Weeks Start Coming And They Don't Stop Coming

Midway through the transfer. It's been a long and busy week.


Biggest people news:


-Thiago is the nephew of a less-active member who recently came to Spain from Brazil. His first language is actually Portuguese, which is similar to Spanish but is still a whole different language. His Spanish is coming along but occasionally it's easier for him to understand me than Elder Rasolo because I'm closer to his level. We're working on getting him a copy of the Book of Mormon in Portuguese. He also came to our weekly football game and is getting to know a lot of our friends and members. He's awesome and we're looking forward to teaching him!


-Adelina is still a machine when it comes to sharing her thoughts about Jesus with everyone she sees, but she's also opened up a bit more to being taught. Elder Rasolo taught her a lesson on baptism on an exchange with Elder Hunt. (More on that later) We're about ready to invite her to be baptized but the hard part is gauging when she is listening to what we have to say and when she just wants to stroll through the park, singing and handing out cards. She absolutely radiates the Spirit, but every visit feels like a coin toss on whether she is willing to take in new ideas. We're praying for her and will keep trying.


-Carlos is a guy who basically street contacted himself. He saw us walking home from a game of football and asked us if we were missionaries. The only thing physically identifying us was our tags, but he noticed us and mentioned that he had been a member before coming to Spain. We had a chance to meet his wife Cynthia and their four children, and it turned out that a few of their children speak some English and Cynthia speaks French. We threw around several languages in the conversation that followed, just getting to know their awesome family. Carlos seems interested in returning to church and bringing his family in with him, so we're hopeful for them!


This isn't everyone, not by a long shot, but these are some of the biggest highlights for the week.


In other news, we did an exchange with our zone leaders, Elders Hunt and Galan! Elder Hunt has some history in Talavera, so he stayed there with Elder Rasolo. His name really opened up doors, and tons of people agreed to meet that day to see him again! He'll be going home with Elder Rasolo in a few weeks, so Talavera had two crazy experienced and connected missionaries for a day. 


Meanwhile I got to to to Alcocón with Elder Galan! Again, exchanges are fun because you get to see aspects and methods of missionary work you wouldn't normally. For example, the Alcocón missionaries have a guy named Jordan on date for baptism! We met with him and talked about service and callings in the church, and it was really cool to see someone so close to such an important step.


Since we were already traveling, we got to go to district council in person again. We lost Sisters Tomala and Bakkland to a mid-transfer change, but we gained Sisters Buckley and Roderer! Always fun to meet with our district and share the progress of our areas.


We were also close to one of Elder Rasolo's old areas and got to attend the baptism of his friend Dayanna! She invited every missionary who taught her, and they all brought their comps so we had like 8 elders there. It was a great baptism, and actually the first I've been to since I got here.


President and Sister Hamilton scheduled a "family home evening" Zoom meeting Sunday night, which most of us took to mean that the new mission president had arrived, but we heard nothing about it. Instead we learned that the Spain Madrid Mission was the top baptizing mission in Europe in the last 6 months! I can't take much credit for it, but it's still awesome news! Barcelona came in second, which would be annoying (friendly rivalry) but when the Spain Madrid North Mission forms we'll be taking some of their area, so we could use it. 


To close with a spiritual thought, Helaman 5:12 reads "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation" 
When times are tough and new things seem impossible, it is important to be able to rely on faith in Jesus Christ to help you through it. I've felt this a lot in the last few weeks, and want each of you to know that He is always there for us to lean on.


Until next time,
Elder Curtis


Pictures
Not a ton this week.
1. Dayanna and the tag-team of Elders who taught her at different times
2. Reorganized district. We needed some new blood.

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