Dear Family,
To start off, let´s just say that I am not in the usual locutorio, or internet café, that I tend to be in on Wednesday´s. In fact, I am not even in my own area of barrio 5, and in fact, just so that you know, I am not even in the same zone....and my companion right now is not el Élder Gómez. Yes that is right, last week was...TRANSFERS!!!
Last week Monday, I got a phone call from the assistant Elder Gerrbo, who told me that I, Elder Gomez, and the two other Elders in our piso were going to train the start of next transfer. That means that there would be atleast 3 more missionaries that we were going to receive. We were sure that Elder Gomez and I were going to divide the area and train two new missionaries, but still be the zone leaders. It wasn´t too clear with the other two missionaries in our piso, but we thought that they would be training a new missionary in a trio, or threesome. We were soooo excited, because, well, I have never trained before, so I was completely stoked and us four missionaries are like best friends, so the thought of being together while training three new missionaries was absolutely ecstatic. So that was the plan/news until Thursday, I wanted to write you about this last Wednesday, but time was short and you really can´t be too sure about things with President Watkins because he can change his mind at the last second and so you never know until it actually happens. For this reason I didn´t tell you about it earlier, and you know what I was absolutely right, because on Thursday morning I received another phone call. This time from President Watkins....
He called me and said that he was sharing with me some pre-transfer information. He told me that I would be the next companion of Elder Ketchum as Elder Gerrbo was at the end of his mission and was going home at the end of the transfer. So I received THE news, that I would be the next assistant and would be serving in one of the best wards in Spain, Barrio 2 (Barrio 2 is second best baptizing ward in Spain). So....my thoughts on the matter, were at that moment, sadness because I was leaving behind an area that was very recently progressing a bunch (Segundo Moina passed his baptismal interview and should be baptized tomorrow, Thursday). I was also excited for the chance to work in Barrio 2 and to be close to President Watkins and see him work. So it was a trade off, and it still hasn´t set in. It feels like I am on a really long exchange. So the funny thing is that I will probably be in this barrio for the rest of my mission, which means that in total I will have only 3 areas. I am excited for the opportunity ahead to learn, and serve, and really become a more Christlike missionary. So, my Companion....
Elder John Patrick Ketchum from Princes Lakes, Indiana of about 1500 inhabitants. He has a family of 7, 4 brothers. His older brother served a mission in Guatemala and Elder Ketchum is number 2. The interesting thing is that his dad is not a member. He is actually really active in the Catholic church. His dad, when Elder Ketchum was really little, was a WWF wrestler and his name was ¨The Assasin.¨ His dad, since has given that up and know dedicates his life to the police force. I will have to tell you more about Elder Ketchum in emails to come because there are a lot of details. But it is sufficient for me to say that Elder Ketchum´s mom is a rock. You can tell that he has been brought up well, and he is a fabulous missionary. His love for the people and for me as a companion is very evident. I am grateful for the opportunity to work and serve with him in this labor of love. It will be a privilege. This morning we went to the temple to think about the possibilities of the transfer and have been impressed to do certain things. We are excited to get to work and to help the rest of the mission have success. I have already learned a ton from him, as you can imagine.
Sunday night, the assistants picked me up and we dropped off my luggage at their apartment and then we went to the mission home(I still haven´t seen the package but surely it will come soon). Sister Watkins cooked us ribs and we had the priviledge to have the presence of an area seveny Elder Wright. He is very young, from England but his spirit and the experiences that he has had are fantastic. I was very impressed with him and it was a delight to share the evening with him.
Monday morning we went to the office and received all of the key indicators(numbers) from the zone leaders and then started preparing all of the information to have our weekly meeting with President Watkins, to talk about how the week went and other matters. President Watkins is an inspired man, and actually while I was there in the office he received your email dad and read me a part of it and said that it would be a pleasure to meet you and the family. Elder Ketchum´s family is planning on coming as well. We ended up leaving the office at 5 o clock and to be honest, I am not a big fan of spending sooo much time there. We will see how it goes, but I am sure being more appreciative of the time that I had to be a full time proselyting missionary. We ended up getting lost the rest of the day and getting caught in traffic, so we didn´t teach at all. Driving is a lot different here in Madrid and I have stalled the car tons of times.
Well, we are excited for the work here in Barrio 2. There are 4 people that have baptismal dates, and the plan is that this weekend one of them has his baptismal interview. We will see how that goes.
Please continue to pray for me. I feel the strength and the love of those prayers.
