Hasta Pronto!*

Well this is my short little note. I´ll tell you my stories of the week soon. We had a baptism yesterday! I´m in Torrejón and my bags are packed an in the mission home. I´ll see my new mission president, President Pack, for the first and last time. Thanks to everyone who wrote me! I love you all so much! I miss you all so much as well, but I´ll see you soon.

-Elder Morgan

 

*See you soon!

 

Well, This is Sad

Wow. Weird. My last full email. This email is done on a computer, unlike every other missionary here. I took a fine picture of a room full of missionaries just glued to their iPads and no one talking. I feel weirder and weirder as time goes on. Today didn´t help either. I have figured that transfers--especially this one--are easier when you do it like a bandaid. Don´t watch and just do it really fast and it will only hurt afterwards and not so much. Actually, writing this email kind of hurts so it might not be so long. And Firefox has failed on me 3 times already so it´s kind of hard.

We had a barbeque/water fight/farewell party in the chapel and a bunch of missionaries from everywhere came. We grilled some meat and hoses and buckets and balloons quickly turned it into World War Water so I sought refuge in the chapel and ate no more meat due to the watery manslaughter on the way to the grill. I´m still drying actually. Although they did drag the weaker and smaller missionaries outside to be executed by bucket or hose.

For the first time in my mission, upon leaving a lesson our investigator said, "May the force be with you." She´s a bit interesting but it made my morning.

Well this week I officially wrote to President Pack, the new mission president. Although his family and him don´t arrive until Wednesday. But the letters this week officially go to him. President and Sister Jackson wrote their farewell on the bulletin.

Well I ate probably my last Spanish paella on Sunday. It was with Spaniards, in Spain, done the original style (Valenciano), made by a man from Valencia. So it´s a good way to have a last one. Saying goodbye is awful. Ahhh! This email is making me think too much about going home. Well in summary, I have a normal week set up with some goodbyes and packing at the end. It´s weird planning for next p-day. I´ll probably write a little something just for fun next p-day. I feel sad so I´m going to stop writing. I love you all and miss you loads!

Os quiero,
Elder Morgan

Penultimate

Well on random news I found out that the last name Arguello comes from Navarra, northeastern Spain, and that the last name Montealegre comes from Jerez de la Frontera, the southwest of Spain. Now that we have Family search on our iPad, I´ve realized that most of our ancestors are from Jerez and Navarra. Both in the other Spain missions. But oh well. Maybe I still have relatives in Madrid.

Funny story: The bishop was telling the youth to not use their phones for scriptures and to bring real scriptures to church like the missionaries do but then a kid from the primary said, "But the missionaries use their iPads." He was shocked and now has no more excuses to make them bring paper scriptures.

Random note: We met a man named Melqui (Melki) and he told us how it was spelled which is exactly the same as the beginning of Melchizedek in Spanish (Melquisedec) and we commented on that and he said that that´s what his father based his name on. Although he had no idea who he was. He just knew that he was a guy from the bible. First guy named Melchizedek that I´ve met in my life. Sounds like a very Mormon thing to do. I also found out that the singer of The Killers named his son Ammon. Hooray for Mormons.

I don´t remember if I´ve mentioned it, but I still find it hilarious every Sunday to hear the high priests joke about how their name (los sumos) for latinos sounds like juice (zumo) if you´re latino and sounds like Sumo wrestlers. Their like, "Orange juices over here and the lemon juices over their," or "But I´m not Japanese or fat,"or whatever beloved old people jokes you wish to insert. It´s really cheesy and old but I love it every Sunday.

Well today was a fun day. I came back to Barrio 5 with Elder Cluff who was in the dream team district there. It´s so weird to be here again. We´re writing in the Apple store by Plaza del Sol currently.

We got to go to our ward mission leader´s house on Sunday for lunch. I love that place. It´s so huge and their kids are so much fun. They have 5 and one on the way and so it felt like a family reunion with all the young kids around. A note for mom: For the first time in my mission, I found a house with a pastry cutter (the thing for biscuits). They have one! But they have a big lawn and a huge garden plot and a pool and just about everything. They live in a pretty nice neighborhood. The ex-president of Spain and the mayor of Madrid live their as well. Also, we found out that Boadilla del Monte is pretty well off as well. Ike Casillas, the goalie for Real Madrid, lives there.

Like I said before, it still doesn't feel like the end is arriving. I´m saying it and everyone else is saying it but my mind just still hasn't accepted it. Madness. It´s weirding me out.  I don't really have many news for the week. I miss you all! Love you loads!

