Dear Family,
This week has been great and I am learning more and more every day, how to be a better missionary. I apologize again for my short letter last week and I hope to ¨fill your cup¨ this week.
We are receiving tons of blessings! Our area is on fire and I feel bad sometimes because I don´t think we deserve them. We are not being ¨obedient with exactness¨ as the Sons of Helaman were, and yet we are receiving countless blessings. I think that these blessing are evidence of the love of God for these people in this area. I know that I can´t be perfect, but I do think that there is always more I can give. These blessings make me think of the covenants that we make at baptism and in the temple. All the Lord asks is that we do all that we can to obey and live like Him and He will bless us. Always!!! I think the Lord is blessing us so much because He loves the people here and is merciful. He is not going to punish the people for us not being exactly obedient but He will still bless us as we strive for that goal. The more we give the more we will be blessed. I would think that sometimes these blessings are not really visible, but are more spiritual blessings. I feel that we are being blessed both temporally and spiritually and I hope to give all that I can to be obedient, so that I might bind the Lord and require His blessings. I love living, and knowing that we are entirely dependent on the Lord. It is much more obvious in missionary work because if we don´t have the Spirit in our contacts, lessons, and lives, nothing will happen. This work really is His, and if we all that we can to do it His way, by keeping His commandments, and loving Him as we serve His children we will receive His Holy Spirit and be blessed. Life, sometimes, seems much simpler in the mission, because we have only very few things to focus on. And that´s it!!!
This idea makes much more sense in my head and it´s hard to express these feelings, so sorry to bore you.
We have 7 baptismal dates and 2 really close ones and 2 others that are right behind them. It is so fun having a schedule every day planned out, and having so many people that you are helping prepare for this great ordinance, that you just get excited to go out and meet with them. I am in love with lots of our investigators. Not really, but more spiritually, haha, don’t worry. What I mean to say is that I get so excited to go and teach our progressing investigators a new principle or a new lesson or a new commandment, because I know the way it is going to help their lives. My companion gave a parallel to teaching people the commandments. He compared the commandments to a menu at McDonald´s. He said that you can go in, look at the menu, and see all of the possible blessings that you can receive from obeying these laws. It really is as simple as picking a commandment, obeying it, and receiving the blessing attached. As we teach people more commandments and invite them to keep them, they have the opportunity to broaden their spectrum and add more light and love and power to their lives. I love the connection between obedience and power. Obedience really is power, and as you keep even the simplest of commandments like reading the scriptures every day, you gain actual power, that helps you combat Satan, but also gives you power to obey another commandment, like praying frequently. By obeying these two you know have enough power to go to church, and then keep the word of wisdom, and then the law of chastity, tithing, fast offerings, etc. The Lord really does know that way to get us back to Him, and that way is through daily obedience, in the little things. As we do this, and as our investigators do this, they change. They get more light in their countenances, they are more happy, they love deeper, their relationships are stronger, and they gain the power and the faith to wield the sword of righteousness against the wiles of the devil. Obedience is the first law of everything and is the only way that we can lay claim to the healing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. As we take our first step in acting and becoming like Him, He automatically blesses us. He blesses us even when we are imperfect, because He loves us and He loves those that we can serve. I love teaching people the importance of obedience and the commandments, and especially following up and seeing how excited they are to tell us that they read and kept their commitment to follow the Savior. It truly is a blessing to see the changes of life, firsthand.
Elder Carr and I had a very special experience this week as we visited one of our progressing investigators Christian and Nina. We only had the chance to teach him as his girlfriend was with their baby. Things in Spain are really strange with these kinds of relationships. We like teaching him because he keeps his commitments. We had taught him maybe three times before and every time he did not really open his heart to the Book of Mormon. He always read but always said that it was the same as the Bible or confusing to understand. We decided to read a little bit of his reading assignment, chapter 9 of 2 Nephi, when Elder Carr had the stroke of inspiration to instead read a little bit from 2 Nephi chapter 4. We told him that we would start reading in the middle and go to the end rotating every three. As he began reading in his Romanian copy of the Book of Mormon, we began to fumble along, trying to stay with him, knowing where to come in. As he kept going we realized that he had passed his 3 and kept going. He read for about 10 verses, paused, reread a verse, and then kept going until the end of the chapter. After he was done he put the Book down and kind of muttered a ¨whoa.¨ Elder Carr commented that these were the desires of a humble prophet, a humble servant of the Lord that desperately wanted to do all he could to do the will of the Father. Christian said that the words he read were his same desires. After he said this he cut off and went quiet. We waited knowing that listening is always better than talking, because it allows the Spirit to teach, testify, and confirm. We probably waited for about 5 minutes during which, he began to cry and sob. He tried to speak a couple of times but couldn´t. He apologized after this and we asked him to express his feelings and he said that he was speechless, that he felt something in his chest, and that he couldn´t express it. Obviously when he said that he felt something in his chest we knew what it was and were so excited, knowing that he knew that the Book of Mormon was true. He wife got some tissues for him and we began to talk to him about what he was feeling. We told him that this feeling was a witness of the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is true, and that he needs to get baptized. He, still being speechless, tearfully nodded as we said these words, and then asked if we could have him say the closing prayer, as we were now out passed curfew, not knowing that the lesson would go over like this. He said that he was speechless and couldn´t do it. We pushed him, knowing that he needed to say the prayer to confirm the feelings he was having, so we encouraged him again. He agreed and said a short prayer. We were glad that he did this and he said that he would talk to his wife about getting married, as that is an obvious requirement for baptism. As he regained his breath, after this literal breath taking experience, he walked us to the door and thanked us. I truly feel it a privilege and a tender mercy of the Lord to have been present during this incredibly spiritual experience. He felt the Spirit and the Spirit bore witness to me of the true, life changing power of the Book of Mormon. This book is evidence of everything in our church, and once one has a testimony of it, they know that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that Jesus Christ is our Savior, and that this is the only church on the earth that has the power and authority of God, to not only perform the saving ordinances but to lead Heavenly Father´s children back to His loving arms.
