Over Target - Sobre Pasado la Meta

Elder Read says they are all fine!  He's getting on well with his companion and they are good friends.  Not only that but they had a goal in the Mission to find 555 investigators in the week and they found.....................558.  And Elder Read and Elder Hampel found five of them.

It was a really high goal and they had to work really hard to achieve it.  On Sunday night they were working until 22.45 and had to run to the flat to get back in time!  And they got back all hot and sticky so they had to have a shower.  But it was worth it!  They found much by the way of miracles.  One, a lady who was very well prepared, they found in the street.  An ambulance had just taken her son, who had psychiatric problems, to hospital so they shared some of the plan of salvation with her.  and she loved it!!!  They gave her a Book of Mormon, and at the end of their talk with her she was crying.  She really was in need of the gospel in her life at that time!  And much more besides.

On Monday of last week the whole District went to the highest hill in Cartagena.  Elder Read had already been up it three times so he knows it pretty well.  When they reached the top most of the group were rather tired but, at 16:00, they had a prayer together.  Above Cartagena they asked Our Father in Heaven to help them achieve their goal for that week.  And it worked!!  He believes the District found more than 20 new investigators last week.

Entonces el lunes pasado llevé a todo el Distrito al monte mas alto de Cartagena. He subido como 3 veces ya, entonces lo conozco bastante bien. Cuando llegamos arriba, muchos de nosotros estuvimos muy cansados. Pero a las 16:00, nos juntamos hicimos una oración. Encima de Cartagena pedimos a nuestro padre celestial ayuda para conseguir nuestra meta esta semana. Funcionó. Creo que como distrito conseguimos mas de 20 nuevos esta semana. ya solo hay que poner fechas ha cada uno

Elder Read dice:

Nosotros estamos bien. Me llevo bien con mi compañero, somos muy buenos amigos :) Ésta semana tuvimos una meta muy alta para la misión. Encontrar 555 nuevo investigadores. Y conseguimos............... 558 :D Mi compañero y yo encontramos 5 :) Era una meta muy alta y nos esforzamos tanto por conseguirla. 

Ayer estuvimos trabajando hasta las 22:45. Tuvimos que correr hasta el piso para no llegar tarde. Llegamos super sudados y tuvimos que ducharnos sí o sí. Encontramos por mucho por medio de milagros. Una, una mujer que estaba muy preparada, la contactamos por la calle, la ambulancia acabó a llevar su hijo al hospital que tiene problemas psiquiátricas. Compartimos con ella un poco del plan de salvación y le encanto. Le regalamos un Libro de Mormón, al final de la charlita ella estaba llorando. Realmente necesitaba el evangelio en su vida en ese momento. Y muchos mas también. 

Well, all the District climbed the hill except Elder Rodriguez and his companion.  This Elder Rodriguez, who appears in several photos with Elder Read, was his companion at the MTC and they're serving in the same district, which means that Elder Read is Elder Rodriguez' district Leader.  They had an exchange together this week and he  says Elder Rodriguez is his best friend. 

Bueno. casi todo el distrito, menos Élder Rodríguez y su compañero subieron al monte. Élder Rodríguez es mi compañero del CCM :) Y ya estamos en el mismo distrito :D Tuvimos un intercambio esta semana juntos :) Es mi mejor amigo. 

Haciendo compras , un intercambio de Elder Tenney mi Líder de Zona. Tuvimos el mismo entrenador, o sea es mi Hermano en la misión - Elder Wright :D Y tiene coche (Carro) 

Doing the shopping - above.

On an exchange with Elder Tenney who is his Zone Leader - and he's got a car!  Elder Read describes him as his brother in the mission as they had the same trainer - Elder Wright.

555 - or One Investigator a Day - o Un Investigador Diario

Elder Read at the Cartagena Zone Training Meeting last week. Note that he is with Elder Rodriguez again.  I'm trying to find out if he is his Zone Leader.
Elder Read al Entrenamiento de la Zona de Cartagena la semana pasada. Esta con Elder Rodriguez. Estoy tratando a descubrir si es su Lider de la Zona.

This is Elder Read's new Address:
Su  nueva dirección es:  

Paseo Alfonso XIII Numero 68, 9B 

30203

Cartagena 

Murcia

España

Elders Pascua and Tenney with a reminder of what's coming this week. The Mission has a goal to find 555 new investigators in one week.  The most we have ever found in a week is 234.  Please pray for us to be led to them, or for them to be led to us!   In one week, says Elder Read!  He says it means that each companionship needs to find at least 7 this week or, in other words, one investigator a day. And in the month of September they are going to baptise 100 of God's children.  He's very excited.