Os quiero,

Elder Morgan

Yogurt Lamentations

The day has come. The yogurt I bought today lasts longer than I do here in Spain. It expires right after I leave. Although only one flavor. Once the strawberry greek yogurt lasts longer than I do, then that will be sad. Good, old, faithful strawberry yogurt.

Speaking of weird feelings, last week after writing, I felt really weird. Just a bunch of stuff doesn´t seem real. Ending the mission, the wedding, Natalie wrote me and now I know she exists, Anna going to Orem High, my friends getting married, Elder Anderson who is home and the leader of us nerds has left behind nerdiness, just about everyone who has written me wrote me, and just a bunch of weird stuff. I still don´t feel like the end is actually here. Everyone´s saying it and I understand it´s coming, but I don´t really feel like it is coming or that it´s real. I guess it´s just some divine intervention with some anesthesia to soften the blow. But ya, still doesn´t feel real. 

Well, the iPads came. Finally. And despite hopeful information I received recently, I did not get an iPad. But my companion did so we get to share. Well it comes in a case that with probably only be broken by the second coming and by that time we probably won´t need it anymore so I understand why the church bought the cases. Also probably because missionaries drop things a lot. It´s pretty dope. Although we don´t have the Areabook/Planner or Facebook so it hasn´t reached it´s full potential and glory. We do get to use Duolingo for language study and obviously the Gospel Library App. One weird thing is that we have no Wifi in our apartment so we have to be at the church to use it. And they are 32GB iPads and I have no idea why. We downloaded all the Liahonas that have existed (That´s exciting for missionaries) and all the audio for the hymns and all the manuals and everything and we still have a bunch of space. We also have Siri blocked. The church has put a restriction program that sets off an alarm basically if we do something we shouldn´t. We actually did set it off but only because when you first set up the iPad it has restricted apps. We are pretty restricted and it´s not too useful yet, but it should be better in the future.

On a random note, we met two American girls in the subway which was odd because our part of the subway has nothing. Turns out they were heading to the mall and one of them was from Indianapolis! So we talked about whatever I remembered from there. Fun little blast of America.

We had an investigator call us and told us about things happening like some weird incident with coffee and she was going to visit "our competition" (who we assume is some Catholic friend or priest since she is Catholic.) but there was tons of rain that day and she didn´t want to leave her house. She asked us, "Are you praying for me that I get baptized?" and we were basically just like "Yeah." That´s all she called for. To find that out. Fun little experience.

Oh yeah, the weather is really nice here for now. It rained a few times and has been in what would be the 60´s. I´ve slept like a baby with the window open to let in the glorious, rainy breeze. Supposedly it´ll heat up soon but I am thoroughly enjoying the cool break.

Anyways, I gotta go! I love you all and miss you loads!

Os quiero,

Elder Morgan

With Much Haste!

Mom: Thanks for organizing everything and helping me not worry! I love you mom!

World:

On a random note, I was watching a DVD we have called Finding Happiness and they have clips from each country depending on the language and I found two families from Villalba on there!

Ya, I´ll explain geography when I´m home. I have a nice map I got here that I can use to explain everything. It´ll be so much easier to explain everything in person.

Ah! Anna Low is going to Orem High and is 5´10"?!?!? What on earth? Time has flown by. I remember her as a baby in sacrament meetings in Indiana. Weird. I´m excited to see the Low´s. What´s their address and what buildings are they by that I´d know?

Ya, I´ve adopted a lot of phrases and the word "fetch" and many quotes to use in normal conversation. Natalie wrote me this week and I was about to try quoting some stuff but I figured it would be weird to type and not in person. Although it might still be weird. Oh well. I´ve probably changed my way of speaking a lot and will have to remove a lot of Spanglish.

We went to a mosque today. We were being led around by this really sweet Muslim woman but then another one came by and kind of yelled at her and us and said we needed to make an appointment over email to get a tour. So we had to bail but we got to see a bit of it and got a bit of adrenaline rush. I was so afraid of going in dressed as a christian missionary but President Jackson said it was OK.

I am so excited for a new tie and a wedding I can actually fully attend!

I have no more time but I love you all and miss you loads!

Os quiero,

Elder Morgan

The Mosque we went to.

