcments I let everyone know that I was writing my companions sister. I dont think he liked that too much but everyone else thought it was funny and it is actually true so I didnt feel too bad.
Well a funny spanish mistake I amde this week was while teaching about how families can be togther forever I said that you can life with your brother in law instead of spouse for eternity lol that was fun. The words are super similar and I should have just used esposo but I am trying to expand my vocab.
Anyway everything else is going well here. We did get a new neighbor and he is big fat and never wears a shirt so I get to wake up to that every morning. He is always looking at me its creepy. I dont like apartment living that much but that seems to be the way its done here. Anyways I love you all have a great week and keep shredding the crap out of the river waves for me.

Love,
Elder G

Logan - Lorca Week 21

2009-06-04T22:16:00.000-07:00

6.2.09

I am trying to refrain myself from punching in the computer screen right now. My nice letter just got erased as I clicked send.

Thanks Mom and Sharla for your letters.

I am staying in Lorca and have been called as District Leader!

We had the baptism of the 14 yr old from Ecuador on saturday. It went really well and his Mom came who is also investigating the church. She was dressed nicer then all the memebers at the baptism. The branch President showed up a half hour late and was trying to blame it on me (its the first baptism that hes came to while Ive been here) The reason he came is becasue we asked him to baptize javier. I like having the members baptize the converts because I hope it makes them feel tied to them and feel the need of helping them reamin active as the missionaries come and go. The baptism went well and the spirit was felt during the special ordiance. Even though I did have to offend the branch president and not film it for him. lol wow He brought his video camera I thought that was a known rule or at least common sense.
Another great experiance was visiting a less active family who hasnt been to church in years. I feel like I am becoming a bold missionary. I know and realize that a lot of these people I will never see again and if I can help them in some way for this short time I am here then good and if they get offeneded then thats their problem. I asked the less active family if they had any real reasons not excueses for not coming to church. After a few moments of thinking they realized no and said they would be there. It was great to see them at church and the members were suprised as well. It make me worry that there are so many peopel that just need one visit to reactivate them but have no one that cares about them.
A lot mroe happened but of course I dont have time. We are in the pretty beach town of aguilas today and its heen so hot. I would love to jump in the ocean its very tempting.
Oh ya and on the way down here I was taying a leak in the bus station and the cleaning lady came in and started mopping around my feet. Europe is a little diferent thent the states lol.
Ok I want the camera card so I can see pictures of cali! please send that soon.
Oh and one more thing I got a call from the family we baptized in Elche. It was great to hear from them they told me everything every misisonary wants to hear. They explained how greatful they were and how happy they are due to the gospel. It gave me such a boost. Gustavo the dad is now a counselor in the Elders Qurom. Well no time left I love you all send the camera card

Love Elder G

I hope you having fun in the river without me! Its soo hot here in the 100s

Emily - Vigo Week 22

2009-06-04T22:15:00.001-07:00

6.1.09

Hello my fam...
Okay it was raining and cold like always and then all of a sudden it turned to a 100 degrees. Im not sure how to convert exactly but I think it was 36 degrees the other day..crazy. I dont remember it being that hot last summer.
I had zone conference yesterday, my last one and I cant believe it. It was so weird to be the one in that position. I gave my dying testimony. I felt the spirit very strongly and much gratitude for this experience.
My favorite experience this week was teaching Diana my chuche friend that works next door. We taught in her storage room that is behind the store, sitting on boxes of water. It was a million degrees inside and she brought us little spanish fans and popcicles. She told us that she doesnt think it was casualidad that we live right by their store and that she has always had contact with us. I told her that I agreed. We taught her about Gods love and families. Its amazing how much the lessons just become a conversation when the spirit is teaching and not us. She opened up so much and I already love her but felt even a greater love for her while we taught. I told her as I looked at her right in the eyes how much God loves her and I know she felt something special because she asked me to say the same thing to her husband before I left. They work a lot but invited us to come over and teach during mediodia when they go home to eat. Otherwise we can only teach her while he runs the front. Anyways before we left we were talking, laughing and I said Arturo God loves you a lot and you are his son. He looked at me for a second and then just said thank you but really sincerly. I agree with brother the mission helps you be more blunt. I think its confidence through the Spirit. They have become like family. We see them like everyday and they invited us to eat with them this Saturday at a place called Hollywood. Oh I love them a lot. It will be hard to will be hard to leave behind. I dont know if I should type this but parents can take this part out if they want..anyways its been amazing to me how over and over againg the inv. and non believing people have treated me better than the people I see every Sunday. Im thinking about using that thought as my homecoming talk topic but I dont know if one ward can handle my dad and me....lol!
We had three people with us at church this Sunday finally. Three young adults from Romania. A couple visits ago we talked about the things we dont do on Sundays and someone said oh we shouldnt work and the guy was like ya you shouldnt work but you can ask for money. He is pretty funny and likes to joke around a lot. They were all shoked when I took his jokes and threw them right back at him. We still have all the visits together on the bed. The parents arent progressing and we stopped teaching them but we are teaching their neice and her sister and her sisters husband. They have become pretty good friends and I can actually understand them when they speak in Romanian. Not everything of course but it freaks me out when I realize I answer them after they say something to me in Romanian. They also speak in Portuguese sometimes because they lived in Portugal. I can understand that a lot better. I really hope I can find ways to keep my Spanish up when I get home. Oh ya it was pretty neat on Sunday I was sitting by the three of them in church and I told them that they could take the sacrament if they would like but they didnt need to. I heard the guy talking to the two girls in Romanian about how they smoke and they went to a discoteca last night. He didnt feel that they were worthy to do so and I really thought it was neat that he respected and partially understood what it meant.
Today we went to Pontevedra a little town close to here to see my favorite family that just moved. They made us empanadas and we just sat around and talked. I made peach cobbler and it was sooo good. I made the Elders play twister together afterwards for entertainment, it was so funny.
Well there is much more to say like usual but no time. I love you so much.
Love
The sister
ps Grandpa I did your study on prayer of faith and I want to talk to you about it when I get home and a lot more. It will be so nice to just visit with you and Grandma. I love you both dearly.

Logan - Lorca Week 20

2009-05-25T04:09:00.002-07:00

5.25.09

Tahnks Jenny, Ashley, and mom for your letters

Please send your cali pics on the xd card. I can send you my card empty if you need a new card. I hope all the pictures from the cd loaded ok onto the computer.

Jess and Nick happy anniversary!

Well this week has gone well. We had a baptism of a 17 yr old that we have been teaching and my favorite part of baptisms is when the converts testify after. We now have 6 kids under the age of 18 that have been baptized and come to church. Their parents are not members and dont encourage their participation in the Gospel. I am impressd by the strength of their testimonies and weekly attendance at church. I think of kids that have had mormon backround getting drug to church and then compare them with these convert kids that have recieved a witness sufficent enough to do whats right even though its getting harder and harder and without the help of parents. This saturday we will be having the baptism of a 14 yr and hopefully he will lead the way for the rest of the family as well. the mom has already quite smoking.
As for the spanish investigators they are about the same. TThey make really good freinds but not investigators. I have or am starting to figure them out a lot better but its hard because they are stuburn. I am very blunt and bold and most them know its true but wont humble themselves unto baptism. I did have a great experiance while teaching a spanish couple this week and I really felt almost a mantle come over me. I felt the Holy ghost very strong and testified and for a few minutes I didnt even feel like I was speaking or thinking. Its hard to explain but I know it was the holy ghost and that the Couple felt it.
On the way to that cita I spoke with a German man that was headed to New Jersery and was mad when I told him it was far from california. They man looked like crocadile dundee and informed me he had a gun in his bag. We got off on the next stop and I gave him to chapstick to eat because he didnt have any food. It was kind of crazy.
Ok well not much else to say I love the people here and I feel like I am at home. The members have become really good friends and I feel a part of the family. If anyone has ideas for the fmaily home evening games we could play that would be helpful. a group of 10 usually we have.

Love you all
Elder G

Mom why do you have facebook! thats weird. lol

Emily - Vigo Week 21

2009-05-25T04:09:00.001-07:00

5.25.09

Hello Everyone that I love...
I got a lot of letters today and it was so awesome. Lets see I have letters from mom, sister Jess, Ashley, brother and oh I cant forget the email that comes EVERY week from my pops. I loved the pics. Mom... oh Brenna is so darn cute. Im going to squeeze her so hard. Anyways thank you for all the wonderful letters. Its so nice to hear from everyone and know what is going on.
My favorite class yesterday was Gospel Principles. We just got a new teacher and she is wonderful. Her husband taught before and didnt do a bad job but it was like he knew all the information too well. His wife I think is very nervous and prepares herself very well every Sunday. After class on yesterday I went up to her and said I know this class is for the investigators but I want you to know that I really enjoy what you teach. She teaches stuff that we teach everyday in the field but she really brings a special spirit into the class. I told her thank you with all of my heart and I hope she understands I really mean it. I think she did because she was almost in tears. I know it doesnt really matter where we serve but how we serve. Ive realized that a lot on my mission.
Well we got fiared not joking like ten times this week. That means that our investigators or new people we had appointments with werent home for the visit. That was really frustrating but we did see a lot of miracles although it didnt show in our numbers. On Wednesday we were knocking with a new DVD we have called Finding Happiness. We had knocked for about ten days with out getting in at all. To help you realize how much of a miracle it was that we got in somewhere I will further explain that I can count on one hand how many times I have gotten into someones house while knocking. Anyways after getting fiared again we went to a close by building to knock. I timbred every house and no one wanted anything but then before I timbred the last piso I felt something and had a this little thought that who ever lived there was going to let us in. Two kids came running down the stairs and I asked if their parents were home. They told me that only their Grandma was with them. I felt disappointed at first but then the Grandma came out of the house and I talked with her a little bit. They are from Brasil and the kids were so excited to see us. They were familiar to me somehow. We told them that we had a DVD we wanted to share and the kids were like Vamos and they ran up the stairs and expected us to follow. We had a fabulous visit with them. The kids were like 13 and 10 but they acted like adults. They had really good questions and they understood really well everything we taught. The Grandma enjoyed the lesson a lot too. I taught about the power of prayer and how it can unite families. I explained the experience we had years ago when the car broke down and we prayed. I remember Coby trying to start the car after dad had tried a million times and on the first try he started it. There was no doubt in my mind that the car would start after we prayed. I wish I could have the faith that I had when I was younger. Thank you mom and dad for teaching me how to pray. Its helped me so much in the mission. The Grandma loved the story and told us she believes in miracles too. The boy prayed at the end and offered such a sweet prayer. He prayed for everyone it was so cute. I cant wait to meet with them again.
Oh ya my package got here, thank you soooo much. I actually put makeup on the last couple of days and it was weird. I have already watched the videos and looked at the pictures like 5 million times, you can ask my companion. I gave the scriptures to Ricky and he was very appreciative. The family that helped me get the package moved on Saturday, I was kind of bummed. We went up to their piso and helped. They live on like the fourth floor with out an elevator. My legs and arms were a little sore but it felt good to do some service and exercise other than walking 10 miles a day.
Its raining AGAIN!!!!!! Actually I dont think it ever stopped. Since my new companion got here I think we have had two partial days of sun. Its the end of May! I really cant believe its still pouring everyday. Im NOT going to miss the rain at all that is for sure. I hope none of my siblings every live in a place where it rains a lot because I will not visit them....sorry.
Ive become pretty good friends with the couple that own the chuche store. I think Ive told you about them. She asked me about a blue book one day and I was able to bear her my testimony of the BOM. She doesnt have any friends her and has really enjoyed us stopping by to visit with her every once in a while. She has a list of questions that she wants us to answer about what happens after death and what are the signs of the second coming. I really enjoy visiting with her and her husband. Yesterday we were able to get a visit set up with them. I told her that I would like to teach somewhere other than the store so its a little more tranquilo. She needs to be in a place where she can feel the spirit. At least for now we have helped her become more interested. Im really excited to teach her and her husband. The only problem is they work on Sundays like everyone else here. We truly have to first live the commandment through faith. Then as our testimony grows in that commandment and we see blessings we are more easily able to live it and we have the desire to live it.
Well I went on long enough. I sure love you and appreciate you all. The church is true.
Love,
The Sister
ps HAPPY ANNIVERSARY SISTER JESS AND NICK! I LOVE YOU!

Logan - Lorca Week 19

2009-05-19T07:01:00.002-07:00

5.18.09

Well I bought a pair of glasses and lets just say they werent the cheapest ones in the store. Keep in mind that I was thinking of you guys laying on the beautiful beaches of Cali and Dad in the nice cool water shredding waves....without me. So that was in mind durning the purchase and I dont feel too bad about it lol. They help a lot though and have made me think twice before fighting anyone in the street for fear of breaking them. SO they do have their upsides.
As for the way of missionary work, this week went well. We were knocking doors and suprsingly got in with a Spanish man who was a retired Doctor. We had a lot to talk about and then he shared with me that he knows there is a God by the observations and studies hes done on and about the human body. It was nice to talk to him and exciting being hes spanish. I hope that he will progress but they have a very hard time letting go of the ¨false traditions of their fathers.¨ Its been such an amazing experience to be set apart and given authrotity to teach the restoration. You really do feel so much power durning the lessons and it helps you to keep going and know for yourself that its true.
This week we will be going to Valencia for Zone confrence and we will have two General Authroities there. I am excitited to get a little spiritual fuel so to say. Im very tired right now. I am also perhaps too comfortable here in Lorca. Usually the misison is trying to adjust and get to know people but here I have gotten over that a while ago and now its kind of making things seem to go a little slower because there is maybe not enough change. After Church I just stand by the door and as the members and investigators are leaving they find me to set up citas for the week. It makes things very nice and effective but I dunno I am kind of ready for a lil change. Which is not good because I ll probly be here another 6 weeks. I will be sad to leave a lot of people they are like family. I have replacement brothers, grandparents, parents etc.
I have been enjoying a memeber that has been studying with me when we visit him and I have learned a lot. He is a very smart man and translates a lot of things from hebrew and greek which really helps me understand. Its has been fun talking to him and learning from him. He always gives amazing Priesthood lessons too.
Well everything else is going well I m enjoying my companion and the area minus the heat which was 104 yesterday (the jacket rule is still on) I think President has forgot or somthing I hope he forgot because there would be no other logical explination. Maybe its like a zions camp thing I dont know, I cant phtaom it and I try not to think about it. I love you guys very much and am glad you had a good cali trip. I want to the pics soon! I sent a cd of my pics instead of my card so put them on the computer and then let me know so I can claer my card and send it to you. Hve a great week

Logan

Emily - Vigo Week 20

2009-05-19T07:01:00.001-07:00

5.18.09

Hello Everyone that I love....
Wow I sure hope that this letter makes sense. My head is REALLY confused right now. Ive been kind of disappointed at how hard it was for me to flip back to full on Spanish. Luckily it only took me 3-4 days to get back on track. Im grateful to have a native for the finish.
Her name is H. Maquieira and she is from Uruguay but has lived here for about 5 years. She is older because she had to wait for her papers here in Spain before she could turn her mission papers in. She is very kind and patient and will be the perfect companion to finish with. She is calm but hard working, my favorite type.
We had some really neat experiences this week. Like always I can only tell a few of them until I get home and then I will bust out my journal and have a good chat with you all. We found a lot of people this week that had contact with the missionaries YEARS ago. They told us that we are good people but they are Catolica. They invited us in and we had a nice visit with them. Its hard on the mission to LOVE people so so so much and watch them not accept the truth because of tradition.
We kind of got out of the city this week and knocked some houses. I really felt like we were guided there because we usually always stay in the city and where we found these women was kind of random. It was like Heavenly Father sent us to them to remind them.
The greatest miracle of this week is that Hugo came to church. He is the non member father of the daughter that will be sealed this week. I fasted for him a couple Sundays ago and Ive been praying for him. I can tell that he really wants to learn and change but he is afraid to let go of his old life. He started smoking and drinking when he had 14 years old. We ran into his daughter and son in law a couple days ago. I asked them what they thought of the lesson and what her dad said. She said that they had talked to them about eternal marriage right before we came because of some questions they had and then we came and retaught and said everything they had just talked about. I felt SO guided in that lesson. It was a miracle to see him at church and his family was so excited. He told Karina and Karina told me that he wants another lesson and he is going to teach me how to make something too because I taught him brownies last time. I told him that my mom wants me to come home with some new recipes.
We visited Vitoria again this week. She is the wife of an Evangelica pastor. She is truly a Christian. She invited us again to go help serve at the homeless shelter. We had a good time and found some members again, that always hurts. I think we need to talk to Vitoria because we enjoy going to help but I think it could seem like we are going for other reasons. We always find like a less active, members, or people from their church that want to know more about us. The center is sponsored but their church so its kind of weird when we go and find people for our church. I love the people that we work with and I wish we could just all join together. They are good good people and Ive enjoyed getting to know them but I dont want to cause any problems either.
Miracles do happen even in the smallest ways. I think its hard to not look for the big ones but its been through the little ones that Ive realized how much Heavenly Father loves me personally and watches over me. Im so grateful for the gospel in my life. Im grateful for each one of you. Thank you for your prayers and love.
Love,
The Sister

