Merry Christmas!

 The Calderon Family!

 Me, Andrew, & Elder McWhorter

 The Calderon Family had us for lunch Christmas Day

 The baptism of Antonio - what a great guy!

 Candy on Candy on Candy!  Thanks Grammie

 My Grandma sent me this tie tack - Newport Beach Temple

 

12/30/2013

Hello everyone - and Happy almost New Year!!!

My branch here is actually having a New Years activity but it starts at 10 so we can't even go... Pretty shady. Elder McWhorter and I just think they don't want us there!   Nahhh we have an awesome branch and we have been really growning closer to the branch president here. He's an awesome guy. Last week was crazy and awesome and really hard all at the same time. Let's see...

Monday we did not have P-Day and so that was weird. But we did have District meeting in A Coruña which went great. After we tried to find a lesson but with it being the 23 and all, not many people were around. We ended up heading to Wendy and Guillermo's to eat with them and had a great time over there. They are some aweeesome members.

Tuesday was Christmas eve or as they call it here, "la noche buena".  We had a lesson with Jacobo and Silvia,  and it went pretty good!  After, we headed to A Coruña to have a sweet noche buena and watched the Christmas Program that the church made in Spanish. It was really good! We got back and headed over to the house of a family thats a little less active. We had dinner at their place which went really well. They invited us back on Saturday too!  After we just headed home and dreamed of sugar plums all night.

Wednesday was pretty awesome aka rough aka fun. We opened Christmas presents in the morning which was great. It was our P-Day and the Calderon family invited us over to eat with them! We had a great time and talked about their recent baptism and how great their desires are to learn. They're gunna be a really strong family. I got to Skype with my family too which was awesome!! Couldn't figure out how to call my dad though. When P-Day ended we just went out and tried to contact but were pretty unsuccessful.

 Skyping with the family.....

Thursday I finally got to talk to my dad!! We went over to Wendy and Guillermo's again and they hooked me up. We planned the week too of course and fiiiiinally had a lesson with Zorkan. It was short but good. He is really stressed out and always busy but it was good to see him and share a message with him. After we had Clase de Ingles which went really good and then had Antonio's baptismal interview!!!  He passed with flying colors and it ended the day great.

Friday was a decent day and we saw a little miracle too. We had to set up the baptismal font in the morning because its basically just a blue swimming pool haha so that was good. After medio dia we were calling a ton of people to come to Antonio's baptism because it was a little last minute and we got a call from a member who told us that they saw an old investigator named Adan. Adan had a baptismal date a while back and ended up missing it and left to go to Ecuador for a few months. Well he's finally back and still really interested in the church!  We met with him and talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he loved it! After, we went to the Calderon's again and had a little lesson with them too. Right as we were about to leave they brought out a bunch of hamburgers as a surprise!! Score!! They are awesome.

Saturday was good but hard. In the morning we filled the baptismal font and finalized the program for the baptism. During medio dia we ate with Ada's family, the ones we met with on la noche buena, and had a great time with them. We played games with some of their daughters too and are getting closer to them! In the after noon we tried to find something to do but couldn't manage anything besides contacting in the street. At 7 we had Antonio's baptism which went great!! He was so awesome and he went up to the front after and said, "I don't know much, but I know this church is true." He's 70 years old and just a great guy.

Sunday was fun and busy. In the morning we went to take down the font which we had been draining all night and then had church. Antonio got confirmed and I had a suprise talk to give haha. It was hard because my head was so tired but I hope it went well.  After we went to Irina's house and ate a tooon of food.  Right after we had to go to the Calderon's and they fed us even more food! I was about to throw up but I didn't. After that we went contacting and found a new investigator named Maria Jose who is really nice. She's really Catholic but who isn't these days? After our little lesson in the stairway with her because there wasn't a male home, we went to Wendy and Guillermo's because they invited us over for hot chocolate. They are so awesome and just a really great couple.

