February 24, 2014 - Letter to Dad - Week 25

Hooolllaaaa!!

 

Ya this área is pretty sweet I love it!!  But my boundries are TINY!  There are three áreas on this islands.  One is Las Palmas and they have the whole northern part of the isla, and Vecindario and they have the whole south part of the isla and they all have cars.  We are solo here in Telde and we just have this little city and a couple of out pueblos like up to Jinamar and I don't know west but not much more than a mile west of Telde I imagine.  So tiny but I like it!  We walk everywhere which definitly is nice for the exercise.  And oh if we have to go to one of the pueblos farther away we take the bus and once we used a taxi(too expensive)...  The buses here have a funny name!!  Idk if sister Harrison remembers and can say it but they are called GuaGuas, and the g is pronounced like a W, so Wah, Wahs.  It´s kind of cool.  

So in my defense I have taken quite a few pictures this week!  But the only locutorio in this city was filled, so we had to use a game salón de juegos to write and they don't have usb connection, but I´ll make it work soon!!  I don´t really see mountains except for in the distance, but from lots of parts of Telde I can see the ocean!!  And one day we didn't have much planned so we contacted people until we got to Minamar, or I don't remember the name but its right by the Playa del Hombre, or the beach here.  Haven't seen any sand yet because I haven't been close enough.  Maybe today if there is time!!  The weather is a definite plus!!  Even though it has been pretty bad weather for Gran Canaria.  Like we had rain this week but it was tropical rain which is way better than Madrid rain!  

The first sunday was good in the rama!!  It´s a branch because its really tiny, but hopefully we can change that soon.  The sad part is that it is really lacking in priesthood.  Like elders quórum had 5 people and two of them were us! haha  But the ward is super nice.  There were 30 something people attending and I heard it was a good attendence week.  We have quite a few more responsibilities now that its not a big ward!  We teach the góspel doctrines class second hour, and we switch off teaching elders quórum as well.  I think in two weeks we are teaching everything pretty much.  But my spanish is gettinga lot better!!  People don't believe I´ve only been in Spain for like 6 months, which I take as a compliment!  Oh I also teach english clases twice a week, since my comp can't help since he's mexican!  haha  That is hard but I'm getting better!   It´s like teaching children, but then again that's how I learned spansih!!  

Well I hope you have a great week!  I´ll check the other locutorio soon to see if i can send some pictures!!   Love you!

 

Nathan

February 24, 2014 - Letter to Mom

Hey Momma!!

 

First of all happy birthday this week!!  I can't really talk to you on the 1st so I'm saying now!  haha  

It has been a good week here in Telde!!  I dont know where to start haha I haven't seen black sand because I haven't seen the beaches yet, but I see the ocean all the time and I always want to go!  One of these days we are going to take a morning run to the beach!  

Sooo I have this city practically memorized and that's fun!!  It's so small that we like know everyone close to our piso and even though they dont want anything they are still friends and we talk to them and hopefully one day they will be interested.  

Hmmm our Ward is awesome!! Well branch.  There are several interesting things about it that we have to work on, but you really learn how nice it is to have a Ward full of people after being in a rama.  Our branch president isn't in our boundries, they just called him in because they needed leadership haha  We have three families like that, and we have the stake president in our Ward!!  How cool would it be to be stake president over all the islands and to go to another Ward you have to take a boat!!  I think it would be cool, at least at first.  

So I´ve taught two english clases so far, and I guess they have been pretty good!   The people like them.  But I have no clue what I am doing half of the time.  Hopefully I'll get better at it with time.  And one of my students is my companion haha Elder Lopez speaks practically no english, but that's ok because I kind of prefer speaking spanish now!!  People who know some english speak to me in it, and I like feel uncomfortable as weird as that sounds.  We were talking to this guy on the street the other day and like he heard I was from California so he spoke English to me and I spoke spanish back because I feel like my English is terrible now!  I talk like a little kid!!  And lets not even talk about praying in English!!  I have done it once in like 5 months and it was the most brutal prayer ever!  I don't rememebr how to do it!!  But bueno.  I like speaking spansih now!!  

We had two investigators get married on Saturday, and they invited us over that night to eat with them and the girl was super surprised that I can speak spanish haha  She got all mad at my comp like heyy you said he spoke no spanish (because she likes speaking english too, lived in NY) So that was fun.  Oh but we had the BEST food that night!!  Paella, Steak, These egg things I can't describe, guacamole, and spansih chocolate drink!!  

And the married couple missionaries were there with us too!!  They are the Buehlers and they are super awesome!!  They are from Colorado and super like loving to all the missionaries.  Sister Buehler was all like, ok pick a day and I´ll cook you guys a meal every week for that day, soooo we migh be eating a lot!!! hahah But Elder Buehler talks like exactly in a George Bush accent and I just can't help but smile and laugh in my head whenever he talks!!  Its so awesome!! Ok random!  

