Merry Christmas/ New Years/ Three Kings day!!!

Merry Christmas/ New Years/ Three Kings day!!! The Three kings or Tres Magos are a big deal here! Half the people wait for Santa Claus and the other half wait until the beginning of Janurary for the Three Kings to give them gifts!

    So, this week was crazy! It started out with me going to Málaga to do residency so I could be legal here in Spain. We missed our first train because we some how only had tickets to come back to Cádiz and not to go to Málaga and so we hung out waiting for the next train and I rode down on a train to seville and then switched onto to one for Málaga. Needless to say Spain has cured my fear of public transportation because we use it 5 to 6 times a week and my fear of asking people for directions so I don´t end up riding on the wrong train in the wrong direction. I made it back to Cádiz Tuesday night and we just contacted people like crazy with Christmas cards! Wedsneday morning nothing too crazy except we went over to a members house for christmas eve dinner which is a big deal here! I don´t know half of what I ate but that´s ok because it was great! Christmas morning we work up opened our presents around our 1 foot tall christmas tree complete with two tiny nativity scenes and set out to San Fernando for Christmas breakfast which consisted of crepes and ziploc omelletes! Then we took a boat across the bay back to Cádiz and on the way there we saw a dolphin which was cool but it way great to see everyone elses reaction because almost no one had every seen one before. The rest of the week has been a bit tough because not many people want to meet during this time because they are with their families which is great but I´m not worried because I know that Hermana Ashby and I are going to attack this week and it´s going to be awesome!

   Intresting things about Spain side notes:

1. Washers are in the Kitchen

2. When you leave an elevator you always say adios

3. Chino stores are on almost every street. Chino stores are like Dollar stores owned by Chinese people.

4. For Christmas they have special sweets called Polveron which is an intresting chalky cookie.

5. No one has christmas lights because they all live in pisos(apartments) so the government puts up light to decorate the road.

That´s all for this week!

I miss and love you all!

Hermana Evelo

 

Gaby and her companion on a boat back to Cadiz

Just walking around Cadiz

 

Becoming Legal

Buenas! This week I´m writting a little bit early because I get to go Malaga this week to do Residency paper work so that I´m actually legally here in Spain! whooh! This week has flown by and I love it! The amazing thing about the mission is that you never know what that day is going to bring because you meet so many different people! On monday was my first P day(preperation day) this is where we stuff such as laundry, grocery shopping and explore Spain! We went to a pretty sweet catherdral and castillo and I don´t have pictures this week because I left the camera at the piso so for now you´ll just have to trust me that they were pretty great! Tuesday we went around talking to everyone and their mother and passing out El es la Davdiva cards which is He is the Gift in english. If you haven´t seen it yet you should! It´s a super short but super awesome video about the birth of Christ and it´s just the best! Wednesday we had a zone conference which is where missionaries from around our area meet together and listen to talks about different topics. It was nice to see all the people I know and just to be around so many missionaries! And to wrap things up Thursday and Friday we had intercambios where we trade companions for a day so I got to travel to beautiful Jerez for a day and Speak spanish all day because my temporary companion was a spain native! It was great but as a little bit exhausting! Hermana Ashby and I also manage to find a tiny Christmas tree and put lights and other decorations on it so our piso feels a little bit more Christmasy!  I just love this time of year because you can see people around you feel the spirit of christmas and are just more loving in general! I hope that all of you have a very Merry Christmas! I love you guys and hope you have a great week. Hopefully next week I can be a little bit more exciting!

