January 25, 2012

Alex as a soccer fan

The elders in Alex's area/piso at the mission home: Elders Forrest, Wride, Gonzalez, Jeppson, and Bauer

Plaza de Toros in Madrid

Hello Family,

Sorry I didn´t write to you earlier, but this P-Day has been intense!! So I liked the picture you sent of Grandma and Grandpa´s anniversary! It was pretty cool!! Sooo transfers happened and guess where I am? I see you guessed Valladolid, but you´re wrong. I´m now in Alcobendas which is in Madrid! It´s a pretty cool area too!! Another thing is that I´m going to be taking the place of Elder Jeppson as Mission Secretary. I´m in the mission office every week day except for Wednesday. We stay in there from 11 - 5 or 6. I´m learning a lot of new stuff and it´s pretty time consuming so far. I thought it would be hard, but so far, just time consuming.

So Monday was my first day working. I got in at about 4 or 5 and was learning a lot about stuff. I had to make at least 41 sheets to have people do residency and that was time consuming. You have to do a lot of Excel stuff and then Word and put it in a folder saved for people and, it was stressful. We left after a while and picked up more people transferring in. Oh, and do you remember Elder Gonzalez from Salt Lake? Yeah, we´re living in the same piso [apartment]...again!!! It´s been fun!! Elder Gonzalez is companions with Elder Wride, and he´s super cool as well!!! I´m currently in a trio with Elder Jeppson (my office trainer that will be gone in 3 weeks) and Elder Forrest (the finance office Elder that will be my companion). I´ve also heard that as office Elders, we´ll be in the office for about 6 months!! That´s a long time, but it´s cool!! Anyway, after picking up the Elders that are going home and Elder Wride, we went to the mission home to drop off the Elders going home. The Watkins invited us to eat with them and it was really good!! I liked their food, so much better than my food that I try to make, haha. We then took some pictures there and left for our piso which is a cool new piso!! I really like it!!

Tuesday we had district meeting and for that we showed Elder Wride and Gonzalez their area and also the old piso that they were living in. That piso is small and I´m glad we moved!! Then we went to the office to work a bit and stayed there from 1 until 6. I had to do the green and blue sheet as well as send 41 emails out to all of the missionaries that were transferred. The green and blue sheets are like a missionary phone book telling us where they are and their numbers as well as who´s the senior companion, junior companion, zone leader, whatever. I also talked to my first companion Elder McGrath about one of his extra phones that he had in the Canary Islands. I also assigned two phones to two new companionships. One to Elder Wride and Gonzalez, and another to the two new missionaries in Valladolid. There are now 4 in Valladolid. Super cool how everything works in the background!! I love it!! So as for letters being sent to me, just send it to the mission office. I´ll get them every day when they arrive so yeah.

Today we did a lot of stuff!! We went into Madrid Madrid (yes I wrote it two times) and took pictures of the Plaza de Toros [bullfight arena], then went to meet up with some other missionaries serving in Madrid. We parked in a mall, and before we went out to meet them, we looked into clothes shops and then we saw a place with tanks of fish. So those fish are used to "massage" your feet and eat all of the bacteria off of your feet! The lady led us to a spot where we could stick our fingers in a tank to see how they work. They´re really small and they surrounded my fingers and it felt funny!! It tickled my fingers and it was just weird!! Later we went to a park to have P-Day and I saw missionaries that I knew and talked to them for a while! One of them that I talked to for a while was my district leader in Valladolid! His name is Elder Iverson and it was fun to talk to him!! Another missionary that I talked to for a while was Hermana [Sister] Miron, who was in the CCM [MTC] at the same time as I was!! It was fun to talk to her about our experiences in the field! Now we´re doing email and that was my day. OH and another thing, we have a car as office elders so I´m going to learn how to drive with a manual transmission. I´m scared!!!! So how´s the family? How was this week? Take care and I´ll write to you soon!! Love you all!!!

             Elder Bauer
Secretario de la Mision Madrid España

January 18, 2012

The chapel in the meetinghouse in Valladolid

The Relief Society room in the meetinghouse in Salamanca

The Primary room in the meetinghouse in Salamanca

Why hello there familia!

Well, this week has been a crazy one!! That´s about all I can say! So like usual this is week 6 of the transfer so if you will send letters, especially if you have the address of my piso (apartment), please send it to the mission office [Note: the mission office address is the only listed on the blog]. The longer I stay here, the higher the possibilities that I will be transferred so DON´T send any mail to my apartment directly until I say. I´m hoping I´m staying, but I also want to go somewhere else. I really don´t know what I want. I want to stay and leave. Mostly stay, but whatever the Lord says. =) Also thank you for the letters from Chelsea Bakaitis.