The other day, when Elder Read was attending the Cartagena zone Training Meeting - photo above - the Mission President taught them how to phrase the questions they put to their investigators in such a way as to elicit a response from them.  They practised this and are now doing it for real - and it really works!  

Another lesson they had to learn is that some investigators don't want to progress. This war is very real.  Elder Read has had a confrontation with Satan and testifies that the priesthood exists and has power over land and sea.  It has power over all.  He is very grateful that he holds the priesthood and that God has given it to man, because without it we are lost.

Pues esta semana tenemos la meta como misión de encontrar a 555 nuevos investigadores. ¡En UNA semana! Cada compañerismo tiene que encontrar por lo menos 7, o sea uno cada día. Y en el mes de Septiembre vamos a bautizar a 100 de los hijos de dios. ¡¡ESTOY MUY ANIMADO!! 

El otro día para entrenamiento de Zona el presidente nos enseñó como sacar las necesidades de la gente con preguntas directas e inspiradas. Hicimos una practica y luego lo pusimos en practica en la enseñanza real. Funcionó bastante bien. 

Otro lección que fue necesario a aprender es que unos investigadores no quieren progresar.  Entonces tuvimos que dejar uno de ellos esta semana. ¡ Pero así es!  

Ésta guerra es muy real. Durante mi misión he literalmente tenido una confrontación con el diablo  y el sacerdocio existe y tiene poder sobre la tierra y mar. Tiene poder sobre todo. Y estoy muy agradecido que lo tengo y que dios lo dio al hombre. Porque sin ello seriamos perdido. 

Siguen tres fotos sin titulo:

Now follow three photos without captions:

Success in a Whitewashed Area - Exito Trabajando Desde Cero

A transparent name tag.

Etiqueta transparente con el nombre 

Elder Read and his companion Elder Hampel are in a whitewashed area.  In other words, they have started from zero.  However, last week they found six new investigators and the week before they also found six. And they've been teaching a lot in the street.  Elder Hampel's Spanish is improving a lot and they are excited by teaching all the new people.

They have some really excellent investigators who have a lot of faith and really seem to be prepared to listen.  We'll await to hear what happens with interest.

As I thought, they can't have a car because there aren't enough to go round, but they might be able to divide the area.

Pues hemos estado trabajando desde cero. La semana pasada encontramos 6 nuevos investigadores y la semana anterior también otros 6. Y hemos estado enseñando mucho en la calle. Mi Compañero esta mejorando su español mucho :) Estamos muy animados para trabajar con esos nuevos :) 

Another sunrise.  How lovely!

Que linda salida del sol!

You may remember Elder Read sending us a photo of him with this Elder Rodriguez before.  Last time it was in the mission home, whereas this time it's in a chapel; which one, he doesn't say.

De repente ustedes pueden acordarse otra foto de Elder Read con este Elder Rodriguez hace unos meses.  La otra vez fue en la casa de la misión.  Esta vez es en la capilla. 

Dice Elder Read: 

Pues esta semana encontramos algunos investigadores que son buenísimos. Tienen mucha fe y parece que están muy preparados para escucharnos. Lo que pasa es que parece que quieren ayuda para tener comida para la madre porque se van a Alicante por un rato. 

Y el presidente nos dijo que no vamos a poder tener coche porque no hay suficiente. Vamos a ver si podemos dividir el área mejor. 

Sweet Reunion Story

This photo, which I posted a couple of weeks ago, has appeared today on the Mission blog with the caption below.

Here is a sweet reunion story about Elder Buckway (left) and Elder Read (right).  They didn't know each other before the mission.  Several months ago, Elder Read's mom saw a photo of Elder Buckway on the blog, and thought he looked a lot like the Elder Buckway who baptized her in France in the 1980's.  She contacted us, and we contacted Elder Buckway, and learned that it was Elder Buckway's uncle who baptized Elder Read's mother so many years ago. They have been able to communicate with each other after decades without contact.  What a wonderful tender mercy for Sister Read and Elder Kim Buckway.  I wonder what reunions like this will happen in the future with our current missionaries' newly baptized converts?

El blog que desapareció. The Blog that disappeared: A hard week but very good. The bishop says they need a car!

This is now the second version of  the blog as for some reason it completely disappeared last night.  Let's hope it doesn't disappear again, but this time I'm taking a copy of it.

