Hola Familia y Amigos!
Well i guess that this is going to be a start of another transfer already again! Holy cow! Maybe to my mom it seems like I have been away for super long but time in the mission field for me has flown by!! :) haha. This last week of the transfer was pretty good. We had two intercambios and I was in the other Elder´s apartment both time so it didn't feel really like I was at my home much! Vista Alegre has officially become my mission "home." I will be staying for another transfer in this area with Elder Franson so I am super excited about that. I will get the amazing opportunity to baptize my first person this upcoming Thursday and I am super excited. We should have a busy transfer in Barrio 9 because as of right now Elder Franson and I have like 6 baptismal dates for this month! It´s crazy! A few of these people need to make some big steps before their baptismal dates but we had seen a ton of blessing from our hard work each day. We had another 20 lesson week which was great, it has kind of become a standard for us and we want to try and get over that hump. haha. Something else kind of cool this Sunday we had Tad R Callister (General Authority of the Church and Wrote The Infinite Atonement) at our Ward because his daughter is married to our mission ward leader. My companion and I sat with him and our investigators and both translated for him during our reunions and he thought our spanish was outstanding for how long we have been out since we were able to translate everything! Maybe this next general conference he will mention us. haha just kidding. :)
Some other random things this past week: We got the Hermana´s blender who were both leaving this area and I made hot sauce for me and my companion today! Wooohooo! We ate it like chips and salsa and it was super tasty! When I was with one of the zone leaders in his area one of his investigators pulled a prank on me while we were eating and gave me these giant serving spoon and fork to eat with since I am huge. haha. When I was in intercambios with Elder Ziane from my area we ate at one of his investigators houses and they cooked us this fried fish with the skin, bones, tail, and everything. Elder Ziane HATES fish and told me that he didn't think he could eat it so I pounded down mine and when the lady left the room we switched and I pounded down his for him. haha. Elder Ziane is from france and doesn't speak much english, only french and spanish so I went an entire day speaking only spanish and it actually wasn't too bad! I don´t remember anything I learned about French however, it all got pushed out of my brain when I started studying spanish more intensely. haha. But it was fun getting to work with some new people for a little bit this past week! Mom / Dad: Today I went to the post office near the mission home and they said that they said I was too late to pick it up (thanks to the office Elders giving me the note after the date I needed to pick it up). They said to keep a watch for it in the mail. :P
Not much else is new. I am enjoying the time I have been given to get to know so many awesome people here in spain. My Spanish has come a long ways but I still have to improve my form of speech here and their still. On intercambios our zone leader praised me for my spanish and said that I didn't have that new missionary feel which made me feel pretty good. :) I have learned so much out here on my mission both about the gospel, myself, and how to live on my own and take care of myself. It has been an amazing experience and I am so grateful for all the many blessings I have seen in mylife and the lives of the people here in Spain. I am so grateful for all the support of the people at home and all that everyone has done for me. I really love you all so much and miss everyone a ton. I keep everyone in my prayers and I hope everyone is doing well. I hope everyone has an awesome week!
Love,
Elder Saltzman