Emily - Vigo Week 19

2009-05-12T18:42:00.000-07:00

5.11.09

Hello My Family....HAPPY BIRTHDAY POPS and Happy Mothers Day again Mom!!!! Lets see it is 4 in the morning there and that means that in one hour you will be on your way to CAli. I hope you have a nice time together. I think brother and I can understand a beach trip for your birthday but the other 5 million were uncalled for. You owe Logan and I a lot of trips. Im sure that doesnt bother you though. Oh it was unbelievably wonderful talking to you. I have so many things on my mind and it felt good to discuss some of them. Mom and I think so much alike but Dad and I do too. You both help me in totally different ways. I love you so much. It was also good to talk to my brothers and sisters. You are my dearest friends and its fun that all of us are around the same age now. It was also fun to talk to brother in Spanish un poco. We are totally going to use that against you when we are together again. Right brother?Grandma said in her last letter that her and Grandpa will be good listeners for me when I get home and Im counting on that. I only touched the surface of all the things that are on my mind. Im grateful for so many wonderful people in my family.The greatest experience of the week for me was running into my dear friend Ana. I dont know if you have noticed that I stopped talking about her. We lost contact with her and havent seen her in about two months. Well as we were walking down the street we "happened" to run into her yesterday. I gave her a big hug and could tell she didnt seem very happy. She was practically crying as we talked to her and hugged her. I think she was having a really bad day and Heavenly Father sent us to her. It was so good to see her. What was even better is that we happened to be with a member that lives close to her and she invited her to church. She even told her that they would like to walk with her. After we left Ana she even agreed to helping us in visits with her. It was a miracle in more ways than one. A couple weeks ago we talked to a man in the street from Cambodia who was an inactive member. He gave us his address but we werent able to find it when we went to look for him. Well this week we "happened" to run into him and we got his correct address. He seemed to be wondering why we never came by. He also told us that he looked for the church and couldnt find it. Hopefully we will be able to find him and help him get back to church. H. Rudder is leaving me tomorrow and my new companion will come tonight. She is a native so I will be able to really get my Spanish down before I come home. Hopefully we get along well being with someone 24 hours a day can be very interesting. Luckily H. Rudder and I have gotten along really well. I counted the other day and all together we have been non stop together for 3024 hours, Crazy!We had district conference yesterday which is like stake conference. It was sooo good to see everyone from A coruna especially the girls. The whole YW´s group ran up to me afterwards and gave me hugs. A young sister gave her testimony who just got home from the mission and is now pregnant and married all in a matter of like 8 months. I think she was married two months after she got home. Anways we were up on the stand because we sang in the choir and Pres. Justino this really funny guy who is a counselor to Pres. DuVall patted us on the back and said in english "be careful girls" and then just laughed his head off. Then we started laughing and all of us were on the stand it was pretty funny. I got teased so much yesterday about getting married and having babies. I should have never told anyone when I was going home. Oh I wonder what it will be like in my own stake. Mom and Dad you should tell everyone Im coming home later and then I can just hide out for a while. Well I better get going. I love you all so much. In my prayers recently I have just been thanking my Heavenly Father so much for my family. Oh sometimes its hard to love you all so much. Im so grateful to know that because of the restoration the authority is on the earth for families to be sealed together forever. I love you!Love,The Sister

Logan - Lorca Week 18

2009-05-12T18:41:00.000-07:00

5.11.09

Thanks Jenny, Mom, Jessica, and Jordan for the letters they were much appreciated. Happy Birthday Dad! Well the week has been going well and I have been enjoying the new companion and pretty much everything minus the heat. We have a lot of investigators progressing and should have a few baptisms at the end of this week and next. The work is going well here and I feel bery comfortable which is nice. This morning we rented bikes and zipped through the town which was really fun. We were busting wheelies front and back and just riding fast through the little spanish streets which was really fun. At one point we had to out run a man in a yellow vest. I hope it was just a bum that had a yellow vest and not a police man. A lot of times the bums find these yellow vests and they back up cars and stuff and everyone pays them. Well I really dont have much to say I had a great time talking to everyone and it really felt good to remember I have a family that loves me. You sometimes forget that on the mission. It seems like you guys are almost a dream from the past and I have and always will be doing this. So it was nice in a way to remember that I will come home someday lol. Well everything is going great I love you all and have a great week Love The brother

Logan - Lorca Week 17

2009-05-05T08:13:00.000-07:00

5.4.09

Thanks Mom for your letter this week I am always looking foward to them. I also got the packe and used the tripod today, I will send pics.

Well I dont have a lot of time but this week we had a next experiance with a 17yr old kid we are teaching. We taught him the first and we have a goal of talking about baptism in every apt. so that was brought up and mentioned. Then in the sencond apt. I asked him before we started if he had quesitons and how he liked his reading. He told us I know its true I want to be a member. Its amzing how valid the promise is in Moronia I have a lot of trust in it and Faith that God does answer prayers. Lots of other amazing things are happeneing but there it no time to write it all.
Things are goign well with the new comp we get a long great and thats a nice change. Its nice not having to work so hard at getting along with people. We get along naturally well and it makes things funner and easier. Today we were goign to go play raquet ball but then I remembered how Dad met Mom and I thought maybe we d better not lol. jk but instead we climbed the biggest mountin that we could find. I have been eyeing it since i got here but no one would come with me untill now. We got up early this morning and it took two hours to climb it. When we got to the top we flew our cheap kites off the very top. Then we just put out towels on top a weather station and layed out in the sun. It was a good day and I ll be excited to do things like that with my wife instead of another man. I am excited to talk to you next week I hope emily dosent steal all the time you can call me at 637 460 772. If the reception is bad I ll give you another number to call. Just to give you a weather update its 38 grados or 100 degrees and we still have a the jacket rule on. I just keep telling my Hijo (Welcome to the mission) Lol Love you all have a great week

Logan

Emily - Vigo Week 18

2009-05-05T08:12:00.000-07:00

5.4.09

Hi Family...
Well to start off I need to apologize to my pops. I thought you would understand that I was using that line to get some more letters and it worked. I would hope that you understand and dont even question how much your letters mean to me. With out fail you send me a letter every week and that brings me a lot of comfort. Dad your letters have helped me more than you will ever understand. Mom has been so good about her weekly snail letter. I love hearing your different views of the week. I love you both so much.
I had one of the best experiences of my mission this week. A part family invited us over to teach about eternal families. The daughter was just married, both converts to the church and will be sealed next month. The father is not a member said he would listen if we taught him how to make brownies. I was nervous sick about the lesson because we were teaching such a long range of people. There was also a less active Grandma present and her non member daughter. Anyways its kind of a fuerte tema for that kind of group. We started making the brownies and I for sure had a headache after trying to make brownies in a tiny kitchen, with 15 people all speaking Spanish. Luckily they turned out and as we waited for them to cool off we started the lesson. I felt very guided in what to say. We first did a little repaso of the first to explain how we the authority was restored do that marriage for eternity is possible. I felt such a strong spirit as I always do when I shared the first vision looking into the eyes of aobut 10 people. We explained that to be married for eternity we need someone with the authority, a place and we need to be worthy. At the end of the whole lesson I told them that about 28 years ago my parents entered the temple to be married. They were worthy, they went to a temple and a man with the authority sealed them together forever. I tried so hard to control my emotions and usually I can but I lost it. I testified to them that I know no matter what happens that I will be with the ones I love forever if I live worthy. The lesson just flowed right out of my mouth. There was hardly a dry eye in the room. I fasted for the Dad yesterday. He was so good to us and I pray we can continue teaching him. I testified that its possible for all people to live worthy to enter the house of the Lord and have an eternal family. I know its possible for everyone because God loves ALL of His children. Mom and Dad I felt a very strong appreciation for you and the decision you made years ago to be married in the temple. I love you both so much and Im thankful to be a part of our family.
On Saturday morning we went to a homeless shelter to help serve food. One of our new investigators invited us. I loved it! We wet so many awesone people that were there to help. One lady even gave us her phone number so she can teach us how to make some things from her country. Everyone was so good to us trying to speak to us in english. We had a great time and it was nice to just be with good people that were trying to do some good.
Sunday there was a couple from the US visiting. I sat by the wife in RS and she looks kind of like Jess. She has a little girl and is pregnant. It was so weird to hear a little family talking in english. I loved sitting by her and I tried to imagine that it was just Jess and I sitting in class together. I tried to translate for her but I have realized every time I do translate that there are a lot of words that I dont know in english. I know what the word means but I dont know how to explain it. Translating is really weird. Anways her and I had a good time together. Everyone thought I was talking about the lesson and really we were just having a nice chat.
Well of course there are so many more details to share but Im out of time. I love you all so much!
Love,
The Sister
ps I got emails from the best pops in the world and my wonderful grandparents. This week I got letters from my beautiful Mom, my crazy brother, and my dear sister Jess. I loved every single one. Thank you so much.

Logan - Lorca Week 16

2009-04-27T20:32:00.001-07:00

4.27.09

Thanks Jenny, Mom, and the Hepworths for your letters. This week has been fun but a bit tiring if thats a word I dont know. I went up to Murica sunday last week and stayed the night there. Then monday I left Murcia at 5 in the morning, I almost got on the wrong train because I was so out of it. I went up to Bracelona Monday and ate dinner with President and his wife and then all the trainiers had a short but good meeting after. He basically told us to be exactly obedient or we will start the new missionaires off badly and it will negative effect on the mission. He explained how us training them well will have an effect on the mission for the next few years. Monday night I stayed with some elders in a city outside of Barcelona then tuesady morning we went bowling and then picked up our kids hijos or greenies from the office. Elder Monks is my new COmp and he is from Mesa Az my theird comp form that city so far. He is a great kid and we get along very well. He likes moto cross and any other outdoor sports so we have a lot in common. On the way home form Barcelona we had to stay in Valencia so I could get my residence card and that is finally all taken care of. Then from Valencia home to Lorca we had to swtich trains 4 times with all his bags. He is now regretting bringing so much garbage on the mission and has made an oath to return with one small suit case. I am in accordance with that as well. the work is going well here and despite the traveling we were able to have a great week. The work is going foward very well here and we have a few baptisms lined up for the next few weeks. Ia m so excited we finally have a good spanish investigator. I hope he will be humble enough to do what he knows he needs to do. Not to much else is going on. Its made me greatful to listen to my hijo speak spanish and has made me realized that I was like that. its amazing how much help we recieve in learning the Language. We do of course have to do our part and exersize our faith through didligent study but the Lord really does the rest. Dad remember that blue bow of vocab words you gave me? I remember looking at that and thinking I am got to just (pick up) the language at the Mtc I never really understood that I would have to learn it throught study and practice lol well anyway I know every single one of those flash cards now I went through them the other day. Its amazing what we can accomplish in one year. wow this letter is way to long love you all and have a great week Elder G

Emily - Vigo Week 17

2009-04-27T20:29:00.000-07:00

4.27.09

Dearest Family...I didnt get a single letter this week...you´re all in trouble. There better be a lot on the way. This week has been a little frustrating but I made it through. We got locked out of our piso, I almost got ran over by a scooter and a car, and we had one lesson. I will start with the scooter story. A couple days ago we were crossing a street with about 5 other people and a scooter sped through the crosswalk. I had my head turned and was talking to my companion. I heard the scooter getting closer too close but figured it would stop. I about took one more step and heard a little voice tell me to stop. I stopped, turned my head and it zoomed right past me. Im thankful for the Holy Ghost and the way it guides us. I dont remember if it was later that day or a couple days later that we again were crossing the street and almost got hit by a car. The light turned green for us and we began to cross. A car came flying around the corner and passed right next to us. One step further out and we would have been goners. We both kind of stopped at the same time. Heavenly Father is definately watching over us. On Friday I think it was my comp and I were walking down the street and all of a sudden she looked at me and said I need to check for the keys. We stopped and looked through her whole bag and could not find them. We didnt know if someone had stolen them or if they had fallen out. The Elders had to come to our area and they live very far away. They brought us a key but because it was a copy it wouldnt work. It fit but it wouldnt turn. Each one of us tried a bunch of times but we couldnt get in. Finally one of the Elders said well lets say a prayer. He said a really sweet prayer and we tried again. We tried so hard to turn it but it wouldnt budge. Then the Elder that said the prayer got up to try and while talking/laughing with us he opened it right up on the first try. He looked over at us and all of us started freaking out. We shook their hands, they left and we went to bed. I was a little worried because we live on a busy street and people know us. I didnt like the thought that someone might have our keys. I didnt sleep very well. The next morning I called one of the ladies we visit and she was like oh ya they are here. She was leaving that day for Romania to move home. Im still not sure why she didnt call. Anyways we stopped by and grabbed them from her a couple hours before she left. The power of a prayer really is incredible. We went to a new members meeting this week to translate for Ricky. I enjoyed the spirit that mom and dad enjoy every week in our house. It was so good to be with the new members and hear their pure testimonies. They are so grateful to be a part of the church. It was neat to hear their converstion stories. Larisa our friend that moved back to Romania this week has a sister in law that I really want to teach. We talked a lot when she was at Larisa´s house but I could never get her address. As soon as I would start to try and get it someone would distract her. Finally the day before Larisa left we stopped by and she was there alone. We visited for a minute and again just when she was about to give us her address another friend came by. We were getting ready to leave and I asked her about a word in Spanish. Well she didnt understand me and thought I was asking for her address again and gave it to me. She has a cute family. Her husband always waves to us when he sees us in the street. I hope that we can start teaching them as a family. Its amazing to me sometimes how hard Satan tries to keep people from the truth. We had a good visit this evening with a sweet lady from Columbia. She treated us so kindly and prayed for us before we left. She told me that she felt good because we leave her feeling peaceful. She works on Sundays like a lot of people here but I love teaching her. She is super sweet and I felt better after teaching her.My comp and I had a good talk this week that was much needed. We talked about how we can be better missionaries and how we can better share the load. I was getting very overwhelmed with everything. We divided the responsibilities and it will help me and her. It will help me relieve some stress and it will help her to feel more useful. It will also help her next comp. I felt much better after we talked and things were already going better by the end of the week.Ive made some new goals in thinking about the time I have left. Heavenly Father opened my eyes to a few things this week. Im very blessed to be a missionary and have these experiences. I have no doubts. I know its true. God loves us. We are His children. He listens to us through prayer. He listened to the prayer of Joseph Smith and through him the church was restored. Its amazing what one prayer can do. I love you all so much! Thank you for your love and prayers.Love,The Sisterps you can call at about 8-9 my time on Sunday. So I guess that would be when you get home from church. My number is 607-513-097. Im excited to talk to you.

