The Firehose is Back On

August 24, 2015

With Elder Pena

Just when I thought I had the mission thing figured out it got turned upside down and inside out. From a branch of 15-20 to a ward of 140, from a companion with an American background and members there whole lives to a companion from Peru who speaks only Spanish and is the only member of his family, from a tranquil city in northern Spain to a city just outside Madrid. We ain't in Kansas any more. And I love it all. It is great to be here and fun to be learning alongside Elder Peña who is a humble powerful teacher who loves all. I thought after getting adjusted to the mission field the Firehose of learning and adjusting and transitioning wouldn't come back on. But it's back on and I get to learn and experience more. I am grateful for this experience that I am having because it is helping me to learn and grow.

BYU Basketball Team

Lesson 1 from Torrejón. One night this last week we had the privilege of going to a BYU basketball game in the center of Madrid. It was a great experience and really fun to take our recent convert Paul to. There were probably 50+ missionaries there from throughout Madrid. Lesson learned, every person is on a different level of learning and understanding and it doesn't really matter how much time we have in the mission. I loved being able to see some of my missionary heroes there that have taught me so much and really I could see why they were different, they did what was right even in a crowd. In this they followed the example of Jesus Christ. I have been reading and studying about the life of Jesus Christ in my studies and never did he let the will of anyone but the Father influence His decisions. This is lesson 1 from Torrejón stand for the right in any situation.

Lesson 2 the Lord has a plan for me even when I don't know it. I love it here in Torrejón and the members here are great. I am going to be honest though and say it's been a bumpy transition. It was hard to leave my zone of comfort and friends and family in Pontevedra, to come to an area that I don't know but I know that the Lord has a plan for me and that as I do my best to work hard, and pray for his help he will always be there for me. He is molding me and changing me in ways that I never thought possible. I know that He is my Master and that as I obey His will for me He will create me to be the person that I can best be. I know that to be true for all of us as well.

I love you all and pray for you,
Elder Gustafson

The Boomerang

A castle from the train window.

August 17, 2015

This week has been a week incomparable to all the rest. This last week has been like the "Boomerang". A little explaining. This last week has been festivo in Pontevedra and along with any great festivo come carnival rides. There is one ride called the Boomerang that is like the pirate ship that swings back and forth except that you are strapped in and do full loops upside down. For PDay last week we went and rode on the Boomerang and it really is how our week went. First of all Victor. His baptism did not go through this week. We decided to take some more time before his baptism to make sure that he understands the covenant that he is making. Along with that decision came a lot of prayer and thought about him and what he most needs. We met with him everyday, to listen and try to bring the Spirit into his life, but with all that he needs more time. It was one of the hardest things I've had to do to tell him that we would have to wait because I love him but sometimes we must do hard things to help those we care about. So Victor will get baptized one day I have no doubt but that day will again come in the Lord's timing and not mine.

Second, on Friday we received a message from a recent convert family that they have decided to take a break to rethink the church. It was super sad because they had stopped coming to church because both parents work on Sundays and because of that they have been caught up in the world. But we had already set a lunch appointment to visit their branch mission leader and so afterwards went and stopped by their house. They weren't answering their phones or their door and so we went back to the car and wrote them a little note. As we were writing the dad came out and invited us up. We went and had a really great spiritual experience with them. Talking about some of the things that they are going through right now and how the Savior is always here for us no matter where we are in life or what we are going through. I know that really this is true that when we have great weeks or we have difficult weeks or days or hours or minutes Christ is there for us.

Third, I'm leaving Pontevedra. It is not a surprise but it feels like I just got here. I have grown to love the people here and they have really become my family away from home. I am grateful for the time that I have had to learn from and form lifelong relationships with the members and investigators here. I I have been served by and have tried to serve them with all my heart. I will miss them all. When we serve our fellow man we grow to love them. The same happens when we are served. But when we both try to serve each other we form relationships unforgettable. At this same time I am excited for another opportunity to form more relationships and get to know a new area. I am excited to be with my new companion,

Elder Peña. Change is always hard but it is also where we learn the most. I am excited to grow and to learn.

I love the work and I love being a missionary. I love the Lord and I love you all.

