Weirdest Week and My Sister's Gift

 April 28, 2014


Family and friends!!I don't have too much time because we have a lesson with a Spanish family in like t-20 minutes but I'll see what I can throw down in that short time. Here it goes...Well this week has been one of the hardest in the mission so far. We saw little success but worked our tails off talking to everyone we could. Lots of rejection. I was pretty down on my self honestly but I learned a good lesson.Lets see. Well main things are that we met with Jose again. He hasn't been able to meet with us for a while and so we changed his baptismal date for the 10th of May and he is pretty stoked.On Tuesday we had intercambios and I went to Santiago for the day for an entrevista. Sorry for the spanish but its gunna happen because I'm writing fast. Google translate!! So I had the entrevista with Miguel and I wasn't exactly sure if he was ready at first because he has a past of smoking but the entrevista when really well and I felt the Spirit a lot. He bore his testimony and everything and it was awesome. He was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church last weekend. Great to see some success over there in Santiago. After we contacted for a while. I was with Elder McKeigan and he is basically a legend. His spanish is so good that the natives think he is from Uruguay. He's awesome. I learned a ton from him because he has been out for around 22 months now. If anyone out there is from St. George, tell him I say hi in a few months when he comes home.The rest of the week was just difficult. We set a lot of lessons, and a lot of lessons fell through. We contacted in the street for hours and received a few references so we will see how they turn out this week. Walter (the new argentinian) wasn't able to meet with us last week but we have high hopes for this week. One strange story was that we were knocking pisos a while back and met a woman named Alexis (name has been changed). We taught the first lesson to her in the doorway and she seemed really interested. She is from Brazil and told us we could come back another day. We came back last night to visit her and she was super stressed out and we caught her right as she was coming home. She invited us up and before entering we asked if there was a male home (missionary rules require it). She said no and we told her that we have a rule that says we can't enter into the house of single women. She went off and got really offended for some reason and she asked us who we thought she was as in a man or a woman. I responded politely saying that she was a woman and she responded with "NO." We were completely blown away and did not know what to say. Yes, I had a lesson with a transvestite. She told us not to come back any more and we left.So the week was kinda like that. A little bit on the difficult side. Saturday night was rough and I just felt like I had been working sooo hard and hadn't seen anything. I remember praying and just trying to receive comfort. I went to write in my journal about it and noticed that my sister Lauren had written in the back of it when she gave it to me for my birthday. I had read the message before but I decided to read it again. Her words filled my heart and gave me so much hope. I was relieved to realize that the Lord was still with me and that I didn't have to be discouraged. Thanks Laur. I'm back and hungry for another week and my testimony is as strong as ever. I know that this Church is true. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that it really was written by ancient American prophets. I know I am fighting on the Lords side. I wrote an inspirational 2 liner of the day and I thought I'd share it with you guys: Fight till I die, Preach till I fly. I will never give up because Jesus Christ never gave up on us.I love you all!

Elder Franklyn

A Horse and an Octopus...

April 21, 2014

Elder Nickerl's Birthday Party

Octopus or "Pulpo"

Guillermo helped us cook it!

Yum!

Helllllllloooo!!!

Well this week has been good but crazy. In most hispanic cultures, before the Easter holiday, they celebrate a week of holidays called the Semana Santa. Many people leave for vacations and here in El Ferrol, there were many parties and parades in the cities main square. They usually start after we get home so they didn't affect us too much but many of our investigators were out of town or plainly did not want to meet with us during this week.  We made the best of it though.  No sign of egg hunts or bunnies or anything over here! 

On Monday we had a lesson with Jose, who has a baptismal date for the 10th of May, in a park and it went really well! He is such a great kid and has a lot of desires to get baptized. After we headed to Armando's as usual and had a great time there. They are so nice and are always so grateful for what we do. Oh sorry if my english is bad this week; we only spoke spanish this last week and it went really great but sometimes I get confused on my english rules and such.

Tuesday we had a toonn of people bail on us haha. Like everyone actually. But we had some octopus or pulpo during medio dia with Wendy and Guillermo and it was Elder Nickerl's birthday so we threw a party in the chapel and invited a ton of people. It turned out well because a ton of the hermanas took over the planning and made it fun. Elder Nickerl gave the speech of his life and it was awesome.

Wendesday we had district meeting which went really well! I think I'm getting better at it haha. After we had intercambios and the zone leader, Elder Fausett, came with me. We had a great time and found a few lessons in the street.  That night we had a noche de hogar with Amanda and Julio and watched some of the videos from General Conference which was great and I could feel the spirit really strongly.

