Alcoy!

So the news has arrived. I´ve been transferred as far south in the
mission as we can go. I´m going to Alcoy. It´s south of Valencia,
and it´s right on the border with the Málaga Spain mission.
Supposedly it´s one of the prettiest places in the whole mission. In
the ward down there, it is all Spaniards. It will be a big change
from the ward we have here where it is almost all South Americans.
I´m pretty excited for it. My new companion is named Elder Bowers,
and he is very old in the mission, just like all of my companions have
been. By June, every companion I have had on the mission will be
home. That´s crazy! My former companion Elder Hansen served there,
and he said that he loved it. I´m kind of excited for it! We catch a
train today at 2:30 and go down and will stay the night in Valencia,
and then after that we get to take a two hour bus ride down to Alcoy.
It´s in a province called Alicante.
This past week was kind of a slower week. Elder Bodily was pretty
sick, and as a result slept a lot. He had a bad cough and he didn´t
really have an appetite. I tried my best to take care of him and get
him drinks of water and prepare him food. But between doing that, I
got A LOT of scripture study in. I really did get a lot in. It´s
funny, usually I would be playing video games, but I was reading the
scriptures and I was loving it. I learned so much. We went to the
emergency room with Elder Bodily and Hermana Hinckley, and Elder
Bodily has bronchitis and he got some medication. Prescriptions over
here in Spain are so cheap, it´s incredible. So yeah, Elder Bodily
spent a lot of time laying down and recovering, and I read a lot of
scriptures and a lot of talks from General Conference. But being
inside all day made me realize how much I actually enjoy being out in
the cold all bundled up and talking to people. When we finally got to
go back out and work, I loved it. I loved walking around in the
streets, talking to people, passing by people, getting yelled at by
kids from Marueccos. I love all of that. This past week we didn´t
really teach a lot of lessons, due to my companion's illness, but I
felt like I learned a lot and I grew a lot from the experiences that I
had.
So these past two days we have just been passing by people in the ward
that we have grown close to and also investigators that we have grown
close to. Visiting people and spending time with people and talking
about the gospel of Jesus Christ with them really makes you grow
closer to them. They´re incredible. I´m really going to miss a lot
of people here in Hospitalet. It´s a great place here. It´s my first
area, and I definitely won´t forget it.
It sounds like everything is doing great there on the homefront.
Sounds like Donny is going to have a good time in his tournament in
Charlottesville, sounds like dad had a good time trying on all those
jeans, sounds like it´s pretty chilly there as well! The kids here in
Spain went back to school yesterday, and when we would tell them that
our siblings went back to school a week ago, they were appalled. It
was too funny.
Well, I don´t have too many stories this week, because we didn´t get
out that much. I read a lot in the scriptures, and currently I´m in
Alma, and I´m right in the middle of the Captain Moroni chapters, and
man is it great. I learn so much from Captain Moroni and the way he
handles things. I love the part where they have that huge battle and
the other guy tries to stab him when he´s not looking, and Captain
Moroni´s soldier scalps him, then puts the scalp on the edge of the
sword. I remember that seminary video from a long long time ago, and
I´m excited to see it once again when I get back! I want to be a man
just like Captain Moroni, a man that loves his God, and loves his
land, liberty, and family. I think that´s one of the things that the
mission has done for me, it is shaping me into the man that I want to
become.
So yeah, I´´m all packed up, got all my things ready, and now it´s off
to Alcoy down south. I´m going to miss Hospitalet a lot, all of the
incredible people here, the great things that we´ve seen happen, the
miracles we saw every day, the tender mercies, everything. I´ve grown
a lot here in my first area, and it´s strengthened my testimony a lot.
I know that this is the true church. That God still talks to His
children through prophets, that this is a divine work led by God. I´m
so blessed to be a part of it. I was blessed to be a part of it here
in Hospitalet, but now it´s down to Alcoy to see what the Lord has
prepared down there! I´m very excited to see it. I´ll be sure to
take pictures and to let you know how everything goes!
Keep studying hard, let me know how college related things go with
Gabbi, Alex should be driving soon. Let me know about all of that!
It´s crazy it´s been 6 months on the mission. Time flies so fast. It
seems like yesterday Lisa and I were driving around before she dropped
me off in the MTC. We've got to take advantage of every moment we have!
I love you all so much. I´m very lucky to have such a great family,
it´s a great blessing. Keep being great.
Love,
Elder Pericle