Toledo!! and a Freak Dancing Accident....

Elder Cahoon and Elder Anderson

My cut up arm

Toldeo!

Beautiful Toledo!

Elder Cahoon & I

Swords in Toledo!

This awesome Husky mix dog we found in an investigators house!

Vale (okay),

Well I don't have a lot of time this week because we went to TOLEDO!!! Just the best place ever. But I will try my best to fill you all in on what has happened this week and send a ton of sweet photos. We will see how it goes...

So we had the mission leadership council this week on Tuesday and so the zone leaders from the north and the islands were with us on Monday and that meaannss Elder Echegaray!! We went out and contacted on Monday night and killed it in the street together. We got some sweet references and it was really good to be back working with him. He's the best. I love him haha. 

Basically the story of this week has been that we have been getting really close to finding new investigators but we haven't had any success. We set up and confirmed around 6 or 7 lessons with new investigators and every single one ended up bailing on us or just not showing up. It was a little difficult and frustrating but we can't make people hear our message! We kept working hard throughout the whole week though and we are hoping to find some news this week.

One cool thing was that we had this amazing lesson with Vladimir and promised him that if he were to read, pray and come to church, he would have the desires to get baptized on the 11th of October. He accepted the invitation and seemed excited about it. He ended up not coming to church on Sunday though so that was kind of difficult. 

Good news though is that Baltazar is amazing! He has come to church 5 times in a row and although he is super mysterious and doesn't want to set a baptismal date, he is progressing really well! 

One of the highlights of the week was an activity that we had on Saturday with the ward. We did a party of the nations or fiesta de las naciones and it turned out reaaaally well! We made brownies and danced to Cotton Eye Joe which was unbelievably epic. I cut up my arm a bit right before we went on in a freak dancing accident but I still made it through. It was suuper fun and we grew a lot closer to the members here.

Excited for next week! I know that the Lord has many blessings in store for us.

Love you all!

Elder Franklyn

September 22, 2014

"Taste of America" and Poptarts!!

Family and Friends!

I am currently sitting in the office and my dad (Elder Echegaray) is here! He's down from the north for a conference with President Jackson and the other Zone Leaders. It is always so great to see him. We always have fun together. Elder Hendricks is down here from the north as well and of course my companion Elder Cahoon. Well, this week has been challenging but we have worked really hard. We survived transfers!! No big problems happened and it was probably the smoothest transfer that has happened. I've been trying to focus really hard on making them go as smooth as they can and this one has been the best yet! I still feel like I have to rely on the Lord a ton but He is always willing to help me. I am so grateful to see His hand in my life so much. 

So we had a pretty good amount of things to do in the office after transfers to get ready for this transfer but we had a couple of really awesome lessons that I wanted to talk about too. 

First of all, Baltazar. It was like a lesson out of the district haha. It went so well! We went into the lesson planning on teaching lesson 2, the plan of salvation but when we sat down with him, we could just feel that he needed something else. We started askng him how he was doing and how his reading has been going. He has come to church 4 times in a row and is loving the Book of Mormon but Elder Cahoon asked an inspired question that changed the whole lesson. He asked Baltazar if he had prayed to know if the Book of Mormon was true and he responded very honestly saying no. Right then we began to testify of the power of prayer. I know that God answers our prayers and I know that if we want to know if something is true or not, we should ask God to know. We invited Baltazar to do so and in his closing prayer he asked Heavenly Father if the Book of Mormon really is the word of God. I know that he is going to receive an answer because I have received my own answer. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. 

Second amazing lesson, Lucy. Emilio left on Monday on a trip to go looking for work in Europe and Lucy is now home with their two kids. The first little miracle that touched my heart was that their daughter Rosa (who's 6) ran up to me right when Lucy opened the door and yelled, "Hola Franklyn!!!" It was really cute and even though I hadn't seen them in a while, she still remembered me. We had a great lesson with Lucy though and she is so ready to continue pushing forward and learning more. She wants to wait until Emilio gets back to get baptized together which is totally understandable but the Spirit was just soo strong. She is an amazing person and I am learning so much from her example.