I love this work and find it easy to see the Lord´s powerful hand in His work and in my life. I do see that as I lose myself in this work, that I become the servant that Heavenly Father prepared me, and sent me, to be. His love is evident in all things. I love the song, I feel my Savior´s love in all the world around me.
I love you all and pray for you a lot. Have the best week ever!!!
Love,
Rob
Elder Driggs
Monday, October 26, 2009
October 14, 2009
Dear family,
This week has been busy as ever and very exciting. Seven people have committed to being baptized in the next month and a half. We are teaching a lot and should be teaching more. We really are so blessed right now. Almost every lesson we go to is effective and most of the investigators that we are working with are progressing. Our area is very blessed right now and the people are more and more seeming ready to embrace the gospel. We love the work and wish that we had a car so that we could drive between appointments in our pueblos and not have to take time to ride the train. We are trying to contact more and more people as that is where we are struggling right now. We have been blessed with a good base and we need to keep working to keep that base stable, or else when our investigators are baptized there will be no one else to teach.
I actually don´t have very much time this week, and I apologize immensely.
Here is a copy of the letter that I wrote to Grandmother and Granddad. I am sorry that it is all in Spanish. I have a letter that I am going to mail today with a picture to Cami.
I love you all and thank you, thank you for the letters and prayers. Next weeks letter will be extra special.
Here is the letter to Grandmother and Grandad:
Querido Abuela y Abuelo,
Muchas gracias por su carta con amor y sus oraciones para mi. Yo tambien encantó la Conferencia General y aprendí mucho que necesito poner en práctica para llegar a ser el misionero que nuestro Padre Celestial, y Jesucristo me quieren ser. Muchisimas gracias por sus oraciones y los de abuelo. Yo siento el poder de estas oraciones y me ayudan hacer todo lo que es requisito en esta obra.
Gracias por todo lo que hacen ustedes dos, para mi, Cami, y mi familia. Ustedes me han ayudado mucho en mi vida, y estoy agredicido por eso.
La obra esta progresando aquí en España y estoy muy agredecido que puedo servir el Señor en estos tiempos aquí en esta tierra.
Cuando Élder Clayton habló en la conferéncia acerca de una experiencia en Peru, siento mucho amor de Dios. Porque supe que mi abuelo tenia oportunidades para ayudarle aprender y progresar en su misión, y que ahora, Élder Clayton esta en la presidencia de la setenta, testificando a todo el mundo y a mí, en mi mision en España, el mismo testimonio que tenia en Peru. Yo puedo ver el ejemplo de mi abuelo Driggs, y tambien puedo ver la impacto de su ejemplo en muchas otras personas.
Es icreíble que puedo ver este impacto en la conferencía general en España.
Yo tenia la misma experiencia en la CCM aqui en España, cuando encontré que nuestra pianista y obrera en el templo, fue una misionera en su misión tambien. Ella, no recuerdo su nombre pero vive en Kearns, Utah, tenia solas buenas cosas para decir acerca de Presidente Driggs.
Estoy muy agredecido por ustedes, por sus perfectos ejemplos, de siendo instrumentos en las manos del Señor todos sus vidas.
Gracias por eso.
Les amo mucho,
Elder Driggs
P.S. I am not very good at writing in Spanish, so I hope that you can read and understand this. I have been told that one way to learn the language faster is to write letters in Spanish. Thank you and I hope it made sense!
I love you all,
Elder Driggs
This week has been busy as ever and very exciting. Seven people have committed to being baptized in the next month and a half. We are teaching a lot and should be teaching more. We really are so blessed right now. Almost every lesson we go to is effective and most of the investigators that we are working with are progressing. Our area is very blessed right now and the people are more and more seeming ready to embrace the gospel. We love the work and wish that we had a car so that we could drive between appointments in our pueblos and not have to take time to ride the train. We are trying to contact more and more people as that is where we are struggling right now. We have been blessed with a good base and we need to keep working to keep that base stable, or else when our investigators are baptized there will be no one else to teach.
