Weekly update

Hello everyone!

¡I hope everyone had just an outstanding Christmas!

On the night of Christmas here in Vecindario, we had the awesome
opportunity to sing to some people! Honestly, top 5 best caroling
experiences ever. The Spanish people absolutely loved seeing us
singing, but also we were able to really bring the spirit to some
people. Caroling resulted in a lesson with someone who wouldn't let us
teach him much before, and getting back into the house of a less
active woman and her less active 16 year old son. Both of those
lessons were super powerful, and we are so incredibly grateful for the
lords hands in the work through instances like these.

So here on the island and I think in general in Spain, we don't fill
the font up every week. James isn't  crying cause he just got dunked
on in other words, but there are definitely incredible opportunities
to bring others unto Christ. That doesn't just mean with investigators
too. There are so many less active people here and even members of the
church who just need a little animo (encouragement) to do the things
they know they should be doing. We are brainstorming every day to try
and find ways to have more lessons with people, to try and find ways
to meet people's needs, and to try and be the missionaries the lord
knows we are capable of being and wants us to be. There are many days
where we come home after being failed five times in a row, but we get
back on our knees  and although slightly discouraged at times, we do
our best to keep calm and plan on. We know the lord will lead us to
new opportunities as we give him all we have got in the days of the
near future.

I don't know, I guess where I am going with this though is that I want
to share with all of you how much missionary work has blessed my life.
I feel like Satan pushes against me every day for what I am doing
here. He's exposed my weaknesses and drilled me on many of them. There
are times where I don't feel capable, smart enough, or even too
imperfect. At the same time, I've never felt so close to my father in
heaven, and I've never felt the power of the atonement so strong
before in my life. In those times where I feel down, all I have to do
is get on my knees. After I do that, I'm filled with hope, and the
energy I need to carry on. I know this is where the lord wants me to
be in my life right now, and I know he has a plan for me here. The
other day I was reading a scripture in 2 Nephi 26:33 which says:

33 For none of these iniquities come of the Lord; for he doeth that
which is good among the children of men; and he doeth nothing save it
be plain unto the children of men; and he inviteth them all to come
unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come
unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he
remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and
Gentile.

I know I am here because the lord wants all his children to come unto
him, no matter where they are, or where they have been. The savior
performed the atonement for everyone, and his arms are and will always
be forever extended to those who come unto him. It truly was an act of
amazing grace. I'm here to try and help others feel that love here. I
would encourage any of you who are going through some hard times to
take some time and have a conversation with your Heavenly Father. I
promise he will help bring you out of any hole you are In, no matter
how deep, and I promise you that you will feel the empathetic love the
savior has for you.

Another thing I have learned here is that giving service to other
truly does bring happiness. The best days here are the ones where I
get home and reflect on that day, and can honestly say that I gave all
I had to help others. Those are the times when I feel happiest here.

Last thing, is I have absolutely fallen in love with the Book of
Mormon again in the past week. I've received answers to prayers in
this past week in my daily study in it, and have really grown to
understand a lot more what a blessing it is to have it. The Book of
Mormon is so key to gaining a testimony of the gospel. If your
testimony is on the border, read the Book of Mormon again. If you feel
like you've already done it, keep doing it. I promise you with
everything I have in me that you will receive an answer if you read it
with a desire to find answers, and pray with real intent to feel of
its truth. We all have doubts at times, that's normal. Heck, some of
the people here present me with some pretty logical doubts, but my
testimony is firm, because no one could ever take away from me the
sweet spiritual promptings I have had that the Book of Mormon is true.
Maybe it will take some of you some time and some perseverance, but I
promise all of you that if you continue reading and praying and doing
the right things in your life, the answers will come.  Doubts will
also come, but just keep reading, and you'll find out the truth is
really what you feel in your heart.

