Idaho Kid Talking to Palestinian in Spain

hola hola que tal?

Yes i got your packages, and thank you so much those are awesome. tell the kroupas thank you for me and i loved the cookies and ties. the ipod is sweet thanks but whats up with the purple?

we moved because the landlord was bad and the english elders needed to move because they had problems with a break in. its only about 12 blocks from our other appartment. oh by the way sorry our zip code is 19145 not 19148. we are teaching about a dozen people right now and things are going great except for getting them to drop work and come to church. the snow is pretty much gone except for where big piles were. it rained the last two days so it got rid of a lot. but today its snowing so we'll see. its not sticking though. the buses are all running and that has helped us get around quicker.

our area is from market st in the middle of center city all the way south to the river. all of south philly. we are the only spanish elders in the south, there are two in my district in north philly and then the zone leaders in north east. there are more english than spanish here in the city. when we have mission meetings as to zone conference and interviews then yes president comes to us, but zone training no he does not come. but you should check out the info on our new mission pres. we learned his name last week in the letters we get about the mission and his names shaferahacker or something like that. but it was in church news i guess and yes we have had heat and hot water for some time now.

But thats great you guys are having a good time and yes i am getting your letters every week dont worry. but this past week was awesome. we had an awesome sunday with 20 people there and a great lesson in gp class. it was awesome. then this week we have had some great lessons and new people we've found. we started tracting in center city more because we can go see the fathers who are working up there and connect with them so its been fun. but yesterday was probably my best day in south philly. i got to describe it to you. so it started off with us studying and then leaving at 11. we went and saw some less actives who are doing better, helped them with their reading and then left. we went up to center city and walked around with all the people and big buildings. talked to a lot of mexicans and a lot of mistaken latinos who dont speak spanish. people we'd say hey habla espanol? and then theyd give us a weird look and in their american voice no im black and native american or other mixes, then we'd be oh sorry have a nice day and walk off to more people.

but we were by one of those street venders who sits in their little trailer on the sidewalk and sellls all sorts of good stuff. so i had to buy something just for the experience, i buy a gyro and we're talking to the guy, he knows we speak spanish too so hes speaking a little to us. hes from palestine by the way. he then tells me i got to talk to his son who speaks really good spanish. he calls his son while hes making my gyro, gives me the phone and i start talking to his son in spanish. we had a conversation for about a minute or two i give the phone back and ask the guy where his son is at, he says spain. so im thinking wow im a white kid from idaho talking spanish to a palestinian in spain and eating a gyro in downtown philly. ha what an experience. it was pretty cool and really good gyro for 3 bucks.

so we then had break and after at 4 had an appt with one inv. had a great lesson and afterwards she asked me to give her a blessing so she could receive an answer to if these things are true and if she needs to be baptized. so i gave her a blessing in spanish, she was crying, we left feeling we made some progress. then went had a great lesson with a less active and his non member wife, learned a lot in that lesson. then we went to our 6 o clock appt with some less actives. it was their sons 18 birthday party they invited us to. so we quickly shared a message before they could give us the food. then we ate some pasole and tres leches cake, everything was delicious and professional. but also we ran home real quick and put together a present for the guy. he really liked it and then we were off to our 730 appt. we taught them some ingles and then half a lesson. it went really good and then when we left she asked if we needed anything because they are moving this next week. so we got a table on reserve for a member who needs one and some tamales also. then we're walking down the stairs to leave and she asks us if we need bikes because she has two. we say ya and get some old but good bikes. we then ride home on our new fancy bikes and had a great time. then after planning we turned on the ipod and listened to a childs prayer as we ate. good times man good times.

it was a great day and i hope you guys have a good week. keep up the good work and have a great time in school and work. i read the second half of President Uchtdorfs talk 2 Principles for Any Economy and in the end of learning it he quotes (something like) in the adversity of our lives is often we we learn most about our character. i might be completely wrong so check it but its true you guys keep pushing and smile. i definitely need to start smiling more and not be so serious out here because i can see a difference when a do and when i dont. love you guys. faith hope charity and love

Chase