Called to Madrid South

Happy Easter! I hope you all have had an enjoyable weekend and have been able to reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and what it means for each of us.  This week has been a bit of a challenge with my companion. He comes from a very difficult past and the mission has been a great challenge to him. Suffice it to say that every day he spends here is a miracle and we would love to keep that streak of miracles alive. That said, this last Thursday he had a very difficult day in which he was thinking of going home and returning to the habits found there. That was really challenging to me, as I felt he had made so much progress. To make things worse with the timing, we had prepared a birthday party for him the next day on Friday. His birthday actually happened back in February, but it happened right with all of the changes and travels that had resulted from a very bad experience with a different companion. Friday morning came, and it was hard. We talked for almost an hour and I did my...

With the baptisms that we've had in the ward, we now have the fun job of reteaching and taking care of all of the recent converts. The fun thing is that it can really take any shape or size. For example, this last Tuesday my companion cut the hair of Angel as we reviewed the Restoration. That same day I was able to play tennis with Felipe and then teach a lesson to him after. It's so much fun to be able to develop those relationship, because it actually allows them to learn more deeply. With some other recent converts we have begun reading the Book of Mormon together. It is a group of 5 with 3 recent converts and 2 other friends that wanted to do it with us. Although our main goal is always to baptize, it has been extremely gratifying and, frankly, just fun to work with recent converts and see their progress in the gospel. They are excited to work and learn and serve, but they need to be taken care of to build their spiritual foundation. This last Sunday, we went to a nearby to...

Writing the last letter on Thursday makes it such that I now have nothing to write about, but we did have a good weekend. In church we had 4 friends. Elizabet, from Paraguay, is a friend we found in the street a month ago, but that moved to a city far away. In that city, the missionaries taught her and prepared her for baptism. She recently moved back to Málaga and went to church for the first time yesterday. If all goes well she should be baptized this next Sunday. We also had a friend named Juan Carlos who is a young man from Paraguay. During the second hour, we taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he accepted the invitation to be baptized in a few weeks! Málaga continues to be a place of miracles and extreme growth! I would like to share a verse that called my attention from this week. Its found in Ecclesiastes chapter 3. A theme found in Ecclesiastes is that we as humans often have a very small scope of understanding. We focus on the vain, and the passing pleasures, and ...

This Saturday we had our second English class in the church. Many times missionaries will teach English classes to serve and to have people in the church in a more comfortable environment. It went really well and we had around 10 people, some members and some friends. It was my turn to teach this week and I'm not sure if anyone learned anything, but it sure was a lot of fun!  This Sunday we had the baptism of Angel! It went excellent and he was really excited to take that step. After the baptism he texted us and told us it had been one of the best days of his life. I'm so grateful to have been able to see his growth and to continue to, I hope, the temple and to serve a mission.  Yesterday we had Zone Conference here in Málaga. They spoke to us about integrity being the alignment between our actions and our words. That means being true to our promises, but also practicing those standards that we set for others. We also invited a member from the ward named Gabriela to come with ...

This week we were able to continue teaching Ángel and he will be getting baptized this next Sunday! He is relatively new here to Spain, alone, with plenty of difficulties, but has an amazing light and positivity. He is super excited for his baptism and is progressing rapidly. Last night, he did his baptismal interview with President and they discussed the goal of serving a mission in one year! To round things off, he even made a cheesecake for us on Sunday   Not much more to report this week. Sorry for the delay and then a short email. Hope everything is going well!  Elder Dougall

Another transfer has begun and we received news that Elder Koistinen will be leaving to Torre del Mar. That means this trio will be a duo again and I'll end up with 6 months here in Málaga! I'm really grateful for the time I've spent here and I'm excited to do another transfer.  This Thursday our friend Franklin, who was baptized a few weeks ago, texted us telling us he had told his friends about the church and his baptism. One of his friends, named Alex, texted us telling us he was interested in talking with us. We had a videocall that night and an amazing lesson in the church the next day and he should be getting baptized this 15th of March! It is so cool to see those that have recently been  baptized share the joy they have received and invite others to church. Alex is 19 and has such a desire to learn and follow Jesus Christ.  This week we also did some finding in the streets with members of the ward that are preparing for their missions. It was a lot more fun to do...