Jet Lag

"Jet lag, been in a state of disaster ever since I [got here]," as the song by Magic Man starts out. I feel like the jet lag from when I first got here has never completely gone away. And it's only been worse this week. I've been exhausted and I'm not entirely sure why. It's been an unbelievably good start to the transfer though. I think this is the most motivated and excited I've been about the work my whole mission.

We taught Yocasta the rest of the commandments and she should be having her baptismal interview next Sunday! She mentioned she wanted to visit the temple when we met with her yesterday, so we're making a trip with her tomorrow. It should be great. It's kind of amazing how prepared she is. We also had a really good lesson with Jose and his girlfriend Sheyla. Neither of them have a lot of motivation to get to church on Sundays, so we discussed that and talked about faith. We also started working with a reference we got named Doris. We taught her lesson 1 and the day after came to our activity, and the day after came to church. She's got a lot of potential. We had an activity with the ward a couple days back. We watched the Restoration movie and it went super well. 

My new companion is pretty great. We're pretty different, but we get along well. His name is Elder Burton and he's from South Jordan, Utah. He ran track in high school and played in his school's band. His Spanish isn't the best, but he's brand new here so that's expected. He's finding extra time to study and improve all the time, so it'll definitely come.

I think that's all I've got for this week. I probably forgot a few things, but like I said, I'm very tired. We'll see if I can get more sleep hahaha. We rented out a field and played some soccer with a bunch of other missionaries today. It was a blast. Only bad part was that there's a hole in the bottom of my soccer shoes now. Anyway, hope you are all doing well and having a great time back in the States. The church is tru.

Hasta luego,

Elder Penner

Fotos:

1. Futbol hoy

2. Another pic of the cathedral in our area

The New Black

Transfer day today! Another one gone with each transfer going faster than the last. My companion Elder Parkinson is on his way out. He'll be going to Salamanca. Great guy - we had a lot of fun together. I was planning on stealing his expensive insulin pump for his diabetes and selling it on eBay, but I guess that can't happen now. Oh well. This next transfer I'm gonna be a dad!! I'll be training a brand new missionary fresh out of the MTC. I'm ridiculously excited. This next transfer is gonna be brilliant. I'll be picking up my son tomorrow. "The New Black," by Moon Taxi was the only song I could think of off the top of my head that had to do with something new. It's a good song though.

Also, something that I've known for a couple weeks but keep forgetting to say: There are going to be changes in the boundaries of the mission. Malaga mission is being disolved into the missions of Madrid and Barcelona. We still don't know exactly how it's all going to play out, but it'll happen in June/July. I could finish my mission in Seville or somewhere down South. Pretty sick.

Investigators are all about the same. Yocasta is still awesome. She's given up coffee as hard as it's been for her. I told her that I wouldn't drink soda as long as she doesn't have coffee. She liked that idea a lot and told me that I couldn't drink juice either. So basically I'm just drinking water now hahaha. We found a super cool guy named Ariel on the street this week. He's from Paraguay and has only been here two months and told us he was looking for a church to go to. Miracle. He was going to come yesterday, but had something come up. We're gonna meet with him this next week though.

Segovia last week was so dope. We saw the famous Roman aqueduct that's there. It was built without any mortar, so it's just straight stone holding it together. We went to the castle after and it was probably the coolest one I've been to. Lots of history and boring stuff too, but still sick. I can't think of anything else exciting that happened this week so I guess that's all for now. Hope you all have a superb week!

Hasta luego,

Elder Penner

Algunas fotos:

1-2. THE CASTLE

3. I almost died getting this picture - worth it.

4. I ran into a member from La Palma and her son! It was pure chance too, they came all the way from the Canary Islands

We're Only Getting Closer

"I pray the best is yet to come," as part of the song by Everyone Moves Away goes. And it surely is. We've been working really hard trying to get the work moving quicker here in B1 and it's starting to pay off. We're only getting closer to seeing a lot of success throughout our district. This week has been really exciting with zone conference, intercambios, and more progress made with investigators. 

Yocasta is still progressing exceptionally well. We really think she'll be ready for her baptismal date next month. She sometimes has some kind of odd questions that don't matter too much. It's kind of funny actually. She mentioned a week ago that brownies were her favorite American dessert so I attempted to make some. They turned out pretty ok for not having anything to measure with lol. We also met with Jose again and taught him the Plan of Salvation. It went really well and I think he understands the things he needs to do to progress better now. He still hasn't come to church, so we'll keep working on that.

On Thursday, I went on intercambios (exchanges) with Elder Knapp. He's from Kansas and is a super funny guy. He was also my trainer, Elder Kamimoto's last companion before he went home. It was a blast and we taught two lessons that were really cool. The first was with an Egyptian guy who Elder Parkinson and I found that they're now teaching. His name is Ayman and he prefers English over Spanish, so we taught in English. I think it was the first time I've taught in English in the mission field. Let me just say, it was weird as heck. He's also Muslim and doesn't have a Christian background which made teaching him even more interesting. The lesson ended up going really well despite my uncomfort with teaching in English hahaha. 

