Happy 20th Birthday Elder Taylor Langston

Hey everybody! How are things going? Things are going great for me. Last week was a lot better than the rest have been. The area is starting to pick up! When I got here we had 1 investigator and now we have 6! I feel blessed to be here at such a good time. I´ll update you all on what has happened. Last Thursday I went on exchanges with Elder Raban who is a friend of mine from the MTC. The day before he came I had been thinking about knocking doors by the church but we never got around to doing it. So when Elder Raban came, I took him out to knock doors. The first building we knocked didn´t turn out to anything. But the second building we found a family of 3! They let us in and we taught them the message of the restoration. Towards the end we asked them how they were feeling and the dad said ¨peace, happiness, just calm.¨ It was the perfect answer. He said he knew what we were saying was true just because of how he felt. We asked them to be baptized but the father doesn´t feel prepared. We told him thats what we are here for! To prepare him. He agreed to read a chapter of the Book of Mormon that we left for him and to pray about it. I can´t wait to see what happens! We also received a referral from a member. This member had hired a woman to take care of her mother and she was interested in the church. So we taught her and she has a baptismal date for the 13th of February! The branch is really excited because they haven´t seen an adult baptized in Crevillente for a year and a half. I hope everything works out! Blessings just keep flowing our way! I also received a special assignment this week. The branch presidents kids had a birthday party in the church and my companion and I were asked to be there so we could at least be seen. So I sat down at a table with some kids and by the end of the party I was famous! I told them I was American so they asked if I knew Obama or Michael Jackson haha. We had a good time. Talking with kids is something I´m comfortable with doing. Now we just have to become friends with their parents! Well I think thats about it. I don´t have time to write more. Thank you all so much for the emails wishing me a happy birthday. I´m sure today will be great. Thanks for all the support. You guys are amazing. Have a great week!

January 18, 2010

Hey everybody! How are you all? Is it starting to warm up back home because it is here! I´m trying to think back on everything I did this week. Well, last Tuesday I had to wake up at 5 so we could walk to the train station and catch our train on time to head to our Zone Conference in Murcia. It was a great conference. I feel so blessed to have President Hinckley as my president. Its a ton of fun to listen to him. I learn so much everytime. It was also a pretty emberrassing conference. I got called up to the front of the room with my companion because my birthday is this month and my companion had to say something nice about me. It sounds like I´m in elementary school huh? Well I really don´t like being the center of attention so I was already a little emberrassed, but then this is what he said. Elder Langston, where do I start, he is really good at spanish and everybody loves him, in fact, sometimes the girls love him a little too much. Are you kidding me! Everybody was laughing and I just turned bright red. Then sister Hinckley said she could feel an emergency transfer coming on. So that was my glorious moment in the spotlight in zone conference. I would have preferred something like a hard worker, or a good teacher, but hey I can´t complain right? Right now we are focusing on working with the ward and branch leaders and becoming unified with them so we can see even more baptisms this year. This last week, an inactive member died in a tragic accident and it has really hit the branch. I think they have been reminded of the importance of sharing the gospel and always looking out for other members. It hit me pretty hard too. There was such a strong spirit in the chapel yesterday. The first counselor gave a talk and he was really close friends with the man that died. He actually came to know the church through him. He said something that really made me think. He said, if God called us today, if our time on earth was up, would we be ready? It made everybody, including me, look in the mirror and think about everything I´m doing and what I could do better. I know every single one of us can always get better. We should never settle for just going through the motions. This life is so important. Its a test. I think we forget that a lot and tend to live in the moment, but if we have an eternal look on life everything makes so much sense. I just want you to know that I know God lives and Jesus Christ is our Savior. We really are children of God and He has given us this opportunity to live on earth to progress and become like Him. To have everything He has. What greater love is there? I love you all and I´m so thankful for all you do and the roles you play in my life. Have a great week! Bye bye. Love, Elder Langston

Crevillente

Howdy ya´ll. To tell you the truth there isn´t a whole lot to report this week. Everything is about the same. I´m getting to know the members a little better and starting to get a hang of the area. Its gotten REALLY cold lately. I can stand the cold but I´m not much of a fan of the wind and cold. Last night it was 3 degrees celcius. Sorry I can´t convert that for you. Its been a little tough getting in houses lately. The less actives we go to visit are never home and some have told us to just not come back. Its a little tough but I think things are going to start picking up. Domingo, our deaf investigator, is progressing so thats really good news! He should be baptized this transfer. He is doing a little better with his prayers. In fact he prayed in our last appointment we had with him and I didn´t even know haha. We brought a member with us to help us a little with translation and he was trying to persuade him to do the prayer. Next thing I know my companion and the member said amen. Thanks for the notice! Haha it was a little hard to recognize because we have to watch the person praying so nobody closes their eyes. I guess I need to be a little more focused. On Saturday we helped one of the deaf members with a service project. He is destroying the interior of an old apartment and remodeling it so we helped him out with that. It was pretty simple. He handed me a hammer and told me to get rid of the stairs! It was the most fun I´ve ever had doing a service project. Every boy wants to crush and destroy things with a hammer right? Spanish construction is a little different than U.S. too. The stair case was made out of rock, tile and concrete. Thats about all the news I have for the week. I hope things start to pick up here soon though. I love you all so much and thanks again for all you do. I know Christ lives and that living his gospel is the only way back to our Father. The only way. Have a great week and I´ll talk to you soon. Love, Elder Langston