Today has been a great day so far. We woke up and studied of course and then went and played futbol and volleyball with some branch members for like 2 and a half hours. I had a blast and it felt good to play again.  We are now going to head out to continue to work hard for the rest of the night. I truly love it here even though it is really hard at times. I know this church is true and I am so grateful to be a part of this great work. Keep up the work back home and remember, the invitation is the most important part.

Love you all!

Elder Franklyn

My Piso in El Ferrol... etc.

 Some photos of our apartment - it's nice!!

 (that's me, above, knocking on a bad address.. haha!!)

Hello all!

Wellllllll this is it!!!

My last email before I see some of your shining faces over skype on Christmas day! Oh cool thing is that I hit my 6 month mark this past week. I tried not to think about it or bring it up but Elder McWhorter congradulated me haha. Its going by too fast!! But I am loving it. Some days are hard but looking back, its just amazing. This week was trying but I learned a lot and we worked really hard.

Well Monday was sweet! We got some stuff done and then had a lesson with Antonio who is progressing like the 73 year old Gallegan he is and asked us questions about the higher and lower priesthood. Oh and about the New Jerusalem. Basically the guy knows everything and is super ready. After we had a great lesson with Patricia and her family! They are going to get baptized this weekend!! All 4 of them! It is so exciting and awesome and they are soo ready. After we stopped by a members house to grab some food and then hit the bed haaard.

Tuesday was rad too. We had a lesson in the morning with a less active member named Julio. It went really good and he knows what he has to do but he just needs to act on it. His daughter Amanda was there too and she is awesome and preparing to serve a mission. After we had a lesson with a new investigator named Leandro from Brazil! He is really interested and so we have high hopes with him. After we had a  lesson with Manuel and basically explained why he needs to be baptized. He has been an investigator for 9 years or so and just has a problem with the law of tithing. We taught with love though of course and I hope we had an impact on him. After that everyone cancelled so we went out contacting and had a little success.

Wednesday we had district meeting which was really good and I enjoyed it alot. The drive there and back on the bus is sooooo awesome and I finally feel like I'm in Spain. After, we had a lesson with Zorkan which went good. He is pretty stressed out about work but hopefully things will go well for him.   After we had a great lesson with Daniel who is seriously soo ready and interested in the gospel. He just needs some sort of extra push to come to church and we honestly never know when he is going to be home which is difficult. Then we had a lesson with Patricia and her family which was wonderful.  We taught her about temples and about modern day prophets which they all enjoyed a ton. They had a ton of questions but we answered them really well. Thanks Spirit!

Thursday we planned the week of course and then went to eat at Rosa's. She has like 4 sons and one of them plays the guitar so I got to shred a little with him. It was really fun and we are getting closer with that family. After we contacted for a while and then taught English class. It was really good actually and the branch pres even came! His english is super good and turns out he loves skateboarding!! Score!! He's so awesome. After we taught a lesson with Antonio on tithing and fasting and he accepted everything. He's amazing. Then we had a lesson with Zorkan. He's still stressed out so we taught him about reading, praying and coming to church. I hope he finds the same strength I do in those things!

Friday was rouuuugh. Literally everyone cancelled on us and we couldn't find a lesson the whole entire day. We passed by so many houses and no one was home. At around 6 some members invited us to go play volleyball with them so we did and it was awesome. I got to relieve some stress but was  still bummed about the day. We came home dead tired and just hit the bed.

Saturday was good. We had a lesson with Kadir and Marlene in the morning. Their friend Rigoberto was there too and he seemed really interested. After medio dia we set some lessons and then went to Patricia's. She wasn't home but Jose and their daughters were there so we taught them about tithing and fasting.  It was literally the last lesson we needed to teach them,  and  everything went perfectly.  So awesome!

Sunday was good at first but then tanked. We had 8 investigators in church which was amazing. Zorkan didn't come which was a bummer but Leandro did! We had the primary christmas program which was soo great and all of our investigators said they loved it. The members were soo inviting and friendly too which is awesome. Gotta love it! After everyone cancelled on us so we passed by a ton of members and less active members houses but no one was home or didn't have time. We ended the night at Irina's house, the Cubans, and she made us some food. We talked to her about some friends she has and she's stoked on missionary work.