Love,
Elder Gustafson

The Changing Power of the Atonement

August 10, 2015

Ice Cream with Klaudia

The Lord truly hears and answers the prayers of His children. Last  Sunday Victor called and told us that he didn't want anything to do  with us which was hard to hear after everything and we plead with the  Father to help him find his way back. On Wednesday we were headed down  to Vigo for District Meeting and we saw standing in front of us was  Victor. We then had the opportunity to sit next to him and talk with  him for the half hour bus ride. He opened up to us and told us about  some of the things going on in his life and that really he wanted to  keep meeting with us. Wednesday after district meeting I went out to  Ourense and my comp stayed in Pontevedra with the other Elder from  Ourense. During the intercambio they found Victor again and were able  to talk with him again. On Thursday morning he calls us saying that he  needs to talk with us. When I get back from Ourense we go meet with  him again. It really is amazing that if we deprive our Spirits of  nutrition that, that will also affect our bodies. As Victor made the small changes necessary in his life, reading and praying everyday, we  saw each day his health and his countenance improve. He called us  again on Saturday wanting to talk with us so again we were able to  have a lesson with him and resolve some of his doubts, emphasizing the  importance of reading and praying everyday. On Sunday we called him  just before church started to make sure he was coming but his phone  was off. As the meeting started in walked Victor ready for church. It  was a happy sight. During church the members were amazing talking with  and showing Victor their love for him as they are so great at doing.

 In Gospel Principles with Victor we taught about the power of the  atonement and there is a story that we shared about a hiker. A man was  walking along a path enjoying his time and listening to the birds  singing in the trees. As he walked he tripped and stumbled over a  little rock. As he picked up the rock that he had tripped over he saw  that it shone and looked beautiful. Deciding to keep his treasure he  put it in his previously empty backpack. He continued walking  occasionally tripping over stones in his path. Some of the stones he  kept in his bag others he threw of to the side out of his path. As  time went on this man's bag got heavier and heavier and the man became  wearier and wearier. He seemed to be tripping over the smallest of the  rocks in his path and each time it took more energy to get up.  Eventually the man tripped and didn't have enough strength to lit  himself back up. Lying in the path helpless, unable to take off the  crushing load on his back, the hiker cried out for help and at that  moment realized there was a Man standing at his side. He removed the  hiker's backpack and helped him to his feet. As the Man emptied the  backpack the hiker could see the worthlessness of all of the stones he  had put in his bag. The Man gave him back his backpack asking him to  do only one thing saying "you might stumble and you might fall but  please don't put more rocks in your pack cast them away" the hiker  agreed to do so and started off on his way reenergized and ready with  a fresh start and a gloriously light pack. But as had happened before  the man tripped and fell. Once again he saw that the rock he had  tripped over looked precious and picked it up. Now was the moment for  him to choose to put the precious looking looking rock in his pack or  to cast it away. We too have this choice in our lives. When we stumble  and make mistakes we can repent and change giving our sins to the  savior who has already paid that price. We just need to make that  choice and as we do it the Savior will be there beside us ready and  willing to take the weight of our sins. 

This morning we were sitting at our table studying when the phone  rings and we go and answer it. On the other end is Victor who is very  excited to tell us something. He told us that he had been  praying  after getting out of bed and he now knew that the Book of Mormon was  true, that Joseph Smith really was a prophet and that through him the  church of Jesus Christ had been restored to the earth. He bore to us a  testimony of the things that we had been teaching him and he told us  that he would like to be baptized this Saturday. Assuming everything  goes well with the interviews that is what will happen this Saturday.  I know that God is in control of all and that he knows better than us  what each of His children need in their lives. I know that the  atonement provides the power and the ability to change lives. I am  grateful that my Savior knows and loves me personally and that through  him I can be changed and overcome my faults and sins.

I love this  gospel and I love my Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ.

I love you all, 

Elder Gustafson

Intercambios (exchanges)  in Ourense.

The Love of a Missionary

August 3, 2015

Preach My Gospel class with Klaudia

I love Pontevedra, all the people here, the people we meet, the members, our investigators, everyone. There were many experiences this week that showed me really how much I love these people.

The first is a really cool lesson this week with a lady that we contacted from the area book. She told us that she wanted to go and sing with us at the chapel because she loves our hymns and singing with the Mormons. We got there and started to talk with her and share the story of Joseph Smith and when we got to his experience in the grove instead of recounting what happened we sang "Joseph Smith's first prayer". It was a powerful way to bring the Spirit and to teach in a different way. (Elder Bartholomew is a great singer and plays the piano really well so it was really good) I have grown to love the power of music and the effect that it can make on my day. In the scriptures it says that a song of the heart is a prayer unto God. I know that it is one way that we can praise and worship God.

Another really cool experience that we had was our lesson with Pili. We invited our branch president to come with us to this lesson and it really was an inspired decision. He was able to explain and testify of the importance of the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ because really there was a period of apostasy where the priesthood was taken from off of the earth. He was very bold in stating what he knew without doubt or hesitation. He went through the events that led up to and through the apostasy with power and clarity that it was amazing to be there. The best part about that lesson is that Pili is continuing to understand and realize that what we are teaching makes sense but more than that even, she continues to read and pray to receive an answer for herself. I am grateful for Pili and the time that she is taking to find the truth for herself. Really she is amazing and has great desires. Please keep praying for her.

