Farewell to Elche

Today we held our final zone conference with the Elche Zone. It was a wonderful meeting with a great outpouring of the Spirit and many emotions. We will miss these wonderful Elders and Hermanas but know that they will add much to the Spain Malaga Mission.

 The Elche Zone

 On the stake center grounds before the conference

Not only will we miss these wonderful missionaries, but we will miss the beautiful grounds surrounding the Elche Stake Center. This last visit to Elche was a memorable morning!

Missionaries in Action!

The night before returning missionaries go home, missionaries and members from the Barcelona area meet at the Portal d'Angel to sing hymns, say goodby, and make contacts.

 Elder Pando leads the "choir" while Hna. Hinckley visits with a contact and Elder Hall talks to a passerby

 Hna. Konopinski sings on her last night in Spain

 Elders Flores and Mitchell flank Elder Quinn on his last night in Spain

 Elder Hall, doing what missionaries do

 Member of Barcelona Barrio 2 join in the singing with Elder Chavez and Elder Flores

 Elder Egan and Elder Nasaeth talk about the Restoration

 

 Elder Evans shares his testimony

Hna. Bennion's first night in the mission, Elder Jensen's last night; Hna. Bustamante is somewhere in between

Concilio Pancakes

Having a pancake breakfast before mission council has quickly become a tradition. The ayudantes put on their aprons early in the morning and begin the cooking. This time they were encouraged and supported by Hnas. Diehl and Walters who kept spirits high by singing!

Elder Hughes was staying at the mission home for a few days and so was able to join in the fun!

Weekends in Barcelona

This is what we do: invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy ghost, and enduring to the end. In short, we baptize worthy converts - those who have developed faith unto repentance.

And most baptisms take place on Saturday, which is one of the reasons we love weekends!

Denise was baptized by Elder Hall last Saturday at the Hospitalet Stake Center. She is a wonderful new convert who is excited to have found the restored gospel and be able to begin a new life.

Francisca was also baptized on Saturday at the Hospitalet Stake Center. She saw Hna. Konopinski and Hna. Grimm in a dream, then saw them on the metro the next day and approached them to find out who they were. She is a woman of great faith. Her daughter came to the baptism and is beginning to learn more about the gospel.

 Gladys was baptized in the Barcelona 2nd Ward. Her husband, Ruben, was reactivated a few months ago and initially Gladys had no interest in learning about the Church, listening to the missionaries or attending Church. But as Elders Jensen and Morales continued to visit and teach, she felt the Spirit and obtained her own testimony.

Every new convert is a miracle. These are three of the recent miracles we have seen!

Transfers

We said farewell to three remarkable missionaries this week: Elder Jensen, Elder Quinn and Hna. Konopinski. They all served well and we will miss them!

 Elder Quinn, Elder Jensen, and Hna. Konopinski on their last evening in the mission

We were scheduled to receive six new missionaries this week, but five of them are still waiting for visas. Only Hna. Bennion arrived in the field on schedule, but we are not worried - she can do the work of six!

 Los Ayudantes (Elders Raban and Morales), Pte and Hna Hinckley, Hna Church, Hna Bennion, at the train station

Looking over the mission field from Montjuic

On the castle ramparts at Montjuic

 

Interviews

The missionaries in the Barcelona area come into the office for their regular interviews with the President every six weeks. So during the two days of interviews there is a lot of activity in what is usually a pretty quiet office!

Elders Hunsaker, Mitchell and Ballard hovering around Hna. Lund´s desk

Elder Nasaeth completes his interview form before meeting with the President

Elder Cranford posing at Elder Bower´s desk

Elder Lara helps out the UPS man in the almacen

Elder Hunsaker helps Elder Jacinto relieve the tension as he awaits his interview...

¡Menorca!

The Spain Barcelona Mission includes the Baleares Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The island of Mallorca is well-known as the premier vacation spot of Europe, and we have four great branches of the Church. We travel to Palma regularly to hold zone conference, interview the missionaries, and meet with the members and leaders.

But we also have one small branch on the island of Menorca. Elder Chavez and Elder Pynes are serving there. Elder Chavez is the branch president and Elder Pynes is the clerk. We have a small rented chapel in Mahón, a city of less than 25,000 people. The branch was created about 4 years ago to accommodate members from Latin America who had immigrated, and at one time there were about 40 members attending regularly, but with the crisis many of those members have lost their jobs and returned to their country. Attendance over the past year has been about 10-12 and we have had a missionary as branch president for past several months.

Elder Chavez has been asking us to visit the branch, but it is a long trip and a small branch. So he found a compelling reason for us to make the trip: he lined up 10 interviews for patriarchal blessings and 8 interviews for temple recommends (including 4 recommends for the first time)!

So we went to Menorca! It was a busy Sunday (18 interviews!) but we had a wonderful time with the missionaries and these great, faithful members. Including us, and English family visiting on holiday, and 4 investigators there were 39 in attendance at Sacrament meeting! Way to go, Elder Chavez and Elder Pynes!

 Members of the Mahón branch with Elders Chavez and Pynes in the chapel

 In front of the chapel entrance

 Hna. Hinckley, with the harbor of Mahón in the background