Hello from Crevillente

Where do I even start. Yes I know that last sentence was a question but I can´t make the question mark key work haha. I guess I´ll start with hello! and how is everybody doing. Everything is good here in Crevillente. Its been a huge change but I´m getting used to it. Its like going from Salt Lake City to Hurricane! Crevillente is just a little town of about 30,000 people. Its kind of a desert area. If I could describe it I would say it looks like...Mesquite mixed with Desert Palms California. Paint a picture for you. question mark. Haha. The branch is amazing though. There are about 40-50 active members. Hey I found the question mark key! Its mixed up with the dash key. Anyway the branch is mostly Spaniards and they are all really nice. They want to see a ward here in Crevillente so they are ready to work hard. They have big expectations for this year and I´m excited to get started. We also have some other little towns in our area that we take the train to. That reminds me. The trip down here was gorgeous! The train goes all down the coast and while it was light outside I could see the Mediterranean sea the whole time. I loved it. My companions name is Elder Forsgren and the only way I can describe him is the nicest guy in the whole world. He is only 6 foot 6 by the way and a red belt in Tae Kwan Doe. Way less scary. He is from a small branch of about 18 members in Idaho and his family of 9 makes up a big chunk of it. He is a really good guy. We don´t have very many investigators at the moment but we are trying to find some. We do have one named Domingo and I have to learn a new language to teach him. He is deaf so we teach him in spanish sign language. He doesn´t know how to read either so that makes it a little tough. He has been coming to church for about a year though and his girlfriend is a member. He is waiting for some papers to finalize a divorce with a previous marriage so they can get married. Then he can be baptized! There are also two members in the branch that are deaf so learning sign language is going to be essential. I´m excited though and I can kind of pray already. Well thats about all I have for the week. Thank you all so much for what you do for me and the support. I know you are making sacrifices and i really appreciate it. I love you all. Talk to you next week! Love, Elder Langston

I'm Outta Here 12/29/09

Hey everybody. Well I am being transferred today but I don´t leave until 3 so I am doing my email before I leave. I am going to a little town called Crevillente clear down in southern Spain. I am going to take a 6 hour train ride today haha. I´m excited but really nervous. I´m not sure what to expect. I´ve heard my companion is about six foot eight and is a black belt in karate. I´ve pretty much given up all hope of being bigger and tougher than any of my companions. Oh well haha. It was so nice talking to all you guys on Christmas! It was kind of hard to hang up but I loved every minute of it. I still have my same habit of pacing mom. I was pacing around the chapel while by companion was on the phone for about the last 15 minutes. I know I´m weird. You can thank Dad. Silvia´s baptism was perfect! It was the most spiritual one I have been to by far in the mission. She is so prepared. Once again she bore her simple but sincere testimony that had everybody crying. She said it was hard for her to not have her husband or the rest of her kids there to support her but she hopes they will follow in her footsteps. She is an amazing lady. She didn´t care if she had support from her family because she knew it was right and nothing was going to stop her. I thought it was a great lesson. Never let anything get in your way to do what is right. Nothing. It sure was hard to say goodbye to all the members last night. When I went to say goodbye to the family I spent Christmas with they had like a family home evening dedicated to me haha. But really it was sweet of them. The dad asked me to share my testimony and by the time he shared his he was crying. I got really close to that family. Oh mom, he said he is expecting us to go over there on my last monday in the mission to eat with them ok? After we said goodbye to them we went to my ward mission leaders house with Jesus and Vanessa. Vanessa pulled a bunch of gifts out of nowhere! I wasn´t expecting that. She bought me some cologne and a bunch of other stuff. I´m going to miss everybody from this ward so much. They have become my family away from home but now its time to go. I hope I can build up the trust and love from the members in my new area so the work can go even better. Well everybody I love you so much. Thanks for all you do. Happy Holidays and I love you.> > Love, Elder Langston

Holy Canoly it's almost Christmas 12/21/09

Merry Christmas everyone! How is everybody doing? Good I hope. Of course it is Christmas season and usually everyone is at least a little bit better than usual. I love this time of year. Call me crazy but I also like the weather a lot more. I´ll take the cold over heat any day. Its been cold and windy lately (Around mid 40´s during the day and freezing point at night) and today its rainy but I love it. I guess the ward found out that we don´t have heating in our apartment so they announced it in church and afterwards a family told us they were going to give us a heater for Christmas. I thought it was really nice of them. I love this ward. We taught Silvia last night. Well actually my companion and the district leader did. I had to stay in with the district leaders sick companion so he could do the interview. I got a lot of reading done haha. The appointment went really well though. We taught her the remaining commandments that she needed to be taught and she accepted them all. She has actually been paying tithing for about the last three months. She will be baptized by her son this Sunday after church. I´m so excited for her! What a great Christmas present right?! Its going to be hard to leave this area, which I am sure is going to happen, but this will be the best way to leave it. With a baptism. I love this ward and the bishop is an amazing man. We had a meeting with him yesterday morning and he was so happy when we looked over what we had done lately. A few families have been re-activated and we will have had 3 baptisms in the ward the last 2 months. I have been really blessed to see so many miracles in my mission so far. This Christmas is definitely different but it is going to be great. I hope you all have a wonderful week as we remember the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and the miracle that it was and is. I love Him so much. I love you all and thank you for all you do. I may be across an ocean, but I can still feel your love just as strong. Talk to you next week!

