Happy

My camera cord remains incognito. My companion´s cord is too modern and we´ll see if the other elders´ cords fit. If not then I´ll hunt down an electronics store that has one. Speaking of which, we passed through what was essentially a Walmart and saw the electronics section which had TV´s and smart phones and computers and had a few moments of joy remembering what decade we actually live in. Also the song "Happy" by Pharrell Williams was playing and my companion said that that song should be playing every time a missionary enters an electronics store. And we love that song and we can imagine that it´s been extremely over played and hated now in America.

Elder Shamsabadi! Well he´s actually half Persian. He´s from California so there´s no new culture. I was excited too for a middle eastern companion but that´s not today. He´s pretty happy and energetic. He reminds me a lot of Danny and I think they should meet after the mission. He ends in a year from yesterday. So far so good.

Sickness-wise, I´m getting better. Just some problems getting to sleep. And a foot fungus! Gnarly. Although that can be easily fixed with creams and powders which I now have. But when I get home I really want a doctor, a chiropractor, and a dentist. And like 2 weeks of sleeping. And to hold and use some technology that is modern and American. And many other things.

Before I forget! In our apartment we have a geneolgy of all who have lived there. It goes back a good 10 years or so and almost every name has a picture. So I got to see Elder Shumway, my trainer, and some other Elders I knew. As I was looking down the list I saw a familiar face and name which was Jordan Snowden who´s Heather´s friend! Weird. I could´ve sworn it was a different friend of Heather´s who went on this mission but either way it was pretty funny to see. 

Yes we teach English. It´s just kind of uneventful here. Just normal people who want to learn English, not any crazy people. 

I have 10 months in the mission! I reached that on Saturday. It´s weird. Before I know it I´ll be like my companion who started counting down his time. Weird.

So I actually forgot to bring my journal so I don´t remember much. OH! I went to Segovia on exchanges! It´s an hour and a half on train away through beautiful countryside. By that I mean hills and trees and lakes and everything Madrid lacks. The city was beautiful as always. The only problem is that the rumors are true that the work is rough there. All we could do all day was help an old lady carry her groceries up the stairs and give out a few cards. And we taught English. We received a blessing and a curse of tons of rain because I love that weather but no one else does and so the streets emptied fast. But it was a good day and I learned stuff. 

And thus ends my memory and energy. I love talking to you guys! Thanks for all your letters and I love you all!

Os quiero,

-Elder Morgan the Younger

Summer Shorts again even though it's a bit chilly here‏

World:

I´m sick so this will be a short-ish email.

Well, Torrejón is gone for now. I hope to return for some p-day or baptism or something. I´ll really miss that area. But everyone says that Villalba is awesome so I´m excited. Our apartment could almost fit in our living room in Torrejón, so that´s a bit of an adjustment. The ward seems nice. There´s lots more Spaniards in it. And a few Scottish people! Mercifully it´s a bit colder here and in all of Spain recently. The streets are kind of scary to put together and remember. Although we don´t work as far out as we did in Torrejón. My companion´s pretty nice. And all the other missionaries.

We teach a sweet little old Spanish man who looks so much like the man from Up. Some lady at an English school offered us jobs as teachers. You can get free Qurans here and it´s pretty interesting to read. They even have some nice anti Christian guides in the back, although it mostly against Catholic doctrine like the Trinity and the JST fixed a lot of the flaws they pointed out and they end each "victory" with words like "Allah is above such blasphemy. Praise be to Allah!" and cute things like that. And there´s more jazz to explain later. And that Muslim man who fought with us in Torrejón? He lives here. The elders were almost about to meet with him but then I came. There are a lot of Muslims here. Speaking of other religions, we got invited to the First Communion of our investigator´s daughter. That´s also a story for another time.

I had a suprisingly delicious soup made with cow innards. The Scottish family made me try Marmite which is pretty strong stuff. It tastes like when I chewed the vitamin pills. Grody. We just came back from a gorgeous city called El Escorial! I´ll write more next week too. I´m just so tired and gross feeling. I love you all! Miss you loads!

Os quiero,

Elder Morgan the Younger

Long Time No See!

Well, I just talked to probably most of the people who read this, but here we go! I´m going to Villalba! It´s a city between Madrid and Segovia. It´s in the mountains and mercifully should be a little cooler. My companion will be Elder Shamsabadi. I don´t know much about him, but I´ve heard good things about him. And the area! Both my first two companions, Elder Shumway and Elder Fisher, have served there and loved it! For Brother Corbridge, tell him that Segovia is opened and has a companionship of Elders and one of Sisters.

