Weekly Epistle from Spain - Epístola Semanal desde España

I'm afraid this post is not only later than usual but also shorter as Elder Read is very busy and there is slightly less news.

Lamentablemente, estas noticias son mas curtos que normal y también mas tarde, porque Elder Read esta muy ocupado.

You won't find Elder Read in this photo - but you will find his companion, Elder Rodriguez.  

No se puede encontrar Elder Read en esta foto pero se encuentra su compañero Elder Rodriguez. 

They were going to have a baptism on Saturday but the investigator didn't go to church last Sunday, so Elder Read and his companion decided that he wasn't  ready for the 30th March.   It disappoints Elder Read a lot, but then that's life, he says.

The saga of the suit continues!  He's excited about the opportunity to buy a Spanish one, he says.  For linguists among you, in Peru they say terno for suit, whereas in Spain the word is traje.  And, not surprisingly, there are words that to all Spaniards - yes ALL - are perfectly normal, although they are rude in Peru.  I hope he hasn't had any problems the other way round.

Elder Read says he was flipé - knocked sideways - when he heard that Josh and Thamar had got engaged: and he sends you both greetings and congratulations!!

Elder Read says that his new companion is very good and comes from Barcelona.

He apologises for the fact that his e-mail this week is rather short.  He was also hoping to write to his friends but they had just heard that their new convert, Tomas, was rather unwell and needed a blessing urgently; so they had to go.

Íbamos a tener un bautismo el sábado que viene pero él no vino a la capilla ayer entonces hemos decidido que él no esta preparado para el 30 de este mes. Me da mucha pena pero así es la vida ¿no? 

De hecho estoy animado para comprar un terno español. Y sí, si se llama traje aquí. ¡Que raro en serio! Jeje :P Hay muchas palabras que son diferentes que me da mucha risa. También hay palabras aquí que son normales para todos, TODOS, y que son lisuras en Perú.

Saludos a los misioneros :)

¡¡¡¡Flipé cuando escuche las noticias de Josh y Thamar!!!! ¿Como están? Por favor manda saludos a ellos.

Mi nuevo compañero es muy bueno, es de Barcelona.

Lo siento que este correo no es muy largo, y me gustaría escribir a mis amigos hoy y responder pero acabamos a recibir una llamada hace 5 minutos diciendo que Tomás esta bastante enfermo y necesita una bendición de salud, entonces vamos a ir, ¡ya!

The Two Rs - Los Dos Rs

Apologies for showing this photo again, but this is Elder Read with his new companion, Elder Rodriguez.  In fact, they will be companions from Wednesday, when Elder Wright is transferred to Valdepeñas en Castilleja de la Mancha and Elder Rodriguez, who is Spanish, comes from Alicante.

Elder Read says he's excited about receiving a new companion, but a little nervous about finding his way around the city with him as he still doesn't know everywhere.  

I reported last week that Elder Read's bag was damaged, but he now reports that the wonderful Sister María has repaired it for him.  She  has a husband but he´s not a member. They´re teaching their daughter at the moment. One day the whole family will get baptised.

You will remember that I reported last week about the service they were able to offer to a woman they found in a state of shock in the street, and to whom Elder Read lent his jacket.  He says she´s homeless so she doesn't have any contact details. And he doesn´t want his jacket back either. She needs it a lot more than he does.

Hopefully he'll be able to get a new suit from Primark.

The Mission told the elders and sisters last week that from this week they would have an hour and a half for writing and reading e-mails, and that they would also be able to send e-mails to friends - and vice versa.  However, unfortunately he left the e-mail addresses in his flat!  so he apologises.  

They are spending this P-day in Sevilla as the elders there invited them to spend it with them. It's been raining again both in Huelva and Sevilla - just like home!  But unlike home there's a lot of sun and they're in short sleeves.

He sends his love to everyone.

