Weekly update!

Amigos, familia, y cada uno!

Hello everyone! I'm still alive over here in Vecindario. It has only
rained one day here, and all the other days here have been kinda like
fall days in California mixed in with some gnarly wind. Sometimes the
wind blows so hard here you can see dust from the deserts in Africa in
the air. Or at least, that's what the people here say. The weather is
almost the same every day, but it's definitely not bad at all.

Thanks so much to all who wrote me emails and things for my b day! You
are all so kind and I love you all tons! Don't forget that! If you
ever need me to pray for you, you have my email! I had a pretty good
day on my b day! We woke up and ran to the end of the road overlooking
this little bay. (My companion almost died. He's seriously willing to
do anything for me though. He's incredible) We got this incredible
meat dish for lunch called kebab. It's super tasty! I'll send a pic
but my companion also took me to get ice cream after as well, and we
ate that as we studied the language. That was rad! We also planned a
ward activity as missionaries for that night! That was super super
funny! It was minute to win it activities and the members of our
little ward were more competitive than some American wards are in
church ball. They sang me happy b day after that in Spanish! So it was
a successful day!

We have a companionship of elders and a companionship of hermanas for
our ward which covers about half of the island. This means we do a ton
of bus riding and way more walking too. I'm loosing my mtc weight
that's for sure.

Today for p day, we got to go to the sand dunes at the beach in the
south with 5 companionships. That was super fun and we got to go like
100 yards away from the water! The sand dunes were crazy though
because it was super windy! It was like being in the Sahara at times!
This island isn't really like a tropical island. It's kinda just like
a chunk of Africa out in the ocean. It's unique in its own way
though!

My ward is more like a branch. There are so many less active people
here in the islands. A lot of people kinda come here to escape their
problems and going to church is apparently just too much for them.
That's alright though, Elder Holt and I are working on fixing that
every day! There are also some of the most faithful people I have ever
met here as well. We have one family in particular who are just so
incredible. They helped us get back into our piso Sunday when I forgot
to take the keys with us to church. Our ward mission leader is also
one of the most faithful guys I have ever met in my life as well!
Those are a few of the incredibly faithful saints here.

As far as the language and adjusting to mission life, it's coming. My
companion and I both have a ton to learn, but we can understand enough
and get our point across enough that things work out just fine. We
have some really cool investigators right now progressing, but still
working on getting commitments from a lot of them! That's alright, we
will continue to invite these people and help them as best as we can!
They will get there eventually. My companion and I are trying super
hard to try new things here. We are really trying to find new people
to teach, but it gets hard with how many people blow us off lately. We
don't quit on these people though, we keep doing our best to be there
for them and we are doing our best to spread the light of the gospel
to as many as we can. There are a lot of people in darkness without
the gospel like the lamanites (alma 26:3-5)

I know that this is exactly where I am supposed to be and this is
exactly what I am supposed to be doing right now. I have been able to
witness the lords hand much in my life both here, and from thinking
about a lot of the experiences I had before my mission more. There are
so many things that happen to missionaries that are just not
coincidences. There are so many times where things that could be
really big problems, are made light through the lords help. We
could not do this without him. All we really do is give it our all,
and he makes us instruments in his hands. He leads us to the right
people and gives us more and more experiences to make a difference
when we work hard. Often, we don't see some of the rewards of our
efforts until later, but there are always some when we work hard out
here. For example, we had an investigator drop us this week, one we
thought was extremely close to baptism. We left his house sad, but for
some reason I had hope. Later that night, the next door neighbor of
that investigator stopped us in the streets and asked us to start
teaching him. We are so excited to have this new investigator, but we
also know that the lords hand was in that one. Where one door closes,
another opens. Always. Another instance was when we were waiting on a
bench for a long time far from home for our ward mission leader to
pick us up. A lady walked up to the bench waiting for someone too, and
we felt prompted to start talking to her. We soon found out she was
less active. She told us to come visit soon and gave us her
address. Everything happens for a reason! If there's anyone reading
this right now, and thinking about whether they should serve a
mission, just go. Go as soon as you can, unless you have received an
answer through prayer that you need to wait. The lord needs your help. He
will use you greatly to make a difference. You will be so happy out
here. I promise if you work hard, the lord will help you. You can do
it!

