Last Week With Elder Bright, Exchanges with ZLs, McConkie conference

Note from mom: I am honestly not sure what I was thinking this week because I somehow missed on posting this week and am going back now and fixing it! (like two weeks later haha) But I remember we were just thinking about if Elder Bright would get transferred or if Gabe would get transferred, and I was kind of worrying about that! 

Spiritual Experience: When we had our lesson with the recent convert, Lara, on Wednesday it was so amazing. She speaks Portuguese and English so we did the lesson in English. She was baptised in Brazil and while we were reviewing every part of the Restoration with her, she would stop us and talk about every part and how strongly she knows it's true. She also told us about some hard moments in her life that would probably shake most testimonies. But she said those experiences only brought her closer to God. She was so cool and she's a great example to me of how much joy missionaries can bring to peoples life. I'm so excited to help her progress and hopefully meet more people like her. 

Tuesday, November 19: Today me and Elder Bright had exchanges with the Zone leaders which was super fun. We went to Madrid and I was with Villaseñor the whole day and he understands some English but we spoke Spanish all day which was really good actually. I understood most of the day. We had a good lesson with a guy in the hospital and then we picked up a member and someone the ZLs are teaching and went to the young adults conference with Elder McConkie. It was really good and he only spoke English so he had a translator, which was nice for me. Me and Villaseñor had a really fun time and I learned a lot of good stuff about mission work.

Wednesday, November 20: Today we had a missionary conference with McConkie and it was so good. He talked a lot about how we need to talk to "everything that moves" he also talked about Jesus's sermon on the mount. It was such a cool experience. After the conference we came back to Aranjuez and set up appointments and online contacted. We had a lesson with a recent covert who recently moved her from Brazil named Lara. She had such an amazing testimony and I can't wait to keep talking to her.

Thursday, November 21: We woke up at about 6 this morning and traveled to Madrid for the Blitz in Valdepeñas. When we got there we watched the Sevilla conference with Mcconkie over Zoom. Then me, Bright, the ZLs, the STLs, Elders page and Caffrey, and Toledo rode to Valdepeñas in a van. The drive was hilarious and it was so cool to drive through the country side of Spain. I was with Elder Milie for the Blitz which was nice and we got some numbers. Then we spent the rest of the day traveling back to Aranjuez.

Friday, November 22: After some studies we did street contacting for a while and found 2 people which was super nice. Then we got out Transfer calls!! We found out that I'm staying in Aranjuez and Bright is leaving. My new comp is a guy named Olsen I've heard nothing about. Bright was an awesome comp so I'm a little nervous so meet my new comp. But we had a really good lesson this evening which was awesome. He's from Cuba and his name is Osmany. The spirit was so strong when we taught the Restoration and he loved the Book of Mormon. 

Saturday, November 23: We started our day by traveling to Valdemoro for a member meal with Dora and her family, which was super fun. She always makes such good food and they're really fun to talk too. When we got back we did our studies and Bright got most of his stuff packed for transfers. We then had a really good lesson with a woman named Fior. It was probably the best I've ever spoken Spanish. We've found like 6 people this week so we could have a good amount of lessons after church, but we will see how many actually come😂.

Sunday, November 24: We had church this morning and it was Elder Bright's last day of church here which was crazy. We had two really good lesson after church. One was with guy from Nigeria, named Andrew, who speaks English so we did it with him in English witch was awesome. Then we had out second lesson with Osmany and we gave him a baptismal date for the 15th of December, and that was awesome! Then we had a meal with the Daguimar's which was so fun, and they gave Elder Bright a little cake for his birthday and we all sang. It was so fun. I really hope my next comp is good because Elder Bright has been a really good companion.

Monday, November 25: We spent a good amount of time cleaning the apartment this morning because Bright is leaving and I am getting Elder Olson moving in here tomorrow night. Elder Bright got all packed up and I gave him the Christmas stocking that my mom sent in that suitcase with Denae. He was excited to take it with him and open it on Christmas. Then we all went to the chapel and hung out and played sports and called our families. After that we went to a member meal at Dominos and chatted with them for a while then they drove us back to Aranjuez. It's the last night in my apartment going to sleep with Elder Bright across the room! I hope my next companion that will be here in his bed tomorrow will be as good as Elder Bright!

