First Days in Cáceres

Members – Our Branch President is Andy Nelson, yep a name you wouldn’t expect here in Spain.  He is a 30-year-old single man from Honduras.  He is very nice and does a great job.  He came from Honduras with several members of his family.  His mother is the Relief Society President here in the branch.  President Nelson told us that in Honduras there is work but no security and in Spain there is security but no work.  He wanted to be a police officer in Honduras but his father wouldn’t allow it.  Two of his cousins, who were police officers were killed because they were good cops. 

Many of the members are from Argentina.  They speak with a definite Argentine accent.  Since I served in Uruguay I can speak with them in their accent.  One Hermana is from Peru and a couple of the hermanos are from Columbia.  There are just a few Spaniards in the branch, which is ironic since we are in Spain.

We have been in Cáceres for two Sundays.  The Sacrament meeting talks have been excellent.  Even though there are just a few members, the strength in the branch is quite amazing.  The first week the attendance was 33 and yesterday the attendance was down to 23.  There is a virus going around and many of the members, including Linda seem to have contracted the bug, hence the low attendance yesterday.  Linda was a trooper and was there by my side,

Something I would never have believed has happened.  Linda and I are probably the best singers in the branch.  I know it sounds impossible but it is true.  There is no one who can play the keyboard (we don’t have a piano), so we use a set of CDs for the music.  Linda has been asked to handle the music so we will see how that goes.  I think we might just use an iPad with the wireless speaker we brought with us.  It would be easier and quicker to do it that way.

We have had the opportunity to visit quite a few members.  They have accepted us with open arms.  Many of them are immigrants from South and Central American and have had a hard time finding work.  They work as much as they can but the jobs are more on the lower end of the spectrum.  Many of the hermanas work as care givers for the elderly and sick.  The members tell us that the good jobs go to the Spaniards so for anyone not from here, it is more difficult to find a good job.  As a contrast, most of the members in Sevilla (Seville) are native Spaniards with few immigrants.

We have had two zone conferences in Sevilla.  We drove up to Cáceres, from the mission office, on Friday Feb. 12 and attended our first conference in Sevilla on our way north.

The couple we are replacing (the Redds) were asked by President Andersen to accompany us to Cáceres and help get us settled in.  We followed them and didn’t get lost.  We drove to Sevilla which took about three hours.  The freeways are nice but the speed limit changes quite often.  It can range from 80 to 120 Km/Hr. Luckily there are signs that announce when you are approaching a radar-controlled area.  If I were to miss the sign indicating a radar zone ahead, our little Tom Tom would also chirp, which is a good thing.  In Spain, if you are speeding in a radar zone you get a ticket in the mail.  One senior Elder received two tickets within 10 minutes.  The tickets are quite expensive so you need to watch your speed.

There are two Sevilla zones, and we are in Zone 1.  The areas that are in our zone are: Sevilla, Huelva, Aljarate, Badajoz and Cáceres.  We walked into the meeting just as they were going to start and I felt an immediate spiritual presence in the room as we entered.  It was quite impressive.  Linda and I were asked to speak for a minute and introduce ourselves. 

After the conference Elder and Sister Redd thought it was a good idea for the missionaries working in Cáceres to ride with us the almost three hour drive to Cáceres.  The Elders are: Elder Striebeck from Argentina and Elder Bailey from England.  Elder Striebeck has only a few months remaining on his mission and thinks he will probably finish his mission in Cáceres.  Elder Bailey has only been here a few weeks so he is just learning the language.  Elder Striebeck does not speak English and Elder Bailey speaks very little Spanish so Linda talks with Elder Striebeck and I speak with Elder Striebeck.  Actually we both speak to each of them, but you get the point.

The weather the first couple of weeks has been interesting.  The first of last week was quite cold.  What really made it cold was the wind.  Since it is quite humid, the wind is quite biting and seems to go right through you.  Since we didn’t think it got very cold here we only bought light jackets.  It has warmed up this week and it hasn’t been windy so hopefully the weather will continue to warm up.

We are starting to get acquainted with the town.  We have done more walking around this past week in order to get our bearings down better.  We live on the edge of the town in an eight-story apartment complex.  There are four building in our complex and the church is on the bottom floor of one of the buildings.  We are on the 6^th floor, which is actually the 7^th since the first floor in Spain is either 0 (zero) or baja.  The apartments are called pisos so if I write pisos you will know what I mean.