I actually don´t have very much time this week, and I apologize immensely.
Here is a copy of the letter that I wrote to Grandmother and Granddad. I am sorry that it is all in Spanish. I have a letter that I am going to mail today with a picture to Cami.
I love you all and thank you, thank you for the letters and prayers. Next weeks letter will be extra special.
Here is the letter to Grandmother and Grandad:
Querido Abuela y Abuelo,
Muchas gracias por su carta con amor y sus oraciones para mi. Yo tambien encantó la Conferencia General y aprendí mucho que necesito poner en práctica para llegar a ser el misionero que nuestro Padre Celestial, y Jesucristo me quieren ser. Muchisimas gracias por sus oraciones y los de abuelo. Yo siento el poder de estas oraciones y me ayudan hacer todo lo que es requisito en esta obra.
Gracias por todo lo que hacen ustedes dos, para mi, Cami, y mi familia. Ustedes me han ayudado mucho en mi vida, y estoy agredicido por eso.
La obra esta progresando aquí en España y estoy muy agredecido que puedo servir el Señor en estos tiempos aquí en esta tierra.
Cuando Élder Clayton habló en la conferéncia acerca de una experiencia en Peru, siento mucho amor de Dios. Porque supe que mi abuelo tenia oportunidades para ayudarle aprender y progresar en su misión, y que ahora, Élder Clayton esta en la presidencia de la setenta, testificando a todo el mundo y a mí, en mi mision en España, el mismo testimonio que tenia en Peru. Yo puedo ver el ejemplo de mi abuelo Driggs, y tambien puedo ver la impacto de su ejemplo en muchas otras personas.
Es icreíble que puedo ver este impacto en la conferencía general en España.
Yo tenia la misma experiencia en la CCM aqui en España, cuando encontré que nuestra pianista y obrera en el templo, fue una misionera en su misión tambien. Ella, no recuerdo su nombre pero vive en Kearns, Utah, tenia solas buenas cosas para decir acerca de Presidente Driggs.
Estoy muy agredecido por ustedes, por sus perfectos ejemplos, de siendo instrumentos en las manos del Señor todos sus vidas.
Gracias por eso.
Les amo mucho,
Elder Driggs
P.S. I am not very good at writing in Spanish, so I hope that you can read and understand this. I have been told that one way to learn the language faster is to write letters in Spanish. Thank you and I hope it made sense!
I love you all,
Elder Driggs
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
October 7, 2009
My dear family,
How is everything!? I love hearing from you mom and dad, it is great to hear how the family is doing. I am glad that you loved general conference and it amazes me how there are so many people in Utah and all over the world that just do what is right. I don´t have to worry about all of you not watching conference or going to church, but here it is a little different.
In Spain the church is very young, only 40 years, and though there are many families that have 2nd and 3rd generations of membership in the church, there aren´t many in our little branch. Elder Carr and I still worry every week before church, as we are almost always the first people there, who is going to come; because with the long distance from the church to the outlying pueblos, it makes it very easy for big families to miss a Sunday and just stay home. These are good people and they have been taught well but some of them, at least in our branch, don´t have the mentality that you just go to church every Sunday, rain or shine, and you get blessings from doing so.
I am very thankful that I was raised in an area and in a family where obedience, in this manner, was something that you did. We were able to watch conference at the stake center right on temple square on Saturday night for the Saturday morning live session, we watched it live at 6 ´o´clock at night. We then went back home, got home late, and then woke up in the morning, picked up a recent convert and his friend who is the one who has a baptismal date and took them to conference up in Madrid, an hour and a half away on train and metro, at 9 o´clock.
We arrived in time to watch the recorded priesthood session at 11 o clock and then had an hour break until the recorded Saturday afternoon session started. We watched that and then had a two hour break until we watched the Sunday morning session live again at 6 o clock our time. It was one of my most favorite conferences ever. I loved the setting. I loved traveling all the way up to Madrid and to watch conference with all of the missionaries in a special room in English. I loved being with many of the members and investigators on temple square during the breaks. I love the temple here! It is gorgeous! And I loved being able to basque in its beauty almost all day and be able to feel of its Spirit while watching conference. The stake center was packed with members and investigators and during the breaks the square was filled with people. It was so much fun, talking with other missionaries etc. We had to leave after the Sunday morning session to get back and go to bed, even though we still arrived late.
One of the best ways to report to our district leader the number of investigators that are progressing is to see how many keep the commitment to come to church. We have had a lot lately come to church, despite the sacrifice to do so, for 3 long hours, that they are not used to. But this week was a little different with conference and we were unsure if many would come to hear the voice of the prophet, because it is a much longer commute.
We invited our family of 5 who are progressing very rapidly to come to the 6 o clock session because that is when the prophet speaks and we were going to take our baptismal date, and we invited one investigator who works in Madrid to stop by and he responded enthusiastically that he would love to and would be there all day. We were very excited to see all of our investigators and even more excited for them to see the prophet and leaders who we had been testifying about during our lessons. The baptismal date came with us and he was there all day, the investigator who wanted to be there, called in sick, and during the 2 hour break before the session we were looking all over for the family of five and didn´t see them. We were bummed.