Zone Conference, Stake Conference, Toledo Again, and Street Contacting

Note from mom: Well, the big thing on everyone's mind is that it's transfer time on November 26! It's crazy to think that this may be Gabe's last week with Elder Bright! As we talked on Sunday, we asked him if he would be sad if Elder Bright got transferred away from him this next week, and he said, "It would be okay, but I would just hope I get someone good." He also said that if he could choose to stay in Aranjuez or move somewhere else, he would stay in Aranjuez for "one more" (6 more weeks). He said he feels like he knows his way around the city now and how to use which buses, so he kind of wants to stay a little longer. He said though his Spanish is improving, it would be really hard still if he got a companion that only speaks Spanish, but he said the majority of the elders speak both Spanish and English. Nothing else much new to report! He's doing well, though he did mention that every lesson they had set up this week basically flaked out when they would call them to confirm that morning. So that's frustrating, but he seems to be okay about it. He knew going into a mission in Spain that it would be kind of tough in that way. 

Spiritual Experience: One thing I've really been doing a lot since I got to Aranjuez is reading in Spanish. I've never been reading more in my entire life. I remember when I first started I understood nothing and reading out loud was painfully slow and I pronounced words horribly(see Facebook video for reference). But today when I was searching for scriptures I could use on my plaque I started flipping through random pages in a spanish book of mormon and I could almost completely understand the scriptures I would quickly read. I was really struggling in the MTC when other missionaries would talk about having crazy gift of tongues experiences all the time. And it felt like I was getting nothing. But now I realize that I've been being blessing with the gift of tongues this entire time, it just wasn't in the grand, crazy experiences it felt like everyone else was having. I know God has and wants to help me learn spanish, I just need to never stop trying.

Tuesday, November 12: This morning after we all got ready we went over to the office and had Zone-conference. It was really good and President Obando taught us a lot about different aspects of missionary work. He also told us about how important the impact we have on people can be. After that, the senior couples had prepared food and we all ate. It was super fun talking to everyone and after we finished in the office we traveled back to Aranjuez and finished our day with language study and some contacting.

Wednesday, November 13: This morning we did some studies and then went and did contacting in the king's garden. After we came back to the apartment and did my last mentoring session and had lunch. Then we went to Valdemoro and did street contacting and dropped of a Book of Mormon at someone's house who was interested last week. We walked into a chapel and talked to a really nice catholic lady who then wanted a picture with us because we're missionaries. Then we came back to Aranjuez and got ready for bed. 

Thursday, November 14: After our studies and a lot of online contacting we went to Valdemoro and street contacting and visited a guy named Hector that ghosted us. When we got to his house the door was open and we made eye contact with him while he was sitting on his couch, we said Hi and he just stared at us for like 8 seconds then stood up and said he would text us later and closed the door. He never texted. His face was so crazy when he was just staring at us. Then we came back to Aranjuez and called a guy who might be promising named Roberto. He talked for liked 30 minutes though before we invited him to church😂. 

Friday, November 15: Today we had District Counsel in Toledo!! So we spent most the morning getting there. Then we had DC and the best shwarma for lunch. I love Toledo so much. It's such a cool city. It's literally just a huge castle. On the way back to Aranjuez the bus got stuck in traffic and the bus driver had the AC off and we were dieing, it was so hot the windows were foggy. When we got back, we did street contacting and it went pretty good today. We got some numbers which was awesome. Then we had Family home evening with the mission over zoom and got ready for bed.

Saturday, November 16: Today we did personal study and quick went out and did street contacting. I've actually really enjoyed street contacting lately which has been nice. We talked to 2 different old people who both chatted with us for like 15 minutes then said No😂. Then we did our studies and had the first part of stake conference. After we ended the day with street contacting. We talked to this guy who was crazy high and then a group kids heard us talking and were like "these guys speak english!!" Then we got swarmed by like 20 kids wanting to talk to us in English. It was pretty funny. They were mostly Muslim though.