Today we are trying to get our haircut but the barber bailed on us!  (just like some of our investigators). Galicia is hard but I am learning a lot. Elder McWhorter and I are best friends. The guys super funny and we are having a blast together. A lot of people here are very old and don't want much to do with us and one guy cussed us out in English and told us to go home the other day because we are sinners who are trying to capture people but whatevs! The work progresses! I know this church is true and I love it with all of my heart.

I have never felt so close to Jesus Christ before.

Elder Franklyn

December 9, 2013 - El Ferrol!

 Packing up for transfer!


December 9, 2013

El Ferrol!

Family and friends!!!

Life is awesome up here in El Ferrol!! The work is progressing so well and we are seeing miracles daily!! Like literally though. It is awesome and I know exactly why President Jackson moved me here. I feel so blessed and am just loving it.  First off, El Ferrol is super close to the sea, and it is having some of the best weather in all of Spain right now!   I heard Ryan is having some good weather too and its the same thing here!  Not a drop of rain here yet and the members say it never snows here! Stoked!  Elder McWhorter and I are best buds already and he is dead set on getting me to watch Wicked with him after the mission. Haha the only down side is that most of the people in the streets are old Spaniard Gallegans who don't want annnyyything to do with religion. We had some guy tell us that he believes in the Bible but that the miracles performed by Jesus weren't miracles and that God can't perform miracles of any sort. Crazy! Kids often ridicule us in the street as well and call us names that we don't understand but we are rolling with the punches and carrying on.

Last monday night we went to a members house named Armando and ate dinner with him and his wife. They are also Cuban and we had some great food with them. Lets just say that we are obsessed with Guayaba.

Tuesday was a bit rough. We tried to find a lesson in the morning or at least a less active member but no one was home. We ate lunch with the First Counselor and his wife which was suuper good and taught them a sweet lesson. After medio dia we worked hard in the street and contacted a few referrals we had. Two of the youth here, Emiel y Jaelson, were supposed to come to a lesson with us but it canceled so they decided they wanted to go out contacting! We did and got shot down by every single person in the street but they had a great time and learned alot about missionary work.

Wednesday was sweet. We had our reunion de distrito in A Coruña and got some sad news that one of our missionaries is going home. He just didn't have any more desires to be out and decided he was through one day. Its hard out here but thats never an excuse to go home. The 1980 USA hockey team didn't go home and I am never going home. Props to Elder Grochmal for the Miracle idea. After medio dia we had correlation with our ward mission leader. It went well but he's basically a less active member so we have work to do. At night we had a lesson with Patricia and her family, Juan Jesus, and Antonio all of which went really well. We even set a fecha with Antonio!

Thursday we did some work. We planned the week of course and then went to our mission leaders house to have lunch with him and his family. He's only 20 and so his mom made us some pizza. Score! One of the sons plays the guitar so I got some shredding in and showed off my skills with Sweet Child of Mine and Johnny B Goode. I still got it. After we had a lesson with an old man named Manuel. Not sure if he understands everything. Later we had Clase de Ingles which went really well and we had 4 people there which is a mission high for me! At night we taught Antonio again and ate at Irina's (the cuban family) and taught Alex, another cuban who is living at their house.

Friday was good but hard. The morning blew and no one was available. After medio dia we had a lesson with a different Manuel who had a problem with the law of tithing. Then we met with Zorkan, another Cuban, and taught a lesson with him and his wife. His wife is super interested and became a new investigator!

Saturday was bomb. The mornings are always hard and people just really don't want to hear from us in the street. After medio dia we had a lesson with Kadir who is sooo cool but just won't come to church. Later on we had another sweet lesson with Zorkan and his wife and they fed us dinner too! Love the Cubans. At night we had a lesson with Patricia and her family and it was so awesome. They are so ready.

