January 10, 2013

How is everyone?  I am doing good, still truckin, just gotta keep on workin, if ya know what I mean!  Well I have had many blessings poured on me.  It's been amazing to see and feel.  I have been really praying hard these past couple of days for my goals for the next 6 months.  I already told you all the goals I have for everyday of my mission goals.  I have been praying a lot to know of other goals that I should have for my mission.  One way the Lord really answers my prayers are through the scriptures.  It has been that way all along my mission.  When I pray, I recieve my answer in the Scriptures.  On Sunday I was reading in Doctine and Covenants in sections 66-68.  I saw many things pop out at me, many great things that will help me out a lot in this next part of my mission, life, and well everything.  I wrote down what I felt was a goal, or just a prompting and I prayed about it.  It just felt so right, I have a good 5 goals that I will be working on.  They will test me, and try me, but I will do it.  It should be a good next 6 months.  

Throughout this week I have seen so many things happen to me, so many great blessings in my life, I love it.  I have been learning a ton also, in my Spanish, in my lesson giving, in everthing.  The Lord has really been helping me out.  He's been really pushing me to do the things that I need to do right now.  One of the greatest blessings is the work has been pickin up in this area.  These past 3 weeks have been holidays in Spain, so many of the shops were closed.  There were a lot of people in the street, but no one wants to meet with us.  I mean no one.  We would give a lesson here and there, but that was about it.  It was super hard to just get a little bit of a lesson in, but like I said, the Lord has blessed us a ton.  We have been doing a lot of pass by´s on the ward list, and a lot of contacting as well.  That has really been good.  The days were long but we had good results.  We have received a ton of people that want to hear our message, and that is great.  Before, I would call many people, but no one would want to meet.  I got a lot of, don´t call me anymore.  Well on Friday after I called up many people during the week, I felt that I should call them up again, knowing that they said no, and they didn´t want us to come by.  Then again, this prompting to call up these people.. again.  Soo I did, I went down our list of  names and come to see that many of them want us to come over again.  They said, well now we have time, the other day was not good, sorry, yeahhh come on by!  Ohhh sawweeeet!!!  How great was that to hear a couple of times!  It was super nice, so this week we are passing by a lot of new faces, so we shall see if some of them can become our new investigators!!  It should be fun!  I am way excited to see what happens.  The cool thing is a few of them are families, saawwwwweet!  I am way excited for the upcoming weeks.  The Lord has really been blessing me a ton.  It's just is a testimony that when you work, you will be blessed, and I am seeing those blessings.  It also means, that you gotta be patient.  It's the Lord's, not ours.  It has really been hard on me when I am working and doing my best, but not seeing any progress going on.  It was hard to see that in Ferrol, but little by little, I saw those blessings I didn´t see before.  I saw those things happen that I never knew could happen.  I saw the hand of the Lord in our work.  It was great, I loved it.  Right now the Lord is just really helping me through everything, helping me by the hand.

It should be a good week, I´m excited to see what´s going to happen.  I hope this will keep on coming and these future investigators become our investigators.  

Well family I love you so so much.  You are the world to me! I love you!!

Lovvvveee,

Elder Laubaugh

pictures of Elder Laubaugh's head wound :)

Here are 2 pictures of Alex's head wound. No worries, the stitches from his Mission President (fyi, his mission president is a surgeon)  were taken out the following week, and his hair is growing back just fine. Mom commented that Alex was lucky to have hair like a seal pup, or else he'd be in trouble. haha

January 2, 2012

Well this week has been wonderful.  I love Alcala.  It is very beautiful, full of people, history, and members.  I love it.  Something that was a suprise to me during the week is that I was assigned a talk, no biggie. It was for 10 minutes.  I prepared some things, found some nice scriptures and yeah it was nice.  When I got up I noticed that there was a lot of time left, so I asked and they told me I could take a good 15min or so.  I used up all the time and they really liked it.  I talked about missionary work and the importance of the members, or member missionary work.  It went great and a lot of the members responded to it well, which was nice. 

