Mission Week 48: 11 Months Out!

This week was incredible for two very big reasons, J. and V. were BAPTIZED!!! It was such a great experience. Wow, it is something truly inspiring to see a family come together and enter the waters of baptism. The service was so special. J. kept asking us if all the members were just there for them, and we assured him that yes, they were. It is so powerful having members come and show their support. I could see that it meant a lot to J. and V. and to us as well. 

 

 

The brownies were a huge success, I am fighting to keep the recipe a family secret!!!!

I felt like it was the perfect way for Elder Muñoz to start the mission. I felt bad because with the baptism we were running all over the place, but he was so great and willing to be dragged around the first couple days. I am so happy to be with him. He is a testifying animal. No matter who we are with, or what we are teaching, he is always testifying of the power of Jesus Christ. I am so inspired by him. He is not afraid to open his mouth. On Sunday we had our first real time to contact, and thanks to his efforts we found six more people that are ready to hear the gospel and one being a family. I am so grateful to be with a missionary with so much energy and excitement for the work!

I have truly loved my personal study as of late. I studied for about a week just about the sons of Mosiah. They are so powerful, and I wanted to know why. What made them so different? I realized that it all came down to their preparation. The begging get of alma 17 is full of things they did to prepare. Mosiah 28 talks about their pure desires and how they couldn't stand the thought of one of their brethren perishing. Many other things they did as well that inspired me. Then, they knew their purpose, and baptized cities. But the part most impressive to me wasn't that they just baptized, but their converts stayed strong forever. It says in Alma 27:27 that these converts "were perfectly honest and upright in all things; and they were firm in the faith of Christ, even unto the end."

These missionaries knew how to prepare themselves, and prepare others for the ordinance of baptism. It is my prayer that I can dedicate enough time to be able to do the same.

I tried to fix my recorder.... The computer says that I have to erase it to maybe fix it.... I am nervous.... I am just going to hold on to it and fix it when I get back!!

11 months tomorrow..... Crazy.... According to transfers, I am half way there..... Crazy

That's about it.... It was a good week!!!

 

Elder Tyson

Mission Week 47: A real letter :)

MY NEW COMPANION IS ELDER MUÑOZ!!!!!!! He is from Honduras but has lived in the Canary Islands for almost five years! He is a convert of almost four years and is an incredible missionary!!!! I am so excited to be with him. He loves soccer and is going to be doing all the cooking for the next few weeks.... Hahaha.... We bought some lettuce and tomato today!!!! That is not sarcasm folks!!!!

I am a firm believer in trial by fire. I want him to start having experience to take the reins as soon as he can. He is ambidextrous so he won't have the same problem I had when I lost the egg on the
spoon contest in the horse show. We are going to be doing lots of practices. I want him to just fall in love with the work so early that it carries him to the end. We are going to be exactly obedient and
work so hard!!!

Elder Miller was excited.... Sad to go but excited... The members were sad to see him go. J. and V. said they were going to take a trip down to see him. The area has been closed for over a year!!!! He
is going to so great!!

The trainer meeting were great! I had five pulled pork sandwiches. I know, not the point, but a great bonus! We learned a lot.  I got my new companion a jar of candy just like Elder Caetano got for me. Oh the good old days!!!

J. and V. are doing great!!!! They had their interview last night, and did great!! Nervous but great!!! I have lots of brownies to do but it is worth it. I bought a ten pound bag of flour today!!!! So worth it!!! Haha. It was very cheap. This past week we saw huge miracles. We found another family who is now preparing for baptism in two weeks, and we had 8 PEOPLE IN CHURCH!!!!! IT WAS CRAZY WE WERE SO SURPRISED AND FELT SO BLESSED.... A great way to finish for Elder Miller and me to finish our time together!!!

Every member of my MTC district is training this transfer. It was so good to see them all again. All are district leaders as well. Also Elder Sedgwick, who knows the Wilhites. He is the new assistant. We all called it!!!

So that's basically it!!!! Had sushi this week!!!  It was a wild one!!!! Love you lots.

Elder Tyson

Mission Week 47: Training in Terrasa!!