Love Hermana Evelo

The Last Two Weeks

Hola Hola!!! So thank you everyone for your birthday wishes! I had an amazing birthday complete with an amazing Piñata made by one of the elders, tons of chocolate, being sung happy birthday at least 6 times and tons of cards. Sorry if all of this mixed up but transitioning between everything is not my forte. So, in addition to my birthday on Friday the day before was probably one of the best Thanksgivings I´ve ever had! We got to watch Meet the Mormons, stuff ourselves with tons of food and to end the day had an amazing devotional from Elder Bednar that was broadcasted to us live. Now that was cool in itself but to make it even better we were allowed to email him questions during the broadcast and he would answer them what?! Last Saturday we got to go to the park like always which was great except that it was raining and we were allowed to stay in the metro but me and my temporary companion Soeur Nalasco decided to go to the park anyways and it was great because I actually understood everything that people said to me and I was able to say everything that I wanted to in Spanish! Side note the squirrels here are weird... they´re black with red tails and huge ears and don´t mind coming right up to you. On Sunday our District sang oh, Holy Night and one of the Hermana´s here is a cello performance major and played a Poor Way Fairing Man of Grief. It was so beautiful! Nothing brings such peace as music!

Hello Everyone! 

As most of you... well maybe some of you know this has been my first week out of the MTC(missionary training center). On Tuesday I jumped on a train to Malaga where I met my new companion Hermana Ashby, who is amazing and will be my trainer for my first 12 weeks here, and then we jumped on a train to Cádiz where I will be staying for probably the next 18 weeks! So, a little bit about Cádiz is that is beautiful, it´s a little peninsula and I can see the ocean when I look out my window! Here are some differences first off no one here has a dryer! Everyone has clothes lines outside of their window and just hang everything out to dry which I think works out except when you live on the 12th floor because here in Spain everyone builds up so the average building has at least 10 floors and then what do you do when your clothes falls? Numero dos the elevators here are all tiny and say they can hold four people but even with just me and my companion it´s pretty snug and there is almost always a really nice jolt before the door opens. Numero tres bakeries and sweet shops are on almost every street and man bread is just such a beautiful thing it´s hard to resist popping in and buying everything! 

Here are some things I´ve already learned in the mission is that when you are over at someone´s house to eat and you don´t know what you are eating it´s probably best that you don´t ask what you are eating... and number two when in doubt nod your head and smile. I´m so glad that my companion knows Spanish because our investigators could be telling us they robbed a bank and I would just be smiling and nodding my head.

In conclusion I love the work I'm doing here in Spain! Even though I've only been here a week I already love the people here so much and am so excited to share the best message in the world with them. Sorry for my spelling and grammar I think that as I learn Spanish I lose my English! I hope that everyone is doing great and if any of you need anything send me an email and even though I´m in Spain I´ll see what I can do! Have a great week! I miss you all!

Train Station and First Companion

Just arriving from the Madrid MTC

 

My First Companion Hermana Ashby

 

Note from Mission President

She just arrived in her area, which is Cadiz, and at the moment is very excited and in awe of the beauty of Cadiz.  I am working on the blog right now so you can see a picture of her trainer. 

 

She is a very sharp young woman, and we are so glad we got her in the Spain Malaga Mission!  Thanks for sharing her with us, and I will call her again in a few days to see how she is adjusting.  

I'm Here!

Hey! So, I'm here!!!!!!! I just spent an hour contacting and it was so awesome!!!!! I'm so excited! I get to meet my trainer a little bit later and I still don't know where i'm going but hey anywhere is fine with me! I love you guys so much!!!!!!! <3

Leaving the MTC

Hey, so it turns out that I only have ten minutes to email..... awkward! so no long email until next monday :( Also this past 4 days has been a holiday here so im probably not going to get any of your stuff for another two weeks because they are going to get here tomorrow and then have to forward it to malaga mission home and then to me! im super sad! :( So, we leave at like 5 in the morning tomorrow and get on a train at like 7ish and then will be on the train for like 2 hours! No I wont be calling you because it´s just a couple of hours away and im still in the same country but I get to skype you guys in two weeks!!!!! But be prepared that it´s only for like 40 minutes! I miss you guys mucho! Also I would buy scriptures because they only give paper backs.  My camera is great! I love you guys! talk to you next monday!

Pictures