February 26, 2018

Friends and Family,

Crazy week in paradise! Elder Childers and I have been teaching like crazy which has been super awesome. I've been asked what we eat a lot. Basically mix chicken, a bunch of peppers and onions, and a ton of random spices. Then put that on rice, pasta, or in a tortilla. And add ice cream. It tasted super good and it's cheap so why not??

We've been teaching a lot and inviting lots of people to be baptized! A super cool experience this week that Elder Childers and I had was we were teaching this woman who really liked us but made it very clear that she didn't want to change and that she already knew everything there is to learn. As we testified of the restoration of the gospel, her heart was softened, and she began to cry as she realized that now was the time to answer God's call. She committed to read and ask God if this is the path for her. As we were showing her the pictures in the Book of Mormon to introduce it, we brought up baptism again and she said that she had never been baptized. The words came out of my mouth before I even knew what I was saying: "Do you want to?" She accepted the invitation and, from the beginning of the lesson, entirely changed in the short hour that we were together. I learned that the message of the restoration can change anyone if we testify of its truthfulness with power and authority!! 

Benidorm Para Siempre

February 19, 2018

Elder Moreland is getting booted this week all the way to San Fernando (West side), so Elder Childers is coming in which will be new. We have a few baptisms scheduled for the next few weeks. One of them is for R___, who is from Camaroon! He speaks a little bit of Spanish and English so we've been skyping in a missionary that speaks his native French! When we asked him if he would be baptized, he responded something like "if the Book of Mormon is true, who wouldn't get baptized by this restored authority??" So there's a lot of hype with that. E____ is looking for somewhere in Alicante to live, but the week that he finds something and moves down there he'll be baptized! He taught us how to sing this Catholic song called "Magnificat" which was pretty funny haha. E____ is getting close as well. He came to church yesterday and loved it! It's always a party when people actually show up to church haha

Today we hiked Penyal d'lfac again (the huge rock sticking out of the ocean) for the sunrise and then we had a lesson with A___ who is this super cool Spanish guy that's our age. Since Elder Moreland is leaving there will be a lot of packing/ cleaning which is always a good time.

I learned a lot this week from the people we are teaching and how they overcome challenges. There is always something that is impeding someone's progression to follow Christ. Whenever one of our particular investigators faces one of these struggles, he always says: "Sí que tengo pruebas, pero sé que mi Redentor vive" or "Yes I have challenges, but I know that my Redeemer lives." Even if we don't know the way, God knows the way, and he will always show it to us if we have faith. (Spoiler alert: Christ is The Way).

Elder Coleman

Puig Campana!

February 12, 2108

Sorry but I don't have much time to email. We hiked Puig Campana, which is the biggest peak in our area. We took this trail that was super steep so that was fun, and then right as we were about to get to the peak these massive clouds started coming in haha. So not really any good pictures from the peak because it was freezing, raining, and you couldn't really see anything. We found snow which was weird because it is southern Spain.

This week we made fajitas twice because I'm relapsing from not having Mexican food. Hopefully the Mexican member of the church in our area will make tacos for us this week.

Another fun adventure was I had to go down to Málaga to pick up my residency. This includes a 3 hour bus/train to Alicante, a 9 hour bus ride to Málaga, and then a 1 hour train ride to Fuengirola. So, of course, we miss the bus that goes from Alicante to Málaga, and we get rescheduled to one that leaves at 9:45 PM and gets to Málaga at like 6 AM. That was a long night haha.

Here's a cool quote from Elder Holland that I found this week: "With all that there is to do along the path to eternal life, we need a lot more missionaries opening that gate and helping people through it." I love this work!!

Elder Coleman