Thursday morning was heeectic. I didn't know that it was a festival day and that the bus schedules had changed and so switching back was hard. We went to the bus stop in the morning. The bus never came. So we headed to the bus stop and Elder Nickerl left from Lugo to come to El Ferrol. We met up with Emiel, a cuban member, and Elder Fausett left for Lugo later on. We were waiting for Elder Nickerl to get there and his bus didn't come... So we had to wait another hour in the bus station and he had managed to catch another bus that arrived later. In the end it all worked out but I was stressing. After that, we planned the week and then met up with Andrew to help him prepare for a lesson he had to teach in church. After we had english class which went really well. We have a family of 3 who are coming right now and they seem pretty interested! Hopefully we can meet up with them and get them to church! They are really nice.

Friday was awesome and we had a little miracle go down. In the afternoon we had a few people cancel on us so we went out to contact people in the street. There was like no one so we went to knock some buildings. After 3 or 4 doors of nothing, someone let us in. We went up to the apartment and a man opens the door and is super friendly! He explains that his name is Walter and that he's from Argentina. He lets us in the door and we have a lesson right then on his couch! It has been a while since that has happened and he was soo open to everything so it really made my week. We ended the night at the Calderon's and had a great time with them like always.

Saturday was decent. We had a lot of people bail on us as well but we managed to find a few lessons. At the very end of the day we met up with Zorkan finally after like months of nothing and he seems like he's still a bit interested so we will see where that goes. He really wants to learn english too so we'll see!

Sunday was a good day. We had a lot of members in church which was great and Luciano and Jose came as well. We taught the second hour and helped Andrew teach the third hour so we didn't have much time to relax and listen to others haha. The talks during church were so inspired though and I felt the Spirit really strongly. It doesn't matter where you are, it always just feels great. We had two solid set set set set set set set set lessons cancel on us that afternoon too which was a bummer but we visited some members and grew our relationships with them. Last night Hermana Dolly, Wendy's mom, fed us hamburgers and french fries which was awesome even though it reminded me of home a little haha.

All in all I think it was a great week. We worked hard and I am really excited to start teaching Walter. Miracles are everywhere. We've just got to look.

Love you all!

Elder Franklyn

"Exhausted But Wouldn't Want to Be Anywhere Else"

April 14, 2014


Hey Hey Hey!!!!

Well this week has been nuts! Super crazy, super busy, super tiring, super rewarding. I don't have too much time but I'll hit the highlights.

On Monday night, I got a ton of calls from this less active member named Carlos who dished out probably every single cuss word I have ever heard in the Spanish language to me over the phone and said that I was a joke of a missionary and a disgrace to the Church. He slammed the phone up on me and so I called him back to see why he was so mad. The same thing happened again with some words I don't know in Spanish and slammed the phone up again. I had never met the guy and never even talked to him but his number was in our phone. We visited his house on Tuesday and he came to church with us on Sunday. Turns out he has an amazing collection of music in his house and even though he yelled me out, we became friends.

On Wednesday I went on an exchange with the missionaries in A Coruña and we had an interview with a 10 year old girl who got baptized on Saturday! She was so ready and I was nervous because it was my first interview but it went great!

On Friday I went on an exchange to Santiago and I was with Elder Becerra. We were supposed to have an interview but it had to get pushed back. We spent about 4 hours in the street contacting and I was dead when I got home haha. We ended up finding two Dominican kids though that are super ready and it was a true miracle that we met them. We had a lesson with them there and they seemed really excited to learn more.

On Sunday we had 77 members in church with a less active family and about 3 or 4 other less active members there. It was amazing to see the success of our hard work with them and we saw one of them paying his tithing! So great to see. Two recent converts are working on receiving the priesthood as well and it just makes me so happy to see them progress in the Church. Gotta love the mission!

Well I am exhausted to be honest but I don't want to be anywhere else. I am so happy to be here in Spain and just love the people here so much. I know that the church is true and that I am here serving the Lord. There is not a doubt in my mind.

Love you all!

Elder Franklyn

April 7th

My late Birthday!!

My package arrived - after the Madrid Post Office kept it hostage for a month!

Excited over my  In-n-Out t-shirt! Thanks

Mis queridos amigos,

Conference was great!!! The talks were so inspired and I learned a great deal from it. This week has been good but challenging as well. I feel the need to keep pushing harder and harder each day -  which is probably a good thing.

Tuesday we had a pretty decent day. A lesson that went well with Rigoberto on the Book of Mormon and a few others throughout the day. We worked hard though and had a great time with Irina and her family at night. They are awesome and so strong in the church.

