Hola!
Well I almost made it a year in my mission without finding a cockroach in my piso.....my streak of luck ended this week! After planning Wednesday, Elder Greep went into the kitchen to eat some dinner before bed. Immediately as he walked in, he started screaming for us all to come to the kitchen. I immediately came running over to the kitchen took one glance in, did a 180, and went right back out of the kitchen. Because....on the cupboard doors under our sink was the largest cockroach that I have ever seen. And I have seen some pretty large cockroaches on the side of the road. Elder Greep ending up killing it as it came charging at him (yes he claims the cockroach charged him). Unfortunately we did not take any pictures. We were being too big of sissies and disposed of the body immediately by way of the toilet. We convinced ourselves that we were okay. That a cockroach that big could only have come from outside. And that if we had a problem/investation there would be smaller cockroaches. Well two days later I turned the light on in one of the bathrooms and there lying on the floor, acting dead, was another cockroach! And this one was smaller! The good news is that it was still huge. Pictures of the second one (post death) are included. We told a member about them and she told us that those types of cockroaches live in the streets and come in through windows and doors. Thus I believe we are safe. We are yet to see any baby cockroaches so I don´t think we have an infestation. And we have been extra careful about the windows and so no more (that we know of) have come inside. On the bright side everyone finally agrees with me that we need to keep our kitchen cleaner!
We had a great week. Our investigators are progressing so well!
On Saturday we finally had our first visit with Yessi after she cancelled her baptism the previous week. She is still progressing amazingly! Unfortunately because we were really rushed to catch our bus, we did not have time to teach a good lesson. As we were hurrying to leave, I felt impressed that we should stay and not worry about catching the bus. Thus we stayed. We ended up clearing up several small questions about the Word of Wisdom and piercings. When we finally left, we decided to try taking the train, since we had missed the bus. We arrived at the train station five minutes after the departure time, but the train arrived 10 minutes late. Thus we caught the train and made it to our next visita with time to spare. And the next day at church, Yessi no longer had her tongue piercing!
Natalie´s father, Manual, finally came to church yesterday. We have been trying endlessly to get him to come. Everytime he gives a flojo (flimsy) response of maybe and never comes. We decided to stop directly asking him and wasting time on trying to persuade him through words. This week we focused hard on following the Spirit in our visits. On Saturday we finally mentioned church again to verify that Natalie was coming. She of course said, "Yo, sí!" Then we turned to Manual to extend the invitation and he said, "Yes. We have already made the plans." And he came! (Natalie did too of course!)
Gerard, one of our recent converts, has had quite the miracle story! He really wants to serve a mission. However, unfortunately, the university only allows students one year off of classes. A mission is two years. Gerard has been trying to get permission to take two years off for a mission. However, everytime he tries, he gets pushed from office to office and is treated quite poorly. Finally Gerard decided to pray to Heavenly Father, telling Him of his desires to serve and how he needed help getting permission. That same day Gerard tried again. This time the receptionists treated him nicely, helping him out the best they could. By the end of the day, Gerard had permission from the president of the university to take two years off of classes at the end of the next school year. Next summer Gerard will be serving a mission!
If you take time to actually listen during your prayers....it´s amazingly miraculous the inspiration and revelation you receive...and how clear the answers are. Just something I have learned on my mission.
Love,
Elder Buchkovich
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Bring on the Heat
¡Hola!
Whoa it is hot!!!! 30 degrees celsius with lots of humidy is not fun proselyting weather! Summer has arrived! With has come lots of work. We have so many great investigators!
Yessi was not baptized this weekend. She did not want to be baptized without the approval of all of her family. We had several spiritual visits with her mom present, so she gained the approval of her mother and subsequently her father. Her brothers are indifferent about religious matters and didn´t care. Thus the only one who didn´t approve of her baptism was her sister. Thus she did not get baptised in fear of upsetting her sister. Elder Greep and I are not too concerned. After a visit or two with her sister, we believe that the Lord will soften her sister´s heart and she will get baptized.
Natalie is our most progressing investigator. She has come two church 3 times with a menos activo family! She attended mutual this week for the first time and LOVES going to young women´s activities. We are also teaching her dad and brother who aren´t progressing as quickly. Todavia they are great people. In our last visit with her dad, we asked him to give the closing prayer. He struggled to through a simple heartfelt prayer. This was odd because I have heard him pray before. At the end of his prayer in the most sincere humility he asked us to help him learn to pray better so that he can pray with his family.
