Maybe Getting Transferred...?

Note from Mom: This post is going to cover about two weeks again! Gabe's P-days got all messed up over these last couple weeks! They kept changing them, so he wasn't always sending an email on Monday. Like, his most recent big email was on Saturday and then he sent a little one yesterday. It's been all weird! So... that's my excuse. 

BUT, the big news is kind of still a secret that Gabe wasn't really supposed to find out, but he had a one-on-one interview with President Obando, and he let it slip that Gabe is FINALLY leaving the Valdemoro/Aranjuez area!!! He is soooo excited (and frankly, so am I!) We counted it up, and he has spent 11.5 months in the same ward (Aranjuez) during the past 17 months of his total time in Spain! So, it's pretty undersatndable that he is ready for a change!

Also, the place that he is going is supposed to be amazing! It's a city called Granada, and it's one of the prettiest cities in Spain. I am so excited for him and so excited for us to visit there!

Other than that, he is doing well except for that their washing machine broke, so he has to live for a week of going to the laundromat before he moves to Granada! Hopefully they can get it fixed for Elder Hulterstrom though!

Here are Gabe's notes!

Thursday, 1 of January: We got ready this morning and Me and Elder Broadbent traveled to Móstoles to switch back after exchanges with Elder Brog and Hulterstrom. We stayed there all pday and played card games and we went to Burger King. It was super fun and we had a great time. Afterward, we came back to Valdemoro and we had a call with all the Mission leadership, which went well. 

Friday, 2 of January: We had sooo many lessons planned for today, like at least 6. But then they all canceled😭. We street contacted all day, which was kinda devious. But we found 11 really cool people so it wasn't too bad. 

Saturday, 3 of January: We started this morning with a weird lesson with Luis and everything we said he would say he believed in, but then right after, he would say the opposite😭. Then we met with a guy named Johan, and it was pretty good. We taught them the Restoration. Both guys were from Peru. Then we had a fire videocall with Gabriel🙏🏼. Then we met with a Muslim guy who speaks English and that went ok, but he ain't switching. Then we had a Boyan lesson where we talked about going to church because he always has something going on during church🤔.

Sunday, 4 of January: Javier came to church today and loved it!! He chatted with a different ward member, who is a Spaniard guy (Roberto Sanz) for like and hour after church, and Javier told us after how nice it was to talk about the experiences they both have had in our churches and how much they both like this one. Then we ate with Daguimar and her family, which was hype like always🙏🏼. The rest of the day was mostly planning, but we did have a good videocall lesson with a woman named Miryam. We chatted with our families on the phone, which was good, because our Pday got moved and so we won't have P-day now until Saturday!

Zone conference y Book of Mormon marathon

We had a supppeerrr short week. Monday was basically our only day to work because we had the Book of Mormon marathon on Tuesday and Wednesday🙏. We spent 2 whole days reading the Book of Mormon. It was a super good experience. Very tiring though. 

Then later in the week, we also had zone conference this weekend so that was super good. We are all still here for interviews (it's Saturday) and the Frys made a bunch of tacos 🌮 

Monday, 5 of January: We had a super busy day starting with Javier where we taught the plan of salvation and also about polygamy (he asked😭). But it was super good. After that, we met with Gabriel and Miguel separately but basically taught the same plan of salvation lesson to both of them. After, we met with a lady we met in the street the other day named Jenny. Her son and daughter were there and they were all super nice. We gave them Books of Mormón and the really liked the Restoration lesson. We did all of our studies during the middle of the day, but after we had a lesson with Ruth outside! We had to search through the huge crowds of people because of the Three Kings Day parade (which is like their big Christmas celebration) but we had a great lesson about the Book of Mormon. She's from Nigeria and speaks Ingles.

Tuesday/Wednesday, 6 y 7 of January: Super good experience and it was awesome. We read the whole Book of Mormon in 2 days and it was super tiring but an amazing. 

Thursday, 8 of January: We had some calls this morning and after that we had a lesson in Ciempozuelos with a super nice lady from Africa. It went pretty good but it went long. After, we organized our stuff and left for Madrid for the conference tomorrow. We are staying with a bunch of elders and played card games before we went to bed, which was fun.

Friday, 9 of January: We had no hot water or heating in the apartment with the other elders in Madrid that we are staying in, so that sucked. But then, we had the conference and it went great. Afterward, we had a super good lunch from catering and had a leadership meeting with president. I was getting flamed😭. Next, we went to the temple with Cecilia and Elder Chivers and Elder Plewe. I ended up being baptised for 2 Russian grandparents of a recent convert who was there (that I didn't know at all) and she had me take some photos with her outside. It was pretty funny. I'll include those pictures even though it was random and I didn't even know her. Then we played card games before going to bed. 

Saturday, 10 of January: We had interviews with President Obando today, which went pretty good. We had to stay there the whole day, making sure everyone was ready when it was their turn. We also had a bunch of tacos and other Mexican food that the Frys prepared for us! (They are a senior missionary couple.) They are awesome and the food was amazing. My interview with president was really good as well. He may have given me a hint about where I am going next transfer in a week.... :)

Also, my old trainer and buddy, Wisdom Bright, happened to be at the temple during that time and so we got to take a picture with me, Elder Plewe, and Elder(not really anymore) Bright. It was a 3-generation photo. 

After our president interviews, me and Elder Hulterstrom went to Sol and he bought some more mate🧉. We did a bunch of contacting when we got home and also scouted out the laundromat we'll have to use because Elder Hulterstrom broke the washer. 

Sunday, 11 of January: We had church this morning and Javier and Johan came. It was great! Javier already has a really good relationship with the members. After church, we went and ate with the Yubero Family which went super fun. Then when we got back to Valdemoro, we did weekly planning and also had a fire first lesson with Lidy and Alex. They were both super nice and we are going to try and meet with them soon.

Monday, 12 or January: Today was Pday! **I didn't actually have this day included in his email, but I know Gabe went to Toledo today and walked around and saw some cool stuff, including the sword shop. Then they got food (schawarma) and I know that some Hermanas were there with them. I will include those pictures though because they are cool!