December 5, 2012

Las Palmas with a blue Atlantic in the background

Alex with his new flag of Spain

Hello Family!!

Nothing new here, except that it looks like Christmas is coming since they are putting up lights over some of the streets and on some Palm Trees. And they´re selling Polvorones again!! A Polvoron is a Spanish candy/sweet that is made during Christmas time. Pretty much flour, sugar, and butter mixed together, but they´re really good!!! I´m addicted to them, hahaha!!! Well here´s my week!

Thursday we went to a new person´s house to see if we could meet with him, but he didn´t answer the door. Or he wasn´t there or he wasn´t interested. I´m not sure, but we then knocked on the doors around the area where supposedly members were living, but none of them were the right address. So after a while we went to a member´s house to eat lunch, then back to the piso [apartment] to have weekly planning. After planning, we went and saw Jonatan and then tried to see Fani, but she wasn´t home. Not much else happened Thursday.

Friday was pretty cool!!! I got to know Cristian, a less active JAS [young single adult] member, and we answered his questions. We also shared a video of how to feel the spirit and that’s pretty much what it does. It was a pretty cool lesson!! We then ate with Nenad, the same member as Thursday, and it was really good food again!! We then had Medio Dia [lunch break] and it was relaxing like usual. One cool experience is that we did contact a lady that had her mother die not too long ago and that she was sad about that. We told her that we knew where her mother was and we wanted to share that knowledge with her. She said that she would like to listen, but at a later time since she was busy. We got her number and left for Edward and his family. We´ve decided to drop them since they aren´t doing their part to progress in the Gospel and to really know if the things we are sharing are true. Stressful and sad, but it´s okay. I hope that soon they will realize what they´ve missed.

Saturday not much happened except for tons of contacts. We had two new people planned, but they failed us. We knocked on doors near Edward´s home and no one answered or no one was interested. So then we passed by the Roka family and they are solid as steel!!!! They are really active and happy members because they live the gospel!!! It was awesome what they are like!! We then got a call from Jonatan and he said that he got an answer to his prayers in the form of a dream!! So after the Roka family, we went to the JAS [young single adult] Center and talked to him a bit as well as prepare for a fast for Jonatan. The Eynon´s made food for us to eat and it was really good as usual. We then started our fast!

Canarian Churros!!!

Sunday we had church and then had a lesson with Maria. She´s getting baptized on the 15 of this month!! Super cool!! We then had Medio Dia [lunch break] and then went to the Noche de Hogar [home evening] at the JAS [young single adult] Center. It was cool!! We broke our fast and ate some more Eynon food which is really good as usual! Not much else, but we did teach another lesson that day, but I don´t remember who it was. Oh well...I´m an old man on the mission so I guess it´s okay to start forgetting things now and then, hahahaaa!!!

Monday was pretty good!!!! 3 lessons!!! At first it was a pretty bad day since I tried printing stuff for Empadronamiento [registering with the authorities], but it didn´t work out too well. We then, after Medio Dia [lunch break], had a lesson set up with Almudena, the lady that had her mother die, but she failed us. I´m sure that she has a lot going on with her kids and stuff so it´s okay. We then went to see Roberto and Lola, an older less active couple that can´t go to church because of health. We shared a video with them about patience, even though they have patience, but it´s okay. They then gave us a little sandwich as well as a few sweets and a hot chocolate. It was really good! OH, and Roberto has been to Germany so he has one of those German Christmas thingys, but multiple stories!! It was pretty cool!! We then went to see Oscar, a JAS [young single adult], but not a member. His family is a member, but not him. Pretty cool since he´s gotten interest in listening to us!! We then went to a Noche de Hogar [home evening] to finish off the day!

It´s Christmas time in the JAS Center!! The Elders of the District!

From left to right:  Elders Bauer, Lisonbee, Christensen, Valenzuela

Tuesday was District Meeting and it was cool!! I learned how to teach simply and for understanding and it was cool!! We then went and visited Andres, a less active recent convert JAS [young single adult], but he´s really good!! He´s less active because of his job. He´s a fútbol [soccer] player and so he must get paid a lot, but yeah, that´s why he´s less active. We shared with him a Mormon Message about Standing Alone, a message by President Monson! Super cool and I really liked the lesson!! We then went to the JAS [young single adult] Center and talked to Jonatan about Fran. Fran is passing through a bit of a difficult time because his famliy is passing through a tough time and also don´t want Fran listening to us. He also saw a bit of Anti-Mormon stuff on the internet, but I´m sure that if he starts looking, he´ll find his way back. Today is P-Day and I think we´re going on a drive to tour the north part of the Island. If you ask why we´re doing it again, it´s because we never did that last P-Day. We did go to a restaurant with the Eynons and the District. I also bought pants and two ties! So yeah. How have you guys been? Take care and I´ll talk to you soon!! Love you all!!

Elder Bauer

Alex with Tony Roma ribs (with Elders Christensen and Lisonbee in the background)