The temple nativity scene and the cool view from Mario´s(our recent convert) house.

The family who fed us and the delicious food we got! Peruvian food!

December 30, 2013 - Letter to Dad - Week 17

Hey Dad!!!!

How´s it going!! I didn´t get an email from Kara :/ Tell her to resend it so I can get it next week! Or one from Justin for that matter.  But it´s all good!  We have had a pretty good week even though the rain has been absolutely miserable!!  I enjoy San Diego rain, but when it´s cold and rainy and windy and nobody wants to listen to you so you are stuck outside it really is quite a bummer.  But oh well.  We have an awesome guy named Eddi who is supposed to get baptized this weekend!  I´m hoping it happens!  He has had a pretty rough past with gangs, family, and other stuff but it´s awesome to see people change and accept the gospel fully!  

That weather does not look fun at all!! Gahh I can not wait for it to be summer around here!!  Then I´ll finally get to wear short sleeve shirts again!  Soo how is it going with the swimming and the biking and everything? I forgot to ask about that on skype the other day.  Are you still enjoying it?  I hope so!  I love that band you guys bought me.  You can do so many different exercises with it and it is finally a band with a good enough resistance to actually get a work out.

That´s so crazy with the Chargers!!!  Like I was just reading all the stuff that had to happen and my head started spinning haha Well let´s see if we can actually do something in the playoffs when we aren´t the team that is projected to go far!  Who is doing good for the Chargers?? Rivers, Running back, defense????  Tell me next email!!  Well I don´t have too much else to share I don´t think.  The lady who let us use her locutorrio to skype with you guys is now taking the lessons, and that´s pretty cool!  Also I ran into some Americans on Sunday in church who knew one of my good friends from school.  During this time of year there are so many tourist in Spain!!  But it´s fun!  Have a good week!  Love You!

Nate

December 30, 2013 - Letter to Mom

Hollaaaaa!!!

Como estás!!  Puessss  it has been a pretty good like 5 days since I last talked to you guys!  We have taught Eddi a lot and hope he is going to be baptized this Friday!!  I´ll tell you more next week obviously!  Mario did recieve the priesthood!! I wasn´t there in the room sadly but he was all happy about it after!  And we are going to his house for New Years Eve!  We are going to eat dominican food and meet his family and stuff, but we have to be home by curfew as usual, which is 10 instead of 9:30 like it is in most missions.  And during the summer it´s 10:30!!!  I like how my mission sort of corresponds with my sleep schedule from before.

Lets see questions...

1. I still am not fully sure how my dreams work.  They confuse me.  I have some in spanish where everything is spanish and others where people are speaking spansih to me and I have no clue what they are saying and am confused even in a dream.  And then others where peole speak english like everyone from home that randomly pops in hahaha So ya hope that made sense.

2. I haven´t finished it like officially cover to cover (Jesus the Christ by Talmage) but I am on like page 100 and before starting it from the beginning, I think I have practically spot read the entire thing.  I can´t really think of a section I haven´t read.  It´s weird because before my mission I didn´t get Talmage at all and his writing was so confusing, and even here some people say it like hurts there head to read that book, but idk why it´s all just so clear to me and I remember all his explanations of things so well.  I would never use it with an investigator I don´t think, but when members have asked me questions I have found the answer in spanish Jesús El Cristo and given it to them in there.

3. Hmm grooming items... That Gorilla Gel i like!  Can i have a bottle whenever you get the chance?? Other than that I think I am good!  The bottle of shampoo I have has been lasting me forevvver since I bought such a big one!

4.  I love the resistence band!  I use it all the time just like whenever before bed, in the morning whenever I have free time!!  And I really want to use the  jump rope, but I don't think it will happen until it gets warmer outside in all honestly.  because it is too cold to go outside and the ceiling is too short to jump inside.

That´s cool about the lesson in our house!! I wish I could have more lesson´s in members houses.  But it´s ok.  Sounds like he wants to read and that´s good!  Because if people don´t read they don't go anywhere!!!  So awesome.  Are Kara and him friends?? 

Thanks for the poem!  I like that one a lot!! And also one our MTC President told us that I don't know the name of.  It´s like a comparison to faith and there is a dad working down in a well and his child comes up to bring him food and he cant see the dad but the dad says drop the food down and I´ll catch it.  Then he says hey come eat with me and tells the child to jump down into the well and have trust that he will catch them.  It´s cool :)  But ya.

I sadly dont have to much else to share I don´t think.  It´s freezing cold here and I want to go to Primarck to get another sweater hopefully!  Primark is like the cheap nice clothes place here where you can buy all your super european skinny ties and all those dress pants that are too tight for anyone over the age of 2.  But ya they sell lots of other cool stuff too!  And sometimes they sell ties for 50 cents each!  It´s awesome.  Well I think we are going to try some sketch chinese buffet for lunch!  I found a mexican place that we are gpoing to try next week too! I´m excited but not going to get my hopes up haha Hope you have a great week!! I love you!!

