Feliz Navidad

Hey family. Long time no see am I right.

Anyway this week was super busy and let's get started. On Monday all we did was that we went to the church and Elder Hammond practiced for the talent show onThursday.

On Tuesday we went to Málaga for intercambios with our zone leaders. I was with Elder Berry, we went around Malaga and we visited a recent convert and taught them the plan of salvation and it went really well. We also went to their Elders quorum president and talked to him a bit about some references he gave us. He's crazy. He has a ton of wine and books all over his house. Then after we went back to the elders piso and made pancakes for dinner.

On Wednesday I was with Elder Berry again. We walked around and tried to visit with some people, but nobody was home or they were "busy". After at mediodía we went back to piso and made paella, which is a rice dish that is popular in Spain. After Elder Hammond and I went straight to Benalmádena and talked to a guy named Christian. We start talking and one of the first things he says is that he wants to be a missionary like us and asked how he could do it. So we talked about missionaries and how to progress in the church and gospel.
 

On Thursday, we had a tri zone conference in Malaga. We had a talent show, Elder Hammond sang and  danced to white Christmas, with a hermana in our zone, and my job was to throw a Book of Mormon to him at one point. And we were successful, I didn't choke. After that we went and sang at the train station there, and then we went had some workshops from president, his wife, the APs and the AP sister training leader. Then we had Chinese food for lunch.

2 weeks ago we went to church and our piano disappeared, nobody knows what happened to it, we are assuming it got stolen, but on Friday we went to the church and helped move in a new piano, so now we have a piano again. After that we went to Leonor's and taught her the Ten Commandments and the word of wisdom.

On Saturday was Christmas Eve. We all went down to Malaga and ate at an American restaurant with the zone, and then we went back to the office and played battleship and other games. At 8:30 we went to a less active family and ate dinner with them. It was curry and rice which was good.

On Sunday we went to church and then after we went to the mission home and had brunch. Pancakes, eggs, bacon, jamón (which is cured ham). We looked at the transfer board and we saw that I was going to Benidorm and being señor companion, so that was interesting. Then after we went to the church to get ready to Skype home and the zone leaders called and said that I was going to Cádiz, but we told them that I was going to Benidorm. We called president and he said I was going to Benidorm, so yeah. But then a minute later we got a call from pres and he told me I was going to Cádiz. So I'm going to Cádiz. And my companion will be Elder Tabilo from Chile.

Then I got to Skype home. You were there for that so you know what happened, but we talked about life and yeah.

Anyway, until next week

Elder Pearce

From our Skype call with Connor

At the Málaga aquarium

The Light of Christ and the Christmas party

December 19, 2016

Hey family,

Not much happened this week, but let's get started.

On Monday, we went to a city creek type mall and went to a Nike outlet and then we ate at Taco Bell. There's not many of either of those in Spain, so that was fun.

On Tuesday we met with an old guy that we've talk to a couple times. We went with Elder Ohlund, from the office. We showed a video about the light of Christ, and talked about it. After he pointed to elder Hammond and said you have the light of Christ in you, people just want to talk to you. Then he pointed to elder Ohlund and said you too. Then he pointed to me and said, you need to work on that. So in other words, I'm the only thing in the universe without any light of Christ.  Whoop.  We think that guy was a little crazy though.

On Wednesday. We walked around the streets a lot and got bailed by a lot of people as usual.

On Thursday, it was Elder Hammond's 6 months left so, we decided to have some fun. In the morning for exercise we ran with the office elders to a McDonald's with the intention of eating breakfast there. But sadly, since we're in Spain, people aren't alive that early, and the McDonald's doesn't open until 10, so we didn't eat. After weekly planning, we went back to plaza mayor and ate McDonalds there and looked around a little. Then that night we got bailed on some more, and stuff.

On Friday, we had our ward Christmas party. It was supposed to start at 8, but with it being Mormon, and Spanish. It didn't start until 9. And we needed to be back in piso by 10:30. We stated the nativity scene and the missionaries needed to help out in the choir, so we did that. Then we had pork cutlets and mashed potatoes. Then after we watched a little sketch by the JAS (YSA) which had Bruno (reactivated guy) and Iris (a recent convert). By then it was past our curfew so we went back with the office elders.

On Sunday it was our ward’s children's program, so we watched the children sing and talk. And also we flipped our schedule so it was priesthood first, then Sunday school, then sacrament meeting, so that was interesting.

That's about it, so until next week.

Elder Pearce

Snap! crackle! pop! dead body

So this week was a little rough. We did super good at planning and creating citas (appointments), but instead of the normal about 25-40% of them falling through, this time it was between 90-95%. Yay. Anyway, Leonor was out of town this week, so we didn't meet with her. Nobody came to English class, so that happened. And just nobody was home. It was rough. But there's always this week.