After the session was over and as we were walking up the stairs Elder Carr saw two little girls run by and they looked exactly like the two girls in the family of five. He looked at me with a huge smile, still unsure if it was really them and then turned around and saw the father, Ronnie. We rejoiced and were so happy that they had come. He said that they couldn´t find the place and had left late, so they arrived at about 7, an hour late. We didn´t care, because the prophet spoke last. The 2 girls and boy loved the temple as did the parents. We spent about 30-45 minutes with them in front of the temple. Answering questions and just enjoying ourselves.
We always talk about baptism as missionaries, but in reality it is only the first step. It is only the gate that we need to enter in order to really progress in the Gospel. The ultimate goal for every person we talk to is the temple. The family is the symbol of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it was fun having them there and taking pictures of them and with us. It was special and the Spirit was very strong. I can say just as Elder Holland has said that I can´t imagine heaven without my family. You all are everything to me. I am so glad that we are sealed together for all eternity, because there is no one else I would want to spend that time with then all of you.
I felt the Spirit testify to me that the temple is meant to help the family be more united here on earth and together forever after this life. They are a great family and we have mainly been working with the father, but the wife is basically a member. She is always so happy and enthusiastic and their children are very disciplined. They do things just like a LDS family would do them. Whenever they feed us they always have the children set the table and they do just like I did at home. I love it.
Before we left we found a part member family where the husband showed up and we were able to count him as our other non member investigator to attend. We met our goal and it was a wonderful wonderful day.
I love you all, pray for you, and hope that all goes well this week.
Love,
Elder Driggs
Keep smiling!
How is everything!? I love hearing from you mom and dad, it is great to hear how the family is doing. I am glad that you loved general conference and it amazes me how there are so many people in Utah and all over the world that just do what is right. I don´t have to worry about all of you not watching conference or going to church, but here it is a little different.
In Spain the church is very young, only 40 years, and though there are many families that have 2nd and 3rd generations of membership in the church, there aren´t many in our little branch. Elder Carr and I still worry every week before church, as we are almost always the first people there, who is going to come; because with the long distance from the church to the outlying pueblos, it makes it very easy for big families to miss a Sunday and just stay home. These are good people and they have been taught well but some of them, at least in our branch, don´t have the mentality that you just go to church every Sunday, rain or shine, and you get blessings from doing so.
I am very thankful that I was raised in an area and in a family where obedience, in this manner, was something that you did. We were able to watch conference at the stake center right on temple square on Saturday night for the Saturday morning live session, we watched it live at 6 ´o´clock at night. We then went back home, got home late, and then woke up in the morning, picked up a recent convert and his friend who is the one who has a baptismal date and took them to conference up in Madrid, an hour and a half away on train and metro, at 9 o´clock.
We arrived in time to watch the recorded priesthood session at 11 o clock and then had an hour break until the recorded Saturday afternoon session started. We watched that and then had a two hour break until we watched the Sunday morning session live again at 6 o clock our time. It was one of my most favorite conferences ever. I loved the setting. I loved traveling all the way up to Madrid and to watch conference with all of the missionaries in a special room in English. I loved being with many of the members and investigators on temple square during the breaks. I love the temple here! It is gorgeous! And I loved being able to basque in its beauty almost all day and be able to feel of its Spirit while watching conference. The stake center was packed with members and investigators and during the breaks the square was filled with people. It was so much fun, talking with other missionaries etc. We had to leave after the Sunday morning session to get back and go to bed, even though we still arrived late.
One of the best ways to report to our district leader the number of investigators that are progressing is to see how many keep the commitment to come to church. We have had a lot lately come to church, despite the sacrifice to do so, for 3 long hours, that they are not used to. But this week was a little different with conference and we were unsure if many would come to hear the voice of the prophet, because it is a much longer commute.
We invited our family of 5 who are progressing very rapidly to come to the 6 o clock session because that is when the prophet speaks and we were going to take our baptismal date, and we invited one investigator who works in Madrid to stop by and he responded enthusiastically that he would love to and would be there all day. We were very excited to see all of our investigators and even more excited for them to see the prophet and leaders who we had been testifying about during our lessons. The baptismal date came with us and he was there all day, the investigator who wanted to be there, called in sick, and during the 2 hour break before the session we were looking all over for the family of five and didn´t see them. We were bummed.
After the session was over and as we were walking up the stairs Elder Carr saw two little girls run by and they looked exactly like the two girls in the family of five. He looked at me with a huge smile, still unsure if it was really them and then turned around and saw the father, Ronnie. We rejoiced and were so happy that they had come. He said that they couldn´t find the place and had left late, so they arrived at about 7, an hour late. We didn´t care, because the prophet spoke last. The 2 girls and boy loved the temple as did the parents. We spent about 30-45 minutes with them in front of the temple. Answering questions and just enjoying ourselves.
