Family and Friends! How´s everyone doing over there? I´m hardly having a preparation day today, so this e-mail might not make a ton of sense because I´m thinking about a lot of things right now. Today we got a new missionary in, his name is Elder Hastings. He seems really good. You can probably look on the mission blog and see him and us there. We went down to the train station to pick him up. I had one of the most nerve-racking times of my mission today, because I had to drive. It was my first time driving with the Hinckleys, so it was super scary. Driving in Barcelona is very different from driving in the U.S. It´s good though. I had to drive a big van too because we had me, Elder Keller, the Browns (a senior couple), the new missionary, and the Hinckleys. It was crazy. We all made it alive though, so that´s good. So this past week we did intercambios. It went really well. I was here in Barcelona with Elder Bajaña. He´s from Ecuador. Elder Keller went up to be with Elder Bajaña´s compaion, Elder Awerkamp, in Bilbao. It´s an hour and a little bit flight. So we did that Tuesday, then on Thursday morning Elder Bajaña and I flew out there, then I was in the airport for an hour to get with Elder Keller again, then I flew right back. It was good. It was a day just full of traveling though. So I´m pretty tired, as always, but that´s good.
Alright, so let´s see what else is new. We still don´t have any investigators with a baptismal date, but we´re going to have some really soon. Just the other day we were going to have a visit with an investigator that has a baptismal date that some other missionaries visited and set the date. Her name´s Adriana, but she lives in our area, so now we´re going to start teaching her. She´ll be baptized here the 26th of March, so that´s good. I´m excited.
Okay, also this past week we had Concilio. It was really good. It was a very spiritual meeting. Concilio is when the Hinckleys, us, and all the zone leaders get together and we have a meeting. We usually have breakfast together and then we have a meeting/instruction/discussion until 2:00-ish, then we have lunch, then we have about an hour left. We watched the video that Elder Keller and I made, that mom said she watched on the blog. I like it a lot. This movie turned out really well. That´s the second one that Elder Keller and I have made. We made it on Hermana Hinckleys mac, because apple has better video editing stuff.
Also, this past week has been a week full of miracles. We´ve had several people that will just call us that we gave them a pass-along card, but they were getting off the bus/metro, so we didn´t have time to get their info, and they´ll text of call us just wanting to give us their information so we can pass by them. It´s incredible. We´re in a time of miracles.
We have several people that are really close to being baptized. We have Jean Pierre (Isabel´s, a recent convert, son), Christian, Sabrina, Gina, and many other people that we just met this past week that are really promising. We´ve noticed that when we contact someone and we´re just super happy, that they´ll usually catch some of that and they become friendly and give us their information and end up wanting to learn more. It´s great.
Okay, well, I can´t think of much else to say. A lot more has happened, but there´s other missionaries here now so it´s hard to focus. Actually Elder Parry´s here, the missionary I trained, so it´s fun to see him again. His companion, Elder Anstenson, is going to train the new missionary, so Elder Parry´s being transferred out to Mataró. He´ll get out there just in time for three baptisms that will be his recent converts, so that´s fun. Well, I can´t think of much else to say, so I´m going to wrap this up. Have a great week. ¡Chao!
-Elder Ryan Sommerfeldt
3/5/11
3/2/11
2/23/2011
Family and Friends! How´s everyone doing there in the United States! Things are going great here. I don´t know what all to say this week. It was transfers. I´m still here. It was fun being able to play a big role in transfers. Mom asked if Elder Keller and I have a say in transfers, and we actually do. President Hinckley has the final say, but we´ll throw out suggestions and he´ll often time use what we suggest. So that´s fun. It was really good, and I feel really good about the transfers.
So I´m putting some pictures on here. The first one is a picture when we taught Alberto, his mom, and his sister how to tie ties. It goes left to right: Elder Keller, Ana María (Alberto´s mom), Alberto, me, Íviris (Alberto´s sister). Things continue going well with them. They´re progressing slowly, but they´re progressing. The next picture is of me on a street that we took one night. The next is of (left to right) Vladimir (our ward mission leader), me, Elder Keller, Ana María, Alberto, and Jaime. It was at a ward activity for Valentines day. It went really well, and Alberto´s mom came, so that was fun. Now we just need to find a way to get her there on Sunday morning for church. The next picture is of President and Hermana Hinckley in front of a building that we think should be the temple site for the Spain Barcelona Temple. It´s on a hill/mountain called Tibidabo. Next is a street sign that explains what happens in the Spain Barcelona street. Alright. That´s it for pictures.
This past week Elder Keller and I taught 20 lessons! So that was good. It´s really hard with all of the other things we have to do to teach 20 lessons, but we were able to get it done. This week, with transfers and all, we´re a bit behind, but we´ll see if we can do it. All of the missionaries going home left this morning. Elder Keller and I didn´t get to go to the airport this time, because there were only four missionaries going, so they figured they could fit everyone in one van if we didn´t go. So that´s what happened. I don´t know if I told all of you, but I drive now. It´s crazy driving here too. There´s so much traffic, and the lanes are narrow, and they have huge multi-lane roundabouts, and motorcycles and scooters always are driving inbetween you, etc. It´s crazy. It´s fun though. Anyways, also with transfers Elder Keller and I had to film all of the missionaries going home for the movie we make each transfer. I don´t know if you know, but the Hinckleys said they put the movie up on the blog. I guess there´s a lot of stuff on the mission blog, so you should all follow that and you´ll know a lot more what it´s like here. Last night we had "Singing for the Angels," which is where we go down to Plaça Catalunya and sing. We have four companionships out contacting people when they stop to listen to us. I was contacting a guy yesterday that was really good. He was on a bike, but stopped to talk for a while. I gave him a Book of Mormon and he loved it. I hope he gets baptized soon. Anyways, I saw President Hinckley take a picture of me while I was contacting him, so you might be able to see that on the blog sometime soon.
