Tamales, Goats and Clothing Irons

Hello.

If you are reading this, it means that I have successfully sent this email. And if you are not reading this, then I suppose I can say whatever I want about you and you would never know.

So as I write this, I am actually currently in a restaurant called "The Tamale Store" eating, as you might have guessed, a tamale. Fun fact though, there's no such thing as a tamale. The correct singular form of the word tamales, is actually tamal. Shout out to my Dad for teaching me that. 

Well, although this week went by faster than a hummingbird on a treadmill, it was a really good week. 

So in recent news, our apartment got a new clothing iron finally! The one we have from before works, except we couldn't use it because apparently there was an Elder who lived here a long time ago who used it to make a grilled cheese sandwich. 

Also, I learned that Arizona can be pretty weird sometimes. For example, there's this super nice rich person neighborhood that we cover, except there's randomly a bunch of goats behind a fence on one street. It's crazy. They're just these goats. And there's this sign on the fence that's like, "Feed them at your own risk, the goats bite" or something to that effect. And all the people who live there don't know who they belong to and they don't even question it. They just use it as a landmark. They're like, "oh yeah I just live two blocks from the goats." Or "I live on the other side of the goats." It's crazy.

Speaking of the goats, last week I told you about the lady we started teaching who has the family. Well her name is Zina, and they live pretty close to the goats. That's not really what I wanted to tell you about though. What I wanted to tell you about is that she will be getting baptized later this month! And her husband is going to be able to baptize her as a well! They are very excited. So am I. It's just been amazing to see her recognize all these blessings come into her life. The Spirit is very present in their home, and Zina talks about how it hasn't always like that and how this really is what she's been missing from her family and her home and she's just been recognizing so many blessings just in the past few weeks. She is just so happy that she is going to be baptized. It just makes me so happy to see this family make these choices to bring them closer to Jesus Christ which brings them more happiness into their lives. Like I said last week, I and my siblings have been so blessed to have the teachings of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ in my home my whole life. And to help bring Christ's Gospel to another family who hasn't had that, and to see those blessings come into their lives, it's just amazing. It makes me so happy.

So before I make like a Christmas gift and wrap up, I wanted to share this quote I came across this week. It's from C.S Lewis. He says: "Don't shine so others can see you; shine so that through you, others can see Him." That quote just hit me so hard when I heard it. I just really love that quote. As you probably assumed, Him refers to the Savior. And I love the quote because it is all because of Him. He's the reason we can be happy and we can be a light to others. One of the names in the scriptures that He is referred to as is the Light. He truly does bring light and joy to the World. And we can spread that joy to others as we serve and love and minister to them. And when we do so sincerely out of our love for God's children and our love for Christ and not out of pride, people will see His light. 

Well, I hope that you all have a wonderful week. 

Til we meet again,

~Elder Oswald

P.S.- Attached is a picture of why I love buying my own cereal. 

Also here are a few other pictures from p-day and here's what Kendall said about it in my email: As a district, with the exception of the Wainrights, we got permission to get up at 4:00 and hike up Camelback Mountain. And that was a hike and a half. It was super steep and lots of rocks and stuff. There was one point where there was a metal railing we had to hold onto because of how steep. And you already know we made a reference to the iron rod. We got to watch the sunrise though when we were on the top which was really cool. The sunrise came later than expected though and so it was freezing up on the top of the mountain where there was no protection from the wind. We were there waiting for a good while and it was really funny because we were like joking that the sun was never gonna come. It was cold. The sunrise was really cool though. 

Also, Elder Bower and I have been collecting the money that members will randomly give us, and so after we went hiking we went to the Pasteleria with $58. I'll send a picture of that. It was awesome. 

The Most Disappointing Title Yet

Well it's that time again. It's crazy though, I feel like I haven't emailed you guys since last year.

So here's a new joke for you all that I just thought of now:

Q). What did the pessimistic broken light bulb say to the fully functioning light bulb?

A). I don't have a flicker of hope

Yeah that was funnier in my head.

So we met a crazy guy yesterday. He was telling us his profound insights on theology. He was just like, "just think about it. The trinity, Thor, Odin, the Egyptians, they're all the same. And that just gets you thinkin', it's Aliens. It's all aliens." It was something to that effect. But yeah it was an interesting conversation. 

