December 1, 2010

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