Disculpas por mostrar de nuevo la foto arriba, pero es Élder Read con su compañero nuevo, Elder Rodriguez.  Escribe Élder Read:

Élder Wright se va a Valdepeñas en Castilleja de la Mancha. Voy a recibir mi nuevo compañero el Miércoles. Él se llama Élder Rodríguez. Es Español. El acaba de servir en Alicante. No te voy a engañar estoy animado para recibir un nuevo compañero, pero también estoy un poco nervioso porque todavía me cuesta un poco encontrar los lugares y sitios de la cuidad. Pero bueno, adelante.
La semana pasada nos dijeron que ya tenemos una hora y media para escribir y ya podemos escribir a amigos.  Iba a escribir a ellos hoy pero me olvidé la lista de sus correos en piso.
Ahora mismos estoy en Sevilla. Los otros Élderes nos invitaron a pasar Pday con ellos. A estado lloviendo otra ves en Huelva. Y en Sevilla. Pero hoy hace mucho sol. Estamos en manga corta.


La hermana María del Mar me arregló la bolsa para mi.

Saludos y cariños a todos!  

Joy in Serving the Lord; Alegría en Sirviendo el Señor

Aqui esta el Libro de Mormon;  Here is the Book of Mormon!

Another fantastic week!  Elders Read and Write already  have four baptismal dates.  Elder read says there's masses of work to do in Huelva, and everyone says they're short of missionaries in the area.  They're still teaching over 20 hours a week and they're finding more investigators and less-actives who need help.  elder Read says they're even having to go on a teach after he finishes this e-mail.  and this is their P day: their day off!  So a P-day is a rare thing now!

Tomás, whom Elder Read baptised last week, received the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday, and is now a Priest.  They are very excited.

But Elder Read says his bag that he carries around with him is damaged as are his trousers.  He only has one jacket and one pair of trousers now.

A few weeks ago the elders were returning to their flat when someone asked them if they could call an ambulance.  He pointed to a woman sitting on the ground and crying, so they said they would but when they did so the emergency people refused to send an ambulance because the woman had already been in the hospital that morning and had been discharged.  She would therefore have to make her own way there.  Someone had tried to violate her and she was shivering a lot.

Because she was so cold, Elder Read lent her his jacket, after emptying all his pockets.  They went to a taxi to ask if the driver could take her to the hospital, but no-one had any money. They then went to the police station beside the chapel but the police wouldn't take her to the hospital either, so in the end the elders called a member who lived nearby, and they were able to take the woman to the hospital.

They finally got back to the flat at 23.15 because of this and the next morning they had to go to zone training in Sevilla, so they didn't get much sleep.

The lady still has Elder Read's jacket but he's not complaining as he knows how important it is to help your neighbour. They had been praying a lot to find someone and to recognise that opportunity when it came - and their prayer was answered!  Naturally he is very pleased to have been able to do this.

Elder Read doesn't know whether this is the end of the story but he does know that the Lord put her in their way so they could help her.  He asks that we should pray for opportunities to serve.and then follow the Spirit when directed.

There are moves next week, when Elder Wright will be moving, but they don't know who will be replacing him.

                                                                           Perú Street

Ya tenemos 4 fechas bautismales  Hay un montón de trabajo aquí en Huelva y todos dicen que hacen falta mas misioneros en la área. Pero vamos a ver :) Ya estamos enseñando mas de 20 lecciones cada semana y estamos encontrando mas investigadores y menos activos que necesitan ayuda. Acabamos de salir de una lección ahora mismo. Es un P-day un poco raro hoy jeje :P Tomás recibió el sacerdocio ayer y ya es un Presbítero. Estamos MUY animados :D Mi bolsa se rompió y unos des mis pantalones. Ya solo tengo una chaqueta para mi terno también.
Hace algunas semanas estábamos regresando a piso cuando alguien nos pregunto si podríamos llamar a una ambulancia. El estaba indicando a una mujer sentada en el suelo llorando. Dijimos sí, pero dijeron que no podrían venir porque ella estaba en la hospital esa mañana y si ella necesitaba ir sola... Alguien trato a violar la y ella estaba muy enferma y se notaba  un montón  Ella tenia un montón de frío entonces yo la dio mi chaqueta. Saqué todas mis cosas, claro. Fuimos a un taxi pero el dijo qué no. Tampoco por servicio (ninguno de nosotros tuvimos dinero). Fuimos a la estación de Policía (Queda alado de la capilla) y ellos tampoco podrían llevarla a la hospital. Al fin llamábamos a un miembro y vive cerca, él vino y la llevamos a la hospital. Llegamos a piso a a las 23:15 por causa de eso, y tuvimos entrenamiento de la zona el día siguiente en Sevilla, entonces no dormimos mucho.