We talked with Victor this week and he told us essentially that he does not want to talk with us or see us again. It was hard to hear that after spending so much time thinking about, planning for, and becoming friends with him but something that Klaudia a great example of a member missionary in our branch said during our PMG class really helped me. She said that sometimes people decide to stop meeting with us and it's sad but the progress that we made with them will have an impact in their lives and will not be for naught. I believe that with all my heart. The time spent with Victor was time well spent, we made a difference in his life and will continue trying but even if nothing else happens we know that everyone has their agency to use as they will, all we can do is try to make an impact where we can. I am also grateful that God knows me personally and is willing to put people in my path to cheer me up when I need it.

I love this role that I have right now as a missionary. People sometimes ask if being a missionary is hard and really it is. It is not an easy thing to live the life of a missionary, but it is so rewarding. I think about the points of being a real man as proposed by Brother Parker and really they are the points of being a real missionary, being a real disciple of Jesus Christ. As we seek to do these things we find that we are blessed more abundantly than we can imagine. I am grateful for the parents and all of the priesthood leaders and examples that I have had to learn and grow from to prepare me to be here now. I am so blessed to be here. I am so blessed that I have this moment to meet the best people in the world. I love the people here in Pontevedra with all my heart and I love my Savior. It is because I love those people that I am obedient, and work with my heart, and with that love the work is easy.

I love you all and pray for you.

Love,
Elder Gustafson

Homemade rice pudding

Eating at the Kebap. Delicious mystery meat!

Chorizo from a vending machine, Yummy!

Power of the Lord in Ponteveda

July 27, 2015

Always when we put forth our best effort the Lord blesses us with miracles in our lives. We really have seen that this last week. Elder Bartholomew and I have been trying to put forth our full efforts in all that we are doing whether it is contacting, teaching, being obedient, working with the members etc, and the Lord has blessed us with so many miracles this week.

We were out doing area book pass bys and had one that we kept trying to get to but while we were walking towards the address we would have a really good street contact and then have to turn around and head to our next cita  in order to arrive in time. This happened several times during the week and this pass by just wouldn't leave my head. After English class Saturday morning our cita failed us and we decided to go try this pass by again. We got there and rang the buzzer but no one answered, just when we were about to turn away a man walked up and entered the building. My comp stopped him and asked him if he knew the man we were trying to get in contact with. It turns out that they are brothers. He invited us in and asked us to share our message with him which we did happily. It was a testimony that really the Lord is in control and he puts the people right in our paths right when they need to be there.

Another miracle, we were looking for a less active family that usually has no time for us to talk with them and at the beginning of the week we talked to them through the intercom to their piso and told us that they didn't have time for us but would talk to us when we ran into them in the street. Once again we had a lesson that failed on us and were out contacting in the street when we ran into this same couple. We had a great conversation with them and they invited us over to eat with them. Again in the Lords timing and when we are trying to do our best we are blessed with miracles. Another miracle, we have been going through our old investigator lists and trying to contact them again to see how they are doing. We called one lady named Idoia and told us pretty much that she didn't want anything from us. Alrighty! Another one down. Then we were contacting in the street and we see a woman looking over at us strangely, not all that weird considering we dress differently and stand out two blonde boys from America, but we go up and start talking with her. Turns out that she was Idoia the lady we had contacted but she had had a change of heart and wanted to meet with us. So we had a meeting with her the other day and it was a great lesson and she is a great person trying to do her best in the circumstances that she is in.

Another miracle, we contacted a man named Julio from Cuba, who is a great guy really excited to learn more about our message, but when we called the number he gave us it was his daughter's number and she was super excited to talk with us because she wanted to learn English and so told us that she would come to English class. We then got her dad's phone number and had a cita with him. The daughter came to English Class and at English class told us that she would love to know more about our message as well. It really was a week full of miracles from God for which I am grateful.

I had the opportunity to give a talk on Sunday and I spoke on the power of God to do all things and that we will be able to see and experience those miracles after we show our faith that miracles will happen. I felt the guidance of the Lord helping me to express what he desired that I say. It was a great capstone to an excellent week here. As a branch here in Pontevedra we are not big and we have more members leaving but it is full of some of the best people that I know. They really are modern day Pioneers for the church here in Pontevedra. I believe that the Lord has called each of them to be here at this time because of the power that each one has to make a difference. I know that each one of us has a purpose where we have been called to be in this moment. I love this work, I love each of you, and I love my Savior, Jesus Christ.

Love Elder Gustafson

La Fe Trae Esperanza

July 20, 2015

I love being here in Spain and especially here in Pontevedra. It’s been just another crazy week filled with hard work, crazy adventures, and many miracles.