Hmm what else...  we have some cool investigators, Our two best are Nanci and Rolando I think from Peru...  We taught them the other day and then they wouldn't let us leave because they like HAD to make us ceviche... Not like we were going to say no to that!!  She taught us how to make it too so we are going to try this week!!  Peruvian Ceviche is like the best food on the planet, right next to California burritos which I miss terribly!!  Ahh I'm exhausted we woke up at 6 and went on this super long run all over Telde which was nice until it started raining on us a little!  But I love the weather here!!  Everything is just like so warm and I'm aways happier when it's warmer, so work is way more fun here!!! 

Soooo I dont have the address right now :(  Our Street has a super weird french name and I´ll get it for you soon!!  Thank you!!!  Hope you guys are having a good time at home!!  If I missed anything do the question bullets next week and I´ll answer whatever else I missed!!  I love you!!!

 

Nathan

February 18, 2014 - Letter to Mom

Hey!!

President was nice and gave us a little bit of time to email with you guys sinceI didn't get any really yesterday!  So I´m here on my island!  It´s so awesome!  Like I haven´t worn a short sleeve shirt since the MTC!!  And now I can every day!  It´s such a small place!  Before mediodi we went out and contacted and I have already walked basically the whole city!!  But it should be fun!  

We just have a little branch here with something like 30 members that attend usually!  So I go from big Madrid ward to a little island branch!  The fun part is that the stake president is living in this little town with us and I guess he is a super nice guy!!  

My companion is Elder Lopez!!  He´s from Mexico!  Who would have thought I would have two native companions in a row!  But he seems like a great guy and will help me learn a lot!  We have the sweetest piso too!!  Like it is the same size as the one in Barrio2 where I was, but it is close to new and there are only two of us living there!  

I´m happy with all of it here :)  Me and my charmed life haha I flew over here with one of my really good friends from the MTC.  He is serving on the same island but in a different part.  We had two flights actually yesterday!  One went from Madrid to Tenerife, which is the island next door: and then just a little 30 minute hop over from there to Gran Canaria!  It seems like a fun place!  I wrote you guys letters on the planes so whenever I find the post office next p day I´ll send them out!  Looks like I might not get your packages for a little bit, but we´ll see!  

I dont really have much time, and I have no clue what to say!!  It was hard saying bye to all my people in Barrio2.  They threw like a little last minute party/FHE but a million people came!  We all went to the Bayas´ house and made empanadas just like we do with our family but with different like cheese filling :)  They were delicious and then we had messages and said bye and now I´m here!  

I hope you guys have a great week!  You should ask Sister Harrison to like list off all the areas she was in here in the islas!  I wanna know!  Well I gotta go!  Till next week!  I love you!!!

Nate

February 17, 2014 - Letter to Mom

Well I have absolutely zero time to talk to you this week!!  Like I think I just am sending this email and that is it!!  I am flying out of here in an hour and am headed to Gran Canaria to an area called Telde!!  I´m super excited and nervous and kind of sad to leave this area, but it will be fun!!  I´ll tell you guys a lot more next week!!  Have a great week!!  I love you!!!

Nathan

February 10, 2014 - Letter to Dad - Week 23

Hey Dad!!!

Ahh I'm so behind on writing and everything but it´s all good! Your cycling stuff looked pretty cool but this computer I´m on wouldnt let me blow it up that big...  

We have had a fairly rough week again, but can´t really complain I guess because other areas are wayyy harder!  Transfers are in one week and I am one of the most likely to leave this ward!!  On one hand it would be nice to see somewhere different, but I also kind of want one more here as well.  So I´m content with whatever happens next Saturday!  What are your guy´s guesses?? Send them and we´ll see whose right later!  

Ya some guy from the 70 I think is coming in the end of February to talk to us and like all the missionaries in our mission.  It should be fun!!  I think he spoke last week in our stake conference.  It snowed last p-day!  I really hope no more snow!  It´s fun to watch, but like from inside next to a fire or from the mountain with a board starpped to my feet!  I miss snowboarding!!!!  Are you guys going this year to board anywhere??  We should all go in Utah when I get back or something!  That´s still like forever away!  But at the same time my companion told me the other day that next transfer I hit 6 month on my mission!  Which is pretty crazy!!  Like that´s quite a bit!  Woah i feel so young and old at the same time!! 

Well my 103 ish fever went away last night but I can still barely talk so it´s a good thing we didn´t have skype this week!  That should be fun though!!  I can´t wait to speak spansih to you guys again!  I´m a million times better than the last time, even though I´m still the worst in my district I think... hahaha 

Well hope you have a good week!  Keep up the training and everything!!  Good luck with all that!  Love you Dad!

Nathan

February 10, 2014 - Letter to Mom

Hey Mom!!!!!