Sunday blew my mind. We went to go pick up some investigators and with the help of our Heavenly Father, we had 8 investigators show up to church!  We were soo excited and so happy they all came. A good amount of them stayed for all 3 hours too which was awesome. We spent medio dia with Irina and Emiel who always are willing to feed us. She always tells us that her house is our house and that if we want anything just go get it haha she's awesome. After medio dia we had a lesson with a man named John Alexander which went really good! We invited him to be baptized as well and he agreed to a date! Not much else happened after that and we got cancelled on by a ton of people but all in all it was a great day.

Today we cleaned our piso, bought food, and took a bomb nap.  Elder McWhorter and I are so excited for the work here and working so hard together. He's an awesome guy and lets just say "I can tell that we are gunna be friends."

Much love,
Elder Franklyn

 Train Ride to El Ferrol...

Bridge on our hike

 We hiked to an old monastery

 Hike to a waterfall

 Some El Ferrol Christmas lights in the town center...

El Ferrol!

December 2, 2013


Family and Friends!!

I am really low on time but thats how the mission life goes sometimes aka always. Well I'm in El Ferrol in probably the most northern area in my entire mission. The city is set on a bay and so I get to see the ocean every day. This city is beautiful and the buildings here are amazing. I finally feel like I'm in Spain!! Its amazing. Anyways, my new companion is Elder Mcwhorter from Rexburg, Idaho. He is an awesome missionary and only 18 years old! He is a transfer behind me and is really excited about working and learning.

So we have a good amount of investigators and right now 6 baptismal dates! Kadir, Alex, Patricia, Jose, Shaila, and Shaine are their names and they are all so prepared. I am excited to see some success here in Ferrol and really grow the church! The branch I am in is similar to Fuenlabrada and the members are extremely nice. We eat a meal every single day! Usually with Hermana Irina and her family from Cuba. Oh and there are a tooon of Cubanos here so tell the Mayans!

I'm loving it and working hard here. Our piso is huge. The church is true. I love you all.

Elder Franklyn

Transferred!

Monday, November 24, 2013


Family and friends!!!

Well I pretty much got sideswiped on Saturday night. Transfer calls came in and they are sending me up north to a city called El Ferrol! Its right above Portugal and its gunna be crazy!

This week was pretty good. I don't have a ton of time but I'll cruise through it.

On monday we went to Parque Sur to get some winter clothes and at night had a lesson with Juan Romera to help prep him for his baptism. They made us eat a tonnnn of churros and I felt a little sick after haha.

Tuesday was great! We had a lesson with a new investigator named Sandra. She's Nigerian and really awesome! Mike came with us and made the lesson super great. She has a family too and so we are excited to meet with them. After we met with Esteban and he basically dropped us which is sad but then had correlation with David which went great!

Wednesday we went to the Temple which was amazing and I felt the spirit so strongly. After, we had intercambios and so I was with Elder Stevenson who's from Chino CA!! It went well and we had a lesson with Purificacion. At night we went to Consuelo and Enrique's to help Consuelo with her talk. It went great!

Thursday we worked hard and had a lesson with Amparo which went great and then Maxwell. He still has a ton of questions but we are answering them bit by bit. After we went to David's to talk about a few things and we had a great time discussing all of our ideas.

Friday we planned the week which went good. Bummer I'm not gunna be here. After we went to Carlos Murillo's and had some good food and shared a great lesson! Then we contacted some references in the street and then had a lesson with a less active girl named Jessica. She's only 20 but really awesome and super strong. Then we had clase de ingles and noche de hogar which both went great. We shared a lesson on Nefi building the boat and it was awesome.

Saturday we didn't have too much but we ended up contacting a good amount of our references that we had. We had a lesson with John which went amazingly and he is actually really interested in baptism. Hopefully we can get him to progress and come to church! After we went contacting again and passed by some members. That night I got the call and freaked out for a bit.

Sunday was pretty sad. Everyone was sad that I was leaving. I bore my testimony and thought back on how much I had learned here. Basically everything. I'm gunna miss this place a ton. Hermana Amparo cried as she tried to say good bye to me. She's like my substitute grandma and our relationship is awesome. After medio dia Elder Beuden wanted to practice getting around everywhere so we did some area tests and walked around passing by members houses to say good bye. Basically no one was home haha. We ended where I started and Consuelo and Enrique's and had a great time there with them. They are awesome!