Sunday, November 17: We woke up at like 6 this morning to make it to stake conference on time and it was pretty cool. One man who spoke didn't speak spanish so he would speak in English and then his translator would repeat it in spanish. His talk was really good. Then we had a member meal with a really fun guy named Andrew. He's from Nigeria and he's hilarious and speaks English. Then we did our studies and I got to call my family which was really nice.

Monday, November 18: We went to Madrid this morning and it was so fun! We ate at this burrito shop where they make it in front of you with whatever ingredients you want. Then we walked to a camera shop so Elder Bright could get the photos on his Polaroid camera printed out. We also stopped at a cool guitar shop. The area we were in was crazy rich and we just kept wandering into really nice stores and looking at the crazy prices😂. We also went inside two really crazy churches. Then we came back to Aranjuez and did some contacting then got ready for bed.

Trip to Valencia Part 2, Gabe's Residency Interview, and more

Note from mom: I was really glad that when I talked to Gabe today, he said Elder Bright had snapped out of his little quiet funk and was acting like his normal cheerful self again a couple days after they got back home from Valencia. Gabe had said it was pretty tough for those few days when Elder Bright was basically being a mute. Gabe said he had asked him about it, and he just said, "I had a lot on my mind, bro." I am guessing it was just hard for him to be around his mom and his friends and then get back into missionary mode. Anyways, Gabe seems like he's doing well and is overall really enjoying each day on his mission. He likes being social and he got to go to some fun member meals this week. He especially likes this one family where they have a son who is about 10 that speaks English fluently because he "learned it from YouTube." Gabe even uploaded a little video of them hanging out and the boy seemed really funny. Gabe also loved playing "futbol" (soccer) with some member guys and their friends. It seems like the chances are good that Elder Bright may get transferred away from Gabe in about two weeks, which will be sad, but at the same time, maybe it will be a good change. So we are starting to look towards that with a little bit of nervous anticipation (at least, I am), but hopefully it will be ok. Gabe says he still doesn't feel confident in Spanish, but it's getting better all the time (See his "spiritual experience.") Also, we found out that a boy from Rexburg named Rigdon Porter, who plays basketball with Carter, just opened his mission call and it's to Madrid Spain South! Gabe had been telling me how cool he thought it would be if someone from Rexburg got called there, so he was pretty excited to hear that! Maybe someday, they will get to be companions!

Spiritual Experience: This whole week I wasn't excited for the online multi-stake conference because it was going to be in Spanish, so I wasn't even going to get to understand the Ulysses Soares. So I was praying so hard that I would be able to understand. Then when we watched it, I understood practically everything he and the other speakers were saying. I didn't understand every word, but I understood every topic and almost every sentence. His talk was about aligning our will with God's and the impact it can have on our lives. Some days it feels like I'm not progressing and some days I feel great about how fast I'm learning but no matter what, at the end of every day, I know that as I continue to try my hardest my Spanish will be exactly where God needs it to be.

Tuesday, November 5: (Sidenote - In America, Donald Trump was elected to be the 47th president today! Mom was messaging updates all night long as the votes were coming on on the TV.) When we woke up this morning in the hotel I took the best shower of my life. The shower was actually big enough to move in and it was hot. Our shower in our apartment is so tiny and the water heater has been having issues, so this was a nice change! Then we went to the police station and met with Elder Bright's mom. After his appointment, us 3 went to a Mercadona to eat and then 2 of Bright's best friends came and we all chatted until we had to leave to the airport. It was really fun, his friends and mom were really funny. Then we flew back to Madrid and got stuff ready for my appointment tomorrow for residency. The apartment we are in tonight is pretty nice and right across the street from the temple. The church owns it, so missionaries can stay in it whenever they need to.