Elder Cahoon and I had some time to contact this week which was sweet. We got a good amount of references and we are hoping on finding some new investigators this coming week. We are pushing forward and hopefully we will be able to see some great success this transfer. We had a ton of fun and bonded over slurping jello and flan the other night and I can tell that our companionship is growing closer together.

I know that the Lord is watching over each and every one of us. I know that we are all passing through many difficult trials but I know that God loves us and that He is watching out for us. He has a plan for us to return to Him and I am just hoping to find someone willing to accept this plan of happiness and hope. I am so grateful for having such wonderful investigators. I feel like they are finding us sometimes instead of us finding them. I can't wait to see their progression! Keep up all of the hard work and keep fighting for what is right.

I am so sad to hear about Wyatt.  That must be so hard on his family. I can't imagine. Thank you for letting me know.  I am sure the ward is passing through a bit of a hard time with that.  Let everyone know that I am sad to hear what has happened and that I hope the best especially for the Olives.

That's good to hear that Bryan Willie is back and doing good! It feels like yesterday that he left on the mission. Haha -  I am excited to speak spanish with him and make fun of his accent while he makes fun of mine.

We actually went to "Taste of America" today  - which is a store that sells American products!  It was awesome! I bought some poptarts, dr. pepper, rootbeer, koolaid, and mac n cheese. It was the best!

Love you all!

Elder Franklyn

September 15, 2014

Surviving Transfers....

Well this week has been crazy.

Let's see... So on Monday we got to play soccer which was soo fun! I have photos of my scraped up leg and I'll send those when I can!  

On Tuesday, transfers came out! This was my third time doing it and the first time for me that the plans have come out on a Tuesday so I was really excited. I started working on that right away which was good. We also went to KFC with some members and wow that was good. A lot better than the United States surprisingly. 

On Wendesday we had district meeting which was good but weird because I knew where everyone was going but I couldn't say anything about it.  In the afternoon we had a lesson with a man named Alexander who has this beautiful dog that is soo cool (I've got pictures) and it went really well. He seems interested to know more and one thing that I loved about him was that he really likes reading and studying the Book of Mormon. He has a lot of potential and I am excited to meet with him again. 

On Thursday some changes came out with transfers but I got it all figured out and kept working hard with that. We had some sweet lessons and we also had an exchange with the Zone Leaders in Alcalá. It went really well and Elder Davis, who slept in the same room as me in the MTC, came to Alcobendas with us. We had a great time and were able to do a lot of splits. 

On Friday, we fiiiiinally had another lesson with Lucy and Emilio! They are doing good but going through a rough patch financially. What is going to happen is that Emilio is going to go look for work in other parts of Spain and they both still love the church and all but want to wait until things are more normal to get baptized. They are so awesome though and I hope the best for them. They have helped me during my time here in Alcobendas and even though they aren't going to get baptized quite yet, I know that the seed is planted and growing. 

Saturday was just nuts. I was basically in the office the whole day working on transfers and we took some great photos after, which I will also send in the future. Everything was finished though and the plans are unraveling as I type. There honestly haven't been too many hiccups this time which is great. 

Of course there were some problems and I was a little stressed out, but I have seen the Lord's hand today pushing me forward. 

I know that this Church is His Church and I know it because I have felt it. I am not here to testify of the words that a man has told me, but of how I have felt while reading the scriptures and while being in church and while spreading the Gospel. I know that the Lord loves each one of us and that He is watching out for us. Keep up the hard work and remember to always be missionaries!

Love you all!

Elder Franklyn

September 8, 2014

Soccer in Pavones/Transfers Next Week!!

Hello!!