Today we´re hopefully going to do something fun for Preparation Day. We might go see Tibidabo, which is a catholic church where tradition says is the mountain where Christ was taken when he was fasting. It overlooks Barcelona, and the traditions say that Satan took Christ up there and tempted him with the city of Barcelona. Anyways, if we go I´ll take pictures.
Well, I can´t think of much else to say. Things are going great here. I´m going to go write the individual letters now though. Have a great week.
-Elder Ryan Sommerfeldt
So I´m putting some pictures on here. The first one is a picture when we taught Alberto, his mom, and his sister how to tie ties. It goes left to right: Elder Keller, Ana María (Alberto´s mom), Alberto, me, Íviris (Alberto´s sister). Things continue going well with them. They´re progressing slowly, but they´re progressing. The next picture is of me on a street that we took one night. The next is of (left to right) Vladimir (our ward mission leader), me, Elder Keller, Ana María, Alberto, and Jaime. It was at a ward activity for Valentines day. It went really well, and Alberto´s mom came, so that was fun. Now we just need to find a way to get her there on Sunday morning for church. The next picture is of President and Hermana Hinckley in front of a building that we think should be the temple site for the Spain Barcelona Temple. It´s on a hill/mountain called Tibidabo. Next is a street sign that explains what happens in the Spain Barcelona street. Alright. That´s it for pictures.
This past week Elder Keller and I taught 20 lessons! So that was good. It´s really hard with all of the other things we have to do to teach 20 lessons, but we were able to get it done. This week, with transfers and all, we´re a bit behind, but we´ll see if we can do it. All of the missionaries going home left this morning. Elder Keller and I didn´t get to go to the airport this time, because there were only four missionaries going, so they figured they could fit everyone in one van if we didn´t go. So that´s what happened. I don´t know if I told all of you, but I drive now. It´s crazy driving here too. There´s so much traffic, and the lanes are narrow, and they have huge multi-lane roundabouts, and motorcycles and scooters always are driving inbetween you, etc. It´s crazy. It´s fun though. Anyways, also with transfers Elder Keller and I had to film all of the missionaries going home for the movie we make each transfer. I don´t know if you know, but the Hinckleys said they put the movie up on the blog. I guess there´s a lot of stuff on the mission blog, so you should all follow that and you´ll know a lot more what it´s like here. Last night we had "Singing for the Angels," which is where we go down to Plaça Catalunya and sing. We have four companionships out contacting people when they stop to listen to us. I was contacting a guy yesterday that was really good. He was on a bike, but stopped to talk for a while. I gave him a Book of Mormon and he loved it. I hope he gets baptized soon. Anyways, I saw President Hinckley take a picture of me while I was contacting him, so you might be able to see that on the blog sometime soon.
Today we´re hopefully going to do something fun for Preparation Day. We might go see Tibidabo, which is a catholic church where tradition says is the mountain where Christ was taken when he was fasting. It overlooks Barcelona, and the traditions say that Satan took Christ up there and tempted him with the city of Barcelona. Anyways, if we go I´ll take pictures.
Well, I can´t think of much else to say. Things are going great here. I´m going to go write the individual letters now though. Have a great week.
-Elder Ryan Sommerfeldt
2/18/11
2/15/2011
Family and Friends! How´s everyone doing? Things are going great here in Barcelona. I guess the big news is that Alberto was able to get baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He got baptized on my birthday, February 12th. So that was a lot of fun. I don´t have a ton to say since the last time, since my last preparation day was on Friday, but that´s okay. On my birthday though we had a normal day for the most part. We did go out to eat though. We were going to go to a place called Freeway which is an Argentine meat buffet, but because it was Saturday it was way expensive, so we went to this other place and got some take-out food. We got pizza and some other meal thing. It was good, and fairly expensive. So that was fun. Later, we got ready for the baptism and had a couple visits, then at 7:00 we had the baptism. President and Hermana Hinckley were able to come too, so that was nice of them. They actually invited Elder Keller and I over for lunch Sunday after church to celebrate my birthday. It was a really quick lunch because they had to leave for Bilbao Sunday afternoon, but it was still good. It was good too, because it also gave us time to talk about a few things we needed to talk about in the mission before transfers get made this week. Just so you all know, transfers are this week, but I won´t be leaving. I´ll probably finish my mission here in Barcelona. That could change, but I´m pretty sure it won´t.
