Elder Taylor Moulton: Week 51: Basque Men, Them Old Folk, and that'd be a large, hairy, shirtless old man reading The Hardy Boys!

Hola family!

This week I’m feeling a bit worn out, one because its hot and humid(I'm currently sweating in a latino locutorio as I type), and I've climbed up Lamiako Hill where Alicia and her family live about 4 or 5 times(it’s like climbing into Mordor, except not since its to help a family get baptised this weekend). Other than that it’s been a great week! We've had a ton of quality lessons(they were home too! yay!), and we had a big group of friends in church(6!). Oyer, the son of Alicia too has been excited as ever to be baptized, now we're hoping that Alicia gets as excited about it too(she's been a bit luke-warm, which worries us). But we have a fun family home evening with the senior couple and them tonight so that should be fun!(Holy Ghost and desserts, yes!)

Basque and Spanish culture are pretty fun. Where else in the world will you find that almost every person has a small dog, everyone loves their cafes, Elder Morley is seen as a giant(he's a well-known person in town, everyone asks for "the tall one" when we have intercambios haha) and where its customary for the men to unbuckle their belts after they eat. That’s something that only happens in Basque country, but I'm still planning to keep my belt up and tight at our eating visits haha. Also while not everyone here speaks basque, everyone says the basque word for goodbye(Argull!), just like how in Catalunya everyone says Adeiu!. So the next time you visit Bizkaia, remember to say Argull!

We contacted almost every person in the streets this week. Like, every single one, even the 90 year old woman sitting on a park bench who’s almost 100% deaf. We did have some success with us finding a man named Ceferino, from Paraguay, who’s super pumped about Christianity and will meet with us Wednesday after his trip to Germany(Alemania as they say here). But even if we had a little less success, the important thing is that we testified to all those contacts, and gave them a chance to hear the gospel!

The biggest miracle this week other than the schedule of Alicia opening up(finally!) is Joel, our investigator who's only issue between him and baptism is him. But the miracle came during a lesson this week, when he began by telling us about a dream that he had a few days earlier, all about the holy ghost(He dreamed about the dove that came over Jesus after his baptism, leaving him wanting that dove). Afterwards, he basically bore his testimony to us about the truthfulness of this church as he explained why he’s been coming, and all that he's done these last few months to bring his friend Federico to church too, even if he’s catholic! We invited him to be baptized once again afterwards but sadly he still wants to wait until he knows for sure. It seemed like a pretty big sign to me, but we'll keep praying that the spirit will touch him to help him receive that answer he's looking for.

Fun story, we were talking to this one 20 something friend of ours named Manuel, when an old homeless man who always sits outside our apartment walked over to talk, wearing only dirty socks on his feet. Remembering that there’s a bag of old missionary shoes in my closet, we ran up and got him a pair in the closest size we could. Sadly, he wouldn't try them on because they were too big. Disheartened, we walked away, but I know now the importance of always giving and always serving, even if it isn't accepted!(I've yet to meet an old lady with grocery bags who wants us to help with them, but we still ask!).

This week I've learned the importance of working on character. That might sound like a daunting task(I think we all lack in some way with character), but Hermana Dayton, through this card she’s given us with over 50 attributes, has been helping us improve our character one attribute at a time, to become "even as I am"(3 Nephi 27:27). I'm been working this week on Dependability, which for me is being me, and the best me that I can be, always.(I hope that makes sense). But just through focusing on this trait, I've felt a difference in my week, and this week with my attribute of Attentiveness, I hope to do the same! So I invite all of you to find some attributes of Christ, or any attribute you'd like to work on, and focus on one a week, praying for support along the way. I know that as you do this, week by week we can all become better disciples of Christ!

For preparation day today we spent our day eating ice cream cones(It’s so hot), playing basketball, for a bit, and cleaning the piso and breathing for a second(5 minutes of relaxing does wonders as a missionary!).

Over all, a great week, but a very short week coming up with Judgement day and transfers. Sadly though it’s Elder Morley’s last week here, so we're going to have to say a lot of goodbyes...

Anyways I love you all, I love this work, and I know the gospel’s true!

Argull!

Elder Taylor Moulton

Barcelona Spain Mission