April 9,2018 ~ Transfer 15, Week - 1 las islas canarias

Hi everybody!

So transfers happened. But wow it took a while to get to the Canary Islands. I left Ponferrada Sunday night and finally got here in Tenerife Wednesday noon-ish. I spent a bit of time doing missionary work in the center of Madrid which was interesting. And I'm glad to be here haha.

Some funny stories:
Tuesday: We were heading towards Pavones with all our luggage and I had the 35 kilo one (about 75lbs) and the escalator was broken. So we were going down the stairs and I'm in the back. And our metro showed up. I ran down the stairs with that huge luggage, tripped and almost fell on the ground but in the end made it into the metro somehow. It was hilarious as I wobbled down the stairs with my luggage haha.

Then at Pavones (where the temple is) we had the district leader meeting (where I got to see a bunch of people for probably the last time). And then the next day I got on a plane and now I'm here :)

We ate with some members on Thursday and it was great. They are so nice. Wonderful food too. Ana and Mario. And there were some flies in the room and Ana starting chasing the flies around the room. It made me smile haha. And one fly landed on my tablet and she was ready to smack. I made sure to move that fly quickly haha.

The work here is a little different. People actually talk to us here and I love it. They are a lot nicer than what I'm used to. Also there are a lot of tourist which can sometimes make the work a little more complicated. And we also do a lot of traveling in the buses here. We cover the whole bottom half of the island.

Also, we have to drink out of bottled water so we get a bunch of 8 liter jugs at the start of each week :) and there is some great food here you can't find in the Pennisula - like clipper (a soft drink) and Mojo (a salsa). And gofio (a type of toasted corn flour).

Sunday comes around and I find out we don't have a church space right now....It's under construction for some changes. So that means we don't have Wi-Fi easily either haha. And it also means that you have sacrament meeting in a super super fancy hotel right under the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Americas haha. It's super nice. So we had sacrament meeting in a little conference room haha. And the members are great here. Very welcoming. Ward of about 50 with a really loving bishop.

Then after church we went with Hermano Villalobos to visit a family that I might in La Coruña on an intercambios. That was super cool to see them and find out that they are in the ward I serve in now hahaha. I remember eating at their house and luckily they remember me too haha.   But it's a small world.

Then we also tried getting the bus back to Los cristianos yesterday and while waiting there was a teenager who had a shop cart, and he rolls it down the hill a bit to test it out. And then he hops in it and starts going down the hill. He rolls quite slowly - probably about 40-50 feet. And then he gets bored so he hops out and picks up the cart and throws it over the side of the bridge right next to him hahaha. It was hilarious. And then he looks around and walks away.

I'm super excited to be here and learn some great things. Recently I just started a challenge to read the Book of Mormon in the same amount of time that it took Joseph Smith to translate it - 85 days. I know the Book of Mormon is true. And because of that I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that Heavenly Father has restored His church in our days once again. I know there is a prophet who leads us and guides us in today's day. I invite you to read the Book of Mormon and give it a try! The promise is that if you read it, think about it's message and then ask God if it's true , you will recieve an answer from God of its truthfulness. And I have done just that and have come to know for myself that it is true :)

Moroni 10:3-5
3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

Have a wonderful week!

With love,
Elder Openshaw

1) A view of the beach and coastline