New Transfer

Lot of new stuff going on!


People 


Wild success
Thiago is getting interviewed on Wednesday and baptized on Saturday! I was here in Talavera when he first started getting to know the church and now I'll get to see him get baptized! This guy is the absolute best.


Our friend Jesús is very close to baptism and just visited the temple with some branch members! He's a good friend of Thiago's so we're thinking about suggesting that Thiago baptize Jesús when he gets the priesthood.


Getting there
Milena and her two kids are ridiculously accepting of the gospel and eat up everything we teach them, plus are currently living with the branch president while they get settled here. They've even said that they want to get baptized! The problem is that they're very hesitant to set a date. Milena keeps saying she wants it to be sincere, I guess like waiting for the perfect moment. We ask how they're feeling about a date at every lesson, trying to make it casual and avoid nagging them. We'll keep trying.


Challenges 
There's a couple that lives in a pueblo just outside Talavera, Angela and Fabián. They decided they wanted to move their family from Columbia so they split up and went to different countries to work. Angela went to Sweden, met with missionaries, and got baptized, then asked Fabián to do the same. By this point he had worked in the US for a while but was back in Columbia. He received all the lessons from an awesome pair of sister missionaries there. He hasn't been baptized though. This seems like a slam dunk, but in reviewing the baptismal interview questions with them we found out that they aren't married. Fabián has a divorce that is legally finalized in the US but not in Columbia, so they don't have papers to get married. It's kind of a mess. They're living together and expecting the arrival of their children here in Spain in November. We weren't positive about the situation when we visited them on Friday, but after talking to our district and zone leaders it's clear that Fabián can't get baptized until they're married. We've decided to tell them in person when we visit them on Wednesday. Its really sad because they're doing their absolute best, just waiting on some government bureaucracy.


The work keeps going, even if it's not always easy.


Elder Salas, my new companion, is really cool. He doesn't speak a ton of English so it's 24-7 language study out here. I'm sure I'll come out of this transfer with much better Spanish. He's also the best cook of any of my comps, hence all the food pics. 


Our district boundaries have changed so we have a different district with different leaders. Haven't met them all in person yet but I'm sure it'll be cool.


There's a festival in Talavera right now called La Feria de San Mateo. Its all set up in the local park but we don't have any real reason or time to go there. It's mostly just loud and makes the area crowded, but it's interesting to see this big piece of Talavera culture. Plus it's cool because September is boring, and putting a holiday or festival during this month is a really good idea.


Kinda chaotic email but that's the week. Talavera is still going strong.


Have a great week y'all, enjoy the pictures!
Elder Curtis


Lots of food...
Green soup was at a Bolivian members' house. It was awesome.
The little tortillas with the ground beef are Columbian arepas we made at our friend Doris'. She's El Salvadoreña so she naturally prefers pupusas but Elder Salas had to flex
Comp selfie
Family picture







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