Well this week we have been in the books, or should I say, Area Books.  We have a couple of them full of people that haven´t been baptized, and many who have been but just have lost their way.  So that has  been super good.  I have been calling a lot of people and a lot of them seem to want to talk to us again, which is great.  The one sad thing that I have seen, which it breaks my heart, but  some of the people that I see that are less active, are returned missionaries.  I have called up some of them and they just live somewhere else and are very active, but unfortunately there are many that live here and are not active.  Breaks my heart.  We have been visiting a lot of less actives in general, and the main reason they don´t come is because they have work, but then if you dig just a little deeper, a couple of them say that the ward is cold.  It´s a Spanish thing.  I  can see that.  We have an older ward, but at the same time with have a younger group that is super strong.  I can say that this is a ward that is a bit cold, when I came in,  I don´t know, they were nice, but it wasn´t a ohhh ooooowww! How are you!!! What´s your name, ohhh coooll!! It was a, ohhh cool. new missionary... hahah but yeah esta bien!  But I shall work on the coldness and make it more friendly.

Well this week we have been working a ton.  A lot of it is out on the street.  We walk a ton here, talking to people and just contacting, calling them up, and yeah just the missionary life, which is nice.  I like it.  One experience that I would like to say was in a contact.  Since it is the holidays, there are a ton of people out, just all over, it is swwweeeet!!  There are a lot of people doing things, playing instruments and all that.  Well there are these 2 guys from Ecuador that play their native music.  They use all sorts of really nice flutes and they were dressed up in a native clothing.  I thought it was cool, so did Elder V.  So we watched for a bit, and a lady asked if we would like to take a picture with him.  Well sure!! I would love that.  Well we get to talking and this man, Patricio, is a less active!! annnnddd just waite, he was the ward missionary leader back in Ecuador.  He was very active, but just lost his way.  He reallly wants to come back, so we got his info... then found out he doesn´t live in Alcala, that is fine.  That happens a lot to us.  Just talking to people then come to find out they are less active. 

Well times have been good.  I love my mission.  I just get soo happy talking to people, just so ready, wanting to do more.  I am glad that I haven´t lost that new missionary drive. I want to keep that.  It helps me out a lot on those long days of contacting. 

I have to say that this area has been teaching me a lot such as why past experiences happened.  It´s super sweet.  I love it, just things unfolding in my mind.  Just many things coming to pass.  I love this work in my life. 

I loved talking to you all last week, it was a really good pick me up.  I loved seeing all of you and I really loved talking to you all!! Esp to mandy in Spanish, that was nice, not a huge convo, but just enought.  :)  Gracias.  Hey I love you all soo soo much! My holidays have been good.  The members have invited us over to eat, not a lot though.  I hope they really get this drive like ferrol to invite, invite, and invite, not just us, but their friends to hear this great gospel. 

I love you!!!!

Love,

Elder Laubaugh!

December 19, 2012

Well hello family. It´s a bit early for me to write, but I have some things to do this afternoon.

Well life is going to be different.  Elder Gonzalez was transfered out.... and well, so was I.  They did a white wash to El Ferrol, :´´´´(  It´s hard to say, and it was hard to leave.  I left about half of my heart there.  I was moved down to Alcalá. It´s a bigger Pueblo near Madrid, so I am now in Madrid.... again.  I was super sad!!!! I wanted to stay! I love those people there. They were amazing members, friends, and well my new family members.  Alcalá has a good thing going. It´s like the north, actually a lot of the areas around Madrid are like the north, just not as much rain, cold, and Spaniards.  There are a lot of Spaniards here, but we also have a good amount of individuals from South American.  That was new to see.  Here's my new address.  I do not know the new address for Elder G, sorry!!!  He is in Mostoles, another Pueblo near Madrid. 