Well, this week has been good! We have a visitor!! His name is Elder Moyano and he has been with us this whole week. It has been super fun and we are working soo hard with him. He has knee problems and so we have to walk slow but we are doing well. Outside of playing the cello, this is the first quartet I have been in! I don't have a ton of time to write buuuut just wanted to shoot out some updates. 

Lucy and Emilio finally got back from vacation and are doing good. They want to wait a little longer until they feel completely prepared to keep all of the commandments but they are doing really good. We have been finding a good amount of investigators too and it has all been going great. Baltazar is doing great too and he has come to church 2 weeks in a row now! We also finally met with Tanchi and Yonaisi and we had a lesson with them. They are doing good. They just need a lot of support. It is sad to see so many people passing through hard times but the manifestations of their faith are eye opening. I have learned so much out here on the mission about overcoming trials and it is inspiring to see someone push through and overcome a lot of difficult things passing in their lives. 

Well today has been busy! I went on splits with the assistants and we went to play soccer in Pavones next to the temple. It was really fun!! My team played really well too and we won a good amount of games. It was really fun to be with the assistants too. They are great. I've learned a ton from them. This week is going to be transfers so I might die -- but hopefully not.  I'll be working really hard and I'm not sure how much time I will have next week to write but just know that I love you all and that I am doing great! Keep up all of the hard work wherever you are and know that I am thinking and praying for you.

Love you all!

Elder Franklyn

Cafe Rio Burritos & Running with the Bulls

September 1, 2014

Cafe Rio Burritos and Running with the Bulls!!!

Running of the Bulls!

Elder Sanchez & I

Got my package Mom - thanks!

Amigoooos y amigaaaas,

Well this week has been rough, but sometimes I like the hard weeks. I'll quote my trainer Elder Echegaray here: "My favorite days are the hard days in the mission. Those days when every lesson bails on you so you go out and contact in the street. Those days when every person that you contact in the street just says no. And then at 9:50, right when you have to go back to the apartment, you receive a reference from a Dominican in the street that you know is not going to want anything the next day. Those are my favorite days."

Those are the days when my testimony of the truthfulness of this work grows the most. Those are the days when I look deep down inside and think of why I am out here in the mission. Those are the days when I think of my cousin Nathan who have up so much to serve a mission in South Africa. Those are the days when I think of my cousin Ryan, my best friend Jacob, and my best friend Truman, serving their hardest out there in other parts of the world. Those are the days when I realize that I really am a disciple of Christ. 

Some really cool things happened this week though too so I'll start with those. On Thursday, we ate with an American family that lives here named the Hubers. They are awesome! They made us Cafe Río burritos and they were to die for. They are such an awesome family. All of them are learning a lot of Spanish but they are doing really well! We shared a great lesson on the Sacrament with them and I think our relationship with them has grown a lot. On Saturday, we put on an activity for the ward on the plan of salvation. It was awesome!! Some of you make have heard of it but basically the people come in and sit down in seats that are set up like an airplane. The plane crashes and the people are taken on a tour through the Telestial, Terrestrial, and Celestial kingdoms. It was awesome and everyone felt the Spirit really strongly. It grew my testimony of the truthfulness of this Church. Oh and Balthazar came to church and loved it!! He has a lot of potential!

Some bad things that happened... Our car got towed. Emilio and Lucy have been out of town for a week now and also told us that they wanted to push back their baptismal date a bit. Felipe and Isabel have to separate because of legal reasons and we had to say good bye to Felipe yesterday. They were sooo close to figuring it all out and getting married too. Now it probably won't happen for months and months. Other than that, just a lot of people bailed on us this week and we haven't had a lot of time to work either. 

President Jackson came out with some more changes that happened today in the mission. A missionary had to go home and so it was sad to see him leave. Elder Moyano hurt his knee in the Islands and so he had to come in as well. And he's here with US!!! He's from Argentina and he is suuper cool. I am excited to have him here. He will just be here for a couple of weeks to recuperate so it should be fun!