Anyways, so with Alberto´s baptism, a Young single adult named Cesar baptized him. Then on Sunday he was able to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and the Priesthood. So he´s doing really well. I gave him a pair of my suit pants and one of my white shirts and I´m going to give him my suit when we don´t have to wear suits anymore. It´s not in terrible condition, but it´s falling apart a bit. So I figure I wasn´t going to bring it home, so I´ll just leave it with him. He was super excited at his baptism too. The other elders told us when he and Cesar walked out of the font that Cesar was bauling and Alberto was just beaming and smiling so much. So that was good. His mom came too. We´re trying to get the whole family baptized, but it´s been a bit difficult to be able to visit with his family. We´re hopefully going to visit with him and his sister this Thursday, so we´ll see how that goes.
We also have an investigator named Christian that´s doing well, so that´s good. He just doesn´t know if he should get baptized now, or wait until he goes back to Colombia. We´re going to fast with him this week so he can figure out what he should do. We also have another girl we´re teaching named Sabrina that´s nine years old, and we just need her dad to give permission. He basically has given permission for her to be baptized, we just need it to be more firm. So hopefully both of them can be baptized here within in couple weeks.
Well, I can´t think of much else that´s new to say. Everything´s going well. Sorry this e-mail is shorter than normal.
I´m going to attach a few pictures though. The first is of me in Bilbao a few weeks ago in front of a massive dog statue made of flowers. Next is me on my birthday with presents I´d just opened. Next is me, Cesar, Alberto, Ana María (Alberto´s mom), and Elder Keller. Next is Me, Alberto, and Elder Keller. Next is last night at a FHE, Gladys, Isabel (one of our recent converts), Elder Southwick (the missionary I replaced, he had to come back for a day to have a medical checkup), Jaime, Elder Keller, me, and Archie and Coral on the front row. So there´s some pictures. Sorry I haven´t sent home pictures for so long. Well, I´m running out of time now, but have fantastic weeks. I´ll write more next week. ¡Chao!
-Elder Ryan Sommerfeldt
Anyways, so with Alberto´s baptism, a Young single adult named Cesar baptized him. Then on Sunday he was able to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and the Priesthood. So he´s doing really well. I gave him a pair of my suit pants and one of my white shirts and I´m going to give him my suit when we don´t have to wear suits anymore. It´s not in terrible condition, but it´s falling apart a bit. So I figure I wasn´t going to bring it home, so I´ll just leave it with him. He was super excited at his baptism too. The other elders told us when he and Cesar walked out of the font that Cesar was bauling and Alberto was just beaming and smiling so much. So that was good. His mom came too. We´re trying to get the whole family baptized, but it´s been a bit difficult to be able to visit with his family. We´re hopefully going to visit with him and his sister this Thursday, so we´ll see how that goes.
We also have an investigator named Christian that´s doing well, so that´s good. He just doesn´t know if he should get baptized now, or wait until he goes back to Colombia. We´re going to fast with him this week so he can figure out what he should do. We also have another girl we´re teaching named Sabrina that´s nine years old, and we just need her dad to give permission. He basically has given permission for her to be baptized, we just need it to be more firm. So hopefully both of them can be baptized here within in couple weeks.
Well, I can´t think of much else that´s new to say. Everything´s going well. Sorry this e-mail is shorter than normal.
I´m going to attach a few pictures though. The first is of me in Bilbao a few weeks ago in front of a massive dog statue made of flowers. Next is me on my birthday with presents I´d just opened. Next is me, Cesar, Alberto, Ana María (Alberto´s mom), and Elder Keller. Next is Me, Alberto, and Elder Keller. Next is last night at a FHE, Gladys, Isabel (one of our recent converts), Elder Southwick (the missionary I replaced, he had to come back for a day to have a medical checkup), Jaime, Elder Keller, me, and Archie and Coral on the front row. So there´s some pictures. Sorry I haven´t sent home pictures for so long. Well, I´m running out of time now, but have fantastic weeks. I´ll write more next week. ¡Chao!
-Elder Ryan Sommerfeldt
2/8/11
2/2/2011
Family! How´s everyone doing? Things are going great here. I don´t have as much time today, because we put internet off until the last minute, so I´ll be a little rushed today. Things are going great though. This past week we finished off all of the zone conferences. We went first off on Monday to Bilbao. That was a lot of fun. We went to the airport and flew over with the Hinckleys. We had to go to a piso that´s further away, so we didn´t get to bed until like 12:30, then we had to get up early, again, at 7:00. It´s fun though. I´m still doing fine. I´m always tired, but it´s a good tired. Anyways, that conference was incredible. There was just a great spirit in that zone. Then we flew back Tuesday night to Barcelona and Wednesday morning we woke up early, again, and went to the Barcelona zone conference in the new stake center. It´s really nice. It´s like as nice as the conference center. You should look it up online. It´s the most expensive church the church has built. One reason is because Barcelona is an expensive place to build, but also because it´s really nice.
Anyways, that was also a good conference, then we went down that night on train to Valencia. We taught a guy on the train and gave him a Book of Mormon. He lives in Castellón actually. We gave his information to them, so hopefully something good happens of that. The conference there was also good. Thursday night Elder Keller and Elder Ames, from Valencia went back to Barcelona and I stayed with Elder Atkin for intercambios there in Valencia. Then Saturday morning Elder Keller came back and we switched back. It´s a 4 hour train ride back to Barcelona, so that was fun / tiring.