So also this week, there is a family we have been teaching, and they are super cool. The husband is a member of the Church but hasn't come in a long time. His wife and kids are not members however, and as a family they have decided that they really feel like they want Church to be an important part of their lives. In fact the wife just called us one day saying pretty much just that and that she wants to have lessons with missionaries. So we have been teaching the wife and she really understands how important it is for her to learn truth for herself. She has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it and she is really feeling like this is where she needs to be. It has been really amazing to watch this family as they recognize that something has been missing from their lives, and then be able to find the blessings that the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ brings to families. That is something that I have a testimony of. My family and I wouldn't be the same people without Jesus Christ's Gospel being the center of our home. I have been so blessed to have so much peace and love and joy present throughout my life. Was my family perfect? No. Were there arguments? You betcha. But I don't remember those things when I look back on my life at home. What I do remember is that there was just so much love in my home. And no matter what, after any fight or argument or yelling or failure to load the dishwasher or failure to turn my light off or whatever it was, the most important thing is that my parents taught us how to pray and they taught us to be kind and they taught us about Jesus. And that is something I will be forever grateful for. Because even though we weren't a perfect family, we always have a chance to do better and to try harder and we always just have so much love for one another. My family might read this and be going, yeah right, you make us sound so great. But seriously, I know that when all of my siblings eventually leave home they won't remember the arguments or the breathing each other's air or whatever either. They will just remember the game nights and the movie nights and the Thanksgiving traditions and the silly videos we made and the love and the Spirit that was in our home. 

Well I'm really glad this is an email and you can't see me, because now I'm crying. Now I'm just really hoping the other Elders don't look over at me.

Anyway, I am so grateful for the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. For the Book of Mormon. And for what that means for my family. Because I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know that He loves us all more than we can comprehend. And I know He leads His Church today through a modern day Prophet and modern day Apostles whom He has called, just like He did when He was on the earth. And through the restored truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I know that I will be able to live with my family for eternity, which just brings me so much happiness and joy. 

Well, that's all I've got. I hope everyone has a wonderful day! 

And to quote myself from my email 3 weeks ago:

"Talk to you next week!

~Elder Oswald"

The Week After Christmas

Happy New Year's Eve everyone!

I hope everyone will have a fun time celebrating the new year. A time where we like to take a moment and observe how once again, the earth seems to have successfully made it around the Sun.

Now, I have something I'd like to say about New Year's resolutions. First of all I think they're a great idea. What better time to decide to make changes than at the start of a new year? That's wonderful. However, many people see a year and think, "it's a whole year, of course I'll have time to make changes to my life." The problem is that it is very easy to set long term goals because you are tricked into thinking that it'll magically happen at some point during the year, without actually doing the things that cause the goals to be met. I'm sure many people have had an idea in your mind, a vision of the future you. You think, "oh well of course by then I'll be better at this thing." Except soon "then" comes and future you is still in the future. The thing is that future you will always be future you unless present you starts immediately trying to become future you. It's just really important to remember that if you ever want to change, you have to start right now. Unless of course your resolution is to eat healthier, then you can start after you enjoy whatever treats you have at your New Year's Eve party. 

Also, on an unrelated note, there is a song known as "Ring out Wild Bells" in the Hymn book that we for some reason like to sing at New years time. Probably because it is the one New Years themed song in the Hymn book. Now, I don't know who wrote the music for it. But I have some questions for them. One of them is, why? My theory is that the composer got his songs mixed up. He thought he was writing music for a funeral when actually he was writing music for a song that is supposed to be uplifting and optimistic about the new year. Cause I don't know if you've heard that song before, but it sounds so sad, and it doesn't fit the words. 

Well this last week was good. Christmas was fun. I got to video call my family which was really nice. 

So Dee, the lady we've been teaching, was baptized this last weekend. It was an incredible experience. I don't really know what else to say about that. It was just powerful. 

Also, cool story from this week. We got a phone call from a lady, and she said that she and her family wanted to go to church and she asked what she should do. And we asked if she wanted us to teach her missionary lessons. And she said yes. So we already had one teaching visit with her and her family and it was really cool. Her husband is actually a member of the Church but he hasn't gone to meetings or anything for a few years, since before he was married. He doesn't work on Sundays now though and so as a family they've decided they want to make church a really central part of their lives because they said feel like they've been really missing something from their lives. So they came to church yesterday and we've got an appointment with them tomorrow as well. They're just this super cool family who seems to be really ready to receive and commit to the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Well I don't have any crazy or funny stories this week I don't think.