Mine is:

Paseo do la Estación

9 Bis 4ºC 28807

Madrid

Spain

Well yeah, I have a new comp!!  His name is Elder Verdu!! He is from northern New Jersey and he is supppper awesome! I met him before, but not a lot.  He was up north in Orense in the other District.  He has been out for a good year and a half.  His dad is from Spain, and his mom is from Uraguay.  How cool is that! But, he never knew Spanish before the mish.  He has 2 sisters, one is older and the other younger.  I have to say we get along pretty well.  I will inform you more when I find out more, haha

I have a lot of sweet stories for you all, from Ferrol and Alcalá. Alcalá is a college town. There are a lot of students here from all over, like the states, London, and Spain of course. 

Well onto the stories, first Ferrol. 

So when we found out we were getting transferred, of course told everyone, one by one, not all at once.  That was an experience by itself.  It was sad for the members and suppper sad for me because I was crying too and I didn´t want to leave :(  Still a little depressed on this, but I am getting better, and well it´s the life of the mission, gotta live with it and go with it, and still work your hardest.  So sweet amazing story.  Our President of the branch asked us to prepaire a quick 3 minute talk, just our testimony, so I got a nice little scripture and my testimony.  I dídn´t really write down any notes.  So we get to church and they were saying we might not have to talk, they have 4 people with us and just maybe not a lot of time.  Well the first speaker gets up and gives a great talk but only 5 minutes... oh snap.. Then the second, only 5 or 7 minutes.  Ohh freak!  then we sing and they said that it is now the time for the Elders.. we still have a good 30min left of church.  I go up first and ask how much time, President told me I had time for 15-20min to talk, and Elder G had that time as well.... Well here we goo!! OOO OO!! I get up there and just say a little prayer.  And I let the spirit take over.  I have to say, I have never felt the spirit so strong, okay maybe a few times, but it just filled me,  I felt as if I was floating.  I just started talking and using some of the experiences I had learned from Ferrol and my mission.  Then I started getting out my scriptures and and just wow... I spoke for those 15min.  No awkward moment pauses, no ahh or uhh, or what should I say.  I have to say that, that was the gift of tounges.  During my talk..it was the hardest.  I made a little joke that someone must have cut an onion on stage, and I just broke down.  I couldn´t handle it.. It wasn´t that awkard loud cry of sadness, just tears of sadness...  It was hard.. the members were all crying and weeping, and just a wreck, we all were.  Then Elder G gets up and gives a great talk, just took it to them!  He did great.  But this was just a great experience for me.  15min, in Spanish, without any notes at alllll. Love it!  I don´t know, I have never done that before, I always needed notes because of my Spanish, but I had no problem speaking, alot of the members said my Spanish was almost perfect.  I was using many words that were larger for me and my grammer was almost dead on.  That was sweet to hear.  :) 

Okay second thing, I am done with the BOOK OF MORMON!! How sweet is that! I might have said it before, but I´ll say it again.  It helped me out so much reading it in Spanish.  It was just a nice feeling, the feeling of accomplishment.  :)

Okay third, okay before I say this, I have to say that I am okay right now, I am fine and feeling great!

 