Nathan

December 16, 2013 - Letter to Dad - Week 16

Hey!!

Sounds like your training is going well!! I´m still super jealous of all the swimming and stuff!  So I found out this week that the first guy we baptized(Mario) is SUPER rich!!  Well for Spain.  We already knew he had a nice piso and stuff but he was telling us and showing us pictures of his other house in Parla that has a pool and we were just amazed!  Nobody and I mean NOBODY owns a pool, or let alone a house here in Madrid.  So that´s pretty amazing!   

Our baptism went great on Friday!! I´llwrite about it more in the other email to mom and I´ll tell you about eddi!  That guy was the miracle of this week! We found an old registro with his name and address on it. We didn´t have our maps but we kind of found his house by luck.  We were invited in and the mom and Eddi visited with us for over an hour.  He has always loved our church, but last time missionaries came, his girlfriends wouldn't let them meet, and he was going through some other stuff.  Since then he has had 4 heart attacks and he is really humbled and ready to change.  He came to the baptism, came to church, we taught him twice and if all goes perfectly he will be baptized in less than two weeks!!  So I´m hoping everything works out! 

Oh ya Angi told me that she sent pictures of us to our parents!  That was a really fun night!!  We were invited over, shared a last minute family home evening on Navidad and decorated their christmas tree!  They also made arroz con leche, which is one of the best desserts I've had here!! So good!  I think it's just rice pudding in America but lots of American things are made way better in other countries.  Some not so much but ya.  We had amazing dominican food this week too.  And I finally made the dominican drink ive been telling Justin about.  I made it when I was on splits with the zone leader in exchange for him sewing a rip in my pants haha good exchange! 

I´m excited to skype too!  I think I need to make a new account but I´ll try and find you guys!!  Well gotta go!  Hope you have an amazing week!  I get to go through the temple this Wednesday!!! I´m so excited!!  And also the singing thing is tonight, so don´t worry it will be recorded since it should be really big!! Alright next time we talk should be on skype.  My p day is christmas and not next Monday!  Love You!

Nathan

December 16, 2013 - Letter to Mom

Hey Mom!!

Sorry never enough time to email people on P day, but hey next week we get to skype!! I´m excited for that!! I´ll make one and add you guys real quick if you send me your info thing! 

It has been a great week!  Like I told dad, Eddi was awesome, and then also Carmen's baptism happened!! Happened kind of weirdly but she is baptized and confirmed nonetheless!!  Since she is so preganant we couldn't baptize her the usual way, so instead of getting immersed backwards she had to go forwards.  That´s like the best I could explain it just use your imagination aha It was weird but it worked!!  And she was confirmed Sunday by a recent convert and it was all good!  Mario is getting the priesthood next Sunday finally!  Not sure who is going to give it to him but I´m excited for that!! 

The concert in Pavones by the temple is tonight!! So I´m way excited for that!! I've seen all my MTC friends at the practices and stuff and now I'm excited to see all the teachers and president at the performance!!  All my favorites left to america or home in Spain but some are still there!!  

Hey could you send me that poem story thing about the footsteps in the sand with Jesus where they all of a sudden are one and its like Jesus carrying the person and not abandoning him.  I remembered it this week and I want it on my wall or something!!  

Hmm we ate a ton of good food this week, and we didnt have a ton of lessons, but the ones we had were awesome!!  So this is weird! I´ve never had anyone online to be able to chat with before but now one of my good buddies in Barelona is online and so is Jake in Madagascar!!  This is fun haha So i´m still jealous of all the Christmas stuff you do.  Decorating the tree at the Hurtados was fun but not enough!! haha I LOVE the christmas cd´s!!  The Alex Boyé cd is the best one ever!! I played it probably a million times through this past week!  I let the hermanas in my ward borrow it and I´m taking a break for a day or two with some MOTAB.  Don´t like them as much because I like one singer usually, but still really good! Thank you so much!!  You always get the perfect gifts!! 

What did you get Kara and Justin for Christmas!  I´m excited to hear!! So the thought I've been shariing with people all week is the story of Christmas in the Book of Mormon!  And how the light was there during the night so the people weren't killed.  I like it because it isn't as famous as the typicle Luke 2 but also you can relate all the light references to the light of Christ coming into the world, and how we all have this light that we need to share with others.  One of my other favorites a few weeks ago was I would make the family read like the YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD verse and right in the middle I would turn out the lights haha And explain how just like we need this light, we need to share the light of Christ with everyone because it´s so improtant.  

Well I gotta go soon! We need to leave early to go warm up for the concert or something like that!! I hope it gets recorded! I'll  bring my camera! I love you!! I´m excited to see you all next week!

Nathan

Picture

We received this picture from a friend of ours who is corresponding with one of the sister missionaries. What a small world.