Day 1

I arrived at the airport in Madrid and there was the family waiting for me. 2 parents with 2 little boys. I was so excited to see them! The first day I rested and then later went to Marian's parent's house for dinner. I was very tired, but tried very hard to stay awake. It felt like 6am to me! The food was very good, and had a very different taste. Potates, seafood, meat, etc.

Day 2

This was a good day. I went shopping with Marian and the boys, and later we went into the city of Madrid for a child's party at Chechu's work. I met 2 girls there that are oringinally from Venezuela, and had lived in America at one point. They were very nice and fun to talk to! I started to feel a little more comfortable with the family as we ate dinner at 11pm!

Day 3

Today was probably my most difficult day. I spent most of it at home with Marian and the boys. Martin is not easy to interract with because he throws a lot of tantrums, and Nicolas, I can't even talk to; and to me, that is the most frustrating thing here. We went to a reading where they read and do activites in English and French. It was fun and I thought it was a very good idea for children! I'm anxious to meet church members because I'm feeling a little lonely, and I know my church will make me feel more at home.

Day 4

Today I could say, so far has been good. I feel like I am over the jet lag. The family does a lot of activites, which is a good thing and a bad thing! it keeps things going, but puts me in a lot of uncomfortable situations. But I chose this, so I can't complain. Today we went into Madrid to a Porche dealership. it was a kid friendly environment, where we make Porsche sugar cookies and frosted them. Overall, I enjoyed it because for the time, I was with a different group of people, and I was finally able to try and communicate in Spanish. It's fun for me to speak Spanish with people who don't speak English.

Later, we went to eat at a Japanese restaurant. Nobody spoke English the entire time. When this happens (which is 99.9% of the time) I feel uncomfortable trying to say anything, because I don't want to interrupt the conversation with something off topic. So I will keep listening, and I think I will learn a lot very quickly.

Earlier this morning, 2 sister missionaries came by. They talked to me about the church i will be attending, and apparently the branch has 16 people! I was thinking there would be like 5 or something. So yay! They said there is one girl and three boys that are my age. Muy bien.

I hope the family will be diligent about getting me there because it's really important to me that I go. Well, currently I'm home alone because the family is making their third trip to the hospital with Martin. (He had some sort of strange red breakout all over his skin the first night I arrived) Maybe he's allergic to me...Nahh. Well...maybe. Nahh.

Anyway, later we're supposed to be going to a thing to mee the Reyes Magos. Too many things going on!! Pero, esta bien. SO FAR, I haven't seen anything in Spain where I've thought "Wow that's really beautiful" Notice the emphasis on "so far." I will wait to determine how beautiful Spain is. Just imagine this: dirt field, weed patch, cloudy skies, run down buildings, Spain.

Continue of Day 4.....

Later today we went to a Reyes Magos event at a country club. It is where 3 kings sit in chairs and the children go up to one of their laps and give him a letter. In return, the king gives the child a treat. To me, it is like Santa Clause x's 3. I thought it was pretty cool!

There are situations that I espeically remember my Heavenly Father and how much he loves me and I love him. Being here, I've prayed extra to have the Holy Ghost with me at all times.

Day 5

Hoy ha lida muy bueno! I went to church here in Guadalajara and I loved it. The sistere missionaries said that there are 16 members attending. They don't speak much English, closer to none, so they were mistaken. Try more like 36! I was so excited to see so many members in this area. I met a girl named Melisa. She is 21 years old and speaks no English. I was so excited about this, and surprised at how well we communicated. Just from Spanish, I learned her age, that she's from Valencia (but oringinally Bolivia), she's studying to be a history teacher here in Guadalajara and that she attends institute classes on Saturday mornings in Alcala de Henares.

Perfecto! Quiero ir tambien!

She introduced me to the instite teacher, Cecilia, who just so happened to be in our ward. She said she can drive me on Saturday mornings with Melisa. How neat is that!? That's pretty neat.

I also met a 23 year old named Alnando. He offered to bring me to church on Sundays. I also got invited to lunch by a family, but I had to decline because Marian had already arrived to pick me up.

People were so welcoming and nice, it was just like church back at home. Unlike church back at home, there was a muy muy guapo muchacho. :) hahah.

Later this day, with the family, we went to a parade celebrating Reyes Magos. I enjoyed it, and it was fun to have a new experience, yet having it related to the birth of Christ. What a long holiday they have here to think about, and remember the birth of our Savior. Afterward, we went over to Africa's (their friend's house) and ate some traditional Rascon with chocolate. The Rascon is a tradition they do for Reyes Magos. It is like a cake with cream in the middle and dried fruit and nuts on the top. Somewhere in the dessert is a small toy, and if it is in your slice, you are "the king" and you wear a little cardstock crown that is included with the Rascon. I thought that was fun!!

THEN after that we went to Chechu's mom's house where we ate dinner and celebrated the night of the three kings. I love the food they eat, the culture and traditions. All the children left out sweets, milk and shots(-although I think 3 kings coming to visit the newborn Savior would not intoxicate themselves with alcohol beforehand-hahah) for the 3 kings. We watied, and later the kings had arrived and left presents for everyone! Even me! :) I got a set of paintbrushes, and immediately wished I was an artist. It made me very happy that Chechu's mom (who I love by the way) had included me.