March 30, 2011

Mi querida y linda familia,

You asked about Elder Ketchum or ¨Ketchup¨, as almost all of the people call him her, because his last name sounds like the red kétchup. This is his last week and he is a beast. In a good way. He is just going full throttle to the end. He is wonderful and he is a great example to me. I can´t wait until you can meet him because he is a fantastic, top class person, in every aspect of his life. So his parents arrive the 5th and they all leave together the 11th. He is sad at the fact that he is going to leave the mission field, but luckily missionary work is a lifelong calling.

We are really excited for general conference and are planning on attending 4 of the 5 sessions. We always miss out on the Sunday afternoon session, so we will have to wait until the Liahona from May comes out. We are also anxiously waiting to get a hold of the new Joseph Smith movie DVD in Spanish. We Heard about 2 or 3 weeks ago that they had released it and finally, a couple of days ago, it came into the distribution center by the temple. Unfortunately, the 28 copies that they had sold out fast, so we are waiting for the second round from Germany. We hope that it gets here fast so that we can show that to investigators and members.

You asked about my new companion. To be honest I think I have been pretty sure who it was going to be, for about 2 months, Elder Ketchum says. So my new companion is Elder _________He is from ______________ I really can´t say too much more as President Watkins has been very, very explicit this time about not talking about transfers so to be faithful to him, you will have to wait one more week. To say the least he is a very good missionary. We are going to let everyone know this Saturday morning what the tranfers are, and since there are 13 missionaries that are going home and three that are coming in, there are a lot of changes.

I really liked the story that you sent me mom last week and this week about moments of happiness and struggle, and about building great cathedrals and no one seeing those outside efforts. They are great stories and have wonderful principles. Thank you very much. I love hearing about how your testimony continues to grow and grow.

The picture of Elder Gomez that I sent Cami was from a long time ago. He is training again in Fuenlabrada a missionary from Manchester England. I have attached two pictures of Élder Ketchum and I in the conference room in the office where we do all of the far away zone conferences. President and Sister Watkins always travel to the zone conferences but as President Watkins likes us to stay in our área, we keep working and go to the office and do our part from there, instead of having to waste much more time in flying to the Canary Islands or the North of Spain to participate in zone and district meetings. But that would be pretty fun if we did go. So this picture was taken after we did the zone conference of the Santiago zone. It went really well as Élder Ketchum and I gave 10 minute talks. Elder Ketchum is an incredible speaker. He will be famous some day!

Well, have a wonderful week. Keep smiling, Reading the scriptures, praying and watch all of the general conference sessions that you can. Tell everyone hi from me please and that I love them. I love you so much!!!

Love,

Élder Driggs

March 23, 2011

Dear Family,

I am sooo sorry that I wasn´t able to write very much last week. It had nothing to do with the letter. I really just had really bad luck, because last week we went to visit Aranjuez, Elder Ketchum, Elder Gomez, and Elder Gomez´s new companion, Elder Ashworth from Manchester England. So we got home with really little time to write, because we had an appointment. So I apologize for cutting it so close and not being able to write all of my thoughts and experiences like I normally do.

So just so you know, I love you sooooooo much. I really do and I am praying for you very much. I love you.

This week has gone sooo well. It really impresses me how much Elder Ketchum is working. He only has 13 days left but he is working harder than ever. He is such a good example to me. I am not allowed to talk about him going home because it makes him a little sad and we, he and I, don´t want to get distracted. I sometimes fail on my part and ask him about things, but we are focused on our purpose which is…to baptize.

Speaking of baptism….This weekend Carol is getting baptized. She is the Peruvian reference from the member Sonia. Well she has been progressing so well and is soooo excited to be baptized this Saturday at 4:00. She has asked Elder Ketchum to baptize her and me to confirm her a member of the church. So we are super excited about that. She is probably, to be very honest, the best convert that I have had during my mission. Well, obviously they are not my converts, but you know what I mean.

