1/20/15 This week was a pretty good week. I think the coolest part was the phone call we recieved last Monday. Her name was Maria, and she told us she received a pass a long card about 9 months ago with our number on it. She wanted us to come visit her, and talk about Jesus Christ. We set an appointment for the next day. The lesson went very well. She liked to talk a LOT, but we fit in the first half of the restoration. She understood everything perfectly, and accepted it very well.
Yesterday, one of our appointments failed in the morning, so we decided to call Maria to see if we could visit with her in the chapel. She said yes, and sounded very excited. We gave her a tour of the chapel, and then taught her the rest of the restoration. I saw the gift of tongues in that lesson. I somehow quoted the first vision word for word in perfect Spanish, but I know I wasn't the one speaking. The spirit was so strong at that point, and I could tell everyone else in the room could feel it testifying of the truth. She accepted the Book of Mormon, and said she was excited to read it. I really have high hopes for her in the future.
I've also become really good friends with a member here named Juancho. He has gotten really comfortable with us, and he has been inviting us over a lot. This is good, because he is less active, and his Dad is not a member. We spent a lot of time talking with him this week. His father was recently diagnosed with a serious heart problem, and he trusted us enough to tell us about that. Keep him in your prayers.
Theres a cool thing in spain called Rebajas. Rebajas is like black friday, but so much better. Every store in the country has sales, but they last for 4 weeks, and the prices keep getting lower and lower. People go crazy in the stores. Crowds are crazy, and some spaniards can be really rude.
Families here are starting to feed me and Elder Contreras a lot. La Familia Chacón has invited us 3 times this past week. I was afraid that I had gained a lot of weight, but I haven't gained a kilo since I left the MTC. Hopefully I can stay that way. I never realized how hard it is to stay healthy when you live on your own like this. Not much time at all for exercise, and it's hard to eat healthy, because we don't have much time to cook either. Everything is going really good here though. The work is progressing pretty quick.
Love you all, and miss you so much!!
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Reyes in Spain
1/12/15 Not a whole lot happened this week, but we had a good week. We tried really hard to teach Felix, and a few others, but were unable to. We did however get to work with a lot of members this week. We had several dinner and lunch appointments, and I think the members are beginning to trust us a little more.
Funny story, on our way to a dinner with a family from Chile, we were walking down the street, and saw a man walking toward us. He was clearly drunk out of his mind, and we could tell from a mile away. He stopped us and started singing in his drunk voice, and blabbering on in some language I think was spanish. Anyways, super weird. But the dinner with this family from Chile was super fun! They are so funny and kind, and the food was delicious. We ate some kind of fried dough made with pumkin. We spent a lot of time talking and getting to know them, and then shared a little message from the Book of Mormon. I am really excited to get to know them better.
Yesterday we finally got an appointment with Israel. I forgot our keys for piso, which at first seemed like a bad thing, but turned out to be a miracle. While we were waiting outside for the other elders to come let us in, Israel and his family came by. He stopped to talk with us and told us that he had been very busy, but he really wants to visit with us, and that he feels he needs what we have. We set an appointment for today, and I can't wait to see how that goes! He sounds so golden, and he is so ready to hear our message.
I don't really have anything else to write about this week. Reyes was pretty fun. All people really do is eat Roscón. Roscón is basically a sweet bread with cream in the middle. They hide a figurine of a king, and a bean inside it somewhere, and whoever gets the king has good luck for the coming year, whoever gets the bean has to buy the roscón for next year. I got the king, so that's pretty cool I guess.
Oh, one more thing. I also went on my first day of splits with my zone leader. His name is Elder Burnett, and he is from Centerville, Utah (I think). I had a great time with him. He is so funny, and he is a great missionary. I hope I get to spend more time with him before he gets transfered.
All is well here in Spain, and I am adjusting well. Miss you all, and love you so much!!
Funny story, on our way to a dinner with a family from Chile, we were walking down the street, and saw a man walking toward us. He was clearly drunk out of his mind, and we could tell from a mile away. He stopped us and started singing in his drunk voice, and blabbering on in some language I think was spanish. Anyways, super weird. But the dinner with this family from Chile was super fun! They are so funny and kind, and the food was delicious. We ate some kind of fried dough made with pumkin. We spent a lot of time talking and getting to know them, and then shared a little message from the Book of Mormon. I am really excited to get to know them better.
Yesterday we finally got an appointment with Israel. I forgot our keys for piso, which at first seemed like a bad thing, but turned out to be a miracle. While we were waiting outside for the other elders to come let us in, Israel and his family came by. He stopped to talk with us and told us that he had been very busy, but he really wants to visit with us, and that he feels he needs what we have. We set an appointment for today, and I can't wait to see how that goes! He sounds so golden, and he is so ready to hear our message.
