Chuggin' Along?

Dear loved ones, 

You sound really really busy. I wish there was something I could do to help, but even if I were at home I would be in Provo. So I suppose it doesn´t matter either way. Here is the best place for me :) We had a good week. Well it was a great week actually. I have been doing super well lately. 

In response to your questions: The hot water is quite limited. So I have been taking super fast showers. Like a minute and a half. It´s exciting :) I often find myself missing the summer that I spent in Jerez. Never thought I would say that. But it´s true. Just the human nature inside of me :) I always want what I don´t have!!! But I am enjoying the ¨cold¨ weather here that actually isn´t cold :) For me it is, but I know it´s nothing compared to what you all are experiencing!!! When it comes to skyping, I need to know soon. I am suggesting 6:00pm to 7:00pm, which is 10am for you and 9am for Spencer. Let me know if it works out. But Chapple and I have to do it at the same time and his family is apparently wanting to know when we´re going to do it asap. I think the Hermanas want to eat there because of the food. The love McFlurries. Haha. It´s hysterical. And McDonald´s is SOOO expensive in spain. The McFlurries are about 4 US dollars. Which is a lot for a poor missionary. We have gone to Granada a lot lately, and everytime we go to Granada we have to eat out at McDonald´s because that´s the only thing close to the bus station. So everyone is spending a ton of money on fast food, except for me. The last four times we have gone to granada I just pack a lunch the night before and warm it up in the stake center before we go to McDonalds. I hate spending money, especially on fast food. It´s super weird!! I have developed this loathing for spending money. It´s not permanent though. I haven´t received the package yet. I assume it will come tomorrow. Last friday was a holiday in Spain, and today as well, and mail doesn´t come on saturdays or sundays. So probably tomorrow. When it comes to the batteries, I am pretty sure that I will be able to find some. Here the chinos have everything. If not that´s ok though. 

I am quite surprised that the MTC President remembered me. Really surprised actually. He has gone through so many missionaries and it´s kind of hard to ¨stand out¨ in the MTC. Most everyone is just brand new and doesn´t know much. I did confide a lot of things to him in my weekly letters though, so maybe that is how he remembers me. That was really nice of Austin to write Spencer. I feel pathetic that I haven´t done it. I have three pages written to him, but I just do not have time for anything. I am definitely the worst letter writer ever. 

I CANNOT BELIEVE that Brigham is doing a musical. WOW. WOW. He totally followed in the footsteps of Spencer and I. That is so CRAZY. I am really proud of him.  I wish I could be there to see it. Brig will change so much here before long.  He´ll get on his mission, and then realize that he wasted a whole lot of time, he´ll regret it, and then he´ll do his best to fix it when he gets home. 

We have had a really good week. We went to Granada twice this week, and when we go there it we don´t get home until about 6 in the evening, and don´t get out working till 6:30, so we lose almost the entire day. But we still worked hard and had success. We have found a lot of new investigators, but just not a whole lot that are truly interested in the message. The only person that is for sure going to get baptized is F, and she can´t come to church yet because of work. So that is sad. J G is doing alright. Didn´t come to church yesterday because it was his birthday. I sent him a birthday text telling him that we appreciated him and he said ¨thanks, nice detail.¨ I really feel like he thinks there is this huge scheme we have to try and convert him or something. All we can do is fulfill our purpose and leave the rest to him. He has to put forth the effort. I feel like we are doing everything we can. We had seven investigators in church yesterday, but only one is actually a progressing investigator. I don´t count the others as progressing because I don´t see a whole bunch of desire there. But we´re working as hard as we can. I think a lot of our investigators just really like us as friends and do what we say so that we keep coming over. Which is a problem. Oh well. We keep chuggin along :) I am really loving the work though. I feel super good about who I am and where I am right now. 

