Anti-Numbers

Mom and Dad,

I am doing better. Right now the work here is not going very well. It´s hard. We just don´t have the people. Last week was especially awful. I think the leaders will call us and ask us what´s going on. I am really anti numbers, but I know it´s the way the program works. And the numbers represent people. I just haven´t found investigators that progress. So many unmarried people here. Everyone smokes. BUT I have hope. I know I haven´t worked as hard as I should be. Elder B lectured us yesterday (he is DL) about our numbers. I don´t think his are a ton better, but I know that he has to do it. He is only six weeks older than me in the mission. At first it was irritating for me to have to respect his authority. Not a huge problem or anything. But when I first got here it was...odd. But that was obviously just me being prideful. And I have worked on that a lot these past few weeks. To me, becoming more humble and submissive is really important. I did really well last night as he was giving us his thoughts and everything. So that made me happy. I was grateful for his advice :) I know he only wants the best for us. I thik it´s a really important lesson to learn. Well it is. I will always have authorities and people over me in life, in work, church, everything. Age or experience doesn´t matter, I need to be humble and submissive and respectful because that is the way Christ was. I think I am making progress.

Anyway. really though I am doing better. i´m happy :)

Package- I would prefer nothing. After that, money. After that, yes ties are always welcomed :) We get bored of ties really fast. Other than that, I don´t know. I like being surprised. I am trying not to eat as badly and I know that packages mean treats and unhealthy food, but it´s also what I want. I don´t ever buy unhealthy food at the store. But somehow I am still getting a little chubby. Who knows. I will start thinking and let you know next week.

I LOVED LOVED the Warbler. That made my week. It was awesome. Keep it going!!!

Dad, I appreciate the offer of the money for the marriages, but it´s not allowed. And I wouldn´t take it anyway if it were. These people aren´t even sure they want to get married. And yeah. Everyone needs money here. You guys wouldn´t believe the poverty that is going on here. I don´t know if I have written much about it but wow. It´s insane. No one has money. No one has jobs. The people that do have jobs here have really really bad jobs. Here a job at McDonald´s is something HUGE. There isn´t really a middle class anymore in Spain. It was actually helpful for me to tell people that my father was out of work. But that thankfully ended quickly. Here people either hate the US or would give their right arm to get there. So many people want to go to the US.

The weather actually has been better. Still WAY too hot. It´s november. But I stopped sweating. 70 degrees huh. It´s going to be so long before I experience cold weather. A little less than two years. Unless it was cold when I got home. That would be nice.

I am glad that Dad found a job. That is a blessing. What a enormous blessing. Almost everyone here (including the working members) are on support from the government. It´s insane. This place is going to collapse soon. Work is really hard to come by. And good work is nigh impossible. We are lucky to live where we do. Although things aren´t super amazing in the states, there is seriously no comparison to how things are here. People here are used to living well, because they did before. So people are super depressed with the crisis.

Whitewashed means that the two missionaries are both brand new to the area. Which would be really hard. The only thing harder is opening, which means that the area had been closed beforehand and the missionaries have to go in with nothing already started. Starting from scratch.

I am sorry for him that he is homesick. That is normal though. I was ¨trunky¨ as well when I first started. But it does go away. The mission is all about enduring to the end. Just learning to love it and doing the same thing day after day. It´s kinda like life. We just have to press forward steadfastly, taking it one day at a time. Trying not to think about how much time there is left. Then you will realize that you are down to 3 months left and all of the sudden you don´t want to leave. That´s my goal. I want to get to the point where the end of my mission will be something that I don´t want to come!

I just want to express my love for the both of you. I love you so much. I hope you know just how much I care about you. I never ever could have imagined just how much I would come to love my parents. You are my greatest friends and I miss you more than I have ever missed anything. I am so grateful for the life that you have given me. I am literally amazed by how fortunate I am. God has given me everything I could ever ever want. This has been such a learning experience for me. I don´t know how much I have changed or anything, but I have learned a lot. Lots of different things. More about how life works, how the church works, and more about myself. My testimony has been fortified and I am coming to realize just how incredibly important the Savior is in our lives. In everything. It´s amazing just how much He did for us. Jesus Christ is everything. We´re reading the Book of Mormon (I love that Book with every part of my soul. I know it´s true) as a mission and we are focusing on everything that has to do with Jesus. It´s literally amazing. I have learned a lot, and I am still learning. But I really really appreciate the increased love, adoration, admiration, and respect that I have for my parents. I am so thankful for your diligent example in living the gospel. You are both so selfless. I know you aren´t perfect and everything, but I have met a lot of parents in these last 8 months. And I just can´t believe how blessed I am. I love you both. I love all of you. I am so excited to talk to you in six weeks. I miss our family life a lot. That is easily the thing I miss the most. EASILY. No competition. I would give anything to go back in time. I would love to be standing in that cabin again, surrounded by all seven of you. I know it will never be like that again. But I have such precious memories of my childhood and teenage years and I am so grateful for them.

This week was good. Hard. But this week is going to be much better. I am sure of it. Just pray for work here in Almeria. We need to find people! They switched out the counselors in our ward today. They did a lot of changes. But our new ward mission leader is the old 1st counselor. Julio. He is so awesome. His wife is awesome too. Her name is Mirta. They are from argentina and have a daughter serving in Barcelona. His wife feeds us a lot. And he is ready to work. I am super excited to work with him. The ward is great here. Well I don´t really have any time.

I am still working on my letter for Brigham. I am going to start one for the whole fam and include as much detail as possible. There is a lot to say. I just never remember to tell you about the stuff that actually happens day to day. I have had some interesting experiences.

I love you all. I am sorry this week was kind of all over the place. I am going to start organizing my thoughts better so that my letters aren´t so jumbled :)

elder sharp