Badamoos

Hey there! 

This felt like a long transfer week. On Monday, we went to Mérida to see all the Roman stuff there. It was awesome, and a little awe-inspiring. It went from the capital of the Roman Empire to a Spanish pueblo in the middle of nowhere. 

Augustus. I hear he makes a mean salad.

I've seen this statue in my middle school history book. Huh. 

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Elder Cobbley taking a pic of Elder Nye taking a pic of me taking a pic of Elder Childers taking a pic of me taking a pic of Elder Cobbley taking a pic of Elder Nye taking a pic of me...

Roman Headstones

"He who you believe has died has done nothing more than continue on the path." #planofsalvation

Awesome ancient amphitheater that is still in use every August.

The Arena. 

Here's a weird thought: People watched other people fight to the death in this very spot. 

Crazy what the masses will resort to for entertainment.

Maximus! Maximus! Maximus!

Are you not entertained?

Whoo!

We ate with Petri (awesome member) for lunch, then visited a semi-less active member named Moses. He's an English-speaking Nigerian who was baptized about three years ago and hasn't had much opportunity to go to church recently because he works every day but Monday. We are going to start visiting him every other Monday evening so he can be a little more edified in the spiritual aspect of his life.

Happy Moses and Elders

Tuesday was good. I had to make Elder Nye start packing via companionship goal last Thursday, so he was able to finish his packing without too much of a hurry Tuesday night. We ate lunch with Milena and the de León family. Milena made this Colombian soup and I'm preeetty sure it had cow intestine in it. It was delicious with an interesting texture.

Wednesday morning, I dropped Elder Nye off at the bus station at 6:45 in the morning. It was a little sad, he was an amazing companion. We had a lot of good laughs and positive experiences. My new companion did not arrive in Badajoz until 11:50, so I spent the day with Elder Rich who was also awaiting a new companion.

Thursday: New Comp Day! His name is Elder Van Moos (there is no "e") and he is a pretty decent guy. We're still in a stage where we're trying to figure each other out. He is from Santaquin, Utah (3rd Ute companion) and he played basketball and football in high school. I spent the rest of the week getting him acquainted with the area and learning who the more main people are.

On Friday, Santi took us out to eat again. *fist pump*

On Sunday both Milena and Borja showed up to church! Woo! Unfortunately, Borja left after sacrament meeting, but we pulled him right back because we invited him to share the spiritual thought at the noche misional the same day! He gave a very good message on justice and mercy and now members are wondering even more why the heck he isn't baptized. We plan on inviting him to do so on Wednesday. I was able to set up a few citas on Sunday, so we should have a little more to do than the regular contacting. People have become noticeably more resistant this past week or so and I'm not really sure why. We had lunch with President Silva. 

Who would have thought that a Spanish branch in the middle of nowhere would feed the missionaries so well?

I loved the Yakima reception photos. Especially that gorgeous, almost paper-esque young man in the suit. It made me laugh and smile.

 

I'm happy to hear that my younger siblings are just killing life right now. I wish I knew what was going on in the lives of my older siblings... ;) Try not to die from smoke inhalation (from the forest fires), and I'll try to do the same. Because people like to smoke here. A lot.

Sorry, I wish I had more to write. Let me know if I'm lacking anything in these emails! 

I hope the week treats you all well!