November 28, 2012

Hello, again!

Haha, I´m glad you enjoyed my tiny amount of knowledge about fútbol and Xabi Alonso. Am I worthy to wear the jersey? Haha! Wow, I didn´t know that he used to play for Liverpool! That explains why they´re not as good anymore. Just kidding, I have no idea how they are doing. Speaking of soccer I went to my one game of the mission yesterday! It´s actually a really sad story. The game was a complete bust. An investigator who is a season ticket holder had extra seats for Elder Rigtrup and me, but Rigtrup has already been to a game so he couldn´t go. I was planning on going with Elder Pluim, our old piso mate on exchanges, but it turned out the game was last night instead of the 17th like we thought. So our investigator called us last night and then we had rush over there and Elder Fisher ended up coming instead. All of this was fine (although it would have been cool to go on my birthday) and the game was free, the problem is that it was a second division game. So the second string team played. I didn´t get to see anyone I wanted to. They played Modrich, Benzema and Di Maria. They were the only even remotely good players on the field. The game was 0-0 until the last 20 minutes. Basically it sucked and I´m pretty upset that I wasted my one game on that. I didn´t even get to see Alsono play!! Oh, well, I´m sure I´ll get over it, but right now I´m pretty bummed.

So it turns out paella is pretty expensive (and hard to spell), but Elder Fisher and I did end up splitting one. We went near Sol to go to this cool Toledo shop that has swords and armor and ceramic stuff. They had some of the Lord of Rings weapons there and I bought some Christmas presents for people, so it was good. We´re planning on going to Toledo and the main shop there next week, but that´s a different story. Anyways, we got done at the shop and then we wanted to eat, but we were in Sol so everything was super expensive. We were also running out of time. So we ended up eating at this swanky restaurant and I spent 14 euros for a meal and to split a paella.The meal was small, but the paella was pretty big and it was good. It had chicken, mussels, and four giant shrimp in it. Whole shrimp. We had to peel off all their little legs and everything. It was good fun. It was pretty tasty though, and there was a lot of it. So that was our Thanksgiving. :) I´m glad that you got to spend Thanksgiving with some of the family (after all that). Just from what you made it sounds delicious!

Yeah, we had to do the YMCA again, but it wasn´t so bad. The talent show was actually a lot of fun! There were some great performances. My personal favorites were a cover of Pete Townsend´s ¨Let My Love Open the Door¨ (which is probably not the actual title), but with missionary lyrics and a Dear John version of ¨Hey Jude,¨ both all in Spanish of course. They were pretty hilarious, especially the Hey Jude one. After that Hna. Jackson brought out a ton of American Thanksgiving desserts that she made. That was incredible! I got to have pumpkin and apple pie, so it felt a little like home. :) It was a good time.

We e-mail from places called Locutorios. They are just a room full of computers and some phones.

That´s awesome that we have so many more missionaries leaving from our ward. And all Spanish speaking too! Haha, thanks, but they will probably just make fun of my Spanish. Luckily I will use all kinds of words that are swear words to them, but are just fine in Spain.

Birthday and Christmas package?! My family loves me! Thanks Mommy, that sounds awesome! Especially the warm stuff, it´s getting pretty freezing here. I just have to find a present for Dad (any ideas?) and then I will send your presents. So if you get a box from Spain, don´t open it until Christmas!

Thanks for your advice and encouragement. I promise to do better about being the example and not waste any time. I know how important it is. Thanks also for reminding me how important it is to plant seeds. I know you are right about that and it takes time. I have been feeling down about the work lately. Albert fired us (didn´t show) for the first time this week. I want so badly to help him, but I can´t if we can´t meet with him and talk to him. I don´t mind it taking time, it´s just that I feel like all the people we have aren´t progressing, or are even going the other way. But I know you are right. Who knows what will happen later on in their lives? Maybe now is not the time, but when the time comes they will remember what we have taught. I know the Lord has a purpose in me being here. And I have a long time ahead of me to teach lots of different types of people. I know if I stay faithful and obedient He will bless me with success and with the ability to bless other people. Anyway, thank you for your support and encouragement. It means a lot to me. I´m so grateful to have the blessings of the gospel and a family in the gospel. I love you. Thanks for your prayers. I promise to continue forward and do better.

I hope everyone has a great week! Do something fun and stay safe! I love you all!

Elder Cousins