Emily - Vigo Week 16

2009-04-21T04:31:00.000-07:00

4.20.09

Hello my Dear Family....
Its been a weird week and I dont have anything too exciting to tell you. My companion has been sick but luckily I havent gotten it...yet. I got a lovely Easter package. I love those mints and my comp loved the chocolate bunnies. I got letters from brother and mom, cant remember if I got any others.
We had a visit with our Romanian family. We were teaching them the plan of salvation and right in the middle of the lesson the mom pulled out a 106 euro bill. She told me that her husband left her here all alone with the baby because they only had enough money for one ticket to their country. They had no money and asked me what I could do. I felt so sad for them and so guilty for what I have. I bore my testimony to them of our Savior Jesus Christ and I did feel a peace in their home before we left. Im so grateful for you and your love for me. I have a home and a family that loves me. Everyone is really low on money and almost everyone we are teaching is going back to their country. We have a long week planned for looking.
I talked to a really nice lady from Madrid in the street a couple days ago. A couple javis-they are like the young boys here, anyways they asked us for some papers about our church because they had a school project. I think they were just messing with us but I gave them a card and now they always talk to us in the streets. Its sad because I know they just want attention and love. I try to be nice to them but they do make me a little nervous. Anyways a lady walked by while they were talking to us and thought they were being rude. She told us not to worry about them and I was like wow this lady is talking to us instead of just starring. I started talking to her and asked her how she learned about God. She told me a beautiful conversion story and I agreed with everything she said. We got her address and I hope we can find her this week.
Ricky came to church in a suit this week with out a tie. Everyone told him how guapo he looked at he HATED the attention. I asked him if he was doing okay and he was like im never going to wear this again. I asked why not and he said because its trouble. He is kind of shy. We had a great visit with him. He pretty much taught us the plan of salvation. Im grateful to know him. We gave him a scrap book of his baptism and he loved it. I gave him a marshmellow from the package it was so funny. They dont really eat sweets and when I gave it to him he was like what is this, do I eat it. Later he told me that he ate it and liked it.
Well sorry for the short letter but at least its about the same length as brothers. I love you all soooooo much. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that this is His church. Ill keep praying for you and I need you to keep praying for me. I love you!
Love,
The Sister

Logan - Lorca Week 15

2009-04-21T04:28:00.000-07:00

4.21.09

Happy B-day Grandma!

Well big news......Im in Barcelona today to pick up my hijo or in other words I am training! I am pretty excited and I dont even know the kid yet. President dosent know who we will be with untill he heres their testimony then he prays about it and decides who goes with who as the new missionarys walk out of the office. There is one native and I could get him because there are only 4 Elders training. I will be picking him up at 3 today in the office. I left sunday night and stayed in Murcia. Then last night we ate with the President and had a short meeting. I am pretty excited for a change.
This week we traveled down to one of our Pueblos that is right on the beach and ate sardines with the branch president. I wanted to take a dip in the ocean so bad after. I miss the water a lot. We had a fun last week togther and finished strong. The romanos have decided tto stay and I am greatful for that because she cooks amazing and is like our Mom. She wants me to fly here out tot the States when I get back so she can cook clean take care of kids etc. They are the nicest people I have ever met. My comp gave her husband a compliment about how he liked his shirt and then Man left the room changed shirts and then gave him the one we had previously been wearing. They are very CHrist like and insist on feeding us even though they dont have sufficent food. She works 14 hours a day for 5 euros an hour. And the work is hard she picks lettuce from el campo. I have really learned a lot from them, they are such great examples in being charitable people. The work is going well and have a lot of people close to baptism. I will inform you better next week. We have one Spanish couple that are progresssing and them I am very excited about because I have yet to baptize spanish people. everything else is going well. Iam excited to see who my comp is. President gave a powerful meeting last night and told us that there parents have been praying for us and he knows that we are supposed to be trainiers this transfer. It was comforting to here. Love you all have a great week

Logan - Lorca Week 14

2009-04-18T10:33:00.000-07:00

4.14.09

Thanks Grandpa Jordan and Kaylie for your letters.

Thanks Dad for your email you had me laughing. The walk your compaion out technique is a classic. I learned it from my trainer. It never helps the situation because you have to end up waiting either way but at the moment it provides a little bit of relief.
This week in Spain all of the non-believers, believe but only for the week. Semana Santa here is quite an ordeal. Everyone goes to the center of town and they have a huge parade. Everyone then gets hammered and yells things like vive la virgen guapa. I grabbed some video so you ll be able to see it for yourself. I read in Isa. 44 and it sounds to me that he saw the parade as well hundreds of years ago. It talks about how people we worship metal and food and if you look on the stautes here is looks just like what Isaiah had described.
We had zone confrence in Murcia this week and that went very well. I always get what I need and its incredible and nice to know that we have leaders in the church that have the right to recieve revelation for us. I learned a lot and was reminded of how much bigger this work is then just me. We talked about the gathering of Israel and the Abrahamic covenant and how we have to baptize people so they can go to the temple and recieve more blessings.
We had the baptism on Saturday and everything went very well. I was very excited to see it go through. They are thinking of moving back to Romania soon and so we talked with the missionaires there to figure out a ride to church each sunday. Everyone is having trouble finding work here.
We have also been teaching another couple that have testimonies and want to get baptized but have been living togther. We have been encouraging them to get married so they can be baptized. They have been coming to church regularly for a while and it has been frustrating to me to not see them get married more quickly. I finally talked to them about it more boldly and now they will be getting married and baptized in one month. I am so excited because so many missionaries have taught them and they always just said the papers take a long time or somthing but really they just didnt know if they were ready to get baptized. So after I asked some questions I felt inspired to go through the baptismal questions and let them know how ready they were. They let out all their doubts and we answered their questions. They said they feel different when were there and when there at church and they want it always. I let them know that that means they have to be baptized as soon as possible so they can recieve the Holy Ghost I then let them know how my firneds always felt somthing different in our house and told them that their house could be the same. It was a neat experiance and Im excited they are finaly going to be baptized.
Well thats pleny for today. I know that this is Christs church, that he only formed one when we came the 1st time and only one will he recognize when he returns. Through the power of the Holy Ghost I know this. I cant deny what I ve felt and what I feel every single day. have a good week I love you guys.

Emily - Vigo Week15

2009-04-18T10:32:00.001-07:00

4.14.09

Hello Family...
Dad-I told Ricky about what you said about ties. He loved it and was laughing pretty hard. The members have been talking to me about his clothing. He wants to move to Austria and I hope he does because I know he will be able to participate more. He already wants to teach the gospel principles class. He is so funny.
Sorry you didnt get a letter yesterday. As you hopefully guessed I was at zone conference in Santiago. I cant believe I only have one more. It was kind of weird knowing that in my next conference I will be giving my goodbye testimony.
This week in district meeting we had a really nice testimony meeting. After the meeting is over our DL always gives us the opportunity to bear our testimonies. I think everyone felt very touched my conference and we all had something to say. On the way to the meeting I was talking to my comp. about some frustrations. Sometimes its hard to understand the minds of 19 year old boys. Anyways while we all bore our testimones all of my frustrations went away. I felt very foolish for the things that I had said. As we walked home I thought about how much that relates to when I will have my own family. I know there will be frustrations between my kids and I. Also between my husband and I but I know that as we kneel down together as a family everyday we will feel closer and feel the spirit together. I think it helps us to see each other as humans. I make mistakes just like they do but as we pray together we can feel that we are both doing our best to do what is right. Anyways I dont know if that makes sense but it something that I thought about this week.
On Sunday none of the five people that were suppose to come to church came. We stopped by one of them after church. We knocked and nobody answered. As we began to walk away another family that was coming to visit them came up to the door too. We talked to them and ended up jumping in their car with them. They toook us to their house and we had a nice visit. I guess the missionaries three years ago use to visit them. They said they prayed but never felt like they received an answer. I think she wants someone to write out for her which is the true church but we have to act on faith. They treated us very kindly and invited us to their Easter which is next week. Its funny to me over and over again how random things arent random to me anymore. I only realize they are random because of my companion. We got in a car with strangers and went to their house. Luckily they were good people. The mission is just full of adventures especially as a young 22 year old girl.
We ate with the Elders after church for Easter. I gave them assignments because well because they are boys. We brought mashed potatos with gravy and rolls. They brought chili and a chocolate egg for dessert, so funny. We set up an Easter egg hunt around the capilla. My comp. and I had so much fun watching them run around. There were six of them here becuase the ayudantes came for conference. Anyways we made them line up in the hall and then just sat back and watched. Each one got a chocolate egg with a toy inside. They sat around in the capilla like five year olds putting their toys together. We had a good time.
A man from Cambodia stopped us in the streets the other day and asked us where the church was. He was baptized in Portugal and went inactive. I invited him to church but he didnt come. I hope to stop by and be able to teach his family too. He was very kind and I could tell that he knew he was missing something.
I took my comp. on a little adventure the other day. Sometimes I just go a little crazy and need to get out of the buildings. We had contacted a lady and when we looked up her address on the map we found out that it was very far away. It was in our area but kind of in the outskirts. Anyways we probably walked a good 5 miles or more. I couldnt find the street and so I talked to a bunch of people on the way that had never seen us before. There was an agricultural group doing like a walk/hike together. We ended up walking with them for a while and talking to them a little about our purpose. Well they took us all around trying to find it and we still didnt have any luck. Well they were so good to help us that they talked to a family out in their lawn and their neighbors about where the street was. Before I knew it I had caused a bunch of commotion. We had about 20 people trying to help us find the street. I think we caused the most excitement that part of town has ever seen, it was pretty funny. We ended up finding the street but it didnt have much on it and we didnt have time to go too far down. I told my comp. we will go another day and she was like what on another Gogarty adventure.
We had a fabulous zone conference. President said exactly what I needed to hear, like always. It was fun to see everyone and talk with them. After conference was over I had a chance to talk to Hermana DuVall and she said some things that I needed to hear as well. It was like she said what mom would have said if she were here. We only talked for a minute because they had to leave but I gave her a big hug and told her thank you.
I realize that mission is coming closer and closer to the end. I of course have many feelings about finishing. Im so so so grateful for the opportunity that Ive had to be a missionary for Christ´s Church. I dont really know who I am anymore but I know so much better who I am now. I love the good news the gospel of Jesus Christ brings. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and Im so thankful to know that because of Him I will live again after death with my family. I know I represent His church, no doubt in my mind.
Love you all,
The sister

Logan - Lorca Week 13

2009-04-06T12:17:00.001-07:00

4.6.09

Thanks Jenny, Mom, Grandpa Gogarty and The Mcneitts for the letters they are always appreciated

Well Im sorry you werent ¨impressed¨ with the letter last week lol sometimes you just dont have much to say or dont feel like saying it. Things are still going well of course but it is a big change being with just one other person all the time. It has taken some getting used to. I had lived in a 4 man piso my whole mission until now. Great things that will be needed in my married life. One thing I have learned and will learn again is that its a lot easier to just always be wrong. I am not talking about not standing up for what is right but more so of preventing little arguments over nothing. I am sure you know what I mean. I am enjoying the learning and growing experiance and we continue to see many miracels everyday on the city of Lorca.
Today we are actually in Murcia becasue we stayed the night after watching the confrence here. I really enjoyed it and am always amazed or reminded I guess would be more appropriate of how the Leaders of the church are truly inspired. They are able to speak indiviually to millions of people. I know that whoever goes prepared to confrence gets what they need. I felt the Holy ghost confirm to me that Neil A. Anderson is indeed the next Apostle of God and there is no doubt in my mind he has been called of God. Its amazing how strongly but softly the Holy ghost speaks to us. I will never forget sustatining President Monson as The next prohphet in the MTC in Provo. As I raised my hand I was wondering if he really was the next prophet but as soon as I raised it I felt the Holy Ghsot Confirm that he was. I felt it so strongly and I looked around to see if others were having similar sensations. It makes me greatful to be a part of the Lords Kingdom on the earth today.
We are wokring hard but effectively. I think I explanied the zions banner in a letter I was so happy to get it. Well now we have gotten it consecuitively for the last 10 weeks. We are seeing amazing results of our efforts and I am very greatful because it makes me keep wanting to go hard. The baptsim was moved and we will be having it this saturday. Everything else is going well. I love and miss yo all

Elder G

Emily - Vigo Week 14

2009-04-06T12:16:00.000-07:00

4.6.09

Hi Family...
Well I didnt know my letters were so famous. Sorry for not getting one out last week. I got a little distracted.
Conference was awesome and its amazing how much stuff like that means to us as missionaries. You know the verse in the bible that says they looked in every corner of the earth for the word of God, well we pretty much did that trying to watch conference. I was a little frustrated because we cant see it in our capilla. On Saturday we watched it in a cyber, paid about 6 euros and listened to hard rock music in the back round. Sunday we traveled a couple hours to Santiago which was another 10 euros and watched Saturday afternoon but then had to come back because we would have gotten home late if we stayed for the next one. So my comp. and I came to a cyber and paid another 5 euros again to watch Sunday morning next to someone chatting over webcam and drinking a beer. Ive never had watching conference be such an adventure but Im glad we were able to see some of it. While watching in the cyber all I could think about is the other people around us. They were chatting, listening to music and we were listening to a PROPHET OF GOD. My headphones werent working for a little bit and I asked one of the guys to help me. He put them on while Presidnet Monson was talking and I just wanted to tell him and everyone else in the cyber STOP WHAT YOUR DOING AND LISTEN TO A LIVING PROPHET SPEAK. Im so grateful to know that he is a Prophet. I truly felt nourished by the good word of God and I thought about you and how you were watching conference too.
In a visit this week with a girl from Romania while I was teaching about prophets I asked her if there were a living prophet on the earth today what would you ask him. She was like well I have lots of questions but I think I would ask where did we come from. Almost EVERY time I have asked that question on my mission the person we are teaching has always had a question about the plan of salvation. I have realized over and over again how blessed we are to really know where we came from, what our purpose in this life is and where we can go after this life. I love the gospel and Im so thankful for the covenants Ive made and that mom and dad have made.
We had a visit set up with a Brazilian man but he fiared us. A friend from the capilla was with us because we needed another girl. We had packed lunch because we werent going to have enough time to go home before another visit. We invited our friend to eat with us in a park. I realized or I think anyways that we were actually suppose to be with her. We had fun eating with her in a park and I think she just needed a friend to talk to. I cant imagine being a young single here. She is all alone. I keep inviting her to live with us. She will find out in June if she gets her visa.
Well its back to rain. The sun came out for too long aka 3 days. I remember talking to an Elder after a zone conference it was his last. I asked him how he felt and the first thing he said was something like well Im just really excited to get rid of my umbrella and I hope to never see rain again. I was in my first transfer and I thought hmmm he must really hate the rain. I thought it was raining a lot too but I figured it was going to stop at some point in my mission. I talked to him a year ago this month and Im pretty sure its been raining since we talked last year.
Last week we all got to district meeting because we went straight to the capilla after sending off E. Gordon. Everyone was STARVING because we had all ran out of month money and hadnt gotten our money for the next month yet. We went to the store together and I had everyone chip in to buy stuff for breakfast burritos. I had them all going in the kitchen on different projects and we made a bunch of yummy burritos, they were so good. It was fun to eat with everyone and you could tell that it was the first time any of them had eaten anything other than sugar cereal for a LONG time.
Well thats all I can think of for now. I want all of you to know how much I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are so blessed to know what we know. Think of how much more peace we have in our minds knowing where we go after we die. Can you believe there is people that dont know the answers to questions that eat away at them for a long time. I know I lived with God before this life as a spirit. Im here to learn and keep the commandments which make me happy. If I endure to the end I will be able to live with Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and my family. I can think of no greater gift. I love my Savior. He made it possible for me to be clean and live with the people, I love, in the next life.
I love you all and miss you a lot.
Love,
The Sister

Logan - Lorca Week 12

2009-03-30T09:42:00.000-07:00

3.29.09

Thanks Jessica, hepworths, and Mom for your letters. The year package was great and the insoles have helped a lot. I love granola as well that is always appreciated. Jessica and Sarah Happy B-day! our family is getting so old its crazy. Nothing too exciting this week that I can think of right now. I made a great tamale pie and the cooking is going well. I also spoke in church this week and I thought that went super well. I felt amazed to be speaking my thoughts and describing myself so easily in the spanish language. ONe recent convert I had to tear into a little this week and that was intresting. He is spaniard which they usually have more pride then the south americans or anyone else with whom we work. Anyways somthing happened at church and he got offended and is not coming back. As he was explaining everything I was just shaking my head and saying orgullo or pride in english. I explaind to him that the was one of the main themes from the Book of Mormon and the cause of all the destruction, beware of pride. He said hes not coming back untill the branch president gets kicked out of the church. I bluntly told him what I thgought of how he was acting and we left on good terms. At least he said I am welcome back into his house whenever I want. I hope to help him do what he knows he supposed to do. Well I dont have much else to say. Have a great week, Love you all Elder G

Logn - Lorca Week 9

2009-03-23T17:47:00.000-07:00

3.22.09

Thanks so much Audrey and Emily I really enjoyed the letters.