The lesson made me realize that I feel like another person when I speak in Spanish. My personality is a bit different and I feel like I'm more spiritual than when I speak in English. We had a lesson later that night with an older man, who is a Catholic priest. It was a really cool eperience and he has super pure intentions. We shared the Restoration, and at the end, he offered a super sincere prayer asking to know if it was true. 

Honestly, in these last few months I feel like I've been changing more than ever before here in the best kind of way. One thing that the mission has helped me with is perspective. Seeing all these differences in peoples' lives and where they come from has helped me learn a lot. We're on a bus headed to Segovia to see a castle and some old Roman aqueducts amongst other cool old things (Spain seems to specialize in that). I'll see if I can attach some pictures later on today, but that's all I've got for now. Hope you all have a great week! Love you guys!

Hasta luego,

Elder Penner

Fotos:

1. Elder Knapp :)

2. District after zone conference

3. Some guy told us all to line up so he could take a picture of our shoes. Not sure why, but here you go

Where I Want to Be

Although it's only been a few short days since I last sent out an update, I've got lots to say. Barrio 1 is the promised land I'm now convinced. There isn't any place I'd rather be at the moment. Song title today is by ARIZONA and it captures that perfectly. All the companionships serving here have continued to see miracles. The temperature has dropped and we've gotten a bit of snow recently, but that's fine. It's the first time I've been in snow in forever. We're getting some shopping done today. In Spain, instead of having Black Friday they have sales that start at the end of January and end of July called rebajas. The deals get better and better as the weeks go on until there's nothing left. I got a pair of pants for 10 euros last week. 

THIS WEEK, we went to Colmenar Viejo again and met with Jose. It's still not super clear if he's meeting with us because he wants to or because of his girlfriend and her family. We had a great lesson with him, but after telling us he'd come to church, he didn't show up. Didn't surprise me too much - it's pretty normal. I found out this week at apparently his girlfriend's brother used to play for Atletico Madrid's academy. We're definitely gonna have to go up and play sometime hahaha.

The biggest news, though, is with our friend Yocasta. We met with her last night and read Alma 32 in the Book of Mormon. The lesson was absolutely brilliant. We talked about baptism again and she told us it's definitely something she wants to do. We set a goal for the 17th of March, so if all goes well, it should happen then! The first time we taught her, she told us she noticed something different about us and said she wanted the same in her life. Now, after only a couple weeks she says she's happier and feels more peace. She even invited a friend from work to church the other day. Thrilling stuff.

There you have it lads. Great stuff all around. We're still spending quite a bit of time looking for new people, but I know they're out there. Can't wait to see what else awaits us here. Hope you all are doing well. ¡Qué tengáis una buena semana! 

Hasta luego,

Elder Penner 🇪🇸

Fotos:

1. Ward choir was lit

2. Cathedral near us

3. Plaza de Castilla

4. My comp has been switching the heads of various Disney figurines lately. The results have been hilarious. He's very proud of his work. 

Some more pictures:

1. Ran into Hermana Blaise - another Brentwood resident #BayArea

2. Companion at the temple last Wednesday

Robbers

Greetings from Madrid! I haven't really gotten a chance to talk about the area itself so here it goes. I'm in a somewhat Northern part of Madrid. The area where we live is kinda in the ghets, but that's ok because it means more humble people! The only skyscrapers in Madrid are in our area as well. We travel by metro almost everywhere, so I finally know what my cousin was talking about when she described the "I hope no one freaking robs me right now" sensation a while back. That quote was actually inspiration for my song title this week, "Robbers," by The 1975 (don't worry I didn't actually get robbed). The ward is great. There are roughly 110 active members - a big step from the 23 in my last area. I've already met a bunch of them and they're awesome.

This last week and a half has flown by (as usual) and we've got a lot done. After a slightly slow start, it picked up quite a bit. I mentioned a new investigator Yocasta last week - SHE'S FREAKING LEGIT. We've met with her three times since I last wrote and she's got a great desire to learn more. We've invited her to read the Book of Mormon and after doing so, she's noted how she's had a lot of good things happen to her. After asking her what she thought of it yesterday, she told us she thinks it's true. Super exciting times here! 

We also started teaching two other new people this last week. One of them, lives out in a pueblo called Colmenar Viejo and is a member's boyfriend. He's from Nicaragua and his name's Jose. The other is an older Ecuadorian lady named Rosa. She apparently had missionaries over at her house all the time when she was raising her kids back in Ecuador. For some reason, she was never baptized despite the fact that nearly all her children are members. They're both really great and we can't wait to work with them more.