Anyways, this week we´re in our area the entire week and we have a ton of work to do. We´re teaching two families. One is a family where the dad is less active, but coming back, and his wife is listening as well as his wife´s sister. The other is a family who has cousins that are members, and they´re doing really well. All of them will come on Sunday. Then we´re still teaching Alberto who is doing really well to be baptized on the 12-Feb, (my birthday), so that should be good. I´m excited for that. Well, let´s see, what else. We´re also teaching another couple where the wife is a less active and her husband (Enrique) is a non-member. They came to church this past Sunday and liked it a lot, so that´s good. We´ll see what happens with that, but I´m thinking we´ll have 3 baptisms or so in February, and a few more in March too, so that´s good. It´s a really good area, we just need to learn how to do everything with the mission and with our area all at the same time. It´s good though.
This past Wednesday we went to a Noche de Hogar that the Young Single Adults center does every Monday night. We went, but our investigators that were going to come didn´t. We had seen a bunch of 17 year old kids just outside on our way in though smoking and what not, but we thought hey, let´s go invite them. So we did. They came, and it went okay. It wasn´t the best lesson for a bunch of 17 year olds. It was just extra boring, and a little long. But, we invited them to come back the next day, and they came back, plus two others, so five total, and we gave them a tour of the church. None of them believe in God, so now we just need to help them with that. It might be a slow a process, but we´ll see how it goes in the end.
Also, this past Sunday there was a guy that went to the first ward in Barcelona and told the hermanas there that he just got here from Colombia, he´s been taught everything, and he wants to be baptized as soon as possible. Well, it turn out he lives in our area! So that´s fun. We´ve called, but he´s living in a welcome center right now, and we haven´t been able to get a hold of him for a bit now, but we´re still working on it. It´s only open after 8 p.m., and we´ve called, but they can´t get him since we don´t know his last name. We´re going to go up there sometime this week and try and find him. Worse case scenario we´ll see him on Sunday and go from there. It´d be nice to meet him as soon as possible though. His name is Carlos.
The other families we´re working with, just so you know, are Ivan, Patricia, and their son Fran, then Jorge, Gina, and Gina´s sister Yexenia, then Enrique and Leidy. There´s a few others too, but they´re progressing the most. Tonight we´re also going to visit with a family that´s part way active, and part way inactive. The dad in the past wouldn´t let the nine-year old daughter, Sabrina, get baptized, but just a few days ago they told us that he´d changed. So we´re visiting with them tonight, we´ll see how that goes. Well, that´s about all I can think of. Things are going great though. I love being a missionary.
Well family and friends, have a great week! ¡Chao!
-Elder Ryan Sommerfeldt
Anyways, that was also a good conference, then we went down that night on train to Valencia. We taught a guy on the train and gave him a Book of Mormon. He lives in Castellón actually. We gave his information to them, so hopefully something good happens of that. The conference there was also good. Thursday night Elder Keller and Elder Ames, from Valencia went back to Barcelona and I stayed with Elder Atkin for intercambios there in Valencia. Then Saturday morning Elder Keller came back and we switched back. It´s a 4 hour train ride back to Barcelona, so that was fun / tiring.
Anyways, this week we´re in our area the entire week and we have a ton of work to do. We´re teaching two families. One is a family where the dad is less active, but coming back, and his wife is listening as well as his wife´s sister. The other is a family who has cousins that are members, and they´re doing really well. All of them will come on Sunday. Then we´re still teaching Alberto who is doing really well to be baptized on the 12-Feb, (my birthday), so that should be good. I´m excited for that. Well, let´s see, what else. We´re also teaching another couple where the wife is a less active and her husband (Enrique) is a non-member. They came to church this past Sunday and liked it a lot, so that´s good. We´ll see what happens with that, but I´m thinking we´ll have 3 baptisms or so in February, and a few more in March too, so that´s good. It´s a really good area, we just need to learn how to do everything with the mission and with our area all at the same time. It´s good though.
This past Wednesday we went to a Noche de Hogar that the Young Single Adults center does every Monday night. We went, but our investigators that were going to come didn´t. We had seen a bunch of 17 year old kids just outside on our way in though smoking and what not, but we thought hey, let´s go invite them. So we did. They came, and it went okay. It wasn´t the best lesson for a bunch of 17 year olds. It was just extra boring, and a little long. But, we invited them to come back the next day, and they came back, plus two others, so five total, and we gave them a tour of the church. None of them believe in God, so now we just need to help them with that. It might be a slow a process, but we´ll see how it goes in the end.
Also, this past Sunday there was a guy that went to the first ward in Barcelona and told the hermanas there that he just got here from Colombia, he´s been taught everything, and he wants to be baptized as soon as possible. Well, it turn out he lives in our area! So that´s fun. We´ve called, but he´s living in a welcome center right now, and we haven´t been able to get a hold of him for a bit now, but we´re still working on it. It´s only open after 8 p.m., and we´ve called, but they can´t get him since we don´t know his last name. We´re going to go up there sometime this week and try and find him. Worse case scenario we´ll see him on Sunday and go from there. It´d be nice to meet him as soon as possible though. His name is Carlos.
The other families we´re working with, just so you know, are Ivan, Patricia, and their son Fran, then Jorge, Gina, and Gina´s sister Yexenia, then Enrique and Leidy. There´s a few others too, but they´re progressing the most. Tonight we´re also going to visit with a family that´s part way active, and part way inactive. The dad in the past wouldn´t let the nine-year old daughter, Sabrina, get baptized, but just a few days ago they told us that he´d changed. So we´re visiting with them tonight, we´ll see how that goes. Well, that´s about all I can think of. Things are going great though. I love being a missionary.