Today I finally got my residency card! Super excited about that. My train leaves tonight at 10:30 pm and so I am going to be hanging out here until tonight. Wish me luck in El Ferrol!

Elder Franklyn

Ping-Pong/Dining Table

Monday, November 18, 2013

¡Mis amados hermanos y hermanas!

Well all is well here in Fuenlabrada. Training is going good and I am learning a ton! This week was a little on the hard side but we have been really trying to strengthen the branch here. Difficult work but just have to keep pushing forward.
Thank you for all of your emails and support!

Last Monday was great! We relaxed a bit to give our bodies some rest and then at night we met with Wisdom, who is a friend of Mikes. Not sure if I have already said this but he took the lessons in England and then moved to Switzerland. He is down here for a bit because he and Mike go way back but he wants to be baptized with us!   He's pretty ready and we could have a little surprise baptism here in Fuenla haha.

Tuesday was great. We are beautifing the chapel a little bit and finishing off our missionary board which is looking great!   We had lunch with Andrew and he taught us how to make Fufu and vegetable soup which is some amazing Nigerian food. After medio dia we met up with a less active named Jesus Conde and went to another less active members named Estela. We had a good lesson with them!

Wednesday morning we prepared some paperwork for our meeting with the President that night . After medio dia, we went to pass by many peoples houses but no one was home. We ended with the meeting with the branch president which actually went really well. During the meeting he called up David Guzman and told him that he was going to be called as our mission leader! We are really excited about that.

On Thursday we had Zone Conference in Pavones! It was awesome and I learned a tooon. We got haircuts while we here there too which was great. When we got back to Fuenla we had a meeting with Mike and talked about him sharing the gospel with his friends. He is really excited about missionary work but has a lot of other stressful things on his mind as well. After, we met with Jesus Conde again and we went over family history and had him show us a few things.

On Friday we had to plan the week during the morning because we missed it on Thursday and it was actually a really good planning session. We are definitely getting better at it. We then went to Carlos Murillos for lunch and had a great time with them. After, we met up with Purificacion to start her family history work. She doesn't know too much about computers and didn't even have an email account but we got Jesus Conde to meet with us and got her all situated. She's really interested! After we met up with the President at the chapel and headed to Ana's to help her buy her glasses. Jesus Conde tagged along too which was great. After we had Noche de Hogar which was wonderful and I really felt the spirit. we talked about sharing our light and how we can help the lives of others.

Saturday it started to rain and it hasn't stopped since! In the morning we made some calls to everyone about the cooking class we were having at 7 that night. We went out and contacted a little too which was good. After medio dia we headed to Loranca and had a great lesson with John. We set a baptismal date with him which I am really excited for! I hope he follows through! We headed back and made it to the cooking class. A lot of members showed up and Juan Romera came too. He's awesome. We were joking around and having a great time. The class took forever and we ended up having to leave early just to make it home on time. We didn't even get to eat!

Sunday was a decent day. It continued to rain and very little people were in church. Jesus Conde didn't come which was a bummer but we found out that he was in Toledo for the morning. Ana and Andrew came though and lets just say that we have secret plans to get them married haha. David was called as mission leader which was wonderful and Elder Beuden and I gave talks! They went really well and I continue to feel more and more comfortable with spanish. Afer medio dia we had a lesson with Kenny the nigerian lady and we set a baptismal date with her too! She is so receptive and promised to come to church next week. After we called up a woman named Sonia who I had met with before and she said we could come over. She gave us her address and we went to her house. Turns out that this was a different Sonia that I had never met before haha but she was really interested! I remember contacting her though. There wasn't a male home so we had a lesson in the doorway and it went good! She said that she is going to go to noche de hogar on Friday so we are excited about that and that we got a random new investigator! Oh how the Lord works.

Today we have some winter clothes shopping to do for my son, Elder Beuden. I'm really excited about this week and we are going to try our very hardest and re-dedicate our selves to the work. Thank you all for your wonderful examples in my life. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for all of you. Keep up the hard work back there at home.