I'll just end by giving everyone who reads this a suggestion for a New Year's Resolution. I would invite all of you to take a look at your personal faith in Jesus Christ, and see where you can improve. Because everyone's faith has room to grow. That's what life is all about. It's developing and strengthening our faith in Christ throughout our whole lives. And I promise you that if you truly want to make your faith in the Savior your number one priority, every single day, your faith will grow, you will find so much peace and so much happiness, and you will feel how much He loves you. 

Well, that's all for today. Talk to you next year!

~Elder Oswald

It's Not Actually Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As you probably know, today is Christmas Eve, or the day before Christmas in other words. A wonderful time where people get extra excited for Christmas since, it's the next day. Some people hang up stockings, for candy to be put inside of them, which seems like a really gross tradition the more I think about it.

Everyone has family traditions though which is always really cool. For example my family tradition is to have homemade chicken noodle soup for Christmas Eve dinner. That is something I will not be doing this year because I don't have time for that. I will however probably buy a can of Campbell's chicken noodle soup and feel very sad as I eat the three chunks of chicken floating in a disproportionate amount of water. 

Now that I type that out loud, that sounds really sad so I might not actually do that.

I do get to participate in another family's Christmas Eve traditions though and so that is really exciting. 

I actually cannot even believe I am writing an email already. This last week felt like it didn't even happen. Honestly I don't even know what to write this email about since I feel like I just told you everything in the last email 

We did a lot of inviting people to church, since yesterday was the special Christmas service. And we've been talking to people about Christmas a lot and about "Light the World" which is the thing I explained a couple emails ago. And that has been really cool. This morning was a lot of fun actually. We just went around on our bikes spreading some Christmas cheer. I honestly can't think of a better way to spend Christmas Eve. 

Oh yeah, so something fun from this morning that happened, well before that, something fun from this month was that Elder Bower, my companion's Mom sent four advent calendars, the ones that are cardboard and have waxy chocolate inside for each day of the month. And the reason there was four of them was for each elder in our apartment. Because there are four elders in our apartment. So that was really fun this month to do every day. But then this morning was particularly fun because Elder Dougherty, one of the other Elders who lives in the apartment's Mom sent four waxy chocolate advent calendars as well. And so this morning we each got to eat an entire advent calendar full of waxy chocolate. Which was a lot of fun. My body is kind of regretting that though.

So it really does not feel like Christmas Eve. I am currently wearing a short sleeved shirt as we speak, well as we type I guess, well as I type I guess. Unless you happen to be typing something as well while you are reading this, which I imagine would be very difficult to do. If you are however, I am impressed.

But yeah it's just unbelievable. I was just out riding a bike, the sun was shining, the sky was blue, and there were cacti. Now, I realize that cacti do not have a whole lot of influence over the weather, but I included them in my description because I felt like it really added to the scene. It's seriously crazy though. We had the A/C, or Air Conditioner as they say, on in the car full blast. It was such a hot day, especially for it being Christmas Eve. Which actually makes me a little frightened because sooner or later Summer will be here and I don't think I'm ready for that.

So here is the thing I learned for the day:

Wal-Mart on Christmas Eve happens to be busier than when it's not Christmas Eve. I found that out and I just wanted to share that with you.

Also, here is my favorite joke from the week:

Q.) What did the janitor say when he jumped out of the closet?

A.) Supplies!!!

Well, before I wrap up, I shall share with you a spiritual message. Because this email is starting to derail. 

Before I had mentioned something about spreading Christmas cheer. And that will probably be what I write about today for the spiritual message.

Much like your favorite kind of jam or jelly or even marmalade if you're about that, cheer is something you can spread. But unlike jam or jelly or even marmalade if you're about that, it isn't a food, and it's certainly not something you spread on bread or biscuits or waffles. Cheer is something you can spread to other people though, and you don't even need a butter knife to do it. In fact you don't need any knife at all. To quote the Beatles, "All you need is love."

Jesus Christ gave us a commandment to "Be of good cheer." Many people think of commandments with a negative connotation. Like they're all restrictions that take the fun out of life. But actually, commandments are just the things that God asks us to do because He loves us and He wants us to be happy. For example, if you were a parent, and you love your child, and your child says, "I really want to play and run around on the busy freeway, it sounds really fun." You would hopefully not respond by saying, "Well you know what, I love you so much that you deserve to have fun, go and do that, live your life, be free, you be you." What you would most likely say is, "I know it looks really appealing and fun, but it will cause problems for you like death, and because I love you, I will ask you to not do that." 