Well family and friends, have a great week! ¡Chao!
-Elder Ryan Sommerfeldt
1/25/11
1/24/2011
Family and friends! How´s everyone doing? Things are going great here in Barcelona. This past week was a lot better week than the first week. We were able to teach a bit more, we have three investigators that have baptismal dates for February now, and we went to two zone conferences. On Monday we took our preparation day. It was pretty good. We did some things to be all the way moved into our new piso. I don´t know if I told you, but we moved pisos a week and a half ago. We used to live in a really old trashy piso, now we live where one of the senior couple missionaries lived that recently went home. It´s a lot nicer. I like it a lot. We just needed a few things though, like a bar for my closet, etc. So we did that last week. This week we´re going to have another short preparation day. We´re leaving here at like 5:00 or something like that, so we get like 2 hours cut off our preparation day, plus in the morning we had a meeting from 11:45-12:45, so we got like another hour cut off in the morning. We basically don´t have a good preparation day this week. That´s okay though, we´re going to go to a restaurant to eat to try and get a little bit of time to relax after we do e-mail. This past week though we visited our chinese investigator named Marina, and she said she talked to her dad and she can´t continue. She comes from a completely non-God background, so her dad doesn´t want her to continue. She´ll continue just a bit, but it´s going to take a lot for her to be baptized. We also started teaching a girl that lives in that same piso from Holland named Corinne. She seems like she might be good. She didn´t believe in God, but she committed to read. When we went back she had read, but she hadn´t prayed, so we left her to do that. We´ll see what happens there. Then we also set a baptismal date with a guy named Alberto. Alberto´s been coming to church for like a year and a half, but no one´s ever been able to help him get a baptismal date, but now he has one. We took two members with us and they basically did all of the work for us. They invited him and helped him get rid of all of his doubts. He came to a baptism that we went to in the new stake center here in Barcelona this past Saturday, and he´s doing really well. Anyways, we also started teaching a kid and his dad. The kid´s name is Fran and his dad is Ivan. They´re from Bolivia. They´re really good though. Fran will get baptized in February I think, but the parents might take a few weeks longer. We´ll see what happens there. He´s only 10 years old, but he´s super good. We´ve also been teaching an investigator named Eric from Africa. He´s not exactly the best though. We just had a visit with him yesterday and the whole time he was just trying to prove us wrong and the spirit wasn´t there the entire time. He just tried to argue, so we told him, you know what Eric, you´re never going to learn this for yourself if you don´t read The Book of Mormon and pray about it. So we said, we´re going to end now, and we want you to read, pray, and call when you´re done. We´ll see if he calls us back. Anyways, then on Wednesday we had a zone conference in Hospitalet. It turned out really well. I had to translate for half the time from English to Spanish. It was crazy how not hard it was. There were some words that were a little difficult, but it was actually kind of fun. Maybe Jen and I will both be able to translate after the mission... Anyways, right after the conference we drove up to Lleida and got ready for the conference there, then we visited some people that Elder Keller knew from back when he served there. He baptized like 10 people in Lleida, so we visited a bunch of them. That was fun. Then we had the zone conference there, then I went back to Zaragoza with Elder Ryser to do intercambios with him. That went well. The only bad thing is that it was in Zaragoza, and it was FREEZING there. I had a really nice coat that Elder Jacinto let me use, but I still froze. Anyways, I was there Thursday afternoon, then all day Friday. We set one baptismal date, and there´s like 3 or 4 other people praying about dates there now. So it was good. Then Saturday morning I came back to Barcelona. Yesterday, on Sunday, we visited a lady named Iveth. She´s really good. Elder Keller and Elder Southwick, the missionary that was here before me, contacted her a few weeks ago. We had the first visit with her though and it went super good. We didn´t even talk about Joseph Smith due to time, but we invited her to be baptized by someone holding the authority on the 19th of February and she said yes. I´m excited about that. Anyways, that´s that. That´s the gist of my week. This next week is going to be crazier. Tonight we fly to Bilbao, then tomorrow night we come back to Barcelona. We´ll have the conference here in Barcelona, then we go straight to Valencia for the conference on Thursday there. Then Elder Keller and I are doing intercambios with the zone leaders in Valencia on Thursday afternoon and all day Friday. So it´ll be a crazy week. It´s good though.
Overall things are going really well here. There´s a lot going on, but I like it. I think I´m more lost in the work now than ever, just because there´s not time to not be lost in the work. Dad said something about how we´d be blessed if we keep working hard, and that´s something I´ve noticed. Even though we have a lot less time than normal, and there´s a lot of things going against us, I think that because we´re doing our best, even though we don´t have time, the Lord blesses us with a lot of miracles in the short time we do have so we can still be successful. It´s good. Well, I can´t think of what else to say. It´s my companion´s birthday this week on Friday. I won´t even see him though, because we´ll be on intercambios... I´ll give him something on Saturday I guess. I don´t know if I´ve told you about Elder Keller. He´s a really good missionary. We started together. We were in the same district in the Provo MTC and in the CCM in Madrid. He´s from Salt Lake. He actually went to East High, that´s where they filmed High School Musical. Also, just a little side note, his family is friends with Elder Holland, so he knows Elder Holland. That´s interesting. Well, overall, he´s a good missionary. I´m going to finish this e-mail now and write the individuals, but I hope you all have a fantastic week. Also, GO BYU!!!!! It´s good to hear they´re doing so well. Anyways, ¡Chao!
