Email 23/1/17
Hello everybody,
It’s been another good week. As mentioned in last week’s letter, we went back up to Granada on P-Day to go hit up the sales and buy some clothes. One of the best parts about going to Granada on P-Days is that there’s a Domino’s Pizza there, and here in Spain, they have a 6,95 € all you can eat pizza buffet. It’s the best. #BuffetLibre
This week, the weather was significantly cooler, cloudier, and wetter than it normally is. Nothing bad at all though, it was fine working outside with just a coat and sometimes just a sweater on. I’ve even heard reports of snow in many parts of this mission which is very rare to see in this part of Spain. I guess it actually snowed for like half an hour one morning here in Motril, but that was when we were inside doing weekly planning, so we didn’t notice. Darn.
Up until Friday, it was a pretty normally paced week in terms of the work: meeting with our investigators and less active members, knocking doors, and basically just trying to strengthen the people and the branch in Motril. Then, Élder Jarvis came down with a cold, and so we’ve been resting a bit more for the past few days while he recovers. In fact, I was talking to one of zone leaders the other day, and he told me that basically around half of the missionaries in the whole zone are sick right now. I suppose it could have something to do with the change of the weather. I’m perfectly fine as of this moment, but I’ve been mentally preparing myself for the last few days because I feel like it’ll be inevitable that I get sick too, so I guess we’ll see what ends up happening.
Some of you may have noticed that on the Gospel Library App, a new section for General Conference Music was added after the October General Conference. I love the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (it’s pretty cool that they were asked to sing at the recent presidential inauguration) and have downloaded every video of them singing from that session of General Conference on my iPad. The other day, I was listening to their rendition of “Let Us All Press On,” and the words of the chorus really struck me:
Fear not, though the enemy deride;
Courage, for the Lord is on our side.
We will heed not what the wicked may say,
But the Lord alone we will obey.
To me, this is saying that when we are obedient to God and doing the things He wants us to do and becoming the person who he wants us to be, no matter what those around us or the world thinks, that’s how we know we are being successful servants.
The road won’t be easy, and our efforts may not always bear immediate or recognizable fruit, but obedience to God and to his laws is more important than anything else. When we put our trust in the Lord, we need not fear because we know he will bless us for doing that which he has asked.
I’m looking forward to another week as a missionary. This week is going to be extra special because of the Worldwide Missionary Broadcast this Wednesday. Many of you who get my emails are serving missions right now as well. Even though we’re all in different places with different languages, cultures, and customs, our purpose is universally consistent and it’s so amazing that we can all participate in this event together.
Love,
Élder Stark ??
Photos
1: Elder Krummenacher (my companion from the CCM) and I reunited after over six months apart. Also Elder Egbert. Elder Krummenacher was taking a bus that passed through Granada, so all in all, we only had about a minute in the bus station to so hi and take a picture.
2: The Nevada Shopping center. It just opened a few months ago and I’ve heard missionaries say it’s the largest mall in the mission (or maybe even all of Spain?). This was the day I accidentally bought two suits #Rebajas
3: Finally we had a district meeting with everyone present, so here’s our district picture of the transfer: Elder Jarvis, Elder Jones, Elder Stark, Elder Kröff, Elder Köhler, Elder Egbert; Hermana Moore and Hermana Gentry (I served with both of them in districts past #ElcheForever)
4: Motril in the morning.
5: Motril at night
6: Motril black and white.
7: “Hey look a horse.” “Where’s the Porsche?” “No, A HORSE.”
8: Until next time.