We always talk about baptism as missionaries, but in reality it is only the first step. It is only the gate that we need to enter in order to really progress in the Gospel. The ultimate goal for every person we talk to is the temple. The family is the symbol of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it was fun having them there and taking pictures of them and with us. It was special and the Spirit was very strong. I can say just as Elder Holland has said that I can´t imagine heaven without my family. You all are everything to me. I am so glad that we are sealed together for all eternity, because there is no one else I would want to spend that time with then all of you.
I felt the Spirit testify to me that the temple is meant to help the family be more united here on earth and together forever after this life. They are a great family and we have mainly been working with the father, but the wife is basically a member. She is always so happy and enthusiastic and their children are very disciplined. They do things just like a LDS family would do them. Whenever they feed us they always have the children set the table and they do just like I did at home. I love it.
Before we left we found a part member family where the husband showed up and we were able to count him as our other non member investigator to attend. We met our goal and it was a wonderful wonderful day.
I love you all, pray for you, and hope that all goes well this week.
Love,
Elder Driggs
Keep smiling!
September 30, 2009
Dear family,
Here can be my segment for the newsletter:
Elderes!
How is everyone doing? I hope all is well in your part of the world. This last week I had the most fun Preparation day ever. We live in a chalet with two other people, a 24 year old Romanian that works as a translator in the court, and a young Spaniard, probably about 21 years old, who is going to the university here. So last Wednesday, preparation day, our Romanian friend, Miguel, knocked on our door at about 10:30, and asked us if we wanted to go fishing. Of course, we accepted and started getting ready. 30 minutes later we hopped in his car and went for a 30 minute spin to a very quiet lake in route to Toledo, the famous place where all of the swords and weapons from Lord of the Rings were made. We arrived and hiked a little bit and set up our gear. After that we just cast our lines and waiting for the bitin´ to happen. It took me about five times to get the hang of it, as it was basically my first time fishing, but I finally was able to cast a good one. After a twinkling in the eye, I saw my string get tight and I really a huge, mean, 6-foot sword fish in from the lake. It almost pierced my side as I was trying to get it on shore, but finally we got a hold of the guy and…. Well, okay, it wasn´t that big, maybe pushing 18 inches, but it was way fun and seamed extremely intense, as it was my first fish caught, not to mention in Spain, with a Romanian. I ended up catching one more and got pictures with both of them and will send them in next months newsletter. Stay tuned for next month for some of those. It was an amazing day and one that will change my life forever, haha. While we were leaving, hiking back to the car, a shepherd and about 100 sheep or goats passed by, which was crazy, but the whole day was very fun.
On a more spiritual note, I am very excited for General Conference. I also read in the Ensign this month a excerpt from an Ensign article from 1996 by Pres. Monson. He had some words of wisdom that I would like to share. He said, ¨Love causes change. Love brings healing to the wounded soul. But love doesn´t grow like weeds or fall like rain. Jesus taught, A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another. As I have loved you that ye also love one another….The desire to lift, the willingness to help, and the graciousness to give come from a heart filled with love. True love is a reflection of Christ´s love.¨ I really loved this quote because it goes so well with Moroni´s plea in Moroni chapter 7; to pray for charity, the pure love of Christ, with all the energy of your soul. That when He comes again you may be like Him, and be able to see Him as He is. That isn´t exact, but I feel very strongly that one of the main things that we can do is express to the people that we are teaching that there is a diving being that loves them. And we can have this love in our hearts and in our countenance, and we can share that love with them. We can lift fallen hands, brighten peoples days, and bring the power of God unto salvation unto the children of Men. I know that we can have the love of God and Jesus Christ in our hearts and in our lessons and contact if only we pray for it and have faith unto obedience and continual repentance. This love can cause change in the lives of our brothers and sisters. ¨For God hath not given us the Spirit of fear, but of faith and power. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord.¨ 2 Timothy, I think. I think of the phrase, ¨love them into the Gospel.¨
I am very excited to watch conference. Here in Spain they have almost all of the members who are in the Madrid mission boundaries come to the stake center on temple square, right next to the CCM or MTC and watch conference together. So we have a lot of members and almost all the missionaries plus, a couple of investigators that want to go and watch for a session. The missionaries have a room to themselves so that they can watch it in English. I am very excited to see the other Elders in my group and to see some of my teachers in the CCM. I think that this will be an even greater experience once I have served in more areas and know more members and missionaries because, like my companion, Elder Carr, said, he will get to see all of them between all of the sessions. We have kind of crazy schedule of conference. We watch Saturday morning, Saturday night, and then watch the other three, including priesthood on Sunday. We have to leave before the last session on Sunday because it will end its live broadcast, I think, at midnight. I am very excited though. Have fun and love everyone. It is the only way to go. As we love others they automatically love us. Who doesn´t want that. All we need is love.
Have a great week.
I love you all and pray for you almost always!
Love,
Rob
Here can be my segment for the newsletter:
Elderes!
