Hola Crazy Family!

Well I just got done reading everyones emails and I decided my family is nuts haha. TK tells me she just had a Michael Jackson day, Kiana is...Kiana, my dad still makes fun of me. Oh wow I love it! How is everyone doing? I´m doing just dandy. Me and Elder Young are finding people left and right now. We have contacted a ton of people and at the moment we are teaching about 14 different people. Thats a lot compared to none when I got here! Now we are just working towards baptism which is another story. A couple is extremely close though! I would be so blessed to have a baptism in my very first transfer. This week we went on companion exchanges and I got to go with the district leader. We showed up to an appointment and the guy wasn´t there. In spanish we say "nos falla" which means fired or failed us I think haha. So we decided to knock every door in the building since we had nothing better to do. Usually knocking on doors doesn´t amount to much. My companion has only gotten in four doors his whole mission when he has gone knocking. Well me and Elder Laney (District Leader) got rejected for about the first ten doors. Then we knocked on a door and a lady opened. I introduced us and told her what we were sharing. Elder Laney asked if we could come in and she said of course! Wow what luck. So we went in and taught her about the restoration. It was amazing. Right after that we knocked on the next door and it was a 16 year old Spaniard. He let us in too! So after that Elder Laney told me I could go with him whenever I wanted haha. But I told him it wasn´t me. We were really blessed for sure. The United States beat Spain in a soccer game which never happens so we are rubbing it in the members faces. No not really but we like to talk about it. I only know because the members told us. I promise we don´t watch tv haha. President Hinckley is coming in this week and I´m really excited to meet him! Well I better be going now. I don´t have much time. Thank you all for everything. I love you and I know this is the only true church. I love sharing what I know with the people here. Thanks again.Love, Elder Langston

The dealings of Elder Langston with the Kingdom of Spain

Hello everyone! Wow the weeks fly by out here. It seems like I was just barely writing an email yesterday. Anywho...the work is a little frustrating right now but there were a lot of bright points in my week too. Everybody is avoiding us. We have investigators and they seem interested and then when we try to meet with them, they don´t show up. We still haven´t met with Luis yet because everytime we make an appointment with him, he turns off his phone or forgets or...I don´t know! Its a little frustrating. Me and Elder Young actually had success this week, but it was with people that don´t live in our area. The other day on the metro, a man was staring at my tag for like five minutes. I was trying to work up the courage and the spanish in my head to contact him, but he contacted me! He asked me if we were evangelicals and I did my best to tell him we weren´t and we were our own unique church. The church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. We ended up getting his information and he lived close by, but not in our area. We passed him along to some other elders and he now has a baptismal date! How great huh! Also, a man named Niku from Albania really likes me and Elder Young and has been going to church with us even though he lives in a different ward. We had to tell him to go to the other ward and some other elders have to teach him. But we set a baptismal date with him for the 4th of July! So we are having success, but we just don´t have any numbers to show for it haha. I heard a quote that says "There is no end to the good you can do if it doesn´t matter who gets the credit". Maybe I have shared that in the past. I don´t remember but the important thing is people are wanting to be baptized. I´ve been lucky so far being involved in these peoples lives, even if I don´t get to baptize them. I also have a funny story. One of the members here named Jordi is a 45 year old man, but he acts just like a kid. He has an ipod touch and he is always playing with it. The other day he turned on the song "Master of Puppets" by Metallica (not missionary approved) and was singing along with it. Or at least the chorus. I told him I could play it on the guitar and so he whipped out his cheap, nylon string, acoustic guitar for me to play it on! It was hilarious! He turned on the music video on his tv and had me play along hahaha. It was kind of a fun little moment. Every member that finds out I can play has me play their guitar for them. Its a lot of fun. Well I better be off! I hope all is just fine and dandy. I love you all and I know with out doubt this church is true. Happy Fathers day yesterday Dad and Grandpas. I hope it was a good one! I love you all. Love, Elder Langston