Just a quick note from Elder Tyson today:

Hey folks.... Just so you know, I am training now... Elder Miller is
opening an area in Valencia.... I can't write... I will be in meetings
the next couple days.... I will write... Just don't know when... I
think thorsday..... Love you lots.... Family baptism with a new
missionary!!!! So happy!!!!!

Elder Tyson

This picture was on the mission blog this week (www.espanabarcelonamission.blogspot.com.es)

 

Mission Week 46: Terrassa

Hi Everyone-

 

This week we had stake conference, it was great we got to take our investigators and president was able to meet them!!! And it was very nice to see that EVEN IN SPAIN THE CHURCH IS THE SAME. Ultimately, the Spirit. It's incredible to me that no matter where I am in the world, the Spirit I feel is the same. Even when I am dying of heat because someone felt chilly and turned off the air (yes, that happens in Spain as well) I can know that the church is true, that Christ loves all of his children everywhere and is not going to share a secret with one part of the world and not to the other.

What another fantastic week! We had a great time and saw so many miracles. Elder Miller and I have been trying to focus more on teaching families and this week we saw miracles because of our desires.

We had a goal at the beginning of the week to find 11 new investigators, but as we began the week, we really focused on talking to families and not just individuals. It was incredible. We reached Friday with 15 new investigators! But we knew we could still get more, so we raised our goal to 20! We worked so hard the last two days and ended up with a grand total of 20 new investigators!!!! It felt to rewarding to know that 20 people got hear the Gospel this week and have accepted! What a miracle!

Currently we are teaching J. and V. who have a baptismal date for the fourth of June. They are getting so excited for their baptism. After they made the decision to get baptized we have seen a mighty change in them. They are more open to us and are recognizing the Spirit more. They have been reading the Book of Mormon, and they have accepted all of the commandments! We are so excited for them to be baptized and one day be sealed as a family forever. 

 

I have been exhausted at the end of each day.... Hitting the bed and then being surprised at the alarm!!!! It has been so great.... I love feeling wiped out at the end of a day!!!!!

Today for preparation day we hiked to a huge plateau. It was very pretty could see so much... I will post the video!!!

 

 

 

Also this week I get to do my first baptismal interview for some elders in my district!!!! So excited!!!!

I had some bomb shrimp this week!!!!! You would've liked it for sure!!!!

All in all, great week.... We have a huge mission conference this week!!!! Can't wait!!!!

Elder Tyson

 

 

Mission Week 45: Terrassa

Dear family,

Things have been so great this week, Elder Miller and I have worked so hard and we have seen many miracles.

It rained a ton this week. We were so wet, ruined one of my shirts because we just wore short sleeve shirts on accident and the strap of my bag stained my shirt..... Bad news there....but hey we survived.

Our district meeting this week was super fun, we talked all about the Book of Mormon and in the end we played a scripture chase type game with those cards you gave me!!!! It was a lot of fun, and the district seemed to love it!!! Game time is my favorite time of district meeting!!! This week we are going to play the sock throw into the basket for a district goal I am brewing!!!! Hahaha.... It has been so great!!!!,

Right now we are working with J. and V., a family in our area who have a fecha for the fourth of June. We had such a sweet experience with them as we asked them how the Book of Mormon reading was going. They said they had been reading and praying, and that they had received an answer that it was true. The Spirit filled the room as I could see their doubts melting into faith. V. was sick this week so she could not attend church, but J. and his daughter were able to attend and they both enjoyed it very much.  They are progressing so much and we are so excited for them.

Elder Miller is fantastic. He is a great worker and exactly obedient. He also puts forth a big effort to make sure our companionship is in the best condition possible, he is always finding little ways to serve me helping me in all that I do. I am so grateful for him and his efforts here in Terrassa.

The ward here is thriving and is so centered on missionary work. We receive help daily and even did a member split the entire afternoon during the week.

Hey so I was wondering if I could get some new deodorant from home, I am down to my last stick, and I do not want to buy Spain stuff. Also, more of that BOMB PANCAKE MIX!!!!!!!! That stuff was so good, I would love some more.

Lastly, if you happen to have a chocolate chip cookie recipe, I would love that!!!

Sorry I am still chubby!!!! Hahahahah 

Love you,

Elder Tyson

Elder Tyson in front of  the Masia Freixa

District in Terrassa (photo from Elder Allen's blog)

Mission Week 44-Mother's Day in Terrassa!