Weekly Report From Taylor Lynn Langston 12/14/09

Dear Everybody,How is everything going?! From all the emails I get it sounds like you are preparing for Christmas. And did I hear something about snow in St. George? Dang I missed it. Well the temperature is definitely dropping here in Barcelona. I´m sitting here in the internet cafe with my coat and scarf on! I don´t think it will get too cold here though. This week wasn´t very exciting to tell you the truth. It was pretty hard actually. It was full of appointments falling through,so our numbers we reported to President looked pretty bad. It is frustrating but what can you do? Keep trying right? We didn´t even get to teach Silvia this week. She works in a little city nearby during the week and is only in Barcelona on the weekends. She wasn´t able to make it to church but we are hoping we can teach her today. I´m not worried though because she is an amazing lady and had definitely been prepared after all this time. Well as for news that doesn´t really have to do with missionary work, last monday we sang carols on a stage in a plaza next to our new chapel. The thing is we sang in Catalá which is a language they speak here in Barcelona and surrounding areas. I had no idea that they actually speak about 6 different languages here in Spain! It sounds like a mix of french and spanish. It was a lot of fun even if we didn´t sound too great. We are going to do it again this week in the busiest part of Barcelona. We´ll see what happens. I can´t believe this transfer is almost over. I am sure I will be leaving this time and I really don´t want to say bye to the ward. My ward missionary leader has already started taking pictures of me haha. Its going to be tough but the work has to go on. I wonder where I´ll be heading off too??? Anyway, I love you all and thanks for everything that you do. You are all a huge blessing in my life. Talk to you next week! Love, Elder Langston

One More Baptism Coming Up! 12/07/09

Wow this week was great just like the last one! Last night Elder Reynolds and I set a baptismal date with Silvia (the mother of the second counselor) for the 27th of this month! I am so excited for her. She has been investigating the church for years now and has finally decided to take the step of faith. It is just proof that there is a time for everything. Teaching her yesterday was a really spiritual experience. We went over some basic commandments and then I asked her if she had any questions or doubts that we could possibly clear up. Then through her tears she bore her testimony of the Book of Mormon. Of its truthfelness and how it has changed her life. I know the Book of Mormon with the Spirit is a powerful tool in the conversion of Gods children. It really is an amazing book. I´m so thankful for Silvia and her decision to be baptized. It is an answer to a prayer. Our misson has the goal of 400 baptisms this year and we are getting so close. We did a special fast and made plans to invite every progressing investigator to be baptized and we have seen miracles. I believe we now have around 360 in the mission with 70 new dates! It is amazing. It will be a huge increase from the 307 last year. With about 30 less missionaries! Heavenly Father is truly blessing us. Vanessa came to church and bore her testimony. She is really strong. I couldn´t believe how excited she was to pay her tithing. She loves being a part of the ward. Time is flying out here. I can´t believe its almost Christmas! Hermana Hinckley is calling it our white Christmas because we are having so many baptisms. Pretty clever if you ask me haha. Well I think thats about it. I love you all and thank you again for the support! I couldn´t ask for better family and friends. Have a great week. Love, Elder Langston

A Perfect Baptism

Hey everyone! We had the baptism yesterday instead of Saturday and it was perfect. We held it on Sunday so the members didn´t have to adjust their schedules to attend. It really was amazing though. I have never been so stressed in my life! I wanted everything to go perfect for her. The only thing that could have been better was the temperature of the water. I filled up the font a little bit too early and by the time the baptism rolled around the water was a little nippy. Not too bad though. I´m just glad she didn´t gasp or anything like that haha. (I´ve seen girls pretty much scream). Overall it went extremely well. I will send my mom a picture of it for you all to see. She was so excited but so nervous haha! I was sitting next to her during the service and she kept sighing out loud so I could tell she was nervous. The best part was after her baptism when she bore her testimony. She bore a simple testimony of how she knows this church to be the church of God and the Book of Mormon to be true. It made me so happy. She is excited to share the gospel as well! Her boyfriend was there and he loved it to. I want to push them to get married in the temple in April of 2011 so I can be there haha. That would be amazing. Yesterday something else really good happened too. We went over to the second counselors house and talked about his mom. He had just gotten back from her house and she said she wants to be baptized in December before I leave the area! We don´t have a fixed date but I hope it really happens. I put a scripture on Vanessa´s baptismal program just for Silvia (second counselors mom) and I think it worked. Mosiah 18:10. We still have some work to do with her though. Earlier this week we had our conference with Elder Kopischke and it was great. When we asked questions, he went into some serious depth! It was amazing. Elder Awerkamp actually came and stayed with me in my apartment the night before the conference! He is serving a couple of hours away from Barcelona so he came in the night before for the conference. I hadn´t seen him for 6 months. It was good to see an old friend again. I hope Thanksgiving was really good for all of you! I got a package from my mom the day of thanksgiving and I laughed my head off. Turkey jerky, dried cranberries, potato pearls, and gravy mix with stuffing. That was pretty creative mom. Anyway I love you all and I´m so thankful for this opportunity I have been given to serve a mission for the Lord. It has blessed my life so much. I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week! Love, Elder Langston

Baptism Coming Up. Yee Haw!

Hello everyone! How are we doing? I´m doing just dandy and I´m so excited for the baptism this weekend. We asked Vanessa who she would like to baptize her and she chose me so I´m pretty nervous. I hope I don´t have to triple dip her or anything haha. I´m happy I get to finally step in the water though. Its going to be an amazing experience. Yesterday I felt the spirit so strong when we were teaching Vanessa and her boyfriend bore his testimony and told us how thankful he was for the missionaries that brought the gospel into his life. Vanessa put her arm around him and gave him a hankerchief to wipe away his tears haha. Usually its the other way around. It was a really cool experience though. The secretary in the ward pulled a fast one on me again and asked me to speak in sacrament right before it started. Of course the subject was missionary work. I whipped something up in Sunday school and it actually went pretty well. I talked about how we can apply the Book of Mormon to our missionary work and used chapter 18 of Alma to do it. I just talked about the things he did as a missionary step by step and applied it to us today. I don´t know how I came up with it because I was already really stressed. We didn´t have the greatest week teaching wise. We mostly taught in the street and knocked doors. I actually love knocking doors so I was happy. This week Elder Kopischke from the quorum of the 70 is doing a tour of the misson so we have a conference with him on Wednesday. I´m really excited to learn from a General Authority in person. I think thats about all the news I have for the week. I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving (We don´t celebrate here) and get full and fat. We have an eating appointment that day and we always get full so no worries mom. I love you all and thank you so much for the support. Oh! And congratulations on your mission call to Japan Blake. You are going to be an amazing missionary. Talk to you next week.