Well, here´s my week.  So Thursday we visited people. We also made brownies Wednesday to take to a recent convert that we haven´t visited for a while because we couldn´t go there because of time issues. So Thursday we dropped them off and it was good!! So I skipped Wednesday. Wednesday we saw a less active called Maria Jose and she´s super cool!!! Her piso is super personalized for her and I liked it!! It also smelled good!! So Elder Hodges and his super skills made her feel the spirit super powerfully that she cried!!! He helped her remember her baptism and she said that she will call us when she wants to go. Also that she will try to go to church soon!! Super coolio! Friday the 13th!!! Trash! When I noticed that that morning, I thought oh no...bad luck!! Well...for those of you who think that, THINK AGAIN!!! It was the LUCKIEST day of my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We planned 5 lessons, and that is hard to do here, as well as 15 contacts. So out we went and guess what...we had all 5 lessons that day!! We also got 14/15 contacts so I was a happy caterpillar! Saturday was eh. We had two lessons and nothing else. Sunday we had one lesson with Juanita and Emilio the two funny people that I told you about last week so yeah!! Super cool, but nothing else.

Monday we had 4 lessons and had to go from member´s house to member´s house to try to collect money for Costantin and Mariana to go down to Madrid. They have to do some medical stuff and then go back down the 27th to get married! So she had about 300€ and needed at least another 300€ to be able to pay for everything. The branch provided 135€ and we provided 200€ for them to be able to do it. We´ll see how everything goes. Tuesday we had district meeting in Salamanca so we traveled over there and had the meeting. Then we did exchanges so I stayed there with Elder Verdu and Elder Tirzuman came to Valladolid. So poor Elder Verdu. He had 4 or 5 lessons planned, and they all canceled on him. So we did contacts and got 19. One of the attempts when we presented ourselves gently, slapped us in the face three times quickly. After he left us, Elder Verdu started cracking up. I didn´t understand either, but whatever. Later that evening we did Classes de Ingles [English classes] and I helped a lady with a letter she was writing in English. Today we traveled back to Valladolid and I´m here writing. How is everyone? Are you all doing well? Take care and I´ll write again next week!!

Love you all!!

Elder Bauer

January 11,2012

Alex in front of la Iglesia conventual de San Pablo - Valladolid

A bonding moment with his companion.

Alex as a chocolate Santa

The Salamanca District (Elders Hodges, Tirzuman, Verdu, and Bauer)

Family,

Well, this week has been interesting, fun, and eh all at the same time for me. Crazy I know, but it´s true! Oh, and thank you for the package that you sent!! I don´t know what it is yet because I just got the notification that it came. I´ll get it today. Oh and thank you for the Christmas wishes from:

The Bloomington Ward Beehives Class (Sister Marilyn Mapes)
Martina Harris
Mother and Father Bauer
Megan Eden

Gracias por los saludos de Navidad [Thank you for the Christmas greetings/wishes]. I got them the 31^st of December so I had Christmas TWICE!!! Yeah, that´s right, twice!! All you people in the United States only got it once! So haa! Anyway, here´s my week in a nutshell.

So at the end of our P-Day, a less active Romanian came up to us and asked us if we could visit his family. We said, okay and got his address and told him that we´d go over and visit him. Later that day we went and tried seeing people. We saw Ana and Marcela y Norton that day so it was a pretty good day!! Thursday was an eh day. We saw that less active that contacted us the day before, but it didn´t count as a lesson so we had 0 lessons. That´s right, zero, zip, zilch, nothing, nada...no lessons. We had 17 contacts though since people were out going to see los "Tres Reyes Magos" [The Three Kings]. Unfortunately hardly anyone wanted to talk to us because they were in a hurry to see the three kings. I got a new capsule of ink for my pen though and now it isn´t bi-polar!!! YAY!!!! It actually writes all the time now!! Friday we saw Marcela y Norton and talked to them (mainly to Norton) about blessing the Sacrament and preparing too. We also committed him to do it on Sunday and he accepted. We then saw a less active called William and committed him to go to church because then he will feel the spirit. Just a bit of background with him, he hasn´t gone to church in forever, since I´ve been here and probably before, but he´s had the desire to go. He said that he will surprise us on Sunday, and all I was thinking when he said that is, "I really hope so." We also saw a less active from Madrid called Carlos and his girlfriend. They´re doctors so yeah! We also saw Costantin and Mariana, and it was Mariana´s birthday and so we sang her Happy Birthday to you, in English. Contacts were horrid, just 3.

Saturday, no one went to English Classes so yeah. We had correlation though and two lessons that day. Not too bad. Sunday William did come to church so I was super surprised!!!! I was happy to see him there, and it was obvious that he felt the spirit. He was crying so yeah. Carlos and his girlfriend also came which made me happy as well!! What a great church meeting it was!! Wow, and I sounded like Yoda ("What a great church meeting it was – um"). Anyways, that evening we saw a less active elderly lady. Her husband was there as well as her daughter and I don´t think that they are members. Her husband Emilio talked a lot, and I mean a lot!! He also cracked a lot of jokes which made the evening fly and also made it fun!! Then after we got out, a less active contacted us in the street! What´s up with all of these less actives? Super cool because she said that she wants a visit from us on Saturday so we will call her and set up the time later. That´s three less actives within a week that contacted US!! Super coolio!!

