Week 16, Nov 24

Crossing the Seas

Well this transfer is moving quickly - Mostly due to three days we spent in a tri-panionship and two more days spent in Tenerife (the other island. We´re back now). You asked what transfers would be like - Well we´re starting week 5. Which means in about two weeks my companion will probably leave. Usually people stay in the islands for four transfers, and ususally after training either the trainer or the trainee leave - both of which will occur this upcoming transfer. So we´re thinking he´s going back to the peninsula and I´ll stay here to area-train somewhere. Our district leader is also up to leave, along with three other missionaries on this island. So things will be getting a little shake-up (we think - It´s still two weeks out.) 

Crossing the Seas

We´re planning a baptism for Monday the 8th, a 15-year old kid named Ezikiel. (from last letter). So more on that, obviously, when Monday the 8th comes. 

This week we´re headed to the Senior Couple´s home for Thanksgiving MedioDia. It won´t be like home... But this lady is a really, really good cook. And she´s promised pie and turkey. We should survive. 

The other sisters in the ward are great cooks too. Every week we have at least three home-cooked Spanish meals, two during a MedioDia and one later at night, served by Hermana Doli, Hermana Leon, and Mercedes (husband of William, the guy we baptized). 

Hermana Leon (more on her husband later) has six kids in a very small house and reminds me of Mom. In approximately 30 seconds she can make enough food to feed a small army.  But she doesn´t stop there - all of the food she makes is delicious and INCREDIBLY dense and in four bites you´re full but she demands that you eat seconds and have an extra piece of bread. It´s pretty stressful. Walking afterwords is difficult. We tried to ask what the word for "waddle" was (because that was the only way we could walk) and they told us "penguinar". Literally "to penguin". I´m not sure if it´s real. 

Hermano Leon teaches High Priests and loves to go out with the missionaries. That is not a good combination. Investigators need very simple explanations of things. We took Hermano Leon and his son, Danny, to teach Ezikiel and his dad, Cristo about tithing. My companion said, "Hermano [Leon], in simple terms, what for you is the law of tithing?" 

"Thank you for reminding me to be simple. *Chuckles* For me, paying tithing is a privilege because of the many blessing I receive because of it. Basically the law of tithing is giving 10% of our increases to the church. It´s a law that´s been around forever - Abraham paid tithes to Melchizidek. That´s the same Melchizidek like the Melchizidek priestood - they used to call it the priesthood after the order of the Son of God, but in their language they used the actual name of God and so they changed it to avoid repeating his name too often." His son stopped him there to say, "Dad they said not profundo!" To which he ptotested, "But I was just scratching the surface!" 

So we have a ward punster who likes to make word jokes. He got me one day because I missed the placement of an accent. If you say "presbítero" it means priest. BUT. If  you say "presbiterio" you mean Presbyterian. He also got me because the Canarians don´t say "para" (means "for"). They say, "pa". So the dish "Paella" could mean either a delicious rice and seafood dish or the phrase, "For Her." Spanish is coming along. Dad, you´ll have to explain these other puns to the kids who don´t speak Spanish (maybe Charles will get them) - 

"Como se dice ´ojo´ en inglés?"

"(Eye)"

"HAHA (maniacal laughter)! HAY que tenerlos para ver!"

"Yo vine. El vino. Yo whiskey. HAHAHA!"

During Zone Conference this last week, we had President and his wife in the islands. President used to be a surgeon and so he liked to tell surgery stories/parables to teach. He told us that, as a surgeon, he asks questions regarding the accident/issue, and focuses on the needs of the patient. He told us that background information makes about 80% of his diagnosis. One time, asking questions led him to discover that what seemed like growing pains exacerbated by lots of dancing was actually a very rare, agressive, and deadly cancer. Had he not asked questions and been receptive to the Spirit, she might have died. He told us to to focus on the investigator´s story and what the Spirit prompts us to do - and then we can save them from spiritual death. (Metaphors don´t get much better than that, now do they?)

President the Surgeon

Until next week, 

Elder Stew.