Well we are hoping to have a better week this week! We've just got to keep working hard and making the best out of the short time that we have here. I honestly love the mission though and wouldn't trade it for anything. Keep up the good work back home!!

Love you all!

Elder Franklyn

August 24, 2014 - "Crazy" Week

A picture of the best assistant to the ward mission leader ever!! And me too.

Elder Ward playing piano

Lizard in the Pisa

We also redecorated - thank you HGTV

Wellington getting baptized!

We cleaned - alot!

¡Buenas tardes!

Well this week has been CRAZY.

Let me explain...

On Monday we took the ayudantes to the airport for the zone conference up in A Coruña (my old zone!!). Everything went fine with that. That afternoon we had two awesome lessons with Vladimir and Baltazar (a new investigator who is just awesome). The lessons went well! Vladimir still doesn't feel like he needs to get baptized but he is learning a lot every time we meet with him. Baltazar is just a boss. He understands so muuch! He's great and my new favorite person from Ecuatorial Guinea.

Tuesday! We had a lesson with a new investigator named Guillermo in the morning.  He is super nice and really open to learning about God. One thing that he liked alot is that we invited him to look for his own answer from Heavenly Father. I think that makes sense though. Not many people are going to believe in a few kids from America but if they can just kneel down and ask Heavenly Father if what we are sharing is true, they can receive their own answer. They can know for themselves if this is the path that God wants them to take. I really know that God answers our prayers and that He really loves us. Later on we had to pick up President Jackson, Hermana Jackson and the ayudantes from the airport. President and Sister Jackson are just awesome. They love us so much. That night we had another lesson with Baltazar and again, just a boss. We talked about the importance about the Book of Mormon and he really liked it. He told us: "I am going to go far away on foot. Then I will kneel down with my Book of Mormon and read alone. That is when God will tell me if this book is true. And I think He will tell me it is true." Just a boss and kind of hipster in a Guinean kind of way.

Wednesday we had district meeting and office meeting! That means little time to do some actual work! Buuut we did have a super sweet lesson with Lucy and Emilio! We talked about the 10 commandments which they loved! When we talked about the no bearing false witness one, Lucy literally said "That's a commandment?? I like that one!!" And then continued to basically bear her testimony about the importance of that commandment. They are awesome! That night, I went with Elder Chapple (senior couple missionary) to the airport to pick up some Hermanas that went home on the 22nd!! We had a little half transfer to get the missionaries going to college home before college started. We picked them up, dropped them off at the mission home, and then hit the bed!

Thursday was just a lot of stuff with the missionaries going home. It was hectic but everything went well. 

Friday morning was CRAZY. 16 missionaries had to be either at the airport or the train station to get home and I was in charge of making sure no one missed their train or plane. We had some complicated/awesome shuttling plans and at the end of the day, it all worked out. I really saw the hand of the Lord in my life helping me along as well. It was a cool/sad experience to see some great missionaries go home. I'll miss them!

On Saturday we had some good stuff and in the afternoon, an investigator of Hermana Bennett and Hermana Shurtz got baptized! His name is Wellington and he will be a great addition to the ward of Alcobendas. He got baptized in our bishops pool which was epic of course and the Spirit was there strongly. Oh and sorry if my grammar makes no sense...

Sunday was good but kind of hard. Vladimir came to church!! That was a blessing for sure. Lucy and Emilio are out of town but doing good reading and praying as a family every night. In the afternoon, everything fell through but we had a lesson with a man named Jose. He's really... gallegan haha. He's from A Coruña and its kind of known that the gallegans like to argue a lot and are stuck in their ways. Well that's Jose! All in all it went well though and I think I learned a few things during the lesson.

Sobre todo, ha sido una semana muy edificante. My testimony of the Church seems to grow more and more as we get yelled at in the street, as residency problems and travel problems arise in the office and as I see Satan working against our investigators. I know this Church is true and I know that I am here in Spain to serve our Heavenly Father in this great and most important work. I have also am learning every day that Jesus really is the Christ and our Savior. I love you all!! 

