Week 18, Dec. 8 - Transfers in Telde, Stewart Gets a new Comp

Well transfers just occurred. I´m staying right here in my little spot of heaven. (It really is very nice in Telde.) My trainer got transferred to Cuenca - A city on the easternmost part of the mission in Castilla - La Mancha. He´s going to be very cold and need to work very hard. Being the missionary that he is, he was very excited for the work (but not so much for the cold - He´s from Arizona.)

Last picture of zone before transfers

I´ve been assigned a new companion, named Elder Norrell. I haven´t heard anything about him except for that he´s from Texas. So more updates when he arrives - I put my old companion on a plane for Madrid. at 6am this morning and he´ll be here later tonight. Right now I´m with the Zone Leader Elder Sarango, from Ecuador. He sure makes the Spanish learning go faster.

So I have a lot to say and not very much time. Some new pictures should have uploaded, so tell me how that works out. If we´re lucky, we´ll have some from the baptism that we did today. Yep. Today. My trainer let me take the lead on this one, and everything went. We had the idea to have William baptize Ezequiel, (The guy who we just baptized a month ago), and it went GREAT! The only thing was that William´s nerves got to him and he messed up the prayer like 7 times. But it was beautiful. William was being awesome (as usual) and Ezequiel loved the spirit that he felt. I had the idea to have his seminary teacher give a talk to have his seminary friends give talks and prayers. And then, in typical Mormon fashion, delicious food came out of nowhere to finish it off. (Sometimes I think the relief society just creates food out of nothing.)

William baptizing Ezequiel

Mercedes is William´s wife. And she is.... She brought Columbian food to the baptism today. She ALWAYS makes us food when we go to her house. She loves the missionaries (she started crying when my companion gave his last testimony yesterday.) She insists on staying after ward functions and cleaning up. She explained to the Sunday School class yesterday how we shouldn´t read the scriptures - we should "escudriñarlas"  (I think it´s a mix between ´scrutinize´ and ´study´). There was an investigator who felt/looked a little uncomfortable at the baptism today, not really talking to anyone. So she walked up to him, took him by the arm, and said, "I made these sandwiches. Eat one and tell me they´re good. I don´t want there to be any left." (She did the same thing to me at the ward BBQ a couple weeks ago - she makes so much food!!) As she did what the members were supposed to have done (fellowship this investigator) she winked at me and later said, "I could tell he needed a friend if he was going to come back." That´s to say how awesome Mercedes is, and not that the members had forgotten or that they´re bad - there were a lot of investigators there. She told us the other day that she knows she´s going to get baptized, she just doesn´t know when. 

Mercedes wasn´t that way when we first started teaching her. There was a time when she thought we were pressuring her too much, that wearing skirts at church was too hard, and reading the scriptures was just adding onto it. She almost went back to her old church. BUT. The members of the relief society literally saved her. From day 1 they were all friends and she never stops telling us how great it is to be in the relief society. I have no idea what they do in there, I just know that it works miracles. I am willing to bet that her desires to progress came cheifly from two places, neither of which was us nor her husband - the relief society sisters and the spirit. 

President Hinckely said once that every new convert needs three things in the church - A job, to be nurtured by the good word of God, and a friend. As missionaries, we focus WAAAY to much on the second. And as an investigator, there´s not much you can make them do on those first or second categories. But everyone can have a friend. The other things will come later. I am so grateful for our rama that has accepted every investigator with open arms - nothing would happen if the members were shot off or acted like the church was a club, hazing the new guys. 

There´s the missionary message for the week - be a friend to everyone. Even if they´re new or shy and even if they don´t want to be friends with you. 

Saludos from a place that has never, ever seen a white Christmas, 

Elder Stew.

Eating a fish, picture most likely taken by a native

Stewart baking - but what?  I see powdered chocolate mix