SO some old news that I think I forgot to tell you is that My new Mission president will be President Hinckley. I cant remember which son it is but I am sure it will be announced in the Ensign. I feel like in the next few transfers everyone I know will be going home. Elder Carpenter my trainer and all his group along with the mission President will be going home in June.
Ok the week has been average and I did enjoy a bit of an adrenaline rush one day. Actually yesterday some girls from the ward were walking home and some guys were following them saying tontarias or in english dumb things. We happen to see the whole thing so we crossed the street and just walked with the girls untill the guys left them. After getting near ther house we let them walk the rest of the way by themselvs and we turned the other direction. We walked for a little bit and but felt like we should turn back and check on them, so we turned around and kind of jogged to wear they were at. As we arrived to the area we saw the girls running from the 2 muslim kids that had previously been following them. I ran across the street (in my suit which always looks funny) and then picked up the bigger kid by the shirt and put him up aganist the wall. We shared some words and then I hopefully scared him enough to the point that he wont follow them anymore. Meanwhile across the street all the chinese people come out from a chinese food restruant and are watching the show. I enjoyed the little bit of adrenaline that we as missionaries dont feel as often.
On the more spiritual side of things we have also been teaching some ROmanians that will be getting baptized this saturday. WE fasted with them that they could find work and they day we fasted we also had an apt. DUrning the apt. they recieved a call about work. I was amazed and greatful for God answering our prayers and fasts. They recognized the Lords hand in it as well and are excited to get bapatized on Saturday. The women has so much faith and is ready to do anything to be apart of the church. They have alread read half the book of Mormon.
Everything else is going well, Thanks Dad for the med kit you gave us for Christmas last year I still use it all the time it was very well though through. Last week we rented bike and I will include a picture of that. Love you all and have a good week. Has Sarah been able to get onto my email accounts or web pages?

Love Elder G

ps the cooking endeavor has been a succes this week I ate very well.

Emily - Vigo Week 11

2009-03-23T17:38:00.000-07:00

3.22.09

Hello My Dear Family...
Well I got some great letters from mom and sister this week. I needed both of them really bad. Sister Jess I cried and laughed through your journal entries. Everything you said sounds way too familiar. It will be funny to read journal entries together after the mission.
Today we had a great pday. We finally organized that every companionship has to plan a pday. Today we went to a beautiful park that reminded me a lot of Manitou park. We played ultimate frisbee and baseball. Then we ate together and took some pictures. I really enjoyed it because we were kind of away from the city and it felt good to play hard even though now Im exhausted.
We had a couple random experiences this week. An older lady looked over at us while we were waiting to cross a street and said sois hermanas which means are you sisters. I said no and she asked while you look a lot alike. Which I dont know how that is possible because Im like three feet shorter than H. Rudder. Anyways we walked with her up the road a ways until we came to a little cafe. She was like hey come in and ill buy you a coffee. I said sorry but we dont drink coffee. She was like well just come in a sit with me and get a pop or something. She grabbed my arm and pulled me in so my comp. followed. We sat down at a table and she talked our heads off. She had like a cycle of 5 stories that she told over and over again. I took me a while to notice. She told us how lonely she is and that her husband died about four years ago. She said that she doenst have anyone to talk to and she gets really bored in her piso all by herself. Anyways she goes to mass everyday at 8 and drinks a coffee about two hours before it starts in a cafe right next to the church. She REALLY needed someone to talk to. I wanted to share the plan of Salvation with her but Im not sure she was all there. She would ask the same questions over and over. Then the question she asked would trigger the same story. Oh well Im glad we could be there for her to have someone to listen to her. Hopefully we will see her again on the street on her way to mass.
We stopped by on Thursday night to visit a family from Romania. When we got there we heard a lot of noise inside. We knocked the door and when they opened we found the entire extended family inside. They live in a VERY small home. The three of them barely fit in it. Of course they wanted us to come in and as we entered everyone looked at us like movie stars. They all asked us if we were Americans and they told us a million times that our skin was beautiful. We sat on the bed with ten other family members and then there were another 15 people sitting around the bed on chairs and on the floor. The Dad of the family we teach got up and grabbed the BOM and was like teach us something...um okay. I opened up 3 Nephi 11. They all took turns reading and translating to the mom who doesnt speak spanish. Anyways it was a pretty cool experience. I felt like I was giving the spiritual thought at a family reunion or something. I dont know how much they understood because after I finished teaching one of the men was like I have a question out of all the churchs that there are which one do you think is the best. I love the random questions we get as missionaries.
I gave a talk on Sunday about how I prepared myself for the mission and how I feel now as a missionary. I felt really prompted in what to say. It was weird to think back to my first talk in the mission and how now I just got up there and spoke in Spanish. My first talk I read word for word and sat down. After explaining three ways to prepare I told the youth that the times I have felt the best on my mission would be sharing the first vision. Then I asked them all to listen really closely and pay attention to how they felt. I said the first vision over the pulpit and I cant explain to you how much the room changed. I watched everyone and everything stop moving, even the children. It was amazing to watch. The last speaker got up and talked about the Spirit in missionary work. He also explained to the people the change he saw in the room. There is SO much power behind those words because it truly happened. I thought I had a testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith before the mission but now I cant explain how much my testimony has been strengthened. There is NO doubt in my mind that he did indeed see God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. The prophet Joseph Smith restored the church of Christ again on the earth.
I love you all sooooo much. Im thankful for your prayers and your letters.
Love,
The Sister

Logan - Lorca Week 10

2009-03-16T16:06:00.000-07:00

3.16.09

Thanks Riplie Family for the letters they were great! Well after all the traveling last week I had no money and I didnt want to dip into my home fund so last week I toughed it out with 7 euros. I Bought a bag of potatoes and noodles. I had to be creative and it made me realize how poorly I cook. I made a menu plan this week and I am going to come home a chef. Everyone is so dependent on the pre packaged stuff from stores that the majority of people will die as soon as the stores stopped getting stocked. I fall into that category as of now but have goals and plans to learn how to cook better this next year. Emily, What do you usually eat? I wish you could cook for me just once a week. Well nothing much has happened, I am senior companion now and I like that, not much has changed though. We had a confrence in Alicante with the whole stake and I was able to see A lot of peole form the Elche ward including a family I baptized while I was there. It was so fun to see them and to see Gustavo the Dad recieve the higher Priesthood. We are running a lot now that Elder Kempkens is gone and with a two man piso I can actually keep it clean. Its amazing for the first time in a year my living conditions are up to standard. I am enjoying it while it lasts. The weather is super hot and it hard to keep my self form jumping into the ocean. We work in a pueblo that has a beautiful section of coast line.Sorry I cant think of anything very exciting that happened. I changed flavors of Yogurt actually that was pretty intense. I had been gettting the same strawberry for the last year. I do enjoy and am greatful the changed perspective the mission has given me. For example onions on hamburgers, flan, and green olives were big dislikes before the mission and now I really enjoy them. You cant know if you dont like somthing untill you try it. I have most definitley learned that in many ways. WEll, all is well. Have a great week I love you all Elder G

Emily - Vigo Week 11

2009-03-16T16:05:00.000-07:00

3.16.09

Hi Family...Today is my 14 months in the mission mark. I cant believe its been so long since Ive seen you. Ricky was confirmed on Sunday by a man that served his mission in California and speaks english REALLY well. You can hardly notice when he switches over. He gave a beautiful blessing and Ricky was smiling soooo big as he walked back to his seat. He will recieve the Aaronic Priesthood next Sunday. Im very happy for him. Our only problem right now is getting him to wear a tie. He HATES ties. Will see where that goes. He is so funny.We have been teaching a bunch of people from Romania lately. We started teaching this young mother who was left here while her husband went looking for work anywhere in Europe. She is really lonely and invited us to come by whenever. We set up a visit and when we got there she had invited all of her family too. It was awesome. One of the men listening told us that about 7 years ago he was homeless and some missionaries from our church brought him blankets and food on the street. He made us dinner to repay them. It was a humble little dinner around a very little table. There werent enough chairs for everyone. The little piso didnt even have an oven. They believe its true but are very stuck in their ways. Their culture or religion I guess is still very much a part of their lives. They are very confused. Its funny how people can be so confused and yet the message we share is so simple.The message is as simple as my testimony. I know that God lives and He loves me. I know that Christ is my Savior and that I need to allow him to take my pain and suffering away. He already payed the price. I know that Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. He was called to restore the church on the earth again. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and it can and will change lives. I love you all!LoveThe sister

Logan - Lorca Week 9

2009-03-11T14:51:00.000-07:00

3.10.09

Thanks MOm and Emily for your letters! Im staying in Lorca keep the letters coming! This week has been crazy and I dont have near enough time to tell you all the crazy things that happened. First off and most important Martin a man we have been teaching was baptized saturday. Like always it was an incredible thing to be a part of and the spirit was felt strongly. I am excited for him and know he has already gained such a strong testimony of the Gospel. THis week I have traveled to Valencia twice which is 4 hours on the train each way. I have finally recieved my residency but it wasnt an easy process. After racing around Valencia in a taxi, Using Elder Fiske as a fake lawyer, and making phony goverment documents, the process has been finished. I will be going back in 40 days to pick up my card and to re new it since I have already been in spain so long. I was on the phone with the real lawyer and president all week running to a ton of different buildings and waiting in lines. More good news is that I was able to attend a firework show while I was in Valencia as well as visit some good friends. The families from the ward were shocked to see me and we had a good time. Yesterday while I was on the way to Valencia a 26yr old, attractive lady sat next to me and we begin talking. She actually spoke english quite well so we randomly switched in between english and spanish. She had gotten off the train before me and was waiting for me. We walked up to her and began talking again and then said we had to go. She grabbed my and then leaned in to give me besos (kisses) and I had to pull away. Her face was bright red and she was offeneded, I tried to explain that we couldnt as missionaries and I dont think she understood lol. We then basically just ran off and the whole situation was just super akward but funny as well. So many other things have happened but I dont have time. Eldr kempmkens my other comp the german got transfered. I am staying in Lorca with Eldr worthen. I m excited to see what we can do. I was also cursed by a gipsy week but other then that not much has happened. Hope everyone is doing well I love and miss you all next week is the official 1 yr mark...and thats crazy. Love you all Elder G

Emily - Vigo Week 10

2009-03-11T14:50:00.000-07:00

3.10.09

Hey Fam...Well the week went really fast and slow. It continues to be weird to me how mission time can be that way. We had a great p-day last Tuesday. A girl from Venezuela showed up at church. She works for a company that travels all over the world by boat looking for oil. She is a navigator. She invited us to come and check out the boat they are building. It is suppose to be ready this Wednesday for them to head out towards the US. They work five weeks on five weeks off. She was so excited to be with Mormons. After the tour she took us out to eat and bought us all lunch. The boat was insane. There were so many cables and wires everywhere. Everyone on the boat was from a different country but they all have to speak english. We talked to everyone and it was really cool to hear what they do. I think it made the Elders think a little bit more about what they want to do with their lives. In the port there were millions of guys working on the boat. Des, H. Rudder and I were like the only girls. Everyone was staring at us. I asked her if she ever gets nervous and she said the men that she works with take good care of her. It was fun for me to be with her and it made me start thinking up more adventures. Oh good story about that trip one of the Elders was talking to one of the men that work on the boat. The Elder asked him where he was from and he said the UK. Well the poor little Elder thought he said the Ukraine. Then he was like well what language do you speak there. The man was like ahhh english. Ohhh it was funny, especially because the man didnt even crack a smile. I tried not to laugh but it was hard.Oh my comp just reminded me to tell you that she knows Elder Wasden. We were looking through the pics from home and she was like oh I know him. He is from her home stake. CRAZY!We had Ricky´s baptism last night. I was a little stressed out but everything went really well. Camila a friend in the ward that lived in Utah for a long time came and played prelude music on her violin. It was beautiful! Yago a younger Spaniard that was baptized less than a year ago did the baptism. He doesnt speak a ton of english but he is always so good about talking to Ricky at church. He was really excited and nervous when Ricky asked him to do the baptism. He did the prayer in english and spanish. He was so nervous but he practiced a million times and did everything perfectly. He had even practiced things to say to Ricky like...Ricky Im bery happy far you, tank you far choosing me (keep the accent in mind). Anyways it was a great experience for both of them. All the missionaries sang together, Senor te necesito. I think in english it is I Need Thee Every Hour. I felt a very sweet Spirit last night. I love going to baptisms. We asked Ricky how he felt and he was just like, good good very good. Hey brother I have a funny beso story too. My greenie forgot that we cant give besos. A Dad of a family that we just started teaching definatley gave my companion dos besos. Then he came for me and I stiff armed him. It was SUPER AKWARD! He got kind of embarrassed and I just giggled a little and sat down. Its hard to get embarrassed anymore. So many akward things happen on the mission that I would have an ulcer by now if I worried about all of it. We also got cursed by some type of witch. We knocked into her and for about 5-10 minutes she prayed that the devil that was in us would be taken out. My greenie was freaking out the poor thing. I tried to talk to her but she just closed her eyes and prayed over us. There was a really weird creepy feeling. Anyways I think she was trying to freak us out so I just stayed calm. I bore my testimony and then told her it was nice to meet her. Once again there has been so many experiences like that, that its not worth getting worked up over. When we got in the elevator my greenies eyes were the size of apples, poor thing. I pretended like that was an out of the ordinary experience. No really Im very honest with her. I think its better that way. We are stil having a great time together. She just got a package from home and it was awesome. Its so weird to see stuff from the US and in english. Well I love you all so much. Thank you for your prayers and love. The weather is still nice although it rained for a day or two, its back to sun today. Love,The Sister

Emily - Vigo Week 9

2009-03-03T05:22:00.000-08:00

3.3.09

Hey Fam...Well sorry Mom, I hope you werent freaking out but yes I had zone conference. I forgot to tell you. I cant believe that I only have two more left. The weather is still great and I actually think its starting to warm up but that doesnt mean that it wont rain again. I got letters from brother(I loved the pictures), mom, Aunt Laura and jess. I love getting letters. By the way that pic of us looking out the window together is us waiting for the mailman. Well its been another crazy week, like always. Ive been a little stressed out getting everything ready for the baptism. On Saturday he had his interview. He is pretty fuerte because he understands the bible really well and likes to preach. Our district leader came out of the interview with really red cheeks and sweating profusely. I think the conversation became a little intense. Our DL asked us to come in afterwards and he told us he answered everthing fine but he didnt think he was humble. Anyways after talking to him for a while I found that they both needed to humble themselves. I told our DL to call him back in, kneel down together to pray and then redo the interview. In PMG it says that the interview should be a spiritual experience. They both came out looking a lot better and the 2nd interview lasted about 10 minutes. His baptism is Sunday.On Sunday after mediodia we had a list of people to passby. About a week ago we recieved a reference from someone in Valencia. He says he knows brother. Anyways I have been trying to get a hold of them. Its a family from the Dominican Republic. Before we left for the tarde I asked Heavenly Father to help us find the people in house who needed to talk with us. We went to their house first and actually the reason we werent able to get a hold of them before is because the address was wrong. I decided that we would just go a timbre the whole building to see if we could find them. We got there and the first piso we timbred opened up for us with out asking who it was. When we got up there the door was open. A lady came to the door and welcomed us in like she knew us. It was like they were waiting for us. The husband had been taught in Valencia and was looking for work there. Then came back here to his family. Anyways we had a great lesson with them and I felt the spirit very strongly. They treated us like family. I love their culture. They even invited us to her birthday at the end of the month. I pray that they will accept the gospel. They have a beautiful family.I loved zone conference. I think it was just for me. It was so nice to see everyone. I became really good friends with the people in my other cities. Its been hard for me here to not have the friendships of the Elders. I think its because we live really far away from each other. To further explain our relationship, after zone conference they got on the train with out us and didnt even realize we went with them. We came later with two of our Elders. I did have a good conversation with one them on the way home. His name is Elder Sayaz and he was in the CCM with brother. Oh ya I pretty much embarrassed myself over and over again at zone conference. My comp and I did the special musical number. We practiced with out a piano and didnt realize how high it was. Oh man there were parts huge chuncks actually of the song that we just didnt sing. We both got all flustered and started singing the 1st verse again. I was barley keeping myself from laughing through the whole thing. H. Truscott played the piano and I could tell she was about to burst herself. We sat down and Pres. started to talk. We all were shaking trying to hold in the laughter. Then I spoke in the tu form when I gave an answer. I corrected myself and then looked at President all scared. I really am loosing my mind. Then President asked in the middle of his talk if anyone had a degree in Theology. He was trying to make a point because he knew none of us did and dont worry I raised my hand because I thought he said psychology. In english he said H. Gogarty you have a degree in theology and I was like um no sorry. Dont worry I had my whole table laughing. Im pretty much a crazy person.LOL!Oh ya just so you know my address is:c/ Travesia de Vigo 171, 3 derecha-it means rightVigo (Pontevedra) 36207my address has been different every time but luckily the letters have been coming to me with out any problems and it gives me a good laugh. I sure love you all a lot. I know God loves us and listens to our prayers. I pray for you everyday.Love,The Sister
ps happy anniversary mom and dad!

