Obsessions me Olvido

Obsession: Something that is constantly on your mind and in your thoughts. A focus. Generally thought to be unhealthy or to the extreme.

Olvidar: To forget.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that missionaries in general are obsessed with two things:
1. Baptisms.
2. Transfer calls.

I just... entirely forgot to mention those two things in my last email, even though they proved to be incredibly relevant this week.

But big news first so...
Guess who´s going to the TRANSFER MEETING for the fourth time in a row???!

No one, sheesh, I'm not THAT special. ;)
(sorry, couldn't resist.)

Hermana Terrazas and I are staying here in good old Valencia for another six weeks... which means I will be here for 6 months. Which is one third of my mission. Which is weird.
BUT this means that for the first time (in forever) I will be out of the 12 week training program (rejoice... just kidding, it's kind of sad.) So we took a graduation picture... included.

I just remember going through the week thinking "I just don't want anything to change" and it's amazing how sometimes you get your wish. ALL of the hermanas in Valencia are staying together and staying here. But every companionship of Elders in our District is changing, and our district is splitting because they're opening a new area in Castellón (a little city in the outskirts of Valencia). It always amazes me how much somethings change while others remain the same.

Baptism. Allison was baptized on Saturday. I guess I didn't mention it in the email last week because we weren't sure if it was going to happen or not, since we haven't been able to get in contact with her in a while (she lives in a pueblo 30 minutes away and only has her phone on weekends... and is 13). But she was prepared and excited when we visited her on Wednesday, we had her interview on Friday, and she was baptized on Saturday. Crazy right? There weren't a ton of members there because we had to do it at 3:30 because her mom works (and the fact that seis [six] and tres [three] sound SUPER similar in Spanish has been a REAL struggle this week). But her mom, grandfather (whom we've never really SEEN before) and Aunt came.
Baptismal programs are really stressful because people are late, don't show up, or cancel on you. But somehow everything works out anyway. Which is a huge miracle.

Allison and us! (And Elder Davis)

On Sunday we had the confirmation and we brought Antonio to church. He's 70 something, so when we told him that we'd be there at 3:15 to pick him up for Church, he thought we said 6:15 (the fact that seis [six]and tres [three] sound SUPER similar in Spanish has been a real struggle this week). Well he wasn't quite ready but came anyway... leaving his teeth at home because he didn't want to be late. That's some real dedication. The testimony meeting was somehow centered on Baptism and one of the Elders' investigators stood up and said how excited he was for HIS baptism. At this point Antonio leaned over and said, "No voy a bautisarme todavía." [I will not get baptized yet] ... I feel like there's a lot of hope in the word "yet."

On Monday (last time I wrote) we went to a really cool Spanish park modeled after Gulliver's travels. It's the shape of a man laying down which has something to do with the story and is a really cool construction idea and was super fun.... but Hermana Terrazas fell a couple (3) times and her tailbone has been hurting ever since (though she's stubborn and wouldn't call earlier). So we called in on Monday, went to a hospital (which is kind-of miraculous, to get a same-day appointment here in Spain), and found out that her tailbone has a small fracture.
So we're stuck in piso [apartment] for the next little while, while a couple of people figure out what to do.
We bought a donut so that she can sit more comfortably and let it heal. Not the donut that you eat, the one that adds cushion when you sit down...though technically in the long run, edible donuts do that too. :)

two types of donuts

It's weird to go from two baptisms in three weeks, new investigators, and hitting pautas [mission goals] twice to just.... sitting in piso [apartment] and waiting. But it'll help us learn patience, I guess.

It is not meet that you should run faster than you have strength, after all.

So pray for us, but don't worry too much. I've still got my sense of humor, we're working on patience, we bought ice cream and we wanted to watch "The District" again anyway.

Lots of Love,

Hermana Een