That's what God means when He gives us commandments. And in fact, before I went on this tangent, I had mentioned that one commandment is to Be of Good Cheer. Which I really love because its just such a happy commandment. Because no matter what, we can find ways to be happy. Even when sad things happen, we can always find peace. And when stressful things happen, we can always find something positive. And we can do those things, and anything, through Jesus Christ.

And so everyone, Merry Christmas. I hope that you keep the Savior in your thoughts this Christmas, and every day of the year, and as you do that you will always find a way to be of good cheer.

Til next time!

~Elder Oswald

One Day Late

Well everyone, I know what you're thinking:

"Today is Tuesday. Unless I am mistaken, Elder Oswald sends his weekly letters on Mondays. I know this because I have marked it on my calendar because it is my favorite part of the week."

Well I am deeply touched. And your calendars are correct, I do usually send my letters on Mondays. However, as you can probably tell, I am sending this letter not on a Monday. In fact it is indeed Tuesday. And to answer the question you probably just asked yourself now, the reason why is that it is Transfer week and yeah that's really all I know actually. I didn't actually know yesterday wasn't P-day until yesterday

So speaking of Transfer week, Transfer week, if you don't know, is the week in which some missionaries get transferred from one area in the mission to another area in the mission. And the time between each Transfer is called a Transfer Cycle, or a Transfer for short. In case you're interested, one Transfer Cycle is 6 weeks long usually. Except for this last one which was 5 weeks long.

So I am not going to be transferred, and neither is my companion Elder Bower. Neither are the Spanish speaking Elders with whom I share an apartment. And neither is anyone in my District even. So things are going to be pretty much the same this coming transfer cycle. With the only exception being that I am no longer in as much of a blurry haze of confusion and stress and that I sort of know what's going on a little bit more. So this next transfer will be great, because I already know people and am comfortable here.

In other news, I got to drive this week! That was very fun, since I haven't driven in a long time. And then I remembered that I'm not actually that fond of driving. It's also interesting though because we have this lovely little white box in our car that tracks our driving. And if we go over the speed limit it will yell at us in this horrible voice that pierces to our very souls, filling us with both fear and shame, as it tells us to "check your speed." So that part isn't as fun. But anyway, I'm not the assigned driver so I don't usually drive. Except for there were some times where we were on companionship exchanges and where Elder Bower forgot his wallet where I had to drive.

Also, here is my random fact for the week: I just learned that in at least one of my pairs of pants I can fit an entire Book of Mormon into my pocket.

Also, favorite joke I heard from an old man at church: 

"I have a fear of giants. It's called Fee Fi Phobia."

So now I would like to tell you about this lady that Elder Bower and I are teaching. She goes by the name of Dee, except that isn't actually her real name. Anyway, she is so cool, and she is going to be baptized later this month! 

So, how did we meet Dee? Great question. We met Dee because her neighbors invited her to Church. She came to Church for like 3 Sundays in a row and loved it, before we were even able to set up a time with her to meet with us. We eventually did set up a teaching visit with her though and that first visit was probably one of the coolest moments so far on my mission. I'll never forget it. I have never met someone before who is so ready to learn. Her whole life has been preparing her to learn about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And it has seriously just been amazing to watch her learn and just take in everything that we have to offer her. And here is the coolest part about it. She understands how to really learn. Because as missionaries all we do is invite and help and testify of what we know and what we have learned. The learning process has pretty much nothing to do with us other than us just telling people things. The thing is is, just telling people things really doesn't do much. People have to learn on their own. They have to find out for themselves. They have to study things out and ponder about things and truly have a desire to learn truth and then pray about those things and ask God whether or not they are true. That's how people learn. And that's what Dee understands. In fact every time we'd invite her to pray about something we've taught her she'd be like, yeah I've already been praying about that. She is just loving the Church and it has been just so amazing to see. And the reason why I share this story is because it shows how there are people in this world searching for truth. And it shows what our job as missionaries is. It's to help people learn. I love this story because Elder Bower and I did hardly anything. We didn't even find her ourselves, she was invited by her neighbors, which also shows how important members of the Church are to the work. We are just the instruments in the Lord's hands. And not a clarinet kind of instrument, I mean a stethoscope kind of instrument, like a tool for Him to use to help accomplish His work

But yeah, it has been very exciting to work with Dee.