I don't really have anything else to write about this week. Reyes was pretty fun. All people really do is eat Roscón. Roscón is basically a sweet bread with cream in the middle. They hide a figurine of a king, and a bean inside it somewhere, and whoever gets the king has good luck for the coming year, whoever gets the bean has to buy the roscón for next year. I got the king, so that's pretty cool I guess.
Oh, one more thing. I also went on my first day of splits with my zone leader. His name is Elder Burnett, and he is from Centerville, Utah (I think). I had a great time with him. He is so funny, and he is a great missionary. I hope I get to spend more time with him before he gets transfered.
All is well here in Spain, and I am adjusting well. Miss you all, and love you so much!!
My first investigator at church!
1/5/15 So, saw a huge miracle yesterday! We were calling a few people to see if we could set up a time to visit with them. The first person we called was named Juliet. She was super friendly, and really excited that we called her. She said that she really wanted to know more about the church, and then asked us if she could come to church with us. Our jaws dropped to the floor when we heard that! You can imagine our excitement going to pick her up. I really hope she was able to feel the spirit in testimony meeting, and I hope she wants to come back. We will definitely be teaching her from now on.
New Years was really fun here! For New Year's Eve, we had a zone meeting, and afterwards, we went to Domino's with the whole zone for all you can eat pizza. Yes, they have Domino's in Spain. Later that night we had a little dinner together with all of the missionaries in the chapel. Those are always super fun, because all of the missionaries in our zone are super funny, and we always have a great time. After that, we had a dinner appointment with a member. By then, I felt that if I ate any more food, I was going to die, but we went anyways. Part of me thinks that she cooked the strangest food possible just to scare us. I don´t think I have eaten such a variety of sea food in my life. Gigantic shrimp that you had to pull the head and legs off before eating, fried squid, some fake crab, fish eggs on toast, and something that looked a lot like little worms. I tried everything, and nothing was that bad. Then she brought out a second course, and then a third, and then a dessert. Everything was really good, but I was really struggling to breathe on the way back to our piso.
The next day, we got to go ice skating with a new investigator of ours. That was really fun, and I learned that pretty much nobody outside of Utah knows how to skate. After skating we got to go into the cathedral. It is huge outside, but it seems even bigger inside! It was incredible! So many paintings on the walls, and everything. Some very strange things go on in cathedrals though. There was a huge line of people, and when we got around to see what it was for, they were all just kissing a rock. A rock. Talk about graven images...
Oh and here, the holidays last for three weeks. The first week, there is Christmas, next week, New Years, and the next, Reyes. Reyes is the celebration of the day the three wise men visited baby Jesus. So I still have one more holiday to look forward to, but after tomorrow, everything goes back to normal.
I am really having a good time here. I think I am finally adjusting to the missionary life, so things are constantly getting better. I miss you all, and hope you all had a happy New Year!!
New Years was really fun here! For New Year's Eve, we had a zone meeting, and afterwards, we went to Domino's with the whole zone for all you can eat pizza. Yes, they have Domino's in Spain. Later that night we had a little dinner together with all of the missionaries in the chapel. Those are always super fun, because all of the missionaries in our zone are super funny, and we always have a great time. After that, we had a dinner appointment with a member. By then, I felt that if I ate any more food, I was going to die, but we went anyways. Part of me thinks that she cooked the strangest food possible just to scare us. I don´t think I have eaten such a variety of sea food in my life. Gigantic shrimp that you had to pull the head and legs off before eating, fried squid, some fake crab, fish eggs on toast, and something that looked a lot like little worms. I tried everything, and nothing was that bad. Then she brought out a second course, and then a third, and then a dessert. Everything was really good, but I was really struggling to breathe on the way back to our piso.
The next day, we got to go ice skating with a new investigator of ours. That was really fun, and I learned that pretty much nobody outside of Utah knows how to skate. After skating we got to go into the cathedral. It is huge outside, but it seems even bigger inside! It was incredible! So many paintings on the walls, and everything. Some very strange things go on in cathedrals though. There was a huge line of people, and when we got around to see what it was for, they were all just kissing a rock. A rock. Talk about graven images...
Oh and here, the holidays last for three weeks. The first week, there is Christmas, next week, New Years, and the next, Reyes. Reyes is the celebration of the day the three wise men visited baby Jesus. So I still have one more holiday to look forward to, but after tomorrow, everything goes back to normal.
I am really having a good time here. I think I am finally adjusting to the missionary life, so things are constantly getting better. I miss you all, and hope you all had a happy New Year!!
Basilica del Pilar where hundreds of pilgrims arrive each day to kiss a small piece of the pillar on which they believe the Virgin Mary appeared to St. James the Apostle in 40 AD
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