Móstoles

Hey everyone!

Man it feels like forever since I last wrote everyone. A lot has happened since then. So, I'm officially out of the MTC now, and I'm in the field. Things have been great so far, still a little bit of a transition, and it's taking some getting used to, but it's great. The first days were a little rough, because I felt very out of place. And I was really missing everyone from the MTC; we became so close. It really felt like saying goodbye to the family again. I am coming to love it here. There are still hard moments every once in awhile, but it's not too bad.

After Monday and the last short little email I sent, we had a district devotional that was pretty good. Then we took some pictures as a district then went to bed. Everyone who was going to Barcelona or Málaga was up at 5 in the morning and that included Elder Castagnetto and Elder Heninger, so I just got up and got ready and the same time. I went downstairs with the missionaries who were leaving and said bye to everyone; that was a little hard. We had all become pretty close and since we are in different missions, we wouldn't see each other for pretty much the foreseeable future. So I said goodbye and then headed back upstairs, I still had 2-3 hours before the assistants for our mission were going to pick us up, so I just cleaned up the room a bit and packed the last minute stuff. After that, the entire Madrid mission group got together, and we just waited. Eventually we got picked up, and we went to an outlook over Madrid. That's where we met with President Pack. We had a short devotional and then spent a few minutes picking up trash around the area then it was off to the mission home.

At the mission home, we had lunch and a short orientation, then it was pictures and back to Parones. There we met our trainers and were assigned our areas. I am serving in the city of Móstoles, and my trainer is Elder Simmons from Park City Utah. We got my stuff, and I said by to the last of the MTC missionaries, and we headed out. One cool thing, Sam was there, and he is training Elder Bodhaine who is a really awesome guy. It was cool to see him again.

So we got to Móstoles and did a little contacting in the street before heading back to the Piso. I spent most of that night unpacking and was able to finish. Elder Simmons and I share a Piso with the zone leaders, Elder Chabot and Elder Phillips. That's a lot of fun. It took me a couple of days, but I'm starting to feel pretty settled which is nice. The first couple of days were a little stressful and rough, but as I'm getting more used to things it's settling down a little.

The next day we had a district meeting, and I got to meet another set of elders whose names I don't remember, and the sisters who's names are Hermana Quise from Perú and Hermana Venucci from Idaho. Those sisters, the zone leaders along with Elder Simmons and I are all in the same ward here in Móstoles. The other elders whose names I remember are Elder Swanky and Elder Merrill. They are in a little town right next to ours called Alcorcon. After that meeting, we all went and ate lunch together at a Dominoes, which I am very happy is here in Spain. Then we all went off back to work. Later that week, we went to the church for English classes that we teach as part of our service. That was pretty fun. The group with Elder Simmons and I is just conversation practice, so we just talked with the people for an hour.

After that, the ward does a ward family night, so Elder Simmons and I taught for that which went pretty well.  Sunday was good. I got to meet the ward. There are about 100 active members that come which is great. We are able to eat at a member’s house almost once a day which is cool.

So some things that were fun that stood out: One thing we did when I got into the Piso is what the elders call The Flan Challenge. There are these things of flan here that come in little packs of yogurt. The challenge is really just who can eat it the fastest. I lost miserably. The elders are surprisingly good at it. I get the idea that they do it a lot.

There's not a whole lot else that stands out. At least we have been able to teach several lessons which has been nice. Elder Simmons and I have really been trying to talk about the importance of prayer and share it more in each of our contacts.

We have also had a lot of failed appointments here though, which it unfortunate. We'll see how it goes from here on out. Hopefully that doesn't continue as much, but I'm guessing that that will be pretty common.

Well, I love you all I'm so excited for general conference. It should be great; I can't wait. The Spanish is coming along, a little slow sometimes but good. My problem at this point is comprehension. I can talk to the people easy enough, but I have no idea what they are saying back to me. It at all depends on the accent of which there is a large variety.

Well, I'm going to be done for now. I love you all! 

Hermano Pérez, one of our teachers