My companion and I are trying to memorize these words from Jeffrey R
Holland about the Book of Mormon because they are so true:

For 179 years this book has been examined and attacked, denied and
deconstructed, targeted and torn apart like perhaps no other book in
modern religious history--perhaps like no other book in any religious
history. And still it stands. Failed theories about its origins have
been born and parroted and have died--from Ethan Smith to Solomon
Spaulding to deranged paranoid to cunning genius. None of these
frankly pathetic answers for this book has ever withstood examination
because there is no other answer than the one Joseph gave as its young
unlearned translator. In this I stand with my own great-grandfather,
who said simply enough, “No wicked man could write such a book as
this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were
commanded of God to do so.”
    I testify that one cannot come to full faith in this latter-day
work--and thereby find the fullest measure of peace and comfort in
these, our times--until he or she embraces the divinity of the Book of
Mormon and the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom it testifies. If anyone is
foolish enough or misled enough to reject 531 pages of a heretofore
unknown text teeming with literary and Semitic complexity without
honestly attempting to account for the origin of those
pages--especially without accounting for their powerful witness of
Jesus Christ and the profound spiritual impact that witness has had on
what is now tens of millions of readers--if that is the case, then
such a person, elect or otherwise, has been deceived; and if he or she
leaves this Church, it must be done by crawling over or under or
around the Book of Mormon to make that exit. In that sense the book is
what Christ Himself was said to be: “a stone of stumbling, … a rock of
offence,” a barrier in the path of one who wishes not to believe in
this work. Witnesses, even witnesses who were for a time hostile to
Joseph, testified to their death that they had seen an angel and had
handled the plates. “They have been shown unto us by the power of God,
and not of man,” they declared. “Wherefore we know of a surety that
the work is true.”

To sum it up, the lord loves us all.  He will always be there for us,
and through Jesus Christ, we will always have someone there to comfort
us in our time of need who knows exactly what we are going through
because Jesus Christ came and fulfilled the atonement.

I know the Book of Mormon is true, and because it is true, Joseph
Smith was a prophet, and this truly is the church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints restored back again here on the earth, and I know we
have a prophet here on the earth today.  I say these things in the
name of Jesus Christ, Amen.


Elder Baron

    P day hike in the middle of the island 

    The public bus they take everywhere.   They call it "Gua Gua" pronounced Wa Wa

         Waiting at the Gua Gua stop 

FELIZ NAVIDAD

MERRY CHRISTMAS AMERICANS!

I hope you all are having just a jolly ole good time!

There are a ton of Norwegians who speak English on the island, so we
are going to have an English Christmas dinner today!

This week has been one of those weeks of ups and downs. One of those
weeks where you fall to your knees and someone picks you back up. My
companion and I have spent a lot of time on our knees the past couple
days, but we've had some good experiences too.

So one of our investigators was supposed to get baptized this week,
but after receiving everything, he decided he did not agree completely
with the church anymore. That was a hard loss.... But life moves on,
we are going to continue to invite and continue to press forward as
best we can here.

On a more positive Note though, we have one investigator who has just
fallen in love with the Book of Mormon. He's trying to move to America
soon, and in an attempt to learn about the gospel and English, he's
just been reading like crazy! The lord has blessed him with the gift
of tongues as he has made decisions to change his life and come closer
to Christ. This sweet humble Cuban man is such an incredible to us of
faith, and we are really hoping he sticks to it and is baptized on his
set date. I'm not going to say much more but if you are reading this,
please find the nearest wood and knock on it!