Wednesday was the first district meeting for me! I think it went well. It was great to see Elders Smith and Malan. They were serving in Mostoles when I was in Fuenlabrada and now they are up here!! It was a good day though. We had a lesson with Gracian who is still strruggling to act on what we teach. We had a great family home evening meeting with Amanda and her father Julio! Julio brought a friend over and at first it was weird but it got better as the night went on.

Thursday we planned the week and then went to Rosa's! They have like 4 sons and so it is always fun to hang out and joke around with them a bit. They are good kids and two of them are almost done with their missionary papers. After we headed to Jacobo's with Hermano José Martínez and had a good lesson on General Conference. I found some great scriptures on the Nephite General Conference in Mosiah 2:1-9 and he liked it! After we had english class which went well and we had a lesson with Luciano. He is soo close to making the committment but just doesn't feel ready yet. He is a great guy and our bond with him has really grown. I just know how important these things are for him and I can't wait for him to get baptized! Its going to bless his life so much.

Friday we had exchanges with Elder Malan! It went really well! A lot of people cancelled on us but we kept looking for those intercambio milagros. It actually happened on Saturday morning when we were contacting. We received like 7 references in a few hours and were super excited about it! Elder Malan is a great elder and I enjoyed the time to be with him.

On Saturday we switched back, studied 12 weeks and then headed to GENERAL CONFERENCE!! We were so excited and every time they announced who was going to speak, Elder Nickerl and I would freak out and get even more excited haha. I truly know that we have a living prophet today and I feel so blessed to be able to hear and understand his words. The Apostles were amazing as well and there were so many talks that I loved. You should all watch them because they are life changing! Sunday was pretty much just all General Conference. We watched it in Spanish here in the church building and I felt bad that Elder Nickerl  had a difficult time understanding.  I remember last October I felt the same thing and it was frustrating.

Well that's this week! I've got a busy week next week filled with intercambios and hard work to be done so wish me luck!! Keep on being who you are and remember that you are all children of God! I know this church is true and I am so grateful to be out here serving the Lord and spreading the great news. Love you!

ps.

Mom - Big news!! I got your package!!! The vans are awesome and thank you for all of the treats and other presents as well. It was my first 'birthday party' thing in April - haha but it was great. Thanks for the pictures!! I liked them a lot! Good job on taking the advice from Elder Ballard, that talk was great! General Conference was great!   Elder Scott translates his own talks into spanish so that was good!

Thats so awesome that you met up with Elder Nickerl's mom! She seems awesome and her stories remind me of you!

Good luck with replanting the  garden Mom!  How's the avocado tree? Gosh I can't believe Carol is getting married!! Thats so crazy! Sounds like its gunna be a fun reunion down there in California! Thank you for everything.
Elder Franklyn

Transfers... good news is I'm staying in El Ferrol!!

3/31/2014

Elder Gentry left for the Canary Islands

Elder Ortiz left today to go HOME!

Goofing around with a new tie I bought

Family and Friends!

Well this past week has flown by but I learned a lot and we worked hard. It was the last week of this transfer and I got the transfer call on Saturday annnnnddddd... I'm staying in El Ferrol, training Elder Nickerl still, and I'm District Leader! I'm pretty excited and a bit nervous to see how it goes but I'm sure it will all work out well.

Well this week was great and on Monday we had a lesson with Rigoberto and just talked about the problems he is having. We kind of just let him vent to us and he said he felt a lot better after. We gave him some council and bore our testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He felt the Spirit as much as we did and I think he is progressing little by little.

On Tuesday we had a more difficult day. It happens... but I think that we as missionaries grow the most on the difficult days. We went out and contacted for a while and then ate with Wendy and Guillermo during lunch. We had a lesson with Gracian too which went bad because he really doesn't want to pray with us. I know how important prayer is and we are trying to help him see that but he is just so shut off its difficult.

Wednesday we went to Santiago for our last Zone Training Conference together as a Zone. Our two Zone leaders are leaving to go home in a week so it was good to see them one last time. They are amazing missionaries and I have learned a lot from them. We got back and had a lesson with Manuel which went good at first but he just doesn't really want to find the truth in what we say. It pains me to see him reject what he knows is true but he still has his agency of course. After we had a family home evening at a recent converts house named Julio and his daughter Amanda. Amanda just sent in her mission papers actually and is waiting to recieve her call! It was a great night though and we felt the Spirit strongly.

Thursday we planned the week and set some good goals for the coming transfer. High hopes! After we had a few people bail on us but still had English class which went really well. Luciano came and  8 or so members came too! It was fun and I had a good time teaching English.

