Happy 2011 - Live long and prosper

What's up!? I hope you all had a fun New Year and went hard! I definitely didn't get to do anything crazy. The whole New Year's Eve day we helped a member set up the dance for that night. I am totally coming back here for one New Years Eve because Spanish people know how to party and how to dance. We had to be in our house at 6PM and in bed at normal time, so nothing fun went down, just wrote letters and slept.

Edward and Elder Draper strike a pose

Four missionaires + 400 balloons = Happy New Year!

Elder Walker hits the roof to finish the job

Yep the time speeds up every week for me. Everything is just blended together, feels like a dream. NICOLAS!!! Felicidades hermano!! Wow man I cannot believe you are a priesthood holder now! You gotta bulk up so you look like one! Haha you are a stud and I am so so proud of you, but even cooler is that Heavenly Father is so so proud of you! Keep up the great work bro! Yeah that is nice of you to take pics and send them to the missionaries parents. Spanish people don't do that they just love stuffing your gut with food though! Yeah mom thanks for the blog pics! Man that looks sharp!! Can't wait to see it all completely.

So this week was pretty dang slow, suuuuuper slow. I have never been more tired in my life or on my mission. Like not physically tired but like I want to sleep all day long. I don't know why it has happened now, but I am trying to fight through it. Our apartment building has an underground parking garage, so I go down there and run a few miles every morning.

We had one cool experience while tracting this week. On Tuesday we knocked a door and a man named Oscar Gonzalez from Venezuela answered. We gave our little door approach and he started asking a ton of questions about life...everything that the plan of salvation answers. We taught him in the doorstep for about 10 minutes, and told us he had to go, and asked for something to read. We had a Book of Mormon but he said he wanted something short to read haha. We didn't have any pamphlets on us, so I asked him if we could come back the next day and drop them off. He said that's fine. So the next day we come back and he is outside shoveling snow, and as he does that we talk to him again for about 20 minutes (it was freeeezing and snowing Wednesday, I felt like I was literally going to freeze solid) So out of nowhere he invited us in, which was sweet and warmer of course. We spent the next 1 and a half hours talking about the Book of Mormon and some of our beliefs in the church. He had a lot of weird, random questions like "I heard Jesus had siblings" and stuff like that. Turns out he doesn't know if God is really there or if Christ really was a person. Just hit me how many people in the world fall under that category. How sad! So we committed him to read the Book of Mormon and the pamphlets. He asked us for the address to the chapel for Sunday but he didn't show up. I really feel he is prepared though, because he has so many basic questions about God and why we are here. I am excited to work with him this week.

So tranfers are here and I am staying in the West, but Elder Walker is headed out. Elder Nielsen will be my new comp. He is from Utah, and has been out 6 weeks less than me. Should be a fun time with 2 semi-new missionaries trying to speak Spanish! haha it'll be a challenge but that means I will grow even more!

I love you all and hope you have a fun safe week back to school!

Les quiero mucho!! Tu hermano Elder Draper