How is everyone doing? I hope all is well in your part of the world. This last week I had the most fun Preparation day ever. We live in a chalet with two other people, a 24 year old Romanian that works as a translator in the court, and a young Spaniard, probably about 21 years old, who is going to the university here. So last Wednesday, preparation day, our Romanian friend, Miguel, knocked on our door at about 10:30, and asked us if we wanted to go fishing. Of course, we accepted and started getting ready. 30 minutes later we hopped in his car and went for a 30 minute spin to a very quiet lake in route to Toledo, the famous place where all of the swords and weapons from Lord of the Rings were made. We arrived and hiked a little bit and set up our gear. After that we just cast our lines and waiting for the bitin´ to happen. It took me about five times to get the hang of it, as it was basically my first time fishing, but I finally was able to cast a good one. After a twinkling in the eye, I saw my string get tight and I really a huge, mean, 6-foot sword fish in from the lake. It almost pierced my side as I was trying to get it on shore, but finally we got a hold of the guy and…. Well, okay, it wasn´t that big, maybe pushing 18 inches, but it was way fun and seamed extremely intense, as it was my first fish caught, not to mention in Spain, with a Romanian. I ended up catching one more and got pictures with both of them and will send them in next months newsletter. Stay tuned for next month for some of those. It was an amazing day and one that will change my life forever, haha. While we were leaving, hiking back to the car, a shepherd and about 100 sheep or goats passed by, which was crazy, but the whole day was very fun.
On a more spiritual note, I am very excited for General Conference. I also read in the Ensign this month a excerpt from an Ensign article from 1996 by Pres. Monson. He had some words of wisdom that I would like to share. He said, ¨Love causes change. Love brings healing to the wounded soul. But love doesn´t grow like weeds or fall like rain. Jesus taught, A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another. As I have loved you that ye also love one another….The desire to lift, the willingness to help, and the graciousness to give come from a heart filled with love. True love is a reflection of Christ´s love.¨ I really loved this quote because it goes so well with Moroni´s plea in Moroni chapter 7; to pray for charity, the pure love of Christ, with all the energy of your soul. That when He comes again you may be like Him, and be able to see Him as He is. That isn´t exact, but I feel very strongly that one of the main things that we can do is express to the people that we are teaching that there is a diving being that loves them. And we can have this love in our hearts and in our countenance, and we can share that love with them. We can lift fallen hands, brighten peoples days, and bring the power of God unto salvation unto the children of Men. I know that we can have the love of God and Jesus Christ in our hearts and in our lessons and contact if only we pray for it and have faith unto obedience and continual repentance. This love can cause change in the lives of our brothers and sisters. ¨For God hath not given us the Spirit of fear, but of faith and power. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord.¨ 2 Timothy, I think. I think of the phrase, ¨love them into the Gospel.¨
I am very excited to watch conference. Here in Spain they have almost all of the members who are in the Madrid mission boundaries come to the stake center on temple square, right next to the CCM or MTC and watch conference together. So we have a lot of members and almost all the missionaries plus, a couple of investigators that want to go and watch for a session. The missionaries have a room to themselves so that they can watch it in English. I am very excited to see the other Elders in my group and to see some of my teachers in the CCM. I think that this will be an even greater experience once I have served in more areas and know more members and missionaries because, like my companion, Elder Carr, said, he will get to see all of them between all of the sessions. We have kind of crazy schedule of conference. We watch Saturday morning, Saturday night, and then watch the other three, including priesthood on Sunday. We have to leave before the last session on Sunday because it will end its live broadcast, I think, at midnight. I am very excited though. Have fun and love everyone. It is the only way to go. As we love others they automatically love us. Who doesn´t want that. All we need is love.
Have a great week.
I love you all and pray for you almost always!
Love,
Rob
September 23, 2009
Dear family,
So this week….where to start?
Let´s just say that this last week was verrry busy and we worked very hard to realizar nuestras metas. We have a mission goal to teach at least 20 lessons a week and in my area of Aranjuez, we checked in the archives of the weekly progress records, and the most lessons Aranjuez has every had in one week is 15. These record date back to about 2004, mas o menos. So last week in our planning session, actually two weeks ago tomorrow, we set the goal to teach 22 lessons. It was an act of faith, because even though you schedule a certain amount of lessons in a planning meeting, you don’t always know if you are actually going to teach that many. You can´t always count on people being there and there schedules staying open, not having work, etc. However we planned out the week, had very little free time between lessons and just set the goal to teach ALL of the lessons that we had planned. So the goal was 22. It was a rough week and we knew that we had to teach about 3 or 4 lessons a day to get this. Well we ended up teaching 10 member present lesson, 5 other lessons, 6 lessons to conversos recientes y menos activos, and 3 to members. You do the math and we taught 2 more lessons to less active and recent converts that we planned. We taught 24 lessons last week and we worked hard! We obviously still aren´t perfect but in the planning meeting we realized that in order to receive the blessing of teaching all of these lessons we had to give more of ourselves and give up more of those little things that poke at our sensitivity to the Spirit. We made a lot of sacrifices last week and tried to be really obedient, even in the little things. We weren´t perfect but we tried hard and we received the blessings. We also have 2 people with baptismal dates and we are loving the work! I couldn´t be more happy right now! Because we really are having a lot of success and the Lord is blessing us for our relatively small efforts.