I love you all. Please have one of the best weeks ever. I am loving the work and am feeling the Spirit´s influence more and more. It is so gratifying to feel the Spirit testifying through me that what I am saying is true. I want to feel that more often and I believe and feel that this transfer is going to be very special. Elder Ketchum and I are going to have a lot of success. The Spirit will be our guide.
I love you all,
Love,
Élder Driggs
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
November 24, 2010
Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad,
Les felecito en español hoy, ya que han cumplido 25 años de matrimonio. Increíble. Fantástico y Estupendo.
It sounds like your week has gone well so far and it sounds like you have great plans for tomorrow, the big turkey day. Our plans for thanksgiving....trabajar! Wooohooo! I actually am not complaining. I am very excited to work tomorrow because we have a ton of appointments. It doesn´t bother me one bit, working on holidays when I am on the Lord´s errand.
This week has gone great. We are very excited with the things that are happening, actually, we are absolutely stoked with the progress of the area. We, were so privileged last Thursday to receive the visit of Elder Caussé. He was inspiring. So inspiring that that night we set 6 baptismal dates. 1 couple from the Dominican Republic, and 1 family of 4 from Bolivia. We hope that they keep progressing, because they are wonderful people. The next visit we had with them was the Friday afterwards, last Friday, and we asked the Bolivian family what they thought about making the decision as a family to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized. The father responded sincerely, me gustaría. They are a wonderful family and hope that things continue to go well for them.
The last time we were with the Dominican couple the girl asked us if she had to read all of the Book of Mormon before her baptism, her date is for the 18th of December. We responded with a smile, no. We are receiving many, many, many blessings from the Lord at this time in this area and we hope and pray that these special people, our brothers and sisters accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ and be baptized. We are at least excited that they have some initial desires to do so, which sometimes people don´t have at the beginning of this teaching process.
Just to inform you about Segundo Moina. He is awesome! He came to church this last week and stayed again for the 3 hours. He wanted to go home before the third hour, but we and some other members gently persuaded him to stay. He is getting more and more friends and acquaintances at church and the bishop is really hot on him. Before Priesthood started the bishop presented himself to him, and asked him immediately, When are you getting baptized? Segundo told him the 2nd, and the bishop said, good, I want to be there. It made Segundo feel really good that people told him that they wanted to be there when he gets baptized to support him. He loves that feeling of being important and feels very special. He is a wonderful man, very humble and will be a great member of the church. He is stoked for his baptism.
We have a bunch of miracles that are going on in our area and there isn´t any time to even begin to tell you about all of them. I had an incredible exchange with Elder Cerro, El Argentino, Uruguayo, y Canario o de las islas Canarias. We were in our area and had nothing planned as all of our appoinments had canceled on us. We passed by a potencial investigator and it was just a series of miracles. 1st, that she was there, that she let us in and that there was a man in the room. To invite her to be baptized we showed her and the father of her son the picture of the baptism of Jesus, with John the baptist in the River Jordan. The really famous image in the church. We showed it to her, explained briefly what it was, and then as I began to invite her, something like , ¨cuando ustedes sepan que lo que compartimos es verdadero ....¨, she interrupted me, and said, ¨Ya se lo que me va a preguntar y la respuesta es sí.¨ Nos quedamos sorprendidos. We were shocked. We had talked to her one day in the street a long time ago, maybe 3 months, and we talked to her about baptism then, so something must have stuck with her, because she was prepared to say yes. We have another appointment with her and him tomorrow, and we are so excited because we are going to set a specific date with them. They weren´t sure about setting a serious goal the last time, but tomorrow they will be.
To end my letter today, I just wanted to congratulate one more time, Mom and Dad. I love you soooo much. I thank you for your perfect examples of love, dedication, service in the church, service in the community, hard work, testimony, and sacrifice. Thank you for all of the sacrifices that you have made and continue to make for me. I am and will be eternally grateful to you for them. What and who I am is because of you. You have taught me so much, and recognized more than ever, here on the mission, that I, like Nephi, have been born of goodly parents. I have grown in my love for you while I have been away from you these 15 months, today. If you remember it was 15 months ago, today, a Wednesday at 11:30, when we last saw each other. That was a long time ago, but the time has literally flown by, and soon, too soon, we will be together again. I am grateful for the support, love, and prayers, that you give me while I am out here completing my duty to God: being away from my family for two years, so that other families can be together forever. My love and gratitude for you is forever and words cannot describe it. The two most important words in the English language that you deserve are simply: THANK YOU!!!
