How is everyone doing?? Good gravy it feels like its been both forever and no time at all since I left!! Seriously, I´m sure I will say this every week, but spain ROCKS!! It is so fun and so beautiful!
So, last Thursday, we went to the center of Madrid, called El Sol. Okay basically ridiculously beautiful. Haha it was super cool getting to see these places that I´ve been hearing about in Spanish and history classes for years and I stood there!! We took the bus into downtown which was cool cause we sang hymns and then also got to see the sights as we drove. We were dumped at a fountain and statue of… Okay I honestly have no clue. But the bell tower is super famous when they ring it every year? Haha then we went to the plaza mayor where the kings and queens used to behead people. YUP! History is pretty cool I guess J Then we walked and walked and walked and went through more plazas and beautiful streets until we got to the palace and cathedral. Which were huge and beautiful. And then my camera died. Haha then we walked through gardens and looked at statues and then we went back to the starting point and we had 45 minutes to just go and explore! We went and got super delicious ice cream and then stopped in and looked at some shops. Its so busy and so cool. Hahah actually funny story: I was walking with Hermanas Schone and Bennett and we were in a hurry cause we were going to be late for the meeting point and this man stops in the middle of the street and starts waving excitedly at us, shouting MISIONERAS!! QUE BONITA!!! Haha we waved back and he just laughed. I´ve heard seeing missionaries here as a member is like seeing an angel walking down the street, but I didn´t believe it until it happened to me!
I think I already said that on Saturdays we go to the Parque Retiro to go contacting? So I was in a threesome for this Saturday (You get put with different sisters who are in your zone, I think to mix up the intermediate and beginner classes) and so we were talking to these two gentlemen at the beginning of our three hours there and I asked them if they had heard of our church. This one man started pointing at us and said something really fast about “tres mujeres” (three women) and I was like, yes! We are three women! And he looked at me incredulously and said something else and then I realized, he was talking about polygamy and men with three wives.. Hahaha yeah I had to clear that one up real quick!! But the park is beautiful and its cool getting out and actually putting what we are learning to use! I love it!
My companions rock. We all have the same sense of humor, which is a blessing and we spend about 45% of our day laughing. Haha Hermana Bennett put in her letter to the president that we get along mostly, except for the fact that every night we each go to different corners of the room and don´t talk for hours… Oh wait that’s probably because we are sleeping!! Haha but I love it and laughing helps to keep us from going CRAZY!! Its awesome here, but it’s a lot to take in and be thinking about all at once, all the time!
A pretty regular day here goes like this: We get up, get ready, go to breakfast (usually boiled eggs with some sort of pastry) and then we have classes and teach “investigators” until lunch at 1. I can usually tell when lunchtime will be because when my stomach is hurting and grumbling so bad I can hardly stand it, we still have two more hours of class J Lunch is nice because it’s a full hour, its like our mini siesta and we take advantage of using that time to not use our brains! My district is usually the first ones to arrive and the last to leave at meals! After lunch we go back and have about 3 more hours of classes, then PHYSICAL ACTIVITY! We love going outside! The elders usually go play futbol in the fields next door and the other sisters usually either play futbol or volleyball. We´ve joined them a few times. But we love to go running around the area we live in. I had forgotten how much I love running until I was cooped up inside all day! Hahaha so hopefully i´ll lose weight rather than gain it in the MTC!! Then after that we have 45 minutes to shower and prepare for dinner, then 45 minutes for dinner. It’s still taking some adjusting to lunch being the biggest meal of the day and dinner being relatively small (for example one night all we got were 3 deviled eggs and a small salad!). After dinner we go back for 2 more hours of classes and investigators practice and we usually get a snack (THE PASTRIES HERE ARE BOMB!) and go back to our rooms at 9:30 and lights out at 10:30. We stay busy, but I prefer it that way!
On Sundays, we have meetings upon meetings upon meetings, but my favorite part is the evening. We have a fireside (these past two Sundays we had area 70s come talk to us) and then we go outside on the steps by the temple and sing! Its AWESOME singing together! I LOVE IT!! On that note, the Sullivans, the couple that are in charge of music, have a blog and put up videos and pictures of us singing! I have no clue how to find it, but google Sullivan, music, Madrid, CCM or MTC and you are bound to find SOMETHING! But be warned, I look kinda scary in some of the pictures they´ve taken (they hung some up in the hallways).
So I guess I should explain a little about our investigators. Each of our three teachers act like an investigator they´ve taught and we teach 2 of them everyday (except Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays). Its cool getting to practice and its nice making these silly mistakes NOW rather than in the field! What has surprised me is how REAL our investigators feel! Sometimes in our lessons, I forget that they are our teachers. Really its crazy but so cool! Haha one of our investigators has a baptismal date!! We get new investigators next week though (guess I got transferred or something!!)
Funny phrase, “es la leche” means that’s awesome!
Oh and I went to the temple today and it was awesome! So beautiful and we even got to do it in English!!
sister!!
Hahaha I love you all so much and thank you for your emails!! I love you all and miss you! Hopefully I can send more pictures later!!
Hermana Folsom
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