Another amazing experience we had this week was with a family that the
lord brought to us. One day we got a text from a less active man who
asked us to come over and give his 7 year old daughter a blessing. As
we entered this home, it was evident that this family was not in a
good shape financially. The husband expressed to us great desires to
come back to church and have his girlfriend and their daughter
baptized. At first, we were a little worried about this being about an
attempt to get money from the church, but in the past couple weeks,
this man has had an obvious change of heart. We've put a ton of energy
into helping this man and his girlfriend to change. It truly is
amazing to see how the gospel blessed families. They have two major
hurdles ahead of them, but we know they have the faith to make it.
Those hurdles are Finishing papers for divorces and marriages and
quitting smoking. Two nights ago we had an incredible lesson with them
about the word of wisdom. We brought them a framed picture of the
temple and wrote: recordad siempre vuestra visión ( always remember
your vision ). They both began to cry. They want to be married and
sealed in the temple for eternity one day, and we are going to do all
we can to help them do so.  The gospel truly does bless families. We
bought a ton of juice, mouth wash, toothpaste, and fruit and brought
them a plan for quitting smoking our bishop had. We also put a picture
of Christ on their door with Philipians 4:13 "I can do all things
through Christ which strengtheneth me" underneath.  We just bore
testimony to them of how much the lord loves them and how much we love
them and know they can do it! The spirit was so strong! I know they
have the faith to quit smoking if they give it all they have and find
the strength through Christ!  So far they are going strong and we are
praying for them and calling them every day. We know the lord will
bless them with the rest if they are able to quit. We are gonna keep
fasting and praying though!

I too have been able to see the lords hand a lot in my mission this
week. There have been some hard times this past week with everything,
but the lord always brings me hope, always keeps me going.

I'm so grateful for this time of year we have to think about Christ
even more. I'm so grateful for the chance I have to bring others unto
him here. He truly is the source of happiness in this life and in the
life to come.

I know that Jesus Christ is my savior and redeemer. I know that
through him, we can overcome any challenge, any trial, because he
suffered pains and afflictions of every kind. Through him there is no
death, only life eternal.  Through him have the ability to return to
the presence of God free from sin as resurrected beings, and be happy
forever. All he asks is that we follow the five steps of his gospel,
and keep the commandments.

¡Él es la dádiva!

Have a great day!

(Alma 7:7-11)

Elder Baron

                      "Ward Party"

              "Baptismal font"

                    "Ward Party" 

                      "Sunset"

Weekly update

Hey earthlings!

Wowsers I don't know how I'm ever going to find time to get all these
emails in, but I'll do my best to leave you all something short and
sweet!

This week I learned a lot about humility! My companion and I have been
in the category of needs work as far as our relationship. This week I
came to the realization that I need to stop focusing so much on what I
thought he was doing wrong and try more to show more constant love and
correct myself. We both have been working on this a ton and we have
seen some improvements in our success and In our ability to teach by
the power of the spirit.

. We have one investigator with a baptismal date right now and another
one who is going to be baptized in January. We just have to go back
and set a date with her and her parents! We are super animo about
those two though. As we do things to show our faith to Heavenly
Father, he blesses us soo much! I'm so excited for these two
investigators, and I really hope everything goes according to plan
with them because I know they are going to be so blessed as they take
that act of faith. We shall see what happens though.

This Christmas season has really had an impact on my testimony of the
savior more than ever before. I have truly grown to understand how
much we need a savior, and how blessed we are that he came to the
earth.

I am officially out of time for now but I love you all tons and hope
things are going good!

Elder Baron

                  "Green Canaries" 

Weekly update

Hola amigos, familia, y todo

It's crazy how fast time goes by out here. It feels like just
yesterday I was running out of time writing this same email. At the
same time, It feels like I haven't seen a ton of you in such a long
time but I guess it's only been like two and a half months. I hope
everything is going good with everyone though. I'll keep you in my
prayers but if you need anything in particular, shoot me an email.

Thank you to everyone who sent me things for my birthday! Seriously
that was very very kind of all of you! I wish I had time to write and
email you all to tell you thanks but once again, don't have a ton!

So as far as the Spanish and lessons and everything, things are good!
I mean I have embarrassed myself in the Spanish quite a bit since I
have been here but that's a must in the learning process. Some of my
best Spanish moments are when I told my mtc teacher you can't have
sexual relations before you are tired, I told some elders at a zone
conference you can't have homosexual relations before marriage, and I
told a guy just the other day that I have been living in Spain for 8
years. Pero está mejorando. But it's getting better. As far as the
island, it's like a Southern California fall here with no rain and
lots of wind.

