Dear family,
Well, I never would have thought that coming to Madrid Spain I would see snow. But Let me tell you that it snowed like a February morning in Provo Utah on Monday.
We woke up at 7 o clock and had our Romanian roommate ask us with a big grin if we wanted to go running. I agreed, still exhausted, and then looked out the window and saw about six inches of snow. It was incredible. The run was very fun as we ran to the top of this little mountain in Aranjuez. Of course coming down was much more fun, sliding in falling in the snow like little school girls…cough, cough…I mean, like missionaries.
So with this unpredicted little event we have had the plug in heaters on full blast, while home, and when we are outside we are bundled up head to foot. That includes the long-john garments, long sleeve shirt, suit, and overcoat, with a scarf and gloves. And let´s just say that it is cooooold. I never would have thought that it would get this cold.
I am not complaining because I love the range of weather experiences I am getting here. I just can´t believe that it was only 3 months ago that I was in a short sleeve shirt and sweating down my back walking to the train station. Now we try to walk even faster just to stay warm. The only 2 words I have to describe the weather situation and the mission in general is, ¨¡Me Encanta!¨ Or I love it! That huge nice coat that we got at Burlington coat factory, I think, has come in handy. I am wearing it right now in this locutorio, or internet café, and I love it.
So Elder Dawson and I are a pretty young companionship, as he has been out about 4 or 5 months more than me. It is his first time being a senior companion and, of course, it is my first time out of the shell. We are doing very well, but have lots of things that we need to improve. We have a lot of goals and are determined to accomplish them. We are definitely lacking in a few things. Our lessons lack a little bit of experience, but our contacts are improving. I am noting more and more every day what I learned from Elder Carr, and the great Elder he is. I took him for granted and could have learned a lot more from him. However, I feel like I am ready to take a bigger jump and improve in a lot of things.
I have improved a ton this week. I am doing tons of contacts and my contribution is now equal to that of my companion as it should be. My Spanish has also improved a lot and I am feeling more and more confident to be myself and really be bold and reach out to those in distress and need. I love being a missionary. This time as we are both young is going to be a time of great growth for me and I can already feel it. Elder Carr was very outgoing as you can imagine, him being the student body president of Mountain View before the mission, and so I was able to rely on him a lot. Now as Elder Dawson is a lot more reserved and still isn´t perfect in the language, I am having more opportunities to take control and share my testimony, and casually talk with the people here. I really do love the mission and I am having more fun every day. I am on an upward swing in almost every area of the mission.
If you recall we had Elder Teixeira from the first quorum of the seventy, who is also in the area presidency in Europe, come talk to us about 2 months ago. His wife made the comment that faith is doing things that are hard for us to do. For example, if I don´t have a problem with going to church and I always go, that doesn´t require a lot of faith as it is something easy because I love it.
I know that this journey will be long and hard, but the time we have in this eternally important probation called earth is very short. And I am willing to give everything I have to help my family be together forever. I love teaching this concept to investigators because every honest, good person wants that for their family and it is completely possible through the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His eternal sacrifice for us.
I love you all very much. We have to stay close to the Lord. Without Him and His constant whisperings and help, we cannot make it. We cannot return to Him alone. Thankfully, we do not have to. Heavenly Father knew this great problem, so He sent His Son to prepare the way, and He sent a lot of helps us guide us, like families to teach us the way and the difference between good and evil. He also sent prophets and the scriptures. I am so thankful for President Monson and His inspired calling and love. I feel my Savior´s love through him and every one of the helps we have in this world. Everything has been prepared for us to return to our Heavenly Father, with our families, and all we have to do is believe, and go to work. The Father´s part is paid, and now we have to pay ours.
I love you all and will talk to you soon. Keep praying and smiling and we will find joy every day, even if it´s not obvious.