Hello everyone! I´m still doing just fine out here in Barcelona. It is getting kind of cold though. Good thing my grandma sends me ankle length underwear haha. As for news in the past week, we had a baptism in the ward. It was weird because Elders from a neighboring town were teaching a man that lived in our ward because a lady that takes care of him is a member and goes to their ward. So he was baptized on Saturday and it went really well. It was pretty stressful though because it felt like I was in charge of everything and I had to make sure it went through smoothly. I had to run to the mission office and make programs for his baptism, run to the church and fill up the font, and prepare a message for his baptism all on Saturday morning. It was really fun figuring out how to fill up the font when nobody knows how to do it and the instructions for turning on the water heater are in spanish. I figured it out though so I guess that proves I understand spanish haha. It was a pretty crazy day but it all worked out really good. Vanessa is still excited about being baptized on the 28th. Just like everybody else that is investigating the church, she is having problems that keep coming. People at work are telling her lies and things like that. It seems that Satan always finds a way to throw obstacles in our paths. She is strong though and it really helps that her boyfriend is a member. Just as a side note, the dominican ladies invited me and my companion over to eat with them again on Saturday. They love us for some reason. They aren´t progressing so I wasn´t really expecting much when we gave the message. I started off by saying that all I had on my mind was baptism and explained how it is an essential saving ordinance and that Christ said it himself. I then read her some verses out of the Bible about baptism. Afterwards she kind of just sat there and said "What you have read has touched my heart and I think I need to let you baptize me". It was crazy! I wasn´t expecting it at all. It was an amazing experience because we hadn´t planned baptism as the lesson. It was keeping the sabbath day holy. I know the Holy Ghost directed that appointment. So as of now she wants to be baptized but she can´t come to church because of work. I explained to her before baptism we have to keep certain commitments and show God that we are ready to take upon us the covenant of baptism. We have a little bit to work with but I think she can overcome some of her obstacles. Thats about it for the week. I love my mission! I know this church is true. The small little miracles I am seeing on the mission are strenghtening my testimony and changing my life. I love you all and I hope you have a great week! Love, Elder Langston

Another Great Week!

Well hello everyone. This week was great as usual. It seems like this whole transfer things have just been going really good! I remember I was worried too because I had to take over the area and schedule everything but I guess there was nothing to worry about. Anyway, Halloween was just great. We dressed up as missionaries and went out and taught people. Vicente wasn´t baptized though. I talked to him and he just doesn´t feel prepared to make that covenant. We did take a step forward though and got him to pray specifically about the Book of Mormon and its truthfulness. Another thing, we set a baptismal date with Vanessa!!! She is the one who has the boyfriend that is a member and bore his testimony the week after we found him and invited him to church. We thought they were married but they aren´t. Usually that is a problem because when people are boyfriend and girlfriend here, they live together. Buth they don´t! So we taught her after church and set the date for the 28th of November. I just hope I´m here to see it. Working with her boyfriend is going to be key. It will be such an advantage for her to always be around a member. He is a great guy and really trying to make changes in his life. I also finally got a rope around the second counselor of the bishopric and told him we are going to need his help if he wants to see his mom baptized soon along with his nephew. We set up a meeting for all of us for the next Sunday. If things go good I will see at least 3 baptisms here pretty soon. I just hope I stay! I can´t believe I have already been in this ward for 5 months. Things are going really good in this mission right now. At the end of last year they set a goal to get 400 baptisms this year. Last year they got 307. We are at about 330 I believe with a few weeks a left in the year. President Hinckley did the stats a little while ago and we needed to baptize 11 a week in the mission to reach our goal. So our mission did a special fast and I think we saw 15 or 16 people enter the waters of baptism! I am so excited! I hope I can contribute to the mission here soon. Well thats about it. I hope life is just dandy back home haha. I love you all. Love Elder Langston

Another Good Week!

Hi everyone! Well we didn´t have quite as many people to visit this week but it was still a really good week. I´m trying to think of everything that happened as I´m typing! Well we had english class again but the spiritual thought went a little better this time. Nobody argued at all! How nice right? Afterwards we taught an 18 year old girl in the church. She is actually the zone leaders investigator but she wants me to teach her because she says she trusts me and has more confidence around me and Elder Reynolds. So we team taught her with the zone leaders. One of the zone leaders was really bold with her about baptism to see if she was really interested and she started crying and said "can I do it later because I´m really nervous right now." Haha we explained we just wanted to set a date with her right now. She said she will think about it. I think it will happen. On Sunday we had stake conference in a big theater on the outskirts of Barcelona and it was great. Two members of my ward spoke and it was fun listening to them because they are like my friends here in Barcelona. They have both finished their missions within the last 5 months and help me out all the time. Their names are Elias Guerrero and Hugo Estigarribia. Two of our investigators came to the conference and they loved it! One was the wife of the less active member. Her name is Vanessa and she is really sweet. We weren´t able to meet with her to set a baptismal date though. The other investigator was Emili. He is the Spanish man I have been teaching. I didn´t even know he was there until a member told me. So I went back in to find him and we saw him talking with President Hinckley and the stake president with his counselors! Then when he saw me he said "Langston!" and he came up and gave me a big ol hug!. I think he really enjoyed the meeting and felt the spirit. Anyway, after the conference all the members were out in the lobby area talking and I have never felt so much love from my ward! Everytime I saw someone from my ward they acted so excited to see me. I kept hearing people yell my name and I was getting hugs left and right haha. Its going to be hard for me to leave this area. I really love the people here. The work is tough in Barcelona but the members are amazing. I think we are going to have to push back the date with Vicente. He just isn´t progressing and I want to make sure we baptize a real convert. Thats the motto of this mission. We baptize converts. Well as you can probably tell I am still loving my mission and I love it more and more every single day. I know this church is God´s kingdom on earth and that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to its fullness. I love you all and thanks again (like always) for your love and support. Until next week Love, Elder Langston

A Really Good Week!