2nd week in Barcelona with Elder Young

Whew! I need to write fast! I only get 45 minutes to read and write all the emails. I´ll try to give a good report. Me and Elder Young are working our tails off to liven up our area and ward. I found out that I have arrived into kind of a dead area and we are trying to change that. We have been working a lot with the area book and members trying to find anyone that could be possible interested. It is working so far. We found a former investigator named Douglas from Brazil (go figure) and he seems really interested. Earlier this week we met with him in a plaza and taught him about the Book of Mormon on a bench. He asked perfect questions like how he can know it is true and what he will feel when he receives an answer. It seems like he is ready for the gospel. I think I told everyone about Luis last week. He is the one that approached other missionaries and wants to be baptized. We are having a hard time getting ahold of him because he works out of town a lot. I´m not sure what he does. He was in Valencia almost all of last week. We have a set up meeting with him tomorrow though so I´m excited. I´m just praying it doesn´t fall through! The mission goal is to contact 15 different people a day just on the streets or at doors and me and Elder Young are trying to get 50 a day! We need all the leads we can get right now haha. We visit the members a lot because we need their help. For some reason, it seems like every family has a kid about 5 years old that loves to torture me. Yesterday, it was actually at an investigators house, we were saying the prayer. During the prayer, their little kid was poking me in the eye. The whole time! When his dad finished saying the prayer, he just sat there like nothing happened. He didn´t even look at me and smile! What a little turd haha. Its ok though. I thought the work would be hard here because everybody is catholic. But what I´ve come to find is that actually nobody believes in God or a specific religion. Thats really hard to work with. I know its possible to find people here though. I just have to keep searching! Oh I forgot to tell you what we do for service here. Every Saturday we give english classes and then share a spiritual thought after. It is a ton of fun. Its hilarious to hear them speak english. I wonder how funny I sound to them. Everybody made fun of me before I left about the lisp thing. Now I think it sounds a lot better than normal Spanish! You have to hear it from a native to really appreciate it. Also, everyone here speaks Catalan. Its a mix of french and Spanish. All of the signs on the streets are in this language so its not really helping me learn spanish haha. Its only like that In Barcelona though. Well I better go. I know this church is true. There is no doubt in my mind that it is the one true church. I am so thankful that I was born into it. I have been blessed tremendously. I love you all family and I hope you are all doing great. Love Elder Langston

First week as real Missionary!

Well well well. Where do I even start. This is nuts! Haha everything is just being crammed into my head and I´m trying to sort it all out. I´m serving in the Barc III Norte area and its pretty insane. Barcelona is just a huge melting pot but everybody speaks spanish. And I have found out I really don´t speak spanish haha. In my area we get fed by the members A LOT. The food is actually good. I seriously think I´m getting kind of fat. At least my face looks fat and I´m getting grossed out. Oh well, who do I have to impress with looks out here haha?! The work here is a lot different than I thought missionary would be. When I thought of missionaries before I came out here, I imagined them knocking on doors, going in the house, and teaching lessons. Not the case here. This place doesn´t have doors. There are apartment buildings everywhere and you have to ring their doorbell so they can let you in the building. This usually doesn´t work because nobody is ever home! So we do a lot of contacting on the street. It is really hard to find people that are interested here but me and my companion have made goals to keep trying. This week we are going to talk to everyone we see! Oh and the schedule is different in this mission. We wake up at 7:30 and go to bed at 11:30. I´m serious! This city is all about night life so we have to stay out later to catch people. Oh and its so humid its rediculous haha. These are all just things I have to get used to so its ok. I´m really lucky though. Yesterday I saw my first baptism. It wasn´t my baptism but I was a witness so that was neat. The Elders I´m living with didn´t get to see a baptism for months so I´m lucky. Me and Elder Young are also going to teach a man name Luis who approached other Elders and said he wants to be baptized! He is out of town right now but we are meeting with him on Friday. I guess I´m just lucky! A lot has happened and I wish I could remember everything but that is impossible. President Waddel is going to be my president for about 3 more weeks then in comes President Hinckley. I´m really excited. The Barcelona Mission is booming. A general authority has given our mission the name "The lighthouse mission of Europe". They say we are setting the example to Europe. I think thats pretty neat and I´m going to try my best to live up to it. I know this church is true. I know it is under the direction of Jesus Christ. When I hear all the outlooks on life here, I am reminded how lucky I am to be part of this church. I love you all and I hope I have some good stories for you next week. Adios!