I love you! Keep up the good work with Cami, Mark and Cari. We all will get to a certain point when we will finally understand what sacrifices you have gone through, which sacrifices you have done with love. Gracias.
Have a great week! or as Ignacio (Nacho libre) says it so nicely and exquisitely ....Take it eassssy!
Love,
Elder Driggs
P.S. Today for our Preparation Day, we went ice skating at an Ice skating rink 20 minutes or so from Madrid. It was way fun and think that that is one of my secret talents that I need to develop. Haha, Just kidding!!! But it was way fun. Love, Rob
Les felecito en español hoy, ya que han cumplido 25 años de matrimonio. Increíble. Fantástico y Estupendo.
It sounds like your week has gone well so far and it sounds like you have great plans for tomorrow, the big turkey day. Our plans for thanksgiving....trabajar! Wooohooo! I actually am not complaining. I am very excited to work tomorrow because we have a ton of appointments. It doesn´t bother me one bit, working on holidays when I am on the Lord´s errand.
This week has gone great. We are very excited with the things that are happening, actually, we are absolutely stoked with the progress of the area. We, were so privileged last Thursday to receive the visit of Elder Caussé. He was inspiring. So inspiring that that night we set 6 baptismal dates. 1 couple from the Dominican Republic, and 1 family of 4 from Bolivia. We hope that they keep progressing, because they are wonderful people. The next visit we had with them was the Friday afterwards, last Friday, and we asked the Bolivian family what they thought about making the decision as a family to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized. The father responded sincerely, me gustaría. They are a wonderful family and hope that things continue to go well for them.
The last time we were with the Dominican couple the girl asked us if she had to read all of the Book of Mormon before her baptism, her date is for the 18th of December. We responded with a smile, no. We are receiving many, many, many blessings from the Lord at this time in this area and we hope and pray that these special people, our brothers and sisters accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ and be baptized. We are at least excited that they have some initial desires to do so, which sometimes people don´t have at the beginning of this teaching process.
Just to inform you about Segundo Moina. He is awesome! He came to church this last week and stayed again for the 3 hours. He wanted to go home before the third hour, but we and some other members gently persuaded him to stay. He is getting more and more friends and acquaintances at church and the bishop is really hot on him. Before Priesthood started the bishop presented himself to him, and asked him immediately, When are you getting baptized? Segundo told him the 2nd, and the bishop said, good, I want to be there. It made Segundo feel really good that people told him that they wanted to be there when he gets baptized to support him. He loves that feeling of being important and feels very special. He is a wonderful man, very humble and will be a great member of the church. He is stoked for his baptism.
We have a bunch of miracles that are going on in our area and there isn´t any time to even begin to tell you about all of them. I had an incredible exchange with Elder Cerro, El Argentino, Uruguayo, y Canario o de las islas Canarias. We were in our area and had nothing planned as all of our appoinments had canceled on us. We passed by a potencial investigator and it was just a series of miracles. 1st, that she was there, that she let us in and that there was a man in the room. To invite her to be baptized we showed her and the father of her son the picture of the baptism of Jesus, with John the baptist in the River Jordan. The really famous image in the church. We showed it to her, explained briefly what it was, and then as I began to invite her, something like , ¨cuando ustedes sepan que lo que compartimos es verdadero ....¨, she interrupted me, and said, ¨Ya se lo que me va a preguntar y la respuesta es sí.¨ Nos quedamos sorprendidos. We were shocked. We had talked to her one day in the street a long time ago, maybe 3 months, and we talked to her about baptism then, so something must have stuck with her, because she was prepared to say yes. We have another appointment with her and him tomorrow, and we are so excited because we are going to set a specific date with them. They weren´t sure about setting a serious goal the last time, but tomorrow they will be.
To end my letter today, I just wanted to congratulate one more time, Mom and Dad. I love you soooo much. I thank you for your perfect examples of love, dedication, service in the church, service in the community, hard work, testimony, and sacrifice. Thank you for all of the sacrifices that you have made and continue to make for me. I am and will be eternally grateful to you for them. What and who I am is because of you. You have taught me so much, and recognized more than ever, here on the mission, that I, like Nephi, have been born of goodly parents. I have grown in my love for you while I have been away from you these 15 months, today. If you remember it was 15 months ago, today, a Wednesday at 11:30, when we last saw each other. That was a long time ago, but the time has literally flown by, and soon, too soon, we will be together again. I am grateful for the support, love, and prayers, that you give me while I am out here completing my duty to God: being away from my family for two years, so that other families can be together forever. My love and gratitude for you is forever and words cannot describe it. The two most important words in the English language that you deserve are simply: THANK YOU!!!