Love,
Rob
Elder Driggs
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
December 8, 2009
Dear Family,
There have been a few changes here in Aranjuez. Elder Carr was shipped out of here half way through the transfer, yesterday, also known as an Emergency Transfer, to be a district leader in a ward in Madrid. He is excited and so am I. My new companion is Elder Dawson from Indiana. He has been serving for 10 months now. I like him a lot, and we will have a lot of success together.
As to answer your question, mom, we eat probably 2-3 times a week with either members, recent converts, or investigators. They all love feeding us and of course, we love eating food that we don´t cook and that is basically out of this world, especially since there are many south Americans here. I had lomo saltado last Saturday with a part member couple in a pueblo about 20 minutes in bus from Aranjuez. It is a very, very, very small town. But I love it.
My newsletter segment is as follows:
My dear brethren in the work,
Buenos Dias. I would like you all to know that today I had my second meal at an American fast food restaurant. This time it was Taco Bell. I find it very interesting how globalization is taking over the world and how there are signs of America everywhere. However something that Spain still hasn´t caught onto is the miracle of FREE REFILLS. It just doesn´t make sense to me. They didn´t even give me a water cup and there is never a chance to find a water fountain so the only option is to wait till we get back to the piso(apartment) or buy a ridiculously expensive bottle of water. But this tiny issue is of hardly any importance when I am focused on the Lord´s work.
I had an experience with an investigator the other week that I failed to tell you all. We have an investigator couple by the names of Christian and Nina. The man is from Romania and the women from Bulgaria, and they have a child of 4 or 5 months. When we were teaching them the third time we read a little out of the Book of Mormon and after about a couple of verses, my companion felt prompted to change the reading to 2 Nephi 4, which as you know is Nephi´s Psalm. We were going to take turns but Christian ended up reading the whole thing and when he got to the end he stopped and didn´t say anything. We were in silence for about 5 minutes and then started to cry and tried a few times to talk but couldn´t finish a sentence. He managed to say that he always feels the same way as Nephi does here. I want to tell you Elders, that this experience with the Book of Mormon has changed the life of Christian and Nina. They still can´t get baptized because they are married and Christian has a problem with smoking. But after about a month of having a copy of the Book of Mormon, he has now almost read and marked the whole book. He LOVES the Book of Mormon and he now can quote other verses when we are talking about something else and his testimony of this inspired, divine book has helped him gain testimonies of other difficult principles, such as the Word of Wisdom, the Law of Chastity, etc. When we taught him these principles, he already new that they were true and that he needed to do all he could to obey them. His powerful testimony has carried him a long way and will carry him in the near future towards the waters of baptism. This experience has changed the way I look at the Book of Mormon. It is a bazooka of the Spirit of God. It is a lion ready to tear open the heart and change the natural desires of an peaceable follower of Christ. I hope that all challenge all to read and apply the principles of the Book of Mormon because it has the power to change the soul and bring someone closer to Christ.
I love you all and pray for you also many, many times every day.
Love,
Elder Driggs
There have been a few changes here in Aranjuez. Elder Carr was shipped out of here half way through the transfer, yesterday, also known as an Emergency Transfer, to be a district leader in a ward in Madrid. He is excited and so am I. My new companion is Elder Dawson from Indiana. He has been serving for 10 months now. I like him a lot, and we will have a lot of success together.
As to answer your question, mom, we eat probably 2-3 times a week with either members, recent converts, or investigators. They all love feeding us and of course, we love eating food that we don´t cook and that is basically out of this world, especially since there are many south Americans here. I had lomo saltado last Saturday with a part member couple in a pueblo about 20 minutes in bus from Aranjuez. It is a very, very, very small town. But I love it.
My newsletter segment is as follows:
My dear brethren in the work,
Buenos Dias. I would like you all to know that today I had my second meal at an American fast food restaurant. This time it was Taco Bell. I find it very interesting how globalization is taking over the world and how there are signs of America everywhere. However something that Spain still hasn´t caught onto is the miracle of FREE REFILLS. It just doesn´t make sense to me. They didn´t even give me a water cup and there is never a chance to find a water fountain so the only option is to wait till we get back to the piso(apartment) or buy a ridiculously expensive bottle of water. But this tiny issue is of hardly any importance when I am focused on the Lord´s work.