We also have Fatima. She is the niece of one of our eternigators (eternal investigators), Lucho (through a previous marriage). Lucho is married to one of our strongest members in the ward and his daughter, Milagros, is one of the other strongest members in the ward. Thus, Fatima is indirectly related to two of the strongest members of our ward. Fatima is really interested in learning more about our message. She has already been to the Work and the Glory movie night and a baptism.
Ramiro has been really hard to get a visit with due to his work schedule. He genuinely wants to learn more about his relationship with God. We taught him the Restoration in our last visit and the entire time he asked us questions and took notes on scripture references.
We have so many more great people! But I don´t have much time. This was a good week. I really felt the Lord working through me. It is an indescribably great feeling!
¡Hasta luego!
Love,
Elder Buchkovich
Whoa it is hot!!!! 30 degrees celsius with lots of humidy is not fun proselyting weather! Summer has arrived! With has come lots of work. We have so many great investigators!
Yessi was not baptized this weekend. She did not want to be baptized without the approval of all of her family. We had several spiritual visits with her mom present, so she gained the approval of her mother and subsequently her father. Her brothers are indifferent about religious matters and didn´t care. Thus the only one who didn´t approve of her baptism was her sister. Thus she did not get baptised in fear of upsetting her sister. Elder Greep and I are not too concerned. After a visit or two with her sister, we believe that the Lord will soften her sister´s heart and she will get baptized.
Natalie is our most progressing investigator. She has come two church 3 times with a menos activo family! She attended mutual this week for the first time and LOVES going to young women´s activities. We are also teaching her dad and brother who aren´t progressing as quickly. Todavia they are great people. In our last visit with her dad, we asked him to give the closing prayer. He struggled to through a simple heartfelt prayer. This was odd because I have heard him pray before. At the end of his prayer in the most sincere humility he asked us to help him learn to pray better so that he can pray with his family.
We also have Fatima. She is the niece of one of our eternigators (eternal investigators), Lucho (through a previous marriage). Lucho is married to one of our strongest members in the ward and his daughter, Milagros, is one of the other strongest members in the ward. Thus, Fatima is indirectly related to two of the strongest members of our ward. Fatima is really interested in learning more about our message. She has already been to the Work and the Glory movie night and a baptism.
Ramiro has been really hard to get a visit with due to his work schedule. He genuinely wants to learn more about his relationship with God. We taught him the Restoration in our last visit and the entire time he asked us questions and took notes on scripture references.
We have so many more great people! But I don´t have much time. This was a good week. I really felt the Lord working through me. It is an indescribably great feeling!
¡Hasta luego!
Love,
Elder Buchkovich
Monday, May 23, 2011
BUSY BUSY BUSY
¡Hola!
Sorry I don´t have much time. The work here is really taking off! I don´t have much time to write because I spent most of my hour of email time updating President Hinckley in our weekly report letter.
The greenie, Elder Salmon, is really great. Elder Allphin is doing a great job training him. He´s from Alabama, so it´s nice not to have another Utahrd. haha. He´s really nice. Took Spanish in high school so he knows a good bit for an new elder. although we still have to help him out a ton. it makes me appreciate how much i´ve improved in my spanish. i have to be quick to set a good example.
We are going to have a baptism this Saturday! Her name is Yessi. She is 18 years old. We met her when she came to stake conference with a member friend, Margareth. Yessi is super prepared! I can´t wait for her baptism!!!
Well I am sorry it is so short!
¡Hasta luego!
Love,
Elder Buchkovich
Sorry I don´t have much time. The work here is really taking off! I don´t have much time to write because I spent most of my hour of email time updating President Hinckley in our weekly report letter.
The greenie, Elder Salmon, is really great. Elder Allphin is doing a great job training him. He´s from Alabama, so it´s nice not to have another Utahrd. haha. He´s really nice. Took Spanish in high school so he knows a good bit for an new elder. although we still have to help him out a ton. it makes me appreciate how much i´ve improved in my spanish. i have to be quick to set a good example.
We are going to have a baptism this Saturday! Her name is Yessi. She is 18 years old. We met her when she came to stake conference with a member friend, Margareth. Yessi is super prepared! I can´t wait for her baptism!!!
Well I am sorry it is so short!