I love you! Keep up the good work with Cami, Mark and Cari. We all will get to a certain point when we will finally understand what sacrifices you have gone through, which sacrifices you have done with love. Gracias.
Have a great week! or as Ignacio (Nacho libre) says it so nicely and exquisitely ....Take it eassssy!
Love,
Elder Driggs
P.S. Today for our Preparation Day, we went ice skating at an Ice skating rink 20 minutes or so from Madrid. It was way fun and think that that is one of my secret talents that I need to develop. Haha, Just kidding!!! But it was way fun. Love, Rob
November 17, 2010
Dear Family,
This week has been great as usual. Nothing really new, except for the fact that it was rough being out of the area for so long, like I explained to you last week. We had an awesome Halloween activity this last week, on Saturday, and we were able to have a few investigators come. We, the missionaries and the mission leader were in charge of the activity and it happened to be the first activity in more than a year for the ward. It was a huge success, despite the fact that it didn´t start perfectly. The members loved it and the leadership and the bishopric of the ward were very content. They are excited to get planning on what we are going to do for Christmas.
Elder Gomez and I are a little concerned as the 3 people that had baptismal dates have basically disappeared. We haven´t been able to put us into contact with them. Well, we have talked to Carlos Gomez on the phone but have not been able to meet with any of them. None of them came to church either. We are sad because they are such special people and are so close to being baptized. They have testimonies that are growing so quickly and we need to pray more for them, that they can get back into contact with us.
We are really excited for tomorrow and Saturday as we are going to have a zone conference with Elder Causse of the 70. We will certainly be spiritually blessed to have him with us.
Elder Gomez and I have set some goals that are going to help us increase our level of obedience. I am convinced that if we are more consciously obedient to all of the mission rules and commandments that we will receive the promised blessings, be happy, and really see and participate in miracles. That is really what we want and the entire reason why we are here.
I love you so much and I apologize that this email is so short. We have had a busy day and we have to run to a teaching appointment. Know that I love you, pray for you and think of you as much as is allowed.
haha
Have the best week ever. Don´t get frustrated, don´t get angry, just be happy as much as possible, and when not thought possible to do so, breathe, say a silent prayer and smile, even if you don´t feel like it. Our lives will change little by little if we consciously do all that we can to be happy. That is why we are here.
Have a great week.
Love,
Rob, Elder Driggs
This week has been great as usual. Nothing really new, except for the fact that it was rough being out of the area for so long, like I explained to you last week. We had an awesome Halloween activity this last week, on Saturday, and we were able to have a few investigators come. We, the missionaries and the mission leader were in charge of the activity and it happened to be the first activity in more than a year for the ward. It was a huge success, despite the fact that it didn´t start perfectly. The members loved it and the leadership and the bishopric of the ward were very content. They are excited to get planning on what we are going to do for Christmas.
Elder Gomez and I are a little concerned as the 3 people that had baptismal dates have basically disappeared. We haven´t been able to put us into contact with them. Well, we have talked to Carlos Gomez on the phone but have not been able to meet with any of them. None of them came to church either. We are sad because they are such special people and are so close to being baptized. They have testimonies that are growing so quickly and we need to pray more for them, that they can get back into contact with us.
We are really excited for tomorrow and Saturday as we are going to have a zone conference with Elder Causse of the 70. We will certainly be spiritually blessed to have him with us.
Elder Gomez and I have set some goals that are going to help us increase our level of obedience. I am convinced that if we are more consciously obedient to all of the mission rules and commandments that we will receive the promised blessings, be happy, and really see and participate in miracles. That is really what we want and the entire reason why we are here.
I love you so much and I apologize that this email is so short. We have had a busy day and we have to run to a teaching appointment. Know that I love you, pray for you and think of you as much as is allowed.
haha
Have the best week ever. Don´t get frustrated, don´t get angry, just be happy as much as possible, and when not thought possible to do so, breathe, say a silent prayer and smile, even if you don´t feel like it. Our lives will change little by little if we consciously do all that we can to be happy. That is why we are here.
Have a great week.
Love,
Rob, Elder Driggs
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