I had an experience with an investigator the other week that I failed to tell you all. We have an investigator couple by the names of Christian and Nina. The man is from Romania and the women from Bulgaria, and they have a child of 4 or 5 months. When we were teaching them the third time we read a little out of the Book of Mormon and after about a couple of verses, my companion felt prompted to change the reading to 2 Nephi 4, which as you know is Nephi´s Psalm. We were going to take turns but Christian ended up reading the whole thing and when he got to the end he stopped and didn´t say anything. We were in silence for about 5 minutes and then started to cry and tried a few times to talk but couldn´t finish a sentence. He managed to say that he always feels the same way as Nephi does here. I want to tell you Elders, that this experience with the Book of Mormon has changed the life of Christian and Nina. They still can´t get baptized because they are married and Christian has a problem with smoking. But after about a month of having a copy of the Book of Mormon, he has now almost read and marked the whole book. He LOVES the Book of Mormon and he now can quote other verses when we are talking about something else and his testimony of this inspired, divine book has helped him gain testimonies of other difficult principles, such as the Word of Wisdom, the Law of Chastity, etc. When we taught him these principles, he already new that they were true and that he needed to do all he could to obey them. His powerful testimony has carried him a long way and will carry him in the near future towards the waters of baptism. This experience has changed the way I look at the Book of Mormon. It is a bazooka of the Spirit of God. It is a lion ready to tear open the heart and change the natural desires of an peaceable follower of Christ. I hope that all challenge all to read and apply the principles of the Book of Mormon because it has the power to change the soul and bring someone closer to Christ.
I love you all and pray for you also many, many times every day.
Love,
Elder Driggs
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
December 2, 2009
Dearest Family EVER!!!
I am so glad to hear that the Thanksgiving day celebration was a huge hit, as it should be. Elder Carr and I had a wonderful celebration, by ourselves, in our room with a chicken that we bought, the DELIGHTFUL stuffing, and mashed potatoes that you sent me with gravy. IT was absolutely fantastic. We could not even finish it all. That stuffing was incredible. I love stuffing. It smells so good. We finally finished it off yesterday and I was so surprised at how quick it was to make. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all that you send, do, and pray for. We feel your prayers and are trying to work hard so that we can receive more blessings in this work.
Lately I am realizing how weak I am and how desperately I need the Lord. I am sooo imperfect, but luckily, as mom said, and as President Monson has explained before, all we have to do is do our best and leave unto the Lord the rest. I have faith in this principle and know that if I am trying hard to do what I know is right, the Lord can make me a mighty instrument in His mighty, all powerful, hands.
The baptism was incredible. Just about everything that we had had planned fell through, making it really hard to pull everything together, but in the end it all came out well and there are 5 new members in The Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder-Day Saints. Some of the problems that we had during the week were as follows.
-The stake did not approve us doing any more baptisms at the branch meeting house, because there are no baptismal clothes or hot water.
-With this comes the need of calling all the members and getting them to travel an extra 30 minutes to the Temple in Madrid, where the stake center is. (It is important to have member supporting the baptismal candidates so that they will have more help in staying active, as you all know very well).
-Our phone was out of minutes almost all of the week and it made it very difficult to contact others and tell them about the baptism. Luckily the amazing wife of the branch mission leader, who is also the relief society president, scored a touch down, by calling all of the ward and an investigator telling them of the switch and offering help with rides, refreshments, etc. She was an incredible help in the process.
-the ward mission leader forgot to do the program so we threw one together in about 30 minutes in a locutorio or internet cafe.
As I write these down, I realize that they were not that big of a deal, but they did cause a lot of stress and worry for us, but after all was said and done, we are glad for the challenge and have learned a lot about what to do in the future.
