Saturday, March 11, 2017

February 6, 2017 ~ Transfer 4 Week 6 ~ Last Week in Oveido

Hi all!

This week was a great week. We ended up eating a lot of meals with people this week because we were pretty sure I was leaving this transfer. And... it was true. I'm heading to Madrid (Pavones area) and I have the Spain Madrid Temple in my area (as well as parque de retiro where we talked to people every Saturday in the MTC/CCM). I'm sad to leave Oviedo and the awesome people I met here, but I'm also excited for the change and the new area. My biggest fear is that I'm going to get chubby because I hear the church members in Madrid feed the missionaries super well. =) haha

So this week for food we had quite the mixture. 
We had homemade pizza (my favorite), pica pollo and morir soñando (both from the Dominican Republic), and last P-day I had mini-gofres for breakfast. (I will explain all of them =) ). Gofres are basically sugar coated waffles and are super good. The problem with ordering almost anything here in Europe is that the portion sizes are quite a bit smaller and the fact that they were mini-gofres...they ended up being the size of girl scout cookies with a dollop of ice cream the size of a truffle for 1€ more. Not very filling haha =) morir soñando (means "to die dreaming") is basically a sweet milk with chunks of ice and has a lemony flavor to it. It has to be prepared in such a careful way because if you aren't careful the milk and lemon curdle. The Dominican member made it perfectly, it was sooo good. It's usually drank during the hot summers to stay cool (or its made for missionaries because we just love trying new things =) ). Pica pollo is chicken with different spices, quite good. And the pizza was my favorite. The crust ended up tasting like a biscuit and it was super good. It was like being at home =) at Piso (the apartment) we eat "completos" which ended up being hot dogs on French bread as a bun, with avocado, onion and tomato. Really good.

I hope you aren't hungry now =)

This week had its ups and downs but it's amazing how the good stuff sticks so much better in the memory. 

Last transfer Elder Chabot and I prayed specifically that we would find a lady named Mercedes on the same corner that we found her. It didnt happen as we expected it that day but I kept believing that God would answer our prayer and maybe the time just wasn't then. And then we had a miracle happen this last Thursday. I contacted Mercedes in the street without recognizing her and we were able to talk for a bit. It wasn't the same exact corner but it was quite close (only a street or two away). It was amazing to see how our specific prayer was answered in God's own time and in His own way. I know that Heavenly Father loves us individually and that He knows us personally. I know that He is listening to our prayers and that He will answer them. Sometimes the answer is "yes", "no" or "not right now", but he will answer your prayers.

I have felt Heavenly Father's love for me this week when I recognized that He loves us even with all our imperfections. He knows our potential and what and who we can become if we let Him lead us. He doesn't expect us to be perfect so that we can reach that potential. He only expects that we do our best, that we keeping on trying. We just need to be better than the day before and that it good enough. One step at a time. I know He will help us succeed because our loving Heavenly Father wants the best for us.

Funny moments:
Wednesday, we were a little late coming home from a JAS activity (young single adults, there are about 8-10 in the branch). And so we ran a 30 minute walk in 12 minutes so that we could get home on time. The worst part was that we had intercambios so I had all my stuff with me =) the last stretch up the hill was the hardest.

We missed the train going back to Oviedo when we had our pizza with the Núñez family. We were two minutes late and we watched as it arrived.... and then left. We had a nice hour to wait for the next one. Thank goodness for the change I schedule this passt week because we ended up doing companion study while waiting. =)

On Saturday, we passed by an investigator named Bruno who we met last week. We've been calling him and haven't really gotten a straight answer on when he wants to meet. Funny thing is that he wasn't home when we passed by but we saw him arrive home as we left and were down the street. I waved.

Saturday night there was a ton of wind. It blew so hard that it went through our blinds (which are metal slats) and pushed open our window while it was latched. Not only that the wind was blowing in our faces but the heater went out too. Yeah, it was a little cold.

Have a great week!

Elder Openshaw

PS
New companion is from Switzerland, his name is Elder Weiss and he also started his mission in Oviedo. He is 24, just about to go home next transfer (in 6 weeks).

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