As far as investigators, we have so many who are so close to
committing to baptism and confirmation, but they all have an obstacle
in the way. We are fasting and praying for these people and working
hard though, and we are gonna keep giving it our all. That's really
what I've learned out here, these are real children of God out here,
not just a baptismal statistic. Although I wish some of them were
progressing a little faster, I have learned that I need to remember
it's more important to teach people, and not lessons. I've also
learned once again that this is the lords work, not mine. As much as I
would kinda like to see some more progress, it really is in the lords
hands, and I know things will happen on his time table, not mine.

As we approach the Christmas season, my companion and I are trying
really hard to help as many people as possible understand the true
meaning of Christmas. We have some great tools like the videos on
gospel library for Christmas and our testimonies. The best tools we
have to help other people come into Christ though Is the Book of
Mormon.

I want to share a quick experience I had in my studies of the Book of
Mormon the other morning. I started the Book of Mormon over again with
the intent of reading deeper with more intent on studying it this
time. I had just begun the first Isaiah chapter. I don't remember who
said this or in what meeting it was from but someone once said they
were protecting from a bullet wound by their Book of Mormon. The
bullet stopped at the Isaiah chapters. I have to admit, I have often
had trouble with them. The other day I was reading in 1 Nephi 21
(compare Isaiah 49) and I was having a hard time understanding. I
finally just stopped and said a prayer. I asked to be able to
understand why these chapters were important in the Book of Mormon,
and how they added to another testament of Jesus Christ. A couple
versus later, I read something that really stood out to me. It went
something like this

14 But, behold, Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord
hath forgotten me--but he will show that he hath not.

15 For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have
compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I
not forget thee, O house of Israel.

16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls
are continually before me.

These versus stood out to me a ton. And I not only was given the gift
of understanding the Isaiah chapters, but they also left a big impact
on my testimony as well. Often times it's hard for us to see the lord
in our lives. Sometimes we feel like we are alone. Well, we aren't.
He's always there. Sometimes we just have to look a little deeper, or
a little Harder. But other times, we still don't see him. All we need
to do is think about the atonement. Because of him, we don't carry
around the guilt that comes with sin. Because of him, we receive
comfort in our times of need when we ask for it, because of him, we
can do things we don't think we are strong enough to do. And because
of him, we can live together with our families forever. Because of
him, we can be worthy to have these eternal blessings. This life is
but a blink of an eye in comparison to forever and the blessings that
await us if we just follow the 5 simple steps in his gospel: faith,
repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and
persevering to the end.

As you approach Christmas, remember one thing, he is the ultimate
gift, él Es la dádiva . Take time this holiday season to do what you
have to do to remember him. Spend some time serving others, spend more
time with your family, etc. and spend some time in the Book of Mormon.

I love you all and I hope everyone is doing well.

Que tenga un buen día


Elder Baron

     "Birthday kebab was so legendario" 

    "Ball and shoes I got for my birthday"

            "The dunes were so cool"

              "My companion and I"

          "Hay un tiburón en el agua"

         "The elders of gran canaria"

                    "MTC district"

Weekly update

Well holy guacamole I really ran out of time this week! So I apologize
in advantage my long email to all isn't very long, but I'll do my
best!

Thanksgiving was rad! We ate a big dinner with all the elders on the
island, which is twelve, and it was sweet! 

We bought a ton of chickens and ate those. That was super awesome! I was full so it was a success! 