Logan - Lorca Week 8

2009-03-02T21:32:00.001-08:00

3.2.09

Hey I recieved a bunch of lettter this week thanks to Lis, Jordan, Mom, Ashley, Bryndee,Jessica and Jordana Jonshon. I really appreciate it and I ll try to write you back today.

Dad thanks for keeping me posted on the bike shop its super fun to see how everythings going. What is the name of the shop going to be ?

Well theis week has been quite crazy where do I even start. I m sure you ll be happy to know that yes thats right im still an illeagal citizen. If I get stopped on the street by the police it will be an instant 150€ fine. I will be going to Murcia again on Tuesday and hopefully this will be the last time. THe other news or warning is that I strongly recomend everyone to avoid the hair cutting schools at least here in Spain. This week I thought I would save some money and get (practiced) on. The girl that cut my hair was shaking so bad that she almost cut me multiple times, when I say me I mean my head not just my hair. Finally I sent out an SOS and the teacher came over and tried to fix it even though it was past the point of no return. I could go on but lets just say I had to buy a hair clipper after and it was still hard to fix.
We had zone confrence in Murcia and its exactly what I needed. THe topic was obedience and enduring to the end. I was suprised as I felt he was specifically talking to me through out the condfrence. It reminded me that he is called of God and recieves inspiration and revelation specifically for each of us. The best part was bearing testimony after the confrence. I felt the spritit strongly and it was nice to have a strong confirmation remind me that I m exactly where I need to be. WE were fasting with a man that we are baptizing this saturday that he could find work yesterday. I have seen so many miracles come from fasting on the mission. I know withouth a doubt its a true and powerful doctrine. We started fasting saturday togther and on sunday morning he recieved a job offer in murcia so he took his papers to the office and they are thinking of hiring him. he has been here a year without work and it was truly a mircale that someone came to him with an offer.
Mom! I made root beer and it tasted super great. I was so shocked that it was that easy. Thanks for sending the syrup. All is well here love you all. Make sure to send letters to the mission office after today because I may be moving. I ll let you know tuesday morning. Have a great week

Love, Elder G

my english is getting horrible !

Logan - Lorca Week 5

2009-02-23T09:04:00.000-08:00

2.23.09

Thanks mom for your letters! I got two this morning from you and One from EMily. AT least the family is faithful in letter writing! EMily I will send the camera card today with a letter. Well Iam still illegal which is kind of exciting in a sense. We havent had to run form any cops but just knowing that I might have to is fun and my alertness has been raised a notch. I went to the office the other day and they have no clue about anything. Everytime I go they tell me somthing different and give me different papers to fill out. This time I pulled the whole Hey whats you name and number because you will be getting a call from my Abogado or lawyerer. They refused to give me their information becasue the girl wasnt quite sure on the whole situation herself so she said she wouldnt be able to tell the lawyer any new information. I got more papers and I m going to try to take out residency again in a bigger city 30 mins away on thursday. I hope it works out. Mean time the lawyer has not answered his phone. We ll see what happens this week. Dad th Chrismas letter was hilarious both of my companions were on the for laughing. I also thought it was great. This week we were walking in the center of the city and a man frm Ecuador came to us and said he was inactive and so was his wife but wanted us to come over. He also told me that he wanted us to pretned we hadnt talked to him so that his wife would think that we were guided there by the spirit. Little did he know it was amazing that he even found us because we are no normally in the part of the city where he lives. WE went by to suprise visit them and we couldnt find the piso. WE were in the area and had given up. WE decided to head back and he whistled out the window but from where i was he just looked like a crazy man. I finally felt that we should at least see who it is and it happened to be him. WE went up and taught them and the spirit was felt strong. At the start of the misison I was a lot more timid. I feel like I ve become very bold which sometimes a bad thing. Needless to say in this apt. it worked to our advantage. I plainly told them to get their lives back and order and stop being flojo or lazy, (you get sick of hearing the same excuses everyday day after day) We set goals to start doing the little important thigns that make the big differeance, scriptures, prayers, and church. I then told them that we were willing to do everything in our power to help them accomplish those things becauser thats how important they are. THey got the point and we saw them at church yesterday which was great. Menos activos are hard to deal with because they always say we ll see you at churhc and then dont come and then week after week you have to listen to the new but same old crappy excuses. It was nice to see them rise to the challeng or put off the natural man Mos 3:19. Well everything else is going well. I like Lorca and I am not excited for the heat to come. I could be moving this transfer which would mean that you shouldnt send letters after the 2nd of March. I m coming up to the year mark! crazy. We are also having Zone cnfrence this week so I lok foward to that. Love you all have a great week Elder G

Emily - Vigo Week 8

2009-02-23T09:03:00.000-08:00

2.23.09

Hello Everyone...The weather is still nice and Im so thankful. Also, we still have hot water. More and more I realize that Im not a rainy weather person. We had a really neat experience on Saturday morning. Planning as you all can imagine has been one of the hardest things for me about the mission. Filling up hours of time with good things to do is kind of hard. Once and a while we have visits plugged in there but even then sometimes the people arent there. We plan out huge chuncks of time and then huge back up plans. Im not very good at it. Anyways Saturday we had a huge chunck of time and I was having a hard time feeling the desire to leave the piso. I prayed to Heavenly Father that if there was someone waiting for us somewhere that He would guide me to them. I looked at the map and a street we had never really been on kept popping out. I decided we would spend the day on that street. I looked in the area book to see if we had any potentials and they werent. We put our bags on and headed out with a prayer. I didnt tell my comp anything. The road was very long and headed out to a part of our area we dont see much. It ended at a beautiful view of the ocean. It was so nice to be in some trees and have silence. I dont like big cities. As we walked out and on the way back I kept looking for something to stick out to me. The road didnt have too much on it for knocking like I had hoped. Well it got close to mediodia and we were tired from walking so we headed back. As we crossed the street there was a 50 year old man that stopped us and said in english, excuse me I need to talk to you. Usually I feel nervous as men try to talk to us but it was different with him. He went on to tell us that three years ago the Elders taught him. Well the areas changed and the church was moved from where he knew it and he lost contact. He said he has been looking for us and he couldnt believe his eyes when he saw us walking down the street. He is a Marine and works a lot with other people that speak english and he also travels to the US alot. He had a little cafe on the street where he found us and pretty much begged us to come by. He told us that we are very welcome to come by anytime. Im sure he remembers how he felt as the Elders taught him years ago. We are going to stop by this week. It was a huge miracle for me. I know that Heavenly Father hears our prayers and is very mindful of us. It really has been through the small miracles that I realize how much He loves me. Im one in a world of billions but I see His hand in my life and in the lives of others. Ana called us and canceled our follow up visit. We asked her to pray about getting baptized. She said Manuel needed to go to Portugal and just told her. We stopped by the next day and Manuel answered and said he had to go to a meeting. I wanted to say well we want to talk to Ana. I think he is getting frustrated because he is suppose to be the one with all the knowledge. In the lessons he starts saying crazy science stuff and then I testify and slam him, in a nice way of course. Ana loves the lessons and told us that for the first time she feels like all of her questions are being answered. Anyways we left the building and I felt a little discouraged because I knew Satan was doing everything to keep us from having contact with her. About 30 minutes after leaving Ana called us and said Manuel left and I want you to come over. When she called we were on our way to a less active to take her fresh bread and freezer strawberry jam. Yes mom I finally made the freezer jam. Anywyas we stopped in and said hi to them and then went to Anas. She had run to the store and bought a load of food for us. She made french fries, eggs and steak. Then for dessert strawberries and kiwis. It was sooo good and I was so glad that she called but I told her I dont want to do this behind Manuel´s back and cause her more problems. She said well this is how it has to be done. He wants to control me because he is unhappy. He thinks that if I get a job or friends I will desert him. She is praying and reading. I dont know if I already told you that one night she was praying and opened the BOM. She said she read exactly what she needed to hear. I told her that is the way I knew that the BOM was the word of God. I would pray after bad days at school and when I opened the Book of Mormon I felt peace and read exactly what I needed. Heavenly Father talked to me through that sacred book. Well anyways Manuel took her back to Portugal so they didnt come to church. In fact we were suppose to have 7 people and only our good faithful Nigerian Ricky showed up. I love Ana and Manuel. I keep praying that Heavenly Father will help us know how to help them. They are both at such differnt spots in their lives and they have so much baggage.The Romanian family were some of the people that were suppose to come. We went by their house early Sunday morning and they didnt answer the door. It so hard for people to change even as they have the Spìrit manifest to them that what we teach is true. Im so thankful to have the gospel in my life. Life is hard but it would be a lot harder with out hope and faith is something more. I know that I will be with my family in the next life. I will do everything I can to be worthy to live with you and God again. I love my Savior and I know that this is His church.I love you and miss you!Love,The sister

Logan - Lorca Week 4

2009-02-16T19:00:00.000-08:00

2.15.09

I got Jennys letters and My B-day package thank you so much!

First thing to say is that Grandpa G. Was wise in the not talking about surfing thing. At first it didnt bother me at all but the videos of Dad almost cathing tube and shredding across the waves as the sun was setting was a bit much. You should of warned me or somthing I was sitting on the Train and I plug the new card into the camera and started watching. All of the sudden I was junmping out of my seat yelling for you to paddle harder and to cut back etc. Everyone sitting around was scared. My jaw was dropped as I looked at the pictures and watched and notcied how your surfing level has greatly improved. I m jealous but everytime you go surfing while Im on the misison means you have to take me twice as many times to make up for it. Just remember that before you plan the next surf trip without me. NIck is stealing my place as co pilot for the surf trips but I m glad you have someone to sit with and talk and of of course occasionally snake a wave from. Ok enough about surfing Im shaking a little bit. THe way I get my adrenaline fix on the mission is just telling stories from the past or talking about surfing.
Ok I visited murcia last week and they said that I still cant get my residence card. I have to go to barcelona and so that is in the process of being figured out. I m going to go by the office once more today and try and get a different lady to help me and see if that makes a difference. If not then I ll be headed up to Barcelona soon. As the way of mission work this week was kind of rought. We had to kids of 14ys that had dates to get baptized but they parents out of no where just said no. I was not very happy. They agreed a few months ago but have changed their mind. THe wierdest thing is that they kids both have bothers and sister that have already been baptized. I m very impressed with the kids because they come to church every sunday and are great memebers even though their parents arent memebers and dont support it. When you compare that to parents dragging their kids to church everyday you can see a big difference. These kids at a young age have already truly been convereted to the Gospel. The good news is that a older SPanish man that we have been teaching has finally accepted to get baptized. he has been coming to church for two years and was a devote Catholic before. When I first got here I asked why he wasnt a memeber and they just said he is stubborn and dosent like getting pushed. I m pretty sure I just said well I think he needs a little push. Durning planning we pray and talk about whaty to do with each person and then listen to the holy ghost prompt us in what to teach or do. WHile we were planning I felt that we should invite him to pray about the Book of MOrmon again even though he had already told us he knew it was true and was reading it everyday. We ended up doing it and that last appt. we had with him he said he had recieved a strong witness and is ready to get baptized. I m very thankful and for the Holy Ghost. I m learning better how to recognize the small promptings we recive daily. Some members I think oftenly always expect it to be a strong overbearing influence but I ve come to know that its more commonly new ieas or thoughts that pursuade to do good. Obviously this is somthing we here oiften in church but I thought I d mention it becasue its somthing that Im doing instead of just hearing from someone else and thinking ya I know. As we apply the principles of the Gospel lights just start turning on in the head and you come to know what youve already heard a 100 times. This letter is su`per long. The other exciting thing is that we have been visiting with our lawyer this week becasuse the office hasnt been paying our rent so we almost got kicked out. Everything is in good shape now though. The b-day package was amazing everything. The jump drive xd converter is great the lead and everything. I had root beer floats and they were fantastic as well. Thanks for the thought and care. Love you all

Elder G

Emily - Vigo Week 7

2009-02-16T18:59:00.000-08:00

2.15.09

Hello my family...
I have lots of good news! After a transfer of taking bucket showers we finally got a new water heater. Our dueño kept telling us that when the weather warmed up our water would warm up also. Well the sun came out and the water stayed cold. They came on Thursday to put in a new one and Ive taken more showers in the last couple days then I have my whole mission. Next good thing is the sun actually did come out. I have seen the sun for a couple days now and its helped me feel a lot better. I LOVE the sun! Right now the temperature is perfect. It feels like spring but I feel like Im kind of just waiting for it to start raining again. More good news is that I got my V-day package on V-day. Good job sisters! We were heading out for the morning and the mail man came in the door and said Emily. I tried to stay calm but it didnt work. I signed and ripped the package open. I love dark chocolate and the cookies were good too.
I went on a little cleaning rampage myself. I threw away bags and bags of junk. A couple of pdays ago I cleaned out the kitchen and then today I finished off the rest of the house. When the dueña came over to put in the new water heater her and her husband thanked us a lot for taking better care of the piso. They are more willing to help us out now with all the little problems. She was so excited to see it looking nice. I guess she usually came over and cleaned it after hermanas would leave. She is an older lady and I told her that it is our job to take care of it. I asked her to please tell us if there is anything that we need to do to help take better care of the piso.
Ricky is still doing awesome, we taught him the law of tithing this week. He accepts all the compromisos sin problema. It really is like he just knew it all before we started teaching. Camila an 18 year old girl from the rama came with us to a visit and helped out a ton. It was fun to have her go with us. Her family invited us over for dinner on Friday night. It was the second eating visit with a member that we have had in a transfer. They lived in the states for little while so it was really nice to chat and eat with them. I shared a little message at the end and I felt the Spirit very strongly. I hope they understand how much it meat to us to have dinner with them. We thanked them a million times and brought them some banana bread.
Ana pretty much told me yesterday that she wants to get baptized. Her and Manuel came to church with us on Sunday. They drove us home which by the way is really weird because that is like the 5th time Ive been in the car in the last year. Anyways they invited us over for dinner and it was soooo good. Manuel told us that he asked her what she wanted for V-day and she told him that she wanted to make a nice dinner for her friends. She had tears in her eyes while he told us. She is a good friend and I love her a lot. I just keep telling her that she is my sister and giving her big hugs. During the lesson Manuel got frustrated with me and left the room. He knows what Im saying is TRUE. He told me that Im immovable and I think thats a nice way of saying that Im stubborn.LOL! Anyways Ana and I talked and she said that her faith was at zero her pages were blank and white. Then she started visiting with us and she started feeling peace and happiness. She looked at me and said I know everything is true because I feel good. I only have one question do I have to be a missionary? Oh I almost started laughing but I held it together and let her know that she could go if she wants to but its not mandatory. She wants to get baptized. We are going back on Wednesday to teach her lesson 3 and set a fetcha. Im so HAPPY for her! I came to Spain partly to meet her and help her. I gave her a big hug like always. We have plans to take a couple trips together after the mission. It was a great experience. She needs the gospel so badly.
We met with a family from Romania last night and it was really fun. They just treated us like family. They have a very humble home and we all sat together on their bed for the lesson. They told us we are welcome back at anytime. We will be back on Wednesday. ITs so nice to be treated so well. They dont know us at all and they welcomed us in to talk about God. The little five year old boy shook my hand when we left like a little man it was so cute. I asked them to come to church on Sunday, we shall see.
I love my greenie. We get along really well. Its been fun to have her here with me.
Well I better finish up. I love you all so much. I know that this is Christ´s church, no doubt in my mind.
Love,
The Sister

Logan - Lorca Week 3

2009-02-10T11:19:00.001-08:00

2.9.09

Thanks Audrey for your letter and The fox family as well. Emily I got yours too and I sent you one today as well. Grandma Happy Birthday this week!

