Send Them Off!

It's transfer day 🤙🏼 Elder Jones is heading on home, hence the subject by Bastille. We had a great transfer together and finished really strong. We ended up having 10 people in church yesterday. This next transfer has been set up nicely. My new companion's name is Elder Balukoff. He's coming from the old Malaga mission, so I don't know anything about him other than that he's from Idaho.

Update on the people we're teaching. Jersen, a super dope Bolivian kid that just turned 18 is on date for the 8th of September. We rescheduled Cristofer's baptism for the week after and a Peruvian lady named Mirella should follow the week after that. September is looking like it's going to be an awesome month.

Missionary work is still the best. The church is still true. And I still miss Panda Express. Thank you and good night.

Hasta luego,

Elder Penner 🇪🇸

Hopeless Wanderer

It has been a week. A week it has been.

We've been outside of our area a lot lately, so the progress with the people we're teaching has slowed a little bit. We've got a few new friends that seem to have loads of potential. One of them is named Mirella. She's from Peru and the way we found her a couple of weeks ago was really neat. Elder Jones and I walked passed her sitting on a bench and both of us felt an almost overwhelming feeling that we needed to talk to her, so we went back and did. We had a really good lesson with her on Saturday. I don't think she's too far away from knowing that it's true. She also has two little kids that are the coolest.

We had to go to the doctor in Madrid on Tuesday morning. On Wednesday, we went up to San Sebastian to do a couple baptismal interviews and have district meeting. On top of that, we went to the temple with a convert on Saturday. I went with the Mumford and Sons song in the subject because we've been travelling and what seems like wandering around so much. We should be in our area all of next week though (fingers crossed). It'll be my comp's last week in the mission so we're going to make sure he goes out with flames and glory. We've set some high goals for the week and we're lit as heck to reach them.

Today I learned once again that basketball is not my sport. And that's all I have to say about that. Have a good week 🤙🏼

Hasta luego,

Elder Penner 🇪🇸

Young & Unafraid

It's Monday family. The subject this week (song by The Moth and the Flame) was inspired by a concept I've seen throughout my mission: Fear is the opposite of faith. They can't coexist. The chance to see this displayed every day has been a blessing and reminds me to always choose the former option. Those who put their trust in the Lord and fear not are always supported in their afflictions.

SOMETHING COOL

A little while back the hermanas from B1 called and told me that their investigator, Alex, asked me to baptize him. We called and got permission and were able to attend the baptismal service on Saturday. It was really spiritual. Alex is a legend. It's was nice to see everyone from my old area again even though I've only been gone a month. 

Other than that, things are pretty much the same. We thought we were going to have a few baptisms at the end of the transfer, but now it's looking like we're going to have to push them back. There's also a golden Peruvian couple we started teaching, but they aren't married :/

We went to a pueblo this week that was super cool. There's a cathedral there being built by some guy completely by himself. He's like 90 now and is still working on it. Crazy. Picture below. Can't think of anything else. Have a brilliant week!

Hasta luego,

Elder Penner 🇪🇸

PS I went to Toledo for like the 14th time last week lol

Rent I Pay

Buenassss. This week went by super quick. Everything is blurring together more than ever before. Let's see if I can sort my thoughts out and remember what happened..

On Wednesday we had Concilio with the rest of the leaders in the mission. It was the first time we were able to meet some of the missionaries serving down in Malaga. I'm really excited to continue with the missions merging. I think we're going to see a lot of improvement. A couple days after I had my first interview with President Bussey. That man is a legend. I'm pumped for these last 5 months.

On Thursday I went on an intercambio with Elder Catmull. He's from Utah and is awesome. We went out to Orusco, where Cristofer and Jesi live and taught them. Long story short, their date has been changed and they're going to go to church in B8 because it's way easier for them.

Song title (by Spoon) comes from President Pack. In his last Zone Conference, I asked what his favorite quote was and he said it was "Service is the rent we pay for the space we occupy on Earth." I think I'll leave you all with that thought. Until next week!

Hasta luego,

Elder Penner 🇪🇸

Sun

My update didn't want to send last week. Not sure what was up. We've had a lot of sun (by Two Door Cinema Club) this week and it looks to continue , but that hasn't slowed us down by any means. It was another super busy and super cool one. We did two intercambios and saw some miracles. Spain is still crisp as heck if any of you were wondering.

On Thursday, we found a Colombian man named Keldys. We've met with him twice and he seems super prepared. He's on date for the 28th. On top of that, Cristofer, a 9 year old who lives in a pueblo in the corner of our area (basically in Africa) is on fecha for the same day. They both seem pretty solid, so we're excited for the end of the month. 

Missionary work is worth missing Panda Express for 2 years.