She is so prepared and you just feel her desire to do this. She had her baptismal interview last Saturday and after wards, we had a lesson with her and the ward mission leader and his wife, and she said that before she felt so empty and that she was missing something, but that now she feels full. She said that as she read and prayed she would say to herself, what is this feeling? She is very special and she has read a little bit more than the book of First Nephi. So I will have to tell you about it after wards.

The time has now come to an end. I am sorry that I cannot write more, but I love you all soo much and am very grateful for all that you are doing. I just have one question. I know that you just sent me a package so it is not urgent, but in the next one that you mentioned in your letter along with the photos of the court of honor and the dance competitions, a lady from the ward has asked for scripture stickers, that go over the scripture mastery verses. Those that you bought for me when I was little. Just if it isn´t too much of a burden. But really there is no hurry. I love you all very much and hope that all goes well this week. Tell Cami that I said hi and that I love her soooo much and that I am praying for her a lot.

Have a great week!

P.S. Gracias por enviarme la carta de Katherine. Que divertido leer de su éxito y su misión. Me gustaría seguir escuchando de ella si sea posible. Y que guay, escuchar de BYU. Ojalá que sigan adelante.

Con mucho amor,

Élder Driggs

March 16, 2011

Dear Family,

Well,I am afraid that I will have to cut this letter a little short. All is well here on my end. I am glad to hear all of the news. I like to be informed so that my prayers can be more specific and sincere. I love you all very much and pray for you a lot.

To answer the questions of Madrid. I don´t think that I have heard of Eurorail, ever. In Madrid the public transportation is wonderful. I would say that it would be less than 15 euros to get to and from Segovia and Toledo and Aranjuez per person. In Madrid a metro pass is fairly cheap. It is 1 euro for a normal ticket but I think that there are great deals for up to maybe 6 or 7 euros for ten passes or a week pass unlimited pass, etc. I am not sure exactly. But with the public transportation we can get basically everywhere.

I will have to send more info to you later.

I love you all very much and still invite you to keep reading the scriptures, praying, doing FHE, and going to church, temple, and fasting. It is all true and it all works.

I love you all and am sorry that this letter is so short. Please do not feel bad for telling me all of that information, rather I thank you for doing so.

Love,

Élder Driggs, a full time servant of the Lord, Jesus Christ. :)

March 9, 2011

Buenos días querida familia,

Right now it is 11:23 in the morning and we just got out of a temple session about 45 minutes ago, more or less. Elder Ketchum and I have sure gone to the temple quite a bit lately and I really appreciate Élder Ketchum´s spiritual nature and how much he loves seeking spiritual experiences. I really enjoy being his companion and it was a neat experience today because we went to the temple at the 8:00 session with our ward mission leader, Gino Carión, de Peru. He is absolutely WONDERFUL!!! and he has an amazing conversion story. He actually is a convert of 3 or 4 years and before he didn´t even believe in God. Let´s just say that the Spirit really worked on him and he is a powerful leader and member. He has been Elder´s quorum president, etc. So it was very fun to be able to be together us three this morning in the temple.

This week has been a very successful week for us. We are extremely grateful for the blessings that Heavenly Father is giving us and we are seeing a lot of progress in the investigators. Carol is doing super well and is basically ready for baptism. She is reading quite a bit in the Book of Mormon and she has now come to church 2 times. We had a Noche de Hogar, family night, this last Monday with the Bishop and his family, with Carol and her daughter. Luis Miguel, the recent convert from December, also came and accompanied us. She enjoyed it and is really feeling that the things we are teaching her are true. So she is great!

Jhon is a little different. He actually did not come to church because he was visiting friends or family in a suburb of Madrid and said that he woke up late. So, we met with him yesterday with Felix and Carmen, his mom, and he was super tired and wasn´t really involved in the lesson. I hope that he can see the importance of this and I hope that he can change. I think that he is going through those rebellious teenage years and that isn´t helping us at all. Felix and Carmen are great and love coming to church and have now done so three times in a row. I sure hope that Felix can prepare himself to go on a mission. His mom said that he has to do it.

