Bada-hosers

I don't really have any pictures from this week, so here's my lunch from Sunday!
Just a big ol' bowl o' spaghetti.

'Sup!

This was a week that went by pretty quick. It was also the first time in the transfer, and likely the only time, where Elder Van Moos and I stayed together in Badajoz for the full week. Let's get right to the letter!

Neither of the zone leaders had been to Badajoz before, and the numbers and results from this area gave them enough...curiosity to have a quick exchange with us on Tuesday and Wednesday. They went to our district meeting, then spent the afternoon with the other elders, and the morning with us to see what Badajoz is like. In the afternoon we did part of our studies, then all of the Badajoz elders helped a member's friend move apartments. Here's all I have to say about that: I'm thankful for the invention of the elevator. We contacted during the evening, then finished the day with finishing our studies. The zone leaders stayed the night with us. 

Elder Walker is a nice, blonde haired, snowboard enthusiast from Montana. Elder Mumani is a hard-working Bolivian (lived in Madrid for the past 9 years) that takes some warming up to, but opens up a lot once the ice is broken.

I went out to contact with Elder Mumani Wednesday morning, and it went pretty well! I had zero worries about communication, and he was pretty complimentary of my Spanish afterward. (Fun Fact: Confidence works sometimes, I guess :P) I did everything I could, which, since I was still pretty sick, was really only leading Elder Mumani around the area, talking with him as we walked about, and supporting him in contacts while trying to not look/sound like a plague victim. He really pounces on South Americans. We received future information for 5 people. Meaning we got a name, a number, and/or an address. I think that was the most I have gotten in one morning my entire mission. However, I would not be surprised if only one or two of the people were legit. Well, I would be surprised if any of them worked out #Spain--but that's beside the point! We now have 5 new potential investigators. Elder Van Moos and Elder Walker were able to find one future as well. Needless to say, the potential suspicions of the zone leaders about the quality of our work were turned away once they realized that the people here just really like to say no. The other elders could only find 1 potential investigator after an evening of contacting on Tuesday. Elder Mumani and Walker were pretty appalled at the situation here.

So!...now they got a little taaste of what I do. Pretty dang exciting, eh?

On Thursday, we got a call to check up on the lady in the hospital that we were asked to bless on Sunday. Let's establish a little more of a background to this story.

Last Sunday, Didier (one-armed investigator of the zone leaders in Seville that I helped teach the Restoration to with Elder Walker) had a niece that had something go wrong with her back, and she was in a hospital in Badajoz, and he wanted us to give her a blessing. We didn't even get to meet the niece (Angelica) on Sunday, but we did meet Didier's daughter (Zuly) and we got her number to orchestrate any future attempts to visit Angelica.

Back to Thursday: The zone leaders called us saying that Didier wanted us to pass by again to see how Angelica was doing. We got in contact with Zuly and met up with her and Angelica's husband in front of the hospital. They were very nice and respectful about what we were doing here. We went to Angelica's room and she is doing much better. She was a little curious, albeit suspicious, about who we were belief-wise, but once we established that our beliefs are pretty much the same (i.e.: Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost: separate but with one purpose, the Bible is the word of God, etc.) and that we aren't Jehovah's Witnesses, she was a lot more open. We ended up sharing a message from Alma 36:3, which led to a discussion about The Book of Mormon, and she was happy to take it. We left with a prayer. It was a really good experience! I'm not sure if anything will be pursued now, because Zuly lives in Seville, and Angelica was moved to a hospital in Madrid. However, the seed has been planted. Oh, and Didier was baptized this Saturday. :)

Friday and Saturday were contacting days. On Saturday, we had lunch with a member and the lady that we helped move. We showed her the video Ask of God, and also gave her a Book of Mormon. I'm happy that we finally had some more service opportunities.

On Sunday, the branch presidency was reorganized. Pte. Silva was released after almost 9 years in that calling, and now Daniel has been called in his place. He is a funny and friendly 27 year-old Honduran with two cute little daughters. It will be an interesting change-up! 

And now for a small commentary on Conference. I liked it. A lot. I saw a common theme of trusting God, and there were quite a few talks that essentially re-drew the line in the sand (the words spoken by Elder Oaks, Elder Ballard, and Brother Callister to name a few). God is consistent and his doctrines reflect that, even in a constantly changing world. I love it. I am going to keep studying these talks in the near future, and I suggest you do the same.

Whew. That felt like a lot of words. Was it a lot of words? Oh well. Have a good one.

Elder Jensen :)

(The pic is Elder Nye and I with Daniel from a bit ago)