I loved serving in Torrejón de Ardoz, and I will definitely go back someday! I was there for a quarter of my mission, six months! I´ve left a big family there, but hopefully I´ll still be able to write and stay in contact with everyone. It really stinks to go, but that´s part of the mission, and the future looks good in Villalba too. If only I could have both places.

One last picture from Torrejon. With Elder Fisher and convert Raquel.

 

Next week I´ll write from Villalba! I love you all! See you again in half a year on Skype!

-Elder Morgan the Younger

Furnace of Affliction

Mom: You had Inca Cola! I love that stuff! It tastes like bubble gum. We usually drink the knock off brand called Andin´s Crystal (I think that´s what it is called). They also probably had Postobon brand sodas and Guaraná. I didn´t think you could get that stuff there! I´m excited to go explore Utah for Latino stores and hopefully a Spanish store.

World:

To my beloved English teachers, the unknown orator of last week´s quote was Clinton Duffy who was warden of San Quentin Prison (thanks, Mom). My photo now leaves the wanted list and the price on my head leaves with it. That was a close one. 

Random paragraph time! Brace yourselves. My journal lives to fight many more days. I won´t need one until fall. Maybe it could come in a surprise fall package for a certain beloved missionary in Spain? Who knows. I would kill for barely Spring like weather today. The furnace of affliction in 1 Nephi 20:10 is becoming all too literal with how hot it´s getting here already. At least I´ll be refined. I miss cold weather that lasts until May and June. Through some techonlogical wizardry we have set our ringtone as the music from the Shire in LoTR and it makes me so happy every time someone calls. Sometimes we just sit and listen before we pick up the phone. It´s wonderful. Life is much better because I had all my pants repaired! I know I should be all self sufficient and learn how to do it on my own, but some of the holes were huge. Madrid played against Munich for the second time. We were walking in the middle of nowhere but we still heard the first goal in every direction in Spanish surround sound from every bar in the city. 

Spain has increased in their ridiculousness. Firstly, they have yet another holiday. Because of that holiday the world shut down. One of our investigators had to go to the hospital last week but they said they couldn´t scan her until today becuase that day was the day BEFORE a holiday and they didn´t want to do that on that day. I need to smack someone. And they are making the world change from monthly magnetic tickets (bus passes I, Mom, am presuming) to convenient little cards which is more convenient, but at the same time to change it you have to go to one of 3 spots in central Madrid and to charge it you must go to one specific ATM in Torrejon. Only Spain could make something worse by making it better.

At Zone Meeting we saw the most boss videos ever, one of which supposedly went pretty viral outside of the mormon world. The more famous one is called Because of Him and the other is called something like My Kingdom is Not of This World. They are fantastic. 

We had a day where every single thing failed from lunch to lessons to English classes. All you can really do is laugh or cry so it was pretty funny. One thing I did was remember how to sing one of my favorite songs called "Tomorrow Will Be Kinder." If anyone wants to hear it, look it up on Grooveshark, not Youtube. 

My partner played the part of Satan by offering me the forbidden fruit of a Ferrero Rosche (However you spell that fancy chocolate jazz) while I was fasting and I had absolutely forgotten I was fasting until a minute after I ate it. He offered like him too so we yelled some Garden of Eden quotes at each other and I called him Satan. It was really frustrating but it was also fun. 

We figured out how to make a real game of American football on a small concrete football (soccer) court behind our church. We had to adjust some things, but we got a full game in and it felt wonderful. And the next day one of our investigators taught us rugby. Basketball is quite prevalent here so the only thing we lack is baseball. I´ll have to ask the Dominicans about that one here. 

And here´s a late "May the Fourth be with you." Turns out it doesn´t work in Spanish. "La Fuerza sea contigo" is "May the force be with you" and "El Cuatro de Mayo sea contigo" doesn´t have much in common. Among missionaries we had quite the time saying it. And today we´ll celebrate Cinco de Mayo by making some guacamole, which I love now. And avocados too because we eat those so much! Let´s hope I haven´t forgotten too many holidays here. I have grandpa´s boss airforce tie for Veteran´s Day but I have nothing for the 4th of July to wear, but probably plenty to eat. We´ll see how that goes.

I hope you´re all doing well! I´m glad Danny´s peril* has passed for the most part! I´ll see you guys in a week! Ya, I´ll probably call at 10 AM Utah time. I may be pretty sad too because transfers are revealed Saturday and we think I´ll leave. I love this ward too much! But it´ll be awesome to see the family. Hasta luego!

Os quiero!

-Elder Morgan the Younger

*Elder Morgan's brother-in-law passed all the classes at UVU he needed to in order to get into his Optometry Grad School.