Letter dated 11Nov2013

Dear Family, It´s great to hear from you all today! I can´t believe it´s already Monday again, that´s crazy! Well, like I told you last week, I´ll do my best today to update you on what life has been like here in Cornellà and what sorts of adventures I've been having. I do have photos ready to send this week so you´re probably just going to look at those than read this, but hey, I hope you enjoy both the photos and the e-mail! For the past few weeks we have been whitewashing the area from the previous Elders and we have been getting into contact with most of the old investigators and members who live in our area, which mainly consists of local towns outside of the actual Barcelona area. Our main hot-pocket of work takes place in Sant Boi, which is the closest town next to Cornellà. That´s where Juan Antonio and Joaquin live, but like I mentioned last week, they did not get baptized. We did go over to their house and they told us what happened on Saturday and it was kind of a strange story, but I have to take their word for it, thought I do warn you that it´s a bit of a strange story. Joaquin got married to a lady from Morocco a few months ago and that is why they were not able to get baptized with the last set of elders, because he was busy with the wedding and then went on his honeymoon. He told us a lot about her and even had plans that the Saturday of the baptism she would be able to drive them to the church (she works in Barcelona all week and they only see her on weekends) but that´s where the problem came up. They asked her to take them to the church but she told them that they could not get baptized because she, being Muslim, already crossed into sketchy territory getting married to a Spaniard and was having some family issues with her cousins who also live in Sant Boi. In the end, they told us they couldn't get baptized, but they do love the church, reading from the Book of Mormon, and they love our company, but we´re going to drop them for a little while in this whole situation, sadly, because they really are two great guys that I´m so glad that I've met. We've also been working a lot with two families who have gone a bit inactive over the past year and we are trying to get them to come to more activities in the Young Women and adult groups. There were a lot of baptisms in the area 1-2 years ago, but they are all mostly less-active and it´s been making the work a little bit more of a struggle, but it´s not all without its ungratifying moments! In my personal study I've been reading recently in Preach My Gospel in working with members more effectively to speed up the work and find more success. I know that this is where the most effective use of time is, and I hope to have a successful last few weeks here in Cornellà! With so much love I couldn't even begin to tell you how much I have for you all, -- Élder Xander Weston Schindler PS We have to go back, Kate...