Sunday, November 29, 2009

1st Thanksgiving in Spain

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~ So Wednesday we searched everywhere to find a pavo entero (whole turkey) and we finally found one, we saved our p-day for today and went to Cadiz and met at the stake center there with our whole zone. None of us knew how to cook a turkey, but we did it, it´s amazing how good everything turned out. I happend to bring that meat thermometer you bought me, and we set the oven at 185 degrees celsius cause we guessed that that would be good, and then three and a half hours later checked it and the temp was perfect. We made the biggest batch of mashed potatoes I´ve ever seen and a bunch of corn and brownies, and it was awesome. There were 16 missionaries and we didn´t eat half the food we made. I got to play ping pong for a lot of the day, it was a great thanksgiving, once again I´m surrounded by great people. We didn´t have sweet potatoes, that´s all we were missing, The city is cool there´s an area that is really old in the middle with cobble stone everywhere. There´s big wine houses that smell so bad. There are statues everywhere, and huge cathedrals. It´s starting to get colder. We have investigators, but only 2 really solid ones, we are looking everyday and getting the word out. The Jerez newspaper interviewed our bishop at the chapel, and we were there with them and we took pictures in front of the chapel so if they put it in the paper I´ll clip it out and send it to you. Every Friday we go to this place that collects clothes for people in Africa and South America, and they make a mountain literally, a mountain of bags. I get up in the big truck and we pack it full and it´s crazy, by the end we´re drowning in bags of clothes, it´s awesome. The members are so nice, our ward is small, but the ladys make us food and it´s awesome. My feet have some knarly blisters but I couldn´t have chosen better shoes, really it´s not the shoes it´s just how much we walk, they´re starting to turn into calluses so it´s all good. it´s different learning the accent here, they say yo me llama different ( there y´s and the ll´s make them sound like they´re from argentina it´s like an sh sound) and mucha ( ch is more like a sh sound too over here) I´m learning more and more.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Zone Conference

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~ Zone conference was great, all the missionaries seem like they want to be here, and President Mellor is awesome. It´s true that all people can say is yes or no, in the MTC someone said that we are participating in free agency every day on our missions, we give them the choice, and then they make their decision. Everyday is an adventure, we talk to such cool people everyday, it´s awesome. We just keep looking everyday for people who are ready, tons of people say "tengo prisa" (i´m in a hurry) but then there´s a lot that will stop and come really close and talk with us for a half hour. There´s such interesting people here, but at the same time such worldly people. There´s a bunch of borrachos(drunks) and bars on every corner. It´s still not that cold here, but they say it should get colder soon. It´s amazing how many people haven´t hear about the book of mormon, and so many people confuse us with the testigos de jehova(jehovas witnesses) we're definitely getting the word out. My companion and I have gone up to a number of groups of teenagers and talked to them, and its awesome to see their view of us change in one conversation. Enjoy the Thanksgiving turkey!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Jerez de la Frontera

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~ c/ mérito N 2, blq 1 1-c
Jerez de la Frontera, Cadiz
SPAIN
That´s my address, my companion is amazing!!! I have trouble understanding why me why am I so blessed. He´s from switzerland and he speaks german, but he speaks like a native in both english and spanish. He was the A.P. to the president for like 7 transfers(months, and then he came here to Jerez. We walk so much, and I absolutely love it. The south of Spain is beautiful,compared to Madrid it´s amazing. There´s so many colors, and the air is so fresh. We traveled by train to Jerez and there were miles and miles of olive trees. It is awesome. Our trainers are amazing, Elder Solari's companion is our district leader, and they are here to serve the lord. The ward is awesome everyone is so nice and I´m learning so much spanish it´s crazy, everyone keeps telling Elder Solari and I that we speak and understand a ton already, and I really feel like I am understanding a bunch of what they say. In the MTC we had hear that in the province of Cadiz, the people speak the fastest, and with the strongest accent, so when we were guessing where our first area was going to be I said that I wanted to go to Cadiz were they speak crazy, cause if I learn there first, everywhere else will be easy, and sure enough here I am. They leave off letters and really do speak so fast, but I´m catching on. Yesterday, Monday was our p-day but we couldn´t email cause our zone went to the Rock of Gibraltar for the day. It was way fun, It´s owned by Britain for some reazon, and yeah there´s this big mountain which is the Rock of Gibraltar, and there´s monkeys that live on it, and they´re crazy. So yeah this is amazing, our apartment is tiny tiny, but it´s awesome because the 4 elders in it are great. I feel so safe, and yeah, one thing that stinks is that everyone thinks we´re Jehovas Witnesses, but it´s amazing to see their view of us change once they hear more about us. We are buying a pata de jamon today!!! (a leg of ham) I´m honestly so excited to buy one, we found out the best kind to get, and my companero says it should last for like 2 months between all 4 of us. We´re getting an iberico pata. There´s serrano, patata negra, and iberico. They´re are three different kinds of pigs, and they feed them different stuff that makes the meat better haha! So we heard iberico is the best so we´re gunna try it. I seriously love it here! I´m so happy I have a walking mission, It´s such good exercise and low impact haha!