Hasta luego,

Elder Penner 🇪🇸

Keep Together

Hello family. This first week in Torrejon was legit. In the mission my area is known as little Africa because there are so many Nigerians. We already have a lot going on. We met with an aunt and her niece named Teresa and Monica like 5 times this week. They're Colombian and are progressing super well, but Teresa is moving to Madrid today and Monica is going to Ibiza for 3 months. They are some of the most prepared people I've ever taught, so it's sad to see them leave. We'll continue occasionally talking with Monica over Skype. We saw lots of other miracles this week as we found new people and taught others.

This week the new Spain, Madrid Mission was officially formed with a large part of the old Malaga mission joining us. It was my inspiration for the song title this week by Hunter Hunted. We had zone conference and met our new mission president and his wife, the Bussey's. I can already tell that they are going to do a phenomenal job. 

Everything is going great. It was a super busy week which is always good. Talk to you all next week!

Hasta luego,

Elder Penner

Where We Gonna Go From Here

Went with a song by Matt Kearny this week. We received transfer notifications on Saturday, and well, now I'm in Torrejon de Ardoz. My 6-month stay in Barrio 1 has come to an end. It was hard to say goodbye. Especially when we had so much work there. I'm really excited for the challenges that are awaiting me here in Torrejon. It's a pueblo that is about 20 minutes outside of Madrid. My new comp is named Elder (Dallin) Jones. He was in Valladolid with me when I started my mission and we get along super well. I'm pumped for this transfer. Downside: no air conditioning in our piso (rip). 

My last week in B1 was just as great as always. At the beginning of the week I went on an intercambio with Elder Burt. We taught two lessons that went incredibly well. The first with Ismael and Narcisa who are still both doing great. The second was with Elizabeth (The reference from Doris, who I'll now be seeing a lot since she lives here in Torrejon). We showed her the church and taught her the first lessson. She seemed SUPER prepared. I hope things go well with her. That's all for now family. Until next time!

Hasta luego,

Elder Penner

Glass of Water

It is P-day my dudes. This week was a little wild, but also pretty fantastic. This week's song title (by Coldplay) is brought to you by the elders in B5. They had a baptism on Saturday and overflowed the font and flooded the capilla which we share hahaha. We had to go and help them get it all cleaned before the service started. It took like 2 hours. Lots of fun. Today we went and played soccer with like 30 other missionaries at a field we rented. My futbol sala boots that I brought from home finally gave out. It was loads of fun. The World Cup started this week which has made it harder to concentrate not gonna lie. Gutted that I won't watch any of it.

This week Narcisa and her 20 year old son Ismael, our investigators from Ecuador, accepted a baptismal date for the 28th of July. They are super legit and we were told that Ismael is thinking about serving a mission. We also recently got a call from Doris, who we taught for a while before she moved to Torrejon, called us. She recently got baptized over there and told us she wants us to teach her sister Elizabeth who lives in our area. We're meeting with her tomorrow. This might be my last week in the area. We'll find out if I'm leaving or not on Saturday. I'd be down to stay one more transfer. You never know...

Hasta luego,

Elder Penner 🇪🇸

Rivers and Roads

Hey, sorry you didn't hear from me last week! Things are going great here. We took a bus up to the mountains and went on a hike with a couple of members today. It was brilliant. Spain is pretty neat. Went with Rivers and Roads by The Head and The Heart today. We saw a few of those.

We went to the temple last week and had our last zone conference with President and Hermana Pack. It was pretty bittersweet. I'm going to miss them when they leave in a couple of weeks, but I know the Bussey's who are replacing them are going to be great. Our mission officially merges with the Malaga mission in two weeks as well. The week after is gonna be crazy. Hope all is well back home! Talk to you all later!

Hasta luego,

Elder Penner 🇪🇸

sick day

Hey. I'm not really feeling like writing a weekly update today. I'm sick again for like the 3rd time in 3 weeks and have 0 ganas to try and think about what happened. Elder Burt had a sinus infection so I'm thinking it might be the same thing. Idk tho. The temple was great today as always.

Everything is going well here. We've found a lot of new people recently, but still not anyone super solid. A lot of time spent on the street, but I don't mind it here. We see a lot of miracles while street contacting. Love you mom and hope my brothers are driving you too crazy 😁

Elder Penner

The Trap

Hey everyone! This has been a pretty interesting week. It's been frustrating, exciting, and just straight weird all at the same time. Today marks 17 months in the mission. Can barely believe it. Anyway, I'll start with the slightly less interesting stuff.

So the latest on Krissia is that she's actually not going to move to Toledo until the end of the year, so we'll continue to teach her. We're at a bit of a stand still with the people we're working with. In fact, pretty much everyone this week has taken a step back. We've got a focus on finding new people now. Wish I had more positive things to report regarding the work, but things have been average at best regarding investigators. The hermanas have a baptism scheduled for this Saturday. I'll be interviewing their investigator after P-day ends. Things are awesome here like always.