Well my friends, it seems like it was only just this afternoon that I started writing this email, and yet we've come to it's close already. 

I hope you all have a week that is, as an old friend once said, "good." 

Talk to you next week!

~Elder Oswald 

P.S.- I have some pictures. 

The first picture is of the half eaten watermelon that was in our apartment for what I thought was way too long. 

The second picture is of the half eaten watermelon a few days later even though I thought it couldn't get any worse the first time I took a picture. 

P.S.S.- In case you are wondering we finally threw it out after I took the picture. Well the next morning after.

 Here are a few other pictures just in case rotting fruit isn't exactly what you had in mind: 

Temple trip to the Gilbert Arizona Temple

Temple trip

Zone Conferences

Dinner with the McCormick family

One Year Older and Wiser Too

So this week was good. I did indeed have a birthday. And it is interesting having a birthday in the mission field. You know those movies where there's like the character and they have a super hard life, and it's the same thing day after day after day, and then one day this person has a particularly brutal day, and they're just so busy and stressed and at the end of the day they collapse in their bed from exhaustion only to realize that it was their birthday and they had totally forgotten, because they had no loved ones to remind them?

Yeah it was nothing like that at all. I did on many occasions forget it was my birthday. But I was reminded often by people sending me emails and then by some people in my zone giving me ice cream and a card and then by the presents my mom had sent me in the mail. Which, by the way, were wonderful. I was given the timeless gift of those Little Debbie chocolate peanut wafer nutty bars, which happen to be my favorite sugary processed snack food. They also ship very well. And if you don't believe me, feel absolutely free to try it out. But anyway, other than those things, I had a completely normal day of missionary work.

Once again however, I was disappointed to wake up on my birthday and realize that I did not in fact look and feel suddenly older. 

I am starting to sense a pattern. 

Turning 19 is an interesting event I've noticed however. Because unlike turning 18, you are turning the age which comes after 18, which is 19. When I turned 18, I was a little bit intrigued because I had always imagined actually looking like an adult as an 18 year old. I was still in high school however, and so I realized that maybe being 18 isn't really what I thought it would be.

19 has always been another threshold though. 

Let me explain by telling a story. 

Once upon a time there was a young boy who shall remain nameless. For convenience however I will call him "Kendall". Kendall had always wanted to go on a mission for the Church to which he belonged. You might say that he even hoped they would call him on a mission. Now mind you, at this time, you had to be 19 to go on a mission. And so whenever Kendall imagined himself on a mission, he imagined himself as a 19 year old. And you see, Kendall's image of 19 year old him was, well, different than what the actual 19 year old him turned out to be.

Now, I'm going to tell you something that may shock you. That little boy was me.

And so it is quite interesting to be 19 and on a mission, because it's not much like I expected it to be at all.

Well, now that I've wasted the time of you and I, I shall proceed to the actual more important things.

I had a really good week. We had some really good teaching visits with people. 

I really love being a missionary. I love seeing people grow and learn and come to love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And it has been very cool for me to grow and learn and come to love the Gospel of Jesus Christ even more. 

So there's something I have thought a lot about. And its the idea of "losing yourself in the work." This concept always intrigued me. Because I didn't particularly want to lose myself. In fact I quite liked myself. I thought I had a pretty good personality, I didn't want to lose that. Besides, I thought, aren't I supposed to use my personality to help others? Because that's a concept I've heard as well, that missionaries shouldn't be cookie cutter robots that are all the same. Because missionaries are all different. We all have different strengths. And the Lord has put us all where we are because there are specific people that we personally can touch. So what does it mean to "lose [myself] in the work"? Well I came to realize that it doesn't mean lose your personality, it means lose the care of yourself. In other words, stop thinking of yourself and start thinking about others. Start caring about them and loving them and serving them, just as Jesus Christ would. 

So I really like that. And I know that if we all try and do a little bit more to just be kind, and not worry about our own problems as much and think about someone else, and just spread happiness and love, that we really can "Light the World" a little bit at a time.

Now, it looks like the time has come for me to say farewell for the week.

Farewell for the week!

~Elder Oswald

A Week's Worth of Confusing and Unorganized Ideas with a Spiritual Thought and the End

Well folks, it's that time again.