A funny story with our 2 people with baptismal dates. First of all, we have to make two baptismal challenges every week as it is a mission goal, and on this last Sunday night when we were coming home and opening the front gate, my companion was reviewing outloud our two baptismal challenges for the week. He was counting one where we challenge our friend Ronnie to be baptized and he said he wasn´t ready. We read in Doctrine and Covenants 20:37 and assured him that all you really need is a desire to follow the Lord to be baptized, there are other things of course, as are mentioned in the scripture. We asked him to pray about it and read 2 Nephi 31. When we came back later that week he had read it and we asked if he had prayed. He said no, and we asked if we could pray right then with him. He said that would be fine and we asked if he would say it. He said he wasn´t comfortable with offering the prayer to see if he should be baptized, which possibly is a sign that he doesn´t pray very much, another thing we need to discuss with him. I explained to him that in order to receive personal revelation he, himself, needed to pray and that he, himself, would receive the answer that he was looking for. He prayed and felt really, really good. He was speechless for a good 30 seconds and then ran out to get the food that he had prepared for us. Unfortunately, and it was our huge mistake we never challenged him again after that powerful prayer, where he certainly received his answer. This is the second challenge that Elder Carr was counting, the one we didn´t, but should´ve had.
So while he was recounting this out loud I told him that we had had only one this week and he kind of got mad and starting saying that he hated numbers and just wanted to do the work, etc. I was just laughing because I thought that it would be no big deal just to go out and make a contact and ask someone to be baptized right then and then be done with it. His pride got to him, the good pride that helps people do what they know is right, and we went back out to make a contact and challenge someone to be baptized. Now the whole time, he did not have any faith that this contact would go any where and that someone really would accept to be baptized on the street without prior connection.
However, we challenged the second person we saw after a group of men, and told him we were here teaching about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and asked him if he wanted to commit to prepare to be baptized on the 31 of October, I think it was. This whole thing was kind of a joke, because usually the baptismal challenge is so planned out and really heartfelt, and this was so spur of the moment and, I don´t know if I would say shallow, because we always want people to be baptized, but it wasn´t normal. We asked him and asked if we could teach him and help him be ready for this day. This man, looked like a thug, just punk looking and after we asked this he looked at his phone and said well tomorrow isn´t good but Wednesday would be great. We were so shocked that he said yes, in essence. That he was willing to start learning and prepare to be baptized. He gave us his phone number and we asked him his address and he said he forgot. We understood and were about to say goodbye, thinking the phone number was enough, when he said that we could walk with him to his piso and find the direction there. We agreed of course, thinking that this man was golden, and then on the way he said that he was living with a bunch of friends from Bolivia and asked if we could teach them too. We, both completely shocked, especially Elder Carr, said por supuesto, es mucho mejor! We shook hands and parted ways as he went inside. This was a golden contact and really count our blessings. There really is power in obedience, whether it is to a rule or law, or whether it is doing all that you can to accomplish a goal. Heavenly Father will always bless you if you are obedient and trying your best to follow the Savior. These blessings might not always be evident right away, but they will always come. I know that this is true and all of our success right now is evidence and testimony of it.
The other person with a baptismal date is a friend of our recent convert who are both about 16 years old. We hope that all goes well to have him ready when October 31 comes.
I´m out of time, but I think you would like to know that I gave my first talk in a real sacrament meeting in Spain, and it was on the topic of the vale. It was rough, but they said they like it, which isn´t a sure resource. We had 5 investigators there and afterwards a visiting high counselor said that we were doing a fantastic job and asked if he and the stake could do anything to help. The branch loves us too and thinks the same, thankfully. And with the Lords help and by seeing the fruits of our labors, with lots of investigators at church, we are receiving lots of new referrals, that you can tell come with a lot of trust, because they are close friends of the members.
We are counting our many blessings and feel your prayers. Thank you for everything, I pray for all of you too. I love you all and am excited for General Conference. We are also excited about the new bible in Spanish. It is now just like the one we have in English.
I love you all with all my heart.
Love,
Elder Driggs
So this week….where to start?
