Bada-boom, Badajoz

Hey! This was a busy week! Let's start with my tiny letter to President Andersen!

This has been a great week! Elder Garrard and I were able to meet with Abraham one last time before the end of the transfer. He actually invited us over, because he made us a little Spanish treat! We were able to leave with a simpler message on the small things (scripture study, prayer, etc) and talk about good actions causing the Spirit to grow within you (Alma 32). We asked him to keep doing these smaller daily actions, and he completely agreed, so we were able to end things on a more positive note. We spent a lot of time cleaning and packing leading up to the transfer and prepping the apartment. 

Goodbye pics

Obi Juan Parodi and I (Obispo Parodi. His first name isn't Juan, but I love the joke)
*Obispo is Bishop in Spanish.

Nosotros con Obispo Sánchez y María (They fed us every other Saturday. 

Recently baptized Abraham is peeking from behind me)

Nosotros con Manuel Mures (the man has made us roughly a dozen apple cakes since I got here)

Nosotros con Pedro the Patriarch. He has like, seven daughters that are all practically identical 

(one of which lets us have free haircuts).

Elder Garrard y Salvador

Elder Garrard y David, our Ward 1 mission leader (he served in Inglaterra)

The transfer was exciting! Everything went well with getting to Badajoz with Elder Nye. I really like Badajoz! And Elder Nye! Things are really good right now. I have been able to meet a lot of members already (many of which fed us) and I'm very grateful to say that their Spanish is sooo much clearer! I'm still very much learning the area, but I like the city, and key landmarks are becoming more noticeable. 

New companion, Elder Nye

This has been a rather smooth transition from my training. I know I've been receiving support for that. I don't have to much to say yet. I'm still figuring out the ropes of this place and getting familiar with investigators. My studies are going well, reading the BoM in Spanish is getting much easier. I would also like to add that Jesus the Christ has been such a great source and expansion of information for me.

On Tuesday, I took a train to Seville, where I took a bus with Elder Nye to Zafra, where we switched busses and headed on over to Badajoz. It's hot. I'm just going to leave it there. Look it up, and compare it to San Fernando. It's hot. Our piso is awesome. It's on the 9th floor and we have an ELEVATOR! It's awesome. It is probably one of the nicest in the mission (used to be a Hermana piso) complete with central air conditioning, no bug issues, and central air conditioning. Did I mention the hardwood floors and the central air conditioning?

Elder Nye is awesome. He gets all my references, our humor is much more compatible, it's been a good change of pace. The branch president is from Peru, and he's hilarious. His whole family likes to joke around. Oh, I understand and speak Spanish here. Well, much more than San Fernando. Our area covers the city center area, and the area across the river, and all of the pueblos in the province. There is one other companionship in Badajoz and one companionship in Cáceres that makes up our district. The city is awesome. I like this place a lot. The shade is much more prevalent. I'm running out of time.

The Oregon Coast looked like so much fun! Despite the weather! Thanks for the pictures, Mom! I'll have much more to write next week.

Elder Jensen :)