I don´t know if I have ever mentioned anything about it, but Spain is SUPER international. I have met people from almost every country in the world. I have literally met at least someone from every south american country. There were tons of Columbians and Bolivians in Jerez, and here there are TONS of Argentines and Ecuadorians. And Peruvians. And every other south american country. I have met lots of Italians. Just the other day I had a two hour conversation with this 20 year old italian girl on the bus ride home from Granada. She talked my ear off, showing me EVERY picture on her camera. She was super interested in nature and trees and stuff and explained every single picture to me. She probably had over five hundred. I had to act interested for two hours. It was a long bus ride. It was super hard to understand her too because she was speaking a mix of spanish and italian, so that was even harder on my brain. Hahaha, and on that bus ride Chapple was lucky enough to sit next to this creepy Russian girl that ended up stroking his arm and laying her head on his shoulder and just trying to mess with him. She wasn´t a very good person, and the whole time talked about how handsome he was and how much she wished she could smoke on busses. She spoke spanish poorly, and Chapple couldn´t understand her at all. He sat right behind me and at some point I hear ¨Elder Sharp¨ whispered super loudly and I turn around and she is laying on his shoulder with her arms wrapped around him trying to fall asleep, and her male friend is sitting on the other side of the bus just laughing. Chapple looked like he was about to pass out. I almost burst out laughing when I saw the expression on his face. Like a deer about to get hit by a semi. I didn´t know what to do though, and this italian girl just kept on talking like nothing was happening, so Chapple just got up and started writing a letter with his whole body leaning forward off the seat so that she couldn´t lean on him. It was funny. But dangerous. European woman!! But we meet TONS of Romanians, Russians, Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Armenians, you name it. I have met people from almost every European county. Norwegians (that always brings a small pain in my heart...I miss her a lot), Fins, Brits, Swiss people...you name it. And almost every african country as well. I even met an Egyptian guy one time. And a jewish person from Israel. So it´s always a party. Hearing a ton of different languages all the time. We contacted this african from senegal on the street the other day named M. We end up getting into his house last night and as we walked in he led us into the living room and it is filled with at least 10 HUGE african muslims. I was a little scared. Haha. But they were super friendly. They don´t listen to us though. They hear ¨Jesus Christ is the son of God¨ and then just start going off about Muhammed and stuff. They only believe in Christ as a prophet. They told us ALL about their religion. It´s super interesting. I feel like the eastern world is like a different planet. They can have up to four wives and it´s totally normal for the husband to physical keep the peace in his home. I could never live like that. The role of woman is just so diminished in that culture. It just feels wrong. Get this, one of the even told us that they think they love Jesus Christ more than the Christians do. That one stung. So we got out of there pretty fast. That last comment made me think a lot. Sometimes I feel like we do take Jesus Christ for granted. I definitely know that Christ is more important to good Christians than he is to Muslims,  but Christ is everything!! I often take it for granted that I have a Savior and that he truly did live on this earth and establish his church. And he really is the SON of God. I make sure to emphasize that in every prayer I say in front of Muslims. In the name of Jesus Christ, THY SON, amen. I don´t know where that religion fits in in God´s plan, but one day even they will confess that Christ is the Son of God. 

I feel very close to my Father in Heaven and I am LOVING the BoM as usual. It is so wonderful. I love being a member of the church. I am realizing that I will be devoting my whole life to this work, but it is exactly what I want. I believe in this work with all my heart, and I know it´s His work. We are so incredibly blessed to do it. 

You both have such busy lives. It´s incredible. I hope you are healthy and safe. I miss you a lot and I am very excited to see your faces. I have decided that I do want you to come and pick me up. Mostly because I just want to have time alone with my parents before I go back to the real world, and that is much more important to me than a glorious airport homecoming. There is a system for how it all works out when parents come and pick us up, and I am not a huge fan. But it´s what there is :) So buy tickets as early as possible so that we can save money!! 

Last thing, it is kind of cold here. And I often find myself wishing that I had a light jacket to put on. So I am making a request. I don´t know if this is the most lucrative solution, but clothing is expensive right now here. Will you send me the gray coat that Jamie gave me? The one that Brigham thinks is his? I actually can wear it proselyting and I would wear it almost every day. So I want it back. Let me know what you think :) 

I love you 

elder sharp