Wednesday, November 6: When we woke up this morning, we made our way to the police station I had my residency appointment at. The police station was out of the mission in Northern Madrid. It's actually insane how green everything is only 10 minutes out of the mission. The appointment was pretty boring, I handing an officer my stuff (passport, etc.) and after like 5 minutes and quickly taking my finger prints, he said I could come back in like a month to pick up my residency card. After the appointment, we traveled back to Aranjuez and dropped off all our stuff. Then we traveled to Valdemoro and had a lesson with an inactive member named Jhon, who was baptised when he lived in Chile. We had a fun lesson about the importance of reading the Book of Mormon. Then we ended our day with street contacting.

Thursday, November 7: We had another early lesson with Juliana in Valdemoro this morning, the lady from last Wednesday. We taught the Restoration and I think it went pretty well. Then we had my second to last mentoring session over zoom, which is crazy. That means I have only like 2 weeks left of training. After we did street contacting, then had a really good weekly planning session. We are going to try and start doing English classes again, which I'm excited for.

Friday, November 8: This morning we had some studies and then District Counsel. It's always really fun and we had a really good discussion about Elder Christofferson's talk "The Testimony of Jesus Christ". After that we had a member meal with the Sanz family. The dad is the one who baptised Ademir. They're a super fun family to visit. Then we contacted a lot of people online to clean the area book as well as set up the fútbol activity for tomorrow. We also tried to set up English classes, but the bishop didn't answer any calls or texts. Then the day ended with family home evening online with the Obandos.

Saturday, November 9: Today was so fun! After studies, we did street contacting. We stopped at a Muslim store and this lady gave me a discount on a cool robe looking thing. Elder Bright has one too😂. Then we had Fútbol with some guys in the ward and that was so fun. It was us, the old bishop, the Sanz guy and his son, Ademir, and a couple others. They're all so funny and it was such a fun activity. Then we came home and got ready for bed.

Sunday, November 10: We had Multi-stake conference online this morning and Ulysses Soares spoke and it was really cool. Then we did studies and had a super fun member meal with the old bishop. His 10-year-old son speaks English and he says the funniest stuff. Then we came back to our apartment, I called my family from about 6:00pm-8:00pm, and while I was on the phone we got ready to go to Madrid because we have Pday tomorrow and then zone conference the next day. We went to the bus stop and rode the bus to the train station. Then we rode the train to Madrid and got to the apartment by the temple that missionaries can stay at. We stayed the night with a bunch of other Elders, which was super funny.

Monday, November 11: We woke up in the residency Piso with the other Elders and then all went to a Soccer field. We all played soccer for like an hour, and then did football then did sand volleyball. It was so fun. The guys in our zone are so fun. Then we came back to the mission office and hung out and messaged family and chatted. We also got Burger king. I've eaten more Burger King in the past 3 months than in my entire life😂, even though there is a Burger King like two minutes from my house in Rexburg. Then I had my interview with President Obando. It was so good and he gave me such good advice about missionary work. I love the Obandos. Then we all went back to the residency piso and talked and hung out until bed time. It was really fun hanging out with the other elders. Tomorrow, we have our zone conference, so that should be fun too. 

Some Fun Lessons and Traveling to Valencia

Note from mom: Our phone call with Gabe was a little bit different this week because we had Grandma Sue and Brayden here visiting us, so they got to chat with him as well! Gabe wanted to call on Monday instead of Sunday because he felt like he would be able to talk to us more, so we waited the extra day and it was worth it! He was busy traveling from Aranjuez (by bus) to Madrid, then he flew from Madrid to Valencia! This little trip was because Elder Bright had to return to his home province in order to renew some sort of residency paperwork. So the mission office coordinated all their flights and travel plans and got them a hotel for the night in Valencia. I was a little worried about them going there because Valencia just had major flooding, but Gabe said they weren't in the areas of southern Valencia that had the flooding. So we talked to him while he was sitting in the airport and then when he arrived in Valencia. We had a lot of time to chat throughout the day and it was fun to Facetime with him with grandma along! He seems to be doing well, but he did mention that sometimes Elder Bright seems to get into little funks and he gets really quiet. That seemed to be the case as they were making their travels. So Gabe was kind of bummed about that. He said he thinks it may be because Elder Bright was going to his hometown and seeing his mom and some friends, but he was feeling homesick and kind of wished he could just stay home. It would be hard to be in your hometown like that and then get back into mission mode. Anyways, here is his update in his own words!