This week had tons of ups and downs. We lost another investigator,
which is always very hard but we also have seen a lot of progress from
some of our other investigators!! One of them is absolutely awesome!
He is a 16 year old kid and he loves to surf and play the guitar. My
companion plays the guitar with him and I get to talk to him about
surfing a ton, so he really likes us. He also played soccer with us
this p day! We have a lot of hope for him in the future. We also have
some other people who are progressing fast, but you never know. We are
giving it our all and we will see what happens. The work is really up
and down here though. I would say this week was probably my hardest as
far as language, my companion, challenges, and other aspects, but I
have truly felt the lords hand and the prayers of many of you! It's
crazy, there's a lot of things that are hard about missionary work,
but I feel like the lord truly does carry me through those times.

One of the coolest experiences of this week happened when we were told
we needed to visit this American who was in a hotel super far away in
the southern part of the island. She called the temple looking for
someone who could give her a blessing, and eventually the call came to
us. She was a less active member who wanted a blessing of both health
and comfort. We went in and shared a message with her about Ether
12:27, and I was able to give her the blessing. I gave a blessing a
week ago as well in Spanish, which was pretty difficult, but this one
I was fortunate enough to be able to offer in English. This was my
first time doing it in English, but I was able to feel the spirit so
strong as I offered that blessing to her in my native language. That
was a fantastic opportunity.

The short message I want to leave with all of you is to always look to
the lord in your times of need. Like it says in ether 12:27, we all
have weaknesses, but we have them not to bring us down. The lord
says that if we humble ourselves and come unto him in those times, he
will turn those weaknesses into strengths! I know this is true! I have
seen it in my life.

We are all sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ is
our Savior. He empathetically atoned for all of us, and if we look to
him, we can superar (overcome) anything! I say these things in the
name of Jesus Christ, amen!

Hope you all have an incredible week! Love you all lots!

Elder Baron

                "Wowzers yummy" 

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

Update from The Canary Islands!

WAT IS HANNIN EVERYONE!

Before I get into all the details, just want to say I really hope that
everyone is doing well at home.

Well, I guess I will start with leaving the MTC. I am so grateful to
have attended that MTC. So many incredible people there I am really
going to miss! I know that the lords hand definitely played a part in
us all being there with each other because we all learned so much from
each other, and we all helped prepare each other a ton. Truly was a
blessing to be with them specifically and to be in that MTC
specifically. I am so grateful for those trips to the park that we
took and for all the people we were able to touch. So we were the last
group to leave the MTC last Tuesday as most of us weren't going that
far to get to our missions. (Or so we thought). The assistants of the
mission picked us up and took us by metro to the mission home to meet
with the mission president and one of the mission couples (The
Larsens). On the way we Caroled in Spanish in the metro and
proselyted. Caroling was fun but I had an incredible experience with a
lady. I grabbed one of my good buddies from the MTC Élder Fletcher,
and we went up to this lady with a young kid in the metro. We felt
pretty good about our Spanish as we went up to this lady. We began
asking her about how her day was, and just talking to her. I felt
prompted to start talking about the plan of salvation with her, so I
did. As I began asking her about her family and how much she loved
them, the spirit began to fill that metro car and come into the heart
of this woman. She was teary eyed as we began promising her that she
could live with her family forever, and that the gospel could bless
her family. We ended up leaving her with a Book of Mormon and got her
phone number. We told her missionaries would call her in the future
and teach her more but we also told her how much the Book of Mormon
would bless her if she read it and prayed about it. This is just one
example of how I know the lord helps us so much in missionary work.
It's so so important for us to always be doing our best to find those
people, because there are tons of people out there just waiting for us
to say Hola or Hello. We just need to open our mouths as much as we
possibly can. I'm so grateful for the opportunities the lord has given
me to help people like this woman.

As we got to the mission home, we had the last supper with all the
missionaries in the Madrid mission eating together and had a little
fireside with the Larsens and the Packs (They are both so amazing).
The time finally came after a full day of waiting for us to find out
where we were going to be serving our missions. Everyone was super
super super nervous. The Canary Islands missionaries were posted on a
screen in the chapel watching over Skype. I kept thinking, wow, I
really hope that's me in like a year. I was pretty sure I wasn't going
to come here because I talked about the beach a lot in my interview
with the mission president. Well, the time came where there were just
two of us left in the chapel waiting for an assignment. They told us
we were going to the Canaries and both of us kinda just dropped our
chins to the floor in shock. But we were both super excited for this
opportunity. That whole night was a blur. We slept at the Larsens that
night and hopped on a plane the next morning.