So on Monday we arrived in Madrid and I went to Alcalá.  That night we get a call from the office elders because we had to move some things for them for the new piso fo the hermanas here.  We get the stuff and just doing great. So they have a van with a back door that goes up, not the double doors, just the one that goes up when you open it.  Well Elder Johnson didn´t see that I was coming out, well he did, but he thought that I was out of the way, and he closed it.. and it hit my head pretty hard.   Yeah it hurt, but nothing big.. well he´s alll ohhh Elder are you all right?? I was fine and I said that... then I see blood... dripping from my head.  Then I touch my head and my hair has a lot of blood.. Okay so I have a nice little scrape, nooo biggie, I get some tissues and people on the street are freaking out. I was just standing there just chillin.  Then we call up Hermana Jackson to see what to do. I hadn´t seen it yet, but some of the other Elders saw it and it didn´t look so good... so thankfully Pres. Jackson is a doctor surgeon man, so he knows what to do.  We all get in the van and drive over to the Mission home, and it so happened to be the last day and the last super for a couple elders and a sister.  So I´m chillin there with all of them and my comp.  President jackson gets up and just is wowed.. He´s said... you need stiches, I´ll go get my kit.  This isn´t good, but you´ll be fine...  So he gets his stuff and well he did a little operation on my head.  I have I think 4 stiches in my head.  Some of the elders have some pics of it, and it is nasttttyy!! Just all open and gross!! Well, I ruined a good white shirt, I´ll send it home for yall to have, don´t want´to throw it away, ;) but yeah, I am fine and just putting a bunch of meds on the cut.  I get them out on Sunday, ohh yeah... He had to shave a little part of my hair.  Good thing I got it cut last week!! OOO OO!! So yup I have a nice little pach of hair missing, bit it´s fine. My hair grows fast and Elder V said he can´t even tell, just when I show people.  Good times on the mish huh?!  Love it!!  Don´t worry, I am fine right now! It hurts but I´m fine.  Just one of those moments when you want your mom to hold your hand...and your dad to tell you to man up ;)  I was about to rub some dirt on it and go on with my night. hahah jk.  Ohh and don´t worry, I got to hold sister Jacksons hand, that was nice, Miss you mom!!! Good thing I get to talk with you all next week!!!! AHHHHH!!! SAWEEETT!! 

About that, Elder V said that he would like to chat about 8ish in a locutorio.  So I am good with that, and it´s 8 at night my time, so about 2 your time, is that good?

Well hope so!! ohh and It´s pday so I can email you in the mornin if needed!

 

Hey all I love you! Hope you have a great week and welcome home Jana!! Can´t wait to chat with you!! Hope all is well on the home front. Alcalá is about to be lit up!!!!  Can´t wait to really work here!!  Can´t get me down, phhht head wound... !

 

Love you!!

Elder Alex Thor Laubaugh

(one of the elders said the cut looks like a lightning bolt.. so he calls me thor.. haha)

december 12, 2012

Hey all, it was another great and super quick week for me.  Well let me just start off by saying that I have the packages and I have opened them.  Elder G and I had 12 mins of Christmas. hahah get it, 12 days, 12 mins. hahah Jk JKJK  Don{t worry we shall be waiting to open one gift each day.  Well now is time for the bad news.  You know how last week I said that Pres moved transfers to the 27.  Well that was denied by the district, so they moved it to this week.  We find out if anyone is leaving Sunday night, and they leave Monday night.  Bummer huh, so Yeah, we both think that Elder G will leave.  By the way he says thank you so much for the things that you got him. He loves you all so so much! Thank you!!!  

Well, on to this week. What a power house week it was.  I have to say the Lord has really been blessing us a lot lately.  First off, Julio and his mother came to church.  His wife couldn´t come, but next week she will.  How sweet is that.  Ohh what a great blessing that was.  Our class was about the spirit world and he had really good questions about it.  He loved it.  But wait there's more!! Our LA, Gustavo came to church, he has never come in the 5 months I´ve here.  He brought his friend, Alberto, who is our investigator also.  How sweet is that!! Such a great sight to see.  He loved church too, he just is awesome.  His wife is active and so are his kids, but he isn´t.  I have to say, doing all the service for him, giving him a pair of my pants, and a tie, has really helped out.  Well that´s what we have been doing with him, cleaning a bunch of new things and all that.  SO great.  

Well yeah, it was good. I was so happy to see so many people really grasping what we have been teaching.  It was such a great heart warming experience to see these people really wanting to know more.  Also Enrique is doing better, he is getting along,  We are still helping him with his addictions.  He´s just having a hard time, but we all do.  