Spiritual Experience for Mom:

On Saturday, when we had that lesson in English that was really nice. I've felt pretty useless since getting here because of my limited Spanish and just getting a nice break where I can teach in English was such a blessing. I was so excited. I already know that nothing will compare to the feeling of finally being able to get to the point were I can teach people comfortably in Spanish. 

Thursday, October 31: We had a lesson today at 11 in Valdemoro so after getting ready we traveled to Valdemoro. This lesson was from an online inquiry form that the girl had filled out, asking for more information about the church. The lesson went really well and she seemed pretty sure she was coming to church on Sunday. Then we traveled to a member meal (with a guy named Loan - pronounced "Low-On") and had a really fun lunch and lesson with him and his co-worker who isn't a member. Loan offered to drive us back to our apartment, but he was kinda a bad driver and we got lost a couple times and then got stuck in traffic. So the 30 minute drive took 3 hours. So that was bad. He also kinda kidnapped us and took us to Costco, which is technically outside the mission boundaries, so we couldn't speak of that to anybody, but we made it back to the apartment eventually. This was also Halloween day, but no one really celebrates it here and the members kind of consider it a satanic holiday... but at least I had some Halloween candy from my mom in that suitcase that Denae brought! ;)

Friday, November 1: After we did our studies, we had district counsel over video call. That was kind of boring. Then we spent a while getting everything figured out for our trip to Valencia. Elder Bright has to go and get his residency renewed, so on Monday we're flying to Valencia for his appointment. Then we spent the evening traveling to Madrid and back because the mission office had my passport and I need that for our flight. The senior mission couple, Hermano and Hermana Reese helped us with paperwork and booking a hotel in Valencia for Monday, and then Hermano Reese gave us a thing of Skippy peanut butter, which is a rarity in Spain!

Saturday, November 2: This morning we did some street contacting and then did our studies. We walked through this huge popup market thing and Elder Bright said everything was probably stolen. So there was some cool stuff. Then we had a lesson with a guy who only spoke English and it was awesome. If I was an English speaking missionary my life would be a lot easier right now. Then we made cookies and went to a member's house. (He was named Roberto and was the member who baptized Adamir on Tuesday. Elder Bright and Roberto were talking about car engines and my vocab is not ready for that, so I chatted with his wife about super random stuff (in Spanish). But the conversation, even though rough at times, was there. So today was pretty good. And they gave us this weird fruit called Grenada. Some of the fruit here I've never seen in my life. (*Note - Mom looked this up later online and Grenada is in fact the Spanish word for Pomegranate... which we do have in America, but I guess Gabe didn't realize we had... lol)

Sunday, November 3: Today we had church and we chatted with a lot of people after which was really fun. After we did some studies and went and had dinner with the Daguimar's. That's always really fun to hang out with them. After dinner, we went and helped take bags of clothes (that the Daguimars wanted to donate) to a University where they collected donations for Valencia. (Valencia had record rains a few days ago and there were flash floods in some parts of the city.) Then we stayed for like 2 hours with the Daguimar's helping sort and pack up clothes at the University. It was very chaotic, but fun. Elders Eldridge and Balser had some travel problems as they were trying to get home tonight and they missed the train they needed, so they stayed the night with us, which was hilarious. 

Monday, November 4: Today was a weird day. We spent all morning getting haircuts in Valdemoro. Mine turned out pretty good this time. My mom sent me some pictures from Google yesterday and I just showed the barber the pictures instead of trying to communicate with him what I wanted in Spanish. Then went back to Aranjuez and got ready for our trip to Valencia. We traveled to Madrid by bus and then got Taco Bell and went to the Airport. We basically stood in line for like 2 hours waiting to board, then took the 45-minute flight to Valencia. We are going there to get Elder Bright’s visa renewal. When we got to Valencia we walked to the hotel and ordered Kebab for dinner. I was able to talk to my mom, dad, Caleb, grandma, and Brayden today, which was really fun. Then, we went to bed so we could wake up and get to Elder Bright's appointment in the morning.