Ella todavía tiene mi chaqueta, pero no me quejo para nada. Sabia qué era necesario para ayudar a los demás. Estaba orando mucho para encontrar y reconocer un oportunidad para servir y ayudar a alguien y lo recibí. Estoy muy agradecido por esa oportunidad para servir a ayudar a los demás. No sé lo que paso con esa mujer al final. Pero se que el Señor nos puso en ese camino a esa hora para ayudarla.

Por favor siempre ore para encontrar oportunidades para servir. Y siempre sigue la dirección del Espíritu en todas las cosas que hagas.

Sí voy a llamar el Mayo :)

Traslados son la semana que viene. Entonces voy a recibir un nuevo compañero la próxima semana. No sé quien todavía. 

And now here are some photos from the Mission that you might rather enjoy:
Y ahora hay fotos de la Misión para ustedes a disfrutar: 

Elder Estrada and Elder Sanhueza having a little friendly fun in the snowstorm that hit a few weeks ago.

It even snowed a bit in Malaga too!  Hermana Wilcox, Moreno and our daughter Annie.

(Note to Elders:  Notice how Hermanas just smile and hold snow--they don't throw it at each other.)

Elder Read's First Baptism - el Primero Bautismo de Elder Read

Two happy Elders!  Dos Elderes muy contentos!

Elder Read baptised Tomas the golden investigator on Saturday and he was confirmed yesterday by the bishop.  This was Elder Read's first baptism on his mission and Tomas said the day of his baptism was the best of his life.   He is very, very happy although it's raining really hard today.

Elder Read is feeling really good today and the whole week is going to be excellent as they have three baptismal dates.

There is a lovely sister called Maria who has taken the Elders under her wing and has been sending us photos, which I'll put below.  She has two daughters, whom they're teaching, so soon the whole family will be baptised.  She feeds them and is now writing to Amalia.

Elder Read says they're working very hard and he'll soon send photos.

This is Sister Maria with them at Sevilla Stake Conference.  Hermana María  y los Elderes a la Conferencia de la Estaca Sevilla.

Elder Read escribió: 

La hermana María del Mar ya me a dicho entonces está bien :) ¡Espero que llegan pronto!  (Enviamos sus zapatos el otro día).

Muchísimas gracias por todo Mamá :) 

¡Está lloviendo un montón hoy! Jaja María del Mar es una Hermana buenísima, estamos enseñando su hija y vamos a empesar y enseñar la otra hija y luego vamos a bautizar todíta la familia :D jeje. 

¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡TOMÁS SE BAUTIZO!!!!!!!!! Y yo lo hice tambien, mi primer bautismo en la misión :D Era el mejor día de su vida, ayer lo confirmamos (por el obispo) y el esta muy, muy, muy contento :D 

Hoy estoy buenísimo y se que esta semana va hacer una semana muy buena. Ayer fijamos 3 fechas bautismales entonces vamos a ver lo que pasa con esas :) Estamos trabajando duro Mamá y pronto te enviaré fotos.

Los Elderes solamente con Hermana Maria.  The Elders just with Sister Maria.

Preparing for a party.  Preparando por una fiesta.

Chairmen!  Mas sillas!