It sounds like Gabe was having a fun time when we were talking on the phone and he was out on the town in the evening with a bunch of other missionaries, including Elder Bright, seeing the Christmas lights in a city called Sol. We asked him if Elder Olson was talking more, and he said he was starting to warm up a little more and talk to him more, but that he (Gabe) still has to do most of the talking to other people at church and during street contacting. Gabe also found out that because of the transfer changes, it sounds like everyone will be staying where they are at until February 14th! We asked him if he was okay with staying in Aranjuez for that long (and with Elder Olson) and he said he was, so hopefully that feeling continues!
Spiritual Experience: During my personal study I've been seeing progress with reading the Book of Mormon, and it's been really cool to see how verses in the Spanish are easier to understand than the English version. Just because the words feel less complex. Some versus have vocabulary I've never seen before. But most the time when I know the words it's easier to understand the meanings of the scriptures. The gift of tongues is definitely carrying my reading skills.
Tuesday, December 3: We had the 12-week zoom call this morning which was crazy because I'm not in training anymore. I definitely feel like my Spanish is still in the training section of my mission though. We did a lot of contacting over Whatsapp today and also had 2 nice lessons over video call. I really wanna meet with one of the ladies in person because she gets distracted so easily by stuff in her house. We also made cookies because one of our lessons canceled and then we gave one of the plates to the Sanz family. Olson has been more talkative today. This morning I was annoyed with him, but he's been talking more and we've had a pretty good day. I've still had to do most the talking though.
Wednesday, December 4: Today we had a lesson with Ademir about temples and the plan of salvation which was awesome. Me and Olson did like 4 hours of street contacting too, which was cool because tonight there was a big party in the plaza so there were a lot of people outside. Olson doesn't start many conversations so It was mostly me talking to people. It went pretty well and we got a few numbers. We also spent like 5 minutes listening to a guy who was trying to get us to switch to Islam, so that was interesting😂. We then ended our night with a good meeting over video call with our ward mission leader.
Thursday, December 5: We did some online contacting this morning next the the plaza which was fun. We reached out to all of our recent converts, but they all live in small towns that would take like a days journey to get to. We went to Ciempozuelos for street contacting, which went pretty well. We met a really nice deaf guy that we talked to using the notes app on our phone. He might come on Sunday. When we got back to Aranjuez we had weekly planning.
Friday, December 6: Today we had District Counsel for the first time in person and it was super fun. We also got "transfer calls". Even though the last transfer was 2 weeks ago the next group goes home this week so they can be home for Christmas. So some people had to get moved around. Also because it's Christmas we aren't getting new missionaries till February. So they aren’t going to move anyone until February🤯. So I'll be in Aranjuez for close to 6 months, which is kinda insane. But I still like Aranjuez so I'm fine with that. Because it's Friday night, everyone was partying except the old Spanish men. So no potential baptisms today😔. The best quote from one of them was, "I believe in God, but you're too young for me to listen to"💀. I still have to start every conversation during street contacting and plan most things because I'll ask him anything and there's always, no joke, a 5 minute ponder. And then he usually says, "I don't know". He's talking more though, so it's fine.
Saturday, December 7: We did a lot of online contacting in the old king's garden (an area of Aranjuez that's like a big park with ponds and lots of trees) and then we had some studies and street contacting. We had like a 2 hour long lesson with Roberto, the man I met on like the 25th of September (one of my first weeks here). I think he's a little more ready to have lessons now. Then we had a ward family home evening and only like 3 families came, but it was fun. Then we contacted a guy and we talked for literally an hour and a half. He was super drunk so I had no clue what was happening except when he would start calling me a gringo😂.
Sunday, December 8: We had church today which went pretty good. We had another lesson with Roberto and we are going to talk about what day he can be baptised on Wednesday. President Obando showed up at our ward too and we have no idea why. So that was crazy. Then we did street contacting in Valdemoro which was fun. Not a lot of people but Olson was talking more and we were having a good time.
Monday, December 9: This morning we traveled up to Madrid for the Christmas conference and it was so fun. They gave us breakfast at the mission office/church. Then we had the conference and heard different talks from the missionaries leaving tomorrow and from President. (A good number of missionaries are leaving a few weeks early so they can get home before Christmas.) I understood most of it which was nice. I'm to the point where I can understand, but I just have to really focus. So once I can understand without trying that'll be awesome. Then we went to Sol and looked at all the Christmas lights. They also had a huge Christmas tree. Then went to stay at a hotel in Madrid with lots of other elders because tomorrow we have breakfast again at the mission office/church and then we have a temple trip in the morning. Elder Olson and I will head back to Aranjuez in the afternoon after the temple.
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