Today was my first p-day. We spent an hour doing email and I did some laundry and we went to Puerto and ate lunch with Elders Owen, Roberts, Paterson, and Rodriguez. It was Elder Owen’s birthday, so we ate at McDonald's and had ice cream cones. Elder Owen is my DL [district leader] and Elder Rodriguez is my ZL [zone leader]. I like both of them a lot. Elder Rodriguez is from Madrid, so I'm forced to speak Spanish to him. It's hard, but like everyone else, he's patient.

First Zone Conference

Today we had Zone Conference in Puerto De La Cruz. I really like President and Sister Prieto. They are very patient. I don't understand much of what they say, but again, they have good spirits. :-) I cried in my entrevista con él [interview with him]. I was so frustrated because I didn't understand the language and I didn't know anyone and I was overwhelmed and...and…

First Sunday in the Islands

Today's Sacrament meeting was rather unintelligible. From the whole meeting, I caught the prayers (Sacrament and opening/closing) and a few words - very few. Sunday school was all right. Jenny (from England - married to José Manuel) gave the lesson. She has a British accent, so I can understand her pretty well. But then in Relief Society, yo entendí NADA [I understood NOTHING]. Yikes. It was nice to meet the ward and feel of their Spirits since I didn't get anything else out of the meetings. It's a good thing I have a testimony. I also got to know Hermanas Van Leuven and Costley. They came over to eat dinner and to take us to a guy they had contacted in our area. They are great!

Hermana VanLeuven and I

First Full Day as a missionary in La Orotava

Hermana Garcia on one of the many hills we hiked up all the time

We woke up on time, had companionship study and personal study and set off at 10 a.m.(later then the standard 9:30 a.m. to give us time to study Spanish). We hiked up this grande [huge] hill to go see Annie, a nice Cuban lady with a young daughter. I felt very tired and looked it. Annie commented on it, I felt silly, but I literally could not keep my eyes open.

 Annie and Evelyn

Then we went to visit a few members and a nice old lady named Manuela who made us lunch. She had a very dirty house with spider webs, dirty dishes, no running water. She made us omelets - called tortillas. They tasted pretty good, but the thought of all the dirt and gross that were in them made me want to gag. 

Manuela and I on my very last dinner appointment before I left La Orotava. She had a heart of gold. She loved the missionaries so much. I grew to really love her during my time there.

We went back to our piso and I slept for two hours, no problem. Then we went to a few other houses - a Cuban family who couldn't accept the Book of Mormon. Again, I testified boldly, but I had such a hard time expressing myself and understanding that it was probably less effective. Maybe not. Pilar and Elisa gave us bananas today and I put them in my bag and they got all over my charlas and verb book, etc. Overall, I had a good time today. I'm not stressing out over the language yet. I don't understand anything. I just smile and nod. I have faith that I'll learn more and understand more each day.

 Pilar and Elisa, who gave me the bananas that squished all over my bag

From Madrid to Las Palmas to La Orotava

The flight from Madrid to Las Palmas was the worst ever. I was finally tired and wanted to sleep, but planes are never comfortable. Plus we sat right in front of the smoking section, so I felt sick to my stomach, so I moved to a seat closer to the front. I finally slept a little bit. While I was sleeping, they brought us our lunch and the guy sitting next to me ate my bread! It was kind of funny. It was a sick meal, anyway.

When we got to Las Palmas, I was again greeted with a sweet stench of cigarette smoke. We went to get our luggage and then went to meet President and Sister Prieto and Elders Reber and Schank (the APs) [Assistants to the President]. They were very hospitable and friendly. We went to the president's casa - very big and modern. It had carpet - they told us that's a rarity. They gave us a descanso [rest], to shower and sleep, then I had an interview with President. I was assigned to La Orotava on the island of Tenerife to be trained by Hermana Garcia from El Paso, Texas. Then I went back to my room and slept until Hermana Eastman woke me up for the meeting downstairs with APs, financial people, Etc. I was in deep sleep, my head was heavy and my hands were shaky and weird like when you just barely wake up and they asked me to play the piano. Yikes. I made a lot of mistakes, but está bien.

We had a short meeting and then ate dinner made by Hermana Prieto - YUM. We had rice and chicken (a Canarian dish) [it was likely paella], a cold seafood and potato salad, carne with eggs and plums (an Argentine dish) and pan [bread]. I was starved, but it was still really tasty.

[April 9, 1998] I slept very well that night and woke up at a very faithful hour of 6:.....45 am. My alarm went off at 6:30 and I didn't wake up enough to realize that meant it was time to get out of bed - I was wiped! We ate generic Spain cold cereal, box milk and zumo [juice] and toast for breakfast. It was different, but very good.