Now to the driving!!!! Driving is driving but on a website written by a Brit, he said “the most difficult thing to do is get a drivers license in Spain.”  Driving in Spain is not difficult except for the round-a-bouts and the many narrow places you have to maneuver. For example, we have a parking space (#29 if you need to know) under our building.  I usually back in since it is much easier to exit later on.  The problem is when all the other cars are in their spots it makes it pretty tight to squeeze in.  I am getting better though and soon will be a pro (I hope).  They use the same ramp to enter and exit so if anyone is coming the other way I am sure it would be pretty tricky since the ramp is circular and narrow.

An authentic old Spanish pueblo.
Care to drive here?

Also, parallel parking is a must here.  It seems that they can parallel park, as long as they have two inches to spare.  So far I haven’t had to test out that theory.  Maybe if I bribe the examiner who administers the practical test I will pass.  I signed up for the driving school and have gone two times so far, but just for the theory.  The name of the school is Autoescuela Ibiza.  The drivers training is in Spanish and not too difficult, but many of the words are new to me since they are words that are probably only used during an exam.  The most difficult part is the many classifications of vehicles.  There are about four different types of mopeds or motorcycles that are classified according to the size of the motor and how fast they can go.  Also, in the US, we normally just say car or van but NO, not in Spain.  If a van can carry 8 people it is called one thing, if it can carry 9 people it is another.  Then there are different classifications of trucks and on and on.  I don’t care to become an expert on vehicle classifications but unfortunately you have to know it for the test.

I’m not sure when the actual driving starts.  When Linda learned of all of the requirements just to get a license, she opted out.  Oh yeah – it’s also extremely expensive. 

On a sad note -  We brought some mediation with us for an Elder that had injured himself playing soccer.  He apparently exacerbated an old injury he received as a young man while playing football.  He headed a soccer ball on a preparation day and he was subsequently unable to work and needed to remain inside where it was dark and quiet.  The medication initially helped him be he had a relapse and had to return home last week.  Hopefully he can recovery and return to the mission.  We met his dad at Holly’s just before we flew to Spain.  His father gave us his son’s medication to bring to Spain with us. 

This past Friday we had another mission conference is Sevilla.  This time there were three zones that combined for the conference.  This conference is held quarterly and is attended by President and Hna. Andersen.  There were approximately 90 missionaries.  It was great to meet some more Elders and Hermanas.  The President spoke in Spanish and Hna. Andersen spoke in English.  Translation was provided for both English and Spanish speakers.  The conference was very good and lasted about 4 hours.  We had lunch in the cultural hall and then headed back to Cáceres.  Before we left Sevilla however, we HAD to stop at Costco.  Yes, I did say Costco.  There are two Costco locations in Spain, The first was built is Sevilla and the second in Madrid.  Costco in Sevilla is about the same size as the one in Rocklin.  They carry the Kirkland brand mixed with Spanish and Portuguese brands.  It’s funny because many of the goods are the same as at home but there are Spanish language labels on top of the English labels.  We stocked up on food.  Of course there are stores near where we live, many in fact, but Costco is Costco!  We will be in Sevilla once a month so we are good to go with the food needs.  It is very close to the Sevilla Stake Center which makes it super easy and convenient for us.  Just a secret between friends – Another couple, Elder and Hna. Jeppeson are assigned to the military branch as well as a Spanish branch in a town near Cádiz called Rota.  He can score me some Diet Dr. Pepper!  He is retired military and has access to the good stuff. I just need to give few a couple days notice and he’ll hook me up.  Just thought I would share that gem with you.

There are a few things we miss from home (besides family and friends).  We miss our king sized bed.  We miss our shower.  We miss our clothes washer.  One that doesn’t take 2 hours to wash a load.  We miss our clothes dryer because our clothes dryer here is a rack in the second bedroom.  It’s effectiveness is clearly regulated by the temperature of the room. Last but not least, I miss my Cougars.  But alas, I can follow them on the internet.

Well if you have read this far you are either bored to tears or mad that I wrote so much so I will end.  Next blog will talk about the Spanish people and our first impressions of Spain. Of course I will write about the work we were sent here to help with and my observations and our experiences.

Next blog coming soon...........

Hasta Luego

Dennis and Linda

Elder and Hermana Gibson

Elder and Hna. Gibson in Casar de Cáseres

Downtown street

Elder Striebeck, Elder Bailey and the lovely Hna. Gibson

A little grubb

Our apartment building. We are on the 7th floor.

I found my beautiful Bimbo!