From the MTC to Torrejon!

Hello everyone! I'll start with my last day at the MTC.

So Sunday was super cool. I got to do a musical number in 4 sacrament meetings! I played the same Be Still My Soul arrangement I wrote for the devotional I was in last week. So that was super cool!! I'm so happy I made the decision to audition for a musical number because it lead me to several opportunities to express myself through music! I love the piano so much! Anyway, later that evening, we went on our last temple walk. My district got to say goodbye to our zone then. I already miss them so much! I made so many friends in the MTC! But moving on. I was quick to accept the fact that I'd probably never see any of them again (the excitement of going to Spain in a few hours was quite distracting) so I got over it quick. They'll be awesome missionaries though! That night, we had our last class in the MTC. We had a little testimony meeting with our district and said goodbye to our teachers. Such a bittersweet moment. I want to share a little bit of what Elder Smith shared. This being our last class time and last testimony meeting as a district, there was a super strong and warm spirit. Each of these elders became brothers to me. In Elder Smith's insight, he quoted the missionary purpose, but with power. "In less than 12 hours, we'll be on our way to the other side of the world with one purpose: to invite others to come into Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel of Jesus Christ." Ah it was so exciting!! It couldn't have been a more perfect last class! So afterwards, it was time to go back to the residence to pack before bed! We were all finally ready to go around 1 in the morning. So we weren't able to get much rest considering we had to be up at 2:30. We woke up, got ready, and then as a district, we went outside our residence building and sang God be with you til we meet again, and said final goodbyes. The Madrid missionaries had to be at the travel office at 3:30 to head to the airport, so that's me, Elder Lords, Elder Phillips, and Elder Irene.

After a bus ride and two train rides we made it to the airport, and it was the weirdest thing ever. There were people there. Real people. We weren't in the MTC anymore. No more being surrounded by hundreds of missionaries 24/7. This was the real world. What the heck is going on? Why is everyone staring at me weird? What are those weird electronic devices everyone has in their hands? I think they're called cellphones. I can't remember. 

We eventually boarded the plane and I sat next to this guy that spoke only Spanish. Long story short, after about an hour of talking, I placed a Book of Mormon! 

After a three hour layover in Dallas, we boarded the plane to Madrid! And as soon as we took off, it finally hit me. I'm on my way to my mission. This is the last time I'll be in America for two years. I started to freak out a little bit. I couldn't understand anything anyone was saying. Is this Spanish? Why do they talk so fast?? They didn't teach me this language in the MTC?! It was the longest flight ever. It was 10 hours, but felt like at least a few days. I couldn't get any sleep. I tried reading in my scriptures a few times, but it was just so hard to focus. The missionaries were all seated pretty close to each other, and throughout the flight we all just kept looking around at each other and I'm pretty sure we were all thinking the same thing. What in the world did I sign up for?

It was 8:00 in the morning in Madrid when we landed. Walking through the airport was crazy. Everything was in Spanish. None of us knew how to say baggage claim, so that was interesting trying to find. We found the mission president and his wife, President and Hermana Pack, after we got our luggage. It was so nice to hear English again. We got on a bus and they took us to the mission home, where we met the rest of the new missionaries that were in the Madrid MTC. There were 42 of us all together.

Hermana Pack made us breakfast and then we had an orientation for the next few hours. And we got our iPads! All of the missionaries have iPad minis and its soooo nice! We get to use gospel library, email, and the camera. There are a few Spanish apps too that are super helpful. 

So after orientation, they drove us to the chapel right next to the Madrid temple to have our first transfer meeting! The temple here is so amazing! My iPhone background for the past 6 months finally came to life! We all went inside the chapel for the meeting, where I was able to meet a bunch of the missionaries that have been out for a while. I ran into this Elder I knew, Elder Gustafson! Quick story about him... After I got my mission call, I looked up the Madrid Mission blog and found his name. I sent him an email asking about Madrid. As my departure date got closer, I emailed him a bunch asking about stuff I should bring, stuff i won't be able to find in Madrid, etc. So it was really cool meeting him! We sat down and talked for like an hour before the thing started. He seemed like a super cool dude!!

So the transfer meeting started. Freaking out. The four of us elders that were in the same district at the MTC were sitting together on pins and needles! We're about to be assigned our first companion! Our trainer! Before President Pack announced our assignments, the projector decided to stop working. So we had to wait another 15 minutes for it to start up again. The suspense was killing me! So eventually President Pack starts with assignments, and about half way through he calls my name. Here we go. "Elder Hendrix, you are assigned to serve with ELDER GUSTAFSON." What are the odds!! Elder Gustafson and I could not stop laughing!! 

Really quick I'll tell you a little about him. He's from New Hampshire and has been in the field for 8 months. He has 3 sisters, one serving in the Philippines right now. 

Elder Gustafson and Elder Hendrix

Elders Gustafson, Phillips, Aussant and Hendrix.
There are also two hermanas in their district.

So I said good luck to Elders Phillips, Lords, and Irene, and then Elder G and I were off! We are serving in a small city called Torrejón just east of Madrid. About an hour from the mission home. We had to take the metro, and then the Renfe to get here. The Renfe is pretty much a train.