Hey everyone! It looks like we have finally found a bit of success. We had such a great week! Last week we only had 7 appointments inside of peoples homes and this week we had 16! We were so blessed! Oh and more good news. The less active man named Jesus came to church again and brought his wife this time that isn´t a member and she told me she wants to be baptized!!! I was so happy to hear that! The tough part is the only day she has off is Sunday and we have to squeeze all the information into a few lessons but it will be easier since her husband
is a member. I´m really excited though. As for Vicente, it is going to take some work to get him baptized on his date. We might have to wait a little longer. He still doesn´t understand that baptism in this church is the ONLY way back to Heavenly Father. He has studied with the Jehovahs witnesses, the buddhists and he reads philosophy so its hard to get those ideas out of his mind. We have explained it in every way possible to help him understand but he just seems really set on his beliefs. He still comes to church every week though. We had kind of a crazy experience in english class this week. Only three students showed up and one was a woman I recognized from a class 2 or 3 months ago. I remembered she liked to argue when we had the spiritual thought at the end. The thing is they have the option to stay or leave for the thought. So I warned my companion and told him just to bear testimony and end it if she started to argue with us. I read Matthew 3 13-17 and explained how the members of the Godhead are three seperate personages. She started swearing! The other two in the class are actually investigator of ours and they were just shaking their heads and
telling her to calm down. We just bore testimony
and closed the spiritual thought. She couldn´t deny testimony. I know that is the way to face objection. It was an awkward experience but it taught me a lot. Well the weather is really cooling down now and I´m freezing my little buns (or lack thereof) off! Luckily we have these little portable heaters to sit next to. I like the cold a lot more than the heat though so its ok. Well everyone thats about it for the week. I hope I have more good news next week. I love you all and you are in my prayers! Love, Elder Langston

I Love my Mission!

For some reason I have been really happy this week. I´m looking at the numbers that we produced as far as lessons we taught in houses and it doesn´t say a whole lot. I´m still happy. On my mission I have been trying to develop Christlike attributes to make me a better person and in turn a better missionary. I decided to focus on charity and love because if you have those two things, you are going to have everything else. Of course we can´t just expect to have the pure love of Christ in an instant. Its a gift from God. So I have been praying for opportunites each day to increase my love towards my brothers and sisters here in Spain and so far I have seen miracles. Nothing big, but miracles. Earlier this week an old man fell down in the street and was crying for help so my companion and I helped him get up and sat him down. Nothing big but it made me feel good. Then an old woman asked us to help her lift her garbage into a dumpster. So we did it. Then an older woman in the ward called me and asked me to come give her husband a blessing because he can´t walk anymore and his memory is leaving him. It made me feel so good to be able to help her in her time of need. Then Saturday night all of our appointments fell through and Elder Reynolds and I had nothing to do. I looked through my agenda and found a less active member and his non member wifes address that was nearby. On the way to their apartment I passed the man I was looking for and asked him if we could set up an appointment and he was thrilled. We also invited him to church. The next day in fast and testimony meeting he got up to share his testimony and thanked me in front of the whole ward for finding him and inviting him to church. He called us his angels. It gave me the most warm feeling inside because I knew my efforts were appreciated. So I guess I have just been happier because I love the people here more and better understand that each person I see in the street is a child of God and He wants them back. I told myself last week that I needed to work harder. I felt like i have been working hard and doing well in the mission but i could push myself harder. 100 percent isn´t enough. As a result of pushing myself harder I have felt happier than I ever have in the mission and am having more success! We set a baptismal date with Vicente for the 31 of October. We are also going to teach an 8 year old boy who´s mom is a member but his dad isn´t. I am so excited to see some baptisms this transfer. I´ve also made a goal to speak spanish as much as I can. Even when I am in the apartment with my companion I am going to try and speak spanish. Anyway thats really all I have to report this week. Everything is going great and I am learning a ton! Thank you all for the emails and letters and the support. I can feel your love from across the ocean! I hope all is well back home. I love every single one of you! Have a great week. Love, Elder Langston

I'm Still Here!

Transfer calls were Sunday night and I found out I´m staying here in the Barcelona third ward. Elder Cranford left though. He went to Alcoy Spain which is a little city in the southern mountains of Spain. He wanted to stay here so I felt bad for him. He took it pretty rough. My new companion is Elder Reynolds from Spanish Fork. The best way I could describe him is that we are opposite body types. That´ll do. I like him a lot. He has a really strong spirit and I can tell he is completely devoted to the work here. We should have success. Wasn´t conference great?! All the missionaries in Barcelona and surrounding areas congregated in the Barcelona stake center and we got to watch it in English. We didn´t get to watch the Sunday afternoon session though and I heard Elder Hollands talk was amazing. I can´t pick a favorite talk though for some reason. I loved Elder Bednars on setting the family in order and saying I love you. It made me miss all of my family and friends though haha. I just love all of you so much. I think this conference was based on love and listening to the spirit or personal revelation. It taught me so much and answered a lot of my questions. When president Packer told his story of the little boy praying for the cow and how his prayer was answered I was overcome with the feeling of how much love God has for us. He listened to that little boys simple earnest prayer and answered it. It made me realize He is always there listening when I speak to Him and always wants to help me. Its amazing how unconditional his love for each of us. It doesn´t matter what we´ve done, what we look like, where we live or any of that. He loves us and always will. This conference made me reflect on my own life a ton. It just made me want to be so much better and work so much harder. I have so much to improve on and its comforting to know with the help of the Lord I can do anything and become like Him. As for the work that happened last week...well there isn´t too much to talk about. Sonia the mexican girl told us not to pass by anymore. She appreciates what we are doing but she doesn´t want us to waste our time on her. It kind of broke my heart when she told us this because I saw so much in her. Maybe one day though. But we are still teaching everyone and trying to help them progress and feel and recognize the spirit. Thats the hardest part is letting them know the things they are feeling are the spirit. Thats a challenge for each of us too. Recognizing when the Spirit is trying to talk to us. We have to listen ever so carefully and seek its direction. Well I´ll stop rambling now and let you all go. I love you each so much! I miss you like the dickens (Grandma Gloria style). I know this church is true with all my heart. It is so perfect. Thanks for all you do and the support and confidence I feel from you. You guys push me to go on. Until next week! Elder Langston

