First Area

Nicholas Pericle to Tony, me
show details Sep 9 (11 days ago)

Hola from L´Hospitalet! I have arrived in Barcelona and iI´m officially in my first area and one of the things that President has us do is write an email to our family. I´m in a 3 some! again! I must have to learn something from a 3 some. I´ll probably be in one forever. My companions are Elder Awerkamp and Elder Atkin, and they´re both from St. George and have about 8 months left. They´re great elders, and they´re very committed to this work. They´ve very obedient, and that´s what I was praying for, was obedient trainers so that I had a good example to me in my first transfer. The Lord listens. So I´m in L´Hospitalet, it´s right outside of Barcelona. It´s a nice place, and the missionaries and the President told me that this is the best place to start off. The work is really progressing here, so that´s exciting. The bed here isn´t the comfiest, and the shower was freezing! But I´m happy to be here. A mission is already very tough, but nothing that can be done easily is worth it. There´s so much that I have to do! Both of my companions are from St. George, and they´re zone leaders, so I´ll be doing a lot of traveling with them. I´m in my first area, I taught my first lesson last night, invited someone to get baptized, and they declined but we´re going back again tonight. We have lunch with a member in a little over an hour, and that should prove to be great. Then we have about 5 appointments tonight. It´s going to be a good time.
A few things that I´ve learned on the mission - it is hard work. It´s the hardest thing I´ve done in my life so far, but that´s okay, it will be worth it so much. It has already taught me the importance of planning and goal setting and being bold. It´s almost impossible to understand people here! I can talk pretty well, and I can say what I have to say but when it comes to understanding I am very lost. My trainers are amazed with the way I was prepared with Spanish and my knowledge. I didn´t think I was prepared at all, but they say that I´m so lucky to already be able to speak. now i just have to learn to understand. The mission is treatin me great so far, and i´m thouroughly enjoying all aspects and all parts of it. i´m a little overwhelmed at it, but it´s time to buckle down and put all that stuff that I learned in the MTC and in mission prep and from all my young men´s leaders and from dad into practice. it´s very easy to just talk about HOW to be a good missionary, but BEING that good missionary is tougher than in sounds. I can do it though. I´ve prayed longer and harder than I ever have before, and it´s paying off. I need to continue to do it, because without the Lord´s help, I´m doomed. It´s very frustrating not being able to understand, but I´m not going to get frustrated, because that will make it even harder. I´m just going to give it time. I´m actively listening, actively learning, and trying to speak and contribute when I can.
So last night, because we´re so close to Barcelona, we got to go into the town and sing for the missionaries that were leaving, and it was way cool. People stop and take pictures of you and think that you´re famous or something. Little do they know that we´re just lowly missionaries, who are trying to do the right thing. That´s the only thing that I can do, is the right thing. I contacted a pretty attractive Norwegian woman on vacation here , and me and my companion talked to her for about 10 minutes about the gospel and spain, and when we gave her a handshake afterwards, she beso´d me (kissed me on the cheek) and everyone who was singing was watching me, including President Hinckley. How embarrassing! I talked to him after and he told me to repent, while he was laughing. It was a good time. YEsterday was kind of a daze, partly because I couldn´t believe that I was in a 3 some yet again, then because I was going to my first area, then because I taught my first lesson, then because I saw my first living area, then because the Spain MTC is so much nicer than our living areas here! Yesterday was fantastic. It was just a shocker. Now today, reality has set in, and it´s time to do work. I´m excited. Thanks for sending me that inspirational thing mom, and thanks for the advice dad. I´m reallly trying to not compare myself to others, because then pride and discouragement come. My Spanish is pretty good, but there´s so much more I have to learn and do. It´s so weird meeting new people with real problems and real concerns, who need real help. It´s really awesome, but it´s really weird. You don´t want to mess it up, so you pray extra hard. Talk about pressure. I have already gotten discouraged once when I coudn´t understand much, but my companions bought me a chocolate filled bread thing, called napolitana, and it was absolutely incredible. Now I´m here, writing this email. I got to get going, but I´ll write to you on my pday, which is on monday. Feel free to write me back before then. Mucho amor.

Love,
Elder Pericle