-Elder Ryan Sommerfeldt
Overall things are going really well here. There´s a lot going on, but I like it. I think I´m more lost in the work now than ever, just because there´s not time to not be lost in the work. Dad said something about how we´d be blessed if we keep working hard, and that´s something I´ve noticed. Even though we have a lot less time than normal, and there´s a lot of things going against us, I think that because we´re doing our best, even though we don´t have time, the Lord blesses us with a lot of miracles in the short time we do have so we can still be successful. It´s good. Well, I can´t think of what else to say. It´s my companion´s birthday this week on Friday. I won´t even see him though, because we´ll be on intercambios... I´ll give him something on Saturday I guess. I don´t know if I´ve told you about Elder Keller. He´s a really good missionary. We started together. We were in the same district in the Provo MTC and in the CCM in Madrid. He´s from Salt Lake. He actually went to East High, that´s where they filmed High School Musical. Also, just a little side note, his family is friends with Elder Holland, so he knows Elder Holland. That´s interesting. Well, overall, he´s a good missionary. I´m going to finish this e-mail now and write the individuals, but I hope you all have a fantastic week. Also, GO BYU!!!!! It´s good to hear they´re doing so well. Anyways, ¡Chao!
-Elder Ryan Sommerfeldt
1/17/2011
Family and friends! How´s everyone doing? So this week we´re taking our Preparation Day on Monday. It´s crazy though, because we didn´t really even start it until 1:00 due to meetings with President Hinckley, etc. It´s okay though. It´s fun still. Well, this week has been a good week. We taught less lessons than I´ve taught in a long time, but with transfers and everything we didn´t have as much time, and Elder Keller and I are both fairly new here. Elder Keller was here for 6 weeks, but he only worked in our area like 1-2 weeks of that due to conferences and his companion was sick with pnemeunia for 3 weeks. So yeah, we´re starting kind of new. It´s going well though. We have one investigator who´s working towards baptism right now who´s named Jean Pierre. He´s 11 years old and he´s the son of Isabel, the recent convert here. She was baptized like the 11th of December I think. So let´s see what´s new this week. Well, on Thursday and on Friday we had Concilio with all of the zone leaders, Elder Keller and I, and with President and Hermana Hinckley. So that was good. Elder Keller and I had to take about half an hour each day to talk about contacting in the first block, and to talk about how to be a more effective zone leader the second day. On Thursday we all took a field trip, and contacted people on the way, to the Christopher Columbus statue. When we got there President Hinckley shared with us a lot of neat stuff. We read the verse in the Book of Mormon that talks about the prophecy of Christopher Columbus going to the America´s, and how it was fulfilled. We also went to Palau Real, which is where Columbus gave the report to the king and queen. We talked about those prophecies, then we talked about prophecies that were made when Spain was opened, that their would be wards and stakes in Spain in the not too distant future. Anyways, all of those prophecies were fulfilled. Then we talked about some prophecies that have been made by the European Area Presidency about how the real harvest in Europe hasn´t happened, but it´s just beginning, and how the active membership in Europe will double in the next 10 years. Then we talked about what we need to do as a mission to bring about these prophecies. It was a really good meeting. Elder Keller and I also helped with the breakfast on Friday morning. We made the pancakes and the syrup. It was fun. We had to wake up early, but it was okay.
Anyways, we also made a video this past week of the missionaries that went home. It´s a video we made for the new missionaries coming in. We have 7 that were supposed to come, but 6 are still waiting for visas. THe other one got in Friday night. So we went and picked him up with the Hinckleys and we went and showed him around Barcelona, watched the video with him, gave him some orientation, and got him excited. He´s being trained by Elder Harris, who was in Mallorca with me, and he´s really good. So he´ll be really good. I called him today to see how he was doing too, and he´s really excited, so that´s good. It´s fun calling everyone up and seeing how they´re doing. On Mondays we call up everyone that did really good, or had a bad week, since we see their numbers and Sundays, and we try and help them with that. We don´t get to bed until like midnight or later on Sundays becuase we need to get all the numbers done. It´s alright though. I´m fine so far.
Anyways, we also visited a less active named Diego this past week, and we taught one of the other people living there named Marina. She´s from China. IT was a really good cita. She doesn´t have really any knowledge about God, but she feels like she needs to get closer to him. So We´re really excited about that. I´ve also always wanted to baptize someone from Asia, so this could be my chance. Last night we had a visit with a guy named Seydou, and he had invited 3 friends to hear us too. It went well there too. They´re all from Africa. THe only problem is that we have to teach in Spanish and in English, because all of them speak English best, except for Seydou, who speaks French and Spanish. It was a fun cita though.
Well, things are going fairly well here. We also moved pisos this past week. We moved from a really bad piso to a really nice piso. SO that´s really good. I´m excited about that. Also, we live with the office elders and one of them is named Elder Mark Johnson. He knows Ben Brockbank, and he´s heard the name Jamie Homewood. So you should tell the Brockbanks that we´re serving together. That´s fun.
