11/15/10

I think they´ll be fine without the name. Just go ahead and send them.

Well, the Pharisee´s been here four transfers (24 weeks), so it´s 99% certain he´s gone. It´s really rare for a missionary to stay for more than four transfers in one area. So I´ll just have to put up with two more weeks.

Like I said, make sure you get the extended warranty on this surgery. Makes the doctors do a better job if they might have to fix the original, right?

Pictures are of me, Ludovik (member), Gerard (baptism-ee), and The Pharisee, in all his doofus glory. Can´t quite call him a ¨hipster doofus¨, so just doofus.

Church is moving more towards preparing the members we´ve got for what´s coming next. The last calls are starting to be made, I think. Though Elder Cook´s conference talk made it sound like we weren´t quite there yet (and I don´t think we are either), things are probably going to start degenerating soon. I know they just redid the entire two volume Church Operations Manual, and they´re holding a world conference to introduce it Saturday. Bishop said it´s a whole lot more detailed.

Well, it was an interesting week. Tuesday was the exchange with Elder Monks. Wooh, that was a fun time. Haven´t had such a good time since Gandia. We went and hit a candy shop, actually talked (he rode motorcross before the mission, so he knows his quads and stuff), and just enjoyed ourselves.

Switched back Wednesday evening. Then, Thursday evening the Zone Leaders called...I´m thinking *hmm*. After the Pharisee got done talking about how ¨well, we´re all right. We´re different, but I guess we get along. (I´m sitting right in the next room while he´s saying this...) I took the phone. Our Zone leaders here are Hansen and Atkin, and Hansen was my district leader down in Gandia (plus, he´s in the same group with Crofts and Monks). We chit chatted for a bit, then he asks ¨Okay, so we have a really serious question for you.¨. I´m thinking... all right. ¨Is Obama really a Muslim?¨. I couldn´t stop laughing for ten minutes. They´d been stopped in the street by someone getting mad at them for electing a Muslim to be President. Hansen knew I´m Mister Politics(along with half the mission, I´m starting to think. We have ¨Mattice Minutes¨during district meeting where they ask me stuff about these kinda things), so that was the whole purpose of their call.

Saturday afternoon, Elder Monks calls to invite us over to spend the night Sunday and then spend today in Vilafranca, and they were getting ahold of a Risk set, and then we´d play all day today. (You know me, if Risk is there I´m there.) I mention it to the Pharisee and he immediately starts whining. So I worked on it for a bit, Sunday, I show how the trains work out perfectly, won´t be a problem, even offer to pay the bum´s train fare, and he says no, because ¨Ugh, I just don´t want to lose two hours of p-day in the train...¨. So when Monks calls Sunday night to see if we´re at least coming for Monday, I told him no, we weren´t. He goes ¨I´m getting the feeling this wasn´t your idea.¨ Told me to hang in there until the end of the transfer. Hopefully we´ll be able to get something together next transfer when I don´t have a deadbeat. So we´ll get to sit around the apartment today...doing nothing.

Saturday was the baptism. Everything went well, though only three members came to the service. Wasn´t well announced, though, so I can´t get upset. Bishop got up in Sacrament meeting and let the ward know he expected more support from the members next time.

Today, I´ll be drawing some Christmas things up and coloring them so the apartment isn´t so humbugish. I was going to go out and buy a few things, but I had to get some slacks dry cleaned, and that took the last 10 euros of personal cash I had. I had to pull out 30 last week to buy new shoe insoles (all four quit about the same time), so that´s all I´m using for the month. I´ll draw up some trees and stuff and decorate my study cubby at least.

Tomorrow is District meeting, so that´s a trip to Vilafranca. Then we have to go into the office afterwards to pick up a load of supplies (and I´m not taking my suitcase this time), so that´s the whole day gone.

So, I thought of a few little things you guys could send. Like some cheap Red Sox stuff (fridge magnets and stuff like that), a copy of that picture you sent earlier in the week, but in color (plz), maybe a tie or two.

Going to eat pizza and swig Pepsi for lunch. I don´t haz much else, sadly. You guys have a good week. 

Bradley.