This past weekend it rained here for the first time! I've been waiting to see it rain because I wanted to see how it was. Utah rain has a very distinct smell, NY rain is just normal and comes in buckets, but here it's nothing special. It just comes in a little bit for a while then waits and then comes again.
We had to go to the park on Saturday when it was raining so there weren't a lot of people there to talk with. But we did find these three English girls who were visiting for a vacation and we gave them a copy of the Book of Mormon! It was way cool to answer their questions and actually know how to respond, what scriptures we could share to help us, and to also testify of what we were saying. I'm not sure what will happen, but at least we planted a seed for them.
While we were in the park we went up to a man who was just sitting on a bench and we thought he'd be a great person to talk to. But we started talking and I asked, "How are you?" and he said, "Porque te interes?"...I think haha which means why do you care. And I said something like I don't know, it's a great day! And then he just told us to leave and get lost haha. It was kinda unsettling at first but it's just a funny story now.
The food here has been awesome. There hasn't been a meal that I haven't liked which is crazy. We have a decent amount of fish, which I don't mind, and lots of meat. There's bread at every meal and lots of other fruit and stuff. I usually only eat toast and yogurt in the morning and then eat a lot more at lunch, which is their big meal.
The three French elders and sister leave next week which is kinda sad. We get along great with them and we'll miss them a lot. One Elder doesn't speak any Spanish or English so we have to have a translator with us most of the time. Luckily the Sister from France knows English really well and an Elder that's serving in Madrid knows French and English! So it works out great. The other Elder from France can speak a little English and a little Spanish. So it's a little easier to talk with him. But it's fun using signs and acting things out sometimes haha. Makes for an interesting time in the MTC. But to replace them next week, we get a ton of Spanish missionaries. Which means a ton more Spanish speaking to do, which is good.
For our service project the other day we had to rake leaves. I heard that and I was like nooooooo haha. I thought I got away from that for the next two years. But apparently not. I guess they knew that I was a pro at raking leaves since we do it so much at home every year. But it was fine because we had everyone out there and we just made it fun by talking and stuff. So service is all in the attitude. Make it fun and it will be fun.
Next week Hna. Boone and I are singing in sacrament meeting. I'm kinda nervous because I've never had to sing in just a duet before in front of people. And I don't even sing a bunch outside of church! I haven't sung in a choir since 6th grade but people keep asking if I have and if I take lessons...which I guess I should take as a compliment haha. But I think I'd rather play my violin right now. I didn't think I'd miss it this much until now. Hopefully I'll be able to touch at least one in these next two years. If not I might just go crazy. In the mean time singing will have to do.
I guess I'll update you all on the language again. I can now read Preach My Gospel in all Spanish which is pretty sweet. I've been doing it for about a week but now it's all I use when we study because I can understand it just fine. I read a little slower because I'm still learning but I can do it. I can talk and understand Spanish a lot better and I can carry on conversations with most people about a variety of things...sorta. It's just a matter of knowing vocabulary now. I know tons of church words but it's the other things that are a little iffy haha. So my goal is to work on that stuff.
I'll leave you all with a scripture I found while reading this week. It's really funny because it can totally apply to anyone, especially missionaries. It's in Proverbs 28:25. The last half says, "...but he that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat." So if you see missionaries that come home a little bigger than when they left, you know they trusted in the Lord haha. Obviously this isn't the real meaning, but I thought it was pretty funny and I shared it with everyone else.
Miss you all and I love hearing from you! Until next week!