After the three hour plane ride, I landed and met my companion. I left
most of my stuff at the mission home because I could only bring one
suitcase but I pretty much just have summer short sleeve shirts here.
Anyways, I thought for sure I was going to be with a super old
missionary. My companion has been out for twelve weeks. He finished
training the transfer before I got here though. He's a greenie too!
Neither of us our fluent, but he understands a lot, so that's good!
Haha its kind of a challenge though. We are working super hard to
learn the language though, and I know the lord will help us. He's so
awesome though. He's a super nice kid from Idaho and we are pretty
similar.

A little bit about the islands. If I were to describe it, I would say
that the islands are like a larger glorified Catalina with more wind,
kinda with the feel of a larger city in South America. It's definitely
not as tropical as Hawaii though.  The people here definitely live
with an island feel to life. The whole island pretty much just dies
during medio día. Our investigators all love to tell a ton of stories
which makes it a little challenging to get through lessons but that's
ok, because it makes them that much more loveable. The people talk
super fast and they don't finish their words ever.  Mas o menos is
pronounced ma o meno. I can understand a ton of stuff in church, but
it's soo hard to understand the normal people. I'm praying hard though
and working hard as well, so I know it will come eventually. I really
love it here though. We can kinda see the water from our piso, and
there is a picture of Élder Gentry on our wall and a ton in the
church, so I think he served in vecendario too.  We walk sooo much
here. We don't have a car, but we do have the bus that everyone takes
to help us cover our half of the island.  They are green and they call
it the gua gua. (Pronounced wa wa). Our church is in the middle of the
city and if you didn't know it was there you would miss it.

As far as the work, there are a ton of menos activos (less actives)
here, and a bunch of the people here are from africa or South America.
A lot of people really like talking to us, and we teach people every
day, but a lot of people will sleep through appointments with us and
blow us off. That's alright though, we do contacting when that happens
and we are able to meet some really cool people and we find others to
teach. We have some investigators super close to having a baptismal
date we think, but we shall see. It really isn't about the numbers
here. A lot of our work is in rescuing people and bringing them back
to the right path. I love these people a ton and I'm working on
helping them as best as I can!

As far as mail, if you want to send me something here, mail it to the
mission home, my mom has the address thejena@aol.com . I'm sorry I
haven't responded through letters to a lot of you but i promise I will
send some next week!

Know that I love you all and things are good in the canaries!


My piso (apartment) is pretty sweet. It has some weird Indian
paintings on the walls and Bright colors! We have a dryer too!


-Élder Baron

"This is one of our investigators. He likes to argue which makes things

a little challenging"

                      "I drew this" 

Here is the Mission Home address if you would like to send Elder Baron a package :)  

Elder Colby Craig Baron 

Spain Madrid Mission 

Calle Fuerteventura 4, 2, Office 8B 

28703 San Sebastian de los Reyes 

Madrid 

Spain 

Pictures from last week and an update on Elder Baron!

Colby has been so excited to see the Real Madrid stadium! 

Catchin' Lizards at the MTC 

Placing Book of Mormons in the park 

Update on Elder Baron: 

Colby is leaving tomorrow morning for the mission field! He met his mission president and his wife and he really really loves them. He just wrote us a very short quick email in the ten minutes he had to let us know he is leaving the MTC and that he probably won't be able to write us until his P day next Monday. 

As soon as he sends his new address I will post it here on the blog! He has really loved the letters he has gotten so far. I know they make his week so thank you to all who have written him! Means a lot! 

Colby loves you all so much. 

Can't wait to hear about his next adventure in the field!