Editor's note:

It was amazing to get to Skype with Elder Tyson on Mother's Day! He is doing great! He loves his mission and his companion and is loving the Ward in Terrassa. We feel so blessed to have him serving the Lord. Mother's Day was awesome! We are already looking forward to Christmas!

Here is his letter the day after Mother's Day:

This week was just solid. I got the opportunity to do my first intercambio outside of my area with Elder Woodmansee in my district!!!! He is such a great elder. I learned a lot from him and their area is on fire!!!!! It was fun to get to know him. He is just out of training and a great missionary. An amazing asset to that area for sure!!!!

This was such a spiritual one. I learned a lot in helping bringing the gospel to others. I am so grateful for the book of mormon and the role it plays in our conversion. Right now we are teaching J. and V. They are s wonderful couple and they have been a miracle. They have been really open to the gospel, and they have lots of questions which shows they want to know more!!!! We are teaching them tonight so that we can help them set a baptismal date. Also, in the beginning of the week, they made us food after the lesson, and they said that tonight is our turn..... so, here comes the brownies!!!!!!!! We have the stuff, and we will do it tonight!!!!!

So, that's the week in a nutshell.... busy, busy, busy..... rainy, rainy, rainy. rainy..... we also have a boy in our ward who helps us all the time, and he loves high school musical hahaha.... he loves singing the songs!!!! It has been a blast, he is so full of energy the people love him!!!!!

For preparation day we just watched church movies in piso..... it has been very rainy, and I took some pants in to get skinnied a little bit.... I have just lost a lot of weight!!!!!

 

Skyping was so great!!!! So good to be with you!!!!! I have learned so much!!!! How was my Spanish, better????? Did you understand it with the lisp!!!!!

 

So for district leader, I have to hold a district meeting and teach what the assistants assign us to teach, I can set goals and things for the district. I receive all of the numbers for the district and report them to the zone leaders every Sunday, as well I call all of the district and ask them how the week went. I do an intercambio with all of the elders in the district and help in their areas.... Pretty easy, but super stressful!!!

 

The district is great... Every companionship has lots to teach and we all bettered this week!!!

 

We teach English every other week with the hermanas for our service.

 

Well, I have to go!!!!! love you lots!!! you are great!!! it was so great to see your smiling faces yesterday!!!!!!

 

Elder Tyson and his friend "Austin"

 

 

Mission Week 43: Terrassa

To begin, This week was a busy one. This area is very different than my last two areas. The Ward is amazing. They are super focused on missionary work and helping all of their friends come unto Christ. The ward is big and are so willing to help us in the work. There are roughly 120 members in our ward. Our area is huge. We not only have most of Terrassa but we also have Rubi which is like the promised land. We actually spend more time there than in Terrassa.

The week was super busy. No down time, which is great. We did two whole moves, and with all the members wanting to meet the nephew of Mike Tyson, you can imagine it was busy. I just tell them I am adopted, but that we don't invite him to family parties anymore.... They get a kick out of that!

I felt very inadequate this week with my new assignment as District leader. Student Body President was nothing compared to this. Luckily, the Spirit brought to my memory how to conduct meetings and things and our first district meeting went very well, I thought. It's a completely different task trying to inspire a group of missionaries to fulfill their calling of servants of the Lord Jesus Christ then just inspiring a group of high school kids to have school Spirit. I know I have a lot to learn, a lot of repenting to do, a lot of changing to do, but I know the Lord will help me through it all. #PPIWithTheSavior. We have a great district full of very obedient missionaries.

We also had a baptism this week!!!!! X. was baptized. She is from Ecuador. It was a little interesting for me not knowing her super well but she was very prepared for the Gospel and we are so excited to see her journey. I also gained the respect of the members by making those delicious brownies!!!!!!!!! They want more and more baptism just for the brownies they said.

 

 

There are many members who served missions here which is really great. Also, there are a lot of people from Argentina who love Mate. That was another building point.

Elder Miller is great. Reminds me exactly of Elder Allen. I can't wait for the experiences we are going to have together seeing many miracles here!!!!!

I love you lots.... Can't wait to talk to you on Mother's Day!!!!!

Elder Tyson