Letter #55

Elder Miles in Santiago, Spain

 This week was a fun week of updates from you all! I am glad that Dad is starting to feel better. It sounds like Jenna is just having a blast with all her friends. Mom, I am glad that you are doing well. Sounds like everyone is doing great and having fun with their lives. Malad sounds like a cool little place. I will be looking foward to visiting Grandma and Grandpa Miles out there. 

I was suprised to find out that I was getting transfered to the North again. I have always thought that it would be cool to come back up here but I never thought that was actually going to be able to happen. I actually really wanted to come to this area, so it is a huge blessing for me to be here. Galicia is beautiful and breathtaking. It is so green and the weather is perfect right now. We did have a couple days of rain this week, but it was nice in contrast to the beaming Talavera sun. 

There are a lot of tourists here. This is the final destination of the Road to Santiago. There are people from all over the world that come here to see the Santiago Catedral. It is actually pretty fun to see people from all over, but it does make it a little more challanging to contact on the street. We have been doing a lot of that up here. The people here are really nice when you get to know them or when they give you time to talk to them. They are a lot more closed off than any of my other areas. It is the 2nd most populated Catholic place in the world though. The city is beautiful. I was whiped out all week last week from getting used to all the hills here. My legs are sore my knees are tired, my shoes are doing fine though. 

I got meet the branch yesterday. There are some really fun/nice members. I actually gave a talk for my first Sunday here. It was on Faith and how through faith we are able to stand strong and be brave. I think that was only my 2nd talk that I have had to give in the mission so it was not bad. I love the Gallegan accent. There is a definite difference from Madrid and Galicia in the way that they talk. If you remember from when I was up here about a year ago, a lot of people speak Gallego. I have been trying to let the accent stick to me so we will see how that goes. You could almost compare it to an Argentinan accent and an Italian accent combined with the Castellano Z(theta.) I love the culture here in Spain! 

Elder Miles and Elder Eskelson

Elder Eskelson is a really good guy. He walks pretty fast, but maybe I have just noticed that because of all the hills here. He is a really hard worker. We both have a good vision for this area, we really want to help it grow. 

It sounds like for a long time this area has been the same. There have been some baptisms but a lot of people move away or fall away. Santiago has only been open since the beginning of this year so there has only been a handful of companionships up here. I know that if I let it, this area will break me and form me into a more pacient and hard working missionary/person. I think I am going to learn to rely even more on faith and obedience here. I want to become stronger and learn more but I also want to take the area itself and break it and form it into a better area. I have been a seed planter for the majority of my mission, it has been tough but it has also been fun. I would really love to see some true progression here. The branch is awesome and they are pumped up to help us but we just have to figure out an effective way to use them. We have maybe 2 or 3 investigators right now and I feel like we can find a lot more. Well those are my outlooks for this area and for the next couple months for Santiago!!! God Speed!!

David was baptized the week after I left

Los 3 Muscateros de Talavera
Love you all and I hope that everything goes well this week.

Elder Miles

P.S- Answers to Mom's questions-

1-Area, comp, y tal arriba.

2-The greatest thing that I have learned on my mission so far is that... hard one to put into words. I know that God is our Heavely Father and that He knows each and everyone of us. I know that he is perfect and that the plan, the Gospel, he has made for us is perfect. I also know that even though we are all so different in this world, with different lives, experiences, trials, but the Gospel blesses all of us in the same way. 

3-The hardest thing on my mission has been the amount of time that I have had to spend on the streets. It is fun to meet people but when it's are all day, I get exhausted and my pacience gets warn down. I feel so much more purpose when we have a set lesson and it goes well. I know that being on the street and finding is a part of my purpose though. 

4- I just love the Gospel in general. I love how key Jesucristo is to it. He fullfiled the will of the Father without a single mistake. 

5-I wanted to buy some peanutbutter today from Carrefore but it was 4 Euro!! There are lots of things that I miss about the U.S. At the moment I can´t really think of them. I have grown in some American Pride since I have been out. I miss Road Trips and National Parks.