I want to leave you all with a little spiritual thought or message.
Something that's been on my mind a lot lately is how we get rejected
in the streets. There is a term in Spanish they use all the time here
to tell us they can't talk to us when we are trying to contact people.
They always say Tengo Prisa. This translates to I have haste or I am
in a hurry. 8 out of the 10 people who reject us in the streets tell
us this, and 99 out of the 100 times they say it, it's a lie. It's
absolutely crazy what some people will do to make it look like they
have Prisa. The other day, we started to walk up to two moms with
their kids in the park. One of the mom's saw us coming and said in
Spanish alright kids it's time to go we have to go now quickly. The
kids obeyed and followed quickly. The other mom was a little late in
seeing us and her efforts to frantically gather the kids didn't pay
off before we could stop her. As we began talking to her, she told us
she had Prisa and that she had somewhere to be now. Well, she was
doing her best to walk away frantically and look like she didn't have
time, when she realized that 50 yards away she left one of her kids
on the playground. It's crazy what some people will do here to avoid
talking to us, but as I thought more about it, I thought about how
this could apply to all of us as well. Do we ever say we have Prisa in
our lives? Are we sometimes too busy to give our time to the lord,
when really, there is more we can do? If we look at the things we
have, our houses, our families, the things that make us happy, our
success, etc. how much of that comes from the Lord and how much comes
from our own doings? Well my friends, the answer is all of it. 100% of
it comes from the lord. Sure we work hard to gain some of these
things, but in the end, all we have comes from Heavenly Father. One of
my favorite people in the Book of Mormon is Ammon. He's arguably one
of the most successful missionaries in the Book of Mormon, but the reason why I
love Ammon so much is that he gets this principle. Read Ammon 26:
11-12:

11 But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in
my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with
joy, and I will rejoice in my God.

12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak;
therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for
in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles
we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name
forever.

This thanksgiving, look at all the things you have in your life. At
all the things you are thankful for in your life. Recognize that all
these things come from a loving father in heaven. Then, think
about how you can give thanks to him for all those things. The way you
can do so is through service and sharing the gospel with others. If
you do this, I promise you, you will feel the love of your father in
heaven even stronger, más fuerte, in your life! If your life is busy,
that's fantastic, but I believe that there will never be a time when we
have too much Prisa, or we are too busy 100% of every day to find time
to serve another person or share the gospel with them.

This holiday season, think about the savior as much as possible. Think
about his matchless love for each and all of us. Do we truly
understand how much he loves each and every one of us? Do we
understand how unconditional that love is? Do we truly understand how
blessed we are to have the atonement in our lives? Christ suffered for
each and every one of us, regardless of us being able to pay him back,
or regardless of some of us understanding the importance of that, and
even regardless of some of us spitting in his face for it. That's a
kind of love that no man will ever be able to match, but an example they
should do their best to follow.

I want to close by leaving you with a lesson you may of heard in
regards to push ups compared to the atonement. Please read this story,
and I hope that it will touch your heart as it did mine