You guessed it, it's time to read this week's chapter of "Memoirs of a Missionary: Two Years and Forever" which is the title of the book I have now decided I will one day write.

So this week was pretty good. We had a ton of service opportunities so that was really cool!

Thursday and Friday we helped a super cool guy from the Spanish speaking Ward move some boxes from a trailer into another trailer. It was just like a game of Tetris except heavier.

But yeah I got to practice my Spanish skills which was super cool. 

Also, real quick, I just have a question about cats. Why? I am not making this up, they actually know I'm allergic to them. They can sense it somehow. And I wouldn't say this if it's only happened once. But it's every single time. If there's a cat, it comes up to me, looks me in the eyes, and then proceeds to rub its mangy fur on my pants. It's ridiculous. 

So something that's pretty cool, there's like a professional hair cutting lady, or hair stylist as they are sometimes called, who goes to church here who gives free haircuts to the missionaries. So I got a free haircut last week. 

Oh, also, I've attached a picture of a cactus with Christmas lights that I found. I really like this picture because it is a cactus with Christmas lights.

So last night was the First Presidency Christmas Devotional and it was amazing! Now I know what you're thinking: Oh rats, I really want to watch that, but Elder Oswald said it was last night, I guess it's too late.

Well you're in luck, because you can go on and watch it on lds.org anytime you want!

Anytime I want?

Yes, anytime you want! Which I very much recommend.

Unless of course I'm totally wrong, in which case, my apologies. But I'm pretty sure I'm right.

Anyway, service has been really fun. So Saturday was a special day. And not only was it the day we get ready for Sunday, but it was the World Wide Day of Service that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints put on as a kick off for the Light the World initiative that is going on this December. 

So what is Light the World?, you may ask. Well great question. Light the World is something that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints does every December as a way to make the Christmas Season more focused on Jesus Christ and the gifts he has given us. Now this can often times be hard to do, with much of the worldly culture of commercialization and self-gratification that surround this season in many ways. But what the Church has organized for this month can help us. Every week, we are encouraged to serve in a different way. We aren't told exactly how or who to serve, but we are given ideas and encouragement to seek ways and opportunities that we can show love for one another, and to serve one another and to look beyond the natural selfish and self centered feelings we have, and look outwards as Christ did. Give as Christ gave. Love as Christ loved, and as He loves even now. And I can promise that this is how we can really experience joy this Christmas. So I would encourage you all, if you haven't already, go on to Mormon.org and you can learn more about Light the World, and then start serving!

Well disapointingly enough, I think that's all for this week my friends, have a wonderful week!

~Elder Oswald

P.S. - Random fact of the week:

I realized that if you add a 'B' and an 'E' to the beginning of Arizona, it becomes Bearizona, which I like to imagine is what the state of Arizona would have been called had it originally been populated by bears rather than by humans.

Also, an excerpt from Kendall's message to me with some pictures that Elder Bower's mom shared with me to go with the story:

So real quick, totally forgot this story from the week:

Elder Bower and I were on bikes one afternoon. And we had dinner with the Bishop and his wife. But his wife called and said the Bishop was out of town so she'd just drop off the food at our apartment. So we got back from biking at the same time as the Bishops wife. And so we got our bags of food at the entrance of the complex and then went to our apartment. 

Then we realized that the key pad to our garage was broken. We had a garage door opener in our car though so that's why we never needed to use the keypad. The car was in the garage though. Because we were on our bikes. 

Luckily there is a side door to our apartment though. Unfortunately the key is on the key ring with the car keys. And we didn't take our car keys because we were on bikes. 

So we were locked out of our apartment. So we just sat down on the curb outside of our apartment and ate our soup and grapes. She also gave us some awesome chocolate covered caramel corn. But yeah so then we had a meeting at a ward mission leaders house which we had originally planned on driving to. We couldn't drive to it though because our car was locked in the garage. So we biked there. Except it was far away and we had to bike along a super busy road. It was kind of sketchy. But yeah we made it to our meeting. Then we had the mission leader drive us to our lesson since we wouldn't have made it there on time. Then we biked back to the apartment, hoping to find the Spanish Elders inside since they of course had a key to the apartment.

Instead we found them standing outside waiting for us. Apparently they don't have a key. They thought they did but I guess it doesn't work. So we ended up calling some mission office staff and eventually someone came with a key and got us inside.

It was crazy.