Helloooooo from the Madrid Spain CCM. I am doing fantastic and I can feel all of your prayers enccouraging me on. I think the best way to explain the CCM is through a schedule. Here goes - I have very little time.
6:30: We get up. It´s not hard, because the schedule provides for lots more sleep than D.C. Howefver, some guys have trouble. I always start with a prayer and then shower and get dressed and stuff. (Note to Mom; I am cleaning my face and it is just fine. I use all the goos and washcloths. Note to Dad: My feet are also fine. No wierd smells or growths) My room consists of six elders:
Elder Stew: An awesome guy that everyone should know.
Elder Ganowsky: Originally from St. George UT, my companion. Headed to Barcelona. A great guy with a powerful testimony and a great laugh. He played football and sang choir in high school, and is everything that is good about a companion - friendly but not overberaring, kind, stays with me per the rules, and asks that I stay with him. Other companionships have had a lot of trouble staying together para siempre, but not us! We work well together. He has some struggles with Spanish but works hard all day. Great guy.
Elder Stockwell: Originally from 30m outside of Boise (Small nowhere town in Idaho), not a farmer. Pretty darn cynical, but fun to talk to and loves to read the scriptures in spanish with me. Note: He is not a farmer. He is a history/politics nerd. Headed to Malaga.
Elder Shields: From Washington State, headed to Malaga. Works hard. Super tall and flaco, Elder Stockwell´s companion, and fun to be around.
Elder Barlow: Amulek District´s Leader. (We are Amulek District). He´s the guy I knew at STerling Scholar, headed to Madrid. Knows his scriptures and his spanish well, which makes him great to study with.
Elder Lelegren: From Alta, UT, headed to Malaga. Has a special testimony. Very spiritual.
7:30: Breakfast - Not bad. They have random Spanish or American breakfasts with juice and frosted flakes. Always LOTS of fresh fruit and yogurt, but they feed us a lot of food.
8:00: School: "Estudiamos para Manuel" - A saying that I made up and kinda stuck. It means we study for the needs of the investigator and not for ourselves. The Mission President taught that if we forget ourselves, the Lord will remember us - great promise I want to have. So we study Spanish and the scriptures and PMG so that we can teach lessons - not just for the sake of learning. AND IT IS SO MUCH FUN! I learn a lot every day, and then I teach my investigators (Teachers acting). Juana is my apathetic investigator who is only there to please her friend. She smokes during our lessons and makes life difficult. But, last lesson, we broke through by befriending her, showing her pictures of our families, and by inviting her to service. This investigator is modeled after our teacher´s friend in real life, and the spirit was so strong that the teacher stopped acting to tell us how well we did (against the rules) and to call her friend RIGHT THEN. Great experience. David, my other investigator, has trouble with his wife and thinks the gospel will help. He eats up everything we tell him, he loves the B.O.M. and is committed to be baptised. WHOOHOO!
1:00 Lunch
1:30 More Classes.
5:00 Physical activity. I always choose soccer with the spanish teachers who are really good, and I get my body moving and blood pumping. Super fun, we just play in a hard court 2 minutes away by run. It looks like a colusseum... I´ll send a picture next week.
6:30 Dinner
7:00 More Classes
10:30 Lights out.
Alright, they´re getting mad at me for taking too long..... Suffice it to say we are in a school of the gospel in Spanish, where althougth it is hard EVERYONE wants to be there. Think of the opposite of Seminary :) I love you all, Adios!!!
Elder Stewart Glen Maxfield
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