I GET TO LIVE HERE?!?

Heyo!! What a week. Last time I wrote you I was still in San Fernando, which is crazy! Since then I have been shipped off to Málaga, which was an experience.

Okay, wow! What a time. As previously mentioned, I rode a train on Tuesday morning to Sevilla, and then switched to one to Málaga...and I had ALL three of my suitcases. Yeah. I was told at least 15 times that the ZL (who cover Sevilla) would be there to help me, however they were not. The communication of this mission is lowkey a disaster, and I'm still to this day, not sure what happened? But it's all good, some very kind people helped me out with both unloading (twice) and loading my suitcases. It's kind of intense, because the trains do not stop for very long; so I was not about to turn down the kind men that came up and asked, "Necesitas ayuda?". I was a little worried, but I found my new train (thanks to a kind worker who just looked at me and said, "Once". :) The most nerve wrecking part is that because I didn't see the Elders, I was very concerned I got on the wrong train. Sitting on a train in a foreign country wondering if you're traveling to the right destination or not is not an experience I would recommend. It also turned out the Elders were there, and the whole mission thought that I was lost in Spain for a little bit, so that's fun. I had a lot of concerned messages, once I connected to internet again (yes, I was traveling in a foreign country that I can barely speak the language of without phone service). I probably took a year of Hermana Hamilton's (my mission President's wife) life, but all's well that ends well.

My new companion is Hermana Roderer, she's from Switzerland, but has lived in Florida for the last 10 years. Her parents own a restaurant there, she she's pretty good in the kitchen! Her native language is Swiss-German, but she also speaks English perfectly. She's been out for two transfers, so she knows the area pretty well. The only issue is neither of us know Spanish incredibly. Haha. So that's going to be an experience, pray for us. I have never heard German before, but now having heard her accent when she speaks Spanish, I understand what they mean when they say it's a harsh language, can't explain it, you'd have to hear it. :) 

We are covering Málaga 3 and Fuengirola. The work is good, and we have some people that are coming along (see people section). Also Málaga it absolutely beautiful, and so is Fuengirola and all the towns in between that we cover. I can't believe I get to live here. I've been so bad at taking pictures this week, but I promise I'll take more next week. It's so amazing here. The view from our piso alone (one of the two attached images) is incredible. Our piso is crazy nice, definitely the nicest missionary apartment I've ever stayed in. The only issue is the baño, the bathroom door doesn't shut, there isn't a light, and the water pressure in the shower head is SO bad, and despite our best duct-taping job it isn't getting any better (so I'll be buying a shower head today). BUT again it's so beautiful, and cool here and I can't believe I'm here.

P E O P L E : 

STEVE: he talks to us in English despite being from Colombia. He lived in the US for a long time, and speaks great English. I think the main reason he prefers English is because he told me he doesn't understand people's accents here. Which is understandable. He came to church this week and told me he had to try really hard to understand what people were saying, and I was like me too! :) But when people came and talked to him he could talk to them perfectly. He's cool, an Elder who went home a year ago referred him. Apparently the missionaries here used to play Basketball with him every week, and had stayed in contact over the years. He wasn't ready then, but he is now. He's got a lot going on in his life - like a lot- but he has SO much potential.

LUÍS: Luis is a little bit of an eternigator. He's been taught everything, been to church a ton, and has even passed the baptismal interview. He just needs to choose to be baptized. It could literally happen today if he asked. He has a testimony of almost everything, but what's lacking is the Book of Mormon. But he's building that, little by little. He's nice and lied to my face after I said the prayer and told me that my Spanish didn't have an accent. Which might just be because he's living in Spain and the accents here are wack (he's from Colombia). Anywho, he'll get baptized, it's just about when. 

ENRIQUE: I've only talked to him over the phone, but Enrique is a true eternigator; but not by his own choice. Enrique has been working on the marriage process for a while...apparently it's tricky here. According to our records he has been to church 116 times (that's over two years of church attendance). So again, it's just about when.

AXEL: we had a wildly chaotic zoom call with Axel and friends. Axel is a referral, from his family members that are members. We talked with him over zoom, which wasn't great, but his girlfriend (...who he has a child with) invited us over to meet with them in person on Tuesday! So yay! A new friend. They also said they want to take their kid to church (he's one and a half)! So hopefully that motivation will last.

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHT:

My friend Eric, from Klamath Falls, got baptized yesterday and I was able to Zoom in to see it. I had to get some special permission to stay up 30 minutes later, because the 2:30 pm baptism was 11:30 my time. Which is my bedtime. BUT I was able to see him get baptized and confirmed! It was so amazing, so glad I got to meet Eric and be a part of his story. I saw a lot of fellow missionaries there to support him too, which made my heart very happy. He even had quite the international audience. Between me in Spain, Elder Broadbent in the Dominican Republic and Elder Moulder in Brazil. You've got to love technology! Very grateful I got to be a part of it, even from the other side of the world. 

Con amor, Hermana Shelton

F O T O S :

1 - the view from my piso?!?!?

2 - my new companion