Anyways, I can´t think of much else to say. Things are crazy still and I´m still learning, but it´s going well, and I´m having fun. This next week we have a bunch of zone conferences and intercambios that we´re doing. We have a zone conference in Hospitalet, then we´re going with the Hinckleys out to Lleida for a zone conference and doing intercambios right after. The week after we fly to Bilbao, and we have Barcelona, and we´ll have Valencia. We aren´t going to be able to go to the Palma zone conference which is where I really want to go. Hermana Hinckley said she wants us to go too, but we´re doing intercambios this week and there´ll be missionaries coming to our area and it´s not good enough now, so we need to have at least one day to work in it, so we won´t be able to go to Palma. We probably won´t even be able to go this transfer out there, but next transfer for sure, so that´s good. Well, I need to be going now and write the individual e-mails. Everything is going great though, and I´m sorry I haven´t been able to send pictures for a couple weeks. If I can I´ll send them sometime. Maybe I´ll make a DVD sometime too. Well, just know that everything´s going well for me and I´m loving my mission. I also figured out I´ll probably be here until the very end of my mission, so that´s interesting. Anyways, have a great week and I´ll talk to you all next week, probably on Monday again because of zone conferences. Anyways, ¡Chao!
-Elder Ryan Sommerfeldt
Anyways, we also made a video this past week of the missionaries that went home. It´s a video we made for the new missionaries coming in. We have 7 that were supposed to come, but 6 are still waiting for visas. THe other one got in Friday night. So we went and picked him up with the Hinckleys and we went and showed him around Barcelona, watched the video with him, gave him some orientation, and got him excited. He´s being trained by Elder Harris, who was in Mallorca with me, and he´s really good. So he´ll be really good. I called him today to see how he was doing too, and he´s really excited, so that´s good. It´s fun calling everyone up and seeing how they´re doing. On Mondays we call up everyone that did really good, or had a bad week, since we see their numbers and Sundays, and we try and help them with that. We don´t get to bed until like midnight or later on Sundays becuase we need to get all the numbers done. It´s alright though. I´m fine so far.
Anyways, we also visited a less active named Diego this past week, and we taught one of the other people living there named Marina. She´s from China. IT was a really good cita. She doesn´t have really any knowledge about God, but she feels like she needs to get closer to him. So We´re really excited about that. I´ve also always wanted to baptize someone from Asia, so this could be my chance. Last night we had a visit with a guy named Seydou, and he had invited 3 friends to hear us too. It went well there too. They´re all from Africa. THe only problem is that we have to teach in Spanish and in English, because all of them speak English best, except for Seydou, who speaks French and Spanish. It was a fun cita though.
Well, things are going fairly well here. We also moved pisos this past week. We moved from a really bad piso to a really nice piso. SO that´s really good. I´m excited about that. Also, we live with the office elders and one of them is named Elder Mark Johnson. He knows Ben Brockbank, and he´s heard the name Jamie Homewood. So you should tell the Brockbanks that we´re serving together. That´s fun.
Anyways, I can´t think of much else to say. Things are crazy still and I´m still learning, but it´s going well, and I´m having fun. This next week we have a bunch of zone conferences and intercambios that we´re doing. We have a zone conference in Hospitalet, then we´re going with the Hinckleys out to Lleida for a zone conference and doing intercambios right after. The week after we fly to Bilbao, and we have Barcelona, and we´ll have Valencia. We aren´t going to be able to go to the Palma zone conference which is where I really want to go. Hermana Hinckley said she wants us to go too, but we´re doing intercambios this week and there´ll be missionaries coming to our area and it´s not good enough now, so we need to have at least one day to work in it, so we won´t be able to go to Palma. We probably won´t even be able to go this transfer out there, but next transfer for sure, so that´s good. Well, I need to be going now and write the individual e-mails. Everything is going great though, and I´m sorry I haven´t been able to send pictures for a couple weeks. If I can I´ll send them sometime. Maybe I´ll make a DVD sometime too. Well, just know that everything´s going well for me and I´m loving my mission. I also figured out I´ll probably be here until the very end of my mission, so that´s interesting. Anyways, have a great week and I´ll talk to you all next week, probably on Monday again because of zone conferences. Anyways, ¡Chao!
-Elder Ryan Sommerfeldt
1/12/11
1/11/2011
Family! How´s everyone doing? Things are going great here in Barcelona. I guess that´s the big news. I left Palma on Sunday afternoon to come out here to Barcelona as the ayudante to President Hinckley. I was in Damaris´s house on Saturday eating for medio día when he called and asked me to come out as the ayudante. I was completely shocked. I thought there was a good chance I was leaving, but I didn´t think I´d be the ayudante. When I told Damaris I was leaving she started to cry. I miss her and Dana already. They´re like my family. She invited us to go back on Sunday for medio día right before I left to eat with them again. They bought me a new shirt too. She´s probably spent hundreds of euros on me during the time I was there on food and gifts... They´re really nice. Well, I´m going to see if I can´t attach some pictures onto this e-mail. Okay, I have like 25 I´d like to send, but I just picked five of them. The first is of Jaime and me. Jaime is the friend of the king. Next is one of Lais, Paula, me, and Sergio. Next is one of me and Leticia. Next is one of Damaris, me, and Dana. Last is of Yaira, Luzmila, me, Luzmila´s sister, her daughter, and in the front Mihaela. That´s it. I hope you enjoy them. Actually, they all say "Attachment failed." They said it´s impossible to attach pictures here in the office right now. Sorry, maybe I´ll make a DVD in a bit.
