Final week at the MTC

So it's come down to 5 days. In one week, I will be a real missionary out on the streets of Barcelona. Yesterday we all got our train tickets, and it made everything feel so much more real. I found out that all of us missionaries going to Barcelona are all sitting together. I am so excited to finally get there! I can't wait to see who my trainer is, and I am a little nervous. I feel like I am ready for the field, but at the same time, I´m a little unsure about how hard the real mission is going to be. At this point I really feel like my Spanish is as good as it is going to get in the MTC, and I'm ready to finish my learning in the field. I also feel that my ability to teach is much better than it was when I started. I'm excited to see how things work in the real world.

So last week, we got several new missionaries in the MTC. One of the French Elders is from Tahiti, and his name is Elder Maono. He is possibly to coolest guy ever! He is a really big Polynesian, and he only speaks French. The other day, he came around to all the elders and gave us all these really cool sea shell necklaces. He had a huge bag full of them, and we found out that his family made all of them. Coolest thing ever! He and I are really good friends, even though he doesn't really speak any English. He does know how to say “you are the best”, and he says that to pretty much everyone he sees. He is super cool, and I know he'll be a fantastic missionary.

My last park experience was rather interesting. It was really rainy that day, so the park was practically empty. It was kind of like a creepy ghost town. I was put in a triple companionship, and we spent most of the day just getting to know each other. We did, however, get approached by one man from Holland. He was interested in our name badges, and asked what they were. We were excited because we thought this would be a perfect opportunity to share our message. We were wrong. Turns out, some people from Holland can be rather rude… As soon as he found out we were missionaries, he got really stand offish. He kept saying that we had no experience to be doing that work, and that we had no experience with life. He kept saying that we didn't know God, and that we should just go home. He then began to blame every war in history on missionary work. All three of us were pretty taken aback on that one. I mean I guess the Spanish conquistadors, and maybe the crusaders is what he was referring to. We tried to assure him that that is not what we were here to do, but he wanted nothing to do with us. He did take a picture of my name badge though, so I'm probably going to be famous on some anti-missionary blog in Holland.

Other than that, there's not really much to talk about. The schedule stays the same. Oh we did celebrate thanksgiving with a nice lunch, and we got to watch Meet the Mormons. Great movie! You should watch it if you haven't. I'm excited for a change in scenery, and can't wait to have more interesting experiences to write about. Love you all and think about you every day.