Let´s just say that this last week was verrry busy and we worked very hard to realizar nuestras metas. We have a mission goal to teach at least 20 lessons a week and in my area of Aranjuez, we checked in the archives of the weekly progress records, and the most lessons Aranjuez has every had in one week is 15. These record date back to about 2004, mas o menos. So last week in our planning session, actually two weeks ago tomorrow, we set the goal to teach 22 lessons. It was an act of faith, because even though you schedule a certain amount of lessons in a planning meeting, you don’t always know if you are actually going to teach that many. You can´t always count on people being there and there schedules staying open, not having work, etc. However we planned out the week, had very little free time between lessons and just set the goal to teach ALL of the lessons that we had planned. So the goal was 22. It was a rough week and we knew that we had to teach about 3 or 4 lessons a day to get this. Well we ended up teaching 10 member present lesson, 5 other lessons, 6 lessons to conversos recientes y menos activos, and 3 to members. You do the math and we taught 2 more lessons to less active and recent converts that we planned. We taught 24 lessons last week and we worked hard! We obviously still aren´t perfect but in the planning meeting we realized that in order to receive the blessing of teaching all of these lessons we had to give more of ourselves and give up more of those little things that poke at our sensitivity to the Spirit. We made a lot of sacrifices last week and tried to be really obedient, even in the little things. We weren´t perfect but we tried hard and we received the blessings. We also have 2 people with baptismal dates and we are loving the work! I couldn´t be more happy right now! Because we really are having a lot of success and the Lord is blessing us for our relatively small efforts.
A funny story with our 2 people with baptismal dates. First of all, we have to make two baptismal challenges every week as it is a mission goal, and on this last Sunday night when we were coming home and opening the front gate, my companion was reviewing outloud our two baptismal challenges for the week. He was counting one where we challenge our friend Ronnie to be baptized and he said he wasn´t ready. We read in Doctrine and Covenants 20:37 and assured him that all you really need is a desire to follow the Lord to be baptized, there are other things of course, as are mentioned in the scripture. We asked him to pray about it and read 2 Nephi 31. When we came back later that week he had read it and we asked if he had prayed. He said no, and we asked if we could pray right then with him. He said that would be fine and we asked if he would say it. He said he wasn´t comfortable with offering the prayer to see if he should be baptized, which possibly is a sign that he doesn´t pray very much, another thing we need to discuss with him. I explained to him that in order to receive personal revelation he, himself, needed to pray and that he, himself, would receive the answer that he was looking for. He prayed and felt really, really good. He was speechless for a good 30 seconds and then ran out to get the food that he had prepared for us. Unfortunately, and it was our huge mistake we never challenged him again after that powerful prayer, where he certainly received his answer. This is the second challenge that Elder Carr was counting, the one we didn´t, but should´ve had.
So while he was recounting this out loud I told him that we had had only one this week and he kind of got mad and starting saying that he hated numbers and just wanted to do the work, etc. I was just laughing because I thought that it would be no big deal just to go out and make a contact and ask someone to be baptized right then and then be done with it. His pride got to him, the good pride that helps people do what they know is right, and we went back out to make a contact and challenge someone to be baptized. Now the whole time, he did not have any faith that this contact would go any where and that someone really would accept to be baptized on the street without prior connection.
However, we challenged the second person we saw after a group of men, and told him we were here teaching about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and asked him if he wanted to commit to prepare to be baptized on the 31 of October, I think it was. This whole thing was kind of a joke, because usually the baptismal challenge is so planned out and really heartfelt, and this was so spur of the moment and, I don´t know if I would say shallow, because we always want people to be baptized, but it wasn´t normal. We asked him and asked if we could teach him and help him be ready for this day. This man, looked like a thug, just punk looking and after we asked this he looked at his phone and said well tomorrow isn´t good but Wednesday would be great. We were so shocked that he said yes, in essence. That he was willing to start learning and prepare to be baptized. He gave us his phone number and we asked him his address and he said he forgot. We understood and were about to say goodbye, thinking the phone number was enough, when he said that we could walk with him to his piso and find the direction there. We agreed of course, thinking that this man was golden, and then on the way he said that he was living with a bunch of friends from Bolivia and asked if we could teach them too. We, both completely shocked, especially Elder Carr, said por supuesto, es mucho mejor! We shook hands and parted ways as he went inside. This was a golden contact and really count our blessings. There really is power in obedience, whether it is to a rule or law, or whether it is doing all that you can to accomplish a goal. Heavenly Father will always bless you if you are obedient and trying your best to follow the Savior. These blessings might not always be evident right away, but they will always come. I know that this is true and all of our success right now is evidence and testimony of it.
The other person with a baptismal date is a friend of our recent convert who are both about 16 years old. We hope that all goes well to have him ready when October 31 comes.
I´m out of time, but I think you would like to know that I gave my first talk in a real sacrament meeting in Spain, and it was on the topic of the vale. It was rough, but they said they like it, which isn´t a sure resource. We had 5 investigators there and afterwards a visiting high counselor said that we were doing a fantastic job and asked if he and the stake could do anything to help. The branch loves us too and thinks the same, thankfully. And with the Lords help and by seeing the fruits of our labors, with lots of investigators at church, we are receiving lots of new referrals, that you can tell come with a lot of trust, because they are close friends of the members.
We are counting our many blessings and feel your prayers. Thank you for everything, I pray for all of you too. I love you all and am excited for General Conference. We are also excited about the new bible in Spanish. It is now just like the one we have in English.
I love you all with all my heart.
Love,
Elder Driggs
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