My first area... I'm sure I am going to have some wonderful times here. Oh I almost forgot to tell you where in the Spain I am! The city I am serving in is named FUENLABRADA!! Took me forever to figure that out because I didn't see it written down for like a day or two. My companion is so awesome and we are already becoming good friends. His name is Elder Echegaray and he is from Argentina! He is a native speaker so it is difficult to talk to him sometimes but we figure it out. I sure am learning a ton!! He is learning english too so I help him out a bit haha.
So I'm pretty sure my mother wants me to do this in a day by day format and if any of you have a problem with that, you can take it up with her because she's my mom and I do what she says. And also because I don't think anyone out there is gunna have the guts to tell my mom to have me write my letters in a different format. I know I wouldn't...
So Tuesday! It was a craaazy day. We said goodbye to all of our friends from the CCM in the morning because those going to Barcelona and Malaga had to leave at 6 am. After that we finished packing and headed over to the stake center which is like 20 steps from the CCM. The aps came and picked a few of us up and took us to the Jacksons house which is awesome!! We had a little lesson, took some pictures, ate some food and then headed back to the stake center to wait for our trainers! There, they basically called each trainer up and linked them with their junior companions! I was super nervous but really excited. After I got paired with Elder Echegaray, we headed off to Fuenlabrada by metro and train, don't worry, mine wasn't going 170 mph or something crazy! After that we dropped our stuff off and headed straight to an investigators house!! Her name is Margarita and she has a baptismal date for this saturday!!!! We have been praying and fasting for her to feel ready and I have faith that she will. Oh and I bore my testimony which was super scary but great! After that we headed to a member's house for dinner and I wasn't hungry at all but I ate as much as I could.
Wednesday! Well we had a district meeting which was in a city called Parla and of course in Spanish but I got to meet a few of the Elders that are in our district which was really cool and one of them, Elder Smith, was in the CCM with me which was awesome! After that we headed back to Fuenlabrada and ate some food and then had a lesson with a less active member who is struggling with a smoking problem. Oh and if you didn't know, Spaniards loooove to smoke. There are cigarette butts all over the side walks and gutters here. Next we had a lesson with a new investigator named Bright! He is from Nigeria and speaks english!!! Its kind of hard to understand his accent but we get by. The cool thing is that he literally asked us if we could go to our apartment and get a Book of Mormon because he was so interested in it. I am excited to see his progress!
Thursday! On Thursdays we plan the coming week and with Medio Dia, we don't get to leave the apartment until 4... Oh maybe I should explain a bit about Medio Dia. Basically we have to be in our apartment from 2 to 4 eating and studying every day unless we have a planned lesson because some people get ticked off if you try to call or contact them when they are sleeping and almost no one is in the street. Its really weird and all the shops close too. We had a meeting after medio dia with another less active member which went really well but during it, she told us about the train wreck and turned the news on. During the closing prayer we got a text from President Jackson telling us that Elder Ward was on that train and is in a serious condition in the hospital. I prayed for him all day and all night. After that we had another lesson with Margarita about the law of chastity and the word of wisdom which went surprisingly well! She is definitely progressing! After that we contacted for a little bit and got a few references as well.
Friday! Oh I should probably mention that because the sun doesn't go down until around9:30 or 10, we don't wake up until 7:30 and go to bed at 11:30. Its a little weird but I am getting used to it. Friday, a lot of our plans fell through so it was a hard day but I learned a lot. We have Noche de Hogar on Friday which is basically family home evening for the branch which went great and I got to meet a lot of the members in our branch. After that we had a lesson with another progressing investigator named Solange and her husband Rafael on the Plan of Salvation. I got to say some stuff on it which was great and they were really receptive!!
Saturday! Started out pretty hard but got better! A few of our plans fell through in the morning but we had a ward barbacoa, or barbecue, which was so much fun! I got to have some actual spanish food which was literally 90% meat and 10% bread. It was good but I probably ate too much haha. We played soccer with some of the little kids a little too which was great. Oh and we taught a lesson to a member referral that night to which went really good and I felt the spirit really strongly!
Sunday! Well church was good! It starts at 10 but most of the members show up at around 10:20ish because rarely anyone has cars here. Thats probably the most difficult thing for people here. They have the autobus but its pretty slow and unpredictable at times. Later on, we went to a city called Mosteles, which is where Elder Smith is serving, and watched the missionary conference that was broadcast to the world because the members and Elders here hadn't seen it yet. It was amazing as always even though it was in spanish! Ilooove seeing other missionaries for some reason. It shows me that there are others out there struggling but working hard. The meeting went long and we had to go back to our apartment after that.
Today! Its P day as you probably know and so we went to the gym this morning which felt great and reminded me of my gym buddy/roomate at BYU Austin! He's serving inFarmington, New Mexico and is a really cute kid. Just saying. After that, Elder Echegaray showed me some amazing stuff he can do with a soccer ball and juggled it for over 300 times! I'm gunna practice a lot but doubt I'll ever be as good as him.
Well I am really excited for this week and thank you all so much for your emails. I love hearing from all of you so keep it up!! All of you are my family and I love you!!
Love,
Elder Franklyn
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