The baptism was wonderful and beautiful. The family was very happy and Gina, the wife and mother, had asked President and sister Watkins, our mission president and his wife to come. President Watkins visited our branch about a month ago and met Ronny and Gina and she invited him then. It was wonderful having President Watkins there and it all turned out really well. Two people that were to baptize the children either could not come or forget, so Elder Carr and I were able to help out a little bit more. I baptized the oldest daughter and Elder Carr the youngest. It was a sweet moment with the family and I am very grateful and honored to have been a part of this experience.
Before the baptism Ronny, the father, said that he did not want any pictures because he did not want it to become a social meeting. He had a point as he really understood what the baptism meant and it should not just be something fun, but I also wanted to ¨preserve the moment¨ he later consented and trusted us that it would not get out of hand.
He later bore his testimony along with his family and it was incredible. I know he will be great leader in his family and a huge strength to the church in Spain.
The church is true. I love the work and am trying harder every day to love like the Master and forget myself.
Thank you for all the prayers and love.
love Elder Driggs
I am so glad to hear that the Thanksgiving day celebration was a huge hit, as it should be. Elder Carr and I had a wonderful celebration, by ourselves, in our room with a chicken that we bought, the DELIGHTFUL stuffing, and mashed potatoes that you sent me with gravy. IT was absolutely fantastic. We could not even finish it all. That stuffing was incredible. I love stuffing. It smells so good. We finally finished it off yesterday and I was so surprised at how quick it was to make. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all that you send, do, and pray for. We feel your prayers and are trying to work hard so that we can receive more blessings in this work.
Lately I am realizing how weak I am and how desperately I need the Lord. I am sooo imperfect, but luckily, as mom said, and as President Monson has explained before, all we have to do is do our best and leave unto the Lord the rest. I have faith in this principle and know that if I am trying hard to do what I know is right, the Lord can make me a mighty instrument in His mighty, all powerful, hands.
The baptism was incredible. Just about everything that we had had planned fell through, making it really hard to pull everything together, but in the end it all came out well and there are 5 new members in The Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder-Day Saints. Some of the problems that we had during the week were as follows.
-The stake did not approve us doing any more baptisms at the branch meeting house, because there are no baptismal clothes or hot water.
-With this comes the need of calling all the members and getting them to travel an extra 30 minutes to the Temple in Madrid, where the stake center is. (It is important to have member supporting the baptismal candidates so that they will have more help in staying active, as you all know very well).
-Our phone was out of minutes almost all of the week and it made it very difficult to contact others and tell them about the baptism. Luckily the amazing wife of the branch mission leader, who is also the relief society president, scored a touch down, by calling all of the ward and an investigator telling them of the switch and offering help with rides, refreshments, etc. She was an incredible help in the process.
-the ward mission leader forgot to do the program so we threw one together in about 30 minutes in a locutorio or internet cafe.
As I write these down, I realize that they were not that big of a deal, but they did cause a lot of stress and worry for us, but after all was said and done, we are glad for the challenge and have learned a lot about what to do in the future.
The baptism was wonderful and beautiful. The family was very happy and Gina, the wife and mother, had asked President and sister Watkins, our mission president and his wife to come. President Watkins visited our branch about a month ago and met Ronny and Gina and she invited him then. It was wonderful having President Watkins there and it all turned out really well. Two people that were to baptize the children either could not come or forget, so Elder Carr and I were able to help out a little bit more. I baptized the oldest daughter and Elder Carr the youngest. It was a sweet moment with the family and I am very grateful and honored to have been a part of this experience.
Before the baptism Ronny, the father, said that he did not want any pictures because he did not want it to become a social meeting. He had a point as he really understood what the baptism meant and it should not just be something fun, but I also wanted to ¨preserve the moment¨ he later consented and trusted us that it would not get out of hand.
He later bore his testimony along with his family and it was incredible. I know he will be great leader in his family and a huge strength to the church in Spain.
The church is true. I love the work and am trying harder every day to love like the Master and forget myself.
Thank you for all the prayers and love.
love Elder Driggs
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