Today I got to go to the temple for the first time in like 5 months. Incredible experience as always. We played some soccer with some other missionaries after. MOST IMPORTANTLY, we went to a taco place that sells REAL AUTHENTIC Mexican tacos. The first that I've had since I got here a year ago. It was a good day for me. I think we're going to go up to Segovia on Monday with our district. I heard it's a really cool city. We'll have to see. I hope you all are partying it up back in the states. I also hope at least one of you has been keeping my legacy of using "dad" as a pronoun alive as well. Love you all!

Hasta luego,

Elder Penner 🇪🇸

Algunas fotos hoy:

1. When America meets Spain - tortilla de patata with Dew and Sour Patch

2. Colmenar Viejo

3. Soy yo

This is the Life

Hello everyone! I don't have a ton of time today so I'll make this quick, but we've been seeing so many miracles since I arrived here. No way I'll have time to talk about all of them so I'll just hit a few. Went with another Two Door Cinema Club song this week for my subject. Mission life is the good life.

Earlier this week, we set up a lesson with a Dominican person we met on the street named Clara. We met with her and upon talking a little bit, she told us she was already a member (like the 4th time that's happened on my mission - and all of them have been Dominican). The good news is, she brought her non-member friend named Yocasta. She's also Dominican but just moved to Madrid from Bilbao up north. We taught her the Restoration and it went incredibly well. She told us she could feel something different about us. We invited her to church on Sunday and she came and said she felt peace and loved how happy everyone was. I think that might be the first time I've had an investigator come to church so quckly after we started teaching them. She also mentioned how she thought that finding us was in God's plan for her. We're really excited about her. We'll be meeting with her again tomorrow.

Another miracle: On our way to church yesterday, we were stopped by a British guy who was looking for the chapel. He told us how he's from Manchester and he's been looking for work here. We showed him where the church was and upon finding it, he mentioned that it was his first time coming in years. Glad we ran into him. Only problem, he said he was a United fan smh. He told us he'd come next week too.

We're still in a little bit of a finding mode. We are getting a lot of appointments with new people set up, but then they fail us. Great things are coming here in B1 I know it. The other two companionships in this area saw lot of miracles this last week too. Forgot to mention this last week, but my companion Elder Parkinson has diabetes so basically if he ever passes out, it's my job to stab him in the leg with a needle. Sounds pretty metal I know. He's a great guy though and I think his knowledge of music is better than any of my other companions to this point. 

 My picture taking has kind of fallen off since I moved to Madrid, but I promise some pictures next week. That's all the time I've got. I still gotta send some other emails out. Thanks for all your guys' support. I think I'm enjoying my time here more than ever. Talk to you all next week!

Hasta luego,

Elder Penner 🇪🇸

Molecules

Don't have a ton of motivation to think of something clever that goes along with the week, so went with Molecules, probably my favorite song by Atlas Genius. It's been a really great, but exhausting first week here in Barrio 1 (Madrid 1st Ward). I just so happened to arrive during the coldest week of the season so far. Those of you that know me know that I hate the cold. On the bright side, I can now say with absolute confidence that it's colder than Africa since I was on the African continent in the Canaries a week ago. It's warmed up a little here the last couple of days, so I'm managing a little better now.

THE AREA

It's been a blast and honestly a little bit of an adjustment so far. I'll be honest, it's really nice being able to focus solely on missionary work which we couldn't really do in La Palma. This is the first time in quite a while that I've been in an area where street-contacting is effective so I'm pumped about that. It's taken me a little bit to get back into the groove of working in a big city. We don't have a lot of investigators at the moment, but I can see that turning around soon. We've been in finding-mode this week. We've got like 4 lessons set up with potential investigators next week including a guy from Tenerife that we met on the street. I thought that was pretty neat since I had never met a Canarian here in the Peninsula before. One of our current investigators is named Ivan. We got him on a baptismal date for about two months in advance this last Thursday, but I'm not sure how solid that is since my companion tells me he's pretty flojo. They've been working with him for over a month and he hasn't come to church yet. We had a really spiritual lesson with him this week though and he says he feels really good when he reads the Book of Mormon. 

My new comp Elder Parkinson and I are here in B1 with one other companionship of Elders and a trio of Hermanas - 7 missionaries total in the ward. We all sat down earlier this week and made a plan to help strengthen the members. The bishop told us that there are a lot of members who come every week but don't have testimonies, so that's one of our focuses at the moment. We've planned out weekly ward activities that emphasize the content in the missionary lessons in an effort to strengthen their testimonies.

That's about it for now. Pretty standard week as far as missionary work goes. Hope you guys are all doing well back over yonder. L8r sk8rs.

Hasta luego,

Elder Penner

Fotos:

1-3. We went to a little Star Wars museum today