¡Hasta luego!
Love,
Elder Buchkovich
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
A Death and a Birth(missionary jargon)
¡Hola!
It was really sad to see Elder Hansen leave. He was such a great missionary! We worked really hard as a companionship. We had the trust of the members and we had a lot of success. I hope I can keep it all going. He was also the best district leader I have had so far. I learned so much from him! Well I am going to stop talking about him before I get too sad. It was really weird seeing a missionary "die" (go home). Usually at transfers you know there is a good chance of seeing your old companion again at zone meetings, in the mission office, etc. But with Elder Hansen, I won´t see him anymore during the mission. It´s super sad.
Yesterday, Elder Allphin left with Elder Hansen to Barcelona. Elder Hansen was obviously going to Barç because he is going home. Elder Allphin went with him because early this morning he had a meeting on how to train new elders. Yep, Elder Allphin is going to train this transfer. And his companion, Elder Greep, is now my companion! We are very excited! Elder Greep and I came in together! This means no more being junior companion! (we are listed as "special assignment). So as a recap...the changes in Tarragona are as follows: Elder Hansen´s new area is South Jordan, UT, and his new companion....well he´s going to start looking for her this week ; ]. Elder Allphin is staying in Tarragona B with a new elder. (we still don´t know anything about the new elder). And Elder Greep and I are working in Tarragona A (my area before). Elder Greep and I have a lot work ahead of us, but we plan on continuing Elder Hansen´s success here!
This week we finally set a fecha bautismal con Yessi. She is really excited to get baptized, but is worried about how her family feels about it. When she told them, they were not too pleased at all. Since she is 18, she can get baptized without her parents´ approval, but we still want them to be okay with it. We told her to keep praying. To pray about the truth of our message, to pray for strength and courage in talking to her family, and to pray for her family to accept her baptism. The next day we got a text from Yessi. She was super excited because she had gained the approval of her mom to get baptized. The Lord answers our prayers! I know that slowly the Lord with soften the hearts of the rest of Yessi´s family.
Well I took forever writing President Hinckley this week, so I don´t have much time. That is all I will write for today.
¡Hasta luego!
Love,
Elder Buchkovich
It was really sad to see Elder Hansen leave. He was such a great missionary! We worked really hard as a companionship. We had the trust of the members and we had a lot of success. I hope I can keep it all going. He was also the best district leader I have had so far. I learned so much from him! Well I am going to stop talking about him before I get too sad. It was really weird seeing a missionary "die" (go home). Usually at transfers you know there is a good chance of seeing your old companion again at zone meetings, in the mission office, etc. But with Elder Hansen, I won´t see him anymore during the mission. It´s super sad.
Yesterday, Elder Allphin left with Elder Hansen to Barcelona. Elder Hansen was obviously going to Barç because he is going home. Elder Allphin went with him because early this morning he had a meeting on how to train new elders. Yep, Elder Allphin is going to train this transfer. And his companion, Elder Greep, is now my companion! We are very excited! Elder Greep and I came in together! This means no more being junior companion! (we are listed as "special assignment). So as a recap...the changes in Tarragona are as follows: Elder Hansen´s new area is South Jordan, UT, and his new companion....well he´s going to start looking for her this week ; ]. Elder Allphin is staying in Tarragona B with a new elder. (we still don´t know anything about the new elder). And Elder Greep and I are working in Tarragona A (my area before). Elder Greep and I have a lot work ahead of us, but we plan on continuing Elder Hansen´s success here!
This week we finally set a fecha bautismal con Yessi. She is really excited to get baptized, but is worried about how her family feels about it. When she told them, they were not too pleased at all. Since she is 18, she can get baptized without her parents´ approval, but we still want them to be okay with it. We told her to keep praying. To pray about the truth of our message, to pray for strength and courage in talking to her family, and to pray for her family to accept her baptism. The next day we got a text from Yessi. She was super excited because she had gained the approval of her mom to get baptized. The Lord answers our prayers! I know that slowly the Lord with soften the hearts of the rest of Yessi´s family.
Well I took forever writing President Hinckley this week, so I don´t have much time. That is all I will write for today.
¡Hasta luego!
Love,
Elder Buchkovich
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Conferencia de la Estaca de Hospitalet
¡Hola!