Arrived in Barcelona!!

I´m here and I´m a real missionary now I guess haha. We got here and went straight to the mission office where we met the president, got interviewed, ate lunch and met our companions. People in my group got sent all over Spain but I am staying right in here in Barcelona. My companion is Elder Young and he has been on his mission ten months. I like him and I hope he teaches me a ton. Tonight our plans are kind of weird. My companion is going to go with another elder and teach an investigator while me and another Elder go to a members house and have dinner. I don´t really know what is up. This is all new to me and is a big change. Its a lot different than the MTC. I don´t really know what to think right now but I am just going to keep trying to be the best missionary I can be. Love, Elder Langston


Dear Families of our new missionaries,

We are pleased to inform you that your son has safely arrived in the Spain Barcelona Mission. Hermana Waddell and I, along with the two assistants, met him at the airport. The group of missionaries we received are wonderful young men and women, ready to go to work. Their enthusiasm reflects their love for the Savior and we are grateful for the privilege of guiding them along as they serve the Lord.

Every area in the Spain Barcelona Mission is unique and beautiful, rich in history and tradition. More importantly, each city is full of children of our Heavenly Father, waiting to hear the glad news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Thank you for the trust you have put in us to shepherd your son. Please know that we feel a great responsibility to guide and protect “our” missionaries. We love your sons and daughters as if they were our own. With the Lord’s help, we intend to make their mission experience in Barcelona the most memorable time of their lives.



Sincerely,

President and Hermana Waddell

Departing into the Field!

How exciting! Tomorrow at six in the morning I´m leaving the MTC and heading to the airport for Barcelona. I am pretty nervous about that but I´m excited for the adventure ahead of me! I had an experience at the park this week that really made me excited for the field! This week, the companion I had for the park and I, had really different teaching methods. It didn´t really feel like we were on the same page and I was getting a little frustrated but trying to be as patient as possible. Then he had to go to the bathroom and I had to wait outside of course. While I was waiting for him I saw a man, in about his early 20´s I´d guess, from about 50 yards away, look over at me and approach me. I didn´t know what was going to happen because usually people that approach missionaries don´t have too much good to say haha. But I just sat there and waited for him to get to me. When he finally got up to where I was standing, I said hola and he said it back. His next comment took me by suprise though. He asked me if I believed in Christ (in spanish). Of course I said yes and explained a little bit about who I was and what I was doing. He seemed like really liked the idea of missionaries. He told me he was an Evangelist. We talked about Jesus Christ for awhile and then I introduced the Book of Mormon to him. When I told him it was another testament of Jesus Christ and explained a little bit about what it contained, his eyes lit up. A huge smile spread across his face and I felt the spirit so strong. He was so excited and told me he thought it all made sense! I talked to him a little more and bore my testimony about the Book of Mormon and what it could do for his life and what it has done for mine. It made me so happy to see his excitement. I asked him if he would read the Book of Mormon and if I could send missionaries to his house and he said of course! When I watched him get down on his knees and fill out his information on a referral card with full concentration I felt the purest joy I have ever felt! It was such a testimony builder! He even gave me his email address and name and I gave him my name and email address so we can stay in contact. His name was Sergion and he was from Alicante. I found out that Alicante is part of my mission! I´m hoping I get sent to his area so I can continue teaching him. I´m so grateful for his humility and willingness to hear the message I had for him. I hope it changes his life. I know with all of my heart I was meant to be in that spot at that exact time and that he was lead to me. I know Heavenly Father prepares ways for the gospel to be taught. I´m so grateful for my Savior and His atoning Sacrifice. I´m trying each day to build my relationship with the Savior and I want to do everything I can to become as much like Him as possible. He was truly perfect. I love all of you and I love hearing from you. This mission is changing my life already and I can´t wait to experience the many adventures ahead. Have a great week! Elder Langston