*Sound Of Every Mind In The Spain Madrid North Mission Blowing At Once*

Okay first things first: transfer news came in, but not before President Eastland announced that they're holding a mission conference. I didn't realize how big of a deal this is, but normally they don't pull all of the missionaries out of their areas and gather them to Madrid for any small reason. Usually it's something huge like a change in mission president or a visiting general authority. It doesn't seem like it's either of those, so we'll see what happens. No one saw it coming, and nobody knows what to think. I'm crazy excited.


My new companions name is Elder Nelson, I haven't met him yet since he started his mission on the mainland a few days after I got to the islands. He just finished his training and we need some new blood down here. Can't wait to throw him headfirst into our area. 


Districts also got realigned, for some reason we got put with the missionaries on the island of Tenerife on the other side of the archipelago. Its going to be a fun transfer. 


This week was also great, and super busy. Our friend Claudia, a miracle referral from Columbia, got baptized on Thursday. She moved here to start over a little bit and made getting baptized a huge priority. She's a legend. 


Zenón's five grandkids were all set up to get baptized on Saturday, and then two of them started asking why their dad wasn't going to do it. They decided as a family that they're going to give him time to prepare himself so that he can baptize his own kids. It's actually super good news, because it's not just good for the kids but also for him. The other three were baptized on Saturday by their grandpa and confirmed in sacrament meeting. 


It's easy to get lessons with Carmen but occasionally difficult to get on topic. Luckily she often brings it up herself. She keeps talking about things she's learning in the Book of Mormon (and the Relief Society group chat) and how much she loves it all. Her teenage grandkids seem to like having us over but we're still trying to judge how much interest they have. 


Reading the Book of Ether this week. Still trying to figure out all the details with all of the kings killing each other, but the more clear parts with the brother of Jared are awesome. Something super important in the scriptures is intended audience. The Book of Ether was abridged by Moroni years after the destruction of his people. He didn't write it for them, he wrote it for us, people in our day. That's also why the premortal Lord introduced Himself to the brother of Jared as Jesus Christ, thousands of years before His birth. The things he taught and showed the brother of Jared that day will come to light in ours. One of the most important lessons in the Book of Ether is the pattern it shows for personal revelation. The Lord asked the brother of Jared to come up with his own solution to a problem, and promised to help make it a reality. The Lord gives us the opportunity to strive and struggle and make an effort because He wants us to grow, but will also help us to achieve our righteous desires.


Slice of Life 
If you remember from last week, we arranged for a fake immigration police officer (our friend José) to intimate the Vecindario Elders when the came for an exchange last Monday. I'm happy to report they totally believed it until Elder Quintana and I started laughing, bro-hugged the scary deportation man, and came clean. It was hilarious. Then he took us out to see some old chapels, which was super cool. This island has a lot of those. The exchange the next day was fire too, we had some interesting lessons and learned a lot.


Hasta la próxima,
Elder Curtis


Pictures
Jimmy, Dayana, Román, and their grandparents. Also pictured are their cousins Sara and Eydan, who are up next
Claudia!
Filling the font
Filling the font
Exchange pics with Elder Filbrandt 
Old chapel
Elder Monteiro at confessional with Padre Quintana







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