Friday morning we went out contacting and had a little miracle. I asked Elder Nickerl where we should go and we walked and walked and walked and no one wanted to talk to us. We could feel the Spirit guiding us somewhere though and we kept going. Still no one wanted to talk to us until we met a young student named Jaime. We stopped him and he started to talk to us for a bit and we asked him if he would like to meet with us another day. He said "Look..." We thought oh no... he's gunna say no, but then he said "I'll give you my number and you guys can call me so we can meet up another day. The afternoons are best for me." My companion and I were kind of shocked just standing there and it took a minute for us to realized what happened haha. It was just awesome to see and he seemed so interested in our message. It raised my spirits up so much. After we had an awesome lesson with Alex the Dominican and with Angela Estela. They both are really interested and excited to learn more. We ended the night at the Calderon's which was great and they gave us some great food. They are like my family away from my family.

Saturday we had another lesson with Rigoberto in the morning and then went to Ada's to eat. We shared a lesson on the importance of families and Ada cried. She's great but tends to cry alot haha. Then we flew to Victoria's and had an amazing lesson with José the 9 year old. He wants to get baptized and when we went to set a date with him he said "How about... tomorrow at 6?" Haha we still have a bit more to teach him but he has some great desires!! We ended the night with Enrique. We had a really amazing lesson with him too and he has dropped his cigarette number down to 5 a day which is wonderful. We are just trying to build up his faith little by little to get him over those last ones. I felt the Spirit speak through me and teachings were coming to my mind that we didn't even plan. I am growing and learning so much out here.

Yesterday was good. Elder Nickerl had a surprise talk in church and did a good job!  Hermana Patricia gave a talk and I cried when she bore her testimony haha. It was amazing. After we ate at Irina's and then found two new investigators named Andrew and Amable. They have some crazy beliefs but are really great men that have a lot of potential. We also had a great lesson with Roger and Soren and Roger really wants to get baptized! Soren is still struggling with believing in the line of authority but we tried to explain and testify the best we could. Little by little.

Well I'm a little stressed out but I think I'll be okay. I am excited for what I am going to learn as District Leader and I'm sure these 6 weeks will fly by even though I want them to slow down. Kinda how life/the mission goes!

Love you all,

Elder Franklyn

ps I heard about JP!! Thats awesome!! Germany!
Also, this weekend we are going to watch General Conference in the chapel in Spanish with the other members. I am really excited for it!!

March 24, 2014

Some photos from this week:

My District

Elder Gentry gave me these glasses

The beautiful sun

This is the "traveling tie" it has been to Ukraine, Romania and will go to New Zealand next

Hermana Dolly gave me this polo shirt

Another week down and we are excited for the next one!

This week has been great. We are seeing some challenges with a few investigators but we continue to find new ones and help them get closer and closer to baptism. Daniel, Marlene and Luciano are soo close right now and they each are just lacking a little bit to get there.  We are working really hard with them and hope to be able to see them get there during these next few weeks.

Monday was good. We met with Daniel and discussed baptism and talked about some of the trials he is going through right now. He knows the church is true and that we have a prophet of God but is passing through a hard time with his wife right now. After we headed to Armando's and had a great lesson with them there too. They are always so grateful for what we do and I can tell that it really comes from their hearts.

Tuesday we had lunch with a less active member named Yolanda and her boyfriend Eduardo with Jose Martinez. It went well and we taught them both. I could really feel the Spirit testifying through me and hopefully we will see some improvement with them. After we had a meeting with a member (Africa) and her friend Lucía who is a Jehova's Witness. It went really well and we were really comfortable with them as we explained a bit of our beliefs. We are going to meet with them this week too and I hope it goes well! She was really nice and very respectful. After we headed to Rigoberto's and had a quick lesson with him about the priesthood authority. He understood pretty well and I think he enjoyed it. He is going through a hard time with one of their children but he has some desires to learn. After we cruised to Irina's and taught Leonardo a bit about missionary work! He enjoyed it and I feel like their family is mine. I have gotten to be so close to this family and their brand new testimonies of the church help strengthen mine each day.

Wednesday we went to our district meeting in A Coruña. It was the last one with all of us together because this week we are having a meeting in Santiago and then transfers are up! It went well though and I learned alot about helping investigators get to church. After we headed back and then went to Hermana Victoria's house and ate with them. We tried to have a lesson with Jose but it didn't really work out because Victoria was kinda yelling at him for half an hour about going outside alone haha. Kind of awkward but thats alright. We came back and had a lesson with Amanda and her dad Julio (recent convert) and it went really well. Julio is awesome and really likes our friendship to him. Amanda just sent in her mission papers and is really excited to go! That night we got bailed on my a good amount of people but we still worked hard and talked to a lot of people in the street. Trying to spread the gospel!