A week of good eatin!

Hey ya´ll! This week was pretty darn fun. I think it was a little more fun because we actually have investigators progressing towards baptism! A few weeks ago Elder Cranford and I went to visit an investigating family just to check up on them and see if they were reading. We couldn´t go inside though because only the little boy was home. So I told Elder Cranford "well lets just knock the whole building." So we took the elevator up to the eleventh floor and started to knock the doors. Just so everybody knows, knocking doors almost never turns out with success here in Spain but we decided to give it a shot. And guess what happened? Success. On the eleventh floor a dominican woman invited us in after we had introduced ourselves but we couldn´t because there wasn´t a man in the house. So we made a return appointment and decided to come back. As of now we have visited with them 4 or 5 times and they love it! They even invited us to eat with them last week and it was delicious. She made hamburgers and ribs and it was rediculously good. Its been awhile for sure. I could tell she was so happy to serve us and it made me feel really good. Its hard to find happy people these days. The only problem is she can´t come to church because she works and she really wants to come. I hope things work out and she can somehow change her schedule. She told us she wants to be baptized! I am really praying this one goes through. This week was also fun because elder Cranford and I got to attend the ward activity. We had to wear our proselyting clothes, but it was still fun. We brought an american football with us to show them what it was all about. The little kids all ran to the bottom of the hill and told me to throw it as high as I could. When I threw it they all said "Whoooaaaaa!!". Haha it was really funny. They aren´t used to seeing people throw things. They kick em here haha. I also forgot to tell you all that Gina moved back to Colombia. Before she left, she gave Elder Cranford and I a bracelet with the Colombian flag colors. I hope she does well over there. Well thats about it for the week. The weather is up and down. About two weeks ago my shoes filled with water it rained so hard and every once in awhile it gets hot again. I just want it to stay cool! But I love it here. I love this mission and I love you all. You mean so much to me. I hope you have a great week! Love Elder Langston

Elder Langstons Report

Hey everybody,Well I´m sorry but I don´t have any exciting news for you this week. Not much is happening but we are just trudging along. I know its alright through. Things are supposed to happen when they are supposed to happen. Or maybe I just have to try even harder. Actually, something funny happened yesterday. A Bulgarian guy called us and said he wanted to meet with us. He spoke perfect english. We met him at a metro stop and he said he had met with some elders in switzerland where he has been living and he thinks its really interesting. As a matter of fact he said he wants to be a member and he wants to know what he needs to do to be baptized. Of course we told him! He doesn´t live in our area and he is going back to Switzerland but hey...its someone getting baptized! It made me happy yesterday. It shows me that people really are ready for the gospel and we just need to find them! I love teaching though. Even if they don´t accept it or want to listen, it gives me a feeling that is unmistakeably the Spirit. Its just pure happiness. Its like I have $100 dollar bills and I´m trying to pass them out to people. If they don´t want it, I´ll try someone else! When times get hard and not much is happening it is comforting to know that I have a testimony of the things I am teaching and everything is going to be ok. As for unimportant news, I sang in the ward choir yesterday in Sacrament meeting. The choir has three men in it. My companion, me and one other member. So I sang the tenor part haha. It was actually pretty fun! The ward I am in is also really getting into missionary work. Everybody wants to help and they are trying to include us missionaries in their activities. I´m so grateful to be in this ward. I hope I stay here this next transfer. I think I will because Elder Cranford has been here almost 7 months! Whatever happens happens. Thank you all for the support and encouraging words. I love the letters and emails. With God on our side, we cannot fail! I love you all.Love, Elder Langston

Guess What...That's What

Just another week of teaching and finding new people to teach. I really wish we could commit some people to baptism! I swear we always get so close and then there is just one little thing in the way or they don´t want to make that kind of commitment. Sometimes our investigators just don´t understand how important the decision is. And although I try my hardest to help them realize, sometimes it just doesn´t sink in. Don´t worry though. I´ll be reporting a baptismal date here soon. Our investigator Vicente is doing great. He has a lot of ideas but we are helping him see THE TRUTH. He really likes what we are teaching and he said he just needs to pray to know it is true. He said that himself and we didn´t have to ask him so thats always a plus! He also said something that strengthened my testimony of the power of the Spirit. At the end of a lesson last week, I told him the next time we would be bringing a member. I then explained its nice to have members present because sometimes they are more experienced with different situations and they also speak the language better. Then he said "The language doesn´t matter. Its what I can see in your eyes and feel in my heart when you are here in my house that matters." I thought that was really neat! It gave me a testimony that the language barrier really isn´t anything at all. I may not speak perfectly yet, but that doesn´t matter because the Spirit can teach a million times better than I ever could. The weather is starting to cool down here in Barcelona and I´m extremely grateful! Its been pretty cloudy and there has been a light raing here and there. I love that kind of weather. I can´t believe fall is starting! I remember last fall I was starting my mission papers and now here I am. Time flies. Sorry I don´t have much to report but it was just one of those weeks. I want each of you to know that I pray for you everyday and I´m always appreciative of your support and love. You mean the world to me. Talk to you next week! Love, Elder Langston

A little bit of Discouragement...but oh well.