But in other news, we have officially reactivated a guy, if not his whole family. Back in early October, we received his reference from the first counselor of a guy named Bruno and the very last week of October he finally came to church. Then we had stake Conference in Grenada the first week of November, and I don't know if he came. And then fast Sunday next week. He got up and bore his testimony about some super spiritual experience he had. And then he hasn't missed a Sunday since. Then last Sunday, his mom came up and bore her testimony about coming back to church. And then this week his whole family came and Bruno received the Aaronic priesthood. So that was sweet.

So, on Thursday, we were walking along next to a hotel and we hear a thud, with some snapping, crackling, and popping along with it. We turn around, expecting a giant bag of rice krispys and, surprise surprise, it was a guy. Apparently he jumped out of the hotel and committed suicide. We run over to see if he was still alive and we gave him a blessing, but he still died. By then the cops came and we had to give a witness statement and all that stuff. So that was fun, not fun to clean off though.

JUST KIDDING - don't take that seriously. All that happened was that we were walking along by the hotel and we saw a couple police cars and an ambulance. As well as a bloodied cloth covering a dead body, with an investigator guy looking at it. So that was fun.

On Saturday. We met with an American. Crazy right. She is from Michigan and her husband is Spanish. We started out by talking about the Book of Mormon and they asked a ton of questions about literally everything. So we pretty much ended up giving them all the lessons in one visit. But it was a lot of fun, especially when the language switched from Spanish to English half way through. That was really nice.

Today we went to a mall place and went to a Nike outlet factory. It was about the size of the one in Park City. After we went to Taco Bell, which there are not many in Spain.

Anyway,

Until next week

Elder Pearce

Messing around before P-Day Haircut

Fun cut out in the streets of Fuengirola

Happy December

Happy December everyone. With the church initiative, as you know, December is the month of service. And with December 1, which the church named the international day of service. We missionaries took that opportunity to serve. We were originally planning on joining the office elders and deliver cookies with them to families. But we got bailed on last minute, so we went walking around to all the less active families and sharing the video and asking if they needed anything done. They all said no, but we did help one guy move some boxes into his store. Then, when others would say no, we would ask them if we could even take out their trash, and then they said they didn't have any trash. But it's ok because we tried.

Also that night we didn't really have anything to do, so we went to a piso of a part member family, where they are either never home or they are too busy. And they finally let us in after 4 months of knocking. So we were able to teach them a lesson and get to know them more.

On Monday we went to the mall and looked around, and bought some of our Christmas presents to ourselves. Also they have a Subway there. Which tasted a lot like America. Also since December has started, it means that rebaja has started as well. Rebaja is a giant sale all across Spain, and maybe more, where everything goes on sale, some 30% all the way up to 80% off. So it's nice to get some nice stuff for cheaper.

On Tuesday we went into one of our new areas called Carvajal for a cita (appointment) with a girl. So we take the train and started walking. To get to her house, you have to walk up a mountain for about 30 min, then down the mountain for about 15 min, but up there the houses were big, relative to Spain. Everybody had big scary dogs as well. Picture the types of dogs that are used in dog fights and that's what they had. All were barking, and a lot were biting on the fences trying to get to us. It was fun. Also everybody had super nice cars. Other than that the walk was super beautiful (see pictures). We get to her house, and surprise surprise, she wasn't home. So then we walked home. That took up most of our Tuesday.

On Friday we met with a reference from the office elders. She is a Romanian woman, who is going through some difficulties and is super Christian, so she will be good to continue working with. We also met with Leonor and continued to help her progress. They both came to church all three hours on Sunday, which was cool. 

On Sunday we had some vacationists come to the ward from St George. It was nice to see some good old stereotypical Mormons again. [Note from Connor’s mom – this couple sent me a very nice text and picture of Connor and his companion.  The text said, “We were visiting the branch today where your son is serving.  He is a very sharp missionary!  I know how much it means to have a pic!  We are here from Saint George."]

It also continued to rain all this week, not nearly as hard, but ya. We've gone through about 5 umbrellas now, because they've all broken, but that's ok.

The pancakes in the picture last week are indeed from the recipe that you sent to me.  I have also made your oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, but I realized half way through that I forgot to buy chocolate chips, so they were just oatmeal cookies. They didn't turn out too well. I also made some no bake chocolate ball things. I found in the Friend Magazine. I got a nice cinnamon roll recipe that I'm trying to find the courage to attempt. That will probably be the next thing I make. 

Regarding your question on whether the people in Spain decorate a lot for Christmas.  It really depends on where in the city. The more touristy the more decorations.

That's about all, so until next week

Elder Pearce

Christmas Time in Spain

This is the photo that the tourist from St. George shared via a text

Elder Hammond and Connor

Carvajal

Our Chapel

Thanksgiving, rain, and more rain

Hey family.

Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you had fun without me. It's ok, you only have to deal with one more. Anyway, last Monday we went down to Malaga and we had a mini thanksgiving dinner with the zone. We had pollo asado, because turkey doesn't exist in Spain, bread, stuffing, Fanta, which tastes much better than in the states, and mashed potatoes and gravy. We also played some American futbol. It is really funny to play with native missionaries, they play it a lot like rugby.

Then we and the office elders changed our area boundaries this week. So now, instead of just Fuengirola. We now have everything from avenida de mijas (the street we live on) west to a pueblo called Benalmádena. So our area is a lot bigger now.

On Wednesday, we went to Benalmádena, to see what was there, and pass by some houses. It is super touristy there. It has a small amusement park, but it is super pretty there. See pictures.

Also on Wednesday, more missionaries came to do residency, so we went out to eat at an American restaurant called taxi angus burger. It is super good, and it's always nice to get a little bit of home.

On Thursday, we and the office elders were invited to come to the mission home, since it's in Fuengirola, and eat thanksgiving with them. They were able to get a turkey from the US army base near Cadiz. We had everything a typical thanksgiving meal had, turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, stuffing, rolls, and more, and it was amazing. Sister Anderson made some sort of pumpkin bread cinnamon roll thing, and it was the best thing I have ever tasted.

On Friday we taught Leonor again, we teach her every Friday because that is her only free day. It was a little rough because her son Cristofer, who is 2 years old, was crazy. Which made it hard for any of us to pay much attention.

This week, we were hit by a lot of crazy rain storms. It poured more or less nonstop all day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, which made street contacting very difficult. Luckily we did have umbrellas. The rain caused us to knock a lot of buildings. Of the fifty or so doors we knocked, 5 answered, of those none were interested, but hey, eventually someone will accept it.

We've been teaching an English class it off and on since about week 7. Only 2 people show up. A member and his investigator friend. It's fine, the investigator isn't really interested, but we continue to teach him English. 

Also this week, the churches new Christmas video campaign was released. This year, the message is focused a lot on service and helping others. The video is super good, and I invite everyone to go watch it. Even though the song will be stuck in my head until April when the Easter videos come out. With our iPads, pretty much what we will be doing until Christmas is showing the video to everybody we can which should go over well.

Until next week
Elder Pearce

Fuengirola Part 3

Hola familia,

Cómo estáis? That's good. Anyway, I successfully took over an area. I hope at least. My new companion, Elder Hammond, is from Bountiful Utah. He was the starting quarterback at his high school.

So this Tuesday. Elder Owens and I went to a menos activo family and had a farewell dinner. Pollo, arroz, y patatas, because you can't have a meal in Spain without patatas. Speaking of potatoes, in Spain it isn't called a papa, it's a patata; either way, the meal was really good.

On Wednesday, I got to be an office worker again. I think they're just training me to become the office worker in a few months. I went down to the Málaga train station and got to help out with transfers and gather luggage for the people who just got here and walk back and forth across the train station and yeah. Transfers are really stressful for the office workers. But besides that, I spent the rest of the day in the office waiting for Elder Hammond to come. Right when he came, we had to go straight to the church to teach English class.

L does have the baptism date for December 17th. However, she isn't married, but she finally came to church for all three hours yesterday, instead of just sacrament meeting. She can’t get baptized though until she either kicks out her boyfriend, moves out or gets married to him.

This week has been very good, because we have been able to get in with a lot more people because I have a new companion to introduce.

Yesterday, we went over to a menos activo family and they had me play the piano for them, and Elder Hammond the guitar. The piano didn't have a pedal, which I rely on, and with me not really playing for about 4 months besides 5 minutes here and there, it didn't go too well. 

Today for p day we went down to Malaga and had a thanksgiving feast. We had pollo asado, because turkey doesn't exist here, with potatoes, stuffing, and corn. We also played American futbol with the native missionaries, and it was really funny to watch.

Anyway, that's about the week

Until next week

Elder Pearce 

Me and mi maestro hermano soliz

The three generation. Me, Elder Owens, Elder Wagner

Our Thanksgiving Feast today.  Elder Hammond is in front of me.

A bunch of pictures from the CCM

Elder Barlow

 Elder Bodily 

Elder De La Rosa

Elder Dye 

 Elder Garner

Elder Hancock

Elder Jacobson

Elder Kärn. Pronounced Sean. He's from Sweden

 Elder Neubert

 Elder Salazar

 Elder Statford

 Elder Stegall

 Elder Stulen (he's from Arendel in Norway, so he knows Anna and Elsa)

Elder Wood

 

 ?? Me, Elder Bodily, Elder Dye, Elder Stegall, Elder Stratford, 

Elder De la Rosa, ??

 Madrid Temple

The companionship -- me, Elder Kerr, Elder Mortensen

The hermanas in my district. Me, Hermana McKeuen, Hermana Matsu