Well I had a great experience this week, yet again with prayer and my scriptures.  It was so neat-  For the past month or so I really had a question on my mind. Do I confuse people more than I teach and help them?  I just was thinking of that.  I know spanish, I can talk to people in a convo or in a lesson, I know a lot.  Yeah, at some points I don´t know a word, but I can explain it and it{s all good.  But I really started to wonder, well Do I help them?  I started praying about it well since a good month or 2 back.  Everyday just searching and praying.  A couple of days ago I was reading in Doctine and Convenants.  I was just flipping through, looking for some scriptures.  I just got an impression to go to D&C 100.  I started to read at section 100 verses 5-8 and it just answered everything.  It was amazing, just a couple of versus just helped me get over this little hump.  I felt so much better, it was bugging me, just a question that does that.  The Lord really blessed me this week.  Just so  much through everthing that I am doing.  More and more blessings.  He really is looking after me.  When I was thinking of this little thing, just these little experiences that I have been having a thought came to mind.  The Lord taught that this path is straight and narrow, that we really have to hold to the rod, but he doesn´t say if we won't have hills or mountains in our way.  It just really has been hard. Luckily life is getting really good right now.  Everyday has it´s new challenges, its mountains, but I have the Lord on my side.  Like I said, He has been helping me out so much this past weeek, just with a lot of my questions..  They have all been answered in my scripture reading.  Ohh and fun fact, I just finished the Book of Mormon in Spanish a couple days ago.  How sweet is that! Love it!  hahah,

Well fam, I love you.  Thank you so much for everything.  For your love, prayers, and well being there for me.  Hey for the family call, I am not sure.  We have a eating thing at 2ish, sooo maybe at 5ish my time, we shall see. Christmas is also my pday so I will email you all when I am on and ready.  That sounds good.  Hey I love you!!!! Have a great dayt!!!

Love,

Elder Laubaugh!!!!    

December 5, 2012

Pues, HOLA! Cómo Estan?? Bien o mas o menos??  Pues Yo Estoy PERFECTO ahora :)))  Well It has been a really good week, not sure why, but I just feel so good! I feel added strength comin in everyday from my Father in Heaven.  Well first I just want to say the Lord has really been blessing us up here in Ferrol.  In some letters I have said that I have a large area.  That´s an understatement.  If you look at a map of Spain, and find Ferrol, see that area next to it, it´s all coastal and that´s my area.  It´s HUGE!! We got to go out to Cedeira on Sunday, which I have to say, has one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen.  White sand, with water that looks light blue. Oh it was sooo beautiful! But we were there to work! We have a less active fam, that lives out there, well they are less active, cause there is no bus that comes to Ferrol on Sunday, only one goes out at 1:30, and comes back at 5, so they can´t, and they don´t have a car!! So double bad, but we met with them.  Comes to find out the mother and daughter have super strong testimonies. And guess what, they brought a friend that isn´t a member, oh and they(the mother) has a son and daughter that aren´t members. Oh but wait, there's more?? Why yes, the husband isn´t a member either!! So we have some more work!!! HURRAY!! :) How sweet is that!! I am so blessed to be here.  The Lord has not forgoten about the Elders in Ferrol.  Oh what is that I hear, another great miracle that happened.  Why yes it is!  So Roy, Naty´s papa, knows a lot of people, esp. from Peru, and he gave us a reference to a friend of his that is a member, but not active.  We called him up and the reason he has not been coming to church is because he lives 2 hours away, by train, from the church in Ferrol! Soooo we are planning on makin a trip out there to see what we can do! He was saying that he and his fam all pray and read the Book of Mormon, but they just can´t come.  We shall see what we can do to get these people to church! YAY! 

Well some more good notes, transfers have been changed to the 27 of december!  So If there was a change here, no one would leave before Christmas, so that´s good!  Also, did you know that I was in a play?? Well I was, and I had a lead part :) Yes it was in Spanish, and I felt I did well.  It was put on by the church, and it was about the Plan of Salvation, and about missionary work.  So that was sweet.  It was short, 30min and one of our recent converts, Amanda, her father came with his wife. They used to be really against the church, but we met with them and they want to learn more about us, and about the gospel.  So that is amazing!! 

