¡Feliz navidad a todos!
… I cannot type in Spanish. If I try, I end up with problems for the next 5 minutes because I have to remember where the keys are and how to spell things!
I think my problem is that I can actually speak Spanish now (Still got some grammatical errors there, but for the most part I’m good now!), so I don’t need to translate Spanish to English and vice-versa (Which is, quite honestly, one of the most awesome things about learning and speaking two languages! Now they’ve become two separate worlds, and I can enter both of them! I just need to improve a little bit more so I sound like a native speaker!).
But anyway, because of this I start typing in Spanish but I’m used to English, so it takes a minute to adjust to Spanish, and then I can’t switch back because I have to calibrate my mind for English again!… And don’t even get my started on texting! Here in the mission is the first time I’ve ever had a cell phone that’s basically mine (For all of you who just gasped in shock, no, I never had a cell phone, and even now it’s not really mine — it’s the area’s!), but since we can send unlimited messages we use that a lot to communicate. Sooooo I end up texting everyone, and I’ve gotten used to texting in Spanish! I tried it in English, but it doesn’t work, so I just do Spanish now!
This week wouldn’t really be very interesting for all of you, just because we didn’t do much, but I’ve had a lot of “lightbulb!” moments lately that have been cool. For example, I’ve realized that the only reason I understand and use some parts of Spanish grammar is because of moments when someone used it and then all of a sudden it clicked and I understood the purpose and how it’s used! Little things like that helped me understand it all, and it’s really cool to see how it’s natural for me now.
Another cool thing is that I’ve learned a little bit of psychiatry! Being district leader has forced me to analyze the people in my district to see how they are and what they need, so I’ve learned how to understand little signs and things like that. I’m not an expert or anything, but I’ve noticed a difference! It’s kind of cool that it’s just natural now! (Of course, I’m still kind of a moron, but at least I have a better idea of how everyone’s doing!)
Speaking of my district, here’s a photo of the new people:
(Well, minus my companion, ’cause he took the picture…)
We painted the house of a member, so that’s why my hand’s blue. Anyway, left to right:
Hermana Bozarth, Hermana Cárdenas, Hermana Domitila, Élder McMurray, Élder Schroeder, and Élder Escobar. Elder Escobar is training Elder McMurray, and Hermana Domitila is Hermana Cárdenas’s new companion!… And if you believed that, you might not know me OR the mission very well!
And then we also implemented one of the greatest ideas ever conceived in my mission:
We bought a stamp! We got sick and tired of having to write everything by hand, so we bought a stamp with the church’s address and stamped everything!
But yeah, this concludes my super exciting week! Have a merry Christmas, and for those who I’m going to Skype on the 25th, I’ll see you then!
— Elder Schroeder