We went down to the mission office where I sat for several hours, amazed and unimpressed at the lack of enthusiasm of some missionaries. I want to be focused and optimistic until the very end. I did pretty well in the MTC and although that's a totally different excitement/transition than it will be coming home, I want to stay focused! Or rather, become focused and then stay that way. I don't feel excitement for the work like I need to have yet. I loved the MTC. It took a few weeks to feel that way but it happened and I want it to happen here. I pray that my energy and enthusiasm will increase and I know God wants me to be enthusiastic to knock doors and work hard. I have faith this will happen - now patience must carry me until I am truly in love with Spanish, with the Canary Islands and hard, honest work.

We went to the jetfoil at 4 pm. I had cramps and I couldn't find my ibuprofen. [I finally did find it, asked for water to take it, and they gave me “agua con gas” (carbonated) and it made me feel more sick!] Then we sat in the smoking section by accident. We had just eaten “Telepizza” [nasty Spanish version of pizza--it made me sick every time I ate it on my mission] at the mission office - different. Everyone says it's the best pizza in Spain. Whoa! No me gusta the pepperoni. So everything combined with the motion of the boat, I felt really sick. I moved forward to get rid of the smoke sickness and sat next to an atheist. It was hard to communicate with him, but I bore my testimony to him as powerfully as I could and finally the long trip of only 1 ½ hours was over. Then I got off and met Hermana Garcia, my new companion. We got my luggage and ran to catch a taxi - my first taxi ride - not too special. Then we went to catch the bus to La Orotava (we were in Santa Cruz). I felt ILL nigh unto death, but sweetly smiled as Hermana Garcia explained to me how nice all the members are. We spent the evening unpacking and I went to bed early.

From Salt Lake City to Madrid

I went to bed at 12:15 a.m. this morning after packing. I was totally tired, but I didn't get to sleep for probably half an hour. Then Hermana Eastman and I woke up at 3 a.m. to go see our elders off, but they wouldn't let us go see them. Then we packed and cleaned until 5 a.m. and then we went to get ready to go.

We got our plane tickets, put our luggage on the buses and drove to Salt Lake. Right as I stepped off the bus, Jaim, Jordan, Carrie, and Aunt Karen were waiting there for me. We got my ticket and we're walking down to my terminal, when I saw Markus, Crystal and Kit. When I got down to the terminal waiting area, Grandpa, Aunt Joy, Rochelle, and Marla were there.

Then I saw Todd's mom walk by and she said they had something for me. Then I looked over and saw Todd walking toward me, smiling. As he stepped up to me, he started crying. We embraced and he gave me a Kleenex. I didn't cry right then. I just felt NUMB - apathetic, excited, scared, nervous, a little sad. So we went and sat down and chatted. Todd's mobility and speech are excellent. His voice is still a little weird and I don't know if his brain is completely healed yet, but he's a miracle. I know he's been blessed. I had kind of a weird feeling sitting next to him. I couldn't describe it. Kind of yucky, but I just don't know why. Because I never felt that way at the hospital or before the accident.

It was awesome seeing Markus. It was kind of a trip - a blast from the past. Evan showed up late - 20 minutes before my plane left. I'm glad I got to see him. He took several pictures and brought me Post-it notes for my charlas. Jaim and Markus gave me letters. Joy gave me a package with chocolates, paper, money and games to play on the plane. It was cool. I got a little scared and choked up right before I stepped on the plane.

 

On the flight to St Louis, I BRT’d a lady named Laurie from Salt Lake. She has had a lot of contact with the church and has a good opinion of Latter-day Saints, but she was very set in her Catholic ways. She is a vice president of a huge corporation and was very classy and business-like. It was cool. She said she will think about me for a year.

 

 You can see the Twin Towers in the distance in this photo. 

This was about 3 1/2 years before they came down.

On the flight to New York, I gave a book of Mormon to Dan, who is a single man from Tennessee? Kentucky? South Carolina? He loves Native American culture and promised to read it.

The flight to Madrid was in a gigantic airplane, the biggest I'd seen up to that point in my life. 

Elder Rueckert is right in the middle.

On the flight to Madrid, I slept only half an hour maybe, making two nights of no sleep. I had no one sitting next to me, so I wrote letters to Todd and Markus. I felt really homesick and scared about halfway and cried, using Todd's Kleenex. It was really weird. I just got really emotional. We landed in Madrid, 20 minutes before our plane to Las Palmas left. We busted through customs and ran down the airport with all of our stuff - probably a mile. It's a very big, really nice airport. We missed our plane to Las Palmas, so we got another flight for 3 hours later.

Hermana Chelson and Wilson left today. I was really sad to see them go. Especially Hermana Wilson. We had a good talk the other night and I just love her. I really grew close to her. We woke up at 5 a.m. to see Hermana Chelson and then Hermana Wilson left at 10 a.m.

 The four of us posing in the shower. ... ?

 MTC Angels