Thursday we planned the week and then headed to Rosa's house for lunch. We had a good lesson with their kids and they all came to church on Sunday which was awesome to see! Then we had a lesson with Gracian which went good and English Class after which was full!! Like 12 or 13 people came and it was awesome. After we went to Irina's and had a great time with Emiel and Leonardo.

Friday was a little more difficult but we had a mini miracle go down.  A lot of people bailed on us so we decided to stop by an old investigator's house named Alex. He's 20 and super cool and was home so he let us in. We shared a scripture with him from the Book of Mormon and he told us that he wants to meet with us more. Recently he had actually started reading the Book of Mormon and said it was new, but he liked it. I am really excited to get on board with him and help him come to the knowledge that it really is the word of God. He is a great guy and we were so happy to meet him again!

Saturday we had an awesome day! We went to Marlene's in the morning with Amanda and had a great lesson about the law of chastity. She is so ready and committed to coming to church, which she did, and was telling Rigoberto to come too haha. He didn't but Marlene is a really good example. After we headed to Ada's and her son had his  girlfriend over! We had a lesson with her and it was amazing to see the parents testifying and teaching basic doctrines of the church. The room was filled with the spirit and I really enjoyed the lesson. Ada started crying and it was really powerful. After medio dia we had a lesson with Manuel which almost went amazing but at the very end he just started doubting everything and trying to show us that we are wrong which was sad to see. After we went to Luciano's to eat and had a great time with him.

Sunday was awesome too. 4 investigators showed up to church and we had a lesson with Luciano right after. He accepts everything we teach him and is so close to getting baptized. After we ate at Irina's and then had another lesson with Gracian. He's doing good but still doesn't want to read or come to church. He said he would pray though and even that is a good start. I hope he feels the answer like we feel it. Then we headed to Hermana Dolly's and had a great lesson with Roger and Soren. Hermanos Wendy, Guillermo and Ada were over too and joined in on the lesson. Their testimonies were soo strong and I think we are making great progress with them. They might be moving back to Cuba soon but they have really liked what we have taught so far. They are amazing people and so strong in their faith!

Overall, an awesome week. Sorry if my English is a little wack or if I make mistakes but I think my spanish is improving at least haha. I love this work and know that it is true. I wouldn't be out here for two years of my life if I hadn't received my own personal testimony of the Church, Jesus Christ, and all of the lessons that we teach. The mission has changed my life and I have seen the Lord change the lives of others through my service. I love you all and just like Paul said, "Salute thine bretheren with an holy kiss!" Haha keep up the good work.

Elder Franklyn

Birthday Week -

3/9/2014

Brothers and Sisters!

Well I honestly am really short on time this week because some things came up but I just wanted to give a little overview on how my week has been!!

Well the beginning of the week was a bit rough and it was difficult to find and set a lot of lessons but on Wednesday we woke up and lo and behold... THE SUN CAME OUT!!!! I'm not even kidding, I hadn't seen the sun and felt warmth in like 3 months. It has been sunny since then and might continue this week too. My mood has been a lot better and  I think I just missed the sun alot.

We've been doing a lot of street contacting this week because more people are outside with out the rain and it has been great! Elder Nickerl is learning so much and it reminds me of my first few weeks in Fuenlabrada. The work is progressing great here though and we actually set a baptismal date with Daniel for the 23!! He seems really set on it too so hopefully I can put some white pants on in a few weeks. We also met with Roger and Soren just last night and they seem really interested in the church!! We invited them both to be baptized during the first lesson and Roger said yes. Soren was baptized by her father in the baptist church so we are trying to help her understand the need to be baptized again but I have a lot of faith in them.

Everyone else is  good and we are working really hard up here. We've been visiting a few more less active members and saw a lot of them in church on Sunday!! I know that Heavenly Father is helping us and guiding us out here and I really feel His love every day. Thank you for everything, all of you and just remember that you are all in my prayers. Keep up the good work at home and tell Bishop Dalton that he's the man. I'm excited for Chris' new calling too and I'm sure he will do a great job. Love you all!!

Elder Franklyn

ps   Hermana Patricia and Wendy have invited me to come over on my birthday. Patricia's daughter Shaine is going to make me a cake so I am excited about that! I haven't gotten a package  yet but I am sure it will come soon!