So the train came to our stop, we stepped outside, and boom, Torrejón. This place is so awesome! It's way beautiful! Our piso is about a 5 minute walk from the Renfe. Everyone lives in apartments called pisos. They're really nice! Our piso has 3 rooms and 2 bathrooms. So walked inside, dropped off my bags, and went straight to my first dinner appointment in the field! A family invited us to a noche de hogar (family home evening). As I mentioned earlier, the Spanish here is really different. Maybe I'm just used to the teachers at the MTC talking really slowly and clearly. This appointment was my first time speaking with people here, and it was so hard! They talk so quick! In the MTC, I felt like I learned a ton. But now I feel like I'm starting all the way over again! It's so frustrating. I can understand most of what people say, but I have a lot to work on! I sat at the table with all the kids in the family. They kept making fun of me cause my Spanish is crap. But it was super cool cause they were helping me learn! They would point to objects around the house and ask me what they were in Spanish. Oh and they had Peter Pan on TV, and I'd like to tell you that if you get the chance to watch Peter Pan in Spanish, don't take it. You will forever be creeped out. 

So after dinner, we headed back to the piso, and went straight to bed. I don't think I've ever had a better night of sleep in my life. If I don't count that hour and a half of sleep I got at the MTC, I hadn't slept in over 50 hours. Longest day of my life. Or two days of life. I don't know. Felt like a week. 

So our schedule every day goes something like this:

7:30 - wake up

9:00 - personal study

10:00 - companionship study

11:00 - work

2:00 - return to piso for lunch (unless we eat with members)

3:00 - language study for an hour

4:00 - work

10:30 - return to piso

11:30 - sleep

Here in Spain, they observe siesta, or media dia, which is 2:00-4:00. So everybody goes home. Sometimes we have lunch appointments with the members during this time. Lunch is the big meal. Everyone eats really small portions for breakfast and dinner. 

We only eat with members about twice a week. There's only one ward here in Torrejón, which has about 140 active members. 

Moving on... So my first official day in the field was super cool! We did a bunch of street contacting! It was so cool to practice my Spanish with the people I'm serving! Everyone here is way nice! Everybody wants to talk! Even the people that aren't interested in our message. It's awesome! I love these people! All we do is walk in Torrejón. It's so cool here! This city is really neat. The shops, the buildings, the parks, everything is amazing! And the weather is perfect! Definitely not missing that Arizona heat! 

A street in Torrejon.

We had a district meeting on Wednesday, and guess who's in my district? Elder Phillips from my MTC district!! I'm not the only new guy! Yes! Our district is so solid. There's 6 of us. 4 elders and 2 hermanas. And I feel like we're all already best friends! Elder Phillips' companion is Elder Aussant, and they actually live like 2 buildings down from us. My companion is the district leader.

The food here is AMAZING. I have yet to be disappointed! Lots of meat, lots of rice, lots of papas fritas, but it's all so good! Everybody always has soda with meals, so I unfortunately had to end my 6 year streak of no soda. That's ok though! I have been lead to believe that one of the biggest struggles that a missionary faces is finishing lunch at a members home. The portion sizes are humongous! I have a lot of stomach training to do for sure.

We have a few investigators we've been teaching this week!

Paola: Paola owns a small cake shop in Torrejón. She actually has a baptismal date in November! We visit her and her husband in her shop every other day, and she ALWAYS has some kind of dessert for us! They're a ton of fun and they love the gospel! They always have lots of questions and they read the scriptures a ton!

A cake, which is entirely edible, made by an investigator
named Paola. She owns a small cake shop in Torrejon.

Felix: Felix is 23 years old moved to Spain from New York when he was 6. We play basketball with him really early in the morning sometimes. He's going to school right now. He doesn't have a lot of extra time, so we only get to have lessons with him about once a week. He works in a little burger place in town, so sometimes we go there for lunch and catch him when he's on break. He's really interested in the church! He has been coming to sacrament almost every week.

Osasu: Osasu is in his 20s as well. He was actually just baptized a few weeks ago. He has one son that lives with him. We go visit them in their visa to teach them every few days. His son wants to be baptized! 

We have 12 investigators/recent converts that we teach, but these are the only ones that I've met so far. We have lots of appointments this week!

There a lot of Nigerians here. Probably a quarter of the ward is from Nigeria. They're the coolest people! They're all super funny. According to Elder Gustafson, a lot of them speak English, so I'll be super happy if I get to teach a lesson in English this week haha.

So we got to watch conference all day on Sunday. 4 sessions in one day. In Spanish. I couldn't understand the translator that well, but I'm sure conference was great! :) 

Anyway, I love it here in Torrejón!!! I'm so excited to be here! I'm like 90% sure I'll be in the same piso for my first 3 transfers (18 weeks), so if you'd like to send me a letter, I will gladly accept!! You can send it straight to my piso. Here's my address...

Plaza de España 1A

Torrejón de Ardoz 

Madrid, Spain 28850

Thank you everyone for the love and support!!! I love you all! Sorry my email was so long this week!

Elder Hendrix

"Since nobody has cars, everyone owns these carts they take out
when they go shopping. Grocery stores don't usually give bags, so
people have these carts to take their groceries home. It's really
cool. There's a few shops here with fancy customized carts. I forget
what they're called in Spanish."

"My fancy, clean workspace."