Well the week has been pretty exciting and fun. I am enjoying my compànions and we seem to work well togther. We had one of out investigatiors get baptized on saturday. He is from Peru and will be a great editing to the Branch. This week I had a great experiance teaching a man from Africa using 3 Nephi chapter 11. It is a very powerful chapter and I felt the spirit very strong as we explained how we can learn to listen to the Holy Ghost from reading about experiances other people have had in the scriptures. I also compared a few verses to Faith. IN that chapter After Chrisit has come he says Levantos or Stand and come to me. I told him even though Jesus Christ was with them and could have helped them up he invited them to stand and come unto him. I explained that his arm is still extended today but we have to do our part have faith and stand up to reach out to his merciful hand.
We also traverled to a near by Pueblo called aguilas that is right on the beach. A member owns a pizzaria there and let us make our own pizzas it was way good. As we drove through the mountains and then saw the beach it made me miss surfing and snowboarding a little bit. You almost forgot that you ever even did those things. I think its supposed to be that way and is a lot easier when your not thinking about it.
The other news is that Im still illegal! That office has taken to long on my papers for some reason and I went to go get my DNI card which is liki Spain Identifaction and the man told me that is cant becasue I ve waited to long. I talked with out registrator who is actually a member in Valencia and he just told me he dosent know what to do. SO in the mean time we have to avoid the Authority Figures. I am going to Murcia tommorrow to try and sort it out. I would be very frustrated if I have to leave Spain Early. Hopefully everything works out tomorrow. everything Else is going great though and we are having a good time Love and miss you all.

Love Elder G

Emily - Vigo Week 6

2009-02-10T11:17:00.000-08:00

2.9.09

Hello my family...
Well another week has gone by. I got letters from the Fox family and sister Sarah. I have emails from Dad and my dear Grandma Gogarty.
Mom I didnt get a letter from you this week and I didnt know what to do with myself. Sister is lucky that hers showed up, otherwise she would have gotten a major beating. I will probably beat her up when I get home either way. Just think, I will have a year and a half of frustration built up.
In an email from President today he told us that this winter has been the coldest/wettest winter in 70 years. I could have told you that. IM FREEZING! It rains every single day. I will not live in a place where it rains a lot ever again. I cant believe how much it has affected me. Ive heard it will start warming up in June when I go home!
I got my residency paper work today. On wednesday I will got stand in the street, in a line, for 3-4 hours, at 6 in the morning. I will have permission to live here for two years and work. DONT WORRY though mom Im coming home in June.
The other day I was sitting at my desk and I felt the need to yell your name and see if you would answer. Im pretty sure my greenie thinks that Ive lost my mind and I think I have. I really wanted a mom hug on Saturday. I had a rough day. The mission really allows you to see very clearly all of your weaknesses. I have a lot to work on. I think you know what they are before the mission but on the mission because you deal so much with people your weaknesses are easily seen. Im a big procrastinator and Ive got to do better.
Ricky continues to amaze me. We taught him the law of chastity and had planned to teach the WOW also and he basically started teaching us about it. When I asked him if he would live the law of chastity now and after his baptism he was like ah duh. He pretty much already knows what we are going to teach and already agrees with it all. He had a pretty crazy life in Nigeria but realized that he didnt like where he was at so he started studying the bible. He tells us how important it is to pray before studying so that you interpret the scriputres correctly. I think because he has always been guided by the spirit in his studies that he has prepared himself for receiving the gospel. He really already understands everything before we teach. Everytime we talk about his baptism he gets thee biggest smile on his face. He is so excited and he is taking everything so seriously. I dont even worry if he is going to come to church or not. When we were teaching about enduring to the end I asked him how we endure to the end. He said well you go to church, read the scriptures, pray and live the commandments. I asked well sometimes its hard to go to church every sunday what do we do when its harder to live the commandments. He looked at me in the eyes and said there is a time for play a time for work and a time for worship. Sunday is the day we worship and if you dont want to go that is Satan trying to keep you from doing what is right. We must go to church every Sunday. Wow perfect answer thank you Ricky. I always leave our visits like with my mind in another world, its crazy. He is so prepared and I know he is really going to help the church grow in some way.
Ana is doing pretty well. We stopped by on Wednesday to see how they were doing. They made us hot cocoa and arepas. We talked about some questions Manuel had in the BOM. He thinks that the book is 90 percent history with wars and problems and 10 percent of doctrine. Ive never seen someone see the book in that way. I know its a book of history but everything in it can be applied to our lives. My mission has really helped me to learn how to do that. I shared a verse with them that was an answer to a prayer. I testified that the book is not just a history book, it is a sacred book written by prophets. EVERYTIME I testify the room gets totally silent. I know he can feel the spirit and it bugs him. He doesnt know what to say back to me after I testify so he usually gets up and gets some more food. Ana just sits back quietly and takes everything in. She understands everything very well and that also bugs him. Faith is so simple but so hard for him to understand. They didnt come to church but we will stop by again this week and try to help them feel the love that their Heavenly Father has for both of them.
We did a service project this week for a lady that was recently baptized. Her house was a dumpster. She hasn´t thrown anything away for 10 years. We spent three hours throwing away trash in one room. When she left I just threw everything I picked up into the trash. I like having service to do because its nice to do some work and feel useful. Sometimes its hard to recognize your efforts teaching/finding.
We stopped and visited an awesome family last night. They lived in the states for a little while so they speak/understand english pretty well. It was really nice for my greenie to be able to talk and joke around. I remember how hard that was to not be able to have a realationship wiht anyone but your comp. They told us they want to have us over for some Mexican food. I dont think they realize how much they mean to us. Its so nice to just be in a home for an hour with a good family. The daughter is going to help us with a visit this week and I invited her to live at our house this summer.
Well I sure love you and I sent a good letter with some pictures last week, you should get it soon. I know the church is true there is no doubt in my mind. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love our family!
love,
The Sister

Logan - Lorca Week 2

2009-02-03T09:16:00.001-08:00

2.2.09

Grandma sorry about desroying your towel when I was down in St. George!

This week has been incredible. I relaly love Lorca and working with two companions. We are very effective and get a lot done. we usually do splits with the members durning the night so we get twice as much done. I have really enjoyed eler Worthen and Elder Kempkens. Elder Worthen and I want to room togther after the mission. Today we had a lot of fun climbing the highest mountain we could find in Lorca. It got a little intense when I realized we couldnt turn back and was wishing we had a rope. Luckily everyone is fine and we got some great pictures hich I will tr and attach if I can figure it out. The work in going amazingly we are having a ton of success in a lot of differnt ways. Just last week we set two baptismal dates and have two people ready to be baptized this week. There are some really great people here. We are seeing miracles and plan on seeing al ot more while we are here. I am worried its going to get too hot too soon. this week we also had at a chinese buffet and were there for about two hours. I know we got our moneys worth because the German ate 6 steaks. The food was way good and they cook it all in front of you. I had frog, squid, and octopus it was super good. Well everything else is going well the piso is super nice and now its all cleaned and organized. Well thats about all everything is going well and I am really enjoying lorca. Oh and the shower is amazing compared to the last piso I m like excited to wake up every morning and use it. Love you all

Elder G

Emily - Vigo Week 5

2009-02-03T09:13:00.000-08:00

2.2.09

I got letters from mom and jess this week. It was really nice to hear from both of you. Im still waiting for a letter from sister Sarah that should have made it here by now, if she sent it when she said she would. Dont ever tell a missionary that your going to send a letter and then not send it.
Ricky is still moving along. Last night we retaught him the Plan of Salvation with pictures. I was trying to hide the other pictures while we taught the first part and he was all anxious to see what else there was. He saw the sun moon and star and was like what is that. Its fun to watch someone have fun learning about the gospel. He usually teaches me when we are there. I cant remember if I told you last week that I showed him a picture of the saints in Nigeria in the Ensign and he was like oh thats fantastic. Its fun teaching him and watching him walk himself to church every Sunday even though he doesnt speak Spanish.
We found someone new this week. She is from Ecuador. It was a miracle for me. I was pretty down and we were doing some passbys. I rang her door and I heard someone yell out quien es. I came out from under the building and found someone hanging out the window. I asked for Rebeka and she looked at me weird but let us in. She welcomed us right in to her house and we sat and visited with her like we had known each other forever. She told me that she is Catholic but she never closes her door to people that want to talk to her about God. We visited for a while and she asked us about our families. It was so nice to just have someone treat us nicely and ask us about our families. We are going back on Saturday to visit her. I bore my testimony to her about families and prophets. Im excited to visit her again.
We had a nice visit with Ana this week. That lady really is my sister. There is no doubt in my mind that we were suppose to find each other. Its interesting to think what all happened for us to be put together. We spent some time with her on Saturday. She made us arepas and fresh orange juice, it was soo good. We talked a lot and I tried so hard to explain to her how special she is and how much God loves her. She has had a really hard life. She doesnt even believe that happiness is possible but she does want to find peace. I almost feel quilty for how happy I know Ive been in this life, especially when I think back to wonderful memories with all of you. Im so grateful to have you as my family forever. I told her that she is my sister and Im going to do what ever I can to help her find happiness and peace through the gospel, I know its possible. We cried a little bit together and I gave her a big hug. I want so badly to help her that it makes me crazy thinking about it. I know that I can only do my part and I have to watch her struggle to do hers. I want to just do it for her because I know how she can be happy. I think we have all felt that way before with someone we love. She thanked us for spending time with her and said that we have treated her better than she has been treated her whole life. She told me that I was a princess. I want her to understand that she is one too. That sounds super cheesy and dumb but really she needs to understand that she is a daughter of God.
It has been soooo nice to speak Spanish and have friends that are like family. All of the struggling in the beginning was worth it to be where Im at now. I love sharing the gospel!
I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love my Savior. I know I represent His church. Thank you so much for helping me find my own testimony so that I could be a missionary.
I love you all sooooo much and I miss you a lot!
Love,
The sister

Logan - Lorca Week 1

2009-01-27T11:40:00.000-08:00

1.27.09

Well last night I moved to Lorca with is the furthest south in the mission that you can go. THis is my new Adrress

Elder Logan Gogarty
C/ Castilla 5, 2B
Lorca, España 30800

I actually took the place of Elder Carpenter my trainer. He was in a threesome and went zone Leader in the Islands I took his place and now have two companions Elder Worthen from Ogden UT and Elder Kempkens from Germany. We have to speak in SPanish because Elder Kempkens English is not too good. We have a super nice piso but it is really small. I have been organiszing and stressing all night trying to find places for things but its just way too small. I did make a lot more space but I am going to buy some containers today to put stuff under the beds and I also want to throw just about everything away. Elder Worthen and I have a lot of the same intrests so we should have a fun time togther. I am also excited to learn a little german culture as well. I am very sad to have left Elche. It was extremely hard saying bye to Gustavo and his family. I gave them a hymn book with a picture and letter durning sacrament and they started balling. I will def. want to visit them when I come back. Lorca looks like a good place its a little smaller then ELche and it only has a branch here. We had a cita right when I got here last night as I got off the train and it went well. Its a little weird teaching with three people but I am sure we will get better at it. I think today we are going to just explore the city a little bit. The weather here is a little warmer and I hope I get transfered before summer hits becasue its going to be really hot. everything is going well so far and I m sure I ll have more to tell you next week after I learn the area a little better. Dad thanks for the great letter it was very funny. COby happy b-day! If you could find me a jump drive that I can plug my xd card into that would be fantastic as well as some new labels. Well Love you all Elder G

Emily - Vigo Week 4

2009-01-26T08:36:00.000-08:00

1.26.09

Hello Family...It has been a very rainy week. A couple days ago we got stuck in a huge rain storm on our way home. Our stuff is STILL drying out. Everyone watched us run home because we were the only ones in the street. Everyone else was hiding in bars. We got so wet we could ring our hair out. As we ran down the street I yelled back to my companion, welcome to nothern Spain. She couldnt believe how much it rained and I just pretended like it was out of the blue and probably would never happen again...wooops. I dont want her to know all the surprises at once.LOL!Dad said by now I should have conquered all my fears and it is strange how I do feel that way. I feel very comfortable here and that makes me kind of nervous. Ive never stayed comfortable for very long in life. I know there is still a lot of Spanish to learn but I can talk to anyone now. Contacting people still makes me pretty nervous but still I feel better about it then I did when I first came out. I feel very confident when Im teaching. Of course it helps that I speak Spanish better and you would think that its because I understand the scriptures amazing well but really it is because Ive learned how to follow the Spirit and apply simple gospel principles to everything. All the things that I thought would make me a great teacher haven´t really, it has been loving the people with all my heart and applying the gospel to their lives. I LOVE teaching, it has become my most favorite part of the mission. Ive always enjoyed listening to people but its more fun as a missionary because I can always share the gospel. The most exciting news is that our Nigerian friend Ricky is getting baptized on the seventh of march. I dont even know where to start explaining how that all came about. When I first started teaching him I thought he just has us come over so that he could preach to us from the bible but that has changed. I started picking out BOM chapters to go with Bible chapters and he has fallen in love with the BOM. For the last couple weeks we have just been reading with him and helping him get into the BOM. Then in the last visit we started teaching lesson three. In the middle of the lesson he told us that he would be baptized. He had a dream of two people dressed in white that wanted to give him a book and told him that he was a child of destiny. When hermanas showed up on his door he was waiting for them to give him a book. He allowed them to teach him and started coming to church. He has gone every week with out missing one Sunday for the last couple months. He told us that he has visited a lot of churches but in this one he felt something special as he entered for the first time. He continued learning and he has really gained a testimony because he always does his part. That reminds me of what dad said in his letter, about keeping our promises. I know that Heavenly Father really blesses us as we do what He has asked us to do, even with something so simple, like reading. Ricky really has gained a testimony of the BOM through the Spìrit and PMG says those two things are the biggest converters to the gospel. Anyways he continued telling us about all these dreams he has been having and that he has prayed about baptism. I think he has even fasted too. Then he told us of another dream where he was all dressed in white standing in a big pool of water. I worry about him because he doesnt speak Spanish at all really but I knew that I had to committ him to being baptized. After I asked him he left room, I think to pray and then came back and wrote 7 March on my agenda. He truly has been converted and is so prepared to be baptized. I hope he serves a mission. Most of the time he teaches us as we teach him. I showed him the picture from conference of the saints in Nigeria, he loved it! I think he is really going to help bring the gospel to more people in Spain and in his country. It was a really neat experience and as we walked down the stairs after the visit, I looked back at my comp. and asked her if that blew her mind, she just nodded. Im grateful to be a part of peoples lives as they find the truth or even sometimes just get closer to finding the truth.We had a great visit with Manuel Santos and Ana this week. Ana really opened up even more and told me more of her life. She really needs to understand the Plan of Salvation, every part of it. I love being with them and teaching them although sometimes I get overwhelmed. They have become like family and I want so badly to help them gain testimonies of the gospel. We talked a lot and finally I said I know I cant give you faith but if I could I would. I can tell you how to find it for yourselves. I know you both have suffered but that is part of this life. If you will both pray to Heavenly Father, He will listen and your faith in Him with grow. Ana please will you talk to your Heavenly Father tonight. Talk to him about all the bad things that have happened and ask Him to help you understand. You will gain a very special close relationship with Him and you wont be able to live with out prayer. I also asked Manuel Santos to pray and ask Heavenly Father to help him recognize the love He has for him. I told both of them how much I love them and how badly I want them to be happy and have peace. I always pour my heart out to them. I gave Ana a big hug again before I left and told her that I will help her to find happiness in this life because she deserves it. We have eaten more with them than with members. They really do take very good care of us. I feel very close to them and I just pray that I will be able to help them progress. I love my Heavenly Father and Im so grateful to know that He loves me. I pray to Him and He listens. He sent His son to pay for our sins. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and anyone can read it and pray to know if it is true. Im grateful to be a missionary and Im grateful to my family for teaching me the gospel of Jesus Christ. If I had to send you a final note in only 25 words it would be. I love each of you with all my heart. Do everything you can to be worthy to live together forever or I will hurt you. Read President Monsons talk.I sure do love you. Thank you for loving me!Love,The Sister

Logan - Transfer

2009-01-26T08:35:00.000-08:00

1.26.09

26 January 2009

Brother and Sister Gogarty

6 Swift Arrow Ct.

Pueblo, CO 81001

Dear Brother and Sister Gogarty,

Transfers are taking place this week in our mission. Elder Gogarty’s new area is Lorca and his new address is the following:

C/ Castilla 5, Edf Principe de Asturias
Piso 2, B
30800 Lorca, Murcia

This address is effective as of today.

We're happy to have Elder Gogarty in the Spain Barcelona Mission. Thank you for your support in this work.