Eso es la segunda versión del blog porque desapareció anoche. Esta vez lo he copiado.   

Estas fotos son de la semana pasada, cuando Elder Read primeramente conoció a Élder Hampel :) 

As one comment put it: The smile says it all!   La sonrisa dice todo!
As you can see from the three hymns, this was taken last Sunday. Es evidente a causa de los tres himnos que se tomó la foto el domingo pasado.  In case you were wondering, the hymns are:    
72          Creo en Cristo                              I Believe in Christ
118        Asombro Me Da                          I Stand All Amazed
147        Recojamos los Destellos                Capture Sunshine, which isn't in our hymnbook.

Agotado después estudiar.  Worn out after studying.

Now for Elder Read's report in English - for the second time!!

He says that the last week was quite hard as far as work goes, but he doesn't elucidate.  However, he and his companion feel absolutely fine as they received all the strength they needed - so all is well.

Elder Read's companion "is great."  He comes from North Ogden, Utah, which is about 20 minutes north of Salt Lake City and speaks Spanish well, although at times he gets rather frustrated.  I understand the feeling well as the word you want just isn't there.  You know it when you hear it but you haven't got it when you want it!  However, Elder Hampel is learning the language really quickly.  They always speak Spanish when they're out of the flat.

Their investigator Joao is progressing little by little, but the Word of Wisdom can often be a problem so he's not ready for the target date for baptism.  They'll see what happens.

They are working with a family where one half is active and the other less-active, so their target s to get them back to the temple within a year.  The Elders were going there for Family Home Evening on Monday and were going to talk about the temple.

As Elder Read now leads six companionships, including his own in his district, they are about to divide the area.  The sisters will take the city while Elder Read and Elder Hampel will travel to the surrounding towns and villages.  The bishop told Elder Read that they would need a car as the bus timetables were such that otherwise they would waste an awful lot of time travelling.  He was going to speak to the Mission President on Monday, but with the influx of missionaries there must be a great shortage of cars.  However, if it's the Lord's will, then they'll have one and they'll have to watch a very amusing DVD probably produced by President Shamo on not misusing the car.

These three photos below were taken on P-Day on Monday, which they spent in the old quarter of Cartagena, which Elder Read says is really beautiful.  When his mission is over we'll all go back to the Spain, meet the members and missionaries, and explore places like this.

What a beautiful sunset!    Que linda puesta del sol!

La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los............
A literal translation:  The Church of Jesus Christ of the Saints of the Latter Days.

Elder Read dice:
¿Como están? Nosotros estamos muy bien :) Hoy fuimos a pasear por la parte antigua de Cartagena. ¡Super bonita! Les estoy enviando fotos - arriba. 

Bueno, que les cuento, esta semana a sido un poco dura en el sentido del trabajo. Pero mi compañero y yo nos sentimos muy bien, y sentimos que nos hemos esforzado lo mas que pudimos, entonces todo está bien :) Mi compañero es super bueno. Es de North Ogden Utah. Hable el español muy bien, aveces se pone un poco estresado por causa del idioma pero está aprendiendo super rapido.  (Entiendo muy bien sus sentimientos porque se pasa a mi.  Conozco la palabra pero no puedo recordarla: muy frustrante!)

Siempre le hablo en español fuera del piso. 

Joao va poco a poco. Como es normal con unos investigadores, continua a tener problemas con la Palabra de Sabiduria. entonces va a perder la meta de su bautismo.... Pero todavía vamos a seguir ayudando le y apoyando le. Vamos a ver que pasa.

Estamos trabajando con una familia donde la mitad son menos activos y la otra mitad son son activos. Nuestra meta es que se pueden ir a templo juntos otra vez dentro de un año. Vamos a hablar con ellos sobre los templos esta noche para la noche de hogar. 

Van a dividir nuestra área. Están enviando Hermanas a nuestro barrio. Nosotros vamos a tener todos los pueblos y las Hermanas se van a quedar con la cuidad. Estuve hablando con el obispo y nos dimos cuenta que vamos a necesitar un coche para poder lograrlo. Voy a hablar con el Presidente hoy para ver lo que dice. Espero que nos dan uno porque si no va a hacer muy difícil con los horarios de bus y vamos a perder un montón de tiempo, osea, un coche es necesario.  Ojala se pasara, pero con la afluencia de misioneros no hay suficiente de carros.  Sin embargo, si es la voluntad del Señor los tendrán.