Goodbye MTC! Hello SPAIN!

*Note from mom: I have debated if I should split this up into two different posts or not because it's really long, but I decided not to. A lot has happened since the last post on August 30! Over two weeks have gone by! We had last talked to Gabe when he was at the MTC, and he had just gotten his travel itinerary that day. He found out he was going to be leaving in about four days (early Tuesday morning) and he was EXCITED. He was ready to leave the MTC! So on Tuesday morning, he woke up in the wee morning hours and left the MTC, took the SLC train to the airport, and then got to the airport. He flew to Atlanta, had a layover, and then flew to Madrid! The past two weeks have been overall so good for Gabe. He likes his companion, Elder Bright, and he really likes his apartment. He is in an area just south of Madrid, and even though it's kind of a small, quiet town, it's probably a good environment for him to really learn his Spanish skills. He also loves that it's not down south, so it's not super hot, AND his apartment has AC! So those are the good things! Here is his huge summary which covers his last days at the MTC and his nearly two weeks in Spain!

Friday, August 30 - Today we didn't have a temple trip, but it was still a really good P-day. I called home and also got my travel plans. I leave Tuesday at 3 in the morning though, which isn't ideal, but I'm still very excited. We had an evening class with Brother Palmer and it went by really fast. He's a really good teacher and he gives me really good feedback on my Spanish. My district and my roommate's district played soccer for like an hour and it was really fun.

Sunday, September 1- Today was my last Sunday at the MTC, and it was really fun. Sacrament and elders Quorum is always fun and we had a really good branch president during the MTC. We had another really good Go and Do and I studied some talks by Holland. Then we had the departure devotion and then Jason Deere came and performed. It was really cool and it was really nice to hear music.

Saturday, August 31- We played soccer as a district for the last time this morning. It was super fun. We also took a language assessment today. It went pretty well, and after we took it the guy who gave us the test told us a lot of cool statistics. The basic summary was that the test was made for AP college classes. The statistic was that an AP student who spent 3 times as many hours learning Spanish then we did would have the same score we got today. I definitely wouldn't be learning Spanish as fast without the gift of tongues.

Monday, September 2 - My last day of the MTC went very fast. I got everything packed up. Both my suitcases weigh 49 pounds, and I have two backpacks full of stuff (one is a carry-on and one is smaller and is my "personal item"). I'm very prepared clothes wise. We also had our last classes. I really liked Brother Palmer. He was a really good teacher and helped me a lot. I'm really nervous and excited for tomorrow. I'm not excited for waking up at 2 in the morning though. It'll be a long day and when I get there it'll be the start of a new day, so I will be very tired. I've learned a lot from the MTC and I'm so excited to teach the people of Spain. I'm really praying I don't lose my luggage.

Tuesday/Wednesday, September 3-4 - This was a very long day. I went to bed on Monday at 12:00 because I was packing. Then Tuesday morning I woke up at 2 in the morning and we got on our first flight to Atlanta at about 9. Then we had a layover and we left for Atlanta and had a 8-hour flight to Spain. We got here at 10:00am(in Utah time it was 2:00 am). When we got off the planes we went through customs and everything, and it was pretty easy because almost all the signs were in both English and Spanish. We then went to the mission office and did a lot of orientation stuff. My mission president and his wife are really nice and funny. Their names are Brother and Sister Obando. They lived in Germany before this, but are originally from Costa Rica. The mission office is on the same fenced-in property as the temple, which is cool. The mission office used to be the Spain MTC. After some orientation we had jamon and then the AP's walked us around Madrid and took us on the Metro. We practiced contacting people, so the whole time I basically smiled and said simple phases and handed people cards. The area we were walking around in today was so cool. All the buildings are beautiful. We then had the best Anchalotas for dinner at the mission office. We don't get our areas and meet our trainers until tomorrow. So tonight me and 9 other guys are sleeping in a flat across the street from the temple. I didn't really sleep on the plane so I'm so tired writing this.

Thursday, September 5 - Today was really cool. We had some more orientation today in the mission office, then we met our trainers at about 12:00 and had lunch. (Note - Gabe explained on the phone that they had almost like a game-show style mission companion reveal! They would say, "Elder Rhodes, your companion is.... Elder Bright!" And he would run out from behind this curtain and they would hug! Then the city name would show upon this screen with a picture! It sounded so fun and creative!) My trainer is from Spain but also speaks English. His name is Elder Bright and he's pretty funny and nice. He was also a pro soccer player before coming on his mission. The Madrid zone recently split so me and my companion are opening this new area. Our apartment is in Aranjuez. Our apartment is way nicer than I thought it would be. It's a pretty big area and we don't have a car. But it's pretty cool still. It took about 30 minutes to walk to our apartment from the train station. We spent the rest of our day unpacking and doing weekly planning. But after we got dinner at this place a couple minutes away and we ate Kabop. It was really good. Then we went back to the apartment and went to bed. I've had a pretty good time though, I really like the apartment and my companion.

Friday, September 6 - Our apartment gets pretty cold at night, it's so nice. We went on a run this morning then came back and ate breakfast. After we went and took the train and tracted in Valdemoro. It was pretty fun. After we got back we did district counsel online with the 3 other hermanas in our district. Because of the fiesta every evening, we do our study time from about 4:30 to 8 we did all of our studing and some more of my training. Then we did more street contacting in Aranjuez. After we came back to our apartment and had dinner. Elder Bright and I also did a crazy leg workout tonight. Spain is so different from America but it's really cool. I'm so excited for when I can communicate better in Spanish.