The last big news is that yesterday we set a baptismal date with Gloria, a single mom with a 6 year old son Cristian. She is super special. The story with her is very interesting. Elder Ketchum had seen her 3 distinct times in the street and after talking and always asking her for her phone number and then her not answering we were finally able to pass by and visit her. The bad part is that when the day came that we were to visit her Elder Ketchum was on exchanges with another Elder and I was to visit her with my companion. I think this was when we were with the two new Elders, Elder Jeppson and Elder Gardner.

We went there to her house, with a member and when she opened the door she let us in, and then into her room, as there wasn´t anywhere else we could meet because she is sharing an apartment. When we were in her room she started to get a little nervous because she had never seen us before and we were 3 men in her room and she was a little scared or nervous. I felt bad because she had obviously told Elder Ketchum that he could come because she had already established a friendship with him. So we explained what we do as missionaries and that sometimes we have to do exchanges and we told her that we always have to have a member with us when we teach women alone, etc.

After that explanation she calmed down a little and we asked if we could say a prayer. We shared a message and she showed quite a bit of interest but after that visit, for quite a while, we were not able to get a hold of her to visit her again. I am not exacly sure why. But we visited her last week, she and her son came to church, the three hours, and yesterday she said that she wanted a change in her life. We invited her to prepare herself to be baptized the 10th of April. She said, ¨Me esforzaré.¨ which means, I will try. She is very special and seems to have had a very hard life and you can tell that she really needs the Gospel of Jesus Christ in her life. Her son is also very special and very smart. So we are excited that they are also doing very well.

I am sorry to hear that Mark has the shingles! Yikes! I remember that Andrew Garrett had the shingles during EFY and had to go home, once or various times, because it was so painful. I remember him telling me that it was the most pain he has ever been in and that he remembered just screamming because the pain didn´t go away. Andrew said that he gained a testimony of the power of Priesthood blessings when his dad gave him one during that trial in his life. So Mark, ask for a blessing and pray a lot. I am sorry that you are in pain. I hope that you get better fast. Good luck, my brother!

I can´t believe that Joe is already home. I had a letter for him but it was taking me a long time to get it sent. I am a very bad letter writer. I can´t believe that Taylor is going home tomorrow. I can´t believe that the time is far spent. I sure have loved and enjoyed the time that I have had to be a missionary! I love the missionary work.

I wish Cari good luck in all of her competitions. I will be mailing Cami a letter today. I wrote it last week and I have delayed in sending it. I am sooo sorry for taking so long in sending these promised letters. I am horrible. So the promised letter from three weeks ago should come shortly.

I love you all very much and am so grateful for your prayers and thoughts and love. Keep up the good work and know that I love you too.

Have a wonderful week.

Thank you so much for taking care of all of that and for being so aware of what I need to do to be able to study in the fall. Thank you also for the spiritual insights that you send me every week. I love hearing your comments and your thoughts and it makes me want to study better to be able to find similar treasures.

Thank you so much mom for the future package and for always sending such love and detail filled letters. I love and appreciate them so much. You are very kind and thank you so much for teaching me so many things when I was little. I am forever in debt for the wonderful influence of my mother.

I love you all.

Love,

Élder Driggs

P.S. Keep smiling! Read the scriptures, Pray often, and Go to church to partake of the Sacrament!

March 2, 2011

Dearest Family in the whole wide world,

I am glad to hear that you had, once again, a good week. I like the consistency. I love hearing the details of what everyone is doing and how they are doing. Thank you so much dad for checking things out about jobs, school, etc. I really, really appreciate it. I love you all very much for the prayers, thoughts, packages, and letters. These things are very kind and mean a lot to me!