Ok so I chose the song "The Trap" by Satellite Stories this week. One of my favorite ways to get people to stop on the street is by asking who has the better tie, me or my companion. This week someone called me out on it. They were like "wait that was a trick wasn't it??" Super funny. I also saw (for the SECOND time in my mission) a lady walking with a little pig on a leash. This time I managed to get a picture. Today we went to Sol (Madrid center) and wandered around in the rain. Twas pretty aight.

Hasta luego,

Dr. Penner 🇪🇸

Fotos:

1. LEGENDARY PIG ON A LEASH

2. Great find

3. Sol metro stop today (S/O to Donald Glover)

4. Comp ft. graffiti that looks like Elder Burt

5. More graffiti fun

Fumes

It's Monday as heck. To be honest, this has been kind of a slow week. My comp, Elder Sorenson, and I have been sick like all week, but we've been working anyway. Much of this week has been spent "running on fumes" (by EDEN). We still got a lot of work done this week nonetheless and I'm feeling much better. Elder Sorenson and I already get along super well. I'm looking forward to the rest of this transfer.

A couple things with investigators:

After teaching him for like 2 months, (not sure how it didn't come up before lol) we found out that Jorge Luis doesn't even live in our area. We'll probably be passing him over to the B5 elders this week. A little sad since he's got great desire, but he'll continue to progress with them. This week we also found out that our investigator Krissia, is super down to join the church, but her husband has holding her back. The bad news is that she dropped a bomb and told us that she's going to Valencia for a week and after she's planning on moving to a pueblo outside of Toledo. 

Other than that, it's been another week of hiding potatoes in other people's stuff in piso and doing missionary work and stuff. Oh I also went on an intercambio with Elder Merrill that was pretty ok. We got failed a lot, but had a cool lesson with a Dominican guy at the end of the day. Bueno, nada.

Hasta luego,

Elder Penner 🇪🇸

Blindside

Didn't expect that one. Today is transfer day and I'm staying here in B1! I was pretty sure that I would be leaving today last week, but transfer notifications hit me from my Blindside (by Hunter Hunted) on Saturday. I'll be honest I was really hoping I could stay longer. I love this area and we've got some great stuff going on. My hijo (trainee) is headed off to Fuenlabrada which is south of Madrid. He's gonna do big things over yonder. Elder Sorenson came in from Leganes to be my new comp. He's from California and we are already getting along really well. It's gonna be an awesome next 6 weeks.

Yesterday I got to talk to my family for Mother's Day! They're some pretty neat people, I miss those guys. Shout out to them for being rad and giving me motivation for these last 7 months that I'm out here.

On Tuesday I went on an intercambio with Elder Burt. The kid is so fun. We had a blast. That day, I had a Big Mac for the first time in my life (not sure how I went 20 years without one) and also tried Dunkin' Donuts (which is called Dunkin' Coffee here for some reason) for the first time. Apparently Dunkin Donuts is huge in Massachusetts, where Elder Burt is from, and no where else. It was aight tbh. Krispy Kreme is better but that hasn't made it over here yet. Still counting on that and a Panda Express before I leave.

Other than that, it's been a pretty normal week without much new. We just keep grinding here. Pues os deseo una buena semana.

Hasta luego,

Elder Penner 🇪🇸

Fotos:

1. Transfer day meal at a member's house

2. Skype call home

Swim

"Life is a funny thing. It takes you where you least expect, and throws you out to sea."

Whether we sink or swim is our choice as Cape Cub says. Lucky for me, I've had some swim lessons (s/o to Kirsten & Todd Penner). Really though, the choice is always ours. This week has been great. It hasn't been long since the last time I wrote, so we'll see if I have anything to report. When i write these updates I always have no plan whatsoever. I just go for it. So that might explain the disjointed nature of these dads.

Anyway, we saw a cool miracle this week. So, my first week here in this areas 4 months ago, we talked to this guy named Luis from Tenerife in the Canary Islands. He told us he wanted us to teach his kids, but we were never able to set a time to go to his house, so we stopped trying to contact him. Last week, we taught a lesson to a girl named Loraine on the street and set up a time to come over and teach the rest of her family. We went to her house a couple days ago and LUIS answers the door. Turns out that he's Loraine's dad. We taught an awesome lesson and are going back tomorrow.

On a slightly sadder note, two of our investigators, Jorge Luis and Rosa, might have to leave the country. Rosa will go to England to work if her contract isn't renewed, and Jorge Luis might get deported... 🙃 We're praying that they'll be able to stay.

This might be my last week in this area, we'll have to see what happens for transfers next week. Keep on grinding fam.

Hasta luego,

Elder Penner 🇪🇸

Fotos:

1. Dad tie day

2. Trying to give a pavo real a Book of Mormon today