How´s it going???  Things are pretty good here overall.  It´s a fairly sunny day even though it's freezing cold so that is good right???  Ya!!!  I´m feeling terrible because I´ve been sick for a few days now but it's ok I think, I´m getting better!  But this weekend was sooo bad!  I felt so bad to stay home because my companion kept saying how we have had such a rough week and our numbers would be terrible if we stayed in, so I suffered out in the cold and I think got a little worse but it´s ok.  I had a 103 fever the other day but now I just have a cold and a sore throat.  Maybe strep but I hope not!!  

Hmmm what else happened this week.  Really not like a TON!  We ate with Mario and he gave us this amazing dominican chicken!  He keeps telling me he´ll teach me but he still hasn´t!  We finished our Ham!!  Like down to the bone gone!!!  If we are still all here next week we are buying another one for the next transfer.  At first I didn´t like it a ton, but now it´s super deliciosa!!!  

I´m jealous you gotto go to the temple!  Still haven´t been like this whole YEAR!!!  Seems like a long time, but I guess I should be happy I have a temple in my mission!  Kendal has to wait until after her misison to go again!  That would be terrible!!  

No I haven´t gotten any packages or mail for a while, but my friend in B7 told me there is like a whole bag full of mail and usually the bags say like barrio 2 or 3 or whichever ward of missionaries, but this bag just says Elder Poulson :)  So I´m really excited to get that bag, but it´s down where the temple is and I don´t know when I´ll be there next!!  Hopefuly soon!!  

Sounds like you had a really busy week!  We haven´t been as busy, but we are finding some pretty cool people and I hope they are going to work out!  Some of the members think I´m leaving in a week so we have more food than normal this week planned :)  I´m not complaining!!!  It´s nice to know they like me here I guess!  Plus I just have not felt like cooking or doing anything the past couple days.  The meal at Mario's was the only thing I ate for 2 and a half days, and you know I like food so that´s a bit odd for me!! 

I was supposed to confirm a girl who got baptized yesterday but my voice was broken so another elder did it for me!  Our guy who had a baptismal date kind of dropped off the face of the earth, but hopefully we can find him today.  It´s really weird how perspective changes as a missionary.  Like an investigator doesn´t talk to you for like 4 days and you think they died or something, but then I think back to like life bfore the mission and I´m pretty sure there were random stretches of time when I didn´t talk to Zack for that long because we were busy or something, and then I try and be normal and say that they aren´t thinking about church stuff every minute of every day like we are.  It´s really weird only having church music now.  Like music before my mission that I would have hated, I wouldn´t mind listening too now!  Oh and I found a cd that I LOVE!  And if you could find it that would be awesome!  You don´t have to send it for a while though because those packages seem kind of expensive!!  But it´s an album called Joseph: A Nashville Tribute to the prophet or something like that!!  It´s on my companions ipod and it´s really good!!!  Just enough country in it to make me love it but like still apropriate for a mission!!  If it´s cheap you should send one to Kendal too whenever you have time!!  The song called american dream on there is way cool!  It´s like about the first missionaries in England kind of!  Ok random!!  

Sorry there just isn´t a ton to share this week!  I liked the picture and the talk you wrote!! They were both really good!!  It kind of reminds me a litttlle bit of the spiritual thought we have used this week that I love.  Really basic but good.  Just like the primary song about the wise man and the foolish man.  We read that story(you should too!) and like how they were so close.  As in they both heard the word of Christ, and very well could have both had testimonies of what Christ taught.  But the wise man ACTED on his faith and built his foundation in a strong place!  And that is what we invite all to do as missionaries.  Build their foundations on the rock which is Christ so when the devil comes with his whirwinds you won´t be washed away like the foolish man who chose to build his foundation upon his own knowledge, or the sand which can be changed and manipulated oh so easily.  Well there is the spiritualy thought I loved this week!  

Oh sad story, the Hurtado parents went to Peru for like a month and if I leave then I won't see them again for a LONGGG time!  But I think I have one more transfer here!!  Well I think that´s it!  Hope you have a great week!  I love you mom!!

Nathan

February 3, 2014 - Letter to Dad - Week 22

Hey Dad!!!

 

It was a pretty good week!  Boring with more lessons failed than lessons taught actually happened, but I feel like that is sort of life here in Europe.  Sometimes it's hard to like remain positive that a lesson will actually happen, but we do our best.   

We had a couple of awesome moments like yesterday when we took 3 investigators and two of our recent converts on a tour of the outside of the temple!!  Madrid temple has some super cool stuff around and outside of it to show people. Like there is this awesome window that like has a TON of symbolism in it, and I think my favorite part of it is like there are stars rising up until you get to a moon and then above the moon a big sun, to symbolize the three kingdoms of glory.  I'll take a picture the next time I go.  And I got to see one of my college friends at the stake conference and some of my MTC teachers and it was like a big broadcats for every stake in Spain as well as Portugal and Cape Verde, a lot of awesome speakers, like Elder Maines and M Russell Ballard and also some other guy that I forget his name but he is coming to our mission this month to do like a tour and speak to all the missionaries.  It should be fun!  

