We've just been working hard...

Hello!

Sounds like the MTC is great! I sure loved it there. And I'm sure that you will have a great time. The Tuesday devotionals are the best, and if you get lucky, an apostle will come. It's always a general authority, but every once in a while, an apostle comes. But they are always good. And yes, the cafeteria is huge, but you will get to know it pretty quickly. When I was at the MTC, they were working on one of the buildings that is used for the senior missionaries, I don't know if they're still working on it, or if they really are just too full.

We are still in the middle of a hot summer. I guess summer doesn't actually end until the middle of September here. But we do what we can to get out of the heat. We actually had a couple of good days this week...not to hot, and some rain the other day.

And I didn't even realize that this is the first week of school. School doesn't start until September here, so I haven't really been thinking about it. But it sounds like it was a good first day.

I bet that Brenna is ready to head off to school, I know that I sure was.

I can't even remember the things I needed to take. Just that if there are clothes that you haven't worn in over a year, you're not going to wear them at school, and it's best not to bring them. And shopping for school stuff is super fun, especially when you get to buy all the stuff for the apartment. By the way, Brenna is more than welcome to use the stuff I've got, at least for this year...I might need them next year.

Hope you have fun with Keith and Val this weekend. You sure have seen everybody a lot this summer.

Oohh...fun new calling. I don't really have much to tell you about a YSA adviser, except that I imagine that you will have to work a lot with the local singles ward, and make sure that the YSA attending your ward know about all their activities...but other than that, I don't really know what a YSA adviser does, I was always in the singles/student wards...but I'm sure it will be a lot of fun...I do remember getting a bunch of emails from Scotty Halls, so there may or may not be an email list...

To clear things up...I wasn't too worried about the procedure, it's just that gramma wrote that "your mom is recovering from some minor surgery she had today" and didn't tell me anything else, so what was I supposed to think. Once I read dad's email it was all good. I just read that there had been some surgery and nothing else...but it was good of everybody not to say anything until after the fact...I probably would have been too worried if I had known ahead of time.

Things sure were interesting this week with all the people. Being in Guadalajara, away from Madrid, we didn't have too much interaction with everything. We saw all the people that were there when we went to Madrid for P-day, but it wasn't a problem for us. I do imagine it was a problem for the missionaries actually in Madrid. The other Elders in our district (who are in the province of Madrid,) asked to change their P-day, so that they didn't have to be out working the day the Pope was here. But there were a ton of people here. From everywhere. It was pretty amazing, and super difficult to maneuver in the metro.

The mini-missionary left this week, but it was fun to have her around. We are still looking for more people, and going through the old investigators, lists of less-actives, and knocking doors to find people.

Saturday, was Patricia's baptism. It was super cool. And a really great experience. She has been talking with Hna. Marín, and told her about the baptism, so Hna. Marín made a suprise visit this weekend. Which was fun too.

Next week (which is September 3) is the baptism of Jenny, the miracle of intercambios. An old investigator of the elders, we contacted her in the street the day I left for Mardid for intercambios. That night, the hnas. talked with her about baptism and everything. Hna. Pérez and I have been working with her to get her ready for baptism. It has been really cool to watch her progress.

The next week we hope to have another baptism. Simon, who is from Peru, is sharing an apartment with one of the members, so is actually a reference from a member. He too, is really progressing well, he came to Patricia's baptism, and then on Sunday we took him, and the member, to a baptism in Madrid and then to the temple for a tour. It was really cool, we could really feel the spirit, and have had some amazing lessons with him. He is really quiet, and doesn't say too much, but does tell a lot of things to the member, who then tells us. For example, his daughter called him (his family lives in Peru) to tell him that she and her mom have been meeting with the elders in Peru, and that she has been reading the Book of Mormon. Kinda cool to think that the family, in two different parts of the world, and learning the same thing and have been visiting with the missionaries at the same time. We've talked a lot about baptism with Simon, and if everything goes well, he will get baptized the week after Jenny. But we are still looking for more people to teach.

We've just been working hard, and things are going really well, and trying not to stay in the sun...

Love, Amber