Sincerely,

W. Christopher Waddell

President, Spain Barcelona Mission

WCW/bcp

Emily - Vigo Week 5

2009-01-20T07:16:00.001-08:00

1.19.08

Hello My Family...
Well I think I got all of my Christmas mail at conference yesterday. It seems to take a little longer for my mail to get to me, here in Vigo. On Saturday at district meeting H. DuVall brought me a package from Cristina and Jared. THANK YOU! Then at conference I got more letters then I have received in my whole mission. The Elders were a little upset. They kept looking for letters with their names and they kept finding letters with my name. HAHA! I got letters from Ash, Sister Emmel, Bro. Chambers, and Sister Reed. Then a couple of the hermanas that I have served with sent me a couple letters. It was fun to hear from everyone. I also received the Christmas letter from Grandpa and Grandma. I liked seeing pictures of everyone. Grandpa said something in his letter about how Im the favorite grandchild and so he started putting fifteen extra dollars in my account. Dont tell anyone else in the family.LOL!
Yesterday you obviously didnt get a letter from me. I was at zone conference in Santiago. About two hours away in train. I always learn so much and I like how President always applies what we learn to our lives as missionaries and our lives after the mission. IT was sooooo good to see everyone. Its funny because they have kind of become like family. I saw the hermanas from A Coruña and an Elder that I hadnt seen since my first area. It was nice to chat and laugh. We all walked to a cathedral after the conference and took some pictures. Every once in a while I just have these weird moments where I think about how crazy and random it is that Im in Spain as a missionary with a bunch of people that I didnt know a year ago. Talking with that Elder from my first area, made me realize how much of my mission already seems like a dream.Time just keeps passing by.
On Sunday I had one of the best experiences I have had in my whole mission. Remember Manuel Santos the really smart man we are teaching. He had a friend move in with him this week. She is there to kind of help him cook and things like that. Anwyas her name is Ana and she is from Colombia but lived in Portugal most her life. She came to church with us on Sunday. She has had a hard past according to Manuel. I was happy that she came to church but then started feeling a little uneasy when we talked about baptisms for the dead in RS. They invited us over for lunch and I wanted to talk to explain everything and answer all their questions so we went. She had no knowledge of the church as far as I know. I prayed really really hard that Heavenly Father would guide me and help me know what to say. I felt like there was a lot to explain. I started talking about the Word of Wisdom. Ive never done that in a first lesson before. Manuel is a big wine drinker. I read the promise from DC and explained to him that it didnt matter to me what science has said. I believe in a prophet and with faith I followed him and I have been blessed. I shared a couple personal experiences and just really tried to open up to him with my heart. He tries so hard to explain everything with science and the spirit just quiets him as I speak. As I finished explaining the WOW, he looked at me quiet and said you have opened my heart hermana and I want to continue learning. I did a brief overview of the first and the BOM to try to help Ana figure out what was going on. I felt so connected to her. As I talked to her about the restoration and why Im here to share this message, I felt the spirit very very strongly. I was almost in tears. I looked at her straight in the eyes while I bore my testimony. She just started crying. Everything about the message was familiar to her. It filled a hole in her heart that she didnt know was there, I watched it happen. I know she is one of the women from my blessing. We go back on Wednesday to teach the Plan of Salvacion. She gave me a big hug before I left and couldnt stop saying thank you. It was so nice to hug her. She was prepared to hear the gospel and I think she will help Manuel a lot with his faith. I watched it kind of bother him that we felt this special bond of faith. Wow anyways incredible experience. Manuel joked with me as we left and said that I never stop preaching. I just touched my heart and told him that its all that I am and I cant help it. He just laughed and said I know, I know.
We also had a not so good experience this week earlier on. A really wonderful lady from the rama is going through some major problems right now. We stopped by because we wanted to practice teaching and she unloaded. We made some food for her and her kids and helped her pack up. Its a long story but Im thankful Heavenly Father guided us there so we could help her.
I know that Heavenly Father loves us. I know that Christ is my Savior. I know that this is His church because I cant deny what I feel as I testify.
I love you all so much. Thanks for the prayers and love!
I got my one year letter. We wrote ourselves when we first came in and then we get it at one year. It was soooo weird.
Love,
The Sister

Logan - Elche Week 10

2009-01-20T07:14:00.000-08:00

1.19.09

I recieved letters from the Roberts, Mom, and a B-day card from Grandpa and Grandma Gogarty. The card arrived on the 14th so it was a nice suprise, you timed it just right Grandpa! Thank you very much for the money and the card.

Well last preparation day I wanted to buy a sweater and I ended up walking out with a new suit. The suits here arent very expensive and I like the sytle a lot more. Wedensday we had zone confrence which was really good and I learned a lot. After the confrence when we came back to Elche we ate with a family that made me a B-day cake. Then when I got home the other Elders had made me another one. Then Thursday we ate with the Fmaily from Columbia that we baptized and they had bought me a cake. So I had three cakes which was great but I m going to have to run a little harder this week. I cant think of what really happened this week but we did start teaching English classes and I am really enjoying it. We have more then 20 people coming and we are teaching just as a free service. After the class we leave a spiritual message and they can stay if they want. I have realized how poorly I understand english and am trying to learn it a little better. The best way to learn somthing is to teach it to someone else it seems. You have to have it clear in your mind to be able to explain to someone else clearly. Nothing to much happened this week, today we are going to go for a long run and then just relax. Transfers will be this sunday so if you have any mail to send do it today or else I wont get it if I am leaving. Either the mail man is stealing my mail or no one is writing, Id like to blame the mail man but today is my 10 month mark and everyone says this is when the mail stops. We ll see. I love you all thanks for the prayers and support.

Love

Elder G

Emily - Vigo Week 4

2009-01-13T07:33:00.000-08:00

1.11.09

Hello Beautiful Family...
Oh it has been a crazy week. Actually every week in the mission is crazy in one way or another. I did get letters this week from mom and jess. Then today when I went down to do email I had a letter from mom and I will read it once Im done email. I have emails from pops, Grandpa Gogarty, and Jess. Im excited to do the study tomorrow that Grandpa sent. I am so blessed to have such an amazing family. Not only are my parents fabulous but my grandparents too. Thank you for the letters. Im glad you enjoyed my videos. Oh pops if you think you were crying like a baby watching my videos, you should have seen me when I watched the ones Jess sent. How is it possible to love people so much, to the point that its just overwhelming? I dont know how people move here away from their families for years. Im moving home and never leaving again. Im going to be that weird kid that lives in the basement. I hope you are prepared for that.
So the biggest news you are all waiting for is....how is my greenie? She is fantastic(I started saying that word because our Nigerian inv. says it)-funny but anyways, no really Im so grateful for her. I prayed for her and she prayed for me. We are A LOT alike, so much that today the man that owns the cyber, where we do email asked me if we were from the same place because we seem a lot alike. We are already having a great time together. Her name is Hermana Rudder and she is from Boise, ID. She is really tall and our humor is the same. The Elders are actually scared of us. You know how I tease people well she is like that too and they just dont know how to handle it. Especially because before us there were two quiet hermanas. It has been crazy being in charge of everything. I thought I had the gift of tounges in the beginning well now its just happening all over again. My understanding has increased a bunch. My ear is still plugged from my cold and that has been a little frustrating with so much Spanish going on but understanding another language is just weird. Ive really enjoyed being myself in Spanish. Even just with the people for example that work in this cyber, we are really good friends. I chatted with the wife while my comp. wrote her family to tell them she got here okay. We didnt talk a ton about the church but they definately talked to me about why im here and why I came. I was able to share a little with them and they told me how much they respect us for what we do. It was nice to just talk with them.
We had a crazy visit with Manuel Santos this week, a man from Portugal. He is a mason and a brain doctor. Sometimes the lessons get pretty crazy, especially with the member we invited. I dont want to say they were fighting but it was a little heated conversation. Everytime people start talking about crazy off the wall ideas the thoughts that come to my mind through the spirit are always simple and powerful. I love how the answers always go back to the simple principles of the gospel. I started testifying and shared my experience of how I came to know the Book of Mormon was true when I was 16. I didnt realize it but my comp. told me later that it was the only time the room was totally quiet and he listened intently to every word I said. Its interesting to have her thoughts after the lesson because she mostly is just observing. I realized how use to feeling the spirit I have become and how much I need to recognize it and be grateful for it.
When he came to the church the one person that shook his hand, looked to me and said is he an investigator or a member. I didnt answer her because I HATE THAT QUESTION. Everyone that reads this email dont ever do that, EVER! I looked over at Manuel Santos like lets look at her like she is the alien and see how she likes it. He just laughed and because he is reading the BOM he told her that he was a gentile. She didnt get it but we laughed and she walked aways. WOOPS, I dont think she will be helping us in any visits but seriously I wanted to say well Hermana so and so this is a person and his name is Manuel Santos. We talked to our ward mission leader and he suggested someone to help us in the visits and its actually the councilor to President DuVall. I think things are going to go a lot better now. He really does want to find the truth he is just really confused. He has to be thee most confused person I have ever taught.
I set up a couple visits this week with some menos activos and members. We are going to stop by teach them the first to remind them of what they have and then ask them to choose through prayer a street for us to work on. Then once we find someone they will help us at church and in visits. I want to start from the beginning with a member instead of beating our brains to think of someone to come with us and then they come and it ends up being a disaster. I can see how well everything would work if it was done it the right way. I read the talk in the Ensign from the Priesthood session about fufilling the calling that you have been given. I think it was called lift where you stand and I loved it. I can see so clearly where I failed as a member before the mission. I hope to do a better job of that when Im home. I really am excited to help the missionaries when I am a member. Hopefully I can help some members here figure out how to better help the missionaries. The work isnt going to change here until the members and the missionaries are united in the work. Anyways just some thoughts sorry.
I sure love you all so much. Preach my Gospel tells us that the BOM and the Spirit is what will convert the hearts of the people we teach to the gospel. I know that is true because that is what happened to me. I was 16 and I began reading the BOM everyday and praying about it. I remember specifically one day kneeling at my bed and begging Heavenly Father to help me know if what I had been taught my whole life was true. The Spirit touched my heart and ran through my whole body. I love the Book of Mormon and I love prayer. It really is the simple gospel principles that can change lives. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I know He payed the price for my sins. His church has been restored through the prophet Joseph Smith.
I love you all dearly and I am praying for you.
Love,
The Sister

Logan - Elche Week 9

2009-01-13T07:32:00.000-08:00

1.11.09

Thanks Mom and emily for your letters last week! And Grandpa for your email today!

This week has been a highlight week for my Mission. Saturday night Jamie was Baptized. Before her baptism there was a stake meeting and two Elders from the Seventy were there one of them was Elder Gèrald Caussè. He spoke in the last general Confrence and gave a wonderful talk on how all of Gods children can understand the gospel. He was invited to stay for the Baptism and was happy to do so. It was a very neat experiance for the whole family after as my COMpanion and I introduced Jamie and her Family to Elder Caussè and translated for them as he gave them advice as new members of the church. I had a very nice time visiting with him and actually got to translate for him the next day in church. I felt the spirit most strongly as we sang Divina Luz with just the missionaries. THe whole service was very uplifting and a great testimony builder for the whole family. This family from columbia has been worth all the hard times I have had and all the hard times that will come. I have been in Elche specifically for them and will never forget some of the experiances we have had togther.
My birth day is Wednesday! as well as Zone confrence down in Murcilla, I am very excited to have confrence we always learn so much. My transfer ends the 25th so it would probly be wise to not send letters after the 18th of this month. I could stay I could go we will just have to wait and see. Everyone thinks I am trainging but I dont really know we ll see. You should have a package from me soon and I would like it if you could go to wal mart and print of some pictures and send them back here. Pictures of the Baptism just 3 copies of the best one as well as a few copies of me with the Family in front of their little chirstmnas tree. I want to leave those with them if I get transfered. Also if you are in springs if you could pick up extra lead to that pencil you sent me. The color lead. I just want it for back up there is no rush on that. Thanks for all you prays and mail. Love you all

Elder G

Logan - Elche Week 8

2009-01-05T20:17:00.001-08:00

1.05.09

Well all my Christmas cards this Christmas really paid off last week. I recieved Packages from Grandpa and Grandma Layton, The Bertoldos, and Jared and Christina. Then I got letters from The Hepworths, Jessica, Laura, The Chambers, and Mom. I also recieved Grandpa and Grandma Gogartys Christmas Card and Money. Thank you everyone so much, It was a great boost durning the week. Well this week has been pretty exciting I wrote down a few things that happened in my planner because I didnt want to forget. We had our interviews witht he president in Alicante this week and so we were rirding the train up the coast to Alicante and stopped in a little beach town to pick up some more people. There was an elderly lady that was trying to get off the train and 3 man standing by her but not lending an arm to help her down. The train is a good little drop and tricky to hop off. From where Elder Tanner and I were sitting we just saw an old lady hit the ground out of the train and we couldnt see her legs becasue they were between the train and the pad. We Immedietly ran from the coach and jumnped out to help her becasue the train was about to leave. We didnt have much time but the others Elders got a bandana from someone in our coach and tissues. Then we quickly bandaged her leg but it was bleeding perfusily. We picked her up and set her on the Bench and then we had to hop back on the train before we got left there. Someone on the train called the Ambulance and I hope it got there okay. The cut was really deep and I felt bad for the lady becasue she had no idea what even happened due to the shock. I wasnt even thinking the whole time because the adrenaline nither was Elder Tanner but I realized that I did learn some things working in the ER with Dad. thats the exciting story for the week. On the other side of things the work here has been going amazingly well. The columbian family I talked with in Church Yesterday and they were fasting and I saw them pay their tighting. Whith which I was extremely happy to see. Its very pleasing to see their faith and commitment growing everyday. I feel very fortunate in being a small part of helping them change. Fast sunday has turned into my favorite sunday. I have seen the most miracles come through fasting. It almost seems extra special during the mission or maybe I just wasnt doing it right before but I really enjoying the first Sunday of the month. My testimony has greatly increased form ly law of fast. Everything is going really well here. THe piso is great and we are still sharing all expenses whihc saves us money and helps us ot eat much better when we are eating in piso. We are having the Baptism of Jamie a 15 yr old girl this saturday so I am excited about that as well. She has gained a strong testimony through reading the Book of Mormon. We had a fun time for new year at a members house. We had a feast of meat that they cooked on open flames and at midnight we ate 12 grapes. Thats the tradition here here I guess its good luck if you eat them all before the last bell strikes. I told them I like our tradition in America better, kissing a girl right when the ball drops. They thought that was wierd. Well Love you all have a great week. My B-day is coming up and the only thing I can think of is one can of A and W root beer would be fantastic. And maybe some more pics of the family. I will just bee using the card Emily sent me for my camera by the way. Love you All Elder G

