Hello sweet family and friends! I
hope you all had a wonderful week, and a Happy Valentines Day! I sure love you
all. This past week was very long, and interesting, but here I am again
emailing, Mondays sure come around quick, and definitely go by too fast! As for
Elder Nyland and I here is the update:
On Monday evening Elder Nyland and
I wanted to do something special to celebrate Erick´s bday. We decided to
invite him and his family to Kebap, which was so awesome. We also invited Nacho
and Edu and their friend Jenni. It was such a great evening. We all went to
Kebap and enjoyed a solid Kebap together, then after we all headed to their
home to watch the Joseph Smith movie with one of Erick’s moms work companions
and best friends. It was an interesting lesson one for someone that has never
heard anything about the church.... but we were able to answer her many
questions she had as we visited with her more throughout the week.
Tuesday morning, Elder Nyland left
to Malaga to pick up his DNI so that he could be legal here in Spain. I stayed
behind with some other Elders in Alicante, and we were able to bounce back and
forth between the two areas to get some work done. There were many interesting
things that happened... haha oh intercambios, you gotta love them! First of all
on Wednesday during medio dia while Elder Durfey and I were coming back to
piso... the elevator broke... haha I guess after having to ride in so many
elevators it is destined to happen sooner than later. I guess it is something
that you just have to check off of the bucket list ;) We were almost to the top
floor when all of a sudden we just dropped, and the door swung wide open! I am
not going to lie, it was pretty dang scary, but we were safe! We ended up just
chillin’ in the elevator for a good thirty minutes while we were waiting for
the repair man to come. It was... an interesting experience;)
On Wednesday night as I was walking
back to piso with Elder Metcalf (another Elder from Alicante) we had a man stop
us in the street. This has never happened to me in the mission, but it is
something that I had always heard about. As he stopped us, he just asked us,
"Are you two missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints?" We replied yes, and he went on to explain his story. It turns out
that he was baptized a member over 10 years ago. With time, he ran into some
problems, and ended up leaving the church. He said that over time he had been
losing the faith. He went on the tell us, "Tonight I prayed to my God to
give me something to find the faith I have lost which I once had. Tonight I ran
into you two." After saying this he just came up to me and gave me the
biggest hug, and just started crying on my shoulder. It was an experience that
I will never forget. It was a man I had never met in my life. It was a man that
was a little dirty and stinky. It was a man that has had problems in life just
like every single one of us. But for a split second I felt the love that Christ
had for this man, and I wanted to do anything that I could to help him. It was
one of the most humbling experiences of my life. The mission is a crazy
experience, but I am so grateful for the moments like these that make it worth
it.
I have learned so so much this past
week, but two of the main things I have learned is one, faith is everything.
With faith we have hope, and with hope we can become who our Father in Heaven
has intended us to be. The next thing I learned is that EVERYONE deserves the
chance to feel of this love and joy that we feel as members of this incredible
gospel. I am so humbled and grateful for the opportunity I have to be here. The
mission is by no means easy, but worth it. I love all of you and am so grateful
for the influence you have in my life. You mean everything to me. Know that you
are always in my prayers. Until next week,
Much Love,
Elder Dallin Farrell
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