Elder Ketchum and I have also had another good week. We don´t tend to have bad weeks, as those rarely exist in missionary work. The greatest joy really comes from knowing that you are worthy and that the Lord has called you through a prophet of God to serve among His people in a designated spot in the earth. I love being a missionary and lately, Elder Ketchum and I have experienced much success.

Les cuento un poco del éxito y de las experiencias que hemos tenido.
First, Jhon Saco. Jhon is 17 years old from Ecuador and the story is really neat how we met him. Jhon´s mother, Carmen, and his brother Felix (20), live with him here in Madrid about 25-30 minutes from the church in metro. About 3 weeks ago, Elder Gardner (that new missionary that I ¨trained¨ for two weeks from Afton, Wyoming) and I were running late to the ward council meeting that they have every Sunday before church. We had about 2 minutes, I think, from the metro station to get to the church, so when we got off the metro and started running. We ran in front of the famous plaza de toros and crossed the street and entered into the street that leads to the church, Calle Alonso Maestro.

This street isn´t as busy as the famous Calle Alcalá, and it is only a one way street with one lane, like many streets here in Spain. We were running pretty fast, when we heard someone yelling from behind us. At first, I didn´t think much about it, not even looking back, but the second or third time, I turned around and we stopped running. We could tell that this women wanted to talk to us and we stopped and went towards her.

Well, long story short, it was one of those less-active member miracles where this less active women Carmen, had left that Sunday morning to find the church. She had been here in Spain for, I think, more than ten years, and had gone to another church farther away, but I guess was looking for one closer. We were very happy to meet her and we went to the church together. She went into the other ward´s Sacrament meeting as we went into the ward council meeting. But before we parted she gave us her number and asked if we could pass by the following day.

That was three weeks ago and since then we have taught that family several times and Jhon, has a baptismal date. His mom, Carmen, and brother Felix were already members and they have come to church 2 times. Jhon has only come one time and let me just say that this family is very special. These two young men are giants. About 6 feet two or three inches tall and that is very tall for a Ecuadorian as you can imagine and they tower over everyone at church. The special part is that they love their mom and are very respectful towards us. They offer to pray and are really stupendous people. We are excited about them.

Quickly, just one more story about Carol. Carol is a friend of the family of Luis Miguel, the recent convert that got baptized in December. Luis´s wife Sonya is a member for many years but has just come back to being active in about the last 6 months. She is now the Young Women´s President. So Carol, from Pêru, is 27 years old, I think, and has a 7 year old daughter Dana. She was in the house of Sonya and Luis when we went over to teach them last week and we gave her a brief overview lesson. She agreed to come to church as she had already told Sonya that she was coming.

She came to church and stayed all three hours and the last hour she went with the Bee hives, she thought that that was a funny name. We taught her for the second time last night in Luis´s house again and she had prepared for us a dinner, algo de pollo relleno con puré de patatas, no me acuerdo como se llama, pero fue buenísimo. I loved it! After we started to teach her about the Restoration. She had a lot of questions but I loved them because it showed interest. She started to cry and said that she needed this but it was hard for her because she didn´t want to always be someone who looks for God when things are bad and when things are good, forget about him. It seems like she is going through some rough times right now, but she is basically golden and said that she wants to go to church as many times as they let her….which is forever, so that´s great!

I love you all very much. Les quiero un montón y quiero que sepan que oro mucho por ustedes. Espero que tengan una semana super buena otra vez y que sigan adelante con las escrituras. Justo acabé de leer el Libro de Mormón y lo estoy empezando otra vez. Me encanta el Libro de Mormón y es un libro verdadero. Sigan leyendo este libro, por favor. Puede cambiar todo para nuestra familia y ayudarnos tener mucha más unidad y amor.


I love you so much Cami, Mark, and Cari. Keep up the good work.

Love,

Élder Driggs,

your Spanish missionary :)