First crazy adventure starts on Wednesday on our way out to District Meeting in Vigo and then on to have intercambios (I think they're called exchanges in English) in Ourense. So an Elder from Ourense was going to come to Pontevedra and my companion was going to Ourense with the other Elder. Anyways after District Meeting we were leaving when we realized that neither one of us had grabbed the keys that morning off of our study table, and our landlord would be in Madrid until the next night. It was a humbling experience having to call the Zone Leaders to ask them if we could crash at their piso I. Vigo that night after working. But in the end it turned out just fine the next night we were able to get back in the piso. First lesson learned always grabbed the keys, second, when you pray for experiences that will help you to be more humble be ready to be humbled. As frustrating as that adventure was there was still a purpose in it, besides helping me work on my pride. When we got to Vigo that night we had some time until we were supposed to be in piso and it was really cool some of the people that we found. We found one girl sitting on a bench and sat down next to her and started talking with her. As we talked she seemed interested but not a whole lot so Elder Bailey (from Ourense) pulls out a Book of Mormon and we explain it and then read the first chapter with her. When we finished we could see the desire that she had to keep reading. She didn't have a whole lot more time but she agreed to keep reading later and gave us her number to pass to the missionaries in Vigo. This was a testament that the Lord uses flawed servants to accomplish His purposes. Always things go according to His plan even when they don't go according to our own.

Another thing that I loved about this last week is something that my companion taught me. When we are out contacting even though my Spanish isn't perfect I need to be unique with what I say. It is so easy to say the same things overs and over again but as we see those that we talk with as people and not as another phone number or another thing but really as people with whom we can connect we can be better representatives of Jesus Christ because that is what he did. We need to see those on the streets or anywhere in our lives as children of God. There have been a couple of contacts that have really stuck out to me this last week when I was trying to follow the Spirit and be a representative of Jesus Christ rather than a "salesman". The one I'll share includes two ladies one probably in her 90s and the other, her caretaker, pushing her wheel chair. As we stopped them we talked at first with the caretaker who seemed more likely to be interested in our message but because she had to work all the time she had no time to meet with us and just didn't seem all that interested. As we were giving them pass along cards the older lady started to read it out loud, it was a card that said "Faith brings Hope" and had a picture of Jesus Christ on it. The lady looked up at us and said I need more hope in my life. We then got to testify that really the message that we share is a message of hope and happiness. It was a really cool contact that felt different from the others that we usually have. She has no telephone but is always out in her wheel chair by our church building so we are praying to run into them again. I am grateful for the hope that this message brings into my life. Because of this message I know that this life is more than a time to drink eat and be merry because there is more than just this life. I am grateful for the perspective that I can see because I know the Plan of Salvation and I know that when I make mistakes I can be forgiven through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

I love you all, please keep praying for Victor he is going through a hard time and could use your prayers, Pili is doing well and we look forward to meeting with her again when she gets home from vacation.

Elder Gustafson

Love those Pontevedra sunsets!

Gluten Free cheesecake!

Obedience & Blessings

My new companion, Elder Bartholomew

Pontevedra is the best. What a great week we have had full of miracles and amazing people. My new companion, Elder Bartholomew, is amazing. He is a great missionary who is excited to work hard and be here in Galicia. He has been out about a year and I'm excited to be able to work with him. 

This week has been a week of contacting in the streets. Every week we spend a lot of time contacting but this week we made the effort to try to talk with everyone as much as we could. I have seen the Lord put people in our path that are prepared to listen. There are a lot of people who don't want to listen to but every day the Lord has put people who are willing to talk and are great people. Elder Bartholomew and I have made a goal to be as exactly obedient as we can be in all that we do and we have seen the results in that. Besides just seeing the people that we have met and the miracles with our investigators I personally feel happiest and most confident when I know that I am doing all that I can do to obey the rules that have been set out. I know that the same is true for everyone. When we are obeying the commandments from God we feel the true joy that comes from having the companionship of the Holy Ghost.

This week with Pili we had another great lesson about the plan of salvation. I love this lesson because it always gives me a better perspective on life. When we have this perspective about life it is so much easier to be obedient. We are here to learn, progress, achieve eternal life and help others to do exactly the same thing. It is harder to be disobedient than it is to be obedient because when we are disobedient we miss out on the blessings from God and especially the Holy Ghost.

We have seen the blessings showing forth in the life of Victor as well. He continues to feel the spirit as he comes to church, reads, and prays. I am grateful for him and his desires to be better and be obedient to the commandments of God.

This is a great time in Pontevedra with great things coming up and I am super excited to be here with Elder Bartholomew.

Love,

Elder Gustafson

 

A park in Vigo we visited last p-day.

Went to the American store!