My spansih is getting better!!  I didn´t realize it but after a good first lesson on Satrurday Elder Alvarez is like dude you were just like teaching super good!  And explaining all sorts of stuff that I usually suck at explaining and improving.  Well I hope I´m getting better.  I can talk with just about anyone now, some countries still give me trouble.  

It´s kind of sad that I might leave this ward in a couple weeks!  I love our ward and I feel like everyone is just starting to know me now and we are like invited over to several members houses whenever we have time to pass bye!  Well gotta change eventually!  Hopefully somewhere warmer!! IT SNOWED TODAY!!  Like it wasn´t sticking but it was coming down really hard!  So that was fun but I hope it stops by tonight when I have to like teach and preach and stuff.  

So the ham.  I wouldn´t be surprised if it was gone this week.  It weighed 7.5 kilos so somethings like 18 pounds, and we just have a big knife and cut it straight off the bone and usually just eat it plain because the flavor is so good!  It isn´t cooked!  It was salted and hung up in the fresh mountain air for like a few years and after that they sell for so much!  Some of them over 200 euros!  So like close to 3 hundred dollars or a bit less actually.  But crazy!  

Hope you have a good week!  Sounds like your training is going good!  I´m excited to see pictures or something in a couple months!!  Well gotta go!  Love You!!

 

Nathan

February 3, 2014 - Letter to Mom

Hey Mom!!

 

Things are going good here!!  Well I guess minus the SNOWWW!!!!!  I love snow!  But like it's  freezing, so I guess as a missionary I don´t love snow as much!!  But it´s fun to look at!  

It has been a fun week of talking with people in the street and getting rejected like 7 million times, but I´m to the point where it´s just fun!  I love seeing the random excuses that people make for not being able to talk to us!  And then the awesome people that stop and give us their address and number and everything!  I don´t know if I've said this already but it´s like no big deal here to just give out your address.  I feel like it would be weird in the US but here we can talk to them for like 30 seconds and if they don´t have time they give us like all their personal information, so that works!  And occasioanlly it´s fake, but usually it´s real and we have had a couple of good lessons this week. We don't have many, but I loved all the ones we had.  Especially giving a temple tour yesterday.  I didn´t know how to say much in spansih but it was fun!! It was kind of a bummer but the temple is closed like half of January for cleaning so I don´t get to atted the temple until March, which for me feels like FOREVER!!  But then it flies bye in like 30 seconds because time is so weird on a mission.  Like a day feels like a year but then I look back and it´s like wowww I´m about to have six weeks with my companion here!  

We are having fun!!  Especially with the four of us in our piso we are all good buddies!  And the ham will be gone fairly soon!  We got the the bone on one side a while ago and are working our way on the other!  It just keeps getting better and better the closer you get to the bone!  So no I guess we aren´t sick of it yet!!  Sad news though is that you proabbly can´t buy it in the US, like it´s there super rarely and I think it sells for thousands of dollars there... Sooo proabably not a good idea!  But one thing you guys should import if you want a little taste of my drink of the week is called Pony Malta.  It´s from Ecuador and Elder Galeano and I have been obsessed with it!  The other Elders don't like it but we LOVE it!!  Careful though because in some south american countries the malta has alcohol, so get the Pony kind and if it´s not too expensive buy some and try it!!  You know how I´m not big on soda but this stuff is Great!!!  

Hmmm not too much food from members this week so not really any good food stories!  I´ve been eating a lot more spansih food and I love love spanish tortilla!  I want to learn how to make it from scratch!  One of these days I´ll try it!  

Hmm favorite scripture of the week I´m not sure... Well I studied all about prophets this morning and two I liked were in 1 nephi 22:2 because like it shows that prophets use the same spirit we have to get their revelation, it isn´t something like grander I guess, although I would suppose that as prophet you would be quite a bit more in tune with the sprit than your average member of the church haha.  And then in Mosiah 8, I love the scriptures about seers, and I was reading about seers in the bible dictionary and true to the faith and how that is the best gift a man can recieve on the earth.  Oh and another one!  Probaably my favorite.  D&C 1:38. Super fuerte about like prophets and how they are literally the mouthpiece of God and how anything they say WILL come to pass, because it is as if God said it to us!  So ya that was my study today!  It was fun!! I started using that study journal we bought in deseret and I love it!!  

Hmmm  Hope you all have a good week!  Enjoy your bikerides and hopefully some of my rain and snow will head your way!  I love you Mom!!!

 

Nathan