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😂.
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.
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