Elder Franklyn

August 18, 2014 - Some new investigators, some miracles, and some early mornings!

Helloooooo Champions!!!

(I guess that intro is funnier if you know a member named Juan Blasco from Alcobendas. Super Spaniard, doesn't know how to talk in a normal, not-yelling voice, calls everyone a champion, and just awesome in all ways. )

Anyway, this week has been good!! Some new investigators, some miracles, some early mornings as well. Lets see...

On Monday, we moved apartments!! We switched pisos with the assistants because we need a bit more room. Talk about living out of a suitcase... I'm still not unpacked. I also got my hair cut which was great. It's suuper hot here!! In the afternoon we did some crazy split magic and had Elder Ward go pick up some missionaries in the airport while Elder Cahoon and I had a great lesson with Guillermo and his friend Iliana who is a new investigator! She was really interested in the Book of Mormon so we will see how it goes.

Tuesday!! We had the mission council!! We woke up a bit early and headed over to the mission home. Then we did some picking up of all of the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders. Everything went well and according to plan (that's a first!). In the afternoon we did some more crazy splits with some of the zone leaders from the north and we had a few great lessons with some awesome investigators! Then we dropped of the Zone Leaders at the train station and went to bed.

Wednesday we had our Zone Training Meeting!! It was really good and our Zone Leaders focused a lot on how to get from the first lesson with an investigator to the second lesson. We talked about a lot of really good things and we are going to be putting them in practice soon. That night we fiiiinally met with our investigator named Yonaisi. She has been working a tooonnnn but we were soo happy to see that she still has desires to come to church and to get baptized. She is incredible and is doing so much for her family. 

On Thursday we had like the split of all splits. It literally took us like 30 minutes to figure out how in the world we could hit all of the lessons we had planned and drop off President and Sister Jackson at the airport. With the help of the Lord we made it through and had some awesome experiences along the way. We found two new investigators, Balthazar and Jose who both seem to have some potential. We also had a lesson with Lucy and Emilio and they just continue to amaze us. Here's a miracle... So a while back Lucy had decided that she wanted to stop smoking. She had been smoking around 10 a day and dropped down to like 1 every week. She continued to smoke one every now and then when she had a bad day. Three days before we had this lesson on the Word of Wisdom, she decided that she wanted to stop smoking completely and she did. When we brought it up in the lesson she was amazed and told us of the impression that she had just three days earlier to quit completely. There is no doubting that the Lord has had a hand in the life of this family. I can truly see the Lord preparing them in so many ways to come closer to Him and be baptized. It is just amazing. My testimony has never been stronger. 

Friday was awesome! We ate with Felipe and Isabel's family and we've got great news!! Isabel is pregnant!!!!! We are all so excited!! They are such an amazing family to us. They mean a lot and I always just feel so welcome in their home. I can't wait until they are married and Isabel is baptized. I really hope I am here for it!! We had family home evening as well which was great!

On Saturday a lot of our plans fell through but we contacted a ton and received a lot of great references from some great people.

Sunday was good but a lot of our plans fell through again. August is hard sometimes. We worked hard until the very last minute though and got home tired.

Today has been long!! We woke up at 4:15 and had to drive a senior couple to the airport!! We got back at around 6ish and went back to bed. We woke up at 7, got ready and studied a little and then headed out at 10 to take the assistants to the airport. We played a little soccer down by the temple which was fun and bought some food like the usual. 

I am really excited for this week. It is going to be probably the craziest week of my mission!! I have been making plans and buying tickets all day for the upcoming zone conferences and the first one is today. President Jackson and the assistants will be getting back tomorrow night, we have missionaries flying in on Wednesday, missionaries flying home on Friday and a lot of lessons to be had in the middle. I am trying to up the quality of work I do as a secretary and I see things running smoother as I do so. Thank you for all your love and support. I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ on the earth today. I love you all so much!!

Elder Franklyn