Elder Franklyn

**Check out our new table we made out of some random stuff we found! One second its a dinner table, the next its a ping pong table! 

Monday, November 11, 2013

Photos: Circus was in town so we saw some lions. HUGE We decorated the chapel for the halloween party! Check out my nerd costume! Maxwell (investigator), Juan Romera (inevstigator), and David (member)! Elder Beuden and I having a great time.

Photos: A less active member named Aldo gave me this skateboard deck! I almost cried and lets just say I had a great 30 minutes of exercise the next morning. Halloween Package!!!! The Rama de Fuenlabrada put on a birthday party for all those who had birthdays during October and November. We rocked it. Just an awesome picture of the recent convert Andrew. Looking good on Sunday.

Well its been a while!! Really sorry about last week. Lets just say Elder Echegaray made us late. Haha he came in town so we had lunch with him and Ana but we had to go take him back to his area so its his fault! Well I'll just recap last week quickly and then get on to this week. It was a pretty great week actually and Elder Beuden and I are working very hard together. He has a ton of ideas which is great because usually I have none haha. We had a great lesson with Rosa on Tuesday and she started crying while bearing her testimony on Jesus Christ and during the closing prayer. I am so thankful for the power the Spirit has to bear witness of the truth of the things we teach. Wednesday we had district meeting which went well and we got to finally meet with the Branch President and discuss some important things. Thursday we had the Halloween party which actually turned out really great! Maxwell, an investigator, came and we had a ton of fun. The pres was a little crazy haha but it was great. Friday was our day of miracles. We read in Preach My Gospel about family history work and we were talking about how great it would be to have someone to help us do it. We take out the ward list and a name catches my eye so we visit him. Turns out his name is Jesus Conde and he is a family history specialist. Whaaaaaaaat?!? Yeah that was awesome. Then at 5 we were waiting for the bus which was like 15 minutes late. Heavenly Father made it late because I got a call from Juan Romera, who lives with Hermana Josephina, telling me that we needed to come to give Josephina a blessing because she was in serious pain and could not even get up from her bed. During the blessing, I felt impressed to bless her that she will get up and walk. Just like the John Tanner video, she stood up and walked. Within ten minutes, she was walking around and feeling much better. I know that this church is true. Saturday was great and we met with some members! And then on Sunday everyone cancelled on us and we got some paperwork and other plans done. Well that week was amazing but on to last week! Monday was great and we ate with Ana and Elder Echegaray came. After, we had a lesson with Maxwell which was a little difficult but it turned out decent at the end. Tuesday we had lunch with Andrew and a lesson with Aldo, which was when he gave me that skateboard deck! After we had a great lesson with Radhames and lets say that Elder Beuden is obsessed with him because they both love baseball. Their bond is wonderful! Wednesday we had Zone Training Meeting in Mostoles which went well and I learned a TON. After we met with Hermana Purificacion who is doing good! We ended the night teaching a new investigator named Edgar who is really interested! Thursday we planned the week of course which went great and then basically everyone cancelled on us so we started working on our mission board! (pictures to come) Friday we had intercambios and I was with Elder Gillam here in Fuenla and it was good! We had some good lessons and he had a lot of good advice to share. Saturday we continued to work on the missionary board which is a work of art for two 19 year old kids. Then we had the birthday party at 7 which was wonderful and really fun! Juan Romera loved it haha Sunday was great! Church was really good and especially amazing because we had the primary program! We have a big primary here actually and it was wonderful. Ana came too and she enjoyed it. After we had lunch with the Camacho's and had a lesson with an old investigator named Bright. Mike came with us because they are both Nigerian and he made the lesson. We tried to visit some less active members but no one was home. Today has been great! We built a table out of some scraps of wood and unused desks we found. I'll send some pictures when I take some and we are gunna try to convert it into a ping pong table for some medio dia fun! The mission is amazing and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I know that this church is true and that the Church of Jesus Christ really has been restored on the earth again. I love you all so much and know that I am praying for you! Elder Franklyn