>
> Okay, so just some quick news on how everything was in Palma. They now have 4 investigators working towards baptism: Junior, Juan, Marinela, and Godwin. So that´s really good. I´m excited for them. The whole island is doing really well. I actually get to see all the numbers for everyone now and as far as teaching and baptizing per companionship, etc., the islands is the best zone now. It used to be the worse zone. So that´s good. Anyways, I also talked to Elder Hunsaker today and he told me they have a visit with Dayana set, so hopefully they can help her accept another baptismal date and she´ll be able to get baptized here soon.
>
> Okay, so as ayudante I figured out I´m going to be even more tired than before. We´re doing stuff until late so we get to bed late, and we have to wake up early to do stuff. Today we had to wake up to go with Elder Corbitt, the Hinckleys, and the missionaries that just finished to the airport. It was fun, but we had to leave at 6:45. We usually sleep until 7:30. So that was hard. It wouldn´t be bad just once, but I think it happens a lot. Next, at the airport almost all of them had problems with their flights because they were going to fly through New York, but it´s closed or something, so they re-routed all of them through Atlanta. Also, Hermana Bustamante had problems and wasn´t able to leave, so they´re still working on her ticket. She probably won´t get to leave until hopefully tomorrow, if not the next day. It´s a lot of things going on at once, but it´s fun. I get to use a computer a lot more too. Actually, one of the things we´re doing is making a video for all of the new missionaries. It´s a video of an interview that we had with all of the missionaries that went home and we filmed it and what not. Hermana Hinckley is letting us use her Mac, so we´re making that video. I have a head ache right now and I´m tired, so if anything´s jumbled, I´m sorry.
>
> Here in Barcelona we have a lady named Isabel that got baptized last month and she has a son named Jean Pierre who wasn´t baptized. We talked with them and he´ll probably get baptized the 29th of this month. He`s 11 years old, which is the same age as Dana in Palma.
>
> Well, there´s some things I should say. My new address can be the office. The address for the office is C/ Calatrava 10-12 Bajos, 08017- Barcelona, Spain/España. Also, my preparation day here is not on Monday, but it´ll change every week probably. Apparently we usually try and do it on Wednesday, but it depends on the week. So it might be Tuesday, might be Thursday, Friday, etc. You could just keep writing on sunday and then I´ll reply when I can. That´s about it though. Thanks for being the best family ever. Well, I need to be going, sorry this is so short. Have a fantastic week though.
-Elder Ryan Sommerfeldt
>
> Okay, so just some quick news on how everything was in Palma. They now have 4 investigators working towards baptism: Junior, Juan, Marinela, and Godwin. So that´s really good. I´m excited for them. The whole island is doing really well. I actually get to see all the numbers for everyone now and as far as teaching and baptizing per companionship, etc., the islands is the best zone now. It used to be the worse zone. So that´s good. Anyways, I also talked to Elder Hunsaker today and he told me they have a visit with Dayana set, so hopefully they can help her accept another baptismal date and she´ll be able to get baptized here soon.
>
> Okay, so as ayudante I figured out I´m going to be even more tired than before. We´re doing stuff until late so we get to bed late, and we have to wake up early to do stuff. Today we had to wake up to go with Elder Corbitt, the Hinckleys, and the missionaries that just finished to the airport. It was fun, but we had to leave at 6:45. We usually sleep until 7:30. So that was hard. It wouldn´t be bad just once, but I think it happens a lot. Next, at the airport almost all of them had problems with their flights because they were going to fly through New York, but it´s closed or something, so they re-routed all of them through Atlanta. Also, Hermana Bustamante had problems and wasn´t able to leave, so they´re still working on her ticket. She probably won´t get to leave until hopefully tomorrow, if not the next day. It´s a lot of things going on at once, but it´s fun. I get to use a computer a lot more too. Actually, one of the things we´re doing is making a video for all of the new missionaries. It´s a video of an interview that we had with all of the missionaries that went home and we filmed it and what not. Hermana Hinckley is letting us use her Mac, so we´re making that video. I have a head ache right now and I´m tired, so if anything´s jumbled, I´m sorry.
>
> Here in Barcelona we have a lady named Isabel that got baptized last month and she has a son named Jean Pierre who wasn´t baptized. We talked with them and he´ll probably get baptized the 29th of this month. He`s 11 years old, which is the same age as Dana in Palma.
>
> Well, there´s some things I should say. My new address can be the office. The address for the office is C/ Calatrava 10-12 Bajos, 08017- Barcelona, Spain/España. Also, my preparation day here is not on Monday, but it´ll change every week probably. Apparently we usually try and do it on Wednesday, but it depends on the week. So it might be Tuesday, might be Thursday, Friday, etc. You could just keep writing on sunday and then I´ll reply when I can. That´s about it though. Thanks for being the best family ever. Well, I need to be going, sorry this is so short. Have a fantastic week though.
-Elder Ryan Sommerfeldt
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