"The day we get ready for Sunday"

April 16, 2018

Sooo that last email was bad, I'm not gonna lie. Hopefully this week's is a little better!

Starting with Monday: For our Preparation Day we were going to go bowling with some JAS (jovenes adultos solteros) but that fell through, so we just went to this place that makes a huge roscón (pretty much a giant Spanish bagel) for relatively cheap. Elder Bushman started to suffer from a head splitting migraine, so our evening was spent at home base.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday: Jaén decided that it was monsoon season; the heavens were opened and even the fountains of the earth might have burst. That, combined with a whole lotta nada in the schedule, led to a lot of work done in our Area Book and a lot of phone calls made. We found a couple people who were excited to meet with the missionaries again!...who now live in the Barcelona mission. So we passed on their info across the border.

Friday: We were finally able to really work outside. We passed by members that I had on our map to confirm whether or not they still live there. It's getting very nice and sunny whenever it isn't pouring rain. Our evening consisted of English class (no one showed up) and a visit at Chari's place. We read Alma 7 and it happened to apply very well to her current situation. 

Saturday: It's a special day. This Saturday was one that will be long remembered in the minds of those who witnessed the events that occurred. It began with a simple plan to help move to women into their new homes from their old ones. On paper it looked so simple: 

-Meet at the church at 8. 

-Drive to María José's apartment in Linares.

-Load up her belongings and drive them to Úbeda.

-Unload her things into her new house (yes, house) and drive to Vanessa's to load up her things

-Drive Vanessa's stuff to Jaén and unload them in her new apartment

-End the day around 3ish...

Well, we had the vans, we had the man power, and we headed out. Welp, María José lives on the 5th floor with one elevator, and evidentally has a building full of condescending neighbors that can't handle one single Saturday morning of slight inconvenience. About a third of the way through, the elevator stopped working (through no fault of our own, mind you) which made things a lot more difficult. She had easily over 1 ton's worth of boxed IKEA items that had to go down along with other boxes and furniture, most of which had to go down by the stairs. The elevator was eventually fixed and we kept trucking through.

We split the group so Vanessa could have help getting started with her move earlier, but I was a part of the group that was unloading the boxes into María José's new, three story, empty house. It was by far the easiest part of the whole process. By the time we arrived at Vanessa's, a fair majority of her things were at ground level and being loaded up. There was a bit of a hiccup, to say the least, which delayed things a little more, but we got it all figured out and went on over to Jaén where we were joined by a couple more members to help. 

Vanessa's new place was on the 4th floor without an elevator.

We had a pass-along chain going all the way up the stair case, and I was fortunate enough, depending on how you look at it, to be at the very top, organizing, condensing, and setting down everything passed up. Among the items moved were these: A lot of boxes, four couches, a kitchen table, at least two armoires that were taken up panel by panel, chairs, dressers, a toy chest, 4 kegs of butane, and four laundry drying racks.

We finished at 6:30.

Johnny and Jenni decided that we needed pizza, as is the normal post-service project helping tradition, so we ordered some takeout pizza, and ate it on the cathedral steps, like a bunch of iconic, college-aged, Americans. We just sat there, talking about high school rivalries while watching little kids kick a soccer ball against a government building, not giving a second thought to the looks and stares from the radically-fashioned jovenes passing by. The day ended with studies and a lot of "I'm sore and tired" winces/groans.

I slept really well that night, but around noon on Sunday, I quickly realized that it was not enough sleep. The whole day was kind of spent in limbo.

I would just like to devote a little spot on the importance of service:

Service is important. 

If you hear that someone is moving and you're able-bodied, go help them. They need the help, and you need the blessings. Yeah it might seem a little inconvenient, a lost Saturday morning or whatever, but it will make a difference in the life of someone else and will bring your heart closer to God if you do it with the right mindset. King Benjamin wasn't lying when he said that "when you are in the service of your fellow man, ye are only in the service of your God," and I don't know about you guys, but as for me and my house, we're gonna go serve the Lord.

I hope all goes well this week!

Elder Jensen :)