Almost my complete name: Daniel S. Morgan

Ispaja

Well we had a awesome conversation with a Spanish investigator about Spanish history. She told us about the flag, what it all means, where the royalty comes from (the Bourbons) and stuff like that. I finally found out why Spain is called Spain! It comes from the Iberian word Ispaja (Ee-SPA-ha) which is rabbit and there are a ton of rabbits around here. The Romans turned that into "Hispania" which turned to "España" which we made into "Spain." We also learned about culture and jazz like that. And she said it makes sense that our Spanish ancestors left from Cádiz because that´s where most people left from.

Oh my it is so dang hot. I remember this now. There was about to be a riot in church because we all met together for the 5th-Sunday class and it was crowded and really hot and they went over time and people were flipping biscuits. I was on the point of bursting into flames in my suit. Thankfully I get to bail midway through summer. As much as I will miss the mission, I will not miss hot summer days in the streets all day. We had more lessons fail than usual. It sucks but oh well.

On the subject of little children saying stuff, a little kid told us that his family was in heaven. His grandma and his uncles and aunts and his brothers. I was so shocked and sad until his parents clarified that they had simply gone on a plane back to Bolivia but he didn´t really understand. Sky and heaven are the same word, "Cielo" (Thee-EH-lo. Yes, like that Danny).  

Also, this woman who loves making things passed me plans to make things like green houses and gardens on a fence and wind turbines from scratch. I´m sure you guys will love to see them. Although I´ll have to translate.

Yep, I´m excited for June but it´s also so weird to be in June. And we just found a Filipino man named June. Anyways, I love you all and miss you loads!

Os quiero,

Elder Morgan

178

Ya, I figured the trunky comments would arrive. I was bracing myself for today. The last transfer is here. It feels so weird. I also feel so old. I talk about missionaries who have all gone home and events in the mission from before most of the people were here. All these new little kids are coming in and it just makes me feel like an old fart talking to them. And all the members and investigators are reminding me of how much time I have left. Also my agenda now doubles as a nice countdown of how much time is left. Not to sound trunky, but I´m excited for the next changes because I finally know what is going to happen to me and I can pack in advance! 

I´m staying in my area with my companion.

On a random note, we found 10€ ties on sale for 1€ so we all bought tons. I bought six and 2 of them came with matching cufflinks and only cost 50 cents more.

Well we teach a piano class here. I don´t know if I mentioned that. But while waiting for that I decided to try and strike up a conversation and asked my companion what his favorite piece of music is that he plays. He said it was Rachmaninoff´s 2nd Piano Concierto, 1st Movement and then he proceeded to play it. Oh goodness that is a difficult and epic piece of music. Look it up.

I had a random happy moment to myself. We contacted a woman in the street and she gave us her number and while she was saying it all the daughter who was like 5 finished the last numbers by saying "178" but the mom "corrected" her quickly and gave us "179" as the last three digits. Turns out that the number ending in 179 didn´t even exist but I had written down the little girls response so I called that. The woman´s sister answered and confirmed that it was her real number so now we´re trying to get in contact with her. It was a nice contrast of deceitful adults and pure, honest children. It makes me laugh a bit.

Well iPads are officially coming on June 10! Although it doesn´t matter to me because I probably won´t get one. Although it´s still pretty cool to be here when all this is changing and starting. I´ll at least get to share my companion´s iPad and bother him. Also, as a side note for mom: Whenever I see young kids in the ward on their phone I do what you always did to my iPod and just attack the screen with all my fingers to see if they die in their game. It does indeed work.

Well the Villalba trip was awesome. I thought it was going to be me, Elder Weeks, and Elder Anderson but it turns out that they invited all the Elders from the past year and a half that are still here. I´ll send pictures once I bring my cable. It was so weird to see all the Elders together (there were like 20 of us) and a bunch of the members there who I haven´t seen in almost a year. To make it all even weirder, it was all in a bright, beautiful field and we had lunch underneath a giant picturesque tree and there were purple flowers everywhere. It was like a dream. It was kind of how I imagine seeing people in the spirit world or celestial kingdom. Seeing all of your old friends and family in a bright, beautiful field and greeting them and everyone is smiling and playing games and laughing and whatnot. Pretty trippy. It was really nice to see everyone again. A few of those people are also going home tomorrow so that was nice too. It was also a pretty sad farewell for the Elders going home. It might also be my last time seeing them. Man, everything is so weird realizing it´s probably or for sure the last time of doing something. Ever since transfers, I´ve been hit with a burning fire to work and also a storm of trunkiness. It´s an interesting contrast and there are so many other contrasting emotions. It´ll be a fun transfer. I am excited!

I love you all and miss you loads!

Os quiero,

Elder Morgan

Dreamlike Field

Villalba Party