. Push-ups atonement

By Nettie Brinkerhoff
There was a boy by the name of Steve who was attending school in
Utah. In this school Seminary classes are held during
school hours. Brother Christianson taught Seminary at this particular
school. He had an open-door policy and would take in any student that
had been thrown out of another class as long as they would abide by
his rules. Steve had been kicked out of his sixth period and no other
teacher wanted him, so he went into Brother Christianson's Seminary
class.
Steve was told that he could not be late, so he arrived just seconds
before the bell rang and he would sit in the very back of the room. He
would also be the first to leave after the class was over.
One day, Brother Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he
could talk with him. After class, Bro. Christianson pulled Steve aside
and said, "You think you're pretty tough, don't you?"
Steve's answer was, "Yeah, I do."
Then Brother Christianson asked, "How many push-ups can you do?"
Steve said, "I do about 200 every night."
"200? That's pretty good, Steve," Brother Christianson said. "Do you
think you could do 300?"
Steve replied, "I don't know... I've never done 300 at a time."
"Do you think you could?" Again asked Brother Christianson.
"Well, I can try," said Steve.
"Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I need you to do 300 in sets of ten for
this to work. Can you do it? I need you to tell me you can do it,"
Brother Christianson said. Steve said, "Well... I think I can... yeah,
I can do it."
Brother Christianson said, "Good! I need you to do this on Friday."
Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the
room. When class started, Brother Christianson pulled out a big box of
donuts. Now these weren't the normal kinds of donuts, they were the
extra fancy BIG kind, with cream
centers and frosting swirls. Everyone was pretty excited - it was
Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early
start on the weekend.
Bro. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked,
"Cynthia, do you want a donut?"
Cynthia said, "Yes."
Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do
ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?"
Steve said, "Sure," and jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten.
Then Steve again sat in his desk.
Bro. Christianson put a donut on Cynthia's desk.
Bro. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, "Joe
do you want a donut?"
Joe said, "Yes." Bro. Christianson asked, "Steve would you do ten
push-ups so Joe can have a donut?" Steve did ten push-ups, Joe got a
donut.
And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten pushups for every
person before they got their donut.
And down the second aisle, till Bro. Christianson came to Scott.
Scott was captain of the football team and center of the basketball
team. He was very popular and never lacking for female companionship.
When Bro. Christianson asked, "Scott do you want a donut?"
Scott's reply was, "Well, can I do my own pushups?"
Bro. Christianson said, "No, Steve has to do them."
Then Scott said, "Well, I don't want one then."
Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do
ten pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn't want?"
Steve started to do ten pushups. Scott said, "HEY! I said I didn't want one!"
Bro. Christianson said, "Look, this is my classroom, my class, my
desks, and my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don't want it."
And he put a donut on Scott's desk.
Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just
stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be
getting up and down. You could start to see a little perspiration
coming out around his brow. Bro. Christianson started down the third
row. Now the students were beginning to get a little angry.
Bro. Christianson asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a donut?"
Jenny said, "No."
Then Bro. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten pushups
so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn't want?" Steve did ten, Jenny
got a donut.
By now, the students were beginning to say "No" and there were all
these uneaten donuts on the desks. Steve was also having to really put
forth a lot of effort to get these pushups done for each donut. There
began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, his
arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort
involved.
Bro. Christianson asked Robert to watch Steve to make sure he did ten
pushups in a set because he couldn't bear to watch all of Steve's work
for all of those uneaten donuts. So Robert began to watch Steve
closely. Bro. Christianson started down the fourth row.
During his class, however, some students had wandered in and sat along
the heaters along the sides of the room. When Bro. Christianson
realized this; he did a quick count and saw 34 students in the room.
He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it.
Bro. Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the
next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time.
He was taking a lot more time to complete each set.
Steve asked Bro. Christianson, "Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?"
Bro. Christianson thought for a moment, "Well, they're your pushups.
You can do them any way that you want."
And Bro. Christianson went on. A few moments later, Jason came to the
room and was about to come in when all the students yelled, "NO! Don't
come in! Stay out!"
Jason didn't know what was going on. Steve picked up his head and
said, "No, let him come."
Bro. Christianson said, "You realize that if Jason comes in you will
have to do ten pushups for him."
Steve said, "Yes, let him come in."
Bro. Christianson said, "Okay, I'll let you get Jason's out of the way
right now. Jason, do you
want a donut?"
"Yes."
"Steve, will you do ten pushups so that Jason can have a donut?" Steve
did ten pushups very slowly and with great effort. Jason, bewildered,
was handed a donut and sat down.
Bro. Christianson finished the fourth row, then started on those
seated on the heaters. Steve's arms were now shaking with each pushup
in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. Sweat was
dropping off of his face and, by this time, there was not a dry eye in
the room.
The very last two girls in the room were cheerleaders and very
popular. Bro. Christianson went to Linda, the second to last, and
asked, "Linda, do you want a doughnut?
Linda said, very sadly, "No, thank you."
Bro. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so
that Linda can have a donut she doesn't want?"
Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow pushups for Linda.
Then Bro. Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan. "Susan, do you
want a donut?"
Susan, with tears flowing down her face, asked, "Bro. Christianson
can I help him?"
Bro. Christianson, with tears of his own, said, "No, he has to do it
alone, Steve, would you do ten pushups so Susan can have a donut?"
As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding
that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350
pushups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.
Brother Christianson turned to the room and said. "And so it was, that
our Savior, Jesus Christ, plead to the Father, "Into thy hands I
commend my spirit." With the understanding that He had done everything
that was required of Him, he collapsed on the cross and died. And like
some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk,
uneaten.




Elder Baron
Calle Capitan Cortez 16 1 1
Santa Lucia de Tirajana
35110 Canary Islands
Spain