Saturday, September 7 - Today after we woke up we had breakfast and did an arm workout. After we took the train to Valdemoro and walked around trying to contact people. There was a big party last night so there was like no one outside. After that, we came back to Aranjuez and had lunch and study time. After that, we went and opened to chapel for the relief society and went and played soccer with a bunch of guys who were either members, inactive, or interested. Even though I had no idea what was going on, it was still fun. Everyone is pretty good at soccer, I can barely keep up. We talked to this one member who went to England on his mission and spoke English. He was really funny. Then we went home and had dinner, then went to bed.

Sunday, September 8 - After breakfast this morning we went straight to church. It's really close to our apartment which is nice. I haven't gotten my bus and metro pass yet so there's been a lot of walking. Church was cool. I didn't really know what was happening the entire time though. I picked up on some of it though. There were about 98 people there. I helped pass the sacrament with these other deacons and it was a little rough because their directions were very unclear. But it worked out. After church, we had a lesson in the chapel with an Amigo. It was about the plan of salvation and it went pretty good. I added little bits and pieces throughout the whole thing. We scheduled his baptism for the 28th. I think one thing that has surprised me already is that I was under the impression I may only get one baptism (if any) my whole mission. I can already see we are going to be teaching a lot more people than I thought, which is awesome. After we went back to the apartment and did a lot of studying and practiced spanish. Then, I got to finally call my family which was so nice. Then I cleaned the kitchen and we got ready for bed.

Monday, September 9 - We started off our day with breakfast and daily planning. Then we did a good amount of contacting people online. We went contacting on the other side of the city which was really fun. There's so much cool stuff to see. Every walk is a really fun experience. After we stopped at the market to grab some food. The fruit here is so good. And the bread is probably the best bread I've ever had. Everything in the market is so different from America and it all looks so good! After we did studying for a while and set up appointments for the week. Elder Bright had a dentist's appointment so that's what we spent most of the evening doing. After we took the bus back and had dinner. Night life is also crazy. It'll be 10:00 at night and everyone will be outside, even the kids. It kinda feels weird to go to bed with so many people outside.

Tuesday, September 10 - We did a lot of contacting online this morning. Then we had study time and met over zoom with my training tutor. It went pretty well. After study time we had two online lessons but neither of them answered. So we made cookies and spent our evening traveling to Valdemoro and gave an inactive member the cookies and taught him a lesson. I love doing in-person lessons even though I don't really know what's going on. We've been walking to the train station every time we go anywhere because I won't get my public transport card till the 14th. I'm so excited to not have to walk everywhere and pay for bus rides.

Wednesday, September 11 - We had our first zone conference today! It was pretty cool. We had to wake up at 6:00, then took the 2-hour train trip to the Madrid temple/mission office. We had a big meeting with everyone and the AP's gave their farewell testimonies. They’re really nice. After we had a big lunch and did interviews with President and his wife. They're both so nice. They're awesome. We all just hung out and talked while we waited for our interviews. After we finished that we got some pastries at a nearby store for dinner. Then we took the metro and then the train back to Aranjuez. The public transport is crazy It's all in Spanish and it's very huge and complex. I'm so excited to have my first P-day tomorrow.

Thursday, September 12- Today we had pday. It was awesome. We started off our day by traveling to Madrid. We accidently took a wrong turn in the metro and it made the trip 3 hours instead of 2. When we got there though the whole zone was playing soccer at a nearby field which was really fun. Then we went to Popeyes for lunch. After we went back to the chapel/temple/mission office and played basketball and wrote emails. My email is messed up right now and I'm not receiving every email, which is very annoying. After, we did more soccer in the gym of the chapel and then went back to Aranjuez. We finished our day with weekly planning. I also got more apples from the store because they're so good.

Friday, September 13- We did contacting online again this morning then we had district council over whatsapp. Then we went and rented the soccer court for Saturday evening. After we took the bus for about an hour to a member dinner. They picked us up at the bus stop and took us to their house. The food was so good! It was basically just grilled meat and then for dessert they gave us this chunky, cold, ice cream looking thing with cinnamon on it. It was pretty good and I asked Elder Bright what it was after and he said it's basically just rice and milk. Once I understand spanish more I'll love member meals a lot more. Then we went back to the apartment and did study time and had online family home evening with the zone and mission president. I finally get my public transport pass tomorrow and I'm actually so excited.

Saturday, September 14- We spent almost the entire day getting the public transport card because we had to go all the way to northern Madrid to get it. We spent like the whole day on public transport which isn't that fun. But we got it. We also stopped at the market and got this really good crossant looking thing filled with white chocolate, it's probably my favorite thing I've eaten so far. We had soccer after with the guys in our ward again and it was pretty fun. We came straight from Madrid so me and Elder Bright played barefoot. The court is basically cement so I was not used to that. My feet are still on fire. After we came back to the apartment and had dinner and went to bed. 

Sunday, September 15 - We go to church about 30 minutes early every Sunday so we can welcome everyone to church. Last week I understood literally nothing anyone said but this week I could figure out the main point of the conversation about 70% of the time. I introduced myself to the ward today. I thought it went ok. The members liked it though. We talked to a lot of members after for a while and got invited to have a late lunch with this one family we have been talking to a lot. The father and daughter are from Spain and both served missions. The fiance of the daughter is from Manchester. They all speak english, so then understood my broken Spanish pretty well. The meal was really good and we talked to them for a while before heading back to our apartment to do study time and online contacting. Then I got to call my family which was really fun. Tomorrow will be another P-day and I'm excited to go into Madrid again.