Okay I have a food story, I know it´s been awhile, sorry, it gets boring saying, well I had pig skin, or pig stomach, blah blah blah. Well the other day I learned how to make Papa a la Jaun Caina.  Mandy might know what this is, it´s from Peru, and it is sooo good!! Roy and Flor taught us how to make it!  It´s boiled potato with lettuce, but the dressing the Jaun Caina is a spicy cream sauce that is sooooooo good! To die for!!  Well with it they gave us some corn and some of this meat.  Like a teryake strips.  I have learned not to ask what it is till after I have eatin it.  Welll I messed up, yeahhhh not good.  But it was super good and lean and ahh so good!! So I asked and they said well it´s Anti cucho.  Anti cucho??  What´s that? (bad question on my part) Well it´s pig heart.  OHHH Really, I look at it and think, mmm pig heart, and take another bite.  It was just nice little slivers of heart cooked up.  Yum huh? hahah well it´s been good. Soo good.  Ohhhh and the best part this was all put into my last book.  The first book of Elder Laubaugh.  It´s my journal.  Good timing too huh.  I am almost half way done with my mission. Sad thought.  Well yeah I have all these notes and entrys and a lot of good pictures.  SOOO GOOD! Well fam I love you, I love you so so much! I hope all is well on the home front!!  LOVE YOU!!!

 

Love,

Elder Laubaugh!

 

November 29, 2012

I have to say this has been one of the better times of my mission.  Sorry for not emaiing yesterday.  On Sunday night we found out that we were going to León to the other zone for a meeting with Elder Richards of the Seventy.  He is in the District Presidency over Europe.  I will talk about that later on in my letter. 

Well this week has been again a good one.  Yes still hard and I´m still tired, but oh well, let us all push on.  Their are many reasons why this past week has been good.  We first have been getting new people to teach, new but old, like Enrique.  He is super awsome!! AHH LOVE HIM!!!!!! I hope I see the day he gets baptized.  He knows that these things are true.  He tells us all the time, and he just wants to quit smoking, just something is holding him back.  We have had many good, heart felt, spirit filled lessons this past week with him.  He is in a hard time in his life. On Sunday I had a sweet spirit experience. He has been sick and couldn´t come to church, but he came after and pulled us two out to give him a blessing.  He chose me to give it.  I felt the love our Father in Heaven has for him, I said things I didn´t even know I could say.  It was beautiful.  I loved it.  He thanked us and we talked for a bit.  He´s doing better. 

The amazing thing is that we have been in contact with a lot of our old investigators over the past months, before I was even here.  It has been great because a lot of them have changed their attitude towards the church, and some have just come to church and we met them for the first time there.  That has been a real boost for me. 

One thing that has done my heart good is seeing people wanting to go to the temple.  We have many recent converts that want to go that want to make those covenants in the temple.  How great is that.  We have been having lessons on that as well.  Such a great experience to see. 

Now on to what happened yesterday in León.  Elder Richards is amazing, he´s going to be in Germany in a week or 2 so Jana, look out for him, he is taking a tour of Germany as well and visiting with all of the missionaries.  Hope you get to meet him.  Well in the past bit has been hard for me, just a lot on my mind and a lot going on.  I also have been praying a lot on what I could do better on, a lot of what I need to do, not do, all of that stuff.  Now that I have almost a year sad day :( I have been seeing what needs to change. I work each week to learn what I  need to do better.  It was amazing that we had this great meeting because he is like my coach.  He was telling us things that I have been praying for, for about a month or two, or just a day.  It was great, a spiritual feast.  Right before he and his wife told us that they don´t prepare anything and just let the spirit guide them. Everything that was said felt like it was diricted to me.  When he said a point that I needed to learn or hear, he just stared at me. I was in the second row, middle.  I was one of 30 or 40 people.  He could have looked at anyone, but no, he looked at me and I felt that he was talking to me for most of this meeting, a good 4.5 hour meeting.  Many of my questions were answered in his words, and the spirit just touched my heart.  I have to say that I got a little emotional at some points.  It was just a great time, being with him and talking with him. 

I am doing well, learning, growing hopfully, and just doing mission things.  I love you all so much. I feel I don´t say that enough.  I love you all very much.  Thank you for your prayers and for you love, I love you!!