Emily - Vigo Week 3

2009-01-05T20:15:00.000-08:00

1.05.09

Hello my beautiful family....Im sorry it has taken soooo long for me to send a card full of pictures. Remember how I wasnt a myspace freak like Logan and Sarah before the mission. Im not constantly taking pics. of myself so it takes a little while to fill up a card. Im glad you enjoyed the pictures and the videos. Im working on the next card. I got a letter from mom. THANK YOU!Today we went to a pueblo about 50 minutes away from here. It was really pretty. We walked around and took some pictures and then sat down at a cafe and ate churros con chocolate a la taza. Today it is really really cold. I got sick again last week and had to stay in. Sore throat, fever, chills, it was a little different than what I had a couple weeks ago. Im pretty much over it but my ear has been plugged for almost two weeks now. Im pretty much ready for winter to be OVER. I never want to see rain again. SORRY SISTER!I had a great day at church on Sunday. We are teaching a guy whose name is Jose Enrique. He is from here and he is about 30 years old. His wife left him and he moved back in with his mom. He started drinking, smoking and he doesnt have work. We taught him about prayer in the last visit and he prayed, it was beautiful. I love hearing people pray for the first time. He prayed mostly for us and after he was finished I asked him if he felt tranquilo and he said yes. I promised him that he would always feel that as he continues to pray. He is trying to quit smoking but he is a really nervous person and depressed. Anways I can see that little by little he is changing and wanting to be a better person. We invited him to church and we stopped by and he was asleep. We were of course bummed but than 20 mins. after the meeting started he showed up. He has long hair and drives a motorcycle. I was praying that the members would help him feel welcome. It was so good to see him at church. We are also teaching Ricky from Nigeria. He loves the bible but we are trying to help him love the BOM too. We left him with 1 Nephi 11 and he understood it so well. Another miracle is we found a menos activo that lives there too. His name is Charly and he is so cool. We invited him in on the lesson and asked him to come to church. He came with Ricky. He was baptized in Madrid and didnt know where the capilla was here so he started attending another church. I asked him why he was baptized and also to explain to me what the day was like. Oh he had the biggest smile on his face as he told us about his special day. I felt the spirit as he told me about his baptism. I LOVED seeing everyone at church, it made my day. I wish we could have everyone in church every Sunday. Ive been really trying to focus on always giving good direct compromisos and Ive really seen a change in the people we teach. I try to focus on one thing, either prayer, BOM reading or church. I want to help them get really strong in at least one of these things and then they will be able to do the others. Im learning to be more direct. I dont have time to beat around the bush. I wish I would have felt that before. Im excited to take these last six months and really end well. I have a lot of weaknesses but I really can see what I need to do. I pray that Heavenly Father will help me to complete with what I was called here to do. Ive learned so much but I can still see that there is much to learn. I also pray that my body will allow me to keep going. I feel like an old beaten up car that just keeps getting little repairs to keep it going for a little longer. I had to hobble home last night because something happened to my foot. Its bruised all under my toes. I think it was from my shoe. Anways it felt good to walk in tennis shoes today. I want to wear them everyday. I know with all my heart that the church was restored to the earth through a prophet. Praying, reading and attending church can change your life. They are three really small things but I know they work and keep us on track. My greenie is coming on Wednesday. I hope she is a very patient person. Im going to love her and do my best to help her feel great. I will just let her learn little by little like our investigators. I will let you know next week how its going. I love you sooooooooooo much and Im excited to talk to you again in May. That doesnt seem to far away. Les quiero con todo mi corazon.Love,The Sister

Emily - Vigo Week 2

2008-12-29T20:54:00.000-08:00

12.29.08

Dearest Family...
I had thee most interesting Christmas of my life.It was like no other Christmas in my life. I didnt try to make it how it is at home. The Elders came over for piso checks and they a small little tree over in the corner with out presents. They freaked out and couldnt believe we didnt have gifts. I loved how we spent our Christmas. After the phone call we went to an investigators house whose name is Manuel Santos. He is from Portugal. He invited a bunch of his random friends over so that we could come over. We spent Christmas Eve with him, a Spaniard Ateo, a woman from Colombia, and a doctor from Cuba. WE ate a bunch of shrimp and bacaloa-dont know if that is spelled right. ANyways the food was pretty good but it was especially interesting to be with such a diverse group of people. They werent quite sure what to do with us. Manuel Santos is like the man off of Mr. Kroogers Christmas in some ways. He treats us like his daughters. He is very lonely. Anyways everyone just asked us questions the whole night. I loved it and I loved how confident I felt with a bunch of doctors/business men talking to me about my beliefs. I know the Spirit is what gave me the confidence. We left them with a hymn, silent night after we had to run out because the lady from Colombia had to leave. The spirit was so strong as we sang of our Savior Jesus Christ. They just kept shaking our hands and telling us how much of an honor it was to spend this holiday with us. It was a really neat experience.
On Christmas we went to a home of a family that has a few problems. The mother is Catholic but wants us to help her son. She treats us very kindly but always leaves as we begin to teach. In this visit she stayed because we watch Joy to the World together, she loved it. I testified of Jesus Christ as my Savior after the movie ended. He and his girlfriend arent sure at this time what they believe but I know they felt something special. The girl was just looking at me straight in the eyes while I talked. People are progressing little by little.
For lunch we ate with a member and her two daughters. Her name is Eugenia. WE had an amazing lunch from Venezuela and we played with the girls and their new tea set. They are an awesome family and I already feel really close to the mom. She told us of how different this year has been for her as she tried to help her daughters focus of the true meaning of Christmas. She shared a special story wiht us and I felt strengthened by her.
For dinner we went to another investigators house. They made us more shrimp and ribs. They are from Peru. I ate more shrimp in these last few days than in my whole life. Their son is a member in Peru and they are now taking the lessons. They are having a hard time getting rid of old traditions. They treated us so kindly and we shared a message with them about our Savior Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made for us.
All the in between time we spent taking cookies to people. It was a beautiful Christmas. I loved testifying of my Savior Jesus Christ and telling people why Im really here. I was worried about not having visits with members but it was wonderful spending it with people who are learning of Him and His church.
I know that Jesus Christ came to the earth. He was crucified and He payed for our sins. After three days he was resurrected and all of us will receive that same gift. As I continue to study, teach, and learn more of Him, I cannot deny that He is my Savior and my Reedemer. I know that He lives and loves me. Im grateful to represent Him, especially at this time. I pray that I will be able to find the people who are ready to hear His message and feel of His love.
I loved visiting with you. I love you all soooooo much. Thank you for loving me and supporting me.
Love,
The Sister

Logan - Elche Week 6

2008-12-29T20:53:00.000-08:00

12.29.08

Thanks Jenny, Ashley, Grandpa and Grandma Gogarty, and Mom for your letters. They are always greatly appreciated.

For Christmas day we went out to the campo which is basically a house out of the city. We ate with some members there and then listened to one of the Hermanas that just got into the misison cry to her parents for an hour. I bet her a Euro that she would cry and she just kept saying no then as soon as she picked up the phone she started balling. I am glad everyone was able to hold it togther while we talked I really enjoyed hearing everyones voices. Talking to you on the phone already seems so long ago. The 27th was a beautiful day. We baptized Jeannette and Gustavo from Columbia and it was a great experiance. Gustavo has really changed its been fun to be a pàrt of. On sunday he came to church with his hair cut and wearing a suit. The best part of the baptism was when they bore testimony and explained how they came to know that CHirst has restored his church on the earth today. Jeannatte also explained how she wasnt going to open the door but then felt that someone said open the door theres good people on the other side. It has been a fun experiance I looked back to the first night in my Journal when we talked to Jeannatte and I had written down that I felt that is was a family that would get baptized and accpet us. Sunday my companion and I confirmed them members and gave them the holy Ghost. It was amazing to feel so guided durning the blessing and the words that came to mind even though it was in spanish I cant remember what I said but I felt the spirit very storngly. Gustavo will be baptizing his daughter next week if all goes as planned. I am very excited how the work is progressing here in Elche. That was all the big news I am glad you guys had a nice Christmas. Love you all

Elder G

Emily - Vigo Week 1

2008-12-23T20:18:00.000-08:00

12.22.08

Hello Family..Is this year really almost over, I cant believe it. It doesnt at all feel like Christmas is going to be in three days. Its weird on the mission how everyday just feels the same. I dont really think about the date very often. If you think about the time to much you will make yourself crazy. Anyways I cant believe that Im already in Vigo, my last area. Its so weird that I started my mission at the beginning of this year. I havent had mail for a while obviously because Im in a new area. Im in a letter drought like my brother would say. I did get my Christmas package it came to our door when I was leaving with my bags for Vigo. In came JUST in time. I was so happy to get it. The goodies were crazy good. I dont remember us making that good of stuff before. You must have a lot of time to do things like that since no one is home for Christmas. I did get about three letters from Aunt Laura at conference. Please tell her how much I appreciated each one of them. As for pop´s business items. I think you should call at about three in the afternoon, my time. That would be 7 in the morning for you. Or you can wait until later like if you want to sleep in. But, I believe that you will be so excited to call that you wont sleep the whole night. I know thats how Im going to feel. We can do a conference call with brother. I would love to talk to everyone. Oh I love you so much!!!So on Monday I realized that Ive been collecting stuff in the mission. I barely fit everything in. I even have a plant. I had so much stuff that three Elders had to help me put in all on the train. They barely made it off in time. It was sad saying bye to everyone. They all ran next to the trian and made crazy faces at me as I left. Everyone in the train was looking at me. Especially because I was carrying a plant. IT was funny. Vigo is really pretty, we have a beautiful view from the kitchen of the port. It is a little bit warmer here but still pretty cold. There are a lot of hills and Im dying but grateful because it will help me lose some weight. Its weird to be here and think that this is the last place Ill serve. This morning I was reading in the bible in John 15:12-14. I love those verses. Jesus Christ is our greatest friend. He gave His life for us. He loves us so much. I know that ONLY through him can we be healed from pain caused by sins. Im so grateful to represent Him at this time as a missionary for His church. Im so excited to talk with you. I just love you all so much! The greatest gift that I have in my life is the gospel because it allows me to be with you forever. I know that we are an eternal family. Thank you for marrying in the temple so that I could be sealed to you. I love you and I miss you. I cant wait for the phone call. Love,The Sister

Logan - Elche Week 6

2008-12-23T20:17:00.000-08:00

12.21.08

I recieved letters from Jenny, Emily, Redell Reed and Mom. Thank you everyone very much. Emily I recieved the camera card I ll send it home now. I also need a Card form home to exhange mine with Mom. I would like to do a confrence call with Emily and I will be avaliable the whole day you can just call me on the number I gave you whenever and I should answer 637,460,842 If the connection is not good I ll give you a number of a member and you can call me back with that number. I absouletly loved the photos of mi sobrina she is so cute I want to see her more then anyone else and Ive never even met the girl, but she is a lot cuter then the rest of you. I really cant wait to hold Brenna. This week we reached the Zions banner of Excellence. The president has put numbers that we should strive for each week and not a lot of people get it because its very high. Numbers of how many lessons we teach, members we visit, people we talk with etc. I wanted to get it the last week of our first transfer opening a new area but we fell a few short in lessons. This week though we had higher numbers then the banner. Obviously the numbers arent important but the people they represent are. I feel like I am becoming a lot more effective in using the members, setting goals, making plans, and schdeuling. Our family that we are teaching is progressing very well. We have had daily contact with them since we met them which has helped them a lot. I am convinced you have to do that with everyone that has a goal to be baptized because satan is working so hard with those people. They will be baptized the 27th the whole family. Its a very rewarding experiance to find teach, and baptize someone becasue usually you come into an area and they ve already been found and taught so you baptize or vice versa you find teach and then get moved to a different area and someone else baptizes them. But since we opened this area we have got to work with them through it all. SOrry this letter sounds like its going to the president not my family lol, we have been working very hard and I am excited about the change I ve seen in Elche. I dont really have any sotries that I can think of from this week there are some but I will save them for the phone call. I laughed when I heard Sampson was coming for christmas thats wild. All the elders that live with me know all about him lol. We baught a pata which is a huge pig leg that you cut meat of for sandwhiches and what not. I think I ve sent pictues of it before. I am very excited for Dj and james. Tell Dj to start studying Preach My gospel with the Book of Mormon and it will help prepare him a lot. Well I dont have much to say I love you all and have a Merry Christmas. LoveLogan

Logan - Elche Week 5

2008-12-17T23:10:00.000-08:00

12.16.08

hanks james for the letter and Mom for the package. I was wondering if you got my letter of the things I wanted before you sent becasue if you didnt you must have been inspired. I got everything I asked for I was shocked when I saw the muddy buddies. Thanks you so much I love you. Congradulations becasue it was the closest thing thats got my to tunkiness lol. the chex mis especially. I am waiting to open the wrapped gifts till Christmas.

The week has been great luckily I am staying here this transfer with Elder Ramsay still. I cant remember one thing thats happened this week and all the little notes I wrote down I dont reallly feel like writing about anymore. We continue to work witht he family from COlumbia and they are progressing very well. They have firm testimonys and are truly converted. I am very greatful to be able to teach them its been a blessing. This week we had the primary presentation and I loved it. Watching all the litttle boys sing Yo quiero ser un misionero ya which is like their version of I hope they call me on a mission. I really enjoyed it and looked back and felt like I was just there and now I am here on my mission. It was a great presentation and I felt the spirit very strongly. I really feel so much mroe receptive to the spirit due to living all the rules. Its a weird concept but I am greatful in how were blessed as we are obedient. I can just open the hymn book sing a hym and feel the spirit so strong where as before the misison you can be at general confrence and it not have any major effect on you. God really only gives us what we prepare ourselves for I have learned. I have never been happier in my entire life. The feelings of happiness and joy I get are more intense then any other time I can remember. I imagine that is from the spirit and I am greatful we have such a comfort in this crazy world. I have already been gone 9 months and it still feels like I left yesterday. I dont really have much more else to say. The piso is great and we share everything. WE spend less money then all the other missionaries on grocerys and eat way better meals. The work is going well and the ward makes all the difference. IN valencia I was always worried to bring investigators to church because the ward was not very loving and here it the exact opposite. ONe of the first things the investiagotrs said were I felt loved welcome and good. Its like a family and thats how it should be. I hope you welcome and love every new person that walks through the doors. I remember when I took Aarons family to church and everyone just stared at us and no one said Hi and then we left. Not the best experiance lol. Its hard to feel the spirit if we are uncomfortable with our surroundings. WEll I better go. Thanks everyone for your prayers and mail. Love you all

ELder G

oh ya Merry Christmas which translates to Chirst more we need more of Chirst in our lives always!

Emily - A Coruna Week 17

2008-12-15T21:22:00.002-08:00

12.15.08

Hello Family...Okay first things first, I am calling in 9 days! Well I guess you will call me. My phone number in Vigo will be 607-513-097 and I think you have the country codes from the last phone call. Next, my address will be: Travesia de Vigo 171, 3 derecha36207 Vigo (Pontevedra)Start sending letters a bunch of letters. Just because we are going to talk on the phone doesnt mean you can get lazy about letter writing. Ive been thinking about what time to have you call. Im not quite sure what to do. My comp. will have her call the next day and so she will just be waiting around. Ill think about it while Im writing. This week Ive been really sick. Everyone has the flu and so of course I got it. It started with a sore throat, headache, fever and chills. Now my head just feels like its going to explode. I stayed in bed for a couple days. I just strated feeling better this morning. It wasnt the best way to end my last week in A coruna but hey what can you do. I felt bad the entire time I was resting. But at the same time I knew it would be crazy to go outside in the rain and cold. Being a missionary is a funny thing. Anyways Im grateful to be feeling better this morning. Dad Im really afraid for you when I get home. Last week we played spoons in the capilla with the Elders. We put the spoons all over the church so we had to run for them. Well because I couldnt shove the Elders out of the way...I threw a chalkboard at one of them and a chair at the other one. There was a spoon behind the chalkboard and he ran to grab it, so I grabbed the chalboard and ran towards him with it. Oh my goodness it was so funny. My favorite family came and said bye to me last night. They werent at church because they were in Vigo. They told me they let everyone know I am coming. Bibiana, the mom told me she wouldnt talk to the hermana that is leaving because it is her fault I have to leave before Christmas. Anyways on their way home they stopped by the piso. I ran down and gave them BIG hugs. It was really hard to say bye to them and Jakelin and katherin. Everyone was mad at me for coming to church because Im sick. I walked outside for one second and Jakeline smaked me on the butt and started yelling at me. She is like my mom here. She wanted me to tell you in the phone call hello from her. They are sad and lonely. Katherin wants a family for Christmas and Jakelin feels bad that she cant be around more because she has to work. I really wish I could do something for them, somehting special for Christmas but Im leaving. I had a neat experience a few days ago. I went to a pueblo on a bus with the other hermanas to a noche de hogar with a family from the rama. Anyways I had only been there like twice and I forgot to bring the address. We missed the first bus and there was lots of traffic so we were already really late. The later bus we caught took us on a different route and we got dropped off in a totally different place. The family was waiting for us and everyone was realying on me to get us there. I had a huge headache, it was just one of thsoe days, you know where nothing goes right. My comp told me she would pray for me and everything would be okay. When we got off the bus I just started walking. AFter aobut ten minutes I thought, what am I doing I have no idea where Im going but then my next thought was trust me and I will guide you. I just kept walking and with out mistake we ended up directly at the front door of their house. Im so grateful for the spirit and the power of prayer. I know with out a doubt in my mind that the church of Jesus Christ has been restored on the earth. Thomas S. Monson is a Prophet of God. A young boy prayed to God and his prayer was answered. Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. We can be freed from sin. Thank you for helping me build this testimony.I love you so much and I cant wait to talk with you. Maybe you should call me in the morning. Then if thats not the best time we can say when we can talk. Oh wait we will have one more pday before the big phone call. I will see whats going on that day and then let you know in the next email. I love you all soooooo much. Love,The sister