The subject says it all! Last week was really hard. We just couldn´t get into a house! A lot of people called at the last second and cancelled the appointment we set up so we would have to go to our backup plans which eventually fell through as well. I shouldn´t complain though. I love it out here. We found two more new investigators at least! A woman from Portugal named Ana that sister Hinckley contacted (I don´t know how because she hardly speaks a word of spanish) and a man named Martín from Colombia. He actually approached me a few weeks ago while we were waiting for a member to accompany us to a different appointment. All of a sudden he walked up to me and asked where our church was because he wanted to find the right church! Talk about being in the right place at the right time haha! We´ve had one appointment with him and he wants us to come back so things are moving right along. I´ve gotten a lot of questions about Sonia in my emails so I´ll give an update about her. We haven´t met with her as often because she isn´t really progressing. The sad thing is she wants physical evidence and others people word instead of finding out for herself through prayer. Honestly I think she just needs a little bit of time. She will be baptized. I might not ever see it but that doesn´t matter. I think she will. We had a great zone conference yesterday with all of the missonaries in Barcelona. Elder Cranford and I had to give a report on how we have applied some principles of a case study that the mission has been studying. Its always a little scary to get up in front of people and speak spanish because I´m not very confident, but it went well. I love hearing president Hinckley speak. He is such a spiritual man and you can just feel his love for the gospel and the mission he presides over. I´m lucky to have him as my president. President also said that we shouldn´t be suprised if we stay in the same area for 6 to 8 months to really get working with the ward. I would love that! I love this ward. It really feels like I´m in my home ward. I´m hoping thats the case. Elder Cranford has already been here 6 months so I think he might be out of here the next transfer. We´ll see. Well, thats about it. There isnt much to report because not a whole lot happened haha. But I love it. I know with all my heart that this church is true. Testimonies are strengthened in the bearing of them and also from hearing them from others. Oh yeah! One testimony that really hit me this week was from a 10 year old girl in fast and testimony meeting. Her parents don´t come to church but she comes every week with a big smile on her face. She bore her testimony about the simple truths she knows with all her heart and it hit me so hard. I love to hear the testimonies of such strong spirits. Well I love you all and I love hearing from you. Until next week. Love Elder Langston

I think I´ll start by talking about yesterday. It made me come out of my shell a little bit. In reality the mission has already done that to me but yesterday was a little different. Elder Cranford and I had to teach all of the adults in the ward about missionary work and how they can help us. We gave examples and did little practices with them. It was a ton of fun and I think they enjoyed it. They are a great ward and really trying to get missionary work going. Really the missionary work is theres and we are here as their servants. They know A LOT more people than we do so it really helps to have them looking for people. After we taught the class, my companion was playing the prelude music for sacrament meeting and I was in the back of the congregation sitting by a family. The ward secretary came up to me and asked where my companion was and so I told him, ¨He´s up front playing the piano.¨ So then he asked me if I was prepared to give an 8 minute talk on missionary work for sacrament meeting. Haha of course I couldn´t say no so I went up and sat on the stand and prepared my talk. It was a little nerve racking but I think I did alright. I tried to make a joke in spanish and they understood it so hey, it went pretty good. Needless to say I was sweating like crazy and my knees were shaking but oh well. I got a lot of encouragement after which was really nice. I think they could tell I was scared. Anyway, this week was a little different. Elder Cranford and I taught 3 new investigators. We taught the family from English class but only the mom and boy were there. They really liked it though and after we extended the baptismal invitation they said they would think about it and they want to learn a little more. We also taught a man named Vicente that was actually taught by another missionary in the Canary Islands. He said he knows he needs to be baptized but he wants to be prepared. We can help him there! So all in all we had quite a bit of success this week. We are still working with the investigators we´ve had and trying to find more. Unfortunately the Peruvian family is either losing interest or doesn´t have any time at all because they won´t let us come over. Its too bad because I was really excited to teach a whole family. Thats about it for the week so I´ll end it here. I love you all a ton and thanks for the support I always feel. Have a great week. Love, Elder Langston

Guess where I am now????

Transfer calls were Sunday night and...(drumroll)...Elder Cranford and I are staying together in this area for at least six more weeks. Pretty good eh? I was excited because we have been finding new investigators like crazy lately! We also have a lot of work to do with ones we have found in the past. I just love keeping busy and I love my ward here! The members are really willing to help and have emphasized the importance of missionary work in the last few meetings. The bishop has actually asked that me and Elder Cranford give a lesson on missionary work to the whole ward in gospel doctrine class here in a few weeks. We´ll see how that goes! Unfortunately, we haven´t been able to meet with the Peruvian family this week. We have called them quite a few times but they are busy dealing with residency issues. I hope things start to pick up. We met with Sonia this week the day before her birthday. Truthfully, it didn´t go too well. We tried to watch the restoration movie but her tv didn´t work and her computer didn´t have volume. It was a little bit of a bummer. She had us stay to eat with her though and she really enjoyed our company. She actually told me that she is moving to Idaho where her family lives in about a year. I couldn´t help but think that would be perfect because there is no way you are going to escape the church in Idaho! :) I guess we need to worry about baptizing her first. I think Elder Cranford and I have found something good though. As you know, we teach english classes every Saturday evening and afterwards we share a small spiritual thought. This last Saturday we did something a little different and shared the whole first lesson which is the restoration. It went really well and everybody filed out after we had finished. Elder Cranford was having a conversation with a man that was thanking him for all his help. After everybody had left I saw a family that had just left in the door. They told me they wanted us to come over this week! I was so excited. They have a boy that is about 12 that loves me for some reason. I think its because I´m kind of goofy and he gets a kick out of it. I´m so excited to go over to their house! I hope they are really interested. I would love to see a whole family baptized. Well thats my report for the week. Time is flying and I´m loving my mission. This church is true. There is no possible way I could doubt it. I love you all.Elder Langston

