Hey everyone! So, I kinda forgot to mention last week that my P-Day was switched to Wednesday this week. Sorry about that. My companion has a doctor's appointment in Madrid, so we're spending the day there. Don't let my subject line mislead you, I am in no way speaking like a native... yet. The song Native by Lisbon I realized kinda describes what it's like being over here in Europe. "Oh, I've never been so far from home / Taking my chances we both know / I've never been so far from home / I'm no native." 5,762 miles away from Brentwood, yet I'm not worried about it too much.
It's been more-or-less a bit of a slower week, but that doesn't mean it was any kind of a rest. Some of our investigators seem to be falling off the face of the earth, and to go along with the ones that are out of town, we didn't have many to work with this last week. We ended up doing a lot of finding which meant a lot of walking. It's basically like going to Disneyland all day, but instead of riding rides, you talk to Spaniards that have already made up their mind that they don't wanna hear what you have to say before you even open your mouth. I've met some really interesting people while street contacting while I've been here. A few observations I've made:
- People jog a little as they pass us so it looks like they're in a rush and stop immediately after
- People like to stop and talk to us only to tell us we're wrong smh
- Talked to a rapper named Mario Canario who believed that he was God and rappers run the world
- A couple professional rugby players
- While we're talking to someone, this lady, who is now known by us as "the nemesis," comes up and hijacks the contact and tells them about her own church.
We've continued to work with Xavier the 11-year-old legend. He's still progressing and is able to come to church this weekend with his dad! We taught him about the 10 commandments this last week and he kept asking us where the commandment about respecting your children is. Love that kid hahahaha.
SOMETHING COOL THAT HAPPENED: So the other day we were preparing for lunch and planned to make some tacos. We decided to run to the store real quick to grab a few things that we needed. As I close the door, I realized I didn't have the keys or phone. And neither did my companion. That meant we were pretty much stranded. We went to the chapel to see if the other elders might be there - nada. I was starting to think about how long of a day it could end up being if we didn't figure something out. Luckily, I knew where the duena (landlord) to our building lived, so we started to go over there in hopes that I could somehow remember which piso she lived in. The plan was to buzz everyone's apartments until we eventually found hers. On our way over, it started to pour. We were soaked by the time we got there. We got ready to start guessing which piso was hers, when a man walked up and opened the door. I asked if he by chance knew the duena and it just so happened that he was her son. We went up, grabbed the spare key, chatted with the duena who lectured us a little, and went back down where the shining sun awaited us. Things turned around real quick. I know that it wasn't just some coincidence. Heavenly Father was looking out for us.
Ok I'm almost done I promise. As I said, we're spending the day in Madrid which means we can stop by the only Five Guys in Spain. Practically a U.S. embassy with the classic rock and greasy burgers. We also had a chance to go to the temple this morning. I was talking to one of the guys working there, and it turns out he knew my uncle when he served in Spain roughly 30 years ago or so. It's a small world, and the Mormon world is even smaller. Everyone knows everyone in some way hahaha. That's all for this update. A little bit more lengthy than usual. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing, but you guys can deal with it. Have a stupendous week everyone!
Hasta Luego,
Elder Penner
1. Our zone at District Conference last week
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