Stake Conference

¡Hola!

The Vic branch recently split off from the Granollers ward. Thus the Vic elderes used to live here and know some of the members here. A member invited the four of us to eat tacos with him (because of one the Vic elderes is from Mexico). Thus the Vic elderes came down here Sunday night and spent preparation day with us. The lunch ended up being cancelled. So Elder Saldaña, from Bolivia, cooked us my favorite Bolivian dish- pique macho. It was really fun (and delicious!). I love the Vic elderes. They are hilarious. Elder Saldaña is from Bolivia as I mentioned before, and Elder Prieto is from Mexico. However, both their families now live in Spain.

It seems that stake conference always brings miracles. At the last stake conference, a member (Margareth) introduced us to her friend, Yessi. Several weeks later Yessi was baptized. This stake conference brought us another miracle. We recently started English classes. Edwin enjoyed the spiritual thought afterwards; thus we set up a visit with him next Saturday before the next English class (a week away). However, Sunday morning (the following day) we received a call from Edwin, asking us about church. We told him that this week was a special conference in Barcelona and invited him to come with us in a member´s car. Fifteen minutes later we picked Edwin up. He enjoyed the conference so much that he agreed to a visit that same night. We had a lesson zero with him, and as Spain Barcelona missionaries do, we set a baptismal fecha with him in the first visit!

It is amazing how much I have changed in the mission. This weekend we had a small trial that really showed me how I have changed. We locked our keys in piso. My companion is in charge of carrying the keys. The old me would have gotten quite angry and frustrated. But I did not let it bother me....getting angry would not have helped get back into our piso any sooner. Also as senior companion when something goes wrong it is my responsibility. The members recognized this and kept giving me a hard time and reprimanding me. The old me would have made it quite clear that is was not my fault. The old me would have quickly passed the blame. But the new me just quietly took the criticism. Afterall i should have been more responsible by giving a spare key to a member family. I learned several things about myself in this experience. However, these two examples suffice.

Bueno, pues....i believe that is all for this week. ¡Hasta luego!

Love,
Elder Buchkovich