Slowly but Surely

Well well well. All of you that are wondering about Sonia...she hasn´t agreed to be baptized yet because she still wants to know for herself that everything is true. That really does make me happier than her being baptized just to be baptized. She wants to know why she is doing what she is doing and I really am happy about that. I read her the baptismal questions this week so she could see what was required of her. She said she had a testimony of everything except she doesn´t know for sure if Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and that he was called as a prophet. She said she isn´t going to deny that it happened, but she just doesn´t know for sure yet. We are planning on watching the a video about the restoration with her this week and she wants us to come over and eat! She really is so nice and i know she will be ready soon. The family from Peru isn´t progressing anymore so that makes me kind of sad. They didn´t come to church this week and the father doesn´t think he needs to be baptized since he was already baptized in the catholic church. We are really trying to help him see that only our church has the priesthood authority. The good news is Elder Cranford found 3 new investigators this week with quite a bit of potential. One is the mother of the second counselor in the bishopric and she is READY. She has been coming to church for quite awhile now and I didn´t really know she wasn´t a member. Whoops! But yesterday Elder Cranford and I taught about the restoration in Gospel Principles class and she told us she didn´t have any questions and that she knew everything we said was true! That made me extremely excited! We are going to set a date with her this week. Well thats pretty much it for my report on the week. I hope you are all doing well. I pray for each of you every single day. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the one true church and I´ve never wanted to share the knowledge I have like I do now. I just wish everyone would listen. I love you all and I´ll talk to you next week! Love, Elder Langston

Loving this work!

Sorry no baptisms this week haha. But I read everyones emails and they all made me so happy. I have more support than any other missionary in the world by far! Thank you all. Well, this week we found some new investigators! A whole family from Peru! They came to church with us and we are very close to setting a baptismal date with them. They said they have a testimony of everything. Joseph Smith, The Book of Mormon, you know everything. We are going to meet with them again on Wednesday to try and set the date. I also asked Sonia to be baptized on the 22 of August. The response she gave me wasn´t a yes or no but it was just as good as a yes. She said she is going to pray, and if Heavenly Father wants her to be baptized on the 22nd, she will do it. It made me really happy! She really loves the church and the Book of Mormon and I´m so excited for her. Elder Cranford and I have really been blessed with investigators that are truly interested and seeking the truth. Yesterday was zone conference and President Hinckley is amazing! So is his wife. She actually contacted the Peruvian family and she hardly speaks a word of Spanish. She really wants to be part of the work. President Hinckley has a great sense of humor too. Right in the middle of the conference, he turned on some spanish music and started singing and dancing around the room! Haha it was hilarious. I can really feel his love for the missionaries in this mission and I´m grateful to have him. He bore such a powerful testimony yesterday at the end of the conference and part of it really stuck with me. He said "I wish you knew how amazing and special each of you are. I wish you had the tiniest idea. You are doing an amazing work." Something like that anyway haha. It really motivated me to try even harder. I have so much room to grow. I really love how much I´m learning out here. I love hearing your testimonies in your emails and letters. And I love how you spoil me Grandma! Holy Cow! Haha but thanks again for all of your support and know you are all in my prayers. I love you Love, Elder Langston

First Baptism!

Wow what a fun week! I´ll start from the beginning. 3 days before the baptism we made the program with Gina. We asked her who wanted to baptize her and she chose my companion Elder Cranford. Then she chose me to confirm her...in front of the whole ward in sacrament meeting! Whew were my knees shaking! It went really well though. I asked my companion if I messed up afterwards and he said I didn´t so thats good! Anyway, the baptism was on Saturday at 2:30 and it will be such a special memory for me the rest of my life. After she was baptized she shared her testimony and I´ve never been hit so hard with such a simple short testimony. When I heard her say she knew Joseph Smith saw God the Father and The Son, I was overcome with the spirit. I´ve never felt so happy for someone else. I feel so grateful to be able to be an instrument in the Lords hands. Now Gina has taken the first step to living with her family and her Heavenly Father for eternity and I was blessed enough to be part of it. Yesterday after church, Elder Cranford and I went to Gina´s house and ate with her family. We asked her if she had any questions for us, and she did. She had some questions about feeling the spirit. She said "You have explained that the spirit is a really soft feeling that is hard to feel, but I think I felt something different yesterday. How do you feel the spirit Elder Langston?" It caught me a little off guard but she had already asked me that question in the past so I had some time to think about it. I explained how I felt at her baptism the day before. I explained at times I feel like crying because I´m so happy and sometimes its a rushing sensation that runs down my whole body. After I said that, she said "That! That is what I felt yesterday!" That gave me the best feeling ever because earlier that day when I confirmed her, I remembered blessing her with the ability to recognize the feelings of the spirit and to understand them. Clearly Heavenly Father knew what I needed to say and He told me through the spirit. This week got me thinking a lot. I thought about how my life was just a few months ago. I could walk down the street without being yelled at, called names, or having hands put in my face. And then I thought about the baptism and how I get to share the most beautiful message with people here and help them get back to Heavenly Father. Its so worth it and I´m so happy to be here. I want to close this email with a quote I heard from Gordon B Hinckley. I thought it was really neat. " These are the two questions I should like to leave you with. It´s true isn´t it? Then what else matters?" I love you all.Love Elder Langston