This week was stake conference. The stake center is in Hospitalet, which is the last metro stop south in Barç. The ward filled up two buses to make the 1 or so long trip up to barc. This was a miracle in itself. The Bishop was so pleased that they had to get a second bus. We got to ride up with the ward in one of the buses. it was really good because we got to talk to members and build up our relationship with them. I realized on the way there that no matter where you are in the world, members are exactly the same! You have the same stereotypes of different groups of members. And everyone always ends up singing hymns to pass time! haha. The bus ride was beautiful! Many times the coast was in view from the highway. You looked out one direction at sea and the other direction at mountains covered in trees. Absolutely beautiful. Right outside of Barç there is this really cool cemetary. The cemetaries here are buildings. And this particular one covered and entire hillside!
Conference was amazing! The speakers were all really good. First the stake president gave a moving talk about Joseph Smith. Then three returned Spanish sister missionaries shared their testimonies. Israel from Lleida who is about to serve in San Francisco also bore his testimony. After the intermediate hymn, two general authorities from the Area Presidency spoke. I don´t remember the name of one of them. Elder Caussé (or something like that) spoke last. He is French. He spoke in English, pausing after every other sentence for someone to translate into Spanish. I actually found myself listening more the Spanish than the English. The choir sang really beautfully too.
I got to see a lot of members from Lleida! It was really fun. They were all excited to see me. It made me feel loved! I hadn´t had a chance to get a picture with Mario, the ward mission leader, before leaving. I was finally able to take a picture with him.
The conference was not held in our stake center. It was held in the new Barcelona stake center. The new stake center opened just recently in January. It is the most expensive stake center in Europe! ¡Es super guay! You walk in and your jaw just drops! There are three floors. And a hardwood basketball court! It´s hard to explain. I didn´t take many pictures because I was too distracted talking to people. But some of the other elders did. I will get the pictures from them. Apparently the elders in Barç get quite a few new references each week from people stopping by to see what that beautiful building is.
Well that´s all exciting that really happened this week. We are really excited for the near future in Tarragona. Everyone we are teaching is a member reference. Thus, there is a lot of potential! This is the way missionary work is supposed to happen- member references!
¡Hasta luego!
Love,
Elder Buchkovich
This week was stake conference. The stake center is in Hospitalet, which is the last metro stop south in Barç. The ward filled up two buses to make the 1 or so long trip up to barc. This was a miracle in itself. The Bishop was so pleased that they had to get a second bus. We got to ride up with the ward in one of the buses. it was really good because we got to talk to members and build up our relationship with them. I realized on the way there that no matter where you are in the world, members are exactly the same! You have the same stereotypes of different groups of members. And everyone always ends up singing hymns to pass time! haha. The bus ride was beautiful! Many times the coast was in view from the highway. You looked out one direction at sea and the other direction at mountains covered in trees. Absolutely beautiful. Right outside of Barç there is this really cool cemetary. The cemetaries here are buildings. And this particular one covered and entire hillside!
Conference was amazing! The speakers were all really good. First the stake president gave a moving talk about Joseph Smith. Then three returned Spanish sister missionaries shared their testimonies. Israel from Lleida who is about to serve in San Francisco also bore his testimony. After the intermediate hymn, two general authorities from the Area Presidency spoke. I don´t remember the name of one of them. Elder Caussé (or something like that) spoke last. He is French. He spoke in English, pausing after every other sentence for someone to translate into Spanish. I actually found myself listening more the Spanish than the English. The choir sang really beautfully too.
I got to see a lot of members from Lleida! It was really fun. They were all excited to see me. It made me feel loved! I hadn´t had a chance to get a picture with Mario, the ward mission leader, before leaving. I was finally able to take a picture with him.
The conference was not held in our stake center. It was held in the new Barcelona stake center. The new stake center opened just recently in January. It is the most expensive stake center in Europe! ¡Es super guay! You walk in and your jaw just drops! There are three floors. And a hardwood basketball court! It´s hard to explain. I didn´t take many pictures because I was too distracted talking to people. But some of the other elders did. I will get the pictures from them. Apparently the elders in Barç get quite a few new references each week from people stopping by to see what that beautiful building is.
Well that´s all exciting that really happened this week. We are really excited for the near future in Tarragona. Everyone we are teaching is a member reference. Thus, there is a lot of potential! This is the way missionary work is supposed to happen- member references!
¡Hasta luego!
Love,
Elder Buchkovich
Sunday, May 1, 2011
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