Monday we saw Jorge and that was it. He gave us something from Ireland that says good luck or something. It´s a good luck charm key chain and it didn´t work too well that day. We tried to see Marcela y Norton, but they weren´t home. We called them and Marcela says that she gave birth to her daughter!!! Felizidades!!! Not much else...yeah. Yesterday we saw Jorge again, then saw a less active and we had the lesson in his car because he needed to pick something up somewhere. Then we saw another less active that we contacted and had a cool lesson! Her husband isn´t a member and he´s pretty interesting. That´s pretty much all I can say about him. And today, is P-Day!! OH and one thing that I forgot to mention is that yesterday we got a call from a less active that we contacted and she told us to meet with us later today! Super cool these less actives!! I´m glad!! =D So anything new going on at home? I´m glad that the Three Kings Party was another success! Who won the pin contest? How many people showed up? Take care and have a fantabulous week!!! Love you all!!

Elder Bauer

January 4, 2012

Elder Cool

Contents from Christmas Packages from Home

Arriving in Salamanca for District Meeting

A Bi-Polar Pen

Family,

So from Thursday - Friday, we tried to do contacts and stuff, as well as have lessons and stuff so that we could get more people to baptize!! Saturday, we met some crazy people that started their New Year celebrations a bit early. One of them was super drunk and was talking to us and stuff. That contact lasted for about 5 or 10 minutes. You´d have to hear my interpretation of his voice. Elder Hodges says it´s practically the same, so yeah!! He´s an interesting guy. We had English classes, and no one came, and I´m not sure why so yeah. We then had a meeting with the Ward Mission Leader, Jonatan, and it was pretty interesting and fast. We got back to the piso (apartment) at 2 and started cleaning it because it was dirty and also President Watkins was coming to leave letters and packages for us. We got it super clean that it was awesome!!! I was happy!! Unfortunately, when President Watkins left my packages and I opened them, they got the place dirty again. We cleaned, only to get it dirty again. President Watkins also took us out to lunch at a buffet so it was fun!!! We talked about Valladolid and a bit about the call that he made to you and stuff like that. Later that night we went with Hermano Brosivich to Urueña to eat with his family and it was good food!! Urueña is a super cool little pueblo (town) and yeah, it has a wall around the entire pueblo and everything!! I like it!! Hermano Brosivich says that during the winter there are 50 people living there, and that´s just sad. I wouldn´t mind living there though!! We left them with a spiritual thought and it was cool!!!

Sunday, we went to church, then later that evening, we had a lesson with a less active and that was it. Monday, we went to León so that Elder Hodges could have a meeting there with the other Zone Leaders and the Mission President. I went with Elder Bermudez, Elder Evans, and Elder Reist to do stuff. We first went to get copies done for something that was important and stuff. Then we went to this store to look at Magic cards (I know, I would have preferred to work, but I don´t know León too well), and then to the bus station to confirm and buy a ticket for Elder Reist. After that we went to another store and Elder Bermudez and Elder Reist bought balloons. Then we went to their piso at about 12, and they started playing magic while I was walking back and forth. At about 1:30 or something, I got a phone call from a guy named Carlos that wanted a visit from us. He´s a less active from Madrid and called us to see him!!! He CALLED us!!! I got happy and wrote down where he lived and yeah!! Then at about 2 pm I played Magic with Elder Evans and beat him by a landslide!!! I felt powerful!! Then we played again, and he beat me by a little bit, so it wasn´t too bad. Then we returned to Valladolid and had a few lessons with Loreily and Costantin.

Tuesday we had District Meeting in Salamanca, then got back, had a lesson at 5:30 with the drunk guy we met Saturday, still drunk, and had an interesting lesson. Elder Hodges talked the whole time, because when I was about to talk, he said, "NO!!!" Then pointing at Elder Hodges, he said, "El" so I guess, he doesn´t want me to talk, but I´ll get a word in sometime, haha!! Then we saw Señor Carlos and his girlfriend, as well as his girlfriend´s daughter, which are not members! Potential? HECK YEAH!!! Sorry, couldn´t resist. Now if you heard my intense deep voice while saying that, it would be better, and feel better!! Today is P-Day. We´ll go out shopping for stuff. I´m going to do some chino shopping and I´ll buy you (Dad) an intense pen from La Universidad de Valladolid like mine. Let me just say, they may work great, might be bi-polar (sometimes work, and sometimes not, like mine is), and may not work at all. But if it doesn´t work, hey, it´s a souvenir so yeah. How´s stuff at home? Anything cool happen yet this week? Take care and I´ll talk to you next week!! Love you all!!!

Elder Bauer